The Illustrated Usk Observer and Raglan Herald

THE NEWS BUDGET. The Guildford Riots.-A gentleman resident in G-uildford, having called the attention of the Home Secretary to the recent riots in this town, and to the probability of their recurrence on the 5th of next month, the following reply has been forwarded:- Whitehall, Oct. 8, 1863. Sir,-I am directed by Secretary Sir George Grey to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 5th inst., and to inform you that he is in communication with the Mayor of Guildford on the subject of the prevention of disturbances within the borough on the 5th of November next.-I am, Sir, &c., H. A. BRUCE. Mr. ——, Guildford." The Italian Cotton Exhibition, 1864.-We understand the Italian Cotton Exhibition will be opened on the 1st of January, 1864, at Turin. It is desirable that the specimens of English manufacturers of agricultural implements, cotton gins, presses, &c. &c., should be fully represented. For that occasion the exhibition commissioners have delegated Mr. Wm. Wanklyn, of Bury, Lancashire, to act as their repre- sentative in England, and have appointed him to be their medium of communication with those parties who are desirous of exhibiting cotton agricultural implements, cotton gins and presses, pumps for irriga- tion purposes, water wheels, steam and cattle driving apparatus, for ginning and pressing establishments. Suicide by Jumping out of a Window.- An inquiry was recently held at the London Hospital by Mr. John Humphreys, Middlesex coroner, respecting the death of John Bryan, aged 39 years, who com- mitted suicide under the following circumstances :-It appears that the deceased resided at No. 11. St. John's-hill, St. George's-in-the-East. On Wednesday he became ill of fever, and his fellow lodger was removed from the room in which he slept. On Thurs- day morning deceased got out of the window on the third floor and leaped into the street, falling on the pavement with dreadful force. His skull was frac- tured, and he was otherwise injured, and he died almost immediately. A verdict of "Suicide while of unsound mind" was returned. Mr. James Spenee and the Confederates.- An official notice in the Richmond Sentinel of Septem- ber 28, says:—"Mr. James Spence, of Liverpool, has been dismissed from his office of financial agent in Liverpool. The authority of agent was withdrawn from Mr. Spence under financial considerations, and he is no longer authorised to act as agent to the Con- federate Government, Messrs. Frazer, Trenholm, and Co., of Liverpool, taking charge of our deposits in their city." The Richmond Inquirer says :—"Let any 'agent' who dares to offer our honour for sale, or who basely invites, or acquiesces in, or hints at, any possible negotiations to that end, cease to be our-agent, or there will be a storm." Departure of the All-England Cricketers to Australia.-Messrs. G. Parr, J. Caesar, R. Carpen- ter, T. Hayward, W. Caffyn, A. Clarke, T. Lockyer, G. Tarrant, J. Jackson, J. Anderson, B. C. Tinley, and E. M. -Grace, the twelve players who have been selected to combat the Australian cricketers on be-half of the cricketers of Great Britain, went on board the Great. Britain steamship, of the "Black Ball" and "Eagle" line, -on Wednesday, and left the Mersey far Melbourne on Thursday morning. -On Wednesday afternoon the men were entertained to dinner at the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool-Mr. Edwin Whittaker, of Manchester, .pre-. siding. Spirit Licenses.—The Torquay magistrates have caused great commotion in the wholesale wine and Spirit trade by initiating a change in the practice of licensing wholesale dealers in distilled liquors. Hitherto, to such traders, an ordinary publican's license has been granted, to enable them to sell small quantities, to 'he drunk on or off the premises. The 'Torquay bench have declined to grant any licenses -except to bona fide hotel or inn-keepers who -have ,accommodation for the entertainment of guests, and use their houses for that purpose. They ground their rep' 'u .decision upon the presumed intention of the Legisla- ture, as disclosed in an Act passed last session. Against this alteration of the ordinary practice an appeal is lodged, and'the case will be fully argued at the ensuing-quarter sessions. Distress in the Manufacturing Districts.- The following circular has been sect to all the com- mittees throughout the country who collected in aid .of this fund::—" Offices, 21, New Cannon-street, Man- chester, October 5, 1863.-Dear Sir,-I am requested to call your attention to the accompanying- resolution, passed at a meeting of the Central Executive Com- mittee held this day, the Bight Hon.the Earl of Derby K.G., in'the chair. May I ask you to bring it before your committee, and to state that, as heretofore, I shall be happy to receive parcels of clothing, blankets, &c., for the .Lancashire operatives, and materials for the use of sewing schools, all of which may be for- warded to me free of charge, by the kindness of the railway companies, provided that the printed address cards, a small number of which I send by book past, be used. With many thanks for the kindness which your committee have already shown, I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, JOHN WJliI. MACI/CJRE, Hon. -Sec. To Hon. -Secretary Lancashire Relief Fund." The Empress Eugenie's Love of Dress.— The Empress never appears twice in the same dress, but changes the material and the colour every day. She has got the fashion of dressing from head to feet in the same-colour. If brown be chosen, then every- thing is brown—bonnet, shawl, dress, parasol and beets. Her .Majesty seenis-io give her mind to dressing. It-is said that in the front centre of the ceiling of her private dressing-room there is a trapdoor entering into a spacioushall above filled with," presses," each containing a dress exhibited on a frame, looking like an effigy of the Empress herself. In a part of these presses there is a little railway leading to the door, through which the dressed effigy descends into the presence of the Empress. If it please her Majesty the dress is lifted from the frame and placed upon the Imperial person if not, it is whipped up, and another comes down in its plaee, and perhaps another and another. Marie Antoinette's Shoe.—A correspondent of a provincial journal gives the following account of Marie Antoinette's shoe now preserved in the Museum of Sovereigns at the Louvre. On the 16th October, 1793, when Sanson descended from, the scaffold after executing the unfortunate Queen, he saw one of the soldiers on duty endeavouring to arrest two boys who had concealed themselves under the guillotine during the execution. One of them had dipped a handker- chief in the Royal blood, and the other held a shoe which had fallen from the platform. The boy with the handkerchief was taken, and was only saved from the guillotine by his tender age. The other boy got off with the shoe, which he and his son kept as a relic till 1806, when the latter carried it in a velvet bag to Count Horace de Viel-Castel, Conservator of the Museum of Sovereigns, by whom, of course, it was gladly accepted. The shoe is small, considering that she was a tall woman. Accident on the Brighton Railwasr.—Oa Friday morning an accident, which might have been attended with serious consequences, occurred on the South Coast Railway, about a mile from the Brighton station. The cause of the accident was similar to that which led to the late railway catastrophe near Lynn, although, happily, the consequences were very different, so far as injury to person is concerned, but the destruction of property has been considerable. About one o'clock in the morning a goods train came into collision with a bullock which had strayed on the line, near Pateham. The trucks were thrown off the rails, and another goods train came into violent con- tact with them. The fragments and contents of several wagons were strewn over both lines, and during the early part of the day all traffic was arrested. Several trains were taken round on the Keymer branch by Lewes. In the course of the forenoon one of the lines was cleared, and it was thought that the other would be reopened during the day. Colliers' Strike at Wigan.-The men employed at one of the pits of the Kirkless-hall Coal Company, near Wigan, have lately struck work in consequence of a proposal by their employers to reduce their wages, and to alter the mode in which they have hitherto been accustomed to send the coal to the surface. According to a statement made at a meeting of miners a few days ago, the reduction amounts to 2s. per score, and in addition the workmen are required to separate the small coal from the round, an operation which from the nature of the seam and the workings adds, as it is alleged, 10 or 15 per cent, to their labour. Against these alterations the men have struck, and in their strike they are supported by a lately-established Miners' Sick and Provident Benefit Society. The strike has caused much ill feeling among some of the colliers towards the company, the principal partner in which is Mr, John Lancaster, of Hindley-hall, and on Friday this found vent in the following notice, which was posted at Rose-bridge, in the township of Ince:- "ThtS k to certify to the miners of John Lancaster and Samuel (his brother) too, .that he may make his will, for the pistol is loaded for John and Samuel too." By the bulk of the miners this document will meet with the reprobation it deserves, as Mr. Lan- caster, whatever the difference so far as wages are concerned, is held in high esteem by the men in his employ. The French Excursion to the Crystal Palace.-The experiment on Monday last, when nearly 600 persons were carried from French ports to the Crystal Palace and back on the same day, proved eminently successful. The South Eastern excursion steamer Victoria left Boulogne at half-past eight, the passengers reaching the Crystal Palace at one p.m., thus performing the journey in four hours and a half. The Calais (London, Chatham, and Dover Railway) excursion started at half-past seven, and arrived at Penge at half-past twelve. It will be sufficient to re. mark that the French excursion fete was thought sufficiently important to insure a Royal visit to the Palace. The excursionists left Sydenham at six o'clock, and were safely landed at their respective ports at about half-past-ten. It is proposed to organise a series of these trips during the ensuing season. The Punishment of Desertion.—Twa men, Elliott and Eastman, privates in the army of the Poto- mac, were recently shot for desertion. The scene is thus described:—As the procession reached the square the prisoners alighted from the ambulance, and the band fell to the rear. Here the bearers took up the coffin on their shoulders, in front of the prisoners. The prisoners cast a timid, troublous look at the coffins, and then moved on, leaning on the chaplains. Elliott sat back on his coffin; Eastman knelt in prayer. His voice was audible above the click and sound of the guns as they were brought to "present." The word "fire" having been given, Elliott fell back gently on his coffin, only wounded; while Eastman jumped up and tore the bandage from his eyes, evidently un- touched. The reserve was ordered up. Eastman appeared as if electrified, and placed his hand before his eyes to shut out the horrid sight. The men again missed. The provost-marshal during this, in mercy, pulled out his revolver and shot him through the head; he also fired another ball through Elliott's head. Quarreling, Love, and Suicide.Mr. Myres, coroner, has held an inquest at the village of Heapey, near Chorley, touching the death of Thomas Warbur- ton, twenty-two years of age, son of a farmer of that place. It appeared from the evidence that, on Friday morning last, the deceased had a violent quarrel with his father, and afterwards went out of the house and drowned himself in a pit near to his father's house. He was fond" of a young girl, and had been joked about her. On Sunday morning his father, whilst passing through a field in which the pit referred to is situated, found the 'cap of the deceased at the edge of th-e pit. The pit was then dragged, and the body of the deceased was taken out of it. Before committing the rash act he left a sealed letter on the table, ad- dressed to one of the family.—The jury returned an open verdict. Monthly Nurses.-An action was brought in Shoreditch County Court by a monthly nurse to recover .£1 damages in consequence of the defendant not employing the plaintiff, as agreed.—The plaintiff deposed that she had been engaged to attend Mrs. Blane during the third week in May. She was not wanted then, and Mrs. Blane got some one else in June.—Mrs. Blane said she had offered plaintiff em- ployment to nurse her while she was ill with rheumatic fever, but the plaintiff refused on the ground that she was only engaged for the particular occasion.-The plaintiff said, in answer to his honour, that she occa- sionally went out washing and charing, and that she was a nurse.—His Honour: Wonld you. nurse me, for instance, if I were ill? Plaintiff: With the greatest pleasure, sir.—His Eonour felt that, upon the plain- tiff's own showing, she was a general as well as a' monthly nurse, and'therefore she should have accepted Mrs. Blame's offer, and not have stood upon the sup-: posed etiquette of her calling. Employment had been offered and refused, therefore defendant would have a verdict. The ex-Champion's Flower Garden.-Mary Ann Donovan, aged twenty-six, living in Platt-street, Camden-town, was charged, at the Clerkenwell Police- court, with being drunk and wilfully damaging a quantity of plants, value £1 10s., the property of Thomas Sayers, the ex-Champion of England, at Bitterne-cottages, Camden-town. The ex-Champion said that on the previous evening, about eleven o'clock, he saw <blie prisoner in his garden, and .all his plants, consisting of geraniums and others, had been pulled up, and damage to the amount of 30s. had been done. The prisoner was tipsy at the time. His garden had before been stripped of plants, and therefore he was determined to prosecute. A neighbour of the com- plainant had- seen the prisoner pulling up the flowere and throwing them into the adjoining garden. The prisoner thought they were mistaken in. charging her, but she was drunk, and did not know what she was a1&out. Mr. D'Eyncourt said drunkenness was nc excuse for committing the damage she had done, and he fined her :20s. for doing the damage, and 20s. for the damage committed; in default of payment to be imprisoned for one month, wiLh hard labour. Young Ambition Nipped in the Bud.— Henry John Wright, a respectable-looking lad in the employ of Mr. Hayward, jeweller, of Regent-street, charged with robbing his employer, was brought before Mr. Knox, at Marlborough-street, on Friday, for final examination. The prisoner was in the employ of 1\fr. Haywa,rd, and was entrusted with rii^gs and other articles of the value of C20 to deliver at different places, but instead of doing this he absconded with the property. Mr. Rayner, of Thames-street, Windsor, pawnbroker, produced two rings, one ef which the prisoner had pledged and the other sold at. his shop. Mr. Harrison, of Aldersgate-street, pawnbroker, gave up a pair of earnings pledged by the prisoner. The prisoner was taken into custody by Sergeant Cole, of the C Division, who found in the prisoner's possession .several numbers of-the following books :—IBlueskin," "Black Bess, or the Knight of the Road," Colonel .Jack, or the Life of a Highwayman," "Black Wolfe, .or the Boy Highwayman." Mr. Hayward asked that the prisoner might he dealt summarily with. Mr. Knox said it was a jobbery at a jeweller's, and he eeuld not do so. Committed for trial. A Poor Widow's Story. — A neatly-attired female, who said she was sixty-two years of age, ap- plied to Mr. D'Eyncourt, at the Clerkenwell Police- court, for assistance, or for an order to admit her into one of the workhouses.-The applicant stated that she had come from the country, and had walked the whole distance, as the parish in which her late husband and herself had been residing had refused to pass her to town. She had moved in a, respectable sphere of society, and her hushand had been dead about two years and a half. His death had been terribly sudden. One evening he had invited some friends to dinner, and after playing the part of a kind and genial host had retired into a back room, and died, without having time to say one word to her or his friends. She had sold the furuiture and paid all the demands, and had lived on the proceeds as long as she could, in the hope that something might turn up to her advan- tage but at last she was obliged to succumb, and to ask for parish relief, and ultimately to go into the workhouse.—Mr. D'Eyncourt said it was not a case he could entertain, for he had not the power of making the necessary inquiries. He had no doubt her story was true, but she was like a tramp, going, as she said, from union to union. What was her reason for com- ing to London ?-The applicant said that she did not like to be in the place where she had suffered her bereavement. She knew some persons in town who might assist her, and as she belonged to a parish in London she would much rather go there.—Mr. D'Eyn- court at once gave the applicant an order to take to the relieving overseer of the parish she had named. She then thanked his worship for his kindness, and withdrew. The Fatal Prize-fight.-An inquest was held on Tuesday, before Mr. Butter, at the Spread Eagle, Salford, on the body of a youth named Burgess, whose death arose from injuries received in a prize-fight, on Sunday last, with another youth, named Kidd. Evi- dence was given to show that deceased had borrowed money in order to make up the stake, and that the fight took place in a field near Throstle Nest. After fighting for half an hour the deceased received a blow in the stomach, and both the combatants fell to the ground, the deceased falling under. When he got up the deceased said he could fight no longer, and shortly afterwards swooned. He was taken in a boat down the river towards Blackfriars-bridge, but died shortly afterwards. His body was removed to the Infirmary. Kidd, and a youth named Hughes, one of the backers, were subsequently apprehended. Mr. Smith, the house surgeon at the Infirmary, stated that the deceased died from injuries to the head, which might have been caused by a blow or by a fall, most probably the latter. Mr. Rutter said there was a clear case of manslaughter against Kidd and Hughes, but it would be well' to I adjourn the inquest in order that the other persons I engaged in the fight might be apprehended. Loss of Forty Lives by an Avalanehe.-The Otago Daily Times reports the falling of an avalanche of snow on the 14th of August last at a small gully at the head of the Serpentine, a branch of the Dunston diggings. The immense snow drift which had formed on the top of a huge cliff, under which the tents of the miners had been pitched, fell, completely covering the whole of the tents. A party of nine miners, whose tent was situated farthest from the cliff, after great difficulty managed to find a way of escape, and after several attempts to rescue their companions buried beneath some forty or fifty feet of snow, they were obliged to desist and hasten to the deep creek, seven miles distant, for further assistance. Blockade Runners in the Mersey. — On Tuesday there arrived in Liverpool two blockade runners-viz., the Gladiator, Captain Wallice, from Matamoros; and the Florida, Captain Carter, from Bermuda. Both these steamers bring large cargoes of cotton, which, according to the advances which have taken place in prices of fine cotton, will leave handsome profits to the owners of the cargoes. The news by the Florida is anything but encouraging for the blockade runners, as the neighbourhood of Wilmington and the routes taken by the runners between that port and Bermuda swarm with cruisers. The will of Sir Frederic William Slade, Bart., Q.C., of Maunsell-grange, North Petherton, Somerset, a Bencher of the Middle Temple, was proved in the London Court on the 6th inst., by the executors, Lord Vaux, of Harrowden (the testator's brother-in-law), andj Lucius Henry Fitzgerald, Esq., barrister-at-law, the personalty being sworn under < £ 1(5.000. The will was executed in 1852. The testator was the son of the late General Sir John Slade, Bart., G.C.H., and suc- ceeded to the baronetcy in 1859, and attained the age of sixty. Sir Frederic, after making provision for his wife (who is the sister of Baron Vaux), and securing to her ladyship an annuity for her life, has directed his property to be divided amongst all his children not otherwise provided for. Sir Frederic was a magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant for Somerset, and Lieutenant- Colonel. of the West Somerset Yeomally.-Illgstrated London Neius. Shocking Railway Accident.-The other day a horrible accident befel a man named Charles Thorpe at the goods department of the North British Rail- way at Edinburgh, whereby he was instantly killed. Ho had been standing on one of the lines of rails talk- ing to one of the officials, when a loaded truck, which had been shunted from a distance, came upon him un observedly. It struck him behind, and passed over his head, mangling it in a dreadful manner, and killing him on the spot. His -companion had a narrow escape, having also been struck; falling outwards, however, the truck passed onward without further touching him. Wo understand that deceased was owner of a steam thrashing machine, with which for some years past he had travelled throughout the county. He was married, and has left a widow and a numerous family living in the neighbourhood of Eastbank. Employmen t of Children m the Potteries. —The manufacturers of the Staffordshire potteries are at length addressing themselves to the consideration of the report of the Royal Commissioners on the em- pleyment of children. A section of both manufacturer and workpeople (the latter, in the great majority of cases, being the employers of very young children) have, resolved that no Government interference is desirable, but ought to be resisted. This is especially "the case at Longton, where a very large proportion of -little children are employed, smd which, though a town .of some 20,000 inhabitants, has not one public ele- mentary school—that is, a school under Government inspection. In the other towns of the district, hew- ever, the majority are not only in fav eur of the inter- position of Government to remedy the notorious evils complained 0", but argue that as the operation of the Royal Commission was extended to this district at the express wash of a large number of leading .TEani> facturers, the Government will interfere, either with or without the co-operatisn of the :inhabitants. The adoption of the Factory Act and of the half-time system is very generally 3ield to be impracticable, and the remedy about which the greatest unanimity exists is the prohibition of the employment of children of very tender years—say-under the age of ten. This is the course recommended to be adopted by the clergy of the rural deanery of Steke-upon-Trent. -Psttal Result of a. Girl's Quarreli-An in- quiry has been held by Dr. Lankester, the coroner for Central Middlesex, at the Middlesex Hospital, respect- ing the death of Catherine Hamlin, aged seven years, who expired from the effects of excitement under the following S. Hamlin, 12, Cleve- land-street, said that on the previous Tuesday the deceased had a quarrel with her sister, because the latter bad slapped her on the back in play. Deceased ct flew into a dreadful passion, choked in it, and expired in ten minutes. Deceased was in perfect health up to the time of the quarrel -with her sister. Dr. Lawson said that he had made a post-mortem examination, and found that the deceased had expired from a fit of apoplexy, produced, no doubt, by the excitement of the quarrel. In his experience he had never met with such an extraordinary ease before. The coroner said that the .present was tile third case of apoplexy he had met with in persons so young as the deceased. In one case ajad had expired from apoplexy produced by a surfeit of pears. The other was that of a child that literally cried himself to death from a fit of passion, brought on ;by being separated from his mother. The jury returned a verdict of "Death from apoplexy produced by the excitement of a quarrel on the day of her death." Passengers' Act Amendment Act.—This Act, -passed in the last session of Parliament, eame into operation last week, and its chief provisions include a wider definiticn of the term "passenger ship," which henceforth embraces every description of sea-going vessel, whether British or foreign, carrying, upon any voyage to which the provisions of the Passengers' Act, 1855," extend, more than 50 passengers, or a greater number than in the proportion of one statute aduit to every 3S tons of the registered tonnage of such ships, if propelled by sails, or than one statute adult to every 20 tons, if propelled by steam. Mail steamers carrying other than cabin passengers (heretofore exempt) to be subject to the Act. Repeal of the ton- nage check on the number of passengers to be carried. Cabin passengers to be included in the lists, and their ages, whether under or over twelve years, to be spe- cified. Penalty on stow-aways to be extended from £ 5 to £ 20. Horses and e&ttle may be carried in passenger ships under specified conditions. Modification of the requirements in respect to the issue of lime juice. Substitution of soft bread for other bread stuffs! Forfeiture -of the ship if the master proceed to sea without certificate of clearance, &c. In case of wreck or damage in or near the United Kingdom, passengers to be provided with a passage by some other vessel, and maintained in the meanwhile. The Earl of Hardwicke upon Naval Ar- tillery.-At the annual meeting of the Western Cam- bridgeshire Agricultural Association, the Earl of Hardwicke responded to the toast of "The Army, Navy, and Volunteers." In doing so, he said that, in his opinion the artillery which was to be used at sea in future must be much the same as of old, and be limited to that which was perfectly manageable under the various circumstances of position and weather in which ships were placed. Model guns of from twelve to twenty tons were useless unless they could be worked upon moveable platforms. He believed that the breech-loaders would prove valueless, and that we should again have to use muzzle-loaders. He con- sidered that armour-plated ships would offer the greatest resistance to shot. This being the case, his lordship thought that this class of vessels would be adapted for our defensive purposes. Narrow Escape of a Family.—Between three and four o'clock the other morning the lives of Joseph Arnold, his wife and child, were in jeopardv from the bursting through of the water at the basin of the Ten Score, off the road at Ladymoor, which runs between Sedgley and Bilston. Arnold's wife awoke, < dreaming that she was being drowned, and at once discovered that the cottage was being inundated, i The water had surrounded it, and was in two of the rooms. With her husband she leaped out ef bed, and ] he carried her and the child on his back through the ( water, which at his back door was up to his waist, to 1 the higher ground on the turnpike-road. Arnold then 1 with a pike drove a hole in the front door of his cot- ] tage and passed out as much of his furniture as he 1 could, until the water had risen above the sacking of his four-post. ° ( Marshal d'Ornano died a few davs since at his < official residence at the Hotel des Invalldes. He was < born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, in 1784, and belonged to I an ancient family. He entered the French army as 1 a lieutenant of dragoons at the age of sixteen; and ( I although his military career was not undistinguished, his seniority, and the fact of his being the last sur- viving general officer of the old Imperial Guard, constituted his principal title to the dignity of a marshal of France, to which he was elevated by Napoleon III. in 1861. He took part in the battles of Austerlitz and Jena. When Napoleon was in exile at Elba he served Louis XVIII., but he again joined the empire during the One Hundx: 1 Days. On this account he was banished by the Resto- ration. He was allowed to return to France in 1818, but he never again had a commission under the legiti- mate Bourbons. The revolution of 1830, to which he speedily adhered, brought him once more into active service; he was created a peer of France and placed at the head of the fourth military division. He dies with the highest honours which the empire could bestow-a marshal of France, a senator, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, and governor of the Invalides. The Emperor attended his death-bed. An accident of a fatal character happened to Captain Usher, R.N., on Wednesday. The captain and his brother, Colonel Usher, of Lee-park, Black- heath, had been on board a steamer moored near London-bridge, to see some friends, and on leaving they either overbalanced themselves or slipped from the plank they were crossing to get to the shore, and were both precipitated into the river. An alarm was raised and assistance was immediately on the spot, but Capt. Usher had sunk. The body was recovered in a few minutes, but life appeared to be quite extinct. It was conveyed to Guy's Hospital, where every means were resorted to to restore animation without avail. Colonel Usher, being a good swimmer, and not being enabled to see his brother near him, struck out for the shore, which he fortunately reached in safety. The body awaits an inquest. A Dangerous Plaything.—A lad dwelling with his parents in one of some cottages known as Radmore, near, Portsmouth, a few days since found an eight- inch spherical shell on some of the adjacent mud lands of the harbour after considerable labour he managed to deposit it in the garden plot in front of his home. On Saturday, about four p.m., the lad's father being absent from home shrimping," the former determined to try if his prize was a loaded shell, and if so, to let it off. A train of powder was quickly laid to the half-filled fuse aperture in the shell, and the lad, at the other end of the small garden, fired the train. The shell exploded with a terrific roar. The inmates of the other cottages rushed out of doors in a state of terror. Scarcely a pane of glass was left unbroken, while doors and window sashes were shaken from their fastenings. The cause of the mischief was found lying in the garden, bleeding and burnt by the fire from the explosion, but, strangely enough, untouched by any of the fragments of the shell itself, which were thrown upwards, and some pieces fell at an immense distance. A baker's boy, passing with his handcart of bread in a lane at the back of the cottage, was thrown down by the force of the explosion, and found himself suddenly scrambling among his loaves on the ground. The poor boy who fired the shell was con- veyed to the Landport Hospital, where his injuv^j were attended to, and hopes are given of hie speedy convalescence. Prorogation of Parliament.—The Lord Chan- cellor attended in the House of Lords on Wednesday for the purpose of formally proroguing the Imperial Parliament. Yery little interest attached to the pro- ceedings, and when Sir Augustus Clifford, the Usher of the Black Rod, proceeded to summon the House of Commons, he found that distinguished body repre- sented by a couple of clerks. Notwithstanding this he proceeded with due obeisance along the House, and addressed the Chair as though the Speaker had been sitting there in full state. The House of Commons thus censtituted, appeared at the bar of the House of Lords. Sir J. G. Lefevre then advanced to the table, mlnl and read the Royal commission, commanding the commissioners present, in the name of her Majesty, to further prorogue Parliament until Tuesday, Dec. 1. As the significant words, faz the dispatch of divers urgent and important affairs" were not added, the meeting on that <lay will again be purely formal. The Royal commission having been read, the commis- sioners rose from their seats, and the Lord Chancellor said that by virtue of the commission just read, he, in the name of her Majesty the Queen, declared Parlia- ment prorogued until Tuesday, the 1st of December next. His lordsliip then declared the House adjourned, and the ceremony terminated. The Crew of the Florida.—The Correctional Tribunal of Brest last week tried two sailors, named Woods and Hawthorne, belonging to the Confederate vessel Florida, on a charge of assaulting Messrs. Veaton and Prebble, officers of the Federal frigate JSearsage, both of which vessels have (as is already known) lately put into that port for repairs. It was proved by the evidence that as the complainants were on their way to the theatre, in the evening of the 6th inst., they were violently assaulted from behind and knocked down by four sailors, one of whom threatened them with a poignard. The two prisoners were soon afterwards arrested, in consequence of information given by the landlady of a public-house, who heard them boasting of their feat. The prisoners expressed -their regret for having, when excited by drink, given way to the irritation caused by an attack on one of their comrades, who was lying in the hospital in con- sequence of wounds inflicted by Federal sailors. The tribunal, taking into consideration the repentance of the prisoners, sentenced them to only two days' imprisonment, and to pay the expenses of the pro- secution. Violent Storm,-Various parts of Cornwall have been visited by one of the fiercest gales of wind that are remembered to have prevailed during a long period. A stiff breeze.commencedin the morning, and gradually ,developed itself into a perfect hurricane. Rain, too, poured down in torrents. On Tuesday the weather became calmer, although there was a high wind, in addition to rain, and heavy peals of thunder. Reports from various quarters speak of considerable damage to house property that has been effected, and at Falmouth her Majesty's ship Russell, 60 guns, Commander Grenfell, was driven from her moorings across the bars. "Served Him Right." The other evening, between eight and nine o'clock, a vagabond amused himself in passing down Aberdeen-street, Birmingham, by hitting any female he met alone a blow in the face, and then running away. He struck one a blow in the mouth, and off he ran. Seeing another with her hands full of things from a shop crossing to the opposite house, he dealt her a back-hand blow over the left eye, and away he went. Meeting with another, he hit her severely in the face and took to his heels, but was per- ceived by two men, who gave chase. He made for some fields close by, and hid in a ditch. They found him and brought him back, taking him to the turnpike road leading to Spring-hill, to give him in charge of a policeman, but not finding one when they came to the bridge at the top of Spring-hill they determined to give him punishment at once, so they set to and gave the cowardly scoundrel such a thrashing that he will not easily forget, which, as a bystander observed, served him right." The King of the Greeks.-On Wednesday morning the King of the Greeks, accompanied by his suite, left at 9.15 a.m., by the train of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, for Dover, and thence via, Calais to Paris. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales accompanied his Majesty to the station, and his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge was also present. His Majesty was received at the station by Sir Cusack Roney, one of the directors, Mr. Johnson, secretary, and Mr. Bishop, superintendent, who pro- ceeded in the train to Dover. A large deputation from the Greek Committee, and several of the leading merchants and their ladies, were also present. The whole of the platform appropriated for the departure of his Majesty was covered with crimson cloth, upon which the ladies of the members of the Greek Com- mittee strewed the rarest and most beautiful Sowers. After the departure of his Majesty three vociferous sheers were given for the Prince of Wales, and three ilso for the Duke of Cambridge. The Earl of Leitrim has been superseded in the commission of the peace for the counties of Donegal, Leitrim, and Galway, in consequence of his recent insult to the Lord-Lieutenant in crowding the inn at Maam with people, so that his Excellency might find 10 accommodation on his arrival there. There is, of course, nothing vindictive in this measure he has )een removed from the magistracy simply because he .iad proved to Ireland and to the Queen that he was a person of a temper and judgment altogether unfit to 30 entrusted with official and public responsibility. Guardian Angels. — Dr. Dixo-s, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, confirmed a number if children at Drogheda last week. 'Addressing the children, he said he would mention an instance which iad come under his own notice of the watchfulness of ;he guardian angels. That day was the last day of ,onfirmation in the diocese for the present year. He had administered the sacrament on nineteen days in all. A remarkable circumstance connected wi;,h the confirmation was that not a drop of rain fell during: any of those nineteen days, and many of the children were obliged to come long distances "to the church. He was most anxious himself on that head, and he wished to see the children comfortable in the church without any risk of their catching cold or illness of any kind. This remarkable circumstance he attributed to the watchfulness of their guardian angels. Others !all a might hold that it was the result of chance, but he cl: i not think so.