The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

AGRICULTURE. 1 --+-- Disease in Sheep and Cattle. The subject which was brought before the last meet- 32 9 of the Royal Agricultural Society by Mr. Simonds cannot fail to produce, under present circumstances, unwelcome impression. Mr. Simonds stated, for wte information of the council, that another outbreak 0 Smallpox in sheep has just taken place; this has occurred on the Sussex downs, amidst large flocks of sheep, midway between Lewes and Newhaven. The Pressor visited the flock, comprising six hundred e^es and lambs, and among them were found sixty-five ^'Bcfced with the disease. This is most unwelcome tes, for with the meat markets ruling at present high rlces, should the infection spread it will indeed aCOme a national calamity. There is also said to be a tearful typhoid visitation among the pigs, and with this disease in sheep superadded the future prospects of meat supply seem rather hazardous. We can only hope that by the experience gained during the former jtypearance of the disease, it may be arrested in time j;0 prevent further damage, and thus preserve our aocks for our use in due season. Hypothec and Game Laws in Scotland. IN Scotland there are two topics at the present time Occupying attention the law of hypothec and the fame laws; the former is purely local, and a commis alOn. has just issued a report suggesting some amelio- ration of the law, which seems worthy of considera- tion on the part both of landlord and tenant. The Stole laws belong to a more general subject, and that tWhich is done in the north may have some influence in the south. There have been meetings held to discuss the subject at the Chamber of Agriculture in Edin- btir,gh,,&t Aberdeen, and at Perth, as well as at other Places. One of the chief points seems to be to take hares and rabbits out of the category of game. At Aberdeen the two principal resolutions carried were- the first that hares and rabbits ought to be excluded fr&1I1 the operation of the game laws; that taeir pre- seation, being incompatible with good farming, is < contrary to .public good, and that therefore all con- tracts having for their object the preservation of bates and rabbits ought to be declared illegal/' The °ther is, that justices of the peace ought to have 110 jurisdiction in game-law cases." The resolutions generally at the different meetings are modifications "these two, which may be taken as showing the Cadency df opinion, and in order to got them carried it is ,proposed to form a Farmers' Defence League, the avowed object of which would be to bring about Some alteration in the game laws. Dishorning Cattle in Ireland. ONE of the topics which has lately produced much Controversy in the Irish agricultural world, is the £ racticenow prevalent of dishorning or polling cattle. "I I Jra a, correspondence which has been carried on in Irish journals by the advocates and opponents of process, it would appear that several statements r*9 putforward, one differing from the other. The jplVGeates—who are, of course, those deriving advan- from it— assert that the operation does not cause rffch pain to the animal, in fact, that it is not so j^&ftJ as other operations that are being continually ^formed on different descriptions of animals, aaiely, horses, cattle, «heep, and pigs. It is advanced that a cow, when unhorned by ViOlelice, becomes afterwards a better milker, jjpfig a greater quantity per diem; and that1 quality of the meat is improved, as $animal thrives better when deprived of those ^aral excrescences. The opponent, of course, assert direct contrary:; that the operation is painful in extreme, and deny altogether the supposed tantages of better milking and better quality of • and our convictions would certainly go with last, for it is impossible to conoeive that an ^Ual does not suffer severely daring the process, and ^Pecially afterwards; and it is equally impossible to ■Mer stand that an animal can give more milk or pro- a finer quality of meat from such mutilation. {J* there can be no doubt that the artificial manu- tito*6 P°^0d animals has been for a loag 0f going on in Ireland, under the impression the 8UPP°se^ advantages. We may admit, says 0(,r "ield, that horned animals are sometimes danger- and that some injuries may be received, or even lives lost, frominf uriated cattle, and also that it is a jjjpter of difficulty to keep a number of horned .glials in confined courts or yards, without their Retimes doing severe damage to each other. But the remedy.should be sought by such abarbarous tfi is, indeed, a subiect much to be regretted, and we .^ink ought to be restrained by a public (v ^Bination of the act. Nor can we accept the Ration as one of comparison, for while it must be that pain is inflicted in the .production of a Cijag, an ox, or a wether sheep, .yet the advantage hi cases has been ascertained, and is therefore j^itivg; while in the case of polling animals, beyond danger from a goaded beast or the injury that they &0] able to inflict on each other—both of which Is may be avoided by other means—no possible of can accrue to mitigate in any way the cruelty treatment. OF BUCKS.—London housewives, whose ^t ^e the duck is confined to the specimens aPpear at their area gate ready plucked and at S:ed by the poulterer, may not be aware that there varieties-the common brown duck, the Mus. UQIJ, (so called from the flavour of musk it affords, and 14d.cause it comes from Muscovy), the black East hlan, and the Aylesbury duck. The latter should fck; orange legs, feet, and bill, with snow-white ge. If it puts forth a few black feathers, it k*16 cross with the common breed, and fattens 9,^ slowly, and fetches less in the market. Duckers %f)a,c^ass persons resident within ten miles of v!iy'T^ose chief, if not only employment is to 6 "uokliags for the London market. They may classes—those who keep ducks Ws/f and those who rear duek- There are individuals in the L head, and in the latter who ducklings to London every season February and October.

SPORTS AND PASTIMES. AccecrNTS have arrived from Norway saying that the fishing is so extremely good that the Earl and Countess of Coventry propose remaining in that country some weeks longer. WHEN Mr. Grace played at cricket against The United," at Bath, one gentleman laid £1.00 to Jsl, and another X5 to Is. that he did not score 100; un- fortunately for the layers of the long odds, he scored 121- THE amateurs in France of bull-fighting are going to get up a grand affair at Mont de Marsan, on the Landes. There will be thirteen bulls selected from the Spanish bull preserves for their ferocity, their size, and the magnitude of their horns. FISH CULTURE.—As a branch of national industry and production, our inland fisheries are to an insular nation like ours, (says Fraser Magazine) of the utmost importance. That they are susceptible of enormous development is a fact which is beginning gradually but slowly to dawn upon us; and ere many years are passed, we shall certainly fully recognise the real value of our inland waters, and of an extended and comprehensive system of water-culture and we shall treat it somewhat after the same fashion that agri- culture is dealt with in the present day. It is a dis- grace to our boasted civilisation that we have neglected it so long, and that we should, by pollutions and defile- ments of the most loathsome character, -have turned one of the greatest -blessings—viz., .pure running water into the curse which it is rapidly becoming throughout the country. The direction taken by recent legislation and inquiry, however, Bhows that the question, whether our rivers shall be allowed to become mere sewers, is one that cannot much longer be staved off. A great fight between the public weal and public rights, and certain private interest, is evidently not far off; and when it does come, it is devoutly to be hoped that the private interests will be worsted. The Great All-England Angling Handicap. This Handicap, got up at Nottingham among the fishermen, is to-come off on the 31st inst., professedly, according to the bill-posters, in the river Trent, at Collingham." Mr. Greville, in a letter to the Field, says: Mr. R. Savidge, the treasurer, had stated that it was promilture to say that "it would take place between Collingham Wharf andcarlton Ferry," as it is not decided whether it be above or below the farmer place, or on which side the river the respective com- petitors will stand, it being most desirable to keep the exact spots a secret, as they might be surreptitiously baited, which would be a very great injustice to the fair angler. "Now," says Mr. Greville, "although this may imply a suspicion upon the honour and rectitude of some one or other of the anglers of Nottingham, there cannot be a doubt but that such a course is the best to insure the due fulfilment of the conditions of the match, and the identification of the scene of operations will therefore not be decided until the morning on which the contest takes place." As this kind of tourney will probably be new to many anglers, the rules which govern it may be given as concisely, as follows: That strictly fair anglieg be pursued. The use of more than one rod and one hook at a time to disqualify the competitors; and that he bait his own hook, strike and land his own fish; that he keep his spoil to himself until they are weighed in." The heaviest weight of fish to be entitled to the first prize. All parties intending to "weigh in" are f p requested to stay on the fishing ground until the weighers attend upon them. Any amalgamation of fish to disqualify all concerned. All fish to be weighed in" excepting pike. That all lookers on be requested to keep from the anglers; and any competitor wishing to remove to another swim, must, before doing so, intimate the same to one of the committee. Any fish taken contrary to these rules shall be laid before the committee, and its decision be final. Each extremity of the fishing ground where this match takes place shall be marked with a flag. Each angler will be pro- perly handicapped with time according to his merits, and may be allowed to fish wherever he may please within the flag-marked boundary, provided he does not approach nearer than thirty yards to either of his fellow competitors. Any competitor entering in his wrong name will be disqualified; and all must fish from the bank. Anyone found wading, or fishing from a boat, will also be disqualified. No place will be allowed to be baited, neither will bobbing for eels. "Caution to Spectators: In order that this angling handicap may be conducted with honesty and pro- priety, police officers will be engaged, whose duty it will be to expel from that locality any one holding in. tercourse or conversation with any competitor during the hours of competition." The entrance fee is three shillings each, to be paid at Mr. Thomas Scotton s, on any day except Sunday, and to close on Saturday, the £ »th instant. The water contains barbel, roach, dace, bream, chub, perch, eels, bleak, flounders, &c. The first prizes will consist of four, and will be given in money. -First prize, £ 10; second, < £ 5; third, and fourth, £ l. Besides which a number of minor prizes, the gift of Mr. Scotton's friends, will be awarded, according to their value. 4

Ford's Theatre at Washington. Ford's Theatre inside, says the New York Times, pre- sents a scene of the greatest confusion. All the properties, waidrobes, furniture, &c., ate piled upon the stage preparatory to Packing and removing. The purchasers propose to pay 10,000 dollars to Mr. Ford, when the property will be conveyed to them. Strangers in the city are continually calling and asking admission to the building, but thus far none have been admitted save a few members of the press. Notwithstanding the close. surveillance of the guards who have had the theatre in charge the building has been roughly used. Curiosity seekers have completely whittled away the bench upon which Peanut John sat whilst holding Booth's horse, and about a yard square has been cut away from the green baize ca,rpet, surrounding the spot where Booth s 'feet struck when he j amped upon the stage, after shooting the President. One of these curious visitors entered the saloon ad. joining the theatre, where Booth took his xast drink of brandy just before he murdered Mr. Lincoln, lhe visitor inquired of the barkeeper: "Have you the same bottle on hand out of which Booth drank on the night of the assassination ?" Yes, sir." 11 And the same brandy in it ? Yes, sir." Can I have a drink of that same brandy out of that same bottle t Yes, sir." Let's have it." The visitor tastes the brandy, makes a wry face, and continues: "And that's the same brandy that Booth drank?" "Yes, sir." Well, I don't wonder that he killed the Presi- dent. A drink of that brandy would make a man kill i his grandmother."

FACTS AND FACETIIE. The strongest plume in wisdom's pinion is the memory of past folly. If you pursue good with labour, the labour passes away and the good remains. If your neighbour's offence is rank, don't le yours be rancour. No woman should paint except she who has lost the power of blushing. Leisure is a very pleasant garment, but it is a very bad one for constant wear. Most uninteresting companions are girls in their gigglehood, and boys in their boobyhood. Let friendship creep gently to a height; if it rush to it it may soon run itself out of breath. Beware of such food as persuades a man, though he be not hungry, to eat; and those liquors that will prevail with a man to drink them when he is not thirsty Deep learning will make you acceptable to the learned; but it is only an easy and obliging behaviour and entertaining conversation that will make you agree. able in all compallief. Be not too ready to pronounce that he whom you think a bad youth will necessarily become a bad man. Yonder sturdy oak may have grown from an acorn that had been selected by a hog. A clear stream reflects all objects that are upon its shore, but it is unsullied by them. So it should be with our hearts-they should show the effect of all objects, and yet remain unharmed by any. "Wise Saws."—Some are kind enough to confer favours who are not humble enough to accept of them. —In every human condition foes lie in wait for us, in. vincible except by cheerfulness and equanimity.— Too high an appreciation of our own talents is the chief cause why experience preaches to us all in vain.— Affection, like spring flowers, breaks through the most frozen ground at last; and the heart which seeks but for another heart to make it happy will never seek in vain. -He who imagines that he can do without the world is much deceived; but he who fancies that the world cannot do without him is still more deceived.— Time has made life too long for our hopes, but too brief for our deeds.—They say that the ground is the only reliable bank but it is broken every day.—Every pea- cock is well convinced that the eyes of all the world are upon his tail.—We like a black eye. We like a blue one. We don't like a black and a blue one.—The light of friendship is like the light of phosphorus—seen plainest when all around is dark.—Say nothing, do nothing, which a mother would not approve, and you are on the certain road to happiness.—The great dif- ference between a carriage wheel and a carriage horse is, that the one goes better when it is tired, and the other doesn't.—Go to strangers for charity, to ac- quaintances for advice, and to relatives for nothing, and you will often have a supply.—Beauties generally die old maids. They set such a value on themselves "that they don't find a purchaser until the market is closed. CONUNDRUMS. Why is the assessor of taxes the best man in the world P Because he never under-rates anybody. What is it that patting its eye out leaves nothing but a nose ? Noise. Who are the best kind of servants for hotels ? The inn-experienced. Why are the Joneses like the Greenland fisheries ? Because they abound in W(h)ales. Why is watercress like a very melancholy event P Because it is continually cried out. Why, when you look at a miser's dinner, are you nearly blind ? Because you only see a little bit. Why is a parrot's perch like a person's special qualification ? Because he plumes himself on it. How do you do, saie P said a Frenchman to an English acquaintance. Rather poorly, thank you," ans wered the other. Nay, my dear sare," said the Frenchman, don't thank me for your illness-I can- not help it." An English baronet, who died not many years ago, being on one occasion found seated in his arm-chair alone, with three empty bottles before him, was asked, What! have you finished all that port with- out assistance ? No," said he, not quite eo, certainly; I had the assistance of a bottle of Madeira." Modern Attempts at Wit.-Two thin shoes make one cold; two colds one attack of bronchitis; two attacks of bronchitis one elm coffin.-A retired actor, with a fondness for poultry, was asked why he named a favourite hen Macduff." He replied that it was because he wanted her to lay on."—Mrs. Part- ington is in New York. She went up from Boston as soon as she learned by telegram that gold has rapidly fallen in Wall-street, but after several unsuccessful attempts to get into the shower, is going back a dis- appointed woman.—A magistrate asked a prisoner if he were married ? "No," replied the man. Then," rejoined his worship, amid peals of laughter, it is a good thing for your wife. Doctor,said a per. son once to a surgeon, "my daughter has had a terri- ble fit this morning: she continued full half an hour without knowledge or understanding." Oh," re- plied the doctor, "never mind that: many people continue so all their lives.—One Herr Endres, of Mayence, has invented a machine which will write down music as fast as it is played, thus making it possible to avoid the great labour of composing. If this con. trivance were applied to certain pianos which we know the copy made out by the machine would surprise the performers.—" The most luxurious smoker I ever knew," says an imaginative friend, "was a young Transylvanian, who told me that his servant always inserted a lighted pipe into his mouth the first thing in the morning, and he smoked it before he awoke. It is so pleasant,' he observed, to have the proper taste restored to one's mouth before one is sensible even of its wants. Absence of Mind.—Bishop Burnet was a very absent man. It is related of him that, one day dining with the Duchess of Marlborough, after her husband's disgrace, he compared that great general to Bellsarius. "Bat then," said the duchess, how comes it that such a man was so miserable and so universally de- serted?" "Oh, madam," replied the bishop, "he had such a brimstone of a wife." A gentleman who had long been subject to the nocturnal visitation of thieves in his orchard, wishing to preserve his property without endangering anyone's life, procured from an hospital the leg of a subject, which he placedtone evening in a steel trap in his garden, and next morning sent the crier round the town to announce that the owner of the leg left in Mr. 's grounds last night might receive it upon appli- casion." He was never robbed again. Diamond Cut Diamond. In New York, a quick-witted toper went into a bar-room and called for something to drink. We don't sell liquor," said the law-evading landlord; we will give you a glass, and then if you want a cracker (a biscuit) we'll sell it you for three cents." The good creature was handed down, and our hero took a stiff horn; when, turning round to depart, the unsuspecting landlord handed him the dish of crackers, with the remark, You'll buy a cracker- P Well, no, I guess not; you sell 'em too dear. I can get lots on 'em five or six for a cent anywhere elae.The American Joe Miller. Oh, How Kind! Mis Spriggs: "Flora, love, it is most imprudent of you to come on the grass in those thin boots. You should really go in, and put on goloshes. You will find mine in the umbrella stand; and you are quite welcome to them J (The grass is as dry as tinder; and if Miss Spriggs' feet were as pretty as Flora's, we don't think she would be so anxious about Flora's health).-Pttn.clb. A Story of an Echo.—Some time ago the fol- lowing incident occurred during the session et a religious convention. A clergyman—a little, red- haired, waspish man -got on bis legs for the purpose of delivering a grand speech. Echo came to the rescue of his enemies, and the following amusing colloquy ensued: Clergyman: Mr. Chairman. iiicno. Mr. Cli airman, -Clergyman: I have the floor, sir. Echo I have the floor, eir.-Clergyman: Do you mean vO insult me ?—Echo Do you mean to insult me? By this time the whole audience was in a roar, and the enraged little man sat down, muttering anathemas against the ill-manners of the assembly. A Remarkable Uncle.—A man, a small linen- draper, went to the Morque to ask for the body of missing relative —in fact, an uncle with a suspicion of rentes. Has my uncle come here ?" asks the nephew, as if he were speaking of a morning call. Many uncles," replied the official. But mine is a large uncle, fat, well-dressed, and must have 'arrived' I within three days." Impossible to say," replies the functionary, "what would you? So many drop in upon us! Had your uncle any peculiarity by which his body could be recognised after death ?" "Perfectly," replies nephew; "you would know him at once-he was stone deaf." A Useful Hint.—A person leaving a warm room, iiid going into a colder, or into the open air, should 0 carefully close the lips for a few minutes, until he has become as it were, acclimatised to the colder atmo- sphere, and breathe through the nostrils alone, by which the co!d air is made to traverse the long, warm, nasal passage before it reaches the windpipe and vocal organs; and its temperature being thus raised, one common mode of "catching cold" is avoided. Most persons upon leaving a warm church or hot con- cert-room immediately open their mouths to discuss the merits of those they have just heard, and many a severe cold is taken. It is equally common, but still worse, for a public speaker to do so, for his throat is more heated from his recent exertions, and he may, and often does, become hoarse for a month by such apparently trifling neglect.-G. W. Smith's Clerical Elocution."

A RUNAWAY LOCOMOTIVE. A singular accident took place on Saturday after- noon on the Great Northern Railway, about a couple of miles south of Peterborough Station. There is a goods train due at the latter place daily at 2.30 p.m., and on Saturdays it is customary to add to the tail end of the train three or four carriages for the conveyance of the market people to Holme and Ramsey. On the above afternoon this train left at its usual time, con- veying about 100 passengers, but it had scarcely been out of the station the space of five minutes when a tele- gram was received from the locomotive department at New England, a mile and a half on the Garth side of the station, stating that a large goods engine, with full pressure of steam, had escaped from one of the sheds, minus a driver or any other person in charge of it. The greatest alarm was felt, and before the officials had time to act in any way upon the warning thus conveyed, the runaway monster dashed through the station at the rate of five-and-twenty miles an hour in pursuit of the ill-fated market-train, and it was evident that a colli- sion must occur before anyone could hope to overtake it, on a second engine, had even one been ready to start at a moment's warning, the only remaining hope being that the market train had gained sufficient im- petus to lessen the force of the collision. Happily this proved to be the case, although at the spot above in- dicated the runaway caught the market train, and ran into it. The results were not so serious as were at first anticipated but the last carriage, almost full of pas- sengers, had its end completely stove in. As soon as the disabled train could be brought to a stand, it was found that forty or fifty passengers were more or less injured; but all of the number, except seven occupying- part of the last carriage, were able to proceed on their journey. The persons in question were brought back to Peterborough in a special train, which had been dis- patched to the scene of the accident, and all excepting one were conveyed to the infirmary, where their in- juries were promptly attended to, and they are in a fair way of recovery. The seventh, Mr. M. D. Gaches, solicitor, of Peterborough, was conveyed to his resi- dence. The cause of the casualty is not known.

THE VOLUNTEER MEETING AT WIMBLEDON. The number of volunteers assembled on Wimbledon Common has been quite equal to the average. The spectators, however, have hitherto been few and far between, the elections evidently being a superior attraction. The shooting has been remarkably good hitherto; we cannot, however, well record the scoring until the matches are finished. A large assembly of the volunteers and all comers took place, at half-past two o'clock on Thursday, immediately in front of the clock tower, where they were addressed by Lord Etcho. As soon as a ring had been farmed round the noble lord, who was on horseback, he said that the system of government at Wimbledon wag the reverse of secret. Everything was done openly and in the view of thone present at the meeting. At first they used to have camp fires, where they used to meet socially and to have business, punch, and palaver (Laughter). But they found these camp fires grew to such an extant from the enormous growth of the association that they had been obliged to occupy with tents the ground that was I formerly used for the camp fires. He was sorry, there- fore, that from the force of necessity and the danger that arose from sparks flying in all directions of in- flammable matter, they had been obliged to abandon camp fires. Last year they had substituted for these camp fires a meeting at the foot of the clock tower, not so much for the purpose of disoussion as of ascer- taining the opinions of the volunteers and all comers upon any desirable point that might arise. The object of the council, therefore, in meeting the volunteers that day was twofold. In the first place to tell them anything which the council might have to say, and in the next place to ask their opinion in case there were any matters in dispute. He was happy to say, as regarded the latter point, there was no matter in dispute, so far as the council knew, between them and the volunteers, and they re- quired, therefore, no show of hands. What he desired to tell the volunteers assembled on the r art of the council was, that they had done all in their power to make the stay of the volunteers at Wimbledon plea- sant-as pleasant, at least, as the present boisterous weather would allow it to be. Some little changes and alterations had been made, which, he thought, might have contributed to their comfort and amusement; and they might depend upon it that no exertions would be wanting on the part of the council to meet the volunteers in every way when they came to Wimble- don (cheers). With regard to the shooting, he had heard little or no complaint himself, and he had heard from Captain Page that everything had passed off in the pleasantest possible way, and he begged to thank the volunteers present in his own name and in the name of the council for the kindly feeling which they had shown towards them. They were well aware that this National Association baby had only been born six years, that it was stretching its clothes in all directions, and might in some cases be rather oat at the elbows—(laughter)—for during Friday and Satur- day it was impossible almost to put up a tent. The big tent which acted last year as a parasol in a hot sun, and as an umbrella when it was wet, was blown into ribbons on Saturday morning, but he trusted that in a few days it would be put up again (hear). He did not 1 believe there was any great question in dispute which required to be settled between them; but this point had risen to which he merely wished to revert. He J had seen a letter to the effect that the council did not this year give the number of prizes to the volunteers that they did last year (cheers, and a Voice, The small bores have it all" hear, hear). As far as the association was concerned he begged to say that they gave more ("No, no.") There were some things which might be the subject of disput@, and might require a show of hands, but there were other things which were matters of fact. Now. he stated as a fact, that the association was doing more as an association for the volunteers in the way of prize firing than it had done in any former year. Last year there were a series of prizes given by the city of London, amounting to X600. That, however, had not cost the association anything, and it had brought in < £ 500 clear gain. If the association had given such a series of prizes they would have had to run the risk of what they could get back. The object they had in view was to make th9 association permanent, and to have a capital which would give them a strong position. The object of the, National Association was to encourage volunteer rifle shooting, but likewise to promote improvements in the rifle, so as to get a better weapon for them. The shooting of the volunteers with the Enfield was honourable to themselves and to the country. Still, it was the won- derful improvements in the small bores, and the shoot- ing made with them, that had driven the Swiss and other foreigners almost entirely out of the field. As a proof that the association itself had increased the volunteer prizes, the noble lord mentioned that in the first year £ 1,002 had been given in valuable prizes; in the second year, £ 850; in the third year, £ 1,099; in the fourth year £ 2,165; in the fifth year, £ 3,071; and in the present year, £ 3,493. While with regard to the small bore, the amount given in prizes had never been received since the first year. Coming to what the association proposed to do, the noble lord, after claiming for the council that they must be allowed to exercise discretion, and that reliance must be placed on their judgment in the manage- ment of affairs, said that, after consultation with Cap. tain Page, the Council had decided to make up the total of the Alexandra prizes to < £ 690. They proposed to make the firiit prize X25, instead of X20. Instead of two prizes of X15 they proposed to give two of X20. j They proposed also to add—< £ 3 being the present ilreit j — tventy-fivo prizes of X2 each, without any addi- | tional entries being received, as the contest had begun, j He hoped, as the entries only amounted to J91 more than last year, the volunteers would see that the council were .anxious to be as liberal as circumstances would permit. Fur the purpose of enabling the council to ascertain the wishes and ideas of tbe, volunteers, they proposed to adopt something like the lion's mouth of the Council of Ten under the old Venetian Constitution, into which all complaints were put. As the British lion was a more noble animal than the Venetian, the lion of the council would have two mouths (a laiigh)-one to receive suggestions, the other to receive complaints. Those suggestions and complaints would be considered by the council every night. Those which were reasonable would be a-sted upon, and those which appeared to be unreasonable would be cansigned to the waste paper basket. They proposed to put owl" on the box for suggestions, aad earwig" (a laugh) on the box for complaints. Colonel King next addressed the volunteers, for the purpose of raising a, subscription among the volunteers to provide prizes for the officers and sergeants of the regular troops engaged at the meeting, to be shot for on the las; day, and also a few pounds for the markers (cheers.) Three cheers were given for Lord Elcho, who, cn returning thanks, said a later <3ay would have been more appropriate for the meeting, but he had to go off on the next day to appear on a very different place, and danoe ta a very different tune, on the hustings on Saturday (cheers and laughter). He had been told that if he stayed at Wimbledon he would lose his elec- tion (cries of No "). He had, however, too much, confidence in his constituents to believe that they would play him the scurvy trick of turning him out for the county because he had stopped at Wimbledon in the performance of what he believed to be a national public duty (cheers).

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER AT LIVERPOOL. Mr. W. E. Gladstone, who has been put in nomination by the Liberal party as one of the candidates for South Lancashire, made his first appearance before the electors at Liverpool, on Tuesday night, in the Amphitheatre, which was densely crowded, thousands having in vain applied for tickets. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was accompanied by his brother, received a most enthu- siastic reception. The chair was occupied by Mr. Wm. Rathbone, jun., who very briefly introduced Mr. Gladstone to the meeting. Mr. Gladstone, who was evidently deeply affected by his reception, said thr-t the poll had ceased that evening at Oxford at eight o'clock. He should not connect that fact with any disrespect or any indifference to the members of that ancient University (cheers). During the eighteen anxious years he had been the representative of Oxford it had been his duty to deal with many important questions bearing on religion and education. He had served'the University with his whole heart, and done his best to promote her interests. She bore with him long, and resisted every effort to displace him, but she had at last changed her mind. God grant it might b3 well with her. He should never forget the happy years and hours he had spent in her servioe. If, how- ever, he appeared in a different position, it was not as a different man. In regard to the University, he would not yield to his favoured competitor in true de- votion to her interests, though their method of action might be different. If her future was to be as glorious as her past she must enlarge her boundaries (cheers). She must open her doors, invigorate her powers, and endeavour to rise to the height of that vocation with which the Almighty had been pleased to endow her. If Oxford had, in past times, led the mind of this country in the path of improvement, she was worthy of her high office. But if she was in future to merely embrace the narrow views and interests of a political party, then he was not the man for Oxford (cheers). After contrasting the differences between Oxford and Lancashire, and alluding to the desperate fondness with which he had clung to the University, Mr. Gladstone said that he had to the last been sup- ported by the resident teaching body, though they and he had finally been obliged to yield to political influences. Next alluding to the charge that the last Parliament had witnessed a series of attacks on the Church and constitution, he said he could not concur in the assertion. As a member of the Uni- versity, it had been his special duty to be mindful of the interests of the Church of England, and he knew of nothing she had suffered during the he knew of nothing she had suffered during the past six years. She never enjoyed greater free- dom of speech than she now possessed, being now Iv unable to exercise coercive powers, and too wiee to wish to wish to do so. The Government had in no respect betrayed or disregarded the Churoh (cheers); though they conscientiously differed from others who had different views regarding her. Referring to the aspect of the Church and the Government towards Catholic and Protestant dissenters, he said he held that the promotion of civil and religious liberty, so far from being looked upon as disloyalty, was a proof of that real affection the Church of England should desire 7 at the hands of her children. He would not go into such questions at length, but he would assert that a. generous and conciliatory policy was the only wise one; but whether he sat for Oxford or South Lancashire, or not at all (laughter), he should act upon that policy so long as his life should last (cheere). Alludingto his association with the Liberal party, his connection with a Liberal Government, Mr. Gladstone next said that his experience obliged him to believe that true wisdom consisted in a policy of trust as opposed to a policy of distrust. If he was told that the feeling of the country was in the beat and broadest sense Conservative, that the people valued their country, their laws, and their institutions, honesty compelled them to admit that result had been brought about by Liberal legislation. Mr. Gladstone next touched upon the various criticisms of Liberal policy which had been made by Mr. Disraeli and others dur- ing the present elections. The opposition ^»ad claimed for themselves the glory of being the real advocates of retrenchment, while they had universally opposed the financial policy of the Government one member, Sir John Walsh, who sat thirty-five years in the house, in- sisting on one occasion that their naval estimates ought to be doubled. It had been said that they were specially lucky. He should like to know if a certain famine and American war, combined with a recon- struction of the navy and the building of new and expensive fortifications, could be considered as finan- cial slices of luck even by a Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer ? Then, again, they were accused of hav- ing increased the expenditure of the country. Now, in 1858-59 the expenditure of the country, when he took the management of the national finances, was < £ 83,000,000, and Lord Malmesbury had involved us in a war with China which cost in £ 6,000,000, so that he (Mr. Gladstone) commenced his financial career with an unavoidable deficiency. La.st year the expen- diture was = £ 66,000,000. Taxes had been reduced, and we were at peace with the world. Under all these circumstances he thought the Government had no occasion to blush for the financial condition of the country (cheers). Mr. Gladstone wound up a lengthy and elaborate speech by an eloquent comparison of the Lancashire of fifty years ago with the Lancashire of the present day, summarising the numerous and various benefits, the results of a Liberal legislation, which had added so much to the progress of the country, and to the advancement and happiness of every member of the community. The hon. gentle- man sat down amidst most enthusiastic and up- roarious cheers. «

A Wondertul Tree.—In the birch wood of Cul- loden there is a remarkable tree, well worthy of note. Somewhere about thirty years ago a little giant of the forest was blown down in a storm, and fell right across a deep gully or ravine, which it completely spanned; and the top branches took root on the other side. From the parent stem no less than fifteen trees grew up perpendicularly, all in a row and there they still flourish in all their splendour, while the parent stem evinces no token of decay. Several of the trees are not less than thirty feet high. The tree is a larch fir. The Cabinet.—We (Post) have reason to believe that the whole of the members of the Cabinet will meet on the 26th inst. in London. The Earl de Grey, the Duke of Somerset, the Earl Granville, and the Right Hon. T. M. Gibson, who are at present absent from the metropolis, will be in town by that day. At the present time Viscount Palmerston, the Lord Chan- cellor, the Earl of Clarendon. Lord Stanley of Aiderley, the Right Hon. Charles P. Villiers, the Right Hon. Sir Charles Wood, and the Right Hon. Edward Card well, are in town. The Earl Russell is at Pembroke-lodge, Richmond-park, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer is with Mrs. Gladstone and family at Hawarden.cattle.