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

FRANCE. The Committee on the Reorganization of the Army have agreed to the demand of the Government that the effective force of the army be fixed at 800,000 men. The Government have consented to the proposal that the annual military contingent shall be voted by the Legislative Body. The Minister of War, by order of the Emperor, has issued an order reducing from 3,000f. to 2,500f. the amount to be paid for exemption from military service. At a sitting ,of the Corps Legislatif, on the 23rd May, the Naturalization Bill came on for debate. The tenor of the Bill is to substitute the three years' residence for the term of ten years hitherto obligatory, reducing the period to one year only where important services have been rendered by the claimant. The person naturalized is to cnjoy all the rights of a French citizen. Ollicinl duties in the service of France in foreign countries are to be considered equivalent to residence within the empire. The whole of the Naturalization Bill was adopted, after .a rather animated debate, by 231 against 15 votes. It is asserted that the adjournment of the departure of the King of Prussia for Paris is owing to the wish expressed by the Emperor Napoleon that this visit should take place simultaneously with that of the Emperor of Austria, who cannot come to Paris until after his coronation as King of Hungary. During his stay in Paris the Czar will pay a visit of inspection to the Russian squadron, and the French Mediterranean and Ocean fleets assembled at Cherbourg. The King of Prussia is expected on the 14th or 15th of-jurie. The French Mediterranean Squadron is to sail to Malta and.await there the anival of the Sultan of Turkey. His Majesty will be received at Toulon by the French Minister of Marine. It is said that the King of the Belgians will shortly pay a visit to the camp at Chalons. The Temps confirms, in accord- ance with intelligence from Constantinople, the news that the Sultan, visiting Paris, will proceed to London, and adds.that his Majesty will return to Con- stantinople by way of Vienna. The Government will sanction the discussion by the Chambers of the results of the London Conference im- mediately the diplomatic documents referring to the Conference have been collected. The King of the .Greeks is stated to have addressed from St. Petersburg, where he is now staying, to the Cabinets of Paris, Berlin, and Vienna, an explicit and detailed memorial relative to the existing subjects of dissension between Greece and the Porte. The Prussian Government have given their adhe- sion to the proposed code of international maritime signals. The French ship Jean Bart, stationed at Martinique, has been ordered to proceed to New York to bring home the ironclad frigate Dunderberg, bought by the French Government.

PRUSSIA. An official decree has just been published abolishing the limitations imposed by Denmark upon the naviga- tion of coasting vessels in cargo in Schleswig-Holsteiu waters in favour of countries whose ships are permitted to carry on similar traffic in the waters of the older Prussian provinces. The landed estate of Kaudnitz, in East Prussia, is to be bought out of the public funds, and presented to Prince Frederick Charles, in recognition of ,his military services.

AUSTRIA. Both Houses of the Reichsrath held their first sittings on the 20th May. In the Upper House the opening speech was delivered by the President, Prince von Allersperg. He adverted to the manner in which late events have weighed upon Austria, and said that new bases of public law must o established. We must attain," he added, an undis- turbed state of constitutional right in order thatti.e belief of the people in their political privileges may be strengthened, and in order that among them the con- sciousness may revive that their destinies rest in a just propottion in their own hands. A prosperous issue is only'possible through union. All political parties should earnestly unite in the thought that the object in view is to render Austria great and powerfuL" In the Lower House the President, Herr Giskra, in hIS opening speech, referred to the period during which tne Constitution had been suspended, and reminded the House that it had difficult duties to perform; that the principles of equal ngnts for all nationalities and all re- Iigious confessions, as well as real constitutional go- vernment, must become realities. He also declared that the compromise with Hungary must, in aa equitable form, be carried out in both portions of the empire. form, be carried out in both portions of the empire.

HUNGARY. The coronation of the Emperor Francis Joseph as Bang of Hungary will take place between the 8th and King of Hungary will take place between the 8th and 12th of June next. The Lower House of the Hungarian Diet has passed a resolution for the election of a Committee to draw up --ia. the Inaugural Diploma. The Committee will be com- f posed of twenty-four members of the Lower House and twelve of the Upper House. In reply to a question from M. Zscdenyi, Count Andrassy stated that Fiume had already been called upon to send members to the Hungarian Diet, but not the Croatian municipalities, as the convocation at pre- sent of the latter would be in contradiction to the reso- lution of the Diet on the Croatian question.

RUSSIA. A banquet has been given in Moscow in honour of the Czech delegates, M. Rieger made a speech, in which he said The Sclavonics have hitherto been dispersed mem of a body fighting with their sworn enemies the ^l'ma]>s, Magyars, Italians, and Tartars but the sun °* Slavonic union has risen, convincing us that by Mutual support the Sclavonians will become a great People, not only in numbers but in deeds." At a banquet given on the 23rd May to the Sclavonian members of the Ethnographical Congress at Moscow, the Minister of Public Instruction, Count D. Tolstoy, said:— You are not deputies elected by your fellow- citizens in accordance with usage; nor have you any formal powers. Neither arc we official persons here but as Northern and Eastern Sclavonians we must wV r°me you as brethren from the West and the there i's notlSn^fCtings'"OU1, expressions of sympathy, calculation iiiocl ch,Yacter; no political I, y the Statement our com- T^P,0.1 ™ th° contrary, any such is rather vscill 'tinC1 C'] i6.-16 between us is not based upon IS "lg v r< { ns' butuP°» internal bond existing withm ourselves, created I • i nnn i c-«ea by our history ol 1,000 years, our language, our common Sclavonian idea and tae Sclavonian blood that runs m OUR T • F M to th* beat of Sdavonia,, 5™ foreigner M!u]ite it? What sccptic ,vill ve,«4e to doubt the permanence of the bond between us or tht. I great future Providence ha.s MlieJ out for the mighty I SP-Iayoiijail race."

ITALY. On the 21st of May, in the Senate, the Bill for the Assumption of a portion of the Pontifical Debt came on for discussion. Signor Farini pointed out the unsatis- factory condition of the finances, and urged the Govern- ment to devise a plan for the conversion of the public debt. Signor Scialoja, the late Finance Minister, showed that such conversion was impossible in the pre- sent state of the Treasury. The Finance Committee of the Chamber of Deputies upon the Ecclesiastical Pro- perty Bill require the communication of the Convention now under negotiation with the bankers before making their report. The Gazetta d'Italia states that the convention rela- tive to the ecclesiastical property, notwithstanding the withdrawalof Messrs. Rothschild, is about to be signed, and will be immediately laid before the Chamber. The Minister of Public Worship justified the course taken by the Government with regard to the Pontifical Debt. He repudiated any idea of reducing the interest of the public debt, and declared that Italy would faith- fully fulfil her engagements. The Governments represented at the London Cosi- ference have congratulated the Italian Government upon its attitude during the negotiations, thanking Italy for her services in the cause of peace.

SPAIN. A petition, signed by Englishmen, was read praying for the prompt settlement of the Passive Debt question. The Minister of Finance intends laying before the Cortes a plan for the settlement of the Passive Debt.

AUSTRALIA. MELBOURNE, April 27.-The Legislature and the public of Victoria unanimously condemn the arrange- ments agreed upon at the Intercolonial Postal Confer- ence. A considerable increase is shown in the gold returns.

MALTA. MALTA, May 22.-The cholera having broken out at Tunis among the Jewish population, a quarantine of twenty-one days has been established at Malta on arri- vals from the Regency.

THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. (Per the Celt.) Besides her usual cargo the Celt brings two live koo- doos, the first of this species of antelope brought to England, and a specimen of some stones found in the Orange River, pronounced in the colony to be diamonds. This stone, sent home by the Colonial Government to be tested, is said to be worth L500, and when cut and polished will be worth L800. The Cape Parliament was opened by the Governor on the 13th ult. His Excellency's speeeb-a long ad- dress—commenced with explaining in a very concilia- tory tone that the Government had no wish to take up a position of antagonism to the Parliament, nor to show a want of respect for the two Houses. Neither was the Government actuated by hostility or insincerity in the matter of retrenchment. The speech proceeded to state that the Government had accepted the decision of the Parliament to adopt retrenchment, and were willing to give effect to that measure in detail to the best of their ability. It also set forth particulars of various reductions in the Governmental departments. It pro- posed including a recommendation to shorten the periods of imprisonment of native criminals and to re- duce their diet, in order to render the punishment equally disagreeable. A reduction of the expense of the frontier police his Excellency considered impracticable. With the reductions proposed to be carried out he estimated there would still remain a deficiency of zC59,000 per annum of expenditure over revenue. To meet this the Government proposed a moderate duty on exports, particularly wools, the leasing of the Crown lands, an increase of the inland postage, and the issue of a Government paper currency. It also pro- posed the abolition of the present Houses of Parlia- ment an 1 the division of the colony'into six electoral circles, each to return three members. To these eighteen to be ad ed three officers of the Executive Government, the who to form the only Legislative Chamber. The Govern( also announced, in reference to the contri- bution t( 'ards the expense of the troops in the colony, that in 38 one regiment must be paid for at the rate of JE40 per man that in 1869 two regiments must be f paid for, and for the three following years, at the rate of £ 40 for every infantry soldier, and £70 for every artilleryrran in the colony. The Governor's speech was favourably received, but many points it suggests are not expected to be carried. An Orange Free State commando, sent to drive off the Basutos from the disputed territory and to destroy their crops, had killed aLout twenty-five of the Basutos in so doing. Bishop Gray had expressed a desire to obtain from all the clergy of Natal their decision as to whether they were prepared to receive Mr. Butler as their bishop, and recommended them to poll the communicants, male and female, to ascertain who would receive VIr. Butler and who would repudiate him. Dr. Colenso had issued a pastoral, addressed to the clergy and laity, announcing that now it had been ascer- tained that there was to be no appeal from Lord Rornillv's judgment, the time had come for him to vin- dicate his authority for maintaining order in his church. He bid the clergy, if they thought him ia error, to teach what they themselves believed, but re- quired due canonical obedience.

THE NEW HERRING FISHERIES BILL. W,e. are very glad to see from the provisions of a bill brought into Parliament by the Duke of Richmond that an attempt is at length being made to do away with some of the anomalies of the herring fishery. The legal mode of taking that particular iish has hitherto been by means of what is called a drift net, with meshes of an inch square. This instrument of capture, which can be made of any length by joining .together a series of breadths, is lowered into the water and can be sunk to the required -depth by means of weights it stands in the sea like a great perforated wall over half a mile in length, and is kept in position by a long rope, to which is attached .-a considerable number of large bladders. The herrings are taken by striking against the series of nets, when they become enmeshed, and so are drowned but th s mode of capture is very uncer- tain; no man knowing how deep in the water the shoal may be, so that his nets may be either floating above or below the fish line. Thus, one man who may chance— it is all chance work-to sink his nets too far down will miss the herrings altogether, whilst another fisher may so exactly place his brift before the fish as to come home with his boat laden to the gunwale, There is no understood rule among the fishermen by which to regu- late the sinking of the nets to any given depth; every man must trust to his own sagacity for guidance in the fishery. A number of the herring fishers of the west of Scotland invented a way of .taking the herring for themselves, which tliey found better suited for the sea lochs of that district of the -coast, and which they brought prominently into use in the year 1846. Their plan of fishing was locally known as trawling," but it was in reaiity seining;" they employed, in fact, the same machinery for the capture of the choice herrings of Lochfyne as the men of Cornwall do for the capture of the pilchard. But unfortunately for the men of-Lochfyne, whilst it was quite legal to .take the pilchard herring of Cornwall with a seine net, it was totally illegal so to capture the herrings of Lochfyne. Some of the west-coast fishermen soon discovered that the seine net was far more profitable.as a fishing machine than the legal drift net; it was much handier, could be more easily worked in consequence, .and could be shot two or three times in the same space of time as it took to shoot the more cumbrous drift. By this new way of fishing the men who adopted it more than doubled their" take," rising from an average of 3,000 barrels, which was about the annual quantity taken previous to 1846,-to an average of 10,000 barrels; indeed.the quan- tity .captured in 1851 was 20,000 barrels. In a short time the great success that attended the seine-net fishers of Lochfyne began to attract the attention of those who adhered to the old-fashioned mode of capture; they asserted that the fish captured by the trawling system were so hashed and broken as to be unfit for food, also that the new mode of fishing so broke up and disturbed the shoals that the herrings had been frightened away from many of their former resorts, to the great loss and injury of the drift-net men. A bill was prepared and passed through Parliament in 1851 making trawling" for herrings an illegal mode of capture, and confining all herring fishers to the old-fashioned drift net. This bill was denounced by the trawlers as a smuggled bill, obtained by private interest, and they complained that their trade was ruined—their capture of fish having fallen from thousands of barrels per annum to a few hundreds! The result was that the men .continued to fish with their seine nets on the sly," much to the disgust of the men who kept to the legal net, and thereby, as they said, suffered much loss. The complainers ultimately became so loud that the board" was com- pelled to interfere. Large quantities of -the trawled herrings were seized and confiscated, and some of the delinquents were punished which, 01 course, led to much ill-feeling among the fishermen, and some rioting was the consequence. At length, in August, 1.862, a Royal Commission—consisting of Professors Playfair and Huxley, and Colonel Maxwell—was appointed to in- quire into the operation of the Acts relating to trawling for herring on the coasts of Scotland;" and it is, no doubt, consequent upon the report of that com- mission, which deprecated .ail repressive legislation, that the bill which has just passed through committee in the Ilouse-sf Lords has been introduced. The Commis- sioners, after a prolonged and minute inquiry into the two systems of fishing, came to the conclusion that the one system was as good or as bad as the other and moreover, they expressed their strong conviction that recent legislation on the subject of the herring fishery had unnecessarily restricted the operations of fishermen by repressing- invention and by prohibiting .new and more productive modes of fishing, besides being calcu- lated to he destructive rather than conservative in re- lation to the future supplies of herring. Accordingly the new bill provides that all restrictions imposed on the mode of taking or fishing for herring fry on the coasts of Scotland shall be removed, and that after the passing of this Act, "it shall be lawful to fish for and take herrings and herring fry at all places on the coasts of Scotland in any manner of way, and by means of any kind of net or other apparatus, and to sell, buy, or have in possession herrings or herring fry so fished for and .taken." Every person interested in the welfare of the British fisheries will he glad if this important bill becomes law indeed it is high time that our fishery laws were overhauled and codified. They are full of anomalies, and therefore we sadly want a Fisheries Reform Bill, as we shall try some day to show.

THE REAL RIDE TO YORK. Mr. Richard Turpin rode many miles from the time he left the cradle till he reached the gibbet, but he never rode from London to York, nor, in fact, did any one ever accomplish that extraordinary ride. The myth is. however, founded on a real incident. In 1676. one Nicks, a robber haunting the road between Chatham and London to rob sailors returning to town with their pay, and Kentish traders on their way to London, plundered a traveller at four o'clock in the morning on the slope of Gads hill, the spot immortalised by Shake- speare, and for ever associated with FalstafFs delightful poltroonery. Being on a blood mare, a splendid bay, Nicks determined to prove an alibi in case of danger. He rode off straight to Gravesend there detained an hour for a boat, he prudently baited his horse; then crossing the water, he dashed across Essex, full tilt to Chelmsford, rested half an hour, and gave his horse :some balls. Then he mounted and flashed onto Bram- borongh, Bocking, and Wetheriicld, fast across the downs to Cambridge; quick by by-roads and across country, he slipped past Godmanehester and Hunting- don to Fenny Stratford, where he baited the good mare and took a quick half-hour's sleep. Then once more along the North-road till the cathedral grew up over the horizon larger—-larger, and whiz-he darted through York gate. In a moment lie had led the jaded mare into an inn stable, snapped up some food, tossed off some generous, life-giving wine, and in a fresh dress —say green velvet and gold lace-trolled out, gay and calm, to the Bowling-green, then full of company. The Lord Mayor of the city happening to be there, Nicks sauntered up to him and asked him the hour. "A quarter to eight." Your most obedient." When Nicks was apprehended and tried for the Gadshill rob- bery the prosecutor swore to the man, the place. and the hour; but Nicks brought the Lord Mayor of York to prove an alibi; and the jury, disbelieving in Sir Boyle Roach's bird anywhere out of Ireland, acquitted the resolute and sagacious thief.-Dickcns's All the Year Mound."

The health of Vice-Admiral James John Stopford is in such a slnte as will necessitate his immediate retire- ment from the active list of flag-officers. A letter from Italy says:—" Within the next month there will be in Mediterranean waters no fewer than nine fleets-tlic Eiiglisli, the French, the Italian, the Russian, the Austrian, the American, the Spanish, the Turkish, and, fiually, the Prussian, which is just announced as having destined Naples as its first station." CHILDREN TEETHING.—Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup for children teething, has gained a greater repu- tation in America during the last fifteen years than any remedy of the kind ever known. It is pleasant to take, and safe in all cases it soothes the child, and gives it rest; it softens the gums, and allays all pain or irrita- tion; it regulates the bowels, cures wind, cholic. or dysentery, and diarrha; whether arising from teething or other causes. It is highly recommended by medical men, and is sold by all medicine dealers at Is. 1^1. per j bottle. Full directions on the bottle.-Loud.ou depot. 205, High Jlolborn

SPEECH OF THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA. The Emperor Francis Joseph formally opened the Rei Cll srath" on the 22nd ult. His Majesty delivered the following speech from the throne :— Ilonoured Gentlemen of both Houses of the Reichsrath,—With joyful satisfaction I see th_ Reichsrath onee more assembled around me. Re spending to my appeal, the royal and other eoun tries called upon have sent hither their elected deputies, from whose patriotic co-operation I con- fidentially expect fresh guarantees for the welfare of the empire and of all the countries which Pro- vidence has placed under my sceptre. What I promised when I for the first time saluted the Roichsrath in this place has remained the un- changeable aim of all my efforts. The establish- ment of constitutional institutions upon a sure -this is what I have unwaveringly kept in view. But precisely this object was not to be at- tained without first bringing into accord the more ancient constitutional rights of my kingdom of Hungary with the fundamental laws granted by my diploma of the 20th of October, 1860, and my patent of the 26th of February, 1861. The sincere recognition of this faot on the part of this portion jauto aill o ajnoas auoju rinoo 8Jidcua Gql jo kingdoms and provinces—equally full of devotion to the empire—the undistured enjoyment of the rights and liberties granted to them by the ftindamen tal laws, as well as a progressive developement in ae cordance with the present age. The heavy blows of fortune which have fallen upon the empire were another earnest warning to act in conformity with this necessity. My efforts were not in vain. A satisfactory arrangement has been found for the countries of my Hungarian Crown, which se- cures their coherence with the rest of the mon- archy, the internal peace of the empire, and its position as a great Power abroad. I am animated by the hope that the Reichsrath, will not refuse its consent to this arrangement, and that an impartial and careful consideration of all the circumstances in connection therewith will serve to banish from this Assembly apprehensions which would cause me serious anxiety, were I not firmly persuaded that the honest goodwill of all parties will bring the new organisation to a successful issue. The past, the present, and the future exhort us to vigorously apply ourselves to the completion of the work which has been begun. The Reichsrath, upon whose patriotic devotion I rely, will, in the pre- sent urgent state of things, disdain to shrink from the task of a prompt organisation of the relations of the State on the basis now offered, and will re- fuse to follow instead an object, the fruitless pur- suit of which could only offer fresh experiments but not successful results. The Reichsrath, so much I expect from its justice, will not under- estimate the advantages which have already beeome perceptible in Austria's position in the European equilibrium through the course which I have initiated. The Reichsrath—its tried dis- crimination is my guarantee for it—will, finally, not ignore how the new order of things must have for consequence equal security for the other .kingdoms and provinces, inasmuch as it sur rounds with new and unshakeable gnarantees the constitiutonal rights and liberties of the pro- vinces of the Hungarian Crown. The realisation, however, of this prospect is essentially dependent upon the consolidation of the fundamental laws of the 20th of 'October, 1860, and the 26th of Feb., 1861, in the countries whose representatives are now reassembled here. The unconditional election of deputies to the Reichsrath was therefore also an absolute necessity. But as the idea of curtailing the existing right of the different kingdoms and provinces has been foreign to my mind, so also have I had in view the granting to them, in unison with the Reichsrath, of everyextension of their autonomy that will meet their wishes, and can be accorded without endangering the whole monarchy. There- fore, in consideration of the arrangement arrived at with the Hungarian Representative Assembly in so far as it relates to common affairs, there will be atonce submitted to you for adoption the amendments which have become necessary to my patent of the 26th of February, 1861, together with a bill estah- lishing ministerial responsibility and a modification of paragraphs of the Constitution, corresponding with the constitutional requirements. To these will be adeled other bills, especially those announced to the Provincial Diet by our resolution of the 4th of February last. The financial affairs of the Empire will claim your most especial attention and constitu- tional co-operation. You will receive full reports with regard to the extraordinary measures which have been unavoidably necessitated since the last ses- sion of the Reichsrath by the outbreak of the late destructive war. Satisfactory provision has already been made for the requirements of the current year so that the Reichsrath, freed from all demands and exigencies-of the moment, can at once devote itself to the solution of the important and permanent financial questions now submitted to its deliberation in consequence of the arrangement with Hungary. It will be our urgent care that no portion of our empire shall have cause to complain of being dis- proportionately taxed. Honoured Gentlemen of both Houses of the Reichsrath,—To-day we are about to establish a work of peace and of concord. Let us throw a veil of for- getfulness over the immediate past, which has in- flicted deep wounds upon the Empire. Let us lay to heart the lessons wnich it leaves behind, but let us derive with unsaken courage new strength, and the resolve to secure to the empire peace and power. For this the fidelity of my people, which has been manifested in times of the most urgent need, is tw best guarantee.. Let not the secret thought of .revenge guide our steps—a more noble satisfaction is reserved for ns. The better we succeed in our present effort to change the antagonistic feelings and enmities at present existing' into esteem and respect, the sooner the peoples of Austria, whatever may be their nationality or language, will rally around the imperial standard, and will cheerfully trust to the word of my ancestors, that Austria will endure and prosper, under the protection of the Almighty, until the most distant time." The speech of the Emperor was received with frequent outbursts of cheering.

DIABOLICAL ATTEMPT TO UrSET A PASSENGER TRAIN.—A diabolical attempt was msde to upset the 11.5 p.m. passenger train from Manchester to Bolton, on the Lancashire and Yorkshire line, on Mondav. As a goods train was travelling from Bolton the" driver observed, a little on the Bolton side of Dixon Fold Station a couple ol trees laid across the down line, evidently with the intention of upsetting the next train, which was due within a few minutes. With the most praiseworthy alacrity the goods driver, proceeding slowly, took care to signal danger to the passenger train the moment it came in sight; and although the train was running at a speed from 30 to 40 miles an hour a stop was fortunately effected. But for the look-out C z kept by the goods driver an accident of a most appalling nature must have occurred. Di ATH OF MR. E. H. BAILY, R.A.-We regret to record the death of Mr. Baily, the eminent sculptor, which took place on Wednesday, at his residence at Hollo way. The deceased, who was in his 80tii year, took cold on Saturday, which brought on a fatal attack of bronchitis. He was a native of Bristol, the son of a ship carver; and very early gave indications of ability in the profession in which he has won so high a repu- tation. He became a pnpil of Flaxman, and his pro- gress to fame was exceedingly rapid. He was specially 11 y renowned for his beautiful and graceful delineation of the female figure and his best works, perhaps, are Eve Listening to the Voice," a companion to his "Eve at the Fountain "the Graces," "the Fatigued Huntsman," the Sleeping Nymph," and a colossal statue of Sir Robert Peel, for Manchester Amongst his other works are—" Hercules Casting Lycus into the Sea," Apollo Discharging his Arrows," and Mater- nal Love," as well as statues of Lord Egremont, Sir Astley Cooper, Earl Grey. at Newcastle, the Duke of Sussex, for Freemasons' Hail and a monument to Lord Holland, in Westminster Abbey, with many others. The statue of Nelson, which surmounts the lofty column in Trafalgar-square, is also one of his works. Mr. Baily was elected all A.R.A. in 1817, and an KA. in 1821. EXTRAORDINARY SCENE IN PADDINGTON.-On Sun- day night last. at nine o'clock, a gentleman residing in a house on the western side of St. Mary's-square, Pad- dington, by some unexplained means, got on to the top of the roof of his house when in a state of complete nudity, and where he committed vagaries to the alarm of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood and others who were passing hy. After being chased by four policemen for upwards of an hour over various roofs he was captured by Samuel Noble, 174 X, who took him to his bed-room.and then ascerta ned that the entleman was suffering from a paroxism of fever caused by small-pox. The unfortunate man's wife was in hysterics the whole of the time her husband was on ths roof.

SWEND'S CONQUEST OF ENGLAND. This conquest of England by Swend forms an im- portant stage in our history. It was, for a moment at least, the completion of the Danish invasions in their third and final shape of act: I Danish conquest. And it was more than this. The anish conquest by Swend was, so to speak, the precedent for the Norman Con- quest by William. Swend's own possession of England was indeed most short. but he at least held it as long as he lived, and he handed on his mission to his son. The result of Swend's invasion showed that the Crown of England, so lately united into a single king-- dom. could, by the event of war, be transferred from the brow of a native sovereign to that of a foreign in- vader. It was Swend's conquest which made the con- quest both of Cnut and of William possible. Cnut's conquest was of course only the completion of Swend's. It was Swend who conceived the idea, and who actually for the first time carried it out. That idea was some- thing very different from anything which has been set before the eyes of any earlier Scandinavian invader, Hitherto England had been largely very considerably ravaged, and had even been partly occupied. But mere ravages were in their own nature temporary and the Danes who had settled in England had been gra- dually brought into a greater or less degree of submis- sion to the English King, into a greater or less degree of amalgamation with the English people. The third stage of the Danish wars, that which had now for a moment accomplished its object, aimed at something of quite another kind. It sought, as I have before shown, not only to ravage or even to occupy, but to transfer to the Crown all England, the. rule of all its inhabitants, Eng- lish and Danish alike, into the hands of the King of all Denmark. This object Swend had now accomplished. Succeeding events indeed called for the work to be done over again by his son Cnnt. But the example was set; the establishment of a foreign King in England, his recognition, willing or unwilling, by the English na- tion, were processes which had now become familiar. What Swend had done Cnut might do, and what Cnut had done William might do. Swend now, like William afterwards, was singularly favoured by fortune. But the good luck of the two invaders took quite different shapes. Swend found an incapal: le Prince on the throne, under whom no effective resistance was possible. He was enabled to wear out the strength and spirit of the nation by a series of successful, though partial, attacks. He was thus able, at the end of a long series of years, to obtain possession of the whole land without ever hav- ing put his forces to the risk of a decisive engagement. William found a hero on the throne; he had, therefore, at the very beginning to stake all his chances on a single battle. But in that single battle England lost her hero, and with him her hope. Swend and William were thus equally lucky, but William ran a far more terrible hazard. Swend is apt to be forgotten in a cursory view of Engl'sh history, because he is overshowed by the fame of his son. But Swend was no ordinary man. If greatness consists in mere skill and steady "fastness in carrying out an object, he may even be called a great man. His purpose was doubtless fixed from the begin- ning; but he knew how to bide his time, how to mark and to seize his opportunity.—History of the Norman Conquest of England.

THE NEW BAKKllUPTCY BILL. The Attorney-General's Bills relating to Bank- ruptcyand imprisonment for .debt have been printed as amended in Committee. The amendments appear to be numerous and importaat, especially in the Bank- rupty Bill. Many of them relate to the judicial and other members of the Courts. The office of the Accountant in Bankruptcy, which, under the Act of 1861, is to be abolished on the first vacancy, is now proposed to be retained, the important duty of auditing the accounts of the trustees of the bankrupts' estates being assigned to that officer, in strict accordance with the Scotch system. Vacancies in the oflices of Judges and Registrars of the Court in London are to be filled by selection, in the first instance, from among the Com- missioners and Registrars of the Court in the country districts. Compensation to the holders of abolished offices is given on this principle: if the officer has served fifteen years he is to retire on full salary if less than fifteen years, on two-thirds. Provisions arc introduced foi preventing the power of bringing a debtor to London from a distant part of the country by trader-debtor sum- mons being used oppressively. The lists of creditors to be filed by the debtor are made more comprehensive. The time and place of the meeting for the choice 01 creditors' trustee are left unrestricted, to be determined by the Court according to the circumstances of each case. The remuneration of the trustee is to be fixed by the creditors, without interference by the Court. The trustee is to keep minutes of proceedings at the creditors' meetings, like the sederunt-book in Scotland. The grounds of suspension of the order of discharge are, in some points, made more clear, and the time previous to actual bankruptcy within which the commission of mercantile offences will entail punishment on the debtor is enlarged in various instances. The powers of the Court to deal with questions of reputed ownership, and with adverse claims to parts of the bankrupt's property, arc usefully extended, so as to concentrate the jurisdic- tion in a bankruptcy as much as possible in one tribunal. The trustee is empowered to act on his own judgment with respect to suing for debts under C20. The mode of proof of debts against the bankrupt's estate is still further simplified. The allowance to the bankrupt for maintenance is left to the creditors, instead of to the Court, subject, however, to a general power in the Court to interfere in cases of hardship. A new power is inserted authorising the payment of small sums due for dividend, without probate or administration, where the creditor dies before actual receipt of his dividend. The parts relating to arrangement by deed and to the liability of after-acquired property seem also to have received much consideration and improvement in detail since the introduction of the Bill.

THE RISING RACE IN VICTORIA. The Registrar-General of this colony has recently published an interesting account of the gradual change that is taking place in the national type of the popula- tion of Victoria. He states that in consequence of the diversity of nationality there is a very important change continually going on by the process of marriage, and although this change has hitherto been little heeded by those effecting it, yet it is one that will influence every social and political development of the future lite of the colony. The distinctive characteristics of English,, Irish, and Scotch emigrants are rapidly breaking down, and another national type is being developed in the shape of an Australian people. In order to deter- mine the extent to which existing national types are being fused, Mr. Archer refers to the nationality of the married population. Out of 25,908 males who married in Victoria during six years, 12,664 were Englishmen, of whom 7,152, or 56 per cent., married English women. On the other hand, out of 25.908 women who married in the same period, 9,718, or 37 per cent. were English, and of these 7,152, or nearly 74 per cent., married Englishmen. Again, as many as 3,0f.5, or nearly 10 per cent. of the Englishmen, married Irish women a striking contrast to which, only 573, or less than 6 per cent., of the Eng- lish women married Irishmen. During the same period 4,422 Irishmen married the same number of Irish women, the former being 80 per cent, of the Irishmen, and the latter 48 per cent. of the Irish women who married. Of 59 Chinese (males) who married, 28, or 47 per cent., married Irish women half that number, or 24 per cent., married English women 11, or 19 per cent., married Australian-born women; 2, or 3 per cent.. married Scotch women and the same number and percentage married Welsh women and German women. Out of every 100 marriages 28 were between English males and English females, 17 were between. Irish males and Irish females, and 9 were between fecotcn males and scotch females, snowing mat rue ois- tinction of race was. preserved among little more than half of the total marriages. Equality in the number of the sexes is one of the first conditions necessary for the full development of national growth but there has always hitherto obtained a great disproportion in this respect in Victoria. In 1866 it was estimated that there were 75 females to every 100 males, which is a smaller disproportion than has ever before existed. Among the Victorian-born there were 99 females to every 100 males. The English-born were in the proportion of 57 females to 100 males the Scotch in that of 64 females to 100 males and the Irish in that of 85 females to 100 males. Among foreigners the Germans showed the highest proportion of females—namely, 23 females to 100 males; and the Chinese the least— namely, one female only to every 3, 000 males. It may be stated that the marriages of the Australian-born are gradually assuming a greater numerical importance, so that it will soon become very difficult to distinguish the national origin of any dven portion of the Victorian people. The English-born have, at every Census- taking been foremost in the list of nationalities, the Irish-born have as invariably been second, and the Scotch-born third. The latest returns of the central Board show that the aborigines in the colony amounted to 1,908. It is satisfactory to learn that, though their numbers decreased rapidly in the early years of the colony, they are not now diminishing to any serious ex- tent. This improvement is, no doubt, owing in a great measure to the efforts of the central Board, who re- ceive and expend an annual sum voted by Parliament expressly for the aborigines.

PORTUGAL. The Chamber of Commerce, after a long discussion, has resolved to recommend the proposed Treaty of Commerce with France to the favourable consideration of the Cortes.

KING GEORGE OF HANOVER. The semi-official North German Gazette of the 21st says The Government has lodged a detainer upon funds in the hands of a Hanoverian banker to the amount of 60,000 thalers, and forming a portion of the private fortune of King George, in consequence of an attempt to secretly dispose of that sum, contrary to the existing convention between His Majesty and the Prussian Go- vernment. Domiciliary perquisitions and arrests have been made in several parts of Hanover, even among persons of the highest position. The Banking ancl Commercial Gazette stated that the Hanoverian banker Ezekiel Simon has been brought to Berlin as a Sta te prisoner on a-charge of high treason.

BELGIUM. M. Rogier communicated en the 24th of May to the Chamber of Deputies the conclusions arrived at by the foreign engineers on the question of the barring of tile Scheldt. The engineer from Prussia has .pronounced in favour of Holland, the one from England in favour of Belgium, while the French engineer declares that the proposed barring will not injure the interests of France. These conclusions will -be submitted to the Belgian engineers. The Chamber has adopted the Bill granting to the Government 8,40G,000f. for the conversion of riflce into breech-loaders. The Chamber of Deputies have adopted the bill for the loan of 60,000,000 francs, by sixty-three against fifteen votes. Three members abstained from voting.

TURKEY. 'Seven of the Cretan-delegates have left Constantinople suddenly without, coming to terms with the Porte. They have addressed a protest to the Legations, stating that they were brought here against their will, and that they are entirely without powers Exom the Christian population of Crete.

INDIA. CALCUTTA, April 24.—The Viceroy left for Simla to- day. On his journey he will open the railway between Delhi and Meerut. The new Lieutenant-Governor has been installed, and it is reported that he will visit the famine-stricken districts. The accounts of the famine are generally favourable. The report of the Commis- sioners has been sent to the Home Government by to-day's mail. A petition against the new licence tax was presented to the Viceroy on the .12th inst. Captain Sloden, the Political Resident, presented the Viceroy's admonitory despatch to the King of Burmah, who sciita friendly -reply. The .engine-drivers of the Punjaub Railway have struck. It is stated that a special wire will be-shortly available for European mes- sages between Kurrachee and Bombay, and it will be subsequently extended to Calcutta. The weather is cool for the season of the year. BOMBAY (viâ Trieste), April :28.—A committee of the-shareholders of the Bank of Bombay has been ap- pointed to act with the directors in maturing the scheme for reconstructing the bank, as an alternative to the pro- posed amalgamation with the Bank of Bengal. The shareholders of the Bombay Reclamation Company have accepted the compromise offered by the liqui- dator of the Asiatic Bank. A public prosecutor has been appointed for Bombay. The double line of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway is now completed be- tween Bombay and Egutpoora. Colonel Merewether succeeds Mr. S. Mansfield -as commissioner for Scinde. The appointment has given great offeiiec to the members of the Civil Service. It is believed that Mr. Justice Campbell, the Pre- sident of the Famine Commission at Calcutta, will succeed Mr. Richard Temple as Chief Commissioner for the Central Provinces. Active preparations arc being made in the North-West Province in order to check the spread of the cholera. Reports have reached Calcutta that the captain and a boat's crew ,of the ship Assam Valley, having landed on North Andaman Island, were attacked and overpowered by the natives, who are can- nibals. It is feared that .all were massacred. Govern- ment has despatched steamers to rescue the survivors, if any should remain. Intelligence from Central Asia, pub- lished in the Bombay papers, states that the Russians have abandoned their intention of destroying the forts captured by them at Jeejukh and Aktippa, and of fall- ing back on the line of the Jaxartes, and have deter- mined to occupy them, as well as Khokand. In conse- quence of this invasion of Central Asia .by the Russians some of the Khans have thrown off their allegiance to the Ameer, and have established independent sovereign- ties in their respective territories. Business in Bombay- is very unsettled, owmg to the uncertainty of Conti- nental affairs. The public health is satisfactory.

CHINA. i SHANGHAI {via Trieste), April 9.—-The Nienfei have appeared in great numbers north of the Tangtze, and have captured and burnt several villages. It is reported that the American gunboat Aspenlot has bombarded a place in Formosa, where the crew of the American ship Rover are supposed to have been murdered. A great fire has occurred at Pekin. Advices from Japan state that the French Admiral had returned to Yokohama from his visit to Osaca. The Japanese showed him great courtesy. The troops who were intended to act against Prince Choishu have been disbanded.

Wc are authorized to state that the Drawing-room announced to be held at St. James's Palace on Saturday, the 8th of June, by her Royal Highness the Princess Louis of Hesse (Princess Alice of Great Britain and Ireland) has been postponed till Thursday, the 27th of June.

FOREIGN NOTES. The six Barons Rothschild visited Paris last week. Queen Isabella of Spain is to arrive in Paris on the 20th of June. The King and Queen of Belgium will leave Paris shortly for Miramar. The Session of the French Legislature is to terminate on the 19th of July. The King of Italy has distributed 50,000 lire among the poor of Venice. M. Moronaux, a French merchant at Redon, recently sent to England 7,000 dozen eggs in one week. Ex-Admiral Persano is about to reside m England. The Countess Persano is an Englishwoman. American papers announce the death of the Hon. O. H. Browning, Secretary of the Interior. I The distinguished Indian, Hole-in-the-day, has re- cently married a white wife in Washington. The well-known French novelist, Octave Feuillet, has been appointed librarian to the Castle. at Fontainebleau. The Italian admiralty is making arrangements for raising the frigate lit d' Italia, which was sunk in the battle of Lissa. The cholera has broken out among the Jews at Tunis, and three weeks' quarantine has consequently been es- tablished at Malta on all arrivals from thence. Beckworth, the oldest huntsman of the Rocky Mount- ains. and once chief of the Crow nation, recently died whilst hunting in Colorado. -Elaborate plans have been prepared for the erection of a new summer residence for the British Ambassador at Therapia, on the Bosphorus. An oath in the streets of Buffalo costs five dols. by a vote of the City Council. The state law only charges one dol. The iron building known as Christ Church, Ken- sington, where Mr. Henry Marchmont officiated, has been totally destroyed by tire. It is not known how the fire was caused. The German St. Petersburger Zeitung announces that the population of St. Petersburg was, according to the last census, 540,000, one half of whom are able tQ read. The King of Italy arrived at Venice on the 9th, for the purpose of making himself personally acquainted with the wishes of the population. His reception was not at all enthusiastic. The French Admiralty has received intelligence that the Prussian Government has purchased from that of the United States two men of war, the frigate Dunder- berg, 5,000 tons, and the monitor Onondaya. The work of a thousand men for four years is the inscription upon the great railway bridge across the Susquehanna river at Havre de Grace, Maryland. The excess of the present prices in New York of staple articles of food over their price for the past ten years is enormous. Pork is 12 per cent. in excess, beef 60 per cent., corn 50 per cent., and flour 80 per cent. The Italian Government has ordered the Malamocco and the arsenal at Venice to be fortified at a cost of 10,000,000 frtncs. The works are to be executed under the superintendence of General Menabrea. The Prussian authoress Ludrnilla Assing, who was sentenced last year to imprisonment for having edited the diary of Varnhagen von Ense, has arrived at Berlin from Florence, her sentence having been revoked by the late amnesty. One square yard of the Great Exhibition wall costs one thousand francs (£40) for displaying an advertisement upon it, and it seems that there are lots of customers at this rate. A railroad is projected across from the Atlantic to the Pacific, across Costa Rica from Lemon on the east- ern to Caldera on the western coast. It will be 123 miles in length. The cost is estimated at 12,000,000 dollars. Professor Liebig dined with the Emperor Napoleon last Sunday. The soup was prepared on this occasion with" Liebig's extract of meat. His Majesty had a long conversation in German with the professor on the subject of food for working men. The Danish Minister of War has just purchased 50,000 Remington guns in the United States. The Danish Government has denied the news of the lieu tralisation of the Baltic in case of war, and that of a mission of the hereditary Grand-Duke of Russia to Copenhagen. A morgue was opened in New York on the 21st of June last year. The Report of the Commissioners of Public Charities and Correction shows that, by the end of the year 1866,72 bodies had been received 28 of them were identified by friends, 44 remained unknown. Massachusetts papers announce the death at New Bedford, in that State of Mrs. Rotch, aged ninety-one, who was the widow of the owner of the ship Dartmouth. which brought into Boston harbour the cargo of tea that was thrown overboard in 1773 by revolutionists disguised as Mobawks." Among the more costly articles in the Paris Exhi- bition are a pair of superb vases of crimson Bohemian glass, at X280 the pair and a glass fountain, to which that of '62 was comparatively small. Its weight is 24,000 pounds, and its price is £ 3,200. M. Archer the French officier depaix who accompanied the Prince of Wales in his frequent visits to the Exhi- bition and prevented his royal highness from being at any time inconveniently approached by the crowd, has been presented by the Prince with a very handsome gold pin, having the Prince's arms beautifully set in diamonds. The Sultan will embark at Constantinople between the 6th and 10th of June, and will arrive at Paris be- tween the 15th and 20th. He will reside at the Palais de l'Elysce, which is sufficiently isolated to allow his Majesty to devote himself without inconvenience to all the rights and ceremonies enj ined by his religious faith. Among the curious cases to which the transition in America from slavery to negro equality has given rise, is one now exciting attention in Washington, in which the registration of William Boyd, a negro, as a voter has been refused. The law prescribes that no one who has been convicted of an infamous crime shall vote, and Boyd was once convicted of assisting slaves to escape. Great preparations are being made at the Hotel de Ville for a series of balls which are to be given during the summer. M. Deschamp has been sent to Catania, Syracuse, and Tunis, to buy a quantity of palm trees for the decoration of the building. The first ball is to take place on the 20th of June, aud all the sovereigns and other distinguished personages who may be in Paris at the time will be invited. The opening of the new route to Paris, namely, from Fenchurch-street via Thames Haven and Boulogne, has brought a considerable accession of traffic to the Tilbury and Southend line. The vessels employed arc described as excellent, both in regard to accommodation and speed, and the charges are such as places it within the means of the humblest mechanic to visit the Paris Exhibition. The New York Tribune, mentioning the fact that Mr. William Lloyd Garrison, who may be truly named the apostle of anti-slavery, has sailed for Europe to benefit his health, says :—"He takes deserved holiday after a long and earnest work well done. The thou- sands of Christian men and women whose good wishes will follow him will be glad to learn that, before sail- ing, it was made known to him that 30,000 dols. had been collected and deposited to his order as a tribute to his anti-slavery labours." A communication addressed to the French Institute declares that the incrustation which covered the vase lately found at Pompeii proves that the water contained in the vessel did not date from the destruction of the town, as no water contains sufficient lime and carbonate of copper to form such a deposit. The conclusion is that the water was several times renewed, and that the porous ashes heated by the sun permitted evaporation, .t JI; and, at the same time, allowed rain-water to filter through into the vase. A serious accident occurred the other day to General the Duke de Fezensac. While crossing the Rue d' Anjou, Paris, he was knocked down by a horse ridden past rather rapidly, and was severely Iturt in the head. After his wound had been dressed at a neighbouring apothecary s shop, he was removed to his residence. The duke, who is aged 83 years, was an officer under Napoleon, and went through the campaign of Russia, of which he has written an interesting account. A commission appointed by the French government to inquire into the best means of protecting powder maga- zines from the effects of lightning, recommends tha( instead of the geld or platina top which generally ter- minates lightning conductors, a copper cylinder, centimetres in diameter, by 20 or 25 m length, should be used, as this cannot melt, owing to its great con- ducting power. Dr. J lineman suggests as a new cement for luting apparatuses, &c., a mixture of two jiarts of sifted iron* filings and one part of clay in powuer. 'ihc two gub< stances being intimately mixed together, they are made into a paste with strong vinegar. This must be used immediately, for as soon as it begins to geL hard, which it speedily docs, it beeon.cs untit for use. It is asserted that Prussia has entered into negotia- tions with the Danish Government with the -view of carrying out the article of the Treaty of Prague, which stipulates that the population of North Schleswiw should be by universal suffrage. t:> 1 he instruction to the Croatian deputation sent to Prstb to he ( ivcv.it .it the coronation (If the King of Hungary,> uemaintenance of the integrity of Croatia, the nieo.j.oration of Dalmatic, the abolition of the system which at present prevails in the Military Frontier provinces, the responsibility of the Govern- ment to the Croatian Diet, and a special Inaugural Diploma for Croatia. It also declares that the arrange- ment arrived at between Austria and Hungary with regard to common affairs is not binding upon Croatia.