The Cambrian

SWEET AND BITTER. Sweet and hitter-hittpr and sweet. Sorrows that linger, pleasures that fleet; Such is our lot, ah, such is our life, Shining and slit(low-sleepin,- and strife. Bitter and sweet-sweet and bitter. All is not gold that as yellow glitter Thoughts of our childhood, hopes of our youth, What can the^boast of an after truth? Sweet and bitter-hittpr and sweet, One (lay poison, another (lay me-it Chiinses, not chances, happen to all, None knowing surely what sball befal. Bitter awl sweet—sweet and bitter; If the changes make us grow fitter, Fitter for living, fitter for dying. What can it matter our laughing or sighing Sweet and hitter-hitter and sweet. Round goes the rolling earth under our feet. Hushed be our murmurs, our fears laid to rest, God made the changes, and knows what is best. Sunday at Home.

A CROWD OF BOYS. We live in a bit of a cottage, With rooms not many not- wide Yet we're rich in possessions- at table Our children count three on a side. Tlpre are brown eyes, and blue eyes. and hazel, And with various gifts they're endowed, Bnt the school-boys agree that our Benny Is the jolliest boy in the crowd. My neighbour, who has only daughters, Came in with her sewing one day. And while we were pleasantly chatting, The children came in from their play. She pavsed in the liiirlst of n. story, Uniwed to hear voices so loud, But smilingly added, Your Benny Is the noisiest boy in the crowd." Their grandpa drops in of a morning, And is often invited to stop. To tell them some story or other, Or mend up a wagon or top. He is always amused at their sayings, And see'ns of them all to be pro".d But he says, Roto voce, that Bennv Is the smartest of all in the crowd. And grandma, who dwells in the quiet, Unmoved by earth's clamonr anrl noise, Come in with her sweet. placid manners, For an afternoon's talk with the boys. She sets them at poice, if a quarrel Breaks over their joys like a cloud, She's fond of them all but thinks Benny Is the prettiest one in the crowd.j Aunt Jane, from her stately old mansion, Oershadowed by pnphr anrl elm, Came down to the city last winter, To visit my tnrhulent realm. "I am glad." she assured me, at parting, "Such blessings to you are allowed But keep a tight rein on that Bennv He's the luckiest boy in the crowd Ah me what a mixed reputation For any one boy to possess As the others have talents unnumbered," a B.tbel. I frankly confess. A philosopher, asked to apprais them, At the task would be puzzled and cowed; Though nt dinner might reason that Benny Is the hungriest boy in the crowd. At night, when all have been settled In crib and in cradle and bed, I go on a tour of inspection And pillow each slumbering head; And while I commend them to heaven, With spirit in reverence bowed, I am sure I can never deter dne The dearest and best in the crowd. FRANCES E. POPE.

Storiettes, &c. Minor events—Births. Something about milk-Water. Civil rights—Obliging answers. Subjects of interest—Millionaires. A frightened officer-General Alarm. A Ship that Ought never to Go down "—Friendship. In what place are two heads better than one—In a barrel. Eligible place of residence for a young widow—Wedmore. I will postal-card yon," is the latest threatening expression in Boston. Improved Schoolboy Version.—Give him a pinch and he'll make a yell. Fire is said to be a dissipated element, because it goes out almoat every nitwit. If you arc cursed with an insatiable appetite, buy a plaid vest, so that you can always keep a check on your stomach. A pferdpstrasseneisenbahnwagen is what they call a horse car in Berlin. How does a man call it when he's in a. hurry ? An Aberdeen lady, hearing some one say that the mails were irregular, remarked, "It was just so in my young days-no trusting my of'am." "Do you !Wow who I am ?" asked a policeman of n fellow he had seized by the throat. Not exactly, sir; but I fancy you are the malignant collarer." "Now, then, children," said a parish schoolmistress, show- ing her children off on examination dav, who loves all men?" You, missus," was the unexpected reply. A young man advertises for a place as salesman, and says he has had a good deal of experience, having been discharged from seven different warehouses within the year. "Do you know," said a cunning Yankee to a Jew. "that they hang Jews and jackeses together in Poland ? Indeed, brother then it's well that you and I are not there A little girl. hearing her school-tc1cher spoken of as a pains- taking woman, remarked that the scholars we the "pains- takingest," for they were generally whipped all round every day. An Indianapolis paper says of an Indiana senatorHis chagrined took when he clutches that pointed beard to milk his brains, and they won't give down,' has a most depressing look to all beholders." 1 Cheap !—T.andlady—" How shall T make out the bill for this ] artis'in the parlour. John ? Shall I call him Mr.' or Es- J quire?'" Landlord—" Oh, you may write him Esquire,' and i charge him 'alf a sovereign extry." Customer in New York (in quest of a particular brand of cigar) "Are those these?" Dealer (affably)—Yes, sir, these are those" Customer—"I moan are these them, or those them?" Dealer—" Them are them." A young man in Pennsylvania attempted to stir up several rabbits in a hole with the Vmtt-enrt of his gun the other day. Twenty-three shots have been picked out of his shoulder and 1 the doctor is still probing. The young man thinks the rabbits 1 must have escaped. i Measure for Measure.—Swell—"Oh, Robinson, I am not at all 1 satisfied with these trousers." Shopkeeper—" Indeed sir sorrv to hear that. We made 'em to measure, too Swell— Yaas. But you see, I didn't want them to 'measure'—I wanted them to wear. At the ladies' celebration at Barra, Massachusetts, there were 900 of the fairest portion of the creation present. Among the toasts were-" Old bachelors may they lie alone on a bed of nettles, sit alone on a wooden stool, eat alone on a wooden trencher, and be their own kitchen maids All persons ought to cultivate the art of expression. Some will make anything interesting, and others make everything dull. When one writes stupidlv you can skip, hut there is no such refuge in conversation. The dreary talker means well enough, and so you do not oire to insult him. Somebody has said that a Yankee baby in the cradle, sucking his thumbs, is thinking up a plan to improve the rocking macmne. And somebody else says if a Connecticut Yankee should r>e shipwrecked some night he would paddle ashore, and Of the place10 U morninS trying to sell the inhabitants a map 1 A gentleman visiting in a country district called upon a young conple/an 1 quired of the gudewife how her husband Was getting on with his garden ? •< Garden quoth she my fegs, he has something else to rlae noo he's makin* a nhilo Sophy." A philosophy dear me. wh £ t do yo"^ean Ane o' the things that nns on twa wheels, man/' Pill for the Doctor.—A well-known London physician call- in- on a lady the other .evening, found her busily engaged readin0, "Twelfth Night. When Shakspeare wrote about patience or) a mon„ment <luI ■> £ ■marked the Sawbones, trying to ne ciever. ^0, answered thefair one you don't find them on monuments, bat u„der thAfeIIowIn Kentucky ran away with a Lt^thS and horse, and was hotly pursued The farmer gw wrthin close range, and flourished a revolver.^ ,t >, was' the heaven's sake! shouted the lover. I T vp thpr reply; '"cause I'm afeared I'll ther hos*. -Tiist hoss and take ther g?.U." That compromise was accepce y the young folks, who walked on to a preacher's house, and the father rode home on his horse. A gentleman challenged a renowned pedestrian and runner to a race of a considerable distance with him, simply stipula- ting; that the champion of the foot-course should carry ten pounds weight of any article his challenger might choose to select. In all the pride of well-tested powers, the champion cried done to the bargain, when, lo and behold his oppo- nent selected-not only for the effectual impediment, but the most grotesque adornment of his competitor—lOlbs. weight of full-blown bladders It is needless to add that the man with speed of foot lost his wager to the man with speed of wit. "Where did you get so much money, Isaac?" said Mrs. Partington, as he shook a handful of copper coins before her, grinning all the time hke a rogue as he is. Have you found the cornucopia, or has anybody given you a request?" She wak a little anxious.— i -2, „ bets said he, chucking the coin in the air and „a *tter on the floor. Got them from Bets, did• ><>" Trt*>e °'fl lady. And who is Bets, that she should give you money? she must be some low creature, or you would not speak of her so disre- spectfully. I hope you will not be led away by any desolate companions, Isaac, and become an unworthy membrane of society." Dying Fast.—Hood used to tell a story of an old hypochon- driac who was in the habit of believing himself dying two or three times during the week. On a certain occasion he was taken ill with one of these terrors while riding out in his gfg, and happening at the time to see his family physician "ding in his carriag« in the same direction, he put his whip to his horse to overtake the old doctor as soon as he possibly could. The doctor, however, seeing him coming, applied the whip to own horse and as he had a nag that was considered 32n?f pumpkins" among the fast men, they had a close time of It for about three miles. But the hypochondriac, driving a 2.40 horse, finally came up alongside of the doctor, and exclaimed: Hairg it. doctor! pull up > pall up instantly! I am dying! "Egad S I think you are !"icried the doctor. "I,'aeT«ct.ww. anyone going so bA «,fNCII -am

Great geniuses have the shortest biographies. Advice should fall as the dew, not overwhelm as the torrent. If we get knowledge into our mind edgewise, it will soon find room to turn. Only what we have wrought into our character during life can we take away with us. Lord Palmerston once said, speaking of the Turks, What energy can be expected of a. people with no heels to their shoes ? He who is false to duty breaks a thread of life, and may find the sad effects of the flaw when he has forgotten the cause. He who writes against the abuses of the age in which he lives, must depend on the generositv of the few for his bread, and the malice of the many for his fame. Value Youth.—If the spring puts forth no blossoms, in summer there will he no beauty, and in autumn no fruit. So, if youth be trifled away without improvement, riper years will he contemptible, and old age miserable. They may talk as they please of the sufferings of humanity, but there is nothing so excites my sympathy as the helpless sufferings of a fine old oil picture of a great genius -B. R. Haydoii. Laws and Manners.—Manners are the root, laws only the trunk and branches. Manners are the archtypes of laws. Manners are laws in their infancy laws are manners full grown-or, manners are children, which, wh-n they spring up, become laws. That which is a competency for one man is not enough for another, no more than that which will keep one man warm will keep another man warm. One man can go in doublet and hose when another man cannot be without a cloak, and yet have no more clothes than is necessary for him .-Selden. Diffused knowledge immortalizes itself. A literature which is confined to a few mav be destroyed by the massacre of scholars and the conflagration of libraries; but the diffused knowledge of the present day could only be annihilated by the extirpation of the civilized part of mankind.—Sir J. Mackintosh Much pains are t;iketi and time bestowed to teach us what to think but little or none of either to instruct us how to think. The magazine of the story is stored and stuffed betimes but the conduct of the understanding is all along neglected, and the free exercise of it is in effect forbid in all places, and in terms in some. Bolinrtùroke. Nothing so powerfully calls home the mind as distress. The tense fibre then relaxes— the soul retires to itself- sits pensive and susceptible of right impressions. If we have a friend it is then we think of him if a benefactor, at that moment all his kindnesses presil upon our mind. Gracious ani bountiful God ia it not for this that they who in their prosperity forget Thee, do yet. remember and return to Thee in the hour of their sorrow? When our heart is in heaviness, upon whom can w" think but Thee, who knowest our necessities afar off— puttest all our tears in Thy hottle-sees' every careful thought—nearest every sigh and melancholy groan we utter 1—Sterne.

LADY DOCTORS.—The Medical Tiill introduced into the House of Lords a few davs axo will no doubt meet with a good deal of effective technical criticism, but in its broad outlines it is sure to find favour with the public. If it should pass. it will be hard for mrre sciolists to find their way into the medical profession, and this alone is a result for which most people would be glad to make considerable sacrifices. Another advantage of the mea- sure is that it promises finally to dispose of the question whether or not we are to have lady doctors. A lady who obtains thecertincateofan examining board will be placed on the Medical Register, whether her college refuses to grant her a diploma or not. Probably the majority of doctors will still he opposed to any such arrangement, but they have, we think, lagged behind the rest* of the world. It is curious to observe how great a change has passed or»r public opinion in regard to the question. When Miss Jex-Blake and her associates stormed at the gates of the University at Edinburgh, a number of worthy people protested as if every sacred institution of society were about to be overthrown. It was known that Mrs. Garrett Anderson and a few other courageous ladies had solved the problem for themselves, and thas no particular public disaster h:td resulted. But this was considered insufficient evidence, and persons in- terested in the question bad to listen to the most doleful prophecies. Outside the medical profession there is now hardly any one who takes this line. The public have become accustomed to the idea, and the more they have considered it the less dangerous has it appeared. Lady practitioners have, in fact. practically demonstrated that there is a sphere for them, a sphere which cannot be so efficiently occupied by men. We should be glad to believe that those who have hitherto monopolised the calling will soon give un their opposition. If they do not, there is some danger that their obstinacy will be set down to some rather less loftv motive than a disinterested regard for the public well-being.—Graphic. WHY so DEPRESSING? — Unwonted depression and uneasiness, accompanied with loss of appetite and inability to sleep, are the prevalent causes of complaint just now among the tolerably well" section of the community and, with a large measure of accuracy, the condition, modi- fied as it is by individual peculiarities of state and idiosyncrasies, is attributed to the weather. The relations which subsist between such mental depression as constitutes melancholia and the defective discharge of its functions by the skin may help to explain the phenomenon. The connection of cause and effect may not be clearly made out, and the part which the nerve-centres play in the production of the result may be as obscure as that which they exercise in the cor.trol of occasional pigmentary deposits but the broad fact remains. When the skin does not act freely, when its functions are seriously impeded or arrested, melancholy broods over the mind, just as in the case of a subject of melan- cholia, as a formulated disease, the skin becomes dense and inactive. It is not a random conjecture, therefore, that the intense and prolonged, albeit unaccustomed and unexpected, cold and damp work their depressing influences mainly through the skin. This is a trite re- mark, but it is one that may with advantage be made just now, because, in the interests of health-preservation, especial pains need to he taken to secure the freest possible action of the great surface system of excretory glands and the transuding apparatus generally. Warmer clothing, especially at night, frequent ablutions, with sufficient friction, and the promotion of skin activity by every legitimate form of exercise, are obvious measures of health which everybody ought to understand and all should prac- tise.- Lancet. ON WEDDING RINGS. -r, rom very early ages a peculiar charm appears to have been connected with the ring. Without beginning or end. it has long been regarded as an emblem of eternity, and also of the strength and perpetuity of affection. The fourth finger of the left hand has long been considered sacred, and hence has been consecrated to wear the wedding ring. The Greeks ind Romans were so fully convinced of the intrinsic ralue attached to this finger, that it was called the medical or healing finger. Their various medicinal pre- aarations were stirred with it in place of a spoon, it aeing supposed that should any noxious ingredients be included in the cup, warning of the fact would imme- diately be given by a palpitation of the heart. In some remote country places in England this superstition is still firmly believed in. The other fingers are thought to possess a certain power of evil, but a wound or sore stroked by the wedding finger is expected by them in a short time to disappear, and the wedding ring itself is by many supposed to have the same healing effect. The rings used by the Jews at their marriage ceremonies were sometimes very large in size, and elaborate in design; the Jewish law demanded too, that they should be of a certain value, and to prove this to be the case, they were before the ceremony submitted to an examination. It was a rule also that the bridegroom should purchase [he ring out of his own private resources, and not obtain it either on credit or as a gift from a friend and after the ring had been placed on the bride's finger, the mar- riage was considered then, as it is now, to be irrevocably binding. Among the fishermen on the west coast of Ireland the wedding ring is kept as an heirloom in the family, and is considered the property of the eldest mar- ried daughter, consequently many of the wedding rings still worn by the fish-wives in that district are quite old and of exceedingly ancient design, being manufactured as far back as the Elizabethan era. In the 16th century both marriage and betrothal rings were made with a motto of poesy inscribed inside, and to these Shakspeare, in two or three of his plays, refers.—From CasselCs Domestic Dictionary for February. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.—The Eighteenth Century, so near to us and yet so far from us, possesses this pecu- liar charm, that its proximity in point of time enables us to realise to ourselves habits of life and modes of thought almost as remote from our own as those of the Elizabethan age. What it requires the powerful imagination of the poet or the novelist to do for us in respect of the sixteenth century, that every man can do for himself in respect of the eighteenth. We can live as familiarly with the men of a hundred years ago as if we had known them our- selves and yet we are sure that if by any miracle we could be thrown back among them for a day, their talk, their ideas, their very dress, weuld seem as strange to us they belonged to another world. Johnson at the Mitre Tavern. Cowper at the Olney Tea Table, Fox sooting partridges at Holkham, Pitt and Bentham play- g chess at Bowood, Dr. Taylor and his sleek black 0*"ses' ?ht almost be our own contemporaries. Thirty ye rs go he old. tavern life of London still survived. Dinner ours m the country were still sufficiently early to admit of chess and cards being introduced in the even- ing. A few years earlier Lord Althorpe was still shoot- ing partrii ges l pointers and setters over the ground trodden by Charles Fox. And numerous Doctor Taylors still survived *he °leTgy> though they had ex- changed their bobwigs and coaches for the less clerical costume of cross-barred stiff ties and 0 ne-horse gigs. In the pictures we have hastily recalled, there is nothing strange or unfamiliar. Yet make these figures sp«ak, let them once begin to talk of po 1 or literature, or re- ligion, or pleasure, or society, an we find ourselves in a different world. When personal government by the sovereign was a recognised principle in politics • when the authority of Dr. Johnson was universally accepted in literature when the Church of England was so supremely popular that the clergy could afford to take their ease and live pretty much like laymen when the 11 quality still frequented Vauxhall and Ranelagh when ladles of title gave convivial suppers, and were exposed to the same kind of attentions from their inebriated guests as Marlow pays to Miss Hardcastle—it is difficult to helieve that in many other respects life wag pretty much the same as at the commencement of thi present reign. The immease remoteness of such scenes aad such ideas from our own experience was combined with the nearness of the two periods to each other in point of time so much so that opinions and practice as unfamiliar to ourselves as those of a Strafford or a Rochester were a matter of course with men whom we seem to know aa well as our grand- father-fonne a contrast which is perhaps without a parallel.—T.E. Kebbdin the Cornhill Magazim" -1 :jr

THE STEAM ENGINE OF THE FUTURE.By John Bourne, C. E. author of A Treatise on the Steam En- gine," "A Catechism of the Steam Engine," &c.—London: Published by J. Bourne & Co., 66, Mark Lane.-We have here an outline of impending improvements in the steam engine, designed to render that great instrument or civilization far more widely useful, and far more generally accessible, than has been the case in its past history. The author, who is no novice in such enquiries, is enabled, by tracing the lines of improvement which have been followed in the past, to deduce their position in the future. He shows that whereas thirty years ago small engines were almost unknown, their employment has inciesed at a prodigious and still accelerating pace; that the tendency in all factories is to displace the great central engine heretofore in use in favour of a number of small engines distributed through the works, and that the rise of the electric light constitutes a new epoch in this progress, seeing that this light might be produced near the point where it is used, and must, therefore, be generated by small engines at a number of local centres. Small engines, he contends, should be of uniform design, to enable them to be manufactured by special tools, like rifles, whereby great accuracy is combined with great cheapness of production. Existing faults of design should be corrected, and the increased cheapness and superior quality thus obtained will enable the steam engine to be employed for domestic purposes, like a docile Afiite, acting as a household drudge. The struc- ture of engine necessary to attain this universal accepta- tion is explained, and the exposition, is well worthy of public attention. FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. —Cassell, Petter, and Galpin.-This is Part. I., price bd., of anew and pretty work, the letter-press by Shirley Hibberd, with coloured plates by F. Edward Hulme, F.L.S., F.S.A. Of the coloured plates we must express our warmest admira- tion for their artistic excellence. Of the text the follow- ing reference to th° first illustration, the nasturtium, is of interest:—"The Common Major Tropceolum.—The common major tropceolum is as well known as any flower of the garden. We see it festooning the cottage fence with its distinct glaucous leafage and flaunting orange or deep crimson flowers, and we know that if we get a nicely-boiled leg of mutton with caper sauce in which tlie green seeds are substituted for real capers, we shall do remarkably well, especially if the same garden sup- plies a dish of delica-e turnips. For pickling, the 'o major tropceolum is the best, but the dwarf kind answers very well, and it is invaluable for bedding and for covering rough, dry, sunny ground—for dryness, warmth, and a poor soil are conditions favourable to their full development. the seed-growers have estab- lished several very distinct races of dwarf annual tro- pcBolums for bedding purposes, and they are extremely showy, but so far coarse and weedy that they are not to be regarded as first-class bedding plants. But this depreciation of tliem wou d hardly stand in the face of a group that appeared on ong»ot the lawns between the bridge and the corridor o no Paris Exhibition of 1878. This group contained about thirty sortS; every plant being a model of growth and beauty. The flowers com- prise white, primrose, ye °w, orange, scarlet, crimson, and purple, and a few at inclined to chocolate and slate-colour. They are he cheapest of all bedding plants, and the easiest o grow and the best way to manage them is to sow he seed in p0ts towards the end of March, and plant them out about the middle of May, selecting for them a sunny situation and a poor soil. But they inay, e s?^n .as ^he cottagers sow their major tropceolums, w ere he plants are to remain and the matter of chief impoi <ince then is to thin them to nine inches ap'irt, so as to altord each plant an oppor- tunity of spreading into a round, compact tuft, which will very soon become smothered with flowers, and will so continue until frost ma es an end of its bright career." This new work will, no doubt, become very popular.

CETEWAYO'S FIRST SIGHT OF A BREECHLOADER. In the course of a volume published some years ago by Messrs. Cassell, 1 and Galpin, entitled, "After Ophir or, a Search l°r the South African Gold Fit-Ids," the author, Cap ain Augustus Lindley, gives an account of his passage thiough the Zulu territories and of the rifle practice of his party in the presence of Ketchwavo, or Cefewajo. Captain Lindley appears to have been detained at Oetewayos kraal some days, await- ing the permission of old Kin,, Panda to proceed. While in the kraal the travellers invited Cetewayo and his prin- cipal chiefs to witness some rIfle Practice. A target of wood and canvas, about 8 feet square, was set up, and a range of 1.000 yards and another of 300 were carefully insasured off, and the firing began. The following ex- tract is not without interest at the present moment When Cetewayo and his headmen were all assembled in state and gravity, we commenced operations by Wil- helin, the "long Yankee, and Roger, our three crack shots, firing each a dozen rounds at the thousand yards range ;the natives laughing at and ridiculing their taking up their stand at this, to them, perfectly ineffective and absurdly great distance, and wittily asking whether they would be good enough to try a shot at the moon after- wards. But the merriment of the mockers was soon turned into amazement when they saw that out of thirty-six shots fired, no less than twenty-two were placed in the target. It was quite a sight to see the wonderful gesticulation, expression of surprise, through which those scornful savage elders of the previous moment now went at this performance. Slapping their bare and brawny thighs, throwing up their fists with sudden jerks, and cracking the fingers of each hand in that peculiar way in which the Kaffir gives emphasis to his expressions, the whole assemblage of chiefs and warriors abandoned themselves to the manifestation of their emotions, the air meanwhile resounding with the deep bass chorus of their exclama- tions, "Wow Ma-me Bayete !a form of salutation only used to a great chief—" Minigi isazi! Tina mangala I Wow," &c., &c., "Bayete!" (Very clever people! we wonder.) We made them wonder a little more directly. Our original party of five, each of whom possessed a Snider rifle, now moved up to the 300 yards range, and after in- forming the excited natives that we could kill fifty men in the time that they could count a hundred, and having set one of the chiefs, to do so in a loud voice, we began blazing away at the target just as fast as ever we could load and fire. Kaffir counting is a longer operation than with us, the words in which they express their ?ein,f.so long; and by the time that the chief had finished calling out the number agreed upon, we had fired no fewer than fifty.five shots, fifty- three of which were counted In the target, in addition to those already lodged there. If the previous astonishment of the Zulus was great, their surprise and amazement now became frantic. Old and venerable warn > o had not been guilty of a quick movement for many a long day, now forgot their infirmities and di^ni y, Per about and gesticulate for a brief space like vey y juveniles. Stout young warriors beat their together the fingers of first one hanu <iu f «u"cr jerked quickly but loosely together, an. eir dusky thighs, as though either going out of i-j or ^etermined to do them- selves some grievous J" 'rm, Cetewayo alone stood silent, grave, and «10U^tiS eyes bent upon the groundjandhis whole attitude expressive of profound and abstracted meditation. It was easy to refill- the Zulu chieftain's thoughts. No doub ecW how impossible it would be for his bar nd assegai-armed warrjora to cope with sUC j ea<% weapons as those of which we had just the pQWer. Mayhap our idle fancy has been the ca §reat change in the mind of the Kaffir co » n. The Zulus have long bin,, as the leader who looked up to him as an/l would exterminate the intrusive white restore their own past glories, when the restraint ot the wlse old Kin„ Panda's presence should depar^ Snider rifle display may have altered his in ( The loud wow-wows ma me8 and bayetes of the crowd rung echoiDg air hoarse rever- beration for some ume, minted with the cry Vuma, r UTTMs wonderful-miraculous !(BraV°' whlte man> rBu°t'the chief sto°d sclent and^houghtM amidst it all. At length, starting fr action, he stepped up to us, seized hold of one o 8 a»d earnestly examined it but the thing was a my8tery tQ he had never seen a breech-loader e turning it over and over, and striving in va sfy hl3 curiosity, he ap- pealed to us for explanation pealed to us for explanation "How do you load ,5 and fire it so fast? Wh«re is the stick ? (ramrou;. We stated that it did n0,°he, and showed him a Boxer cartridge, telling at all he had to do was to insert it in the breech, e sanae tjme opening the same and exposing the chamber, to hig no little astonish- ment. HA.) It has a door," he cried. door at the very place where it ought to be strongest—a hole where it ouo-ht to be solid But where is the powder. IIow do you make the bullet go without putting many gunpowder ? Then we told him that the powder was contained within the brass cartridge, behind the ball. Well, but where is the cap ?" he inquired. We pointed that out. After thinking a few momentg, he asked if there were many such guns in England. quantity," we re- plied, izinkulunawaneeziskum (tens of thousands). And your yambutos (soldiers) have them ?" said he. Answering this in the amrmative, he made no further inquiries but the event had evidently made a deep im- pressien on his mind. I am not sure but that we shall be entitled to the thanks and gratitude of Natal's Legislativc Council when old King Panda has departed. Unable to comprehend the nature of the strange and wonderful and, to them, new weapons, the crowding throng of coun- cillors and chiefs unanimously declared them to be umtargati bewitched) bnt Cetewayo did not seem to think so. His genius, I believe, soars high above that of his people. He jastly attributed the breech-loaders to the superior knowledge of the white man, and his mind became absorbed in contemplation of the utter hopeless- ness of ever being able to oppose them.

_m- The capability of the electric light for illuminating large balls was well exemplified a few daws ago when the Messiah was performed at the Albert Hall. The Jablochkoff candle and Siemens' new regulators were employed, the latter evidently promising to become of considerable importance in the near future of electric lighting. The cost is stated to be 12s. 6d. per hour, as against 42s. per hour for an equivalent illumination of gas. A serious disturbance occurred at Limerick on Monday riuj u principal delinquents are two men named O Halloran and Moran, who are charged with stoning an old and inoffensive man almost to death, The injuries inflicted, are such that no hopes are entertained of his recovery. Whatever the old man's crime may have been does not appear, but both O'Halloran and Moran had enough sympathisers to prevent them being taken by the police, who were greeted with showers of stones and bottles on attempting to effect A capture. So far victory rtWDMBft with the rabble. 'f

General ^JnteUujence. The death is announced of the Rev. W. H. Bullock secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. It is again stated that the Rev. Henry Ward Beccher will visit England in May, and that he will preach several times during his stay in London. Elijah Lee, who is believed to have been 104 years of age, has just died at the Doncaster Workhouse. He had been a gipsy hawker, and was only admitted to the house last January. An official announcement is made that her Majesty will, after the marriage of the Duke of Connaught, pay a visit to the Italian lakes, where she will pass a short time in strict privacy. The Clyde, with the last force of reinforcements for the Cape, viz., 500 men for the 24th Regiment, sailed from Woolwich, on Saturday afternoon. The Duke of Connaught was present. Nine steamers reached the Mersey last week, bringing larger supplies of meat from the United States and Canada than have ever been received since the importa- tion of fresh meat commenced. A lengthy discussion in the Nottingham Town Council, on Monday, on a resolution in favour of opening the Castle Art Museum on Sundays, terminated in its rejec- tion—25 voting for and 28 against it. The present Parliament was elected and summoned to meet on the 5th of March. 1874, and the 5th of the pre- sent month will be the fifth anniversary of its creation. On that day it enters upon the sixth year of its age. The sudden death of Mr. James Macdonnell is an- announced, as having taken place in London on Sunday. Mr. Macdonnell, who was a man of large attaintments, had been for many years a brilliant writer in several of the principal London journals. The authorities at the Bankruptcy Court in Basin hall-street state that they have never before had so many petititions as at the present time, and they are under the firm impression that the numbers will still increase prior to the nsw Act affecting bankrups coming into force—now before Parliament. At Harrogate, on Monday, a carpenter, named Fenwick, had his V-ains blown out by a fellow-lodger, with a gun belonging to their landlord. The lodger took it up not knowing it was loaded, and Fenwick is stated to have put the muzzle into his mouth. The gun went off, and a portion of his skull was blown away. On Saturday night burglars broke into the railway station at Buckfastleigh, near Exeter, and carried off the iron safe. After taking it some distance down the line they attempted to break it open with a sledge ham- mer, but were foiled, and were obliged to make off. The safe contained jE170, the proceeds of some monthly accounts. Weston has failed in his long walk of 2,000 miles in 1,001; hours. He had 23t miles to go when time was called at four o'clock on Friday afternoon. He, however, it is said, determined to complete the distance; but on Friday afternoon he is described as having been very much exhaused, and reeled about so much that his at- tendants had some difficulty in preventing him falling into wayside ditches. At a meeting of the committee for carrying out the scheme to erect a new theological college in the Midlands for the Wesleyan Methodists, held on Friday, it was stated that the work was proceeding most satisfactorily, and it is hoped the new buildings, which are to be erected on a site at Hamstead, containing seventeen acres, will be ready for occupation after the next Conference. Pro- vision is to be made for seventy students. The Bishop of Manchester presided on Friday at a meeting held at Blackburn, whereat Professor Levi delivered a lecture on The Rate of Wages." His lord- ship pointed out that in many instances "strikes resulted in loss or failure to secure the object sought. The work- ing classes received annually £ 450.000,000, and they spent in strong drink and tobacco £100,000.000, It was his conviction that one quarter of the money should suffice for beer and tobacco. They had seasons of great prosperity, and then there were the reverse of these, entailing reductions in wages, poverty, and distress, such as be had seen in Manchester and Salford. He concluded by an appeal to the working classes to practise thrifty habits. The interview in which the Queen took leave of the ex-Prince Imperial was (says a London correspondent) most interesting. Her Majesty received the Prince with touching kindliness, thanking him in a tremulous voice for his gallant interest in this country and its army. During the interview Prince Louis Napoleon occupied a seat upon a couch to which her Majesty had drawn him. Before taking leave of him the Queen placed upon his finger a ring which she had removed from her own hand and bade him wear it as a mark of her Majesty's grateful regard. Prince Louis was visibly affected by this further nroof of that friendship which the Queen has on so many occasions evinced towards himself and his mother. The annual meeting of the Associated Chambers of Commerce was held on Tuesday, at the Westminster Palace Hotel, London Mr. Sampson S. Lloyd, M.P., pre- siding. The Secretary presented the annual report, which stated that the Tariff Committee could not state that any important results had been accomplished as re- gards greater freedom of commercial intercourse between Great Britain and any foreign Power. The very general depression in the prices of all manufactured articles bad strengthened the movement of the protectionist parties in those countries in favour of higher duties. The Chair- man said he believed the Government were very much in earnest with regard to the Bankruptcy Bill now before Parliament. The Chamber had a bill on the subject, which was down for a second reading in a few days, but he did not think it would be allowed to go beyond that stage. The report was adopted. A variety of subjects were subsequently discussed, and resolutions were adopted declaring that the Government should appoint a Commis- sion to enquire into the present condition of British trade, and urging them not to relax their efforts in obtaining commercial relations with Spam. Mr. S. S. Lloyd was re-elected president. DR. NEWMAN AND THE CARDINLATE. — The Daily Telegraph believes that the only difficulty which has de- layed, rather than hindered,the acceptance of the Car- dinal's hat by Dr. Newman is likely to be removed. The Cardinals, according to the old idea at the basis of that order, are snpposed to be the parish priests of Rome, and, as such each on his nomination takes his title from one of the many churches in the Eternal City. Originally they elected their bishop. When the ruler of the diocese of Rome was recognised as head of the Catholic Church, their authority grew greater, and when the temporal power was added those who were once parochial clergy became Princes of the Church and State. The original idea so far survives that all Cardinals, excepting those in charge of a diocese or otherwise entrusted with high ad- ministrative work, are obliged to reside in Rome and this is an old rule, we believe, invariably enforced. At Dr. Newman's present age h change of residence would not be practicable. It therefore lay with Leo XIII, to add to this offer a dispensation of non-residence, which would enable the distinguished Englishman to accept the honour; and we believe that an intimation to that effect bas been already forwarded. Thus not only will the Pope confer the highest dignity in his gift on Dr. Newman, but will do so accompanied by a special mark of favour—in fact, an exemption said to be unprece- dented. It has been implied that Dr. Newman's hesita- tion to accept the Cardinalate has arisen from some indifference to the honour to be conferred. Personally he may not be desirous of dignity, but he is as he knows, a representative man, who has deep at heart the interests of the Roman Catholic Church m England, and he gladly welcomed the stamp of Papal approval on the tone and tendency of his own writings. It certainly may be said that no action of the Pope could do more to make Englishmen in the mass look with friendly toleration on that Church than the apparent approximation of the Vatican to the spirit and temper of Dr. Newman's books. SOCIETY OF ANCIENT BRITONS. —The 164th anni- versary of "the most honourable and loyal" Society of Ancient Britons was celebrated on Saturday (St. David's Day) by a dinner at Willis's Rooms. The president of the day was Mr. Thomas Wood, of Gwernyfed-park, Brecon- shire, and among those who supported him were the Earl of Powis. Sir George Elliot, M.P., Sir Alexander Wood, Mr Morgan Lloyd, M.P., Mr. Charles Shaw, Mr. H. PowellPowell, Mr. C. W. W.Wynn, M.P., and Mr. J. R. Kenyon, Q.C. The society was founded in 1714-15, and had its origin in the wish of many influential Welsh gentlemen to testify their_ attachment to the House of Hanover, and the nrst festival of the society was held on the anniversary of the birth of Caroline, Princess of Wales, which by a happy coincidence was St. David's Day. But while the society has continued to afford occasions for social gatherings of natives of the Principality, the mem- bers have from a very early period in its histoi-y shown a charitable care for the needs of the orphans and children charitable care for the needs of the orphans and children of necessitous Welshmen settled in the metropolis. Beginning in 1716 by Apprenticing a few poor lads, the society founded in 1718 a school which, after several removals to meet the wants of its increasing numbers, is ¡ now comfortably housed in a spacious building at Ashford, in Middlesex, opened in 1857 by the Prince Consort. Since the foundation of theWelsh school 2,537 boys and 819 girls have been admitted and wholly maintained. Besides the foundation scholars, there are some known as day scholars for whose board and education, &c., payments are received, which not only cover the expense of their main- tenance, but leave a profit to the fund for the foundation scholars. A new rule, however, has come into force this bv which it is hoped the benefits of the institution will be more widely extended. Und.er this rule every fourth vacancy occurring in the boys'or girls' school will he filled by a child who has lost the father, irrespective of the birthplace of the child, provided that either father or mother was born within the principality of Wales, the tv of Monmouth, or the parishes of Oswestry, o„i„tlvn and Llanymynech, in the county of Salop. There are at present 84 boys and 48 girls in the school, of whom 44 boys and 19 girls are paid for. Some of the old usages are still preserved at the anniversary festivals, and on this occasion the cocked hats with large plumes and the stewards wandsi were borne by some of the com- mittee as the company filed into the dining-room. By the kindness of Lady .J^ljover, who had sent from Llanover her harper Gruffydd and his daughter Y Ffronfraith Fach, an agreeable variety was given to the proceedings by the performance of a duet on two triple- stringed Welsh harps, the players selecting two popular tunes of their country — Codiad Yr* haul," and Triban gwyr Harlech." Gruffydd wore his long dark mantle, and the young harpigt a Welshwoman's costume, with the high-crowned beaver hat. The boys and girls, looked vary healthy and well cared for, then Marched round the room, and sang an ode by Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, adapted to the old Welsh air "Llwyn Onn by Mr. Brinley Bichards, who accompanied the young singers on the piano. The collection made for the schools amounted to more than £800 in all. Earl Percy proposes to stop the further progress of the Ancient Monuments Bill, on Monday next, by moving that the consideration of the amendments made in com- mittee be postponed for six months. In Paris, on and after the lst of May, a kind of tele- graphic card is to be adopted, which will be sent by pneumatic tube for half a franc. There is to be no limit to the number of words, and at each post office in the city a box will be provided for their reception. Princess Louise Margaret, who is to be married next week to the Duke of Connaught, left Berlin with her mother on Saturday night for England. The most elabo- rate preparations ar being made at Windsor for the interesting ceremony. There will be a general feeling of regret among Volun- teers at the announcement that it has been decided, at a meeting of commanding officers, that no suitable ground can be obtained for manoeuvring a. large body of men, and that the Easter review must, therefore, be abandoned. The charge against the directors and manager of the Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Banking Company for issuing false balance-sheets was partly heard on Monday, before the magistrates at Chesterfield. Medical evidence was given to show that two of the directors were unable to appear, and the manager is suffering from softening of the brain. The case was adjourned. Acollision occurred on Saturday between theGuillermo, of Baltimore, and the Liverpool steamer I.trian, four miles south-east of Skerries. The Guillertno afterwards sank, the majority of the crew being saved by the Water- ford steamer Lord Athlumny. The master and several of the crew are injured, and a number are missing, but are supposed to be on board the Dublin steamer Magnet, bound for Dublin. At Jeffrey's boot establishment at Derby several boys were discussing the subject of the execution of Peace, when one said he would show how it was done. A strong cord was produced, and attached to the ceiling. A noose was made and placed round the neck of the intended victim. The lad who was to represent Peace struggled desperately, and while thus engaged lost his footing his neck was seriously hurt and his leg broken. Another fatal football accident is reported can nothing be done to civiiise the usages of this game ? Geo. Ross, a bank clerk in Sheffield, died on Saturday from injuries received some days ago while playing a football match according to the Sheffield Association rules. He was knocked down by one of the opposing club, but how is not yet clearly ascertained. In a letter, read in all the Roman Catholic Churches in Salford on Sunday, Dr. Yaughan declares that the doctrines and practices of faith are in the present day generally disregarded, rejected, and trampled upon as is the c-ise now. Lsgislatures and Parliaments have ceased to make the profession of Christianity, or even of Theism, a condition of membership, and have ceased to hold Chris'ianity to be the basis of legislatien. At a meeting of sailors in Liverpool, on Wednesday, some disclosures were made as to the way in which vessels are sometimes manned from that port. One speaker declared that there were a certain number of shipowners in the port who hired a low class of boarding- house keepers to supply their ships with men, and that they went into the streets and picked the men up, even engaging from the roads navvies. Another speaker de- clared that men went to sea who were no more fit to go than washerwomen; and a third assured the meeting that he had known of a navvy and a jockey being ship- ped as sailors whilst a fourth said that on one ship he found that out of the 25 hands only thrae had been at sea before. The competition of Japan teas with those of China and Assam has quite recently received a new impetus In a report on the tea trade of Hiogo we are told that efforts are being made to stimulate this important native industry by the manufacture of black tea. This, it is stated, is of the greatest importance to Japan in view of the strong competition which exists between teas produced in the country and those known in trade as Formos.a. Oolongs, the only great market for both of these kinds being America, the effect, of which has been to reduce prices, and, consequently, to impose a limit upon production. Several hundred piculs of imitation Congou were shipped to London from Hiogo in the course of last year, and are said to have been favourably received in the market, both quality and flavour being of a high order. The only question remaining to be solved as to the success of these teas is whether they can be produced at prices low enough to enable them to compete favourably in foreign markets with China and Assam teas," ° EXTRAORDINARY SCENE IN A ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCII. -An extraordinary scene took place un Sunday morn- ing, in St. Alban's Roman Catholic Church, Warrington. Morning Mas3 w is just over, and the congregation were dispersing, when a sergeant in the 4th Royal Lancashire Militia walked down the aisle to the altar, and drawing his sword, cut down the sanctuary lamp first, and made the articles on the altar fly in every direction, destroying canopy, statuary, missal, and other things. A man stepped inside the altar rails for the purpose of prevent- ing the man doing any further damage, and the infuriated soldier, who was apparently not in his right mind, cut at him with his sword. The utmost excitement prevailed in the edifice, women were screaming and fainting, and men jumping over the backs of pews, as it was feared that he would attack the congregation. The other soldiers who were present drew their swords and advanced upon their comrade, who stood with his sword in hand. Without a fight they managed to secure him. He was taken into the vestry, the priests keeping the people back, and he was afterwards locked up at the police station. He said he wanted to kill the priest who preached yesterday. He was brought before the magistrate, and a remand was asked for until the state of his mind could be ascertained. Colonel Godfrey, his commander, gave him an excellent character for steadi- ness and sobriety. Incoherent documents were put in on which the prisoner had been engaged for some months, which stated that God had chosen him to destroy the Pope and his satellites. The prisoner made a rambling statement about the figure of Christ he had seen, and wanted them to read his documents. He is well educated, and generally very quiet. He was remanded till Friday. SIR HENRY LAYABD.—It is, we believe, no secret in diplomatic circles that of late our relations with Russia have altered greatly for the better. For this, however, the Government deserve little credit, as the change has been forced on them by the fear of the Czar, quite in an amicable way, giving us .trouble on the borders of Af- ghanistan, and also from the fact, which could no longer be concealed, that the Russians are loyally executing the Treaty of Berlin. Sir Henry Layard is coming home in 1 '• "1 1^1, TIVA lllriAnnAfl C 1 1 aeiicace ueaitu, Auomucsacs ui ainuassaaors sometimes prove as convenient as the not at home" of a fashion- able lady. Still, we shall not accuse the English am- bassador of feigning this convenient excuse, for the diplomatic changes which at Constantinople as well as at St. Petersburg it has been found discreet to make, in view of the pleasant changre which has come over the Anglo-Russian entente cordiale.. Doubtless, Sir Henry is exhausted for, assuredly, for two years past no man has worked harder in a bad cause. From the day when he sent by telegram the fable which obtained from a timid House of Commons the notorious six millions, up to the time when in despair he had almost abandoned the Turk, he has laboured strenuously to bring the Russians into odium in England, and convert the world to his views of the virtue of the Sultan. It is very doubtful whether Sir Henry Layard will ever return to Pera. Lord Loftus was necessarily not always a persona grata at St Petersburg, and is now to go to New South Wales. We are greatly mistaken if his colleagues in Constantinople do not find it necessary for his health's sake to accept another post. Sir William Harcourt at the Reform Club dinner cha- racterised Sir Henry Layard as the only man living who believed in the possibility of Turkish reforms. Downing- street possibly knows that even this once fond friend of the Caliph has ceased to have faith in him. The truth is, the Sultan promises anything—everything—and does nothing. No reforms are ever attempted to be carried into execution, and the Pashas and Zaptiehs are sliding back to their old lethargy and knavishness, as if there never had been a war or an Anirlo-Turkish Convention. This fact every ambassador in Stamboul has long ago been convinced of, and the many-tongued gossip of Pera will have it that at last Sir Henry Layard has also joined the band of doubting ones,-Echo. GREAT WESTERN COLLIERY COMPANY LIMITED.—Meet- ings of this limited company, incorporated last year, and of the old company, in liquidation, were held at the Grand Hotel on Friday. The following reports have been issued The subscribers to the memorandum and articles of association of the new company, being deemed to be directors in accordance with the articles, until the first general meeting of shareholders, report that m pursuance of the memorandum of agreement, dated April 18th, 1878, the liquidators of theoldcompany have assigned all the undertaking and assets <of the old com- pany, as on December 31st, to the new company, and allotment letters of the new shares and departures to be issued in consideration of such assignment are sent out with the report. The statement of accounts accom- panying the reports shows the liabilities and assets of the new company as at December 31st, from which date the collieries are being worked by the new company; and the report stated that it will be seen by that state- ment that, although the new company has come into possession of very considerable assets, it is nevertheless without working capital. As it was not considered advisable at the present to offer new shares for sub- scription, an extraordinary general meeting was held, on the conclusion of the ordinary meeting, for the pur- pose of authorising the directors, in pursuance of the agreement for reconstruction, to borrow, as a first charge upon the property, any sum or sums not exceeding in the aggregate £ 20,000. The articles of association pro- vide that at the first ordinary general meeting all the directors shall retire, and it will devolve upon the share- holders to elect directors and auditors, and fix their respective remuneration. The joint liquidators, Messrs. G. E. Smithingbank and William Briggs, contributories of the old companv that, m pu an order of the High Court of Justice, all the undertaking and assets the P ? notfafrfy^chargeablf^o Jhe steam-coaf^rkiSg depreciation on wagons and horses and for bad debts, incurred chiefly under a contract entered into before the liquidation °8,8 fot the period in question of £ 230 3s. lid.. Considering the depressed sfcate of trade, the advantages tinder which a company in liquidation was necessarily subject, and the prohibi- tion by the Court to the entering upon any new con- tracts for the sale of coal, the liquidators state they con- sider the result was not of a very unsatisfactory character. The item of £540 9s. 2d. for law costs attendant upon the liquidation they considered would be very moderate. They were not yet in a position entirely to close the liquidation, as there were still calls outstanding to be collected, amouting at the date of report to B997 II*. lid., and application had been made to the court far an order to enforce payment. -iiiI Great distress prevails in Newfoundland i -Tn.g to the failure of the cod fisheries.. The Government seem to have come virt J y to an y, arrangement for the establishment of telegra; .■? comma- n nication between this country and the Capen Xatal. The Earl of Hardwicke contradicts a report lich has Pb appeared in print to the effect that he has • nedthfttt* mastership of her Majesty's hounds, and h ■> been ap- Si pointed Governor of Tasmania. pn A proposal to grant Mr. Jefferson Davies » sion, as r. a veteran of the Mexican war, has led to a iy sharp Idl debate between North and South in the A. can Se- t nate. The proposal was rejected by 23 aga J2 Totes. A.1 A fire occurred on Sunday at the towi ileno, in Jy Nevada, by which the business quarter of ti. wn was 'C( destroyed. The loss is estimated at a mi i dollars. 111 Five persons perished in the conflagration. U; A girl of eleven is at present in prison at < 1 rs (Lot) for having burnt alive her little brother, a c' nly two .el years old, because as she alleges," it anno y: i obliged to nurse him." < < The warehouses of Messrs. Penrose, Pail, .1 Hunt, lls Market-street, Manchester, were burned d. L, Wed- 1111 nesday damages, £100,000. The large co mill of n, Messrs. Horrocks, at Preston, was also destr by fire n! damage, £ 30,000. Ip 5000 weavers of Ashton-under-Lyne, who a fort. night have been resisting a reduction of five • -ont. in l1) their wages, have resumed work on the m terms. 1"1 All the mills which were closed are now in ft; ork. le Mr. Jonathan Pavior, the oldest inhabits Oxford, U and reputed to be 101 next May, died at city on Friday last. Although blind for sometime the old gentleman was until a few days since in thi posses- a' sion of most of his other faculties. At a Liverpool Police-court, on Monday tea Mor- 6 rison, a^warder at Kirkdale Gaol, was sentv. to three months' imprisonment for having supplied > mvicted r forger in the prison with whisky, which I. Liorrison) received, with 2s., fi om the convict's wife. 1 Mrs. Jones, who was housekeeper for }).. Phillips, butcher, Hadman-street, Liverpool, and wb., recently a convicted of robbing her employer to the ex r ,{ £ 500 and sentenced to nine months' imprisonmt >. iias died' in the borough gaol. 8 A horrible gun accident occurred at Harro- ro lately where a portion of the skull of a carpenter -d Wm! Fenwick W:IS blown clean off by a. fellow-1. with a gun belonging to their landlord, which had bought at an auction. The lodger took the gun up. mowing it was loaded, and Fedwick is stated to put the muzzle into his mouth. The gun was londj however, and went off. The Claimant is at last resigned to his fat j. The Go- vernment refuses him justice. They have n .ne to give, he says so he begs Mr. Guildford Onslow •; -ake no further trouble on his account. It is us. utterly vain. "It is no longer Vox Populi vox in this country," he says Vox Dizzy vox Dei is u order of the day; therefore I must remain a v' Very probably. Will Mr. Onslow take the hint ? At tho annual meeting of the Birmiugl Funeral Reform Association, on Tuesday a report w is • ssented showing a satisfactory progress in the Jisse: :on and practice of the principles advocated by t;, jiation: About 15,000 pamphlets and circulars had b. ■; ;ulated with reference to funeral reform, and the been a considerable addition to the members of th* • :iation. It was decided to change the name of associ. ■ to that of" The Birmingham Funeral and Mouri.i, Lieform Association." At the Exeter Police on Monday a boy n no Pem- berthey was charged with breaking into a ,1", -house in the High-street, only a few feetdistart f. o police station, and stealing therefrom about 15s. 'er and between £2 and £ o worth of stamps. 'i risoner, who was employed as errand boy at the sho ;ted an entrance after it was closed on Saturday ni )n the stamps being found in the house of the pri- father, the latter said they be'onged to him. and -■ he had them for months. The boy subsequently • ed the theft, and the father was apprehended an 1 .-= jd with receiving. Both prisoners were remanded. BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY annual sermons on behalf of the British and Fore: ble So- ci' ty were preached in Paris, at the KM. Church, Rue (l'Ag-uessean, and at Christ Church, XHwilly, on Sunday, February 23rd, by the Rev. F. D. T! npson, District Secretarv for the West Ridirg Y rkshire. The t'rince of Wales attended the morning at the English church. The annual meeting was n Mon- day, Feb. 24, at 23, Rue Royale, when J Y Hoare, Esq.. treasurer of the Society, presided, i e Rev. Dr Forbes, M. Gustave, Monod, jun., Past :> J heodore Monod, Dr. Paterson, and the Rev. F. L). i'iiomson, the deputation, addressed the meeting. It i- r-iVnded to establish a Ladies' Bible Association in Par; r aid the efforts of the Parent Society. ELECTORAL POLICy.-The Committee of ih, United Presbyterian Synod have passed reso'uti-.i = Y-claring that they regard it as important that as th" general election approaches nearer, and party requirements become more exacting, the friends of dis- shment should firmly assert its claims. United ,'terians and Scottish Dissenters generally, who hav, hitherto been found elsewhere than in the van of tin- edicts of religious freedom, are called upon to upbol1 ir prin- ciples and best traditions. Anxious to ciit-ibute to united political action, they have time aft^r i suffered local and general demands of religious eq u to give place to appeals of party. There is reason t rYink that this conciliatory policy has also been conceive i, and has resulted in giving influence to a small section who are unwilling to advance. The time appears to have come when the friends of disestablisnment thro ;hout the kingdom and in all the non-established Cheches, who are not the less supporters of all enlighunational policy, should act with decision and indepf-'V; -e. The committee recommend that there should, u<> account be any cessation of discussion of the question, nnd that its suppression should not be consented h)" ir, friends in any circumstances; that it should be .■«! !v ascer- tained of all candidates and members of Pailiami it where they stand on this question and that the h.duence to which the friends of disestablishment air Oil every ground entitled in electoral counsels, whetha local or general, should be claimed and exercised.

PARIS FASHIONS. Although it cannot be announced that ii: ? spring fe fashions have already appeared in Paris, y hey are M sufficiently prepared to admit of partia' ription. L The materials are light checks in neutra1 plain < drabs, Indian cashmere, Japanese, Persi;;i.i.J Greek fabrics. Among silks are light tissues. H" 'pons of i] lotus-blue. A design not yet viewed on fii. dlens is k< the rolled sheet of paper or parchment-scro iese are supple and uncreasable materials beariin ches of ii colour not more than one blotch, however. -wed on t a full-dress length. Those are among the i' acentric i of Japanese fabrics, and will be worn, if It" 1 at all for mourning gowns. The usual suite of hi-■ ut.cafe,' L almond, and livery shades will be employed aantles, b and this garment is either a scarf-made or Y Y dolman b out-of door cloak. It is mostly trimmed 'henille j run in separately, and strand by strand, in- >f being f tied in fringe. But fringe in old gold is tly em- L ployed on peaked bodices, but the triumph mille is [ olive embroidery on satin. Each separate p; f either C a waistcoat or bodice of this work is done b Y n 1. [ The usual make of fancy woollen mixed v i silk or L with brocade will be a shert skirt, box-plai a tunic S turned back on panier, and a jacket and oat for bodice; but all the lighter fabrics will be Di i. bv worn I with a yoke on the shoulders. P y 1 A variety of somewhat old-fashioned Io<- sleeves will be preferred to the coat-shape, the fu style of dress becoming essentially feminine. The peaked bodice, panier, and short ski; li demi- | sleeve not reaching below the elbow and ei with a < frill, are the appropriate make for evening Skirts I are narrow, and some of the most admired vYi Ye pale- j coloured transparent lawns strewn with spray-- of floss j embroidery. I The principal features of the coming se re bril- ) liancy of colour and elaborate handwork iii depart- ment. In point of colour, all the Byzantin Y des are being revived. By those are implied t orgeous colouring of mosaics. The vitreous glos- Venetian work is reproduced on silks, brocades, vel. pekins da.masaes.&c., by the usual glace silk'.roce s, Two loose garments, formerly much wor t called douulettes, though they are short, are h iiade in soft twilled silks and grenadines. They ai istitute for the peignoir, or dressing-gown, and nia< uil, with jabots and lace ruffs round the wrYt. T proper designation would be a matinee, but the r", ,ven is a saut-de-lit. Deep flounces of lace are < ved for trimming them, the lace being either fold fi layers one over the other, or put on plain with IT Yness re- mains in flat thick plaits under the chin. Blue is to become as fashionable ,s W;i::o tag been throughout the winter. Among the newest bonnets is a neat black tacv, called the shell, from the gathering up of th;)]ap ployed. It is jbordered round the rim with a frin: "r small flowers. and on one side with fluttering f] and black posies. The fringe mixes with, 110 hair, and the effect is that of showered blossoms. The fanchion of this month is ide of iped or streaked p6kin gauze, having a fall "I chenili- fringe, with coloured balls over the coronet, and tji ,¡ ;,e1' over the chignon behind. It is tied on with vY )r satin strings, and no other trimming is required. The Breton lace bow is worn on the from of bonnet- rims in the same way as the Alsatian on t, f. ir; but lace lappets on black satin and velvet a; Y-coming rather general. Ivory-white Indian silk and crepe lisse aro elegantly draped and plisseed for fichus to be worn .md the throat, not on the shoulders only; and vir needle- darnednet fichus are to be already seeu ot' doors, instead of neckties. They add a man- „ dressy ap- pearance to demi-saison attire. French twilled flannel is an article whi Ysi ..r.ll largely employed, with light soft silks to match Y i-ino of the purest wool is to mix with satin of the same shade. Plain black faille dresses are no longer wo-n. Some notion can be conveyed of the p Tier walking dress by the following description:—Aigu.marine faille of two shades. The back is made prince-- t v.-thirds of the front witdth are rich passementerie the Hides are ornamented with boucletts, or strap-mad I> •>»-. which increase in size as they descend. The bodi e i ? immed in the same way, with graduated bows down to the end of the basque in front, and here a flot of lo co loops. Panier* ornament the hips, and are made of p ifFed faille of a darker shade. A pinked out trimming for the bottom of pring skirt* is the edging of rose-leaf silk; the material is shaded from deep to pale roae, and there are from five to sevea of those rem > th* tMt is attached by means of a braid,