The Cardiff Times

CONSERVATIVE DEMONSTRATION IN NOTTINGHAM. A- rand Conservative demonstration has been held in Col.vick Park. nenr Nottingham. More than 30,000 persons (including Colonel Wright, M.P. for the borough, and Mr. T. B. T. Kildvard, M.P. for South Notts) were present. A procession was formed in the Great Market- place, Nottingham, and marched to Colwick Park, two miles distant. The com mittee had decided that there should be no political speaking, but that the day should be devoted to held sports and other amusements. The rule was, however, broken when Mr. Patterson, the President of the Constitutional Society, proposed The Health of Colonel Wright. Colonel Wright, M.P., then rose, and amid much cheering-, said that they were attached to the State, and they wished to see the Queen on her Throne and the House of Lords to continue to assist the House of Commons in governing the country. During the past session the measure which his friend (Mr. Hildyard} and himself went to fight against had been carried. They opposed it, however, tooth and nail, and he believed both of them were in every division on that hill. Of course, it was a forlorn hope, and they knew that at every division they must be licked by a tremendous majority. He thought now that the Liberals themselves would besrin to fear what bad occurred when they saw the steps which the Roman Catholic Bishops and Archbishops were already taking in Ireland. It was stated the other day at the Liberal demonstration that be (the gallant colonel) was against, education, and that he had given two votes against the Endowed Schools Bill. A reference to the division list would shew there was no division on the Endowed Schools Bill at all on the second reading. Therefore that was not an exactly correct statement, though he had no doubt it was supposed to be right at the time. If they had wished to go against education they should not, as a great number of them did on the Conservative side of the House, and himself among the number, have voted for the exemption of the ragged school from rating. The demonstration was considered a great success.

SIR WILLIAM ARMSTRONG ON WORKING MEN'S AND MECHANICS' INSTITUTES. Sir William Armstrong presided on Monday over the annual meeting of the Northern Union of Mechanics' Institutes, held in Newcastle. In his opening address he expressed surprise that mechanics' institutes failed as they did to lay hold of the working man. They opened, he thought, a way out of the road of a degrading course of life. The neglect shewn to them was caused, lie thought, by the want of education among the classes for whom such institutions were intended. To men who can neither read nor write Mechanics' Institutes can have no attractions whatever, and I sus- pect that if all working men were to stand up for exami- nation in reading and writing, it would be found that while absolute impossibility to do either would be rare, comparatively few would prove qualified to read and write with such ease and fluency as to make either reading or writing a matter of pleasure rather than a matter of labour. Only let us have reading and writing thoroughly taught at school, and men will then be in a position to I èalise the pleasures and ad- vantages offered by mechanics' institutes. The question of elementary education is therefore intimately mixed up with the progress of mechanics' institutes, and I conceive there is no question which can engage the attention of Parliament of such vital importance as that of a national system of rudimentary education. Even if it went no further than a thorough teaching of reading and writing, it would confer inestimable benefits upon the people. If a compulsory system of education be inadmissable, let us at all events remove from careless, selfish parents every temptation to keep their children from school. Let us take care that they do not save their pockets, or other- wise benefit themselves, by keeping their children at home, or sending them prematurely to trade. Let us sweep away all those impediments to school edu- cation which arise from difference of religious opinion, and let us leave to parents, however poor and ignorant, no possible excuse for preventing their children from acquiring the precious advantages of education." In conclusion. Sir William advised all large firms to do as he had done, establish mechanics institutes with schools attached so that in the schools the children might learn, in the institutes the men might find intellec- tual amusement and obtain culture. The amount of the schooling might be taken out of the men's wages.

THE SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS. The arrangements for the forthcoming annual Congress of the Social Science Association, to be held at Bristol from the 29th inst. to the 6th of October, are progressing rapidly and satisfactorily. The list of presidents has been completed. Sir Stafford Northcote, Bart., M.P., will preside over the whole association, and deliver his inaugu- ral address on the first evening of the meeting. Mr. G. W. Hastings takes the presidency of the jurisprudence department in which arrangements are being made for a thorough discussion of the questions of the relations between England and her colonies, charitable endowments, and the occupation and ownership of land. The Rev. C. Kingsley, lately appointed a canon of Chester, takes that of the education department, where the subject of education, whether of the upper, middle, or lower classes of society, will be discussed. Mr. J. A. Symonds, M.D,. of Bristol, will take the health department, when the spread of infectious and contagious diseases, dipsomania, and other health subjects will be considered. The economy and trade department will be presided over by the Right Hon. Stephen Cave, M.P., the three special questions for discussion being the adminis- tration of the poor laws, emigration, and the condition of the agricultural labourer. The vice-presidents of the various departments have also been appointed. The Congress will be opened with a sermon to be preached by the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. During the sitting there will be a conference of ladies interested in educa- tional, sanitary, and other social subjects, under the superintendence of Miss Mary Carpenter. A working men's meeting is being organised, and evening soirees are to take place. There will be excursions to Cheddar, Tin- tern Abbey, and the training ship at the mouth of the river.

LORD BYRON. Lord Lindsay contributes to the Times another addition to the literature of the Byron controversy. In a letter of a column and a quarter he endeavours to prove that Lady Byron, at least in the early part of her separated life, did not believe her husband guilty of the crime which Mrs. Stowe imputes to him. The evidence Lord Lindsay adduces, consists of memoranda written by Lady Anne Barnard of conversations with Lady Byron-whom she had known from infancy-and concludes with a letter from Ladv Byron herself. Lady Anne says that after the birth of the child, hearing of Lady Byron's distress, she wrote and asked her to come and see her that theymight take counsel together. Lady Byron came to Lady Anne. 'The tale she told was as follows :-They (Lord and Lady Byron) had not been an hour in the carriage 'which conveyed them from the church, after the marriage ceremony, when, breaking into a malig- nant sneer, Lord Byron said, Oh! what a dnpe you have been to your imagination. How is it possible a woman of your sense could form the wild hope of reforming me? Many are the tears you will have to shed ere that plan is accomplished. It is enough for me that you are my wife for me to hate yoo; if you were the wife of any other man I own you might have charms,' Scci Lady Anne, astonished to hear this story, asked Lady Byron why she lived with him afterwards. Lady Byron replied, Because I had not a conception he was in earnest; because I reckoned it a bad jest, and told him so—that my opinions of him were very different from his of himself, other- wise he would not find me by his side. He laughed it over when he saw me appear hurt, and I forgot what had passed till forced to remember it. I believe he was pleased with me, too, for a little while. I suppose it had escaped his memory that I was his wife." Byron (the memoranda go on to say) often reproached his wife for the motives which led her to marry him Her vanity, be sneeringlv said, had caused her to take pity upon him. Well, he confessed cruelly, the reason for which he had married her was her money. She should bulid up again Iris shattered fortune. If Lady Byron reproached nim tearfully he would throw himself on the floor saying he was mad. She got to regard this as put on after a time, but shehardlyunderstoorlit. By-and-bye he tried to corrupt her principles with regard to her own conduct and his latitude. She saw the precipice on which she stood, and kept his sister with her as much as possi- ble. He returned in the evening from the haunti of vice, where he made her understand he had been with manners so profligate "And bad he no moments of remorse," asked Lady Anne. "Sometimes (Lady Byron replied) he appeared to have them. One night, coming home from one of his lawless parties, he saw me so indignantly collected, and bearing all with such a ml determined calmness, that a rush of remorse seemed to, come over him; be called himself a monster, though his sister was present, and threw him. self in agony at my feet. I could not-no-I could not forgive him sueh injuries. # He had lost me for ever! Astonished at the return of virtue, my tears, I believe, flowed over his face, and I said, 4 Byron, all is forgotten never, never shall von hear of it more! He started up, and, folding his arms while he looked at me, burst into laughter. What do you mean?' said I. 'Only a philo- sophical experiment, that's all," said he 'I wished to ascertain the value of your resolutions.' When her child was born. Byron was informed 'be might see his daughter,' after gazing at it with an exulting smile, this was the ejaculation that broke from him, Ob, what an implement of torture I have acquired in you!' All this reads madder than I believe be was but she had not then made up her mind to disbelieve his pretended insanity, and conceived it best to intrust her secret with the excellent Dr. Baillie. Baillie doubted of his derangement, but, as he did not reckon his own opinion infallible, he wished her to take precautions as if her husband was no. He ft. commended her going to the country, but to give him no %ipicion of her intentions of remaining there, and for short time to shew no coldness in her letters till she could better jertain. his state. She went-regretting, as she told fff(?,'to wear any semblance but the truth. A short time disclosed the story to the world. He acted the part of a man driven to despair by her inflexible resentment and by the arts of a governess (once a servant in the family) who hated him. Such was the interview the letter following was written to the same Lady Anne Barnard, and is appended by her to the account of the interview :—" I am a very incompetent judge of the impression which the last canto of Childe Harold' may produce on the minds of indiffe- rent readers. It contains the usual trace of a conscience restlessly awake. I will hope, as you do, that it survives for his ultimate good. I am decidedly of opinion that he is responsible. He has wished to be thought partially deranged, to perplex observers and pre- vent them from tracing effects to their real causes. I was, as I told you, at one time the dupe of his acted insanity. till the whole system was laid bare. He is the absolute monarch of words, and uses them, as Buonaparte did lives, for conquest. Why then, you will say, does he not employ them to give a better colour to his own character? Because he is too good an actor to assume a moral garb which it would be easy to strip off. In regard to his poetry, egotism is the vital primage of his imagination. By the introduction of fictitious incidents, by change of scene or time, he has enveloped his poetical disclosures in a system impenetrable except to a very few. Nothing has contributed more to the misunderstanding of his real cha- racter than the lonely grandeur in which he shrouds it, and his affectation of being above mankind, when he exists almost in their voice. The romance of his sentiments is another feature of this mask of state. I know no one more habitually destitute of that enthusiasm be so beautifully expresses, and to which he can work up his fancy chiefly by contagion. I had heard he was the best of brothers, the most generous of friends, and I thought such feelings only required to be warmed and cherished into more diffusive benevolence. Though these are eradicated, and could never return but with the decay of my memory, you will not wonder if there are still moments when the association of feelings which arose from them soften I and sadden my thoughts. My wishes never were to injure Lord Byron in any way; for, though he would not suffer me to remain his wife, he cannot prevent me from continuing his friend. It is not necessary to speak ill of his heart in general; it is suffi- cient to me that it was hard and impenetrable—that my own must have been broken before his could have been touched. I would rather represent this as my misfortune than as his guilt; hut, surely, that misfortune is not to be made my crime It is said in this poem that hatred of him will be taught as a lesson to his child. There has been no moment when I have remembered injury other- wise than affectionately and sorrowfully. It is not my duty to give way to hopeless and wholly unrequited ,tff affection, but so long as I live, my chief struggle will probably be not to remember him too kindly. I do not seek the sympathy of the world, but I wish to be known by those whose opinion is valuable and whose kindness is dear to me."

THE DOCKYARDS. It is now confidently asserted that in addition to closing Woolwich and Deptford Dockyards the Government has decided on the abolition of Sheerness as a naval establish- ment as soon as the requisite arrangements connected with the chance can be carried out. The only dock- yards and naval establishments which will thus be retained are those at Chatham, Portsmouth, Devonport, and Pembroke. The Government, by the abolition of Woolwich, Deptford, and Sheerness dockyards, only give effect to the recommendation of the committee which sat some time since, in concentrating the whole of the naval resources of the kingdom at some three or four large dockyards. For some years past Sheerness has been allowed to sink into the position of one of the minor dock- yards, the large establishment at Chatham, same few miles higher up the Medway, monopolising nearly the whole of the building and fitting of the ships of our ironclad squadrons, whilst the completion of the vast basins and docks now in course of formation at that port will leave no necessity for the retention of Sheerness as a separate naval establishment. As to the use to which Sheerness Dockyard may ultimately be put, nothing definite would appear to be decided, but it seems probable that it will be retained as a place for depositing naval stores. The period for closing the dockyard at Woolwich is fixed for the ]st of October, when the whole of the mechanics and other hands employed at the establishment will be discharged. Already a number of the established work- men have been transferred to Chatham Dockyard, and the remainder will be sent to that and other dockyards as vacancies occur at those establishments.

THE SERVICE GUNPOWDER. The special committee on gunpowder have been carrying out a series of experiments for the past week in the Wool- wich Marshes. As far as we can gather, the results pro- mise to be most important. Our present service powder is far to violent in its action, and one of the chief objects the committee have in view is to procure a powder that will strain the gun much less with- out, at the same time, sacrificing the initial or muzzle velocity of the projectile. A species of powder called "pellet" was lately introduced for this purpose, but recent experiments have shewn that it cannot be relied on as at present manufactured. The Russians are said to have adopted an excellent powder called prismatic," while other nations, such as the Prussians, Belgians, and Fronch are following in the same footsteps. Speci- mens of all these powders will doubtless be tried by the committee. We lately alluded io the question of the posi- tion of the vent in large guns, and pointed out that it would be very unadvisable to alter its position, and we are glad to hear that the preliminary experiments of the committee have fully borne out our views. It appears that a vent in the rear of the gun. besides diminishing the initial velocity, causes an intense local strain at the base of the projectile, due, we presume, to a long column of gas at a high velocity being suddenly checked. Under these circumstances it is exceedingly fortunate that the authorities did not listen to recent proposals to vent all our heavy guns in the rear. The centre vent, although it may possibly cause a greater maximum pressure,bas the effect of distributing the strain more uniformly over the powder chamber, and thus diminishing any intense local effect.

THE CRUISE OF THE FLYING SQUADRON. The accounts received of the progress of the Flying Squadron, with the Lords of the Admiralty on board, are eminently satisfactory. Squadron sailing is a novel exercise for our seamen, and has certainly the advantage of keeping the crews on the alert, for from morning to night the work of making and shortening sail goes on in order to keep the ships in their respective stations. Thanks to the adoption of Colomb's flashing signals for night signalling their vigilance is allowed no respite. If any ship has failed to keep her station during the night a signal is made by the flagship in the morning for the name of the officer of the watch in which the error is committed, and the name is sent up in bunting for the benefit of the fleet! It is evident that under these circumstances those who volun- teered for the flying squadron find they have more work than play, but it affords an excellent opportunity of improvement in seamanship and gunnery to young and inexperienced officers. The Colomb signal system, to which reference has been made, is now officially adopted for the British Navy, and every boys' training ship is supplied with the apparatus to instruct the lads in their use. It is simple and efficient, and is admirably adapted for night com- munication at sea—a great desideratum. It consists of an adaptation of Morse's telegraph system, and conveys the messages by the short or long flashes of light, and their position to each other. In a fog, the same method of signalling is carriod out by sound with the fog horn. The system when first introduced met with very strong opposition, but it was strongly sup- ported by Sir Sydney Dacres, the Senior Sea Lord of the Admiralty, and is now, as we have said, regularly established. A question very interesting to naval engi- neers, and very important to the country, has been raised during this cruise, and it refers to the machinery of our turret ships. The Monarch has two turrets, one of which is completely disabled by an injury to the machinery fitted to the carriages of the guns. This machinery is extremely complicated, and though several workmen from the Portsmouth Dockyard were taken to sea in the hope that they could effect the necessary repairs, the turret is not likely, according to the last accounts, to be in working order again during the voyage. It is, therefore, asked whether some less complex arrangement may not be devised since an injury which it takes a journey round the world to set to rights cannot certainly be rectified during the exigencies of a naval campaign. Steam evolutions were made off Gibraltar before joining the Mediterranean ships, and more important exercises are to be gone through by the combined fleets in the cruise between Gibraltar and Lisbon. So far as they have yet gone, the admiral has expressed himself well satisfied with the performances of the ships, many of which are newly commissioned. The sick list is at a low rate, and the general condition of the crews highly satisfactory. As the fleet entered the Bay of Gibraltar, Vice-Admiral Milne came out in his steam-yacht to welcome the First Lord and his colleagues to Gibraltar.

THE INTERNATIONAL BOAT-RACE, RECEPTION OF THE NEWS IN AMERICA. The American papers, arrived on Tuesday morning, davote an enormous space to the description of the boat- race. They have a map of the country round about Putney and Mortlake, a full account of all sayings and doings up to the time of the encounter, a wood portrait oi the various competitors, and a column of tide- grams describing the actual contest. All this matter, amounting to about a page of type, apper.rs in the New York journals simultaneously with the English narratives —that is, the morning after the race. The description of the race is thoroughly impartial, and the comments of the fairest character. The news ieached New York just 23 minutes and 13 seconds after the winning boat arrived at Mortlake, this time including the trans- mission from the winning-post to the nearest telegraph station, three-quarters of a mile. The result was awaited with the most extraordinary excitement in the great American city. When the news came, says the New York Tribune, it was near the hour for Wall-street to empty itself, and sou-.e very gloomy men sat down to dinner. The word ran like fire. Oxfond ahead" was upon everybody's lips. Hotels, club-rooms, and billiard-rooms took up the theme. No use, Bob," said a porter to a backman at the Fifth-ave. Hotel, 'them English boys have the staminy: its some think in the climate gives tm the hadvan'ta^e." This reasoning did not please the haclcman, nor, it is believed, the generality of people. About the boating clubs great regret at the result was manifest. The Gulick boys forgot their customary rally, and sat talking low in the dark. The Hoboken Club seemed to be ready for a funeral. The boat's crew, on the Hud son for practice, rowed quietly, and the oarsmen sighed as they went up from the landing to the boat-house. No bad feeling enters the breast of a true oarsman. Don't let them beat us in good nature," was often said, and the occasional drain of comfort in Better luck next time," was gladly received. All did not seem to be lost with the boatmen, although the field was lost. At the Metropolitan a large crowd discussed the result, and many were of the opinion that the Harvard men should have retained Bass and Eire, who were set aside for Fay and Lyman, and others, thought that Simmons should have been replaced. The fair play shewn by the Englishmen was the subject of flattering comment. Old gentlemen walked slovenly over the marble blocks of the hotel floors, alternately damning the English andboasting of Yankee pluck. We can beat 'am the next time, can't we, pa?" were the fOfdl of Ifouag ÂIDeriaI. Almost every naturalised fau. 'bore a shade of disappointment. The "Irish jintlemoa I j took a chew of fine cut, and said, 0, ye have got to øI1 up in the morning if ye wan't to heat them then Britishers?" The young man lately from Lirerpool thought it queer that the Americans should dream oi rowing with men who have ruled the seas for centuries. Well, there is nothing like letting people know where they stand. If the Yankees will not learn at home, why they must go abroad and pay dear for their knowledge. The genuine American said that we can afford to wait. In their comments on the issue the American journals universally praise the fairplay shewn by the English. The Tribune says the result is a sore disappointment, but not a surprise. "It could not be forgotten that the art which at Oxford is based upon the accumu. lated experience of generations, at Harvard is almost an acquisition of yesterday. Neither could it be forgotten against what fearful odds the American crew went into the contest. Pulling in strange waters, with a strange organisation, in a strange climate, against men who were perfectly at home and knew every inch of the course by heart pulling, too, against the very finest crew that England had ever put into a boat, it was nothing short of a despe- rate encounter into which they had thrown them. selves, and their success would have been little less than marvellous." The New York Times says :—" In common fairness we maintain that the Oxonians ought to give them the chance of a return match. Let the accidents which told in this race against the Americans be courageously faced by the Englishmen. Then the two systems of rowing will have been satisfac- torily tested. The Oxonians have shewn themselves a spirited foe-it is not too much to expect from them a chivalrous emulation of the course taken by our representatives. If they come over here they will be, during their stay, the most popular men in the country. The whole nation would take a pride in in- suring for them generous treatment and fair play. Whether they won or lost the day, their reception would be a thing for them to remember all the rest of their lives. There is no civility or hospitality which has been extended to the Harvard crew which would not be repaid here to the Englishmen four-fold."

A SPEAKING MACHINE. Professor Faber's speaking-machino is to be exhibited at Hamburgh during the continuance of the Interna- tional Horticultural Exhibition. It is said to articulate various words, and eveu to answer qut-stions by simple sentences with wonderful distinctness. This is by no means the first invention of the kind that b.ts been exhibited. Wolfgang von Kempelen, the inventor of a chess auto- maton, who was born nt I'resburg in 1734, and died at Vienna, 1804, both constructed a machine of the kind and wrote on the subject. The machine about to be exhibited at Hamburg is, however, more perfect than any previous invention of tbo kind.

THE ALBERT AMALGAMATIONS. Mr. J. Winn Knight, M.P., writes to the Pall Mall Gazette :—" I see it stated in your paper, in the account of the affairs of the Albert Insurance Office, that on the amalgamation of the Bank of London and National Provincial Association with the Albert Company the directors of the Association received X200 each. I was a director of that Association during its short existence (my only experience in such a capacity), and a cheque for £ 200 was actually sent to me on that occasion, which I refused to accept, and returned to the office. At the same time I wrote a circular to my co-directors to say that I took this step because I considered that the money belonged to the share or policy-holders and not to the directors. I hope you will kindly allow meto make this explanation to your directors."

THE ALBERT LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY. On Tuesday Baskell (Messrs. Brandon) applied to Mr. Bloxam, the chief clerk in the Chancery Chambers, to take out a summons, on the part of a number of policy- holders, for leave to inspect the books and documentt of the Albert Life Assurance Company. The chief clerk granted the application. The summon) of Mr. W. T. Manning, on the part of some Eetitioners to wind up the company, for an order to have notice of all applications, also came on for heariner. Mr. Musgrave (Messrs. Lewis and Co.) opposed, as alsc Mr. Green (Ashurst and Morris) for the company. Mr. Manning said that Mr. Kirby, one of the provisional liquidators, had not the confidence of the policy-holders, and the meeting had been held to get a re- presentation before the judges in support of his scheme. Mr. Musgrave and Mr. Green objected, as there was no order made to wind up the company. The Chief Clerk, after a long discussion, refused the application, and it has to go before the judge. It was announced that the judge would come to town on the 17th inst., and sit at Lincoln's- inn to hear the petitioners and the other applicants in the matter.

DEATH OF GENERAL THOMPSON. The Pall Mall Gazette records the death of Lieutenant. General Perronet Thompson, F.R.S.,which has just taken place at Blackheath. A few years ago the announcement would have made some sensation, for during a certain portion of his career General Thompson was one of the most prominent of public men. He was born at Hull in 1783, and was first educated at the Grammar School there, which was at the time conducted by Joseph Milner, the Church historian. He afterwards went to Cambridge. After serving about four years in the navy he became a soldier, and saw a good deal of active service. On his return to England be began to take a great interest in politics, and in connection with the Anti-Corn Law League took a very active part in the promotion of free trade. He was first returned to Parliament in 1835, for Hull. General Thompson was for many years the editor and proprietor of the Westminster Review, and a very industrious political economist aud scientific writer. In this review appeared the Corn Law Catechism so effec- tive in that discussion. In his social circle he was one ol the most gentle, considerate, and kind of men.

DEATH OF GENERAL THE HON. SIB CHARLES GORE, G.C.B. On Saturday morning, about half-past nine o'clock, General the Hon. Sir Charles Gore, G.C.B. and K.H., the lieutenant-governor of Chelsea Hospital, died at his residence at the hospital. The gallant deceased, who was fourth son of Arthur Saunders, second Earl of Arran, was born on the 26th December, 1793, and was father of the Countess of Errol and brother of the Duchess of Inverness. He entered the army as ensign in October, 1808, and served in the 43rd Regiment from July 1811, to the close of the war in 1814. He was present, and was one of the storm- ing party, at Fort San Francisco, at the investment of Ciudad Rodrigo, also at the siege and storming of that fortress and Badajoz, and at the battle of Salamanca, as aide-de-camp to General Sir Andrew Barnard. He was afterwards aide-de-camp to General Sir James Kemp in the battles of Vittoria, Nivelle, Nive (9th, 10th, and lltb December), Orthes, and Toulouse. He was also in the action of San Milan, capture of Madrid, storming of the heights of Vera, the bridge of Yanzi, and all the skir- mishes of the Light Division from 1812 to the end of the war, in 1814. Sir Charles Gore afterwards accompanied General Sir James Kemp with the troops to Canada. He, however, returned to Europe in time for the campaign of 1815, and was first and principal aide-de-camp to Sir James Kemp, and in that capacity was present at the battles of Quatre Bras (where he had a horse shot) and Waterloo (where he lost three horses), and afterwards accompanied the army to Paris. He went on half-pay in August, 1825, and in April the following year proceeded to Canada, where he served on the staff for some years as Deputy-Quartermaster-General. He served for some years in North-America as Major-Genera] on the staff, and as Lieutenant-General Commanding in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, &c. For his services in the Peninsula he had received the war medal with nine clasps, and in 1836 he was made a Knight of the Royal Hano- verian Guelphic Order, having previously been made a Companion of the Order of the Bath, of which he was made Knight Commander in 1860, and a Grand Cross ir 1867. He was appointed colonel of the 91st (the Argyle. shire) Regiment of Foot in 1855, and was transferred in 1861 to the 6th (the Royal 1st Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot. which colonelcy becomes vacant by his death. Sir Charles was appointed lieutenant-governor of Chelsea Hospital on the death of Field-Marshal Sir Hew Dalrymple Ross, in December last.

PRACTICAL TORPEDOES. After many years of labour, Captain and Commando Harvey have succeeded in making a torpedo which is completely under practical control. Hitherto these vil- lainous contrivances have proved nearly useless, from the extreme difficulty of exploding them at the propel moment. An old torpedo, immersed in the water, seldom or never could be induced to go off when a hostile ship was immediately over it, in which position alone the ex. plosion could be of any avail. But under the new system the torpedo is as controllable as a rocket. Instead of sinking the torpedo, Captain Harvey tows it boldly against the craft that is to be destroyed, the explosion taking place by the act of contact. Any one who has towed a boat along a river or canal knows, that, if the tow-rope was made fast to the stem of the boat, she would soon stick her nose in the bank j but by fastening the tow rope nearly amidships she shoots out into the stream, and travels in a straight line parallel to the towing path, at a greater or less distance out, according to the length of the tow rope. This is the priuciple adopted by Captain Harvey for towing his torpedo, which is a long, narrow box, weighted at the lower edge, and with a towing span on one side. The bottom is not so long as the top, so that the section is something of a punt form, which makes it more easy tc tow. Ilie box contains an inner metal case to hold the powder, or other more powerful explosive agent, which is ignited by means of a metal bolt inserted into a chambei on the top of the torpedo. This bolt is hollow, and it loadedwith a fulminate, which explodes when the bolt it pressed downwards on to a sharp pin or anvil m the hot. tom of the Chamber, The pressure which forces the bolt downwards is exerted by two ingeniously contrived levers, on their coming into contact with the bottom or side of a ship. One lever projects upwards from the top of the torpedo, 1nd the other from the side, so that no matter what th, angle of contact maybe, the explosion is sure to follow. Even when the exploding bolt is placed in its chamber, means are taken to prevent accidental discharge by putting in a pin at right angles through the bolt and neross the top of the chamber. This safety pin is attached to a piece of log-line, which is run off a reel, as in heaving thj log. when the torpedo is being towed. The pin ::3 a°'slight lashing of twine, to prevent accidental "-p lacement, but when the torpedo is to be fired, a smart tn," on the log line breaks the twine and pulls out the rin. The torpedo is then ready to explode the moment the contract takes place. With a tow-rope of sixty 01 seventy fathoms, the torpedo floats off the quarter of the towing vr--gel at an angle from 30deg. to 40 deg., accord, ing to the speed. The torpedo is so well weighted that it sinks of itself, so that there is a cork buoy attached by a buoy rope. \Vhen being towed, the torpedo gradually rises to the surface, the buoy trailing a^ong astern. By varying the speed of the towing vessel tne depth at which the torpedo shall strike an enemy's ship can be very nicely regulated.

ANOTHER STORY OF POLICE JUSTICE. A correspondent of the Telegraph, signing himself Victiiii," writes, telling a very strange, an almost im- probable, story of the injustice of the police. The follow. in? is its substanceOn the evening of the great boat. race he was going along the Old-street-road to the City-road, being about to take an omnibus to London Bridge. Suddenly he was startled by a blow from a aiiclc en the top of his hat. A dozen roughs then set upon him." He ran away, seeking a policeman; was followed and thrown down, but, being nimble, managed to escape into a confectioner's shop. The crowd outside began to grow, and the confectioner turned him out. "Victim" again tried to escape from the mob, sought in vain for a policeman, but again failed in both attempts. "The mob," he goes on to say, "followed me, forming a sort of half-circle round me, till I got as far as Bunhill-fields burying-ground, when I was heavily thrown down, my pockets immediately rifled, and my watch taken. I then walked on till I came within the precincts of the City's boundary, followed by part of the rabble, when I met a policeman, whom I accompanied to the Moor-lane Police-station, and it may be judged what a state of mind I was in. 1 was waiting, as I thought, till the inspector was disengaged; but unfortunately I happened to say, What a shame it was there was no police at hand My face was all bruises, and I was exhausted from the exertions made to escape from the mob. Immediately I had complained that there were no police, at a signal- a word from the inspec- tor-an officer said, Will you walk this way, sir?" open- ing a door. I thought, of course, it was to go into another room to state my case, but I found it was to be locked uP.. Everything I had was taken from me, and upon my remonstrating against being locked up I was told I should go presently. About an hour after three officers came into the cell, where there was a drunken man lying on the floor. They asked where I lived. I told them they had made a mistake in locking me up, when the middle one gave me a violent push backwards, with You are drunk." When they had got outside one of them said, 'You will not go while there are any shops open the more you say the longer you will stop there.' They also told me I had got company. A. little after ten I attracted the notice of a kind-hearted officer, to whom I explained that iny poor wife at home would be distracted, and that I had a poor afflicted daughter to whom the result might be serious. I heard him represent my case from the door, and I was soon liberated. After signing for my property I had been divested of, and having said I should take a cab home, an officer followed me, and when I had got into the cab put his head in at the window, and said. You'll stand a glass of ale, won't you, Bir ? Thus was a respectable City merchant, of seven- teen years' standing, confined in a cell with a ("rnnken man for three hours and a half, without examination or charge made. I beg to say I was perfectly sober, having been out all day from ten in the morning, and had only during the day taken three glasses of claret wine. I have received two letters—one from the Superintendent of Moor-lane Station and one from the Commissioner—very unsatisfactorily recommending me to apply to the nearest metropolitan station, as the robbery was committed out of the City. Of course, being detained for three hours and a half, my property was lost, and the thieves bad a fine opportunity to escape."

THE ABSCONDING GOVERNOR OF PENTONVILLE PRISON. On Tuesday the prisoner Captain Vivian Craig, late the Governor of Pentonville Prison, was placed before Mr. Flower, the sitting magistrate at Bow-street Police-court, charged with embezzling the sum of £ G!)0, the pro- perty of her Majesty. Mr. Poland, who appeared on the part of the Treasury, said the pri- soner was appointed to the governorship of the prison in 1859, and the salary he was to receive was £ 400 per annum with an annual rise of £ 10, with a house free. The sum of £ 690 was the sum the prisoner was charged with stealing, and although the Guarantee Society had paid the money, the Government had thought it proper to institute the present prosecution. He then read a letter written by the prisoner a short time be- fore he absconded, which stated that he had been Jed step by step by a villain to take the public money." The embezzlement had_ been effected by the prisoner retaining the money received for articles that had been manufactured and disposed of by order of the authorities. The governor of the prison at Brecon proved the sending of a sum of £ 22 to the prisoner, whicn had never been entered in the Pentonville Prison books. Mr. Poland laid there was a great deal of difficulty in getting the evidence together after so long a time, and ho had to itA! for another remand of the prisoner, a request which was at once granted.

EXECUTION OF THE ALDERSHOT MURDERER. On Monday morning, at eight o'clock, the final sentence of the law was carried into effect inside the county prison on William Dixon, who was condemned to death on the 18th ult. for the wilful murder of Corporal William Brett Dixon's general conduct since his conviction has been orderly, and he has been most attentive to all the instruct tions given to him. He was, however, exceedingly reserved. On Sunday he received the holy communion. and afterwards wrote the following statement:—"I, William Dixon, now lying under sentence of death for the wilful murder of Corporal Brett, beg to state that my sentence is a just one for the horrible deed I committed, and for which I am very sorry. It is my earnest wish to seek forgiveness from the friends of Corporal Brett for the injury I have so unwarrantably inflicted on him as well as on them by my most wicked act. It is too late now for me to expect any answer to this request but I hope they may tell my God they have forgiven me, also that my neglect to God, and my wretched love of drink, as well as my evil passions, should have led to such a deed. Surely if soldiers, and especially young soldiers, coukl know what misery and wretchedness follow such conduct as mine they would never allow their passions to be their master, and continue such a course of drink and other vices as have been my ruin and the cause of my taking a fellow creature's life and a comrade's, who deserved a better fate, and whose brother was my friend and companion. I now feel I can make no adequate satisfaction for my sin and crime. I fear it is almost useless to hope my fate will prove a warning to many of my comrades nnd companions in the regiment I belong to. I only wish they knew what I have gone through since I committed the crime. Perhaps then they would not be so likely to imi- tate my example in that or any other respect. My present anxiety and sorrow has many causes. I have sinned against God all my life. I have wickedly and un- justifiably deprived a fellow-creature of life, and involved his friends as well as my own in grief and misery. I feel I dare hardly expectanyforgi veness from man or mercy from God, but for his great love in Christ Jesus, and my hope is solely in that Saviour. Had I learned to know more of Himyears ago, I might have escaped this shameful edel, nnd had a more satisfactory hope in a dying hour. I hope God may have mercy on me for Christ's sake, and I wish that my death may prove a terror and a warning to people, and especially to' soldiers, who are going on as I used to do. I should be thankful if this may meet the eyes of Cor- poralBrett's brotherand friends, and the eyes of the men in my regiment. Signed, in the presence of the governor, the chaplain, and the schoolmaster. WILLIAM DIXOX.— Sunday, September5, 1869. In the morning the bell rang at half-past five, and at six the chaplain, the Rev. Foster Rogers visited the convict and remained with him to the last. Shortly before eight Calcraft was taken to the room where the culprit was, and the process of pinioning was at once proceeded with. The procession to the drop was then formed. The scaffold had been erected in the yard at the back of the prison, and over the convict burial ground. Dixon died almost instantaneously. A black flag was hoisted on the prison gate as the drop fell, and remained there for an hour, but not more than fifty persons were outside the gate.

THE MURDER IN THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA. The murder of Mdlle. Tinné, the African traveller, has already been announced. The Times publishes an account of the murder. The melancholy event took place in the Ouadi Berdjoudj, one day's journey from Scharaba, and five days to the west of Mourzouk. The last letter from Mdlle. Tinné, who left Tripoli for the interior on the 30th of January, 1869, was dated from Scharaba, and received at the same time with the account of her murder, which was written soon after the occurrence by one of the Arab servants of the deceased, Mohamed Ben Hassen el Bennani. The party, escorted by an Arab, El Hadj Ahmed Bu Selah, sent by El Hadj Ikhenouhen, the chief of the Tuaregs, who was waiting at Taharat to escort her himself thence to Ghat, fell in with a party of six Arabs and eight Touaregs, headed by El Hadj Esscheikh Bou Beker, another Touareg chief, who disputed the right of escort, alleging that he had been ordered by El Hadj Ikhe- nouken to conduct her to Taharat. On Sunday, August 1, the six Arabs and eight Touaregs pretended to dispute i aa to who should carry the palanquin of Mdlle. linnd The Touaregs were armed with lances and sabres. The Arabs, on the pretence of defending themselves, seized the arms of Mdlle. Tinne's servants which were lying on the ground while the camels were being loaded. Mdlle. Tinne and the two Dutch sailors advanced to separate the combatants. One of the sailors, named Ootsmans, was immediately run through by a Touareg with a Jance, which also wounded a negro who was behind him. Mdlle. Tinne was stretching out her right arm in a commanding attitude when a Touareg struck off her hand with a sabre, and an Arab shot her in Se breast, causing instant death. The other sailor, icobsi, who had rushed to her help, was then shot dead by an Arab. Thus the responsibility of the crime was ingeniously divided between the members of the two tribes. All the other servants, consisting of Arabs and negroes, were allowed to escape, except a. young negress named Jasmina, who was carried off by the Touaregs. It appears that Mdlle. Tinne purposed making a tour in the Toureg territory, while awaiting supplies and fresh camels from Tripoli, and intended to return to Mourzouk, to start thence for Bournou. She had met at Mourzouk Dr. Nachtingall, a Prussian traveller, who was charged with presents from the King of Prussia to the Kin« of 0 Boumou, and who bad left on a short journey eastwards to the country of the Tibous, also intending to return to Mourzouk for supplies before proceeding to Bournou by the annual caravan some time in November. Baron de lesta has sent orders for the survivors of Mdlle. Tinnds party to return immediately to Tripoil. The Ouadi Berjoudj is, according to Barth, in the territory of Fezzan, and conse- quently within Turkish jurisdiction but the Pasha holds to the contrary, although it is well known that be raises tribute there when he can do so. He promises to do his utmost to bring the offenders to justice, but as he had previously confessed his inability to protect travellers beyond Mourzouk, he is scarcely responsible for the catastrophe.

The money remitted to the Chancellor of the Exchequer by divers persons, for conscience' sake, in the financial year ending March 1869 amounted to £4,194. In 1868 the amount was £ 4,668. A SCIENTIFIC CONUNDRUlH.- The Engineer kindly gives the following information to velocipedists, by which, It is to be hoped, they will profit"The keeping of the balance in mounting a velocipede depends on the fulfil- ment of one or other of two conditions-either that the line of motion of the centre of the mass of the rider at the instant when he alights in the saddle must be in the same vertical plane with the line of motion of the centre of mass of the velocipede and the track of the wheels, or should that be impracticable, the rider must be preparedinstantly to correct the deviation by means of the steering apparatus." PLAIN PREACHING.—Female preachers were the feature at the Round Lake camp meeting. One of them, mounted on a water hogshead, made a sensation. Shame on you young woman with that brazen head-gear, and that ungodly hump on your back! Where's the modesty your mother teched you to kerry through life with you." [Here a very pretty girl vanished into the wood.l There's a fuil grown man chewing a nasty filthy weed that the pigs would'nt tech. I Next to godliness, young man, is cleanliness. Ef I didn't love the human race as I do, bless God, I'd like to get down from this waggin and sicken you tobacker chawers with your nasty mouthsful." —Evening Witcomin.

GENERAL NEWS. Cardinal Cullen has ordered a special three-day. thanksgiving in the Dublin chapels for the "putting of an end to ascendancy" by the Legislature. The Sheffield papers give great prominence to the statement that the Duke of Norfolk has given £1,000 to the Sheffield Infirmary. At Kilmallock, Skibbereen, and Kilrush, amnesty meetings were held on Monday. At Kilrush about ten thou- sand people were present, and about fifteen thousand at Kil- mallock. The Skibbereen meeting was a failure in conse- quence of the opposition of the local priests. The young man Clement Harwood, who has been remanded several times on a charge of stealing bills of ex- change to the amount of £15,000, and who is also charged with forgery, was again brought up on Tuesdy. The prosecutor asked to be allowed to withdraw the charge which the Lord Mayor granted. Admiral Sir George Rodney Mundy, late Com- mander-in-Chief of the North American and West Indian squadron, with his staff and the late officers and crew of the Royal Alfred Bag-ship, are expected at Portsmouth, on board her Majesty's ship Revenge, at the latter end of this month. The advocates of an amnesty for the Fenian pri- soners are encournged to lJape for the success of their movement by a letter from Mr. Gladstone received by their secretaries in Dublin, in which the Premier assures them that "he will not fuil to give his most earnest attention to tho important question." It is just made public that Lord Stanley has been a member of the Financial Reform Association. He has just been applied to for hia subscription, however, and seems to have forgotten all about his connection with it. He replies that he will pay up; but they must take his name off immedi- ately, as he does not agree with the policy which the society advocates. A new association in Birmingham, under the title ot "The .Established Church Institution," is started. Its objects are the maintenance and advancement of the prin- ciples of the Church of England the promotion of a general knowledge in subordioation to reiigion the cultivation of Church music; and encouragemtnt of kindly intercourse among all classes of Churchmen. The Dublin Provincial Synod of the Episcopal Church has been formally summoned for the 14th of Sep- tember. A proposition bus been made that 200,000 enrolled Orangemen should, 8i>! It f'ociety, mise a contribution Ilmong themselves of £10,ûOO to the Church Fund. Among further subscriptions offered, Mr. Horace liochfort, of Carlow, gives J625 a-year for five years after January, 1871. A railway accident occurred on Monday a snort distance from the Garston station. The Midland express, due at that station a few minutes past 11, was directed by the pointsman to a line on which some coal waggonfi were standing, and into which the engine ran with great force. Several passengers were injured, but no fatal result is IInti- tipated. The Rev. Dr. Vaughan, who has been presented to the Mastership of the Temple, preached his farewell ser- mon on Sunday in the parish church of St. George's, Don- caster. Tho Mayor and Corporation, with many of the lead- ing townsmen, assembled at the Mansion-house, and went in procession to the church. Dr. Vaughan will go into resi- dence in the Temple immediately after the close of the Long Vacation. There is happily a prospect that the Countess d'Alteyrac's scandal will be set at rest by an arrangement between the countess and her creditors. The countess has offered to compromise with her creditors, and is in a position to make a composition. An early day has been appointed for a meeting of the parties interested. It is thought there will be a unanimity of opinion as to the acceptability of the terms. Money is being subscribed in the county of Gal- way for tho defence of the prisoner Banett, who is :0 be tried at a special commission for firing at. Captain Lambert. A "Barrett defence fund" has been started, and a public concert given in Galway by a temperance society in its aid. Barrett's solicitor, according to a local paper, protests against this method of raising funds, and recommends the prisoner to apply to the Government for the aid of counsel. An animated meeting of the arranging committee of the Liverpool Church Congress was held on Monday. Dr. Howson, Dean of Chester, presided. The Rev. R. Hughes proposed that Mr. Mackonochie should bo asked to withdraw his name as a reader of a paper at the Congress. This re- solution gave rise to much excitability in several speakers. The motion on being put, however, was rejected. Thfl drawing up of the programme for some of the earlier sit- tings was the only chief matter attended to. As the Hon. Mr. and Lady Susan Bourke were out for a drive in an open four-wheeled dog-cart, the horse shied, bolted to the side of the road, and ups-et the carriage. Mr. Bourke, who was driving, received an abrasion on the temple, but was otherwise unhurt, and kept possession of the reins. Lady Susan had a severe fall, but escaped with a few bruises. A groom, who was sitting behind, was the worst hurt, as he fell on his head, and lay for some time in a state of unconsciousness. The other day Mr. W. W. Woodhead, a Yorkshire deputy-corner, received information of the death of a man who had been injured in some blasting operations. He directed that a jury should be summoned, and an inquest held the next day. At the time appointed he proceeded to the place, and to his amazement found that the deceased had been interred. He took the jury to the graveyard, had the body exhumed, and then formally opened the inquest. The interment had taken place in consequence of the re- gistrar having improperly given a certificate of the cause of death. On Sunday afternoon a severe and destructive thunderstorm occurred at Todmorden, Bradford, and over a considerable district of East Yorkshire, accompanied in some places with a perfect deluge of rain, which completely flooded the land, and on the moors with hailstones of large size. In the neighbourhood of Bradford a young man and a young woman were walking along a footpath when th..y were overtaken by the storm and killed by the electric fluid. Near Todmorden a hllyloft was fired, a domestic servant and a farm labourer thrown down and rendered unconscious by the lightning, and at Bamgh Hill, Malton, 40 sheep were killed by the same agency. Tbe rectory of the richest parish in England, In an ecclesiastical point of view, has just become vacant. Upwell St. Peter, near Wisbeacb, is returned in the Clergy List" as being worth £3,058 a year, but well known to be worth. considerably more. In the same parish there is the rectory of Christchurch, re- turned as being worth £ 1,594 a year, also belonging to the Townley family. The vacancy in St. Peter's Up- well has been caused by the death of the Rev. William Gale Townley, who has held it only seven years. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took his B.A. degree in 1851. He succeeded his father in the living in 1862, and the living is now in the gift of Mr. R. G. Townley. The proceedings against the Rev. W. J. E. Ben- nett, vicar of Frome, have passed through their prelimi- nary legal stages, and the articles of charge have been duly filed in the Court of Arches. The allegation against Mr. Bennett is that he teaches the doctrine of the Real Presence in the Eucharist. The case will be heard in Michaelmas term in the province of Canterbury, and at just about the same time the case of Mr. Vovsey, who, in "The Sling and the Stone," is charged with denying the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, will be heard in the province of York. The great Ritualistic cases, in which the Rev. J.Purcbas, of St. James's, Brighton, and the Rev. R. Wix, of St. Michael's, Swan more, Isle of Wight, are the defendants, will a-lso be heard before Sir Robert Phillimore in Michaelmas term. Two very important meetings of miners took place on Monday. One was a conference of the North and South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire colliers, held at Dud- ley. The second meeting concluded the annual march out and demonstration of the Wigan men. At the former, a resolution calling for an inspection of mines at least once every month was carried, and the chairman made som;- startling statements as to the existing regulations for in- spection in mines. At the Wigan meeting the chief ob- ject the speakers held in view was the advantage likely to accrue from colliers and their unions joiuing the Gene- ral Miners' Association about to be formed. At the yearly Wigan gathering the colliers are in the habit of wearing a grey ribbon on their coats. On Monday the ordi- nary colour was departed from, and a black and white rosette was substituted as a tribute of mourning for the tnany poor fellows who lost their lives in the recent Wigan catastrophes. DR. M'LEOD AND HIS BEADLE. -Dr. Norman M'Leod was about to resign his parish at Linlithgow, for Park Church, Glasgow, recently vacated by the Rev. Mr. Cbarteris, now Professor of Biblical Criticism in the University of Edinburgh. At a dinner after the induction at Glasgow, the Rev. Dr. M'Leod told the following anecdote :—"I confess that I would have been content to have been permitted to live and die at Linlith- gow. Indeed, my old beadle was very much of the same mind. When I first went to Linlithgow, he took me into the graveyard, and shewing me the graves of my predeces- sors, said, 'There's where Dr. Bell lies, and there's where Dr. Doble lies, and there's where you will lie if you are spared.' He was indignant with me when I accepted the can to Glasgow. Well,' he said, ye are the first minister that was ever lifted out of Linlithgow, except to the grave.' And I don't think he yet pardons me for having deprived him of that satisfaction." THE BRAVE SAILOR BOY.—An Albert medal ot the second class, a letter from the President of the Board of Trade, and a speech from the chairman of the Glasgow Marine Board, cuming all at once upon a sailor boy, must seem rather overwhelming but James Hudson, of Ardros- san, was probably sustained in those complimentary ern. barrassments by the consciousness that he deserved them. This gallant lad saved the lives of six mariners in a manner almost without parallelfor boldness Hud manhood. Theship Marmion was on shore near Pendennis Castle, Falmouth, the seas breaking clear over her, and no help seeming possible, when Hudson volunteered to swim through the wild breakers with a rope. The Coastguards and shore people sought to dissuade him, saying that it was certain death; but the boy would not be denied, and he in- sisted that they should fasten a line round his waist and let him go. He went into the sea, and, after a terrible buffeting, reached the doomed ship and clambered on board—thus establishing a communication by means of which six sailors were saved from the wreck although the fury of the waves was such that Hudson himself only reached the beach again with the greatest difficulty. James, when he was called upon to acknowledge the official homage, fulfilled that feat also with full self- possession declaring that he would do the same again if there was ever cause." PROFESSORSHIPS.—Without inferentially pre- iudging the case of Professor Risley, which has yet to be fully tried, may we not ask how it is that the title of Professor" has been assumed by bear-leaders, acrobats, or knife-swallowers ? Nobody minds the exaggerated claims to monarchy of a Fire-King, but the prefix of Pro- fessor is, to say the least of it, bewildering and incon- venient. We believe the first of these self.dubbed practi- tioners was a sleight-of-hand wizard, who gave a certain scientific air and turn to his business by taking the digni tied application of a university teacher. After him we had professors of mesmerism, of corn-cutting, and of dancing1— professors in their own right, professors without end, until we shall soon find ourselves driven by cab professors, and served by professors of the fine art of waiting. Would it not be well to impose a tax on the people who raquire this ornamental addition to their names? It is surely as luxurious to call oneself a Pro- fessor as to stick powder on a footman's head, or to keep ft dog to fetch and carry. The 4eBtiemen of Oxford and Cambridge and the other TTniversities who are designated in this fashion, and who neither stand on their heads nor exhibit monsters, and are content to sit in their respective chairs without balancing them on their respective chins, might be ex- empted from the impost. We see no better way of putting a stop to a folly which has gone far enough when a Pro- fessor is found playing on a tin whistle and a coffee-pot at a music-hall. The number of volunteers who Ray.. already announced their intention of being present at the Belgian fetes exceeds 1,000. The time for closing the lists has been extended to Saturday next. Sir Trevor Wheler, Bart., of Weliesbourne, Hastings, Warwickshire, one of the few remaining Waterloo veterans, has just died at Limerick House, Leamington. Sis Trevor was borti in 1792, and was there- fore 77 years of age. SIGNATURES.—What a silly pedantry that is which induces some people to sign their names so that no one can decipher them. If anything that a man puts upon paper ought to be bold and unmistakable, it is his signa- ture.—Gentleman's Magazine At a meeting of his constituents at Plymouth the Attorney-General (Sir R. Collier) was warmly and deservedly complimented on the success of his Bankruptcy Bill. It is not generally known that this measure does not come into operation until the Let January jj £ xt.— Law Times. Her Majesty has commanded the issue of Letters Patent under the Great Seal conferring the dignity of Knight of the United Kingdom on Mr. William R. Drake, of Oatlands Lodge, in the county of Surrey. This, it is understood, has been done at the instance of Mr. Gladstone, as a personal recognition of the services ren- dered to the Liberal party by Mr. Drake during the several years of close and confidential relations which have existed between him and its recognised representa- tives. A feast of fat men has been held at NorwalS, Connecticut. One hundred and forty of the greatest men of New England and the adjoining States, assembled for running, jumping, and wrestling matches, and trials of strength. All the 140 weighed over 200 pounds, and several of them more than 300 pound. They were all weighed, and Mr. John A. P. Fisk, of New York, attained the glory of being the heaviest, weighing 358 pounds, and was, consequently, elected president for the ensuing year. Mr. Lincoln, of Springfield, came next with 329 pounds, and was elected vice-president. The Advertiser and Times, Oswego, N.Y., says: "We saw a novel experiment involving the explosive power of gas. In the new tank excavation, now in a forward state, at the gas works in this city, an old well had been pumped out and then filled up, after leaving an aperture beneath. Into this space a limited quantity of gas was introduced from the gas pipe, sufficient to form an explosive compound with the air in the covered well. A match trigger touched off the mine, when a general upheaving of the surrounding earth took place, loosening- up the soil and making easier digging." In a discussion on Habitual Criminals at the British Association gathering at Exeter, the Hev. W. Caine (chaplain of Manchester county gaol) mentionad the astounding fact that of 700 "Protestant criminals" in that gaol, 81 had been Sunday-school teachers, and from recent observations he had found that out of G19 criminals in the same gaol, 593 had been Sunday scholars, on the average between six and seven years each. He thought the grand cause of criminality in England was "strong drink." RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—On Saturday night a railway pointsman, named John Worthington, residing at Rumworth, near Bolton, met with a very shocking acci- dent at Bolton Station. He was leaving his duties for the night, and, as was his custom, was returning by the 9.30 train to Lostock. He jumped on the footboard of one of the carriages, and was about to get into one of the com- partments, when his body came into contact with the mde of the approach to the series of tunnels that began at this point, and he was thrown under the wheels of the carriages. On being picked up his legs were found to be almost entirely severed from his body. OUTRAGE BY AN ANTI-RITUALISTIC MOB AT MAN- CHESTER.—The Rev. Mr. Gallagher. minister of the Pro- testant Reformed Church at Manchester, followed by his congregation, went on Sunday morning to the church of St. John the Baptist, where the ritual is said to be extremely high. They were refused admission, and eventually Mr. Gallagher took his departure, leaving a crowd behind. Soon afterwards, on the Rev. J. M. Broomhead, the curate, and some of the officials, quitting the church, he was roughly handled by the moh, and was forced to take refuge in a cab, the windows of which were broken, and a chorister severely injured. One of the rioters was apprehended by the police in the act of throwing stones. POISONING BY STRYCHNINE.—A case or poison- ing by strychnine has just occurred at Terrisholme, near Lancaster. A young woman, named Jane Ellen Clifton, 25, domestic servant, was engaged to be married to a young fisherman. For some reason he neglected to have the banns published at the time he promised, and this grieved the young woman deeply. She grew depressed in spirits, bought a packet of vermin powder," took it, and died within an hour afterwards. The chemist who sold the powder said a 3d. packet contained strychnine enough to kill five adults, yet he did not register the sale of the powder. because be did not consider it came under the Sale of Poisons Act. It was stated that this evasion was Common all over the country. SINGULAR RECOVERY OF A DIAMOND RING.— A young lady while searching the beach at Ilfracombe for "common objects on the seashore" last week, descried peeping out of the sand what proved to be a valuable diamond mourning ring, with an inscription in memory of the late Lord Rolle. Inquiries were instituted, and it was ascertained that the ring formerly belonged to Mr. Drake, now deceased, who was connected with the Rolle family, and was lost by Mrs. Drake about thirteen years ago on the beach at Ilfracombe. It having been given into her charge by her husband when he was boat- ing on a stormy day she had placed it outside her glove. and in the hurry of landing it had 8lipped off, and a care- ful search for it, which was instituted at the time, was without success. STRANGE SCENE AT A CONFIRMATION.—A short time back, as the Bishop of Bangor was about to deliver the usual address to the young persons about to be con- firmed at the parish church of Machynlleth, a man stood up among the congregation, and loudly addressing the Bishop, said that if he did not deliver the service in the Welsh language, he would be held responsible for certain consequences. Earl Vane, who is one of the church- wardens, quietly walked out in search of a policeman. The Bishop proceeded with his address, and the offender, after muttering some sentences, left the church. The offender is a clergyman who once held a benefice in the diocese of St. Asaph, and whose avowed mission is now to bring about the disestablishment of the Welsh Church. He well knew that the Bishop of Bangor is familiar with the Welsh tongue, and in the constant habit of reading, preaching, and delivering public ad- dresses in Welsh. The service and address to the cate- chumens were in that tongue on the occasion referred to, though repeated in English for the Bake of the young persons who were unacquainted with the vernacular of the country, among whom was Lady Frances Seaham, tbe eldest daughter of Earl Vane. SUSPICIOUS DEMONSTRATION IN NEWCASTLE.— Something like a feeling of alarm was experienced on Tuesday evening by the peaceably disposed inhabitants of the district round about the Old Castle, Newcastle, in consequence of the assembly of upwards of 200 Irishmen at a certain public-house-a regular resort of Inshmen- in the vicinity of the Moot Hall. In such a serious light was the matter regarded that the police were communi- cated with, and it was deemed necessary to place six men upon the beat instead of the usual num- ber. The Irishmen, however, if their intentions were otherwise than peaceable, seem to have "tumbled" to the fact that the police were on the alert. Gradually and quietly they left the house in twos and threes, until at shutting-up time the house was completely cleared. When the police inquired of the landlord the cause of such a large number of men congregating, they were informed that a great man among the Irish had been buried, and the party had gone there to make a "wind-up." The landlord's version, however, is not generally believed, but the affair is supposed to be in some way connected with adisturbancewith Irishmen, which took place on Saturday night. A respec- table working man, residing in the neighbourhood, was set upon by a number of quarrelsome persons and knocked dewn. The Irish kicked him most unmercifully. A policeman got wind of the matter and hastening to the spot, rescued the Englishman.— Northern Daily Express. MATRIMONY IN FRANCE.—A judgment of in- terest to foreign families of which members have con- tracted matrimonial alliances in France was given two days back in the Civil Court of Paris. The facts of the case were theseM. de Brimont married about two years ago a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Pennimau, American subjects. No contract was drawn up, but the parents of the lady promised verbally, according toM. de Brimont, to make the young couple an annual allowance ot 50,0001. as a marriage portion. The youner wife died a few months back, leaving an infant daughter, and Mr. Penni- man, who until then had regularly paid the money, reo fused to continue it to the son-in law. The last named now brought a suit to enforce the continuance of the pay- ment, as alimony for himself and daughter. The parents of the deceased lady, while offering to bring up the child, resisted the demand, on the grounds that the plaintiff was a spendthrift, that he had concealed numerous debts when he married, and had since contracted new ones, and, moreover, that he was young, and might by his labour procure for himself sufficient resources. The Tri- bunal, however, decided that as De Brimont was without means of existence, and that as his own mother was not in a position of fortune to assist her son and grand- daughter, the plaintiff had a right to an alimentary pen- sion from his wife's parents and consequently condemned them to pay an annual sum of 18,000f., of which 6,000f. were for M. de Brimont, and 12,000f. for his infant daughter. THE KIDNAPPING IN CORK.—The Cork Examiner says :—" Those strange stories of kidnapping hitherto confined to the region of the nursery, but to which recent occurrences have given a graver import and wider circulation, have received a striking and well-authenti- cated corroboration in an event that lias just happened in the district of Caherciveen. On Wednesday night, a farmer, named John M'Carthy, residing at a place called Inn Jerry, eight miles from Caherciveen, retired to rest at his usual hour, his bed occupying one end of the sleeping apartment, and that of three of his childrend: aged respectively tive, four, and three years—being at the other, and immediately beneath a little w*n^v,t open;ng on pivots. At an advanced hour of the n't, M'Carthy was nivused from sleep by the screaming ° child of four, and, i'nouiring what was the mat tah-o. told by the little fel!ow that a man was trying, him away. The father having removed the c) 0 IS own bed tried to persuade him that he had when the eldest boy, from the oppositene, Uh, no, father, somebody was trying to wneen away." Almost immediately after the as again on his feet, this time in real terror, m r y 0 a pierc- ing shriek from the eldest boy, whom on lo.king towards the children's bed, he plainly s' lIP bodily to the level of the bottom of a hand thrust in from without. >, ,r s the window was the work of an instant, hud was at once dropped between the bed and tne wall, and M'Carthy, looking through the window, perceived three men beating a hasty retreat. His first impulse was to give them chase, but he was restrained by his wife, who pointed out to him the folly of such a proceeding on the part ef single, half dressed, and unarmed man. Shortly after accompanied by some of his neighbours, whom he roused ap. he made a thorough search of the neighbourhoodj but frith no result beyond the discovery of some shoe-prints I leading from the house along the sandy beach in the vicinity. The marks were of shoes different from those worn by the peasantry, being of a lighter kind, and with- out nails. Mr. John A. Rawlins, the American Secretary ot War, died on Monday afternoon, aged 38. It is stated that the bishops who attend the (Ecumenical Council will receive an allowance varying between 6s. 8d. and 10s. a day. During the past week large quantities or fisn which are peculiar to the tropical regions have been seen alone the southern coast of Ireland. Shoals of the bonita, the dolphin, sword-fish, and other species are observed. This visit is attributed to the unusual warmth of the weather in this latitude. On Saturday afternoon the skiff race for ±,lxr, between Stephen Renforth, brother to the champion, and Hugh Minnigan, both of Newcastle, took place on the Tyne, from the .High Level Bridge to the Meadows House, and resulted In Minjjigan winning easily by five lengths. THE BISHOPRIC OF EDINBURGH.—The post ot Bishop Coadjutor of the diocese of Edinburgh, which is about to become vacant by the resignation of the Right Rev. Dr. Morrell, will in all PROBABILITY be conferred upon the Rev. John Gibson Cazenove, M.A., of Erasenose Col- lege, Oxford. The rev. gentleman took his B.A. degree in 1843, when he was second clnss in classics. He wascurate of St. Peter's, Leeds, during the time that Dr. Forbes, now Bishop of Brechin, was incumbent of St. Saviour's in that town. At present he is Provost of Cujnbrae College, in the diocese of Argyll and the Isles. THE PEERAOE.—It appears that seventeen tem- poral and one spiritual peer have died since the new House of Commons was elected. The temporal peers are the Marquis of Anglesey, the Earls of Delawarr, Fingal, Glasgow, Radnor, and Wicklow, Viscounts Gough and Stangford, Lords Broughton, Castlemaine, Cloncurry, Harwke, Kenyon. Leconfield, Stanley of Alderley, Taun- ton, and Wynford. The spiritual peer is the Bishop of Salisbury. The viscounty of Strangford and the baronies of Broughton and Taunton have become extinct, and Lord Kenyon will not attain his majority until 1885 AN ANECDOTE OF PRESIDENT GRANT.—AT Nashua, N. H., on Wednesday, just as the train was starting off, President Grant noticed a little girl vainly endeavouring to get to the car, that she might shake hands with him. The child in her disappointment burst into tears, and the President, pointing to her, asked some one to bring her to him. Two men seized her, and hold- ing her above their heads, rushed with her to the car, and the General had just time to embrace her with both hands, when the train bore him rapidly away. Many of the crowd saw the act, and their parting cheers broke forth anew.—JSTew York Times, August 27. CURIOUS MARRIAGE.—A curious marriage oc- curred last week in St. Louis. A stone-blind bridegroom was led by his blushing bride to the altar of a Justice of the Peace. That honest and benevolent functionary felt it to be his duty to inform the poor blind ma.n that the chosen of his heart was really one of the ugliest women in the world, and that she had already, to his certain know- ledge, buried two husbands. To this the bridegroom responded that he had seen the lady a great many yeaTB ago, and that according to the best of his recoliection, she was then "a thing of beauty" and "a form of life and light." As the unfortunate man insisted upon being married to this dream of his earlier and happier days, the knot was tied but the justice swore that he could not in conscience take the fee for doing it; and so the poor victim was led away rejoicing.—New York Tribune, August 27. Last Sunday added another to the successes ot the National Sunday League in the way of excursions. Four trains from London-bridge and Victoria conveyed some 3,000 persons bent on enjoyment to Portsmouth, where three packets were specially engaged throughout the day conveying them to and from the Isle of Wight. The last train reached Portsmouth by 11.45 a.m, and by 11.50 p.m. all were in London without mishap. This excursion was intended to have been the last of the season, but in consideration of the services of their hon. secretary and his sacrifice of time having contributed so much to success, the Council have resolved on an excursion to Ramsgate and Margate on the 19th inst., the proceeds from which are to be presented to Mr. Morrell. On the day when the recent eclipse of the sun waa looked for in America, Dr. Peters, the eminent astronomer, connected with Hamilton College, told an old negro living near his observatory to watch carefully his big fiock of hens, for at 4.45 they would go to roost. After the eclipse was over he came, evidently much excited, "How was it?" said the doctor. "Beats the debbil," said the negro. "When de darkness come ebry chick'n run for de hole in de barn. De fust ones got in, and de next ones run ober one anudder, and the last ones dey just squat right down in de grass. How long you know dis ting was a coming ?" Oh I reckon we knew it more than a year," said the doctor. "Beats de debbil! Here you away in New York knowd a year ago what my chik'ns was gwine to do dis bery afternoon, an' you nebber see de chik'ns afore nudder LAMENTABLE ACCIDENT IN THE MENAI STRAITS. — On Tuesday afternoon the yacht belonging to Mr. Griffith, of Llanfair Hall, was capsized in a squall in the Menai Straits, near Lord Boston's mansion at Llanidan, and Edward Smyth, butler, and Joseph Evans, aged 10 years, were drowned. Two sailors swam on shore, a distance of 300 yards. The boy got hold of an oar, which, however, availed nothing. The occurrence was noticed from the Carnarvonshire shore, and William Jones, of the Parkia Brickworks, reached the scene in five minutes, but was unable to ren- der effectual assistance. The boy's cap and oa.r were afterwards recovered. Four female servants from Llan- fair Hall had left the yacht after a sail about half an hour previously, in consequence of a squall, near Britannia Bridge. A yacht, belonging to Mr. Thomas Turner (the Mayor of Carnarvon's brother), with a party of friends, was driven on the Anglesey side by a heavy squall, and the party bad a narrow escape. The butler and the boy were from the neighbourhood of Mold. "FAGGOT VOTES RA AT—.TNI™ the discussion in last session of Parliament it would aj peai that the practice of creating faggot voters is not yet dis- continued. In the roll for the county of Edinburgh, just compiled, nine new names appear as "jointproprietors" oi one place in WestWynd, Dalkeith, and three as jointproprie. tors of another small house in Plummer's close. Of these the majority are resident inEdinburgh. Othernon-resident joint proprietors and life-renters have been enrolled on properties in Dalkeith, South Leith, Duddingstone, &c., the whole number thus enrolled being upwards of twenty. The in- troduction of such a class of nominal proprietors, on whichever side it is practised, cannot be too strongly repro. bated, and we are much surprised to find that any furthei creations of this kind have been attempted. The creation of these new voters cannot fail to attract notice in next session of Parliament, and will, we trust, result in measures being taken to render their continuance impossible.— London Scotsman. A LAWYER'S CONGRESS.—A "Lawyers' Con- gress," attended by some of the most eminent jurists 01 Germany, was held last week at Heidelberg, and passed several resolutions on important social and judicial ques. tions. Among these were the following :—1. Civil marriages should be recognised as a necessary principle of the relations between Church and State in the whole of Germany; and the State should make no objection to the marriage of persons oj different religions." This was proposed by Dr. Gneist, and passed against a minority of one only. 2. "That Govern- ment sanction should not be required for the formation 01 joint-stock companies or other associations, but that the liability of each member of such a company shonhl bE unlimited." 3. "A written document acknowledging a debt should be taken as sufficient proof of such debt, independently of the circumstances under which the debt was incurred." 4. "As nearly all the objects oi punishment are more effectually obtained by solitary con- finement than by any other system of imprisonment, suet confinement should be recognised by law as the regulated mode of executing sentences which :involve the loss 01 liberty exceptions to this rule might be made when necessary, either by the judge or the governor of the prison." This resolution was passed almost unanimously. AN EARL ON PATRONAGE AND THE IIlISB CHUKCH.—The Earl of Mountcashell has addressed a letter to the Daily Evcr>re9& on the subject of Churd: patronage, Apropos of the Duke of St. Albans1 letter tc the parishioners of Red bourne. Lord Mountcasliel that several years ago, when the vicarage 01 Kirconnola, better known as Ballymena, became aeanc, he adopted a course similar to that just adopted by the Duke of St. Albans. Having studied Church history," the noble lord adds, I, more that forty years ago, came to the conclusion that the patrons of benefices in the Church, no matter by what means thej came to be such, are nothing more or less than trustees foi the religious welfare of the parishioners." He believes that in the early centuries of Christianity the sale 01 livings, and the disposal, for filthy lucre, to unscrupu- lous aspirants of the spiritual care of parishes and congre gations," would have been stigmatised as simony. He believes that the practice had its origin in the Italian Chnret of Rome, and that at the time of the Reformatioe circumstances occured to prevent its being abolished. By a very natural transition Lord Mountcashel proceeds to consider the claims of those lay patrons who to re- ceive compensation for tbe loss of patronage inmcLej the Irish Church Act. How far they have» i 0 aP- propriate these moneys to their private «se le cave-^ tc the decision of their own consciences, bu' thai the whole ought to be devoted to'-v»rd. taking iip for the, heavy losses <a £ the Church *n. which the political and religkTs enemies" of Ir,s'' ^nurchmen have caused. A MYSTERIOUS DISAF^CE.—-The AeM York Times, of the 20th u't"'vn1f8 'ie following :—" In a recent number of a well ki^ '^o'azine au account wai given of several men es Were once familiar tc society, and who y riu'1 incompreliensiblj missed from their ''worts. In most instance no trace of them behind, and the inquiries of the police or the quest of friends :tlike failed to throw anv light upon the mystery. Occurrences of the same kind are colIlUlon Everywhere. The story of Chancelloi Lansingj 'iCe We'i known in this State, and still y a few survivors, is so far different froir Mr. i rp, 110 explanation of it has ever yet bees publish^ • 1 he magazine writer truly says that he left a Jiew °Uc.hotel one afternoon forty years ago, to take » boat for Albany, where he resided. T)x> porter whc banded him his bag was the last person know:' to liave seen hiffi ;liive- H £ nevel. reache/the Albany boat, anc ne was never heard of again. Natural'? his disappearanct creater] a. profound sensation, for he c ,a ,| £ jh position, and \vasu man full of years aiid^hmio r. I lie writer tc whom we have referred says:— f113 Place on earth hac been made.vacant; but there is not, and can never be, anj record of how, or when, or where. He may have diec that dav he may have lived or ^ars/afterwards.' In the hypothesis thus put forward the writer, in common with tll! general body of the public, is mistaken. We speak undei authority when we sav tfiat every incident connected wit! the disappearance of onancdlor Lansing is well known tc a gentleman now hvn? £ Ihe secret was confided to bine hy a distinguished citizen of this State, now deceased, whose name always commanded and does still coin mane respect. Tbe survivor was enjoined to publish all the cir- cumstances when certain persons specified were ■ ^acL This condition has been fulfilled, and it is probable that t narrative calculated to startle the public will yet 1.1" River to the world.. There will then no longer be room left foi a single doubt in reference to Chancellor Lansing's fate. We do not feel ourselves at liberty to hint at the naturi of the revelation to be made, but this we may say, that i1 will be well authenticated, and that it will form one1^ the mwst remarkable pages in the history of the p\lb4C men of this country."