The Illustrated Usk Observer and Raglan Herald

POLITICAL GOSSIP. THE nomination of a candidate for the reprosenta- iion of the borough of Hertford, in the place of Sir Minto Farquhar, occurred on Saturday morning. There being na opposition to Mr. Robert Dlmsdale, Conservative, tha.t gentleman was declared duly eleoted. AT the first great division on the Reform Bill the Hon. C. H. Tracy, member for the Montgomery dis- tricts, voted with the Opposition, and, a local paper says, so dissatiefied were his constituents that he felt it was necessary to write to the chairman of his com- mittee explaining his adverse vote, and promising that for the future he would give the Government his cor- dial support. On the division which took place im- mediately after the date of his letter he did vote with the Liberal party, but he was found again on the wrong side on the division in which Government were defeated. The astonishment of his constituents at his conduct, says our contemporary, has been such that there is little likelihood of his being again returned as their representative. THE youngest of our Generals, the Earl of Rosslyn, having died, the Colonelcy of the 7th Hussars becomes vacant, and Colonel Yorke, C.B., attains Major- General's rank, vacating thereby the Commandantship of the Royal Military Asylum at Chelsea, whilst Lieu- tenant-General Knollys acquires a step of promotion. THE Speaker entertained at dinner, last week, the Minister of the United States, the Right Han. Sir W. Gibson Craig, Sir John Duckworth, Sir John Burgoyne, Sir Daniel Cooper, Sir William Fergusson. Sir Roderick Murcbison, Sir William Denison, Sir Charles Trevelyan, Sir Edwin Landseer, Major-General Foster, Mr. Bright, Mr. Stuart Mill, Mr. Dunlop, Mr. J. B. Smith, Mr. Pim, Mr. M'Laren, Mr. Morley, Mr. Gold. win Smith, Mr. Story, Mr. Foley, Dr. Percy, Mr. Scharf, Mr. Hassard, Mr. A Bonham-Carter, Mr. Paget, Mr. Cole, Colonel Harness, Captain Clarke, Mr. Knight, Mr. Winter Jones, Dr. Merivale, and Mr. Alfred Denton. It will be seen that Mr. Bright was one of the guests; but as this was not an official dinner, no conclusion id, therefore, to be drawn from the fact that the guests were not in full dreas. THE Chancellor of the Exchequer has thought it right to announce that he has no connection with another financial conoern that has tailed, and traded under a similar name to the Government undertaking. We allude to the announcement ia the windows of post-offices that the Government Post-office Savings Banks have no connection with a certain savings bank that has failed in the country. In those times the Chancellor of the Exchequer must be ever careful that no "bulls" slur even the financial fame of Govern- ment. OF course, all the talk in political circles has been upon the new Ministry, and we extract from the Sunday Gazette the following rumours and predictions which were then current, and our readers will see how fartheywere correct:—Lord Derby himselfwill be First Lord of the Treasury; Mr. Disraeli declines to gratify the wish of his party to make him a peer, and remains Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the House of Commons. Lord Stanley takes the Foreign-office, and no man among his party could give the public the same absence of anxiety as regards the management of our relations with continental Powers at the pre- sent moment. Lord Malmesbury goes to the mno- ition of Lord Privy Seal. Thus far, and thus far only, have matters been settled. The Duke of Richmond, to whom the Lord-Lieutenancy of Inland was offered, declines office and the friends o^he new Government may lament the fact, although we should have thought that the duke's sound senseandbuBineBS nullifications would have been more useful m the Ca- Startin theompty po-itta; 35 Channel. Lord Abercorn is said to have also retuseo tne Government of Ireland. Among the mere probable^ the rumours about, we may mention thoB Pfc f to Sir Stafford Northcote as the future Presidenti or the Board of Trade, to Sir William Jolliffe as the head of the Poor-law Board, to Lord Carnarvon as Secre- tary for the Colonies, to General Peel as ^Secretary! War, to Lord Cranborne as the Head of the Educatio Department, and to Lord Robert Montagu as rina?}" eial Secretary of the Treasury. Of course, Mr. Brand s successor will be Colonel Taylor, who has very admir- ably, and with the perfect good will of his political opponents, discharged similar duties in opposition for several years. NEW PEERAGES.—Lord Cremorne is about to be raised to an earldom by the title of Earl of Dartrey- the designation of the Barony by virtue of which he now Bits in the House of Lords. Viscount Monok, Governor-General of Canada, is about to become a British peer. Apart from his politioal association with the expiring Ministry, Lord Monok's admirable ad- ministration of the Government of Canada amply justi- fies this distinction.. NEW BARONETS.—In addition to Mr. John Earns, whose advancement to the dignity of a baronet has been lately announced, the following gentlemen are likely to have the same honour conferred upon them:— Mr. Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks, M P. for Berwick- upon-Tweed; Mr. Pryse Loveden, a relative of the late member for Cardigan of the same name; and Mr. Tempest and Mr. Ingilby, who represent old county families, the former in Yorkshire and the latter in Lincolnshire. NEW DIGNITIES.—The services of Sir Henry Storks in consection with the Jamaica inquiry are about to be recognised by his being made a member of the Privy Council. Mr. Erskine May, whose useful services at the table of the House of Commons all members of Parliament will appreciate, is to be given the second grade-Knight Commander—of the Bath. The Com- panionship of the Bath is about to be bestowed on Mr. James Booth, lately one of the Secretaries of the Board of Trade. It is understood that Sir James Matheson, M.P., is likely to be the new Lord-Lieutenant of Ross -shire, in succession to the late Colonel Baillie. Mr. D. D. Keane, Q.C., has been appointed Recorder of Bedford, in succession to Mr. A. K. Stephenson, whose appointment to the Assistant-Solicitorship of the Treasury has been announced. THE STATE OF PARTIEs.-The Times said on Mon- day that the health of Mr. J. A. Roebuck, M.P., which has been adversely affected of late, is stated to be improving. Mr. R. Dimsdale, to whose return for Hertford, in succession to Sir Minto Farquhar, no opposition appears to have been offered, is the 27th accession to the House of Commons this Session-in other words, since the present Parliament was elected, in July, 1865, it has been renewed to the extent of about 4 per cent. the renewals at a dissolution averaging about 12 per cent. Further, there have been about a score of elections and re-elections since July, 1865, which resulted in no change being made in the personnel of the House, while four seats are still vacant at Lancaster, Reigate, and Totnes, and at least a dozen re-elections will be involved by the accession of a Derbyite Ministry to power. During the 12 months between July, 1865, and July, 1866, the elec- toral body will thus have at least sixty opportunities of making its influence felt, a fact which ought to be taken into account when a dissolution is proposed. Of the 27 new members returned since July, 1865, 11 are Conservatives and 16 Liberals.

THE ARTS, LITERATURE, &c. ♦ THE profits of Lord Darby's version of the Iliad amount to £1,350, and have been invested as a prize for the pupils of the Wellington College. # AT the time when Uncle Tom's Cabia was in the height of its popularity here, it was stated that 180,000 copies had been sold. The publishers of the American edition are now issuing their 314th thou- sand.. "THE Prison Life of Jefferson Davis, by the phy- sician to the prisoner during his confinement," is about to be published. THE Thames Guardian is the title of a new paper which made its first appearance on Saturday last. Father Thames requires some guardianship. MR. HEPWORTH DIXON is about starting for a long tour through America. Mr. Dixon's journey will embrace a visit to Utah and the Salt Lake, and the government, doings, and domestic arrangements of Brigham Young will afford matter of comment for Mr. Dixon's facile and experienced pen. SIR JOHN BOWRING proposes to publish an English translation of poems selected from the works of the great Hungarian popular bard, Alexander Petofi. Among the Magyar people it would be difficult to find an individual to whom they are not familiar as household words," and they have been versified in most of the languages of Europe. "THE History of Modern Taste" is the title of a little book lately published at Leipsic by Herr Falk, Custos of the Imperial Library at Vienna. It treats in a very interesting manner of a field of labour, and the work is well worth reading. TENNYSON, the poet laureate, is to give us a new book next December. It will be called Elaine," and have illustrations by Gustave Dore The last work he favoured us with was Enooh Arden." PUNCH'S FIFTY VOLUMES.—A festivity which will have interest for others than those who engaged in it took place at MHIIIOUUDHJ laati wcrolv. 10 ivao iu memoration of complotion of 50tih. volume 01 Punch. The entire literary and artistic staff and the proprietors dined together, and in recognition of the services of Mr. Mark Lemon, who has for a quarter of a century been sole editor of Punch, a silver loving- cup was presented to him by the proprietors, and a testimonial of a very gratifying character was also handed to him by his fellow-workers. MR. ECROYD SMITH, well known in Lancashire and Cheshire as a most industrious antiquary, has just issued a pamphlet of singular interest, entitled fhe Limestone Caves of Craven, and their Ancient In. habitants." The particulars of this brochure, we believe, were first published in the Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire." Illustrations ef the oaves, and of the ornaments worn by the people who used to reside in them, are given by Mr. Smith. To a collection of works of ancient masters and deceased British artists, the Duke of Beaufort has contributed some splendid specimens by Sir Joshua Reynolds. DURING the rebuilding of Crewe-hall, which was burnt in the winter, Lord Crewe has lent a large number of his best family pictures to the Exhibition of the works of Ancient Masters and Deceased British Artists, now open at the British Institution. THE monument erected to the memory of Sir Henry Lawrence, and those who fell in defence of the Bailey guard, has been publicly opened at Lucknow. THE portrait said to be that of Kitty Fisher," by Sir Joshua Reynolds, at the British Institution, has been discovered to be one of Miss Woolls, afterwards Mrs. Bullock, of Christchurch, painted by Cosway, with whom the family of Mrs. Bullock were on terms of great intimacy. This portrait was engraved by Dawe in 1811, and copies were distributed by Mr. Bullock to his private friends. AN exhibition of the oil paintings, water-colour drawings, and architectural studies of the late Mr. Godfrey Sy kes, is now open at the Kensington Museum. In decorative art, Mr. Sykes deservedly held a high place, and the collection of his works will repay a. visit to South Kensington.

The Bench of Bishops and Dr. Colenso. The bishops have had a little battle over a more im- portant matter-whether or not they should declare, on the motion of the Bishop of Oxford, the Churoh of England to be oat of communion with Dr. Colenso and in communion with the orthodox party xn Natal. Ihe BisCp of Lincoln (who did not hesitate, however, to say that he would refuse to administer the holy com- munion to the Bishop of Natal if he presented himself for it when he was officiating) moved an amendment intended to get rid of the direct negative as to Dr. Colenso namely, That in the opinion of this House the Church of England holds communion with the Bishop of Cape Town, and those bishops who lately with him in Synod deolared Dr. Colenso to be ipso facto excommunicated," and for this amendment, which only declared the Church to be in communion with those who had excommunicated Dr. Colenso, bat did not exactly endorse that excommunioation, there voted the five more Liberal bishops—St. David's, London, Lincoln, Lichfield, and Ely; against it the four most bigoted, Oxford, Salisbury, Gloucester, and Bangor the Archbishop of Cauterbury characteristically not voting. It was a discreditable kind of compromise after all. The Liberal Bishops should have voted against the Bishop of Oxford's motion altogether instead of meeting it by amendment, asserting that they were not bound speoially to declare themselves in oommunion with excommunioators who appear to have excommunicated on bigoted and insufficient grounds. What they did do was to dispose of a vote of confi- dence in A, by carrying a. vote of confidence in his opponent B, reciting that B had declared his want of confidence in A, but not expressly reciting that their confidence in B was based on that declaration of his. Surely it is not possible for a trumpet to give forth a more uncertain sound, than this indecisive trumpet of the more Liberal Bishops. If the Liberal Bishops be Laodicean, the Tory Bishops may fairly hope to secure for Liberal opinions the appropriate Laodicean euthanasia.-

The Coming ministry. The minds of the public are now turned from the expiring Government to that which is in course of formation. It is too soon to speculate closely upon its probable constituents, but scarcely too soon to prophesy that it will be a strong one. The only ob- servation we shall permit ourselves to make upon it is this: that for the very reasons which make a change of Government particularly unfortunate just now— namely, the disturbed state of affairs abroad, and (as Mr. Gladstone put it) the difficulty for any incoming Administration to step at once into exactly the same conditions and relations with Governments and Ministers abroad which were enjoyed by their prede- cessors-it will be incumbent en both Houses, and all parties to abstain from anything like a factious opposition to the new Government. Extraordinary irritation undoubtedly exists amongst certain sections of the Liberal party; but there is always much irrita- tion in crises like the present, and we do hope it will not be permitted to harass any loyal eff)rts at good government, even though it be by the hands of a Con- servative Administration. If our present position is an unfortunate one, it is not to be improved by imme- diate and factions attempts at reprisal. The Liberal element in the new Ministry is sure to be pretty strong, and especially at such a time as this it will be the absolute duty of all public men to support them as long as their Government is wisely oondacted.-Pall Mall Gazette.

Public Feeliner asrainst Prussia. On our side is the most holy right; we fight for the cohesion of the nation and for the maintenance of the Confederation. Jefferson Davis sits in chains as a State criminal, because his party wished to break up the Confede- ration. And Davis was only a private individual; he alone could not make peace or war. What a State criminal is, therefore, that Minister at the Prussian Court who urged his Sovereign on to the breach of treaties, and plunged us all into civil war! What a change of times! Oar Bavarian troops put themselves in motion on the 21st of June, on the anniversary of the battle of Waghaasel. Then the Badenese went for the constitution of the empire (Reichsverfassung), and against them was-the Prince of Prussia. Naw he takes the flag of a national Parliament in his hand, and wishes to win us by the same constitution of the empire which he then trampled in the mud Oh, poor Prussian people! The plaything of Prussian ambition and Bismarck's deception! Not against you-may that be at once stated—not against you do we come as enemies. We only fight against your Government, not your sons. On the contrary, we come in order (with you) to liberate you. In particular to you, Rhenish Prussia, we are called, and we will not rest until German troops occupy your territory, and give you the first opportunity amongst all Pruseians to return to the Confederation. Is there no German Garibaldi there ? If so, let him hasten to us, organise you, and lead your sons as the extreme left of the Federal army, in connection with the head-quarters, to Berlin German troops who separate Rhenish Prussia from old Prussia ensure that province to Germans, and make the Bismarck plan of betraying German territory, which even the Prince of Prussia at first condemned as a crime, an impossibility.—Deutsches Wochenblatt: a German paper.

Colonel Dawkins v. Lord Rokeby. In deciding to nonsuit the plaintiff Mr. Jastice Willes made some remarks which are well worthy of the attention of those interested in our present system of military jurisprudence. He said that the military law ought not, as a rule, to be subject to the revision of the Common Law Courts, and pointed out that one was founded on a particular code, which ought to be sufficient for all that is comprehended within its jaris- diction. He held that all remedies against military failures of justice should be afforded under the military code, and not sought to be obtained from civilian Courts, to which the minutise of such matters must be unfamiliar. I do not know," said his lordship, what military men think of my decision, nor, with all deference to them, do I care." The remark was, perhaps, extra judicial, but it nevertheless reflects the contempt with which the reasoning portion of the public regards our present system of military juris- prudence, which appears to be only legal in the sense of its jealous preservation of technicalities, and which is full of anomaly and injustice in all those broad con- siderations by which a simple and fair administration of the law should be guided, and upon which law ougnu w Uti, ao rat no consistent with reason, and common sense.-The Globe.

Sick Wards in Workhouses. The Rotherhithe inquiry adds one more to the ac- cumulated proofs of the incapacity of guardians to act as hospital managers, and of the unfitness of workhouse masters to rule infirmaries. The beating of patients, their washing in chamber-vessels, the robbery of their stimulants, their neglect at night- these are the familiar incidents of the treatment of the sick in pauper infirmaries. There were some addi- tional inoidents of peculiar atrocity. The woman Brutton was a sort of fiend, who in the intervals of opium-eating indulged in the most savage brutality: the dragging of patients in the last stage of disease to the closets, and there dying on the floor (as was proved in two cases within a short space of time), were ex- amples of special neglect and unusual hardship; but it is a characteristic fact that, although these things were proved beyond doubt or cavil by a number of in- dependent witnesses, whose separate evidence was in every instance confirmed and corroborated, the guard- ians maintained throughout an air of injured innocence, and the chaplain was called to give them a good cha- racter. The doctor, it appears, is in receipt of .£20 per annum as a net salary for the performance of most onerous daily duties, and is subject to annual re- election. He is a gentleman and a man of intelligence. -The Lancet.

OUR MISCELLANY. --+- Going Away.— So you're going to leave us all, Nelly, Going away in the morn, Away from the home you have loved, Nelly, The village where you Were born; Away from the fields and the flow'rs, Nelly The friends who have loved you here, Your white-haired father and all, Nelly, All, all that the heart holds dear. New faces and friends you will see, Nelly, To think ef by night and day; And you soon will forget the old, Nelly- Forget when you're far away. Another your beauty will praise, Nelly, Your dimples and eyes of brown, And happy I hope you will be, Nelly, Afar in the dusky town. Look, thore is the school on the hill, Nelly, We went to as girl aRd boy, And the woods in the evening gold, Nelly, That rang with our shouts of joy And here is the lane where we sat, Nelly, How often when school was o'er; And you're going to leave them all, Nelly, And maybe come back no more. I'll be down in the morning soon, Nelly, To bid you the last good-bye, Though I know when I see your face, Nelly, The tear will be in my eye; But I'll give you my hand for all, Nelly, I'll give you my blessing, too, And pray, though another's you'll be, Nelly, That Heaven may smile on you. -The Quiver. George Glenny, F.H.S., the Working Man's Gardener.—Mr. George Glenny was born in London as far bask as 1793, when all Europe, as well as himself, was ia arms. He was apprenticed to a mechanical business, but having been taken by his father to see the tulips at a nursery in Walworth, where they were grown with remarkable success, be became enamoured of floriculture, and determined to try his hand at tulip-growing forthwith. Although indulged by his parents, and encouraged by many friends, tulips were rather above his means, for in those days tbey commanded very high prices. De- termined, however, to obtain possession of the coveted bulbs, he entered into an arrangement with a nurseryman living in the City-road to purchase a whole bed of tulips for .£20, unknown to his parents, to be paid for in instalments of 5s. per week, out of his pocket money. After having made some half-dozen payments, the youthful customer was astonished one day to find his purchase brought home without notice, and a demand made for the balance. This, of course, caused a dispute, which began in an under-tone on account of the secrecy of the transaction, but ended in an open quarrel, the noise of which, soon brought the father to the door, and the facts had to be ex-! plained. A friend was called in to judge of the value of the tulips, when it was discovered that they were j almost worthless, so the matter ended by the uuseru-! pulous dealer having to take back his bulbs and return j the money. This led, however, t? Mr. Glenny purchas- ing for his son the stock of a grower in Spitalfields, a I locality then celebrated for amateur gardeners, and from that time he became an enthusiastic florist.— Extract from Biographical Sketch, with Portrait, of George Glenny, in the Working Man." Bon-mots of Sydney Smith—Bar ham related a bon-mot attributed to Sydney Smith, which I believe has never appeared in print. In writing to a friend he said, Unfortunately the house is full of cousins— would they were once removed." He also told us of a remark made by the late Lord Lyttleton after visit- ing in company with the head-master, Dr. Wood, the room at Rugby in which corporal punishments were I inflicted. "What motto would be appropriate?" I asked the Dominie. "Great cry and little wool," re- sponded the other, looking at the diminutive form of the doctor.—Memoirs of Lord William Lennox. Courteous to the Last.-Lord Combermere, in I the early part of 1822, proceeded to Paris. From thence he continued his journey to Geneva, passing through Chalons on his way. At the latter place he rested a few days, and one morning, while taking his rested a few days, and one morning, while taking his accustomed walk before breakfast, was attracted by I some unusual activity in a neighbouring barracks. He inquired the reason, and was told that the execution of an officer was to take place immediately. Posting himself on a piece of rising ground j ast outside the barrack-yard, from whence he could command a good view of the proceedings, he awaited the arrival of the culprit. Before many minutes had elapsed, a fiacre drove up, escorted by some dragoons. Two officers advanced to the carriage and saluted the inmate. The door was opened, and the inmate, who was dressed in plain clothes, alighted. The two officers now pointed towards a spot where a body of soldiers were drawn up. The doomed man bowed courteously to his guides, and, walking gracefully to the place indicated, stood there with an air as unconcerned as if he were merely taking his place in a quadrille. A handker- chief was offered him, and one of the officers appeared to urge his being blindfolded. He bowed low, but seemed from his gestures to refuse. Resum- ing his quiet and erect attitude, he stood for a moment with his handkerchief in his hand, and then dropping it, a sharp volley rang through the morning air, a little oloud of smoke for a second obscured the scene, and when it cleared away an inert mass was seen stretched upon the ground; the gallant soldier was a corpse. His body was at once taken up, wrapped in some horsecloths, placed in the coach, and driven off to be buried. The troops were dismissed, and in the short space of a few minutes ended a scene which appeared more like a dramatic performance than a real incident of such fatal import. Lord Combermere afterwards ascertained that the unfortun ate man was a colonel, con- victed of some act of treason. He often, in after-life, repeated this anecdote as a striking instance of the national politeness, even in the last extremity.- Memoirs and Correspondence of Field-Marshal Vis- count Combermere, G. C.B., 4"c. An Heir Kept Out of His Rights.Bat if you'd a right to the Transome estate, how was it you were kept out of it, old boy ? It was some foul shame or other, eh ? It's the law—that's what it is. You're a good sort, o' chap I don't mind telling you. There s folk born to property, and there's folk catch hold on it; and the law's made for them as catch hold. I'm pretty deep; I see a good deal further than Spilkins. There was Ned Patch, the pedler, used to say to me, 'You canna read, Tommy,' says he.' 'No; thank you,' says I; Tin not going to crack my headpiece to make myself as big a fool as you.' I was fond o' Ned. Many's the pot we've had together." "I see well enough you're deep, Tommy. How came you to know you were bora to property?" "It was the regester— the parish regester," said Tommy, with his knowing wagof the head, "that shows as you was born. I allays felt it inside me as I was somebody, and I could see other chaps thought it en me too; and so one day at Litfcleshaw, where I kep ferrets and a little bit of a public, there comes a fine man looking after me, and walking me np and down wi' questions. And I made out from the clerk as he'd been at the register and I gave the clerk a pot or two, and he got it of our parson as the name o' Trounsem was a great name hereabout. And I waits a bit for my fine man to come again. Thinks I, if there's property wants a right 1 owner, I shall be called for; for I didn't know the law then. And I waited and waited, till I see'd no fun i' waiting. So I parted wi' my public and my ferrets— for she was dead a'ready, my wife was, and I hadn't no cumbrance. And off I started a pretty long walk to this countryside, for I could walk for a wager in them days. Felix Molt the Radical by George Etiot. The Bridge of Sighs.-Let us take, for example, that pathetic swindle, the Bridge of Sighs. There are few, I fancy, who will hear it mentioned without asso- ciating its mystery and seorecv with the taciturn justice of the Three, or some other cruel machinery of the Serenest Republic's policy. When I entered it the first time I was at the pains to call about me the sad company of those who had parsed its corridors from imprisonment to death-and, I doubt not, many excellent tourists have done the same. I was some- what ashamed to learn afterwards that I had, on this occasion, been in very low society, and that the melan. choly company which I then oonjured up was composed entirely of honest rogues, who might, indeed, have given as graceful and ingenious excuses for being there as the galley slaves rescued by Don Quixote—who might even have been very pic- turesque—but who were not at all the material with which a well-regulated imagination would deal. The Bridge of Sighs was not built till the end of the six- teenth century, and no romantic episode of political imprisonment and punishment (except that of Antonio Foscarini) occurs in Venetian history later than that period. But the Bridge of Sighs could have nowise a savour of sentiment from any such episode, being, as it was, merely a means of communication between the crimiual courts sitting in the Ducal Palace, and the Criminal Prison across the little canal. Housebreakers, cutpurse knaves, and murderers, do not commonly im- part a poetic interest to places which have known them and yet these are the only sort of sufferers on whose Bridge of Sighs the whole sentimental world has looked with pathetic sensation ever since Byron drew attention to it. The name of the bridge was given by the people from that opulence of compassion which enables the Italians to pity even rascality in difficulties. Venetian Life, by Wm. D. Howells. A Free Translation.-The following parody on Mr. Gladstone's, celebrated translation of the 9th ode, 3rd Book of Horace, is given in the Morning Herald GLADSTONE. Whilst no more welcome form than mine Could in thy wise embrace recline, Thy smile, thy wit, whilst I possessed, No statesman ever lived so blest. OXFORD. Whilst thou didst care for honest fame, Nor Oxford next to John Bright came, What then was Oxford's pride ? Thy name, Ere thou forgot'st thy Church's claim. GLADSTONE. Me now, my charmer, John Bright, sways, Skilled in soft speech and softer ways, My past career I'll freely give His henchman and his friend to live. OXFORD. The son of Hardy-Gathorne shares My darling confidence and cares, Threaten, cajole, resign, dissolve, To send him back is my resolve. GLADSTONE. What if our old love we re-light, If a new Church and State I write, If Bright and bill" I do resign. Will Oxford once again be mine P OXFORD. Though Hardy wise or dull may be, Thou brilliant as a Grecian sea, And great as Homer's heroes, I With thee won't live, with thee won't die.

A Melancholy End,-AR English clergyman and his wife left Bombay on the 30th ultimo for England. They had taken passages in the mail packet for themselves and their only son, who had turned Mahommedan. He had obtained a sum of money from his parents to pay his debts on shore, and to the grief of his parents when the time arrived for the packet to leave the son was not on board and could not be found. His father died on board the packet, in the Red Sea, and his mother died on the 19 th instant, on board the mail packet from Alexandria, each, it is believed, from a broken heart.

a To a Friend in Towr By a Country CatMus. You, my friend, in city pent, Write, in tones of discontent, li That you do—or you'll be shot— Envy me my rural lot," And minutely then jot down All that worries you in town. Friend, of envious thoughts beware, Life is never free from care; Though who treads the crowded streets Troubles at each turning meets,- Care, with obstinate effront'ry, Follows one into the country. Not alone in postal district Life by disappointment is trick'd. Your tormentors, Br 3wn and Joness Wear the flesh from off yoar bones — Which interpreted, but means, Snails and slugs devour my beans, 'Tis not every night one can tarn Out to hunt them with a lantern. Smith your smartest things will bone, And repeals them as his own"— Well, to thievish birds I cry, Sparrow, be a passer-by In my cherries I delight- Blackbirds will draw bills at sight I Stokes your poems his reviewed In a way unfair and rade"- Well, a jackass, t'other day, Happening to pass my way, O'er my paling thrust his nose- For a thistle took my rose But you'll say-for you've some sense- That I have a recompense, That my joys outweigh by far The vexations that there are. Ah, my friend, remember this— Ne'er unmixed is human Miss If you have for days together Nice dry sunny summer weather Graesplots crack, and flow'r-beds harden, You must water all the garden !— Breezes from the balmy south Oft blow chafers in your month

Waiting! Ob, come! oh, come! the mother prayed, And hushed her babe, "Let me behold Once more thy stately form, arrayed Like autumn woods in green and gold. I see thy brethren come and ge; Thy peers in stature, and in hue Thy rivals. Some, like monarchs, glow With richest purple; some are blue As skies that tempt the swallow bass, Or red as seen o'er wintry seas, The star of storm, or barred with black And yellow, like the April bees. They come and go, I heed not, I. ( Yet others hail their coming cling All trustful to their side, and fly Safe in their gentle piloting, To happy homes on heath or hill, By park or river. Still I wait And peer into the darkness; still Thou com'st not-I am desolate. Hush hark I see a towering form From the dim distanse slowly rolled, It reeks like lilies ia a storm, And, oh its hues are green and gold It comes it comes! Ah rest is sweet, And there is rest, my babe, for us." She ceased, as at her very feet Stopped the St. Jbhn'a-wood omnibus,

The Coal Question By an Economical Housewife. Coals will be soon exhausted," say Some folks: an d I don't doubt 'em' But let them slowly burn away,— Don't make a stir about 'em.

Give a Dog a Ba.d Name. The truth of the old saw," Give a dog a bad name, and hang him"—as high as Haman, as recently been illus- trated bj a na.mesake of the eminent Oriental. A letter' has been addressed to several of the papers, dated from the Turkish Bath, Jermyn-street, and signed, "Haman Smith, Superintendent." This person, who appaars to have been happily selected for the post, as peculiarly suited to adapt the Eastern luxuries of Haman, the Oriental, to the tastes of Smith, the Briton, knows very little about hydrophobia, for he alleges as a reaaon for getting a gratuitous puff of the baths the faot that the time of the year is approaching when oasea of hydrophobia are most prevalentsvidently alluding* to the Dog Days, which ignorance always associates with caninel unacy instead of the canine star, Siring It so happens—and Haman Smith Effendi, Esquire, ought tD be glad to learn it, as he will get two men- tions of his bath this year instead of one-that hydro- phobia is rather less than more prevalent daring hot weather.

A Bee that has Flown Away, There was a funny typographical slip ia a capita: leader in a daily contemporary of ours the sther day- In speaking of the necessity of altering our railway carriages for the benefit of unprotected travellers;, male and female, it said— "On some of our lines there are alres/Jy smoking-car- riages, which might be taken as models; if, indeed, we are too proud to borrow from the Americans, whosa system is one of thorough pulicity." If thorough "puHcity" be the American system, eurely it is a model we should avoid—not to say flee. The omission of a little "b" turns the allusion to another insect qiite as bllsy, but not so favourably re- garded.

An Imaginary DsspatCii. The Qaeen is much displeased with the darkness in which the Ministers have kept their Sovereign in reference to public affairs. Had the Queen been maae aware that aMinisteriai crisis was in the lent likely to arise during the period which had been set apart for her visit to the Seotoh, that visit would, of course, have been postpaned until another season. The Qaeen was too well aware of the vast inconvenience, not to say daDger, that might occur from the country being without a Govern- ment, for a whole week, at a time when Europe is in convulsions, to have thought of being absent from the metropolis daring a. political change. If the Queen preferred to spend the anniversary of her accession among the Highlanders, that preference should not have dominated the exigencies of the hour, nor should an aged Presbyterian Minister have been com- pelled to contemplate a journey of 1,400 miles to resign office. "The Queen is too well acquainted with the senti- mente of her subjects in reference to all her actions to suppose that they can ever be misinterpreted, but the Ministers who neglected to apprise her that they in- tended to take au early vote of confidence ought to have seen that such neglect might justify the idea that the Queen, for the first time in her life, had allowed her own pleasure to interfere with the functions of Royalty." Balmoral, June 20,1866.

Marvellous. We do not brieve in spiritu disco or magic (except sleight of hand and so forth), but what are we to say to a fact such as this ?— "The other day a veracious wltnes3 actually saw a young mail turn into & public house. Transformation extraordinary! Farther evtdouo9 will shortly be forthcoming. THE SHORTEST NIGHT.—The shortest night has passed. A young lady informed us, in spite of tradi- tional reckoning, that it was on the second of June for then she danced from 11 p.m. till 5 a.m., and tSj.- t appeared to her the shortest night the'd known this season. STRANGE P.A.RADOx.-The blacksmiths of Dund^ have struck for higher wages. They also refuse te strike until they receive higher wages. What is to be done ? This is a striking situation. p PARLI AMEN TART. Lir. Whalley has ordered his butcher not to send him any more legs of mutton because of the objectionable Poue's Eye." LATEST FROM P ARlS. -Tho Emperctr has ordered a large quantity of Map paper. It is said his Majesty contemplates some alterations in his former plan of Earope. A COCKNEY COX.—Why is the railway-bridge ever Lutlgate-hill like the Atlantic cible a wire-ducked. Short trousers.