The Illustrated Usk Observer and Raglan Herald

town talk, BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. Otw røders wtH understand that we do not hold ourselves Pffpon- riblefor our able Correspondent's opinions. I love to give the whole name," says Gold- smith, parenthetically, when speaking of that virtuous lady, Miss Carolina Wilhelmina Amelia Skeggs. "The Garibaldi Mutual Life Assurance and Sick Fund Friendly Society bears a name somewhat longer, and a charaeter, if possible, worse than the young lady in the Vicar of Wakefield." The conduct of Mr. Tidd Pratt in exposing the above society is highly applauded in some quarters, while other persons say that he only did his duty, and that in a case where his duty was remarkably easy. They would like to see that gentleman fly at higher game; there are other societies just as rotten, but which it would not be quite so easy to crush. Look at the advertisement sheet of a daily paper: will you not find it full of the puffs of doctors who have no diploma, and societies whose reservefundisamyth ? Thevery name of the above society sounds sensational and suspicious. If you forget all the noble qualities of the great general, and think only of his boldness and daring, there is a certain fitness in the use of Garibaldi's name by a society, whose trustees are fictitious, and which, with £ 49 in bank, declares that it has a reserve fund of X25,000, and offers .£100 to any one who can name an instance in which it has not paid its claims. It would be well if similar swindles, of the existence of which there cannot be a doubt, were exposed. It is revolting to contemplate such attempts to trade on the prudence of the poor man, and cheat his virtue of its reward. You have read Dr. Russell's narrative of the expedition to lay the Atlantic cable. It reads as interesting as the first book of the Æneid. The attempt of human thought to permanently invade the silent depths of the Atlantic has again failed. But the failure is such as to fill those interested in the Atlantic telegraph-and who is not interested in it?—with the utmost confidence in its ultimate success. It would be highly unreasonable to suppose that in an expedition of such risk and magnitude human skill could have provided against every contingency. The cable has been carried to within 600 miles of its destination, it has been grappled for with partial success, in a depth which it is hard to realise; and people look forward to being able, a twelvemonth hence, to send their thoughts thrilling through the oozy valleys of the Atlantic. The manner of picking up the cable is certainly capable of im- provement; and if the suggestion of Captain Anderson be followed out, such accidents as that through which the cable finally came to grief will be effectually guarded against. People are still talking about the fStes at Cher- bourg. Remembering the history of the two nations, it is a remarkable and suggestive thing to see the French and English fleets meeting in the same harbour, not to blow each other to the moon," but to express mutual sentiments of friendship and goodwill. It shows how greater intercourse has crushed the respective prejudices of Englishmen and Frenchmen, while it is in keeping with the spirit of an age whose tilting ground is the workshop, and whose tournaments are industrial exhibitions. It is not surprising, therefore, that some persons were desirous of making theses a means whereby they may argue against the expense to which we have gone in strengthening our fortifications and augmenting our navy. On the one hand it is asked, What are the terms on which we are with France? Louis Napoleon had no hostile intentions < towards us." How do you know ? is the reply of otherswho take an opposite view. How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done," say they. Friends are always most willing to assist when their assistance is not needed. The man on whose lip a repartee is ever ready is seldom made the subject of a jest, and the nation whose three-deckers are well manned, and whose army is kept up at high fighting mark, is, probably, more likely to have good allies and preserve its peace than a nation whose assistance in any enterprise must be small, and whose unde- fended wealth may seem an easy prize to the greedy and unscrupulous. There is nothing antagonistic to peace in being ready for war; and we have seen at Cherbourg, that the cannon may boom "Peace and goodwiil, goodwill and peace, Peace and goodwill to all mankind." The cattle disease is still a subject of conversa- tion, and is, I fear, likely to be for some time. There is as much difference of opinion as ever as to its origin, and whether it can be cured, &c. There are quacks, of course, with infallible remedies, whose immodest boldness win the confi- dence and the money of the ignorant. But there is no eure, and there seems to be no hope of any, on which dependence can be placed. The cognate subject of cholera begins to excite some alarm. It is wonderful that notwithstanding all that has been said and written about the im- portance of cleanliness, so much filth fs allowed to exist in some parts of London. For instance, the hot smell from which one suffers in walking up St. Clement's-lane is awful. And near Clare- market there are places where cats'-meat is boiled, and where black-puddings, and tripe, and other delicate dishes are prepared, the stench from which is as bad as that from any dissecting room in the kingdom. These are cases where the autho- rities might fairly interfere. Such places ought not to be allowed to exist in the heart of a large population. Some open space in the suburbs would be the proper site for an establishment of this sort. Forward's career has turned attention to the subject of gambling, and the number of persons who must make a living by sharping. Some have been inclined to pour forth a lamentation over the degeneracy of the age, and point to the wide- spreading evil of gambling. It is, I fear, true that this vice is more general than formerly; but it is by no means carried to the extent amongst the aristocracy it was in the time of our fathers and grandfathers. Perhaps, however, the loss, to a poor man, of a few shillings might be more felt than hundreds or thousands of pounds would be by the wealthy. You may see, even when the rain is coming down fast and heavy, a crowd on the "Euins," in Farringdon-road, with umbrellas and betting-books you may aho see ladies at the races taking and giving the odds in kid-gloves and half-sovereigns; and I grant you there are black-legs in every billiard-room and every club; but who will say that gambling pre- vails to the extent that it did when Hogarth drew the Cock-pit," or when Charles James Fox lost 200,000 pounds in one night; or, to come nearer I to ourselves, when Rawdon Crawley and Becky Sharpe played their little game ? A lesson may be learned from the highly virtuous way in which Forward and gambling are discussed by gentlemen while looking down on the world from their club windows; many of these are not without spot or blemish, nevertheless, they discuss the greater crimes of others with a kind of disgust, whilst they consider their lesser ones harmless, forgetting that one false step leads to many. Even the crimes of that miserable felon will not be without their use if they impress on these gentlemen and on the world at large, the great truth that sin begets sin, and crime beckons on crime, and one passion overgrown assumes leadership of the rest, and drags all into wild revolt. Z.

SUMMARY OF PASSING EVENTS. THE punishment for manslaughter was reduced to its minimum at the late Liverpool Assizes, when a man named John Edwards was sentenced to "three days'" imprisonment for killing Patrick M'Coy. The men quarrelled in a public-house and went out to settle their differences, and, as the I judge remarked, the injuries were received "in a fair stand-up fight." AT the same assizes a painter named Harriman Burns was tried for the wilful murder of his wife. It was a clear case of murder; but it was shown that the prisoner had been for some time labouring under some strange mental delusions, and the jury acquitted him on the ground of insanity. He was therefore ordered to be confined during her Majesty's pleasure. A DISPATCH from Alexandria says that cholera has almost entirely disappeared from the lower districts, where it was most prevalent but has since broken out in Upper Egypt, and a medical commission has been sent thither. The directors of the Prussian hospital in Alexandria have been warmly thanked by the Egyptian Vizier for their humane exertions during the late visita- tion. From a record of deaths by cholera in Malta, it appears that the island has been heavily visited by this disease. On the 5th inst. there were 57 attacks and 33 deaths, and on the 10th 70 attacks and 30 deaths. This was the maximum, however, for since that period the numbers decreased daily, and according to the latest accounts the epidemic had almost disappeared. THE arrival of the Great Eastern in England puts an end to the long suspense as to the fate of the Atlantic Telegraph Cable. It has failed for the present, but there are yet strong grounds for hope that it may eventually become the means of electric communication between this country and America. The conjectures as to the cable having snapped while the cause for non- insulation was being sought out, prove to be correct. It was while hauling in to search for faults that the severance took place and the cable disappeared beneath the surface of the Atlantic. Buoys moored with hundreds of yards of rope mark the locality where the end of the cable was lost. The Great Eastern was obliged to dis- continue her efforts to recover the cable after the 4th inst. in consequence of continued bad weather until the 7th, when a second unsuccessful attempt to raise it by means of grapnels failed. On the 10th and 11th other attemps were made with like result, and the stock of rope on board being then ex- hausted, the vessels commenced their return voyage, with the object of procuring stronger tackle. On the whole, the news is better than most persons expected, as it is considered highly probable by scientific men that the end of the cable may be brought once more above the water, and the link to Newfoundland be completed. THERE is nothing particular to record from America, except that President Johnson's health is gradually being restored, and that the negroes are daily becoming more alive to their position as free creatures. IN other parts of the world, however, there are matters going forward that need a little explana- tion. In the vast empire of China, to wit, a crisis is imminent. China Proper, as our readers are aware, though of mighty extent, was formerly confined within a vast wall, which was con- sidered one of the seven wonders of the world. Outside this wall is Tartary, a nation composed of many and various tribes, and those in the immediate borders of the Celestial Empire made occasional inroads upon the Chinese and committed depredations for which they were several times punished, but eventually their possessions were seized by the Chinese Government, and added to the dominions of the empire. This territory is now set down on the maps as Chinese Tartary, of which Nankin is the capital; but there is a border line to this occupation, beyond which certain wild tribes exist, who of late years have been exhibited to the world as pirates of the worst order, who traversed the Indian Seas for plunder, and added murder to their other crimes. The assistance of England was sought to put down these maritime plunderers, and some months ago we were shocked to hear of English vessels ascending the rivers, and, wherever they saw any of these Tartar tribes, firing into them without knowledge of their guilt. Since then these Tartars appear to have committed depre- dations on land, carrying off valuables in that country called Chinese Tartary, and showing open fight to the forces that were sent to suppress them. They were then declared to be rebels, and the Chinese Government sought to bring them. under the dominion of the empire. But they were not so easily to be put down; and the latest accounts *from China report that the rebels of Shantung, the north-eastern country, just south of Nankin, have attacked, defeated, and slain the Tartar Prince Sa-n-ko-lin-sin, and seized a portion of the territory in that principality to a point: within 100 miles of Pekin. The Chinese Govern- ment, upon hearing this,, ordered a disciplined force, with some heavy artillery, controlled by 1 European officers, to go out and put down the re- i bellion. Upon arriving outside the borders of f China Proper, however, the Europeans were re- 1 minded that they must act solely under the orders of the prince of the territory; and the con- clusion that the Chinese arrive at is, that the princes of Chinese Tartary are ready, like their wilder neighbours, to rebel against the supreme Government. The advisers of the Emperor of the Celestial Kingdom have, in their extremity, consulted the British minister and sought his assistance, and it is made ta appear that if strong efforts are not used China will be reduced to anarchy; and it is further stated that if England does not move in the matter the Chinese will seek the aid of Russia, who will greedily accept the compliment. Already has it been announced in the old placard form that "some easy work and heavy pay awaits a few smart and enterprising young men who will enter the service of his Celestial Majesty the Emperor of China." What vast changes might occur in the Eastern world, who can tell ? THERE are again disturbances at the Cape of Good Hope. This colony, it will be remembered, formerly belonged to Holland, but in course of events fell into the possession of the English Government. It is of great importance in a mercantile sense; firstly, because it is the place where ships call for water and provisions on their voyages to and from the East Indies; and, secondly, on account of the number of British settlers, who employ their capital in cultivating the soil and transmitting the products to the mother country. Some years ago the early Dutch settlers established the free and independent State of Transvaal. The adjoining territory still belongs to the aborigines, and a strong powerful tribe called the Basutos, of which a chief named Moshesh rules, occupies the country. The latter affirm that the Dutch colonists have cheated them in the matter of boundary; and thus the abo- rigines have declared war against their neighbours, and recently have made an inroad into their territory, have driven off all the cattle they could meet with, and committed much slaughter. The English governor has warned all colonists not to interfere, but the Dutch settlers in the various States are forming themselves into a volunteer force, and are already marching northwards to aid their friends. Thus a formidable war is anti- cipated for the Basutos, we know from past ex- perience, can fight, but the Boers, as the Dutch colonists are termed, are very determined, and reckoned amongst the lustiest as well as the most plucky men in the world. IF space permitted us we should like to say some- thing of New Zealand, for when the newspapers parade to the world that William Thompson, one of the chiefs of the Maori rebellion, has made his submission, the public are apt to think that this settles the question, but it is not so; every other scrap of information is adverse to a peaceable settlement of the dispute. The colonists look upon Sir George Grey's administration as a failure; the new governor is unfriendly with Sir Duncan Cameron, the commander of the forces, and more- over dispenses with the advice of his ministers, to their extreme indignation and disgust, and, stranger than all, there is a split amongst the colonists; the Auckland people are actually talking about setting up for themselves. No state of things can be more deplorable, and the worst of it is, there appears no likelihood of a speedy release from all these difficulties. Our soldiers are quite sick of the savage warfare in which they have been so long engaged, and, in point of fact, the soldiers and the officers desire nothing so much as to be recalled home knowing the pluck which always characterises the British soldier wp oannol help thinking that if the cause in which he was engaged in New Zealand was a good one, he would not show the reluctance to engage in it that he now exhibits. Seeing how completely Sir George Grey and his predecessor, General Brown, have failed in their dealing with the Maories, it might be worth consideration whether an entirely new method of procedure would not be attended with more substantial advantage to the colonists themselves. Coercion, so far, has signally failed perhaps a little coaxing might succeed a great deal better. AN industrial exhibition for the north-eastern districts of the metropolis was opened a few days ago with some ceremony, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Mayor presiding over the inaugural rites. The object of this exhibition is to raise the tastes of the working classes, and to aid in the establishment of a permanent museum of works of art and manufacture for their especial benefit. We wish it all success, although, from ocular demonstration, we cannot speak boastingly of this first attempt. IT will very soon be apparent whether the Suez Canal is to justify the anticipations of its pro- moters, or fulfil the prediction of the late Robert' Stephenson, that it would turn out a, mere ditch. On the 15th inst., the floodgates at the Mediter- ranean terminus were opened, and a vessel laden with coal passed direct to the Red Sea. The news of the event was at once forwarded to the Emperor Napoleon at the Chalons camp, and of course a congratulatory reply was returned.. IT is one of the unhappy features of a chronicler of events to picture crime as it exists, and week by week this duty becomes more onerous. To par- ticularise a few that have oome before our notice during the past few days is painful. A gigantic swindle has just been discovered in a London Joint-stock Company. It is stated that some defalcations being found in the affairs of a metropolitan cemetery company, the secretary, who was the responsible officer, was suddenly seized with indispositien, and allowed to retire, when he died on his way home in a cab. A further investigation showed that 2,500 shares of the com- pany had been forged and issued, involving a loss of something like £ 25,000, and this could not have been done, but through the secretary. A VERY sad affair is reported from Batley, near Dewsbury. A rifle volunteer, named Eli Sykes, after returning from battalion drill, called upon his sweetheart. It is supposed they quarrelled, and in a fit of jealousy he killed her. The girl's mother, who came to her daughter's assistanee, he also fatally stabbed, and a neighbour, who inter- fered, was wounded. Before he was taken, the wretch gave himself several severe stabs with his bayonet, but is J not mortally wounded, and is in safe custody, Huddersfield has been the scene of another tragedy, but not of such a sensa- tional character. A yoang fellow, a moulder, hav- I ing quarrelled with his sweetheart, threw himself into the canal, and was drowned. To the young woman the suicide was entirely unanticipated, but, sad to say, she was the first, to discover the body, We are greatly afraid that the crime of suicide, as well as that of murder, is in- creasing in the land. It is sad to suppose that with our increased means of obtaining knowledge, and our supposed progress in civilisation, there should be those amongst us who, because of trifling disappointment, resort to murder for re- venge, and the cowardly act of self-destruction, rather than brave the difficulties.

Cholera and its Remedy. The week has been full of plagues, rumours of plagues, and remedies for plagues. The cattle pest is spreading into all parts of England, and the cholera has already reached Marseilles, killing there some ten a day. It is marching slowly north-westward, may be expected here in a fortnight, and will probably prove severe, an epidemic among men just after an epidemic among cattle being always a terrible one. The Boards of Health are moving, but it is almost too late for ex- tensive improvements, and the only thing remaining is to teach the people three great truths. First, that cholera is not contagious, and that a panic leading to the desertion of the sick is as absurd as it is cowardly. Secondly, that the best preventives before it arrives are cleanliness, ventilation, and pure water; the best after it has arrived a lavish use of chloride of lime or common white-wash. And, thirdly, that the only sudden remedies which should be taken before the doctor's arrival are a wine-glass of brandy, or a quarter of a grain of morphia, both palliatives found most effectual in India. They do not perhaps cure but they prevent that terrible prostration of the nerves which makes the progress of the disease so quick.- The Spectator. Locking the Doors of Railway Carriages.

In the individual, partial paralysis of the brain evidences itself by weakness at the extremities. So in corporations, which are nothing more nor less than aggregations of individuals, where the central ruling 1 power, the head, the executive, or by whatever name it may be called, is weak in conception and fulfilment of the duties devolving upon it, that the legs and arms of such executive must inevitably fail in performing what ought to be their legitimate functions. We fear that this is too true an illustration of the condition of several of our railway companies. The irregularities that railway directors too often commit in the gross are imitated fey their underlings in matters of detail; in the one case, to the pecuniary loss of the share- holders; and, in the other, to the danger of the public safety. These observations are painfully true of that magnificent line of railway known as the Great Western. Again the rumour is circulated that the coming dividend will be unfavourable, and, in con- sequence, there has been a considerable fall in the market value of the shares. To add to the difficulties of the company, it is reported to be virtually without a head. It is not long since a gentleman was appointed to the lucrative and important post of chairman, who was deemed in all respects well qualified to perform the onerous duties incident to such a position. He, however, is about to retire, and Mr. Watkin, whose railway experience is great, was pitched upon to fill the vacancy. Bat, brilliant as the offer is in one sense, Mr. Watkin, for no doubt very good reasons, will, it is said, decline to accept the post. Perhaps he has not the courage to undertake the Herculean task of setting in order the mismanagement which has hitherto clung about the conduct of the affairs of this great undertaking. As to the practical working of the line, an incident has just come to light, which proves that, notwithstanding the recent railway accidents, both doors of the carriages in which the passengers are confined are sometimes looked. Last session, owing to the indifference of the Government, or perhaps the inability of that insouciant statesman, Mr. Milner Gibson, to devise a general measure, Lord St. Leonards brought in a bill declaring it to be absolutely illegal to lock both doors of railway carriages. At the special request of the Government the bill was withdrawn their representative in the House of Lords stating that the Government had under their considera- tion a general Act for regulating all railways. The consequence of the withdrawal is that, on the Great Western Railway, as the secretary of the Com- pany admits in a letter to Lord St. Leonards, both doors of P,ggODgor oeoriiagoo are HOmetimeS luukea. The reason for persisting in a prac- tice that ought to be declared illegal, and would have been so now but for the interposition of the Government, is that it is necessary to enable the guards to collect the tickets at such stations as Swindon! Lord St. Leonards thought that the discus- sion in the House of Lords would have been as effectual as the bill itself if passed into law. But the public know that corporations are proof against what is called moral influence," and that nothing less than legal compulsion will operate upon them. The latest admission made by the Secretary of the Great Western Railway Company is an instance in point.The Press.

The Cattle Plague. It really appears to us that foreign cattle are safer and sounder than English cattle. Last week there were at our cattle-market nearly 4,000 foreign beasts to about 3,000 English, and a salesman on the spot assures us that several of the native animals were in- fected, but not one of the foreigners. Nor do we much wonder at this. We have certainly got a cattle plague among us, wherever it came from, but France and Belgium and Germany have no such misfortune. They might object to our beasts more reasonably than we to theirs. And they are exceedingly vigilant and careful in the matter. They employ skilled inspectors at the ports of embarkation, while we are now doing the same at the ports of debarkation, so that there is a double security against infection. Indeed, as far as we are aware, nobody asserts that any beast visibly or presumably plague-stricken has been admitted into this country. The theory is that the disease was dormant," and developed only some time after landing. How far this theory is probable the public may judge; but it seems to us that a great deal more evidence of its truth should be forthcoming before we shut our ports against foreign cattle, and confine our- selves to a market not half large enough for our wants, and known to be infected withal.—Times.

Close of the New Zealand War. The surrender of William Thompson is an example of what may be done by the employment of disinte- rested and reasonable agencies. Some weeks ago we announced, on the authority of private letters, that the Governor had yielded to the entreaties of Mr. George Graham, a member of the House of Repre- sentatives, and had sanctioned his projected mission to the disturbed districts. Mr. Graham is an old settler, J and, like many of his class, enjoys the confidence of the 1 natives, and is anxious to secure their just treatment. J He has withal the utmost faith in their capacity for < improvement and in their reasonableness as men. He straightway made for William Thompson's head- 1 quarters, and found that chief accessible to argument and persuasion. The first fruits of his admirable 1 enterprise are seen in the surrender of the New Zea- ] land kingmaker; and Rewi, another chief of equal E importance, is likely to follow the same example. 1 This is what has already been accomplished by a peaceful, unarmed envoy, and we believe that if more of such men were employed, the work of restoring peace upon a firm basis would be far from difficult. Times. r The most important news that we have to record in this month's summary is the submission of William Thompson, well known as one of the prime movers in the rebellion, together with other native chiefs of in- ferior note. There have been so many peace negotia- tions with Thompson that his reported submission was at first not believed true, or, if true, not to be of that satisfactory nature as would be likely to ensure a last- ing peace. Saturday last, the 27th of this month, was the memorable day on which Thompson acknowledged the Queen's authority to Brigadier-General Carey; and the place of meeting was a native village called Tame- here, where the rebel chief had promised tolay down the symbol of his submission. It is still an open question, and one that can only be decided by the lapse of time, whether Thompson has really and unreservedly sub- mitted, or is only saving his conscience as a Kingite by a very clever artifice.-Tke Southern Cross (New Zealand).

♦ ITALY. The Italia of Florence says "The rumour that a financial arrangement exists between the Italian Go- vernment and the Holy See for the settlement of the Roman debt is devoid of foundation." The Minister of the Interior has addressed a circular to the Prefect relative to a recent circular of the Minister of War. The Minister of the Interior explains that the object of the last-mentioned circular was to exhort the officers of the army not to allow their esteem and confidence towards their brother officers to be diminished until the accusations brought forward, 2d lIJi,lbhcl5r ,or Privately, against their comrades had been proved. He also expresses regret that cer- tain members of Parliament had taken part in the manifestations to which the circular of the Minister of War had given rise.

OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL. ™ fl ISMAIL A, AUG. 17. The floodgates of the Suez Canal have been thrown open, and a vessel laden with coal passed direct from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea on the 15th inst. Intelligence of this event was telegraphed on the same 1?Z Napoleon at the Chalons camp. His Majesty dispatched a message in reply conerratu- lating the company upon their success. °

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