Pontypool Free Press and Herald of the Hills

A GrRACETCL EXCUSE.-William IV. seemed in a momentary dilemma one day, when, at table with several officers, he ordered one of the waiters to "take away that marine there," pointing to an empty bottle. Your majesty inquired a colonel of marines, "do you compare an empty bottle to a member of our branch of the service ?" "Yes," replied the monarch, as if a sudden thought had struck him I nitan to say it has done its duty once, and is ready to do it egain,"

DISASTER ON LAKE MICHIGAN. A dispatch from Chicago states that on the night of the 2nd instant, a dreadful accident occurred on Lake Michigan, which resulted in the destruction of one of the finest vessels on the lake. The schooner Grace A. Shannon, with 550 tons of anthracite coal, was sailing under reefed topsails, bound up for Chicago, and had approached a point about midway between Milwaukee South Point and Racine when a propeller was reported on the port bow, with three barges in tow. When sighted, the pro- peller was making directly for the schooner. The captain of the schooner made every effort to signal the propellor, but the stranger, however, kept on her course, and struck the Shannon on the port beam, crushing it in with all the planking and bulwarks sur- rounding it. One of the crew swung the ship's boat from the davits, when, a few seconds later, she gave a lurch and went down head first. Those who were found in the water were picked up. The propellor which proved to be the Favourite, from Chicago to Menomonee, hove to, and the rescued were taken abroad. It was then discovered that Alexander Graham, a son of one of the owners of the Shannon had gone down. The loss on vessel and cargo is 20,000 dollars.

LICENSED PRIVATEERING. Lieutenant Krusoff has arrived at Odessa with his volunteer torpedo cutter, the Vichtor, and has been made the subject of the following minute of the Rus- sian naval author; ties The Ministry of Russian Marine, at the express desire of the Commander-in- Chief of the navies and ports of the Black Sea, hereby orders that Lieutenant Krusoff, who has proceeded from St. Petersburg to Odessa with his own torpedo vessel, shall, during the continuance of the present war, be attached to the Imperial Black Sea Fleet, and be inscribed on the official register as com- mander of cutter No. 8. Tae Ministry of Russian Marine has also given orders that Lieu- tenant Krusoff shall receive a Government naval flag for the use of his vessel, and while on active service both he, in his capacity as commander of the Vichtor, and his midshipman-assistant, Count Stroaganoff, shall receive monthly the sum of 48 roubles (£5) a piece." This question naturally arises whether this order is not merely a device to extend to Lieutenant Krusoff's privateering expeditions some sort of official sanction, and thus to evade the obligations of Russia with respect to the declara- tion of Paris. It is, we are assured, so regarded in official circles in St. Petersburg, and if, in the event of England unfortunately becoming involved in hos- tilities with Russia, like facilities were to be afforded to volunteer expeditions of a similar character to that of Lieutenant Krusoff, it is obvious that the objec- tionable practice of privateering would be speedily revived, notwithstanding the endeavours of the Powers, by the Declaration of Paris, to suppress it.- Globe.

MR. GLADSTONE ON GENERAL POLITICS. On Saturday the Liberal Association of Salford, number- ingabout 2,000, with a contingent from Darwin, paid a visit to Hawarden Castle on the invitation of the Right Hun. W. B. Gladstone. The day was fine, and althong i at the con- elusion of the day -.t lather smart shower of rain somewlnn marred the enjoyment yet rhe proceedings wei e tho .rough;y enjoyable. The right hon. gentleman made his appearance on the terrace at four o'clock, but owing to the non-arrival of the Liberalleaders, the final proceedings were somewhat delayed. The right hon. gentleman received quite an ovation and his remarks on the Eastern Question were enthusiasti- cally received. He was accompanied by Mrs. Gladstone, Mr. W. H. Gladstone, M.P., and other members of his family. On the motion of lr. D. B. Armstrong, ex-president of the Salford Association, seconded by Mr. W. Snape, of Darwin, a cordial vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Gladstone. Mr. Armstrong said there was no borough second to Salford in its admiration of lr. Gladstone, and they had a more intense longing than ever to see him again at the head of the Govern- ment of this great country. Mr. Gladstone then advanced to the front of the terrace and addressed the excursionists. He was loudlv cheered. He said:— Ladies and Gentlemen,—Allow me to acknowledg e with great pleasure and much gratitude the warm and enthusiastic reception which you have given to the proposition just now so kindly made. I snail not for- get that you have come here for the purpose of re- creation. I certainly shall not attempt to enter upon a retrospect of my own political life, still less upon that which I am very far from eager to contemplate, and that is a prospect of further activity in political life. If you please I will leave that and your kind ex- pressions entirely out of the question, but I will say this—you are here as a Liberal association, and I am very glad that any portion of the public, be it Liberal or Conservati-e, of the larger towns should enj)N- th .se lipportunities which the rail- ways now afford for carrying them into the open air and clear prospects of the country. We have, perhaps, not given you quite as hos- pitable reception in the matter of weather as you would have desired. At the same time, ladies and gentlemen, it might have been worse. We have only had, as it were, a little powdering of rain, and I trust that none of you will suffer from it. On the part of my wife, and I am very glad to see that she has a very large share in all the signs of your regard, and on my own part and on the part of my son and family, we wish to express our sincere and hearty desire that you may all of you be in one sense or another the better for this excursion and none the worse for it in health and all the better for it in spirits, cheerful- ness, and in the energy with which you return to your duties. But now, though I heartily wish. that all Conservatives may, with Liberals, enjoy from time to time the benefits of fresh air and sun and open country—and I wish all Conservatives to enjoy it physically jmt as I wish they had a little more of it morally (Hear, hear, and laughter); yet I will say one word to you-as you have referred to the subject of your local position, in your character of politicians. And with regard to Salford, I am glad to think that, at any rate, a good odd of you voted in what I should call the right way. (Hear, hear.) It is quite plain that your party is not yet dead. [A Voice Not yet; only a little bit poorly."] I think it may be safely said that there never was an election more honourably conducted than the election in which you fought. I mean more honourably conducted by you. It is not my business to inquire into anything else—I say, more honourably conducted than the struggle with which you carried on at the last Salford election. At the same time, while very sensible of your excellent conduct in that respect, one would have viewed it with more com- plete satisfaction if it had been crowned by a proper result. (Hear, hear.) I hope you will look to that next time. We cannot say altogether that the great county of Lancaster, to which we are much attached, has taken a great interest in forwarding Liberal legis- lation of late years. (A voice,—" Shame on her.") I was once one of its members, but they sent me about my business. ("Shame; I voted for you.") How- ever, you have a very good example set you in the city of Manchester, and, depend upon it, if you are able to emulate the energy, the zeal, and the spirit of co-operation which uniformly distinguishes your opponents, the result will probably be found in a more satisfactory issue at the next election. What I should like to see is that you should put yourselves in a higher position than the Tories. I will even borrow an illustration from what I see just before me. Some of you can see it, where a youth is mounted upon the shoulders of a gentleman who is content to bear him. (Laughter.) Just see now, upon the next election, if you cannot contrive to hoist your- selves upon the shoulders of the Tory party. (Laughter.) Now, ladies and gentlemen, for the next election I trust you will be ready. I cannot help pointing out to you the expample of one of the principal towns in England, which has earned for itself a very high character by the efficiency of its political organization —I mean the town of Birmingham. (Hear, hear,) I do not wish to enter into any question about the politics of Birmingham, in so far as they are distinctive to themselves but I do say that the men of Birming- ham are men who, when they are agreed about the end they have in view, know tolerably well what means to make use of in order to attain it. I do not mean cor- rupt means. There is not a small or a great community from one end of the country to another that is purer than Birmingham (cheers); but they know how to put their shoulders to the wheel. (Hear, hear.) They know how to stand by one another. They know how to unite the Liberal Party upon a rpal Liberal and popular basis (hear, hear), and I cannot help expres- sing the wish that so far as local electoral organizations are concerned, they will be more disposed in Lancashire to take a leaf out of the town of Birmingham. (Hear, hear.) But apart from that, ladies and gentlemen, I hope we may be favoured with a quiet autumn. Last year we had an autumn of very great excitement in the country. It was an excitementwhichin myopinion, waskept in due subordination to the influence of a sober judgment. (Cheers.) I think that at that period the people of England carefully examined and came to a solid and sober conclusion before they gave way to their feelings, and that it appears to me is exactly what they mean to do to-day. (Loud cheers.) The mistake is, you know, when people allow their feelings to go ahead of their judgment. But when we heard of such astound- ing facts as were brought to our notice last year, and when proof, official proof, of these facts was made complete, I say the people of England, if they had not exhibited feeling on that occasion, would have been unworthy of their name, unworthy of their ancestors, and unworthy of their country. (Loud applause.) Well, ladies and gentlemen, I will not go back on the past, but will only say one word in regard to this autumn. As we have been told by the Go- vernment that they are preserving a strict neutrality, and as they have not thought fit to make what I should have deemed proper efforts to settle this question summarily, and without bloodshed, by the action of an united Europe, this, at least, we must keep in view-that we are not to be dragged into war, not to be enticed into this contest, for the purpose of using our influence and power in any way to contribute to the support of the most abominable Government in the world. (Loud cheers). I really believe that many members of the Government are sincerely desirous not to be dragged into that pooition, but it is just possible that these right-minded members of the Government may be outwitted by some other members of it not quite so right-minded. (Hear.) You must bear in mind that a considerable portion of the London Press —with very considerable influence, and, I am very sorry to say, with large support among the upper classes of this country—write from day to day in favour of drawing the sword of England in support of that abominable Government. I do not want to rouse angry feeling against any newspaper or persons, but I want to do this, to impress upon you, and any whom my words may reach, this proposition, that although we hope we shall be left quiet, yet we must be vigilant. (Hear, hear.) We must watch—watch for all indications of a desire or of a tendency to deviate from neutrality into action, and to lend that name of England, which to us is so sacred, to a purpose whieh we should look upon as opposed to the true interests of humanity. (Cheers.) We must watch for any sign of such a disposition, and if such signs appear then I will venture to say that there will be found those who will again do what they did last year, and Who will make a fair, bold, open appeal to their countrymen, and who will call upon the nation to declare whether it intends to have its power, its credit and its military resources employed in that manner or whether it does not. (Loud cheers.) One word, ladies and gentlemen, for the ladies are doing a great deal of good. One word I give you to carry away with you, and that is vigilance. # Look out. (Cheers.) Do not permit public affairs to escape your eye. It is necessary that we should all feel a heavy obligation—(hear, hear)—in this matter. We should all of us see what our rulers are about. (Hear.) I trust they will walk in the path they have chalked and marked out for them- selves, and if unfortunately they should be seen reel- ing, and especially reeling towards the wrong side, then I hope that the strong arm and audible voice of the country will be raised as they were twelve months ago, In order to teach them the way wherein they should go. (Loud cheers.) Now, ladies and gen tie- men, I will trouble you no longer. (Cries of Go on.") I am glad there is a prospeet for the remainder of the day you spend here that you will bù free from inclemency of the weather, I rejoice to think you should have had some pleasure in this place, from which we ourselves derive so much pleasure, and I assure you it is our desire that the pleasure should have been multiplied an hundredfold. (Loud cheers.) The company then separated, after giving three cheers to the right hon. gentleman.

Mr. Gladstone addressed from the terrace of his garden at Hawarden Castle on Monday afternoon a party of more than 2,000 Lancashire excursionists, 1,500 of whom came from Bacup, Rawtenstall, Newchurch, llacksteads, and the neighbourhood, under the auspices of the Rossendall Union of Liberal Associations, and the remainder from the West Derby (Liverpool) Liberal Associations. The excursionists, having gone over the grounds, met at half-past three in front of the garden terrace, and precisely at that hour Mr. Gladstone, accompanied by his wife and other members of his family, came out, amid immense cheering. When this had subsided a vote of thanks was proposed to Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone for their kindness, by the Rev. R. D. Holt, of West Derby, and seconded by the Rev. Mr. Nicholls, of Bacup. Mr. Gladstone, in acknowledging the vote, said,— Ladies and Gentlemen,—I am very thankful to be allowed to address you in circumstances which, if they be not most brilliant as respects the skies overhead, yet at any rate are better than some of us had been incline to anticipate about nine o'clock this morning. (Laughter.) I saw a few gentlemen who may be said to have belonged to your vanguard in Hawarden at the the time, and we exchanged signs of recognition as we passed but I really had not the heart to say a word to them in the midst of the tremendous downpour from which they were suffering. (Laughter.) However, ladies and gentlemen, when things are at the worst they will mend. (Hear, hear.) We have had an illustra- tion of that to-day in the weather, and rely upon it that will be the case also in other matters. (Hear, hear.) It will be the case with regard to the commerce and industry of this country. (Hear.) I do not say that in the present state our public affairs are at the worst, because I think they might be a great deal worse than they are; but still they are capable of being mended-(laughter)-anll I am quite persuaded that after a reasonable time they will be amended. (Hear, hear.) There was only one word in the speech —I might say, perhaps, in both speeches we have heard from our friends to-day-in these speeches there was only word with which I was inclined to disagree, and that was something or other that was 0 said about coming to the front. (" Hear, hear," and loud cries of "Yes.") You must allow me liberty of opinion, and I am sure it is the very last thing which, as Englishmen or as Liberals, you would be disposed to interfere with. At any rate, in everything else, put- ting that by for the moment, I think we very cordially «„gree, (Cheers.) I am very sorry that we are obliged somehow or other to mix a little politics with our excursions of pleasure, but it seems to belong to the habit of the country (hear, hear), andif you make some challenge to me upon a public matter, such as one in particular that has been mentioned, I won't pass it by without notice. It was a reference that was made to the state of the county franchise (hear, hear), and to the fact that a large number of persons are now deprived of the franchise because they happen to live beyond the boundaries of a borough. If they are within those boundaries, or if the borough boundaries should be extended, they would get the franchise immediately. (Hear, hear.) In former times the distinction of county franchise and borough franchise was a very reasonable distinction, and <> I will not now enter into the question whether pro- perty franchises in the counties will be preserved without bringing them into the boroughs. But this I will say, that, looking at the manner in which counties are are now intermingled in this country, and in which vast populations that substantially have the character of borough populations are spread over almost the entire face of counties like South Lanca- shire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is the height of absurdity as well as the height of injustice to pretend to stand upon the present exclusion. (Loud cheers.) I think you know the time is very near at hand when you will get that matter conceded. (Re- newed cheers.) The Government go_ on opposing it and voting against it, but the opposition they offer to it is a sham opposition. (Laughter and cheers.) I do not mean to say they are desirous to give it to you (renewed laughter), but I think they are pretty well aware that they cannot help giving it to you (cheers), and when they see that the thing must be done I think, judging from former experiences (laughter), that they will prefer your having it from them to your getting it from us. (Loud laughter and 'cheers.) But now, don't go to sleep about it, for if you go to sleep about it I think the Government will remain asleep also. (Hear, hear.) I leave the question gentleman. You have spoken of the contest which we had for South West Lancashire in 18G8. Well, our friend, Mr. Holt, has said that in the immediate neighbourhood with which he is connected we had a majority. Not only so, but this I must say with great satisfaction-for the entire hundred of West Derby. The vote in West Derby in 1868 was much better than 'in 1865, and the reason of the change is this—that in 1865 we had the hundred of Salford to carry us through, whereas in 1868 it was partly promised and I am bound to say that the hundred of Salford appeared at- that time rather to have gone backwards, whilst West Derby went forward. (Hear, hear.) However, in one way or another, by the kindness of another constituency I was returned to Parliament, and we had a Parliament which did act, and is likely, at any rate, to be remembered in the history of this country. We went in a very strong Government, and we came out a very weak Government. And how did we become a weak Government, instead of being a strong one ? I say, fearlessly, we spent our strength in serving the public. (Hear, hear.) Now, the public is a very grateful public when you can really get its attention but what we call the public very seldom attend to its own interests. (Hear, hear.) On one side commonly stand the public, and on the other side in this country stands what are called classes (A Voice.—"Publicans.") The public very seldom think seriously about its own interests (hear, hear); classes always do. The public goes to sleep; classes, even if they go to sleep at night, keep one eye open. (Laughter.) Well, it was not possible for us to deal with the measures that we dealt with and not to offend—at any rate, I won't admit that we injured (hear, hear)—not to offend and irritate some classes. You know something about what some of these classes are. (Laughter.) We are all here in good humour, and therefore we won't enter into particulars. (Laughter.) But it was by the votes of classes and by the interests of classes carried over from us to our opponents that we were defeated at that time. It is all very good. Turn about perhaps, is fair play-and for each man to have his innings. (Hear, hear.) All these are popular opinions and sentiments in this country, and certainly I think it was very good for us that we should rest, and for the oldest among us to consider whether we had not pretty well got to the end of our tether. (" No, no," and laughter.) However that may be, this is in the main a self-governing country (hear, hear), and if the country is badly governed it is the fault, we may say, of the people themselves (hear hear), and they must take the consequences if they re- turn Parliaments with which afterwards they are not satisfied. The result of this arrangement is that the people of this '.country have got already, and will, I hope, get more and more, a sense of self-reliance and self-dependence,, of responsibilty, of duty to them- selves, of duty to their families, of duty to their country, of duty to their God (applause) in the dis- charge of public functions. And it is because I have this confidence that I look to the extension of the County Franchise with such interest. Every man that we can hrmg in to exercise political functions will thereby become, as a rule, a better citizen, more interested in the welfare of this country, and better qualified to dis- charge his duties. (Hear, hear.), I will not speak now, ladies and gentlemen, about this great question of the East, upon which I have had so often to speak. But I will say one thing-I have been astonished at the manner in which the question has taken hold of the nation. Very trumpery, and otherwise rather secon- dary, questions of British interests have been set up, but there has been a convicition among the nation at large that Honesty is the best policy (cheers); that justice is a thing high, deep, sacred that honesty is best pursued by following justice. (Renewed cheers.) There has been a feeling likewise of sympathy—the sympathy which you owe not only to your neighbour in your own village, or in your own parish, but to every man, so far as you have the power to extend it to him. (Hear, hear.) It is not the -first time that I have seen the strong, deep, profound sense of sympathy and con- cern for the welfare of others possess the minds of the English people. It was so all through the controversies which ended in negro emancipation. (Cheers.) It has been so-and I must now speak for the honour of Lancashire-I am a man ready, I hope, to find fault with my countrymen when I think it a pul ilic duty- but this I say that no man who belongs to Lancashire call look backward but with the profouudest satisfac- tion on the conduct of the people of the county during the American Civil War. (Cheers.) What was it that induced the people of that county, brought a very large portion of them, almost to the verge of starvation- what was it that induced them con- tentedly to remain deprived of the raw material upon which they were absolutely dependent for the decent, tolerable comfort and subsistence of themselves and their families ? They never for one moment lifted a hand or a voice in defence of a cause which they thought to be the cause of slavery. On the contrary, they gave their strong and firm adhesion to the cause which they thought was the cause of freedom. (Hear, hear.)" What was it that led to that magnificent conduct, and that heroic self- denial! Why, ladies and gentlemen, was it not that despised thing which is called sentiment, which God Almighty has given to human nature to back up our weak convictions and give force and energy to them when they are enlisted in a cause which our reason has told us is a right cause ? (Hear, hear, and cheers.) And so it is now, for we have a cause going on which is very like the old story of the negroes. In the time of the great negro coiiflict-wliieh not many of you are old enough to recollect, but which I am quite; old enough to recollect—in the time of_ the great negro conflict we were told just the same things that are told now about the Turksc In the first place, we were told that you must not emancipate the slaves of the West Indies, for there was a great British interest in the way. (Laughter and applause.) In the second place, we were told that the planters of the West Indies were very jolly good fellows, of very good manners, and entertained you very freely when you went there. (More laughter.) So you hear now of the Turks. (Re- newed laughter.) Again, you were told that negroes were poor, pitiful, skulking creatures, and that you could not depend upon them to tell the truth, or to refrain from pilfering when they had the opportunity. (A laugh.) You hear exactly the same thing now of the subject races in Turkey and I am sorry to say this— that as in the time of the negro controversy there were a great many British functionaries and officers representing the State in those colonies who took the wrong side and opposed the interests of human free- dom, so among our Ambassadors and Consuls in Turkey (" Shame ") we have too many who are un- disguised partisans of the wrong side (hear, hear), and by whose statements you people of England-though I do not doubt that they are hqnourable men, as these men in the West Indies were honourable- (laughter)—are misled. Do not suppose that I am questioning the honour of anybody, but I am laying down this doctrine—that you will do wisely to receive with considerable reserve the statements of opinion and statements of fact that they make which do not depend upon their own knowledge. (Hear, hear.) And now, ladies and gentlemen, I am very glad to see that the masses of the Lancashire population and of the other populations of our crowded towns are desirous to get out into the country and it is a very good thing for them. I think the social life of our factory popula- tion is in many respects, so far as I can judge, very honourable to this country but I cannot .doubt or question for a moment that it is not so favourable as one could wish to their physical development. Physical development and physical education, al- though not the main purpose for which we came into the world, yet are things of great importance. These bodies that God has given us are very useful institutions for a number of purposes, and it is our duty to take the best care of them that we can. (Hear, hear.) It is delightful to see, for example, the parks now formed almost within the precincts of our great towns. Independent of the question of bodily health, I think mental health is a matter of importance. You should seize such op- portunities as may offer themselves to you of visiting the country. (Hear, hear). It is good for us all, amid the cares and tumult of life, to escape from the often fretful contact which we have with our daily business and to enjoy when we are permitted communion with Nature. English people show a great disposition to maintain this communion with nature. I thinknothing is more touching than to drive through our large towns aje, and our metropolis—and to observe in almost every window of many of the poorest portions the flowers that opeiatives and artizans rear in their win- dows to maintain this communion with nature. There is a tranquilising influence in it, there is a tendency in it to develope the understanding there is education in it. (Hear, hear.) The observation of the kingdoms of nature in all their departments is good for us in every way, and it is hardly possible that we should cultivate these habits without sometimes having our minds drawn upwards to think how fair and pleasant God Almighty made this world, which we by our follies and our sins have done so much to deform. (Applause.) The best of us make mistakes sometimes, and, ladies and gentlemen, I am now going to mention what occurred to me about an hour ago, though pro- bably no one will believe it when I name it. You have all heard the name of the poet William Wordsworth, a inali to whom England is deeply indebted for the purity, loftiness, and depth of his noble strains. There are few men to whom these later generations owe a greater debt than to William Wordsworth. But, as I said, the best of mpn make mistakes now and then. Wordsworth was ono of these who were called the Lake Poets, and he inhabited a beautiful cottage near te Lake Grasmere. In the later years of his life the question was raised whether a railway should be made down to Windermere. Wordsworth liked his retire- ment, he liked the tranquility and meditation which was favoured by the scenes in which he lived, and would be sorry to see it disturbed, and he wrote both in prose and verse against the railway. (Laughter.) He had been told that the population df the manufac- turing districts would make use of it to visit the scenery, but that he said, was all stuff. (Laughter.) He said it would probably do them very little good if they did come, while they might do a great deal of harm when they got down among the grooves and plantations and open fields and so forth. Now, for oncein hislifethe great and excellent man spoke what I would respect fully call trash. (Laughter and applause.) He was entirely wrong. The railway has been made, and great I believe has been the benefit it has conferred. (Applause.) But, gentlemen and ladies, it is very little indeed we or any single person can do to give facilities in this important respect. ("No, no.") I am afraid if any on 3 reads the commendatory speeches made by the gentlemen who have acted as your organs on this occasion they will think it is all pretence on my wife's part and mine ("No, no,") when we say we wish you to have the benefit of tie fresh air and nice scenery, and that our real motive is to hear all the kind things and all the pretty things you say of us. (Cries of "No, no.") I am not sure, ladies and gentlemen, whether even worse might not be said; whether it might not.be said that lam desirous to make a good thing out of it (" No no and laughter), for I have just had presented to me by one of your company a most excellent walking- stick. (A. Voice, "You'll get more after a bit.") I should not like to have a bit of this stick from a stout arm- (Loud laughter). It is a good one- good to look at, good to lean upon it is light in the hand, and has all the qualities of a good stick. Ladies and gentlemen, what we have to do is to strive to be as good in our own characters and capacities as this stick is in the humble capacity it bears. (Ap- plause. ) Ladies and gentlemen, I bid you farewell and heartily give you my best wishes. (Loud cheering.) Mr. Gladstone then retired.

DEATH OF DR. CONNEAU. Dr. Conneau, one of the oldest friends of Napoleon III., and his private physician, died at Porta, in Corsica, (.n Thursday in last week. He was born of French parents at Milan in 1803. While a medical student he became secretary to Louis Bonaparte, the ex-King of Holland, and afterwards he practised for a time as a doctor in Rome. After the insurrection of 1831 lie left Rome and became household physician to Queen Hortense, Louis Napoleon's mother. He joined in the abortive Boulogne invasion, shared the Prince's captivity in the fort of Ham, and contributed mater- ially to his escape. He attached hinself to the person of the Prince in England, and returned with him Ito France after the Revolution of 1848. When the Empire was established Dr. Conneau was appointed principal physician to the household. He was in 1852 returned to the corps Legislatif as a Government candidate for the Somme, and continued a deputy till made a Senator in 1867. His son and the Prince Imperial were for many years playmates. Queen Hortense left him a ring by her will, and expressed the desire that her son might never separate from him. The Emperor's friendship for him never flagged, and it is believed to be entirely owing to an oversight that no mention of him was made in his will. Dr. Conneau was liked by everybody who knew him.

EPITOME OF NEWS. BRITISH AND FOREIGN. A Bolton artist has photographed Mr. Gladstone as he appears when engaged in "felling the mighty trees about Hawarden." A wealthy lady of Paris, Mdme. Hess, has just given the mayor of the 2nd arrondissement 10,000 francs, the annual income of which is to be applied to the foundation of a prize of virtue. It is to be especially devoted to the communal girls' schools of the district, and is to be awarded to the pupil who during the year shall have been of irre- proachable conduct and given the greatest proofs of filial devotedness and piety. The latest Parisian absurdity is the fashion of intro- ducing into pieces of soap the initials and crest of the owner in red and blue.-Jfayfair. A New York despatch states that a negro who was confined in Hamburg Gaol, Arkansas, on a charge of mur- dering a little girl, was taken out of his cell by a mob who had entered the prison, and carried to a place four miles south of the town, where he was chained to a sapling and burned to death. None of his executioners are known. At Cambridge a man named James has been drowned under singular circumstances. He is a one-armed man, and it is said he accepted a bet of a shilling that he could not swim across the Cam. He made the venture, and although he raised the cry of "Murde" it was thought he was merely joking, but he was drowned. Some valuable stringe of horses, purchased at Horn- castle great horse fair, arrived in London per railway on Saturday, and are en route for France and Germany, for military purposes. A telegram received on Saturday morning by the Eastern and Australian Mail Steamship Company reports that their steamer Normanby had struck on an unknown rock on the Australian coast, and had been beached on No. 2 Island of the Percy Group. The captain hopes to save her. The Normanby is a brig-rigged screw steamer of London, built at Renfrew in 1874, fitted with five bu'kheads, 664 registered tonnage, 220ft. long, 27ft. in width, 22ft. depth of hold, and engines of 160 horse power. Notices of a reduction in wages to the extent of 5 per cent. were posted on Saturday in the principal spinning factories of Dundee. At the mill of Messrs. O. G. Millar and Co. a large number of operatives immediately struck work, and about 300 operatives paraded the streets singing and making other demonstrations. It is feared that the example thus set may be extensively followed; but in the present dull state of trade the masters are determined to enforce the reduction. The members of the Bath Rowing Club have pre- sented Charles Maynard, a waterman, late of the Thames, with a watch and a silver cup, in recognition ef his having rescued, with great bravery, Mr. Ambrose, a member of the club, who was in imminent danger of drowning. A sum of £15,151 Os. 7d. was obtained from convict labour in England in the year ending March 25— £ 1,772 5s. lOd. profit on farming, and 413,878 14s. 9d. on manufacturing department. Long sentences as well as technical phraseology were a feature of Professor Thomson s address to the British Association at Plymouth, and the closing sentence only con- tained 154 words Mayfair. At the annual flower and vegetable how of the Alexandra district, at Penge, on Saturday, the prizes were distributed by Lady Lubbock. A short address was given by Sir John Lubbock, in the course of which he contrasted the peace and security with which the exhibitors had culti- vated their gardens with the horrors of war pf which the Turkish provinces were the scene, and expressed the hope that the Government might be able to keep England out of the war, without allowing the national interests to suffer. In the last seven months the value of steam engines exported was 41,142,612 last year in the same time £ 1,124,540. The manoeuvres of the French Army will commence this year on the 29th inst., and will terminate on the 8th of September. -A ritty and Navy Gazette. Although on the average the bags made on the moors of Scotland and the North of England during the opening days of the present season have been considerably below par, yet the evidence of the general absence of disease is highly satisfactory as regards next year. The value of imports from Russia into the United Kingdom in the two quarters ended the 30th of June was £ 6,355 652, agsdnstP.4,739,148 in 1876. The exports of British and Irish produce in the first two quarters of is86 were in value £ 2,420,052, and this year £ 1,802,964. An anonymous benefactor has given jE400 to the Irish Church Representative Body, to be divided equally among poor parishes in those sees which have diocesan schemes. The average age of the eight members who died during the past session was as high as 53 years and 2 months, notwithstanding that the list includes the name of the Hon. W. O'Callagan, one of the youngest representatives in the House, who was only twenty-four. May fair. Tramways have been introduced at Naples, and it is proposed to extend one to Vesuvius A list of rentals of sh loting ground in Scotland shows that the highest valuation is that of Blackmount Deer Forest, rented from the Earl of Bredalbane by Lord Dudley at the sum of £ 4,470. At the annual licensing meeting for Windsor, the Great Western and South Western Companies applied for licences for the refreshment r oms at the Windsor terminus. Both applications were opposed by Mr. Brummel bmith, on behalf of various proprietors of hotels and inns, and were refused by the Bench. On Saturday afternoon several leading members of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals visited Birmingham for the purpose of witnessing an experiment in reference to the slaughtering of cattle. The experiment took place at Mr. Adams's-yard, Lord-street, where three horses were killed instantaneously by a small charge of dynamite affixed to each ef their foreheads, and exploded by a galvanic battery. An Order in Council notifies that the county and city of York shall, for the purpose of the next winter assizes, be united, the assizes being held at Leeds. Regulations are given for the conduct of the assize business; and it is further intimated that this and other winter assizes will commence in the course of the week ending the 3rd No- vember next. In Japan when a girl marries her teeth are blackened with a preparation of iron, and, after a while, the effect is not so repulsive as English people at first find it. An enterprising American now proposes to introduce the fashion of coloured teeth into European Society, basing his scheme on the fact that as artificial teeth are so generally worn, they may as well match, or contrast, with hair, com- plexion, and dress.—Mayfair. Pius IX. is approaching the completion of his Memoirs, on which he has been engaged for more than forty years. In preparing this work, which is being executed on an elaborate scale, his Holiness has had no aid except from Father Dresciani, one of the most learned of the Jesuits. The Pope has now handed over his autobiographical notes and accessory documents to Father Dresciani, who is to put them in order for the press. Among the manuscripts to be used in the preparation of the Memoirs is the correspond- ence of the Pope with Charles Albert, King Victor Em- manuel, Napoleon III., and the Count de Cavour. By a special codicil to his testament his Holiness orders that the Memoirs shall not be published until ten years kave elapsed after his death. A French chemist makes pills on which the name and dose are legibly printed. So the man who takes them not only gets a needful medicine, but also swallows a great deal of valuable information. Mr. Sherman, the Secretary of the United States Treasury, in a speech just delivered, stated that the Govern- ment by its funding operations since the 1st of March had saved over three million of dollars in annual interest. This, however, was a mere beginning, and he felt confident that if there were no adverse legislation, the entire debt would be converted into Four per Cent. Bonds. He furthermore believed that if the progress made since the 1st of March continued, a specie standard would be readied in twelve months. A correspondent writes :—"Persons residing in the neighbourhood of Wrockwardine Wood, of Salop, were on Saturday evening considerably astonished at the appearance of a waterspout. There was a storm of rain the previous evening. The appearance of the waterspout was iiiost ex- traordinary, as it seemed dependant from a dense black cloud, which hung over the county like a pall. It was well defined, and very distinct for nearly ten nunutes, when^ at last the rapidly whirling funnel was drawn back intoi the clouds and vanished. The weather assumed a very threaten- ing appearance at the time, but soon cleared up. A French lady suffering from a bad leg, which the doctors said must not be amputated, had it cured bywearing an old stopkin.r of the Pope's; and, in accordance with a vow, made the'pilgriniage to the Holy City, After hearing her story told most enthusiastically, the Pope i-epliel, You are most fortunate. One of my stocknigs has Iteale(I you and restored vou a leg. As for myself, I put two of them on each morning, yet I am not able to upright on my legs, and am obliged," he added bitterly, 11 to be wheeled about in a chair.Court Journal. Bv the permission of the Duke of Wellington, and at the instance of the Working Men's Club and Institute Union several members of Workmen's Clubs visited Apsley House! London, last Saturday. After a brief narrative of the career of the great duke by Mr. Hodgson ^att, the trophies, badges, presentation plate, field-marshal s batons, arul many other relics of historic interest were minutely inspected. After this the party were admitted to the Waterloo gallery and other rooms for the inspection of the portraits of the duke's distinguished contemporaries, mouarchs, and statesmen, as well as the fine specimens of the Italian, Flemish, and Spanish schools which form the collection. The visitors passed a very hearty vote ot thanks to the noble owner for his kindness. The Univers reports three miracles at Lourdes, one of them the cure of a woman who had for eight years been paralysed. Four hundred and fifty-three head of live Canadian oxen were landed at Liverpool on Monday, 322 by the steamer Istrian, from Boston, and 131 by the steamer Lake Megan tie, from Quebec. There was not a single death in either case during the transit, and on arrival the animals were in excellent condition Commander Cheyne intends trying for the North Pole, and he has secured a patron and general backer in his Majesty the King of the Belgians. He puts forward the plan of making use of balloons for the passage of the belt of icebergs and glaciers which barred out the recent Govern- ment expedition."—Mayfair. The battle of Plevna had a curious effect upon the foreign policy of the Government. Previous to the Turkish victory certain militia regiments undergoing their annua training received orders that they were not to be disbanded when the usual month had elapsed. Immediately after the Russian defeat these orders were countermanded. This strikes me as being altogether an undignified way of pro- ceeding."— Vanity Fair. "I saw several samples of new wheat on Saturday, and found the quality to be a fair average, and the oondition either bad orindifiereut. The yield varied considerably, but was miserably deficient in all but two instances, in which the report was of ten and nine sacks per aere respectively. In the rest of the cases the produce per acre was said to be six, five-and-a-half, five, three, and two sacks respectively, and in the last instance only one sack One old farmer of seventy, whose wheat had yielded five sacks per acre, said it was«the worst crop he had ever grown."—Mark Lane Ezpres*. Bristol has the honour of being the centre of impor- tation of Italian children who play a kind of concertina in the streets for the purpose of begging. It is unlawful for vessels to take such children out of Italy, but this is evaded by; adroue= marching the children over the frontier into Switzerland. "Everything was satisfactory," said an epicure pay- ing his bill at a suburban hotel, "but next time remember that the age is in the wine instead of in the goose." Speaking of Time Bargains," in his financial article a New York journalist says, The entire female portion of one of the New Bedford schools are engaged to be married within three months after graduating. A clergyman, near Portsmouth, N.H., received several days ago a iC500 cheque as a marriage fee. Two more of Wren's churches in London—All- hallows, Bread-street-hill, and St. Dionis Back-church, Fen- church-street—both rich in historical associations, are to be demolished. The death is announced of Dr. Erlenmeyer, a cele- brated spiritualist and proprietor of the lunatic asylum and colony at Bendorf, near Coblentz. His writings on mental diseases have a high reputation. A Lahore paper gives some account of a Hindoo re- former, said to be at present staying at Lahore, and drawing around him many followers. He is decently dressed, and is a theist, believing in and preaching the religion of the Vedas. He denounces idolatry, caste, and child marriage. He is bitterly opposed to all sorts of Brahminical systems," and is causing some consternation among the priests, who are losing their followers, but dare not face the reformer, who is said to be "a man of powerful common sense and strong intellect." Colorado beetles are being sold by the naturalists in the neighbourhood of the British Museum at 5s. a piece. Happily they have each a pin struck through the thorax, and are in the close confinement of a pill- box. "-Jfayfair. A young man named Haddock, a groom in the ser- vice of Mr. George Binns Ashworth, J.P., Birtinshaw, near Bolton, was cleaning an old gun, when it exploded and blew off the four fingers of his right hand. Haddock did not know that the gun was loaded. An advertisement in a New York paper offers board and lodging for two persons of some refinement, but no flummery.' The Governor of Ipswich Gaol has received a tele- gram from the Home Secretary informing him that the capital sentence on Mary Jane Brown, whose execution for the murder of her three children had been fixed for Monday had been respited, with a view to a commutation of the sen- tence. More than 1,000 pilgrims left Paris on Friday night in last week for Lourdes, together with 150 indigent sick persons, whose expenses had been subscribed for. The latest railway novelty across the Atlantic is a Turkish bath on wheels. It is a car that can run behind the sleeping coaches of an express train. It has a drawing- room, a Russian and plunge bath, shampooing rooms, and all the other accommodations of a Turkish bath house. The temperature of the rooms varies from 80 deg. to 160 deg and the compartments are lighted from the roof with blue glass. Travellers can bathe as well as eat, drink, and sleep on the rail. Such a car can be switched off on a side track in any town or village, and remain a day or two for the accom- modation of the residents. There were several samples of new wheat offering at Colchester last Saturday, the condition of which was generally very poor. Prices varied from 54s. to 64s. Farmers complained much of the yield. Information has just been received of the supposed safety of the crews of the Arctic Whaling Fleet which was abandoned last season. The master of the brig Ninandra had been informed by the natives of Point Hope that the shipwrecked men were at Point Belcher, though nothing was known of the abandoned ships. The Japanese are not unmindful of the passing phases of Western politics, especially those which concern the Eastern Question. In an influential native journal lately appeared a leading article formulating the fear that if Russia should overcome Turkey in the present struggle, her next step would be to turn her attention towards the exten- sion of her territory and swallow up Japan. Sweden is un- easy too but happily the mind of New Caledonia is undis- turbed.-The World. Another attempt is going to be made to introduce hansom cabs into Paris. The late Emperor sought to accli- matize them in 1852, but the experiment failed for a multi- tude of reasons, of which the French never mention the only true one—that is, that their countrymen are such bad drivers. Le Phare, of Dieppe, says All the world just now is at Dieppe. Never has the department of the Seine Inferieure witnessed such a varied population; every shade of political opinion is represented, irom M. Theirs, who walks about the Plage in a white hat. to Prince Napo- leon, who visits him from time to time at the Bristol Hotel. The Comte de Paris is not far off, and M. Gambetta appears in the distance, arm in arm with his friend M. Turquet, the former deputy of l'Aisne." The offertory for the half-year ending July, 1877, at St. Mary Magdalene, Paddington, amounts to the large sum of i'2,730. The Librrié announces that the will of M. Blanc, the lessee of the Monaco gaming-tables, has just been opened. He leaves a fortune of 88,000fr. ( £ 3,520,000). He bequeaths one million to Saint-Roch, Paris, 400,000fr to the poor of the First Arrondissement (Louvre), 500, OOfr. to the ecclesHstical infirmary of Marie-Therese, and other legacies to various chapels. Rinking, which has gone out in England, is just be- ginning to flourish in India. The young Maharajah of Mysore, on a recent visit to Bungalore, was initiated into the art of skating on wheels, with which he was so mightily taken that he has had a rink laid down in his palace-grounds. Mayfair. The Board of Trade have issued the agricultural re- turns for the year 1877, from which it appears that the land under wheat cultivation was 3,168,540 acres, being 5.8 per cent. more than in 1876, and 5.2 per cent. less than lSï5. The differences with respect to barley, oats, potatoes, and hops, as compared with previous years, were very slight. The total numbers of live stock reported are .5,697,280 cattle, 28,168,815 sheep, and 2,498,659 pigs, the latter show- ing an increase of nearly 9 per cent. Five young English noblemen have arrived in Copenhagen, carrying with them canoes, in which they intend to explore Denmark by paddling through the lakes. Pongo (at the Westminster Aquarium) is a me- lancholy-looking brute, and his one human attribute is in- tense fondness for all the good-looking young ladies who tense fondness for all the good-looking young ladies who visit him. He is very young, and. consequently, much below his full stature, which is said to be that of a fair-sized man but, judingfrom the progress he has made he will a long time in attaining the six feet point. A Home Rule demonstration took place on Satur- day at Glasgow. Amongst the speakers were Mr. O'Donnell, M.P., who expressed a hope that it would show the Govern- mentthat Ireland was in earnest. Ireland had conciliated the Government long enough, and they now meant to stand upon their rights. Nicholas Pallot, twelve years of age, the son of Captain Pallot, was drowned near Gorey Castle, Jersey, on Monday, while bathing. He got into deep water, and, being unable to swim. was carried away by the current. On Mondav. Mr. TjV. Payne, the coroner for the City of London' and Southwark, received information that on the arrival at the London-bridge Station of a train from Brighton, a porter had found on the hat-rail of a first-class carriage a parcel containing the body of an infant recently born. The body was removed to the St- Olave's mortuary Tooley-street. An inquest has been held at Chiswick upon the body of a young woman named Louisa Anne Osborne, who was drowned in Corney Reach on Sunday afternoon. The deceased was out for a sail with a person named Field when a sudden gust of wind upset the boat. Mr. Field supported his companion till he became insensible and lost his hold. They were both brought to the shore by some young men in a boat, but Miss Osborne never recovered consciousness. A verdict of Accidental drowning was returned. The Lord Bishop of Rochester, in the course of a sermon preached to a crowded congregation at St. James's. Hatcham, on Sunday, condemned too ornate a service as being a hindrance rather than a help to spiritual life. He hoped there were no persons in the congregation ashamed of being termed Protestants, for if the Church of England was not a Protestant Reformed Church, she was in a shame- ful schism, and ought not to have an existence. The Queen of Madagascar has, by public proclama- tion, liberated the whole of the slaves in the island. By a treaty with Ergland in 1865 she engaged that the practice of buying and selling slaves should be discontinued, but her subjects having evaded the treaty to a great extent, by pre- tending tint their slaves were purchased before the treaty came into force, the decisive step taken by the Queen has been rendered necessary. It is announced from Rome that two brigands, one being a chief, were killed on Monday morning in the BasiliJ cata. There are, therefore, now, adds the telegram, no more brigands in the Neapolitan Provinces. The latest addition to the English language is the word" suiciding." The San Franeiwo News Letter, writing the biography of a fellow citizen, says Jones felodeseed bhis morning successfully. He hymeneated three years ago, and he will be sepulchred to-morrow. On Monday, the Clio, a screw frigate, given by the Admiralty as an industrial training ship for North Wales, Chester, and the border counties, which is moored in the AleDai Straits off Bangor, was inaugurated by the Duke of Westminster His Grace alluded to the great necessity existing for such a vessel, which was dedicated to training poor and destitute children as seamen, and pointed out that the committee were putting into practice the late Canon Kingsley's suggestion, that there should be ragged schools at sea as well as on land. A bazaar was held on board, and during the afternoon the vessel was visited by 3,000 people, Bangor and Beaumaris being en fete. Mr. Wheelhonse, M.P., addressing a meeting held at Holbeck on Monday, for the purpose of inaugurating the Holbeck Working Men's Conservative Association, said there was no man who would take the trouble to look into the Blue Books who would not be satisfied that everything that human ingenuity could devise was endeavoured to be car- ried into effect by the Government in order to prevent war between the Russian and the Turk. If they had attempted to do any thing except to use diplomacy and send protocols, there was nothing else for it but that we must have gone to war. We did not intend to go to war if it were possible to avoid it, and it would seem as if the course of conduct Eng- land had pursued was almost being vindicated at this nlomen by what was occurring abroad. An inquest has been held in London, at the London Hospital as to the death of Fanny Kilpatrick, 35, the wife of a mechanical engineer. It appeared that the deceased was walking along Stainsbury-road when she was observed to be- come enveloped in flames, which consumed nearly the whole of her clothing. She was found to be fearfully burnt, and was conveyed to the above hospital, where sl died from shock the same evening. The deceased stated that, while walking on the pavement she trod upon something which ignited her drtss, but what it was she did not know. The jury returned a verdict that C'the deceased died from burns, but how they were occasioned there was no evidence to prove." A new idea has been put before the public. Why not electrify our criminals. The author of the notion, a distinguished professor, says that science can so apply electricity "as to-produce for the requisite time and for that only, under the direction of skilled physicists and physiologists, absolutely i?idescribai>!e torture (unaccom- panied by wound or any bruise), thrilling through every nerve and fibre of the frame." Electricity would thus become the universal specific. We write with it, we converse by it, we can light our eockii with it. By its instrumentality ye brush our hair. The doctors use it to cure physical disease, and now the philosophers are proposing it as a moral remedy. Electricity has been callett »iie. It has alre&uy become three-fourths of life.—Court Journal, A photograph has been taken of a woman who has committed suicide in a police oell in Paris by swallowing her two wedding rings. On a Californian farm recently, wheat which was standing in the ear at a quarter to five in the morning was eaten as biscuit at a quarter before seven, having been cut, threshe 1, ground, and baked in two hours. The Boston, Courier sf the 29th July contains the following certificate of innocence to the Colorado beetle it is the first word that has been said in his favour The potato beetle has been grossly maligned. He is not pretty, but he is harmless. In fact he has been the herald of an unusually fine crop of potatoes." General Pletinckx, who has commanded for many years the Civic Guards of Brussels, has died at Middlekerke. General Pletinckx was a Waterloo veteran. Prince Leopold has given a beautiful edition of Tennyson's works in six volumes, as a prize for the best scholar in the Grammar Sckool at Newport, Isle of Wight. The poize has been awarded to a lad appropriately named Young. The death is announced, at the age of eighty-two, of Major Archibald Chisholm, the husband of Mrs. Chisholm, the "Emigrants Fritnd," who died a few months ago. Major Chisholm seconded his wife in all her philanthropic projects, and it is stated that her death did very much to hasten his own end. A fatal bathing accident occurred at Scarboroup1 on Saturday merning. Miss Annie Ursula Walker. years, of Leeds, whilst floating was carried into d and being unable to swim was drowned. "I was talking the other day with families of my acquaintance, who for ten aT respectively have lived at Nice and Par. that they are, to their grief, now oblige5 in Russia, for that all money-payments have been so diminished or cut off tl live abroad."— The World. The magistrates of Essex, Su^ and Hants have, in pursuance of r tended the period for the preserv birds from the 15th of July to th' trates in other counties have similar provisions. The Russian Minister, just published, acknowledge ports, chiefly with regard to and oil. American advices r calamities at Pittsburg. foundry an explosion of molten who fell into the casting-pit, and up. At the Lucy Blast Furnace a sc. precipitated seven men into the burning were rescued by ropes from the top, but fl, to cinders. Recruiting has been brisker at Woolwic. past four weeks than at any other similar period ten years. The circumstance is the more remark. the fact that labour is generally abundant at the season but it is partly accounted for by a proportion recruits being militiamen, who, at the close of the training, have preferred to join the regular army rai. than return to their civil occupations. Hydrophobia appears to be terribly rampant, and since the article on "Death in the Dog" appeared in Mayfair, I have noted nine well-authenticated cases. Two of the deaths from this dread disease occurred at Cardiff, and the remaining seven at Southampton, Dalston, Shirley, Brixton, Chelmsford, Lavendon, and Mortlake respectively; the sexual proportions being seven males to two females. This black list is, of course, far from complete, for in remote country districts other cases must have occurred which did not find their way into the London papers.-Mayfair. The benefit of land-draining was never more ob- vious in the wheat crop than it has been this year. I saw one field in which the drains were marked by stripes about two yards wide, the corn there being loneer, thicker, and more forward than that in the intervals. In another field, where the wheat had been put in late and badly, and where there was a very thin crop, there was at least twice as much wheat immediately over the drains and for about a yard on each side of them as there was on any equal space in the rest of the field.-Mark Lane Express. Here is true heroism. At Dinan, the other day, a boy having imprudently ventured into the river there, and being in peril of his life, a young priest who was passing rushed to his rescue, but both were drowned. As they were sinking, an abba, eighty years of age, tried to save them, and was in imminent risk himself. He was fifteen minutes in the water, but his heroic efforts were unavailing. The sad affair caused a great sensation in the neighbourhood."— Vanity Fair. Fourteen days' notice, as agreed upon by the coal- masters of South Staffordshire, was given on Saturday to the miners of the district at the collieries at which that was the pay-day. The men, as had been expected, expressed their determination not to accept the masters' terms. A strike is therefore imminent. Mr. Chamberlain, M.P., who was arbitrator in the last strike of the men, has expressed his willingness to act in that capacity on the present occasion. "A London Merchant" calls attention (in The Times) to the very wretched state in which St. Paul's church- yard is kept. "Surely," he says, "it is some one's business to see that the grass is properly mown and the shrubs, such as they are, watered and cared for. It would cost very little (I only throw it out as a suggestion) if the clnfrchyard generally, now that it is no longer used, were turned into something attractive and ornamental, and more in harmony with our beautiful Cathedral than it is at present, with it6 weedy grasses and crumbling monuments. The mail from Manilla brings an account of the wreck of the British ship Mary Shepherd, which sailed from Mauritius on April 19, in ballast for Manilla, and which struck on a reef south of Manilla Bay about the middle of June. She broke up so rapidly that there was no time to get the boats out but the mate and 17 of the crew managed to get on shore. The master, Capt. Caroline, the cook, White, and two apprentices, named Thurmell and Smith, failed to reach land and were drowned. In the morning the sur- vivors found they were on Lubau Island, south of Manilla Bay: and in a day they were received on board a small coaster and taken into Manilla. The Mary Shephard was of 905 tons register she was built of wood at Sunderland in 1858. The meeting of the Clyde Shipbuilders' and Engineers' Association was held in Glasgow on Monday when, after considerable discussion, it was resolved to open the works pending the settlement of the dispute by arbitra tion. In thp course of the evening the following notice was posted r* works on the river :— "The workmen on strike f ated to the employers their willingness to refer I <-0 arbitration; pending this these works are workmen required at the rate of wages strike." It is estimated that already "-> £ 143,000.

THE MARKETSJ MARK-LA-E. -MONDAY. At Mark-lane to-day the grain trade has ruled quiet and weak. New English wheat was rather more plentiful, and was unsettled in value. The weight varied much, from 601b. to 641b. per bushel; for the latter 64s. was asked. Old pro- duce was drooping in value. Foreign wheat was in large supply. Sales progressed slowly, at a reduction of about 2s. per quarter. Barley was in moderate supply. The trade was quiet at about late rates. Maize sold on former terms. There was a large supply of foreign oats on the stands. The de- mand was heavy, and prices ruled quite Is. per quarter lower on the sack. Maize was quiet, and barely so firm. Beans and peas sold at about last week's prices. The flour market was dull. M ost descriptions sh owed a decline of It. per sack and barrel. METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET.—MOKDAT. The cattle trade has been much in the same position as last week. The supply of beasts was moderate. About an average number of beasts came to hllnd from our grazing districts. There was no particular feature in the trade. The demand was wanting in activity, and the level of prices was much about the same, the best breeds selling at &s. lOd. to 6s. per Sib. From Lincolnshire, Leicester- shire and Northamptonshire we received about 1,700, and from other parts of England about 200. The foreign side of the market was tolerably well supplied with beasts, Spanish being rather plentiful. With a quiet trade, prices were unaltered. The sheep pens were rather sparingly supplied. The market was decidedly firm, and the ten- deney of prices was against buyers. The best downs and lialf-breds readily made 7s. per 81b. Lambs were firm, at 7s to 8s. per 81b. Calves and pigs were quiet, at about late rates. Coarse and inferior beasts, 4s. 6d. to 5s. second quality ditto, 5s. to 5s. Gd. prime large oxen, 5s. 8d to 5s. lOd.; prime Scots, &c., 5s. lOd. to 6s.; coarse and inferior sheep 5s. 6d. to 6s.; second quality ditto, 6s. to 6s. 6d.; prime coarse woolled, 6s. 8d. to 6s. lOd.; prime Southdowns, 6s. lOd. to 7s. lambs, 7s. Od. to 8s. Od. large coarse calves, 5s. Od to 5s. 6d. prime small ditto, 5s. 6d. to 6s. Od.; large hogs, 3s. 8d. to 4s. 4d.; and neat small porkers, 4s. 6d. to 58. per 81b. to sink the offal- METROPOLITAN MEAT MARKET.— MONDAT. Owing to the heat of the weather there was very little demand for meat, and prices were somewhat easy :—Inferior beef, 3s. to 3s. 8d. middling ditto, 4s. to 4s. Sd. prime large ditto, 4s. Sd. to 5s. 4d.; prime Scotch, 5s. 2d. to 5s. 6i; veal, 4s. 8d. to 5s. 4d. inferior mutton, 3s. 4d. to 4s. middling ditto, 4s. to 5s. prime ditto, 5s. 2d. to 6s. 4d.; large pork, 3s. 8d. to 4s. 4d.; small ditto, 4s. to bs. per 81b. by the carcass. GAME AND POULTRY. Capons, 7s. 6d. to Ss. 8d. pullets, 5s. 6d. to 7s.; large fowls 4s. to 5s.; small ditto, Is. 3d. to 3s.; chickens, 28. to 3s. 3d. young turkeys, 6s. to 9s. goslings, 5s 6d. to 7s. 6d.; ducklings, 2s. to 4s. sd. ducks, Is. 9d. to 3s. 3d. fat quails, 2s. 3d. to 2s. 9d. live ditto, Is. 3d. to Is. 9d.; leverets, 2s. to 4s 6d hares, 2s. 6d. to 5s. grouse, 2s. to 4s. 9d. haunches of vension, 30s. to 50s. each forequarters of ditto, 7!d. to 8id. per lb. FISH. Kipper herrings, 6s. to 7s. 6d. red ditto, Ss. 6d. to 5s.' fresh ditto, 4s. to 5s. roused ditto, 4s. Gd. to 6s. 6d; pickled ditto. 5s. 6d. to 7s. bloater ditto, 6s. to 8s.; native oysters, 18s. to 20s.; Dutch ditto, 6s. to 7s. 6d. American ditto, 5s. 6d. to 6s. 6d. common ditto, 4s. to 10s. per hundred: crimped salmon. Is. 8d. to Is. lOd. fresh ditto, lOd. to Is. Id. kipper ditto, Sd. to lOd. pickled ditto, 6d. to 8d.; grilse, lid. to Is. 2d.; trout, lOd. to Is.; eels, 9d. to is. Id. per lb. POTATOES. Full average supplies of potatoes were on sale this mr ing, and for the better kinds trade was very good :—1 F.egents, 100s. to 130s. Essex ditto, 100s. to 115s.; f 70s. to 100s.; kidneys, 80s. to 120s. early rose, 75 per ton. HOPS. The weather is favourable for the bine, and re, conflicting, are not altogether so bad. The-b. steady, a moderate demand prevailing in certar full prices HAY. WHITECHAPEL, Saturday, August 1i.-The Hay and Straw that was on offer met with a I rather low prices Prime old Clover, 100s. to 1 85s. to 95s. good new, 100s. to 126s. Prime Hay, 90s. to 120s. inferior, 70s. to Szs. good 100s. and Straw 44s. to 56s. per load. TALLOW. s. d. Town Tallow, per cwt. 42 9 Hough Fat, per 8lbs. 1 10 Malted Stuff, per cwt. 30 6 Rough Stuff, pei Greaves G ood Dregs „ yellow Russian, new 43s. Od. per 1 Australion Mutton Tallow, 42s. 6d. Ditto Beef Ditto. 42s. Od. PROVISIONS. LONlION, Monday, August 20.—The arrivals last Ireland were lô6 firkins Butter, and 4,481 bales Ba from foreign parts, 18,480 packages of Butter, am bales Bacon. In the Butter Market there wts an imp., demand and higher prices obtained for the finest aualit. but inferior sorts met a very slow sale. Normandu ranged from 80s to 124s. best Dutch, 126s. to 128s. In the Bacon Market there was little change to notice in the demand prices were irregular according to quality. For finest light weights there was no change, but stout weights and fat meat declined about 3s. per cwt. Butter, per cwt. s. s. Dorset 134 to 136 Frieslaud 120 122 Jersey 98 100 Fresh, per doz 16 17 Bacon, per cwt Wiltshire 78 80 Irish, green, f o.b. 80 84 Cheese, per cwt: s. s. Cheshire. 54 to 74 Dble Gloucester 58 70 Cheddar. 74 80 American. 48 52 Hams: York 98 102 Cumberland 98 102 Irish 98 104 SEED. LONDON, Monday, August 20.Nothing passing yet in Cloversted, foreign samples being held too high for the views of the buyers. Trefoil was in good request at rather more money for fine qualities. New English Rapeseed met a ready sale at somewhat higher prices. White Mustardseed was in steady demand at very full rates for good samples of old. No brown offering of good quality. Winter Tares were saleable at 7s. per bushel. Canaryseed was in better request at rather more money than last week New English Rye in good condition commanded very full prices. New W mter Oats were taken freely at very full rates. Trifolium In- carnatum was offered at quite as much money; the fine- qualities commanding more attention, up to 24s. per cwt. although little sold, not being wanted until the stubbles rea-jy. Large imperial bin# teas realised nigh ratts.

The Pall Mall Gazette has the following article on the death of Dr. Conneau :— Few men have in their day enjoyed so much occult influence as he did, or used it with greater discretion he was not a person of geniu s, but he possessed that exquisite tact which is the genius of friendship, and for want of which several of the late Emperor's sup- porters-the Due de Persigny, for instance-failed to retain in the days of prosperity the confidence they had won of their master in times of tribulation. Dr. Conneau was born at Milan in 18G3, and when a very young man became secretary to Louis Bona- parte, the deposed King of Holland. Afterwards he graduated in medicine, and was appointed phy- sician to the household of Queen Hortense. He was thus, from the outset of his career, closely identified with the family of the future Emperor; and, being the latter's senior by five years, he was in a position to assume towards him some- what the position of a tutor. The young Prince from the first took kindly to him as a colupanion and no wonder, since Dr. Conneau, being imbued to the soul with Napoleonic enthusiasm, did all he could to promote his ambition and faith in coming fortune, So long as Prince Louis's elder brother was alive, Queen Hortense's favourite son dreamed hopefully indeed, but rather lazily, of the prospects that might be in store for his family. No sooner, however, did he find himself heir to the Bona- partist dynasty than his energies were roused with electric suddenness, and the raid upon Strasburg in 1836 testified to the new spirit that had been kindled in him. It is well known now what great alarm the Strasburg affair cast into the family of Louis Philippe, and how very near it was to succeeding; however, it failed, and Dr. Conneau did not play the part of those candid friends who after a failure hint that things might have turned out otherwise if their advice had been followed. On the contrary, he had advised his young master to put his luck to the touch, and, when the event had disappointed them both, he counselled him to try again. Theresult was that, four years later, a new expedition was attempted upon Boulogne, but this time the failure was more complete and disastrous than the first time, and Prince Louis, tried by the Chamber of Peers, was sentenced to imprisonment for life. Dr. Conneau had not been actually implicated in the sedition, but he begged to share his friends prison, and was admitted to the Castle of Ham on the understanding that he must submit to confinement and prison rules exactly as though he were himself under sentence. It was a magnanimous act on Louis Philippe's part to allow Dr. Conneau to continue the prisoner's com- panion but it was equally generous and touching in the Doctor to submit to a captivity which he must have found at times woefully tedious. Certainly when he was first shut up in the fortress Dr. Conneau must have reckoned that, with the money and influences which were set at work, it would be easy to effect the prisoner's escapel, but he was not long in discovering his mistake, and the joint captivity of the Prince and himself lasted six weary years. When Napoleon III. subsequently alluded to this period- which he did more often than might be supposed-he often 'said that he should have despaired if it had not been for Dr. Conneau's constant cheerful- ness. The Doctor spurred him on to study history and political economy, "just as though he were to walk straight from the prison to the throne." He acted as his secretary, writing from dictation the numerous articles which the Prince was suffered to contribute to the Journal du pas de Calais, and day after day, hour after hour, his master found in him those most precious of consolations, an imperturbably even temper and a hopefulness which nothing could dash. It has often been rumoured that when the Prince at length escaped, the authorities had connived at the fact; but M. Guizot to the last denied this, and said that the Government bad intended keeping the Prince in confinement till Louis Philippe was dead, and the Crown had passed to his heir; so that the Prince's flight caused the Court much uneasiness. It was Dr. Conneau who acted as chief instrument in the escape, procuring for the Prince the clothes of the working Badinguet, who was effecting some repairs in the castle, and afterwards making up the dummy of a sleeping figure in the Prince's bed, so that when the governor came on his nightly rounds he believed, as the doctoraffirmed, that the prisoner had gone to bed early, being unwell. For this gallant act of devotion the Doctor was put upon his trial, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment-a part of which sentence was, however, remitted. Napoleon III., having ascended the thuone, could not fail to prove his gratitude towards one whose friendship had stood the most severe tests and if Dr. Conneau was not loaded with honours, it was because he wisely declined being made a too signal object of favour. He was offered the title of Count and a seat in the Senate; but he preferred to sit as an official deputy in the Corps Legislatif and it was not until after fifteen years of loyal legislative ser- vice (during which he never once made a speech nor voted against a Ministry) that he accepted his promotion to the more august House, with- out consenting, however, to be ennobled. In the meantime he had married, and his son, Louis Conneau, who is of about the same age as the Printe Imperial, had become the companion of the latter's studies and sports, insomuch that the two were always seen together in public and private, and the lad's good-humoured brown face and dark eyes were as well known to the people of Paris as the Prince's own. Dr. Conneau continued to be the Emperor's private doctor, but he did not pride himself much on his medical science, and never undertook the responsibility of treat- ing his patient in serious cases. Perhaps he was a better physician than he seemed to be he was, anyhow, aman of surpassing modesty, whe loved to keep himself in the background, and who in accepting the functions of private adviser and friend appeared to have dropped just into the niche he was ordained to fill. When it is considered that Dr. Conneau was not a man of tame spirit, but lively, keen, and enthusiastic to a rare degree, his reserved conduct compels admiration; for it proves that he kspt his nature under control, lest by giving it the rein he should have done his beloved master harm. He might, indeed, have caused much mischief, and have sorely harassed the Emperor, had he chosen to side in any of the cabals that were con- stantly going on at Court. The Emperor was but too ready to harken to the men he liked and such a voice as Dr. Conneau's might often have guided his resolutions 1 in momentous crises. Whether the Doctor's guidance would always have been wise is another matter, for no one will contend that he was fitted to play a great part in statesmanship. But it was a virtue in him to have been conscious of this. If certain others of the Emperor's ambitious friends had understood their own unfitness as well, and had, while rivalling Dr. Con- neau's devotion, equalled his disinterestedness, it would have been well for the dynasty which they mis- served. 4 ——

THE ABSENT LANDLORD.—A curious story was recently related of how a well-known and much- respected London actor became the possessor of a house (says the Court Journal). Some three-and thirty years ago, he wished to remove to the suburbs, and in the course of his search came upon a highly- desirable residence on the south-western line. The proprietor turned out to be a Quaker, who had some scruples about letting his house to a play-actor." Notwithstanding he at last consented, but informed his tenant that he was almost immediately going abroad, and might not call "upon him for the first or even the second quarter's rent. "However, friend," said the Quaker, I shall expect thee to be ready with thy rent when I come." From that time to this the actor has never seen his landlord. After keeping the rent for some half a dozen years by him in the house, the actor, under legal advice deposited it in a safe bank, and went on adding to it year by year, till now the accumulation has made him a comparatively rich man. He has gone on improving the house and adding to its ground, until he has made it quite a little palace, and in the now improbable event of the Quaker ever turning up will be able to give a good account of his tenantship,

THE STRIKE IN THE LONDON BUILDING TRADE. For some weeks pasta contest has been going on be- tween the master builders and the masons, which has resulted in the strike of the latter. The men demanded an additional penny per hour, and that they should be permitted to commence half an hour later in the morning —that is to say, instead of six o'clock, at half-past that hour. At a meeting held on Saturday at Clerkenwell- green several employers and workmen explained the circumstances of the contention in the trade, and it was alleged on the part of the workmen that, inasmuch as a large number of them were obliged to reside in the suburbs of London for want of house accommodation, they could not easily get trains so as to get to their work before half-past six. That was not considered to be an exorbitant demand, because the men did not object to work half an hour later in the evening. The demand of one penny per hour was thought to be inconsistent with the employers' interest, considering that their contracts had been entered into without any idea of such an increase of wages being asked. Considerable dissatisfaction was expressed that the Press did not give more publicity to matters pertaining to the strike, and a resolution was come to that an independent source of information should be established for the purpose of obtaining intelligence regarding such matters. It had been denied that any of the leading firms were paying the increased wages as demanded, but no fewer than 100 master builders in London were at present paying the extra penny per hour. On last Friday not more than 1,000 men came to the office to receive the strike w'.jrg The question of the car- penters' strike at Manchester and the importation of men from America to take the positions of the men on strike was also discussed, and it was alleged that to pay the expenses from the United States to this country of men who would work for lower wages would be no advantage to the masters. No solution of the present difficulty was arrived at, and the meeting broke up.