The Welshman

THE STRIKE. I In the course of last week the great Strike in the Bull- ing Trades passed through certain phases of considerable importance, though, unhappily, without any improvement in the general aspecUof the struggle. It should be under- stood that this contest, though nominally confined to a single department of business, does in reality eniorace several different trades. The employers are all of one class.-master builders, but the employed belong to various classes, and comprise masons, bricklayers, joiners, p as- terers, plumbers, and so forth, all which trades, though engaged in the same Strike, are organized in separate unions or societies, and are distinguished by some van eties of opinion. Another circumstance necessary to be remembered is, that the Strike is confined to London, that is to say, to the metropolitan postal district, and affects only the workmen employed within those limits. The first step towards a treaty or compromise was taKen by the masons separately. The operatives of this class, a strong and intelligent body, detached themselves from the Conference of the United Trades, and summoned to Lon- don the chief ofifcers of their own Society from its central seat at, Bristol. This proceeding was calculated to cut two ways. If it produced a reconciliation between the master builders and the masons the secession of so influential a class from the other trades would go far to terminate the j Strike, and bring about a general agreement. If, on the i other hand, it failed to do so, the operative masons of the metropolis might procure the adoption of their cause by the whole body of the trade, and thus obtain a great in crease of support. Unfortunately, the latter is the re. uit now most probable. The propositions of the masons was to the effect that the men should give up the Nine Hours Movement and the masters withdraw the Decla- ration, work being then resumed as before. This, it is evident, was simply a return to the status quo; but there appears to have been a misgiving on the part of the masons that the masters had certain other matters before their eyes, and accordingly they added to their pro- posal a general assurance that if the masters had any grievance to complain of" they would at any time be 11 happy to meet them" upon the points at issue. It turned out that these collateral questions involved the very differ- ences on which the negotiations broke off. The Nine Hours agitation was absolutely surrendered, as well it might be, and, though the masters talked about insuper- able difficulties" in the way of a withdrawal of the Declara- tion, it seems as if these obstacles might possit?ly have been eluded except for the failure of ulterior attempts. It was required on behalf of the masters that such rules, by- laws, and practices of the Masons' Society as should be declared by the President of the Board of Trade, or any retired Judge of Her Majesty's Courts at Westminster, to be contrary to the spirit of the law of the land," should, in so far as they affected employers and operatives within the metropolitan limits, be revised or discontinued. This proposal the masons evaded. The masters then sug- gested a reference on the points in question to some eminent impartial authority," adding this time that, in particular, all rules and practices should be removed which interfere with the freedom of icorkmen, or prevent mem- bers of rrades' Unions from working with other work- men." This proposition also the Masons, by formal reso- lution, declined to entertain. Pending these separate negotiations, the Conference of the United Trades had not been inactive. Treaties and compromises being the order of the day, the Com- mittee of the Paviour8' Arms had also prepared its pro- position for the consideration of the masters, the terms whereof went to this effect-that the men should resume work upon the withdrawal of the Declaration, leaving the previous qllestion- i. e, the Nine Hours Movement -to be discussed by a sub-committee chosen from the masters and men together. This overture, however, was curtly rejected, the masters refusing to recognize the authority of the Conference, or to admit any such medium of communication between their workmen and themselves. At this the Conference was naturally in- dignant, and convened its constituents on Friday even ing to obtain a ratification of its powers, which, as a mat- ter of course, was promptly accorded. We may now make our deductions from this batch of miscarriages. The Nine Hours question, it will be seen, the origin of the whole dispute-was fairly given up by the Masons, and thrown into abeyance by the other trades. Nor was this a point extorted from them by violence, in despite of their genuine convictions, for it is plain enough that they have the means of csntinuing the Strike. It was a tacit confession that in this preposterous demand the mark had been overshot,—in fact, the Secretary of the Masons' Committee acknowledged in plain words that <• the Nine Hours question had never taken well with the working classes in the country." So much for the original ground of agitation,—for that demand which the Conference enforced be a Strike, and which the masters, in self-defence, were compelled to meet by a lock out. The next point is the Declaration, and here also the negotia- tions of the week enable us to collect something of what the masters really want and the Unions refuse. It is a natural interference from the course taken by the argu- ments that the Declaration as a sine gizol non might pos- sioly have been waived, if certain of its essential effects could have been otherwise secured; and these effects, it is equally obvious, pointed rather to the protection of the men than the advantage of the masters. The first question of all, for instance, concerned the position of those men, some 8,000 in number, who had accepted the Declaration, and gone to work under its terms. How were they to stand if the 6,000 or 7,000 still on Strike were admitted without this guarantee? Would the latter set of hands even consent to work with the former ? It appears that this primary condition was extremely doubtful, for one of the Masons' Deputation stated at a public meeting that when the question was put to them on the masters' behalf they answered that that was for them (the Society men) to decide after the Declaration had been withdrawn." The first consequence, therefore, of the unconditional withdrawal of the Declaration by the masters might easily have been the loss of all the 8,000 hands already obtained on eligible conditions, for the sake of obtaining 7,000 others on conditions less eligible—a bargain which few would venture to recommend. It will have been noticed, again, that in the explanatory proportion made by .he   sitions of the former are directed especially to the 11 free- dom of the meP- to their release, in fact, from that thraldom in which the Unions would fain retain them. Men are at liberty to combine mong th.emseles according to law, but they are not at hberty, either In law or in combined powers against the freedom Ijuf stiI« t That their combined powers against tbe freedom V »K Z .bIth.r in reality Iis the only Point now at issue. It W whet?her ??'?U?? n?y ?, ? tyrannize o.er work- whether these T Unions are to tyrannize over work. .nenunconneet.d?ith ? D y and to drive them by intimidation and persecution into the obsenance of  .nnm.dat.on and P''?h??h? ??t to prescribe. It wilf n^t be overlooked that the Muons, on this point, shirked even ru!es and of law, and were evidently unw.lhng to submit <h:.?L'iaw n: ? e .ident!y unwilHng to sub?t he't?f pretended that they had no power a8 a section to touch the regulations sanctioned by their entire body, but this power they might have applied for as they ar¿ now app? for was the critical point at which the negotiation broke off Such, however, is now "h?:i? of ??h, ave connec?te<.ud have separated from the Conference, but have connected themselves with their main body, and wm.ttts anticipated receive the support of the society's funds. The Conferenc continues the fight as before, and the masters, also as before, are resolutely holding their ground We regret as much as anybody can that the a tempts « «'gjeement much as anybody c.n that ?. ,ne ex. ception, we do not see that the masters can hebiamf>d f cepdon, we do not. see that the masters ??'??< their re.oiu,ion. We ?in??y..?,?.?.i) which C oieB 0f convent i on, was though, perhaps, an irregul.a„r A«^P of con'Vcniion,    ;•Wribi« "J. tbe.». fnr *7; however, their conditions ere reasonable, fr It IS clearly in the interests of the publ d the WOrking man also, that every operatie should be effectually protected in the disposal of his own labour -T??.

THE DISPUTE WITH THE UNITED STATES. We are glad to learn by the last steamer from America that General Scott has been sent to take the place of the bellicose General Harney in the command of the Pacific coast. Such a step on the part of President Buchanan is only what we bad a right to expect from a politician who is old, experienced, and has a knowledge not only of his own country, but of our own. We may say without fear- ing the charge of timidity, that we trust this difficulty will be settled peaceably, and according to the just rights of either party. It is so usual for men in command of Ameri- can detachments or ships of war to indulge in vagaries like those of General Harney that we are not disposed to dwell on the discourtesy of this officer but the notion of disputing our right to an island which has been in the possession of the Hudson's Bay Company for an indefinite time, and which has remained in their hands since the Treaty of 1846, and of doing this simply because it was pretended that an American had been arrested for an outrage on the company's property, is something new in the annals of military achievements. General Harney has been beyond doubt merely the representative of a class sufficiently abundant in the unsettled regions of America. The choice spirits who flock to California and Oregon from the more civilized parts of the Union are too much accus- tomed to administer justice on one another with the rifle and bowie knife to take much thought about legal tribunals and established jurisdictions. They flocked into British territory, refused to pay the taxes levied by competent authority, gave General Douglas plenty of trouble, and at last were only brought to order by the determination of the Government, supported by the mass of British-born subjects. Having been foiled in attempting to subject British Columbia to the reign of rowdyism they have since endeavoured to nibble at the possessions of Her Britannic Majesty. The island of San Juan is the spot which by a forced interpretation of a very simple treaty it is attempted to make American ground. It is only within the last few days that anything has been beard of this island-that its very name has been known generally —in the British metropolis. But for some time the idea of contesting our rights has been cherished by the local patriots, and some two months or more since it was determined to try what boldness and affected contempt of British remonstrances would do, The circumstances of the landing are already pretty well known. There had been petty disrates for a month 01 two, the island having always been treated as British, and the Americans guilty of any encroachment having been resisted by the Hudson's Bay Company, when in July the claim of the United States to the island was first put in force by the landing of a body of troops. This took place on the 27th, the United States Boundary Commissioner accompanying the troops. Having thus put an end, as far as in them lay, to any discussion of the rights of England; the Americans then bethought themselves of a conference with the British Admiral. Not a single British ship of war had been at the place for weeks previously but, the fact of the American aggression having become known to the Admiral, be repaired to San Juan, and on the 11th of August, a fortnight after the invasion, a Me. Campbell, the United States' Boundary Commissioner, and Colonel Casey, of the American army, arrived in a packet-ship, and re quested that Admiral Baynes would come on board their vessel, and confer with them. This request, it is needless to say, was at once declined. So stood matters at the last despatch of mans from California. We trust that nothing has since happened to complicate the dispute. Should things remain as they were, the arrival of General Scott with instructions from Washington will, no doubt, tend to bring matters to an amicable conclusion. The principal work, however, is to be done in the two capitals, and we would counsel the American Government, in all friendship and sincerity, not t,) minister to the ambitious passions of any man or class by contesting rights which seem to us too strong for sophistry to overturn. There can be no doubt that the treaty of 1846 gave, and was Intended to give, to Great Britain and the United States the free navigation of the Gulf of Georgia, and that this could be alone effected by making the channel which divides the two empires what it was always considered to be,—the broad estuary which flows to the eastward of San Juan. This was the channel in those days when California had not yet been colonized, when British Columbia was yet unknown and unnamed, and when Oregon itself was a wilderness wandered over only by the hunter and the trapper. Nothing was thought of other channels between San Juan and Vancouver, passable, indeed, to the steamers of the present day, but never navigated in those times, and surely never present to the minds of the statesmen who, map in hand, negoti- ated the Treaty of 1846. This is the view of the matter according (0 the spirit of the Treaty, but if wc take the letter it hears out 110 loss our claims. The exprrss words are, that the line shall be continued westward along the 19th parallel of latitude to the middle of the channel which separates the Continent from Vancouver's Island, and then southerly, through the middle of the said channel and of Fuca Straits, to the Pacific Ocean." On these j words the British Government is content to rest its claims, and it is mere surveyor's work to determine tphether the line southward from the middle point of the channel, in 49 degrees North, and through the middle of Fuca Straits, does or does not give the Island of San Juan to the British C.IDWD.-liines.

RUSSIAN AGGRESSIONS. As an example of how much may he gained by the un- wearied pursuit of an object, Russia unquestionably stands pre-eminent. By a stroke of the pen, she has succeeded in achieving that in the East which fortune had pertinaciously denied to her arms in the West. For ages, a lust for terri- torial aggrandizement has been the besetting sin of her rulers. The immense extent of their already overgrown dominions has never for a single moment operated as a check upon their ambition, and now, in the latter half of the nineteenth century, they are as ardent votaries of a policy of annexation as Peter the Great himself. Even our Ameri- can cousins, cute as they deem themselves, might in this respect take a leaf with advantage out of the book which contains the record of Russian appropriations. Hers are no petty delinquencies picking and stealing are a class of offences which she abhors. In for a penny in for a pound" is her motto, and it is one to which she has never proved faithless. That which is unattainable to-day may prove an easy prey to-morrow. Careless of rebuffs, she bides her time until, like the fox in the fable, by force or fraud, the cherished morsel is transferred to her own insatiable maw. But it is to the most recent of her many exploits in this line that we would at present call attention. For years past she has been steadily pushing forward her frontier over those boundless steppes which cover the whole of Central Asia, until the chain of the Yablonnior mountains formed the only line of demarcation between Russia and China, the two ) rival empires of the East and West. One attempt alone had been made to cross this mountain harrier, and that had been attended with signal failure. Unused to the Imperial yoke, and maddened by the oppression of their new masters, a horde of Calmucks were arrested in the course of their migra- tion to China by a formidable band of Cossacks and other irregular troops. The scene of action was cunningly shifted to a spot within the Chinese frontier, and the aggressors were instantly surrounded by a tribe of savage Mongols. They fell almost to a man under the well-directed fire of these fierce borderers, and from that moment no further appeal to arms has been made on the part of Russia in those pathless wilds. But art has accomplished that which would have been hazardous, if not impracticable, for arms. The Paper read by Sir John Bowring at the meeting of the British Association which has just terminated throws light upon their last move. We learn that, in pursuance of the provisions of a treaty which his lately been concluded, vast tracts of Chinese Tartary have passed into the hand of the Czar. Nor is the territorial extent of the country thus ceded the important feature of the transaction. Their new acquisition will secure to the Muscovites that which they have long desired-the possession of a port in a south- ern latitude. Hitherto, for six mouths of the year at least, the ice has proved an insuperable obstacle to any vessel attempting to make the harbour of Petropaulovski. Alexan- dropol, the new capital, is in a far more favourable position. Situated on the coast, it is within a comparatively short distance of the point where the River Amoor makes its last great bend to the northward. The intervening country has been already surveyed, and is found to offer no obstacles to the construction of a railway or even of a ship canal. Its position is sufficiently to the southward to insure an easy access throughout the whole winter. It is well placed for the purposes of the trade which must shortly spring up with Japan, while it affords a winter cruising-station for the Russian fleet. The district of the Amoor itself is rich in natural advantages. Its streams penetrates the interior of Siberia, and will become ere long a most important artery of inland commerce. The climate, hospitable in comparison with the inclemency of the wild tracts which adjoin it, is al- reading attracting crowds of settlers, to whom every induce- ment is afforded to which the Government can hold out in the shape of grants of land. Virgin forests clothe the banks of the rivers, and the existence of considerable mineral wealth has been already disclosed by the survey. Russia has in fact assumed a new position. Vanquished in the West, she has repaired her defeat in the East, and gratified her innate propensity to aggression at the expense of the effete dynasty of China instead of the Sultan. We may now of course expect the monopoly which she has en- joyed of the caravan trade to cease. A sea voyage will be the substitute of the tedious land journey which retraced the very route over which Genghiz Khan marched with his countless hordes centuries ago on his way to the conquest of India. Those predatory tribes who defied by the rapidity of their movements the proverbial vigilance of the Cossack horsemen will find their occupation gone. Postal commu- nication has already been established once a month from St. Petersburg to Pekin by relays of mounted couriers, but for all commercial purposes the longest way round will prove ultimately the shortest means of reaching the wished- for destination. The ports of China are now open to the Russian trader, and we shall have to deal with a powerful competitor for the custom of the Celestials. By degrees the present regulations must disappear by which Russian woollens have been forced, at an enormous price, upon an unwilling purchaser. An open market will render impos- sible the couutinuance of a trade which is still conducted upon the primitive principles of barter. It will hardly be credited by the mercantile world that an absolute prohibi- tion exists at the present moment upon any money payment from either side ;th?t no Russian goods can be obtained for Chinese money aud that the purchase of Chinese goods in silver, their only currency, is altogether contraband. Such measures might serve to keep up the overland trade which it has been the traditional policy of Russia to foster, but can answer no purpose when tho political motive for their continuance has ceased to exist. That Russian can ever compete successfully with British enterprize in manu- factured articles is most unlikely, but that a vigorous at- tempt "ill be made in that direction we entertain no doubt. Already Count Mouravieff is on his road to Japan, there to pave the way for Russian merchants in that newly- opened country. The great drawback of Siberia has always been the want of any outlet for its productions into the Indian Ocean, and the enormous expense entailed by the carriage even of the lightest articles of merchandize in a country destitute of roads, and where the streams for the most part run at right angles to the track of the caravans. Now all this has been changed. The Czar possesses in his new territory more than one of the finest harbours in the world. Large cities are alrea-ly springing .up. Clearings are beginning to fringe the banks of the rivers, and trade will eoon follow in their wake. We need hardly point out the enormous preponderance which the Czar has thus ob- tained at the Court of his Imperial neighbour. The sick man" atPekin may prove a more manageable patient than this fellow-sufferer at Constantinople. Dr. Smethurst him- self could hardly have selected a case when the victim would be less surrounded by inquisitive friends, or in which the authority of the self-eonstitu ed physician would be more entirely paramount. Into the complicity of Russia, in the perfidy which led to our recent repulse at the mouth of the Pebio, we do not now propose to inquire. Time alone can remove the veil wnicn at present hangs over tne tortuous mazes of deceit and chincanery which pass for the science of diplomacy in China. But of the dislike enter- tained by Russia to the permanent establishment of a British Envoy at Pekin there can be no question. To her, publicity is'simply the frustration of all her favourite .sc;hctnes. A true hypocrite, she loves darkness rather than light," and fur the selfsame reason. We may as well face the truth at once. A bold stride in advance has been taken by our most pertinacious opponent. The point selected for the demonstration has been one situated in ominous proximity to our Eastern empire. It has been made with the utmost secrecy, yet in such u manner that its accomplishment offers as yet no tangible ground for remonstrance upon our part. However unpleasant it may be to realize tho fact, we have been for once completely out- witted. We have failed to prevent the act itself it must now bo our task to obviate by increased vigilance the dangers which may arise from its consequences.- Pre,s.

THINGS OF THE SEASON.-OCTOBER. jimus Anal-v, ING. --Royston crow, common shoveller, Dart- ford warbler, woodcoock, snipe, wild goose, teal, lesser guil- liinot. BIRDS DEI-AHTING.—Common marten, sand marten, hobby falcon, short-eared owl, water-rail, land-rail, redstart, sand-piper, Canadian goose (rare), ring ousel. INSECTS.—Crane fly, blow fly, water scorpion. WILD PLANTS IN FLOWER.-CoffiIl10n iyy. gom81a, puosa, purple violet, shepherd's spikenard, arbutus, winter green. Recreative Science.

THE FOREIGN POLICY OF ENGLAND. The freedom of the city of Aberdeen was presented to Lord John Rusaell, at a meeting in the Music Hall. As in duty bound Lord John delivered a speech. Afer some remarks on the subject of reform of no very definite nature, he laid down the rule of doing as we would be done by as the guiding principle of his foreign policy, and took up the Italian question. Gentlemen, there is a question on which I will venture to touch before I conclude, becauee, though not one in which we have taken an immediate part, it is one in which I think every Briton must take a deep interest. I allude to that which has taken place, aud is taking place, in Italy. Yoa will permit me to refer to events of some time back, but which are a clue to that which is happening at the present moment. For centuries the Italian people-a people rich both In commerce and agriculture—have been subject to foreign Powers-sometimes to the Germans sometimes to the French. About sixty years ago a general, full of youth, full of gejiins, full of capacity of every kind both for war and civil affairs, eiiiere^ Italy and declared both for war and civil a wairs, C. that he came to give liberty to that peop, The Italian people were delighted-the whole of Lombardy a8 In a state of joy and ecstasy, and although his warlike opera- tions werp successful, yet for a time it came to be that the French Government was the Government of Italy, and in 1814 the people of Lombardy were averse to that foreign dominion, and earnestly desired a change. They applied to an English general, Lord William Bentinck, as honest a lover of liberty as ever existed they applied to him, and they applied afterwards to the English Minister, to learn what was to be their fate. The English Minister told them that their fate was very well settled—that the Emperor of Austria had been kind enough to declare that he would take charge of Lombardy, and therefore he, the English Minister, had on!y to refer them to the Austrian Minister. Weil, they have had this new government up to 1859 -to the present time—and every year they became more and more averse to it. Well, I am not saying whether they were justified in their dislike of the former French government or of the late Austrian government—I am only telling you what was the fact known to you all — no more. Well, it had occurred some ten or twelve years ago to some men of very ardent hopes and great literary talents, that these foreign nations had not succeeded in attaining the affections or confidence of the Italians-that the Italians might as well govern Italy themselves. It was a new notion, but not a very unnatural one. In 1849'-49 they made the attempt. Unfortunately they succeeded so ill that they gave people a great distrust of their power of self-government; but the Emperor of the French having conquered Lombardy in the present year made a wise and magnanimous declaration that he did not go to conquer Lombardy for himself, but that the Italians should be the free citizens of a great country. (Applause.) Well, I ask, has there been any mischief produced ? Be- cause I think with regard to this matter of states and nations regulating their own government, it is not very different from that of a man-say in this city of Aberdeen- regulating his own house. But, at the same time, it is possible that a man may manage his house in such a way as to be a great nuisance to his neighbours For instance, he may start a pyrotechnic manufactory in his house, making experiments to try his skill, and, it may be, sending up sky-rockets into the air every evening in order to see the effect. This would not seem to be agree- able, because other householders might conceive that their houses might be set on fire. Instead of wishing to en- courage the gentleman to do whatever he pleases in his own house, the Lord Provost might be called on to inter fere with that gentleman because he was likely to set fire to the houses of his neighbours-but has anything of that sort occurred in Italy ? Can any man say there is such a disturbance of order at Milan, Modena, or Florence, that the neighbours—the Austrians, or other neighboura-are called upon to interfere ? (Cheers.) On the contrary, the conduct of this people, just emancipated, who have been subject to foreign rule for many years, who might have I been expected to burst into some excess—possibly some outrage against the persons who are most odious to them- they have conducted their matters with perfect order -with such order as if they had been the citizens of a country which had long been free. (Cheers. ) Well, then gentle- men, I say, though we can claim no credit for having enobled these people to assert their freedom—although we have been bystanders, and I think for very good and sufficient reasons have taken no part in the hostilities of this spring; yet I think we are bound to say-we do say, and we have said—that against any Interference of foreign force to :prevent those people having their own government and conducting their affairs as they like, we do most loudly and solemnly protest-(load cheers)- and therefore, gentlemen, be the terms of the treaty now negotiated what they may, if hereafter, consequent upon that treaty, there shall be that of which you have heard, no doubt, and which has been frequently talked of-if there shall be a congress of the Powers of Europe —if it shall be the wish of those Powers which have taken part in those hostilities that in the final settle- ment of Italy and the acknowledgment of the different states belonging to it, the other Powers of Europe should take part in these consultations, we might assist only upon one condition, namely, that with respect to using foreign force in order to compel fulfilment of the conditions of peace, whatever they might be, so as not to interfere with the right of the people of this country to manage their own concerns—that, if such should be the object, or may be the result of such language, England may sftind apart and take no concern. (Loud applause.) But, gentlemen, I feel convinced, and such is the language, not of one of those Powers, but of both those Powers, that whatever their opinions may be as to what has taken place-and the Austrian government cannot be expected to approve of the revolution in Modena and Tuscany-yet I believe neither Power has any intention to interfere by force with the decision of those peoples. I think it a matter of great importance that it should be so, because that system- which i^jjjjher disguised than expressed by the phrase, the bata???power—that system means that the different states sh e independent, that they shall manage their own concerns, and that no one state should have the pre- ponderence in Europe, or djctate what should be the con- stitution, or what should be the internal government of the rest. And happy as we are in this country in inde- pendenoe long acquired, it is not only our interest, but I think it must be our wish, to see that every state in Europe, whether they prefer a system that we think not compatible with liberty, or whether they prefer a just and temperate system of representative monarchy, or whether they prefer any other form of government provided they do not interfere with their neighbouss-I think that the inde. pendence of the several states of Europe is an object which Great Britain ought to feel a sympathy and an interest in. And now, I fear that I have troubled you too long but if so, you must impute it to the kindness you have shown to me. Be assured that, so far as I am concerned, while I have the honour to hold the seals of the Foreign Office, it shall be for no mean purpose, for no selfish interest, that I shall endeavour to use the name, and influence, and authority of Great Britain. This country holds high a beacon which may save the rest of the world. It is not for us to arrogate and dictate with respect to what they shall do, but it is our duty when we do speak to speak in the language of a free people, as the loyal and obedient subjects of a monarch who reigns in the affections of her people.

FATAL AFFRAY IN BIRMINGHAM.—A shocking occur- rence took place in Birmingham at 3 o'clock on Saturday morning. A man named Samuel Dutton was stabbed in a street affray, and died immediately afterwards. The de- ceased and a companion of his named Blick had been drinking all the previous evening, and were, in all proba- bility, in a state of intoxication. They left some liquor vaults in Dale-end at 3 o'clock in the morning, and appear to have taken part in a fight between two women. Pre- sently another man came up. Dutton was knocked down, kicked, and stabbed in the groin, the effect of which caused death. One of the women is not likely to recover. There is no clue to the men who perpetrated the horrid deed. THE EMPRESS OF THE FRENCH.—If the Kirkpatricks, from whom the Empress Eugenic is descended, are of the family of Closeburn, it remains yet to be ascertained when and how they diverged from the ancient tree. Thomas Kirkpatrick had a small property, called Knock, in Dumfriesshire. His second second son 'named Robert, married Henrietta Gillespie, and was father of William Kirkpatrick, of Conheath, in Dumfriesshire, who married Mary Wilson, by whom he had several children. One of his sons settled as a merchant at Malaga, and married the daughter of a foreign consul there, by whom he had three daughters. The eldest, who was very beautiful, attracted the notice of the youngest son of the great family of Montijo, grandees of Spain of the first class. The daughter of the Scottish merchant was considered a mesalliance for a young man of so distinguished a family and her inferior birth was stated as a reason for consent being refused. An application being made hereupon by the friends of the family to the late ingenious Mr. Chas Kirkpatrick Sharpe, a gentleman who, from his wit and fondness of virtu, was called by Sir Walter Scott the Horace Walpole of Edinburgh. Mr. Sharpe undertook, with considerable zest, the task of supplying his fair countrywoman with a long and flourishing genealogical tree, in which the dagger dripping the heart's blood of the red Comyn" made a conspicuous figure. The pedi- gree was beutifully drawn up and sent to Spain. When it was submitted to King Ferdinand VII. he indulged in a joke on the occasion. Looking at the document, where the origin of the Kirkpatricks seemed lost in the mist of ancient Coledonia, his Majesty said, 0 by all means let the young Montijo marry the daughter of Fingal. The husband of Miss Kirkpatrick eventually succeeded to the title and estates of his family, and left two daughters, of whom the elder espoused the Duke of Berwick and Alva, representatives of the Marschal Due de Berwick, natural son of King James II., and the younger, long celebrated for her beauty and grace as Countess de Theba, is now Eugenie, Empress of the French. Until within the last two years, a Miss Kirkpatrick, grand aunt of the Empress, inhabited a very small house in the third-rate Scottish county town of Dumfries; and her Imperial Majesty has several first cousins of the name KirkpatricKf sons of her mot her's sister, who married her own cousin holding respectable mercantile situations. One of them was not long ago settled in a trade at Havre.-Sir Bernard Burke's "VicÍlaitudes of Families-