The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

EIGHT YEARS OF THE COUNTY COURTS. In the last eight years, 1859-66, 6,441,181 plaints have been entered in the County Courts of England, showing an average of 805,147 a year. .3,470,369 causes have been determined or judgments given—a fair amount of work for even 60 Judges to to look back upon the average is 433,796 a year. t 207,868 warrants of commitment have been issued 25,983 a year. 60,030 debtors have been imprisoned 7,878 a year upon an average. 1,003,066 executions have been issued against goods, 125,383 a year; and 32,753 sales have been made, 4,094 a year. In the year 1866 the numbers under all these heads were above the average, except those two which ex- press the actual execution of the final process of the law the number of debtors imprisoned being only '>601, and the number of sales of goods only 3,828. The number of debtors imprisoned has declined con- siderably since a change was made in 1864, by stating clearly upon the warrant that the debtor could obtain his discharge on paying the instalments actually due it had been commonly supposed that he must pay all the instalments before being discharged. In 1863 the number of persons imprisoned was one to every 93 sued in 1866 only one to every 115 su ed.

GARDENING OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK. (From the Gardener's Magazine.) Celery.—The early crops to be earthed up as soon as the plants have attained a good size. If the ground is dry, give a heavy soaking of water the day before intending to mould them, and be careful that the soil is nearly dry, or at most only moderately moist, when the moulding is to be done. Cabbage.—If there are any vacant plots of ground, and no occasion to crop them with successional summer vegetables, it will be advisable to sow good breadths of Early York, Rosette Colewort, and Dwarf Early York, cabbages. These will come into use in advance of the ordinary winter greens, and will be very acceptable. Broccoli.—The last sowing of Walcheren may be made this week. Any plants remaining in seed-beds must be planted out at once where they are to remain. Broad Beans may be sown for late supply. Runner Beans sown now will give supplies late in autumn, when the peas and early-sown beans are gone. We have for several years past sown on the 20th of June or thereabout, and found the result most satisfactory. Lettuce.—It is a good plan to sow some quick- hearting kinds, such as Wheeler's Tom Thumb, where they are to remain, as the operation of transplanting tends to cause them to "bolt." Dig and manure the ground, and sow them in drills a foot apart. As soon as large enough to handle, thin them to six inches apart. f Begin to draw for use as soon as they show a tendency to hearting, which will give more room to those that remain. Lettuces to be transplanted from seed-beds » now should have a very rich soil, and if possible a shady Position, and abundance of water. If they can be kept from bolting, they will form fine hearts very quickly. The best preventive of bolting is to keep them growing fa.st, and manure, moisture, aud shade are favourable agencies. Leeks to be planted out from seed-beds on deep rich soil on dry stony ground they should be put into well-manured trenches in the same style as celery, but on ordinary good soils it is better to plant them on the level, as they stand the winter better. A con- venient mode for earthing up is to plant them in four-feet beds, six rows in a bed, the plant six inches apart. Peas.—To get good late crops it is advisable to sow in well-manured trenches six inches below the general level, as in case of drought the trenches can be filled with water quickly, and will keep all that is given them. The principal enemy of late-sown peas is mildew, the result of a starved condition of the plants. Peas advancing in gro wth should be staken in good time; if they once fall over, they can never be got up again to do as well as they should. Watering peas, as a rule, is objectionable, and if they are on ground deeply dug and liberally manured-and it is mere vexation to attempt to grow peas on poor ground, or ground badly prepared—they will not want water. Turnips must be sown now, as there will be a demand for them soon. Use abundance of manure sow if possible just before rain occurs, or between flying showers. Endive to be sown on rich soil, and early sown to be Planted out. Cucumbers in frames often show a stubbornness m swelling off their fruit, though apparently full of health and vigour. Very often a good soaking at the root will cure all this. Cucumber plants may be and often are kept alive by the syringe merely, but they want soaking to be fruitful. Where the plants are still Pushing, and are full of vigour, put on about two inches of fresh soil. In the case of cucumbers that have grown large, and there is likelihood of waste, half a fruit may be cut, and the other half be left on the vine. The half left will continue to grow, and may be cut when wanted. This is a better way than wasting half a cucumber. Winter Greens to be got out in plenty now, as peas, potatoes, and other crops are taken off. Collards, Brussels sprouts, and other quick-growing subjects that will mostly be used before Christmas, to be planted in manured ground but those to stand till next spring, to furnish sprouts, not to be manured, as it renders them less able to withstand severe frosts. Continue to plant broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Scotch kale, and everything else of the kind from the seed-beds. Hardy Bulbs, such as hyacinths, tulips, snowdrops, crocuses, &c., may be taken up and stored away. ( Where planted in a mixed arrangement, and 'the I Vound need not be disturbed, it is a good plan to allow all these bulbs to remain two or three years in the ground. Asters and Stocks to be planted out from pots and seed-pans during moist weather. Dahlias to be staked at once, if not already attended to, and the forwardest shoots to be carefully tied. Roses are in most districts infested by grub or fly. Heavy rains will do them more good than any kind of artificial watering. The removal of the grubs that curl the leaves and gnaw out the hearts of the buds is usually accomplished by hand-picking—that is, when accomplished at all; and it is such a tedious job, that nine-tenths of all the rose-growers leave the trees to fight it out. Probably the Aphis-wash of the City Soap Company, which is so immediately effectual in the destruction of fly, would be equally destructive of these grubs. We advise rosarians to give it a fair trial. Pot roses must have abundance of water now. Chrysanthemums must be made to grow freely now, or it is impossible they should bloom well. Give abundance of water. Where quantities are required for plunging or other rough purposes, it is a good plan to plant them out on an open sunny spot, and take them up early in October, and pot them for flowering. But genuine specimens cannot be obtained in this way: they must be grown in pots from the first. Chrysanthemums in the open ground to be topped again, and the soil between them lightly pricked over with a small fork, and some quite rotten dung worked in. It will be found that they always root near the surface, and a dressing of dung will greatly help them, and save the labour of watering. Calla Æthiopica is an aquatic, but is usually grown as if it was unacquainted with water. We shall see everywhere, now especially, in nurseries and great gardens the plants standing on coal-ashes, and getting a daily drop of water in common with other things. By this treatment they flower once a year. We have some that were potted on in very rich unctuous loam, after their spring flowering was over, and then plunged in water, one inch deep, out of doors. They have grown prodigiously, and are now flowering profusely. Agapanthus to have abundance of water while throw- ing up flower-spikes, and until the bloom is over then to be shaken out and parted, and the strongest crowns selected for next year's bloom. Pot these singly in small pots, removing with a sharp knife any of the straggling roots that cannot be got into the pots. The soil should be sandy loam, rotten dung, and peat, equal quantities. Shut them up, and re-shift as soon as the pots are full of roots. The small offsets and the fleshy roots may be used for increase of stock. Plant in shallow pans of sandy peat, and place in a gentle bottom-heat for a fortnight; then separate them, and pot singly in sixties. Bedding Geraniums should be propagated at once for next year, and the best way is to use cuttings only two or three joints in length, and pot them singly in 60-sized pots. By being struck early, there is time for the plants to make ripe wood before winter, and in- stead of waiting till July for bloom, they will, if well managed, be in full bloom in. May next, when first planted out. Tall-growing bedders need a little care now to protect them from high winds. A very effectual and expedi- tious method is to insert strong stakes, and run a few lengths of stout tarred string amongst them, so as to form a support to the back and front of every row. Small forked branches will serve the same purpose where the plants are not sufficiently regular to be sup- ported with string. Camellias showing their flower-buds at the points of the new shoots should have more air and less water. The syringe need not be used any more upon them, but they ought never to go dry at the root, for that is a sure way to cause the buds to fall. Pelargoniums as they go out of bloom to be cut down, and placed in a warm, sheltered, and rather shady place for a week, then to be put in the full sun and kept rather dry at the root, with occasional sprinklings of the stems and leaves till they break, and then to be repotted back into small pots with sound lumpy turf to make their new roots in. Cinerarias coming up in seed-pans to be pricked out as soon as large enough to lift, and have separate thumb-pots, with light rich compost, and be put in a frame to grow on. By securing a vigorous growth from the first, they will be less troubled with fly, and make fine specimens. Those who have not sown seed yet must do so at once, or it will be too late. Hard-wooded plants requiring a shift this season must have it at once, or the time will go by for them to derive full benefit from the operation. The most important matter of all is to secure good drainage and to use the compost in as rough a state as possible con- sistent with the size and nature of the plant. When- ever the cultivator is in doubt about the best soil for any hard-wooded plant, he will be pretty safe in using half peat and half loam, both in a turfy and sweet con- dition—the more elastic the better. Fuschias must be syringed twice a day, and have moderate shade. Fine plants in comparatively small pots will be greatly benefited with weak liquid manure every three or four days. They should be propagated now in quantity for next year's supply. The smallest cuttings make the best plants, and there is no need to cut to a joint. A mild bottom-heat will hasten the for- mation of roots, but it is not needful, as if shut up in a cold frame, and shaded and regularly kept sprinkled, they will be well rooted in a fortnight. It is a saving of time in the end to put all cuttings singly in pots at this time of year, as they can be allowed to fill the first pots with roots, so as to grow strong from the first start. In preparing pots for the cuttings, use smallest sixties or thumbs put a mixture of turf and old dung over the crocks, and fill up with half sand and half leaf, in which the cuttings will root as quickly as in sand alone at this season, and have something to live upon while filling the pots with roots. This is the best method for amateurs who are much away from home, as the single cuttings require less care than when dibbled into sand only in shallow pans. 7

INCREASE OF THE POPULATION OF SWEDEN. It was estimated some years ago that the proportion of illegitimate births in Stockholm to legitimate births was as 2 to 3. Apart from the greater dissoluteness always to be found in capitals, the low salaries paid to Government officials a,nd clerks, and the pressure of somewhat strict social rules, have given rise to a system of illegal unions more widely spread than in other large towns. But the result of this state of things, although inconsistent with strict morality, is by no means to be confounded with the unspeakable degradation which makes hideous the streets of London. It is, however, to be noted as an unfavourable sign that the marriage rate in the whole kingdom has been steadily diminishing during the last 100 years. In 1760 there was one marriage for every 110 inhabitants. Between 1861 and 1865 the proportion was one for every 140. The birth rate progresses satisfactorily. It is now 3'39 per cent., that of Prussia being 3'69, and that of France 2'68. The death rate, on the other hand, which, between 1751 and 1755, was 2'66 per cent., and between 1771 and 1775 was 3'1, has fallen in a remarkable manner during the last ten years from 2 16 to 1'98. The average annual total of births is now 130,000. The net annual increase of population between 1816 and 1865 has been at the rate of 1*34 per cent. in spite of the taste for emigration which has developed itself since 1861. In that year 2,286 persons emigrated from Sweden, and the annual number has risen to 6,691 in 1865.

TAXES ON CIVILIZATION. The following is from a periodical entitled The Technolo- gist Civilization has given us much to approve and at the same time much to deprecate in some of the greatest triumphs of invention. One of the chief pro- ducts pi civilization, and now one of the chief feeders to it, is steam, and no one can gainsay that we owe much to its gigantic force but if it has given us im- proved means of locomotion in steamboats and above- ground railway travelling, it has also given us the underground, a hideous thing, which may well hide itself and, mole-like, burrow through the earth, a monstrous nuisance which has razed the struc- tures of the living and disturbed the dead, and which has worked much physical since it is manifest that such an atmosphere cannot fail harm, chiefly developing itself in bronchial affections, to prove extremely pernicious to the lungs of those who are in the habit of availing themselves of this mode of conveyance. Apart from any consideration of the shock that aesthetic minds must have received from seeing iron roads replace picturesque scenery, steam has much to answer for. Who'can doubt that the enor- mously increased amount of nervous disorder is, in the case of frequent travellers, in a great degree owing to railroad speed. If steam has improved our manufac- tures by the machinery it works, must we not allow that, whilst it has saved muscular power, it has thrown out of employ numbers of skilled operatives, and although these things in the march of time right them- selves, has nevertheless, pro tern., inflicted extreme hardship, and may it not be that the rapid rate at which we are now transported may have tended to en- courage that general fastness in all matters which is distinctive of the times? We have to credit the march of civilisation with our iron-clads, with rifled guns, and various other scientific appli- ances of modern warfare, yet the vastly increased means of destruction at our disposal, together with the rapidity with which a deadly blow pan now be struck (witness the campaign between Prussia and Austria), keeps Europe on the qui vive, and causes nations to support immense military establishments. If half the ingenuity which has been devoted to the study of the art of killing and to perfect its practice had been given to the cultivation of mutual good will between nations, we should hear nothing of Luxem- bourg difficulties, and disarmament would be gradually effected as it is, civilization hasgone the wrong road, and in the most cultivated age of the human race Europe is bristling with armed men. To civilization we owe telegraphy, and it is a blessing that now, when continents are connected and brought within a few minutes of each other, mutual explanations can be made and misunderstandings prevented from smoulder- ing, and war thus averted. Still the good is not un- mixed, as was evidenced during the monetary panic of last year, when the wires of the telegraph were abused, and by means of lying messages, sent by unscrupulous scoundrels, the Agra Bank was pulled down and the peace of mind and comfort of hundreds buried in its ruins. It is impossible in a short article to touch upon a tithe of the drawbacks traceable to civilization, which meet us at every turn, injure our health, and mar our happiness.

FACTS ABOUT THE BEAVER. The Cosmos publishes a paper by M. Hoefer, con- taining some curious information regarding the beaver. This animal, it appears, was not much known among the ancients Aristotle and Pliny only mention it from hearsay, whence it may be concluded that it preferred the northern parts of Europe, which were still thinly peopled and uncivilised. About the beginning of the 17th century some might still be seen on the banks of the Danube, on those of the Rhine, and even of the Marne, as also in Switzerland. There is an old cookery-book, entitled Liber Bcnedictionum, by Eccard IV., abbot of St. Gall, in which the flesh of the beaver is considered a delicacy nay, the good monks of the convent, who were notorious for their strict adherence to the rules of a penitent life, had found out that the beaver was a fish, and might there- fore be eaten on Fridays, a very unlucky circumstance for the poor animal, and which must have greatly contributed to diminish its numbers. The Liber Ben edictionum informs us, by the way, that the peacock, swan, stork, and wild duck formed part occasionaliy of the bill of fare, as did also the bear it was, however, admitted on all hands that the latter was not a fish; whether birds were or not is not stated. To return to the beaver, its real habitat is Canada, whence it has spread over all countries down to the 43rd parallel of latitude; only in Europe and Asia it seems gradually to die out. There are still some in Norway, Lapland, and especially in Siberia, on the banks of the Oby. The question arises whether the solitary beaver, which, does not congregate with its kin, and has a dull, dirty- looking fur, is the same as the gregarious breed, build- ing dwellings on piles, and having a sleek and shining skin ? M. Hoefer replies to the question in the affirma- tive. In his opinion there is but one species of beaver, the Castor Americanus; the Canadian beaver, when brought over to Europe, becomes solitary. In sup- port of this opinion he relates the following singular anecdote :—Frederick II. of Prussia had caused a con- siderable number of beavers to be brought over from America, for the purpose of acclimatising them in the environs of Berlin. But the poor creatures became melancholy, and instead of congregating and building their village as is their custom in their own native haunts, they separated from each other their fur, which at first was so glossy, became dull and rough, and, by burrowing in the sand, they rubbed their skins bare so as to assume the appearance of mangy dogs. They did not multiply, and died away one by one.

THE NUMBERS ENGAGED AT THE BATTLE OF SADOWA. The Journal Militaire of Berlin publishes some interesting statistical details relative to the battle of Sadowa, compared with other engagements, from which it appears that a larger number of men were engaged in it, than in any other battle of modern times:- The troops engaged at the battle Leipsic, says the Journal, amounted to 240,000 allies and 140,000 French, a total of 380,000 men at Wagram the num- ber of the French was 200,000, and that of the Aus- trians 140,000, or 340,000 men in all; at Solferino there were 150,000 Austrians and 150,000 Allies, being 300,000 men; at Borodino, 130,000 French were op- posed to 120,000 Russians, making a total of 250,000 men at Waterloo there were 40,000 Prussians (!), 65,000 Allies, and 75,000 French, or 180,000 men in all. The total number of troops that took part in the battle of Konigsgratz was 420,000, consisting of 220,000 Prussians and 200,000 Austrians. With regard to the number of guns, Leipsic takes the first place in that engagement 2,000 were used -1,300 belonging to the Allies and 700 to the French. At Sadowa the number of pieces was 1,620, of which 820 were Prussian and 800 Austrian. The battle of Solferino comes next; 1,200 cannons were used there, 800 belonging to the Austrians and 400 to the allies. As to the loss of men killed and wounded Leipsic also occupies the first rank the total puts Iwrs de combat in that battle was 100,000, of which there was an equal number on both sides. Borodino ranks next, in which each belligerent lost 30,000 men, or 60,000 in all. At Waterloo, the Prussian loss numbered 7,000 men that of the allies, 20,000 and that of France 19,000, being a total of 46,000 men. At Wagram each belligerent left 25,000 men on the field. The battle of Sadowa approaches very near that of Selferino. In the latter engagement the loss of the Austrians amounted to 13,000 men, and that of the allies to 15,000. At Sadowa the number of killed and wounded on the side of the Prussians was 10,000, and on the side of the Austrians 20,000, or 30,000 men in all. Respecting the number of prisoners made, the battle of Leipsic and Solferino may be placed on the same line, the total in each battle amounting to 20,000 (French or Austrians). This is the greatest number of prisoners captured in modern engagements. As tothe capture of cannons, 300 were taken at Leipsic, 240 at Waterloo, and 174 at Sadowa.

PECULIAR STATISTICS. Mr. Francis Vacher, the resident surgeon of the Edinburgh Royal Maternity Hospital, by an examina- tion of the records of three hundred and sixty-four first confinements occurring in this institution, in the course of the three successive years from 1st April, 1864, to 31st March, 1867, has ascertained the relative position of the seducer and the seduced, and, conse- quently, the class or classes amongst which this shame- ful sin chiefly flourishes. A table, extending over six pages, gives, in parallel columns, the parentage of the errant woman, and the occupation of the man to whom she attributed her straying. The deductions which Mr. Vacher draws from his tables-and they are, he alleges without fear of contradiction, the same, look at the tables from what side you will"—areas follows 1. That a very trifling per cent. of the seduced have been led astray by men moving in a higher sphere than themselves that, as a rule, the seducers in each grade of the community are to be found within that grade a,nd that it is quite as much the exception for a gentleman to seduce the daughter of a working man, as it is for a private soldier to seduce the daughter of a minister, or for the child of a physician to be led astray by a policeman. 2. That young women, whether servants or other- wise, are rarely, if ever, seduced by students attend- ing the University. 3. That soldiers are certainly not more guilty of the crime of seduction than any other classes of the com- munity. In support of these deductions, he argues that as the particulars are all drawn from the state- ments of the young women themselves, the evidence they bring against the working classes, as the chief agents in seduction, is more than fair, and it is naturally to the mother's interest to affiliate her child to a rich rather than to a poor man indeed, it might be said that the few cases put down to gentlemen and professional men are for this reason in excess of what is actually the truth." One of the tables shows the proportions in which the several trades supply the gay Lotharios who send poor girls to the Maternity Hospital. Among the 364 cases noted we have 25 masons, 15 labourers, 13 engi- neers, 12 blacksmiths, 12 joiners, 12 private soldiers, 10 sailors, 10 printers, 8 carters, 8 waiters, 7 plumbers, &c. Of men something in the position of "gentlemen" —besides three classed simply as such-we have 16 clerks, 7 commercial travellers, 3 farmers, 2 doctors, 2 ship captains, 2 writers, 1 architect, 1 artist, 1 Cus- tom-house officer, 1 officer in the army, 1 surveyor, and, lastly, one unfortunate veterinary student. Another table gives the ages of the women at the time of their confinement, from which it appears that comparatively few fell victims in what can be called tender years-only 41 of the whole 364 being under 18 when they became mothers the great majority being between 19 and 28 years of age—289 out of the whole. Of the whole number, 97 were orphans, 87 fatherless, 66 motherless, and 101 had both parents alive.

A LITTLE LOVE AFFAIR! A disgraceful riot—amusing, however, in one of its aspects--took place a few days ago, at Galata, in Greece, behind the Municipality Khan, and for nearly an hour entirely suspended business in the neighbour- hood. This time it was not the Five per Cents., but a woman, who was the inciting cause of the disturbance. A couple of Cephaloniote and Moriote Greeks had, it seems, been bidding for the favour of the same nymph —a Cyprian, of Tatavla-for some time past, till the prize at length fell to the former. Meeting one day in a cafe behind the Khan, the rivals from angry words soon came to blows, more HellenieA, with knives. The respective friends of the couple soon joined in the melee, and one of them, finding that he made bad practice with his dagger, drew a pistol and fired. The bullet happily missed its mark, but the report sufficed to strike instant terror into the neighbourhood. Taking it, probably, as a signal of massacre, by whom or against whom nobody knew, the owners of the adjoin- ing counting-houses and shops closed their doors instanter, whilst the dense crowd in front of the Khan and the streets round scattered into every available nook and corner of refuge in less time than we can tell it. (We are quoting from the Levant Herald.) The Mussul- mans fled in equal panic across the bridge, and by the time the police and a picket of soldiers from the neighbouring guard house arrived on the scene, there was no one to arrest except the original brawlers, who were still vigorously plying their knives. The bayonets of the guard speedily separated them, and nine were seized and marched to the Zaptich-the rest managing to escape in the confusion. The Khan remained shut for nearly an hour, nor had the panic altogether sub- sided at the close of the day's business. Most of the minor combatants suffered from the numerous and severe wounds inflicted before the picket interfered.

THE PARIS EXHIBITION OF 1867. The following letter has been sent by M. Chabaud, Presi- dent of the Paris Working Men's Committee and ex-Presi- dent of the Working Delegates to the Exhibition of 1862, to Mr. Blanchard Jerrold, acting director of the Foreign Workmen's Reception Committee at the Universal Exhibition of 1862, who has been requested to obtain what publicity he can for it in England:— To the Delegates to the Universal Exhibition of 1867 in Paris. Gentlemen and Colleagues,—Many of you know that it was the Committee of Paris Workmen, formed for the construction of a model house for work- ing men—a committee composed of the delegates to the Exhibition of 1862 and of members of the Court of Prud hommes-that took the initiative in the appoint- ment by the Imperial Commission of Delegates to the present Exhibition. Many of you know, also, that if, in consequence of the creation of the Commission d'Encouragement, composed of notable Paris manufac- turers, we have not been able to take a more active part in promoting the work we began in 1862, we have, nevertheless, kept our object in view, and have resolved that in the Exhibition itself there shall be a place where the working delegates of Paris, of the provinces, and of the foreign countries, may meet to promote in a fraternal spirit the complete enfranchisement of labour. With this idea, which will be sympathetically received by every generous nature, we have devoted the model house, constructed by us in the Exhibition Park, and known as the Paris Workmen's House, to the reception of delegates. We wish it to be their meeting-house. They will find in it every description of statistical and descriptive document necessary to the fulfilment of their mission, together with the French and foreign papers. Foreign editors are requested to forward copies of their newspapers for the use of the workmen of their respective nationalities. We shall be delighted to help delegates to make a complete study of the model houses for working men in the Park. Such a study cannot fail to make a valuable addition to their reports. In order to prevent any con- fusion or error, we may add, in conclusion, that we shall be happy to receive all delegates duly appointed by the votes of their fellow-workmen, whether they be officially recognised or not; for we are convinced that it will be the aim of all to act uprightly and inde- pendently. The President of the Committee of Paris Workmen, «%c., CHABAUD.

REPRESENTATION OF SCOTLAND. A memorial to Government on the subject -of in- creased representation to Scotland and of a third mem- ber for the city of Edinburgh has been signed by the Lord Provost, the Master of the Merchant Company, and the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of that city in behalf of the bodies they represent. The memorialists set forth that while they have no wish to insist upon a rigid adoption of the basis of popula- tion or revenue in allocating representation, they think that in any proposals for enfranchisement the various parts of the United Kingdom should be dealt with fairly and equitably, and upon the same general prin- ciples. They therefore trust that such additional members will be given to Scotland as she may be fairly entitled to as compared with the sis- ter countries, and especially for giving such re- presentation to large and important constituencies as will correspond to those which the Government measure will enfranchise elsewhere. The memorialists then mention the case of Edinburgh, which they state has increased from 167,000 of population in 1861 to nearly 200,000 in 1867. They add that it appears from a return obtained this Session that of all the large towns of the United Kingdom other than London Edinburgh contributes the largest proportion of the aggregate taxation to every 5,000 of population, and is second only to Liverpool in the amount of inhabited house duty charged against these several towns. It further appears from the return that in Edinburgh the pro- portion of houses charged with house duty to every 5,000 of the population considerably exceeds that of any of the other large towns included in the return. These facts show that Edinburgh has a larger propor- tion of the middle and wealthy classes and a smaller proportion of the working classes than any other of the large towns referred to, "and as the measure of her Majesty's Government does not profess to be based on population alone, but on population combined with wealth, it is submitted that these facts are sufficient to establish a peculiar and pre-eminent claim on the part of Edinburgh to a third member."

DUTIES OF VOLUNTEERS IN TIME OF CIVIL TUMULTS. It was stated the other day that the new instruc- tions to volunteers respecting their duties in time of civil tumults differ materially from those originally issued by Lord Herbert in 1861, and a reference thereto will show this. The following is a copy of the original instruction :— June 7, 1861. Having observed that in several instances volunteer corps have assembled under arms for various purposes uncon- nected with drill, parade, or rifle practice, I think it right to inform you that no such assemblies ought to take place except with the approval of the Lord Lieutenant, and that if the number of volunteers who propose to be present should exceed the strength of one battalion, previous application must be made to the Secretary of State for War, for his sanction, in accordance with the circular memorandum of June 6,1860, I have also learnt that in some cases volunteer corps have been calied out in aid of the civil power on the occurrence of local disturbances, and I have therefore to point out to you that as the volunteer force JS not intended to BE employed in this manner, it is inexpedient to assemble it on any such occasion. I desire, further, to draw your attention to the impropriety of the presence of any armed body at parliamentary or municipal elections, and to request that you will give directions to the commanding officers of all volunteer corps within the county under your charge not to assemble their corps for drill or any other purpose between the issue of a writ and the termi- nation of the election in any county or borough in the neigh- bourhood of their head-quarters, or during the progress of any municipal election in any town to which they may belong, —I have, &c., (Signed) HERBEBT. Her Majesty's Lieutenant for the county of These instructions, though different from those just issued, are in no respect inconsistent with them. No one doubts the inexpediency of employing volunteers to suppress civil disturbances in ordinary cases. The question as to the legality of employing them in ex- treme cases with which the present instructions deal, is altogether a different one, and was not under Lord Herbert s consideration.

ATTEMPTS ON THE LIVES OF SOVEREIGNS. The danger to which the Czar was exposed the other day in the Bois de Boulogne is an ordeal from which few of his fellow sovereigns have been exempted. Even our own Queen, in spite of the loyalty and affection which attend her, has been four times attacked. There have been at least six plots to assassinate the Emperor Napoleon. In October, 1852, when Napoleon, who was on the eve of becoming Emperor, was at Marseilles, an infernal machine, formed by 250 gun- barrels charged with 1,500j balls, was to have been discharged against the Prince and his cortige but the design was not carried out. On July 5, 1853, a fresh attempt was made to assas- sinate him as he was going to the Opera Comique. Twelve Frenchmen were arrested as concerned in the conspiracy. On April 28, 1855, Jean Liverani fired two shots at the Emperor in the Grand Avenue of the Champs Elysees. In 1857, Thibaldi Bartolotti, and Grilli came from England to Paris to assassinate the Emperor, but were discovered, arrested, tried, and punished. On January 14, 1858, Orsini, Gomez, Pierri, and Rudio, threw their shells at the Emperor. On December 24, 1863, Greco, Trabucco, Imperatore and Scaglioni, who had gone from London with the intention of killing the French Emperor, were arrested in Paris. The King of Prussia was fired at by Oscar Becker, a law student of Leipsic, at Baden, on the 14th of July, 1861-the excuse given for the attack being that he was not capable of effecting the unity of Germany and his Minister, Count Bismarck, had last year a narrow escape from young Blind. The Emperor of Austria, on February 18, 1853, was struck with a knife in the neck by a Hungarian named Libenyi in 1858 an attempt was made on the life of Victor Emmanuel; and the Queen of Spain has been twice assailed. There is something very remarkable in the almost invariable failure of these attempts. In recent times only two rulers have fallen victims to assassination— the Duke of Parma, who, in 1854, was stabbed with a poignard in the abdomen; and Abraham Lincoln, who was shot by Booth on April 14, 1865, in the Washington Theatre, the murderer, in each of these cases, making good his escape.

IT'S A WISE JOKE THAT KNOWS, &c. Mr. Burton, in his very pleasant book The Scot Abroad," gives us some examples of the wit and good- breeding of Lord Stair, the ambassador. (We are quoting from the North British Review). One of these, Mr. Burton tells us, rests on his remarkable re- semblance to the Regent Orleans, who, desiring to turn a scandalous insinuation or jest on it, asked the ambassador if his mother had ever been in Paris ?" The answer was, "No but my father was!" There is perhaps," it is added, "no other retort on record so effective and so beautifully simple. If the question meant anything, that meaning was avenged; if it meant nothing, there was nothing in the answer." Whether this anecdote happened with Lord Stair, we shall not attempt to determine but it would be strange if he had all the merit of it, as the jest was already on record. Macrobius gives it as having been directed against the Emperor Augustus Intraveret Romam simillimus Cassari, et in se omnium ora converterat. Augustus adduci hominem ad se jussit, visumque hoc modo interrogavit: Die mihi, adolescens, fuit ali- quando mater tua Romse ? Negavit ille nec con- tentus adjecit: 'Sed pater meussaepe. Nor is the witticism left buried in the obscurity of Macrobius, for it appears as No. 52 of Lord Bacon's Apophthegms. But even Macrobius's story about Augustus is not the first edition of the joke for Valerius Maximus tells it of a Roman proconsul, who found in his province a Sicilian very like him, and on suggesting a similar question received the same answer.

OUTBREAK OF PLAGUE ON THE EUPHRATES. The telegraph sends evil news from Bagdad. What is declared to be the veritable Asiatic plague has ap- peared at Kerbelah, on the Euphrates, and of the two settled Arab tribes—1,000 strong-whom it has at- tacked, 100 have been carried off (says the Levant Herald.) A telegraphic report, dated June 4, from the quarantine inspector at Bagdad states that what- ever may be the real character of the malady, its symp- toms are clearly those of the pest-typhus fever, glandular swellings, carbuncles, and livid spots on the skin. The inducing causes of the outbreak are sup- posed to have been the miasma following the late floods, the poverty, filth, and crowded state in which the people live. Prompt measures have been taken by the Bagdad authorities to prevent the spread of the malady, and thanks tothese and the great heat of the weather' the outbreak is said to be already subsiding. In the meantime, the Galata Board of Health, at a special meeting held recently, addressed an urgent recom- mendation to the Porte that the closest quarantine might be ordered by telegraph. This has accordingly been done, and a special inspector is at once to be dispatched by the board to investigate and report on the outbreak on the spot.

AN INTERESTING CEREMONY. The Paris correspondent of the Standard gives the follow- ing particulars of the annual ceremony of the Crowning of Itosiere," which took place at Nanterre, in France, on Whit- Sunday :— As this curious institution," as the Americans say, may not be generally known, a few details may not prove uninteresting to your readers. Some years ago a certain lady nair.ed Michel (not Dame Trot immor- talised in French song) bequeathed 127. a year to be given to the girl of 18 summers, born at Nanterre, and of poor parents, and who made good her claim to this reward for virtue. The Municipal Council have since added another 121., and the charitable lady who crowns the Rosidre gives her a gold chain, a pair of earrings, and a medal. A sufficient number of fair candidates is always found to enter the arena, but the difficult task is that of deciding 'on their respective merits. The delicate duty is delegated to the Municipal Council. These Areopagies have been known to make mistakes; but, fortunately, they are rare, and the crown of roses is generally put upon the right head. The com- petitors of this local royalty are recruited from all classes of the working population, and it is some- what sing-alar that the Rosiere is sometimes found in the most unexpected places, and, but for the good and benevolent Mdme. Michel, might have wasted her sweetness on the desert air, although she might not have blushed unseen. For instance, last year the young lady who gained the prize was-a ballet-girl! The name of the Rosibre this year is Mdlle. Caroline Aubert, and the simplicity and inno- cence with which she is said to have gone through the ceremony left nothing to be desired. A procession, composed of the mayor, the councilmen, a battalion of ladies of honour, a corps of pompiers, and men in armour, with a band of music at its head, fetched the triumphant fair one from her home, and escorted her to church, where a floral throne had been erected. There, in the presence of the cure and all the great people of Nanterre, and amidst the joyous peals of the organ, the RosUre of last year handed over her sceptre to Mdlle. Aubert. A sermon and the Te Leiim wound up the proceedings, which, although not quite so im- portant as the coronation of the Emperor of Austria at Pesth on the same day, is none the less worthy of notice, as in this wicked city, within half an hour's drive of patriarchal Nanterre, the reverse of virtue is very highly rewarded every day, and no ceremony is made about it.