The Cardigan Observer and General Advertiser for the Counties of Cardigan Carmarthen and Pembroke

MR. T. BKASSEY. MP, OS ENGLISH 1 A!*f>FORE[(iW LABOUR. Mr. T. 3 rissey, Vt P., delivered a lecture ia Hawk- atom ff ilt, Westniiscer-ro^d, Oa the Comparative Etfl-iuiaej of RigHsh and Foreign Labour. The Rev. Newman Sail presided. Mr. Brassey, who was very heartily received, said it was asserted that the English workman had become relatively more idle and leas skilled, and that the cost of production had become so great that our goods are being dis- placed by the exportations of rival manufacturers abroad. These complaints, however, were heard in every great seat of manufacture abroad. Thero bad been a decline in the markets for the chief commodities of our export trade, which was steady, continuous, and serious. The price of pig iron had fallen bomlSOIt. a ton in 1874 to 51s. 6d. at the close of December, 1877. In coal, tin, and copper there had likewise been a great fall. But we were not alone in our miafortun6Sr The iron trade was also in a state or depreation-in France and Belgium, and in Germany if Was stated to be one of the most prostrate i-idtotries of the Empire. It was said that the falling of in the iron trade in England had been caused by t le inflation of prices, and that that inflition was chiefly due to the- rie^ in wages. But if we had suffered front this, the same difficulty bad presented itself on the Continent. Mr. Brassey then referred to the manufacture of textile fabrics. In England he said the number of spindles at the end of 1874 was 39,000,000, whereas in Germany they were only 5,000,000, in Austria 1,500,000, in Switzerland 2,900,800, and in France 5,000,000. Then the wages in England, he showed, were higher than in Saxony. Taking a factory of 64,000 spindles in England, as against one of a similar size in Saxony, the average earnings of the Saxon operatives are not more than 11s. 10d. per week, while their English fellows, in- cluding men, women, and children, earned 163. lOd. each, and this though the English factory-hand works many hours lea in the week than the German. But the German employer labours under this great disad- vantage, that while the English establishment lis worked with 3'1 empltyit to every 1000 spindles, the German requires 5 99 to every .1000 spindles, or nearly twice as many. But wWle he had endeavoured to remove needless apprehensions for our industrial future, he was far from saying that no errors had been committed by masters and men. There were many delusions which the sharp lessons of adversity might tend to dissipate. In this point of view nothing could be more instructive :han an examination of the state of the labour market in the United States. The increase of personal extravagance which pre- vailed in America a few years ago was caused by the Legal Tender Act, which doubled the price of every- thing. Since 1873, however, the American people had been adapting themselves to the altered situation. Iacome, wages, and expenses were being scaled down, profits were reduced, and the American labourer had to make up his mind that lie will not be much better off than the European labourer. Wages had fallen some 33 per cent., and yet American manufacturers had competed successfully with other countries in the supply of arJIM and in other branches of mechanical industry. We had been conquered by the mechanical skill of the employer in devising labour-saving machinery, and by the industry and energy of the workmen, who, if they have earned high, wages, have worked longer and more industriously than many among our own mechanics have been disposed to do. He was not afraid of high wages* but he had a fear lest the foundation of our industrial prosperity should be undermined by restraints on the characteristic e iergy of our people. If eur workmen allowed them- selves to be deluded with. the notion that by working at half speed they will prevent over pro- duction, British industry cannot contend successfully against the free and vigoroas efforts of our lrinllmen in America. The only result of such a suicidal-course must, be th t the people who impose no artificial res- trictions on their powers will take oar place in every op-n market. (Ohfers.) At the conclusion of the lt>ctur« Mr. Stiunel Hill moved a veto of thanks to Mr. Brassey, which was carried with acclamation.

SALMON OVA FOB NEW ZEALAND.—It haa been before mentioned that a shipment of salmon ova was br-ing made to New Zealand by way of Melbourne by the fast steamer Chimborazo. Extreme interest attaches to this experiment, because the whole cost of the shipment is so trifling compared with that of pre- vious shipments that, if successful, it opens the way to constant shipments of salmon ova during the proper season, with the reasonable certainty of acclimatising the salmon in the Australian colonies. Many thousands of pounds have probably teen hitherto expended in the various shipments of salmof ova to Tasmania, Austrtdia, end New Za land. The present shipment will probably cbst little in excess of £200, if, indeed, it will cost so much. Its history may be shortly told. On the 28th of November, 1877, Sir Julius Togel^ Agent-General for New Zealand, received by egrapfyjnstructiona from the Premier of the Colony, "Sir George Grey, to send out by steamer, vid Mel- bourne, a shipment of ova, at a cost not to exceed .£400. Sir Julius at once placed himself in communication with Mr. Youl and Mr. Frank Buckland, and, in accordance with the recommendation of these gentlemen, made arrangement for the use of 6in. in depth of the bottom of the steamer's ice- house, instead of constructing a separate ice- house, as has hitherto been done. Mr. Youl pro- cured, with the aid of Mr. Baposbottom, 25,000 ova, and packed them himself. Mr. Buckland procured and packed 22,000 ova, and also, through Mr. O. Capel of Foots Cray, procured 1600 river trout ova. Mr. Youl, with the aid of Oaptain Smith, an officer of the Agent General's Department, superintended the shipping arrangements. The (in round numbers) 50,000 ova are safely packed in good condition in the ise-house, of the Ohimboraso well covered with icemore than sufucient for use on the passage, and there is every reason to believe that they will be deposited in the hatching boxes in New Zealand within sixty days of their being taken from the English rivers. The whole cost, as we have said, is so low that in future it may be expected that shipments will be constantly made. AN ASSISTANT PAYMASTER DISMISSED THE SERVICE.—A court-martial was held on board the Duke ef Wellington at Portsmouth, for the trial of Herbert Edward Budge, Assist.-Paymaster of the Shannon, who it may be remembered was censured by the Court at the end of the Barracouta inquiry. Three charges were preferred against him—namely (first), conduct unbecoming the character of an officer in having stated to the Paymaster that Lieut. Charter had requested him to receive his pay, well knowing that such statement was false; (second), having, on the first of January, fraudulently obtained from Mr. Hay, the Paymaster, X12 16s., the property of her Majesty, by falsely representing that he was autborised by Lieutenant Charter to receive the same, which was due to him and (thirdly) having stated to the Paymaster that he had forwarded the amount to Lieutenant Charter, knowing such state- ment to be false. The prisoner pleaded guilty to nil the charges, and as he produced no certificates of cha- racter, he was adjudged to be imprisoned for six months in one of her Majesty's gaols, and afterwards to be dismissed with disgrace from the service. Mr. G. P. MArl in officiaw as Deputy Judge Advocate. DOING THE DooroR.—A poor woman, says the Sheffield Telegraph, lay very ill in her scantily furnished home in Sheffield. The doctor was sent for and came. He at once saw that hers Was a very grave case, and that she had, as he thought, little chance of recovery even if she could get the nourishment her illness required. As he was about to leave, the ques- tion was put: When shoald we send for yon. again, doctor T Well," was the reply, as be looked at the Door woman ond then at her wretched surroundings, I don't, think you need send for me again. She cannot possibly g«t better and to save you further trouble I'll just write you out a certificate for her burial," And he did. After the doctor departed, the woman—women always were wilful got better rapid'y. She has now completely recovered, and goes about carrying her burial certificate with her. ANNIVERSARY OT LOUIS XVI.'S DEATH. — The 85th anniversary of the death of Louis XVI. at- tracted a large number of- aristocratic personages to the Expiatory Chapel in the morning. Masses were c ;nstantly said from eight o'clock antil midday. The proceeds of the collection were set apart, at the re- quest of Cardinal Guibert, for the work of the Sacred H-iart. The Comte de Obambord was represented by the Marquis de Durfort de Civrac, and amongst those present at the ceremony were the Due de Nemours, the Duchess of Madrid, the ex-Queen Irvb^lla, tho Senators De Kerdrel, De Franclieu, and Yontavon, besides a large number of Deputies o! the Bisrht. SKKIORS COLLIERY ACCIDENT.—A serious p.crdf nt, occurred at, the Water Mills Colliery of the Silv-rriale Colliery Company, at Apt-dale. Six mAn e" t r. n rt !'?<<?" at the ho* torn of a shaft for tiie pur- p o- h,na hroneht up It was overdrawn on r ••7 sr the wb,.e1, !tfd the whole of the men were t jro-wn out, ou fortunately escaped baing precipitated du*n the pit. They fell on a cinder heap. John S n.h was killed, and the other five men were dan- garously injured. MB. A. M. SULLIVAN, M.P., AS A BARRISTER. —Mr. A. M. Sullivan, M.P. for Louth, who has re- coil y passed the examinations and been called to the English Bar, has elected to go upon the northern circuit. The honourable, and now learned, gentleman made his first public appearance in wig and gown at the opening of the Liverpool Assizes. He sat in the Crown Court, and received a cordial greeting from many of the older counsel. i

I, THE WESTMEATH WILL CASE. The great will case <ifthe» Bar! of Longford against Purdon was settled in the Appeal Court, Dublin, on Saturday. It was an appeal by Mr. Wellington Purdon and others from the decision of the" Judge of theOourt of Probate, granting a new trial in the will case of the Earl of Longford tI. Purdon, in which a jury, after a trial of twenty-two days, had set aside the will of the late Adolphus Cooke,' of Cooks- borough, county WeStmeath, by which testator, left his estates, worth £ 5000 a year, with an addi- tional reversionary interest of X2000 a year, to the third son of the Earl of Longford. The defendant was the heir-at-law of the tes- tator, whose will was disputed on the ground of testa- mentary incapacity, undue influence, and fraud. The evidence given in support of the plea of incapacity consisted chiefly of the relation of incidents in the testator's life which it was contended showed that he was of eccentric habits. He expressed disbelief in the existence of a God; had a grave or tomb exca- vated in a rock in the avenue in front of hi; residence, in which he expressed a desire to be. buried in an up right position and on one occasion he had been saved with difficulty from being torn to pieces by one of his bulls, and when asked why he had exposed himself to this peril, his reply was, "Do you think I am going to be put out of ray own field by my own bull ?" The undue influence and fraud relied on were alleged to have been practised chiefly by the Rev. William Lyster, of Killucan, who was on inti- mate terms with the deceased, who was closely associated with him in the making of the will, and of the numerous wills which had preceded it—for Mr. Adolphus Cookehadrepeatedlychanged theobject of his testamentary intentions—>-and who, t was con- tended, was actuated by motives of dislike for the Pur- dons, who had in various ways offended him, and in relation to whom he was sworn to have uttered threats that the property should not go to them. The testator in his frequent changes as to the objects of his bounty was, it was alleged by the plaintiff, actuated by a desire that his property should go to"a good landlord," and his selection of Lord Longford's son was due to his admiration of the way in which Lord Longford's own estate was managed. The jury had found a verdict by which the will was declared void, on the ground of undue influence; Judge Warren had granted a new trial on the ground of his own misdirec tion, and (chiefly) on the further ground that the verdict was against the evidence and the weight of evidence. The appeal from his lordship's decision has been at hearing for the last four days in her Majesty's Court of Appeal, before the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice, the Lord Chief Baron, and Lord Justice Deasy. Mr. McDonough'e opening speech for the appellants having closed, a consultation took place, which resulted in a compro- misel the terms of whieh, it is understood, are that the estate shall be sold; that one half of the proceeds of the sale shall go to the plaintiff, aid the other half to the defendants. The- estate will probabli realise £ 120,000. To give effect to this compromise e hill will her promoted in Parliament in t^f pi^nl session. í i

A FRENCH MARRIAGE, AND WHA3 CAME OF IT. An action (says the Globe) ia now pending in oft of the French courts which will at its Hearing gjHist s fall amount of sympathy oa behalf of the youthfu] plaintiff, i The fact* out of which itarose are of th< romantic kind. A girl of IS was assisting as brides- maid at a friend's wedding when she captivated the affections of the bride's brother, to whom-she verj shortly aftM-warda became formally engaged. The course of true love ran in tbitt case tolerablj smooth until close upon the wedding day. It wa/f aa awkward' dra*metsn6*, "perhaps, thfct the bride- groom should not baivO been a little better off; that he ebeuld; in fact, have been too indigent even to gel himself a wedding garment. But the father of the young lady -was aitWllling as she was to overlook this trifling misfortune, and the' day of felicity was dul, aied. The marriage was celebrated, the bridal party were enjoying the orthodox evening dance, when there entered on the scene suddenly a commissary of police, with a request to the bridegroom to follow him, The festive party was not unnaturally dispersed by this apparition; but the principal actor in the scene very shortly afterwards returned, only to be re- arrested after three days, and this time fairly con- victed on a charge of theft. The bride, thus bereft of her ill-chosen husband, has now bethought herself of a legal remedy, and has addressed to the proper tribunal a demand* en nulliti. But French mar- riages are difficult to be dissolved. The lady is sup- posed to rely for the success of her claim upon a plea of mistake. Unfortunately the doctrine of mistake has been r most clearly defined. by the French lawyers, and it has been determined that an error as to the character of the contracting party is not, like a mistake in his indentity, a proper ground for annulling a contract. Nevertheless, it is still to be admitted that legal terms are somewhat elastic in France. The pitiable story of the dis- appointed bride will have in itself a grand effect upon the Court, and if it be possible for the judges by any contortion of the code to do so, they will not fail to free her from her bonds, and give her the chance of making a wiser choice when next she marries.

COLOURS FBOM COAL.-Professor ArooatroDg delivered a lecture the other evening on this subject at the London Institution. After explaining the retert, condenser; exhauster, scrubber, and purifier through which the products of the distillation of coal pass before they issue as the gas we ordinarily use for illu- mination, lie showed how, in the condenser, coal tar is collected from which such beautiful colours for dyeing are now obtained. In a historic sketch it was shown thatacolouring mater wasobtained bydifferent chemists from different sources, coal tar among them, which was afterwards found to have in each case the same chemical composition. As indigo, called by the Portuguese anil, was one of the sources, this colour- yielding compound was called aniline. It was Boon found that though aniline was yielded from coal tar in but-small quantities, benzol was yielded plentifully, and that, by the addition of nitric acid to it, nitre- benzol was formed, and this, when submitted to the action of reduoing agents, was converted into aniline. Thus a. cheap a-nd plentiful source of aniline from coal ter was some twenty years ago discovered. From this aniline we have dyes of violets, reds, yellow, green, blue, and many newly-discovered shades. Since Eng. land has so large a oupply of coal it might have been expected that she would soon have been independent of the supply of. Mumal and vegetable dyes from abroad, and have been the greatest col our,'producing country in the world. As Professor Hofmann ex- pressed in his report on the chemical products at the 1862 Exhibition: "She may before long send her eoal-derived blues to indigo-growing India; her tar- distilled crimson to cochineal-producing Mexico; and her fossil substitutes for quercitron and saf- flower to China, Japan, and the ether countries whence these articles are now derived." This has, however, not been realised, and England 's gradually falling further and further behind Germany and Franee. The reason is-that our manufacturers do not attempt to employ the co-opera- tion of skilled chemists. If they were to seek them in England, they would not obtain them, as there are so few that have had the training requisite to conduct the work. We have in England no school where in- struction is given in the particular kind of chtinical work that is required. This result Professor Arm. strong attributed partly to the indifference of our Universities to the practical wants of the country. ROYAL COUBTSHIP BY TBLBPHONR.- The Madrid correspondent of the Times says: The King spends with his. bride all the time allowed him by etiquette and public affairs. He hastens to Araniuez where she is staying, and during the journey the Royal Lieanderwill sometimes look out at the carriage window to seeon the. horizon the bare treesunder which Philip IT. conspired against the conscience of the world. When he returns from Aranjuez his impatience leads him to a part of the palace where modern science has placed its latest discovery at the service of the Royal lover, and annihilates the space which for two days longer separatee him frem his bride. A telephone, in fact, has been fitted up connecting one of the King's rooms with that of Princess Mercedes, and enabling them to con- verse together free from indiscreet eyes and ears. Strange to think that the telephone should thus get the better of the traditional and implacable etiquette of a Court where the King cannot get an egg boiled without six successive messengers and sixteen paira of hands. Yet more strange is a love so rarely found in the loftiest stations, and which could only spring up and gain strength because two hearts met in the soli- tude of exile far from the factitious pomps of Courtly constraint. CCBIOUS SWINDLE.—At the Southwark Polloe- court a woman, who has a stationer's shop, applied for Hdvice, stating that she had been swindled. A female, who said she was employed at a young ladies' seminary, called and gave a large order for marking ink, which she, not having at the moment, promised to obtain for her customer. Shortly afterwards a man with a horse and trap, who repretented himself as an agent for an ink maker, came and supplied her with several dozens, which cost her £ 2 odd. The ink, however, proved to be worthless, and the female never came back. TKLRPHONB ^ompany-—A financial contem- porary hears that, with a view to utilising what is really a discovery of one of the secrets of nature- a discovery strangely reserved for the present day- a Telephone Company has been formed, under compe- { ISS'ZrtS? pr°"pectu' » KWj to be J la8nehed shortly.

I A FORGOTTEN HERO. Lieutenant Low writes as follows: On the 7th of January there passed away in his 91st year Cap- tain Charles Boyce of the Indian Navy, who so long ago as the year 1815 performed a deed of un- surpassed- valour in upholding the honour of his country's flag. On the 30th of June in that year Lieutenant Boyce, then in command of the Hon. Company's brig Nautilus, of 14 guns, was cruising in the Straits of Sunda, when the United States corvette, Peacock, 22 guns, Captain Warrington, hove in sight. As Lieutenant Boyce had received notice of Mr. Madi- son's proclamation of peace with England, he made no attempt to shun his adversary, but sent a boat to inform Captain Warrington of the conclusion of peace. That officer, however, replied by hailing Lieutenant Boyce to haul his flag down as a token of submission, or stand the alternative of being sunk. But the gallant Boyce held the honour of his country superior to any other consideration, and although he knew that certain destruction awaited him in a con- flict with an enemy of such overwhelming force, he deliberately preferred defeat to dishonour, and the reply that came over the water was a peremptory refusal. An action ensued and soon the gallant young captain of the Nautilus lay prostrate on the deck with a grape shot measuring 2iin. in his hip, and his right knee and thigh bone shattered by a 32-pounder shot, while his First Lieutenant, Mr. Mayston, lay by his side mortally wounded. Feeling that his country's honour—dearer to him than limbs or life-was satisfied, and in order to save the useless slaughter of his brave seamen, he gave the order to the boatswain, the officer now in charge, to strike his flag. It should be borne in mind that when Lieutenant Boyce answered the insolent demand of the United States Commander by an equally haughty refusal, his crew, owing to loss on active service, had been reduced to forty officers and men, and of these two officers and a boat's crew had been detained by Oaptain Warrington, so that he was pitting his hand- ful of men against a crew of 220 seamen flushed with their recent victory oter her Majesty's ship Bpervier, of 18 guns. The United States Government recog- nised the illegality of the act of the Commander of the Peacock by conferring a pension on Lieutenant Boyce, and it was, only a few days ago that the shattered frame ef this brave seaman was carried to- its last resting place at. St. Calais, Sarthe, in France.

THE Romry MOUNTAIN LOCUST.—The United States Entomological Commission, which was or- ganised and placed under the auspices of Professor Haydexes geological survey, for the purpose of investi. gating and reporting on the. entire subject of insect ravages throughout the western regions-of the United States, have completed their labours for. the present season, and are preparing the year's report. It will give a full account of the locust, its habits, devices for its r destruction, it. A chemical analysis and examination of dead locngljs shows that these insects furnish a new i 'oil, which will be christened caloptine, and a large percentage of pure formic acid. Though this add exists in the ant and some other insects, it is with difficulty obtained in large quantities; whereas, by the action of sulphuric acipl upon the locust it passes off with great readiness and in re- inarkable quantity and, gravity." The various uses of I. &cl°» a tner&peutic, Ac., are capable of great I and valuable extension where it can be obtained so ) readily and in such quantity. The work of the Oom- mission will occupy two years more, and will include > a study of the cotton-worm and other injurious in- r sects. > TUB FABIS Libertt gives a full oatalogne of the r, literary remains of M. Thiers. These comprise, be- I sides an immense mass of correspondence touching on the most various subjects—1. A completed history of the transactions with Germany relating to the payment of the war indemnity, and with the banks and loan societies, relating to the raising of money; 2. Frag. I mentary notes of various political events during the reign of Louis Philippe, which M. Thiers sent out of the country- under tie Empire, and wtich have not yet come into the hands of his executors; 3. The history of several episodes from the presidency of M. Thiers, such as the opening of the National Assembly at Bordeaux, life at Versailles during the Commune, the election struggle between Remusat and Barodet, &e.; and 4, an unfinished work of natural philosophy upon the origin and destiny of man, apparently a sort of spiritual cosmogony in which M. Thiers wished to declare and justify his belief in the immortality of the soul drawn from a study of nature. A DSSPBBATB HIGHWAYMAN.—At Woroeater Assizes, before Mr. Justice Lush, Abel King, des- cribed in the calendar as a painter, 28, was charged on three indictments .with having robbed various per- sons with violence. The prisoner pleaded guilty to the three charges, and it was stated by Mr. E. H. Selfe, who prosecuted, that there were numerous other charges against him. It appeared that the prisoner was in the habit of asking somebody to give him a "lift" in his cart, and taking the opportunity in a dark place, he would stab or strike his companion and rob him of any money or valuables that might be in his poa- session. He had escaped apprehension till the 9th ult., when after a desperate fight with a Mr. Grainger, whom he had attempted to rob and who was badly wounded by a knife, he was taken ty the police. His lordship, in passing sentence, said the prisoner had pleaded guilty to three offences, two of which were the most atrocious high- way robberies. The depositions revealed a most startling state of affairs, and he could not look upon him as an ordinary criminal. In consideration, how- ever, of his youth, and in the hope that a long term of penal servitude might eventually be the means of his reformation, he would n it pass the extreme sen- tence ef penal servitude for life. Still, he must mark his sense of the enormity of his crime by a very severe sentence. The prisoner would, therefore, be kept in penal servitude.for a term of twenty-five years. PeNNY BANKS.—A Parliamentary return has been issued, obtained by Mr. Holt. M.P., of schools in receipt of annual grants having savings-banks attached to them for the use of children, whether penny banks or Popt-office savings-banks, with the amounts deposited and the number of depositors at the end of last August. The return extends to twenty- two folio pages, and would have been of more service had a summary been made. Numerous deposits were made in penny banks which were net restricted to scholars. Remarks are made on each of the banks and the number of depositors. At New Ferry a penny bank in connection with the Liverpool Savings Bank Association had. 3928 depositors and at Hoxton a bank had 3362 depositors. Some had but few de- positors, but habits of thrift seemed to be encouraged. BRA VBRy AT SBA.-A meeting was held In the rooms of the Liverpool Mercantile Marine Service Association, to present five medals, awarded by the Massachusetts Humane Society, to Charles Harvey, boatswain, Anthony Depsey, Joseph Coarum, Patrick Barry, and Herbert Tilley, seamen of the Liverpool barque Thomas Brecklebank. They manned a boat and rescued the crew of the American schooner Louie A. Swett, of Boston, at sea, on the 10th of August last. The society also awarded its certificate to Captain Peter B. Brown, master of the Thomas Brocklebank, for humanity to the rescued crew. The Louie A. Swett left the West Coast of Africa on the 11th of June for Boston, and experienced tempestuous weather till the 10th of August, when the vessel, half full of water, became entirely unmanageable. Signals of distress brought the Thomas Brocklebank to her assistance, but the weather was so bad that Captain Brown did not think it right to order his men into the boat. However, the five men named volunteered for the work, and, in spite of great difficulties, rescued the schooner's crew. Coarum, a coloured man, was the only member of the boat's crew present. The other medals and certificate will be given through the owner of the Thomas Brocklebank. General Fair- child, the American Consul, said that with the medals went the hearty thanks of all men in the world in- terested in life-saving. RUSSIAN ARMAMENTS.—The contraot for the 100 torpedo boats, recently ordered by the Russian Government, has been taken by the two leading ship- building firms at St. Petersburg. They are to be exact copies of the torpedo boats built last year by Messrs. Yarrow and Co., which attained during their trial on the River Neva a speed of twenty-two statute miles an hour. FifSy of these boats are to be com- pleted within six months, and to insure the utmost despatch the orders for the machinery have been dis- tributed among a large number of firms. Arrange ments have been made for transporting the boats when finished by rail from St. Petersburg to Odessa. WHY Is a whitesmith likely to make a commo- tion in the alphabet ?—Because he makes A poke B. and A shove L. SEDUCTION CAsE.-In the Sheriffs Jury Court, St. Georgt's Hall, Liverpool-before Mr. J. J. Aston, QO., assessor Mr. John Cook, farmer, Great Sankey, near Warrington, sued William Baker, farmer, Clifton Hall, Cheshire, to obtain damages for the alleged seduction of his daughter. No pirticu- lars were stated. Mr. Addison, barrister, who appeared for the defendant, consenting to .£100 damages, and Mr. Taylor, who appeared for the plaintiff, assenting to judgment for that sum. RussiAN THIBET EXPEDITION.—A telegram has been addressed to the Invalide Russe from Semi- palitinak announcing the failure of the Russian ex pedition to Thibet, the health of the chief explorer Colonel Prjavalsky having sailed him. The expedi tion is now at Saissan, where Prjevalsky has been laid up with illness nearly two months. As soon as he recovers sufficient strength to travel he will return to Semipalitinsk,

THE FRENCH ARTILLERY. The French artillery has resolved to discard tbe bonze field-pieces with which it is armed, and likeGer- manyand Russia, to adopt steel breech-loaders instead. lien Ki-npp, however, will not gain any additional customers, it seems, by such a step, for the French War Department is to make its own guns, and, moreover, to adopt a pattern of its own. The adoption of the English method of making guns on the muzzle loading system, with wrought iron coils placed round a steel tube was, we are told, under consideration but the expense of new plant and machinery is said to have been too great. As with us, there will be two kinds of field cannon constructed for horse artillery and field artillery respectively, and tha calibre in both cases will be very similar to ours, which is rfpresented by nine pounder and sixteen pounder guns. At the present moment Britain is tte only Great Power in Europe armed with muzzle- loading guns with the partial exception of Italy. Germany believes in breech-loaders of steel both for heavy and light artillery. The modern ordnance of thte Russians and the Turks are also of steel and load at the breech, having been purchased, indeed, for the most part at the Essen Works of Herr Krupp. The Austrians employ breech-loaders made of hardened bronze, or steel-bronze, as its inventor, General TO, Uchatius, terms the alloy. We in England adhere to iron muzzle-loaders, which we adopted soon after abandoning the Armstrong gun. This last weapon was tried in action on only one occasion-in China, in I860 but the War Office appears to have lost all confidence in it, and since its disgrace will have nothing to do with breech-loaders.

LORD ROSSLYN'S INTERVIEW WITH THE KINGf OF SPAIN. Hit Excellency the Earl of Bosslyn, being intro- duced to his Majeety the King ef Spain, addressed the King in the following terms: Birer--I have the honour to convey to your Majesty from my. gracious and august Sovereign the Queen of Great Britain, Empress of India, her Majesty's sincere felicitation on the auspicious occa- sion of your approaching marriage. Her Majesty has commanded me to expresss her earnest and heartfelt hope that it may prove a source of lifelong happiness to your Majesty and the illustrious Princess with whom you are about to form an alliance, and may promote the welfare and contentment of the people over whom you reign. I am desired by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to present to yon the jewelled sabre as a mark of personal affection and Royal esteem. Permit me to add that I shall ever consider it the highest honour of my life to have been selected by my gracious Sovereign to perform this most agreeable duty." His Majesty the King expressed himself as highly gratified by the presence of the Special Embassy., and by the kindly feeling shown towards him by the Q-n, for whow he felt the highest esteem and af- fection. The King also expressed the great pleasure he felt at Lord Botriyn having been selected for that mission, The intertiew was full of cordiality.

SPECULATIONS OF A SHIPPING CLBRX.-At the Liverpool Police-court, before Mr. Baffles, James Burnett, a genteel-looking young man, was charged with embezzlement. The prisoner, who was about 26 years of age, hed been three years in the employ- ment of Messrs. Allan Brothers, shipowners, as an assistant clerk. in the inward freight department, re- ceiving a salary £80 for the first year and Xllo for each of the other years. It was stated that on the 15th of December last he received .£460 aø a deposit from Mr. W. E. Henson, corn broker, and on the 21st of December a sum of £ 450 from Messrs. Clunie, corn merchants, for neither of which sums had he accounted to the cashier, in consequence of Messrs. Allan Brothers hearing the prisoner speculated in petroleum and corn he was discharged at the end of last year, but at that time the firm did not know he was a de- faulter, the transactions for which he had received deposits not having reached the stage for final settlement. On the 14th of this month in- quiries were made and the default discovered. On being questioned the prisoner admitted that he had received £ 450 from Messrs. Clunie, and was negotiating with his friends to pay iVa 0V8r three days. He also acknow- ladged havmg received the, £ 460 from Mr. Henson, and said he had lost the money in speculations in corn and petroleum. It had since been ascertained that several firms in Liverpool had transactions with the prisoner, without making any inquiries as to how the young man could possibly be in a position to pay margins, amounting in some cases to the whole of hia yearly salary, on speculative purchases—which were not purchases for delivery—in corn and petroleum. They had traced in that way about £ 560 which had been paid on tht se marginll." After evidence bad been given, the prisoner was committed for trial at the Borough Sessions. AN IRISH DIVOBCE CASE.-The oaae of Mrs. Sarah Parker, a well-known lecturer on weman's rights and spiritualism, and who seeks a divorce from he* husband on the ground of cruelty, came before Judge Warren in the Matrimonial Court on a motion to stay proceedings, on the ground that they were barred by the deed of separation entered into between the parties in 1866. Mrs. Parker, who conducted her own case, had, it appeared, travelled abroad during the past ten years, and was travelling in Peru in 1876, when she Wis informed that her husband desired her to return. She returned accordingly and they were reconciled, he presenting her with a handsome ring in token of a new betrothal. In consequence, how- ever, of his intemperance and his threats she was unable to live with him. Her husband was addicted to groll habits of intemperance, and was never in a state for any decent woman to live with him. The Judge refused to stay the proceedings, and the case, which is fixed for the 1st of February, will accord- ingly proceed. THE CATTLE TRADE.-Iatroduced by Mr. Jacob Bright, M.P., a large deputation from the rr°'f^n Trade Association, representing the United Kingdom, had an interview with the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, at Whitehall, to protest against any restrictions being placed upon the importation of cattle from abroad which bis grace might contemplate embodying in his bill Jo be introduced shortly. Bepresentatives from Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow, Ire- land, and different towns were present. Several gentlemen having spoken, the Duke of Rich- mond and Gordon said in reply, admitting the im- portance of the subject, that a Select Committee of top House of Commons having made a report to Parltament, he did not think it the time or place to comment upon the evidence taken in the document itself. The Government had thought fit to prepar3 a measure respecting the question, which he would be- fore long have the honour to introduce into the House of Lords. Under those circumstances, it would be impossible for him to enter into details at present, but due attention would be given by him to the state ments he had heard. THE PJUNCE CONSORT STATUB AT CAM- BRIDGB UXVJSJXMD.—Mr. Foley's statue of the Prince JJonsort at Oambridge was unveiled by the Prince of waies, who, in reply to an address from the Univer- sity, expressed the pleasure which he experienced at revisiting that seat of learning, and in recalling to his mind the agreeable recollections of his undergra- d,te.days. The. interest which the Prince Consort took. in everything relating to the welfare and Progress of the University was well known, and it was a source of gratification to his Royal Highness to witness the respect which the members of the university showed to his memory by erecting this statue. Ma. H. M. STANLEY IN LONDON.—Mr. H. M. ^•ched London on Tuesday evening. Both at Boulogne and on landing at Folkestone he received marked attention from the local authorities, and at the latter place was greeted with cheers and other de- monstrations of welcome by a large number of persons who awaited the arrival of the steamer in which he crossed the Channel. A special saloon carriage was placed at his disposal by the South-Eastern Bail way Company for the journey to London. THEBATJSNBD STRIKE AT LYONS.—A strike is threatened amongst the workmen of Lyons. The weavers in particular are organising an extensive movement or resistance to the reduction of wages lnaposed by the masters. In all the silk manufac- tories the greatest excitement prevails, and discussions are taking place daily with the view of bringing the parties to an understanding. The men have pre- sented an ultimatum to the Masters' Association, and the future action of both employers and employed will depend on the answer to this document, which is now eagerly awaited. ACTION BY A LADY AGAINST HER HUSBAND. -In the Queen's Bench Division a lady named Bowen sued her reputed husband, Colonel West, for damages for the non-performance of an agreement by which the defendant agreed to pay her X100 per annum for the maintenance of herself and children for the term of her natural life. The defence was that the defendant agreed to pay £ 100 per annum for his children during their minority, and whilst the plaintiff continued single, and that the payment should cease on the children attaining their majority. One had died, and the other was now 23 years of age. Both the plaintiff and the defendant went into the witness- box. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff- damages £50, the amount of the two quarters' arrears claimed. FOBMGN POTATOES.—In the last twelve months the declared value of potatoes imported in- creased to £ 2,348,693 from £ 1,742,285 in 1876.

THE NORTH UNST LIGHTHOUSE. (Abridged from the Globe?) Of all the lighthouses around our coasts there "is, perhaps, no one that would present to the mind of the ordinary landsman an idea of greater loneliness aRd dreariness as a place of residence than that situated on North Unst. This crag his the distinction of being the most northerly point of the Queen's British dominions, and a more uninviting perch for perpetual residence-eholt of the end of the protruding pole which jocular draftsmen are fond of representing as the centre of the Arctic regions—it would be difficult to imagine. North Unst is a craggy peak, near the Shetland .Isles, rising from the stormy seas north of Scotland, like a huge sucar-loaf to the height of 201 feet. The apex of this conical peak is just large enough to take the base of a light- house sufficient for the exhibition of a light and the accommodation of three men. The rock did not afford foothold for premises large enough for their families, however, and they consequently hive to lodge upon one of the Shetland Islands about four miles off. The desirability of permanently maintaining a light on North Unst was made mani- fest by this temporary structure, and as it had also become quite clear that an alti- tude of 200 feet was no safeguard against the waves, it was determined to erect a light tower as high above the rock as many of the light- houses around our coast stand above level ground. The present lantern, which is a fixed dioptric light of the first class, gleams out some 250 feet above those boisterous seas, where it has been found to be 0f the utmost utility during tbe long night of the Shetland Isles, which in winter may be reckoned to extend from about three in the afternoon till nine in the morning. During this dreary stretch of time a light has not only to be kept burning, but must be burning with its utmost brilliancy, and must never be left for an instant. The rales of the Northern Lights Commissioners require that each man shall take his turn beneath the lantern, and shall, under no circumstances whatever, leave his post without summoning some one to relieve him, which he must do, not by going to fetch some one, but by a bell or whistle. A four hours' watch is the rule, and dis- missaf se5yi^e, Jf. *he regulation penalty for the slightest breach of this prime injunction. Amid the howling of the storm and the wild dash of this desolate sea, one or other of the three men employed here is always, during the night, on duty just beneath the lantern, the monotony of hi, fourVours' watch being broken perhaps by the necessity of going out- side to clear the face of the light from a drift of snow, or by the startling thud of some benighted sea bird that has come headlong into the dazzling glare like a moth into a candle. It is a very curious fact that lighthouses do thus attract stray birds. The lights on the Atlantic coaJta of America are said to occasion the destruction of 100,000 birds annually, the rocks around them being at certain times of the year, when birds are emigra- ting, often found in the morning to be literally strewn with their mangled bodies. Occasionally on our own coasts a large bird has been known to crash through the g ass. The light-keeper is prepared for thi0- H«keeP?f Bheet of glass ready to be instantly placed over the aperture. In very cold weather t^e g! u?- obscured by moisture within the lantern, a.nd this, of Course, has to be recti- u l theae occa8ional incidents, the light itself must never be left unregarded. A flrst-claa light, such as that at North Unst, is produced by a lamp having four concentric wicks, the largest of which is three and a half inches in diameter, the o.l being continually pumped up by machinery from a cistern beneath/^ An excessive supply is maintained, the surplus flowing back into the cistern from which it was pumped. The wick-holders are thus kept cool so long a. the mechanism of the lamp is going satisfactorily. The proper working of the apparatus is signified by the tinkle of a small bell, the stoppage ot which makes known that the oil supply has tailed, and that unless the keeper spnngs to his ladder without a moment's delay the fierce heat of the dame will melt the solder near it, and utterly destroy the lamp. The necesssity for stringent rules and for trustworthy men is obvious enough, and it certainly is astonishing that such men are to be found willmg to spend their working lives Dn the peak of North Umat, with one of the Shetland 181e8 for" home."

TEN DEARS' EXPLORATION. At he present day (says the Times) when railways and steamers take a traveller so rapidly over his journey; when the Challenger took oniv three years ^d a Tialf to explore the great oceans; when the English Polar Expedition was away only seventeen months when Stanley made his famous journey down the Congo, crossing the half of Africa in nine months; when Nordenskjold takes only a few week* in summer to go from Norway to the mouth of the Yenisei and back; when one can travel round the world in two months and a half; it sounds strange that an exploring journey in South America should occupy nearly ten year s, and that during this long time we should hear so little of the explorers and see so little of the results. Such has been the work, from 1868 to 1877 of two German explorers, Drs. Reiss and Stiibel; and Dr. Petermann informs us that from what he has seen of the results they are to the highest degree com- prehensive and important. The aim of the expedi- tion was tie study and exploration of the volcanic regions or South America, specially that of Columbia and Ecuador. For six years were Drs. Reiss and Stubel occupied alone with the mountain region for Merveo, Honda, and Bogota in the north, to Cuen9» in the south, carrying on their »! • A difficulties, and often af w ,°LHont Blanc. On account ° e, the country, the thinness and uC -nim- Population, and its few resources, ^M^^llWer6 ^Pdled to travel with a large 1 mu an a7.efaSe twenty-five men and twenty I exp-^ltl0n COst something like 300,000 w JL of «"*e lands "lies half-way between absolute; barbarism and European civilisa- tion and the difficulties which the travellers had to surmount were, though of a different kind,, little less than those which Stanley had to face in crossing Afnca. The possessions of the original inhabitants JifTe a f6 conquest been wasted, and the present lords 0f the land have onlv been able to destroy the old without put- ting anything similar in its place. The vio- lent political commotions, the almost chronic state of56T?paS0nu-hlnd!T an? healthy progress. The char- culfcure is significant; for example, at P«p yan and Pasto, both University towns, in the former, there is scarcely a sheet of writing paper to ^bought, far iess a bookin Pasto the belief pre- vailed that it would be an easy matter fer the ,ers PUJ an end to the outbreaks of the neighbouring volcano, and when Dr. Beiss stayed m the town he was waited on for this purpose K from all the authorities, by the ..the University, and the priesthood. Superstition, indolence, and drunkenness are chronic among the inhabitants. "The normal condition of the people is gross drunkenness." The richest and most fruitful regions have often no population; in the district Pachaquiaro there was found only a single Indian and a single canoe, and years may pass before another canoe be seen in the navigable rivers of this unWlually rich and extensive region..The ungenial weather rOi theee high regions, the utter want of com- fort, in the houses, often the impossibility of obtaining are, and other drawbacks, sorely tried the endurance of the patient explorers. A few of the results of these travels. have been published from time to time ia foreign journals, but it will take years to give them to the world, probably in the form Of monographs, which will take their place among the classics of exploration. Dr. Petermann statee that one of the most interesting results of this expedition le the series of oil paintings which Dr. gtubel has Drought home, of the scenes of his and his companions travels and researches. Dr. Petermann states that he has never seen anything equal to them. They are by an artist named Rafael Troya, and there are about seventy altogether, some of them being upwards or six feet wide. They will give a more vivid and faithful idea of this region than has ever been given before, or than could be done by any other means.

SUPPOSED MUEDEB.—An elderly man was found in an insensible condition early on Wednesday morning in Abercorn-street, Glasgow. He had been robbed of a gold watch and of his hat, boots, and part of his clothes, and it was found that hie skull was fractured and his collar-bone broken. He died on Thursday. His son has identified him as William Ctilfillan, marble cutter, and it is supposed he was murdered. ASSAULT IN A RAILWAY CARRIAGE.—At the petty Sessions near Bristol, Mr. King, builder, was committed for trial for having indecently assaulted Miss Pincombe, a farmer's daughter, in a Midland Bail way carriage, whilst travelling from Bristol to Bitton. He is alleged to have kissed her and then behaved indecently. INFORMATION HAS REACHED CALCUTTA that the Naga Hills expedition has resulted in the uncon- ditional surrender of the principal village, the pay- ment of the fine imposed, and the restoration of the Plundcr* "Ifc SENTENCES OF DAATI^AT Liverpool Jamct Trickett was sentenced to death for the murder of his wife. He was recommended to mercy. At Lincoln, John Brooks, lacemaker, was sentenced to death for the murder of a married woman naated CtMroline Wood- i head, with whom he had been living., ;<

WILLS AND BEQUESTS. (From. the Illustrated hondon JSews.") The will and codicil (dated November 23, 1874, and January,24, 1877) of Mrs. Margaret Collins Lambert, of Wood House. Finchley, widow of Mr. William Lambert, who died on November 7 last, were proved on November 24 last by the Rev. Edwin Castle and Michael Castle (two of her nephews) and Thomas Hakewill, the personalty being sworn under £ 100,000. The testatrix bas bequeatbed. among other legacies, to each of the four children ef her brother, William Jennings, and to her nephew, Thomas Guppy, £ 2000; to her niece, Mrs. Holme, JB3000; to the Monmouth Hospital, 500; to the churchwardens of St. Mary's Church,Monmoath,inaidof itamaintenance,.65CO free of duty to the vicar and churchwardens of the same church, £ 300,also free of duty, the income to beapplied for tho relief of the poor of Wye Bridge, Monmouth; to her sister, Mary Ann Jennings, and her son, Thomas, eighty Hampstead Aqueduct shares; to her niece, Margaret Angst, and her children, eighty other like shares; to her sister, Mrs. Rees, and her daughter, £20,000 Reduced Annuities to other persons a life interest in various sums of stock, amounting to over £ 10,000; and a life annuity of X40 to an outdoor servant, besides legacies to indoor servants. All her real estate and her residuary personal estate, includ- ing such as under any power or otherwise the testa- trix was enabled to dispose of, she has given equally between the children of her late sister, Caroline Collins Castle. The will and nine codicils (dated respectively Dec. 15. 1868, October 20, 1870, April 19 and October 16, 1875, March 30, April 10 and 28, and May 24, 1876, and May 31, 1877) of MlI. Robert Alexander Gray, J.P., late of The Terrace, Camberwell, who died on the 10th ult., were proved on the 8th inst. by John Melhuish, Thomas Edward Layton, Thomas Hutch- inson, and David Maurice Serjeant, M.D., the executors, the personal estate being sworn under £ 60,000. The .testator bequeaths £ 600 to the minister and churchwardens of the parish of Camberwell, upon trust, to apply the income in the purchase of warm clothing for the poor of the said parish not receiving parochial relief; S300 to the incumbent and churchwardens of Cam. den Chapel, Camberwell, the income to be paid to a person exceeding 70 years of age nominated by the Peckham Pension Society; X200 to the London Orphan Asylum, Watford £ 100 each to the Marine Society, the Seamen's Hospital, the Idiot Asylum, Earlswood, the Adult Orphan Society, Regent's-park, tho Infant Orphan Asylum, Wanstead, the Green Coat School, Camberwell, the Camden Ohapel School, Camberwell, and the Lancashire School, Peckham; and such an amount is to be in- vested as will produce thirty guineas per annum, and this sum is to be applied yearly by the master of Camberwell Workhouse for the increased comfort of the inmates. There are several legacies and annuities to servants and others; testator's daughter and daughter in-law each take annuities of X800 to testator's grandson, Robert Alexander Gray, is given certain freehold houses. The residue of his property is left upon trust for accumulation and subsequently for the children of his said daughter and his deceased son. The will (dated August 31,1877) of Miss Elizabeth Burton, late of Stamford-hill, who died on October 11 last, was proved on the 12th inst. by Thomas Burton, the brother, Miss Agnes Burton, the sister, and John Richard Tindall, the executors, the per- sonal estate being sworn under £ 60,000. Among other legacies, the testatrix bequeaths to the Seamen's Orphan Asylum £ 200; and to the Grammar School, Cliffe, Yorkshire, £200, the income to be applied in augmentation of the salary ef the maater of the said school. The rest of her property she distributes among the members of her family. The will and three codicils (dated December 19, 1868, June 5, 1869, March 22, 1871, and July 15, 1876) of Mrs. Louisa Doxat, late of Putney-heath, who died on the 24th ult., were proved on the 15th inst. by Edmund Theodore Doxat, the executor, the per- sonal estate being sworn under £ 45,000. The testatrix bequeaths to the Putney National School, £100; to the Roehampton National School, £ 50 and some other legacies. The remainder of her property is divided into eleven parts, and given to certain of her re- latives. The will and codicil (dated July 25, 1873, and October 14,1875) of Mr. George Cobb, late of Bright- helmstone, Sussex, who died on the 29th ult., were prove' on the 29th inst. by Ed ward Madge Hore and Joseph Cobb, the nephew, the executors, the personal estate being sworn under ,£30,000. Subject to some legacies, the testator leaves all his freehold, leasehold, and personal estate to his said nephew. The will and two codicils (dated Dec. 28,1859, Nov. 3,1873, and Feb. 16,1876) of Mr. Henry Thomas Curtis, late of Burfield-lodge, Old Windsor, Berks, who died on the 10th ult., were proved on the 5th inst. by Mrs Emily Curtis, the widow, Frederick Thomas Curtis, the son, and Edwin Bedford, the nephew, the exe- cutors, the personal estate being sworn under £ 25,000. The testator gives S3000 to his said son, and a few other legacies; the residue of his estate he gives to his wife. The will and two codicils (dated November 22, 1865), Jane 21, 1869, and January 7, 1873) of General George Twemlow, of the Royal Bengal Ar- tillery, who died at Guildford on October 2 last, were proved on the 8th inst., by Dodsworth Haydon, the acting executor, the personal estate being sworn under £1000. The will with three codicils (dated September 14, 1871, May 13 and November 11,1872, and August 4, 1875, of Mr. James Scott, formerly of No. 5. Here- ford-street, Park lane, and late of The Hollies, Oalverley-park, Tunbridge Wells, who died on No- vember 22 last, was proved on the 27th ult., by Theodore Howard, the executor, the personal estate being sworn under .£6000. (From the City Press.") The will of Mr. Thomas Emberson, late of 31, Fore-street, Oripplegate, and of 16, Lyndhurst-road, Peckham, who died on the 18th ult., was proved on the 15th inst. by Mrs. J. H. Emberson, the widow, the sole executrix, to whom he gives all his freehold and personal estate. The personalty is sworn under £1530. The will of Mr. Arthur Ellis Fawdington, late of 8, Furnival's-inn, solicitor, who died on the 30th ult., was proved on the 17th inst. by Mr. Henry Tyrrell, the sole executor, the personal estate being sworn under SM. Subject to some bequests, the testator bequeaths his property to his mother, Mrs. Leaf. The will of Mr. Henry Whitehead Knight, late of 56, King William-street, and of Garratt House, Garrat-lane, Wandsworth, who died on the 17th ult., was proved on the 6th inst. by Mr. Anselm Odling and Mr. E. W. Momutford,, the executors, the personal estate being sworn under £6000. There are complimentary bequests to his executors, and the re- maining provisions of the will are in favour of his wife, his son, Mr. Henry Norton Knight, and his granddaughter, Miss Ethel Phoebe Knight. The will of Mr. Thomas Hamilton, formerly of Paternoster-row, and late of Clapham-common, who died on the 27th ult., was proved on the 10th inst. by Mr. Joseph Johnson Miles, the acting executor, a power being reserved to Mr. T. B. Hamilton, the grandson of the deceased, the other executor named, to prove hereafter. The personal estate is sworn under £ 30,000. The testator leaves to his grandson, the said Mr. Thomas Bramston Hamilton, some house property and £ 6000; upon the trusts of the msrriage settlement of his granddaughter Mrs. Kirby, £ 6000; and among the ether legacies maT be mentioned, X100 each to the London Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Society, the Free Church of Scotland's Home Missions, the London City Mission, the trustees of the Evangelical Maga- zine, and the Booksellers' Provident Institution; and X50 to the Clapham Good Samaritans' Society, and the Clapham Pension Society. The residue of his estate both real and personal he leaves between his said grandson and his old and ever-dear friend Mr. Miles.

THE VATICAN FRUSTRATED.—The London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian writes: The leaders of the Protestant organisations in London are in high glee at the supposed abandonment of the Vatican plan for establishing a Catholic hierarchy in Scotland. The Scotch law against the Pope's juris- diction is very severe, and a high legal authority has declared that anyone assuming ecclesiastical territorial titles will render himself liable to heavy penalties. I have reason for stating that the introduction of the Catholic hierarchy would have led to a series of pro- secutions in the Court of Session, and the small band of gentlemen who had determined to vindicate the Protestantism of Scotland," are not a little elated with the supposition that a knowledge of their inten- tion has delayed, if it has not entirely prevented, Che intended action of the Vatican. THE CONFESSIONAL IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.—At a crowded meeting held at Plympton to protest against the introduction of the confessional into the Church of England, Sir Massey Lopes, MP., the Civil Lord of the Admiralty, who was invited to be present, wrote excusing his absence, and added that had he the opportunity of attending, he should have had no hesitation in expressing his sympathy with the object of the meeting. He thought the practice of auricular confession was highly objectionable, and caleullo,ted to create prejudices and to promote differ- ences and dissensions amongst Churchmen, which would not only tend to diminish the influence, but seriously to imp'ril the safety, of the Church. (RESIGNATION OF Two CABINET MINISTERS.— TheJCarl of Derby and the Earl of Carnarvon have plaoed their resignation of their offices of Secretary of State for Foreign Affaire and Secretary ef State for the Colonies in the hands of the Prime Minister. t

I FOREIGN AND COLONIAL. An outbreak having occurred in the Chilian pena colony at Punta Arenas, Patagonia (says the Standard), the convicts attacked Sandy Point, firing into the British Consulate with a 12 pounder gun. The Vice-Oonsul took to Right, and was pursued and fired at, but he managed to escape from the shore in his boat, and was picked up by a passing steamer. i Intelligence published lately concerning trade de- pression in America is confirmed by some facts pub- lished in a Chicago journal, the Railway Age, aa to th(^f enormous losses sustained last year and the yeai' before. One-fifth of all the railway property in the United States, it seems, has come to grief in the period referred to. There were actually sold under foreclosure duing the two years eighty-four railways, which in the gross carried on a traffic over 7721 miles of road, and represented in value a sum of money not short of 417 millions of dollars. In the same period foreclosure proceedings were begun in 44 railways, while in 16 others sales were ordered these two groups, collectively making up a total of 60 lines, represent 575 millions of dollars. There are indications that the United States Govern- ment will accept the award of the Halifax Fishery Commission, acquiescing in the British view. An unanimous verdict was not necessary under the treaty. The Secretary of State is now considering the subject. The police at Geneva are carrying out the recent decree of the Conseil d'Etat with reference to the foreign Roman Catholic priests. They have refused permission to two curia who have been in the Canton twenty years, and against whom no offence is alleged, to continue their ministrations. As this proceeding is regarded as involving a violation of the Constitution, it will probably be resisted and may bring the local authorities in conflict with the Federal Courts. The scientific expedition to Lake Lob-Nor, sent out by the St. Petersburg Geographical Society, under the command of Colonel Prjewalski, has yielded most interesting results in every direction, and is of par- ticular importance with regard to the exploration of Kashgar. The new details obtained in reference to Lake Lob-Nor are remarkable. The expedition con- tinued its way from Korla, following the course of the Tarim River down to its confluence with the Ro- kala Darja. On their way to the Lob-Nor the travel- lers passed the ruins of three cities. Lr.ke Lob-Nor is of a marshy nature; its length is some 100 kilo- metres, by only twenty kilometres breach. Colonel Prjewalski explored the western and southern shores, and through the current of the Tarim River reached the middle of the lake. There the shallowness of the water and impenetrable vegetation prevented further progress. Almost the whole surface of the lake is thickly covered with reedy vegetation. The inhabi- tants of the Kara Kurchintz district, on the shores of the Lake Lob-Nor, are on the lowest step of civiliaa- tion. They live along the shores as well as on islands in the lake, in miserable huts con- structed of reeds and branches twisted together. The whole of their possessions are their clothes, which barely cover their nakedness, and are made of the fibres of a kind of lake weed, their nets, and their canoes, which are hollow trunks of trees. Metal objects, such as knives, hatchets, See., are extaemely rare among them. Colonel Prjewalski, besides his ethnographical results, has collected rich materials for ornithological investigations. He re- ports that it is impossible to conceive the enormous number of migratory birds which, on their journey from southern countries to the north, or vice versd, select Lake Lob-Nor as a halting place. At present the Russian traveller has wended his way southward, and is engaged in the exploration of Tibet. A correspondent at Peking writes to the London and China Telegraph: Shansi and the southern parts of Chihli are suffering dreadfully. Tseng, the governor of the former province, reports that there are three or four millions of people that must be fed till next year, and that one tael per head will be necessary to meet the want, and he recommends bestowing rewards, official positions, &c., (not an uncommon mode of raising money in China) on the charitable who come forward with contributions at present. The famine is so severe that cannibalism is reported. Foreigners are moving in the matter here and at Shanghai; but the call upon last year for the famine in Shangtung, to which so liberal a response was given, coup'.ed with our own Indian famine, the tearing up of the Woosung Railway, and the report that the native merchants made over a million of taels profit on last year's silk &c., lhave tended rather to dry up the channels of foreign charity. We had a fall of snow and rain a few days ago, which promises well for the wheat crop of next year." The Athenseum says Mr. Jon Jonsson, the secre- tary of the Governor of Iceland, is now industriously occupied in the study of trials by juries in England, and in the pursuit of records hearing on the early history of this subject. Iceland seems to be waking up to the memory of her former self. In her laws and literature are found the earliest and at the same time the fullest records of trial by jury." Certain antiquaries hold it to be an institution brought into England by the Danes, which in itself is very likely- indeed, extremely so-although it does not prove its prior non-existence among the Anglo-Saxons, kith and kin of the Danes themselves. After the union with Norway in the latter half of the 13th century trial by jury fell into desuetude in Iceland. Now that the Danes are, after laborious inquiries, on the point of adopting the English mode of procedure with regard to the jury, Iceland wants to inquire for herself, too, on the point. The land tax in Egypt is collected from the villages or communes through the headman or sheik-el-beled. This sheik is summoned before the Moudir, or Governor of the Province, and told that a certain sum must be forthcoming from his district. The sheik dare not say nay. He goes back to his village and sets about the collection. Produce, cattle, implements, poultry, the jewels of the women must all be sold, if necessary, to meet the demand. Even land is for- feited rather than the tax should not be paid. The koorbash, or whip of hippopotamus hide, is said still to act as a stimulus for the unready. Well, low prices of produce and long-continued pressure for taxes, re- gular and irregular, have nearly drained the peasants dry. Some of the sheiks have realised this, and it is said that a deputation from the Delta went to Cairo last month and urged upon the Government the real state-of things. The storv does not go on to tell the result of this legal resistance, but it is very significant in a country where abeolute submission is second nature. King Humbert is, at least in the opinion of Austrian statesmen, more or less identified with the ambitions and aspirations of Young Italy, which undoubtedly menace the territorial integrity—perhaps thp very existence—of an Empire which has already been shorn twice of its fair proportions, and both times to the material aggrandisement of Italy. What King Victor would and would not do under the influence of certain possible eventualities was pretty accurately ap- praised by the master-minds of Northern and Central Europe; King Humbert is, as it were, an unknown quantity suddenly and unexpectedly imported into the problem of Austria's future.