Pontypool Free Press and Herald of the Hills

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT, In the HOUSE OF LORDS, August 3, the Building Societies Act (1874) Amendment Bill, and the St. Catherine's Harbour Bill, were read a second time. I The Legal Practitioners Bill and the Sol way Salmon Fisheries Bill passed through Committee. Their Lordships then adjourned. In the HOUSE or COMMONS, at the Morning Sitting, Mr. Newdegate asked whether any step would be proposed by the Leader of the House by which the House could mark its j sense of the great inconvenience to which it was subjected t last Tuesday and Wednesday by the Obstructives and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in reply, said, that, as far as he could collect it, the opinion of the House was not in favour of making any other formal record of the proceedings beyond tiiat which already stood on the Journals. Those proceeflings spoke for themselves, and if there should be any repetition of them the House would know how to deal with them. Mr. Forster, reading out a telegram just put into his hands from Constantinople, asked whether any steps had been taken by the Government to assist the distressed British subjects—refugees from the seat of war—who were arriving in great numbers at Constantinople; and the Chancellor of the Exchequer replied that, as far as he was aware, the Government had no information on the subject. The report on the South Africa Bill occupied the whole of the Morning Sitting. Mr. O'Donnell moved a number of amendments, many of them repetitions of proposals which had been discussed in Committee, and, with two exceptions all were negatived, either without a division or by large majorities. Of the two accepted by the Government, one provided that the Union Parliament should meet, at least, once a year. Mr. Courtney, with the assent of the Govern- lnent, carritd an amendment, providing that the Union Parliament should start with the same privileges and im- munities as those exercised and enjoyed at the time of the passing of the Act by the House of Commons. The Irish Judicature Bill and the Canal Boats Bill were read a third time, the Colonial Stock Bill was read a second time, and the Metropolitan Board of Works (Money) Bill was passed through Committee. At the Evening Sitting, after a motion by Mr. Biggar for a Select Committee to inquire into the grievances of a lr. P. Lavry had been negatived without a division, the House went again into Committee on the Irish County Courts Bill, which was completed after several hours' discussion. Some other Bills were passed a stage, and the House ad- journed.

The HOUSE OF LORDS met on Saturday, Aug. 4., at one o'clock, and after suspending the Standing Orders passed through its final stages the Board of Education (Scotland) Co-itinuance Bill. I Their lordships afterwards adjourned. he HOUSE OF COMMONS had another Saturday sitting, at I Which the South Africa Bill was read a third time and passed. The Lords' Amendments to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Bill were agreed to, and the County Officers and Courts (Ireland) Bill and the Prisons (Ireland) Bill were con- sidered as amended. Some other Bills were forwarded a stage, and the House adjourned.

In the HOUSE OF LORDS, August 6, the Commons' Amend ments to the Crown Office Bill and to some other Bills were agreed to. The Superannuation (Mercantile Marine Fund Officers) Bill and the Treasury Chest Fund Bill were read a second time The other business was disposed of and their lordships adjourned. In the liOUSE OF COMMONS, in answer to Sir C. Dilke, Mr. Bourke said the Government was not prepared to decline to recognise the Turkish blockade of the Black Sea ports as in- effective. In answer to Mr. Cowen, the Chancellor of the Exchequer promised that reports from the British Consuls as to the I late industrial conflicts in the United States should be laid before Parliament. Mr. Trevelyan moved, as an amendment, on going into committee of supply, "That this House, while fully prepared ■ te consider the question of retirement with a view to secure I a sufficient flow ot promotion in the army, cannot, at this late period of the session, proceed to sanction a scheme which demands mature and careful examination, inasmuch as it entails a large increase of expenditure on the English and Indian exchequers, and materially affects the future of our military system." Sir W. Barttelot, Captain O'Beirne, General Shute, Cap- tain Nolan, Sir H. Havelock, and other gentlemen, took part in the debate. Mr. Hardy said the Scheme was an attempt to redeem the solemn promises made to the Army by Lord Cardwell when purchase was abolished, that a now of promotion should be kept up as rapid as that which existed before. The late Government had never done a single act to carry out that solemn engagement, and it had become his duty to appoint the Commission on the Report of which this scheme was founded. Explaining the delay which had occurred, he pointed out that it had been necessary to send the report to India, and as its recommen- dations had now been before the country for a year, all who wished to discuss it had had ample opportunity of making themselves acquainted with all the details. Replying to criticisms on the details, he pointed out that the normal cost would not come into operation for another sixty vears, and with regard to the immediate cost, it would be £ 320,000, of which £ 110,000 would fall on the Indian Revenue. Mr. Treyelyan's suggestion of reorganization by large companies, he showed, was decisively condemned by officers having experience of modern warfare, and especially by Sir G. Wolseley, and as to reorganization for mere economy's sake, without reference to efficiency, he emphatically declared thst he would never put hishaud to it. Compulsory retirement, the necessity fur which he explained, would not come into operation for three years; and as to the Honorary Colonelcies which he was blamed for not abolishing, they were the rewards of a long career which even when they were taken into consideration was not over paid. There were many points in the scheme on which he should be glad to defer to the opinion of the House of Commons, and it was, moreover, a tentative scheme over which the House and Minister would retain control, and which would create no new vested interests. In these circumstances, he implored the House, with as little delay as possible, to give the Army the benefit of the Warrant. The Marquis of Hartington commented on the difficult position in which the House was placed in having to decide on a scheme to which it could not give adequate considera- tion. He saw no reason for appointing a Commission. All the noces8ary steps for settling a scheme of Retiremeut could have been arranged at the War Office, and the Commission, he mnintaincd, had not grappled with the real difficulty —the disproportion betwetn the offieers in the higher and lower ranks. He intended to vote for Mr. Trevelyan's resolution as a protesL alrainst the manner in whieh the question had been brought before the House; but if it were negatived, he should recommend the House to abstain from a minute discussion of the details of the scheme, which at this period of the Session was impossible. He should regard it as a temporary expedient to meet a temporary purpose, and all the questions of reorganization must be held to be quite open. Among the advantages which had been obtained from the abolition of Purchase was the power of making changes in the organization of the Army without coming across private interests. Sir A. Gordon made some remarks deprecating compulsory retirement and throwing out suggestions for regimental reorganization, after which Mr. Trevelyan's Resolution was negatived by 139 to 77. After the House had gone into Com- mittee, two dilatory motions were made, one by Mr. Rylands and the other by SirG. Campbell Mr. Fawcett spoke at length in support of both, but the first was negatived by 128 to 63, and the second by 124 to 30. Ultimately the Vote for the pay of General Officers was carried by 111 to 41 and the other Votes for Half-pay and Retired Allowances and for the Army Purchase Commission connected with the Retirement Scheme were agreed to with- out a division. Some other business was then disposed of, and the House adjourned.

THE REV. NEWMAN HALL ON THE TURKISH ATROCITIES. At Christ Church, on Sunday evening, the Rev. Newman Hall addressed a large congregation for about twenty minutes in reference to the present war in Europe. He said it had of late been urged that the pulpit had lost its influence, and the Press was the great engine of power in directing the minds of the people. Then it was alleged that ministers should not take part in influencing the minds of the people. But he maintained it was the clergyman's duty to denounce wrong-doing, no matter from what quarter it proceeded. Directing these argu- ments to the present state of affairs, he rapidly traced the events which led to the Russo-Turkish war — the massacre of the Christians in Bulgaria, and the frightful outrages committed, even in churches, on the poor people there. He spoke of the interference In,the cause of humanity of the English, French, and Russian nations, who met in conference at Con- stantinople to demand redress and a guarantee of protection for the future. Russia, lie said, had the courage to insist on the demands of the Conference, and the present war was the result. They now read in the papers accounts of most frightful atrocities, and it would be a subject for inquiry whether or not the respective Governments had sanctioned these atro- cities. But they should remember that many of these alleged atrocities were founded on Turkish reports—in fact, from reports from the people who themselves were guilty or responsible for the massacre of the Christians in Bulgaria. He next dwelt on the horrors of war, and denounced a section of writers in our English Press fomenting war, and hoped these men would be compelled to go to the front in any battle that England .might be engaged in through their counsels. At the invitation of the rev. gentleman the con- gregation engaged in a prayer to avert war from England.

THE LATE AZIZ PASHA. The follewing particulars concerning Aziz Pasha. one of the ablest and most accomplished officers in the Ottoman Army, who fell in a skirmish in the neighbourhood of "iscrad on July 20, may be of interest (remarks The Xitnet) :— He was well known to many officers, in both the Austrian and Prussian armies, for a considerable por- tion of his life was spent at Vienna, Linz, and Berlin. While yet a young man, he was sent by his Govern- ment to Austria to complete his military education. He then went on to Berlin, where he passed two years with the Artillery of the Guard. At the end of that time, he was recalled to Constantinople. But his stay in Turkey was short, as he was soon sent back to Berlin as Secretary to the Embassy, a post which he filled for six years, during which time he married a Berlin lady. Four years he was recalled, and, re- turning to active service, was attached to the Artillery, and soon promoted to the rank of Lira, corresponding nearly to our Major-General. Turkey owes it in no small degree to him and his exertions that her army has been so largely provided with field artillery after the Prussian model, and her fortresses mounted with heavy ordnance of corresponding pattern. He paid several visits to Essen and Bochum. at the head of commissions charged with arranging for the purchase and transmission of weapons and matériel from those celebrated establishments. Aziz Pasha was remarkably well informed, both on military and general matters, and was a man of enlightened and comprehensive views. At the time of his death he was only 40 years of age. The features of his full face were unmistakeably oriental, and his manner and general appearance were also indicative his nationality. Indeed, although there was a certain air of distinction about him, yet there was also a some- thing suggestive of tha.t indolence of habit we are accustomed to associate with the Turkish Pasha, and this impression was not a little confirmed by his embonpoint. But, on the other hand, one could see by the man that he had learnt to breathe and and feel in European countries. Ncr. perhaps, ought it to be forgotten that lie had by his side a German wife.

Now HE'LL KNOW !—Ilayman, a famous artist who flourished about a hundred years agio, was a wit. One of his associates was always complaining of in health and low spirits, without being able to assign any particular malady as the cause. One evening at Haymn's club it was mentioned that this malade imaginaire had been married the day before. Is he —and be hanged to him I" Raid Hay man. "Now know what aila him.'

A BISHOP ON BISHOPS. In reply to the toast of his health at a luncheon at Warrington, the Bishop of Manchester said there had appeared recently a letter from a literary nobleman in which he said that the bishops of to-day were a degenerate race, and were far too meddlesome and too interfering. He quite admitted that bishops might be too meddlesome and too interfering, but he was not one of those who desired to see an inordinate in- crease in that episcopacy. We undoubtedly lived in troublesome times, which was proved by a re- solution, couched in very strong language, passed at a meeting in Manchester some time ago, and from which they would see that bishops were ex- pected to do some very unpleasatÜ things. It ap- peared to him, speaking from his own observation, that there was an unreasonable amount of alarm in the minds of the laity. They had heard of a grent con- spiracy to overthrow the Protestant character, aDd what he considered to be really the Catholic teaching of the Church of England but he could say that the conspirators in his diocese were remarkably few, and he could count them on the fingers of a single hand and when he said that in his diocese there were 750 clergymen, they would see that there was not much reason for alarm. He had been charged with saying that rather than enforce the Public Worship Regula- tion Act he would resign. He never said anything so foolish. There might be cases where he would be bound to enforce it, and where he could not escape responsibility but there were cases when a clergyman did not come up to the prescribed rubrics of the Prayer-book, and the Public Worship Act told as much against the clergyman who introduced the "Agnes Dei" into his service as against the one who omitted the prayer for the Church militant. If he put the Act forth in all these cases he would be raising a storm about his ears which he was not all prepared to encounter, and which would not advance the true interests of the Church. Most men were loyal to the .Church, and they wanted an extension of their 'liberties rather than a contraction of them; and rather than there should be anything like a general persecution of those who fell below or went beyond the exact limit of the rubrics, should public opinion demand it he would resign his office. In conclusion the right rev. prelate paid a handsome compliment to the memory of the late Bishep Powis.

THE FEAR OF TORPEDOES. •— The naval correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, in a letter under date Baljik, July 12, says :— As regards the strength of Sebastopol as a sea fortress it is of no very great consequence, and I would '•uarantee to run in to the harbour, with a few power- ful ironclads, with trifling loss but there is a far more serious consideration than double-banked forts, earth batteries, and 25-ton guns—the ghastly torpedo, with its known power but unknown position, has to be reckoned. These hidden infernal machines are enough to make stout hearts hesitate that would welcome the open and above-board action of artillery, and enjoy a good give-and-take fight. I hope I am no croaker, but I do fear that the enterprise of naval commanders will be paralysed, as most surely the chivalry of naval warfare will depart un- less some means of counteracting or destroying torpedoes is recognised. For this end the greatest maritime nation in the world, whose aggressive war- fare is mainly confied t« her fleets, and whose most brilliant pages of history are to be found in the chivalrous daring and enterprise of her naval com- manders, must spare neither money nor science. My opinion is that marine warfare will become in time a matter of speed and torpedoes—that the great iron arnaments of to-day will be as useless as our grand old wooden walls of twenty years ago, and, though it will always be necessary for England to have powerful floating batteries for her first line of defence, they will have to be, ridiculous as it may sound, under the con- voy of torpedo-craft.

The POSSESSION of CONSTANTINOPLE. The fate of Constantinople is possibly less immi- nently threatened at this moment than at any earlier stage of the war since the Russian forces crossed the Danube but the balance of fortune hangs so doubt- fully that any hour may revive the keenest interest in the question of its ultimate destiny. Should the armies of the Czar surmount their present difficulties, and be seen once more in full march towards Adrianople, the question whether his Majesty is to be allowed to realise Catharine's sarcastic taunt to the British Ambassador Perhaps your Royal master will permit me to retire to Constan- tinople," will again become the moving speculation of the hour. In view of this contingency it is satisfac- tory to note that the latest series of despatches on the Eastern trouble, which was issued from the Foreign Office on Saturday, shows Lord Derby to have profited by every opportunity to insist upon the impossibility of England's tolerating a result of the war so pleasantly accordant with the most ambitious dreams of Russian rulers. In a dispatch to Sir Augustus Paget, on the 18th of April, the Foreign Secretary recounts an inter- view of that date with M. Martino, the Italian Charge d'Affaires in London Amongst other matters, "I observed," says Lord Derby, "that the interests of this country would not allow us to see Constantinople fall into the possession of Russia and he adds M. Martino replied that such an event would be equally prejudicial to Italy." On the 18th of May Lord Derby took occasion to tell the Russian Chargd d'Affaires, who called upon his lordship by request and in the absence of Count Schouvaloff, "that the prospect or possibility of an advance upon Constanti- nople would cause excitement and apprehension here which it would be in the interest both of this Govern- ment and his own to allay and urged that Prince Gortschakoff should give assurances to remove these probable effects. Since these dates, as we know already, the opinions of the Foreign Office have been even more distinctly declared, and such assurances as Russia has to give have been given, The fact that those assurances wore ambiguous far as Constan- tinople is concerned renders it of greater interest that the declarations of Lord Derby have been unchange- able in significance; and it is of much importance that Italy is committed to the same view, whether we have regard to the supposed covert understanding between Rome and St. Petersburg, or to the futuro employment of the Italian fleEt.-Glube.

TIT FOll TAT !—A young lady lately asked a gentle- man the meaning of the word suriogate, and the gentleman explained it to her as "a gate through which parties have to pass to get married." Then I imagine," said the lady. < That it is a corruption of sorrow-gate."—"You are right, miss," replied her informant, woman in an abbreviation of woe to man,"

SENTENCED TO DEATH. At the Liverpool assizes, John Goulding, a young man, has been indicted for having, at Liverpool, on the 16th July last, murdered Daniel Lloyd. The counsel for the prosecution gave the following out- line of the case. He said that the deceased was a la- bourer and a neighbour of the prisoner. The first time the prisoner was heard of in connection with the case was abont half-past ten o'clock on the night of thei6th July. He went into the house of another neighbour named Vaughan, and said to him, "Come out and let's soften Lloyd's head.' Vaughan did not respond to the invitation, and the plÎ- soner left the house alone. After this he called at Lloyd's house aud saw Mrs. Lloyd* who asked him what he wanted, and told him to go about his business. The next time he was heard of he was standing at the corner of the street (Suenstone-stivet) in whhh he lived, alld opposite the house of the deceased. There Wére two or three companions with him, aud Hoyd then came out of his house, when the prisoner wcnt up to him and said, Do you want to fight," or somethiug to that etfed. The deceased then struck the prisoner a blow on the head and then returned to his house. The prisoner was about to follow him, but his mather and a Mrs. Bowness prevented him, He theu went to the cellar in which his mother lived, and remained there for some time, when, happening to put his hand to his head, he found that it was bleeding from the blow which the deceased had struck him. Upon this he ex- claimed, Oli! must I lose my blood and have nothingfor it." At this moment it appeared, although there was no evidence of it, that the prisoner seized a poker, and lrs, Bowness and his mother got hold of him to prevent him from leaving. He, however, pushed them on one side and rushed out of the house anti went to the house of the deceasod man. There he appeared to lave broken a pane of glass, and Mrs. Lloyd hearin the noise opened the door when the prisoner rushed in. The deceased was seated at a table, and the prisoner struck him on the head four or five blows with the poker with his full strength, knocking him down and rendering him insensible. Lloyd was raised up, and the police were sent for, bj whom he was removed to the infirmary. There it was found that he had sustained a comminuted fracture of the skull, for the raising of which an oporation had to be performed, but the deceased gra- dually sank and on the 24th July he died. The jury found the prisoner guilty of Wilful Murder, but recommended him to mercy. Mr. Justice Hawkins passed sentence of death up m him, and said he would forward to the proper quarter the jury's recommendation.

At the same assizes, Patrick M'Govern was indicted for wilfully murdering John Campbell, by stabbing him with a knife. The facts of the case (said the counsel for the prosecution, Mr. Foard) lay in very bri f space. On ".vednesday, the 18th July, four or five persous were taking on^-pcr in the house of the deceast-d man, John Campbell, who lived in Latimer- street, in which the prisoner also lived. The deceased and the prisoner appeared to have been on friendly terms, and on the morning of that day the deceased had been in the house of the prisoner. Among the persons at surper ill Campbell's house was frs. I'Goverll, who had cume in that evening on the ground that she had been turned out of her own house by her husband, who had made some threats against her. After supper, about ten minutes past twelve o ciock, Mrs. M'Govern departed towards her own house, taking with her a little girl, daughter of the deceased man Campbell. She did not enter the house, however, and whether it was that a message was sent to him or how, he (Mr. Foard, the counsel for the prosecution) did not know, but Campbell followed a few mmutes after. He entered, and remonstrated with the prisoner for his conduct towards his wife, whereupon, without the smallest suggested provocation, or anything of. the sort, and without making any threat the prisoner rushed upon him and thrust a knife into his chest up to the hilt. Campbell, with the knife in his breast, ran out of the honse and went to his own house, where he sat down with the knife still in his body. There he said to a woman named Ann Kearns who was present, I am stabbed," and she pulled the knife from his breast and ran shrieking into the street. Shortly after- wards a policeman came up who accompanied Campbell to the prisoner's house, where Campbell pointed to the pri- soner as the man who had stabbed him. Subsequently the deceased man was taken to the Stanley Hospital where he died on the 24th July. The jury, after a few minutes consideration, returned a verdict of "Wilful Murder." The Prisoner, when asked whether he had anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon him, said in a firm tone—" I am innocent of it. I know nothing at all about it." His lordship then assumed the black cap, and, ad- dressing the prisoner said :— Patrick M'Govern, I am sorry to hear you say that you know nothing about it, because I don t think anybody—(The prisoner—" I don't remember it.")—who has heard the case can come to any other conclusion than that it was your hand that inflicted that deadly wound upon the deceased man which caused his death. It is a very sad thing to see you standing there to receive the sentence of death, because you were unable to control your crnel- for it was a very cruel thing-desire to inflict some grievous injury upon the man who it may be slightly offended you, but who had not offended you in a way to justify you 111 your use of that deadly weapon. The use of the knife even when such terrible consequences do not follow, is always punished with great severity, but when death ensues from a wound inflicted under such circumstances the crime is the crime of murder, and the man who commits that crime must receive the sentence which the law prescribes for those who shed another man's blood. That is death. The sentence which I am about to pronounce on you is not my sentence; it is the sentence of the law which compels me to puss it. His Lordship then pronounced sentence of death in the usual form. While sentence was being pronounced the prisoner sank Amder the pressure of its terrible meaning, and had to be supported in the dock, from which he was assisted by the officers when his Lordship's solemn utterance ceased. Just then the prisoner's wife, who had been seated behind the dock, gave utterance to a prolonged moan, and was assisted out of the court.

A correspondent writes (says The Times) that on the application of each vigorous stroke of the axe to the trunk of the tree Mr. Gladstone was vociferously cheered by the excursionists, who stationed themselves on the slopes of the valley immediately opposite and occasionally a rush was made for the chips. Mr. Glad- stone was several times nearly carried off his feet by his enthusiastic admirers, but he bore all good. humouredly, and now and then entered into conver- sation with his visitors. Throwing away a splinter, which he remarked was rotten, one man observed,. Aye, as rotten as the Church of England, for that's rotten to the root." Mr. Gladstone retorted, Do you think so ? I don't;" and then he asked the man what the root was, but received no answer. Occasionally as Mr. Gladstone relaxed from his labours the choir of the Baptist Chapel at Bolton relieved the interval by chanting the 2nd psalm and singing the Old Hun- dredth Hymn" and the glees of "len of Harlech" and "Gently Sighs the Evening Breeze." Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone heartily joinedtheexcursionists in the hymn. When reference was made to the possibility that Mr. Gladstone would lead yet," the right hon. gentle- man emphatically shook his head. Mr. W. H. Glad- stone added—" I am sure there are none of you but must feel that it is possible Ida time Illay come again; and that his purposes may again be fulfilled. (Loud cheers.) But whether he be willing or not to enter again the service of his Sovereign, I am quite sure he is right in saying that he values the esteem and ap- probation of his fellow-countrymen as much now as he ever did in his life. (Hear, hear.) I trust that when you go home you will have cause to be satisfied with what you have seen and heard at Hawarden." Ring- ing cheers were then given for Mr. Gladstone and his family.

THE "HEAT" OF DEBATE. May fair says :—There is one indispensable condition in the continuance of a debate in the House of Commons of which few have thought, but which was seriously imperilled by the continuance of a debate for twenty-six hours. The ventilation of the House is, under the direction of Dr. Percy, and the resident engineer, Mr. W. J, Prim, provided for by an elaborate and extensive machinery. An important element in the perfection of the ventilation is a sufficient supply of ice, through which the air is forced before reaching the House. On Tuesday night the usual supply of ice was ordered in happy ignorance of the prolonged vitality presently to be displayed by onr legislators. The usual average supply is a ton, which is good to last for an average sitting. At four o'clock on Wednesday morning the ice had all melted, and of course no more was to be had. Fortu- nately, rain fell in the night, which cooled the atmos- phere, and so made the place bearable. The fanning apparatus, by which fresh air is constantly in- draughted and sent upwards through the floor of the houso was kept going, and not the least remarkable thing in connection with the debate was the compara- tive freshness of the atmosphere on Wednesday morn- ing, after the house had been sitting through a long summer l1iht. It may be interesting to know that the ice melted o* this memorable occasion cost Ho 10s. The amount of gas burned, estimating it at £3 an hour, and reckoning that it wa3 burning from half-past eklit on Tuesday night till five in the morning of Wednesday, would be something over £26. Those who read the newspaper reports will be able to estimate, for themselves whether the speeches delivered in this interval were worth that sum. The gas in the ceiling of the House of Commons costs the nation over (Js. an hour as long as it burns. This is a fact to which I venture to call the l attention of Mr, HylatidB, and, indeed, of members generally. If an hon. member having economy at heart would only call to mind the fact that when he has been on his feet half an hour bang goes 3s., we might be spared some of these interminable harangues which turn the hair grey and make the heart sad.

DISTRESS IN RUSSIA. Russian newspapers state that there is great distress in the provinces bordering on the Black Sea. In one district of the Don, owing to the withdrawal of the peasants to fight in the army, 315 families, representing over 1,100 individuals, have been compelled to solicit public charity. same thing is occurring in other parts of the country. At Odessa corn is quite a drug in the market, being so cheap that, even when trans- port has been paid for, the commissariat officers find it 40 per cent. cheaper than the price asked for it in Roumania. As the majority of people in the southern provinces depend upon the sale of corn for their income, the blockade of the Black Sea is occasioning them great privations. Many of the landed proprietors are becoming involved in debt, while the local banks, being pushed for money, have been compelled to fore- close the mortgages of a large number of estates, as many as 300 being advertised for sale in one paper.

THE LATE MR. WARD HUNT. The regretted death of Mr. Ward Hunt, First Lord of the Admiralty, must, we fear, be to some extent at least, attributed to "overwork;" not perhaps in the hackneyed use of that abused term, but in its true signification. Mr. Hunt has for years past manifestly laboured under a condition in which the vital powers were exhaustively employed in maintaining the health of an organism severely taxing their utmost resources. The right hon. gentleman was gifted with a large stock of energy, and he was proportionally sensitive. On the assumption of office he threw him self impetuously into work, and encountered many difficulties, which told on his strength. He has continuously laboured in the department under his control, and a pre-existing tendency to the gouty diathesis determined the course of his malady. Successive attacks, acting on a con- stitution by no means well supported by reserve force, produced a condition in which exhaustion was the evil to dread. A weak heart, with flabby walls, but no valvular disease, was inadequate to the work thrown upon it. Homburg had, on previous occasions, suited him well, and it was hoped entire relaxation from mental labour, change of air, and physical rest, would enable him to tide over the difficulty. The journey was made under circumstances as propitious as could well have been desired but the anticipation of benefit was not realised. The immediate cause of death was, doubtless, failure of the heart's action, and it seems probable that, although gouty inflammation of the oints was relieved before Mr. Ward Hunt left England, there may have been some retrocession of the disease.—The Lancet.

A MILITARY GLUTTON. A discussion had arisen at a dinner party as to the capacities of the human stomach, and whether indeed, as there seemed almost reason to believe, it was capable of indefinite expansion. After some sur- prising feats of gluttony had been narrated, an officer in the Royal Guard said he quite believed them, for he had a soldier in his company who could eat a whole calf at a sitting, and think very little of the achievement. The company laughed, but the officer assured them he was serious, and a heavy bet was the result. On the appointed day the parties repaired to a restaurant, and the soldier was soon seated at table. The officer had been careful to order that the different portions of the calf should be served in a variety of appetising forms. The soldier dispatched one dish after another with astonishing rapidity. Those who had betted against his powers were losing all hope, when he was observed at the seventh or eighth dish to look grave. Ah ca, mon capitaine, he objected, I think it is high time for them to serve the veal, otherwise I cannot answer for my being able to make you win your bet." He had thought that all the pre- vious dishes were merely intended to serve as stimu- lants to his appetite, which, having been made appa- rent, the other side expressed themselves ready to pay at once. The story reminds one of the English farmer, who, after despatching a score or so of apple dumplings, observed that they were very good, and that some day he would come and make" a regular meal of them."

THE RUSSIAN RETREAT FROM PLEVNA. The fullowing is an extract from the letterjf the Special Correspoudent of The Time*, writing from Ffo.e Kevmi, under date August 2 :— At three in the afternoon, after leaving Sistova, I 'was resting near one of these natural fountains, when a long line of ambulance waggons, enshrouded in dense clouds of dust, appeared over a hill in the distance. As the head of the line reached us and halted by the fountain, I learnt of the heavy battle fought the day before in front of the Turkish fortifications around Plevna. The ambulance waggons gradually gathered, until the large space around the spring of cool water was covered with these conveyances, filled with human beings margled in every conceivable form, who gasped for a drop of water. Some could not drink, as the attempts to swallow brought gushes of blood from gaping wounds in the throat and che<t, which prevented them cooling their parched tongues covered with the horrible dust which rose at the slightest movement upon the roads. Weary with this sorrowful scene, I mounted my horse and pushed on. A short distance from the fountain I encountered a second ambulance train, loaded like its predecessor, lor two hours they continued to pass me, and then came still longer trains of country transport carts, loaded with the less severe cases, intermixed with an apparently endless stream of ammunition waggons, surplus baggage carts, and campequipages, until finally the road became completely blocked by the indiscrimi- nate inass of horses, carts, waggons, and mangled hu- manity, streaming towards Sistova. I was compelled to lead my horse to a hillock by the roadside and wait for an opportunity to pass on, as well as to allow my waggon to come up. For more than an hour I stood there watching the passage of this motley caravan, and beheld hundreds of gallant fellows roll by in open springless carts, with a blazing sun pouring down upon their bloodstained forms, while choking clouds of dust parching their burning throats and settling in masses upon their agonised countenances, until they ceased to look like human faces. While waiting for the road to be cleared, we were often asked if there were no troops coming to the rescue, and many were the bitter com- ments made on the folly of dashing those brave fellows against the vastly superior Moslem force, strongly intrenched on the height before Plevna. One officer wo was badly wounded had led the extreme advance in the assault on the Turkish intrenchments. He had penetrated far into the Moslem lines, and said if he had been properly supported they could have carried the positions but the column was not strong enough, from want of troops or generalship, and the Turks, finding this out, turned upon them and drove them back with fearful loss. "Not more thau half that column came back," was the mournful close of the wounded officer's statement. I learnt here that the battle of the previous day had lasted from morning until night, the Russian attack being made on both wings of the Turkish line, under the command of General Kriidener, who led the right in- person, while the Russian left was commanded by General Prince Schakoffski. "We could not do anything with them they were too strong for us," was the universal remark of officers and soldiers, and their cruel wounds told how wrathfully they had endeavoured to carry out the senseless orders to carry Plevna by storm. The above quotation really tells .the story of the battle. The immense numbers of ammunition and transport waggons suggested momentarily a Russian retreat; but the absence of artillery refuted this idea, and I saw that the ammunition waggons were empty, and were evidently going for supplies, while the other waggons contained the tents and camp equipage of the dead and wounded, which were no longer needed at th" front. While I was waiting at this place a poor fellow died in one of the waggons, and was buried by the roadside. At last, after the stream had been pass- ing me for four hours, I was enabled to pursue my journey, and a short distance from my last halting- place.1 came upon a mournful scene. The dead body of another Russian soldier lay beside an open grave by the roadside, while a party of Bulgarians were saying their funeral service. Leaving this funeral group, I soon came upon an officer in command of the escort of the immense trains I had encountered on the roads. He said their losses had been terrific before Plevna, and that during the whole operations around that place they had probably lost 10,000 men killed, wounded, sick, and prisoners. This number, of course, includes the 2,000 previously telegraphed to you from Bucharest as the results of the fighting of the 19th, 20th, and 21st July. I believe this number to be about correct, judging from the wounded that I saw, and more especially by the thousands of knap- sacks I met going to the rear, and which had belonged to the men put hors de combat before Plevna. After leav- '1 ing this escort, I passed through a valley containing about 20 ancient mounds, some of which had been opened in former days. They are probably burial- places, constructed after some great battle of ancient times, as they could not be intended for any purposes of defence or for watch-towers down in this deep valley. After passing the Valley of Mounds, I ascended a high hill, and, upon reaching the top, had a magnifi- cent panorama spread out before me. I stood upon a very high and steep range of hills, bounding the River Osma, which rises in the Balkans and empties into the Danube just above Nikopol, forming the western side of the promontory upon which that place is situated. The valley of the Osma is wide enough to prevent effective artillery fire across it from the opposite heights; therefore, had the Russians contented them- selves with, fortifying this range of hills, they could have most effectually guarded the line of communica- tions between the Balkans and the Danube with the same force that had been so severely repulsed before Plevna and had Osman Pasha attacked General Kriidener here, his fate, would have been far worse even than that of Kriidener. Fortified here on this range of hills, Osman Pasha would have power- less to injure General Kriidener, and the men killed and wounded before Plevna would have held Nikopol against any force the Turks could have sent in that direction. The position of affairs would have then been more than reversed, as the Russians can hold fortifications as well as the Turks, while the latter are not so easily handled in the open field, and are not, therefore, so available for purposes of assault on fortifications. I am assured that the ordens to attack at Plevna were given by the Grand Duke himself if so, he alone is responsible, for the orders were carried out as gallantly as any men could have done in the same adverse circumstances.

SELECTED ANECDOTES. Too GREAT A TEMPTATION.—An Irishman entering the fair at Ballinagone saw the well-defined form of a large roundhead bulging out of the canvas of a tent. The temptation was irresistible up went his sliillelali- down went the man. Forth rushed from the tent a host of angry fellows to avenge the onslaught, Judge of their astonishment when they found the assailant on to be one of their own faction. "Och! Nicholas," said they, "and did you not know it was Brady O'Brien ye hit ?" Truth, did I not," says he bad luck to me for that same; but sure if my own fain".I had been there, and his head looking so nice and con- vanient, I could not have helped myself." QUALIFYING IT.-In addressing a jury upon one oc- casion, the celebrated Lord Jeffrey found it necessary to make free with the character of a military officer who was present. Upon hearing himself several times contemptuously spoken of as "the soldier," the son of Mars, boiling with indignation, interrupted the pleader, "Don't call me a soldier, sir I'm an officer." Lord Jeffrey immediately went on, "Well, gentlemen, this officer, who is no soldier, was the sole cause of all the mischief that had occurred." BONAPARTE'S AMBITION.—A German writer said that Bonaparte was so ambitious, that he would have the Black Sea for a wash-basin, the Mediter- ranean for a watering-place, the Baltic for a fish-pond, the Atlantic for a pleasure-yacht, the Pacific Ocean for a horse-pond, when he is in a passion. HIGHLAND COURTSHIP.-He went to the house of the lady, knocked at the door, and she made her ap- pearance. After a mutual nod, the following laconic dialogue ensued: "Do you want to change your condition?" No." "Nor I," and turning about said, "Thank Heaven, I've got that load off my mind!" PRACTICAL SCIENCE.—Two scientific men, father and son, had invented a very ingenious spinning Jenny; but, alas! when put together, the machine would not work. The village blacksmith was called in to con- sultation. Tom, do you think that machine could be made to work?" Vulcan carefully examined the machine and gave a favourable reply. How "Ay, ay, that's the secret." At last it was agreed that he should have half the profit, provided he could tell them how to make the Jenny work. Well, now, tell us what we must do to make it work ?"— "OIL it." The two men of science had overlooked so humble a part of the process. INGENIOUS ORDER.—A Volunteer Rifle captain, desiring to cross a field with his company, came to an opening in the fence large enough to admit two persons, but no more, to pass abreast. Unfortunately he could not remember the words of command which would have accomplished the difficult task of filing through; but his ingenuity did not desert him, and therefore he ordered a halt, and then said-" Gentle- men, you are dismissed for one minute, when you will fall in on t'other side of the fence." THE REASON WHY.—A person asked an itinerant poulterer, the price of a pair fowls. "Five shillings." —" In my dear country, my darlin', you might buy thim for a shilling a-pace."—" Why don't you remain in your own 'dear country,'then ?" Case we have no shillings, my jewel." THE STINGY ONE.—A rich, miserly old widower, a doctor, made a proposal of marriage to a young girl. He promised her everything she wanted, if she would have him. "Will yon let me keep my carriage?" asked she. "Yes," was the reply. They were married, and a carriage was purchased. "Where are the horses ?" inquired the lady. That's more than I bar- gained for, said the stingy doctor I promised that you might keep your carriage. There it is. Keep it where you please, my dear!" AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE. --Lord Chief Justice Holt, when a young man, was very dissipated, and belonged to a club of wild fellows, most of whom took an infamous course of life. When his lordship was encaged at the Old Bailev a man was convicted of highway robbery, whom the Judge remembered to have been one of his old companions. Moved by curiosity, Holt, thinking the fellow did not know him, asked what had become of his old associates. The culprit, making a low bow. and fetching a deep sigh, replied, Ah, my lord, they are all hanged but your lordship and me." THE CONSOLER.—Soon after the death of the poet Wordsworth, a gentleman met a farmer of the neigh- bourhood, and said to him, "You have had a great loss."—" What loss ?"—"Why, you have lost the great poet."—"Oh, ay," said the farmer, "he is dead, but ah hev ne" doubt t'wife'll carry on t'business, and mak it as profitable as ivver it was." HEARSAY EVIDENCE.—1TWO literary ladies were witnesses in a trial. One of tliem, upon hearing the I usual questions asked, What is your name? and how old are you? turned to her companion and said, I do not like to tell my age not that I have any ob- jection to its being known, but I don't want it pub- lished in all the newspapers."—" Well," said the witty Mr, S., "I will tell you how you can avoil it. You havedieard the objection to all hearsay evidence tell them you don't remember when you were born, and ail you of it is by hearsay." The ruse took; and the question was not pressed. "WEATHER AS IS WEATHER."—The boatmen at the Bay of Naples tell of a Wapping sailor in the Mediter- raneon, that he called out to his shipmates, one morn- ing, when there happened after six months' clear weather, to be a slight fog-" Turn out, boys turn out! Here's weather as is weather none of your everlasting blue sky!" RECIPE FOR A QUARREL WITH A WIFE.-Wait until she is at her toilet preparatory to going out. She will be sure to ask you if her bonnet is straight. Remark that the lives of nine-tenths of the women are passed in thinking whether their bonnets are straight, and wind up the remark with, you never knew but one who had any common sense about her. Wife will ask you who that was. You, with a sigh, reply, Ah you never mind." Wife will ask you why you did not marry her, then. You say, abstractedly, Ah! why, indeed ?"-The climax is reached by this time, and a regular row is sure to follow. A JUDGE'S CHARGE.—At the conclusion of a long trial, in one of the American courts, the judge thus addressed "the patient twelve If the jury believe, from the evidence, that the plaintiff and defendant were partners in the grocery, and that the plaintiff bought out the defendant and gave his note for the interest, and that the defendant paid for the note by delivering to the plaintiff a cow, which he warranted, and the warranty was broken by reason of the unsound- ness of the cow, and he drove the cow back and tendered her to the defendant, but the defendant refused to receive her, and i>lie plaintiff took her home and put a heavy yoke or poke upon her, to prevent hei jumping the fence, and that, owing to the poke oi yoke, she broke her neck and died and if the jury believe that the defendant s interest in the grocery was worth anything, the plaintiff's note was worthless, and the cow good for nothing, either for milk or beef, then the jury must find out for themselves how they will decide the case for the court, if it understands itself and it thinks it does, don't know how such a case could be defended." i

EPITOME OF NEWS. E BRITISH AND FOREIGN. Mr. R. A. Proctor, the eminent astronomer, relates that not very long ago, in an essay about spectroscopic pho- tography, he wrote of "lines, bands, and sti-im near the violet end of spectras The rendering the printers chose to adopt was this-" links, bonds, and stripes for the violet kind of spectres." There is a man who is said to be so fond of green peas that he goes down to Algeria every January to meet them, and he follows the growth until he winds up at Aber- deen in the autumn. Count Negri, a Venetian, for a bet of 1,000 francs, has swum from the Venice Railway-station to the Isle of Lido, a distance of five kilometres, in two hours and five minutes. Mr. W. 1:1. Hill, an American envelope maker, in one day of ten working hours, last month, with twenty-one machines and six hand folders, produced 1,324,000 envelopes, which he claims to be the largest number ever made in the same time by any manufacturer in the world. A convention between England and Egypt for the suppression of the slave trade was signed at Alexandria oil Saturday. Some curious railway statistics are given in an article on the prospects of the Great Eastern. The pro- portion of engine-power on aline would seem to be about an engine to a mile. An engine's life is estimated at 20 years," and it cost £ 2,700. The vehicles average 23 to a mile, and carriages cost about £ 350 sach. Th" London shipping trade has at last been materially affected by the war, as during the month of July just ended the number of vessels cleared out with cargoes was considerably under that of the corresponding month of 1876. The diminution has amounted to 57 ships, represent- ing 15,245 tons Her Majesty's Commissioners have consented to id the time tor the occupancy of the galleries at South rton for the purpose of the Caxton Exhibition which, o to the success that has attended it, will remain open xii! ,i the end of August. The Commissioners of Customs in their report state that the number of gallons of every kind imported was last year 21,090,000 gallons, being an increase of 5,003,000 gal- lons, or 31 percent, upon the importation of the preceding year, and 52 per cent on 1874. It has been officially announced by the Spanish Government that the marriage of King Alfonso is not recom- mended "in a political or dynastic interest" till he be twenty years of aye. His Majesty's birthday is on the 23th of November next, so that he will nJt hav? long to ws-it. if inclined to enter into wedlock. The Gardeners' Chronicle publishes the general results of an inquiry throughout the United Kingdom as to the condition and piospeets of the potato crop. The crop will prove an average one, although the tubers are small, and from ten davs to a fortnight later than mual. The potato disease has. made its appearance almost everywhere more or less, and in some cases in an aggravated form. A telegram from Rome says that the Universal Catholic League has now fifty millions of francs in hand, and two hundred millions of francs in French and English Government stock. Speaking at Inscli, Aberdeenshire, on Saturday, Sir J. D: Elphinstone, :U.P" one of the Lord's of the Treasury, referred at some length to the poliey of obstruction, saying that it was impossible that five or six men should be per- mitted to bring the Government of this great Empire iuto ridicule, and the Government had arranged with the leader of the Opposition that if such tactics were persisted in something decisive would have to be done. A tragedy occurred last week at Lille (Nord). M B^champs, dean of the Catholic Faculty of Medicine, had been for some time the object of threats from a man, who had been employed at the University, out dismissed some months ago, a fact for which he blamed the professor. On Thursday this man went to the residence of :).1. Bechamps, in the Rue Beauharnais', and, without waiting to be an- nounced, went straight to the study of the gentleman, and after bitterly reproaching him, drew out a revolver, level- ling it as if to fire. M. Bechamps called f-r aid, aud his son seized on the intruder; the latter turned the weapon on the young man, and wounded him in the thumb, the pain ing him to let go his hold, on which the man took to flight. On arriving in th8 passage, hf fired the revolver into his own heart and fell d'entf Eft bo ay was removed to ths Morgue. Extract from a letter in a recent breach of promise case My ownest own." They are much more communicative about incomes in the "United States than they are in this country. No Yankee minds his income-tax return being published, and those whose returns are large glory in them, and like all the world to know them. At a recent meeting, in which there was much re- ligious interest, an old man gave expression to his joy by shouting, and continued it until he began to interrupt the services. "Go and stop that øld lllan s noise." He welIt to him and spÐke a few words, and the man at once became quiet. What did you say to the old man that quieted him so promptly, remarked the minister. "I asked him for something for foreign missions." The man who dosen't know much about farming suggests that for garden-making a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it, would be an improvement on the spinal column now in use. That occurrence must have made a great impres- sion upon you, Smith." "Why so?" said brown. "Because you have told me tht story at least a hundred times." The Mark-lane Express says the most noticeable feature in the agricultural reports of the week is the im- provement which has taken place in barley. Wheat may now be considelhl to have reached maturity, and in well- sheltered southern districts harvesting has commenced. The quinquennial gathering of the Sheffield Sunday School Union was held on Monday in Norfolk Park.. Up- wards of 20.000 scholars and 2,500 teachers were present. From 80,000 to 100,000 spectators were, it was calculated, npon the ground "I am in possession of further informition con- cerning the ullsatisfactory state of the Czar's he 1th. For several days he has ot-ly received Prince Gortschakoff and a few privileged members of the Imperial staff. Mich is his state of nervous excitement that his advisers sugest a temporary residence sufficiently near to, Lut out of sight of, the seat of war, Yienua Correspondent of Daily Telegraph. Since the institution of the Morgue in Paris, un- identified bodies have, it is known, been exposed unclad, on stone slabs. It has now been decided (we learn from the llevue Seicntifique) that the dead shall be placed before the eyes of the public just as they have been found, with the proper exception 01 those who bear on any part of theirb:j;ly :'1 mark which may facilitate recognition. It is anticipated that this measure will increase by a third the number of identifications. The Japanese have now introduced balloons. With- out any European assistance, they have constructed at Tokis one containig 15,000 cubic feet of gas, which was in- flated by means of an air-pump, and a young student made the first ascent. It is to be employed in the war against the insurgents. The Princess Loue has presented the Victoria Hospital, Gough-square, London, with a water-colour exe- cuted expressly by her Royal Highness for the Louise Ward also with the last new engraving of her Majesty, which is tn be hung in the hall The subject of the water-colour is a nurse with a scrap-book on her knee and a little boy and girl standing on either side of her. The Queen has been graciously pleased to signify Her Majesty's intention of conferring the honour of knight- hood on Mr. William Richard Holmes, Her Majesty's Consul at Bosna Serai, on his retirement in consequence 01 impaired health, after a service of thirty-six years. A Reuter's telegram from Victoria (Vancouver Island), announces the sudden death there, on the 2nd inst., of Sir James Douglas, K.C.B. Sir James, who was 72 years of age, was the son of Mr. John Douglas, of Glasgow, and was for many years in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1851 he was appointed first Governor of Vancouver Island, and afterwards, when British Columbia was incorporated with it, he was also chosen to administer the Governments of the two combined colonies. From this post he retired in 1863 on a pension of £500. He was made a C.B. in 1858, and on his retirement five years afterwards was created K.C.B. Prince Albert Victor continues to make satisfactory progress towarùs complete recovery. The German village of Garnsee, near Marienwerder, with its 1,100 inhabitants, and the Swedish seaport of Sunds- wall with its 6,000 inhabitants, have been nearly destroyed by fire. In the former case a woman B2 years of age was burnt, and 800 persons are homeless. The Rev. Charles Boutell, a well-known anti- quarian, died last week at Ids residence in Portsilown- road, Maida-hill, at the age of sixty-seven. Mr. Boutell graduated at Cambridge, but was subsequently incorporated at Trinity College, Oxford. Having ben ordained, he held curacies in Korfolk and Hertfordshire, and afterwards became vicar of Downham Market and of another living in the former county. He was well known by his works on "Ancient Monuments and Recumùent Effigies," and on "Ancient Arms and Armour," published about seven or eight years ago. He was a member of several antiquarian and archaeological societies. The Warehouseman and Drapers' Trade Journal says that the persons employed by Messrs. Copestake, Hughes, and Co., Bow-churcliyard, have subscribed a sum sufficient to present ^jJjoat to the National Lifeboat Institu- tion, in memory of the late Mr. Georpe Jloore. On Monday afternoon, a porty of six excursionists from Huddersfield went out for a row on Lake Windermere. The boat capsized, but, floating bottom upwards, two got on and were taken off by a passing boat. The remaining four were drowned. An exciting scene, which fortunately had no serious results, was witnessed at Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, on Monday. On the large boating pool is a boat in which it is customary for children to be taken for a row at a small charge, the proper complement for the craft being twenty youngsters. On Monday afternoon the boat was laden with l'hiJdren, and the voyage round the pool was accomplished iu safety. As the debarkation, however, was about to be commenced, the children rushed to one side of the hoat, with the result of capsizing it, and in a second nineteen little ones were struggling iu the water. Luckily many people were in the neighbourhood, and with their assistance the children were rescued, having sustained no further harm than a thorough wetting. A shocking accident has happened at Thruston. Herefordshire. A labourer was engaged cutting wheat with a reaping machine. His wife was also employed in the field binding sheaves. Their little boy, two and a half years old, was playing about, the parents thinking he y,ould be sder there than at home. The child strayed away in the wheat. anu the father, whilst turning a corner, was horrified to find that tIle: machine had cut the boy's left leg olfa little below the knee, and the foot and lower portion (if fee útler were irightfully mangled. On Saturday the Lord Mayor of London distributed the Mansion House awards to the Tynewyetd miners at Pontypridd. The town was gaily decorated. A pro- cfssiun uf friendly societies and colliers carryjn their pick- axes and other tools conducted his lordship to the top of a mountain comllIandi P. splendid prospect of the Rhoudda Valley. Here a platform had been erected, and was filled with leading residents of the county. The weather was brilliant, and 30.000 people were assembled Lord Aberdare, by command of the Qleen, gave the Albert Medals to the miners who had been selected for the honour. From the report of the Customs in their Report it appears that the stock of tobacco in the bonded warehouses on the 31st of December last was-unmanufactured 95,151,n3(jllJ., and manufactured, 2,803,4991b., or 98 million pounds in all. The Commissioners add:—"This is the largest quantity we have ever had under our charge in the bonded warehouses at the close of the year." A sea serpent, at least 40 feet in length, has been seen by a dozen persons III Massachusetts Bay, and accord- ing to the latest American papers there can be little doubt as to the real existence of the creature, for it was afterwards seen three times by the crew of a coasting vessel, who give a very circumstantial account of its dimensions and appear- ance. It seems that the South of India is again threatened with a dreadful famine. At a public meeting held in Madras, the Governor presiding, it has been resolved to appeal to the British public for aid to the population of Southern India.—"The severity of the famine is increasing, and the digress is great. The rainfall continues insufficient, and a population of twenty millions is affected. Numbers are absolutely dependent on charity, and in the Madras Presidency alone persons daily receive assistance. The increased mortality has already reached nearly half a million. The distress is now reaching the better classes, owing to the increased price of grain. The pressure must continue till the crops are gathered in January. The neces- sity for assistance is most urgent and pressing." King Victor Emmanuel is taking a holiday in the Alps, where, at his favourite hunting-box Valsavaranche, he leads the most simple life and gives himself up to the pleasures of the chase. He is always the first riser in the morning, and wakes up his officers and suite Clad in a velvet shooting costume, with a large Tyrolean hat, the King spends his days hunting the chamois and the "bouquetin," the latter, which are fast becoming extinct, being carefully preserved for His Majesty. He is a splendid shot, and an indefatigable climber and walker, never seeming to feel fatigue. His fare is of the simplest—almost too frugul for many of his companions—and consists mainly of plain roast meat, a haricot of mutton, and claret. A very handsome specimen of a trout weighing 251b. taken by Mr. Alfred Jardine in one of the Irish lakes, was received last week at the Piscatorial Society, and has since been sent for preservation. South Australian papers announce news of an en couraging character received from the Northern Territory goldfields. The reels are rapidly improving, aud the deeper the mines are sunk the richer they become. Some coolies working on tribute are said to be making £25 per man per week. A curious tale was brought here some few weeks ago by the American bark Agate from Australia (writes the Shanghai Correspondent of The Times). The captain reports that, while in Dampier Straits on the 2nd of February last, in lat. 0-34 south and long. 130-22 east, natives came on hoard from Battanta. Killg William, and other islands; and I hat one of the chiefs expbined to him by signs and in broken English that there were 16 white men and one white woman on some of the islantls to the northward. He was not able to search for them, as his ship had b-en on a lock and injured herself, so that he dared do nothing but keep on his course. Ti e matter has been reported to Admiral Ryder, R.X., who has eOlllmunicated it to the Commodore of the Australian Station, and steps will, no doubt, be taken to ascertain whether there really are shipwrecked people in the neighbourhood indicated. A cab horse, of the value of £40, belonging to Mr. James Tomlfnson, of Bradford, was hitten by a retriever dog on the 12th ult, and the other day it was found to be snfferiug from hydrophobia, and was shot. A letter was read from Mr. Macdonald, M.P., at a meeting of miners' delegAtes held at Glasgow, dealing with the recent dedsion of the Bcottish ironmasters to blowout one-third of their furnaces. lIe says that if this proposal had been made for the benefit of all concerned, it would have been a right course, but he regards the resolution as a blow directed at the miners, and asks them to meet it boldly. He suggests that should the decision of the iron- masters throw 3,000 tons of coal upon the market, the miners should produce 5,000 tous per week less. At the Wesleyan Conference at Bristol on Saturday, replies to the Australian, Irish, and French Conferences were read; as well as the pastors 1 address to the societies, to which a paragraph was ordered to be added, protesting against the national sin of druukenness and all legislation tending to encourage it. Cardinal Cullen has issued a pastoral to his clergy, in which he beseeches them to prav that this empire may not have to share the miseries of th = war. The Turks have, he says, always been the enemies of the Catholic Church, and have inflicted great evils on every country which they have occupied, while the Bussians are the greatest and most per- fidious enemies 01 tJ", Catholics, and would, if they g,t pos- session of COlJstalÜinopIp aud the Turkish territories in Europe, persecute the Catholics RLd establish a system of schism Mr. Roger, of Ch&tillon-sur-Morin (France), has killed in his courtyard an enormous wolf, weighing I801bs. This welf had followed the rural postman Îli tLe woods 01 Meix for some time. The Paris Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph writes :—"A fatal bathing accident occurred on Saturday at Prado, while two .\oang men, named Delguy and La- marche, were swimming together. At about 600 yards from the land the former was seized with cramp, and called out to his companion that he was drowning. Lamarche went to his aid, and in another minute both were seen to disappear below the surface. The occurrence t, ok place in presence of a large number of people, amongst whom were the parents of the young men. As soon as it was seen that there wns danger, two of the divers belonging to the baths went to the rescue, but they succeeded only in saving the life of Delgny. Young Lamarche, who went so nobly to the help of his friend, perished." On Friday one of the Chinese Ambassadors (Kwoh Ta Jin)and a uative attache, accompanied by Dr. Macartney, visited the Caxton Exhibition. South Kensington. They were conducted through the galleries by Mr. J. S. Hodson, the hon. secretarv, and were very much interested in what Vney saw, naturally not least so in the Chinese block print- ing in operation. Printing with moveable types, as every- one knows, was invented in Europe in the loth century, and was preceded by the block books of the Htll century. But what everybody does not know is that the Chinese, from the close of the 10th century, had printed their books by the latter mens. Psalm xxiii. was being cast off a block, engraved is Canton, and exhibited by Mr. Thomas Jernor, and the prnof csffr.lr by Wre r"1nnol' Am- I bassador. With the exception of the season ot lbio, tne herring fishings of this year show the best results on rec°Kd the> total catch for the season up to Saturday being 32,24* crass. tu of the Paris Observatory, has discovered a small placet, the lustre from which is that of a star of the tenth magnitude. A Paris paper says a lady's ht, in cut ivory, is at present being exhibited for file in a sop on the Boulevard Poissonuiere, the price being 700 francs. The Registrar-General of Shipping repprts that the aggregate tonnage of registered vessels existing on the n-gistiy has risen from 7,237,934 tons in 18G6. to 7,1,464,578 tons in 1876. In the United Kingdom, from 5,6^2.010 tons to 6,197,968 tons and in the British Plantations, from 1,518,647 tons to 1,701.245; the Channel Islands showing a decrease from S7,327 tons to 65,3d5 tons. The number of vessels has fallen from a total of 40,912 to 37,6S0 and the of men in 1S76—namely, 348,959-show.s very uttle incarese. The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledges ill The Times (as "Conscience Money ") the receipt of a zeio note sent anonymously on account of Income-tax. An interesting discovery has just been m,de in the Faubourg Saint-Germain. In demolishing the Hotel Matignon, the workmen uncovered a beautiful ceiling by Louis Boulloncue, representing the Muses. This valuable painting, which Delongs to the city, will be restored, and re- niovedtotbell el Carnavalet A real mechanical curiosity has turned up on the Clyde. I allude to the engine of the first steamer which plied between Dumbarton, namely that of the Levan, con- structed in 1822, by the late Robert Napier, Shandon (a native of Dumbarton), and which has been presented to the Cor- poration by Mr. James R. Xapier, Glasgow, has arrived at Dumbarton. It was brought from Goran on a steam trac- tion engine, aud has been placed at the pier, immediately over the site of the pedestal which is IJeing erected for its recel,tion.Notes from the North in Pictorial World. The Lords of the Admiralty have decided upon im- proving the position of the engine-room artificei's of the fleet by increasing their pay and comfort, and giving" them the means of promotion to a higher grade by creating a new rating of chief engine -room artificers. It is said that Mr. Ruskin means to organize a number of excursions of working men to places of interest throughout the country. Mr. Ruskin will head the party and act as cicerone. This year's Session has not been one of accord, for there have been 260 divisions in the House of Commons up to last Saturday. A gentleman I heard of the other day met with a most unpleasant and affecting accident. He accidentally swallowed his wife's false eye. The lady used to take it out eyery night and put it i. a glass a third filled with water. The gentleman had been out to dinner and came home, as is not unusually the case, rather dry in the mouth. So he took up the first handy tumbler in the bed-room, filled it with water, and only too late discovered that he had bolted the optic of the wife of his bosom. The only thing I don't quite like about this story is when I think of the usual size of a glass eye The Tatler in Pictorial World. The claims arising out of the fire at St. John, New Brunswick, have been adjusted. Of the amount 4,822,000 dols. falls upon English companies, 1,459,000 upon Canadian and 445,000 upon American ofiiaes, beinga total of 6,036,000 dols. covered by insurance. Mondav being the 33rd anniversary of the birth of his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, the occasion was celebrated at Windsor with the usual rejoicings. The bells of St. George's Chapel and St. John's Church rang merrily throughout the morning, and Royal salutes were fired at Windsor and Virginia Water. Colonel Wellesley has arrived in London from the head-quarters of the Grand Duke Nicholas, and on Monday rioiT'ing had an interview with Lord Derby at the Foreign Office. Quand Meme.—Mind you are good, dear. Re- member me and that we wait and hope for the future. To Quand Meme.—Echo answers ever 'Quand meme,' in perfect accord and with a (ievoted servitude. If trust be desired, it is yours. My heart is yours, the present and past without a reproach, and in hepe the heavenly future. Other echoes may be simulated 'twit hill and dale, but are false, as all evil and untruth is, to true maiilioo(!A ugust 2, 1877. Two advertisements in The Times. Two yearlings at the sale from the Sandgate Stud on Saturday brought a thousand guineas each. Thirty-four yearlings altogether were sold for 10,125 guineas, or an average of over 298 guineas each. The journeymen coopers of the United Kingdom, whose trade societies have hitherto remained independent of each other, have resolved upon a national federation of the entire trade. A conference of delegates from all parts of the country has just been held at Burton-on-Trent, where the federation scheme was discussed and adapted. There are about 20,000 operative coopers in the United Kingdom, and their aggregated funds are upwards of 430,000. The report of the Board of Education for Scotland, shows that on the 31st December, 1876. there were 2,430 public schools under school boa)ds—2,118 in parishes, and 312 in burghs—an increase of 101 over the previous year, container accommodation for 380,215 scholars. Altogether 1.055new schools—932 in parishes, and 123 in burghs—have been sanctioned by the Bo; rd of Education, of which num- ber, up to the 31st December last, 646 had been already bnilt, leaving 409 of those sanctioned still to be provided— 375 in parishes and 34 in burghs. It is said that the master carpenters in Manchester have engaged a number of men in New York to replace workmen who are on strike. At Xewcliurch, on Monday morning, a man named Simpson was working at St. Cuthbert's, New Church, Over Darwen, when he was struck on the head by a bucket, causing immediate death. Everywhere pink satin shoes are in demand with the fair sex. Of course they are totally unsuited for ordi- nary wear, yet some of the "grand dames use them when driving in Hyde I'ark. Even at Ascot satin slippers were in the ascendant, and the same ln-.s been the case at G-oodwood this week.—Covrt Journal. Mr. Bissett, of Bristol, one of the sufferers by the fall of the suspension bridge at Bath, died on Friday in last week at the Bath Hospital, making the eleventh death arising from that accident. Mr. David Dale, the arbitrator in the wages dispute of the North of England ironworkers, has made his award on the employers' proposal to reduce wages 10 per cent. lIe decides it is inexpedient to make a, -y present change in the Wagea now paid, 8; tik; three months' notice of a change can be given by either side after the end of the present year. At his country house on the^Hudson, William Allan Butler has a very charming conceit in the way of a window, framed so as to impress whoever 10f.ks at it with the belief that it is a picture. There is a beautiful view of the water from this window, and, framed as the casement is in gilt, and furnished with a shadow boaid, one is deceived for a moment into the idea that it is the work of art and not natures self. This idea is not original, a there is a similarly illusive window in a house 01 some historic note in Caiais, but the effect is no less striking. Field-Marshal Stemmetz died at Landeck on Friday in last week. lie was born in 1796, entered the Prussian Army in igi3; distinguished himself in the Danish War of 1848, and commanded a Corps a'Armee iu I860, when he showed great ardour, but sometimes sacrificed too many of his men in gaining his successes. In 1871 he commanded the first Gewnan Army, and teok a prominent part in the battle of e In the following year he retired, and marrying a young wife, settled in Silesia. The second son -of the Khedive, Prince Hussein, Pasha, has gone on a sea voyage for the benefit of neuralgia, from which he is suffering. It is stated that at the Berlin Agricultural Museum numerous Colorado beetles are being carefully nursed and tended, to afford naturalists an opportunity of studying the habits and customs of the unwelcome straliger.-Land and Water says, the rooks are the enemies of the Colorado beetle, and ought to be spared in case of an invasion of the country by that insect. The Allyemeine Zeitung announces the death at Cairo of a negress 106 years of age, who retained her faculties to the last, particularly her memory. She is said to have waited on General Bonaparte during his expedition to Egypt. An expedition has sailed from the United States to plant a colony in the Polar regions for the purpose of Arctic exploration. The funds have been subscribed by private individuals. The Paris girls look like their grandmothers now, and perhaps wear their grandmother's hair, for they have adopted S'10rt curls into their coiffures, and instead of the fringe of hair across the forehead, it is arranged in long, formal spit curls, or in a row of straight little curls in the style of Madame S6vign6.—Court Journal. After a brief visit to England, during which he has delivered several lectures on temperance, Mr. P. T. Baruum. the great American showman. left the Mersey on Saturday last, in the Cunard steamer Scythia for New York. Mrs Barnum accompanied him. Lord DunraVen, the Right Rev W. G. M'Closky (Bishop of Louisville), Judges Brewster an Parson, the Ron. B. }> Ferdon, Mrs. General S. V. Benet, and Baron August Le Coq were passengers by the same steamer. -Mime. Christine Nilssonis to receive 7,000f. ( £ 280) a-night, at the Imperial operas in St. Petersburg and Moscow. She is to perform twice a week. Her engagement is for three months. In addition to this, two performances are to be given in her name as benefits," for which she is to be paid 2S,000f. The Prague Czech journal Polvtik asserts that the crew of the Russian merchant steamer Vesta, who fought the Turkish ironclad off Kustendje, in an inquiry officially instituted, have declared that the captain and officers of the ironclad were English, and that some of them wore the English naval uniform. Two French sailors of the Atalante have been murdered at Yokohama by German sailors of the Elizabeth, after an angry discussion on the War of 1870, in which a Frcnch Alsatian translated to his comrades some insulting expressions used JJY the Germans. The officers < <ue Elizabeth expressed regret and indignation, ar.d promised au inquiry. A Parsee team of cricketers proposes to challenge the best English team to a game. The practical joke of a lively "My lady" who cannot be out of mischief was to till the shower bath of one of her admirers, at a country house they were staying at, Witl1 ink.-{"JuTt Journal. The first pocket of new hops arrived in the London market on Saturday, and was of a fair quality aud colour. It was grown by Mr. W. Munk, of Frittenden, Kent, and was bought by Messrs. Hoi s'ey, hop merchants, Soutliwark- street, at £14, aud forwarded to Messrs. B. Boadington and Co., brewers, Burton-on-Trent and Manchester. A young lady who improved upon nature by the appliances of art was criticised by a female friend in these words, She's only a chromo." There is a new sect in Russia called the Purifiers," belonging to the Greek church. Their leading doctrines are that all must marry on coming of age, that the husband must be subordinate to the wife, and recognise her as the head of the family, and that once a week lie must confess his sins to his wife. A return has just been printed showing that the gross estimated rental of the Metropolis, as settled by the Valuation Lists at Ladyday, 1876, was £ 27,602,649, and the rateable value £ 22,763,082, against £ 21,621,082 in the pre- ceding year. The increased difference in the two years was £ 1,712,005. It is hoped that public business will be sufficiently advanced to enable Her Majesty to prorogue Parliament on the 14th or 15th inst. A new torpedo w?.s tried in the river Thames, off Woolwich, on Saturday last, with complete success. It is on a plan similar to the Harvey torpedo, which has been adopted by the Admiralty, but it has the superior advantage of steerage power to almost any anvle, port or starboard, of the attacking ship, and two light lines are all that are requisite to manage it, at whatever distance it may be directed against the enemy, or however great the sheer upon it. The torpedo is the invention of a mechanic named Griffiths, employed in the Royal Laboratcry in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, and he aln showed the model of an outrigger torpedo, the pole of which extends, by a self-acting and incenious telescopic arrangement, to the right or the and left at will. In the House of Commons, on Monday night, in answer to Mr. Sheridan, lr. Cross explained that it would be attended with considerable risk to life and property to attempt to recover the body i f Thomas Stain, who was acci- dentally buried iu the Sew Homer Hill pit, near Dudley, on the 25th of January, and neither he nor the inspector of inires had any power in the matter. The report of th" Select Committee on the civil employment of soldiers, sailors, and marines has been issued. The committee m that boatmen in the Customs should be selected fl# the Royal K."vy thiougb the Board of Admiralty, md that the selection of permanent mes- sengers should be exclusively made from persons who have served they think that persons who have served in the army or paw are well fitted for prison warders that rural postal messengerships might be advantageously given to soldiers or sailors oolv that the existing practice of choosing park- keepers from "the military and naval services should be made an absolute rule that a" considerable extension ought to be given to the class of military and naval clerks that the con- ditions of examination for civil appointments for which soldiers are deemed suitable should be so adjusted as to give fair weight to those branch of knowledge in which their V.n* especially pfiRKIffi tb'cm tfc make progress.