The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

PASSING EVENTS R MOURS, &P- The He form Bill has paFsed the shoals. and quick- Nmds of committee and now is in comparatively a safe harbour. Thi3 was effected at the morning sitting Ml Tuesday. The House was thinly attended, and the absence of that excitement which has been observable during previous discussions on the bill was very marked. It appeared as if the interest in the measure on the part of hon- members had suddenly vanished. Nor Was any enthusiasm created by the discussion of the FL Schedules. Some amendments were moved, but they were not pressed, and the schedules passed almost without question. f The Lord Chamberlain has intimated to the Crystal Palace Company that His Imperial Majesty the Sultan of Turkey, and his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, with other members of the Imperial and Royal Families will visit the Crystal Palace on the afternoon of Tuesday next, when there will be a grand operatic concert, a display of the creat water- works, and an exhibition of fireworks with illumina- tions of fountains. The august visitors will dine in Hie Queen's corridor, overlooking the grounds, in the Interval. between the first and second parts of the concert. An extensive strike is going on amongst the colliers of the Oldham district. Cut of 22 pits, only six are working, and about 900 men, besides a large number of lads, are now idle, protesting against a reduction of twopence per ton in their wages, at the same time offering to accept one penny. At three pits the re- duction has been accepted the remaining three are Working on the old scale. The demand for coal in the district is being supplied from the Yorkshire coal- fields. The Government are taking early precautions against My outbreak of cholera. A supplement to the Gazette was published on Monday night, containing various Orders in Council as to quarantine, and the arrange- ments which are to be made by parochial authorities where any outbreak of cholera may take place. The orders are comprehensive, and appear to have been well considered. On the 20th of June the President of the United States proclaimed the treaty of the 13th of March for tile cession of all the Russian American possessions, In consideration of which the United States engaged to pay'7,200,000 dols. in gold within ten months. The ratifications were exchanged at Washington on the 20th of June. It is understood that the new territory is to be added to the military district which embraces Oregon and Washington, and to the command of which General Rousseau has been assigned. Writing on the fate of Maximilian, a correspondent fftys ;—" One loud moan of grief, which is almost a Cry 'for vengeance, pervades all France. Since I have known Paris I have never seen sympathy so great, or indignation expressed so strongly. Had Maximilian died on the field, people would have regretted and for- gotten had he been shot at once when taken, the French would have shrugged their shoulders and said, 'Fortune de la guerre,' and in a few hours have for- gotten the event; but the deliberate murder, the S re tended trial, and the delayed execution of a pre- etermined sentence, are cruelties worthy of savages alone, and the French are furious. The papers of wary shade of opinion agree that it is a murder, that tiieperpetr ators of the foul deed are scarcely human being A, and that Mexico can no longer be treated as a civilised country, or recognised among nations." The Empress Eugenie," says the Etendard, had received from Qur-en Victoria an invitation to be pre- sent at the grand review in honour of the Sultan. Her Imperial Majesty, under the painful feelings caused by the dreadful news from Mexico, was obliged to decline the gracious invitation of the Queen of England j but the latter, while profoundly respecting the sentiments which led to this decision, and persisting in her earnest desire to receive the Empress of the Jfrench, charged Lord Cowley, as it is said, to invite her Majesty to pass two or three days privately at Osborne." The New York papers brought over this week con- tain a despatch professedly written by Maximilian to isiss Minister Lares in February last. The authenticity of the despatch appears, from internal evidence, to be very doubtfuL If, however, it is authentic, it shows that 'the unfortunate Prince had in February fully realised the actual condition of affairs. He knew how hollow and how false were the pretences of those who advisedhim to stay in Mexico and to fight for his throne; and he had come to recognise in Juarez and his foflowera a band of patriots who were fighting against foreign aggression. The Sheffield commissioners closed their sittings on Monday. Certificates were granted to a number of persons who had confessed their offences to the com- raiseioners, the first application being on behalf of SrOadhead. In his case costs were refused. Certifi- cates were granted also to Crookes, Hallam, and a number of others but in the case of Joseph Thompson, secretary to the Scissor Grinders' Union, it was re- fused^ Sir; 'Overend saying the commissioners believed he had not made a full disclosure. The licensed victuallers of Halifax have been getting petitions against the bill for the closing of public- houses on Sundays, and have thereby brought down cpon themselves the censure of the House of Commons; the,eignaturee toone of their petitions, presented by I Mr. Akroyd, having been found to have been the work of at most two pens, and to consist of comic applications of common words such as Cheeks, the Marine," Bottle nosed Sandy," &c. &c. The secre- taiytothe Licensed Victuallers' Association has since written to explain that two men who had been hired by him to obtain signatures had thought it easier to fabricate them thecuselves, and, being of a comic turn of mind, "had not done the job right." j His Highness the Viceroy of Egypt arrived in Lon- don on Saturday evening on a visit of at least a fort- night's duration to England. The event can scarcely be eaid tohave created much excitement, but there were great crowds outside the Charing-cross station during the evening, and on the Viceroy's carriage issuing into the Strand the assembled crowds cheered his Highness I heartily- To this welcome he bowed his acknowledg- ments nrery graciously, but beyond these simple ges- biree he seemed perfectly impassive, and showed not the Slightest interest in anything around him. In no respect, as regarded uniform or decorations, was the Eit chief of the party distillguishable_ from any of suite. He wore a plain dark blue single-breasted teat, with silk braid on the cuffs and collar with an 7, ordinary fez, tnat seemed almost too large for him. The Viceroy reached Dudley house before eight o'clock. Later in the evening, accompanied by Nubar Pasha aad General Seymour, he went to the Italian Opera at Oovent-gard en, to witness the performance of Fra j Diavola. The party occupied the Royal box.—It ap- pean,after all that the Viceroy will be entertained, and hospitably entertained too, at Buckingham Palace. It is said that her Majesty the Queen has been gra- V ciously pleased to lend her banqueting hall and her Service of gold plate to the East India board, at whose expense a banquet worthy of the locale and the guests to whom it is offered is now in course of preparation. The Prince of Wales could not receive the Viceroy on I his arrival, because his Royal Highness had to dine at Greenwich with the officers of the Grenadier Guards. i At Tuesday's sifting of the French Legislative Body the Mexican question was discussed, when M. Thiers taid :-HThe Mexican expedition has ended without any good, results to France. Our compatriots remain exposed to greater losses than ever; our commerce mth Mexico is ruined, and the prestige of our great- aess is compromised in America. Even in Europe the Mexican imbroglio has hampered our attitude towards the grest,revolution accomplished in Germany. The lemon of this unhappy expedition is that control and opposition are necessary. The Mexican expedition was approved by no one in France, but was neverthe- less undertaken and continued for several years. There are twoways of understanding monarchial government. The first is the rule of a prince with irresponsible ministers, who merely execute the orders they receive. The second is a prince governing with responsible ministers, who hav>e to submit their views to him as the head of the state, and can, if necessary, lean upon a representative assembly, which is able to oppose the ministers, both, however, dependent upon public opinion. This is the form of monarchy towards wjjiich we must advance as speedily as possible in the interest of the governmmt and or the country. Perfect stillness prevailed in the chamber during this significant speech, and there is no doubt but that the words of M. Thiers will create a profound sensation throughout France, which is looking forward to a more perfect state of liberty than it now enjoys.

CHARGE AGAINST CAPTAIN SIMPSON. On Saturday Captain James Simpson, R.N., of her Majesty's ship Megyrra, now at Spithead, was charged with cruelly assaulting a boy named Charles Wallis, the son of a labouring man, residing in Devonport. The first count charged him with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm; the second was for false im- prisonment on the ship the third that he occasioned actual bodily harm and the fourth a common assault. Mr. Besley prosecuted on behalf of the Society for the Protection of Women and Children and, according to his statement, the boy, who was aged fourteen, was taken on board on the 10th of April as a helper, and the ship got under weigh before he was aware of it, or had finished his work. When he reported himself he was placed under arrest, and was afterwards severely beaten by the ship's corporal, another man holding one of his wrists. The beating was so severe that, ac- cording to the boy's statement, he could not sit or walk without pain. Evidence having been given as to the facts, Vice-Admiral Sir Lewis T. Jones and Captain Beckford, R.N., gave the prisoner a very high charac- ter for humanity, and the jury found the prisoner • guilty on all the counts, except that of falsely im- prisoning the boy, which was withdrawn by direction of the Recorder. The Recorder said, although he did not agree with the finding, he must give effect to the verdict, and sentenced the defendant to pay a Ine of 10W.

THE SHEFFIELD TRADES' UNION COMMISSION. The Sheffield Trades' Union Commission has con- cluded its efforts to ferret out the black secrets of the iniquitous proceedings of the unionists of that district. The latest revelations comprise the blowing-up of several obnoxious workshops-but we will give the evidence as taken down Frederick Jackson, secretary of the Naitmakers' Union at Belper, if, as he said, it deserved the name of a union at all -was examined by Mr. Overend as follows:—I believe Geore Worley was secretary in 1861 I was a memberof the union at that time. I am Secretary now, and I produce all the books I have. The witness was examined as to the mutilated condition of the books produced and the destruction of othsrs. He said They had not been destroyed because they contained entries that would not face the light. There was no entry of money paid for an improper purpose; no entry of money paid to any person for blowing up this house at Thorpe Hesley, It was said at the time that the union was implicated in it, and had paid a sum of money for it 1 do not know that such a sum, if it was paid, would appear in the book. Certainly it ought to. The union paid for the defence of the men at York-there were collec- tions for that purpose. The books have not been audited Fince I have been secretary, Rattening prevails in a number of trades, but not in ours.. It has been reported that bellows have been cut and such-like things been done, but that is not to my knowledge. I do not doubt but what it has some truth in it. Bellows have been cut Since I have been secre- tary, at least I have heard it snid so. A few weeks ago, for instance, it was reported that a man named Cornelius Southwell, living at Belper, had his bellows cut. It is possible that bellows have been out with the authority of the union. It has been so said out of doors, but I do not know that it has been talked of in the society. I believe that persons have been employed to cut bellows by the union, and that they have been paid out of the union funds. That has been a system that has been adopted by the union for many years past, I never heard of putting cans of gunpowder into a man's shop nr chamber, or anything of that kind besides the Thorpe Hesley affair. I know Charles Webster: he was the secretary at Belper. He was not the general secretary, but only a district secretary. The union is divided into several districts, and there is a secretary ap- pointed to each district. I am not aware that any of the district secretaries have paid money for putting powdof in a chimney. I certainly have never paid w y for such a purpose myself. Although I have heard it stated that the blowing up at Thorpe Hesley was done with the author ty of the union, I cannot say that I believe it to be true. It has been talked of out of doors. It is rather a delicate question to talk in the union. They are net very prudent who, talk about such things before the men. Bellows cutting was a thing adopted by the union. Charles Butcher, living at Thorpe Hesley, described the blowing up of their shops because they had refused to join the union. Isaac'Emanuel Watson, nailmakar, Rotherham, said: In 18611 lived in Chesterfield, and was working in the same shop as J oseph Tomlinson. I was not in the union. I re- member going to Thorpe Hesley with Joseph Tomlinson and Samuel Morton. We went to the shop of Joseph Hattersley, and put a can of powder down the chimney and lighted a fuse. The shop was blown up. On the same night we went to Charles Butcher's shop and served it the same Our reason, in the first place, was that we did not think they were doing right in working for less than the Rotherham men, and in the second place we were engaged to do it. I received letters bearing the Belper pott-mark, but no name. I burnt the letters because it was said, at the end of every letter 1, Burn as soon as read." The letters stated that the job wanted doing, and if we would do it we should be paid 81. for it. I did notknowthe handwriting. Ast-Dthe powder, I had a letter telling me to meet a certain train, When I should see a party who would give me a parcel. I went to the train, and a person put his head out of a carriage and asked me to get him a ticket for Whittington. I took the money and then I bethought me I might miss the parcel, so I said I was look- ing for a party who was to give me a parcel The man who had asked me to get him a ticket then handed me a parcel, and I went away. I didnot know the person. I never saw him before. I do not know him now. lsimply got the parcel and said nothing. I bought the cans at Chesterfield. I carried one of the cans with the powder in, and Tomlinson carried the other. We went by trainto Masborough and then walked, arriving between ten and eleven at night. We came back from Thorpe by another road. I knew the shops of the men that were blown up perfectly well, because I was brought up in the neighbourhood of Thorpe. To get paid I met the train by which the person went from Belper to Rotherham to pay the men on strike. As I did not find him I went on to Rotherham, to the Cutlers Arms, where the men held their meetings. The Rotherham men showed me the man from Belper, and he motioned me to go out He was a stranger to me, but I now believe it was Charles Webster, He paid me 2A. He asked me if my name was Watson, and I said yes. At this stage of the proceedings Webster was called in, and witness was asked if that was the man who paid him. He replied, I, believe it is, but I cannot swear it." SL was mentioned in the letters, and Proctor went to Belper and got the other pound. I was tried for the offence along with my brother James and Tomlinson. We attempted to prove an alibi, but were found guilty. After our conviction there was a strong representation made and we were let off. It was believed that the alibi was true, and we were set at liberty. The man did not say anything about not paying 81 He told me that was all he had; I should have the other money when I went over. We blew up the shops of Hattersley and Butcher, by putting powder down the chimney. We hung the powder down the chimney by a string, a fuse came to the top, and we lighted it We fastened the string to an iron hoop. The chimney was a low one; and we suspended the powder about six feet below the roof of the shop. We fired Butcher first and the people ran J about to look what had happened; and while they were all there we went to blow the other up, and did it immediately after the other. It was a quarter of a mile off. An elderly man, named Charles Webster, was next exa- mined, and deposed—In 1861 I was a member of the com- mittee of the Nailmakers' Union. I lived at Belper. The town was divided into five districts, and I had charge of one district, collecting the money, &c. The union had a quarrel with Mr. Favell as to price, and there was a kind of turn- out at Rotherham. The union thought Mr. Favell was pay- ing less wages than the men ought properly to receive and the men at Thorpe Hesley worked at the reduced prices against the will of the union. We had to support the men on strike, and went over from Belper to Rotherham weekly to pay them. Four of us went in turns. I went on the Monday before Christmas-day, which was the Monday after Hattersleyand Butcher were blown up. Watson, who has just been examined, came to me at Rotherham. I did not know him, but I asked if his name was Watson, and I paid him 2L as I had been ordered for "some work" "they had done at Thorpe Hesley. I did not write the letters. I was not the secretary at all and had nothing to do with It I do not know who did unless they were written by George Wor- ley, the secretary. I had to give all my books up when I ceaaed to be on the committee in 1862. Mr. Overend: Of course, having paid such a large sum as 2L to Watson you would enter that in your book f Witness: No, I do not believe I did. I do not think it ever was entered. Where did you get the money from?—The same place as I got the money to pay the men on.strii~<\ Who gave you the money?—Thte .an, James Beigh- toiL We«collected the money, and took it altogether on ton. Wetcorected the money, and took it altogether on Saturday night. I never paid anything to Tomlinson or Proctor. At the time I paid Watson at Rotherham he said, "Two pounds too little." I said "That is what I was ordered to pay." I knew about all these witnesses going over to York at the trial of these men to prove an aWn. The cost to the union of defending these men was probably 40J. or 502. There was a levy for the purpose. After some further evidence of no moment, Mr. Overend asked whether there was any person who could give information as to any case of intimidation, out- rage, or wrong, connected with either masters or men. If so, let them come forward. To this there was no reply. Mr. Overend then said the commissioners had finished all the matters brought before them, and had asked for further information of cases within the scope of the inquiry without receiving any reply. If now any person had any information they should be very glad to receive it. If no person Game forward to ;c.o. give information, the course they would adopt would be this :-On Monday at two o'clock they would re- ceive applications for certifi cat es from person;, who had given evidence and had criminated themselves, and would announce in open court 'to the applicants whether or not, in the opinion of the commissioners, they were in titled to receive them. The certificates would be obtained from Mr. Barker. If any person would rather not come himself, but preferred to be represented by an attorney, the Court would listen to such application just the same as if the application were made in person. After some further evidence bad been taken on Monday, Mr. Overend stated that he would now answer applications for certificates. Mr. Sugg applied for a certificate on behalf of Mr. Broad head. Mr. Overend said the Court considered that Mr. Broad- head was entitled to a certificate, but not to his costs. Where a witness had come forward in the first instance, and had told the whole truth, he would receive a certificate and his costs but where he had committed deliberate perjury, and had then marie a full confession in order to save himself from the consequences of that perjury, he would not receive his costs. Mr. Overenct further stated that each certificate would contain a list of the offences on which the holder had been examined. Mr. Sugg then applied for a certificate for Mr. Thomas Smith, secretary to the Sawmakers' Society, and an accessory after the fact to the Hereford-street outrage. The certificate was granted. Mr. Sugg applied for a certificate for Mr. George Peace, late a farmer at Dore, who had confessed to employing a man to shoot Elisba Parker. Mr. Overend said the certificate would be granted. Mr. Sugg applied for certificates for the secretaries of the file trade, on the ground of The Times having raised a ques- tion whether picketing was not an offence within the Act. -Certifleates were granted. Mr. Sugg asked for a certificate for Renshawe, the man who blew up Wastridge's house in Acorn-street.—Granted. In the matter of certain secretaries who had destroyed books the Court held that a certificate was not required. The certificate of Joseph Thompson, secretary to the Scissor Forgers' Union, was withheld, on the ground that he had not made a full disclosure. Skidmore and Barker, the former president of the Saw Makers' Union, and the latter secretary to the Saw Handle Makers' Union, received certificates. Certificates were promised for Hallam and Crookes. George, alias "Putty" Shaw applied for a certificate for rattening, which was granted. Joseph Copley, William Fearnley, and Tucker Clarke re- ceived certificates for the various cffences to which they hail confessed. The decision in the case of Samuel Cutler, concerned In the Acorn-street affair, was deferred till Tuesday. There being no more applications for certificates, Mr. Overend made a brief speech, in the course of which he thanked the mayor and town council of the borough for the assistance rendered, and also acknowledged that the commission had received great support from both the leading papers of the town. At the conclusion of the learned Chief Commissioner's ob- servations, there was considerable applause from the specta- tors, which was not checked.

A GRAND SPECTACLE. The Rome correspondent of The Times gives the following interesting particulars of a grand ceremony which has just taken place there to celebrate the fCte of the centenary of St. Peter:- Two hundred years have passed away since the F§te of the Centenary of St. Peter was celebrated. In that interval thrones and dominions, principalities and Powers, have been swept into oblivion, while the Church of Rome exists, and, externally, never pre- sented a grander phase than it did on the present occasion. What Pius IX. felt and thought as he was borne into the centre of this gorgeous scene it would he impossible to conceive. Leaving his chair and ascending his throne, he stood for several minutes as if transfixed, cardinals and bishops, with their lighted tapers, surrounding him, and a sea of heads surging and stretching away to the extreme distance. I thought he looked pale, and no wonder if he did for if a heretic trembled with emotion, what must have been the sensations of one who regarded himself as the representative of the Great Apostle whose centenary they were celebrating, the very cen- tre and depositary of tenth Yet there were no in- dications of weakness in his voice, which was as firm and clear as I ever heard it. The cardinals having paid their homage by kissing the knee of his Holiness, the great function of the day, the canonisation of the martyrs, began. To Roman Catholics the ceremony which added so many advocates to those already before the Throne of Grace was most interesting, and every- thing that art could supply was borrowed to make it more effective. When all was ready the cardinal charged to conduot the canonisation advanced to the throne, accompanied by a master of ceremonies and an advocate of the consistory, who in the name of the Cardinal begged insianler that his Holiness would permit the names of the twenty-five Beati to be en- rolled in the catalogue ot saints. The Prelate Secretary of the Brcfs ad Principes replied in Latin that the Holy Father was weN acquainted with their virtues, but before deciding on so important an affair exhorted that intercession should be made to the Apostles and all the Court of Heaven for light to guide him. The Pope and all the mitred host then knelt, while two singing chaplains intoned the Litany of the saints, the ecclesiastics joining in, and the vast multitude in the churoh responding as with the voice of many waters. There is a plaintive monotony in the notes, which is very touching, and, familiar as they are to the members of the Roman Catholic Church, not a voioe was silent, and a body of sound rose and swelled through the vast edifice that made one's nerves thrill with emotion. The same forms being observed as in the first in- stance, a second time the cardinal advanced, and the request was made mstanter et instantius that the Beati should be canonized, when, in answer, prayers to the Holy Spirit, the source of light and holi- ness, were implored. Again the Pope and his pre- lates knelt and prayed, and, rising, his Holiness intoned the Veni Creator Spiritus with a voice so clear and loud, and with a precision so remarkable, that people looked upon one another with astonish- ment. A third time the postulants advanced, and intreated insta,nter instantius, et instantisserne that the canonization should take place, aad an answer was returned that the Holy Father, convinced that the act was approved by (jrod, would now pro- nounce his definitive decision, which he accord- ingly did, seated in his chair of State, with his mitre on his head. After some other forms the Cmficier/iue, or Decemimus, was repeated, the silver trumpets sounded, the cannon roared from St. Angelo, and all the bells in the city were rung for joy at the consummation of the hopes of the Church. The Pope now intoned the Te Deum, that fine old Ambrosian hymn. Oh, how grandly it rose and died away, as it was sung by the choir, and was then taken up by 40,000 voices, pealing forth with a power which lifted one above the world, and then dying away, as if the effort was too great for the human soul to sustain. That glorious hymn, chanted as it was by tens of thousands in union, will ring in my ears for ever, and I found myself joining in the universal song of praise, not as a Roman Catholic with Roman Catholics, but as a Christian man with his fellow-man in ac- knowledgment of that Great Power whom we all worship; 11 igh mass was performed immediately after the conclusion of the ceremony of canonization. It presents no peculiarity until we come to the offertory, which on this occasion included the presentation of the offerings made to the Pope by the friends of the new saints, or the religious Orders to which they belonged. During the whole of the morning they lay on tables on the left of the high altar. They con- sisted first of five large wax candles, weighing two of them 60 Roman pounds and three 121b. each These were beautifully painted with flowers, intermingled with arabesque, in gold and silver. Secondly, two large loaves, on silver salvers, one of which was gilt, j bearing the arms of the Pontiff. Thirdly, two barrels, one plated with gold, the other with silver, filled, one with wine and the other with water. Fourthly, three cages of elegant construction, in one of which were two turtle doves, in another two pigeons and in the third various small birds of different kinds. Each saint presented the offerings above described, and the ceremony was conducted with great pomp. As many saints so many processions, each formed by two mace- bearers and a master of the ceremonies, two cardinals preceded by their gentlemen, and followed by two members of the Order to which the saint belonged, or by two priests or laymen, the postulator of the cause and two other cardinals with their gentlemen bringing up the rear. The ceremony therefore continued for some time, and daring this interval we were indulged with a Litany composed expressly for the occasion by the well- known soprano Mustafa, in which the names of the new saints were introduced for the first time. To give effect to the music three several choirs were formed, one of which was placed, under the direction of Mustafa, near the High Altar; another over the great window at the entrance of. the church, directed by Melizzi; and a third, composed of 400 voices, in the cupola, under the direction of Copocei. Such delicious music surely was never heard, as the duleet I ones floated in a series of echoes through the vast building-first rising from earth in a full body of sound, then gradually diminish- ing in power, though not in distinctness, and then softly breathing forth as though they were angels' whispers. As the High Mass proceeded, and the incensebegan to spread its misty veil over every object, nothing could exceed the beautiful effect of colour. His Holiness took the sacrament in both kinds; the benediction was .given, and the long expected cere- monies of a day which will mark an important epoch in the history of the Church were over. The Times has a leading article on the above, from which we extract the following The eighteenth centenary of the martyrdom of St. Peter is an occasion to justify a, solemn celebration, and an immense concourse of those who look to that Apostle as the first in their line of spiritual chisfs. Throughout the regions of civilization and authentic knowledge, there is no succession such as that which dates from the Galilean Fisherman who preached in the metropolis of the Roman Empire what he had seen and heard, and who sealed his testimony with his blood. Even they who demur to the indirectness of the evidence upon which faith eagerly believes that which it has not seen have to admit that for about eighteen hundred years there has been a community of Christians at Rome, under a Government of its own, and naturally sharing the importance of the greatest city in the world. In one way or the other, by right and by wrong, by fair means and by foul, Rome be- came the capital of Christendom. No power can claim so lofty a pretension, or so long a portion of earth's annals. The oldest dynasties are but children in the scale, the greatest Empires ephemeral. Nor is the pre- sent occasion the*least'in the long series of critical emergencies that make up her eventful history. The national sentiment, one of the strong things that Rome could once grind to powder, has now advanced to the very gates of Rome and insulated the Chairof St. Peter from all the Thrones of the world. It has absorbed small States and divided Empires. The arts and sciences have their jubilees, and all the tribes of humanity gather at successive capitals to vie in works of useful- ness and achievements of skill and genius. The great Catholic, Greek, Lutheran, and even Mahommedan Powers come, like the Kings of the East to the cradle of science, and proclaim its increasing triumphs. Free trade and religious freedom assist to found a wide-world union, in which creeds are to be resigned to the conscience of the individual. At such a time, then, when peace and war, and that wisdom of the world which does more than either arts or arms, seem all to be banded together for one final effort against spiritual pretensions, the Church of Rome once more takes its stand before the world, points to its Divine origin, and traces the golden chain which links it to all that is past and all that is to come. Another correspondent, writing on a later date, furnishes the following Consistories and receptions have followed rapidly on each other. In one of the earliest of the former the Pope spoke for the first time in a public consistory ana declared it to be his intention to summon a general council. His Holiness was so moved that his attendants were compelled to unrobe him hastily from fear of his fainting and take him to a private apartment. He soon recovered, however, from his emotion. On: the 25th of June there was a giant reception of the priests, at which 9,000 were present, and half that number again were outside unable to enter for want of room. An anecdote is told of Pius IX. on this occasion which is characteristic, and is, I am assured, true. A coloured priest, unacquainted with Italian, knelt before him and endeavoured to express him- self in Latin, though unsuccess ully. His Holiness then gave him his benediction, adding sotto vote Figlio mio, come sei brutto!"—"My son, how ugly thou art!" Pius IX., as you know, cannot refrain from his joke. On Sunday evening Prince Balviati had a monster reception, at which all the world, clerical and lay, were present. Each day of the Octave of St. Peter has its serious occupations in the morning and its amusements in the evening, One day the Pope visited the Church of St. Pudenziana, built, as it is said, on the site of the first residence of St. Peter, and in the evening the Prince Borghese gave a series of entertain- ments in the gardens or grounds of his villa to the Senatum Popwlumque Roma/mm. There were races with bigce con- structed after the antique, and driven with two herses each, by men dressed in the ancient Greek costume. Horse racing followed, in which I shrewdly guess ten menibtrs of an equestrian troop—five men and five women-performed, and were greeted with shouts of applause. All were ac- coutred in scarlet. There vats vocal and instrumental music too, and the whole terminated with the ascent of a balloon. Simple amusements enough, but it was pleasant to see some 50,000 people enjoying themselves so thoroughly in the open air amidst the trees of the Villa Borghese. The other morning the Pope visited the traditional Prison of St. Paul, under the Church of Santa Maria in Via Lata, and now the Corso is blazing with a spiral illumination of gas, and all the Piazzas are crowded with people listening to bands of music. Thus, priests and laymen are provided with what is supposed to be best suited to the r tastes, and if the laity do not partici- pate much in the occupations of the priests, the latter enter into all the enjoyments.of the people. There were shoals of them in the Borghese Gardens one night, and it was pleasant to see them laying aside the manner of the altar.

FIRE DAMP AT SEA, A most deplorable accident, resulting from the explo- sion of fira-aamp, occurred earlyon Sundaymoming at sea, in the English Channel, on board a steam screw collier, Mary Nixon, on her voyage to Hamburg, with a cargo of steam coals, and, considering the extensive damage the vessel sustained, it is somewhat surprising she did not immediately founder. Unfortunately several of her crew are not expected to survive from the effects of the injuries they sustained. The Mary Nixon was a steamer of nearly 600 tons, commanded by Captain Brown, she had taken a cargo of coals at Cardiff, and the usual precautions appear to have been taken in keeping the hatches off, and permitting a current of air to pass over the can?o. Nevertheless, a large quantity of gas seems to have collected in the fore-hold near the forecastle, and it was here the explosion occurred the Bteamer was then about twenty-five miles off Berry Head, and about six o'clock in the morning the accident occurred, blowing up the deck and scattering the wreck inaJl directions, besides breaking the beams and doing such extensive damage that it was fully expected the vessel would go down head foremost. There were seven of the crew in that part of the vessel at the time—viz., Captain Brown the master; Henry Pallsteed, car- penter David Young, boatswain; William Adding- ton, Matthew Broom, Edward O'Connell, William Smith, and Michael Ryan—all firemen. For some time the poor fellows were partially buried and jammed under the broken fragments, suffering shock- ingly from burns and fracturcd limbs. The remaining portion of the crew were for a time paralyzed, not knowing what to do. At length, however, discovering that the ship was not making much water, they bore up for Dartmouth, where they arrived, at about eleven o'clock on Sunday morning. On the catastrophe becoming known to the officers of Her Majesty's ship Britannia the boats were sent with sailors and marines to the Mary Nixon, in order to convey the sufferers ashore. The surgeons and medical officers of the ship also attended on them. On reaching the shore they were placed is comfortable quarters, where every at- tention and kindness were shown, but it was appre- hended that same of the firemen could not survive their injuries many hours. -z¡]

MRS, YELVERTON IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS. MNJ. Yelverton's case was concluded on Tuesday, and their lordships took time to consider their decision. The announcement that the appellant would address the House in person brought down an immense number of ladies who, however, were for tke most part unable to gai, t admittance, the area below the bar being very limited. On the case being called on, the Appellant expressed a fear that she should be unequal to the task of finishing her reply in one day, aa she felt greatly exhausted in consequence of having beeil tip nearly the whole night in endeavouring to master the points of the reply drawn <i|> by her counsel, whose 'writing she found it extremely difficult to decipher. The Lord Chancellor -aid. the appellant was scarcely keeping faith with the House. Their Lordships had done everything to accommodate her, and she must recollect that these postponements were very incon- venient to the other side. Her case had been fully opened at the commencement, and therefore the House would require her to-procetd at once with her reply. Mr. Anderson said that as it was a peculiar case he should not object to the learned counsel for the ap- pellant (Mr. Campbell Smith) proceeding with the reply. The Lord Chancellor said that would bo breaking through a rule which should in no case be departed from. The appellant said she would do the best iille could under the circumstances. After some cD-nsultatioi). with the other noble and learned Lords, the Lord Chancellor said that if the appellant thought she was unable to undergo the fatigue of going through the case their Lord- ships were of opinion-that under the circumstances the case might be treated as an exceptional one. On account of the illness of the appellant they would hear her counsel, but if she began she must tmieh her reply herself. They could not permit her to break off in the middle and then hear her counsel. Her counsel might, however, sit by her sida and make suggestions to her as she proceeded. The appellant then proceeded to read her reply as prepared by counsel. The whole address was of a dry legal character, and it was rendered still less interesting by the fact that she waa unable to read it fluently in consequence of the difficulty she experienced in deciphering the writing. After she had proceeded for upwards of three hours, she came to a passage which she altogether failed to make out. Mr. Anderson, to whom she handed the paper, said that the passage was perfectly illegible. The Lord Chancellor said under these circumstances their Lordships would permit Mr. Campbell Smith to read the remainder of the reply, on the condition that he confined himself to what appealed within the four corners of the written reply. Mr. Campbell Smith then finished the legal argu- ment. Their Lordships having adjourned for half an hour, in order to give the appellant time to rest and refreshment, The Appellant proceeded to say that this unfortunate case had brought to light the anomalous state of the marriage laws of the three Kingdoms—a purely civil contract In Scot- land. the marriage law in Ireland was a tyrannical, fanatical, religious one. In the latter country, if a man prof eased himself a Protcstant by going to church and sacrilegiously receiving the Holy Sacrament for the first time in his life, he could then possess himself, with -11 the formalities and religious ceremomes prescribed by law, of the person and property of any Catholic lady his evil eye might have fallen upon, and then turn her adrift to ignominy, poverty, and shame by setting up his Protestantism—by setting up his religion as the cloak and shield of the vilest crimes-the mockery of his God on His consecrated altar, the defiance of His laws in His very temple, and the worse than murder of his helpless victim. Such was the existing law in Ireland- law, framed in the dark hour of religious persecution, remaining on the statute-book as a snare only for the inno- cent. She objected to the attempt that had been made by the other side to change the defender in this ease, and to substitute Mrs. Forbes for Major Yelvertoa. It was no longer his rights that were urged, but those of Mrs. Forbes, which were to be respected at the expense of those of the appellant. Setting aside for a moment the individual rights of a poor woman, there was a wider question to be settled, which concerned society at large, and that noble House to particular, for in the future a peerage would be at stake. Major Yelverton would then be no more, but his secret would be for ever locked therein, and years of litigation must neces- sarily ensue, and the rightful heir to Barry Yelverton might or might not be able to establish his rights. Evidence now available, therefore, should be taken in time. The appel' lant concluded by saying. It may be, my Lords, that bringing about the long-wished for goal, the end of this wearying strife is but the Irail plank which buoys me np for a moment only to ink beneath me, and leave me a prey to the boisterous waves of Ufa alone unprotected. It may be that, instead of giving me the relief I seek, ft ie butthe renewal of strife: but my heart and soal are vowed to live or perish in the truth, and until it is recognised the uik of heaven cannot shine for me or the lap of earth cradle me in its sweetness. Yet will I not argue gainst heaven's iwwt nor bate one J" Of bOOn w hope, but stUl bear up mkd u, right onward. H I have made my laat appeal to yow lord- ships; bnt my prayer will ever be. "Judkaaae, Dew, et disoerne caassxa mtmm de gent* on sanota; m lwwriiw iniquoet doloeo enu me." After BOOM consultation, the Lord Chancellor inti- matedthat th«ir Lordship* WVttld take to «•»-

A SOUTHERNER'S SKETCH OF MR. SEWARD. A correspondent of the Charleston, S. C., Metmiry, who particularly attended the presidential party, upon its late tour through North Carolina, gives what he styles a word or two concerning Mr. Seward:— If a stranger were told that that careless looking old man, with a dingy beaver half covered with dingier crape, his clothe3 hanging so loosely around a hundred and forty pounds of flesh that they fit nowhere, a cigar between his teeth, and a walking-stick in hand, was the great Secretary of State, said stranger would imagine that somebody was poking fun at him. He would be undeceived, however, by looking the curions statesman closely in the face. He would see a noble forehead brimful of intellect, somewhat cut up by wrinkles, losing itself in the shadows of a mass of short, almost briaky white hair, a pair of restless eyes, for ever roaming about under the shaggy gray shrubbery across the brows, which, when he chooses, hides them from view; a nose that arches boldly out as if it intended that its parabolic curve should reach the chin; a nose such as Napoleon used to select when he wanted a good general; a nose that means free respiration, racehorse spirit, and indomitable v-iiii. a nose which it is some comfort to blow a nooe for whose wonderful style and dimensions there need be no copywriglit. and Mr. Seward knows it. The mouth and ehin are full, large, generous, clean-shaven, and you can see the lines of good humour frolicking all round the neigh- bourhood as if they felt at home. The contour of the features is somewhat marred by what appears to be an enlargement of the jaw-bone on one side, resulting pro- bably from the injury received in the midnight assault of Payne, but this detracts nothing from the expres- sion of a remarkably expressive face. The bluish gray eyes alone are incomprehensible. They have expres- sion, a world of it, but they defy sober analysis. You can't tell whether the man is going to laugh, or cry until you see the fun stealing down towards his breeches pockets, and shaking the vest buttons en route. He looks as if his reverie loit was always in a ferment, and himself up among the cobwebs solving some pro- blem. I can liken him to nothing created save a sly gray old rat sitting on the corner wi b-is hole and diag- nosing a bag or corn. Forbidding as is his aspect, however, Seward is said to be kind, genial, unap- proachable, and humorous, full of good points, diplomatic to a fault.