Weekly Mail

— TIDE TABLK. FOB THE WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 6, 1885. J J si! |4 I l-t-2 =23 2d « « DAYS OF THE WKEK. £ « ii 5 i i 41 3 ( Morning — — i 11 29 I I 12 41 SATURDY ■? Evening 12 28 12 10 — 12 23 1 17 I Height 24 5 28 2 25 9 28 10 19 8 i Morning 1 12 12 60 12 fi 1 0 1 57 ^trxDAY .< Evening 1 54 1 35 1 47 1 41 2 42 ( Height". 23 7 27 1 25 7 27 8 18 4 i Morning 2 43 2 20 1 27 2 21 3 27 MONDAY.< Evening 3 19 3 2 2 3 2 57 4 9 I Height. 24 S 27 10 25 11 23 2 19 4 { Morning 4 0 3 40 2 38 3 32 4 47 TUKSDAY ■< Evening 4 27 4 14 3 9 4 3 5 21 I Height 27 1 29 9 28 9 30 1 21 7 <~Morning 5 1 "4 45 3 40 4 34 5 52 WKDSDT.< Evening 5 22 5 12 4 7 5 1 6 19 ) Height 29 7 31 11 30 5 52 5 24 1 ( Morning 5 50 5 38 4 35 5 29 6 45 THURSDY 1 Evening 6 12 6 2 5 1 5 55 7 9 ) Height 31 7 33 8 31 6 34 6 26 1 i Morning 6 36 6 2b 5 24 6 18 7 32 FRIDAY. Evening 6 55 6 47 5 46 6 40 7 o4 I Height 32 11 34 4 32 1 3d 3 26 11

tt" SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1885. NOTES OF THE WEEK. [BY OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENTS.] The Marquess of Salisbury is much better and is able to discharge his public duties. He will come immediately to London, where a good deal of work awaits him. His indis- position is naturally inconvenient at a moment like the present, for, in addition to the pressing duties of his dual office, his lordship is constantly being referred to in "I connection with a variety of points arising out of the election campaign. Happily, his indisposition, though painful locally, promises to be of brief duration, leaving his general health unimpaired. I expressed a doubt upon the likelihood of Lord Hartington accepting the invitation to sit upon the Board of Arbitration appointed to dispose of double Liberal candidatures. The marquess has declined the proffered honour, alleging, with a touch of transparent humour, as his reason want of time." The truth is obvious. Lord Hartington declines to assist at what must be a political farce. The Board has been called into existence by a Radical Junta sitting in a London club raised under the shadow of the Birmingham Caucus, and with Nir. Schnadhorst constantly on the premises looking sagely after the interests of the concern. The instinct of their entire business is Radical, and it is the duty of the machine to manufacture a certain kind of article. That, it is neediess to say, is strong Kadieal fustian. Liberal candidates show their confidence in the Board by refusing to be guided by its decision. The moderate Liberals, in particular, distrust it, and Lord Hartington's refusal it serve shows that he appreciates the delicacy of the joke and the refinement of the irony that marked his invitation. The Liberal papers of the cut of the Daily News are sorely troubled about Lord Har- tington. His jellyfish Uadiealism is, however, bis lordship's own, so that when he finds cist iron sentiments pnt into his mouth, and himself praised for exhibiting a muscular view of things which he does not entertain, he must feel like an ill-favoured gallant under the blandishments of a pretty girl. That, at any rate, was the dubious fate reserved for him this morning by his friends, and the circumstance is instructive of l.'adical dread of the Liberal revolt, which is growing more powerful daily Mr. Hawkes, the l.'adical candidate for one of the divisions of Sheffield, having been I Boycotted by the local Liberal paper, has started a journal of his own, which he edits himself, in the interests of his candidature. Mr. Hawkes is an adventurous young gentle- man, with the appearance of a gipsy who has been softened and civilised by Mr. George Smith, of Coalville. That he is a youth-I don't think he is yet of age-of very great energy and much resource seems clear from the spirited manner in which he is conducting himself. It seems that the men of Sheffield abomi- nate the Caucus; so Mr. Hawkes, who is fighting under the shadow of Mr. S. Storey's name, has taken to cursing the Caucus and all its works. The paper which he has brought out, and a copy of which has found its way to London, is highly amusing, especially the editor's description of the local Liberal paper which ha3 Boycotted him. It is real as a bar of soap and about as in- teresting." Of course, Mr. Hawkes cannot beat Mr. Plimsoll, but his meteoric career from a Liberal point of view is serious-ly amusing, since it is splitting up the Liberal party in Sheffield and making the return of the Conservative morally certain. The doings of Lord lioaebery are just now as interesting as anything in the mysterious whirligig of Radicalism. His lordship is acting as a sort of aide-de-camp to Mr. Glad- stone, whiht the" Divine Figure of the Welsh North himself is telling his towers and conning his battlements at his Castle of Hawarden. People are asking if the extraor- dinary speeches which the coronetted Socialist is delivering are feelers put forward by the Master to test the reception of experi- mental extensions of the authorised version" of the Midlothian Manifesto. Lord Rose— bery's frequent oratorical sallies from Hawar- den, his enunciation of a new doctrine of Socialism, and his immediate return to Hawarden certainly give him something of the character of the homely kitten in the proverb of the monkey and the nuts. Lord Rosebery's latest musings have called forth rather more notice than his earlier meditations on revolution succeeded in doing. ) It is curious that English Radicals should think Wales a congenial soil in which to plant the flag of revolt against existing institutions; but before Lord Rosebery went to Wrexham to preach his iconoclastic doctrines about the House of Lords half a dozen Radical brethren had visited the Principality on a crusade against the Church. The sum of his lordship's deliverance is that j be has not repaired the split in the Liberal party. Mr. Parnell will lend himself to American interviewers, though he shrinks from doing so to representatives of the English newspapers. In answer to a New York correspondent recently, he said he expected hardly any con- tests. But Mr. Parnell spoke before the determination of the Patriotic Union of Ireland to challenge his influence in that j country. The resolute action of the Union has now great; disturbed his calculations, so much so that Le has been obliged to re-shuffle his men. Lord Richard Grosvenor estimates the Liberal majority in the new Parliament at 55. The house so long known in Park-lane as the residence of Sir Moses Montefiore ha3 passed into the hands of the Duke of West- minster, who has purchased it as a home for his daughter-in-law, the Countess of Grosvenor. The place is being altered and richly improved to fit it for the residence of a member of the family of the owner of Clievedon. Mr. Charles Warner, the actor, is making arrangements for a tour of the United States. The stage-door of the Lyceum Theatre has been irrevocably closed against strangers. This used, until the other day, to be an open sesame to Nlr. Irving's personal friends and to persons having business with the members of the company but an untoward incident has suddenly paralysed the privilege of the; stranger. Whilst Miss Ellen Terry was in possession of the stage in the midst of Olivia the audience was puzzled by the advent of n mysterious stranger upon the boards. The mysterious one entered in the person of a gentleman in evening dress. There fol- lowed a flutter of programmes, caused, by the natural desire of the audience to dis- cover the place, designation, and part of this singularly malapposite character. Meanwhile the stranger stood aghast at finding himself in front of an audience and within two feet of Miss Terry speaking her part. But he com- posed himself coolly, and, with a courteous bow to the lady, vanished as he had appeared. He had taken a wrong turning,, nothing more. But, naturally, Mr. Irving, on hearing of the incident, stood astounded, and hence the order, which is likely to avert similar contretemps for the future. We are threatened in London with a start- ling innovation in the lineof a lady stockbroker. Even should the preliminary steps necessary for her admission to the House" be satis- factorily arranged, I am afraid some confusion will ensue from the similarity of terms used in the profession of stockbroking and those used when tenderer subjects than stocks and shares are on the tapis. Between" engage- ments" and settlements," advances" and declinations," the fair member of the Stock Exchange will, I fancy, sometimes bive prac- tical jokes played upon her by some enter- prising jevne premiere who, while professedly dabbling in stocks, may at the same time be trimming for a fall in that direction where women are ever the supreme manipulators of a coup. The Armstrong case has now entered upon what promises to be its most interesting stage. The proceedings are so slow that at their present rate the case cannot close before Monday or Wednesday of next week. The wit- nesses for the defence are both numerous and, socially, distinguished. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Mr. S. Morley, M.P., and Mr. R. T. Reid, M.P., as members of the Mansion House Committee, will probably be called, whilst amongst those actually subpoenaed are Mr. Howard Vincent, late Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department; the City Remembrancer, and Mrs. Josephine Butler, who is daily in court.

LOCAL JOTTINGS [BY PENDRAGON.] The municipal contests at Cardiff have been commenced in real earrest. There has been one further withdrawal since the nominations were sent in. Mr. W. Davis, who is said to be a Conservative, bat who was nominated for the Roath Ward by the Liberals, threw up the sponge to-day, induced to do so, I should not wonder, by the knowledge that his paper was informal. There will, however, still be a fight, as there are three candidates for the two vacant seats—the retiring councillors (Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Beavan) an.i Mr. Rees Enoch, who is standing as a Liberal without the support of his party. In the West Ward there are also three Richmonds in the field," viz., Mr. Thomas Oliver. a new man, who is acting as champion for the Conservatives, and the old members, Mr. David Jones and Mr. R. E. Jones, the latter of whom obtained his seat three years ago under somewhat peculiar circumstances. The betting, as far as I can learn, is odds on the two former, and I think it will be justified by the result. The two retiring members in the South Ward. Dr. D. E. Jones and Mr. Solomon Andrews, offer themselves for re-election, but they are opposed by a strong Conservative candidate in the person of Mr. Tlios. Morel. The severest fighting will be in the Canton Ward, where Mr. Councillor Lougher (a public servant of twelve years' standing) and Mr. S. A Brain are championing the Conservative cause against a combination of the Liberal Committee and the Blue Ribbon Caucus, which are repre- sented by Councillor Dr. James and Mr. F. J. Beavan. I hear that there is little doubt as to the victory of the two first-named gentlemen, but my advice to their supporters is to leave no stone un- turned to render it as triumphant as possible, and make "assurance doubly sure." A i the Battle of the Wards in Cardiff will on one side be fought on Blue Ribbon lines, I would ask the electors not to forget that, it was the action of the fussy and indiscreet people who champion that movement which has indirectly brought upon the community the plngue of unlicensed grog- shops and the scourge of daily-increasing inebriety. I'hey closed for the whole of the day on Sundays the houses of the respectable licensed victuallers, whose living depended upon the judicious way they conducted their business, and the safeguards they were compelled by law to make for the pre- vention of drunkenness, and thus left the field open for a large number of drinking shanties, where men, or boys, for the matter of that, can make themselves as drunk as fiddlers, if their money lasts and their helpless carcases are not in the way of other customers who are anxious to emulate their example. I must ask The Knights of the Round Table at Cardiff not to bother my brains with their jokes. They have invented for my discomfiture some sort of a conundrum about the desirability of one of the candidates for the Canton Ward being elected to a seat in the Council Chamber. Who told you, my Arthurian persecutors, that Brain is wanted in that august assemblage ? Don't frivol; but if you must, do it at your "Table Round," at which brainless effusions may some- times cause a smile. The case of the man who was sentenced to a month's imprisonment by the Cardiff justices for stealing two planks of wood is exciting general attention. I have half a dozen letters sympathising with the unfortunate fellow, and inquiring if something cannot be done to bring about a miti- gation of the sentence. There is only one course open, and that is to memorialise the Home Secretary on the subject. It appeared to be con- ceded in court that the prisoner had been a respec- table member of society for many years, and that he and those dependent upon him were actually in a starving condition when temptation came in the way. I know it is wrong to steal, and that if you are hungry you cannot eat deal boards; but, joking apart, I hold the opinion that a little more mercy might have been extended to this purloiner of planks, whose home was cheerless and whose cupboard was empty. One of my cor- respondents, who signs herself Justice," writes -11 During, the month this poor creature has to spend in gaol what is to become of his unfortu- nate wife? Not one thought could have entered the minds of the magistrates when they passed the sentence as to how site would live in the mean- while. Surely something ought to be done for this poor creature, and I shall only be too glad to add my small mite, with others, to render her some assistance." I will take any "mites" that may come, will see them properly applied, and acknowledge the givers in this column—always provided, of course, the editor is willing. [By all means, "Pendragon."—ED. W.M.] I am led to these reflections by the following letter, addressed to Mr. Pendragon." Dear Sir,— Would you oblige by asking all mothers of families to use their influence with their husbands to pre- vent [I withhold names] from being sent to the Town Council, as it was through the likes of them that the clubs were opened in Cardiff and our hus- bands stop out from Saturday night till Monday morning. Before the likes of them got into the Town Council and closed public-houses on Sunday my husband was always home to dinner on Sunday, but now we never do see him there, and many times we got none to have. I was foolish enough to agree for Sunday Closing, but now I wish they was open altogether." This is not a very gram- matical effusion, but it is, unfortunately, true. I can prove it. I hope I am not an alarmist, and that I do not, in a greater degree than my fellow-citizens, tumble head-over-heels, metaphorically speaking, at the alarm of dangers ahead. I hear with deep regret that the distress among the toilers in Dowlais and the neighbourhood is just now very keen, and that the prospects in the immediate future are any- thing but re-assuring. Such words as misery n and starvation" have been whispered in my ears, and although I cannot accept in its full signifi- cance the latter description, I am convinced from certain incidents which have been brought to my knowledge that there is not a superfluity of luxuries at the command of these poor people. I do not call attention to the painful fact for the purpose of creating a panic. My motive is a far different one. I want the charitably-inclined, and those who have philan- thropic aspirations, to inquire into this matter for themselves. There is much need for their action. We can, and do, give large sums of money for the support of religious and social institutions, but what are these things to people with empty larders and craving stomachs ? What are the local autho- rities about ? And are the large manufacturers in the steel and iron trades of the district doing their duty by those who, in a moral sort of way, have some claim upon their benevolence ? I do not ask these questions in any spirit of impertinence, but for the purpose of stirring up a little interest on behalf of the distressed ones. Talk about the irony of fate, dear Pendragon, writes a friend, what do you think of the latest example ? A permanent circus on the very site of Penydarren Works! Where the puddler literally sweated his soul out the clown will jest, and where the glowing iron blazed day and night and hard-won bread was struggled for the bounding brothers will whisk through the air on the flying trapeze. I am reminded by it of an old gossip who was once chatting about Plymouth Works These, under the direction of that grand old Conservative ironmaster, Anthony, existed for seventy or eighty years, and are now a mass of ruins, covering many acres. Ah said the old man, my grandfather used to say that the best corn in the valley grew where the works now stand.' And the prospect is that corn is to grow there again." A popular member of Parliament in these parts has forwarded me the following lines,and, although they are rather long, I give space to them because of their force and appropriateness at the present time. I may add that the author is Mr. E. A. Mitchell, a writer not altogether unknown to fame. HODGE'S LAMENT. (It is said that if the whole of the p.operty in the kingdom were divided each person's share would only come to a little over;C-34.) I am monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to digptte; All around me are acres of clay, But I can't see a man or a brute. We divide.) the cash, and it's gone, 'Twas thirty-four pouud e'er it went; Jim Stokes drank his share at the Swan, And mine is all gambled and spent! They've chivied old master away, The houn s and the horses are sold- The hall is shur. up nizht and day. The great kitchen fir- is cold: A part of his iand I have won, But never a team or a plou gh- I thought t'would be capital fun- But where is the capital now! What, the dickens a piece of wet field Will do for a poor lad like I I'm blest if I kriow-will it yield A3 much as will get a pork-pie? I've nothing to buy a steam plough, And no one to bear me a hand.. For Jimmy and me's had a row, When he found I'd a bit of the land. He wanted it all for himself, The w *ca! !-how selfish and low! Some folki think of nothing but peif- They'd b'Jg it, or steal it, yo i know. I knowed it was for his own ends He wanted 10 give me the sack; We was all to bo brothers and friends, So I knocked him down flat on his back There is no one the wages to pay, And no one to give us a job Old master he'd wish us Good day," A riding about on his cob. He'd loo v up as bright, as a bird, And praise us vviien work wa3 well done. But he's over the water, I've heard, And" the cause of the people is won! The old Parish Church is pulled down 'Twas sold at five shillings the load, For the Infidels sai.1, with a frown, Twould be u eful for mending the road. The old women cdell when it went. They remembered it long, long ago- They v<>we we should live to repent- But who cares for old women, you know. And what have we got now instead ? Why, they call it the New Science Hall, Electro-Biology's read, But it don't suit this ploughman at all- For I'm hungry in body and soul, And I don't u deistand what they say- How I wish I had known at the poll I was voting old master away!

OUR PARIS LETTER. PARTS, OCTOBER 28. The Academy of Sciences has officially declared that we have at last, thanks to M. Pasteur, a perfect cure" for hydrophobia. Since 1882 the eminent scientist has been experimenting on dogs, rabbits, and other small deer with the virus or poison of hydrophobia. The latter he extracted from dogs as mad as March hares. Next he inoculated with it a hecatomb of rabbits, that duly contracted the horrible malady and died within seven or ten days. Paralysis was the invariable commencement of hydrophobia in the case of rab- bits. Only 2 per cent. of the afflicted exhibited the usual phases of violence. M. Pasteur takes some of the spinal marrow of the vabbits dead from hydrophobia; he exposes it to the air to dry. This does not at all kill the germs of the poison, though it may lessen their virulence. He treats the marrow by inducing a special fermentation, resulting in the production of a modified virus where new bactrise are developed. In fact, he proceeds apparently on the same li;;es us were conducted his first experi- ments with hen cholera, and which led to his dis- covery of a vaccine capable of protecting cattle, 3heep, pig9, and horses, when inoculated with it, from the terrible disease, charbon. He sterilises the original microbes in the poison by producing artificially new ones possessing modified attributes As in the case of the hen cholera virus, so in that of the hydrophobia the breeding of the animalcules develops an agent-still a mystery- which limits their production—perhaps even their venom. The principle is that of similia similibus curantur. The ordinary period of incubation of hydro- phohia-that is, from the time of being bitten till appearance of the diseae-isa month. M. Pasteu, to make certain, watched his dog-patients night and day during four months after inoculating them with the rabies. He did more, he produced a virus that, following its strength, developed the disease on a regularly-perfect scale, from fifteen down to six days. But the experimentum enicis was to operate on a human subject. Several per- sons from time to time offered themselves to this end, and. be it recorded to their bravery, many were ladies. On the 6th of July last Joseph Meister arrived at M. Pasteur's laboratory, with his parents, from Alsace. The boy was nine years of age, and had fourteen terrible wounds, received from a mad dog. M. Pasteur invited the most eminent sur- geons of the city, headed by Professor Vulpian, to pronounce on the condition of the lad. They unanimously agreed he must inevitably succumb from hydrophobia. That evening, sixty hours after being bitten, Meister was operated upon a Pravatz syringe injected into his blood the virus, good to provoke symptoms of hydrophobia within fifteen days, increasing by a more virulent vaccine morning and evening, and ending with the virus one day old. With the identical virus experiments were conducted simultaneously on dogs and rab bits, as witnesses. Meister received an artificial virus much stronger than that infused into his circulation by the dog that worried him; more venomous, in a word, than any mad dog could ever possess. From the month of August, Pasteur assured the parents, their child was saved; so did the committee of con- sulting surgeons. To-day the boy is in the most perfect health. M. Pasteur says the most difficult problem to solve is the interval between the bite and the first treatment. In the case of Meister the interval was two days and a half. Nothing succeeds like success. On the 14th of October last a shepherd, named Judith, in trying to save a child from a mad dog, was himself attacked by the animal, which seized his left hand between its frothing jaws, when he rolled a leather strap that he carried round his right arm, and, taking off his wooden shoe, hammered in the dog's skull- Six days later he arrived at Pasteur's laboratory and is now being successfully treated. The Academy of Sciences unanimously voted Pasteur's treatment I- infallible against bites from mad dogs," alleging at the same time that the number of persons so attacked was greater than is generally believed. It a!so called upon the Government to maintain an establishment where rabbits would be kept for the production of the anti-virus. Thus disappears before the progress of science one of the most horrible maladies that human flesh is heir to. People hope, rather than believe, that, despite the veels vithin veels," diplomacy will be able to solve the delicate position in Eastern Europe- The resolutely-businesslike preparations of Greece point to a determination to force a definite solution of the Eastern Question. The attitude of England, France, and Italy must influence those big Powers who are playing the game of cross-purposes behind the scenes. The conduct of Roumania is keenly watched: as she leans to Russia or to Austria so will events turn for these nations. She has an old account for bad treatment to settle with Russia, whom she saved at Plevna, and does not exactly like playing second fiddle to Austria. Her rdle is obviously to head the ideal Balkan Confederatior, and to be the European rampart against Russian advance. Roumania is as large as England aad Wales, and has a population of five and a half millions. It is the most promising of all the Christian States in the Balkan Peninsula. The peasantry commence to feel the spirit of a new departure on the road to civilisation and prosperity. They eschew living in thatched sawpits, and Indian meal porridge is ceasing to be their exclusive diet. They have maintained their known traditions of language— Latin in origin—and nationality amidst the suc- cessive shocks of invaders. The plains of Roumania have been compared to Lombardy, not in point of cultivation, but in richness of soil and blueness of sky. The physical traits of the population of Roumania resemble those of Lombardy. The women are celebrated for their elegance and gracefulness they have a quick intelligence, are very witty, and full of gaiety. Capital punishment is abolished in the country. Education is free, compulsory, and gratuitous. There is the fullest liberty of the press and for public meetings. All religions are free, but only Christians are eligible for naturali- sation. The armv-140,000 men in time of war- has been modelled on the Prussian system, and men from 20 to 36 years of age belong to the various grades of the army, the first eight years being passed in active service. The army is recruited by conscription. Roumania has a very respectable river fleet, that could sail down the Danube into the BJack Sea and give a good account of itself, the more readily as the best officers are English and Americans. There are many natural riches in Roumania, and that Engiish capital is aiding to develop. Wheat is the chief export; it is in high favour with millers and bakers. A fair number of stock are raised, and furnish the material for the canned meat factories. Caviare is a staple preparation, and Roumanian jam has won deserved reputation. Salt is the mining product most worked; 50,000 tons are the annual output. The mines of salt are very deep, and the miners are the convicts. Another article of exportation merits notice, that of dancing bears. This industry is wholly in the hands of the Tsiganes, or Gypsies, who train the big brown and black bears for dancing on village greens. A gipsy conceals, near a bear's retreat, a large jar of brandy and honey. When the bear and his family have fully disposed of the con- tents they fall down dead drunk, and when tied are led away into sobriety-and captivity. There are indications that the Republicans are likely to forget the lesson the general elections taught them-to renounce their internal divi- sions and become a truly homogeneous party. Rivalries and jealousies are already doing their disintegrating work. It has been said that the Orleanists are a party hav- ing a staff, but no soldiers. Now the Republicans are an army, but without a staff. All preach like zealots on the necessity of union, but none precise a programme on which co.nmon action can take place. The difficulty of sinking one's self-importance is an ingrained calamity in the Gaul. He wants to be a chief, a Minister, a President. Failing these, he sets himself up as a party. It will be a very serious event for the Republic if the new Chamber of Deputies is to be nothing more than a bad copy of its predecessor, and in presence of a solid Monarchal Opposition of 204 men, all told. It depends on the Ministry to bind all the fagots by announcing a clear, practical, business bill of fare, eliminating there- from Utopias, revenges, and all dead wood. The nation will no longer tolerate a waste either of its time or resources. Talon, the Avocat- General, during the time of the Fronde, fell on his knees and invoked tha spirit of St. Louis to look down with compassion on his divided and unhappy people, and to inspire them with a love of concord and unanimity. M. Brisson, Free Thinker though he be, ought to invoke, say, Olympus and all the peace deities in a similar end. The Prince of Wales and his family surpass Sir Boyle Roche's bird, which was in two different places at once. Thus, on Saturday evening last he was chronicled as being at the opera, the Hippodrome, and half a dozen theatres. He and the Princess and their children formed a very happy family party at the Nations Theatre, to see Paulin Mennier in the Courrier de Lyons." Their privacy was fully respected by the spectators. The orchestra played "God Save the Queen," and all was done. In these kind of matters the French have an enviable knack of politeness and apropos. The Due de Persigny, the Home Minister who executed the 2nd of December coup d'etat, died thirteen years ago. A journal has just announced his death, and Rochefort's broadsheet laments the toleration of the Republic which permits such wretches to die in their beds like ordinary mortals. Germinal" was the best novel that Zola ever composed. It had its usual faults, not the less, of depicting the running ulcers, as usual, of society as if in an hospital. That story is based on the lives, loves, and miseries of miners. It preaches rank Socialism as the means of elevating the masses The novel had been dramatised, but the censor had found so much employment for the scissors, that the licence to bring it out has been refused Yet there is a great deal in that narrative of agonis- ing misery of underground humanity which is true, and profoundly grieves the reader. They are its deductions that society repels. No one knows better than Zola what poverty means; lie has in his early days been steeped in it to the lips. He is now rich, wealthy even, thanks to his per- severance, frugality, and industry. Is he prepared to divide his last penny with those in want, to sanction the" equal division of unequal earnings "? Now, Socialism as it is understood in France, and elsewhere perhaps, is simply to pull down the rich to the level of the poor, and by rich is meant exactly the class who have built up their own fortunes like Zola himself. A printer on a nightwork journal returning to his lodgings at two in the morning was surprised in ascending the public staircase to be caught by the throat. A fearful struggle ensued, the printer drew his revolver-for few persons who have to keep late hours now go unarmed in Paris-and sent three balls into the neck and face of his assailant. The victim rolled to the bottom of the staircase, and, when lights were obtained, he was found to be a lunatic, dressed only in his shirt, who had entered mysteriously the house. Conveyed to the hospital, the unfortunate man expired.—A cabinet-maker encountered on 'the Place de la Bastille a journeyman who was two years ago in his employment, but who decamped with the sum of 500f. He upbraided the rogue the latter jeered, drew forth a hammer, cracked the cabinet-maker's skull, gave himself up to the police, but recommended them to see that the de- ceased was decently interred. Deaths from morphine are becoming, in fashion- able society, unpleasantly frequent. Once addicted to the vice, like opium pills or smoking, the mania cannot be relinquished. Two novels have ap- peared based on the life of two leading ladies who departed this life from morphine intoxication. The latest victim is Madame Cordier, the daughter of Laffitte, the banker, so famous during the reign of Louis Philippe. Like her sister, the Marchioness de Galliffet, she was one of the stars of the Tuileries during the reign of the Second Empire. She was not so beautiful as her sister; her "goggle eyes were a drawback. But her manners were very pleasing. Her first husband was the banker Erlanger, from whom she was divorced. Then she wed her second and last good man, a rich mer- chant. Her closing years were very troubled; she got into the hands of Jews and Gentiles, who lent her money on pictures and diamonds on the usual conditions known to the trade." Madame O'Connell was an artistic and literary lady who once filled the public eye; she had a quasi salon, into which many celebrities occa- sionally dropped. Her health gave way under pinched circumstances. Her mania to the last was Spiritism." She believed she was being trans- lated"—not in Bottom's sense, undergoing trans- formation into the ethereal stage diiphanous-like- I and that human food interfered with the process. She declined all aliments had to be forcibly fed, until death rendered the feeding bottle un- necessary. If an officer fall on the field of battle and leaves a widow the latter is duly pensioned. Colonel Chapuis, while leading an attack against the Black Flags in Tonquin, fell," and was picked up dead. But his death was due to an attack of sunstroke, and so his wife has no claim for a pension.

LORD SALISBURY. The Hatfield correspondent of the" Central News," telegraphing at eight o'clock on Wednes- day evening, states that Lord Salisbury continues to make satisfactory progress towards convales. cence. He was able to take a little out-door exer- cise during the day.

:J THE DISSOLUTION, The Observer states :-We are authorised to state that Parliament will be dissolved on Wednesday, November 18. V

FREE EDUCATION. rBY THE REV. C. J. THOMPSON, VICAR OF ST. JOHN'S, CARDIFF.] There is no subject, save one, of greater interest to Churchmen and religious people generally, or likely to assume a greater prominence in the near political future, than that of Free Education. I would plead the great importance of the question as my apology for asking your permission to supplement the partial report of my Sunday's sermon in your to-day's issue by a brief epitome of what I then ventured to say concerning it. My main reason in enlarging upon the present position of religious education and of the Voluntary Schools was, indeed, to vindicate the claim of this great educational interest to a principal voice in de- ciding upon the main issues involved in this par- ticular proposal. The proposal to abolish the payment of school pence looks, on the face of it, like a subtle blow aimed at the rights and independence of parents and at the very existence of all non-rate-aided schools. Such an impression is, in all probability, a tolerably correct one. We know, conclusively, on the authority of Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Collings, and Mr. Lyulph Stanley, that the disestablish- ment" of all Denominational Schools is the fixed intention of their present and future policy. But, just because it is so, ought not the Church to rise to the needs ot the occasion—to assume leadership, and take the question into her own hands? She is all but omnipotent in this matter, if she will but act unitedly and with loyalty to her principles and her trust. Let us look at the question a little closely. What are the arguments urged in support of this new departure ? They are mainly these :— 1. School fees are an "abominable tax, and are logically indefensible side by side with a system of compulsion. 2. The poor feel the impost, and are, generally speaking, unable and unwilling to discharge it. 3. The payment of school pence is largely accountable for the low average attendance of children in our Elementary Schools. Are these allegations capable of being estab- lished ? As to the first. So many are the analogies furnished by the common duties of citizen life, that to state it is to dismiss it as not requiring pro- longed investigation. The second may, nay, must., receive as its answer a direct negative. As chair- man of the School Board Attendance Committee of the Cardiff Board 1 have peculiar opportunities of knowing the mind of the poorer classes upon this point, and my experience is entirely against the statement that parents regard the payment of school pence as either a burden or a tax. But nothing speaks so truly as the silent eloquence of facts. The amount of school fees paid in the schools of the Cardiff School Board for the year ending last Michaelmas was X3,561 14-s. 2d., while the total amount of pence remitted for the same period was X63 13s., being less than two per cent, of the whole sum. But how about atten- dance? Here, again, facts are not in favour of Free Schools. The number of children in the schools of the United States, where the free system pre- vails, is notoriously very far below the average of those in attendance at our Elementary Schools at home. Still, it must be asked, what is to be the attitude of the Church with regard to this new proposal ? There is, at least, a popular ring about the cry which may win to the side 01 those who utter it the power needed to enable them to carry to a successful issue other and these deadly designs. I would, therefore, urge again, as was so well urged a few days since by Principal Jayne, Ic the impolicy and the unwisdom of meeting this proposal with a blank refusal to entertain it. I would suggest (1) that we get from those who propose the scheme a clear understanding of what it means, and that if we can be assured that the question will be dealt with on its own merits, and apart from all other issues, then that we should welcome it in the name of the Church, the great educator of the people, as, in the whole, a measure of relief to the indigent and industrious poor. But (2) I would make this assent dependent on one condition, that of legislative recognition of the existing constitution and management of the Voluntary Schools. The promoters of the scheme notoriously aim at the establishment of universal School Boards, and it is easy to see that pay- ment by the State instead of by parents may, unless jealously watched and guarded against, soon become a deadly weapon of destruc- tion to Voluntary principles and Denominational Schools. The abolition of fees, therefore, must be accompanied by a legislative pledge to respect the present character of our schools. (3) I think advantage should be taken of the present occasion to let it be universally known that, under no circumstances, will we, as Churchmen, part with our school buildings, but that if the compact be broken by what would be an act of perfidy on the part of the State we will withdraw them from Government uses. No corporation possesses pro- perty to-day more equitably and absolutely her own than does the Church her Elementary Schools, the 11 per cent. of their total cost advanced by the State when under great strain—she needed a contractor to help her carry out her new respon- sibilities—notwithstanding. In putting forward these suggestions for the consideration of my fellow Churchmen I am free to confess that I would rather this question had remained unopened, and that the present state of things should be allowed to continue. I see many, and these most conclu- sive, reasons against the Free Education scheme, and hardly one argument of weight in its favour. But if there be one, and if those greatest of all blessings to the people—liberty of religious teaching and the prosperity of religious schools- can be preserved, then let it never be said that the Church barred the way to beneficent legisla- tion, or that she alone was unable to discern and direct the tendencies of the times. On Sunday evening at St. John's Church, Cardiff, a sermon was preached by the Rev. C. J. Thompson. During the course of his sermon the vicar said that, in connection with the schools of the parish. he proposed speaking of the present position of religious education, of certain proposals which had been made respecting it, and of the prospects of the future religious education. First of all, what was the present position in this country of religious education ? In this country at the present moment there were 11.773 Church Schools, and those schools meant 16.404- separate departments, and that was, really, 16,404 separate schools. In all these schools the religious teaching of the Church of our land was being taught to the little ones of Christ's flock. In addition to the 16,404 Church Schools there were 4,209 other departments of Voluntary Schools, so that they had a grand total of 20,613 Voluntary Schools of Elementary Education, in which. while the children were taught all essential knowledge for their various pursuits, they were taught the wisdom which maketh wise unto salvation. Another feature of those figures was that the Voluntary Schools belonging to the Church were as five to one of those belonging to all other denominations, and the value of the Church Schools in the hands of Church management was estimated at £ 13,000,000. Some people expressed an opinion to the effect that those Voluntary Schools should not receive grants even if they earned them, and asserted that the Church only gave a few subscriptions, while the re- mainder of it was a Government grant. He (the speaker) would, however, point out that out of the total value of the Church Schools the Government had contributed just the sum of f,1,515,335, and they had contributed that sum because it was to their advantage to do it, principally in the year 1870. Eleven per cent. of the total represented the whole of the money subscribed by Govern- ment towards the National Schools. In all rated Board Schools religious education was an acci- dental thing. What did he mean by acci- dental? What lie meant was, that it was decided by a majority of the managers of a Board School whether there should be any religious teaching. The present position of religious education was just this, that two-thirds of all the children in the land, of school age, were being educated in the Voluntary Schools, and this fifteen years after the erection of Board Schools. Certain measures were being made concerning our Elementary Education. The age in which we lived was an age of great unsettlement. There seemed to be a tendency to secularise education. The speaker then referred to the clause which enacts that the grant earned by a Voluntary School at the examination may not exceed the income of that school. Referring to the school-pence, the vicar said that it had been urged that, there would be a better attendance if there were no school fees to pay. He wished to point out, however, that in America and Canada, where there were no school fees, the average attendance was 50 per cent., as compared with 75 per cent. throughout England. Referring to the school buildings, the vicar said lie did not value them because of the property, but because of the holy uses to which they were put.

FATHER IGNATIUS ON THE HEATHENISM OF LONDON. On Monday night Father Ignatius, who has been conducting a very successful mission in the Westminster Town-hall, gave a very graphic lecture on the heathenism of London. He observed that Christians do not expect the world to get better, and were not, therefore, surprised at the wide- spread wickedness or at the lawless attitude of Atheism, or the revolution in politics. Christianity had never been a popular religion, and there had never been, whatever the philosophers of humanity might say, such a thing as a Christian town. Those who knew by experience, as he did, such localities as Ratcliff Highway, Holy well-street, and Petticoat-lane were aware that its heathenism was as great a reality as that of the Fijians or the Hottentots. It was surprising that all the machinery of the Established Church and the work of the Roman Communion and the various Protestant bodies had effected so little, and that side by side with the greatest social enlightenment was the most hideous misery, while Christians seemed more occupied with their internal discords and wranglings than with this monster evil. Nor did so-called society deserve the name of Christian. They had all read lately some startling proofs of the want of Christian influence in the upper classes. The record of crime and the proceedings of the Divorce Court showed that it. was a misnomer to talk of London society as Christian, for it had dethroned Jesus Christ. One noble man, with a magnificent moral courage, had thought nothing of the ridicule of companions, and had fulfilled those duties which parents had failed to perform, with the result that the generation was being demoralised. Tho remedy Mr. Stead had supplied was a terrible one, but the disease was more terrible still. He had acted heroically—(loud cheers)—in endeavouring to stem the storm tide of passion. The father then proceeded with his lecture, which was listened to with great attention by a large audience.

The Great Eastern, for some time lying in Mil- ford Haven, was on Wednesday put up for sale in Lloyd's Captains'-room, and, after a spirited com- petition, was sold for £ 26,200. Mr. Charles Wal- ford Kellock was the auctioneer. The Great Eastern was built on the Thames in 1858 from designs and under the personal superintendence of the late Mr. Brunei.

DISESTABLISHMENT AND DIS- ENDOWMENT. SERMON BY DEAN VAUGHAN. At Llandaff Cathedral on Sunday a sermon was delivered by Dean Vaughan. The text was taken from Acts xxviii., 34, "Wherefore, I pray you to take some meat, for this is for your health, for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you." In the course of his sermon Dean Vaughan said: I cannot induce myself to name in this place the familiar, but semi-barbarous names which stand tor the two chief elements of the threatened catas- trophe. But those names stand for two parts of a great whole, and as to each of them I would say just one word or two to-day. 1. It does seem only right-certainly it must be very desirable-at whatever stage of its history it may have arrived, that a nation should have a religion, and, if so, then a religion expressing itself in a creed, however simple, and in some particular idea of worship. I seem to myself as if I could hear with equanimity, I trust with something more, that particular form of religion not being precisely my own. I should like to think that the God of heaven and earth, the Father, the Saviour, the Comforter, was somehow recognised in the coronation of my Sovereign, in the opening of my Parliaments, in the counsels of my Legislature. I think I could bear it if it were found that equity, or a consideration for the consciences of others, required that the particular form of religion should be changed from mine into my neighbour's. I hope that I should be able to say in such an emergency, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it." It seems a pity that because we cannot agree about the particular liturgy, or the particular communion office, we should say, not Give her," but "Divide and, in dividing," slay!" I wish that this spirit could spread itself so as to make men feel that they, their very country, will be the poorer when the day comes for the Sovereign 0 ceasing to be crowned in Westminster Abbey, for the disuse of all prayer in the two Houses of Parlia- ment, for the exclusion of ministers of religion from the National Council Chamber, except on the condition of fighting their way thither through the narrow straits of the hustings and the polling booths! You call this sentiment. Well, it lies very rieeo, and I believe it will be found to have a stronger hold upon English hearts than theorists and speculators at this moment dream of. I am very well aware that the legislation of tho last eight-arid-forty years his steadily been setting in the direction, not of liberty alone, but of equality of faiths and worships. Each separate step in that direction was inevitable. For myself, I will say that, given the circumstances, each step was just. The result is what we see. Logically, perhaps, no Church has a right above other Churches. But the world, certainly human life, does not go by logic, or it would be a more desert world and a more sorrowful life than it is. And if we are right in saying that it is shocking, that it is indecent for a nation, as such, to have no God, the only question remaining for us is, What other Christian Communion has proved its right to come in and oust the old Church from its ancestral posi- tion ? 2. Let us pass to the other topic. I can see much in the present condition of England pointing towards the equity of what statesmen know by the name of concurrent endowment. But this is the dream of a few thinkers—it is repudiated by Nonconformists as an affront-it is exploded by Churchmen as a sacrilege. What can we do ? I fully feel that tins momentous issue will not be decided by historical or antiquarian arguments. It will be settled, if it ever is settled, by practical considerations. We are quite used to the interfe- rence of Parliament in all matters. No college, no corporation, no trust, has been able to claim ex- emption. And I believe that an intelli- gent testator, desiring to benefit some pro- fession or some locality or even some family by his benefaction, would be glad to feel that the State will exercise a paternal oversight over his bounty, which might, by mere lapse of time, be becoming useless or even mischievous in its original application. But this is a different thing from confiscation. This is a different thing from saying, A would like what B has, and therefore C will give it him." Of such a procedure as this we have had, thus far, but one, it one example. There is one thought which presses strongly upon me. Every innovator respects vested interests. No reformer of the future, however sweeping, however relentless, will fail to preserve to existing holders, probably their benefices, certainly their life-incomes. Nothing short of revolution would touch these. But there is a con- sideration which seems to be put aside, but which appears to be vital to equity. How about the vested rights, not of ministers, but of congregations ? Has the parish no vested interest in its church and its ministra- tions? Is it fair, is it just-I do not say is it generous-to say to the congregation worshipping, we will say, in this Cathedral Parish Church—if not (which may be) at once, yet at latest when your existing vicar has lived out his three score years and ten, or four score years—You must turn out of this Church, must find it some casual Sunday morning locked and barred against you, must go without your accus- tomed worship and Communion till a meeting of inhabitants shall have settled what form, or whether any form, of religion shall take posses- sion, or whether, not that old ruin of 40 years' memory, but some new-fangled museum, or art palace, or lecture-hall, shall occupy the deserted ground and secularise tho sacred building? What has the congregation done that it should die, if not before, certainly with its vicar, and lose its right of worshipping be- cause an individual vested interest has run out? Towns and cities, great centres of population, may be likely to take care of themselves as regards the maintenance, in some form, of their old worship. But, if we are to obey the Apostoli- cal charge, to remember the poor "-if we are to make sure of our villages and scattered hamlets retaining any regular ministry to their health or to their sickness- f we are to prevent a general relapse into a condition of more than colonial spiritual destitu- tion, how can we commit the selfishness of saying, Guard the vested interests of the pastor sacri- fice, as of no momeut, the vested interests of the flock ? These are the kind of questions which seem to me not to have been thought out, cer- tainly not to have been answered, by our new reformers. It is in these simple, practical conside- rations rather than in archaeological researches into the times of William Rufus or of Jasper Tudor that I think common-sense people will find the answer to the theories of our speculators. 3. But, inasmuch as mv object is, not to fan the flame of discord, but rather to impress upon you thoughts altogether of truth and soberness, I will end with a word or two of serious reflection for us children of the Church of England as by law esta- blished. Can we say that we come with absolutely clean hands and clear consciences into this terribly agitating controversy? Can we say that God's flock-the people of England—given into the charge of His shepherds, the ministers of the Church of England, has been so carefully tended as that none of its sick have been left un- visited, none of its halting and straying ones have been allowed to err or to suffer unheeded in the several allotments," as St. Peter calls them, which are the parishes and dioceses of England ? Is it by no fault and no laches of our own that we have lost from the churches and altars of our communion so many, so many-I presume not to say what proportion, less or greater-of our assigned and distributed charge ? Can we say that still at this moment there are no parishes grie- vously neglected, or to which an ill example is set, by us? Depend upon it, the real pinch and bite of this agitation will be in the individual parishes, which will naturally regard themselves as asked this practical question, What should I lose if I lost my minister? It behoves us to be modest in the face of this threatened revolution. We cannot say that we are immaculate in the matter of its advance. While we thankfully recognise the wave of true spiritual revival which has been passing over England and the Church of England in the last century and the present, we cannot but feel that one cause (amongst many) of our present alacrity has been the alacrity of others. I know not why we should dissemble it. St. Paul was not ashamed to speak of a zeal which pro- voked (stimulated) very many. St. Paul would stir to emulation them that were his flesh by the example of a Gentile evangelisation. An anonymous Apostle speaks of the provocation of love and of good works as a right and laudable instrument. If such motives and such agencies have worked in us, let us not be ashamed- let us glorify God on this behalf. Any way, whether by this means or by that, God has given us grace to arouse and bestir ourselves. Twenty years more of present circumstances, within and without—twenty years more of spiritual activity, of conscientious work, of strenuous educating, of lavish church-building, of evangelistic and missionary enterprise-twenty years more (may they but be years also of faithful doctrine and of peace within)—twenty years more and we shall be impregnable, and our adversaries know it. Hence the great wrath." ADDRESS BY THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. Speaking on Monday at a public luncheon at Croydon, the Archbishop of Canterbury referred at considerable length to the question of Disestab- lishment. It had been said, remarked his Grace, that there was a fatal tendency throughout the world toward Disestablishment, but great ten- dencies did not always end in completion, and he would like to know why the alleged tendency towards Disestablishment should be completed. The great Reformation itself, although it had a magnificent tendency, went a certain distance and then stopped. There were religious people who approved of Disestablishment, which, however, he could not help identifying with the great attack on religion itself which had been imported from the Continent. What the Church most wanted now was a force of volunteers ready to counteract the movement if, or when, it came. He declined to accept the argument that an Established Church could not be maintained alongside a system of popular representation. The Mediaeval era was a democracy which kept the kingdoms of Europe in order, and the Church could always keep itself in harmony with popular representation. VIEWS OF THE IRISH PRIMATE. Lord Plunket, Archbishop of Dublin, in opening the business of the Synod on Monday, referred to the attempt to deprive them of the title of the Church of Ireland which they had held by prescriptive right for fourteen hundred years and would never abandon, and which was claimed by no other body in the country, and, therefore, if its con- tinuance gave offence to some the taking it away would give great offence to others. He sympa- thised with English Churchmen, whom he found agitated by the fear of Disendowment and Dis- establishment, and grieved with them at the death of the Bishop of Manchester and the Bishop of Ely. SIR HENRY JAMES AT BURY. Sir Henry James, speaking at Bury on Monday sight, in answer to Canon Hornby as to whether be would in the oomiag on any focture Parliamen vote for disestablishment, said he would not pledge himself never to do a thing. He was a Churchman and in favour of the Establishment, which could be justified only so long as it was of utility and supported by the majority of the nation. He be- lieved it was of utility and in sympathy with the nation, and, therefore, he should not vote for dis- establishment in the coming Parliament. He believed the Establishment was of service to prevent priestly rule, and to curb clerics when going too quick and to push when going too slow. THE VICAR OF ST. WOOLLOS AND THE WORK OF THE CHURCH. The Rev. W. C. Bruce, in the course of an eloquent sermon at the Parish Church, Newport, on -Sunday morning, alluded to the historic deeds of the Church of England, and asked his congre- gation to remember that it was the Church which won for this country Magna Charta and many of the liberties which the people of the country now enjoyed. CHURCH DEFENCE MEETING AT CARDIFF. On Monday evening a public meeting was held at the Cathays National Schoolroom, Cardiff, when the Rev. B. A. Edwards, vicar of Llanwonno, delivered an address on The Reunion of Christendom the true end and aim of the Church of Christ; the Disendow- ment of the Church of England would be a bar to its attainment." The Rev. G. W. H. Hanford occupied the chair. There was a good attendance. The lecturer held that the greatest amount of Christian truth was to be found in the Church of England, that all sects desired a reunion, and that if the disendowment of the Church were to take place the Dissenters would regret it in years to come, as they would eventually become members of the Church of England. Mr. George David proposed :—" That, in the opinion of this meeting, the disestablishment and disendowment of the Church will be an act of national injustice and a great national calamity." This was seconded and carried unanimously. Votes of thanks to the Rev. B. A. Edwards and the chair- man terminated the proceedings.

ART SCHOOLS AND CLAY MODELLING. VISIT TO A NEWPORT POTTERY. [BY Ap GWILTM.1 Owing to the action of Mr. James W. Price, of the Newport Pottery, the committee of the Science and Art Classes of that town have been induced to start a Potters' Class," in which the students who desire to do so may learn the mysteries of an art as old as the oldest of the Pharaohs. I paid a visit to the class at the latter end of last week, and found the pupils at their initiatory work, under the personal supervision of Mr. Bush, the science and art teacher, who has the ready and valuable assistance of one of Mr. Price's best designers and modellers, Mr. Charles Nash. It is inte- resting work, and those who are engaged upon it are absorbed iu their task. Tho clay, which is supplied by Mr. Price, is first of all moulded into slabs in sizes suitable to the purpose for which they may be required. They are then fixed on an easel, and the student, with small, finely-pointed instruments, not larger than a pencil or a pen, proceeds, with his "copy" cast beside him, to raise here and hollow out there according to the objects he wishes to represent. These are, for the most part, flowers and fruits and architectural designs, simple to begin with, of course, but as time goes forward the young modellers will reach the de- lights-for I am sure there is a considerable amount of pleasure in the occupation-of figuiv formations, and bring out in bas-relief upon a medallion the form and features of those whom they determine to immortalise. I congratulate the committee upon the wisdom of the course they have pursued, and I think Mr. Price is deserving a word of thankful commendation for inducing those who are interested in the develop- ment of the art yearnings of youth to form a class which, although technical, gives full employment to the minds and hands of the artistic, and grounds them in tastes which are likely to be very useful when the battle of life comes to be fought in real earnest. If I had not other fish to fry," as the phrase goes, and had inclinations in artistic directions, I do not think there is any branch of art which would have greater attractions for me for I must confess I watched the labours of the students with quite a juvenile enjoyment. There is nothing dirty about the work, except that the finger-tips get a little begrimed; but this is easily got rid of by the usual application of soap and water. The articles made are of a useful as well as ornamental character, so that when the task is completed it cannot be said that it is merely the eye that is pleased; for everything that grows under the potter's fingers is of com- mercial value and has a market price. I do not say this in emulation of those advertisers who tell us that E2 and upwards may be easily earned, &c., but because I wish to point out that the time devoted to the study of modelling in clay or terra cotta is not only pleasanitfy, but profitably, spent. At the invitation of the proprietor, I paid a brief visit to Mr. Price's pottery, which is somewhere-it was raining at the time, and the atmosphere outside the cabo wps so dense that I could not see where I was going-on the Moors at Newport. It did not strike me from the outside that the place was at all princely in its aspect, but when I reached the interior tho warmth of the fire and of Mr. Price's reception soon thawed any prejudicial opinions I had formed. My attention was first of all rivetted by some excellently-executed medallions in red terra cotta. Here are the counterfeit presentments of such. celebrities as the late Lord Beaconsfield, Mr. Gladstone, and other notables, which stand out life-like from the panel; while on some of the shelves I observe vases of chaste design and wonder- ful workmanship. Then, in white as well as red, I am brought face to face with well-finished window heads, ornamental ridging cornices, nd all sorts of articles which are used in building decorations for the interior or exterior They present a fine level surface, with an elernfcnt- resisting power which stone could not attempt to vie with, and of them it may be said that they will last for ever. This is not bunkum, for I can call as mv witness the terra cotta got from citivs which perished thousands of years ago, and which is almost as perfect as when it left the potter's hands that made it, while the best of stone has crumbled into dust. Leaving the stores, I am taken to the works beyond, where I am let into the secrets of preparing the clay for its ultimate purpose. It is, first of all, passed through a steam blunger,"a sort of grind- your-bones-to-make-mv-bread arrangement, from which it comes out slip," or, to be more familiar than technical, a liquid of the consistency and colour of generous pea soup. This, in its turn, is passed through fine sieves, by which process the unworkable material is extracted, and it is then conveyed to kilns to dry. The natural colour of the clay is, when baked, the familiar red-brick, but when a white or buff-coloured terra cotta is wanted the white Devonshire clay is used, mixed with native fire-clay and sand in proper proportions, and, heigh, presto you secure a beautiful tint. The value of the slip process is that the different- coloured clays nre reduced to a state of slip together, and are thus perfectly mixed, so that when they come to be used for manufacturing purposes a thorough evenness in the colours is obtained-a result unattainable by any other means. The clay, as it now presents itself, in an improved guise, is passed through the tribulation of the rolls," and thence finds its way to the pug- mills, whence it emerges ready for the hand, and is taken toth9 pressing and modelling room. Here it is pressed into plaster moulds of various designs, such as vases, panels, string courses, &c. After being pressed and finished, the articles are then removed to the drying room until they become bone dry." I may mention that the model is worked patientlv bv nand into the desired subject, and that a plaster mould is made from this, which is used for producing the article fixed upon. It is then taken to the kilns and dried, and then we get the dragon's head, the vase, the string course, and what not. The speciality of the kilns is that the clav does not come, as by the ordinary methods, into contact with the fire, and is not, conse- quently, disfigured by the flash of the flames, while an even colour is maintained throughout. The mould is not infrequently an elaborate bit of workmanship, composed of from sixty to a hundred separate pieces, which have to fit into each other with geometrical exactness. One mould which was shown to me, a panel twelve inches square with a raised griffin, consisted of upwards of a hundred different parts, and took a skilled man three weeks to make. And yet if a number of them are required they can be put on the market at a cost of 15s. to the purchaser. There are other panels of the same size but of less elaborate design which can be sold for the small price of Is. 6d. each. Well, I deduce from this that if terra cotta, which is decidedly more enduring than stone-to say nothing of the fineness of the surface and the sharpness of the carving—can be produced so cheaply, it is bound, when the fact becomes more generally known and appreciated, to leave stone behind in the race of competition. Take, for instance, some window heads which I saw in buff terra cotta. There was a finish about the sur- face and an exquisite treatment of the carving which it would be impossible, to obtain in the best freestone chiselling. After taking a peep at the pottery where large pans and bottles and other usefu articles are turned out in their hundreds a day, and looking at the nimble action of a girl who was making flower pots by the six thousand a week, I took my leave of Mr. Price and the interesting occupation in which he is the moving spirit.

A HIGH HONOUR FOR LIEUTENANT- COLONEL E. S. HILL, C.B. His Majesty the Xing of Sweden and Norway has been pleased to confer upon Colonel Hill, C.B., a very signal mark of his appreciation of his services during the seven years he held the post of Vice-Consul for this port, and upon his retire- ment therefrom, by making him a Commander of the Order of Vasa. The diploma, signed by King Oscar, together with the insignia of the order (a white wreathed cross surmounted by a crown in gold, to be worn round the neck with a green ribbon), has just been forwarded to him through the Consul-General, with a very flattering letter. We are informed that this is the first occasion when so high an order has been given to a Vice- Consul.

THE NEW GARTER KNIGHT. The Press Association is officially informed that the Queen has conferred the Order of the Garter on the Duke of Northumberland.

It is stated that the Island of Tonla, in the Shet- lands, has suffered severely in the late gales, the crops having been destroyed and the corn damaged by the salt mmer.

ENGLAND AND BURMAH. < DEPARTURE OF VESSELS FROM RANGOON. REPORTED FIRING UPOtf EUROPEANS. [" DAILY NEWS" TFLEGRLM.] CALCUTTA, WEDNESDAY EVENING- The Irrawaddy, with two steam launches, id Rangoon to-day for the Burmese frontier. It is reported in Rangoon that the steamy Dowoon, with Europeans on board, has been ftreé upon from the Minhla fort. The troops named for the expedition baft arrived here from Madras.

THE STORM OFF LABRADOR THREE HUNDRED LIVES LOST. I HEARTRENDING DISTRESS. ["CENTRAL NEWS" TELEGRAMS.] NEW YORK, THURSDAY. It has now been ascertained that the number of victims by the great storm on the Labrador coas amounts to fully 300. The distress among tbO poor people is described as very great. ST. JOHN'S, WEDNESDAY. Steamers, with supplies, are being sent to tW necessitous people at Labrador. A severe storo has been raging on shore, levelling a number 01 houses to the ground and causing destitution among the inhabitants. Several women havl perished. The fisheries have failed, and muct distress prevails also on this account. The people who have arrived here in a destitute condition art women and children.

THE CONVICT RIEL. ["CENTRAL NEWS" TELEGRAM.] MONTREAL, THURSDAY. The Canadian Cabinet has granted a madicx commission to inquire into the alleged insanity 01 Riel. Upon the nature of their report the question of the prisoner's hanging or reprieve depends. DEATH OF GENERAL M'CLELLAN. L" CENTRAL NEWS" TELEGRAM.1 NEW YORK, THURSDAY. The death is announced, at the age of 59, 0 General George B. M'Clellan, the famous Feder* general. A CUNARD LINER IN COLLISION. [" REUTER'S" TELrGRAM.1 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY. During a fog which prevailed here to-day a ferfl boat ran into the Cunard Line steamer Servia the dock. The boat was only slightly injured. J seaman named Molloy jumped from the Serviaint4 the water and was drowned.

THE IRISH "MOONLIGHTERS." IMPORTANT CAPTURE. The capture of the captain of a band of Moon" lighters in Kerry by the farmer Doyle and his goto has led to a public subscription for the latter bY the Loyalists cf Ireland. It is proposed that It good farm shall he purchased for the Doyles to start them as one of the first peasant proprietor9 in Ireland, with sufficient capital to work it profitably. This, it is argued, would be a lastinl monument of their gallantry.

WIFE MURDER IN LONDON. Bridget Minahan, who on Wednesday morniOa was knocked about the head with a hammer knife by her husband, David Minahan, died in th8 London Hospital, Whitechapel, early on Thursd*v morning. Minahan is in custody, and will charged with the murder of his wife.

SUICIDE IN BRIGHTON RAILWAt STATI< >NI A shocking suicide took place at the Bright^ Terminus on Wednesday night. About ten minU1 to eight a man, apparently a foreigner, entered 0"^ of the retiring-rooms there and deliberately himself twice. The report* caused alarm, and officials, going to the place, found the man covered with blood. Medical aid was called, and Dr. eole' man was quickly in attendance, but he could otjjf pronounce the man dead. No clue to his identic has bren obtained.

LANDSLIP ON THE GREAT WESTE RAILWAY. A landslip occurred on the Great Western Rg.¡!' way between Lidford and Coryton on WednesdW night. A goods train ran into the dtbris, and tb engine was thrown off the line.

DESPERATE AFFRAY WITH BURGLARS. TWO POLICEMEN SHOT. ANOTHER OFFICER BRUTALLY BEATEN. Four men broke on Wednesday night i?*? Netherby Hall, the residence of Sir Frederic* Graham, and stole a quantity of jewellery. Info^ mation was given to the county constabulary a CarlisJe.and the roads were watched. Two p°',c officers met the gang who were supposed to ha*' committed the robbery about two miles from tn city and charged them with the offence. TH men therefipon drew revolvers and fired. Serge*1? Roach was shot in the arm, and Police-Constab} Johnson received two shots in the side, and J lying in a precarious condition. The men wef traced to Carlisle, and Constable Fortune, of tbØ city police, followed them, when they turned him, and assaulted him so severely about the that he was leffi lying on the road for about» hour in an unconscious state. The assailants thell managed to get clel\r away.

LORD TENNYSON'S NEW POEM. The new number of MacmillaiCi Magazi-ne COI" tains some verses by Lord Tennyson, entitle6 "Vastness," which are interesting as iliustratillf the political and theological views of the illustrio writer as much as from their poetic value, y extract some of the opening and concludlt1 ) couplets:— Many a hearth upon our dark globe sighs after many vanish'd face, » Many a planet by many » sun may roil with the dus* a vanish'd race. t l' Raving polities, never at rest—as this poor earth's Pay history runs,— « t What is it all but a trouble of ants in the gleam 01 million million of suns? Lies upon this side. lies upon that sida, trutbloo violence mourn'd by the Wise, Thousands of voices drowning his own in a populo torrentof lies upon lies; « Stately purposes, valour in battle, glorious antial* army and fleet, Death for the right cause, death for the wrong caul" trumpets of victory, groans of defeat; t1 Innocence seethed in her mother's milk, and Oha" setting the martyr aflame Thraldom who walks with the banner of Freedomi recks not to ruin a realm in her name. » » » Spring and Summer and Autumn and Winter, and all these old revolutions of earth-, All new-old revolutions of Empire-change of the tW what is all of it worth f What the philosophies, all the sciences, poesy, vary1 voices of prayer ? „lfhf All that is noblest, all that is basest, all that is fi11 with all that is fair ? What ia it all, if we all of us end but in being our corpse-coffins at last, yui Swallow'd in Vastness, lost in Silence, drown'd i° deeps of a meaningless Past ?$ What but a murmur of gnats in the gloom* or moment's anger of bees in their hive 1- # » < » Peace, let it be! for I loved him, and love him for ClOrl the dead are not dead but allve.

CHRIST COLLEGE, BRECON. UNIVERSITY DISTINCTIONS. 11 Mr. A. L. Griffiths, of the above College, haS bj elected to a Meyrick Classical Scholarship of Li a year at Jesus College, Oxford; and Mr. ?( Cawker to a Classical Exhibition of jE30 a year Do the same College. Mr. Griffiths is the son oi "d Rev. A. Griffiths, of Llanelly, Abergavenn1 j t. Mr. Cawker of Mr. L. G. Cawker, Llansamlet. tod W. Griffith, of Christ College, was placed In. first class at Victoria University in the exatai tion in Arts.

NEW PATENTS. The following is a list of new patents fflrDll 5' by Messrs. Hughes and Son, patent ageøtØf Chancery-lane, London •— William Hughes and John Sylvester Hughes, 6, terrace, Portmadoc, for an Invention of In,p ( ments in velocipedes." Thomas Poster Wood, 9, Westbury-park, an invention of "An improvement in vessels for n liquids." William Brookless Browne, 22, The Mall, Bristol, for an invention of Improvements ill squeezers." ^ji •' John P. Hopkins, Milverton, Somersetshire,u vention of Feeding bees." PJL. Sydney William Baiter and Percy Baker. Sney. << Villa, Bneyd Fark, Bristol, for an invention of Ill' marking of iawn-tennis courts." #or* «id Henry Brecknell, 17, Redclifle-street, Bristol. tP vention of 11 Improvements in stoppering bO iM'

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