GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 19, 29 August 1884, Page 31

GENERAL NEWS.

The Monitevr de Rome states that the German Masonic Lodges, at a meeting held on Whit«Bunday, decided not to reply to the Pope's Encyclical, and adds that they could not have done better, for when no answer can be made it is best to remain silent. An old man was heard to say «f bis sons : " When I was a raisin' 'em 'ar boys o' mine, I gey 'em coffee thtee times a day, and every thia' else they wanted. But when they growed up they never thought o' repay in' 'at 'ar. No, sir ! They epen' all 'eir time 'at 'ar Pluck-em-ins saloon. From a good home they goes to a rumshop, then to the glass ; from the glas* to the pint, from the pint to the quart, and from the quart to the devil, sir ! " This (according to an English paper) is how the Salvation Army recently prayed for a reporter :—": — " We have a reporter here — a miserable reporter— sinful servant of the unholy newspapers— a good young man gone wrong. Satan has made him obstinate, and he will not yield to persuasion and be saved. Oh, help the wicked reporter. Help this leporter. The devil holds the fort in this wicked repot ter's brain. Hallelujah I Oh, may be join the Salvation Army 1 Oh, give him repentance 1 He is a type of all reporters, and they are all a wicked lot." The lieutenant stopped to give the reporter a chance to kneel. The men and woman soldiers shouted " Save the reporter ! " " Help the reporter 1 " "I was wicked once, but now I'm pure ! " The lieutenant then began again :— " Ob, kill this reporter ; kill him. Take him away, that he may do evil no more. - He is too obstinate to yield. He knows he ought to, but he is proud— all reporters are. Oh, strike this reporter down." The reporter found the door. It appears that the Church of Scotland has barely escaped the renewal of a controversy which is described by the World as " the orinost burning ecclesiastical row since the disruption." The Queen's book has a chapter describing the cairn erected twenty -one years ago to the Prince Consort at Balmoral, and quoting the inscription which was the cause of the " row "in question—" He being made perfect in a short time fulfilled a long time : for his soul pleased the Lord, therefore hasted He to take him away from among the wicked." The ceremony took place in September, 1862, and eight months later, at a meeting of the Free Church Parliament, Dr. Candlish made a most acrimonious attack on the Queen, which was so generally approved' by the ministers and elders there assembled that Lord Barcaple shortly afterwards intimated his intention of withdrawing from that sect ; whereupon Dr. Candlisb wrote that the learned judge's course of conduct, " whatever it may say for his logic or his law, speaks volumes for his loyaliy." Dr. Candlsh again denounced " Popish leanings " in high quarters, and described the inscription of an " Apocryphal " text on the tomb or cairn of " a Protestant . prince " as " a novelty in our country's monumental literature, for which it will be hard to find a precedent satisfactory, I say, not to a theologian, but even to a mere antiquarian. .. . . Infidels and latitudinarian divines are simply preparing the way to Borne when they put the Apocrypha on the same footing with the Bible. I cannot get rid of the impression that the Balmoral inscription manifests a tendency in that most dangerous direction. I have 'said so ; and whoever is responsible for it, I must say so still. I say it with the deepest sorrow, if it is the Queen who is responsible." Prince Leopold is to be commemorated with a cairn on tbe same mountain, about the inscription fcr which there will no doubt hi much cautious consideration. Some time since we noticed as an evidence of the increasing interest taken by Continental scholars in the ancient Gaelic literature of Ireland the appearance of a French translation of the '' Annals of the Four Masters." We have now before us a French translation from the same hand of another Gaelic history —namely, '• The Book of the Invasions." The French writer, M. Henri Lizeray, completed both works here in Dublin last year, in conjunction with a young Irishman since, unfortunately, deceased, Mr. William O'Dwyer, and the scene of the labours of those two gentlemen was the library of the Royal Irish Academy, where they might be seen for several hours every day for many months. "The Book of the Invasions" is an interesting and important literary treasure, and its interest and importance are considerably enhanced by an introduction in which M. Lizeray contends with great vigour and ability for the superiority, both intellectual and moral, of the Celtic races over the Germanic, in which, of course, ie included the Saxon. We hope this introduction will be widely read, and if the Royal Irish Academy thinks it within the scope of its business to reward foreign scholars who have helped to make ancient Irish literature known to the "world of letters, and thus to rescue the literary reputation of our learned forefathers from the grave dag for it by English marauders, it will take an early opportunity of paying some marked compliment to M. Lizeray. As to Mr. O'Dwyer, it may interest our readers to add that that accomplished man was a National schoolmaster near Eyries in the county Cork, until he was dismissed by the patriotic National Board for I helping the Land League movement in that district. He was, in 1 fact, one of those whom Mr. Forster, the discredited ex-Chief Secretary, would call " village ruffians," but who, generally speaking, are known by their neighbours for their superior honesty, public spirit, and patriotic devotion to the interests of the country.— Nation. The great question nor* is — what will be the result of the quarrel between the two Houses. If the Tory peers, led by Lord Salisbury, remain stubborn, and if Mr. Gladstone and the Liberal party are equally firm, the inevitable outcome of the deadlock must of necessity be a, dissolution. The course pursued in this case will, it is stated, be bs follows : — Lord Salisbury and bis friends will reject the Franchise Bill, next week. The House of Commons subsequently will arrange for an autumn session in October, and if the Lords again reject the bill then there will be a dissolution in January, and a general election will follow immediately. But there is a strong opinion abroad that some kind of a compromise will be arrived at which will avert the danger of any crisis. All anyone can do now, however, is to await evente.— Nation, July 5.

Russian public opinion, if such a thing exists, or at all events Russian official opinion has lately become more outspoken' than ever on the subject of the advance towards India now in progress. The Moscow Gazette has only recently published an article in which it is sought to prove that the annexation- of Merv has completely necessitated the annexation of the basin of Moorghab together with Balkh, and even a portion of the province of Herat. Russia, adds the same journal, has no designs whatever upon British India, hut is, on the other hand, anxious to secure peace with AfEghanistan. This result can only be brought about by an utter change of policy on the part of England. When that country shall leave off meddling with Affchan affairs and retire behind the Indus as the natural frontier of India, then there will be no longer any fear of a collision between the two great Asiatic Powers. — Bombay Catholic Examiner, The Berlin Tageblatt gives a circumstantial account of an alleged plot to murder the Emperor during Mb stay at Wiesbaden. It is stated that a woman has been arrested at Elberfeld with a quantity of explosive substance in her possession. Some time ago, it appears, the police were warned of the starting from America of a woman "with a deep sonorous voice," bringing to Germany four trunks containing explosives. All the ports were watched, but nothing was discovered until the woman arrived at Bremen, travelling by rail to Eberfeld, where she was arrested. It is said that she intended to carry ont the attempt at Wiesbaden, and that in consequence the Emperor will not go there this year. It is well known that vessels built of thin steel will rust through rapidly if not kept constantly painted. This is found to be the case to a remarkable extent in such vessels when navigating the rivers draining the interior of the African continent, the waters of which possess the power of corroding and eating through steel plates very rapidly. In view of this it has occurred to Mr. A. Dick, of 110 Cannon street, London, the inventor of the new alloy known as "delta metal," to apply it to shipbuilding purposes, as it successfully resists corrosive action. A steam launch called the Delta has, therefore, been built entirely of this metal by Messrs. Yarrow and Co., of Poplar, and is for the present at Crystal Palace International Exhibition, The length of the launch over all is 36ft., with a breadth of beam of sft. 6in., and a depth from gunwale to keel of 3ft., the verael being capable of seating conveniently 25 persons. Delta metal, which is an alloy of copper, zinc, and iron, having been proved by repeated experiments to be equal in strength, ductility, and toughness*to mild steel, the plates andjangle pieces are of the same thickness they would be if steel were used—viz., 3-32 of an inch. The stem, keel, and stern post are of forged delta metal, and scarped together, as is usually done. The angle frames are of the same material, and are placed longitudinally instead of transversely, by which arrangement greater longitudinal strength is obtained. The screw propeller is cast in delta metal, and is four-bladed, 2ft. 4in. in diameter and with 3ft. patch. The engine is of the usual direct-acting inverted type, and of sufficient power to give a speed of from eight to nine miles an hour. The application of delta metal to the present purpose is of interest just now when attention is being directed to the development of the African continent. — Times. The Editor of the Printer's Register furnishes the following statistics concerning the issue of The limes of Saturday, June 21. It consists of three sheets, or 24 pages, each page comprising six columns ; 84 2-3 da of the 144 columns were filled with advertisments, the number of .which was no less than 2,559 ; the remaining 59 l-3d columns containing articles, reviews, letters, reports and paragraphs on over 200 distinct topics. The total length of the columns was 264 feet, and if placed end to end and stood upright they would have reached to a height exceeding that of the Monument by 62 feet. If the matter comprised in the paper, instead of being broken up into columns, had been set in one continuous line it would have reached one mile 950 yards, or the distance from Charing-Cross to Cheapside. The number of separate types used in printing this issue is calculated at over two millions, and the quantity of printed matter is reckoned to be equivalent to that contained in two ordinary octavo volumes of 480 pages each. A circumstance worth noting by those who insist that the present law prohibits the transfer of land, is the fact that over 37 columns of the paper were occupied by advertisements of landed property for sale by auction, there being in addition eigbt columns of advertisements of estates and houses to be let or sold by private contract. The London correspondent of the Freeman, writing on Tuesday July 1, says :— I am glad to announce that Mr. W. G. Matbews, who was formerly a well-known member of the Dublin Press, has again won distinguished honours at Cambridge. In the competition for the prize essay on the " Colonial Policy of Great Britain," which was, open to the 3000 students of the university, he has just been awarded the place of honour. The distinction is one on which he has good reason to be congratulated as much for the merit of his performance as for the independent and outspoken line of argument which he adopted. Mr. Mathew's views are of a Radical turn, and in reviewing the history of the spread of the British Empire he did not hesitate to give them emphatic expression. The examiners, however, considered this no reason for ignoring his superiority, and it speaks well for the toleTation of the university that the essay which was declared the best was probably the one which sinned most against the political creed of English statesmen. In bravado a young man placed the muzzle of a gun under ,th,e water and fired the charge. The result was the bursting of the barrel near the breech and the mutilation of his hand. Another placed and held* toe muzzle of his piece square against a piece of plate window-glass, and fired a charge— powder and a bullet. The glass was shattered, so was the gun barrel. Another instance was that of an experimenter who had beard that a candle could be fired from the barrel of a gun through an inch board. He drove a candle into the muzzle of the gun, fired, and the explosion split the barrel almost its entire length, and did not even drive the candle from the muzzle. Still another burst of a gun barrel was caused by the use of wet grass for a wad, well rammed over a charge of sbo^ — Scientific American.