The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

-THE CHARITY OF THE PEOPLE I OF ENGLAND. Whether it is true or not that we English people are going backwards in the matter of skilled mechanical labour, no one can deny that in our charitable pro- ceedings we show continual signs of advance, though sometimes our movements are of a somewhat eccentric kind (remarks the Pall Mall Gazette). Every Whit- suntide sees some fresh manifestations of one of the very best of these movements—the annual holiday- making of the children of poor schools. Manchester, for some time one of the foremost in the good work, is now as advanced in this way as it is advanced in politics. All its various schools, both Church and non-Church, are making trips into the surrounding country, not for a few hurried hours on a single day, but for two or three days together, and some of them to sui prising distances, reaching even such far-off places as Llangollen, Matlock, and Dove Dale. Then there is the Manchester Unity of Odd Fel- lows," which at this season holds its miniature annual Parliament, reviews its condition, and announces its cash balance. It now numbers more than 400,000 members, and has a capital of nearly two millions sterling. Its members have just subscribed about 500Z. among themselves to present a lifeboat, to be cill^rl the Odd Fellow, to the National Lifeboat Institution. In London the last-announced movements of the charitable are of the more eccentric kind. The season of fancy bazaars is setting in with its usual severity, and those who will study the advertising columns of the papers will be duly edified with the intensely fashionable character of the various lists of lady patronesses and lady stall-holders. They will also perhaps wonder who in the world are the gentlemen amateurs known as the White Lilies of the Prairie," who are to give a series of performances at one of these bazaars, and whether they call themselves White Lilies because they blacken their faces m order to look as like nigger minstrels as possible. But what may not be expected to be the proceeds of a concert at Exetr-r H:tll-an oratorio performance, it need hardly be added—to which the British public is invited to hear an actual British duchess sing all the soprano solos ? The list of patrons and patronesses is, we can assure the said public, in the highest degree aristocratic and ecclesiastic and if the House of Relief for Chil- dren with Chronic Diseases of the Joints" does not* largely benefit from the singing of two ladies of fashion, the British public must have very strangely altered of late. Not that there can be much objection to the appearance of ladies, from duchesses downwards, on the platform of a concert room. The practice has for years past been spreading in the country, and certainly a lady appears in a much more agreeable light when she sings in a musical per- formance than when she flirts behind a stall at a fancy bazaar.

CURIOUS PRESENTS FOR ROYALTY! The Pesth correspondent of the Standard, describing the presents carried up to the Queen at the coronation of the Emperor of Austria as King of Hungary, says :— The confectioners gave a cake, in the shape of a crown, with baskets of sweetmeats, carried by appren- tices in white then came the bakers, with loaves of bread a dairyman, with honeycomb and butter the firshermen, with two large fishes from the Danube, ornamented with flowers, slung on a pole, and carried on the shoulders of the men. Afterwards came a foal for the Prince Royal, led by Hungarian peasants then a waggon, covered with foliage, on which were two calves and snowy-fleeced lambs. Children in white with garlands in their hands, walked beside the waggon, holding blue ribbons to which the lambs were supposed to be tethered. Then marching slowly behind, came the fatted white ox, his immense horns gilded at the points and entwined with flowers. Round his vast neck, too, hung a fresh garland, and quietly he allowed himself to be led by a band of butchers in holiday dress through the surrounding throng. And now comes a team of four nimble horses, whom a young peasant is driving, and in the waggon are two handsome, neatly-finished casks of red and of white wine. Another similar team follows, bringing sacks of corn from the corn market; and a third follows with sacks of flour from the mills. Behind stands the head miller, like a Roman victor celebrating his triumph. There also was a waggon, most tastefully arranged with fruits and vegetables. Wreaths of flowers of brightest colours were interwoven like trellis work and here, in the midst, lay the useful products of the soil. Young girls of eighteen, dressed in white muslin, walked beside the waggon, some carrying baskets of fruit, others of flowers.

A NEW SYSTEM OF RAILS. The Essener Zeitung contains the following :— The project of the Rhenish Railway Company to introduce the 9-inch rail on their line, instead of the 5-inch rail hitherto in use, is of such importance for all persons connected with the railway interest that it has created the greatest excitement, and everything con- nected with it is narrowly watched by all civil engi- neers for, should it succeed, it will solve the long- debated problem of the possibility of doing away with sleepers altogether, which are becoming every year dearer and dearer. To the Rhenish Railway Company the credit is, at all events, due of being the first in the field to give the new system a fair trial. The nine-inch rails rest upon a bed of plates, and are then covered with five inches of gravel, on the top of which is a two-inch layer of earth, well stamped down, so that the head of the rail projects only an inch above the surface. The two lines of rails are connected every three feet by round bars of iron, firmly bolted to the rails below the surface, so that the whole forms one compact body, and may be compared to a ladder lying on the ground half buried in it. This mode of con- struction is said to afford quite as great security as the present system of underground sleepers.

BRITISH WORKMEN IN PARIS. The first batch of English workmen visiting the French capital under the auspices of the Paris Excur- sion Committee (Mr. A. H. Layard, M.P., President) have just returned to London, highly delighted with the various arrangements made bcth for their .comfort and pleasure. The clean airy dwellings erected by the Imperial Commission, and placed at the disposal of the committee for the exclusive use of British workmen up to the end of October, have given the greatest satisfaction to their first tenants, as will be seen from the following resolutions unanimously passed at a meeting of the excursionists, in the reading-room adjoining the dwellings :— Mo ved by Mr. Luke, of Manchester, seconded by Mr. Tunbridge, of London :— That the best thanks of this meeting of English workmen be respectfully tendered to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the French for his thoughtful kindness in conceding to the artisans of the United Kingdom the exclusive use of the excellent accommodation afforded in the workmen's dwell- ings, Place Rapp, erected under the supervision of the Imperial Commission. Moved by Mr. West, of London, seconded by Mr. Bruek, of Guillford:- That the best thanks of this meeting be and are hereby given to A. H. Layard, Esq., M.P. (President), Mr. Hodgson Pratt (Vice-President), the secretaries, and members of the Paris Excursion Committee for their laborious services in organizing and carrying out the first of their cheap excur- sions to the Universal Exhibition, and this meeting trusts that the remarkable success that has attended the first effort will ba continued weekly to-the end of the season. Th^exertions of the gentlemen forming the Paris Exhibition Committee have thus far proved highly successful, and it now remains to be seen whether the r (l en of this country will second these praiseworthy enorts to enable them to become personally acquainted v-iti-i the many objects of interest now concentrated in the Frercli capital.

AN EPIDEMIC WITH AN ALIAS. It is undoubtedly of great importance that public attention should be carefully directed to the occurrence of epidemic diseases and the startling character of the eruption going by the name of the Black Death has insured a sufficient public anxiety concerning the novel epidemic" now prevalent in Dublin (remarks the British Medical Journal.) This epidemic, how- ever, presents characters which indicate that it is allied very closely to the outbreaks which have been known as Epidemic Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis," or Spotted Fever," in America, on the European con- tinent, and in Dublin and Liverpool on former occa- sions. In these various epidemics, and sometimes, as at this moment in Dublin, during the same epidemic, the predominance of one or other class of symptoms seems to have caused physicians to differ in opinion as to its nature and classification-some regarding it as essentially typhus, and others as a primary inflamma- tion of the spinal membranes. Dr. T. H. Squire, in a memoir describing 43 cases which occurred in 1857 at Elmira, United States, describes these varieties, and alludes to the differences of opinion, impartially giving us the choice of calling the epidemic Cangestive Fever, Pernicious Fever, Typhus Petechialis, Spotted Fever, Cerebro-spinal Meningitis, and Brain Fever. The dif- ferences of opinion as to the proper nomenclature of the present epidemic in Dublin would appear to range over almost as wide a field. The features which indicate the nervous or cerebro-spinal complications are the retraction of the head, the twitchings and convulsions, and the post mortem indications of arachnoid inflam- mation the petechial eruption classes it among the fevers. Dr. Stokes has no doubt that it has proved in some instances contagious and there is no more accom- plished and experienced authority in Ireland. Dr. Draper, in an important paper on Cerebro-spinal Meningitis, or Spotted Fever," read before the New York Academy of Medicine in 1864, maintains its identity with typhus. Dr. Murchison suggested the same view on the occasion of the outbreak of cerebro- spinal meningitis last year in North Germany, which attracted so much attention in this country. "Cerebro- spinal typhus" is the name given to this class of diseases in the most recent foreign works on topo- graphical medicine. The military medical officers, we believe, especially incline at this moment at Dublin to identify the present epidemic with typhus. Fortu- nately, however, although widely scattered, it is far from being very general. The total number of cases has been small and there is, we may hope, no reason to apprehend any large mortality, if, as will assuredly be the case, careful sanitary precautions are enforced.

THE SILVER MINT OF JAPAN. The following description of the Silver Mint of Japan is given by Mr Sidney Locock, Her Majesty's Secretary of Legation, in his report of this year:- If we could gain admission to the Silver Mint at Yeddo we should see the following process continually going on. A lump of silver of the necessary fineness, obtained either from the Government mines or by melting down Mexican dollars, is placed in an iron ladle and reduced to a molten state by means of a charcoal fire and a pair of blacksmith's bellows. It is then poured into a mould, from which it is taken out in the shape of thin rectangular bars, which are imme- diately thrown into a tub of cold water. On being taken out, a man seated on the ground shears off with a pair of large fixed scissors all jagged pieces adhering to the angles. They are now handed to another man, who weighs them one by one, and a piece is cut off, if necessary, to reduce the bar to its proper weight. The next process is that of dividing the bar by a fixed pair of shears into eight equal portions of the size of ichibus; this is done by a workman cutting it as accurately as his practised eye will enable him, and his work is tested by weighing, light pieces being rejected, and the heavy ones reduced to their proper weight by the scissors. The pieces are now heated while hot in a charcoal fire plunged into water, boiled, and washed in a kind of brine, from which they come out with a moderately bright surface. They are next very slightly milled on the two sides, and more deeply on the edges, by means of a milled hammer. They are now ready for stamping. A man places one of the pieces on a stationary die, and lays on the top the other die a second man, armed with a huge hammer, gives one blow on theupper die, and the coin is struck. The blows are dealt in rapid succes- sion, and the whole scene reminds one of a blacksmith's shop. Boys now punch small stars on the edges by means of chisels and hammers. The coins are weighed one by one for the last time, and the light ones re- jected. The Imperial stamp is added by means of another stamped chisel and mallet, and the coins are complete. They are rolled up in paper packets of 100 each packet is weighed, and marked with a seal, which serves as a guarantee of its contents, and gives it currency as 100 ichibus. While every operation is performed in this primitive manner, perfect order prevails in the establishment; every man goes through his portion of the work in silence, and with the regularity of clockwork, and many evince con- siderable skill. There are about 300 hands employed in the building. When the men enter in the morning they are made to divest themselves of their own clothes, and put on others belonging to the Mint. At the end of the day's work a gong sounds, when the somewhat curious spectacle is presented of 300 men springing from the ground on which they had been seated, throwing off their clothes, and rushing, a naked throng, to one end of a yard. Here they pass through the following ordeal in order to prove that they have. no silver on them :—Their back hair is pulled down and examined, they wash their hands and hold them up to view, they drink water, and then holloa, and, lastly, they run to the other end of the yard clearing two or three hurdles on their way after which performance they are allowed to put on their own clothes and depart. Mr. Locock also believes that the Mint has been only twice entered by foreigners, and states that the apparent absence of all restrictions with regard to touching and handling the coins points to the probability that it is not often open to the public but he remarks that even if it were, the man- ners and customs of the country are not such as would preclude a mixed assemblage of visitors from going OVf r it and remaining to the end. The quantity of silver being coined daily at the beginning of this year was 50,000 momme, which at the rate of 2-3 momme of the ichibus would give a daily total issue of over 21,000 bus, or about 1,600l. The whole of these are produced by the simplest manual labour, unaided by a single piece of machinery.

iSARMY DRESS AND EQUIPMENTS. A long but very interesting paper has been read on the above subject to the members of the United Ser- vice Institution by Captain Walker, of the 91st Regi- ment Lord Longford took the chair. The theatre of the institution was unusually well attended. It may be said at the outset that Captain Walker's paper or address, which occupied nearly an hour and a half in reading, condemned almost every part of the dress and equipments of the English soldier. The speaker said he was quite aware that arguments of the same or almost even greater force might be applied to the equipments of other branches of the service, but on that he had not time to enter then. Beginning, therefore, with the shako of the infantry soldier, and following down almost every article of his dress, he showed with unusual force and clearness how both for sanitary reasons and reasons connected with the freedom of movement of the soldier almost all his uniform was wrong. The shako was no adequate protection to the head in cold weather, while in the tropics where at least one third of the duty of the English army was done, it was absolutely useless. The cap cover used in hot climates was rather a recognition of the evils which the shako caused than a means of avoid- ing them Stocks he believed, were now so universally con- demned both by officers and men that it was almost needless to inveish further against them. The trousers were made too tight round the knee and thigh, and men split them continually when out skirmishing and firing from the knee. The tunic was tight, and had no poekets, and the "ammu- nition blucher boots were as worthless as could well be con- ceived. Much of this last-mentioned evil arose from the low contract price paid for them-only 8s. 6d. a pair. It was, however, principally upon the knapsack that Captain Walker was most deservedly severe. The weight of the pack. 561b., its stiffness, awkward fitting to the frame, and the straps by which it was supported were explained with force and clearness which left no loophole for doubt as to its total inadequacy for the present system of military tactics, when rapid marches and heavy weights of spare ammunition for the breech-loader had become necessaries to campaigning. At the recommendation of General Eyre a committee had been appointed to ascertain the best kind of knapsack used —French, Prussian, Austrian, American, Italian in short, no less than twenty were examined and reported upon, and of this number the English knapsack was found to be the worst of all. Yet to each and all of the foreign models some ob- jections more or less vital had been established, and in the result the committee had determined to devise one of their own which would combine all the best merits of the foreign specimens and as few as possible of their disadvantages. This had been tried at the School of Musketry and other camps, and had met the unanimous approval of both officers and men. It was a leather kit bag, suspended, not only from the waistbelt, but from braces passing in front and behind the back, the main weight resting on the hips. The great- coat and canteen were worn above these on the shoulder, and as a counterpoise to this weight behind the increased rounds of ammunition and ammunition pouch were carried in front. The relief thus atlorded to the soldier was im- mense. Still lie thought a greater improvement might be effected by what he called a bed kit," which would enclose a great coat and kit" in a six feet length of light water- proof cloth, to be worn across the left shoulder, the ends coming down under the right arm like a scarf. The soldier, no doubt, did prefer this method, and both Austrian and Prussian soldiers carried their great coats, slung in that fashion. In addition to its being light and waterproof, it afforded the soldier the inestimable benefit of having a waterproof sheet to sleep on when campaigning out on wet and damp earth, and in the day it might be used in wet weather as a kind of waterproof cloak while on a march. In conclusion. Captain Walker said that the attention of military authorities was now thoroughly aroused to the importance of this subject, and there was little doubt that in a short time the present restrictive uniform would be as much a thing of the past as the pigtails of the reigns of the early Georges. The paper occupied so long a time in reading that the remarks made upon it in the very brief discussion which followed were limited to an almost general ex- pression of approval of Captain Walker's improve- ments, and always pointed to the necessity of some radical reform being commenced in army uniforms, both cavalry and infantry. Votes of thanks to Captain Walker for his paper and to Lord Longford for presiding brought the proceedings to a close.

THE ABYSSINIAN PRISONERS. The Levant Herald of the 5th June says that some weeks ago Lord Lyons, by instruction!) of the Foreign Office, requested the Armenian Patriarch of Constan- tinople to address a written appeal to King Theodore on behalf of Consul Cameron and his fellow prisoners in Abyssinia. Mgr. Paul promptly complied with the request, and gave the ambassador one letter for Theo- dore himself and another for the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, whose relations with the Abyssinian Church are intimate, requesting the latter also to exert his influence on behalf of the captives. Mgr. Isaiah at once consented to join in the intercession, and to render it as effectual as possible, sent a special deputa- tion—consisting of Archbishop Dorotheos and a famous preacher-to the Negus, bearing one letter con- taining the apostolic benediction on his dusky Majesty, and a second pleading directly for his royal grace to the English prisoners. We take the latter of these documents from the Jerusalem Armenian review, Sion, which publishes both I, Isaiah, servant of Jesus Christ, and by the grace of God Arch- bishop and Patriarch of Jerusalem, and guardian of the Holy Places, offer, with the Divine bene- dictions and favours of the Holy City, my apostolic salutations to your very Christian Majesty, Sove- reign of Ethiopia. May the heavenly protection and the care of Divine Providence always watch over the person of your Majesty, your august family, and the whole State governed by your puissant sovereignty. We know, Sire, the exalted prudence and love of justice which characterise your Majesty. We are, moreover, enchanted to see in your august person the true type of the queen, eulogised in Holy Scripture, who was enamoured of the wisdom of Solomon. It is the same blood, undoubtedly, as that of Solomon which flows in your Majesty's veins, and animates you with the same equity. These precious qualities then, which adorn your august person, have encouraged us to bring our prayers to the foot of your sublime throne. We feel assured that they will be heard by your most merciful Majesty in the love of Jesus Christ, who has given us in his person an example of humility and gentleness, and who has also prescribed to us to visit all who are oppressed and deprived of their liberty, which is beyond all the possessions of this world. Ani- mated by the same evangelical sentiments, we pray your most merciful Majesty to look graciously upon the English Consul and his companions, and to pardon them for all the faults they may have committed. If our prayers are heard by your clemency, as we feel a pleasure in believing, we shall be infinitely obliged, and every one will be as delighted as ourselves at your indulgence towards the unfortunates. By so philanthropic a deed, your Majesty will increase the number of those who pray for the prosperity of your empire, and for the preservation of the precious life of your august person. May the peace and grace of God be always with you. So be it! Given at our apostolic see of St. James, the 30th of March, of the year of our Saviour 1867."

AN UNHAPPY MARRIED LIFE. In the Divorce Court, in London the cause of Forth v. Forth" has been tried, and was a suit by the husband for a judicial separation on the ground of his wife's cruelty. The respondent answered denying the cruelty, and charging the petitioner with cruelty. It appeared that the petitioner is a dissenting minister at a place called Basford, in Nottingham- shire, and registrar of births, deaths, and marriages for that district. A t the time of his marriage with the respondent, which took place in April, 1857, he was a widower with two children. The respondent was alleged to have exhibited an irritable and ungovernable temper immediately after the marriage, having threat- ened while on the marriage tour to run away and leave the petitioner. After this the married life of the parties seemed to have been a continual scene of annoy- ance and ebullition of violent temper on the part of the respondent, and in June, 1865, the petitioner, being unable to put up with it any longer, ceased to cohabit with her, although they still resided under the same roof. There are five children the issue of the marriage. The petitioner was called, and stated the various acts of cruelty of which he complained. Among these was an attempt to throw one of his children by his first marriage into the fire, throwing candlesticks at the petitioner, scratching his face, throwing the contents of a milk jar over him and then throwing the jar at his head, burning the nose of his oldest child, and also burning his own face with a lighted paper and singing his hair, laying his forehead open with the heel of a boot, throwing a baking dish with a fruit pie in it at him, which struck him and went all over him throw- ing books at his head, and burning his sermons, papers, and books,'and threatening to set the house on fire. Several witnesses were called, who eorroborated the petitioner in the main points of his evidence. The respondent's case being one of cruelty against the petitioner, she was herself placed in the witness- box, and detailed several instances in which the peti- tioner had treated her with neglect when she was ill and during her confinements. She also stated that he had not allowed her and her children sufficient food, and that he had always shown a partiality for the children of his first wife, whom he taught to treat her with oontempt. In respect of the charges spoken to by the petitioner, she either denied them or explained them away. The respondent, Mrs. Forth, was cross-examined by the Queen's Advocate. She stated that she had instituted a cross-suit for cruelty against her hus- band, and that she was still residing under her husband's roof for the reason that the petitioner would not allow her 15s. a week to keep herself and five children. She denied having thrown either a candle- stick or a water-jug at her husband's head, and she never saw blood upon his face. On one occasion she laid hold of his whiskers to protect herself. and she might have accidentally scratched him. On the occasion of his knocking her about she was bruised, and had to apply to a medical man in consequence. She did on one occasion throw a few drops of milk at him, but she never threw a milk jar. She considered herself in danger by living with her husband. Mr. Mosby, a surgeon at Basford, stated that he had attended Mrs. Forth in several of her confinements, and in 1860, when she was ill with gastric fever. He considered that on that occasion there was an indiffer- ence on the part of the husband, as he never saw him in the bedroom. Isabella Hindson stated that in 1863 she lived within a few doors of the petitioner's house. On one occasion she heard screams of Murder proceeding from his house, and next day she saw Mrs. Forth, whose arms were bruised, and looked as if some one had griped them. A servant girl, who was in the employment of the parties in the spring of 1863, stated that Mr. Forth behaved very ill to his wife. She had seen him stand over her, with his hand up, and call her a bad, base, lying woman." He had told witness not to mind what Mrs. Forth said, as he was the master. He beat the children he had by Mrs. Forth, but he was very kind to the other two. Mrs. Westward stated that she nursed Mrs. Forth in her last confinement, in 1865. She was there a month and a day. Mr. Forth never visited her all the time. The doctor ordered her to have mutton and brandy, when the husband got two mutton chops and half-a- pint of brandy, but he refused to get any more brandy. On the application of the Queen's Advocate, Mr. Forth, the petitioner, was recalled, and denied the statements made by the respondent's witnesses. At the conclusion of the evidence on both sides, Dr. Spinks, on the part of Mrs. Forth, contended that no cruelty had been proved as having been committed on the petitioner, and the only point in his case seemed to be that he wished to thrust the step-mother of his children out of his house. He held, however, that there was nothing to justify the interference of, the court. The Queen's Advocate followed, on the part of the petitioner, contending, from his own evidence and the witnesses who corroborated him, that a clear case against the respondent had been made out. He, therefore, called upon the Court to grant him the relief prayed for. The learned Judge, after going over the various acts of cruelty charged, and the evidence respecting them, stated that he considered the charges of cruelty proved, and granted a decree of judicial sepa- ration.

THE PRUSSIAN EMBASSY BALL. The other evening it was the turn of the Prussian Embassy to entertain Paris (says the correspondent of a contemporary.) It is very hard to follow after such a -y.) series of festivities as those which have kept Paris up all night for the last fortnight, nor is the hotel in the Rue de Lille to be compared to those of Russia, Austria, or England; it being more like a "palazzo" at Florence, a series of rooms very pretty, but small. Yet I can assure you that Prussia gave both a splendid and most hospitable entertainment. With a talent which, I believe, she has already displayed in other forms, Baron Goltz-most charming of hosts—had "annexed" a good deal of the garden, and so made "one great united supper-room, with several "smaller dependencies," the separations of which were very slight. The King of Prussia and Herr von Bismarck dined with the English Ambassador and Ambassadress, and I only hope somebody may tell them the terms in which the delights of that dinner were described by their Prussian guests. From the density of the crowd I could not help hearing the praises of that diner i channant chez Milady Cowley." The Emperor and Empress, Prince Umberto, &c., arrived at eleven, and then there was the usual dance, the usual procession, and the usual visit to the electric lighted garden. At one o'clock came the usual supper, only rather better than usual I think-Prussia is cunning in eating and drinking and then the people having got all they could, thought about going home. I was struck with two things I have never heard so many different languages in one assembly, or seen so many pretty faces in one ball-room in Paris. But I reserve my "point" for the last. Determined to have a truly German fete, and to give couleur locale to that fete, Baron Goltz had introduced wheels within wheels, gardens within gardens, and in the garden of the hotel was a Berlin beer gar- den. In a shady retreat you found a large cask of beer, a table with cigarettes, lights, and perfumed lozenges to conceal the iniquity of having smoked. Two unmistakable Germans gave you the beer in real German glasses, and so popular was the entertainment, not only with men, that the hotel did a business of three barrels a night." But the best of the story remains. There was, of course, a supper of honour, and when Herr von Bismarck was sought for to take his deserved place among the dis- tinguished visitors he could not be found. He was quietly sitting smoking and drinking beer, and ap- parently miles away in imagination from Paris. quietly sitting smoking and drinking beer, and ap. parently miles away in imagination from Paris. Apropos of beer I will relate a little story proving ho iV the; love of that malt and hop liquor has lately in- creased in Paris. Madame," said a cavalier to a dame at the Exhibition, "may I offer you a glas,3 of beer, or will you take an ice ? But, Monsieur, beer It is so good, and it is so chic to drink it. When I pass a restaurant and see the Messieurs con- suming their palale,' I sigh and say, would I were a man

THE HOUSE OF PEERS. Perhaps a little conscience-smitten by articles which re ceutly appeared in The Times, ascribing to the Peers of England habits not characterised by an excess of industry, an "English Peer" has written the following to that journal:— Having been a member and constant attendant of the House of Lords for twenty-six years, I venture to ask you to give place to a few remarks upon your strictures on its habits and proceedings. I will at once admit that the abolition of proxies would be a good measure, although they can only be called for on the main question, and never when the details of a Bill are discussed in committee. With respect to a "quorum," it exists at present, but is restrained to three members. It might be bene- ficially increased when other questions than Appeals are before us but certainly not with regard to these, which are and ought to be left to the Law Lords alone. It appears to me that those who criticize our mode of legislation have not made out any case of neglect, or shown in any way that public business has suffered by our proceedings. The amount done must neces- sarily be the same in both Houses, and it is not affirmed that what emanates from the Commons is in arrear or suffers from any derelictions on the part of the Peers. The difference between the two bodies, and which I think is scarcely a subject for blame, consists in the latter getting through the same work in a quarter of the time. But if the work is well done (and the contrary is not asserted), why not let them do it in their own way? It is notorious that a large proportion of the speeches made in the House of Commons are addressed to the electors rather than to the House itself on the question before it. The Peers, having no such necessity; confine themselves as much as possible to the subject and to their audience. As educated men they appreciate rhetoric, but as men of business they dislike surplusage in every stage of discussion. Would they raise their character as a judicial body or benefit the public by increasing the number and length of their speeches after all had been said that could be said by the fore- most Peers of both parties ? I venture to think not. In your first article you affirmed that the eloquence of the House of Lords had deteriorated, and you attribute it to the hereditary principle but is it so ? Are not the twelve Peers, which I will here name, and who have inherited their titles, equal in that respect to any twelve members of the Lower House, and eloquent enough for all Parliamentary discussion— Ellenborough, Derby, Granville, Shaftesbury, Kim- berley, Clarendon, Argyle, Grey, Redesdale, Dal- housie, Carnarvon? In your second criticism you complain that we are "idle" and "do nothing." I therefore give you a list of some of the Bills originated and sent down by the Peers this Session, and now waiting in the Commons —" Lis Pendens," Masters and Workmen," lic Schools," "Traffic Regulation in the Metropolis," "Judges' Chambers," "Vice-Admiralty Courts, "Office of Judges," "British Herring Fisheries," "Contagious Diseases, Animals," with 14 others m progress. All these are practical legislation. The regulation of the metropolis," the case of the Tornado," and the "land question in Ireland" have been before us during this Session. A Bill for the traffic of the metropolis, carefully revised in a Select Committee, has gone to the House of Commons. .^borate one on Eand Tenure (almost a code), by Lord Clanricaide, is now passing through the same ordeal. The legal points involved in the case of the Tornado were ventilated completely by Lords Derby, Clarendon, Russell, and Clanricarde. With regard to attendance I find by the Clerks' list of this Session tbat whenever any real business has been before the House from 70 to 150 Peers have been present, and that the average attendance may he put at about 100. Reverting to the point whether the House of LoreS should originate more bills, it must be recollected It that many are precluded as involving questions of public money, nor do I think it desirable that it should take a principal part in initiation. By the spirit or practical sense of the Constitution, its most useful duty is to examine, revise, and itn- prove the legislation which the popular assembly J submits to it as the desire of the nation and in- ) following this course quietly and carefully, I believe it has obtained more respect from the country than any amount of ad captandum oratory could give it. On very important questions, I never saw the at- tendance of Peers fail or their power of debate flag » but if we made it a practice to spend nights in prolix repetitions, and turh what is now a chamber of rea business into a debating club, I do not thing we should increase our fame as a political institution. However that might be, one result would be certain-nainelyl that you, Sir, would, considering your impartiality, be obliged to add another sheet daily to your able and popular journal, thus increasing its price without, as 1 apprehend, enhancing its value.

A SCOTCHMAN'S TASTE FOR MUSIC! There used to be a story current among Winchester boys to the effect that in old Dr. Hungerford's days the boys on the foundation were not allowed potatoes as a portion of the college diet (says the Pall MM" Gazette). On representing the hardship of the case to ? the Doctor, he replied that if it had been good for the boys to have potatoes, they would have been provided for by the original founder of the school. When it i. was suggested to him that potatoes were not known in England until the discovery of America, he re- marked that this entirely altered the state of the case, and from that time forth potatoes were permitted- h The United Presbyterian Synod has just been holding a meeting on the subj ect of the use of organs in churches, at which one of the speakers used an argument which at once recalled the admirable reasoning of the Winchester sage on the great potato question. One Mr. Roberts protested vehemently against the introduction of the abominable instrument, on the ground that it was n°t used in the worship of the early Christians, and that if its use had been desirable the Holy Spirit would have inspired some Christian artificer with the requisite knowledge and skill for organ-building. 1, Would any one say," he exclaimed, that the wisdom of G was inceinpetent to teach the carpenters and those who t, preached the Gospel throughout the wide world to erect organs if He had wanted them ?' l'his reasonIng, as we learn from the newspaper report of the debate, was received with loud and repeated laughter. And a subsequent speaker reminded Mr. Roberts and those who agreed with him that they had already got a musical instrument in Presbyterian churches in the shape of a < tuning-fork to regulate the pitch of the voices fot singing. Another speaker further remarked that, inasmuch as the early Christians had no churches at all to pray in, it was obvious that they could not introduce organs into them. The debate altogether seems to have been peculiarly lively, and for a clerical assemblage, almost instructive and entertaining, and certainly so in comparison with the discussions of our English Convocation. Nevertheless a large majority rejected the memorial which prayed for the toleration t of organs. By 232 votes against 136, the synod proved to the world that it is not alone in the matter of jokes that a surgical operation is required for the enlighten* ment of Scotchmen.

A SAD TALE OF 'THE SEA. » On the 27th of March last the barque Sea King, the pro- pertyof Messrs. Briggs & Co., left Grimsby. She encoun- tered rough weather, but reached the banks of Newfound- land in safety. She there encountered much ice, and her bow was so stove in that she began to fill. A boat was launched, and some of the crew jumped 011 to the ice. about eight minutes from the vessel being stove she blew up aft, the air compressed by the water forcing up the deck- The Sea King at once went down, head foremost. The boat, as soon as advisable, returned to the scene of the wreck and saved five more of the crew, who were clinging f to the ice. For a short period she hovered over the place, in hopes of picking up a few biscuits, but without success. A chest of clothes was obtained and a few trifling articles. Five men were missing: —Collison, (the cabin boy,) Parker, Albert Johnson, Dewild, and a Swede. The two first-named belonged to Hull, and the other three were foreigners. The boy waS seen upon the sinking vessel with a bundle under his arm, j he most likely having remained below to collect a feW articles. One of the survivors had got upon the poop of the vessel, and sank up to his neck in water, but he struck out and swam for a floe of ice, upon which he saw a man- This man helped him on, and they both kept there until the boat took them off. Nothing had been saved from the the boat took them off. Nothing had been saved from the lost ship but a few articles, and the crew were shivering with cold. They remained in the boat eighteen hours, ana were then picked up by the barque Realm, of Liverpool. Four of the five who had been picked up on the ice suffered most, for, getting wet, their clothes froze, and in this pitiable condition they remained for eighteen hours. When assistance arrived they were more dead than alive, and could not have held out long. They had not power to get on board the Realm, and had to be assisted out of the boat. Others of the men were frostbitten, and suffered greatly- -p __n_

VACCINATION AS A SAFEGUARD. The first suggestion of compulsory vaccination would be likely to be much opposed (says the Pall Mall Gazette.) The liberty of the subject might be supposed to protect his skin long after the sanctity of his house had been surrendered to the sanitary inter- vention of a paternal government. But facts and figures have proved so clearly that unvaccinated persons are dangerous to their neighbours as well as to themselves, that we come to consider that a father of a family has no more right to house unvaccinated children than to store petroleum in his cellars. The Vaccination Bill now before the House of Commons is based upon the plan of the Scotch Vaccination Act (1863). A line or two of figures will show how ad- mirably that Act has worked. In 1864 the deaths from small-pox in Scotland were 1,268; and in 1863 they were 1,646. The bill came into work on January 1st, 1864, and from figures published lately in the British Medical Journal we gather that in 1865 the deaths from small-pox were reduced to 280, and in 1866 to 123. Nothing could speak more strongly in favour of a similar enactment for England, where the deaths from small-pox lately have 0 averaged 2,000 annually.

FATAL RESULTS OF A QUARREL. A communication from Rome, in the Univers, gives an account of a sanguinary quarrel which took place y in the Piazza of Frascati, on the fete day of La Madonna del divino Amore. An inhabitant of the neighbouring village of Grotta-Ferrata, on entering the square, was immediately recognised and addressed by a Frascatan named Bruni, who was on the spot with his two brothers, in these words, You gave me a stab with your knife last year, and now I will give you as goodon which he rushed into a transport of fury on the other, who naturally endeavoured to defend himself. This scene took place in front of the prin- cipal cafe of the town, where a brigadier, two Zouaves, and a serjeant major of that arm, named de Quelen, were taking refreshment; a captain of the Palatine guard, named Fihpani, was also present, the two latter in plain clothes. This party, in the interest of public In order, interfered to separate the combatants, but were in their turn assailed by Bruni's two brothers, when a savage engagement took place, which ended in the death of two persons-namely, Bruni himself, shot by the serjeant in self-defence, and the man from Grotta- Ferrata, who had received six stabs in the breast. One of the surviving Frascatans was arrested just as f ^.as.^aking re^uae in the cathedral, with the corpse of his brother in his arms. Five more of the com- batants were badly wounded, and amongst them the serjeant major, but his life is not considered to be in danger.

A prisoner named John Williams, alias Jesse Bates, aged eighteen years, a brushmaker, belonging to Manchester, who was sentenced at the last Bucks October Quarter Sessions to fifteen months' imprisonment, along with two othor men, for committing a burglary at West Wycombe, on Monday morning escaped from the county gaol, Aylesbury.