Pontypool Free Press and Herald of the Hills

Ulrfrojiolitiw gossip. BY OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. (The remarks under this head are to be regarded as the ex- Dre-sion of independent opinion, from the pen of a gentleman mora we have ths greatest confidence, but for which we 1..vortheiesa do not hold ourselves responsible.] There is no such thing in August as politics," said Mr. Disraeli the other day, addressing a party of excursionists at Alton Towers, and most people will feel inclined to agree with him. And per- haps it is just as well that it is so. We have had quite enough politics during the session that has just closed, and party spirit has not run so high for years. It is a relief to turn from great public questions and pay attention to the minor social problems of the day, which are perhaps of even more importance to our happiness than those great questions which come within the domain of politics. Certainly to that ubiquitous individual "the general reader," newspapers now become far more interesting than they are during the season. The world does not stand still because Peers and Commoners take holidays. Still the strangely similar and yet ever varied tale of human life and death goes on. Accidents and offences, crimes and casualties, facts and rumours, peDny-a-line mysteries and sober narratives, assaults and roboeries, burglaries and murders-these never stop and, with all the vast machinery of our well-regulated press, perhaps they are not half recorded. For myself I know no more interesting reading than a well edited newspaper during the so-called dull season, and I doubt whether this opinion is a singular one. The statement that both Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Lowe intend to visit Ireland before Parliament again meets has not been contradicted, that I am aware of. Be the fact as it may, it would be desirable if our statesmen generally would make themselves better ac- quainted with Ireland in the country itself. The Times has been reminding us that a Land Bill for that coun- try has long been promised as the measure which the ministry will put foremost next session, and that the promise will have to be redeemed. The leading jour- nal has begun to call particular attention to the sub- ject by sending a special commissioner to that coun- try to inquire into the land question. It is remarkable that, in connection with these articles, The Times deals with the subject in such a way as to make its difficulties almost appalling. Great as they are, how- ever, it is believed that Ministers will endeavour to grapple with them, and we may look forward to stormy discussions. Meanwhile it is said that some members of Parliament—Mr. Mill, Mr. Fawcett, Mr. Jacob Bright, Sir H. Hoare, and Sir C. W. Dilke among them—have formed, or are forming a society to col- lect information and disseminate opinion on the land question generally. Altogether the subject bids fair to become a very prominent one. The best wishes of the country go with Prince Arthur on his trip to Canada, where he is to join the Rifle Brigade. The visit will tend to increase the oyalty of the already loyal Canadians, and he will be received none the less heartily for their reading that just before leaving us he joined in a game at cricket at Osborne, in the presence of the Queen and several members of the royal famils. True, his Royal High- ness only scored two runs in his two innings, but it is refreshing to see royalty, for all that, jJining in a national sport, on equal terms, with ordinary .mortals. People who take a keen interest in politics will pro- bably look forward with anticipations of pleasure to the publication of Sir Henry Bulwer's "Life of Lord Paimerston." The private diary of the late eminent statesman has been discovered. "All his great con- temporaries figure in it, and they are said to be drawn by a bold and masterly hand." If this be so it is an additional proof of the wenderful industry of the de- ceased nqjjleman, and bears out the statement made I during his lifetime that almost as a rule he would be occupied for hours after the rest of his establishment had gone to rest in writing in his private room. Whatever may be thought of the advisability of having genuine working men as members of Parlia- ment, no objection can be urged to the steps which a new association, the Labour Representation League, is taking to lea l to that result. A council consisting of thirty-two "leading" working men, has been formed, and it is now proposed to form branches of the league throughout the country, and thus acting upon public opinion. This is legitimate enough. The new society will probably find that their greatest difficulty will be the pecuniary question. While there is such a dearth of female employment in the mother country, it would be well if domestic servants would turn their attention to Canada, the United States, and Australia. It has frequently been shown of late that in Canada girls who have been sent out by Miss Rye or some emigrantion society, have been engaged as servants at good wages immediately on their arrival. In the States there is still a great de- mand for "helps," and they have a much easier time of it generally than domestic servants in our own country The Melbourne Argas tells us that in Aus- tralia female emigrants do not remain long out of employment, and that thirty single young women being offered for domestic service at the Emigration Depdt, were engaged within half-an-hour at from were engaged within half-an-hour at from jSI5 to £;30 a year. Add to all this the greater chances —in fact almost the certainty—of young women getting hurbands if they wish and it is suprising that our philanthropists and social reformers at home do not make greater efforts to promote the emigration of unemployed young women. Indirectly, and from considerations that will at once present themselves to the thoughtful reader, the subject is of great im- portance. Some of the journals, enlarging on the statements of correspondents, are dealing severely with the would-be practical jokers who make fun of people who arrive at our ports in a state of sea-sickness from crossing the channel. We are told, for instance, that crowds as- semble -1 the Boulogne boat is seen to approach the toast, and when the gangway is thrown across, and the procession of tottering washed-out ladies and pallid gentlemen defile feebly from the vessel, the joy of the assembly in the jubilant spectacle becomes exuberant, and finds vent in audible remarks, ironical addresses, and hilarious bursts of laughter;" and a great deal more of the same sort. There is some exaggeration in all this, but no little truth. It is not now for the first time that the subject is mentioned indeed it crops up annually about this time of the year. I have crossed tie channel scores of times, and have never noticed anything deserving such strong language as that I have quoted, though milder reproof would certainly be applicable. The visitors to watering-places make a Kabit 0f going to nee t.he. boat come in," and amongst them are occasionally some who act in the way des- cribed, or nearly as bad but these people are the ex- ception. You may also observe the same thing in Boulogne and Dieppe, but—it is the English visitors, and not the inhabitants, who indulge their stupid and unfeeling merriment. This is not gratifying to our actional vanity, but it is the simple truth. Reference to this fUfttter reminds me how strangely the channel service is maiWJed in regard to the size and accommo- dation of the steamers. They are all pitiably small in regard to the demands made upon them, and the steamers between Folkestone and Boulogne are posi- tively disgraceful. If the steamers were larger and more commodious there would not be so much sea-sickness. As no remedy for this distressing malady has yet been dis- covered (unless ice applied to the spine be regarded as one, and no one has the courage to try that) it would be a great boon if there were accommodation for lying own on deck. To lie down is universally admitted to be a palliative, and sometimes a preventive, but the wretched little cabins are so stuffy and hot that the "air is enough to make one sick. I believe there is no practical difficulty in the way of larger steamers, and as the Channel traffic increases every year it is a great pity the experiment is not made. A high-class musical periodical, the Choir, urges the advisability of Government taking the necessary steps t<j afford musical education to all classes, and asks whether it would not be possible to do this by inaugu- rating the national grant to the Royal Academy of Music, and enlarging its scope so as to make it a really national school. Considering the way in which the nation's money is squandered on comparatively useless objects, the suggestion is a good one but on the other hand it can scarcely be said that the want of such an institution as the Paris Conservatoire or the Leipzig Conservatorium is much felt in our own country, where facilities for musical education abound. At a time when the accounts of the Napoleonic fetes in France are being read with interest, a re- markable statement in the Daily News is worth referring to. Sunday last has been spoken of throughout France as the centenary of the birth of the first Napoleon, and, alluding to this, the journal mentioned says, that when he rose to power he post-dated his own birth by two years, in order to make it appear that he had been born since Corsica had become a French possession. This fundamental fable, which makes Napoleon the Firct a coeval in yars with Wellington, and fixes riis birth in August 1769, when in fact it took place in 1767," &c. The question thus raised is worth solution, but it would require more time for research than I have at command. Haydn's Dictionary of Dates ought to be an authority, and in that repository of facts I find this entry "Napoleon Bonaparte, born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, Aug. 15, 1769." Heweston's Life of Napoleon gays, "Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the 15th of August, 1769, at Ajaccio," &c. Russell's History of Modern Europe records that Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, on the 5th of February, 1768;" and in a note it is added, "This is one of the many historical events of which the correct date is not given, even in works enjoying the highest reputation. Napoleon's object in stating that he was born in 1769 was because at the actual period of his birth, Corsica had not been incorporated with the French monarchy, and he was not therefore a French citizen." All this is rather puzzling. The critics should set to work to decide when the first Napoleon really was born. Great progress is being made with the Tower Sub- way. Two-thirds of this new Thames tunnel are finished, work is being done at the rate of about nine feet a day, and it is expected that the tunnel will be opened for traffic before the year dies out. This is in marvellous contrast with the Thames Tunnel (now closed) in the construction of which eighteen years were spent, and it shows how much we have progressed in engineering during the last quarter of a century. The new subway will be a great boon to the immense population on either side of the river, as an omnibus tramway will form part of the arrangements. The report of the select committee on salmon fisheries has just been published. It states that the committee, having been unable to complete their inquiry, agree to recommend their own re-appoint- ment for next session." That is rather cooL

WESLEYAN METHODIST CONFERENCE. The final session of the Conference at Hull com- mened on Frirlay evening, at four o'clock. Educa- tional affairs were brought before the Conference by the Rev. G. W. Olver, B.A. In addition to the usual resolutions, endorsing the action of the Committee dnring the past year, and appointing committee and offijers for the year ensuing, two others were passed one complaining of the intolerant action of the clergy, in preventing children attending national day schools unless they would also attend Church of England Sunday Schools the other, authorising the Pre-ident of the Conference to call together during the year the Education Committee, with the Committee of Privi- leges, and such other persons as he miyht see fit, after consultation with the officers of the Education Com- mittee, to consider any proposal that may be laid before the country respecting primary education. It was desired by Dr. Rigg, the principal of the Normal College, at Westminster, that cases of clerical intolerance should be sent to them confidentially, fur use in private communications with members of her Majesty's Government. The motions of which notice had been given were then brought on. Rev. John Bedford wished the mind of the Connexion to be turned to the question of whether, by enlarging the powers of district meetings much of the detailed business now transacted by the Conference might not be rendered unnecessary, and so the time of the Conference be saved. He would not this year make any detinite proposition, but satisfy himself with having called the attention of the Con- nexion to this matter. Rev. Dr. Osborn moved for a committee to consider whether any, and if any, what action should be taken in respect of the proposed changes in the higher education of this country. (Agreed). Rev. Hugh Jones proposed that the Conference should direct the ministers to preach on the importance of regular attendance at the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. It was thought that this was already done, and that therefore the proposal was unnecessary. The motion was negatived. Rrv. Dr. Rigg, that the resolution of the Conference of 1861 in reference to the election of lay representa- tives to the preparatory committees be printed in the Minutes of Conference. (Agreed). Rev. Dr. Rigg, that the rule declaring it illegal for a minister to spend more than six years consecmtively in any town or city, in circuit work, be rescinded. The late Mr. Thornton had brought this proposal before the Conference more than once. He (Dr. Rigg) had a new fact to communicate to the discussion of the matter. The rule in question was entirely traditionary. It could not be found in any "Minutes," nor on the Journals of the Conference. The rule was passed sixty years ago, and no doubt for some very good reason. But those who lived in London were con- vinced that it takes a man three years to get anything like insight into the special phenomena of London life and modes of work suited to the special needs of that city, and that a man when h4il had been five or Bix year-* thre had secured a knowledge and inftaence which rendered it highly desirable that he should then stay. However, he would not attempt to push the matter to a vote that year, but would withdraw his motion, giving notice of a repetition of it next year. (Motion withdrawn. ) Rev. W. Arthur, that all ministers of ten years' standing, shall be able to vote in every case in which now only ministers of fourteen years' standing are entitled. (Agreed.) Some other motions, of little public interest, were ,withdrawn. The Secretary of the Conference and his a88Í.itants then proceerled te read thQ Conference Journal. Votes were then passed giving the force of law to all the acts of the Irish and the Canadian Con- ferences. Then, on the motion of the secretary, 8econrJed by Dr. James, the proceedings were con- firmed by the vote of the legal hundred; and then, the members of Conference all standing, the President and secretary signed the Journal. The President then addressed the Conference. They were about to separate to go to their several stations and work for God. There was no likelihood that the 500 ministers who had been present would all meet again. He rejoiced in the affectionate brotherhood of the Methodist ministers. They had had a happy Con- ference. The dying saying of their founder was still true, "The bebt of all i, God is with UB." It was a comfort to him to think that eighty young ministers of character and promise had been ordained. He was thankful, too, for the determination of the Conference not to depart from their pri- mary principles. But the future was before them. Their trust was not in their founder, not in their system, not in compact organisation or multiplied agencies but in the Lord of Hosts. He beliewd they would have a good year. They needed influencies from on high. The valley stretched wide before them full of death. Let their prayer be "Come from the four winds, 0 breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." Thanks were then cordially voted to the friends who had entertained the Conference, and to the Hull minis- ters who had carried out the arrangements, which have been exceedingly handsome and complete. The Con- ference concluded at eight o'clock with prayer, offered by the Rev. W. Arthur, M. A.

THE DUNMOW FLITCH. (Trom the Daily Telegraph.) A custom, which was originally nothing more in its intention than a passing joke, and which died of natural old age in the year 1772—whefi one John Gilder and his wife claimed the reward of a twelve- month's conjugal tameness, but were denied the thinnest rasher of compensation for so long and tedious a mutual forbearance—has not been allowed to slumber peacefully in the grave of defunct fun. The corpse was galvanised in 1855 by Mr. William Harrison Ainsworth, to whom his countrymen, and, we ought perhaps to add, countrywomen, owe better things. To speak honest truth, this revival was an error in judgment we will not say an error of taste, for taste is a question concerning which more than concerns any other question, tastes differ. What is humorous or whimsical in one age becomes merely silly in ages that follow, especially when the impulse of the thing is lost and the end has gone by. This can hardly be denied of other matters than whim and humour. The Eglinton tournay was a splendid anachronism the long endurance of Bartlemy Fair was a grotesque and antiquated reproach to the City in whose very midst the nuisance was tolerated but we try in vain to think of any freak or any recent relic of olden country manners that will afford a parallel to the proceedings of Monday, in the neighbourhood of Dunmow. In 1851,. when the "World's Fair" gave a fillip to every kind of extravagance all over the country, a woi thy pair, named Harrels, sought to make their connubial bliss notorious, and were so determined to achieve this wonderful deed that, when repulsed by the lord of the manor, they rallied round them a knot of neighbours, with whose help they succeeded in gaining a compromise. The ancient ceremony was dis- pensed with but at a rusiic fSte iu Easton Park, this fmd couple received the elegant and appropriate token of wtdded love, to which our fertile English tongue has lent the pleasing name of "gammon." It was, as we have said, in 1855 that a deservedly popular novelist, bitten perhaps by one of his least-disciplined historical fancies, determined to revive the custom, in a far more effective and effectual fashion as regards scenery, dresses, and decorations, as well aa dramatis ptrsonce, than the fashion adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Harrels. It was a time of much effusion of interna- tional sentiment; and an amiable French gentleman, who had devoted his time so successfully to the study of English literature as to have been able to render into his own language, metrically, Chaucer's Flower and the Leaf," good-naturedly fell-in with Mr. Ains- worth's medissval project. A faithful historian of the event says The lord of the manor refused to allow the ceremony to take place at Little Dunmow, and some of the clergy and gentry strenuously opposed its transference to Great Dun- mow. On the 19th of July, however, Mr and Mrs. Barlow, of Chipping Ongar, and the Chevalier de Chatelain and his English wife, appeared before a mixed jury of bachelors and spinsters in the town-hall of Dunmow. Mr. Ainsworth was judge, and Mr. Robert Bell counsel for the claimants; Mr. Dudley Costello conducting the examination in oppo- sition. After two hours and a half questioning and deli- beration, both couples were declared to have fulfUled the necessary conditiol's, anet the Court, counsel, and claim- ants adjourned to the Windmill Field, where the oath was administered in the presence of fully seven thousand people, and the tlitchell presented to the deserving quartett. That a French gentleman and his English wife, both being persons of more than ordinary refinement and culture, should have not merely brooked, but actually should have courted, a two hours and a half ques- tioning and deliberation," the matter in hand being their compatibility of temper, as regarded its moral and material bearings on a side of cured hog's flesh, is certainly wonderful; but so it was and one of the possible complications of the abnormal proceeding might have been the diffusion, all over France, an ineradicable belief that we insularies are just as much given to this odd baconian system ot matrimonial rewards as we are to the opposite extreme of selling our wives in Smithfield. It is comfortable to know that somewhere in Brittany the same custom as that of Dunmow obtained for about a hundred years, by which time the Bretons of the part affected appear to have grawn sick of it. Into the archaeology of the Essex tradition we need not enter. The jest was at all events a well-estabLshed one in Chaucer's day for his frolicksome Wife of Bath savs of her dear dead and gone husbands, who were more than one or two The ba.con was not fet for him, I trow, That some men have in Essex, at Dunmow." j On Monday the train which left Bishopegate-street Station at half-past eight o'clock took down a goodly freight of Londoners and from many adjacent towns and villages troops of holiday-makers were poured upon Dunmow. Mr. E. T. Smith, who had aided Mr. Ainsworth in getting up the pageant of 1855, had taken the whole of the day's proceedings on his own hands, and had placarded the town with large bills setting forth the attraction of his Monstre" Festival of the Flitch of Bacon. There were several bands of music in the town, generally within hearing of one another and the anything but harmonious uuion I was continually being celebrated of "Magige May j and "Chamgagne Charlie." Arches of evergreens were j erected here and there and one triple arch, in the op^n J npice before the Saracen's Head, was especially m- posing. The announcement had gone forth that lr. Harrison Ainsworth, who is represented as taking a deep interest in the" revival," would assist at the ceremony; but his presence was missed, as was that of a'member of Parliament whose name had been honoured with a conspicuous line in fr. Smith's "monstre" poster. A field near the railway station, and opposite the Dunmow Union, which, by the bye, is one of the prettiest of modem Gothic build- ings put to the use of a workhouse, had been hii ed for the occasion and a sort of fair was carried on at one end, where also was a long booth fitted up with a stage and proscenium. Before the trial, a cricket match between eleven theatrical clowns and the Dunmow Club was commenced. The clowns, under Mr. Harry Croueste, lost the toss for first inning, and thereby gained an opportunity of drolling altogether in the field. One of them got endless fun out of an old umbrella and a strange effect was pro- duced whenever a wicket fell or a batsman was caught out, by the clowns turning over and over in a series of ecstatic somersaults, supposed to express delight and trinmph. When the company had been assembled within the booth, and the orchestra had played a long overture, the curtain was raised upon a scene not unlike that of the trial scene in the burlesque of the "Merchant of Venice when the late Mr. Robson was wont to asto- nish and please the audiences of the Olympic by his mock-heroic performance of Shylock. Mr. E. T. Smith, in scarlet and ermine, presided as judge and the op- posing counsel was Mr. Brooks, of "judge and jury" notoriety. Mr. Smith, addressing Brother Brooks, proposed to read a letter of apology from the gentleman whose name had been printed in the bills as having consented to act as judge. The substance of the letter, a very short one, was a kindly excuse for not accepting the invitation. Mr. Smith then proceeded to address the "Court" on the subject of the ancient custom of Dunmow, "looking at it," as he said, "from a relisrious point of view," and taking strong exception to the Vicar in again refusing to sanction the ceremony. The trial then pro- ceeded two couples—a Mr. and Mrs. Casson, of Hack- ney, and a Mr. and Mrs. Leader, of Clerkenwell- coming forward as claimants. The learned Mr. Brooks, being on his very best behaviour, was rather less enter- taining than he was apparently expected to be, and in fact may fairly be said to have been decorously dull. Another counsel's pleasantry was at first relished by part of the audience but nearly all present joined in hissing the advocate when he passed into plain and positive grossness. When the flitches had been formally adjudged the prizes of the two couples, a procession was formed, with banners and horsemen, to parade the town. Knights in armour, squires, pages, and—with what precise relevancy we were not able to dillcoTer-a. per- sonage representing King Henry the Eighth, were mar- shalled in a long array, with clowns and beefeaters in- terspersed, and with the happy couples, chaired on men's shoulders, in the midst of the motley train. On some of the banners were inscribed the names of claimants in former times. There were not many such names for, as we have already remarked, the old joke of the monks of Dunmow hardly ever became a regular custom, and for centuries no wedded pair came forward to assert their right to the gammon. It was a gammon, an.1 not a flitch, that was bestowed in the early history of D unmow. On a very conspicuous banner was inscribed Harrison Ainsworth and E. T. Smith, 1855." When the procession had gone through the town and returned, the two flitches were delivered over to iheir several pro- prietors and there was an end of the day's amuse- ments, so far as the "custom of Dunmow" was con- cerned. The rest of the programme was simply Cremorne, fifty miles away from Chelsea. There was a display of fireworks to finish wIth, and then the return trains were dispatched in as quick succession as was compatible with safety.

It is stated that seventeen claimants had entered their names, but only the two couples above referred to actually appeared.

BREACH OF PROMISE. At the assizes held at Liverpool, the cause of Speight v. Hewitt" has been tried, and in which the plaintiff Jane Speiaht, thirty-feur years of age, the daughter of Mr Peter Speight, a brush manufacturer at Lancaster, sought to re- cover damaell for breach of promise of marriage frem Mr. Laurence Hewitt, who holds the position of postmaster in that town. The case, with the consent of both parties, was tried by five jurymen, there being only that number in court when the case was called on. Another pecu- liarity of the trial was that, under the new Act, the plaintiff herself gave evidence. From the statement of Mr. Torr, who appeared for the plaintiff, it appeared that about three years ago the defendant was left a widower with three children. He and the plaintiff's family were next door neighbours and the intimacy which naturally existed between them, in time induced the defendant to declare himself as the plaintiff's lover. In the year 1866, when the defendant became very marked in his attentions to plaintiff, she went on a visit to some of her friends who resided near Windermere Lake. While she was there Mr. Hewett went to see her, and he also wrote her a number of love letter8. In one of these letters be addressed her as My dear Miss Speight;" he said also that he had been looking forward with very great l'leasure to his next visit tu her, but he was afraid he would not be able to stay all night. He should not, however, have hesitated for a moment, and he would pray for a fine day. Another of the defendant's let- ters was couched in the following laconic terms MiR, Jane Speight, All's right.—L.H." In a longer communication Mr. Hewitt said :— Yesterday I went .to church, and had the turtle doves before me. (Laughter.) In the afternoon I had tea with Nancy and her father (the sister and father of the plaintiff)." Subsequently the defendant wrote to the plaintiff, expressing the hope that when he called to see her he would find her quite well, and prepared for a good ramble. The jury would, no doubt, know, said the learned counsel, what a good ramble would mean in the Lake district.. During that ramble, or at all events, immediately afterwards, the defendant pro- posed to the plaintiff, and on being subsequently asked by her what he really meant, he wrpte to her as follows :— My dearest Jane,—I was indeed glad to hear that you had arrived all s*fe among 10 many friends. It wonld, 1 am sure, he a great pleasure to you tomeet thosllwhich you did not ex- pect. Well, I do hope and pray that you will thoroughly enjoy yourself. And now for the revelation I made to you on ThursdAY I wa really in earne8t, and what I meant was this-Can you give me any hope of being my wife ? Oh, could you have looked in my face when at the boat-house, you onld then, I am sure, have no longer doubted my SID- cerity and I now beg your acceptance of the accompanying ring IJ.!I a token of that fincerity, for your el gaged finger. (Laughter.) Your answer to this is impatiently expected." -Subsequently the defendant addressed her as his own dear .Jan" and signed himself, "your very, very own and affec- tionate, LAURENCE." In that epistle, he asked her to accept a little pre- sent, which was one he prized very much, and, with God's blessing, may yeu be spared very many years to wear it." A short time afterwards the defendant was confined to his house with a cold, and acknowledged in one of his letters having taken a mixture which the plaintiff had sent him. The learned counsel was afraid he had not taken sufficient to make him thoroughly well. In the next letter the defendant wrote as fol- lows :— Here I am, still behind the door, as usual, though some- what better, and as it appears a fine sort of a day, I hud a consultation with the table and lofa-(laughter)-whether I should go out for a time or not. However, we could not agree upon the subject, so it ended in a toss-up for it: heads," I went to the garden; "tails," I walked up the groves. Heads" won, so I walked to the garden and round by the station. I was feaifully done up when I got back." The defendant, it appears, had taken offence at the plaintiff's father, partly on account of his taking too much beer and partly on account of his (defendant's) having been turned out of the houie. It was alleged that he had also taken some dislike to the plaintiff's sister, whom he was in the habit of calling" Miss Fidgetts." It was stated that these two causes had greatly influenced the defendant in breaking off the marriage. At one period of the courtship, however, the breach between the defendant and the plaintiff's father had been temporarily healed, for he wrote on one occasion to his then lady-love, "Peter ha, turned over a freak lwf." As a proof of the anxiety with which the defendant guarded the interests of the plaintiff, a letter which he wrote to her contemplating leaving Liver- pool on a visit to her home was read by the learned counsel, from which we take the following sentence :— I have not seen them next door. I told Lane to put a hot bottle in your bed but I think Peters was going to have it down under his bed." This, said the learned counsel, showed how fearful he was lest his sweetheart should sleep in a damp bed. Subsequently the defendant's ardour cooled, and he drooped from those high sentimental and romantic pas- sages, and loving and endearing passages, to a more prosaic and matter of fact style of addressing his lady- love. He had not visited her while in Liver-pool, and as he had not called to see her, after a week had elapsed after her return to Lancaster, she wrote to him, saying that he did not know how very much hurt she lelt at his conduct in not coming to see her. She was quite sure it was not in his heart to act thus without some cause or other and as she was ignorant of what it could be, she asked him as a man of honour and a gentleman to tell her, for she could not bear to go on from day to day as she was. She added, "You must in some measure know what a woman's feelings are, and to be treated in this unac- countable way, and by one who has caused me to love him, is more than I can bear." She signed herself Ever your affectionate Jane." No reply was sent to this letter and the plaintiff's father, having taken the matter into his own hands, consulted an attorney, who subsequently issued a writ. The plaintiff, a plain-looking, well-dressed woman, was then called into the witness box, and told her story, which substantially corroborated the facts above related. She added that while living with her father she received £10 per annum for acting as his assistant; but when the match was broken off she was compelled to leave her native town on account of the gossip. She was now employed in a Liverpool shop, in which situation she got £20 a year. On account of disap- pointment and anxiety her health had suffered a good deal. On being cross-examined, she stated she was not aware of the defondant having at times to be propped up in bed. She had never seen him under such cir- cumstances. Defendant's counsel, Ir. Pope, Q.C., admitted the breach of promise, but addressed the court in mitigation of the damages, remarking that though aspiring to be the wife of the Lancaster postmaster, ahe would have had to become his nurse. The defendant was not called, though he was in court. The jury awarded the plaintiff £200 damages.

The Adelaide Observer says:—" In accordance with an arrangement which has session by session been recognised by the House of A8semb:y in pa8f-iug an amount for colonial chaplain, the office will cease with the death of the late Vtlry Rev. Dean Farrell, and the next elitfmates will not con- tain the usual line under the head ecclesiastical. Prior to his departure from the colony, the Dean made provhlon for a locum tenens, and, of course, before the office actually ex- pires, care will be taken to settle affairs connected with his position."

A DETERMINED OPPONENT TO VACCINATION. At the Thames Police-court, in London, last Friday, Ann Sipple, -a young woman, residing at Shudwell, who c.irried a healthy infant in her arms, was summoned for a violation of the Vaccination Act. The Magistrate said, as the defendant was not re- presented by counsel or attorney, he would explain to her what she was charged with. She was sumrn for neglecting to have her child vaccinated according to an order of Mr. Benson, a magistrate of that court. The defendant said she fully understood the charge. She had been summoned before Mr. Benson. The Magistrate Have you had the child vaccinated. The defendant: I have not. I plead guilty. I do not agree with the principles laid down in favour of vaccination. I will not have it done. I do not wish to poison my child's blood. The Magistrate Do you know the danger of neg- lecting vaccination. The defendant: I know the danger of vaccination. I have had five children. One of them was vaccinated, and died three days afterwards quite rotten. The other four were not vaccinated. They all had the small-pox, and lived. I have been vaccinated myself, and have had the small-pox notwithstanding. The Magistrate thought the defendant was furnish- ing arguments in favour of vaccination. Four of her children were afflicted with small-pox who had not been vaccinated, and she herself, who had been vacci- nated, was also afflicted, and recovered. It was pro- bable if she had not been vaccinated she would have heen disfigur ed, and her face and body markeå all over. There was not a mark upon her. Did the defendant know the millions that had fallen a sacrifice to small- pox before the great discovery of Dr. Jenner, and the introduction of vaccination ? The greatest and wisest men of all nations had approved of and IItrongly re- commended vaccination, and compulsory vaccination was part of the law of England, and must be enforced. The defendant said she had already told Mr. Benson, and she now repeated that she would not have her child vaccinated. The Magistrate: Now don't be obstinate. The highest in the land have their children vaccinated. I have been vaccinated three times. The d' fendant: Has it done you any good ? The Magistrate Yes. I attended on a sick friend who was afflicted with the small-pox, and before I went to him I was vaccinated for the third time. I was with him during the whole progress of the terrible disease, and I came away from him without being affected. Where is your husband ? Defendant: I have no husband. The Magistrate You are a widow? Defendant: No, I am not. I have got a father to my children. The Magistrate I suppose so. You have given me no valid reason why your child should not be vac- ¡;inated, and I tine you 20s. and costs, or the a1tlilrna- tive of seven days' imprisonment. Defendant: I shall not pay the fine. I will go to prison. The Pall Mall Gazette, has the following observations upon the above case :— However true it may be, as Mr. Paget, the magistrate, said that the greatest and wiae8t men of all natiolls approve úf and strongly recommend vaccination," that" the highest in the land have their children vaccinated," and-what is more to the purp088 perhaps-that compulsury vaccination is part of the law of England, it is clearly becoming more and more necessary that the public should be reassured as to the meriti of tha process. Explain it how we may, the fact il that for many yearl past a strong distrust of vaccination has been spreading, a distrust which in every cale 11 believed to have good grounds in actual experience and obiervatioll Inquire not amonsrst the highest in the land," perhaps, but amongst the poorer cla.ie8, and you will find almost every woman abounding in jJltances or healthy children destroyed by vac- cination. It i. not often alleged tht the childrn die of the process what you commonly hear is that "they were never the tame after ards"—were never well again. So general is this conviction, so fast is it spreading, it relta upon groundlof sucll painful experiem e (as they who hold it say), Ihat we may COllfidently Jook for iucreased evasion ano de- fiance of the Jaw. Dread of a ftne will nut weigh much with men and wt-men who believe the health of their little ones to be at stake and we may even find parents going to priso*, like the poor woman who wis de/llt with by Mr. Paget yestt relay, rather than subject one child to a procell which they believe killed another. Something must be done to re- assure the public miLd on this subject, or presently it will give us trouble. When the law cwllicts with domestic in- stincts and affections, the sooner the misunderstanding is cleared up the better.

LORD PALMERSTON'S DIARY. The Athenaeum records one of the pleasantest liter ary discoveries that could have been made—that of the private diary of Lord Palmerston. All his great con- temporaries figure in it, and they are said to be drawn by a bold and masterly hand. This discovery will, no doubt, be turned to profitable use by Sir Henry Bulwer, who is known to have been for some time occupied (with family sanction and assistance) on a biography of the late statesman, which will be published by Mr. Bentley. The Record, commentlni on the foregoing paragraph, and giving a shoit sketch of the interesting discovery of the handiwork of the late Premier, says :— The main fact published by the Athenceum is quite true, although not to the extent which an evening con. temporary would conduct sanguine readers to believe, when it intimates that "Lord Palmerston's shrewd perception and genial humour were employed in this diary of his to analyse the characters of the great men with whom, for threescore years, he was almost in daily contact. Sir Henry Bulwer, who is said to be at work on a biography of the veteran statesman, will have materials at dirposal unequalled since the days of Boswell." The diary in said to be full (If interest, and distin- guished by all the late Premier's finest/ ubaractenstics. It commences when he was sixteen years of age, and it ends at the close of 1830, when he assumed office as Foreign Secretary. But at present no continuation of the diary has been found amongst his lordship's papers and it has none of the attributes of a Boswellian record. It is replete with interest; modest, unaffected, and simple without an atom of trail or ill-nature, but short and condensed, as if the style bad been formed after the model of the sententious brevity of Tacitus. It seems to have been originally designed in its pre- sent form chiefly tu explain why he left, the Tories and took office under the Whig Earl Grey; a change which, according to Lord Palmerston's chivalrous sense of honour, could only be justified by the fact that he was himself deserted by the party, when he was un- seated for the University of Cambridge, for voting in favour of Roman Catholic emancipation, although there had been an established compact, according to which that question was to have been an open one. The diary will explain that his long term of service as Secretary at War was not from a want of many overtures to accept higher offices. His loid-hip was importuned by Mr. I 'erceval. as Mr. Pitt's successor at Camnridge, to assume Air. Pitt's office of Chanedlor of the Exchequer. He twice declined the Governor- General-hip of India, and he was willing to have accepted, on Mr. Canning's solicitation, the Chan- cellorship of the Exchequer. But George IV. thought that he should find a more pliant Minister in Mr. Herries; and Mr. Canning was compelled, after a visit to Windsor, to make an awkward apology to Lord Palmerston, by offering him a British peerage and the Governorship of Jamaica We understand that the story of this interview is full of the uiott racy humour. The Viscount burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, whi-h for a moment quite disconcerted Canning until Lord Palmerston, with his ready good humour, relieved the Premier by telling him that he saw that he had not the Chancellorship of the Exchequer at his disposal, but that as for himself, he preferred the House ot Commons to the niggers Lord Palmerston's life spans the gulf that separates the era of Fox and Pitt from the times of Gladstone and Bright. But we fear no diary will be found to conduct Sir Henry Bulwer over the thirtv-five years which separates the commencement of Earl Grey's Administration from the close of Lord Palmerston's,

CHARGE OF POISONING BY A FRENCH PRIEST. A remarkable case has just been tried before the Trench tribunals, in which the Abbfi Dionis, the cnré of the parish of Banx, in the arrondissement of Arie*, in the South of France, was accused of having been an accomplice in the mur- der of the sacristan of his church, the actual murderer being the wife of the victim. The acte d'accusztion, which forms w important a part of French legal proceedilJg&, and wbich is. in fact, a summary of the case for the prosecution, dis- closed the following facts :— The man whose death wag the subject of inquiry, named Tougay, a watchmaker, and sexcon at the parish church, died suddenly on the 10th February, after a short illness. The wife, whose character is alleged to have been far from blameless, had for some time had an illicit connection with an old man, named Francis Grognard, but this connection she had apparently abandoned for some time, and the gossip of the neigh- bourhood attached noma significance to her assiduous visits to the parish church in the spring of 1868. The husband appears to have troubled himself very little about her conduct. When the woman, whose character was well known, entered the service of the curé, some of the parishioners remonstrated with the latter but he replied that he had been the means of reclaiming the woman from evil courses, and that Jesus Christ himself did not refuse to associate with such. The scandal, however, could not be repressed, and is said to have gathered weight from the previous life of the curé. The ecclesiastical authorities at length decided on removing him to another parish, and he received an order on the 20th January to repair thither forthwith. He did not, however, do so, but removed to a house which he rented for a short term at Blan- chon, at no great distance. The death of Tougay oc- curring on the 10th of February, excited suspicion in the minds of those who knew the relations between the widow and the priest. On the 15th March the body was exhumed, and evidence of poisoning by some pre- paration of copper, probably vitriol, was distinctly traced. The woman at first endeavoured to throw the guilt on her former companion, Grognard, but the police soon ascertained that she had purchased poison for rats at a grocer's, and that after her husband's death she had urgently requested him not to mention this fact. After her arrest she was heard frequently to mutter to herself, My God! if I tell, I shall ruin him." She then told a circumstantial tale, to the effect that she had been the mistress of the priest, and that he had urged her to a frequent observance of all ex- terior ncts of devotion, in order to avert uspicion. After he had been compelled by the remonstrances of his parishioners to diswiss her, th intercourse con- tinued in secret, her visits to the priest's chambers being usually made through the belfry after mass or evening prayer. When he was transferred to another parish, he endeavoured to persuade her to accompany him as servant, provided that she could obtain a writ- ten permission from her husband. As, however, this was not to be obtained, he proposed (according to her statement) that she should poison her husband, pro- mising her full absolution. She at first shrank from incurring the guilt of murder, but he assured her that nothing was easier; and on the very day when he re- ceived the final order to remove from the parish she purchased at two separate grocer's shops a 1]1lantity oj rat-poison and vitriol, which, according to the instruc- tions of the cUT é, she administered in a cup of coffee as Tougay was about to leave home. Almost as soon as he left the village, he was seized with violent symptoms of poisoning, and on being hroll¡.:ht. holtie w- confined to hi-< bt-d for 8"lIIe tuue. I The wife appears to have hesitated, but the priest en- couraged her to persevere. By his advice she went to a physician to lJrocure med'cin6 for her hU8b!lond, but took care that he should not visit the patient to ascer- tan the real cause of his malady. It is supposed that she subsequently administered more poison to her vic- tim. He died on the 10th of February. The priest seems to have been fully aware that sus- picion would fall on bim, and he endeavoured btcfure- hand to direct, attention to the old ma.n Grognard. It was, indeed, mainly at his instigation that the body was exhumed. When the unhappy woman first accused the abbe of complicity in her guilt, the latter, on being interrogated, made several inconsistent statements, which he endea- voured to retract almost in the same breath, and when brought face to face with his accuser, he remarked to the < fficers: Poor woman, if I could but speak with her aione for a moment, she would retract; I see that she loves me still." Several pieces of circumstantial evidence were ad- duced to strengthen the case. The remains of the poison were discovered in two places indicated by the woman. Moreover, the latter asserted that she had obtained access to the priest's room by a certain door, which the latter alleged had been bricked up for some years. On examination it was found that this door had only been closed by a very slight covering of plaster, easily removed. S ime workmen, moreover, were discovered, who testified to having met her coming from the houfle to which the cure removed, at the time specified by her. She also stated that ahe had twice confessed to the priest of a neighbouring commune the nature of the relations with Dionis, and that be refused her absolution. The priest confirms the fact of the confession, although, of course, the revelations made by the guilty woman have not been brought to light. When again brought before the magistrate, she attempted to withdraw the statement she had made, saying, I ought to have held my tongue, for the sake of religion. Cannot I withdraw my declarations ? I myself accept the responsibility of what has been done." The conduct of the priest, however, adds fores to the evidence of the woman against him. So soon as the legal investigation com- menced he left for Marseilles, taking care to be in- formed, by means of a woman named Patin, of the progress of the affair, and as soon as he learned that no accusation again8t him WIIo8 likely to result, he re- turned and by means of the Bame person contrived to keep up communica' ion with the accused woman. An exciting scene occurred in the Court, when the evidence was concluded. Just as the jury were about to retire to deliberate on their verdict the woman sud- denly rose, and declared that her previous statements were false, and that the priest was innocent. So much agitation was thus produced that the judge suspended the sitting of the court for an hour. The trial was then resumed the priest was acquitted, and the woman found guilty and sentenced to twelve years' hard lab< The woman Tougay appeared at the bar in the pic- turesque Aries costume. She is about 38 years of age, and though not pretty is somewhat attractive. Dionis is 51 years old.

1 HE LATE MR. GRINNELL. A correspondent ("An American") writes to The Times :— I have observed with the deepest regret the announcement of the death of Mr. Cornelius Grinnell by an accident at Ryde He was the iOn ot Mr. Henry Grinnell, of New York, whose nohle libtJrality in fitting out an Hpedition for the Arctic regions in search of Sir John Franklin has givwn his name a place ill the hiatory of this country. His son had for several years been connected with a mer- cantile house, alid a resident of London, where he had a large circle of friend I, but perhaps to few of them were known the reat beauty and lovelineas of his character Although he had adopted England as his home, and was most happy in his asloclatlonl here, he never forgot to contribute by every means i" bil power to the pleasure and convenince of his American friends; his whole thought was to give hap- piness to others, and a striking inatance of tkll ia shown In the last act of hi lifti »-h*riiig hie room BUrl aoommoda .io. —itu a comparative stranger, although a f..lIow- countrymsn. NI) one who has ever met him will forget hiB retined and gentlemanly bearing. his intelligence, the suavity of his manners, and his genial warm heartedness. Those who knew him best appredate him most. and among them is the writer of this letter.

DEATH OF MARSHAL NIEL. Marshal Niel is dead, and in him the Emperor Na- poleon loses another of his ablest servants. The deceased Marshal was not one of the political supports of the Imperial Throne, like Marshal St. Arnaud, and so many who have been taken away since his death hut he was one of its greatest military illustrations. His name is not connected with any dramatic episodes, or dazzling stage exploits on the field of battle the reputation of the Engineer officer has to dispense witli these popular aids. But when any plan of opera- tions required to be elaborated or criticised, when it was necessary to measure the difficulties of a dis- tant army, or examine the resources of an ally, Niel was sent for, and his judgment commanded the utmost confidence. In all the military enterprises ordered by the Prince President or the Emperor he had a part. He was chief of the general engineering staff in the expedition to Rome. In January, 1858, he was sent to the Crimea to report for the information of the Emperor upon the exact situation of the armv, of which he subsequently became a general, at the head of the corps of Engineers. Before the Italian war. of 1859 he went to see the Pied- montese fortresses, and report on the military capa- bilities of the monarchy, and soon after was made a commander of one of the French army corps which took part in that campaign. His military career, if not brilliant, was entirely successful, and it was re- warded not only with the highest milibry rank, but, according to the usage of the Empire, with civil and political distinction. The young student of the Poly- technic in 1821, after serving the Bourbons of the Re- storation and of the Revolution, has died Marshal of France, Senator, and President of a General Council.