Pontypool Free Press and Herald of the Hills

œUt foitfttm Cwresponbtitt. _Wc- aeem it right to state that we do not at all Bum soakttf ourselves with our Correspondent's opinionaj The Triennial Handel Festival, at the Crystal Palace, attracts to London every three years an im. mense number of those who take an interest in the musical art in all parts of the country. Although thegreat composer diedin 1759, it was not for many years after his death that any attempt was madd to per- petuate his fame by any organized celebration. In 1791 there was a Handel Commemoration Festival in Westminster Abbey, at which there were a thousand executants, and in 1834 there was another, of which the performers were scarcely so numerous. But the Clystal Palace Festivals, as we know them, began in 1857, when the four days' programme drew 38,000 visitors. Another was held in 1859, to commemorate the centenary of Handel's death, and on that occasion there were over 81,000 visitors. The year of the International Exhibition, 1862, attracted to the Palace Festival more than 67,000 persons; in 1865 the number was 59,000; in 1868 it rose to 82,000; in 1871" the highest figure was reached—84,771. Three years ago the number was 78,839. The appearance of the orchestra, filled with its four thousand performers, can never be forgotten by those who have witnessed the spectacle, while the dignity and pathos of the choruses produce an ineffaceable impression upon the minds of the thousands who have come from far and near for the purpose of being present at these celebrations. The training ship, in which boys are prepared for the navy or for the merchant service, is an institution, the merits of which are becoming more and more recognized with the advance of time. The visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to the Warspite, which lies in the river off Charlton, has drawn promi- nent attention to a subject of great importance, and it will also be borne in mind that the two sons of the Heir-Apparent, the Princes Albert Victor and George Frederick, are naval cadets—a graceful way of showing the interest of the Prince of Wales in a profession which has made this country the greatest maritime Power in the world. If education can make good sailors, and science can turn out good fighting ships,, the British-Navy of to-day ought to be more perfect than it ever was in our national history. The great naval victories which marked the close of the last century and the beginning of this, were won with the rawest possible material in the way of men. The press-gang, prowling late at night through the bye- ways of our seaport tewns, carried off to the man-of- war lying in the harbour the very refuse of the male population, who could not possibly have known any- thing of the duties of a sailor, and in action might have been deemed rather impediments than helps. Yet, at no time did our naval renown stand so high as then. Now the navy consists of men who have been for the most part carefully trained to their duties, and would be thoroughly competent to take any part which might be assigned to them. The days when the Coaching Club or the Four-in- Hand Club meet in Hyde Park bring together an enormous number of spectators. It is not uncommon for more than thirty vehicles to be brought up, drawn by the best blood which money can procure, either from our own studs or from those on the Continent. When the long procession of coaches has been formed, it moves off either to the Alexandra Palace, or to the Orleans Club at Twickenham; and if the Prince of Wales has no other engagement, he is generally to be seen upon the box of the foremost vehicle, acknow- ledging the salutations of those who are always so ready to recognize him. In all ages the people of every nation have delighted in the horse, and it is recorded that in olden times the inhabitants of Thessaly were excellent equestrians, and were probably first among the Greeks who broke in this noble animal for service in war. In the fourth chapter of the First Book of Kings we are told that Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen—quite an army in themselves. The slaying of the steed by the Angel of Death in the destruction of Sennacherib's army, when— The foam of his gasping lay white on the turf is the subject of a very striking passage in one of the shortest but best-known poems of Lord Byron. Those who take an interest in French affairs will BOW have an opportunity of studying them under highly favourable circumstances, so far as a promi- nent concentration of attention upon them is con- cerned. For the second time within seventeen months France is to have a general election, and the issue before the constituencies is confidence in Marshal MacMahon. In this country we find a disso- lution once in four or five years quite as much as most people care about, for it costs on an average two millions sterling, stagnates trade, and disarranges public business. The shortest Parliament of modern times in England was that which lasted from May, 1857, to April, 1859—only one year and eleven months —and the consequence was that there were compara- tively few new members in ifu .i.i — Parliament is allowed to grow, the greater the pro- portion of new members elected when it is dissolved. Many who have had seats in it have grown weary of legislative life, or have found that the late hours of the House of Commons tell upon their health. The labour is indeed at times excessive. A Minister is in his officejit ten o'clock in the morning; at twelve he takes his seat at a Select Committee, where he remains four hours; he then takes his place in the House, where business detains him perhaps until one or two the next morning. It is sometimes asked why Parlia- ment does not sit more than six months in the year, but it must be remembered that into these six months is concentrated the work of at least nine. The reception of General Grant in London has given much gratification on the other side of the Atlantic. No ex-President of the United States has ever before visited this country, for the ruler of that mighty Re- public has generally led a very quiet and retired life after he has left the White House at Washington. Obscurity seems to attend an ex-President also in death, for Andrew Johnson, who guided the destinies of thirty millions of people for four years, has no monu- ment over his grave in far-off Tennessee; his resting- place is marked onlyTjy a rude wooden shed. It tells as little as the rustic cross upon the plains of Cham- pigny, near Paris, conveys respecting those who lie buried in the mound which it surmounts. It was there that a terrible sortie was made from the French capital against the Germans, on the 1st of December 1870, but the cross and the mound are the only jndica tiona of the conflict. Andrew Johnson, General Grant's immediate predecessor, departed from the White House with his hair turned, and his health broken by the storms of his official career, and that wooden shed on a lonely hill-side in Tennessee seems truly enough to re-echo the sentiment of Edmund Burke, to which he gave such mournful expression upon the death of his only son—"What shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue But General Grant has not been our only distinguished visitor of late. The Emperor and Empress of Brazil have been moving about London, leaving for a time their distant country to visit some of the scenes in the eastern hemisphere. They have not, much fear of the Monroe doctrine being carried out in their absence. That, as your readers are aware, was laid down by Mr. Monroe, a former President of the United States, who held that no rule but that of the Republic ought to exist throughout the whole of the vast territories of the Western hemisphere. From the Atlantic seaboard to the calmer waters of the Pacific main the people were to be governed by themselves. 'It was notoriously this doctrine which interfered with the establishment of an Empire in Mexico ten years ago; but if logically- carried out it would, of course, put an end to British rule in Canada as well as to the empire of Brazil. It is not a long time, and its flight is represented by the mere substitution of a single figure. Most of us can carry our memories back to the month of June, 1867, when there was a very illustrious gather- ing in the city of Paris. The Emperor Napoleon, al- though the starofhis success was already upon the wane, receive! as honoured guests the Czar of Russia, the Sultan of Turkey, the King of Prussia, and Count Bismarck. They visited the Exposition Universelle, one of. those collections of the products of peaceful industry in which) great cities have of late years delighted. The four sovereigns who gathered there repreellted four great European Powers—France and Prussia, Russia and Turkey. What suggestion or thought of war was there at that time. Everything seemed as bright as the sun which lighted up the streets and squares of Paris public events were appa- rently flowing as smoothly as the waters of the Seine past the now ruined Tuileries. A decade rolh awav and what has its history presented ? Every one of the four great Powers ha.3 been at war—France with Prussia, and Russia with Turkey. Two out of the four sovereigns were deposed from their thrones—the Emperor Napoleon ending his days as an exile in Eng- land and the Sultan dying by his own hands a few days after his dethronement. The present =odb of June has witnessed the Czar busily eng^jed ia. hurrying forward tho construction of pontoon bridjos over the Daoube in order to pour hia vast army iito the territories of the Turkish empire. The King of Prussia, who hid then attained his rOth year—the allotted of nua, has since lived to beat down France under his feet, and to revive the glories of the German Empire. In less than four years after he had been received in Paris as a gueat.te had entered the city as a conqueror. The great fire at St. John's, in Newfoundland is one of those terrible calamities to which we are happily not accustomed on this aide of the Atlantic. Wood is so plentiful in America that not only the houses but the pavements, or, as the people say over there, "Side- walks," are made of that saaterial; c^nseqa&ntly if the flames once obtain a hold upon a town, no power of man can stop their progress, and they burn them- selves out because nothing is left in their path to be destroyed. In an English town there can never be any approach to such visitations as those which have fallen upon Chicago, Boston, and St. John's, simply be- cause the same conditions do not exist. The most alarming fire with which the London Brigade has had to deal" was that of June 1861, when the glare from the burning houses in Tooley street lighted up the whole of the metropolis, and a stream of liquid flame poured out upon the surface of the river, threatening the shipping with imminent destruction. It was then that Mr. Braidwood, the predecessor of Capt. Shaw as the chief of the brigade, was killed. For at least a fortnight after Hospital Sunday in London, the amounts of the collections are being for- warded to the Mansion House, and there is always a great deal of speculation, as day after day passes on, whether the result will be equal to that of previous years. When the movement was first started during the mayoralty of Sir Sydney Waterlow in 1873, it was predicted that the result would be a sum of £40,000 for distribution—no excessive estimate when we con- sider the enormous size of London and its immense population. But nothing like this amount has yet been reached. It must not be assumed that all places of worship give in their adhesion to this appeal. Seme find the collections for their own purposes quite as much as their congregations can meet; others pre- fer to make local appeals for the particular hospital or dispensary in their own neighbourhood, and which they are practically prevented from doing if they give in their adhesion to the general fund. There can, however, be no question that the Hospital Sunday movement is a good one, and that it deserves to be a great success.

THE PRINCE OF MONTENEGRO. Mr. W. Denton writes to The Times from Westbourne- square :— In your leading article of Saturday you have ex- pressed your belief that at the renewal of the war con- sequent upon the rupture between Turkey and the European Powers it would have been better that Montenegro had withdrawn from any participation in the war, in the same way that Servia did. While acknowledging the kindliness and justice of all that you say, permit me to point out that it was not in the power of Prince Nicholas to do so. He was ready to maintain peace. This he has declared, and those who know him know how truthful he has always shown himself. He made no claim for any consideration to himself or his people he insisted upon no concession but he would not pur- chase a peace which he desired on the conditions in- sisted upon, which were the expulsion of Herzegovinian refugees—women, old men, and children for the most part—without a guarantee for their safety. Prince Nicholas pleaded fer their safaty and asked for a pro- mise that they should not suffer because they had fled in terror from the Turk. This was refused. The second point equally showed his honourable character. At the beginning of hostilities the Koutchi tribe, formerly and until within the last 20 or 30 years a portion of the Montenegrin people, had reunited themselves to their old neighbours and had returned to their old allegiance. The Turk required that he should give up these people to be dealt with as might seem fit to the Perle. We all know what that means. Prince Nicholas refused to do so. He declared that if he had any territory on which he could settle them he would give them up their country; he would not give up those who had incurred the hostility of the Turk because they had preferred their old ruler and had trusted in him. These were the only conditions on which he insisted—the pledge of safety to the old men, women, and children who had taken shelter in Montenegro, and the retention of the Kourtchi who had united their fortunes with those of the Montenegrins. I think that many of your readers will feel that a man of honour was bound to risk pos- sible loss unless he could secure the safety of both these peoples."

LIFE AT NICOPOLIS, The Special Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph writing -from Nicopolis under date June 12, says :— Nicopolis is not in itself an important place. I presume that at one time it had plenty of inhabi- tants; that the village or town, or whatever you please to call the conglomeration of walls and roofs which they dignify by the name of Nicopolis, knew something of the prattle of children and the patter of their little feet; of the songs of the "Moslem and the cry of the muezzin; that some sort of business was occasionally transacted and that when Russian or Roumanian agitation was away from the place, the inhabitants were fairly comfortable and peaceful. I never knew Nicopolis in those halcyon days, never tasted of its hospitality, never learnt its com- forts. To me it was reserved to see it under very much less happy auspices, to wait till its houses were tilled with troops, till its main road had been ploughed up with wheels of artillery waggons, till its.mosques were used as magazines or hospitals, and its frontage on the river had been converted into batteries. Thus it is that the deserted village can never provoke in me such a poem as Auburn received at the hands of Gold- smith. I never had the acquaintance of its school- master—if, indeed, there ever was one here; the village pastor-in other words, the Imam—may have been loved by all or he may have been disregarded by every- body. Our business hereis ratherto wait than to labour. We are still on the tiptoe of expectation for the ivussians,_ uooteci ana spurred, so to speak, ready to spring into the saddle and to do we know not exactly what—perhaps run away-when the enemy comes. Any way, we are waiting for the troops who every now and then make some kind of appearance at the beud of the river opposite. Nor are they altogether idle, apparently. Every now and then a shell comes plump into the place, burrows in the earth, explodes, frightens a lot of men, is replied to by another, and then all is quiet. Or somebody suddenly hears the report of a distant gun. We jump up, get on our horses, ride to the bank and see puffs of white smoke jetting out from the Islas bank. Then come loud reports of guns on our side of the river, and we suppose at once that a general action has begun. Not so. The whole disturbance is occasioned by some attempt of the Russians to run up a battery opposite our position, and place thereon some heavy guns. Our men see this they know the Russians have no business there—they are equally sure that if they do not fire the Russians will come there, even though they have no right to do so, and they therefore blaze away. The fight soon becomes animated. Our men, being excellent shots, send the missiles right into where the enemy is working. Their shells come flying over our heads with a dread- ful shriek, but without doing any very great harm. As the battle continues, now and then an obus bursts near our guns, and a man, or two perhaps, may be seen limping away—or occa- sionally a soldier is seen to fall, never to walk or limp any more. The guns are served with re- doubled energy, our men keeping a sharp look-out so as to fire at the very moment they see the puff of the Russian weapons, in the hope of hitting the Muscovites field-pieces, and dismounting them. In doing this they expose themselves to a good deal of danger, as they do not hesitate to climb up the earth-work and show a good deal more than their fezzes' to the Russian gunners. Bat, happily, the enemy do not seem to be good marksmen, for the fight always ends in the same way—the Russians are compelled to retire and fire a few shets which are not answered, by way of a parting word, and then the men without a word, and certainly without a cheer, make their cigarettes and coffee, and, sitting down on the ground, are at once as quiet and as calm as if they had done nothing at all except give a very unexciting peace salute. All is still once more so we return to Nicopolis, there to combat with the myriads of fleas-"which swarm the place, and to try to write some account of the little—the very little-that is going on. Still, there is now and then a change the troops turn r these again DF the novelty 6i. that are here cha thing at all events to DreaK..uup._ .¡.. And at e vening when the sun is setting, there art the pre- parations for dinner, then the general parade, and the call of the bugler; and, lastly, the three nightly cheers for the Sultan Hamid. Thus day after day passes by, and still the enemy makes no sign. During the last few days, indeed, we have not had even the extra excitement of a gunboat fight. The Russians have, no doubt, their rafts, their pontoons, and other boats all ready somewhere, but they take very good care net to show them. They probably dislike the manner in.which we deal with their boats when we see them on the water, and hesitate before they ex- pose any more to the fire of our little monitors. I fear that some day these same little monitors will come to grief, and that torpedoes will be used against them. But at present the Turkish sailors are doing their best to preserve these valuable vessels.

On Monday, a,, young married man, named Wilson, employed as a lime burner at Arrr.ltide's Worlcs, Sheffield, fell into a kiln, and was immediitjly uumcd to death. He hii ssly Liccii aurricd mouth.

THE PASSAGE OF THE DANUBE. The following is the official account of the Russian passage of the Danube writes the Correspondent of The Times, under date, Pera, June 24th:—" It is notorious that the Russians have .made great preparations to cross the Danube. In conformity to the rules of strategy, we recognized the inutility of occupy- ing the Dobrudscha in considerable force, and were there- fore content to place there posts of observations merely. On Friday night the Russians crossed between Matchin and Isaktcha, two hours' distance above Hirsova. The troops posted there did their duty bravely, but the enemy, dtsre- garding immense losses, crossed the river successively in boats. The corps of observation retreated in good order." The following is from the Special Correspondent of The Times, under date Bucharest, June 24 The preliminary operations of the Danube have commenced in earnest. The bombardments continued along the whole line to-day, in- cluding the batteries at Oltenitza, Beket, Grahova, and Kalafat. At three o'clock Yesterday morning ten com- panies of Russians crossed the Danube at Galatz in boats, and secured a position at the village of Zatoca, rising above the level of the surrounding marsh, which is still covered by water. This village is three kilometres south of the main channel of the river. After this force secured a footing, the bridge, which had been lying in readiness along the Galatz shore of the river, was swung into position, and reipforcements poured across to strengthen the pioneer battalions at Zatoca. A large number of rafts, which had been constructed in the River Sereth, were now hastily moved over to Zatoca, and a temporary hridge constructed across the deeper portions of the marsh lying hetween Zatoca and the mainland, whieh at this place rises several hundred feet above the level of the river. These heights were held by about 3,000 Turks, and the Russians, reinforced to about 8,000 men, at once commenced an attack upon the Turkish position. After an engagement lasting six horns, they carried the heights, the Turks falling back to Katchin. which is being hastily strengthened by new intrenchments. The Turks are said to have suffered heavily in the struggle for the possession of the heights, and 40 prisoners have already arrived in Galatz. The Russian loss is estimated at two officers and four men wounded, but these returns are undoubtedly incomplete, owing to the confusion of the moment. The Russians now occupy a position op the range of hills 12 kilometes from the point of crossing, and stretching from a point near Matchin south-east along the line in the direction of Isaktcha. The Russian troops have already commenced a movement the Turkish positions behind Matchin, and an action is now going on there. On the night of the '22nd the bridge at Ibraila was swung into position, and 2,000 Cossacks crossed upon it without meeting any resistance, as the Turkish positions are six kilometres from the tite de poat Matchin was evacuated by the Turks yesterday afternoon at 5, the garrison retiring without resistance when they saw them- selves taken in front and rear by the forces from Ibraila and Galatz respectively. The Turks retreated to Hirsova. The Bulgarian residents of Matchin met the Russians at the outskirts of the town with bread and salt and a Bible. The Russian troops are strengthening the fortifications of Matchin. The fall of Toultcha and Sulina cannot be far distant, as the Turkish forces occupying these points are cut off from their lines of communication and reinforcement. The total Russian loss during the capture of the heights opposite Galatz is now stated to be 15 officers and 200 men killed and wounded. This loss is not a heavy one, when the number of men engaged and the strength of the Turkish positions are taken into account." The Military Correspondent of The Times, telegraphing from Bucharest, on June, 25, says:—"At threeo'clock to-day the Russian batteries opened Are on the Turkish fortifica- tions of Rustchuk. The Turks reply promptly, and also fire shrapnel at the tower from whioh the bombardment is being watched. There will be little respect, apparently, for the Red Cross, which floats near. The inhabitants are flying in terror. There is no apparent effect as yet. The Special Correspondent of The Times telegraphing from Bucharest, June26,says:—"Further detailsof the bom- bardment of Giurgevo yesterday state that, besides the damage to the hospital, the residence of M. Calitzi, the finest in the city, the Gymnasium, the Hotel Europe, and two houses close to the hospital were nearly destroyed. Two men and a little girl were killed. Heavy firing was also heard yesterday on the river above the Giurgevo positions. The Emperor visited the wounded at Ibraila on Saturday. He dined here yesterday, but before going to Prince Charles's Palace at Cotroceni, he visited the two Russian officers in the hospital at Bucharest who were wounded during the torpedo expedition near Rustchuk. The Bashi-Bazouks near Matchin cut off the lips and noses of Russian soldiers. These mutilated bodies were seen by a foreign correspondent. During the bombardment of Giurgevo yesterday the Turks red upon the hospital in a way which argues a deliberate intention to disregard the rules of civilized warfare. There are no batteries in Giurgevo or in its immediate vicinity, and the Red Cross Flag is plainly visible but, as 13 shells struck the hospital, the affair evidently passes the bounds" of accident. The Correspondent of the Daily News says :—A Russian doctor who crossed with the first detachment of 800 men informs me that he does not believe out of this number twenty men are left who have not' been either killed or wounded. The Turks do not seem to have been taken by surprise at all, and appear to have made a very desperate resistance. They were seen before the troops crossed to bring down towards the spot where the troops would land mountain guns on horseback, and seem to have been aware of the Russian movement almost as soon as it began.

THE WAR WITH MONTENEGRO. The Times Correspondent with the Montenegrin Army, under date Cettinge, June 24, telegraphs There can be no question of the completeness, any more than the heavy cost, of Suleiman's success so far in reaching his new base of operation. His losses are, I think, reasonably estimated at 10,000 men, the official estimate being even 3,000 in yester- day's battle, which, with Thursday's, were the most severe. Suleiman is now at Eassitje, in communication with Spuz, but it is reported that his trains have not got through. The Montenegrins report one gun taken and many horses, and their losses not above 1,000 killed and wounded. The news of the passage of the Danube by the Russians has revived the spirits of the Montenegrins, and changes the entire situation here. The enthusiasm is great, and the country will submit to all the sacrifices which the position may impose. The army of Suleiman Pasha passed the Zeta yesterday at Spuz, and is encamped in the plain west of the city. The army of Mehemet Ali is retiring towards Sienitza, and the iuvasion from the side of Scutari hangs fire, the levies being unwilling to attack. For the moment everything looks favourable, and, in spite of the superior Turkish force and the advantages gained by it, I believe successful resistance will yet be made, and that the crisis will be passed."

The Daily Telegraph of Tuesday, in a leader on the war, saysFrom all quarters we hearof the gradual march towards the Danube of army cVr^a dircoteù on the position whete long experience and the character of the stream show that the ex- ploit lying before the Russian army must be performed. It is, of course, still doubtful at which spots the feints will be made and where the real attack will be delivered. The exi- gencies of the situation, however, tell us that the first object to be accomplished is the capture of Rustchuk, and conse- quently, that the main operations wm be pushed through at no remote distance from that stronghold. The aggressor en- joys the immense advantage of having an initiative which he will take care not to lose, and his adversary is compelled to defer action until his genuine plans are clearly indicated. From Asia we have accounts of sanguinary yet indecisive engagements in front of Batoum, and more important con- flicts between Muktar Pasha and General TergussakofI in Kurdish Armenia. Should Muktar and Ifatckeffect a junction and acquire an ascendancy over their foes, these will be placed in a dangerous position. On the other hand, if the Russian staff, leaving a corps before Kars, marches a sufficient force through the Soghanlu Dagh, it is diffi- cult to understand how Muktar can evade a disaster. The Kurds are not likely to capture the Bayazid entrench- ments, providing their defenders have plenty of food; but undoubtedly a part of them might move westward, destroy the convoys carrying supplies to the main Russian left column, and compel TergussakofI to win a victory or seek safety in the Aras valley. At present we have no sufficient information to warrant an estimate of the future. Appear- ances, however, are adverse to the Russians, who have met with an unexpected obstruction in a career which, with their enormous means, should have been one of unbroken success. "Russia has her first prisoners of war. Ninety-nine arrived on the 14th inst. at St. Petersburg. They had been captured in Asia, eighty-six being privates, four officers o the general staff, and nine superior officers. They were sub sequently transported to the town • £ Wladimir."—May fair. The Sultan has presented Prince Hassan with a sabre set with diamonds, and valuable horses. The Golos, discussing the purchase of the Suez Canal by England, says ft would remove all check on Russia's liberty of action, which she has hitherto restrained from fear of exciting the apprehensions of the other Powers, who have sometimes made her pay dear for their neutrality. The pur- chase would facilitate the settlement of the Eastern Question in the way most favourable to Russian interests. The correspondent of the Standard says that the Russians entered Matchin without fighting, and were reeeived by a deputation of Christian inhabitants, who offered them bread and salt, and asked to be protected against the Tcherkesses. "Before leaving Bucharest for Ibraila, the Czar had an interview with his son Alexis, with whom, after a long disagree- ment, he now became reconciled and raised the Grand Duke from the rank of major to that of general.—The Montene- grin defeat has made the deepest impression upon the Czar, and will evidently hasten the prosecution of the war."— Vienna Correspondent of the Standard. "In the cannonade between the Turkish and Russian batteries a greater loss to humanity has been suffered than can be repaid by any results likely to come out of the campaign. Either yesterday or the day before (June 20) the '> "Mst, Verestchagin, whose works are well known in I who preferred to suffer loss in money rather his pictures to remain outside the limits of his Moscow, died, torn by a shell from a Turkish Turtukai, in reply to a cannon from Oltenitza."— JUcnarest Correspondent of The Times. "According to the Stamboul newspapers the English officers belonging to the man-of-war stationed at Dede- agatch on the Archipelago have been assisting the Turks in constructing breastworks at that place. The Turkish journal, the Dassiret., thanks the English officers for this proof of sympathy and kindness. If the story be true, it is surely a strange way of displaying British neutrality. It is •continually stated, moreover, and universally believed in Constantinople, that Sir Arnold Kemball is not a mere passive observer in Asia Minor, but that several of the best movements have be. en ade under his advice; that, indeed, the object in sending him to the front was to enable him to advise the Turkish Commander-in-Chief. Sir Arnold Kemball is in the English service, and if her Majesty's Government wished to render assistance to the Turks they could hardly have sent a more competent officer. The fact however, which ought, I think, to be clearly made known is whether our Government has instructed Sir Arnold Kemball to assist or allows him to do so. If he gives no advice what- ever it would be well that the absolutely mischievous im- pression now prevalent in Constantinople should be got rid of. If he is authorised to give advice then your readers can judge what Lord Beaconsfield's neutrality means."—Constan- tinople Correspondent of the Daily Yews. A very gallant exploit was attempted the other day, opposite Guirgevo, by a young officer of the Marine Guard, Lieutenant Stridlin. Iu a torpedo launch he steamed across iu broad day- light to a Turkish monitor lying close under the guns of the Rustchuk batteries. I he batteries, the monitor, and the infan- try marksmen fired hard at him, and he laid the launch along- side the monitor and successfully affixed the torpedo. As he put off, the wire communication from the batteries round his waist was snapped by a rifle bullet, lie was wounded in three places by a revolver fired by a Turkish officer on board the monitor. The Correspondent of the Standard, under date Constan- tinople, June ;:5, says ■—••Ihe victory of Dervish Pacha appears to have been complete. He has entirely saved Eatoum from the danger which threatened it. A part of his force consisted of the newly-enrolled Zebecks, whom I have mentioned to you in previous letters and telegram;, and who Lave rendered really valuable servico."

--='T"¿'CJI THE PARTITION OF TURKEY. The Berlin Post publishes an article on the partition schemes. The article issues from a Russian quarter according to the statement of the paper itself, and pleads for the transfer of the European Turkish provinces to Austria, the Greek provinces excepted which should be ceded to Greece. Austria would become a Confederate State, and be thus the beit guarantee of order among the European Powers. Europe could confidentially entmst Austria with Con- stantinople and the protection of the Bosphorus and Ishe Dardanelles. It is argued that the scheme is as compatible with the general interest as it is conform- able with the views which are said to have been demonstrated by Prince Bismarck as being the surest expedient for properly settling the Eastern question.

ANOTHER STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. Last Saturday afternoon an interesting ceremony was performed near Battersea Park, when the first, buildings of the Metropolitan Artisans1 and Labourers' Dwellings Association—now named, with her Ma- jesty's approval, the VICTORIA DWELLINGS ASSOCIA- TION—were declared open by the Earl of Beaconsfield. The object of the Association, as stated in the programme, is to provide, healthy and comfortable homes for artisans, more especially for the class termed labourers and persons earning small wages. The buildings inaugurated on Saturday are erected on land belonging to the Association immediately adjoining Battorsea Park. They are built in flats, as nearly fireproof as may be. Each tenement in the Artisans' Dwellings and each block of four rooms for those of the labourers are entirely separated from others by an open-ah" space, so that in case of fever or small-pox thtre would be little danger of the epidemic sprea.lhig. The drains, to quote the pro- gramme, are so ajfeanged as to prevent the possibility of escape of foul atfifum the setters into the dwellings, and the sinks in tenements are all trapped. Each tenement has a, cr, t supply of fresh water, the use of a wash-liouse,hunker, and dust shoot, and generally great <» has,been taken to insure for the tenants all the at tif the best known sanitary appliances. The ).D.8\ dwelling's are self-contained, that is to sav, witRJ^the outer door, which opens on to a general staircase, tsrfe all the conveniences required by a family except tlgj w afchhouses, which are detached from the Vulding,tTheise tenements contain, in most cases, three goodlSiM^-ii^ldtehen, bedroom, and sittattg-roorn, wfcjelFQten be twed also as a bedroom. The labourers'fclocfcs are so divided that the rooms can be let singly, or in twos, threes, and fours. By this arrangement tenants will be enabled to occupy additional rooms ali their families increase or as their circumstances impure. The rentals for these rooms will be less than those which are now too often paid for habitations totally unfit for occupation. There was a lamjf attendance of ladies and gentle- men, who were acmitted to the grounds by cards of invitation. Amongihose present were the Lord Chan- cellor, the Bishop of Winchester, the Lord Chief Baron, the Earl of Verulam, the Earl and Countess of Stanhope, the Countess of Scarborough, Lord and Lady Rosslyn, Lady Elizabeth Drummond, Lord Gordon, Mr. Cross, M.P., &c., &c. The proceedings were commenced by Mr. Walter, M.P., who was received with cheers.—We give the following extracts from his interesting speech :— I have a few words to address to you by way of explaining the objects of this Association, and more particularly the object which has induced us to seek your attendance to-day. The condition of the dwellings of the labouring classes in this M etropolis has long been a source of the greatest anxiety and concern to all reflecting people. One fact alone I will men- tion hi proof of that statement. In spite of the manifold advantages London enjoys from its unrivalled natural position, through which it is, in spite of many defects, the most healthy capital in the world, its rate of mortality rate not exceeding 23 or 24 per thousand a year, the difference between the healthiness of different districts in London is such that whereas the normal mortality is, as I have stated, about 24 per thousand, the mortality of certain districts is no less than 40 or 6* per thousand, and that mortality is distinctly attributable to disease-tbe filth and foul air which produce disease. (Hear, hear.) That fact alone, I think, speaks volumes, and suggests an amount of misery and disease of which ve can hardly form a conception, and from which we gladly turn away our eyes if we could, But we cannot (cheers), for this fact suggests other considerations besides those of a sanitary charac- ter. It suggests considerations of a moral and social character of which we have been often warued and to be impressed with them we have only to look around us and consider the serious joints of contrast that exist between wealth and poverty, and of all the points of contrast between wealth and poverty, none are of so painful a cha- racter as the difference between the dwellings of the rich and poor. (Hear, hear.) I do not mean to imply by that the dwellings of the upper classes are too good, because our palaces in London are very few, and the dwel- lings of the upper and middle classes, taken as a whole, are certainly not remarkable either for much architectural beauty without or any excessive accommodation within. ("Hear," and a laugh.) But I do speak of the dwellings of the very poor in certain districts at least in this Metropolis. Let any one take a turn through that part of Westminster which lies between Eccleston-square and the Abbey. Let him walk through the noisome courts and alleys of that district, or let him wander, if he is so disposed—and I don't think he will be very apt to repeat his visit—between Trafalgar-square and Oxford-street, through the purlieus of St. Giles's and Soho; then, on the other hand, let him pay a visit to one of those groups of dwellings ljuilt on this principle—built either through the generosity of Paabody or through the enterprise of Sir Sydney Waterlow and his company or any other com- pany—for I do them all equal credit, being founded for the purpose of meeting this evil (hear, hear), and let him con- sider the different feelings that will arise in his mind after the two visits. In the one case he will be disposed when wandering through the noisome districts to quicken his pace and hold his nose, to thank Heaven he is out of .it, and to wonder how people can live in such hovels. On the other hand, he will see nothing to shock the eye, if he doetl Mfc,-aeo fcinclj to gratify it-he will see, if not lafov,' every convenience for health pro- vided for tjpse who are fortunate enough to occupy those buildings. (Cheers.) Here he will see a site fit for a nobleman. (Cheers.) He will find for those who inhabit these blocks every sanitary arrangement and comfort which the skill of the architect and builder can suggest, and he will feel that those persons, whatever other quarrels they may have with their lot, have, at least, no legitimate quarrel to find with their houses. (Hear, hear.) Let me say a word with respect to the steps taken during the last 25 or 30 years to combat a growing evil. The Metropolis is increas- ing at the rate of 40,000 a year, and within the last 20 years all that has been done by the various societies, including the Peabody Association, to provide improved dwellings for the poor, has not yet housed more than that number- 40,000. (Hear, hear.) I believe the first association was the Metropolitan Association—a very respectable and flourishing body. Then a great effort was made by Mr. Peabody, that most generous benefactor to London. (Cheers.) Tke capital of the Peabody Association amounts now to £ 600,000, and there are something like 10,000 whose homes have heen permallenth improved through the generosity of that kind benefactor' (Cheers.) Sir Sidney Waterlow's Company have a capitiil of between £:>00,000 to £400,000, and they, I should tiling, provide fur ahout one-half as many. Then there are other ^.ssoelations—I need not go through them—who have done good work and last, hut not least, comes the.Association vhose first completed work you have met this afternoon to iuaugurate. (Cheers.) There is this imlJOrtant point to b borne in mind in considering this question. Every year almost some encroachments are madc on the available space of the Tondon poor, either by driving new streets through the letropolis- a most important and absolutely necessary work- or by laying íresh lines of railway, or building new stations, or even such objectionable buildings as the Law Courts (a laugh), which alone dislodged 4,000 people in one of the most densely crowded parts of the Metropolis. (Hear, hear.) How is that space to be made up ? It is alto- gether a mistake to suppose that London is a densely- peopled capital. It is no such thing. In the densest part of the Metropolis, in Westminster, there are under 300 per- sons per acre, and that is one of the most unhealthy parts. Xow, it has been proved by ample trial that, by adopting a plan of construction like what you see before you, which is the same plan substantially as the Peabody and Sir Sidney Waterlow's Association have adopted, you may accom- modate 1,600 per acre infinitely better than 300 can be accommodated under the old system. (Cheers.) Instead of spreading London out, you must rear it upwards—you must raise it to the clouds. (Cheers.) There is no other way of meeting the difficulty, for, in spite of all the poetry attaching to suburban homes, of which you have an example at Penge, and instead of cheap railway fares, it is an un- deniable faet that the great mass of the Metropolitan poor, artisans and labourers, must live near their work; it may be a most disagreeable fact to contemplate, but that is the only way to provide for it. (Hear, hear.) Two years ago my right hon. friend the Home Secretary, Mr. Cross, introduced a most admirable Bill into Parliament (hear, hear), for meeting this difficulty on a large scale by combining the purification of the Metropolis with the removal of UD- wholesome and noxious buildings, and at the same time providing a machinery for supplying their places with wholesome and improved buildings. (Hear, hear.) And now a word about the financial character of the Association. All these Associations are what we in Parliament would call of a hybrid character that is, they are based partly on philanthropic and partly on commercial considerations. They are philan- thropic so far as they are intended exclusively for a certain class of the population, and that the humbler class, which have not the means of providing a good home for them- selves. They are commercial so far as they are based on essentially economic considerations, and intended to yield a fair and proper return to their subscribers. I take the state of the case to be about this :—Suppose an ordinal building investment calculated to yield from 6 to 6t or 7 per cent we consider if a building of this kind pay 5 per cent.—we hope it may not be less, and we do not desire more—the shareholders may take out the additional one and a-half or two per cent. from the comfortable feeling they will have that they could not spend their money better for the good of mankind. (Cheers.) And when I consider how much money has been squandered in this country during the last 20 years in loans to foreign Governments, when I consider how that money has been spent in useless or miscàievous enterprises, and when I think that one-fourth of that sum would have rebuilt the metropolis, I must say £50,000,000 would have been more profitably applied in improving the dwellings of the poor than in enabling the Turks to build ironclads add useless palaces. (Cheers.) The Earl of Beaconsfield in the course of his speech said:— I need not, ladies and gentlemen, impress upon you that the home is the unit of civilization. From it spring all those influences which give a character to society either for good or for evil-either for a beneficent or of character. A man who feels that his home is Home. &weet Home," is proud of the community in which he dwells but the man who feels that his home is a den of misery alldLrime immediately assails that society of which he beHeves he is the unjust victim. (Cheers.) Now, ladies and gentle- men, I have touched on the health of the people, and I know there are many who look upon that as an amiable but merely philanthropic expectation to dwell upon. But the truth is, the matter is much deeper than it appears upon the surface. (Hear, hear.) The health of a people is really the foundation upon which ,.11 their happiness and all their power as a State depend. (Cheers.) It is quite possible for a kingdom to be inhabited by an able and active population, you may have successful manufactures and you may have a productive agriculture; the arts may flourish, architecture may cover your land with temples and palaces, you may have even material power to de- fend and support all these acquisitions, you may have arn1S of precision and fleets of fish-torpedoes, but if the population of the country is stationary or yearly diminishing — if, while it diminishes in number, it diminishes also in stature alld 111 strength, that country is doomed. (Cheers.) And, speaking to those who, I hope are not ashamed to say that they ape proud of the empire to which they belong and which their ancestors created (cheers), 1 recommend to them, by all the means in their powcr. to assist the movement that is 1l0W prevalent in this country to ameliorate the condition of the people by improving the dwellings iu which they live. (Loud cheers.) The health of the people is, in my opinion, the first duty of a statesman. iCheers.) Impressed with that consideration, I have endeavoured, however humbly, at all times to artist movement:; of this character (cheers), and I am confident that there is no object of higher importance to engage the interests of society. (Cheer;.) I have one more duty to fulrtl before I ccase to trouble you with these remarks. Iter Majesty takes a deep interest in this move- mcat for thc improvement of the dwellings of her pcoplc- (cheers)—and, understanding that to-day I should bavo rhe honour and pleasure of ollcring as far as I could my influ- ence for its success, she has commanded me to express her wish that her name may be associated with this institution (cheers)—and in future these buildings will be called "The Victoria D'.vellin^s for Artisans and Labour arc." (Loud

.fc. I, ——' ■" THE PASSAGE OF THE DANUB BY THB RUSSIANS. The Times, in a. leader, coaftneating upon the cross- ing of tho Danube by the Russian army, observes that the operation is of the, very highest importance, and from this moment theinterest in the events of the campaign will be extreme. The Turks explain the Eassage into the Dobrudscha as a movement permitted y themselves. According to this representation they have abandoned for strategical reasons the defence of the tract between the Lower Danube and the sea. They have left Matchin, Isaktchi, Tultcha, and the rest with slender garrisons, for they consider the places hardly worth preserving. The Russians are welcome to the Dobrudscha, but when they are in it the Serdar will make it difficult for them to come out. for the Turks have fortified the line of Trajan's Wall, from Tcheruavoda to Kustendji, and the intruder must either remain in his uninviting and useless conquest or fix the trestles and boats once more to return to the side he has quitted. According to this view, the strength of the Turkish position is formed by Rustchuk and Silistria, Shumla and, Varna. It is on the higher course of the Danube that the real passage must be made, and here the Turks will not so readily allow the operation to succeed. On this point we shall probably not have to wait long for information. What is to be done will probably be done suddenly, and it cannot be much longer delayed. Supposing the Russian army established on the Bulgarian side of the Danube, we may suppose that the summer will not have passed away before the issue of the contest has been practi- cally determined.

GRAND BANQUET AT THE TRINITY HOUSE. The Prince of Wales, Prince Leopold, jrince Christian, the Prince of Leiningen, Prinze Edward of Saxe Weimar, General Grant, and 4 celebrities, native and foreign, p banquet at Trinity House on of Wales, in replying to the ciccasion to pay a gracefr' Grant, whom lie cordiall' The Chancellor of. the EJ with cheers), in replyh Ministers," said :— Your Royal Highness, my Lore. -o experience of a good many years anu a good many pleasant dinners at this Corporation has accustomed me when this toast is proposed to hear it always cordially received; and, I may add, that until the present occasion, I have always heard it suitably and ably responded to—(cheers)— but on the present occasion I am put in a position of some difficulty. I feel myself in the presence of many much more worthy representatives of her Majesty's Ministers, more entitled than myself to return thanks for the compliment you have just paid them. When a man finds himself in such a position he naturally begins to ask himself why he has been called upon to fill it. Now, having by the hard necessities of later years been, I confess, rendered somewhat suspicious, I always ask myself this question, whether those who apply to me want money. (A laugh.) 1 confess my suspicions were arouseù this evening (a laugh); for the first thing that arrested my at- tention when 1 came into the roam where your business meeting is held was the model of the Eddystone Light- house, and when I heard that some of the stone was crumbling away, the circumstance was naturally suggestive of future expenditure (a laugh); but I was somewhat re- lieved in two or three minutes, for I soon after met the Secretary of the Treasury, and I knew well that his heart was a great deal harder than all the granite on which the Eddystone Lighthouse was built. (Laughter.) Still, I was a little bewildered why I should be called to re- turn thanks for Her Majesty's Government, except that I also have the distinction of being an Elder Brother of the Trinity House and that I may be in some way regarded as the representative of the Prime Minister, because we were made Elder Brethren on the same day, and of the twins I believe I was by a little the elder. Therefore I accept the honour which has been imposed on'nie. There have been reports and rumours of dissensions in the Cabinet, and of them I do not mean to say anything but this-there is one subject on which there is no dissension. Among all the Ministers who have ever dined at the Trinity-house there is no dissension as to the manner in which they have been re- ceived in this hospitable hall. (Cheers.) There is a system which prevails in some countries of interviewing )1inisters after dinner. (A laugh.) We have an illustrous foreigner here present-but I won't call him a foreigner (cheers) —we have a distinguished and illustrious guest here present, who knows what interviewing means on the other side of the Atlantic. Here we do our interviewing in the shape of after dinner speeches—(a laugh)—when Her Majesty's Ministers return thanks for the hospitality be-, stewed and the confidence reposed in them. (Cheers.) I remember an old story which used to be told of Pitt— rather a good story at the time. lie was asked by some friend who met him, "What news?' "News." said Pitt, "I have not seen the newspapers." (A laugh.) But, seriously, the newspapers now seem to know a great deal more of our proceedings than we do our- selves, and therefore, as I do not happen to have seen the evening's newspaper--(a laugh)—all I can say is that I am the most unlucky of Ministers, because all my col- leagues are constantly wanting two things of me; they are always wanting money—(a laugh)—and time. Every colleague comes to me asking for time to bring in this Bill and that which he has prepared, and I am always expected tf) make time, notwithstanding the little obstructions which occur now and then. (Laughter.) My right hon. friend the Home Secretary is a most dangerous ellow (a laugh); he comes to me both for money and for time. With his Prisons Bill he takes up a great deal of time, and no doubt he will by and by be emptying the Exchequer in making prison discipline uniform and render- ing the prisons sufficiently comfortable to their inmates. (A hmgh.) But, understanding all this. I hope, on the part of Her Majesty's Ministers, you will receive at «ur hands, and through my unworthy medium, our cordial thanks for the honour you have done us. (Cheers.) I can assure you that, although I have ventured to speak in a light strain on one or two matters, we do feel very keenly the serious nature of our position and the gravity of the circumstances of the present day, but I am sure you will not expect me on an occasion like this to enter into discussion on these matters. (Cheers.) We cannot but feel the situation of Europe at this moment one of the greatest anxiety to all Englishmen, especially to those engaged in the administra- tion of affairs. The gcneral principles on which the Govern- ment act have been stated more than once, and, we beHeve they command the confidence of the' 'country. (Cheers.) That confidence may be tempered with a little generosity, but at the same time it is a confidence which enables us to speak and to act boldly when occasion for either speech or action may arise. (Cheers.) We fully believe that the interests of England are the interests of Europe and of the world. (Cheers.) Our interests are in the maintenance of peace, and I mean something more than the mere cessation of hostilities—the maintenance of honour and good faith. (Cheers.) That is an interest not peculiar to ourselves. It is an interest in which we have no selfish wonl to speak —it is an interest which we have in common with other Powers, and we believe that other Powers will be as sensible of it as ourselves. Weare anxious to have our part in the settlement that must come. We know that things are in a state of confusion, and the most melancholy confusion but we know, sooner 01' later order must come, and if that order is somewhat different from the old order, if it ùe satisfac- tory, let us bear our part in the settlement, that must come. (Hear, hear.) Let others also bear their parts (hear, hear); this only I will say, that while we ought not to run to meet our troubles half way, so neither ought we to ùe neglectful in watching what may ùe coming. 50 one can more ear- nestlydeprecate overhaste, no one can be more anxious that necessary precautions should b" taken in this matter. I believe the interests of Europe are the same as the interests •of this country, and I believe when the day of settlement cÜilles-and come it will, and it may be soon-it will be a settlement ill which this country will bear an honOllralJle part, and a part worthy of it. (Loud cheers.) The Earl of Carnarvon in proposing the health of General Grant, said— There are several reasons why the toast comes with pecu- liar appropriateness here. We have been reminded by the Deputy-Master of the interchange of courtesy and hos- pitality which has passed 011 former occasions between Pre- sident Grant and the representatives of this Board. But there is also another reason. An old poet has sung of a great island which was the centre of the sea," and that language has also been applied to this country with some fitness, be- cause here strangers of all classes, of all ranks-mell of letters, men of arts, men of science, men of state all that have been most worthy and great, have, as it were, come to this centre of the old civilization. (Cheers.) And I venture without disparagement to any of these illustrious guests to say that never has there been one to whom we willingly accord a freer, a fuller, a heartier welcome than we do to General Grant on this occasion. (Loud cheers.) We accord it to him, not merely because we believe he has performed the part of a distinguished general in many a "well-foughtentield," nor because he has twice filled the highest office which the citizen of his great country can fill, but because we look upon him here present to night as representing, so to speak, that goodwill and that affection which ought to subsist between us and the United States of America. (Loud cheers.) It is not a century since there befell this country what we believe to have been the greatest misfortune that her pages record. Not a hundred years ago the States of America separated from us; aud, great as the loss was, I do not think that the separation was the greatest part of the calamity. The disaster lay in this, that the separation on each side was effected amid the storms of passion, resentment, and animosity. Yet not a century has rolled by, and I believe, and thank God for believing, that in a great measure that animosity and resentment have passed away, and we are entering on a new stage of mutual trust, of mutual sym- pathy, and of mutual support and strength. (Loud cheers.) I have had perhaps, special opportunities of observing this in the office I have the honour to hold. It has been my duty to be connected with the great dominion of Canada, stretching, as it does, several thousand miles along the frontier of the United States, aud during the last three or four years I can truthfully say that nothing impressed me more or gave me livelier satisfaction than the inter- change of friendly and good offices between the two countries under the auspices of President Grant. (Loud cheers.) Thanks to steam and the telegraph, science is rapidly bridging over the Atlantic, and as we are drawing closer to each other as far as the relations of time ane space are concerned, we are drawing closer also to each other in friendly feeling and sympathy. (Cheers.) Of this at least I am satisfied, that there is no higher or nobler task for any statesman on either side the Atlantic than as far as lies in his power to strengthen the instincts of that great natural alliance that ought to subsist, to remove shade of difference, to cement every poss' pathy, and to make the two nations, which:, in feeling, and in religion, one also in sv tion, and I would venture to add in tt common political action. (Loud Cheei The Health of the Guests," aud to coi tinguished name of General Grant. (Lo cheers.) General Grant was loudly cheered on 1.. ±0 spond. He spoke in such a low voice as not to be heard distinctly, but he was understood to say that he felt more impressed than possibly he had ever felt before on any occasion. He said he came there under the impression that this was the Trinity House, and that the trinity consisted of the Army, the Xavy, anil Peace. He therefore thought it was a place of quietude, where there would be no talk or toasts. (Laughter.) He had been therefore naturally surprised at hearing both one and the other. He had heard some re- marks from his RoyallIighness the president of the evening which compelled him to say one word in response to them. The remarks he referred to were complimentary to him. He begged to thank his Royal Highness for those remarks. There had been other things said during the evening highly gratifying to him. Not the least gratifying among them was to hear that there were occasionally in this country party fights as well as in America. (Laughter.) lie had seen before now as much as a war between the three departments of the State-the executive, the judicial, and the legislative departments, lie had not seen the political parties of Englamlgo so far as that since he had come to this country. Hc would imitate their Chairman, who had set the good example of oratory—that was brevity—aud say no more than simply to thank his Royal Highness and the company for the visitors.

11 ii A STUDENT IN THE RANKS. Sir Bartie Frere, in his address to the annual general meeting of the Public Library at Capetown, give the fol- lowing illustration of the use of free libraries — "At Kurrachee, in India, whero the library, as here, was open to all comers, there was a man whom I used to observe, a private in a Queen's regiment, who had neither a corporal's stripe nor a sergeant's stripe on his arm, and though a very good and steady man did not aspire even to be a corporal. But this private* soldier was most constant in his attendance at the library, and I was curious to know what was his course of reading, pjid I found that he had been reading the works of Jeremy Bentham straight through, from be- ginning to end. I would ask you to consider the amount of determination and philosophical spirit that must have been in that man to make him go steadily through the werks of Jeremy Bentham, volume by volume. Ho had got through, I think> ton volumes, which I found ho had read and thoroughly studied, for I found he knew very well what their contents were. But how did he manage it ? I found he never took two volumes running. He always took one or two good novels and refreshed himself between the volumes of Bentham, after the dry heights of poli- tical science, by reading Thackeray or Dickens."— Cape Argws.

The Select Committee on Employers' Liability have reported by a majority in favour of extending the liability of the owner to the manager or overseer who has full control. Oiily four voted for the proposal of the chair- roan (Mr. Lowe), holdiiig the ownor reiponsibla for all acting under him

THE COMPARATIVE ANTIQUITY OF CONTINENTS." In London, on Monday evening, a lecture was delivered at a meeting of tho Royal Geographical Society by Professor Wallace on the "Comparative Antiquity of Continents." The chair was taken by Sir R. Aleock. Among the dis- tinguished visitors present was the Emperor of Brazil. Mr. Wallace commenced by saying that most lands, whether they were islands, continents, or otherwise, were marked more or less by Slme peculiar natural features of their own, and also possessed distinctive animals. Taking these two great facts into considera- tion, they were enabled approximately to get at the relative antiquity of continents. He then pro- ceeded to draw attention to the fact that all the great continents and peninsulas stretched from north to south. Professor Wallace next went m to enumerate the various animals of the same kind which existed in various parts of r Wiih respect to the jreographical v— that in all prob-> "A _;on -liity, western although it was 11." 1 any very long continuance. This he en- deavoured to prove by stating that whilst some of the animals known in Western Europe., passed over into America, those in the East and Asia never emigrated to that country, which in all probability they would have done had the continents been long joined together. In conclusion the lecturer stated that Australia and New Guinea were younger in the world's history than any other portion of the globe, and they differed from other parts of the earth both in general appearance and the animals they contained.

UUstcU.uuous Jntclligiiitt. HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL, THE MORAL LESSOX.—Mother. If Mrs. Johnson comes. Jemmy, say I'm not at home.—Jemmy. Oh, I dare say And then you'll give me a whacking for telling a story !—Judy. STAGNATION IN THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE.— The Financia remarks that business in the Stock Exchange on Monday was, if possible, worse than ever, and at an unusually early period of the after- noon the building was quite empty. Members who have had as much as thirty or forty years' experience declare they have never known such extreme and long-continued stagnation. Consequently, in scarcely one single stock did the extreme variation to-day reach as much as i per cent., while, in the great majority of instances, values were absolutely un- changed MONEY ORDERS.—A bill "to amend the law with respect to money orders granted or issued by or under the authority of the Postmaster-General" has been introduced by Mr. W. H. Smith and Lord John Manners. Its object is, according to the preamble, to enable the Postmaster-General to issue money orders capable of being cashed with greater facility than those which are at present issued," and the bill proposes to remove doubts which are entertained whether certain enactments mentioned in a schedule will apply to money orders. CHILD EMIGRATION.—Miss Rye's next party of chil- dren will leave England for Canada on 2nd of August, in the Circassian, and her secretary, Miss Lizzie Still, will be happy to receive (free, if necessary) orphan or destitute little girls between the ages of 4 and 13 years, into the Home, Avenue House, High-street, Peckham. City missionaries^ Bible-women and others, are desired to recommend suitable cases. WAKING UP !—The Japanese are waking up to the importance of improving the breed of horses and minor animals (says the World). A commission was recently sent from Yokohama to the United States deputed to purchase the best blood-stock that could be obtained for money. It has already sent back from California a consignment of three thoroughbred horses, two fillies, and two large draught stallions. It is not improbable that the Japanese Commissioners may put in an appearance at the Cobham sales next year. Fifty pure merino rams and a like number of ewes have also been safely landed at Yokohama. A TRAGEDY IN BERLIN.—The Berlin Correspondent of the Daily News writes :—" A letter-carrier was murdered the other day in circumstances of extra- ordinary boldness. It was in the Tauben-strasse, one of the most crowded and busy streets in the city, and in the middle of the day. The victim, who was a Geldbrieftrager, or carrier who pays postal money orders, and collects the money on postal drafts, had been to the third flight of a large house, where he had received a payment of 10,000 marks. On descend- ing to the street he passed on the first floor, which was vacant, a young man apparently trying to obtain entrance. The good-natured letter-carrier explained that nobody lived there, and passed on down. But he had just turned his back, and had got down one or two steps, when the man sprang upon him, and dealt him a frightful blow in the head with a knife and then tried t, snatch the pouch in which the money was carried. In this he failed, and as the carrier had strength enough to follow him with the cries for help he was seized as he issued into the street, and taken to the police station. The victim of this audacious attack was carried to a hospital, where it is reported he has since died. The assassin was cool and impu- dent before the police and explained that he had learned the habits of the letter-carrier, as well as the arrangement of the house, by frequenting a low drink- ing shop in the basement. FOND OF HEROICS IN ELECTIONEERING !—Maytair says :—" Tne death of Admiral Rous not only recalls the fact that he once represented Westminster, but it also suggests the reflection that Westminster is fond of heroics in electioneering. It returned Lord Dan- donald as a reward for destroying a fleet of (ireships, as it returned Captain Ilourf a.fter he had brought his ship, the Pique, home from Canada—1,500 miles— withotft a rudder or an anchor, and with a leak in her bow that let in twenty-three inches of water every hour. Westminster chose Charles James Fox when he was the most unpopular man in the country be- cause of the course he had taken about the French Revolution and the American Rebellion. It returned Sir Lacy Evans because of his brave doings in the Peninsular War, and it returned Mr. John Stuart Mill when no other constituency was ready to accept his conditions of asking him to represent them and paying his election expenses." GENERAL GRANT'S SILENCE.-General Grant can hardly be called a social success (says the World). His silence is proverbial, but it is not an eloquent silence-he simply gives one an impression that he says nothing because he has nothing to say. His little speech to the Duke of Wellington is, however, worth recording. Having sat silent through dinner, he suddenly found his tongue, and asked his host, Duke, what was the largest number of men your father ever commanded?" The Duke thought for a moment, and then mentioned some figure which I do not remember. It is sufficient to say that it was con- siderably under half a million. The ex-President thought for a moment, and then remarked sotto voce, "Then I have beaten the Duke;" after which he dropped once more into silence. FATAL BOATING ACCIDENTS.—At Bolton on Satur- day evening three young men, Robert Latlidm Johnson, coal agent; John Pilling, compositor; and John Smith Stott, foreman over iron-turners, were rowing in a pleasure-boat on the Bolton and Bury Canal. Stott rose from his seat to take off his coat when the boat tilted over. All three were thrown into the water, which was ten feet deep. Johnson managed to get to the bank, but the other two could not swim and were drowned. Stott leaves seven and Pilling two children. — On Sunday afternoon two youths, sailing in a small boat in Plymouth Sound, were caught in a squall, and before they could let go the sheet the boat capsized and sank. They must have become entangled in the rigging, for they were not although several boats pulled to the rr acc; 1 nt occurred close in shore among the crowds who full view of the occur The advantages of ,iioieuav luted. It is said e who suffer from rheuma,* ,n are cured in a y days by feeding on this delicious esculent, while more chronic cases are much relieved, especially if the patient avoids all acids. The Jerusalem artichoke affords a similar relief. It may be well to remark that most plants that grow naturally near the sea- coast contain more or less iodine, and in all rheu- matic complaints iodine has long been used,—Dietetic Reformer. THE COBBEN STATUE AT BRADFORD.—The Cobden statue, which is to be unveiled by Mr. Bright. M.P., early in July, has been erected in the Bradford Exchange. From its position at the tower end of the room; the statue, which is of white marble, forms a very conspicuous object. It stands on a polished granite pedestal, in the centre of which are carved in gilt letters the words, "Cobden," and around it in a circle, "Free trade," "Peace and goodwill among nations." At the back of the pedestal is an inscrip- tion, also in gilt letters, stating that the statue is the gift of the late Mr. G. H. Booth, a citizen of the United States, and that it is erected as a mark of admiration of the character and labours of the lats Richard Cobden, and as a memoir of the donor's residence in Bradford for a number of years. NOT QUALIFIED TO GIVE AN OWN ION.—The World says General Grant complains of the speeches he is expected to make, and of the opinions he is asked to give about horse-races. There is no affectation in his dislike tc speechifying. When he gets on his L gt; he is at a loss what to say and he naturally prefers to remain seated, and not to be> called upon to say any- thing. The other day, when pressed to give an opinion about the races in this country as compared with those in tho United States, he made the candid avowal, which I print in order to save him from being ques- tioned again There is an impression abroad that I < am a great horse-racer, fend of horses; but. on the contrary, I really know nothing of racing, have seen two races only-one at Cincinnati in 1865, and one at the opening of the Jerome Park in 1867. I feel, there- fore., that I not qualified to give an opinion." Tft^vrxiiyo IN CULA.—Travelling ia the Uand of Cuba may bo pleasant, 1u apparently it k, not altogether without danger. Accordinj to an American paper, the Spanish Government ha^ recently ordered an Amcrican rolling stock company to construct for it several bullet-proof carriages for use on the Cuban railways. These carriages are to be thirty feet long and about seven feet high, and are to be fitted in- ternally in every respect like an ordinary first-class carriage. The exterior also does not present any peculiar appearance. But between the outside and the inner lining a strong iron plate is to be interposed reaching up to the level of the windows. Above this the carriage is to be armounred with a thinner plate. The windows also can be barricaded by putting up steel shutters. Altogether, determined men attacked in one of these conveyances would be in a favourable position for making an obstinate defonce-—Pail Mad Gazette WOLVES IN RUSSIA.—European Russia, according to an official report, contains 200,000 wolves, andm 1873 they killed 1G1 persons, whereas in 1849, 18ot^ and 1851 the average deaths were 125. One hundreo and eighty thousand cattle and other live stock are annually destroyed, besides poultry and dogs, the former being the usual diet of young wolves, ine total loss is estimated at 15,000,000 roubles per annum, and the loss in Siberia must be very considerable, espe- cially in reindeer. JOSH BILLING'S MENU FOR A LOVE FEAST. "Spling" soup and Pot au Few, two soles (with but a single thought), Sauce Piquante, Calf's heart au My deary, Filly a la Financiere, Lamb Cuddlets, To mate her sauce, Amour Fowl trust auPate de Foi. Tongue aunaturel brain sauce, Green Gage Tart, sweet sauce f Cheries, Pairs, Love apples, Ices: none. Wine. § Chateau Ma go, Chateau la Rose, Beau jollr., Pûrt- A not crusted-Sherry-Amoroso, Liqueur—Cure-hef', K so. Cafe au Champs Elysees. # A TRADITION ABOUT THE CUCKOO.—The cuckoo is ■n animal that has elicited the philosophy and$enti- .ent of city denizens, not understanding the reason hy it ehould choose the word cuckoo, and why should have such peculiar notions about its neSt, Aijaong the Dt|-nes we learn that in early spring-time, h-wlien the voice of the cuckoo is first heard in the woods, every village girl kisses her hand and asks the question, "Cuckoo, cuckoo, when shall I be married? And the old folk, borne down with age and rheumatism: inquire, "Cuckoo, when shall I be released from this world's cares ?" The bird, in answer, continues sing4 ing "Cuckoo!" as many times as years will elapse before the object of their desires will come to pass. But, as some old people live to an advanced age, and many girls die old maids, the poor bird has so mucn to do in answering the questions put to her that the building season goes by; she has no time to make her nest, but lays her eggs in that of the hedge-sparrow. THE LAST NEW IDEA !—What would you think of such an announcement as this in a respectable ham- and-beef shop Hams let on hire for Jinner-parties Nevertheless this is what they do in Paris. You go to a shop where they sell ham retail by the slice, and you say I have got a dinner-party to-monoV; and I want to have a hot ham—the largest and finest have.' Those extraordinary articles called jambonS de Yorck' (please put in the c) are as big as a whole sheep and the larger they are the better quality of the meat. Now in England the enormous ham would hang like a nightmare for weeks ever any ordinary household. In Paris, however, you pay simply the hire for the night, the amount eaten, and the rest is sold over the counter at the marcliand de comestibles —The World. A HEROINE.—Lizzie M'Pherson is San Francisco's pet heroine just now. A little child fell in front of heavy waggon in a crowded street. The daring young woman bounded to the rescue. The wheel was on the point of grazing the child's head, and to have stooped to lift the little one would have been to lose the moment there was left to save its life. So she un- hesitatingly put her. foot in front of the wheel, and with her hands held on to the spokes until the waggon was stopped. The child was picked up unhurt, but the saviour had her foot crushed, and from pain and excitement combined fainted away when her deed of bravery was done. THE FAMILY TORPEDO.—Recent experiments with torpedoes have shown what tremendous effects may be caused by an object which, to look at, appears small and insignificant. But it is a mistake to describe this condition of things as something new. Observa- tion shows that when there is a "blow-up" in the domestic circle, the hubbub is always out of all pro- portion to the cause of the disturbance,—Judy. THE SILENT PRESIDENT.—Mayfair says There is nothing like English enthusiasm for bringing a man out. Here is General Grant, for instance. During the contest that resulted in his election he was known as the Dumb Candidate,' and throughout his Presi- dency, true to his character, he was the Silent President.' His longest speech was about six lines. He inaugurated the biggest thing in creation, the Philadelphia Exhibition, in fftur lines. Yet he no sooner touches the free soil of England than his tongue is loosed, and he can make a couple of smart speeches in an evening, one, it is true, of his usual six-line pattern, but the other, twenty or twenty-five lines deep. Oh, that General Grant would return our kind- ness to him by teaching some of our politicians how to stem the torrent of their eloquence He could confer no greater benefit upon us." CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES.—A Parliamentary Blue Book, obtained by Mr. Joseph Cowen, M.P., has been issued on Industrial and Provident Societies in England and Wales in the year 1875. There were 926 in number, and the amount insured was £2,524,401, The number of members at the end of the year was 420,024, admitted during the year 73,454, and with- drawn during the year 36,700. Of share capital the amount at the end of the year was £4,477,938 the amount credited during the year was £1,812,522; the amount debited during the year, £1,388,975. The loan capital shows the amount at the end of the year to have been £742,073; credited during the year, and debited during the year, £158,422, The trade accounts set forth goods paid for in the yew £14.070,559; cash received for goods in the year, £16.176.570; and the average stock-in-trade, Tho total expenses in the year were £714,604, and the interest on share loans and other capital, £216,218. Under the head of "liabilities and assets" the entire liabilities were in the year £5,65V,035; reserve fund, £220,011; and the entire assets, £6,199,200. The value of buildings, fixtures, and land, £] ,894,646; capital invested with other Industrial and Provident Societies, £636,400 and the r capital invested with companies incorporated under the Companies' Act, £538,140. The disposable net profit realized from all sources during the year was £1,248,602 the declared dividends due to the mem- bers during the year, £1,117,870: dividends allowed to non-members in the year, £18,555; and the ainoiJi" allowed for educational purposes during the y £10,Ü4. A CHEAP PLACE TO LIVE AT.—The glorious tini0 that was to follow the accession of Jack Cade to the Throne of England, when seven halfpenny loaves were to be nold for a penny, and it was to be considered felony to drink small beer, appears to be in process of realisation at the present moment in Varna (remarks the Evening Standard). One might have thought that Turkey would have been the last country in the world "to choose for a residence just now, but accord- ing to the accounts received from thence Varna miis», be a real Paradise for gourmands. Bread, we are told, can be purchased at about a penny a pound, meat froio three halfpence to threepence. Fish of^ excellent quality and delicious flavour may be obtained for a mere tnfle; a. spring chicken costs but fourpence; a full-grown fowl, sevenpence: new laid eggs are worth only about three shillings per hundred; and good, sound wine is to be had almost for the asking. If this is Turkey in a state of war, when provisions are supposed to "be dear, if not scarce, what must Turkey be in time of peace? Directly hostilities broke out between Russia and the Porte the price of wheat and breadstuffs generally went up immediately in this country, and the cost of the 41b. loaf is noW almost as great as it was during the time of the Crimean war. But in Turkey, or, at all events, in the threat- ened provinces, the condition of things seems to be exactly the very opposite. How or by what means this glut of provisions in Varna has been secured, we are unable to say, but we should imagine that if tourists were insured protection against the little peculiarities of the Bashi-Bazouks and the thieving propensities of the undisciplined Circassians-assuming, of course, that the Cossacks had not yet arrived—there would be plenty of visitors during the holiday season. Switzerland, or even the rediscovered Vallombrosa, as Artemus Ward said of Versoovius and the Critter,' would not be a circumstans." WINES TO BE PROVIDED.—The American Corres- pondent of The Times writes :— President Hayes will make his official visit to New Eng land this week Elaborate preparations are being made at Boston, Providence, and elsewhere to give him a hearty re' ception. On Friday a deputation from the Women's Tern perance Union visited Mayor Prince, of Boston, asking tha no intoxicating liquors should be provided at the Presidents banquet. The Mayor replied that he had been studying the subject for 30 years, and that the prayer of the petitioners could not be granted because it was not right that it shouIO be so. lie approved the moderate use of liquor, and said that Boston desired every courtesy should be extended to the President, and he was determined that nothing should be left undone which would contribute to the proper fes- tivities on the occasion of the banquet. It was customary to furnish wines on similar occasions, and would, therefore, be right to do so on the present occasion. HUMAN HAIR.—Dr. Erasmus Wilson had been en- gaged in an investigation of the number of hairs con- tained in square inch of the surface of the human head. He estimates that eadl square ineh contains 744 hair folicles, and that as a large number of these give pas- sage to two hairs, the number on a square inch may probably be estimated at about 1,066, and the super- ficial area of the head being about 120 square inches, this equals about 133,920 hairs for the entire head.— The Analyst, ON THE CARDS.— vVhen a game of whist is played In Calcutta, can it be called an India-rubber?—Judy. MR GLADSTONE AND GROCERS' LICENSES.—Mr. Gladstone, in a letter dated from Harley-street, June 19 (published in the Grocer), states that he certainly can be no consenting party to anything like the restriction proposed upon grocers' licences, without proof of abuse under the present svstem, which h not as yet to his knowledge been supplied and under all circumstances he will view with repugnance the establishment of a new monopoly, persuaded as he is that monopoly is already a most effective obstacle to all reasonable reform of our liquor laws, and to effect- ing a decrease in that drunkenness which is the bhUle of the country. JONAS HANWAY. — Mr. Morrison, Hanwell, Mid- lesex, writes to the Daily Ncics Your remarks1 upon the results of the exertions of this philanthropist and most estimable man in your interesting report of the Royal visit to the Warspite training ship induce me to ask for the publicity of a fact cf some import- ance connected with oonas Kanv/ay. The resting placj of our honoured ancestors is generally a ma.tte1 of interest. Let me then with your permission make known to many of your numerous readers that tfc. the vaults beneath tho pretty church at Hanwell (St. Mary's), so well known to all travellers on the Great Western Railway, lie tho remaims of Jonas Hanway* The only mural monument to his memory is a modest tablet in Westminster Abbey. His resting-place is unmarked by any memorial. Should it be so ?" THE CZAR AT THE SEAT OF WAS.—The tem* porary residence fitted up for the accommodation ofthoj C. ~r at Plojesti is of the most unpretending character. It is but cae story high, and there only eight rooms: a vestibule, an antechamber, onion for aides-de-camp and officcrsc11 duty, a sxaokinS* room, a study, a. reception-room, a bedchamber, and a salle a mangjr. Except the reception-room andjthfr antechamber they are all extremely small, but they are upholstered with much elegance. In the smoking* room, which is furnished in the Turkish fashion with luxurious ottomnns and carpets, there is a portrait ÍJ1 oils of the late Emperor Nicholas and a chroW°" lithograph of Pj-ince Charles of Roumania on horse- back. The Czar sleeps on an iron camp-bed, whie» he always carries with him. Sixteen is the larg number that sits at the imperial dinner'table, that only on gab. occasions. There are no fewer tbP four hundred horses- many of them superb attached to the service of his Imperial Majesty d I hia suite,—The World

GROSS OUTRAGE.—Jones. Ullo, Brown! you look wild. Brown. Wild! Wild's not the word, Sir; some fool's had the impudence to mistake hats, and left this tnnprj, which not only doesn't fit me a. bit; but — ■ it isn t 'even by a dectut maker!—JuCy.