The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

POLITICAL GOSSIP. A CONTEMPORARY commenting upon the recent levee held by the Viceroy of Ireland, says: The un- certainty felt as to the time at which the Lord-Lieu- tenant intended to hold a Levee, or indeed as to whether he intended to hold one at all, was productive of considerable inconvenience. Many persons were not aware of the ceremonial until it was time to attend it, and at the last moment some heard of it by mere accident—in conversation in a shop, or some such way. There was consequently a straggling attendance at the Levée, which caused unnecessary trouble to the per- sons who took down the names in the service of the press, and which, if repeated, will probably prevent the future publication of such lists." THE Observer says: "The Treasury have sent a commission of inquiry to Ireland to investigate the condition of the Irish constabulary, witii a view to in- creased efficiency as well as economy in the manage- ment of that most admirable force. The commis- sioners will be Sir Richard Mayne, Sir Duncan M'Grigor, formerly inspector. General in Ireland; Mr. Xnatchbull Hugessen, M.P., Lord of the Treasury; Mr. W. Law, Principal Clerk in the Treasury; and Colonel Wood, now at the head of the Irish force. Mr. Ryan, secretary to the Board of Audit, will act as secretary to the inquiry." IT is believed that the bill for the extension of the franchise is all prepared. It will be laid upon the table of both Houses of Parliament before Easter, and not after as some persona who profess to be well in- formed have given out. It will be proceeded with in the same earnest manner in which it is begun, and it will contain nothing to necessitate a dissolution—an event which can only be precipitated by the rejection of the measure. WE (Army and Navy Gazette) lately mentioned a rumour that Major-General the Hon. A. Gordon, now on the staff of Ireland, would succeed Lord Temple- town in the western district on the 1st of April next. We have reason to believe that that report is incorrect, and that Lord Templetawn will be succeeded by Major- General the Hon. Sir A. A. Spenser, K.C.B., who lately returned from the command ef a division of the Madras army. MR. FENWICK, the new Admiralty Lord, as M.P. for Sunderland, though, of course, it is not oertain he will be accepted by Sunderland when he goes back for re-election, will, it is hoped, improve the system of coaling H.M.'s ships at present on foreign stations. The complaints on this head are heavy and numerous; RATHER a bold caricature has appeared in Paris representing an india-rubber figure of Maximilian, which the Emperor of the French is in vain endea. vouring to inflate, because the President of America has penetrated him behind. The Mexican Sovereign's crown has fallen down, but the daring part of the caricature is the tottering state of the crown on the head of the Emperor of the French. SIB MOSES MONTEFIORE, whose benevolent and successful interpositions on behalf of his race and nation in other lands are so well known, has moved the Government to remonstrate with the Shah of Persia on behalf of the Jews who were oppressed in that country. We are glad to find, from a letter addressed from the Foreign-office to Sir Moses, that the Shah, on representations being made to him, has taken steps to put an end to the grievances of which they complained. A RUMOUR has been industriously circulated to the effect that, upon the assembling of Parliament, Lord Clarence Paget intends to sever his connection with his constituents and Parliament, in order to take command of the Mediterranean fleet. It is now, how- ever, stated, on semi-offioial authority, that Lord Clarence Paget has not any intention of giving up the representation of his present constituents, or taking command of the fleet. In proof of this we may men- tion that no vacancy exists in either of our stations, nor is likely to for many months and also that Lord Clarence Paget has been seleoted to move the Esti- mates in the present Session of Parliament. SINCE the General Election death has made two vacant seats in the new Parliament just assembled, ana at the same time that writs issue for new elec- tions to these, writs will be sent out for London, ■k?. ^S-trefraot, and Sunderland; for whioh Mr. Goschen, Mr. Chiehester Fortescue, Mr. Childers, and Mr. Fenwiok, will severally seek re-election each after his recent appointment to offise under the Govern-1 ment. In Sunderland only, of these four, is there any promise of a contest. The two seats vacant by death are Tiverten, where Mr Denman will contend with Sir John Hay to succeed the late Lord Palmerston; and Brecon, where the itiarl of Brecknock will probably be eleoted, without 0PP«81t»°n, to take the place of the late Colonel Lloyd WatW HON. T. COIZNVIN, Of Ohio, says that he would have continued in the Mexican embassy but he had to ciimb mountains and keep on 10 a^ the time, to keep in reach of the Mexican RepubU ana he was too old for it. WE do not know, says a London contemporary, if our lively detectives, who are so °'ever in looking through the chinks for Divorce Purposes, are aware of the fact, which is notorious a he West-end, viz,, that men are being daily eni. sted in large numbers for the servioe of Chili, and to fight allies the Spaniards. The place is a regular re?(:elrJ °Ua;, WE regret to hear that Mr. William ^2, • M.p. for North Derbyshire, of Manor-house, Claagnton, vg lying dangerously ill at. his London residence. Mr. jaoksoH has been suffering from a throat affection. ±ie;| is well known in the railway world, and has beeno^o the prominent men in Birkenhead affairs nearly ai his life. THE following official appointments have recently been made Mr. St. John, second secretary of lega- tion at the Hague, has been appointed second secre- tary of embassy at Constantinople. Mr. John Gordon Kennedy has been appointed to Constantinople. Mr. Freeman has been promoted from Copenhagen to the Hague. Mr. Milford has been appointed second secre- tary at Copenhagen. Mr. Phipps has been appointed to Athens. Mr. Markby, of the Norfolk Circuit, has, it is said, been appointed a judge of the Supreme Court at Bombay, in the room of Mr. Justice Sausse, resigned. To a deputation from Galway who waited upon the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland last week, asking that troops might be stationed there to resist any attempt to effect a hostile landing, his excellency said that there were other places on the western coast of Ireland as likely to be seleoted as Gal way for making a hostile landing, if such were contemplated or would be at- tempted. There was not a harbour or a creek on that coast of which the same thing could not be said; but he did not believe that any attempt at a hostile landing would be made. Applications from the various places had been forwarded to the Government for troops, but it would be impossible to comply with all of them.

THE ARTS, LITERATURE, &c. ♦ THE Empress Engénie has ordered the well-known artist Winterhalter to paint a portrait of the Princess of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen, for her private apart- ments in the Tuileries. IN consequence of Sir Edwin Landseer still continu- ing to decline the honour of presidentship of the Royal Academy of Arts. the election of a successor to the late Sir Charles Eastlake took place on Thursday, when Mr. Francis Grant was unanimously elected president. There was a very full attendance of the members of the Academy. ONE of the palettes used by Sir Joshua Reynolds has been sold by auction for .£51 10s. It was bought by Mr. Lilley, of Sandgate. It had other historical associations besides those connected with the great Sir Joshua, having been presented (as testified by an in- scription on it) by Mr. J. M. W. Turner to the late Sir Martin Archer Shee. AT the Exhibition of Female Artists, in Conduit- street, are to be seen some paintings of wild flowers after nature, executed on vases and jugs made of bis- cuit, by Miss Ellen Cantclo, of Newport, Isle of Wight. The painting on these vases, which are fitted for draw- ing-room ornaments, is exquisitely fine, and so durable as to admit of their being carefully washed in cold water. AT a meeting of the committee for the erection of a monument to the Prince Consort at Birmingham, on Tuesday last, the Rev. Dr. Miller read a letter which he had received from the Charity Commissioners, in re- ference to the legal ability of the Governors of King Edward's School to grant the site desired. It was re- solved that, as proposed in October last, the Rev. Dr. Miller and Alderman Manton proceed to London, as a deputation to confer with the commissioners. ACTIVE measures have at last been taken for the erection of the Strathfieldsaye memorial to the Iron Duke, under the direction of Baron Marochetti. A huge block of granite, weighing no less than 33 tons, quarried and polished at Penrhyn, Cornwall, was lately sent by railway to Reading, where it was trans- ferred to a truck of great strength and weight for conveyance to Strathfieldsaye, a distance of eight or nine miles. After having safely encountered some risks from the wheels being embedded once or twice, the truck and its load were drawn clear of the borough by two powerful traction engines. A GREAT meeting of working men of the south of London, convened by the hon. secretaries of the South London Committee on Museums, and so largely at- tended that the immense audience filled throughout the proceedings the greater portion of the Lambeth Baths, was recently held. Mr. G. M. Murphy was called to the chair, and he was influentially supported on the platform. The chairman read correspondence which had passed between himself and Mr. Layard, M.P., who had expressed certain objections to the introduction of lights into the British Museum and the National Gallery. Mr. J. T. Dexter described the progress of previous agitation. Captain Dresser Rogers (of Camberwell) moved, and Mr. T. W. Roffey (clerk of the vestry of Lambeth) seconded, and Messrs. G. Thorneloe (gas engineer), and Booker (a working man) spoke in support of a resolution, express- ing hearty approval of the past action of the South London Committee, which was carried without a token of dissentient feeling. The Rev. Dr. Hugh Allen (rector of St. George the Martyr, Southwark) proposed the extension of the movement to the whole of the metropolis, and spoke in behalf of the claim of the people to visit the national collections. Mr. G. Prichard seconded the motion, which was further supported by Mr. C. J. Whitmore (from the north of London), and, on its being put to the vote, it was enthusiastically carried. THE Poet Laureate, it is understood, is busy upon another poem of considerable length and importance. IT is understood that the talented author of "More Shells for the Ocean," who writes under the nom-de. plume of Valentine Durant," is a gentleman of rank and fortune. THE second volume of the German version of Dante's "Divina Commedia," by Philalethes, has recently been published at Dresden. Philalethes is no less a person than his Majesty the King of Saxony, one of the most perfect connoisseurs of Dante in Germany. The translation is generally admitted to be a very good one. AN interesting pamphlet has been brought out en- titled "Queen Emma: a Narrative of the Object of her Mission to England," and which will interest all those who care to see the English Church striking her roots in foreign soil, and bringing foreign nations within the pale of her communion. THE Hon. George Bancroft, the historian, has been selected as the eulogist of President Lincoln. There have been nearly 800 applications made to the War Department for shares in the reward offered for the detection of the President's murderers. The award will be published in a few days. IT is reported from Vienna that Omer Pasha has in preparation a life of Alexander the Great, the rough soldier of the Danube, dissenting from the current enthusiasm about Julius Caesar, whom he looks on as not fit to untie the Bandals of the great Macedonian. A SMALL volume of poems by the Rev. E. Wilshire has just appeared. The book is published in aid of a fund which is now being raised for the enlargement of a church in South Africa. The excellence of its object protects the little brochure from the severity of criticism. THE Last Days of a King is the title of a well- written book, the contents of which is the tragic end of the heroic King Murat of Naples. The author is Herr Mor. Hartmann, a well-known German writer. The book offers an interesting peep into the tasks of modern German philosophers. IT is said that Lamartine will receive forty thousand francs for his Life of Byron," now in course of pub- lication in the Paris Constitutionnel. The proprietors of that journal, we are assured by the same authority, have paid M. Lamartine thirty thousand francs for another work, entitled Ma Mere," which has been in their hands for two years, with the understanding that it was not to appear till at least that time had elapsed. MUCH curious information illustrative of the history of newspapers in England is scattered through the volumes of Notes and Queries; but the January monthly part of that amusing periodical is especially; rich on this subject, for it contains amongst other matter a description of a volume of early papers and periodicals which has long slumbered unnoticed among the Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum, and also a list of no less than 277 newspapers and journals' published in this country between 1712 and 1732. The part contains also a list of the Jacobite Peers, Baronets, and Knights created by James II., which has been compiled from the Stuart papers at Windsor. GUSTAVE DORE'S BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONs.-Sinoe the appearance of the announcement that Messrs. Cassell, Petter, and Galpin had purchased the copy. right for England and America of M. Dore's illustra- tions to the Holy Bible, and would publish the Eng- lish edition in monthly partg, the impatience of the public to see a specimen of the work, and judge for themselves of its merits, has been kept alive by the extraordinary eulogiums which have been lavished by the public journals upon these productions and this impatience will naturally have been in- creased by the circumstance of the Emperor and Empreaa of the French having recently sent for M. Dore, in order to compliment him in person upon the splendid success which he has aohieved. It is with great satisfaction, then, that we in a position to make known that specimen parts have been issued, and that a copy can now be in- spected at any bookseller's throughout the kingdom. The Plmbliehers give notice that the first edition of Part i. (which was originally announced for January) cannot be ready for delivery until February 24, in consequence of the large number which will be re- quired to meet the demand indicated by the orders already registered. A DAUGHTER of Mrs. Mary Howitt, has written a work entitled A Year in Sweden with Fredrita Bremer, which will shortly appear. It is the diary of twelve months daily intercourse with this distin. guished and remarkable woman, not only in Stock- holm, where she formed the centre of the literary and 1 philanthropic world, but also at Arsta, the home of I her youth, and the chosen residence of her last days. The work also contains pleasant and characteristic pictures of life, both in the capital and in the country, as well as notices of the most distinguished people.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. Mr. Bright upon Court Dress. Mr. Bright took advantage of the Speaker's election to protest against a grievance. All members who acoept the Speaker's invitations to dinner are required to present themselves either in uniform or the strange costume which is now worn only by footmen and courtiers, and is probably the ugliest dress used throughout the world. He thought the costume un- worthy the elected head of a free representative body, and mentioned that Mr. Cobden had for 25 years been precluded from accepting the Speaker's invitations by his reluctance to appear in decorated apparel," and that a colonel had complained that it cost him 50 guineas to buy a suitable dress for the Speaker's table. That story requires a little explanation, as a colonel is usually in possession of a uniform, and uniform is always en regie, but in the general argu- ment Mr. Bright was substantially in the right. Robes of office help, among an uncivilised people like the English, to keep up the respect due to office, but robes of office are not required at dinner, and the Speaker does not invite members strictly to a ceremonial. It is convenient to make a Royal levee expensive, un- comfortable, and short, for the sovereigns of the House of Brunswick have been as unlike the Stuarts in the stately charm of their manners as in their tyranny, but there is no conceivable reason for turning a pleasant reception into a masquerade. If members like to blaze as deputy-lieutenants let them, but if they prefer that "astounding" costume, a black swallow-tailed coat, why should that harmless fancy be interfered with ? It makes all men ugly and insig- nificant, but surely that is a point for them, not for their entertainer.-Spectator. Female Nurses for the Poor. If the services of women are more valuable at one time than another, it is when they are employed ad- ministering to sicknesses and infirmities. They then find a fitting opportunity to bring into play all the combination of gentleness and firmness, hope and resignation, cheerful activity and quiet anticipation of wants, which in so many instances shine out as the conspicuous features of their character. Sir Walter Scott has successfully described this happy trait of womanhood:— When pain and sorrow rend the brow, A ministering angel thou." This, however, is no mere poetic fancy. It is becom- ing slowly but surely a matter of fact. The experi- ment of admitting trained and experienced nurses into our hospitals and infirmaries is being gradually ex- tended. The fund established as a suitable memorial of the patriotic services of Miss Florence Nightingale at Soutari and Constantinople during the Crimean War is gradually enlarging its operations. A standing and permanent school for trained nurses has been asso- ciated with St. Thomas's Hospital. From this insti- tution during the past year several trained nurses have been sent to superintend the workhouse infirmary at Liverpool. There are also schools of instruction in midwifery connected with the King's College Hos- pital, in the neighbourhood of Lincoln's-inn- fields, by whose skill the mothers of poor families may be assisted in their hour of need. The Comforts of a sick- bed depend, especially among the poorer classes, upon the qualities and attention of the nurse. She rules the temporary mistress for good or for evil of the chamber committed to her care; and the more crowded that room may be, the more soope will there be for the exercise of her care, humanity, sympathy, and skill. Proper precautions are taken for securing the services of the trained nurses to the families of the poor, and for preventing their being tempted from their spheres of duty by the bribes of their wealthier neighbours. The attendance of a harpy in the form of a Sarah Gamp, is an affliction studiously to be avoided. The best method of annihilating such unwelcome specimens of womanhood will be the universal employment of trained nurses, and the multiplication of institutions similar to those inaugurated and conducted bj the council of the Nightingale Pand.-The Press. Sunday Meetings. We now desire to record our most emphatic protest against the attempt whioh is being made to employ the foroe of law in stay iug. this movement. It is at once a piece of gross injustice and an egregious blunder. We- are utterly ignorant of the individual or the individuals who are thus aiming "to do God service." It is undertaken either as a religious act or not. If as a religious act, or rather as an act having in view the promotion of religion, all we can say is that those who do it, or who expressly or tacitly abet the doing of it, know not what manner of spirit they are of." It is just the old, old story over again —resenting as a crime to be punished the indepen- dence of those who will not bow the knee to the image which the king has set up." It comes not of faith in truth, but ef lack of faith in the power of truth to hold its own. If it were justifiable, it would justify every kind of persecution utlder which the Christian Church has at any time groaned. And, no doubt, as our correspondent implies, it is in direot antagonism to the fundamental principles of the Liberation Society. But it is also a blunder of the first magnitude. Our conviction is, that if the movement originated by the Sunday League had been left to sustain itself by its own inherent vitality, it would not have lived beyond a couple or so of years. There is no ever-springing fountain of vigour to have insured for it a long and a growing existence. It would have faded away when the bloom of its novelty had been brushed off. This prosecution will make its fortune. Henceforth, for awhile, at least, it will be- come abnormally developed, and if we have Sunday Evenings for the People in every considerable town, we shall be indebted for them, not so much to their own intrinsic virtue or adaptation to the wants of the age, but to the intolerance which seized the sword of the magistrate and employed physical force to obstruct the spread of opinion. When will men comprehend the true spirit of the religion that they profess, and cease to call down fire from heaven to consume those who, as they think, put a slight upon their Lord ?-Nonconformist. Speech of the French Minister of Finance. Before speaking in a detailed manner of the financial plan of M. Scialoja, we wished to have before us the complete text of the words uttered by that Minister. We will begin by saying that we are pleased with the way in which M. Scialoja has expressed himself. He has been frank and clear. Disdaining to have re- course to a proceeding so usual with most Italian speakers, to drown questions in cloudy considerations instead of seeking the means of resolving them, he has addressed himself to the good sense of his colleagues, ,and spoke like a man of business; he did not make any long sentences, but produced figures. We do not wish to make any comparison between M. Sella and M. Scialoja, but we think that the financial plan of the latter corresponds better than that of the former to the necessities of the state of things in Italy; it is, especially, more in conformity with the democratic principles which demand that the burthen should be equitably distributed. The plan of Soialoja differs from that of M. Sella in this respect, that the latter made the tax on grinding oorn, the pivot of his system, while the present Minister takes the income-tax as the basis of his plan. M. Scialoja begins by a declaration which must ha-. e been welcomed with joy by the holders of Italian stock, viz., that the treasury, reckoning all the re- sources at its disposal in balances and sums yet due, is in a position to meet all the expenses of 1866, in- cluding the coming quarter's interest of the national debt, without the State having recourse to extraordi- nary means. This is a flat denial of the rumours spread by malevolent persona and speculators on 'Change, that the Government was obliged to have recourse this year again to a loan. The Minister announces that the deficit foreseen for 1866 amounts to 265,000,000, ør %66,000,000 of francs, and he indicates by what means he thinks he can make up for that deficiency. Here M. Scialoja rose indignantly against a calumny spread by the enemies of Italy. Replying to those who said that the new kingdom, at a loss for resources and expedients, was obliged to convert the 5 per cents, into 3 per cents., he exclaimed:— Gentlemen, it is time to give up operations which dazzle and ruin, and which always come to contracts for sales and new loans. We must arrive at the equilibrium of the budget by two means only: the diminution of the expenses and the increase of the receipts. Where are the savings possible P Of 938,000,000 of our expenditure, 443,000,000 figure as payment for the interest of the national debt and other engagements guaranteed by public good faith. We oannot, gentlemen, fail in this. The nation which would break its engagements would deserve to be put under the ban of civilised nations." This is the eloquent protest of the conscience of an honest man. Is the new kingdom in such a desperate condition that it ought to seeks it salvation in one of those extreme resolutions which wither a country ? Italy is one of the first-rate Powers in Europe the least involved in debt. It is true, her credit, we know, and everybody knows, is not up to the level of that of France or England, but it is far from being com- promised; and not one of the great financial establish- ments of France or England would refuse to give her its help if she thought proper to negotiate a fresh loan. -Le Pays.

OUR MISCELLANY. -+- Talkativeness.—If people would only be slow to speak," how much would remain unsaid? If they would oniy tmnk twice before they Spoke -if they would stop every thought as it is about to find expres- sion, and oonsider if it would harm any one. It is easy to make an injurious statement, or to say a sharp word, easy to open the cage door; but how impossible to recall a word that has once flown from it! Did you ever attempt to bring back a word you had spoken ? If so, you must have found there was no way of recall- ing, of arresting, or of coming up with it. It may have been spoken in a moment of passion; it may have been spoken in an hour of spleen and ill-temper; it may have been spoken in a day of physical derange- ment or suffering; it may have been spoken to exoite a laugh, or it may have been spoken to rescue a con- versation from dulness; but, no matter how unpre- meditated, no matter how accidentally let fall, no matter how little of malice prepense, or how much re- gretted and repented of, still it is beyond recall. Out it goes like an epidemic, and gathers virulence on its way. Out it goes, blistering, wounding, injuring reputations, dividing friends, and making God's world I hateful, so that it might seem instead of being a world that was once Eden, to be a world turning into hell.— The Quiver. The Wives of George IV. and Napoleon I. —In the course of her rambles about Italy, seeking the friendship and sympathy of the petty princes who might ohoose to reoeive her, theEcnpress Maria Louisa invited the Princess of Wales to Parma; and thither she went. How interesting must an interview between these unfortunate ladies have been! What sad recol- lections on either side-the cast-off wife of the Regent of England, and the deposed Empress of the French! Alas for sentimentality! Maria, Louisa sat in her high-backed crimson-velvet chair, and the princess in another. "It WitS very dulJ, I assure you," said the princess (to Sir William Gell) on her return; for she was very cold and very hungry; so I yawn, she did the same; I balance on my chair mit my feet on do fire." But high-backed velvet chairs cannot srafely be thrown out of their balance; so over it went, leaving her royal highness on the floor! One can imagine the blank dismay that overspread Maria Louisa's stupid coun- tenance at seeing her royal guest in so undignified a position. But she offered no help. "I laugh," says the princess; I die from laugh. And what do you tink she do ? She stir not, she laugh not; but she say, '¡Goos. heavens! madame, how you have frightened me! So the princess "picks herself up" as best she might; and the daughter of the house of Haps- burg, her Austrian lip pouting more sullenly than ever, sits down to the stately dinner; "while I, not able to help bursting out with laugh every moment, die to get away to toll yuu.Bi-itish Quarterly Review. A Tiger Story.—One of the family of Nel, re- siding on Mr. Comley's farm, near the Koonap, had a fearful conflict with a tiger on Monday morning last. Mr. Nel had been annoyed for some time by baboons, and took his gun on the morning in question with the view to shoot a few of these depredators. On descend- ing a kloof he was surprised to see a dead bluebok, and at a short distance further another dead buck of a different species. Looking cautiously round he spied a large tiger in a bush close at hand, and raising his gun to his shoulder he fired. The shot only grazed one of the brute's paws, and the infuriated animal at once sprang on his assailant, who was knocked to the ground, and his gun forced out of his hand. Nel, seeing it was a struggle for life, courageously grappled with his foe, and being uppermost at the commence- ment of the struggle endeavoured by main force to hold the tiger by the ears. A blow from one of the tiger's paws, however, convinced Nel that he had overrated his strength, or underrated that of the fierce brute, as he was driven back some distance, when the tiger again olosed with him, and fastened on his right shoulder, bringing him to the earth, this time under- most. Fortunately, the blow of the tiger's paw knocked Nel to the spot where he had first dropped his gun, and summoning all his force and resolution to his aid he managed to lay hold of his weapon with his left arm, his right arm being utterly powerless. The tiger still held Nel in his teeth, and was making great havoc with his body—a minute more and all would be over; but Nel was determined to make one struggle more, and getting his gun (fortunately a double- barrelled one) against the body of his fierce antagonist while the latter still retained his hold, managed to pull the trigger of the remaining barrel with hi teeth. The shot told-the tiger rolled over dead, and Nel was saved—saved at least from instant death, for the poor fellow was so dreadfully lacerated that he with diffi- culty got home, and now lies in a precarious state from the wounds received in hia terrific struggle.-Fort Beaufort Advocate, South Africa. The Unrehearsed "Scene."—During the per- formance of the burlesque, Fra Diavolo, the other evening, at the Theatre Royal at Bradford, Mr. Lewis Ball, the stage manager, suddenly appeared at the footlights to announce that Mr. W. J. Broughton, an actor, who had appeared in a former part of the per- formance, would not again appear because he was drunk. Mr. Broughton appeared at the same moment in the pit, taking a position where he could be seen by the whole audience, and at once warmly repelled the imputation of drunkenness, telling the audienoe that they had already seen his conduct in the play, and saw him then, and appealing to them to judge as to the truthfulness of the allegation made to his disadvan- tage. He added that he had dressed to appear as "Beppo" in the burlesque, and the reason he did not appear waa that the stage manager had struck him a vile blow," of which he had the marks on his face. Mr. Ball denied that he had struck Mr. Brough- ton, and stated that a quarrel had arisen in the green- room in consequence of Mr. Broughton having got possession of the part of a costume belonging to Mr. Darcy Read, and when requested to give it up he re- fused to do so, and made use of violent language. Mr. Broughton repeated his former statement and announced his determination not to reappear on those boards. Mr. Ball called other acters to the footlights and appealed to them whether he had struck Mr. Broughton. They supported his version of the story as to the quarrel. The audience, to whose verdict Mr. Broughton had appealed, appeared to 7 regard him as ill-used, and intimated, in unmistakable terms, that the charge of drunkenness was unwar- ranted. Mr. Broughton, evidently molified by the judgment of the audience, then retired, and the bur- lesque proceeded, Mr. Bestow, another actor, taking the part of Beppo," which he read. A Clergyman's Testimony.—As a clergyman I have had to call thousands of times upon utter strangers among the working people. I cannot re- member any instance in which I haye been treated with rudeness, except when I have been inconsiderate, or professionally intrusive, myself. Of course, I ex- cept boys; for, however'great friends you may be with young people generally, you anllot escape some wanton impertinence from street imps, bursting with irreverent wit. Bat they are rude to each other, every one, and all. Their ill-beblaviour is chiefly the result of sheer animal spirits, and the fact that their playground is the street. Boys must be at high jinks I sometimes; and when they are let out of the work- shop, or are enjoying any parenthesis of escape from supervision by their immediate and admitted superiors, they let off stea.m. A model boy, who never dirties his fingers or tumbles his hair, who always "rebukes" his fellows for departures from his code of morality, who appears in favourable aspects, under initials, in a tract, is often more radically and exquisitely offensive than one who thinks aloud, freely, about any person or ocGurrenoe, whether it be a tipsy old woman on a stretcher, who is being borne, as in a living police funeral, to her temporary home in the station, or a duchess whose carriage is blocked on its way to a drawing-room, bond" dominated by some urchin on a lamppost. I except street boys, who are unfeeling I except encounters in a mob; and I repeat that I can recall no instances of unprovoked ill-mannerg i2t> of the genuine workiug-classes, throughout nnmbe personal communications with them. They are isft&a rally courteous. No doubt, if you were to as the family were sitting down to dinner or iee^ .J3¿" still go in, though you found them thus $iDgageoE,- i!. you were to open the door without knocking, as aA3t, impertinent questions about the goodmaee, or g&sA-- wife's ways and means, or begin to read a o1:.a. from the Holy Bible apropos to nothing at all, s2a' because you assumed that a strange booima&fe-? i family needed conversion, you might expose to a rough hint that your company waa undeaimLts. But if the Archbishop of Canterbury were to pay yex. a visit, and remark that your doorstep was not eo cl. as it might be, or ask you what yonr income was* ca how much you had paid for your child's funeral aac what you had got for dinner, you would try to tmrsssj to his Grace your sense of the mistake he made a affecting an interest in your concerns. And wb&:u.r- clergyman or visitor, bent on amateur proaelytism ut-E elevation of the masses, forgets his manners, as iim- Archbishop of Canterbury never would hia, wle, wonder if he gets a rap on the knuckles frcss carpenter who does not know how to reply to am isz*- pertinence with indirect and polished Rev. Harry Jones, in Macmillcm's Magcwiiw,

EXTRACTS FROM "PUNCH" & "FIEST --+- The leading Members of the British Senatt-. Behold pourtrayed by Mr. C. H. Bennett, L See the proud Speaker, re-elected, stand, The great Crown lawyers upon either hand-- Palmer, who edited the Book of Praise," And Collier, who the painter'B skill displays. Above them Lord Llanover points doth most With Captain Grosvenor, smoking a cheroot. Then see a splendid ring, its centra Bright Grimly preparing for Reform to fight. The blind, clear-sighted Fawoett means hard inodts." And so does Torrens, he who ousted Cox. There fiery Roebuck wields his ready lance, And veteran Brougham hurries home from Firanow, Then mark Lord Cranworth with his awful xaaee^ And Clarendon with discontented faoe, Argyll's bright hair, the gallant Granville's foBa&» And Redcliffe, peering for a coming storm. Majora nunc canamus, Public. Lo! The great Reform Bill stands, a thing of enow (Emblem of purity, as you should know, At which unhallowed hands" will ever throwjL Assistance Russell, Gladstone, Goschen, bring, While Derby, Dizzy, Walpole, missiles fling. The pipe may hint of smoke-the broom may near. That something's coming to make all things clean. Peel, who resigned (are you avized of that To Fortescue hands over howliDg Pat. Marches the gentle, rogue-reprieving Grey, And Stafford Northoote various things doth say, In tranquil slumber Milner Gibson lies, Regardless of F. Kelly's beer-boy cries. Outside, and to the left, Lord Nurthbtook'a iaefiv Instructs the younger Gladstone how to act. Two fiery pigs you see enrich the show, This pulls at Card well, and that tuga at Lowa. The Card well pig, Beau-seant, who madly eqaea^Sj, Hints at Jamaioau niggers and their freaks. The gallant Hartington with pride displays The British soldier to the British gaze, While Kinglake taunts, in words best left onaaicfL; A libellous doll he'd better put to bed. Bulwer and Layard in one chariot ride, 'Tis a great inkstand, each great author's prides. While Villiers drops the sentimental tear, And Stanley states what all are glad to hear. High on the right Sir Morton Peto wheels Cowper, who shows the astonishment he feela. A hint that bold contractors soon push through Things which the Board of Works finds hard to S&o Horsman, the oratoric, near them clings, Rehearsing paragraphs with pointed stings, While vocal Whalley (sinoe the House insists), Obeys sing, sing"—and Harvey Lewis lists. The noble Elcho on an Armstrong speeds, De Grey and Dufferin are his toiling steeda, "Fiery, the fiery Duke" (King Lear's the phrasal Hastes, a brave fireman, to his favourite blaza, While Stansfeld, by his friends unfairly sold, Sits, a dejected party, in the cold. lantcene animis ? See mitres twain. Two theologians meet with huge disdain. The Pope's tiara bold George Bowyer orowns, Beneath the British bishop's Whiteside frowns. Last man of all, Clanricarde, virtuous swell, Who does not look particularly well. Such are the leading Members of the Senate; Herein pourtrayed by Mr. C. H. Bennett. Putting Up and Putting Down. Ailments are bad, but worse, too oft, are cures. We raised a Board of Works to put down sewers;, The sewers they have put down, Thwaitee amd lie Turks— And now 'tia who'll put down the Board of WoxluLi, The Fenian Rebellion. (By Tell-it-to-the Marines and Trans-sinistral Tù.. graph.) The long-expeoted rising has taken place, and the Irish republic is everywhere triumphant. Mr. Bier Boucicault has been proclaimed emperor. The regi- ments quartered at the Curragh were desirous of oom., ing over to the popular party, but the proposal naa been negatived in the Fenian Congress, on the gm-cmd that if they did there would be no fighting. large bodies of Irish and American peasants are going about singing the national anthem- The captain with the whiskers Took to wearin' of the green." Good News. There is some hope for an end of the Rinderpest at last. The cows have taken up the subject. We rejoice to find, from a Bristol paper, that they have called & meeting. Here is the advertisement, and we hope thai many influential cows will attend :— OTICE.-A MEETING OF THE MILK-PRODUCEMS, -131 in and around the City of Bristol will be holden in tit Large Boom at the BU, NCH OF GRAPES, Nicholas Street, on THURSDAY Next, at Three o'clock in the Afternoon* Washing Put Out. It has been suggested that the fellows who not otuy avail themselves of workhouse shelter and fare, bet* who destroy their clothes in order to be re-clad at thÐ ratepayers' expense, should be rendered all the fittej for new garments by means of tea minutes' lavaticc. The spout of a fire-engine is to supply the doucHe. In the case of the worst class this might not be imp?cp«3 treatment, and it would enable the officials to add as line to the triumphant chant in whioh the offenders: proclaim their character Sturdy Beggar. < Here we are, and here we goes, We are the beggars that tears up our clothes i Officials. And we are the beadles that turns on the hose.

A SEARCH FOR A P-RESIDENT.The Royal Academy has alwaye been acoused of an avaricious spirit, b we did not believe, with its large inaome, it would hav& the face to seek a Government Grant. A SPIRITED ADVERTISER.—A spirit merchant Killarney announces, in a Kerry journal, that he has still on sale a email quantity of the whisky which was drunk by the Prince of Wales. The spirit must fee the ghost of the whisky if, as stated, hia Royal High- ness actually drank it. LEGAL INTELLIGENCE.—A smart young articled clerk, hearing it stated by a lecturer that "man 13, merely a machine," remarked, Then I suppose ais. attorney may be said to be a suing machine." SIX OF ONE, HALF-A-DOZEN OF THE OTBER.—Tie Times correspondent at Madrid must be an Irishman or a frequenter of Spanish bull-fights, for in ha description of the birth of an Infante, he has following extraordinary passage :—Alter stating tKat "at ten minutes past eleven o'clock a healthy MId robust infant came into the world, he says, gravely, the Royal children now living are five in number the newborn infant completes the half-dozen." w have heard of a baker's dozen, and know that a doseii. in the publishing trade means thirteen. Does a SparJfeb dozen consist only of ten?

Custom-house Clerks.—A committeo is ncsr sitting at the Treasury for the purpose of considering: the repeated applications from the clerks of the several departments of the customs for a, revision and in scvrp, oases an addition of the present rcale, of salaries. Thfw Chan seilor of the Exchequer has obtained the servio&s of Mr. Goschen, M.P., to assist in drawing up a plaa which it is believed will be satisfactory to all p,r*tk, concerned.