The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

GOSSIP ABOUT THE POPE. The Roman correspondent of the LiberU (M. de Girardin's paper), writing on the 4th of July, gives some particulars about the Pope which are not without interest The Holy Father is now in his 75th year. He is of the middle height, or slightly above it. The air of Rome and his sedentary habits have given him an embonpaint, not, how- ever, enough to inconvenience him, and which disappears under his ecclesiastical costume. His hair is white, though thick; his forehead large and prominent; the eyes deep set, and flashing with strange light; all the features are strongly marked, but in harmony with each other. There are no wrinkles on that face; the complexion is slightly coloured, but transparent. The mouth, somewhat prominent, gives to his whole physiognomy an expression of gentleness and of extraordinary benevolence. Had Pius IX. been a prince, instead of holding the highest place in the Catholic hierarchy, it might be said that his visage was marked by that good nature which Stendhall declares he has never yet met with in Italians. His health is excellent. In 1860, care, and sorrow, and anxiety for the future imparted to the humours an extraordinary movement. There was intermittent fever, and during the winter of 1863 there were serious fears for his life. But the robust constitution of the Pope triumphed easily over these complications; the fever went off, and health soon returned. The correspondent of the Liberie says :— I met the Pope one day outside the Angelica gate. He was on foot, accompanied by one of his cameriercs. It gave me as much as I could do to keep up with him he walked so rapidly. Everything about him shows extraordinary vigour, and the longest ceremonies do not exhaust him. He takes a walk every day on foot in the Pincio or outside the walls. Of the habits of his Holiness he says The Pope always rises at five o'clock. He at once goes to his prayers. At six, a valet de chambre, is in attendance to shave him, after which he is visited by his doctor. At seven he says mass. He rarely breakfasts before eleven, on ac- count of the offices of the Sistine Chapel, and also because he receives his Ministers in the morning. Pius IX very sel- dom presides at the Council of Ministers; that duty is left to Cardinal Antonelli, who gives an account to the Pope the same day of the resolutions that may be adopted, and who submits for his decision matters of importance. The temperate habits of the Pope are well known in Rome. A friend of mine attached to the Embassy was present last winter at his dinner—a fast day—having an urgent despatch to communicate The Pope dines alone at a little table- this is strict etiquette. His Holiness had just partaken of a soup of herbs, and he had before him two gurnets- the gur- nets of Italy resemble sardines—a plate of French beans, and three little apples. This excessive sobriety keeps him in gentle gaiety. He converses very willingly during his walk and after his dinner, at which his intimates are present, particularly M. de Merode, whom he bas. been obliged to sacrifice, but whom he always sees with great pleasure. M. de Merode is of a sprightly mind, but somewhat caustic, and the Pope is often obliged to stop him in the name of charity which is due to our fellow-creatures. U. de Merode told the Pope a day or two ago that Monseigneur B-, Bishop of in France, when conducting his clergy to the Coli- seum, pointed out to his vicar-general the spot where Nero used to view the dying gladiators. His Holiness burst out laughing Every one knows that the Coliseum was built on the site of Nero's gardens that Vespasian laid the first stone of it, and that it was finished under Titus and Domitian. At ten the Pope retires to his little apartment, the monastic simplicity of which is known to all the world. There are two distinct characters in the Pope--the man and the Supreme Pontiff. The man is simple, kind-hearted, familiar, accessible, and playful; the Pontiff is dignified, austere, and sometimes even terrible. He has also two dis- tinct physiognomies—the one full of meekness when lie blesses the crowd prostrated before him the other biblical, terrible, inspired, which all may have remarked when, borne on his gestatoria, on the eve of St. Peter's, with arm stretched forth, and eye lighted up he solemnly protested against the spoliation of the Holy See. The lines of the mouth on these occasions assume a strange appearance; the lips become thin and compressed, and lose that expression of goodness which all have remarked in his portraits. His Holiness occupies himself very little with the Government. Cardinal Antonelli does nothing with- out consulting him, but the Pope always approves. His msmory is extraordinary, and he recognizes at his audience persons whom he had seen only a few minutes two or three years before. The correspondent of the Liberte acquits Pius of all taint of that nepotism which distinguished, or dis- graced, many of his predecessors. On his accession to the Pontifical throne he sent for his heirs, and said to them, Here are 500,000f., it is all that you shall ever get from me;" and he has kept his word. In the opinion of a great number of enlightened Catholics the invasion of the States of the Church has restored the Papacy to its true mission, and Pius IX. exercises a moral authority greater assuredly than any of his predecessors The Pope has a civil list of about 3,.500,000f.-146,0001. It is out of this moderate sum that he keeps Papal Nuncios in foreign Courts, and pays 22,000f. (8801 ) a year to each of the Cardinals who reside in Rome. Out of this, too, he keeps up the Vatican, that immense palace which contains not less than 4,000 rooms, and which requires a large staff of domes- tics. The Pope also pays the Palatine Guard and the Noble Guard keeps up the Pontifical Chapel, pays the cainerieres, his household, &c. All this is administered with astonish- ing regularity and economy. In Rome the Pope is univer- sally beloved. The Pope is good, but his Government is bad," is the ritornello of all the Romans, persuaded as they are that it is a humiliation for them to be governed by priests. There is some cleverness in making this distinction between the Pope and his Government. The French Revo- lution had its starting point in the following words, which were incessantly repeated at Versailles, as in Paris, in 1790- "The King is good—ah if the King knew all."

THE BELGIANS AT WIMBLEDON. The Belgian visitors that are on a visit to England, went out to Wimbledon on Saturday and sustained a warm reception and a pelting storm. Just when they had reached the camp and were being presented to the Prince of Wales a thunderstorm came on, and in a few minutes everybody was drenched. Those who had no protection must have been wet through in a moment. Of the spectators all who could reach the Grand Stand rushed for protection towards it, and those who already had seats there retired several ranges higher, for the rain drove mercilessly down upon the front benches. But there were hundreds, possibly thousands, including ladies in their summer dresses, who by no possibility could reach a place of shelter. In the space of half n hour, or less, what had been a plain, smooth and dry as a carpet, was converted into a spongy surface. Grass to the eye and water to the foot" was a happy description of Wimbledon-common before the draining operations of the Rifle Association were undertaken. For an hour or more on Saturday afternoon the ancient order of things was restored. This sad mar- ring of what otherwise must have been a brilliant cere- mony excited the liveliest regret. In the words of a Belgian lady, who was recounting the events of the day, "(J'étai:t une scène tra!Jiqu!" The Prince of Wales, for whom a waterproof cape had been hastily obtained, which was afterwards re- placed by a regimental coat, maintained his position at the edge of the platform, and, notwithstanding the rain, delivered a complimentary address to the Bel- gians, which was replied to by Colonel Gregoire, who took the occasion to present to his Royal Highness a souvenir of the affair, which had been sent by the town of Antwerp. The speeches concluded, the Belgians faced to the right, and, counter-marching to the left, defiled in fours past the Prince of Wales, for the purpose of receiving each a medal commemorative of their visit to England. To save time, the medals were made up in packets and given to the right hand man of each four for distribution among his comrades. The c.eremony F was expedited as much as possible, but so severe was still the drenching rain, that constantly before a Bel- gian could put out his hand to receive the packet in- tended for him he had first to wring the water from his glove or sleeve. To the vivandih-e who accom- panies the detachment the Prince gave her own medal separately. The high spirits of the foreigners seemed to carry them wonderfully though, now and then the bands made an attempt to play, and the different corps, as they marched up, seemed highly gratified and encouraged by the admiration which the spec- tators, with hand and voice, loudly expressed of their patient and military bearing. At last, the process of distribution being completed, the Prince of Wales and his staff left the ground amid renewed cheering, and the Belgians proceeded to the refreshment booth to enjoy the hospitalities provided. Former friendships were revived, and new ones created; and so irresistible proved the attractions of good fellowship, that when the time came for the Belgians, as a body, to take their leave, there were hundreds who disregarded the rappel, though beaten vigorously in every quarter of the camp. Fortunately, about four o'clock the weather cleared, and, with the exception of another shower almost as heavy, but not equal in duration to the first, they had a fine evening for making acquaintance with the ordinary life in camp. As far as could be learnt, there was but a single in- stance of want of courtesy towards the national guests. This occurred in the case of a member of one of the Middlesex Artillery regiments, who must have dined too freely, inasmuch as it became necessary for two officers of his own corps to eject him ignominiously from the grounds of the association. This incident is worth mentioning, not for any interest of its own, but because it was, and probably will be, the solitary exception to the universality of the goodwill and hos- pitality felt and showed towards the Belgians.

A SLIGHT MISTAKE. Considerable astonishment was felt by the Reception Com- mittee on Saturday when they found that the number of the badges to be presented by the Prince of Wales fell short by about 400 of the number of Belgians who appeared in uniform at Wimbledon. The cause has been discovered. Four hundred Belgian riflemen, fully armed, and in their uniform as Gardes Civiques, had arrived in complete independence of their own Commission and its regulations; and having suc- ceeded in defiling past his Royal Highness before the rear rank reached the dais, each of them received a badge. As in all probability those men are really what they profess to be, there could have been no objection on the part of the English Volunteers or of the English people that they should partake of the national hospitality; but it is quite clear that even the best arrangements which could by any possibility be made must break through if the laws laid down by the Belgian Commission be disregarded by the Belgians themselves. On learning what had occurred on Saturday, a communication was made from the Belgian head-quarters to the Reception Committee and the Execu- tive met and adopted a resolution to the effect that their desire to secure for those Belgians who have come over with the sanction of the Commission al the privileges promised to the invited, obliges them to refuse to recognize as a guest any person unprovided with the livi-et of the Commission. Had there been no condition imposed by the Commission, the Reception Committee, after the very open invitation given to the Belgian riflemen last year, could not have refused their hospitality to any Garde Civique or Chasseur in uniform; but in Belgium no rifleman obtained the official facilities for his visiting this country unless he was able to produce a small red book issued by the Commission to each man who had inscribed his name as an intending visitor. The step taken by the Executive was not, therefore, un- called for; but the general public ought to make no exceptions. Last year many of our Volunteers presented themselves in Brussels on the very last day of the visit, procured cards of invitation to the King's banquet, and obtained badges supposed to have been in- tended only for such Volunteers as were received at the HOtel de Ville on the night the body of Volunteers made their entry. Again, even in the case of the men who ap- peared at Brussels in good time, the list furnished by the English Committee to the Belgian authorities swelled from 400, the first return, to 1,200 the last. The Belgians were so magnificently hospitable to us, and they are so loud in their acknowledgments of the reception which has been accorded to them in London, that it is not agreeable to have to allude to the circumstance which occurred on Saturday but it is necessary to do so, because considerable disappointment I has been felt by the 400 riflemen who were entitled to receive badges, but who had not the honour of being among those to whom the medals were handed by the Prince s>f Wales. His Jioyal Huautsss is very popUiar in Belgium, anu or ins gra- cious and kindly bearing towards the riflemen on Saturday they speak in the warmest terms.

THE BELGIANS AT CKEMOBNH. On Monday a series of gala entertainments were prepared for the Belgians at Cromorne, under the management of Mr. Smith. Unfortunately the weather sadly interfered with the day's programme, which was extensive and varied, including athletic sports, ballets, farces, a balloon ascent, a sham fight on the river, &c. There was a dinner, the pre- parations for which had been made on the lawn of Ashburn- ham-park, but when all hope of the weather being sufficiently fine for an al fresco banquet was abandoned, the great apartment in which the balls are held was fitted up as a banqueting-room for 1,700 persons. The decorations, though prepared in a very short time, were extremely tasteful. There were innumerable garlands of artificial roses and other flowers, and the flags of various nations were hung from the ceiling and the walls, those of Belgium and England being most prominent. The dinner was cold, but it had the merit of being very good and substantial. By some mishap, how- ever, the great body of the Belgians appear not to have known anything about this entertainment. Probably" they irmagined that it had been given up with the pro- cession on the river but the fault would appear to have been chargeable principally to their own superior officers. Some of the riflemen state that at the Belgian head-quarters, where they had been in the morning to make inquiries about the intended movements, they had heard nothing about the dinner. At seven o'clock about 1,000 dined, under the pre- sidency 9f 1.1r. Cockraft, one of the honorary secretaries of the Reception Committee, who proposed, in the French lan- guage, "The Queen of England," "The King and Queen of the Belgians," and The Belgian Riflemen." The two former toasts were received with enthusiastic applause. The Bel- gians sang our National Anthem, and afterwards drank The English Army, Navy, and Volunteers," for which Colonel Thompson responded. The riflemen also gave three cheers for the English Committee; and Mr. Smith announced that he would place his gardens at the disposal of the Belgians on another night. Unfortunately the rain fell heavily all through the night, but the visitors managed to amuse them- selves in the various theatres, and by dancing, which was continued till an early hour on Tuesday morning.

THE EXECUTION OF THE EMPEROR MAXIMILLIAN. NEW YORK, ,Tuly 4. The following details of the execution of the Em- peror Maximilian have been received :— Official information of the death of Maximilian, Miramon, and Mejia were received here yesterday. The report of Escobedo says they were condemned on the night of the ]4th, the sentence confirmed at head-quarters on the 15th, and the 16th designated as the day of execution. Their execution wa3, however, suspended by order of Juarez until the 19th, on which day at seven o'clock a. m., the three were shot. On the morning of the 18th the Prussian Minister made another attempt to save them, but failed. Maximilian was shot face to the front. His last words were, Poor Carlotta Miramon and Mejia were reduced from their rank and shot in the back. General Borriozabal immediately communicated the news to General Reynolds in Brownsville. There is great rejoicing in Mexico over the event. Official information of the surrender of the capital to Diaz has also reached here. Marquez was deposed, and the city was surrendered by Ramon Tabera. It is thought here that Juarez has started for the capi- tal. Mexicans are jubilant, and foreigners are horror- stricken. Letters from Juarez received at head-quarters here, and which your commissioner has had the privilege of perusing, state that Maximilian, Mêjia, and Miramon were sentenced to be shot on the morning of the 16th of June, the sentence being promulgated on the morning of the 14th of June. Sub- sequently the execution was postponed for three days, to give Maximilian time to arrange his affairs, and it was an- nounced that the execution would positively take place on the morning of the 19th of June, at eleven o'clock. The Prus- sian and British Ministers visited Juarez at San Luis Potosi to endeavour to arrest the doom of the unfortunate Prince, but their efforts were vain. Both had returned to Quere- taro to take formal leave of Mexico when the Prince was executed. Among Maximilian's papers in Queretaro was a will, by which, in case of his death, he appoints Tlieodosia Lance. Jose Maria Lacunsea, and Marquez Regents of the Empire- Portions of Maximilian's service plate are on exhibition as trophies at Matamoras. The following is the telegram of Escobedo to the Minister of War announcing the execution of the Emperor Maximi- lian :— "San Luis Potosi, June 19. "Citizen Minister of War.—On the 14th inst., at eleven o'clock at night, the Council of War condemned Maximilian of Hapsburg, Miguel Miramon, and Tomas Iejia, co suffer the extreme penalty of the law. The sentence having been confirmed at these head-quarters, it was ordered to be carried into effect on the 16th. The execution was sus- pended by order of the Supreme Government until to-day. It is now seven o'clock in the morning, at which time Maxi- milian has just been shot. Please communicate to the citizen President of the Re- public. "ESCOBEDO." Immediately upon receipt of the news General Borriozabal sent official information of it to General Reynolds, com- manding the sub-district of the Rio Grande. The event is now being celebrated with great rejoicing, manifested by ringing of bells, music and other demonstrations. The Baron Magnas, Prussian Minister, arrived at Que- retaro the day before the execution, and immediately trans- mitted by telegraph a formal protest to Juarez, which was received at half-past nine o'clock on the evening of the same day, and in reply to which the following was transmitted San Luis Potosi, June 18, 10.10 p.m. "To Baron A. V. Magnas, at Queretaro. I am sorry to say to you, in answer to your telegram which you have been pleased to send to me this night, that, as I had expressed to you the day before yesterday, the President of the Republic is not of the opinion that it is possible to grant the pardon of Maximilian of Hapsburg, consistent with the great considerations of justice and the necessity of insuring the future peace of the Republic.—I am. Baron, very respectfully, your obedient servant, S. LERDO DE TEJADA." The following is a translation of the protest of Baron Magnas "To his Excellency Senor Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada. Having arrived to-day at Queretaro I became aware that the prisoner condemned on the 14th inst. morally died on Sunday last. It is thus that all the world will consider it, for all their preparations to die having been made on that day, they waited during a whole hour to be taken to the place whence they were to receive their death before the order suspending the execution of the sentence was com- municated to them by means of the telegraph. The humane customs of our age will not permit them, after having suffered this horrible agony, to be put to death a second time to-morrow. In the name of humanity and of honour I conjure you to order that their lives be not taken and I again repeat that I am certain that my Sovereign His Majesty the King of Prussia, and all the crowned heads of Europe, united by ties of blood and kindred to the Prince prisoner—his brother the Emperor of Austria, his cousin the Queen of the British dominions, his brother-in-law the King of the Belgians, and also his cousins the Queen of Spain and the Kings of Italy and Sweden—will readily agree to give his Excellency Se»or Don Benito Juarez all security that none of the prisoners shall again tread on Mexican soil. AL. V. MAGNAS." No authentic news has yet arrived as to the disposition of the body of Maximilian.

CHARGE of MANSLAUGHTER AGAINST A QUACK DOCTOR. At the Hertford assizes Isaac Chamberlain, aged 67, a respectable-looking man, described as an herbalist surrendered to take his trial for the manslaughter of Mary Anne Parish. b Mr. Garth, Q. C., and Mr. Smith conducted the prosecution on behalf of the Treasury, instructed by Mr. Pollard the assistant solicitor to that department. Serjeant Parry was specially retained, with Mr. Clarke, for the defence. This case appeared to create a good deal of local in- terest, the prisoner having for many years resided at Hertford, where he enjoyed a reputation for skill in the treatment of various diseases. The circumstances under which the present charge was preferred against him were as follows The deceased was a middle-aged woman, the sister of a labouring man, at Aldburg, near Tring, and it appeared that for nearly fourteen years she had been suffering from a tumour in her right shoulder, which caused her a great deal of pain and inconvenience, and in the year 1861 she was under treatment for it at the West Herts Infirmary for eigh- teen months. Her condition did not improve, and it ap- peared that Mr. Whiteley, the physician to the infirmary, suggested that the tumour should be removed by an opera- tion, but the deceased would not consent, and ceased attend- ing at the infirmary. Things went on in this way until the March of last year, when, upon the recommendation of a female acquaintance named Knowles, who had herself been prescribed for by the prisoner for derangement of the liver, and, as she stated, obtained relief from his advice and medicine, the deceased applied to the prisoner with regard to her malady. He told her that it was a cancerous tumour, and he undertook to cure it, and he gave her a box of ointment and some pills, and he directed her to rub the ointment into the tumour, and to take one of the pills each night and morning. The deceased appeared to have followed these instructions, and it seemed to be admitted on the part of the prosecution that the ointment given in the first instance was a mercurial ointment usually applied in susli cases, and so far no complaint appeared to be made of the proceedings of the prisoner. In August, however, finding her condition did not improve, the deceased went again to the prisoner, and at this time it appeared the tumour was covered with a sort of scab, and was bleeding. The prisoner repeated that he would cure it, and gavdhe- deceased another box of ointment, which he directed her to rub in as before, and he said it would have the effect of taking out the tumcsir, and he asked the d«c$ascd to come to him again when. the tumour was removed. MliQost. immediately aftex- fiba application of. sesond ointment the deceased appearell to have become much worse, and, after undergoing great suffering, she died on the 7th of September under all the symptoms of arsenical poisoning. A coroner's inquest was held, and after several adjourn- ments the jury returned a verdict of manslaughter against the prisoner, and the Home Office authorities felt it their duty under the circumstances to take up the case with a view to a full inquiry. The body was exhumed, and the remains of the tumour, and certain portions of the stomaoh and some of the vital organs were submitted to Professor Taylor, the eminent medical jurist, for examination, and the result showed that the whole of them contained arsenic in considerable quantity, and that this was the cause of death. The allegation on the part of the prosecution was that the second ointment furnished to the deceased by the prisoner contained arsenic, and that the deadly ingredient had been rubbed into the tumour and thus absorbed into the systsm, and caused the death and that the prisoner was criminally answerable for that event by gross and culpable negligence and want of skill. 0 0 Professor Taylor, who was called as a witness for the prosecution, was examined at some length, and his evidence, of course, left no doubt as to the immediate cause of death. He stated, however, in cross-examina- tion, that arsenie was for a very long period used by the medical profession in England in cases like that of the deceased, and that it was at present used in France, and also in America, and that it was only of late years that the system had been discontinued in England on account of the danger of the practice. It also appeared from the evidence of this gentleman that the discovery of the possibility of death occurring from the absorption of arsenic into the system, when used externally, was only discovered in 1843. Serjeant Parry made a most able address to the jury on behalf of the prisoner, and he argued that, upon such facts as had been admitted in cross-examination in this case, it would be a monstrous thing, indeed, to find the prisoner guilty of manslaughter. He then commented at considerable length upon the evidence, and contended that no culpable negligence whatever had been established against the prisoner. Mr. Justice Blackburn having summed up, the jury almost immediately returned a verdict of not guilty.— There was an attempt at applause when the verdict was returned, but it was at once repressed by the officers in attendance.

GRAND FETE TO THE VICEROY OF EGYPT. The Duke and Dachess of Sutherland gave It banquet tc his Highnessthe Viceroy on Monday night, at Stafford House. Covers were laid in the banqueting-room for about forty guests, among whom Wfr8 his Serene Highness the Prince of Teck and her Royal Highness the Princess Mary Adelaide, the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Lady Mary Scott, with many others of the nobility and gentry. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge arrived at a late hour, having assisted at the State visit of the Sultan to the Royal Italian Opera. After the banquet the guests adjourned to the picture- gallery and the drawing-room. In the former of these superb apartments the ball of the evening was given. Nothing had been done in the way of decoration here, for nothing could add to the splendour of these saloons. The only decorations attempted were those of flowers, and fer the most exquisite specimens of these all that the conser- vatories of the great nurserymen, and all that Trenthana- hall could produce was brought up to Stafford-house. Every nook of the hall was filled with the rarest and most beautiful exotics grouped round fountains and statues. One most im- portant part of the fete, however, was marred by the terrible inclemency of the weather, for the rain came down withavehe- mence which showed with what interest its great patron, St. Swithin, watches over the out-door festivities of this kingdom. The gardens round the house had been planted with impromptu parterres of flowers, which broke the turf into winding paths and little nooks redolent of fragrance. All the trees, too, were to have been hung with Chinese lanterns and variegated lamps, while the grounds were to have been lit throughout alternately with white, red, and blue fires. As a matter of course, all these preparations had to be abandoned--the exotics were removed from the drench- ing rain, and all hope of illuminating the garden was given, up. The guests began to arrive soon after eleven o'clock. Among the early arrivals were about eighty of the chief officers of the Belgian Volunteers. From 11 to 12 visitors of the highest rank or distinction continued to stream in to the number of about a thousand. All were in full uniform, State costume, or Court dress, and anything more brilliant than the effect of the whole scene cannot easily be im- agined. The picture gallery was set apart as a ball-room, the drawing-room as a general place of assemblage. The saloons on the ground floor were laid out for supper, the repast for the moss illustrious guests being arranged with every accessory of magnificence in the chief library. Several bands were in attendance, and in the picture gallery, which by night is lighted from the roof, dancing was maintained by the general company till a late hour.

LOST AND FOUND. After morning service at Montreux Church, July 11, the Rev. Mr. Bennett, English chaplain, presented to Michel Roux a handsome silver hunting watch with a small bag of money, from the English residents in the neighbourhood, for having saved the life of an English lady who fell from the Rochers de Naye, a distance of 2,300ft., on the 30th of April last. The circumstances of the case are these :— A lady and three gentlemen ascended the Rochers de Naye, from Chillon, on the Lake of Geneva, in the after- noon, and at half-past six o'clock began to retrace their steps, but a quantity of snow having lately fallen they missed the path, and got too near the edge of tlie precipice. One of the party having lost his footing slipped down about 300ft., then stopping himself and turning round to assure those above of his safety, he saw the young lady coming down past him at a tremendous pace. As it was impossible to step her, he followed by a circuitous route, at the risk of his own neck, and at last succeeded in making her understand he was going down to procure assistance. Forturately Michel Roux was cutting timber not far off, and heard his cries he descended at once to the valley where the lady was found on a bed of snow, sensible, but in a most suffering state from her in- juries as well as from the cold, snow falling heavily at the time. Had there been much more delay in reaching her she would not have been found alive. Michel was as hour in getting her up to the nearest chalet, the greater part of the time struggling for life with this heavy burden on his shoulders. A litter was prepared and the lady was eventually brought down to the Hotel des Alpes, where they arrived at midnight. She was attended by Dr. Carrard so successfully that at the end of three weeks she was able to return to England tolerably well. It is the fashion to abuse the Swiss for their independence of manner and their want of courtesy, but in this instance nothing could exceed the kindness of the people who received this lad y at the chalet on that dread- ful night; and when the sledge litter, filled with hay, was prepared, she was carefully placed in it and an umbrella fastened upright to protect her from the rain and snow, which fell heavily.

A COURAGEOUS WOMAN. The inhabitants of Beauvais, the chief town of the department of the Oise, have just celebrated the anniversary of their, heroine, Jeanne Hachette, popu- larly known as the Fete of the Assault." Beauvais as was besieged in 1472, when Charles the Bold of Burgundy was at war with Louis XI. The besieged, after a desperate resistance of three hours on the walls, were exhausted, and were on the point of giving way, when the women of Beauvais, armed with spikes, staves tipped with iron, and such other weapons as they could lay hands on, mounted the ramparts under the guidance of an intrepid young woman named Jeanne Laine, better known as Hachette," from the weapon which she used. Jeanne caught the Bur- gundian standard which the enemy were about to plant on the wall, struck down with her hatchet the officer who held it, and hurled him into the ditch below. The example of the courageous girl inspired her townsmen with fresh courage, and the result was that the troops of Burgundy were repulsed with great slaughter, and the siege had to be raised. In com- memoration of the conduct of Jeanne and her intrepid companions, Louis XI. ordered that in the fete to be celebrated every year in Beauvais the women should take precedence of the men. The King also ordered that, "by reason of her great valour and courage," she should be married to one Collin Pillon and by an edict, dated February, 1473, that the said Collin Pillon and his wife Jeanne should be exempt from the payment of imposts of every kind levied throughout his kingdom, in whatsoever part of it they happened to reside.

ILLEGITIMACY IN SCOTLAND.—The Registrar- General for Scotland mentions in. his tenth detailed annual report that in 1804 the illegitimate births in Scotland were 9'9 in every 100 births. In the north- eastern divisions they were 15'5 per cent. A ten years' average shows that 9'1 per cent. of the children were illegitimate in Scotland. According to the numbers of births registered as illegitimate in England, only 6'4 per cent. were illegitimate in that country during the same period. It seems that illegitimacy is on the increase in Scotland, as during 1856 and 1857 only 8 -5 per cent. of the births were illegitimate.