The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

THE NEWS BUDGET. The Best Shot in the British Army. At the parade at Winchester barracks last week Colonel M'JJonald presented to Colour Sergeant Farcombe a silver tankard, richly embossed, of the value of 22 L gatjaeasi and bearing the following inscription Pre- sented to Colonel Elrington, commanding' the 4th bat- talion of the Rifle Brigade, Colonel M'DonaM, and t; e officers of the Rifle Depot Battalion (Winchest, -), o Colour Sergeant. H. Fareombe, the, best shot in fe British Army and of the Rifle Dapob Battalion in the coarse of musketry, ending 1st of April, 1864." Heartless Desertion of a Sick Wife— Henry Gtrinea, aged 25 years of age, of Deptford, was placed before Mr. Traill, at the Greenwich Police-court, Charrged with deserting hi wife and allowing her to become chargeable to the Greenwich Union.—It was "wn that the prisoner was in good employment, and that he had not kept his promise to the parish autho- rities to take eare of his wife, and reimburse them the expenses they had been put to.—Mr. Traill committed him to Maidstone Gaol for ono month's hard labour. Freedom of Worsliip.-A public meeting has been held at the Railway Hotel, Wilaaslow, for the purpose of ratifying the arrangement made by the peace committee, that tho parish church should, be mtn eiy free at every service; that any family desiring to ait in the same place might do so by coming early enough; and that the offertory should be collected by parishioners and the Lord's wardens conjointly by mutual arrangement. The resolutions were una.ni- mously adopted, and a vote of thanks passed to the chairman (Mr. Thomas Barlow), for Ms successful endeavours in carrying out the arrangements. A Message from the Sea.—There has just been picked up on Filey Sands a sealed bottle, which, on being broken, was found to contain a sn. all piece of paper, evidently torn out of a, pocket-book, upon wMcfa was- written, ia lead pencil, the following:- "Loss of the ship Mary Ann, of Linxi; she is going down-; all pumps choked; no chance of saving our lives; grew, nine in all. Captain C. W. Wind; mate, B. Frost £ 27; M. 33; wind blowing SES." There is no date upon the paper. A Rash Leap from a Railway Train. A man was found on Thursday evening lying insensible en theJJails about three-quarters of a mile beyond the Yatton station on the Great-Western Railway. His hands were cut, Ms eye bruised, and his sho alder con- tented. Haviwg- been. restored to consciousness, he aailI that his name was James Saunders, that he was a farmer, and had been that day to Bristol market, whence he was returning to Yatton by the train. But lie. had inadvertently allowed himself to be carried past Yatton; and, on discovering thia, although the train had attained full speed, he opened the door and jumped out Fatal Accident to a Farmer.—An inquest was held at St. Breward, Cornwall, a few days ago, on the body of a farmer named Best. Deceased had been to a bti&amith's' to, fetch a plonghsharl) and a pitchfork (or 11 evil," as* it is locally exiled), and by soma means QC-Iotber he managed to fall on the prongs of the latter asi he wis, returning home. He -,vas found not far frois, the, door of his house quite dead, and with a wound. penetrating the lungs and heart, and which appeared to have been certainly caused by the fork walsh lay by Ms side. The jury returned a verdict of Accidental Death. Death of Sir John T. Briggs?.—The above re- tired public servant died last week at his residence in the- Royaloreseent, Brighton. The deceased died at an advanced age, about 83 years. He was for some fSino private* secretary to the late Right Hon. Sir JiUaea Gtaham, Bart., M.P., when First Lord of the Admiralty, and was subsequently appointed a com- missioner 6f tie Victualling Board, and latterly Accountant-General of the Navy, which office he .resigned in the early part of 1851, Taking the Veil.—A great sensation has been created by the retirement to a Leitrim convent, of the Order of "Les Pauvres Claires" (of which the Hon. Mrs. Law, a recent convent to Rome, is abbess), of the two youngest daughters of the late Henry Grattan, Eacf., and granddaughters of the celebrated patriot. On- taking the irrevocable vows of this auatere order 4nete-re even in the dress, which is a plain black eoacse garment, a Mack veil, a girdle, and sandals— these interesting young ladies* by their father's will, forfeit their ample fortunes of X20,000 each. Distressing Occurrence. — Mr. Larding, cf Wbodlaad Farm, Shooter's-hill, was proceeding across feistla»ds, the other day, when he discovered the dead body of a little. boy in the middle of a ploughed field. Ifclias since been identified as the body of a child four years 0f age, named George Dedman, of Cook'e- osttages, Ciage-Iane, Plumstead, whose parents state that he has been missing since the 23rd of January, and, notwithstanding every inquiry being instituted, could not be diseovered. It is conjectured that the poor little fellow wandered from home, got lost, and perished from cold and want of food. The child's cap and boot were missing; but the body bore no marks of violence. A Novel Crinoline Disaster.—The Hartlepool Borough Bench were on Tuesday engaged for some time in hearing a summons against a riveter named Wá.Ðh, for wilfully setting1 on fire aohimney in his, house. The defendant had qiiwroued- with his wife about- her crinoline, and would not allow her to wear OBe. He took it from her, put hop out of the house, md then deliberately pushed the crinoline up the chimney, and set fire to it by emptying a paraffin oil lamp into the ifreplace, which seb the chimney on fire. The Bench told him he was liable to a penalty of X5, but they only inflicted a fins of IOi., because of the novelty of the case. Embezzlement of Ballo on Silk.—The Tribunal of Correctional Police, on the 30 th August last, con- demned MM. JulefA and Louis Godard, by default, each to six months' imprisonment and 50f. fine for having embezzled a certain quantity of silk supplied to them fey M\ Radar for the making of his: great balloon, the (Mant. The defendants iiaxring opposed the execution of tkis judgment, the case has this week been tried aitaiii, in the presence of both defendants. As all the particulars of the charge and of the defence were given afcthe time of the first trial, it will now suffice to say t'bat the tribunal, on this hearing, condemned Louis Godard to a. month's imprisonment, and Jules, Godard foSOf. fine also to pav N&dar £ 500 as damages, and oifcbWto return thesilk embezzled or 300f. instead, as itfifAUcfS c&sts-. Church. Rates.-The .procoodiBgs taken by Mr. Henry Hoare against certain nersons who had refused to pay ohurck rates, and which led him prematurely to boast at Bristol that he had tan men in limbo," have suddenly eometo an end. A contemporary says, "Mr. Hoare, it will be remembered, instead of proceed- ing bv distraint, sought to have the defaulters com- mitted to prison. The worthy gentleman did not ftighten them, but he succeeded in alarming his own frilnda Bome of whom have paid the rates to avoid the scandal which would attend the enforcement of a }*w which political ohurchmen in Parliament refuse to 6The Ciuetfn and the Snd Battalion CoW- —^TTar Majesty, in commemoration of th. M fcJWion Cold- gfceam guards, and as an expression of pleasure at the excellent Btate and efficiency of=be reament has graciously presented portraits of the Con- sort to1 the battalion through Lieutenant Colonel Fielding. They are lithographs, engraved by J A. Tinier item Winterhaltier's celebrated picture of the Prince, who is attired in full uniform as colonel of the Sea, and wearing the Star of the Order of the Gfoete*. Beneath each portrait, which is en«l°sed in a richly carved and gilt frame, and surmounted by the W crown, is the word Albert," the autograph of the Prince The size of each picture* mcludiBg the frame, ia 32 inches by 30 inches. One of the portraits has been placed in the Eon -commissioned officers mess-room, and the other in the regimental library and reading-room, forming very handsome ornaments. In these two commodious rooms two engravings of -their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of WaleSi and Prince Albert Victor, by Holl, from Vernon Hfcatii's photograph, and purchased by the battalion, have also been placed. The Supposed Wealthy Paper.-TlIe will of the old man Smart, a pauper in S. Panoras Wok- house, who aKeges, and has persuadeb. some people to L) brieve, that he is heir to a large property, continues t» excite considerable interest among the vestrymen and guardians of the poor m that parish Mr. Bishop, ^•7 ho drew up the will, refusesit. produce it and de- clares the vestry have found a m,re s nest. Ihe ma«ter of the workhouse, who >» to benefit largely by ^a'TjrovinonS, denies that he used any undue in- fluence A committee which v/as appointed to mves- j tigate the matter met the other day at the workhouse, when their object was baffled by the old man Smart having left the house. The committee have been directed to continue the prosecution of their inquiries. In the meantime there is no evidence that the whole story is other than the result of a mer-e hallucination. working on the mind of the old man. Vaccination in Africa.—In the month of De- cember last, when the small-pox made its appearance i amongst various tribes of Kabylia, General J tlsllf, commanding the province of Algiera, invited the general commanding the subdivision of Dellys to see; whether he could not find in the country individuals disposed to come under the direction of the French medical men, and make themselves acquainted with the practice of vaccination, and afterwards proceed to the practice among the tribes. The appeal was successful, as thirty-one of the natives learnt the process, and were soon able to operate without assistance among their countrymen. The Strike of Brickmakers.-A meeting of operative brickmakers was recently held at the Cardinal Wolsey Tavern, Kingsland, with reference to the strike now existing in the Stoke Nesrington district. The men have been on strife for the last seven weeks against a. proposed; redmtion in the price of making bricks from 5a. 6d. to 5s. per 1,000, and also against the system of hiring for the season. The fol- lowing resolution was adopted:—" That this meeting considers the course pursued by the employers in at- tempting to take advantage of the slack season of the year to compel their men to hire themselves at re- duced wages, as also with threatening them if they did not submit they should not obtain work from any other firm, as both tyrannical and unjust; and the men present pledge themselves not to resume work at those firms from which they have been locked out unless they obtain the old price without hiring." Encroachment of the Seo--On the beach and bathing ground to the eastward of Burntisland (on the northern shores of the Firth of Forth) the sea is mak- ing-such inroads, says the Scotsman, as to-compel the railway company and others to look to the security of their property, and the public to the safety of their lives and limbs. The strong south-east gales of the last week and the present, accompanied with high tides, have thrown the waves with such force against the railway breastwork as to bring down nearly 100 r yards of it. More than three times as much, extend.. ing between two arches having access to the Links, is also from the same cause in a very insecure condition. Further east, the public baths are in imminent danger, the footway which used to separate the sea from them having been narrowed by the motion of the waves to a very few feet, which is being gradually undermined till the water almost laps the foundation of the build- ing. Stretching along from these houses the railway again approaches the beach, and here huge piles have been repeatedly driven in at the foot of the embank- ment to protect it from the sea, but these are proving useless, as much of the ground behind them has been washed away during the recent storms. Accident on the Great .Eastern Railway.— The traffic on the Newmarket and Bury St. Edmund's section of this system has been disorganised the last week by the fall of one of the ends of the tunnel near the Newmarket Station. A large quantity of water had come down from the adjacent hills in conse- quence of a sudden thaw, and seriously affected the walls and a portion of the crown of the tunnel, so as to cause a large mass to fall; and it was not known that the accident had happened until a mixed train from Bury ran into the rubbish, which had choked up the passage, and fell on its side. The driver and fire- man escaped unhurt, but by what means is wholly unknown, as they themselves can give no explanation, Fifteen goods tracks followed the engine and tender, i and several of these were thrown off the line; and at, nlu the further end of the train was a carriage containing, a few passengers, who not only escaped without without injury, but sustained so slight a shock that thoy were not aware that an accident had occurred; until reque-ted to alight. A temporary platform has i been erected on the Kennett side of the tunnel, and the passengers are there set down and oonveyed to Newmarket by omnibus, proceeding thence by train as usual. Up to Saturday the engine and traiii had not been extricated, and it will not be practicable to, resume the traiffe through the tunnel for several days. The Young Gentleman of Paddington- green.—In the London Court of Bankruptcy a bank- rapt named Arthur John Muller, who waa decribed as of No. 223, Mary lebone road, out of business, formerly of Lisson-street, Stanley-place, Paddington-green, and of Moncontown, Brittany, in the empire of France, Ion out of business or employment, made an application for examination and discharge. The debts are only X290 14ps. 4d., and there have been no less than five adjournments. Mr. Canaan, official assignee, reports that he has received no assets under the estate Mr. Linlslater appeared for the creditors, and asked for an amendment of the proceedings, bv the insertion of the bankrupt's son as a debtor. His honour thought the remedy lay in the French courts. Mr. Linklater contended that there being a special" covenant the proof was admissible. Mr. Preston offered to file all the documents in the matter. Mr. Linklater said he would be content if the statement was amended. After a brief discussion, subject to the amendment, the examination waa passed, and the discharge granted. A Murderous. Offer.The following appears in the advertising columns of the Sebna (Alabama) Dis- patch 0iIe- Million Dollars Wanted, to Have Peace by the 1st of March.—If the citizens of the Southern Confederacy will furnish me with the cash, or good securities for the sum of 1,000,000 dols., I will cause the lives of Abraham Lincoln, William H. Seward, aad Andrew Johnson to hac taken by the 1st of March next. This will give us peace and satisfy the world that cruel tyrants cannot live in a 'land of liberty." If this is not accomplished nothing will be claimed beyond the sum of 50,000 dols., in advance, which is supposed to be necessary to reach and slaughter the three villians. I will give myself 1,000 dols. towards this patriotic purpose. Every one wishing to contribute will address X;' box X, Cahaba, Alaba.ma.Dec. 1,1864" Robert Atkin, mariner, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court, on Thursday" to two; mdict. meuts, charging him— the first with feloniously seading a letter to William Seaton Brown threatening to kill and murder him; and the second with feloniously de- manding with menaces from the prosecutor the sum of .£91 2s. The Recorder said the prisoner had pleaded guilty to two charges, but ha did not then propose to pass sentence on him for the second charge, that of demanding money by menace, which. was a very seriome one, and one for which he-was. liable to many years' penal servitude. For the first offence, that of sending a threatening letter, he should sentence him to six months' imprisonment, with hard labour, and should require the prisoner, at the expiration of that time, to enter into recognisances to appear when ealled upon to receive judgment, and it would entirely depend upon his conduct after the expiration of the sentence whether he would be called upon, or not. If be again made any threats or menaces he would, receive a severe punishment. Capture of a notorious Swindler.—A man. aged 30, who gave the name of John Loman, and was known to the Dolice under several different names, was charged at Guildhall by William Smith, an officer of the City detective force, with having thirty yards of French Orleans cloth in his possession.-]Prom the; evidence it appeared that the prisoner was seen by Smith walking in St. Paul's-churchyard, from the direction of Messrs. Hitohoock and Co.'s, in a very hurried manner. As he appeared bulky, Smith fol- lowed him, when he took to running. Smith imme- diately gave chase, and captured him in Newgate- street, and, after great resistance, took the goods in question from under his ooat, the prisoner tearing off a label in the struggle and destroying it.—A person in the employ of Messrs. Hitchcock and Co. identified the cloth as the property of the firm, and Mr. Charles Mudell swore to having seen the prisoner on the day in question leave the shop in a very hurried manner. A previous conviction was proved against him at the Central Criminal Court, when he was sentenoed to three years' penal servitude, and he was committed for trial. Smith, the detective officer, has proofs in his possession that the prisoner had been in the habit of advertising for governesses and defrauding them of their money. He had also been a director of a sham insurance company, and was concerned in many swin- dles of the same kind Vacant Ecclesiastical Preferments. The living, a rectory, of St. Giles's, Wimborne, in the county of Dorset, in the patronage of the Earl of Shaftesbury, and worth X618 per annum, with a resi- dence, has just become vacant by the death of the incumbent, the Rev. Robert Moore, clerk, M.A., one of the most respected and esteemed clergymen in the diocese of Salisbury, The deceased rev. gentlemen, who was considerably advanced in years, but until. very recently most active and earnest in the discharge of his ministerial duties, had held the living for up- wards of forty years. In 1841 he wa.s collated by the late Bishop of Sarum (Denison) to a prebendal stall or* canonry in Salisbury Cathedral, which honorary pre- ferment he held up to the time of his lamented decease. The population of Wimborne St. Giles cum All Saints is 436, and the nomination to the stall or canonry in the Cathedral thus also vacated is vested in the Bishop of the diocese. Devotees.—There exists in Paris in the Rue de Reuilly, the Convent Do Picpus, where, since the exe- cution of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, prayer has been offered day and night for the release of their souL) from purgatory. Two nuns, who, for that spe- cial purpose, assume robes of blood-red colour, pray during one-half hour to this intent, being then relieved by two others and so on ceaselessly, day and night, without a single moment's intermission. The Prince Imperial Eating Meat on Friday.—The Opinion Rationale turns into ridicule a remark made by the clerical journals relative to the young guests of the Prince Imperial on Friday last having eaten meat at the dinner provided on the occa- sion. It sa,ys Abomination of desolation! We are assured that at the fete given to the pupils of the colleges by the Prince Imperial sandwiches were served! Sandwiches, mind! That is to say, thin cuts of meat between slices of bread, and that on Friday, before midnight. Most horrible! It is in vain that extenuating circumstances may be pleaded; that the question will be discussed to know if the guests of the Prince Imperial had or had not arrived at the age of reason when the injunctions with regard to fasting on Friday become obligatory. As for our- selves we tremble at the idea. of the disasters which menace us! Unhappy Prince!: Unhappy France!" Attempted Murder at Salford.On Wednes- day morning, about a quarter-past seven 01 clock, a desperate attempt at murder was made in Bury-street, Salford. A girl, about seventeen years of age, named Jane Elliott, the daughter of a bookseller and sta- tioner in Bury-street, had gone out to deliver some newspapers, as was her custom about that time in the morning, when she was met and savagely assaulted by a young man, named Daniel Grey, of Mottram-street, in the same borough. He inflicted several severe stabs about the head and various parts of the body, and the unfortunate girl was afterwards taken home in a state of great suffering. It is doubtful if her life can be sltved. Grey was apprehended about half an hour after the occurrence. Marrying an Actress.—In the Divorce Court the case of Matthews v. Matthews, Ramsden, and Ryan was heard last week. This was a suit by the husband for a divorce.—The petitioner had been an officer in the army, and he married the respondent, who was a Miss Campbell, when she was playing at the Cork Theatre in 1858. He then sold out, and be- came the manager of a theatrical company, and he lost his money in the speculation. The respondent continued, on the stage, and while playing at Derby she formed an improper intercourse with the co-res- pondent Ramsden, and. latterly she was found living, at Colchester with the other co-respondent, Ryan. The petitioner was now engaged as a lawyer's clerk, and was too poor to carry on this suit, but his father found; the requisite means-for doing so.-Theee facts having been proved, the judge pronounced a decree nisi. Two Boys Drowned at Bradford.—Two boys, one named James Whitaker, aged twelve years, and another named Thomas Robinson, aged thirteen* have been drowned in a small dam, situate near the chii^eh school, and connected with the premises of Messrs. Tylor and Ramsden, spinners and manufacturers, Victoria Mill, Bowling. The boya were playing in an adjoining, field, and one of them having driven a, knur into the dam, which was thinly covered with icer they incautiously ventured upon it, ia order to recover the knur, andimmediately brolre through the ice, and were drowned in water more than two yards in depth. They were seen by a third boy, brother of Robinson, to disappear, and ineffectual attempts were imme- diately made to recover them. The boys were both quite dead when fchair bodies were recovered, ansL-'aa. ineffectual- attempt was alao made- by Mr. Lodge, surgeon, to-restore animation. Charge of Perjury against a Policeman.- Aaron Cleare, a metropolitan police-constable of the K division, was charged at the London Guildhall with wilful and corrupt perj ury when giving evidence at the trial of William Brown, a, police-caastable, upon. an indictment for an assaulti Several: witnesses were examined to-prove the violant conduct of the prisoner, as well as of W. Brown, and to depose to the facts which took place relative to the assault upon James Barber and his wife by the police. Mr. Cooper, who- defended the constable, said he had, a complete answer to the charge, and he should assk, the magistrate to commit five of the witnesses for eons-piracy to defeat justice, and by hlse evidence-to accuse W. Brown of an assault, whereby Brown waa convicted and im- prisoned. Mr. Alderman Gibbons said he should, not, commit the prisoners for a conspiracy, nor grant a summons, unless a veay strong, case were shswn. The defendant was then committed for trial, but bail was accepted. Gossip from Berlin.—A enrioaa inmdentr 00. eurred at the last Court reception, at Bulin. M. von Ahiefeldt, nominally charge d'affaires of the Prinee of Augustenburg, was by mistake ushered into the saloon reserved far diplomatists but almost before he had, recovered from his surprise at finding himself in such unexpected company, he was spied oat by the terrible Von Bismarck, who immediately instructed a royal aide-de-camp to conduct the prince's, envoy to another apartment. A gentleman present, to whom it was remarked that M. Bloaie-S&Izau, a Schleswig; Hol- steiner, like M. von Ahlefeldt, was also among tlaa diplomatists, replied, M. von Blome has already become so thoroughly Prussian that there cannot be any error, but M. von. Ahiefeldt has yet to become so." Messrs. Grabow and Bockum-Dolffo, president and vice-president of the Pruasian Chamber of Deputies, having-received invitations to the, Court ball recently hela, were suddenly seized with a mysterious indis- position which prevented them from being present. As both gentlemen are invited to the approaching ball at the palace, some curiosity is felt to know what phase their indisposition, will have assumed by the date fixed for this event. The Original Christy's Minstrelsy—In the Equity Court, before Vice-Chancellor Sir W.,P. Wood, the case of Montague v. Moore was brought forward. This was a motion by the plaintiffs, claiming to be "the" real original Christy's Minstrels,, to restrain the defendants from representing themselves as the real original aforesaid. The case stands over to the next sittings, in order to give an opportunity to file further affidavits; but the facts, so far as they hava hitherto developed themselves, appear to be these First and foremost, there ia no real, actual Christy minstrel, the real and palpable one—one Ebenezer P. Christy—having HOW seme time since gone where the good niggers go." His mantle and sooty face, however, fell upan one Ponsford, or some such name, who, in the fulness of time and pockets, retired into privacy, with a pair of Hungarian breeches and a banjo, as companions in hia solitude, and remera- brances of brighter, though, superficially speaking, idarker days. After Ponsford oame the deluge (of niggers); rival blacks claimed and claim succession to the one and undivided Ebenezer; harmony has become diaoord, and, notwithstanding some apparently well meant endeavours of Judge J. W. Davies, of New York, to settle the rights of the parties, Bones and his brethren. are now in Chancery. A Pickpocket at a Chapel.—Maria Maine, aged twenty-six, giving an address at William-street, Croydon, was brought before the magistrate at Green- wich on remand, charged with stealing a purse, con- taining 19s. 6d., from the person of Mrs. Eliza Pearks, a lady residing in Syden'nam-park.—The prosecutrix said she attended a meeting at the Wesleyan Chapel, Sydenham, held for the purpose of paying off a debt due upon the building. As she was leaving the prisoner pushed rudely against her, and, feeling in her pocket, she discovered that her purse, which she had placed there two or three minutes previously, had been stolen. She then placed her hand on the prisoner s shoulder, and accused her of having robbed her, upon which tha prisoner very indignantly o!«sfirved, "You must be mistaken." Immediately after this her purse was found on the fioor close to them, having been dropped, and the prisoner was detained and given into custody.—Emily Foster, a young lady residing at Sydenham, said she was leaving the building, and saw the prosecutrix place her hand on the prisoner's shoulder. The purse was dropped and fell at the feet of the prisoner.-Police-cons,table Critchell, 52 R, said he received charge of the prisoner, and had inquired at the address given by her in Croydon, which lie had ascertained to be false. Witness had also made an inquiry at an address given by the prisoner in London, which he found to be principally inhabited by returned female convicts, but nothing appeared to be known of the prisoner there, nor by the police, although her, description had been circulated.—The prisoner vehe- mently asserted her innocence, but on being informed that she would have to be committed for trial, she begged to have the case at once disposed of, and she- was sentenced to two months' imprisonment with hard labour. The Singular Pauper Will Case.-The directors of the poor of St. Paneras held an adjourned investiga- tion on Monday respecting the proceedings which had taken place in their workhouse, in which an aged pauper, named Joseph Smart, the alleged possessor of great wealth, had made a will constituting the master residuary legatee. A committee was appointed by the last meeting to inquire into the circumstances, but they now reported that their labours had been ren- dered fruitless, as Smart had suddenly disappeared. The master professed to be unable to give any ex- planation of the reason which induced Smart to quit the place on Friday which was a most inclement day. Some of the guardians thought that this absence of the old man was a very suspicious circumstance, and that he was got out of the way for a purpose. A letter, which had been received from Mr. Bishop, the lawyer who drew up the will, ridiculed the Board as having discovered a mare's nest, and stated that the property was worth X5,000 instead of £ 150,000. In consequence of the publicity which was given to the previous proceedings before the Board several rela- tives have turned up, and letters from some of them were read before the guardians. The committee was requested to continnetne investigation, and the meet- ing adjourned. Curious Affiliation Case. John Hickie, a porter, was summoned before the Lord Mayor, at the- London Guildhall, by a young woman named Louisa Green, to show cause why he should not be adjudicated the father of her illegitimate child.—From the evidence of Louisa Green it appeared that she was twenty-five years of age, and had known the defendant for the last nine years. He seduced her when she was fifteen years of age, and had constantly had connection with her since until the time she was confined. He had since her confinement sent her money and groceries.— In cross-examination the complainant equivocated very much, and wished to decline. answering certain ques- tions, but on being pressed her answers were given in a moat unsatisfactory manner.—Charlotte Smith was called, who said that she had heard the defendant acknowledge the paternity of the child in the presence of the wife of a licensed victualler. She was also pre- sent when he brought tea and groceries to the com- plainant" the day after her confinement.—Mr. Beard (ommented. in strong terms on the way in which she had contradicted herself. He described her as a loose woman, and denied that his client had anything to say to her for some two or three yea^s.—Mr. Alder- man Lusk decided on dismissing the summons, bit said that another summons would- be granted, if the- complainant" could get the licensed victualler's wife afi, corroborative evidence.