Monmouthshire Merlin

FURTHER NEWS OF DR. LIVINGSTONE. At a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, on Monday night, Sir R. J. Murchison read two letters con- corning Dr. Livingstone, which had been received from Dr. Kirk, of Zanzibar, since the last meeting. They were fourteen days later, and communicated tho results of the visit of Dr. Kirk and the consul to the mainland of Africa, where they went to question other members of the trader's caravan which had fallen in with the white traveller in the interior. The first letter was from Dr. Kirk to Mr. Webb, and was dated October 9th, 1867, and was as follows:- The interesting discovery that a white man had heen seen seven months ago to the South of the Lake Zangau Yika induced Mr. Churchill, the consul, and myself to go to Bagannoyo, a place on the coast— the point of the arrival and departure of the Ujiti caravan. The result of our our visit has been to find that two other men have also seen the wanderer in the interior of the Marungu, and to place his exist- ence apparently beyond doubt. We have also learned something about his personal appearance, his escort, and the route he was taking, and have been told that lotters were given to one of the head men of another caravan that is at Marungu. This man, we have since been told, is a well-known man so that on his arrival from the interior, expected in the course of a month, we may not only have our curiosity satisfied, but I sin- cerely hope our best wishes for our dear friend Living- stone realised. I hope that we shall find that he has been successful, and is pushing his way to the Albert Nyanza, thence to emerge via the Nile on the Mediter- ranean. He will have been the first man who has not only crossed the mountain, but has passed through the whole length of Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope to the mouth of the Nile. But the essential part of his work will have been done before he reaches the Nile, and he may safely return towards Zanzibar, if so minded, with laurels sufficient to constitute him the greatest of all explorers, and the African traveller par excellence. Y Ull see I am very sanguine that our friend is still alive. The manner in which we obtained the testi- mony was very satisfactory. In the first place, I picked up the news amongst the native traders. I then ad- dressed the caravan people, and drew out their story, while they were unsuspicious of its interest; so that neither Hurdee traders nor Suaheli men had an object to tell lies, nor any idea how to act ifthey wished merely to please. Besides, our conversations were carried on without an interpreter, and although making no pre- tence to a full knowledge of the language, I knew quite sufficient to be able to express myself, and dispense with that fertile source of confusion, an interpreter. I need not repeat all we heard; most of what is important will be public before this reaches England. Withthepros- pect of letters from Livingstone so near, we may well refrain from all speculation on the subject of his geo- graphical discoveries." The other letter was from Mrs. Kirk to Sir R. I. Mur- chison, and was dated Zanzibar, Oct. 11 "The white traveller concerning whom Dr. Kirk wrote to you on the 28th of last month, according to further accounts, stayed five days at the village where the caravan was, and then went on to the next chief. The white man was of moderate height, not stout, wore a white coat and trousers, and a black cloth cap, round which he sometimes wrapped a white cloth. He gave the chief a looking glass, eight yards of flannel, and a tin box. He went on northwards. He gave a letter to Bundnki, the leader of another caravan, which is expected on the coast in about a month. He had a compass and other instruments, which lie used at night. He could converse in Suaheli, but did so im- perfectly, and with the Nyassa idiom, 'like Dr. Kirk.' He had a beard three of his party four boxes of beads, the others containing miscellaneous articles. This is all the information we have, and Dr. Kirk wishes me to tell you he has hardly any doubt at all that it is indeed Dr. Livingstone. If it is not, who can it be? There is no other white man in the interior, and a Portuguese from the west would not speak Sua- heli. There is also a rumour that a white man has been seen in the country of Uruua, west of Ujiji, but as yet we have not been able to trace the report. It was heard casually mentioned in a conversation be- tween two natives. Dr. Kirk sent a large party of guns, letters, and other things to Ujiji to meet Dr. Living- stone, who, if he hears in any way that such things lie there for him, it would probably influence his move- ments." The opinion of the meeting was that these letters were conclusive as to the identity of the white man" with Dr. Livingstone.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, SATURDAY, Dec 7th, The Speaker took the chair at twelve o'clock, and at once proceeded to the House of Lords to hear the Royal assent given by commission to certain bills. On their return, in reply to Mr. Lanyon, the Earl of MAYO said, when a rumour of an intended party pro- cession at, Cork reached the Government, the consta- biliary were ordered to watch the proceedings, and to takedown the name of any one who committed a breach of the peace. He strongly deprecated those party dis- plays, especially when they were simply an attempt to convert an act of murder into one of coarage and patriotism. ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE—Mr. WARD HUNT moved that the House at its rising should adjourn until Thursday, the 13th of February. THE ABYSSINIAN QUESTION. — Mr. SCHREIBER called attention to the absence in the papers laid before Parliament of all official information respecting Mr. Rassam's mission between the 28th January and the 18th April, 1866 Sir P. O'BRIEN asked if it was true that there was a ki d of French colony in Abyssinia, occu- pied by Fre chmen, whopossessed great influence over King Theodore, and if they had offered their mediation on behalf of the captives, which mediation had been declined. THE PROPOSED ITALIAN CONFERENCE. — Mr. D. GRIFFITH called attention to the proposed Conference on llalian affairs, and made some remarks on the sub- ject, which were quite unintelligible,-Lord STANLEY said he would not repeat what he had previously said on the subject of Italy, although tie admitted that the settlement of the question would be of great impor- tance to Europe. At, the same time, he did not see that any good was likely to arise from a Conference, which would only show to what extent the various Powers might differ. Unless some basis of settlement was laid down, it would only be a wasle of time to un- dertake the Conference. For his own part, he could not see how the conflicting claims of the Pope on the one hand, and of the King of Italy on the other, could be reconciled, although, of course, it would be most satisfactory if an agreement could be arrived at. With regard to the despatches respecting Mr. Rassam's mis- sion, he believed there was only one paper of impor- tance, and that should be laid on the table. He knew nothing of the French colony which had been spoken of by Sir P. O'Brien, but he doubted whether any me- ditatiou would have been useful. He did not look with any feeling of jealousy or distrust upon French influ- ence, or the good offices of France; on the contrary, lie was glad to say that we were on the best possible terms with France. BRIBERY AND CORRUPTTOX. Colonel TAYLOR gave notice that on the 13th of February the Chancel- lor of the Exchequer would ask leave to bring in a bill to amend the laws relating to petitions and for the more effectual prevention of bribery and corruption at elections. The HOWIe adjourned at ten miautes to two o'clock

LITERARY SELECTIONS. Old men's lives are lengthened shadows their even- ing sun falls coldly on the earth, but the shawdows all point to the morning. If a kind word or two will render a man happy, he must be churlish indeed who will not give them to him. Such a disposition, like another man's candle lighted by one's own loses none of its brillancy by what the other gains. ROWING, TRAINING, AND PLUCK.-No one can doubt that, whatever else rowing may be, it is au ad- mirable trial of pluck. It is, with one exception, the ouly out-of-door sport practiscxl by gentlemen for which any serious training is undertaken and training may be defined as the art of developing pluck. There are, as all moralists know, certain virtues which depend di- rectly upon our physical organs. No man can be thor- oughly healthy in mind who has a bad digestion. It is said that Calvinism was eradicated from a certain dis- trict in America simply by drainage. A thorough sys- tem of drains improved the general tone of health, and put an end not only to agues, but to the gloomy spirit favourable tounpleasant doctrines about predestination. On the same principle, courage is intimately connected with a vigorous condition of body. It is physically pos- sible to go through efforts after a few weeks' regular living which would have knocked you up at the begin- ning of the period but training, if we look at it from a general point of view, should raise a man's courage, not only by diminishing the painful obstacles arising from excessive fat and other evils that flesh is heir to, but by more directly raising the morale of the subject. A trainer has not done half his work who allows his crew ever to get out of spirits, to contemplate the pos- sibility of disaster, or to dwell upon their own fanciful or real ailments. A man about to start in a severe race should not only be clear in complexion, and well-de- veloped in muscle, but should have the hearty coufi- dent smile which, being translated, means, "death or victory."—1st. 1'aul's, edited by A'utlioay Trollope. THE DEATH (.i-CIIATTERTON.—The youth having reached the metropolis, lodged first in Shoreditch, and afterwards in Brooke-street, Holborn. His conduct was now ext raordinary he wrote hOllle declaring him- self to be on the high road to fame and fortune. In one letter he exultingly cries out, "Bravo, boys! up we go in another, written about a month before his death, he says, My company is courted everywhere," and speaks of himself as the intimate associate of emi- nent persons. Yet during a great part of this time he was on the verge of absolute want. He had, indeed, obtained access to publishers, and his pocket-book con- tains various entries of sums paid for articles in maga- zines but time was wanted to w ork his way, and star- vation was gradually approaching. He lodged during the last ten weeks of his life, at No. 4, Brooke-street, Holborn, in a garret-room," where his landlady, Mrs. Angel, sack-maker," gradually awoke to the convict ion that her youn<* and strange lodger was in a sad state of poverty. The weekly rent was indeed paid to the day, but the signs of want could not be mistaken. One loaf lasted him for a week, and a stale one was always bought. Two days before death came, the baker re- fused even the stale loaf, until three and sixpence, then due, were paid. The money was found. A little moro must have been obtained, as the next day the young man purchased from Mr. Cross, a neighbouring che- mist, a little arsenic for an experiment When about to go up to his room that evening, August 24fh, Mrs. Angel was struck by a peculiar gentleness in his manner, and by his kissing her when he bade her "good night." The next morning, the young Bristol poet, the author of Rowley's poems, was found dead, a suicide, in his eighteenth year. Alone, he had dreamed when a child, in Redcliffe Church alone, he had toiled over his parchments in his little room in his mother's house and alone, he died in the heart of London.-The Quiver. THE SKIN AND THE USE OF COSMETICS.-Such being the skin—so highly organised, so delicate, so multifarious an organism, so wonderfully made, one having so many things to do — it is reasonable to think we can abuse the skin by laying on pigments at random with impunity ? Believe me not. If I touch a wasp with a drop of oil, the wasp soon dies suffocated. Breathing wholly by apertures through its skin, the oil fills up those apertures, and the insect dies in con- sequence. We human beings are not so badly off as that. We have lungs to breathe with, those wasps have not hence nothing laid upon the skin to occlude our skin-pores would have the efrect of suffocating us sud- denly. The use of such is very prejudicial neverthe- less, and should ever be borne in mind when the use of skin-cosmetics is contemplated. This is not the worst that may happen. The human organism may not only be injured through painting or varnishing large portions of the skin, so that it can no longer breathe or transpire another injury may come through the further evil of injurious things absorbed and taken into the system. Thus, to take an imaginary case, if perchance the fashion should now ever dawn and come into vogue of rubbing blue mercurial ointment upon the skin, in the interests of promoting some imaginary beauty, the effect would soon be death through salivation. Such a case is impossible since the time of the ancient Britons nobody in this country has been thought more handsome for being painted blue. The assumption is not valueless. Though mercurial preparations be not used as skin-pigments, they are frequently used—and worse, arsenic—as depilatories applied to the skin to accomplish the removal of super- fluous hair. In this way tho result has frequently been injurious; in some cases fatal. Lead preparations, again, are to be guarded against solicitously- Painters who get smeared with white-lead, printers who handle printing-types (the metal of which is partly lead), plumbers and smelters and others much concerned iu handling the metal-lead or its compounds, are ever subject to incur that frightful disease—lead-colic and palsy. I, myself, knew a printer who died from this cause. These facts may serve to fix on the mind the care with which lead applications should be regarded. Occasionally, flake-white, which is none other than white-lead, has been used to impart whiteness to the skin. The practice is dangerous beyond my power to reprobate. Suffering, up to torture the most awful, ending in death, is always imminent. Another repre- hensible custom, involving the cosmetic use of a lead compound, is the following :—Upon the face or other visible skin a pimple is seen, or other eruption where. upon, at the instigation of some old woman who cures with simples—using nothing strong—a wash of Gou- lard-water is applied again and again. Now Goulard- water is none else than a soluble preparation of lead, adapted in the highest degree to tho absorbent capacit y of the skin. It is absorbed into the system, and evil effects arise, few knowing whence they come. Goulard- water is no simple, believe me. It may be used in certain cases with advantage once in a way; but no doctor would dare to use it over long periods, as cer- tain old women do who cure (and kill) by simples.- Professor Scoffem in Aliss Bi-addo it's Belgravia. THE MODERN FARMER—The farmer has lost a deal of his ancient simplicity of character, without having acquired more than a very thin coat of that refinement which we hope is one day to replace it. Farmers no lon- ger, as a rule, sit and drink in the village publichouse. They no longer come to afternoon Church exhibiting unmistakable signs of having eaten too much dinner. They are no longer entirely illiterate their wives and daughters have pianos and pony-chases, and take in magazines. It is now no uncommon thing to hear, when you drop into the village shop of a morning, that Mr. Barleycorn (his father was only farmer Barley- corn) has got a dinner party that evening, a phrase at one time appropriated exclusively to the" quality. On these occasions, we believe, the gentlemen hand the ladies into dinner, just like the real business, and exhibit towards them a frank and facetious gallantry, which would throw into the shade the arts of the most accomplished guardsman. But with all these outer signs of progress the inner man of the farmer has not quite kept pace. His standard of morality is much the same as ever. He is now too genteel to take his brandy and water in company with the blacksmith and the carpenter but he is not above taking a great deal of it in his own parlour. He now reads more-a very little more but it may be doubted whether he thinks more, and whether his views of public questions, of his own position, and of the relations of the various classes of society towards each other are not quite as narrow as his father's. His newspaper may give him a little more knowledge than he had in other times but he has not yet drunk deep enough of the Pierian spring to acquire anything like taste. Consult him on the building of a church, on the selection of a hymn, on the merits of a sermon, and with a little more pretence you will find all the old" Philistinism crop up. Hear him upon labourer's cottages, or upon the education of the poor, and you will also find that pianos, and papers, and black coats, and lafe dinners have made him more liberal than his forefather who, had a piano been brought into his house, would have smashed it to pieces with the poker who dined in his kitchen at 1 o'clock, had a sausage with his tea at five, supped on bacon at eight, in summer went to bed by daylight. Among the chief public events which give variety to the farmer s life are the weekly market, the agricultural meeting, and the Visitation. Modern effeminacy has greatly re- laxed the severity of the conditions under which mar- kets were attended formerly. Thirty years ago the farmer had to be at market by seven o clock in the morning, and beast and sheep were in the winter time, inspected by candlelight. He got out his shambling old gig, or mounted his undipped cob, by five o'clock, and jogged in steadily at, the rate of six miles an hour. Now-a-days he starts from home in his smart dog-cart as late as eleven or twelve o'.clock, and often picks up the parson on the road who is walking in about some justice business. At the market dinner, which is usually held at two o'clock, he sits down to a luxurious repast, furnished out with fish, game, and poultry, according to the season, and not unfrequently washed down by copious libations of champagne. Here he settles his engagements for the ensuing week; gives and receives invitations to shoot, to course, to sup to come over and look at that cow and have a bit of dinner after- wards; to drop in and meet Groggins the Vet," one night and have a round at loo and to various other natural and congenial diversions. For farmers, to do them justice, in spite of their complaints against the bad fortune which has placed them in that station of life, will allow, when pressed, that they do enjoy themselves." And really a farmer's life at the present day, regarded in the abstract, is one of the most de- sirable in the world. — From Country Life," in the Cornhill Maaaxine*

The Queen has been graciously pleased to appoint Mr. Edward Thornton, C.B., now Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the King of Portugal, to be Her Majesty's Envoy Extra- ordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States of America.—GoAette.

ATTEMPT TO SHOOT A SWEETHEART. At the Salford Town Hall, on Monday, Mary Ann Quirk, a young woman, was brought up on the charge of attempted murder.—Police Constable Daniel Sower- by, the prosecutor, said that while he was on duty about eight o'clock on Sunday evening the prisoner came up to him and walked alongside of him for some distance. Ho could not persuade her to leave him. At a quarter to nine he called at the Pendleton police station, and im- mediately after he got upon the outside of an omnibus which was going to Market street. The prisoner at the same time entered the omnibus. Near the Salford lown Hall, after both bad left the omnibus, they again met and witness advised the prisoner to go home. Witness proceeded to the police station at the Town Hall, and afterwards, at about quarter to ten, ho was dismissed from duty for the night. At the corner of Kirkley- street and Brunswick-street he a train encountered the prisoner. She said, It's the last time I shall come," and requested that he would return two portraits which she had given him. He said he would bring them. Directly afterwards she raised her arms and he heard the report of a pistol. At the same instant he felt he had been hit. The prisoner had frequently told him she would shoot him. She had often told him that she tvas pregnant by him. He ceased to keep her company about two months ago.—Cross-examined by the pri- soner When she first met him on Sunday night he was walking with another young woman. When he ordered prisoner to go away she said he had no right now to talk in that way to her. He did not, when they next met near to the Town Hall, say to her Come and see Mr.Trafford (the Stipendiary Magistrate); many a score come every week, and you cau do the same.' He did say to her, Who are you and what are you that you should think so much of yourself there is plenty as good as you are or ever were that come." He did not tell her that she might throw herself into the old river if she liked.-William Baring, Brunswick-street, said he heard the report of the pistol and he ran out of his house. Sowerby was then falling and he cried ont, "Catch that woman; she has shot me." Witness pur- sued and caught her, and in her right hand he found a pistol which was still smoking from tho discharge. There was a recently-exploded cap on the nipple.—in- spector Hargreaves said he examined Sowerby's over- coat. There was a hole in the c luth near the left shoul- der, and half way down the sleeve, between the cloth and the lining, witness found the leaden slugproduced. —Mr. T. Newton, gunsmith, Lower King-street, said the slug might have been fired from the pistol produced. It appeared to have been moulded in a thimble.-[n re- ply to the statutory caution, the prisoner said the pro- secutor had courted her between four and five years but by advice of Mr. Tvafford she reserved her full state- ment.—She was committed for trial at the assizes, and her application to be enlarged on bail was refused.

.j The execution of Frederick Baker for the murder of Fanny Adams, has been fixed by the High Sheriff of the county for Tuesday, the 24th inst., at eight o'clock iu the morning. A strong hope is entertained that the unhappy man will not leave the world without making a full confession of his guilt. CAPTURE OF A WILD BURGLAR, NEAR LIVER- POOL.—For some time past a number of daring burgla- ries have been committed at Anfield, near Liverpool, evidently by one man, who, however, always managed to escape detection and capture. On Sunday last the county police, after a smart four mile chase through the Knows ley woods, managed to capture a fei tow named James Redman, who has been for some time past living in a sort of lair behind an old hut in the woods. In this "lair" the police found a numljer'of arj icles, and some partially-melted silver plate, all evidently stolen. The prisoner was remanded. FENIAN DEMONSTRATION IN DUBLIN.—The num- ber who marched in the funeral procession oil Sunday at Dublin is estimated at from 25,000 tp 30,000. Great numbers of sympathisers lined the streets, wearing, like processionists, crape and green rosettes, ribbons, &c. The procession included many women and girls and boys. Three hearses, on which the names of Allen, O'Brien, and Larkin were displayed, were followed by mourning coaches, and were preceded and followed by bands playing the "Dead March in Saul" and other funeral music. The procession was most orderly, and passed off peaceably. It started from the Custom House at twelve, and arrived at Glasnevin Cemetery soon after three o'clock, where John Martin addressed the crowd, and denounced the execution as an act of British tyranny and murder. The day was extremely wet. It is understood that the executive would have prevented the procession had an information been sworn that disturbance was apprehended. The troops ill the garrison were kept under arms all day. FEARFUL ACCIDENT AT NORTIIWICH. — THREE LlVES LuST.-All accident occurred on Monday after noon on one of the numerous pits to be found near the bottom of Mill Lane, at the upper part of Witton Brook. The frost of the past few days has had the ef- fect of making a coating of ice on the pits and pools in the neighbourhood, which skaters had begun to take advantage on. On Sunday afternoon, four boys, named respectively William Green, aged seven, Richard Green, aged five, John Moores, aged nine years, and an eider brother, and a boy, named Gaunt, went to slide on the p to 1 referred to. They had not been on the ice long before it gave way, and all of them were precipitated into the water. The elder Moores, although up to the neck in water, behaved with great courage in attempt- ing to rescue the others, and displayed much presence of mind. He seized a pole lying near the edge of the pool, which he put out to his brother John, who took hold of it, but being exhausted he let go his hold and was drowned. The boy then got hold of Gaunt, and suc- ceeded in bringing him ashore.—Nortiiwich Guardian. FEARFUL DEATH OF A COALOWNER.—Mr. Alder- mau George Jobling, one of the owners of Bidside and Walker Collieries, a large shipowner and a borough magistrate at North Shields, met with a frightful death at the Howden Station of the North Eastern Railway on Sunday night. Mr. Jobling was a resident in the village of Tynemouth, had been dining with his cousin, Mr. Thomas Jobling, at Willington House, and was walking down the line to catch the quarter to nine train from Newcastle to Tynemouth, when he was over- taken by the train. He had turned about to see what was coming, when he was struck in the face by the buffers and thrown under the train. His legs were cut off, his ribs were smashed in, and his face and head awfully disfigured. The train pulled up at the Howden Station, and the station master, guard, and others ran along the line and found Mr. Jobling's body in the condition described. Ilis remains were conveyed to the Howden Railway Station. Mr. Jobling, who was an alderman in the Tynemouth Corporation, was mayor of that borough in 1865, and was greatly esteemed by all classes of the inhabitants. FORGERY AND EMBEZZLEMENT— At the Derby as- sizes, on Monday, Thomas Henry Fromings was char- ged with forging a cheque for jE382, payable to the order of his employers, Messrs. Firth and Sons, iron- founders, Sheffield. There was also a charge of embezzle- ment against the prisoner. It anpeared that Fromings had held a very high position in the locality where he lived (near Chesterfield), and he had the complete man- agement of the prosecutors' business at Whittington. In 1864 the firm supplied some puddle iron to the Tyne Commissioners at Newcastle, and a cheque was forward- ed for £ 382. The prisoner received the cheque and ac- knowledged it, but instead of obtaining the endorse- ment of one of his employers, and paying it into the Itank, he forged the signature of Mr. John Firth. At this time the prisoner held some shares in a Cornish mine, and, there being a call upon them, he forwarded the cheque lie had received from the Tyne Commis- sioners in payment. The Jury found the prisoner guilty. —To the second charire he pleaded guilty, and threw himself on the mercy of tiio Court. His Lordship sen- tenced him to ten years penal servitude. GREAT DESTRUCTION OF PICTURES.—Much of the property immediately surrounding her Majesty's The- atre has been more or less injured, and some of itcom- pletely destroyed. The greatest sufferer of all is Mr. Graves, the engraver and printseller, in Pall Mall. Behind his front shop were four spacious picture gal- leries on the ground floor, commuuieating with one another, and lighted chiefly from the roof. These were stored with a rare collection of ancient and modern works of art, collected during a period of 40 years, the greater part of which, along with the galleries con- taining them, have been entirely destroyed. The place was replete with ancient and modern pictures, Italian engravings, statuettes, water-coloured drawings, and prints. Among those which have perished are Roberts's fine picture of the Temple of the Sun, Carrick's Home and its Treasures, Long's picture of the Matmakers, Miss Osborne's Returning from Market, Gow's Just Awake, Hayller's Just Caught, and many more All his pictures by Morland, Crowe, Muller, Vincent, Sidney Cooper, and his collection of portraits of eminent men, have likewise l>een burned. But, happily, all his steel plates, worth from £ 20,000 to £ 3u,000, wtiich were kept in iron safes, have been preserved, as have also several pictures by Moriandwhich had been left to beengraved, and all the books, subscription lists, and bills of ex- change. Happily, also, Mr. Graves is insured in various offices to the amount in all of about 000. and. ow- ing to the preservation of his collection of steel plates, he will be able to carry on his business. Mr. Graves happens to be a member of the governing body of the London Cutlers' Company, and had in his possessiou at the time of the lire for the purpose of engraving some of the fine portraits of the past Masters of the Company who had from time to time attained the dignity of Lord Mayor, including one of Alderman Sir Robert Garden, by Collins, all of which have been saved. So likewise have other valuable pictures, which fortunately happened to be at the houses of engravers at the time, and among them Fritli's" Railway Station" and Frith's Marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales." Many of the pictures in Mr. Graves's private house, which is over his shop, were hastily removed, with others, during the fire, to the United Service Club, immediately opposite. The back of his residence was a good deal scorched and damaged by fire and water, but the front part of it is uninjured. The backs of the houses in Waterloo Place were all more or less damaged, but to nothing like the extent of the premises of Mr. Graves. So intense was the heat from the burning building that it cracked thick plate glass in the win- dows of the Athenaeum and United Service Clubs and of other houses on the further side of Pall Mall aud of Waterloo Place,

Earl Vane has consented to open the new Infirmary at Sunderland on the 26th inst. The Prince of Wales, attended by Major G. H. Grey arrived at Buckenham Tofts on Monday afternoon, on a visit to the Earl of Dudley, who has recently become the occupier of the seat, which is situate in the most game preserving part of the county of Norfolk. On Saturday, Sir Edward Kerrison, in company with the Rev. E. H. Paget, rector of Stuston, was about to proceed to London by train from the Diss station of the Great Eastern Railway. Having reached the station Rome little time before the train arrived, the gentlemen kept their seats in the carriage which was driven a short distance up and down the road. When thecarriage was being turned it snddenly upset through one of the horses takiugfright, and both gentlemen were violently thrown out. Sir E. C. Kerrison was badly bruised about the face. The Rev. E. If. Paget sustained a fracture of one of his legs. The coachman escaped unhurt. MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR.-The town of Dixon, III., was intensely excited lately upon the discovery of a box in the river, about half way to Nelson Station, six miles distant, containing the body of a man, with his head and feet chopped off and packed in with the body. The remains were of a person but recently deceased, decomposition not having taken place, and the features being as natural as if asleep. The box was weighed down with stones, and secured to a willow with a rope, which was discovered by a fisherman. It seemed evi- dent that whoever deposited the body in the river in- tended shortly to remove it. The head, feet, and limbs were rudely chopped off. All thus far in connection with the affair is mystery, and there is intense excite- ment. DISTRESSING FATALITY.—A fatal accident occurred a few days back, under most painful circumstances, in a coal mine—the Grand Bac—at Sclessin, near Liege. Two miners, father and son, were descending the shaft when the latter slipped and fell forward over the bas- ket. The former darted to his rescue and succceeded in catching hold of his arm, and so retained him hang- ing over the abyss, but without havi ngsufficiont strength to pull the youth up. He called loudly for help but was not heard; he felt his strength rapidly giving way, and as a final effort, uttered a piercing cry. His forces then gave way; his grasp relapsed, and he sank senseless The poor lad fell to the bottom, a depth of nearly 700ft. and was, of course, taken up a corpse. The unfortunate father still suffers from the shock of this horrible catas- trophe. LOST IN TILE SNOW. — A Ballater correspondent writes This district was visited by a severe snowstorm in the beginning of the week, a cold easterly gale, which blew heavily, rendering the cold more intense, and making the drift very dangerous—so much so, in- deed, that a woman named Barbara M'Donald lost her life on Monday night through the inclemency of the weather. She had left Corgarff on Sunday to visit an aunt who resided at Aboyne. When returning home on Monday, she met a lad named Joseph Downie at Ballater, and, as he was going near her father's house, they left this village in company—the distance they had to travel being about 12 miles. When within about two and a half miles of home, the woman had become so fatigued by forcing her way through the severe storm that she could scarcely proceed further. Downie ren- dered all the aid he could, and they proceeded together for somp distance farther, the lad supported his weaker companion as well as he was able. At last the strength of both failed, but after a brief rest Downie resolved to rush on to the nearest house-about a mile distant—to obtain help for the woman, who was not quite exhaus- fed, and whom he left sitting on a stone by the road- side. The inmates of the house whom he aroused promptly went to her rescue, but when they reached the spot where Barbara bad been left by her fellow-travel- ler, it was found that she had gone off the road at a point nearly 100 yards in advance of that where she had been resting. The driving drift, however, had oblite- rated the traces of her footsteps, and search for the poor woman was made that night in vain. Her body was found about ton o'clock on Tuesday morning, the face being covered with congealed snow, which the wind had blown over it. This sad event had excited much commiseration in the district for the poor woman's bereaved relatives. THE METEORIC SHOWERS AS SEEN IN SCOTLAND AND IN ViRGINTA.—The Washington correspondent of the Post says, Your correspondent was in Virginia on the two nights of the meteoric shower, and having had the good fortune to witness the similar display of last year from an advantageous position on the Calton Hill, in Edinburgh, he was naturally interested in de- ciding whether American skies could furnish forth a spectacle so full of glory as that which was then Reen in the heavens of Scotland. On Wednesday night (the 13th) but. few meteors wereseen, but on Thursday morn- ing, at three o'clock, without premonitory warning, the sky, which was beautifully clear, was suddenly filled with meteors which fell as thickly as if a regiment of angels had been furnished with an unlimited supply of Roman candles and skyrockets, and ordered to expend them regardless of expense. At some moments ten or twelve meteors were visible at the same instant; some of them were of great brilliancy, and of every colour, while others seemed little more than mere sparks. The shower increased in rapidity and brilliancy until four o clock, when I was reluctantly obliged to confess that the display was finer than that of last year. No des- cription can give any idea of the wonderful beauty and brilliancy of the scene, and I wisely resign the field to the imaginations of the reporters for the newspapers, whose accounts have no doubt reached you before this. The negroes upon the plantation where I was stopping had all been called up to witness the exhibition, and their simple and imaginative natures were deeply moved at the sight. Wonder and terror struggled with each other in their bosoms, and ere long they had gathered themselves together, at a little distance from the whites, and commenced to hold a prayer meeting, at which, in language that was perhaps all the more impressive from bei..g unlettered and unstudied, they magnified the power and glory of the Lord of heayeuaud earth.

AMERICA. I THE IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON. The royal mail steamship Scotia, from New York on the 27th ultimo, reached the Mersey on Saturday even- ing. She brings 118 passengers and 168,000 francs in specie, for France. The New York Times, of the 25th November, says:- Doubt seems to hang no longer over the division in the Judiciary Committee on the im; cachmefit question. The relative strength of supporters and opponents has changed during tiie recess, and the majority, if is un- derstood, will to-day report in favour of the proceeding. Both reports are represented to be long and argumen- tative, as well in reference to the law as to the facts. We shati soon see, then, with what evidence the majo- rity of the committee support their recommendation. Something much more startlingtlian has yet been sug- gested will be necessary to justify a conclusion so preg- nant with mischief. We do not believe that the ma- jority report will be sustained by the House, but its presentation with the signatures of five members, and the discussion which it will provoke, arecircumstancea to be deeply regretted. The effect will be to revive angry partisanship, to delay indefinitely the urgent busi- ness of Congress, and to awaken apprehensions which will operate most injuriously. The republican party, we fear, will suffer more than Mr. Johnson. The reports of the judiciary committee, three in number, are published in the New York papers of the 26th of November. The majority report is signed by George S. Boutwell, Francis Thomas, Thomas Wil- liams, William Lawrence, and John C. Churchill. It recites the facts elicited by the evidence given before the committee, and concludes by charging Mr. John- son with an unconstitutional usurpation of the power to organise and recognise civil state governments the de- nial of the right of Congress to control the work of or- ganisation the exercise of power and omission of duties in support of this usurpation and denial the wilful and unconstitutional assumption of the power to suspend the operation of the acts of Congress, and the corrupt, wilful, and unconstitutional refusal to eve- cute the laws. The report concludes by declaring that, in accordance with the testimony therewith submitted and the view of the law presented, the committee is of opinion that Andrew Johnson, president of the United Siates, is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanours re- quiring the interposition of the constitutional powers of the House. James F. Wilson (chairman of the com- mittee) and Frederick E. Woodbridge, present a minor- ity report, in which they declare that much of the tea- timony heard is of no value whatever, and conclude j thus:- While we condemn and censure the political con- duct of the President, and judge him unwise in the use of his discretionary powers, and appeal to the people of the republic to sustain us, we still affi -m that the conclusion at which we have arrived is correct. We, therefore, declare the case before us, presented by the testimony and measured by the law, does not declare such high crimes and misdemeanors within the mean- ing of the constitution as require the interposition of the constitutional power of this House," and recom- mend the adoption of tho following resolution Re- solved, that the Committee on the Judiciary be dis- charged from the further consideration of the proposed imi exchment of the President of the United States, aId that the subject be laid upon the table." The third report, also from a minority, is signed by Cha" es A. Eldridge and Samuel G. Marshall. They say With all due respect to the majority of the com- mitteo, we cannot regard the charges made against the President as a serious attempt to procure his im- peachment without dwelling upon their utter failure to point to the commission of a single act that is recog- nised by the laws of our country as a high crime or misdemeanour." The following is a summary view of the proceedings in Congress :—In the United States Senate, on tho 25th, a resolution calling for the payment of all money re- ceived from the sale of abandoned or confiscated pro- perty into the treasury was laid over and ordered to be printed. A resolution granting the use of the Senate Chamber to the Rev. Newman Hall fortheeveningwaa lost. A resolution inquiring into the expediency of an immediate reduction of the military forces was adopted. In the House of Representatives, on the same day, the standing committees of the 4Uth congress were an- nounced by the Speaker. Bills to amend the National Currency Act, pledging the faith of the country to pay the 5-20 Bonds in coin, to repeal the tax on cotton, to fix tho value of lej^al tender notes, and in reference to tho annexation of Mexico, were all referred. Under the same call Mr. Butler, of Massachusetts, introduced a bill providing for the payment of a portion of the national debt in lawful money of the United Sta'es, which was also referred. Mr. Robinson's resolution for the impeaehmentof Minister Adams was referred to the committee on foreign affairs. The reading of the re- port, on impeachment was commenced, but on motion it was dispensed with, and only the conclusion of it read. A bill was introduced declaring the effect of the imi eichmont. of any civil officer of the government. Ui d r a suspension of the rules a resolution forbidding any further purchase of territorywas adopted. The New York Times says :—There will be efforts in Congress this winter to reduce numerical force of our army. A military establishment of CO,000 men is not great for a first-class power, accord ing to the custom of o-her countries, but the sentiment and traditions of Republican America are all against an army of this size, which is four times greater than our old regular army. So far as Indian hostilities are concerned, we may rest assured that they cannot be so formidable in future as to require a large number of troops on the Plains. We earnestly trust that there will be no neces- sity for keeping up great garrisons in the Southern States; indeed we are unwilling to believe iu the pos- sibility of any such necessity as a permanent fact of our national existence. The diminution of our regular force by 20,000 men would effect an important saving in the national expenditure, and help to relieve the crushiug burden of taxation. The recommendations of General Grant upon the matter will doubtless have great weight with Congress. An o\ peditiou had recently sailed from New Yorkfor St. Thomas and St. John's to take possession of those islands. Mr. Hawley, who recently visited the islands, reports that the people are nearly all in favour of the annexation. (By Atlantic Telegraph.) WASHINGTON, Dec. 7th. — The resolution for the impeachment of President Johnson has been defeated in the House of Representatives. The voting was 57 yeas and 108 nays. The House of Representatives has passed the bill re- ported by the Committee of Ways and Means supersed- ing Mr. McCulloch's authority to contract the currency.

HOUSE OF LORDS, SATURDAY, December 7th. Their Lordships met at twelve o'clock, and the Royal assent was given, by Commission, to the Income-tax Bill, and consolidated Fund ( £ 2,000,000) Bill, the Me- tropolitan Streets Act (1867) Amendment Bill, the Drainage and Improvement of Lands (Ireland) Supple- mental Bill, and the Totnes, &c., Writs Bill. The Royal Commissioners were the Lord Chancellor the Earl of Cadogan, and the Earl of Tankerville. 'Their Lordships adjourned at twenty-five minutes past twelve o'clock until Thursday, the 13th February.

FACETIC. SOLITARY EMPLOYMENT.—Clerk in a loan-office. When you see a small waist, think how great a waist of health it represents. If a raft of lumber contains several million feet, how many wooden legs will it produce ? TIT FOR TAT.—It is beauty's privilege to kill Time; and, in revenge, Time kills beauty. A contemporary says the dictionary of young ladies •soutains just two words—the "horrid' and the "splen- did." Tell not a man permanently sick that he will again be a picture of health, when you see he hasn't the Fame for it. We should like to ask the musicial instrument dealer who says his drums cannot be beat," what they arc good for P # ANGELIC.—An actress, of rather angular propor- tions, lately received a love-letter commencing, My dearest angle." Why is a vain young lady like a confirmed drunkard ? -Because neither of them are satisfied with the mode- rate use of the glass. An exquisite divine put the finishing touch to a marriage ceremony, when he concluded by saying, "I now pronounce you husband and lady." THE SCHOLAR AS ACUTE AS HIS MASTER.—" Now, then, fust boy in 'rithmetic, how many white beans air there in ten black ones P" Ten sir, ef you skin 'em," was the reply. a A LOVE-LETTER. — Rousseau used to say, That to write a good love-letter, you ought to begin 1 h without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish without knowing what you have written." UNNECESSARY.—A lady was asked to join one of the divisions of the Daughters of Temperance. She re- plied, This is unnecessary, as it is my intention to join one of the sons in the course of a few weeks." EXCEPTIONAL.—In a parish school the master was examining a class in orthography. Spell and define floweret," said he. F-t-o-w-e-r-e-t, floweret, a little flower."—" Wavelet."—" W-a-v-e-l-e-t, wavelet, a little wave."—Bullet."—" B-u-l-l-e-t, a little bull, shouted urchin number three. WANTED.—A broom for sweeping assertions.-A collar for a neck of land.—A quizzing glass for an eye to business.—A rocker from the cradle of the deep.—A few tears from a weeping willow.-Some down from the bosom of a lake.-A feather from the crest of the wave.—Some quills from the wings of the wind.—A fast book the Racing Calendar." COLD FIRE,-One very cold night a jolly old fellow, who had partaken rather too freely of flip at the tavern, started for home in a dog-cart, and on the way was up- set, and left by the side of the road. Some person passing the same way a short time after, discovered the old fellow holding his feet up to the moon, ejacu- lating to some invisible person, John, pile on tho wood—it's a thunderin' cold fire." BETTER THAN NOTHING.—A sister of the author of IRoderick Random had a great liking for the game of whist. On one occasion a magistrate of the city, a tallow-chandler, happening to call on her in the even- ing, was welcomed with Come awa', bail lie, and tak' a trick at the cartec;Jl'i,ol It, i-na'a'tii,'I' said he, "I hav'na a bawbee i' my pouch."—" Tut, man, ne'er mind that," replied the lady, let's e'en play for a pund o' candle." GOOD ST. MARTIN.—The credulity of the French peasant is something astounding, if all the anecdotes laid to his charge are to be lielieved. Recently a far- mer got up, hearing his calves making a noise in the stable. At the door he met, a man, who said, I am St. Martin, come to bless your beasts." The farmer returned, and told his wife what the good St. Martin was doing. They were both very thankful. The next day the calves were nowhere to be found. FINE COMB.-A popular merchant in London, hav- ing received a superb assortment of liair-combs, was most anxious to attract the attention of his fair cus- tomers to their merits. Can't I sell you a fine comb, madam ?" said he, to a rural beauty, who stood at his counter.—"No, sir, thank you, sir," responded the fair one, in indignant tones thank you, sir, I don't need anything of that kind."—The agitated damsel had evidently misconstrued the word fine." DOING BETTER.—A few days since, as a lady con- nected with a certain mission was visiting one of tho public institutions for the reformation of juvenile delinquents, she would ask the different urchins for what misdemeaour they were in there. It went off till she came to a rather-hard looking boy, who evidently didn't like the system," when she asked—" What are you in here for ? For stealing a coat, marm."—- Well, aren't you sorry for it ?"—" Yes," (gloomily.) —" Won't you try and do better next time ? —" Yes j'll steal two I" SUN OR MOON.-Two fast young men, just return- ing home after a night's carousal saw the sun rising. Oue.of them insisted that it was the suu, tho other that it was the moon. They agreed to leave it to the first man they met. He also had been out on a lark. "Ex- cuse me, sir, but my friend and I have made a little bet whether that's the sun or the moon that's now risimr and we've agreed to have you decide the matter."— Fact is, gentlemen, I should be very happy but you see I'm a stranger in the city, and been out all night." A GERMANIC PECULIARITY.—" An expression of Count de Bismarck's," says the Nora, "perfectly cha- racterises the German mind. He was recently talking to Lord Loftus, the British Ambassador, who expressed his astonishment at the large number of particularist elections (where the member seemed to ignore every- thing but his own province) among the populations of North Germany. Does that astonish you?' said M. do Bismarck if each German was rich enough, ho would be delighted to pay for a King all to himself." ( PARLIAMENTARY NICKNAMES.—There have been Pai-liaiilotitiiiii Insanum," "Partiamentum de la Blande," The Gunpowder Parliament," "The Re- publican Parliament," The Rump Parliament," Cromwell's Long Parliament," TheBarebones Par- liament," "Parliamentum Indoctum," "Parliamen- tum Diabolicum," The Catholic Exclusion Parlia- ment," The Revolution Parliament," the Reform Parliament," The Free Trade Parliament," &c. The present Parliament will be known as The Personal Rating Parliament." A SERENADE INTERRUPTED—A gent of mind ro- mantic, and years of twenty-two, last night went forth and stopped beneath the window of a mansion where lives a fair and queenly dame. There, with pulsive finger did he touch his instrument, which echoed to his lay of love, and in music's voice of silver sweetness did answer make unto his passion's plaint. Thus he sun"—" All! tell me where is fancy bred ?" And no further did he sing for a domestic of the sex feminine and of Africa's line and lineage, did the window open, and thus addressed the minstrel Look heah, yon dar b'low! we'se had two monkeys, two organs, two tambourines, aud a triangle heah to-day young missus tink dat quite 'nuff. If ^0u want to know wliar thej y sell fancy bread, guess if you go to Massa Nichols, corner of Camp and Natchez-streets, you will find it; dar in any quantity. Whoo go away, white man!" —American taprer. GOING To LA -Two Dutchmen, who built and used in common a bridge over a stream which ran through their farms, had a dispute concerning some repairs which it required and one of them positively refused to bear any portion of the expense necessary to the purchase of a few planks. Finally, the aggrieved par- ty went to a neighbouring lawyer, and placing two so- vereigns in his hand, said—" I will give you all dish monies if you'll make Hans do justice mit de bridge." How much will it cost to repair it ?" asked the hon- est lawyer.—"Not more ash vun pound," replied the Dutchman. Very well," said the lawyer, pocketing one of the sovereigns, and giving him the other "take this, and go get the bridge repaired 'tis the best course you can take."—"Yaas," said the Dutchman slowly, "yaas, dat is more better as to quarrel mit Hans but as he went along home he shook his head fre- quently, as if unable, after all, to see quite clearly how he had gained anything by going to law. BAD CALTGRAPHY.—Jacob Bryant said of Arch- deacon Coxe's hieroglyphics that they could be called neither a hand nor a fist, but a foot and that a club one. They formed a clumsy, tangled, black skein that ran across the paper in knots, which it was impossible to untie into a meaning. On one occasion, Bishop Barrington, while expostulating with the Archdeacon for sending him a letter he could not read, told him of a very bad writer, a Frenchman, who answered a letter thus Out of respect, sir, I write to you with my own hand but to facilitate the reading I send you a copy which I have caused my amanuensis to make." John Pell, of the Chancery Bar, wrote three hands—one of which no one could read but himself, another which his clerk could read and he could not, and a third which nobody could read. It frequently happened that where the body of a letter was clearly and legibly written the signature of the writer was what had been aptly termed a hopeless puzzle of intemperate scratches." -Lecture on Letters and Letter Writing. THE BAKER'S PARROT.—Snake stories having be- come worn out, the editors are now exercising their in- genuity on parrot stories,"—the latest escape valves for their irrepressible imagination. The following is a. specimen purporting to be narrated by a Virginia ne- gro :—" You see," said he, dis parrot belonged to a baker in Richmond. Now each baker is 'lowed to make a certain number of loaves ebery day, and no more, 'cause if dey do dey will be serving out stale bread to the customers. Well, dis baker had baked more dan his share one day, and hid the surplusum under de counter. De parrot was hangiu' in his cage, an' seed it all. Bime- by in comes de inspector, and finds de bread all right, and is goiu' out ag'in satisfied, when de parrot cocks his eye at him, and sings out, Dere's more bread un- der de counter So de inspector grabs it, 'cordin' to law, and carries it off. Well, den de baker goes to de parrot werry mad, and takes him by de head, and fot- ches him a twitch or two, and flings him in de gutter ea. for dead, 'longside of a pig just dead of de measles. Bimeby de parrot begins to crawl about, his feathers a sticking out, and his head lopped on one side and dea < stops and looks at de pig wery pitiful, and said he, Did you say anything 'bout de broad