The Brecon County Times Neath Gazette and General Advertiser for the Counties of Brecon Carmarthen Radnor Monmouth Glamorgan Cardigan Montgomery Hereford

I' THE BAT PLR OF BLUNDER. (From the Ac-las.) (Being an extract from a comic history, written in the 29th century, referring to a battle which never took place.) It would appear tmit, some time past, the middle of the 19th. CMit-ury, in fact, iu the years 1866-7, our ancestor|f having long failed in their endeavours to re-establish the May-pole, deposed by the Puri- tans, came into po.s-.vs>i n oi a Wall-pole, which they ereetcil. in a higii place, and wnich was not long in' manifesting its peculiar propensities for, strange to say, it was a human, indeed a humane article, too—though, if anything, too flexible for its height This high, and iu many respects, estimable digni- tary (for such, joking apart, the title implies), about July, 1866, naturaliy became jealous of the ancient rusty railings in llyUe JL'ark, as being not sufficiently exclusive, raasmuca -as they could he seen through, and the public eye had therefore an indefeasible user in the green; and to make a wall of himself instead, and Consequently to be in 'an immense number of places at one and the same time, led to their being pulled down at the famous "Battle of Blues," or Black-ami-Biues. as it was after- warJs called froin the number of damaged con- stables who vainiv endeavoured to support him by force—Might and Mayne being two powers often resorted to, in those days, to settle questions of Rig ht. The Wall-pole, huwever, not much, -discouraged, -aiter many tears and. slight hysteria, to set hi rDself up again fur good and all, like his anti-prototype, in the beginning of May (1867), as being the proper season and for this reason claimed all Hyde-park for himself, and-de- termined to arm the nati n to eject any intruders. The great lapse of tune has rendered the causes of all these matters rather obscure. It is., however, abundantly clear, that there was then a -sect called fie formers—not Lutherans so far as it appears —who resisted the claims of his highness the wall-pole. It is as well te mention, ouce for all, that this double title is not quite equivalent with that of T-ai-Coori, or indeed any other imperial Coon, anarae^eC honour inthese our days, tin- ,h then not so, save with our two-sworded. allies, the Japanese, who possessed the singular privilege of having their head-s cut off on both sides at once, and by persons of each sex familiarly termed in their language, Harry and Carry. To return, however, to the Reform question, it is believed, by some to have originatecL in the desire of this pai-tj—called the Reform League, from its meetings generally covering three miles of ground -to to the Britannia on the copper coiaage, and obliterate the shield and lion, or 4o leave out -the "JB. G." in the style-of the Sovereign, to meet the views of one Broad Laugh, who, how- ever, being, iit is said, an Atheist, probably never existed at all, except as sound asd 1 ury signifying nothing." -Byothers, there is -stated to have been a thing of monstrous birth, called. "The Compound Householder," who had the faculty of residing either in three-thirds of a place, or three places at once and also-the-strange property-of being always some- body else as -well as himself. While there was-also in existence another, called The Lodger," who had an equal facility of residing .-nowhere—at least, as understood ;by the Wall-pole and his colleagues. Both of these creatures of huge and terrific aspect, insisted on being at the same time advaittedinto the Suffrage," a small, snug building, occupied mostly by the Wail-poleiaus; but ""which, must not be confounded with the Magazine Barracks in the park," and which was manifestly too little for the purpose. Coon this being declared, the Reformers are said to have answered, That the park -was large enough atanv rate" (which is the origin of the present proverb), and determined to resort thither in swarms. The Government, however, supporting their Minister, and believing personal amiability far snore essential than fitness for high public stations and duties, resolved to resist, and made gigantic preparations accordingly. Troops of all colours, sorts, and sizes were poured into London. So full 'was the town of the British Army (as it -was called I.before the time of the Pananglican Imperial Federa- tion), that the Most Effulgent, the Officers of the Life Guards (centuries ago-extinct), were positively obliged 'to feleep with -cuirasses and spurs on, and to make tea in their helmets, in ,t livery stable near the scene of a-etion. Universal terror prevailed, or didn't prevail, it is xot clear which; sorae forces were called in ;anA others were called out; thousands and thousands of the lioval Roberts Blue—disrespectfully called Bob- bies by the people, from an alleged habit of bobbing" -under fire-or Peelers, from their onerous duty of removing orange-peel from the pavements—were mustered, horse and foot, all their legs having -been lengthened and converted. on the telescope principle by Captain Palisade; but whether the quicker to advance or to .escape, remains uncer- tain. A considerable body, o'l special, if not over .particular, constables were enrolled before two o'clock, and a far greater number were not enrolled after two o'clock, inasmuch,as they did not present themselves for the purpose, -remembering Fairfax :rather tharc Cromwell, and being too wise to be there." Recalling classic precedent, the Marble Arch-a hollow thing, it seems, after all, in spite of its solid appearance in ancient drawings (saving the tell-tale chimney-pots)—was, like the horse of Troy, filled with armed men unseen by the unsus- ,p -n pecting sheep-in the Park, and preparations were made for executing and quartering captured traitors on its summit. The state of things was duly told to the Marines the Navy also ;.w- as pressed into the service—the Wall-pole with the aid of the Paeking-Ton-a heavy official who could, however, fit anything into any thing else, and for whom no Admiralty feat was too muck, whether possible or otherwise, having lifted an ironclad by the .stem and stern-hence our pre- sent saving "By'Stem and by ste--n"-sheer from the Thames to the. Serpentine-water, the site of the present winter-gardens, opened to the public in the year 2750 by His .Most Exalted Imperial Majesty ALBERT VJLCTOK XXXVth. But concerning this, it is recorded, a state-difficulty arose, end the then Duke of Edinburgh, svho occupied the post of Royal Sailor, having declined to command theaiaval opera- tions, was immediately banished to Germany. The Monarch, the renowned Victoria 1. (and. ever first) alarmed, or more probably serenely smiling, had already betaken herself to the sea- coast-it. being thought unwise, on the whole, to encourage ithepre- cedents of;Charles I.'s time. The Prince of Wales, whose agreeable portrait still adorns the Hallof Kings, had fled the day before to Trafalgar-square, where he sought refuge in the Academy "-a word derived not from A cad Demy, a,aonentical institution of classical Oxford, but rather from a, privative, aed theCopto-Chaldaic vrordKaddmi, signifyingthe "life of art," and which was then the place of execution for paintersJKo one appears to have pursued him, or the fugitive nobles with him, on account of the terrors of the region, which is not surprising., as there were, if avything, more than forty of the academicians hanging on the line at the time. The Lions, whichhve nevel: looked well since they were put into mourning by the mob for ex-President of England Beales, M.A.the remarkable fact concern- ing whom is, that he was always ex-President from the first-arc- said to have turned a blank astonished stare on the flying steps of the descendant of the Guelfs-so manyeenturies noted as a timidfamily (!), but.nevertheless, his illustrious highness succeeded' in spite of his fears, in finding the secret spring of the door that opened into the Elysian Fields, and had a pleasant quarter of an hour with The Philip, R.A., The R-A-beiais, and The dis-R-A-Eli, the son of the Curiosities of Literature, and witnessed the fraternization of the created with their creators in a real Spanish castle, when some impossibilities were happily realized, according to appointment, (See the account in the "Collected Speeches," of one of the Wall-pole's colleagues, The Dizzy- Really p") I 0 Meanwhile, the 2,000,000,000,000 Roughs, exactly agreeing with the number predicted by The Cum- ming of those days (no relative however of l'he Good Time Cumming) all dressed in green, and carrying boughs, and followed by bow-wows advanced upon the Park. The Darby, looked upon by the Retormers as a Fetter or Instrument of restraint, and who was at once the chief of the Wall- pole, and a great national Race-a union we find it hard to understand in these latter days, except as to his own race, always great and noble, and a national pride, fearing, it is said, the gout, and his colleagues the go-out—kept within doors. It is to this advance of the Roughs that Shakespeare is said to have prophetically referred in the mystic allusion to Birnam, or Burn'em, in Macbeth or else the Roughs probably took the Wall-pole for the High Wood (not the then Lord Halifax) of Dunce Inane, on account of the void of common, or park, sense about him. JSo exact portraits have come down, either of ex-President Beales or of oue Colonel Dickson (said .1 to have been a very tine man), or the one Irish leader, probably a great unknown, to judge by his name, which, perhaps, signifies the same as "Desdichado" in the "Ivanhoe" of the immortal Scott. To be brief, the battle raged loud and long through the lovely evening; the slaughter was immense, and yet the good, hearty, jovial Public, which was massed between the opposing hosts, being clad with an invulnerable material, equally com- poun ed of contempt and "apathy" (according to The Darby) never received a shot! There was, however, a very severe mitraille-of nuts and oranges. Some say that the Beales, from whom his aspiring party was afterwards called the Be-AU's, likewise hinted at by the Ortolan of Avon-as" at once the Be-AU's and the End-All's here" was executed on the top of the arch, amid the solemn rites of Freemasonry, according to the plan of the Wall- pole, in this respect showing himself a Scaffold-pole others, that he escaped, and only committed political suicide from a neighbouring balcony, by declaring he meant to continue the general nuisance of mobbing. It is at any rate established, that when the trumpets of the League sounded, the Wall-pole, no more fortunate than its less bedewed or tearful predecessor, fell down with a crash like the Wall of •Jericho—Walls and Poles appearing to have alike possessed this weakness since the earliest days- when the good, hearty, but apathetic Public (thinking perhaps "a plague o' both your Houses") laughed so prodigiously loud and long from millions of chests in consequence, that the vibration shook down the Beales platform, and the Be-All's on to the top of the Wall-pole and the United Roughs danced the Carmagnole round the wreck, hand-in-hand with the Specials, to the tune of Here we go round the Wall-pole! the Wall-pole! the Wall- pole! "-the Specials, like good Generals, being armed to a man with short pipes, :and, for this occasion only, exhibit- ing their wonderfkl power of becoming invisible ait will! It remains only to say that, astounding as it may seem, and though miracles were then thought im- possible—but we know all about them now-every singlesonl got up again after the carnage, without the slightest trace of injury'! and all London, ■sauntering quietly home to partake of the now 'extinct, but once famous Chinese weed, with another —still extant—weed in its motifs, were convulsed for days with.almost inextinguishable merriment, and good-humoured laughter at the expense of the Wall-pole, the Beales, and the Be-AU's alike, with their notable Battle of Blunder! —————————————————— —————————————— The O'Do.'no.'gkue," <probably rcteted to The O.Jecne.sais," or O'Shsuassy."

RATING OF SCHOOLS AND CHARITIES Lord Derby receivers/large deputation in Downir.g- street, on Thursday, to bear their representations upon the rating of schools and charities. The recent decision in the House of Lords in the case of the Mersey Docks and tire Court of Queen's Bench, in the case if the British Orphan Asylum, to the effect that all buildings r of; n charitable or eleemosynary character" mast be rated to the relief of'the poor and the almost imme- diate assessment by the parochial authorities of-schools, hospitals, and other similar institutions in London, Birmingham, and Worcester, raised a strong feeling of opposition to -the new interpretation of the law. Meetings were accordingly held in various parts of the country, and thj practical issue was the depu- "tfttkm of Thursday. It numbered over one hun- ■dred, and included xepresciitativ" from Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Carlisle, Dorchester, Worcester, Manchester, Gateshead, Gloucester, Hertford, Hull, Ipswich, Leicester, Newcastle, Northampton, Salisbury, Stafford, Southampton, Shrewsbury. Winckcsfcer, and Wolverhampton. The Earl of Staftesbury, Xord Lyve- ■ den, Mr. Baines,.M.P., Archbishop Manning, Mr. Dal. gUsh. M.P., Mr. Ivinnaird, At.P.- I\li-. Holden, M.P., Mr. Knight, M.P., Mr. J..A. Smith, M.P., and numer- ous clergymen, were present. The deputation-was introduced by the Earl of Shaftes- bury, who delivered an address. Other speeches were ■made by Mr. Scholefield, M.P., Mr. Dickson, of Bir- mingham, Sir .Mordaunt Wils, Archbishop Maa- ,ning, M.P., Mr. Smith, M.P., the President of the Wcsleyan -Conference (the -Rev. -Z Mr. Arthur), Mr. Keeling, and M'. Kuigfct. Each gentleman cited instances of the injur,OPS consequences that would follow the rating Qf, chnrita&le institutions, and a memorial, prepared by the Birmiffig- hsm committee, and adopted hy. the representatives from other towns, was presented to the Premier, -as ex- pounding their views and wishes. The main points insisted upon were, that thesc e&aritable institutions, by being rated, would be suddenly deprived .of an exemp- tion which they have always enjoyed, and which, from the passing of the original Poor-law (43 Ili¡; cap. 2), ■ has been held to. be. the true construetion-af the statutes upon the matter, and that unless the imposition be re- moved many schools, hospitals, and dispensaries must be < either extinguished, or their beneficial operations largely diminished. The noble earl who introduced the deputation particularly pointed oat how the Rugged- school movcmcatiTOuld suffer; and the lion, member for;Leeds characterized the practical effect of the de- cisions as oppression, of the poor." .Lord Derby (who had previously corrected one of.tiie speakers, when.he -spoke of the decisions as law") thanked the deputation for their attendance and for their statements. Those -statements be bad listened to only on account of rthe high respectability-of the meet- ing, bet also because of the intrinsic importance of the subject they had brought before his notice. In his judgment a strong prima facie case had been made out. (Cheers.) Of course he was not expected on an occasion like this .to ;cay more. He would, however, take care that at the earliest time the question should be brought .-under the notice of his colleagues. The attcn- tion of,the Government would be given rto it, and if they found that consistently with their duty they could afford the;charitable institutions of the country the de-f sired relief, .nothing .would give hm greater.satisfaction. (Cheers.) Lord Shaftesbury .thanked Lord Derby, .in the name of the deputation, at the ebse of the proceedings. of the deputation, at the ebse of the proceedings.

————== Miss Kate Terry is about to retire from the.stage. The new Amphitheatre, flolborn, will open on Satur- ,day, the 25th inst. Ruth," a new oratorio by Herr Otto Gold-echmidt, has been accepted for the Hereford Festival. The Strand Music Hall was put up to auction on Wednesday. It ,is,.said,that,itwill be converted into a synagogue. Offenbach has gone to Vienna to superintend the production of his latest work, tfea Grande Duchess de Gerolstein." Wachtel has settled a life income on the singing mis- press YJho taught him Abe-elements-of his ai-t. Elijah has been lately performed in Milan at the Conservatory there, and with considerable success. Mozart's "L'Oca del Cairo," or rather the fragments of the opera which exist, is shortly to be given at the Fantaisies Parisiennes. of the opera which exist, is shortly to be given at the Fantaisies Parisiennes. "I St. Petersburg is not to lie deprived of its Italian I Opera. The theatre is to be re-opened os a new foot- ing in September. The fourteen appearances of Wachrel in Hamburg ¡ brought in 9.000 thalers. On leaving the town he was publicly crowned' wit h laurels. Mdlle, Carlatta Patti continues to astoiiisti the Parisians. Mostof the French journals record her efforts in favourable terms. An ad:iptation of Goethe's Egmout for the English stage has been accepted by Mr. W. II. Swanborough for production at Sadler's Wells. Lortzin-g's Czaar «nd Zimmermann. the opera hy which he will be the longest remembered, is about to be given at the Thfátre dela Monnaie, Brussels, Madame Corelli's musical réunions will take place at the Queen's Concert Rooms every Tuesday and Thurs- day evenings^ during- the season. On Saturdays an afternoon performance takes place. It is stated that Signer Verdi's Don Carlos," fit the Grand Opera, is considered a failure on the other hand, that M. Gounod's "nomeo" has been received with every sign of enthusiastic admiration. Miss Kate Bateman (Mrs. Crow), who has been seriously ill for many months, is now convalescent. Her illness was the result of poison accidentally imbibed in the filling of'a tooth. Mr. Walter Macfarren is beginning bis series. Next week Mr..Joseph Barnby'e Choir (headed by a name of good promise) commences its operations. Something of novelty is promised in the "Pianoforte Recitals" of iicrr Schubcrtb. The St. James's Theatre has been taken by M. Raphael Felix, a brother of the celebrated French actress Rachel, for a series of performances in French, from the 24th of June to the 20th of July. The principal performers will be M. Ravel and Mdile. Dcschamps.. The Herefordshire Philharmonic Society, which consists of musical amateurs amonir the gentry of Here- fordshire and surrounding counties, have commenced chamber concerts. The first ,N,s given on Wednesday afternoon in the Shire Had, Hereford. There was a full audience.

THE FEN fAS. I TRIAL OF JOHN M'CAFFERTY. The Court for Crown Cases Reserved sat on Satur- ) day last for the purpose of delivering judgment in the case of the Queen v. John M'Cafferty. The Lord Chief Justice, Chief Justice Mouahan, the Lord Chief Baron, Mr. Justice Keogh, Mr. Justice O'Brien, Mr. Baron Hughes, Mr. Justice Fitzgerald, Mr. Baron Deasy, Mr. Justice O'Hagan, and Mr. Justice George took their seats on the bench at a quarter before 11 O'CIOCK. The case -having been called on, the Lord Chief Justice called on Mr. Justice George, as junior Judge, to deliver judgment, the Court being divided in opinion. Mr. Justice George then pro-eeded to deliver judgment. Having referred to the frame of the indictment, and to the evidence given against the prisoner by the approver Corydon and others relative to the Chester affair, his Lordship said the case reserved was in the following terms :— After the aforesaid evidence had been given, it was proposed on the part of the Crown further to give evi- dence of the insurrection and acts of war which occurred on the night of the 5th of Alai,cb,. 1867, and thereupon counsel on behalf ef the prisoner objected to the reception of such evidence upon the ground that the defendant had been since the 23rd of February, and was on the raid 5th of March, a prisoner in custody in Mountjoy Prison, and that the acts of others while he was so in custody ought not to be received as evidence and fur- ther, that the defendant was not legally responsible for the acts of others after his arrest. We ruled that the evidence was admissible. At the close of the whole case counsel on behalf of the defendant called upon us to direct an acquittal on the ground that there had been no sufficient legal evidence by two witnesses of any overt act of treason in the county of Dublin for which the de- fendant was responsible, and that he could not be law- fully convicted on the evidence of the witness Corydon alone. We declined to direct an acquittal, nnd allowed the case to go to the jury on the evidence aforesaid, and the jury brought in a verdict of guilty against the defendant on all the counts of the indictment. We have reserved for the consideration of the Court for Crown Cases Reserved the following question:—1. Whether we were right in receiving against the defendant the said evidence of the transactions ot the night of the 5th of March, 1867. 2. Whether we were right in directing (as we did, in fact, direct) the jury that there was sufficient lawful evidence on which they might find that some or one of the said alleged overt acts were or was done, and the ssid treason committed by the de- fendant in the county of Dublin; if the jury should, on the evidence, be satisfied that the said insurrection j andactsof war -ef the 5th ot March last, in the county of Dublin, were the result of the command and incitement of the said directory or other governing body of the said ceiifederaev,,ef which the defendant was a member, given prior to the arrest of the defendant ? On the first point he (Mr. Justice Gcorge)was of opinion that the prisoner was a principal in the treason proved against him. The jury distinctly found thst-the acts were done by command of the directory of which, up to the period of his arrest, he was a oember, and in his (the learned Judge's) opi- nion they were the act-s of the prisoner himself. It was proved that he had, at a meeting in Liverpool, proposed the movement in Chester, which having failed it was determined there should bean immediate insurrection in Ireland, and, evidently with the intention of aiding and assisting in that insurrection, 'the prisoner and Flood attempted to furtively enter the country. It was true they-were arrested, but the rising on the night of the 5th of March wis not, alone the probable, but the ineyitable consequence of the plans which the prisoner, in conjunc- tion with others, had formed, and which he had Rover done anything with a view to countermand. Wish respect to tjje question raised, as :to ,two witnesses not having preved an overt act of treason, he held that on the report of the learned Judges who tried the case there abufidaiit evidence to go to the jury-corroborative of the approver'Corvdon, and on the whole case he was of opinion that that the ;points raised had been rightly decided, by the learned Judges who tried thc case. The conviction should therefore-be affirmed." "Mr. Justice O'Hagan concurred,'expressing his ,opinion that-even if the evidence of Corydon were eliminite(I from the case. there was a crowd of untainted witnesses'to prove the ovest acts laid, in the indictment. Mr. Baron Deasy and Mr. Justice-Fitzgerald briefly gave their reasons for adhering to the decision already given by them in the Commission Court. "Mr. B-aroii Hughes was of opinion that the points raised should be ruled with the Crown, "Mr. Justice O'Brien-dissented on the third point raised on behalf of the prisoner—nam-cly, that the evi- dence againstdaim was not such as-was required by the English statute of 7th of William III., which was aftcr- wards extended to this-country by-the 1st and 2nd of George I\L, which provided that no person should be convicted-of high treason, except on the testimony of two witnesses. The requirements of that statute had not, he thffiugdrt. been satisfied in the .present instance. It was not, in -his opinion, sufficient.to prove by more than one witness the occurrence of thoeverfc acts alleged unless there more than one witness to prove the prisoner's responsibility,-ar.d his connexion with those overt icts. It -sliotild nothJ forgotten .that the prisoner was an alien,acs.d that what occurred in America could only be received in evidence in so far as it explained his subsequent conduct in thiStOountry. The mere corro- boration of Gorydon's not, it was clear, upoa the authorities cited by Mr. Butt, be a compliance with the provisions, of the statute. Mr. Justice Keogh said he still, adhered to the opi- nion which he Jaad formed at the conclusion of the arguments in the case. He ,concurred in the judgment pronounced by ithc • <if his learned brethren, and, as be could;,not hope to improve upon the reasons which they had .given, ke ;adopted thesn as his own. He entertained JiO doubt as to the propriety of receiv- ing the evidence of the transactions -of the 5th of March .after the arrest of the prisoner. He was satis- fied that the direction of the Judge was. landed on law, and vf it swerved at all from the strict line, it was in his opinion in iavuar of the and against the Crown. "The Chief Jinvon then .tldiivered judgment. He said that up. to suvery recent period he entertained great doubt on one portion of the case. The three questions raised were, he .in hts opinion, reducible ;to two-oiie thg reception of the evidence, and the time it was .received, and the other the direc- tion of the Judge in .connexion with the objection made by the prisoner's coaaasel, that ,two witnesses had not proved the ;treason, charged in the ..overt act, according to the requirements of the statute. Withrespect to the first question, he did not entertain the slightest shadow of doubt. He was clearly of opinion that the evidence had been properly received, and that ,-at the time it was offered the Court were bound to receive it. Tlio dioi- culty which he experienced arose from the fact that the overt acts upon which thccyown relied were the attack on Chester and the overt act of levying war in Dublin, the evidence of Corydon being essentially necessary to proisfe the prisoner's connexion "ith those overt acts, and it not being proved by independent svitnesses. If those, therefore, were the only overt acts, he would be bound to hold the conviction bad, but he ,held it to be good, inasmuch as it appeared to him that, irrespective of the evidence of Corydon, these was evidence to sus- tain an overt act of ,a conspiracy to levy war both at Dublin and Chester. Chief Justice Alogiihan brice-y expressed Me con- currence in the judgment of the majority of the Court. The Lord Chief Justice also delivered judgment in favour of the Crown. Rule accordingly, affirming the c civic tion."

CATTLE PLAGUE. Attention is being called to this subject by its un- doubted outbreak in London during the last few days. In answer to Mr. Mitford Lord R. Montagu, stated that there were no less than nine infected places in the metro- polis. 'The Government having received intelligence that the disease is rife in many parts of Germany, have been compelled egaiii to resort to restrictive measures. By an order of the Lords of the Council, from and aiter Wednesday next "no cattle are to be brought to the metropolitan market, exposed for sale, or sold there without a licence," or moved out of it to any place within the metropolis, except with a pass," It will be very satisfactory if these measures prove effbneious yet there are persons who more than question such a re- sult. They hold that the disease being so prevalent in countries lrom which we arc daily importing, Llic re- introduction of infected cattle is certain. "These," they maintain, "should not traverse a yaid, much less miles." Why not." say they, "slnughter and market them where they are ?" But this, of course, necessitates the establishment of another market, and who is to provide one ? The amount of compensation paid in Nor- folk under the Cattle Diseases' Prevention Act, 1866, to March 19,1867, was zE 11. 803, reduced by salvage effected tof-10,11,2. The expenses attending the administration of the Act in the county were £ 3,476—viz., £1,398 clerks' charges, X669 printing, advertising, and sundries, £1.022 inspectors, £ 141 disinfection, X126 valuers, and X,120 burials. The amount raised by rates to March 19, 1867, was £ 10 ,569. leaving a balarlccill hand at the date indicated of £ 2.981.

BLACKFRIARS AND SOUTIIWARK BRIDGES.—An Act of Parliament has just been printed to enable the City of London to boirow a further sum of 350,0007. on the security of the Bridge House Estates, to complete the rebuilding of Blackfriars Bridge, and for the purchase of Soutiiwark Bridge, in addition to the 300,ooot. for- merly authorised to be raised. <

AMERICA. j (PErl ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.) rhe Court of Richmond has released Mr. Davis on bfiil. to appear in November next. The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeals of Georgia and Mississippi on the ground of want of jurisdiction. A riot has taken place at Mobile, when Mr. Kelley, a member of Congress, was mobbed. Several persons were killed, and order was restored by the military. The negroes at Richmond and New Orleans are manifesting a disorderly spirit. Mr. Jefferoon Davis has arrived at New York, on his way to Canada. The French Government have purchased the ram Dundcrburg. SHIP NEWS. The democratic candidates for the mayoralty and the city judgeship at Baltimore were elected by large ma- jorities. The supreme Court heard on the 3rd instant, the amimcnt of Mr. Robert J. Walker, on behalf of the Mississippi Injunction. He declared the jurisdiction of the court unquestionable, and cited in proof numerous j cases involving the same point decided by the court. He stigmatised the Reconstruction Act as despotic, op- pressive. and unconstitutional. The ordinances of seces- sion were nullities, the rebellion failing and the rights of the States were the same as before the insurrection. He urged the court to defend the constitution, notwith- standing that the Attorney-General had asked it to shrink from its sworn duty. Mr. Davis has petitioned the Circuit Court of Vir- ginia, setting forth his continued imprisonment and his readiness and anxiety for trial, and praying the court to issue a habeas corpus writ to bring the petitioner before the court for trial. Judge Underwood has issued a writ returnable on the 13th. requiring the Marshal of Vir- ginia to bring Mr. Davis before the court. It is reported that the government has instructed the commander of Fortress Monroe to o ey the writ. The garrison of Lynchburg, Virginia, has been in- creased in consequence of reported evidence of disloyalty amongst the population. The Georgia and Alabama papers urge General Pope to issue an order similar to that issued by General Sickles for the of debtors. Genc, al Pope has re- ceived a subpoena from the Supreme Court in the Georgia Injunction case. It is stated that he will appear. General Ord has announced that, pending the de- cision of the Attorney-General, the disfranchising I clause of the Reconstruction Act will be strictly con- strued. I Outrages by negroes in North Carolina are reported as becoming frequent. At Chicago the troubles arising out of the eight-hour movemcnt were subsiding, and work had been resumed in a large number of establishments, in some of which the employes are working on the old ten-hour system with no change in the wages, while in others they are working eight hours with twenty per cent, reduction. The strike at St. Louis and other places continued. The greater part of the plantations south of Memphis are overflooded, and the planters are in a starving con- dition. General Ord has directed the Governor of Arkansas to notify to the Legislature of that State not to reas- semble. The Idaho Indian war was being carried on vigor- ously. The New York papers publish the following Mexican news :—A despatch from the agent of Juarea has arrived at New Orleans, artd been telegraphed to Signor Romero at Washington, in which it was stated that Miramon was dead, the Imperial forces disbanded, Marquez com- pletely defeated, 'Queretaro captured, and the Emperor Maximilian in ooncealment. It is reported that Canales In, had declared in favour of Ortega, and was besieging Matamoras. He was expected to capture the city so soon as he should receive reinforcements under Cortinas. Gomez was at Tampico, and had pronounccd against Juarez and in favour of Ortega. The yellow fever was raging at Vera Cruz. The revolution at Ilayti was renewed, and anarchy prevailed. Several aspirants to the presidency were effecting a military organization' of their adherents. Advices received here from Japan to April 3rd, via San Francisco, state that the British minister had de- manded and received an apology from the Japanese ly Government for insults offered to British officers. The Tycoon had invited all foreign ministers to meet him at Osaka on the 30th April. Another disastrous fire had ioceiirred at Yokohama. SOUTH AMERICA. Intelligence from Montevideo, derived from Para- gnayan sources, states that Paraguay has accepted the arrangement proposed by the United States for the ter- I minution of the war. Lopez bad, in consequence, ap- pointed a Paraguayan representative at Washington, j The allies "bad declared that they would not treat ex- cepting on the basis of tbe secret triple alliance. The i American Minister at Assumption had protested against this claim of the allies, which had also produced a very bad impression upon the population of the La Plata States, who urgently demanded the conclusion of peace. The revolution in the Argentine provinces had made fresh progress. The insurgents had routed the forces of the National Government. Cholera had biokeii out at Buenos Ayres and at all ithe towns ou,tile coast as far as Cornelltes. THE WEST INDIES. The American ship Patmas was at St. Thomas oil the 29th of April discharging guns and ammunition for the Chilian Government. She was closely watchcd by two Spanish war ships. The American consul had sent to the admiral on theHaytian station for a man-of- war to protect the Patmas. In Chili the-elections had passed off quietly. It was expected that Congress would devote much attention to the reform of the -constitution. A stormy session was anticipated. At Valparaiso ,themarkets were active, and con- siderable transactions had taken place in produce. Freights were weaker. In Pera, the priests and their friends bad convened a meeting, and in consequence of resolutions that have been passed the Ministry have resigned. Peace has beer, established in Guatemala. Tke coffee crop nt Costa Riea is 180,000 quintals. ) The cochineal-crap is not so good. ] Congress meets in May. ) The West India Islands were healthy. Matters at Ilayti were at a standstill. In Honduras the Indians continued their depreda- tions. The advices from Australia by this arrival have been anticipated by the overland mail. CHINA. SHANGHAI, April 2S..The rebels are reported to be near Hankow. Advices from Japan state that the Ty- coon has declared his intention of extending to all nations the treaties already concluded with some foreign Powers. { CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. (PER TilL CAAIBPIAN.) I The Cape Parliament was to meet for business on the 13th uk. It was expected to be an important j session. Besides the, jrrimaiy question of retrenchment to make the income cover the expenditure, the subjects of Parliamentary Reform, on the propriety of substittilg one house for two, the introduction of a system of responsible government, with the abolition of grants for religious and educational purposes, was expected to come ssndcr discussion. The state of affairs in the Free State was etill unde- cidcd. The probabilities seem in favour of war. The Basutos appear determined not to give up any portion of the country beyond Calcdon River without a struggle. The renewal' of war .was excessively popular ill the Free State. The frontier press insisted that if the proposal to withdraw the'Imperial troops from the colony be carried outtbeie should he no Imperial interference with the management of native affaire. The Military Defence Association has enrolled great numbers of men. Petitions to the Queen and both Houses of the Imperial Parliament against the with- drawal of the troops were in course of signature in Cape Town. The customs duties for the quarter ending March were £ 88,000, being £ 33,000 in excess of the corres- ponding period last year. Weather mild and showery. The ship Hotspur, from Calcutta, left Table Bav for London on the 7th ult.

RAILWAYS.—The select committee appointed to inquire into the provisions made by Parliament for se- curing the completion of railways within a prescribed time, and to report whether any and what alterations should be made in the standing orders of the House of Commons requiring such provisions, or the Act 9 Vict. c. 20, haye agreed to the following first report Your committee are of opinion that the standing orders of this House which regulate the provisions relating to secrtrites for completion of railways should be revised, with a view to the case of bills to be introduced in future, sessions. Your committee are further of opinion that it is inexpedient, considering the advanced period of the session, and the probability of a review by Par- liament of legislation, in other respects to make any alterations, in the case of bills of the present session in the provisions for securing the c.omlepion of railways, which have hitherto been adopted in Railway Acts." A FOREST OF Pna; TEEES.—In Cedar County. Iowa, is a young forest of a thousand pine trees, in clusters and avenues, where, eight years ago, nothing grew but wild prairie grass. A young man there can be rich in twenty years by planting pine trees to cut for saw logs. New York. Tribune.

FOKEIGX NOTES. The Czarewiteh and the Princess Dagmar are ex- pected to arrive in Paris on the 25th inst. The Kreuz Zeitung says that the gambling-bouses at Homburg, Wiesbaden, and Ems will shortly be closed. The Turkish Government has abandoned its design of establishing a Turkish embassy at Washington. Over 300 women have been graduated in the medical colleges of Boston. New York, and Philadelphia. The Pope has allowed the family of the late Prince Cesarini Sforza, who died in exile last year, to returu t Rome. Several arrests have been made at Tomsk. in Siberia, in consequence of the discovery of a formidable con- spiracy there. We learn, on good authority, that the W urtcmburg Government has sent a large order to this country for breech-loaders. The nickel cents used in the United States in 1858 are now so scarce as to be sought for by collectors, and are worth twenty-live cents each. Mr. Logic, H.ill."s Consul-General and Judp-c of the Supreme Consular Court at Constantinople, returns te England in consequence of ill-health. President Johnson has directed that a nolle prosequi be entered in the case of several citizens of Maryland, indicted for treason in 1861 and 1862. In the Austrian state lottery connected with the loan of 1860 the Bishop of Brunn, Count Schafgotsche, has just won a prize of 800,000fi. The Post Office department at Washington is about to sell at auction C.000 photographs which have been sent in letters that have found their way to the dead letter office. A ball of extraordinary dimensions is to take place at the Austrian Embassy in Pans on the 28th inst. It is said that the cost of lighting, decoraticns, supper, &c., will be 100,000 francs. Orders have been issued to the commandant of the Prussian troops in Saxony to proceed to Fmikfort-on- the-Oder. The troops in Saxony are now to be under the command of the Crown Prince of Saxony. The temperature at St. Petersburg on the morning of the 6th inst. was six degrees below zero, and it only rose three degrees during the day. This is the greatest cold that has been felt in May at St. Petersburg since 1784. A Hungarian journal announces with no little satis- faction that at the election which has just taken place of deputy for the town of Klauseimurg, votes were given for Kossuth and Alexander Teleki. Two elegant little Swedish screw steamers were tried on Saturday on the Seine, starting from the Champ de Mars. They have been sent to the Exhibition as speci- mens of the boats in use at Stockholm. The anti-slavery orator, Mr. Wendell Phillips, was recently charged ten dollars for speaking in a Western town, under a municipal regulation, demanding that sum for sleight-of-hand and other exhibitions. Some of the town authorities refunded the money which had been exacted by a Democratic mayor. The Gazette of Venice contains a long account of the reception given to King Victor Emmanuel on his arrival is that city. The grand canal and the square of St Mark were magnificently illuminated at night, and the King was enthusiastically cheered. The American whalers are now finding their richest harvests in the North Pacific. A ship lately arrived at New Bedford, Massachusetts, which has been in that re-fion for three years and feve months, during which time it has taken 165 barrels of sperm oil; 5,750 barrels of whale oil. and -€0.000 lb. of whalebone. A bitter opposition to the Russian-American treaty is still kept up in the United States, and it is threatened that the House of Representatives will refuse the I appropriation necessary for its completion. The refusal of the House to sustain the treaty of Mr. Jay with Great Britain in 1795 is quoted as a precedent for this course, if the House shall see tit to adopt it. i Mr. George Peabody, who was to have sailed for England on tne Scotia, May 1. was received in the town of Danvers, Massachusetts, with honours immediately before his departure. A procession of over a thousand teachers and as many scholars passed through the streets to welcome him, and a school-girl delivered an address, to which Mr. Peabody made a suitable reply. Sanfdrd Conover his been sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary for perjury in giving testimony before a Committee of the House of Representatives implicating Jefferson Davis in the conspiracy t8 assassinate Pre- sident Lincoln. It is believed in Washington that Mrs. Suratt was unjustly executed for the same crime, and that her son will not be brought to trial. Mrs. Green, the last revolutionary pensioner in the United States, has just died at the age of 100 years- She was the widow of a soldier of the War of American Independence. Six children, forty-six grandchildren, 141 great-grandchildren, and thirteen great-great- grandchildren survive her. The French Government has given the necessary authorization to a Franco-Engiish company for the laying of a submarine cable from Brest to the Island of St. Pierre, at the entrance to the GnIf of St."Lawrence-, from whence telegraphic lines will be carried to Halifax and the United States. A letter from Osteiii s,,ivs The King of Prussia has engaged apartments hi this town, where he means to spend a part of the bathing season. His Majesty is expected to arrive after his excursion to Paris. It is also considered certain that the Queen of Wurtemberg, j who made a long stay here in 1866, will return this year." The ladies of Copenhagen have for ned a committee to collect diamonds and jewels from all those who are willing to make a sacrifice of them in order to assist the Danes who have left Schleswig in consequence of the conduct of the Prussian authorities. Nearly 1,500 beads of families have been compelled to leave for re-, fusing to take the oath to the King of Prussia. The Mount Cenis Tunnel is now more than half com- pleted. The entire length of the tunnel will be seven miles 1,257 yards, and the distance completed at the i close of March, 1867, was four miles 345 yards. The advance affected in March was 148 yards, and if the present rate of progress could be-maintained the tunnel would be completed by March, 1S70. There are in Boston, New England 2,2-50 retail traders in milk, the daily consumption of> thai cit,jr being 17,125 gallons, furnished at a cost of 5,822 dollars. A recent inspection showed 1,581 samples .from last year thai were adulterated chiefly with ii -f, a,l it burnt sl1"ar, however, being often added to restore the normal colour, and some common salt to bring the specific gravity up to the required standard. The American pnper Arslialois Arardiam.o(Smyrna, states that, in consequence of a request. made Ly the English Government, through their ambassador in Con- the Armenian Patriarch in Constantinople. :;nd Essai, Patriarch of Jerusalem, have-despatched autograph letters to King Theodore, praying J'or the liberation of the English captives. Archbishoplsaac and Rev. Demotbeos Bartabed have been entrusted with this mission, and had reached Alexandria on the 1.6th nit. The largest Topaz known was on the 15th inst., de- posited at the Bank of France. It is of -Brazilian origin, and measures, 7J inches in length by ,4f inches in width, and about the same ia thickness. It weighs more than ojlb. However valuable this stone.nntv be from its brilliancy and size, it is still more so from its artistic merit, as on one face-is engraved a half length Christ breaking bread at the Last Supper. This com- I positIOn was executed with the burin and diamo: d dust by the owner of the gem, Andre CaricUo, formerly director of the Naples Mint. The Frankfort Journal Couiit Schechenvi has just anived here with a companion in a small yacht, on their way from Pesthto Paris by water. The route they have taken is by the Danube, the Louis Canal.and the Maine. They have been already 17 days en the journey. While in the Danube the voyagers met with a violent tempest, in which a large steamer was stranded and several mills thrown down. On the canal between the Danube and the Maine they had to pass through 164 locks. The yacht has now left this place to con- tinue its journey on to Paris." The Cologne Gazette publisher; the conclusions of Mr. Hartley, English engineer, on the barrage of the Scheldt. The following is the text" The embank- ment of the Eastern Scheldt is of a nature to injure the navigability of the river from Antwerp to the sea. A viaduct would advantageously replace the drke, The embankment at Hoe will not interfere with the narlo-a- tion of the Western Scheldt. The canal of Zuid-Beve- land sufficiently replaces the Eastern Scheldt, as a means of communication between Belgium, Holland, and the Rhine." An unusually large number of nightingales have as- sembled this spring in the vieinitv of Naumburn- Thev settled about the middle of April in groups of from twenty to thirty in a wood, and remained there eight dnJ s. During this time they held a sort of musical I tournament, two birds singing solo alternately, and the performance being occasionally varied by a chorus in which all the birds participated. It is positivelv asserted by ornithologists who were present at this' singular concert that there was not a single female bird among the singers, Every now and then the birds moved in a body to another part of the wood as if to tcs" its acoustic properties. It is not generally known that there are cannibals among the R_cd Indians of North America, the numerous instances which are mentioned in the old histories, CSDC- cially* in those of the Jesuits of New Prance, having been overlooked or disbelieved. However a Texaii gentleman sends to the Nation an amusing 'account 'of the Tonkawas, a tribe of Texan Indians who arc in the habit of eating their enemies, the Comanchcs. Among many" eye-witnesses quoted is Colonel James Bowie the inventor of tbe celebrated knife. He -assured ex- Governor Rummels, of Mississippi, that once when he was with the Tonkawas they killed a Comanche warrior boiled him. They offered him a piece of the arm, which he had the curiosity to taste, and found tcuùcr and palatable.