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-__- -_- - -IA YEAR OF MR.…
A YEAR OF MR. GLADSTONE. The close of the financial year enables us to compare the promise of Mr. Gladstone's Budget for 1860-61 with its performance. The results are equally curious and in- structive In that wonderful scheme the Chancellor of the Exchequer inaugurated so many experiments; conceded so many remissions, total or partial, of taxation contrived so many compensations producing revenue on the other side of the account picked up so many waifs and strays of receipts for the service of the year; postponed so many liabilities anticipated so many assets,—finally adjusted an unpropi- tious balance by the convenient appropriation of several hundred thousand pounds from the cash at the national bankers-that his Budget as a whole presented one of the most unintelligible, as it was the most unsatisfactory, financial proposition that had appeared for many years. Nor was the nature of the scheme rendered more tolerable by the method of its presentation. The right hon. gentle- man, as one of his admirers has lately confessed, in his celebrated speech of 10th February, established a rhetori- cal deficit," —that is to say, he assumed the expiration of certain war taxes on tea and sugar, and of the Income and Property-tax, though afterwards all those imposts were renewed, with, in the latter case, a grievous augmentation in the tariff of charges and the shadow of this deficit has haunted finance ever since." It has done more. It has infused perplexity into all the calculations which members of the Legislature or the commercial public have been able to frame respecting the products of past taxation, the prospects of future revenue, or the general results of those multifarious changes which Mr Gladstone had intro- duced, and especially of those that centred in, or grew out of, the Commercial Treaty with France. Even now that the year is completed, and the figures are before us, it is impossible to track in detail the conse- quences of each particular measure, whether as tending to occasion a rise or fall in the commercial barometer. We can as yet speak of nothing but the gross results-but these are quite sufficient to show the haphazard way in which the returns of revenue in the different branches were guessed at by the Minister at the time, and the serious blunders into which he was consequently betrayed. At the termination of the then current year, Mr. Glad- stone found himself in the comfortable, but customary, position for English finance ministers, of possessing a handsome surplus. Adopting without alteration the esti- mates and arrangements of his predecessor, the Chancellor of the Exchequer found at the end of the year 1859-60, that the revenue presented an actual excess, as compared with the normal expenditure of the twelvemonth, to the amount of more than a million and a half. To this was added a quarter of a million, being a moiety of the old debt unexpectedly repaid by Spain,—constituting altogether a surplus of EI,89,3,000. This handsome balance in hand, however, he at once proceeded to dissipate, first by sub- tracting £ 1,170,000, as the additional charge on army and navy account," to defray outstanding liabilities on account of the Chinese and other little wars;" and, secondly, by charging t640,000 as the prospective loss occasioned by the operation of the French Treaty during the seven weeks then still unexpired of the current year. Here we meet the first in the long series of Ministerial blunders. When the financial year terminated, on March 31, I860, it appeared from the official tables that the Cus- toms receipta-the only branch of revenue affected by the Treaty-so far from diminishing, had actually increased by L350,000 beyond the returns for the previous year. Even allowing for the extra war-expenditure, the amounts of 1859-60 closed with a net surplus of at least one million sterling. Passing on to the Estimates for the year just terminated, Mr. Gladstone, when promulgating his rhetorical" budget, got together an hypothetical income of X60,700,000 from the following sources: Customs, £ 22,700,(100; Excise, E 19,170, 000 Stamps, £ 8,000,000; Assessed Taxes, £ 3,250,000 Property Tax, £ 2,400,000 Post Office, £ 3,400,000; Crown Lands, £ 280,000; and Miscellaneous, £ 1,500,000. These figures were computed on the avowed basis that matters were left entirely to take their course that on the one hand the Property tax ceased altogether, and the Customs-duties on tea and sugar subsided to the peace-level, while, on the other, no remissions were effected either in pursuanco of the French Treaty or under any other pretext. The alterations subsequently intro- duced produced a series of ups and downs of very perplex- ing diversity, and of which we can pretend only to indicate j the salient features and aggregate results. In Customs, the Commercial Treaty was computed to occasion a loss, on the year, of E 1, 190,000 the decrease of receipts from the remission of duty on three or four hundred small articles" adding to this loss a gross esti- mated sum of £ 910,000 —total, £ 2,100,000. On the other side, the continuation of the war duties on tea and sugar would produce precisely the same amount of income- 12,100,000-and the series of homcepathic imposts on packages, transfers, and other commercial operations respecting the Customs revenue, was expected to yield an income of £ 510,000. So that on balance the rheto- rical" estimate of receipts from this department showed an augmentation of at least half a million, -raising the total from X22,700,000 to £ 23,210,000. The Excise branch of revenue was subjected to still more extensive manipulations. During the year 1859-60, this item of receipt produced no less than £ 20,361,000. Mr. Gladstone rhetorically" estimated the product for 1860-01 at E19,170,000, and afterwards reduced that amount by a round million as the prospective loss from his proposed repeal of the Paper-duty; while he augmented the irnme- diate income by £ 1,400,000 through a reduction in the malt and hop credits, and anticipated a gain of about L500,000 more by a new taritf on game certificates. As the proposal to abolish the Paper-duty was wisely repu- diated by the House of Lords, the net result should have been to elicit a revenue from Excise, on the arrangements of the February budget, amounting to E20,620,000. On the Property and Income Tax, as matters stood, a balance ef about £ 2,400,000 remained to be collected, at the 5d. tariff, for the assessments for the year ending April 1, 1860. A new lease of the impost, at a double rate-but only for one year-was asked for and obtained by Mr. fHarlatnno, K.it such novel arrangements for collection, that three quarters instead ot one-half were gathered into the Exchequer during the year. The difference, so far as the revenue or the tax-payers are concerned, is this :—Last April, at the 5d. tariff, nearly two millions and a half were still uncollected. This year, when the tariff is 10d., the outstanding balance is only two and a quarter millions; and the effect of certain sinister devices, originating, it seems, nobody knows where, for anticipating the collection, has probably reduced this available amount by one or two hundred thousand pounds. Altogether the product from this source of income was computed to amount to about sio,goo,ooo. In Stamps the only change of last year's growth com- prised the introduction of divers new inventions in this line, including stamps on brokers' notes, dock-warrants, bankers' cheques, and other business transactions, from which the Finance Minister hoped to realize E300,000, raising the total income from L8,000,000 to £ 8,300,000. Upon other branches of receipts the effect of Mr. Glad stone's Budget passes beyond the range of critical inquiry, since any influence that might have been exercised was altogether indirect, and arose merely from the degree in which the financial system of the country stimulated or repressed the advance of national prosperity. So far we have treated entirely of the first" Budget, announced in the speech of 10th February. Three months later, or thereabouts, a second" Budget was promulgated, with the view of providing for the exigencies arising out 1 of the presentation of divers little bills on account of war in China and New Zealand, and for other purposes which are reckoned as incidentals" by Whig financiers, but which long experience has taught us to regard as con- stants" in Whig finance. The result of this new edition of the scheme of taxation was to impose further duties on home spirits, accruing to the Excise, and expected to yield one million per annum with a revised schedule of Customs- duties so managed as to extract S400,000 additional from that branch of the revenue. Assuming that one-half of this augmentation would be realized during the year, the final result as computed by Mr. Gladstone ought to have been a net Customs receipt of E23,410,000, and an Excise receipt of J621,120,000, during the financial year ending on the 13th instant. To these totals must fairly be adied the amour.t which ought to be credited to the national growth of population, of wealth, of enterprise, and of consump- tion in the British dominions. Between 1842 and 1853, in the face of remissions amounting on the whole to more than twelve millions a-year, the gross product of the Customs revenue actually increased between one and two millions sterling. There was, on the average, eleven hundred thousand pounds of duties annually abolished, and yet the net product of revenue increased every year nearly a quarter of a million. lir. Gladstone has tried the experiment of remission, but so blunderingly, that instead of all increase he is forced to confess a deficit. I His estimate of revenue from Customs, as corrected and revised in the latest editions of his Budget, showed a re- turn of nearly 21i millions. The actual product, as an- nounced in the revenue-returns on the 1st inst., amounted only to £ 23,305,000. The difference in figures is not large. But in the face of an industrial expansion, annually pro- gressing with augmented rapidity, and attesting the elasti- city of commerce and wealth among the whole community, this retrograde step assumes a very serious significance. But the Excise returns point to far more disastrous con- clusions. In Mr. Gladstone's corrected" as contradis- tinguished from his "rhetorical" estimate the produce of this item during the past year should have been £ 21,120,000. It has actually amounted only to 119,43.5,000, The dif- ference on the wrong side of the account is 11,61,35,000. This is not the worst: The present account includes the XI,400,000 anticipated from the malt and hop credits, so that the actual deficiency exceeds three millions sterling. What this enormous falling otf in a branch of receipt which depends so materially upon the purchasing power of the home community -upon the consumption of articles which are essentially the luxuries of the working rnan-iiily really indicate, we will not attempt to determine. Our present inquiry relates only to the financial bearings of the Glad- stonian scheme On this point i: is indisputable that, although the Uouse of Peers revised his proposition, and gave him fourteen hundred thousand pounds of income more than he had reckoned upon, his estimate of prospec- tive receipts has fallen short oy no less than three millions for the past twelvemonth. Fro-n all other sources of revenue the income has proved stable, or something more. The Property and Income Tax, estimated at EIO,872,000, has realized £ 10,923,000. The produce of Stamps, Assessed Taxes, Post-otfice, and Miscellaneous, in spite of a large reduction in the proceeds from sales of old stores," have proved fullr equivalent to the computations hazarded more than a year ago. With these departments of receipts Mr. Gladstone, in fact, did not intermeddle. His interference in other departments has resulted in the consequences which we have mentioned, ending in a logi of two or threo millions of net revenue, and in the conversion of a surplus of nearly two millions into a deficiency, as confessed in the official returns for 1860, of more than £ 600,000. As the outcome" of these configuratio :8, we presume we may venture to expect that the Budget to be announced on Monday week will be comparatively modest in character and unimportant in the financial changes wlii( it it will comprise. Mr. Gladstone is, we hope, tired of experiments, and satisfied of the inexpediency-to say no worse of rhetorical artifices." If he can coutrive to make both ends meet by a persistence in existing arrangements, lie ought to be very well satisfied. As matters stand, the Property and Income Tax, and the war-duties on tea and sugar, expire in the course of a few weeks. Let those im- posts bo continued for another term, and with proper eco- nomy the Finance Minister may pay his way until this ) time twelvemonth. The deficit on last year's income may be more than met by the proposed savings in the military and naval estimates. If Mr. Gladstone can but restrict his ambition within these moderate limits, he may do some- thing to compensate for his bygone blunders. He will then be able to provido for the financial necessities of the year without increasing the burdens on the tax-paving com- munity, without exhausting the resources of the Exchequer, and without committing the country to vast and profligate experiments upon its financial system.Press.
ITALY—FRENCH OR ITALIAN ?
ITALY—FRENCH OR ITALIAN ? For the eventual independence of Italy we have no fears. She has fairly conquered the hardest thing to conquer,—the want of faith in her own capacity and fitness to be free. Everything else is comparatively easy. For the first time for centuries the Italians can say-we are a great and a free people; and Europe, to her own infinite surprise finds her- self compelled to acknowledge that what she used to call the Dream of Mazzini" has come true. The fact of na- tional unity under a representative Government is before us, and supersedes the use of every other species of reasoning about the matter. In the balance of European liberty there is for the first time an important weight to absolutism which never existed before and it were not only a crime but the greatest of blunders to permit that weight to bo lessened or removed. But it does not therefore follow that the attempt will not be made to mar the work of national emancipation, and before the institutions of the new realm are consolidated, to introduce by force or fraud elements of disruption. It is impossible to regard the recent manifesto of the Bona- partist Pretender to the throne of Naples, and the cynically placid tone of its semi-official repudiation, without feeling that the French Government has (to say the least of it) no compunction about keeping up a system of sinister menace in order to maintain its ascendancy over the Councils of Turin. It is all very well for M. Boniface to argue in the Constitutionnel that a letter from Prince Joachim in Paris to the Duke of at Naples, is a document for which Naploeon III cannot be held responsible and that the designs it discloses are upon the face of them at variance with the ideas entertained at St. Cloud. But unfortunately the same thing was said by the same Court amanuensis or by some other of his confraternity on the eve of every ambitious stroke of every Imperial policy that has been made during the last two years Joachim Murat is first cousin of the Emperor. He resides at Paris, where he is treated as an Imperial relative and friend. Without pro- test, rebuke, or censure, he publishes in the Constitutionnel, Patrie, and Pays what cannot be regarded as anything less than a manifesto to the people of Southern Italy, calling on them to renounce their recent union with Piedmont, and to make him their King. He appeals openly to the political and religious passions that in the French Chambers have lately found advocates, and which in the mountains of Calabria and the Abruzzi have numerous armed partisans, He knows that discontent, owing to various cauees, prevails amongst certain classes of the Neapolitans; and he knows that in every great city that has long been the residence of a Court, there will always be a crowd of persons ready to prefer the profitable presence of any form of royalty to the consolidation of national freedom. Above all, the unscrupu- lous Pretender recals the French programme for the settle- ment of Italy proclaimed at Yillafranca, and points to the continued presence of the French garrison at Rome. True it is that during the last year Napoleon has slowly and sulkily yielded to the apparently irresistible course of events, and M. Murat, with an air of dynastic coquetry quite sublime, takes credit with his" hereditary subjects," as by and by he hopes to call them, for not having inter- posed his individual claims or convictions as to what was 'best for their welfare, between the fall of the Bourbons and their desire to make a trial of annexation under the House of Savoy. How he could have interposed, if he would, his soi disallt Majesty does not explain; but now that they have had six months' experience of Piedmontese rule, he complacently reminds them that he told them so, and what is more to the purpose, recurs to the counsel given them by his Imperial kinsman, that they should retain their political individuality as a counterpoise to the kingdom of Northern Italy, the independence of the Pope being maintained between the two. It is certainly not pleasant to have this inveterate scheme of a tri-partite Italy continually rising up in one form or other to insult aud mock the triumph of national unification. Nothing but a belief in its being a fixed idea in the mind of Napoleon III that somehow or any how it is a thing to be accom- plished, accounts for his more than forbearance towards Francis II, and his obstinate retention of General Goyon's corps in the Eternal City. The Government of Victor Emanuel and that of Pius IX are alike kept thus in the sub- jection of misgiving and mistrust as to the real intentions of France. Does he hope thereby to wean both at last into compliance with terms not dissimilar from those which he propounded at Villafranca ? The sudden summons of Gari- baldi to Turin looks very much as if M. Cuvour began to feel that he had raked the revolutionary fire too low, and that he would fain make a show at least of rekindling it. Many other circumstances besides those ostensibly poli- tical betray the anxiety that exists to acquire a predomi- nance of French influence in the Peninsula. One instance may suffice, but it is a curious and interesting one. The maritime postal service of the new kingdom deserves aud demands that immediate provision should be made for placing it on a secure and permament footing Notice has accordingly been given by the Government at Turin, that proposals will be recei ved up to the 15th inst. from com- panies or associations willing to undertake the responsi- bility. Three-and-twenty steamers will be required for the intended organisation in its full development, but a portion of these will not be required to be ready until the close of the year. A paid-up capital of E600,000, with the means of expansion to double that amount, is also a condition. Time, however, being given is this respect likewise for the completion thereof. All things considered, it is, we must say, somewhat strange that up to the last moment hardly anything has been known in London of the wish of the Italian Government to enter into such an ar- rangement, ldere, if anywnere out of Italy, it might have been presumed that the means would have been sought, and that proposals would have been invited. It would undoubtedly have been natural, had an Italian joint-stock company been ready to undertake the service without the aid of foreign capital, that they should have been preferred. But it is notorious that no such company either at Leghorn or Genoa is prepared to undertake the contract; and it consequently becomes a question merely whether the aid of French or English cipital is to be sought for the pur- pose. We have reason for believing that a French project, under the sanction of the Imperial Government, has for some time been in the hands of M. Cavour; and that French diplomacy has been at work to secure for it a pre- ference. There would, of course, be some embarrassment in accepting it in the face of bet'er offers from an English company, and hence the little pains that have been taken to provoke such competition. We know not whether any steps have been actuaily taken in the City to make a bid- ding, on or before the day specified, for the reception of pro- posals but we are quite sure that if there be not some means found to prevent the entire mail packet service of Italy and Sicily from falling into the hands of Parisian direotors, the day will sooner or later come when England and Italy will look back with regret on a great opportunity of mutual benefit lost, and will recal with bitter reproaches the finesse and folly by which that result has been brought about. We think we are correct in stating that although the merchants of Tuscany and Piedmont could not raise the whole of the 1600,000 required, they would willingly con- tribute half that amount or more and they would be willing to unite themselves as shareholders and directors with a corresponding number of English capitalists, in order to form an Anglo-Italian Lloyds. The Sardinian Consul- General in London has doubtless instructions, and could furnish all particulars to any that might choose to entertain the subject; but the days that remain are few, unless some means should be found in having the time somewhat ex- tended for receiving offen. Examine,
ENGLAND AND THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
ENGLAND AND THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. The hour is at hand when a new Power will take its place among the States of Christendom. The British Go- vernment has just made a formal recognition of the King- dom of Italy, and already Commissioners from another new State are on their way to claim a similar recognition of accomplished facts. The Government of the new Southern Confederacy of America has despatched three Commis- sioners to obtain from the leadiftg States of Europe the recognition of their country as an independent Power, and to negotiate with them commercial treaties on the footing of reciprocity. These Commissioners are now crossing the Atlantic, and in little more than a week they will arrive to commence their important mission at the Court of St. James's. A new Minister at the British Court has at the same time been appointed by the Cabinet of Washington, to represent the views of President Lincoln, and he will arrive almost simultaneously with the rival mission from Mont- gomery. The Southern States are confident as to the success of their mission, and their confidence is well founded. The principle of the British Government is to recognise every rle: facto Government, and the Government of the Southern Confederacy is as much an accomplished fact as is the King. dom of Italy. The Northern States-the old Union-may not recognise the new Confederacy, any more than Austria recognizes the Kingdom of Italy but they have made no attempt to resist its estiblishment, and if they do make such an attempt they will assuredly fail. Our Government has no choice in this matter. We have no desire to see any undue haste in the recognition of the new Power Oar Government, out of courtesy to the Cabinet of Washington, may delay its answer for a few days, until it is fully ap- prised of the views and intentions of President Lincoln. But any longer dehy than is absolutely necessary is most strongly to be deprecated. We need not say that it would be unseemly that England, who so readily recognizes all Governments, should be behind Frauco in acknowleding 4 State of her own kindred. It is enough for us that the Cabinet at Montgomery is a de facto Government, and accordingly entitle,l to be recognized by 111 as an indepen- dent Power, with whom diplomatic relations have to be established and commercial treaties negotiated. The recognition of the Southern Confederacy cannot be avoided, nor do we desire to avoid if. The regret of the English people at the rupture of the American Union was a feeling most honourable to them, and which testified, in a most striking manner, the attachment and goodwill of the parent nation to its noble offspring beyond the Atlantic. The regret was genuine and universal, And yet the calamity to the Union which we deplored was eminently favourable to our own interests, both political and commercial. When his house is divided against itself. Brother Jonathan can no longer bully us, as with generous patience we have so often permitted tiim to do. And also, with the establishment of a Confederacy of purely agricultural States in the South, the restrictive tariff of the old Union, and the still more re- strictive one recently adopted, will no longer suffice to pre- vent the entry of our manuf tctures into the American conti- nent. Free-trade pure and sirnple-free-tra,lo of the most absolute kind is opened to us by the new Confederacy not as a bilt-thotqh it is a powerful one-but because such a commercial system is of all others most in accordance with its own interests. Even our shipping interest will benefit largely by the change in the political organization of North America; for the Cabinet of Washington will find it hard to maintain auy longer its preposterous assertion that the maritime traffic between New York and California is a por-I tiou of its coaating -trade." -Press.
WAR WEATHER.!
WAR WEATHER. With the spring quarter, on Ladyday, the fighting wea- ther ought to have set in. Astronomically and politically that was the day for the feast of Annunciation of War. As housewives watch the flight of the swallow, politicians have watched for the flight of Garibaldi, and true to the bellicose influences of the spring, Garibaldi has migrated from Caprera, and appeared under the eaves of the palace at Turin. War weather has set in, and the weather-wise in such matters arc studying the way of the wind. Is the first storm to come from the north, or from the south, or from the east ? And is there to be wild work over the sea, in the far west ? Throughout the old and the new world alike there is a forecast of impending war upon men's minds. Most of the princes in the world about us, sit together like the fools in the German fable, at the edge of the pool of running water that is to be changed to blood, all with their legs in it, all professing a desire to draw them out again if they knew how, but evety one holding another man's legs to be his own; not a foot stirs till there shall come Wisdom with a stick and make each sole declare itself to its owner with the smart of the bastinado. Prussia believes the legs of Den- mark to be hers, Austria claims one leg of Italy, France, perhaps has an eye upon the other. But is the cudgel cut that shall solve all the complications of this very difficult position ? A correspondent of the Morning Post, who seems to be well informed, declares that he has long ago known, and long ago said, that there would be no fighting in Southern Europe before the meeting of the Hungarian Diet, but that the interval would be spent in familiarizing all men's minds to the necessity of making Rome the capital of Italy. Events have tallied so far with that first part of his predic- tion. Now, he says, you shall all see them tally irth the second part of my prediction. You shall see that one of the first acts of the Hungarian Diet will be to recal from Austrian and other service all Hungarian troops, and this recal will be the signal for the outbreak of a struggle against Austria, in which Italians and Hungarians will make a common cause. That day is at hand, and lo, the war eagle is on the wing. Garibaldi, who has steadily been counselling armament, has left Caprera, and is at Turin. I The next few weeks will bear witness to the truth or error of this theory. Meanwhile throughout Eastern Europe there is a stir of the nationalities. Prussian and Russian Poland declare unmistakeably that they are at heart no'. Prussian or Russian. Every little race stands ready to spend blood for the honour of its blood. War threatens Austria on all her borders, and armed expectation is so costly to her that if she must fiht it is her interest to fight at once, on any plausible pretext. Then, too, there is an overdue threat of Federal execution against Denmark. Is the march of Prussian troops over the Elbe to represent the first prick in the wind- bag ? We live in days of swift; coming events that are unlucky for the prophets. Yet if the press of Europe be a trustworthy political barometer, we may be sure there is a hurricane approaching, and from what- ever quarter it may first appear to blow it promises to be a very true circular storm, going the round of Europe, devastating all that forethought has not made tolerably safe against its fury. But the wild weather threatened as it threatens now, and might, as our Tiverton pilot said the other day, have burst over us a month ago. Let us hope, therefore, while hope is left, that since the clouds remain so motionlesss, we may yet see them lifted and dispersed into thin air.- Examiner.
OMENS OF WAR.
OMENS OF WAR. We regret to announce that our private information more than justifies the apprehensions which are at present current on the leading Exchanges of Europe. The crisis, which has been steadily maturing during the last year, now touches its denouement, and the omens for peace are most unfavourable. Our Berlin corresponpent, who is in a position to judga cor- rectly of the situation of affairs, writes to us as f,)IloNvg Everything seems to presage that the denouement will not be pacific. The signal for war will proceed from the Hungarian Diet, and will be given by the Separatists. And, while Austria will be occupied in confronting the revolution in Hungary, Dalmatia will be invaded by the volunteers of Garibaldi Austrian Servia and the other pro- vinces of the Danube will likewise rise in revolt; and, if these combined movements acquire consistency, Venetia will rise, the Hungarian regiments under the orders of Beneiek will refuse to fight, and Italy will march to the aid of the insurgent Venetians. Austria will be able to count only on her own forces, diminished by the mutiny of the Hungarian corps; Russia will have enough to do with Po- land; we Germans have Denmark on the one side and the Rhine on the other, and it will be impossible for us to help Austria,—albeit Austria nobly resisted at Villafranca the most seductive temptations rather than compromise the integrity of Germany, and, at this very moment, she turns a deaf ear to the overtures for an alliance with France and Russia, the object of which alliance is sufficiently clear. Such are the objects and hopes of the Garibaldians, of Count Cavour, of the Hungarian Separatists, of the Hou- mans and Slaves of the Danube. And that the Hungarian revolutionists are supported at Paris no one eutei tains a doubt. I must also tell you that you will soon see the lonians also encouraged like the Garibaldians, like the Hungarians, and like the Poles that your Government is much disquieted by the projects for establishing the French power in Abyssinia and on the shoces of the Red Sea—pro- jects already put in execution that the Emperor Napoleon has resolved no longer to pay the courtesy of attention to the speeches of Lord Palmerston and the brusque despatches of Lord John Russell, and that the anti-English feeling in France is now studiously encouraged. The opinion of the most experienced diplomatists is, that the Courts of England and Prussia committed a great fault in not protesting beforehand against the annexation of Nice and Savoy. Austria, in such a case, would have joined in the protest; and Russia would not have dared to s'ly that a Sovereign had a right to dispose of his territories without the sanction of the parties to the treaties which gave them or guaranteed them to him. The Emperor Napoleon would have recoiled before such a protest, in which he would have seen the menacing shadow of a new European coalition. As to Prussia, her preparations for war continue with out intermission. I believe it is also under consideration to mobilize a portion of the Landwehr. I believe I may also apprise you that the Emperor of Austria will not proceed to Hungary. The alarming state of affairs and the imminence of war forbid the step." The imminence of war is chiefly occasioned by the ex. treme policy which appears to be resolved on by the Separa- tist party, which will have a majority in the Hungarian Diet. Refusing all compromise, and content with nothing short of a disruption of the Empire, it is rumoured that the Separatists have concerted with the Garibaldians a line of action which will produce a revolution in Austria, and draw; the Italians to their aid for the sake of acquiring Venptia. It is said one of the first acts of the revolutionary majority in the Diet will be to usurp the power of the Imperial Exe- cutive, and vote the recall of the Hungarian regiments, the flower of the Austrian army, from all parts of the empire, and especially from Venetia. We have no doubt such a pro- posal will be opposed by a powerful and influential minority in the Diet, and it is also probable that the influence of General Benedek will go far to neutralize the effect of the vote upon the Hungarian 'regiments at present under his command. Nevertheless, the crisis cannot fail to be a serious one. The Imperial Government, despite its desire for a conciliation, cannot allow a majority in a provincial Diet to usurp the powers and compromise the interests of the whole empire. We trust that some dtus ec machina may yet avert the calamity of renewed war and revolutions.. but the omens of war are every week becoming more de- cided. Assuredly, It in spite of all the concessions of the Austrian Government, a majority in the Hungarian Diet- resolve to force on a revolution, it will be sorry encourage- ment for the Russian Government to continue its policy of moderation towards the Poles. —Press.
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The name and trade mark of a good manufacturer is a I guarantee of goodness in the article. Mappin Brothers, London Bridge, and Queen's Cutlery Works, Sheffield, lay olaim to this title of good English Manufacturers. MAPPIN BROTHERS' TAHLE CUTLERY.—Mippin Bro- ) thers London show rooms are at London Bridge. Es. tabli-ihed in Sheffield A.D. 1810. None are genuine without their Per Dozen. Per Pair Corporate Mark—the Sun," — granted to their father by the Table Dessert Carver Cutlers' Company of Sheffield, Knives. Knives June 26th, 1835  Full Size. s. d. s. d. s. d. Black Handtesbatance. 12 0 10 0 4 0 Bone ditto, ditto 16 6 12 6 5 0 Ivory ditt), ordinary quality 22 0 16 0 7 6 1 Ivory ditto, medium quality 33 0 23 0 11 0 Ivory ditto, best quality 46 0 34 0 10 6 None of the above can come loose in hot water.—ADVEI^ TISEMENT. I 6, Queen Street, London, 23rd August, 1860. Messrs. R. Wotherspoon & Co., 46, Dunlop Street, Glasgow. DEAR SIRS, -I have, as requested, to-day visited the, Royal Laundry, with reference to the Advertisement of the Nottingham firm, who state that their starch has been used for many years in the Royal Laundry, and have been assured by Mr. Thompson, the Superintendent, that none but yourselves have any right to state that they supply Starch to her Majesty's Laundry, as no other Starch is there used, nor has been used for some years, but the Glen- field Patent Starch. I have been further assured that your Starch con inues to give complete satisfaction, and that though trial has been made of samples of various Starches, none of these have been found nearly equal in quality to the Glenfield, I am, Dear Sirs, your obedient servant, WM. BLACK. HOLLOW A. Y'S OINTMENT AND PILLS.-Ease.—For the E ase.- F or the cure of burns, scalds wounds, arid«ulcers, tAis justly cele- brated Ointment stands uiirivalledobite" samic virtues immediately on application lull the- L d smarting, protect the exposed nerves frorii ti air oive to the vessels the vi o to^hiifl^Ho sori^^wd confers PIt the blood a purity:-t.hich'p£!gjLts it'lcFrt'ly healthy flesh, in place of that dcst. Holldway's*" Pill* billluf- taneously taken, much assist the Ointment's purifying aJllI soothing power. Together these medicines act like a charm. Iravellers embarking for unwholesome climates, where pestilential airs are constantly producing fever, should provide themselves with these remedies, which will as- suredly save them nights of watching and days of pain.
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COUNTY COURTS. CIRCUITS. MARCH. APRIL. MAY. Aberaeron C.t 'Th. 411. 0 ?'o Court i Llandovery.. No Court !Fr. 5, 11.0 ??N. Lampeter No Court Sa. 6, 11.0 No Court Llandilo No Court ,M. 8, 10.0 No Court UaneHy. Tu. at 1.15Tu. 16, 11.15 Tu. 14,H-15 Neath W. 20, lo.o 'W. I7,10.? W.1?..10.0 Carmarthen. Fr. 22, 10 0 Fr. 19, 10. 0 17 -.100 Narberth ..Sa.2?,lO.O'S?-20,100S?18,00 Pembroke M. 25, 10.15 M. 22, 10, ) 5; ?U. O,lO,ID H. West I'u. 26, 10.0 Tu .23, 10. 0 Tu 21, 10-0 Cardigan ? W. '?7, 12.3 OlW. 24, 12,3 9? W 10-0 Noweastil ..Th.?8, 10.0 ?No Court Th.2J,10.0 û
MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.…
MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. More than 50,000 persons visited the Crystal Palace on Good Fiiday. The number of candidates for election into the Royal Society is this year greater than in any previous year. Steps are being taken to drain Loch Spynie, in Moray, and to convert it into arable land, It covers from 1,500 to 2,000 acres. The Oriental Budget states that Mr. Thackeray contem- plates taking up the story of England's history at the point where Macaulay left it. The Roman correspondent of the Nation says that the Pope has expressed his intention of conferring a cardinal's hat on Dr. Ciillen. The standard for the line has been raised to ij feet 8 inches, which, though advisedly done, amounts to a virtual pro- hibition of enlistment for the present. The Council of State, after miture deliberation, decides that a Bishop of Poitiers has committed an "abuse of authority" in his 11 Pontius I'ilate" pastoral. It is expected that the Warrior will be able, in about s ix weeks or so, to steam round to Portsmouth. She has had steam up already, and the engines worked to perfection. The Scotsmall says that the Duke of Richmond is to be put in nomination for the office of Chancellor of the Univer- sitv of Aberdeen. Mr. Smirke the architect has been appointed Treasurer of the Royal Academy in the room of Mr. Hardwick, who, after many vears' service, has retired from that post. The Rev."W. Arthur has been paying a visit to Paris, with a view to secure a plot for the purpose of building a chapel school, and parsonage for the Wesleyan Church now worshipping in Rue Hoyale. Sil s Marner," the new story by the author of Adam Bede," has been subscribed to by the trade this week. Mr Mu lie's name stands for 2,000 copies, and Messrs, Simpkin's I for 400. Lord Palmerston'has granted, out of the Queen's Bounty Fund, the sum of £100 to the two daughters of Mr. James Do Foe. great grandson of the author of "Robinson 1 Crusoe." The enduring odour of musk is astonishing. When Jusrinian in 538, rebuilt what is now called the Mosque of St. Sophia, the mortar was charged with musk, and to this very day the atmosphere is filled with the odour. A manuscript of John Huss, hitherto unknown, was dis- covered a few days since by Professor Hofler in the Imperial Library fit Prague. It is a fragment of a diary written at Constance. As an omnibus was returning from Rathmines on Satur- day evening the horses backed into a canal at Portobello, when six of the passengers were drowned. The horses also lost their lives. On Mr. Baion Martin taking his seat on the hClle:} at Bristol, on Saturday week, Mr. Gurney, the Judge's Associate, said he must apologise for appearing in court unrobed, but the fact was somibodv had stolen his gown. The Marlborough, 1:31, screw, is now alongside tho clock yard jetty, at Portsmouth, a complete hulk." Whatever may be the fault, one thing is certain, that a ruagni- ficient ship, costing nearly £ 300,000, is rotten from end to end. The Prince of Wales has become a life member and i patron of the Cambrian Institute (an institution founded for the purpose of promoting the study of Welsh litera- ture), and has subscribed £ 20 to the funds of the society. George Cohen, a Jew of considerable wealth, has been committed to Newgate for trial for systematic forgery of Bank of England notes. It was stated before the magis- tratcs that a large number of spurious notes are now in circulation. The other day a Jew, at present undergoing a term of imprisonment in Worcester gaol, rushed from the ranks of his fellow-convicts to the governor, and in a state of gre.-it excitement complained that he could not got unleavened bread to eat during the Passover 1 A specimen of that rare and beautiful bird the bittern was seen a few days ago at Alderminster. To make the sight still rarer, the specimen was at once sho'. 1"1 accordance with the exterminatory practice which prevails. A girl advertises in a German newspaper for a situation as barmaid or waitress in a refreshment saloon. Among her qualifications for such a position, she says she can cut 0 225 pieces of bread and butter, of satisfactory appearance, out of one pound of bread and two ounces of butter. Mr. W. H Hood, teller and accountant in the Union Bank of Du nfrics, is a defaulter to the extent of £ 2,000. The money was appropriated by a mode of fraud similar to that adopted by Durden in the London Commercial Bank case. Hood has absconded. A corps of French artists," who had engaged one of the Liverpool theatres for the Easter week, victimised the manager, box-keeper, and an hotel- keeper, by borrowi ng money from all, and then decamping, leaving only a carpet bag foil of paving stones behind them. A number of 80 and 100 pounder Armstrong guns, which have been fully proved at the Government practice range, were this week handed over to the military storekeeper's department at Woolwich, and the majority will be for- warded for the naval service. Father Gavazzi has opened a large hall in Naples, where thrice a week he expounds the Bible and preaches. In the beginning the Neapolitans looked upon him with great distrust but now there is quite a rush to secure places. At the railway station at Lvmington, in Hants, the cattle purchased forParkhurst Barracks are penned up for thirty-six hours without food, the barbarous dealers not having the common humanity to feed the poor beasts until they are taken across the Solent to be killed for food. A patent has just been taken out for a fl, ing machine, consisting of a very light steam-engine and boiler, which are to operate on a huge pair of wings. Instead of using coal for fuel, it is proposed to employ a liquid hydrocarbon, such as oil, in order to obtain great heat with a very limited weight. Lawrence Georgeson, master, aud Daniel Sutherland, mate, of the brig Renovation, of North Shields, lost off Eastbourne a few weeks since, have been committed for trial by the Shields magistrates charged with haung bored holes in the veseel to sink her. The brig was insured. Durhill Park, the seat of Francis Thomas llircham, Esq., Walton-on-Thames, was nearly destroyed by fire on Saturday morning, the flames doing their work so rapidly that furni- ture, paintings, and plate all fell victims to their fury. Mr. Bircham himself was severely burned in endeavouring to save some part of the property. On Friday night, at a late hour, a fire broke out in Cannon- row, Westminster, which was not extinguished till Saturday forenoon, and proved destructive of a large amount of pro- perty. Commencing in a hay and straw wharf, the con- flagration extended to the adjoining buildings, burning several entirely down, and considerably damaging others. It is believed that sixteen or seventeen valuable horses were burned to death in the stables. On Saturday evening a large company met at the London Tavern to commemorate the achievement of the independ- ence of Greece. The representatives of the principal Greek firms of London, as well as a number of those who distin- guished themselves in the war of independence, were present. M. Tricoupi, Greek Minister, delivered an eloquent eulogium on the soldiers who fought and all who had aided in any way to bring about the result.. Cook, Matthews, and Robinson, the driver, guard, and stoker attached to the train to which t le accident occurred when Dr. Baly lost his life, have been presented with tosti- motiials for the great presence of mind displayed by them on the occasion referred to, The driver and guard receives JE46 each, and Robinson was awardel E21 and a silver watch. It is reported that the New School of Musketry at Fleet- wood, some time since projected, will be formed at an early date, as a branch of the Head-quarter School established at Hythe. We hear it is likely to be placed under the im- mediate command of Lieutenant-Colonel Bewes, of the 73rd Regiment, an officer of great experience in the musketry department. --A)-)iiy and Aaty Gazette. A correspondent has called our attention to the uuusual depression of the funds of our great religious societies just at the critical time (31st of March) when the accounts for the year arc closed W e believe that we are correct in stating that this falling-ofl in income, as compared with previous years, includes the Church Missionary, Pastoral Aid, London Jews, Colonial Church, and Irish Church Mission Societies; and we fear to conjecturo how many others may be in the same case. licuord. Friday morning the brothers Wedmore, Matthew and Charles, were hanged in front of the Taunton gaol, for the murder of their aunt Sarah Waterman. The circumstances attending the crime for which these two wretched men for- feited their lives were cold-blooded and cruel in the ex- treme and doubtless called forth from the attendant mob those pitiless execrations with which the appearance of the culprits on the scaffold was greeted. All appearance of penitence was manifested by the criminals before their execution, due t) the efforts rnde by the chaplain of the prison- to impress upon them a sense of their true position. Given a spirit of cupidity with the chance of a tnfllllg pecuniary gain to find what amount of human life would be risked to secure that gain, is a problem that would yield -an indefinite and unlimited number as its result. This was partly exemplified in the London Docks on Monday morning, when the American ship Hortense, loaded and about to sail for Port Philip, was discovered to be on fire. With much damage to the cargo this was fortunately extin- guished, and then it was found that a large quantity of lucifer matches and other co nbustible matters of a highly dangerous character, very indifferently packed, formed part of the cargo. How many a noble ship and gallant crew have met their unrecorded fate by such a practice A case involving a questioli of considerable importance to tradesmen and their customers was tried at the Kington assizes, before Chief Justiefe Erie. For some years a gen- tleman had been dealing with a poulterer and fishmonger, but being dissatisfied with' some article supplied he odrrecl the cook to cease to de il at that shop. Subsequently the cook was convicted of embezzlement, and sentenced to imprisonment, when an account was sent in for £:31 by the fishmonger, the plaintiff in the present action, and which amount wag now sought to he recovered. The refusal to pay was groupufed on the fact that the plaintiff had been informed of the'defpndant's order to his servant to withdr ew her custom, and that money had been supplied to pay all I purchas w hen n?de. This being proved, the judge ruled ? that the ,itt4,,xs not liable under the cir'umB\nees, and the jury returned a verdict accordingly. VISIT OF HEV. H. W. BEECHEK TO BRITAIN. — We are able to state, from what we reckon good authority, that the Rev. H. \V. Beecher is expected soon in Loudon. — Glasgow |I Examiner. RE-DIRECTED LETTElts.1Ir. Baker, of Preston Hall, recently received a letter, which by some means was re- directed, and lia4 an additional penny charged upon it. Mr Baker took the letter, hut refused to pay the penny. The post-office authorities directed the Bildeston postmaster to proceed against him by summons, and last week the case came before the Rev. 'W. N. llallward, wh"n Mr. Baker was fined 12s. id., with one penny for the letter.-Essex Herald. A 01 Iitox.—Tho iron-sand which covers many miles of the country in the neighbourhood of New Plymouth, New Zealand, has been ascertained to consist of the peroxide of iron, with 12 per cent. of titanium —a rare combination. The finest cast st..el is made directly flom this itaniferous iron ore; and sundry cutting instrument, such as razor blades, knives, Sec. having been formed it, they have been found to possess much hardness, a keen edge, and not to tarnish quickly. There can be no ques- tioning the valua of this sand to the colonists, whilst the supply is said to be almost inexhaustible. THE LAMBING SEASON.—The fall of lambs this season in the eastern districts has been satisfactory and above the average. A practical agriculturist writing on the subject, observer We attribute the success of the season mainly to the shortness of the root crop. More dry food has neces- sarily been given, and fewer turnips; white injudicious feeding and defective management have been the causes of severe losses and want of success in breeding in form pr years." THE TIIUANT, — Roar-Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker, K.C.B., arrived in Funcbal Roads, Madeira, on the 14th of March, thus having m1(le the passage, J1<,twithstanding the bad "entper he encountered in the Channel, in ten days. The lower rigging of the Narcissuss had settled down a little, and as soon as it v.as set up the Admiral would leave for Sierra Leone en route to Ascension. The letters from the ship were dated the 15th of March, and it was expected she would sail again on the following day.—Army and Navy Gazette. THE EMPRESS OF AUSTRIA,—Urgent orders have been received by the Vice-Admiral commanding at Portsmouth to expedite in every possible way the preparations of the Royal yacht Victoria and Albert for sea. Such of her fittings as can be postponed are to be laid on one side until her return from Madeira, whither she will proceed with all possible despatch, and convey Her Imperial Majesty the Empress of Au-tria to Orders have been forwarded to Malta to have everything in readiness for coaling the yacht at any time either of the day or night, the moment she arrives. — Army and Navy Gazette. HARE BIRDS. — During the late severe winter a pair of eagles, driven southwards hy cold and scarcity of food, made their appearance at Ho\kham, the seat of the Earl of Lei- cester, on the coast of Norfolk. Much to his credit, the noble lord, instead of trying his skill with the rifle on his Royal visitors, gave strict orders that they should not be moisted. Thus protected, they remained in the neighbour- hood for severa l necks, having wiade considerable ravages on the. geeso and ducks on the lake, but, having been thus hospitably entertained, there is good reason to hope that they will renew their visit annually. We trust that his Lordship will not be disappointed. GREAT ROBBERY OF PLATE IN YOUKSIIIIIE.—An auda- cious burglary was committed at Thirkleby House, the residence of Mr. John G fton, on Tuesday evening. The burglars effected an entrance to the premises by taking one of the lower windows of the house clean out and so skil- fully and silently the work was done that not one of-the 12 men-servants sleeping above was awakened, nor was the attention of the shepherù attracted, altrough he was sitting up with the ewes in lamb, in tbe fold some 100 yards dis- tant. The thieves thoroughly sacked the premises, and obtained a most valuable booty, with which they got clear away. Among the plunder is included about £300 worth of goWl and silver plate. Tin; MYSTERIOUS MURDER AT ROAD.—There is now no room to hope that this mysterious crime will be dis- covered-at any rate through ordinary means. The small number of persons who composed the household on the fatal night arc fast being separated. Elizabeth Gough is at her home in the suburbs of London. Miss Constance Kent is on the point of leaving for a school in France, her brother William is already from home, and the rest of the family will leave Road Hill House in a day or two, whither is not generally known but it is believed they intend travelling for some time. The contents of the now-cele- brated house will shortly be offered for public sale, and doubtless the public will avail themselves of the privileges of an auction day to gratify a curiosity so much felt to view the mene of the mysterious murder. The cot, from which the ill-fated child was taken to his cruol death, will not be sold. The house and grounds are for sale, but there does not seem to be much disposition on the part of any one to occupy so famous a residence. As to the crime itself, we believe it is now given up as being among the things which arc too mysterious to be inquired into. FIlm AT THE COBORN SCHOOL, BOW. — Friday morning, about four o'clock, a serious fire happened at the Coborn School, Fairfield-road, Bow, which was nearly attended with very disastrous consequences. Upwards of 400 chil- dren are educated at the school, which is maintained out of the large revenue of what is known as the Coborn estate, the gift of Miss Priscilia Coborn, more than a century and a half since. Owing to the Easter holidays tho master plr. Marshall) was out of town. and Mrs. Marshall and her son were left in charge of the establishment, their residence being attached to the school. At the time above-mentioned Mr. Marshall, jun., was awoke by a noise, which induced him to get up, and, on reaching the landing, he found the place filled with smoke. He aroused his mother, and on m iking his way to the basement, discovered that the fire hall broken out in the kitchen, and had communicated to the board-room and parlour, threatening the destruction of the entire property. He instantly ran out and called to his airl the nearest neighbours. The police, under the direction of Mr. Kerrissey, the inspector, were soon on the spot, with the Bow district en,dne, which was at once got wto opera- tion, and, after muh exertion, succeeded in checking the flames. The damage done to the building, however, is con- siderable, and the most unfortunate parr. is. that the deeds of the Coborn estate, which yielded the revenue for the school, have been destroyed. They were deposited in a case ) which was not fire-proof, As to the origin of the out- break there is little doubt that it occurred in a lumber- room, and it was mo t fortunate that the tiro was so early discovered. A few minutes later would have resulted in the ) destruction of the whole place. It is stated that Mr. Mar- shall, the m ister, is insured. EXTRAORDINARY PENALTY FOR SHOOTIXG A PART- RIDGI:.—A singular cise, taken under a new Act uf Parlia- ment, was heard before the South Shiopshire magistrates, at Bridgeuorth, on Saturday. Frederick Perry, a notorious poacher and a returned convict (who is at present under- going a sentence of six m mills' imprisonment in Shrews- bury jail for a murderous assault on a gamekeeper nt Kiuiet Hall), was summoned for having on the 15th of January, at Claverly, killed a partridge, without having taken out a licence. The name of the defendant having been clled three times at the court.house door, and he not J answering, Mr. Batte, who appeared to prosecute, on be- j half of the Commissioners of InJand Revenue, sliù the esse was taken under an Act passed during the last session of Parliament, and he believed was the first of the kind that had come under its operation. The Act in question empowered the excise to prosecute any person who used a gun or any other instrument for the purpose of taking game, without taking out a licence and the magistrates could inflict a penalty of £20 i but it could be mitigated one fourth. The present defendant had long been a scourge to the neighbour- hood, and he (Mr. Batte) thought the magistrates should inflict the full penalty. There was no term of imprisonment mentioned, so that if the defendant could not pay the penalty he would remain in prison during the pleasure of of the excise commissioners. The case having been proved Mr. Westcott, supervisor of the excise, deposed to delivering a copy of the information to the governor of Shrewsbury Jail, and to afterwards serving the prisoner personally with a copy of the summons, The presiding magistrate inflicted the full penalty of JE20 on the defendant and said the excise might keep him in jail as long as they liked. THE llXTltAORDIXAItY ClllLU STEALING CASE AT Blli- MINGIIAM. At the Birmingham quarter sessions, on Wed- nesday, the woman giving her name as Eliza Davis was charged with feloniously obtaining possession of two chil- dren, the sons of John Doon and John Brown. It will he remembered that the prisoner met a woman named Eliza Macarthy, at the Snow Hill Railway Station, who on her making certain false representations, introduced her to Mrs. Doon and Mrs. Brown. The whole party, with the chil- dren, then adjourned to Nock's Coffee-house, whence the prisoner succeeded in carrying off the infants, which were subsequently found at the house of Mrs. Dugmore, of Harborne. Extraordinary as the story appeared from the evidence given before the magistrates, the defence now set up gave it a still more remarkable aspect. The prisoner, who was the wife of a professional man in Birmingham, having threo children of her own, was satisfactorily proved to be of unsound mind. The medical practitioner who regularly at- tended her stated that she was frequently subject to these fits of mania, and that on several occasions she had suc- ceeded in getting her servants out of the way and making her escape. The jury acquittel her on the ground of in- sanity. It has been discovered that in September, 1859, the prisoner played a similar freak, apparently with more dis- tressing cons"quences. She represented to Miss Siddons, one of the nurses of the Wolverhampton Union, that she wished to adopt a child, and on the strength of the state- ment obtained possession of an illegitimate son of a girl named Bishop, who was to be hired rts wet nurse. Nock's, in was in this case also the rendezvous, whence the prisoner contrived to make her escape with the child, which has not since been heard of. The prisoner then gave the name of Phillips, but Bishop recognised her when about being placed in a cab to be conveyed to prison on the present charge. AN UNERRING TEST OF EXCELLENCE.— The most in- controvertible and practical proof of the high estimition in which that pure and genuine preparation, Dr. De Jongh's Light- Brown Cod Liver Oil, is held by memhers of the medical profession, is the entire confidence and great success with which they use it themselves, prescribe it'in their own fami lies, and recommend it to their colleagues. The fol- lowing are a few extracts from innumerable medical opinions. Mr. Samuel Waudhy, late Surgeon to the Hereford Infirmary, statesI find that lean Uke Dr. De Jongh's Oil without any difficulty or dislike, and with as little inconvenience as water alone. Not only in my own case, but withjnany others I have seen, it has caused an improvement of chest symptoms, and an increase of weight, so soou and so lastingly, as to be quite remark- able." Mr. Rowland Dalton, an eminent surgeon at Bury St. Edmunds, writes to Dr. De Jongh's agents The Oil I have had from you was for my own use, and it has certainly been the only mealH of s1Vin my life on two occa. sion i and, even now, when I feel 'out of condition,' I take it—and like it-unmixed with anything, as being the most agreeahle way." Mr, Edgcumbe, Senior Surgeon t,) the Royal Dipensary, observes:—" I have used Dr. de Jongh's Oil in my own family with marked success, and believe it to be in its effects superior to any other prepara- tion." LAND SOCIETIES' ALLOTMENTS.—The spirit of making money by re-selling the allotments is apparently the only end in view of many members of the different societies. In the same manner as one frieod tells another acquaintance t'l invest in such and such shares, that will in few days com- mand a large premium so in like manner A tells B that a certain land society has purchased a first-rate estate, and advises immediate membership, or to purchase a right of choice to select an allotment. B follows the advice, not intending to possess a freehold investment, however small • ho troubles himself not even t) visit the lojility nor does he care how many miles it is distant from his busiu-ss; he does not care in what position it stands Choosing, if any choice is left, at h .p-hazard, all ho wants is a slice of the estit- that is surest oaco to coinmind a premium have seell such cases occur; and when all is allotted, and every al- lottee congratulates himself on possession, lo and behoid the adjoining freeholder, in DISGUST at his new neighbours, puts his held into the market; then other rival societies come in and purchase, and all the expected premiums reckoned upon the first estate have vanished. In some of the suburbs, this has been carried out to such an extant that six separate estates all contiguous to one another, have been purchased an.1 divided into small allotments, as at Harrow, 1- 0re-1-ri 1.1, liarnet, button, and oilier localities, where, pariitip •, o .tiding materials nqu.site wou d ad I 20 per cent to toe pi >pcr cost of the building; other estates with no vater; 10 short, every element wanting that could ensure any number of prudent men running the risk of covering a tithe of the ground.— Builder. THE LIE DIRECT —The most unpleasant breach of faith ever committed by an English Cabinet took place under Lord Derby in the commencement of this matter (Galway Con tract). THE LATE DUCHESS OF KENT.—It is understood that the late esteemed Dutchess of Kent has. by her will, appointed bis Royal Highness the Prince Cousort the sole executor, and that the bulk of the property is placed at her Majesty's disposal. On the day of the funeral, after the members of the establishment at Frogmore had dined, a paper (as we aro informed) in her Majesty's own hand- writing was read, in which was communicated the gratifying information that all the servants attached to the household would be liberally provided for, her Royal Highness having by her will left "three thousand pounds, to which her Majesty has graciously added an additional sum of two thousand pounds, to be divided in proportions regulated according to time of servitude and position in the house' hold, in addition to which the servants will be pensioned 011 a scale similar to that by which her Majesty's servants are provided for — Court Journal. EXTENSIVE EMBEZZLEMENT BY A CONFIDENTIAL CLEUK. William Runder, aged iO, a elprk in the employ of Messrs, Harver and Co., coal and flour factors and general wharfin- gers. of Grand Junction Wharf, Whitefriars, was brought up at the London Guildhall on Wednesday, charged with embezzling various sums within the last eighteen months, amounting to JE700 Although the prosecutors have shown a great desire to withhold the extent of the prisoner's de, falcations, rumour asserts the amount at very little short of £10,000. which appears to have embraced a long period of years, the prisoner having been in the employ of the firtii, in a confidential capacity, for nearly 60 years. Mr. Lewis, when the case for tbe prosecution was closed, advised his client to plead not guiity, and at the same time asserted that he should at the trial be in a position to prove that the prisoner had not embezzled a fraction. The prisoner was thph committed for trial. FATAL ACCIDENT.—Lady Harriette Bury, second daughter of the late Earl and Countess of Cnarleville, was acci dentally killed by falling from the top of the stairs, at tho family seat, Charleville- Castle, Tullamore, between five and six o'clock on Wednesday evening last. Her premature death, in the flower of her childhood, has plunged the family into the deepest grief. Lady Harriette—a fine, promising child-was in her seventh year. It appears that on the day and at the time above-mentioned she was sent by her gover- nes from the schoolroom up to the nursery to wash her hands before dinner, and, after doing so, she went to slide down the banister of the principal staircase of the mansion, which was highly polished and as slippery as ghss. When thus amusing herself she lost her balance, and fell down a distance of be tween 10 and 15 feet, and when taken up it was found that be was dead, the spine having been dis. located. The deceased was a lively and intelligent child, and of the most affectionate and en^a^ing disposition. Immediately after the death of her father she, with her brother and sister, made wards in Chancery, and resided with one of their guardians, the Hon. Alfred Bury, in the family residence, Charleville Castle. An inquest was subsequently held by the coroner of the district, the jury on which was composed of the most respectable inhabitants of Tullamore and its vicinity, who returned a verdict in conformity with the evidence THE POETRY OF THE INCOME TAX. —Dr. Duff, of Calcutta, mentions the following fact:—" A youth in one of our school classes—known as a writer of poetry in his own vernacular tongue—had actually wriUen a long Bengalec poem, showing how it was that the mutinies exhausted the treasury, and necessitated the imposition of an income tax, &c. I asked for a copy of the poem, and thought so much of it that I had it translated into English, and on the final day of our session I read the English translation, while the author read bis own Bengalee before the assembled audience, much to the amusement and de- light of all. Sir Bartle Fret e thought so much of it, that he begged a Copy in English and Bengalee, which he might forward to Lord Canning." DESTRUCTION or BURHILL PARK.—On Saturday morn- ing, about 3 o'clock, a fire resultirg in the entire de- struction of one of the finest mansions in the county of Surrey, took place at Burhill Park, the seat of Mr. Francis Thomas Bircham, solicitor to the South-Western Railway Company, situate near Walton-on-Thames. The fire broke out in the butler's pantry. The butler, who slept there, was aroused from his slumbers by a frightful sense of suffocation, but as soon as he was conscious he raised an alarm. The family, who were sleeping in the house, rapidly made their escape, with the exception of Mr, Bircham, who in his endeavours. to save a large quantity of valuable plate (in which to some extent he succeeded), wos very considerably burnt. The flames spread rapidly, and mounted messengers were despatched to Kingston, the nearest town where anything like an array of fire en- gines is kept, and telegrams were also sent to London for assistance. The promtitude with which the King- ston engines arrived is remarkable, seeing that the distance between them and the scene of conflagration is seven miles. They arrived in about an hour, at which time the mansion was in flames. To render any service to stop the progress of the fire throughout the main building was felt to be unavailing, so that the firemen directed their attention (there being a plentiful supply of water obtainable from an adjoining pund) to endeavour to save a small portion which the destructive element had not yet. ignited. By throwing copious streams of water in this direction they succeeded in the first place in checking, and in ultimately saving, this portion of the mansion. With regard to the main building, however, so rapid and devastating was the progress of the fire tha' the whole of the furniture, valuable paintings, a large proportion of the plate, &c has been utterly destroyed or lies buried in the ruins, The property was insured in the Law Firo an d Life Insurance office, of which Mr. Bircham is himself a director, for the sum of hut that will not cover the amount at which the property destroyed is valued. The origin of the tire is at present unknown. THE REV. MH. BONWELL'S CASE.—There are several misapprehensions afloat in reference to the case of the Rev. James Bonwell, incumbent of St. Philip's, Stepney, and the position be occupies ecclesiastically. The rev. gentleman has not been suspended, but has merely been inhibited from the performance of clerical duty in his parish. All his legal rights in the parish remain un- touched, and will remain so until he obtain a judgment from the Judicial Committee of Privy Council. It is also a mistake to suppose that the sentence of deprivation which the Dean of Arches imposed upon him amounts to a depri- vation from holy orders such a judgment is quite beyond the power of the Court. Although so long a time has elapsed the case is by no means ripe for being submitted to the Judicial Committee of Privy Council, to whom Mr. Bonwell has given notice of appeal from the decision of Dr. Lushington. On Wednesday, the 17th of April, Mr. Bonwell will have to appear once more before the Court of Arches, to put in his proofs, and even then some time must elapse, owing to the multitudinous technical forms of the court, before a day can be assigned for further hearing so that it is not likely that the question can be submitted to the Judicial Committee of Privy Council until after the long vocation — that is, towards the close of the year. Meanwhile the Rev. J. G. H. Mill, M.A.. of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, will remain in sole charge of the parish of St. Philip under the license of the Bishop of London. Some legal points of great importance affecting the validity of the judgment of the Court of Arches will be submitted to the Judicial Committee. One contention of Mr. Bonwell is, that the Dean of Arches has no power to pronounce a judgment of deprivation on a clergyman, and that the bishop himself ought to perform that duty after the heanng of the caso before the Court. This omiss ion, it will be argued, is fatal to the judgment which the Court of Arches pronounced. If Mr. Bonwell is successful on this point, the judgment of the Court below will be quashed, and he will retain possession of his living. In the event of his failing to support his position, the living will be declared vacant, and the principals and fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford, in whom the patronage restfc will be called upon to nominate a successor. WILLS AND BEQUESTS.—The will of the Right Hon. and Rev. Francis North, Earl of Guilford, late of Wal- dershare Park, Kent, and of Grosvenor-street, St. George's, Hanover-square, was proved in the principal registry on the 20th of lasc month, by his relict, the Countess of Guilford, and the Right Hon. Lord Walsingham. the nephew, executors. The personalty was sworn under The will is dated the 8th of June, 1357, and a codicil in 1860. These documents are somewhat volumi- nous. The late carl died possessed of a large fortune, both real and personal, which he has bequeathed entirely amongst the members of his family. To his relict, who possesses considerable funded property, he leaves an imme- diate legacy of j6300, together with his town residence, furniture, carriages, and other effects. To his grandson, now of Guildford, and who succeeds to the family estates, he has left the principal part of his property, having appointed him residuary legatee. To his son, the Riirht Hon. Frederick North, he bequeaths the sum of £ 16,000, and the sum of £ 10,000 to each of his other children. Tho late earl directs that shall form an accumulating fund for the period of 21 years, for the benefit of the heir to the title and estates. All letters and papers are directed to be inspected and perused by the testator's widow only, and retained or destroyed at her discretion. This nobleman, who passed nearly the whole of his life in various clerical functions, attained to the great age of 89. The will of the Hon. Lady Matilda Butler, of Grosvenor-street, Grosvenor-square, who died on the ICth of last month, made her will, which was proved in the London court on the 2 7th of the same month by the Dowager Countess of Glengall, the mother and solo executrix. The personalty was sworn under £12,000. Lady Butler is the daughter of the Earl of Glengall, and resided with the dowaer countess. Her ladyship has bequeathed all her property, except some small legacies, to her mother. These legacies, which do not exceed £1,000, are given in various amounts to her ladyship's personal friends and others. Lady Lutler also requests her mother to disburse the sum of £100, according to her own discre- tion, amongst several persons who had been the recipients of the testatrix 8 benevolence. The will is exceedingly brief, and was only executed the day prior to Lady Butler's decease. Her ladyship was unmarried, and died at the pre- mature age of 25. The will of the Venerable Archdtacou W. Gunning, D.C.L., Archdeacon of Bath, Prebendary of Wells, Rural Dean and Vicar of Buckland Newton -nith Plush, in Dorset, was proved in London on the 23rd of last mouth by his relict and Mr. Samuel B. Marriman. The Archdeacon possessed both ral and persona 1 property, which he has bequeathed, with the exception of a few legacies, entirely amongst his family. He bequeaths to his relict a life interest in bis entire propeity, which, upon her decease, is to devolve to their two daughters, and, 0 them he also leaves his presentation plate, on the demise of his widow, with the exception of a portion which he leaves to a nephew. There is a legacy of between his nieces, the daughters of his late brother, as weii as a legacy to his executor, and several bequests to his servants. The will of Mr. William Spence, Lovver Seymour-street, Portraan- square, F.R.S has been proved in her Majesty's Court of Probate in London by his executors. The prrsonal pro- perty was sworn under £100,000. Mr. Spence joint author with the late Rev. Mr. Kirby of that popular work Known as an "Introduction to Entomology; or, Elements of the Natural History of Insects," of which Mr. Spenco poblijtied a cheap edition shortly before his death, to bring it ( o use his own wnrds) within reach ef ,.11 desirous of becoming acquainted with the natural history of insects, and thus carrying out more effectually the tbject of the authors—that of introducing others to a branch of science which they found so delightful,—Illustrated London