The Aberystwith Observer

ANOTHER CASH. IMPRISONMENT WITHOUT A FINE. Mr. Robert Phillip Dodd, a farmer, of Great Kyburgh, in Norfolk, occupying 700 acres of land, was summoned for sending four quarters of beef to the London market for sale, the same being diseased, unwholesome, and unfit for the food of man. The evidence, which was very lengthy, amounted to this, that Mr. Dodd's shepherd had his attention called k0 a cow which was lying in a field with her head under her. He and some men pulled it out, and then found she was dead. The shepherd told Mr. Dodd about it, and he sent for a butcher to dress it, and it was sent to the London market for sale. 1 he flesh Was wet, stinking, and inflamed, and totally unfit for food of man. Mr. Turner, for the defence, called the shepherd, Jvho stated that the animal was a milch cow, and had keen in Mr. Dodd's possession since May last. She was in perfect health up to the morning that she died, and the cause of her death was that she had been given some turnips, and they had "blown" her. He had purchased the head and tongue for half a crown, and he and his faintly had lived on it until it was gone, ftnd they had felt no ill effects from it. The heart was cooked and eaten by the yard's-man and his family, and they had not been made ill by it. He also called Charles Smith, the butcher who dressed the carcase, and he stated that when he had nearly finished dressing it the defendant came in, and he told him it was not worth dressing. He told the yard's-man and the coachman that he was glad to earn what he could, but the meat was not fit to send up to London. Mr. Dodd did not hear him say that. If he had bought it he could not have sold it to some of his customers, but there were some people who would have bought it. When the animal was cut open it was in a very bad state, because the tripe had been either burst from being "blown," or pricked with a knife, and thus the excrement from the tripe had run into the frame of the Deast and made it stink. Except the animal was "blown" from eating turnips, there was nothing the matter with it. The bursting of the tripe was the cause of the smell which was attached to the meat, and there was no getting it out of it. Mr. Alderman Finnis said this was one of those cases in which a fine ought not to be inflicted for here was a man of position in the country, farming 700 acres of land, and of wealth, to whom a fine would be no pun" 'hment at all; he therefore felt it to be his duty to s d him to the House of Correction for one month.

AN F .TRA0RDINARY MEDICAL CASE IN NEW ORLEANS. The )ctors in New Orleans are greatly interested in the f n, J} y,oune German, named George .Nickera, who fell Platform about four months ago. The Times of that city us gives the particulars of the case :— I was supposed that he would die in a few hours, for as head was twice its normal size, and nearly every 8v1 ere of the skull gaped open. The left half of the BK dl was broken in several places, compressing the b) ain. Blood oozed from his mouth, eyes, nose, and e:.rs, and his five senses were suspended. His eyes protruded out of their sockets, resting on the cheek bones, five times their natural size, and almost as black as coal. The bladder was enormously distended and completely paralysed. The lower portion of the bowels was in the same condition. Both had to be operated on mechanically. His pulse could not be leit except in the great arteries of the neck. His body could be pricked with a penknife anywhere without the least evidence of feeling. T i'y novel mode of treatment—the neuropathy of Dr. {• 11 Chapman, of London, which consists in the ap- heat and cold alternately to the whole f,.r tvT spine, by means of a special apparatus ,ln(1 PurPose, aided by the employment of induced —thf. v ITUp electrical currents, called Faradization At- (4,Lln8-rn?'.n commenced a gradual improvement. which dSr a monththe "black and blue 'ill disanrjearerl uPPer of his body had nearly a- disappeared. In mx weeks hjs eyeg wjthout any improvement of vislon were reduce/ to their natural size, and the bulge of Lis head had contracted very near its nonnal measure and all the senses had re- turned to their healthy status. His mind, however, did not improve with the im- proved pace of the physical senses. For a month his mind was a total blank. The mechanical pressure of the broken skull on the left side of his head still caused a slight paralytic condition of his right arm and leg, -He had recovered the perfect use of his tongue, and as restore to complete consciousness in about seven veek?. It wa3 soon discovered that the recollection of W,or r;[1 1(lea h.acl heen literally knocked out of an I I hough reinvested with full consciousness comm, P°Tr usillg tnIIL'ue' it was impossible to hlm any idea> name, or object. The P ver of intelligent language had vanished—not the I wer of articulation, but the power of expression was lost. He was unable to make known his wants by the use of language-^jor could he convey his meaning by writing tor it Was'evident that the power to write yords from memory was lost; he was, therefore, iterally thinking without words. He is a German, and no word of his mother tongue or that of the English language was remembered by him. He could not call the name of any of his associates, and when he began ° earn over again, it took him three weeks to ,"S"w.n name. During the past two months George has learned quite a number of words, names nln<.f.5 i St He <='« nrywl,e;' 'S$'I;- w it is sometimes very tedious to teJch 1/ actlve' though but not from the want of a>.f i r-lm 8!?me words, perfect. Tell him to sav at.lon' for that is is as apt to say "mule" tor instance, and he learned notwithstanding or anything else he has the meaning of w » objects of sense, he knows The l„f* v, • ail(i mule" the rough pavement^f +°v! the sku11 is as uneven 88 good, and he is nh streets. His health ia very U ne 18 about twenty years of age.

THE BISHOP OF PETERBOROUGH ON THE NATIONAL CHURCH. 1 In the courlle of a speech made last week at Leicester, r- Magee, the new Bishop of Peterborough, on ;'P oceani< n of a luncheon which followed the consecra- tion of a new church, the rev. prelate observed :— thiy!'at he felt very Strongly about the Church of England at \va, f'n!e wfs this—that their great aim, their great difficulty, *1 0I?g 1,1 great towns aPPlause) They all felt that itr ey liked i4 or not' 801ne did- and some did not lllrirallv gFfat ,town?, we™ ,rHuD8 England that socially, BfW and Poetically, their influence was increasine year v year for good or for evil. im he sho'-lId be the very last man to undervalue the Cl"'v,Se- importance of country parishes, and of the English ■*vantoii *ln lhe country parishes in England. If any man Enclitt >?. 8ee the glory, the strength, and the beauty of the shmiKi )irch in one of its strongest and holiest aspects, he £ iicrHahg0 t ou8h the English country districts and see the yrntTL^Hntry Pa«onage and English country church. It Un»i«nrt v thing, and it would be an evil hour for relk'i™,a .? 8he lost the strength and beauty of her country Perfectlv ??r?c^ial life- But he felt> whlle that was bered Lt in'f th!re was also this truth to be remem- to do 'ouitV AUUtE?? tow"s the En«lish Church had a work and that her wnrt L tv,™ work "i her country parishes, complete and hart a couritr>' Parishes was as yet more »,! r°nger fn<? deePer basis than her work why ?.eat towns had come to be. It was perfectly obvious S°od »r,1COmpT1,1J easy f°r a good parson with a himselfq \the P £ insi,1 t0 m?na«e the parish by Parish 'if 6 the happy leader and almost king of the ^hen thlv the right man m the right place. But Hid wemilfl6 qulet country parish and its parsonage, 'mSv 1,-fi • 6 towns with their deep surgings and anrl orvinl^ayUlg t0 alnd fro with every impulse of thought ea?er „ when they found that great, active, fervid, *erent at AT' faf'\est town life, they had altogether a dif- t,liriKs in d6ial w'ith—they had a state of Avere ir.il j ln. !v'dual man and the individual parish &i.n ln the great multitude became much Rreat ,P°rtant and difficult to deal with. He felt that the Waa L Ject of the English Church in the great towns ( a!l to gain that great multitude-to win it to its own stable J'lissW*1???1' deep religious feeling; that it was the great Thei the English Church to do that. the reLi Church had a reason for its existence, and hatiu-g n, ^as that it could best dn from constitution, was W,jan? history, the great work of the nation. There specially8^1? the English Church which at this moment treat tow ^t to compete with the great work of winning Church srn It was that in the great towns the English cipie £ maintained the territoiial and parochial prln- that in Was to say, she still maintained this principle, have th a Par'sh there should reside a pastor who should that an cure of souls in that parish. He did not think that thoilnf coul<l look into the great towns, and not see evil tv,„ were more and more threatened with that tion of the man'whoVd !e]'f tr°m the Poor-the separa- te making their money a^hl/ Tney <?, Prosperous manufacturer 6 te!ldency^°ff .th« comfortable !° have his snue and c mf LWa8 to ?° out lnto the suburbs SJTK th^^vilTa a little way from the ^"cl more tn fhofie who ? ky hlvee of industry more &RmS< £ S X";iti'™"emi 1 thino- for th* -p, and there could lhr "i i! fromthose who lived by their work worked tll III and be estrannoed from each <;>ther. He believed that iu the the" English Church still placed in everv Darish with tho ?t of these towns a man who was equally Finked equal of t K^ch and llle P001'; a man W n° Was. socially the and the f?-e rtch man, and a man who was the spiritUai equal plead tlu. erjd °* the poor man; a man who had the right to a man u v.*>0or man's cause in the rich man s (trawing-oomg poor Tiian'? Yas privileged to bear the rich ma'i s gift to the trusted the> ^onl« was a blessing incalculable. And lie would li-ivo i1,le would never come when the English nation Bass of them C:dculate those blessings by the misery ox the by her claim**1 (.mrf'h was specially callod by her missioni i^nd call herself 9 v'c.a National Church—and she had no right to do the work a ]I¡ atlOnal Church If she did not girdherseltto but by the very f eet tl10claims and demands of the nation; she took upon v.ac' her claiming to be a National Church held to be eininB that great work—a work which he nineteenth centu? work °' the English Church of Iho and estranged claiL~~ welding together of the dissevered Christ and the brothma! 8°,ciety. aIid bringing the Gospel of and certain fact to th«°°d of ohrist to be a living, present, nineteenth century. rich and Poor ln the mld6t of the Wilh :'espe.ct to the Church work in great towns-and upl'n the minds of most of them that must no ,° !ni ,lat church work in great towns must necessarily he largely experimental; that was, they tion~.s> nucleus—the great principle of parochial organisa- thev n,,nd Ve hoped they v/ould never lose it, and with that 'he Dart v -e as the new life of the towu crowded around constatUi minister a man in every parish who should be occur t /-ready to try every new way which could possibly case A t m t° meet the difficulties and emergencies of the casdeo A town minister should be active, eager, experimental, an perhaps it would not hurt him if he were a little im- pulstve. A town minister should be a kindly man, ready to think of new plans from day to day for the working of his parish. He believed that in every parish in their great towns there should be a considerable amount of elasticity in their work, while, at the same time, they should adhere strictly to the great principles which they all held in common. They could not better describe what the Church of a great, busy, active, onward nation like England should be than by saying that it should be an elastic web—the elastic covering of the nation. He earnestly hoped they would make it more and more so. He believed from his heart and soul that the Church of England was the true living Church of the 19th century as much as it was in the first, and that the promise of the Divine Founder of their religion held good still-that He was with His Church to the end of the world. He was not one of those who believed that 1700 years ago the Church was ab- solutely stereotyped in all its machinery, and was fossiled then, and that there was nothing old to be struck out and nothing new to be done in the 19th century. He believed they might exaggerate the worship of the past on the one hand, and the worship of the present on the other hand but it did not always follow that because their ancestors were wise that what they found to be wise m their day was necessarily wise and good in the present day. If it thoroughly fitted the past the probability was that it would t.ot as thoroughly fit the present; therefore, he said that her great wisdom was to adhere to the old truths that never changed, and that, while adhering to the broad landmarks and discipline of national church government that were wise, good, and true—and because they were wise, good, and true, they were always so—he believed that their greet difficulty, as well as their great wisdom, would be to reconcile the past and the future in all things non-essential and the constant adaptation of the Church and her machinery, discipline, government, and organisation, and the gathering together of her laity and clergy in the Councils of the Church. He believed their great difficulty lay—a difficulty in which they needed the practical wisdom and churchmanship of the laity as much as they needed the trained and disciplined theological instincts of the clergy—in the difficulty of adapting the present of the Church of England to the tra- ditions and doctiines ef the past, and the needs of the present to the hepes and the possibilities even of the future That was their great task.

A WATERLOO HERO AND EXILE. At GrenfeU, near Daylesford, resides an old Water- I loo man, who contributes to the Daylesford Mercury his reminiscences of the fight, (savs an Australian paper). Born in 1798, he enlisted at the age of six- teen, and a year afterwards, in 1815, was sent across to Ostend, from whence the troops were taken in canal boats through Ghent to Brussels, where they arrived on the 15th of June, three days before Waterloo, just in time to take a share in thf battle. I came off without a. scratch," writes the old hero, "but my right shoulder was sore with the kicking of my musket, which when it got hot, I was almost afraid to fire off, it bounded so." In 1831 he came near receiving sentence of death for striking an officer when under the influence of drink. "Tried by a court martial, the articles of war were death for the offence but owing to my long term of service and good conduct in general, Lord Hill, who presided over the court, told me, in passing sentence, that 'he felt grieved to have to preside over the dis- grace of an old companion in arms, but that the lightest sentence he could give was that I should be transported for fourteen years,' recommending me to the Duke of Wellington's mercy. I was sent on board the Hine, bound for Sydney, and after a voyage of nearly six months, arrived in Port Jackson. I was drafted into the road party, which cleared and formed the town of Wollongcag, at which place I, after get- ting my freedom, lived comfortably enough until the discovery of gold at Summerhill Creek, in 1851, and I have been over all the gold-fields in New South Wales and Victoria up till now."

THE LONDON BLUE-COAT SCHOOL. A London correspondent makes the following sensible remarks on the Blue-coat School in London:— Christ's. Hospital—the Blue-coat School-is an in- stitution which, in quite another direction, has been perverted^ from the purpose for which its founders intended it. The charter states it to be a school and home for the sons of decayed merchants," but all the world knows that the parents of some of the boys there are in anything but a state of pecuniary decay, while some of them are not, nor ever have been, merchants at all. Professional gentlemen with large families have managed to quarter some of them on this charity, and in some instances to have them passed as "Grecians to one of our great universities. It is not an uncommon thing to see a Blue-coat boy riding in his papa's carriage. Some changes for the better have recently been effected in the management of this establishment, and I believe other and still more radical improvements will very soon be made in it. A boy in Christ's Hospital, who, on reaching the age of fifteen year*, has not shown a certain degree of proficiency, is obliged to quit. Xsow, it w.is the custom for the relatives and friends to tip the masters for coaching the boys, so that they might be at least up to the mark which would keep them in Newgate-street* The result, of course, was that any not very smart boy in whose favour a consideration could not be extended to the masters, rail a very considerable risk of being deprived of the benefits of the institution at about the age when he most required them, while lads whose people could well have kept them outside continued to enjoy all the benefits of free board, lodging, and first-class educa- tion. All that has been changed. Instant dismissal is the fate awaiting any master who takes a "tip" now. I understand that the Government intend to carry out this rule most rigidly, and as the present Head Master is himself an old Bluecoat boy, he is no doubt prepared to second them, or rather to "prime" them by publicly bringing under their notice any violation of their very wholsome order on the subject. But a great change is contemplated in reference to this charity. As decayed merchants of London are now to be found in other parts of the metropolis than that to the east of Temple-bar, it is proposed to break up the Newgate- street establishment, and to form several schools in various parts of the town, which will take the place of the one there. The reformers also speak of doing away with the ridiculous "Guy" uniform in which the Blue-coat boys are now compelled to clothe themselves. The wonder is how the long blue coats, yellow knes- breeclies, and mustard-coloured waistcoats have survived so long. The" charitable grinder" habiliments of some or the humbler city charity schools are not nearly so preposterous. It is to be hoped that when the Christ's Hospital boys are otherwise got up in modern attire they will be furnished with a hat or a cap which they can wear. No one has ever yet seen a London Blue- coat boy with a head-covering in the street. It is said that one has occasionally been seen with a cap on inside but the cap with which such boy is furnished, being about the size of a very small saucer, evidently is not intended for the use to which caps are ordinarily applied. The invariable custom of the boys is to wear it in their pocket instead of on their head. I have drawn attention to this subject of metropolitan distress and the city charities because I know it will very soon be one of the topics of the day, and an unequalisation of the rates over so wide an area as the metropolis would be a measure to which the attention of the whole kingdom must be directed, because in the opinion of many it would be but the forerunner of a general rating over a still mope extensive area.

THE MARQUIS OF BUTE. The Times has the following remarks on the report of the Marquis of Bute having been received into the Catholic Church :— It is not many weeks since whole districts in Wales and m Scotland were rejoicing at the coming of age of a young nobleman whose father had been a kind of Providence to them. and who, from his wealth and position, had unusual power to do them good, if not to do them harm. The Marquis of Bute, with JE300,000 a year, appeared as a kind of sovereign potentate with none but administrative duties to perform. His property is protected by law, and his willing subjects are kept in due order and subordination by the public authority. He has simply to do the best he can with his vast revenue; and as he could mot, if he were reasonable and human, spend it all on himself, he might be expected to do some good with it to others, and especially to his own tenants and subordinates. The magnitude of such a fact attracted attention and wonder beyond the limits of Cardiff and Bute, and the Marquis for the moment became a public institution. However, there are other noblemen with large incomes and vast influence, and one Marquis more is soon absorbed into the silent but solid ranks of the Peerage. The question What will he do with it ? could only be answered by the Marquis himself, and, if the young man had possessed any prudence, it would have been a long time before he quite made up his mind upon that question, much more before he let any one else into the secret. So the Marquis of Bute was again consigned to a comparative oblivion, which was, no doubt, more agreeable to himself than his temporary notoriety, when an act with which the world is but little con- cerned has again set all tongues talking, and brought the Marquis once more into the newspaper. Shortly after his coming of age it was thought worth while to circulate a rumour that he had joined, the Church of Rome, and, on his part, he thought it worth while to contradict it. The announcement, however, was only premature. It is no longer doubtful that on Christmas- Eve the Marquis was formally received at Nice into the Roman Catholic Church. Coming so soon after the late provincial festivities, the event seems likely to be treated as of more importance than really belongs to it. Some good Protestants will, perhaps, see in it another instance of the awful subtlety of the Roman Catholic priesthood, and of the rapid advance of the Pope towards supreme domination. More, perhaps, will regret the example; and anticipate injurious results. Some will regret the loss of the interest, and not a few the loss of the money. Others, however, will be chiefly sorry for the Marquis himself, and we hope it is neither presumption nor discourtesy to enrol ourselves in the latter class. Divesting the fact of the colouring with which recent illusions help to surround it, what is the real signifi- cance of such a perversion ? We know the Marquis is very rich, but we have no evidence that he is either very learned or very wise. The presumption, perhaps, is against it. Such a change of creed is a very uncer- tain and, at the same time, serious matter, about which many men have hesitated who are twice the age of the Marquis. To abandon the faith in which you have been brought up, to disturb your friends and disappoint the world, to plunge into a labrynth of new and formi- dable obligations, are things which it seems more rea- sonable not to do at the first available opportunity, and with respítcttowhich an error on the side of hesitation— and patience is always an error on the rightside. Perhaps a ^ay he said that if a man is fit to manage £300,000 but-it* V1 t° dispose of his faith and his conscience; and the he wiser at first to handle both the money However Bome doubt and caution. w;oPr' tv,rre 18 110 reason to suppose the Marquis a"dTf a dozenaUy otW of twenty-one, irrh of Komet°,lt'18 that age were to join the ChT imi>orUnce°t™^row the world would not attach Puc '"TwhLh event- With the increased intercou twrToVn ^he present day between the members of t o <Churches it is not surprising if there are occ ges between the two com- munions. 1 he boun ^ne « ie88 rigidly fixed, and impulsive or unstable pe I le will occasionally cross the frontier from both sides. A rich man or a Peer is iust as likely as a poor man or a commoner to feel these attractions or temptations, ajia^ it is a mwe acc|_ dent that one of the verts, as they have been called, is a Peer with a large rent-roll. As to the sig. nificance of this circumstance, therefore, it means nothing but that the Marquis of Bute is a young man with a. natural tendency towards the state of belief and feeling which belongs to the Roman Catholic religion. As to the consequences, they are not likely to be of much importance. It may be doubted, as be- fore, whether a young man who has changed his religion with this facility is made of the stuff which has much personal influence over other men; and since, as we have seen, his example has ]]0 more just weight than that of any other young man, it is hard to see what re- mains. When the husband of Queen Anne deserted James II. in his peril, the King observed that after all a good trooper would have been a greater loss." In the same way the defection of an average curate would certainly have said more for the Roman Catholic religion, and might be expected to lead to more lasting results. But what about the money? People imagine that £300,000 a year has suddenly been transferred to the Pope. But of how much of that sum is the Marquis really master ? Take away the necessary expenditure on the maintenance of his estate a and his rank, and how much remains for the Pope's service. A young nobleman in such a position, and with such an income, is not in the least likely to do more than give a liberal support to a few charitable institutions, and to sub- scribe handsomely towards the buildings and the clergy of his communion wherever he may reside. The Roman Catholics, however, are no more in want of any addition to their wealth than our own Church. They have enough and to spare for all their needs. They could have done very well without the Marquis of Bute, just a.s we shall do very well without him. It ia but a few thousands a year more or less to the two communions, and that is not a matter of much consequence to either of them. But the Marquis's interest and influence? Well, the result may be a vote or two in Parliament in the Roman Catholic interest, which may or may not at any moment be the Liberal interest. There may, therefore, be no practical change in this respect whatever. But it is too probable that the chief change in the Marquis's influence produced by his perversion will be to materially diminish it. A Roman Catholic Peer must needs be out of harmony in some important respects with English life, and must generally have less influence with his countrymen than one of their own faith and standard of feeling. The Marquis's tenants and subordinates will be by no means equally disposed to follow his lead when he has openly taken a leap before them into the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, whereas a few weeks ago we heard that the Marquis had just entered upon his inherit- ance of wealth and power, we are disposed to regard the present news as simply an announcement that he has thrown a considerable portion of his power away. For this reason, as we have said, we are sin- cerely sorry foi him, and he appears to us the principal person for whom it is necessary to be sorry. At an age and under circumstances when delay would have been only natural and becoming, he has taken a step, in some respects irrevocable, which cuts him off in a great measure from his natural associations, which will pro- bably throw a shadow, at least for a. time, over the hearty confidence with which he was recently welcomed in his little principality, which will, in a word, prevent his feeling as much at home as he would hare otherwise felt. We are, therefore, sorry for it, but, having said that, the less said the better. The Marquis is going to the Holy Land, where for the time he will be quite out of the world, and the world for the present, there- fore, need not trouble itself about him. When he returns we shall probably have more important matters on hand, and we shall scarcely be conscious of the simple fact that there will be one Roman Catholic more and one Protestant less in these populous realms.

THE WELLS MURDER. Preparations were completed on Thursday in last week for the execution of Bisgrove, the convict then lying under sentence of death in Taunton Gaol, and not the slightest hope was entertained by the prison authorities that the life of the unhappy man would be spared. Sweet, the man who had been condemned with Bis- grove, had been respited a few days since in conse- quence of Bisgrove confessing that he and he alone was the murderer of poor Cornish, although he has since repeatedly said that Sweet was sitting on the camp stile when he dashed Cornish's brains out with a huge stone weighing more than 501b. The murder was one of the most oold-blooded on record, but there appeared to have been no premeditation, and on this ground alone, some humane persons in Taunton petitioned her Majesty to commute the sentence of death, and their efforts have been successful. On Fri- day night a Queen's messenger arrived at the gaol, and informed Mr. Oakley that he had been sent from the Home-office by Mr. Bruce, her Majesty's Secretary of State, commanding that the sentence of death passed upon Bisgrove should not be carried into effect. Up to this time Bisgrove had repeatedly acknowledged the justice of his sentence, and seemed willing to expiate his terrible crime upon the scaffold. The Wesleyan minister, the Rev. H. Hulme, who was in constant attendance upon him, had great hopes that the repent- ance he outwardly exhibited was sincere, and believed he thoroughly deplored the act he had committed, prompted by some sudden impulse. When the respite arrived, Bisgrove was made acquainted with the fact. His surprise was great, and at first he appeared to be unable to realise his position, so convinced was he that in a few hours his existence would terminate in an ignominious death on the scaffold. When he had somewhat recovered he expressed his thanks to those who had so generously interested themselves on his behalf, and to the prison officials for the kindness they had shown him while under sentence of death. On Saturday he was removed from the condemned cell, placed in one set apart for convicts, and attired m the dress allotted to that class. Sweet will doubtless be at once liberated, and Biiigrove pass the remainder of his life in penal servitude. The respite has occasioned great dissatisfaction in Taunton, and more so in Wells and Shepton Mallet, the ground being that Bisgrove had confessed to the perpetration of a foul and deliberate murder.

AN ACTION FOR FALSE IMPRISON- MENT AND SLANDER. The case of "Torckler v. Tattersall (clerk)" has been tried at Liverpool, and was an action for false imprisonment and slander. The declaration in two counts charged the false imprisonment, and in a third the slander, and to this the defendant pleaded a justification. Mr. Temple, in his opening statement, said that the defendant was a clergyman, at Oxton, in Cheshire, and the plaintiff a gentleman, who entered the Honourable East India Company's service as a cadet in the year 1820, and served with various regiments for about ten years, rising to a lieutenancy. He was present at the siege of Bhurtpore in 1826, for which he holds a medal. In 1829, owing to aLl imputation of cowardice, Lieutenant Torckler was involved in a quarrel with some brother officers. He challenged them, but they showed the challenge to their commanding officer, and he was obliged to withdraw it. On this he requested one of the officers to withdraw the imputation he had made. He refused to do so, and drew a. pistol and fired at Torckler. He returned the fire, but no blood was shed. In the following November Lieutenant Torckler was tried by court-martial for shooting at his superior officer, found guilty, and sentenced to death. This court-martial, it seems, was improperly held, as on the pase being laid before the Commander-in-Chief the sentence was remitted, but Mr. Torckler's commission suspended. After this he came to England, where he heard that the directors of the Company had determined to dismiss him, but in consequence of the mitigating circumstances of the case and his ten years' service, allowed him a pension of jg70 a year. The sentence still, however, remained recorded against him. In 1833 he commanded a company of English in the Liberating Army of Portugal under Dom Pedro, and was present at the siege of Oporto. Re- turning to England after this he has since taught French, Hindustani, and other things in various towns with some success. In 1863 the papers relative to the court-martial were laid before the House of Commons, and the Royal pardon under the Great Seal was granted in June, 1864. In 1867 Mr. Torckler came to Liverpool, hoping to be able to establish a school to prepare gentlemen for Indian offices, but was unsuc- cessful, and being a Freemason he applied in 18G8 to his brethren for some assistance to start his school. Among others he waited on the defendant, who is chaplain to a Masonic lodge, and showed him a list of subscribers and recommendations. On this the de- fendant promised to give £1, but not having it with him he said he would see the plaintiff again. On the plaintiff calling at Mr. Tattersall's for the subscrip- tion he found a note left for him containing only 10s. On this he wrote a letter to the defendant, asking for the other 10s., but received no answer. A few days later the plaintiff met the defendant walking near Oxton, when the plaintiff, after some words, said,— "You are a vagabond, and have obtained lQs. from me by false pretences. I will give you into custody." He accordingly did so, and on a policeman being pro- cured the plaintiff was lodged in the station-house till the following day. On being taken before a magistrate he was remanded and confined for four days. On the second hearing the defendant withdrew the charge. Offers have since been made to refer the case to friends of the parties, but they have not been successful. The learned counsel repeated the offer, which was now accepted, and a verdict entered for the plaintiff, subject to a reference.

EXTRAORDINARY CONFESSION OF WIFE-MURDER. At the Lambeth police-court, in London, last Saturday morning, William Sheward, aged fifty-seven, giving his address the Key and Castle Tavern, St. Martin's-at-Oak, Norwich, was brought up in the custody of Inspector Davis, charged on his own con- fession with wilfully murdering his first wife, Martha, at Norwich, on the 15th June, 1851. The prisoner, a gentlemanly-looking man, was so weak and feeble that he had to be seated during the hearing of the case and wept bitterly, and appeared to feel his position deeply. Inspector Davis, having detailed the circumstances under which the prisoner made the confession to him, said I afked him if there was anything that had occurred to unsettle his mind, as he might then be labouring under some delusion. He replied, No, it is too true. I left home on Tuesday with the inten- tion of destroying myself. I intended to have cut my throat with the razor I have got in my pockat. I asked him for the razor, and he at once took the one produced in a case from his pocket. He then said, "1 have been to Chelsea to-day and yesterday by steamboat intending to destroy myself, but the Almighty would not let me do it. I wish I could have done it." Prisoner then desired me to take down something in writing, and I did as follows, as he dictated "7, William Sheward, of Norwich, charge myself with the wilful murder of Martha Sheward, my first wife." This statement prisoner then signed. He appeared perfectly sober and natural in his ways. He made the following further statement this morning. I asked him if he would give any particulars of the crime he had charged himself with, and when and bow the deed was done, and he said, "Yes, I will. It was on the 15th of June, 1851—I cut her throat with a razor." I said How did you dispose of the body, or how was it that it was not discovered ? and he replied, The body was cut up, and I believe a portion was kept in spirits of wine at the Guildhall at Norwich by order of the magistrates." I then asked him how it was he now came and confessed, and he said, I went last night to a house in Richmond-street, Walworth, where I first saw my first wife, and that brought it so to my mind that I was obliged to come and give myself up," and again he said, You'll find it's quite true, and they will know all about it at Norwich." Prisoner further added that he keut the Key and Castle at Norwich, and previous to that kept a pawnbroker's shop four- teen or fifteen years, and at the time of the murder was living at Sr. Martin's-at-the-Palace, Norwich. The magistrate (to prisoner) You have heard the evidence have you auvthing to say in reference to it, or to put any questions to the inspector ?—Prisoner (faintly but firmly): No, your worship. Magistrate Is the statement made bv the inspector correct?—Prisoner Yes, your worship. Magistrate I shall remand you for further inquiry. rpf^°oner Very well, your worship. The prisoner was then taken from the dock and at once conveyed in a cab to Horsemonger-lane Gaol.

L A correspondent at Norwich, referring to the above statement of Sheward, says it is believed that the self- accusation of murder is well founded. Human remains were found in the River Yare and in the neighbour- hood of Norwich in June, 1851. Persevering inquiries were made at the time by the local police, and the remains were collected, but the circumstances have always remained a mystery until the present time.]

The Daily News, in a leader, thus notices the case :— It is one of the curious phenomena of the human mind that in a large average of the charges which are made against individuals, by far the largest proportion of false ones are among those which people make against themselves. A writer of some personal recollections of Lord Byron in a new magazine, states that he has traced many of the scandals about Byron to their origin, and has found that they origi- nated with himself. He had a morbid contempt for his kind, and a wish to be thought badly of by people he despised. The same morbid self-depreciation sometimes makes its appearance in our police-courts. Police magistrates are from long experience suspicious of self-accusations. There is a form of iNsanity which persecutes its victims with the idea that they have committed a crime and it is this disease of the brain far more o ten than an overburdened conscience which drives self-accused criminals to the police- courts. In the days when grave divines and learned jurists believed in witchcraft it was no uncommon thing for a poor old woman, or even a young and handsome maiden, to go to the parish beadle and accuse herself of commerce with the Evil One, though such all accusation in those days was certain to meet with a predisposition to believe it, and a frightful haste to punish it. In the present day any murder which is unusually mysterious, and which much excites the popular mind, will probably be confessed by somebody who had nothing whatever to do with it, but who has brooded over it till his diseased imagination has identified him with the deed. In fact, a murder is much more likely to be confessed by an innocent man than by the criminal, for a guilty conscience may be borne without driving a man actually mad, but a guilty imagination cannot, for it is itself madness. We are obliged, therefore, to take the strange confession made at the Lambeth Police- court on Saturday last as by no means necessarily true. [Here the Daily News recapitulates the case of Sheward.] Now whether thia story is true or false, its tragic character is scarcely the less. The story is indeed wonderfully pathetic, presuming it to be false. A man of sensitive nerves shocked and unstrung by the frightful death of the woman he loved, brooding for years over the event, and dwelling on all its circumstances of horror till they link themselves in with his own personality, and gradually the horrible persuasion steals over him that he Is the murderer—the history of mental alienation has nothilJg more tcnible to show. But while this wretched man has been bearing about with him his burning secret, and trying to escape from the mark of Cain he had writren on his own forehead, an event the very con- verse of his experience has happened in the west of England. Last August a navvy was found murdtred in a field near Wells, and two men and a woman were arrested on suspicion. One of the men, Bisgrove, was found bending over the murdered man, and the other man, Sweet, and his paramour, Elizabeth Drew, were known to have been in Bisgrove's company both before and after the murder. At the trial Drew, who had turned Queen's evidence, was thought to favour Sweet, as her evidence inculpated him, but threw the actual murder on Bisgrove. The theory which fuulJd accQptance with the public, anti, indeed, with all intelligent persons who studied the case, was that Sweet was the murderer, and Bisgrove an accessory, but that the woman Drew wished to shelter the man with whom she had lived Both men were convicted, and sentenced to death. A few days after their conviction Bisgrove confessed to the murder, and declared that Sweet was not only innocent, but knew nothing about it. BIsglove 8 confession tallies so entlreJy with Drew's evidence that it is universally believed to he true. and that Sweet is entirely innocent of the crime for which he has been tried, convicted, and condemned to die. Yet Sweet's own conduct on the night in question laid him open to just suspicion. lie had quarrelled with Bisgrove about Drew. On that night she had played ooquette and favoured Bisgrove, and Sweet had wandered about all night in a restless angry mood, anu had even given vent to his passion in an exclama- tion that he should murder somebody For a long time he sat on the stile in the very field where the murder had been committed, and when asked to give an account »>f hImself by the police, he told different stories of his whereabouts and doings. At the trial all these things told severally against him, alld he must have seen with horror that his own actions-his passion, irresolution and falsehood—had woven a web around him from which it was impoSSIble to escape. He had in fact woven falsehood into a halter for his own neck, and would have ùeen hanged by it had not Bisgrove's confession cut the cords. It would be interesting to clmtrast the feelings of men in the circumstances of Sheward and Sweet. It is hard to say which situation Ie the worse, that of a man who falsely ùe- lieves himself guilty of murder, or that of one who has been falsely accused and condemned. In the one there is the consciousness of innocence adding a pang to the certainty that everybody around liim bdieves him to be guilty-in the other there is the secret persuasion of Ius guilt making the smile of friends sharper than a dagger, and the confidence and trust of the public seem like the mockery of Ids despair. The one lives In perpetual fear of being found out-the other ill perpetllal hope that something may occur to demonstrate his innocence. In the one man a tap on the shoulder in the st! eet, a sudden exclamation, a searching look from a policeman overwhelms him with the fear that the munler is out in the other man a smile on the warder's face liS he comes to his cell, or a nn re than usual quickness of step as he approaches it, causes a niidden hope to flash up that his innocence is appearing at last. In onc thing the two men differ, and the difference is ill favour of the man who is unjustly condemned. He knows himself to be innocent, and never entirely ceases to hope that the world will know it too. lie can talk about the whole question withsympathi.iug fr.ends, and umbosom himself to th«m an,1 wli- n he has got over the bitterness of death, he may auticipate with SOBle satisfacthm that justice will he done to his memory. The self-accuser 011 the con- trary, l'lIres not tell his secret till it has become too heavy to be borne. He has to go through all the worst of the real Jl1urden'r's experience, lie rehearses in his imagination the whole scene of the trial and the execution, till he has pro- bably suffered all the bitterness uf death over and over again. At length he confesses, and it is with a sense of relief that he finds the murder to be out, and his frightful secret to be in the possession of the world From that time, too, may date his cure. He finds that justice simply demon- strates his innocence to the world, and he probably learns to believe im that innocence himself. And both men when they have C"llle through s'lch a storm and tempest of calamity probably look back on it as II nightmare or a dream.

DREADFUL MURDER IN TIPPERARY. On the last day of the old year Mr. Baker, a gentleman in the prime of life, son of the Rev. George Cole Baker, owne of the Ballydavid estate, near the village of Banslia, Tipperary, whilst walking in the grounds, was shot through the head. The facts are of a remarkable character, as the following outline will show :— The Rev. Mr. Baker, now an old man, resides in Ballydavid House, near Bansha. A few years ago he settled upon his son an income of JB300 a year during his (the father's) lifetime and to secure this to him he let him a portion of the Ballydavid property at such a rent as would ensure him the stipulated income. Mr. Baker, jun., married soon afterwards his cousin, and with her resided at Ballydavid Wood House. His portion of the property has been to a considerable extent occupied by small farmers without leases; and, the land being good and well cultivated, the tenants have, considering the extent of their holdings, been well to do. Amongst the tenants are two brothers, named Thomas and William Dwyer, who hold contiguous farms; the former having only twelve acres from Mr. Baker, with a few acres from some adjoining proprietor, and the other having a larger farm of forty acres. The two brothers appear to have had frequent quarrels about trifling matters, and amongst these causes of disagree- ment was an alleged right of way which Thomas claimed through a boreen on William's farm. Repeated efforts had been made by Mr. Baker and his father to ter- minate these petty disputes, and it was suggested to Thomas by his landlord that he had better make a pas- sage for himself through his own land to the high road but this he refused to do. It is said that in conse- quence of this obstinacy and wrongheadedness of Thomas Dwyer, Mr. Baker determined to eject him; a notice of ejectment was served upon him, which stood for trial at the Cashel quarter sessions for Monday, the 4th inst. More than once since service was effected on him Thomas Dwyer has called on the late Mr. Baker and pleaded with him to withdraw the writ. On Wednes- day 'morning, the day prior to the murder, he had a private conversation with the deceased. These cir- cumstances have all combined to attach suspicion to Dwyer, who is at present in custody. It appears from the evidence given at the inquest, that the late Mr. Baker was a gentleman of early habits, and was known to walk out every morning, from his own house in Ballydavid Wood to that of his father, a couple of miles distant. Ballydavid Wood House is situate within the verge of a wood v hich partly occupies the valley, and runs up a good part of the side cf the nearest mountain. The locality is extremely interest- ing, and rather difficult to penetrate. A long tortuous avenue leads from the high road near the Ballydavid police station, between high hedges, partly through the road, to the house. Down this avenue Mr. Baker was crossing on Thursday morning when he re- ceived his death wound. He left the house about half- past six o'clock, and was never seen alive afterwards. A woman named Jane Rearden, who does domestic work at the police station, hyes in the immediate neighbourhood of Mr. Baker's house. About a quarter to seven o'clock that morning, when in bed, she heard two shots fired in rapid succession. She did not, how. ever, attach any importance to the circumstance, and in a few minutes afterwards dressed herself and came out, intending to go to the police barrack to begin her work. She had through Mr. Baker's back-yard to get to the barr?ck and when she reached the gate leading out ont he avenue she found Mr. Baker lying dead on the path, over which his blood and brains were scattered extenllively, while his head was fear- fully crushed and disfigured- At a little distance was his hat (a round felt), which, on examination, was found much broken, with a hole, as if occasioned by a small bullet or slug, throqgh the brim, close to the body of the hat. She at once raised an alarm. The remains of the murdered gentleman were conveyed in- doors, and the most heartrending distress was occa- sioned to his amiable lady and young family. The police, on being informed of the outrage, scoured the wood and surrounding country with much prompti- tude and activity, parties being sent, in different directions. The conclusion arrived at wládl bore most appearance of probability was that the assassin or assassins concealed themselves in an angle formed by two intersecting hedges on the left hand of the avenue, and resting the gun upon the ditch, which is there about five feet high, tired at the unhappy gentle- man as he came down the path. It IS concluded that he must have been much beaten about the head when down, to account for the after appearances and that a convenient retreat was then open for his assailant or assailants through the wood, up the mountain. Con- stable Purceli and party went at once to the house of Thomas Dwyer, and there arrested his eldest son, also named Thomas. The father was then absent and it was ascertained that he slept at Bansha the preceding night, and was seen in the town of Tipperary early on Thursday. All the members of his family were brought to the Ballydavid station for examination; and on the way the old man was met near the river, crossing the fields from the direction of Tipperary. He was at once -t-aken into custody ancfconveÿedwiihthe others to the police-station. The inquiry before the coroner took place on Friday, but no evidence was adduced tending directly to the inculpation of anyone, and the jury returned a verdict of Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown.

The reporter of the Cork Examiner, writing irom Bansha on Thursday night, saj s :— The melancholy occurrence has excited mingled feelings. Those residing in the immediate neighbourhood, who knew the mU1.tlered gentleman and esteemed his good qualities, feel indignant at the outra"2e; but in more remote localities, even in the adja0ent town of Tipperary, the first announce- ment of the murder was received by many with an expression of satisfaction at the doom of '■ another tyrant landlord." One circumstance which has pointed suspicion toward Thon.las Dwyer as the probable assassin is that he visited Mr. Baker yesterrlay, with the object of inducing him to withdraw the ejectment, but failed in doing so. The elder prisoner has a son and daugher in America, and has two sons iuid three daughters at home. S othing was found upon either of the prisoners-who are peasants of ordinary appearance-or in their house to oceate additional suspicion against them.

It appears that a letter signed :iller," appeared in the Tipperary Free Press of the 22nd ult., attackmg the Baker family. The letter stated that Christmas was being made an unhappy one from the operation of the blood-stained laws of Ireland :— The Bakers are Oùt on' strike joke is a grim one, but it i8 true Eject processes, the dread of the tenants-at- will, are coming into operation at the suit of Mr. George Cole Baker, J.P., of Ballydavid. A tenant named Thomas Dwyer, paying £ 25 per annum rent, has been served with such Il document. His rent was increased 5s. per acre last November, but sooner than quit tin old home in which his father and grandfather were born he agreed to pay the ad- vance. The rent was paid up in full, Dwyer being an honest and industrious man, as are his wife and children and at the next Ca8hel Quarter Sessions the presiding justices will he asked, and must, doubtless, issue the de0ree, to hurl himself and his family out on the highway-in point of fact, to ruin him and his according to law. Since the 8ervice was effected on him, Dwyer wellt to Mr. Baker, and asked him in God's name what he meant by such a proceeding his home the home of his fathers he was a goon. tenant; had paid his rent; wowd do anything to please his honour in vain. 'Twas as if addressed to the shrieking wind. Dwyer must leave his homestead. This following suit to the work of a few years pr'st, when several respectahle families were sent forth to wander from this estate. The maimer in which Jehn Keatinge was improved off the property, from his home to II cabin, and from that to the roadside-the maddened man cut his throat, recovered, alld is since a lunatic. But then-he was only a tenant farmer. The Rev. Mr. Baker now farms the land, with that adjoining from which the widow was I evicted—a solvent tenant who paid £ 3 per acre. The Rev. Mr. Baker is a Protestant clergyman, his son a Justice of the Peace-Church and State-God help m.-Yours truly,

THE BISHOP OF LONDON AND THE REV. A. H. MACKONOCHIE. Dr. Tait has addressed the following letter to the Rev. Mr. Mackonochie on the judgment recently given respecting the ritualistic services at St. Alban's Church, tlolborn :— My dear Mr. :\fackonochie,-I have received from the Privy Council Office !1 copy of the judgment which has now with authority explained the law on the various points of ritual observance in the service at St. Alban's, Holborn, re- specting which there has been so much contention. I expect tl1at this will he the la8t day of my tenure of the see of Lon- don, otherWIse I should have invited you, at a personal inter- view, to arrange wIth me what is the best mode of giving effect to such changes in your service as will at once bring it into conformity with the simplicity enjoined by the rubric, and at the same tIme be the least distasteful to a congrega- tion like yours, which has become accustomed to a forn of worship more ornate than it is now ascertained the law of the Church has sanctioned. Probably before you receive formal notification of what is now required of you through the proper omcers of the Bishop's or Archbishop's Court I shall have ceased to be your diocesan. But I will take upon myself, as my last act in that capacity, to advise you and all others of the London clergy who may now feel themaelves placed in a difficulty hy their having conscientiously, though 1 believe unwisely, thought it their duty hitherto to act against the advice and judgment, 1 helieve 1 may say, of all the bishops, in introducing novelties of won hip, to do now whllt I am sure all true Cht:rch principles must 8uggest -VlZ.. to take counsel with those directly set over them in the Lord as to the mode in which their services are henceforth to he conducted, in conformity with the ascer- tainedlaw of the Church. Some weeks must elapse be/ore my successor has entered fully on the duties of his office, but I can have no doubt he wíl1 he rcady to give you his beet advice at once, and to approach the subject of your present difficulties with that same appreciation of your devotedness and zeal which I have ever myself entertained. You are quite at liberty to make any use you please of this letter, which T shall myself make public.-Believe me to remain, yours faithfully, • A. C. LONl>ON. Ilev. A. lJ. Mackonochie.

0 YE REND, GURNEY, & CO. (LIMITED). The TillLC8 (in a leader) considers it beyond doubt that the mode in which the shareholders in this com- pany were induced to accept and even pay a heavy price for liabilities 1ike thoie of the firm whose business they bought was most discreditable to the character of those of the directors of the company who had heen partners in the firm, and to the judgment and discretion, at any rate, of the rest. To attempt to win such advantages at the cost of it pecuniary risk to strangers without first obtaining their consent to the hazard is what in equity is called a fmud. But there is a wide interval between 11, fraud in the view of the Court of Chancer}7 and a fraud which subjects the wrongdoer to penal comequenees at law. In the one case it is generally enough that the acts are of a certain character in the other the circumstances must be supplemented by proof of a wrongful intention. The Rouse of Lords have expressed their opinion that the representations by whieh shareholders were pro- cured for this company Were fraudulent in the same Rense in which it is fraudulent for a guardian to llllr- chase his ward's estate. But the criminal charge will hardly succeed unless .it can be established that the directors themselws knew they were inveiglIng the shareholders into an undertaking which was then insol vent. The absence of adefJuate motive in those of the directors who were not members of the old firm, hut between whom and the latter 110 distinction is made, for imperilliIJg their credit in an enterprise sn desperate on the face of it as the prosecutor represents it, is a grave objection to this point of vjew. Whether and how it can be got over remains to be seen.

THE SECRETARY OF WAR ON THE LATE MINISTRY. The Right Ron. Edward Cardwell. M.P., Secretary of War, in a speech at Oxford on Friday night last, on the occasion of the Druids' annual dinner, Raid :— The last change which has taken place is dne not to the party with which I have the honour to be connected, hut to our opponents in the Senate, and in Dl.y opnnon, in some re>pects, this has been attended with solId advantage to the country. 1 will not pretend that I can altogether congratu- late them on the result, because if the object was, as we were told, to turu a minority into a majority, the result has not been exactly correspondent with the expec- tations. •' With regard to the mode in which it was done, 1 shall only say this, that it appears tc me that, finding that they could not bring the majority to their opinions they thought the best course would be to carry their OpllllOns to the majority. l'hat reminds me of an argument that Shakespeare puts into the mouth of one of his characters. When. speakillg of opinion. he says, Opinion oh a plague of opinion a man may wear that on either side, like a leathern However, I am willillg to leave them to settle the matter to their own satisfaction, and wIll proceed to say why I think the effect of the course which they pursued has been in some re8ped very advantageous to the country. If we had endeavoured further to carry a iarRe measure of that kind, I believe it wonld eventually have been carried because my opinion is that you might as well re81st the law of !Zravital ion, or try to stop the rise of the tide, as to attempt to offer a steady resistance to that tendency of modern times, which is uow making, wherever education and know- ledge are diffused, the whole community more and more the arbiter of its destinies. But tIns, I say, that It ill most fortunate that this great change has taken place without a senre struggle, and that now, when the contest .is over, alT parties combine, without any vamful recollections or any remembrance of conflict, and can all co-operate together in the new phase of the institutions of the country, on which we are about to euter with one Slllcere and hannonious deiire to make them work for the general benefit of the whole people, and that we can do that in such a way that there shall be no distinction between those who have been added to the constituency ami tho!e who possessed the franchise before, but that the whole body of the Knglish people shall consent to a trihuhal of appeal to which all questions con- cerning their welfare may he referred. The Infant Hercules (the right hon. gentleman continued) strangled a serpent in his cradle, but the new parhament has gone further, for it has effected a change of govern- ment even before it came into existence, and before the roll of its members was complete. My individual opIlllon IS that that change was highly creditable to those who pre- ceded us in otnce. I think they took the patriotic part III the course which they adopted. If they had done other- wise, what would have been the win sequence? We should probably have had several days' debate. We should all of us have said as much as we meant, and probably some of us might have said more than we meant, or ought to have said. My opinion is that the reputation of public men on both sides of the House is the common property of the country that we are all interested ill maintaining it at the highest point, and that thHe is no worse occupation in which we can be engaged and in which we exhibit less to our satisfac- tion than when we are engaged in party debates, and one party is striving against the other in regard to particular measures.

BANKRUPTS IN THE CIVIL SERVICE. The following is the text of the Treasury Minute, relating to Bankruptcy ami Insolvency in the Civil Service :— The attention of this Board has been frequently given to cases of bankruptcy and insolvency ou the part of persons holding offices in the puhlic service, and likewise to a prac- tice which has been found to prevail, to some extent, anions clerks ami others, of putting their names on what are called accommodation hills, and then Retting themselves involved in the pecuniary difficulties of others. My Lords have reason to believe that there are persons, discounters of bills, who, taking advantage of the inex- perience of young men, usually whtn they first enter into the puhlJC service, aud inducing them to put their names 011 bills, supply them with money at exorbitant rates of interest, in the expectation that, by threats of the exposure and cifli- sequent dismissal of these young men, their parents or other relatives may be induced to discharge the8e exorbitant de- mands. It has heen the anxious desire of every department In Lhe State of late years, and Parliament has liberally co- operated, to raise the Civil servants of the Crown in etficiency and general estimation hut it is obvious that all efforts 011 the part of Government or the heads of Departments to raise the standard of the Civil Service must he to a g' eat extent tlllsuccesslul so long as members of the service thus allow themselves to be involved in pecuniary difficulties and to hecome the victims of Wiuriolls money-lenders. •' It is unnecessary for my Lords to point out that this per- nicious practice must be destructive of those feelings of honour aud flldependence which my Lorlls arc happy to state are, and their Lordships trust will lie ¿t! ways, c11H ractcrÜ,tÍt.: ( of all dasses pf Her Majesty's Civil servants. Tile young, Illan who puts Ids llame UpOIl a Bill for a bwn of money, suffering a discount which sometillu's amounts, as my tm:ds are informed, to 50 or even (jO per cent must necessarily lose nll feeliugs of indepelldellce 1111,1 self-respect he he- comes the llliserahle dependent of the Wiure" who has minis- < tered to his extravagance; his <:ourse must ùe downwards, and lw tou frequently resurts tu the meanness of an UII- truth, in the hope.of concealing his indiscretion or extra va- gance. Very painful instances have occurred, m which, from these causes, my Lords have been obliged to dismiss from the Civil Service of Her Majesty gentlemen whose ahilities and attainments might have raised thcm to high positions. But the practices referred to lead to further and serious pnlilic inconvenience; not only does the general character of the service suffer materially, hut the valuc o{ the indi- vidual utiieer JS !Jeces3aflly deteriorated by the position in which he IS placed ill consetjuence of such improvident habits. .As observed in a Minute of the Board of Stamps and Taxes, dated the 23rd of June, 1842, an efficient performance of his official duty IS not to be expected from any person in- volved in pecuniary difficulties, as the time and thoughts of such a person, instead of being engaged in his otlicial busi- ness, must necessariîy be occupied in constant efforts to meet the exigencies of the day and further, it is highly inexpedient that any officer in such circumstances should be placed in a position of trust.' Not unfrequently the pecuniary embarrassment of an employe in the public service is the cause of absence from his duties, either with the view of avoiding the importunity of his creditors or of obtaining protection under the Bank- ruptcy Act. And where such protection is accorded, inde- pendently of the inconvenience and discredit to the service, as is well observed in a Minute of the Board of Customs of the 9th of April, 1846, the officer is placed by this course 1Il a very difficult position, as it generally happens that upon the final discharge of the party the Court orders a portion of his salary to be appropriated to the liquidation of his debts, varying in amount according to the circumstances of each case. By this course the public service is damaged. The officer upon his return to duty is called upon to act, very probably in a responsible situation, with diminished salary, disproportional to the value of the service required of him, and with a character in some manner impaired. It is the firm determination of the Board of Treasury to adopt every means within their Lordships' power for cor- recting such evils as these in the public service, and with this object my Lords have caused to be prepared, for the guidance of the Departments subordinate to this Board, the accompanying rules, founded upon those which have been long in existence in the Revenue establishments and in the Audit Department. Their Lordships desire that these rules may be transmitted to all public departments, in the hope that, by an uniform course of action in such cases by the heads of offices, an effectual check may be ploeed upon the practices referred to. My Lords, however, appeal with confidence not only to the heads of departments and gentlemen of experience and position in the Civil Service, but to the junior members of the service themselves, to co-operate with them in repressing the evils to which they have referred. Appointments in the Civil Service, at the very outset, are now made the reward of merit. Promotion by merit is the establishel1 rule in the service, and to every young man who becomes the servant of the Crown in the Civil Service a way is open to independence and even eminence. But my Lords are desirous of impressing upon the mem- bers of the Civil Service that, in proportion as these advan- tages are increased, in the same degree does it become imperative as a duty. and one which my Lords on their part are, to the utmost of their power, resolved to discharge, to maintain rigidly the moral standard of the service and the independent position of its members. My lords are fully aware that there are cases in which pecuniary embarrassments are the result of causes beyond control. A gentleman in the Civil Service with a small salary may unavoidably fall into difficulties from sickness in his family (,1' from other similar causes there can be no discredit in such CRses, and there will be found nu indisposi- tion to treat, them with the consideration they deserve. The rules which my Lords, would tnforce and recommend for general observance are as follows ;— "1. That it is to be understood that serious pecuniary em- barrassment, from whatever CRuse, must be regarded as a circumstance which necessarily has the effect of impairing the efficiency of a puhlic servant, and of rendering him less valuable than he would otherwise be. 2. That sl1ch embarrassment, if occasioned by impru- dence or other reprehensible cause, wHI be held to be an offence, as affecting the respeetahility of the service and the trustworthiness.of the individual; any person who has so conducted himself will be considered to have forfeited that honourable position iu. tàe service which is necessary to give him Ii claim tp promotion or increase of salary from length ot service and these henefits will not he permitted to accrue to him again until he shall have reliend himself from the discredit of such a position. Aggravated cases of this description will be noticed whenever they become known; and such measures will be taken, either in the manner above adverted to or in a maimer more summary and severe, as the circumstances may appear to deserve. "11. That the mere fact, under whatever plea, of becoming 1\ party to accommodation hills, whether for his own pur- poses or for another person, and whether resulting in pecuniary embarrassment or not, will subject a Civil servant to the consequences described in the preceding paragraph. 4. That in the event of any Civil servant being arrested or being adjudicated a bankrupt, or entering into a com- position with his creditors under the Bankruptcy Act, he will, on the fact being known, be suspended from duty and salary, and will not be reinstated unless, after examination 01 the facts and of the schedule prepared by the Court, it shall appear that his difficulties have been occasioned by un- avoidable misfortune, and not by extravagance or culpable improvidence, or unless the case shall be characterised by previous circumstanccs of extenuation. 5. That any person who shall not immediately, on his being arrested, or proceedings heing- taken with a vitow to bankruptcy, inform the head of his department of the fact, shan, upon its becoming known, be removed from the service without any expectation of being reinstated."

Commenting on the necessity for the above regulations, whkh will, ill the ewl, he of great advantage to those con- cerned, The Times says ;— These stringent and searching regulations would tell their own story. As good laws, according to the adage, always spring from bad manners, we should be com- pelled to believe that the members of the Civil Service must, as a body, have committed themselves to an extent suggesting and justifying the ordinances before us. That much, indeed, is plainly stated, nor is there any great difficulty in understanding the case. The Civil [Service, like the Universities and the Army, has temptations of its own. Its members at the out- set of their careers are young and inexperienced they are in a position admitting of some social pretensions, they are exposed to the contagion of example and to the influence of a tone given probably by the richer or less careful section of the community, and they are beset, as we lately explained, by professed money- lenders on the look-out for prey. It is not, perhaps, surprising that, under such circumstances, the Service should have been infected by an epidemic of extrava- gance, or that the consequences should have become so notorious as to call for official intervention. Much the same thing might occur, and, indeed, has often occurred, in a regiment, a College, or other similar fraternity. One man encourages another in expensive- ness, till the habit becomes general, and each in turn endeavours to assist his comrade in meeting the diffi- culties which naturally ensue. If the reader remem- bers the novelist's story of the Irish Dragoon regiment, in which the officers had mutually accepted bills for each other until no new combination could be formed out of their four-and-iwenty names, he will be able to understand why the Treasury Minute should so dis- tinctly and peremptorily forbid this seductive but dangerous practice. The authorities, now that they are once stirred to action, have, it must be owned, gone to the very root of the evil without hesitation or remorse. That a member of a public service becoming bankrupt or in- solvent should expose himsclf to pen31ty is not un- reasonable, for it is, of course, beyond question that his value as a public servant must be more or less impaired by the exposure. But it bespeaks either un- sparing rigour or strong necessity when it is made penal to assist a friend, even within the limit, possibly, of available means. The Minute, indeed, is obviously intended to insure, as far as practicable, that no clerk in a public office shall ever get seriously into debt and it will have been observed that the most severe penalty of all is denounced against the clerk who, when threatened with the consequences of debt, shall not at once make a clean breast of his affairs for the information of his superiors. These are certainly hard rules, though it is clear they have been dictated by the exigencies of the case. We feel compelled, in fact. to infer that the character and efficiency of the whole Service was thought to be in danger. A set of young men in- fluenced by the style of living adopted and the tone pre- vailing in the profession, habitu tlly exceed their incomes, assist each other to stave oif the evil day by borrowing on joint security, tumble accordingly into the jaws of money-lenders, and, as an inevitable result finish by catastrophes and exposures reflecting no slight injury on the Service itself. That is the picture which the minute before us distinctly presents. It is rather hard upon an entire service to find itself gazetted in a mass, but if the Gazette had not pre- viously contained many a notification of individual extravagance we should never have seen the Minute of Tuesday. The scandal had already occurred, and this is the attempt at remedy. No doubt some ex- planation, if not apology, may be imaginedfor the facts. The Civil servants of the country are presumably gentlemen, and may, perhaps, be moving in a sphere of society where the expenditure would be considerably above the level of their salaries. We have seen, indeed, but recently how the members of this very Service found themselves compelled to resort to co- operative association for the sake of making both ends meet. Those proceedings indicated one effect of their position the habits condemned in the regulations before us indicate another. Men with certain social obligations, but small means, must either exert their wits in making every shilling go as far as possible, or drift into expenses which their means will not allow. The more wary and more experienced, will clubtogether to save money; the younger and more thoughtless will do the same to spend it. The metropolis, too, is a. place full of temptations, which must needs be resisted under some impulse or other. A certain proportion of men find the requisite motive in their own caution or sagacity to others it piust be supplied under the form of fear. That warn- ing has now been provided by the Treasury Minute. As far as ordinances can effect such a purpose, onr young Civil servants must henceforth either live with- in their means or resign their profession. They will hardly be able for the future to run into debt at all for debt with a slender income soon amounts to serious pecuniary embarrassment," and embarrassment of that character would, under the conditions now im- posed, speedily become fatal. Severe, however, as the regulations undoubtedly are, they are, perhaps, not on that account the less merci- ful. There is little cruelty in forbidding an embar- rassed man to resort to "accommodation bills, "for it is certain that the expedient would only help him to his end. We hope, indeed, that the new orders may indirectly tend to the discouragement of that calling which is in a great degree responsible for the evil now attacked, and that money-lenders, gradually deprived of custom, may find their chances lost and their occu- pation gone.

RITUALISM IN LONDON. On Sunday, the 3rd, at St. Paul's Church, Lorrimore- square, Walworth, of which the Rev. John Cromg, M.A., is incumbent, the Communion service, although strictly in accordance with the Liturgy of the Church of England as regards the prescribed prayers, was con- du aed in a manner which, perhaps, more closely resembled the external rites observed m the celebration of High Mass in Roman Catholic churches tnan any which has as yet marked Iutuaiistic services in the Established Church. Two practices, specially inter- dicted by the Privy C ouncil—those of using lights and of prostration or genwnection—were adopted, and, what added additional significance to the prcceedings was the fact that a sermon on behalf of the Curates' Aid Society was preached by the Rev. G. Abbott, the traveling secretary of that institution. Half an hour before the time of commencement of the service- jleven o dock—the church was crowded, the men and women present being separated. The altar, in the centre oi which was a brass crucifix, had all the ippearaiice of those in Roman Catholic churches at estival seasons. Two very tall wax candles were lit, six others beiug mllit, a1lli betweeu the candlesticks were placed vases tilled with real and artificial flowers. Against the walls, close to the altar, stood bannerets, one of which displayed, upon blue satin, a painting of the Virgin and Child, and another a cross, in red upon a blue ground, dotted with golden stars, and bearing this inscription-" Oh, Cross I more lovely than the s tars." Shortly after eleven o'clock a procession, headed by an acolyte carrying a cross, and consisting cf about twenty choristers and some half-dozen Church of England clergymen, issued from the vestry and slowly entered the chancel. The Rev. John Going, the incumbent, and his two curates, were apparelled in white moire-antique vestments richly embroidered in crimson and gold, and wore underneath them the dal- f matica and stole. Mr. Going, who acted as celebrant, and his curates, took up at the altar the positions words, And was incarnate lip the-Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made maTi," their action corre- sponding to the genuflection made at mass when, in the Tsicence Creed, the words "Et homo factus est" are uttered. Immediately after the Creed, the Rev. G. Abbott, who wore a surplice and white stole embroidered with gold crosses, preached from the 2nd chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, part of the 29th verse :— Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." Having made the sign of the cross, and referred to the festival of the circumcision of our Lord, Mr. Abbott spoke of the multiplication of what those present considered consistent worship wan prtte tised. Where formerly there was but one suchchurdi they could now count many, and in them the lieartsfct yejier-plc were bound together in a holy bond of Christian fellowship The past year had strengthened their position. They shnuli' remember that if a Church was to be strengthened II1 Hfls through persecution it should be done. They had not yet resisted unto blood, but it should not be forgotten that blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church. Let them remember the movement in which they were engaged had for its object the quickening of the Church—the putting of life into it—and that if this was to be done they must all suffer. They did not want a mere sensuous worship'to come to every week, and nothing more. If they would have their worship acceptable to God, and cany out what they had in view, they must suffer, and by the measure of their suffering they might count the measure of their success. Let them adopt the principle of non-resistance which had been the weapon of the saints. Let them give a passive resistance, for true it was, and true it always would be, that they who took up the sword perished by the sword. They might come to Church to cross themselves, to kneel and talk about religion, and all that might give them a name but the true circumcision was the circumcision of the heart. He attributed tlw shocking scenes witnessed in Lambeth and other parts of London to the want of money for the support of God's priests. After the sermon the service was proceeded with, incense being abundantly used at the offertory. The celebrant, facing the congregation, made the sign of the cross, upon them, anà there was a solemn pause and general bowing of heads at the words in the prayer for the Church Militant-" And we also bless Thy holy name for all Thy serrunts departed this life in Thy faith and fear." During the Prayer of Consecration the three Ministers bent over the altar, and at the words Take, eat--this is My body," the whole congregation bowed their heads. When the prayer was ended there were frequent genuflections by the clergymen before the altar; and as the celebrant elevated the bread, not quite on a level with his head, one of the choristers swung the thurible high in front of the altar, sending up a cloud of incense smoke. This was repeated at the consecration of the wine, and at the conclusion of the sendee Mr. Going gave a benediction, thrice making the sign of the cross upon the congregation. The service and sermon occupied two hours.

ALL SAIXTS" MARGARET-STREET. Notwithstanding the recent decision of the Privy Council in the St. Alban's case, and the letter of the late Bishop of London to Mr. Mackonochie comment- ing on it, it will be found that the extreme Ritualistic party are determined, in spite of the expressed law and of Ecclesiastical censure, to act in direct defiance of the highest Court of Appeal, and completely to ignore its judgmeut. These remarks are suggested by the sermon preached by the Rev. Upton n,ichards, at AU Saints', Margaret-street, at morning service last Sunday. The preacher took two passages of Scrip- ture for the text- -viz., Psalms exxxix., v. 21. 22, and 2 Corinthians, c. iv., v. 8, '.) and after having dwelt for a little space on the purely spiritual and religious aspects of the words, he proceeded to comment at greater length on the subject which he evidently felt most deeply, and which he called" a grevious blow dealt at the Church of God." Be reminded his hearers that 011 Christmas-day lIe had briefly infonned them of the disastrous tidings but to have dwelt at full length upon them then he felt would haw lwen desecratioll of a sacred festival. He alluded, he saili, to the recent decision of a tribunal which he particularly desired his hearers to remember was a tribunal not recognised or sanctioned by the Church, but which had by a most unjust decree upset the decision of the Church's own tribu- nal—the Court of Arches. The Privy Council, he remarked. was only a creature of Parliament, and it was not necessary that the men should be Churchmen or even Christians but they were or might be infidels, heretics, and unbelievers, lie drew the attention of his hearers to the state of lethargy in which the Church was steeped five-and-tliirty years ago, and contrasted that state with its present condition. Then it did not trouble itself or the world with religion, and the world was satisfied. Now religion is its all in all. It presses religious duties on the world's notice, and the world is in consequence displeased. Directly the Church, said the preacher, shakes herself from her deep sleep and becomes faithful to her Lord directly she rouses from the slumber in which she was sunk, and endeavours to arouse in others a sense of their duties, then we very soon find out that our lot here is, as our blessed Lord said it would be, to be reviled and hated, the objects of suspicion and obloquy. As long, he continued, as the Church is the friend of the rich, the companion of the edu- cated, and is polite to the middle-classes, without being intrusive, and shares the duties of the relieving-otficer and of the policeman towards the poor, the world lets her pass, and commends her for her wise spirit of tolerence. But now that the Church is in earnest it is persecuted it is in the condition of the words of St. Paul, "Troubled on every side and he doubted not that days of prosecution and persecution were in store, and that some would conceal their confession with their blood. He considered that the judgment of the Privy Council on one ¡)Oint-the lights on the altar-was an attack on oue of the ¡.creat Christian verities-one which he had always taught and ÍH- culcated in that church, and one which he would always teach—the doctrine of the rcal presenee The opponcnts of the revival of high religious thought and practices weie very ready with their objections to the symbols by which the Church strove to dignify the doctrines she taught. They called the symbols mummeries, the doctrines supersti- tious, the object priestcraft, and the end Ponery. The sig- Jlificance of altar lights is, as the eongregatio-i"well knew, that Christ is the light of the world. Where, asked Mr. Richards, i., any superstition is this ? But the worl.1 docs not like to he reminded of its duties and obligations, and, therefore it tries to stitle thl3 yoice of those who would re- mind it. Let not his hearers he cast down. The clay wO\,1.1 surely come, and come soon, when the doctrines of the Church would be triumphant. Though troubled on every side, yet were they not distressed perplexed, but not in despair persecuted, but not forsaken cast down, but not destroyed. The preacher concluded a very long- discourse by calling upon his people henceforth to let outward signs testily to the inward belief of their hearts. They knew he did. That, hitherto, he had discouraged rather than encouraged the use of extreme external signs of devotion. But this would now be so no longer. He hoped that in congregation would join with the rest of the faithful in kneeling in the Creed at the words "and was incarnate and was made man"; and in prostrating them- selves as in the words of the psalm—"let us worship and fall down during the prayer of consecration in the office of the holy eucliarist, and especially never to sit down, but to kneel or to stand, while our blessed Lord lies on the altar. Jio one, he said. would think of sitting in the presence of the Queen, how much more should one be reverent in the presence of the King of Kings ? He wound up by requesting the subscriptions of the congregation at this crisis to aid the services of the church, although his practice on the first Sunday of the year was usually to ask them in behalf of some charity. At the celebration after the sermon, the candles on the altar were lighted, and remained so during the service. Prostrations and genuflexions as desired were aho performed.

AN AMERICAX PRIZE FIGHT.—Abe Hicken. of Philadelphia, and Pete M'Guirc, of Peekskill, X. Y., two well-known roughs, had a prize fight for 1,000 dollars a side in the vicinity of Stump's wood, on the line of the railroad, near Perrvville, two days before Christmas day. After five rounds, Hicken broke M 'Guire's jaw and gained the fight. A large crowd of sporting men and roughs from Philadelphia and New York, with the principals, were on board a special train, which passed through Washington, and remained on the ground until the affair was oyer.

THE MARKETS. M ARK-LA N lv —M ONDAY. From Essex and Kent the receipts of wheat were limited. There was a fair attendance of millers, and the trade was firm for both red and white parcels. Factors held out for more money, and the transactions effected were at an advance of from Is. to 2s. per quarter. With foreign wheat the market was fairly supplied. The business doing was not of an extensive character: never- theless, the Russian qualities commanded an improve- ment of Is. per qr., and the value of other descriptions was well maintained. Floating cargoes of wheat were firm, on former terms. The market was fairly supplied with barley, chiefly foreign produce. The inquiry ruled steady, and prices were Is. per qr. higher. :\1 alt was in moderate request, at late rates. In oats a fair average business was passing, at 3d. to 6d. per qr. more meney. The supply was short. Beans were quiet, at late currencies. For peas the demand was inactive, but prices showed no change. In flour amoderate business was passing atprevious quotations. Linseed and rapeseed moved off slowly. Most agricultural seeds were quiet but firm in value. Cakes were inactive. METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET.—MONDAY. There were fair average supplies of foreign stock en sale here to-day, tor which the demand ruled tokraUy active, at mst Mondays prices. From our own grazing districts the arrivals were seasonably extensive, and the condition of the beasts, on the whole, showed decided improvement. The trade ruled steady, but scarcely so active as on Monday last, and no quotable change took place in values. best Scots and crosses realised f«s. fid. per 81b. From Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, and Northamptonshire we received about 1,550 short-horns Arc., from other parts of England about 6;,0 of various breeds from Scotland ;.18 ex- cellent Scots and crosses; and from Ireland about 12,1 oxen &c. We were moderately supplied with sheep, and there were some very good aniinals on sale. Tne demand for:lll breeds ruled somewhat inactive, ami the quotations were with difficulty maintained. The extreme price for best Downs and lialf-breds was os. 6d. per Sib. The calf trade was steady, at our quotations. POTATOES. The receipts of potatoes have somewhat fallen (M, but they are quite equal to the demand. rices h:1Ve shown no change. The imports into London last week consisted of 131 packnges oir> sacks 174 bags from Antwerp, 100 sacks .;0 bags from lionlogne, 1.280 sacks from Dunkirk, and 1,402 hags from Kouen. English Regents, 60s. t' Flukes, Ms. to 150s.; ^roter- Regents tn Krone!} 4 U. .»>!) nors. Tlw market has continued quiet. Business has bee1l con- fined to lie puu'hase of a few paie-els of tine grades, lor which full prices have luvn paid. Medium and inferior qualities havn commanded little attention. wool. In colonial wool a moderate hut hy 110 menns extensive hUoiness has been doing, and prices have bccn supported. English wool has been firm in value, with a quiet demand. The imports into London last week consisted of :>)(;0 bales from Melbourne, l,;iS9 from Sydney, and 105 from Mew Zealand. Current prices of English wool .Fleeces Soutluiown hoggets, JR. Sd. to Is. 4d. half-breds. Is 4d. to Is. fid. Kent fleeces. Is. 4:)11 to Is. 5.1.; Southdown ewes and.wethers. Is. 2Jd. to Is. Dtd. Leicester ditto, Is. 3d. to Is. S^d per llj Sorts.—Clothing, Is. 2d. to Is. 7d. comb- ing, Is. Od. to Ip. 6d. per lb. TALLOW. The market has ruled dall, at drooping currencies P. Y.C. on the spot is now quokd at 48s. Town tallow 49s. 9d net cash.