Pontypool Free Press and Herald of the Hills

THE FASTING GIRL OF WALES. Mr. Robert Fowler, M.D., District Medical Officer of the E-ict London Union, writing from the" Black Lion Hotel," (ardigan, Srpt. 4, sends the following letter to The Times for publication :— T-iking my annual outing in the picturesque neigh bourhood of the Tivy I was a few days ago enabled, through the kindness of my ft tend Mr. Th->mas Davies, jun., solici- tor, Cardigan, to vis t aId examine the now far lamed, fast- ing girl of Wales. The child, Sirah Jacob, is the daughter of a small tenant farmer living at Llethernoyadduccha in the parish of Llantthangelarath, Carmarthenshire, about 11 mile from the Pencaoer Station on the Cardigan and Car- marthen Riilw .y The first impression was most unfavour- able, and to a medical man the appearances were most sus- pic ous. The cnild was Ijing in her bed decorated as a briJe, having round her head a wreath of flowers, from which was suspended a smart riband, the ends of which were joined by a small bunch 01 flowers after the present fashion of ladies' bonnet strings. bet, re her, at proper reading distance, was an open Welsh hook supported by two oth-r books on her body. The blanket-covei iuif was clean, tidy, and perfectly smooth. Across the fireplace, which was nearly opposite the foot of her bed, wa* an arrmgemtnt of shelves well-stocked with English and Welsh the gifts of various visitors to the house-. The child is 13 years of age, and is undoubtedly very pretty. Her face was plump, and her cheeks and lips 01 a beautiful rosy colour Her eyes were bright and sparkling, the pupils were very dilated—in a measure explicable by the fact of the child's head and face beiug shaded from the window light by the projecting side of her cupboard bedstead. There was that restless movement and frequent looking out of the comers of the eyes so characteristic of simulative disease. Considering the lengthened inactivity of the girl, htr muscular development was very good, and the amount oi fat layer not inconsiderable. My fritnd stated that she looked even bet- ter than nhft Aid a twelvemonth ago. There was a slight perspiration over the surface of the body. The pulse was perfectly natural, as were aho the sounds of the lungs and hsart, so far as I was able to make a stethoscopic examination. Having received permission to do this, I pro. ceeded to make the necessary disarrangement of dress, when the girl went off into what the mother called a fainting fit. This consisted of nothing but a little andmumeuta-y hysteri- cal crying and sobbing. The colour never left the lips or cheeks. The pulse remained of the same power. Con- sciousness could have been but slightly diminished, inas- much as upon my then opening the eyelids, I perceived a dis- tinct upward and other movement of the eyeballs. Each percussion stroke of my examination, and ev, n the pr. s'ure ot the stethoscope, educed an expression of pain, which elicited a natural sympathy troui the mother, and an assertion that a contiuuaace of such examination would bii ig on fu ther tits. On percussing the region of the stomach I most dis- tinctly produced the sound ef gurgling, which we know to be caused y the admixture of air and fluid in motion. The most positive assurance of the parents was subsequently made that, saving a fortnightly moistening of her lips with cold water, the child had neither ate nor drunk anything for the last twenty-three months. The whole region of the belly waa tympanitic, awi the musculw waUl ol KU* cavitl were tense a-iit (irtitti-like-a condition not infrequently concomit- ant of a well-known cla-a of neivous rii-ioriiers. The child's intellectual faculties and special senses were perfectly healthy. Before her illness she wa very much devoted to religious reading. This devotion has lately considerably increased. She is a member of the Church of Eugland, and has been confirmed. She did not, on solicitation, rqueeze my hand with either of hers. The mother stated that her daughter could not possibly grasp or hold anything in her hands. She moved the left hand and arm with less facility than the right, which she not seldom put up to the side of her head with a rather studied effect. The whole left side of the body appeared to my touch (I was unprovided with a thermometer) of lesser temperature, and was said to be weaker, than the right. I made great efforts to examine her back, but was assured that this could be only permitted to any one actually pre- sent when the child was being moved, which was occasion- ally done for the purnose of changing the bed. This opera- tion invariably brought on a fit, and was, consequently, per- formed as rapidly as possible, so that the parents had actually neither seen or washtd the child's back for nearly two years. I was allowed to see the feet, and noticed that there were no pressure marks whatever about the ankles or heels. The featheibed on which she was lying was thin and poor, with nothing between it and the sacking. Both feet were ex- ceedingly pointed in direction, and the toes separated one from the other. On tickling the soles of the feet it was for- cibly apparent to me that the girl was making a strong vo- luntary effort to prevent muscular movement. On touching her elsewhere about the body there was said, however, to be a very painful upersensitiveness. I was assured that the nails, which were level with the tops of the digits, had never neen cut for nearly two years. Certain of the nails had most distinctly straight edges with angles, and some one or two had the we'd known appearance of being picked, or 6orij but the most imp rta, t feature about them was their very perfectness of bea, i It. There was not on any one of the nails a single transverse grnove to show th it there had been during this protracted reclination in bi d any arrest whatever of unuual nutri ion. This one tact demonstrates the iri prob ibility (nay, almost impo-si- hllitJ) of the child having lately suffered any lengthened physical disease. I could, indeed, detect no physical cause whatever to prevent this so-called bedridden fasting girl from rising from her bed and using her locomotive powers Tne power I believe to be there the will I belitve to be morbidly perverted. She is said to have never had any serious illness till she was seized about two years ago with vomiting of blood. She then took to her bed, in which, saving when lifted out, she has ever since been. The incapability of swallowing be- gan at the very outset; and the sight of, or even attempt to give food, is said to now bring on one of her serious fits. The state t f her tongue I could not see. It was asserted that she could not open her mouth, :-he conversed in Welsh v, i, h her parents, and could say a few English words. There was stated to be no hereditary tendency to any form of insanity, epilepsy, or pulmonary disease. The child had had no convulsive attack during dentition. The fits at the beginning of her present illness were, from description, ap- parently epileptic. My observation of the girl induces me to believe that each convulsion was merely a lit of hysterical epilepsy. The whole case is in fact one pf simulative hysteria in a young girl having the propensity to deceive very strongly developed. Therewith may be probably associated the power or habit of prolonged fasting. Both patient and mother Hdmitted the occasional occurrence of the choking sensation called globus hystericus. The only appai ent difficulty about the case is the means of the obtaiomebt of food I am informed that the parents are v(ry respfotable people, and have no particular pecu- i,i,r, need above the class to which they belong. The most suspicious evidence of their collusion is the circumstance of th ir making the patient a complete show child, receiving money and presents from the hundreds of visitors to the farm. From my observation and examination of the girl, from my acquaintance with analagous casrs, and from my long expe- rience as a public medical officer of various ferms of ma- lingering, I am inclined to believe that Sarah Jacob in reality deceives her own parens. The construction of the bed and the surrounding old Welsh cupboards and drawers in the room are all favourable to the concealment of food I am told that when watchers were, with permission, placed in the house they were actually debarred from touching the bed. The wat-hing was thus reduced to a palpable absur- dity, the very first element of success being denied it. The cunning stratagems and deceptions sometimes prac- tised by young girls afflicted with this form of hysteria are well known to medical men, though not so generally credited by non professionals. 1 can, therefore, quite understand these poor simple parents being easily deceived hy their own child, the more especially as in their ignorance they seem t,) implicitly believe that thtra is a miracle and something superhuman in the case. During the last Parliamentary Session we heard a great deal of the influence of the ministers of religion, and of the power of the territorial aristocracy in Wales. Now, here is a comm >n ground on which the eloquence of the former and the persuasiveness of the latter may very legitimately con- join so as to beneflcinlly affect a suffering fellow-creature. I in vain tried to convince the father that at this young age such a case was in all probability perfectly curable. He shook his head, stating "that none but the Great Doctor c uld cure his child Admitted into a London Hospital, or into the Carmarthen- shire Infirmary, this poor child would, doubtless, be quickly relieved from a malady which in a year or so uiay not only become chronic, but also be the forerunner of some physical or some more severe form of mental disease. No sensible medical man, unless guaranteed perfect control and means, would undertake the treatment 4 f such a case in the cottage in which the gTllives. Unless some sudden impres- sion, such as the house on is made upon the child's ner- vous sjstem, she is (where he is) likely to remain some time in the state she now lies The Jate Sir Benjamin BrorMe had an aptitude for the detection of theoe cases. In his work on Local Nervoug Diseases he details many analogous cas-s and the successful treatment thereof B* iug made an object of curiosity, sympathy, and profit is not only totally antagonistic to this girl's recovery, but also rende] s ic extremely difficult for a medical man to determine how much of the symptoms is the result of a morl i I per- vtr.i -it of wiil, and how much is the product of intentional deceit. The silly father's answer to my advice and offerwas, 11 How can you London doctors make my child eat, without making a hole in her 1"

A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE. The New York Times, cf the 20th ult., has the following In a recent number of a well known magazine an account was given of several men whose names were once familiar to society, and who were suddenly and incomprehensibly missed from their customary resorts. In most instances no trace of them was left behind, and the inquiries of the police or the tireless quest of friends alike failed to throw any light upon the mystery. Occurrences of this kind are common everywhere. The story of the Chancellor Lansing, a man once well known in this State, and still remembered by a. few survivors, is so far different from Mr. Speke's, that no explanation of it has ever yet been published. The magazine writer truly says that he left a New York hotel, one afternoon lorty years ago, to take a boat for Albany, where he resided. The porter who handed him his bag was the last person known to have seen him alive. He never reached the Albany boat, and he was never heard of again. Naturally his disappearance created a profound sensation, for he held a high position, and was "a man full of years and honour." The writer to whom we have referred says :—" His place on earthhad been made vacant; but there is not, and can never be, any record of bow, or when, or where. He may have died that day he may have lived for years afterwards." In the hypothesis thus put forward the writer, in com- mon with the general body of the public, is mistaken. We speak under authority when we say that every in- cident connected with the disappearance of Chancellor Lansing is well known to a gentleman now living. The secret was confided to him by a distinguished citizen of this State, now deceased, whose name alwavs com- manded and does still command respect. The sur- vivor was enjoined to publish all the circumstances when certain persons specified were dead. This con- dition has been fulfilled, aud it is probable that a narrative calculated to startle the public will yet be given to the world. There will then no longer be room left for a single doubt in reference to Chancellor Lansing's fate. We do not feel ourselves at liberty to hint at the nature of the revelation to be made, but this we may say, that it will be authenticated, and that it will form one of the most remarkable pages in the history of the public men of this country

"SHIPWRECK MADE EASY." Shipwreck made easy ought to be the title of a new invention which has just been exhibited off the Kentish coast (says the Daily Ttlegraph). In fact, the castaway will soon cease to be an object of compassion if Mr. Cradock should succeed in establishing the use of his new discovery. According to the programme, as reported in the papers, when on board a sinking ship in mid-Atlantic, you have only to provide yourself with one of Cradock's lite-belts, an oilskin suit, and tin cases, and plunge boldly into the waves. Then, as Traddles used to say, in "David Copperfield," "There youare." You float within your suit as dry as a bone you can breakfast, lunch, dine, and sup on the contents of your patent "vade-mecum ;"and, as you cannot be always eating and drinking, you may amuse yourself during the intervals of your meals in waving signal flags, blow- ing fog whistles, and nring rockets and Komancandies. The supply of necessaries, it is true, will hold out only for eight days but that defect can easily be remedied and, after all, a week out at sea is enough even for the hardiest of tourists. Cradock's course is a luxury which can be enjoyed alike by ladies and gentlemen and Mrs. Cradock has hitherto accompaiued her husband in his floating expeditions. Whether the bold discoverer would be content to test his experiment by being dropped overboard halfway across the Atlantic, on the chance of being picked up by a return steamer, remains to be seen.

THE MARKETS, MARK-LANE.-MomA.Y. The barvest is now nearJy completed, and the greater part of the new produce has been secured in very excellent con- dition. The supplies sent forwarù to the "local markets however, have been very scanty, farmers having heen unable to C0mmellee thrashing to any great extent. At the same time a reaction has taken place III 1 he market, and a recovery of Is. to 2s. per quarter has taken place tram the recent heavy fall. From Essex awJ Kellt the receipts of new wheat were only moderate, and "err few samples of last year's growth were 011 offer. There was a fair attendance, and the rade although not active was firm. Prices were 15 to 2s. per qu n ti r higher than (\J) Monday last. The market was fairly mp lied with foreign wheat. The inquiry was in Ii hcalrhy state, at an advance in the quotations, compared with thi, day se'lI1tÍght of from Is. to 2; per quarter. Toe show of foreign barley was moderate-of home-g-mwJ} trifling Increased Iirll111ess was noticed in the flour market, alid prices were well main- tained. Linsee] was quiet, but rapeseed was firm. Agricul- tural seeds, generally, were steady. C" kes were rather dearer- Owinl; to heavy arrivals at ports of call, maize was droopiDg in value. METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET.-10NDAY. There was a modemte supp'y of foreign he Bts and sheep on sale here to.day. The demand was inactive for a'l breeds, at about late rates. The receipt of basts from our own gnzng distticts were on an average scale, and, generally speaking, in fair condition. The transactors were rstri0ted but no change took place in the quotations. The top price for the best Scots and crosses was 5s to M. 2,1. per 81h. From Lincolnshire. Leicest enhire, and Northamptonshire, we received ahout 1,650 shorthorns, &j. fram other parrs of England. 150 various breeds and from Ireland, 50 head. The market was scantily supplied with sheep; nevertheless, the riem:wd was heavy for all kinds, and the tendency of prices waR in favour ôf buyers. 1'e best Downs and 11 11(- breds sold at 5s. 4d. to 5s 6.1. pr SIb. There w is a JIJ ide- rate supply of calves. The trade W.13 quiei at previous quotations. The show of pigs was limited. Sales pregt'63sad slowly, ou former terms. HOPS. The accounts from the plantations are f ivonraV.e on the whole. Picking will he general in ab >ut tell days, amI the yield will probably he more remunerative than wag antici- pated. The first pocket 01 new Sussex hops has sohl at £ 10 per cwt. Mid and East Kents, £ 2 103 to £ 6 10s. Weald of Kents, £ 2 5s. to £ 4 Sussex, £ 2 to £ 3 15s. Farnhams, £ 3 10s. to £ 6; Country, £ 3 10s. to £ 4 10s.; Bavarians, £ 2 to £ 3 10s. Belgians, £ 2 to £ 3 Yearlings, £ 2 to £ 3 10s.; American, £ 2 5s. to £ 3 lOs, per cwt. WOOL. The attenèanée at the puhlie sales of colonial wool con tinues good. Prices show an average improvement of 1d per lh. English wool has been quiet hut firm. Curreut prices of Eng11sh wool: — Fleeces: Southdown hoggets. Is, let. to Is. 2d. bali-bred ditto. Is. 4!d. to Is, 5d. Kent fleeces, Is 3a. to Is 3Jd. Southdown ewes and wethers, l. la. t. Is. ljd. Leicester ditto, Is 2Jd. to Is, 3,i. Sorts: Clothing, Is. to h. 5id.; combing, lId. to Is. 5d. per lb. POTATOES. Full average supplies of potatoes are on sale. For all dEscriptions the demand is inactive at previous quotations. English shawl, 70s to 80s.; regents, 753. to 100s. French 60s. to 708. per ton. TALLOW. The market continues dull, at 46s. Od. for Y C. on thp ppif. 4.78. Od. for October-December, 4id. 91. forOeceiBMet', 4is tid. for January to larc, and 47s. yd. lor Ma"ch. Town tnJiow U quow at ,61. 6.1. no oaah.

THE AGRARIANISM OF TIPPtRaRY. The special commissioner of The Timet, writing fr< m Neuagh, observes that agrarianism burnt out for a tiiue in great strength during the teirible crii, that followt d the famine of 1846, aud in Tipperary it was more or less allied with the treasonable movement of 1848 Since that period it has perceptibly declined through- out Ireland, and even ih this country, its original seat and chosen home. The gradual but decided increase of tordsfierity, the diminution in numbers and emigration of the most reckless poition of the population, the pro- longed influence of mild and just government, and not least as I assert with confidence, a change of the better in the conduct of the upper classes to thdr inferiors, compared with that of their fathers and grandfathers all this has unquestionably miti- gated this evil spirit, even in this country. Thirty- five years Sir Robert Petl exclaimed with reference to the question of plating Tipperary under toartial law, that "I9.w in that district was a inockery, and the British Constitution a ghastly phantoiti." Thë language of that very calm-minded t90t.inan would be extremely wild; the County is not generally disturbed the greater part of it is at peace; the agrarian crimes that have been lately committed have been confined to a small local atea. Still, even within the last twenty years, agra- rianiem has prevailed in Tipperary to an eitent that must create apprehension; it baffled not long ago a special commission; it ha* lately given rise to some fearful deeds; it was in some degree connected with Fenianism nor is its power hunted by itli were ac- tivity. I have already said that at tbii moment it has a marked effect in this county ill regulating themanage- meiit of landed property and it i" undoubtedly sus- tained by too much sympathy. Nevertheless, looking across broad spaces of time, as a fair inquirer in Ire- land must do, its influence is upon the wane, and we may look forward to its final extinction.

DR. LIVINGSTONE. Sir Roderick Mnrchison, in reply to a letter asking what is his oplJlion respecting a suggestion of Mrs. Burton, wile of the African explorer, writes as follows tù the London Scotnnan ¡- My argument for believing that my dear friend had really gone westward from the Lake Tanganyika in Older to reach the Atlantic was founded on the sup- position that he had satisfied himself that this body of water which is fed by affluents from the south and east, and is probably barred from comthunication with the great equatorial lakes by higher intermediate lands, as also by Jying at a lower level, it followed necessarily that the affluents of the Tanganyika must proceed to the west. I then inferred that he would follow them and thus determine the true watershed and drainage of his own Southern region of Africa. As all the researches ot Livingstone relate to that region only, and have been wholly unconnected with the Nilotic lakes of equatorial Africa, I am persuaded that he would specially strive to determine the course of tho streams which flow from the Tanganyika to the Atlantic. That Buch streams exist, seems to me to be certain for they are laid down on the map of Duarte Lopez, of the 16th century, a reduced copy of which was published by Mr. Major in his admirable work of the life of Prince Henry of Portugal. If the mighty Congo, which is capable of receiving a vast amount of water, be not one of those rivers, why may we not admit that one or more of them terminate on the western seaboard in swamps and lagoons, or are absorbed in sands; just as the great river Limp of South Africa, eods, as re- cently proved by the adventurous traveller, St. Vin- cent Erskine, who followed it to the eastern coast? Let your readers look at any map of Africa in which the lake Tanganyika is correctly laid down, and they will see that the dis,ance between it and the western coast is nearly three times as great as that which intervenes between this great internal mass of fresh water and Zanzibar on the east coast, and con- st quently if the great traveller had to ktep that direc- tion a long time must have elapsed before we could receive tidings from him. It is, therefore, I think, quite unnecessary to have recourse to the hypothesis of his captivity. But whatever may be the speculations enteied into during his absence, I have such implicit Ci nfidt nee in the tenacity of purpose, undying resolu- tion, aDd herculean frame of Livingstone that, bow- ever he may be delayed, I hold stoutly to the opinion that h will overcame (jvery oh4acle, and will, as I havtI f,u!!gested, emerge from South Africa on the Barne western t-hore on which he appeared after his tir-it great march across that region, and long after his life had been despaired of.

THE SALARIES OF BANKERS' CLERKS. The clerb, Ac., in an eminent London bankingstablish- tnent, having lUemorialioitd the tirin for a honus," or In- crease of &lalY, 011 account of the pree!Jt dearness of living the following reply to the application has been circulated in the house:- The house have carefully considered the memorial presented by a portion of the clerks in their tIll ploy- meiit c'n the suhj, ct (,f increased remuneration. Sume of the statement* in the memorial are scarcely sustain- able. It may be true, for example, that butcher's meat is higher in price than it was MX or seven years ago but. on the other band, tea, sugar, coffee, and loll imported tropical and colonial produce is very much lower, articles of clothing are also certainly not dearer- in many cases they are cheaper. Nor is it trua that the rent of such houses as are usually inhabited by persona of the same class as the memorialists is materially, if at all, higher —bearing in mind the larger inhabitable area now rentiertd liccessible by cheap railways. The hous-, however, have to remind the nn moiialists that the principle which really regulaUs s.ldiies and wages is not the cost of living, but the geIleral demalld for par- ticular kinds of labour, and the special skill and meiit of the persons engaged. The house have always Bought to give the fullest effect to this last circum^t Mice —viz the special c'aims of tu,.t-ri"r merit and skill, and therefore it is that they cannot,for a moment enter- tain any suggestion of deputing from the present sys- tem in der which the claims of each person are care- fullY) eFlved at the enn of each year, and his salary then dealt with either by addition, by withholding ad- dition, or. if it Ileed be, by diminution, and ill extreme cases hy dismissal, as the particular facts may justify. The house cannot help observing that tht1 memorial is Elgin d by several clerks whose salaries have been kept down hy want of merit and efficiency on their own part, and it Í1 also very largely (signed by junior cleiks who have only quite recently entered the SH- vice of the house on terms which were fully explained to them, and must be presumed to have been satisfac- tory, as they were gladly accepted. There are other siglJRtures t,) the memorial, theclaims of which the house are not indisposed to consider at the proper time. The house have taken considerable pains to satisfy themselves that the clerks in their employment receive salaries quite equal to, and in many cases beyond, the full current value of thtl kind of services rendered. It is the desire of the house that this should be so, and that the preponderance should be on the side of liberality. They feel assured, however, that the best mthod of proUloting tillS enrl, the best means of justifying liberality in the employer, by merit and efficiency in the person employed, is to be found only in a steady perseverance in the present system of dealing with the claims of each case upon its own merits.

THE FOLLY OF "TIGHT LACING." Two months ago we (Da<il.y Nave) called attention to a visible return of the v:ciotts fashion of tight lacing, and a few days since the Lancet attempted in its own downright way to reV se silly women from the slaveiy of an evil custom. ij «t a defender of the stays comes forward in a contemporary, and speaks of the practii e as having "flourished throughout Europe for a thou- sand) earS at least, with only very short occasional interruptions, and by no means among our sex alone." The tu quoque is a bad argument, even if it were based on truth, and at un-st it could only be pleaded as an extenuating circumstance Officers of the French aimy have indeed been chaiged with endeavouring to model their figures upon the wasp standard of symmetry, and a few of the dandies, during the time of the llegent, made some efforts in the same direction here, but the folly fouud no favour. The question is one upon which discussion would be thrown away. Neither the Lancet, nor any other journal, should consider it worth while at this hour of the day to give reasons on a matter on which there are not two sensible opinions. The milliners and the doctors may differ, but we suspect most men a?ree With the doctors, who have also the artists on their side. The lady who writes to The Times speaks of tight lacing as "not only harmless, but often beneficial to health and extremely pleasant." If this statementbe true in an individual case, the fact would only suggest either a deformity which required artificial aid for correction, or such a weakness induced by the pressure of stays as necessitated their continuance for comfort. No doubt, after a while, a man gets on very well, and even cheerfully, with a wooden leg but we should not forget that he gets on well in spite of his wooden leg, and not because of it. The flat-head Indian who makes the top of his skull tabular would no doubt tell us that if we only followed his example we should add another grace and a glory to our lives: for folly of this sort is ever eager to make converts, perhaps upon the principle of the fox who, when he lost his tail in a trap, desired that all the race should follow SUit. 1)0 the ladies who have parted with their waists long to deprive their sisters of that use'ul and, we should have thought, indispensable piece of economy ?

MR. GEORGE DAWSON ON EDUCATION. The memorial stone of what is called an unde- nominational school was laid on Friday in last week, at Birmingham by Mrs. Dixon, wife of the member for the borough. Mr. George Dawson was one of the sp>eakei s on the occasion. He remarked that though in no sense himself a minister of the Church of En- gland, nor yet a Dissenting minister, he was a minis- ter of all denominations and a minister of no denomi- nation at ail. As a teacher of religion as he conceived it—though he was told that his conception was entirely wrong—be had great pleasure in supporting the move- ment on behalf of an undenominational school. He ■wa-i avowtdly a latitudinarian, glorying in the title, having ariived at it after years of patient thought and painful consideration. They were on the eve of a controversy before which the little controversies about free members, ballot boxes, and other such prelimi- naries became insignificant. That controversy was —by what means shall every child in this nation have given to him the blessings of education? It was not a new controversy, but it was going to be entered into on a larger scale and with a better feeling and a better understanding of the fundamental principles than tuele had been before. They must get ready for that controversy. Every principle involved in it they WOold have to discuss, and he hoped to see the fallacies of Radicalism on that subject dissipated, and the dreams of voluntaryism dispelled. Some of their Dis- senting brethren, with the best intentions in the world, had signally erred in the course they had taken, but it was likely they would now become penitent (they would excuse them the candle and the, sheet), and they would now understand that instead of the idle nonsense that had been uttered about the Govern- ment being the enemy of the people, a nation was never so great as when looking on its Government as the executant of the national will. The voluntary principle was admirable, but it was a makeshift. They ought m well ""1 that the IItreetl ought to be watered on the voluntary principle tint experience to d ( th.m that it WtlB hest tbat the roads should le ] watered at the expense of the ratepayer, aid it was time that the education of children should be put in the same position. There were clergymen in I this town who said that they would rather have no f education than education without what they presumed ) to call "religion." He was delighted to differ from them as Widely as possible, and he recommended to their consideration the following proposition—that the world was never the worse for the increase of know- ledge. The communication even of a single fact was a blessing to the world, a sign of advancement and a guarantee of progress. It were better to have secular knowledge without religious knowledge, than neither it were better to be a learned blackguard tha i an un- learned blackguard. If he were to be knocked down at all be would rather be knocked d)wn by one who knew the Latin tongue than by one who knew it not, and he could not conceive how any man having a child of his own could say that he would rather have no education at all than education without religion. Those to whom the kingdom of heaven was shut had all the more reason to demand that the kingdom of the eatth should be open to them.

MATRIMONYJN FRANCE. A judgment of interest to foreign families of which mem- bers have contracted niati-imotiial alliances in France bag beeu given in the Civil Court of Paris. The facts of the case were these M. de 13riiiinnt married aoout two years ago a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Penni-nan, American sub- jects. N > coutract was drawn up, but the p rents of the lady promised verbally, according to M de liiiinont, to make the young couple an annual allowance of SO.OOOf. as a marriage portion. The young wife died a few months back, leaving an infant daughter, and Mr. Penniman, who until then had regularly paid the money refused to continue it to the son-in-law. The last named now brought a suit to enforce the continuance of the payment, as alimony for himself and daughter. The parents of the deceased lady, while offering to bring up the child, resisted the demand, on the grounds that the plaintiff was a spendthrift, that he had con- cealed numerous debts when he married, and had since contracted new ones. and, moreover, that he was young, and might by his labour procure for himself sufficient resources. The Tribunal, however, decided that as De Brimont Was without means of existence, and that as his own mother was not in a position of fortune to assist her son and granddaughter, the plaintiff bad a right to an alimentary pension from his wife's parents and con- sequently condemned them to pay an annual sum of lR,OllOf., of which 6,000f. were for M. De Brimont, and 12,OOOL for his infant daughter.

SHOCKING TRAGEDY IN THE SOUTH. A Cincinatti paper relates the following tragic story :— On the 20tb of November last a citizen of Fenlre-s County, on visiting the house of old Mrs. Galloway found the old lady, her daughter, and two grand children lying upon the floor with their heads spli open with an axe, and the floor deluded with blood and drains. One of the children showed sigus of life, and was removed to a neighbour's house. Two days after- wards he showed signs of consciousness, and was asked who had done it; his reply was Cal." This informa- tion, connected with other circumstances, directed suspicion to Calvin Logston, who at about that time fled to his home on Green River in Kentucky. He was pursued and captured, and brought back to Fentress County, by which time the little boy, who seemed to have been preserved by a special Providence, was so nearly recovered as to give a correct account of the whole bloody tale. From his testimony it appears that Logston came to the house rith two women, his aunts named Biown, and demanded of Granny her money, with threats of a presented pistol, and seized an axe he found iu the house and struck the old lady on the head, and then served the young woman and a four-year old boy in the same manner. One of the women then seized a shovel and dealt the little witness a blow, which is the last he recollects. Upon the re- turn of the prisoner to Fentress County, the citizens erected an impromptu gallows for his accommodation, but by tha efforts of Judge Houk, Juogd Lynch yielded his jurisdiction. Failing to get a jury in that county the venue was changed to Scott County, where, after a long and laborious trial, the verdict has just been rendered of guilty of murder in the first dt. gree, without any mitigating circumstances, and a sentence of death has been pronounced by Judge Houk to take effect on the 18th October.

THE SUSPECTED MURDER AT PENDLETON. It will be remembered that the body of the girl which was found a short time since in the Manchester and Bolton Canal, at Pendleton, and the appearance of which led to the supposition that she had been barbarously murdered, was identified as that of one Kate Macdonald. Subsequently, however, Kate Maudonald surprised the police authorities in Salford by appearing before them in person and denying that she bad been murdered. This caused a second inquest to be held, at which no evidence was forthcoming as to the identification of the deceased, and the jury re- turned a verdict of Wilful murder against some per- son or persons unknown." Since then Captain I orieng, the chief constable of Salford, has been vigorously engaged in endeavouring to find a solution of tne, mystery, and his inquoies have led to the identi- fication of the body by the mother of the unfortunate girL Her name was Harrison, and she resided with her mother at Lower Broughton. A history of the poor girl's career up to the time of her death has been gathered from her mother and others, but for reasons which are only known to Captain Torrens he declines to supply any information on the subject at present. We (Manchester Courier) understand, however, that from certain circumstances which have come to the knowledge of Captain Torrens and the deputy coroner, an order was made to exhume the body, an examina- tion of which was made on Thursday by severa medical gentlemen, including Mr. Davis, who made the first post mortem examination, and gave evidence at the twoinqufsts. Differentopinions were expressed by the medical gentlemen, but the majority ot them inclined to the supposition that the injuries to the de- ceased might have been caused after death, and that they bad been inflicted by boats passing over the body in the canal.

HINTS TO BATHERS. Every summer brings its sadlist of drownings through cramp, and this season they have been rather more numerous than usual. The real nature of the muscular paralysis which suddenly finks even the strongest and most expert swimmers without a moment's warning is nece-swrily very much a matter of conjecture. The result is in the majority (f cases fatal, and, even where the sufferer is saved, the shock, followed by insensi- bility prevents him from clearly remembering the symptoms. According to the common theory, the cramp seizes the swimmer's leg, but the Lancet questions this. Though disabled for the moment from swimming, there is no reason why a man with cramp in the leg should not float; indeed, to throw himself on his back with legs distended would be almost an insiinctive impulse, and in that posi ion he could easily maintain himself without an effort, especially if accustomed to the water. It is the terrible characteristic of these seizures that the victim goes down instantly, and without a struggle. This our medical contemporary is disposed to attribute, not to the stiffening of a limb. but to cramp of the respiratory muscles, by which the expan- sion of the lungs is checked or the air therein expelled thus deprived of its buoyancy, the body sinks. Swim- ming undoubtedly puts a considerable strain on these muscles. and there is plausibility in the theory, though it is difficult to ascertain the truth with certainty. The subject is well worthy of further investigation. Much would be gained if only some warning svmptoins c -uld be pointed out for the guidance of swimmers, who might then strike out for the shore before the cramp actually came on

EPITOME OF NEWS, BRITISH AND FOREIGN, A facetious tradesman in Worcester, after having re- peatedly announced that he was "selling off," has now pla- carded his house with bills that he is selling on A meat shower" recently took place at Los Metos, California. Only about two hundred square feet showed traces of it, and old Californians account for it by saying that it is caused by the Califomian vulture?, which, having gorged themselves and risen high in the air, eject what they have eaten from their stomachs, either from sick- ness or in battle with the eagle. "Manufacturer, 26, Christian principles, high social position, wishes to Marry a Lady with means; strictest honour." A Widower, in business and means, wishes to Correspond with a Lady, from 30 to 45, with a view to a Matii- monial Alliance, must be truly domesticated, and have means strictly confidential."—Advertisements in Manchester Examiner. It is said that a gentleman who has received half- pay for over fifty years has never in his life joined his regi- ment or worn a uniform What a good joke at the nation's expense V—Court Journal. The Times of India, mentions that a plot against the Ameer Shere Ali has been discovered at Cabul. His nephews, Sirdar Ismail Khan and two brothers, were the instigators, and were arrested and sent to British territory, to be kept under surveillance by the Government of India. Sirdar Ismail Kt an escaped from his Affghan escort; his brothers will be detained at Lahore. Mr. Jefferson's "Rip Van Winkle" has so de- lighted his countrymen that he is asked to build a theatre of his own, and goon acting Rip" for thirty years. Some of his critics complain bitterly of his audieuces, who laugh loudest at the actor's most pathetic expressions The Rev. Wm. Motley Punshon has visited Chicago and Cincinnati, and he says that" at Chicago everybody seems to be going to the same place at Cincinnati they look as if they, had been there and returned." The Daily News states that some interest was felt a few nights since on observing among the audience at Drury Lane, Lord Sydney, the present Lord Chambeilain, without whose licence, of course, Formosa could not have been per- formed." The directors of the Bristol and Exeter Railway have placed a magnificent saloon carriage on their line. The Burmese are circulating an old witch's prophecy throughout their capital that this year if to be the last of the English sway in Burmab. M. Eugene Godard, the French aeronaut, made an ascension a few days ago at Rheims (ilarne), but, in alight- ing, his balloon, the Cilé-de-Florence, was caught in a gust of wind, and torn into shreds. Fortunately, the persons in the basket, three in number, were able to land unhurt. The American Notim attributes the non-existence of a leading comic journal in the States to the fact of there being so many funny contributors to various newspapers These are described as feeble, but as perhaps capable of beijiz made strong by combining. "Our artists," says the Nation" we should 'have to breed,' probably." An interesting shipment, has just left the Bospborns for the Cape of Good Hope—SCO Angora goats of the finest race; as a breeding stock for Messrs B'ane Brothers, of Lon- don, who have aiready introduced some small trial flocks of these animals into Cape Colony and Algoa Bay, where the ex- periment has excellently succeeded. The Rhine and Ruhr Gazette, published at Dnisburg, announced oa the 27th August that a firm in Siegen had signed a contract to supply 500 wagonsper month of the best iron ore of that district to ironmasters in England. The ore is to be forwarded by rail to Duishurg, and thence by water to Rotterdam The English sme'ting furnaces will therefore receive from the present time forward a considerable con- tingent of Prussian iron. A violent thunderstorm, accompanied by heavy rain, passed over Bradford and the district on Sunday night, and proved fatal to two young people, lovers, who were crossing a footpath between F.irsley and Stanningley. The lifeless bodies were found on the footpath about half-past ten at night. Their names weie Thomas Hardaker, cloth weaver, ot Pudsey, aged twenty-one; and Emma Carrick, twenty-two years of age. A telegraphic despatch from St. Etienne states that at the pit of Assailly, in the concession of lltve-de-Cier, in consequence of a chain breaking, six miners were precipita- ted down the shaft and all killed. A handbill announces the arrival in Brighton of a certain Madam-, who is exhibiting her Golden Mirror, in which Ladles and Gentlemen may behold their future Partners in Life." It is added, Nativities cast from 2s. 6d. and upward." And you are urged to "Ceme at once, do not delay." Common wine, in the wine-growing regions of Cali- fornia is cheaper than milk, and more freely used. Dr. Morrell having resigned his effice as coadjuto bishop of the Scotch Episcopalians in Edinburgh, the Church Times is also glad to hear that among the names of those who are mentioned as likely to sllcced to the vacant diocese of Edinburgh, is that of the Rev. Provost Cazeneva. Alexander I [. of Russia, is suffering from nervous irritability. The advocates of an amnesty for the Fenian prisoners are encouraged to hope for the success of their movement hy a letter from Mr. Gladstone received by their secretaries in Dublin, in which the Premier assures them thit he will not fail to give his most earnest attention to the important question." From Australia we learn that Mr. Kinealy, one of the pardoned Feninns, had arrived in Melbourne from Western Australia, and was soon to be followed by some five or six aad thirty of his late fellow-prisoners. Their presence in Melbourne will, it is said,. be contrary to law, while the enforcement of the law, which many persons insist on, would bring the local Government into direct conflict with the Royal prerogative. The Chester magistrates have fined a wardmaster in the Chester County Lunauc Asylum 10s for a serious a?sault upon a lunatic inmate who was in his charge. It transpired that the defendant was intoxicated at the time. Bacchus" seems decidedly to pay better than Mars, for within the last two years over twenty officers have retired from the army and entered the wine trade. How colliery explosions happen was shown by a case which was before the Wigan magistrates the other day. Two men were charged with smoking in the six-feet workings of the fiery Leigh Pit, at HaN dock-the very spot where so many men perished by the explosion in June last. The accused, it was stated, had coolly taken off their lamp tops, and lighted their pipes, notwithstanding that they were well aware that, by doing so, they were placing their own lives and the lives of many others in jeopardy. The case had to be adjourned, in consequence of the flight to foreign parts of the principal witness. He left a note behind him saying he dared not give evideuce against the two men. Excursionist (from Salt Lake)—"Give me through tickets for fifteen persons and thirty-nine children." New York clerk (from If it's a school or an asylum we can make thefh cheaper to you." Excuisionist (indignantly;— "Sir! It's my own private family, sir I" 108. -Do not allow what was said in a moment of great anguish to distress you. I'd give worlds to recall my words attribute all to excess of a—r, want of self-confidence and fear of losing PF, for who alone L IV, lives. One thing only can lessen mv unhappiness to hear you are thoroughly enjoying your holidays. Believe, I trust as fully as you trust your own."—Advertisement in The Times. The rectory of St. Peter, near Wisbeach returned in the "Clergy List" as being worth £3,058 a year-and said to be the richest, living ir. Etigliind-isvacatit owing to the death of the Rev. William Gale Townley, who has held it only seven years He was educated at Trinity College, Cambndge where he took his B. degree in 1851. He succeeded his father in the living in 1362, aud the living is now in the gift of Mr. R. G. Townley. The number of volunteers who have already an- nounced their intention ot being present at the Belgian fetes exceeds 1,000. Cardinal Cullen has ordered a special three days' thanksgiving in the Dublin chapels for the "putting of an end to ascendency by the Legislature. A telegram from Belfast states that the flax spinners of that town have signed a requisition to put the necessary number of spindles (six hundred thousand) on two-thirds time. It is added that there is no doubt that, un- less trade improves, the operatives will be on short time for ten weeks at least. In Carlisle, on Saturday afternoon, while an elderly man named John Martin, the owner of a smill-ware stall, was running down a street after two boys who bad been tearing him, one of the boys picked up a stone and threw it at the old man. The missile struck him en the head he fell down insensible, and when picked up a few minutes after- wards he was dead. The two boys, who are about twelve years of age each, are in custody. The people of Sheffield have had baths provided for them by the Corporation, and they were opened to the public on Tuesday. The. charges are exceedingly low, the price of a swimming bath being only Id., and of a warm bath 2d. The rules are published in an Irish paper of a society established iR Londonderry by working men, called the Liberal Defence Association," with the object of preventing all party displays having a tendency to create animosity among her Majesty's subjects. The members of the associa- tion deem it of the utmost importance that such a society should be called into existence to arrest the periodical dis- plays held from time to time in the city which they further describe as a monstrous system of intolerance." fr. Vaughan, recently reported to have been shot in Mayo, within 300 yards of the place where Mr. Hunter was murdered on Sunday week, writes to the papers to say that he was several miles off at the time. Lochniver House, one of the family seats of the Duke of Sutherland, situated on the west coast of Sutherland, took fire a few days ago, and btfore the dimes were extinguished much fine lurniture was destroyed, and the building was seriously injured. No lives were lost. The Duke had left Lochinver for Dunrobin shortly before. A sharp industrial crisis is feared in Paris. For several years past crowds of workmen have been attracted to Paris by high wages, and as most of the building was done by contract under heavy time penalties the workmen were masters of the situation. Matters are now changing, C3n- tracts are few, workmeu are many, and masters are obdu- rate, and the commencement of a difficulty palpable for years past is said to be at hand. A poor elderly woman named Funge, residing at Worminghall, near Oxford, while cros-itig the Oxford aud Thame Railway, at Wheatley, on Saturday morning last, on her way to field work, WAS) un over by tne 831 train, and was, it is supposed, instantaneously killed. The diiver of the train was not aware of the sad accident until his return journey, when he was informed of the fact. A correspondent at Florence, writing on the 1st., says" The proposed visit of the Empress Eugenie to Venice produced no small consternation in the Royal household here, there being no place at Venice where her Majesty could be received in a manner befitting her rant. When Venetia was given up by Austria in 1866 all the furniture of the Royal palace was sent to Vienna, and the building has remained empty ever since." It i now confidently asserted that in addition to closing Woolwich and Deptford dockyards the Government has decided on the abolition of Sheerness as a naval estab- lishment as soon as the requisite arrangements connected with the change can be carried out. The only dockyards and naval establishments which will thus be retained are those at Chatham, Portsmouth, Devonport, and Pembroke. Earl Spencer, in replying to an address presented to him in the town of Ennis, said, the Government of the Queen has but followed the wishes of the people of the United Kingdom in their endeavours to carry just and sound measures for the benefit of Ireland." "They would con- tinue," he added, "to consider carefully, and to satisfy to the best of their ability, the true wants and interests of the nation—to tee that the law is impartially administered, to bring under its protection, and within reach of its assistance all classes of her Majesty's subjects, the rich and poor alike." An inquest has been held at Dolgelly on the body of a man which was found by a farmer, on Cader Idris moun- tain, in an advanced state of decomposition, jammed in a hole between two crags. Identitication was almost impossi- ble, but from what was left of the clothe', and a small bundle found with the body, the remains are beoeved to he those of a poor man, a stranger, who was teen begsirsg at the farm- houses in the neighbourhood on the last Dolgelly fair day, the 9th of August. It is supposed that he fell into the hole where his body was found, and was unable to extricate him- self. The verdict was "Found deal on Cader lris moun- tain; name of the person unknown." The Times publishes a long letter from its corre- spondent on board the Agincourt describing the voyage of tie Lords of the Admiralty and the ironclad squadron lrom Plymouth Sound to Gibraltar. The evoiu ions made with the ships during the voyage were. he states, merely pre- liminary to the more important evolutions that will be mad-j by the combined fleets during the next ponicn of the cruise between Gibraltar and Lisbon. On Saturday an inquest was held at Leeds on the body of a girl named Barker. A few d: ys previously the deceased became very ill, and a surgeon who was summoned found that her sufferings were caused by her having swallowed some of the poisonous seeds or pods of the laburnum, which she had obtained in the garden attached to her father's house. The remedies applied were ineffectual in preserving life, and, after enduring much pain, the girl died on Friday. A verdict that she had been accidentally poisoned in the manner described was returned. Tbe Duke of Cambridge has been laid up with gout at Homùur,g. ]\fr. Harrison, Windsor Hera1d, is tv succeed Sir Charles Young as Garter King-at-Arnis. The money sent to the Chancellor of tbe Exchequer fJr conscience selke in thc financial Jear ending )!arc! 1663. amounted to £ 4,191. In the preceding year the amouut waa £ 4,683. Money is being subscribed in the couuty of G al way for the defence of the pn:ooner Barrett, who IS to he tried at a special commission for tiring at Captain Lamb, rt. A Barrett defence fund" has been started, and a 1JU 1)Jic COli- cert given in Galway ùy a temperance society in its aid. Barrett's solicitor, according to a local papEr, protests against this method of raising funds, and Tfcommcw1¡; the prisoner to apply to the Government lor the aiel of counsel. The Duke de Rivas writes to the Freneh paper.* to deny a Üatement that he was the owner of the lions w o killed Lucas, and that he possesses a men:1gerie of fif y. 1I0 never kept a wild beast in his life, and desires it to be know \I that he is not related to a namesake" ho has a circus in Iad1Íti. On a recent trip of one of the Illinois pach.ts- light-draught one, as there was only two feet of wattr in tha channel-tha passengers were startled by the cry of Ian overboard!" The steamer was stopped, aul 1,reparatiolls were made to save him, when he was heard ex<1ah,jng-, Gl") ahead with your darned old steamboat I'il walk behind you" We are informed hy the Liv; Tinus tnat., owin to "the schemes of confiscation now oricnly put forward by in- fluential pers,ms, not in Ireland only, but in Elgland a'so, a plan is preparing for the formatiull vf a ProPd.y Protection Lea" ue' We (Army and Navy Gazette) bave good reason for believing that, during the cruise wldeh l\[r. Chiders is nuw taking ill conipauy with some of tne 11103t experienced an i intellgent otlicers ill the service, he ,11 tind leisure assisted by tllem, to mature mch a scheme of reuivment w.a be eminently satisfactory to the navy, and, in cOllst(pence, tv the country. A few days ago the lights of a ship in (1isres, were 8een < ft Iaf((at(>, but bef<Jre the lifeboat had reac11.d ke spot the lights had disappeared. From advices received at Aberdeen there is too much reason to believe that the vessel in question was the Annie Longton of that port, lind th:.t 011 the n'glit in question she founaeIeJ 011 the Goodwin. There were sixteen hands on board. In London, a little girl, four years of age, has been killed by falling out of a perambulator. The Army and Nary Gazette states that an alteration i said to be in contemplation ns reard; the rlre5g of the Rifle Brigade and other rifle regiments-nam"ly, a bearskin busty with upright green plume, in lien (If the light fhak) and small ball, an,1 an embroidered bash tither roulJd tll) waist or over the shoulder. The Bishop of Winchester has, it is ¡;;ht.ec1, acted most generously as to the retirin(! pension to which he would be entitled on his forthcoming resignation, and will rcd'1e far less than he might have claimed. At the adjournpd liceming sessions for te borough of Salford, the magistrates refused to grant certificates to teI beerhouse-keepers. The mayor stateù that dllru.¡;, 1 he iasi three years the numbers ûÎ persons convicted of drunken- ness in Salford had more than doubled, and that it was t' e duty of the magistrates, in reference to the operatidu of the new Act, to be strict but 110t oppressive towards baerhous keepers. The Empress Eugenie bas returned to St. C1011'1, slightly lame. It seems that while stepping intó. a boat he sprained her foot, and had to wear a bandage. She arso HIC- fered a good deal from sea sickness. The oldest branch of the far-spreading roya1 family of the Ilohenz dlerns has become extinct by the detune ,f Prince Frederick Williim ComtalJtine of Hult(.nz. ,j)H: Heckingen. The late Pdnce, who was in his s xtwighth Year, had no issue by his first wife, the Pfinces Eugenic of Leuchtenberg, and bis second union with the Counters vo'i Rolhenberg heing morganatic, the title is not handed ÙOW11 to his son by that marriage. Thê Earl of Granard, in a letter to one of the Irish paper*, expresses his conviction that the tru, solution of the land question "Fes in the passing of an Act which would give the force of law to the custom of Ulster, extend its ùene- ficent provisions to the whole of Ireland, and at the same time provide for a periodical Government valuation for lt- ting purposes." "Phe forthcoming meeting of toe Social Science Asso- ciation which is to be htJd this year at Brist01, is anticipated with much interest. Sir Stafford Xorthcote is the jJrei.IPJlt for the year. Tile department of economy and trade will he presided over by ilr. Stephen Cave, M.P that of cducatio 1 by the Rev. Canon Kingsley, and that of jurisprudence hy 1fr. G. W. Hastings. During tM sittings of the congre5s there will be a conference of ladies, under the presidency of Miss Mary Carpenter. Sir Trevor Wheler, Bart" of Wellesbourne, Hastings, ■Warwickshire, one of the few remaining Waterloo veterans, died at Limerick HOtlS, Leamington, on Monday morninc. Sir Trevor was boru in 1.92, auJ was thereto) e seventy-seven years of age. The Rev, Paul Bagley, American left Lnn- don nn Tuesday, for ihe United f,t.lIES, to lay before tho President a eornspondcnce with :11'. Gladstone mid others. Mr. bagley was the bearer of a peliéion for the release of the American Fenian priso1H;r3, signed by a ¡lUmber of members of the two houses of Congress, and liy about; hirt] members of Parliament. In Phila.d1.Jh;8" the other day, an insane young man named Marshall II. Evans shot and kil'ed his LIther, Thoma<s L. Evans, an old man aged 63, in his own honse, N;}, 30G, South Tenth-street, not hr from the scene o the famous Twitchell murder. The hther was ahont to leave the house to consult the family physician regarding the son's con ition, and to suggest his l'lmoval to au asylum. The South London PrN8 nescrihes a singll1:>r but gratifying Derby Day custom. On their way to the D nvns, large numhers of sporting men toss money to the chillren at Satton Schools, and last Derby Day the money thus ¡.:in;n amounted to £ 37. Last week the chifdren, to the number of 850, were taken to the Crystal Palace, and treated to a daj's enjoyment out of these Derby offerings. A congress of schoolmasters sssembled in Turin on the 2nd instant, and was attended by about four hundred delegates, who came from all parts of Italy. The programme of subjects to be dhc11ssed includes compulsory education the means of promoting instruction in the county districts; public libraries, and female culture. At the first siuirg the president and vice-presidents wcre elected awl the con- gress being thus constituted, was to Vloëeeù to the budness set down for it An the following day. In conntctiou wiLh the congress, an Educational Exhibitiüll has been opened. A tdgram was recáved at Warrinton, on Saturday f morning, stating tnat Mr Taylor, jun., youngest SOli lOf illr. Joseph Taylor, of Broomfiel¡1s, and Jr. Whitlow, son of tile late Mr. Whitlow, of the" Norton Arms," were drowned, by the capsizing of all open boat, at the Isle of Man, Oil Friday. It is a significant circumstance, a showing the esti- mate in which the native princes regard the English tenure in India, that the Maharaj Ih of Tuttiala tendered £ 400,000 to the Government of India Oll the terms of the recent 4 per cent, loan. The offtór was accepted. Not long since a premium was offered by an agricul- tural society for the best mode of irrigation, and the latter word, by a mistake of the printer, having been changed to "irritation," a farmer sent his wife to get the prjze. In London, last Sunday, men were at work aU day in the construction of the railway on the Thames Embank- meht, and at least two powerful ei gir.es were in foll opera- tion during the whole 01 the twenty-four boms of Sunday without a moment's cessation. The novelty of Sunday woik attracted large numbers of persons to spots from which a view of the operations could 1>e obtained. Dugene, Oregon, bas an ordinance for the punish- ment of any person lying drunk across the sidewalk." A man was recently arrested for the offence, hut was discharged by the magistrate because the testimmy went to show that he was l'ing along the sidewalk in a lOllgitndiual direction. Often as we have heard of Irish balls we have nnt had previously so promiuently 1>ro11ght before us Paddy's pigs and cows as in the following Erratum," whieh is copied twm a Coik paper Erratum: The words priutecl 'pigs and cows' in Mr. Parker's letter on the land question, whidl appeared in yesterday's issue, should have beeu pros C7id cons." "A correspondent complains of a 4 new nuisance births and deaths bem advertistod in The Timer twice ove: so that you are always coming against an announcement you have read yesterday or the day bdore. to the further consumption of your time.' "-Court Journal. A paper suggests, as a.solution of the land question, an apphcatlOn ot the Prusslan land reform system to Ireland and to EtIland-to "give every third acre to the landlord and the remaining two to the tenant rent free for ever It is said that the retoration of friendly relations hetween the Sultan aul hlS powerful VaÆs.1 th" Viceroy of Eypt is mainly due to the kindly interposition of England, France, and Austria, and that the Khedive WJU shortly visit Stamboul on the old footing. A strange suicide recently took place at the "Pont d'Arcole (France). A man about 3 years of a^-e suddenly 8prun from a cab which was passing aloög, find striding over the parapet, precipitated himself iuto the Seine. 'Ihe driver, qlite unconscious of what had happened, was con- tinuing his route when the shouts 01 the spectators stopped him. The body of the man was carriCèd away by the current and 11.11 the efforts 01 thQ boatmen to recover it proved unsuc- cessful. Speakig at th Sheffield Cutlers' Feast last week, the Marquis of Ilartington referred to the task which lay before the Government ill the ensuing session in dealing with the Irish land question. He expressed a hope that th sui)- ject might be debated with as little as possible at political feeling, for it was one which had never been male the battle- ground of party. Men were comparatively unpledged, and statesmen of vaiious opinions had. fhnw.J! an honest disp si- bon to grapple wlth the dlftlcultIes whtch surrounded this highly important matter.

SINGULAR CHARGE AGAINST A BARONET. At the Perth Sheriff Criminal Court, before Sheriff Barclay, Sir lioberr, Mei zi^s, Bar?., Castle Menzies, has been chargi-d with malicious mischief, in so far as he, on th- 31-t of July lust, on the road leading from the Dunkeld Station of the Highland Railway, ar d about 150 yards from 2Iold IitatiolJ, did wickedly and maliciously strike or kick a wooden subscription box which was placed there on the side of the road, where- by it was knocked "rc8t off the stand on which it; was placed en to the middle of the road, and the lid, lock, and other pans ti eieof were iujured- the same b"x being the property of, or in the lawful possesion < f, Alexander Robertson, coal merchant, and Thomas Ellis, merchant, B rnam, under the name of the Dunkeld Bridge Pontage Committee." Procurator- Fiscal Jameson conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Miller, solicitor, Perth, detended Sir Robert, who was present in c .nrt. The accused admitted having done the act stated in the libel, but denied that be was guilty of a criminal offence. Evidence was heard against Sir Robert at some length, from which it appear* d thaC on the day named he, in passing along with two other gen'.leinm, stepped a,ide and gave the box a kick N n of the witnesses could swear that the kick had at all damaged it The sheriff delivered th" following judgment:— The sheriff finds the libel not proved, in respect that whilst the accus-d admits the act set forth in TlJe libel, it htI not b.eH estiltlihed that by that a t the lid, lock, or any other parts of the wooden box mentioned in the libel, is injuied, therefore dismisses the libel, and the accused simplicter from th" bar." After the juogment was read there was considerable hissing in couit from the audience, the sheriff remark- ing that now he felt that he had acted right in this case. If he had been applauded he would have sus- pected that his judgment was wrong, but being hissed —none could hiss but geese aud serpents—he was con- vinced that he had done what was right in coming to the conclusion he had just stated.

THE BYRON CONTROVERSY. The Saturday Review has an elaborate article upon this engrossing topic. It labours hard to prove that Mrs. Stowe's ghastly story is the true one, and con- cludes thus Is it probable, or even possible, that Mrs. Stowe invented this history? Most iwprobable-all but impossible. Is it probable, or even possible, that Lady Byron invented this history ? Most improbable -all but impossible. Is it probable, or even possible, that Lady Byron, without intending to misstate <r misunderstand, did take au tirieux some foolish and culpable affectation 01 vice, some swagger and boast on her husband's part of some great and secret crime, which only existed in his own morbid imagination, and was only uttered for the sake ot annoying his wife and in his ordinary or extraordinary evil temper? Just possible—but VHY improbable. Is the story an hallucination on Lady Byron's part? Not. at ali likely, but of course possible. If. therefore, there is nothing absolutely to discredit J\-frf.. Stowe's truthfulne-s or Lady B\roii'a truthfulness, and if the probabilities against illusion or misunderstanding are 80 great, we are diiyen to the conclusion that, un the who:e, the history in its fs,ence-t)ia, is- as a charge .-f incest—is mora likely on all accounts to be true than not. 1 hat it ought never to have appeared in this most unsatisfac- tory form, and ihat great blame attaches to the author of the revelation, we make no doubt. The Spectator notices that there is a strong feeling that Mrs. Beecher Stowe had much better have held her tongue, that nothing has been gained by the reve- lation of a secret which will only impart a rather stronger flavour of the pit to Lord Byron's poems, without diminishing their circulation. That feeling finds exprt-ssion elsewhere in our columns, but we are wholly unable to join in the controversy as to the matter of fact. Mrs. Beecher Stowe has not in our judgment shown proper discretion in her revelation or proper respect for Lady Byron's own wishes but it is quite clear that she Las told, very badly, with some gross blunders and some wrttehed attt mpts at sensa- tional writing, the truth, as Lady Byron believed it to be. That it was the truth, there is and can be no proof whatever until the data for Lady Byron's belief are made clear, and the good to be gained in making them clear is, to us, imperceptible. Why not leave the cess- pool alone ? owln The Athenceum has the following remarks :-A great scandal, suspected by none, has been published, to the indignant sorrow rather than the edification of the many. Some years ago Lady Byron is now said to have imparted to Mrs. Beecher Stowe the Secret of the caii-e which led to Lady Byron's separation from her husband. This alleged revelation, which wraps in honible guilt Lord Byron and his half-sister Augusta (who became the wife of Col. Leigh), Mrs. Stowe has thought proper to publish, in justification of the wife of the poet-a noble woman, who needed no ajnilogist. None but painful consequences can result from this indiscreet, not to say inexcusable, utterance. The story, M told by Mra. Stowe, is irreconcilable with the terms of respect in which Lady Bvion always spoke oi her husband. True or false, it is to be regrt-t-ed that a. woman should stain herself with handling this skry at all. There is something unpleasant in the fact th,tr. the lightning which is flashed to blast the name and memory of Lord Byron burst simultaneously from two hemispheres. Thestoiyis in an American as well as an English magazine. In every respect, however, the matter is serious. Tboie who merely speak of it as a subject of which a sensational magazine article has been made, misunderstand the question. To suppose that Mrs. Stowe has sold the secret she could no longer keep, for money, is to suppose her capable of an act by which she would forfeit the public respect for ever. Mr. William Howitt makes a contribution to the growing literature of this unpleasant subject. His view is that Lady Byron was a person who was ac. customed to take extraordinary dislikes to people with- out any imaginable cause, and he believes that thestorv which she told Mrs. Stowe bad no foundation in fact. As to Lady Byron's peculiarities Mr. Howitt writes:— I kcewher for some years, and visited her at her house in town, at her summer residence at Richmond, at Etlln, and met her at her son-iu-law, Lord Lovelace's, at Ockham. She also viiitt d us at E^her and Highua'e. I am sure that Lady Byron was a woman of the most honourable and conscientious intentions, but she was subject.to a constitutional idiosyn- crasy of a most peculiar kind, which rendered her, when under its influence, absolutely and persistently unjust. I am quite sure from my own observation of her that, when seized by this peculiar condition of the nerves, she was helplessly under its control. Through this the chanee in her mood were sudden, and mo t nainful to all about her. I have seen her of an evening in the most ami ible, cordial, arid sunny humour, full ot interest and sympathy and have seen her the flt-xt, mi ruing come down as if i-he had lain all night not on a feather b. d, hut -it a ¡;:Iacier-frnzeu as it were to the very soul, and n.) eff oi-ts on the pa>t offh' S^ around her could res ore her for the day to a genial social warmth. In such moments she seemed to take suoden and (I, el) impressions against pertons and things, wn ch, though the wcrst m'ght pass away, left a permanent effect. Let me give all instance or two Lady Byron was, at the period I speak of, deeply interested in the establishment of working schools for the education of children of the labouring classes. She induced Lord Lovelace to erect one at Ockham sne built one on her estate at Kirby Mallory, in Liecestershire. On one occasion, in one of her uost amiable moods, she asked me to lunch with her in town, that we might discuss her plans for this system of education. She promised to ariange that we should not be interrupted for some hours. I went at the time fixed, but, to my consterna- tiou, found her in one of her frozen fits. The touch of her hand was like that of de ith in her manner there was the silenee of the grave. We sat down- to luncheon by ourselves, and I endeavoured to break the ice by speaking of incidents of the day. It was in vain. The devil of the North Pole was upon her, and I c "lid only extract icy monosyljables. When we returned to the drawing-room T sought to interest her in the topic on which we had met, and which she had so truly at heart. It was hopeless. She said she lelt unable to go into it, and I was glad t ) get away. Again, she was in great difficulty as to the selection of a master for her woiking school at Kirby Mallory. It was necessary for him to unite the very rarely united qualities of a thoroughly practical knowledge of the operations of agri- cultiiie and gardening with the education and information of an accomplIshed schoolmaster. She asked me to try and discover this rara avis for her. I knew exactly such a man in Nottinghamshire, who was at the same time thoroughly honourahle, tiuatworthy, and fond of teaching At her earnest request, I prevailed on him to give up his then comfortable position and accept her offer. For a time he was everything in her eyes that a man and a echoolniasler could be. S e was continually speaking of him when we met in the most cordial terms. But in the course, ,s I remember, of two or three years, the poor fellow wrote to me in the utmost distress, saying that Lady Byron, without the slightest intimation of being in any way dissatisfied with him, or with his management of the school, had given him notice to quit. He had entreated her to let him know what was the cause of this suflden dis- missal She refused to give any, and he entreated me to write to her and endeavour to remove her displeasure, or to as- certain its cause. 1 felt, from what I had seen of Lady Byron before, that it was useless. I wrote to him, Remem- her Lord Byron If LiOy Byron has taken into her head that you shxll go, nothing will turn her. Go you must, and you had better prepare for it." And the poor fellow, with a lamily of aboat five children, and his old situation filled up turned out into the wo Id to comparative ruin. Mr. Uowitt asks his readers to apply these facts to Ltdy Byron's separation from her husband, and to her subsequent, conduct. He comments strongly on the destruction of Lord Byron's papers in vindication of h'mself, x-id argues that. after that L tdy Byron had no right whatever to say any- thing against his memory. Lord Lind ay sends to The Times an extract from the private amily memoirs of the late Lady Ann, Barnard. authoress of Auld Robin Gray," who had known Miss Milbswike from infancy, and ma-intaine the most intimate and oonfi iential relations wit- her after she became Ltdy ByroD. Ltdy Anne's affectionate regard for the l..ttef wa- accl\JJ) p!i.llied with a proportionate antipathy to the poet. Lord Li, dsay's theory, therefore, is that these memoirs present tl e oa-e Mgainst Lord Byron in its blackest form, and tha, the absence of any allusion to the dreadful intrigue- spoken of by Mrs. Stowe mustb-i regarded as strong evi lence of its non-exi?tence. It mut be reaiem bered, however, that Lady Byron did not; inform h r father and mother of certain pai-ticiiltrs which she disclosed to Dr. Lush nyton, and which led him to declare the imi>ossibili:v of her ever returning t her husband, 1I,lIIi it, is scaic- ly probable that she would b mote confidential with L tdv Ali, e Barnard than wit,1 her O,lJ parents. The following, in a somewha,' abridged form, is Lady Anne's narrative, A heb, i' will bo observed, with the excep'ions we have men- tioned coincides with Mrs. Stowe'd description if Byron's behaviour I beard of Lady Bjron's distress ftlils was when she re- turned to her father's a'ter the birth of Ad .]: of the p he took to give a har;h impression of her character to the world. I wrote to her and entieited her to come an ■ let me see and her her, if sh" cmceived my sympathy or counsel could be any comfort to her She cayiie but what a tale was unfolded by this intere ting young creature who had so fondly hopeel to have Iliad" » ynntia iiiin of renins and romance (as she supposed! happy They hili n> t been an hour in the carnage which co veyed them fr m the church when, breaking into a malignant sneer, 0;i! what a dupe you h ive been to your imagination How is it possible a wom-m of Hmr sense conl.1 form the wil.1 hope of leforminu me Ma -y are the tens you will have to shed ere that plan is accom plished. I' is for me tha- you are my wife for me io bate you if you were the ,vife of a"y other man I own you niisiht lia^e charms," & ■. I. who lis ene t, WHS ast'-nisbe.l. Ho* coviI,i >oo po on niter thi* said I, my de r? Wiij (lid Jlln not return to your father's BC.,use I had not a conception he was in earnest; because I reckoned it a bad j-t. and told him so,—that my op nn.ns of l irn were vety different, from bis of himself; otherwise he would not firm me by his side lie laughed it over when tie saw me appear hurt, and I forgot what had passed till forced to rem, tuber it. I believe he was p'eased with me, ton, for a little while I suppo e it had escaped his memory that I was his wif-? But the described the happiness they enjoyed to have been unequal and perturbed Her situation in a short time might have entitled her to some tendermss, but the maoe ) o claim on him for any. He tometimei reproached her for the motives that had induced her to marry him—all was vanity," the vanity of Miss llilbaiike carry ing the point of reforming Lord Byron He always knew her inducements: her pride thitt her eyes to his; he wished to build up his character and his fortunes; both were somewhat deranged she had a high name and would have a fortune worth his attention,—let her look to that for his motives 1" "Oh Byron, Byron," she said, "how yoii dtsolate me! He would then <>c ;use himself of being mad, and throw himself on the grounii in a frenzy, which she believed was affected to conceal the cold- ness and malignity of his heart-an affectation which at that time never failed to meet with the tenderest coinmii-eration. I could find by some implications not followed up by me lest she miht have cotiiemned herself after- wards for her involuntary i.i*clo«ures, that he foon attempted to "orrupt her principles both with respect to her own cononct and her latitude for his. She saw the precipice on which she stood, and kept her sister with her as much as possible. He returned in the evenings from the haunts of vice, where he m ids her understand he had been, with manneis so profli- gate! 0, the wretch said 1, and had he no moments of remorse 1" "Sometimes he appeared to have tnem. One night, coming home from one of hit lawless parties, he saw me so indignantly collected, and bearing all with snch a determined calmness, that a lush of remor.-e seemed to come over him he called himself a monster, though his sister was present, and thiew himself In agony at in* feet. I c(lill-I not, no, I could not forgive him such injuries He had 1 st me for ever Astonished at the return of virtti my tears, I believe, flowed over his face, and I sai t, Bvroii, all is forgotten never, never, shall you hear' of it more He started up, and, folding his arms while he looked at me, burst into laugh er. What do you mean ?' taid 1. Ouly a philosophical experiment, that's all,'said he; 'I wished to ascertain the value of yotirre,ol,itions.1 11 1 need no-, say more of th.s prince of duplicpy, except that valieli were his methods of rendering her wretched, even to the last When her lovely little child was born, and it was laid beside its mother on the bed, and he was informed he might see his Uauahter," after gazing at it with an exulting sm le, this was th ejaculation that broke from him, Oh what all i nplemeut of tortuie h-ve I acq iiied in you?' Such he rendereti it by his ejes and manner, keeping htr in a perpetual alarm for its safely when In his presence. Lady Anne appends a letter from Ladv Byron written soon after the publication of Ckiiide Harold," in which she speaks of her husband's "acted insanity, et.ot.ism, and morbid love of sensation. In one s-n- tence, not without its significance, she says it was brC-iuse she considered heisrlf still Byron's friend that she silenced accusations bv which her own conduct might have bten more fully justified."

ALARMING SCENE IN A MENAGERIE. On the 17th instant, (-ays an Ohio paper), about three o'clock, while Bryant's Menagerie and Circus was in full blast, at the corner of First and Webster streets, there came very suddenly a furious gale of wind, followed by a heavy shower of rain, which for a short time seemed as though it would scatter everything before it. The performance was about half over, when all at once the guy-poles inside were lifted from the ground and considerable creakii g was heard through the entire canvas, which spread great consternation amoiiji the vast number of people gathered under the Pavilion. It was evide-nt that the Pavilion would in- stantly fall unless great force was applied outside to hold on to the ropes. Some fitty men took h' Id of the ropes • >n the south si(ie, and attempted to hold it from blowing over, but it was utterly impossible. In anotherinstant the ropes snapped, the centre pole canw unfastened, and with a teriible crash the large Pavilion was da-lied to the ground, upsetting at the same 1wo of the waggons containing wild animals. At this point several voices cried out" The animals are loose This teriitic alarm, added to the intense excitement caused by the falling of the canvas and I r,-aki, g of the seats and screaming of women and children, made confosi n more coi founded, and the Cene One of the wildest disorder and the greatest danger we ever had occasion to wituess. The people were now all terrified and fled everywhere in the wildest confusion. Amid the screams of at least a thousand wotip n and children who were trying to extricate themselves from beneath the broken benches, and crawling out from under the canvas, mothers and fathers seized their children and frantically rushed their way out as best they could. Many of the children were pressed down in the excite- ment and trampled in the dirt; some were very much bruised. Many men and women fled to adj icent houses and closed the doors behind to escape from being overtaken by the wild aniuials, which they imagined were in pursuit of them. But two persons were seriously injtit-ed-W. H. Mitchell, who was flung across a bench while attempting to support a guy, and a little girl, whose name we did not ascertain, had her arm broken and received a severe wound on the head.

A Hindoo debtor, unable to obtain payment from his creditor, attempted to han bim-elf in the neighbourhood of his creditor's houv-e. He was sentenced to two months' im- prisonment for criminal iutimidation." An epergne and bouquet holder, costing: upwards of £101), which were subscribed for by the employes and local representatives of Mr. Sutton. in acknowledgment of his succe-stul struggle with tiie railway companies upon the packed i arcel question, were presented to Mr. and Mrs Sut- ton on the 23rd ult. The presentation was accompanied by an address, in which it was stated that but for Air. Sutton's resistance to the unjust demands of the railway companies it would have been in their power to impede trade, which is now materially assisted by the rapid and cheap carriage of an" parcou.

IMFORTANfTO BATHERS. The following ru'es were issued last year by the Royal Humane Society and as the bathing wesson is now at its height, the directions cannot be too widely circulated :— Avoid batuing uitbin two hours after a meal. Avoid bathing when exhausted by fatigue, or from any other cause. Avoid bathing when tne body is cooling after perspiration; but bathe when the body is warm, provided no time is lost in getting into the water. Avoid chilling the body by sitting or standing-naked on the banks or in boats after having been in the water. Avoid remaining too long in the water; leave the water immediately there is the slightest feeling of cbilliness. Avoid bathing altogether in the open air, if after having been a short time in the water there is a sense of chilliness, with numbness of the hands and feet. The vigorous and strong may bathe early in the morning on an empty stomach the young, and those that are weak, had better bathe three hours after a meal-the best time for such is from two to three hours after breakfast. Those who are subject to attacks of giddi- ness and faintness, and those who stiff-r from palpita- tion and other sense of dbc imfort at the heart, should not bathe without first consulting their medical ad- viser.-Hy order of the committee, LAMBTON YOUNG, Secretary.

ANOTHER FRENCH POISONING CASE. A great oytr of poisoning, such as has now become almost we-kly reading in the French papers, occupied the Assize Court of Le Mans, the capital of La Sarihe. on Friday and Saturday in last week. and is not yet over (writes a correspondent). Tlfe town is crowded with visitors, and a strong bevy of reporters has gone down from Paris.. The crimes are alleged to have been committed upwards of four years ago; the standing conflict of medical evidence about traces of arsenic is of course the more keen on account of the lapse of time; and the presence of M. Lachaud as counsel for one of the prisoners is a guarantee that the trial will be as dramatic as possible. According to the indictment, M. Janvier, the land- lord of the Hotel deg Trois R<)i, of Bouloire, in the Sarthe, who died on Feb. 5 1865, was poisoned by his wife, Augustine (nee Montarou), and her servant, Anne Dnpin. was not onlv an accomplice in, but the instigator of the deed. Suspicions of foul play pre- vailed in the neighbourhood at the time, but did not set the public prosecutor in motion. It was only to- wards the end of 1868, after he widow Janvier bad heen married a second time to M. Miard, who still keeps the Hotel des Trois Hois, that anonymous letters md handbills, supposed to have been circulated by nne Dupin, led to her arrest and that of the other piisoner. Au nstine Montarou was married to Janvier when o"ly 17, ai aiiist her own wish, and under a threat from oer parents that if she would not take him she should be senr, to a convent. Although they lived together « tave-rn keepeis for fifteen years, and without any flagrant ouanel- this origin of their marria e, pursuant o the French practice of rejecting no circumstance •us too trivial to furnish a motive, is pressed against h'"r is a reason why she was likely to p lison him. He drove the mail cart between Bouloire and Cùnttrré. md evidence is brought forward to show that during the hours of his daily absence she was frequently un- faithful. Of the servant Anne Dupin, the indictment, by way of showing the d, priori probtbility of her being a murderess, recounts thit iu 1846 her mother's hmb md was c invicted of theft. Jind that he had a sister who committed suicide in 1853 on account of an accusation that she had poisoned somebody with phosphorus. This prisoner herself was a natural child, and the ha had two natural children. Her profession was that of a baby-fanner, and the astounding statement is made that i, the course of her time, although now only forty- MPVI n years of age, she has h id eighry-one children to nurse fiom Paris, of whom not half went IHck alive. According to a confession made before the Judge of Instruction by the woman Augustine, but which she retracted in court, it was Anne Dupin who, one day ,tter I'he had been ill umed by her husband, TInt it into her head to tjlce. him off by poison. Anne Dupin got some arsenic from a farrier's wife but for fear that his too eudden (ica h should excite su-picum. recom- mended that he SHould first be dosed with cantha- 1 i.les powder sprinkled on his food to make him ill. This o1 ject being accomplished, and a doctor called in, Dupin took an opportunity to substitute arsenic for his magnesia. The doctor fancied that he died of cholera. In Sept., 1865, Madame Montarou, the mother of Augustine, wa. enticed to come to Bouloire, and was carried on by arsen c administered by Dupin. A few weeks later, one of her illegitimate children, Leopold Dupin, a boy of fifrteii, was put out of tha way b.' his mother for fear of his making revelations. It is cbargrd that he wa< poisoned with Inciter matches. The indic'ment further alleges that after the death of Janvier. Anne Dupm installed herself in the Hotel des Trois Rois, where she acted more like the mistress than a servant that she availed herself of the terrible secret of which she was in possession to extract large sums of money from Augu-tine Montarou aud that whi n, after the second marriage of the latter in June, 1867, Miard turned her out of the house on account of her bad character, she wrote threatening letters and posted anonvmous placards, which led to the exhuma- tion of the three bodies, and the discovery of poison in the remains. In court the prisoner Dupin strenuously denies every- thing. M. Lachaud is counsel tor the other woman.

EXCITING SCENE OFF RAMSGATE PIER. On Monday morning, about ten minutes to eleven, a small yacht, which was subsequently found to be the Northern Belle, attempted to make the port of Rams. gate, from the direction of Deal. The harbour officials perceived her danger, as the fair-weather buoy was on her how, and careful steering and management of sail were essential to prevent the vessel from striking on the East Pier. As she neared the harbour mouth it soon became evident that she was unable to make the port, as a south-easterly gale was blowing at the time, and an extremely heavy sea was running. The yacht did not carry sufficient canvas, and she now swung round and drifted stern foremost to leeward, and in a few seconds she came into collision with the East Pier wall. Happily, the rigging first came in contact with the massive stonework, and thus effrctually relieved the shock but so great was the danger that one of the crew was seen in the entrance to the cabin making preparations for the final change, while ropes and life-buoys were thrown to the others, and it was fully expected that the craft would go to pieces. The excitement of the hundreds who crowded on the pier was intense but a cry of horror broke forth when it was seen that one of the crew was overboard in a futious sea, and holding on merely by a piece of sail. By a desperate effort he contrived to swing himself on board, and, simultaneously with the recovery of his footing, the vessel answered her helm, her bead was put out to sea, and once more she was out of danger. A huge billow next broke over her, and it was feared she had shipped so much water that she must go down but she escaped this new peril also, and made for the open sea. Soon however, it was found that the crew were unable to manage the yacht, owing to damage of sail and rig, and the harbour tug put out to her assistance, bringing her back amid the cheers of the spectators on both piers.

SHOCKING CASE OF HYDROPHOBIA. The following charitable appeal has been published, and in giving it insertion in our columns, we trust it may meet the attention of the charitably disposed :— Sir,—Knowing your readiness to lfnd a helping hand in a giod cause induces me to direct your attention and that of your readers to a most distressing case of hydrophobia which occurred here on Sunday. A young rdftn, John Parker, of the Preston police-force died in very great agony from the effects of the bi'.e of a m id d"g in November, 1868. He was on duty in Friargate, when a rabid dog came running along. The animal had attacked several persons, and whilst Parker was endeavouring to captnre it he was bitten in the hand. He took the brute to the police-office, where it w's subse- c quently destroyed, and his wound was cauterised. For a few days he was too ill to attend to his duties, but no symptoms of hydrophobia preser.ted themselves, and he was considered to be-thoroughly cured. A hoy named Weights was bitten at the fame time, and died in painful agony about three months afterwards. Great attention was then paid to ParKer, but there was nothing to indicate that any of the poison remained in his system. The fact, however. sorely pressed upon the mi-id of his wife, who W"S then enceinte, and she died in confinement a few weeks aftsr the death of the boy Weights. Parker up to Saturday felt in his usual health, but in the afternoon of that day he went to the ground of the Preston Cricket Club, where he was for some time exposed to the heat of the sun. He then besan to feel a pain in t e thumb, and becoming seiiously unwell he went to the police-station and was advised to pro- cure medical aid. During Saturday night he begin to bark. a.,d made several attacks upon his children. A medical man was called in on Sunday morning, and he discovered strong symptoms of hydrophobia. Nearly all the medical men in the town attended him, and every effort was made to remove the poison, but without avail. The poor fellow, after undergoing the most intense agony, died about nine o'clock the same night. The deceased officer, whose character was of the highest order, has left six children fatherless and motherless, and totally unprovided for- the youngest three years old and the eldest thirteen years. Shall these innocent ha b !s in this Christian land cry aloxd for succour and not be he ird ? Myself and two other friends have undertaken to raise a fund for their support. His worship the mayor has kindly consented to act as treasurer, and it is hoped the public will liberally respond to the call which the distressing circum- stances alluded to have necessitated. Trusting you will kindly enable me to let the voices of these 1 ttle urchins be heard, and that their piteous cries may bring substantial re- lief, I am, Sir. yours very respectfully, JOSEPH WARE. Preston, Sept. 4.