Monmouthshire Merlin

MULTUM IN PARVO. Efforts are making to secure the production of wool On a large scale in the French colony of Algeria. The consumption of iron ores in the United King- Coin is, in round numbers, about 10,000,000 tons. The Earl and Countess de Grey had a dinner party on Saturday at the family residence in Carlton-gar- dens. Mr. C. Spencer Bate has communicated to the Zoo- logical Society the discovery of a species of fresh- water prawn. The statement that General Klapka had been ap- pointed Minister of War in Hungary is officially con- tradicted. The Earl and Countess Fitzwilliam entertained a select party at dinner on Monday evening in Gros- Venor-square. Mr. Gladstone was prevented attending the Royal Academy dinner, on Saturday, in consequence of a severe domestic affliction. A decree of the Prefect of Algiers relating to the destruction of jackals, fixes at lOf. the premium for every five of those animals killed. A young man, not yet twenty, living in Madison county, Iowa, measures six feet seven inches in his stockings, and has not stopped growing. During a thunderstorm in Edinburgh, on Monday, a man named Donald Matheson, was killed by light- ning, while on Radical Road, Salisbury Crags. The amount paid up to the present time to the Bishop of London s Fund is 247,300, the amount promised is £72,000, making a total of £ 320,000. A racing club, called The Union," has just been founded at .Berlin. A considerable sum of money has been subscribed by the members to be given in prizes. Lamd and Water reports a re-appearance of the grouse disease in Scotland in such aform and to such an extent as to spoil the prospects of the 12th of August. The Prince of Wales has again intimated his pleasure to be a patron of the King's Lynn Royal Regatta, and has subscribed twenty-five guineas to the fund. Letters from Carlsruhe mention that the Govern- ment of the Grand Duchy of Baden is about to follow the example of Prussia, and reduce its army in the same proportion. Captain Algernon W. F. Greville-Nugent, of the 1st Life Guards, is appointed deputy-lieutenant for the county Westmeath, in the place of the late Mr. Featherstonhaugh. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Right Hon. Gathorne Hardy arrived at Windsor Castle on Satur- day, and had the honour of dining with the Queen and the royal family. It is stated that the Marquis of Salisbury has ac- cepted the office of arbitrator between the North British and Caledonian Railway Companies under the joint-purse agreement. The Americans are making wine from apples. It is called Vin do Pomme. It is described as a light sparkling wine, and free from acids, chemicals, and other deleterious substances. A correspondent of one of the metropolitan jour- nals says there is plenty of time for Dr. Livingstone to reach England before the end of September, even should he come by the Nile route. The Royal Humane Society have awarded a medal to Mrs. Elizabeth Poigndestre, the wife of a Jersey clergyman, for rushing into the sea and saving a man from being drowned in February last. A German chemist has invented a new gunpowder, called poudredynamique, of a yellowish colour, and the combustible powers of which are so great that no ironclad can stand its destructive effects. The wreckage ofthe brig Gleaner, Captain Prance, of Newport, from Bilboa, and bound for England has been found twenty miles S.S.E. of Land's End. The brig is supposed to have been lost on the Seven Stones. Active preparations are going forward at the Cur- ragh Camp for the reception of the troops to be sta- tioned there during the summer. It is expected that about 1,000 men will be sent to the camp for the season. It is asserted that the notorious articles on "Wo- men," which have appeared of late in the Saturday Review, are written by a daughter of the late Baron Alderson, and a sister of the present Countess of Sa- lisbury. The Rev. Henry William Kemp, M.A., of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, incumbent of St. John's Church, Hull, has been appointed master of tho Charter-house, Hull, vacant by the death of the Rev. J. E. Bromby. The Lancet mentions that the new carriages upon the South-Western Railway are painted of a bright green, and suggests to the Directors that the pas- sengers' health may be impaired by the arsenic con- tained in the paint. A ball was given at the French Opera in Paris, on Saturday night, for the benefit of the wounded or sick of the army and navy of all nations. The Em- peror and Empress honoured it with their presence and stayed till midnight. The King of Italy has caused to be placed in the archives of Naples several thousaud historical docu- ments hitherto kept secret, and forming 200 bundles. Several of them contain interesting details respect- ing the reign of Charles V. Nearly £ 1,500 has been subscribed for the pnrposO of erecting a statue to the memory of the Late Earl Rosse. The committee are about to communicato with Mr. Foley, the eminent sculptor. The statue is to be erected in Parsonstown. Mr. Arthur Kempe, one of the surgeons of the Devon and Exeter Hospital, has offered to erect and fix up in the hospital grounds a chapel for the per- formance of Divine service. The committee have gratefully accepted the offer. According to a blue book the expense incurred in publishing the survey of Jerusalem will soon be more ,than covered by the profits arising from the sale of copies of the survey, and of the photographs issued by the typographic department. Lord Colchester and the Right Hon. Stephen Cave, M.P., have been placed on the commission to inquire into the condition of the Exchequer standards of weights and measures, in the room of the Earl of Rosse and Lord Wrottesley, deceased. A new battery has been erected at Shotley, Suffolk, in addition to a former one, and fourteen new Arm- strong guns of 7M*inch calibre have arrived from Woolwich. The erection of new barracks at Shotley is also understood to be in contemplation. Lord Beaumont was received into the Church of Rome by Rev. Father Douglass, Superior of the Re- demptoriits on the 23rd. He was confirmed by Car- dinal l-teisach. Lord Beaumont is anxious to join the Zouaves without loss of time.— Weekly Register. Letters from the South of France state that rain, so long and so ardolltly hoped for, has at length come to gladden the hearts of the agriculturists. It con- tinued to fall during three days at Marseilles, and abundantly at Nimes, also in the district of roitou. Mr. James Clay, one of the members for Hull, has written to contradict the report that he would not come forward again as a candidate for that borough. lie says it has always been his ambition to sit for at least in one parliament, under the new con- stituencies. The people of county Kerry have originated a move- ment with the object of getting the Royal Agricul- tural Society of Ireland to hold its annual show for 1860 in the capital of the county, Tralee. A sum of *■'00 has now been subscribed towards the required guarantee fund. A protectionist, with a view to make a sensation the eve of the onslaught on free trade in the Corps Jj'egislatif, has placarded the walls of Paris with a naming announcement on a lurid red ground of pam- phlets with the title "Le Rale (death rattle) of French manufacturers." HER MAJESTY'S DRAWING ROOM. — Her Majesty the Queen held a drawing room on Tuesday at Buck- lngham Palace, being attended by several members Of the royal family. There was a large attendance of Embassadors and foreign ministers, with most of the Cabinet ministers. A correspondent of the Avenir National mentions a rumour as being current in Vienna that the late 1llness of Baron de Beust was caused by the attempt to poison him. The writer gives the report under all reserve, but adds that a judicial inquiry is to take Place on the subject. An extensive mountain slip took place a few days "ack in the village of Oberbilton, canton of Glaris, Switzerland. The inhabitants, warned in time, left their houses, which, for the most part, have been overwhelmed. Large masses continue to fall, accompanied by loud reports. A Paris letter, in the Salut Public, says The ^idow of the Marshal Narvaez, born de xnscher la "agerie, and, consequently, a connection of the Em- peror of the French, is going, according to i t-port in Spain, to dispute the late duke's fortune with his ^ephew, Viscount d'Alicator. The duchess, who had *0ng been separated from her husband. haa at present only a life annuity of 4,000f. Valuable coal beds have been discovered on the line of the Capetown and Wellington Railway. A Calcutta telegram, of the 1st instant, states that the Bank of Bengal has raised its rate of discount per cent. Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams have re-appeared at the Bowery Theatre, New York, after an interval of twelve months. Wagner's "Meistersinger," which was to have been produced at an early date at Munich, has been postponed to the autumn. From St. Petersburg we hear that our clever coun- tryman Alfred Holmes has produced an heroic choral symphony, which is very highly spoken of.—Musical j Standard. The large sum of 210,200 has been taken at the Grand Opera, Paris, during the twenty-two nights in which Thomas's Hamlet has been given.—Musical Standard. "The Gordian Knot," by Mr. Shirley Brooks, has reappeared as Part the First of a "Handy Volume Series," which is to include works of travel, fiction, poetry, and the like. The Woniteur devotes five columes of its space to a description of the ceremony in the Chapel of the Tuileries on the occasion of the Prince Imperial re- ceiving his first communion. Mr. Arber promises to add to his capital little series of English reprints, Ascham's Toxophilus, Lilly's Enphues, some of Gascoigne's works, and Earle's Microcosmographie. The gold medals of the Geographical Society will this year be awarded to Dr. Petermann for his great services to geographical science, and to Gerhard Rohlfs for his explorations in Northern Africa. The refrain of the popular "Not for Joseph" turns ont to be, with very slight variation, a plagiarism from Clapisson, the French words non merci being freelv rendered by the less refined refrain "Not for Joe." The Norwegian ship Hannah Parr, from Christiana for Quehec] with 400 emigrants on board, was towed into Limerick on Friday, in a disabled state. She had been 21 days out, and had encountered very heavy weather. Mdlle. Anna Vogt has played at Paris two fantasias on "Robert le Diable" on the instrument called mattauphone; it is made of glass, and the sound is produced by its being turned round and rubbed with wet fingers.—Musical Standard. The Bishop of Natal has lately printed a transla- tion into the Zulu language of the first part of the Pilgrim's Progress, which he has prepared for the use of the natives. He is proceeding with the remainder the work being highly appreciated. A new Theatre is contemplated on the site of the Old Lyons Inn, in Newcastle-street, Strand, within a short distance from the Olympic. It is proposed that the new theatre shall be larger than the Olympic, but not of the dimensions of the Lyceum. Mr. Henry B. Wheatley has undertaken to prepare for the extra series of the Early English Text Society a new edition of "The Paston Letters," incorporating with those already printed all those still in manu- script, lately acquired by the British Museum. A revised edition of the Catalogue of the National Portrait Exhibition, now open at South Kensington, has been published; this issue contains indexes of the names of the lenders, painters, and pictures re- ferred to in the catalogue, which indexes were not attached to the former edition. A series of fac-simile re-prints, produced by the lithographic process, under the direction of Mr. E. W. Ashbee, is in course of publication by "Mr. Tuckett, the antiquarian publisher, of Great Russell-street, London. They are to be mostly rare tracts of from four to six leaves, withballads, broadsides, plans, &c. The first of them, "Bartholomew Faire, 1641." That indefatigable old-book clergyman, the Rev. A. B. Grosart, having produced his Fuller s poems and annotated list of Baxter's works, now proposes to reprint, by his usual plan of private subscription, the complete poems of Sir John Davis, Giles Fletcher, and Phineas Fletcher, and the Divine poems of Thomas Washburne. The sum expended in publishing the fac-simile of "Domesday Book has been £3,556, and the receipts from the sale of copies have been £1,938. There being, however, 4,947 copies in store, which, when sold will produce £1,900, and for which there is a steady demand, it is expected that the publication of this work will more than cover the cost of its pro- duction. In the United States, in 1860, the whole number of copies of newspapers circulated during the year was 927,951,548. The annual circulation is now es- timated at 1,500,000,000. In Great Britain the an- nual circulation of the newspapers is estimated at 500,000,000. Of daily newspapers alone, 700,000,000 are annually circulated in America, and 250,000,000 in Great Britain. The municipality of Orleans has found out the following descendants of Jaques d'Arc, the brother and companion in arms of Joan of Arc, and invited them to the fetes on the occasion of the 439th anni- versary of the deliverance of the city :—Madame Al- bertine Gauthier d'Arc, the wife of M. de Julienne, doctor of laws and advocate at Aix; her son, Juli- enne d'Are, a lieutenant in the 9th Regiment of Infantry Madame Lanery d'Arc, and Madame Ri- viere d'Arc, whose husband is captain of the Goe- land frigate, now in the chinese waters. From the 53 candidates who aspire to the honour of the Fellowship, the Council of the Royal Society has selected the following as the 15 whom they re- commend the society to select, viz. J. Ball, H. C. Bastian, M.D., Lieut.-Col. J. Cameron, R.E., Pro- fessor R. B. Clifton, M. W. Crofton, J. B. Davis, M.D., P. M. Duncan, M.D., P. Griess, A. G. V. Har- court, Rear-Admiral A. C. Key, Rear-Admiral E. Ommaney, J. B. Pettigrew, M.D., E. J. Stone, Rev. H. B. Tristram, and W. S. W. Vaux. The election is announced to be held on the 4th of Jane. Mrs. Isabel Thorne, of 18, Charles-street, Gros- venor-square, presented herself in the recent Arts Examination at Apothecaries' Hall, in company with sixty-six gentlemen. Out of the sixty-seven candi- dates forty-seven passed. Mrs. 1. Thorne came out among the first six, and her papers were so good that the usual viva voce examination was dispensed with. Last May Mrs. Thorne finished the curriculum at the Ladies' Medical College in Fitzroy-square by carry- ing off double first honours in the medical and ob- stetrical classes. She has since been practising as an accouoheuse. Mrs. Scott-Siddons, who is about to visit America, was commanded to attend at Osborne House on the evening °f the 4th inst., to read, in presence of Her Majesty the Queen and the members of the Royal family, selections from "As you like it," the sleep- walking scene from "Macbeth," Tennyson's "May Queen and the death of Constance de Beverley from Sir Walter Scott's "Marmion." As a testi- mony of her great satisfaction, Her Majesty most gra- ciously sent to Mrs. Scott-Siddons a superb bracelet containing two large and thirty smaller diamonds and fourteen rubies. STOPPING A TRAIN.—The Movimento of Genoa re- lates that a train from Upper Italy had lately a ?,ovvr from destruction on the line from 1-solognato Florence. It consisted of nearly 40 wagons and was descending the Appenines at so frightful a speed that the break had no longer any power over it. The conductor and engineer, after making re- peated signals of distress, gave themselves up for lost. Fortanately, a pointsman at a particular sta- tion, guessing the danger from the strange noise made, hit upon the idea of turning the course of the. engine into a sideway which led up the mountain to wards a stone quarry. This was quite a stroke of genius, as the speed of the train, forced to mount in- stead of descend, was speedily checked and all disas- ter prevented. BEER.—By a return issued on the motion of Mr. Locke, we learn that there are in the United King. dom of Great Britain and Ireland 2,495 brewers, 96,421 victuallers, 46,510 persons licensed to sell beer to be drunk on the premises, and 3,215 whose licen. ses do not permit the drinking on the premises. The total quantity of malt made during the year ending the 31st December last was 47,891,816 qrs., and the amount of duty charged was £ 6,494,217 12s. 5ikd. The total quantity exported from the United Kingdom was 525,619 barrels, the declared value of which was £ 1,960,053. The largest purchasers are British India, the Australian colonies, and the West Indies, and the smallest are the Papal territory, and Lubeck, whose consumption is confined to one barrel each. ARRIVAL OF LARGE ELEPHANTS.—Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier, writing to the Field, gives an account of a gigantic elephant in the possession of Mr. C. Rice, of St. George-street, Ratcliff. This animal is now 2b years old, and was presented in 1849 by the Shah of Persia to the Emperor Nicholas of Russia, being then nine years of age. She remained in St. Petersburg for ten years, when she was presented to Herr Gottlieb Kreutsberg, the proprietor of the largest travelling menagerie of the continent, in whose possession she remained for eight years, and was sold by him to Mr. C. Rice. The animal is des- cribed by Herr Kreutsberg as very good-tempered. and as being the finest and largest elephant existing in confinement. During the period of her captivity she has shed the remains of two molars, which have been pushed out by the growth of those designed to mccoedthom. il) ssvrr. (",I [I: If, ■. ?[R. T. HUGHES, M.P.—I-nconsequence or a roonem and severe illness, Mr. T. Hughes has been advised by his medical attendants to abstain from all public labours for a short time. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales will, by command of the Queen, hold a levee at St. James's Palace, on behalf of Her Majesty, on Saturday, the 30th inst., at two o'clock. The Musical Stcunda/rd says a lady has arrived in London from Batavia who plays simultaneously on the piano two different airs with each hand at the same time, and likewise sings a fifth. Mr. Albert Grant, M.P., has been created a baron by the King of Italy, in testimony of the services he has rendered to the Italian Kingdom as president of the City of Milan Improvement Company. Mr. Samuel Wensley Blackall, late Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the West African Settle- ments, has been appointed Governor and Comman- der-in-Chief of the colony of Queensland and its de- pendencies. The Right Rev. Dr. Thomas Parry, Bishop of Bar- badoes, who is now in England, has resigned his see, making five colonial bishoprics vacant at the present time, with the almost immediate prospect of another in New Zealand. The bishopric of Barbadoes is worth £ 2,500 a year, paid out of the consolidated fund, and the episcopal jurisdiction consists of Bar- badoes, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Grenada, and Tobago. THE LAW AS TO APPRENTICES OF AGE.-In an apprentice case which came before the Southport Magistrates, on Saturday, Mr. Sergeant Wheeler, the chairman, incidentally referred to the Master and Servant Act of last year. He said the question had been raised whether that act had the effect of taking away the common law right of an apprentice to avoid his indentures when he became of age. On this point, speaking for himself-and his view was shared in by a legal gentleman on the Bench-he was clearly of opinion that the act had no such effect. As the preamble stated, it provided new remedies for certain offences, but it created no new contract, leaving the law in that respect the same as before. THE BANK FAILURE IN PRESTON.—A meeting of the creditors of Messrs. Roskell, Arrowsmith, and Kendall's Bank, which suspended payment last week. was held in the Preston Corn Exchange on Friday. Mr. R. Ashcroft, town-clerk of Preston, read a state- ment, from which it appeared that the total debts amounted to £72,914 8s., and the total assets to about £41958 10s. 9d. Mr. Ashcroft said that a dividend of about lis. 6d. would be realised. The failure was owing entirely to a large sum which had been lent to Mr. Ashcroft, a cotton manufacturer, of Walton- le-dale. The chairman stated that the first dividend would be paid in three months, and would amount to 3s. 4d. in the pound. It was agreed to wind up the concern by a deed of assignment. DARING ESCAPE OF TWO PRISONERS FROM CAR. LISLE GAOL.—On Sunday morning, two prisoners confined in Carlisle Gaol, and awaiting trial for bur- glaries, made their escape by a mixture of ingenuity and daring. For some months past, building opera- tions have been going on within the prison, in order to adapt it for the separate system" required by the new Prisons Act; and it was this exceptional state of things which gave the men their opportunity. They obtained a quantity of rope, with which, dex- terously used, they drew each other to the top of the gaol wall; and then they applied it to the lowering of t hemselves to the street, the wall being very steep, and without window or buttresses to break the abrupt descent. One of the men, a negro, calling himself George Washington, reached the ground in safety' but his companion fell and hurt himself severelv' which prevented him getting off into the country The latter, while going painfully down one of the streets, met a man who had been in gaol, and who ra- cognised the runaway. I see thon's game," he said come, and I'll give thee a glass and under the promise, he lured the man direct to the City Polico Office, where he was secured. Meantime the negro had got clear off upon the Scotland Road, but Super- intendent Taylor, of the county constabulary, soon got upon his track, and he was taken at Kingmoor farm, where he had secreted himself beneath the horses heads in a manger. Their re-capture, just at church hour, caused an unusual stir in Carlisle. RESPITE OF THE CONVICT BARRETT.—Omcial orders have been issued, directing the respite of Bar- rett for a week, in order to inquire more fully into the alibi. He was to have been executed on Tuesday. The Glasgow He o.M of Saturday says Mr. Polland, a legal gentleman deputed by the Home Secretary' was in Glasgow, yesterday, examining witnesses it,, regard to the statements made by those who attemp- ted to establish an alibi for Barrett. The examina- ation took place in the Central Police Office, and was attested upon oath before some of the city magistrates. The witnesses interrogated were Sergeant Deacons Constable Carmichael, Mr. David M'Houl, bootmaker; Argyll-street, Mr. M'Houl's foreman, and the daugh- ter of the lodging-house keeper in whose house O'Neill lodged till within a fortnight of the Clerken- well explosion. Mr. M'Houl and his foreman made similar statements to those which appeared in the Her aide, week ago, and which were confirmatory of the evidence of Capt. M'Call. The young woman interrogated made a very important deposition. We understand her evidence will go to prove that sho saw Barrett an hour or two before the torchlight pro- cession on the Green, a couple of hours afterwards and on two or three days subsequent, and that no change was apparent in his whiskers. She also states that although for several months he had been in the habit of almost daily calling upon O'Neill and frequently of sleeping with him over night, she never saw him after a few days subsequent to the torch- light meeting. Mr. Polland completed his labours during the afternoon, and left for London in the even- ing. He does not seem to have done anything in the way of cross-examining or testing the Fenian volun- teer witnesses who made certain depositions this week, in presence of Mr. Greene, Barrett's council, and which, we believe, have been placed in the hands of the Home Secretary. MURDEROUS ATTACK ON A POLICE-INSPECTOR IN THE STATION-HOUSE.—At the Bow street Police- court, London, on Friday morning, Joseph Smith, who described himself as a tailor, and said he lived at Low Leyton, was brought up before Mr. Flowers, charged with wilfully and maliciously stabbing Mr. Dan ie I Bradstock, inspector of the Adivision of police, while in the execution of his duty, in the police-sta- tionl King-street, Westminster, with intent to do him a grievous bodily harm. At the time of the outrage the prisoner was in custody, having been originally charged with breaking two drinking glasses in a pub- lic house. Prisoner asked for a drink of water, and Inspector Bradstock was reaching it to him, when the latter called out that he would kill him, (the in- spector), rushed at him, and made five or six stabs at him with a large pair of scissors. [The scissors were produced they are of a large size, though not quite so large as the pair he had given up to Mr. Baldroy.) Inspector Bradstock called to witness, who took hold of the prisoner, and held him till another constable, A 22, came to his assistance, and wrenched the scis- sors from his hand.—Mr. John Spencer Ferris, of Parliament street, surgeon, deposed that he saw Mr. Bradstock. He found a wound an inch long on the outer side of the right arm. Another an inch long and an inch deep behind the angle of the right jaw, and in a very dangerous place, being very near an important vessel; and a small one in the neck, two inches below. These appeared to have been inflicted by the two points of the scissors (one blade being broader than the other.) The scissors must have been held open at the time the stab was made. The wounds were much inflamed. Mr. Bradstock could not open his mouth, and could scarcely move. He is unable to leave his bed. The prisoner was re- manded. MELANCHOLY BOAT ACCIDEKT.—THREE YOUNG MEN DRO\\ NED.—A fatal boat accident (the second within three days), involving the loss of three lives occurred at Sunderland on Saturday afternoon. Four young men, named respectively Brown, Ferens, £ rater, and Wake, employed at the large ship- building yard of Mr. Allen, Wreat Quay, on the river Wear, during their dinner hour on Saturday, put off in a small keel boat to have a row on the river. They bad not proceeded any distance when they commenced skylarking and rocking of the boat, but becoming alarmed at the danger they all rushed to the stern and the boat immediately sank stern foremost and instantaneously the young men were all floating in the river. Unfortunately it was low tide, and the few boats at hand were lying high and dry on the beach, all chained and locked. At last, several boats were got into the water, but they were destitute of any oars. Picking up any pieces of wood that were handy, the boats pushed off into the middle of the river; but during the time occupied in this three of the poor fellows, Brown, Frater, and Ferns, sunk, the last one disappearing five or six minutes after being first thrown into the water. Wake was more fortunate, as, being a good swimmer, he struck out for land, but was so exhausted in his struggles that he was unable to just reach it, and was on the point of sinking when one of Mr. Barkus's appren- tices waded into the river, and was enabled to grasp him and to drag him ashore. In about a quarter of an hour Prater's body was recovered all attempts ut resuscitation were quite useless. About two o'clock Feren's body was found, but all endeavours to re- cover Brown's body failed up to a late hour at night. Colonel Loyd Lindsay announces that he has re- ceived permission to hold a volunteer field-day on Whit-Monday, in Windsor Great Palk, at which both horse and foot guards will be present Efforts are making to secure the production of wool on a large scale in the hitherto not very successful French colony of Algeria. The Daily News says that Mr. W. Bovill, the new Clerk of Assize on the Western Circuit, was last year junior Lieutenant in the 16th Lancers. The United Presbyterian Synod met in Edinburgh on Monday night. Dr. Finlayson preached the open- ing sermon. Dr. Frew, St. Ninian's, was elected moderator by a majority over Dr. Pringle, at Auch- terarder. It appears that a young English peer, who is not specified, and whom we do not know, was recently in Rome received into the Roman Catholic Church. He belongs, it would appear, to an old Catholic family.—Cowrl Journal. Upwards of 50,000 shirts have been made by the wives and widows of men belonging to the army and the militia staff at Winchester during the last ten years, for which the sum of £ 2,000 has been paid them by the Soldiers' Wives Employment Society. The death is announced of Mr. J. A. West, of Wes- tern Lodge, near Durham, and of Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool. Mr. West was the first to establish gas- works in many of the principal towns of the north of England. He died on Friday, in his eighty-third year. The committee who managed the successful ball given to the Prince of Wales in the Dublin Exhibi- tion Palace have a surplus, after paying all expen- ses, of nearly £ 600, which is to be distributed among the charities ofthe city, without distinction of creed^ The young ladies of the school of the Sacre Ceeur at Bourdeaux recently obtained some of Theresa's songs, which were seized by the authorities and burnt. Up- on this the young ladies broke ont into open mutiny, and endeavoured to suffocate one of the governesses between two mattrasses. During the present month 58 fires have occurred in the metropolis, all of which were attended by the Fire Brigade of the Board of Works. The causes were thus described in the official reports :—Sparks from fires, 4; candles, 5; escapes of gas, 7; defects in flue, 4; smoking tobacco, 2; hot ashes, 2; light thrown down area, 1; and heat from furnaces and ovens, 3. The causes of the other fires were un- known. According to particulars which have been pub- lished, the opinion of the schoolmasters of Scotland, expressed in a petition sent last week to Parliament, and in a memorial to the Committee of Education of the Privy Council, is generally adverse to the prin- ciple of the Revised Code, and to its introduction into Scotland. The petition h is been signed by 2,705 professors and schoolmasters, and 867 schoolmis- tresses-in all by 3,572. The total importations of wheat during the first quarter of the present year were 8,465,521 cwt., being an increase of 40 per cent. over those of the same quarter of last year, and of 50 per cent. over those of the same quarter of 1866. The chief supply continues to be derived from Russia. The great increase has been in the instances of Egypt and the United States. Egypt, which last year sent us only 10,954 cwts., has this year contributed 1,241,382 cwt., or 15 per cent. of our entire supply, while the United States have more than trebled their consignments the total arrivals thence having been 1,868,119 cwt., or 22 per cent, of our entire supply" INCOME-TAX PROSECUTION. — In the Court, of Ex- chequer, on Monday morning, Mr. Baron Martin with a special jury tried the case of the Attorney- General v. Stevens. This was an information against the defendant, a law stationer in Bell yard, Fleet street, to recover two penalties of j650 each for not assessing himself to the income-tax in the years 1865 and 1866. The matter arose out of an inquiry which took place into the defendants claim for compensation in consequence of his premises being required for the new law courts. The Solicitor-General Mr. J. Locke Q.C., and Mr. Crompton Hutton appeared for the Crown; and Mr. Hawkins, Q.C., and Mr. R. G. Williams for the defendant. When the jury bad en- tered the box an arrangement was made under which two gentlemen, who had been engaged in the com- pensation case, were to examine the defendant's books, and in the event of its being found that the commissioners of income-tax had under assessed him he was to pay the difference. Mr. Hawkins said the defendant was anxious that it should be understood that the proceeding against him was not for having made a false return, but for not having assessed him- self to the income-tax. A verdict for the Crown for a nominal sum of £100 was then entered, it being in- timated that the penalties would not be enforced. IMPORTANT DECISION IN BANKRUPTCY. — Tie Lords Justices on Friday gave judgment in an appea case Ex parte Petrie re Petrie. It was an appeal from a decision of Mr. Perry, the Commissioner of the Liverpool Court of Bankruptcy. The bankrupt, Jas. Petrie, was a sailcloth manufacturer at Liverpool. After the bankruptcy, he made a proposal to his credi tors to pay them 5s. in the pound, in three instal- ments. A meeting of the creditors was held under section 110 of the Bankruptcy Act, 1861, at which a resolution was passed accepting the proposal; and this resolution was confirmed at a subsequent meet- ing on the 16th of March. By this resolution it was provided that "no further proceedings be taken in this matter, and that the proceedings in this matter be suspended." The bankrupt afterwards came up for his last examination, and no objection was taken to his accounts. He applied for his order of discharge, when Messrs. Leylandand Bullins, creditors who had not assented to the bankrupt's proposal, though pro- missory notes for the instalments of the composition had been delivered to them, opposed the granting of an order of discharge, insisting on examining the bank- rupt with reference to his conduct. The bankrupt ob- Jected to answer on the ground that after the passing of the resolution nothing could be required of him as a condition of his order of discharge but full dis- covery of his estate, which had already been given. The Commissioner held that the bankrupt was hound to answer, and on his refusal made an order for his committal. The bankrupt appealed. Lord Justice Wood said that if the words the bankrupt shall be entitled to apply for his order of discharge" had not been contained in section 110 of the Bankruptcy Act, 1861, there might have been some foundation for the argument that, after the passing of such a resolution by the creditors, everything was at an end in the bankruptcy. But, as Lord Cranworth had said in the case of Ex parte M'Kerrow, though everything as re- garded administration of the estate in bankruptcy was at an end after the passing of the resolution, what had that to do with the circumstances which had led up to the bankruptcy ? If it had been in- tended that no inquiry should be made into the bank- rupt's conduct, one would have expected to see some such stipulation in the arrangement with the credi- tors, if such a stipulation could be legally made, which was doubtful. But, at any rate, there was no such stipulation. The appeal must be dismissed with costs. Lord Justice Selwyn concurred. THE PRESS AND PUBLIC COMPANIES.—A case of considerable interest, involving the right of the press to comment freely on the conduct of public compa- nies, came before the Dublin Court of Queen's Bench on Friday, in the form of an application for liberty to file a criminal information against the publisher of Saunders' Newsletter, one of the oldest and most re- spectable journals. The applicant, for whom Mr. Butt, Q.C. appeared, was Sir John Mark Frederick Smith, K.H.,K.C.B.,formerly M.P., for Chatham, and chairman of the European Life Assurance Society, and the article complained of arose out of legal pro- ceedings commenced in respect to an insurance on the life of Mr. Francis Codd, a well known merchant of Dublin, for £2000, on the bonus system, with the European Life Assurance and Annuity Company. Mr. Codd died on the 1st of May, 1867, and a number of technical difficulties were raised by the company as to the payment of the amount for which his life was insured. Proceedings were commenced by Mrs. Margaret Codd, executrix of the deceased, and the company, without meeting the claim on its merits, took advantage of an irregularity in the summons. Some strong observations on this were made by tue Court. An article was written in Sauuders' denoun- cing the conduct of the company in no measured terms as shifty and evasive, and complaining of it as "one of the greatest scandala in the financial world at the present day that men with respectable positions and high-sounding titles allow (for a con- sideration) their names to be used in furtherance of dishonest enterprises. Such men," it added, "for- get that when a duty is undertaken its performance is not a question of convenience but of duty and of honour, and that culpable neglect is but little, if at all, removed from actual misdoing." This was the sting which Sir Fredk. Smith felt most keenly, and he accordingly brought this action. The Lord Chief Justice, in pronouncing judgment, observed that it had not been controverted that the report of what occurred on the hearing of the motion was correct, and it was the undoubted right of the press, after a full and accurate report had been given, to comment upon the proceedings in a court of justice. The writer did not mean to impute personal miscon- duct to Sir Frederick Smith, but dealt with him as the chairman of the company. The comments in the newspaper should be considered in reference to the subject-matter of the article-the de lay in paying a policy; and the court could not discover auy real or substantial reason offered why the check given to the plaintiffs in the action since the lastoruer, pronoun- ced a few days ago, should not have been sooner paid to the parties suing. The other judges strongly sup- ported this ruling, and the unanimous judgment of the Court was to refuse the rule asked for. Justice Fitzgerald remarked that the conduct of the company towards Mrs. Codd was just such as to shake public onfidenee in all insurance companies. J SirJ. Wilson, the Commandant of Chelsea Hospital is dead. At the Mould petty sessions, the other day, two lads were fined 3s. each for "profanely cursing and swearing" in the public streets, against the pro- visions of an act passed in 1746. An old man, named White, who has been for years past earning a precarious living as a porter on the shores of the Ouze at King's Lynn, has just been en riched by having a fortune left him, it is said, to the extent of £20,000. Mr. John Lloyd Crawley, acting sub-lieutenant on board Her Majesty's ship Pallas, was tried by court- martial on Saturday, on board Her Majesty's ship Victory, in Portsmouth harbour, on charges of drunk- enness. The prisoner pleaded guilty, with extenu- ating circumstances and the Court sentenced him to be dismissed from Her Majesty's navy. The public are warned by an advertisement in the Times riot to place any faith in the application of a swindler who for some time past has been going about levying contributions on the credulous by means of forged letters purporting to be written by the Right Hon. Henry T. L. Corry, M.P., First Lord of the Admiralty, and by Lord Henry Gordon Lennox, M.P., Secretary of the Admiralty. The Prince of Wales rode out on Saturday fore- noon, attended by Major Teesdale. The Princess of Wales drove out, attended by the Hon. Mrs. Stoner. In the evening their Royal Highnesses went to the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden. The Prince and Princess of Wales, with the Hon. Mrs. Stoner and Major Teesdale in waiting, attended divine service on Snnday at the Chapel Royal, St. James's. The sermon was preached by the Rev. J. V. Povah, from Psalm oxvi, verses 8& 9. The Master of the RoTTs attended at Chambers on Saturday to hear an application of the official liquida- tor of Humher Ironworks & Shipbuilding Company, (Limited) that he might be allowed to pay a further dividend of 2s. 6d. in the pound to the creditors. The application was opposed by Mr. Bagshawe on behalf of the assignees of Samuelson's estate, who claimed to be creditors for £70,000, on the ground that a suf- ficient sum should be set aside to meet the dividends on their claim. After hearing the official liquidator the Master of the Rolls granted his application. CLERGYMEN AND THEIR EXEMPTION FROM TOLL. -The case of Brunskell v. Watson was heard in the Bail Court on Saturday. It appeared that the appel- lant, a clergyman in Cumberland, claimed to pass through a turnpike gate without payment of toll, on the ground that he was travelling in the discharge of his clerical duties. The case came before the Magistrates upon a summons issued at the instance of the clergyman he having paid the toll. The Jus- tices dismissed the summons, considering that the clergyman was liable to pay the toll. In July, the rector of Clifton, a parish adjoining that in which the appellant resided, having occasion to go to the sea side, entered into an arrangement with the appel- lant to perform his duties for him, but no notice had been given and the consent of the bishop had not been obtained to this arrangement. Last July, the appellant had to solemnise a marriage at CJifton, when he had to pass through the toll gate, and the toll was demanded of him, and although for a time he refused to pay, the collector would not let him pass without payment, and he was obliged to pay the two- pence toll, for which he summoned the collector. The Justices thought the appellant was not exempt. -The Court held the same view of the case, and affirmed the decision of the Justices. THE EXTRAORDINARY OUTRAGE BY BOYS IN THE CLTY.—At the Mansion-house, on Monday morning, the two boys Arthur Forrester Smith, 15, and Hector Augustus Smith, 13, were brought before the Lord Mayor, in charge of Sergeant Moss, the detective officer, for further examination, upon the charge of feloniously wounding Mary Anne Nunn, with intent to murder her. Aid. Sir R. Carden and Aid. Causton were on the bench during the proceedings. It will be recollected that at the last examination it was proved that prosecutrix was the housekeeper of the premises No. 2, Catherine-court, Seething-lane. The prisoners were connected with prosecutrix by mar- riage, and it appeared they had secreted themselves in the cellar, no doubt for the purpose of committing a robbery in the house, and while they were actually engaged in breaking open a box in the room of the prosecutrix, and from which they took a sum of Rbout jE3, the prosecutrix came into the room. The two young ruffians immediately commenced a most brutal attack upon the unfortunate woman, and beat her upon the head with a mallet, inflicting such in- j aries thereby that for some days her life was des- paired of. She is now, however, happily out of dan- ger, and it is expected that she will recover. The prisoners, when they were placed at the bar, seemed to have lost a great deal of the hardihood which characterised them at the first examination. In- spector Tillcock handed in a certificate from Guy's Hospital, which was to the effect that the prosecu- trix was progressing favourably, but was not in a condition to attend the court at present to give her evidence. He asked for a remand for a week. The prisoners, who said nothing, were accordingly re- manded for a week. A SHABBY LOVER.—AN ACTION FOR BREACH OF PROMISE To MARRY.-The case of Runnicles v. Morris was tried in the Court of Common Pleas on Saturday. The plaintiff, Miss Clara Runnicles, sued the defendant to recover j647 10s. for money lent, and also to recover damages for a breach of promise of marriage. Mr. Smith, in opening the case, said that the plaintiff was a young woman who had been cook in a lady's family; and the defendant was a butcher, in Great Bath-street, City-road, London. They had been acquainted for about four years, and the defen- dant had, beyond donbt, promised to marry the plain- tiff, and afterwards refused to perform his promise. The defendant had written the plaintiff several let- ters, and one in August, 1865, had contained these words-" I wish you were my own now, and mine alone, and then how happy we shonld be, darling sweet wife!" and it was signed, "James Morris, to his darling wife." In 1867 he wrote-" I hope the day will soon come when you will come home with me, and that will be a happy day and the beginning of happy days. I should be glad if it came to-morrow. dear and referring to a situation which she was at, he said:—" I would not stop there if it was so very hard. I do not wish you to do so, as I shall want some work left in you when I have you." (Laughter.) In February, 1868, the plaintiff had jE58 deposited in the Post-office Savings Bank, and the defendant, who had just taken the shop in Bath street, borrowedt55 of her to go to market with. A portion of the money was afterwards returned, but the amount now due was jE47 10s. It had beeu arranged that the marriage should take place on the 6th of April, at Greenwich, and the plaintiff attended at the defendant's shop for a week or so, going home to her mistress's house to sleep. Shortly before the day of the marriage the defendant told her she had better go about her busi- ness, for his trade would not support the two of them and he promised her money on the following Thurs- day. On the 6th of April a lawyer's letter was sent demanding payment of the money, and he sent a reply that she should have it when she could get it. The plaintiff was called in corroboration of the above statement, and the jury ultimately returned a verdict 947 10s. money lent, and B10 for the breach of promise," with speedy execution. A CAUTION TO SITUATION AGENTS."—At the Middlesex Sessions, on Monday last, John Augustus Crabb was brought up to receive the judgment of the Court. Mr. Besleyprosecuted, and Mr. Montagu Williams defended. In this case the prisoner was tried and convicted a session or two ago of obtaining various sums of money, of £20 and dE25, from young men for whom he pretended to obtain situations as clerks and collectors. The prisoner advertised for young men as clerks. In two cases brought before the court the prosecutors went to the prisoner, who ostensibly carried on the business of house agent at the West End. On the door-post was a large brass plate with" Crabb and Hawkins" upon it, but" Haw- kins" was never seen. When the prosecutors had ap- plied for the situations, prisoner told them they would be very likely young men, and would suit, but added that as they would have large sums of money pass through their hands he would require a deposit of jE20 as security. The applicants with some diffi- culty obtained the money, and they entered into the prisoner's service at the rate of 26s. per week. They had not been in his service over more than a few days when they discovered that he did no business at all as a house agent. Some account books were exhibited, evidently with the intention of throwing people off their guard, for no business was done with them. The young men demanded their money to be returned, but never received one farthing, and dis- covered they had been swindled. There were seve- ral other cases of this kind against the prisoner. In answer to Sir W. Bodkin, Constable Gordon, 33 C, said that there were at least 30 other cases of this nature against the prisoner, besides letters received from the country in consequence of the report in the newspapers from persons who also complained of being robbed by the prisoner. In one case a young lady waited upon him, and he tried to commit a rape upon her, and upon another occasion the prisoner was removed from his house at the West-end to the police-station for safety, because he was attacked and threatened with violence by a number of servant girls who had been defrauded by him. The Assistant udge, after reviewing the case against the prisoner and commenting upon the heartlessness of robbing young people of perhaps all they had in the world under the pretence of obtaining them situations, said the court, considering the nature of the case, had determined to pass a heavy sentence, and would thereby make an example of the prisoner. Sentence five years' penal servitude. FUNERAL OF THE DOWAGER LADY WENLOCK.— On Saturday last, the mortal remains of the Dowager Lady W enlock, mother of Lord Wenlock, took place at Escrick, near York. The deceased lady died in London, at the age of seventy-five. The funeral took T* O clock. The chief mourners were Lord and Lady Wenlock, the Hon. R. Lawley and Mrs. Lawley, the Hon and Rev. S. W. Lawley, the Hon. Mrs. Wortley, the Hon Fras. Lawley, the Hon. Beilby Lawley Mr. Archibald Wortley, Mr. Charles Wortley, the Right. Ron W. E. Gladstone, M.P., and Mrs. Glad- stone, Sir Stephen Glynne, Colonel Neville, Mr. H Glynne, Mr. E. Neville, Rev. A. St. John Mildmay, Mr. George Leeman, M.P. The procession to the church was on foot, the coffin being carried by bear- ers. In front of the coffin, which was covered with and studded with silver nails in panels. The village choir walked and sung funeral hymns. After the chief mourners followed a large number of Lord Wenlock'a tenantry. The service was read by the Rev. Latimer Neville. A muffled peal was rung on the bells of the church after the funeral. DEATH OF M. DE CORMENIN.—Viscount De Corm- enin, who for more than half a century was well known as a politican and political writer, has iusfc died at Paris, aged 80. He was one of the first mem- bers of the Council of State, having been appointed auditor in 1810, at the age of 22 by Napoleon 1. whose attention he had attracted. He continued to form part of the same body under the restoration. He was elected a deputy in 1828, and down to 1846 formed part of the different assemblies which succeeded each other. It was during this period that he published, under the pseudonym of "Timon" a number of political pamphlets on different questions of the day, and which acquired great celebrity. Some of them went through as many as twenty editions, and they e ercised such influence that on one occasion the government of Louis Philippe was compelled to with- draw a bill which he had attacked. He was defeated at the general elections of 1846, in consequence of his supposed sympathy with the Jesuits. But he was again returned under the republic, and appointed one of the Vice Presidents of the Assembly. He gave his adhesion to the empire, and was in 1855 made by imperial decree a member of the institute of France in the section of administration. His only political writing since 1847 was a pamphlet on the tonnage dues in Algeria, published in 1860.—GaUgnani. WILLS AND BEQUESTS.-The will or Scotch con- firmation of the Right Hon. Lord Polwarth (Henry Francis Hepburn-Scott), a peer of Scotland, has been sealed in the London Court, the personalty being estimated as exceeding £ 23,000.—The will of the Rev. Chauncy Hare Townsend, M.A., late of No. 21 Norfolk-street, Park-lane, Hyde Park, and of Lau- sanne in Switzerland, was proved in the London Court by Miss Angela Georgina Burdett Coutts, of btratton-street, Piccadilly, and the Rev. Thomas Heimore, master of Her Majesty's choir at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, the joint acting executors and trustees Charles Dickens, Esq., of Gladshill place, Kent, is appointed literary executor. The personalty in England was sworn under £16,000. The will is dated August 6, 1863, and the testator died February 25,1868. He bequeaths to Charles Dickens a legacy of £2,000, and begs of him to publish, without altera- tion, so much of his notes and reflections as may make known his opinions on religious matters, which he verily believes would be conducive to the happi- ness of mankind for which purpose he bequeaths to him his manuscripts, correspondence, and private letters and memoranda. To each of his executors he leaves £100 to purchase some memorial of him. To Her Majesty's Council of Education in the Depart- ment of Science and Art he leaves such of his pic- tures and water-colour drawings as the President may think proper to select also his collection of Swiss coins, box of precious stones, box of cameos, and the ancient gold watch formerly belonging to his father, which, being stolen by the celebrated Harrington, was the cause of his transportation. The rest of his pictures, curiosities, articles of antiquity or vertu, he leaves to the Wisbech Museum. The gold watch usually worn by him he leaves to Miss burdett Coutts his other gold repeater he leaves to tCharles Dickens. To his wife he leaves an an- nuity of d6500 beyond all the other provision. There are several other annuities and legacies to his friends. All bequests to be free of duty. The residue of his property as may be applicable to charitable purposes, he leaves for the support of schools in or near London for education of the humblest and the simplest kind, under the visitation of the Bishop of London.. The ultimate residue or surplus that may be remaining he leaves to the disposal of his execu- tors.-The will of Charles Fraser, Esq., of 15 Lan- caster-gate, formerly of 54, Upper Hyde Park gar- dens, was proved in the London Court under £ 60 000. The executors and trnstees appointed are the Rev Simon James Gordon Fraser, of Forebridge, Stafford- shire, the nephew; and Frederick Wickens Smith Esq., of 63, Lmcoln's-inn-fields. The will is dated September 20,1864; and a codical May 11, 1866 and testator died February 25, 1868. The testator be- queaths to the National Gallery twelve of his paint- ing in oil or water colours, as the trustees may select from his collection, for the use of that institution, to be delivered up to the trustees upon the decease of his nephew, the Rev. Simon J. G. Fraser, and in whose custody and keeping they are to remain during his life. The paintings by the testator's mother are to be held as heir-looms. He bequeaths to King's College Hospital, and to St. Mary's Hospital, each a legacy of £ 100. He has left legacies to his sisters, nephews, and others of his family and servants. His freeholds and the residue of his personal estate he leaves to his said nephew, the Rev. Simon J. G. Fraser.-The wills of the undermentioned have been recently proved in the London Court—namely. Sir Samuel Edmund Falkiner, Bart., under £ 4,000 per- sonalty; the Hon. Grace Anne Godsall, £ 4,000 Leti- tia Cicely Lady Bowyer-Smyth, £5,000; and that of the Hon. Frances Hanbury-Tracy was proved in the registry at Gloucester, under £ 20,000.—Illustrated London News. PRISON DIETARIES.—The dietaries of our prisons having recently attracted some degree of public notice, owing to alleged deaths among prisoners re- sulting from insufficient food, it may be well to call attention to the fact that the dieting of prisoners has formed a subject of much thought and investigation on the part of the public authorities, and that from time to time modifications in the diet of prisoners have been introduced by the medical officers of the prisons. In 1864 the report of a committee of medical officers appointed by the Home Secretary to investi- gate the prison diets was presented to Parliament, their suggested modifications being adopted by the directors of the Government prisons and when we say that the committee consisted of Dr. W. A. Guy, then medical superintendent of Millbank Prison, of Mr. Laurence Bradley, F.R.C.S., of Portsmouth Prison, and of Dr. Rendle, of Brixton Prison, it will be evident that no better selection of members could have been made. The duty of this committee, as laid down in their instruction, was to suggest for the two prisons of Millbank and Pentonville a diet which should be the same for both, and which should be calculated to preserve their inmates in health, and a capacity for every kind of labour now required of prisoners, for the space of at least nine months, and at the expiration of that period of separate confinement those who might be selected for public works should be able at once to perform such labour in our dock- yards and arsenals as could be required of men who, whether in prison or out of prison, had led a compa- ratively inactive life, or had been engaged only in comparatively light labour indoors." Taking the male prisons first, the committee reported that the then existing diets at Millbank and Pentonville main- tained prisoners in good health, and capable of per- forming the ordinary prison labour, and in a condi- tion tit for the public works at the expiration of nine months but they regarded the diet as too monoto- nous,and although proposing to leave the penal class diet untouched on this point, suggested modifications of the ordinary diets, with the view of breaking the monotony. At this time the ordinary diet, at Mill- bank comprised 329 oz. of food per week, and that at Pentonville 321 oz.; but the prisoners at Mill- bank had 154 oz. of bread, and 35 oz. of meat, whilst those at Pentonville had 140 oz. of bread, and 36 oz. of meat. The scale proposed for both prisons redu- ced slightly the whole amount of food, but gave more variety. The total amount was 298% oz. viz., bread 148 oz., potatoes 96 oz., meat 16 oz., and meat in soup 4 oz., oatmeal 4 oz., cocoa 33 £ oz., molasses or sugar 7 oz., ouiond, &c., in soup 5 oz., barley in soup 1 oz., milk 4 oz. The penal class diet at the time consisted of bread 84 oz., oatmeal 70 oz., Indian meal 70 oz., potatoes 56 oz., with 103^ pints of milk per week, and for this the committee substituted bread 140 oz.' oatmeal 56 oz., potatoes 112 oz., and milk 7 pints for a week's diet. As regards punishment diet, a prisoner was never put on bread and water for more than three days consecutively, on the fourth day receiving the ordinary prison diet but the committee pro- posed the substitution every fourth day of the new penal class diet for the ordinary diet of the prison. In arranging the female diets, the committee adop- ted the principle of deducting one-fourth from the ordinary diet of male prisoners in all articles offood served in a solid form, but for those women who worked in the laundry they proposed to allow an extra meal of bread and cheese, and to give the full male allowance of meat per diem-viz., four oz. In submitting these propositions to the authorities, the committee refer to the disastrous effects of an injudi- cious reduction of diets at Millbauk in 1822, and at Wakefield in 1862-3, and take especial pains to point out that the dietary as proposed is amply sufficient to maintain the convict in good health and in strength sufficient for the performance of the tasks required of him. At the same time, the adoption of the pro- posed scale has produced no [inconsiderable saving of the public money, calculated to amount to £ 2,153 for the Government metropolitan prieoM.—Lancet.