The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

POLITICAL GOSSIP. THERE are thirty-six members of the new House of Commons above sixty years of age, and therefore not I liable to serve on committess. IN the last session of Parliament the House of Commons took no less than £ 69,649 in fees. 433 bills were read a second time, and 347 were passed. IT is stated that at the recent Oxford University election, Mr. Hardy had 1,920 promises, of which 1,904 were polled-only a falling of 16. MR. MILL has subscribed X20 towards Mr. Hughes' electioneering expenses. THE National debt of the United States on the 31st of July was rather more than 550 millions sterling. This the Government is advised strongly by many leading American financiers to pay off at the rate of one per cent. per annum—a proceeding unexpected and highly creditable to the national sense of probity. REGARDING the vacancy of the junior Lord of the Admiralty, the names mentioned as of the lot most likely to furnish the new lord, are those of Mr. C. Buxton, Mr. Stansfeld, who formerly held the place, Mr. Fenwick, and Lord Enfield, of whom we venture to think the last-named as most likely to be the suc- cessful candidate. SIR NARCISSE BELLEAU, Speaker of the Canadian Legislative Assembly, who was knighted by the Prince of Wales in 1860, has been appointed Prime Minister of Canada, in the room of Sir Etienne Tach6. THE Spanish papers are emphatic in assuring the pnblio that the expected meeting between Queen Isabella and the Emperor and Empress of the Frenoh will be purely of a friendly nature, and will have no political significance whatever. VISCOUNT PALMERSTON is in excellent health at Brockett-hall, Herts. The noble Viscount and Vis- countess have a select family circle staying with them, including Viscount and Viscountess Sudley, and the Right Hon. W. F. Cowper and Mrs. Cowper. THE Duke of Somerset has left his official residence at Whitehall for Portsmouth, accompanied by the whole of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and Rear-Admiral Lord Clarence Paget, C.B., Secretary, where the Board will remain daring the reception of the Frennh floof ADVICES from Rome state that the Pontifical polios have discovered that a foreign officer in the service of the Holy See was forging diplomas of Russian decora- tions. A hundred such papers in the Russian lan- guage were found in his apartments when arrested. The object was to gain money by disposing of them. THE following clergymen have seats in the House of Lords as lay peers The Rev. E. Hobart, Earl of Buckinghamshire; Rev. W. G. Howard, Earl of Car- lisle Very Rev. W. J. Brodriok, Viscount Midleton Rev. W. Nivill, Earl of Abergavenny Rev. F. T. Wykeham Fiennes, Lord Saye and Sele; Right Rev. R. J. Eden, Lord Auckland; Rev. H. W. Powlett, Lord Bayning; Right Rev. T. Plunket, Lord Plunket; and the Rev. A. Curzon, Lord Scarsdale. In the Scottish peerage there is not one clergyman. In the Irish peer- age there are only two clergymen besides Lord Auck- land, who is an Irish as well as an English baron-viz., the Very Rev. H. de Montmorency, Viscount Mont- morres; and Rev. J. Beresford, Marquis of Waterford. The heir presumptive to the title of Lord Arundell of Wardour is his brother, a Jesuit priest. The heir pre- sumptive to the Irish barony of Ffrench is also in Roman Catholic orders. The heirs to the titles of Sherard, Stuart de Decies, Buckhurst, Haberton, and Hastings are also clergymen.-Guardian.

LITERATURE AND THE ARTS. A PROPOSAL has been made to erect a. memorial window to Dr. Jenner, in the parish church of Berke. ley, his native town, where he is buried. Dr. Jenner's father was vicar of this parish. MR. R. GOFF has lately presented to the South Kensington Museum two very remarkable objectii- one, an ivory coffer, probably of Byzantine origin and of the ninth or tenth century; and the other, an unique astronomical clock. A MEMORIAL to Prince Albert, and in commemoration of the Royal visit to Fottercairn, was inaugurated last week, in the presence of a considerable number of spectators. The design is a triumphal arch in the Gothic style, bearing the inscription-" Visit of Victoria and Albert. THE Emperor of the French has given three gold medals to be awarded at the exhibition of useful insects and their productions, and destructive insects and their devastations, now holding in the Palace of Industry. Those prizes will be awarded to the three classes—sericulture, apiculture" and nations insects. AT Birmingham the preparations for the meeting of the British Association are actively proceeding. A great many distinguished foreigners have already arrived, and it is hoped that the meeting will be one of the most successful ever held. rot. SEVERAL of the cartoons by Messrs. Clayton and Bell, of Regent-street, from which the mosaic pictures of the Sovereigns of England are to be executed by Dr. Salviata, have, it is understood, been forwarded to Venice. On the arrival of the mosaics in England they will be placed in the panels of the interior west wall of the memorial chapel at Windsor, and will form a work of splendid and gorgeous decoration. One panel, representing Henry III., has already been placed in the chapel, and has an excellent effect. THE latest Exhibition of the Royal Academy was the most profitable yet known; the receipts were up- wards of .213,000, an advance 9f more than .£700 on the profits of last year, and of nearly £ 3,000 on the amount received in 1862. Not many years ago, the Academy thought itself lucky in obtaining £ 6,000 from the exhibition. The sales of pictures from this year's exhibition exceeded by X400 the value of thoso of the preceding display. THE national collection of water-colour paintings in the South Kensington Museum is gradually increasing in importance. There have been three gifts of eight water colours during the past year; and ten large studies in chalk, by Copley, and a few small paintings have been purchased. A number of art purchases have also been made, the principal objects being a casket in coloured enamel, the work of Jean Limousin; a miasal case in gold, ornamented with translucent enamel, said to have been formerly the property of Henrietta Maria, consort of Charles I.; a candlestick of Henry II. ware; the Syon cope, a remarkable ex- ample of early English needlework; a retable or altar- Piece from a church now destroyed at Valencia, in gpain; and a collection of objects illustrative of Spanish work during the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- turies. A number of valuable casts and mosaics have 80 been added to the Architectural Museum. Sweden, whose first appearance as an mao Ad a short time baok. baa ftgain appeared in that character, this time as the writer of an anonymous pamphlet on the organisation of the Swedish army. JUDGE HALIBURTON is said to be annotating the three series of his famous Sam Slick, or the Sayings and Doings of the Clockmaker," with a view to a new one-volume edition, which is to be profusely illus- trated. A NEW work, written by Lord William Lennox, en- titled "Drafts on my Memory, or Men I have Known, Things I have Seen, and Places I have Visited," is just announced. t LOVERS of chess will be glad to lea.rn that Paul Morphy, though engaged in the practice of law at New Orleans, still retains an interest in the game that has made him famous. He has been persuaded by his friends to publish a complete collection of his games played both in Europe and America. The work will be forthcoming within a few months. The Great Eastern cable fiasco has proved a great disappointment to Dr. Russell. When the sailing of the Great Eastern drew near, the directors were beset with applications from newspapers of all classes, and from all places, soliciting permission to have a reporter on board during the voyage. To comply with all these requests was impossible; to make a selection would have been invidious and so the directors came to the conclusion that they would refuse all, but that all alike should have information from their own reporter. For this honourable post Dr. Russell was selected. It is understood that the terms of his engagement were X500 for the voyage, with the copyright of the narra- tive, which it was then not doubted would tell of the successful accomplishment of the enterprise. It has ended otherwise! And though Dr. Russell has made still more copious notes of the events on board than those that have been given to the world, which would be illustrated by drawings, diagrams, and electrical experiments as made on board the ship, yet it may be doubted whether the book would prove the success that was at first hoped, or whether general readers will not be content with what they already know.of an experiment which, however interesting in other circumstances, has for the present ended in failure. Should the subsequent attempt prove more successful, Dr. Russell may yet reap a golden harvest from his engagement, and the record of success, set off by previous failure, will be read with avidity by thousands.

MOTIVE POWER IN A NEW SHAPE. A few days since a number of gentlemen chiefly con- nected with the Bradford trade as merchants and wool dealers, met by invitation at the warehouse of Mr. T. M. Pearce, Thornton-road, to inspect the opera- tions of a water engine, there used for the purpose of hoisting or craning wool, but equally applicable for working machinery, driving hydraulic presses, &c. The water engine was put down by Messrs. Rans- bottom and Co., of Blackburn. The engine is supplied with water from the Corporation mains on a pressure of 60 or 701bs. to the square inch. The water enters a pair of water engines, each of which possesses a pair of cylinders and pistons. The cylinders oscillate upon trunions, and the effect of this oscillation is to reverse the valvular arrangement, thereby causing a continuous rotatory motion which puts the hoist in action. The engine has been applied with success to printing machines, to a mortar grinding machine, and other apparatus requiring motive power on a large scale. The experiments made on this occasion were quite satisfactory. The hoisting of three sheets of wool or tops, each weighing about five owt., did not occupy more than seven minutes, and the quantity of water consumed in the process was about 120 gallons. The application of such an engine to craning purposes ap- peared to be regarded as an important means of lightening the laborious and exhausting toil of the warehouseman, to say nothing of its great value as an acceptable substitute for the steam engine, in connec- tion with which the risk of accidents either from explosion or fire is inseparable. A series of experi- ments followed, and including the sheets raised in the first experiment, no fewer than fifteen sheets of wool, weighing in the aggregate 3 tons 15 cwt., were raised from the ground floor to the highest storey of the warehouse in the short space of forty-five minutes. The entire quantity of water consumed was only 570 gallons, the cost of which was about 6Jd.

A FRIGHTFUL ASSAULT. John Haydon, a labouring man, was charged at Worship-street with feloniously cutting and wounding John Osborne. A certificate from the London Hospital was put in showing that Osborne had been received into it with injuries of such a severe character as to disable him from attending to give evidence. From the testimony of a man named Edward Baylis it appeared that on the preceding night he accompanied Osborne to a house in Cross-street, Bethnal-green, where the prisoner lives, to make inquiries as to an alleged insult committed by him upon the wife of Osborne. That on entering Os- borne was the first to go upstairs, and the witness Baylis almost immediately heard cries of pain and alarm; that he himself went up, and observed Haydon inside a room, the door of which was partly closed, cutting at Osborne with a saw. Blood was pouring down the face of the poor fellow, and he rolled down the face of the poor fellow, and he rolled down on the stair landing insensible. Baylis, who had retreated into an adjoining apartment from fear, then picked the wounded man up, and conveyed him to a doctor, who directed immediate removal to the hos- pital. Three wounds were near the left temple, in each of which a man's finger would lie. Collins, 201, said that he assisted in taking Osborne to the hospital, at which time he could not speak. Prisoner closely quest oned Baylis as to whether he had not seen Osborne striking blows with a poker, which witness positively denied. Prisoner declared that he had acted only in self-de- fence, and alleged that Osborne had forced the room door while he and his wife were in bed, a circumstance f «?° a^arme^ bim as to induce him to use the saw /I JLurPose preventing a complete entry being made. It was the only protection he was in posses- sion of, while Osborne had a poker. Baylis, questioned by the magistrate, again and again denied having seen a poker or any weapon in the hands of Osborne; and the prisoner was re- manded.

SHOCKING MUBDER AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. The town of Wolverhampton was on Saturday even- ing the scene of a shocking murder and attempted suicide, the victim being a young woman named Sea- gar, the murderer, her suitor, Charles Christopher Robinson. Robinson, now aged eighteen, was left without father or mother at the age of seven. His father had been a blacksmith and coaldealer. Dying first, Mr. Robinson left his wite with two sons and a daughter of her husband by a former wife. Upon her decease, she left her son Charles a farm and some cot- tage property, all at Trysail, worth together £ 4,000. An intimacy had sprung up between Robinson and a Miss Soagar, who had been living with her sister, Mrs. f «+r' the landlady of the Queen's Arms, in Ablow- street. Miss Seagar's services not being required by Sister, she entered the service of an intimate friend named iisher, who resided close by the Queen's Arms. On baturday Mr. and Mrs. Fisher left home at about three o clock to go to Codsall. At that time Robin- son was in the garden behind the house smoking, and Miss Segar was engaged about her domestic duties. Excepting these two no one was left in the house. At about four o clock Emma Silletto, a servant at the Queen's Arms, was near to the back door of the resi- dence of Mr. Josiah Fisher, when she saw Miss Seagar at work, but crying, and Robinson was near her. The impression left on billetto s mind was that they had been quarrelling. At a little before six Silletto heard a gun fired in Mr. Fisher s house, ran across, and saw Robinson come downstairs and enter the back kitchen. On looking through the window of the back kitchen she SItW him standing without his coat in front of a small mirror that wat hanging against the wall. Whilst looking into a mirror he held a razor in his right hand, and cut, Silletto says, three gashes in his throat. She raised an alarm, and when neighbours came in they found him standing in a. leaning posture outside the back kitchen, his eyes glaring, and his clothes exten- sively stained with blood that was flowing from wounds in his throat. An attempt was made to secure him, when he became very violent, and tried hard to tear open the wounds in his throat. With some difficulty he was overpowered, and his hands fastened behind him. Whilst this was going on neighbours had en- tered the back kitchen, and had their horror intensi- fied at seeing Miss Seagar lying lifeless on the floor. Death had been occasioned by a hideous cut in the throat. His wounds temporarily bandaged with the apron of a woman who came up whilst he was bleed- ing, the murderer was led into an inner room. Here his injuries were dressed. Preparatory to the removal of Robinson upstairs, Mr. Summers went forward and in the young man's bedroom saw a small pigeon-gun reared up at full cock against the table, upon which there were powder, shot, and caps; ani upon the bed there was a blood-stain, leaving the impression of a man's hand. Inspector Thomas had now ar- rived, and, taking charge of the premises, he placed two policemen to guard the murderer. The gun was loaded. In the back kitchen he found a white- handled razor, with the blade and haft clotted with blood, lying on the edge of the sink-stone, upon which a knifeboard had been placed, and in front of which, upon the floor, the murdered woman was lying. The blade of the razor was shut up in the handle, and near to it lay a fork and a piece of leather, just as these might be expected to be found if, whilst Miss Seagar was cleaning the fork, she was pulled backward by the hair and her throat cut. The extent of the wound leads the surgeon to this conclusion. After having taken Miss Seagar's life, Robinson would seem to have gone upstairs into his bedroom, his hands wet with the young woman's blood, and then to have attempted to shoot himself. The gun, which bore marks of having been recently discharged, he would then seem to have reloaded. The alarm which was made by the child who discovered Miss Seagar welter- ing in her blood is thought to have brought the mur- derer downstairs before he had, by the second discharge of the gun, completed the purpose with which he is supposed to have first exploded it; but an equally ready means being at hand when he get down, he seems to have adopted it, and so gashed his throat with the razor that was already dripping with the blood of his dying victim. In a few days it is expected that Robinson will be sufficiently recovered of his wounds to appear in the dock charged with the wilful murder of Harriet Seagar.

EXTRACTS FROM PUNCH & FUN'" —♦— Under a Lancashire Hedge. Colin breathes out the tender tale" to Betty. Colin. Come hither, gentle maiden, sit thee down On Nature's couch; and whilst the breeze is waking Sweet melody within the grove, alone- What voice was that ? Betty. It's one ov eaur hens cakin'. Colin. Alone we'll talk of love. Don't start, my dear! Chaste as the stars are all my thoughts just now. I would not for the world have wrung that tear From out thine eye. Betty. Aw'm noane so soft, theau foo'. Colin. Is that the nightingale I hear, my love; Its mellow voice adown,the valley ringing? Or, is't the thrush, which oft doth charm the grove With twilight minstrelsy ? Betty. It's eaur Dick singin'. Colin. Oh, go not yet; one kiss from that sweet bud Just opening on thy lips! Betty. Well, tak' it, then Theau met ha' hod one long afore ift' would. Colin. Then, love—Rood night!—and— Betty. When wilt' come again ? Answers to Correspondents. JULIA writes to beg that we will use all our influ- ence to get papa made a bishop, because then we can have his lawn to play croquet upon." We will do our best, but fear it is a for-lawn hope-besides, we doubt if he would give his (s) leave for such a purpose. BETTY.-When a number of sportsmen back a horse he may or may not win. But if at starting the horse begins to back himself there is no chance of his win- ning. Such are the ill effects of too much self-confi- dence. Take warning! MARTHA.—When your mistress told you she ex- pected you to be as regular as clockwork she could hardly have intended you to adhere so strictly to the figure. When you gave warning and exactlv three minutes afterwards struck—knocking your mistress under the dresser, your act was a winding-up one, ef course. STENTOR wishes to know whether he shall call for his MS. If he does, perhaps he will be good enough to oall rather loud and from an eminence-say, the top of St. Paul's. We have mislaid the article, but it must be somewhere about and will probably recognise his voice. OxoN.-The worthy M.P., in attributing the cattle disease to free trade, is true to his colour. What colour r" Green, of course Don't you know that we find a Hen-lay in almost every mare's-nest ? A BILIOUS GOOSE is anxious to try a tonic, and wants to know where he can get a bitter cup. Let him try adversity. If that won't do, he must take his breakfast service to the top of the house and throw it out of window. He will, on descending, have little difficulty, we imagine, in finding a bit o' cup. MRS. PINCHER.—You wish to go to the sea-side without the expense of leaving London. Here's the dodge. Carefully close all the shutters and pull down the blinds in the front of your house. Then go and live at the back where the windows are not closed, and which is consequently the see-side. This is un- failing. SCHOOLBOY,-We should think it very likely that "Pendente Lite might be the Latin for a chandelier. But it isn't. Correspondence. Dear Sir,—You would remove a deep-seated anxiety if you would kindly.reply to the following questions 1. Why is a gentleman who, in churoh, allows a lady to use his prayer-book, like an attentive husband walking with his wife P Oh, why ? 2. Why is a bad-fitting waistcoat like a large ham ? Tell me! And lastly, „ 3. Why is the stationery supplied gratuitously to Chancery barristers like your coat of arms ? Kindly reply to these inquiries, and you will earn the heartfelt prayers of A SUFFERING WIDOW. We will. 1. Because he offers her his psalm. 2. Because it is a vest-failure. 3. Because (we blush to own it) it is found" for four-and-six (" forensics," you sêe) in Lincoln's-inn. Be happy. ED. FROM OUR JUVENILE CORRESPONDENT.—A gen- tleman, who is fond of going to extremes, and of mak- ing them meet, says paradoxically, he wants a new hat like old boots." His brother, whose French is in- different, and whose English is very different to that of anybody else's, says he wants a new tile, because his old one is quite inutile SWEET AUBURN, LOVELIEST, &C.& rude cor- respondent, speaking of the prevalence of chignons of the fashionable golden colour, says the greatei part of them are purchased, being sold at a pound for so many carats. ELECTION INTELLIGENCE FOR LADIES. The chignon is placed at the poll of the head. «

How to Destroy Ants.—A French newspaper gives the following mode of destroying ants in gardens. without having recourse to the apothecary of the town or the sorcerer of the village." It consists in turning down empty flower pota, one or more as may be necessary, in the places frequented by the ants; these being attracted by the shelter, make their hills beneath the pots and one has but to remove each pot and pour boiling water on the mass to destroy them. The pot or pots may be shifted from place to place as long as the presence of the little intruders is manifest, and the process of destruction repeated. -Gardener's Chronicle. Mediums."—The Geelong (Victoria) Advertiser has been informed that among other mediums em- ployed by a squatter, at the lands election at Belfast, there were two members of the Legislative Assembly, one policeman, and four young ladies, one of whom was the daughter of a clergyman. The pay of the ladies averaged from £1 to -65 per day." It may be well to explain that these mediums" were employed on no unearthly business. Mediums" in Australian phrase, just now, are persons engaged by a squatter, when part of his "run" is among the lands offered by the Government at a land lottery, the duty of mediums being to take out lot tickets, as if they were settlers proposing to cultivate land, attend the drawing, and, if their tickets are drawn before the land of their principal is gone, select it, and hand it over to himself on payment of their fee for attend- ance.

OUR MISCELLANY. The Matterhorn.— Where Ether dims the Alpine steeps, Beyond the verge where mortals stray; Calm on the Berg young Douglas sleeps, Whence none may bear his corse away For monarch ne'er had tomb so grand, However potent was his sway; No conqueror led a nobler band Than perished there that fatal day. His grave shall mark the meteor's trail, Its beacon flame the lightning flash; His requiem be the tempest's wail, As whirlwinds with the thunder clash. There stars will ever shed their light; The sun will gild each rising morn His winding sheet-the glacier bright; His monument-the Matterhorn! S. S. HORNOR, in Sunday limes. Remembered Tones.— I heard a sweeter voice last night Than I have heard for many a day, Attuned to melody as light As zephyr's breath, or fairy lay; It seemed to tell of life's young spring Unshadowed by the clouds of time, When love, and hope, and everything Went sweetly as a matin chime. Mine ear, perchance, may never more Be captive led by that dear tone- Ne'er run again its numbers o'er In sweet felicity alone; Yet, like the perfume of the May, That lingers tho' the May depart, That gentle song for many a day, Shall wake an echo in my heart." -Daisies in the Grass. Xen-Gossips.-To speak ill of your friend to his face is bad manners; but to asperse him to a party of mutual friends when he is not there is quite the thing." It is really saddening to find how common this practice is in upper-class and middle-class dwell- ings. We once spent the day at the house of a literary man of some distinction, and should have known better. One of the guests was an artist of name and ability, who should also have known better; yet the conversation could be compared to nothing so much as to the passing sentence on a gaol-delivery of notorious characters. Author and artist vied with each other in judicial, or rather in extra-judicial, severity. Statesmen, literary men, painters, clergymen, patriots, exiles-all were arraigned and condemned. One was a coxcomb, another a common cheat, a third a hypocrite, a fourth a clever profligate, a fifth a profligate and fool com- bined, a sixth a snob and syoophant, and so on. A Slashing Article.—Editors, like other shrewd men, must live with their eyes and ears open. The following story is told of one who started a paper in an American western town. The town was infested by gamblers, whose presence was a source of annoy- ance to the citizens, who told the editor that if he did not come out against them they would not patronise his paper. He replied that he would give them a "smasher" next day. Sure enough, hi3 next issue contained the promised smasher;" and on the fol- lowing morning the redoubtable editor, with scissors in hand, was seated in his sanctum, when in walked a larf6^al]' W a h°rseWhip in his hand, who de manded to know if the editor was in. No sir- was the reply; he has stepped out. Take a' seat and read the papers-he will return in a minutS." Down JwnnhL^aAfiW?:n ca*ds> cr08Se<3 his legs with the-m, and commenced reading a rEt =f o6 ^methe editor quietly vamoosed down-stars, and at the landing he met another ex- cited man with a cudgel in his hand, who aaked if the editor was in ? Yes sir," was the quick response; you will find him seated upstairs, reading a news- paper. The latter, on entering the room, with a rurious oath, commenced a violent assault upon the former, which was resisted with equal ferocity. The fight was continued till they had both rolled to the foot of the stairs, and had pounded each other to their heart's content. An Eligible Candidata,-The following is an exact copy of a letter which has been received as an application to be employed as a river keeper in con- nection with the Thames Angling Preservation So- ciety:—"Sir, Eye Have take the Liberty of Righting to you for Eye Have Seen in the Paper there Is sum Kepera wanted And Eye Am Use to the River Oes And Have Been Brought up With Fishiog All for Years And can go With Any Person With Nets or Any other way Se;) that Eye should Not Be Lost in Any Way About Fishing And sir you can Right for my catater And You can Have 12 years Good carater for — —^ I Me And can swim very fair for one that casot Get I Practis Every Day Sir you Must excuse Me for Eye Have been imployed the Locomotive Works for Eye Never tried for Any Were till Eye sec, -n this in the Paper And Eye Am Shore that Eye Do for A river keeper or to Look After Game for Eye can Rear Ary sort of Game for it Is my indever to Do so And to My Master And Please to send Me What the Wages Are." Whispering G- illeries. — Whispering galleries are curious as being links in the chain of endeavour to lessen distance by artificial contrivances; and whic'n, after germinating in men's minds for at least 2.000 years, have sprung forth in the advanced form of the telegraph. The Romans did a little pioneering work in this direction, by the transmission of sound through pipes, laid in the old length of Vallum, known as the old Roman wal?, which, by the way, is a most wondrous curiosity of architecture itself. Mediaeval whispering galleries appear to have partaken more of the nature of echoes. In Stuart time the whispering- place in Gloucester Cathedral was considered one of the wonders of the land. It is thus mentioned bv Edward Phillips, the nephew of Milton:—" A remark- able curiosity in the cathedral of Gloucester, being a wall built so in an arch of the church, that if a man whispers never so low at one end, another that lays his ear to the other end shall hear each distinct syllable." The whispering-gallery of Sir Christopher Wren, in St. Paul's Cathedral, may be said to be the only well-known example of this type of cariosity. The semi-cupola recesses on old Westminster-bridge have gone.-Buil&,r. A Mighty Thick Fog.—A rather loquacious in. dividual was endeavouring to draw an old man into C?l1Ie1riSation' hitherto without much success, the old fellow having sufficient discernment to see that his object was to make a little sport for the passengers at his expense. At length, says loquacious individual. "I suppose you consider down East a right smart place but I guess it would puzzle them to get up quite so thick a fog as we are having here this morning, wouldn't it? "Well," said the old man, "I don't know about that. I hired one of your Massachusetts chaps to work for me last summer, and one rather foggy mornin' I sent him down to the meadow to lay a few courses of shingle on a new barn I was finiehin' off. At dinner-time the fellow came up, and ees he, That's an almighty long barn of yourn'. Sez I,' Not very long.' 'Well,' says he, Tve been to work all this forenoon, and haven't got one course laid yet.' Well,' sez I, you're a lazy fellow, that's all I've got to say. And so after dinner I went down to see wh&t he'd been about, and I'll be thundered if he hadn't shingled more than a hundred foot riqht out on the fog.The American Joe Miller. The Showman and the Sperrits."—I sed if Bill Tompkins, who was once my partner in the show bizniss, was sober, I should like to convarse with him a few periods. Is the Sperret of William Tompkins present? said I of the long-hared chaps, and there was three knox on the table. Sez I: William, how goze it, Old Sweetness?" "Pretty ruff, old he replide. That was a pleasant way we had of ad. dressin eech other when he was in the flesh. Air you in the show biziniss, William ? sed 1. He sed he was. He sed he and John Bunyan wits travellin with a side show in connection with Shakspere, Jonsor, and Co.'s circus. He sed old Bun (meaning Mr. Bun- yan) stirred up the aiiimile and ground the organ while he tended the door. Occashunally Mr. Bunyan sang a comic song. The circus was doin middlin well, Bill Shakspeer had made a grate hit with Old Bob Ridley, and Ben Jonson was dellitin the people with his trooly grate ax of horsemanship without saddul or bridal. They was rehersin Dixey'a Land and expected it would knock the people. Sez I, "William, my luvely friend, can you pay me that thirteen dollors you owe me ? He sed no, with one of the mosttremen- jis knox I ever experiuneed. The sircle said be had gone. "Air you gone, William ? he asked. I.Fey- ther," he replide, and I knowd it was no use to pureco the subjeck furder.-Artemus Ward. Mr. Owen Meredith Again.-In the Comhs7l Magazine for November, 1860, appeared a poem en- l01! J,Last WordB. by Owen Meredith. The verses ended thus xt n"^ifhV1!?ps- The hoarse wolf howls not near, No dull owl beats the casement, and no rough-bearded star Stares on my mild departure from yon dark window bar." The Cornhill Magazine for May, 1865 (in an article on the Dramatists of the Elizabethan era), contains the following quotation from Webster:- No rough-bearded comet Stares on thy mild departure; the dull owl Beats not against thy casementj-the hoarse wolf Scents not thy carrion." How ourious is this coincidence! A poet dies. More than two centuries elapse, and then another poet arises who repeats the ideas and images of his half-forgotten predecessor in nearly the same order and in precisely the same language! So far as we are aware ecienoe has no data yet awhile on which to explain the phe- nomenon but nobody can fail to see in it an admirable though mysterious provision for handing down from centary to century the nobler thoughts of the human race. Ihere is, indeed, amore simple explanation, brst it is one which Mr. Meredith himself would reject with scorn, and until he contradicts us who knows best we must abide by our own view. If he could be persuaded to speak, he would probably oonfirm it; and it would really be a comfort to know that as soon as a great poet is fairly neglected or nearly forgotten, another bard is produced who repeats all his good things with- out the bothering old spelling. Then might we say, indeed, the poet never dies. Owen Meredith certaii-iy seems to be a genius of this strangely tantologioal but most serviceable kind. His olaima to such distinction have been urged before; but we do nut remember any passage in his works that can be relied on to establish his character with greater security than that we have quoted above.-Pall Mall Gazette. Lord Palmerston the FtrstEnglish Waltzer. —He confirmed his suocesses in the House by ecuring the admiration-and sometimes, if report said truly, the still tenderer feelings-of the female members of the families of his colleagues and opponents. He was one of the lions of Alnaack's. Captain Gronow writes, under date of the very year at which we have arrived in our narrative:—"In 1814 the dancea at Altcaek's were Scotch reels and the old English country e-aree and the orchestra, being from Edinburgh, was con- ducted by the then celebrated Neil Gow. It was not until 1815 that Lady Jersey introduced from Paris the favourite quadrille which has Eo long remained popu- lar. ,Mazy Waltz was also brought to ns about this time; but there were comparatively few who first ventured to whirl round the scUms of AI- mack a; in course of time, however, Lord Palmerston might have been seen describing an infinite number of circles with Madame do Lieven." Madame, or the Countess, de Lieven was a well-known Russian in- tngante-Anglicè, politioal spy. She lived many a year after she first waltzed with Lord Palmerston at Almack's. Her faculties remained vigorous to the last. So vigorous indeed were they, arid so formidable was their exercise, that, just after the oommencement of the Crimean war, Louis Napoleon was obliged to be disoourteous enough to request her withdrawal from Paris-so much did he apprehend the vigilance of her eyes and ears and the communication by her ef: valuable information to her Emperor. Who knows but that Palmerston may have practised waltzicg for diplomatic reasons; and that the handsome couple of waltzers may have been whispering politics while the astonished assembled fashion was admiring tr ei* tions.—Mc(Gilchrist's Life of Palmerston. —

The Case of Constance Kent.—-Mr DCW^'B" the governor of the Wilts County Gaol, hae rec^vfid an official communication from Mr. Chitty, Clerk of Assize for the Western Circuit, aunouuei/g that the recently passed on Constance Emilie "R-flTit^ »™TpraeJ J?n ^er ha'f-brather, Fraceis baville Kent, au Road-hill-house, in Jane, 1860. had been commuted by her Majest, kito one of cenal servitude for life When the reaalt waa made krn v;i to "he prisoner she received the announcement with t e same calmness which has characterised ker thioughout. The statement that she has writ-ten a hÜ;tory of her life while in prison is without slightest foundation. r. ^Ts^r}^uti°n of Lucknow Prize Money.— vm -'Ionday a second distribution of prize money for the capture of Lucknow commenced at the military department of the India Office, Victoria-street. The corps of her Majesty's late Indian forces who F.<e entitled to a share are the followincr:-The 3rd Belief European Fusiliers; the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd troops of the Bengal Horse Artillery, with other branches or :;he same service Nos. 1 and 3 of the Light Field Battery of the Oude Irregular Force; the European Invalid Bat- talion; and the Siege Traia Establishment. Manv of the men who fought at Lucknow attended to receive their prize money, which will doubtless prove useful to them after seven years' delay. The distribution was continued during the week.

FRACAS IN THE DUBLIN EXHIBITION. Captain John St. George Cuffe, the Canadian com- missioner at the International Exhibition, appeared before Mr. Allen, at the head police-court, Dablin, on Saturday afternoon, to answer the complaint of Mr. John Frederick Iselin, general superintendent of the exhibition, for having assaulted him. Mr. Sidney, Q. C., appeared for the complainant, and Messrs. J. A. Curran and Beytagh for the defendant. After some preliminary remarks and an excited dis- cussion, John Frederick Iselin said; On the 22nd August the defendant came to my office about a quarter to five o'clock in the afternoon. Mr. Wylde, the secretary of the juries, who is also my clerk, was present. He came to me to ask a pass for an extra attendant in the evenings. I directed Mr. Wylde to write the pass. After this he spoke of the exhibition being open in the evening, and of the expense he was put to in consequence. He added that he had counsel's opinion that he would have an action against the committee. I told him that that was a matter which I should bring before the com- mittee, as it might affect them hereafter. Up to this the tone of the conversation was quite quiet; but sud- denly he got into a passion, and accused me of spying after his department, and of making inquisitorial visits to his attendant respecting his losses. I denied this. He repeated it, and when I told him that he must leave the office he refused, and said he would not SOic sa^ k*?1 again, I must ask you to leave my office." He said he would not. I answered that he should. I repeated again that he must leave, and he answered, "I dare you to put me out." I then rose from my chair and went across the room. As I J him, and was about to open the door and look if there was an attendant or a policeman in the neighbourhood. Before I got to the door Captain Cuffe got in front of me raised the stick which he held in his hand, and struck me several times with it on the head, neck, shoulder, and back. As soon as I could think a little for myself I rushed over and caught him by the arm, and a gentle- man who was in the room, but whom I do not know, seized him from behind to prevent him from farther assaulting me. A policeman came up and said, Do you give him in charge ? I said, I do." In a few moments I went to an adjoining room to get my hat and umbrella, as I was going to the country, and on coming out into the corridor I saw Captain Cuffe with the policeman. The latter told me that it would be necessary for me to go to Lad-lane station to prefer the charge. 1 was not then prepared to do that, and accordingly I said I would proceed by summons. The policeman released Captain Cuffe, who followed me, and said, You are a coward, sir, and I shall drink your blood." He then went out by one turnstile and I went by another, and that is all I saw of him. I did not make any such overtures to any woman in the Exhibition. I told my clerk, Mr. Wilde, to write the pass when Captain Cuffe asked for it. He com- plained of the Exhibition being open untill a late hour at night. I did not tell him that that was a lie, nor make use of the word liar." There was one case of profligacy reported by the police. I never was in com- pany with people of loose character in the Exhibition. I did not say to Captain Cuffe that the letter he had written to the committee about his losses showed what sort of fellow he was. The cross-examination of the witness was directed at great length to alleged acts of incivility on his part to Willie Pape, pianist; Messrs. Allison and Son, of London; Mr. Strahan, of Henry-street and Clare- street, Dublin; and other parties. He denied the allegations made against him in each instance. Mr. John James Wilde and Police-constable 87 B gave corroborative evidence. Mr. Sidney, Q.C., said this closed the case for the prosecution, and called on Mr. Allen to send it for- ward for trial. Mr. Curran having addressed the magistrate, the latter said the case would be sent for trial to the city sessions. On the application of Mr. Curran Ctptain Cuffe was admitted to bail, himself in t20 and two sureties in £10 each.