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——- ■ ■ ■' j.'jll.jjaj»l'wiw lNOW FIRST PUBLISHED.) THE ONE THING NEEDFUL. BY MISS M. E, BRADDON, Author of Lady Audley'a Secret," &c. TKi: RIGHT OF TBANSLATIOH IS KESEBVED. CHAPTER XVII. BUT HOW SHOULD I AVOID TO BE HER SLAVE ?" Brumm and the outskirts of Brumm looked a little more detestable than usual to Lord Lashmar that October afternoon, although Lady Carminow was sitting opposite him, clad in ruddy brown velvet and sable tails, with a little sable bonnet that harmonised deliciously with her rich gold- brown hair. If the beauty of woman or the luxury of a barouche on C springs could have sufficed him, he might have been happy but on this particular afternoon, he beheld even Lady Carnainow's perfection with a jaundiced eye. "Your velvet and fur will not be improved by iron and coal dust," he said, with a disparaging glance at her rich apparel. Oh, I have had this gown for ages. I should be rather glad to spoil it." Lashmar's eyes, in sheer absent-mindedness, noted the figures on the pavement; two half-clad factory girls fluttering by in cotton, hugging thoir shabby little shafts across their narrow chests, as they faced the east wind and it struck him that the Radical's howl against the inequality of fortune was one of those themes which would never lack listeners. Granted that every scheme which would equalise wealth is alike absurd and impossible; yet there the contrast is, always before men's eyes, always calling out to them for redress somehow, somewhere. "Those two girls looked rather enviously at your sables," he said, noting the long wistful stare which followed the fine lady in the fine car. riage. You may be sure they have as grand gowns for Sundays—dog-skin, or cat-skin, and cheap vel- veteen. They always follow the fashions," answered Clarice lightly. "One can't help feeling sorry for them," mur- mured Mrs. Mulciber. ¥es, with that gentle, passive sorrow, which hurts nobody and doas nobody any good," answered Lashmar, with quiet scorn, "If one of us were like that little Norfolk dressmaker now, who, being one day suddenly moved to pity for a poor wretch in jail, took up her cross, and for ever after devoted her life to the help and solace of jail-prisoners; bore with them, comforted them, prayed for them, died in her patient slavery. That is what real pity means, and how very little there is of itA" Lady Carminow did not pursue the argument. She was looking straight before her towards a great black gateway, gloomy as the entrance to Tartarus. They were in one of the dingiest Streets In Brumm—Danebrook Lane, so called after the great Danebrook Ironworks, where Mr. Danebrook had established in this Midland centre works which rivalled in their magnitude those of Darlington, and competed with the Kruppa and the Coclferllills of Germany and Belgium. Lady Carminow could hear the chink of the steam hammers; and she always hoard that sound in this place with a faint thrill of pride. She had broad acres which gave her a position among the landed gentry, and of those she was proud but these works were her kingdom. Here was the source of her wealth, aud Merc she reigned supreme. The vustness r,f those Plutonian halls, the multi- tude of blackened laces, the clang of the engines, the roar of the furnaces, where the keels of mighty ironclads and the connecting rods and cranks of large locomotives were welded and fashioned, im- pressed her woman's fancy with an idea of power. The factory was like an arsenal; and she seemed to hersetf strong as a Goddess of War, when she made her slow progress from hall to hall, preceded ) by deferential foremen and officials. | It pleased her to think that Lashmar would see aer amidst these surroundings. She had given no notice of her coming, and it seemed to her as she alighted from her carriage in the great black quadrangle, that the manager, who ran to receive her, was less effusive than usual. 3e was not less deferential; he bowed before her and spoke with bated breath, as to a queen: but he had a troub- led look, which La^htnar's quick eye perceived. I'm afraid we've come at an awkward time," he said you've some gigantic job in hand, per- haps, in the throes of completion." No. it is not that, my lord," answered the manager gravely; "that kind of thing never puts U8 out of near. But it is hardly a good time for her ladyship to visit the works. Our men are on the eve of a strike." > Lady Carminow laughed softly, pleasantly, as at an irresistible joke. "That is a very old story," she said. "I hnve heard that all my life. My father used to say as much almost every time he came from the works. The men were always hatching mischief. Ths strike was always coming; but the strike never came." Mr. Danebrook had an extraordinary influ- ence over the men, an exceptional power of mana- ging them. Ha contrived to ward off the strike— partly by that personal influence, partly by con- cessions your ladyship has refused tø-" "To accede to demands which I consider prepos- terous—which my father would never have granted." Your father would have gone with the times, Lady Carminow. He was too wise a man to try to stem a rising tide." If some of us don't stand firm against that tide it will be over all our heads before long," said Lady Carminow, looking like Bellona. Lashmar would hardly have given her credit for so much spirit—or obstinncy-he did not know which to call it. The men have held on, though they are worse off as to current wa$;es than other iron workers in Brumm. They have held on for the sake of those idmirable funds which Mr. Danebrook established for sickness and old age. The prospect of bonuses and annuities has kept our men faithful to us at a disadvantage but, there is a very unpleasant feeling arising in the fuctory, an idea that the richest works in all Brumm pay the worst wages. In most other firms like ours, work is done by the ton, lIV a ganger who undertakes the j )b. and employs men under him. This plan saves the firm a good deal of responsibility, and the men like it better, because they can earn more money, while an intelligent ganger may make a small fortune." I will have no middle men in my business," said Lady Carminow. The manager bowed submissively. '• Your ladyship knows best," he said; "but I Issure you rhere is a danger in getting old-fashioned. A system which answered admirably ten years ago is beginning to work awkwardly now. There was a time when we hadn't a single union man on the premises; but labour was scarce last winter when we had some of our biggest jobs in hand, Ind we were obliged to let in some of the union men. And now we mnst either give them what they want, or prepare for a strike." If they strike we can get other men, I sup- pose ?" "Not a man—in England." "But we can get them irom Belgium." The mauatier shrugged his shoulders dubiously. "Belgrum ironworks are in a very prosperous condition just now. I doubt if there are men to be had at Liege." And if these men leave us they forfeit all Claim upon my father's funds ?" "KaturaDy." Then they will not go," said Lady Carffiiriow. It Assuredly not the old hands, who have touched bonuses already, and have been working for an- nuities in the future. No man will forfeit the reward for which he has been woffcing." Anger is short-sighted, Lady Carminow. Radi- calism has been gaining ground in this place ever tinceican remember. Twenty years ago our hands were better off than any other workmen iti Brumm. But wages have been going Up, and Our wages have remained the same. We point to our bonus system, our workmen s buildings, sound and clean and well cared for, our annuities to the aged but the modern workman is hardly grate- ful for these advantages; he doesfi t much care what kind of hovel he pigs in, but. he wants high wagea, a drinking bout every pay-night, rump- steaks and onions for supper; He doesn't care about the future. You had better go with the tide, Lady Carminow, and let me raise the wages before the strike comes." "I would much rather shut up the works," replied Clarice. « Please do not let tts discuss the question any longer. I have brought my friends to see the works, not to hear the usual doleful prophecies about strikes which never come. The Danebrook mefi know they are better off than any other men in Brumm." She led the way, walking rapidly past the manager's office into the heart of the citadel. Be had hardly time to snatch up his hat, give a hurried direction to one of his clerks, and get in front of the little processioh. A foreman aopeared almost by magic, and amidst the din olf huge engines, and 'in the heat and glare of giant furnaces, Lord Lashmar surveyed the source of Job Danebrook's fortune. He saw the half-finished blocks of iron conveyed from shop to shop by the traveller," a curious kind of steam monster work- ing upon an overhead railway, thirty feet from the ground. He saw the huge unshapely mass of white hot faggots drawn from the roaring furnace by the steam crane, plucked, as it were, from the mouth of hell; just such a demoniac-seeming spec- tacle as he had beheld years before at Woolwich Arsenal, where he went. as a boy to see the draw- ing of a gun. Ho saw the mighty steam hammed fashion that iron protoplasm into form, weld and shape it into use and meaning; but amidst alf the uncouth grandeur of the scene, he noted the sullen fares of the men; heard more than one muttered sarcasm from smoke-blackened lips as the great lady swept, by in her splendour of velvet and fur. He kept as close as he could to her side all the time, ready to defend her should there be any hint of violence. He felt that the men were disaffected; md he was very glad when, after seeing a mono- tonous repetition of strange forms, and breathing noxious fumes of coal and red-hot iron. he was 1: r allowed to escape into the outer air. The smoke- charged atmosphere of Brumm seemed fresh and clear after those fiery Vaults through which they had passed. After the works had been done, Clarice insisted that he should see the workmen's houses, for which privilege Mrs. Mulciber was particularly eager. I confess myself a very stupid person wherever machinery is in question," she said, but the dwellings of the poor are my delight. I am a member of the Dado Society, and I think I have made many a humble home happy by the intro- duction of an artistic wall-papering and a sage- green delf jar here and there on a bracket. It always makes me sad to think of the many who have to live without dadoes." I'm afraid our Brumm people would laugh at the Dado Society," answered Clarice. "Tney have no idea of beauty. You will see the most revolt- ing objects in their rooms-artificial flowers under glass shades, bead mats, crotchet antimacassars, things that make one's blood run cold." "Poor things!" sighed Mrs. Mulciber. "The day will come when the influence of the Dado Society will permeate this outer darkness, I hope." The workmen's houses formed two spacious quadrangles, opening one into the oilier through an archway, like a college. They had been built by Mr. Danebrook, and were of a Rensihle heIght" only three storeys, with balconies to all the rooms, and a colonnade under which the children coutd run about in wet weather. There was also a spacious building, called the recreation house, in which the children played in the daytime, and where the adults amused themselves of an evening. There were baths and washhouses, and all modern accommodations and improvements. The archi- tecture was utilitarian and substantial. There was no attempt at the Gothic or the Jacobean in any portion of the buiiding. It was frankly ugly from garret to basement; but the rooms were all light and airy, the passages and staircases were wide and well ventilated. They went into two or three different sitting- rooms, Lashmar feeling himself an intruder, Mrs. I Mulciber in her glory descanting upon the sweet- ness and light which the Dado Society could bring into these bentghted dwellings, Clarice, c*.m and queenly, entering and leaving without apology, here and there telling a mother that her children were not a credit to her in those dirty pinafores, or scornfully informing a housewife that hor floor did not look as if it had been scrubbed for a. month. "You have nice rooms, if you would only learn to keep them nice," she said to one woman. Wages are too low and victuals too dear for us to have much heart for finicking over the rooms," replied the matron, with a sulky air, bending down to stir the fire with her back to tho visitors, and then lifting the lid of a saucepan which sent forth a hot blast of onions and grease. Mrs. Mulciber tried to insinuate a suggestion of a bracket, or of the wonderful dado-istic effect that might be produced with a little distemper. "Yourhusoand could do it himself, my dear sou), don't you know," murmured the lady. "Just a pail of whitewash and a little red-" My husband would chuck the whitewash over my 'ed if I was to arst him any such rubbish," answered the matron ficrcely. We don't want no dadoes here: we want higher wages and less humbug. Bonuses, indeed, and 'newiiies; we've got too long to wait for the bonuses, and we shall ail be dead and rotten before the 'newities falls doo." Clarice felt that the atmosphere was unconge- nial; that her father's system, which had answered admirably while he was there to administer things, was not working smoothly just now." The place is stifling," she exclaimed you all keep your rooms much too hot. I suppose that is because you get coals for nothing. We'd need get something for nothing, when our husbands and sons are wearing their flesh off their bones to make other people's fortunes," grumbled the matron, as her visitors departed. Lady Carminow went back to her carriage, deeply disgusted with the Want of loyalty in her people. She had gone over thesame ground with a party of friends a year ago, and had been re- ceived as a queen, the children bringing her a bouquet, the women curtseying and smiling, dazzled by her beauty and splendid raiment, the men deferential, eager to wait upon her footsteps and answer her questions. The change was appalling, and might presage some hitherto uniinagined evil. 41 The working classes are becoming detestable," she said, as she leant back in her carriage, ex- hausted and depressed. "They are not always as pleasant as they might be," replied Lashmar. "There is no place in the world where I feel so much out of mv element as in Brumm. Half an hour in this hole always makes me fancy the old order is ending, and that we shall all have to turn up our sleeves and work at the furnnces before long." "Those people positively adored my father," said Clarice discontentedly. Ah, but he was one of them. you see, or made himself one of them." replied Lashmar. I dare sxy he wore a shabby coat, in the factory, and went about among the men, handling cranks, and uot afraid of greasing his hands. You have the air of coming from a totally different world, of looking down at them from an immense altitude. That's what they don't like." "I shall never go neur them again," said Clarice. "They may be very sure of that." She was deeply offended; touched in her womanly pride of beauty and grace. Never before had men looked upon her sa7e wIth admiring ev.-s. Those sullen faces haunted hor as she rlroVd home through the twilight.; and Lashmar, who mi•>ht have been comforting and tender, held his peace, nnd sat silently gazing at the misty Autumn fields. She had wished to show hirn her power itS II queen in that black kingdom yander, and she felt 1 hurt and humiliated by the uncomfortable turn the whole thing had taken. If was between six and seven when Lady Car- minow and her companions returned to the Castle. Afternoon tea was over, and tho shooters had de- parted to bathrooms and dressing-rooms, and there was the sound of a piano nnd a very thin soprano voice from the drawing-room, whereby Lashmar opined that Mrs. Vavasour was indulging in a ballad alone or in company. He went, to the library, intending to enjoy a quiet half-hour with the newspapers before he dressed. The room was only lighted by the burning logs in one of the two fireplaces, and a single lamp on a reading table. The curtains had not been drawn, and as Lashmar crossed the room towards the lamp-light, he saw two dark figures pacing slowly- past the windows. He opened a casement and looked out. A man and woman were standing a little way off in earnest conversation. The woman, black-robed, bare-headed, tall, straight, and siim, was Stella. The man was Nestorius. He was bending to speak to her, until it seemed to Lashmar that his lips must almost touch her hair. His hand was on her shoulder, as if he had been pleading or arguing with intensest meaning. Suddenly Stella released herself from that detaining grasp, knelt for an instant at his feet, and clasped and kissed his hand with quick, passionate gestures, then rose as quickly as she had knelt, and rushed away to the other end of the terrace. Only Southern blood would have shown its feel- ing in such impassioned movements. Strange as the act Was, it seemed in no wise false or theatri- cal. All was natural and spontaneous. To La*h- mar. who had seen the girl silent, statuesque in her immobility, this new aspect of her enarae'er was startling in the extreme. Has she suddenly gone out of her wits ?" he asked himself angrily. tias Nestorius infected her with lunacy, or is playing a deep game? Yet, that is it, no doubt. She means to hook our enthusiast. He is more impressionable than Ulysses, and she is ns crafty as Calypso. Those silent women with lowered eyelids are always sly." He went out into the gloaming. Autumnal mists were rising all over the park. Night was coming up from the valley and the river like a palpable presence, a mighty winged monster, spreading wide pinions over tho earth, curtaining and covering homestead and meadow, man and beast, diffusing a false rtir of peace and silence and solemnity over all things. There was no peace in Lashmar's breast, which was white hot with anger. Why he should be angry he never stopped to ask himself. The hussy," he muttered the artful, incorri- gible hussy This is the kind of woman who leads wise men to ruin. who subverts class distinctions, who creeps into foolish women's houses and steals a husband's heart from his lawful wife." He saw her standing alone at the end of the terrace, above that tennis lawn where ho and Clarice had played so often in days gone by. Nestorius had gone back to the house. Sho was leaning weafily against an antique vase, gazing into the night. He could not command his temper that white- hot fire in his breast must. needs have some relief. Silence, calmness, were alike impossible. There is an Unreasoning anger which must be satisfied, sven at the loss of self-respect, which is surely the heaviest price that any man can pay for Self- indulgence. He walked quickly to the spot where Stella was standing, he placed himself by her side, but was not able to see her lace, which was turned from him. WeH," he began, in his harshest voice, "you have taken the measure of our statesman, Miss; Boidwood. Hs is a man peculiarly Susceptible to flattery, especially a woman's flattery, and your little bit of melodrama just now must have delighted him." She turned quickly and faced him, white as death as it seemed to hlin, in that dim light. Her face gleamed upon him like the face of a ghost. The large, dark eyes, wet with tears, alone had a look of life. "Were you listening and watching us from some corner, Lord Lashmar?" she asked contemp- tuously: She had assured herself long ago that this man hated and despised her, and that it was a duty she owed to herself to despise him. It was in her nature to feelntid to do All things with nn excep- tional intensity. As she had loved her benefactor j with all the force of her young heart, so she hated, her benefactor's brother. She was ready to be insolent to him at the slightest provocation; "I was neither listening nor watching; but I went to that window yonder to see who wns promenading the terrace, and was just in time to ] see you fling yourself at our statesman's feet and kiss-his hand. It was very prettily done; and 1 have little doubt it will have the desired effect." Indeed. Pray what effect do you suppose I wish it to have ?" My dear Miss Boldwood, when a young lady throws herself st a gentleman's feet., the obvious conclusion is that she wants to bring him to hers. It is taking a short cut to a denenement that hangs fire. And in the oase of a young lady whose attrac- tions are much greater than her fortune, and a i wealthy widower, impressionable but wavering, one can conceive no better coup de main than that with which yoti hate just surprised our friend 1 Nestorius." You think that I want to catch Mr. Nestorius as a husband ?" What else can I think, having seen what I saw lust now V" You are very quick in jumping at conclusions, Lord Lashmar." When the conclusion is so obvious the jump is inevitable; and it is a very small jump-only a gutter. Do you suppose that I have not under- stood your game for the last three weeks? That I have not marked your manoeuvres, your lonely rambles across the park, and accidental meetings with Mr. Nestorius on the way; your piteous re- velations to him, your tears for the fatlier whom you lost too long ago to have the faintest real feeling about him, always remembering how much you were a gainer by his loss?" A gainer?" she cried." to eat the bread of de- pendence in your mother's house. Do you think that is gain?" It is at. least better than being a factory girl, which you would have been in all probability had your fatlier Jived." Had he lived! Do you know for certain that he is tiead ?'' I know, as everybody else knows—that he perislwd in the attempt to save your lifo;" answered Lashmar, forgetting everything but his head-long anger; and I know that my brother, who was worth a dozen demagogues, risked his life to save a child whoso face he had never seen. You have ijooa need to be grateful to him." "Deau!" she fa-ltered; "your brother tolu me that he had gone away to a distant country, I thought, as I grew older, that he had left England because life here was too hard for him; that he had left me behind, intending to send for me if things went well with him in his new country. And then I thought that, Fate had still been against him, and that he was waiting for the tide to turn, waiting to be rich enough to send for his only child and now you tell me he wa%kUted the night of the fii-e-killed in trying to save me! Ob, it was cruel, infamous, to deceive me so!" sho cried passionately. It was your benefactor, the man who was more than a fat her to you, who told the lie." "Yes; but when he was gone—when I was older, better able to face sorrow, when I had to bear a hard, bitter life, when no one would have been pained by my tears—why was I not told the truth then ? Neither you nor Lady Lashmar have been so anxious to spare my feelings that you need have kept this grief from me. You have let me go on year alter year, feeding on a f ilse hope, drea.m- ing a mocking dream." ''tt was an oversight on my mother's part and on mine," said Lashmar 11 we ought to have told you the truth. My brother Hubert had a foolish sensitiveness on the subject, a morbid dread ot your tears; but with us it was otherwise. We did wrong in not telling you. However, you have been in some wise a gainer, as your pathetic case has made a profoun I impression upon Mr. Nes- torius; and that last touch of pathos—your belief in your father's existence IUltny years after his death—has uuiie fubtiued him." Mt-. Nestorius has been very good to me. and I am deeplv grateful to him; but if you think that I have schemed to win his regard I do think that you have so scnemed, and that you have gone very near winning your g;tine-not quite, perhaps—but your last move was admirable, and I anticipate the pleasure of congratulating you upon your pro.notion before Nestorius leaves tho Castle." "Is that all you have to say to me, Lord Lash- mar?" Yes, that is all, until I offer you my congratu- la I ions I timnk you for your kiadness and considera- tion. II is almost eqiwl to that with which you sent, me out of the library seven years ago." Oh, you were a child then, and I am sorry to say you were a very untr mnerly child. I hope you do not harbour resentment after all these years, because I was a little rough with you that afternoon." I do not harbour resentment. I do not care enough about you to resent your conduct tome in anything-no. not even your cruelty in trying to strangle every ambitious thought. of my mind, every hope, and every dream, when your brother's death made iny life desolate. I despisa you too much to be resentful." "You despise me. That is rather strong." "I know of no words strong enough to express wiiat 1 feel, when I remember how you have treated iiie-wilen I compare you and your brother." "Ah, there is a difference, is there not? But Hubert was cast in a different mould. He ought to have b. en a woman. I am a man." I would nut, boast, of that, if I ware you, just after you have been unmanly enough to iusult a. friendless girl." "Friendless! What! when you have Nestorius as your friend, your adorer, your future husband, if you play out your game as well as you have begun it? Do not talk about friendlessnsss. Calypso is never without friends." She turned from him and walked quickly towards the house; he followed its quickly, iind opened I lio, library window for her to pass through. The a<*ii'in was polite, yet it reminded him of that ot hei- action, seven years ago. when he had flung open t lie door tor her and told her to march." She had not forgotten. She turned on the threshold, and looked at him with flashing eyes. Why don't you i ell me to 4 march '?" she said, as you did that other day. This time there is no need of your order. I am goin<» to march." And so. with a short, angry laugh, she feft him. "What a .she-devil, he muttered. "It is her Spanish blood, I suppose, and Boldwooo's blood. A nice mixture! Yes, upon my soul, a verv pleasant, brew He went uack to the terrace, and t.rnmped up and down till <) fr the warning gong had sounded. Then lie rushed to his dressing-room, and scrambled through his toilet: and to dress hurriedly was a thing he hated. What on earth did the creature mean when she said she was going to march ?" he naked him- self, as lie bundled with his cambric titl, CBAPTKR XVfll. ■'SHALL WE NOT L.mritT. SHALL Wit NOT WFFR P" Never had Lord Lashmar felt less inclined to play the host than upon this particular evening. H" was so thoroughly out Of temper that it Was an pffort, to him to he even decently civil. Voices jarred upon his nerves, truisms and platitudes almost maddened him, and Mrs. Mulciber's gentle prosings about the Dado Society and the awaken- ing of the love of the beautiful in the mind of the artisan, made him feel murderous. One relief, and one only, was afforded him. "Did you know that Mr. Nestorius was going rtwiv, Lashmar?" asked his mother in the five minutes before dinner. No. You don't mean to say that he is gone ?" Yes lie left, an hour ngo, in time for the S 15 from Brumm. He sent me a hurried little note— business of State—something to do with the coming BI"ctinn¡; 011, he had had a telegram, no doubt. No, I had no idea he was going to leave us." I am dreadfully sorry," Sighed Lady Carminow. He has been a little distrait lately, but at his best Iw is quite the most delightful man in Europe." "Tlmt is a large order," said Lashmar. Pray, have you met all the delightful Europeans ?" I have met all the typical men," replied Ohrice reprovingly; "the men who are held up its examples—Parisians, Viennese, Belgians, Italians, Spaniards—one meets the best. people of every nation, don't you know, in diplomatic society. I think I know all the men who have reputations, and not one of them has the fascination of Nes- torius. It. is a kind of glamour." What a happy word exclaimed Mrs. Mulci- ber. ""Ves, it is glamour." Everybody agreed that the word fitted Mr. Nei- torius like a glove. It, was hy glamour that he had secured majorities, wriggled himself out of difficulties, nnd led the British nation by the nose; and then they all went in to dinner and enjoyed themselves just as much as if the glamourist had been there. Lady Carminow was on Lashmar's right hand is usual, but she found him a very disagreable companion. How tired you look!" sho said; "I'm afraid the ironworks worried you." Not at all; the ironworks are delightful. I snvy you the sense of power you must feel when fou survey that army of blackened faces; you must feel like Zenobia before she was conquered." "Zenobia never was beaten," interjected Lady Sophia, across the table. She never could hear a classical name without referring it. to the Racing Calendar. "She was one of the finest, two-year- olds that Lord Zetland ever owned. He sold her to Count Legrange for a pot of money, on the strength of her Newmarket successes, and she won the Grand Prix the year after." Lady Lashmar retired soon after the ladies left the dining-room, and it Was about ten o'clock when Lord Lashmar, on his way to the drawing- room, was startled by a tremendous ringing of hit mother's bell, a summons so violent that he took Fright and hurried at once to her ladyship's room, axpecting to find her attacked by some direful illness. She was not ill, but she was in a towering ragè. ind turned upon her offspring as a tigress Oil her cub. "Where is St elli P" "I have not the faintest idea. Is she hot to be Found, that you inquire so vehemently p" She is not to be found anywhere In this house. 3he was to have read to me at half-past nine. [t is the first time she has ever disobeyed my orders." she is getting too grand to obey orders. Per- haps she has gone off with Mr. Nestorius." What do you mean ?" "Surely you have seen what has been going on under your eyes. The gentleman is impression- able—the lady nrtful. She has been trying to secure a wealthy husband. She hils bronght him to book, perhaps, and is off and over the border. They can be married before a registrar in Bruiting or In London to-morrow morning." Nestorius could not be such a madman "Who knows? He would not be the first to count the world well lost for Jove. If she has gone you may be sure he is concerned fil her de- parture. She would not have the pluck to go out into the world nlOhê-wlthout the slightest knowledge of life outside these walls-without friends or money. But is it so certain that she has boll-k-d ? She may be only outstaying her time with old Vetoes listening to some bookish twaddle." We can very soon ascertain that," Said her ladyship, striking the spring bell which summoned her personal attendants. Before it could be answered, Barber came In with the latest intelligence. Stella had been seen to leave the Castle with a little carpet bag one of the housemaids had met her on the back staircase and had asked her whet-6 she was going. Going away," she hAd answered. "For a holiday?" "For ever." The housemaid had concluded that Miss Boldwood had been dis- missed by her ladyship, and had not considered it necessary to mention the fact till she heard Barber making enquiries. My servants are a regiment of fools," mid Lady Lashmar. Pray, at what hout did the housemaid meet, this girl ?" "A little before nine o'clock." "That will do for the present, Barber oo-where- upon the patient Bar ber vanished. Nestorius left at seven, and «u driven straight to the station. He can have had nothing to do with this girl's running away," said her ladyship. He may have inspired it, may have planned to meet her in London." "No, Lashmar, Nestorius is abovo all things a gentleman; he would not wrong that girl even in thought. He would not compromise her by a acandatous. elopement, or take a base advantage of his residence in my house. You must think of someone else." There is no one else. It is horrible to think of that girl: alone, friendless, utterly ignorant of the world, penniless, not knowing which way to turn for a meal." He had been savagely angry with Stella that afternoon, had deemed no words too hard or too bitter, had scorned her as a schemer and an adven- turess of the lowest type; and now that she was gone from him, for ever perhaps, utterly beyond his reach, he thought of her in her helplessness with strangest, tenderest pity; thought of her as a mother who had been led away by anger might think of a rebellious child; pictured her, in her ignorance of life, falling a prey to the scoundrelism that lurks in great cities, to the traps and sna/es set; for innocent feet. We must have been infernally cruel t* ner," he exclaimed, that she should be driven to do this thing. I don't know what you mean by cruelty. For the last two years, since she has been my reader and secietary, slie has led the life of a lady. She has not soiled her delicate fingers. Sho has had her own sitting-room, her meals served to her alone, as if she bad been a gentlewoman. She has been allowed to carry on her education at her own pleasure. "Granted; but have you treated her kindly? After ail, even Boldwood's daughter is a thing of flesh and blood, with instincts and feelings, able to be glad and sorry. She would encroach, no doubt, if treated too kindly; but do you think we have been too unkind?" "I do not know what we may have been. I know that for my own part I have always been civil to her." Civil; yes, that is the word. But I believe there are some natures that cannot exist upon bare civility. There are souls which revolt against luxuries enjoyed upon sufferance. You did nut do much to brighten her life, did you? She had to fall back upon books as the only possible delight; and for a young creature to have no other joys than she can get from books, seeins rather a dreary business. You did not dress her over smartly either, or gratify her youthful yearning for pretti- ness and bright colours. Her soul must have sickened at that perpetual black gown." Are you mad, Lashmar, that you preach to me | like this?" "No, I am only remorseful, very remorseful. Great God! if we should have driven her into danger Why, she knows no more of the outside world than a baby. Bub perhaps she has only gone to the nearest shelter: to old Veruer's cottage. I will go and hunt for her there." You go." Yea. I would rather go myseif. I shall be in a fever till she is found. I have been a wretch, a lcold-hearted, vindictive brute. I have been svs- tematically uncivil to her, I who know how fond my poor brother was of her I, who, for his sake, ought to have been kind. She had a bad influence upon mo, somehow sho stirred something evil in my nature. I hope I shall find her with Verner." I daresay you will, and you will ex ilt her idea of her own importance by going after her in person. You had much better send a stable boy." .\0, I want a smoke in the open air. 1'Jl go myself" He went, being a young man who always took his own way. It was an infinite reiief to him to get away from those cold questioning eyes of his mother's and to get out into the cool night air, the fresh, free October air blowing up from the river and swirling the newly-falieu leaves about him as he tramped across the park. Never had he had been so disturbed in mind as ho was about the tiight of this girl. She was nothing to him, absolutely nothing, he told himself. It was only his guilty conscience which was punishing him. He had allowed his prejudice, his dislike, to go too far. He had seen her suffering uudor his mother's icy tyranny, had made no remon- strance—he who was young and prosperous and happy had done nothing for friendless and up. pressed youth,—lie who called himself a man had never pleaded for womanhood deprived of all womanly joys. And to-day he had gone further, had attacked a defenceless girl with most insult- ing speech. He had been brutal, offensive, un- gentloman like. What was it to him if she had angled for a rich husband, schemed for home and position, for all those things which had been with- held from her ? Was it his place to be angry ? If he should find her with his brother's old tutor he was prepared to humiliate himself, to apotogiseforhisunwarrantabieanser, to promise t her fairer treatment and a happier home in the future, to pledge himself that her life as a woman should be brighter than her girlhood had been. The lamp was burning in the old bookworm's parlour, but, he was aione with Aristotle and tha rest of the learned dead. He had heard nothing of Stella's lfight—was in the deepest, distress at hearing of it. No, she had never told him any of her troubles, but he know she was not happy, hld never been happy in her home at the Castle since her benefactor's death. If Her ladyship has a very fine character,he said apologeticallybut sho has never under- Stood Stella. Tho girl is altogether exceptional she has geniu", Lord Lashmar, original genius. The only person Who has ever understood nnti ap- preciated her-except my humble sMf—is Mr. Nestorius." Mr. Nestorius is in love with her." said Lasli- mtr sharply; That is what understanding and appreciation mean in hiacuse." Well, it may he so," replied the student, thoughtfully. "He certainly was profoundly in- terested in her. He seemed to take a delight in her society, would linger and linger when she was here, and hang upon her words. Perhaps it was on her account he came here so often." Ii Of course it was on her account. I tell you, Verner, he is over head and ears in love with her." Ho is old enough to be her father." What of that ? A man of his temperament is never too old to fall in love. Whar ara we to do, Vernfr ? How are we to find this gil"l He might as well have appealed to the shade of Atistotid. The old man was sorely distressed lit. his favourite's flight, but he had no suggestion to offer. I would walk barefoot to London, if that would help," he murmured. But it, wouldn't help. What we want is a bright, idea. I'll telegraph to Nestorius the first thing to-morrow morning. If he had no hand in her Bight he may help us to find her." rTo be continued.]

TInJ "llED DHAGONõ". The December number of the National Magazine has a "braw" contents' list on the title-page, there being no less than fifteen distinct, articles. Miss Diilwyn leads off, as on more than one occa- sion previously, with an instalment of her power- fully-written serial Nant-Olchfa," in the course of Which the unspeakable barbarian Leah Wil- liams is tnttde to murder her own husband in furtherance of the ambitious schemes of her foster son, Reginald. The Poet's Crown." hy Mr. John J. Beresford, M.A., of Golden Grove, Carmarthen- shire, which follows, is a sweetly expressed alle- gorical fancy in rhyme. The editor comes next with a "TriRd of Personal Narratives" of Welsh superstitions, furnished him by correspondents hailing respectively from Aberystwyth, Lyss (Hampshire), and Llanelly. They are certainly remarkable experiences, vividly related, and possessing an air of almost, irresistible reality. The subjects are A Phantom Funeral," The Corpse Candle," and some extraordinary noises and voices heard in an old country house in (may we suggest?) Pembrokeshire. The occurences ought to, and doubtless will, attract the attention of the Society for Psychical Research. Miss Helen Prothero Lewis's verses to The Vale of Llan- gollen" are a highly creditable piece of descriptive work, in a metre which not everybody is capable of managing with such ease. In Twice Saved," by Mr. (or is it Miss?) Denwar Lloyd, Penarth, W8 have an exciting short story, descriptive of the perilous adventures, happily ending in the marriage for money as well as for love, of a bankrupt South Wales ooalowner's son. An old and accomplished con- tributor," J, H. D. succeeds with someodmirable verses to The Dying Year," of which we meant to quote one, only we really couldn't tell which when we came to make our selection, and we had no room for all. "Lord Herbert of Cherbury," is the litlo of a masterly paper by Mr. W. Arthur (Cambridge), who describes his subject as "one of the most brilliant Welshmen of the first half of the seventeenth century" — he might well have said of any century. As the "Autobiography "of this wonderful man there is not such another work in the English or any language. The Baroness Swift's translation of "Sampagnitns" from the Spanish of Alejandro Paterno contains some very pretty lines. These are followed by the twelfth of Brython's able "Readingt in Rhys's 'Celtic Britain' and these again by a very fine sketch in versa entitled A Windy Night," by Mr. John Walker, of Bury. The Reviews include the North Wales University College Calendar, and '•The Influence of Christopher Marlowe on I Shakspeare's Earlier Style." the latter being the Cambridge University's Harness Prize for the year. won, we are glad to be informed, by Mr. A Wilson Verity, B.A., who (we are quoting the editor), u under a itom de plume, lias long been a valued contributor to the Red J)ragon." Mr. J. E. Ollivant's In Memoriam verses to the late Mr. John Prichard, diocesan architect, of Llandaff, are a graceful tribute to the abilities and character of a man who, but for his retiring disposition, would have had a World-wide fame. The Literary and Art Notes, Nores And Queries, and Draconi- genae are copious and interesting as usual. In the Notes and Queries section we observe Lleut.-General Sir J. Hills-Johnes, K.C.B., of Dolaucothy, critici- sing very forcibly a previous contribution to this section by a well-known Carmarthenshire genealo- gist, W. G. S. T. with respect, to the pedigree of the Johnes family. As an indication of the extra- ordinary interest taken in this department of the magazine, we may remark that there are close upon fifty contributions in the fchape of Notes, Queries, and Replies this month.

The Bid DrSffon, the National Magazine of TVale#, Edited by James Harris. Cardiff: Daniel Oveeri and Co. (Limited). London t Kent and Co., Pater- noster-row* HOME, SWEKT HOME!—THE SWEETPST RovUsiJl thi. Town are thoM where Hudson's Extract of Sean to in daily use. REMARKABLE BISAPfVBAIUSe* Of all Dirt from everything Hva«H»R EXTJtlCl' OF BdAP. TeeTJuCJlll WHL, 86. Instaat cure; destroys the nerv*. efChemiatt. Past frfta levan (tamps. Sal* Proprietor, R. Keevill,Oit*miit, Yerk-buiithfst, Clifton. #rist»!. 72v.c Pfritto ANILTSTS have submitted CAOBUKT'S COCOA toCIOM testa, and the result has always proved Its great value as a sustaining and MurishiMg bevcrag*. Bewaro of ImiUtioiib 59"1111

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS. Mr. J. H. De Ricci is mentioned as a likely can- didate for the Brentford Division of Middlesex. A Royal proclamation summoning Parliament for the 13th of January was issued on Monday. The extensive paper-staining works of Messrs. Mitchell and Arnott, at Golborne. Newton-le- Witiows, were destroyed by fire on Tuesday ¡ mmninj. The damage is estimated at about £40000. Mr. Seely, formerly member for Lincoln, met with a serious accident at Newport, where, in crossing a street, he was knocked down by a van. His shoulder was dislocated, and one of the bones fractured. Mr. Saely is upwards of 80 years of age. The Home Secretary has ordered a respite of the sentence of death" passed at Norwich Assizes upon Arthur Riches for the murder of his wife. It had been urged on the culprit's behalf that he had been goaded to the crime by his wife's immorality. Tho West India mail which reached Plymouth on Sunday brought a report of the trial of Colonel Tyndall, 2nd West India Regiment, who was charged with having drunk himself into a condi- tion of delirium tremens. The case had not con- cluded when the steamer left. The Royal Mail Company's steamship Nile, which arrived lit. Plymouth on Sunday, reports that when she left Jamaica there were 480 cases of small-pox at that port, and the fever was so much on the increase that infected houses were placarded by the authorities. The Cobden statue was unveiled at Stockport on Saturday. Tho Marquess of Ripon, who was the principal speaker. said if once they entered upon protection in any form they would before long be landed in a corn duty, the benefit of which would go exclusively to the landlords, and not to the tenants. The Nottingham Chamber of Agriculture on Saturday received a deputation from the Fair Trade League, and afterwards passed a resolution declaring IfreH Trade a failure as far as the pro- ducer was concerned, while the consumer only benefited by excessive cheapness obtained at the producers' expends. At Warwick Assizes on Monday Robert Connolly, 30, labourer, w is sentenced to penal servitude for life for the manslaughter of his wife at Birming- ham. Both parlies were the worse for liquor when a. quarrel arose, and the prisoner knocked her down and kicked and jumped on her, causing fatal internal iniul"Št-s, Testimonials have been awarded to J. Pillifant, foreman in the White Rock Silver Works, for IIltempring to IHVJ T. K. Jones at Swansea, Novem- ber 5; to J. Thomas, for saving J. Jones, in the River Tivy, Llaniythen, October 28; and to T. Beynon, for saving T. A. Boatright, at Swansea, August 14. By the death of Sir Alexander Charles Malet, K.C.B., of Wilbury House, Wiltshire, the title devolves on his eldest son, Mr. Henry Charles Eden Malet, late lieutenant-colonel in the Grenadier Guards, who is married to a daughter of the*late Mr. John Hamilton, of Hilston Park, Monmouth- shire. A sculling match for £40 a side took place between Putney and Mortlakeon Monday between C. Brightwelt, who has the record of the f-ftest time ever made on this course, and A. Rolfe. A start, was made about four. From the outset Brightweil led, and finally beating his opponent easily hy quite twenty lengths. The B'>;ird of Trade have received a silver medal of the first cias". with diploma, awarded by the French Government to John Honnesay, chief boat- man of the coastguard, Tenby, in recognition of services rendered at the wreck of tho French schooner, Jeune Marie, near Tenby, on the 28th of February last. In Aprii the Board of Trade awarded Hennessy a silver medal for the same services. A special meoting of the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce was held on Monday to consider the recent disposition of the American mail contracts. It was resolved that, arrangements should be made for interviewing the Pos'ma.-iter-G- neral. It wis suggested that the be«t way of meeting the diffi- colr, would be to run a fast line of steamers fiom I London direct to New York, with l'lymoutii as the only port of call. James Murphy, the notorious Barnsley poacher, was executed at York Castle on Monday morning for the murder of Police-Constable Autwiek at I Dodworih, near Barnsl^v, on the 31st of July. Ho showed the utmost, unconcern abour, hi", fate, and on the placing of the ropt around his neck he asked that, it might tie so adjusted as to giv.i him no pain. Berry, the executioner, performed his work efficiently, death being instantaneous. At a largely attended meeting of the Wolver- hampton Working Men's Conservativo Club on Saturday the-question of the American mail con- tract was discusbed, and 1\ resolution was unani- mously adopted, disapproving tho action of the I'orttinaster-Ge.-i^i-al, as calculated to impair tho speed and efficiency 0ftns mail service, and as I bein! detrimental to the interests of South Staffordshire and other district# having a, large stake in the Transatlantic trade. Her Majesty's ship Lizard, one of'he two gun- boats bi'ing built for the. Government by Messrs. Harland atol \V, ■Mf, Belfast, was 8ucceS;tfully I'Uincll^d on Siito.dav morning shortly before noon. 1111> neV. ship is a composite gunboat, and wilt probably he ready for the naval dockyard in nb"ut six months. The sister ship Bramble, it is expected, will be launched early n'-xt month. The torpedo vessel [iecla was the last Government ship built in Belfast. Three fashionably dressed Englishmen, named Arthur Knight, Kdmund Leigh, and James Palmer, were remanded IIi, Belfast, on Monday, charged with conspiring to defraud a large number of local (diopfcf-epers on an extensive scale. Prisoners, who «ere arrested from R description in the Police Gazette, it is ;ille«ed, obtained money on loan by advertisements offering high interest and promis- ing, as security, jewellery alleged to have been stolon in Kngland. Knight is nlso wanted in Southampton on n charge nf conspiring to defraud. Considerable sensation has been caused in certain cin-lfS in Hull by the absconding of a confidential oflici-il in the employ of a well known firm of seed-crushers in that town, and it is understood that. serious defalcat ions have been discovered. No particulars have yet been made public, but, it is currently reported that the missing individual has been guilty of emb 'Kzlernent to the amovillt of from £3,OOÓ to £5.000. On Saturday evening an extensive seizure of property was made by the Hull police, and this, it is stated, is part of the pro- ceeds of the stolen money. The attention of the Government, Ordnance Department having been called by the Wolver- hamplon Chamber of Commerce to the practice on the port of a certain class of makers of tinned goods of mixing a considerable proportion of lead with the tinne.t linings of culinary utensils, by which the manufacturers of bettei class articles IUp ph1ced at considerable di."1I. ivant.lIgo in tendering for Government contracts, thp Director sf Ordnance has promised that the subject shall have his immediate attention. On Saturday night last a fatal railway accident took place about n mile from the Brecon Railway Station. It appears that. a man named John ] Ingram, residing at Llechfane, was walking home nver the line when he waa knocked down by a passing train. His body was found on tha follow- ing morning in a terribly mangled Condition. On Monday, at the White Horse, Brecon, Mr. D. W. J. ( 1'1101/): coroner, opened an inquest. Evidence 1 ')1' identification having been taken, the inquiry J was adjourned t.iH Wednesday. Judge Prentice on Monday, in the Bow County CoTirt, London, gave hiR decision in the case of Scudder v, Roy. This was an action brought to recover tlie sum of £3 for dr.mnge done to SOine pigeons by the defendant's cat. His Honour Said that the plaintiff could not, recover for the damage i jone by defendant's cat. It was perfectly lawful to keep a cat, and it was impossible to restrain it from J11)ing on other people's premises. He was of opinion that he coul-l not recover, and should give judgment for the defendant without costs. Miss Nellie Farren's jewels have been recovered. It will be remembered that on Thursday night she was pofitive that she carried her jewel case from the cab in which she had driven from Nottingham fheatre to her hntel, and placed it on the eideboard in her sitting-room, missing it therefrom some hours afterwards. It now transpires that the cab- man who drove Miss Farren took up another fare directly after leaving the hotel, and this person, discovering the jewel-case, took it home. Seeing the announcement of Miss Farren's loBS, the fatll at once returned the jewels to the actress. A most extraordinary landslip has taken place in the Devon River, near Dunfermline, whereby the celebrated Cauldron Burn- Falls have been literally destroyed. An enormous mass of rock overhanging the Falls topplod down into the stream,carrying with it a portion of the bank, con- sisting of trees, earth, and other materia), the debiis forming a heap fully 100ft. In height. The hu^e blocks of stone, many tons in weight, are piled up in the most heterogeneous and curious manner; but the wild grandeur of the Falls, which has been the thatna of Scott, Wordsworth, and Burns, is gone. Mr. Octavius Coope, M.P., died at his residence, Upper Brook-street, W„ between twelve and one o'clock on Saturday afternoon. During the past fortnight he had been sariously ill,and on Thure- day a change for the worse took place, which caused the greatest anxiety as to his recovery. Mr. Coope, who sat. ns Conservative member for the Brentford Division of Middlesex, first entered Parliament io 1847, when he represented Yar- mouth. He sat for Middlesex from 1874 to 18S5, jnd was returned at the last election for the Brent- ford Division. The deceased member was partner in the firm of Ind, Coope, and Co., brewers, Rom- ford andBurtnn-on-Trent. He was a magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant for Essex, and Hon. Colonel of the Essex Volunteers. A case of religious insanity, probably rarely if ever equalled, has occurred at Loyland, near Barnsley. Mrs. Meads, wife of a labourer, at Whirncliffe Silkstone Collieries, had been in an isylum at Wadslay. but she has been living at home with her husband for Some time past. A short timoago signs of mental weakness began to re- npj»ear, which are in her case always oonnected with some delusion based on a morbid reading of the Bible. A few days ago the neighbours found her kneeling in the rain by the side of a small stream trying her best, to knead some cakes. She doclared she was imitating Sarah (Genesis atvili, 6), nod that angels would presently comoand consume the cakes. On Sunday night she became very restless, nnd her husband had great difficulty in controlling her. In the course of her struggles one of her eyes became inflamed and bloodshot from some injury, and on the following morning its occurrence occasioned het great distress of mind. She declared that her pye" offended" her, and, following the Scriptural precept, site made no ado, but proceeded to pluck it otit and cast it from her." After tearing her eye out she threw it on the fire. After this terrible scene the neigh- bours immediately sent for Dr. Ritchie, who advised the removal of Mrs. Meads to an asylum. It is stated that 1.000 men in the employ of the Tyne Coal Company, Hebhurn, have received notice owing to the depression in trade. The horsenail-makers' strike at Belper has ter- minated, the masters having conceded the advance of 3d. per 1,000 asked for. Mr. Thomas Quins, M.P. for Kilkenny City. wai thrown from a carriage in London on Tuesday night, and seriously injured. The Earl of Rosslyn, Sir James Bacon, and Sir George Bowen were on Tuesday sworn of her Majesty's Privy Council. Dr. Mackie, proprietor of the Warrintjiw Guar- dian. has been stricken with paralysis, and is now lying in a state which causes his frienda the greatest anxiety. A fire broke out in a private house in Grandison- road, Battcrsea, on Tuesday night. The house was gutted, and a woman named Stewart and a boy were burned to death. The Prince of Wales was on Tuesday night nominated for re-election as Grand Master ot the Mark Masons of England and the Colonies and Dependencies of the British Crown. The Duke of Devonshire has announced by circular to his tenants in the counties of Waterford and Cork that he will allow 25 per cent. reduction on the present half-year's rent. It was announced on Tuesday morning in No, 2 Court of the Queen's Bench Division, London, that Mr, Justice Grove, who it was arranged should sit at Nisi Prius on Tuesday, was indisposed, and would be uoable to attend. The Rev. Francis B. Tucker, B.A., a well-known Baptist minister, late of Camden-road Chapel, London, and formerly of Union Chapel, Manchester died on Saturday of paralysis. He was in his 74th year. A daring burglary was on Tuesday morning committed in one of the chief branch post-offices in Belfast, and the thieves carried away a large safe and about jE300 in money and stamps. No clue to the thieves nas been discovered. The World says that the Savage Club is about to start a Masonic Lodge under its auspices. Lord Dunraven is to be the Worshipful Master and Mr. Henry Irving and Sir Somera Vine will fill the chairs of the Wardens. From April 1 to November 27 the receipts amounted to £51,646.863. and the expenditure to £55,672,063; balances, £1,998.472, Corresponding period last years Receipts, £ 51.150.103; expendi- ture. £57.943.092; balances, £ X.364,840. A MAUHIAOB is arranged, and wiil shortly take place, between Herbert Huntington, eldest son of the Ruv. George Huntington, rector of Tenby, and Alice Elizabeth Scaranchi, only daughter of Mr. T. J. ScMaochi, of The Rangers, Dursfey, Glouces- tershire. Lord Charles Thynne, aged 73, formerly Canon of Canterbury, was on Tuesday ordained bv Car- dinal Manning a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. Lord Charles, who is an uncle of the Marquess of Bath, seceded to the Church of fiotne in 1853. On Monday Sheriff Brown delivered judgment at Aberdeen in the breach of promise action for JE500 damages brought bv a young widow against David Waldie, a hay merchant., 72 years uf age. IL was decided that the pursuer had, by impropriety of conduct, forfeited her legal rights. No damages were awarded, but the defender Wit3 refused costs. On Tuesday, in Dublin Police-court, Patrick Doyle was charged by his father-in-law and uiother-in-law with having caused the death of their daughter, his wife. Evidence having been given that the accused did not lire on good term? with deceased, and that he was in the habit. of ill- treating her, the prisoner wai remanded poadfng the inquest and other inquiries. At the Private Bill Office of tlie House of Com- mons on Tuesday evening plana were deposited in connection with the private Bills to be proceeded with during the next session. The total of tha pl-lns handed in reached 132, as compared with 175 last year, the former total comprising 48 rail- ways, 11 tramways, 40 provisional orders, f.tMi S3 miscellaneous. As the result of a conference held at r-wonport Dockyard on Tuesday it was determined by the Admiral-Superintendent, that the roifces of dis- charges should be withdrawn in the cases of men who had been employed i :»r several years, and that they should be continued in their employ- ment, on a sacrifice of wages. Othsr men will receive notice irí their place who have only recently been taken on. James Barton, 27, labourer, was hanged at Leicester on Tuesday morning for the murder of Hoi ice-Gunst able 3arratt,at ftreedon-on-the-Hill last August. The culprit slept wtli, aa In had done since he was sentenced, but he ai £ no breakfast., and seemed somewhat depressed. expressed to the chaplain sorrow for what he had done, but said he remembered nothing whatever of the inutdf-r. He walked firmly to the scaffold, and on the drop faliirig death seemed to be instantaneous. In the Queen'? Bench or Tuesd .y Dr. M'llar who contested Central Sheffield at the last election, sued the proprietors of tim Western Jif-rru-n. Plymouth, for libel, in publishing n paragraph referring to him as n lunatic t o whom ths provisiof.i of Dr. Cameron's IHil would iipplv. Defendants Inserted an apology, and paid £ 10 in'o court. After plaint iff's case had been opened, the Jud^e exrressf-d tlm opinion that, defendants' offer w-M sufficient, and, the jury concurring, tha ca?« was stopp^J, and a Verdict returned for piaimtiii, with jElO damages. The London correspondent of the Courier says:—This week's cumber of Punch is anticipated with some curio5»ry .1. the Car'tou Club, In a recent number of the leading "comic" there appeared an article which gave ofh-i,e>! to one of the Metropolitan tncinliers of Parliament. That gentleman at once wro^a to the edi'or of Punch nnd threatened legal praceedinjf" aniens an aoology was made. In addition to the apol"gw ,i»» required that; j650 should be paid to It charity Unless ho has reparation in this week's issue pro- caeding? will be taken. A Stocking case of starvation was investigated on Monday by the Hirminghlll" fVvoner, who l-f-M nn inquest, on the bodies of Caroline iir.jwn and for." infant child, affed ten day?. The woman for months previous to her confinement had only some filthy it-raw and bags to lie on. She WHS in a shockingly emaciated and dirty state. H«r hus- band, against, whom a verdict of manslaughter was returned, was repeatedly spoken to about getting his wife a mattress. He often came home drunk, and when proffered money by the doct >r with which to boy clean straw he refused to do fn. A mysterious case of poisoning is under inves- tigntinn by the police at Willenhali, South Staffordshire. Two children named Moreton, whose mot her recently married a second time,were taken suddenly ill after partaking of their ten, and one of them, a little girl, diod in great agony. A post-mortem examination revealed the presence of a considerable quantity of arsenic in th** stomach. The second child recovered. Foul play is suspected, and tha Government have been asked to offer a reward for the detection of the guilty party. The new statue of Queen Anne which tbe Corporation of London have erected in front of St. Paul's Cathedral is to be unveiled on the 15'h of December by the Lord Major, with full civic ceremony. Mr. Belt, who ia now undergoing a long term of imprisonment, is the artist, and his incarceration has (the Liverpool V»u,Her says) in no way impeded the progress of the work. The statue has, in faot, been modelled in gaol, and its execution in permanent, form has been personally superintended by the sculptor. A canvas cloth at present conceals it from public view, but it is admitted by aU who have seen it to be an exceed- ingly successful Work.

CAPTURE OF A Cliuudri YARD GROMT. Recently ghost alarms have been very common in the Potteries and adjoining districts, and con- siderable excitement was caused one night this week after eleven o'clock by the mysterious move- ments uf a figure, clad in white, amongst the tombs in Shelton Churchyard, near Hanley. The noc. urna) visitor was watched by a large crowd, who completely blocked the adjacent thorough- fares. For sometime the ghoei was permitted to conduct his peculiar perambulations unmolested, but ultimately two members of the crowd, more daring than the rest, mustered courage enough to approach the figure. A closer inspection convinced tfiese persons tiiat so far from being the shadowy, ethereal spirit which is said to have visited other churchyards in the district, the ghostly visitant of the burial ground was a really tangible body. The snow-white figure displayed much uneasiness on the approach of the two active men, whose measures for its capture were not. to be circumvented. Flight was useless, and dissolu- tion in thin air impossible. So Edward Haupt- mann, a corporal in the Hanley Volunteers, had to quiotly submit to the unpleasant process of being led into the crowd he had done his best to terrify, and afterwards to the more disagreeable expe- rience of being lodged in the Hanley police cells by Police-Constable Smith, to whom he was handed over hy hil captirs. Theoperator had secured a woman's nightress, which, being too small for the accommodation of his somewhat portly frame and commanding figure, he in- geniously held before htm, expanding it by his arm, and by this means ha succeeded in his prac- tical joke. Se was taken before the magistrates on Tuesday, but. considering that he had been locked up all night, and that he had suffered soma maltreatment from stone-throwing on the previous night, he was discharged with a caution.

ACCIDEN IN THE HUNTING FIELD. Mr. Wra. Fielder Croome, of North Cerney House, chairman of the Cirencester magistrate?, while htffttfng with the Cotswold Hounds on Saturday sustained a fatal accident., The hounds met at Beech Pike, and a fox was run to Ragged Edge, on the Abbey Estate, about two miles from Cirencester. As Air. Cr iome was jumping a wall hie horse naught its foot in a wire and threw its rider heavily. Mr. Croome was immediately attended by Mr. Hicks-Beach, the master, and others, but died within five minutes. The hounds were at once stopped, and the body carried to Mr. Croortie's residence. Whilst hunting with Mr. Gosling's hounds near Wlckhaui Hall, Bishop Stortferd, on Saturday afternoon, Mr. James Webb, of that town, was thrown heavily from his horse. His collar-bone was broken and he sustained other injuries. He was removed to his residence in a critical enn- dition. The Earl of Scarborough, who is the guest, of the Earl of Bradford, at Weston Park, near Shifnai. was out on Tuesday with the Albrightnn Hounds, when, in negotiating a fence, his lordship staked his valuable hunter so badly that it had to be shot immediately. His lordehip escaped with a severe shaking.

MDAtE ADBUNA PATTI writes" I have found Soap »atcfelw» {«• UM hands and complexion, gtened) Aoiim Vktti. l^p, for tto Toilet and Hurser*. specially prepared for tbe delioata skin at Udiw aad children imd others ieoslttte to th* #e»&er. Winter «r rntatner. Protent> redness, roughness, and ehappleg. gold everywhere, Boomed Tablets, Is.. Smaller (ua* •viitedl 64.

OPENING OP THE SEVERN TUNNEL. THE FIRST PASSENGER TRAINS THKOCJGH. • HISTORY OF THE UNDERTAKING. Without fuss or demonstration of any kind, the first pasfenger train* passed through the gigantic tube linkir g the shores of Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire on Wednesday morning. As the first linsre of colour became visible in the clouds I overhead some d<i<Mi or more passengers took their seats in the 645 train. bound for Rristol via the tunnel, and within a couple of minutes I were speeding on their way. A< far as outward appearance went and Cardiff was concerned, a stranger would hfiv^ thought there was nothing, out of the ordinary in the event, so little interest was manifested. Hut at Newport, and more especially at. little Masror, it was apparent some- thing more than common was going 011, Rnd the freight was increased considerably, inanv of the new p.iss«»niers evidently going'*for thssake of t.he run." With scarce It wait at either iilace,however— "Underground Railway" time was kept—t!i« train wns again rolling nlong at a splendid speed, and before those on bo>trd quite knew where they were a shrill whistle, --i sud hm darkening—f.»r it \Va" now nearly IJrnad daylight— and We are in 1" I' told them thev were "in," and rushing down a clearly perceptible decline towards a point a hundred feet l»elo»v the bed of the broad estuary. In H trice watches were out »ind windows down, the first to keep tim*. ihe other to test the ventilation. The inrush of icy cold air. as clear and pure as if the trip across WHS being as clear and pure as if the trip across WHS being 1 made in the old way—over instead ot under the Clwnnel—showed the latter «-a« oil right. The ventilation,indeed.w*ssimply superb. All travellers hy rail have suffered, and softer, the incon- veniences incident, to a i unnel; hut, with a freedom from smell truly marvellous, and an entire absence of reverberation or osc'lll ition. the submarine journey—if such i: may be colled— proved to be more like a run through a pretty deep cutting than through a tunnel four and a qu-.rter mi'es long. For I\,hmll th-ee minu<as>tnd I a half alter entering tliere wfsno m Staking the fact that, a sharp gradient was being drBC-mded, then a momentir}- rumble as the troth: pas.-ed over the I curve of the arc—for the tube dips in th»- Cf-mre- and then the Joeomotiv*, at »n ever-decreasing spei\d. dinlbcd the ojjposi'e gradient, toamerge I onee more into daylighi in 8min. 49soc., arriving at tho Bris'ol tenninu- >i 8.18. thus doing the journey in lh. 33min., a trifle les" thai: an hour under the time laken by the oid route. The 6.15 tram fmm Bristol tna,;e ths journey through thfc t'janei in j 9min. 25-ac. j VRNTIIATION OF THE TUKKKL As before rem t-ked, tiie ventilation of the tunnel is litde short <>f perfect. During the construction of ttwwort: a fith 10: in diameter, discharging i 60,000 cubic feet of nir per minu<e. waa usoc. Tics lias now been re-placed by a fan 40t"t. in ciameter and 12it. wide— made vn the a«me L;icipie is .hose used at f lie leraey and a portion of Hie Meiro|>olitari Tu.uisis. It i* mni^ to a pat«i.,od ] ctosign for rendering it silent itid sot* making it capable r.f beir.g w-jrked at ja very high vtsio. y with practically no vibra- lion. The makers, Messrs. Walker Bros., of Wigar., received the highest award of the recent Liverpool Kxhibition for a machine similar to ona at I Portskewett, which is c&pahlg of exhausting over haif a million cubic feet of air per aiinute. At present it is working at scarcely Im;f it# capacity, lit is driven by a compound condensing engine, I and ill case cf acjiden* or should rt-p;i..s OeCO:.fFJ neces-ary, an ordinary high preavare cylinder ¡. engine lias been provided to serv* as a etand- by." The fan is placed r.n >ut two miles from tlle west or south-west entrance io Jie tunneL THK NEW TBAIN SBBVICK. Though, however, the -unr.el lias thus been I thrown open for pa«sser.s: traffic, a fact which w;11 make the 1st of December, 1886, an ever- iiH-morabie one ..1 tho history of Soutn Wales, tlie fast through service \II i;: not be started till tiio elr:, part. «>f nnxl. yeAr. protxtbty s-bmit Februai f or March, owini; to the exceptional diffi- cullies met with by the contractor In the construc- tion ot the lliøW tuit*">l at IV.c'iway. Until this is I completed tlie doubling of liie line, without which the fast through serrice is impossible, cannot be 8ct'Orr¡t.¡;!Jt"d, The local "¡CH, how."ör, has I' betm ao arranged >s t., fit in with tiia through traffic between Cardiff and Newport on the one hand, and liristot (nd toe Wnet of Knjsiand on the otlier. Xs# #'aiioi!ji li.»"e been opened nt Pilning and tho Pevt ;i Tun.iei Ji r.-M. r. with ths main line, and the New f'.is.-age n-id Puetvskowett Pter S.r.tion* have n^n cics-d ard 11, old ferry service j stopped. Hit Hurt') sev>«n trains hive ordinarily made up ttic Jervk-e between l>ri«dol -md Cardiff. I Tltese have IIOVV be> it increased to ten. and.»s J has been alreadv stated, the j >u*-iv y i< shortened j I' by nearly a "hour. On j-undnys ;>n extra j train h-i« h#er» put on. iiicrvaohi j tiia i.umher to { three Tha f ires have i.een slightly incensed, the j three Tha f ires have i.een slightly incensed, the j lolloping l>-ing the new scale fo' !ir,-i, and second cia*8 and P,.r luoientarv :—C irdiif Kirpt class ?». 81.. return 11* ae -ond class 5s. 6 retu-n j 8*. Parliament,y 3'. 6 I., •••'urn 8<. Kewpori Kirst eiase 6-. e i.1 un 9. 9 I.: second class 4" 6-' return 6.. Sd. P*rli;imSnt»ny 3s. ¡Q.,¡.- return 5". 6 H»vrcB-; or TTtK U.-UtftTAKJKa. The propose' to ,-onsirue!, the iunnsl first. original* <i from tt.9, manifest n»ed forbener "Deans oj ;n hetwin-n S-.uth W" dee »ii<d I Bristo. nnd ,u» Sou ill and West, of England, Several schemes were projected, ,j r.ly of I which were avii.unised by Pavlismen —the I, Severn Bridge and the 3-vern T'm IHi\. The work was commenced 11I1""¡Y fourteen years ag", And has cort, including the doubling or trie w>rks on !>oth sides, and also r.hw Bristol ar.d S'Mith lV>i!es Uni«n line, about £2.00û.OOQ To recoup th~rn:«elv»« for this enormous outlay, the cotiinany h.,p", f .i I\fI incr-aser! I nH]e generally Rristf-I I and South Wid°.>. Great expectm ions frf I held of i hs increase of r»Tp'>n« cona^q'.ent iip^n the diversion of cm I tr-itRc 'rim South Wai.s land Monmouth.-diirft tit.It I hen I uor.s now I carried by about £ 30.001 a yea. addi- lions! traffic will have to be carried to yitold 4 per cent, on 'ie cr.pit.al sunk. Tl»e Vicissitudes met wi.h It: the course of con- struction are already wed known. The Great Western Kniiuwtv ("iiipatu ebt.iinrd theii A'*t of Parliament in 1872,the fii-si sc* being cut in 1673 At fftst a tunnel lour and a lnU mil^s long Wa" proposed, tlt1:, thi« wys ultimitieiv reduced, but not tc a consideiante extent. Th» distance '*e- tween the respective idgh wa'er marks on "ither shore is I W'I and" qunre. mii«>\ The Oreat Western Railway Co rpanv earned On tire wortt j themselves till 1879. sinking five s.aftf anij driving a coiihideraiie quantity uf heading, and j proving the numte id tiie ground. Thev k«d ] driven the h;*adii> from either end to within 120 yards, whell. ¡ II 1879. they IItVperlll lard spring en the the river, Bod il flooded the whole of the workings in 24 hours, Negotia- j tions were tlwn opened whit Mr. T. A. Walker, who undertook the work from ) that time, and with powerful pumps he got the works cl'ar of water by November, 1880. In April, 18C1. considerable progress had been madH wltll the finished brickwork from the Sea Walts shaft, when all irruption of water took place and mastered the pumps. A hola of 10ft. by 10ft. was found in the mail at the bottom of j the Salmon Pool near the (Houcestershire shore, jTtti" Wttsovcrcftnp hy tilling in with clay puddle I and covering in with a mound of clay puddle in j bays, and the pumps rapidly cleared the flood;ng, which was confined to the Set Walls shaft on tlie Gloucestershire side. Progress was then mad. without special difficulty till October 10, 1883, when the great flooding took place on the Monmouthshire side, at a spot 97 yards from where the incursion of water came in 1879. The old spring was again tapped, but in much larger volume, the water pouring in at the rate of 27,000 gallons a minute, whereas, on the former occasion, it was 11,000. It rose at the rate of 4ft. an hour, and xoon completely flooded a large portion cf the completed tunnelling beneath the river. Lambert, the diver, with assistants, after two attempts, was again successful in the hazardous work of shutting tlie door In the head- ing 500't. from the bottom of the shaft. The i work was only suspended a fortnight, and as soon as the tunnel could be entered a head wall was built 15ft. thick, with an iron door in it, filling up the section of the tunnel, and with the aid of four new, and more powerful, pumps at Sudbrook, the works were again cleat ed of water, and the great spring was dammed back hy masonry Bnti massive brickwork. The flooding ot the section of working near the Marsh shaft by a huge tidul wave in the Sfeme month (October, 1883), was treated very j lightly, as tha engineers rvm overcame any temporary drawback from this unexpected vit.Unnt.and. though the water has lit, times given trouble, no further accident occurred, ana the powerful pumps erected fully provide for any extra drainage, in the last accident 50 men were imprisoned the whole night. They were allreecued save three, WIK> f»»st their lives. The tunnel is 26ft. wide and 20ft. high from the double line of rails I tO the crown of the arch insida the brickwork. The rails are laid on longitudinal sleepers. The tunnel has been lined throughout with Vitrified hrlcks Fet in cement, and no less than 75,000.000 ] bricks have been used in this work. This vitrified brick wall has a thickness of 3f. in the j crown of the arch tieneath the" shoots," but as the tunnel rises from this lowest point on a gradient one In 90 one way and one in 100 towards the Gloucestershire side, this thickness is gradually j j reduced to 2t'i. 3in. GTHFR GRRAT TDWKKLS. The total length of the Severn Tunnel is ( miles 624 vards. The St. Got hard Tunnel is 91 miles, Mont Ceni* Tunnel 7 £ miles. Arlberg Tunnei (Austria) miles, there is n tunnel in Mas* chusetts 4$miles, t.he Standege Tunnel on the London and North Western is 3 miles long, and the Hox TUlmel father tess. But the special feature of the Severn Tunnel lie* in the fact that 2i miles ¡ of it have been constructed from 45ft. to 100ft. below the tied of a rapidly-flowing tidal estuary, offering engineering difficulties which make it in some respects the most remarkable tunnel in the world.

I BWANSEA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND TilE NEW THAIN SERVICE. I A special meeting of the Council of Swan- sea Chamber nf Commerce was held on Monday to consider the question of train service between Swansea and London tx'/f Severn Tunnel. It was pointed out that tlm pas- senger service through the tunnel would nnlv Severn Tunnel. It was pointed out that tl", pas- senger service through the tunnel would nnlv ii.iprovc the communication betweett Bristol and Cardiff, whereas, if the train which left Bristol at six p.rn.. due at Cardiff at 7.20. were extended to Swansea, arrivinllLt, say, 8 40 p m.. passengers from Lonoon might avail tlietnselves of the train leaving Paddiogton at 3 p,m., caching iirietoi at 5 36, giving ample time to catch the 6.0 train on. This would not only provide t much-needed additional last train from London to Swansea, but the train. M suggested, would catch at L&udore the 8.44 w*o. theoca to LlaosUy and Carmarthen, so that benefit would accrue to a large area. It was decided to urge the Great Western Company to carry oat the suggestion. Western Company to carry oat the suggestion. DEPUTATION TO THE BOARD OF TRADE. I Lord Stanley received a deputation at the Board of Trade on Monday from the West of England, introduced by Lord Bathurst., and supported hy several members of Parliament, who presented a memorial praying the board to t-ike legislative action to ureVent the Grent Western Railway Company from diverting traffic from the Thames and Severn Canal in favour of their own line.— Lord Stanley, in reply, 6aid tlie powers of the Board of Trade were not such as would enable him effectively to interfere. Personally, he was inclined to think that there had been a straining of the Act by th« railway company. The question would probibly be discussed in the ensuing session, and he trusted he might be »b> to intmduoe into any Bill which might of. brocght forward such ciaiMies as would render the situation more satisfactory.

FAIR TJRADK AND IMPERIAL ) FEDERATION. DISCUSSION BY THE CARDIFF PARLIAMEN I TARY DEBATING SOCIETY. The usual weekly meeting of the Cardiff Parlia- mentary Detailing Society waa held on Tuesday evening. Mr. Miles presiding, and there being a good attendance on the Conserv .live side. Before proceeding witii tin Orders of the Dav, Mr. David (Conservative Premier) protested against, the apathy displayed by tlie leader of the Goptsition, eRpwially ftlwtn such a subject-as Free Trade and Pair Trade wa« under discussion. Mr. W. C. PEAce (Chancellor of tbe Exchequer) then rose to move the following resolution on behalf of the Government:— That, in the opinion of this House. the time has arrived to take immediate steps in tt>* direction of t}»elm- perial Federation of Great, .Br:t:\in wIth iu Colonies al. JVpendeneles, and thut tJl- best menns of doing so is to be fniiiKi il1 the of i systsin of reoi proeityin trade. Thu, 1 rt order to tffeet thif.it, is necessary 10 at Olloe impose an import dlltyof ;1 per cent, on ..11 manufactured It""d, b-o-.igbt into this r.onl1tr, from ad foreign countries who will not Rdmi: ns to their markets on the same terms asweatin-.it there to ours. The right hon. gentleman, who was well received, commented unfavourably on Mia scant attendance on the part, of thf Opposition, and then proceeded to lay his views before the H.-MJS* He said he intended to first, point out what they meant by Imperial Federation anci IKIW they r^ro- j posod to deal with it, and then to touch genemhy upon the present grc-;s!y unfair srsttm of Frte Trad:. Tne ratee and ta»s« of the United Rir.g-1 d'iB s> ..ounlad t • £ 100,030 000. and ;h;;t raised t' o cost or producing every article to the er^fnt (If about 10 p«r ceni., except in *ho sasa of agricul-j turf with regard to which it whs very rnuoh more. In the first place, thei" policy would be to place agriculture upon an Mjuality with other irKvi«tri«9 in respect of rates and tixes that were no ;▼ also borne by ptr- ■tonal income. Then a univem-1 customs duty a' the rate of H, per cert, would b" plascd on a!' [ competing imports frolD evert" part of the world, even including oar own colonies. Wc should tui 'm in 5. position t" say to th" colonics. "If you will have absolute Fre= T.ade wilh us, :.nd voiT: undertake toO disefmrgo your »hare of toe cosc c ? r ) defence of the Empire by me,intk.n;ng a modftate proportion of troops and ships for Imperial emer- gencieft. and which, under ordinary circcTstsnoes,! would err.ain amongsi, yourseiv.'s, th ,n we will o ive perfect Free Trade with you, beci ise you wii! then pay your share of Imperial exp< nfes, I and would in justice be entitled to the freedom of i the market," To forei^- rations we could say, *ii you will admit *.»e to your nrarkats upon the same terms as we admit you to ours that is, charging us no more 'han you charge your own people, wo *i!l deal with vo-j upon those barms. If you wi'l not, wayb ill ..e-.l v» itfi our own Colonies in preferenc3 ie you, and ) hall put. upon such of your g-orxls 1:" tronv suit our convenience an extra 5 per cent, duty." Under this poMcy we should make very rapid prcgr-ss, for we had ntentyof land In the Colonies t', qrew j food for ou» own people, and we l«td plenty of j inrmey and men to o«ihiv»?.« it. and in return to beeome our best customers fo; out nanufac-jrbs. j We should thus wore a growing Empire and an Increasing people, eating our own grown food and j using our own manufactures and we should maintain oar position as the greatest Power in the world. Imperial Federation must be a political and commercial federation, or tlie Cronies woa;d no' accept it. Free Trade had been ost«o'ished AO years, and to-day was ridiculed by every j nation ia the world, who wers becom- ing more Protectionist «very day. Cooden and bright persuaded the Enelish people by til"1 e'oquence that there would be such -.t :1nÏ\.er..nl¡ conviction in its favour that all nations would cur example, and t.l»ey admitted in their writings that Fre*- Tmdc to succeed must oe five I' ell round. Sir Robert PC; oelie^ing til's, passed it- and we ',ad loyally adhered t< k, :r the ruin --f ourselves and tlie pan of rUvr nations. The, Conservatives he!d that the best policy was to first j Irnk utter their home »r,id« and h.un.-r!i<w, by which means the produc.-gund wage-earning | IjPCHlrW batter consumers, tiid 011'1. '.(0'),.<; men who preferred foreign articlesehooid ''<* maae to pay for their whims 1..1 f.i.nv;ics. Wr h-i I forbidden oar factories to work more th?-.>» 56} hourt tier wwk. while ;n Fran«* Oerm-.hy, m. i Swi'fc* 'iind tliey were permi'tpd fo vor' 42 110" I per week, and hw, he asked, w ii p.wibli' t/>r"-n- jiete m. audi terms as that ? Dealing witii; h«s'? eo: y j of In the cheats! market, l'.» aaid fc.r.iposc Siief^ld to manufacture cutWy 1o 1 it.. amount o. | 000 a year; suppose Nr th«"ipton to do j the «»tn«» in boots. T'mt prryvid"d in "be w»y of wag"" to the popnl.itiom. of titoaa towns an j annual income of £ 2.000.(X) £ ) It al«o creutod >i j market, to that extent for other En;>'ish product*. TJ»en, «»PFo*ing tImt German nr Ainn iC'in cu1 lery or French or Italian hoo" eon id be im ported fi per cent. eiweper, q jality ftr) quality, than Shield cutlery or Noni.iirnptnn hoots. In such a ease, to ilte non-cutl»r "r non-boftmairer it was a person' enin of 5 per cent. Cm lery u&er^ and boot, woareis wou'd thu? pain jEI00.000 in the vear. bu* th» nation *ou!d ha fa losi the whole of tlu £ 2.^00,030 which siicuid liave gone to maintain the fCnglUh workmen end' their families. Thf*ref..e, to vain £ 100,000 the I nation would lose £1.900,000. or nineteen times as much. (Apola.ise.) Mr. Joan ANDBSWS (Tavistocki, ex-'aader of t.i*>' Opposit ion. it tht request of the present leader, i got up to reply to the OlwnceJior of tlie I'.xchecuer, | Bnd instanned Mr. Georre Hopkins's intention to ••stablis. sugar refinery i Cardiff as a proof that Fair Trade was not, requisite. Mr. n. J. 'MATCHBK \Y:rH Lord of tt;" Admi- ralty) ontinueu t;,e ueb.lte "0 thr Government siJe, and w-M followed by Mr. W. (Mon- m >uti«»li'.e). On t hu motion of the memoir for jiverpooi (Knkuaie;, the debate was adjourned to next week.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOUTH WALES AND MONMOOTHSHJRK. Tha ordinary meeting of the Council of the University College was held on Wednetdxv, afternoon at the College Buildings, Cardiff Tlie Venerable Archdeacon of Llandaff pre- sided. There were al-to preset^ Principal j ViriamnJonM. the Revs. W. Hruca. J. Thomp- son. J. D Watt era, Alfred Tilly, Davia Evans, aftd E. Roberta, Messrs. G. C. Thompson. F. 8. Jnhn- stone, Professor Tanner, and (vor James, regis-1 trar. Mr. Jenkins (representing Mr. Morgan Morgan, solicitor, Cardiff) waa in attendance with the contract for tb8 erection of the new premises for the departments of phyaica, chemistry, and biology. The lowest and accepted tender was that of Messrs. Turner and Sons, Cardiff, the con-1 tract price beil.g £1.281. The common aaal was ordered to be attached to the contract. The reports of the General Purposes and Finance Committees were taken together. and it was resolved that the sum of I £1,200 should be sold out of Consols in order toO meet the necessary payments to the builders, whilst the following recnr tnendation of the Finance Committee was adopted: To pay the salaries to Christmas and bills certified as due. The report of the Senate was presented, the only point of inte- rest being that in connection with the Brecon County Scholarship. The following resolutions were communicated from the secretary, Mr. Butcher, which were passed at a meet ing of ttie j Brecknock and County Sctmlarship Fund Com- mlttee on the 25t.h of November;— We wouM wish to leav* the question of age to the University authorities, ànd we nqoest them 1ft Ii. the maximum age at cnce. The committee decl<le thnt It. shal! be o;>en to males only, and thev aihere to tbe resolution that Uta boy* miwt tm ten years resident in tbe CIO¥n" III tjBf event of no worthy candlJAtA presenting himself, the intemt of the funded msitey SavaO ahall be added to the capital account of Ibp Brecknock Scholarship Fund. The exami- nat.í01J58h, take pl8e8 •« by the The committee trust that the council will arrange that the first exam I nation shaft take pi eats time io>- Ibe I next term future examinations to be at the date they consider most fitting. Tbe Committee decide Lhat Ihc money be divided ae sotg^sted by the Co ltifteil into two eeholnrahips of £ 20 each. The Breokuock boys already 8t.ud.ring in tl,e Coi»ege to be allowed LO potnpeie lur ..he scholarships, cliotild they luJel1 th- spec;titl<1 requirements. The examination to take plase about the fnd of the Christ mat vacation. Titese resolutions weie approved of by the council, the first resolution being held over for future consideration.—In the report of the Library and Apparatus Committee it was stated that presents nf books had imen made to the Collage Library by Professor Parker, London. Mos.«>-s. Macmillnn, 'he Rev. Ii. W. Evarse, Lord Pnwi< Mr. Wm. Gow, Welsh National Society, Miss Klewnor lfoberts, and Mr. T. J. Dyke. tt was pointed out that Mr. Dyke's contribution Willi an extremely valuable one, and wouid form tha rucleu* 01 a medical library. Votes of thtmkp were passed to the donors, and a speciil vote of thanks to Mr. i Dyke for his handsome gift.. It was resolved that a grant, should be tnade for a cliemseul laboratory to cover the expenses occasioned tiiere.—1Ttie Chairman proposed a vote of condolence with tile president, I-ord Aberdaro, for his recent injury, | and the Principal having seconded, the proceedings terminated. A special meeting of the council will take place tt the end of the term.

1 THE HEALTH OF )J)ll0 ABERDARE. j Although his tordteliip makes satisfactory prn-) gress towards recovery, his hand is still very pain-' fui. He now, however, sleeps without the aid 04" morphia. Proved he Pont in una to progmss between tM* awl the end of the week, he will then 1 return to Duffryn. I 1

IXTEMPERAKCE CTRED. A wealthy Amaricaa lady, whose enly son wa" softer- tag far many years from Araohnlte Intemperance, after trying in vain every fcnewa remedy witbowf exeeess. at lt<a bond a simple «nea*s tiiat saved him frena a drtmkx'.d's grate. Anyone wittering from this con- j piaiflt, or during to bflp elUfM in ttote worthy canae, sending addressed stamped (rtireiope to Dr ^atnes Hotland, Kmal 86, Hart-f-treet, B jotnabury, L-omJoe, ] W.O., will receive the full intoi-maliou of self-tswe.fote j of charp.

SHIPPING DISASTERS. A STEAMER SUNK IN THK Til A M The s'amer* '.Vid»eon, from London f.,i ff-t:- liogf»n, »nd ttie Falcon, fm-r An; w<p f ir L' i] >- collided off the East India Docu in the Thames "r: Monday. The Widgeon sank, wh:;« tne Faicon't bows were damaged. LOSS OF A CARD:FF-LA1>F.X VKSSFL A Marnnham telagram states tiiat the Medb->r from Cardiff for M:irnnham, hs-s been totally lo-,t The crew were saved. WRECK OF A S rEA M THAN* LFii FRO: CARDIFF The staam trawler Telephone, of North SMeios and ng to Mr. Wififsun Brown, of experiertCtHi heavy v ea. her wiiiwt |tr«-ceding ft'rllt". Pen¡lrtl, c" the fYlle. Hor connecting ro^ broke, some punks gave way, and she sunn. Tut crew were saved. A TASSFNG' K STEAMEii KND A N'iMlKD. A Serious collision occunvd in the River Avo- on Tue*uav be'we«*n the £ t«amship Jun,>, itel. ti^- in« to the B i.«toi .$iea:ii Mavig i- ton ar the Kscuiona, <>f th.- I'll,.•(.i.ine, !<umii>e. HIP Juno, with p,iKMtnge.es, w,,s g-iinff down uju rtvef bound tn Cork. ItflJ the fi^cxionn, with cittie tn < < tene ai cars') Irom M HI. >e • I, giio^ i. por, when they collided at Saa M:IK tlie June »-m-i*hing in I wo plntes in th*. goraiom's p. r; roe Juno s padoie box w;ts pi event if g h'-i' proceeding o s»a. Fii* K>c > >.« s u ck cxi^c- was shift ed to give her a list ab, ve mrwae" line, and she w.is sat'elv towe.i into lock. Tl'1; Juno's passenger*' wf"L nt oft by ri other routs. HuLl. vessels werb doc's ed. L08-S (' 74h S\; > \X;V FLVlUSG THE BOA'IVA'A TK'S CriKt-T. All doubt, a» to »he ic<i,;ty of t.im J sh'tu now ly>n>- vn tiie .North Tenby. «:.» w-.c t "ft or. Tuesday i*f* r-in. nv .ha -.ii-covfrv ""f t.it b'.at-Sfsiirs foes., c.nramirsg t.i<».!i'i>g itrii otlie. &!?iClec, j'itr.ai-r-.l a.ncn^xt the umfier it; ie m,ddi.« of the ship, r.te iv-"ii." of ;lj« iioat» was T, Linstfrn. I* the, c!if"sc was *'Sn a iis' t»f .^mes of hire of the crevi, written in ilu'atHi.. i..« receipt for a w*?h hou^ut by in Newrr. Irel.*t:d in :.iay. 1G8S. 'i hetx v/ere aip-is* ve'iil ,e;te*s addrej^a to the :-¡¡itl .Sncwd n at f.>* • p .ii. 1'1,8 Lnx and *ts contents are w ?:i the uoss<-p- ;n Chii,f-!1- it man Merchant a tha* l. guard Station, Tenby. Ttie fii-ding fit th? b xttM i»ee» the ftr«; clrect mca..s .f i-Je uihcar.i.n

BOATING TATMJTY Ols IHif HCMLER. Sf?r03ED LOSS Of TL lEE 1.1VKK. Two boatman on Tuesday reno^t" io the '911:. police tiiat. they h:id seen ■: boat cor»*aipir<» tiir' men capstz* on tin: Bomber. Tlity w»r.t to 'he fpot, but. could r. >ww» eitner men > r ilie ho*t. Norepon nas yet, bt-ea ivtc'e ,.0 the any Luree men bf^g* '\1\>lr'

BRITISH A_\D BELGIAN F!SflF.l{l<l' N^T (TTTEKS PUNISHED. A "Cent-iil News'' fcele«r:.m fr •> 0*tend or; QesQay suites 'imt tiie iai ••i the bHgiaii £ «;>»>. men at-; used f cutting tl»e nt- <»f B m^i h-oer men in tfie Norvh Sen ha* c-i.JiucJid. Ti¡rn captains <)f B",I:,¡¡. tisi.mg .vssk,.S WOO w,-) charged with cur.tin^- i .• nets, c-1 Uie ftsiiit't' si goo Surprise, or' !/>wes«nfu am: the Fisherman. Cl Yarmouth, were a-quitted :>v i>u;t, tl evidence boin^ irvowiinei i < .rir'ett th m « i; 'i ti»c outr;i»e. But other t v.. t'.sm.-r caina.ns were ;ul«y convicted ot havlcg cui t. ne- of ■ u» urittth tiJilhlll" boats u«to ana oi-Tt, C >e h« yisoi.ors w;»s senianeed *o p-ir .• ,1. i5r^ c in duf.'iuj;, tluve days' i-onir»-iii, nnd the other tv (llIe day's impr: •••oumnt and 2fc» r.ne. Both wt..e. in addition, m-aer-d to >>••% Tor t1* da rsag« done to tht British vessels' n. t- Sir Savik Crossley. ai.P.. writ ing to L'rJ Salis- bury. says i-hal the licitish ^sheritier, white j?r»t«- fu! tc her \5«j-.st> n Government ill; ,i e -i-i»ti«>ni.; cruisers sell- t. pr¡J¡"e, th*. for depredators, are convinced ttmt wit neat mmi a,ve and strong* inwv**of ;Oe fior.t hm '.•rdsi.ip th-.r efforts to obtnin compenfeiii ;on wr1,.id otii* result, a", they had uiwf v> ir nothing. S.r S .viie, tl«eret>t'e, aslf? Ui:;i i.ie 't!ii.«uT "hali tnka u,i a;| .supp-orl rilt ct«es r.ovi Uh.¡t. "jit ifes bv i.>re ({ners and ueti ge, r ir■ a1 ln-*s'i M;* in, iUtr rumor 10:113 Briii-h ii.-hw-nieii. L're! Sail bury han seut tiie luifcw.ng ')' :— Hm^rlo Hnit-, ■ 'j D6IIr Sir Savi'e,—1 iinvt- «,<. acsc- I'ige yjir l. c: tiie 3r:: hist., a:iu 'o «s«ur ym ■ "lie euh.ioet •• <•11^*4: i!^ i h» *1' nt • i-,t- n.-> ii;ij»*' :iic l'oe\ arc s^-f.si'ie ■>' t,iR -o.t«!ii, I icirrrcu l>? \.itt H* rj 1,; w;i; .tl: ii.-il ;-e: III li ,«• Ii! ;>1-U *-■ ,» J. reff-rre ttie ;wviecli» -uvhetticii *• ,• ih < o-i «nt U <V|»U eMtHtrt. t-; I.;»e Pndt of f he :» „> i o i .e For-it; Oittct, i"i itrof-r ti swna i. h:>w 1" •: ,f j't v. >• t to i-otiioly witii i ,:ur ret,arai Vuu.5 IVH- n v 8i>' S::vil* crr*»sia«r, sir. -t M.P. "I: '"av-ps, ire«ideni r.f tV c' 'fTolt; f:t-rat F hfrrtnen « Society. '<& ai'd'-e^-ec leiie. I" 1.11, ,¡ I id.*|ei<ji>, J.«r kif y l,o fc- th\ -ijd •ii O*!end,but co-n.aio»„g r.f ti.eu ie ':i.,deu«i.«c;' Oi i fi>€n: ^.n< e* .!■»«<>« d Cne half •' ihf I>OIH_- Un". h-iVe not, !I., says. :ie« told h, if '1: iuc- that & G- í:{ •iiii"ee cf isiq ¡"Y v' MU.ft9;lce s • iinc >r M mrinr

THE BANKRVPTCV OF Mil. A. E. S ^AtiKIGHT. 1111 the London Bankruptcy Gnurt. or. Tuesd-iy, before Mr. Kotfistrar Fmhy Koiyi.v, ;11, public examinatioo t<1I; place ol Mr A, E S. S bright tiie respondent In t.!l.. rec-nt Sebright nullnv *uit. The biinkrupt was descritied «- of Botel George-aireet, flanover-squart- His tiled eh-iwad Utlbt4 unsecured £ 12,55^. 'iafidi y on bill? JES.350, and assets nil. in viie witnew--lK,x tht debtor said he had 110 proper.tf. He 'eui occu- pied some, s'ablaa n L Dover-str-et. Picca- dilly, but the fu<*tee had cancclle.t the lease Tlie bills for J63,350 w, drawn by Miss ^.Ht. anc accepted by Hat debtor, the cmsid. tatiofi being Cash from 'he people who discom.ie.i them. There waa a billiard tat>le for which Messrs. liurrougliet anu Walt* stood as creditors for £ 100..rh* lutlf was at Mias Scott's House. He t»;ive it to her tnor titan eighteen months ago. Be had carried on business nh a iiioriyatre broker m G,e", Geo rye t!treu(., Westminster, h¡1l Ute "!he,, 11I1'I1;lut. '\Va,8 seized for rent. The registrar adjourned the examination till the 2ll'ot of Decern! alai ordered an amended atxtemem of accounts.

PROPOSED AMINI^JEN'J' OF THf FRIENDLY SOCIETIES ACT. DEPUTATION TO THF TREASURY. Mr. Jackson, Financial Secretary to the Trea sury, received a deputation on Tuesday at the Treasury from the W inchester Unity of O Idt'ellowt and tlie Ancient Order ni Koresiecs with reference to certain importnnt alteration's whii-li it is pro- posed to effect in tiie Friendly Socieli»*s net. Tha deputation, which was introduced by iSo- Edward Kirkbeck, M r., consisted of Mr J, J, SuK-kiili. Grand Master of the Mancln-xfei Unity of ^t<id- teUfWf Mr, J. J. Holmes 1'11,01 M.iHiei M). Cu-li-, Purlitttnenfary "gellt; »nu Mr. I'IHKP, lepruM'ntin^ the Forester#.—Sir Edward !• >t>c.k, ir intrp. ducing the deputation, s i t titey dt^ncd to poitit out ihat since the Fnenaiy S'icieiie.« Act of 187S passed a very yre>n development ot the Friendly Society movement iiad inl<pt. place, and it ha.1 been found inji«<pi>n«ible ihat c^rtai: amendments sliould he 1f1"de m tin Act. Tw societies alone—namely, 'lie Manchester Unity < Oddfellow. nnd Mil Ancient Older of F rt"»le,-F— numbered 1,300.000 rremb; r< of tn..iure age, m. thrr« wert ut. w.n-ds ol 100,003 tneinb -r- in tff juvenile branches. Taking ». he F'-ienuly ic>tur in England, toe question u^Ctr 1 .uilho' of people. T"(j,c was a stiony faeliig that tttt amendments which woi'i, tn r)(" suggested wtwtd he carried "lit in t.1,e KIHI I»< ot a Govcrnmeni Kill. Ihe Friee- 'v S were of such vital importance to i he roil,.nut ity at large that it s fett to be -• Miiti>-r oi j t !>hI this cons»;ssion ahoind be frariied iiup< tanee was .ittached to a pmpos»il 'hm tie .iniittf Sixteen \eir«as the age when juvoriile niejnJais f a oranch were allowed .<• i«-«»>svir, m ,v'.nch sIkhiIO be eaiemled t'J tlte a„-e r 21, ti •ere 'tavii ? been i, sudden ;ncreat>« 'n tl., nuiut<«-r m fibers of juvenile tiraiHiies--Tlie >remt«>r; of tfie deputation then expl.umd tin |'i'> alteration in the clause r.-quu iog rej.st-ar s certificate of de*ih o.ivM. nt ol n-. It waa propos»?d to iir, txceptior i i ca t of accider « or other c.-ia»-s on sstisf.ctciy evidence being proiiuced that the bou< c..ul i nvt recovered. A new section w: &1'" jjr> viding that CO'vmt jitions should' de es,nsi!f ,t all moneys invested unuar tiie Act opun of.as 'o which tl«e seal of kvk^i corporation wan aUJichtd Am >ng ot her h K er«; inns was lu r,« r-'curiju br Sit Cdwerd Btrkhack. au<F a pr .v,ji<> in refe- rence to dwputes, to prevent o->uniy-eourt judj;- • and magistrates extrcising jur idict.m L;. contrary to the rules of societies.-• Mr. Ja^ksc r elated that he would give Uie inmVi his m rertfu] and ean tat consider- too. ant. he pro- wieed to bi-ing tiie wisi.ei of '.lie deputaiv ». be. r tl«e Government wiUi a vi»w of aeeiug wiie aer Gcveinaient Bill could be uitioduuiu c." aLJU.