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■.—j WORDS UPON THE WATERS.

ADVANTAGE OF OPPOSITION. I

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ANOTHER STÁNGE STORY.—COMMUNING…

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HOUSE OF LORDS, FRIDAY, AUG.…

HOUSE OF. COMMONS, FRIDAY,…

ITHE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA—A PRISONER…

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THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA—A PRISONER OF WAR. A man gets up in the morning on his own premises, but little knows where he may sleep at night." The Czar of all the Russias has lately been within an ace of offering in his own person a practical confirmation of this well-known saying. What would the British public have thought,— what would Europe have thought,—what would the ?ht,- Prussia in his own cups have thought,-what would Omar Pasha in his fez cap have thought,—what would the allied troops have thought,—and, finally, what would the Three per Cents, have thought, if, about this time, the Czar of All the Russias, the Archduke Constantine, and the Archduchess, and the Russian Admiral in command at Cronstadt, had been sent home by Sir Charles Napier in the small steamer which had captured them? Improbable as the tale may appear—impossible the catastrophe-it was fairly upon the cards within the last few weeks. The facts are tliese;-A short while back, while the allied fleets were lying before Cronstadt, an English yacht belonging to Lords Lichfield and Euston, with Lord Clarence Paget on board, ventured somewhat too near the guns of the place. Suddenly a puff of steam was seen on the Russian side, and a small Russian steamer put out to sea, with the evident intention of cutting off tbte English yacht. On board of that steamer were the Cza< Nicholas, his son the Archduke Constantine, the i Archduchess his wife, and the Russian Admiral, who all went forth to enjoy the satisfaction of an easy triumph over the poor little yacht. She is, in point of fact, stated to have been in the most imminent danger of capture. The Czar, however, was destined to be foiled in his anticipated little triumph, as he has already been foiled in his hopes of many a great one. An English war steamer, seeing the danger to which the yacht was exposed, advanced with all speed to her relief. Shortly she obtained such a position that the Eng- lish yacht was safe; and the only question that remained for discussion was one between the two small war-steamers—the one under English, the other under Russian colours. Could the English but have known the valuable freight which that little yacht contained-could the captain but have known that by capturing her, or sending her to the bottom, peace would have been restored to Europe, and probably a million of human lives, first and last, be saved, we have no doubt that he would have carried one or other of the alternatives into effect, even though his own destruction, that of his ship, and of every soul on board of her had been the inevit- able consequence. As it was, he saw nothing before him but a little trumpery steamer-he had carried his purpose of relieving the English yacht into effect-and remembered orders, which certainly had been issued, to the effect that no English ship, upon the mere heroic impulse of her com- mander, should be thurst into the lion's mouth. We have no douht that this was so, and that when the English cap- tain gave his orders for putting the head of his steamer round, he did so with the feeling that he had very satisfac- torily discharged the duty with which he had been intrusted. Little did he suppose, at the moment, that he had lost pro- bably the greatest opportunity for obtaining personal dis- tinction which had ever been thrown in the way of a single man. The English nation venerates the name of Lord Nelson for the sake of certain little affairs in which he was engaged off Cape St. Vincent, at the Nile, at Copenhagen, at Trafalgar, and elsewhere, but not all of these wonderful, important, and heroic achievements combined would have had such an important influence on the history of the world as the capture of that little Russian ship. It was given to the captain of a small steamer to change the face of Europe in ten minutes well employed, but in pure innocence he missed the chance. It is seldom, indeed, in modern warfare, still more rarely in naval warfare, that monarchs themselves run any danger of capture. Napoleon, to be sure, at Arcis-sur-Aube, was compelled to cross swords with a squad of Cossacks in the twilight, but he was after all a general, not a king, by trade. If we remember right, upon one occasion, poor old George III. was in danger of capture from a French privateer off Weymouth, and was only saved by some marine chance which has slipped from our recollection. In madieeval history there are, of course, the cases familiar to every schoolboy of King John of France at Poitiers, and of Francis I. after Pavia. But what comparison would there have been between the case of the Black Prince waiting on a madiaeval King, who went to battle in a coat of mail, and the grand surprise of the Russian Czar landing at Portsmouth—no, at Newhaven-while all Europe was in commotion upon his account ? We are, of course, speculating upon history of a very hypothetical character; but still the event did so nearly occur as to justify speculation upon its consequences. In our mind's eye we can see Lords Aberdeen and John Russell communicating the information to the Houses in their own dry and cautious manner. What would Messrs. Bright and Cobden have said ? What would Colonel Sibthorp have said ?—Times. -IT''VV

.THE INSURRECTION IN SPAIN.…

THE WAR.I

INVASION OF THE CRIMEA.I

PROSPECTS OF THE COMING HARVEST.

A LETTER FROM THE SEAT OF…

OUTH WALES RAILWAY.

CARMARTHEN CORN RETURNS.

WEEKLY CALENDAR.

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