CLIPPINGS OF THE MONTH.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1407, 1 June 1865, Page 2

CLIPPINGS OF THE MONTH.

{From the Spectator for March) The English translation of the Emperor's Life of Caesar has appeared, but the French edition is delayed, apparently for want of Bome maps which the Emperor wishes to accompany his work. There has been no time to read it, but it looks a little dull, and we note with some surprise that the author accepts the Kings of Some generally, and believes that they disappeared " because their mission was accomplished," which is true, no doubt, but indefinite. The first volume contains chapters on the conquest of Italy, the " prosperity of the basin of the Mediterranean," the Punic and Asiatic wars, the strife of the parties whom Sylla and Marius led, and the life of Caesar down to his consulship with Bibulus, A.U.C. 695. The Prussian Government has transmitted its ultimatum about the Duchies to Yienna. The King demands the right to levy sailors in the Duchies by conscription, the cession of the territory necessary for the Elbe canal in full sovereignty, the control of the army, the post, and the telegraph, with the reserve that Holstein shall still send her contingent to the Federal army. Until these concessions are made, Prussia will maintain her half right as ceded by Denmark. These demands must have been made to make annexation seem preferable, for Europe would never endure to see a great Power wield legally the resources of a State for which it was not responsible. As to the people, they would be compelled to serve under foreign officers in a foreign fleet on expeditions the object of which they might not approve, while the Duke would see his dominions cut in two by a Prussian canal. Annexation would be preferable to all parties except Austria, which cannot bear to see Prussia enriched without compensation The Metropolitan Police have caught the City burglars, a gang certainly of six men and women, presumably of more persons, led by a man named Miller, an ex-convict of great daring and some cleverness. They had much of the property upon them when taken, were wearing fashionable clothes, had refurnished their houses in WhitechapeJ, and had opened an account with the London and Westminster Bank for £-400. Many of the watches had been thrown into the Thames, it is presumed by confederates startled at the arrest of the remainder ot the gang. They were remitted for trial to the City, and it seems to be expected that one of them will turn Queen's evidence. It seems clear that the criminals taken were also the parties engaged in the great robbery at Mr. Johnson's and Mr. Abram's. Saville House in Leicester Square, known now as the Eldorado Music Hall was recently destroyed by fire. The building was completely gutted, but fortunately there was no wind, and the blocks behind were saved. It is becoming a fashion in London to attend fires, and the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Sutherland,, Lord Robert Grusvenor, and Lord Amberley, were all present at this one. Personally four firemen would probably have been of more use, but the presence af Dukes encourages the firemen, it seems a blameless form of excitement. AVhy aot get up a Volunteer Fire Brigade, and so turn the new fancy to account P They sucjeed in America.

i Mr. Cardwell has introduced a most important measure. He proposes to permit any colony which desires it, to create and man a fleet, or even, if necessary to combine with other colonies for that purpose. Ihe plan adopted is to allow each colony to establish a navy on the scheme of the Koyal is a\ al Reserve, which navy will, in tho event of war, be held under the Crown, but employed at the discretion apparently of the local government, just, for example, as the Indian Navy was employed. The Australian colonies, it appears, wish very much to create a navy; and Canada, when united will probably follow the examplo. The innovation will tend greatly to reduce the burden upon Great Britain, will accustom the colonies to self-defence, even at sea, and seems to have beeu designed upon solid and inexpensive principles. If Britain, America, and the colonies should erer become hearty allies, an' event much more possible than people who only read telegrams think, the Anglo-Saxon race would be undispute masters of all the seas of earth. Spain is in a fit of loyalty because the Queen has offered to surrender the Koya property, valued at six millions sterling, o the nation. The gift at first sight looks a regal one, but Queen Isabella is Bourbon, and a little consideration has g re ™v diminished the appearance of liberality. 1 e property consists of great estates, fores s, and palaces scattered over Spain, some of which belong to the family, many moie o the Crown, and most to the nation, we

t«one produce any income. Her Majesty arved all the residences she pewonkf £ kM an d ito ß be paid one-fourth of the nrice as a first charge on the re- • Jpr Supposing therefore the calculaTe Queen will get a million 2d ahalf instead of nothing which she «*s St and will give up only the possible we of her descendants making a profit S Xete" There W .till Xain » cl"»tce of a change of dynasty, lie balance of profit is decidedly with the Site ladv, Who by one and the same act Sees a ' reputation for generosity and a CU A curious history has been published by & ar of the proceedings as to the clerkpfwd by Mr. Leonard Edmund, i„ tU Patent o«ce and the Hoiise of Lords He f" ,eventeen years Reading Clerk and f!l k of Private Committees to the Lords, £1500 ft year. Also since 1833 he has wn Clerk of the Patents with £100 a year, [5 R lso since 185.1, Clerk to the Coramisoinners of Paints with £600,—drawing in M since 1851, an income of £2500 a year. T«t summer there was an inquiry into the oTtfl of his Patent Office accounts, and m T lv he resigned both the Patent Office HerMiips- refunded in September, it is d £7800 out of his private funds as the Emitted balance due to the office. The Commissioners appointed to investigate his accounts, Mr. Greenwood and Mr. W. M. Hindwarsh, QC., have since, it » said, rethat £9000 more is due by him to the Pitent Office. Lord Westbury filled up the smaller Patent clerkship by appointing Sf own son-in-law, Mr. C. k Carler ; the Wer one is still vacant. Mr. Edmunds «£al«o obliged, or thought himself obliged, to resign bis office as Beading Clerk to the Hou«e of Lords, but on doing so he applied for a pension, not on the ground of ill-health or superannuation, but on the ground that he is sixty-three years old, and has served the House" faithfully; the pension (£BOO a year) has been granted, and the vacant office conferred on the Lord Chancellor's second son, the Hon. Slingsby Bethell. Certainly there is something very odd about the transaction. A man compelled to resign by the public censure in which his conduct is held should at least, one would suppose, have his pension sequestered till his accounts have been finally set straight. At least that was said to be Lord Westbury's decision last month in the case of a recent defaulting official asignee of the Bankruptcy Court. Can it make a difference that in this case the defaulter has made room both for a son-in-law and a son ? Sir John Pakington's motion for a committee to consider the advisability of putting the Board of Education under a single responsible Minister in the Commons, and of extending the benefits of the Board so reorganized to the whole people of England, has been discussed with great ability in the ; House of Commons, and reluctantly assented ; to by the Government. The argument against the present loose constitution of the : Board, with a head in the House of Lords : where no money-grant can be allowed, and , a Vice-President in the Commons who ! throws the responsibility of every great step , on the Minister iu the Lords, was unanswer- ' able. As to the second object of the com- \ mission, the discussion chiefly turned on Mr. \ Walter's proposal to aid any school which j satisfies Her Majesty's Inspectors in every , respect,—of course, not merely in respect of , teaching, but in respect of the discharge of j the teachers' and managers' duties as a whole i —that it deserves aid. Mr. Lowe made an j able and rather angry speech against this step, and in favour of the certificate for j schoolmasters as the only satisfactory gua- ( ran tee of good teaching. We confess we , think the best proof of the teaching is in , the effect on the school, and if that be good ; we may be sure the teacher has the power to ' teach. As a matter of fact the cram-school- < masters are often the least adequate to their j task. i

The Austrian Government seems unable to treat its Reichsrath in the Prussian fashion. The Lower Chamber demands reductions, and the Government, after a great many attempts to obtain better terms, has at last consented to a reduction of two millions sterling. It appears, however, a condition that the Chamber shall vote the budget of 1866, to which that body does not appear greatly disposed to accede. The Emperor is apparently afraid that in coming to extremities with the Chamber, he Eaa y be forced to rely solely upon military repression, which, besides being distasteful, is unbearably expensive.

Mr. Guinness, the porter brewer of Dublin, has done a princely thing. St. Patrick's Cathedra], the great Protestant Church of Ireland,ha.s been for many years ina ruinous, and, indeed, dangerous condition. The very floor had ri«en, and the walla threatened to tall in. Mr. Guinneßß has restored it perfectly, at an expense of £150,000, with all the internal fittiugs necessary to a place of worship. The rebuilding, which has occupied four yearn, has been entirely superintended by himself, the principle followed being restoration with as little change as possible. The restored edifice was re-opened on rriday week, was attended by the Lordlieutenant, eight bishops, the representatives °t the Order of St. Patrick, many peers, and m °fst oi the more prominent citizens, by everybody, in short, who ought to have done e work they left the great brewer to do. will nobody imitate Mr. Guinness in York, 7 *v e glorious Minster, and endow Dean Chapter with money enough to bribe err > to pull down their discreditable gates the paltry sixpences the gates assist them to collect? nfli rrne< J »n Calcutta correspondence the 2<srd January, that the local Governent intend to propose to Sir Charles Wood i oan ol £10,000,000 sterling. Debts have , t e , e ". f )a 'd °ft'» it is said, too rapidly, and the Daiances" have sunk to £10,280,000 gauiHt £10,818,000 in 1862. This is less an three months' expenditure, and certainly 'i I'l/i lat Treasury is sailing del ° eloHe t() ttie win(l - keying off -in 8 at l ,ar ' a or^er to ra i ße the same DeXt eUr ver y profitable Or!'-? i )Cal . tax . ehi e °H««ted throughout whi 'l / ltain ' i fK! l U( 'i"g harbour dues, '/' °* ( '«urse, are paid ultimately by tn °* imported articles, amount tirm . Taking the imperial taxarnu. | l £(,H '°°oooo, we have a burden in hen!! llU ,!'' bm of £*5,000,000 ; £2 lGs per Tl !' r )er per annum, bpf..,"' < )" iL, ' rt> ' ' Jet \veen Spain and Peru has the r i t ' lo o l )u blic agreeing to pay iuiK i!'? Mm*™ sterling, whicn ti'ion n ra ' st 'd by a further mortgage ovciii 16 1 *" ano It is said that the ( iai'ii' 7, ' though Spain has some real about*';* un l )l( ' as: mt air of filibustering > lead to a confederation among

the South American Republics, probably draw closer the bonds between them and the great Republic in the North.

The London Committee for conducting the Local Examinations for the University of Cambridge have expressed their hearty approval of the plan for testing by its means the education of girls as well as boys. They have resolved "That this Committee approves the application made to the University for the admission of girls to the local examinations, and will be disposed to assist in carrying out at the London centre any scheme which the University may approve for this extension of the scope of those examinations." The Liverpool committee have, we regret to say, protested in a series of rather foolish and ignorant resolutions, which are entirely grounded on a true but inapplicable idea that the curriculum of ordinary girls' education should not be the same as that of ordinary boys. Doubtless; but the Cambridge Local Examinations prescribe no I curriculum at all, they give a large choice of alternative subjects, and onlv profess to test the thoroughness with which those selected by the candidates have been studied. The respectable persons who signed this protest might as well find fault with the War Department for testing different sized guns together, on the ground that tLey are not qualified for the same services.

Mr. Highland Garnett, a negro preacher, delivered a sermon, by request, in tne House of Representatives at Washington, on Sunday, the 12th Feb. With negro barristers practising in the Supreme Court, and negro preachers invited to address the RepresentaI tive Assembly, we may consider the caste feeling in the North to be on a fair way to destruction. The President, personally, has done much in setting the example. On New Tear's Day, when exhausted by two hours' hand-shaking with his white visitors, the coloured people, doubtful of their reception, crept into his room, he is said to have brightened up so suddenly, and received them with such hearty cordiality as to intoxicate them with joy. They laughed and wept with delight, exclaiming, " God bless Abraham Lincoln!" while many of the upper ten thousand were heard showering curses on the President in the street for regarding the negroes as his fellow citizens and fellow men.

The Liberal party ought to win Wallingford at the next election, if they do not nrreck themselves by dividing their forces. Mr. Malins, Q.C., the present Tory represeuative of that little borough, can scarcely be laid to be a very useful member of Parlianent on any but legal subjects, and on some, ike the currency, he is just a little of a »oose. There are at present two liberal canlidates canvassing the borough, Mr. Gk W. Hastings, the Secretary of the Social Science Association, and an able lawyer as well as a thoughtful man, and Sir Went worth Dilke, i well-known writer, but well known only for literary achievements. Mr. Hastings was the first in the field, and is in every way the fitter for the position. Moreover, he has invited his Liberal opponent to abide by the choice of a meeting of electors-—an invitation which Sir W. Dilke has, we understand, declined. If this be so, it is unfair conduct j both to his rival and his party. Mr. Hastings' speech to the electors was admirable,— in favour of a thoughtful extension of the franchise, so as to reach the working classes, without swamping the middle class; in favour of a gradual remission of the malt tax; in favour of the "conscience clause" in the Church-school controversy; and, in general, in favour of thinking Liberalism. Captain Osborn and the Geographical Society have not, we are happy to see, been cowed by the papers which affect to attach so much more value to life than the objects of life, into abandoning the Polar expedition. Eecently Mr. Markham read a long paper by the great German geographer Petermann on the proposed expedition. Dr. Petermann is in favour of the Spitzbergen route, while Captain Osborn prefers the route by Smith s Sound. Dr. Petermann believes that an solated Norse population will be found at ;he Pole. All the traditions of the Esquinaux show that an open sea is believed to jxist at the Pole, and if the remaining descendants of the northward migratory Norsemen be found there, they will have been living in complete isolation for generations back? The Times deprecates endangering life to settle such points as these, though no one deprecates the much greater waste of life in grinding needles, making artificial flowers, or mining gold, which is not wanted and depreciates the currency. A very sad boat accident occurred on the Thames at Erith, recently. The training ship Worcester, moored off Erith, has more than 100 cadets on board. The ship's barge and two boats went out to exercise the boys in sailing and rowing. The barge was a twelve-oared boat, twenty-eight feet l° n g> containing twenty-two boys, under the charge of John Cushman, the boatswain, evidently a very fine fellow. One of the lads lost his cap, and the boat was turned round to.piclc it up and the foresail loosened, when a puff of wind capsized her, and all the twenty-two little fellows with Oushman were thrown into the water. Some could swim, but many could not. One boy, Johnston, called out that he could swim well, and would save as many as he could, but probably the mast struck him, for he disappeared and was seen no more. Another lad, Denton, towards the shore helping two companions, but either one of them or some third boy grasped at him and overloaded him, for ail three sank together. The swimmers were very brave, but the non-swimmers not brave enough to drown quietly without endangering their friends. Probably that is the highest test of true courage. Cushman did wonders, and very nearly exhausted himseli. Boats from the shore and one of the other boats of the Worcester saved in all twelve out of the twenty-two. Ten were drowned. The Sanci diamond, winch once belonged to Charles the Bold, has been purchased by Sir Jamsetiee Jeejeebhoy, Parsee baronet and millionaire, for £20,000. The lewel is not a lucky one, and had he read its history, the fortunate son of the more lortunate bottle-collector would probably have avoided the purchase. . t The trial of Gregorio Mogni, the man who came forward to charge himself with the murder of Michael Harrington, at the Golden Anchor, has ended in a verdict of manslaughter. He was sen tenced to five years' penal servitudeasa warning to all men against the use of knives in a infUe. Pelizzioni, who is now lying under sentence of death for this murder, gave evidence at the trial, and it appears qu certain that he was himseli innocent ot the blow. The Home Secretary still waits lor a communication from ®f r ° n v K'^ s " enis difficult to believe that ® d t tence will bo only, commuted. 1 e did not stub anybody, that is clear, and an innocent

man sentenced to death should, when his innocence is made manifest,receive an instant as well as a full pardon. We deeply regret to note the departure of Lord Lyons from Washington, on the ground of ill-health, and the regret is not lessened by Earl Russell's selection of a successor. Washington is not the place for a second-rate man, and Sir F. Bruce, at Pekin, has certainly not proved himself a first-rate one. Is Sir Rutherford Alcock to go to Pekin P In the House of Commons, Lord Btanley commenced the exposure of what looks as if it might turn out to be one of those jobs which so often affect the fate of Governments—that, namely, in connection with the Patent Office, of which we gave some account last week. Sir Roundell Palmer and Mr. Gladstone stated what they knew of the matter, which was quite enough to bring Lord Westbury to his feet on the following night in the House of Lords. We need not repeat here the account of his statement criticised minutely in other columns. It called up Lord Derby, who strangely apologised for some hypothetical but singularly dishonest practices of which (as he had been informed) the defaulting Patent Clerk had been guilty; and various other lords, the Marquis of Bath, and the Duke of Montrose, and several more, explained how unreasonable it was to suppose that the committee appointed to consider this Reading Clerk's pension should inquire into the discreditable reasons alleged for his resignation of his post before granting him that pension. They evidently resented the idea that it was their duty to consider whether he deserved a pension or not. It has since come out that the scandal about the pension is not the only one connected with this gentleman's duties. It is stated with great appearance of precision that when Mr. Edmunds first accepted the Clerkship to the Patents, in 1833—the one at £400 a-year —he was pledged to pay £300 of it to Lord Brougham, (the then Chancellor) and his brother—£loo to Mr. Brougham £200 to keep down the interest of a mortgage of £5000 on the landed property of Lord Brougham. Of course, even if this be true, we know, as yet, nothing of the motive. Money may have been lent to Mr. Edmunds by the brothers on condition of receiving a portion of his salary by way of security. It is scarcely likely that so shrewd a man of the world as Lord Brougham should have mixed himself up with so small and yet disgraceful a job as this would be, if the payments made were payments for procuring Mr. Edmunds the place. It is singular, however, how every fresh glimpse into this affair discloses new suspicion of new mud.

The iron trade is oil the brink of a great calamity. There has existed for some time a kind of agreement between the iron-mas-ters and the puddlers that the men shall have as daily wages Is in the £1 of the price,—if that is £8, they will have Bs, and aud so on. Kecently, iron falling, the masters might have reduced, but waited until, being able to wait no longer, they made the reduction. The men generally yielded, but the puddlers of North Staffordshire refused and struck, relying on contributions from the trade generally. Thereupon, the masters, who also form a Union, threatened that unless the North Staffordshire men gave way, they would commence a general lockout. The Unions have in vain tried to induce the men to submit, and by the latest news received it appears that every forge in Great Britain and Wales will be closed, at a loss to the men of £120,000 per week in wages alone, and to the country of an amount frightful to contemplate. The action of the masters appears, at first sight, harsh, but the case i 8 very peculiar, the puddlers really dictating to the mass of the workers as well as to the employers, and using their power most determinately. We trust the quarrel will end in a combined committee; but Mr. Gladstone should look into the question of these strikes. He is the only member of the Cabinet not afraid to move, and the evil cannot be beyond remedy. Suppose we have an official arbitrator, to act as ex-officio chairman of the combined committee of each trade ? Its resolutions would then have a moral weight almost as effective as law.

The Record has published a sensation article, rather refreshing in the Sahara of its recent gritty dogmatism, on the Dean of Westminster's recent paper, published in Fraser'B Magazine, on " The Theology of the Nineteenth Century." The Record ends its review wif ii describing the substance ot that paper as sheer Infidelity, printing the last word in capital letters, and with a line to itself, like a spiritual telegram. The Record finds that Dr. Stanley holds the only articles of belief essential to religion to be " the moral attributes of God," and the " moral duties of men,"' that every thing beyond this belongs to theology, —that theology is produced by " human reasoning," and consists only of " the theories of thinking men." We read Dr. Stanley's paper without discovering this wonderful conclusion of the Record. Theology is the knowledge offered us by God of himself, and is, of course, independent of our powers of apprehension ; but Dr. Stanley differs from the Record in thinking that undeveloped or unexerted powers of apprehension may prevent us from seeing a light which " shines in darkness," while the Record thinks that too much developed and too earnestly exerted powers of apprehension will prevent us from seeing that light. The Record thinks that to open your eyes to discriminate anxiously every detail ot revelation, human and divine, is infidelity ; Dr. Stanley thinks that to close them to any such detail is infidelity. The Upper House of the Canadian Parliament has accepted the project of Federation by 45 to 15. This is satisfactory, but it is believed that the vote in the Lower House will be much less decisive; the French members voting as four to one against it. In New Brunswick, also, the opposition will be strong, and throughout the colonies there seems to be a feeling that the measure is a little too popular in Great Britain. It must be remembered, however, thut there are still many American sympathisers in the Canadas, and that Northerners of all grades dislike and distrust a scheme which renders the voluntary entrance of the colonies into the Union impracticable It is reported that the Home Secretary has advised the issue of a full pardon to Pellizzioni. After the verdict of the jury, declaring that Gregorio Mogni struck the blow which caused the death of Michael Harrington there was no other course possible, but it is strange how much obscurity still hangs over the affair. That Gregorio stabbed some one is quite clear, but that one of them was the deceased is only matter oi conjecture, and the positive testimony that Peliz/iioni was dragged off Harrington, and Harrington's own statement, when dying,

that he was the man, remain still unexplained. It is to be noticed that while the grand jury thought Gregorio the man, the petty jury who tried Pellizzioni, still adhere to their verdict. Our own impression is, that while Pelizzioni was innocent, the true facts of the case are, even yet, not known.

The Empress Eugene seems much inclined to play the part of the Empress Helena. She has addressed a circular to the Queens of Europe, asking their aid to rebuild, apparently by subscription, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The letter is a somewhat formal one, and terribly nineteenth-century in tone. The Empress advises a " universal subscription " for a grand structure to be built from a design selected by an " international jury " from " competitive plans " submitted by artists of all countries. In fact, the Church of the Sepulchre is to be built like a Great Exhibition—by competition and contract. Surely, if the work needs to be done, there are individuals or sovereigns ready to do it without asking alms from the whole world. Suppose Queen Christina, one of the richest women in Europe, builds the church as an expiatory offering ?

M. Duruy, Minister of Public Instruction in France, recently presented a report to the Emperor, advocating compulsory primary instruction. The Council condemned it, and wished to substitute a plan for more liberal instruction without compulsion. The Emperor sanctioned their plan, but allowed M. Duruy to print his in the Moniteur, though without the regular " seen and approved." The Council then published their order, which had been sanctioned, and M. Duruy, finding himself reduced to a reporting clerk, resigned. His resignation, however, was not accepted, and he will probably return. The incident is of moment, because the Emperor is known to be personally favourable to the broad scheme, and the priests are wild with terror lest he should carry it out, and break up their power for ever.

M. de Sartiges, French Ambassador at Rome, has formally recommended the Pope to raise an army. The Pope has, as formally, refused, declaring that the Italian Convention is a nullity, and that he trusts in Providence. He has also issued an invitation to the jubilee in which he asserts that the Pope " has authority to speak to the whole Church, and the man who listens not is declared by himself no longer to belong to the Church, no longer to be a member of the fold of Christ, and, as a consequence, no longer to have a right to the eternal inheritance of Heaven." We hear, on authority not often mistaken, that the Pope wishes to summon to a Council all the Bishops of the Catholic world solemnly to confirm the Encyclical. The Papacy has survived a good deal, and perhaps may even survive silliness; but we doubt if a new Alexander Borgia would be so formidable to it as this Hildebrand in slippers.

Mr. White asked Lord Palmerston whether he intended to conciliate the Brazilian Government by repealing the Aberdeen Act, which gives us the power to condemn Brazilian slavers. The Premier, we are happy to perceive, was most distinct in his reply. He should not propose to repeal the Act, for without it the slave-trade would be resumed to an unlimited extent. Brazil, for instance, could support millions of slaves. It was, of course, to be expected that the advocates of slavery would be busiest just when their dearly loved system was giving way, but we should like to know how Mr. White comes to be enrolled among them. Does he approve the slave trade ? Because, in that case, the artizans of Brighton who return him will, perhaps, remember that he thinks it right or indifferent to make workmen work under the lash without wages.

Lord E. Montagu's Bill for preventing the pollution of rivers was withdrawn after an instructive debate. It was admitted on all hands that the state of the English rivers is becoming frightful, pollutions of every description being poured into them, but this bill would have embarrassed the whole trade of the country, and created a new taxing machinery. Inspectors under it would have had power to stop any works which injured a river, and then tax the neighbourhood for compensation. Part of the evil, no doubt, can be remedied; for, as Sir George Grey said, the moment the people are convinced that sewage is profitable, sewage will cease to be thrown away. But the use of the streams to carry off the refuse of mills and mines is too great and too difficult to replace to be lightly attacked or abandoned. The question is not, as Mr. Bright argued, one between industry and angling, but even health must sometimes give way to other considerations.

Mr. Lonsdale, the other day, preached a sermon in the Temple Church, to prove that the English of the nineteenth century are one of the most brutal races that ever existed. Allowing always for the million or two of Englishmen whom religion, and education, aud the police-court, and the hunger for money have partially civilized, it is not certain that he was wrong. On the 17th September a pitman of Spen, Durham, returning home drunk, found no supper ready, and began beating his wife. He continued that amusement, varying his instrument occasionally, for nearly an hour and a half, slowly beating the woman to death with the poker, and tongs, and hearth-brush, and fireshovel. He was drunk, but other pitmen heard him doing it, saw him doing it, knew he was killing the woman, and remonstrated, but never interfered. One man sat and watched him, another smoked a pipe with him by the dead body. They were afraid they said, but it would not be very safe to tell them so, and the truth was they thought the man had a right to beat his wife, and if he killed her that was his look-out. Meanwhile they enjoyed the excitement as they will enjoy seeing Atkinson hanged; feeling, like all other savages, pleased with the "cruddle" of the blood, produced even in savages by human suffering. What an iniquity it would be to make these men send their children to school, under a penalty of a fine for every day they were absent ? The Marquis de Boissy has begun exhibiting himself in the French Senate again. His last utterance was a hope that the North and South would fight on till they destroyed each other; for, if they make peace, the French army in Mexico would be made prisoners. His silly virulence exaggerates, however, an uneasiness really felt in France. It is said that General Bazaine has been defeated by the tTuarists at Oajaca, that the Liberals are rising everywhere, and that the Emperor Maximilian has demanded reinforcements from France. These are rumours, but it is certain that the Government is annoyed by the most recent advices from Mexico.

Mr. Edward Senior, the brother of Mr. Nassau Senior, so well known for his notes

of foreign dialogue and poor-law commis- J sioni in Dublin, has followed his brother speedily to the grave. His end was a terrible one, being killed while crossing the G-alway railway near Phoenix Park, Dublin. He was only 58 years old. It seems that he was in the habit of walking home to his house, Ashtown Lodge, through the park, and of crossing the railway at a level crossing. The policeman on duty frequently remonstrated with him for crossing when 'a train was in sight, and he wrote to the directors to complain of this annoyance, saying that being warned he accepted the responsibility of passing, and desired not to be worried about it. He was, notwithstanding, earnestly warned on this occasion, and again accepted a responsibility of which he did not know the extent. There is something very irritating in the abstract rule which keeps you, if a train is in sight, however far off, waiting to cross for about the time in which you could pass twenty such distances, and no doubt il the irritation occurred daily it would lead one into rash practical protests against such a law. Mr. Edward Senior was an able and thoughtful writer, though less familiar to the world than his brother.

A prospectus has been issued of the South African Land and Finance Company, with a capital of £500,000, first i.<-sue oeing to the extent of £250,000, in 10,000 shares of £25 each. The company has been established to assist in developing the resources of South Africa, the directors have provisionally agreed to purchase certain valuable lands in the Eastern Province of Cape Colony and in the Orange River Free State. The eastern portion of the Cape Colony produces annually a large quantity of wool, whilst the cultivation of sugar and arrowroot is steadily on the increase. Mr. C. W. Matthews, who has had considerable experience in agricultural matters, will be appointed a member of the local board as managing director.

The Wallachian Petroleum Company, which was formed in February last year, and which is now, as far as the production of crude oil is concerned, in efficient working order, has announced a further issue of 4000 preference shares of £10 each, entitling the holder to a preferential dividend of 7£ per cent, out of first profits, with rateable participation in further profits. The object the directors have in view in issuing these shares is to erect a refining establishment at or near Ibraila, so as to extend the business of the company to refined oil, on the sale of which they will realize a greater profit than in merely confining their operations to the sale of crude oil.

Lord West bury read the Privy Council's judgment (drawn up by Lord Kingsdown) in the Bishop of Natal's case, deciding that neither the patent of the metropolitan Bishop of Cape i own nor the patent of the Bishop of Natal could convey any legal jurisdiction, because both colonies had received representative institutions at the time of the grant of these patents, and the mere prerogative of the Crown would not extend to establish any new ecclesiastical court in colonies so situated. In a Crown colony proper the Queen's patent might effect this, but not in one where that prerogative has already been given away or limited by free colonial institutions. The judgment absolutely puts an end to the dream of some ecclesiastical parties that the Queen is head of the Church in a different sense from that in which she is head of the State, and that to recognize the Queen's authority is not to recognize the authority of Parliament over the Church. It affirms in the strongest way that her ecclesiastical authority and her secular authority are alike limited by the Legislature. The Bishops of Capetown and Natal are therefore the "baseless fabrics of a vision." Dr. Colenso is a bishop in the abstract, and Dr. Gray is a metropolitan in the abstract, but no clergyman in the diocese of either is in any way subject to their authority. If a clergyman lives a disgraceful life, or even sacrifices to idols, no one can punish him but the societies who pay his income— by withdrawing it. If the two episcopal abstractions resigned together their ineffectual patents, they would only throw off a titular authority which it is scarcely manly to attempt to keep.

The House of Commons decided, by a vote of 275 to 40, that Great Britain would do its duty, whether the United States liked it or not, and that if Canada were invaded, Canada would be defended, by land as well as by sea. The debate was nominally about a grant of £50,000 for the fortifications of Quebec, but really about the propriety of defending Canada at all. The Opposition was led by Mr. G. W. P. Bentinck, who simply resisted the grant for fortifications, but those who wished to desert Canada ranged themselves behind him, and showed their hands so completely that the stout old Tory,—who is wrong-headed, but not exactly the man to hand his household over to burglars for fear he should get hurt,—refused to vote for his own motion, and left the doctrinaires to vote by themselves. Lord Palmerston and Mr. Cardwell were both clear as to the necessity of defending Canada by land; those who resisted allowed, for the sake of their seats, that we must fight by sea, and all parties united in deprecating the idea that England was hostile to the United States. Mr. Disraeli was emphatic as to the duty of the country, and showed, amidst constant cheering, that the " impossibility of defending Canada" existed only in the imagination of men who did not wish to defend it.

The Queen has formally recognized the Emperor Maximilian.

The Prussian Ministry is playing with edged tools. The Minister of War, Herr von Boon, on the 21st instant, tried to convince the Deputies that a great army was essential to Prussia, and as one argument pointed to the danger from France. " I do, not believe," he said, "that it is the intention of the Emperor of the French to declare war against us either to-morrow or the next day or even at any early period, but he will do so as soon as nis interests demand such a course." In other words, the Emperor Napoleon is an unscrupulous person against whom Prussia must arm. That may be very true, but the etiquette which prohibits statesmen from abusing each other is of political value, and the Court which indulges in language of this kind will soon find itself sent to Coventry. It is possible to carry frankness to brutality, and Prussia will probably find that Bonapartes are not safe people to treat in the Prussian official style.

The Berlin correspondent of The Times hints that an arrangement may shortly be made under which Archduke "Waldemar, third son of the Emperor Alexander, may be declared heir to the throne of Bussia. The Ceaarewitch is very ill, and the second son is said to be " not strong," which means, we presume, incompetent to a really difficult task. Bad news, if true, for the royal family

of Denmark, if not for the little kingdom itself, as the Ceßarewitch is betrothed to the sister of the Princess of Wales.

The lock-out was introduced into the House of Commons by Mr. Hennessy, who ventilated an idea common among the work-ing-men, that the masters' combination was illegal. It was, he suggested, not a combination to reduce wages, but a conspiracy to injure others. Mr. Hennessy's law, we suspect, is not worth much, as he would have to prove an intention to injure particular persons, which is scarcely proveable, but the feature of the discussion was the nttiturlo of Sir Georgo Grey. The Home Secretary was in the greatest possible fright lest anybody should say anything, remonstrated against the discussion of the subject, and ardently hoped Mr. Hennessy's very mild speech would not produce mischief. Does Sir George Grey really hope to keep the conflict between capital and labour out of Parliament ? If he does, he does not see far into the future of this country. The only effect of all this reticence is to convince the working men that Parliament cares nothing about them. What with silence on foreign questions, and caution on colonial questions, and hushes on questions of labour, the principal duty of the House seems to be to hold its tongue with a will.

It has been suggested this week that there may be reservoirs of petroleum easily accessible to Englishmen, but not yet worked. One of them is the island of Zante, where small exudations have been repeatedly noticed, among others by Professor Ansted, who thinks petroleum might be found there. The other is the county of Shropshire, where, says Mr. T. P. Blunt, of Shrewsbury, there are several bituminous springs answering closely in character to those found in Oil Creek Yalley. Considering that a good well of this oil may be worth half a million, it might be worth while to try the experiment of sinking one.

While Cambridge passed the proposition to include an examination for girls in the Local Examination scheme by a majority of 56 to 51, the Hebdomadal Board at Oxford have, we regret to say, rejected it by a majority of ten to eight, two or three not voting, who, if they had voted at all, would have voted with the majority. It is said that the silly Liverpool memorial, the blunders of which we explained a few weeks ago, weighed strongly with the majority, and that Dr. Pusey further gained votes by a statement that at Cambridge the defeated minority alone were in earnest, while the majority voted the scheme as an excellent joke. Of course Dr. Pusey's information was derived from the minority and not from the majority, and its authority is about of as much weight as a controversial imputation of Tertullian's. But for the present it stands written that Oxford thinks it immaterial that what girls are taught at all they should be taught well.

A case is going on in Glasgow which we mention chiefly because it may suddenly become interesting. Dr. Pritchard, a very skilful surgeon of that city, has been arrested on suspicion of having poisoned his wife and her mother. The suspicions seem to originate with a doctor who attended both, and who obviously believes in foul play, but they are as yet unsupported by any facts, except a statement by independent surgeons that there was no appearance of natural disease in the two bodies. The contents of the stomachs have been examined, but the result has not been made known. Meanwhile, Dr. Pritchard, who strongly denies any foul play, has been committed to prison, and the Scotch papers affirm a liaison between him and the housemaid, and state that three years ago a fire in Dr. Pritchard's house, in which a female servant was burnt, excited the attention of the police. Dr. Pritchard's character seems to be entirely in his favour.

The Edmunds scandal has not developed any very new phase, but some of the papers have got hold of and published Mr. Edmunds' own statement as to the part of the affair which affects his connection with Lord Brougham and his brothers. That statement is far from clear. It appears that money was lent on mortgage to Lord Brougham and his brother James, in 1811, by a Miss Robinson, and that when the money was called in, in 1827, the trustees under the will of the father of Mr. Leonard Edmunds lent the amount to Lord Brougham and his brother, receiving an assignment of the mortgageas their security. The interest on this mortgage appears to have been paid by James Brougham till the year 1830, but from that date till Mr. Edmunds received the Patent-Office clerkship, in 1833, he received, he says, no interest, but advanced to his sisters their share out of his own funds, —for he was for some time previous to 1833 Pursebearer and Secretary to the Chancellor, Lord Brougham. In 1833 he received this Patent clerkship, on the understanding that its salary to be was chiefly devoted to paying the interest of this mortgage; and that it was, in fact, an equivalent for it. James Brougham died in 1833, and his brother William renewed the arrangement, which went on till last autumn. After the troubles at the Patent Office, Lord Cranworth looked into the matter on behalf both of Mr. Edmunds and Lord Brougham, and held that Lord Brougham received no Sarfc of the £5000, which went to his brother ames, and that he knew nothing of the resulting transaction, but that he is, of course, liable for the principal sum of £5000. Other witnesses appear to assert that Lord Brougham did know to what purpose the income of this clerkship was devoted. Mr. Edmunds, however, gives no sort of reason why he should have acquiesced in so strange and unprofitable an arrangement as paying interest due on a mortgage to his own family out of his own official salary. For him, at all events, the case looks bad enough.

Lord Clarendon has introduced a Bill for carrying out the recommendations of the Public Schools Commission. The gist of the Bill is to make suck alterations in the governing body of each school as shall secure its efficiency, and then invest that body with nearly absolute power. The mode adopted is to provide that part, usually a fourth, of their number shall be appointed by the Crown, and another part by the governing body itself, which shall be required to choose either successful masters in the school or persons of high literary or scientific eminence. The details differ in each school, but at Eton the Provost will be appointed by the Crown, and of the fourteen fellows one, the Provost of King's, will sit ex officio, three will be selected by the Crown, and five will be appointed by the fellows. These five must be resident, and will receive £700 a year each. The fellows may alter any statutes they please, abolish any mastership except the head, and make any by-laws whatever for the regulation of the schools, subject always to the consent of the Crown. In fact, the schools are placed substantially usder the Education Committee of the Privy Council.