Weekly Mail

TIDE TABLE. FOA THB WKJ:K ENDING MARCH 30, 1383. J C J S l' V> ml C. fe •s^} to 3 i i ^5 2 rlpQ 5^ r DAYS OF TMX WBKK ..2=1 5 £ I 4 "S | s § I § I i Morning 7 45 7 38 6 38 7 32 8 4c SAYDBDT •< Evening 8 1 7 t>4 j 6 54 [ 7 '13 S i ( Height. 32 5 333 j 34 II 2d_4 i Moral ig I 8 14 S 9 { 7 10 8 4 9 ^UHDAT .< Evening 8 31 8 24 7 25 8 IS '■> 3? ( Height 32 8 34 4 31 6 36 *? 26 10 4 Morning \~S 4* 8 39 7 40 8 3) 9 MOKDAY.^ Evening j 8 59 8 53 7 54 3 48 10 c I Height I 32 3 34 3i 2 3a 9 26 i Morning 9 12 9 7 8 8 H X i i0 i'i TVKSIJAY •< Evening 9 26 9 20 8 22 9 IS 1 10 27 I Height 31 3 33 9 30 & 33 10 • Morning 9 40 9 34 y 37 9 3. >0 4. WBDSDY.< Evening 9 53 9 48 8 53 I 9 47 J 10 56 } Height 1 3^ 9 29 4 | 32 7(25 0 1 Morning 10 1 10 4 9 10 10 4 il li THUMP*■< Kveiling 1" 29 10 19 9 27 10 21 15 2?i ( Height 28 4 31 5 28 2 131 1 123 i ( Morning 10 45 10 35 9 44 10 i! 2 FBISAT. < Evening I 11 2 if 52 10 4 10 53 j 11 (Height | 26 3 c9 10 26 Ilk? 2 ( 21 7

tt' SATURDAY, I -I THE WEEK. I i MB. DILLWYN AND THE CHUPXH IN WALES Events are so prone to happen III cycles, and j history and Mr. DILLWYN so apT. to repeat themselves, that we may take it for granted the member for Swansea will introduce hi" motion for the disestablishment of the Church in Wales after very much the same fashion as the one adopted by him eighteen yeara ago when bringing forward his proposal for the disestablishment of the Church in Ireland. In the session of Parliament opened on the 7th of February, 280-5, the member for Swansea moved that the House should adopt a resolution "Tht the present position of the Irish Church Establishment is unsatis- factory, and calls for the early attention of Iler MAJRSTY a Government." This was the beginning of an attack to which the Irish Church was eventually forced to succumb and to Mr. PILLWYN attaches whatever of I credit or discredit which such a fact niust inevitably bear along with it. The speeoh of the member for Swansea on the I occasion when he attempted what would virtually have been the disestablishment of the Church in Ireland may be accepted as a "skeleton*' of the addresi he intends to deliver on the occasion of a similar move with respect to the Church in Wales. It is all very well on the part of a gentleman ostensibly professing the profosest friendship in behalf of an institution which he and his friends have made up their minds to de- molish to veil their intentions under the guise of friendship; a time must come when their professions will be put to a test of so practical a nature that shirking will no longer be possible. Many of the objections which held good with respect to Ireland will be found utterly valueless when tested with regard to Wales, but with a Radical who is deter- mined to atop at nothing where he believes the interests of his creed to be at stake we do not for a moment conceive a fact of this kind can make any. manner of diffe-I rence. The Radical policy is, in the first instance, a temporising one; and, when the popular clamour has rendered temporising no longer possible, the day of drastic remedies sets in, and your Radical accepts the logic of faots without the slightest misgiving as to the validity of the reasoning or the consequences which are bound to ensue. The gentleman who happened to be Chancellor of the Ex- chequer when Mr. DILLWYN brought on his motion for disestablishment of the Irish Church was Mr. GLADSTONE, who was under- stood to say that the Government were against the sweeping measure contemplated by Mr. DILLWYN and his at that time comparatively few Radical backers Times have changed since then, and the gentleman who in 1805 was only a moderate supporter of the idea of Irish dis- establishment found himself a couple of years later at the head of a movement pledged to the removal of that Church root and branch as a part and parcel of the Constitu- tion of thiij country. What we fear is that a similar tide will set in with regard to the affairs of the Church in Wales. Whatever may have been ths faults of that Church in the past, it cannot be denied that in recent years it has made the noblest and most heroic of efforts to retrieve them. Bat this fact will weigh comparatively lightly in the balance if a determined attempt is made by the enemies of the Church to cut it down as an encum- brance to the ground. The PREMIER is notoriously susceptible to "education," and when the country sees him coached up to the proper point, then, and no longer, provided of course that he has the requisite Radical majority at his back, will the Church in Wales be able to hold its own against its avowed foes. It behoves its friends to take time by the forelock. We have warned them of what they are to expect. and if they do not take ample precautious to ensure themselves against a surprise as well its against the dangers of a long protracted siege, the disgrace and the obloquy of an in- glorious capitulation will be solely and I y eternally their own. WHAT HAS BKCOME OF THE MONEY ? What has become of the balanoe of the Land League Funds ? The state of the Ledger since 181 has been given as fu;,Iows:- Fair Trial Fund, receipts £ 1,024 Üij. (3d.; expenditure £40; Relief Fund, receipts £ o2,040 ios. 6d., expenditure k (5 J. 4d.; Land League Fund, receipts tl 42,028 L7s. 3d.,expenditure £ 17,430 0s.4d. PARXKLL Defence Fund, receipts £ 19,0.31 7s. 8d., expen- diture klO,(M; Ladies' Land League, re- ceipts £ 02,007 18s. lid., expenditure £ 50,858 Is. Gd. These several iteiu.* are interesting in themselves, but the sum of them H still more so, for it will be found that the total receipts amount to .t:277,302 18s., against a total expenditure of only £ i 25,204 8s. 2(1., leaving the enormous balance of £ 152,088 Us. 9J. wholly unac- ouuted for. It is only fair, however, to say hat these are Lady DIXIE'S own figures in rhe first instance. In a letter written by IIGAX to Mr. P ARELL, and read by the latter tt the National Conference in Dublin last >ctuber, the total receipts are made to amount to £ 241,820 8s. 3:1., or £;532 9s. Od. less than computed by Lady DIXIE. In hat letter KUAN" admits having in hand "a 'liiiance of to turn over to whoever ,h,tll be duly authorised to take charge If it." Lady DIXIE'S object in writing o the journals is a most humane one. ■«!ie has no political capital to ma.ke by an 'XpHure of the Land League officials, all she • ppareiitly wanto being justice to the poor md distressed people of Ireland. Of the 252,040 ltts. Od. raised for the purposes of the elief fund a balance of £ 11,104 vs. d. remains unaccounted for. There arc numbers of Irish families at the present moment on the rorge of starvation, and to them the distribu- iiou of a sum of eleven thousand pounds ould come as a God-seiid. litt where is the tioney ? Where, also, is the further sum of twenty thousand pounds odd still unexpended, tecordiiig to the statement read at the Dublin Jouference already referred to Probably the mly man who can answer these questions has led the country. THE COST OF EDUCATION AT SWANSEA. The figures brought forwardby Air. BURNIB, "t the last meeting of the Swatisea Town Council, throw a flood of light upon the cost of education in Swansea under the School Board reyime, and when thesfl ligures are taken in connection with the establishment of a Higher Grade School, a report in re- ference to which was presented for con- rifiliation at a special meeting of the School lloard on Monday last, the ratepayers '•iay form a pretty accurate opinion as to the cost of thfistate educational machinery just now so much in vogue with those who iose no opportunity of sneering at the volun- tary principle. The amount asked by the Swansea Sohool Hoard, for the half-year, is i.:3,t)ûlj. The Chairman of the Finance Com- mittee of the Corporation stated that since 1878 the Corporation had handed over to rhe School Board, for educational purposes, a sum amounting in the aggregate to £::H ,713. The cost seems to have gone on increasing year by year, until in 1882 the amount reached 27,820. And, assuming that for the sucoeeding half of the current financial year the amount is fixed at what is now asked for, the total for 1883 expended for educational purposes from the rates will i-e aoh no less a sum than 27,902 --or nearly td,000. With regard to the establishment of a Higher Grade School at Swansea, the -chool Board on Monday last adopted a recommendation of the committee o commence operations at once. The! fumittee recommended that the Trinity-1 place Hoard School be utilised for the purposes ,)f the ichool, that a uniform fee of llinepenoeper week be charged, and threepence per week for books; that the subjects taught, specific and other, include algebra, Euclid, mechanics, French, chemistry, physics, domestic economy, botany, drawing, physiography, inathematics, geology, and mineralogy. The committee also recommended that Trinity- place Board School be altered so as to accom- modate the three departments indicated, sued alteration to include the erection of a chemical laboratory, and that, for the purpose of commencing, the school teachers and assistants be appointed as follow:—For the higher boys' depart- ment, a head master, at a salary of two assistants, one at jEtOO and one at £.30; for the junior boys' depart- ment, a head master at a salary of £130, and I an assistant at 970 per annum; for the girls' department a head mistress at £ 130 a year, and one assistant at jEGO; making a total in salaries of £ 800. It is calculated that the school will accommodate three hundred and eighty scholars, which, at uinepence per week, will bring in a revenue of £8B<t. The cost of the building and other items having been added to the amount of salaries, the rate- payers wilt be able to see clearly enough that the expectation that the Higher Grade School will be self-supporting is not likely to be realised. OIL ON THB TROUBLED WATERS. The speeches at Tuesday's meeting of the Cardiff College Committee were all of them well-timed and in good taste. It is but natu- ral that the losing of go important a battle as the one fought before the arbitrators at Whitehall should give rise to some irritation in the public mind of Swansea. The speakers at the Cardiff meeting exhibited great tact in dealing with this element of the discussion, and the wisest plan will be always to continue to act in the same fashion. When the bitter- ness of defeat has subsided, as we have good reason to think it is fast doing, the people of Swansea will look bank upon their endeavour to obtain the location of the College in their own midst as a battle stoutly fought, cw against what were really tremendous odds. 11 may be to the interest of a clique in the town to keep open old sores, and to indulge in lot of verbiage printed and spoken, which i. i char*"t«*iaed as much bv bad taste as absence of sound argument; but w are that the more sensible of the inhabitants will adopt a policy differing entirely from the one urged upon them by people actuated solely by motives of clannish jealousy or personal gain. The best way is to take things pfiilosophi- t cally. One side was from the very first bound to lose. That side might have been Cardiff, a contingency which the supporters of the town j were so far prepared to meet that they re- i solved from the first not to let it interfere with any action requisite to make the Univer- sity College for South Wales the success which an institution of that name deserved to be wherever it was ultimately located. We believe a like spirit animated everyone on the, Swansea side whose advocacy and support were worth the having. Sir HENRY Hcssgy VIVIAN has already set a splendid example [ which, we heartily truBt, others of his towns- men will not be slow to follow. Having him- j self occupied, with conspicuous gallantry, the post of honour in the fore front of the tight at its thickest, now that victory has declared itself against his side he is seen coming for- ward with noble help to tho,;) who, after all, were only divided from him and his; friends by the thin lma of local in-1 terest. The cause of education was the j primary one both towns had at heart;; and whenever the situation is viewed in this its broad and proper light it will be at once seen that their d.itferencep were purely differ- I ences of detail. The antagonism—if such it, can be called—existed only as between town and town, and did not affect the main ques- tion in the slightest. In this tho whole of South Wales and Monmouthshire is equally interested with Swansea and Cardiff. Every single town within the large area which the College is intended to serve would have a right; to complain if either Swansea or Cardiff sulked, supposing the Privy Council had said: j Well, gentlemen, you need not trouble your- self over the matter of the site any further, J for we have determined to place the College at Cowbridge." In that case Newport, Mer- thyr, Brecon, Tredegar, Monmouth, Aber- dare, Neath, Carmarthen, Llanelly, Pern- broke, Haverfordwest, Cardigan, and Radnor would be perfectly justified in saying to Car- diff and Swansea both What a nice lot you are. As lung as there was a chance left or; getting the College into one or the other of your towns you were both feverishly active in the cause of education. All persona! interest to exertion having been withdrawn, where now be your promises of support?" A SCENE IN COURT. Republicanism for decorum always. The other day, says a contemporary, a "skirmish took yiace in Justice Ryan's court at St. Louis, Missouri, between two lawyers, and appears to have been while it lasted a stirring affair. The case before the court was that of the State of Missouri v. D. C. Thatoher, and arose out of the embarrassments of the Windsor Hotel Company, The attorney for Thatcher was Mr. Krum. the other side beincr represented by Mr. Bwwman. In the course of the proceedings Mr. ikiwman called Mr. j Knun a liar." Mr. Krum retaliated by striking Mr. iiowman on the back withacane. Excitement- among the spectators rose to its highest pitch when Mr. Bowman faced Mr. Krum and held up his left arm to tjuard his face, while the blows (JanIe clovn heavily upon U him. Suddenly he marie a spring, struck Mr. Krum with his left hand under the chirt, and then they I, clinched." The jury arose, and with the spectators shouted Give it to him, Krum Give it to him, Bowman I" The court constable pranced around like mad and veiled 'Order! Krum was knocked up against Justice Ryan's de-k by the force of Howinan's onslaught. The desk was shoved back, and tightly squeezed ootweeuthe desk and the wall stood the Justice yelling "Order I order I Gentlemen preserve order Order, however, was out of the question. Down went KrllUl with Bowman on top of him. Bowman had his two hands full of Krum's whiskers, while Krum had his hands full of Bowman's hair. Bowman bumped Krum's head tieveral times against the floor, until Detective Stiles grabbed them both by the legs and Mr. Thatcher seizad them by the collar. Don't let them bite," yelled a juryman. "He is chawing Bowman's ear," cried another. No; Bowman' chawing his'n," exclaimed a third. At last the battling barristers were dragged apart; when Justice liyan fined Krum twenty- five dollars and Bowman ten dollars, and adjourned the court until the next morning. THE ATTACK ON LADY DIXIE. The mysterious attack upon Lady Florence ¡ Dixie has caused much excitement in the not easily-moved ranlcs of Society," where Lady Florence is well known and very popular. Though distinguished as a traveller and a writer, Lady Florence Dixie is quite a young woman, being only 28 years of age. Like other members of her family, she possesses a strong individuality. Her brother, the Marquess of Qtleensberry, it will be remembered, took I public exception to the Poet Laureate's pic- tnre of Atheists and Atheism in tbe Promise of May," and her elder sister, Lady Gertrude Douglas, lately scandalised the hupper sucklis" by daring to love out of her own rank and to marry a respectable young baker I named Stock. Lady Florence has travelled a great deal in South America andSouth Afrioa, I and is, the only lady who has ever acted as a special correspondent for a news- paper. In that capacity she saw many of the 1 historic scenes and shared many of the dangers of the Zulu War. It ia believed at Scotland Yard that the same hand directed the Windsor and the Whitehall outrages, bnt that the attack on the 1'imes office originated in another quarter.

OUR LONDON LETTER. The Duke of Edinburgh occupied a seat in the Peers Gallery when Mr. Goarley rose to call attention to his Royal Highness's report as to the Naval Reserve, and to speak in favour of them always being left on a war footing. There was a fairly good attendance of members at this time, but the hon. member had not uttered many sentences before a terrific report, which sounded like the blow- ing up of the House of Lords, and which fairly I shook the building, caused a scene of great excitement. Mr. Gourley ceased speaking for a few moments, the Speaker despatched messengers to ascertain what had happened, and nearly all the members rushed OUL of the building. A few members of the Govern- ment remained at their posts, however, and Mr. Gourley, who certainly did not appear to appreciate the situation, proceeded with his speech. Within five minutes of the explosion the indefatigable member for Devouport, Mr. Puleston, rushed into the House and relieved the minds of those present by going from one to the other and whispering them the news. Mr. Carbutt and Mr. Dillwyn were among the sixteen English and Scotch members who supported Mr. Parnell yesterday in his audaciotis attempt to rob the Irish landlords of the last shred of right in their property which Mr. Gladstone's Land Act of 1881 left them. The people of Newport and Swansea will do well to note this, for what is sauqe for the property holders in Ireland is surely sauce for those in England and Wales also. So well was Mr. Melton Prior's lecture on Egyptian War (or hostilities," as Mr. Glad- stone prefers to put it) received the other day before a critical audience at the Savage Club, on the occasion of the Prince of Wales's visit, that the olever and adventurous special artist of the IlJmlrated London Aews has felt him- self justified in repeating it liefore more mixed assemblages at the Crystal Palace and t. James's-hall. The experiment has ex- ceeded his most sanguine hopes, and I hear | that Mr. D'Oyly Carte has offered him terms ior a long tour in the English provinces and the United States. The enlarged sketches I thrown on to » screen, and the knowledge that they were taken by the lecturer himself while warfare was raging around him, help to enhanoe the interest of the lecture as a mere word-picture. # Mr. F. C. Burnand, editor of Punch, and author of "lappy Thoughts," never con- ceived a happier thought than that of writing a new burlesque version of "111 ue Beard. The work produoed at the Gaiety Theatre this week is quite distinct from the great mass of inanity flavoured with music-hall lipice which generally passes current for burlesque. Beautifully mounted, and played with an f-spieghrie which is worthy of all praise, it possesses, moreover, such genuine wit that it deserves to take rank with the author's in- imitable version of "Black Eye'd Susan," produced under Miss Oliver's management at the Royalty some twelve or fourteen years ago. I shall be surprised if Blue Beard or the Hazard of the Dye," loes not turn out to be far the most successful of John Hollings- t head's series of three-act burlesques. Mr. Burnand's Blue Beard is a youth who is making frantic endeavours to force a hirsute crop, and his secret chamber contains nothing more terrible than dyes, pomades, and cosmetics. Incidental to the performance is a highly amusing travestie of Sarah Bern- hardt's style by Miss Kate Vaughan and a new actor, Mr. Henley, is successful in hitting off the eccentric tones and gestures of Henry Irving. Probably Mr. Irving is the most- burlesqued man living, but I cannot call to mind so finished and clever an imitation as Mr. Henley's. In one respect, however, Mr. Burnand lays himself open to criticism. It is his habit to raise up giants for the purpose of slaying them. Thus, after giving absurd prominence to the tht)tes-of whom the general public knew nothing—in the pages of Punch, be wrote The Colonel" in order to ridicule them; and in the same way he turns the laugh in Blue Beard against the Slashers —a race of whom people as a rule knew nothing until they saw them glorified in the paper which Mr. Burnand controls. Ha"in made money and g?.;ned fame as j the author of melodramas, comedies, and! Mustard and Cress," Mr. George H. Sims is trying his hand at a comic opera, and the result of bis labours will shortly be presented at the Royalty, a theatre of which I made mention above. Mr. Sime ia fortunate in having associated with him as i, music man that skilled composer, Mr. Frederick Ciay. i That the theatrical world and the play-going public should await with some curiosity the production of The Merry Duchoas," in which Miss Santley is to play the leading part, is, therefore, natural. There is a strong and growing feeling among members of Parliament in favour of a cur- tailment of the Easter holidays, and a corre- sponding prolongation of the Whitauntide recess. I have converged with several hon. gentlemen who are moving in the matter, and they argue, with a fair show of reason, that Kaster, with itto treacherous changes of tem- perature, is altogether the wrong time of the year for holiday-making. At WhtMnntide, though, of course, we can never reckon upon the weather, we are, at all events, much less liable to sudden rises and falls of the, tliermo- meter, and, added to this, the two holidays rolled into one would enable people going out of town to venture farther afield than is possible under the present arrangement. The Government-, however, look coldly upon th I proposal, perhapa because it iiuda favour, as a i rule, with Tory nieaibers. When once they are fixed" in London for the session, Liherl-and especially Radical —members, speaking generally, do not care to budge for the "h?1't vacations. There are two reason3 for "bis-—the first that, taking them as a body, tLW.V are not so well-to-do as their opponents; and the second, that travel and country life have not the.saiviti charms for them. Of course there are exceptions, as, for instance, that supplied by one of your Welsh members, Mr. l'owell, who is an M.t\H.; but the general application of the rule is beyond doubt. This is how it is that ardent reformers of the .1esse (Jouing.s breed come forward with cool proposals that the How should remain in session until every item of the Gladstonian programme spok m of in the Queen's Speech has been crammed nolens volens down the Parliamentary gullet. « The post-office at the corner of Parliament- street, which was so frightfully shattered by Thursday's explosion, was the scone a few years ago of a petite comedy. Dntmatis per- l'wo young ladies" in the department behind the counter, to whom enters au elderly gentleman with white hair and an Old Gentleman: A postage-stamp, please." First Young Lady "And as I was saying, dear, this young man Old Gentle- man (ùIuntly): I. A penny stamp, please." First Young Lady Well, dear, as I was telling you, this young man Old Gentleman (sharply): "Penny stamp." First Young Lady (loftily): You're in a great hurry, aren't you S'" Old Gentleman (severely) Do you know who 1 am r" First Young Lady (ci-tisl)iliglv): I on't know and don't oare." Second Young Lady (tossing her head) No; and don't care." Old Gen- tleman (blandly): lily lall)o is Iliallilel.ii- John iniatiuers-kind 1 happen to be the Post- master-General First Voting L?.,ly: Ii Oh, l,or' I" (faints). Second Young Lady I, Oh, lawkl (goes into ily6wi-ics). Tub.eau. The result of the above little episode was that the office has since been administered by male clerks, who are quick, attentive, and polite. # Where did Karl Marx, that influential German Socialist, die ? I., lieutec," a careful and most trustworthy authority, says that he expired at Argenteuil, near Paris, while the Justice, one of whose editors married Marx's daughter, declares with equal certainty that the event occurred in London. If the latter statement be correct, and I suppose we must assume it to have even greater weight than the cautious lleuter," the truth of the adage that we must look abroad if we want to learn the news receives an apt illustration. In many respects Herr Marx was a promi- nent figure in the politics of Continental Europe. A good deal of his time was occu- pied in travelling from countries whence ho had been expelled for the publication of advanced" opinions couched in violent language. Several papers with which he was connected were suppressed, and imprisonment and prosecution were casual incidents in his career. His first appearance in London seeuis to have been as far back as 1847, and for a good many years he acted as correspon- dent in England for the New York Tribune, in which post he was succeeded by Mr. Smalley. At the time o; his death Karl Marx was in hia 60th year. it In its stage dress of Storm Beaten Mr. Robert Buchanan's thrilling novel God and the Man," just produced at the Adeiphi Theatre, seems marked for great popularity. Snperfine critics may regard it as too .1 sensa- tional "—the word being here used in its hackneyed sense-but it is the sensationalism of The Wandering Jew," and the weird, engrossing story has an attraction all its own. I am pleased to think that in spite of the pronounced hostility of a portion, and a powerful one, of the London press, Mr. Buchanan has at length obtained fair trial and a triumphant verdict at the hands of English playgoers. The papers may keep a man in the background for a time, but they cannot orush him. as the case of the harassed, worried, and maligned Mr. Buchanan shows. It is only frisb desperadoes who would be silly enough to imagine they could do their country any good by blowing up public build- ings in London. I am glad to see that this latest outrage has sobered even Mr. F. H. O'Donnell for the moment, and drawn from him a protest against the opinion that agita- tion for the redress of Irish grievances can be benefited by such criminal proceedings. Mr. O'Donnell takes care to remind U8 that Mr. Gladstone is responsible for having in- cited Irishmen to commit outrages; but it is fair to remember that Mr.Gladstone's unfortu- nate utterance about the effect of the Clerkenwell explosion was but a casual slip of the tongue, whereas the Parnellites have hitherto made it their deliberate policy to oonUlve at outrages, If it is true that rnnsio hath charms to soothe the savage breast, we may look out for an immediate change for the bettei in the denizens of Whiteehapel, Mile End, and the East of London generally. During the past fortnight English opera has held sway at the Pavilion Iheatre in the Whitechapel-road, and the overflowing audiences have amply testified to the popularity of the fare pro- vided. Unlike the Welsh, the English lower classes are but poor musicians themselves; but I fauev that. although not good per- formers, either vocally or iustrumentally, they are appreuiative listeners. Altogether apart from Fenian scares and explosions of dynamite, the intention of the Home Oilice to augment the police foi-ce of the Metropolis by 500 men is satisfactory, and few people will iind fault with it. The in- crease in the are-It of London has not been met by a corresponding increase in the number of our guardians of the peice," and the result has been an amount of lawlessness in the less unprotected districts which it is easy to trace to the confidence of offenders that they may pursue their evil courses practically without any dread of the consequences. tt But iu announcing the decision of his de- partment Sir William Harcourt committed himseif to a remarkably silly and childish declaiation upon another point. He torok occasion to observe that the explosion -t Whitehall took place on the evening of the University Boat Race, when 1.500 constables were withdrawn from their ordinary duty, and he added the extraordinary statement that u as f:vr as his influence went it would always be to reduce the multiplication of spectacles a of this character in London. By-and bye, no doubt, this GraJgrind of the Home Uilice will be introducing a Bill to stop public amusements; so this precious Government, in the end, will have achieved its object (.f re- ducing the country to a more sour and dismal condition thau it was in even during the Puritan era. Or perhaps Sir Harcourfc has it in ii is mind's eye to "iiiiilieiico" which he exercises as the holder of a sinecure pro- fessorship at Cambridge to prevent the young gentleman of that University from coming up to the Tbtunes at all. AS, without Cambridge, it is clear that Oxford could not row the race, he mig-ht succeed in doing a'v&y with the inconvenience and as he them—of tin- annual struggle in this roundabout vity. For my own part i think, and I have publicly Ueclarcd it, that Londoners make an unnecessary and ridiculous fuss over the contest between the rival 'Varsities but that is their look-out, and the matter is not one for the interference of this bump- tious counterfeit of Jove—the Secretary cf State for the Home Sir William Vernon Harcourt. In view of the Faster holidays many of the theatres are making arrangements for a change of programme, and we shall very shortly be ill the wry thick of novelties. As i have previously stated, many of the glories of th( burnt-down A! ham bra will be trans- ferred 10 Her Majesty's by Mr. I who has commissioned Mr. H. S. Leigh to furbish up Le Voyage dans la LUlie" under the title of" A Trip to the Carl Rosa's Opera Company opens on Easter Monday at Drury- iane; a new comedy by Mr. Pinero. with the milk-and-watery title of "The Hector; A tory of Four Friends, is down for produc- tion at the Court; a comic opera, to be named, I The Magic Thimble," will replace t;:m" Comedy of Errors at the Strand; and the Avenue, where a change of management is impending, promises us Offenbach's last work, "Lurtte," which, when produced in Paris, was entitled La Belle Lurette." Besides the foregoing, ;he Novelty Theatre —re-christened the "Folies DrhlUatiq leS"-j going to make a fresh start under the direc- tion of Nlr, who has in tlllle3 past controlled the fortunes, and wrnptinioi the misfortunes, of the St. James's, the Globe, and other houses. He proposes to revive the Cloches de not exactly a novelty now, and to produce a lIew comedy called "Ascot." This I suppose will be of the Flying Seud-tw«-New Babylon c«?» "Taken from Life" type—in its racy" features at all events. At the Royalty Sims and Merry Duchesa" is in rehearsal, but the dale of opening has not so far been decided. arc the obstacle, I under- stand TI

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. THURSDAY. The University boat race for once outran the attractions of the House of Commons, withdrawing to Putney and Mortlake all our spurting M ,lVs and a great many more besides. The exceptions, for whom the cares of legis- lation outweighed the attractions of dark- blue and light, were Lura liaudol h Churchill, Sir W. 11 art-Dyke, Sir Henry Holland, Mr. Cropper. Mr. 1 lop wood, Mr. H. S. Northeote, Sir J. Hogg, Mr. Chaplin, Mr. lJJll- wyn, Ntr. Mr. I'uleston, Mr. Eo Clarke, Viscount LmKn, Mr. Win. Lowther, and the majority of the occupants of the two front benches. All these devoted legis- lators appeared to be fully conscious of the self-denial which they felt they had exhibited in the interests of their constituents. Things, however, have changed since the days of Lord Geoige Beiitinek and Lord I'aimerston, when the Sliiuse was not accustomed to sit on the Derby Day. We are no longer a three-bottle race, so that the things which outraged our fathers during the sitting which followed the Derby are not likely to add a piquant varia tion to the sitting which follows to-day's boat race. Mr.Coleridge Kennard contrived to create a diversion by violating the rules of question time to make speeches when interrogating Ministers. Mr. Fawcett announced that! he hoped to have the Parcels Post in operation by the end oi July. A good deal of interest was taken in thp arrangements which it is intended to make for pensioning and disposing of the frontier chiefs iu South Africa, these arrangements being made known by the Under Secretary, ill reply to a question from Sir M. it. Beach. Where is Casablanca ? Is there such a place as Casablanca? Manoeuvring a question re- lating to the bastinadoing of eight Jewesses, the Under Secretary replied that the Foreign Office were utterly unable to iind such apla^e, and that the Admiralty chart was in a similarly benighted condition. The Foreign Office had, however, telegraphed for infornia- tion. All this, which the Under Secretary I recited with real or well-simulated ingenu- ousness, threw the Opposition (aud thelfuke of Edinburgh, who occupied a seat over the clock) into convulsive laughter. It is stili uncertain whether Lord E. Fitzmaurice intended to poke fun at the House, but the point is to be inquired into. Sir M. Hicks-Beach, in reverting to his motion respecting the Transvaal policy of the Government, found himself somewhat handi- capped by the absence of the Prime Minister. He, therefore, confined himself to giving notice of a moùified forlll of his previous reso- lution. He could not, he added, support Mr. Gorst's motion. Mr. Yorke raised a question of privilege upon a speech delivered last night by Mr. Herbert Gladstone, near London. The hon. member found fault especially with a phrase in that speech which ascribed to the Con- servative party in the House malicious con spiracy toward the Government measures. Mr. H. Gladstone frankly admitted that the phrase was too strong, but he had no hesitation in asserting that there had been a good deal of united action" amongst gentlemen opposite in dealing with the business of the Government. The Speaker intervened against t. i: Vila 1'I.n+. .&! iVJr. ioi-Ke pvoceeumg nH ^uwmvuui privilege, threatening the hon. member with an application of the Cloture if, after the withdrawal of the language complained of, he proceeded. The subject then dropped, and the business of the night was shortly after proceeded with. On the motion for going into Committe of Supply, Mr. Hopwood enlarged upon the grievances of the Marines, and moved for a Select Committee to inquire into the matter. Viscount Lewisham, who, unlike Mr. Hop- wood, rarely ever obtrudes himself upon the House, seconded the motion. Eventually the motion was rejeoted by 60 to su. FRIDAY. The House of Comrnous assembled this afternoon in order to hold a pleasant, if not a profitable, sitting on the Transvaal. Mr. l'orster, resuming the debate on Mr. Gorst's motion, very speedily made it known, as Mr. Gladstone, in criticising it subse- quently, said, that he intended to preach an unequivocal doctrine of war against the Pre- torian Government. The ex-Chief Secretary spoke with studied preparedness. He almost reAd the speech which he held in his hand. That speech was distinctly antagonistic to the lioers and distinctly favourable to the native populations, even to the logical extreme of making war upon the former for the protection of the latter. Mr.Forster was ironical when he pictured the Government as holding back because of an imaginary idea that in going forward they would have to push on to the hqnator-—a geographical and acid political flout which evoked Opposition cheers. But whilst he pointed out that the observance of our obligations in South Africa did not involve an expedition to the Equator, Mr. Forster made it known conclusively that he had arrayed himself on the side ol the forward policy of Sir Bartle Frere. It ) was a matter of duty to our allies, and the right hon. gentleman, amid loud Opposition cheers—indeed bis entire speech was studded with, and emphasised by. Opposition cheers— warned the Government against a line of policy which involved the aban- donment of our South African posses- sions. That was a dangerous precedent, he later ou said, which might be twisted into a justification for the abandonment of our Lididn possessions also. Mr. Gladstone, taking up the parable where Mr. l'ornter concluded—that we were too weak or not loyal enough to defend our weak allies—protested against such seutirnents emanating from a man of peace." Mr. Forster interposed by declaring that what he maintained was that the Government in its communications with the Transvaal Govern- ment was not "earnest" enough. But this explanation, the Prime Minister pointed out, amid illiiistei-ial cheers and Opposition cries of" No, no," simply meant that his right hon. friend was preaching an unequivocal doctrine of war. if be were not preach- ing such a doctrine he had set himself under Conservative auspices and patronage to make the peace overtures of her Majesty's Government as "diilk111t and ridiculous as possible." Again the Opposi- tion cried" No," and again the Ministerialists cheered their leader. Mr. Gladstone, flushed, excited, and im- passioned—smarting under the cognisance of his right hon. friend's revolt, and setting uside all considerations of party friendliness —administered to the member for Bradford a niei-ciie,s rhetorical tlaxellation., He adhered to the policy of the Government, which he maintained was a sound, a loyal, and a humane one, and protest'd against a doctrine which involved an invitation io march 1,100 miles into a country where native chiefs were divided among- themselves. He pointed to the folly of m-ikiiig haphazard wars in South A fries, and he cited the Znlu campaign, whilst as a detestable blunder, not to be ti-d bv any sane or humane Government. J¡¡ h. ilis he promised io ail tiieir united .•versions toiudueethe lr.tnsvaal i.ioverum-Mi: to put down outrages, but. whilst. giving this under- taking, he absolut-e'y refimcl to delude- the House or to be driven reio a foolish and vin- dictive war. The i iguc hon. gent-leman re- sumed his seat amd L;¡">ral cheers. Sir M. H. Beach replied. lie vigorously de- nounced the un-English sentiments of the Prime Minister, and their disloyalty to our faithful native allies. The right hon. gentleman Wd; followed by Lord Colin Campbt-il, who rather astonished the House by clamouring for the blood of the Boers. Like the noble duke his father, he appears to he losing his faith in the policy of rhe Grand Old A1 "1. The noble lord's denun- ciation of the Government elicited cheers from the Opposition. He supported the disgraced politician/' as the Irish members can Mr. Forster, and expressed the most I violent sentiments with regard to the Boers in the suavest- and most dulcet cf tones, As he resumed his seat Lord Randolph j Churchill, another scion of a ducal house, caught the Speaker's eve, but the same suave manner and dulcet tone wa3 replaced by that loud, sarcastic, and flashy oratory whiofa is begotten by over-weening impudence. lIe deprecated the making of South Africa a party question, as was com- tnenced by Mr. Gladstone in MÍfllothian, ex- plained that the Governmeut object was to pass a vote of censure on the Transvaal Government, and further asaerted his inde- pendence by suggesting that Sir M. Hicks- Beach by not supporting the motion would in no way detract from its value, or from the probability of its being adopted. Mr. Rath- bone eventually the question out. Mr. Gladstone declined to give any day for the resumption or the discussion, except the earliest I uesday morning sitting after the Vaster holidays The House suspended its sitting at seven o'clock, and on tyl ill at nine was immediately counted out. The House of Lords had a rather animated discussion upon the subject of higher education, which was raised by Lord Norton, who moved for a return show- i:.g at what age children were com- pelled to enter upon scientific subjects and foreign languages, and whether the ratepayers where schools were established were willing to pay for the maintenance of higher education. Lord Carlingford opposed the motion, which Lord Salisbury advised his noble friend to postpone and the motion was then withdrawn. After a discussion upon the Palum* expedition their lordships aJ- journed. MONDAY. There were 54 questions upon the paper, of which nearly half stood in the names of Mr. Parneli's colleagues. To analyse these questions would be to convict their authors of wilful abuse of the time of the House. For some minutes after the commencements busi- ness the questions upon the paper outnum- th" members in the House, but the cheers which, led off by the stentorian voice of Alderman Fowler, greeted Mr. A. Egerton. the Conservative member for Mid Cheshire, brought in hon. gentle- men from the lobby at the double. An announcement from Sir George Camp- bell that before the debate on the Transvaal was couoluded he also shuuld move an amend- ment was i-ect-i ve(I at once by groans, laug-hwr, and ironical cheers. The Secretary for War raised a laugh at the expense of jMr. Biggar by stating that the transaction set forth in a question by the member for Cavan. and which concerned asoldier whose pension had been robbed of eigbteellpeuce per day "to for caring for him as a lunatic," referred to a subject which occurred 30 years ago. In answer to Mr. Gibson, the L'osLiaaster-General made a full explanation of the conditions of tha new Irish itiail con- tract, and added that the contract stipulated for an ellicie-nt service of first-class steamships, and that there would bo au acceleration of the mail service each way. But the further questions put to Mr. Fawcett by Mr. Gibson, Lord Claud Hamdton, Mr. Dawson, Mr. Macartney, Mr. C. Lewis, and Mr. Tottenham showed that the transfer of the contract to the London and North Western Railway Company was an extremely unpopular arrangement. But though Mr. Fawcett bad not himself concluded the contract he was, he said, quite ruady to take the responsibility for it. Mr. Lewis gave notice that he should immediately after the recess call attention to a:i arrangement which had proved most It obnoxious" to the majority of the Irish people. Mr. Aslnuead-Bartlett has now taken up the affairs of Madagascar, and to-day, in ful- filment of his new duties, he succeeded in draw- ing from the Under-Secretary the admission that one of her Majesty's ships had been ordered to the island, and that others would follow all they were called for. Sir William liarcourt read over the names of the gentle- men whom he had nominated to serve on the Crofters' Commission. An interesting question by Via;ount Einlyn drew from tbe Prime Minister an admission that occasions may and do arise when it may be competent to move the second reading of a I Bill that has not been printed; while the right hon. gentleman, answering Mr. Jesse Coilings, was unable to promise that the House should be liept sitting until the Bills in the Queen's Speech had been passed. Sir William liar- court made a statement respecting the pro- tection of our-public buildings. lIe admitted that the protection on the night of the ex. plosion was insufficient, and accounted for it by the necessity of- withdrawing 1,500 police- men to attend the University boat race. This necessity he condemned by inference, aud, amid the cheers of the extreme Liberals and the dissenting cries of the Opposition. Sir II. Wolff endeavoured to extract from the Speaker an opinion that the action of the Board of Inland Revenue in preventing their clerks from petitioning Parliament for a redress of their grievances was a breach of privilege, but the right hon. gentleman was not to be entrapped, and declined to make any statement on the matter. Lord Randolph 1( Churchill, amidst Opposition cheering, gave notice that on the earliest opportunity he would move a resolution denouncing the action of the board. The intimation by the Home Secretary that he could give no infor- mation of value as to the attack on Lady Florence Dixie brought us to th orders of the day. The first order was the second reading of the Bankruptcy Dill,which was moved by Mr. Chamberlain, who, not unnaturally, lauded the measure to the skies, and sought to per- suade the House that it contained the neces- sary machinery for the protection of honest traders." The cardinal feature of the Bill is the appointment of official receivers, who will make an examination at the commencement of the procerflitigti and make a report to the court. Beyond that, however, it will render the bankrupt's life a most unhappy one, for it makes it a misdemeanour for an undischarged debtor to incur fresh debts to the amount of k20. The landlord and tax collector are both to be removed from the anomalous list of preferential creditors, which will give the former another grievance, and certainly, although perhaps unappre- and certainly, although perhaps unappre- ciably, reduce'Imperial and Local Revenue; and county court judges are to have power of making orders on debtors who are summoned before them for sums below £ 50 to pay off all their creditors by instalments. Mr. Stanhope, who dreaded the provision that empowered the Board of Trade to appoint official receivers, moved an amendment as to the undesirabfenesa of entrusting such powers to a Government department. The bankruptcy discussions have never been attractive to the House, and after Mr. Chamberlain's speech to-night and Mr. Edward Stanhope's protest against the officialism of the measure, the debate was oontinued in almost an empty House, and by a select few who make commerce and law their especial study. Mr. Joseph Cowen ap- proved of the Bill, but some diversion was occasioned by Serjeant Simon placing himself on the side of the non-officialism class, Mr. 10. Clarke opposed the Bill on the same grounds, and the debate was coutinued to a. late hour. TUESDAY. The Itonse of Commons assembled this afternoon to justify its title to an Easter recess of reasonable duration, by transferring the Bankruptcy Bit! to the Grand Committee on Trade and Commerce, and by moving other Bills a stage. But before the House could make even reasonable progress with its Parlia- mentary business it found itself involved in a discussion on the claims of the poorer inhabi- tants of the West of Scotland to be relieved out of State funds. This discussion, raised by Mr. Cameron on Mr. Gladstone's motion for adjournment, was supported by Mr. Macfarlane, who urged that an addition should be made to the scope of the proposed inquiry, and by Mr A. O'Connor, who main- tained that if no other money was available for this most needful purpose it would be- come the vaunted humanity of the House to sell its mace. Ttie Bauble" was of very little use in its present form, and if offered for sale as old metal it would certainly bring a slim which might be usefully expended upon buying meal and fuel for these miserable people. Black Rod at this interesting point summoned us to hear the Royal assent given to the Consolidated luiidB;11, and on the Speaker making known on his return what had been done in the Upper House, the pasftinir of the fir. Bill of the session was received y Lord il.Churchill, Sir W. Lawson, and Mr..10. Clarke with ironical cheers. The HOUNJ was occupied c.va jtly two hours and twenty minutes in disposing of the prelimi- nary business of the afternoon, the t. business j done resolving into the adoption of Mr. Gladstone's motion. Mr. Chamberlain moved the transference of the Bankruptcy Bill to the Stauding Committee on Trade, and Mr. i iaili.es availed himself of the opportunity by honing that what he called the words of wisdom" of the Committee might be efficiently reported to the country. The diacussio"! which followed was both long and tedious, although Dr. Playfair created 3ome diversion by announcing that the Chairman s pauel had refraiued from making any rules for the guidance of these Committees because they had no power to make them. Mr. Warton took the oppor- tunity of indulging in a large amount of mild I chaff at the expense of the worthy Chairman of the discreet panel, and Mr. Labouchere posed as the champion of the Fourth Estate, and complained that only four seats were pro- vided in these Committees for reporters. But he immediately received a knock- down blow from Mr. Whitbread, who was horrified at the idea of the en- tire press of the United Kingdom requir- ing more than four seats. It was obvious the hon. members had in mind, however, the real importance of proceedings of Committees. Mr. Gladstone thought they should not make too radical a change in this matter, whioh was an experiment, and, in deference to an appeal from Sir S. Northeote, Mr. Raikes withdrew his amendment. The motion was then agreed to, and at seven o'clock the House adjourned for the holiday-3.

MONMOUTHSHIRE AND SOUTH WALES MINERS' PERMANENT FUND. I At the board meeting of this society, held on Wednesday, at Cardiff, it was announced that on the 31st of December, 18G2, the society numbered upwards of 14,000 members, and that the funds at its ilisposal, including the transfers from the Hartley and Abercarn Funds, were upwards of £ 7,400. Since the beginning of this year the pro. gross had been equally satisfactory, and, in response to a circular issued by the chairman, some of the mineral proprietors in the district had contributed very liberally in donations and annual subscriptions. Tlia list of those contributions, which, it is to be hoped, are only the commence- ment of a general movement in aid of this society on the part of those interested in mineral under- takings, was ordered to be published in the news- papers. The annmtl meeting of the society will be ludd at the Royal Hotel, Cardiff, on Tuesday, be ludd at the Royal Hotel, Cardiff, on Tuesday, the 27th inst., at one o'clock p.m.

REWARDS FOR BRAVERY AT SWANS K A. A presentation of rewards for valour was made at Swansea Guild-hall by the Mayoress on Wednesday afternoon. Police-Constable Dee re- ceived the Albert medal from the Secretary ot State, X-50 from the Swansea Corporation, and Other rewards for gallant efforts to save life at a fire and Jenkin Jenkins, coxswain of the Mumbles Lifeboat, a silver medal and X50 for gallantry at the wreck of the German barque Admiral Prinz Adalbert. Certificates and rowards were alsogiven to the lifeboatcrew, to Artillery-Gunner Hutching. and Police-Constables Paine, Parry, and Williams. Sir John Jones Jenkins, M.P., delivered an eulogistic address.

THE ACCIDENT TO THE QUEEN. The Queen still keeps her apartments owing to the knee having become swollen from the accident on Saturday. It is feared htj will not be able to II go out for several days to come, and that the fall was somewhat more serious than at first supposed Her Majesty made light of it at the time, and went for a drive as already arranged, but on re- turning the knee became painful, and the Queen had to be assisted to her apartments.

DEATH Of Silt GEORGE JESS EC. George Je6sel. Master of the Rolls, who has beon indisposed for some days, died at five o'clock on Wednesday I tnorning at his residence in London. The funeral will take place on Friday, at the jowiil Cemetery, Willesden.

THE NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD OF WALES. On Wednesday the Mayor of Cardiff (Mr. G. A. Stone) received" several communications in re- ference to the forthcoming eisteddfod at Cardiff. Mr. C. It. M. Talbot, M P., Lord-Lieutenant of Gla- morganshire, writing from Penrice Castlo, said he could not accept the office of vice-president, but he enclosed a subscription of £ 50 towards the Eistedd- fod Fund. Mr. C. H. James, M.P., wrote accepting tlie oftice of vice-president, and enclosed a sub- scription of £10 10s. Mr. T. D. Daniel, Tymawr, Aberavon, also sent a. subscription of £5 5s.

MR. DILLWYN AND DISESTA- BLISHMENT. The London Daily News says:—Mr. Dillwyn did not, as he had intended, ballot on Tuesday for a place for his motion for the disestablishment of the Church in Wr.lea. Tliore is so little r ospect [)f an important motion likfi this being brought to mi ille this session that it will probably be left upon the paper, and an attempt made to bring it on early next year.

THE IRISH MAIL CONTRACT. The Standard savs :-It is not improbable that if the Government persist in the Irish mail contract they will be defeated in tho House of Commons. The whole of the Irish members—Conservative, Nationalist, and Liberal—^iU vote against it. and the Conservative party will, we believe, take the same course. A good many Liberals alao disapprove of a. contract which is distasteful W Irishmen of all parties, and which only saves a few thousand a year to the Exchequer. Mr. Childers has consented to receive a deputation on the subject immediately after Easter.

DEATH FROM STARVATION. On Tuesday night the coroner's inquiry into an alleged case of starvation at Canterbury was con- cluded. The jury found that^ the death of the poor woman, whose infant expired within thirty hours of its birth, was due to the want of proper food, combined with natural causes. A "rider" declared that the guardians of the, filean Union had neglected their duty in refusing out door re- lief and a reprimand was administered to the relieving officer. An adjourned inquest on the child is still pending.

Sir William Jenner, K.C.B., M.D., has been unani- mously re-elected President of the Boyai College of Physicians of London.

GENERAL. Consols unaltered. Mr. Mund,illa was no better yesterdav. lie ss suffering from a severe cold. At the Vdmiralty Court yesterday morning i- it Robert Phillimore took formal leave. The Premier was present. Mr. Bright arrived in Glasgow by the 4.35 train yesterday afternoon. He is the guest of Mr. Tennant, M.P. Special precautions are being taken for tha safety of the Hounslow powder magazines, extra patrols and constables being employed. The Prince of Wales arid Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone arrived at Windsor G,stf3 yesterday afternoon from Paddington on a visit to the Queen. In the single-handed University Kacquot Mutch played in London yosterday Cobbold for Cambridge beat Paine for Oxford, by winning threa games straight off. At Siddleworth Police Court yesterday the Quicksedgo Spinning Company were mulcted in penalties amounting to £50 for breaches of the Factory Acts. The "Central News" has the authority of the Dean of Canterbury for stating that the report of his having received a letter threatening to blow up the Deanery at the Primate's entiiioiiisation is entirely false. Owing to the threatened opposition by tha Nationalists, the meeting fixed for Tuesday at Ballygowen for the purpose of forming a branch of the National League had to be abandoned. A large force of police had been collected in antici- pation of a disturbance.

FOREIGN. FRANCE. PARIS, MARCH 21.—The Figaro protests against the false sympathy shown Mr. Parnell, and points tc the Land League as being the inspiring influence of all agrarian crimes, including the Phcenix Park murders. MAliSEILLES, MARCil 21.—The Messageries Mari- timos steamer Natal, with Australian and Mauritius mails, arrived hero last night, having been detained by a block in the Suez CanaL BELGIUM. BRUSSELS, MARCH 21.-The Court of Cassation to- day rejected an application for a new trial in the Peltier case. GERMANY. BERUN, MARCH 20.—Another bold and brutal murder is announced from Munich. Two well- dresaed men hired a room in the houso of a widow lady living with her daughter, sent the latter out to buy some trifle, and then murdered the mother and robbed the house. These two miscreants, as well as the man who killed the money-order ma»- souger in Berlin last week, are still at large. SICILY. MESSINA, MARcn 20 (EvF-,zr,G).-Since this after- noon a shower of small stones has been falling, proceeding from an eruption of Mount Etna. The atmosphere is thick and dark. TURKEY. CONSTANTINOPLE, 20.—The question 01 the Treaty of Commerce with Russia has not yet been arranged. SO DIll AFRICA, CAPE TOWS, FEB. 27.-Great excitement and indignation have been caustd at Somerset East by the atrocious murder of his wite by an attorney named Lippan. The unfortunate woman was flogged to death with a whip, her body being almost cut to pieces.

THE POPE AND SWITZERLAND. [VROLL oua COITKKSPON D L'.W.J GENEVA, MARCH 17. All Protestant Switzerland is in alarm. Men are everywhere asking themselves whether it can really be that the history of Papal persecution is still incomplete, and that bitter experiences of Swiss men in 1883 are to furuish the last chapter? Can it be that the tires of Popery have lain dor- mant, not extinct, and are now to flame out afresh ? The event that has caused these alarms is an action of Poyo Leo XIII., which is regarded as a direct and insulting challenge to the Swiss Government. This action is the appointment to a bishopric of a priest who tan years ago was known to the world as the troublesome Vicar of Geneva. This priest, M. Mertnillod by name, is the son of baker, who lived at Caronge, near Geneva. Of his origin, of course, we make no disparaging remark. Wolsey was the son of a butcher, while, if we go farther back, wo shall find that St. George, the patron saint of England, was a pork butcher* and supplied the soldiers of the great Byzantine army with that viand. By the way, there are no doubt some who would continue the parallel between Bishop Mermillod and St. George. Lnll. land's great saint wits only sustained by force of arms in his oilice of Pope of Alexandria, and when the smile of Imperial power was withdrawn from him he met his death at the hands of an excited mob. We have no wish to suggest that Mermillod is anything like St. George in character. On the contrary, he is probably a truiy religious man But if the Pope pot-sitits in appointing him to the office of bisiiop of Liiu-ALiine, Geu,:v,), and Fri- bourg. the greatest diliiculty wii! arise, for the authorities of Switzerland will not recognise the appointment. As we have indicated, their antipathy icok root ten vears ago. M. Mertnillod. having no taste for his fatlier's business, nd having taken to theological studies, had been appointed Vicar of Geneva. The new vicar soon made his 1111",1: He was an orator of tinderiable power, being ambi. tious and full of religious zeal. His name, indeed, soon became a t>y-w<n-d for religious zeal, and no one was much surprised when he succeeded in ac- complishing a part of a great design, and built the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and laboured so to streng- then tiie community of Roman Catholic worship- pers that it sliould come to rival the great: Piotes- tant Church of the town. It was mainly by aid of moneys which he collected in travelling about from place to plaee that lie was able to build the cathedral. Owing to personal position and to the efforts of friends on his behalf, M.Mermilfod was, au.,)Ut ten years ago, appointed by the then pope, Pius IX., the Bishop of Geneva. This appoint- ment made a great sensation in the religious world, for the diocese of Geneva was detached from the dioce- of Lausanne and Fribourg without any consultation on the part of the Pope with the Swiss authorities. The Government. of Geneva pro- tested, and the Federal authorities bestirred -litoua- selves in tho matter, and called upon M. Mermillod to resign the functions to which lic- had thus been appointed by an alien Power. But M. Mermillod did not possess the virtue of resignation, and as he would not obey them the Swiss Fedleral authorities decreed his exile from Switzerland. He, however, could himself provide the passport, for his return, as he was only to be exiled for so JcClg a time as he would persist in defiance of tho authorities and would decline officially and formally to renounce his functions. Ho was taken by Uie police over the frontier to Forney, where Voltaire lived and set up a watch manufactory a century ago. In his exile M. Mermillod, always restless, made himself a great name in Legitimist circlce. He also made several journeys to Koine. flö IHJ. twice exercised himself to secure the annulling of au appointment of a young Fribourgeoi.s clerical to tl*i bishopric of Lausanne, Fribourg, and Geneva. LPO XllI. hiiS now appointed M. Mermillod to perform the duties of this bishopric himself in which a vacancy has arisen. The Pope thought that the Swiss authorities had short memories. But he does not understand human nature. The Federal Council has forgotten and forgiven nothing. It will never accept the nomination ot me of its subjects who has been expelled froir [he country tor accepting of ecclesia:tj,o:al office From an alien authority. It was a condition of the decree of exile that it should remain in for cf till M. Mermillod officially and formally renounced tiisofSce- This, of course, he has never done. It will be readily understood that the news of hi* appointment has caused the most painful sensa* lion throughout the country. The Pope's actioD is everywhere condemned as au insult to th< Swiss authorities. Already men are bespeaking their fears that persecution will soon break out.

THE ASSASSINATION CON- SPIRACY. At Belfast Assizes, on Wednesday, Pet-er Devlin* Denis Nugent, Joseph Daly, John Donnelly, Patrick Finnigan, Patrick Geoghegan, James Hai-ratty, Thoinas Kelly, John M'bride, Michael Walters. Peter Coleman, Edward O'Hanlon, and Bernard Smith, members of the Irish Patriotic 15rotherhood. were charged with endeavouring to overthrow tillg Queen'R authority by force of arms, and with con' apiracy to murder certain landowners. Tb& court was crowded. It is stated startling evidence will be produced, and that S)ieritiall" name will be mentioned in connection with it- Considerable time was spent in selecting a jutf the prisoner's counsel exhausting tlte peremptory challenges. Mr. Murphy, in opening for the CroW*^ »aid the conspiracy to which the prisoner5 belonged was established by a man named who came from America specially to do tho w°r% of amalgamating other societies in one grftiV organisation for tho assassination of magistral^? landowners, and agents. Meetings were held an murders decided on, among persons marked do^ bein» Messrs. M'Geogfi and Snook, the latter LoraTempletown's agent.

SWANSEA DIRECTORY, TIDE TABLES, ARMJL AND DIARY FOR 1833.—NOW ready. Price covers. Is. 6d.; elotli, 2s. To be liad of all or tlie publishers, Williams aud Wright, 115, CON|G street. tuo^