The Pontypridd Chronicle and Workman's News

THE FilENCH CRAZE FOR TITLES. M. Emile Moreau, one of the Deputies for the Department of the Xord, has laid on the table of the French Chamber a bill for a new tax, which he leels Sure will be popular, at least with the Kad ca Is. in the preamble to his bill he is careful to point out that titles of nobility were abolished £ ,ar tre°of the Constituent Assembly, dated 1/t.i June, 1790, and that, consequently, they have no legal existence in France. M. Moreau, says the Q/idard Paris correspondent, is well aware of the Weakness of Frenchmen, er en of Republicans for a Prefix to their names, so, with the laudable object of increasing the resources of the State he proposes to tax every French citizen who "out of iViea malte list* of a title of nobility." His ratlw'L f ° f °fdl'SC<n"T"e the use of titles, but treasure wf/i ^1 -1U interest of the public s" H US ° J-'C ln viow !)e would go X,to aittlionsc every Municipality to offer t-use of its name as a title to thehighest bidder i f'e names not oidy of towns and communes but w, 1 1 a iarms' and simple dwelling-houses 'uld thus, so to 6ay, be put up for auction' Lverv commune would thus have titles to sell' b^tM Moreau thinks those of Duke and Prince biould be reserved for chief towns of departments- ev Marquis and Count for chief towns of i.iomussenients; those of Viscount and Baron for cantons; and that of Chevalier fcr villages. Never- thev rnn"iX rPf7SOT b(;arin& tltJes to which the persons now bearing tItles to which tlxj consider they have a right, by what 1\1. Moreau styles Iv'nriv i SV t7 stor!cal tradition, would not be ocpnved of them so long as they should continue to ]>ay the stipulated tax. Tlie scale of taxes for t;1e use of titles is fixed by M. Moreau as follows- 101 the use of "De," 500f. per annum for the rj-iK.tiionofti'at partich-, l.OOOf. per annum; for Paron s nnnf °Va er' '000f'fperannum; for that of lonnn'f P(T aiinuin: for"that of Viscount, U.OOOf. per annum; for that of Count. 20,000f per annum; for that of Marquis, 30,000f. per annum 01 tiiat of Duke, 50,000f. per annum; for tliat of mice, 100,OOOf. per annum; for that of Duke or oAnl"n^i,CCOn,lmnu'd with the titie of Highness. f)f\() 1 r tor that of Prince,accompanied with the title of Highness,250,OOOf. per annum It is proposed by M Moreau to increase the tax bv 50 per cent. for all those who may permit their wives to, l'rtlc'Pat<' 111 the use of their title, and an audit,lonal 25 per cent, would be charged for each child bearing a title derived from that of his father, Widows bearing titles would have to pay the full annual tax. It is possible that this title'tax might prove a fruitful source of revenue if it were ever AotexI by the Chamber, but I think it doubtful whether the real nobility of France would contri- 7,11 e, ,?° y to it as the rich bourgeois K( publicans,who have already shewn themselves so greedy after decorations of all sorts, and go many of whom have assumed the particle "De," or the title of Baron or Count, without having the remotest righ#

fc* i^—————^ THE MASSACRE AT VITU. PUNISHING THE MURDERERS. ^"felegraphic news from Lamu and Kipini, the Times correspondent at Zanzibar, states that the Sultan of Vitu having positively rejected the terms offered by the British Consul-General, two I naval armed expeditions, under Captain Curzon- Howe and Commander M'Quhae, were sent by the Admiral to attack and destroy certain villages on the Vitu coast, distant about 14 miles, which were directly implicated in the murders of the Germans casualties Th° editions suffered no casualties The villages were feebly defended but were speedily evacuated and were then burned On September 25th the Admiral and the British Consul General left Lamu for Kipini, where the entire British fleet, numbering 10 vessels' anchored Vice-Admiral Sir E. Fremnntle advanced of V"?u with nearly 1,00^ fighting men at dawn on Sunday. His advanced posts under Commander Monto-omerie were attacked, and three bluejackets were wounded on Saturday night. The British Company has assisted the naval expedition with 200 Indian roops, under the command of Captain Eric Smith who accompanied the Admii It has also rendered Jllost valuable aid m providing porters, &c. reVovtIfPrlln/lT"r Publishes a detailed repoit from Consul-General Michahelles upon the massacre of the Kuentzel Expedition TlTJenor? pn the whole confirms the statements made some tin.e ago, but it appears now that Kuentzel by his provncatory attJtudp, Incensed the pnpnliltion of 11fTI' onp of tlit, only one who disputes this. He savs: "What T am only one who disputes this. He savs: "What T am r.nout to state is the wlvde truth, which I am wi'll- of* ^Sont^rila^^aT0! part ofC ?-tae an"' f'f'!is officia!s-" another 1 art of hi^) evidence, liowever, lie says that Kuentze had on one occasion lxen greatly exasper- hef ai?! « shouted out something on the square stand' ihaf hn 5 rPsid™c' bllt & not under! stand what, because thf« egressions wer. in v ? S.u!tan- on the other hand, a' -ses Kuentzel of havmg violated his authority by i. Tf he forr-t V'H pl'1nT11:ss,on ^r the clearing t the lore^t y.thoiu authorisation from the British Consul, Kuentzel exclaimed that the Sultan and Th°-V C°U,d not or restrain him. He was prepared to fight and th« Sultan had better be ready to do the same The people got very excited and wanted to s-r^t Kuentzel down, but the Sultan interfered and in formed him that lie would do well to leave the tow^ S"on after shots w(Ore heard, and wllen Omari ti e hultan s Minister, heard them he left his house S,TO-«» «'«»!K 17, repl.,ed' Thpyshoot us, his tven con rttthem- }Vh™ Kuentzel, with is se% en companions, armed with two rifles and three revolvers, left the iiouse and came to uie gua.a asked tli^ party to wait till he should receive permission from the Sultan to let them oa"s f (rato,I,nwcv,r.,ill ,i;(. soldmrs fired. Fou? mans were kil ed at once, and three more outside the town. Such, says the Daily Xews Berl n corres pondent is the account given by the Suite? He expressed Ins regret at the event, the respSiMtv "ed,C1oonly with KucnlSef wiS asked to allow tn.- bodies to be buried, the Su'tan diei4r'wm,ld notW0U,d so, but the sol- aieis would not permit it because it, was not usual course'the(s'S'lfS Th° h*d the Sultan. W t-? lf1 SuIta(n I1,35 0Vf rJ' reason to find an accep- tablc version of the affair and an excuse. But fT,aKr f':r l!lm, is that, according to the re- poi t Of the German c onsul-(;eneral,he had written to -rrToeppen, asking him to come to Vitu to adiust ns quarrels with Kuentzel. Added to tl i^f at Kuentzel is known to have, been of a very cholerS and aggressive nature, it seems tl.at he at anv rate m some measure, provoked his own fate and t iat of his companions. lL ana

MURDEROLS OUTRAGE ON A WIFE. SUICIDE OF THE HPSHAND. rhe quiet village of Hanworth, near Twicken- ham, was on Monday night the scene of a. shocking tragedy. A labourer named Edward Hedges, aged about 50, who for some time past has been unable to follow his einpioynient in consequence of illness, Jett his home in the afternoon, and upon retur weitlTrba5nm?r6 ?Hclock s;LyaP<>1y attacked his wiff witn a tia,nmer. -He mfiictpd three severe wounds on the woman's head, fracturing the skull I„ Vn exhausted condition, and witTi blood s'-re-u'iinJ rom her wounds Mrs. Hedges crawled to the'house of a neighbour, where she received every attention Srtlnt^' th(' attack "l10» his -ile Il iges tr'^f bedroom and seizing a razor, cut his Hneouir°;Vr5arrtn/"ar',d<,ath ,l>eing almost inrtan- tanfous. Mis. Iie(,ges lies at her neighbour's h-use in a precarious condition. Slip is a sober, indus- tn< us woman, and has a family of 10 chiluren It is said that Hedges was jealous of his wife.

WRECK ON THE GOODWINS. Between 9 and 10 o'clock oïTuesday morning two large boats put ashore on Dover Beach with the crew of the sailing vessel HazelL)ank, 1,660 tons gross which was wrecked early that morning on theCood- win Sands. The Hazelbank, which belongs to Glas- gow, was on her first voyage, laden with corn. The Dover Harbour tug proceeded to the Goodwins to render assistance There had been a mist in the 1 Channel during the night.

¡ AN UNGRATEFUL SCOUNDREL. At the London C'ouny Sessions, on Tuesday, Edward Williams surrendered to answer a charge of stealing a sewing machine, value £ 3, the property of Martha Cooper. The prosecut ix ei gaged the pri- soner to remove her goods, an 1 the next dav she mis ed the sewing machine. She spoke to the pri- soner about it, and lIe said he would try and get it back.—A woman named Gibbs saw the prison T pass out of the house with the machine. — When arrested, pn.oner told the constable that he took the machine down- 5tairs and left it on, the lauding, and that if the uKCC,"tnm,wo"ld not make any fuss he would get it back.—The jury returned a verdict of guilty — Mr. arry, in passing sentence, commented severely on the conduct of the prisoner, who had been treated with great kindness by the prosecu- trix, who had assisted him in many ways, in ex- change for which conduct he had acted like a I scoundrel. He Mould have to be imprisoned with hard labour for six months

THE ACTION AGAINST THE BISHOP OF LONDON. j In tl,.e Quecn's Mr. Justice Hawkins and Mr. Justice Stephen, j the arguments in the case of the Queen v. the Bishop of London were resumed, the question involved b( ir.g whether a mandamus should issue directing the Bishop of London to hear and entertain the matter of a representation made 1 to him with respect to the reredos of St. Paul's Cathedral. On the one Itand it was said that, the representation was practically identical with a pre- vious one in regard to which similar proceedings had been taken in the Queen's Bench Division and the Court of Appeal, the latter court deciding in labour of the Bishop, and their decision being-under appeal to the House of Lords; and further, that the Bishop had exercised his discretion in declining- to I allow the representation to go forward after con- sidering the whole of the circumstances of the case as required by the Public Worship Regulation Act On the other side it was contended that this was a perfectly distinct representation by different pro- moters, lnd differed essentially from the former one I inasmuch as it was now alleged that the figures of the Saviour and the Virgin IMarv had actuallv loH I. to unauthorised and superstitious acts of devotion. "The Attorney-General, Sir W. Phillimore, Q.C. Mr. Jeune, Q.C., and Mr. Lewis Coward, appeared 011 behalf of the Bishop and the Dean and Chapter to shew cause against the rule, which vas supported oy Mr. Moulton, Q.C., and Air. Danckwertz. Mr. Moulton continued his argument, and said that the Bishop, by alleging that, this case was identical with the previous one, shewed that he had not con- Sioered the cir.-umstancesof this case. The question here raised was not before the House of Lords, the qi:"st:oh there being whether there should bo an lfi'jiury, and whether the Bishop was justified in preventing- it. If the decision were in their favour tiie only result would be the inquiry would go on ana it they failed in it this representation might succeed. Jf they could prove that these images were the objects of actual idolatry, then, apart from tne other question raised previously, thev would be illegal.—-Mr. Jeune said the question at issue in the two cases was substantiallY the same, v;7 whether a decoration forbidden by iaw had been introduced into the Cathedral.-Their lordships reserved judg- 111e11t. •" 0

HABITS OF SPEAKERS. Oliver Wendell Holmes, writing in the current number of the Atlantic Monthly, says: There is a very old and familiar story, accompanied by a feeble jest, which most readers may probably enough have met with in Joe Miller or elsewhere. It is that of a lawyer who could never make an argument without having a piece of thread to work upon with his fingers while he was Jleading. Some one stole it from him one day, and he could not get Oil at all with his speocii-lie had lost the thread of his dis- course, as the story had it. Now this is ,vh:1t. T myseit once saw. It was at a meeting where cer- tain grave matters were debated in an assembly of professional men. A speaker, whom I never heard before or since, got up and made a long-and forcible argument. I do not th*k he was a lawjT^ but he spoke as if lie had been trained to talk to juries. H(. neld a long string in one hand, which he drew through the other hand incessantly as he spoke iusT as a shoemaker performs the motion of waxin-/ thread He appeared to be dependent on tins n'o- The Physiological significance of the fact I suppose to be that the How of what we ca 1the nervous current fr0.« the thinking centre to the organs of speech was rendered freer and easier by tho establishment 0f a-simultaneous collateral ner- vous current to the sot of musc] cr,ncern,d i^ e act ion I ha y,; c1rscribccl, I do not use a to HI ffv h'at Ca" }M' U'mt('n continuously^ There' bce» .lawyers w«i0 could think out their w'holS acumen, in Connected order without a single note. Tnere are authors-and I think there are many- V- tl,na;n CT1,0s'? and (i,lish off a poem or a story ^.lthout writing a word of it until, when the proper time comes, they copy what they carry in their hea.is I have been to* that Sir Edwin Arnold Jiought out Lis beautiful Light of Asia in this \a y

NEWS FROM RUSSIA. The experiment lately made in transferring con- vict from Si Deri a to the prisons of European Russia ha\ing proved a failuie, the Prisons' Department says the standard, St. Petersburg correspondent has determined to gradually close the prisons at present exiting in the Central Governments, and to de- spatcJi the-prisoners to Sakhalin and other distant penal settlements. In accordance with this 1 Ian niSon 1° Mri GaJkin yrasskv, the convict pnson ai Simbirsk has already be; 11 closed. npi.r,a,rl;al!,c case of appoal to tJ:c Session of the al authorities <Zemskie Xatehalniki ), shew- the hi^i?n inf°f ^cent judicial reform, whereby t.iL jus,ices of tne peace were abolished, has iust bt-en decided. The peasant Tribunal had sen enced a fellow peasant w)io had been sent by et^e-' e a'b'irch 'riTr7 the P0''ce—to 20 blows^-ith .k. r,5.,(ourt ot Appeal, whilst admitting H.A 01 l1'1' pnnisliment, as being returned bv etaj.e was no offence, declined to inteHere, a" \5 consideiTd desirable that the peasant court 'hould punish not only breaches of the law, but act! Ee- tokenniff gn e^l life, and also all lack of reverence for moraht;, the family, and paternal authority. I'logginjr, w^iei; i,as n]wavs been freely applied Sovaf •1UStlC'^S 1,as Iimv thfap- whh the ;^ci-"lSoh" et ° f Cl •haS b0('n estab] of the nob -n J<y FonJ,rmiriS the authority the exception of i f /rmF+kie^atchalniki are, with e except.on ot a lew retired military martinpfs !v2l !5/01!"S lnen.fr(,fli from school and college' without any experience of country life, administfa- fulfi'l duMU^'Cla ,r-stlt,;ti.ons- They are expected to iuJfie nf fin°re cxter,ii,Je than those of English Justices OI the peace, and are armed with -danger- ous!} lull powers- The mot d'ordre is to be strict and several have been removed for leniency and popular tendencies. Accordingly, flogging is applied for the smallest offences against public order, even rl": ;vln" of a concertina. In their capacitv 01 revisers of the acts of the village 'esUces uS vigour!' "'MH'Ct,d to SUpport tllose wil° shew' most

I OUTRAGES IN LONDON. I Itis c.iai (l.maiks the IJailp Chronicle) that some drastic measures will soon have to be taken to put down the ruffianism which has been rampant tcr sum time in the Xorth-east of London, and which has apparently gathered strength from the sentence in the case of Hargan. The Chronicle has leceived from a trustworthy correspondent tht' O',owing account of an outrage at Dalston: Between 10.o0 ami u 011 Sunday night a desperate ass-ult was perpetrated upon a respectable married ladv as she as as making her way along the Fnruct U to Dalston Junction, to which ).lac! sl,r '-f 'ld eeeoin.g to take the train to her home ill HomertoT Soe laid just seen a young ladv 1 1 j been s, ending the day at her RSe "fhdv t' !ad door in I'arkliolme-road, Dalston "4-1 turning the corner and advancing i w JV l!pon jk??- ot u.( UUA. i.enig a tall person. nrH „i.„ Ty 1 but' upon cc'iino- to 1( '"en; ,('r(,(1 n.jthing more until, length on fill I,artlally, she found herself full li'iec pavcnu,,lt- lhr pocket had been fovcri'nn in pontn,ning close upon half a had di in.. tc' £ etll<'r with her assailants, torn m<l 1 • i ?r < ss anc? mantle wjcre greatly l)ci n' 11 P thickly covered in mud, as if sne liad 1 i =, d or/lra.^l'd along some distance. Dazed i 1 enn £ terribly, the lady managed to reach her home at Homerton, a distance of little over J c, about, 3 o clock on Monday morning, where upon recounting the circumstances to her familv' she was put to bed, and is likely to remain there for ?h 1 come- The matter is in the hands of the authorities at Dalston-lane, and the nolicp win no doubt make a searching investigation, and it >« neJlop t the miscreants, whoever th*v will b« speedily caught.