NOTES OF THE MONTH.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LI, Issue 5586, 20 January 1879, Page 6

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

r ■ ' .1: i. The Fariwoorrrepspdent- of Timet for* wards acurious listed the names circulated in ISIS from, the Central Police Office of Berlin as those of men politically dangerous and suspicious. Among them are Mazzini, the deceased Radical prophet; James Fazy, subsequently for 17 years Dictator of Genera, and in policy a Ceesarist; Karl Marx, now head of the International; Louis Blanc, now philanthropise Member of the Chamber; Herr Bluntschli, Heidelberg professor and devotes of Prince Bismarck’s ideas; Herr Bucher, permant Head of the German Foreign Office, and Prince Bismarck’s beat servant ; Count Karolyi, Austrian Ambassador in Berlin ; and M. Bratiano, Prime Minister of Boumania, and though an unscrupulous politician, certainly no agitator. Mazzini "and Karl Mux are the only two names about which the police showed any foresight at all, ’ and of these two, the first held views as to the fitting destiny of his peninsula which ate now part of the public law of Europe, while his country is ruled by a man bred in his ideas. Herr Bluntschli a Bismarckian, Herr Bucher a permanent official, S. Cairoli' a Premier ! —verily, Time must have a pleasure in jeering the political police. At a session in Banco on Saturday of the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, Lord Coleridge and Mr Justice Mellor decided that fox-hunters have no right to trespass on an estate from which they ate warned off ; and that the old doctrine that the pursuit of the fox is legal because beneficial to the country at large, as being the pursuit of vermin, does not apply. Every one faiows, said the Judges, that even if that doctrine were good law, the fox is not now pursued as vermin; and that in order to exterminate it as vermin, there is no occasion to take a great hunt over lands whose owner objects ; hence, the old doctrine, even if sound, is irrelevant. So the Somersetshire foxhunters who had been convicted and fined for an assault on a farmer who warned them off his land were, said the Judges, rightly convicted, and the appeal on the point of law was dismissed with costs. That is common-sense. Fox-hunting is, at least, not so sacred and holy an amusement, that it ought to be protected at common lair, and authorised to over-ride the usually idolised interests of property itself. The Prussians are learning one of the consequences of war. They thought the £200,000,000 taken from France would enrich them for ever, but the Boyal speech on Nov. 19 is devoted in great part to financial difficulties. The military contributions have increased, and the interest on the public debt, while all extraordinary resources have been exhausted, and retrenchment is almost impossible, unless important interests are neglected. There is, therefore, a total deficit of £3,500,000 for the ensuing year, which must be met ultimately by imposts, the Prussian Government adhering to its sound principles of finance. In tire present condition of trade, however, new imposts are most obnoxious to the people, who are, moreover, aware that the cause of the deficit is the evergrowing expenditure of the military department. As Prussia has scarcely any debt, the deficit is not financially formidable; but it deepens the prevailing discontent, and increases the direct authority of Parliament. Mr I. Mellor, M.P., in a speech last week at Ashton-under-Lyme, offered some explanation of the reason why our cotton cloth was being beaten out of the Indian market. It was, he said, the rascality of some of pur exporters, in adulterating the doth with 200 per cent of china clay. This was the sort of rascality which undermined the influenced our missionaries. The Hindoos did not believe in the religion of a people whose traders tried to cheat them by each fraudulent bargains. We ourselves have seen specimens of such cotton, and assuredly anyone who ever accepted such “ gummy ” rags, even as a present, with the intention of using them, would be only less foolish than the purchaser ot such rubbish. To attempt to sell such goods as cotton is hardly less dishonest than was the infamous sale of shoe* soled with brown paper to the wretched army of General Chanzy, during the Franco-German war of 1870. If the English traders are really identified to any senous extent with these commercial frauds, Englishmen deserve to lose their reputation as manufacturers and merchants in the East.

A decision has been given in Jersey which, if it were good law in England, would alter the position of every shareholder in an unlimited Bank j and in the ease of the Glasgow establishment, ruin the creditors or the long passed shareholders, and not the shareholders of to-day. Mr Godfrey, a shareholder in a Jersey Joint-Stock Bank which had failed, was sued for £320, the amount of the calls upon his shares. He resisted, pleading that he was no shareholder, inasmuch as the transaction which made him one was vitiated by fraud, the directors having declared the Bank solvent and prosperous, when in feet it was insolvent. The Court held that fraud was proved, that the transaction was vitiated, and that Mr Godfrey was no shareholder. He will, of course, be compelled to restore bis dividends, but that is all. We fear Scotch shareholders who may be comforted by the esse will find their plea barred by previous uficuioiw, bat the point is a curious one* M* Gambetta tuts made a mistake. The Chamber of Deputies is still slowly getting through the invalidations of elections, and on Monday the election of M.de Fourtou, tne reactionary Minister of the Interior, came I* l wear, from the evidence before w tr °? ufctee * *»> tad won the seat for xuoerac by corruption and intimidation, and ue scarcely, indeed, defended his conduct. Joe preferred to defend the Government of in » speech, described elsewhere, in , declared that he had been too i® t>s pressure on electors, and ®h»t a he had done his whole duty, you, the Deft, would not have been sitting there.” ” I» the coup d'Hat you mean P” exclaimed M. Houey d Anglas, and on M. do Fourtou’s Pv» Was there ever a question 1 ‘ “JP Wtatr' the whole Deft shouted «• Yes,” turne d timuita-

i_ _ii rtr «- tb© Due do S »***2 f ,^ t vli b . v M- erT Frenchman not of the JUd " a !,° ••that is » he!” shouted M. OKi it «ould seem, altogether OsmN'i';'- ’ n( \ though the word* were out of ,. !u '”: t M. de Fourtou challenged foro*^.'tTha, fought, both combatant* him. , In other words, rather escaping un * “ logT f or a momentary explotb»n mete » ris Ved a grand nnsforsion of '‘“I 1 ’ee and bound every Radical tune fo r „ Whenever any swashbuckler to “£° 0 f v a tal i? bad, LordChclms- * jhenew* rom >»tai hands fuU ford (General in th , witU *T«nd’ Natal begin to be suspicious intend a general massacre of th» f * Lord Chelmsford has accordingly tbc reinforcement of three regiment*. wque i v > not been sent, the Cabinet wanting Al bers for Northern India, where they a war, and it i. possible that Irilam i# in part unfounded. The Zulus, have certainly better weapon* than how- TCr - , ,j, ev advance, the Government tI U ! Lo arming the friendly tribe*, rather to They an > settlors: and if they have >« s* wdtheir own hands, that should be sound Sc! but thev need dark soldiers of a difT ’r».'o Would if be impossible to levy a {(K ' ?nt iii the Mauritius, where the Coolie* rCthe X«hudda Valley will fight well !r ; eh • or, as we have repeatedly suggested, ‘ V, ’ a penal native regiment, consisting or iSpn~»a p»»1j •«*■»*- ’ for Cape service ? They would want Shine but officers, and a guard-to act as "^rort-guard—of fifty European*. T’riroe Cliarles of Boumama opened hi* Cumbers on Nov. 27. in a speech in which, congratulating the country on it* indrnendenee and the acquisition of the Doband lamenting the cruel sacrifice* of wtf he states that the financial position Soumani* is better than before the war, “ j member* to devote themselves to internal improvement*. , ?e hopeii ttfipfflj j the communal law, establish rurar - i justices of the Peace and securing Abate' •ejpcasibilitr, affirm the irremovability of the Jad2», carrv further the reorganisation of the y-v-r ' and ’ complete the arterial railway This i* * large programme, and may be ail fulfilled; but it is as well to remem- : y- that the country in which snch proposal* b- entertained is a slice cut off from I-i t. in the teeth of English opposition ; union of Moldavia and Wallacbia was errosed as bitterly as the union of the Bulganow is; and that it is not 12 month* rice Prince Charles was denounced a* an adventurer, his people declared to be worthlf#f, and his soldiers cowards, all because they ventured to fight Turkey. But for the silly stipulation that the Prince must not belong to a reignina family, the Bulgarian might elect another iloheczollern, Prince Leopold, the candidate of 1870 for the throne of Spain. A meeting of the creditors of Messrs Smith, Fleming, and Co. was held on Nov. 28, and Mr Fleming was allowed to address them. He made some astounding statements. He declared that early in 1870 his firm had a capital of £400,000, but in a few months this was swept away, by the failure of their Liverpool correspondent*, and the severe depression caused by the FrancoGerman war. They could, however, have stopped, without great injury to anybody, aad propesed to do so ; bat the City of Glasgow Bank. to which they owed £148,000, full; secured, prevented them. The Bank carried them on* and other firms dependent on them knowing all the while, from monthly report* ; forwarded to the Directors, that they were in* solve-:. In June, IS7S, the firm owed the 1 Ra-V £1.5(0,C00 more than they could pay, and were quite aware that nothing short of some enormous good fortune could over enable ■ them to clear themselves. They represented J the exact state of their affaire to the Bank, ' but the Bank, through Mr Stronoch, would 1 not allow them to stop, but went on advanc- ! inj. Mr Fleming considered that, with, the ■ enormous debt to the Bank, the firm had become its servants, and were not entitled to ’ stop without its consent. Of course a state- * ment like this must be investigated, bat Mr 1 Fleming stood & severe cross-examination by * Mr Abrahams, the creditors believed him, and the estate is to be liquidated by arrangement, instead of being thrown into bankruptcy. ! The art world has been interested iW week 1 In a libel case. Mr Buskin does not like ! those formless sketches, looking like picture* 1 seen through darkness or fog, which Mr ' Whistler calls “ Nocturnes,” “ Symphonies,” 1 and the like ; and in a number of the “ For* Qavigera” Mr Baskin said so, in his own way. He Warned the Grosrenor Gallery for ' admitting work in “which the ill-educated : conceit of the artist so nearly approached the ' aspect of wilful imposture'” fie had seen much of Cockney impudence, “ but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask 200 guineas for n pot of paint in the public’s face.” Of course the witnesses—all artists—were oppose ;o one another, the Judges facetious, anu tue ;ury perplexed; but in the end, the aggr.'/*c: piir.ter obtained his verdict and a If 1 "”"-? r* ~ i e e# » the jtuy apparently thinking tL - V-ds true, but still illegal. We r l4 -, r --yit Mr Whistler Las succeeded £\ J- - -''l' Buskin’- opinion—formerly . ; * : rs Clavigera,” which is not v.', * ■' v -’' “utvrs —before every piclure- '* while his own character a? 1,; “ J - 15 that of a genius eccentric J ,7 £; :'remains unaffected. Buitca writes a very amusing F‘F r ’ Animal World for December, v ~. ■; -•-'■'“hi'-tof acclimatising parrots and . "'~ ar ; atl^rn P t ' made by his father, t Charles Buxton —and it does not appi-ar inat climate is a difficulty. “ They !! ! : e be---rful in winter as in summer, • »<• —Ur,.' never been able to trace morv to cold. They really die, I fear, a V l . * ~ death. A high wind, thets.ruvtiie gun, destroying hawk, and pos‘■;.i ■■-rvu’.io.'j when lost, make havoc in Hut the killing-down of parrots >i no>r.t deaths cannot be peculiar to £ngitt'-- 'hit real reason seems to be that, for f°‘ ! - r the cockatoos and parrots do not reeu edy in England, though such of them ar.ought here lire out their individual : _ v <s, ” properly protected. If they bred as iif-i br-e<l in the tropics, they would not be - 1 ; o:,t such causes as hawks, high and ignorant gamekeepers. But for soiue reason or other, the change of place funui unfavourable to the multiplication of - eir Mr Buxton’s paper is full of humour, and his description of the demeanour of two “ Amazon parrots,” who were the 'mo r of all the other birds, and not only got all tu<; seed to themselves, but were not even u hurry to devour it, but cared for their ‘‘‘fi'.-tmn as much at least as they cared for ut teed, must surely be intended as a parable w 'm.ftTi’s rights. The Amazon parrot* eared for nobody,” though “ everybody turi.d f or them, and were mortally afraid of ‘i.-ir beaks.” It <rjil be much tile same with lUf ‘ Amazon politicians. lm.- Government, moved, it is believed, «tiieily by the legal difficulty of obtaining ,nom T bor T the Afghan war without a Parliamentary Vote, has summoned Parliament for M.' rn'Tv ltlßbelicvcd that lhe Houses will 1.-. A ~ <} ’ wbcn *-hey will adjourn to the m tiinp of meeting—the second week in • oruury —and that the only topic will be our j J ln Central Asia. The debates will bo t; ,!”r- lUI i Pjohahly bitter, more especially in ar.,i l- e , r House, where Lords Beaconsfield v, J,, *“ tlr y will meet with Lords Lawrence, l)uk u '?, d Halifax, and we hope the , i opponents worthy of their > - .ami f at . better informed than themwii'A'V.. riil? whole policy of the Government Di-llwi L °i U n ll ed * ftnd * bc Ministers comuitj.., “■ ail e '’ents, to explain what their UmdAA' I,ur l>oies are, and how for they inU ie ,] 11 u "Ported on all sides that imv [ .d L ':r i , tO v SUmmoa Haidiament was the di J °. nI J afu,r fierce dchute, and that HTi..a‘ ' r v loi A r m tho Ca hinet are most ai, BHlvdenL M »u l - lcr . lus ’ howeve L as yet are not auitn eilg fi cnce > ®o secessions l wilhin 1,10 week, toldiary with 1 ’!' 16 " 1 ® oment ' th e Afghan «7. with every advantage of position,

and plenty of cannon, have done nothing. They have not displayed either skill, or perse vemnoe, or ordinary courage. Their want of pluck, indeed, has created an impression in England that they are either disheartened, or secretly favourable, or hopelessly disorganised, and it is broadly declared that “ the Afghan war is over.” That is too rapid a conclusion. It is probable that the first object* of tho expeditions—tho capture of Candahar, the Shaturgardan, the Jellalabad—will be accomplished almost without loss, but they are not yet achieved, and it is well to wait for the few remaining days. Tho swift retreat of the Afghans without resistance is nevertheless perplexing. We may dismiss the notion of a plot to draw the British on, for it is beyond Afghan strategy, and there is no evidence whatever of general disorganisation. The most probable explanation is tho Russian one—that Shore Ali has concentrated all his resources for the defence of his capital; but there is another which is reasonable. Tho discipline of the Afghans, which is quite now, has broken down. Shera Ali, in 1869, reorganised his army on the British plan, using Sepoys who had fled after the mutiny as drill-instructors, and his “ regulars ” find themselves only hampered by their now ways. If this is tho case, the Ameer will fight one great battle in the open, and hi* army will be destroyed, as every Asiatic force has been which has tried European tactics. This is a mere suggestion, but it is at least more probable than the sudden change of very brave men, who have been fighting successfully all their lives, into cowards. (From tte Pall Vail OoMtt*.) A discovery is reported by a newspaper of Chicago to have been made by a Mr otempel, of that city, which eclipses not only the electric light, but telephones, phonographs, and all the other wonderful inventions of the day. Mr Stempel proposes not only to light, but also to heat and furnish water power for the whole of the United States by one immense and magnificent scheme. His preposition is that the tides of the ocean can furnish a constant and unlimited power which can by friction be converted into any amount of electricity for the purpose Of creating light,* heat, and power for the use of man. He proposes to build, immense hoeios in theeca, in the. water of an inlet near, the shore, '"Where thereare high floods.'- 'Two Wolls are - Met to 'shut off the sea ;* the other a certain distance apurt, to divide the Met into two basins. Each wall will have a floodgate, through which, when open, the sea can Sow in. At high tide the floodgate nearest the land is shut. Six hours after, at ebb tide, the gate of the outer basin is closisd, and thus Mr Stempel will have one great basin full of water. Smaller gates in the wall of the first basin are then opened, and the water rushes through, turning as it runs a thousand turbine wheels, which in their turn keep in motion the electrical machines from which it is proposed to generate sufficient electricity to furnish the entire country with light, heat, and motive power. The cost will, it is estimated, not exceed2,ooo,ooo,ooodols.; and Mr Stempel proposes to bring the matter before Congress in it* next session, and urge npon the Democrats “to go in for this scheme, instead of paying the rebel debt and claims.”

Suggestions hare been made lately in several quarters that the creditors of the Glasgow City Bank, seeing that it is impossible to realise the full amount of their claims, should consent to accept 15s in the pound as a full discharge of all indebtedness. No doubt there is something to be said in favour of this plan. But a grave objection to it was stated in one of the morning papers the other day. It was there pointed out that the directors of the Caledonian Bank, which holds four shares in the City Bank, and whose liability is there* fore as unlimited as that of other share* holders, treat the claim upon its funds as altogether unimportant, and urge with manifest satisfaction that their institution srill not be called upon to pay more than £BOOO, or £2OOO per share on each of the shares so held. But the creditors may say, “ We have been' shamefully dealt with on account of the dereliction of duty by directors who were left unchecked by the shareholders. Private people we may, however, be inclined to relieve from a portion of the pressure, hut when another public bank holds shares in a concern where the liability is unlimited it must take the consequences.” The directors of the Caledonian Bank had better, perhaps, have reserved their explanations. A writer in the Figaro gives, apropos to the recent meeting between If. de Fourtou and If. Qambetta, a list of the principal political and other duels fought in France since the reign of Louis Philippe. Under the last of the Prench kings and under the second of the French Bepublics, the deputy Dulong was shot by General Bugeaud; Armand Carrel, editor of the National, by Emile de Oirardin, editor of the Preset; August Dupont, editor of the Echo de Vesoul, by Ghavoix, deputy for La Dordogne; and Aristide Ollivier, brother of the “light-hearted ’* Minister of that name, by M. de J , Legitimist representative of Le Gard. Under the Second Empire the Doc do Gramont da Caderousse killed Dillon, a contributor to Le Sport ; Henri de P«Sne, a contributor to the iiffaro, was very nearly killed by two French officers whom he fought in succession; Henry Eochefort was twice wounded in duels, of which one was fought with M. de Aldama, who considered that Rochefort had insulted the Queen of Spain; the second with Prince Achilla Murat, who had been made the subject of some offensive pleasantry; while Paul de Cassagnac fought, turn by turn, with Flourens, Bochefort, and Liesagaray. Since the fall ©f the empire, M. Paul de Cassagnac has fought M. Andrieux and M. Thompson; M. Laison has fought M. De la Bocbette; M. AUain Targ6 has fought M. Robert Mitchell; and M. Qambetta has fought M. de Fourtou. A strike of a peculiarly inconvenient character occurred the other day at Bombay. The barbers in the town, indignant at the imposition of a license tax, struck work, and several native gentlemen, whoso hands were unaccustomed to the use of the razor, found themselves, to their great disgust, compelled to remain unshared for the day. A deputation of about 200 barbers subsequently waited upon the special officer to represent their grievances. They were informed by that functionary that the Government was not to be overawed by their menacing conduct; the officer also pointed out to them that they had no real ground for complaint, as all persons earning more than 100 rupees per annum were now liable to the tax, which formerly was only imposed on those whoso yearly income was over 200 rupees. The barbers appeared to be somewhat mollified by this explanation, but two davs later seventeen of them were charged before the Chief Presidency Magistrate with being members of an unlawful assembly on a public road. The prisoners,it seemed, had followed a “knobstick” barber, by name Mahatara Koojco, who was proceeding to the house of a Hindoo gentleman for tho purpose of shaving the owner, and threatened to thrash and outcaste him if he performed tho operation. Fifteen of the prisoners were convicted, one of them, the ringleader, being sentenced to imprisonment for six weeks, and the others to one month each. They were also bound over to keep tiio peace towards the complainant in a sum of SO rupees each. There are several anecdotes told about the attempt at Naples. One is that Signor Calroli, who according to etiquette should not have sat opposite tho King when the young Prince was present, mode the mistake on getting into tho carriage, and when he found it out wished to change; but the King said bo might as well stay where he was ; and so by an accident ho was able to seize the assassin. The mistake seems too happy, however, to have been altogether casual. Another story is that the King said, when he reached tno palace, “ It is only a scratch ; I am good for another man yet.” A good deal has been sal about the young prince showing “ the indomitable courage of his race whereas ho probably understood very little of wm going on, though ho showed a natural cml i _ eagerness when with all ceremony the found on Passanant© was shown bun ior identification, by crying out, U ( i u (that’s the one), while every one else was maintaining it could not be the due. Queen, it seems, did show wonderful co ag .

Perhaps if Her Majesty, like mony other people, know that tfio attempt was to be maoo, it was a relief to know it was over. An article in the Norik German Ornette. of which a telegraphic suranmrv ha* appeared in tho English papers, should bo rend in connociion with rocont news front tho Soutii Pacific. According to tho Berlin journal, tho Gorman Government wishes to come to some arrangement with England with regard to tho interests of both countries in Samoa. The Germans have, it appears, determined upon taking a high hand with the Samoan Government, and insisting that a treaty of commerce should bo concluded with them on tho basis of the most favoured nation. They propose now that wo should make common cause with them on tho same footing. This has, no doubt, been suggested by tho treaty which is stated to have been entered into between Samoa and the States, whereby tho Americans obtain special privileges, and gain, moreover, the rigut to establish a coaling and naval station at the harbour of Paugo-Fangi. By way of ascertaining their claim to similar consideration, tho Germans are stated to have occupied two other harbours. Now, certainly tho_ Gormans and ourselves have more interest in Samoa than tho Americans i and the Germans in particular made tho South Sou trade a speciality long before our merchants thought of giving any continuous attention to it. There is, therefore, every reason why wo should consider the matter together. The Samoan group in itself is of very little value i but that is no reason why hero, as well as in the Sandwich Islands, wo should permit tho United States to have exceptional advantages. Islands which lie almost in the track of any considerable trade that may spring up between Australia and New Zealand and North America should net be overlooked at the present time. The following statement is made by the New York Commercial Chronicle , a newspaper not given to sensational announcements : —“ The exhibition made by Mr Salisbury on Oct. 19, at the Brooklyn .Navy Yard promises to completely revolutionise the iron, .steel, and glass .trades. By using petroleum, for fuel, not only, is coal superseded, but at a . comparatively trifling cost there is acquired a heating power which jsurpassM anything hitherto known. experiment* the -heat-registered 5000, melted pig irbi* infeed - S’ id glass in two houre insteaa sixteen. The Invention consists of the liquid -fuel and the means of using it. The futi' is the' residuum of petroleum and coal tar —a mixture about the consistency of molasses. It is conducted from the barrel to the furnace by means of a small pipe. At the end of this pipe, as it extends mto the door of the furnace, is a funnel-shaped apparatus. When the fuel enters this funnel it comes into contact with a current of highly superheated steam, which atomises the liquid and thus admits a sufficient amount of oxygen at the point of ignition. The atomised fuel then shoots in a fierce but delicate spray into the blazing furnace, the brick arches of which are kept at a white heat. Mr Salisbury hopes by this invention to revolutionise the ocean'Steamship trade; and he is about to proceed to Pittsburg to reconstruct her 800 blast furnaces, and make that city the greatest manufaofactoring centre of the world. If the apparatus proves to be as safe as it is undoubtedly effective, Mr Salisbury’s discovery will lead to great and radical changes in many branches of industry.” Our trade, commerce, colonies, and naval stations in the distant Pacific are notoriously so inadequately defended that any addition to the strength of the Russian squadrons in those waters is deserving of notice. Ane w ship, of no great size, but designed as a fast cruiser, and therefore admirably adapted to prey upon unprotected merchantmen, has, it is stated by the. Russian Involute, been recently launched from the slips in the *' new admiralty dockyard ” in St. Petersburg, and will be despatched a* soon as she can be made ready for sea to the Pacific station. The new vessel, which is the fourth cruiser which has been lately built in Russia, is a sister ship of the Rasboinik, which was launched a few months ago. The Nagesdnifc, the vessel which has just left the slips, is 214 feet long, has a beam of 83 feet, a mean draught of water of feet, and a displacement of 1334 tons. Her armament, which is to be worked on the upper deck, consists of six 6-inch rifled guns and four rifled 4-pounders, weapons which would be useless against an ironclad, but would send their projectiles through the walls of the stoutest unamoured vessel afloat. The Nagezdnik, it may be added, is to be fitted with engines capable of developing 1600 effective horse-power j while ships of tho same tonnage in our own service, such as the Cameleon, Perseus, Rinaldo have only engines of about 700 indicated horse-power. The Berlin correspondent of the Timet thus summarises two articles which he previously translates from the Golos : neither more nor less than a condensed retrospect of the past, and a stereoscopic shadowing forth of the future. The rayahs, said to be the daily sport of Turkish assassins and thieves, were found to be so very well off os to astonish the poor monjiks sent to deliver them. The atrocities once declared a proof of the inveterate savagery of the unspeakable Turk, are now represented as a desperate means to repress rebellion adopted by a warlike hard-bested race, fighting for life. After these admissions as regards the past, wo have the cool statement that, the Turk being recognised as a respectable follow by the suddenly illumined Russ, every effort is made to convert him into the ally of his late would-be exterminator. The means used, as we know from other sources, is to represent to the successor of tho Caliph that, having satisfied Russia in Europe, there is no occasion for him to be at tho expense and trouble of obliging England in Asia. This much being done to deprive England of her Europeon ally, we are further treated to the avowal that to cripple British action in Europe entirely, an Afghan complication is purposely got up by sagacious diplomatists on the Neva. And, as if all this were not enough to unveil the momentous objects pursued, this suite of confessions is closed by the remark that Russia has a destiny to workout in Asia which, unfulfilled after centuries of annexation, will only show its true bearing when in the future fresh events happen. For the present, it is significantly added, Russia is not in a position to wish to fight England chiefly in Asia. Indeed, if her business can be done by tho Ameer in Asia and the Sultan in Europe, why need she fight at all. ? ” It is added that “ tho Turkish alliance is suddenly advocated along the whole line of tho Russian press. It is almost superfluous to observe tliat tho move is accompanied with attacks upon Austria. If tho Sultan can bo led to see things from the Russian point of view, tho national Slavonic armoury may once more bo made available for weapons against Austrian competition.” A question of some importance os to trade marks was raised in a case which came before the Longton Stipendiary Court last week. A gingerbeer manufacturer of Longton was summoned by a rival in the trade for “that ho did unlawfully sell a certain article—to wit, a quantity of gingerbeer—in a bottle bearing the trade-mark of tho prosecutor j which trade-mark was used falsely, or wrongfully, or without lawful authority and excuse, and with knowledge as aforesaid.” A discussion took place between the advocates engaged in the prosecution and defence as to whether tho trade-mark was applicable to tho bottle or its contents, Thu stipendiary stated that his interpretation of the Act was that the gingerbeer and not the bottle was registered, and maintained his opinion, notwithstanding an inquiry made by tho prosecution as to “ l ow the liquid could be stamped, or what distinguishing mark could possibly be put upon it so as to render it different from all others,’’ In the end the summons was dismissed, tho Magistrates expressing their opinion that tho defendant had used tho trauo-rnark of the Erosecutor in selling Ids ginger-boor, but that o had done so without any intent to defraud.

Lord Dufferin’s farewell speech at Toronto is a worthy dose to a period of noble service to the .empire and Canada during tho past six years and a half. Instinct with genuine patriotism and tho true imperialist spirit, his glowing periods evidently wont straight to tho hearts ot his hearers. No Governor of an English-colony in this generation has deserved

a warmer welcome from hi* countrymen than Lord Dufferin. By hi* eloquence, as well as by his tact and wholesome vigour, ho lias done more than wo can perhaps at present appreciate to knit yet closer the bonds which connect tho growing Dominion with the mother country, while at tho same time maintaining friendly relations with the great Republic of the United States. That ho has had great opportunities and on the whole a peaceful term is no doubt true. But there is bitter political feeling in the Dominion, as elsewhere, to deal with; and that ho has maintained a scrupulous impartiality is best shown by the attitude of both parties on his retirement. What Lord Dufforln’s powers of administration may bo tie have had little opportunity of judging; hut he urho possesses the faculty of managing men rarely fails of the capacity to deal with event*. The immense increase of power obtained in the new Armstrong gun by tim development of tho system of chambering must inevitably affect the future construction of ironclad men-of-war. If a gun weighing only four tons can send a shell clean through an iron plate 10 inches thick—and this is what the Armstrong G-inoh gun achieved the other day—the attempt to build ships which can carry armour which will withstand the projectiles of 80-ton and 100-ton guns must be abandoned. This, at all events, is the opinion of eome of the most eminent authorities in America; and America, it may be remarked, was the first naval Power which employed armour for the protection of her men-of-war. In an article recently published in the New York Army and Navy Journal, bated upon a report on modern European artillery, written by chief engineer Ring, the writer deduces that “.the triumphs lately achieved by guns should make ns less anxious to build prodigious or prodigiously armoured ships. When a new onainbered British gun, weighing less than four tons, is found to have a greater penetrative power than that of the existing nnohamberea 18-ton guns, it Is clear that the time for piling up armour on ships is over. ‘ Existing gun* 'are already a match for existing'armour, and now the former are more than.doubled and.trebled in power, weight for weighfcJJ'i That it will still be expedient to clothe ships with a certain thicknisa. of armour, may ,bo admitted; I .but. singe the* thickest platwnndft’wKoha ve*i& opuld gill notTw a|>le to resist the prqjeotilee ryJwevy armour, the maximum .thickness which should be given to this latter becomes a question for serlons consideration. The approach of the sth pf November is already beginning to awaken the activity of manufacturers of fireworks and the uneasiness of anxious mothers. Maternal anxieties on this score, however, ore of long standing j while the progress of science has of late years added new terron to domestic life. The case of the parents whose children are accustomed to play with explosives once a year, is far less to be commiserated than that of those whose offspring devote themselves all the year round to “original research ” in chemistry. Snob youthful rivals of Black and Cavendish might with .advantage be,invited to study an article which appeared a abort time baek in the Observer on the death of the Garinan professor, Herr Eiacher. They will there reed of the fate of the inquirer who discovered fulminate of silver, and in so doing became himself undisooverahle by the minutest subsequent research. “ How it precisely came about that he disappeared a* he did will always remain matter or conjecture.” All that is known about it is this ; that “there came one day a puff, a slight shock, and a smart noise as if some one had inflated a paper hag and then burst it between his hands. Of the professor himself, of his laboratory, of his apparatus, and of much else within the radius of some yards not a vestige or a trace was left.” Here, too, they will learn the formidable properties of “fulminate of gold”—an explosive so terrible that “ if an ounce of it be left in a stoppered bottle, its grains falling among themselves by their own weight will create a convulsion sufficient to lay all London in ruins.” Still more alarming, because of the vague and incalculable nature of the danger against which it warns, is the assurance that “ if a man goes into a chemical laboratory, and takes up a big beaker and pours into it the contents of the first two bottles that are ready to his hand, the probabilities that he wiu he reduced to atoms on the spot are sufficiently serious to call for his careful consideration. It would be a "good thing if this valuable article were to he out out and pasted up in the bedroom of every schoolboy in the United Kingdom. The Illustrated London Almanac for 1879, at pp. 12 and 13, gives an exhaustive analysis of the strength of political parties in the House of Commons in 1874, and at the end of the session, 1878. The following table sums up the result* obtained t Fibbuxbt, 1874,

Net Conservative majority, 44. Thus tho net Conservative majority since 1874 has fallen from 60 to 44. In England the Conservatives have lost three seats, and in Wales two. But in Scotland the Conservatives have gained one seat, and in Ireland two. Altogether 119 members have been returned to Parliament since the lost general election. Tho Conservative goins have been Oxford, North Durham, Boston, Northampton, Tipperary, East Aberdeenshire, Cork, Wilton, Worcester, and Down. Tho Liberal gains have boon Norwich, Brecknockshire, Horsham, Leominster, Manchester, Cumberland, Leitrim, Camarthan, Frame, Oldham, Grimsby, Tamworth, and Newcastle-under-Tyne. General Duorot bos published tho fourth volume of his work on the “Defence of Paris ;” and his contemptuous remarks on the part played by the National Guard during tho siege will not lessen the execration in whioh ho is held by Republicans, So far from rendering justice to the'' , 3so,ooo citizen-soldiers who left their chanters and workshops to go a’nd’ fight beside tiv&frogubrp, the General declares tl\ab ;(h‘ese< aiea .were, an. absolute' hindrance, to tho defence j and that, in fact, ho (Mihsiders “ thelf presence to have boon as detrimental as if 20,000 men had been withdrawn from the regular army.” This is rather an unfortunate utterance from a general who is accused by General Troehu of aving prevented the French from winning the battle of Montrotout (whore the National Guards fought with discipline and valour) by arriving on the field of battle two hours behind time with his corps d’armdo. General Duorot, however, backs his oritioisims with facts, os when ho derisively relates tho stampede of the 00th Legion at Ohanipigny; and it must bo remembered that although ho has been so unlucky us to figure often in tho character of a political and military Bombastes, bo is a soldier whoso judgment as a tactician and administrator none contest. On this account alone his opinions deserve attention. They amount to an emphatic condemnation of volunteer armies, The following extyaots are from a letter written to “ my dear, good mother ’’ by a soldier of the Archduke Joseph’s regiment of infantry, and printed in tho Pesther Lloyd. After describing the action fought at Glasinatz on the 21st of last month, and in wliich ] his regiment was engaged, the writer con-j tiniies r— ” Following in pursuit of the

enemy, wo arrived at a large isolated house. We broke open tho door and rushed in, Inside wo found two men and a number of women. Continuing our search wo discovered two musket*. This sufficed for us to at once out down tho men. Our lieutenant then gave us permission to plunder. 1, for my part, nt once looked about for gold or silver ornaments, and succeeded in finding some gold and silver coins, os well os some paper money. In one room of the house a largo amount of linen, skins, furs, Ac., were piled up, and every one helped himself to what ho liked host. I took some silk handkerchiefs, four red caps, twenty eggs, bread, and a pound or two of butter. All tho women had run together into one room. Wo found them out, and as we were curious to see what Turkish women wore like wo tore tho veils off their faces. As I was searching about tho house I saw some of tho Hungarian soldiers cleverly pulling the rings off the fingers and tho ornaments out of tho cars of the women.. Some of them also tore the bodices off tho women because they were richly embroidered with gold. After we had wrecked the house wo wore going to set it on fire; but bo did not because somebody said that we had better leave it for our comrades following us to finish plundering it. A second house that we came to soon afterwards we treated in the same way.” And yet tho Forte complains that the Austrians hare been guilty of barbarous conduct! A new “ marine monster” is in process of construction on the shores of Communipaw, near Famrapo, in the United States, which, it is asserted, will completely revolutionise naval warfare. Before it the navies of the world are expected to disappear 41 as leaves before ah autumn breeze.” This sea-demon is built of iron, and is 21 feet 6 inches in length, 16 inches in diameter; and nearly 4 feet in circumference at its "largest part amidships. From this point it tapers down to the bow, whioh is shaped exactly like the sharp end of a cigar. At the bow, screwed in, is the torpedo, with a brass cap at the end. It is. charged with' 1001 b of dynamite, equal to' 6001 b of “giant powder,” or enough force to whirl into the air in fragments the largest ship afloat, or in fact, it is said, a whole fleet; Aft of this torpedo is the cylinder which; cob tains the ipotive power, of gag. This i* generated in amachine ashore and'charged in tn|e cylinder. Amidships is the engine, and afj; of is the stoeringapparatus. The. crpft ha«!a o«ntre Spring rtiader, aft of which is a two-bladed propeller on ahollow shaft, in which ore contained the wires by which this craft is manned, sailed, steered, and fought from shore. While gas is the motive power, electricity from shore works the valves, starts the machinery, and does the steering. There are two batteries aboard—one for the motive power and one for the steering apparatus. All the apparatus is in air-tight compartments except the engine, which is flooded constantly by holes through the ship, for otherwise, so intense is the cold generated by the gas that the engine would freeze up. In the vessel, astern, is a huge reel on which several miles of fine copper wire, coated with gutta peroha, is coiled. The wire is attached to the battery ashore, and is gradually unwound as. the vessel goes towards its destination. When it returns the wire is by another process wound on a similar reel on shore. In action, however, the vessel never returns, for after destroying the enemy it blows itself up. This interesting little monster has a speed of 15 miles an hour, and can be despatched to a distance of four miles and return. With a greater supply of motive power and more wire on the reel the distance can be extended. There is no risk to be run and no lives to be lost (except the enemy’s) os on other torpedo boats. We have at last an official admission from Sir E. Henderson that the Metropolitan Police is not quite so efficient as might be wished, and that the Home Secretary himself has felt it necessary to call attention to the frequency of “ burglarious offences.” It seems that the Superintendents of Police have intimated to the Commissioner, that they cannot be responsible for the tracing of criminals in their districts as long as the detective constables and plain-clothes officers under them are taken out of their control by the new Director of Criminal Investigations. They assert that their authority is now entirely set aside, and that the detectives are employed in carrying out a system of espionage similar to that of the French secret police. In reply to these complaints a significant “ police order” has been issued by direction of Sir E. Henderson. This order shows that the new detective system has been found, after a few months’ trial, to be so defective that it has to be hastily abandoned. If the case as stated by the Superintendents is correct, this is not a surprising , result. The system appears to have been to remove the detectives from the supervision of the Superintendents, who are naturally best acquainted with the wonts of their respective districts, and to place them under the separate control of an officer sitting at Sootland-yard. Such a dual system could hardly be expected to work satisfactorily, especially when it is remembered that the Metropolitan Police district comprises an area of 688 square miles. Sir E. Henderson at once admits the justice of the representations of the superintendents by intimating that for the future he will transact the criminal business through them; and in making this admission he states that “no police system can succeed unless all branches and all ranks work in absolute unity with each other, and that any feeling of rivalry between the police employed in uniform and those in plain clothes is detrimental to tho service and unfair to the public.” Yet it is just this very system which he condemns tha Sir E. Henderson has been supporting fo six months, and now only abandons at the urgent protest Now it does not seem to us expedient that it should bo left to subordinate officers to call attention to tho palpable defects in tho police system. Indeed, nothing illustrates the utter disorganisation of the force more clearly than the constant memorials addressed by the police to the Chief Commissioner.

At a time when information about Afghanistan is in demand, it may be useful to mention that a very graphic os well as accurate description of it is to be found in the notes of an itinerary through that country by the distinguished General Nott, and published as on appendix to his Life. General Nott, as is well known, was one of the few men in high places in Afghanistan who did not lose his head when the difficulties gathered round us in the fourth year of our occupation. Entering os a brigaaier under Lord Keane’s army, whioh advanced through tho Bolan Pass, ho was left behind in command of the station of Candahar when tho army passed on. Nott was on outspoken man, and, expressing his mind freely about what he considered our mismanagement of affairs and tho blunders of our incompetent envoy and his “ boy politicals,” and prophesying disasters to como, lie was for some time in disfavour with tho authorities in Calcutta. How truly his predictions wore verified, and how gallantly tho old General, now for tho first time placed in a position of active responsibility, confirmed tho reputation Tor . ability and force of charttcitet which he had .earned in a long peaceful gareeiv * 8 known. , Occupying Candahar with one European and four native battalions, he held the tnomy at bay all tho winter, and ns soon as the weather permitted, sallied out and cleared the country of his would-ho besiegers; and, while everywhere else tho English wore fugitives or beleaguered, the cantonments of Candahar henceforward remained in peaceful occupation. Then, reinforced by troops from tho Indus, obtaining a reluctant consent from tho Governor-General, ho marched triumphantly forward, relieved tho gallant garrison of Kholet-i-Ghilzie, and effected a junction with Pollock before Cabul, whioh place ho was quite prepared to recover without assistance, if need do. Nott persistently maintained tho superiority of the Indian sepoy to tho Afghan, and, repudiating tho doctrine, then as now too much in fashion, that tho former requires tho support of European troops to lead tho attack and show him the way, lost no opportunity of pitting tho sepoy alone against tno enemy. It must bo added that tho sepoy answered tho call most satisfactorily j no troops could have behaved better than the garrison of Candahar. Tho “ Notes” wo have referred to were made first when Nott marched up to Candahar in 1838, for the route from Suikarpoor by the Bobu Pass

to Candabar ; and afterwards for the route from Candahar back to India, by way of Cabul and the Khyber Pass, when ho marched that way with his avenging army in 1842. They are high evidence of the intelligence of the writer, and his clearness both of expression and observation. “ The Life of General Nott” by Stocqueler is a poor affair, but yet interesting reading from being the record of a remarkable man.

{ S . — 1 S Liberal. ft & 0 IS *1 S' England 286 173 113 — Wales 11 19 8 Scotland Id 41 — 22 Ireland 35 68 — 33 Total... ... 351 301 113 63 Net Conservative majority (without the 53 Home Balers included under Irish Liberals), 50. Septeubeb, 1878. s S . 5 A — 1 t & A l| M u ES jS 3 a England Wales 282 9 177 21 108 12 Scotland 20 . 40 — 20 Ireland 87 66 29 Total 348 304 106 61'