The Aberdare Times

The Times' has the following leader on Mr. Bright's resignation:— The e luntry will hear with regret that Mr Bright has been obliged to resign bis office. They will lament the loss thus .1lstl\lned by the country, but they will be r qually grieved on Mr. Bright's acooui t. The late reports of his iilness seemed ) to hold out a promise of his recovery within a moderate time, j and we have all been hoping that there was at least a definite prospect ot his being restored to health Fits present decision must, we fear, he regarded as evidence that these hopes must be disappointed. ltwm bereadily understood that Mr. Glad- stone and his colleagues have done their utmost to induco Mr. Bright to spare himself and them so unwelcome a decision. The temporary loss of his services, indeed, was a misfortune but both his col]e3gueB and the country WOIÙÙ have preferred to wait any I reasonable length of time if this separation could have been avoided. Retirement, however, Is thought necessary for the recovery ot Mr. Bright's health, and we can well understand that to a man of his energy the mere fact of his nominally holding an office, however completely his colleagues might relieve him of responsibility, would be a constant obstacle to the mental rÐpose he needs. A complete release from care offers1, at nil events, the best opportunity for complete reo covery, and Mr. Bright carrifs with him into retirement, the I' hop^s as well as the good wishes of his countrymen. When, two years ago, Mr. Gladstone formed hie Ministry, fe^ appointments were received with more general approba- tion than that of Mr. Bright. Tne time had come, in fact, whan a Liberal Ministry without him would have been essen- tion than that of Mr. Bright. Tne time had come, in fact, when a Liberal Ministry without, him would have been essen- tially incomplete. Mr. Disraeli had just given way before a Home of Commons elected on a popular basis which Mr. Bright, perhaps, had done more than any other man to secure. He had devoted himself for years to the task of obtaining au extension of the suffrage, and his extraordinary eloquence, his energy, and, it may be added, his frankness, had gradually pro- duced a conviction in the public mind of the necessity of such a measure. No public speaker of our time has hit so hard a3 Mr. Bright, but Englishmen like hard hitting so long as it is straightforward; and, in spite of Mr. Bright's vehe- mentdenunclatiOlls of the Torifs, they grew at length to like him far better than leas outspoken adversaries. Both parties, therefore, felt that he ou»ht to b* in the Ministry, and wel- comsd his accession to office. It wall not, indeed, w1thoutsome anxiety and reluctance that he accepted the responsibility of a post in the Cabinet. He had already been once laid aside by severe illness, and he feared his health would be unequal to th8 strain. But ho recogniz d the claims of hill colleagues and the responsibility he had in some measure incurred by the great public influence he had exerted, and he accepted the duties to which his paity called him. He preferred one of the minor offices of the Cabinet, in order, if possible, to avoid overtaxing his strength, but his Ministerial influence was second only to that of the Premier. Even Mr. Gladstone's hold on the country was materially augmented by the popular confidence reposed in Mr. Bright, and he was not less powerful in the House of Commons. His earnest- ness and eloquence added not a little to the triumph of the Irfsh Clurch Bill, and his mark was still more definitely impressed on the Irish Land Bill. It was a special cause of disappointment to the public, and no doubt to himself, that his illness sheuld have so inopportunely assailed him as to with- draw him from any active share in passing that great measure. It was a satisfaction to know that he had taken part in its preparation, and that, as he assured us by letter, he fully shared the planll and the hopes of his colleagues. He has been withdrawn from publtc life before the commencement of the Session, and at the mos-t momentoos crisis of the cen- turr. The Ministry have peculiar came to lament his loss for in the difficult decisions they have to make they can ill atf o:d to dispense with the support of Mr. Bright's authority. It is satisfactory to be formally assured that on all political grounds, whether of foreign or domestic policy," he is still at one with the Administration, so that, although he has been compelled to sever his official connection with them. they may still claim the support of his personal influenea. It ij difficult to resist a remorseful feeling that we exact too much of our leading statesmen. Men of iron constitu- tion may be able to stand it, but Infinite UIlTlcel might be rendered to the country by men of less vigorous physical powers. Immense bodily energy wUl always be necessary for the control of popular assemblies and the command of popular gatherings but a man may be a very wise states- man without being an athlete. Oar system is rough, and often, we fear, Inflicts both in J nstice on our great men and in- jury on ourselves. There ought, perhaps, to be some more avail- ahle means of securing for Lhe state the public ilervlceB of men who are not capable of the rengh wear and tear of the life of a popular representative, and such a resource may some day be found In a better ue-e of the Upper Houle of tbb Legis- lature. Meanwhile, we must all feel a personal regret when a man of Mr, Bright's powers Ruccumhs under the task of serving us. At the best such a man recbivel but IIcant reward for his labours. He had no object of bis own to serve For the henefit of his country he ha« lavished the be8t energies of a singularly fine intillect, and he his done so at a grievous personal sacrifice; but he may be assured that few public mer. hav.. been foJJowed into retirement by more earnest good wishes from all cJaiSEII of their countrymen.

THE FENIAN CONVICTS. The following letter has been sent by Mr. Gladstone to Sir W. (,'arroll, late Lord Mayor of Dublin, whose name was the first of those attached to a numerously signed petition presented to the Prime Minister by Mr. M'Carthy Downing, M. P. "Downing-street, Dec. 15, 187.1. "Gentlemen,—I have to inform you that Her Majesty's Government have carffuily considered the case of the con- victs now undergoing their sentences fortreason and treason- f610ny and that they have recommended to the Crown the exercise towards them of the Royal clemency, so far as it is compatible with the assured maintenance of tranquility and order in the country. They will, therefore, be discharged upon the condition of not remaining in, nor returning to, the United Kingdom. These prisoners were most justly condemned for parti- c'pation, either secretly or by open violence, in a conspiracy which, it in any degree successful, would have filled Ireland with misery and bloodshed; and the same principles of Justioe which dictated their sentences would amply sanction ine prolongation of their impiisonment If the public security demanded it. It ia this last question, therefore, which has formed the subject of careful examination by Her Majesty's Government, and they have been able to come to the conclusion that, under the existing circumstances of the country, the release of the prisoners, guarded by the condition which I have stated, will be perfectly compatible with the paramount Interests of public safety, and, being so, wiII tend to strengthen the cause of peace and loyalty ia Ireland. There happily appears to be a concurrence of circum- stances favourable to such an exercise of the Royal preroga- tlveoof mercy. "Ireland Is at present remarkably prosperous, and generally free from turbulence or disorder. Its quiet condition shows a most marked Improvement upon that which prevailed a year ago. Since that time Parliament has again proved, as it had done in the previous Session, its readiness to confront the most difficult questions of Irish legislation with a view to sincere reforms and effectual remedies, while it has not failed to maintain the authority of the law by conferring special and necessary powers upon the Irish Government. "These things have swelled the number. and strengthened the hands of that great body of men of all pirties and crceds representing the property, Intelligence, and religion of Ire- land which is on the side of order and loyalty, while they have weakened the powers of disaffection and revolution. The earnest desire of Her Majesty's Ministers is to act in all tlilEgs so as to favour the advance of this healing process, and it is because they believe that the release of the convicts now suffering under sentences of imprisonment for treason and treason-felony will assist in this work that they have arrived at their present decision. That decision, they are well aware, Is In acoordance with strong opinions and compassionate feelings very widely pre- valent in Ireland, but happily not displaying themselves in any popular agitation or any turbulent demands, such as would render compliance inconsistent with the due authority of Government, or afford to the evil-disposed an excuse, of which there cannot now be a shadow, to misrepresent an act which is one of pure clemency on the part of the Queen. I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, your very faithful servant, "W. E. GLADSTONE."

THE USAGES OF THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE. In the Court of Exchequer.tn London, the caseof Duncan and another v. Hill has bten heard, and was an action brought to recover a sum ot £ 6.031 13). 51. from the de- fendant for differences due in dealings on the Stock-Ex- change. The plaintiap, who are stockbrokers, had very ex- tensive dealings with the defendant, and during many of their earlier transactions the defendant was emi- nently successful, but latterly his good fortune took a turn, and he met with considerab'e lofsec. On the 13th < f July last, upon a statement of accounts, it ap- peared that the defendant owed to the plaintiffs a ba- lance of £1,688 19. which sum was to re paid on the 15th, the settling day but between the 13,h and 15th stock had fallen so low that the defendant'* liability was ircreasedtojM 000. 0 iVrngto the panicandita universal pressure on all stock transactions, the plaintiffs found .themselves in considerable monetary difficult iis, and on the 13ch of July called on the defendant and stated that unless he and many other of their customers Sfcttkd their accounts they would be declared defaulters on the Stock Exchange. The defendant inquired if his account could be closed, and was informed it could not without greatly increasing his losses, upon which the defendant requested that his account might be carried over till the 29ih. Tbe defendant, it appeared, had become responsible for the pettlement of his son- in-law's account, and it was arranged that the plain- tiffs should get the defendant's bill for £ 4,000 dis- counted, and out of that sum £ 3,000 was to go in liquidation of the account of the defendant's son-in-law, and the difference between the remaining £1,000 plus the discount upon the whole and jE 1,688193. was to be paid by the defendant. The plaintiffs were unable to get the bill discounted, and the consequence was that on the 15th the defendant's liability had increased to £4,000, and on the 29th it had grown into a balance against him of JE5,013 13j. 5d. By a rule of the Stock Exchange any member unable to ful61 his engage- ments shall be publicly declared to be a defaulter by direction of the chairman, the deputy-chairman, or any two members of the committee. The plaintiffs wrote to the committee on the 15.h, stating that they would be compelled to stop. Immediately afterwards they withdrew the letter, hoping that a change might happen which would enable them to tide over their difficulties but, owing to a correspondence which occurred between one of their creditors and the com- mittee of the Stock-Exchange, the plaintiff's on the 18th, were declared defaulters to the amount of £74,000. By another rule of the Exchange, the offical assign ee must publicly fix the prices at which a defaulter s transactions shall be closed, such prices to be those current in the market immediately before the declara- tion All the plaintiffs' transactions were dealt with in accordance with this rule, and the defendant's lia- bility was declared to be the amount which was sought to be recovered by the plaintiffs for the benefit of their creditors. The plaintiffs had about 300 principals cur- rently dealing with them, and of this number 12 were defaulters, one for the sum of £30,000, but since the plaintiffs' failure he had paid £16,000 off his debt. The plaintiffs said that the defendant had alwalsbeen most prompt in his paymentp, usually Riving a check for the amount on the day when due, and that they looked upon him as one of the wealthiest clients they had on their books. At the close of the plaintiffs' case Sir John Karslake submitted that the contract was one entirely between a broker and his principal, and as the Stock-Exchange had sold under their own rules, and without consent of the principal, the rules could not be imported into the contract so as to make the plaintiffs entitled to recover. His LorJsbip SJid he was cf opinion that the ueages and rules cf the Stock-Exchange were imported into the contract, and that the defendant was liab'e for all sums that might have become payable, and the plain- tiffs were entitled to recover them. The verdict would, therefore, be entered for the plaintiffs for £6.01313-.5.1., with leave to the defendant (o move to reduce it to B 1,688 ]93., or enter a non-suit. It was ultimately settled that th", defendant should pay the sum of £2 000 into court in 14 days, JE1,688 19i. of which sum the plaintiffs were to have paid out in them, ar d the balance was to remain in the hands of the Court pending the motion.

In the Court of Common Pleas on Monday, Mr. Dent, a well-known London merchant,brought an action against a stock-jobber, to recover damages for loss sus. tained through the defendant not having nominated a proper person to take a transfer of some shares. The shares had been sold by Mr. Dent, but he signed a blank transfer, and it turned out that the purchaser. whose name was afterwards filled in, WaS a youth 17 years of age, and now at Yokohama, in Japan. It was contended for the defence that such a mode of doing business was one of the customs of the Stock Exchange, a statement which elicited the disapproval of Chief Justice Bovill. A nominal verdict was re- turned for the plaintiff, with leave for the defendants to move for a new trial.

OUR CRIMINAL CLASSES. In Leeds, according to tho annual report of Mr. Wetberell, the chief constable, there has been during the past year a comparative decrease to the extent of 31 "3 per cent. in indictable offences, and the more j serious of these have receded in the like ratio with the general class. This result the report attributes mainly to the operation of the Habitual Criminals Act. Of per. sons evidently intending to commit depredations, 94 found in inclosed premiets, or loitering in the streets, have been apprehended during the year, 62 ti whom were convicted, 38 sentenced to three months' imprison- ment, and 24 to terms not exceeding two months. This firm administration of justice has been the cause of many of the worst thieves leaving Leeds. In consequence of the application of the 10th section of the Act, as to the harbouring of thieves, houses which were notoriously the resort of such characters have ceased to afford them shelter. "Such," adds the report, "are some of the results of recent legislation w th respect to criminals. Much evil has, doubtless, been removed; but tfiere is yet, unfortunately, a a very large class to be dealt with, continually recruited by persons d scharged from goals who have been more than once convicted These are constantly relapsing into crime, and should, when detected, be differently treated It is suggested that nothing less than penal servitude can hopefully meet such cases. The proportion of apprehensions in Leeds to crimes committed is 70.6 per cent., against 57 percent, last year. The proportion of persons committed for trial to the number apprehended is 1.7 below that of last year. There is an increase of 19.6 per cent. in the number of offences determined summarily, and the persons proceeded against for drunkenness contribute a great proportion of this excess. "It is difficult to understand," adds the report, why this should be 80, crime having diminished, and publichouses and beer- houses having improved but I (the Chief Constable) can only suggest as a reason the more deleterious quality of the liquor drunk, creating in some a stupor so com- plete as to render them incapable of the least action. I have recently seen men, after going only a few yards, fall as suddenly as though poisoned. Last year there was only a difference of 1 per cent. in the number of Irifh and English taken into custody. This year the English greatly preponderate.

ARCHBISHOP MANNING ON PAPAL PROSPECTS. Archbishop Manning was present at the opening of a new Roman Catholic church at Batley on Thursday in last week, and, in proposing the health of the Pope at the luncheon which fallowed, he said— That though the mention of His Holiness's name was always pleasant to those who assembled in great devotion and filial love or him, at the present time 1G possessed asso- ciations that were not pleasant. At the same time, he be- lieved there never had been a moment in which there was Rreater reason to look confidently to some manifestation of justice on earth, which woula make the mostunwilllug know that the Holy Father was the representative of something more than the temporal pewer. The conflict between right and wrong, Justice and Injustice, faith and Impiety, had reached a crisis In which men could do no more, and there- fore be (the Archbishop) felt confident that the time for God to do His part had come. The newspapers informed tLem that the Italian Parliament had a project of law by which the independence, safety, and personal freedom of the Holy Father were to be guaranteed, and by which there were to be secured to him the Vatican and other buildings, a civil list of £120,000 a year, and many civil pri- vileges which were set forth ostentatiously, the object beltg to make the world believe that the conduct of the Holy Father in absolutely refusing to receive them was headitrosg and infatuated, and that he alone was culpable in regard to the consequences. He (Lbe Archbishop) did not think that any course more cunningly devised could be pursued by the revolution. That the Pope would be held guilty for the breach of those negotia- tions they knew from the clamour which was raised at pre- sent in praising and extolling the generosity of the Italian Government in offering him such advantageous terms. Bat let them strip off the mask. Usurpation had deposed the Holy Father, as far as usurpation cou'd do it, of his lawful sovereignty, and it seized by violence all his possessions and the authors of that usurpation came to him now and said, Only acknowledge that wrong Is right, only concede that we are just in what we do to you, and we will give you money year by year to the amount of £120,000; we will give you houses to dwell In which were YOUTS; and if you will only consent to be our salaried servant and dependent in all you do we will give you freedom and personal liberty." There were opposing powers in contention at present, the power of j istice and the power of injustice, the power of faith and the power of this world, and he felt convinced that the next event would be something so intelligent, so articulate in the Providence of God, that those who were now hardening themselves against the belief that there was a Divine Providence ruling the world would be constrained to acknowledge it. There were now clouds upon the horizon in the east, in the west, and in the north, which should be enough to warn the men of England not to speak in the lordly confidence they did about that which God might permit. His beUef was that we were entering on most peril- ous timet. He had no doubt whatever that those who com- mitted themselves against the Sovereign Pontiff, and eoun- tenanced and made themøelve3 partakers of the lr-justice done to him, would bring down upon themselves a punishment from God.

A SHOCKING TRAGEDY. A terrible murder was committed at Halifax, at an early hour on Sunday morning. The victim is Mr. William Crabtrce, a master printer in Waterhouse-street, and the facts made public by the police are as follow :— About half-past five o'clock on Sunday morning, the police-constable who was on duty near the pre- mises of Mr. Crabtree, in Waterhouse-street in that town, heard sounds of repeated blows falling heavily, struck in one of the bedrooms of the house, followed by a scream as if for help. The officer immediately went to the back door and knocked, and the door was soon opened, and he proceeded upstairs to the apartments occupied by Mr. Crabtree as a dwelling for himself and family, and on entering Mr. Crabtree's bedroom he found him in bed, in a dying condition, his head having been battered so ns to break the bone3, from blows which had been inflicted upon him with a heavy weapon. A son, aged about twelve years, was also in the same bed, but uninjured. The eldest son, aged about twenty years, was standing in the room when the policeman entered, and near him was found a bar of metal employed in the printing trade, which bar was covered with blood, and had apparently been used to inflict the heavy blows. The constable promptly procurtd medical help, but the unfortunate sufferer never recovered sensibility, and died about nine o'clock the same morning. On examining the house the police found that no entry had been made into it by force, nor had anything been stolen or disturbed. The only inmates of the house, besides the deceased, were a servant girl, 22 years of age, and the three sons of the deceased, the youngest of whom, named Samuel slept with his father. After Policeman Wilson went into the house, Walter the eldest son, who is about 20 years of age, went to the police-office and gave information of the murder, when, in consequence of the discoveries in the house and the statement of his brother Samuel, he was de- tained in custody on suspicion of having perpetrated the murder. Mr. Crabtree was a widower, and was 49 years of age, and it is said that some time ago there was some difference between him and his son Walter respecting t uaines", since which time Mr. Crabtree had made his will. Under Mr. Crabtree's pillow was found his puree containing £ 19 10s. in gold, and in his casbbox was £45; but neither it nor his purse had been meddled with, nor yet any of the drawers in the bouse, everything, as previously stated, being undisturbed.

The inquest on the body of the deceased was held on Monday, and terminated in a verdict of Wilful murder against Walter Crabtree."

A CURIOUS CASE. The case of Masslngberd's trusts has been heard before the Vice-Chancellor, and a curious point of evidence arose on the petition in respect of the period at which the death of a Mr. Algernon Masslngberd was to be presumed, as will be seen by the following outllne:- Mr. Algernon Massingberd had been an offiotr in the Horse Guards. In 1852 he left England for America, became a naturalized citizen of the United States, and subsequently went to Peru; he resided there to June, 1855, at Lima, where he was engaged as agent for the sale of Minie rifles. The last positive information about him was obtained in June, 1855. Letters of that date were received from him by his friends in England, from which it appeared he was in good health, and intended to leave Lima, and go in the tirat place to New York. There was evidence also that about that time he executed a power of attorney to enable a friend to act at Lima for him, and that he handed over his business to another party. He was never heard of after that time, but inquiries were made by his own family, and the Foreign Office, which resulted in the supposition that he lost h:s life soon after that period on a branch of the River Amazon. The strongest evidence on this point was that of a Mr. Saunders, who had been em- ployed to make inquiries, and made an affidavit in the matter. He stated that at Lima, in 1860, a Mr. El- dridge had told him that a friend of his, a Mr. Mas- singberd, had gone up to Trujillo in 1855, with the object of joining an expedition to the head waters of the Amazon that he had heard from Englishmen of position at Trujillo that Mr. Massingberd had actually started with that expedition that he had opportuni- ties of making, and did make inquiry about the expe- dition, and the result of these inquiries was. that the expedition contained disorderly and bad characters. It passed through the province of Huaraz, and de- scended the Huallaga, plundering and ill-treating the semi-civilized Indian population on its banks. The band was composed of men of various nations, Ameri- cans, Italians, and Chilians, and was headed by a Mexican. At the Brazilian frontier village an affray occurred between the band and the military. The band was dispersed, and the few survivors found their way to Quito after enduring great hardships. Those that arrived at Quito were all Yankees, and no such person as Mr. Massingberd was among them. On the Huallaga he (Mr. Saunders) was repeatedly told that in the year 1855 an Englishman descending the Amazon alone (that is to say, without white companions) had been upjet in a rapid, and, his head having struck against a snag or reek, he went down. From conver- sations he ha.d bad with other persons he considered that Mr. Massingberd was the Englishman who was drowned that not liking his companions, he had separated from them, and had descended the river alone. In a letter respecting the affiay on the Bra- zilian frontier it was also stated that a rifls like Mr. Massingberd's, which was a peculiar one, had been found in the bands of one of the party who was shot. This was a petition for the payment out of court of a fund to the person who would be entitled if Mr. M-ae- singberd was dead. < Mr. Kay, Q C., and Mr. Kekewich, for the peti- tioner, contended that sufficient evidence had been adduced to satisfy the Court that Mr. Massingberd died in 1855. Mr. H. A. Giffard, for mortgagees of Mr. Algernon MasBineberd's life interest, contended that the burden of proof lay on the remainder man, who claimed the fund, to show at what period he died, and if he failed to do this the Court would not presume death before seven years from the period the missing person had ast been heard of. Mr. Romilly also appeared in the matter. The Vice-Chancellor said the Court was bound under the circumstances to come to the best conclusion it could as to when as a matter of fact Mr. Algernon Massingberd died, and coming to the conclusion that that event occurred in 1855, he made the order prayed.

THE COST OF AN ILLEGAL SEARCH. A curious case arising out of the Paace Preservation Act has been tried in the Court ot Q teen's Bench, in Dublin. The plaintiff was Mr. James 0 Donel, of Poulathomas, in the county of SlIgo, a respectable Roman Catholic gentleman, who has filled the office of grand juror, and his action was for trespass committed by Mr. Morony, resident magistrate, and Mr. Crampton, J.P., in having an illegal search made in hit house by the police. The facts proved were these:— Two threatening letters were found posted on the plaintiff's door, threatening him with the vengeance of Rory of the Hills" if he persisted in prohibiting the tenants from burning the land. The notices were handed over to the police, and, unluckly for the de- fendants, a smart c mstable named Begley conceived a suspicion that the letters were written by Miss Margaret O'Donel, one of the plaintiff's daughters. He lost no time in showing his sagacity by making an in- formation in which he stated that "from circumstances whichbavecome to my knowledge, as well as from hand- writing which I have seen, I suspect that these notices were written by some person in James O'Donel's house, and that some evidences relating to the matter may be found therein." In the warrant words were interpolated which pointed the suspicion, not merely to some person in the plaintiff's house, but to "some member of his family." It is necessary to observe that the Act of Parliament does not give authority to enter and search a house unless it is dis- tinctly sworn that the owner is suspected of having written a threatening letter, and therefore the infor- mation and the warrant were illegal. The defendants, however, signrd the warrant, and it was executed by the sub-inspector and two constables, one of whom stood sentry at the door while the search was being made. The sub-inspector spared the feelings of the family as much as possible, but opened the desks and examined all the papers, and took away a number, including 70 love letters of Miss O'Donel, who was engaged to be married. Among the documents was a letter from the young lady to her brother in Belmullet, which she had given to Begley to post, but which he retained as proof of his suspicion. It was a mere request to have some purchases made for Easter. On examina- tion it turned out that this innocent note was looked upon by the suspicious constable as an important piece of evidence. He fancied that he saw a resemblance between the "D on the envelope and the "D on the threatening notices, and hence the proceedings. The illegality of the search was admitted, and the only case made for the defence was with a view of mitigating damages. The jury gave a verdict for £250. This case will be a salutary warning to the magistrates and police to be more cautious in the administration of a stringent law.

A RUMOUR. Among the strange rumours that reach us (Daily News) from Rome h one which decidedly merits con- firmation. It is to the effect that the Pope has ordered the clergy in the pulpit and the confessional to enjoin upon the inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine thorough submission to an amalgamation with Prussia; The price of this bargain with the corquering Power, con- tracted through the egency of the Archbishop of Posen, is, of course, some sort of intervention when the war is over, to avert, as regards the temporalities of the Court of Rome, that sacrilege which, in the case of another Church in Ireland, Cardinal Cullen would be as ready as the most liberal of English Protestants to call j ustice. That the Vatican has for some years past, notably during the interval between the first and second French occupations of Rome, betrayed a disposition to coquet with Prussia in preference to France or Austria, is probable enough. But as to Alsace and Lorraine, so far as the Geruian-speaking portion of those provinces is concerned, it would be difficult to acquit Count Bis- marck of making a dupe of the Holy Father if he had prttended to solicit the influence of the Roman Catho- lic pulpits and confessionals for the moral conquest of a population of whom the most considerable in point of wealth and intelligence, and the best disposed to Ger- many are Protestants, while the majorhy of Catholics are Frenchmen to the backbone, and, on the question < f annexation, hopelessly insensible to any other in- fluence than that which Count Bismarck knows how to employ without priestly succour—the influence of irtillcry, cavalry, infantry, and engineer.

EPITOME OF NEWS, BRITISH AND FOREIGN. A suit of paper clothing can be bought at Pekin for one shilling. Boys will be boys is nonsense. Boys will be men, if they live long enough. The Pope has sold all his horses, except those ne- cessary for his daily exercise. The Guardi Mobile it dis- mounted also, and now forms a foot guard. The Princess Louise has quite recovered from her recent indisposition. The marriage of her Royal Highness will take place early in March. Mr. Brewin Grant, the well-known Dissenting minister has been ordained a deacon by the Bishop of London. Mr. Wallace contributes jE200 per month to the fund for the relief of the distressed people in Paris, and he is re- ported to be anxious to discover how best he can distribute £20010 among the London poor. The relatives and friends of Mr. Peter Job are in- vited to attend his funeral, which will take place at his restaurant, on Kearney-street. The best ecclesiastical talent has been engaged, and the services will be of a variea and entertaining character." Viscount Grey de Wilton, in presenting prizea to the 1st Manchester Rifle Volunteers, on Saturday evening, ex- pressed h's sense of the importance of the concessions re- cently made by the Government to the volunteer forces, and his high approval of the new orders relative to the drill and examination of officers. We are informed that the forthcoming number of Macmillian's Magazine will contain M. Guizot's letter to the Provisional Government in full, in what may with pro- priety be called an authorized translation," Inasmuch as the letter was sent over by M. Gufzot himself to his friend, the translator, with a request that It might be translated and made public in England. The Christian Union says that Dr. Lyman Beecher often related the following anecdote :—" Old Father- preached six sermons to show who Melchtzedek was, and closed his last sermon with this summary Autl so we see, brethren, that we don't know who Melchizedek was, and that it 'taint no matter. Mr. W. H. Seward, the late American Secretary of State, who is now on a tour in the Eist, during his stay in Japan, had an audience of the Mikado, and afterwards break- fasted with that Sovereign's Ministers. The Mikado's manner is said to have been "most cordial" throughout the Interview. A Quaker maiden of fifty accepted an offer from a Presbyterian deacon, and being remonstrated with by a delegation of Friends appointed to wait upon her for marry- ing "out of the meeting," she replied, Look here I've been waiting just thirty years for the meeting to marry me, and if the meeting dont want me to marry out of it, why don't the meeting bring along its young men f" The dele- gation departed In silence. A report has been afhatthat 40,000 of the militia are to be called out for two months' training in February or March next. Notliag further, says the Broad Arrow has transpired as to the intention of the Government regarding our constitutional force, and it Is hardly expected that there will ba any alteration in the usual course of training, except that the Irish Militia will certalcly be trained in the ensuing year. Mr. George Anderson, M.P., as arbiter between the Scotch puddlers and their employers, has given his final award. He adheres to that formerly issued to the effect that the puddlers should receive an advance of sixpence per ton, and that the masters are entitled to a like reduction on all such" doubling" as has been paid for at the rate of one shilling extra. A similar dispute in the North of England trade has also been settled by arbitration. On Monday the Lord Chancellor gave j udgment on the appeal of Mr. Bush, a barrister, from an order of the Master of the Bolls, directing that the appellant's name should be placed upon the list of contrlbutories of the Agri- culturist Cattle Insurance Company, in respect ol a large number of shares. Mr. Bush, with the assent of the directors, had arranged for a transfer of his shares, but the deed was never executed. The Lord Chancellor held that the transfer was a valid arrangement, and that the appellant's name ought to be taken off the list 01 contributories. In London, on Monday, Lord Vernon, President of the Royal Agricultural Society, presided over a public meet- ing at the Salisbury Hotel, at which it was resolved to form a committee for the collection of subscriptions, in corn and other seeds, to be supplied gratis to the suffering peasant far- mers 01 France. The speakers laid especial emphasis upon the importance of enabling the distressed French farmers to sow their land, otherwise a famine in the devastated districts would be inevitable next year. Subscriptions to the amount of j61,000 were announced before the meeting broke up. The danger of an outbreak of scurvy within the walls of Paris has been foreseen by the besieged, and M. Decaisne, Professor of Agriculture at the Museum, has laid before the Institute an ingenious method for combating the evil. His scheme seems, from the brief description of it given In Hature, to be nothing else than a very rapid production of vegetables by artificial means, so that stem, leaves, and root shall be aU equally tender and equally available for food. Pieces of waste land close to the walls have been richly manured and appropriated to this novel kind ol gar- dening, and vegetables thus raised must be now on sale in Earls. An elephant employed by tbe Government of India In hauling teak logs, for the Forest department, in the Ana- mallay Forest, lately brought about a "^P^ion ot oper- ations for above a fortnight. He began by knocking down his keeper, but, luckily, did not kill bim. He then made for the huts of the keepers, whose wives and families were driven into the Jungle. He displayed his skill in pulling down the huts, smashed up the carts and implements, and destroyed a quantity of provisions stored up for his brother elephants. After keeping the settlement in alarm for some 15 days, be was shot In one of the legs, and then oaught and Chained. ) A proposal has emanated from Edinburgh that a Royal residence In Scotland should be presented to the Princess Louise on the occasion of her marriage. On Monday morning the Queen, accompanied by the Princesses Louise and Beatrice and Prince Leopold, left Windsor Castle at half-past ten for Osborne. The first consignment of foreign goods to the Inter- national Exhibition of 1871 has arrived. It consists of a parcel of native cloths from Bavaria. Friends, who will read these lines, are asked to in- form Mr. Yuillet, 10, Ruede Rivoll, Paris, that his son is well and at Paderborn, Westphalia.—Advertisement in The Times. The siege of Piris has impoverished the shawl weavers of the Pur. jib. I'mritsur's thousand looms arf idle, and the ourethriviag col juj of Cashmere are in penury." —Times of India. No Itss than fourteen accidents occurred between November H and December 16 four of which were brought about by the favourite practice of shuuting giods trains across the main line when other quick trains are due. Mr. Walter Thornbury draws attention in the Lon- don papers to the Important fact that the metropolitan hot pitals are beginning to suffer from the flood of money paid on behalf of the war victims. The Earl of Powis has offered a reward of JS20 for the beat substitute for slaughtering animais which xhai) be an efficient substitute for the pole-axe by separating the spinal marrow. The Dundee Courier underotands that a laoburer living at Arbroath has just come into pos?e«sion of £ 10,000, left him ty a relative named Pattullo, who recently died at New York. Customs duties, says the Civil Service Gazette, have lately been paid on considerable quantities of tea that are now being taken out of bond, after having lain in the ware- house for periods varying from thirty-five years downwards. Some of the tea is said to have realised a very high price. Mr. Agastiz pays that in certain Amazonion tribes, on the day of his marriage, while the wedding festivities are going on, the bridegroom's hands are tied up in a paper bag filled with fireants. If he bears this torture sm'lmg and un- moved, he is considered fit tor the trials of matrimony. Mr. and Mrs. Sanson, of Chicago, filed cross billa for divorce. He testified that she poured a panful of boiling water over his head, and then scrapel the hilr off with the pan. he submitting—" to see h w fcr she would go." In the Court of Exchequer, Mr. Little, a London liuendraper, has obtained £ 1,8:0 damages against the North- Eastern Railway Company, for injuries sustained by himself,, and for the death of his son, during a journey from Scotland, In a collision on the defendants' line. Mrs. James Holland, widow of the late James Hol- land, solicitor, of Preston, has made the munificent donation of £10000 towards the fund for increasing the means of educating the poor in Preston, ia connexUn with the Catholic churches. Lord Huntingfield has the reputation of being the best shot in England. Art eyewitness saw him bring down a brace of blackcock which rose together unexpectedly in a small cover, each with a single ball from a double-barrelled deer-stalking rifle. The "woman-suffrage" movement is at present making some stir in Scotland. Miss Taylor, a lady from Stranraer. under the auspices of the society of ladies in Edin- burgh, with Mrs. Duncan M Laren at Its head, has been making a tour through the country. Being adjudged liable, by the Stockport magistrates, to a weekly payment towards the support of a married daughter, a Chester broker pleaded the hardship of having to comply with the order, being the father of thirty-three children. Ten of the children are yet living, and his wife had twins no less than fifteen times. The sum of over £1,420 sterling have been remitted from the Bombay public to Colonel Lloyd Lindsay for the wounded in the Franco-German war. This is independently of J6700 raised among the Masonic bodies, and nearly 41,000 collected by the German Consul. The women at Calcutta who have joined the Brahmo religious movement have presented to Baooo Kesbub Ctiunder Sen an address welcoming him back, thanking him heartily for the perils he had encountered in beha'f of their religion, and assuring him of their kind affection and reverence. A good story is told of one of the nouveua; riches of Boston, who having after a long struggle worked himself into good society, by means of the aristocratic alliance of his daughter, gave a grand dinner party to his newly. acquired circle. He didn't invite his own brother, for the reason that "society ts getting so mixed, one must draw a line somewhere." It having been stated in print that the Bishop of Chichester had 'sanctioned the use of stringed instruments in one of the Brighton churches,' the bishop has formally contradicted the statement, observing that his sanction had never been asked, and most certainly has never been given to the introduction of stringed instruments into the service of the church' "-Musical Standard. "I..averdure.-All quite welL Children growing and Improving. Nothing wanted. Comfortably settled. Climate agreeable. Cheque arrived and cashed. M. Eagene received certificate. Old pays as usual. Coupons of Novem- her not in the box. Where are they f All inhabitants of Cour exceedingly well, and have always been safe. Horses safe in CIl. with John and Alphonse."—Advertisement in the London Times. From Cairo, a correspondent writes on the 9th :— The prospect of a rupture between Russia and Turkey causes a good deal of excitement here. In the event of a war the Khedive would be called on to furnish his contingent cf troops and then would come the moment in which he must decide whether loyally to assist his suzerain or make a bold bid for independence by remaining neutral-secure in this latter case of the support of Russia in his pretensions, and perhaps of America. We learn from the Pharmaceutical Journal that at the recent meeting of the committee of the Pharmaceutical Society, the committee appointed to report on the storing of poisons recommended that poisons should be kept with some distinctive mark in addition to the names of the articles also, that they should be kept in a closet, &c., specially set apart for them, or in vessels distinguishable by the touch, or In vessels closed in a manner different from the way In which non-poisonous articles are kept. A fatal accident happened on Saturday to Mr. Rose, a farmer, residing at Beybroke, near Oxford, whilst hunting with the Heythrop hounds. It was observed that while de- ceased was in the wood he could not exercise proper control over his horse, and in endeavouring to save himself and the horse from collirion with a tree he was thrown, and sustained a dislocation of the nec.k causing immediate death. Mr. Rose has left a wife and three young children. At the Cardiff police-court, on Saturday, the ad- journed charge of perjury against the Rev. Nathaniel Thomas, Baptist minister, and his wife, was further pro- ceeded with. Mr. Jones stated that they had deter- mined not to commit the defendants for trial, for If they did they would have to say that witnesses for the Crown had committed perjury. They therefore dismissed the case. The prosecutor, Mr. Lyons, on being asked whether he wished to be bound over to prosecute an indictment, replied In the negative. Dr. Cumming must look to his laurels. A Boston preacher has taken in hand the Book of Revelation, and is interpreting it in a way calculated to throw our own prophet to the shade (remarks the Pail Hall Gazette) The Rev. J. D. Fulton finds a plain prediction of gunpowder In the following words:—"And I saw the horses in a vision, and them that cat on them, having breast- plates of fire and ef j iclnth and brimstone; and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone." This, says the Ameri- can interpreter, "is almost an exact description of the appearance presented by a company of light-horse careering over the plain, and charging down upon the foe, shouting with the pistol held close beside the mouth of the horse Advices from Grimsby state that the screw steamer Albert arrived there from Antwerp on Saturday, with a large general cargo. The quays at Antwerp are still very crowded, and a quantity of wheat Is piled up on the quay, exposed to wet weather, waiting transmission into the interior. Beth the Antwerp and Rotterdam boats are carrying out a large quantity of bale goods and machinery, with flour, which finds its way to the seat of war. There is a Prussian agent sta- tioned at this port, which contributes its supply ot corn, flour, and oil through neutrals to the belligerents. A large number of transits are brought from the Continent by the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Steamboat Company for Valparaiso, and several lately for Singapore. The tide of emigration from Germany to the United States via Ham- burg has been lately checked by the authorities, and several young men (intending emigrants) have been obliged to return home and take their share in the war. Two of the Anglo- French line of steamers, the Blanche and the HirondeUe, although freighted, are compelled to stop in port, Havre, Dieppe and other French ports being blockaded, with the view of cutting off the victualling supply by sea from the Prussians. No French cruisers have been sighted during the past week by any of the Grimsby steamers.

THE MARKETS. MARMANE.—MONDAY. The supply of English wheat and flour Into London is good, and the general imports are liberal from abroad, while off coast the cargoes on offer are very numerous. To-day there is no life in the corn trade, and buyers of any sort of grain look for abatement, which on wheat is la. to 2s. per quarter from this day week, Is. on flour, and 6d. to is. on maize and oats; but these figures were current on Friday, and this morning the depression is no greater. America continues to ship freely, but her receipts from the interior are falling off to small dimensions. The harvest returns of Prussia advise a deficiency of 22 per cent. on wheat. Beans, psaa; and bar- ley in Mark-lane support late rates, and while business'lu all articles is almost at a standstill, the basis of value is reckoned sound. METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET.—MONDAY. Less animation has been observable in the Cattle Market to-day, butchers having already anticipated their wants during Christmas, and the weather at the same time being unfavourable. About an average supply of oeasts has been on sale, and the quality, generally, has been satisfactory. For all breeds the trade has been dull, and the extreme quotation for the best Scots and crosses has been 53. lOd. to 6j. per 8 b. From Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, and North- amptonshire we received about 1,500 shot thorns, &c.; from other parts of England, about 350 various breeds; from Scotland, 191 Scots and crosses and from Ireland, about 259 oxen. With sheep the market has been scantily supplied but some prime breeds have been exhibited. Although not active, the trade has been firm, and prices have been main- tained. The best Downs and half breds have been disposed of at 6s. 2d. to 63 4d. per 81b. Calves have been in limited request, and there has been very little demand for pigs. Per 81b to sink the oUaL T s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. Infer, coarse beasts 3 6 4 4 Prime Southdown 6 0 6 4 Second quality. 4 6410 Large coarse calves 8 84 4 Prime large oxen.. 5 4 6 8 Prime small 6 0 6 4 Prime Scots, &c. 6 10 6 0 Large hogs 4 46 2 Infer, coarse sheep -3 6 8 10 Neat small porkers 6664 Second quality. 4 4 4 8 Suckling calves. 0000 Pr. coarse woolled 6 2 6 10 Qr. old at. pigs, each 22 0 26 0 METROPOLITAN MEAT MARKET.—MoMDAY. The market has been moderately supplied with meat. There has been a slow trade, at drooping prices. Per 81b. by the carcase. s. d. s. d. t. d. t. d. Inferior Beef S 0 3 4 Inferior mutton 8 8 4 0 Middling ditto 4 0 4 4 Middling ditto 4 0 4 4 Prime luge ditto.. 5 0 6 2 Prime ditto 4 8 6 4 Prime small ditto. 5 0 6 4 Large pork 2 8 3 0 Veal. 6 0 6 4 Small ditto 8 8 4 4 FISH. Herrings, pickled, 303. to 32s. 61.; ditto, red, 8s. to 12s. 6d. per barrel; bloaters, best, 3s. to 4s. 2j.; ditto, second quality, Is. lOd. to 2s. 4d. kippers, Sa. 6J. to 4s- 2d. per box turbots, 8s. 6d. to 141.; brill, 3s. 6d. to 7s. each; plaice 12s. to 193.; haddocks, 10s. to 17a 6d. per basket; soles, Is. 6d. to 3s. lOd. per pair; cod, X3 to P-5 6s. per score; live cod, 12s. each; whitings, 8s. to 10s. per basket; sprats, 2s. to 4s. per bushel: eels, lid. to la 2d per lb.; mackerel, 2s. 6d. to 4s. per dozen smoked haddocks, large, 8.)s. to 40s.; ditto small, 20s. to 2 is. 6d. per barrel; red mullets, 10s.; lobsters, 12-t. to 20s.; crabs, 10s. to 18s. per dozen native oysters. £ 10 commons, 16s. to 35s. per bushel. WOOL. In the wool market a quiet feeling ha: been apparent. For colonial produce there has not been much inquiry. Never- theless, the tone has been steady, and prices have been main- tained. English wool has been firm in value, with a limited inquiry. Current prices of English wool:-Fleeces: South- to 1*' 1^cl-! half-bred ditto, Is. Sd. to r!?S flJeece9>18 2d. to Is. 3d. Southdown ewes and r.1 11 Leicester ditto, Is. Id. to la lid. Sorts. Clothing, is. to Is. 4Jd.; combing, lid. to Is. 34. per lb. HOPS. There has been no feature of Importance in this market. Fine qualities have been firm in value, with a healthy in- quiry, and medium sorts have been dealt in to a moderate extent. Other sorts have sold slowly. Mid and East Kent, 36s. to 140a Weald of Kent, 60a to 66a Sussex, 80s. to 70s. Farnham and country, 76s. to 126s. old, 20s. to per cwt. POTATOES. These markets have been only moderately supplied with B)tatoes. The trade has been rather quiet, at our quota- onv English Regents, 60s. to 90s.: Scotch Repeats, 60s. 10 86* Rooks, 60t, (e 70*. per too.

THE DUTCHMAN'S DOLL: A CHRISTMAS STORY. It is nearly thirty years ago—and that is a great part of a lifetime—but I remember the occurences I am I about to recount to you jast as well as if they had happened yesterday. I was t he master of the Hesperus, and we were^ :n the China trade. There was no short cut to the E ist in those days, and the Suez Canal had been dismissed from the minds of all practical folks as an impracti- cable dream. Neither was there any great clipper Ufze but all was plain honest sailing round the Citpc and if we kept our decks drier than th<-y do now now- a-days we kept our tea drier too, and did not slave our men to death in an unhealthy competition to save a few hours in the market. You must overlook it if I run away from my sub- ject now and again, as I find I am doing at the very beginning; for though I have left the SIIa. many a year fcfo, I never begin to spin a yarn but half-a-dozen clitferent ideas come crowding into my head, and I have ) some trouble to lay hold of the right one. But I shall try to tell you my story as plainly and straightforwardly as I can. Well, as I have said, nearly thirty years ago, I was master of the Hesperus, and we were lying anchored at Shanghai. Somehow or other, although the ship was tiqht and dry, and well sailed, too, for that matter, we had some difficu'ty in getting a cargo, and I had little pleasure in looking forward to my next meeting wiih old Mr. Carter, of Gracechurch-street, our owner. I knew I would be able to show him little profit on the voyage, and when that was the case his face grew long and his tongue grew sharp. A lucky chance, however, helped to swell my account a little, and brought good fortune that I never dreamed of to my own door. J had fixed the day for sailing, and the last provi- sions were being got on board and the water barrels filled, and in twenty-four hours more we would again be on blue water, when I got a note from Mr. McBean, a Scotchman with whom we had some dealings, that he would like to see me at once. So on shore I went, and he fell to business. He wanted me to take home as passengers a Dutchman called Van der Vel- den, his niece and her maid. We rarely carried pas- sengers, but we had a certificate, and plenty of accom- modation, and, partly moved by the few pounds of extra-profit, and partly by what Mr. McBean told me, I agreed to wait for another day and take them. From the old Scotch agent I learned that the firm of Julius Van der Velden had, three or four years before, been one of the most substantial in the place. Not that the silent Dutchman made much show of hip busi- ness but he carried on a quitt trade with the natives and was understood to have made a good thing of it— so good a thing, indeed, that, in a generous fit, he sent to Amsterdam for his brother Hermann and took him in op rtnerrhip. But Van der Velden Brothers were not so pros- perous as Julius Van der Velden had been. People, indeed, said that the wizened little brother who ca"Pe from Holland was the cause of their mLfor- tuues, end that he feathered his own nest at the ex- peuse of honest Juliu'. HoWdVtr that might be. he shared in the cilamity which finally came upon Van der Velden Brothers, and if Julius lost hb money and his life, Hermann lost his reason. Among other things in which these stolid Hollanders traded were d;amondp, and befire his brother came Julius Van der Velden had collected a goodly store of them, and all along kept this part of the business very much to himself. In tact the old man had as strong a mania for diamonds as most of his countrymen once had for tulipp. It was an expensive taste to gratify, but he contrived to do it; and the choicest stone-; which could be got in tho interiorand in the un- known table land of Asia, were bought by the emis- saries of Julius Van der Velden, and brought to Shanghai. Once in his keeping, he would as soon have thought of giving away his yellow-haired daughter Mary as of selling one of them. And, al- though when Hermann came the business fell off, and he c juld not afford to buy more, he stuck to those he had, and would not part with one of them. They cost him his life. It was supposed that the newa of the splendid prize oozed out among the natives and roused their cupidity. At any rate cries were heard one night from Vaa der Velden's house, and when help c*me Julius was found dead, with a bullet through his head and stabs and cuts innumer- able on his body. His treasure was gone. Her- mann who had rushed to his assistance, only in time to see the last Chinamnn glide out into the darkness, was foasd screaming and laughing over his brother's body a3 mad as a March haie, through fright and horror. He never got altogether well, and although he tried for a time to carry on the business, both natives and and foreigners were shy of his queer ways, and at last he sravd it up and determined to go home to his friends n Holland. I think I told you Julius Van der Velden had a pretty daughter, Mary, and when he died it was found that in his will he had left her all he had in the world, and had placed her under the joint care of bis brother and Lachlan McBean. But the diamonds were gone, and the money that was saved from the failing busi- ness was only enough to give her a very modest competence in her own land. So the worthy Scot thought he was fulfilling his trust best by sending her heme to her friends in frugal Holland. Therefore he asked me to take her, her maid, and her uncle to England on their way. Like imst other folks, I never had a fancy for mad- men, and although I coveted the passage money, I waited no crazy people on board my ship, and at tirst demurred to carrying Hermann Van der Velden at any price. But, when Mr. McBean assured me that he was capable of taking care of himself and his own affairs, that be was perfectly harmless, and, as he put it, only "queer;" and when to these reasons he added an extra premium on account of his "queerness," I agreed to take him and to postpone my sailing for another day. I daresay I have been very long-winded in spinning my yarn, but I told you I might be 80, and now I have really got to my story, so I shall introduce you to the characters who are to figure in it as I first saw them when they stepped from the shore-boat on the deck of the Hesperus. First, Mary Van der Velden, a most beautiful vision for any man to see. I could scarcely believe my eye- sight when she tripped up the ladder and held out her hand to Mistare Capitan." Masses of pure golden hair waved round a lovely face, and hung in a yellow shower over her dark dress. Her deep blue eyes, sad though they were, shamed the sky above us and the the water below. And her lithe, agile little figure was that of a beautiful fairy or a Venus in petticoats. There would be some pleasure in sailing with her, any- how, and I saw quiet glances of satisfaction pats be- tween the Bailors for Jack loves a pretty girl on board as well as on shore. Next came the^ maid, with a face like a full moon, ar.d nothing particular to distinguish her except a dog- like attachment to her Liebe Fraulein," and last of all, Hermann Van der Velden. He was as little like my ideal cf a Dutchman as a man could possibly be— a little wiry ugly man, with a peevish irritable face, and a jerky impatient and even rude manner, which turned me against him from the first moment I set eyes on him. However, my bargain was made and it was too late to go back from it now. Besides, as Mr. McBean said, as he left the ship before the anchor was Weighed, Although he's a donnert catwitted auld deevil you don't need to care for him. Keep him in his ain place. and let him alane and he'll enjoy himsel' wi' his doll." "His doll?" saidI. Aye, his doll. Did ye no see it—that thing he had hugged up in his arms. I thought I had tell't ye about it. But it disna matter you '11 find out a' about it your- I did, and more than he supposed. In the bustle and confusion of sailing, I had little time to be gallant or pay attention to my new com- panions but when lunch time came I was able to go into the saloon, and there for the first time I saw the doH. I tried to behave like a well-bred man, but I doubt if I succeeded in keeping my surprise to myself, for I, never was more astonished in my life. From some- where in the miserable little man's luggage a child's chair had been fished out, and in it and at the table was seated a doll as big as a year-old child. I fastened my eyes on it instantly, and was so fascinated by its appearance that I could not take them away again, whereupon up jumped its owner, with as near an approach to satisfaction as he was capable of assuming, and said he, Ah, my dear Capitan, you are fond of de children. You have them of your own, perhaps ? I said no I was not a married man, but I was rea- son ably fond of children for all that.. "Dat is right I" he cried. Dat is' right, de good men all love de children, and you should kiss de baby did he not eat." I would as soon have kissed a nigger-girl m Calabar, or one of the Chinese beauties we had just left behind us. All the diabolical skill of its author had been expended in making it ugly. It was a bald- headed, yellow-vizaged, little imp wit *P8' lancet eyes, and huge ears, and to add to its hideous- ness its head was made to revolve m .S(?m ? that it was occasionally to be found with the back of its head to the table while it complacently contemplated its own back. But Hermann Vail der Velden esteemed it none the less for its unnatural proclivities, and had attired it in the brightest of rose-coloured silk. When 1 saw it first it had a napkin round its neck and as he said did eat." At least he held food to its mouth and then carefully wiped that ugly orifice. But the more I saw it the less I liked it, and the morel watched Her- mann Van der Velden's treatment of it and his talk to it the less I liked him. By and by the sea air seemed to destroy its appetite, to his savage dissatisfaction, and then he would strike it on the head with his spoon or bis knife, or, indeed, with anything that came to hand and, although its revolving head dodged the blows cleverly, before we were half-way home it was covered with cuts and scars like a prize-fighter. Some days it appeared in all its disfigurement, and at others it was tet down at table in its night clothes with its head wrapped up in bandages, until I began to hate the very sight of it, and had a great mind to throw it ovir- bo ;rd. However, it gave Hermann Van der Veld en Bomething harmless to do. He dressed it, and fed it, ana nursed it, and slept with it, and never for a moment allowed it out of his sight. In fact it engrossed his wuole attention, and I soon came to have my own re-^ons for wishing his attention to be engrossed. it was a rash thing in McBean to send his young charge home in the care of a young fellow like myself for I was a young fellow thirty years ago—and it Wii3 equally rash in meCto take Mary Van der Velden as A passenger. In any case two young folks thrown into each other's society on board ship for three months could not fail to become attached to each other but not to fall in love with my golden-haired beauty was simply impossible. Well, 1 broke no trust in doing so. I was as well born as she for, though I was only master of a merchantman, my father had worn a sword and sailed a frigate. Generations of trading Dutchmen could not have boasted better blood than mine. And in wealth I was at least her equal. Without the diamond inheritances he was no heiress, and my modest patri- mony was as much as her father had left her. Her relations in Holland were of the most d'ltant kind, and ber crazy uncle w&a so much bound 'i» in his doll as to be of no importance] So I had only myself to please about falling in love, and I only risked my own chances of happiness in indulging my passion to the utmost. I have not sailed the blue Pacific since, but. I shall never forget that last happy voyage in the Hesperus. How I used to watch that trim figure as it flitted about the deck, and that golden head as it leaned over the tuffrail watching the flying fish and dolphins and the curling waves. How we learned German and English together in the cabin, and how I contrived to conjugate Ich liebe dich to perfection. Or, how sometimes we walked the deck together while the Southern Cross flamed in the sky, and in famiJar tilk cf our homes made some approach even to tenderness. t'till no word of love was spoken. Duriux all this hapj.y time tbe Dutchman's doll re- ceivtd the must assiduous attention from its devoted owner, and, strangest of ell, a rival sprang up who sought to take it from him. When we were at Shanghai we were short-handed, and, to work the ship saftly home, I was compelled to engage three Clinamen, at wages which would have satisfied an able-bodied sea- man. It was true that they had never sailed anything bigger than a sampan/or a junk, but they were fit for my purpose, and were anxious to see the land ol the barbarians at a profit to themselves so, making the best of a bad jJb, I took them on board. One of these fellows proved a perfect demon. Chirg Ling was his name. He began by cutting off his queue, or tail, thus losing caste among his own people, and, after out- raging our barbaric feelings in every way, ended by taking a violent fancy to Van der Velden's doll-eo that we had two madmen on board instead of one. I was very near taking doll" on the brain by this time; and had a mind to put my seaman in irons, if I could not lock my passenger up. And yet it was amusing to watch tbe couple of baby-fanciers. No sooner did Hermann Van der Velden appear on deck with his doll carefully swathed, than Ching Ling was at his heels and many an angry conversation they had in vigorous Chinese. Sometimes, indeed, as far as I could Ruess by their gestures, their quarrelsome talk seemed to have little reference to the doll, but it was invariably over it that they became irritated; and so far did the nuisance go that, at last, I was forced to order Ching Liug to keep in his own quar- ters, and to refrain from interfering with tie pawengers. Even then he was refractory, and if Hermann Van der Velden took hill doll out for an airing Ching Ling was aure to be skulking somewhere close by. So the days wore away, and I felt all if I were in a dream ship on an enchanted sea. Time slipped past, and only my chart and my log told me how it was goings-how near toj home I was getting. Christmas Day came, too, and we were sailing with a fair wind in more northerly latitudes. We had arranged a little festival in honour of the day, and my Mary had been the moving spirit in carrying out the arrangement. We had no mistletoe—more'a the pity but she bad made the cabin gay with all the signal flags en board, had laughed our sour faced cook into good humour, had made the plum-pudding for the forecastle with her own dainty handB, and had gained the love and good- will of every one on board. We had our Christmas dinner, and we en- joyed it we drank our Christmas toasts, and pledged the dear ones at home; and on that day there was not a happier ship's company afloat than that on board the Hesperus. Even the hate- ful doll was tolerated, its master looked pleased, and Ching Ling had enough rum to make him hilarious. But his hilarity was of the queerest kind, and ended by a strange chuckle and a vigorous sharpening of his knife on the whetstone so that Bates, our boatswain, took the knife from him. On that day there was only one sad heart on board the Hesperus, and that was the heart of my Mary. I had began to think of her as my very own, though I had never told her so but I dogged her steps and watched her movements, and loved every plank of the old ship's deck the more because she trod upc'n Ü. But so much purity and, goodness, and beauty abashed rae, sailor though I was, and my words would not come when I tried to tell my story. But on this day, when all had been so happy, my little Mary was miserable. At dusk I found her leaning over the bulwarks, not even watching our tumbling and monotonous sea, but gazing far away, with her bright eyes full cf tears. I knew she liked me, and was friendly, and I said— What! Tears on Christmas, Miss Van der Velden!" Then she held out her tiny hand, and said eo win- ningly— Ah that is it, Mr. Capitan. You Engleesh so love the Christmas, and are so friendly and happy in the time of peace and charity, that I, who have no one in all the world, am wicked enough to envy you, and think of my own lovedfather, and the night he died." No one in all the world and there stood I, with a heart full of love. and strong hands to work, and money enough to make a home beside and yet I stood like a fool and spoke not. So I lost my opportunity, and she, full of past recol- lections, went on to tell me how her father died. "It was in the middle of the night," she said. I had been in bed I know not how long, when I was awakened by a shot and a sharp cry, and a great noise and confusion in the house, and while I awoke my maid the noise and knocking of doors continued but as we went down the stair we only caught a glimpse of one Chinaman gliding out, and he was, Oh so like that hateful man you have here. But, alas, alas in his room was my poor father dead, and uncle Hermann sitting crying, with his head between his hands. It was then he grew stupid; for he was sharp enough before— father said' too sharp'—and I never cared for him but now I love him, lor he had setse enough then to teU us how he came to eave my father. Ob, had you seen my father's body, Capitan," she said, "you would pardon my weeping, for there was a bullet hole in his head, and his body was cut with their cruel swords. It was hideous to ste, and to add to my horror, our good friend the Docror Weingarten, who came soon, said, That bullet came from neither matchlock tor pistol, and the old Van der V elden was cut and hacked after he was dead. Have you found the English made revolver?' He did not know that I heard him but he said so, and said again and again, Bad work bad work "And I, like a fool, searched for uncle Hermann's pistols which he bought in London, and God forgive me -suspected Irm but I found ihem glittering in their caae. Poor uncle he too has suffered, and yet I envy him, for horror has turned his brain and grief, I believe, will turn mine. I have no real friends in Holland. I am alone, what shall I do." Instinctively I put her question to myself and, in what words I know not, told her of my love. myhopef, my fears, and my mother's little home in Kent. And in the dusk I could see the little frame tremble, and the bright eyes grow dim, and In a moment more; some. how, the golden head was lying on my bosom and my Mary was at last mine. Silence is best at times like these, for the heart is too full to speak, and lip utterances are hateful, and we were silent until a cheery voice said, God bless you, sir, and the little lady too. She has been like an angel aboard, and I wish you joy, sir. It was Bates who spoke standing at the wheel, and he had heard every word. The honest fellow could not help it, and he had a wife and little ones at home; but somehow it isn't pleasant to be seen love-making, and my rosy priza and I ran eff to the cabin. Some people are officious, and Bites was among the number of officious folks. Hermann Van der Velden had gone to bed with his hateful doll, and Mary, and her maid, and I sat at supper with Thompson, my chief officer. Suddenly there was a great clattering of feet overhead, and a greater clattering on the companion-way. The cabin door opened and a rosy face was poked into the cabin, and a dozen cheery countenances glimmered behind it in the lamp-light. The rosy face was Bates's, and had been honestly come by through long exposure and hard work. You see, sir," said he, after my watch, me and the carpenter here, and the 'prentices, sir, had a talk in our cabin about the dear little ady there, sir— we's all so fond of her—and one was saying she was so lonely, and another she was so lonely, and a third she was too pretty to be lonely long—begging her pardon— so I got angry, d 'ye see, sir, and I ups and tells 'em what I chanced to see this evening—begging your pardon, too, sir. Well, sir, what does they do, sir, but they gets up a noise and a cheering, and says old Chips, says he, he's been a good skipper to us, beys, and it's a great shame—begging the lady's pardon—but it's a great shame,' says he—and them's his own,words, sir —'if we don't pass a resolootion to go and wish 'em both luck.'So they passed the resolootion, sir, as Chips said, with nobody condescending—them's his very words, sir—and off they walked to the 'foksle,' and told 'em there all about it, and they passed another reso- lootion there with nobody condescendin' neither, to to come and say God bless you and her,' sir, on this holy Christmas night;' and, as if that warn't enough, they had another resolootion, with nobody conde- scendin but me this time, that I should come and say their say for 'em. Now, sir, I 've come to do it; for I've sailed with ye since ye were a lad, and I know you like me, and I've loved you, and my old Sally wou'd like nothing better than to see me now with all the men, 'nobody condescendin,' wishing you happiness and joy for ever and ever, Amen It was stupid—it was ludicrou», if you like—but tears rose to my eyea as many a manly voice took the hint of the simple spokesman, and said Amen After all, what is married life but a "for ever and ever for although we neither marry nor are given in marriage in the next state, but are" even as the angels, we shall both "know and be known," and shall doubtless both love and be loved." So I thought at the moment; but I had little time for thought, for said Batep, Let's give 'em a cheer, boys How joyfully these hurrahs from strong lungs rang through the ship, and how miserably they ended. The last shout had scarcely died away. the first footstep was not on the ladder, when three or four sharp, shrill cries burst from Van der Velden s cabin. We rushed there in a body, but we were too late. Hermann Van der Velden had been stabbed in twenty place?, Ching Ling stood holding a bloody knife over him, aud the doll- the bone of contention was torn in two, the Dutch- man holding the head and the Chinaman the feet. A blow from Bates's vigorous fist stretched the murderer Benseless before he could do harm, and he was jostled and half-carried on deck to be ironed. Somehow or other my Marys grief was not so deep as it might have been and, if she sighed and wept a few natural tears, before the night had gone her feeling was changed to the instinctive one of horror at the m Hermann Van der Velden was Btretehed on his bed as decently as we could place him, and the remains of his hateful doll were thrown overboard. In three days we would be in England, and we would bury him there. But daylight disclosed what the darkness had con- cealed. Batef, ever kindly, resolved to cover the dead man with an old Dutch flag he found somewhere, and went into the cabin for the purpose; but instead ot goinsr upstairs he came to me. "I'm blest, sir," said he, "if the queer old beggar hadn't stuffed his doll with bits of glass. Here s a handful of it; and there's lots more." As he threw it on the table my Mary gave a cry and a moan. "My father's diamonds! Oh! it was true what Doctor Weingarten said. It was true; it was true It was too true, as you may guess. When Ching j. Ling was tried he confessed everything. Hermann Vall der Velden's oovetousness had led him to theft and murder. It was he who had shot his brother who had hired Chinese bravos to make a pretended attack; and his insanity was altrgether pretended. Ching Ling, the chief of his ruffians, had by chance dis- covered the value of the booty, and the method of its concealment; and he had resolved to follow it, and, if possible, to get possession of it. He was executed for the mUlder-and many another murder, as he con- fessed, lay on his soul. My Mary was an heiresp, and a wealthy heiress; but love is better than gold, aud her changed position could not change her heart. She loved me then, and she loves me now in her old age. Boys and girls have been born to U", and one sails the sea in a new Hesperus. I never went to sea again bu^, as I told you when I began, although thirty years hav<; passed, I shall never forget that eventful Chris tmas D>y on which I told my love, and which ended the mystery of the Dutchman and his Doll. B. B.B.B.

RESIGNATION OF MR. BRIGHT. We (Times) are authorised to state that Mr. Bright his resigneo. The wish of Mr. Gladstone and of bis other colleagues, warmly expressed from time to time, ha", we have authority to state, alone withheld the late president of the Board of Trade up to the present date from a step which, in his judgment, was and is still necessary for the complete recovery of his health. It is, on all ground", whether of foreign or domestic policy, a matter of sincere regret to Mr. Bright to sever the official tie between himself and the Adminis- tration.