Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IX, Issue 457, 13 January 1882, Page 1

Current Topics

AT HOME VVD ABROAD.

A writer signing himself Eliot Ryder, and who friest AND writes in onr contemporary the Aye Maria, makes POET. us acquainted with a bi-linguous poet in whose

French verses Barthelemy has recognised "an abundant facility, and a lofty religious philosophy ;" and concerning whom Sainte-Beuve said,' " 1 have taken pleasure in respiring in Leg Savanes all sorts of perfumes full of truth and of freedom," whom Brownson, moreover, hailed as one of the first, if not the very first, of American poets, and whose "Wild Flowers" he described as " marked by a delicay of sentiment, a truth and vividness of colour* ing that Bryant might envy." This poet is a French Creole belonging to a distinguished family of Louisiana, and besides the high gifts that Nature has bestowed upon him a liberal education has supplied him with abundant learning. He spent many years in study in his native country, and many more likewise so engaged at the Royal Co'Jege of Nantes where he took out the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Following this he studied men and manners in Paris, and was an eager and intelligent listener to the sacred eloquence of Lacordaire and the secular oratory of Berryer and Dupont. He returned to America determined to adopt the law as his profession, and well fitted to ran in it a brilliant and profitable career. But do we find his name among those of the judges of his country, or those renowned for their forensic triumphs t His highest title, and that which he glories to bear, is on the contrary, a barbarous one and of strange sound to civilized ears— it is Chahta-Ima, or "He who resembles a Choctaw." His long life, with all its talents, and all its gifts has been spent as that of a Catholic Missionary to the Indians. " ChahtaIma (says a critic writing in the Southern, Quarterly Review) is a man of special attributes. He is a poet, springing out of a thoughtful childhood into a holy priesthood. He is a priest rising, purified by bis sanctity, into an inspired poet. Such a combination is of the aloe family, although such an aloe has three times the life of other aloes. It has been found in him, who is recognised far and wide, — i& the crowded city as in the lonely forests — by the men who shape civilization, as Dy those who, through him, are learning the better part of civilization, religion, as • Chahta-Ima.' There are some noms deplume that, like « Blia, 1 make a writer loved. There are others that, like Chahta-Ima, make him reverenced in the proportion that he is beloved." Such a man is the Abbe Adrian Kouquette, Priest and Mb. James Duncan, who writes to our contemAN impossible porary the Dunedin Evening Star from New plant. Caledonia, has apparently found in those unfamiliar latitudes some most strange branches, whose fruit ac admires but by no means understands. He has found there, in fact, portion of an enormous briar bearing very grateful grapes, or, it may be, of a gigantic thistle of which men gather wholesome figs. The plant in question, moreover, seems additionally strange because on the highest of all authorities we have been told that no such thing can possibly exist. But still the facts are there, and it is not for us to dispute them. Here is what Mr. Duncan has to say concerning Ihe matter— and in reference to a visit paid by him to the Hospital :— 'I was delighted with the kindness and courtesy we received when passing through. It is exceedingly well regulated. What I admired most-and I could not help watching them— was the tenderness and care with which the Sisters of Mercy attended to the patients. I « Yon have come a long and weary road to do good, and your relijjion may be, your actions are noble.' " But these •TCoble actions are the very fruits of that doubtful religion. Must not the tree be judged by its fruits ?— and, we fancy, there is also some authority for stating that thus it must be. Avong the comments that we have occasionally thb found made as to men of Irish birth who have disNKW French tinguished themselves, it has not been uncommon ministry. to find one to the effect that they were not Irishmen »*v ■ l yr- _F°P eeryl y "peaking, but belonged of right to either «f the water Kingdom*, whence theix ftmOiea had at on« time or

another emigrated. Sometimes such a remark has been made with the intention of branding with a want of genuineness the patriotism of some champion of the Trish people ; sometimes for the purpose of robbing Ireland of the credit to be gained to her by her sons' distinction We have, however, failed to perceive that any of the faults with which the Irish people are commonly accredited have been excused on the plea of mixed blood, and, nevertheless, if this line of argument bolds good in the one case, it should also do as much in the other. Meantime, it is interesting to remaik that the leading patriot of France at the present time is only French by the accident of birth, his father, Gambetta Pere, being a Genoese, which, nevertheless has not prevented thefoufurievx, from meriting, on the part of the German Press the title of " Dauphin of the Republic." It is further noted that M. Gambetta's Under- Secretary in the Foreign Office, M. Spuller, is the son of a native of Baden, — but at the same time a virulent enemy of Germany, where bis appointment is looked upon with suspicion and supposed to furnish a probable illustration of the disposition of Gambetta towards the Empire. In Germany also the whole new French Cabinet is regarded with contempt, and indeed, it is composed of mere non-entities, some of whose names have never been heard of before ; its only member of any notoriety being M. Paul Bert, Minister of Public Instruction, notable principally for his ribald attacks upon religion. Of the rest Targe and Proust are journalists on the staff of the Bepubliqite Frangaise ; Gougeard a navy captain of no fame whatever ; Campenon a roagh soldier, and all the others of no consequence — perhaps we may go further than this in relation to M. Rouvier, Minister of Commerce and the Colonies, with whom the Police Courts are said to be not altogether unacquainted. The whole Cabinet in fact has been chosen so as to form a complete dependency on their chief, and make him absolute. It may be that we shall see the jealousy of foreigners, often exemplified in the course of French history, justifi d in the Genoese Gambetta, before many years have elapsed ; but, if so, the apathy of the French Catholic electors will be in great part to blame— it is amongst the mysteries, and is one of the most provoking mysteries, of the times.

Accobding to the London Times it would appear thb LAPSED that the breaking off of the negotiations respecting negotiations, the commercial treaty with France has been the

result of M. Gambetta's fear to risk his popularity. The Times lately announced that the only hope for the success of the negotiations in question lay in M. Gambetta's choosiDg as his colleagues in the Minibtry men who, like himself, would look with favour on the treaty. The men chosen, however, were M. Gambetta's creatures, and their decision is sure to have been that which he imposed upon them as his will. The Times described the Protectionists of France as a strong body whose favour could only be won by a Ministry decided to show no kindness to English cotton and woollen goods, and whom consequently M. Gambetta must oppose if he were resolved to promote what he believed to be the true interests of France, rather than consult for his own popularity — for his principles are those of frcetrade. " Tbcre is no doubt on which side the interests of France lie," says the Tunes. •• They arc identical with the interests of England. If we wish to obtain concessions for our exports to France, it is because we know that on no other tirms can our trade with France be carried on. If France refuses to admit our exports, she must be prepared to find our effective demand for her goods correspondingly lessened. If France is not aware of this ; if her masses are neither alive to the advantage of purchasing in a cheap rather than iv an artificially dear market, nor sufficiently acquaiuted with the most elementary laws of trade to know that it is only by admitting foreign goods that they can hope to increase their own exports to foreign countries ; and if M. Gambetta does not venture to make them act wisely, however, foolishly they may think, the prospects of the commercial treaty are hopeless. Eugland can offer no such bargains as the French mind seems to love, nor can she hold out threats -which have any terror in them. Our delegates will not say that only if France will take our woollen and cotton goods can we consent to put ourselves at the disadvantage of purchasiug wines and silks from her on better and easier terms than we can obtain them on in any other quarter. We have nothing to offer and nothing to withdrew

and we are negotiating, therefore, under difficulties. Oar appeal is to common-sense, so that in a country where common-sense does not commonly prevail our one weapon breaks uselessly in our hands." The writer goes on to compare the situation in 1860 with that in 1881. Then the Emperor and M. Bouher alone decided for the French nation and decided for their advantage ; now the matter lay in the bands of M. Gambetta and his colleagues — or rather, as we have seen, of M. Gambetta alone, who, it would seem, has decided in the interests of his own popularity and power. The Times concludes by pronouncing the importance of the treaty to be light so far as English trade generally is concerned, although the immediate trade prospects of some manufacturers depended upon it. Less poods would be sent to France, but more elsewhere. The laws of trade would take their ceurstf and do their work effectually, as England already knew and France would by-and-by find out to her cost.

It is not without interest to find the British GoA VENERABLE vernment in India extending protection to the IDOL. Hindoo idols. Even Juggernaut appears to be

sacred in their estimation, and ihey cannot permit the image, under the wheels of whose car so many human victims have perished, to suffer the touch of rude bands without putting forth the power of the law in its defence. It appears, then, that Hindooism, like other false religions, has its dissenters, and that these, also, like more enlightened sects, thirst for the conversion of their neighbours to the opinions they look upon as needful for salvation. A party of them, accordingly, the other day, consisting of twelve men •nd three women made a charge, surpasssing, as far as the charge of the Light Brigade surpassed the manoevures at a sham fight, anything that tbe Salvation Army of the West has as yet accomplished or even undertaken, in upon a throng of over one thousands pilgrims engaged in worship at the shrine of Poree, for the purpose of destroying before their eyes the famous idol worshipped there, and giving them a convincing proof that, although there still exist the three hundred million gods of the Hindoo mythology, not one of them can be represented by an image — a doctrine which the sect declare to have been taught them by Alekhswamy, or the Lord, — a god incarnate who gave instructions to 64 favoured persons in 1864. The attack on Juggernaut, however, we need hardly say, did not prove successful ; the assailants were repulsed after a sharp struggle in which one of them was trampled to death beneath the feet of the crowd, and the rest of them have been condemned by the British authorities to prison for three months, — so tender is the Government as to whatever concerns the creed of the masses. We may, nevertheless, remark that this is a tenderness displayed on the part of the Biitish Government with some partiality, being excessive in India, but unknown in Ireland, and protecting Heathenism while it neglects Christianity.

Hebe is a strange predicament — we find ourselves A stabtlino in the middle of our " friends the enemy 1 " the DECISION. Rev. Professor Salmond it seems has said something

or another that a remnant of the " Wilds " in Southland have been able to interpret into a condoning of " Popery," but, on their complaint the Southland Presbytery determines that the Rev. Professor, although he may have staggered just a little, is still firm on his feet and worthy to wear his champion's belt ; and we have no doubt the Presbytery are justified in their decision. That the Rev. Professor Salmond should hold just views as to the nature and position of the Catholic Church would be, we admit a very important matter for himself, but it would mean nothing more or less tha nthe Rev. Professor's conversion to Catholicism, for which we hay« only so much reason to look, as we have for believing that the grace of God can accomplish anything, but fctill may not be made manifest in any particular case, and, otherwise, there is assuredly nothing to lead us to a belief that Professor Salmond inclines in the slightest degree towards Rome. That the Professor should, however, admit so much aa that a man who has been instructed in Christianity by the Church, and continues a member of the Church, may still be what members of the " Evangelical " sects term a " true Christian," we find in nothing remarkable, and we should say this is all that, in fact, the Professor has admitted ; although we bave not read the statements to which his accusers allude. Such an admission ha? commonly been made, and it was notably made by the Calvinist miniat-TM consulted as to bis submission to the Church by king Henry IV of France. To deny it requires a pitch of bigotry and a degree of stupidity that it is somewhat surprising to find even among a knot of silly people at the '• back of God-speed," and there is nothing for us to congratulate ourselves as Catholic* on in the refusal of the Presbytery to attribute any weight to it. Such men as Mr. William Robertson and his colleagues, were they indeed fortunate enough to flni themselves within the gates of Heaven, would emulate Lucifer and his companions, as represented by Milton, in tearing up the •; tirkling pavement, for the purpose of finding missiles to pelt at the head of St, Peter himself if they saw him about to turn the keys ia favour of a " Papist." We hope, however, that there ia nothing in

the atmosphere of Southland that tends to thicken the skulls and harden the hearts of its Presbyterian inhabitants, but that the knot of gentlemen alluded to may be an exception to the general rule that prevails there. This common humanity demands of us to hope.

The Russian correspondent of the Times still con-

thus tinues to write concerning the anti-Jewifih move-anti-Jewish ment ia a tone clearly unfriendly to theittople movement, maltreated. He now furnishes a catalogue^ the

classes of Jews whom the Gorernment licenses to reside in Kief ; these being persons qualified for residence by follow* ing some specified profession or trade, and according to the degrees of their qualification appointed to reside in particular quarters of the city ; nor will they be permitted to shelter any of their people beyond the members of their own immediate families. The correspondent, however, does not consider that the regulations in question will bind the Jews very tightly, as, he says, they are well skilled in O'Connell's feat of driving a coach and six through any act of Parliament — or in this instance any ukase. The Jews, moreover, he finds addicted to other Irish-like pursuits : — they marry early like the Irish peasants, and, like them, make improvident marriages, from which arise wretchedness and poverty ; — a further result of such marriages he gives as commonly seen in divorces — this, however, cannot be compared to anything in Ireland where it is unknown. As to the regulations concerning residence at Kief, he considers them rather useful than otherwise since the richer Jews will be obliged to pay a fairer share of tribute to the First Guild of merchants than that hitherto paid by them. The city, moreover, will be freed from a certain portion of its most abject and non-producing population — a result which even the better- to-do Jews will hail with as much satisfaction as that the Christianity of the place experiences from it. As to what is to become of the abject and non-producing that is » question which we may take as quite beneath the consideration <* • correspondent of the Times — but if his attention were, by ofiance, directed to the subject, he would perhaps find a sufficient answer to all in the magic word — emigration. Meantime, among the Jews who have arrived from Kief, as well as elsewhere, in America there are many men who were neither abject nor non-producing but business men of high respectability, ruined in the riots. The American Press speaks well of their appearance generally ; — but as to the English Press, there is a good deal that sympathises with tyranny still in the atmosphere which surrounds it.

The Duchess of Athol, we learn, has written to the no catholic. Press denying that she is, or ever has been, a

Catholic. She says the report of her conversion was contradicted, at her request, when it was first made twenty years ago, and she now appears a good deal annoyed, and we admit very excusably annoyed, to find her name entered on that rather questionable list entitled " Rome's Recruits." The Ducheos says she has no Catholic friends, no Catholic surroundings, attends no Catholic ceremonies even when abroad in Catholic countries, and in fact knows nothing whatever about the Catholic Church — and under such circumstances she is doubly excusable when she objects to have her name published as that of a convert. But as to the list called " Rome's Recruits " ; it had a snobbish origin, that in the Whitehall Review, where it was put forward to show how highly honoured the Catholic Church had been by all the fine aud respectable folk who had condescended to join her ranks, and, if for that alone, we have never looked upon it with favour. We hold with Dr. Spalding, the Bishop of Peoria, that the Church's true strength does not lie in converts of high rank but in the Catholic masses, and, with him, it is there we look with anxiety to see religion obeyed and duly upheld and honoured. But, again, although no man who is a sincere convert to the Catholic Church will fail to profess himself as such when the occasion demands it of him, or can feel anything but full of joy and thankful for God's mercy towards him, there is no reason why he should, otherwise, care to have his private life invaded, and its particulars — its most intimate particulars, those connected with religion— posted up in the sight of all the world. No man surely joins the Church, as men become Good Templars, and other total abstainers, because they believe— and if private individuals believe perhaps with some conceit — that it is incumbent upon them to show a good example. Though all the dukes and duchesses in England were to become Catholics th-re would still be no reason, uy^tat alonf, for the conversion of even the humblest labourer, and the dukes and duchesses r- main unconverted there will be no excuse foi the hesitation of any labourer who may hear the call of God. We do not see, therefore, that, even if the Duchess of Athol had been a convert, there could have been any great cause for the publication of tier name on such a list as that alluded to, nor do we see that its withdrawal need occasion any feeling except that demanded by the common courtesies of life— one of regret because an unwarranted liberty has been taken. We may add that her Grace is also entitled to the pity with which Catholics must alwayß regard thoie who are

without the pale of the Church, and, in common with all the nonGatbolic world, to the prayers of Catholics for her conversion.

Mb. James Caibd, President of the Statistical the Society, delivered an address the other day at the prospects opening of the Society's session, in which he gave OF an able account of the present condition of agriAGRICTJLTUBE culture in Great Britain, with some review of its

in past and calculations respecting its future. His OBEAT BRITAIN, conclusions, however, although he concealed nothing of the gravity of the situation, were on the whole far from dispiriting, and English farmers seem, on his showing, to have less cause for alarm than it has been commonly asserted. The President, then, accepted as correct Mr. Gladstone's statement that farming capital had suffered from calamitous seasons a loss of 120 millions, or nearly one-third of its total sum— the loss being general, but greater in the corn districts, where the bad seasons had told most. Nevertheless, although there has been a great increase in imports, the prices of everything, except salted provisions, wool and wheat, have advanced. Barley and oats especially, which the British. Islands yield in perfection, have both increased in value, and would have still more increased but for the imports of Indian corn. And the increased imports have been necessary for the maintenance of the increasing population, who would have severely felt any preventive measures taken, owing to the rife of prices. 828,000 acres of corn and 228,000 acres of green crops have been converted into pastures, causing a loss of an annual return of eight millions sterling ; for, although two acres of grass h*ve been substituted for one of arable land, the decrease in live stock has resulted in a loss of £18,000,000. This proves the injury done to the grazing value of the finer grass lands, especially by fluke disease in sheep, in addition to the loss of crops, from low temperature, excessive moisture, and bad seasons generally since 1874. It also proves the loss of capital by farmers who have been obliged to sell their live stock in order to meet engagements. A question of importance to the Home producer in competing with foreigners is that of the transport of weights from great distances : a ton of meat or provisions, six times the value of a ton of corn, and the produce of six acres, the rate of carriage being the same, could be transpoited as cheaply as the produce of one acre of corn. The rate of carriage of provisions is, however, as yet higher, but ingenuity will reduce it in time, and what can be packed in least bulk must eventually be preferred for carriage over vast distances. The general principle of British agriculture may, then, be •till maintained, and mixed husbandry, corn and cattle, will hold their ground. The surface of England need not be converted into an

immense grass-field. Little more than a century ago, certain British agriculturists sought to defend themselves from a competition somewhat akin to that which now more widely exists. Adam Smith, for instance, mentions a case in which soms of the counties in the neighbourhood of London petitioned Parliament against the extension of turnpike roads, lest remote counties, owing to cheaper land and cheaper labour, might be able to bring down the London markets. In some such spirit as this it has lately been proposed to re-impose a protection duty of ss. on imported corn, but there is in existence a much higher natural protection. The cost of transport from the Western prairies imposes a protective duty of 12s per quarter on wheat, and something more on barley and oats, and should this rate of protection be reduced even by one-third, it would still be equal to the average rent of English corn land. But to grow the wheat imported, and whose value is £40,000,000, it would require five million additional acres ; to produce at home the imported butter, in value £12,000,000, it would need upwards of two million additional acres ; to grow the imported barley and oats, worth £9,300,000, it would require an additional one and a half million acres ; to produce the live cattle, sheep, and cheese imported, estimated at £15,000,000, it would need three million acres ; and in all these particulars there is ample room for home competition, if every man turns his attention to that which best suits his surroundings. In producing corn the farmer obtains straw, a marketable article with which the foreigner cannot compete, or valuable as fodder. In milk there is no foreign competition ; and the produce of butter factories would compete successfully with that imported. " When the landed interests of this country," added the speaker, " shall be placed on all points in the most favourable cou(ditions for mutual co-operation, we should be wanting of faith in the enterprise and capacity of our own people if, with the immense advantage of the best market at our doors, we should be afraid to compete with the foreigner in the production of any article suited to our climate und soil.

In connection with the advocacy of protection a pkotkctiox good deal of stress has of late, in various quarters, feebly been laid upon the fact that English imports have Advocated, within the last fifteen years enormously increased, while on the other hand America has shown a great increase in exports. And this has been eot down severally to the

account of free trade in England and of piotection in America. Mr. Goschen, however, in speaking recently at a meeting of the Watford Liberal Association, while he acknowledged the enormous increase in English imports, repudiated the inference that it showed any falling off in the prosperity of the country. On the contrary, he took the imports as a proof of the country's prosperous condition, and asserted that they had added to its comforts and welfare. The total amount of the excess of imports over exports for the last fifteen years he said had been £1,300,000,000, or at the rate of £85,000,000 a year, but these imports had been paid for out of the profits England had earned by means of her shipping, her insurance offices, and the interest on her accumulated capital. The annual sum might be considered as a debt due to England, and it had been paid in the way most to be desired, in commodities needful to feed or clothe the growing population. In the last 10 years the population had been increased by four million souls, and, as it went on increasing, it was to be hoped that the imports would also increase ; their remaining stationary would show that there were fewer commodities for each man, woman, and child. Meantime the decline in exports which some people ascribe to the want of protection has almost come to an end. Exports have increased during the past two years in almost every department of trade, and now all the English industries display a most healthy life. Competition is doing its natural work and British products are in full demand. So far Mr. Goschen as to the plea for protection derived from the excess of English imports over exports. But as to the argu« ment derived from American exports, the London Times furnishes us with some useful particulars. In 1870, then, these exports amounted to £78,554,000, but in 1880 had reached the sum of £167,128,000, afar higher percentage than that shown by the English increase. If, however, the exports per head of the population be taken, those of the United Kingdom will be found in 1880 £6 9s sd, while those of the United States, showing moreover an abnormal growth owing to the recovery going on from the effects of the war, were only £3 8s Id per head. Exports, again, are valued at the port of exit, and the additional value derived to them, when sold, from freight charges, mast be set down to the account of the country that supplies the shipping. " Now it so happens that while the foreign trade of America has been growing, her mercantile marine has been doing just the reverse. In 1860, out of 5,000,184 tons of shipping entering American ports, 3,301,903 tons were credited to American owners. In 1880 the entries have grown to 15,239,534 tons, but the American share in them has sunk to 3,128,374 tons." The loss thus accruing to America may be roughly set down at not less than £16,000,000 a year, or, in other words, America, owing to protection, pays yearly the sum named for carriage which, with free trade, she might have herself supplied. Her exports are naturally large, then, since the sum of her indebtedness is large, — exports representing the discharge of a nation's indebtedness to foreign countries, as imports, according to what we have learned from Mr. Goschen, represent the payment of the debt due to a country by foreigners. It is clear, then, that the argument in. favour of protection derived from the increase in English imports, and in American exports is of little weight.

M. Goschen, also at Watford, made a claim that A PLEA FOB forms, in our opiuion, once more a striking illustraHOME bule. tion of how necessary it is that Ireland should

obtain a separate legislature, in which her affairs may be attended to by representatives wholly occupied with the interests of their constituents, and not for the most part anxious to dispose of Irish affairs in any way so that they may he got rid of. He claimed that both England and Scotland had made "great sacrifices of Parliamentary time to the Irish question." The two first sessions of the present Parliament, he added, had been altogether taken np with the consideration of Irish matters. The "working will " of Parliament for carrying through great measures had been impeded, and, in particular, the Liberals had sacrificed two years of the limited period during which they could only hope to command the services and powers of their distinguished chief. But, surely, if it is hard that England and Scotland should be called upon to make sacrifices in order that the affairs of Ireland should obtain the consideration they require, no less hard is it that Ireland in turn should suffer loss in order to permit of due attention being given to English or Scotch affairs. It is, nevertheless, what has been the common run. of things, and if now so much consternation has been caused by the place accorded to Irish affairs, it is caused in a great degree by the novelty of the situation. The Irish members took the House by storm, and held their noses to the grindstone, or, otherwise, Irish affairs, as they had so many times before, might have gone to the wall once more. But it is manifest that a legislature is required so constituted that the affairs of the tl.rre kingdoms may be attended to for each kindom most fully and <~iiaustively without demanding sacrifices from any one of the three. Not one of them should be called upon to siand by and see its own interests neglected while the affairs of either of the other two are being dealt with ; and that it cannot be so, as it evidently can not, is the best possible argument in favour of Home Rule.

Holt Wbit has told us how Samson made use of DTKAMrrc foxes to kindle up into flames the harvest fields of ACUIN his enemies. Jules Verne has made known to us

the expedient of a certain African city in letting loose against an adventurous balloon, pigeons with squibs tied to their tails. Wf> ,have also very often, a good deal too often in short, heard of the Kilkenny cats and how they totally demolished one another. But it remained for an American editor, as, indeed, any one might naturally have predicted, to invent the most marvellous and effective use for the dumb animal as a belligerent that ever was imagined. Here is what he tells us occurred recently at the village of Xenophon in Ohio :—": — " There is a vacant field near the village in question which for the last two years has been tenanted by a large goat of unusual powers. Last Monday a local negro— one Cicero Hampton — was induced by two Irishmen, whose names for the present are withheld, but who are understood to have been present as delegates at the Chicago Dynamite Convention, to cross this field at abont half-past 6 in the evening. A boy — the youngest son of Esquire Wickham — was watching a watermelon patch in the neighbourhood, with a view, as it is feared, to a raid later in the evening, and saw the coloured man when he was half way across the field, The goat was close behind him, with bis head lowered for a charge. As he struck the unhappy Cicero, a tremendous report was heard, and when the dust cleared away not the slightest trace of negro or goat was visible. Hone has yet been found, but oae of the Irishmen, after swearing the editor of a local paper to profound secreay, gave him for publication a statement to the effect that a dynamite torpedo had been fitted to the goat's forehead, and that the experiment with the coloured man had been so successful that it was the intention of the Irish skirmishers to blow up the English empire by letting loose on the soil of England hundreds of American goats with dynamite torpedoes attached to their heads." so speaks the New York Time* inspired no doubt to propose this sinister use of the Yankee goat by the sight of so many Cockney donkeys as we have all of late seen with their heads chock-full of dynamite— they however could explode nobody, hardly even themselves.