The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

SPAIN'S EFFORTS TO BECOME A GREAT POWER." An amusing specimen of the fashion in which Spain goes about the work to which she lately devoted her- self of "re-vindicating" her position as a great power in Europe, is given in the Luxembourg correspondence printed the other day (says the Scotsman). On the 7th May, the very day on which the Luxembourg Con- ference first met—the Spanish Minister called on Lord Stanley to ask that he should be invited, as the Italian Minister had been, to take part in the pro- ceedings of the Conference. Lord Stanley, of course, pointed out that the Conference had already begun its work, that that work was urgent and did not admit of the delay that must necessarily be caused by the transmission of full powers from Madrid, that it was even doubtful whether, without spe- cial instructions, the plenipotentiaries already assembled could add a Spanish representative to their number, and that the admission of the Italian repre- sentative had been arranged for in time and rested on real and useful participation in the pacificatory efforts of the powers. The Spanish minister, admitting that it was too late this time, wished to know what Lord Stanley would reply if he was asked in season the next time there was a conference to which, of course, no definite reply was or could be given. On the 6th May, the Spanish ministers at Vienna and St. Petersburg had preferred similar requests for admission to the conference but Prince Gortschakoff and Baron von Buest both replied "too late" to the half presumptuous and half ludicrous request.

FACTS ABOUT THE NEGRO. In the course of a series of lectures on Ethnology," at the Royal Institution in London, Professor Huxley, in arriv- ing at the subject of Africa and the negro, thus closed his remarks:- The negro is not the "missing link" between men and monkeys he is further removed from anthropoid apes in many respects than the English are. For instance, he has woolly hair, and no monkeys are so ornamented, except perhaps a few scarce species in South America. The spur heel of the negro has been spoken of to his advantage but it is doubtful whether his heel projects more than an Englishman's and that it is not an indentation of the part above the heel, which sometimes gives the appearance of unnatural projection of the latter. Many foolish things are said by opponents of the negro, who frequently quote as a fact what has often been refuted, that the brain of a negro is covered with a black membranous envelope. It is not so, and if it were, is that a reason for con- demning him to slavery? The friends of the negro likewise say foolish things, and argue that England would be all the better for an infusion of negro blood. He did not believe so. One thing is certain,. the negro is improvable, because he can now tili the ground, smelt iron, and work gold, which he did not do originally. How far he is improvable is a question yet to be solved. It must be remembered, however, that certainly for five or six thousand years, perhaps more, as proved by Egyptian monuments, the negro has lived in Africa much as at present, without in any degree civilising himself. No nation can elevate itself by condemning another to slavery, and no nation can do its duty to inferior races, or itself attain the highest point of civilisation, without trying to raise less favoured nations to the highest point they are capable of reaching, be it high or be it low. This concluding remark was received with much applause.

DEBTOR AND CREDITOR. On the subject of the Bankruptcy Bill, now forming a topic of discussion in the House of Commons, R. C. writes to The Time,s While the Legislature is engaged in considering a Bankruptcy Bill, and a Bill to amend the County Courts Acts, it may not be inexpedient to call your readers' attention to the question of credit. I suppose there is not a man in the kingdom who is not in debt. There must be in the daily affairs of life a short credit in every case—for instance, we do not as a general rule pay daily for our newspapers. It is convenient for the producer and consumer that there should be some short period of credit without any express agreement for credit at all. The real necessities of trade, however, do not re- quire that credit should be of more than very limited duration. A trader to India or China would not require to give or take credit of more than a few months, certainly not exceeding twelve months. A Manchester warehouseman does not give more than a month's credit and a three months' bill, in all four months' credit to the retail trader. A retail trader ought never to give more than one year's credit without a special agreement. Why not, then, at once alter the Statute of Limita- tions (which is as old as the reign of James) from six years to two years, and make no other alteration in the law of debtor and creditor than this for the next two years, and see how things work in the meantime ? I venture to think credit would be more carefully given and taken than it has been of late years, and by forcing the debtor and creditor quickly together reck- lessness on both sides would be lessened. As to imprisonment for debt, it is essential as a remedy, but it should in no case be at the will of a creditor it should always be a j udicial act, based on misconduct of the debtor, such as-- For not paying, having had the means and ability to pay," Contracting the debt without reasonable means of paying." Contracting the debt by means of fraud or breach of trust," and other moral wrongs. If the time during which a judgment should be in force was limited to a few years—say not exceeding five years-I think we should need no bankrupt laws at all, and litigation would be greatly lessened.

PAST AND PRESENT TIMES. The Flaneur of the Morning Star writes The Glowworm is very angry with the Pall Mall Gazette. The last-named journal, quoting a paragraph from the Scotsman to the effect that the Queen, with some of her children and attendants, and that noted "votary of Terpsichore," Sir Edwin Landseer, had been present at a ball given at Balmoral to tenants or gillies, expressed a hope that this might be taken as a sign that'her Majesty intended returning to society, which, the P. M. hinted, had very much changed in her absence. Our contemporary broadly stated that in the present day the salons of society reek. with to- bacco smoke, and that ladies in the best circles use dye and paint to their hair, faces, and eyes. The GlOlq- worm indignantly denies this, but the Glowworm is happily young and chivalrous, and after all the Pall Mall is right. No man between thirty and fortv, of any sense, can fail to remark the manner in whicn the tone of society has lowered since the days of his youth; how the convenances of those days, which were neither stiff nor irksome, are now set aside and laughed at; how topics of conversation then utterly tabooed are now general, and are discussed with an amount of knowledge by women and laxity by men which would never have been believed. Old Major Pendennis lamented the decadence of society and the deteriora tion of manners. What would he say if he could see the vinous-flushed youths who now buffoon through endless cotillons, and listen to the language which they use ?

RAILWAYS IN TIME OF WAR. The Army Transport Committee, over which Lord Strathnairn presided, had to consider the subject of railway transport, and in their report, dated in March last, they state the chief arrangements which would be made for the organization of this branch of the service. They consider that the introduction of rail- way conveyance nted not Complicate the question of ordinary military transport. Railway transport re- quires an organization of its own. While the railway affords facilities, it greatly adds to the casualties and risks attending the supply of troops, not only from the chance of interruption and damage to the permanent way by the enemy, but also from the difficulty of keeping up transport communication between the rail- way line and the forces to be supplied. Lieutenant-Colonel Reilly, R. A.In a memo- randum on Prussian transport, remarks that it requires little to stop a railway or disarrange .the traffic if the enemy is enterprising and the population hostile; in the late German campaign the Laudwehr had to supply- strong guards along the line, and at the principal stations, and at each of the principal stations a staff officer was in charge. With all their advantages the commissariat did not succeed in feeding the soldiers as we should require it to do, and Lieutenant-Colonel Reilly was informed by a surgeon that the men of his division were many days without animal food, and from the day before until the day after Koniggratz the whole army was without rations but this partial failure was owing to the parsimony of the Govern- ment inducing the people to drive their herds into the woods. Lord Strathnairn observes t' "t though the Prussian armies moved to within sig'. of Vienna mainly by railroad, and without a great proportion of army transport, it must be recollected that this was done after great successes, and with a thorough knowledge of the depressed morale of their antagonist, which made that forward movement safe. The only occasion, he says, on which railway transport supersedes army or animal transport is when the country concerned is completely in possession of an army, as, for instance, before Sebastopol; but even there the ammunition and supplies had to be conveyed from the terminus by animal transport or hand to the troops, and of course animal transport would have been indispensable for a forward movement, which could not have been avoided if the Russians had not evacuated Sebastopol, or if the base of operations had been transferred (as was con- templated) from the Crimea to Mingrelia or Georgia. No General in the field which he is disputing with an enemy is justified in diminishing the amount of animal transport, because he has the assistance, which is purely partial, of rail, any more than he would had he the use, also purely partial, of sea or inland water transport. Captain H. W. Gordon, principal superintendent T>f stores at Woolwich, stated also in his evidence before the Committee that he cannot send a 9-ton gun to Portsmouth by rail, although the railway comes into the arsenal; the permanent way, he believes, is .not sufficiently strong, and there is no truck that can take the gun.

THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA AT THE PARIS EXHIBITION. The Emperor of Russia has made his first visit to the Exhibition, and was accompanied by his two sons, the Duke de Leuchtenberg, Count Adelberg, General Lebceuf, and Baron de Bourgoing. The Czar, on coming to the Russian part, descended into the nave to inspect the Russian stables. In passing before the entrance of the Russian restaurant he found a group of all the moujicks and women of the Russian popula- tion now present in Paris, who presented to his Majesty, according to usage, bread and salt. The women offered him a bouquet of great beauty, in which the Imperial cypher was made to stand out in letters of mysotis, below a crown. The Czar entered the restaurant at ten o'clock to breakfast. Two saloons had been prepared to receive him, the Imperial table being laid out in the inner one, and four others of twelve covers each in the outer, for the per- sons of the cortege. The Emperor invited his sons to sit down, as well as M. Rouher, Count Adelberg, and the Duke de Leuchtenberg. All the others re- mained erect, holding their plates in their hands, as is the custom at St. Petersburgh. When the repast was over the Czar visited the reserved garden, the palace of crystal, the aquarium of fresh water, and the pavil- ion of the Empress. He then re-entered his carriage at half-past eleven at the Porte de Tourville, after having warmly congratulated M. Rouher, M. Le Play, and the Imperial Commission on the success they had arrived at. The Emperor and party next went to visit the Hotel des Invalides, where they were received by the general in command, in the absence of the governor. The active divisions of invalids, forming a total of about 1,000 old soldiers, were drawn up in battle array. The Czar passed along the ranks, stopping and conversing with several of the men, chiefly those de- corated or mutilated. After the inspection his Majesty entered the chapel, visited the tomb of the Emperor Napoleon, the refectories, council-chamber, library, and galleries of the models in relief, and left the building at half-past twelve, after a stay of more than an hour.

A PANEGYRIC ON THE POPE. The Paris correspondent of The Times, referring to the list of Princes who have come, and are coming to Paris, remarks that he has seen no allusion to the Pope. He goes on to say that M. Veuillot, in the Univers, seems to have no doubt of the way the Holy Father would be received. M. Veuillot says:- There is one Sovereign who will not come. He is poor, he has no armaments, and he does not even know how many days he may be left in possession of his throne. But his Crown nothing can strip him of, and that Crown he will transmit to his successor. He is humble; but no human power can force him to bend. He says to 200 millions of men, This is what you are to believe," and 200 millions of men believe for, whatever may happen, there never will be wanting on the earth men to testify tois truth, and to seal that testimony with their blood were it to be drawn from them drop by drop. If that King came, and travelled by slow stages, he wou.d see, from one end of France to the other, multitudes on their knees as he passed along, the people strewing the ground with their garments as a carpet for him, and the Empress of the French throwing before him her Imperial mantle. What would happen in the world had this King been called to the Councils of the Sovereigns, and had he deigned to appear there and if things took such a turn that he could go back to his city, where he has no need of barracks or of boulevards, nor any of the en- gines with which European civilization "dishonours its splendour.?. We are not prophets, nor the- sons of prophets; but we do not hesitate to affirm that, were the counsels of that King listened to, something more clear and more certain than the Articles of the London Conference would issue from them to reassure mankind. There would then be no such urgency to reduce the minimum of the soldier's height, nor to urge on ar- mourers to their work. The house of Rothschild would not venture to lend money even to the King of Italy, and Poland would cover in joyous purple her mutilated form, before which the impudence of the modern world is constrained to cast down its eyes.

THE CONVEYANCE OF CATTLE, ON RAILWAYS. The Farmer gives a striking instance of a form of cruelty to animals which has often been noticed, but the readiest way of remedying of which is not quite apparent. Twenty-one Highland bullocks were put into three trucks at Doune, near Stirling, and sent on by the 7 a.m. train to Winchfield, in Hampshire. They were 100 hours in reaching their destination; and during that time they tasted neither food nor water. No wonder only nineteen reached Winchfield (they were consigned to Lord Calthorpe and Mr. Goodchild); the wonder is how any of them could have survived. Cattle trucks were never meant for anything but short journeys. A few years ago, no one ever thought that almost the whole cattle traffic of the country would be carried over the iron road. As long as owners of stock are content, companies can hardly be expected to adopt more expensive ar- rangements. That cattle trucks crowded with wretched beasts become nests of infection was clearly proved by the effect of the Privy Council's order last year. Very soon after carrying by rail was discon- tinued the rinderpest began to abate, and the atmos- phere seemed cleared of all contagious diseases what- ever. Railway companies should be compelled to water the cattle at least every five hours, and to feed them when the journey is unusually long. If this seems taking too much care for oxen, let us remember that another outbreak of the cattle plague, or even a sharp attack of pleuro-pneumonia, would cost a great deal more than new trucks of the most expensive kind for every railway in the United Kingdom. Of course Parliament must interfere if things go on in this way; but ought parliamentary interference to be necessary when the interests of stock-owners are so manifestly at stake ?

A RAILWAY CASE. In the Court of Common Pleas, the cause of Skelton v. the London and North Western Railway Company" has been again tried, and was an action under Lord Campbell's act to recover damages for the loss of the plaintiff's husband, who was killed upon the defendants' line. The trial took place before Mr. Justice Blackburn, at Gloucester, when the jury assessed the damages at "6001.; but his lordship held as a matter I' of law that the defendants were not liable, and therefore he directed a nonsuit. The Question now was whether a rule should be made absolute to enter a verdict for the plaintiff for 500Z. The following are the circumstances A short distance out of Walsall a footway crossed the defendants' line on a level, and on each side of the line there was across the path a gate, which anybody could open, and which shut of itself. This part of the line was a good deal used, and the company had caused to be placed upon the gate a ring, which, by means of a lever in a pointsman's house close by, could be put down so as to fasten the gate to the gatepost, and prevent it being opened. It was the custom to put the ring down when any train was about passing, and to raise it so as to leave the gate free when there was no danger. About six o'clock on a morning in January the deceased and another man walked along the footpath, and found that there was a coal train in front of the gate. They waited until this train moved away, and then passed through the gate, which was unfastened, on to the line. Another train, which had been hidden from them by the coal train, passed, and knocked the deceased down and killed him. it was argued that although the company were not bound to place a man to watch the crossing, or to do anything more than put gates there, yet, that as their practice was to fasten the gate with the ring when there was danger, they had induced the public to believe that they might safely cross the line when the gate was un- fastened and the company were liable if they left the gate free when there was danger and anybody crossing was injured. The Lord Chief Justice said that he was of opinion that the nonsuit was right, and that the rule should be discharged. The ring being up could not indicate that the place was clear, because there was the coal train on the spot. The deceased was not able to see along the line before he passed on to it because of the coal train; but when he got to the six feet way he could see for 600 yards, but he appeared to have passed straight on without looking to the right or to the left. According to the plaintiff's own case it was a place of danger, where extra care was necessary; but there was no evidence that the deceased had exercised any care or caution whatever, though such care was more than usually necessary in his case, because he was deaf. This being so, the deceased must be held to have con- tributed to the accident by his own want of care, and therefore the plaintiff could not recover. Rule absolute for a nonsuit.

HOW MRS. JONES GOT HER SUBSCRIPTION. The following well-told little sketch is from Frasers' Magcizine, At the earnest request of Mr. Wilberforce, she set up a school in her parish, and at once became a mark for the determined and insolent hostility of the farmers and the smaller gentry. She and her sister were mobbed by angry agriculturists, who wished to know what the ladies meant by turning their labourers into Jacobins. In vain the poor women protested that all they aimed at was to enable the girls to sew and cook and read their Bibles. In vain they disclaimed the monstrous charge of teaching the children of peasants to write and cipher. Mrs. Hannah More has em- bodied her sorrows in one of her admirable tracts. She tells us how good Mrs. Jones resolved to set up a Sunday school, and called upon the neighbours to raise funds for its support. When she came to Farmer Hoskins, she told him that as he was the richest farmer in the parish she.looked to him for a handsome sub- scription. Subscription said he, it's nothing.but subscriptions, I think. A man had need to be made of money. Well, madam, what is the sub- scription now?" "I am going to establish a Sunday school, farmer and I come to you as one of the principal inhabitants of the parish, hoping your example will spur on the rest to give." "Why, then," said the farmer, as one of the prin- cipal inhabitants in the parish, I will give nothing hoping that my example will spur on the rest to refuse. Of all the foolish inventions and new-fangled devices to ruin the country, that of teaching the poor to read is the very worst." "And I, farmer, think that to teach good principles to the poor is the most likely way to save the country. Now, in order to do this, we must teach them to read." Not with my consent or money," said the farmer; "for I know italways does them more harm than good." But Mrs. Jones, who evidently knew the way to the heart of Mr. Hos- kins, took pains to let him know that all the genteel and wealthy people had subscribed; so, at last he said, Why, as to the matter of that, I do not value a crown: only I think it might be better bestowed. And I am afraid my own workmen will fly in my face if once they are made scholars and that they will''think themselves too good to work. But, to please you, if you do not think that religion will spoil my young servants, I do not care if you do put me down for half-a-guinea. What has Farmer Dobson given?" 1' Half-a-guinea," said Mrs. Jones. Well," said the farmer "it shall neVer be said that I do not give more than he. Put me down for a guinea. Scarce as guineas are now, I'll never be put on the same footing with Dobson, neither."

NOTES ABOUT HIGHWAYMEN. (From Old Stories Pe-told in All the Year Round.) At the bar, Spiggott and Phillips declared they would not plead till their horses, furniture, and money were returned to them. As they continued to obsti- nately stan<Ljnute," and refused to plead to their indictment, they were at once ordered to be pressed to death—a cruel and inhuman punishment, worthy only of the Inquisition, and long since abolished. The executioner tied their thumbs together. In the press- room, Phillips consented to plead but Spiggott was determined to save his effects for his family, and to escape the ignominy of the gallows. The ordinary of Newgate earnestly endeavoured to dissuade the high- wayman from thus hastening his own death and shortening the little time left for repentance, but Spiggott only replied If you come to take care of my soul, good but if you come about my body, I must be excused, for I won't hear one word." Spiggott was then stretched on the stone floor of the dim room of torture, his feet bare, his face covered with a light cloth. His arms and legs were widened out, and fastened by cords to either side of the wall. The doctor was summoned, and while the turn- keys were clanking the weights into a heap, ready for use, the miserable wretch was legally informed that as much stone or iron as he could bear, "and more," would be placed upon him till he consented to plead. The first day he would be given three morsels of barley bread, but no drink the second day three gulps of any water (not running water ;) and this would be his diet till he died, after which his goods would be all forfeited to the king. But he would not plead so they began to pile him with masses of iron, till three hundred and fifty pounds weight rose in a ponderous pyramid upon his chest. The poor wretch lay some- times silent, as if insensible of pain; then again he would fight for life, and fetch his breath quick and short. The chaplain, more merciful than the jailer, knelt and prayed by his side, and several times asked him why he would hazard his soul by such obstinate self-murder. The only answer Spiggott ever made was to murmur faintly Pray for me pray for me There was something touching in the fact that the un- happy. creature frequently complained of the prodigious weight laid upon his face, though there was really only a light cloth, purposely left hollow. It was supposed that the blood, forced into the brain and veins of the face, caused this horrible sensation. After half an hour of this agony, the jailers increased the weight fifty pounds more, so that there was now four hundred-weight on his. chest. Then, with the life slowly pressing from him, Spiggott at last groaned to take it off, and he would plead. Instantly the cords were cut, and the weights remhved f:'the man was raised by two turnkeys, some brandy was put to his mouth, and he was carried, pale and almost insensible, to the court to take his trial. He remained for two days faint and almost speechless. Then he recovered a little strength, but relapsed, and expressed a wish to receive the sacrament, thinking he should not live till execution-day. He afterwards rallied somewhat, and attended prayers in the chapel twice a day. This in- trepid man had no reasons for bearing this torture except a wish to prevent his goods from being forfeited. He did not wish his children to be reproached with his death, and he desired, above all things, that the in- former Lindsey might not boast of having sent him to Tyburn. He was especially incensed against Lindsey, whom he had once rescued from death* at the peril of his own life, and got wounded in the struggle. Spiggott would sometimes wish he had died in the press for, just before he was taken out, he had fallen into a stupor of benumbed sleep, and had hardly any sense of pain left. At other times he rejoiced that he had still time left for repentance. He said he did not desire to live for since his punishment he could hardly breathe, and he should only drag through life a weak and unhealthy man. Both men were executed at Tyburn on the 8th of February, 1723.

THE CROWN JEWELS OF PERSIA. The Viscount Pollington, in "Half Round the Old World," gives the following description of the Crown Jewels of Persia:— It would be endless and impossible, to describe a tithe of them, or even the impressions they produced on our eyes. Their value, putting a moderate estimate on them, could not, in our own judgment, and that of the four gentlemen who saw them with us, by any pos- sibility be under forty or fifty millions of money; that is if they were to be sold singly. Of course, in the ag- gregate, no fortune would suffice to pay for them, and, therefore, their value would be depreciated. We must attempt to describe a few in the order they were shown to us. An evidently French jewel case was brought in first, and placed on a table, round which we eagerly gathered awaiting its opening. In this there were some forty gold, rings, each with a single diamond, of which the largest (diamond, not ring) was some one-and-a-half inch ."g round, and the smallest a quarter of an inch. One with a large yellow diamond. Two diamonds were placed as pendants at the end of a necklace of pearls, and most gracefully, looking like two drops of dew. Two pearl necklaces, each pearl perfectly round and white, and about the size of a large pea. In two little drawers two or three more necklaces, the pearls this time much larger; and in the bottom drawer another, of the largest pearls we had yet seen, arranged-an oblong one, and a perfectly round one alternately, each, with- out the smallest exaggeration, being the size of a sour cherry. This casket always follows the Shah wherever he goes next came a collection of a dozen belts, each surpassing the other in costliness and taste. One of these had the fastening buckle, about eight inches long and three broad, studded with perfect rubies, each about half an inch round, set in gold. Another, diamonds only; a third, the whole band set in emeralds and diamonds, and so on. We then were shown four sabres; all had the flat side of the scabbard richly enamelled on gold one was one blaze of dia- monds on the hilt and scabbard; another was studded with pearls like large peas a third was set with dia- monds and other stones to represent flowers. Two other necklaces we were shown were about two-and-a- half feet long each, and formed of large emeralds, each about an inch and a quarter long, alternating with bunches of pearls. An aigrette presented by some emperor of Austria was exquisitely worked as a bouquet of. flowers, in diamonds, with one large amethyst, set a jour. The last tray of jewels was the "bonne bouche." On this we saw a belt of pliant gold work, the buckle consisting of the- celebrated Deriehnoor," or sea of light," a diamond perfectly flat, except at the edges, and almost two inches long by one-and-a-quarter in breadth (?); it was set round with other smaller diamonds with this there were some bracelets of uncut rubies and emeralds, quite as large as pigeons' eggs for the most part. The largest turquoise we saw was perfectly flat, and about .one inch by ashalf. ;;Two beautiful amethysts in silver settings. We saw One of the Royal crowns the other is keptcinthe inner treasury in the Harem, which is only opened once a year on the top of this is the famous ruby that belonged at one time to Aurungzebe, a good deal larger than a pigeon's egg and uncut. The aigrette in front, something in the style of the Prince of Wales' Feathers, is of diamonds (the largest is set as a pendant, alone ;) between this and the red velvet cap of the crown there is a plume of spun glass such as. may be bought for the sum of one penny at the Polytechnic. A black velvet robe with diamond but- tons and frogs looked lugubrious but priceless others, with the collar and sleeves completely covered with large pearls, were amongst some of the various things we saw.

THE POLISH AMNESTY. The following ukase, bearing the date of Warsaw, May 31, signed by Count de Berg, has been published:— His Majesty the Emperor has been pleased, under date 17th (29th) of May, to order- 1. That all political proceedings relating to the re- cent insurrection, to the disorders of which it was the cause, which are not yet completed before the tribunals, as also before the preliminary commissions, shall be annulled, and the accused shall be set at liberty if they shall not have been guilty of ordinary crimes, such as murder, incendiarism, &c. 2. No fresh prosecution shall be commenced on ac- count of participation in the insurrection, and persons who may be suspected of such participation shall not be prosecuted. 3. Those persons, natives of the Kingdom of Poland, who in consequence of the recent political disturbances have been sent to different localities as an administra- tive-measure may return to the country if their con- duct be deemed satisfactory by the local authorities. This permission does not extend to ecclesiastics, whose return shall be dependent upon the personal decision of the Emperor's lieutenant in Poland. 4. Permission to return to Poland is also granted to persons being natives of the Western Governments, and who by an administrative Act have been sent away from their residences, if their conduct be certified as satisfactory by the local authorities, and if they ex- pressly declare their desire to settle in the kingdom of Poland. This permission does not extend to eccle- siastics, who must obtain a special permission from the Emperor's lieutenant to return to Poland.

BANNS OF MARRIAGE. In the Lower House of Convocation, Sir George Prevost presented the report of a committee on the subject of banns of marriage. The report entered at length into the history of banns, and stated that the practice was of very great antiquity, and was universal, at least in the Western Church. The canons enjoining thrice-repeated pub- lication of banns were made in England in the reigns of King John in 1200, of Edward II. and Edward III. in 1322 and 1328. The report reviewed the condition of the law, and the committee expressed the opinion "that the state of the law in this matter appeared to them to be very defective and unsatisfactory," en- cluraging, as it had been said, evasion, deceit, and fraud, inasmuch as Sir George Prevost explained, the clergyman was not authorised to ask any questions of the persons seeking to be married, and if a man or woman made any false statement they are not punish- able but if they made such false statement on being mar- ried before the registrar, there was a liability of being punished. The principal suggestions made by the committee were, that in any alteration of the law the rubrics relative to the publication of banns should remain unaltered that the banns be published after the Nicene Creed in the morning service of Sunday, or, where there is no such morning service, that they shall be published in the evening service, at the end of the prayers; and that no clergyman should publish the banns of any persons until they delivered to him a notice stating what the persons were, where they lived, a declaration that neither was a minor, and that there was no impediment to such marriage; that these particulars shall be given in and signed by one of the persons desiring to marry; that if any person desire to avoid the public asking of banns in service time that the clergyman may at their desire enter a notice in a book, which any person may be allowed to examine, and.tliat, after the expiration of twenty-one days, the persons desiring to be married may have a certificate, if no impediment to the marriage be known to the clergyman, and on the production of this certificate the persons may be married in the church named m the notice that any person making a false declaration shall be liable to suffer the penalt.es of perjury that the fees be of one uniform rate, and that those for mar- riages at church and those at registrar's offices shall be as nearly as possible equalised. These are the chief suggestions, and Sir G. Prevost moved a resolution for the general approval of the re- port. A very long discussion, mostly upon technical points, ensued, and it was explained that the scheme here pro- proed only gave church people the same privileges as disenters had, and which church people might have by leaving the church. Archdeacon Denison expressed his general dissent with the proposal to give persons the power to avoid banns. To do this, was to administer to a morbid feeling. The higher classes, he said, who used formerly to be married by licence, were now generally mar- ried by banns, and this practice ought to be en- couraged. Sir Henry Thompson advocated the principle of cheap licences so that persons might obtain from the clergyman a licence on the Friday, and be married on the followin Sunday. Dr. Williams supported this advocacy, and said that such a law would enable persons -in the position of mariners to be married without haying to wait, as now, for a considerable time while the banns were- being published. Mr. Horner objected to a part of the report, which laid, down that persons who desired to be married should be three weeks residents of the parish which they proposed being married. The debate was adjourned till Friday, when the subject was resumed by Sir George Prevost moving the following "suggestion" of the committee on this subject:—" That, if any person intending to marry wish to avoid the public asking of the banns in service time, the clergyman of the parish shall, at their desire, enter a notice'[according to a form given] (to be signed by the persons intending marriage, and by a churchwarden of the parish or parishes in which they severally dwell, or by two householders known to the clergyman, and by whom one at least of the persons intending marriage is known, dating such notice on the day on which it is. entered) in a book to be kept for the purpose by him, or by such person as he may appoint, which book any person on application may be allowed to- examine; and that, after the expiration of twenty-one days from the date thereof, if no impediment be alleged or be in any way known to the clergyman, he shall on applica- tion deliver unto one of the said persons a certificate, and, on production of such certificate, the persons in- tending marriage shall be entitled to have their mar- riages solemnised in the church named in the notice, being the parish church of one of the persons intending marriage." The resolution was carried. Sir George Prevost proposed the next suggestion, which was that persons wilfully making or signing a declaration containing a false statement should be liable to suffer the penalties of perjury. This was agreed to, as was another providing that in the case of a minor a certificate must be delivered to- the clergyman showing the consent of the father, guardian, or lawful mother, before such minor can be married. The next suggestions, which were also carried, were that persons who had obtained the right in one church to be married might be married in any church of the diocese, that the fees should be of one uniform rate, and the fees of the Church as nearly as possible equalised with those of the registrar's office, and that marriages must be solemnised within three months after the publication of banns or the entry in the church book. The House then went back to the first suggestion, which was left over,, namely, That in any alteration of the law the duly authorised rubrics in the book of common prayer relating to the publica- tion of banns remain unaltered." This was struck out, and the second suggestion was prefaced by the words, "That in accordance with the rubric in the sealed book, banns be published," &c. It was then formally carried that these suggestions should be frai. ed into a representation to be taken to the Upper House.

TEACHING SAVAGES TO SING. More than five years ago classes on the, tonic sol-fa method of teaching singing were at work in Capetown, South Africa, among the native children and adults. Mr. Curwen has at the present time the addresses of twenty-five teachers in "South Africa. There are seven in Capetown, and five in Grahamstown. Mr. C. Birkett, who introduced the method in Grahamstown, writes as follows to Mr. Curwen:— Though I have left the work it is still carried on by those who were members of my different classes. The Rev. Mr. Turpin (Episcopalian) is most enthusiastic in his native school and congregation. Mr. Weddi- burn (Wesleyan) conducts classes in connection with one of the Wesleyan chapels, and also at the native Sunday schools-Kafir and coloured. Mr. Hawkins (Baptist) has classes which have at different-times come before the public very creditably. The propaga- tion of the system amongst the rude heathen, and also on the out-stations of the missions, is somewhat inte- resting. One or two school people go out and are on a visit among the people for sometime they carry the school tunes with them. They sing them in sol-fa," not at all caring for the words unless they are in Kafir. Night after night they entertain their friends with the pieces they have learned from the teachers at the stations, and the pieces are soon picked up by the listeners. Tunes with harmonies in full are thus car- ried from one place to another. They don't require written copies indeed, many who thus learn have not acquired the ability to read letters. Once I heard some sweet voices in a strange place where I was travelling most sportively humming an air that I knew. I listened, and recognised "SIniling May but there were other voices playfully accompanying the air-a rolling female bass and a staccato second- and all in the graceful rythm of the measured step of girls with water-pots on their heads coming from the fountain. I enquired of the lady where I was lodging for the night, and she told me that Josiah Bemi, a native teacher from my school, had been up there on a visit the previous week, and the young people had been singing night and day ever since.

A PLEASANT PROSPECT. The following remarks on the subject of horse-racing in England and its effects on the Americans, are from the New York Herald:- W," It will not surprise us if a few, years hence this race (the Derby) will create as much excitement in New York as it does now in Liverpool, Manchester, Glas- gow, or Dublin. Since telegraphic wires bridged the Straits of Dover the .racing propensities of the English have proved contagious in France, and the result of the Derby is now awaited with rieSrly a§ much anxiety in-the French capital as in the city of LofRl'on itself. From some cause or other the love of the racecourse is reviving among ourselves. Whether it is that being brought into electric contact with our English cousins, we too have caught the contagion, we cannot tell. This much, however, it is safe to say—that if the race- course continues to be an object of growing interest with us, if racing is conducted on high and honourable principles, and if it receives a hearty and. liberal patronage, the time is not far distant when the result of the English Derby will be awaited with an amount of anxiety, and will be received with an amount of joy and sorrow, unequalled anywhere out of London. Time will be required to improve our breed of horses, and our attention will naturally be increasingly directed to the most perfect models. Our interest in the Derby and other great English races, as a natural consequence, will be proved by deep and general betting.

THR DANGERS OF, TIGER SHOOTING. We (Central India Times) regret to state that Lieutenant Keith, of the Royal Artillery at Kamptee, when out shooting tigers in the Wurdah district, on the 22nd of April, was mauled by one he had shot. About a fortnight previously this gentleman, with two brother officers, washuntingalargeboar, whichsuddenly charging Lieutenant Keith, bowled him and his horse over. He had his right arm and side paralysed by the fall, was insensible for about thirty hours, and totally disabled for sport for ten days. On the 22nd, the party was on a beat in high jungle the two other gen- tlemen had got up into their trees, but Lieutenant Keith had not strength to climb the one allotted to him. He consequently stood in the foot of it in high grass. A large tiger bounded by, which Lieutenant Keith mortally wounded. It passed him about twenty yards off, but having spied, turned and attacked him. Keith had not the power, so weak was he from the effects of the recent accident, to cock his second rifle. The beast knocked him down by a blow on the side, and after seizing him three times with his mouth in the thigh and leg, died on the top of him. Keith was, however, able to crawl away and await the arrival of his brother sportsmen, who immediately sent him in with all despatch to Nagpore; but he gradually sank from sheer exhaustion, and expired in the night.