Pontypool Free Press and Herald of the Hills

lumiwtt Comsponiient. (fie deem it right to state that we do not at all thuM de&tlfv ourselves with our Correspondent's opiniona.1 The three weeks which include the Derby and the Ascot may be termed the crowning period of the London season. The great town is what then may be termed full, and it is full in every sense of the word. Both Houses of the Legislature are sitting the upper classes of society are busily engaged over balls, recep- tions, parties, and At Homes the Row is crowded; the Ladies' Mile is filled; and the parks put on an appearance which suggests the idea that they may now be seen at their best. Between the Derby and the Oaks in the last week of May, and Ascot in the second week in June the Horse Show is considerately thrown in and as a large number of excursionists are in Lon- don about this time, the Horse Show is a very popular institution with them. A considerable number come to the Metropolis twice a year-in the tirst week of December to the Cattle Show, and in the first week of June to the collection of horses. Both are held in the same buildings—the Agricultural Hall at Islington; but no contrast could be greater than that which is presented as well as in the atmos- pheric conditions as in the general aspect of the place. December finds the capital enveloped too often in a dense fog, with a dull leaden sky overhead, and with the leafless trees in the parks and squares swaying to and fro in the wintry wind. The vast building at Islington is lighted with gas, sometimes all day long, to the great injury of the unhappy beasts who have been brought together under one roof from all parts of the country. But when the visitor comes to town again in the first week of June, the fog has long since rolled away, the sky is clear enough now, the great city is perspiring under a sweltering heat, and the vegetation more especially if the spring has been a late one, is at its richest and its best. Not long does it retain its varied shades of greenery. For eight or ten weeks the heat in London is often intense; indeed one day last summer the thermometer stood at 96 degrees in the shade, and under this influence the leaves upon the trees fade andwither, as they await the coming of the first autumn gale to scatter them lifeless upon the ground. The Caxton celebration has been invested with much interest, and the setting up of the printing press in Westminster Abbey 400 years ago has been commemorated in a way worthy of a cause which has exerted such a marvellous influence in the work of humanity and the progress of civilization. Most valuable assistance has been rendered by the Dean of Westminster, who not only placed the Abbey at the disposal of the promoters, but took a prominent part in the services himself, and preached an appro- priate sermon to an enormous congregation in the nave of the Abbey. Caxton's beneficent work was inaugurated about the time of the disappearance from the scene of the Plantagents, whose rule of 330 years covered some of the darkest periods in the his- tory of the land. Only eight years after he exhibited the first specimens of his art in the now venerable Abbey, the battle of Bosworth Field was fought, at which the House of Plantagenet, so far as the English throne was concerned, was finally extinguished, and the House of Tudor reigned in its stead. Besides giving us a better class of sovereigns the battle. of Bosworth put an end to the War of the Roses, which had lasted nearly thirty years. It was in that fight that the head of the Stanleys won the first earldom of Derby, and in 1885 the title will have been in exist- ence four hundred years. The present Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is the fifteenth earl of his order. More than half a century after Lord Byron's death it is proposed to erect a statue to his memory, and the site selected is in the Green Park, opposite the house in which the poet wrote his Siege of Coiinth. In this there are some of Byron's finest passages, his de- scription of the battle-field being one to which passing events from two Continents may soon lend a terrible interest "1Vheu all is o'er it is humbling to tread Tlyough the weltering field of the tombless dead, And seen werms of the earth, fowls of the air, Beasts of the forest, all gathering there All regarding man as their prey, All rejoicing in his decay." Byron, with all his faults, was a hearty sympathiser with oppressed nationalities, at all events with the down-trodden Greeks, who, in his lifetime were groan- ing under the intolerable yoke of the Turks. So bad was the Ottoman rule that indignant Europe took the matter in hand, the battle of Navarino and the destruction of the Turkish fleet being the resnlt- liyron had an intense admiration for Greece as it was in the days of Socrates and Plato, of Miltiades and cf Cimon, of Aristides and of Phidias. He was enthusi- astic enough to believe that if the Tnrk could be driven oat, the inhabitants of a country which, in the olden times, could boast of such victories as Marathon, show such architecture as thai of the Parthenon snd the Acropolis, wcild again show th"lliselve8 worthy of the name of A land with so splendid a past history. The hopes have not altogether been realised, and only a. few years ago a party of English excursionists, who had paid a visit to the field of Marathon were captured, and murdered by Greek brigands. The dominion of the Turk has for centuries been synonymous with blight and decay and the" seven churches which are in Asia," immortalised in the Revela 1011s of St. John, are now mere wretched villages, with every spark of life and energy crusbed out of them. Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamoø and Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodioea., have mostly been blotted out from the list of flourishing cities of Asia Minor. The Turks have Ranged the name of Thyatira into Ak-hissar; Sardis, formerly the capital of Lydia, and the famous city of the rich King Croesus, is now a miserable village named Sart; Philadelphia is an equally woe-begone place, known by the Moslems as Allah-Shebr; Lao- dicea, which in the time of the exile of Patmos was rebuked for being neither cold nor hot, is now a de- serted place christened by the Mussulsmans Eske- hissar. They not only stamp out the lives of once busy and populous communities, but murder their names as well. While a Royal Commission is inquiring into the origin, history, and customs of the Stock Exchange, those who attentively watch and analyse the Board of Trade returns assure us that foreign commerce is in a much better condition, than for some time past. In May there was an increase of both exports and im- ports, and with the exception of raw cotton all other materials imported for manufacture were largely in excess, while this was backed up by an augmented ex- port of fabrics. Iron is once more being sent abroad to a greater extent, and both the United States and Russia are taking more of this material from us. The East has absorbed considerably more cotton goods, more especially Java and Bengah Items of news like these are very welcome just now, after the very serious commercial depression which has lately settled down upon the land. The reaction from the inflated prices of 1873 was followed in 1875 by the inability of the Turkish government to meet its engagements. The effect of this upon our Stock Exchange was almost as disastrous as a financial panic. Large numbers of annuitants; allured by the attractions of a ten per cent. rate of interest, had invested in Turkish securities, and the repudiation by the Porte of its liabilities straitened many an income not too large previously. Apiece of news telegraphed from Constantinople a few days ago required no explanation. It was to the effect that the efforts to negotiate a foreign loan had been without success. With no money at home and none to be obtained abroad—and Russia is in almost as bad a plight in this respect as Turkey—it is difficult to believe in the prospects of a. prolonged war between two such powers. When, on the 18th of June, 1855, during the siege of Sebastopol, the British were repulstd at the Redan, and the French at the Malakhoff Tower, Prince Gortschakoff, the Conmandjer-in-chief of the Russian army in the Crimea, issued a proclamation to his soldiers, in which he predicted that the allies would soon be driven into the sea, like chaff blown away by the wind. The combined attack upon the enemy's position was made on the fortieth anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo in order that the combatants in that deadly struggle of 1815 might hereafter remember the date as one of triumph for their united arms. In London the Park and Tower guns were loaded in readiness to be fired on the receipt of thp intelligence of the victory, of the achievement of which the authorities had not tlfte slightest doubt. The unfor- tunate result of the atuick on the forts is a matter of history but the repulse so preyed upon Lord Raglan's mind that he died of grief ten days afterwards. The forty years between 1815 and 1855 saw four English sovereigns upon the throne of these islands. Yet the reign of Queen Victc ria now covers a period quite as long as that which elapsed between tho defeat of France after centuries of rivalry and war- fare, and our appearand a.s an ally with her on another field of battle. It was at five o'clock in the morning of the 20th of June, 1837, that the then Princess was aroused from a peaceful sleep to be informed that she had succeeded to the English throne. As shewing the altered time3, it may lie stated that the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chamberlain, who brought the intelligence, travelled from Windsor to Kensington by coach, doing the journey in a. little over two hours. Many an Administration has been defeated, and many a Parliament dissolved since that bright June morn- ing of forty years ago; and a population.^aqual to that of the whole of the United Kingdom has passed away. The roll of Parliament is but a specimen of the changes which have everywhere been wrought; and. of the 608 members who had seats In the House ol Commons when the Queen came to the Throne, the survivors may now be counted on the fingers of two hands. How to supply great communities with water is a problem which large cities have been called upon to solve in various ways. Glasgow has brought to her doors the water of Loch Katrine, and beautifully soft and pure all residents of London who have occasion to visit the banks of the Clyde declare it to be. Indeed it is a real luxury for a Londoner, when he takes a run into the country, to wash in the soft water which so abounds there, and which is thoroughly appreciated after that of such hard quality as that which is fur- nished by the companies. The borings which have been carried out at such great expense by Messrs. Meux, the well known brewers, and which have penetrated the strata on which the capital stands, to a depth of more than a thousand feet, have not succeeded in tapping a perennial spring of ever-flowing water, so that the expectations of those who had hoped that the ever-increasing wants of the metropolis might be supplied from its own sub- terranean stores have not yet been realised. Years ago it was predicted that the time would come when the water for London's consumption would have to be brought from the lakes of either Wales or Cumberland —in either case an exceedingly costly operation. Both road making and the construction of aqueducts are now far more expensive than in the time of tlie Romans, whose works in this way were marvels of strength and durability, many of them existing until this day. An aqueduct from Bala, or from Winder- mere to London weuld involve such a vast expendi- ture that the most sanguine of speculators might well shrink from embarking in such an investment. Work and learn Such is the motto of the Bath and West of England Agricultural Association which has just held its Centenary Anniversary in the city which gave it birth just one hundred years ago. It seems clear that from the first its destinies must have been directed by practical men, who acted well up to -the motto of the Society, for although a century old, so far from showing any signs of senility, it is more vigorous than ever. Soma of the mottoes of our great houses are also exceedingly suggestive. The house of Percy quartus upon its escutcheon, Trust in God the house of Stanley, "Without change the house of Russell, What will be, will be." Two noble Italian families, the Orsini and the Colonna, once adopted as mottoes respectively, "Break and not bend," and "Bend and not break." The latter was Lord Palmerston's, the former is Earl Granville's. Lord Palmerston, so we have been told hy Earl Granville, once good-humouredly contended with him as to which was the better of the two mottoes, making it clear that he considered his own to be the preferable one, and the principle of which he had followed throughout his long political life. It is possible that a great deal might be said on both sides, and that whether a man should bend or break must depend very materially upon circumstancee.

THE CAPTURE OF ARDAHAN. Le Nord contains the following further particulars respecting the storming and capture of Ardahan by the Russians. The military correspondent of the Mcssaqer de Tiflis says that a careful inspection of the I fortifications and the accumulated quantity of pro- visions and ammunition, clearly demonstrates the im- portance of the victory gained by the Russian troops. It is not a fort only, or a series of entrenchments, which has been captured, but, apparently, a fortress of the first order, admirably constructed, well armed, and provided with a vast quantity of stores. The strength of the garrison of Ardahan and the supply of ammunition and provisions being very considerable, the following facts only can explain the rapidity with which the place was captured, and also the relatively small loss sustained in the assault by the Russian troops. The disposition of the fronts of nearly all the forts of Ardahan, particularly the principal ones, leads to the supposition that the Turks expected the attack to be made only from one side, that is, in the direction of Akhaltsykh, from the north and north-east. It was generally understood among the Russians, when they approached Ardahan, and even after having recon- noitered the place and its approaches, that the Russian commanders would order the siege operations to be commenced by an attack upon Fort Ramazan, directed from the heights commanding the fort, though these heights were exposed to the fire of the three-stoned bastions of Fort Ramazan. This plan, however, was not adopted. General Melikoff, considering FortGuilia verdi as the key of the place indicated the heights which command Ardahan from tne south-west as the line of attack. That the Turks never expected to be attacked from this quarter testifies to the relative weakness of the forts which face those heights—namely, Forts Akhali Tabie, Duse, and Mekhrab, these being simply lunette batteries of rather a. modest appearance. The Turks, after being informed that the Russian columns ad- vanced from the direction of Kars, hastily and with a feverish zeal commenced diligently to construct fonie additional outworks for strengthening these batteries. They worked continuously for three day*, digging trenches and raising earthworks, in order to connect the southern batteries with each other. They also erected several fresh batteries and constructed new redoubts, in fact, did everything possible for a more effective protection of the most vulnerable points of defence, but all these efforts proved of no avail. It was precisely from the very aide where the Turkish engineers, according to their own avowal, had aerer foicseen the possibility of an attack taking place li.t b.1 Russian troops directed their assault. Thus the famous fort of Ramazan; so strongly built and armed with the most effective Krupp guns, situated in a position considered almost impregnable on the north side of Ardahan, scarcely succeeded in discharging more than a dozen rounds with any effect during the whole course of the assault, the Russian soldiers being out of the range of its guns.

Intelligence, received via Berlin, confirms the Rus- sian statement previously communicated, that Arda- han was an all but open town on the south-east. The fact was accidentally discovered by the Russians. On the 8th of May Major-General Schreremetieff, with three sotnias of Cossacks and a dragoon regiment, reconnoitered the country between the Russian fortress of Alexandropol and the north-western spurs of the Xars-Ardahan plateau. At Berdik he fell if-to an ambush, and,'losing a considerable number of his men, was obliged to beat a hasty retreat, and to thread his way to Zaim, close to Alexandropol, by a circuitous road. During this retrograde movement a squadron of Cossacks, flying in the direction of Ardahan took a couple of Turkish soldiers prisoners. When searched, these soldiers produced a letter they were ordered to carry to Kars. In this letter, Hussien Sabi, the Commander of Ardahan, informed the. Commander of Kars that Ardahan was very insufficiently protected on the south-east, and could not possibly be held by the 8,000 men at his disposal. Taking advantage of this intelligence, the Russians stormed the south- eastern front with 30,000 men, over 5,000 of whom fell before the rest planted the Czar's colours on the ramparts.

Her Majesty will, according to present arrange- ment*. leave Balmoral for Windsor Cattle on Friday the Rndtnat. 4

WAR NEWS. THE MONTENEGRIN WAR.—THE BATTLE OF KRSTAZ. The Times' Correspondent with the Montenegrins, writing from the Head-quarters before Niksich, June 9, says :— I am enabled to send an abstract of the report of Verbizza, Chief of the Staff to the Prince, of the Battle of Krstaz, he having been sent to the battle-field for the purpose of examining the position. He found Vukotics in the Duga, where he had takèn position, as reported in my last, the works of Krstaz being exposed to a flank attack. The report says that the Army is in the highest spirits, convinced that it had destroyed a considerable part of the Turkish Army, which is confirmed by its not having advanced beyond its position after the battle. All accounts agree that this was a most bloody battle. The Turkish soldiers fought desperately, driven on by their officers, and passing over their dead to reach the intrenchments. It is confi- dently asserted by the Montenegrins that more than 300 soldiers were killed by their own officers driving them to the assault. Their losses were very great—at the lowest estimate, 2,500 dead. The Montenegrins not so great as was supposed—being about 150 killed and 300 wounded. Three battalion commanders were slightly, and one badly wounded. The Herzegovinian bat- talions astonished every one by their heroism, especially those of Bosko, Gusina, and Nikolo Vukovic. The Montenegrins have excellent positions, and six fresh batta- lions have arrived, so that they hope this time to finish with the Turkish Army. From a blockhouse burnt in Duga there were taken 140,000 cartridges dated Sipatchno, June 5. To- morrow we expect a tremendous attack on Danilograd, which, if successful, will cut the telegraph, obliging us to send by courier to Cettinge.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE CZAR AT HEAD-QUARTERS. "Our Correspondents in Roumania have described the arrival of the Czar at the headquarters of his army, and also narrate his reception of the Prince and Princess of Roumania. Ilis presence on the banks of the Danube seems like a natural prelude to the great events which are to decide the issue of the war, and, it may be, the fate of the Turkish Power. Under the eyes of their sovereign, the Russian soldiers will shortly cross the Danube, and he will be ready to measure with the unhesitating promptitude which marks au autocratic ruler the rewards which will be just portion of their endurance or their daring. MM. Erckmann-Chatrian have described the extraordinary effect produced on the French army by the appearance of Napoleon I. The Emperor Alexander does not bring with him the magic influences of unrivalled mili- tary skill and a name which carried the promise of victory Yet in spite of this we can hardly doubt that his presence will stimulate the zeal and quicken the attention of every man in the army. Officers aud privates will alike feel that to each the chanee of his life has at last come. Few as are the prizes in the sad lottery of war, it is the prospect of them that sustains the soldier's ambition, and the turn of the wheel which is to deal them out cannot 1l0W be long delayed. Whatever ain there comes to all army from beino- pervaded from front to rear with the keenest excitement, that gain the Czar's arrival will contribute to tlie Russian cause. The passage of the Danube and tlie Balkans, tlie march upon Adrianople, even the advance to Constantinople itself, have filled every Russian imagination, and the journey of the Czar will seem like an earnest that these long-delayed triumphs are at length on the eve of being accomplished.

A Correspondent of the Daily Express, writing from Rustchuk, under date May 26th, says :— This morning, for the first time, we have tried the range of our guns on the Russian batteries, and the result was most satisfactory. For some few days past a small monitor, built expressly for river duty, has been stationed here, and its presence appears to have been a source of annoyance to our visitors over the way. About 10 a.m. the monitor was steaming past Rustchuk, towing a Greek schlepp, or vessel containing corn, when in passing in front of enemy s line they immediately opened fire. From three different points a shot was fired on the monitor, which continued its journey until its freight was out of danger. I was wondering what the Turkish batteries could be about, as they appa- rently took no notice of the attack but no sooner was the third shot fired, than bang went a gun from a battery close outside the walls of the town, and the well-directed shot plunged its missile right into one of the Russian batteries, dealing destruction all round. The aim was magnificent, and immediately silenced the enemy. Two other batteries and the monitor now joined the fray, but after less than twenty shots the rain came down in such torrents as to prevent them from totally destroying the enemy's works. The Russians fired under six shots, all of them falling short of their mark, whereas out of the twenty shots our batteries only one shell fell into the river. It is difficult to estimate the damage done to tlie enemy as the ram continued for the greater part of the day, and during the lllht they repaired whatever harm was done; but the well-directed aim of the shells and the fact that the guns ceased after three or fours shots only, tends to prove that the Russians were unable to work the batteries for the time being. I think the patience of the Turks is greatly to be ad- mired, and they can now throw all the blame 011 the Russians as the aggressors. No further interchange of shots has occurred, although the Russians are evidently collected in considerable numbers, and have a large encampment almost facing our batteries. They have been displaying a good deal of energy lately in mending the old earthworks of '54 aud have constructed several new bat- teries, in which guns already in position are distinctly visible. with the aid of glasses. Scarcely a day passes but that field-pieces, many of them of large size, are seen wending their way from Gmrgevo to these new batteries, and there will doubtless, before long, be a general attack on the bat- teries of Rustchuk, N ews conies daily from Widdin that shells are contiuually being fired into the town from Kalafat and that many houses have been destroyed. It appears also that the hospital there was fired on, with the result of killing two parents, and wounding three, and the Russians are said to declare they do not recognize the white flag with red cres- cent. This, if true, is very bad, as it will cause the Turks to retaliate on the red cross. Here at Rustchuk where we have about 820 sick distributed among the largest' buildings in the town, the plan is being discussed of constructing bar- racks outside the town, beyond the reach of fire, and re- moving the sick and wounded thither; but the cost of erecting such a building for 2,000 beds, and the difficulty of pro- curing material in sufficient quantity, would be very great.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 12.—A telegram received from the Grand Duke Nicholas of the 10th inst. says: The Turks early ou the evening of the 9th inst. cannonaded from Rustchuk the Russian sappers who were working at Giurgevo. Tliere wa3 no loss on our side. All goes well. The Danube is falling."

THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. The Special Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, in a letter from Erzeroum, dated May 17th, says :— "Advancing slowly into Turkish territory, the Russian commanders have adopted a policy of prudence in every way worthy of the most skil- ful leaders. hey are lavish in their expendi- ture, well provided with Ottoman gold, silver and even paper, and pay for everything the moment. it is delivered. Poverty-stricken pea- sants visiting the Muscovite camps are well and kindly treated; a strict discipline is pre- served and proclamations in their own lan- guage inform them that they have nothing to fear. By means of forced requisitions large stores of grain and provisions were obtained by the Turkish officers from the country people, and then stored them for the use of the Ottoman troops in the town of Utchkalissa, which fell into the hands of the Russians. Instead of appropriating this lawful prize, the latter very generously redistributed everything among the people from whom it had been taken, and by this cunning policy, forced men to make com- parisons between the rule of the Czar and the Sultan, which the latter would certainly think odious. The people living within the Russian lines exist in ace, receive high prices for their commodities, and good wages for • their labour; but as the Turkish rulers are attempting to solve the—according to Adam Smith—most difficult problem in political economy, of getting whatever they want. without being able to give enough in exchange for it, the demonstration of their policy is accompanied by measures altogether unsuitable to the tastes of those peasants, whether Christians or Mussulmans, who are, to use a gentle expression, unceremoniously dealt with. Soldiers in the streets of Erzeroum beg eagerly for a morsel ei bread; the reinforcements from Trebizonde arrive here foot-sore, fatigued, and hungry. Typhus and dysentery have already carried off considerable numbers and the accom- modation is so limited, and the medical comforts so scarce that some of these poor men, weak and discomfited by a mortal disease already preying on their vitals, only reached the hospital in time to lie down there and die uncared-for on the hard floor. W hether philo-Russ or net, humanity sighs at the re- cital of such tales, and they are all the more touching in consequence of that simple piety which, attributing every misfortune to the will of God, teaches the patient Turkish soldiet to bear the most cruel hard- ships without a murmur. It is the general opinion that Erzeroum will fall an easy prey to the Russian arms, but as news arriving from the country informs the inhabitants of Muscovite wealth and liberality, the catastrophe is not foreshadowed by very un- pleasant anticipations. The richer families are, however, taking their departure for Erzimgan in great numbers; but the cartloads of old people, sleek young girls, as well as children of tender age, who axe daily" leavingtown," go away, in accordance with lurkish habits, very leisurely, and their move- ments more resemble the usual exodus at the end of the London season than the hurried stampede of such a panic-stricken crowd as that which fled from Paris in 1870. Men talk of general massacres of Christians, but such bloody scenes are not anticipated: and I hear on excellent authority that the women, who, like their sisters in other countries, are said to have a sixth sense which enables them to form very just conclusions without the aid of logic, execrate the folly of putting people to death for the faults of others.' .—f. ,r

Bucharest is rapidly becoming Russianised in appearance. The streets are thronged with Russian uniforms, and a large proportion of the 8hop3 have had signs and announcements painted upon their fronts in the Russian language. A babel of tongues is heard here. An army of contractors has gathered from all Europe, and there are 320 newgyaper correspondents in Ro1un<U!i. It is reported from Constantinople that TJobart Pasha has returned thither with three prizes in the shape of brigs laden with com, all English property, which were captured on the coast of the Crimea. He cruised twice up and down the Danube, but was obliged to abandon the attack 011 Vilkova, finding the approaches thickly torpedcul. xie nas takeIllJ1eaSUl'es fur securing the Sulina mouth anti a strict blockade of Odessa. Eight hundred Circassians are reported to have been sent to Tatar Bazardjik to be distributed among the Bulgarian ♦villages, in order to repress auy attempt at insurrection. A Roumanian journal states that a party of Turks crossed to a Roumanian island near Beket, and murdered the shepherd guarding the cattle. Some Roumanian soldiers dreve the Turks away, and found the body of the shepherd flayed and headless. QCording to Russian official news from the seat of war in Asia, under date the 5th inst., the defeated Cavalry of Moussa Pasha, as well as the Turkish troops of the Ortakali camp, fled beyond Saganlug. The Russian Cavalry pursued and overtook their transports with 85 tents, on the 31st of May. On Saturday the Turkish Chamber of Deputies voted the first reading of the proposal of the Financial Committee for the issue of a forced internal loan of T. 5,000,000 in kV-h bearing interest at 10 per cent., and redeem- able in twelve years. All taxpayers, proprietors, merchants, and functionaries will be required to contribute to this loan. The Paris papers publish a despatch from Orsova stating that large quantities of Russian arms are arriving at Negotin, and that the Servians, on their side, are accumulating pro- visions for 100,000 men in the same locality It is believed that a complete understanding exists between Russia. and Servia, and that as soon as the Russians have crossed the Danube. Servia will take the field and proclaim her indepen- dence. A telegram from Admiral Moustapha Pacha from Sulina, Bent to Constantinople under date June 11, announces tlilat five very swift Russian torpedo boats, despatched from Kilia against the monitor Idjlalie and some other Turkish vessels, were received with a shower of grape shot. Two of the torpedo boats were sunk, and the other three exploded with- out doing any damage to the monitor. Several men belong- ing to the Russian boats were picked up and made prisoners. The Egyptian contingent under Prince Hassan left Alexandria on Monday evening, on board ten steamers for Constantinople, escorted by four Turkish men-of-war. The Daily News' Special Correspondent at Bucharest says that much astonishment has been felt there at the rumours of peace which have recently been circulated throughout Europe. Nobody, he adds, believes in the possibility of peace until the Turks have been completely beaten in two or three pitched battles, and have felt the might of the Russian army. The Correspondent thinks that these rumours origi- nated in the delay of the Russians to cross the Danube. He points out, however, that immediately upon the declaration of war General Ignatieff and the Rursian officers generally said that the passage of the river could not take place in less than six weeks, that is to say, nofc .iyitil the 10th of June. The delay can therefore be no indication of the probability of peace, and the rumours may be treated as altogether ground- less. The Belgrade Correspondent says that Servta seems to he preparing for war. The Militia are every- where drilling, and severe punishments of deserters are announced. Lloyd's Agent at Poti writes under date of the 28th of May :—'Turkish ironclads pass the roads almost daily, and a few shots have been exchanged between them and the Russian batteries at the mouth of the Rhion, but without effect. Torpedoes are laid along the coast, and opposite Poti they extend about two miles from the beach seaward. A Greek brig, under the Russian flag, has lain off the port since the declaration of war. She is deserted by her crew, and has hitherto remained unmolested. The Turks look upon her as a trap or decoy duck, and give her a wide berth."

A GERMAN VIEW OF RUSSIAN POLICY. The Correspondent of the Standard, writing from Berlin, says that the Post has published a very remarkable leading article concerning Russia's present Eastern policy. The paper says Russia intendil, by respecting as much as possible the formal integrity of Turkey, to make herself the last refuge of the Porte. If Russian arms should now succeed in destroying the rule of the Turks, the lion's portion would by no means remain in Russia's hands. The Western Balkan Peninsula would come directly and indirectly under Austrian influence, which would be extended from Dalmatia to the Eastern frontier of Servia. Roumania's independence would then lie guaranteed by the whole of Europe Bulgaria v. oukl be united with Roumanh, or constituted in a similar way. South from the Balkans Greece would extend herself and to the Russian conquerors would remain merely the gain of more or less valuable posi- tions in Asia -Minor—a sufficiently valuable acquisi- tion, which, however, would probably bring about a collision with England. To prevent this conflict ap- pears to have been the purpose of the telegraphic assurances, dated St. Peterburg, June 7, that Russia does not intend to alter the political map of the East. According to that Russia apparently has in view to take the lion's portion in the nam* of modesty, seeming to take nothing, but, in truth, appro- priating all. The Russians believe that they may be able indirectly to take possession of much more, in the name of the Porte, th:111 it would at present be possible to get in a direct way. They are tryir.g to demand the minimum, in order'to gain the maximum without great risks or inconvenient reactions upon internal politics. But they may be fatally de- ceived. Russia requires at the present moment a statesman with the qualities of Prince Bis- marck—above everything his remarkable frank- ness. Russia might very well risk incurring disap- pointment of her own people, and even the suspicion of all foreign Powers, with the view of asking little in order to gain much. She would, however, acquire a very uncertain gain but certain enemies." These statements of the ambassadors' organ hint (says the correspondent) undoubtedly at the fact that the Russian Government is endeavouring to bring aboi$m jmderBtamding with the Frfrte Before the European VW&b dab intwfere.

INTERESTING JOTTINGS ABOUT SOUTHERN INDIA. Professor Monier Williams, who has recently returned from his second visit to India, has favoured The Times with his "impressions" of the South of the Peninsula, from which we make some interesting extracts. He prefaces his letter by saying,—" Last year The Times made public the impres- sions miide upon me during a tour through >1 orthern India. This winter I have travelled through a great part of Southern India, and as this is really quite a distinct country, I am compelled to ask your permission to make my former communication complete by some additional notes. Again, however, I must disclaim auy intention of presenting you with more than a traveller's rough observations, which must be taken for what they are worth."—After noticing at some length, the Climate, which he considers superior to our own for at least five months in the year, the Professor proceeds to remarks upon the Physical Features of Southern India, and says:— What strikes one most in travelling through any part of India is the" fastness of the country. No sooner does one land in Bombay than one's whole ideas of distance have to be cast in a new mould. You are told that an old acquaintance is residing close to your hotel, and you find to your surprise that a visit to his house involves a drive of ten miles. The sense of vastness is not so overpowering in Southern India as in Northern, and yet the Nizam's territory alone is about the size of the whole kingdom of Italy." In speaking of "Animal and Plant Life" the Professor remarks:— Perhaps the most striking point of difference between Northern and Southern India is due to the circumstance that the South possessess all the characteristics of the Tropics in the greater exuber- ance of all kinds of life and vegetation. Let any one imagine the contents of the best-stocked zoological and botanical gardens of Europe multiplied indefinitely and scattered more or less abundantly over an im- mense country, and he will have some idea of what this exuberance really is. To realize it fully, however, one must go to the extreme South and Ceylon. There one may come across almost every animal, from a wild elephant to a firefly. There,. as one strolls through a friend's compound or drives to a neigh- bouring railway station, one passes the choicest plants and trees of European hothouses growing luxuriantly in the open air. As to animals, they seem to dispute possession of the soil with man. They will assert with perfect impunity their right to a portion of the crops he rears and the food he eats, and will even eifect a lodgment in the houses he builds as if they had a claim to be regarded as co- tenants. This is owing in a great measure to the sacredness of animal life in India. Not only is there an absolute persuasion in the mind of a Hindoo that some animals, such as cows, serpents, and monkeys, are more or less pervaded by divinity, but most Indians believe that there are 84 lakhs of species of animal life through which a man's own soul is liable to pass. In fact, any noxious insect or loathsome reptile may be according to the Hindoo religion, an incarnation of some deceased relative or venerated ancestor. Hence, no man, woman, or child among the Hindoos thinks it ripht to kill animals of any kind. Hence, too, in India animals of all kinds appear to live on terms of the greatest confidence and intimacy with human beings. They cannot even learn to be afraid of their enemies the European immigrants. Mosquitoes will settle affectionately and fearlessly on the hands of the most recent comer, leeches will insinuate themselves lovingly between the interstices of his lower garments, parrots will peer in- quisitively from the eaves of his bedroom into the mysteries of his toilet, crows will carry off impudently anything portible that takes their fancy on his dress- sing-table, sparrows will hop about impertinently and ■ take the bread off his table-cloth, bats will career triamphantly round his head as he reads by the light, of his duplex lamp, monkeys will domesticate them- selves jauntily on his roof, and at certain seasons snakes will domicile themselves unpleasantly in his cast-off garments, while a whole tribe of feathered creatures will build their nests confidingly under the trees of his garden before the very eyes of the village children who play near his compound. I have heard it said in ngland that the tigers of India will soon be exterminated; yet I looked down from the heights near uotacamund on a tract of country swarming with tigers and wild animals of all kinds. Such animals are on the increase in these and other similar localities, notwithstanding the active warfare of rifled-armed English sportsmen. The truth is that those Europeans who venture into such jungles to shoot down tigers are themselves struck down, like Lord Hastings, by jungle fever; and before we can induce the natives to wage a war of extermination against beasts of prey we must disabuse them of the notion that men are sometimes converted into wild beasts, and that the spirit of a man killed by a tiger not unfrequently takes to riding about on the animal's head. With regard to plant life, it must be borne in mind that in th creed oi the Hindoo even plants may be permeated by divinity or possessed by the souls of departed relatives. No Hindoo will cut down the divine tulsi, or knowingly injure any other sacred plant. As to the hOJY Pipal, it may indulge its taste for undermining and houses, and even palaces and temples, with perfect impunity. Happily, there is a limit to even the most-pious Hindoo's respect for plant life. Perhaps the most demonstrative and self-asserting and at the same time the most uspful of tropical trees is the palm. Palm trees are ubiquitous in Southern India, and yet the eye never wearies of their presence. One hundred and fifty different species may be seen in Ceylon, among which the most conspicuous are the cocoanut, the palmyra, the date, the sago, the slender areca, and the sturdy talipot— often crowned with its magnificent tuft of flowers, wjiish it produces only once before its decay, at the erai of about half a century. Aven ues of va'm trees 0^fcrshado*Sf- ifce roa3s fcnd even line 'the streets of *V>Vnf». The most characteristic tree of Southern Bidia is the banyan. The sight of a fine banyan tree is .almost rth a voyage from Southampton to Born- bay; and it can only be seen in perfection in the South. One I saw in a friend's compound at Madura was 180 yards in circumference, and was a little forest in itself. Then there is the beautiful plantain, with its broad, smooth leaves, rivalling the palm in luxuriance and 11 hi011ity. Then one must go to 80uthern I ndi:>, to under. stand howtueioi.ua became the constant theme of Indian poets, as the symbol of everything'lovely, sacred, and auspicious. Space indeed, would be denied me if I were to tell of groves of mangoes and tamarinds, clumps of enormous bamboos, gigantic creepers in full blossom, tree ferns, oranges and citrons, hedges of flowering aloes, cactus, prickly pear, wild roses and geraniums, or even if I were to descant at large on such useful plants as coffee, chinchona, tea, and to- bacco. With regard to the last I will merely say that our thriving colony of Ceylon is the true home of the coffee plant, and that I found coffee-planting there in a peculiarly flourishing condition. Nearly JE6 per cwt. is now given for coffee which formerly realised only B2 10s. The island owes much of its present pros- perity to Sir Willialn Gregory's energetic Governor- ship. Coffee in great quantities is also grown on the Nilgiris, the hill districts of Mysore, the Wynaad, Travancore, and the Asambhu hills. Chinchono (yielding quinine) is being cultivated with great success m Ceylon, Sikkim, and some hill stations of Southern India. As to tea, ever since the tea-plant was found to be indigenous in Assam and Kachar its cultivation has gone on increasing so rapidly that it is likely to become one of the staple products of India, and will vie as an export with rice, opium, cotton, and jute. It is said that 357,000 chests were exported last year Assam, Kachar,. and Dar- jeeling—the three chief tea districts—alone. The cultivatiqn is also carried on in other hill stations of Northern and Southern India. I am told that a great future-is in store for tobacco, and that it will take the place of opium as a source of revenue should the Chinese demand .for the latter cease. All that is wanted is skill in its cultivation. Its success in British Burmah is remarkable. But enough of plants; let me now turn to men.' In noticing the "Ohracter and Condition of the People," the Professor remarkS. "If the most apathetic traveller is astonished by the nature of the climate, by the vastness of the country, by the diversity of the .scenery, by the exuberance of animal and plant life in Southern India, much more is his wonder excited by the multiplicity of races which constitute its teeming population, by the variety of their costume, rr?a1I.lri1er8> social institutions, usages, religious creeds, and dialects. Biologists, ethnologists, archaeologists, and. Philologists will find here (as in Northern India) a rich banquet set before them, from which they may always rise with an appetite for more. The inhabitants of Bombay, whose number exceeds that of any other city in the British Empire (except Lon- don and Calcutta), may be 8aid to belong partly to Gujerat, partly to the Koukan, and partly to the Marathi country. When we have ascended the Bhore Ghat and are in that part of the Deccan of which Poonah is the capital, we are fairly among the Mara- this, who are the principal representatives of the Aryan race in Southern India. The Brahmins and higher classes of this race are often fine intelligent men, and sometimes great Pundits, but withal proud and bigoted. Their women are kept less secluded, and are far more independent than the women in Northern India, where Mahometan influences are much stronger. It is common to see Marathi ladies walking about in the streets of large towns and showing themselves in public without any scruple. the rest of Southern India, not including the Aryan Orissa, is peopled first. by the j great Dravidian races (80 called from Dravida, the name given by the Sanskrit-speakers to the Southern part of the Peninsula) whose immigrations into India in successive.waves from some part of Central Asia immediately preceded those of the Aryans. These Dravidians are of course quite distinct from the Aryans their skin is generally much darker, and the languages they speak belong to what is called the South Turanian family- ihey may be separated into four distinct peoples, according to their four principal languages—Canarese, Tamil, and Malayaiain. Secondly, by the wild aboriginal-races, some of them Negroid, and as dark in complexion as Africans, and others of a type similar to the savages of Australia. t they are now usually called Kolarians. Their irruptions preceded the advent of the Dra,vidi:1us,. and thev are still found in the hills and other outlymg localitie.. Of the Dra- vidans the Telugrt and ramil speakers are by far tne majority, each numbering 15 or 16 millions. The Tamil race, who occupy the extreme south from Madras to Cape Comorin, are active, hard-working, industrious, and independent. Their difficult and highly accentuated language reflects their character and possesses quite a distinct literature of its own. The Telugu people, inhabiting the Northern Circars and the Nizam's territory, are also remarkable for their industry, arid their soft language, abounding in vowels, is the Italian of the East. The Canarese of Mysore resemble the Telugu race in language and cha- racter, just as the Jtlalaya'ams of the Malabar coast re- semble the Tamils. I noticed that the seafaring Tamils of the Southern coast near LamnadRamcavaram, and Tuticorin are much more able-bodied nd athletic than ordinary Hindoos. Numbers of them migrate to Ceylon, and at least half a million form a permanent part of the population of that island. They are to be found in all the coffee plantations, and work much harder than the Singhalese. Indeed, all the races of South India seem to me to show readiness and apti- tude for any work they are required to do, and great patience, endurance, and perseverance in the discharge of the most irksome dutIes.. The lower classes may be seen everywhere earning their bread by the veritable sweat of their brow and submitting without a murmur to a. life of drudgery and priva- tion. But they- are not, as a rule, physically strong, and their moral character like their bodily constitution exhibits little stamina. They have, so to speak, little solidity of backbone, either to keep them upright when they are brought into collision with stronger races, or to enable them to rise to the high standard of European morality. It must be borne in mind, too, that Europeans are some- times strong in vices as well as virtues; and, as the Hindoo rarely has the power of assimilating himself to our best qualities, he is apt to copy our w..rst. Even our Administrative Government, with all its moral purity, has introduced temptations which are to him a stone of stumbling. Yet I have been told by officers of long experience who have witnessed the growth of much of our Indian Empire, that on the acquisition of newly-acquired territories, the in- habitants hwe never shown any immediate disposition towards deceit, litigiousness, subtlety, and avarice, or any of the faults they have after- wards displayed so conspicuously in our Courts of Justice, and in their dealings with us as rulers. The plain fact is, that the people of India_ are simply human beings with very human infirmities, and if the professing Christian finds it difficult to bear up against the tide of human care, crime, and trial which ever fellows in the track of advancing civi- lization, much more does the non-Christian Hindoo. I doubt, however, whether the worse Indians are ever so offensive in their vices as the worst type of low, unprincipled Europeans. At any rate their vices are more subtle. As servants, they are faithful, honest, and devoted, and will attach themselves with far greater affection than English servants to those who treat them well. They show greater respect for animal life than Europeans. They have more natural courtesy of manner, more filial dutifulness, more veneration for rank, age, and learning, and they are certainly more temperate in eating and drinking. I once asked a Peninsular and Oriental captain whether he preferred a crew of ordinary Indian or ordinary English sailors, and he unhesitatingly gave the preference to Indians, 'because,'said he., 'they are more docile, more obe- dient, less brutish in their habits, and can be trusted not to get drunk.' "Another point to be noted in comparing Indians with Europeans is that the rich among them are nev.er ashamed of their poor relations, and, what is still more noticeable, neither rich nor poor are ever ashamed of their religion. The religion is even more closely interwoven with every affair of daily life, and is even more showily demonstrative in the South of India than in the North. Unhappily, it is not of a kind to strengthen the character or fortify it' against temptation. Yet its action on social life is so potent, that to make clear the condition of the people, I must briefly explain the nature of their creeds." After giving this explanation, which our space precludes from giving at length, Professor Williams proceeds "The temples of Tanjore,Trichinopoly, Madura,Tin- nevelly, and Ramesvaram are as superior in magnitude to those of Benares as Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's are to the other churches of London. Furthermore, it must not be forgotten that, although a belief in devils, and homage to bhutas, or spirits, of all kinds, in common all over India, yet what is called devil worship' is far from sys- tematically practised in the South of India and in Cey- lon than in the North. And the reason may be that as the invading Aryans advanced towards Southern India, they found portions of it peopled by wild aboriginal savages, whose behaviour and aspect appeared to them to resemble that of devils. fThe Aryan mind, therefore, naturally pictured to itself the regions of the South as the ahief resort and stronghold of the demon race, and the dread of demoniacal agency became more rooted in Southern India than in the North. Curiously enough, too, it is commonly believed in Southern India that every wicked man contributes by his death to swell the ever-increasing ranks of devil legions. His evil passions do not die with him, they are in- tensified, concentrated, and perpetuated in the form of a malignant and mischievous spirit. Moreover, the god Siva is constantly connected with demoniacal agencies, either as superintending and controlling them or as himself possessing (especially in the person of his wife Kali) all the fierceness and malignity usually attributed to demons. In fact, in the South of India (even more than in the North) all evils, especially drought, blight, and diseases, are attributsd to devils. When my fellow- travellers and myself were nearly dashed to pieces over a precipice th,) other day by some restive horses on a ghat near Poona, we were told that the road at this particular point was haunted by devils, who often caused similar accidents, and we were given to under- stand that we should have done well to conciliate Ganesa, son of the god Siva, and all his troops of evil spirits, before starting. Of all gods Ganesa is, perhaps, the most commonly con- ciliated, not because he is said to bestow wisdom, but simply because he is believed to prevent the obstacles and diseases caused by devils. Homage, indeed, may be rendered to the good God, or Supreme Spirit pervading the universe, but he is too absolutely perfect to be the author of harm to any one, and does not need to be appeased. Devils alone require pro- pitiation. Happily, the propitiating process is gene- rally a simple one. It is usually performed by offerings of food or other articles supposed to be peculiarly ac- ceptable to disembodied beings. For example, when a certain European, who was a terror to the district in which he lived, died in the South of India, the natives were in the constant habit of depositing brandy and cigars on his tomb to propitiate his spirit, supposed to roam about the neighbourhood in a reckless manner and with evil proclivities. The very same was done to secure the good offices of the philanthropic spirit of a great European sportsman, who, when he was alive, delivered his district from the ravages of tigers, indeed, it ought to be mentioned that all jftvil spirits are thought to be opposed by goorf ones, who, if duly propitiated, make it their business to guard the inhabitants of particular places from demoniacal intruders. Each district, and even every village, has its guardian yenius, often called ita mother. If smallpox or blight appear, some mother (especially the one called Mari Amman) is thought to be angry, and must be appeased by votive offerings. There are no less than 140 of these mothers in Gujerat. There is :1,1, very popular male god in Sci.wiciu india called Ayenar (Hanhara), son of Siva and Vishnu, to whom shrines in the fields are con stantly erected. A remarkable point is that these guardian spirits (especially Ayenar) are supposed to delight in riding about the country on horses. Hence the traveller just arrived from Europe is startled and Euzzled by apparitions of rudely-formed terra-cotta opses, often as large as life, plaoed by the peasantry round rude shrines in the middle of fields as acceptable propitiatory offerings, or in the fulfilment of vows during periods of sickness. Another remarkable circumstances connected with the dread of demoniacal agencies is the existence in the south of India and Ceylon of professional exor- cisers and devil-dancers. Exorcising is performed over persons supposed to be possessed by demons in the form of diseases. The exorciser assumes a particular dress, goes through various antics, mutters spells, and repeats incantations. Devil-dancing is performed by persons who paint their faces, or put on hideous masks dress up in demoniacal costumes, and work themselves up into a veritable frenzy by wild dances, cries, and gesticulations. They are then thought to be actually possessed by the spirits and to become, like spiritualist mediums, gifted with clairvoyance and a power of de- livering oracular and prophetic utterances on any matter about which they may be questioned. There seems to be also ap idea that when small-pox, cholera, or similar pestilences are exceptionally rife, excep- tional measures must be taken to draw off the malig- nant spirits, the supposed authors of the plague, by tempting them to pass into these wild dancers and so become dissipated. I myself witnessed in Ceylon an extraordinary devil dance performed by three men who were supposed to personate or represent different forms of typhus fever. Our space precludes us from giving more of Professor Williams's interesting letter, which he concludes by thus acknowledging the great services the missionaries have ren- dered to India All honour, too, to those noble-hearted mission- aries who, "like Dr. and Mrs. Sargeant at Tinnevelly, are seeking, by the establishment of female schools, to supply India with its most pressing need-good wives and mothers or, like Mr. and Mrs. Lash, are train- ■ ing girls to act as high-class schoolmistresses, and sending them forth to form new centres of female education in various parts of Southern India. But let our missionaries ear in mind that more than mere preaching, more than mere education, more than the alteration of marriage rules, is needed for the regeneration of India. The missionary band must carry their ark persistently round the Indian home, till its walls are made to fall and its inner life exposed to the fresh air of Ged's day, and all its surroundings moulded after the pattern of a pure, healthy, well- ordered Christian household whose influences leaven the life of the family and the nation from the cradle to the grave. My belief is that until a way is opened for the free intercourse of the educated mothers and women of Europe who understand the Indian vernaculars with the mothers and women of India, in their own homes, Christianity itself, or at least its purer forms, will make little progress either among Hindoos or Mahomedans; for Christianity is a re- ligion which, before it can dominate over the human heart, requires a clear apprehension of certain great facts, and a manly assent of the reason to the doc- trines and practices they involve."

THE LATE LORD DUNDONALD. Lord Cochrane was examined on Friday before the Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire into his petition with reference to the case of the late Lord Dundonald. He stated that his grandfather was struck off the Admiralty list of cap- tains in 1814, in consequence of certain charges which were brought against him and of which lie asserted his innocence, lie made an application to the Duke of Clarence in 1828 for restoration to his rank and honours, and in the memorial asserted his inno- cence in the most solemn language. To this he re- ceived an answer to the effect that His Majesty's Government could not comply with the prayer of the memorial. Another memorial was presented to the King with the same object, in 1830. Witness was not in possession of any answer to that memorial. The Chairman (Sir R. Anstruther) read several memorials which had been presented to the King, and which were contained in a book he had obtained from the Admiralty. The witness continued that in 1832 there was a memorial read before the King's Cabinet Council, and referred to the Lords Com- missioners of the Admiralty. Shortly afterwards the King granted a free pardon, and Lord Dundonald was gazetted on the 8th of May, 1832, to the rank of rear-admiral, the position he would have been entitled to if he had not been deprived of his rank. His half-ppy was to continue from the date, on which he was gazetted, and he was not to rcccive bis airears of pay. In 1842 and again in 1844 Lord Dundonald applied for the restoration of the Order of the Bath, but it was refused. In 1847, however, it was restored, and he was allowed to wear it at the Queen s Birthday Drawing-room, In 1856 he applied to Lord Palmer- ston for the reinstalment of his banner in Henry VII.'s chapel, for the repayment of the fine im- posed upon him by the Court of Queen's Bench, and for his arrears of pay. This application was refused. Witness then read the will of Lord Dundonald, in which he left all moneys due to him by the Government for his special services to his gt&ndwn-the witness, He also left witnelis the arrears of pay due to him from the Government, which, he said, he had been deprived of by perjured evidence, which neither the Courts of Law nor the House of Commons had given him an opportunity of rebutting. Witness had made an application to the Lords of the Treasury in February, 1876, and had re- ceived a reply to the effect that they fully recognized the services of the late Lord Dundonald, but at the same time they expressed an opinion that full repara- tion had been made. They also stated that there was no precedent for half pay being granted for a period during which the officer applying for it was not in Her Majesty's service. Lord Dundonald's banner was restored in Henry VI f.'s Chapel in 1860.

A MAUSOLEUM FOR A PRINCE. Gratitude is so rare a sentiment of the human mind that it is pleasant to be able to record an illustration of it. The late Duke of Brunswick, who died a few years ago at Paris, was possessed of very considerable wealth in diamonds and other precious stones. His collection was for some time in this country. In a modest house at St. John's-wood a burglar and fire-proof room was built, in which it was kept; but the owner, growing, perhaps, tired of the monotony of English society, removed to Paris some years before his death, and took with him to that paradise of Yankees the whole of his mineral and other possessions. These along with other property of immense value, he bequeathed to the city of Geneva, and the municipality, after mature consideration of the most appropriate manner in which, to record their gratitude, have resolved to erect a mausoleum to the memory of their benefactor which shall be without a parallel in Europe. The monument is to be placed in the Jardin des Alpes, and it is to cost l,400,000fr., or £ 56,000. The design includes a series of six statues representing ancestors of the deceased Duke. The first is to be Duke Henry "the Lion," and the last that of Duke Frederick William, who fell at the battle of Quatre Bras, which immediately preceded the defeat of the French at Waterloo. On a colossal pedestal of polished granite, sixty feet in height, will rest the sarcophagus, on which will be a recumbent figure of the Prince, and over this will be a canopy, to be sur- mounted by an equestrian statue of the late Duke in modern civil costume. The canopy is to be supported by pillars of white marble richly sculptured. The artist selected for carrying out this grand design is M. Franc, a citizen of Geneva. The statue is to be by M. Vella, and the animals are to be executed by M. Cave, who are also natives of the canton which the Duke of Brunswick has so magnificently endowed.- Globe.

LEONE THE SICILIAN BRIGAND. The Correspondent of the Daily News, writing from Rome, gives the following particulars of the death of Leone, the Sicilian brigand About 11 a.m. on the 1st of June, in Monte Maggiore, district of Termini, a man introduced him- self to Signor Michele Lucchesi, Delegate of Public Security. To the inquiry as to what he came for, the man responded, "Signor Delegate, we have started some game." The Delegate, still unsatisfied, was asked pointedly by the man if he wanted Leone. Only too happy," was the rejoinder, "but who are you?" demanded the. Delegate. "I have been engaged to carry provisions to Leone; but instead of that errand I have come on another-to you!" "I understand. Then where is the brigand?" "In a field at Costa-di-Daini—quite near, some two or three miles off." "All right," was the reply, "you wait here." In half an hour the Government force was in movement. Bersaglieri, guards of public security on horseback, carabineers, thirty-four men in all, started off on the traces of Leone. Arrived at the spot indicated by the informer, the force was divided into three groups, the field was surrounded, the rifles were in readiness, and every ,one was on the tiptoe of expectation, when three men emerged from their retreat and opened fire. But they quickly saw they were invested on every side; hope of escape there was none; their one resource was to sell their lives dearly. So a brisk exchange of shots took place, till all three—Leone, and one Zarandi, and another Rosario Lo Bue, both from Caccamo- were killed. Zarandi, indeed, had managed to run the blockade of riflemen, but he was pursued by the mounted constabulary, and fell riddled with bullets. Leone died from a shot in the neck and two in the shoulder. He was armed with a carbine-revolver of twenty-four charges, and had on his well-known velvet hunting coat. There were found on him a silver watch, with imitation gold chain, and a pocket-book contain- ing several letters. Zarandi and Rosario Lo Bue. armed with central percussion rifles, and in their pocketbooks were only a few lire. The combat of three against thirty-four lasted an hour and a half. The viccors returned to MontJ Maggiore in triumph with their trophies. fialf way they were met by a crowd of the townsfolk who, having heard of the brigand hunt, had arm.fosea imrryii% up -be *1^ at tho dfiath." three corpses were laid out in the Calvario, as the little chapel is called, wlcsh one invariably finds at the entrance to the Sici-lan townships.

[From Judy.] QUESTIONS FOR LAW STUDENTS. Is Lincoln's Inn a licensed house, and when its mem- bers are called to the bar what drinks do 'they order ? Is the Master of the Rolls a crusty customer ? Does the Chance-ry Division of the High Court of Justice acquire its title from the uncertainty of its decisions ? Is a maiden-brief a short young lady ? In the case of a maiden as sighs, what does she sigh for, and does she ever get it ? Would the song, "I'm Afloat," be considered Equiva- lent to a notice of motion ? When a Counsel takes silk," does he execute a deed of conveyance ? When time is the essence of the contract, how much is it a bottle? When a lawyer pockets his 6s. 8d. is that a fee simple in possession ? Did anybody ever get a rise out of John Dough ? When a cook garnishes a dish, is the one a garnisher and the other a garnishee ? Is a Justice of the Common Pleas ever uncommonly pleased ? Is the wife of a Master in Lunacy a Mrs. in ditto ? If a member of the Poor Law Board were to turn lamplighter, would he be a guardian ad lightem ? Is low fee-ver fatal to lawyers ? Would it be correct to describe the Siamese Twins as a joinder of issue ? Does law-calf make the weal of the profession ? What is the position of ALLY SLOPER under the new JUDY-cature Act ?

HUsccKaucous |ntcl(igtir«. HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL. PIANO MANUFACTURING.—Mr. Dannreuther, lectur- ing on Liszt at the Royal "Institution in London, spoke of the way in which progress of piano manufac- ture had influenced styles of playing. In Beethoven's time one ounce and a half dropped on a key was suffi- cient to cause a note. to sound. In a piano such as that used in the lecture eight ounces are needed. A totally different positiort of the wrist and arm re- sult from this. While many instruments remain as they were, two octaves have been added to the piano since the beginning of this century. Chopin and Liszt, and particularly Liszt, Mr. Dannreuther re- gards as representing the last stage to which the technique of pianoforte playing could be carried. THE CHINESE TRADE IN HUMAN HAIR.—The Chinese have a genius for trade, and in nothing do they show their mercantile aptitudes more clearly than in the readiness with which they meet every passing demand in the market (remarks the Pall Mall Gazette). In the last trade report from Swatow, Mr. McKean, the Deputy Commissioner of Customs at that port, draws attention to the sudden growth and develop- ment of the export trade in human hair which has of late years sprung up in his district. According to this authority, the hair thus exported consists of the combings collected in barbers' shops, and is all sent to Europe. In 1873, when this unusual item first appeared in the trade returns, 141 piculs weight (a picul=133 lb.) were exported from Swatow; in 1874 this amount had increased to 381 piculs; and in 1875 no fewer than 1,000 piculs of the combings from the barbers' shops of Swatow were shipped off to amplify the coiffures of Europe. SHIP v. SAILOR.—Complaint is made by a naval contemporary, that whatever advance and improve- ment has been effected of late years in our ships, nothing at all has been done to elevate the sailor himselif." Thisjs a mistake, surely; what about the torpedo t—Judy. TOLERATION IN TURKEY.—Lord Denbigh writes to The Titix^S ■— The opponents of the Turk have 110 persistently asserted that the Christian subjects of the Porte are persecuted and hindered in the exercise of their religion that I thought it well when in Rome a woek or two ago to go to the higlie st authority attainablo-^Cardiual T^ranchi wlioia av the head of the Propaganda, and has charge of all foreign missions throughout the world. In a private interview I had with him I asked him to tell me how far such allegations-were true His answer was most explicit, aud he authorized me to make any use I liked of it—viz., that, so far from tlie Christians being persecuted, he could only praise the Turkish Government for the general freedom and liberty which they granted all the Christian communities under his cognizance, and if there were, from time to time, isolated cases of oppression, it was invariably owing to an outburst of private fanaticism from some individual in authority, and in no way supported or sanctioned by the Government of the Forte. There was for a while a persecution of the Catholic Armenians, but that was brought on under foreign pressure under peculiar circumstances." EXHUMATION OF THE REMAINS OF LEDRU-ROLLIN. —The remains of Ledru-Rollin were exhumed on Friday from the grave in the cemetery of Père Lacbaise, where they were temporarily deposited on the 5th of January. 1875, and removed to the spot where they are to find their last resting-place. The family and friends of the deceased had long con- templated this step, but had some difficulty in obtain. ing the requisite permission from the police authorities to effect the removal. After a protracted corres- pondence, they at last succeeded in overcoming the objections raised to the proceeding, but only on the condition that the exhumation should talce place before the QOur at which the publie are admitted to the cemetery; and it was further stipulated that there was to be no delivery of funeral orations of any kind. The widow, however, of the Republican orator proposes to have an inauguration of her late husband's monument on the 24th of next February, when no doubt there will be plenty of speaking to compensate fdr the tamenesB of the exhumation. THE PRINCESS OF WALES' HEALTH.—The Lancd says:—" Before leaving for Greece her Royal High' ness had been suffering from cold, and had beeO obliged to forego the fatigue which is inseparable froic State ceremonials. The unusually inclement weather of the past month or so rendered it most unadvisable that the Princess should exchange the warmth of Greece for our bitter east winds and frost. New, hoW* ever, that our climate has become more genial, w8 have the pleasure of welcoming her back, strong enough to perform the journey from Brindisi to Paris without break, and from Paris to London between midnight and eight a.m. JOHN WESLEY AND THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH. John Wesley was a clergyman of the Established Church to the day of his death. He was curate to his father at Epworth some two years before the Methodist societies were formed. He never held a living in t-h* Church, one of his most memorable saying being* The world is my parish." His own chapel in the City-road was a Chapel of Ease, in which the Church Service was conducted statedly. He employee! two curates ordained clergymen—in addition to his brother, the Rev. Charles Wesley, who were the stated ministers there, with others, up to the time of hiS (John Wesley's) death, and for some years a;Tv.'ards. John Wesley preached in churches in all pait -1 the country up to the time of his death. In the vestry ot Allhallows Church, Gracechurch-street, Loir n. there is a record framed, giving an account of John Wesley's preaching in that church in his 85th year, toi the St. Ethelburga schools.—The Rock. HOBART PASHA'S VIEW OF THE SITUATION.—A correspondent of The Times, writing from Varna, says :— Admiral Hobart Pasha has just arrived on a cruise to see how the Black Sea forts arc able to stand attack from the sea. I was present this morning at a meeting bet-ween the Admiral and the Civil and Military Commandants here. It appears that there is a certain amount of ill-feeling hetween the War Minister and our fellow countrymen, the Admiral. The "War Minister thinks that the place for the Admiral is Constantinople. The Admiral thinks, not unnaturally, t the Black Sea just now offers the best field for his exertions. J The War Minister is reported to have said, "You 3110111 not „ go into the Black Sea." The Admiral's answer was Gel up steam; Klack Sea!" and here he is. This is ail ^ry deplorable—jealousy, intrigue, misunderstandings. It il divulging no secrets now to say that when I was here bei-K there was a scarcity of guns, but that now has 'ice"1 remedied. A large number have been sent up sin »•' last here, and they are still arriving. I am happy to say t' Hobart Pasha's general view of the situation here is, them come FIVE CENTURIES BURIED.—The AriegSois relat follows the finding of a body of the bishop at Lizier, France:—"The discovery was made wall of the cathedral cloister. The skin is not mummified. The arms were crossed c breast, and the head slightly inclined to the Ie hands were still gloved, sandals were on the having been carefully removed, the memr found to be in a perfect state of preserve article of value was found in the tomb, whi to have been opened at the time of the T A leathern cord around the neck must h; the pastoral cross, which was sought for ir body is proved to be that of Mgr. A Montefalcone, Bishop of Couserans, accc tomb-stone. The* archives of the Bishop: Auger II. was buriecLin the cloister-wall Argein describes Auger of Montefalco: markable prelate. He had the church c ornamented with frescoes, and died in 1 How SAFES ARE BLOWN OPEN.—A gave to a reporter of the New York 2 lowing mode of introducing powder wi the purpose of blowing open the dl tools did you use in drilling the hole reporter. Good cra-eksmen don't use to' the burglar; "I'll show you how tot safe in New York without tools. Just safe." There happened to be a safe ii breth's private room, and the writer ar magistrate with the prisoner's proposa means," said he, let us learn;" and in the room was filled with spectators. 1 knelt behind the safe, which was locked said he, at this door. It fits so tightly tha ment can be introduced into the cracks, a cannot be inserted. So far, so good. Tlu continued he, "simply sticks putty all cracks, except in two places, one at the door, and one at the bottom, where he leave- inch of space uncovered by the putty. At place he puts a quantity of gunpowder, anc out the air from the upper place, either by pump, which is the better way, or by his inoi vacuum created in the safe draws in th< through the small crack below. The ent does not occupy more than five minutes." AN AQUARIUM MANAGER AT CHURCH.- says :—"I hear a good story about the mana aquarium. The other Sunday his wife got 1. to church, where, early in the proceedings, asleep. The minister was reading the First of the day, which happened to be the 1st chi the Book of Ezekiel. As he proceeded in the o tion of the wonderful beast which the prophet the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Cheba aquarium manager moved uneasily on his Every one had four faces, and every one hat wings.' The aquarium manager rubbed his eyet the preacher went on And they had the hand, man under their wki0s on their four sides, and four had their faces and their wings.' The aqu; manager was now wide pwake. 'As for the lit of their fares, they four had the face of a man an /ace of a lion on the right side, and they four h& face of an ox on the left aide. They iiiuria^e.r ,"oS,' standing up. his wife .vainly pulling at his d 'Name your own price,he cried, disregard. marital eutreaty, 41 will take th^rthiflgj. THE WEALTH OF FRANCE.—Some idea of ordinary accumulation of wealth in France' n: gathered from the fact that there haj been lat the vaults of the Bank of France over eighty sterling, whereas England, which does vastly business, has only about thirty-four millions (saJ Pictorial World). The peasantry were always fr but now the wealthy traders and bankers are f also, and the fact that they have to pay an incom which is graduated, but is never less than seve cent., and in some cases is as high as eleven per i is a good excuse for saving. But with this acctr tion comes the difficulty of finding investments. great railway companies of France are at this pi time actually investing their enormous reS81" buying English bills, which pay them only o cent. The Bank of France discourages deposit? as it can, and whereas formerly it was glad en< receive money from outsiders, and to allow ti open accounts, now every obstacle is placed i way of doing so. Gold and silver are now so pi. that a traveller may spend a week in Paris and no. a note the whole time he is there. CARRIAGE ACCIDENT IN LONDON.—Colonel Bur aby's brougham had just changed horses last Frida, evening, and was being driven out of the Eaton square-mews to take up, when the pole suddenly broke, and its splintered end penetrated the hind tegs of one of the horses. Both horses started off at full speed across Eaton-square by Chesham-place, where the carriage came into collision with a Hansom cab and the coachman was thrown off the box. The horses, then, without a driver, came into collision with an empty four-wheeled cab, which was upset, and, in* crealfng their speed, ran through Lowndes-^quare, and crossing the Knightsbridge-road dashed through wi b- out touching the posts of Albert-gate, and th'^u jumped the iron rails within the park, which brought them on one side, and the carriage on the other side, to a sudden check, for the harness still held the horses partly to the wreck. One hovse was turned over on his back, and the other on his side, and both were seriously hurt. The coachman was so much hurt that he had to be taken to St. George's Hospital, but he is progressing favourably. HARDLY FAIR, EITHER.—A discussion is being carried on in a weekly contemporary as to what con- stitutes a gentleman and what a lady. One of the writers-a lady, doubtless—defines a gentleman a human being who possesses a man's courage and a woman's tenderness." As no one, as yet, has been able to define what is a lady, here is a suggestion A modern lady is a human being who possesses » woman's tenderness, and wears a man's clothed. lIo will that do ?—Judy. THE COST OF PARLIAMENTARY PRINTING.—A par- liamentary return just issued states that the total Rf* cost of printing the registers of county electors 0.:111 England and Wales in 1875, was, allowing for £ o £ > 17s. received for registers sold, £15,008 13s. 5d. the borough registers, after allowing £272 6s. for copies sold, cost £21,1956s. 3d. In Scotland the total net cost, allowing for JE164, 17s. 7d. for registers sold, waS £3,772 7s. Id. In Ireland, owing to the printing of the registers being in many instances included in genera contracts, no correct totals can be given. The total net cost of printing the registers, exclusive of Ireland, was £39,976 6s. 9d. ATTENDING THE WOUNDED."—A novel and IN; structive exercise has been carried on during the las few weeks in the garrison of Dresden. Detachment- of troops have been sent out almost daily, deploye into attacking formation, and ordered to against an imaginary enemy. In rear of them followed parties of sick bearers, for whose especial iJ1~ struction the drill was carried on, while further to th* rear again a number of ambulance waggons, distin- guished by the red cross, were drawn up, together with some country waggons, specially prepared to the transport of sick and wounded men. As th assaulting lines moved forward certain men were ordered to fall down from time to time as thougn wounded, and were directed to take up appropriate attitudes on the ground. After a while, the attac- having been supposed' to have been successfullY executed, the field was searched by the sick beare8. the wounded men were discovered, their injurleii temporarily and hastily attended to, and they the selves transported to the conveyance in attendanc.. Each sick bearer was provided with an album, which were plates showing how dressings should he applied in various cases, And also how means for carO' ing wounded men can be improvised out of sword-: rifles, branches of trees, and so forth. THE BOA CONSTRICTOR DESCRIBED.—Josh BILLING has been exhibiting a boa constrictor, the Procetie of the enterprise to be divided among the family. introduces the beast thus :—Uncle John, undo tail. There, ladies and gentlemen, is the wondert boy constructor, so called because he constructs many pleasing images with liia serpentine tail. 1" sea serpent is much larger, yet I think the buy con- structor could lick him, for he is full of ph?c. Prick him, Uncle John, and make him hiss. a glutton and likes to stuff himself, and then go sleep. If John didn't stir him (stir him again, John ll he would never wake up, except to bis vittles. don't knows I ought to blame him, though; cause nature is nature, whether in Boston or te rude valleys of Bengal. I have another uncle W 0 has Jived in Bengal, and a brother who has has ne been there. My uncle in Bengal tells me he n seen ten thousand boy constructors at one time, 8> frolicking in the forest, and eating each other u • My brother does not believe it, hut then hs n not seen it. My uncle may be depended upon. was a missionary once, and sold rum and 0 the Injuns. He is the only man in the world w. eyer gave liquor to the boy constructor.. Thisi the one ha gave it o. He first got it tight, then boxed him up The boy will never torgi him.