The Principality

♦ BON-MOT OF MR. PISCATORY.- "In Louis Philippe's time," said Mr Piscatory the other day at a, dinner of the Elysee Bour- bon, to his dear friend Brougham, "Gulzotand I used to row in tha same ooat." at Vhich the noble convert to despotism ob- served, Aye, aye but not with the same sculls I" -Globe. THE BEGGING-LETTER WRITER —He has besieged my door, &t all hours of the day and night; he has fought my servant; he has lain in ambush for me, going out and coming in he has followed me out of town into the country; he has appeared at provincial hotels, where I have been staying for only a few hours; he has written .to me from immense distances, when I have been out of England. He has fallen sick; he has died, and been buried: he has come to life again, and again departed from this transitory scene; he has been his own son, his own mother, his own baby, his idiot brother, his uncle, his aunt, his aged grandfather. He has wanted a great coat, to go to India in a pound, to set him up in life for ever a pair of boats to take him to the coast of China a hat, to get him into a perma- nent situation under Government. He has frequently been exactly seven-and-sixpence short of independence. He has had such openings at Liverpool—posts of great trust and con- fidence in merchants' houses, which nothing but seven-and- sixpence was wanting to him to secure-that I wonder he is not mayor of that flourishing town at the present moment. The natural phenomena of which he has been the victim, are -of a most astounding nature. He has had two children, who have never grown up who have never had anything to cover them at night; who have been continually driving him mad, by asking in vain for food who have never come out of fevers and measles (which, I suppose, has accounted for his fuming his letters with tobacco smoke as a disinfectant) who have never changed in the least degree, through fourteen long re- volving years. As to his wife, what that suffering woman has undergone nobody knows. She has always been in an interest- tng situation through the same long period, and has never been confined yet. His devotion to her has been unceasing. He has never cared for himself; he could have perished-he would rather, in short-but was it not his Christian duty as a man, a husband, and a father, to write begging letters when he looked at her? (He has usually remarked that he would call in the evening for an answer to this -question.) -Dickens's "Household Words. SLAVERY AND MISSIONs.-The following astounding adver- tisement appears in the Religious Herald, a Baptist paper, pub- lished in Richmond, Virginia Who wants 35,000 dollars in property ?—I am desirous to spend the balance of my life as a missionary (!!) if the Lord permit, and therefore offer for sale my farm-the Vineyard adjacent to Williamsburg, and containing about 600 acres-well watered, well wooded, and abounding in marl-together with all the crops, and stock, and utensils thereon. Also, my house and lot in town, fitted up as a boarding establishment, with all the furniture belonging to ■ the same. Also, about forty servants, mostly young, and likely, < and rapidly increasing in number and value (!!). To a kind master I would put the whole property at the very reduced price of 35,000 dollars, and arrange the payments entirely to ■ suit the purchaser, provided the interest be annually paid.— SCERVANT JONES." A SUBSTITUTE.—An Irish officer rang his bell so often that no servant the landlady could hire would stop in the house, or could stand the running upstairs. The officer, consequently, received notice to quit, which being unwilling to do, and find- ing the cause of warning, he promised never to ring his bell again upon this understanding he retired to his apartment. In about half an hour the whole house was alarmed by the report of pistols in the captain's room. Up rushed the land- lady, the lodgers, and the servants, and burst open the door, in the full expectation of some dreadful catastrophe. Coffee," coolly eiid the captain. On their expressing surprise, the lodger cried, Why, as you did not like me to ring the bell, of course I must find a substitute." Punch says that the object of Mr. Stuart Wortley's Marriage Bill is to spike an ecclesiastical canon. GENTLLITY.—Gentility is the death and destruction of social happiness amongst the middle classes in England. It destroys naturalness, if I may coin such a word, and kindly sympathies. The object of life, as I take it, is to be friendly with everybody. As a rule, and to a philosophical cosmopolite, every man ought to be welcome, I do not mean as to your intimacy or affections, but to your society; as there is, if we would or could but dis- cover it, something notable, something worthy of observation, of sympathy, of wonder, and amusement in every fellow mor- tal. Consider how many a good fellqw you may shut out and sneer upon what an immense deal of pleasure, frankness, kindness, good fellowship, we forego for the sake of our con- founded gentility and respect for outward show.-Punch. THE BEGGING-LETTER WRITER'S FAREWELL.—Sometimes, when he is sure that I have found him out, and that there is no chance of money, he writes to inform me that I have got rid of him at last. He has enlisted into the Company's service, and is off directly-but he wants a cheese. He is informed by the ser- geant that it is essential to his prospects in the regiment that he should take out a single-Gloucester cheese, weighing from twelve to fifteen pounds. Eight or nine shillings would buy it. He does not ask for money, after what has passed but if he calls at nine to-morrow morning, may he hope to find a cheese P And is there anything he can do to show his gratitude in Bengal ? Once, he wrote me rather a special letter proposing relief in kind. He had got into a little trouble by leaving parcels of mud done up in brown paper, at people's houses, on pretence of being a rail- way porter, in which character he received carriage-money. This sportive fancy he expiated in the House of Correction. Not long after his release, and on a Sunday morning, he called with a letter [having first dusted himself all over], in which he gave me to understand that, being resolved to earn an honest livelihood, he had been travelling about the country with a cart of crockery. That he had been doing pretty well, until the day before, when hia horse had dropped down dead near Chatham, in Kent. That this had reduced him to the unpleasant necessity of getting into the shafts himself, and drawing the cart of crockery to London— a somewhat exhausting pull of thirty miles. That he did not venture to ask again fornnoney; but that if I would have the goodness to leave him out a donkey, he would call for the animal before breakfast. -DicA-,etts's Household Words." THE COUNTY COURTS. The clerks received Z87,283 nearly much as the judges. As there are 491 clerks, the average would be 180 a year to each. But as the -clerks' fees accumu- late in each court according to the business transacted, of course I the division is very unequal. In one court in Wales the clerk only got £ 8 10s. in fees; in another court, in Yorkshire, his receipts only amounted to £ 9 4s. 3d. But some of my colleagues made a good thing of it. The clerks'fees in some of the princi- pal courts are very' comfortable: The clerk of Westminster netted, in 1848, E2,731 Clerkenwell, £ 2,227; Southwark, £ 1,710 Bristol, Sheffield, Bloomsbury, Birmingham, Shore- tcb, Leeds, Marylehoae, received f,1,000 a year and upwards. ?' But, continued our friend, 11 three-fourths of the clerks get less than LIOO a year." Now," said Mr. Ficker, tell us what you do for all this money ?'' Altogether," said the clerk, the courts sat, in 1848, 8,386 days, or an average for each judge of 140 days. The greatest number of sittings was in Westmin- ster, where the judge sat 246 days. At Liverpool, there were sittings on 225 days. The number of trials, as I have before maetiooed, was 259,118, or an average of about 4,320 to each judge, and 528 to each court. In some of the courts, however, as many as 20,000 cases are tried in a year." "Why," said Mr. Picker, they can't give five minutes to each case, Is this ad- ministration of justice?' When, said the clerk, If a case is undefended, a plaintiff appears, swears to his debt, and obtains an order for its payment, which takes scarcely two minutes." "How Ipng does a defended case take ?" On the average, I should nay, a quarter of an hour; that is, provided counsel are not em- ployed. "Jury cases occupy much longer. "Undoubtedly." Are.the jury cases frequent ?" I inquired, some feeling of re- sped for our time-honoured institution' coming across me as I spoke. Nothing," said our friend, is more remarkable in the history of the County Courts than the very limited resort which suitors have to juries. It is within the power ot either party to cause a jury to be summoned in any case where the plaint is upwards of jEg. The total number of cases tried in 1848 was 259,118. Of these, upwards of 50,000 were cases in which juiios might have been summoned. But there were only 884 jury cases in all the courts, or one jury for about every 270 trials. The party requiring the jury obtained a verdict ia 446 out of the 884 cases, or about one half."—Ibid, 'V •*■■■■■ ■;

(teritl Mtm- SCENE AT A BOSlEMAN EXHIBITION .-During an exhibition'' of the Bosjemans, at Devizes, last week, some foolish person, by grimaces and menacing looks, so far roused the indignation of one of the savages, that he drew an arrow and let fly at the head of his tormentor, fortunately only piercing the hat. Three or four men could scarcely hold the little creature the women present were much alarmed, as "the whoop and yell were terrific, bringing scalping knives and tomahawks vividly to the imagination." THE criminal tables of Mr. Redgrave; of the Home Office, inform us that while youths of from fifteen to twenty-five years of age constitute only one-tenth of our whole population, they actually commit one-fourth of the crime of the whole country. COMMANDER FoRsyTn',q AROTic BRANCH ExP]EDITION.-Up- wards of EI,700 has been subscribed towards the fitting of the Branch expedition to proceed in search of Franklin under the command of Forsyth. EMIGRATION FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM.—Last week, the 10th general report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Com- missioners was printed, giving some interesting information connected with emigration from the United Kingdom. The emigration from the United Kingdom during the ten years ending the 31st Dec., 1846, amounted to 856,392 persons, giving an average of 85,639 emigrants a year. During the years 1847 and 1848 the number of emigrants was 258,270 and 248,089 respectively, being nearly double the largest number that had emigrated in any previous year. During the year 1849 the emigration had reached the unprecedented number of'299,498 persons, of which number 260,817 proceeded to North America; 219,450 went to the United States, and 41,367 to British North America. The commissioners estimate that in 1849, exclusive of cabin passengers, £ 1,743,500 was expended on emigration, of which only £ 228,300 was paid out of public funds, leaving more than £ 1,500,000 as the probable amount provided out of private or parochial funds. DILIGENCE OF BRITISH AftTISTR.-The Aeademy Exhibition consists of 1,456 works of art more than 1,000, some say 1,400, I works were declined, and if we add to these, as we have done in former years, the number of those exhibited elsewhere, namely at the British Institution, 500; the Suffolk-street Gal- lery, 735 the Portland Gallery, Regent-street, 373; the Water- colour Gallery, 380; the New Water-colour Gallery, 329 j,. and allow for those returned by the British Institution and the Society of British Artists,—the total number produced during the year, for exhibition in the metropolis, will be found to be, at least 5,500 works of art. During this time, too, artists have been turning out dioramas, panoramas, cycloramas, cosmoramas, &c., &c., without end, various panels in the Palace of Parlia- ment have received their subjects, portrait painting has gone on, book illustrations have been multiplied, and the provincial exhibitions, although partly made up of works previously ex- hibited in London, have not been without their usual number of. 1 new contributions. Last year, the total number of works ex- hibited in the metropolis was 3,796; the number in 1848 was 4,023 but the number submitted to the various galleries was calculated on both these occasions at nearly the same as in the present year.The Builder. WORDSWORTH.—We understand that a meeting of persons de- sirous to do honour to the memory of Wordsworth was held on Monday, at the house of Mr. Justice Coleridge. It was attended by the Bishop of London, the Bishop of St. David's, the Dean of St. Paul's, Archdeacon Hare, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Justice Coleridge, Mr. Cavendish, and several other gentlemen. The results of-it, are expected to be made public in a few days. A great number of eminent and distinguished persons sent their names to the meeting as wishing to co-operate in carrying its object into effect. BURNING,OF THR OcExx QuEE-N.-Another instance of spon. taneous combustion of coal, by which a fine vessel, the Ocean Queen, belonging to London, upwards of 800 tons burden, was totally lost, was reported on Monday at Lloyd's. The unfortu- nate vessel had a full cargo of Newcastle coal, and was bound to Suez, for the supply of the Indian steamers. On the 21st of De- cember, the captain was informed by one of the crew that smoke was issuing forth from the hole forward, and he suspected the coal had ignited. The hatches were at once removed, when in- stantly flames burst forth, and every effort made to subdue them proved unavailing. The ship was then in lat. 22, 30 south, and Ion. 53 east, some 700 or 800 miles distant from land. The crew, after an unsuccessful attempt to confine the fire to the hold, were compelled to take to the boats, and after enduring much suffering, they were picked up by a French homeward-bound ship, 400 miles from the spot where the Ocean Queen was burned. They were safely landed at the Mauritius. By a recent return there appears to have been no fewer than fourteen ships destroyed by fire from similar causes during the last four years. A MAN OVERBOARD.—On Sunday afternoon, a marine, named Crawford, belonging to the Victoria and Albert royal yacht, in Portsmouth harbour, while under the influence of drink, jumped overboard from the Royal George, hulk to the yacht, and had sunk twice when Mr. Scaif, clerk, jumped overboard, and seized him in the act of sinking a third time, and succeeded in keeping hold of the man till assistance was rendered by a boat's crew from the Royal George, when both parties were rescued from their perilous situation. EFFECTS OF NEGLECTING VACCINATION. — The Liverpool Journal states that serious ravages were making by the small-pox amongst a vast number of children in and about St. Helen's. It is attributed to some objections raised against the system by nearly all the mothers, who declined having them vaccinated so much so that, during the last season, comparatively speaking, very few children were vaccinated by those appointed for that purpose. It has been asserted that there were, a few days ago, some twenty children dead in one street in St. Helen's. HOMICIDE AT NEWPORT, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.—A painful sen- sation has been created at Newport, Gloucestershire, and its neighbourhood; in consequence of the homicide, under circum- stances of a distressing character, of Mr. Daniel White, who occupies a farm at a place called Woodford, and who, from his having for many years attended the different country markets, is well known throughout the district. The inquest upon the body was held on Friday, and occupied the greater part of the day. A large amountof interest was excited, and numbers of persons thronged the rooms in which the inquiry was held, the inn, and the approaches to it. During the investigation many witnesses were examined, but the facts of the melancholy occurrence may be succinctly stated aslfollows :-At Newport, as at most country places, a club or a benefit society has been long established for the purposes of mutual relief in time of sickness, want of employment, death, &c., and its officers and members have' been in the constant habit of celebrating the anniversary of its establishment by walking in procession and afterwards dining together at the Crown Inn. The day is always observed as one of considerable festivity by the inhabit- ants of the place generally music is provided, dancing takes place at the different taverns, and the amusements are often pro- tracted to a late hour. The deceased man had a daughter named Elizabeth, whose intellect is so weak as almost to amount to idiotcy, and by some means she had been drawn from home and induced to participate in the an-usements of the dancers. Upon this becoming known to the father he was very angry, and caused an intimation to be made to her that he required her to return home. She refused to do so, and at length finding that she re- mamed and the hour being late, he went to the dancing-room and took her away by force, being evidently greatly exasperated. Some words ensued, and the deceased, who was in great anger, inflicted personal violence upon his daughter by beating her with a whip. This proceeding was seen by some parties, and gave great offence to three itieti, named Jobn Netraes, otherwise called Newman, William Fetherhay, and William Lovell, all of whom had been at the public-house, and having drunk somewhat freely, were in an excitable condition. They contrived to waylay the father, whom they attacked and beat in a dreadful way, leaving him on the ground insensible, and, as the result has proved, fatally injured. After they had made off the unfortunate man was found by one of the Gloucestershire county constabulary, who, having procured assistance, removed him and procured the attend- ance of Mr. Hicks, a surgeon, residing in the neighbourhood, who did what medical skill could for his relief, but in vain. He remained in a state of stupor for two days, unable during the time to articulate a sentence, when he expired; and an intimation of the fatal termination of the affray being made to the coroner, that functionary at once issued the necessary process for holding an inquest on the body. The foregoing facts having been deposed to by several parties, Mr. John Hicks was called to speak to the cause of death. He deposed to the condition in which he found the deceased, and to his situation till his death, and then proceeded to describe the post mortem examination. The principal injuries were upon the head. The skull had been fractured, and there was a quantity of blood extravasated. The death had resulted from the violence which caused the fracture. The coroner having summed up the evidence, and pointed out the laws of homicide as applicable to the case, the jury returned a verdict of man- slaughter against the three men, William Fetherhay, John Nelmes, and William Lovell, and the coroner at once issued his warrant for their committal to Gloucester gaol to await their trial at the next county assize.

THE CARDIFF ATHENJEUM, AND THE CARDIFF AND MERTIIYR G UARDIAN. On Saturday evening a meeting of the members was convened at the rooms of this Institute, for the purpose of considering what means should be taken for preventing, if possible, the systematic attacks which had of late been made by the Guardian newspaper upon the doings of the Athenaeum. Whitlock Nicholl, Esq., the respected president, filled the chair. Previous to the commencement of the proceedings, the room being quite crowded, notwithstanding the short- ness of the notice given, and the inconvenience of holding a meeting on Saturday night, when but few, comparatively speaking, of the tradesmen could attend, the chairman requested of the mayor (who was present) his permission for the use of the hall, which, we need hardly say, was immediately acceded to. Having adjourned thither, and all present provided themselves with seats, The chairman said, he rose to address that assembly under circumstances of rather a painful nature. He had now belonged to the Cardiff Atheneeum so long, and had with such pleasure witnessed its progress, its increase, and its prosperity, that he should be very sorry if anything should occur to deteriorate that progress, that increase, and that prosperity (hear, hear). Yesterday he was informed (for he did not see them himself) of certain expressions which had been made use of by the Merthyr Guardian, which he thought would deter strangers from coming forward to join that institution, and also help to prevent the committee from continuing their past exertions. They knew up to the present time all had done their best, and many persons had come forward,-not only on behalf of their institution, but more particularly so,—to render amusement to the town at large (hear, hear) and as he had said before, if a wrong notion went abroad which would tend to injure its future success, and prevent meetings of a similar kind to that to which the Guardian more particularly refers, he should indeed be sorry (hear, hear). He had already confessed-that lie had not seen the paper himself, and therefore only asserted what he was told and he would now, as many of the gentlemen present did not know what had previously occurred in connexion with the present meeting, give them a slight report respecting it. Last night the committee of the Athenseum met for the purpose of considering some subjects of considerable importance. He did not arrive until the business was nearly all concluded, but when it was finished, having heard What he had, he thought he would lay it before the committee and mention his own feelings respecting it; those feelings being dictated purely in defence of those meetings—mutual if they may so call them, or musical—being cut up in the manner they had been. He mentioned the subject, and said that very strong expressions had been made use of, and that it would be well if some notice was taken to prevent, if possible, such severe allusions to their proceed- ings appearing again in that paper (cheers). It may be very well, he thought, to criticise public meetings of the kind which were held at Bristol or at Bath, where great things were expected, but in this town they were only beginners- it was hardly more than their first appearance here-and he thought if they continued to progress, they would by and by be enabled to produce some very excellent music, and be very pleasant singers (hear, hear). He did not Want to nip the thing in the bud, and it struck him that what had been stated in the paper, although perhaps it would not amount to that, yet he was afraid it would have a similar effect, and therefore it was that he stated his senti- ments respecting it. The committee, who totally agreed with him, thought the best way to pursue would be to call a meeting at once, but he proposed that it should take place at a later period, but they said that Llandaff fair would interfere with the attendance. They then took every means to make it public, that it should not be said to be a packed meeting, and he hoped that what was now said, and what would be now done, would not be done in anger, but rather assume the appearance of harmony and good feeling (cheers). He had very little to say on the subject. He thought it would be the best way for him to notice it to the committee, and he had done so, but he did not know the intentions of this meeting all he could add was that he should think the expressions which had been made use of rather too strong for the juvenile party, who had come forward to sing for the amusement, not only of the Atbenmuni, but the town in general. They ought not, he would repeat, be put down; for with regard to himself, if he had been blessed with the powers of a vocalist, after what had been said, he should never attempt again. It was fearing such injuries as those he had been induced to bring the matter forward (cheers). Mr. Bernard in moving the first resolution said, that he had been called upon to fill the post he then did in the absence of Mr. Watkins, but had that gentleman been present it was in- tended he should have moved the resolution, and it would then have fallen to the pleasure of him (Mr. B.) to second it. They were, doubtless, all aware that they had met for the purpose of investigating, and endeavouring to prevent in future, certain unjust attacks which had lately been made by the Merthyr Guardian, and which were considered injurious to the interests of the Athenaeum (hear, hear). Last evening there was a meet- ing of the committee, and their respected president, who has had the interests of the institution for some time past so much at heart, not only alluded to the subject but strongly denounced the attacks (cheers). It was then resolved that they should have a meeting and there discuss all matters connected with the subject, because the committee considered that they must either have managed their institution so wofully bad as to bring it into such disrepute, or that the Merthyr Guardianhad at- tacked them unjustly (hear, hear). It was not of one, or two, or three attacks they complained, but of a series (shame). Since the Eisteddfod there had been sly insinuations—or what they (the committee) considered so-continually being ex- pressed by thatpaper, and they also considered that those insinu- ations had been unjust, and that the Athenaeum had been very unfairly criticised (cheers). He would first draw the attention of the meeting to the last expression,4 used, and would read the paragraph if allowed to (cries of" yes"). They had all, doubt- less, read it at the Athenaeum, and he knew that many had ex- pressed their disgust at the insinuations therein contained, and he had also heard indifferent persons state the same opinion but this last paragragh referred more particularly to one thing, and the committee considered it due to their respected and worthy mayor, who had on all occasions so willingly and so cheerfully lent them the use of the hall (prolonged cheers), to remove from themselves the supposition that they would devote that building to any improper purpose (hear, and hisses for the Guardian). Here, then, was a distinct charge against,them T-T"The behaviour of the gallery portion of the audience, dur- ing the performance of the National Anthem, was disgraceful. It is necessary that those youngsters should be taught a little decency in their behaviour, or they should not be admitted. Their hootings, their whistling, and cat-calling, would reflect infamy on the sixpenny gallery of a minor theatre." Now, was that correct, gentlemen? [cries of "no, no," and hisses] — and certainly should not be tolerated in an assemblage which has the slightest pretensions to, respectability. O Tempore 0 Mores This is the second time we have had to call attention to unseemly conduct in the hall and we would respectfully suggest to our excellent mayor the absolute necessity of closing it against such disreputable proceedings" (continued It was in the face of that accusation to their mayor, and the imputation cast upon the Athenaeum, to have employed and so misused his kindness in granting the hall, that they had thought it necessary to apply themselves to the subject and see whether they had done so or not (hear, hear). There were other papers, and to one of which he would more particularly allude. At the last meeting of the corporation, Captain Morgan was reported to have asked slily, when the theatre carried on in the town- hall was to be closed. The Mayor: I was present; but I confess I did not hear kirn. Mr. Lewis Reece I heard Capt. Morgan say so. Mr. Bernard continued He met Capt. Morgan a few days afterwards, but that gentleman told him that the impression made by the paragraph as inserted in the Guardian was totally different to that intended by him. He (Capt. M.) only in- tended it as a joke, for he was glad to see the hall used for such a purpose, and was fully aware at the same time that all learners must have a beginning (loud cheers). In short, he very much approved of the use to which the hall was applied (hear, hear). The paragraph referred to was as follows Alderman Morgan Caused much merriment, and a few significant' nods and winks and wreathed smiles,' by asking, in a dry, humourous way- Howlong are theatrical amusements to be carried on in the Town-hall ? It must be confessed that the interior of this public edifice is sadly disfigured; and that in its present state it is a great, eyesore. Alderman Morgan's question had reference to the melancholy exhibitions, which are, by courtesy, called concerts' (hisses), with which certain sections of the inhabit- ants have been edined (continued hisses). In the multiplicity of business the mayor lost sight of the question, which was not repeated" (great disapprobation). Now, he (Mr. B.) thought that the remarks just read by him were very severe; and besides that, it was going out of the way of the paper in the course of a report of the town council proceedings to make such allusions (hear, hear, and disapprobation). It was on account of such conduct as that, the committee had come to the conclusion that the attacks of the Guardian were systematic attempts to depreciate the character and interests of the Athenseum (hear, hear, and cheers). He had only referred them to instances as far as two numbers of the paper were concerned, but there were others yet; the letters of" Pro Bono Publico" he did not allude to at all, as he considered in the course of newspaper business it was the duty and privilege of the editor to insere them, although some might think the Athenamm suffered from it, but as it was the grievance of a private individual he did not allude to it. Again there was another paragraph which had reference to musical classes. They (the members of the Athenseum) had established one a few months ago; but in the paragraph alluded to, the people were recommended that choral societies should be formed, but not" in connexion with any existing institution whatever and other remarks were also contained in the same paragraph, which tended to prevent persons from joining the institution (great disaprobation). In alluding to another concert, the Guardian says," The National Anthem concluded the evening's amusement at rather too lata an hour—half-past ten;" and it went on further to state that- "In looking round on Wednesday evening, we could not fail el to perceive that the impression made on well-educated females (of whom we saw several) was most unfavourable—bordering on absolute disgust" (great disapprobation). At present the opinion we have formed is that the institution rests upon aiv unstable foundation, notwithstanding its apparent prosperity" [hisses]. It seemed to him [Mr. B.] that when concerts were first projected, and the amateurs came so willingly forward, that the public and the committee were much indebted to them [loud cheers] and they also felt that they should endeavour to find amusement for the inhabitants of this town, and more especially the younger portion, for the purpose, if possible, of keeping them from entering those dens of crime and iniquity, which were in all places designated public-houses [cheers]. The committee, nor the amateurs themselves, did not put forward these evenings of recreation as great musical exhibi- tions for those who attended them that were not members of the institution were admitted at a very low charge, that they might have some little amusement, and the members of the Athenseum werqradmitted free, which plan had been the means of inducing many to join [hear, hear, and cheers]. Everything had been done to render the amusement as unobjectionable as possible and he, the speaker, who had heard hints that some of the comic songs were disagreeable, went to Mr. Bell and asked him cautiously to avoid singing any songs which were parodied, so that nothing unpleasant should arise in the minds of those ladies or gentlemen who heard them [cheers]. He was very much pleased with the conduct of Mr. Bell, who imme- diately granted him his request [cheers]. Before he sat down, he would once more refer to that concert of which the Guardian says, In looking round we could not fail to perceive that the impression made on well-educated females, of whom we saw several, was most unfavourable-bordering on absolute disgust." He, the speaker, would unhesitatingly apply to any person to say whether there was anything of the sort [cries of "no, no," and disapprobation]. Some supposed that a paper like the Guardian would have no influence in such matters, but he knew better—there was an influenoo, and he had noticed a decrease in the attendance of ladies at their concerts, and many had no doubt been prevented from coming by reading that paragraph [disapprobation]. In short, they had not had so respectable a female audience since [great disapprobation]. He would read to them the resolution he had the pleasure to move: That the members of the Athenseum remark with pain and indignation a series of attacks in the columns of the Guardian, apparently for the purpose of systematically depreciating the institution in public estimation" (loud cheers). He thought that he had shown that it was not of one or two instances that they had to complain, but of a series of unfair criticisms, and he would leave the meeting to decide whether such was the case or not. Mr. James briefly seconded the resolution. The resolution was then put by the chairman, and although there were a great number present, yet not one hand was held up against its adoption. It was carried amidst the most deafen- ing applause, Mr. Grierson, in moving the second resolution, said, that after what his friends had said upon the subject, little or no. thing had been left for him to utter. All he had to do would be to apply to those gentlemen before him-to apply to them as Englishmen and Welshmeii-to say whether they would or would not longer submit to be so grossly attacked, and whether they would any longer support such a paper [cries of" no, no," and great excitement]. He felt that those few words would have the effect of a long speech, and therefore he would not trouble them any longer, but simply read the resolution en- trusted to him, which was to the effect that the members of the Athenseum discontinue their subscriptions to the Guardian, unless a suitable apology for its repeated attacks on that institution be inserted in its columns (loud cheers). Mr. Cory, who seconded the resolution, said that he felt much pleasure in doing so, and was also glad that they were all ready to show their disapproval of the unjust means used by theferthyr Guardian in attacking this institution, by with- holding any longer to contribute towards that paper (hear, hear). He liked truth wherever it was to be found—even if the devil told it (hear, hear, and laughter); and he also liked it wherever it came from, but if ever he looked for it in the columns of the Merthyr Guardian he was sure never to find it (hear, hear, and loud cheers). He sent an advertisement there the other day, and paid for it beforehand (at all events he be- lieved he did, if not let them send in their bill and he would do so), but they could not even put that in as it was given them (loud cheers and laughter)-they could not, in point of fact, tell the truth even after being paid to do so (cheers and laughter). They were something like a pig,—they had a side for everything and for everybody so long as it suited their pur- pose floud cheers). He hoped that what would be done that night would not be mere statements, but that they would let them see, as friends of the Athenaeum, that although they may not be possessedof the same musical qualifications as the Merthyr Guardian, yet that they knew sufficient of music to stop their (the Guardian's) fiddle from going any longer (cheers and laughter) and if they chose to dance they must pay the fiddler themselves (continued laughter). Mr. Gory concluded by seconding the resolution. The chairman, in putting the resolution, said that it struck him as being hardly necessary to do so, as it could but be left to every individual to do as he liked in the matter. Mr. Lewis Reece; As Mr. Pickwick says, it is quite optional, you may or you may not. The resolution was then put and carried in the same manner as the previous one-amid deafening applause. The Mayor (C. Vachell, Esq.,) then rose and said that since he had come into that room, or rather as he was coming into it, a resolution was put into his hand, and he certainly must allow that he wished to decline it, as he would much rather not take any active part in the proceedings, but merely express hia sanction and approval of what he had previously done (loud cheers) but as his name had been mentioned it had given him the means of expressing himself more fully than he might otherwise have done. He believed that man, as a social being, must meet his fellow man, and that he must be engaged in some pursuit or the other, and having so long witnessed the great evils of the drinking system, and the great want of all means for intellectual improvement and rational enjoyment in their town, that he very gladly, after being elected mayor, offered the Town-hall for tho uses to which it had been appropriated (loud cheers), conceiving that it was a public place, and the property of the public; and as they had for the time being conferred upon him the honour of electing him their mayor, he supposed, at the same time, they had given him the full liberty of his discretion with regard to the uses of the hall (hear, hear, and cheers). He therefore, in pursuance of those views, unhe- sitatingly lent the hall, and he rejoiced that he had had such an opportunity (loud cheers). They all well knew that in this town they much suffered from the want of public rooms, and they had none but that place where the inhabitants could as- semble (hear, hear). Now; they had a Crown Court just erected at a great expense where the laws of this country would be administered—but he hoped tempered with mercy—for he well knew that punishment must exist for crimes done; but it was, in his humble opinion, much better to prevent crime if possible than to punish for it (hear, hear). A great mass of the people—and he did not exclude a portion of the superior classes—wanted more rational enjoyment; many were indeed yet ignorant, and he well knew that what tended to raise the people also tended to prevent punishment (cheers). He was. sure that no better use could be made of their ball than to con- vert it into a hall of instruction rather than punishment (hear, hear, and cheers) and those were his reasons for granting its use, and he saw at present no reason to regret that he had done so (loud cheers). If a little plaster had been wiped off, a very little expense would soon remedy that evil (hear, hear). Far- ther than his own coiivictions respecting his conduct, he was