The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

THE COURT. THEIR Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expected to visit the fine old baronial mansion of the Sackvilles on the 29th inst., when a large number of the leading nobility and gentry will be invited to meet the illustrious visitors. The expectation that the Prince and Princess of Wales would honour Not- tingham with a visit on the occasion of the meeting of the British Association in the town will not be grati- fied, as his Royal Highness has intimated he will be unable to comply with the invitation of the Town Council, owing to prior arrangements. IT is said at the Clubs that the Prince of Wales means to retain for himself-by the highest per- mission, of course-the old titles of the family Date of Kent, Dake of Clarence, and so forth. Hence her Majesty's second son had the title of Dake of Edin- burgh conferred upon him. j i. A SHORT time previous to her Majesty s departure for Scotland arrangements were made that Princess Louisa should go to Bagshot, to be under the charge of Sir James Clarke, during her Majesty s visit to Balmoral, but now her Royal Highness's health has Eunioientiv recovered from the effects of the whooping- cough, that Dr. Brown considered there would be no risk in allowing the Princess to accompany her AFTER the marriage of the Princess Mary of Gam- bi idge the Queen proceeded to Scotland, and the Court is now held at Balmoral. Her Majesty is in the enjoyment of good health, and takes her usual walks and drives in the vicinity of the castle. THE Prince and -Princess of Wales are residing at Marlborough. house. Their Royal Highnesses, accom- panied by his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, drove to Twickenham on Saturday, and visited their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess D Aumale at Orleans-house. THE Prince and Princess of Wales and the Dake of Edinburgh, with the Countess of blacclesfield, Lieut.. Colonel Keppel, and the Hon. E. Yorke m waiting, attended divine service at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, on Sunday. The commuBion service was read y the Rev. the Sub-dean,'the Rev. T. Helmore, and the Rev. H. M. Birch. Anthem, I will magnify thee" (Ouseley). Mr. Cooper presided at the organ. The sermon was preached by the Rev. H. M. Birch, from Job, chap. xiv. verse 10. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke of Cambridge, the Duchess of Cambridge, and the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz attended the service.

POLITICAL GOSSIP. WE have reason to suppose, says the Court Journal, that we shall see Mr. B. Osborne in office again ere long. SIR HENRY RAWLINSON is about to question the Government as to whether there is any reason to be- lieve that Russia contemplates the conquest and per- manent occupation of the city and territory of Bok- hara. A WAR-OFFICE return shows that in tbe course of the years 1864 and 1865 127 officers in the army died while on full pay. The sums which they had paid for their commissions amounted together to £ 110,010. WE (Sunclay Gazette) are glad to learn that H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge has made a rule under which the proceeds of the commissions of officers selling out while under age are to be handed over to their parents, guardians, and not to themselves. MR. HENRY W. SCOTT, who dates from Broakes's Club, London, announces by advertisement in the Dundee papers his intention to place his services at the disposal of the constituency as their second mem- ber "in anticipation of the Government Reform Bill passing at no distant period." The hon. gentleman is one of the sons of Sir William So >tt, Bart., of Ancram, the member for the county of Roxburgh. HER MAJESTY having ordered commissions to issue, on the joint address of both Houses of Parliament, to make inquiry into corrupt practices at the late elec- tions for Reigate, Great Yarmouth, Lancaster, and Totnes, the proceedings will forthwith commence. it is, however, understood in the legal profession that it will be only pro form A, the actual inquiries being post- poned till after the assizes. THE Berlin Town Council is in the market for a loan of three millions, to be issued at a discount of fully 10 per cent. The rate of interest, which cannot be re- duced during the first five years, is fixed at 5 per cent. The produce of this operation, the like of which has not been heard of in the last 50 years of Prussian history, is to be employed in public works to be con. structed by the starving operatives. THE ducal title has not been conferred by the Crown on any individual, except the present Duchess of Inver. ness, from the year 1833, when the Dukes of Cleve- land and Sutherland were created, until this last month, when Prince Alfred was gazetted Duke of Edinburgh. With the exception of the Marqui sates ef Normanby and Dalhousie (the latter of which is extinct), the second order of the peerage has not been conferred on any individual since 1831, a period of 35 years. A DEPUTATION, consisting of the Earl of Dal. housie, lord-lieutenant of the county of Forfar, the Earl of Airlie, the Hon. Charles Carnegie, M.P., the Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, M.P., and Mr. Patrick H. Thomas, of Aberlemno, had an interview with the Right Hon. T. Milner Gibson, at the office of the Board of Trade on Saturday. The deputation pre- sented memorials from the county of Forfar and the royal burghs of Perth, St. Andrews, and Montrose, urging the Board of Trade to take steps for ascertain. ing the present condition of the lights of the River I g Tay, and for having them put into an efficient state. A MEETING of the executive council of the Reform League took place on the 15th instant, at their rooms in Adelphi-terraoe, Strand-Mr. Edmond Bealea oc- cupied the chair. Letters were read from Mr. Glad- stone, acknowledging the receipt of, and thanking the council for, the resolution passed at their last meeting; and from Mr. Berkeley, the senior member for Bristol, in reference to the motion for the ballot to be introduced uy him at an early date; also from Mr. Montague Chambers, M.P., thanking the League for the very effi- cient help given by the Plymouth branch of the Reform League in the late election contest for Devonport. It was then resolved, That deputations from the council be appointed to visit the whole of the 19 branches of the League in the metropolitan district, and that the various branch secretaries be requested to call a speoial meeting of the members of each branch to re- ceive such deputation at the earliest possible date." Also, That the officers of the above branches be summoned to a special meeting of the council for Friday next, the 22nd instant, to make arrangements for carrying out the foregoing reflation." The president then gave a resume of the present aspect of the Reform question, expressing hia regret at the concessions which the Government had been induced to make, and strongly condemning the obstructive and systematically vexatious policy pursued by both falee Liberals and the openly hostile Tory party-a. policy insulting, degrading, and demoralising to the House and the country, asd deserving of strong public repro. bation It was then resolved to organise a general indignation meeting in the metropolis against the conspiracy of the obstructives on both sides of the Wnnfo tr. a+ifle the Dresent small measure of Reform, and defeat all real attempts to bring the working classes within the pale of the constitution. It was further resolved to hold a series of meetings Tower Hamlets in fn^berance of the objects and principles of the League, the first to be' o'elook market on Monday, the 25th inst., at eigh z--

THE ARTS, LITERATURE, &C- AT a sale of pictures in London on Saturday, known as the Boddington collection, the superb painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, containing the portraits ot the well-known Mrs. Thrale and her daughter, the late Viscountess Keith, was,knooked down for XI,375 10s. THE memorial to the late Sir Tatton Sykes, Bart., at Garton, bsing nearly completed, preparations were made for levelling the ground. For this purpose it was requisite to remove a portion of the ancient entrenchments known as the double dykes," which cross the wolds from the Danes' Graves," near Kil- ham to Water Wold, some 15 miles. These entrench- ments consist of a central rampart of 40 feet width, having on each side a deep trench, protected again by outer ramparts. In removing the great oentral rampart, at a very little depth below the natural surface six skeletons were found, and destroyed before thecis- covery came to the ears of any antiquarian. At length the find became known to Mr. J. R. Mortimer, ui Fimber, who has commenced an examination of the bones, and up to the present time 15 skeletons have been exhumed, mostly of upgrown people, rare)y exceeding 5ft. 4in. in stature. I AMONG the rare objects of art included in the late Mr. Henry Farrer's collection, recently disposed of, was the following.The sword of Tiberius; on the upper part of the sheath is a group of figures, the object of which is explained fully by two shields, that by the side of the central personage, who is seated, being inscribed Felicitas Tiberi;" the other Vic. Avg." The principal figure is intended to represent the Emperor Tibeiius himself, who is also indicated in the inscription upon the second shield, Victoria Augusti." The youthful military figure standing before the emperor, and presenting to him an image of Victory, is no other than Germanicus, whose mili- tary adventures and successes in Germany are so vividly recorded by Tacitus. This interesting relic fetched 121 guineas, and was secured by Mr. Dyer. THE receipt of money at the door of the Royal Academy to the end of May last, has exceeded the total payments of any former year. THE miniature which her Majesty intends for pre- sentation to Mr. Peabody has been entrusted for its execution to Mr. Dickenson, and the drawing from which the enamel is to be taken is now on view at their rooms in New Bond-street. As a portrait, this elegant work of art may be considered small, but the necessities of the art of enamelling compel its being limited to a size something between the miniature and the ordinary chalk drawings of heads. The Queen is portrayed in her robes, and it is understood that more than usual care was to be taken that the likeness might be truthful. The face bears traces of long- continued grief; the lines are strongly marked round the mouth and under the eyes, but there is with this characteristic a soft and thoaghtful expression, which the artist has been particularly happy in giving. Thg look and the roundness of maturity, with the firmly. set lips, are somewhat in contrast with the portrait of the Queen with which we are familiar. As a work of art this miniature is of the highest class, and well suited for transfer to vnamel, in which difficult and effective style Mr. Tilt is about to execute it. Enamel has been selected on account of its imperishable qualities, in accordance with the wishes of Mr. Poe, body, whose intention it is to place this portrait in an institution founded by him in his native town, Boston, United States.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS, --+- The Coming War. That cannon shot has not been fired, but one can almost hear the rumbling of the tumbrils. Garibaldi, who never moves till action begins, has landed at Genoa and gone on to Como, whence he takes com- mand of the volunteers, whose first work will be to intercept the Austrian communications. General Gablena has quitted Holstein, avowedly yielding to compulsion, the Estates of the Duchy have been dis- persed by force, and the Austrian Adlatus has been arrested. The Emperor of Austria has informed a deputation of Viennese who had presented a loyal address, that he had done everything in his power to preserve peace, but now, amidst the most arduous period I have experienced since my access-ion to the throne, I resort to the sword, with confidence in God, my good right, my valiant army, and the co-operation of my faithful subjects." The Prussian Premier has informed the citizens of Berlin that the Austrian Government intend to levy a contribution of £ 75,000,000 on Prussia, and a military correspondent of the Times has already reached Prussian head- quarters. Sealed packets have benn distributed among the Austrian Governors of Provinces, con- taining, it is said, the Kaiser's proclamation of war, and the text of the Italian proclamation has already begun too oze. Finally, Baron Ricasoli, who it is known refused to accept office unless the country were at war, has been appointed Premier, and the Emperor Napoleon has spoken out.-Spectator. The Saturday Review comments on the fact that in spite of the menacing position of the Italian army and the expected movements of Garibaldi in the Tyrol, Austria has been able to detach to her northern fron- tier at least 300,000 men, and though, for defensive operations, the Prussian Landwehr outnumbers even this prodigious force, Prussia, for all offensive pur- poses, must be taken to be slightly overmatched. As the Prussian troops, though better armed and fed, are less well officered and drilled, a difference in numbers becomes material. If the Middle States fling their contingents into the Austrian scale, all the material resources of Prussian organisation will have hard work to preserve Prussia from immediate military disaster. The aspect ot affairs will probably change in her favour as soon as Austrian troops show signs of occupying Prussian soil. Every Prussian is more or less of a drilled soldier, and though a militia cannot be counted equal to regular troops for a campaign, the Prussian nation, fighting for its hearths and homes, will be no contemptible enemy. Prussia will perhaps not begin to be invincible till Croats and Magyars seem likely to be I quartered at Berlin. The Spectator remarks that while no blood has yet been shed already disease has broken out in the armies, and while the Prussians are reported to send one per cent. per diem into hospital, deserters describe typhus as raging in the Austrian Army of the North, and the Italians are beginning to feel the influence of the marshes along the Po. It is with the cholera on its march westward, Russian armies hovering on its northern frontier, a Napoleon watching grimly with an unbroken army to ooerce alike victor and van- quished, disease in the tents, famine in the plains, and women crying for bread in the cities, that Germany commences the campaign of expiation for its long oppression in Italy and its brief but ruinous raid on Denmark. The Fenians in America. The British authorities have not only kept tho- roughly well advised as to every movement of these invaders, but they know precisely the estimate we put upon their lives. They know that most of them are heroes of the stamp of those who bravely led the retreat at Bull Run, who helped to make up the great army of bounty-jumpers, who, when they cease to be stipendiaries of the War Department, usually draw their rations from the Commissioners of Corrections, wh-) are the curse of American society, and a perpetual social and political scourge upon the American people. If two or three thousand of these vagabonds get within the clutches of General Napier, lot us beg of him not to spare them on our account. The more the merrier. They would be lying and stealing here if they were not raiding there.—Neio York Times. The Fenians have at length startled the Canadians with a positive invasion. A sufficient force of the Roberts-Sweeny division have crossed their Rubicon— 'OD, a rushing ocean compared with the paltry rivulet of Cseaar, and a few days will probably determine whether it is to be a fiasco or a revolution. The en- terprise may collapse in another Campobello fizzle, or in a short and disastrous fight like that of Crittenden in Cuba., or in a protracted and sanguinary but fruit- less filibllstcring struggle like that of Walker in Nicaragua; or it may expand and progress to a revo- lutionary reconstruction of the Oanadas, culminating in an independent government, and endmgmannexation to the United States. An actual fight or two will be necessary to disclose the real strength or weakness of this movement. Meantime it appears to be suffi- ciently formidable to justify the terrible fright which has seized her Majesty's loyal Canadians. The wolf at last is upon them, and they are in a fearful state of commotion. They probably think it the coming of Sherman's legions on another march to the sea. New York Herald. The Case of Princess Olive." The case of Ryves v. the Attorney-General," which has just been brought to a conclusion, will certainly be remembered as one of the most extraordinary instances of combined hallucination and deception which have ever been imposed upon the world. Here is a oase Professing t0 concern closely the honour and position of the Royal family of this country, whioh has occupied the Divorce Court for seven days. Our columns have been filled with documents, purporting to be signed by tha most distinguished persons of a century ago, implicating George III., his brothers, Lord Chatham, and .Lord Warwick in a series of the most flagrant crimes and deceptions; and the whole story together, in a»l probability, with tha documents on which it rests, is a mere web of fictions spun out of the unassisted brain or one half-crazy woman. No form of hallucination is more common than that of imagining a relation to Royal personages; and the story set up on behalf of Mrs. Ryves was as wild and inconsistent as the fancies of the most crazy luaatic. It collapsed at the first touch of the Attorney- General s criticism, and the jury did not even think it necessary to hear the whole of his argument before announcing their decision. 13 none_ the less remarkable that the story should have acquired such an apparent consistency, and that an elaborat,3 mails of utterly incredible and inconsistent documents should have been industriously forged aud collected in its support. A wilder story, supported by more extravagant or more foolish forgeries, was never invented. Not the least curious part of the case is that if Mrs. Ryves had succeeded in making out that her mother was a Royal Princess, she would have established at the same time her own illegitimacy. The alleged marriage of the Duke of Cumberland was celebrated before the Royal Marriage Act, and consequently if Mrs. Serres had been the Duke's daughter, she would have been a Princess of the Blood Royal. But that Act had been passed before her marriage with Mr. Serres, and would have rendered it invalid, so that her issue would have been illegitimate. As it is. Mrs. Rvves obtains a de- claration of her legitimacy, but at the cost of her pro- tended Royal descent. Such a result is a better con- olusion to her efforts than their audacity and folly, if not their deception, merited. It is possible, as the Attorney-General said, that she, like her mother, may have brooded over the story till she has persuaded herself it is true; but we cannot avoid adding that it is unpardonable that more responsible persons should have abetted her in the delusion. As the story, bow- ever, has been brought so prominently forward, it is satisfactory that it has been so thoroughly exposed. It will only be remembered for the future as an extraordinary monument of the ingenuity and per- verted industry which may be exerted by vanity and madness.-The Times. Dynasties and Nationalities. Entry of the Prussians into Hanover!" What a sensation this telegraphic announcement would have created in England in days not more distant than those of our Sailor King, the uncle and immediate predecessor of our gracious Qaeen! Busy and anxious men, the varied population of London will read it, however, with comparative indifference to-day as they hurry through the streets and congratulate themselves that, at all events, we have no longer any German possessions to defend. We are happily free to take the course in the impending struggle that our policy and interests and national sense of what is just and expedient point out without any regard, to dynastic interests. There was nothing that went further to check the loyalty of the English people during the reigns of the Four Georges" than the bitter indigna- tion and resentment at finding that English blood and treasure were wasted without remorse in the never- ending wars and quarrels between the Kaisirs, Kings, and Electors of Germany. Nous avons changés tout cela; and, unlike unhappy Queen Ma,ry. who, grieving over the loss of the last of our French possessions, said that "the word Calais would be found written on her heart," Qaeon Victoria may thank God that she does not own a rood of the Teu- tonic possessions of her family; and the British people have still more reason to be thankful. Hence- forth it is with the nations, with peoples, and not with dynasties that we should make leagues and alliances. We have inaugurated free trade we have planted free and flourishing colonies all over the world; we have invited the surrounding nations to imitate our example; our genius, our interests, and the national conscience make us desire peace; we have warned, we have advised. But for ourselves let us keep neutral and out of this terrible war as long as we posesibly can, and if we are dragged into it, at all events let it be on the right side. There cannot be a doubt that it is a very general suspicion that this might not be so if the Conservatives were in power, that strengthens the position of the present Govern. ment. The English people, especially, deeply sym- pathise with the Italians in their aspirations for national unity; and at such a crisis as this have no desire that they should lose the enlightened and friendly oounsels of Russell and Gladstone, the tried and approved friends of Italy. They cannot forget the halting, purblind policy of Malmesbury, the Foreign Secretary of the Conservative party, on the eve of the last war between France, Austria and Italy. If they could forget it their organs would stupidly recall those unpleasant recollections by their strictures on the audacity of ltaly" in asking for one of her oldest and most glorious provinces, as well as in their sophistioal arguments to show that the possession of the Quadrilateral is essential to the maintenance of Austria as a great Power Austria was a great power when she had not the Quadrilateral, her possession of which scarcely dates beyond the present century, and Austria will be a greater Power when she gets rid of it. Her possession of Venetia is, no doubt, legal, and supported by treaties; but, un- fortunately, Austria has shown, when it suited her, as little regard for treaties as her neighbours, and, at all events, the days for handing over or retaining hostile populations under foreign rule have passed away; and in nothing does the astute and sagacious ruler of France more manifest his discernment of the signs of the times, and the spirit of our age, than in his denunciation of that mistaken and heartless policy. The doctrine of nationalties has its inconvenience; but we believe that henceforth it will be found the safest general rule to guide the statesmen and diploma- tists of EuropObserver.

OUR MISCELLANY. --+-- What nonsense to shut up the streets of the city every time H.R.H. takes a dtive down town. How many men lost the trains, and their tempers too, on Thursday week, inconsequence of this tomfoolery !— Gosmovolitan. Antiquity of the Earth.—Chalk consists alto- gether ot shells, or the fragments of shells. Scarcely more than ten inohes in thickness of these were deposited in a century in the ancient sea in which they were produced; and as, in some cases, the chalk is 1,000ft. thick, it muat have required 120,000 years for its production. Flint gravels are formed by the de- struction of chalk but, as chalk cliffs are not broken down at the rate of more than one inch in a century, fallen cliffs protect the coast until they are worn away, and other circumstances tend to render the process of destruction slow. It has been calculated that the Wealden Valley, which is 22 miles in breadth, and has been formed by the denudation of the Weald, re- quired 150,000,000 years for its production.- Scientific Review. In and "Oat" Offlee.-It is often observed that the Princes of Wales ..re sare to be Whigs, and to turn Tories when they sucoeed to the crown, and the example of George IV. is always adduced as a case I in point. But in the days of Walpole and Pelham, though Whigs and Tories held, on the whole, the same principles as they do now., their relative pisitions were totally different. If any class could be called disaffected and revolutionary, it was that of the Tory squires and Tory members of Parliament. If any party formed the bulwark of the throne, the reigning dynasty, and the cabinet, it was that of the Whigs, who voted on the hustings that they never had been, and never would be, "patriots." Each suffered a strange metamorphosis: the Tory ranged himself in the Opposition ranks, full of factious spleen, with the language of a demagogue on his lips; while the Whigs from the Treasury benches lectured on the Royal pre- rogatives, and the duty of submission to the powers that be, in terms that might have suited a supporter of Stafford or a non-juring divine. English Pre- miers," in The Month. Arbitrary" Fate.—Some one said, the other day, that it seemed as if Fate scarcely kneiv what she was doing, when she lavished with such profusion every gift and delight upon one pair of heads, while others were left bald, shorn, unheeded, dishevelled, forgotten, dishonoured. And yet the world would be almost too sad to bear, if one did not sometimes see happiness somewhere. Oae would scarcely believe in its possible existence, if there was nobody young, fortunate, prosperous, delighted nobody to think of with satisfaction, and to envy a little. The sight of great happiness and prosperity is like listening to harmonious music, or looking at beautiful pictures, at certain times of one's life. It seems to suggest possi- bilities, it sets sad folks longing; but while they are wishing, still, may be, a lijtle roproachfully, they realise the existence of what perhaps they had doubted before. Fate has been hard to them; but there is compensation even in this life. They tell themselves, "Whioh of us knows when his turn may come?" Happiness is a fact; it does not lie within some people's grasp. To this or that young fairy couple age, trial, and trouble may be in store; but now at least the present is golden; the innocent delights and triumphs of yeuth and nature are theirs.—Oomhill Magazine. « The Hangman's Sons.-Public Opinion, with referenee to the sons of Calcraft, the public hangman of England, says It is stated that Calcraft has four sons in the India Civil Service, instead of the isolated one who was instanced recently as having passed his examination. If found, we hope nobody will make a note of them, and subject them to the wor.-e treat- ment, in consideration of the line their father is in." note of them, and subject them to the treat- ment, in consideration of the line their father is in." Well, their father's line is a slightly unpopular one, and the service he renders is scarcely considered ci.v;l service. We are afraid that those young men are likely to have an unpleasant time of it, even in India. If a man asks them if they have ever tried Indian hemp, they will think be "means something." They can never talk of going home and taking a "drop" with the old man without a shudder. No doubt the eminent services which their father has rendered the Goversment has led to their rise. May he never wit- ness their fall, and may they never by any miseoaduct cause themselves to be suspended. As to people sub- jecting them to worse treatment on account of the line their father is in, such conduct would be both unjust and impolitic; one never knows what one may come to, and no one can be sure that the time will not come when the young Calcraft's father may be able to do him a good turn.-Puck, San Francisco Paper. A Peculiar Clause.- Ilai,_per's Monthly Maga. zine has the following:—Old Parson Patton is one of the old-fashioned preachers who are guiltless of Greek and Hebrew, but do a vast amount of good in their peculiar way. He lived in Central Missouri at the time the war broke out, was a staunch Union man, and the "right to secede not having at that time been decided by the inexorable logic of events," was the subject of frequent and animated discussion between the Parson and old Colonel B-, one of his flock. The Colonel maintained and dogmatically decided that the right of secession was implied if not expressed in the Constitution, and, if not so nominated in the bond," it should be. The Parson was called to officiate when Mary, the Colonel's daughter, proposed to become Mrs. Epperson. All parties were ready on the floor. The parson (deviating from the text) asked, "Do you, Mr. Epperson, take this woman to be your lawful and wedded wife, to love and cherish," &o., as long as it euits your convenience ? Hold on, parson What is that ?" Nothing, Brother B- said the parson I am only putting in the secession clause." Lake- Dwellers.-It is well known that not so very long ago a number of distinguished literary men went to live together by the Cumberland lakes, and formed a school of poetry known as the Lakers. Thomas Moore, who was not of this sehool, mentions an individual whose connection with lakes was still closer, for it appears on his authority that the O'Donoghue, at least as a disembodied spirit, lives in the Lake of Killarney. The true explanation of the legend of the O'Donoghue is, doubtless, the following. The real blue-blooded Irishman is of immense antiquity, and his ancestors belonged to a branch of that strange and perhaps antediluvian people who lived by choice in lakes-that is to say, in villages built on piles in the shaBo w waters. This theory is corroborated by the fact that the modern Fenians retain in so marked I a manner the savage nature of their forefathers the Lakers, par excellence. Bat, joking apart, the daily observation of scientific men is showing that if not the lakes of Ireland, at all events the more open lakes of Switzerland were swarming hives of population, and that villages were inhabited in them by the three successive ages of stone, bronze, and iron, the last raoe living there until historical times.-Once a Week. Niagara Falls.—Between the lakes Erie and Ontario is the Niagara river, and about midway is that king of cataracts the Niagara Falls, certainly one of the wonders of the world. The river divides at the island called Grand, and then unites again. We first see the rapids formed by the rush of the whole body of waters down a rough bed, and tossing their white foam into the air; we hear the distant boom of the cataract with its monotonous roar; and we catch sight of the cloudy pillar of mist rising, like the smoke of some ancient sacrifice, towards the high clouds. All here is tumalt and mad haste. It reminds one of a Balaclava charge- thousal d6 of waves are dashing on, and as they strike against some opposing rock or huge stone, flash and crash and dash in their impotent rage. This boiling Phlegethon of waters is in the greatest possible contrast to the solitude around. In the one ia life, and bustle, and energy, and the iron will of uncurbed impulse; in the other is the stillness of a catacomb, for nothing that lives is seen as far as the eye can reach. The whole neighbourhood seems made expressly for the one great monopoly. Leaving the rapids for the garden at the back of the public-house, the traveller descends a thickly- wooded bank, till he comes to the Table Rook, the upper ledge of which is a jagged shelf, jutting over the gulf below. Here the cascades themselves burst in a moment on the view. The grand crescent called the Horse-shoe Falls is directly before us opposite is the Goat Island, which splits the falls; and lower down, to the left, are the American falls. These are no rapids. They are as different in character as an elephant and a lapdog. There is no hurry here it is far too stately and loyal for that; far too inde- pendent and powerful. It is the calmness of conscious strength-deliberate, majestic, and irresistible. It is the march of omnipotence; sublime but not awful; filling the heart almost to bursting, but not shaking the nerves. It is lovely, but the loveliness of immensity. Like the march of angels when they went in their serried ranks against the crew of Liicifer-en, on, on, on, with a regular flow, the waters pour but. there is ample room for the enormous phalanx. The spray and mist are the banners of the vast army, and the tramp of its footsteps over the field of rocks is so loud, and yet so free from any stunning effect, that one could hear a cracker fired at one's feot, and yet a peal of thunder would not suffice to become an isolated sound.—Cassell's Illustrated Family Paper.

THE CHARGE OF PERJURY AGAINST I MRS. ALLEN. Harriet Allen, aged 33, of 20, Cumberland-street, Pimlico, milliner, was charged at the Marylebone Police-court, on remand with committing willui per. jury in this court on the 30th of May last.—Mr. George Lewis, jun., appeared for the proseoution, and Mr. Wilding defended the prisoner.—It will be remem. bered that the prisoner gave a gentleman named Moaelev into custody for indecently assaulting her in a carriage on the North Western Railway. The charge was dismissed, and the present charge of perjury was then preferred by Mr. Moseley.—The evidence went to show that the prisoner had lived at various places and under different names, but she was generally known as Mrs. Villiers. She had cohabited off and on for two years with a person named Dyer, who stated he had run through his property, and now lived on the profits he made at races. During the time she had known him she had brought from 20 to ) 30 charges against him at the different police offices, which had invariably been dismissed. She was always following him about and bringing these charges, chiefly because he would not continue to live with her. At the time she made the charge against Mr. Moseley she had a bouquet of flowers in her hand, and several persons who saw her at the time deposed that the flowers were not in the least rumpled, nor was her dress disarranged. She made no complaint to the check taker at the Camden station, nor to the guard at any of the stations where the train stopped. Mr. Moseley, when accused, seemed to be greatly astonished and indignant at the charge made against him, and was in an excited state. Further evidence proved that the prisoner was well known to the police as a companion of prostitutes, and was in the habit of frequenting the Victoria railway station for the purpose of talking to gentlemen, and she had been seen going away with different men from the station.—The prisoner, who reserved her defence, was committed for trial, and bail was refused.

A DIVORCE CASE. In the Court of Divorce, on Saturday, the action of Cavendish v. Cavendish and Roohefouc ild was brought forward.—Mr. Coleridge, Q.C., before the cave was gone into, said that the state of the evidence on the part of his client, Mrs. Cavendish, was so incomplete that he could not, if the petitioner insisted now on proceeding, in the interest of Mrs. Cavendish, appear, but would feel it his duty to retire from the Case.- Dr. Spinks (with whom was Mr. Hodgson) sp,id he certainly should go on. The respondent had had ample time to get up her evidence, but she chose to live abroad, and had failed to do so. His lordship said the suit began a, year ago, and he could not interfere to arrest the case.—Mr. Matthews, for the co-respondent, said that in that case he would have no alternative but to follow the example of Mr. Coleridge and retire.— The learned counsel accordingly left the court, and the case proceeded.—The petitioner, George Henrj Cavendish, son of General Cavendish, married the respondent, Emily Victorine Elizabeth Rumbold, daughter of Sir William Rumbold, on the 16th Octo- ber, 1848, at the Clarendon Hotel, Bond-street. She been brought up in Penis by the Baron acd Bareness Dalmar. They lived after their mar/iige in various places abrogd-in Paris, Rome, Bacea-B&ceu Homburg, Dirmstadtj and Bevlin, and two oaiiaren were born— Alphonee and Delrnay. At Darmstadt they made the acquaintance of the co-respondent, the Count Gaston de la an attach € of the French embassy, and became very intimate with him. In 1858 Baron De]mr dieci, and in 1861 the baroness died, and their fortune was left to Mrs. Cavendish, but it was very rnxich involved. Being at Berlin in 1862, at wiiich place the co-respondent was the time, Mrs. Cavendish persuaded her husband to return to England vid Paris, with her son, in order thit she might have uninterrupted leisure to pursue the business of getting the affairs of her Delmar inheritance settled. He went to Paris, and afterwards came to England, and a great number of letters from his wifeto him were read, colvbed in language indicating most complete indifference to all reeling ot conjugal affection. A number of letters ot the co-respondent to Mrs. Cavendish, which Mr. Cole. ridge had charactorised as the most disgusting letters he had ever looked at, were put in, but were too filthy to be read in court. The petitioner had no suspicion whatever of his wife's infidelity until June of last year, when he made inquiries, and the result was. the discovery that the'respondent had made the settlement of her business affairs the pretext for opportunities of carrying on an adulterous intimacy with the co- respondent at the different places before mentioned. The adultery was proved by servants (examined through an interpreter).—Decree nisi, with costs against the co-respondent.

EXTRACTS FROM PUNCH" & "FUN." An Ardent Prayer. I want a heart—one heart alone- To beat reapansive to my own. Oh, Fate, go search for oae, and find it; Or, if you oan't-why never mind it. I want (Vhat magic in the sounds!) About £ 100,000. ) But will it come ? I rather doubt it; And so I'll push along without it. I want a mansion in a square— Or in a Rtreet-or anywhere. Go, get it for me, Fate, and hurry !— Bat stop You'll think me suoh a worry. I want a better state of mind— More philosophic and resigned— Embracing in its broad expansion Much more than money, heart, or mansion. Honesty and Policy. When thieves fall out," the proverb saya, "Honest men may come by their own." Now Germany's crown'd thieves fallout, Some doubt upon the proverb's thrown. When realms are shattered in the clash Of Eagles, hung with golden fleeces, While Louis coolly waits the smash, In hopes he may pick up the pieoes, 'Tis 10ng odd* if this thievish strife Aid honest. men to get their own, But two thieves warring to the knife May help a third their swag to bone. Then let Britannia from her flinaf War-threritg and peace professions hollow, Safe from the loss such strife must brinee As from the gains such strife may follow. "Anything" or "Nothing' To the Members of Her Majesty's Opposition. You asked "for the Bill, the whole Bill, And nothing but the ajJl;" Swore you wouldn't have two, but a sole Bill, And now you have got your will. But it seems from the way you receive it. The right cry your mouths to fill, Should have been, The Bill, the whole BUI, And any thing but the Bill." Speeches by an Old Smoker. Ta'en the carle and left her Johnnie, i-ie, has e'fee Nover mind, sir. Johnnie will probably live to be very glad of it. I don't know what it is to be in love ? Yes, I do, sir. As a young man I was in love two or three times. But hadn't the means to make a settlement, and was always) a dnmpy, dull, heavy, stiipid-lookiag fellow, sir-fortunately. Why fortunately ? Because I wag cut out, sir, by an Adonis, and thus prevented from marrying a girl without a penny. She n'ould have taken up with me if she could not have bad a handsomer man. Who was the lady P I rion't mind telling you. Mrs. Waddell, sir, old Wacldell's fat wife. Matronly beauty? Yes, sir; face like the full moon occasion- ally gibbous. Double chin, and an the rest of it. Waddell was a beau, sir, and a. dandy. He cut me out, as I said. He now weighs about 14 stone, sir, and his wife nearly as much. All that weight of flesh be has to sustain, and a lot of children besides. I have only to keep up the bulk I carry about. I envied Waddell once. I don't envy him DW, sir. No, sir; but Wad. dell envies me. So, one of these days, will jour triumphant rival envy you, sir. But, will you believe, sir, that I actually wore tight boots to ingratiate myself with the young lady who has turned into that m itron ? Never, at any rate, be such a fool as to do that, sir. It Did not answer; it gave me pain, and, sir, it laid the foundation of this bunion. A G-lee. As Reported by a Gentleman vho heard it for the first time at a Public Dinner. "Wink to me only with fine eyes, And I will pledge the kice; Or leave a p;ece, but tin the cap, And I'm not blotted for nine. [The remainder was unintdligQiie. THE HIGHT MAN IN THE HIGHT PLACE —The Prussian o-neral, Fliesa, is reporteil to have crossed the Eider at the head of the troops destined for the occupation of Holstein. Having regard to the in. tentions of the force, should not the name be spelt, as it is pronounced, Fleece ? OCEAN'S PLAY.-A member of our staff, who has just landed at Dover, save that he has diseovered me meaning of the gambolling of tbe waves spoken of by the poet. The swell and motion of tbe steamboat convinced him that it was pitcih and toss." LIGHT AS HAIR.—A friend of ours who bag a cotcic vein, describes the method of dyeing hair the fashion- able colour as the carotid art-ery. ALL'S FISH THAT COMES TO HIS NET!-A kior- temporary says, The attempt to introduce trout. ova into India is a total failure. A good thing too T>>e diet of salmon would be about as bad as possible iu that climate." Our friend might just as well say teat the cattle plague is advantageous he-;ause venison doesn't agree with everybody. ALARMING NEWS.- Considerable consternation has been excited in the burlesque world hy the statement that before long one of the Laiideeer lions will be placed in situ. THE TIME o' DAY.-An Irishman of oir nequaint. ance, with a leaning for potheen, being asked what part of the day he liked best, answered, without hesi- tation, the still" hours of night. SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE—At the next meeting of Horticultural Society a Paper will be read On the Coolness of the Cucumber." To METROPOLITAN GUARDIANS. Should banded Unions persecute Opinion ? "-Tennyson. WHEN'S a mouse like a savage? When he's a can-nibble. WASTE PAPER.—Diplomatic notes. »