The Sun. — London, England, 1866-03-29 00:00:00

Naval and Military lutelli,gence. Yesterday the Duke of Cambridge, K.G., Com mander of the Forces, accompanied by Mfjor Gene ral Lord William Paulet, Adjutant-General, Lieut. Gen. Sir Hope Grant, K.C.8., Quartermaster- General, and attended by Col. Tyrwhitt, aide-de camp, paid a visit to Aldershott, for the purpose of holding his half-yearly inspection of the troops at that station. His Royal Highness arrived at, Farn borough yesterday Awning about 9 o'clock, and was received by Lieut.-Gen. the Hon. Sir James Yorke Scarlett, K.C.8., commanding the division, attended by Capt. Milligan and Lieut. Doherty, aides-de-camp, and, accompanied by Col. Newdi gate, Assistant Adjutant-General ; Col. Herbert, Assist.-Quartermaster-Gen. ; Col. Graham, V.C., R.E.; and other members of the Staff at Aldershot immediately proceeded to the residence of Gen. Scarlett, Forest-lodge. near Farnborough, where he breakfasted. The troops had been under arms from about 8 o'clock, and shortly before 9 proceeded from their various quarters to Cove-common. Here they took up position on their arrival, facing east, and the formation was completed about 20 minutes to 10, in the following order : Cavalry on the right, with the 3d Hus sars . on the extreme of that flank ; infantry in line of c ontinuous column of brigades of the left, with the Royal Engineer and Military Trains forming second line in the rear. At 10 o'clock the Duke, accompanied by Gen. Scarlett and a brilliant suite, arrived on the ground, and was received with a royal salute: His Royal Highness commenced the proceedings of the day by making a minute inspec- tion of the various branches of the service on the field. This occupied about 20 minutes, at the con- clusion of which the troops took ground to the right, preparatory to marching past. A saluting base having been formed, and the bands of the cavalry brigade being massed opposite, the division marched past in open column of batteries and squadrons, sec tions of troops, and open column of grand divisions in quick time in the following order :—Staff of the Division, Lieut.-Gen. Sir James,,Yorke Scarlett, K.C.B ; Staff of Cavalry Brigade, Major-Gen. Hodge, C. 8., Col. d'Aguilar, C. 8., Col. Mitchell, and D Battery B Brigade Royal Horse Artillery ; Lieut.-Col. Howard Vyse, and 3d King's OwnHus surs ; Major Lowe, and 17th Lancers ; Lieut.-Col. Macnaughten, and Bth King's Royal Irish Hussars; Capt. Higgon, and B Battery Brigade, and Capt. Pitt, and F Battery 9th Brigade Royal Artillery ; Capt. Duff and A and B Troops Royal Engineer Train, and Col. Robertson and 4th troop of Mili tary Train ; pioneers, bands, drums, and pipers of the lst Infantry Brigade ; Major-Gen. Russell, C. 8., commanding Brigade ; Capt. Stockley and 29th Company Royal Engineers ; Col. Mackirdy and 69th Regiment ; Col. Hope, C. 8., and 71st Highland Light Infantry; pioneers, bands, and bugles of 3d Brigade ; Col. Carter (63d Regiment), Acting Brigadier, commanding ; Major Peel and Ist Battalion 13th Light Infantry; Major Bowles and 63d Regiment ; Col. Roberts and 28th Regiment ; pioneers, bands, and drums of 3d Brigade ; Briga dier-Gen. Renny, commanding ; Col. Gordon and Ist Battalion 17th Regiment ; Col. Gildea and 81st' Regiment ;- Lieut.-Col. L. Peel and 52d Light Infan try. The infantry after passing reformed on their original ground, and the cavalry and artillery re passed by fours and subdivisions of batteries at a trot in the same order of precedence asbefore. The infan= try then marched back from the reverse flank, left in front, in quarter-distance columns, and counter marched from the right, the Ist brigade leading, in line of contiguous columns by brigades. The ap pearance of the troops and the manner in which these operations were performed appeared to be highly gratifying to the Duke. No further move ments were executed, as the weather, which had been fine throughout the morning, looked extremely threatening, and the troops were consequently dis missed to their quarters. His Royal Highness, after a ride through the camp, returned to town in the afternoon. The 89th Regiment will arrive at Aldershott this morning from Shorncliffe Camp. The strength of the regiment is 38 officers, 620 men, 7 horses, 74 women, and 69 children. The 89th will be quar tered in D, G-, and II lines, North Camp, and will :be attached to the Ist Brigade. The 66th (Berkshire) Regiment, about to arrive at Aldershott from Devonport will be quartered in the west block infantry barracks, and be attached to the 2d Brigade. Information was yesterday received at Woolwich, by the authorities of the Royal Arsenal, announcing .that the 600• pounder 22-ton gun, recently supplied by the Elswick Ordnance Company, had burst at about the 54th round during the experimental firing at Shoeburyness on the previous afternoon. The gun on its arrival at Woolwich was subjected to a most severe proof test at the Woolwich butt, and was formally received and taken over by the Go vernment at a cost, it is stated, approaching £4,000. It was subsequently transported to Shoeburyness and was fired four rounds, with charges of 100 lb. of powder and steel shot weighing 6001 b. each, against the Hercules target with the success already known. Preparations were afterwards entered into for a course of firing with increasing charges, as the gun was considered capable of withstanding any reason able amount of concussion, having been built up under the supervision of Sir William Armstrong with peculiar care and attention. The result made known yesterday of the injury to the gun has created much speculation and discussion as to the future mode to be adopted in the manufacture of our heavy ordnance. The • course of experiments with the heavy gun at Shoeburyness commenced with firing charges of 701 b. of powder, and shot ex ceeding 6001 b. night each, some few having been expended in obtaining the desired range. As above stated, after the 54th round a rent was discovered longitudinally through the chase of the gun, the tube as well as the outer casing having given way, and the experiments were at an end. The launch of the screw corvette Reindeer, 7,200 horse power, will take place at Chatham Dockyard at about noon to-day. The public will be admitted into the dockyard half an hour before the launch, to witness the ceremony. The screw steam sloop Icarus, 3,150 horse power, Commander Thompson, left the Nore on Tuesday for China. The ironcased corvette Favourite, 10, 400 horse power, Capt. F. H. Shortt, after being inspected at the Nore, sailed on Tuesday for Portsmouth, where she will receive her final orders from the Admiralty. The Lord Warden, 24, 4,080 tons, 1,000 horse power (nominal),is ordered to be fitted with a poop, and some alterations are to be effected on her in ° 'cler to adapt her for a flagship, for which she is i ntended. This will detain her in dock for some months longer, and in the meantime the work of Pl), iilng her for sea will be proceeded with. She is also t th e bow addition made to her bow, similar to that in latt er the B e lle r ophon, which, as in the case of the o attervessel, will add considerably to her appearance. nearly the whole of her armour p l a tes have been t 1 e 1 leaving those only beneath the counter and at the ilteerno,z,c,ibe put in place. ‘4p at a h te_ntrivetting ma- Two of the largest of pockyard by chines have been erected at f th e i~tanr on clad Ironworks frigate Messrs. Taylor and Co., of . th n ei o l, to be used in the construction Hercules and the turret ship Mona/a,.Thema chines were yesterday test ed in the facto ry, in the presence of the officials of t he dockyard, viten they were found to answer their purpose most satisfac torily. One of the machines possess a vertical, and the other a horizontal movement, and both are con.. structed to rivet plates as rapidly as several men can supply them with' rivets. On Tuesday evening Mr. E. J. Reed, th e Chief Constructor of the Navy, delivered a public lecture, by invitation of the committee of , management, at the Mechanics' Institute, Chatham, on 44 The Con struction of Ships to resist Shot and Shell." Besides the members of the institute and general public a large number of the principal naval and military officers connected with the port and garrison were present. After some introductory observations Mr. Reed proceeded to explain the manner in which the sides of the earliest of the vessels composing the ironclad squadron were constructed to enable them to resist the passage of shot and shell, instancing successively the Warrior, Minotaur, Lord Warden, and Bellerophon, each representing a different type of the iron-plated squadron. With regard to the trials which had taken place at Shoeburyness to test cteontehne the resisting powers of targetsitchonsastruee e n d tly been r principle of the vessels named, targets urged at a scientific meeting that t t h h e hit e being insisted upon were far too severe, subjected systematically to trials which wouldnever be equalled in actual warfare, where firing would b. irregular, at greater distances, and with various de grees of obliquity. The Admiralty had, however, considered it the wisest course to find out the worst effects which could possibly be produced upon their ships, and in this respect had acted most judiciously, while the results would prove that our officers and men would, in time of war, have the greatest confi dence in their ships, and go into action with a degree of daring fully equal to that which in other times and under other circumstances won us the naval honour and renown we had so long enjoyed. After alluding to the form of construction of the Warrior, in which were embodied two subordinate but important com ponents—viz., the double skin plating above and below the line of ports and the external stringers upon the iron frames below the ports —Mr. Reed described the construction of the Minotaur, and the surprising nature of the results obtained in the ex perimental trials made on the Minotaur target, which differed from the Warrior mainly in the re duction of the wood backing, with an increase of equivalent weight in the armour. A single layer of 9in. teak, with armour of 5 in. thickness, formed its component parts, the frames and skin plating remaining about the same. For a long time it was supposed that this target had proved much inferior to that of the Warrior, while the departure from the system adopted in the Warrior was repeatedly condemned. Subsequently, however, the important fact was discovered that the wrong powder had been used in the trials against the Minotaur target, it having been ascertained that what was known as 2 A powder had been used with two out of the three rounds of 1501 b. cast-iron spherical shot fired from the 10iin. gun at the target, the effect of which was found to be to raise the striking velocity of the shot from 1,620 ft. to 1,744 ft. per second. This comparison consequently invalidated all the compa risons which were made at the time of, and after, the trial, subsequent trials having proved the Mino taur, Agincourt, and Northumberland to possess far greater strength than had been at first supposed. Mr. Reed then passed on to consider the Bellerophon and the experiments made on the Bellerophon tar get, the principal feature in which consisted in ex tending throughout its entire structure the double skin plating and the external stringers pre viously introduced. By their adoption important advantages were secured, the combined horizontal and vertical 10-inch frames, connected bythe double skin of three-quarter inch iron, constituting an enormously strong and rigid structure. After allud ing to a variety of details connected with the Bel lerophon and the leading features which rendered her superior to any of the ironclads which preceded her, Mr. Reed next gave some interesting details respecting the Lord Warden, and the improvements made in her construction. The most striking of these was the device of solidifying the frame in the wake of the armour, the chief advantage being that the frame of the ship was thus rendered solid, and the inside of the vessel fitted with a thickness of 2ft. Tin. of solid timber behind the 4i-inch armour plating. Another important feature introduced in the Lord Warden and Lord Clyde was the addi tional 11 inch of iron placed between the frames and the outer planking of the ship, to prevent the pas sage of shell—the most important thing to guard against in the case of a wooden armour-plated vessel. Such a contingency was not thought possible at the time the Warrior was designed, but the im provements effected by Mr. Whitworth and Sir W. Armstrong demonstrated clearly that shells could be made to penetrate the iron armour of armoured ships. It was therefore decided to give the sides an addi tional thickness of iron plating, and. the results of the experimental trials subsequently made proved the soundness of the principle, the shells fired against the targets so constructed failing to pass through them. A similar plan was also to be adopted in the construction of the Hercules, which would carry a thickness of nine inches of armour plating for several feet above the water-line, with a lacking of teak varying from 12 inches to 16 inches. The Hercules would, however, be ren dered still more capable to resist the passage of shot and shell through her sides by the addition of a 'double wood backing, supported by a second series of frames and skin plates. The result of the improvements in the constructiq of the Hercules had been fully anticipated in the experimental trials recently made on the Hercules target at Shoeburyness, where it was only penetrated by two 600-pounder projectiles, each fired with 100 lb. charges, both missiles striking upon the same spot, leaving no doubt whatever that the Hercules her \sell would be p roo f ag ainst any shot fired from any gun in the world. Mr. Reed, before terminat ing his address, briefly described the Monarch, double turret ship, about being commenced at Chatham dockyard, and concluded by describing the several experiments made at Shoeburyness on the various descriptions of -armour-plates and targets, the particulars of which have been given on various occasions in The Sun. A Brush with the Wahabees. - Her Majesty's sloop of war Ilighflyer, 21 guns, Captain Pasley, left Bombay at the latter end of December for a cruise up the Persian Gulf. She first touched at Muscat, where she landed two guns which had been sent up to the Imaum. Thence she went to Soor on the 2nd of January, and then on the following day to Elphinstone Inlet, where she expected to meet Colonel Polly, but, not being able to find that gentleman, they returned to Soor, where he was awaiting their arrival. She afterwards left for Bahrein, and there sent a message to the Chief of El Katif, who was to have made restitution for certain outrages committed against British authority. After a short delay it was found necessary to proceed to Bassadore to coal, after which she made a run along the pirate coast and destroyed a fort at Agittina, and then returned back to Elphinstone Inlet. Some three days' time was given to the chief at El Katif to satisfy the demand made upon him ; at the expiration of which, as he had failed to comply with the same, they opened fire on a fort, which was destroyed, as well as three " dhows," two of which [were boats. The High flyer then proceeded towards Damaun, but in conse quence of the shallowness of the water she could not get within eight miles of the fort. The boats were then lowered, but the two larger ones could not get within half a mile of the shore; two smaller ones, however, approached within about 300 yards, when they ran aground, upon which about 30 officers and men jumped out and waded ashore, and made their way towards the fort. When they got ashore one of the Wahabees came down and commenced a parley with the party, evidently for the pur pose of gaining time, and enablitg the men in the fort to get theirguns into such a position as to give their assailants a warm reception. After a few minutes thus spent, one of the Highflyer's men seized the Arab, whereupon the guns from the fort opened a sharp fire of grape upon the small force, when an immediate rush was made at the fort. One of the leaders of the party managed to clear tho embrasure and got in, being instantly followed by the men. The fort is a square one, having an outer wall with guns mounted on each side. Within this wall is another fort, with towers at each corner. When the men got within the outer wall they were ordered to place themselves close under the walls of the inner fort, so as to be under cover of the fire from the towers, but in consequence of the impossibility of restrain ing their ardour several were wounded by gunshot. The enemy also threw down upon their heads large stones and other missiles. The officers found that they had been mis informed as to the strength of the besieged, having been given to understand that there were not above 14 men in the fort. They were soon undeceived, for they found it of an :ti c t i b ii m ef e . n it h i a lo v ‘ i v ngbeenreinfo . rced by . the followers Place being found impossible to take the with their small force, and not having scaling ladders Or any oth er . the fort the enemy they appliances at hand, it was determined to re tire in the be s t w ay they could reaegatihne could. As soon as the party left opened fire upon them, and be fore of the fort and in the wounded. The lenses lair frontboats several more men were I retreat to the b3ate amounted three men killed and three - officers and five men wounded,t one of the latter fort died on the next mortally, from the effects of Which he On the following day the da y . shelled with the hope of dislodging the enemy, but a lv s a f n a ascertained without any favourable resultr a, having be e ff ec ted, though, as many of the shells were obse n r g 7o b d een to l o d g e in the fort, it is reasonable to su ppose that its occu pants must have suffered to some extent. S evera l of the enemy were known to have been killed or wounded by the storming party, but no accurate estimate could be formed of their kisses. Subsequently the party returned to Soor, and as the chief bad not complied with the terms demanded they captured 14 dhows, and destraed some of those which were being constructed on shore by setting them on fire, which communicated with the town and set it cn fire. The vessel then returned to Muscat and communicated with Col. Pelly, when it was determined on returning to Bombay for the purpose of shipping materials and other necessary appliances to effectually chastise these fellows. The High flyer arrived in Bombay on the 18th inst., and is expected to return to the scene of hostilities shortly, when her crew will doubtless give a good account of the enemy.—Bombay Gazette. VIE SUN, LONDON, TifURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 29, 1866. gatherings will have never been equalled.. The honorary secretary respectfully asks for an early attendance on Good Friday. ' A hat 1 a hat !* will be shouted at four o'clock precisely. (Signed) " JOHN D Y rat, President. "Mr. JAMES TRUSCOTT, Manager. "By order of the Committee—G. WILLEY, Hon. Sec. From the above it would appear that, should the weather prove favourable, it will be a fine gathering at Hackney Wick. ATHLETIC;. ...-- -- :WINCHESTER COLLEGE ATHLETIC SPORTS. These sports came off in the College Meads on Thursday, the 22d, and as.the day turned out much finer,than could have been expected from those that preceded it, a great many people froth the neigh bourhood were present on the ground. It was, however, extremely heavy going on account of the previous rain, so that the time in some of the races was not quite up to that of other years. The band of the Rifle Brigade, which attended by the kind permission of Colonel Macdonald, played some good selections at intervals during the afternoon. We may especially mention the throwing of the cricket ball of Mr. S. H. Gatty, who won with 101+ yards, the throwing of the hammer of Mr. Shelton (66ft. 6in.), and the wide jump of Mr. S. H. Gatty, who cleared 18ft. 2in., and thus won easily in spite of his being handicapped. In the 100-yards race, Mr. S. K. Douglas, who was also handicapped, came in second, being beaten by a yard by Mr. L. S. Howell, who completed the distance in 10i seconds. The vaulting was won easily by Mr. Crawley Bowey, who cleared 6ft. 9iin. in very good " form." The 300 yards race resulted in a dead heat between Messrs. S. K. Douglas and L. S. Howell, both of whom ran extremely well. The Junior Hurdle-race, for all under five feet, was won by Mr. L. A. Der ing in better time than in other years, although the ground was very slippery. On Saturday the mile race was run off along the Twyford-road, and was won by Mr. S. K. Douglas in 4 min. 50 sec. Mr. E. C. Baker came in second, Mr. G. H. Fort third, Mr. F. G. D. Drewitt fourth, and Mr. F. Haygarth fifth, all of whom ran very well. One of the most remarkable features of the pre sent day is the change in habit of the upper and middle classes of society, in so far as regards their following of manly sports and exercises. Formerly the diversions of the school were but feebly trans mitted to the university, to the public office, or to the barrack yard, and they became altogether obli terated when the bar and church were reached, when junior clerks left their stool for a senior room, and ensigns got their step. Then flourished the white swathe of George IV., or the satin avalanche with which the fashionables of his successor's reign were wont to perambulate the shady side of Bond-street, when Melton was over, and shooting was forbidden by Act of Parliament. Then young aspirants to like eminence at Oxford " did the High," or at Cambridge swelled in Trumpington-street and King's-parade, gorgeous in pins, with magnificent cane-heads, slightly abraded by the inevitable suck. Then the youth of lower degree sought solace in dog fights and bagatelle, while all alike cultivated idle ness and listlessness as gentlemanly duties, and scorned the wholesome weariness generated by a hard day's work, quite as much as an average Frenchman does to this day. We, happily, have changed all this. Year by year the movement gained strength among those who had most influence at the Universities and those that hail from them. The Oxford and Cambridge boat race started between 30 and 40 years ago ; the forerunner of days to come, when serious moralists begin to think muscular Christianity has gone a little too far, and when running and jumping have culminated, as on Friday, at Beaufort House. And thus have the ancient games been ROW revived nearly in their integrity : not merely the rowing contest, as to which we have had quotations infinite from that recorded in the Eneid, brings as many and as anxious spectators as ever ".Imto complerant littora cmtu," but " si cui virtus animusque in pectore prmsit," in any walk of athletics or skill he can find his place recognised, and his prowess rewarded at any of the numberless gatherings with which we weekly fill our columns. Oxford meets Cambridge at rackets. Football is added to the list of contests in which grown men may participate without losing dignity ; and croquet has found such favour with the fair that we doubt not in due time, when crinoline shall have been forgotten, and the limbs of woman restored to un controlled freedom from its iron folds, that an " Atalanta Cup" will find a'place in the programme of WalhamGreen. All these illustrations of the change which has come over us are interesting to those who would fain see our character as masculine, and' our ener gies as vigorous, as modern civilisation will permit. And the meetings also promote mutual communica tion and knowledge of each other among institu tions differing in tone and feeling, so widely as some of them do, a difference, too, which is apt to mark with asperity the first advances towards the free communion ultimately attained. Oxford and Cambridge have had their passages of arms ; Eton and Westminster, too, have drawn mimic sword about the terms of their annual race, of which the glories are now, alas! past ; and the Football Asso ciation passed through many fierce phases of extst ence, when it was just as well, perhaps, that the contending parties did not meet in the field, or we fear the rule against hacking would have been equally violated by its supporters and enemies. And this leads us to notice, by the way, a some what stormy communication which has passed be tween the schools of Shrewsbury and Westminster. Of the tone of eithor side we cannot profess to be admirers. It is true that, in ordinary parlance, Westminster is called a public school in a sense dif ferent to that in which Shrewesbnry is, with equal justice, so called. The term is variable in applica tion. There are times when one would speak of Eton, Harrow, and Winchester as alone being so, now that Westminster has somewhat fallen from its high estate. There are others when one would ex tend the list by including Charterhouse ; and it is certainly only of late, and that during the very period of Westminster ' decadence, that Rugby would have been included. That Rugby has be- come amply entitled to the name all must admit, except some very staid old sticklers for ancient usage ; and that Rugby, with its high position, is willing to play Marlborough at Cricket, is a fact which the Westminster captain might have done well to remember. At any rate, the " Committee of the Public Schools Club" do not constitute a tri bunal to which the others can be fairly expected to bow ; and certainly one does not exactly see why the somewhat singular statement that the general feeling of the school " coincides with that of" the aforesaid i body should have been made except to wound. On the other hand, the phrases used in the retort are certainly unparliamentary, and while we love to see a fellow stick up for his school, we have grave doubts as to the propriety or expediency of calling names. For the future, let Camden and the School Club Committee be alike let out of the ques tion, and let the two, if they can't agree to kick, at any rate row one another on the silver Severn, and give a prestige to the vaunted course of Tewkes bury. Nobody, not even the most enthusiastic de nouncer of Erin's wrongs, nor the most earnest advocate of the top corner for Scotland's lion, has ever complained of the ordinary phrase, " The Universities," meaning those who yearly struggle for aquatic supremacy ; and if they do not, surely " Sabrina fair" may rearrange her tresses, and make coy advances to some less reluctant suitor, to meet her on the " translucent wave."—Sporting Gazette. SALMON FrsHlNG.—Since the commencement of the season no such successful take as that of Thursday evening, 15th inst., was had at Limerick. All the boats out did well, and in one instance a party with a short net captured 47 salmon, one of them weighing nearly 451bs— the price at present is ls. 7d. per lb. rADVERTISEMENT.i—IicIIoway's Pills.—Low to tempera - ture.—Cold and chan g eable weather is very apt under mine the health, unless the stomach is kept up to its 4ighest state of efficiency. Holloway's pills improve the appetite and so promote digestion that a large and strengthening supply of new material is thrown into the blood after every meal, whereby fresh vigour and activity are bestowed on every organ, and ability to resist disease is conferred on the system. These pills thoroughly purify the blood when it has been tainted by fogs, unwholesome vapours, or other impurities. No medicine equals these pills for re moving biliousness, suppressing nausea, checking flatu lency, and acting as mild yet effective aperients which are _ suitable for either sex or say age. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. TURF NEWS, &c., FROM NEWMARKET. Springtide has fairly set in, and the Newmarket trainers are now in active employment, getting their horses in con dition for the coming Crayon Meeting. The Two Thou sand and Derby nags are in active work, Auguste and Janitor being out each morning. Opinions are divided as to the merits of the French and the Baron's three-year olds. Lord Stamford's horses are expected from Enville in the course of this week. Since the reduction of the tariff from 2s. to ls. for mes sages to London, the Electric Telegraph Company have been compelled to erect two additional wires between the racecourse and the metropolis, the increase of business being so great. The entries for the Diss Steeplechases close on Monday, April 9. Kitchener, we are glad to hear, has been pronounced out of danger L'African and Heurlys are struck out of the Grand Na tional (Crewkerne) Open Steeplechase. Hundleby (Lincolnshire) Races have been fixed for Tues day, July 17. Chepstow, Chessman, and Liveryman have been added to the list of geldings. Northumberland (Rothbury) Steeplechases have been postponed to the 4th of May. A steeplechase meeting is announced to take place at Alpheton, near Sudbury, on Friday, April 13. Bromyard Races will come off on Thursday, April 26, the entries for which remain open until the evening before running. The trial of Lawrence, the stable lad, for the man slaughter of Robert Roberts, at Richmond, Yorkshire, took place at York Assizes, yesterday, before Mr. Justice Keat ing. The jury, after a short consultation, returned a ver dict of not guilty. One of the most fortunate owners of steeplechase horses is Baron Finot, who now possesses two of the best in As trolabe and Valentino, who won for their owner rather over 2000 sow each last year. Howden (Yorkshire) Steeplechases have been postponed to Friday, April, 20. The Handicap Steeplechase will close on the 11th, the weights to appear on the 14th. The Aldershot Divisional Steeplechase will come off in the middle of April. A new course, some two miles from the camp, and which will comprise about thirty sporting fences, is being selected by the committee Df management. ISLE OF WIGHT STEEPLECHASES.-it will be observed that there is a considerably increased amount of added money in the three open races, the aggregate being £ll5. The entries close on Wednesday next, the 4th proximo. AQUATICS. LONDON ROWING CLUB. The following races have been fixed for the early part of ie season, subject to any alteration deemed advisable by the committee : April 21—Trial eights. May 2—Club eights ; entries close on April 21. May 21—Club fours; entries close on May 5. June 6—Club eights; entries close on May 21. The races for the hitter part of the season will be fixed after Henley Regatta. LONDON PRESS ROWING CLUB. The monthly meeting of this club will be held on Mon day, April 2, at the White Swan, Salisbury-court, Fleet street. The opening four-oared race will take place on Saturday, April 28, from Chiswick to Putney Aqueduct, in outriggers. The start will take place at five p.m. The following crews have entered:-1. (Blue), R. Birtles, Hales, J. Birtles, and Welling; Pettit (cox.) 2. (White), Hobbs, Morris, Preston, and Sweeny ; Spriggs (cox.). PROFESSIONALS v. AMATEURS. A match is in contemplation, arising from the late Ox ford and Cambridge race, which will settle the oft-disputed question as to the supposed superiority of the professional rowing men over gentlemen amateurs It has often been remarked, when either of the University crews, in the course of their practice, have rowed a trial with a picked crew of Thames watermen, that the latter, after the first few strokes, have rowed in almost as good form as the gentlemen, who have been practising together, it may be, for weeks, although, at the same time, some of the water men never rowed together before in their lives. Mr. M. Brown, the celebrated Oxford oarsman, is to select a crew of the best gentlemen amateurs he can find, without re stricting himself to his own University, and Harry Kelley will have the management of the watermen's crew, him self rowing the strok oar. The gentlemen will pay the training expenses of botn crews, and, in the event of their being defeated by the watermen, the latter are to receive a sum of £2OO, so that each man will be' on a " pony" to nothing clear. The race would certainly create a deal of excitement, and on a good spring tide, with a fair wind, the pace would be something terrific. SCULLERS' MATCH FOR £2o.—Yesterday a rowing match took place on the river from Battersea to Hammersmith bridge, between two landsmen named Lamb and Baker. With a good start they got off together, and continued till abreast of Battersea Church, when Lamb began to draw a head, continued to have the best of it, and finally won by 50 yards. C RICKETING. THE NOTTS COLTS' MATCH. The following are the sides chosen to play in the Notts Colts match, at the Trent Bridge Oround, Nottingham, on Monday and Tuesday next : THE ELEVEN.—S. Biddulph, T. Bignall, R. Daft, J. Jack son, W. Oscroft, G. Paling, G. Parr, A. Shaw, J. C. Shaw R. C. Tinley, and G. Wootton. THE COLTS.—J. Grundy ((captain), T. Burrows (Kim berley), (W. Clements (Walford), G. Howitt (Lepton), G. Martin (Nottingham), E. Mellor (Nottingham), H. Nixon (Snenton), J. Oscroft (Arnold), H. Parker (Ratcliffe-on- Trent), H. Scottorn (Burton Joyce), A. Sears (Notting ham), H. Slack (Hyson Green), J. Smith (Nottingham), J. Wheeler (Bonnington), and S. Wightman (New Radford.) The Trent Bridge Ground, although at present very hard and "bumpy," is rapidly being got fit, and the committee have determined to spare no efforts to make the match suc cessful. It will be seen that G. Howitt, who last season played for Middlesex, but who really comes from Lepton, near Nottingham—forms one of the selected team. The Dramatic Club play their opening match at High bury Barn on Good Friday. The Grosvenor Road Club play their opening match for toe season at Bexley, next Friday. Fmcn's GROUND AT PUTNEY.—This ground is - open throughout the season for Saturday afternoon matches. MR. THOMAS Box's BENEFIT.—It is reported that the long-expected benefit for this celebrated cricketer will be played at Lord's on July 9, 10, and 11. This match, it is stated, will be the Marylebone Club and Ground v. Sussex, but, as we have not been communicated with, we cannot vouch for the correctness of all this. KENNINGTON CLUB.—Practice Ground, Surrey Ground, Oval. Subscription, £1 Is. There are a few vacancies in the above club.. Gentlemen desirous of becoming members should without delay make application to the Honorary Secretary, G. F. Davies, at the Oval. The general meeting will take place on Monday, April 9, at 8 o'clock precisely. SIIERWOOD AND SPEAR.—These men met yesterday at Tenbury, to decide their 440 yards race (Spear being allowed 13 yards' start), for £2O a-side. Sherwood woxt. by 20 yards. WRESTLING. THE CORNWALL AND DEVON WRESTLING SOCIETY. The committee of the Cornwall and Devon Wrestling Society, under the patronage of the Prince of Wales, have announced to the nobility, gentry, and inhabitants of the " two counties," as well as the public generally, that they will celebrate their annual sports at Hackney Wick on Good Fri day, Easter Monday, and Tuesday, when £lOO will be given to be contended for in wrestling (in the good old style of the fair " back-fall "), foot racing, pole leaping, and other athletic sports. On Easter Monday next, O'Baldwin and Iles will appear, with the best of the Ring ; and on Easter Tuesday, the deciding trials in all the sports will take place, and the prizes be given up. We are pleased to observe that this the most " anciente" society, established from time immemorial, and spoken of even by immortal Shakespeare in "As You Like It," when Orlando makes the renowned athlete of the duke to " kiss the dust," will again, on the greensward, as in the good old time, and not under cover, bring forth the stalwarth sons of Cornwall and Devon. We have been requested to insert the following notice : "It is respectfully requested that all wishing to join in the sports of Good Friday, Devon and Cornwall wrestling (open to the world), under 12st., will be in attendance at Hackney Wick by one o'clock, for at that hour will corn men ce the weighing. " The committee have decided to give prizes to stan dards,' and other advantages will be held out, so that the sports of IlvckneY Wick at the Good Friday and Easter JOURNAL, SPIRIT OF TIMES.-A lady's view of the Irish question possesses an interest of its own, and that expressed in the letter from 3 An Irishwoman," which we publish to-day, if not quite original, will be new to many of our readers. Lord Dnf ferin had justly pointed to the want of social unity in Ire land, and to the absence of any kindly sympathy between rich and poor, as one of the master evils which no legisla tion can reach. Our correspondent entirely adopts this opinion, but disputes the inference which Lord Dufferin founds upon it. She denies that residence in Ireland is distasteful to Irish landowners, or that an indisposition to cultivate habits of friendly intercourse with the peasantry prevails among their wives and daughters. These agencies of "domestic association," according to her account, have been honestly and repeatedly tried, but have signally failed. She proceeds to illustrate from her own experience what she alleges to be the reason of this failure and chief source of absenteeism. Domestic comfort depends everywhere, in a great degree, on a well-regulated household, and in Ire land a well-regulated household is a thing almost unknown unless the mistress is her own housekeeper. "In order to procure in Ireland ordinary domestic comfort an expendi- ture of physical effort is required on the part of every indi- vidual woman who has the wants and desires common to the people of this country, and who does not choose to forego their gratification." So low is the standard of cleanliness, tidiness, and thrift, not to say of decency, among the cottagers, that the raw material of good ser vants does not exist. The consequence is, that servants have to be imported, at very high wages. from England or Scotland, and the civilising influence which ought to ox- tend downwards from the homes of the rich to the homes of the poor is proportionably weakened. At all events, the occupants of the gentleman's house "have no domestic senso in common" with the occupants of the cabins around, and prejudicesalmost as inveterate as those of casteprevent the latter from imitating "the ways" of the former. The homely details of household economy and the rearing of children are subjects on which an English lady of the highest rank can talk on terms of perfect equality, and with out the least constraint, with the humblest labourer's wife in the parish, because the difference between the two is rather a difference of means than of ideas. In Ireland, as every one knows, it is far otherwise. An Irish housewife is not astamed of being slatternly in hor own person, of seeing her husband in tatters, or of letting the pig wallow in the same room with her children. " The feminine arts of cleaning, cooking, and sewing" are mysteries which she has never learnt and does not care to learn ; indeed, she would resent any suggestion about them from her superiors with no little scorn. Religion being a forbidden topic, in most cases, it thus comes to pass that Irish ladies have no motive for visiting their poorer neighbours, and have little personal knowledge of them. This is a melancholy pic- ture, but it will be recognised as substantially true to nature by those who best know Irish society. The question is whether anything can be done to break down this social barrier, to bring the families of the highest and lowest classes into more frequent and intimate connection with each other, and thereby to diminish the causes which de prive Ireland of that which no other country needs so much —a resident body of proprietors. Our correspondent her self almost despairs of an effectual remedy, and we fear she by no means exaggerates the difficulties to be over come. What she proposes, not, indeed, as a specific, but as a palliative, is the improvement of female industrial training, by means of a special organisation to be carried on by ladies. She complains, with too much justice, that intellectual instruction, such as is provided in Govern ment schools and controlled by Government inspectors, does not and cannot touch the root of the mischief, and contrasts some of the schools under the charge of nuns, or other female managers, with those where no superintendence of this kind is exercised. She avows her conviction that " ladies who have long been labouring among the poor, and who thoroughly un derstand their incapacities and their abilities," would dis tribute educational grants to greater advantage, and inspect female schools more efficiently," than the learned and anxious gentlemen who now constitute the sole examiners o boys and gies." She asserts that "in France and other parts of the Continent express training is given to the faculties of women whose exact counterparts inhabit Ire land." She believes that not only "cleanliness and thrift," but a higher "tone of domestic feeling," may be imparted by educational methods, and that " the dirtiest and most untidy" of Irish girls could be made useful in their station and enabled to better themselves, if proper institutions could be established for their education. On this point we must confess to being less sanguine. Unless a radical change should come over the character of the working classes in Ireland, we have great doubts whether young women taken from them, and looking forward, as they all do, to ending their lives among their relations, will ever be converted into good servants by any educational pro cess. The experiment, unhappily, is not a new one. Many an Irish girl has before this been trained with the utmost care under female supervision in English families, has been persuaded to lay by a little money, and placed in a position to marry and settle comfortably, according to English notions. What is the ordinary result ? No sooner does she escape from the restraints of order and cleanliness than she relapses into the condition whence she had apparently emerged, and soon makes her husband's house as much like her father's as possible. It is not po verty alone, but sheer laziness and a native love of dis order, that causes Irish cottages to resemble pigsties. There are farmers in receipt of a hundred a year, or with thousands invested, whose daughters may be seen at church or chapel flaunting in silks and feathers, yet who are con tent with a standard of lodging andboardlower than would satisfy a day labourer in the worst of our agricultural counties. It is easy to understand why persons like our correspondent should prefer an inferior residence and re duced establishment in London to living, perhaps at a dis tance of several miles from any congenial society, among neighbours who almost repel their good offices, and whose condition they have striven in vain to raise. And yet we cannot bring ourselves to regard the case as hopeless, or to doubt that civilisation is advancing, however slowly, in Ireland. A social reform, which it seems hopeless to effect directly from above, may be, and we trust is, already effect ing itself indirectly from below. It is certain that mud cabins of the worst kind are not so numerous, even in pro portion to population, as they were ; that wages are rising; that farming is becoming less slovenly ; that English en terprise and capital are telling in certain districts ; that emigration itself has in some degree brought home the dignity of labour to the Irish mind. There is a move ment going on, thotigh it is so irregular , and intermittent that we call hardly distinguish its force or direction, ac customed as we are to the more rapid march of improve ment in our own happier island. Ono generation is, after all, but a short period in the history of a nation,. and one generation has not yet passed since Ireland was visited by a famine, the recurrence of which, at least with like seve rity, is already, humanly speaking, impossible. Twenty years hence, if the true friends of Ireland do not relax their efforts, the social state which now seems to us so immovable may be seen to have been steadily progressive. THE " SCIENTIFIC REVIEW" ON THE SOUTH KENSINGTON CLIQUE.—The following admirable article appears in the last number of the Scientific Review, a monthly magazine of great ability, issued as the journal of the Inventors' Insti tute :—lt is our duty to call the serious attention of our readers to the " Clique" which is at preseut so strenuously endeavouring to bring to completion the notorious South Kensington projects. Its most active members are non homines, who love to flutter around the homines multarum imaginunz ; and who expect that, in making themselves use ful to their patrons, they will shine by reflected light, and, what is still better, secure to themselves, in due time, solid advantages of some kind or another. If they are success fnl, the result will be not only to waste a quarter of a mil lion of the public money, but to render all but useless a collection of the highest importance to science—in addition to other changes of a most pernicious character. The plans of these gentlemen are highly comprehensive, and possess, at least, both vastness and audacity. One of their objects is to remove the Natural History collection of the British Museum to a most inconvenient and comparatively romote suburb, to establish there' a so-styled Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, and to transfer the Patent Law Museum to the same out-of-the-way place. The South Kensington Central Hall of Arts and Sciences is an old project revived. It was a favourite idea of the late Prince Consort, and it is now being pushed forward under pretence of respect for his memory—a feeling which, it is supposed, will silence allop ponents. Unwilling subscribers are importuned inthe name of her Majesty and the Prince, and sums varying from £2OO to £2,000 are extorted from courtiers, place-hunters, and persons scarcely in a position to refuse them. The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences is to be an ellip tical building, 250 ft. long, sufficient to accommodate 5,600 persons, and will cost £200,000. The wiseacres who planned it have adopted the elliptic form, no doubt because some of them have a hazy idea that it possesses peculiar acoustic properties, but they have not science enough to know that these properties are exactly such as to render it most un suitable for the use to which the building is destined. To what a wonderful melange of purposes is this Hall of Omniscience to be devoted ! To congresses of science and art, musical performances, distribution of prizes, conver sazioni, agricultural, horticultural, and artistic exhibitions, civic processions, and other sensational displays. The clique are, at any rate, determined to have plenty of strings to their how ; if it fails as a Central Hall of Science, its princely, noble, and obsequious shareholders can fall back on a thousand devices, including legerdemain, tight-rope dancing, spirit-rapping—in short, anything that will bring in a ready penny. But let them not confide too much in the far-sightedness of their plans ; establishments very like what they propose, though far more suitably located, have invariably failed to realise the magnificent expectations of their projectors. It is true, the contributors are pretty well secured from serious loss. The commissioners of the Exhibition of 1862 have most liberally, as we are told, bestowed upon them a site gratis, and have, in addition, guaranteed £50,000 out of the £200,000 required. We demand, however, what right the commissioners have thus to dispose of public pro perty at their pleasure ? Are they not giving away with pompous generosity to a number of speculators that which was intended to be used only for strictly public purposes ? If the natural history department of the British Museum bo transferred to Soutli Kensington, who, we ask, will fre- quent it, save nursemaids and children, the habitues of the " Brompton Boilers ?" These, no doubt, will be very grate ful to those who have enabled them to see for nothing such a nice collection of birds, beasts, and fishes. But, as re- Bards men of science, the locality is far too much an ultima thule for them to visit it. Scarcely any place less central could be selected for the proposed " Central Hall of Arts and Sciences." The very name, Central Hull, is a blunder, the absurdity of which must be apparent to all. The South Kensington cliquearo gifted with imperturb able effrontery and indomitable perseverance ; they are never abashed by exposure nor discouraged by defeat. However often they may be hurled to the ground they would seem to rise from it, like Anta3us, with new vigour. They count, doubtless, on wearing out their opponents, and expect to obtain what they seek "because of their importunity." Parliament has, however, already spoken on the subject, and in a manner which cannot be mistaken. When the notorious scheme for purchasing the Exhibition building of 1862 was brought forward, all party differences were forgotten, and both the job and its prouloters were sent about their business with indignation and contempt. The House of Commons will, no doubt, confirm the judgment it has pronounced, and this time, as we trust, peremptorily and for ever. A number of eminent persons, every way capable of 'orming a correct judgment in the matter, have recorded an opinion diametrically opposed to the South Kensington projects. The Commission which sat 16 years ago, and which consisted of Lords Ellesmere, Canning, and Wrottesley, of Bishop Stanley, Sir Roderick Murchison, Joseph Hume, Monckton Mi]nes, Shaw Lefevre, &c., say s, in its report, "To any scheme embracing the notion of relieving the _ __ _ museum, either partially or wholly, from its collection of natural history, we have seen objections in limine sufficient ;o deter us from giving it any detailed consideration. Any attempt to segregate any portion of the natural history, or to scatter in various localities the components of their vast aggregate, would involves, sacrifice of groat scientific advantage." Since this report was issued, public opinion has become still more distinct. The Select Committee of 1860 suggested the enlargement of the British Museum by the purchase of the land adjoining to it. That would cost too much, for- sooth ! Economy is very convenient as a mask; but enormous sums are recklessly squandered in other public departments without remorse. Six years have elapsed since the committee declared that the truly noble and really central establishment in Great Russell -street should be adequately enlarged ; but nothing has yet been done in the matter, although land in that locality is augmenting in value every day. This apathy is, however, explained by the evident determination of some to carry out, at all hazards, the objectionable scheme we denounce. The question practically resolves itself into this : Shall the South Kensington clique be permitted, by dint of courtly intrigue and unworthy artifice, to set aside the recorded opinion of the most eminent men in the country ; to render of no avail the deliberate decision of the House of Commons; and to disregard the public convenience and the requirements of science? Will Mr. Gladstone, in any proposition he may.venture to bring forward, dare to ignore these important considerations ? Another of the South Kensingston schemes is, we be- lieve, the removal of the Patent Offices. Patentees are, in general, men to whom, in the strictest sense, time is money, and it would be most unreasonable to drag them to South Kensington, merely that the crotchets of busybodies, and the schemes of interested intriguers, may be carried out. The locality best of all suited for a Patent Office—and, indeed, ,for a really Central Hall of Science, Literature, and Art —would be Trafalgar-square, in the rear of the presont li National Gallery. It has been shown by the Council of the Inventors' Institute that five acres of space could there be acquired for a very moderate sum. Upon this, galleries of paintings, a museum of inventions, and halls for the use of the various learned societies might be erected, and a building be raised worthy of the nation, and calculated to satisfy public convenience and the requirements of all legitimately interested in the question. (We shall refer to this in our next.) A portion of the cost might be fairly taken from the surplus patent fund, which now amounts to over £300,000. What, we ask, in conclusion, has entitled the South Kensington Clique to arrogate to themselves the disposal of the treasures of science ? We are not aware that, either collectively or individually, they have contributed one single iota to its progress ; and certainly the leading men of science could be hardly expected to co-operate with such scientific nobodies. It must be observed, however, that the intolerable inconvenience which would arise from such a transfer is no guarantee that it will not take place ; unless the vindicators of science, and the guardians of the common weal, exert themselves. Let them be up,there fore and stirring ; prevention not only is better, but infinitely more easy, than cure. HERALD.—Mr. Bright, after his shameful letter to Bir mingham, went " accidentally" to Manchester, there to , embitter and poison the minds of the uneducated classes by further calumnies and aspersions upon all that is great and permanent in England. We marvel, however, at the blindness of the self-smitten Samson, who is pulling down the structure of his own hands with a desperation not to be accounted for except on the hypothesis that he knows his ammunition to bo nearly spent. What weapons has he left wherewith to assail the Constitution ? The innumerable roughs, who are to follow him, as a certain multitude fol lowed Lord G. Gordom with a demonstration of windows broken, carriages overturned, property threatened, and the public peace destroyed,l while he bullies the House of Com mons into passing a measure, the only fault of which, he says, is that it would admit other than the working classes to the franchise. Volleys of stones, indignation open-air meetings, Primrose-hill fiascos, tavern spouting, and all the old obsolete machinery, must be put in motion ; but there is one fact which Mr. Bright, with his dogged and imperious sectarianism, will not remember--it is that the popular weathercock has grown rusty. It will not turn when he breathes with east-wind bitterness. It stands, stiff and indifferent, while he howls. But we thank him for stating plainly what he and his confederates mean. They declare that the Gladstone bill shall pass, that Par liament dare not reject it, that a curse, chaos, and confis cation will ensue if it be Mooted. We are threatened openly with insurrection if the measure be not adopted. To what viler artifices could demagoguism descend ? That the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain should thus be menaced by a coarse political pugilist with peltings and hootings because the more dignified sections of the Liberal party will not be led by Lord Russell—who must loathe this tyranny while he endures it—into a Radical ambus cade, is disgraceful in itself ; but that any set of public men should hear without rebuking language so cowardly and infamous is wonderful indeed. Mr. Bright, the real author of the bill, and the only man in Parliament who sincerely cares for it, is prepared with many reasons for the House of Commons, for the aristocracy, for the Ministry, and for the people, why it should pass. If it does not a dissolution should take"plape. If a dissolution does not take place, the Government must fall. In that event the estates of the high Whig families may be in peril. There may be a vast anarchy in the kingdom, and this amounts to a prophecy of physical force, which, in another part of the realm, might be held as treasonable. Even the member for Birmingham never yet descended so low. It is the as sumption, in fact, of a brutal dictatorship at the head of a bludgeon armed mob—only as yet the mob is not forth coming. Among the signs of the times none is more re markable than that the creature formerly known as your "pot-house politician" has disappeared. He rants at no tavern, and sets no village by the ears. But Mr. Bright would revive him. He tells the people that they are despised; that they are trodden down by the rich; that great rentals are inimical to their rights; that there may come a time, though not exactly yet, when they can justly touch the acres of the territorial aristocracy; that acts of violence and acts of terrorism are measures to be kept in reserve ; but that Lord Grosvenor " has nothing to gain" from the agitation which the Birmingham dema gogue, whose "dirty" language has offended his oldest friends, will do his utmost and his worst to provoke. This implies, of course that he has something to lose. We are promised anothi3r march from the Midland, an ignoble hustings scene at Westminster, an incendiary demonstra tion, a ferocious pressure upon Parliament, and if Mr. Bright were strong enough we should have to endure the full effects of his monstrous revolutionary passion. He cannot, however, raise the spirit he invokes ; he is frantic with disappointed egotism ; the nation is superciliously in different to his appeals; and, degrading himself from one demagogic trick to another, he at last appears as the suc cessor of Feargus O'Connor. Smashed panels, shivered glass, personal fright, the common yell, and the ragged execrations of a mob, are to be the influences under which Parliament is to legislate at his bidding. It is a melancholy spectacle. He is a man of mark. He possesses extraor dinary eloquence—in his case a dangerous and lamentable power—he is listened to, in and out of Parliament, with attention. Yet his language is so unscrupulous, his mind is so incapable of a compunction, and his cheek so un conscious of a blush, that the nation must be ashamed at length to 1 reckon him among its public men. We had almost hoped that the period of physical force counsels had passed. But what else can be signi fied by the constant harping, with insolent assumption and coars2 illiberality, upon "popular indignation ?" Is the bill an indignation bill, or a well considered measure ? What is meant ,by "setting something going ?" What is intended by new Penenden Heath gatherings ? Firstly, that Mr. Bright does not believe in the success of the bill, for ho positively predicts a three months' agitation to come. Secondly, that his hope lies in the vanity, violence, and blindness of the mob to whom he appeals, but which is by no means so large as ho imagines. Great meetings and great petitions, ho says, are needed. Let him take the test of history. There were never 2,000,000 of signatures at tached to any petition, after months had been expended on the most minute district work of collecting names, and the most wholesale caricature and forgery. Therefore, a ma jority of millions refused to move or to speak in the matter. Again, in the largo towns of England, from first to last, a gathering might be summoned which should no more re present their public opinion than St. Martin's-hall or Exe ter-hall represents the educated opinion of the metropolis. We very strongly doubt, however, whether the inflamma tory and slanderous declamation of Mr. Bright will lead' o any such result. The towns do not move. The local cliques are active, it is true ; but the prevailing feeling is, as it was in 1854, that Parliament is asked to legislate less for the working classes than for Lord Russell and hisallies who regard the British constitution as something to be altered and adjusted to suit special conveniences and party. ends. Mr. Bright is employed to engage popular support for this theory. Will he succeed ? He is doing his utmost, we are honestly convinced, to fail. He advocates turbulence and terrorism, and all, be it kept in mind, to dictate an act of legislation to be followed by eight or nine others of si milar scope and tendency. Twelve years ago a particular speeeh of his was characterised by an able writer as " atro cious nonsense." We can scarcely hope to describe either the Birmingham letter or the Manchester speech more fitly. For, taking their converse, what would it be ? How the Radicals would shriek and execrate were Parlia ment, in presence of this lawless threat of siege and coer cion, to resolve upon legislating with a park of artillery and a regiment of cavalry in Palace-yard. Yet that is precisely the principle, officially interpreted, which Mr. Bright in terprets in what he takes to be the popular sense. He calls upon the rabble of the towns, up and down all England, to Imeet and menace the Legislature ; he would supersede the present artificial agitation by a movement of the masses I dangerous to peace and property; he aims at creating convulsion and discontent. But we have so much faith in public opinion as to be confident that this hackneyed blus ter will be ineffectual, and that Mr. Bright's brick-bat tac tics will help the Reform Bill no more than it has been helped by the advocacy of its promoters. COUNTRY MARKETS. HULL-TUESDAY. The trade in wheat has been somewhat depressed. In foreign this is especially so, as holders have refused to make any concession in price. We had a fair show of English wheat, but farmers being very firm, checked busi ness. For malting barley there was a healthy demand, and good samples especially met a ready sale. The ex tremely high prices asked by holders of linseed checked business. English old white wheat, 48s to 54s ; old red, 42s to 465. Barley, English, 37s to 428. Oats, Russian, 24s to 255. Beans, new English, 43s to 445. Peas, English blue, 403 to 41s Od ; grinding, 40s to 41s Od per 36 stone. SALISBURY.-T UESDAY. Wheat a shorter supply this morning, but in better con dition. Business ruled inactive, and best samples made the same rates as before. In barley a steady trade was done, and the late rise in secondary sorts was maintained. Oats, as well as beans and peas, were moderately dealt in at pre vious quotations. Flour the same as before. _ The following are the quotations :—Wheat realised from 38s to 52s ; barley, 35s to 44s ; oats, 22s to 32s ; beans, 40s to 52s ; and peas, 42s to 54s per qr. Tares, from 6s to 70 6d per bushel ; Best bread, 13d ; household ditto, 12d. per 81b loaf. Flour, 34s to 38s per sack. MONMOUTHSHIRE-TUESDAY. The wheat trade ruled inactive, especially for foreign and secondary sorts, while only best qualities of home grown realized current quotations. There was an active inquiry for barley, both for malting and grinding purposes, and prices had an upward tendency. In beans there was a steady trade, and prices were fully maintained. For oats there was an improved demand, at full value. The following are the average quotations:—Wheat, red, 5s Od to 58 6d per bushel ; inferior ditto, 4s 9d to ss. 3cl; white, 5s 9d to 6s ; malting barley, 36s to 43s per qr ' • grind ing ditto, 27s to 325 ; b eans , 44 5; w hit e oa t s , 24 s 6d to 26s ;- black ditto, 23s 6d to 24s 6d. LYNN-TUESDAY. The weather to-day is fine, with a high temperature. At to-day's market tho show of wheat was short ; the de mand was slow at last week's rates. Malting and grinding barley in good request, and fully as dear. No alteration in beans and oats. New wheat, 46s to 48s ; new red, 42s to 44s ; old white, 51s to 52s ; old red, 46s to 48s per 36 stone. Barley for malting, 37s to 40s ; secondary, 33s to 355. Oats, new, 24s to 26s per 24 stone. Beans, small, 43s to 465. Peas, 36s to 40s per 28 stone. NEWCASTLE-TUESDAY. At our market to-day thero was a good supply of wheat from the growers and the coast, and a fair foreign arrival. Old fine and dry new maintained the rates of this day week, but the trade otherwise was dull, and secondary soft de scriptions were neglected. Barley for malting moved off at previous terms ' • grinding sorts were from 6d to is lower. Beans and peas were unchanged. Oats found buyers at 6d advance. Flour 6d to is per sack decline. The average price of British grain for tho week has been wheat, 47s Od ; barley, 37s 2d; oats, 28s 3d per qr. Foreign Mail Packet List MAILS DUE. Australia and New Zealand, via SouthamptOn April 19. Ditto, via Marseilles April 13. Brazil and Cape Verde, by British packet April 6 Ditto, by French packet April 21 Cape of Goad Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena April 3 China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton April 5. Ditto, via Marseilles April 13. Falkland Islands ' Gibraltar, via Southampton India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton.... April 5. Ditto, via Marseilles India (Bombay), via Southampton. Mar. 31. Ditto, via slarseiiles • April 7. Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Mar. 31. Ditto, via Marseilles April 7. Mauritius, via Southampton Ditto, via Marseilles Newfoundland •.4 , April 11. . Portugal - ....April 6. Ditto, by private ship to Lisbon. .. United States and British North America, by Bri tish packet April 5. Ditto, by United States packet, via Southamp ton . . Ditto, via Cork Ditto, by Canadian packet, via Londonderry.. Mar• SO• West Indies and Pacific (except Bahamas and Honduras) Mar. 31. Cuba and Mexico . Mar. 31 . Bahamas, via New York. April 5 . Bermuda, ditto April 1 i West Coast of Africa. Madeira, and Teneriffe .... April 12, JAMES WATT AND HIS MODEL.—It BO happened that, just at the very time in which the mine-own ers of Cornwall were on the point of being drowned out in con sequence of the inadequacy of their engines to "fork" the water from the depths of their pits, the mind of an intelli gent mathematical instrument maker, then residing within the shadow of the College of Glasgow, appeared to be directed to the new motive power by the merest accident. He was well-known to some of the professors, and bei n g of a philosophical turn of mind, appears to have been ill some sense connected with the University ; at all events, the Professor of the Natural Philosophy class, know' ing that he had paid some attention to the subj ect* of steam, entrusted to him a model of a Newcom er engine to repair. Tho model had, indeed, been sent t , ° , London for this purpose, and if it had remained there in all probability it would have been returnee without dropping that fruitful seed into the mind of 01 workman employed upon it that it did into the wil l ' of the Glasgow optician and mathematical instru ment maker; and, possibly the invention would have bee n delayed another century. Imagine, gentle reade r, i4° world without the steam-engine in the year 1866!—imag ine all the material concerns of life as they stood a hu ndred years ago, and then pioture to yourself the effect of t his lucky accident, if we may so term it, of the recall of tb is little model from its long journey southward to the remo te seaport on the banks of the Clyde. This famous mode i now venerable for its age, suggested the parent-tho n g' that has transformed the world.—Once a Week. A BROKER'S MAN.—A strange fact—st ranger than anything in fiction—came to my knowledge lately, with regard to a poor family who were visite d ! the broker's man. When the broker's man came in, "" tenant of the house, driven to desperation by his ni , isi n t : tunes, rushed upon him with a knife to kill him. God's sake, don't kill me," cried the broker's man. «I k , a poor unfortunate wretch like yourself. While I come (); take possession of your things, there is a man in p ossessi o n of mine." Then you ought to have some feeling for in 2 ; said the other. "God knows I have," said the broker's in7l "but I have had nothing to do for a long time , 311 . 0 1 ) , was starving when I was offered this I never did such cursed work before, of I will starve to death before Ido it again." The vis n ' the amateur broker's man was an angel's visit to that 1).7.t family. He had received five shillings in advan ce for Nviel'of he called his " cursed work," and he made a ble ssed ns e e_ it, by giving the starving family a meal. When a 11,sist volent clergyman entered the house to render s ome ance to the distressed family, he found the children clllii ing to the broker's man's neck, kissing him, and calling "uncle."—Dickens's "All the Year Round." Births. COLE—On the 26th inst., at Wimbledon, Mrs. A. C°lB' of a son. riles s o n' dare; On the 27th inst., at Lodge Park, coon s dare; the lady of Sir J. M. Higginson, of Ai 1 4 PIGOU—On the 28th inst., at 14, Suffolk-stree t, Pall the wife of the Rev. Francis Pigou, of a son. Marriages. 11)0 13° ELLERBY—HARRAN—On the 27th inst., at St. Mall to Church, Thomas Ellerby, of Manor House Whitwe ~' f 146 7 Af er) Sarah, daughter of Edward Harran, Esq bone-road. RUSSELL—WILLIAMS—On the 27th inst. , at St. P 3 ' l O ita, Church, Hampstead, Mr. W. Russell, of Adelaido l g. St. John's-wood, to Emma, daughter of the l a te P-'• C. Williams, of Ledbury, Herefordshire. Deaths. CARPENTER—On the 27th inst., at Eastbourne, H. S. Carpenter, aged 36. 1. stree t ' CLIFTON—On the 28th inst., at 6, Old Cavendi,ex.: 12th Cavendish-square, Major Chandos F. Clifton (..e' c ' o f th e Lancers), of Llyswen, Breconshire, youngest son late C. C. Clifton, Esq., late of Tymawr. of 94 ' GORING—On the 26th inst., Mr. Thomas Go,,Dgt New Kent-road, aged 56. p e el°, PEELE —On the 24th inst., at Long Sutton, Thos. Esq., aged 78. lqedfe rd' UsAvEn—On the 24th inst.,,at 109 , Gowe r-street, square, Henry De :Usayer, Esq. BO Vil ' ondon: L Priiited and Published by WILLIAM A N 9 . sln of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TnZ SVN Oilic°. el Strand, in the Preeinot of the Savoy . in the CO.- Middlesex.—Thursday, Attach 29, 1866.