Pontypool Free Press and Herald of the Hills

CAPITULATION OF BILEK. RAGUSA. September 17. The town and fortress of Bilek have unconditionally sur- rendered to the Montenegrins.

CONSTANTINOPLE, September 16 (1.30 p.m.) The Grand Vizier has informed Mr. Layard that Osman Pasha had beaten the Russians yesterday, the latter losing 8,000 in killed and wounded, and several guns and ainnuni- tion. The battle continues. I (Russian Official Despatch.) HEAD-QUARTERS POREDIN, September 15. The bombardment of Plevna continued yesterday. The Turkish batteries scarcely replied. Major-Generals Scobe- leff, Dragimiroff, and Prince Imertinsky have been pro- moted to the rank of Lieutenant-General.

Prince Charles of Roumania has been decorated with the Cross of St. George, and the Emperor of Russia has received the Grand Cordon of the Star of Roumania. Representations have been made by the British Govern- ment to the Greek Government respecting the armaments of the latter. Allusion was made to the disquieting effect which the attitude of Greece has produced at the Porte, aud the question was asked if the Greek Government would undertake not to make jyar against Turkey, or to favour the insurrection in the frontier provinces. To this M. Tricoupis replied that he had already given assurances to the British Minister at Athens that Greece did not intend to declare war against Turkey, and that this was all which the Porte or any other Power acting in its name was justified in ask- ing. M. Tricoupis added tliat Greece could not renounce her freedom of action without prejudicing Hellenic interests. The blunders of both Turks and Russians in this campaign are unequalled in the history of warfare. A success by either side is certain to be followed by some suiciual attempt which more* than neutralizes all that has been previously gained with heavy expenditure of blood. 31he brilliant success of Lovatz was followed by a series of in designed, disjointed assaults upon redoubts at Plevna, which should have been taken by semi-siege approaches. Brute force was substituted for the intelligent use of artillery, spade, and rifle, judiciously combined to insure success at the smallest cost in human life, and a holocaust of mangled humanity was offered up to the inefficient help- lessness of the General Staff Departments of the Russiau Army The Turks have done no better. Not content with their successful resistance to the ill-planned Russian attack, they have senselessly dashed their brave soldiers against the great redoubt until they have left one-sixth of their army before its blood-stained parapets. It is a misnomer to call this conflict warfare; it is simply a gigantic massacre, where the brave fellows on both sidts who carry the rifle are entangled in a hopeless slaughter by chiefs who can only succeed in getting them together where blood flows like water, but are utterly incapable of direct- ing in an intelligent, much less scientific manner the human forces mangling each other in frenzied confusion. In these circumstances, all calculations and forecasts are simply waste of time."—Bucharest Correspondent of The Times. The defence of Plevna by Osman Pasha has stamped that General's name high on the scroll of military fame. His per- ception of the value of the position, the energy and rapiaity with which he converted an open town into a formidable fortress, the coolness and courage with which he has resisted a long bombardment and a desperate assault, and his just appreciation of the exact moment at which to abandon the defensive and deliver an attack, establish him aR a com- mander of no ordinary capacity.The Times' "Summary of the War." The Constantinople Correspondent of the Standard saysi:— A rumour has been in circulation for several days that the Sultan had opened some negotiations for peace directly with the Emperor of Russia. The rumour was evidently devoid of all foundation, but it has arisen from a matter of fact. Ahmed Veflk, before being sent to Adrianople, had sug- gested to the Sultan the idea of treating directly with the Czar on the question of peace, pretending to be assured of the success of such a negotiation, that is to say, that an honourable and advantageous peace could be obtained. He offered himself as an intermediary. This project, stiange and impracticable as it was, misled the Sultan, who only abandoned it on the formal opposition of all his Ministers." We learn from a very good source that the Czar and the Czarewitch intend to return to St. Petersburg as soon as the movements now going on in Bulgaria shall have been brought to a successful issue. Some may regard such 3 step on the part of the Emperor and his son as an indication of coming peace. But it is well not to be over sanguine on that head. Opinion on the Continent, and also in Russia, inclines to the idea that a second campaign will be entered upon next spring, and in view of this contingency there will be councils at St. Petersburg for the purpose of making fresh appoint- ments to-the chief command of the army, the Government having at last convinced itself that the Russian generals now in supreme command are wanting in the necessary intelli- gence. If we are rightly informed, General Kauffmaun and other officers of Khivan celebrity will be placed in im- portant positions at the Russian head-quarters."— Whitehall Review. @ne of my correspondents, whois with the headquarters of Suleiman Pasha's army in the Shipka Pass, writes me as follows There can be no doubt that the Russians' means of bringing up almost unlimited reinforcements to replace their losses places them at a great advantage over Suleiman, who is dependent on a line of railway sixty or seventy miles distant, across two ranges of mountains, and with no tele- graphic communication closer than the nearest railway station. Even in the Spanish army a gutta-percha. covered wire used to be run out, and the troops thus placed in direct communication with the capital and military QepOts. Here, in the Turkish army, nothing of the kind exists, a pole tele- graph alone being in course of constrnction: Whitehall Review. "Day after day great masses of men dash from the Rus- sian lines, are received with withering volleys by the Turkish troops who are formed behind the intrenchinenta, and then, after a desperate combat, are driven back, only to renew the hopeless fight again and again. All the more intellectual operations of warfare are absent; we hear of nothing but headlong valour and marvellous bravery. Each day brings such a tale of slaughter that other great wars seem bloodless compared with this. As many men already lie dead in and around Plevna as have fallen in the whole course ot some considerable campaigns This is not one of those wars which are fought to settle some point of honour or of minor interest. It is a contest between two races, influenced by hereditary and mutual animosity. There is not a Russian but believes that his country must some day fight to the death with Turkey. Both Russians and Turks have been prepared by centuries of religious and national hate for the contest. The Russians, we dare say, are now sorry that they struck at this particular moment. They may think that they ought to have wasted until even the military organization of Turkey had fallen to pieces, until their own army had been better armed and their officers better educated. They may believe that they have committed an enormous blunder The advance of the Russian armies has made thousands of Bulgarians com- promise themselves by expressing sympathy with the invaders, or by giving them direct aid. It has done far more that, for it has laid the whole of the Christian popula- tion open to the charge of active disloyalty. Thus every Mussulman who has a grudge against a Christian neighbour can practically sentence him to death; the hordes of Cir- cassians are but too likely to repeat the horrors of Batak; and the Government would perhaps be unable, even if it were willing, to resist the demand of the Mahomedans for vengeance against the people who, they would naturally say, were the real cause of the war."—From a leader iu The Time*.

THE HARVEST IN FRANCE. The Ojjicial Journal haa published a series of tables setting forth the yield of com iu 1 ranee for the pre- sent year. They show that the harvest has been good or sufficient in the regions of the north, centre, aad east. Had it been similar in the west (Galignani remarks) the year would have been altogether good or the part of France which extent Is from the north of th3 Chareute and fronftihe Jura, by itself alone, pro- duce i two-thirds of tk»- ordinary food supply of the country, and the yield the other half of the territory is not. of great importance. The cleficit in the west, and especially in the departments where culti- vation makes the gjieatest progress such as La Vendee, 'iNTaTue..et- Loire, land the Sarthe will be the only cause of our relative scarcity in 1377 and the beginning of 1878, with the exhausted state oj our granaries; tpd reason exists for believing that the importation of.Fome wheat will be necessary, at first, to re-establish V-,9 equilibrium. But that importation -wilt not have to be made by masses, and will not be difficult, notwithstanding the closing of the Eastern markets, where the Turkish, Slav, Roumanian, and Russian, armiefl will consume, on the spot, the fine crop to oe found there. An abundant year was counted upon throughout Europe. The circumstances of the late ripening ot the wheat, and the threshing not yielding well, have reduced the general harvest below the rank which had been allotted to it. However, enough corn has been housed almost everywhere to fully satisfy local wants and to send to points where a deceit may exist. The usual demands of England will be met by the exports from America, which has a good harvest. In fine, we should not have to complain, upon the whole; of the situation if the secondary cereals and the smalle r grains had behaved like the wheat but the yield of rye i3 middling, and barley not better. Fortunately, hay for the anipaab is plentiful, and the whole crop of wheat may be applied to the support of man. The harvest is about an ordinary one, and only ten years age we should have considered it as quite sufficient.

liJistc!hi-rcous Intelligence. HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL. THE POPE'S HEALTH.—The Correspondent of The Times, writing from Rome on Sept. 12, says The Vope is still living, but an almost universal conviction prevails here- that his end is near. His ordinary medical attendant. Dr. Ceocarell. the only one remaining after the dimitsai of Dr. Peagtillo, fouudhim greatly exhausted by the visit of the pilgrims from Angers, and was bidden not to absent himself from the Vatican during tl1" night. It seems also that in these extremities the reluctance ot the Pope himaelf and of his medical adviser to call in Dr. Lefevre from --a specialist in the matter of swollen legs—has been overcome by the powers now ruling at the Vatican, so that the consulting physician ipay be daily expected. ANOTHER BOON.—Individuals of festive habits, who experience difficulties with the latch-key when they come home after midnight, will be pleased to hear that a French chemist has succeeded in producing a paint with which to illuminate the numbers of street do )rs at night. Figures traced with it shine so as to be read through the most profound darkness and the prepara- tion of the compound is said to be simple, inexpensive, and not injurious. Moreover, there is thg advantage that by this* Cleans whatever shine^attends his returj»f prodig»l few*-xtjfcgjfrH to inmseMi Judv. AN AMERICAN ON ENGLISH FARMING.—Th« Mark Lane Express says: "A correspondent of the Phila- delphia Prtss, who has travelling in this couAtry, has published a strange account of English farming. Of course some of his statements are correct; but they are only correct of the worst-farmed districts. The writer evidently described some of the most backward districts, as he says that there are very few' large farms, that grass is nearly all cut with scythes, and that very little, labour-saving machinery of any kind is used. He also njjakes the absurd statement that farmers are afraid t$use machinery because of the offence it might give to their men, and of the possible revenge which these might take in the way of burning stacks and barns! This state- ment he heard from an English farmer; but "one swallow does not make a suxx)mer." He further describes the land of England as covered with weeds of various kinds, a description which truly applies to too much of it. Altogether, be sees nothing to admire in our farming, and declares that Americans have nothing to learn from as. This is like Yankee modesty. We are not ashamed to admit that we have learned much—though chiefly in the way of the adop- tion of labour-saving machinery—from the American farmers. In most other respects, unless they are much belied, they are vastly behJad us. Indeed, it is only necessary to read the American agricultmal papers to see this for they axe half-filled with discussions on the elements of agriculture which our grandfathers settled for us." A SMALL ECONOMY.—IForM says A piece of economy on the part of railway companies is likely to lead to infinite inconvenience, if it is not at once stopped. Formerly, on the first of each month, at every railway station there was a freshly-printed clean bill of trains which you knew you could depend upon. Now you frequently find a little slip pasted in the corner of the bill—and generally quite out of the ken of the short-sighted-saying The. 8.35 down will start at 8.20, the 2.45 from Diddleswick will stop at Slushborough, an- i the 3.15 has been taken off alto- gether.' This gives you a nice little puzzle to work out, and it generally ends n your mining your train and losing your temper. Of course every station ought to have a clean new bill of trains every month. For, even supposing there are no alterations, the bill, by reason of the greasy thumb marks of the British ex- cursionist, becomes well-nigh illegible by the end of the month/' ADVERTISING IN 'FRISCO.—'The ladies of Dr. Scott's choir on Post Street, San Francisco, are some of the fairest belles in the city- To gaze up at that choir and watch those angelic faces and listen to those seraphic voices would fit the dull soul of a gelatinous protoplasm with joy. Yet these golden-haired darlings are not agreed upon every subject, although there is one question about which they are unanimous. It is that Emerson Corville and Co'e fresh canned salmon has no equal in the world. It is put up in one-pound cans, from the catch of 1877; and forwarded direct from the Collinsville Cannery at 415, Pine-street. EDWIN AND ANGELINA. AngelinA; on wedding trip) Oil, Edwin, when you* sit thus, gating upon the mighty deep, does it not have a strangely soothing effect upon you?—[It has made Edwinav, f'll'y hungry, but he does not like to mention udt>. A "BAD NILB.The.Alexa.ndria Correspondent of The Times says that it is now almost certain that Egypt is to suffer all the evils of a very low Nile. The river has barely reached the level of 17 cubits, and at least 22 are required to make a good river. The Blue Nile and the Atbara are always the first contributors, and they have brought all that Abyssina can furnish while the White Nile has not, as usual, brought the second impetus, which usually continues the supply. On the contrary, the rise at Cairo has stopped, and the river has even, slightly retreated. Its volume at Khartoum shows that there must be tome further rise, but it will not suffice to make up the defi,-i-ency.-The correspondent then proceeds to consider what loss the country sustains hv what is technically known as a I; hll.rl Nile." ELECTORAL REVISION.—An official document has been issued showing the total coat and other charges connected with the printing of the register of electors in the counties and boroughs of England and Wales. In the EngKfh aud Welsh counties, where there were last year 850,587 Sectors, the net cost, exclusive of the payment of the barristers, was £ 15,003; and in borough", where there were 1,514,716 electors, the expense was £21,195, making a cost of upwards of 236,000, added to which was some C30,060 for the Courts of RevisLm. BOAT ACCIDENT.—A serious accident occurred at Exeter on Saturday evening, resulting in the death of one person and m the narrow, escape froin drowning of from fortv to fifty other?. A series of rowing matches was lield in the afternoon at the Quay, and. it is usual on "uch occasions for the captains of vessels which may happen to be lying there to adrait people on board on payment of a sma.ll fee for the purpose of obtaining a better view of the sports. A-ressal iying near the Quay,the Aauila.of Goole, Capta.in Wili;()n, wa.scrow- d id tlfl whole of the afternoon. The rowing matches were over, and while soma men were climbing a greasy pole for a leg of mutton, the pole being rigged horizon- tally from the side of the vessel, she suddenly listed over, her beam-end being brought almost down to the surface of the water. About fifty ptrsons, many of them women and children, wwe thrown iii+ o the river. The vekael righted herself almost immediately, and as she did so the water along tide her was dotted with the bodies, of men and women struggling for their live*. There were, of course, a great many bcatt at hand and many of the people wore picked up almost imme. diately. A gang of men then.act to work to drag the river. It was feared that many of those immersed ha cl. g,Hlt. to the bottom, but although- the dragging was carried on with great care until after dark only one body w&? recovered, iiiiA of ft boy aatatid Yardiey, AMERICAN LIVE STOCK AND FRESH MEAT.—An unusually large number of live stock was brought to Liverpool last week from the United States and Canada, while the qaantity of fresh meat landed was in excess of recent arrivals. Four steamers arrived, three from Canada, bringing collectively 507 head of oxen and 780 sheep, and another steamer from Boston arrived with 324 cattle. The animals, when landed, were in fine condition, the accommodation on board the steamers for their transit being of the most com- plete and excellent description, and it is expected that during the coming winter the weekly supply will be largely increased. Two consignments of fresh meat arrived, comprising 1,484 quarters, while of fresh butter the quantity was 2,900 packages. A new feature was introduced into the food supply from America by the arrival during last week of twenty large fresh fish. MACKEREL SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO AND NOW. It would seem that 75 years ago mackerel must have been a very rare delicacy. The fishing was conducted without the least enterprise, and the take was always very small. The smacks during the soft spring months were often becalmed at sea till the fish were spoiled, and when they did come to land there was great difficulty and expense in sending them away by coach in good condition. It was natural, therefore, that they should be looked on in London as rare fish and com- mand high prices. Still, making all these allowances, we are not prepared to find in the chronicle of the Annual Register for April 11, 1803, such a statement of prices as the following gives us, remarks the Meat and Provision Trades' Review "April 11, 1803.—For the first time this season nine mackerel were brought to the beach at Brighton, which were immediately purchased for the London market at 6s. 6d. each. On the following day (12) another boat arrived with 28 more, which were bought with equal avidity at the same price. On Thursday (If) another boat brought 93, which fetched after the rate of £ 40 per hundred. Not a single mackerel has been retailed here, but all have been sent off to the metropolis." What a change we do see here; Mackerel is now, thanks to st. am, so abundant as to form in the sea- son a staple and most nutritious article of food for the poorer classes. This yew the best were as low in the market on the last Bank holiday as to be eagerly sold at the rate of four a penny. DEFINITIONS IN GEOGRAPHY. Many of the candi- dates stumbled over the definitions in geography, and very few, indeed, knew really what zones and water- sheds are. One girl, I remember, thus defines a water- shed—' A watershed is a mountain, or the backbone of a river.' Another, a watershed is a reservoir where ships lie.' Another says, We mean by a watershed that the land near the river or water is shaded by the water.' Another asserts, that a watershed is the part of a body of water which is divided into two by a point of land.' One poor girl, in attempting to de- scribe the Scotch lakes, speaks of Loch Katrine being famous because it was the residence of Scott's Lady of the Lake.' "-From School Inspector's Report. SIMILAR, THOUGH DIFFERENT.—A sailor should always be frank and honest, open and above board," says a contemporary. Perfectly true-more than that, he should never be overboard either, which, though it sounds like being above-board, is not the same thing by any means.—Judy. THE MEETING OF TWO DIPLOMATISTS.—The White- hall Review says A friend of mine, who is staying at present at Gastein, writes me that not only is Prince Bismarck there, but Count Beust as well. You would naturally think that the two statesmen would shun each other, since there is certainly no love lost between them. But-diplomatic wonders never cease. Shortly after. Prince Bismarck's arrival at Gastein Count Beust went to pay him a. visit. The Chancellor hap- pened to be out at the time, so Count Beust simply left his card. The Count had hardly got a dozen steps when whom should he meet but the Prince. The two B.'s embraced and kissed each other most cor- dially and went arm-in-arm to the hotel. Need I tell you (adds my friend) that all who witnessed this extraordinary scene were struck dumb by what they -saw." AMUSING STORY.—An amusing story comes from the Ardennes, where, according to the tale, an agri- culturist recently died, leaving a wife, a horse, and a dog. A few moments before his death he called his wife to him, and bade her sell the horse, and give the proceeds of the sale to his relatives, and to sell the dog, and keep the money thus gained for herself. Soon after the death the wife went to the market with the horse and the dog, and exhibited them, with the an- nouncement that the price of the dog was 500 francs, and that of the horse 5 francs. The passers-by stopped and stared, and judged the woman mad, more espe- cially as she informed all would-be purchasers that to buy the horse it was necessary to buy the dog first. At last a curious passer-by concluded the bargain after which the skilful woman handed over five francs to the family of her deceased husband, and retained 500 francs for herself, thus contriving at the same time to carry out the letter, if not the spirit, of the wishes of her husband, and to secure the largest sum of money for herself. AN HISTORICAL RESIDENCE.—The hotel at St. Germain, known as the Pavilion Henry IV., in which M. Thiers breathed his last, was built in 1598 by the monarch after whom it was named as a residence for Gabrielle d'Estr^es. At first it was called the Chateau Neuf, to distinguish it from the palace of .St. Germain in the immediate neighbourhood. A great part of the original building has disappeared, but the restaurant, in which so many good dinners have been eaten by Parisians and so many bad ones by English tourists, occupies the site of the font at which Louis XIV. was baptised, the son of Louis XIII. having been born in the ancient palace and baptised in the chapel of the Chateau Neuf. In his early years the Grand Monarque had a great partiality for St. Germain, but he found the palace too small for his requirements, and when Versailles was built he deserted it altogether. It was said that one reason which induced him to abandon St. OorCnalu -nrno fetrofc from 1>ne terra-Co Kin cyoo always lighted upon the towers of St. Denis, which was the burial-place of the French kingg-, and the Grand Monarque did not care to be reminded that he, too, was mortal. Neither Louis XV. nor Louis XVI. resided at St. Germain, and the latter sovereign gave the Chateau Neuf to his brother the Comte d'Artois, by whom it was partly demolished. He intended to rebuild it, but never did so, and the buildings which remain are pretty much as he left them. Vanity Fair. COMPLIMENTARY !—It is related of the Hon. B. F. Moore, "the father of the Bar" of North Carolina, that when Mr. Clay visited that State he was selected to deliver the welcoming address to that statesman. He exerted himself in the preparation he called on a r friend, Mr. Simmons, in order to read it to him. "Well," said Mr. Simmons ironically, "I suppose you wish me to criticise and correct, being an educated and scholarly man?" "Notthat," replied Mr. Moore, but to see how it will strike the vulgar mind." A GALLANT OLD GENTLEMAN.—The Emperor of Germany is adjudged, by common consent of the fairer portion of humanity, to be quiet the nicest old gentleman in the world. Here is an illustration of hii-excessive amiability, which comes to me first-hand (says Whitehall Review). The other day there was a great review in Berlin, and some English ladies who were talking to him expressed their intense desire to witness the evolutions. Now the Kaiser, who has the keen eye of ardent youth for female beauty, is known to a little coterie to be a great admirer of one of these ladies, and when he heard her request he announced his intention of complying with it to the best of his power, more especially as the day of her departure from Berlin was fast approaching, so, taking up a card, he wrote upon the back of it with his own Imperial hands directions to the military police to place tne two English ladies in the best possible position, and as near as might be to himself. "I shall J>e 01a hone- back," the gallant Kaiser added, but do not look at me, or you will see my eyes full of tears at the thought of your leaving us COST OF PRODUCING WHEAT. Mr. Mechi can turn out a good sentence as well as a good field of wheat. Writing the other day to a correspondent in Ireland, who wanted to know how it was that whilst corn was got in at 12s. 6d. an acre at Tiptree Hall it cost £ 1 lis. 6d. in the neighbourhood of Dublin, the veteran agriculturist took occasion to observe The history of the cost of producing a quarter of wheat, derived from every county and district of the United King- dom, would be a useful, astounding, admonishing, and awakening document. "-Itfayfair. DEATH FROM FRIGHT.—A Mr. Miller and his wife, acred 50 years, were a short time since residing at Rust- chuck, on the Danube, and during the bombardment of that place Mrs. Miller was much frightened. She and her husband were sent to England by the British ConsuL After her arrival in London she became so prostrate that she had to be removed from Walworth- road to St. Thomas's Hospital, where it was found she was suffering- from shock to the system. Airs. Miller expired on Friday, twenty-four hours after her admission, the cause ofdeath being the fright she had received through the bombardment. THE Hop CROP.—The hop crop this year, while it certainly will not be a very magnificent one, will, generally considered, lie fairly good. Inmajiy places, especially in Kept, the hops are coming down very light, and the grounds are speedily cleared in some gardens the prospects of anything like a remunerative yield are so bad that the gardens will not be picked at all. As regards the question of quality, the crop will be of about an average character. There will be plenty of good hops, and no doubt there will be no lack of inferior qualities. Still, there is not much reason to complain on this score. The districts of East and Mid Kent will not produce a large crop- hardly so large as that of last year; Surrey and Hampshire do not show any material difference; but Sussex will undoubtedly have a larger production. The accounts from Worcestershire are favourable, and there also the yield will be larger this yearBrewers1 Journal THE STRIKE OF THE CLYDE SHIPWRIGHTS.—The dispute with the shipwrights on the Clyde, which has lasted for nearly six months, is now approaching a termination. At a recent meeting of masters an ad- ditional effort was made to obtain a settlfemefct of the question by arbitration. They offered to submit it to the decision of impartial judges on the basis of the state of trade on the Clyde. On Monday evening a mass meeting of the shipwrights in the Glasgow dis- trict was held, and, after a deliberation, it was agreed to accept the offer of the masters. It is now expected that the men will resume work, but before this can be done. a document is tp be drawn up and signed, binding both employers and men to adhere to the decision of the arbitrators, who have power to call any evidence they may consider to bear on the matter. VAIN REGRET.—It is most unwise to let ourselves be brought to anchor by any gloomy thoughts. Anybody may do s» who is mad enough for it. Reckon over tne things that have happened to you, except you have been unusually fortunate, in the last ten or twenty years, and you may in ten or twenty minutes come to regard yourself as the most ill-used creature on the face of the earth. Losses of goods, real or personal, failures and countless disapP-Ointment-why) it you contemplate these in the lump,' and theise only vou future catches the same tinge, and then in what a black atmosphere may you imagine yourself to be living! But it is an untrue estimate. x orget those things" which are behind, and reach forth to those things which are before." Is not the whole of the hope and the whole of Heaven before you? Never dream that Heaven need be among the things that are left behind you and lost. Be not faithless, but believing, and then all happiness is before you and lies within your reach. You may yet be 'more than con- Jueror through Him that loves you to the end."— 'r<m "4 Pooka of Febbte" ty W. Pktipot,

ur ifonkitt CorrespffiriJtict„ .\Ve deem it right to state that we do not at all times aéntüy ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.] Many remember the scenes which "took place at Portsmouth early in the yeaT 1854, on the departure of our troops for the Crimean War. Nearly forty years had elapsed since were enga^ id in active hostilities with a great European row and during that period had bet!n looked upon as a kind of playground, in which iiitsu passed their lives without any thought of ever bf*;ng wwled upon to do serious work. Suddenly a appeared in the eastern horizon. At first it was t.W T-ig 1-ti a man's hand men had a vague idea that taero was a dispute between Russia and Turkey respecting the possession of some "Holy Places; but tiiere was rut a notion that it would involve five nations in war, and that England would break he- forty years \)f peace to join France, Turkey, and Sardinia in beat- ing back the advancing might of Russia. A new genera- tion has sprung up since that time which can scarcely understand the warlike feeling which then spread amongst the people, and assisted them cheerfully to pay a fourteenpeuny income-tax for the pleasure of beating the Czar. Punch came out with a patriotic ode to the British lion, beginning with these lines :— They 've roused thee, then, at last, Thou old majestic beast; Did they think thy strength had passed Because thv roar had ceased And so our soldiers left Portsmouth amid the playing of bands and the weeping of women and children, who knew too well that many of the occupants of those stately troopships standing out to sea would never re- turn. More of the gallant fellows perished in the trenches before Sebastopol from cold and hunger than from Russian bullets and in the vast cemetery out- side Sebastopol a tale of the scourge of war is told even unto this day. Those who can recall the memories of those times find indelibly stamped upon their minds the scenes in the market-places of the towns on the publication of the lists of killed and wounded; news would come of a great battle, such as that of the Alma or at Inkeraan, and then the anxiety of the re- latives of those who were on the scene of the conflict was intense. The Crimea was 3,000 miles away, and even after the commander-in-chief of the army had as- certained the names of those who had perished or were maimed and missing, there was that great distance to be traversed. On the arrival of the steamer bringing the despatches, these were forwarded to the War Office, and the lists were printed with all possible des- patch. Notice was given by telegraph to all the post offices that the lists would appear on such a day, and on their receipt by the postmaster they were placed in a conspicuous part of the town or village, as the case might be. Alma, Inkerman, and the attacks upon the Redan made these lists of portentous length and on their appearance in the market places, crowds gathered to look at the names—crowds composed in great part of the agricultural population who had sons, brothers, or husbands in the army. The large majority of these poor people were unable to read, so they would ask some one who could to turn to such a regiment, and look for the name of-say, Robert Gordon. The person appealed to first turns to the list of dead, runs over it, turns round and says, "Not amongst the killed But the wounded make a far longer roll. Some time is spent in examining that, and the reader actually finds the name asked for. "Wounded severely I Then the mother, the sister, or the wife turned away with an aching heart. Such scenes have just been enacted in the countries now at war; the sounds of martial music are no longer heard in the streets and squares of the cities; for with Shipka, Plevna, an t the Lom are incidents Which fill the air with murmurs That increase at every breath, Of sounds that tell of battle, CM victory and of death." Way. we have been told, is a game which were sub- jects wise kings would not play at; but it is difficult at all times to apply this dictum. Parks and open spaces have been justly described as the lungs of great cities and the Metropolitan Board of Works has of late years rendered good service to the London public by laying out new streets with as much room as possible, and trees are now planted in many of the principal thoroughfares. It will, how- ever, take London some time to be equal with Paris in this respect; for the annual cost of keeping in order the trees, shrubberies, and seats upon the boulevards, and in the public squares and gardens of the French apital, is nearly 280,000. It is estimated that the es in the avenues and the boulevards exceed 80,000 number; there are over 10,000 in the cemeteries, more than 8,000 in the squares and courtyards of ous buildings. There are also more than 8,000 ,s for the accommodation of the public. The Bois Boulogne covers 2,180 acres, and in summer 20,000 3ic feet of water per diem are used, to lay the dust, dthfT 25,000 cubic feet going to feed the ponds and scades. The Bois de Vincennes covers 2,300 acres, id consumes nearly 50,000 cubic feet of water per em. The people of Paris are not without reason oud of the parks and open spaces of their beautiful ;y. Pictures in the illustrated newspapers, even when iJiere is no famine in Iniia, generally represent the Hindoo as possessing a very attenuated frame, and this seems to be accounted for by his making rice the staple of his food—that foed, the failure of which has caused the present distress. Rice is very much less nutritious than wheat, and the 75 per cent. of starch which it contains do not go far towards keeping up the human frame. It is not a flesh-forming substance and unlike wheat requires an immense quantity of rain to make its growth successful. Drought never bred dearth in England is a well-known saying, for in that long, hot summer of 1868 the harvest was a Splendid one. But in India, as we have seen over and over again, let there be a drought, and the rice crop fails, involving vast populations in hunger and starvation. Why not then attempt the cultivation of wheat in India, many have asked, taking it for granted that the soil and the climate are alike suitable. The answer is that the Hindoos are III very peculiar people to deal with. The objections of the :epoy soldiers to the use of greased cartridges was the cause put forward for the mutiny of twenty years ago, and the Hindoo of to-day religiously believe in rice. He would be quite as horror-stricken at the thought of cultivating wheat as at the idea of eating animal food. So he keeps on with his rice, and no experience seems to teach him that so long as he makes it the staple of his support, famines are inevitable. The comparative merits of the partridge and the pheasant afford ground for many a gossip over a dinner table by shooting parties in the autumn. There can be no doubt, however, upon one point, that partridges have many enemies, and are exposed to more dangers than pheasants. The latter, being better preserved, have little to fear from an ordinary gun-carrier venturing into a gentleman's plantation; but partridges can be got at with much less fear of detection. They are plentiful in the barley-fields, and are easily netted, whilst pheasants can hardly be taken except by shooting them, and this often involves discovery. Ibe perils which beset the partridges take no heed to the charm which the bird adds to country eeenerytr. A covey trotting along a hedge- side in single file is a wonderfully pretty sight, and their anxlpus call when the fresh dewy sunset of September is just coming on is one of the most agree- able sounds of an autumnal evening. It is a sound welcome enough to the dwellers in large cities, who have snatched a week or two from work to spend it amid the fields and the trees, "far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife," as the poet Gray puts it, where, during the rest of the year, they are in the midst of the full tide of a great traffic, and hear nothing but the roar of bustle arising from the pre- sence of an immense population. Dr. Hullah's report to the Committee of Council on Education on the progress of musical instruction in Great Britain is full of interesting matter. In de- tailing the incidents of his fifth annual inspection of the training colleges, and of his examinations of the students in music, he states that the number of the latter was unprecedently large, and the quality of the instruction given in the colleges continued to improve. As to the possibility of enabling students to become satisfactory teachers of singing by note, Dr. Hullah points out that it would involve a sacrifice of time which the colleges are unprepared to make, and an amount of labour on the part of the students which it is unreasonable to expect should be long sustained. In other words, Dr. Hullah holds that if the future teachers in the elementary schools of this country are to be really competento instruct their pupils in the art of singing at sight, their own musical education must be commenced when they are themselves at school instead of being left to the short period of their stay in the colleges. In regard to instrumental music, the number of students able to accompany themselves is reported to be steadily increasing. The experience of another year's work leads the inspector to adhere to the scepticism he had already expressed as to the existence of entire musical in- capacity, even in persons who have attained middle life without giving any attention to music, and ha holds to his absolute disbelief in its existence mongs youcg persons. The tcvribt who baa resolved to make the Continent the scene of his travels must have noticed that British passports are held in great respect abroad everywhere, and it is seldom that the holder will not find it AXtri. cate him from any embarrassing position in which lie may have been accidently placed. Indeed foreigners regard these passports as certificates of respectability. A passport ia accepted abroad aa a lint for lodgings where in England references would be required. Similarly at banks and post-offices, where an account has to be opened or letters withdrawn; again in counting-houses where orders for goods are given and in notaries' offices, where a traveller may have to transact business, these doouments are found to be of very considerable service to the travelling Englishman. Be the latter who he may, his passport procures him social and business facilities which he could never derive from that single sheet of paper in his own country. There was a time, and not so very long ago, when a passport had to be filled up with a minute personal description of the possessor; his age, calling, place of habitual residence, r.nc1 business in travelling, all had to be specified. All these details are now dispensed with, and Englishmen find, in moving about on the Continent, that these pieces of stamped paper, which contain only their names, insure them many immuni- ties. Foreigners require some information concerning the identity of persons with whom they deal, and the passport is a more convenient mode of identity than numerous letters of introduction, professional diplomas, commissions, or what not. No doubt it is annoying, after an eighteen or a twenty-four hours' journey, to be detained whilst an exacting official, taking no heed of the fact that you are traveVworn and tired, leisurely scans your passport; but that these documents have their uses and advantages, is manifest enough to all who go upon the Continent either upon business or upon pleasure, and find no trouble whatever in procuring a pas.-port signed by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The theory has been propounded, and very generally entertained, that the growth of forests materially influences the rainfall, and if this be really the case, the wholesale clearance of forest and jungle in India, which has lately been going on to a very considerable extent, is a matter which would appear to demand the serious attention of the Indian Government. The soundness of the theory has often been disputed, and some eminent authorities declare it to be without foundation. Still it appears that an impression has got abroad in India that tftis is so, and in that case no time should be lost in dispelling it. In some countries the laws are very stringent respecting the removal of trees, and in Germany the annual consumption is not allowed to exceed the annual growth. There are cases in which the removal of vast forests is the necessary pioneer of civilization, but this obviously would not apply in a land like India, whose traditions tells us of a race of kings extending back more than 4,000 years, when the people of that time carried on an extensive commerce with other countries, the names of which take the mind back to some of the most striking passages in the Old Testament narratives.

THE RECAPTURE OF THE PLEVNA REDOUBTS. We make the following extracts from an interesting and graphic letter in the Daily News of Monday— from their Special Correspondent lately with General Gcurko. In alluding to their Correspondent's letter the Daily JSTsvus of Tuesday, in their War Summary, remarks of it, that-, a. living picture a.nd a power- ful na.rra.tive of a crisis of battle we venture to predict that the passages we print this morning will live in history. This expression of opinion will, we think, be endorsed by all those who may read the letter. LEFT WDlG. LAMCUA EOAD. Wcduesdav "TheTurksmadcthreeattacksuponSkobeleff,which were successfully repulsed, and two on the Radisovo ridge. The three fights with Skobeleff were short,, quick, and sharp, neither lasting more than five or ten minutes. This was owing to Skobeleff's manner of defence. He ordered his troops to reserve their fire until the Turks came within a hundred yards, then to open upon them a sudden and terrible fusiliade against which no troops could stand. Wi dcovs (bfiu bMlt Almost uuuwlutely. Tiiir ? times they came to the charge, and three times were they repulsed in the same sudden and furious manner. "The two attacks upon the Radisovo ridge lasted longer, and appeared to be repuised with less ease. Not until about two o'clock did the fire die away, showing that the fight for the moment was over. Then the fog lifted slightly, and the position on both sides could be seen The Turks in the trenches down towards Plevna were trying occasional shots, distinguished by little puffs of smoke, with masses here and there in the redoubts showing with an occasional shot from their cannon that they had been repulsed with heavy Joss-how much it is impossible to state, but as the loss of the Russians fighting under cover was more than five hundred, that at the Turks must have been between two and three thousand. I took my stand on the old position near the Lovtcha road, between Krilfiener;s left and Skobeleff's right, from which point I had as good a view as could be obtained for the fog and smoke at the bottom of the Radisovo ridge. Immediately to the right of Plevna, where Kriloff com- manded, and round the redoubts in the bend of the Sophia road, where Skobeleff was attacking, the fog was so thick that the greater part If the time I could only follow the attack by the sound and the smoke. What I now relate I saw with my own eyes, and part I have learned from Skobeleff himself, and the officers who took part in the combat. "It has been said that nobody ever saw a battle. The soldier s too much excited with the passions of the fight as well as enveloped in smoke to see far around him. The general is too far away from the actual conflict, too much busied with the news arriving from different parts of the field, and with giving orders to see the battle, although knows he it better than any one. It is only the correspondent who is daring enough to take and hold a good position who really sees a battle but to-day, owing to the dense fog no correspondent can say he saw more than an occasional scene or episode in his terrible struggle. At most he could only hear and follow by the dense volume of smoke, and thickening fog changing its colour, the crash of musketry and the thunder of artil- lery. Here is what I saw. A little to my right, where general Kriloff attacked the redoubts down near Plevna, invisible from the point where my colleague took his stand, the fire had been raging with fury for nearly two hours, a steady, continuous roll and crash, intermingled with the louder thunder of cannon, which filled the air with the uproar of the bullets and shells. During all this time there was little to be seen along the crest of the Radisovo ridge, where the Russian guns could be percewed at work, with figures flitting around them dimly seen through the smoke, strangely magnified by the ixterveution of the fog, until the gunners appeared like giants, aud the guns themselves, magnified and distorted by the same medium, appeared like huge uncouth monsters, from whose throats at every instant leaped forth globes of flame. There were moments when these flashes seemed to light up everything around "them. Then the guns and gunners appeared for an instant with fearful distinctness, red and lurid, as though tinged with blood. Then they sank back agaiu in shadowy indistinct- ness, The uproar of the battle rose and swelled until it be- came fearful to hear-like the continuous roar of an angry sea beating against a rock-bound coast, combined with that of a thunder-storm, with the strarge unearthly sounds heard on board a ship when labouring in a gale. "This terrible storm of battle continued without ceasing for nearly two hours. The Russian guns were pouring their fire into the redoubt, and the Russian infantry into the trenches, while the attacking columns were advancing cautiously under cover of the smoke and fog and standing corn to get a position as near as possible before making the final rush. At about five o'clock the smoke lifted again, carried away by a gust of wind. At this moment I saw before the redoubt, down near Plevna, a mass of Russian soldiers rise up in a field of Indian corn, and push forward with a shout. The Turkish fire just then seemed to have been dominated, nearly silenced by the terrible storm of shot and shell poured in by the Russians. The moment seemed favourable for the assault. Either the Turks were abandoning these redoubts or they were lying behind the parapet awaiting the attack. Which was it ? we asked. The question was soon answered. The Russian shout had scarcely died away when there flashed along the parapet of the redoubt a stream of fire that swayed baek- wards and forwards like a current of electricity, willIe the smoke rose over the redoubt in one heavy white mass. One continuous crash filled the air with bullets, from which to the spectator looking on it did not seem possible for even a rabbit to escape. "Into this storm of bullets plunged the Russians with a shout as though of joy, and then disappeared into a little hollow, and for a moment were lost to view. Then they emerged again, disappeared in the low ground at the foot of the glacis, rushing onward as though the bullets were but paper pellets, but, alas! sadly diminished in number. °uld it be possible for them to reach the parapet ? Was it possible for flesh and blood to break that circle of fire ? To me it seemed utterly out of question. Did but one 1-ullet in ten find its billet, not one of these gallant fellows would retijrn through that corn field. While waiting to see them emerge from this little hollow my excitement was so great, my hand trembled so, that I could not hold the field-glass to my eyes, and for the moment was obliged to trust my naked vision. Thev were evidently very near the redoubt. A rush might do it. Victoiy was almost within their grasp, but they required a fresh accession of strength a rush of new men frem behind; another wave coming forward with new impetus to carry the first up over a glacis a second wave, and perhaps a third, each bringing new impulsion, new strength. I looked for this wave of reserves. I looked to see if reinforcements were coming up-if the general was doing anything to help the gallant fellows, struggling there against the circle of fire I looked in vain. My heart sank within me, for I saw that all this bravery, all this loss of life, would be useless. While these poor fellows were madly fightiug their lives away by hundreds in a desparate struggle, when the victory was trembling in the balance, not a man was sent to help them. They were left to die overwhelmed, broken, vanquished it was sublime and was pitiful. I see a few of them struggle up the glacis one by one. They drop. They are not followed, and here they come again, a confused mass of human beings rushing madly back across that corn field, less than half of those who went forward. When this disorderly remnant was seen flying back, broken, destroyed,, two more battalions were sent to pick them up, and carry them back to the assault. Two more battalions They might as well have sent a corporal aud two more men. Two more regiments were what was re quired, and they should have been sent at the moment wlitn that mass of men rose up in the corn-field, and went on with a cheer. The new troops would have reached the glacis just as the assault began to waver, would have carried the hesi- tating mass onward, and all would have gone into the redoubt together. Instead of this, General Kriloff sent two battalions, and that when it was too late. The poor fellows went over the hill singing gaily, and disappeared in the fog and smoke. I could have cried for pity, for I knew that most of them went uselessly to simple slaughter. It was impossible for these fresh battalions to renew the assault with the slightest chance of success. These two battalions, like the rest, were deemed to almost certain destruction. The fog again settled down over the redoubt, hiding Turks and Russians alike. I could tell by that fearful rifle fire that they were going at it again, and I turned away. Soon the cessation of the tiring told that it was over, but the second attack was more easily repulsed than the first, and I perceived likewise that the whole Russian attack made from the Radisovo ridge by KrUdener and,Kriloff was repulsed all along the line. It was inevitable I foresaw it from the first. The mistake was made and repeated continually by the Rus- sians of sending too few men against such positions, accord- ing to old rules made before breech-loading days. In those days a fixed number of men were considered enough to carry a position, and sending more was only increasing the chances of loss, without increasing the chances of success but the number required to carry a position defended by breceli-ioaders is about four or five times as great as against muzzle-loaders, a fact which the Russians have not yet learned, but which is all the more important when the breech-loaders are in the hands of soldiers like the Turks.

The Daily News of Tuesday publishes the conclusion of their Correspondent's letter. The following is an extract from it The redoubt Skobeleff was attacking was a double redoubt in the bend of the Loftcha road down near Plevna. He had advanced his troops down the slope of the mountain to within easy range. As the Turks immediately opened fire upon him from the redoubt he returned the fire with steadiness and precision, putting his men under cover as much as possible, his cannon pouring a steady stream of shell and canister into the redoubt as well. In fact he worked his cannon so much that several pieces have been spoiled. He had evidently deter- mined to risk everything to capture this redoubt, and if Plevna were not taken it would not be his fault. For three hours he kept up .this fire, and just after Kriloff's second repulse, the Turkish fire having somewhat relaxed, domi- nated by the Russian, he thought the moment had come for making the assault. He had four regiments of the line, and four battalions of sharpshooters. Still keeping up his murderous fire, he formed under its cover two regiments, the Vladimirski and the Zoozolski, in the little hollow at the foot of the" low hill on which was built the redoubt, together with two battalions of sharpshooters, not more than twelve hundred yards from the scarp. Then placing himself iu the best posi- tion for watching the result, he ceased fire and ordered the advance. He ordered the assaulting party not to fire, and they rushed forward with their guns on their shoulders, with music playing and banners flying, and disappeared in the fog and smoke. Skobeleff is the only general who places himself near enough to feel the pulse of a battle. The ad- el vancing column was indistinctly seen, a dark mass in the fog and smoke. Feeling, as it were, every throb of the battle, he saw this line begin to waver and hesitate. Upon the instant he hurled forward a rival regiment to support, and again watched the result. This new force carried the mass further on with its momentum, but the Turkish re- doubt tlamed and smoked, and poured forth such a torrent of bullets that the line was again shaken. Skobeleff stood in this shower of balls unhurt. All his escort were killed or wounded, even to the little Kirghiz, who received a bul- let in the shoulder. Again he saw the line hesitate and waver, and he flung his fourth and last regiment, the Libausky, on the glacis. Again this new wave carried the preceding ones forward, until they were almost on the scarp; but that deadly shower of bullets poured upon them; men dropped by huudreds, and the result still remained doubtful. The line once more wavered and hesitated. Not a moment was to be lost, if the redoubt was to be carried. "Skobeleff had now only two battalions of sharpshooters left, the best in his detachments. Putting himself at the head of these, he dashed forward on horseback. He picked up the stragglers; he reached the wavering, fluctuating mass, and gave it the inspiration of his own courage and instruction. He picked the whole mass up and carried it forward with a rush aud a cheer The whole redoubt was a mass of flame and smoke, from which screams, shouts, and cries of agony and defiance arose, with the deep-mouthed bellowing of the cannon, and above all the steady, awful crash of that deadly rifle fire. Skobeleff's sword was cut in two in the middle. Then a moment later, when just on the point of leaping the ditch, horse and man rolled together to the ground, the horse dead or wounded, the rider uutouched. He sprang to his feet with a shout, then with a formidable, savage yell the whole mass of men streamed over the ditch, over the scarp and counterscarp, over the parapet, and swept into the redoubt like a hurricane. Their bayonets made short work of the Turks still remaining. Then a joyous cheel: told that the redoubt was captured, and that at last one of the defenees 01 Plevna was in the hands of the Russians Skobeleff had the redoubt. The question now was how to hold it. It was dominated by the redoubt of Krishina on the left already spoken of. It was exposed at the Plevna side to the fire of the sharpshooters, and to the Turkish forces in the wood bordering the Sophia road, and open to .the fire of the entrenched camp. There was a cross fire coming from three different points. AS dayjight next morning the Turks opened fire from all sides. The distance from the redoubt at Krishina had of course been accurately measured, and the guns dropped shells into the redoubt with the utmostprecision on the exposed sides. The back of the redoubt was a solid rock on which it was impossible to erect a parapet. All the earth had been used for the construction of the para- pets on the other side. It was evident that the posi- tion was untenable unless tiie entrenched camp on the other side of Plevna and the Krishna redoubt could be taken. Skobeleff renewed his demand for reinforcements made the evening before. Although his losses had been great, the spirit of his troops were so good that with another regiment lie was willing to undertake to capture the redoubt and the entrenched camp, or he would undertake to hold the positions until something could be attempted in some other quarter. The Grivica redoubt had also been carried by the Roumanians and Russians under General Shnitnikoff. Could one or two more positions be carried during Wednesday, say the Krishina redoubt, and one entrenched camp on the same ridge as the Grivica redoubt, the fall of Plevna might be considered certain. At sunrise the Turks began an attack upon the captured redoubts, and the storm of battle Again raged with fury here, while all was quiet everywhere else. The desperate attack of the Turks was repulsed. Another attack was made and another repulse, and this continued all day long until the Turks had attacked and had been beaten five successive times. The Russian losses were becoming fearful. General Skobeleff bad lost, he thinks, 2,000 men in attacking the redoubt. By the afternoon he had lost 3,COO more in holding it, while his battalions shrivelled up and shrank away as ii by ma^ic. One battalion of sharpshooters had been reduced to 160 men. A. company which had. been 150 was now 10. An immensft proportion of officers were killed, or were wounded. -Only one com- mander of a regiment is alive;. scarcely a hena of a battalion left. Two officers of the staft are kllled, one o( whom was Verastchagin, brother of the great artist. Another brother was wounded. General Dabrovelsky, commands* of sharpshooters, was killed. One officer was blown to pteGM by the explosion 01. faaaoB Captain patkin, chief of the iaff, standing beside this officer, had his hair singed, and suffered a severe contusion, Only Skobeleff himself rtmained untouched. He seems to bear a charmed life. Htvisited the redoubt three or four times during the day, encouraging the soldiers, telling them help would soon arrive; Plevna would soon be taken vic- tory would soon t-rown tseir efforts telling them it was the final decisive blew strucifor their country; for the honour and glory of the Russiai arms; and they all replied with the same cheery shouts, -,vii-He their numbers were dwindling away by hundreds. He igain and again sent for reinforce- ments, and again and gain informed the Commander-in- Chief that the position was untenable. The afternoon wore away and no reinforcements came. General Levitsky, as I have been informet, formally refused reinforcements either becauso he thouglt the position, in spite of General Skobeleff's representatiois, was tenable, or because he had no reinforcements to gve. General Kriloff, on his own responsibility, sent-the,eniiiaut of a regiment which had attacked the redout wlich I saw rush forward and then back though tha Inrliai corn field. Of the 2,500 there was barely 1,000 left, so it wis utterly incapable of f-omg into action that day, and evai this regiment arrived too late. General Skobeleff had let: the redoubt at four o clock to go to his tent on a woodyhill opposite. He had been there scarcely an hour when h. was informed that the Turks were again attacking the riglt flank->n the Lovcha road im- mediately above Plevna. He galloped forward to see, ana wasnset by an orderly vith the news that the lurks were again attacking the redoubt a sixth time. He dashed for- ward towards the redoubt in hopes of reaching it in time, but was met by a stream of his own men flying back. They were exhausted by forty-tight hours' incessant fighting, and were worn ont, hungry, and dying of thirst and fatigue. Owing to the inactivity of the Russians during the day, the Turks had been eiiablecf to collect an overwhelming for,'e, which had made one lasi desperate effort and had succeeded in driving the Russians out. One bastion was held till the last by n, yÍ)u officer, whose name I regret I have forgotten, with a handful of ntau. They refused to fly, and were slaughtered to the last man. It was just after this that I met Gevier.il Rirtbeleff, the first time that day. He war. in a fearful state ofexcitement and fury- form was covered with mud stud filth, his sword broken, his Cross of St. George twisted round on his shoulder, his face black with powder and smote, his eyes haggard and blood- shot, his voice quite genu He 3poke in a hoarse whisper. I never before "w such a picture of battle as he presented. 1 saw him again in his tear at night. He was quite calm and collected. He said, X have done ray best, I could do no more. My detachment iehalf destroyed my regiments do not exist; I have no OfAoers jeft: They sent me no rein- forcements, and I have lost thft-u- guns. They were three of the four guns which he placed in the ledoubt upon taking it, onlv one of which his retreating troops had been able to carry off. « Why did they, refuse you reinforcements?' I asked. 'Who was to btame" I blame nobody, he replied. It is the win of God.'

EPITOME OF NEWS. BRITISH AND FOREICTTJ- Three anti-vaccinators were fined on Saturday by the Liverpool police magistrates 41 each and costs, for neglecting to have their children vaccinated. Of course a song has been written on the Colorado Beetle. Whether it is a good one or a bad one, I do not know; but it is called a coleopterous comicality,' and this strikes me as a very good 'stJ'le.l'he World. The town of Chateaudun, in commemoration of its gallant stand against the German army in 1870, has been authorized to quarter the Crors of the Legion of Honour in its arms. The celebrated comedian, Mr. Henry Compton, who for a period of forty years held a prominent place in the ranks of the theatrical profession, died on Saturday night, at the age of 65. The deceased artiste, whose real name was Henry Mackenzie, made his first and last appearances in London at the Lyceum Theatre, but for many years he was one of the chief favourites in the stock company of the Hay- market. The Federal troops in the United States have had an encounter with the Indians in Arizona. Forty of the latter were killed. The issue of the new helmet to the army was com- menced on Saturday by the Director of Clothing at the Royal Army Clothing Depot at Pimlico. The death is announced of the Queen Dowager of Saxony, aged 72s, daughter of Maximilian I. of Bavaria, and who married in 183S King Augustus II. of Saxony. The annual Trades' Union Congress was opened on Monday at Leicester. The report of the committee alluded to the Parliamentary inquiry on the subject of employers' liabilities for injuries to their servants, and recommended the Congress to authorise the reintroduction of the bill of last session. Several other subjects were also reported upon. There is now on its way from India to England a very beautiful and precious casket. It contains the address drawn up by the Parsees congratulating Queen Victoria on becoming Empress of India. The barque Scottish Hero, Captain McEacharn, sailed from Gravesend on Friday, bound for Rockhampton. Queensland, and had on board the following emigrants :-78 married people, 110 single men, 62 single women, 58 children between the ages of twelve and one, and 9 infants, making a total of 317 souls, equal to 279 adults. The single women are under the care of Miss Trowell, Dr. J. Mark, acting as surgeon superintendent. A Swedish torpedo has arrived at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, for experimental purposes. It is con- structed of stout iron plates in two parts in the shape of a cup and cover, and when closecr has the form of a globe. Though of considerable weight, it contains in itself suffi- cient buoyancy to float without the aid of wood or lighter material, and professes several advantages over the ordinary English torpedo. It is constructed to hold 1001b. of gun cotton, and is fired by contact. In Cannes, at a small bootmaker's shop, the Eng- lish tourist may find the following inscription in his own language, 'Repairs hung with stage-coach.' After long and anxious thought he may arrive at the cobbler's meaning, who only wished to inform his numerous patrons across La Manche that repairs were executed with diligence. Ne sutor ultra crepidam;indeed.The World. Mr. W. P. Adam, M.P., speaking at a meeting held at Kinross for the purpose of raising a subscription for the relief of the Indian Famine, said he regretted that Parliament was not now sitting so that the question whether a grant should be made to meet the requirements of the case might be properly discussed. A local subscription was re solved upon. On Saturday Dr. Watson, the Newbury Coroner, held an inquest touching the death of William Tranter,'a married man, 53 years of age. Tranter was working in a sandpit under the superintendence of an experienced ex- cavator, on Friday afternoon, when he saw a movement in the soil, and before he had time to make off about 50 tons of sand fell and buried him. A number of men were set to work to dig him out, and after the lapse of several hours his corpse was unearthed. A verdict of Accidental Death was returned. Toddie.-Fiave returned after three weeks' ab- senc3. Quite well. Enjoyed myself immensely. Liked T-- betr "than any place I ever visited, in spite of a deal of bad weather, with obstinacy equal to Toddie's. I want you back. Trusting you are well, with best love.—A.—Ad- vertisement in The Times. The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledges in The Times (as "Conscience»Money") the receipt of the second half of a 450 note from C.D.; and the first half of a £5 note for taxes omitted from F. O. X. On Saturday the festivities in connection with the opening of the Manchester Town Hall were concluded by a monster procession of trade and friendly societies, number- ing 45,000 men. The weather was fine, and the principal streets of the city through which the procession walked were thronged with hundreds of thousands of spectators. The procession was six miles long, and was accompanied by about sixty bands and innumerable banners. After passing in front of the Town Hall it wa« divided into three parts, each of which went to places of amusement in the suburbs. During the past week the greater part of the Eng- lish wheat crop was secured, while the cutting of barley and oats was accomplished under comparatively favourable conditions. The inferior quality of the samples yet marketed proves, however, the bad effect of the wet season. Reports as to the potatoes are said to be even less favourable than last week. Samples received of the new American winter wheat are in splendid condition. Early on Monday morning two men, supposed to be Irish reapers, were burned to death in a granary on a farm at Ledsham, Cheshire. They had been allowed to sleep in the granary during the harvest, and it is supposed a spark from one of their tobacco pipes set fire to the hay or straw. Great sensation has been caused by the speeches made by Marshal MacMahon at Tours, he having stated that, if the elections were favourable to his policy, calmness and prosperity would soon be restored to the country. The Daily Telegraph states that Mr. Henry M. Stanley arrived on the West Coast of Africa on the 8th of last mouth. A despatch from him, dated the 10th ult., convevs the tidings of his having followed the Lualaba River" down to the Atlantic Ocean, proving, by actual travel from end to end, its identity with the river Congo. The sufferings of his party were very great, and his band is re- ported to have arrived at Emboma in a fearful condition." Frank Pocock, the Englishman, and the African boy Kalulu, perished during the journey. A singular contest, evidently suggested by a staunch teetotaller, has just taken place at a caf<; in Anzin, France. Prizes were offered to the competitors who should drink the greatest number of cups oi oofloc. The flrafc; croolirtlris ar~ six silver spoons, was won by a customer who accomplished thirty-one cups; the second, a silk handkerchief, went for thirty; and the third was taken by a young woman who absorbed twenty-seven. A letter from the Dundee whaling fleet, dated from Uppernivik, June 5, announcing the death of William Munroe, one of the harpooners, has been received. At the date of the letter no fish had been caught. Heavy ice had been experienced to the north and the weather had been very thick and stormy. The Duke of Manchester was hurt by a fall from his horse at the Prussian manoeuvres on the 14th iust. His grace's injuries are not considered-serious. The Times' Correspondent at Shanghai, writing on the 12th of August, says It is all but certain that the Viceroy of Nankin purposes te stop the Woosung Railway at the end of October, when the purchase will be completed and the line become Chinese property. It is stated, also, that Li Hung-chang, when lately interviewed on the sub- ject, gave no hope of the line being preserved. Mr. Blennerhassett, M.P., addressing a meeting of the Kerry Tenants' Defence Association on Saturday, said he looked more to the spread of sound economic ideas for the satisfactory settlement of the land question than to any other influence, and thought no settlement of the question could be effeoted which did not deprive landlords of the power of indefinitely raising rents. "I daresay the most extraordinary invention is that of the Nausal, the prospectus of which I received yesterday from Paris. The Nausal is simply a ship which, according to its Archimedes, will go from London to New York in three days. No coal! no steam The ship will be propelled by a force of 32,000 atmospheres I This powerful new moteur will be supplied by the gases of explosives, which will be fired by an enormous revolving gun, placed in the stern of the ship. The speed will be the more con- siderable as the explosives are greater in violence and frequency. How pleasant it will be to travel like Zazel, d coups de canon, across the ocean! "—The World. A young ]))an named Shier was drowned at South- port on Sunday evening by the capsizing of a boat in which he and a friend had gone out for a sail. The latter clung to the boat and was rescued. Shier attempted to swim ashore but sank. « Lord Sandon presided at a meeting held at Burslem on Monday night for the distribution of prizes to the suc- cessful students in the School of Science and Art His lord- ship said he did not believe in too much Government inter- ference, except in matters of national importance. He dwelt on the necessity of encouraging the youth of the industrial classes to indulge in scientific and artistic pursuits, as they would not only promote the commercial prosperity of this country, but would make the homes of the masses of the people purer and happier. Count Clary, formerly an orderly officer of Napoleon III and who was appointed aide-de-camp to the Prince Imperial when he set out for the campaign of 1870, died at the Hotel Bedford, Paris, on Friday in last week, at the age of forty. He was a great-nephew of the King of Sweden and of King Joseph of Spain. <> It is reported to the masons' committee in London that a number of foreign workmen are to be brought over to take the place of those on strike. The masons' committee are endeavouring to counteract that by sending advertisements to Continental and other papers cautioning the masons against coming over here. Cardinal Cullen has issued a letter to his clergy requiring them to have a chapel-door collection on Sunday for the Indian Famine Fund. A telegram received ac Lloyd's from Arichat, via Halifax, says that the schooner George Peabody, in returning-from the marine slip at Hawkesbury, on the afternoon of the 30th August, capsized during a squall off Arichat and sank. The captain and five men were drowned. The remainder, three in number, were sktved, and have been landed. The American papers contain the will of Brigham Young, which was read at Salt Lake in the presence of all his wives and children. The estate is reported to be worth two million dollars. He leaves his property to be divided equally amongst his 17 wives and 56 children, but sundry houses are given to special favourites. At a distribulion of prizes to the successful students at the Bolton Church Institute, which tookplace 011 Monday evening, the Bishop of Manchester in addressing the meet- ing, referred to the great improvement which has taken place in the means for middle-class education. He advised parents, if they proposed to take away their sons from school at 15, to let them stay till 16, and if they proposed to take them away at 16 to let them remain yet another year. Of course, if parents found their boys getting into idle habits the sooner they got them to work the better, but if they were making progress at school an effort should be made to keep them there. The tourist season in Scotland, which closes in Sep- tember, has this year been the worst experien ced as far as the weather is concerned since tourists began to frequent the Highlands. From the beginning of July to the end of Aiio-iist the dry d«ys could have been counted almost on the fluS of one hand, and travelling in the Highlands was the reverse of Pleasant. Iu spite of ram, however, the number of tourists had been about equal to previous years, although, nerhans there has been less of the foreign element, with the exception of Germans, who seem to have discovered fresh attractions in Highland lochs and gleii3. The president of the Wesleyan Conference, in a pastoral letter just issued, recommends that collections should be made on an early Sunday by the Wesleyan con- gregations throughout the country on behalf of the Mansion House Indian Famine Relief Fund. He also commends to their sympathy and help the sufferers by the fire in New Brunswick. The Emperor William in his quality of Com- mander of a Russian regiment of Grenadiers telegraphed to his regiment previouslv to its departure for the seat of war —• Cordial greetings to the regiment! I hope with you that the colours of the regiment will gather still more beautiful laurels, and that the regiment will stand the fighting as well as my soldiers did theirs seven years ago.' Putting by the side of this telegram the health proposed a few days ago by the Emperor Francis Joseph to his rdear friend and ally the Emperor of Russia,' I again affirm what has always bean maintained in this journal, that the 'Three Emperors" alliance is still unbrokcn. Whitehall Review. What'is Ipasser&e?" and does passerage grow by the seaside? If it does, seaside lodgings will lose half their horror; for, according to French paper, the herb popularly known by that name possosses the quality of attracting certain loathsome insects to their certain death. It seems that a herbalist, whose rooms were invested by these creatures, laid some specimens of the plant in one of them, and found, on looking for the herb some days after, that its leaves were so thickly studded that they looked like branches of coral. Almost all the insects were dead, and those yet living were thoroughly torpid. What are aapnodel and amaranth to the-humble but meritorious "pMMfaae"! -PaH Maii Qwxte. We learn from a reliable source that the Russian armies in Turkey have suffered and are suffering from sick ness to an extent quite unparalleled. We are informed that, I in addition to these killed in action, the armies have already lost no less than 62,000 men by disease of various kinds, and they are dying like flies.' "-Vaiiity Fair. Professor Max Miiller, the Academy states, has returned to Oxford, very much benefited by his year's sojourn abroad, and will now devote himself to the editing of the translations of the sacred books of the world which he has undertaken. A man named Hobbs died from hydrophobia at Newport, on Saturday. About two months ago he was bitten by a dog, but the symptoms of the hydrophobia did no exhibit themselves till a few days before his death. Al- though every possible thing was done to avert a fatal result, the unfortunate man died after enduring fearful agony. The buffaloes and zebus forming part of the Nubian Caravan recently sent from the Jardin d' Acclimatation, Paris, and which were in quarantine at Southampton, ar- rived at the Alexandra Palace, in London, on Saturday. Some idea may be formed of the destruction of pro- perty which occurred in connection with the Pittsburg riots from the fact of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company adver- tising for tenders for the purchase of eight thousand tons of scrap iron, at least- fifty locomotive engines being included amongst the debris. A correspondent writing from Wales informs me that there is a great bulk of straw in the Principality, but that wheat, barley, and oats will not yield more than half as much as the produce of last year, and that the quality will be inferior.— Mdrg Lane Express. I learn that the nuptials of Princess Charlotte of Prussia (the Queen's granddaughter) and the hereditary Prince of Meiningen will be celebrated this year. The Palace of Charlottenburg is to be placed at the disposal of the hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg and the Princess Elizabeth (daughter- of Prince Frederick Charles) for their honeymoon. The Emperor William so commands," White- hall Review. M. Gambetta having been frequently taunted by the Government journals with having no programme, his organ, the Ilf-publiqve Frangaise, replies to the challenge by explaining the policy of the French Republican party. It i& summed up in the words—a real Republican Government. This, says the Rtpublique Frangaise, is what France wants, and Franco and the Republican party are one. A new remedy for the potato-beetle comes from over ,the water. The Minnesota farmers-so says Th- Fanlleril Union—are using alum water successfully. It is sprinkled on the potato-tops, and" the festive bug soon after retires .from business." What next 2-Ilark Lane Express. A fatal accident occurred on Saturday evening at a ship-building yard at Turnchapel, near Plymouth. A vessel about to be repaired was hauled up on st patent slip when the. stays gave way and the vessel canted over, falling on her side. Several of the men engaged had a narrow escape, but one named Cloud was caught beneath the falling mass and killed. He has left a widow and family. A meeting of London journeymen millers was held on Saturday evening, when a resolution was passed to the effect that the men would hold out for an advance in their wages of 6s. a week. The Government, it is stateq, have resolved to form Liverpool into a military centre in place of Warrington, which is found to be inconvenient and disadvantageous. There was considerable opposition to the proposal for making Liverpool a military centre when it was under con- sideration some years ago. s Football is thrivingin ,Scotland. In the year 1876-77 there has been an increase on the Association's roll of 23 nc clubs, 1.278 members, the total numbers now being 81, and 4,730 respectively. Undoubtedly your average German has an immense amount of honest manliness. A little while ago I asked a good authority how it was so many German clerks were ready to work in London warehouses for small salaries. "Oh," tha answer was, it isn't for what they get. They go to learn the prices of the warehouses they may be engaged in, so that when they have got a little capital from Germany, they start on their own account and go into the market and undersell their old employers." After all, perhaps, it only serves those folks right who may wish to gain too much profit out of other folks' labour.—The Tatler in Pictorial World. Dr. Tripe, Medical Officer of Health for Hackney, in his report for the past seven Weeks, states that during that period only seven new cases of smallpox in that district urerereported to the sanitary authorities, as against 75 new cases reported during the previous seven weeks; and there hAd been only one death of an inhabitant of Hackney regis- tered during that time. There is now hope that the epidemic will shortly disappear from Iiaekney, which has suffered from the disease more than any other metropolitan parish* On Saturday Mr. Charles Arnold, of the firm of Arnold Brothers, manufacturers, Richmond-road, Bradford, when descending in the hoist, was accidently precipitated to the bottom of the well, and was so severely injured that he died in a short time We learn from a reliable correspondent at Berlin that the Crown Prince of Prussia has expressed himself in favour-under certain conditions likely to secure a lasting peace between France and Germany—of the surrender of Alsace and Lorraine in consideration of an adequate indem- nity. The Germans find the provinces will not assimilate with the Fatherland, and that they are a source of danger rather than of security. Our correspondent adds that it is improbable that the transfer would meet with approval in German Court circles, or with the Chancellor, so long as France remains without a settled form of Government."— Whitehall Review. A dead Colorado beetle is reported to have been found in one of the dock warehouses in Liverpool, and it is supposed that it has been brought from America in a cargo of peas. The New York Herald states that a company has been formed to connect San Francis00 and Japan by a new and direct cable, 6,000 miles long, and also to lay a new cable direct between New York and France. Permission has been granted by the French government, and a very complete estimate of the cost has been prepared. A correspondent, writes to us (Standard) that Mr. Bright stated at "Manchester that a borough reeve is as "extinct as that fabulous bird or animal the dido." He luay find him, however, in full force or flight, without searching Madame Tussaud's, in the Dominiun of Canada, where every town or township is under the jurisdiction of that valuable official known as the "reeve." "The old Hungarian patriot, Kossuth, has written a fresh letter to his countrymen. He does not weary of again rousing them to the greatest vigilance on Eastern affairs. According to his views, removing the Turks bag and baggage' would complicate instead of solving the Oriental Question. It would raise a second ghost still more for- midable and difficult to be laid, the Panslavic Question. 'ICugHoitt timrkij tTiatr nrewofircB utiuuia ot uiivc DC taken to resist Russian invasion, and the best means to the end appears to him to be the re-establishment of the Polish Kingdom. Yanity Fair. On the application of Superintendent Jarrett, the magistrates of Hertford petty sessions have awarded the sum of 10s. to a boy named Patmore, for an act of bravery. A few days ago a dog in a rabid state was at large in the streets at Hertford, and, after it had bitten three persons and upwards of twenty dogs, it was laid hold of by Patmore, who continued holding the dog until it was killed by the police. The Crown Princess of Germany and her Im- perial husband are most anxious that their eldest son. Prince William, should have the benefit of a long residence in Eng- land, I the only country,' says the amiable Princess, 'where he can learn how to become a gentleman.' The Prince and Princes wished their boy to have quarters at one of the Royal Palaces, but here difficulties arose, and the results is, I be- lieve, that the Crown Prince has taken a house for the lodg- ing of the future Emperor of Germany. The young Prince is described to me by one who knows him as emphatically a mce boy, who will become very popular among his Eng- lish relations and friends. Whitehall Review. Someone has sent me a. cutting from a newspaper unknown which states that the potato crop in the North of Ireland is so bad as to have caused a landowner to express his regret that if the Colorado beetle should visit the country there would be none of the insect's favourite tubers to regale it with. -.Jfa)-k Lane Express. Hampstead is, says the Eampstead a Highgate Express, rapidly changing its appearance and increasing its population. From the top of Heath-street, through High- street, and down Haverstock-hill, old-fashioned houses and shops have given way to more modern ones, or are on the eve of doing so. In 1861 its population was 19,104; it is now estimated at 40,000. This is a remarkable rate of progress in that direction. A Times' telegram, dated Sept. 17, says :—" Boston to-day dedicated her-monument to the soldiers and sailors killed in the late Civil War. It has been erected on Flag- staff Hill, Boston-common. The city was filled with visitors, the day being a holyday. A long procession marched to the Common, where the monument was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies." The Birmingham Mail says that Major Bond has given instructions for the oapture of all ownerless dogs found in that borough. Prince dward of Wales is living on shore at Osborne Cottage, while the rest of the family have been installed on board the Royal Yacht Osborne. The young Prince has greatly gained in strength since his removal from London, and may now be considered as quite recovered from his dangerous illness. Vanity Fair. On Monday night there was an explosion on board the smack Thomas, Captain Corran, laden with 214 barrels of naphtha, and lying in the Herculaneum Dock, Liverpool. It is supposed thatthe gas given off from the cargo got into the cabin. The captain and two men were badly hurt; one of them was blown into the air, and he fell into the dock. The three men lie in the Royal Southern Hospital. The smack, which was loaded for Whitehaven, was "burnt to the water's edge. The Pope is now in his "eighty^ixth year. He may once more rally, as he has often done before, but he cannot go on for ever. The end may come soon, or it may be de- ferred for some time longer, but the reports that point to its approach naturally carry more weight than those of an op- posite kind. It is clear that there has been at least a tem- porary breakdown, and we know that old age does not easily recover from shocks of this kind. "I learn on unimpeachable authority that the 'alarming telegrams from Rome respecting the Pope's condi- tion are utterly without foundation and that Pio Nono is in his usual good health.—WJiitehall Review. Financially the results of lighting the street lamps of Barking with paraffin oil in lieu of gas have just been pub- lished, and the local authorities claim an immense saving for the new system. The contract of .the gas company for lighting the streets for the one year was L380, while the expenditure for 12 months under the new plan was £ 275 17s. 9d. M. Thiers' entire fortune is valued at 16,000,000 francs. He made 2,000,000 francs by his "History." The bulk of his-possessions he left to the widow, for whose devoted affection he expressed himself profoundly grateful. lie wishes, should she die before Mile. Dosne, that that lady should inherit all that may belong to her sister at the time of her decease. It is reported that he has bequeathed some books, pictures, and objects of virtu to the State. M. Thiers was confident that Madame Thiers would apply herself to execute his wishes to the best-of her ability. A correspondent of The Times at Rome says that several officers who were scattered in the remote parts of the Vatican Palace have been installed in chambers nearer to the central apartments for the better convenience of the Pope, whose infirmities are aggravated. Speaking at Little Hulton on Saturday afternoon, Bishop Vaughan said there were no persons in the whole world who desired more heartily the education, the advance- ment and the enlightenment of the people than the bishops and priests of the Roman Catholic Church. At a' farmers' dinner in Strathspey recently there were present—One peer of the realm; one viscount; four members of Parliament; two ex-members of Parliament; three baronets; one knight; one Queen's Counsel; two generals two majors one lieutenant; two editors; two reporters two bankers two lawyets; one factor; two distillers three secretaries and a large number of farmers. General Ignatieff, whose private fortune has always been hitherto believed to be very moderate, has (it is said with the assistance cf a banker at Pera) purchased a large estate in Podloia of the value of 900,000 roubles. —Vanity Fair. Lord Northbrook, the late Viceroy of India, has written a letter, which was read at a county meeting at Warwick, expressing his conviction that the calamity which has fallen on the south of India is much more serious and extensive than any distress which has ocourred within general recollection, and that in addition to private efforts, every exertion will, if necessary be made by the Govern- ment to save the lives of the poverty-stricken people of India. The Vienna Correspondent of the Standard savs :— General Ignatieff has been interviewed at Gorni Studen by a Special Correspondent of the Presse. He emphatically denies having iiiisinformed the Czar on Turkish affairs. He stated that he hud always said that Turkey could muster six hundred thousand fanatic warriors, and he added that he never had advised war except at the time when the insur. rcction in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, and Servia, was engaging a large portion of the Turkish army. Then, he says, success would have been quite certain. However, Wa counsels were not listened to. General Ignatieff also stated that ever since the Conference at Constantinople he opposed war."