The Brecon County Times Neath Gazette and General Advertiser for the Counties of Brecon Carmarthen Radnor Monmouth Glamorgan Cardigan Montgomery Hereford

DEATH OF VICTOR COUSIN France has lost Victor Cousin, the eminent meta- physical philosopher. He was son of a watchmaker in Paris, and was born Nov. 28, 1792. He was for some time a tutor at the Ecole Normale, where he was subse- quently a professor of philosophy. In 1812 he published a translation of Plato in French, and in 1815 was ap- pointed by Royer Collard to deliver lectures on the history of philosophy in the Faculty des Lettres of the University. On the return of Napoleon from Elba he enrolled himself in the Royalist Volunteers, but broke with the Bourbons, and bad to discontinue his lectures. He then applied himself to philosophical researches, and edited the unpublished works of Proclus, and a complete edition of Descartes, in nine volumes. He was tutor at this time also to the son of the Duke de Montebello, and travelled with him in Germany, where some free remarks of his caused him to be arrested in Dresden and carried to Berlin. His imprisonment was short, however, and in 1828 he was allowed to resume his lectures in Paris. As soon as Guizot became minister, Victor Cousin, who was his great friend, was appointed inspector-general of education, councillor of state, member of the Royal Council of Public Instruction, titular professor in the Sorbonne (on the retirement of Royer Collard), member of the French Academy and of the Acadcmy of the Moral and Political Sciences, director of the Normal School, and a peer of France. Under Thiers, Cousin was for six months Minister of Public Instruction. As a philosophical teacher, Cousin was an idealist and pla- tonist, then a follower of Kant and the critical school, then a follower of successively Proclus, the Scotch school, of Hegel and of Schelling. His thief works are P! "Philosophical Fragments" (1829), "A Course of Moral Philosophy" (six vols., 1815-20), including the "History of Modern Philosophy," "The Sources of Ideas," and the Sensational, the Scotch, and the Critical schools also 11 Studies of French Ladies and Society in the 17th Century." He translated Tenneman's abridged "History of Philosophy," and edited the complete works of Abelard.

A IPO.NIANCT-Abotit 50 years back a married couple in Paris adopted a male child that had been found in the streets, although having a son of their own. The two children were brought up together and received the same education the foundling went into business and made a large fortune, while his benefactors met with reverses and died, leaving their son, a cripple, unpro- vided for. The adopted .son then devoted himself entirely to his companion m infancy, refusing to marry in order not to be forced to quit him, and has now just died, leaving him a fortune of nearly a million. The Queen Marie Antoinette made a present, in 1781, to the Marquise de Caumont, governess of the children of the Comte d'Artois. This offering was a charming carnet measuring 103 millimetres in length and 81 In breadth. The covets are embellished with two miniatures—one being the portrait of the queen, the other containing the likenesses of the Countess of Artoiss her two children, and the Conntess of Provence. Thi, little chef-d'oeuvre was sold on Thursday last at the Hotel des Commissaires Priscurs. It was priced at five thousand francs, and was knocked down at nine thou- sand ( £ 360), to M. de Toncin, who, it is reported, has bought it for the collection of an illustrious per- sonage." THE LAST HORROR IN SCIENCE..—The Veteri- narian gives the following account of vivisection as practised in Franco, almost too horrible to be published, yet so horrible that the practice requires to be publicly denounced In a building or shed open to the air on one side lay six or seven living horses, fixed by every possible mechanical contrivance by the head and feet to pillars to prevent their struggling, and upon each horse were six or seven pupils employed in performing different surgical operations. The sight was truly horrible. The operations had begun early in the forenoon; it was nearly 3 o'clock when we entered the place, so that the poor wretches, as may be supposed, had ceased being able to make any violent struggles. But the deep heav- ing of the still panting chest, and the horrible look of the eyes, when such were remaining in the head, while the head was lashed to a pillar, were harrowing beyond endurance. The students had begun their day's work in the least vital parts of the animal; the trunks were there, but they had lost their tails, cars, and hoofs, and the operators were now engaged performing the more important operations, as tying up arteries, trephining the cranium, cutting down the more sensitive parts, on pur- pose, we were told, that they might see the retraction of certain muscles by pinching and irritating the various nerves. One animal had one side of his head completely dissected, and the students were engaged in laying open and cauterizing the hock of the same side when we entered." It is reported in Paris that Lord Lyons will succeed Earl Cowley as British Ambassador at the Court of the Tuileries. A WILL REVERSED.—The Master of the Rolls this week gave judgment in a very interesting will case. A wealthy lady of Foxcote, near Dudley, named Miss Pargeter, who died about a year ago, was found to have left a will in which, after making large devises and bequests to friends and re- latives, she left also the Foxcot estate and the residuary estate, which latter is alone valued at £ 160,000, to the medical attendant, Mr. Badley, and his son, for the pur- pose, it is alleged, of secret charitable trusts, for the benefit of Socinian congregations. The Master decided that by virtue of the law of Mortmain those secret trusts were illegal. Messrs. Badley are, therefore, trustees not for the charities, but for the next of kin and heirs- at-law.

"AS THE FRENCH DQ." 1 The Army and Navy Gazette has thè ibflowing anecdote, the "newspaper correspondent" mentioned being, we may assume, Dr. W. H. Russell At the end of the Crimean war a newspaper correspondent who had taken some part in causing a general, and not altogether unfounded, distrust in the public mind at home respecting the system' of our army, was invited by Lord Palmerston to talk over the events of the late campaign. He frankly told his lordship, who of all men living knew most, and felt most deeply the facts of importance which concerned the British Army, all that he had witnessed or could decide upon of its short- comings. Well, now,' said my lord, as you have said all this, what do you propose?' It was a difficult question to answer, but the correspondent pointed out several conditions susceptible of change, if not im- provem ent and, in the course of his reply, had occasion to say, or did say two or three times, as the French do.' At last Lord Palmerston exclaimed, Yes, as the French do! But don't you know we can't do as the French do ? The English Army is the Army of Eng- land, and it is just as much a peculiar growth as the English Constitution. We can't take anything because it is good unlefs it is English too-Cadit qucestio. The Neapolitan journals announce that the great I Cosenza case" will soon come before the courts. This was a Bourbonist conspiracy discovered in 1863 Seven hundred persons were arrested, 57 of whom are now about to be tried. They have already been three years in prison. ly

CURIOUS MANAGEMENT OF A FUND. Among things not generally known one may safely reckon the use and condition of that curious institution, the Sheriffs' Fund. Like a good many other things in that venerable stronghold "the City," it now turns out that its citizen guardians have by no means been ex- hausting themselves with excessive application to the duties which they have undertaken in its regard. The institution itself is characteristic of the peculiar ideas of the benevolent people of the day-some sixty years ago —when it originated, and when imprisonment for debt, a barbarous treatment of prisoners, and a faulty condition of police arrangements, were all vigorously flourishing under our old penal code. Its object was to give relief to the families of persons in prison, to supply tools and materials for work to imprisoned debtors and criminals, and generally to put money in the hands of the sheriffs of London and Middlesex for the relief of the distress of which they became officially cognizant. It amounts now to L12,600 in stocks of various kinds, invested in the names of various trustees, together with an annual pay- ment of SIOO, called the Stafford Fund Annuity. Two months ago, when Mr. Waterlow, now one of the sheriffs, and well known as a practical, energetic, and benevolent man, came into office, he found out that the affairs of the fund were altogether in a mess. The governors had troubled their heads uncommonly little about the matter, and trusted all the account-keeping to Mr. Davis, the late chaplain of Newgate, a very worthy man, but whose notions of book-keeping were of the most eminently ecclesiastical kind. This fact was stated at the recent meeting of the governors by a former sheriff, who confessed that he knew the accounts were all in confusion, though he did nothing whatever towards getting them set straight. Alderman Sidney then com- plained that, though one of the trustees, he had for some years been never even summoned to their meetings upon which the obvious remark occurs that it was Alderman Sydney's duty to take care that he was sum- moned, and, being summoned, to have attended. Then another City magnate, Alderman Abbiss, the treasurer, complained that they never could for a long time get a statement of the accounts from Mr. Davis, on which the equally obvious remark occurs, that it was the duty of Alderman Abbiss to have insisted upon the production of clearly drawn up accounts. Now, it seems, they have placed poor Mr. Davis's confused papers in the hands. of a competent man, and it turns out, when all the threads are unravelled, that there has been nothing wrong done so far as honesty is concerned. Neverthe- less, so far as the governors, the trustees, and the treasurer are concerned, it is quite plain that if Mr. Davis had been a rogue, as well as a bad hand at ac- counts, he would have had it all his own way.

AN ARMENIAN COLLEGE.—A school founded some years ago at Theodosia. in the Crimea, by a rich Armenian merchant, has just passed into the hands of the Russian Government, who have founded thirty fellowships for young Armenians belonging to Turkey. Out of these 30 fellowships six are appro- priatcd to Armenian families of Constantinople, and the 24 others to the interior of the empire. The six scholars chosen in Constantinople have already left for Theodosia. A very significant observation with respect to the position of Prussia is attributed in political circles in Berlin to King William In order to consolidate the Northern Confederation, Prussia requires a years tran- quillity. It is for this reason I appreciate in the highest degree the pacific inclinations expressed in the words uttered by the Emperor on New Year's -day." THE NEW BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.—The Rev. Robert Milman M.A., who has been nominated to the bishopric of Calcutta, rendered vacant by the untimely death of the Right Rev. Dr. G. L. Cotton, is a son of Sir William George Milman, second baronet by the daughter of Mr. Robert Alderson, and is a nephew of the Very Rev. H. H. Milman, D.D., dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, where he took his B.A. degree in 1838. In the follow- ing year he was admitted into holy orders by the Bishop of Peterborough. Having served some minor offices in the church, he was in 1840 nominated by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster (his father being at that time one of the canons) to the vicarage of Chaddleworth, Berkshire, and this benefice he held until 1851, when he was presented by his father, who had then become Dean of St. Paul's, to the vicarage of Lamborne, Berkshire. This living he held until 1862, when he was nominated by the Bishop of Oxford to the vicarage of Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire, of which parish he is at present the incumbent. He is the author of several works. He will probably be consecratedwith the Bishops of Grafton and Victoria (Hong Kong), in Canterbury Ca- thedral, on Saturday, the 2nd of February. PARIS ARD LONDON OMNIBUSES.—The Paris Omni- bus Company having found it necessary, in order to increase their receipts, per omnibus, in pro- portion to their increased expenditure, recently de- termined on constructing omnibuses to carry 26 pas- sengers, i.e., two more than hitherto but in afford- ing the necessary accommodation they found the weight of the omnibus so much increased as to exceed the powers of the horses, and so create a serious difference in the wear and tear of the stock. In this difficulty they applied to the London General Omnibus Company, whose omni- buses, constructed to carry 26 passengers, besides the driver and conductor, weigh only 23 cwt. A visit has accordingly been made to the works of the latter com- pany by one of the directors and the manager of the coach factory of the Paris company, which has resulted in the purchase and shipment to Paris of a London omnibus, constructed, and complete in every particular, for the London streets, at the coach factory of the London General Omnibus Company, to serve as a model. NAVAL ENGINEERS.—The result of the qunrtaly examination of naval engineers, held by Dr. Woolley, of the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth Dockyard, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, wts promulgated to-day. The id- lowing are the results William Hall, chief engineer, first-class certificate. The following obtained second- class certificates J. Small, assistant chief engineer; T. Jeans, J. Jessop, J. A. Wilson, C. Deans, J. M. Page, and W. Holloway, engineers; and C. W. Nibbs, A. Shawyer, and J. C. Williams, first assistant engineers, THE ASHTON STRIKE.—The strike of the colliers in the Ashton-under-Lyne district has been settled. A. a meeting of the coalowners held on Thursday, it wat resolved to give the miner the advance asked of 2d. in the shilling on all work. Perhaps no resolution has given more satisfaction in the district for many years, as there was never such a scarcity of coal known. The miners resumed work.

THE LAW OF LIBEL. During the past year we (Printers Register) devoted a good many columns to the important subject of the Law, as it affects printers and the press in England. These articles were specially written for the Register by a barrister of long standing and experience, and may be confidently relied upon as a sound exposition of the law upon the subject. We have also, from time to time, published articles upon the Law of Libel, in which the same gentleman, and others equally well qualified, have explained to our readers what the Law of Libel is, and what it is conceived it should be, bearing in mind both the interests of the press and of the public. In our last number we showed concisely, but clearly, our view of the late case of Hunter v. Sharpe; and we could be con- tent to let the matter rest, so far as this journal is con- cerned, were it not that the manner in which that case is still disputed by the press, shows that it is regarded as one of the greatest importance to our fraternity. We, therefore, once more allude to this case, and particularly to the summing up of Lord Chief Justice Cockbum be- cause, if the latter is to be taken as a correct exposition of it, the Law of Libel will, hereafter, stand upon a very different footing to what it has ever done in this country. Our readers are, of course, all aware that the action was brought against the publisher of The Pall Mall Gazette, by Mr. Hunter, who is a M.D.' of New York, but not entitled to style himself M.D. as a prac- titioner in England. Dr. Hunter, who was born in England, but brought up in America, after practising for some time in Canada and New York, came to Lon- don; published a book, and advertised his book and himself as teaching a new method of curing consump- tion. After some time, he was accused by a female patient of a felonious assault, for ;which he was tried at the Central Criminal Court, and acquitted but whilst the charge was pending over him, there appeared in The Pall Mall Gazette, an article entitled Imposters and their Dupes," in which Mr. Hunter was classed, by name with other scoundrels," whose quackeries The Pall Mall Gazette thought fit to expos-e. For this article Mr. Hunter brought his action against the pub- lisher. He justified the libel, and in summing up the case, at the end of a long trial, Chief Justice Cockburn thus addressed the jury on the plea of justiifcation Under this second head of defence, the defendant says-This was a matter of public concern. The panintiff put forward in these advertisements, his system, his theory, and communicated to a certain extent, the remedies by which he proposed to cure this malady. He invited persons to come to him for the purpose of being treated and cured by him. I could see from his account of the theory on which his treatment was based, and from his acconnt of the treatment that he proposed to use, that the whole was a mere idle delusion, and looking at the mode in which his work was published, looking at the secrecy in which his discovery was shrouded, lookiiig6io the mode which he adopted to bring himself into notoriety-a mode which was utterly at variance with the received habits of the profession to which he professes to belong—I was warranted in drawing the inference that he was a mere pretender and not only a pretender, but a quack who intended to impose on mankind, as quacks do. I was warranted in drawing this inference, and I denounced him accordingly. It may be that I am wrong. It may be that now the matter has been fully investigated, and that the plaintiff has had an opportu- nity of being heard and vindicating this theory which he has put forward, of showing that his practice has not been wholly unsuccessful, that a jury may think I have gone too far; but the question is not thereby concluded, if it should appear under all the circumstances of the case, that bringing to the discharge of my duty as a public writer, caution and moderation in criticising what I thought to be a mischievous and noxious pretence, I have exercised a reasonable and careful judgment, I have not been over hasty and precipitate, inferring sini- ster design and wicked motives against the person whom I have assailed. If I have brought to the discharge of my duty only a honest desire to do good, and benefit in the department to which I belong, in that case, if a jury should be of that opinion, I am entitled to their verdict. And gentlemen I endorse that proposition." Now if the law so laid down be correct, it will, for good or for evil, almost revolutionize the Law of Libel in this country, and therefore we regret that the result of the trial will probably prevent the soundness or un- soundness of the Chief Justice's charge to the jury from coming under the consideration of the Court in Banco, and, if needful, under that of the Court. of Appeal in the Exchequer Chamber. Hitherto it has been au axiom of the law in many cases of libel, that "the greater the truth the greater the libel," and until recently it was no defence whatever to an action for libel to plead that it was not published bona fide. Lat- terly, indeed, the law has been so modified that a pub- lisher has been allowed to plead that the libel complained of was published inadvertently and without malice, and that as soon as it was discovered to be a libel he pub- lished an apology for it, and thereupon to pay a sum of money into Court in satisfaction of damages, which the plaintiff might take out if he liked, or take the risk of the opinion of a jury whether he was not entitled to greater damages. This is a great improvement on the old law, for it saves publishers the very heavy expenses of a trial, even though only resulting in small damages, for the inadvertent publication of, it might be, a trivial libel. But hitherto no one has doubted that if any one did publish a libel of another, he was responsible for it, though he might have published it bona fide, and with the most patriotic and benevolent motives. Chief Justice Cockburn seems to be of a different opinion but found ing our opinion upon legal principles, as laid down by a long succession of eminent Judges, we do not hesitate to say that we doubt very much if his Lordship's ruling will be sustained by the Judges generally. His Lordship seems to assume a duty," on the part of public writers, which, whatever may be the case as respects morality, we do not hesitate to say has no existence as matter of law in this country. Those who issue newspapers or any other publications in England are mere volunteers, having no more duty to educate, enlighten, or caution their fellow countrymen than the rest of the community. As a general rule their publication is a mere commercial speculation, in which they advocate this, that, and the other matter, or principle, chiefly for their own profit, though it may also be that they honestly desire to pro- mote the public good as well as their own interests. But if they set themselves up as censors of men and morals they must do so at their peril; for if in doing it they injure or defame anybody, we think it is but justice and common sense, as it has hitherto been held to be law, that they must make compensation for it: Public writers are as liable to be mistaken, and indeed, are as frequently mistaken as other men, and it would be a baneful doc- trine for the public if a plea of having libelled another bona fide --by which libel it might be the subject of it was ruined—should exempt a public writer from the obliga- tion which attrches to every man that he shall take heed what he says or does to the prejudice of another- As we said, therefore, in a former article, we think the jury in the case of Hunter v. Sharpe were quite right, and that they took a more correct view of the matter than the Lord Chief Justice. If they had adopted his Lord- ship's view, Mr. Hunter would have had to pay the heavy costs incurred by the person who had libelled him, and had failed to prove that the libel was justified. On the other hand, if they had given Mr. Hunter sub- stantial damages, they would have given them to a person whose professional conduct had gone far to justify severe animadversion, though not to the extent cast upon him by the Pall Mall Gazette; and would have thereby severely punished a writer who, although he had fallen into error, had (lone so without malice, and while volunteering to render the public a great service. By returning a verdict for the plaintiff with a farthing damages, it seems to us that the jury arrived at the sound result that each party bad been in the wrong, and that consequently neither was entitled to triumph over the other. We are, of course, fully sensible that in these remarks we are not taking a view so favourable to the liberty, or rather the license of the Press, as may be entertained by many of the craft, but we cannot help that: the only question with us is, Is it the right one? We have always advocated the just rights of the Press-as for instance, that it shall not be made responsible for the publication of honest reports of what is said at public meetings—and we shall con- tinue to do so; but it is not for the interests of the Press any more than for the public (for the two interests are identical). that under any circumstances, the Press should be licensed to publish libels with im- punity.

THE SCOT ABROAD.—There were eighteen Mac- donalds, of whom eight were Donalds Macdonalds, upon the petit jury in attendance at the Quarter Sessions at Cornwall, Canada, the other day. BREECHLOADERS.—Rifles converted to breechloaders on the Snider system are about to be issued to the troops at Aldershot. Instructions have been issued to the infantry regiments in camp to send requisitions to the Military Store Department for the number of rifles they require. MAILS FOR NEW ZEALAND.—At the request of the Post-office of New Zealand, the correspondence for all parts of that colony, without distinction, will, in future, be forwarded in the mail despatched from this country on the 2nd of each month, by the route of Panama, un- less specially directed to be sent by another route. POSSAL IMPROVEMENTS.—The Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce have resolved to memorialisethe Postmaster- General for a reduction of the scale of charges in money- orders, in order to afford greater facilities for the trans- mission of small sums through the post-office, and to discourage the sending of coins, bank-notes, and postage stamps in letters. It was resolved to petition Parlia- ment and memorialise Government, praying that ar- rangements should be made for the transmission of tele- grams through the post-office at low, uniform rates, and that the system include wii pi&ces where there are any money-order office.

HOSPITAL CARRIAGES. In the early part of last year the letters of Sir Mac- donald Stephenson and Dr. Horace Jeaffreson in the Times performed a good service in directing attention to the great risk to which the public were being daily exposed through the frequency with which street cabs were used to convey cases of fever and smallpox to the hospitals especially devoted to those diseases, as well as to those of the general hospitals which admit a certain proportion of typhus and other infectious cases into their wards. Since that time the committee of the Hospital Carriage Fund, to which these gentlemen be- long, haye been actively engaged in carrying out the objects of their association, and have applied in the following manner the 1850 which formed the pecuniary response on the part of the public to the appeal made to them in the letters mentioned above. In all, up to the present time, six ambulances have been built, and are already at the disposal of the public, or will very shortly be so. Their exterior is very sightly,"and-has the appearance of an ordinary long-bodied carriage. The whole of the back is made to open on a hinge, so as to admit of a patient being easily put in while lying on a stretcher, the framework of which is made to run smoothly on rollers fixed on one side of the interior, The door opposite the side occupied by the patient is made to open, so that one attendant or more may enter and use the seats on that side of the carriage. The interior of the ambulauce is coated with hard paint, which admits of being washed, as also do the vulcanized indiarubber air mattress and cushion which are placed on the stretcher. In this way the comfort of the patient is provided for, without there being any lining or cloth- work to retain the contagion. The cost of each ambu- lance, complete with stretcher, mattress, and cushions, has been icloo. Two of them are placed by permission of the Committee of the London Fever Hospital at a station in the grounds of that hospital, and can be used —one for small-pox, and the other for fever cases- by any person applying there for them, by telegram or otherwise, who is willing to pay the necessary horse hire. So as to place the other four hospital carriages where the sick could most readily avail themselves of them, the committees of five of the mainly unendowed hospitals were com- municated with, and a donation of an ambulance was offered to them, if they would provide oil their grounds a coach-house for it, and place it at the disposal of those patients suffering from fever or smallpox who might re- quire removal to or from the wards of the hospitals in question. It is satisfactory to know that in four out of the five instances the offers were promptly accepted, and co-operation in carrying out the objects of the com- mittee of the Hospital Carriages Fund was cordially promised by the committees of the London, St. George's, St. Mary's, and the Middlesex Hospitals, which now have a well-constructed fever-ambulance to complete the efficiency of their organisation. It is much to be regretted that the very hospital which of all others, having regard to the public safety, should have accepted the offer 0 of an ambulance and favoured its use has refused to do so: Every possible pressure was brought to bear on the authorities of the Small- pox Hospital to induce them to lessen the danger to which the public are daily exposed through the use of cabs in conveying patients in every shape of smallpox to and from their hospital at High- gate. The offer of an ambulance was refused, on the ground of the expense incidental to its acceptance. To obviate this objection the committee of the Hospital Carriage Fund renewed the offer, and undertook to build a coach-house at the Smallpox Hospital, to be the property of that institution, and to pay all the expenses of horse-hire in connexion with the working of the carriage. All was in vain. Co-operation was peremp- torily refused by the committee of the Smallpox Hos- pital, with the statement that they had nothing to do with the way in which patients came to their hospital; they were only bound to treat them when they were ad- mitted. This is the position assumed by the governors of an hospital which bases its claims to public support on the ground of its service in preventing as well as treating smallpox. It would be difficult to believe the facts above stated did not the correspondence on the subject now before us place them unfortunately beyond a doubt. We heartily hope that the committee of the Hospital Carriage Fund will continue their exertions, so that before long every hospital in London may have its own ambulance, and the use of street cabs as pest- vehicles may be as practically unnecessary as it is now illegal. Surely the wealthy hospitals of Guy's, St. Bartholomew's, and St. Thomas's will take the lead in this matter, and not wait for an ambulance to be bestowed upon them as a doliatioii.-Britisk Medical J ournal.

Their Royal Highnesses Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein will not take up their residence 11 at Frogmore House till after March. Her Royal Iligh- ness's accouchement will, it is expected, take place at Windsor Castle. The markets held in various parts of the country have been but scantily supplied with the different descriptions of produce nevertheless, the demand generally has been without activity, although in all business concluded full rates have been obtained. At Mark-lane, on Wednes- day, the. general features of the trade were much the same as on Monday. In no description of produce did the transactions assume important dimensions yet, as regards prices, the trade was decidedly firm. The show of English wheat was only moderate. Both red and white parcels were difficult to sell. Factors showed no inclination to press sales, and late rates were well main- tained. There was a fair supply of foreign wheat on the stands, the demand for which was in a sluggish state. All fine parcels, however, were disposed of at full currencies, and in the value of other sorts no change took place. Floating cargoes of grain were in limited request, at late rates. The flour trade was very firm, and Monday's advance was realised. The inquiry for barley ruled quiet, at late rates. Malt, the supply of which was seasonably extensive, met with but little attention, yet extreme quotations were obtained. In oats very little was doing, and heated parcels were easier in value. Beans were dull, and the trade for peas was at a standstill. Prices were unaltered. On the whole, the seed market presented a steady appearance, at the rates previously current. Cakes were firm in price, but not sought after. THE RAILWAY COLLISION AT GuILDFOltD.-The Bishop of Winchester and one of his sons were passen- gers by the South-Western train. His lordship did not appear in the least alarmed or the worse for his shaking, and he and his son joined the next train for London. THE CHILD POISONING CASES IN NORFOLK.—The adjourned inquest on the body of Jemima Grief, one of the children supposed to have been poisoned, at Shern- bourne, and sister to one of the deceased children, foi whose murder Susan Grief was last week committed to take her trial, was held at the Bull, at Shernbourne. It will be remembered that the body of this child, who died about seven years ago, was exhumed by order of the coroner, Mr. C. Wright, and having been analysed by Mr. Sutton, of Norwich, no poison has been dis- covered, and the proceedings terminated with a verdict of died from natural causes. THE LIVERPOOL COTTON BROKERS AND THE RULE OB PAYMENT.—For some time past there has been much discussion with reference to the present manner of pay- ments for cotton, and a resolution passed at the meeting of the Liverpool Cotton Broker's Association, was to the effectThat it be a recommendation to the various associations with whom we have been in communication on the subject of payments of cotton, that on and afte1- the first day of March next the terms of payment shall be—' Payments in cash within ten days, less If per cent. discount; and that interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum be charged or allowed when the payment is made before or after the due date of invoice.' It is fully be- lieved that although the Broker's Association have com- plied with the expressed feeling of the spinners the general opinion is against the resolution which has been so suddenly carried.

MISCELLANEOUS. MAKE OUR SKATING GROUNDS SAFE.—The appal- ling accident in the Regent's Park should satisfy Lord John Manners of the pressing need of a further reform in the Parks. The perils to which so many persons fell victims, and from which so many more miraculously escaped, are wholly gratuitous since nothing prevents our levelling the bottoms of all these ornamental waters, making them, like the ponds in St. James's Park and Battersea Park, of a uniform depth of three feet. Why tempt misfortune ? Three feet of water is found to be sufficient for beauty, for boating, for skating, for rearing water-fowl; in fact, for every purpose to which we put our ornamental lakes. In the Serpentine, the depth is very irregular, and in case of such a sudden breakage as that which occurred in Regent's Park on Tuesday afternoon, the loss of life might be terrific. Even in the higher Park, the depth of water is said to be, in some places, fifteen feet. Had the recent accident occurred in the Serpentine, we should have heard ere now of the niggardlyness that denied the comparatively "ar small sum of zEI1,000 for rendering that piece of water both clean and safe for all purposes, and yet expended more than half as much in the erection of pseudo orna- mental fountains, and futile filtering experiments at one end of it. Such a state of things is altogether unne- cessary, and we call upon Lord John Manners or Parliament to undertake its immediate reformation. PAROCHIAL WORK.—The Rev. C. J. Vaughan, D.D., Vicar of Doncaster and Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen has just completed a year's parochial work at Doncaster which will bear comparison with that per- formed in any other part of the country. Entering upon his duties as vicar six years ago, divine service was performed only in the parish church now there are four places of worship in connexion with the Estab- lished Church, one of which, at a cost of 1,000 guineas, was opened on Sunday last, The debt upon this edifice is very small indeed. A sum of between S4,000 and zC5,000 has been raised for new National Schools during the past year; services have been held in the Ragged School and Duke-street Church, both of which are supported and maintained by the vicar at consider- able cost; the new Grammar School, mainly through his efforts, has received promises of support to the extent of £ 5,000; and he employs 12 curates and lay- readers in constant visits to the sick and poor. The organisation is so complete that not a case of destitution or sickness occurs but is brought under notice and re- lieved, if deserving. All the local charities are sup- ported most liberally, and every cause that demands support is most generously aided. The value of the living is considerably under £ 400. ""DR. D'AUBIGNE ON ENGLISH PROTESTANTISM.—Dr. Merle d'Aubigne hq, written a letter entering very fully into the ritualistic movement in England, which, he says, has attracted much attention amongst continental Protestants. One of the requirements of the present epoch, he says, is the acquisition by the laity of their legitimate influence in the church. Up to the present the laity have been looked upon as in a state of minority —the day of their majority has arrived. Is not convo- cation, he asks, generally felt to be a relic of the middle ages P Its place should be supplied by an upper house, 1:1 in which would sit the bishops and lay representatives elected by the different dioceses a lower house for the clergy and lay representatives of parishes or unions of parishes an executive council to carry out the decisions of these two houses. The laity should now petition the Queen and parliament for a better constitution of the church, and ask for a synod or assembly, where their representatives could be heard. Never was it more necessary," remarks Dr. d'Aubigne, that the Protestantism of England should become well organised. Everyone knows the ambition of Romanism the Papal aggression was not so dangerous as are the covert but persevering efforts of the Jesuits, working, as they do in England, with the help of continental Romanists. Have they no share in the ritualism of the present day ? Was not the identity of the two systems pointed out by Dr. Manning ? But, whether Jesuitism is at the bottom of the present movement in England or no, the almighty power of God and the organised efforts of Christian people are necessary to preserve the treasere recovered at the Reformation." THE TASTE FOR TRANSLATIONS,-Professor Newman informed us, in the course of his controversy with Pro- fessor Arnold, that at least one artisan was eager to complete his acquaintance with the Iliad," through the medium of his own vigorous though eccentric version; but, in spite of this weighty testimony, we are inclined to believe that the revived taste for translation prevails more strongly among writers than among readers. Hitherto we can detect no signs of the wide-spread eagerness, which existed in Dryden's time, to naturalize the masterpieces of classic poets in the literature of England. Perhaps experience has shown that the ex- pectation was chimerical. People generally open a translation now in the hope of some unexciting pastime from comparing an original, which they admire, with a eopy which they are not prepared to dispise. Trans- lators, we imagine, must often be attracted by the feel- ing which made the revision of Dryden's "Plutarch" one of the pleasantest labours of Clough's life; the feeling that in translating nobody incurs the intellectual or moral responsibility of propounding inadequate solutions of important questions as true; for, in the first place, no translation claims to be final; in the second place, if it did, it would do little harm. Every- body sees that the Irish school-mistress was only reason- able when she said, Ah, niver mind the long words, Norah darlint; shure they're only the names of foreign countries and, plase the Saints, ye'll niver be in any of them." And translators arc entitled to the same indulgence as Norah; the refinements which they miss, or else preserve imperfectly, are only the livery of an extinct eivilisaiion.-North British Review. THE VENETIAN ARCHIVES.—The following is from the Gazzetta di Venezia ■■—" The commission named by the representative of the King to verify the subtrac- tions committed in the royal archives and libraries of this province has already terminated its studies and re- searches. The report, we are assured, will serve as a basis for negotiations to obtain the restitution, promised by the treaty of Vienna, of these precious monuments of Venetian glory. The investigations have shown that the subtractions have only been committed in the Marciana library and the Frari archives, unless we in- clude a removal of some books from the library of the evening schools by the cx-Director Veladini. From the Marciana, on the 26th July, the monk, Bedla Dudick, carried off a case containing 57 volumes of Latin manuscripts and 38 of Italian, in all 95, of which he drew up a detailed catalogue. From the Frari archives he took away 1,336 precious documents. A regular list was also compiled by the direction and with the assist- ance of M. Dudick. Only as regards 49 cases, con- taining a thousand contracts on parchment and paper, the monk carried away the labels which explained them so ahat although the number is remembered no record remains of their special importance. We do not doubt the good faith of the Austrian government, but the memory of these proceedings is still too recent not to give rise to alarm and to fears of a regrettable disper- sion. The commission has not only occupied itself with the spoliation committed in disdain of the righta of nations after the cession of Venetia; but knowing that in 1865 an Imperial librarian, named Gassier, had transported from Venice to Vienna several cases of documents from the archives and the library, and which have not been returned that moreover, at the time of the first kingdom of Italy, a great number of acts be- longing to those establishments had been removed to Milan, whence in 1842 they were transferred to Vienna, it begged Count Dandolo to furnish some information on these subtractions. From all these sources it has drawn up a detailed note of all the works removed by the Austrian authorities before the last affair of M, Dudick." ANOTHER AFRICAN EXPLORER.-Dr. Ori, a native of Tuscany, well known in Italy for his scientific acquire- ments, especially in relation to natural history, has lately returned to Cairo from a very adventurous expe- dition into the interior of Africa. Availing himself of his official position as Physician-in-Chief of the Soudan country, conferred on him by the Viceroy of Egypt, and under the especial patronage of Victor Emmanuel, who defrayed the expenses of the expedition, Dr. Ori, accom- panied by his wife, an Italian lady of great endurance and courage, made a journey which has occupied nearly seven years. His principal researches have been carried on in the little-known territories of Darzaleh and Darfur, the latter bordering on the Egyptian Pashalic, and in the country adjoining the Blue and White Nile. Dr. Ori's explorations, which have extended over five thou- sand miles, have led him into districts never before visited by a European, in which he has collected a vast number of scientific treasures, including many specimens of rare animals and plants. Dr. Ori is now engaged in preparing his journals for publication, which, we have reason to believe, contain matter which will add largely to our knowledge of Central Africa. When his literary undertaking is completed, we understand that it is Dr. Ori's intention to renew his researches in Africa, his experience derived from his late exploration rendering him very sanguine of success. We may add that Dr. Ori's medical knowledge, acquired during a long course of study at the University of Pisa, and his acquaintance with various African dialects, were of great advantage to him in his intercourse with the natives, whom he appears to have had the good fortune to have conciliated in a very remarkable manner. SCIENCE AND ART SCHOOL FOR MAIDSTONE. On Thursday a public meeting was held in the Town-hall, for the purpose of establishing a school under the regu- lations of the Department of Science and Art. The Mayor presided, and, notwithstanding the unfavourably state of the weather, the large hall was well filled. MI". Buckmaster attended from the department, and the Re*» F. Collis Hill and other gentlemen spoke in support of resolutions. The borough members have promised to encourage the proposed school

Qt,O'itz. The Berlin correspondent of the Times gives entire credence to a statement of the Augsburg Gazette as to the demand for territorial compensation made by the French Emperor upon Prussia after the treaty of Nikols- burg. The countries included in the demand were neither few nor small. Of her own territory Prussia was to give up the districts of Saarlouis, Saarbruck, and, with them, the largest coalfields yet worked on the Con- tinent. Besides these, the Transrhenane provinces of Bavaria and Hesse Darmstadt, the Palatinate and Rhine Hesse, were likewise to be handed over to France. These countries are, perhaps, the most fertile and prosperous of all Germany, and boasting, moreover, the fortresses of Landau and Mayence, have the military command over one-half the German Rhine and a considerable portion of Hesse, Thuringia, and Franconia. These places and provinces not being in the possession of Prussia, the only engagement she could be expected to Undertake with regard to them was that she would assist France in taking them from their legitimate owners. Last, not least, Prussia was to re- sign her right to garrison Luxembourg, thereby abandoning all hope of protecting Cologne. The total of the French claims may be summed up as amounting to no less than a million of inhabitants, three fortresses, numerous coal mines, and a footing on the middle Rhine. But Count Bismarck on this occasion showed himself worthy of his reputation for firmness. Yielding to the menaces of France, he had allowed a number of disagreeable conditions to be received into the Nikolsburg preliminaries of peace. He had stipulated for the eventual cession of Northern Sleswick, the continuance among sovereigns of King John of Saxony, and the integrity of the Austrian empire. All these obligations may have been very unpalatable to him, but his forbearance was sure to be forgiven him by the nation. If, however, he had parted with any portion of German soil he would have lost caste irreparably, and could not have hoped to maintain him- self in power. So he declined to comply with the demands preferred. France put up with the denial, without, however, formally: withdrawing her claims. As the end of it all, M. Drouyn de Lhuys, who had sus- tained this more than diplomatic defeat, had to go out, M. de Lavalette, his successor for a few weeks, issuing the famous circular teeming with conciliatory protes- tations towards Germany, before M. de Moustier, the present Minister, came in. By this clever arrangement M. Drouyn de Lhuy's policy has been disavowed without M. de Moustier being by the disavowal committed to a different line of conduct. As a proof that the policy which led to the demand of territory has not been given up, but only changed in form, the writer observes that M. de Moustier has just addressed an urgent request to the Wurtem- burg Government to adopt the French standards of weights, measures, and coinage. As Wurtemburg can- not think of introducing so radical a change without her Southern neighbours doing the like, it is supposed that a similar wish must have been or is to be shortly expressed at Carlshruhe and Munich. Were it assented to, a 'primary and important step would have been achieved towards breaking up the commercial unity of Germany, dissolving the Zollverein, and preparing the ground for the commercial and political absorption of the South by France. We hear from Vienna that France has signified her concurrence in the view expressed by Austria on the Eastern question, and that she has declared her readi- ness to make representations to the Ottoman Govern- ment in behalf of its Christian subjects. Prussia, Italy, and Russia have replied in a similar sense to the Ata* trian overtures on this subject. The representations of these Powers to Turkey will, it is believed, be simul- taneous and identical, though not collective. They will call upon the Porte to carry out the decrees which have been issued at various times in favour of the rayahs, and especially the famous hattihumayoun of the 18th of February, 1856, which declared the equality of the Christians and Mussulmans before the law. It is under- stood that the Ottoman Government shows every dis- position to give a favourable reception to these demands. The commerce of the greater part of Italy at the pre- sent moment is in a sinking state, owing in a great measure to the very unfavourable commercial treaty con- cluded with France two years ago, which has nearly ruined the few factories that still remain. The working classes, both in town and country, suffer greatly from the want of work, especially in Venetia and the South, and many have taken to brigandage as the only escape from starvation. The chiefs known as Pace (peace) and Fuoco (fire) have resumed their depredations on a more extensive scale than ever; and in Sicily the brigands have become so daring and powerful that the Prefect of Palermo, Ruidni, has found it necessary to issue a decree forbidding any inhabitant of the province to go farther than a kilometre from his house without a written permission from the police. The discontent in Naples has also been a good deal aggravated by a regula- tion published by Cardinal Riario Sforza, the Nea- politan Archbishop, depriving all the monks who belonged to the now abolished monasteries of the right of performing their clerical functions, thus forcing them either to leave his diocese or take to some other means of gaining a livelihood. The Cape Parliament, finding that the colony has been living beyond its means, has taken the work of retrench- ment earnestly in hand. The Governor's allowances are, it is proposed, to be reduced by £ 2.000 and the Lieutenant-Governor, who resides in Grahamstown, is to lose his salary altogether. The Speaker's salary is to be cut down to £ 80-0, and then to t 6 00 the pay of the clerks of the Houses, serjeant-at-arms, and other par- liamcntary officials, is to be similary curtailed. For the future, zC2,000 is deemed sufficient for the Surveyor- General's office the Colonial Engineer, the Colonial Postmaster-General, and the Colonial Botanist, arc all to be got rid of as extravagant luxuries. The votes for libraries, museums, volunteers, are also to be cut down as much as possible. Altogether a saving of £ 89,000 has been recommended. On the other hand, the postage of colonial letters and English newspapers is to be raised. While the condition of the mercantile marine is en- gaging so much attention, it is interesting to observe the efforts which are being made to promote the comfort and well-being of British sailors during their stay in foreign ports. The beneficial influence of sailors' homes has been proved by experience in this country, and an effort in the same direction has been made with very satisfactory results at Dieppe. Since 1861, a free library and reading-room, supplied with newspapers and periodicals, have been opened to the British marines who visit that port to the number of about 11,000 a year. It is a proof that this institution is ap- preciated by the class by whom it has been established that the attendance of 2,914 men was last year recorded. There were, however, very few visitors to Dieppe last season, and the funds out of which this excellent under- taking is supported have consequently fallen off. Mr. F. Chapman, the vice-consul at Dieppe, is now making an appeal on behalf of the society.

I THE COMING SESSION. i I,. Parliament is formally appointed to meet on the 5th prox. a Cabinet Courcil met on Tuesday. I under- stand a Reform Bill is decided on; it is even probable that Mr. Disraeli will introduce it within six weeks of the opening of the session. About this time, too, ac- cording to some reports, we shall have another de- monstration of the people." Very contradictory rumours are afloat concerning the proceedings of the League. Though it is generally believed the Reformers have abandoned the idea of a display like the last, yes- ternight, at a meeting of delegates from the various London branches of the Reform League, with severa delegates from trade, friendly, and temperance societies' called together by the Council of the League, a resolu- tion was carried declaring it advisable that the trade, friendly, and temperance societies of the metropolis should co-operate with the Council of the Reform League in making the reform demonstration on the 11th of February an effective one. So that the childishness of a walk through the streets of London is not alto- gether renounced: the League cling to it still. The subject of the right of petitioning is frequently talked of as if it were a sort of moral or natural right unknown to, if it be not indeed independent of and superior t ), the law of the land. In point of fact it is, like all other rights, established and bounded by the law. It has its history, and a very curious and ancient history it is, and has its legal limits, which ought to be known to and respected by those whose wish it is to acquire such rights as the law has to give. In very old times, when as yet there were no newspapers, and hardly any- thing which could be called Government offices, the right of petitioning the Crown or Parliament was second only in value to the right of sueing at law, and was in- deed very much the same sort of right. As time went on the relative importa.nce of private petitions dimin- ished, and that of petitions upon public affairs very greatly increased. As every one knows, the right of petitioning in regard to public affairs became, under the Stuarts, and especially under Charles I., the occasion of continual riots, and was, indeed, one of the most power- ful of the popular weapons at the time when the coup d'état (as we should now call it) was meditated which led to the abortive attempt to arrest the five members. When there were no public journals, no freedom of the press, hardly any large towns even, except London, and, in a word, no means whatever by which the public at large might take a part freely and peaceably in the discussion of public affairs, large meetings and the presentation of huge petitions to Parliament were a necessary, though they were certainly a clumsy appa- ratus for the expression of public opinion. All this, however, is changed. A- procession of many thousand persons to Parliament for the purpose of expressing their views upon political subjects is as much out of date in these times as a great fair or market in an age of shops. Petitions with properly authenticated signatures, meetings on a reasonable scale, either in the open air or public halls and other places appropriated for the pur- pose, are the natural ways of expressing public opinion. The collection of a great crowd is of no use for the expression of opinion, and it seriously endangers the public peace, The fact is that crowds of this sort are and can be meant as nothing else than threats when they are connected with a petition. The meeting held the other day in Brompton, and other public assem- blages of the same kind, may pass as ways of affording ocular demonstration of the fact that a considerable number of persons take this or that view of a particular question, but connect such a crowd with the presentation of a petition, and it at once became a threat. Apart from the sentiment which tumultuous petitioning ex- presses, the positive practical evils which it is likely to produce are by no means to be neglected. The pe- tioners may be respectability itself, but unhappily they are certain in these cases to have a tail which is any- thing but respectable. If a considerable crowd of honest workmen go down to the House of Commons to deliver a political petition, the blackguards of London—no in- considerable community—are likely to be affected with great searchings of heart upon the subject of Reform, for which in reality they do not care one straw, and which they are utterly incapable of understanding.

INTOLERANCE AT ROME. The Pope has put down Presbyterian worship in P,me. For some time the Rev. James Lewis, a Scotch clergyman, has conducted divine service according to the forms of the Kirk in a room to which none but foreigners were admitted, and the fact, which must have been well known to the authorities, was connived at. A little while ago, however, he received from our consul at Rome, Mr. Joseph Severn, the startling com- munication which follows It is my official duty to inform you that Monsignor Randi, Governor of Rome, has just communicated to me that you are holding illegal religious meetings in your house, which you must know are prohibited by the Roman law, and that you have thus placed yourself in the power of the Inquisition, both for arrest and imprisonment. But, as the Mon- signor permits me to give you this notice, I would seriously advise that you at once put an end to these innovations, and that you visit Monsignor Randi at Monte Citorio and assure him that you will never again repeat these illegal acts, and I hope in this way you may possibly suspend your exile, which is now hanging over you." Mr. Odo Russell was appealed to, and he brought the matter before Cardinal Antonelli, who said much as he personally regretted the circumstance he could not interfere. The suppression, it seems, had been ordered by the Pope himself. The Roman correspondent of the Times says Antonelli has thrown out a hint that the American service, which is not now held in the house of the United States Legation but in a separate hired room, will also be put down.

RAILWAY SIGNALS. Experiments were last week made in London on the Crystal Palace line for establishing communica- tion between passsengers and guard while the train is in motion. Several railway directors, officials, and other gentlemen were present. The invention was patented by Messrs. Le Keux and Wishart, the object being to place the communication in the power of every passenger as well as between the front g'l ard and rear guard. The signal shows at once to the guard and driver the compartment from which the signal was given, and afterwards the passenger who gave the signal. The apparatus was applied to the last carriage of a long train, and those who desired to witness the effect of the experiments travelled in the guard's break next the engine. The apparatus consisted of a piece of tubing inserted in the roof of each carriage, having at the part which was within reach of the passengers a slit just wide enough to take the edge of a railway ticket. In this slit was a pair of clams or jaws covered with a chymical composition of an ignitable nature, but the ignition of which could only take place by the contact of another composition having a chymical affinity. The passenger's ticket was tipped with the chymical affinity, and on the ticket being inserted in the slit of the tube a match was lighted which discharged a rocket on the roof of the carriage, and ignited a coloured fire, which burnt for several minutes. The passenger's ticket, on being inserted in the slit, was at once dis- figured, and thus proved unmistakably who gave the signal. The rocket was heard from one end to the other ef the train, and the light burnt brilliantly. It appeared that there was no gear to get out of order, and. it was stated that the apparatus would be cheaply applied, that trains could be "made up" without in- terfering with it, and that it was as efficient in signal- ling when one part of a train was accidentally separated from the other as when the train was complete.