The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

MR. PEABODY AND THE BANK OF ENGLAND. The following interesting account of the celebrated trans- action between Mr. Peabody and the Bank of England in 1857, is from an article, entitled" Secret Bank History," in the City of London:— There is no doubting that the assistance rendered to Mr. Peabody by the Bank of England in 1857 has been the occasion of much misunderstanding in banking and commercial circles, and of serious and ungenerous prejudice to the Bank of England. For ever since the assistance rendered to Mr. Peabody, everybody has felt warranted in applying to the Bank of England for help, when help was needed, and, being in ignorance of the terms exacted from Mr. Peabody, the Bank of England has been denounced, when insisting on ad- hesion to its rule of lending on securities which it ap- proved, although the philanthropic American scrupu- lously complied with the rule. With the view of protecting the Bank of England from unjust aspersion in this matter, and of showing the terms on which it lends its money in a time of pressure, we shall trace the outline of that chapter in the Bank's history, with this word of preface, that our information has been derived directly from one of rr the principals in the transaction. And that those con- cerned may be in no way prejudiced, we shall close with a brief digression which will show, first, that the business relations which led to the application to the Bank of England are still cherished, and second, that Mr. Peabody, in addition to possessing those genial qualities which has endeared him to us all, is one of that sort who always will conduct their business in a manner that even in exceptional and trying circum- stances must render them independent of the sup- port of others. The revulsion had done its work over the length and breadth of the United States, and one day while walking to his office at the corner of Pine and Nassau Streets, it occurred to Mr. Duncan, sen., of the firm cf Duncan, Sherman, & Co., that probably serious trouble would occur in London and elsewhere as the consequence of that revulsion. Turning the matter over in his thoughts as he proceeded, the necessity for prompt action appeared so reasonable, that on entering his office he called his son, and asked the amount of available securities at the instant in hand. The reply was :OO,OOOl. By twelve o'clock the same day his son was steaming out of New York harbour in the Cunard steamer, with the 300,0002. securely packed in a portmanteau. Arriving in due course in London, Mr. Duncan, jun., and Mr. Peabody, proceeded to the Bank of England, and a conversation of this kind ensued I want to arrange for the assistance of the Bank, in case it should be necessary to protect the drafts of my New York correspondents." "Certainly, Mr. Peabody, whatever assistance you require shallbe given with pleasure." "But I desire the contro 1 of a specific sum, which I am to send for if I need it, and which I am not to send for if I do not need it." We can only re- peat, Mr. Peabody, thatwhtttever assistance yourequire shallbe given with pleasure." "You misunderstand me, I must know what I can trust in." Well, what sum do you want, and for what period do you want it." Mr. Peabody repeated that he wanted nothing he merely desired a credit that he might or might not use at pleasure. Then, turning to Mr. Duncan, jun., he asked the amount of the securities he had bought. We want 800,0001. here are securities for 300,000/. I hall at once furnish securities for the remainder." "Very good, Mr. Peabody but if you will consider the matter it is not in business form. If you want money you must take it, and take it for a period. We cannot tie our hands and leave yours untied. You must take 200,0001. at least, and pay us for it." Mr. Peabody demurred—took the 200,000?., with the option of the 600,000?.—and in a fortnight after return- ing the 200,0001., he withdrew the whole amount of the securities. And for the accommodation the Bamc charged tne minimum rate on 200, 0001. for six months. Such, concisely told, was the celebrated transaction with Mr. Peabody in 1857. In America it was thought, and indeed is still thought, that the Bank of England drove a hard bar- gain with Mr. Peabody; that the 200,000?. should not have been forced on him that the additional 500,0001. in securities should not have been received and that in- terest for six months should not have been charged for money, which was only held a fortnight. On the other hand, among ourselves, it has been thought, and to some extent is still thought, that the Bank of England hav- ing helped American, it is D-iorally bound to carry thiough" English men and that it is monstrous for Englishmen to be refused after what has been done for lVfr. Peabody. The facts which we have adduced will, we hope, satisfy English grumblers and that there are English grumblers, should, we think, be satisfactory to our cousins across the water. Englishmen have positively been refused; Mr. Peabody was merely charged roundly by the Bank of England. The reception of the additional securities was obviously in terms of Mr. Peabody's proposition, and on the assumption that the further sum of 500,0001. would be asked. The securi- ties secured this additional 500,0001. to the order of Mr. Peabody and, although the Bank of England continued to hold the 500,0001., it was precluded from lending it to other people. Mr. Peabody's travelling companion from this country to America, on the 21st April of the last year, was the same Mr. Duncan, sen., on whose behalf Mr. Peabody chiefly negotiated with the Bank of England in 1857. The voyage, as all know, ended, without the adventure, and progressed without incident for at no period of its duration was there ever present to the mind of any but the most nervous, the sense of danger. Only on one day did the elements rise to the dignity of a storm the other days corresponded with the latitude in the spring of the year. There were days of moderate wind-others of strong swell, and of easy swell-some were intensely cold, and some middling cold. On the whole the voyage was a good one; although it must be owned that not many of the passengers were quite equal to the occa- sion. Probably, because of the cold, there was more than an average sum of misery passengers finding the saloon-deck settles untenable, and not being all provided with chairs of their own to take advantage of unexposed corners, sought refuge in the greasy waist, upon the hot flags of the two funnels, in the close saloons, or in the closer berths, and therefore suffered from the absence of that best of all antidotes to unaccustomed and unnatural motion on the sea— untainted air. The old gentleman is a fine sailor, not a whit sick, nor a sufferer from the accumulation of unwholesome juices in the stomach, which produces nausea, but a genuine Neptune, who enjoys himself, pleases other people, and takes his meals regularly. Every morning, from first to last, Mr. Peabody was in his seat for breakfast by eight oclock, every noon for luncheon, every four o'clock for dinner, every six o'clock for tea, and every ten o'clock for supper. And he partook heartily. Indeed, it might with truth be said that he was in his seat constantly from morning till night gouty tendencies in the feet being as for- bidding as cold on deck. Only on two occasions did he venture from the main-deck to the saloon deck above, and his stay extended to a single turn round the funnel. The other days were days of immolation of sitting on the right, at the head of Captain Judkin's table, of gossipping, of reading, of cracking nuts and jokes, and of playing whist. Of whist-playing the old gentleman is fond. He even claims to be an authority in the game. Differing, on one occasion, with the saloon players, the fore saloon was jocularly scoured for players, but the measure of success was not gratifying. Among the passengers there were two stories current of Mr. Peabody, which, whether true or untrue, may be taken as illustrating the sort of character which is never likely to conduct business so as at any time to be dependent on the Bank of England, or any other bank. One day Mr. Peabody was in conversation at the Palace Hotel, Westminster, and a gentleman pro- posed the hiring of a cab to the City. "What," said Mr. Peabody, when an omnibus will carry you for sixpence The other story is of the same sort-of the save-all kind which has built up so many fortunes. Mr. Peabody was in the neighbourhood of Limerick, where he had been ordered by his physician, with hunt- ing or fishing for a prescription. Hunting, of course, was out of the question, and fishing became tlfe choice. At once Mr. Peabody set to work, and one day landed four salmon. Proceeding to the hotel with the spoil, It was produced before the landlady, when a close ex- amination of the fish was undertaken by Mr. Peabody. The two best were at length selected by him, and turning to the landlady, he remarked that it would be well to have fish to-day for dinner. The landlady hesitated, and Mr. Peabody, meanwhile musing over the two leaner fish, selected a third and placed it with the others. While this was passing the landlord entered, and Mr. Peabody, addressing him, said, that it would perhaps be well to have fish for dinner." Well," said the landlord, "we have this, that, and the other thing to-day and some excellent trout have been already dressed." "All right," said Mr. Peabody the four of them will do. Boy, take them across the street to the fishmonger," Whether the trout afflicted Mr. Peabody with indigestion in the evening, or with nightmare in the night, is perhaps unknown. He is once more in Ireland fishing, and it would not be sur- prising were that country to be the next recipient of his benefactions.

MEMENTOS OF A DECEASED ARTIST. The final disposition of the property of the late Mr, John Phillip, R.A., has now been made, and is con- sidered highly satisfactory. The private effects of the deceased realised very large prices at the sale, not so much from their intrinsic worth as by reason of their having been purchased and valued by Mr. Phillip. His house on Camden-hill has been purchased by a brother artist, Mr. Rudolph Lehmann his box in the Highlands, which, curiously enough, was described by Mr. Shirley Brooks a month before the artist's death as one of the scenes in which the action of Mr. Brooks's novel, Sooner or Later," takes place, has been taken by one of his intimate friends, a well-known amateur artist and art-connoisseur. The last stroke ever done by Mr. Phillip's hand was a rough chalk profile of Charles II. He was sketching this carelessly on the table in Mr. Frith's studio when he was seized with the paralytic attack which ultimately carried him off, but the last work, with any degree of finish, which he executed, is in the possession of Mr. Henry Thomp- son, the eminent surgeon, and to it an interesting anecdote attaches. During an illness which shortly preceded his last attack, Mr. Thompson, attending him, was sitting with one hand on Mr. Phillip's pulse while the other held his watch, which he was regard- ing. Something in the pose and general effect struck the artist, who said, If I live through this I'll paint this subject, and call it The Race against Time ag, He only lived to execute the preliminary sketch in chalk, which his executors have given to Mr. Thompson.

The Lan cet also says: We a re disposed to think that the evils incident to bathing- to which several corres- pondents have directed our attention are perhaps, on the whole, somewhat exaggerated. In an age when the number of the great unwashed is daily on the in- crease, the ratio of clean to healthy skins on the in- crease, and when the luxury of bathing is more fully appreciated, we fancy that personal experience has been ample enough, and has no doubt done much to correct injudicious practices, and tacitly to dictate a rough code of regulations when and how to indulge in bathing. Still common customs are wont to suffer perversion in theory and distortion in practice, and in the matter of bathing a due recognition may not be given to possible mischief in some cases. It seems desirable, however, to remark that in the case of youths at public schools and other institutions, care ought to be taken that bathing be not practised when the body is overheated, or when digestion is in active progress. The true test of the good results of bathing is the occurrence of a reaction conse- quent upon the stimulation of the cold applied to the surface. It will be at once apparent that the time of immersion will depend upon the susceptibility of the body to be cooled-in fact, the vigour of the circula- tion in each particular case. The effect of bathing is to stimulate the cutaneous circulation to activity; and if the circulation is already preoccupied, as in the act of digestion, the excitation of the surface will lead to derangement of the former. Hence the reason that bathing should be taken when the stomach and other organs are in a quiescent state. To send a lot of youths to bathe immediately after a meal is to expose them to the chance of a serious fit of illness. So again when the body is much over-heated, the cold plunge is likely to drive the blood from the surface and to lead to internal congestions. Our public schools, we think, are entitled to the credit of selecting the time just an- tecedent to a meal for bathing but we are, neverthe- less, convinced that weakly subjects are often allowed to remain too long in the water and to antic ashore, with the effect of getting chilled; this mightbe avoided by the use of free friction, careful drying, quick dress- ing, and a short walk home."

GARDENING OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK. (From the Gardeners' 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. Sow cabbage, green curled endive, lettuce, round spinach. 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. Lettuces for winter and spring. -To have these in perfection during autumn, and from the middle of April to the end of May, sow from the 20th of July to the 10th of August, the full batch to be sown on the 25th or 26th of July. The best sorts to sow now are Hammersmith, Brown Silician, and Brown Dutch. These are the hardiest, and make capital saladings, and they do not need so rich a soil as the crisper kinds. In order to be very distinct, we should advise a sowing in a bed of fine rich soil, on the 20th of July, of true Bath Cos, which will supply good lettuces in October and November, and the smallest plants left will stand the winter. On the same day sow also, on a bed which was manured for the last crop, Brown Silician and Hammersmith. In the course of a fort- night make up a piece of extra rich soil elevated a foot above the level, and prick out the strongest plants of Bath Cos upon it, a foot apart every way, and keep them shaded and watered till they make a start, when remove all shading, and encourage them to grow with the help of liquid manure. If old frames are plentiful, make up a few reserve beds in them above the general level of the ground, and into these beds plant the weakest plants from the seed-bed, six inches apart. These frames will serve a twofold purpose. As soon as the plants are strong, remove every other one to a sloping bed under a warm wall where shade and water, and let the others remain. The strongest plants will come into use during October, when we shall suppose the whole batch will be consumed. Those under the wall will succeed them and if a smart frost should occur early in November, they may escape it through being high and dry; and if frost and wet destroy them altogether, the reserve stock in the frames will keep up the sup- ply till Christmas, as any covering that will exclude frost and wet will suffice to protect them; and if they are kept in darkness two or three days together they will take no harm. In a mild season this plan will carry the supply- supposing the breadth sown to be sufficient—far into January and it must be remem- bered that lettuces are always esteemed, and are as elegant on the table as they are refreshing to the palate. On the 25th of July, and again about the 10th of August, sow Hammersmith, Brown Silician, and Brown Dutch. These are all hardy kinds, and it is safer to sow a pinch of each than three times the quantity of any one, as, if the winter should be severe, there is a better chance of saving a few for spring use. On a good holding loam, without recent manure, if the beds are raised a trifle above the level, there will be a reasonable chance of these surviving the winter, and proving eminently serviceable for spring salads. At the final planting they should be ten inches apart every way, and instead of hastening growth by liquid manure, they should have only just so much help after planting as will enable them to take root safely. Keep the ground clear of weeds, but use the hoe as little as possible, so that the surface may be- come hard and firm. It must be remembered that winter and spring lettuces are valuable, and where grown for market will always pay for glass. If a sup- ply during winter and early spring is a matter of some importance, all the spare frames and lights should be got ready at the end of October, filled with light sandy earth, the plants taken up carefully with good balls, and planted nine inches apart in these protective beds. Water them in, keep the lights off as long as possible, and when the plants in the frames must be consumed at last, tie a few every week to blanch, and keep them dry during severe weather, and they will pay for the care and the space they have had. Now that orchard- houses and ground vineries are in use almost every- where, these may be made to pay their cost in keeping up a stock of saladings for winter. Grow the plants in open beds, and at the end of October or early in November transplant them carefully and keep them under glass, moderately dry and with as much air a,s possible, according to the state of the weather. Propagating Phloxes and Pentstemons.—The only satisfactory way is to take cuttings, and get them rooted with as little aid from heat as possible. They may be multiplied in autumn and spring. The usual practice is to propagate pentstemons in autumn and phloxes- in spring, but these last may be done in autumn with the ethers, if young shoots can be got from the base. If the season is a dry one, however, very few can be obtained, but in spring phloxes throw up shoots from the root freely, and if these are taken off when a few inches long, and potted round the sides of pots, and placed in a gentle heat, they soon make roots, and must 'then be potted singly. Pentstemons generally produce plenty of nice shoots at the base in autumn, and if these are potted, several together in a pot, and put in frames, they may remain till spring, and be planted out direct from the cutting pots to the places where they are to bloom. If the stock runs short, all the plants may be topped in spring, and will root quickly in a gentle heat. When it is intended to propagate largely, it is best to take up all the old stools, and pot them in large pots, and keep them in frames. By this means a large crop of cuttings may be obtained early in spring, and they maybe multiplied ad infinitum. The plants produced in this way do not, of course, attain to any great size, but they produce fine flowers, and those who grow for exhibition should follow the practice of propagating annually. It would be well to mark while the plants are in flower all those it is intended to propagate, as the time for taking cut- tings of pentstemons is near at hand. Agapanthus to have abundance of water while throwing up flower-spikes, and until the bloom is over then to be shaken out ar.d 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 x^ots. 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 roofs. 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. Tall-growing Bedders need a little care now to pro- tect them from high winds. A very effectual and expeditious 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 pur- pose where the plants are not sufficiently regular to be supported with string. 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. 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.

ENGLISHMEN IN PARIS IN 1817. The following amusing sketch of a little affair" between French and English gentlemen in Paris in 1857, is from a book entitled Captain Gronow's Last Recollections: In the year 1817 Lord A-, his brother, and another friend, were staying in Paris. They had dined one day at Verey's, then the famous restaurant in the Palais Royal, and the conversation had turned upon the insults offered by the Parisians, particularly the military, to the English visitors. His lordship was silent during this conversation, but took note of what had been said, while imbibing some potent Burgundy and his indignation was none the weaker for having thus "bottled it up." On leaving the restaurant the first thing he did was to kick over a basket of tooth- picks, which were presented to him for purchase the next was to shove off the pavement a Frenchman, who proved to be an officer. Of course, there was a violent altercation cards were exchanged, and each party went his way to make arrangements for the pistols and coffee for four." Our countrymen, when near home, picked up their friend Manners, who had been shut out of his lodgings, and promised to accommodate him with a sofa at their rooms. On their arrival, he par- tially uncased and wrapped himself up in a large Witney blanket and greatcoat, and then turned in." At an early hour the next morning, two gentlemen called on our countrymen, and were ushered into the saloon. The first who presented himself to receive them was his lordship, who had nothing on but a large pair of trousers, and a cotton night-cap full of holes; he being so particular about having it aired that it was constantly singed in the process. Not speaking French, he requested his servant to act as interpreter, and asked the strangers the object of their visit the incidents of the preceding night having passed off from his memory with the fumes of the Chambertin. The discussion that ensued woke up Manners, who, wrapped in his blanket, rose from his couch, looking more like a white bear than anything else. It also drew from his dormitory Captain Meade, who made his appearance from a side door, clothed only in his night shirt and a pairof expansive Russia duck trousers, whistling, as was his wont, and spitting occasionally through a hole that had been bored in one of his front teeth, in imitation of the stage-coachmen of the day. Lord A-s brother next appeared on the scene, in a costume little more complete than those of the others. The visitors, although astonished at the appearance of the group, proceeded to business. Manners conducted it on the part of his friends, who could not speak French and, with a view of discharging his office more comfortably, drew aside the folds of his Witney blanket and placed his back against the mantelpiece, to enjoy the warmth of the glowing wood-ashes in the grate below. The Frenchmen were refused an apology by our friends, coupled with the observation that with Englishmen the case would be different; but that it was impossible on the present occasion to arrange matters in that way. They therefore requested the other party to name their weapons. Manners coolly informed them that they had decided on using fusils, at twelve paces. This seemed rather to astonish the Frenchmen they exchanged glances, and then cast their eyes round the room, and on the strange figures before them. Meade was whistling through his teeth Lord A-, whose coppers were rather hot, had thrust his head out into the street through a pane of glass that had been smashed the night before; while the others were stalking about the room in their rather airy costumes. The gravity of the Frenchmen was overcome by the ludicrous aspect and sangfroid of their opponents, and they burst out laughing. Lord A-, who was as full of fun as he was of pluck, stretching out his hand to the injured party, said, Come, I see you are good fellows, so shake hands. I had taken rather too much wine last night." I need not say that the proffered hand was accepted, and the French officers retired. After their departure, Manners asked the servant what fitsit really meant as, when naming the weapon to be used, he supposed it to be a kind of pistol.

THE HARVEST AND THE REAPER, Mr. David M'Culloeh, of Gatton Park, Reigate, makes the following remarks to The Times :— In an article of yours in October last you re- ferred to the melancholy spectacle of wreck and waste produced by crops spoiling on the ground chiefly for want of hands to reap them. No doubt last year was an unfavourable season, but in this precarious climate we cannot afford to lose the advantage of even a single fine day. We must there- fore provide, as far as possible, for contingencies we are as badly off, perhaps even worse, this season for hand labour; and if we are to depend on the reaping- hook or scithe, we may have again to look helplessly on while the winds are shaking the corn out of the ears. In default of hands, we must resort to machinery. I am aware that although for many years past we have had reaping machines partially successful in various localities, yet a really efficient economical im- pipment, adapting itself to the intricacies of the sur- face, being almost free from breakage, and combining easy management with lightness of draught, and re- quiring the power of only one or two horses, has not, until the last season or two, been put before the pub- lic. In fact, the reaper has now become so perfect as to require little or nothing more to be desired, and ought to be in the hands of every agriculturist who, by simply investing a few pounds, may emancipate him- self from many of the more serious risks he has hitherto run, and by so doing will be a great pecuniary gainer in the cost of his harvest. Without venturing to compare any one of the present competitors with another, I can say from observation and experience that the best of the new machines have fairly over- come the objections which formerly attended thera. Those who are still sceptical (and it is surprising how many are so) as to the great improvements recently attained in this important department will have an excellent opportunity of satisfying themselves at the Royal Agricultural Society show at Bury St. Edmund's this week.

A North Lincolnshire Farmer, writing from Caiston, has also sent the following letter for publication :— Every year many thousands of pounds are lost to the farmers and the nation owing to an insufficiency of labourers to cut and gather in the harvest before it has been wasted or injured by the weather. Corn crops, when fully ripe, will remain very few days uncut without sustaining some damage, if the weather be ever so favourable. Sometimes a high wind will blow out the grain in standing crops of wheat and oats, and completely take off the heads of barley. Occasionally a burning sun will cause wheat and oats to shed much of their seed on the land before it is possible to cut the corn, even with the aid of reaping machines—for they are not worked without hands-so great has often been the scarcity oi labourers. More frequently, as was the case last year, rain has sprouted the corn (even when standing), which it always discolours and much reduces in value. Five shillings per diem, with beer ad libitum, are ther usual wages of able-bodied labourers when assisting to reap and gather in the harvest, and from seven to ten shillings per diem are frequently earned by the niett who mow with sithes and tie up the corn. Now, if the authorities at the War-office would give two-thirds of the privates composing the infantry regiments in England and as many of the horse soldiers as could be spared a furlough of three weeks, to commence as soon as the harvest is ready, in order that they might be enabled to assist the farmers In gathering in their crops, it would put from three to five pounds into the pockets of every common soldier employed in the harvest fields, and cause a great national saving.

HORRIBLE BUTCHERY BY AN AFRICAN KING. The last mail which reached Liverpool from the West. Coast of Africa brought letters from Benin, containing counts of a fearful tragedy that was perpetrated at that place on the 25th of May last. There is at Benin a king, who reigns under the miliar title of King Jerry, whose state dress consists of a white beaver hat, an incomplete suit of J eamlils S livery, and an occasional paper collar presented to him by some of the traders. His sable majesty, who holds a stick of authority from her Majesty's Con* sul at Fernando Po, keeps a rather numerous house' hold, amongst which are a number of wives and a pr(j" geny in accordance. Several days prior to the 25tn May, Jerry, it appears, became suspicious that one oi his sons was more intimately connected with one oi his wives than the morality of King Jerry's court al- lowed. There was nothing but suspicion to arouse the anger of the king, but his son, on hearing of hIS father's avowal to chastise him, fled up the river toj place called Illumnia, where he concealed himself' Jerry, however, found him out, and had him broughj; to Benin, where he and the accused wife were brought before the King. The hearing or palavar was veiT brief and one of the English traders, who was present describes the scene as most horrible. The Kin, ill great anger, spoke to the unfortunate boy and as follows :—" Him woman he be bad him boy he bad too him woman and him boy be killed." Th verdict was soon carried into effect, and in the °1?s« barbarous manner. The condemned couple were tie to stakes, and a batch of negroes, armed with commenced a murderous attack on the woman an boy. The skulls were smashed in, and almost every bone in their bodies pounded to pieces. An eye-WIt. ness says the scene was one of the most horrifying he ever beheld even in Africa. The King, however, wt>S "I not satisfied with the murder of his wife and son- Another wife, the mother of the boy who had been smashed to pieces, was at once seized and brougk before Jerry, who thus addreseed her :—" Him woniaIt be bad too him woman's boy bad him be bad too him woman's boy bad him wolXIan be killed too." No sooner said than done. She was 0 taken down to the beach, where a stake was drive11 through her, and the body pitched into the BenU1 river. All the European traders at Benin were horror- struck at the perpetration of the above barbarities.

THE SULTAN AND THE "GREAT WEST." The Paris correspondent of the Glohe writes "The Sultan, I hear, is a sadder and a wiser man than he was a month ago-sadder because what he has seen thus far of Western civilisation has convinced hI that Turkey is even more backward than he had thought, and his patriotic sentiments are wounded thereby wiser because he feels more strongly than he ever did the imperative necessity of making refoi-fia5- On the first point, indeed, I am assured that IS majesty is literally confounded at what he has WIt- nessed—splendid public works, gigantic railways, eX- cellent roads, the land everywhere cultivated like garden, and town on town resounding with the hum ot business and pleasure, and teeming with population1. And he knows well that when he crosses the Channel tc England he will see a spectacle in every respect equa-, in some superior, to that which he beholds here. Oh the great West he has exclaimed more thaO once sorrowfully; and then he has leant his headoB. his hand, and become apparently lost in thought. e even at times, I am assured, displays something like irritation at the grandeur of the civilisation of the Occident, and he does so because he feels it impossible to make Turkey, do what he will, equal it-the taslc manifestly requiring more years than any man caB hope to live. The Sultan's sadness has, I learn, made him lend a more willing ear than he otherwise would have done to Mustapha Pasha, who is the chief of the Reform party in Turkey. This prince was some time ago sent into exile for his meddling with polities, but since his Sovereign's arrival in France he has solicited and obtained a pardon. He strongly advises grea and important changes in the Turkish regime and IlOj ifl. only so but he is trying to make the Sultan understand that 'new measures require new men,' inasmuch as old Turks, however much they may see the necessity of reform, will always feel a certain reluctance to o111 the old paths."

WRECKING IN GREAT BRITAIN. Papers recently laid before Parliament show that the disgraceful practice still prevails of plundering vessels wrecked upon our coasts. Last summer Mr. Gray, of the Wreck Department of the Board of Trade, visited the Hebrides and after proceeding to the islands of South Uist and Barra he reports that the people look upon wreck as a com- mon right, and do not fail to appropriate what they can. He does not hesitate to say that "wrecking in Barra far exceeds anything reported of the Bahamas." From Ireland a report comes to the Board of Trade on the wreclc of the San Francisco in Clonakilty Bay, county Cork, early in the present year. The official report says :—"No sooner was the vessel high and dry than the plunder of the metal sheathing commenced. Crowds of people assembled for this purpose, and there does not appear to have been any cessation of the plunder from the moment that the vessel came oil the beach until the whole of the sheathing that could be got at (about 5 cwt.) was carried away." The other portions of the wreck were placed in security, and the Coastguard and constabulary did all they could to pre- vent the lawlessness that prevailed, but a county magistrate directed the withdrawal of the consta- bulary the deputy-receiver of wreck declined to goto the spot in consequence of bad roads and inclement weather. In England we had in November the wreck of the Elizabeth Backhaul, at New Brighton, within a few miles of Liverpool, when upwards of a hundred casks of rum were washed ashore, along some miles of beach, which, says the inspecting commander of the coast- guard, soon presented the appearance of a fair, men and women arriving from all directions with tools and appliances for breaking open the casks and carrying off the rum the necessity of staying to protect as much as possible of the cargo made it impossible to secure prisoners. Such is the insatiate love of spirits on the part of the labouring population," says a Customs' officer in his report, that they will drink when opportunity offers even if they know that death may follow the act," as it did in one instance upon this occasion. Lieutenant-General Sir E. Cust, who lives hard by, states that on the next morning the whole shore was still odoriferous of rum. The Board of Trade Inspectors report that the people were dis- posed at first to salve the property, but finding it unprotected, and they could carry it away with impunity, they used every description of utensil for doing so, doing what has unfortunately been customary from time immemorial—namely, conveying away for their own use the waifs of the sea, if unpro- tected, which they have ever considered to be fair prize to the first possessor." Another report issued by the Board of Trade relates to the wreck of the ship North on the Goodwin Sands last year. As soon as day broke Deal boats swarmed about the ship, and people took whatever they could find that w^s worth bringing away—sails and ropes, instruments, tools, clothes, copper. The inspector appointed by the Board of Trade to inquire into the matter reports that the articles which were taken away, and never reached the receiver of wreck, would sell for about 4001. This gentleman, Mr. Montagu Bere, states that some of the property was landed at Dover in the sight of Custom-house officers and har- bour police, and that the police superintendent at Deal did not render due assistance in the search after the property. The report on the plunder of the cargo of the Elizabeth Buckham states that if that case had been dealt with promptly, and before the people got a taste for plunder, 30 well-disciplined men, commanded by a superior officer of experience, could have protected the whole of the property and Sir E. Cust gives it as his judgment that the only efficient security against wrecking is by a system that shall remove temptation, and this he is convinced is not difficult to establish if any prompt and decisive action can be devised. He adds that as resident close to the shore he has had painful experience for half a century of the host of evils done to a district from the easy principles of dis- honesty engrafted on it by the wholesale thefts that vrecki: occasions, frequently leading to the most atrocious crimes.

THE HOUSE OF LORDS. A Member of the House of Lords, signing himself "Another Peer," thus writes to The Times;— As it is understood that a committee of the House of Lords is now sitting to consider the expediency of abolishing certain antiquated rules and usages, how- ever originally good, now positively detrimental to the action of the House in its legislative capacity, as well as to determine how far it may be desirable to revise or add to present regulations, it would be well that the attention of the public should be directed to those points under discussion on which, it is to be hoped, no e abatement will be admitted for however it may be affirmed, and with justice, that the legislative and committee work of the House of Lords is effectually performed, yet no excuse can be found for any longer maintaining regulations which obviously impede the transaction of business, or for deferring alterations re- quired to increase the efficiency of the House. The reforms to be insisted on are the following :— 1. The establishment of a quorum of fifty members at least. 2. The abolition of proxies. 3. The Election of a Speaker, or else the conferring on the Lord Chancellor such powers of control as would enable him to exercise the authority of a president of the House, as well as, what is equally essential, the proportional extension of the powers of Chairman of Committees. 4. The admission of the Bench of Judges to the right of full membership of the House as enjoyed by the bishops. 5. The admission to the House of the Scotch and Irish Peers to sit by their proper titles, and the consequent aboli- tion of the representative system, by which many good and useful peers are excluded and the best not always elected. 0. The obligation on members to obtain leave of absence from the duties of the House when such is required. With respect to the deficiencies and requirements here adverted to, it may be observed that the establish- ment of the limited quorum of three arose for the con- venience of the Law Lords. It enabled them to sit by themselves in case of appeal, but it would by no means be necessary that the legislative and appeal quorum should consist of the same numbers there were also the reasons which apply equally to the insti- tution of proxies-viz., the formerly limited number of peers, the difficulties and dangers in travelling the long distances to be performed in attendance at Par- liament. It is difficult to over-rate the importance of the points insisted on with reference to the discipline of the House, the more punctual attendance of its members, the en- forcement of points of order, and the greater en- couragement to members to express their opinions. The Judges at present have a right to sit in the House, but they seldom appear except on occasions of ceremony, unless specially summoned by the Chancellor or House to give their opinion on points of law. Their right freely to vote and speak would evidently be of immense advantage to a legislative Hcuse, and this change, while it would not interfere with the introduction to the peerage of eminent lawyers whom Government might desire to reward, would prevent the forced elevations at present resorted to. It would, moreover, dispose of the question of life peerages by obviating the necessity for that measure for the sitting ex-officio on a legal bench in the House, as in the case of the bishops, is an old constitutional custom, whereas the creation of life peerages would be a great innovation, detracting from the dignity of the peerage and threatening the independence of the House by the power it would confer on a Ministry at any time to swamp the House by a creation of party members. The continued exclusion of Scotch and Irish peers seems to be nothing but the remnant of the old Union jealousy, and their admission would by no means inva- lidate, as asserted, the Acts of Union. It would improve the House by the addition of valuable mem- bers, and would remove the temptation now existing for young Scotch and Irish peers to trim their political opinions with a view to the chances of their election —a practice, it is to be feared, as frequent as it is immoral. In conclusion, I would beg to refer your readers for further detail on this subject to the recent able and comprehensive speech of Sir Colman O'Loghlen (in the House of Commons), in which the evils of the present arrangements are so fully and forcibly exposed.