The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

POLITICAL GOSSIP. £ aip< ;ror cf Mexico has sent 'Prince Gorts- i-< t'iie insignia of tiie Order of Our La4y of -^aloupe < jf the first class. h ..ls -gene rally under-stood that shortly after the ^j-p ^.of I 'arli anient tho Eight Ban. T. H. Walpol-e, ft n 113 ovo ^or ^eave bring in a bill to provide y°urt of Appeal in causes. th tE -w rm •' <l:a,d Navy Qazette) are .sorry to learn ijat Mr. ;5enison, the Deputy .Judge-Advocate- *8 8 offering' from severe illness, Mr. Vernon lahing^on iis discharging the duties for the present, j P Y: ^B»AL 'Commemorative of the .quelling of the last o. insurrection is to be struck in Russia, and wanted,to all civilians aad soldiers who took part in t'rotkg the pacification of the country. K W. S. IITOSA^HP, who was reported to be du« ^anSero,ls state of health, has justly improved t Ulillg the last wee^»- and is now so far recovered as (j .0 be able t.. ave his-"aed and to up a few hours very, y.. ■\ young Carlton Club is going on flourishingly.- j.site feuildimg has bee^ purchased in Pall r?aand members are plentiful enough for another I'll]@ commi Lt,,ea appointed bytha PBuasian Claaraifeer the motion.df M. Buher, for the abolition on j? ,punishment of death, has decided, with .only £ dissentienit voice, an favour of the .abolition. Mr. Speaker that he will' iS? services to the electors of North .lnghamsl lire has puzzled the quidnuncs and V SlPs not a little. If the report is true, says the! %tfJournaIh the explanation is difficult. Committee of the Lords of her "Majesty's Most lOllourablePJivy Council for the Affairs of Jersey and werns.ey.met on Saturday, in the Council Chamber, .yjiitehall. The Lords present were: Earl Granville TY -Lord President), Lewd Cranworfch, the Eight 50a. Sir-George Gr<ey, and the' Bigfco. Hon. H. A. ■Dtace, MJ?. tli Earl of Derby will g-ive a fall c.'cesa dinner on "*6 6th of February, at his mansion,, kx St. Jarnes's- s1&s.re.—The Right Hon. B., Disraeli has also issued cafds of invitation for a .dinner at his residence, Gros- „ venor-gate, to a party of members of the House of commons or_ the same ,day. The right hon. gentle- pan and Mrs. Disraeli left town on Wednesday to1 join :the circle assembled at Burghley House, Stam- ( ^ord, on a visit to the Marquis and Marchioness of «%eter. THE committee who, at Earl Spencer's instance, i ^re appointed to consider the provisions of the new bfil for the disposal of Wimbledon-common, have pre- 6elatedttheir report to his lordship. The report con- taba-rafjommeja-Iations intended to remove objections j 1lggested by certain of the clauses in the bill, and it '18 nmwooder the consideration of his lordship and his t viaerB.. Tee four Italian gentlemen so ioag kept in captivity $the 'Kisan of Bokhara have been at length.released, •jtys Ohfl 'Homeward Mail, and have arrived in safety jjtheir ^native country. The thanks of the King of e^'y have been conveyed to the Viceroy for the cordial °pe»ad3ionof the-British Government in endeavouring Effect <(jhe release at the four unfortunate captives; it is .eertain that their escape from a state of ex- peril has been a very narrow one. BUHJEK, although he lias not fully jj.^ined his health, addressed a crowded meeting of jw Constituents -at Devonport OR Friday evening. The /j topic of discourse A^as the foreign policy of the which he zealously defended. On home ^^lers Sir Arthur spoke briefly. He regretted the v ^anagem^nt of the charch-rate question, but did 'despair of the ultimate triumph of the abolition- Sir Arthur vindicated himself from tie charge Ilatbtention to Parliamentary duties, and indignantly ted against an attempt which was made at the •i,v Sg to induce him to take shares in the Qkehamp-' jfT ^ilway scheme. Mr. Brassey, the fortheoming candidate, in a earefuliy thought-out speech, Expression to his views on the leading domestic Ssfotl 318 ^ay' ^r°^ea confidence in both 'lemeajL were passed.

TOPICS OF THE WEEK. -+-- THE STRUGGLE IN PR,U-SSIA.Under these ciraum- stances, 'the speech delivered by the King of Pssissia at the opening of the Chambers on Saturday is in- vested 'with more than ordinary interest. A fead has long -existed in Prussia between the Government and the Legislature, and to the anxiety of the King and his Ministers to escape from an unequal struggle may the precipitancy with which they rushed into war be attributed. It was hoped that, by excitimg the national enthusiasm of the people, they might be enabled to cut the Gordian knot of the difficulty in which they had become involved with the Chambers. Hence, at the very opening of his address, the 'King refers to the honourable peace won by the 'brilliant valour of the united armies, to exploits which equal those of the most glorious 'military annals of the country, .&L-.d to the 'develop- ment of the navy. Prussia, like 'France, has ,a high mission to fulfil, Pnd it is a -strange coincidence that thio mission should, inthe,words of the King, be imposed upon her by her ideographical situation and her political position." In each feeble imitations of Mapoleorr s style does the 'Prussian oonarch seek to beguile the Chambers into compliance with his will, and it is only towards tho end of his. address that he alludes to the existing dead-lock in .political affairs in these terns :—"It is -my earnest wish that the difference which has arisen within the last few years between my Government and the Cham- ber of Deputies should be brought by reconciliation." With a hint that this can only be accomplished by the complete submission of thechambers, the King con- eludes his address. It is, however, evidenL that the solution of this difficult -matter, and an arrangement with Austria respecting the long-coveted Duchies, will task the abilities of the King and Herr 7/on Bismark to the utmost.-Th, .*Pfi.,ess. THE EXPOSURES. — The wretched eophistry and prurient revelations to be'-found in the extracts from Mrs. Chetwynd's diary, which were quoted at the trial, may be the record of actual events, or may be the wild ravings of-c. heated imagination. It is im- possible to pronozace whather they rrefwt or fiction. But that in their very composition they evinced a Eiind dead to every sense of duty that should restrain a wife, or indeed animate a Christian, think can hardly be denied. It is, then, scarcely tofee wondered at that a mind se little capable of exercising anything like judgment as to delude itself with such reasonings .(if they may be so termed) as are to foe-found in that diary, should be-quite »,unable to restrain any impulse which led it to tind, congeniality of sentiment with inferiors, and to'descend'from that fortunsto elevation of position in which accident had placed its owner. '.But surely s-h-o should 'have shruak—surely both of these persons should, have shrunk—<froca placing on, open record the existence of tastes so depraved, and from so unblu-shangly publishing to theworld that the; eagle can feed oncarrion. It would have been better, indeed, for the interests of society, batter for the respect which '&e higher classes should, ever strive to .acquire for their .srder. that Mr. amd Mrs. Chetwynd should have remembered the sensible.ad-sdee of Napo- leon, and have washed their very dirty linen at home. ■—Morning Post. THE LAW OF BASECGTTCT.—What we protest against is the abandonment of every eflert to make culpable bankruptcy the subject of punishment. Commercial morality is lax enough, but itie something that the law should maintain even an unavailing pro- test against it. If a man receives other people's money and spends it or loses it, prima facie -lie has done something culpable, and-it is for him to show that he has not. It is good policy to give to every man, high or low, who has become ^involved the right of giving -up his, property and getting free of his debts, for it ,encourages him to stop betimes on theroad to ruin, saves from his incapacity or ill fortune all that can be saved, and sets him free to begin life afresh with the wtedomof experience and.unshackled energies. But if he is to enjoy this right subject to no judicial scrutiny, if any man who is in debt-no matter what his conduct—is to be able to get quit of his oreditors by giving up any assets or the bankruptcy sys- tem will beeome the most ,enormous encouragement to dishonesty and fraud that the world has ever seen. No man ought to be discharged from his debts until he <has been examined before a judge—an impartial authority, representing, the public—and has either been pronounced free of blame or has received auoh a sen- tence as his offence calls for. If the expense of this really-cannot be defrayed byataac on bankrupt estates without making the cost of bankruptcy practically prohibitive, then let the expense be borne in part, or if necessary altogether, by the public. We, who lavish so many millions on army, and navy, iron-dads and fortifications, may surely find a few thousands more rather than adopt a system which will make -it a folly to give any man credit or to trust any man's word, and which in the name of practical wisdom boldly elevates repudiation into a .personal right of

SPORTS AND PASTIMES. 0 MR. HENDERSON, a. member of the Cavendish Angling Club, held at the King's Head Tavern, Mar- garet-street, Cavendish-square, in two days' fishing at Wootton Bassett, caught 17.51b. weight of jack, the largest of which weighed 141b., one 121b,, two 101b. each, three glib. each, and three 841b. each. BREADALBANE and Broomielaw, the two Derby favourites, have been purchased by Mr. Henry Chaplin, for £11,000, says the Sporting Gazette, and they will remain under Mr. I'Anson's charge at Malton. FOR some weeks past a fine male fox was seen prowling in the neighbourhood of Arnside. On the 10th instant reynard brought into the orchard, occu- pied by Mr. Thomas Airey, builder, &c.-and left there-a fine cock chicken on the 11th a water hen; on the 17th, a fine fat wild duck, weighing 5lb., which was not quite dead when found, and which served for a good dinner en the Sunday for Mr. Airey and family. It is thought reynard must have been dis- turbed on every occasion before he had time to devour his prey. THE ENGLISH SALMON FISHERIES.—The annual meeting of the United Association for the Protection of the Fisheries of the Severn and its Tributaries was held in Worcester, last week, Sir E. A. H. Lechmere in the chair. The report stated that, owing to the dryness of the season, fish had been scaroe in the upper waters, but usually abundant in the lower. There were thirty-seven prosecutions, and twenty-six convictions by the association in the year. The re- port having been adopted, Mr. Eden, her Majesty's in- spector of fisheries, addressed the meeting at consider- able length on the subject of the new Salmon Fisheries Bill. HUNTING AT PAU. A correspondent says: enclose a letter I have received from Pau, south of France. The hounds (which hunt exclusively foxes) are kept by Capt. Alcock (late 95th). He has about twenty couples (harriers), nearly all from Mr. W. Flower's (the Netton). He has a good lot of horses, and hunts three days a week, having a fair subscrip- tion. The kennels are about one mile from the town, and every assistance is given to the hunt by the local authorities." His friend, dating from Pau, says:—"We are now in the depth of winter here. The snow has been on the ground since Saturday, and it still freezes, so all our hunting has been put an end to, which will fetch up the hounds and horses. Friday was our last day, and without doubt, was the best of this or any other season. We ran him nearly straight for 1 hour 50 minutes, from Lescar to Sauvagnon. The pack combed off the whole field, and had the last-25 minutes to themselves without a check, which I witnessed, owing to peculiar circumstances, viz., at the end of the first half hour I had rather a stiff fall, which hurt my arm too much to admit of my hunting further; so I took to the lanes, and to my wonder met the pack racing him. I then kept close enoagh by dodging not to lose sight of them again, and was well up to give the little hounds a cheer and a noise of music before they ran into him. Never did hounds deserve their fox as well, -or say better. The field came up ten minutes after we had eaten him, and though not present at the fite, expressed themselves highly pleased. But I am only tefiing you of one run, whereas I could enumerate almost ten, and worthy of a sheet of paper. We have been, 'up to this, highly favoured with regard to sport, and 'have a lot of well-mounted, hard-riding men. The 'sew horses are'doing first-rate.' Harry's mare is the test bit of stuff of her inches in the world-she cannot fall. The town has put on its accustomed gay appearances for fes 6treiiiies, and there is no end of amusements, such as balls, dinners, &c." 'CHESS MATCH.-It has been customary for several years past for the Manchester and Liverpool Chess Clubs to visit each other alternately, and prove their relative strength. Last year the encounter took place at Liverpool, and Manchester was beaten; the previous year Manchester was the battle-field, and the Liver- pudlians were victorious. The contest this year took place on Saturday, at the rooms of the Manchester Chess Club, St. Mary's Gate, and the play was wit- nessed with great interest by many visitors and admirets off the game. May commenced at about half-past two, and was continued until a late hour. seven of the best players were selected from each club, and en the arrival of the Liverpool champions lots were drawn to decide each player's opponent, which resulted ia a victory for Liverpool by only one game.

HINTS UPON GARDENING. I AUR?E--ULA.SOW -Se--d of the show varieties and a small -pinch of Alpines, which, though of no great value, are sure to prove useful. Sow on nice friable soil, already well moistened, and lay squares of glass over the pans, so that no more watering will be neces- sary till the plants are up. If in heat, it should be ) very gentle, though a- cold frame is sufficient. ::1 AZALEAS and CAMELLIAS to be kept going for sue- j cession. Take care they have enough water while foreing; a3 the blooms open use the syringe less, and II remove them to a cooler atmosphere, to prolong the 'Meom. BEDDING PLANTS.—Arrange the propagation of these according to their habits. Those that require to BEDDING PLANTS.—Arrange the propagation of these according to their habits. Those that require to make a free growth before they bloom to be got on first, and those that come into bloom quickly may be deferred. Petunias, heliotropes, geraniums, agera- kms, Nierembergias, lobelias, cupheas, and lantanas, to be cut from as soon as the old plants furnish shoots ,for the purpose. There need be no haste about ver- benas, dahlias, mimulus, perilla, Oenotheras, salvias, end tropsBolums they will make as good plants from cuttings a month hence. Be sure that the old plants are in vigorous .growth before beginning to cut at •them. I CUCUMBERS recently turned out may be suffering from excess of heat, in which case draw some soii away from the bottom of the hillocks. Make sure of 1 a few reserve plants. FUCHSIAS for bods may be propagated to any ex- 1 tent from a few eld plants, a.nd a very moderate tem- perature will set them growing for the, purpose. Take off the young shoots, when about three,illches long, with a heel to each. KITCHEN GAEBEST.—There should be no delay in getting ready every inch of ground intended for getting ready every inch of ground intended for summer crops. Got all plots requiring, manure ready at once, as it is much better to have the ground pre- pared in advance, that the manure may be more com- pletely incorporated with the soil, than to sow or plant immediately after manuring. Ground for peas, beans, onions, cauliflowers, and broccoli must be liberally manured and deeply stirred. Mark out the soil for onions into four-feet beds, and raise the beds six inches above the general level, and leave the sur- face rough. At sowieg time the surface will be nicely < pulverised through exposure to the air,. and the seed can be sown clean and rolled in firm, which is not always possible where the ground is in a,pasty condi- tion, or has been but recently made ready. Choose for potatoes ground, on which cabbage, or broccoli, or celery has been grown, and which for those crops was well manured last year. Make up sloping borders under warm walls and fences for early lettuce, radish, onion, horn carrot, and to prick out cauliflowers and broccoli from seed pans, &c. ORANGE TREES should be well cleaned now, to remove scale; and the tubs and pots have a fresh surfacing of rich soil or old dung. When starting plants of this kind, keep up a moderately moist atmosphere. JPiLANT garlic, ehalot,chives, and onions for-seed. BOTATOEs.Plant potatoes as soon as possible; sets should be of moderate size, and with short, stubby, hard sprouts ,npoll them; when the sprouts are long and white it is scarcely reasonable to expect a sound and plentiful .production. Ou wet soils it will be best to defer planting tha main crop till next monch. To raise a few early potatoes, the simplest method is to make up a slight hotbed, and cover it with old lights,-or canvas on hoops, or even hurdles or mats will do, as by the time the haulm appears the season will be sufficiently advanced to allow of taking off the covering by day—putting it -on at night; however, to keep safe from frost. If there is plenty of charred refuse, .use it liberally in making up the bed, and cover the sets with some of it reserved for the purpose. The main, crop of potatoes should be planted at greater distances between the rows than is usually allowed; two feet apart and nine inches between the sets should be the least distance for moderate growers, and three feet apart and a foot or more between the sets tor robust growers. When growers complain that their potatoes have "run all to haulm," it may always be .understood that they are planted about twice as thick as they ought to be. RHUBARB in open quarters to be heavily covered with half-rotten dung. The last lot may be put in for forcing now. Sow in the open quarters peas, beans, parsnips, spinach, leeks. Sow on warm slopes radish, hardy lettuce, cabbage, parsley. Sow in heat, to transplant, Spanish and Portugal onions, cos and cabbage lettuce, celery, tomatoes, capsicums, melon, cucumber, cauli- flower, sweet basil, sweet marjoram.-The Gardeners' Weekly Magazine .and Floricultwral Cabinet,

OUR MISCELLANY. -+- A Caution.—If a man be given to liquor, let no liquor be given to him. What is the most pleasant music in a ball-room ? —That made by the belles. Hot Goose v. Cold Duck.—A tailor, who, in skating, fell through the ice, declared that he would never again leave his hot goose for a cold duck. Jones complained of a bad smell about the post- office, and asked Brown what it could be. Brown didn't know, but suggested that it might be caused by the dead letters." Friendship.—Some people were talking about a gentleman celebrated as much for the intensity as for the shortness of his friendship. Yes," said a wit, his friendship is so warm that he no sooner takes it up than he puts it down again." Singular Epitaphs.—The following epitaph is in Wolstanton churchyard:— Some have children-some have none, Here lies the mother of twenty-one." A person of the name of Button solicited Archbishop Usher to write his epitaph, which the primate did as follows:— 0 heaven! 0 stars! 0 earth! 0 poles! That graves should be but button holes! On a man who was killed by hitting his head against a pump:- Here lies John Adams, who received a thump, Eight on the forehead, from the parish pump: Which gave him the quietus in the end, For many doctors did his case attend." The following epitaph is on a tombstone in Oldbury- on-Severn churchyard:— Pain was my portion, Physic was my food, Groans my devotion, Drugs did me no good." Not Afraid of a Man.—A heartless fellow, writing for a magazine says: I have seen women so delicate that they were afraid to ride for fear of the horse running away; afraid to sail for fear the boat would overset; and afraid to walk for fear the dew might fall; but I never saw one who was afraid to get married." Abe's Last!—"How do you do, Mr. Lincoln P" said some one to the President. Well," said he, in an indirect way, "that reminds me of a story. As the labourer said to the bricklayer, after falling through the roof and rafters of an unfinished house, I have gone through 3. great deal since you saw me last." A Christmas Pie of the Olden Time.— James Earl of Lonsdale sent a Christmas pie to King George III., which contained 2 geese, 2 tame ducks, 2 turkeys, 4 fowls, 6 pigeons, 6 wild ducks, 3 teals, 2 starlings, 12 partridges, 15 woodcocks, 2 Guinea fowls, 3 snipes, 6 plovers, 3 water-hens, 1 wild goose, 1 curlew, 46 yellowhainmersi, 15 sparrows, 15 chaf- finches, 2 larkg, 4 thrushes, 12 fieldfares, 6 blackbirds, 20 rabbits, 1 leg of veal, half a ham, 3 bushels of flour, and 2 stones of butter. It weighed 22 stones, was carried to London in a two-horse wagon, and if not as dainty as the celebrated pie containing four-and- twenty blackbirds, which when the pie was opened began to sing, it was, at all events, a dish to set before a king." Pursuit of a Bear.-The procedure of the bear is as follows :-He proceeds very cautiously towards the black speck far off on the ice, which he knows to be a seal. When still a long way from it he throws himself down on his side and hitches himself along toward his game. The seal meanwhile is taking its naps of about ten seconds each, ultimately raising its head and surveying the entire horizon before com- posing itself again to brief slumber. As soon as it raises its head the bear "talks," keeping perfectly still. The seal, if it sees anything, sees but the head, which it takes for that of another seal. It sleeps again. Again the bear hitches himself along, and once more the seal looks around, only to be talked to again, and again deceived. Thus the pursuit goes on till the seal is caught, or till it makes its escape, which it seldom does.—Life among the Esquimaux. The House of Smith.—A correspondent of a contemporary, whom we will call Plantaganet Mow- bray Somerset Fitzhardinge, has taken the trouble to ascertain that, in the' commercial part of the new "London Directory," there are in round numbers 1,450 persons of the name of Smith, and 27 of the name of Smyth, Smythe, and Smythies (not including Smithson, Smythson, and Smytheson); whilst in the Court portion of the same work there are 470 Smiths, and 25 Smyths, Smythes, and mythies, making the grand total of 1,972, or very nearly 2,000 ef this illustrious family. Supposing each Smith, Smyth, Smythe, and Smythies produces on the average four little Smiths, Smyths, Smythes, Smythies, and each of these four little Smiths, Smyths, or Smythes, and Smythies pro- duces four other little Smiths, Smyths, Smythes, or Smythies, and so on in martingale, what will be the dimensions of London and of the London. Directory in the year 1965 ? The Japanese Peasants.—A correspondent of the New York Tribune says:—"I have seen the soil about Nagasaki, Hukadade, Yedo, and Kanagawa, and it is all the same; yielding bounteous returns only to painstaking labour. And this labour the Japanese peasant faithfully bestows till all the country laughs with fatness. For him there are no ambitions beyond honest toil; the conditions of his life are fixed irrevo- cably he is haunted by no dreams of power, pursued by no avarice, and so his human machine runs on gently without many frets or breaks. His wife is in- dustrious like himself, her spinning-wheel sings by the door, and the shuttle of his daughter's loom flies by the window. In the rice culture and the cotton pick- ing they labou-r. bv his side. His children have full run of the streets for their earlier years-the girl plays with dolls and dresses, the boy snares birds, robs bird nests, dams up the little rills, sails his tiny boat, makes his mud pies in the sun, and tears his trousers—till such time as he is able to go to the woods for fuel, or to the fields to hoe and weed. But one thing is to be remembered, to school he must go, and the sun is hardly up before he is off to school with shining brown face, and the roll of paper which makes his copy-book in hand." Signs that Failed.-We all remember the story of the innkeeper who became proud as he prospered, and taking down his sign of the Ass, put up a portrait of George IV. in its place. His neighbour immediately raised the cast-off effigy, and in this sign he con- quered." The first landlord, alarmed at the increas- ing popularity of his rival, and understanding the cause, wrote underneath the grim visage of his Ma- jesty This is the real Ass." But an equally ludi- crous incident of the kind is told at the expense of the good Bishop Llandaff. He took up his abode near the head.of Lake Windermere, where the principal inn had been known as the Cock; but the landlord, by way of compliment to his distinguished neighbour, substi- tuted the bishop as the new sign. An innkeeper close by, who had frequently envied mine host of the Cock for his good fortune iu securing a considerable preponder- ance of visitors, took advantage of the change, and at- tracted many travellers to his house by putting up the sign of the Cock. The landlord with the new sign was much discomfited at seeing many of his old customers deposited at his rival's establishment; so, by way of remedy, he put up in large red letters, under the por- trait of the bishop, "This is the old Cook." African Travelling. On our journey, the stretcher was changed from the head to the shoulder of the Waganda, who went at the rate of six miles an hour, jostling and paining my limbs unmercifully. The coach-and-four, as I may term it, was put down every mile, or less, that the bearers might rest, laugh, joke, and make a deafening sound with their mumbling language, beating their tongues to the roofs of their months. If a grove of plantain was by the side of the path, it could not be resisted; off all would dash at the fruit, eat, and carry away as much as they were able, sometimes politely offering me a share, or more frequently remaining so long away, as I lay on the stretcher, that it became irritating. The best way was to join as much as possible with them in their frolics; my men did so, and enjoyed the march ex- tremely. The boys practised many manly games, as seen in our own gymnasiums—such as jumping with sticks: shooting, with bolted arrows, partridge or pigeon, or teaching small birds to sing; making model guns out of cane, going off with a trigger, and having a cloud of sand for smoke double- barrelled guns, and making them, with nipple, hammer, trigger, &c., out of mud, with cotton for the smoke. They had also made cross-bows and, generally, they evinced great powers of imitation.- -Waik through Africa. Hair Dressing.—Formerly there was but one style of dressing the hair, now there are two-one for the morning; the other for the evening toilette. The style in vogue, or rather that which gives the ton, is no longer that with the hair arranged over a large frizette, and falling as a pillow low on the nape of the neck; except as a mass of plaits at the back, the hair is no longer arranged in a large boss. A becoming style—becoming both to dark and fair complexions- is what is now called the Cleopatra head-dress. There is nothing severe in it; indeed, I may say that this pretty arrangement of hair, although in the Greek style, is very coquettish. It is managed thus In the centre of the forehead there are five curls (not too short), while at the side the hair is formed into a plait which is worn close to the face, then passed to the back of the ear, and twisted with two other plaits at the back. The four plaits united form a beautiful torsade, which falls on the neck (not too low), and is lastly fastened up with a gold comb. When well arranged, this proves a most graceful style. If gold braid is plaited in with the hair, an additional effect is gained. A round wreath is worn above the curls; generally this wreath is a band of fiowere, entwined on r. a flexible branch, the bowers are cornflowers, migno- nette, pinks, lilies of the valley, &c. Sometimes the flowers are replaced either by a branchy of velvet starred with precious stones, or by a band of diamonds. The velvet bands, sparkling with gold and precious stones are tied behind, underneath the black hair, and fall with long ends upon the shoulders. A net-work made of velvet as wide as that worn round the head, and studded either with diamonds or gold stars, en- cases the hair.-Paris Correspondent of the Queen. How Stolen Goods Travel. Considerable ingenuity is displayed by the thieves in conveying- their unlawful possessions from one place to another. Hampers, clothes-baskets, hat-boxes, carpet bags, and brown paper parcels, containing stolen articles, are carried by women dressed like servants, and by honest and unsuspecting errand boys, and parties who fre- quently have no knowledge of the contents of the luggage. Stolen articles are booked regularly at the goods station, and travel along our streets and rail. ways in company with honest merchandise. A. thief will occasionally bay two or three pounds of cheese or butter, insert therein a gold, watch or a diamond ring, place the eatable upon a plate, and the savory com- modity is safely carried along the street under the detective's very nose, whose only notion or desire concerning the cheese may be, that it would make a nice rarebit for his supper. Thousands .of pounds' worth of jewellery have travelled the whole length of a railway stitched up in a salmon or a hare. Some thieves, it is said, once obtained, in the provinces, a large Quantity of jewellery, and devised a strange method of sending it to the fence-master in London. They purchased a very large Stilton cheese, scooped out the inside, filled it with valuables, and then sent r it off per goods train like any other cheese.-Once a Week.

BANISHMENT OF CRINOLINE FROM* PARIS. The Paris correspondent of the Morning Post writes:—According to a Parisian expositor of the fashions of the day, crinoline has received notice for its final banishment from aristocratic circles. It particularly draws the attention of the followers of high ton to the fact that at the ball at the Tuileries on Wednesday evening her imperial majesty, dressed with her usual exquisite taste, exhibited "ime grande sobriety dans I'ampleur des entournures," a delicate way of expressing the absence of that detestable cage which adds so much to female dimensions. The Empress's example, it appears, has been imitated by all those who have pretensions to mingle in the circles of fashionable life. The consequence is, that the im- pediment to the free circulation of the guests is now in some measure removed, and the grand staircase of the Tuileries, which has lately been almost im- practicable at a certain hour of the evening when the early party departs and the later visitors present themselves, is now ascended without the usual dif- ficulty. At one of the representations at the theatre at Compiegne the crinoline was voted an absurd and enormous nuisance. The ladies only found seats. The cavaliers were compelled to stand the whole of the evening. At a ball on Wednesday evening the Duchesse de Persigny and Madame Say were the theme of universal admiration. Their toilette was pronounced irreproachable. They, too, had renounced the repudiated crinoline. I wish I could confirm these assertions of the Parisian jour- nal, not as regards the toil'lette of the ladies quoted, but as regards the anticipation that the death-inviting and inconvenient crinoline was again about to be banished back to the days of Louis XV. The fact is, a struggle has commenced between the pro and the anti-crinolinists-the former being still in the majority. The dressmakers will r-ot let the fashion of exagge- rated wide circling robes and overcrowded decorations go out of fashion if they can help it. An authority on this subject writes I will not translate; the lan- guage of the toillette cannot be translated—" La mode n'abandennepas si vite les toilettes a large envergure, car elle multiplie les jupes et les ornementa sans s'inquieter de la getre que cela cause dane lea salons c'est le moindre do ses soucis. Une robe do bal tient une place énorme dans 1'atelier de la couturiere qui la confectionno; si on la fait en tulle, il y a toujours quartre ou cinq jupea supûrposées les unes sur les autres, et deux sont bouillonnees. La dernifere jupe est relevee vec des guirlandes Pompadour ou des puffs." If the laws of universal suffrage, as applied, to the French empire, were to decide in France the reign of crinoline, we should soon get rid of the incon- venience, and the statistics of death by acoident would show how one falling off had produced another falling off.

A NEW SHOPLIFTING TRIOK. Three daring shoplifters were arrested a few days ago, owing to the skilful management of a young man employed as a porter in a silkmercer's establishment of the Rue des Fosses-Montmartre, Paris. Early in the morning a well-dressed young man, accompanied by two femalas in elegant toilets, entered the shop of M. G silkmercer, and were received by Charles S-, the shop porter, who told them that the shco- men had not yet arrived, but would soon be there. The parties expressed their willingness to wait, and a few minutes later one of the females pretended to be unwell, and asked for a glass of water; but the young man, who suspected these early customers, declared that he could not leave the shop. The woman, on hearing this reply, immediately recovered and left the shop with her companions. As one of the shopmen happened to arrive just after their depar- ture, the porter determined to follow them, sup- posing they would attempt the same trick else- where. He saw them enter the shawl warehouse of M. J-, in the same street, and waited till they came out, when the young man went one way and the women another. The porter followed the man, who went into the Passage du Vigars, leading into the Rue des Vieux-Augustins, where he was again joined by the females. The porter then accosted them and said that the shopman bad arrived, and that he had been sent after them to request them to return. They made various objections, which he overcime by threatening to give them into the custody of the police. On arriving at the shop they were requested to accompany the master to the commissary of police, but they refused, and a police-officer was sent for. Meanwhile the women had contrived to throw the shawls they had stolen under a counter, where they were found soon after, and identified by M. J ;• Before the commissary of police the three shoplifters pretended that they were Dutch, and had just arrived from America via London. uL The women were then examined by the female searcher, and their ample crinolines were found provided with pockets, hooks, and other contrivances for concealing stolen goods.-Gali,gnanq,.

"SOWING GAME As two police officers were proceeding on duty along the Glasgow road, in the parish of Holywood, the other night, they met a young man carrying on his back a well-filled sack, and whom at first they took for a local post-runner carrying his usual letter-bag. Scarcely had the man passed them, however, when it occurred to one of the officers that at that time of night there could be no post-runnar on the road, and the conclusion next arrived at was that thev had en- countered a poacher who was returning to bumfries laden with the spoils of a successful night's sport. In this shrewd conjecture they found confirmation, when, on calling on the man to stop, they saw him make off at the top of his speed, apparently determined to show a clean pair of heels. At the same time, seeing the officers rapidly in pursuit, he was observed to sling round the bag on his back so as to bring the mouth of it in front of him, and then proceed to get rid of the contents by flinging them from him broad. cast on either side of the road as fast and as far as he could. On nearing the chase, the offi- cers observed that what the fugitive was so anxious to disburden himself of was indeed game. On one side a good-sized hare was seen skimming through the air; on another a plump partridge or pheasant—not exactly winging its way through its accustomed ele- ment, but describing a very pretty flight withal; and so on in quick succession the contents of the game bag were disposed of, till, as one of the officers phrased it, it looked as if the man was literally sowing game." They had by this time gained on him rapidly, and one of the officers had almost closed with him when a partridge was launched from the fugitive's hand, and making a graceful but somewhat forcible descent, struck him full in the eye. At length, however, after a smart run, the runaway appeared to be pumped out, and, sitting down by the roadside, cried a parley, con- fessing that it was "all up," and that a drink of water would be gratefully accepted. A bare and a partridge were found in the bag at his feet, and a powder flask on his person. The officers picked up and secured the game, which appeared to have fallen to the gun.

THE ARTS, LITERATURE, &c. ri;^IeATi°N has. it is said, been made to Govern- grant to Mrs. Leech from the Civil List. iW Society of Bordeaux has decided Ho exhibition of the products of agriculture, f-aastry, and the industrial arts, shall take place in lat city on the 1st July next. HE discoverer of the statue of Hercules at Rome Is received from the Pope (to whom he offered the Latue) a diamond snuff-box filled with gold and a i\,eque for 50,000 scudi. His Holiness has thus given ?i'.0 *11,000 for the statue, whilst its value was ig] gin ally computed at about X8, 000. jA STATUE of the late lamented Prince Consort will Warily be unveiled at the new middle-class college at e^atr.lirigton, Suffollv. The Prince of Wales has been egvuea to the inaugural ceremony. WORKMEN are employed making a niche in the in- erior of Burns' monument for tho reception of the ^larpie oust of the poet, subscribed for by some of the t etll,w1'=, C15izens > this work of art has just been com- j sletea by Mr. VV m. Brodie, E.S.A. u' J'ai;d bas hit upon a happy thought, wbich he has wajapferred to canvas with great effect. A cnarming girl, cf the present day, stands proudly »rrayed in her bridal dress, while the ageel grand- jaotlig", in happy mo>d} brings forth the embroidered silfe attire, old fashioned now, in which she, too, in youth had knelt at the altar. Glancing her eyes from the relic of her young days to the living bride in her splendour and beauty, the old lady seems to exclaim, with an air of triumph, "This was my wedding gown." AT the International Exhibition, to bo held this year in Dublin, Signer Benzoni will exhibit a monument intended to be erected in the parish church, Kiltegau, in county Wicklow, to the memory of the late William Hoare Hume, Esq., M.P., of Humewood. This monu- ment will be, perhaps, more remarkable from the fact that it is now fifty years since the death of Mr. Hume, and that it is erected by his eldest son, Fitzwilliam Dick, M.P., than for its artistic beauty, which is, how- ever, pronounced to be perfect. IT is understood that Sir John Bowring is engaged on a pamphlet on the subject of Remunerative Prison Labour." AMOKS the now books of interest which are likely to appear in the course of a few days are Mr. Tom Taylor's memoirs of Sir Joshua Reynolds. We hear that by the help of that great artist's MS. book of appointments for sitters, Mr. Taylor has been success- ful in identifying' more than one old portrait, where the family tradition was obscure or uncertain, to be a genuine Sir Joshua. A "HANDY BOOK on the Law of Friendly, Indus- trial, and Provident Building and Loam Societies," by Mathamiel White, Esq., has just been published. The title sufficiently indicates its contents and purposes, and, we may also add, its great utility. Here we have in the smallest space a concise statement of the laws relating to thosem-utual provident societies, by which so much good is effected in the country. THE Emperor-of the French has ordered his "Life of Julius Csesar" to be translated into English, and has undertaken to revise the proofs himself. The book will appear simultaneously in French, English, and German. Messrs. Cassell, Petter, and* Galpin, the publishers appointed by authority for the sale of copies in England, state that the first volume will be ready for issue by the end of February. The English translator ia Mr. Thomas Wright.