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Bruce Herald, Volume VI, Issue 400, 3 January 1872, Page 7

An Alabama newspaper speaks of a coloured orator there having; "dislocated his shnnlrier in a peroration." Old Advertisements. — The earliest advertising newspaper published in England sect.is to have been a parliamentary organ called ' Mercurius Politicus.' Still earlier in date is the ' Weekly News, 1 published in 1662, but without advertisements. ' Mercurius Poliricus ' is a faithful reflex of the times; its advertisements from 1652 down to the Restoration, when it chaaged its name to ' Mercurius Publicus,' have a strong" flavor of Puritanism about them : we can trace the influence of Cromwell and his friends in almost every line. The books and pamphlets advertised have all an unmistakable savour. Such attractive titles as " A. few Sighs from Hell " and " Gospel Marrow " meet us at every turn. In September, 1659, occurs this advertisement, which is thoroughly characteristic of the times : — v Considerations touching- The likeliest means to remove Hirelings out of the Church ; wherein is also discours'd of Tithes, Church Pees, Church. Revenues, and whether any maintenance of Ministers can be settled by law, 'I be author, J. M Sold by Livewell Chapman, at the Crown in Pope's Head Alley." We doubt if any of our readers, even in these days of Cilurch reform, would care to wade through this fo'-midaMe treatise ; and yet the initials of the author are those of no ignoble scribbler; the author of the f< Considerations " was also the author of <• Coraus " and " Paradise Lost." The publishers name which frequently occurs at tlftrend of these pamphlets is of the rrue blue Puritan kind, it became the fashion at this time to assume such names as "Live.yell," "Praise-God," " jfisrliti the good-fight-of- faith," &c.,to distinguish more clearly the godly from the followers of that lt Man of Sin," as King Charles was charitably styled. Was it a piece of srrim pleasantry on the part of worthy Master Livewell Chapman that he pitched hi-* tent in "Pope's Head Alley?" The address is interesting as reminding us that every shop or place of business had irs sign instead of its number. Thus we find that infcrma'ion about runaway servants is to be £ruento"One Hopkins, a shoemaker, next door to the Vine Tavern, near the Pal- Mall end, near Charing Cross ;" and to "Mr Malpass, leatherseller, at rhe Green Dragon, at the upper end of Laurence Lane," Great numbers of advertisements for runaway servants and apprentices appear in the pages of ' Mercurius Politicks ' — a fact which shows that." the greatest plague in life" is not an invention of modern times. It would appear that patent medicines were popular two hundred years ago, although the mighty names of Parr and Holloway were not yet known. In 1660 we read of one Mr Theophilus Duckworth, who, " at his house on Mile-end Green " (a pleasant country-place in those days), " doth make and expose to sale, for the public good, thpSß so famous lozenges or Pectorals approved for the cure of consumption, coughs catarrhs, asthma, strongness of breath, colds iii general, and a sovereign antidote; against the plague." Doubtless Master Rnckworth was a cunning distiller of simples, and could mix a beauty-draught or compose a philtre for any foolish young dame who 'sought his counsel. He seems to have been also the prototype of "The Mothers' Friend." as 'we find him advertising " Small bags to hang about children*', necks, which' are excellent both for the! prevention and cure of the rickets, and to! ease children in breeding ol teeth."— * Churchman's Shilling Magazine.

The New 16-Pounder.— -After the fight was over on Tuesday week, General Blumenthal and others of the foreign officers at the Autumn Campaign made a careful inspection of the new 16-pounder gun, seeing it unlimbered and worked in ! everyway. There were exclamations of high approval of the piece, its carriage, and the handling of the eight-horse team as the gun was turned sharply to and fro at a trot, taken through narrow openings and over ditches. The piece itself weighs about llcwt. 3qrs M or lcwt. 3qrs. less than the old smooth-bore 9-pounder, with which even some Horse Artillery batteries were armed in the Crimea, and yet is of much greater power. Tt was really useless to fire the 9-ponnder at ranges above 1600 yards, or at most 1800. The 16 pounder sends its projectile of nearly twice the weight 4000 yards with great accuracy, and with an elevation of only lldeg. 22tnin., time of flight not quite 14 seconds. The gun on its carriage, with 28 rounds of ammunition, weighs but little more than the old 9-pnunder, and considerably less than the old 24-pounder howitzer, two of which formed part, of each 9-ponnder battery. Thh force of the 16-pounder projectile is greats for the velocity is high and elongated projectiles strike hard. It has also bewn found to give extraordinary results in accuracy when loaded with small charges and elevated like a mortar, so that men are not safe from it even in rifle-pits. The iron carriage is a vast improvement on the old woode.n one. and the seats on the axletree boxes enable five men altogether to be carried with the piece to work ie in action even when the waggons are left behind. As a muzzleloarier it has none of the complications necessary with breechloaders, both in gun and amrauni tion. Its accuracy is most remarkable. Its only fault is, that it is rather light for the charge fired, the result being that the recoil is great. But the strength of the carriage is so much in excess ot what is necessary, that there can be no harm in adjusting a break to the wheels if after trial the recoil is found to be inconvenient. It may be so in some cases, but, as a rule, recoil matters nothing to guns in the open Brutal Assault by a Clergyman — There are two items of crime committed by persons occupying opposite stations in the social ladder. At Harlow, on Saturday, Mr James B»ss Mullinger, M. A., a distinguished CambriHgeraan, and the son of a retired gentleman, was charged with the attempt to murder Mrs Fred Flaslam, ofTuffnell Park. Mr« Haslara was on a visic to a relative at Has'am, when the prisoner, who seemed to have been a mutual friend, arrived, and was askeil to stay to supper. He quarrelled with Mrs Haslam during that meal, who called him a coward for abusing her in her husband's absence. He then seized a knife and inflicted eighteen wounds in her throat, head j and hands. After doing this he walked quietly borne to his lodgings, where he was apprehended next morning in bed. When arrested he quietly asked — " How $s the poor lady this morning." He gave up his bloody cuffs and shirt to the police, saying — " He thought it would come to this," and that he was prepared for the worst. He is committed for trial. A. Brute of a Collier. — Now to take the other case. A collier, and not a minister is the delinquent in this cose. Bradley, a collier in the neighborhood of Bolton, Lancashire, had. some grudge 1 against bis wife. He locked the doors of the house, so that she could not escape, and then deliberately set a large bull-dog-to worry the unfortunate woman. The details of her struggle wuh the dog, while her husband looked placidly on, are most, heartrending. Her husband prevented her efforts at escape, and kept the dog to his quarry. Torn, bleeding, an;i exhausted, she At last managed to escape from the house, and her husband was given into custody. The woman was at one time not expected to live, and is yet very far from out of danger. Bradley's judges were, however, considerate, seeing that it was only his wife that he was maltreating, and sentenced him to six months'imprisonment. Many a .starving wretch has had to undergo as much for ill°gally trying to keep hody and soul together. Mullinger, 8.A., or Bradley, clergyman or collier, both committed for assaulting women. Will the punishment of the former be as trivial as that of the latter ? Not likely. He made the mistake of assaulting another man's wife and not bis own. Orthography op Modern Youth. — We have the authority of Dogberry for the statement that "to read and write come by nature ;" but it is evidently otherwise with spelling. The l National Education League ' gives, in its current issue, the following version of a familiar passage in the Church Catechism, as it appeared upon the slate of a youthful Churchman, after considerable wrestling with his pencil :— " My dootv tords my nabers to love him as thyself, and to do to all men as I wed thou shalt do to and to me, to love honor and suke my father and mother' to onor and bay the queen and all that are pet in a forty under to smii myself to all my goodness teaches sportial mastures and pastures to oughten myself lordly and Every to all my betters." Another youth, not in the same school, having been invited to state upon paper what il his godfathers and godmothers in his baptism had done for him,". took his pen and wrote down quickly : — " They did promise and voal three things, first' that I should pernounce of the devel and his walks pumps and" valities of this wicked warld and all the sinful arsts of the flesh." Readers accustomed to Sundayschool children will observe that these specimens are written phonetically, and they may perhaps <ret from them some notion of the moral value of a Catechism taught to be thus *• gabbled by heart." — ♦Echo.^ ; , ' ■■• j A man who bumps his head against that of liis neighbor isn't apt to think that two heads are better than one.