The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

THE COURT. ALL interest at Windsor has been absorbed in the marriage of Princess Helena to Prince Christian, which took place in the Chapel Royal, on Thursday, with all the grandeur peculiar to Royal weddings. The Qaeen was in attendance, as also were the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the other members of the Royal family. A deputation of ladies, consisting of the Hon. Mrs. Locke King, Lady Louisa Bernard, Miss Russell, Miss Clementina Locke Kingr, Miss Jane Vernon-IIarcourt, Miss Layard, Miss Knowles, Miss Harvey, Miss Peto, Miss Nugent, and Miss Acland, had the honour of being received by her Royal High- ness Princess Helena at Windsor Castle on Saturday afternoon, to present her Royal Highness with a Bible, and the following address, which was read by Miss Nugent: To her Royal Highness Princess Helena Augusta Victoria.—Madam,—No words are needed to convey to your Royal Highness the assurance of our loyal attachment to every member of the Royal family, and of the affectionate interest we take in all that concerns their welfare. We venture, however, on this occasion, to approach your Royal Highness with special congratulations on tha happy event so soon about to take place, and to request your gracious acceptance of the offering we are permitted to present to your Royal Highness in token of our dutiful regard. In asking your Royal Highness's acceptance of the accompanying copy of the Sacred Volume, may we be allowed to express our earnest hope and desire that, with each advancing year, this treasury of Divine wisdom may more and more become your companion in joy, your support in sorrow, your counsel in times of perplexity, and your guide to everlasting life, so that you may at last 'receive a crown of glory thatfadeth not away.' We rejoice to think that in entering on a new sphera your Royal Highness will not be obliged to sever all those earlier ties which you have cherished with such affectionate reverence, especially daring the season of domestic bereavement with which our beloved sove- reign has been visited. That every blessing, for time and for eternity, may attend your Royal Highness and the prince to whom you are about to be united, is the prayer of, madam, your Royal Highness's most humble servants, MANY DAUGHTERS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.—June 30, 1866." Her Royal Highness, in accepting the gift, replied as follows:—"Accept my Warmest thanks for your beautiful present. It is most valuable to me in itself; but it is rendered still more so by the kind words with which you have accompanied it, and by the proof thus given that you, daughters iike myself, of our dear England, can appreciate the ieelmgs which bind me to my native land, and to my beloved mother, and can sympathise with the joy that fills my heart to think that its will still be my happi- ness to live amongst you."—The deputation then rel,ired. Her Royal Highness was attended by Lady Caroline Barrington and the Master of the Household. The number of subscribers for the present was as follows: From England, 6,190; Scotland, 564; Ireland, 784; Wales, 240; India, 2; Constantinople, 1; Italy, 4; New York, 1; total, 7,786. THE Prince and Princess of Wales are residing at Marl borough-house, and the King and Queen of the Belgians, who visited England for the sake of being present at the marriage of the Princess Helena, have been their Royal Highnesses' guests. THE Princess of Wales, aooompanied by her Majesty the Qaeen of the Belgians, took a carriage drive on Saturday. Professor Fittig and Mr. Schulz had the honour of performing on the zither before the Prince and Princess of Wales, at Marlborough-house, on Saturday. THE Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh, with the Lady and Gentlemen in Waiting, attended Divine service at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, on Sunday morning. The communion service was read by the Rev. the Sub-Dean, the Rev. C. Packe, and the Rev. R. Harvey. Anthem, Plead Thou my Cause" (Mozart), sung by Masters Warner and Coward, Messrs. R. Barnby, Montem Smith, and Lawler. Mr. Goss presided at the organ. The sermon Was preached by the Rev. R. Harvey, from St. Matthew xxi. 3. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge attended the service.

POLITICAL GOSSIP. THE nomination of a candidate for the representa- tion of the borough of Hertford, in the place of Sir Minto Farquhar, occurred on Saturday morning. There being no opposition to Mr. Robert Dimsdale, Conservative, that gentleman was declared duly elected. AT the first great division on the Reform Bill the Hon. C. 3. Tracy, member for the Montgomery dis- tricts, voled with the Opposition, and, a local paper says, so dlssatisfied were his constituents that he felt it was necessary to write to the chairman of his com- mittee exflaining his adverse vote, and promising that for the future he would give the Government his cor- dial support. On the division which took place im- fflediatelyafter the date of his letter he did vote with the Libenl party, but he was found again on the wrong sidt on the division in which Government were defeated. The astonishment of his constituents at his conduct, stys our contemporary, has been such that there is little likelihood of his being again returned as their representative. THE yotugest of our Generals, the Earl of Rosslyn, having diei, the Colonelcy of the 7th Hussars becomes vacant, aild Colonel Yorke, C.B., attains Major. General's rank, vacating thereby the Commandantship of the Royil Military Asylum at Chelsea, whilst Lieu- tenant -General Knollyia acquires a step of promotion. THE Speaker entertained at dinner, last week, the Minister of the United States, the Right Hen. Sir W. Gibson Crag, Sir John Duckworth, Sir John Burgoyne, Sir Daniel Cooper, Sir William Fergusson, Sir Roderick Mirchison, Sir William Denison, Sir Charles Trevelyan, Sir Edwin Landseer, Major-General Foster, Mr. Bright. Mr. Stuart Mill, Mr. Dunlop, Mr. J. B. Smith, Mr. Pim, Mr. M'Laren, Mr. Morley, Mr. Gold- win Smith, Mr. Story, Mr. Foley, Dr. Percy, Mr. Soharf, Mr, Hassard, Mr. A Bonham-Carter, Mr. Paget, Mr. Cole, Colonel Harness, Captain Clarke, ITJ '^r" Rioter Jones, Dr. Merivale, and Mr. Alfred Denfon. It will be seen that Mr. Bright was one of the guests; but as this was not an official dinner, no conclusion i, therefore, to be drawn from the fact that the guests were not in full dress." THE Chancellor of the Exchequer has thought it right to announce that he has no connection with another fiaancial concern that has failed, and traded under a similar name to the Government undertaking. We allude tc the announcement in the windows of post-offices tlat the Government Post-offioo Savings Banks have nj connection with a certain savings bank that has failed in the country. In those times the Chancellor of the Exchequer must be ever careful that no bulls slur even the financial fame of Govern- ment. I- Or course, all the talk in political circles has been upon the nev Ministry, and we extract from the Sunday Gazette the following rumours and predictions which were than current, and our readers will see how far they were correct:-Lord Derby himselfwill be First Lord of the Treasury; Mr. Disraeli declines to gratify the wish of his party to make him a peer, and remains Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the House of Commons. Lord Stanley takes the Foreign-office, and no man among his party could give the public the same absence of anxiety as regards the management of our relations with continental Powers at the pre- sent moment. Lord Malmesbury goes to the inno- cuous position of Lord Privy Seal. Thus far, and thus far only, have matters been settled. The Duke of Richmond, to whom the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland was offered, declines office, and the friends of the now Government may lament the fact, although we should have thought that the duke's sound sense and business qualifications would have been more useful in the Ca. binet than in the empty position of viceroy beyond the 'Channel. Lord Abercorn is said to have also refused the Government of Ireland. Among the more probable of the rumours about, we may mention those which point to Sir Stafford Northcote as the future President of the Board of Trade, to Sir William Jolliffe as the head of the Poor-law Board, to Lord Carnarvon as Secre- tary for the Colonies, to General Peel as Secretary for War, to Lord Cranborce as the Head of the Education Department, and to Lord Robert. Montagu as Finan- cial Secretary of the Treasury. Of course, Mr. Brand's successor will be Colonel Taylor, who has very admir- ably, and with the perfeot good will of his political opponents, discharged similar duties in opposition for several years. NEW PEERAGES.—Lord Oremome is about to be raised to an earldom by the title of Earl of Dartrey- the designation of the Barony by virtue of which he now sits in the House of Lords. Viscount Monck, Governor-General of Canada, is about to become a British peer. Apart from his political association with the expiring Ministry, Lord Monck's admirable ad. ministration of the-Government of Canada amply justi- fies this distinction. NEW BARONETS.—In addition to Mr. John Ennis, whose advancement to the dignity of a baronet has been lately announced, the following gentlemen are likely to have the same honour conferred upon them:— Mr. Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks, M P. for Berwick- upon-Tweed Mr. Pryse Loveden, a relative of the late member for Cardigan of the same name; and Mr. Tempest and Mr. Ingilby, who represent old county families, the former in Yorkshire and the latter in Lincolnshire. NEW DIGNITIES.—The services of Sir Henry Storks in connection with the Jamaica inquiry are about to be recognised by his being made a member of the Privy Council. Mr. Erskine May, whose useful services at the table of the House of Commons all members of Parliament will appreciate, is to be given the second grade-Knight Commander-of the Bath. The Com- panionship of the Bath is about to be bestowed on Mr. James Booth, lately one of the Secretaries of the Board of Trade. It is understood that Sir James Matheson, M.P., is likely to be the new Lord-Lieutenant of Ross-shire, in succession to the late Colonel Baillie. Mr. D. D. Keane, Q.C., has been appointed Recorder of Bedford, in succession to Mr. A. K. Stephenson, whose appointment to the Assistant-Solicitorship of the Treasury has been announced. THE STATE OF PARTIES.—The Times said on Mon- day that the health of Mr. J. A. Roebuck, M.P., which has been adversely affected of late, is stated to be improving. Mr. R. Dimsdale, to whose return for Hertford, in succession to Sir Minto Farquhar, no opposition appears to have been offered, is the 27th accession to the House of Commons this Session-in other words, since the present Parliament was elected, in July, 1865, it has been renewed to the extent of about 4 per cent. the renewals at a dissolution averaging about 12 per cent. Further, there have been about a score of elections and re-elections since July, 1865, which resulted in no change being made in the personnel of the House, while four seats are still vacant at Lancaster, Reigate, and Totnes, and at least a dozen re-elections will be involved by the accession of a Derbyite Ministry to power. During the 12 months between July, 1865, and July, 1866, the elec- I toral body will thus have at least sixty opportunities f of making its influence felt, a fact which ought to be taken into account when a dissolution is proposed. Of the 27 new members returned since July, 1865, 11 are Conservatives and 16 Liberals.

THE ARTS, LITERATURE, &c. 4 THE profits of Lord Darby's version of the Iliad amount to £1,350, and have been invested as a prize for the pupils of the Wellington College. AT the time when Uncle Tom's Cabin" was in the height of its popularity here, it was stated that 180,000 copies had been sold. The publishers of the American edition are now issuing their 314th thou- sand. "THE Prison Life of Jefferson Davis," by the phy- sician to the prisoner during his confinement," is about to be published. THE Thames Guardian is the title of a new paper which made its first appearance on Saturday last. Father Thames requires some guardianship. MR. HEPWORTH DIXON is about starting for a long tour through America. Mr. Dixon's journey will embrace a visit to Utah and the Salt Lake, and the government, doings, and domestic arrangements of Brigham Young will afford matter of comment for Mr. Dixon's facile and experienced pen. SIR JOHN BOWRING proposes to publish an English translation of poems selected from the works of the great Hungarian popular bard, Alexander Petofi. Among the Magyar people it would be difficult to find an individual to whom they are not familiar as household words," and they hava been versified in most of the languages of Europe. THE History of Modern Taste" is the title of a little book lately published at Leipsic by Herr Falk, Custos of the Imperial Library at Vienna. It treats in a very interesting manner of a field of labour, and the work is well worth reading. TENNYSON, the poet laureate, is to give us a new book next December. It will be called Elaine," and have illustrations by Gastave Dare The last work he favoured us with was Enoch Arden." PUNCH'S FIFTY VOLUMES.—A festivity which will have interest for others than those who engaged in it took place at Maidenhead last week. It was in com- memoration of the completion of the 50th volume of Punch. The entire literary and artistic staff and the proprietors dined together, and in recognition of the services of Mr. Mark Lemon, who has for a quarter of a century been sole editor of Punch, a silver "loving- cup was presented to him by the proprietors, and a testimonial of a very gratifying character was also handed to him by his fellow-workers. MR. ECROYD SMITH, well known in Lancashire and Cheshire as a most industrious antiquary, has just issued a pamphlet of singular interest, entitled fhe Limestone Caves of Craven, and their Ancient In. habitants." The particulars of this brochure, we believe, were first published in the "Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire" Illustrations af the caves, and of the ornaments worn by the people who used to reside in them, are given by Mr. Smith. To a collection of works of anoient masters and deceased British artists, the Duke of Beaufort has contributed some splendid specimens by Sir Joshua Reynolds. DURING the rebuilding of Crewe-hall, which was burnt in the winter, Lord Crewe has lent a large number of his best family pictures to the Exhibition of the works of Ancient Masters and Deceased British Artists, now open at the British Institution. THE monument erected to the memory of Sir Henry Lawrence, and those who fell in defence of the Bailey guard, has been publicly opened at Lucknow. THE portrait said to be that of Kitty Fisher," by Sir Joshua Reynolds, at the British Institution, has been discovered to be one of Miss Woolls, afterwards Mrs. Bullock, of Christchurch, painted by Cos way, with whom the family of Mrs. Bullock were on terms of great intimacy. This portrait was engraved by Dawe in 1811, and copies were distributed by Mr. Bullock to his privatefriends. AN exhibition of the oil paintings, water-colour drawings, and architectural studies of the late Mr. Godfrey Sykes, is now open at the Kensington Museum. In decorative art, Mr. Sykes deservedly held a high place, and the collection of his works will repay a visit to South Kensington.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. --+- The Bench of Bishops and Dr. Colenso. The bishops have had a little battle over a more im- portant matter-whether or not they should declare, on the motion of the Bishop of Oxford, the Church of England to be oat of communion with Dr. Colenso and in communion with the orthodox party in Natal. The Bishop of Lincoln (who did not hesitate, however, to say that he would refuse to administer the holy com- munion to the Bishop of Natal if he presented himself for it when he was officiating) moved an amendment intended to get rid of the direct negative as to Dr. Colenso, namely, That in the opinion of this House the Church of England holds communion with the Bishop of Cape Town, and those bishops who lately with him in Synod declared Dr. Colenso to be ipso facto excommunicated," and for this amendment, which only declared the Church to be in communion with those who had excommunicated Dr. Colenso, but did not exactly endorse that exoommunioation, there voted the fivo ™°Fliberal bishops—St. David's, London, Lincoln, Liohtield, a.nd Ely; against it the four meat bigoted, Oxtord, Salisbury, Gloucester, and Bangor — the Archbishop or Canterbury characteristically not voting. It was a discreditable kind of compromise after all. The Liberal Bishops should have voted against the Bishop of Oxford's motion altogether instead of meeting it by amendment, asserting that they were not bound specially to declare themselves in communion with excommunicators who appear to have excommunicated on bigoted and insufficient grounds. What they did do was to dispose of a vote of confi- denoe in A, by carrying a vote of confidence in his opponent B, reciting that B had declared hia want of confidence in A, but not expressly reciting that their confidence in B was baaed on that declaration ot his. Surely it is not possible for a trumpet to give forth a more uncertain sound, than this indecisive trumpet of the more Liberal Bishops. If the Liberal Bishops be Laodicean, the Tory Bishops may fairly hope to seCllre, for Liberal opinions the appropriate Laodicean euthanasia. -Spectator. The Coming Ministry. The minds of the public are now turned from the expiring Government to that which is in coarse of formation. It is too soon to speculate closely upon its probable constituents, but scarcely too soon to prophesy that it will be a strong one. The only ob- servation we shall permit ourselves to make upon it is this: that for the very reasons which make a change of Government particularly unfortunate just now- namely, the disturbed state of affairs abroad, and (as Mr. Gladstone put it) the difficulty for any incoming Administration to stgp at once into exactly the same conditions and relations with Governments and Ministers abroad which were enjoyed by their prede- cessors—it will be incumbent both Houses, and all parties to abstain from anything like a factious opposition to the new Government. Extraordinary irritation undoubtedly exists amongst certain sections of the Liberal party; but there is always much irrita- tion in crises like the present, and we do hope it will not be permitted to harass any loyal efforts at good government, even though it be by the hands of a Con- servative Administration. If our present position is an unfortunate one, it is not to be improved by imme- diate and factious attempts at reprisal. The Liberal element in the new Ministry is sure to be pretty strong, and especially at such a time as this it will be the absolute duty of all public men to support them as long as their Government is wisely oondacted.-Pall Mall Gazette. Public Feeling against Prussia. On oar tide is the most holy tight; we fight for the cohesion of the nation and for the maintenance of the Confederation. Jefferson Davis sits in chains as a State criminal, because his party wished to break up the Confede- ration. And Davis was only a private individual; he alone could not make peace or war. What a State criminal is, therefore, that Minister at the Prussian Court who urged his Sovereign on to the breach of treaties, and plunged us all into civil war! What a change of times! Oar Bavarian troops put themselves in motion on the 21st of June, on the anniversary of the battle of Waghausel. Then the Badenese went for the eonstitutien of the empire (Reichsverfassung), and against them was-the Prince of Prussia. Nw he takes the flag of a national Parliament in his hand, and wishes te win us by the same constitution of the empire which he then trampled in the mud! Oh, poor Prussian people! The plaything of Prussian ambition and Bismarck's deception! Not against you-may that be at once stated-not against you do we come as enemies. We only fight against your Government, not your sons. On the contrary, we come in order (with you) to liberate you. In particular to you, Rhenish Prussia, we are called, and we will not rest until German troops occupy your territory, and give you the first opportunity amongst all Prussians to return to the Confederation. Is there no German Garibaldi there ? If so, let him hasten to us, organise you, and lead your sons as the extreme left of the Federal army, in connection with the head-quarters, to Berlin German troops who separate Rhenish Prussia from old Prussia ensure that province to Germans, and make the Bismarck plan of betraying German territory, which even the Prince of Prussia at first condemned as a crime, an impoBeibili.ty.-Deutsches Wochenblatt: a German paper. Colonel Dawkins v. Lord Rokeby. In deciding to nonsuit the plaintiff Mr. Justice Willes made some "remarks which are well worthy of the attention of those interested in our present system of military jurisprudence. He said that the military law ought not, as a rule, to be subject to the revision of the Common Law Courts, and pointed out that one was founded on a particular code, which ought to be sufficient for all that is comprehended within its juris- diction. He held that all remedies against military failures of justice should be afforded under the military code, and not sought to be obtained from civilian Courts, to which tha minutias of such matters must be unfamiliar. "I do not know," said his lordship, what military men think of my decision, nor, with all deference to them, do I care." The remark was, perhaps, extra judicial, but it nevertheless reflects the contempt with which the reasoning portion of the public regards our preseat system of military juris- prudence, which appears to be only legal in the sense of His jealous preservation of technicalities, and which is full of anomaly and injustice in all those broad con- siderations by which a simple and fair administration of the law should be guided, and upon which law ought to be, as far as possible, consistent with reason and common sense.—The Globe. Sick Wards in Workhouses. The Rotherhithe inquiry adds one more to the ac- cumulated proofs of the incapacity of guardians to act as hospital managers, and of the unfitness of workhouse masters to rule infirmaries. The beating of patients, their washing in chamber-vessels, the robbery of their stimulants, their neglect at night- these are the familiar incidents of the treatment of the sick ia pauper infirmaries. There were some addi- tional incidents of peculiar atrocity. The woman Brutton was a sort of fiend, who in the intervals of opium-eating indulged in the most savage brutality: the dragging of patients in the last stage of disease to the closets, and there dying on the floor (as was proved in two cases within a short space of time), were ex- amples of special neglect and unusual hardship; but it is a characteristic fact that, although these things were proved beyond doubt or cavil by a number of in- dependent witnesses, whose separate evidence was in every instance confirmed and corroborated, the guard- ians maintained throughout an air of injured innocence, and the chaplain was called to give them a good cha- racter. The doctor, it appears, is in receipt of X20 per annum as a net salary for the performance of most onerous daily duties, and is subject to annual re- election. He is a gentleman and a man of intelligence. -The Lancet.

OUR MISCELLANY. --+- Going Away.— So you're going to leave us all, Nelly, Going away in the morn, Away from the home you have loved, Nelly, The village where you were born; Away from the fields and the flow'rs, Nelly The friends who have loved you here, Your white-haired father and all, Nelly, All, all that the heart holds dear. New faces and friends you will see, Nelly, To think of by night and day; And yon soon will forget the old, Nelly- Forget when you're far away. J Another your beauty will praise, Nelly, Your dimples and eyes of brown, And happy I hope you will be, Nelly, Afar in the dusky town. Look, there is the school on the hill, Nelly, We went to as girl and boy, And the woods in the evening gold, Nelly, That rang with our shouts of joy And here is the lane where we sat, Nelly, How often when school was o'er And you're going to leave them all, Nelly, And maybe come back no more. I'll be down in the morning soon, Nelly, To bid you the last good-bye, Though I know when I see your face, Nelly, The tear will be in my eye; But I'll give you my hand for all, Nelly, I'll give you my blessing, too, And pray, though another's you'll be, Nelly, That Heaven may smile on you. —The Quiver. George Q-lenny, F.H.S., the "Working Man's Gardener.—Mr. George Glenny was born in London as far bacJk as 1793, when all Europe, as well as himself, was in, arms. He was apprenticed to a mechanical business, but having been taken by his father to see the tulips at a nursery in Walworth, where they were grown with remarkable success, he became enamoured of floriculture, and determined to try his hand at tulip-growing forthwith. Although indulged by his parents, and encouraged by many friends, tulips were rather above his means, for in those days they commanded very high prices. De- termined, however, to obtain possession of the coveted bulbs, he entered into an arrangement with a nurseryman living in the City-road to purchase a whole bed of tulips for £ 20, unknown to his parents, to be paid for in instalments of 5s. per week, oat of his pocket money. After having made some half-dozen payments, the youthful customer was astonished one day to find his purchase brought home without notice, and a demand made for the balance. This, of coarse, caused a dispute, which began in an under-tone on account of the secrecy of the transaction, but ended in an open quarrel, the noise of which, soon brought the father to the door, and the facts had to be ex- plained. A friend was called in to judge of the value ot the tulips, when it was discovered that they were j almost worthless, so the matter ended by the unscru- j almost worthless, so the matter ended by the unscru- pulous dealer having to take back his balbs and return the money. This led, however, ta Mr. Glenny purchas- ing for his son the stock of a grower ill Spitalfields a locality then celebrated for amateur gardeners, and 'n from that time he became an enthusiitstie florist.- Extract from Biographical Sketch, with Portrait, of George Glenny, in the Working Man." Bon-mots of Sydney Smith —Barham related a bon-mot attnouted to Sydney Smith, which I believe has never appeared in print." In writing to a friend he said, "Unfortunately the house is full of cousins- would they were once removed." He also told us of a remark made by the late Lord Lyttleton after visit- ing in company with the head-master, Dr. Wood, the room at Rugby in which corporal punishments were inflicted. What motto would be appropriate P" asked the Dominie. Great cry and little wool," re- sponded the other, looking at the diminutive form of the doctor.-Hemoii-s of Lord William Lennox. Courteous to the Last.—Lord Combermere, in the early part of 1822, proceeded to Paris. From thence he continued his journey to Geneva, passing through Chalons on his way. At the latter place he rested a few days, and one morning, while taking his accustomed walk before breakfast, was attracted by some unusual activity in a neighbouring barracks. He inquired the reason, and was told that the execution of an officer was to take place immediately. Posting himself on a piece of rising ground j ast outside the barrack-yard, from whence he could command a good view of the proceedings, he awaited the arrival of the culprit. Before many minutes had elapsed, a fiacre drove up, escorted by some dragoons. Two officers advanced to the carriage and saluted the inmate. The door was opened, and the inmate, who was dressed in plain clothes, alighted. The two officers now pointed towards a spot where a body of soldiers were drawn up. The doomed man bowed courteously to his guides, and, walking gracefully to the place indicated, stood there with an air as unconcerned as if he were merely taking his place in a quadrille. A handker- chief was offered him, and one of the officers appeared to urge his being blindfolded. He bowed low, but seemed from his gestures to refuse. Resum- ing his quiet and erect attitude, he stood for a moment with his handkerchief in his hand, and then dropping it, a sharp volley rang through the morning air, a little cloud of smoke for a second obscured the scene, and when it cleared away an inert mass was seen stretched upon the ground; the gallant soldier was a corpse. His body was at once taken up, wrapped in some horsecloths, placed in the coach, and driven off to be buried. The troops were dismissed, and in the short space of a few minutes ended a scene which appeared more like a dramatic performance than a real incident of such fatal import. Lord Combermere afterwards ascertained that the unfortunate man was a colonel, con- victed of some act of treason. He often, in after-life, repeated this anecdote as a striking instance of the national politeness, even in the last extremity.— Memoirs and Correspondence of Field-Marshal Vis- count Combermere, G. C.B., fyc. An Heir Kept Out of His Riglits.—"But if you'd a right to the Transome estate, how was it you were kept out of it, old boy ? It was some foul shame or other, eh P It's the law-that's what it is. You're a good sort, o' chap; I don't mind telling you. There s folk born to property, and there's folk catch hold on it; and the law's made for them as catch hold. I'm pretty deep; I see a good deal further than Spilkins. There was Ned Patch, the pedler, used to say to me, 'You canna read, Tommy,' says he.' 'No; thank you,' says I; 1 I'm not going to crack my headpiece to make myself as big a fool as you.' I was fond o' Ned. Many'a the pot we've had together." "I see well snough you're deep, Tommy. How came you to know pou were bora to property?" "It was the regester- the parish regester," said Tommy, with his knowing wagof the head, "that shows as you was born. L allays felt it inside me as I was somebody, and I could see other chaps thought it 011 me too; and so one day at Littleshaw, where I kep ferrets and a little bit of a public, there comas a fine man looking after me, and walking me up and down wi' questions. And I made out from the clerk as he'd been at the register; and I gave the clerk a pot or two, and he got it of our parson as the name or Trounsem was a great name hereabout. And I waits a bit for my fine man to come again. Thinks I, if there's property wants a right owner, I shall be called for; for I didn't know the law then. And I waited and waited, till I see'd no fan i' waiting. So I parted wi' my public and my ferrets- for she was dead a'ready, my wife was, and I hadn't no cumbrance. And off I started a pretty long walk to this countryside, for I could walk for a wager in them days. Felix Ilolt the Radical, by George Eliot. The Bridge of Sighs.-Let us take, for example, that pathetic swindle, the Bridge of Sighs. There are few, I fancy, who will hear it mentioned withaut asso- ciating its mystery and secrecy with the taciturn justice of the Three, or some other cruel machinery of the Serenest Republic's policy. When I entered it the first time I was at the pains to call about me the sad company of those who had passed its corridors from imprisonment to death—and, I doubt not, many excellent tourists have done the same. I was some- what ashamed to learn afterwards that I had, on this occasion, been in very low society, and that the melan- choly company which I then conjured up was composed entirely of honest rogues, who might, indeed, have given as graceful and ingenious excuses for being there as the galley slaves rescued by Don Qilixote-who might even have been very pic- turesque-but who were not at all the material with which a well-regulated imagination would deal. The Bridge of Sighs was not built till the end of the six- teenth century, and no romantic episode of political imprisonment and punishment (except that of Antonio Foscarini) occurs in Venetian history later than that period. But the Bridge of Sighs could have nowise a savour of sentiment from any such episode, being, as it was, merely a means of communication between the criminal courts sitting in the Ducal Palace, and the Criminal Prison across the little canal. Housebreakers, cutpurse knaves, and murderers, do not commonly im. part a poetic interest to places which have known them; and yet these are the only sort of sufferers on whose Bridga of Sighs the whole sentimental world has looked with pathetic sensation ever since Byron drew attention to it. The name of the bridge was given by the people from that opulence of compassion which enables the Italians to pity even rascality in difficulties. Venetian Life, by TYm. D. IIore ells. A Free Translation.—The following parody en Mr. Gladstone's, celebrated translation of the 9th ode, 3rd Book of Horace, is given in the Morning Herald GLADSTONE. Whilst no more welcome form than mine Could in thy wise embrace recline, Thy smile, thy wit, whilst I possessed, No statesman ever lived so blest. OXFORD. Whilst thou didst care for honest fame, Nor Oxford next to John Bright came, What then was Oxford's pride ? Thy name, Ere thou forgot'st thy Church's claim. GLADSTONE. Me now, my charmer, John Bright, sways, Skilled 111 soft speech and softer ways, My past career I'll freely give His henchman and his friend to live. OXFORD. The son of Hardy-Gathorne shares My darling confidence and cares, Threaten, cajole, resign, dissolve, To send him back is my resolve. GLADSTONE. What if our old love we re-light, If a now Church and State" I write, If Bright and bill" I do resign. Will Oxford once again be mine ? OXFORD. Though Hardy wise or dull may bp, Thou brilliant as a Grecian sea, And great as Homer's heroes, I With thee won't live, with thee won't

EXTRACTS FROM. FUJTCH » & S'UII ♦ To a Friend in Town. By a Country Catullus. You, my friend, in city pent, Write, in tones of discontent, That you do-ar you'll be sllot- Envy me my rural lot," And minutely then jot down All that worries you in town. Friend, of envious thoughts beware, Life is never free from care; Though who treads the crowded streets Troubtaa at each turning meets,— Care, with obstinate effcont'ry, Follows one into the country. Not alone in postal district Life by disappointment is trick'd. Your tormentors, Bnwn and Jones, Wear the flesh from off your bones Which interpreted, but means, Snails and slugs devour my baans, 'Tis not every night one can turn Out to hunt them with a lantern.; Smith your smartest things will bone, And repeals them as his own"— Well, to thievish birds I cry, "Sparrow, be a passer-by! In my cherries I delight- Blackbirds will draw bills at sight I Stokes your poems his reviewed In a way unfair and rude "— Well, a jackass, t'other day, Happening to pass my way, O'er my paling thrust his nose— For a thiatle took my rose But you'll say-for you've some Lvense- That I have a recompense, That my joys outweigh by f ar The vexations that there are. ? Ah, my friend, remember this- Ne'er unmixed is human bliss If you have far days together Nice dry sunny summer weather Grassplots craok, and flow'r-beda harden. You must water all the garden !— Breezes from the balmy south Oft blow chafera in your mouth Waiting! Oh, come! oh, coma! the mother prayed. And hushed her babe, "Let me behold Once more thy stately form, arrayed Like autumn woods in green and gold I see thy brethren come and ga; Thy peers in stature, and in hue Thy rivals. Some, like monarcha, glow With richest purple; some-are blue As skies that tempt the swallow back, Or red as seen o'er wintry seas, The star of storm, or barred with black And yellow, like the April bees. They come and go. I heed not, 1. Yet others hail their coming; cling All trustful to their side, and fly Safe in their gentle piloting, To happy homes on heath or hill, By park or river. Still I wait And peer into the darkness; still Thou com'st not-I am desolate. Hush hark I see a towering form From the dim distance slowly rolled, It reeks like lilies in a storm, And, oh! its hues are green and gold "It comes! it comes! Ah rest is sweet, And there is rest, my babe, for us." She ceased, as at her very feet Stopped the St. John'E-wood omnibus. The Coal Question By an Economical Housewife. Coals will be soon exhausted," say Some folks: -and I don't doubt 'em; Bat let them slowly burn away,— Don't make a stir about 'em. Give a Dog a Bad Name. The truth of the old saw," Give a dog a bad name, and hang him "-as high as Haman, as recently been illus- bra,ted by a namesake of the eminent Orientat A letter has been addressed to several of the papers, da.ted from the Turkish Bath, Jermyn-street, and signed, "Haman Smith, Superintendent." This person, was appears bo have been happily selected for the post, as peculiarly mited to adapt the Eastern luxuries of Haman, the Oriental, to the tastes of Smith, the Briton, knows very little about hydrophobia, for he alleges as areasoc for getting a gratuitous puff of the baths the fact that "the time of the year is approaching when oases of hydrophobia are most prevalent "-evidently alluding to the Dog Days, which ignorance always associates with caninel ureey instead of the canine star, Sirius. It so hapPBDs-and Haman Smith Elfaadi, .Etacjoire, ought ta be glad to learn it, as he will get two men- tions of his bath this year instead of cne-that hydro- phobia is rather less than more prevalent during hot weather. A Bee that has Flown Away. There was R. funny typographical slip in a capital leader in a daily contemporary of ours the either day, In speaking of the necessity of altering onr lailway carriages for the benefit of unprotected travellers, male and female, it said- "On some of our lines there are alresviy Sinoking-car- riages, which might be taken as models if, indeed, we are too proud to borrow from the Americans, h )sj system is one of thorough pulicity." If thorough "pulicity" be the Amerioau system, surely it is a model we should avoid—not to sa-v flee. The omission of a little "b" turns the allusion to another insect quite as busy, but not so favourably re- garded. An Imaginary Despatch. The Qaeen is much displeased with the darkness in which the Ministers have kept their Sovereign in reference to public affairs. flld the, Queen been made aware that a Miniaterkt,! crisis was in the letst likely to arise during the period which had bet'n set apart for her visit to the Scotch, that visit would, of coarse, have been postponed until another season. The Qaeen was too well itware of the vast inconvenience, not to say danger, that might occur from the country being without a Govern- ment, for a whole weeir, at a time when Europe is in convulsions,, to have thought of beiog absent from the metropolis during a political change. If the Queen preferred to spend the anniversary of her accession among the Highlanders, that. preference should not have dominated the exigencies of the hour, Bor should an aged Presbyterian Minister have been com- pelled to contemplate a. journey of 1,400 miles to resign office.. The Queen is t.oo well acquainted with the senti- ments of her subjects in reference to all her actions to suppose that they can ever be misinterpreted, but the Ministers who neglected to apprise her that they in. tended to take an early vote of confidence ought, to have seen that such neglect migbtjilBtify the idea. that the Queen, for the first time in her life, bad allowed her own pleasure to interfere with the functions of Royalty." Balmoral, June 20,1886. Marvellous. We do not believe in spiritualism or magic (except sleight of hand and so forth), but what are we to say to a fact such as this ?— 11 The other day a veracious witness actually saw a young man turn into a public house." Transformation extraordinary! Farther evident will shortly be forthcoming.

THE SHORTEST NIGHT.—The shortest night has passed. A vouag lady informed up, in spite of tradi- tional reckoning, that it was on the second of June, for then she danced from 11 P-m. tll. 5 a.m., and that appeared to her the shortest nig1:lt shea known this season. STRANGE PARADOS;.—The blacksmiths of Dandee have struck for higher wages. They also refuse to strike until they receive higher wages. What is to be done ? This is a striking situation. PARLIAMENTARY.—Mr. Whalley has ordered his butcher not to send him any more leg of mutton e because of the objectionable Pope's Bje." LATEST FBOM PARIS.—The Emperor has ordered a large quantity of Map paper. It is said his Majesty contemplates some alterations in his fotmer Europe. A COCKNEY CON,-Why is tha railway-bridge over Ludgate-hill like the Atlantic it's wire-ducked. BRIEF" BAGS.Short trousers.