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--------THE COURT. -+--
THE COURT. -+-- THE Queen remained at Rosenau during the past week, Her Majesty has been prevented by the weather from taking her accustomed walks and drives. His Majesty, the King of Prussia, visited the Queen early in the week. The King arrived by special train from Baden, soon after five o'clock, at Oeslau, where their Royal Highnesses Prince Alfred and Prince Louis of Hesse met his Majesty, and accompanied him in her Majesty the Queen's carriage to Rosenau, where he was received by the Queen, and their Royal Highnesses Princess Louis of Hesse, Princess Helena, Prince Leopold, and Princess Beatrice. His Majesty departed from Rosenau the same evening, accompanied by only one aide-de-camp. THEIR Royal Highnesses Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse spent the greater part of every day at the Rosenau with the Queen. THE Duke of Coburg having arrived at the Kallen- berg, his Royal Highness and the Duchess visited the Queen the same afternoon. PRINCE ALFRED, attended by Major Cowell, staid some days at Hummelsheim, on a visit to the Duke and Duchess of Saxe Altenburg. PRINCE ARTHUR, whose predilections are said to have been from his earliest age very military, and curiously in unison with the fact of his being the godson of England's great commander, has this week taken a sort of initiatory step in the military career he will devote himself to. He was at Woolwich last week, and appeared to take an interest in various military arrangements that were going forward. It is believed that the Prince will commence his studies at Edinburgh during the winter months, and go through a short and regular course of military education. IT is not certain whether King George of Greece will visit the Queen at Windsor or whether he will join the court later at Balmoral. THE following letters, the one written by the Mayor of Abingdon, to her Majesty, and her gracious reply to the same, will be read with interest "TO HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN. 10 Most Gracious Madam,—As the mayor of Abingdon, I was requested by the subscribers to the proposed Prince Consort memorial for this town, at a meeting held by them in our Council Chamber, on the 11th of last month, to offer for your Majesty's acceptance a photographed and appropriately framed copy of the design and to hope in their name, as I do in my own, that the style and character of the same will be found worthy of your Majesty's appreciation. Accordingly, I have taken the liberty of sending the design to Windsor Castle, that it may be redirected and forwarded to your Majesty. The grand object of the subscribers is to perpetuate to future generations in and around this locality the peculiarly noble name which his late Royal Highness the Prince Consort won as the patron prince of science, art, literature, commerce, agriculture, and peace, and true harmony in the social, domestic, and political circles of your Majesty's vast dominions; but especially so and in the most dignified manner in this exalted, peaceful, and happy country. Beloved, too, as the wise father of England's future kings, and therefore to be held by us in our hearts and memories with sacred veneration.-I have the honour to be, gracious Madam, your Majesty's most humble and obedient servant, RICHARD BADCOCK, Mayor of Abingdon. Sir,—I have received the commands of her Majesty to beg of you to convey to the subscribers to the me- morial which it is intended to erect in the town of Abingdon, to the Prince Consort, and to accept for yourself the expression of her Majesty's best thanks for the kind wish to send for her Majesty's acceptance a photograph of the intended design. The photograph has not yet arrived, but it is not necessary to wait for its coming to assure you of the gratification with which her Majesty has read your letter.—I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servant, "C.GETSY. "Richard Badcock, Esq., Mayor of Abingdon." THE Prince and Princess of Wales have been enjoy- ing themselves on the Highlands. The Prince went to the Glen of Girnock deer-stalking the other day, and was very fortunate in securing three fine stags, with this wonderful coincidence, that respectively the three carried eight, ten, and twelve points. At five in the afternoon the Prince returned home, cheerfully chatting with Mr. Grant. Although from half-past twelve it had rained in perfect streams, his Royal Highness declined the use of his horse, preferring to walk along with his men and one of the trophies of his day's sport. In the evening, the three antlered kings of the forest were exhibited to the Princess and suite by torchlight, and Peter Robertson having "tuned his pipes, and gar'd them skirl," the torchbearers tripped it lightly on the green in real Hielan' style, to the great delight of the whole Royal party.
---..... POLITICAL GOSSIP.…
POLITICAL GOSSIP. IT is currently reported in military circles that General R. Rumiey will be the president of the forth- coming court-martial on Lieut.-Colonel Crawley. GENERAL THE RIGHT HON. SIR GEORGE BROWN has returned from the Continent, and resumed the command of the troops in Ireland. WE understand (says the Court Journal) that the Greeks in London propose getting up a grand fete in honour of their King upon his arrival in this country. GOVERNMENT having decided on abolishing the dockyard and naval store establishment at Deal, Admiralty instructions have been sent to Chatham, .directing the whole of the stores to be removed from the Deal yard to Chatham, where they will be inspected by the officials of the establishment. IT is stated to be the intention of the Hon. Lieut. Denison, brother to Lord Londesborough, to offer him- self as a candidate for the representation of Scar- borough at the next general election. THE Danes are now establishing a camp at Schles- wig, to consist of ten or twelve thousand men, among whom will be the Royal Guard. A corps of 10,000 men is also being formed around Copenhagen. RUMOURS are rife in Brussels that a Franco-Prusso- Russian alliance is about to be formed. Much depen- dence cannot, however, be put on them, for even if there is some foundation for the reports twenty-four hours may change the entire views of those who entertained such a notion. It, however, leads some- what to the conclusion that the alliance between the three Great Powers-England, France, and Austria- is not a very binding one; and it is little favourable, if so, to Poland. A ciBCULAB., relative to plans tor securing peace in America, has been issued by Mr. E. Akroyd, late M.P. for Huddersfield, and many other gentlemen. It is an invitation to form a Central Association for the Recognition of the Confederate States." There is not the least harm in these gentlemen, and as many more as like, at once recognising the South. A RUMOUR is current that the Federal Government intend to raise a loan of twenty millions sterling in England—if they can get it. IN consequence of the death of the Marquis of Nor- manby, the Earl of Mulgrave, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, will shortly return to England. IT is said that President Jefferson Davis has sent a special envoy to Mexico, charged with an extraordinary mission to the Provisional Government of Mexico. It is affirmed that President Davis will recognise the Government, and accredit an official representative at Richmond. MR. JOHN JOHNSON, a barrister residing in the neighbourhood, has been appointed Recorder of Chi- chester, in the room of Mr. Wllliam Milton Bridger, de- ceased. Mr. Johnson's father filled the office of deputy recorder for several years. MAJOR-GENERAL'SIR R. P. DOUGLAS, BART., now commanding in Jersey, has been named as likely to succeed Lieut.-General' Wynward, C.B., in the com- mand of the troops at the Cape of Good Hope. MR. HANDEL CORSHAM said at a public meeting lately held at Bristol, There is a little place called Cirencester—a very nice little place, a desirable place to live in and I think they have about six electors on 0 the register—and the whole election rests between two or three voters. That borough is rated at about < £ 5,000, yet it sends two members to Parliament, who have the same power in the House as the two members for Bristol, which represents < £ 150,000 and twelve thousand electors." MR. BRIGHT has been staying at Talchen-lodge, a shooting-box on the Spey, rented by Mr. Bass, M.P. and the great orator has been seen frequently, with rod in hand, plying' with success the gentle art in the clear waters of the arrowy Spey. On Saturday last Mr. Bass and party had a roe hunt in the Knockfrink Plantation, and killed four roe deer. After the hunt the huntsmen descended the hill to a beautiful green spot beyond the plantation where Mrs. Munn awaited them with a splendid luncheon. After partaking freely of all the delicacies of the season, the Rev. Mr. Hodden proposed; in a neat speech, the health of Mr. Bright,, who, in a highly eloquent and lengthy oration, returned thanks. For once in his life, he was beyond reporters—rather a novel position for him! Though his words are lost, it will not soon die away in Advie that Mr. Bright, M.P., delivered one of his orations within their narrow vale. THE services of Sir William Gomm at the Mauritius and in India have settled the question of the colonelcy of the Coldstream Guards in his favour, says the Army and. Navy Gazette. There are not many generals on the list whose career would render their selection for a Guards' colonelcy a matter of course, and no one has reason to complain of Sir William Gomm's appoint- ment. The Line colonelcy thus vacated has been given to Major-General M'Pherson, one of a class of officers whose claims we have strongly advocated, and we need not say that we regard his selection with a satisfaction only qualified by a feeling that it ought to have been made sooner. We only trust that .the two or three officers with similarly powerful claims who now stand high on the list, will meet with early attention, and that we cannot be reproached with forgetfulness of the old Pehihsulars-just half a century aft-ertheir-last fight in the Peninsula was fought. WE have to record the death of Mr. Edward Stanley, of Ponsonby-hall, at the age of seventy-three. The deceased gentleman represented West Camber- land in Parliament for twenty years. He was first returned in 1832, and retired from public life in 1852. Mr. Stanley was, during the whole course of his political career, a stanch Conservative.
THE ARTS, LITERATURE, &c.…
THE ARTS, LITERATURE, &c. THE British tourist may find help in his wanderings from the new book, The Highlands of Bavaria," recently published at Munich. A CURIOUS book has been published at Leipsic by M. Liebach. Its title is "The Gipsies and their Language." It traces their appearance in Europe, and gives an interesting description of the gipsy's character, morals, and manners. THE cotton question and colonisation, which is the great topic of the day, has been well considered by the Rev. G. H. Mason, M.A., in a pamphlet published at Norwich. He hopes to be instrumental in drawing- public attention more to the undeveloped resources that lie hidden in our colonial waste lands, and reminds our manufacturing capitalists that every acre of colonial land, and every new village, and every fresh county reclaimed from the wilderness, is like so much ready money in the hands of their customers. Or, rather, that every acre so reclaimed is a gold mine, yielding its twenty or thirty pounds sterling annually, at quite as little labour, on the average, as that ex- pended in abstracting the precious metal from the quartz or clay. Two sheets of the immense "Map of London," which had been advertised to be issued in connection with Cassell's Family Paper," at an almost nominal price to subscribers, have appeared, and been purchased with such avidity that the proprietors have determined to issue them in a similar manner to the subscribers of the "Quiver," and have announced the issue of the first sheet on September 18th, with No. 102 of that periodical. Two handsome monuments have just been erected to the memory of Lord Byron's daughter Ada, and his grandson Viscount Ockham, the former being- placed in Newstead Abbey, and the latter in the parish church of Ripley, Surrey. They are both Gothic monuments, of white Carrara marble, are most elabo- rately carved, and are surmounted with the arms of the family. The followingare the inscriptions" In the Byron vault below lie the remains of Augusta Ada, only daughter of George Gordon Noel, sixth Lord Byron, the wife of William Earl of Lovelace, born 10th De- cember, 1815, died 27th November, 1852. R.I.P." "In memory of Byron Noel, Viscount Ockham and Baron Wentworth, eldest son of William Earl Love- lace, born 12th May, 1836, died September 1, 1862." It will be remembered that Viscount Ockham, before his death, had been working as a smith in one of the dockyards. THE Committee of Privy Council on Education, acting through the Science and Art Department, has circulated copies of a minute made at a recent meeting which declares that it is proposed to hold, in the spring of next year, at the South Kensington Museum, as complete a collection of the works of Mulready as it is possible to get together, and invites the assistance of proprietors of the artist's works in furtherance of :the plan. It is stated that in 1848 the Society of Arts (held an exhibition of Mulready's drawings and pictures made up to that time. Since then, his works, and especially his life studies, have largely increased. Through the liberality of Mr. Sheepshanks, the Science and Art Department possesses numerous specimens of the artist's productions at all periods. The object is an excellent one (says the Athenaeum), and consider- able benefit to artists and others must arise from the opportunity its realisation will afford of comparing the various methods of patient study comprised in Mul- ready's practice of more than half a century. WHILE historians are discussing the subject of the proper site for Luther's Memorial in Worms, a question of some interest has arisen in connection with the hero of the Reformation in Kaulbach's new cartoon. It may be remembered that, in the original work, Luther was the central figure, holding up the open Bible high over his head. So many objections were made to this presentation that Kaulbach has altered it, and adopted the attitude which Rietschel chose for the Worms Memorial of the Reformer. Luther now stands as the centre of the Reformation, holding the Bible firm on his left arm, his right hand on his heart, and his gaze of settled conviction turned to the heavens. In the opinion of English authorities the first idea was far more aptly chosen to convey the work of Luther. It was the significance of the work, not of the man, that the cartoon proposed to render, and, as the religious aims of the Reformation were symbolised by the preaching and teaching of the Holy Word, so was his translation of the Bible into German one of the most powerful weapons of the Re- formation symbolised by the open volume held up to the world. THE Guild of Literature and Art has at last pub- lished its general balance-sheet. From this it appears the Guild possesses a clear capital of < £ 5,323 to start with; that it proposes to erect a number of free resi- dences upon the land given by Sir, Edward Bulwer Lytton, and that its functions will be to grant pensions or donations or free residences to members of its own body or their widows. The right of membership is ob- tained bv the subscription fee of one g-uineaand an annual subscription of a like sum. MR. S-TEELL has completed the clay model for the bronze statue of the late Professor Wilson, which is to be erected at the north-west corner of East Prince's- street-garden's; Edinburgh. The moulds are ready, and the work is to be cast at Mr. Steell's foundry, where the casting of the colossal figures of Wellington and Lord Melville took place.
,SPORTS AND PASTIMES. ---+-..,-
SPORTS AND PASTIMES. -+- WONDERFUL FISH. -.rfhe Independance Beige states that at Marche-les-Dames, a village on the banks of the Meuse, about two leagues from Namur, a lock is being made for the purpose of canalising that river. In order to lay the foundation a part of the river had been inclosed, and on emptying it of the water two fish of colossal size were discovered. The first was a salmon weighing 1391b. (63 kilos), measuring eight feet six inches in length and twenty inches in diameter. The second was an eel of 431b. weight, three feet eight inches in length, and inches in diameter. The Independance adds that M. Maquet, an officer of the works, has had a pond made in which to keep the fish alive, and that a great number of persons have been to see them; but it says nothing as to the way in which he contrived to weigh these living monsters of the fresh water. THE VISIT OF THE ENGLISH ELEVEN TO AUSTRA- LIA.—Next month the English Eleven who are engaged to visit Australia for the purpose of playing cricket in that colony take their departure from England. All the arrangements with respect to the passage out are in a state of completion, and Mr. John Johnson, of Nottingham (secretary of the Notts County Eleven), has received £ 800 from Mr. George Marshall in Aus- tralia as a sort of guarantee as to the genuine nature of the speculation, and in order to provide for the wives and children of the players during their absence, which will last about six months. George Parr, the captain of the Eleven, is extremely sanguine of suc- cess, as he considers it an impossibility for almost any twenty-two to beat his picked men." GREAT MATCH FOR Two THOUSAND POUNDS.- The Clerk of the Course of the Scarborough Steeple- chases has been officially informed that an event is arranging which is likely to cause more excitement in the sporting world than any match since the famous contest over York between the Flying Dutchman and Voltigenr. It will be remembered that Red Robin and Rarey, both horses the property of the Messrs. Simpson, of the Yorkshire Wolds, won the great events at both the Scarborough and York Steeple- chases, when any amount could have been had against them. Certain gentlemen largely interested in turf matters, doubting the correctness of the ruining, and in order to test the stamina of the horses, have challenged the Messrs. Simpson (the challenge being accepted) to name two against Red Robin and Rarey, over the York or Scarborough courses, about three- and-a-half miles, fourteen stone, for £2,000, the first horse to have £ 1,500, the second j8500. It is believed that Scarborough will be selected for the match.
TOPICS OF THE WEEK. ----
TOPICS OF THE WEEK. RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES IN NAPLES.—A great danger has suddenly'arisen -at- Naples." The exiled Cardinal Archbishop Sforza has addressed a letter to his "most' beloved children the Neapolitans, warn- ing them against the so-called evangelical churches," and expressing his surprise at the audacity which has prompted such heretical and schismatical communions "to erect in the midst of a people wholly Catholic, and in one of the most beautiful and populous quarters of the city, a public temple to Protestanism." Every communion separated from the Roman Catholic Church is, of course, declared to be the invention of human misery, and its teachers are branded as ini- quitous." Such is the rage with which the cardinals of Rome regard the opening of an English church in a city whose priests, according to Settembrini, "only pant after riches and lasciviousness, and who of the house of God have made a den of thieves." "The Jesuits despoil widows and orphans," says the same undaunted defender of a purer faith among his countrymen, "hunting after their inheritance; the priests and friars possessed three-fifths of the land; the bishops, who were barons, have remained rich, and his Eminencehas 18,000 ducats a year." It is to preserve these privileges that Cardinal Riario Sforza thunders against the Protestanism, or rather the heterodoxical propaganda," which has had the audacity to build a church in Naples for the worship of God. The eloquent and powerful reply of Cavaliere Settembrini, the friend and companion of Poerio, will more than counterbalance the evil which the weak denunciation of the Archbishop was expected to produce. It seems that the time has come for another schism in the Roman Catholic Church. The great speech of M. de MontøJmnbert, at Malines, the other day, shows how the feeling and opinion of the Roman Catholic world are working in that direction. This is an age which will no longer bear the insufferable intolerance of Rome. Liberty of conscience must be respected. Count de Montalembert, the Liberal Ultramontane Roman Catholic, whose voice has a power which will be felt to after ages, lately uttered these remarkable words :—" The gag forced into the mouth of whom- soever lifts up his voice with a pure heart to preach his faith, that gag I feel between my own lips, and I shudder with pain.The Press. THE NEW MEXICAN EMPIRE.—Although England can claim no share in the glory of the Mexican enter- prise, no country would profit more largely by the es- tablishment of order in those distracted regions. The French will probably secure priority of payment for their own debts, but even a Latin race will trade more largely with London and Liverpool than with Havre. The cotton which may possibly be grown on the sea- board will find its best market in Lancashire and the mines are already in a great measure worked by Eng- lish engineers and capitalists. There is room, how- ever, for all the trading nations of Europe to deal with a country which is rich in almost every unmanufac- tured product. For two or three centuries, English merchants were eager to trade with the inaccessible colonies of Spain, and the partial disappointment which has ensued on the removal of the prohibition is wholly attributable to the barbarism and anarchy of half-civilisedindependentRepublics. In South America, Brazil, with its imperfect copy of a European mon- archy, has proved itself a better customer than any of the neighbouring States and Mexico has equal natural advantages, with the additional good fortune of exemption from the system of negro slavery which has weakened and demoralised Brazil. When the preliminary difficulties which may delay the establish- ment of the Mexican Empire are overcome, England will readily commence a friendly intercourse by the recognition of the dynasty appointed by France. No more judicious principle has ever been erected into a maxim of national policy than the modern rule that all existing Governments are to be acknowledged without reference to their origin or their merits. The English Government was consistent in protesting against the French refusal to negotiate with Juarez, who was then the ostensible ruler of Mexico and on precisely the same grounds, the Emperor who may succeed the President will be regarded as legitimate, if it appears that the nation really submits to his authority. A policy dictated by common sense will be affected neither by the wrath of the Americans nor by the contemptuous satisfaction which may probably be expressed by the French.—Saturday Revietv. THE POLITICS OF FIRE INSURANCE.—And even when the general nature of the liabilities are not in question, too many of the offices adopt the vague system of insurance, with the view of reducing the pecuniary value of the claim when at last it comes. Experienced men record how sharply and suddenly the bland relation changes into one of virulent hostile criticism directly money is claimed. The unfortunate loser by fire, who has all his lifetime found at his insurance office such polite and friendly recipients of his premiums, that he has begun to feel a sort of childlike love and trust towards the whole establish- ment, goes in his hour of loss and finds them trans- formed into stern and vigilant opponents, who browbeat him in cross-examination with all the acuteness of professional knowledge and hostility. After first coaxing him into their hands by their blandishments, they then sharply beat him. When the insurer is congratulating himself on reaping the fruits of a long lifetime of sacrifice, he finds that he has to run the gauntlet of professional insinuations raised by practised surveyors with a view to reduce his claim-insinuations, for example, of such a character as the following:— Surveyor: You have insured, sir, "plant, machinery, and stock in trade," but not utensils, fittings, and fixtures; these stools and closets, therefore, were not insured. Insurer Certainly, they were a part of my plant, which I bought with the business.—Surveyor They are fittings, sir, not plant. Then you have put lown those stools at Is. Sd. each; was that their cost when new ? Insurer Yes; that is what I must pay bo replace them.—Surveyor: Was it their cost when new ? Insurer Very likely.—Surveyor Were they new at the time of the fire ? Insurer No.—Surveyor They were the worse for wear ? Insurer No; they were in good working order.—Surveyor But you say they were old, and I must value them as old stools the worse for wear. Insurer They were as good as new, J and you must replace them with stools as good, for which you will have to pay Is. 8d.—Surveyor Sir, you maintain they were as good as new, and you tell me they were quite old. You contradict yourself. In- surer I do not; and be so good as to walk out, and communicate with me in future through my so- licitor. The truth is that this sort of badgering is a chronic and necessary part of the miserably mistaken policy which Lord St. Leonards has exposed. If all the insurance offices would imi- tate the few wise and candid ones, in taking scru- pulous care that both parties know exactly the nature and extent of their obligations, what they undertake to replace, how its value would be estimated, what would and what would not invalidate the insurance- there would be none of this vindictive delight among men of business whenever an insurance office is worsted. Their gains might be more moderate. Some insurers might be deterred by the large premium re- quired to meet the fall obligations, but there would be none of the soreness on the part of honest men of business which now exists. No one wishes to en- courage fraudulent claims; but while the claims are so vague and ill-defined mutual charges of fraud will be quite sincerely made where there is no intentional fraud at all. If the insurances offices, thriving as they do, really believe that three-fourths of the claims on them are fraudulent, the fault must clearly be in their own system, even more than in theimmoralitJ of society.—Spectator. VOLUNTEER ARTILLERY. — When the volunteer movement first commenced, we have a distinct recol- lection that Government very strongly recommended to those who were desirous of giving their services for the defence of the country to institute artillery 'corps, and we confess that we thought the recommendation founded on good sense. It seemed to us that while a fine body of men, fairly disciplined and drilled to the use of the rifle, would be of infinite use in aid of our regular troops, yet that our regular artillery were not sufficiently strong to furnish more than the requisite number of guns to our troops of the line. The forma- tion, then, of a number of volunteer corps of artillery seemed to us to offer great advantages in putting- the country into a defensive attitude. The voluntary movement has been attended with brilliant success; we have as fine a body of riflemen as any in the world, careful in their drill, and, without doubt, the best marks- 'r men in Europe. In the last particular they have fairly worked their way to perfection, and their scores are at this moment superior to thoseproduced by the rifleman of any other nation. As we were of yore with the bow, so we are at this period with the rifle. And the War- office has performed its part well in giving to our volunteers the best campaigning weapon extant—the long Enfield. In accordance with the recommendation of Government we have now many Volunteer Artillery Corps. Why is it, then, that all the old rubbish in the shape of guns of a by-gone day is placed in charge of our artillerists ? Why. is the artilleryman who has obeyed the injunctions of the War-office and enrolled himself for great gun practice to be slighted and to be denied weapons at least on an equality with those supplied to our riflemen? Such is the fact. Our Volunteer Artillery are supplied with old ship guns, and the most antiquated field pieces, all smooth-bored. We learn from the Bristol Daily Post that there has been a bazaar held in that city to raise funds for the use of the Bristol Artillery, and two Whitworth rifled guns of high finish, but small calibre, were pre- sented by the Mayoress, the cost having been defrayed by the spirited citizens. These guns are only three-pounders; they will, nevertheless, according to the Bristol paper, carry a shot nearly four miles, and make good practice at two miles. A mark twelve feet square, at two miles, is seldom missed, so small is the deviation. The weight of the guns is not more than two cwt. These guns-properly called, we believe, mountain guns—are beautiful specimens of Mr. Whitworth's fabric The value of the grooved barrel cannot, however, be more strongly impressed upon the minds of our readers than by instituting a comparison between the practice of these lilliputian popguns, and the great, blustering, smooth-bored, sea- service guns, carrying an 18-pound shot, bestowed on the Bristol Artillery Corps by the Government. By dint of an elevation of ten degrees these 18-pounders make a slovenly practice at 2,000 yards-one mile and 200 yards but the deviation is very considerable. Contrast this with the practice of Mr. Whitworth's popguns, which continually hit the target, having little deviation, at 3,600 yards, or two miles, and then we venture to ask whether it is either wise or fair to place our volunteer artillery in a position which, in the event of a war, must prove disastrous ? If a three- pounder rifle gun show such vast superiority over an 18-pounder smooth-bored gun, what chance would our volunteer artillery have, armed with the latter, and opposed to the 6-pounder, 9-pounder, or 12-pounder rifled guns of the French service ? What sense can there be in first exciting our volunteers to take service as artillerymen, and then denying them such guns as all other nations use P—Examiner.
OUR MISCELLANY. --
OUR MISCELLANY. The Colour of the Wind.- We heard the other day, A man distinctly say, That the colour of the wind he knew And to maintain this truth, He show'd the best of proof, When he said, he saw it clearly bleiv. Superstition and Imposition.—In one corner: )f each day's New Yorlc Herald are a series of adver- iisements headed "Astrology." More than a dozen adies regularly announce themselves as "satisfactory spiritual mediums," clairvoyants, or dealers in the )ccult sciences, who may be consulted for lucky num- )ers, the names of future lovers or husbands, advice in ill cases of trouble, and guarantee their ability to unite ;hose who have been separated, to cure drunken and 'aithless husbands, &c. &c. A Beautiful Signification. Alabama" sig- lilies in the Indian language" Here we rest." A story s told of a tribe of Indians who fled from a relentless 'oe in the trackless forest in the South-West. Weary md travel-worn they reached a noble river which lowed through a beautiful country. The chief of the Dand stuck his tent-pole in the ground, and exclaimed, "Alabama l Alabama (Here we shall rest, here we shall rest.) Tea in Russia.-They drink ;tea, in Russia,, as soon as the boiling water is poured on it, whilst we dlow it to stand until it becomes as black as one's hat, ad as bitter as hops. The gentlemen mostly drink their tea in tumblers, without milk, sometimes adding i slice of lemon, whilst the ladies take in cups, with my amount of cream. Polygamy.-Halim Pasha, brother to the Viceroy, said to a friend of mine, Some of our women com- plain that we care little for them individually, and ask why European husbands are content with one wife, to whom they can be fond and faithful. But how is it possible for us to attach ourselves seriously to one of our women ? They have nothing to win respect and regard; they know nothing, they do nothing, they understand nothing, they think of nothing; they are mere children, utterly foolish, ignorant, and uncom- panionable we cannot love them in your sense of the word." True, 0 Pasha! but whose fault is it?— Arabian Days and Nights. The Most Like of Any."—A good story is told in a Chicago paper of a Chicagoan now in London, who, in his round of sight-seeing, went to see the renowned collection of wax figures of Madame Tus- saud. In the Chamber of Horrors he became lost in contemplation, and while in that state an old snuff- taking dame from the country came along, and pro- nounced him "the most like of any" of the wax murderers and murderesses, but, to be sure, laid hold of his nose and gave it a most unmistakable tweak. An apology, of course, followed, but it is difficult to say which of the two parties were the more embar- rassed. Travelling Snakes. — Yesterday afternoon a gentleman going from Berlin to New York had a box of rattlesnakes to take along, but the box was not put on board for some reason, and so it followed him on the afternoon mail train. During the ride towards New Haven one of the delightful animals got out, and gave the baggage man and mail agent some very pretty ideas of gymnastics with the rattles thrown in. They new around pretty lively—baggage men, snake, and mail agent, and about forty unemployed mail locks were called into immediate use by the gentleman, who vainly tried to shell him out. The snake is about four feet long, and was alive in the baggage car when the train reached this city. It would be satisfactory to residents of Fourth-avenue and Twenty-seventh-street to know what became of him after his arrival in town. —New York Journal of Commerce. A Novel Mouse-trap.—We may rest assured, says a correspondent in the Field, that it is perfectly possible for a cockle as well as an oyster to catch a mouse. I remember on one occasion, now some years ago, whilst staying at an old country-house on the Suffolk coast, hearing a most unaccountable clatter in the long uncarpeted passage into which my bedroom opened, and being at that time a little affected by the then newly-started theory of spirit-rapping, I sat up in the bed and listened for some time to the taps that appeared to me to run the whole length of the passage, and then finally descended the stairs, dying away in the distance. On going down to breakfast I mentioned the circumstance, with rather a grave face, to my old friend the farmer, and was considerably astonished at being told, with a burst of laughter by his merry grand-daughter, that the nocturnal visitor who had so disturbed my rest and excited my mind with visions of the supernatural was a large mouse which had run away with two cockles firmly attached by their shells, the one to its foot, the other to its tail, and failing, so encumbered, to get into its hole, had been knocked over by an early-rising dairy-maid at the toot ot the stairs, and preserved as a curiosity. Influence of Women in the Present Time. -The utter subjection of women to the arbitrary will of man, is characteristic of countries steeped in ig- norance, barbarism, and tyranny. The elevation of woman to the intellectual dignity of man, is character istic of countries blessed with knowledge, civilisation, and liberty. Let the despotic nations of the East regard the tender sex as slaves only to their uncon- trolled dominion; but let the free nations of Europe prove their superiority in justice, refinement, and religion, by sharing with that sex all the mental pleasures of which they are as capable as ourselves, if incompetent legislators make bad laws, women are as deeply injured by their operations as man; if com- petent legislators secure good laws, women are as much benefited bv the blessings they produce as men. In- Tepenuerttty oi wmcii, if even men alone were subject to I the evil or the good; how could women, b 3 indifferent to the happiness of their husbands, fathers, brothers, or sons, of whom such men must consist ? From the lips of woman every infant hears the first accents of affec- tion, and receives the first lessons of duty in tenderness and love. For the approbation of woman, the grown- up: youth will undertake the boldest enterprise, and brave every difficulty of study, danger, and even death. itself. To the happiness of woman, the man of maturer years will devote the best energies of his body and mind. And, from the soothing and affec- tionate regards of woman, the man who is become venerable by years, derives his chief consolation in life's decline. Who, then, shall say that the one-half of the human race, and they confessedly the most virtuous and the most amiable, may not be entrusted. with an intelligence and the influence equal to our own? To them, when sorrow afflicts us, we consign. half our sufferings, and they cheerfully relieve us by lightening our burden. To them, when joy delights, we give the half of our pleasures, and they as readily ,v consent to share them. They lessen, by their sym-. pathy, the pangs of all our privations-and they in, crease, by their participation, the ecstasy of all our delights; they deserve, therefore, the full enjoyment of every privilege that it is in our power to confer on them.—J. 8. Buckingham: "Address to the Electors of Sheffield." Ladies' Dress, Past and Present.—Many are still alive who can recollect those extraordinary gowns, with waists under the arms, and those equally extra- ordinary bonnets, which came over the face like cowls upon very smoky chimneys those dresses which clung so close to their wearers that they looked as if they had been dragged through a horsepond, and which. were so short that one would think all the ladies of that age had, with one consent, followed the example of St. Martin, and cut off half their garments to cover the poor. Go on to about 1830, and see how the bonnets rose menacing to heaven, and spread out to the east and to the west, and how those clinging garments had turned plethoric in the sleeves. These, of course, are sights which must have been painful to every well. regulated mind in 1863; yet each fashion, in its turn, received implicit credit. Was it, then, good dressing ? Certainly not. Then come down to ten years ago, and you will find that the close-clinging dresses had filled out and expanded; the sleeves were Vandyked, and great bows were out of fashion, while the head was covered with a small and modest bonnet. You ask if that is good dressing ? I say it is. Women dressed well ten years ago, but they would not let well alone. They had got rid of St. Martin's gowns; they had got. rid of bonnets which extended to the east and to the west, and which rose to the zenith; they had got variety of colour. Having all these advantages, they yet listened to some powerful but tasteless adviser, and so then they made their gowns stiff cages of whalebone and iron, reviving the customs of iiilisabeth and Marie Antoinette, which we thanked our stars had marched off, never, we fondly hoped, to re-appear. But here are the old antediluvian hoops again, and the small graceful bonnet is changed for one which pokes up like a coal-scoop. It was formerly a coal-scuttle, but now you will agree with me it is more like a coal. scoop. So there our ladies are. Ten years ago you were well-dressed ladies, but you would not let well alone, and now you are dressed a ice, Lecture on Art, by Bcresford Hope, An Arabian Legend -When Allah willed to create the horse, He said to the south wind, I will that a creature should proceed from thee—condense thyself "—and the wind condensed itself. Then came the angel Gabriel, and he took a handful of this matter and presented it to Allah, who formed of it a dark bay or a dark chestnut horse red mingled with black) saying, I have called thee horse (frass); I have created thee Arab, and I have bestowed upon thee the colour lioumwdie. I have attached good fortune to the hair that falls between thy eyes. Thou shalt be the lord (sid) of all other animals. Men shall -follow thee wheresoever thou goest. Good for pursuit --is for flight, thou shalt fly without wings. Upon thy back shall riches repose, and through thy means_sha.il wealth come." Then he signed him with the sign of glory and of good fortune (ghora, a star in the middle of the forehead). Do you now wish to know if Allah created the horse before man, or if He created man before the horse? Listen. Allah created the horse before man, and the proof is that man being the superior creature, Allah would, naturally give unto him all that he would require before creating himself. The wisdom of Allah points out that he made all that is upon the earth for Adam and his posterity. Here is another testimony to that: When Allah had created Adam, He called him by his nam3 and said unto him, 'Choose between the horse and Borak.' Adam answered, The fairest of the two is the horse;" and Allah replied, It is well; thou hast chosen thy glory and the eternal glory of thy children so long as they shall exist, my blessing shall be upon them, for I have created nothing that is more dear to me than man and the horse." -TTw Horses of the Sahara. A Miser in High Life.-Lord Barco, an an- cestor of the Earl of Fife, was remarkable for practising that celebrated rale-" Get all you can, and keep all you can get." One day, walking down the avenue from his house, he saw a farthing lying at his feet, which he carefully cleaned. A beggar passing at the same time, entreated his lordship would give him the farthing, saying it was not worth a nobleman's attention. Fin' a farthing to voursel', puir body," replied his lordship, and carefully put the coin in his breeches pocket. In addition to being his own farthing finder, his lordship was his own factor and rent collector. A tenant who called upon him to pay his rent, happened to be deficient a farthing. This amount could not be excused, and the farmer had to pay the farthing. When the business was adjusted, the countryman said to his lordship: "Now, Barco, I would gie ye a shillin' for a sight o' a' the goud and siller ye hae." Well, mon," replied Barco, It's no cost ye ony mair and accordingly, for and in con- sideration of the aforesaid sum in hand first well. and truly paid, his lordship exhibited several iron boxes filled with gold and silver coin.—" Now," says the farmer, I'm as rich as yoursel' "Ay, mon," said his lordship, "how can that be?" "Because I've seen it—and ye can do na mair. Poultry for the Million.—The marvel and mystery of our importation of eggs and poultry from the continent are as great as they were ten years ago. We are always saying, all over the country, that we cannot conceive why we do not raise fowls enough to supply our own needs, seeing how cheaply they may be managed, and how little trouble they give. It used to be supposed that every cottager on any common, or in any lane, had fowls stepping and picking about the gable-end; and it has been considered an evidence of the dulness of the labouring class in the rural districts that they have not extended their poultry-rearing -as the demand from the towns increased. We see fowls swarming in every farm-yard, and round the maltster's and distiller's granaries and here and there we hear of an establishment for the rearing of poultry alone but the wants of the population are very far indeed from being met. Even if we raised fowls enough to supply the tables of the gentry as at present, we should have to ask why other people should not eat poultry as well as the gentry. If there were poultry enough raised, every cottager in the country, and every town labourer, might as well have a fowl for his dinner as a rasher of bacon. The high price is altogether arti- ficial, as any traveller in a variety of countries can tell. It is the scarcity which makes the high prices and it is the desultory and unprogressive way in which the rearing of fowls is managed which makes the profits of that department so precarious as we are assured they are. The experience of foreigners justifies us in this conclusion.—Once a WeeJc. Changes of Time.—In Asia Minor we tread upon a soil rich in interesting and splendid recollections, with an existing population completely debased by ignorance and slavery. The glory of twenty different nations that once flourished here has been extinguished; flocks wander over the tomb of Achilles and of Hector;. and the throne of Mithridates and the Antiochuses have disappeared as well as the palaces of Priam and Crcssus. The merchants of Smyrna do not inquire -,4 whether Homer was born within their walls the fine sky of Ionia no longer inspires either painters or poets; the same obscurity covers with its shades the banks of the Jordan and the Euphrates. The republic of Moses is not to be found. The harps of David and Isaiah are silent for ever the wandering Arabian. come3, indifferent and unmoved, to rest the poles of his tent against the shattered columns of Palmyra; Babylon has also fallen beneath the Stroke of an avenging destiny, and that city which reigned supreme over oppressed Asia, has scarcely left behind it a trace that can show where the ramparts. of Semiramis were raised. I have seen," says a traveller, the accom- plishment of that prophecy, Tyre, the queen of the nations, shall be made like the top of a rock, wnere the fishermen shall spread their nets.