County Observer and Monmouthshire Central Advertiser Abergavenny and Raglan Herald Usk and Pontypool Messenger and Chepstow Argus

CONGO CANNIBALS. The news brought from the French Congo by the last mail is far from good. It is true that in the. Lohrugle district, where for several weeks Major Michel was reported to have been isolated wi,th his company of native sharpshooters, all danger has been removed by the arrival of strong reinforcements. In other directions, however, the news is all of revolt continuing to spread, and there has been at least one instance of a French agent being murdered1 -and eaten by cannibals.

COMMISSIONS IN THE ARMY. An examination of candidates for the Armv will be held on June 27 and following days. There will be no change in the subjects of examina- tion on this occasion. There will be awarded 196 cadetships for the Cavalry, Foot Guards, and Infantry, and four cadets-hips for the West India Regiment. The successful Cavalry and Infantry candidates who are desirous1 of appointment to the Indian Army will be, eligible to compete, while at the Royal Military College, for such appointments in that branch of the Service as may be available after meeting the claims of King's cadets, King's Indian cadets, and honorary King's Indian cadets (thirty-five appointments in all are usually given). The successful competitors will be re- quired to join the Royal Military College about September 13. The course of instruction at the Royal Military College has been reduced to one year for the present. Four commissions in the Royal Marine Light Infantry will also be awarded at this examination. Eleven commissions, viz., nine in the Cavalry, Foot Guards, Infantry, or Army Service Corps, and two in the Royal Artillery (one Royal Field Artillery and one Royal Garrison Artillery) will be offered for competition by university candi- dates under the conditions laid down in tne regu- lations on this subject issued in 1899. Success- ful candidates will have the option of taking up, at their military examination, either the three subjects named in the old regulations (1899) or the same three subjects (military history and strategy, military topography, and military en- gineering) as laid down in the new regulations (1904). The next examination of candidates for cadet- ships at the Royal Military Academy will com- mence on June 27. There will be no change- in the subjects of examination on this occasion. The number of vacancies to be competed for will be fifty-five. The successful candidates will be required to join the Royal Military Academy about September 13, 1905; they will receive all necessary instructions from the Governor. One commission in the Royal Marine Artillery will also be awarded at this examination.

THE WHITECHAPEL MURDERS. A man, giving the name of Charles Y. Hermann, has confessed in New York to having committed a series of barbarous murders in Whitechapel, whither, he says, he went 15 years ago. He states that his parents were a non-commissioned officer in the British army and a Cairo woman. The police believe that the man is suffering from ha I- lucinations.

AN OLD SURVIVAL. A curious method of letting land was agam observed at Bourne, when the "White Bread Meadow" was offered. The auctioneer is stationed on the Queen's Bridge, and as each bid for the rent of the field is made, a boy is started to run to a given public-house and back again to the- 'bridge. The person whose bid is unchallenged when the last boy returns to tha bridge is declared to be the tenant of the land for the ensuing year. Mr. F. G. Shileock on Friday of last week let the land by this method, when a tenant was found at, a slight increase- on last year's rent. From the income :ari sin cr from the rent of the field a cheese and onion supper is provided1 at the house to which the boys run. Two trustees are elected after the supper to receive the rent and dis- tribute the surplus in white bread. Every House in that part of the town known as East- gate receives a 41b. loaf of white bread. ———M———————

A DRAMATIC SUICIDE. A story of dramatic suicide comes from Lyons. Four years ago a silk merchant, named Puth-ey, took a girl from an orphanage and -gave her employment in his shop. She had board and lodging free, fee-sides a monthly salary, which went to assist her mother, who was in poor circumstances. The mother was1 not content with her daughter's earnings, and advised her to t, cob her employer. The girl acted-on the advice given to her, and! stole silk. She was caught, and then confess-ed. Her employer said he would not prosecute her, but her mother. On hearing; this the girl rushecl upstairs to the third storey -and flung herself out of the window, fracturing her skull. Death was instantaneous.

Of the 3,616 fires in Londbn last year, 367 were due to untknown causes, while 824 were caused by lights being thrown down, 196 by children playing with fire, and! 171 by lamp accidents. A marriage is arranged, and will shortly take place at Simla, between Mr. Reginald A. Mant, I.C.S., Deputy Secretary to the Govern- ment of India, Finance Department, and Eileen Gertrude Tandy, elder daughter of Colonel E. O. Tandy, I.M.S., retired. The King of Assam has 200 wives, who are divided into nine grades. When one of them dlies her body is lo-wered from the roof of the pala.ce to :he 'buried!; the low in Assami prohibits the carrying otf a. corpse through the doors. The Commissioner of Metropolitan Police has contributed E20 to the fundis of the Church Army, in recognition of the useful services rendered iby the society in finding employment for ex-prisoners. Digging the foundations for Dover Harbour, four nuen work in a diving bell, under an air- pressure of 271b. to 1 sq. in. The diggers, who throw the amterw into a large wooden box swung in the centre of the bell, are relieved every three houra.

THE INDIAN EARTHQUAKE. STARVING FUGITIVES. I The disaster at Dharmsala proves, according I to further advices via Lucknow, to have been one of the first magnitude. The mountains were split open. There were several landslips, and huge fissures and gaping chasms are now seen in the hillside. The military cantonment is a heap of -ruins. The Civil Station and native quarter suffered almost equal damage. Over eight per cent. of the population are reported to be killed or injured. It is not known how many natives perished, but an immense number must have been killed. The number of Gurkhas killed is nearly five hundred. The European casualties are already known to include members of six- teen families. Some are still missing. The majority of the European residents were lying in their beds when the crash came, iind the vie-tims were buried beneath the walls- of their falling houses. Several men, women, anl ,children still lie buried among the ruins. The remnant of the population which escaped ran panic-stricken from the doomed town, mak- ing their way -as best they could to Pathankot, the nearest railway station, sixty miles away. Many have, succumbed to their injuries or died of starvation. There is no store of pro- visions of any kind at Dharmsala. The cart road! is blocked for ten miles, and cannot be repaired within less than a fortnight. Supplies, however, are being pushed up with the utmost energy by means of mule transport. The towns of Kaugm and Palampur have been died of starvation. There is no store of pro- visions of any kind at Dharmsala. The cart road! is blocked for ten miles, and cannot be repaired within less than a fortnight. Supplies, however, are being pushed up with the utmost energy by -means of mule transport. The towns of Kangra and' Palampur have been destroyed. It is believed that some Europeans and numerous natives 'have been killed. The fate of more than one family in these places is unknown. unknown. I A FEARFUL SCENE. A survivor from Dharmsala gave on Sunday a distressing ace-oant of the scene immediately after the- earthquake shock. The a.ir was filled with the groans of the dying and the cries of those helplessly entangled. The survivors did their best, but the work of rescue- was difficult; and there was hardly time for those who got away to save themselves. There is a dreadful scarcity of food, and! threatened starvation has led to appalling scenes. The remnant of the Gurka garrison has h-ad to. keep vigilant watch, ,as it was feared that natives driven almost mad iby hunger might commit acts of violence. A servant who decamped' with his master's pro- perty has be-en arrested, at a railway station. Whole villa-ges in the country round Dharmsala have been cl eSaced. Four hundred- people perished at Kangra alone. Two soldiers were engulfed in a, landslip near Ranikhet, in Kumaon, and were, both killed. The following further deaths are reported from Dharmsala: — A child of Mr. Searle's, of the slate quarry. Mrs. Cope-land, of the Gapalpur tea estate. Mr. Gibson, of the Chechia tea estate. Mrs. Parker, a isister of Mrs. Newton, already mporbed;a,s killed. I SIMLA VICEREGAL LODGE DESERTED. The Viceregal Lodge has been dteelaned- unsafe Z, in consequence of the earthquake, and Lady Curzon, her children, and the,staff have moved to houses within the grounds. It appears that Lady Curzon's. bediroom was badly damaged. I FURTHER CASUALTIES. The Secretary of State for India regrets to report that he has received from the. Viceroy the, following additional list of casualties in con- nection with the earthquake at Dharmsala and Kangra Alexander, head clerk, Deputy-Commis- sioner's Office, also wife and child; Mrs. Cope- land, wife of manager, Gopalpur Tea Estate child of Mr. Seale, manager, State quarry, or Gibson, owner of Chechia Tea Estate; Mrs. Newton and Mrs. Parker, her sister; Mr. Row- lands Miss. Lorbear. The Secretary of State for India has also re- ceived the following telegram from the Viceroy, dated 10th inst. "Information just received from Commis- sioner at Dharmsala gives complete list of casualties among European civil population as follows "At Dharmsala. — Killed: Loxton, Levi, Young, Farley, two Homan boys, one Lane boy, one Seale child; Alexander, wife and child; Mrs. F. W. Newton, Mrs. A. H. Walker. Seri- ously injured: Mrs. Loxton, Mrs. Bowling. "At Kangra.—Killed: Mrs. Waring, two chil- dren and nurse, Mrs. Daeuble, Miss Lorbear, Rev. Rowlands. "At Palampur.—Killed Gibson, Mrs. Cope- land. Injured: Mrs. Gibson. "Palampur list probably defective. "Commissioner further reports that at Dharm- sala, owing to splendid work of Ghurkhas and others, nearly all bodies have already been ex- humed. Special party been despatched to visit all tea estates round Palampur and similar parties in other directions. "Police report from Kulu shows some loss of life there, but no European casualties reported. "In Kangra nearly all Government native clerks have perished." A further telegram from the Viceroy, dated April 10, says — Government of the Punjab sends following telegram of to-day from Commissioner, Jaland- har, at Dharmsala:- "Four Europeans only dead in Palampur Tah,sil :-Gibson, Mrs. Copeland, Miss McBean, and Ready's governess. Mr. Williams's foot amputated. Millar, one rib broken, doing well, will be about in a week. Rajah of Mandi unhurt. Most Europeans of Palampur Tahsil are en- camped at Palampur. Medical comforts tents, have reached there. More will follow. Mrs. Gibson injured, but progressing. "No information regarding Kulu Europeans received. Millar writes that in Kulu, Mandi, and Suket loss of life is small."

I LIVERPOOL AND MR. LEVER. I In the Chancery Division of the High Court, on the 7th inst., before Mr. Justice Warrington, an action was tried in which Mr. W. H. Lever, of Port Sunlight, sought to enforce against the Liverpool Corporation specific performance of the award of an arbitrator, giving to the plain- tiff E138,449 as purchase money and compen- sation for the acquisition of some 1,850 acres: of land at Rivington, in Lancashire, required by the defendants for the extension of their water undertaking. The defendants, who had offered C-40,000 for the land, had declined to, proceed with the completion of the purchase; and they now pleaded that the umpire was ill and incapable when he made the award, and that the award was in excess of his jurisdiction. His Lordship, in giving judgment for the plaintiff, expressed surprise that the defendants should have put forward the plea as to the umpire's incapacity. He made the usual order for specific perform- ance, and gave the plaintiff the costs of th action and of the arbitration.

THE KAISER'S CRUISE AT MESSINA. The Emperor William arrived at Messina on Saturday morning, and was received by the Empress. Salutes were fired from the batteries. His Majesty was cheered by enormous crowds. In the afternoon their Imperial Majesties and Prince Adalbert drov-e to Sanderson Villa, being cheered by the crowds. The "Norddeutsc'he Allgemeine Zeitung" says: -"The meeting between the Emperor Wil- liam and King Victor Emmanuel on the hospit- able soil of noble Italy, which was of so cordial a character, gave an opportunity for the ex- change of warm assurances which constitute a new proof of the sincerity of German-Italian re- lations and for the continued maintenance of tho Triple Alliance."

Statistics of the United States army show, the "Army and Navy Gazette" says, that of the 60,000 aggregate, only 24,000 men of the infantry, and 12,000 of the cavalry, are being trained as marksmen. Of the National Guard forces, amounting to 115,000 approximately, only about one-thisd of the States have ranges or mabe any pretenca of training riflemen. Of a land force of 400,000 or 500,000 troops, at the very outside, under existing circumstances, only 80,000 or 20 to 25 per cent. would have been trained in the handling of a modern weapon and in accuracy of .shooting.

Imperial Parliament. LONDON DOCKS.—PATENT AGENTS. I In the House of Lords, on the 10th inst., the London and India Docks Company Bill was read a second time. The Patent Designs and Trade Marks (Registration of Patent Agents) Bill was, on the motion of Lord Coleridge, read a second time. COLONIAL OFFICE INTELLIGENCE AGENTS. Lord Monk Bretton raised a brief discussion on a proposal that the Government should appoint officials of the Colonial Office to serve on the staffs of the Governors of the self-governing colonies, with a view to keeping the Colonial Office informed of the state of affairs in the colonies. The Duke of Marlborough, on behalf of the Government, pointed out that machinery already existed by which the Colonial Office was kept fully informed, INDIAN EARTHQUAKE RELIEF FUND. I In the House of Commons on the 10th inst., questions were asked regarding the earthquake in India, and, in reply, Mr. Brodrick supplied the latest information which had reached his office. He stated that the Viceroy was starting a subscrip- tion in India for the relief of the sufferers, and that it might be necessary to appeal to a wider circle for aid. BUDGET BROUGHT IN. CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER'S PROPOSALS. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in Committee of Ways and Means, in the House of Commons, on the 10th inst., made the annual Budget statement. He began by saying that the account he had to give of the national finances was fortunately more favourable than that which he had been compelled to make a year ago. The year 1904-1905 was one of varying fortunes, but as time proceeded the financial position improved. But while there were signs justifying the hope that the country was re- covering from the depression which began in 1901, it could not be said that the year which had just closed had been a satisfactory one, either for commerce and industry or from the point of view of finance. As the Committee knew, in the past winter there was a marked increase in pauperism and distress. It would be remembered that a year ago he estimated the Exchequer revenue at £ 143,390,000. The amount actually realised was £ 143,370,000, So close an approximation was remarkable. Remarkable also were the diver- gencies in the details which went to make up the total. Customs fell short of his estimate by £ 500,000. Sugar realised E180,000 more than he anticipated; tea produced E210,000 less than his estimate; from tobacco an excess of E250,000 was realised, and from coal an excess of JZ50,000, the past year having been a record one in exportation. The revenue from wine was declining. It was under his estimate by £ 146,000. Mr. Austen Chamberlain, ascribed the decline partly to a diminished purchasing power and partly to the competition as the trade alleged fraudulent competition-of wine made in this country. It would, he thought, be desirable to bring British manufacturers of wines under the control of the Treasury by requiring them to take out a license. DRINK DUTIES LESS PRODUCTIVE. The most serious fall under the head of Customs had been in foreign spirits, the deficiency being £ 618,000. The receipts from the Excise duties also failed to realise his expectations. Beer he estimated to yield £13,100,000 but the actual yield was only £ 12,680,000; and, while he had hoped to get from spirits E17,700,000, he had obtained from this source £ 17,360,000. Taking Customs and Excise together, the revenue from beer and spirits was EI,370,000 below the estimate. Accounting for the continuous decline in the growth of our revenue from alcohol, he ex- pressed the opinion that it was largely attribu- table to a change in the habits of the people. The masses were discovering other places in which to spend their leisure time and money than public-houses. They went more to theatres and music-halls, and cheap excursions absorbed much of the money that once was spent on drink. He did not doubt that, with reviving prosperity, the revenue from this source would regain some measure of its old elasticity; but he did not think they could count on it to provide in the future as large a proportion of our revenue as it had provided in the past. A gap, he thought, would be caused in our financial system, and means would have to be found of filling it up. It was an accepted principle that every member of the community should bear his fair share of the expenditure of the State, and it was obvious that the changing habits of the people in regard to drink might have the effect of relieving classes from the payment of what was regarded as a fair share of the public burden. This might render inequitable and unjust a system of taxation pre- viously fair and reasonable. In his Budget speech last year he estimated that 51'8 per cent. of our tax revenue, the tax on coal and the stamp iuties being excluded from the calculation, would be derived from indirect taxation. Owing, aowever, to the circumstances which he had men- tioned the proportion was only 50'9 per cent. DIRECT TAXATION ABOVE THE ESTIMATE. f Customs and Excise having disappointed the Chancellor's expectations, it was to direct taxation that he owed the approximation of the actual re- ceipts for the year to his estimate. The death duties brought in 912,350,000, or E650,000 less than he anticipated; stamps 4:7,700,000, an excess of £ 150,000: and the land tax and house duty E100,006 more than his estimate. It was the income-tax which had been most fruitful, for it yielded £ 31,250,000, or £ 1,250,000 above his estimate. He assured the Committee that he had not stimulated the collection of the tax. The instructions issued by the Inland Revenue autho- rities last September were sent out in the exercise of their ordinary discretion without any special regard to the circumstances of the current year and without any hint or suggestion from him. At the same time, he, of course, accepted full responsibility for the course taken. Turning to the other side of the account for 1904-1905, he reminded tha Committee that he budgeted for an expenditure of £ 142,880,000. The actual issues, inclusive of the supplementary estimates, amounted to £ 141,956,000. THE SURPLUS. I With a revenue for the year of E143,370,000, as against an expenditure of £ 141,956,000, the year closed with a realised surplus of £ 1.414,000. This sum he proposed to use to strengthen the Ex- chequer balances. Having stated that the dead- weight debt on March 31, 1904, was E762,630,000, and that it had now been reduced to E755,072,000, he turned to the finances of the year just begun, dealing first with the estimated expenditure. The service charges on the Con- solidated Fund would amount to £ 29,780,000, and the Supply services to CIII,252,000, so that he estimated the total expenditure chargeable to revenue at £ 141,032,000. His estimate of revenue was-Customs, £ 35,600,000; Excise, £ 30,200.000 death duties, £ 13,000,000; stamps, £ 8,000,000; land tax and house duty, £ 2,700,000; property and income-tax, £ 31,000,000. He would thus have a total tax revenue of £ 120,500,000. The non-tax revenue he put at 923,504,000; the total revenue would therefore be 9144,004,000. This would leave him with a surplus of £ 2,972,000. THE SINKING FUND. He had no doubt whatever as to the first purpose to which the surplus fund should be allocated. The National Debt was largely increased during the war, and if it was right to borrow largely in an emergency of that kind, it was also right to take the first opportunity in our power to restore the national credit. The unfunded debt stood now at the exceptionally high figure of £ 77,633,000. including Treasury bills to the amount of £ 21,000,000, War stock, and Exchequer bonds to the amount of £ 26,500,000. Fourteen million pounds' worth of the Exchequer bonds expired in December. He hoped to extinguish E4,000,000 of this indebtedness and he intended that new bonds to the amount of £ 10,000,000 should be issued with a currency of 10 years. One-tenth of the total issue would be drawn and repaid within each year. As part of this operation he proposed to increase the Sinking Fund by £1,000,000 a year, so that it would stand at 928,000,000 instead of £ 27,000,000. The things most likely to restore our national credit to its former high level and to ease our financial position were to increase the new Sinking Fund and to I reduce the new unfunded debt, and both objects were included in his scheme. The new bonds would be issued at once. I INCOME-TAX TO REMAIN AS IT IS. Having stated that the recommendations of the committee appointed to ascertain what facilities should be given for the use of alcohol for industrial purposes would be adopted, and that he wished to abolish certain warehousing charges on dutiable goods and also some unimportant stamp duties, Mr. A. Chamberlain pointed out that after deduct- ing the £1,000,000 for his financial operations he would still have EI,972,000 available for reduction of taxation. He went on to say that he regretted greatly that it was not in his power to offer any relief to the income-tax payer. An income-tax of a shilling in the pound in time of peace was more than ought to be demanded, and left the country with too small a reserve in case of war. The amount at his disposal, however, was not enough to enable him to give the payers of this tax any relief. THE TEA DUTY TO BE REDUCED 2D. PER POUND I The Chancellor of the Exchequer turned to the tea duty, because that duty stood to-day at a higher figure than it stood during the late war; because tea was an article of almost universal consumption, and the remission of the duty would relieve every household in the kingdom, and because our supplies of the commodity came almost exclusively y from British colonies and dependencies. He pro- posed to take off the additional twopence per pound which was imposed on tea last year, and the date when the remission would take effect would be July 1. The cost of this concession would be £ 1,550,000. Presenting his final balance-sheet to the Committee, he put the total estimated revenue at £ 142,454,000, and the total estimated expenditure at £ 142,032,000, leaving him with an estimated margin of P.422,000 for contingencies. Z, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION APPROVES THE PROPOSALS. Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman, after congratulat- ing the Chancellor of the Exchequer on his de- cision to strengthen the Sinking Fund and on his reduction of the tea duty, said that if the Govern- ment had not brought forward extravagant Esti- mates, still further relief could have been given to the public. A discussion of a miscellaneous character followed, and many members echoed the approval given by the leader of the Opposition to the Sinking Fund proposals of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and expressed the opinion that this was a sound Budget. At the evening sitting the Chancellor of the Exchequer explained some of his proposals in greater detail, and then resolutions sanctioning the issue of the new Exchequer bonds and the increase of the Sinking Fund, and reimposing the additions made in former years to the Customs and Excise duties on tobacco, beer, and spirits, were agreed to after divisions.

MR. CHAMBERLAIN ON HIS CAMPAIGN. Mr. Chamberlain was entertained to dinner on Monday night at the House of Commons by the group of tariff reformers who remain in the House of Commons every Monday and Thurs- day for the purpose of maintaining the Govern- ment majority and preventing the Opposition from securing a snap division. The dinner was private, although significance is attached to it by reason of the fact that no fewer than ninety- five members were present. Mr. Chamberlain made a stirring speech, in which he pointed out that the cause of tariff reform could not be won without a hard and long fight. In the course of the evening Mr. Marshall Hall proposed the health of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was not present. The toast was received with great enthusiasm. ———————————

PEACE IN SOMALILAND. THE MULLAH MOLLIFIED. Details have been received in Rome of the terms of the agreement which has been reached between Signor Pestalozza, the Italian Special Commissioner for Somaliland, and the Mullah. An interview between the parties took place at Illig, which will henceforth be the residence of the Mullah. The latter accepted in its entirety the text of the agreement which had been drawn up jointly by Italy and Great Britain, and signed it. Signor Pestalozza found the Mullah sincerely desirous of peace, and it is believed here that, now that he has a recognised position and an outlet on the sea, he will remain quiet, and that a period of peace is opening for Somali- land, especially as the British and the Italians will exercise an active surveillance over the traffic in arms, with a view to putting an end to it. After signing the. agreement a deputation was sent by the Mullah, under the leadership of Signor Pestalozza, to announce to the whole coast the restoration of peace. This deputation visited Berbera, in British Somaliland, and there drew up, with the assistance of Signor Pesta- lozza, a detailed agreement on the questions of boundaries and pastures and other matters. This agreement was naturally concluded with the British authorities.

DISGRACEFUL SCENES AT A FUNERAL. The funeral of Robert Tomlin, the victim of a murderous attack in Greyhound-road, Fulham, on the night of Saturday, the 8th inst., took place on Monday amid a scene of considerable excitement. The coffin was borne from the de- ceased's home to Fulham Cemetery on the shoulders of eight working men. The crowd rushed the cemetery gates, which were ordered to be kept locked. The police, however, were powerless. Several women fainted, children were hurt, and hundreds obtained admission to the cemetery. An exciting scene was witnessed in the vicinity of the grave, into which many persons narrowly escaped being pushed. Men collected flowers from other graves to straw on Tomlin's coffin.

UNIONIST FREE TRADE CLUB. The Duke of Devonshire, presiding in London on Monday night over the first dinner of the Unionist Free Trade Club, said that they had reason to complain of the course which Mr. Balfour had taken in refusing to give a clear and decided lead on the fiscal question, with the result that they could not tell whether his policy was substantially, if not literally, con- sistent with the principles of Free Trade, or whether they were compelled to count him among the number of convert, if not direct, ad- herents of the Tariff Reform policy. But the cause of Free Trade, for the next Parliament at least, was not in any danger. The danger lay in the possibility that the Unionist Party might be converted as a whole to the fallacies of Pro- tection, and therefore their object ought to be to assist in securing the return of as many as might be of their present Free Trade Unionist members of Parliament. Viscount Goschen, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, and Mr. A. Elliott, M.P., also spoke.

GENERAL BOOTH'S BIRTHDAY. General Booth's seventy-sixth birthday was celebrated with much enthusiasm at a crowded meeting in Exeter Hall, in London, on Monday I night. Mr. Bramwell Booth, Chief of the Staff, who presided, announced the arrival of the General at Melbourne that day, and read a message from him expressive of gratitude for I the result of the "self-denial" we-ek-k63,268, as compared with R56,019 last year. On Tuesday morning another party of Salvation emigrants Jeft for Canada.

BISHOP OF LONDON ON TEMPERANCE. In commending the work of the London United Temperance Council, at the annual meeting of that body, held at the London Mansion House, under the presidency of the Lord Mayor, on Monday, the Bishop of London said the duty of temperance reformers was to watch the Licen- sing Act very closely. If it broke down on the points on which they had prophesied it would, they must be ready with amendments. By far the most encouraging piece of temperance work had been the conversion of the doctors in their views about alcohol.

ART AND LITERATURE. go- Among the most striking of the larger pic. tures which will appear in the Royal Academy must (remarks "The Globe") be counted Pro- fessor von Herkomer's vast composition repre- senting a meeting of the burghers of Landsberg in Bavaria, in the Town H-ail of which place this vigorous canvjfe is to, be permanently placed. The Professor has also port.raits of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, Lady Gorst, Sir A. K. Rollit, Mr. W. A. Bell, Mr. Owen Owen, Mr. Edwin Jones, Mr. Rudolph Lehmann, Mr. C. D. Rudd, and Mrs. Henry Tate, of which the first four will be seen at Burlington House. Mr. Luke Fildies will exhibit the state por- trait of Queen Alexandra, a pendant to the state portrait of the King which he painted soon after His Majesty's Accession. An engraving in mezzotint after this picture of the Queen is being executed by Mr. J. B. Pratt, and will be published by Messrs. Thos. Agnew and Son. Another portrait which is likely to attract attention is that by Mr. Frank Dicksee of Lady Hiliingdon, a, delicate arrangement in white and pale tints of yellow and lilac. Mr. Dick see has also a large symbolical figure picture to which he has given the title "Aspiration." Most of those who say "Revenous a no moutons" would be puzzled to name the origin of the phrase. Mr. Samuel Whitaker deserves well of many who cannot read French for his translation of "L'Avocat Patelin." This father of farcical comedies, proba,bly written about the middle of the Fifteenth Century, and pos- sibly bv Pierre Blanchet-but its authorship is about ,as, uncertain as that of "The Letters of Junius" or of the precise details of peace negotiations between Russia and Japan-was adapted by the Abbe Brueys, and performed at the Theatre Francais in 1706. It is from the adaptation that Mr. Whitaker has worked. His translation, so far as we have compared it with the original, is accurate without being too literal, though he has here and there added original touches of his own and has attempted, not always with happy effect, to give an archaic flavour to his English. His rendering of "sergent" as "sergeant," by-the-way, is mis- leading; "bailiff" would be more nearly correct. If, as the translator believes, this is the first time the piece has been given in English, Mr. Whitaker's service is all the greater. The humour of "L'Avocat Patelin" i» not of the subtle -sort that appeals only to the few. Anyone whose sense of fun has developed beyond the knockabout stage can enjoy the wiles of the ingenious village lawyer. | Among the literary anniversaries to be cele- brated this year is that of Alexis Charles Henri Clerel, Comte de Tocqueville, who was born on July 29, 1805. A correct French text of his "L'Ancien Regime," edited, with introduc- tion and -notes, hy Mr. G. W. Headlam, was issued from the Oxford University Press last I year; and also his "Quinze Jours au Desert" and Extracts from his "Voyages en Sicile," edited by Mr. J. E. Mansion for the Oxford Modern French Series. A woman painter of mark, though not herself French, is now attracting much notice in Paris by the striking and unconventional nature of her work. Her name is, Mdme. Boberg. She is a Norwegian, largely self-taught, and she revels with all the enthusiasm of a born impressionist amid the. characteristic scenery of her country, painting the midnight sun while it shines, and catching its fires as they are weirdly reflected in the snows, the rocks, the mountains, and the fjords. She spends months every year in the I wild LofoSe-n islands, often spending days with- A out a soul to speak to. She has several times narrowly escaped. frost-bite after work. An introduction by Lord Strathcon.a. prefaces a book called Canada: Britain's Largest Colony" (Cassell). Mr. Haydon, the author, describes the gffeat Dominion in a graphic manner, and the illustrations are plentiful and very good. ¿. The Earl of Iddesleigh holds that "Sybil" is "the grandest and most valuable" of Disraeli's novels. It was written, it will be remembered-, at a time when England was. in a great state j of unrest, and- the novelist impresses upon his readers- that the scenes he describaa were the result of this own observation, although he tells them also. that he had to hold his hand lest they should decline to believe him.. "If anvone | should care to know what England was like sixty veaxs ago," says the Earl of Iddesleigh, "let them- read! the hook and learn thereby how she appeared to an observer gifted beyond his fellows with industry and knowledge, with wit, shrewdness, and imagination." Other of Disraeli's novels, we, note, are to follow in the same series and! under the same editorship. 11 The eighth volume in that excellent series, "The Makers of British Art." bears the title "Thomas Gainsborough, R.A." (Walter Scott Publishing Company), and consists of a mono- graph on that great artist by Mr. A. E. Fletcher. It is written in a manner which appeals both to the general public and to the student, for the story of the man, as well as of his work, is brought before the reader, while the detail and the carefully planned appendices will be of special value. The plates which illus- trate the volume are very good. If anyone should doubt the immeD&e wealth of the collection of Oriental manuscripts in the British Museum, the exhibition now ar- ranged in the King's Library should for ever dispel that feeling. In the four large cases are arranged the finest specimens of caligraphy, and of typography, that could be produced, and if our eyes are dazzled with strange characters, often so small, as in the case of some of the Arabic and Sanscrit manuscripts, our artistic tastes are- catered for with a veritable feast of rich illuminations and illustrations. The variety of material employed for the preparation of these works is, indeed, astonishing. We have manu- scripts on gold, silver, copper, ivory, palm leaves, silk, as well as papyrus, paper, and vellum. The bulk of the collection is composed of religious works, and all the great creeds of the world are represented by priceless copies of these sacred books. There are also, however, some works on history, as well as others on magic and folklore. The book of school stories which Dr. Ma-c- namara has recently published is full of good things. What, for instance, could be better than the boy who defined the equator as "a mena- gerie lion (an imaginary line) running round the earth"? Another is of a youngster who defined B.C. as meaning "Before Christ," and B.A. similarly as meaning "Before Adam." Some- body's palace, another youngster -said, was built in the reign of "Edward the Confectioner" and another exalted the Great Fire of London because "it purified the City from the dregs of the plague, and burnt down eighty-nine churches.. Yet another defined a stretcher as something "wot lydies rides on when they get drunk"; and another said a -blizzard was the "inside of a foul." Finally, the following dia- logue is comical as illustrating a familiar domes- tic situation:—Teacher: "Why did you stay away yesterday, Jimmv. Ji v: "PI-esse sir, muvver's ill." Teacher: Oh, that is bad! What does the doctor say it is?" Jimmy: "Please, sir, he says it's a girl. Mr. F. E. Hulme, F.L-b., r.b.A., has pre- pared fortv new drawings in colours of wild flowers, which will appear m the new and en- larged edition of his well-known work "Familiar Wild Flowers," the first part of which is being published by Messrs. Cassell and Company. In the new edition of this work there will be 320 full-paige coloured mates, and in the first part will be given an index in which all the flowers will be arranged according to their colour. Her Majesty the Queen has always manifested much interest in art, and she has been graciously pleased to express her great appreciation" of the work of "Women Painters of the World," which has just been published by Messrs. Hod- der and Stoughton. The book, which is issued tn various forms at a popular price, is dedicated by special permission to Her Majesty. The Oxford University Press have just issued among their Bijou editions a tiny case, measur- ing two inches by one and a half, containing the j four Gospels. Thus we get a thousand clearly printed pages divided up in four tiny volumes, each aftractivelv bound in purple leather, and the ingenious result is more to be admired than these condensations of print and paper usuaHf