Monmouthshire Merlin

THE PRINCE OF AVALES'S RECEPTION IN LONDON. The Lord Mayor has received a telegram from the Prince of Wales 'nlimating his readiness to accept the invitation of the Corporation of London to dinner and ball, to celebrate his safe return.

SUPPOSE!) LOSS OF A SHIP AND ALL HANDS BY COLLISION. A pilot, who arrived at Shields a few days ago reports having, otl Aartnoulh Sands, seen a screw eteainf run down a brig with all hands. The brig is supposed to have been from Shields.

FURTHER TURKISH ATROCITIES. It is repoited telegraphs the Times correspondent at Odessa th^i*10 have massacred several men and women a VY ukowich, near Bilesoh, a village which bad ue^er f er} ^aJ ,lu ^e Herzegovinian insurrec- tion. Tl,e he:lds of murdered people had been carried about as trophies on the points of the mur- derers' p'-kes.

CHAPEL DEBTS IN YORKSHIRE. An encouraging commencement has been made with a special fund to aid in the early removal of the debt upon chapels >e on ging to Congregational Mission or [Beneficiary Churches m 1 orkshire. At the meeting of the County Lmon m Halifax on April 5th, the following fourteen gentlemen contributed amongst them towards .his purpose the sum of £ 2710, payable over three years viz.Messrs. J. Boothroyd, J. Briggs (Wakefield), Josh. Craven, W. H. Conyers, James l)oH2sh iin, Anderton (Cleckheaton), J. Thornton (Oieckheaton), J(Jbn Crossley, Hopwood Hall, J. L»wv whitworth, Josh. Booth. Joel Denham, «J°sh. Lyram, and Sir T. Salt.

A SW INDLING ADVERTISER. At Warwick Assizes jast weefe befor0 Mr. Baron Huddlestone, George Baring Kemp, linguist, was in- dicted for obtaining sixteen penny stamps from various persons. Prisoner advened extensively selling do- mestic steam engines, described as the worlds marvel, and found almost numberless dupes in parts ot the country, whom he occasionally supplied, when impor- tunate, with » "ortliie.?s toy. Prisoner patronised all the principal newspapers, and when one novelty ex- ploded he invented another -changed his name and removed to another town, visitinC amongst, others London, C.ivenlry, Birmingham, and Wolverhampton. His Lordship, m sentencing the prisoner to five years penal serviMicie, characterised him aS a ^stemaoic and successful swindler, dangerous to be at large.

THE LATE X^OATTACCIDENT. Sone the les* deplorable because in the most limited sense accidental, the catastrophe whlCn has cost thirty human lives at Aberdeen "»e.re1/ »„Proo{ tbat water will drown. All tins cruel, sacrifice of men, i ill v»«q been simply due to the women and chUdren has. h & sheep ,i .e lolly o p bl [ re each other, and to save a danger in order to ge^beto^ )oo,.h;irdi. JZ Tthose who did not fear bee,use they did not understand their peril. A large concourse of Aberdonians had, it seems gone holiday-making to the fishins? village of Torry beyond the Tipp and in returning they thronged into the ferry boats which ply across the river, so that 0 than once the passage had been effected with Cmineiv ri*k. Disregarding admonition, however, fresh rush was made presently to one of the boats, which became so overloaded that the water nearly reacied the gunwale. The boatmen appear to have demanded that the cratt should be lightened, but before any passengers could disembark some per- sons it is sa u near the engine put the machinery in action. Even if this bo true, it was surely possible for those in charge to reverse the motion, and bring the vessel back, and strict inquiry must be made into so serious matter. Somehow or other the f f at, was put out into the stream, and as ferry- o< force of the current, it naturally soon as gixl people were thrown into the capsized, ana aoc 8taUmMmt water. It t a]jd a ,uish en8ued th0 Hde ran fast, the river is deep, and the very mass of the victims prevented the escape even of those able to swim. Half at least, of the crowd thus precipitated into the water were lost., for only twenty-nine were brought to land, and one of these died shortly after reach- ing the shore. The rapid current bore the bodies so far away th;!t up to a late hour of the fatal day none bad been recovered. It is altogether one of the most miserable stories of needleas loss that was ever told, and should it be true that the boat Was started by unauthorised hands the offenders, if alive, are surely guilty of manslaughter. Meantime, there is a lesson for London, as well as Aberdeen, in the calamity for the way m which many of our river boats are allowed to be packed m tLe summer time, and on such occasions as the approaching University race, is fraught, with peril of the most serious kind. All the load is top-hamper, and stowed in the worst manner for safely; and lu often needs nothing more than a sudden panic among the passengers causing themto pack to one side or the other to reproduce almost everv feature of the pitiable disaster which has hap- pened upon the Dee.—London Telegraph,

THE MERCHANT SHIPPING BILL. Replying to a shipowners' deputation last week, tfo President of the Board of Trade said the Shipping Bill was not intended to prohibit deck-loading if oon- fined within reasonable limits. At present shippers had every inducement to put such cargo as machinery on dangerous parts of the ship, and he felt bound to proceed with the clause putting a reasonable tax on such cargoes. The Times, referring to the differences on the Merchant Shipping Bill, says:—"It would seem that when two claims of such unquestionable force are in collision the point is eminently one for compromise, and Various modifications have already been suggested. One proposal, which Sir Charles Adderley intimated a disposition to support, is that the bill should em- power her Majesty, by Order in Council, to impose our laws upon such foreign nations as arc willing to accept them. This would certainly, as he said, be a proposal which could give no offence, and it may be desirable to adopt it. But it will still leave our ship- owners at, the mercy o foreign Governments in respect to the competition to which they may be exposed. Another suggestion, which seems better worthy of con- sideration, is ihat our laws should be enforced only in cases where foreign ships are carrying British cargoes or are manned by British sailors. If we have a right to inter ere with foreign emigrant ships on the rfround, as Sir Charles Adderley put it, that it is our vn interest which is looked after,' it may be argued ,,v we bave a similar right where the lives of British Mors or the security of British goods are concerned. "H t the case is stronger with respect to the safety of the than widi respect; to hat of the goods for thelat- Lrest can be secured in other ways. There is, ter inre consideration wh ch was not duly raised ^orec^l'evening, but, which ought to rcceive attention the otlie .jon is re-opened, and which bears upon- when th ment of the bill. If the legislation we the who- nlv,]ating is good for anything, it must jvp(> now roil1*-1 i. i ». h rr ded 'lS upon our ships regulations be regar jn\jie long run for the advantage of our BI inowne-s and of 1 he shi pping interest generally. It 1 tend to make voyages less perilous, to protect ough greater degree than at. present against cargoes reticjer ^be wi10ie business more ^.dv "and secure. It will inflict loss upon the i-ipos owners who uow make speculative gains, but it VII improve, the position of the trade as a whole. If th' 1' the case, ought, we not to be content, lo rely on the inherent advantages incident to a more prudent tnode of c,wduel in¡:- husme: and to be satisfied to leave foreign owners, if they please, to the more hazardous Methods we htwe abandoned? 11, m other words, British -hinowners n,rc found to carry cargoes more Kforeiirners, v-ill not that result, especially Sl tbpVirrht of insurance is duly controlled, prove « r,n.™ uiPcimt to in the eniI the ^Pparent g^in of cheaper f^ghts? We ought, >ld seem, to h^rve what may be called the courage of legislation in such a matter. But, though, thu ^incipio ought to obviate any great anxiety to bring !?>n shipowners under our control, it may be reason- e,pec,allya the outset, to aflord some kind of tit,Jtection ai/ainpi' th" move reckless forms of compe- 1<J11 and the Government have done well tODromtso Consideration of the subject."

THE LENNIE MUTINEERS. The Lennie mutineers were formally brought up at Bow street, last week, and committed for trial. .&

ACTIONS AGAINST THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY. At Bristol Assizes last week, eight hundred pounds were awarded to Mr. Cooke, late traveller for a London floorcloth firm, against the Great Western Railway Company, as compensation for injuries sustained by him in the Bathampton and Hingley accidents in June and November last year. The company paid JE420 into court. At the same court the friends of a little girl named Langhland, who had her right arm broken in the Bathampton accident, were awarded J6484.

STEAMER SUNK IN COLLISION A collision occurred on the 7th instant four miles off Hastings, between the steamship Savemake, of Sunderland, bound for Plymouth, and the Dutch steamer Vesuvius, for Odessa from Holland. The Vesuvius, which was directly ahead of the Savernake. was hidden by the smoke of the latter, and received a side blow, in- juring her so severely that she went down in about half an hour. The crew got into the boats ten minutes before she sank, and were picked up by a tug, but one was drowned. Three of the crew were saved by the Savernake. The Savernake was much injured, and was beached off the Fishmarket. The Vesuvius was formerly the Avon of Sunderland, and was 2200 tons burthen.

THE LIVERPOOL HOSPITAL COLLECTION. The result of the Saturday and Sunday hospital collections was made known last week. There is an increase of £300 in the amount available for distribu- tion among the medical charities, the total being S9600, against E9300 last year. The largest participators in the division of the fund are the Liverpool Royal In- firmary, which receives £2H76, and the Northern and Southern Hospitals, to each of which was voted £1392. The dispensaries receive £1056, and the minor insti- tutions various amounts.

-r FRAUDULENT MERCHANTS SENTENCED TO IMPRISONMENT. At the Bristol Assizes last week, Justice Denman passed sentence upon Alfred George and Frederick William Merry, father and son, who, had pleaded guilty to having fraudulently disposed of a large quantity of goods prior to bankruptcy and not accounted for the proceeds. The prisoners did a large business as Manchester warehousemen, and failed for £ 20 000. The prisoners were sentenced to six months' imprisonment with hard labour each.

THE RECENT ACTION AGAINST MR. SAUL ISAAC, M.P. A few days ago, a statement appeared in one of the Nottingham papers to the effect that Mr. W. E. Deni- eon, the senior member for the borough, would decline to again contest the constituency, owing to his objec- tion to continue sitting with Mr. Isaac, his colleague In the representation of the towr., after the disclosures made in reference to the latter gentleman in the recent trial, in which he was the defendant. It was further stated that Mr. Denison would become a candidate for the northern division of the county. Mr. Denison has written a letter to the paper in question contradicting the rumour, in which he says: Should I at any time think of leaving the constituency which in 1874 did me the honour to elect me, it will not be in consequence of any dislike to, or dispute with, my colleague, with whom my relations are, as they always have been, of the most cordial nature."

-4- THE ERIE RAILWAY AND THE DUNDEE DEPUTATION. Mr. 0. G. Miller and Mr. Robert Fleming, Dundee, who were sent by the London Committee to America to endeavour to effect an amicable arrangement between the shareholders and the bondholders of the Erie Railway in this country and America, returned to Dundee on the Gth inst. The deputation expressthem- selves highly satisfied with the capabilities of the line, ancl think that, with honest and economical management, the bondholders may not only be fully secured, but that something may also be left for the stockholders. They say that whatever plan of reorga- nisation may be adopted, the obtaining of absolute control of the management and property by a compact body of representatives in this country is indispensable. This being secured, they think the best policy of the bondholders would be to find a sufficient number of coupons to provide for narrow gauging the entire line. There are no insuperable difficulties in the way of a foreclosure, but, as representing shareholders as well as bondholders, a funded scheme would probablv be soonest accomplished. It is essential that the line be restored to the management of its proprietors. At present they have no voice in the management, and a fortune is spent annuallj in lawyers' fees.

WILLS AND BEQUESTS. The will, dated Feb. 26, 1874, of Mr. John Forster, late of Palace gate House, Kensington, who died on Feb. 1 last, was proved on the 22nd ult. by the Right Hon. Lord Lytton, Joseph William Chitty, Q.C., and the Rev. Whitwell Elwin, the executors, the personal estate being sworn under £ 30,000. The testator be- queaths to Thomas Carlyle the gold repeater watch bequeathed to him by the late Charles Dickens; to Lord Lytton, the painting, by Maclisi, of Caxton show- ing the printing-press to Edward IV. and his Queen, which he hopes will be permitted to remain at Knebworth as a heirloom; to Sir William Boxall, R.A., the gold ring with antique mask, given him by Walter Savage Landor; the copyright of all his works to his executors; to Kate, the second daughter of Charles Dickens, and widow of Charles Aliston Collins, a small book in green cloth, containing manuscript notes of her father, entitled co Memoranda, January, lSoo;" and, subject to some other legacies, he gives the residue of his property to his wife, Mrs. Eliza Ann Forster, for life; after her decease some other legacies are to be paid—among the legatees being Dr. Qutin, Lord Justice Whiteside, Mary Dickens (his god-daughter), Miss Hogarth, his executors, relatives of his wife, and others; and the gift of his library of printed and other books, collection of manuscripts and autographs, paintings, pictures, drawings, and en- gravings to the Departments of Science and Art, upon the conditions already made public, then takes effect. Mrs. Forster takes the remainder of the property abso- lutely. A schedule of the pictures is annexed to the will, and they are both wholly in testator's handwriting.- The will. dated May 29, 1*75, of Mr. William Henry Partington, formerly of Manchester, but late of No. 16, Pembridge square, Bayswater, and of Merklands, near Blairgowrie, Perthshire, who died on Feb. 10 last, was proved on the 13th ult. by Mrs. Eleanora Frances Partington, the widow, Joseph Janion, and George Peter Allen, the executors, the personal estate being sworn under £ 100,000. The testator bequeaths to his wife his household furniture, plate, pictures, and other effects at his residences in London and Scotland, a p cuniary legacy of .MOO, and the policy on her own life for £ 5000, absolutely, and his residence in Pem- bridee square, and the income of £30000 during widowhood.—The will and codicil, dated November 7, 1872, and January 11, 187(), of Mr. Edward John Hutchins, late of No. 38, Portland place, who died on February 11 last, at No. 47, Eversfield place, St. Leonarda-on-Sea, were proved on the 15th ult. by Mrs. Isabel Clara Hutchins, the widow, and Brodie Manuel de Zulueta, the executors, the personal estate being sworn under £ 90,000. The testator bequeaths to his wife pecuniary legacies amounting together to £8UOO, certain Illinois Great Western Railway Bonds, and his furniture, plate, pic- tures, horses, carriages, and household effects, the right of residing at No. 38, Portland place, and an annuity of S2000 for life. He also leaves legacies and annuities to his sister-in-law, sisters, nephew, and nieces to Thomas Williams and Mary Drought X1500 each upon trust; and the residue of his estate upon trusts for his niece, Mrs. Talbot, and her children.—The will dated May 18th, 1866, of Mr. John Day, late of Uckfield House, Uckfield, Sussex, who died on February 15 last, was proved on the 8th ult. bv Mrs. Emily Day, the widow, and John Ansell Dav, the son, the executors, the personal estate being sworn under £ 60,000. The testator leaves to his wife all the cash in the house, cash at banker's, furniture, horses, carriages, &c.; he also leaves her the remainder of his property for life. At her death the freehold is to go to his eldest son, the said John Ansell Day, and the residue of the personalty, including leaseholds, is to be divided between his other sons.— Illustrated London News.

ANTICIPATIONS OF THE BUDGF.T.— £ 27,000 was paid by the Cambletown disiillers at the beginning of last week for duty on whisky in anticipation of an increase in the duty by the Budget. This represents 54,000 proof gallons.

VERDICT OF MANSLAUGHTER AGAIMS'i THE CAPTAIN OF THE ERANCONIA. At the Old Bailey, London. last week, the jury, after half an hour's deliberation, returned a verdict of guilty against the captain of the Franconia but sentence was postponed until after the decision of the Court. of Appeal on the question of jurisdiction.

THE MANIA FOR FIREARMS. (From the Daily News.) The shooting season seems to have begun in real earnest. It has been impossible to look at a paper for some days past without noticing the number of acci- dents that have happened through the careless hand- ling of firearms, and, what is even worse, the number of cases in which guns and revolvers have been de- liberately used with murderous purpose. The fashion of carrying pistols, and of shooting at eight, which was so common in the wilder settlements of Cali- fornia and Texas seems to have spread to England. Before the practice becomes as commonplace as it used to be in San Francisco, when the keeper of a bar has been known to fire at a customer merely because he had no change and proposed to go and borrow some, it may be as well to point out a few of its many disadvantages. Not to bear arms in civil life has always been held a mark of civilisation, and for perhaps a hundred years all ranks of Englishmen have ceased to wear swords. It is the reverse of an improvement if they are to begin to carry pistols, and to use guns where they were wont to appeal to the fist. It is uncomfortable to read how two men have been tried at Birmingham on the charge of firing "a miniature revolver" at a third, and how, though they were acquitted, a loaded re- volver and knuckle-duster were concealed about their persons. Nor is Mr. George Underhill the sort of person whom one likes to think of as walking about in a crowded street. Mr. Underhill has just been found guilty of shooting a certain Alfred Parkes, a betting agent's clerk, near New street Station, in Bir- mingham. He seems to have bad some general provo- cation, it is true, for snowballs were thrown at him, and he was hustled and annoyed by a knot of men, at a moment when he was not only drunk, but con- scious of the possession of XIIO in gold and notes. Given a drunken man, insulted, and a^aid of being robbed in a densely-thronged street, and suppose him to be armed, as Mr. Underhill was, with a loaded revolver, and the chances are all in favour of an unhappy end of the proceedings. After a skirmish, which seems to have been a confused one, Mr. Underbill fired at, or at all events fired, and struck the man Parkes, who died after lingering for a few days. This business suggests one or two obvious reflections. In the first place, it is plain that in kicking districts, a respectable man, who has to carry about large sums of money, may almost feel it to be necessary for his safety that he should have a re- volver. Corner-men do not seem to give their victims much warning, and persons who do not wear clogs may come to think revolvers desirable. Secondly, this state of misrule and danger introduces the fresh risk to the public of being casually "put over by the bullet which was meant for the corner-man, or which was fired in mere high spirits, or by accident. The affair proves once again the necessity of stamping out the hideous brutality which seems to be growing in some of the larger cities of the North. The corner-man's brutal disregard of life could hardly be exceeded in the streets of Poker Flat, or of Red Dog Gulch, or of any other Oalifornian village known to the readers of Mr. Bret Harte. When he comes out of the slums where he merely kicks other corner-men and corner-women, he naturally frightens timid and excited people into carrying tools which they often do not know how to manage.

THE REBELLION AGAINST TURKEY, The Times, in a lengthy and elaborate article upon the failure, up to the present, of the efforts to bring about a peaceable issue of the Herzegovina struggle, Bays The insurgents have never actually refused to listen, nor do they in terms reject accommodation, They observe moral and diplomatic conventionalities, They consider the offers of the Turks, admit them in theory, and then present, in modification of them, con- ditions of their own which the Turkish Government is not likely to accept. General Rodioh, the Austrian Governor of Dalmatia, had a for.ual meeting with the insurgent leaders last week, at which the reforms de- manded in the Andrassy note were read, the Firman of the Sultan decreeing them, and the procla.mation of the Turkish Commissioner declaring their execution. General Rodich addressed the leaders in a speech to which a St. Petersburg journal gives a turn injurious to Russia. The insurgents received the communication courteously, and entered upon a long discussion of the questions involved. They had at first displayed some distrust at accepting the invitation of General Rodicb, alleging the recent arrest of one of their number. They declared their readiness to accept the Turkish reforms, but stated in return their own conditions in six points. The most impor- tant of these, in a social sense, was the first, which demanded that one-third of the land held by the Rayahs on lease should become their property. To distribute the lands of the Mahomed an Agas among the Christian tillers of the soil would constitutea revo- lution terrible to the provincial aristocracy, aud in the present mood of the Mahomedans much more blood must be shed before they will consent to such a sacri- fice. The insurgents also demand that the return- ing fugitives shall receive subsistence for one year, seed, agricultural implements, the means of building their houses and churches, and, furthermore, shall be free from tithes for three years. There is nothing very unreasonable in this request, but to ask the Turkish Government at present for money to restore the popu- lation of a province is to propose an impossibility, and this the insurgents know well enough. The com- missioner has come to the district with a few thousand pounds, which would hardly maintain for a week the population with which it is proposed to deal. They demand, also, the withdrawal of the Turkish troops from the open country into six garrisons; that the insurgents shall keep their arms until the Mahomedans are disarmed, and that in each garrison an Austrian and Russian Commissioner shall control the completion of the reforms. This is looked upon as a virtual refusal of the Austrian proposals. Whatever the hardship of return to what were once their homes, whatever the danger of dwell- ing defenceless at the mercy of their enemies the insurgents would hardly have carried things with so high a hand if they were not sanguine of some sup- port from without. We have no wish to exaggerate the importance of what is passing in Servia, for it is easy to understand that a Government placed in so difficult a position between its public duty to its Suzerain on the one side and the tide of popular opinion on the other may be forced to make military preparations which it has no real desire to employ. The attitude of (he Prince of Montenegro is not more reassuring, although he has ostensibly taken a decent part in the late negotiations. Besides the excitement In Servia, which, if the Czar were to raise his finger, would overthrow all restraints, we have accounts of new and larger bands of insurgents in the insurrec- tionary districts. From each side we have accounts of atrocities perpetrated by the other. The Mus.-uhuans are credited with the most inhuman practices, while another authority informs us of unheard-of atrocities committed by the Bosnian insurgent s upon the Mussul- man and Christian inhabitants who refused to take part in the insurrectionary movement. Such is the state of the war at this time, when the return of spring makes the opening of the campaign possible.

"You in the post office!" said a father to his son. "Nice party you'd be in the post office. What could you do in the post office except to stand in the doorway with your mouth open for folks to wet postage stamps on your tongue ?" BALZAC AS A WORKER.—Literary expression was not a natural gift with Balzac, and the process was painful. His head was full of creation, but there wa.s always the battle between the idea and the form. With extraordinary perseverance and literary conscientious- ness, he at last found the suitable term for the act and the thing. He was not quick, nor at first clear. His mind was like a turbid and almost stagnant stream, which, as it flows, gathers strength and frees itself from impurities. The idea presented itself vaguely, clogged with irrelevant matter, and came into definite shape gradually. In this respect he was the opposite of a man like Byron, whose work was revealed to him by flashes, and who, according to his own account, seized his idea at the first bound. Balzac groped about for his with patience, but, when finally possessed, it was entirely his; then he saw it as in a stream of light, and he made his reader see it as with his own eves.—Scribner's. A second consignment of valuable pictures left Liver- pool for Philadelphia last week in the Indiana in special charge of Mr. Jopling, superintendent of the fine art section. The total insured value of the collec- tion sent out, in compliance with the request of the Lord President of the Council, exceeds £ 150.000.

THE COLLIERY EXPLOSION NEAR BRISTOL. Thomas Wodbridge, one of the five men injured in the explosion in Dean Lane Pit, Bedminster, on the 3rd April died on Sunday in Bristol Hospital. He was an underground fireman, and sixty years of age. Garland, who caused the explosion by carrying a naked light into a fierv part of the pit, remains in hospital, but is re- covering.

SERIOUS ACCIDENT TO A LADY WHILE HUNTING. We learn from a correspondent that the Hon. Mrs. Featherstonhaugh has met with a somewhat serious accident while out hunting with Mr. Tailby's hounds. In the course of a run with the pack she came to a gate which was chained up. and, although a man was stand- ing near it at the time he refused to oppn it. In order to proceed, therefore, the lady had to take rather an awkward fence, and in so doing her horse fell, and one of her arms was broken at the elbow.

MURDEROUS TRADE OUTRAGE AT BOLTON. A shocking outrage has occurred at Bolton. It ap- pears that a turn-out has existed for some time at Messrs. Slater's bleach works. On Saturday night, as three of the workmen, named Thompson, M'Ourley, and Wright, were proceeding homewards from a beerhouse in Slater's lane, stones were thrown at them. M'Ourley was knocked down and kicked by several men until he became insensible. Wright succeeded in escaping, but Thompson's dead body was found in the road, he having apparently been kicked to death. Sixteen men have been arrested on suspicion.

DEATH OF THE SECRETARY OF THE WEST YORKSHIRE MINERS' ASSOCIA- TION. The death of Mr. John Dixon, secretary to the West Yorkshire Miners' Association, took place on Saturday morning. Deceased was not only well known in York- shire, but throughout the whole mining districts of England and Scotland, and was highly esteemed. Like the late Mr. Normansell and others, he had to go into the mine at a very early age, and bad to prosecute the work of self-education in the midst of considerable diffi- culties. He was very suscessful as a miners' agent. The last time he was at Barusley was on the occasion of the late Mr. Normansell's funeral.

SHOCKING DISCOVERY OF THE DEAD BODIES OF TWO CHILDREN. A shocking discovery was made last week in a house at Pandon, Newcastle. Two women, named Scott and Sloane, had their suspicions aroused concerning a room near where they live, which had been occupied by a woman named Margaret Breeme, who lived apart from her husband. It was noticed that the keyhole in the door was stuffed with rags. An entrance was forced into the room by the women, and the bodies of two chil- dren were found lying on the bed, covered with a white cloth. The bodies were in an advanced state of decom- position. The room was in a dreadful state of filth, and swarming with verniin. A doctor who examined the bodies expressed an opinion that the children had been dead between three and four months. The woman Scott states that Breeme. the mother of the children, told her recently that the children had gone to her stepfather at Shields, and that she had visited them there. The children, boy and girl, are aged eight and five years respectively. Breeme has been apprehended. An inquest has also been opened, and adjourned for a post-mortem examination to be made.

TIJE ROYAL TITLE. A NOBLEMAN SNUBBED BY THE QUEEN. The well-informed London correspondent of the New- castle Chronicle writes:—As illustrating the interest her Majestv takes in the new title, and her desire to obtain *t, I may mention a story—which I have every reason to believe is correct—that is just now going the rounds in politicai circles. A well-known nobleman of popular 8yitipathies, and one who has taken a prominent part in resisting the Titles Bill, was invited to dine with her Majesty at Windsor Castle, shortly before she left for the Continent. When there, his lordship took an oppor- tunity of respectfully stating to the Queen the objections that Wire to her adopting the title of Empress. The quiet but well-meant remark was met by her Majesty in a very brusque manner. She took the nobleman to task in a most emphatic way, and gave him to understand-if she did not in as many words say-that he had better attend to his own business and not volunteer advice to his Sovereign. This, and many other circumstances, tend to show that it ia as much, probably more, the Queen herself who wishes the additional title than it is the desire of the Ministry. As I some weeks ago mentioned, the Court has been striving to get this new name ever since the days of Sir Robert Peel; and every Prime Minister from that time to this has been more or less directly pressed to secure its adoption. None of our premiers during the last thirty years were sufficiently courtier-like to comply with the request of the Queen, until she obtained Mr. Disraeli as her chief adviser.

LORD ABERDARE AT DARLINGTON. On Saturday, Lord Aberdare formally opened a new Training College at Darlington, being a college for the North of England in connection with the British and Foreign School Society of London, making the fourth possessed by the society—two being in London and one at Swansea. The whole cost of the college, including laud, will amount to about £ 15,000, X 000 of which remains to be raised. The college, which is intended for the training of mistresses for elementary schools, will accommodate 75 students. There was a large attendance of the leading ladies and gentlemen of Dailiugton and the district. After a breakfast in the college, the inaugural proceedings took place in a large hall in the building. Mr. Henry Pease presided, and after some statistics had been given by Mr. J. W. Pease, M P a" to the operations of the British and Foreign School Society, Lord Aberdare, who was well received, delivered an address of considerable length on educa- tional topics. In the course of his remarks he said that whilst he was connected with the Privy Council, it had alway9 been maintained that every school supported by the State, should have presiding over it a teacher giving the State, should have presiding over it a teacher giving evidence of a certain amount of training—and he heartily wished it could be maintained—yet at the same time he concurred with the relaxations from this rule which had been permitted by Mr. Forster and the Marquis of Kipon, in the case of teachers ot certain ages who bad a good report to show of the manner in which they bad conducted their schools for the last five years, by wbicn they should be able to obtain third-class The present Government were still further extending that principle. He trusted they would be able to snow some good reasons for their action, which, in his opinion, had a dangerous tendency. (Bear, hear.)

PARLIAMENTARY PETITIONS. The House of Commons was in a difficulty about some of its petitions on April 7th, and concluded, very properly we think, to decline to receive three of them, and to refer one to the consideration of a committee. Such little difficulties are of periodical occurrence. It is nearly a year since the famous Prittlewell petition was ordered not to lie on the table of the House, because of the unseemliness Of the language in which it scattered its charges. Three of the petitions under discussion on the above date would, in all proba- bility. have been dealt with in a similar way on the ground of their indeoorous language, but that the House \vas enabled to get rid of them by a technical objection. They purported to have the endorsement, of Mr. Newdegate's signature; but they were net signed by that gentleman, nor could he say whether they were signed in his name by any one au'horised to act for him. The objection founded on their lack of the proper signature was fatal, and the House was spared the pain of considering whether the language m which they were couched was unfit to be tolerated in Parliament. The question involved in the case of the petition which is to be referred for con- sideration is more curious and less common. The petition was signed by English and French residents of Boulogne, and the point in controversy was whether the House of Commons could properly entertain a petition from the subjects of a foreign State, even though it prayed oniv for something within the jurisdiction of Parliament to consider. Mr. Gladstone was quite right, we think, in objecting to the liberal courtesy with which the Prime Minister was at first disposed to receive the petition. Either way, the decision must be a precedent; and the precedent surely might come to be of great importance. Take the case suggested by Mr. Sullivan—that of a monster petition from Irish and American residents of the United States, praying f0r the release of the Fenian prisoners. If the principle which some speakers appeared to think satisfactory were recognised, such a petition would have to be received. Although signed by foreigners, its prayer would be for something within the jurisdiction of Parliament to consider. It is, at all events, worth thinking twice before we estab- lish such a precedent.—Daily News.

A Boy Hamlet," a lad aged 14. has recently been amusing the natives at the New York Lyceum. He does not appear to have been very favourably received, and the mildest thing said about him by the critics is, that he may be half a woman in disguise." -Figaro,

DREADFUL ACCIDENT AT HINCKLEY. A correspondent writes:—While Joseph Bloxham was engaged in felling a number of lofty trees at Hinckley, Leicestershire, a man named Haddon offered, for 6d. each. to ascend each tree and place a rope around it to direct its fall. His offer being accepted, he climbed to the summit of a large poplar, whereupon it fell with him to the ground. Haddon was seriously in- jured—it is feared fatally. A boy who was playing near was killed on the spot, his head being fearfully crushed. A girl had her leg broken, and two other children were also injured.

THE BALLOT ACT. The report of the Select Committee on Parliamentary and municipal elections was laid on the table of the House of Commons last week. It deals only with the machinery for voting by ballot, and recommends imme- diate legislation with a view to remedy existing defects. In view of the conflicting decisions as to what is the proper construction of the directions for marking ballot papers, the committee recommend that no paper should be rejected for improper marking unless it appeared to the returning officer that such marking was for the pur- pose of identification, and advise the passing of a short bill to that effect. The committee also suggest other modifications of the existing regulations.

i HORRIBLE TRAGEDY AT LEAMINGTON. Thomas Addison Whittingham, a gentleman living at Leamington, shot his wife last week with a double-barrelled gun, and afterwards shot himself through the head, death being instantaneous. The lady was shot as she was climbing over the garden wall out of the reach of her husband. Deceased had been depressed in spirits, and had been drinking heavily. On April 7th, an inquest was opened at Leamington on the body of Mr. Whittingham. The only occupants of the house were Mr. and Mrs. AVhittingham and a servant. The wife had no idea of his intending to do her harm until she saw him with the gun in his hands. A number of shots have been extracted from her back, but many still remain, and it is feared some are lodged in a vital part, as the charge partly entered the loins. As Mrs. Whittingham, when she was shot, fell over into an adjoining yard, it is presumed deceased thought she had been killed He then went to his bedroom, and the servant heard him say, I thought it would come to this," and as she passed him she begged him not to do her harm. He was seen in the street carrying the gun two hours before the occurrence, and had been wandering about the house all night, and drinking, to which he was addicted, Deceased was in receipt of four hundred a year, and had lived much abroad. They had been married eight years. The coroner then adjourned the inquiry, which was con- eluded on Saturday. It was shown that deceased had lived unhappily with bis wife, who was much younger, and to whom he had been married eight years. Two years ago, when living at Stafford, they separated, and he allowed her ten shillings weekly. He then threatened her life, struck her. and behaved like a raving madman. He repeatedly complained of severe pains in his head, on which he received a severe blow when returning from Australia, where be made his fortune during the gold fever and lost his first wife and only child. The wife returned after three months' absence, but they were at other brief periods separated prior to their removal to Leamington, eight months ago. At Leamington de- ceased acquired intempr-rate habits, complained of his head, and his wife and her sister considered him de- ranged at times. His will. made two years ago, left all his property to his sister, and his wife was not men- tioned. The jury returned a verdict of Suicide whilst temporarily insane."

THE MORAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF A CLERGYMAN. The London Telegraph, referring to a recent case tried at Leeds Assizes, says "A clergyman, from the very nature of his calling, ought jealously to guard his conduct, and it is no excuse for nim to allege tbat he is of an impulsive nature, and that his acts ought to be judged in a liberal sense. He owes it to himself, and to the Church of which he is a minister, to behave as a man of the world. In a certain court which, pending the construction of the great Carey street hall of justice, holds its sittings at present in the north- west corner of Westminster Hall, it is a well-under- "lIood rulo vi oidcuco 6liat a man "l1u plauce 111ill"1[ In a false position must submit to the consequences of his folly; and that, exactly as it is not allowed him to explain away a written document by showing that it means something else than upon its face it pur- ports to mean, BO the fact that he has kissed another man's spouse may not be got rid of by an elaborate argument to the effect that the operation,' as Mr. Waddy called it, was 'a kiss of peace.' Even in America, where wider allowance is given to impulsive and inconsiderate conduct than on this side of the At- lantic, such a plea in confession and avoidance' is re- garded with natural suspicion. When amongst our- selves a clergyman of position and standing asks a jury to believe that he puts his arm round a married woman's neck because he feels a keen interest in her spiritual welfare, the excuse is taken for what it is worth. An English clergyman is, or ought to be, a hard-working man. If lie have a squabble with his schoolmaster, the shortest way for him is to clear the matter up with that official in person, instead of re- sorting to the round-about process of offering the kiss of peace to the schoolmaster's wife. Even Falstnff himself, when he beat Mr. Justice Shallow's men, killed his deer, and broke open his lodge, drew the line at olfering the kiss of peace to the keeper's daughter, and would certainly never have been guilty of the terrible indiscretion of saluting a scullion because Robin had said, Sir John, kiss Lucy too.'

THE LOSS OF THE STRATHCLYDE. The Times, commenting upon the conviction of the cap ain of the Franconia, says "In analysing the cir- cumstances which led to this terrible disaster, there is no reason to presume any misconception on the part of the captain of either vessel as to the course intended to be taken by the other. Both were keeping the same course, and were, therefore, in ^wasi-pirallel lines. The Franconia, the 'following' vessel, was steam- ing at a much higher rate than the Strathclyde. It is inconceivable that Captain Keyn should have supposed the latter to be a crossing vessel, and whether such a supposition occurred to his mind or not makes no change in the nature of the responsibility he was incurring. He was steaming at the highest rate of speed, and that perilous approach which led to. the disaster was clearly his own act. The law of the sea in such cases is explicit. Every steamship when approaching another ship so as to involve risk of collision shall slacken her speed, or, if necessary, stop and reverse.' Had the Franconia observed this rule, no collision could possibly have occurred. Pre- sumably, a slackening of speed was intended, but it was, unhappily, resolved to effect it with as little Inconvenience and loss of time as possible. How easily, how naturally, a casualty which has occurred might have been avoided is always a melancholy reflection. In the present case, the veriest shade more of caution or promptitude would have been sufficient. Had the Franconia slackened speed-had she ported her helm a minute sooner, so as to change her course in time, 3he would have cleared the vessel which she cut down by passing astern of her. It is true that when it was too late the engines were reversed, and that her captain signalled from the bridge to those in charge of the Strathclyde, shouting to them, at the same time, to keep off. All this was obviously in vain. In less time than it takes to picture the situation, the effect of his neglect had become irremediable. The Strathclyde was sacrificed, partly, no doubt, to mere carelessness and a groundless supposition that if she were not keeping a c parallel course she would be kept out of the way of a faster vessel following astern of her, but chiefly to that thriftless, coiiomy of time and speed which is in other ways the cause of so large a proportion of recorded disasters at sea. This first part of the case relates to Iveyn's responsibility as a seaman. Its second and more painful section relates to his conduct from the point of view of common humamty, He had rundown the Strathclyde in a manner of which the result could not possibly be a matter of doubt. Her side was penetrated in two places, and she sank to the water's edge under his very eyes. But Captain Keyn, actuated, It is charitable to suppose, by a panic fear for the safety of his own vessel, which temporarily destroyed the balance of his judgment, steamed away at. once for Dover. leaving the victims of his fault to their fate. Had he done his utmost to save them, it might have been difficult to avoid the guilt of the manslaughter of those who perished. How much more when no such effort was attempted, or even thought of ?"

At a recent meeting of the Societe d'Encouragemen^ M. Dumas presented a description, with drawings, of a new smoke consuming fire-grate invented by M. Ducastel. The usual fire-bars are replaced by a series of separate grids or gratings carried by small trucks, in such a way that the fuel may be regularly charged to front of and outside the furnace when once ignited, it is burnt quickly and uniformly on the gratings. The gratings may be of indefinite length, and the smoke is J necessarily burnt on the least incandescent portions of the furnace.—Engineer,

THE PRINCES HOMEWARD VOYAGE. Alexandria, April 1. On Saturday, March 25th, when the Serapis came to anchor off Suez, the Indian tour of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales may be said to have terminated. The oppressive heat IIf the Indian Ocean and the southern part of the Red Sea was succeeded by a cool northerly breeze, which must have been most welcome to the Royal party on board. Lord and Lady Lytton, who were on board the Orontes, came off to the Serapis shortly after 9 a.m., and breakfasted with the Prince of Wales, re- turning again at noon. The members of the Vice HegaJ suite accompanied the Indian Viceroy-Elect. At halt- past twelve his Royal Highness and suite left the Serapis in the Hasty, Government tug, for Suez, aDd on landing proceeded in a special train direct for Cairo, where they remained the guests of the Khedive until to-day. The Serapis, Raleigh, and Osborne entered the canal at about 4.30 p.m., and on the 27tb, at 9 a.m., anchored off Port Said, where they took in coal. A telegram was received from the Prince of Wales for the Osborne to steam full spefd for Alexandria to take Lord Chas. Beresford to Brindisi for passage to England, the reason for such a sudden change in his lordship's movements being kept secret. Having finished coaling at Port ^aid the Serapisand Raleigh proceeded fur Alexandria, where they arrived at noon on the 28th, the lighthouse battery replying to the salute of theltaleigh. The Osborne was riding at anchor, having arrived during the night, and the other ships in harbour comprised her Majesty's ships Invincible and Research, and the Russian frigate Swet!and. commanded by his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Alexis. The Hon. H. Can- Glyn, captain of the Serapis, paid official visits to the different authorities afloat and ashore, and next morn- ing, by command, proceeded to Cairo to join the suite of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The officers of the Serapis afterwards gave a dinner to those of the Russian frigate on the 30th, at which the healths of the Emperor and the Queen and Empress" were drank with enthusiasm. On the following day the Serapis officers dined on board the Swetland. In the evening of the 31st his Royal Highness arrived from Cairo in company with I the Grand Duke Alexis (who had also been a guest of the Khedive). All the men-of-war in harbour were illu- minated. This evening his Royal Highness gave a dinner, at which the Grand Duke Alexis, the chief officers of the Russian and Turkish ships, and many other high person- ages attended. The Prince of Wales proposed the health of the Emperor of Russia, and the Grand Duke that of the Queen. The Prince next proposed the health of the Khedive, and alluded to the interest which the Khedive took in our ships when touching at his ports, and his kindness as a host, as he had on a former and the present occasion experienced.

THE PRINCE OF WALES AT MALTA. MALTA, April 7.—The native nobles refused to join in the reception of the Prince of Wales, in consequence of the Governor declining to interfere in the sligiit offered them by the Reception Committee. The ce 'vlll foreign consuls are also offended at receiving no invi- tation to the Palace. The Prince declined to lay the first stone of Vincengo Bugeja's projected Conserva- torio, in consequence of its being a purely Roman Catholic establishment. The correspondent of the Times, writing from Malta, says that on the 6th April the Prince, with several of his suite and the Governor, drove to the Lunatic Asylum, returning to meet the guests invited to dinner at the palace, wjiich was splendidly illuminated, as were tins Mainguard, the Exchange, the Admiral's residence, and the Ottoman and other consulates. Before dinner the Prince expressed to Mr. Vincenzo Bugeja, the Maltese millionaire, his regret at not being able to lay the first stone of Mr. Vincenzo's projected Cooservatorio in consequence of its being a purely Roman Catholic establishment, a circumstance which was unknown to his Royal Highness when he consented to lay the first stone. The failure of this arrangement caused uni- versal disappointment; nevertheless, by the Queen's command, the Prince conferred on Chevalier Bugeia the Companionship of St. Michael and St. George. The object of the institution, which is to be erected under the name of the Vincenzo Bugeja Conserva- torio, is to feed. clothe. educate, and train to industrial occupations fifty female children deprived of their parents through death, crime, or other misfortune. After dinner the Prince witnessed from the centre balcony of the Palace, amid the deafening cheers of thousands, a grand illumination, with .several alle- gorical transparencies, on the Piazza San Giorgio, where on a grand stand a hymn was chanted, in which most of the opera artistes and many amateur vocalists and instrumentalists took part. A' eleven p.m. his Royal Highness drove up the Strada llecle, preceded by native bands and banners, passing by Marich's Divan, the Casino, the Auberge de Castille and the approach to the Upper Barrncox, L from which the. Prince witnessed a mnmiiiieeni illumination of the dockyard and the entire circui' of Valetta Harbour. Along the bastions overlooking these places, troops stood closely ranged with coloured lights. Two thousand Chinese lanterns had been dis- tributed among the boats plying in the harbour. The ships of war and several yachts were illuminated at the masts and yards, the portholes throwing up thousands of beautiful and repeatedly changing tinted lights. Nothing like it was ever before seen at Malta. On the 7th April, a Royal salute was fired in honour of Prince Leopold's birthday, and there was a general review of the garrison at Floriana parade ground. The Prince presented the 98th Regiment with new colours, which were blessed by the Bishop of Gibraltar and the senior military chaplains. MALTA, April 9.—Sixty persons were invited to meet the Prince at dinner at the Palace on Friday. At the ball given in the evening by the united services, there was a numerous assembly, all the foreign consuls being invited. The Prince opened the ball with Lady Van Straubenzee (wife of the Governor). On Satur- day. the birthday of the King of Denmark, the shi) s in the harbour fired a salute, and there was a mimic- ba'tle between the sea batteries and the gunboats. A dinner with sixty covers was given at the Palace in the evening. To-day divine service was celebrated at Queen Adelaide's Church, and the Bishop of Gibraltar preached. The Prince afterwards lunched with t06 Governor at his country seat.

THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN THE EAST. The Eusski Mir has the following respecting affairs in the Herzegovina :-At present, when the Turkish reforms conceived by diplomacy have passed away like smoke, the Eastern question has suddenly taken a sharp turning, which opens a view to a quicker decision than could have been expected when Count Andrassy's famous five points were first con- sidered. By the force of circumstances the Aus- trian reform project has come to nothing, as well as all the irades and mighty statements of the Turkish Ministers which accompanied it. "At present," the Ru-sski Mir continues, there is nobody except the Turks and their adherents who dare to ask for a voluntary subjection of the Sclaves to the Turkish rule. The time of illusions has passed aw-iv. It is now for the Servians of Turkey to how by deeds that they have come to know their adversaries." By all the accounts which the Ritsski Mir has received, it has come to the conclusion that on the one hand the actual ten days' armistice is but a precursor of important events, and that, on the other hand, the events which are to be expected threaten no European power with a war. The Russian Telegraphic Agency publishes the fol- lowing :-St. Petersburg, April n, 8.40 p.m. -News from Bosnia confirms the recrudescence of the insur- rection. Austrian intelligence attributes the initiative of the massacres to the Turkish soldiery. Five hundred Christians have taken refuge in Dalmatia. The Porte is uneasy, and is sending reinforcements of troops. A telegram from Ragusa to the RustM Mir announces that Baron Rodich has left for Oastelnuovo, where he will have an interview to-day with Soghitza, Peiko, and other insurgent leaders. VENICE April 7.—The insurgents, replying to ,Gen. Rodich's communication, demanded a withdrawal of the Turkish troops from Bosnia and Herzegovina, ex- cepting certain cities, the distribution of the lands of the Agas, and exemption from taxation for three years. General Rodich demanded a preliminary disarmament, but the insurgent chiefs refused and returned to the mountains. General Rodich returned to Ragusa, The Turks having violated the armistice by assembling troops at Trebinje to attack Suttorina, the insurgents probably will renounce it and resume hostilities.- Times.

A man named M'Keown is in custody at Dublin charged with throwing his wife and child out of a window GO feet from the ground. The newly-created office of Keeper of the Records of the Corporation of the City of London has been conferred upon Mr. R. R. Sharpe, B.C.L., of St. John's College, Oxford, a Senior Assistant of the Lower Section in the Manuscript Department of the British Museum.