The Aberystwith Observer

JUSTICE TO THE WORKING CLASSES. T 'nea P011 '1 011 If- C. has written two letters to fin. me.si on the question as to what t.he working in' jfes.m^ht lightly claim from the Legislature, and I'* I'^Howiiitc letter he proposes to carry the research a 11 tie farther/ He say." fit h <1,c. Prcscnt moment the authority in Kntfand is i!,y Yielded by the upper middle clasps. Jfthe jtower of tK06 talfen out of their hands, it will pass over the heads the lower middle classes, who are the Gallios of our Wn\e:y' ail(l win fall to or he seized by the nibses, by our "1!'K men and artisans. One need not coiiaust the A Imp i 'c/e of Ziidlviel or the Prophecies of Cummiug to fortell that -c struggle for tb.e next twenty years will !>e for supremacy t'hoiVeen tllcse two clas<:cs- .'Jerha]fs, without going out of fllrireaten tracks of observation, one might enunciate the h. _rproposition that it is a mere question of time when tbo ^V0I'^hig classes, with more or less despotism, will hold -■^nies of England, her prosperity and honour in their If this be so, it behoves us to consider, not only what the win i "lay claim as a right, but also what they erhi^lclcavon'' to claim as a right, and as a consequence to «t e }QV} a Jus'- perception of their true interests. hniPr*SL'n have many ambitious guides and patrons rpri?'!• /L cari>est; but most ot us are inclined to ivi -It wisdom and excellence of their lessons. ■SirVb ?srs' EradJaugh an(1 0<1 .<*«', Professor Leesley, and of thf-, v Mke fair representatives of the fair requirements iutr iifi, ieD'8' the lower classes desire or need train- rudinip f branches of haute 'politique, or in the more simple donifot- i °* decency, sobriety, education, and votinfr »C ^PPhiess ? Are they so thoroughly persuaded that ind"e?i "ah°t is a divine panacea? Do they really, and, Puhlip.' "ker after the gaily-painted fruits of atheism, re- Tl iUnsrn' cpmmunism, and revolution ? reiit\Te aie mar|y straws which seem to show that the cur- io gmii? Tl0^ S-e^ strongly in tnis direction. Even if it does, it ,vb]i niajority of common-sense individuals would think has pr. i stem such a stream with all the strength that God the "stiii '6(1 them with, and to divert the flowing tide into incit + channel of domestic legislation, instead of allow- Constih/•lnc^erm'ne tlie ro°t3 of an ancient and workable Bills Factory, mining, education, and Poor Law likely to promote the welfare of the •working hords ^al'ot Bills and the overthrow of the House of ^hat in ■+■ these classes require, what they will demand, or* ]'e«i iS-i\c-e' Puhli° opinion, and the strong arm will more have ^Vllllnk'ly concede sooner or later is, that, now they -~fhp> ii1100 a^e' they should step into their inheritance elements of civilised life in a Christian country. sanHo^ )iave not received this inheritance yet. Many thou- Woi-i- + wiliinjr-iKja.rteil and able-bodied men cannot get tbv'e -i? mul callno1 emigrate. To many thousands a "J s illness means a day's starvation for them and their L tlip3ianfl children. Education in the three R's was given Drm- lt last yeal'- and "P t0 the Present time no efficient OVP on hasbeen ma(ie toJProvent the manifold horrors of len™ l.llg in Pestilential courts. If any one, desirous to don °omethmgof the condition of our lower classes in Lon- trrei't \nis flth fhsmay from dry statistics he may, with l, a-u'?ntaKe to himself, run over the admirable pages of v-'01'k as EpUodet of an Obscure Lif e. C'hrilHS^mn^e what the elements of civilized life in a it n fi'e liM somewhat enlarged in our days, bin England says, even to the lowest of the low, We 'id ourselves to give you a night's lodging and prevent you "oni starving; we bind ourselves to commence the mental and, in some sense, the moral education of your children \Vili it not follow as a corollary that she will be compelled to add to the decent and respectable artisan, "We bind our- selves to provide you with decent and respectable homes, and Lorni*i indecent and uuliealthy overcrowding fivttWy'-iV;04 this PauPerize the recipients ? No doubt at rea^fin Irl f,11 to do so. But, on the other hand, the main is be t the giving of charity demoralizes the recipient chariM-USC-Ti f rec'Pient accepts it not as his due, but as his »n' es n°t demoralize the public servant to get and T ril!n" He says,—"I get this yearly income be Ti, n°thingfor it, and I am not ashamed nor need sUltrm "u'aSalp. our present system of charity, which is not ate in <i-™ ls n°t so much indiscriminate as discrimin- is at ti,1'1^to the clever impostor who lives by his trade, thev r A !i"i° 0 t,ic demoralization of the poorer classes. If ley eouJd see that charity was equal-handed and clear- svaiiiot think there would arise so bitter a cry form fP?'uP?rlsh1ff- I do not think (hat charity assuming the Prolrm^ will do much harm—certainly will not do knockitw ff1?11- ,^vil ia hydra-lieaded, audit is well if, in is a 7 H heads, only one grows in its place. There iouMn ) i A' a^. costs it must be redressed. No shall ,.kii lla'cy°n c!ays will never come when soup kitchens v..»? a,way as a when there will be no need to say a fittin^T8^ i Kar' 'J1611 a working man shall seek in vain for liuf I i0.ndoi.i rookeiy to lodge himself and his belongings. W fi f W a"vlH the clouds m*y chance to hit a tree." something may be done. Two words to the political economist. It will pay to lodge our pigs, poultry, dogs, horses, workmen, and all other kfrM w civilized life, each in a manner suitable to their imt, i ) e Prest^e i'1 01,r stables and kennels over certain ten-iT1" Instincts of their tenants in order to improve their fubin61' the length of their life, their strength and iiealth- Pav -t' « ^encral usefulness to their masters. It will pay, if, as far as we can. we regulate the conditions of life wen f •0wer classes- ancl see also to their kennels. It is eni;0i1?)I>r jVe •t'le. hreed. It is not consistent with our slicini t i lle/t civilization" that the inmates of our towns niri ti Ve ailea'A shorter 4han the inmates of our villages, f ,lat' -when draughted into the Militia or Line, the work shnvi ,tornier' expressed mathematically in foot-pounds, hhouKl be so startiingly less than that of the latter. Our present system of neglecting the back-8lumsis worsethan a crime-it is a blunder." v'r'le two letters that yon, Sir have permitted me to send to >oai columns do not exhaust the subject. I fear, however, J have exhausted your patience, and will not trouble you 1 a 'bird letter on the French mistake ill Imperial times ° PT0yiding unlimited work with no definite limits of h wK f^,n />aris' c.,v with the future out-look of the Pca- to the exceedingly difficult question how unrv tj6 s1-UJlc:lelit work for all men able and willing to letter t ° y repiains for me to end as I began my first a cirmiovT i"" x ^°hody. If a society can be formed with first tnmnL«, wifh two definite objects—the to r'eLnilite l^rlr-fn iS1S'aturc to Pl evellt overcrowding and next to huv mf tifA^^T111^ more efficient manner; the iS ii' up the foul London courts and to introduce light, air, cleanliness, and the love of God inside them 1 £ 5 a'year Speak aS a should be most happy to give

JEWISH ENGLISHMEN. c^o^^n £ fCp•t?7iro"6 of last weelc, taking a review of the it represent i? r?.f(^'s J" tl>e Position of the community it piesents as English citizens :— ho?rs ,°.f trembling, almost agonizing sus- L j-i, v. rou»J1 which the nation has been passing m-V' -,OU?i e l)eril"us sickness of the first gentle- realm—the Jews, first of all Her f rini took the initiative in ofFering' | tioji,^yiei'i8 f-ur t-le strjcke» Prince. Their loyal affec- forth tl P.i°\ls mode of manifesting it have oalled th» 1 lt!i eut°gi8t.ic notice of the leading journal of passing •' ailt^ formed the subject of an eloquent ,,f \yrm a sermon wliich the chaplain of the Prince Oueerf s ^ecently preached in the presence of tlie 0f and her Royal daughter-in-law. In the majority pr- r,Rynagogu5s daily prayer was offered up for the -vr„„Ce| recovery. It was a Jewish gentleman—Sir of n^S- u"eOoro—who entertained the happy thought i i^lrio his brethren in the Holy Land to lift np their I Plications on the sacred soil for the English Prince *'• putting his idea into execution by the aid of the wonder-working telegraph, Asia echoed back the prisons of England in the hour of tribulation and trial, t here are two other events which occurred this year, and wh1;:h may be considered as strong evidence of the frank and free acceptance of Jews as citizens of this State by their fellow-countrymen, and of the thorough com- prehension of their national position by Jews. We refer to the adoption of Sir David Solomons' Bill by the Legislature a Bill admitting the claims of Jews to exceptional legislation by reason of their religious and to the nomination of Mr. Jessel to a Tlin-.1+v, Executive Government of the country, bond yea^ ^as *ia<^ its effect in cementing the bond, of national connexion between the Jews iov in a7l(^ .the State. In every national Irifvioh, eV,ery national danger, in every national nnr n<^ ?ational hope, we Jews of England bear p- V „0 are not only in England—we are of ./(■nVfr T.'?are n°t only English .Tews—we are J ewd1, En.rhshmen. It is our boast and our pleasure llrl J v;t' can claim and fulfil the duties of nerd sacrificing our Judaism, -without Ra„ e<5' rts. observances, without abandoning its f rj" c ct_ainis, its saored jirivileges, it» sacred hopes. he realization of those hopes lies in a far future— lv,1(ai)S a future not of the present social, worldly that future we mviat patiently await, fa.iti i Rtrivl"K to deserve it. But our love foi our a .l .es J1 °t- m any way check or weaken our love for 1& of our birth. Her interests are ours."

THE AMERICAN FOREST FIRES. i Settler," writing to the D<<ily N> ics, from Lin- e* ^ra:s^a: U-S., Dec. 3rd, has sent the following lcff1]111; narrative of a forest fire, and the desolation it reader — (:au scarcely be imagined by the English calaniitv t!!liP!eri3"re reading your able irticle on the account 4flhloh Ie<CI y ''efell Chicago, and also the laive y°U# of tlle F°''est tires which devastated Been -mv "S4^ M'ch^an and Wisconsin but I have not a no,, J^n r 0°, ,t 0 .rairie fire, which has swept over citv ii^+v. ° thi3 ^tatc, rivalling even the burning of the re It i! magnitude of the area over which it pursued its happy victims0 and in the peculiar helplessness of its un- Happy victims. On the 6th of October last, not long arrived in America from England, I entered my new home, just completed for me on a piece of railway land in Saline county, lying some seventy miles west of this city. The house, stable, and b?ra were built of "lumber," but in a substantial manner, with a view to permanency. One hundred tons of hay dfK I)a stilc,5 hard by the buildings. A valuable pair Etoi-^Ses^ere in stables. The house was comfortably Scrv„c'v -V family consisted of self and man and maid cieirm" „AroJmd the whole, without the dimmest sus- I'lie dnv ff' ^la<^ the usual lire-break, ploughed, take ri'i» „/(i,el' n,ly settlement mowers were to come to the sii'mmi e1nclosnro the rank, diy, standing grass wliich camcons, I1 Urown, and the frosts had killed. They to be doi'm nn ,ni°rnlng. I could not allow the work then About ti were to come again on Monday, a neighbour 'i^0 afteruoon of this same Sunday house! Hetohi 1 1 *lartl some miles, entered our to the' windward W VaR-l f\ve buvilinS, that it -was lie bid us take wllat smni? m lnevitabI-v be on ua very soon all liope of savins VtSf ^AirJgs we valued most, abandon creek, and look after outlives bui^^nfers» get oif to a near The dreadful herald ^ate one had scarcely time t^'Y t° PrePare others for their bewilderment caused bv the °'! ^'le of utter certain warnings arrived. AsheaV'V iU °ther and more aud borne far ahead of their cause iiv (i,r,Up 1)y tlle flames announced the coming fiery storm. Kii-at fT5' °I t,ie wlo<.l, solitary drojis of thunder rain, then thicker in? 1liku ljig Si.iii warm. Xowthe heaven darkened the i'„ as cr' then soutn-east quivered with crimson. The air became onnJ?.-the 1 hesw ift wind was as fire. In the direction from whicifthp hVe' 1 isolation was aPPi oaching uslay a low line of uis tVeTillsedartd ^the terrible sight. The out iieof niaiiv points th^e«n'' tlle ^youd brightened. Speedily at whole rni 'e was m e8 ^'I'tarcd along the tops then the r,„ Uv-i Kiro v111'0', i'ire rolled down its slopes like up towards the clouds" thg Wt /est there seemed to be t0 the Meanwhile we carried down to the i" Portmanteaus, some bed linen, atul blani-eta 'n°W ,f ? until it seemed as though we must catch from the ^nd l"" y ,»er; »' ST'SS^A SJSKS S J,» faintn i now 6eenl«d to be as nothing. The maid-servant« W e must (ihln-,lfc<'P in the stream my head seemed in flames water ||(;hoose now between death from lire or death froni (,f which 'IWIUI'g or suffocation seemed to be the alternative chose thp must make an choice. Instinct through thut JTaer How it happened that we survived owing to th miimtes 1 kll,AV 1"'t- fuel for the fi- £ fr,ce-less of the wind and the sparencss of *'efu''c, th»» terrifii1 ^!e ^mediate neighbourhood^ of our siiany I cannot sir lasted but a few seconds, how just lived throni?h ;tavf, trom the circumstancc that we Passed over. We lav on ti°l'gh 011 Iy Just- TIie, bul?nllS tQo exhausted and scorched banks of the creek fought But the «SSt0,ul t0 realise the ruhl itluul SAAS'^RRJ? £ & house, building and stack, were smouldering heaps of ashes. When the air had cooled, and the now seemingly bitter wind had revived us, we took iu at a glauee our lIew condition. From the devastation we turned to look at the foe. The night was coming on, and now, miles away to the north- east, raged the unabated fire. It pursued its onward march as an array in battle array—lines and columns of fire, moving with the precision of veteran regiments. Hero and there small detachments lingered in the rear of the main body to finish their work of vengeance. My case was not alone. Thousands must have suf- fered. The boundless prairie lay before the desolating tempest. Dry grass, long and rank, lay in its path like trains of gunpowder to the travelling spark. As we took our last heavy look at it, the misery of one's own lot was aggravated a hundredfold by the reflection that all night long, maybe all the next day, perhaps for nights and days to come, the fire would burn on, strewing its dreadful path with smouldering homesteads, ruined fami- lies, and human dead. Tidings since that night have con- firmed this painful surmise. Kre the lire left the scantily inhabited districts many lives were lost, and hundreds of I small farmers had lost their all. Possibly your readers may like to know something of this calamity, and, though late, this fragment may not be with- out interest.

THE SPEAKERSHIP AND THE LAW Few of our readers may be aware of the close con nection which once existed between the legal profession and the office of Speaker of the House of Commons (remarks the Solicitor's Journal). Down to the time of the Revolution it may be said that the Speakership was more often than uot held by a lawyer, and the reason for their selection is obvious they were in point of fact the only persons who were at all accustomed or able to deal with questions of form. An English country gentleman is now fully as competent in many cases as a professional man, but it would have been quite beyond the power of the majority of the squire3 of the Stuart period to have presided over the delibe- rations of the House of Commons. Indeed, even now legal qualifications would not be found .without their value. Without going back to times when parliament did not meet with regularity, wo find that m the reign of Henry VIII. there were eight Speakers, of whom five afterwards held the judicial office. Thus, in 1509, Sir Thomas Englefield was Speaker. He presided over the House until 1512; and some years later was created a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. In 1523 the great Sir Thomas More occupied the chair, and on his becoming Chancellor he was succeeded by Sir Thomas Audlev, who also in turn held the Great Seal. Audley was followed by Richard Kiel), Solicitor-General, and in the next reign Lord Keeper, liich's successor was Sir Ni- holas Hare, who was Master of the Kolls under Queen Mary. In Edward VI.'s rrig-n there were hut two Speak- ers, one of whom waR the famous Sir James wards (1559-1582) Chief Justice of the Court of Com- mon I'leas. Two out of the four Speakers of Queen Mary's Parliaments became Judges afterwards. The fh'fitwas Robert Brooke, member for London, who was Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1554- 1558 the second was William Cordell, Master of the Bolls from 1558 to 1581. Under Queen Elizabeth there were ten Speakers, of whom seven afterwards sat on the Bench. They are Christopher Wray, Chief Justice of England from 1574 to 1592 B-obert Bell, Chief Baron for a few months in 1577 John Popliam, Chief Justice of England from 1592 to 1607 John Puckering, Lord Keeper in 1592; the illustrious Coke, afterwards Chief Justice, first of the Common Pleas and then of the King's Bench Chris- topher Yelverton, afterwards a puisne Judge in the King's Bench and, lastly, John Croke, the famous reporter, Recorder, and representative of Lon¿¡on, and and Judge of the Court of Queen's Bench in the next reign. It is worth notice that Popham and Coke were advanced to the Speakership, like Rich, while Solicitors-General, and, like him held both offices con- temporaneously. It would be wearisome to continue to catalogue the names of all the Speakers in subsequent reigns, but it may be stated generally that nearly all of them lie- longed to the legal profession, and nearly all eventually attained to a seat on the judicial Bench. The rule as to choosing lawyers was naturally relaxed as the lay members of the House became better able to undertake the duties of the President's omce but up to the commencement of this century a professional man was occasionally selected. Tims, in 1770 and in 1774 Sir Flqtcher Norton, who had formerly been Solicitor and Attorney-General, was Speaker. The last practising barrister who filled the chair was Sir John Mitford (aftewards Lord Chancellor of Ireland with the title of Lord Redesdale), who was el ;ct.ed in 1801 while Attorney-General. In Mitford's case Mr. Glad- stone might have found a precedent for proposing, had he thought fit, Sir John Coleridge for election. Such a recurrence to ancient practice might perhaps have proved more agreeable to the House than the nomina- tion of the former Liberal Whip." Sir John Coler- idge, both by his abilities and bearing, would be well qualified for the Speaker's office. Probably, however, he would not have been willing to abandon the prac- tice of his profession.

AN ACTOR'S HAPPY THOUGHT. The following anecdote exhibits a late Emperor of Russia in a new character, as wen as records one of the most happy escapes from an awkward position tIJat ever was elfected by wit and presence of mind Some years ago there was a celebrated comic actor at St. Petersburg named Martinolf. He had the most extraordinary powers of imitation, and was so great a favourite with the public as sometimes to venture in- terpolations of his own, instead of following the advice of Hamlet" to his players, to speak no more than is set down for them." The Emperor had a high chamberlain, or a person filling a similar office, named Poloffsky. Whether for fun or malice, Martinoff, while performing, contrived to let fly some puns against this great man, which were very warmly received by the audience. The consequence was, as soon as the play was over, the actor found himself in the custody of a guard of soldiers, who took him to prison, where he wastoid he was to be confined for a fortnight. Not content with this, l'oloCslcy either told the Emperor himself, or; contrived that it should come to his ears, that the player had actually had the presumption to indulge in imitations of his Imperial Majesty. On his liberation, Martinoff went to court to pay his respects, as usual, and the Emperor toldhiin of the accusation, which he denied. "Well," said the Emperor, "if you ever did so, let me have an imitation of myself now, We know you can do it if you choose." This was an awkward and dangerous position for the poor actor, who felt he should get into trouble for either falling1 short of or ovardomg the character. But the autocrat was and there was no escape. Suddenly a bright thought struck Martinoff, and drawing himself up, he assumed the exact bearing and manner of the tnperor, and m a voice so like that it made every one present start, be said Poloffsky, give Martmoff a thousand silver roubles." Stop said the Emperor. IJiave heard quIte enough. The imitation is ad- mirable, but the entertainment promises to be too ex- pensive. Giv■- him the roubles, Polonsky and now mind, SIr, let this be the last time you mimic me here or elsewhere. It is, of course, unnecessary to say that Martinoff, who had expected nothing less than a journey to Siberia, was too glad to pocket the money and escape so easily.

A FAILURE. The of the Internationalists in New York which has caused so much sensation there, came oif on Sunday T>e-, 17Ha,l,Uv™non«n[or^than disappointment; writes the conespondent of 1 he Times, and who thus con- tmues :— There was but a small turn out, only about 2 000 persons being in line, while thorough order was main- tained. The composition of the processions was not of a character to impress the spectators very favourably. In the preliminary arrangement on the day before, the irrepressible George Francis Train appeared with a do- nation of 40 dols. towards the fund, his telegram ifrom yincinnati sending the money being signed by him as next I resident of the United States." In the rine appeared representatives of nearly every branch of political mountebankism known in this country, ihe procession formed at noon at Cooper Institute, vast numbers of spectators filling the streets through which it was to pass and also those in the neighbourhood of the Institute. At half-past two the line moved, a band at the head play- ing a dirge. Following them was a detachment of negro troops and then a body of women. In the front rank of the.ie were the female brokers, Mesdames Woodhull and Claffin, dressed in gaudy style, with broad crimson scarfs. The latter carried a banner wit)1 the inscription, Social and Political Equality for both Sexes." In this body was a number of French women, the red predominating in their decorations and the unusual sight of a band of women courage- ously tramping through the mud in solemn procession elicited boisterous cheering from the crowd. Then there were the Cuban insurgent junta, thinly represented, and following them a corps of drummers and the cata- falque. This bore three coffins and was drawn by six horses, a dozen refugees from Paris acting as pall bearers, among them M. Megy, ex-Commandant of Fort Issy, and M. Latour..Many persons uncovered their heads as the catafalque passed. Latour was dressed in the full uniform of a French General of Division, and carried the red flag with the inscrip- tion, Lihcrte, Ej<alite, Fratcrnite." Besides the Internationalist societies there were the French Legion," Painters' Union, Bricklayers' Union, and Cabinet-makers' Union also some Fenians, among them the refugee, Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa. The Communiste, Mrs. Frances Rose M'Kinley, rode in a carriage õf which there were several in the line. Among the banners promi- nently appeared that which was captured last Sunday when the procession was broken up by the police bear- ing the'motto, The spirit of the Commune expands as theaxc is laid on the neck's of its martyrs there were also other banners, two bearing the words The world is our country to do good our religion also A nd they had all things in common The procession marched ovcr the designated route, and thlin dispersed without the slightest attempt at disorder but the im- pression left has been such that it is quite improbable that any similar procession will again be seen in New York. The Legislature at its next Session will pro- bably prohibit Sunday parades altogether.

THE DEAN OF CARLISLE ON ENGLISH LOYALTY. On Sunday afternoon the Dean of Carlisle (Dr. Close) preached in the Cathedral upon the illness of the Prince of Wales. He believed the expression of national feeling in connection with the Prince's illness to be due to the uprising of indignant loyalty that had been insulted by republican insolence. lie be- lieved it was the response of British hearts to the squabbling politicians who came anp talked to us ahuut republics being better than monarchies. Men had been Koing about babblincr of treason and trash when this event happened, and evoked the remarkable expression of loyalty which had been witnessed. With what astonishment Frenchmen had viewed this universal sym- pathy. To the Frenchman, of all people, it was the most puzzling and perplexing, for he had seen so many re- publics and empires and kingdoms that his feelings of loyal sympathy had been shattered. If Frenchmen had been able to comprehend it, France would not have been what she is now. Under God, this British nation had, by the experience of a thousand years, learned the wisdom and goodness of those who had gone before. They were always willing to repair the old ship, to re- move the rotten beams, and putin better materials. They were not going to sink the ship, but make it float again over many a stormy sea, such as it had often weathered before. That was the secret of this universal feeling— a kind feeling, a loyal feeling, which had caused this country to rise majestic among nations. There was, moreover, a very great and peculiar phenomenon con- nected with that universal sympathy far more striking than all. Not only had a spirit of universal sympathy sprung up, but a spontaneous and marvellous spirit of prayer. Long before any published notice was taken, we heard of families and religious bodies meeting to- gether to pray for the Prince's life, and many a sweet prayer went up from the social altar. Pursuing this part of his subject further, the Dean attributed the recovery of the Prince entirely to the efficacy of the prayers of the people.

CIRCUS HORSES AND CIRCUS PEOPLE. From an interesting description of Circus Horses and Circus People"—one of the many pleasing sketches that so often appear in the Daily XC/I.'8-We take the followilJg ex- tracts, from which the reader will perceive that the "schoolmaster" must possess great patience and per- severance, whether directing reason or instinct :— No entertainment is more popular among us than an equestrian performance, and old and young take equal pleasure in the marvellous intelligence of a clever "trick" horse. Hnt for the most part we ac- cept and enjoy results witliouttroubling to inquire into the means by which the results were brought about. We note how curiously the "trick" horse is marked and spotted how cunningly he nibbles carrots off a plate while sitting at table on his lyum /lies, and how deftly he picks the ring-master's pocket of a handkerchief. Horses of rare and eccentric markings were first in- troduced into circus work by the elder Astley, and the demand is constantly on the increase. All over the country the leading circus proprietors have their agents who buy up at once any horse that may come under their notice with anything remarkable in its colour or markings. But the leading circus proprietors do not now wholly depend on their agents, but breed their own horses, and, by dint of experiments, haye reduceù the breeding of remarkably-marked horses to something like a regular system, in which the production of the desired markings can be depended on with something approaching assurance. At their stud farm at Tottenham the Messrs. Sanger, whose entertainments are now attracting crowds to the Agricultural-hall and to Astley's, breed a large proportion of their own horses. The trainers like the" green" horses to come to hand as two-year-olds. If they are mnch oldcr wilen ¡ put to learn their duties, they are found apt to sulk, less easy to teach, and prone to go off their food and lose condition. A two-year-old is more impressible, and. presently gets to take a pleasure in the lessons, and to manifest joy when brought into the training ring. Some horses, like some men, are stolid dunces, and can be taught nothing; their stupidity is unsurmountable. A costermonger, whose wife had thrashed him. was overheard consoling himself with the muttered reflection that he "wouldn't give a farden for a woman as hadn't a temper of her own." Circus trainers are of much the same opinion as regards horses patience and courage conquer the temper without breaking the spirit, and the animals with a temper" almost invariably develop the most intelligence. As soon as the youngster is mounted and lunged, his tuition in tricks commences. The trick schoolmaster must possess many gifts. His resolution must. be unquestionable, his patience not to be strained, his perseverance indomitable. He must have a qu'ek perception of individual equine idiosyncracy; and if his temper is not thoroughly under control, he may as well lay down the riding switch at once. It is a pro- fession sui generis, that of "trick" schoolmaster. The schoolmaster of the establishment already referred to is Mr. George Sanger; and the schoolmistress, MissTopsy," his daughter. The motto of the school is Kindness and perseverance." At every forward step, no matter how infinitesimal, the pupil is encouraged by being made much of and rewarded by afew pieces of car- rot which the schoolmaster always carries in his pocket. A good mutual understanding is very soon established, and the horse, if an intelligent animal, begins to divine with surprising alacrity what is desired of him. He must never be punished, else his nerve is weakened if he continues to make blunders, his instructor must just continue the practice in hand till time tells its tale, and the blunders are no longer perpetrated. But there must be no mistake about it—the instructor must be the master. If the horse turns sulky, the lesson must be persevered with till he comes out of his sulks. But if he is "good," as the children say, short and frequent les- sons are found to answer best—say, half an hour at a time, and perhaps eight or nine lessons in the day. The only excuse for striking a horse during its tuition is when lie rushes at the teacher with intent to savage him. In this case a sharp, hard cut over the nose is a salutary arguiiientuni ud cquum, and he generally takes the hint. Spectators of a scene in the circus often wonder how the horse has the intimation of what he is desired to do. The most careful watching may fail to detect the "cue," if one does not know what the cue is but, nevertheless, it is always given, and by it alone the horse, whose concentrated attention when in the ring upon its prompter is easily discernible, is directed in his performance. The professional phrase is "giving the office." In teaching, the "office" is given by touching the horse sharply on particular parts with a light slender wliip. Of course each instructor has "onices" special to himself, just as every short- hand writer has his own special contraction signs; but a great many offices are standard and general. For instance, the "office" for marching is to touch the horse sharply on the front part of the shoulder on the off or near side, according to the leg he is desired to march with. The "omce" for crawling is a touch under the belly; for lying down a tap below the knee, and so on. In teaching a compli- cated trick, such as the firing of a pistol, months are often expended, and then it may happen that the animal's fright at the sudden noise is insurmountable. But the horse has a remarkable memory. When a step in his instruction is once gained, it is never lost again. After ceasing for years to perform a trick, a circus horse retains the most vIvIdrecollectlOn of it, and if on the first few essays after resumption, he is a little awk- ward, he very soon gets quit of the rustiness, and is as expert as ever. About the age of three, the circus horse begins his training in the ring if he is a "trick horse after he has acquired some proficiency in tricks. But all "trick "horses are not" ring" horses, and compara- tively few "ring" horses are "trick" horses. The qualifications for each function differ in some respects. The trick horse must be an animal of int ellect, plenty of brain about him;" the ring horse may be of a more commonplace mental calibre if he has only steadiness nerve, andreasonable sagacity. The lessons for Some time consist merely iu walking round to enable the animal to_overcome the giddiness which affects men and horses alike on their first entry into the ring. Both are some- times found unable to conquer it, no matter after what practice. A giddy horse staggers and ends by rollin" over the edge of the ring. After the animal has felt. the ring," as it is called, the canterin" lessons begin. False cantering must be peremptorily checked. The horse is taught to strike off with the inner legs to whichever hand he is working. If he can- not be relied on to do this he is not safe, for a single round. The object is to get the horse to that slow, col- lected, equal >le canter which is an artificial pace' but indispensable for circus work. After the Artist mounts, which generally is within two months after the horse comes into the ring, some time elapses before the horse adapts himself to the lateral sway which comes from the heightened centre^ of gravity in the rider standing on a pad, instead of sitting on a saddle. In profes° sional phrase, the artist "rolls the horse," but the horse gradually acquires a compensatory style of carrying himself. With trick or with ring'horses the education by no means ceases with the period of apprenticeship. Their acquirements do not remain stationary after leaving school. On the contrary, the circus horse whenever he is out of his appren- ticeship, becomes an "improver," and continues so till the day comes when his work is done. Circus performers begin their training very early, being usually apprenticed to the work at the age of about seven or eight. Some are at it much younger. | Mr. John Sanger has a tiny mannikin of a son now riding at Astley's in an actcalledthe Morning Star," who is not yet a year and eight months old. The little ¡ chap absolutelj^rode before he could walk. The con- tinual gymnastic practice necessarily fetches up the muscles and develops the physique generally. Con- trary to the general impression, the" artists" of the e' circus find their profession remarkably healthy; and they are a long-lived race, performing often with all the vigour of youth at quite an advanced age. "Horse-riding" is by no means an unremunerative profession. General utility men get from £5 to flO a week clever men, without any claim to rank as stars, run up to near £ 20 and a star of magnitude often comts down on the treasury to the tune of £ 50 a week. Robinson, the great somersault rider, had £ 60 a week all the year round. Amanders, the Am- erican star, had a full half of Cooke's gross receipts at Vauxhall, averaging over jE60 per week, and notwith- standing, had to be sent home by subscription when his health gave way. It is te be feared that provident habits are not among the special virtues of the craft, but of late years there has been marked improvement in this respect.

DR. CUMMING'S RETROSPECT IN THE LIGHT OF PROPHECY. A discourse was delivered at the Scottish National Church, Crown-court, London, on .Monday night, by Camming, entitled "A Retrospect in the Light of Prophecy," and which is thus reported in the London Standard :— The rev. doctor chose for a text the verses in the 24th chap. Matthew and the 21st Luke, predicting great distress in the land, wars between nations, and signs in the sun, in the moon, and the stars, which were to herald Christ's coming, and quoted from the daily press at great length, to prove that these predictions were becoming historical facts. He said he did not believe this world was ever to come to an end. What was meant by the end of the world was the finishing up of the age of the dispensation the world was to be raised in temperature, an -merited .in beauty and fertility, and to become the loveliest element in the universe, without precedent, and with- out parallel in the history of the worlds that God has mads, and, therefore, to suppose that this world was ever to be annihilated was absurd and scientifically impossible. It was not given to us to know the exact day and hour of Christ's coming, but we might judge His proximate nearness or remoteness. Christ laid down a series of significant phenomena which are to pre- cede His coming some of which inelicate the nearness of the day and hour when Ho will come with power and great glory. About twenty years ago he (the doctor), stated that the times mentioned by Daniel, and also in the Apocalypse, so far as he could see the solution of a subject confessedly difficult, would expire in the year 1868, and that these who lived to that year would see, perhaps, these phenomena all upon a scale, and with a splendour, a majesty, and sublimity unprecedented. Some of his hearers said he was rash, whilst others whom be had conversed with since had ad- mitted that he was right. He had predicted that by 1SG8 the Papal apostacy should be broken—that the kings of Europe wlio for a thousand years had supported the Pope and been his champions and apologists, instead of assisting, encouraging, and defending him, would, in the language of the Apocalypse, eat and drink as with in fire, and the whole states of the kings of Europe would be revolutionised. In 1SGS—the very year-the Pope summoned a (Ecumenical Council, and the question was _pnt to him why he had not in- cluded in the invitation to the council the crowned heads of Europe, who were always at previous councils. The answer of the Pope was that the middle age of Europe bad gone, and lie had not a single crowned head who was then his friend whom he dare invite to be present at the (Ecumenical Council. It was decided at that Council that the Pope was infallible, a thing never before impersonated in a single individual, and in the words of Archbishop Manning, What the Pope speaks upon dogmas, politics, ethics, morals, upon doctrines, he is as true as God Almighty could claim to be, and hence the Tablet had the following words :—The C liurcli that dares to assert thatthe Pontiff is infallible is either speaking by the inspira- tion of the Devil, or it is the very mouthpiece of the Holy Ghost;" 1ll other words, we must either accept that Church as the inspiration of the Devil or the mouthpiece of the Holy Ghost. What next took place!? It was strange, but neverthe- less true, that if the Pope blessed anybody, such a person was sure to come to crief, whereas if he cursed anybody he was sure to prosper. The Emperor of Austria, for instance, warred against Prussia, and be- fore he set out he and his army were especially blessed by the Pope the blessing resulted in Sadowa The Queen of Spain received the golden rose, and the Pope's special olessing but scarcely had the blessing settled upon her head than she was a fugitive from her country. Maximilian received theblessingof the Pope, and was murdered. The Pope cursed Victor Emmanuel in the most terrific terms—in terms which even un- educated people would stigmatise as coarse invective. What followed the curse ? Victor Emmanuel is now King of Italy His son is King of Spain, and his daughter is Queen of Portugal. All three were cursed by the Pope, all three are among the most enviable Sovereigns in Europe. Wherever the Pope's blessing fell there thorns and briars seemed to spring up. Had airy of the predictions recorded received that fulfilment which would justify them in believing that that prophecy was ceasing to be prediction, and was being translated into living and actual history ? He maintained they had. Take, for instance, another one in the 24th Matthew—" The Gospel shall be preached in all the world for a witness, and then shall the end of the aKe be." Had the Gospel been preached to every one? The Bible had been translated into every tongue; missionaries had preached it in the Arctic sea; in fact, from the pine forests of the north to the palm proves of the east the glorious Gospel in ne tongue of every people had been proclaimed. It was IJot toconv..rt every nation, out to be preached to every nation" for a witness." Then we find that there were to be astronomi- cal changes, the distress of nations, the seas and the waves roaring, earthquakes in divers places, pesti- lences, and plagues, and famines, and they had only to read the English am1 foreign newspapers to find how these predictions are being fulfilled—in the famine of Persia,^ the floods at Shanghae, the fire at Uhicago, &c. Nations were to rise against nations, and there were to be wars and rumours of wars, and he need not say that in 1871 the most terrible war had been mv^e<^ bad been waged, perhaps, for 200 years. I hey had had the Crimean war, the Indian war, the Italian war, the Prussian and Austrian war, and the cinders of this last war had only begun to cool when the Emperor Napoleon embarked in the terrible war he had alluded to and now we saw every nation arming to the teeth, and if that did not look like war nothing did. Look east, look west, it was rumours of wars, nations rising up against nations, and the competitor- ship of capitalists and kings was who should forge the largest guns, whoshould cast the heaviest bolts, and who should be most prepared for war. Then there had also been earthquakes at Thibet, at China, at Mexico, at Japan, at Greece, at Italy, at South America, and, according to one writer, there had been 25 disastrous earthquakes in the year 1870. The word ffarr/zog meant moral revolution as well as the motion of the earth, and Dean Alford said, whilst we accept it (in the chapter he had read) in its literal and material sense, we must interpret it as having a moral, social, and political meaning and taking it in its secondary and last sense, Europe has 'been full of tremendous changes and revolutions. The rev. gentleman having quoted American papers as to meteorological and astronomical changes and phenomena, concluded by inviting all present to pre- pare to meet their God.

WATCH NIGHT. _A writer in that excellent journal, the Daily 3>eios, has yiven the following very interest-ilia sketch of two services which he attended on New Year's Eve i'l London, and though differing widely in the "ritual," each service was characterised by earnest devotion :— Certain roligioussects have long been impressed with, and acted upon the conviction that the passing away of the old year and the advent of the new is a period more appropriately spent in prayer than in festivity and whether we choose to regard it as a sign of the times or not, it is certain that the custom of the Watch- night" is being largely adopted among denominations who, till of late years, were not addicted to its prac- tice. Among the various denominations of dissentera which, by more or less of direct descent, trace their origin to the early Puritans, new year watch- nights" have always had much favour and the practice is steadily on the increase in the Church of England, both in what is known as the High Church and the Low Church section of the Establishment. In few places of religious worship throughout the metropolis was sotne fcrm of service omitted last night, having special reference to the occasion and the pur- pose of this article is to briefly describe the nature of some of these, as gathered in what were necessarily hurried visits. It was one Father Dominic, an Italian priest, who, coming from his native land about twenty-two years ago, planted the first mission of the Order of the Pas- sioniosts in England. Since then the order, the monks of which are robed from head to foot in sombre black, and wear sandals on their bare feet, has increased from its first convert, the Hon. and Hey. Robert Spencer, a near relative of the present Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, till within the province it now comprehends loO priests. About fifteen years ago 1 ather Eugene, who is now the Provincial of the order, made a settlement on a very small scale near the top of High- gate hill, which soon increased in SIze and importance. Its title is "St. Joseph's Retreat, and the vulgar know it familiarly by the name of "Holy Joe." There are now in the community seven priests and seven lay brothers; large schools are attached to the Hetreat.and the poor of the vicinity have much to say of the self-denying and unremitting ministrations of the fathers and brethren. There was no "watch-night" proper at St. Joseph's Retreat last night, but there were (to quote an adver- tisement) "Vespers at seven, assisted by the most eminent artistes of the day, followed by the annual procession of the Most Blessed Sacrament, and the Te Detun in thanksgiving for the blessings conferred upon St. Joseph add his children during the past year." The Church of the Iletreat is in its interior a sin- gularly fine edifice, with a noble vaulted roof, from which sunburners pour down then- radiance. On the right as one entered was the crib, a bower of inter- woven evergreens, with the sacred child in effigy laid in a real manger among real straw, with the Virgin Mother, Joseph, and two angels bending over him, an outer rail fringed by women kneeling in silent .prayer. After describing the high altar and its profuse decorations, under which "is receptacle, in which, carefully enshrined under glass among velvet and jewels, arc certain precious relics, consisting of a human skull and bones, said to be those of St. Valerian, a martyr of the fifth century," the writer continues:- For Rome time before the commencement of the ser- vice, and while as vet the congregation, which numbered not much under a thousand, was streaming in, the great organ had been pealing forth. There advance up the centre aisle, with slow swaying motion, three female figures, the white robes and veils concealing the features, but showing the red hoods underneath. These are sisters of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. They kneel by the altar rails, radiant in their white robes. In strong contrast to them, note "these three other female figures, robed from crown to heel in dusky black, hard by the altar of St. Paul of the Cross. These are sisters of the Order of the Passionists—clouds of fleecy black, with hardly- defined form. The organ strikes a louder note as up the centre marches slowly the procession of officiating- priests, in cope and chasuble, stole, girdle, alb, and maniple—a glitter of white and gold— followed by acolytes and servitors, arrayed in white and red, and bearing long candles. At the head of the pro- cession is the venerable Father Eugbne, the founder of the Retreat. After kneeling in front of the altar, those who had composed the procession wheeled to either side, and the Vespers begin with the pealing strains of Dixit Domin us. Then follows the beautiful Psalm Landalc Pueri, sung to the glorious music of Zir,garelli, and the fine triumphant burst of Nisi Dominus. So the service wears on with organ music and chanting, genuflection, incensing of the altar and of the officiating priest, lighting of candles, and cere- monies of various kinds, till the noble music of Emerig's Magnificat is followed by the buoyant anthem, Alma Hedcmptoris—the solos sung by a fine male soprano which brings the Vespers service to a close, and the pro- cession retires as it had come. Presently the pulpit is occupied by the llev. Father Sebastian, the rector of St. Joseph's, who with slow, deliberate utterance, preaches a New Year's-Eve sermon without a special text. The preacher referred to the pjiysical changes of the season, and to the advent of the new year as suggesting also newness of life, and urged on his hearers the primary duty of thanksgiving to God for the blessings of the old year, notwithstanding its moments of adrersity, concerning which Fiat voluntas tua ought ever to be our motto. As regarded the future, there was for us no less important a duty, the deter- mination to adyance steadily in prudence, religion, and the love of God. We must practise prayer, practise charity, practise proselytism, keep the festivals of the Church, study to imitate the lives of the saints, and follow the example of Jesus Christ. The preacher concluded his address by fervently wishing his hearers A Happy New Year." While the candles are being lighted on the altar, the choir slug the beautiful Adeste fideles," as an intro- duction to the procession of the Host. There begins to gather before the altar a throng of priests and acolytes, gorgeously attired, and "of girls and children, sisters all of the various confraternities. It is pretty to -watch the tiny children being marshalled, clad in white, with red or blue ribbon, and long white transparent veils, their heads crowned under the veils with wreaths of flowers bound with ribbons, and in their hands baskets of flowers. As the remonstrance of the Host takes place, it is greeted by organ and choir with the Osnhitaris Clouds of incense rise before thü altar from the waving censers, half obscur- ing the kneeling priests. The procession is slowly marshalled, banners being placed in the hands of the elder children. As at length the .head of it moves off, a cross-bearer leading the way, there burst out from choir and organ the solemnly gladsome strains of the Tc Deinn. The black Passionist Sisters flit ghost-like from their corner, and fall into the procession, looking strangely weird in their sombre weeds among the white-veiled sisters of the other orders. Solemnly the Ho,t is taken from its place on the altar by the venerable officiating priest, and borne" down the steps of the altar with a halo of candle- light round a cloud of incense. Father Eugfene takes his place under the rich canopy, borne aloft by four bearers, and falls into che rear of the procession, the other priests behind holding up the edges of his robes, while all the people bow their heads before the Host. Slowly the procession has passed down the central passage, and reversing at the bottom, returns again by the same path: the children,-kneeling as they return, forming a beautiful outside border to the alter railings. The Tantum Ergo is chanted while the Host is being replaced, and on its conclusion the officiating priest again takes the Host, and elevates it with a plow, circular sweep, amid the tinkling of the swaying censers, heard amid the silence of the kneeling congregation to the remotest corner of the building. A short prayer with responses follows—the only minis- tration of the night in the vernacular, and the New Year's Eve celebration at St. Joseph's Retreat is over for 187).. Hastening from thenee to a meeting of the Primitive Me- thodists, by whom the Watch-night services are regarded with peculiar interest and engaged in with great earnest- ness, the writer, after referring to their affinity to the great founder of Methodism—John WeBley-continues It was a layman who conducted the Watch-night Service in the Primitive Methodist Chapel visited by the writer last night. Primitiveness was not found to extend to the edifice in which the Watch-night was held. There is nothing specially primitive about an organ. There is stained glass in the windows and pretty painted open iron work runs round the front of the gallery. The font is quite artistic, a marble basin with marble doves standing on its I rink, one drinking of the baptismal water. Yet, spite of the little unprimitive prettiness, what a contrast between the ferveTIt. "tree agent" sim- plicity of these earnest "Ranters," and the gorgeous pageantry so recently quitted, in which the congregation seemed not necessarily to have either heart or part. This was a genuine "Watchnight"—watching out and seeing in. The body of the little chapel was densely crowded. Parents were there with their children- "the whole fleet," as William the Fourth would have said. The organ was silent, there were no artistes, no choristers, no elaborate musical compositions to accom- pany the "Ranters'" hymn. But what a hearty spontaneity of fervour rang out, as the artless voices sang such a pledge and such a prayer as are contained in the lines- We never will throw off this fear Who henrs our solemn vow If, Lord, thou art well pleased to hear, Come down and meet us now. Among the ministrators at the Primitive Metho- dist Chapel there was no clergyman. All those who spoke were lay" local preachers"—not men, indeed, of e^reat. culture or strict grammar, rather dubious about aspirates, and hazy occasionally in concluding their sentences. But what strong-think- ing, straight-speaking men they were one and all What a grip they had of their topic what a homely, bright fertility of apt illustration what a keen sympathy with humanity With what a manly (!hristian humility did the creature stand among fellow-creatures in the presence of his Creator What fine racy unpulpit "-like English every now and then came bursting out That the wrrds went home was evident. There was quite a run- ning accompn.niment—very subdued mostly, but occasionally becoming outspoken-of such exclamations as, "Oh, yes!" "Bless the Lord!" "Thanks to God!" Praise Him," and so forth. Hymn and address followed each other alternately; the leader of the singing following the quaint old custom of reading out the hymn verse by verse before the singing. One speaker was especially graphic in his illustrations. Some of us," said he, have had dull temporal times last year; but we are not speakingofthem to-night. Con- sider, I bid you, whether your spiritual times were dull too. You might not help the bad worldly times, but every man can help dull times of the other kind. You all have noticed the breaking of a dark cloud and the bursting out of the sun. Prayer and faith will make the sun shine for all. ("Oh yes, God be thanked.") Just as the weaver throws with his shuttle a. dark and a light thread alternately to make the pattern, so the dispensations that God sends are the dark threads needed to make us of the right pattern." Linger not," said another, "over the mixed history of the past; take stock of your spiritual shop to in- ftuence your doings in the future. If the stock comes out right, then go on in the same line, always trying to do better; if it don't, do as the enterprising trader does, try to make things come right by efforts in channels yet untried to retrieve your position and benefit yourselves." There was a terrible thrill of im- impressive significance in the question of a grey-haired, aged man. "Where are you going to? You can't stop here." Commonplace and self-evident words, the reader in cold blood may think—he did not hear them. The manifest earnestness of the watchers, the yearning fervour of their exclamations, and the unstudied home- liness of the utterances of the speakers exercised a strange infectious influence. At a "watch-night" meeting in the East-end some years ago, the writer was present when a drunk-debauched woma.n strayed some- how into the chapel. At first she jibbed aloud at what she saw and heard, interrupting with a jeer or an oath the intervals of silence, and mocking the interjectional exclamations. But no one moved to eject her, and the spell of fervour gradually worked upon the wretched creature. She fell into silence; and the dead silence in which the midnight hour was watched for was suddenly broken by her spasmodic sobs, that soon became intensi- tied into hysterics. Last night in this solemn interval there was no sensational interrup- tion. The stillness was so dead that it seemed as if the beating of human hearts might almost be heard. It only lasted five minutes—perhaps searcely that but the time seemed, so opprssive was the hush and so intent the expectancy, quite half-an-hour. At length from the Maiket tower behind the chapel rang out the slow strokes of the hour. The sounds went quivering through the hushed room, the intervals between the heavy inexorable strokes filled with a sharper vibrating tingle. The old year had gone the new year had come. Slowly the worshippers rose from their kneeling attitude. There was a short pause, and then, at first with a manifest tremulousness, but soon with swelling fullness and fervour, rose the strains of Charles Wesley's hymn Come let us anew our journey pursue, Roll round with the year, And never stand still till the master appear. The liymn over, a hearty hand-shaking all round was no inappropriate finale to the watch-night of the Primitive Methodists.

THE EFFECTS OF A GRAIN OF STRYCHNINE. A man in ITarrisburg (says the Chicago Tribune,) recently I attempted to commit suicide by taking a grain of strychnine. The skill of his physician having saved his life, he narrates his experience f:-r the benefit of science, lie says :— "In the course of five minutes I began to feel slight cramps in the calves of my legs. The crumbs increased in intensity, and extended to the feet and thighs, causing the most intense pain. I attempted to rise from the chair, but fell to the floor with convulsions in the lower extremities. Unsuccessful attempts were made to bathe my feet in hot water, each effort to raise me bringing on a violent paroxysm, in the last one of which J. thought my jaws had become un- hinged. I was now perfectly paralysed from the hips down, and suffering the most excruciating pains, which began to extend upward the muscles of the shoulders and neck soon being considerably convulsed the fore- arms still being free from pain. I now prepared for the filial struggle, which I knew must be near at hand, as I had become rigid from the neck down, save the forearm. The convulsions of the muscles were becoming fearful, and the torture awful to endure. My hands were drawn into my sides, with the fingers drawn apart, and slightly bowed, and the jaws became rigid. I felt myself raised as if by some mighty power, and fixed immovably, with only my feet and head touching anything. I became unconscious of everything except my own agony, which was now beyond all description. I could feel my heart fluttering, and my brain beating and throbbing with an irregular motion, as though at every beat it would burst from its confinement. Every joint was locked, and every drop of blood seemed stagnated. I remember thinking it could not be long thus, when I must have lost consciousness, I remember nothing more until I felt a sensation of relief, as though the garments of j death, which had.been drawn over me, were now being drawn back. Those terrible cramps seemed to be de- j scending towards my lower limbs. A feeling of relief j stole over me, and I began to be again conscious. j From that time I resumed consciousness, when I was entirely free from cramp, with the exception of a little in the feet. I had but one attack of cramps after- ward, which was immediately relieved by a dose ad- ministered by my wife—the doctor having left for a short time—and when he returned I felt that the poison was completely neutralised." _r-

CUTTINGS FROM AMERICAN PAPERS. An Indiana groom kissed the ];¡.:de so loud. as to ex- tort a round of applausc from the (;cmgreg:ni,.)1\, Coffin partiesis the latest name for fairs in Mas- sacliusets. A New York hair-restorer agent went out into the suburbs, stuck his posters all over a church pulpit, and then asked the minister to call atttentiou to them. In New York they call red hair, "Schenectady colour"- Sel-eiiectidy being, as every one knows, a town a little beyond Auburn." A young gentleman, speaking of a young beauty's fashionable yellow hair, called it pure gold. It ought to be said a bystander, "it looks like 24 carrots." A young student wants us to tell him if W-o-r-c-e s- t-e-r spells Wooster, why R-o-c-h,e-s-t-e-r don't spell Rooster. We give it up, as we are not engaged in getting up diction- aries. In a book purporting to contain communications from the departed, a spirit called "Flora" reports herself as having found a room in heaven) coloured "dark rich crimson, shaded from black up to shell-pink." The Helena Daily Montana Herald, in view of the approaching leap-year, publishes a list of eligible old bache- lors in Helena, and follows with thirty or forty genuine names of citizens who are in the main, it says, "in a good state of preservation." The daring editor proposes to sup- plement the list with another, of "all the ol.d maids and mwriagable young ladies in Helena." The following is a literal copy of the list of ques- tions proposed for discussion in a Var West debating club —" Subgects for Diskushion. Js dansin inoralle rong? Is the reading of fictishus wurks commendible ? Is it neces- sary that femails slmd reseavc thorough literary education ? Ort femails to take part in politikes? Does dress constitute the morrel part of wimmin ? In 1S41 a negro boy named Oscar Dunn was adver- tised as a runaway slave in the Sew Orleans Picayune. Some months ago the Same Oscar Dunn was elected Lieutenant- Governor of Louisiana, and a week ago the same Oscar Dunn was carried to his tomb. The worms, alas feed alike up.n Oscar Dunn the slave as upon Oscar Dunn the governor Over his grave we would suggest this bit of bad spelling of his name—" Done." An American paper says that a Mr. Perkins has in- vented a compound, which he calls" Concentrated Bssence.of Sublimated Spirit of Steam." A person has only to put a phial of it in his pocket, and it will carry him along .it the rate of fiitv miles an hour; or by merely swallowing tHree drrps when you go to bed at niglit you will rise at any part of the world you may choose. Tn the advertising colums of the New York Sun, in 1S,,5, appeared an advertisement as follows Extra- ordinary Phenomenon.—The wonderful curiosity, the Xew Hampshire Mammoth Girl, weighing over 600 pounds, and still growing every day. It takes 11)1 yards to make her a dress. Siie measures 6 feet 6 inches round the waist, 9 feet round the hips, 3 feet across tlie shoulders." Now-a-days it requires 22 yards to make a dress for a medium-sized woman. At a church of "colonr," near Albany, the other evening, the minister noticing a number of persons, both white and coloured, standing upon the seats during service, called out in a loud voice, "Git down off them seats, both white man and colour; I care no more for the one dan tie odder." Imagine the pious minister^ surprise on hearing the congregation suddenly singing in short metre— Git down off dem seats, Boff white man and colour; I cares no more for one man Than I does for de odder." During the American President's stay at Pittsburg, the ladies paid their respects to him at tlie Monongahela 11. \Use, A gentleman introduced a very pretty girl, but added, playfully, "She is a democrat, general." The old gentleman kissed her on both cheeks, ad ling, with great glee, "1 always kiss the democratic ladies twice-there are so few of them. Why, had it not been for ladies I should not have been where i am. I owe my success to them." "General," said a gentleman standing by, "I wish you would appoint me chairman of the kissing committee." "Colonel," replied he, "dont you know the old.saying—if we want a thing done, we send our man to do it; but if we want it well done, we do it ourselves."

EPITOME OF NEWS, BRITISH AND FOREIGN. Earl Granville is suffering from gout at Walmer Castle. Mr. Harry King, the Queen's huntsman, died at Windsor on Saturday, after a few days' illness. The latest style of parasol for winter use folds up like a fan, and can be carried in a muff or in the pocket. An exhibition of the arts and industries of Spain, Portugal, and the colonies of these countries, will be opened in Oporto on the 1st of August next. Her Majesty the Queen has been pleased to send a liberal supply of game for the use of the patients in St. Thomas's Hospital, London. Miss Macpherson, from Canada, is at present in the North of England, trying to secure domestic servants to take back with her to Canada. Buddhism has been "disestablished" in Japan. The Government has declared that it shall no longer be the national religion. It is reported that the Speaker will be raised to the Peerage, with the rank of Viscount, on his retirement from the Speakership. The retiring pension of the Speaker is £4,000 per annum, and this sum will now be receive both by Lord Eversley and Mr. Denison. Some person is gome: to try his hand at compiling a hymn-book "of universal application to the churches, chapels, &c., throughout the empire." In his own case he will have to prove that union is strength. The census of the city of Madras, taken in 1803. gave a mtal population of 427,771. The census of 1871, just com- pleted, gives a total of barely 400,000. It is conjectured that the former enumeration was inaccuratc. The marriage of the Princess Marguerite de Nemours with Prince Czartoriski, which had been fixed for the 15th •January, wiU now, at the request of the Emperor of Brazil, take place on the 10th, On Monday morning her Majesty's Ne w Year's gifts to the poor of Windsor, Holy Trinity, and Clewer were distributed in the Riding-school at Windsor Castle, in the presence of the Castle authorities and local clergy. In accordance with the provisions of a recent Order in Council, the prohibition as to the removal of cattle out of London alive ceased at twelve o'clock on Sunday night. The regulations, however, as to the general removal of cattle are even more strict than previously. At Ayr, a boy 13 years of age, the son of a letter- carrier, quarrelled with his mother, and immediately ran to the railway about a mile frvlll the town, and on a train coming up deliberately laid his head on the rail. lie was, of course, instantly killed. The following announcement appears in the Madras Mail of November 24, under the head of latest telegrams :— London, November 2-2. It is announced that il r. Bright will return to his seat In Parliament as a Conservative, and has beeu elected Member of Parliament for Plymouth." The last number of the Spiritualist newspaper con- tains a prospectus drawn np by Mr. Serjeant Cox, of the proposed Psychological Society for the scientific investiga- tion of spiritualism, and it is stated that Lord Lindsay, Mr C. F. Varley, F.R.S., :\lr. William Crookes, F.R.S., and other scientific men take considerable interest in its formation. Mr. Matthew Greathead, of Richmond, Yorkshire, died there on Sunday, in the 102nd year of his age. He was born at High Cunmiscliffe, near Darlington, on April z3, 1770, and was believed to be the oldest Freemason in Eng- laJio, having been a member of a lodge for seventy-live years. O'Donovan Rossa has become the editor of the New York Era, and, in an introductory address, declares that his paper wiil support the cause of reform, and endeavour to promote harmony between all citizens in the interests of progress and good government. The Era will be, he says, non-partisan, but American and Republican. It was said that, in the town of Boston, the girls had made an improvement in ironing, which beats the steam- cngine on common roads all- hollow. They spread out all the clothes on a smooth platform, and fastened hot flat-irons to their feet, and skated over them. This was combining the recreation with the useful and ornamental. A lisping mother, who had presented her infant at the baptismal font for christening, on being asked by the clergyman, What name ?" responded, in a whisper, "Luthy, Thir, when, to the horror of the whole congrega- tion and the consternation of the mother, lie christened the ballY-Lucifer. The Illustrated Australian News of October 9th informs us that a photographer at Clunes, called John Tanner, has, after four years of labour, succeeded in pro- ducing photographs enamelled upon i copper. These are said to be, as works of art, very beautiful, and almost inde- structible. The Daily Telegraph states that the total amount o the expenses incurred by Mr. Rooker, in the late Plymouth election, amounting to nearly £1 000, has been raised by private subscriptions and offered to that gentleman, who has, however, declined to receive the money. It is not yet decided to what purpose the fund shall be applied. The other day a cool young gent all of the modern days entered a menagerie with a cigar in his mouth, when the proprietor politely requested him not to teach the other monkeys bad habits. The young man was equal to the occa- sion by producing his cigar-case and saying "Try one." "Things are bad," said a Paris tradesman to an English customer. Why, sir, in 1800,1 used to take 6,000 francs a day. Yesterday, I took 50 francs; and to-day, and it is now live o'clock in the afternoon, you are my first'cus- tomer." This is a picture that speaks of the real condition of things in Paris more powerfully than a volume of com- ment. it is now live o'clock in the afternoon, you are my first cus- tomer." This is a picture that speaks of the reat condition of things in Paris more powerfully than a volume of com- ment. On Sunday 500 iron-workers walked in procession through the main streets of Blackburn, to celebrate the adoption of thc nine hours system in all the foundries of Blackburn. The procession was headed by a military band. On returning to the Town Hall, some addresses were de- livered, and a special resolution was passed, thanking the employers for their generous concession of 54 hours per w eek. Cheers were given for the employers, the nine hours and the Queen. On Monday, at the installation of tke incoming Mayor of Limerick, a scene of great confusion took place. TheTeference by the Mayor to the illness of the Prince of Wales was received with a perfect storm of groans, with cheers for the political prisoners, and with cries of "God save Ireland and Richard Pigott." The tumult was protracted, cheers for "Home Rule" alternating with cries of Down with Gladstone The Rev. James Dixon, D.D., an eminent Wesleyan minister, died on Thursday night, in last week, at" his residence, Welles!cy-terrace, Manningliam, at the age of :3 years. With the exception of the Rev. Thomas Jackson, he was the oldest minister in the Wesleyan 8ociety. He was widely known as the author of several theological and bio- graphical works. He was some years ago the President of the Wesleyan Conference. The obituary of The Times of Monday (New Year's Day) again contained some remarkable illustrations of pro- longed existence in five gentlemen and four ladies, whose united ages amounted to 7f>r» years, giving an aveiage of exactly bf, years to each. The oldest gentleman had reached the great age of 9J. the youngest si years of age. Of the opposite sex the eldest was 87, and the youngest SO years of age. The years numbered by each were as follows:— 60 81 82, two at 84, 85, S7, 0i), and 9^. The weapon with which it is supposed Mr. William Glass, of the Newtownstewart Bank, was murdered last June, was found on Sunday morning, close to the place where the first bundle of money was discovered. The weapon is a hedge knife, twelve inches long. The handle was removed, and a pound of lead substituted. This fact is important, as it was deposed at the inquest that a quantity of lead had been purchased from a shopkeeper, immediately before the murder was committed. Close to where this knife was found thirty-three sovereigns were also discovered, and this, it is said, completes the recovery of the entire money taken from the bank. The Japanese Mikado, in pursuance of his policy to popularize his Government, lately appeared in the streets of Yedo, driven in an English carriage, four-in-hand, with only four running footmen. Subsequently, he walked out unattended, and has issued an Imperial order forbidding the performance of obeisances and ceremonies formerly pre- scribed by law on those who met the Mikado face to face or were passed by his «ffloial emblems, The Archbishop of Paris has authorised the priests of his diocese to let. their beards grow. A new poem by Mr. Swinburne will be published in the next number of Once a Week. A marriage is published in the Buffalo papers to which isaflixed the words, No cards, no nonsense." Dr. Balfour Stewart has received £ 2,200 compensa- tion from the railway company for the injuries he suffered at Harrow. i's ^at if her Majesty's present anxieties are then happily at an end, and her health continues food, she will open the Session of Parliament in person. According to a telegram from Cevlon, 472 bag? of mails have oeen recovered fror.1 the wreck of the Rangoon, at 1 o'rit de iiLuie. Thevesse) had a he..vy Australian mail on kuari when she was wrceked. The Liverpool stipendiary had before him on Satur- day several parents for having neglected to scud their chil- dren to an elementary s'hool, and imposed lines varying from as. to 2s. Cd. in each case. Mr. Gladstone has intimated that the Government does not at present contemplate any further increase in the capitation grant to volunteers, and that it does not intend to contribute to the cost of volunteer drill-sheds. Lord Ellenborough enjoyed for many years a pen- sion of JE7,700 per anunm in consideration of his having held the abolished office of Chief Clerk of the Court of Queen's Bench. Mr. Mundella, M.P.. has been making what the Scotch call a great deliverance on the subject of the Ele- mentary Education Act. Although a Liberal and a Dissenter, he disclaims all sympathy with his brother Nonconformists and the ultra-Liberals, and stands by the principles on which the recent legislation was based. The Pope has found means to give a new explanation of the sense in which he understands the word captivity. At the receptiop of the delegates of three Roman parishes, he said I am not a prisoner in the ordinary sense of the word. I have neither a warder in my prison nor guards at my gates. But I am morally imprisoned; for it would be impossible for me to go out without my person and my dignity being off ended." The superintendant of the Central London District School has reported an increased number of smallpox cases of a virulent nature in the village of Hanwell, and the malia- gers of the school have given instructions to use extra vigilance to prevent the disease from attacking the children under their care. The Liberie states that Pochefort has been conveyed to the hospital of Fort Boyard He had previously refused to (:uit his chamber, insisting that lie was slightly indisposed; but symptoms of fever appearing, and his cough being obstinate, the medieal men had him removed. James Tan-what an appropriate name one of the oil princes, has died worth a splendid fortune, even for America. In the fall of 18G; when gold was worth 2 dollars 50 cents, he was offered cash for the fee-simple of the Tarr farm equivalent to 2,000,000 dollars. He refused it. It i" officially reported that his Majesty the King- of Siam, in furtherance of his known desire to promote still more the amicable relations he has always held with the British Government, has resolved to pay a visit of State to the Viceroy of India, and to see some of the British pos- sessions ia Hindostan. His Majesty left Singapore with that new on the 24th November last. Oil Monday morning Her Majestv's New Year Gifts to the poor of the parisnes of Windsor, Holy Trinity and Clewer were distributed in the Riding School at Windsor Castle. Her Majesty's detention at Sandringliani precluded her personal superintondance at the ceremony. The gifts, consisting of beef and coa's, were divided according to the number of each family. The execution of Arthur Frederick Brown, who, at the last Warwickshire Assizes, was condemned to death for the murder of John Milward, at Coventry, is appointed to take place at W arwick Gaol on the Sth of January. Should the sentence be carried out, and there is every probability it will, this will be the first private execution at the county gacl. The Directors of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company have unconditionally complied with the request of the employes in their engine factory at Southampton for a working day of nine hours. A large meeting of the men was held on Saturday afternoon, when hearty thanks were accorded to the board for the prompt compliance with the demands of the men. An extraordinary desecration of the dead has just been discovered at Lyons. A watchman at the La Guillo- tiero cemetery, named Tabarc, appears to have for a long time past been in the habit of violating at night the tombs of females to cut oil their bait which he sold for making chignons. The crime was discovered accidentally by a cat drawing some tresses from a hole in which he had concealed them. A disastrous accident occurred on Saturday at Glasgow. A traction engine was passing along the streets, when the boiler burst and a large fragment fell through the roof of an eating house. Three boys were killed outright, one man fa tally injured, and six others so seriously hurt that they had to be conveyed to the fhfirmary. Four less severely inj ared were con veyed to their homes, and several others, although hurt, were able to walk from the spot. M. Thiers, as President of the French Republic, held a New Year's Reception on Monday, at which the members of the diplomatic corps were present, but no speeches were made. In Rome. Victor Emmanuel also held a reception on Monday, which was attended by all the Ministers and by many public functionaries. It is now satisfactorily proved (says the Swiss Times) that the asphalte bed iu the A al de Traversprojeets regularly and uninterruptedly into the mountain, thus fully confirm- ing Professor Desor's suppositions. The contents of the bed have thus risen to 2,000,000 tons and, according to the Bund, will rise to two more if the fifth shaft now being sunk should confirm the theoretical profile. Among the Penang passengers by the Australian mail packet Syanza, which arrived at Southampton last Saturday, was the Abyssinian Prince Alamava, son of the late Emperor Theodore. He has been travelling in India and China, and has grown a fine youth. He has forgotten his native language—the Abyssinian—and is dressed like a young English gentleman. He has come home to commence his English education. The late Lord Ellenborough"s voice was the finest in either House of Parliament, sonorous, full, clear, and penetrating. Lord Ellenborough's figure was manly, the hair grey with the snow of eighty winters, yet still abundant. His features were as handsome as became his parentage. Some readers may remember Lord Campbell's description of the Earl's mother—a distinguished toast of her day. who was so beautiful that whenever she came out to water the plants in her balcony a crowd immediately formed in the street below. "We have bidden farewell to the Old Year, and now Wü welcome the New, with its vague hopes and promises its suggestions of jay or sorrow, its incalculable future of r-vilc. its infinite possibilities of g-ood. It is needless to say that at such a time aspiration rather than retrospection is the inevitable attitude of humanity, and that, standing, as it were, on the very threshold of a season n hich witnesses the revival of Mature from its wintry slumber, hope rather than anxiety is the uppermost feeling in men's hearts." -Leader iu Daily Telfjtrajih. The revenue returns for the quarter and year just closed have been published. On the quarter there appears to have been an increase on every item except the Post office in which there was a luss of £ -12,000. This leaves the net ill- crease -it The net increase on the whole year is stated to be £ 940,150. On the other side, however there ap- pears to be a net deficiency of revenue in hand to meet the sums charged on the Consolidated l-'und and payable durin-- the next quarter of £ 4,144,835. ° The news of the cordial reception accorded to the Grand Dukll Alexis by the American prople has awakened profound satisfaction ijj Russia. The St. Petersburg Journal says that Russia will not forget that reception,' and that the peace of the world and the progress of civilization can- not but be fostered by the friendly relations between Russia and the United States." On the 28th of November last the Mam Ann fishing smack, of Colchester, reports that the carcase of a bulloek was picked up in the Swin, near the Spit way Buoy, supposed to have been thrown overboard from one of the London cattle boats a few days previously. The carcase was opened for the purpose of getting a little fat for tlie risrchir and the crew were m the act of throwing it overboard again', when a gold ring fell from the paunch marked Johanna Libers lS{j9." The ring was transmitted to the Board of Trade authorities, in whose custody it remains. An inquest has been held in London, upon the body of one William Young, who lately committed suicide after having made a murderous attack upon his wife. In one of the documents which the deceased left behind him, it was manifest that the poor man's brain had been turned', for he spoke of himself as "the Second Messiah," and complained bitterly of the way in which his teachings had been disre- garded. The jury, without hesitation, found a verdict that Young had killed himself while in a state of unsound mind. At the parish church of Slcugh, near Windsor on Sunday morning, the vicar, at the close of his sermon re- ferring to the power of prayer, as illustrated by the answer vouchsafed to the nation's earnest pleadm'' read the Queens letter and, as the congregation left the church the organist played the "National Anthem." The "rational Anthem" was also played at St. Peter's, Chalvey, in which parish, m consequence of its proximity to Windsor, there has been much anxiety m reference to the Prince. On Saturday afternoon a very beautiful and costly monument to the memory of the late Bishop Lonsdale was publicly unveiled in Lichfield Cathedral. The monument which is set hi one of the north bays of the Cathedral fS the joint production of Mr. Watts, R A., of Lond. n and Mr Gilbert Scott, R.A., the former having designed the ethgy of the deceased Mshop, and the latter the beautiful canopy with which it is surmounted. The total cost is nearly £ 2,0u0. The memorial consists of a tomb in alabaster, in the sides of which Are circular indentations, decorated with imitation immortelle* and shields, and upon the top of which rests the recumbent effigy of the late Bishop of Lonsdale, attired in full canonicals and mitre and crozier.

THE STARLETS. METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARRFr -MoxinY The restrictions hitherto existing on tlao transnortati*oii'«f cattle beyond the five-mile radius l^ave heen removid to- day. and as a consequence sor>e country buyers were in attendance There WPS a moderate supply of beasts on sale, lier Sib The be«t sT o WaS flrm' 3,1,1 prices rose 2d- per 81b The be-t Scots and crosses were quoted at 5s. 8d. to os lOd. per Mb. From Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, and K orthamptonshire, we received about 1,700 shorthorns, &c. from other parts of England, about 2.SO of various breeds and from Scotland, 190 Scots and crosses. Limited supplies of sheep have been on sale. There has been a strong inquiry i i' '!er more money. The best Downs and half- bred.s have changed hands at 6s. lOd. to Ts. per Sib., and in some instances at a trifle more. Calves have been steady in valme and demand. Pigs have been in fair request, on former terms. Per Sib. to sink the offal. s. d. s. d. s. d. s d Inf. coarse beasts.. 3 4 4 4 Prime Southdowns 6 10 7* 0 Second quality 4 8 5 2 Large coarse calves 4 0 5 0 PrimeJM-Keoxen..5668PnmesmaU.. 5 4 6 0 Prime Scots, &c. 5 S 5 10 Large hogs "3 « 4 « Inf. coarse sheep., 4 05 0 Xeat small porkers 4 460 Second quality 5 4 (3 0 Lambs 0 0 0 0 Pi-, coarse woolled 6 4 6 S Qr.oldstorepigs,ech 0 0 0 METROPOLITAN MEAT MARKET.—MONDAY. Tlie market to-day uas sparingly supplied with meat. For al\ qualities a better demand prevailed, at enhanced rates. 1 er Sib, by the carcase. s. d. s. Ü. s. d. s, d. Meriorbeef 3 4 4 0 Inferior mutton. 3 8 4 4 Middling ditto. 4 4 4 S Middling ditto. 4 6 5 0 Prime huge ditto.. 4 a 5 0 Prime ditto 5 0 5 4 Prime small ditto S 0 5 2 Large pork 3 84 C 5 4G oj Small pork 4' 8 5 4 FISH. Pickled herrings, 26s. to ?0s. red ditto, 12s. to 185. roused ditto, 10s. to fresh ditto, 12s. to 25s. snu-ked had- docks, 15s. to 25s. ditto ditto, 20s. to 33s. trawl ditto 18s. tc 30«. per barrel; plaice, ICs. to 21s. whitings, 12s. to 2os. per basket.; bloaters, 2s. to Ss. 4d.: kippers, is. to 4s. Per box; lurbot, 5s. Cd. tc 12s. brill, 4s. to (is.: dorey 3s. (id. to (3s. mullet, ls. to ls. 2d.; lobsters, 2s. to 4s.- crabs, 2s. to 3s. each eels, Is. to Is. 2d. per pound native" oysters, £ 10 10s. pe»rl ditto, £3; common ditto, ISs. to 368. per bushel. Hors. This market has been in a quiet state during the past week. Sales in all classes of hops have been effected slowly at the rates previously current. Mid and East Kent- £ 10 to £ 1G 16s. Weald of Kent, £ 8 10s. to £ 10 10s. Sussex £ 7 5s. to £ 9 9s. Farnham and country, £ 11 to £ 16 Year' lings Mid and East Kent, £ 3 to £ G 10s. Weald of Kent £ 3 to £ 5 15s. sussex. £ 3 to £ 5 5s. Farnham and country' £ 4 10s. to £ 7 olds, £ 1 £ ,3 to £ 2 10s. POTATOES. There have been good supplies of potatoes on sale at the above markets. Tlie trade has been quiet, but prices have shown little or no alteration..Regents, 75s. to 115s. • F"TOA' 110s- to 140s. rocks, 75s. to 90s. Victorias, 110s.' to 130s. per ton. WOOL The wool market has been steady in tone, but as stock- taking is still in progress, the business doing is very mode-, rate. Prices are firm throughout. w