Monmouthshire Merlin

ARRIVAL OF PRINCE FREDERICK OF PRUSSIA. Prince Frederick of Prussia landed at Dover on Satur- day morning, at eleven o'clock, from the Vivid (Govern- ment steamer), under a royal salute fired from the heights, and the corporation of Dover had the honour of presenting an address to his Royal Highness, congratulating him on his marriage with the Princess Royal. At twenty minutes past eleven the Prince started for London, Ly a special train, which reached the Bricklayers' Arms at twenty minutes past one o'clock. Just previous to the train coming in, the Prince Consort, accompanied by the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, arrived at the station in one of the Royal carriages. Prince Frederick, on alighting from the train, was cordially receive 1 by the Prince Consort, who immediately conducted his Royal Highness to one of Her Majesty's private carriages in waiting. The Prince, on making his appearance outside the station, was loudly cheered by the people collected on the spot, a guard of honour of the Grenadier Guards from the Tower, presenting arms, the band playing the National Anthem. The Royal cortege then proceeded at a slow pace for Buckingham Palace, a troop of the Life Guards forming the escort.

lureign Intelligence. FRANCE. PARIS, FRIDAY, JAN. 22, Most people are apt to lay at the door of their neighbours the blame of their own omissions and tlir- consequences of their own incapacity. This is the case just now. Certain persons whose zeal gets the better of their judgment, do not hesitate at making the English government in some degree responsible for the crimes which are planned by foreign conspi- rators residing on English soil. The example has been set by high authority. England has been lec- tured by the Presidents of the Legislative Chambers and Council of State, in their congratulatory addresses to the Emperor on his happy escape on the night of the 14th, and in the address published in this day's Moniieur from the 5th Regiment of Lancers we find this sentence:— The army is afflicted that powerful friends, whose brave armies so lately combated by our side, cover with their protection, under the name of hospitality, conspi- rators and assassins who exceed those who have gone before them in all that is odious." Notwithstanding the very significant language em- ployed by the Presidents of the constituted bodies against those who give the shelter of their soil to con- spirators, it may be doubted whether that language, or even the vigour displayed by the Minister of the Interior in the suppression of the Spectateur for the paragraph incriminated in his report; will prevent reflecting men from suspecting that there has been some remissness among those who are especially charged with the tranquillity of the country and the personal safety of the Sovereign. Indeed, the opinion is pretty general that such is the case, and it is nut confined to those who think the English Government can do nothing. They ask how is it that, before administering the lesson read to us by these high functionaries for not doing what the French police have failed in, they do not first look at home ? Are no French agents employed abroad ? Are there none in England to watch and report the acts of conspi rators P If there are such agents, are they unfaithful or negligent ? I believe the funds allotted for the secret service amount to not less than 2,000,000f., of which no account need be rendered. Surely, with such a budget as this it cannot be difficult to get at many secrets. We do not hear that complaints are made of unwillingness on the part of the English police, or of obstacles thrown in the way of prevent- ing such crimes, or detecting such malefactors. We may well demur to the lecture read to us by the emi- nent personages abovementioned on our apathy, when we are told that the highest police authority in France was complimented at a dinner party for the great efficiency of his department on the very evening, and ol perhaps at the very moment, the grenades were ex- ploding at the Rue Lepelletier. If the ever-vigilant n and energetic Prefect of Police felt confident and tranquil, how can the English Government be blamed for not preventing that of which the French authorities, including our critics, apparently knew nothing ? If the projectiles were, as is alleged, fabricated in Eng- laud, how is it that the conspirators were enabled to penetrate the cordon of Gendarmes, Commissaries of Poliee, Customhouses, tollgates, with their large staff of employes, and the sergents-de-ville? These ques- tions are in everybody's mouth and I doubt whether the suppression of the Spectateur and the Reoue de Paris, or the extra-official warnings to other papers, will be a sufficient answer to the public. As to the de.nand said to be made by the French Government for the expulsion of refugees, I cannot say how it has been received. Perhaps it will be answered that even in England refugees are not pro- n tected from punishment if evidence'of their guilt be supplied. "Whether the Crown possesses the right to expel all aliens from the country is a point for jurists to decide. We know that during the short Peace of Amiens a similar demand was made by the First Con- sul against French writers in London, and in parti- cular against Peltier. llis Minister, M. Otto, pre- sented a note on the subject. It concluded by de- manding :—" 1. That the English Government should adopt the most effectual measures to put a stop to the unbecoming and seditious publications with which the newspapers and writings printed in England are filled. 2. That the individuals in the undersigned list should be expelled from Jersey. 3. That Georges and his adherents should be transported to Canada. 4. That, in order to deprive the evil-disposed of every pretext for disturbing the good understanding between the two Governments, it should be recommended to the I Princes of the house of Bourbon at present in Great Britain to repair to Warsaw. Aud, 5, that such of the French emigrants as still think proper to wear the orders and decorations belonging to the former Government of France be required to quit the territory of the British Empire." Of all the biographers of Napoleon 1. none has surpassed Norvins in the admiration of his hero. That eloquent apologist of the Emperor remarks thus on the demand of the First Consul:— It was nearly the same thing to propose to Great Biitrtin the sacrifice of its constitution as to insist upon its abandoning the two pillars of its freedom-the liberty of the press and the right of habeas corpus. Such a demand was in the highest degree imprudent on the part of the First Consul, as it rendered him odious to the English people. Such language might have been used to the Cisalpine or Ligurian Republics, the creation of his hands but it was wholly unsuitable to an independ- ent Power like England, and, although that language was but the expression of disunion which existed between the two Governments, yet it was extremely imprudent to make it known in a diplomatic communication to the whole of Europe.LYorvins, II., p. 234, 238. The British Government concluded its reply to this demand in these terms His Majesty is sincerely disposed to adopt every measure for the preservation of peace which is consistent with the honour and independence of the country, and the security of its laws and constitution. But the French Government must have formed a most erroneous judgment of the disposition of the British nation, and the charac- ter of its Government, if they have been taught to ex- pect that any representation of a foreign Power would ever induce them to consent to a violation of those rights on which the liberties of the people of these countries are founded." To satisfy as much as possible the First Consul, and to remove all grounds of complaint, the Attorney- General instituted a prosecution against Peltier for a libel on the Sovereign of France. He was found guilty, and would have been brought up for judgment but for the breaking out of the war. The demand for the expulsion of the present refu. gees must be backed by proofs of their guilt; if such proofs are in the hands of the French authonties, the English laws will not shelter them from prosecution or from punishment commensurate with their crime. A number of police agents have been despatched from Paris to London to make inquiries relative to the assassins of the 14th inst. It is announced that M. Pietri, the Prefect of Police, has submitted a plan to the Emperor for placing the police force of Paris on a new footing.- Times' Correspondent. The Moniteiir of Friday publishes the following — On the day before yesterday the Belgian Govern- ment presented a Police Bill concerning foreigners to the Chamber of Representntlves. 0 "Yesterday it laid another Bill on the President's desk ior the modification of the peual code; the Government proposes to extract from this Bill t-V articles relating to crimes and offences against inter, national law, so as to form a special law tiiorofxolla. This special law is to be voted as '-urgent.' The Belgian Government intends prosecuting the t) 'I uewspaPerS Le Drapeau and Le Crocodile

INDIA AND CHINA. We (Times) have received the following telegram from Trieste° ° "TRIESTE, JAX. 23. The steamer Bombay arrived here to-day at two o'clock, in 133 hours from Alexandria, which port she left Oil the 17th ot January. The India and China 'nails have arrived, with dates from Calcutta to December 24; Madras, 29 Ceylon, Jannuary 1; Hongkong, December 16. The Punjab has brought a mail from Bombay with intelligence to the 29tK of December. "The Furuckabad rebels have been defeated by Colonel Seaton in two engagements. In the latter, near Futteyghur, on the lSth, the enemy lost his re- maining guns, 11 in number, his camp, and stores, and was pursued for seven miles. Our loss is trinin r' Sir James Outrana remains at the Allumbairh with 4,000 men. Sir Colin Campbell goes to Futteyghur. "The Rajah of Amjhera, arrived at Indorc, has been by Sir Robert Hamilton sentenced to death.' There have been several other executions of minor offenders. The transports Southampton, Sulyhioor, Prime Albert, and Calcutta, have reached Bombay with troops. The 11th Cavalry mutinied on the 5ih of Decs,Ti- ber at Julpigorec. They were overtaken near n Purneah, and 11 were killed, but the remainder escaped. The mutinied 73rd, intrenched on the fron- tiers of Bhotau, were encountered by a small party Gt Europeans from Julpigoree, but, the enemy b'eir^ strongly posted, the attack was relinquished. <0 The mutineers of the 34th, on the frontiers of Tipperah, have murdered their own women, and are said to be starving. The disturbances at Sumbulpore are well-nigh suppressed. The 17th Native Infantry are under orders for China. The 47th and 65th, it is said, are to follow. "Seindiah has ordered that no Ilindostanees or Mussulmans be enlisted in his army. There were no further arrivals of troops at Calcutta. The Megara, from the Cape, has reached Ceylon. The Bahiana, with the head-quarters of the 89th, has gone on to Kurrachee. CHINA. The French Admiral has declared the blockade of the Canton river on the part of France. The island of Honan, opposite Canton, was on the 15th of De- cember occupied by the English and French forces. After 10 days, unless Yeh yielded to the ultimatum. Canton was to be attacked it was said that he has already refused. "The Adelaide has reached Hongkong with 507 rank and file. The Assistance, from Calcutta, has also arrived with 300 Marines and 100 men of the 59t.h. "The Hongkong import market has generally improved. 0 Z) <{ Shanghai, DEC. 8. I he Princess Royal, with the remainder of the < Lst for India, reached Alexandria on the 15th of January. No intelligence from Suez of the Feroze, expected from Bombay. The following telegram has been received at the East India-house:— "The rebels, defeated at Cawnpore, have fled to Bithoor and Calpee. Thirty-eight guns have been taken. I "Colonel Seaton again defeated the rebels at Put teeala, near Futteyghur, with great loss, on December L7th. He took 11 guns. The loss on our side was trifling. "A force, under Captain Woolly, on December 7i.Ii crossed the Soonair River, aud route the rebels. <Jcl u the 10th of December the same force captured the camp of Bahadoor Singh, and on December llth several leaders were taken and hanged. Insurgents at Kotah arc in great force, and ;nr said to have dethroned the Rajah. The troops of the liana of Oudepore have mutinied. Executions among Holkar's mutinous troops are in progress. Sir Hu^C Rose inarches ou the 1st of January to the ieiiei of Saugor. the Punjab and Scinde quiet. The S!)o!apo .r Rajah is reported to have commenced plundering the adjacent country. Some small affairs have occurred with the Bueels iu Peinth. A rising- in the Concan, below the Phonda Glial, was reported, but the insurgents dispersed at the approach of a small detachment f, orn Sawunt Wav -r, "H. L ANDERSON." The following telegram, dated Alalia, from Captain z, Johnson to Sir James Cosmo Melville, lias been re- ceived at the India-houc :— "ALEXANDRIA, JAN. 1:3, 185S. The Commander-in-Chief still at Cawnpore on the 12th of December. "Districts under Mr. Sapt threatened. Azimifhur frontier also threatened. General Grant is marchi>s» towards it. "Sir James Outram at the AHumbi.rh hi Jaw-si accounts. An attack was expected on k;s p'Lio; A Ghoorka column, 2,000 men, under lAujaii Jung Bahadoor, left Ncpaul, on his way to Segowlee, tor service In British territory to ho accompanied- hý Brigadier -GeneralMacgregor as Military Commissioner. Joudpore Legion defeated on the lGth of Novem- ber, numbering 6,000 men, by Colonel Gerard. If Insurgeants at Kotah in great force; said to have dethroned the Rajah. Sir H. Rose is marching to the relief of Saugor. The Ajdaha sprang a leak about 300 miles after leaving Aden, and was obliged to put back to that place. The Punjab arrived at Suez the 14th of January, 10 p.m. Will be ready for sea night of 19th. V. G. MONTANARO." The following telegram was received at the Foreign office 0 "ALEXANDRIA, JAN. 17. The Candia arrived at Suez on the 14th inst., bringing dates from Calcutta to the 25th of December Madras, 29th of December; Galle, 9th of January and Hongkong, 16th December, but no news uf importance. The East India Company s steamer Punjab also arrived at Suez on the 13th inst., with Bombay dates to the 29th of December. She left the Feroze at Aden coaling. A small force from Delhi, under Colonel Seaton, encountered a body of rebels at Guingeree on the 15th of December, took the guns, killed 150 men; we lost few men and three officers. Again, on the 18th of December, the same column attacked a strong force of the enemy intrenched at Putalem, near Futteyghur, killed about GOO of them, including many chiefs, took 11 guns, with their camp, and parted [pursued P] the routed enemy seven miles. Our loss was trilling, and included only one officer killed. Communication by post between Bombay and Calcutta had been re-established, letters and papers having been received. The Southampton and Prince Albert, with troops had reached Bombay, 12th.

THE Manpu*'AC1'Vr1j,*o DISTRICTS.—The accounts from the manufacturing districta generally wear au im- proved aspect this week. I lie operatives engaged in textile pjanutaclurcs arc gradually Lbtaiuiug ;llOIB em- numbers absolutely cut of work are f,st diiui/>i8lunot and the mills are m n;ost part? resuming fpll time. Iu some of the mining, pottery, and eoi-iery districts, depression continues to be felt, and ib-'e are still many hands on strike, the number having een aug- mented to some extent by fresh turn-outs, consequent on a further reduction of wages having iato opera- tion after di^e notiee. The number of <weTe -.ntiio failures is greatly on the decrease, and the affairs of the finaS already suspended are generally being arranged in a satisfactory manner. ,^y3v-

VARIETIES. THE REAL EDITION OF SIIAKSPEARE.—Burn the Variorum Edition. Take the first Polio so far as it serve3. Remove printers' errors by collation of the vaiious Quartos. Amend corrupt lines by a severe and jealous adoption of emendations. Print the text without notes, and leave the rest to Sliakspeare. Such is our ad- vice to that imaginary future editor of the Works who shall fall to his task in a proper spirit, thinking nothing of himself, much for his public, and most of all for the Poet.—Athenceum. DO;.¡'T MAKE Youn OWN Win.—I am somewhat unwilling to give you any instructions for making your will, without the assistance of your professional adviser and I would particularly warn you against the use of printed forms, which have misled many men. They are as dangerous as the country schoolmaster or the vestry clerk. It is quite shocking to reflect upon the litigation which has been occasioned by men making their own wills, or employing incompetent persons to do so.. To save a few guineas in their lifetime, men leave behind them a will which it may cost hundreds of pounds to have expounded by the Courts before the various claim- ants will desist from litigation. Looking at this as a simple money transaction, lawyers might well be in despair if every man's will were prepared by a competent person. To put off making your will until the hand of death is upon you, evinces either cowardice or a shame- ful neglect of your temporal concerns. Lest, however, such a moment should arrive, I must arm you in some measure against it. If you wish to tie up your property in your family you really must not make your own will. It were better to die without a will, than to make one which will only your in covcr its meaning. The words chIldren, Issue, heIrs of the body/or 'heirs,' sometimes operate to give the ( parent the entire disposition of the estate, although the testator did not mean any such thing. They are seldom used by a man who makes his own will without leading to a lawsuit. And now an operation has been given to like word5 by the new statute, which I could not explain to you without you possessed more knowledge of law than I give you credit for. It were useless for me to attempt to show you how to make a strict settlement of your property, and therefore I will not try. I could, without difficulty, run over the names of many judges and lawyers of note, whose wills made by themselves have been set aside, or construed so as to defeat every intention which they ever had. It is not even a pro- found knowledge of law which will capacitate a man to make his own will, unless he has been in the habit of making the wills of others. Besides, notwithstanding that fees are purely honorary, yet it is almost proverbial that a lawyer never does anything well for which he is not fee'd. Lord Mansfield told a story of himself, that feeling this influence, he once, when about to attend to some professional business of his own, took several guineas out of his purse, and put them into his waistcoat pocket, as a fee for his labour.-Lord St. Leonard's htlndl/*booj £ How TO EXECUTE A WILL.—But tot to trouble you with nice distinctions, I advise your to make you ,vill in the following manner —Take care that i £ wntten o several separate sheets of paper, they are all fastened together, and that the pages are numbered, Sign your name at the bottom of each sheet, and state at the end of your will of how many pages your will consists. If thore are any erasures or interlineations, put your initials in the margin opposite to them, and notice them in the attestation The attestation should be already written at the end of the will. The two persons intended to be the witnesses should be called ir" and told that you desire them to witness your will, and then you Bhould sign your name in their presence, and desire them each to look at the signature, lour signature should follow your will, but should precede the signatures of the witnesses, for if you were to sign after they have signed, your will would be void. When, therefore, you have signed, they should sign their names and residences at the foot of the attestation. You will observe, that according to the attestation, neither of the witnesses, although he has signed the attestation, should leave the room until the other witness has signed also. Remember that they must both sign in your presence, and therefore should not allow them to go into another room to licrn or even into any recess or any other part of the same room, where it is possible that you might not be t} ♦ „ n ihAm sion If, therefore, yoii do not choose >' sam0 "ble "r-w a pla«Sl cluse to YOU before they com.I into'the room S as to create no confusion, at which they can ,and ought to sign before leaving the room. y « ° send your servant, who happened to bo onei y intended witnesses, ow of the room even for II table, he must leave the room Wore you sign. If after your death a question were to Rrise upon the fact of your having signed in the presence of both of the witnesses present at the same time, the man ^v0ui(j of course admit that he left the room before you 4id sign and then imagine what reliance would be placed u,on that fact in cross-examination, and m the address to In, jury. The precaution which I recommend would prevent m_ culty from arising.—Ibid, J^OVIPE TO YOUNG LADIES BY MR. ]RUSKIN.-If ),U are a young lady, and employ a certain number of seam. stresses a given time, in making a given number of aim. 1 and serviceable dresses—suppose seven, ot which you pan wear one yourself for hall the winter, and give six nnnr eirls who have none—you are spending Smo»cPy But if you Lploy tl.e youi mon y sscs for the same number of days in number of sea »,cauti;ui flounces for your making four, or fa win clothe no one but own ball dress tloui vr.rstilf vvill be unable to wear yourself, and which you > employing your money It more than one ball-yon Jhat as lon £ selfishly. • jn the land around you, as there are cold and nakedn >. that splendour so long can there bo no question at all u ^nothing of dress is a crime. In due time, un.n w* o better to set people to, wort at, it u» J° them make lace and cut jewels but as f0I any who Lave no blankets for their beds, and no rag their bodies, so long it is blanket-making and tailor g we must set people to work at—not lace.— Political Economy of Art, JEKYL S JOKES.-I remember a good-natured solicitor, who had a large practice at Tavistock, and kept excellent claret, for whom Jekyl was retained. This limb of the law wore an enormous white cravat at all times. The witty lawyer began Gentlemen of the jury, I am counsel in this case for a gentleman well known through out the county of Devon, Mr, Frank IV-, remarkable in general for wearing a pillow about his neck, but some- times a bolster."—I recollect another case, by which he set a jury in good humour.' An apothecary kept a villa near the town wbera he practised Jekyl conteaded he should have been at his business. Methinks, gentle- men of the jury, I see this modern .ZEsculapius retired to his Sabine farm, cultivating his plants with his spatula, watering them with his syringe, and reclining under the shade of his Peruvian bark."—Bedding's Recollections. A YOUNG LADY'S CHANGES.—A young lady thus describes her feeling, and courts sympathy :— My heart is sick, my heart is sad, But, oh, the cause I dare not tell I am not grieved, I am not glad, I am not ill, I am not well I'm not myself—I'm not the same I am indeed, I know not what I'm changed in all, except the name— 0 when shall I be changed in THAT ? EXCESSIVE POLITENESS.—The late eccentric preacher, Rowland Hill, was always annoyed when there happened to be any noise in the chapel, or when anything occured to divert the attention of his hearers from what he was saying. On one occasion he was preaching to one of the most crowded congregations that ever assembled to hear him. In the middle of his discourse, he observed a great commotion in the gallery. For a time he took no notice of it; but finding it increasing, he paused in his sermon, and looking in the direction iu which the confusion pre- vailed, he exclaimed, What is tho matter there ? The Devil seems to havegotamongyou!" A plain country-look- ing man immediately started to his feet, and addressing Mr. Hill in reply said, "No, sir, it arn't the Devil as is a doing on it; it's a lady wot's fainted and she's a very fat 'un, sir, as don't seem likely to come to again in a hurry." Oh, that's it, is it," observed Mr. Hill, drawing his hand across his chin, then I beg the lady's pardon, and the Devil's too." MODERN JERUSALEM.—A French gentleman, who de- lights to frequent the spots on which celebrated poots have dwelt, or whence they derived their inspiration, has published in the Monitcur an account of his visit to the Gardens of Solomon." First he visited the sealed fountains" -large subterranean reservoirs, wherein the waters springing from the mountains are collected, and whence the water is conducted to Jerusalem by pipes At a short distance from the reservoirs are the celebrated gardens. They extend along a valley which runs from El- Bourracn to Bethlehem. It is the most charming spot in all Palestine. Solomon was a good judge in more senses than one. There are murmuring streams winding through winding lawns; there are the choicest fruits and flowers, the hyacinth and the anemone, the fig tree and the pine. towering high above the garden, and contrasting grandly with its soft aspect, are the dark precipitous rocks of the neighbouring mountain, around whose summits vultures and eagles incessantly scream and describe spiral circles in the air. The rare plants and flowers which the great enchanter of the East collected within these gardens were protected from the north wind by the mountain. Every gust of the south wind was loaded with perfumes. With the first breeze of spring the fig tree put firth its fruits and the vines begin to blossom. It was in the words of Scripture, a garden of delights.' The vege- tations of the north and south were intermingled. One part of the garden was called tho Walnuttree-walk (or as the English Scripture translation has it. the Garden of Nuts), another is the Bed of Spices." The writer's guide was a well educated Italian, who informed him that the Gardens of Solomon are now let to an Englishman. the present tenant,' he said, is Mr. G ddsmith, of the house of Goldsmith and Son. lie is undordraining the gardens of Solomon on the Yorkshire system. You will be astoaished to see how successful he has been Here is the I perceived a bright brass knob is shining in the centre of a small square-porcelain let into a white wall., Over this knob was the following superscription in the English language—' Ring the bell.' This bell seemed to my imagination rather an anomaly in the gardens of Solomon—but that is a trifle. We did ring the bell, and we went in. The first thing that struck my eyes were red draining pipes lying about, and bearing the mark of the manufacturers, S imuel and Co., No. 128, S.rand. Mr. Goldsmith was draining that biblical valley, the dew of which was so often brushed away by ihe naked feet of the Shulamite. It was in the month of September. An American mowing machine was cutting off a second crop of artificial grass on the very spot where the daughters of Jerusalem gathered those lillies of the field which were more beautiful than Solomon in all his glory. A patent reaping machine was rapidly garnering the crop of that glebe in which the sisters of Ruth, and the daugh- ters of Naomi were wont to glean. I asked to see Solo- mon's pavilion, but alas, the cypress timber and the cedar wainscotling were taken down, and in their place there is a brick built cottage with a roof of red and green tiles. The entrance hall is whitewashed there is a little par- lour with a Birmingham carpet, and a drawing-room papered with a red-bordered yellow paper, purchased in Paris, Rue des Moineaux. The chimney is Prussian, and the curtains are of Swiss muslin. Instead of the servants of the spouse, I found two nurserymaids, one from Paris and the other from Florence. The slave who prepares the tents of cedar is now called John.' lie has red whiskers, blacks his master's shoes, and scrubs the floor every day, and varnishes it on Sunday's and if some romantic person should inquire, as I had the naivete to do, about the dark Shulamite, ho will be shown, five sweet .English, children, redolent of cold cream, and Windsor soap, a3 fair as floss silk, with their hair in cork screw curls, and wearing prunella boots, blue cap: s, and green parasols. The. cinnamon trees have been cut down for firewood and the aromatic canes grubbed up, but the five little misses do crochet work under the shade of a bon Chretien pear tree. Since the Eastern war, Mr. Gold- smith has obtained the custom of the Pasha of Jerusalem for vegetables. Last year he had seven crops of pota- toes thanks to his wonderful drainage." ANECDOTES OF PETER rINDAR.I once found Wolcot, when I called a good time before death, laid up in his bed-room, his eyes bandaged. What is the matter, Doctor ?" Since you were here, Adams, the oculist (afterwards Sir William Rawson) who goes about blinding everybody, persuaded me to submit to the opera- tion for cataract."—" And he operated ?" Not on both eyes—I told him he should try one first."—" And he has not succeeded ?" How could such a great man fail ?— he has cured my eye of seeing for ever. I could before observe the shadowy figure of any one between my eye and the light. I have just escaped an inflammation that might have reached the other eye, besides, suffering three or four weeks' confinement. I outwitted him." _II How?" —I gave him the worst eye of the two to block up. He had persuaded me into it. At just eighty years of age it was folly. Adams knew better. He wished my name to puff a cure with." -One of the Doctor's stories is not the less good because it is true, and has been before told. The Vicar of Menaccan, near the Lizard Point, related it to him. The Rev. Divine was reading the passage- Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon the rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern." A fisherman cried out to the astonishment of the congregation, All wrong-all wrong put about-put about; lubberly fellows d- me if I would not have saved the ship and cargo."—"The justices fined the poor fellow five shillings for swearing the very next day, only," said Wolcot for a little honest esprit de corps. There was no question about the bad seamanship."—" I had many formidable rivals in the west—not quacks, but old women. Many of their nostrums do good-I do not know how. T.he most extraordinary of these I ever met with was thV' £ ter of a boiled thunderbolt to cure the rheumatism. ~~Tboiled thunderbolt?"-41 Yes, and I discovered ^at a *vunderbolt was. I look it out of the water where an o., T. u^Hncr it for soma hours. It proved to l'om™1)3(1 b £ ° n s of old times often found in C?,c.eIt-°n(;, -beaded an- tiquaries so much tiv that pu^ c )Car-hcad." He said that Fuseli hllj U ch;8e X hip of the Academy of Paintinf,Vvb°!f1T* lorc an l that they made the most o?^no!ds1 b,e!nS ,n0, m.°'3e Fuseli hid a notion that solen^.an^ hls ness, aud was annoyed that othe? stri\ ? so too. One day, I came up behindwou d n0 t,U" not observe me, and he said, looking k?' fa, !1C pictures, Py Got! no one did over see°s"e, ° n ow" sat is before.—"No, nor never will .flgu P £ ?-a» I exclaimed, close to his ear. He never usel1' because I attacked his monsters.—Becollections Rtddwy, J Wrm

r GENEIIAL INTELLIGENCE. Queen Victoria, in addition to her message by telegraph, has addressed a letter to the Emperor of the French, congratulating him a3 well as the Empress, both in her own name and in that of the Prince Consort, on having so miraculously escaped the terrible plot which threatened their lives. Among the petitioners to the New Court of Divorce is a lady of literary celebrity, and celebrated singer. LIGHTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES WITH GAS. -The experiments upon several of the Irish railways, to test the practicability of lighting railway carriages with gas, have, it would appear, been eminently successful; the invention patented by Mr. Thomas Jefferson Thompson, C.E., of Greenwood-park, Newry, providing for and meeting every engineering requirement. We have seldom to announce at the threshold, as it were, of a new system, so complete a success. We understand that Mr. Thomp- son is about to visit, by invitation, some of the principal lines of railways in this country and it would be well if the managers of others were to make themselves acquain- ted with the simple and effective nature of his apparatus before they try less perfect plans, as the failure of one system very often induces a prejudice against others of undoubted merit, from which prejudice it may take years to recover.JIeehanies' Magazine. ALARMING ACCIDENT TO LADY MARY HOOD.-On Thursday afternoon, as Lady Mary Hood was leaving Park-street, Windsor, on her return to Cumberland- lodge, driving a pair of spirited horses in a sociable, she accidentally let fall one ot her reins,which, coming against the heels of the horses, set them kicking and plunging until they literally kicked the carriage to pieces. Lady Hood was thrown violently on the pavement and received a contused wound on the face, her ankle was «prained and she was otherwise much bruised. Herladyahip immediately attended by Mr. Brown, her Majesty's sur- immediately attended by Mr. Brown, her Majesty's sur- geon, at Windsor, who accompanied her to Cumberland- lodge. Notwithstanding the severity of the accident we are gratified to learn that the injuries are not Considered to be of a datigerous character. A FELINE FISHER. —A householder residing in Hither fliliga,te, Stockport, has a favourite cat, which on several occasions brought home a plump member of the finny tribe, tho ash being invariably alive. For some time the family was puzzled to accouat for the source of pusw's depredations, and endeavoured to prevent the cnt obtain- ing egress from the house—but in vain. Several nights in suecessiou the cat brought home a floundering fish At length a watch was set and the rendezvous traced Comfortably seating herself upon the banks of a well- stocked reservoir in the neighbourhood, pussy watched the movements of the fish until an opportunity offered for making a capture. Shortly, a goodly fish presented itself near the surface, when in pounced the cat, and al- most instantly swam back to the bank with its prize which was soon carried home as usual. It has long been suspected that the reservoir was plundered by a different species of poachers, and it is alleged that a strict look- out has been kept both day and night, some of the finest fish having been recently extracted from the water in a mysterious manner.—Stockport Advertiser. MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.—A most surprising escape from what appeared to be inevitable death, occurred at the Great Northern Railway Station at Lincoln, a night or two ago. A gentleman, advanced in years, named Pierrepont, wished to cross from the up to the down plat- form, but, seeing an engine approaching on the up line, he hesitated and stood irresolute for some seconds; when the engine was close upon him, however, h9 appears to have decided to niako the attempt, but, miscalculating the distance, he was struck by the off-buffer of the en- gine (which was tender foremost, and moving very slowly), and knockcd down longitudinally between the rails. The engine-driver immediately turned off the steam, and the break was vigorously applied, but the en- gine moved on a distance of full twenty yards, when it was brought to a standstill; Mr. Pierrepont then scram- bled out from between the wheels, having sustained no injury whatever "beyond a few scratches and bruises; in- deed, so little was ho affected by the accident that he im- mediately began to stridu the distance he had been pro- pelled by the engine. He states th it his legs passed through the guard in front of the fire-box, and that ho was pushed gently along from the hips. He attributes his safety to having kept perfectly calai and collected.— Manchester Examiner. DESPERATE ENCOUNTER WITH A ROBBER.—A Hull paper gives the following account of a desperate affrav with a highwayman in the East Riding of Yorkshire — Mr. George Glarkson, of Iluggage-lodge, a farm-house 0 9 between Wetwang and Huggate, was returning from Driffield market on horseback, about eight o'clock on Thursday night. After leaving Wetwang the road is very secluded and lonely. In consequence of the many recent robberies in the neighbourhood, and a gate crossing this road having on a former night been found tied, Mr. Clarkson had armed himself with a six-barrel revolver, which he held in his hand. When within about 80 yards of his own house, he was met by a man on foot, who knocked him from his horse with a blud- geon. The man jumped upon Mr. Clarkson's body, and they had a fearful struggle on the ground. The man seized Mr. Clarkson by the throat and attempted to strangle him, and beat his head and face with the rough stones which had been used in repairing the road. Mr Clarkson, in his own defence, discharged four barrels of his revolver at the man, and heat him on the head with it, but the last shot only Beemed to take effect, entering the man's chest or jaw. Soon after receiving the last charge, the man's clothes were on fire, when he jumped up and ran away in a blaze. Mr. Clarkaon's assailant did not succeed in robbing him, and he then proceeded home, his horse having gone on before. The reports and flashing of the revolver, and the man on fire, were heard and seen by several inhabitant* of Wetwang. Next morning information was given to the police at Driffield, and Superintendent Young and Sergeant Thompson pro. ceeded to the scene of the conflict. They found traces of the man having sat on a bank, waiting for Mr. Clarkson's arrival. i While sitting here, be had cut the bottom end of his bludgeon smooth with a knife, that he might handle it the better, being the knotty part of a tree top. The bludgeon was found on the ground and hair from Mr. Clarkson's face adhering to it. In the adjoining field they found the romnants of the man's burnt shirt deeply saturated with blood. He had also left his cap and a neckerchief behind, the neckerchief being also partly burnt, and there was a black place on the ground near a pond, where his clothes had been consumed. They also traced his footprints and bloody hand marks on gates in a direction towards Tibthorpe. He had then turned towards Driffield. The next account that was heard of the man was his arrival at Burlington at two o'clock on the following morning, a distance of 18 miles, which bleed- ing, bruised, and burnt as he was, he had managed to accomplish in six hours. At the above hour he went to the house where he had lodged, covered with blood and his head much swollen. He spat quantities of blood' and told the mistress of the house to look into his mouth, from which he cut with a pair of scissors some ragged flesh. He hastily washed off the blood, put on a shirt and left, saying that he bad been shot at by a man on the road, and he was afraid he would be followed and taken. It has since been ascertained that he reached Scarborough, where he got his wounds dressed, and this is the last we have up to this time heard of him He is said to be an Irishman, who, for the last two years, has been working at the church at Burlington during its restoration, and of whom a rather droll account appeared in the newspapers some time ago. He was appointed to watch the materials used III the repairs of the church, some of which had been stolen. Paddy was armed with a gun, and, to amuse himself, be fired at a teetotal bill which had been stuck on the church door, but, instead of demolishing the bill, he injured some of the stained glass in the windows. He had worked at Mr. Clarkson's during the past harvest. He is about 5 feet 8 inches high, thin faced, and was dressed in a white slop and cap, but Mr. Claikson did not, during the attack, recognize THE LEVIATHAN.—On Saturday a further advance was made upon the position of the big ship, and she was I slowly moved about eight feet nearer to the ends of the lauuemng ways. At first she moved with great ease but towards the close of the day a considerable pressure had to be applied, owing to the accumulation of half frozen mud upon the ways. There was an unusual attendance of Royal and distinguished visitors, including the Bcl'^an Princess, the Due de Brabant and the Comte de Flandres Later in the day also the Prussian Princes paid a visit to the yard, aud not only inspected the launching apparatus, but went on board and over every part of the monstrous hull, which is now at every Ude surrounded with water to a considerable depth. It la not expected that she will float before the 30th or <51st. TRADE PROSPHCTS.—The London correspondent of the Nottingham Review writes :—The bank rate of discount is now just half its minimum in November last, and first class paper is done by the discount houses as low as 31 per cent. The amount of unemployed money rapidly increases, and the rate of interest continues to decline. Favourable as these circumstances apparently, and to some extent are, they are however in a great measure the result of general commercial stagnation. There is no de- mand for money. Producers and purchasers are alike I limiting their operations, and this very policy, although likely to be beneficial in the long run, for a time delays any decided improvement. The failures now announced are fewer and less extensive than those that occurred a few weeks back, but stfll the injurious consequences of the latter are not yet exhausted. The recent stock-taking has in soma cases disclosed accumulated difficulties that it was hopeless to struggle against, and where bills at long dates have been taken in payment for goods, the real pressure of a bad debt is not so much felt when a failure is announced as when a succession of dishonoured bills have to be provided for. Thus, two prejudicial influences -commercial inactivity and the accumulated pressure of recent losses, will combine to render the present year a trying one, and the first three months of it more particu- larly so. The shipping trade during the first part of the year must be small. Confidence is now in a great mea- sure restored in the United States, and there are signs of returning activity:; but however rapid m iy be the re- bound from the recent depression, it could not be suffi- ciently rapid to effect the present spring trade, even if stocks out there were smaller than they are known to be. The C inadas have naturally been effected to some extent (though not to so large an extent as they might have been), by the financial difficulties of their immediate neighbours, and we cannot look for a very extensive de- mand from that quarter at present. The Indian market has not yet recovered from the still unsuppressed mutiny, Commercial advices from thence are, however, beginning to wear a more cheerful aspect, and although the struggle may, it is to be feared, be prolonged some time in Oude, yet, if it is confined to that province, and order is re- stored in all other districts, we may reasonably expect a more lively demand for goods ere lonir. With Australia a steady trade will doubtless be done through parties who understand the market; but there is such tendency to ship to that colony without auy regard to the total amount of population to be supplied, that the market never becomes sufficiently bare of goods to allow of a very active demand. To the West Indies, South America, the Cape, the Levant, Northern Europe, China, and other still smaller purchasers of English hosiery, a moderate amount of sliipments may be made but with all com- bined there will be no excess to make up for the exten- sive deficit in the exports to our large customers. CURIOUS CUSTOM.-Some of our readers are probably aware that there is an ancient custom in Germany, by which any subject in the land, to whom three sons are born alive at a birth, or who becomes the father of a seventh son, is privileged to call upon his prince to stand godfather in either case. It happens that his Royal Highness the Prince Consort of Queen Victoria, and a worthy countryman of Prince Albert's, now resident in West Hartlepool, being native to the manner born," have fallen into this somewhat remarkable relationship. The lady of Mr. J. V. Curths, Fountain House, a German by birth, having, on the 15th of December last, pre- sented him with the seventh son, the idea occurred to Mr. Ourths that in a country where the Prince Consort was of German origin, the old custom might be fairly conti- nued and accordingly he wrote to bis Royal Highness, respectfully requesting the honour. The result has been a letter from Colonel Phipps, private secretary to the Prince Consort, inclosing a cheque for JE.5 as a present to the child, and the following very gratifying testimo- nial to the father Colonel Phipps is g'ad to be able to acquaint Mr. Curths that the information respecting him which has been received, in consequence of inquiries that have been made, is very satisfactory, Buckingham Falaoe, Jan. 14th, 1858." Tie words in italics aro underlined in the original letter, which we have seen. Few persons who hear of this evidence of attachment to the customs of his fatherland will not think more highly of the Prince for the kindness of heart it evinces.- Court Journal. M. Jules Gerard, who was recently stated to have been killed by a lion, was at the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society in London, on Mo day last, the lion of the evening, especially after the report of his having been a banqnet for his old foe. The Archdeaconry of Carmarthen has become vacant by the death of the venerable Richard Venables, D.D. The appointment, to which is attached a prebendal stall in the cathedral church of the diocese, is in the gift of the Bishop of St. David's. By the death of Dr. Venables the vicarage of Nantmel, Radnorshire, also becomes vacant. It is worth about j6400 a-ye*r, and is in the gift of the Bishop of St. David's. Archdeacon Venables died in his 84th year. A PAINFUL CASE.—Mary Stringer, the wife of a marine store dealer, at Leicester, committed suicide on the loth inst. under the following painful circumstances, as elicited at the inquest, which terminated on Wednesday. On the evening of the (Jay above-mentioned the deceased went with another woman in search of her husband, and was proceeding to a neighbouring public-house, when they came up with the man, who was standing in the street with his arm round the waist of a girl, named Elizabeth Simmonds, with whom he was known to have established an improper intimacy. Words ensued be- tween the husband aud wife, and the latter, who was much excited and complained bitterly of the conduct of her rival, ultimately ran across a piece of waste ground and threw herself into the river Soar. A loud scream was heard by several persons as the unfortunate woman plunged into the waW, and then all was quiet. Subse- quently her body was found iu the river by the police, but she was quite dead. The husband, on being informed of the fact, appeared afflicted with remorse, and said, I believe I have broken Mary's heart." The people of the neighbourhood were so exasperated against Stringer and the young woman Simmonds, that the police had to in- terfere for their protection, but the windows of the house where the girl lived were broken, and she had to be removed from the inquest room in a cab. The deceased leaves four small children.

SPRING CIRCUITS OF THE JUDGES FOR 1053. On Thursday morning Lord Campbell, Sir A. Cock- burn. and Sir F. Pollock, with the Puisne Judges of the several Courts of Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, assembled in the Exchequer Chamber for the purpose of considering and arranging the circuits upon which they will respectively proceed to hold the ensuing assizes for the several counties in England and Wales. The following arrangements were finally deter- mined on, viz.; — OXFORD CIRCUIT.—Judges.—Mr. Baron Watson and Mr. Baron Channell. Assijes to be holden at Heading. Oxford, Worcester, for the county and city, Siafford, Shrewsbury, Hereford, Monmouth, Gloucester, in a"d for the county and city. NORTH WALKS CIRCUIT.—Judge.—SirCharlesCromp- tou, who after proceeding through 'he circnit, will join Mr. Baron Bramwell at Chester, and hold the assize for that cily and county. The assizes to be bohieu for North Wales are to be Welchpool, Bala, Carnarvon Beaumaris, Ruthin, and Mold. SOUTH WALES AND CHESTER CIRCUIT.—.Judge.— Mr. Baron Bramwell, who joins Mr. Justice Crompton at Chester. Assizes to be holden at Cardigan, Haver- fordwest, Carmarthen, Svranseoj^Brecon, t resteign, and Chester.