The Sun. — London, England, 1870-02-15 00:00:00

" T HE Ai"PAREL OFT PROCLAIMS THE MAN.'' BEST MATERIALS, BEST STYLES BEST WORKMANSHIP, and LOWEST PRICES, at E. MOSES and SON'S. Every description of Clothing ready-made or made to measure, f3r all ages, all occa sions, and all classes, at E. MOSES and SUN'S. An immense assortment of WINTER CLOTHING, in all the newest designs and materials, at E. MOSES and SON'S. OVERCOATS from 193. to £5. BOY'S OVERCOATS from 10s. 6d. to 455. For the convenience of Ladies accom panying their Sons there is a separate de partment for Boys' Clothing, and it is fur nished with a splendid assortment of Suits, Overcoats, and Clothing for all occasions, including all the favourite designs and the most fashionable materials. Orders by Post aro attended to with care and punctuality, and tho easy and accurate system of self-measure introduced by E. :MOSES and SON enables them to guarantee a faultless lit. Any article not worn or injured will be .-xch9ng,ed. or, if desired, the money will be returned. All Goods are marked in Plain Figures, from which no abatement can be made. The Stock of Hosiery and Drapery, Hats and Caps. and Boots and Shoes, is un aqualled for magnitude, variety, and cheap nee& A very large assortment of BLANKETS, from ss. 4d. the pair. Complete OutSts for all Climates, with every requisite for the voyage. List of Prices, with Rules for Self-mea iure, Patterns, and Fashion-sheet, gratis and post-free. E. MOSES and SON'S Establishments are closed every Friday evening at sunset till Faturday evening at sunset, when business is resumed until eleven o'clock. E. MOSES and SON, Ready-made and Be spoke Tailors, Habitmakers, Woollendrapers, Hatters, Hosiers, Boot and Shoe Manufae turns, and General Ou tette for all Classes. Tho following aro the only addresses of E. MOSES and SON:— LONDOr. CORNER OF 3IINORIES AND ALDGATE. NEW OXFORD-STREET, CORNER OF ITART-STREET. con Not OF TOTTENHAM-COURT-ROAD AND EUSTON ROAD. Country Branch BRADFORD, YORKSHIRE. H OOPER'S TELEGRAPH WORKS (Limited). Incorporated under the Companies' Acts, 1862 and 1867. C , pita:—.£2so,ooo in 25,000 e•hares of £lO each, payable as follows : £1 per share on application. £2 „ ~ nllntnient. £2 ~- „ Ist. April, 1870. • „ „ 14 June, 1870. £3 „ Ist August, 1870. DIRECTORS. John M. Dunlop, Esq. lion. L. Agar-Edis, M.P. C. Seymour Grenfell, Esq. William Hooper, E-q., Managing Director. Frederic Lubbock Esq. Admiral Sir William Wiseman, Bart. RANKERS. Messrs. Robarts ' Lubbock, and Co. Bank of Scotland (Ediuburgb and Branches). SOLICITORS. Messrs. Ashurst, Morris. and Co. Temporary Offices—No. 114, Gresham House, Old Broad-street, E.C. This Company has been formed to take over and extend the w 11 known works of Mr. William Hooper, for the manufacture cf indiarubber core for telegraphic purposes, and to add thereto the business of covering the core for submarine cables, and submerging and maintaining the same, whereby the Company will be enabEd to execute the largest contracts for the manufacture of submarine and land telegraphs. The value of Mr. Hooper's process for the manufacture of core is now fully rec •gained. He has successfully carried on his present business, and, with a comparatively small capital, has made very large profits, sufficient to ensure out of that branch of the business alone a handsome return on the whole capital of the company ; and, when the other branches have been added, it is but fair to conclude that the profits of this undertaking will favourably compare with those of the existing companies. Mr. Hooper has already ma.uufactured, according to his process, the cores for the following calles, all of which aro in perfect working order, viz.:—Ceylon to the mainland of India, the Persian Gulf cable, laid last year by the Indian Government ; England to Denmark, Danish• Russian cable (one section), Scotland to Norway, Sweden to Russia, be sides upwards of 500 miles laid in various parts of India, Brazil, Australia, &a. Mr. Latimer Clark, while engaged as engineer and elec trician to the Indian Government, in a letter addressed to Mr. Hooper from Bombay so recently as the lt3th October, 1869, says, in reference to a cable submerged in the Persian Gulf: —" We have been examining, and I am bringing home a specimen, of the very first sample of core which you sent out in 1863 to the Persian Gulf, and which has had no sp• cial care taken of it; it is as perfect as when it first left England, and can in no way be distinguished from a new sample fresh cut of the factory." The Company, while possessed of the exclusive right to use Mr. Hoopoes process for the manufacture of iudia rubber core, will be prepared also to con-tract for cables with gutta percha core. Mr. Hooper has contracted whh the Great Northern Telegraph China and Japan Extension Company for the manufacture of their cables, 2,300 miles in length, for ..£396,000, and it is one of the terms of the agreement be tween Mr. Hooper and the Company that two-thirds of all profits from this contract shall belong to this Com pany, which will thus enter on actual and highly remune rative operations at once. Mr. Hooper has already made considerable progress with this contract. Hoopei's works at Mitcham, which are capable of executing large contracts fur core, will be taken over for £65,000. Mr. Hooper's consideration for patents and goodwill will be entirely contingent on the success of the Company, and consists of one half of the net profits of each year after 7i per cent. per annum has first been paid to the shareholdets. At the end of 10 years the whole of the profits will accrue to the Company. Copies of the articles of association and of the agree ment with Mr. Hooper can be seen at the offices of the solicitors of the Company. Applications for shares in the form annexed, accom panied by a deposit of Li per share, can be left with the bankers of the Company. Deposits will be received at any of the brauch43s of the Bank of Scotland. If no allotment is made the deposit will be returned in full. The following is a copy of the Memorandum of Asso ciation:— 1. The name of the Company is " Hooper's Telegraph Works (Limited)." 2. The registered office of the Company will be situate in England. 8. the objects for which the Company is established lire : (1) The acquisition of gain by the Company by the constructing, manufacturing, laying down, work ing, maintaining, repairing, and keeping in effi cient working order, submarine, and laud tele graphs, and telegraph cables and wires, together with and including every erection and thing re quisite for complete telegraphic systems of com munication tither by sea or land ; and also by the purchase, importation, manufacture, and sale of all materials, articles, and things in any way used in or connected with, or considered necessary or desirable for constructing, manufacturing, laying down, working, maintaining, repairing, and keeping in tflieient working order any suzh tele graphs. ( 2 ) The acquisition of the business for insulating telegraph wire, and the leasehold premises, plant, stock, and trade effects used in connection there with, belonging to and heretofore carried on by Mr. William Hooper, of Mitcham, in Surrey, in cluding the good w ill th ereo f, and his interest in all or any contracts, patents, concessions, licenses, and inventions —English or foreign and the con tinuing and carrying on the said business. (3) The acquisition, by purchase or otherwise, of any other buildings, machinery, works, houses, lands, businesses, of a similar nature to that of the Company, plant, effects, or property —real or personal— and of whatsoever tenure or any in-. terest therein respectively which aro or may be useful or desirable for the objects firstly and se condly heroinbefore stated, or any of them. (4) The acquisition, by purchase or otherwise, of all such other concessions, grants, privileges, licences, English and foreign letters patent, and contracts, or any interest therein respectively, as may be useful or desirable for the objeets firstly and se condly above stated, or any of them, and the doing of all such other things as are incidental or condu cive to the attainment of the above objects. 4. The liability of the members is limited. 5. The 25 000 shares capit t al ofac 0 e he Company is £250,000, di v id e d i n t o of The following .£lh. con tract has been entered into :—" 14 t h 1870. Agrryment made between Willia m H ooper of the one part, and Hoope r February, 's Telegraph Works (Li m it e d) of the other part." HOOPER'S TELEGRAPH WORKS (Limited). FORM OF APPLICATION. (To be retained by the Bankers.) To the Directors of Hoopur's Telegraph Works (Limited). Gentlemen, —Having paid to your bankers the sum of C being a deposit of £1 r share, I requ est that y ou will allot me ~hares of £lO each in your Company, upon the terms of the prospectus and memorandum and articles of association ; and I hereby agree to accept the sail shares, or any smaller number which you may allot to me, and to make the payment of £2 per slier° on allot ment, and to become a ni;'-iiiber of the Company, and I r . eqtwst you 'o place my name on the register of members resp-ct of the shart:s which may be allotted to me.—.l ate, gentlemen, your ob,dient servant, Name in full Address in full Date February, 18Li. PROSPECTUS OF THE ROUMANIAN GAS LIG HT COMPANY (Limited). Capital £200,000, in 10,000 shares of £2O each, payable —.£2 on application, .£3 on allotment, £5 on the 2d May, 1870, .£5 on the let November, 1870, and £5 on the let May, 1871. In case of no allotment the money will be returned with out deduction. Shareholders paying up their shires in full will receive discount at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum on the amount paid by anticipation, and, on payment of the Government LA PEST EDITION of " THE SUN " J. HJLMES begs to Inform his friends and the pnblio ;enerally that he supplies the LATEST EDITION of "THE 3t - TN "as soon as published.—No. 10, Ha mristead-road T ILE LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN " may be seen at Eight o'clock every Evening at Mr. R. NEWPORTS', the Oxford Arms, High-street, Camden-town LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN " supplied, as soon as published, Every Evening, by W ALEX ANDER (late Brooks), Newspaper Agent, No. 4, Old Xvot.vah street, Oxford-street THE LATEST or SPECIAL EDITION of " THE SUN" every Evening, at Eight o Clock, at Mr Ronzturs', "The Black Cap," High-street, Camlen-town. rIE LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN" supplied as SOD/1 as published, containing all the 'LATEST NEWS and SPORTING INT ELLIGENC V. by II W HARRIS, Newspaper Agent, 4, Macktriars-road , London, S. 11HE LATE EDITION of "THE SUN" at W. S'IITIPS " Camden Stores," 73, Park-street, Camden . town , TIE LATE EDITION o f " THE SUN " at JAMES SPEEDY'S, "The Wehington,"Wellington-street S rand. rrHE LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN " IL supplied as soon as published, every Evening, by S. WILSON, newsagent, and special agent for the North-western District, 24, Delancey-street, Camden town, N W • A GENTS WANTED EVERYWHERE 1 to introduce commodities valuable to every householder nigh aid low. This offers a highly remunerativeCommUsion to rradesmen, Travellers, Gentlemen's Servants, &c. Apply with two stamps to R. MARRISON, Great Orford-street,Norwich. Stamp Duty, will be entitled to receive share warrants to "bearer" passing by delivery. DIRECTOBs—In Bucharest. Jacques Poumay, Esq., Banker. In London. E. H. J. Craufurd, Esq., M.P., Chairman of the Walton on-Thames and Weybridge Gas Company. Loftus Fitzwygram, Esq., 89, Eccleston-square. William Haywood, Esq., F.R.S., Civil Engineer, 63, Hamilton. terrace. James Duke Hill, Esq. (Coal Exchange). Francis D. Lambert, Lsq. (Messrs. Lambert, Sons, and Scott, Coal Exchange), 85, Gracechurch-street. Alfred Penny, Esq., of the Oporto and of the Whitehaven New Gas Works. George E. Seymour, Esq., 38, Throgmorton-street. Adolphus William Young, Esq., M.P., Director of the Phoenix Gas Company. Bankers—Messrs. Barclay, Bevan, Tritton, Twe]ls, and Co., London. Engineer—Mr. G. W. Stevenson. C.E., 19, Great George street, S.W. Consulting Engineer— Mr. Edward Woods, C.E., 3, Storey's-gate, S.W. Solicitors—Messrs. Nash, Field, and Layton, 2, Suffolk lane, Cannon-street, E.O. Brokers—Messrs. Crossley Brothers and Co., 3, Royal Exchange-buildings, Coruhill, E.O. Secretary (pro tem.)—Mr. Alfred Rippon. Temporary Offices:— Lombard House, George-yard, Lombard-street, London, F.C. ; and at the Banking Ilouse of Mr. Jacques Pommy, Bucharest. The Romnaniau Gas-Light Company (Limited) has been formed for acquiring and working a concession which has been granted by the Municipaqty of Bucharest for the ex clusive right of lighting that city with gas. The term of the concession is 40 years, from the Bth April, 1868; at the expiration of that period the works will become the property of the municipality on payment of £48,000 to the company. A sinking fund is provided by the Articles of Association for replacing the original out lay at the termination of the concession. The City of Bucharest, the capital of the Danubian Principalities, is an increasing city; its p- pulation is esti mated by the Mayor, M. Cantmuzene, at 250,000 persons, occupy ug about 34,000 houses. Railways are in course of construction connecting Bucharest with the principal continental lines. The first line of 42 miles is now open from Giurgevo, the nearest port on the Danube to Bu charest. A site •of 7} acres for the gas works, immediately ad joining the new railway station, has been granted by the municipality, free of all charge. Coals are to be admitted free from municipal dues, for the exclusive purpose of the manufacture of gas. The municipality have contracted to pay for a minimum of 4,000 public lights at the rate of 6s. 10 d. per 1 , 000 cubic feet. The quantity of gas thus contracted for is upwards of 60 millions cubic feet per annum, and the Engineers estimate that receipts from the public lighting alone will pay a net profit of 31- per cent. on the total capital of the company, after setting aside a sufficient amount to provide for the sinking fund above referred to. The concession further gives the right to charge to private consumers Bs. 10d. per 1,000 cubic feet. The Engineers report that from this source of revenue a profit of over 14 per cent. may be expected so soon as the works are fairly established, thus making together a profit of nearly 18 per cent. ou the capital. The estimate that the best English Coal may be delivered on the works at a cost not exceeding 355. per ton, and that Coke will be sold at 40s. per ton. The rates for gas are subject to a reduction of 10 per cent. at the ex piration of each period of ten years during the term of the concession. Ti e estimates of cost for the erection of Works of a plain and substantial character have been prepared by Mr. G. W. STEVENSON, C.E. Before proceeding to make the provi sional contracts based thereon, these estimates wet e sub mitted to Mr. F. WOODS, C.E., who, after bavirg investi gated the matter independently, reported that the same are reliable and moderate. '1 he repot is of these gentle men are alp-nded. Provisional contracts have been entered into by the com pany for the execution of the works for sums within the estimated amounts. The business of the company will not be commenced until, in the judgment of the Board, a suf ficient nuniber of shares have been subscribed for. By the Articles of Association, it is provided that the amount payable by the ccmpauy towards the preliminary expenses is limited to £3,000. The concession granted by the Municipality of Bucha rest, the plans of the works, the reports and estimates of the Engineers, the provisional centraets and the Articles of Association, may be inspected at the Office of the Company, NT hero every explanation will be given. Applications for shares must be made in the annex , d form (which can alto be obtained from the Brokers, Messrs. Crossley Brothers and Co.), to the Directors of the Rou manian Gas Light Company (Limited), but no application will be considered unless accompanied by a deposit of, or the receipt of the bankers for, I 2 per share on the number of shares applied for. The Subscription List will be closed on Monday, the 21st instant, in Loudon, and on the following day for the country. ritHE ALMADA AND TIRITO CONSOLI _I. DATED SILVER MINING COMPANY (Limited). CAPITAL, £U O,C 00. Offices-1, Winchester Buildings, E.C. The LIST of APPLICATIONS for SHARES in this Company will be CLOSED on WEDNESDAY, the 16th instant, at Four o'clock. _ _ _ Prospectuses and Forms of Application can be obtained at the Offices of the Company. By order, 11. G. DENNISS, Secretary. February 14th, 1870. PRINCESS'S CONCERT ROOKS, CASTLE STREET, OXFORD-STREET. THIS EVEN ING (TUESDAY), 15th February.—MßS. SQUIERSS'S FULL DRESS BALL.—Signor Mosca's charming "Shadow Dance" (with the Electric Light), and an attractive Pro gramme: Dancing at Ten o'clock. Admission Five Shillings. 1111 EA FRE ROYAL, D RURY-LANE Solo Lessee and Manager, Mr. F. L. ChattPrton. THIS EVEN:NG, at 7, WILLIAM TELL : Messrs T. C King, J. Netille, M'lntyre, Moreland; Misses Edith Stuart and B. 1 okes. After which, at 9, PEAUTY AND THE BEAST; or, OLD MOTHER BU AC 11 : Misses Jessie Yokes, Victoria Vokes, and Rosina Yokes, Messrs. Fred. Yokes, W. F. Vokes, Brittain Wright, and [tarry Boleno. rHEATRE ROYAL, HA MARKET. Sole Lessee. Mr. Buckstone. THIS EVENING, at 7, A KISS IN THE DARK. After which, at 20 minutes to 8, tt UR AMERICAN COUSIN; Characters by Mr Sothern, Mr Ruckst"ne, Mr Chippendale, Mr Braid, Mr k ogers; Mrs Chippendale, Miss F. Wright, Miss F. Uwynne, Miss C. Hill, Concluding with DE 4F AS A POST: Mr Compton and Mr.; E. Fit zwilliam. Box-office open daily from Ten till Five. HE ATRE ROYAL, ADELPIII , 1- Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. WEBSTER THIS EVENING, at 7 o'clock, OPEN TO CONVICTInN. Messrs. G. Belmore, J. D. Beveridge, C. H. Stephenson, Miss L. Grey, and Mrs. Leigh Murray. At 8, TH NIGHTINGAL Mr Benjamin Webster, Messrs Arthur Stirling, J. D. Beveridge, Skinner, Miss Furtado, Mrs Alfred Mellon,.M iss Eliza Johnstone, Mrs Caulfield, &c. 'lO conclude with DOMESTIC ECONOMY. Mr I+. BEI - and Mrs Leigh Murray. Box-office open daily, from 10 till 5. No fees for booking. Places can be secured a fortnight in advance. ROYAL PRINCESS'S TIIEATRE Lessee and Manager—Mr. Benjamin Wel?ster. ,ET iiIS EVENING, at 7, FORMOSA: Messrs. J. Rouse, Rig nold, Ashley, Taylor, Lin Rayne, Phillips, Leeson, Eburne, Romer, ete.; 'Mesdames Billington, K. Rodgers, M. Brennan, E. Barnett, L. Grey, &e. With aI. TER, DARK; Messrs Bignold, Ashley, Rouse, Lee son, Phillips, Rayne ; M:sses tt. Leclercq and Barnett. LYCEUM THEATRE (under the management of Messrs Mansell (elegantly redecorated by Macintosh): THIS EVENING, at 7.30, TWENTY MIND' its WITH - A TIGER: Messrs Coghlan, Odell, and Wilmott; Mesdames Rig uold and Morgan. Aft r which, CHILI' KUM by Herv6: Messrs M. Marius, G. Vincent, Odell, Lapierre, Coghlan, and sl. Herve : Mesdames Dolaro, Fitzlnman, Romanelli, Nellie Nesbit, and Miss Emily f OYAL STRAND THEATRE. !'4 Sole Lessee and Manageress, Mrs Swanborough. THIS EVENING, at 7. THE lIeIR AT LAW: Mesrs. J. S. Clarke, D. James, Crouch; M esdames Button and Claire. Followed by THE TODDLES: Mr Clarke. After which, INO; Messrs Thorne, James, Fenton, Turner ; Mesdames Sheridan, Newton, Maitland, ix. THE LATE EDITION of "THE SUN " at J. SMITH S, 39, Bow-street, Covent-garden. T" "SUN" NEWSPAPER.-G. R. GIZNIE, Sporting Library, 4, Connaught-terrace, Edgeware-road, lelivers the LATE EDITION of "THE SIIN " as soon as published. rrHE LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN " to be seen Every Evening by 8 10 at Mr. ROBERT MBecocrs, BAtannia, Kensal New-town, SPURTING. —JOHN ROBERTS supplies the LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN " as soon as pub ishod.-4, Bath-street, City-road. E 0. THE SUN, LONDO', TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 15, 1870. [OHS' GOSNF.LL and CO.'S CHERRY TOOTH PASTE is greatly superior to any tooth powder ; gives the teeth a pearl whiteness, protects the enamel from decay, and imparts a pleasant fragrance to the breath. Price ls. 6d.—ltod Bull Wharf, 93, Upper Thames-street. London. of: , J -- I Uongress the brief note in which the receipt ox iur. Elsa's communication was acknowledged, whilst suppressing the " observations" whereby that com munication was answered. The arguments of both Ministers were put in the same form, and should have received the same treat ment. In one sense the omission was of little importance. In this time of the fourth estate it is impossible for the Minister of one country to withhold what another Minister chooses to publish. Lord CLARENDON inserted the entire correspondence in the London Gazette. This resource, however, his lordship considers disadvantageous, for as the corres respondence was really not official, its publication must have " a tendency to prolong discussion, and not to allay irritation." These fears were scarcely realised. Th ecorrespondence excited no great atten tion, and in a day or two was entirely forgotten. The public are weary of debating a question which is as old as it is profitless ; and the press generally displays no groat anxiety to further examine a con troversy in which the American Government has no fixed position whatever, but alters its demands according to the pressure at home, and the prospect of extracting concessions from the English Govern ment. ALLEGED MURDER ON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE. A man named Charles Dobbs, a porter in the Indian Office, has been apprehended charged with the murder of a woman named Louisa Overy, with whom he cohabited. On Saturday night a person named Morgan was passing over Westminster Bridge between eight and nine o'clock, when he saw the prisoner and a female standing near the parapet on the south side of the bridge. They were quarreling, but he did not hear what was said. Just after he he had passed he heard a cry of " A woman over board," and, on looking up, saw the prisoner with his hands up and the woman gone. The prisoner ran off, but was pursued and captured. Another witness deposed to seeing the woman put one of her legs on the parapet. He thought it was a joke, but the next moment she was gone, and wit ness said to the prisoner, ".You might have saved that woman," and he replied, " I could not save her." The un fortunate woman was heard to scream from amongst the - blocks - of ice by which she was surrounded, but assistance was impossible. The prisoner was visited on Monday morning in the cells by an inspector, when he made a statement to the effect that when he went.home on Saturday night he found his wife—as he calls her—excited by drink. In the course of the evening she visited two public-houses, and was very disorderly in her conduct. O n reac hi ng W es t m i ns t er Bridge, prisoner said, " I'll race you over the bridge." They both ran, when the woman passed him by a few yards, and jumped on the parapet in front of him. He tried to catch hold of her clothes, but was too late. He then ran towards home to inform his landlord of what had taken place. Before Mr. Elliot the prisoner said he would call evidence to shew what a violent woman the deceased was, and his landlady deposed that the woman was often excited by drink, but the prisoner was a quiet, well-behaved man. Mr. Elliot ordered a remand, as the body has not yet been recovered, agreeing to accept two good.bail in £lOO each. THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. The Times thinks that Lord Carnarvon'has done a public service in calling attention to the relations between the Mother Country and the Colonies; but the good he has effected consists principally in the proof he has elicited that the Colonial Office has not any serious offences towards the Colonies to answer for. This is the impression we receive as much almost from his own speech as from Lord Gran ville's reply, and we are glad th a t th e cr iti c i sm of our present colonial policy has at last been under taken by one who has some knowledge of the subject, and who speaks with the responsibility of past and, we hope, also of future office. For several weeks a large number of people have been quite in a fever about the colonies. It has been alleged that these noble depen dencies have been treated with contumely by the Colonial Minister. Lord Carnarvon seems to have approached the subject with a wish to be critical, but as he examined it, his common sense and official experience shewed him how frivolous were the com plaints of which he had made himself the mouthpiece. This discussion entirely confirms us in the opinions we have from time to time put forth on our colonial relations. We have not thought it right to encourage a factitious enthusiasm for what is called a more intimate union with the colonies, which means the adoption of a clumsy and impracticable political machinery ; and we have expressed a belief that the present system does, by its very pliancy, produce a mutual friendliness which rigid 1. - litical bonds might perhaps stifle. This opinion is supported by the chief speakers in the House of Lords ; though Lord Derby doubts whether the present relations could be maintained in time of war. Peace, however, is the normal state of England, and still more of the British Colonies ; for, with the exception of Canada, which may soon assume an independent position, there is no colony which has any reasonable fear of invasion even were the Mother Country at war. For the present, and so far as we can see into the future, the state of the world is such that England and her colonies need not subordinate their relations to the necessities of a military and naval alliance. The Standard declares that a debate upon the colonial question on which the speakers deliberately avoid saying anything about emigration or New Zealand is certainly open to comparison with that imaginary representation of " Hamlet " where the part of the Dane is omitted. Great and most satisfactory as has been the growth of public interest in the general question of the. relations of the colonies to the mother country within the last few months, it is indisputable that the colonial question means for the mass of the public, in the first place, those two questions of emigra tion and New Zealand. The question which these men have assumed to be settled is again upon the order of the day for discussion, and to our thinking the fault and the failure of Monday's debate in the Lords is not that it should have been confined to the general question of the relations of the colonies to the mother country, but that it died out without any expression of opinion—or at least in one case but a summary One— from the met most qualified to speak upon so great a subject. Put into plain words, Lord Granville's statement is simply this : " We have these colonies ; they are a great nuisance; they cost us money ; they swell the military and the civil service estimates. Unfortunately, we cannot decently tell them to shift for themselves; we cannot give them notice to have nothing more to do with the British Empire ; but we can contrive, by telling them that they are free to go, by suggesting that as soon as they arrive at manhood they ought to go, by emphasising the bother and the trouble they are to us, to deaden if not to destroy their sense of loyalty, to encourage corrupt demagogues to advocate separation, and to produce such a general sense of uneaki aess and apprehension that the colonists may at last de sire to know the worst, and with our aid withdraw froir their allegiance to the British Crown. To that end the best efforts of myself and colleagues shall be directed." This is the policy of the Government. We heartily echo Lord Carnarvon's eloquent protest against it as a cheese paring policy in point of money, a spendthrift policy in point of national honour, and a course fatal to the highest and best interests of the country. Mr. Hardcastle, says the Daily Noes, obtained leave last night to bring in a Bill to remove the Minority Clauses from the Reform Acts. A faint objection from the Oppo sition side of the House brought Mr. Gladstone to the rescue, and his declaration against the Clauses will be received with general satisfaction throughout the country. The minority representation, as Mr. Gladstone remined the House, represented no policy and no opinion of the House of Cora• mons. The Reform Bill went up to the House of Lords without it, and it was only the fear lest the bill should fall through for that year which induced the House of Commons to accept the scheme when the Lords sent it down. By its operation it has simply driven the people of the great towns into a closer political organi sation, and a greater obedience to party leaders and party necessities, than they ever exhibited before. The scheme was one of those imaginary barriers against democracy which induced the House of tords to pass a democratic Reform Bill. Its sole use was over when the Lords had consented to let the householders into the Constitution, and it will probably be sacrificed without any great regret. even by its authors. There will, of course, be a little lamentation over it in a select circle of doctrinaire politicians whose love of an expedient is in inverse ratio to its simplicity or its utility ; but the public will be glad that a new-fangled interference with the old and simple rule for counting heads has vanished from the statute-book. Minorities are over-represented as it is. The uneven distribution of members to popula tion gives two-thirds of the House of Commons to a smaL minority of the people ; and while that anomaly exists, this attempt to diminish even the present inadequate representation of the great towns is an insult to the under standing of the people. The Government is only fulfilling its hustings pledges in consenting, to sweep the absurdity away. The Pall Mall Gazette considers one of our great difficulties in governing Ireland lies in the task of separating our friends from our enemies. With open hawkers of sedition and those who have been duped into overt acts of treason, there is not much trouble or embarrassment ; but besides these there are many sentimental " nationalists" with whom it is hard to deal. Irishmen should understand that they will not thrive by threats. This simply means that we are bound to assert our existence as a ruling power by force if neces sary, and force must be at hand when it is challenged. They themselves by this time must be surely wearied of hearing the clogs bark who are unable to bite, and we have given them reasonable guarantees that we mean, without being frightened into the proper disposition of mind, to redress the grievances they bring before us. But they can bring them without the offices or the intervention of the mock patriot the mock nationalist whom they occasionally send to Par liament, and who so often tries to get there without success. The Fenian unattached is a most insidious mis chief for Ireland. His function is always to seem the thing he is not. It is his business to be unfaithful to the loyalty he professes in one place, and false to the wild professions of patriotism he makes in another. The Fenian who has been sworn behind the door of a public-house to wage war against Great Britain is at least an intelligible if not a very imposing character. The rhetorical Fenian, safe in his own skin, but as infectious as a leper, is a fay less wholesome or pleasing object. It will be a happy day when the Irish people give little attention either to th• confessed or the disguised traitor. • The Telegraph, in discorsing upon royal sports in India, observes that fox-hunting has had its bards, who have eni• balmed the recollection of many a famous ran in rhymes that delight the Quota' and Pytchley , 1:ut ; if the " grey boar" were chased in the glades of England ; Mr. Freeman would have been an. M.F.H., an , l the Net Laureate would have composed hunting F3fg , in honour of that mighty quarry. The %t.eak points of fox hunting are, that the astute littls beast which affords so much pleasure to his pursuers •is artifi cially preserved, and that his strength and cunning seem so very much out of proportion to the elaborate and overwhelming array of men, horses, and hounds assembled for his destruction. It is not so with " pig-sticking ;" for the wild boar in an inveterate and formidable plunderer, who grubs up the Hindoo's sugar cane and rice. It is a most useful deed, therefore, to ride him down ; but to do it needs, besides a steady horse and a sure hand, manhood and courage ; and the odds are not so much against the pig as to leave the pursuit without its element of fair play. The fox has nothing on which to rely but his speed and his stratagem—he is powerless at close quarters; but, like a Japanese Daimio, the old boar carries a couple of scimitars, and he knows how to use them with deadly effect upon horse or man. Woe to the rash hunter who comes within reach of those crooked ivory knives ! "If thou be hurt with horn of hart," says the old ballad, " a barber may thee save ; " but it adds ominously, " if thou be gashed with tusk of boar, it brings thee to thy grave." Those who know the nature and power of the various jungle beasts hold the charge of a wild boar worse than that of a tiger. Your tiger is, no doubt, a " fearful wild fowl ; " but he will often turn in mid-onset from a shot, and, once past the hunter, he seldom comes back again. 'When the boar makes up his mind to fight, however, it is like the Old Guard at Waterloo. He comes on with short angry grunts, snout down, and bristles erect, and neither knife nor spear can easily stop him. Moreover, he has a horrible instinct where to find the soft parts of his enemy, and one of his oblique " upper-cuts " in. the groin gives the surgeon work that is too likely to end with a job for. the undertaker. Nor need it ho forgotten, in a comparison of fox-hunting with pig-sticking, that Reynard is good for 'nothing when he is dead, whereas your wild boar in the right season furnishes some noble dishes to the sylVan board. Caput apri is lauded in the old Christmas chant ; and a ham of the accursed beast," properly dressed with sauce piquante, is, as Sir John Falstaff said of Dame Quickly, " a thing to thank God upon," THE NEWSPAPER POSTAGE : ENGLAND AND COLOMBIA.' A Post-office bill just issued notifies that henceforward the postage on newspapers addressed to the United States of Colombia and forwarded by the French packet will be fixed at the same rates as are chargeable upon newspapers for the West Indies andplaces in Central Ame rica generally, by French packet, viz., twopence eachpaper not exceeding four ounces in weight, with twopence addi• tional for every four ounces in excess. No alteration will be made in the postage on newspapers for the United States of Colombia by British packet. NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE. AGUA AMARELLA restores the Human Hair to its pristine hue, no matter at what age. JNO. GOSNELL and CO. have at length, with the aid of one of the most eminent Chemists, succeeded in perfect ing this woncirful liquid. It is now offered to the public It a more concentrated form, and at a lower price. Sold in bottles, 3s. each ; also 55., 7s. 6d., and 15s. each, including brush. , Red B ull Wharf, Angel passeage, 93, Upper Thames greet London. E.C. THEATRE-ROYAL DRURY-LANE. Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. F. B. Chatterton. Tuts EVENING, at 7, WIL LTA It TELL: Messrs T. C. King, Neville, M'lntyre, Moreland; Misses E. Stuart and Vokes: At V BEAUTY AND THE BEA ST Messrs. Fred. Yokes, Brittain Wright, Harry Boleno; Misses Vokes, &c. THEATRE-ROYAL, HAYMARKET. Tuts EVENING, at 7 o'clock, A KISS IN THE DARK. A fter which, at 20 to 8, OUR AMERICAN COUSIN; Messrs Sothern, Buckstone, Chippendale. &c. ; ➢lrs Chippendale, Miss F., Wright, &c. Concluding with DEAF AS A POST. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. THIS EVENING, at 7, FORMOSA: Messrs J. Rouse, Rignold, Taylor, Philips. Leeson, Ebnrne, &c.: Mesthmes Billington, K. Rodgers, Brennan, Barnett. Grey, &e. Followed by AFTER DARK: Messrs Rignold, Ashley, Rouse, &c.; Miss Rose Le clercq and Miss Barnett, • THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHT. THIS EVENING, at 7. OPEN TO CONVICTION. Messrs George Belmore, J. D. Beveridge, C. H. Mephenson, Miss L. Grey, and Mrs L Murray. At 8, THE NIGHTINGALE: Mr Benjamin Webster, Messrs Arthur Stirling, J. D. Beveridge, Skinner, Miss Futtado, Mrs Alfred Mellon, Miss Eliza John stone, Mrs Caulfield, &c. To conclude with DOMESTIC ECONOMY: Mr G. Belmore and Mrs Leigh Murray. LYCEUM THEATRE. MITHis EVENING, at 7, TWENTY MINUTES WITH A TIGER. And CHILPERIC: M. Marius, G Vincent, Odell, Lapierre, Coghlan, and M. Hervd; Mesdames Dolaro, Fitzlnman, manelli, Nellie Nesbit, and Miss Emily Muir. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manageress, Mrs. Swanborongh. THIS EVENING, at 7, THE HEIR AT LAW: Mr Clarke, Mr James, Miss Bufton, &c. With THE TOODLES. Concluding with ISO. WOODIN'S CARPET - BAG AND SKETCH BOOK, Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, every Evening (except Saturday) at 9; Saturday 31or ninL , s at 3, Admission, Is, 2s, 3s. CHRISTY MINSTRELS. St. James's Hall, Every Night, at 8 Wednesdays and Saturdays, at 3 end 8 all the year round. ZOOLOGICAL 0 &EDENS, Regent's-park. OPEN daily (ex cept Sundays). Admission, ls.; on M'ndays' 6d. Children nnder twelve, 6d. ROYAL ALHAMBRA PALACE. THREE BALLETS Promenade Concert. Band of 60. Begin at 8. ls. Box-office open fromll to 4. LONDON, TUESDAY, FEB. 15, 1870. IN -the interest of our country farmers, it is to be hoped that success may attend the measure intro duced by Mr. P. W. MARTIN, M.P. for Rochester, and that a just settlement of the rabbit question may be arrived at. At a late meeting of the Warwick shire Chamber of Agriculture, Mr. MARTIN, amid the applause of the farmers present, declared he was about to bring in a bill giving the tenant farmers free right to destroy all rabbits on the lands they occupy. Already this "Bill to amend the Laws Relating to Game" has been brought forward. Of all the pri vate measures that may be consigned to the limbo of unsaccessful endeavours during the present session, this one, if reasonably put before the House, will certainly have the least excuse for defeat. And yet we have our fears concerning its safety. In reading the clauses of the measure as it now appears before the public, it is at once evident that there is a rock on which it has every chance to fall to pieces. "From and after the twenty-sixth day of September, 1870, it shall be lawful for any tenant, or any person employed by him, or having his authority or permisssion, to kill rabbits on the lands occupied by him,"—so far admirable, but mark the remainder of the clause— "any agreement or covenant to the contrary, not withstanding ; and any agreement reserving the sole or exclusive right to kill rabbits shall be nulland void." Now, apart from the feeling that such legis lation to prevent a man acting according to the dic tates of his good nature or his interest, would be a hurtful interference, it seems a pity to endanger the safety of the measure . by contesting this point. It would certainly meet with much opposition in the House of Commons, more in the House of Lords, and in the arguments arising from its discus sion. the real wishes and just demands of the tenants might ho lost sight of. At the eleventh hour, it is said that Mr. MARTIN is going to yield to the cry which arose from the Warwickshire farmers at the speech alluded to, of "hares too." In committee he is going to introduce hares into his Game Law Bill. This addition will also meet with strenuous opposition ; and it it , not im probable that, if such a privilege be accorded, it will be appreciated by a very few. Is it likely that a tenant farming a couple of hundred acres will take out an annual licence to kill perhaps half a dozen hares? The damage they do to the crops is nothing when compared to the injury . wrought by the rabbits, which latter should be distinctly and unmistakeably set down as vermin in the same category with rats and other noxious animals. If such a measure does pass through Parliament in its entirety, and hares as well as rabbits become the property of the occupier, it will indeed be a matter of congratulation ; but rather than the whole fabric should fall to the ground through the instrumentality of such a clause, it might be better to make a slight sacrifice ere it is too late. - Whatever matter may be found for debate on this subject, let us hope that a measure may be enacted by law comprising the simple prin ciple that a tenant may kill, or allow to be killed in any way whatever, all rabbits on his farm, up to and including the banks and hedgerows of any ad joining covers. The majority of those enemies to the young wheat have their abode in the banks of the copses and spinneys, and the right to shoot in the hedgerows merely would be of very little use. Further, the stipulation should not be forgotten that a rabbit when driven from a burrow by the ferret, and running towards the wood, may be shot and picked up wherever it falls. Surely such a simple demand as a measure like this would involve, could not reasonably be refused by Parliament. The opinion of those who understand the question is so unanimous as to the amount of damage sustained by the preservation of this species of vermin, that it becomes merely a matter of according an easy and pleasant concession to ac class of society who much need it. The, farmer's pockets are not so full of gold as they are represented to be on the stage. His means of making his living are far from being un limited, and he finds plenty of rational animals ready to snatch his property from him without allowing dumb brutes to do it. THE British nation have some reason to complain of Mr. FISH'S dealing with the latest addition to the Alabama correspondence. The old controversy between the two countries was re. opened by a semi-official exchange of despatches between the new American Secretary of State hnd the Earl of CLARENDON. Mr. Fon put the American view of the case in a very vigorous paper, which, ho explained, was not written in the nature of a claim, nor, indeed, had any formal character, for it was addressed to Mr. MOTLEY, to be read to Lord CLARENDON. The British FOREIGN SECRETARY replied in a similar s,)irit. Fie drew up what he called some " observations " on Mr. Fisu's theory, these observations being really a masterly exposition of the English view. Neither Mr. Etsll's argument, nor Lord CLARENDON'S reply, were properly speaking State papers. Yet Mr. FISH thought proper to lay his own communication to Mr. MOTLEY before the Senate, and to suppress the reply of the British Minister. Surely this is scarcely ingenuous. As Lord CLARENDON somewhat tartly explains, Mr. FISH was at liberty to choose his course as to the impli cation of the correspondence; but if he gave the Senate his own document, he ought also to have submitted the English one, _ It appears that he did lay before LAW AND POLICE. THE ORIENTAL AND COMMERCIAL BANK (LIMITED). — FURTHER PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THE MANAGER.-At the Mansion House on Monday, Demetrio Pappa, the former Inanager of the Orient a l an d Commercial Bank, who stands committed on a charge of embezzling five cheques belong ing to the bank, was examined by the Lord Mayor on a further charge of embezzling a bill of exchange for £5OO. It was stated f or th e p r osecution that the defen dant had received £5OO as part payment of two bills drawn by a gentleman at Constantinople for £646. Payment had been entered in the bill-book, but it went no further, as M. Demetrio Pappa p oc k e t e d the money, and a ppli e d it to his own uses Evidence having been called to the above facts, the defendant was told the formal charge on which he would be committed for trial. He reserves his defence. PENNY GAFFS IN MANCHESTER.—A case which excited great interest in theatrical circles has been brought before the Manchester magistrates. No less than twenty persons, including nineteen itinerant actors, musicians, and scene painters, were charged with taking part in an unlicensed performance. It appeared from the evidence that the performance was held in a disused foun dry, with a regular stage, scenery, foot-lights, &c. The charge for admission was Id. and 2d., and there were about 500 persons present at the time of the officers' visit, most of them being boys and girls from 7 to 18 years of age. A number of . persons present were unfavourably known to the police, and were appre hended. A number of police officers stated that the place was habitually resorted to by convicted thieves. Simpson, the proprietor of the music hall with which the theatre was connected, addressed the bench in a serio-comic strain, and declared that if the officers had waited a little, they would have seen the triumph of virtue and the downfall of vice. The actresses, musicians, and two others were discharged, the proprietor was fined £5, another man, who carried on gaming, 405., and the rest of the prisoners, 10s. 6d. each. Eight men and women, who had formed part of tho audience, were discharged with a caution. APPEALS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS.—The House of Lords has begun hearing appeals for the present session. There are 63 set down, the business of last session having been very much obstructed by the Shedden case. The first appeal was in the case of the Hon. Mr. Sackville West v. Viscount Holm esdale and involves a question respecting the construction of the will of the late Countess Amherst and the possession of the estates of the barony of Buckhurst. The appeal is from an order of the present Lord Chan cellor, made in November 1367, when holding the office of Vice-Chancellor. A PATENT CASE.—In Vice-Chancellor James's Court, a suit has been instituted by Mr. Whitehouse, who claims to be the inventor of improvements in the manufacture of box irons. The defendant (Mr. Cross) contended that another inventor had registered a design under the Copyright Designs Acts at the date of the plaintiff's specification, which differed from the plaintiff's in very trifling particu lars. The Vice-Chancellor said that any one who had invented a process for diminshing the labour of ironing was entitled to gr atitude, but the plaintiff h a d b een anticipated in all the essential improvements of his manu facture, and the slight difference spoken of was not suffi cient to sustain the suit. The bill must be dismissed with costs. THE TIMES ASSURANCE COMPANY.—A policy-holder in the Times Assurance and Guarantee Company, which was amalgamated with the Albert in 1857, has petitioned Vice- Chancellor James to wind up the order. The Vice- Chancellor said the case was entirely distinct from that of the Family Endowment Society, as the old contract had been abandoned, and a novation with the Albert fully established. The petition must be dismissed, with costs against the Times THE NEW Cnoss ACCIDENT.—Three more actions for compensation in respect of injuries received in the New Cross collision have been tried in the Bail Court and in the Common Pleas. Verdicts for £525, £4OO, and £173 were returned against the Brighton Company. ACTION FOR FALSE IMPRISONMENT. —An action for false imprisonment arising out of the recent police raids upon betting-houses has been tried in the Bail Court. The plaintiff, who is a hosier in North Audley-street, named Scott, stated that he was passing a shop kept by Mr. Hawkins, a tobacconist, whom he knew, and met him outside. Mr. Hawkins gave him a folded piece of paper, and while he was looking at it the police seized them both. He swore positively that he had not been in the shop for three weeks before his arrest, and also that he was not in the habit of betting . , though he admitted that he did sometimes bet. The police gave evidence directly at variance with the plaintiff's, but the jury, after two hours' deliberation, found for the plaintiff damages 40s. CHARGE AGAINST IRON MERCHANTS. -john and Alfred Clay, large iron and copper merchants have been brought before the Sunderland magistrates to answer a charge of misappropriating money, the property of Messrs. Muntz and Co., of Birmingham. The defendants, who have recently become bankrupts, were agents for Munzt's patent metal, and did a large business with ship builders. An adjournment was asked for, but opposed by the defendants, who had voluntarily attended to meet the charge. The magistrates considering there was no case. allowed the defendants to leave the court. The command of the Channel. Squadron will, it is stated, be vacant in the month of April by the expected promotion to the rank of full admiral of Sir Thomas Symonds, K. C. B. THE BRIDGWATER ELECTION PROSECUTION.— Mr. Henry James, Q.C., member for Taunton, has been specially retained to defend Mr. Vanderbyl,. at the Somer set assizes against the charges of bribery at Bridgwater election, preferred by the Attorney-General. THE LORD CHIEF BARON.—WO are enabled to contradict the report that Sir Fitzroy Kelly is so seriously indisposed M to render it ne cessary to refrain from going on circuit, as arranged. The hon. and learned gentleman is quite well.—Daily New. SHADOWS OF COMING EVENTS.—The list of revo hitionary measures which are announced for the present session is unprecedently long, and if only half of them are passed they will utterly change the face of society. If they should all be passed, this will be the result—A man will be able to marry his deceased wife's .sister, but will not ac quire her property, which will remain her own ; his children will, if he pleases, be educated by the State. He may shoot pheasants and partridges at any time of the year without regard to game laws, which will no longer exist. He will be able to go to a University without swearing to the Thirty-nine Articles, and to Church without hearing an account of the sun stopping still in the valley of Ajalon, and very possibly without being called upon to join in the cursing of the Athanasian Creed. If a lord spiritual, he will be " relieved from attendance in Parliament ;" if an habitual drunkard, he will be taken care of and " managed;" if a homeless pauper, will be placed under the " protection, regulation, and management of the police ; ' if a solicitor or attorney, he will be remunerated under an amended system; if a foreigner, he will be able to hold real property in fee; if a consul he will find himself under the Board of Trade instead of the Foreign Office; if a dealer in fermented liquors, he will get a license under improved con ditions ; or if the younger son of an intestate father, a share of the paternal real estate. If a revenue officer, he will possess equally full political rights with other people. If a clergyman, he will be eligible for elec tion as a member of Parliament ; and when he has been sant thither, which will be through the machinery . of the Ballot, ho will receive a salary for his share in legislation. His rating area will be larger and his taxes less ; and when, overcome by all these changes, he sinks into art early grave, he will be interred under a new and improved Bum' Act. —Vanity Fair. The failures in 1869, it has been reported, amount to 2,799 in number, with liablities reaching $75,054,000 against 2,608 in 1868, with liabilities of $63,774,000. In the list, Pennsylvania has been assigned 806 failures with liabilities of $7,844,000, against 287 in 1868, with liabilities of $3,884,000. The statistics of New York city give 418 failures for 1869 with liabilities of $21,870,000, against 417 failures in 1868, with liabilities of $31,654,000. In 1857 the failures were 4,932, with liabili ties of $291,750,000, and in 1861 they reached 6,993, with liabilities of $207,210,000. AGRICULTURAL PROSPEC:fSe The following is the Magnet's estimate of agricultural prospects :—" The weather during the earlier part of the past week was excessively mild for the time of year. Vegetation had made considerable progress, and in some instances the wheat plant had assumed a too luxuriant ap pearance. However, an entire change in the weather having subsequently taken place, and a severe frost, accompanied by strong north east winds having set in, the aspect of the country was materially altered, and the pro gress of vegetation has received a decided check, the wheat plant at the same time being protected from damage by a covering of snow. Up to the present moment the develop• ment of the plant has been judiciously regulated, and it now presents a marked contrast with the state of affairs at this time last year, when owing to the almost entire ab sence of frosts, the growth of the wheat plant had been rapid in the extreme, whilst the rainfall having been cor respondingly heavy, stem-rotting was noticed in many in stances, and the ears in general were poor and meagre. Although it is still too early to express any opinion as to the prospects of the crops, the accounts from most parts of the country keep singularly free from all alarming rumours." At Mark Lane, yesterday, wheat sold at an advance of one shilling a quarter. ()AMBLING IN HONGKONG. A return has just been issued, by order of the House of Commons, of all the documents relating to the licensing of gambling houses in Hongkong. The Governor and Legislative Council of Hongkong being desirous of putting a check on the crimes and ex cesses connected with the gambling houses of the city are resolved upon a system of licensing gaming houses so as to keep them more within limits and under supervision. This movement has been very strongly opposed by a large section of the European residents of Hongkong, and still more :emphatically by the Social Science Association in this country by the missionaries in China, and by the European organs in Hongkong. The dissentients argue that the Government has no right to countenance and sanction vice, and they believe that licensing gambling-houses, so far from tending to its ultimate suppression, will cer tainly lead to a large increase of gambling. The objectors complain that it is contrary to public morality that the Government should derive any part of its revenue from the sanction of vice. The Governor, on the other hand, maintains that he simply wishes to free gambling from its present illegality, so far as to break up the gangs of illegal gamblers, whose cliques are now the schnols and nurseries of crime. He would do so if he could without adding a cent to the public treasury ; but he cannot make the Chinese aid in putting down illegal gambling otherwise than by rendering it their interest to do so. The larger that interest, the greater and more effective their co-operation with the Government must be, but the governor does not intend to increase the amount paid for mere purposes of revenue when a sufficient sum is obtained. He has no hope of producing a moral impression against gaming on a community formed of such changing elements as that of Hongkong, 200,000 persons having passed to and fro the mainland in six months, and . he prefers addressing himself " to the practical question of protecting property by suppressing meetings of illegal gamblers and retrieving the efficiency of the now corrupted police." The arguments on both sides are repeated under every variety of form in the parliamentary return before us. The replies from the Colonial Office include despatches from two colonial secretaries, the Duke of Buckingham, and Earl Granville, both of whom appear to look on the proceedings of the local authorities with some doubt and apprehension, although giving them their limited sanction. The Governor, Sir R. Mac Donnell, mentioned that he had casually discovered that the licensees of gamblfng houses were paying to a Mr. Caldwell, their managing agent, whose name has been mixed up with many ques tionable transactions at Hongkong, the sum of twenty thousand dollars per annum. The Duke of Buckingham, on hearing this, declared that unless some better system could be organised he must re-consider the whole question of granting licenses at all. Both the late and the prseent Colonial Secretary consistently maintain that the great object in view is the total suppression of gambling, a result which as we have seen the local authorities have little hope of obtaining. Earl Granville is displeased when he finds the Governor, in his financial statement, treating the gambling licenses as "anew source of revenue," and he directs that the money derived from them shall no longer be included in estimates of a,ctua revenue, but shall be strictly appropriated to the objects formerly specified, which were good con duct pay to the police, the increase of the palice force, the purchase of two steam launches for police and similar purposes. Earl Granville requests that, he may be promptly furnished with a statement of the revenue received from that source, and the manner in which it has been expended. In this part of the correspon dence Earl Granville finds it necessary to censure Governor Mac Donnell for the unbecoming tone in which he speaks of the Duke of Buckingham. The latter part of the return is occupied by the correspondence between the secretary to the Social Science Association and the Colonial Office. The Association were somewhat irritated by the replyof Governor Mac Donnell to their memorial being published in the Anglo-Chinese press, although they had never received a copy of it. It seems from these despatches that the Duke of Buckingham, who was unaware of the reply having been communicated to the press, disapproved of a governor defending himself against the accusations of o private society. It has been finally tiettle. that the Chtl6h Coll- gress this shall be held at Southampton. Mr. Charles Forster, M,P., has prepared A bill to abolish tho forfeiture of lands and goods on convictions of felony. Birmingham Post says Mr. Bright's nervous exhaustion has not diminished since his removal to Nor wood, and the pr esent severe weather is very unfavourable for him. Two miners were crushed to death on Sunday morning at the Denaby Main Colliery. It was only the day before that one of them was giving evidence in favour of one of the Barnsley prisoners. Azamat Batak, whose article in the Pall Mall Ciaarete gave rise to the action for libel brought by Mr. Boucicault, writes to say that his remarks apply to the dramatist, only as a writer, and are in no way to be taken in a literal sense. The Globe states that " although Mr. Disraeli, acting under the advice of Dr. Gull, has postponed his Par liamentary dinner on Wednesday next, there is every pros pect of no lengthened period elapsing before he is able to resume his place in the House of Commons." The meeting which was to have been held at Thorncliffe between Lord Wharncliffe, the Mayor of Shef field, Moser s. Newton and Chambers, and the miners, with a view to a settlement of the long pending dispute, has been abandoned, Messrs. Newton and Chambers not being pre pared to attend. A conference of British school teachers has been held at Birmingham, for the purpose of considering the pending legislation on educational matters. A resolution was passed that a temporary association should be formed to suggest an amendment, and, if possible, to sunuort the mea sure of the Government. Colonel T. W. Milward, C. 8., Royal Artillery, Aide-de-Camp to the Queen, has accepted the appointment of Superintendent, Royal Laboratory Department, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, but the announcement will not be offi cially made before ne x t April. The office of Deputy D:rector-General of Ordnance, vacated by Col. Milw ar d. will be abolished. A very remarkable change has taken place in the general tone of public feeling in the town of Consett and neighbouring places with reference to the claimant of the Derwentwater estates. The farmers who occupy land under the Admiralty Commissioners are of opinion that they have heard about the last of the " Countess" and her bailiff, which opinion is fast becoming general among all classes of the district. Mie. Blomfield, the widow of the late Bishop of London, died on Saturday last at her residence at Richmond, Surrey, at au advanced age, not far short of 80 years. She was the daughter of Mr. Charles Cox; and pre vious to her marriage with the Bishop sho was the rolict of a Mr. Thomas Kent. By the Bishop she had a family of ten children, more than half of whom survive; and almost all of, them were present at, her bedside during her last illness. She had survived the Bishop about eleven or twelvo years. OBITUARY. —The death of White Hair, Chief of the Great and Little Osage Indians, of consumption, near the Osage Agency, Kansas, is announced,—John H. Stephens, aged 80, and leaving property valued at 82,000,000, died at Newark, N. J., Sunday, Jan. 23. —Mr. F. S. King, officer of the steamer America, and formerly commander of the s'aimers Ocean Queen and Rising Star, of the Aspinwall route, died suddenly at Yokahama, Dec. 30. His body has been embalmed, and has arrived at San Francisco en route for New York; OPENING OF THE NORTH GERMAN PARLIAMENT. SPEEU OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA. BERLIN, Feb. 1 4 . The North Germa n P ar li ament was opened to day by the King of Prussia in person. His Ma jesty delivered the following speech from the Throne : Honoured Gentlemen of the Parliament of the North German Confederation—ln the name of the Confederate Governments I bid you welcome to the last session of the legislative period. In this session you will be called upon to complete and further establish those institutions which have been created with your co-operation, and have come into exist ence through the unanimous exertions of the Con federate Governments. To my great gratification the devoted labours of those persons who were en trusted with the preparation of a penal code for the North German Confederacy have resulted in Bring ing that important work to such a degree of com pletion that it has already received the approval of the Federal Council, and is able to be laid be fore you to-day. While this code perfects the national unity of the North German Confederation in one of the most important fields of public law, it contains at the same time features which are a marked progress upon the penal laws at present in force in the territories of the Confederation, and which are in harmony with the requirements of science and the results of fruitful experience. The same aim has been sought in a kindred branch of legislation, namely, in the proposed law for the pro tection of the rights of authors. The principle of the common right of nationality(indigenat) founded in the Federal Constitution, and further developed in the laws upon freedom of residence and in the trade regulations, will obtain its final extension in several directions by the adoption of the laws to be submitted to you. A bill respecting the ac quieement and deprivation of the rights of a s nhject of the Bund or State will be presented to meet the wish expressed by your last session. The establishment of the principle of freedom of residence has called attention to great inequalities arising from the greatly varying regulations in the several countries of the Bund in connection with the rights of domicile and the support of the poor. The removal of these inequalities, suggested, in deed, by you, could not be long delayed, and a Relief and Dwelling-house Bill will be introduced which is calculated to remove the most prominent evils complained of. Those impediments still ob structing the full development of the principle of freedom of residence, which arise from the State laws on direct • taxation, are to be removed by a Bill now before the Federal Council. A Bill will also be brought forward to meet th e o ft- expresse d wish for the modification of the restrictions to which ploti of land tire subject that are situated ithin the limits of new or extended sites of forti fications. The position of the men belonging to the former Schleswig-Holstein army claims the same sympathy as that to which expression was given in your last session but one, with regard to the officers of that army. A bill on this subject will be laid before you. The reservation made in the Federal Consulates Law in favour of a future settlement of the competency of the Federal Consuls to celebrate marriages, and to authenticate the position of individuals, will be dealt with by a bill to be presented to you, and the bill respecting the position of Federal officials will-agaiu be sub mitted to you for decision. Tho increase of trade and the reform of the sugar, tax have enabled the Government, while maintaining the ascertained bases of prudent calculation, to fix in the Federal Budget which is to be laid before you for 1871, at a higher figure than in the previous Budget, the estimates of the revenue from the Customs, the taxes upon articles of consumption, and the surplus from the postal service. A prospect is therefore afforded that the greater portion of the still overbalancing expenditure ne cessitated by the development of Federal institutions, and especially by the projected com pletion of the Federal navy, will be covered by the Bund's own revenue. Preparatory steps towards the arrangement contemplated iu Art. 4 of the Treaty of Prague for the national union of the North German Confederation with the South Ger man States are the object of my incessant atten tion. A jurisdiction treaty, which will be submitted to your approval, has been concluded with the Grand Duchy of Baden, with the object of extend ing in a national sense beyond the frontiers of the Federal territory, the principles of community of legal protection which obtain throughout the North German Coufedration by means of the law for affording legal assistance. By a bill which• is to be brought forward to supply defects in the law on weights . and measures, it will become pos sible to establish a common system in that respect with other German States by the mutual admission of the reformed arrangements. In consequence of my mediation the Band has willingly co-operated in the establishment of a commission on the South German fortresses, by agreeing to the continuance of an undivided proprietorship in the fortifications. The entirety of the treaties which connect the North of iGermany with the South are a security for the safety and welfare of the common *German Fatherland, and afford those trusty guaran tees that are inherent in the strength and complete organisation of tha North German Bund. The confidence which our South German allies repose in these guarantees is based upon complete reciprocity. The senti ment of national unity to which the present treaties owe their existence, the mutually pledged word of German princes, and the community of supreme national interests, lend to our relations with South Germany a solidity which is independent of the changing waves of political passions. When I spoke to you last year from this place I expressed myself confident that my sincere efforts to correspond with the wishes of nations and the requirements of civilization, by the avoidance of any disturb ance of peace, could not, with the help of Provi dence, fail of success. It does my, heart good to be able to announce to-day from the same place that my confidence was sully justified, Among the Governments, as well as among the nations of the present day, a conviction is success fully making way to the effect that to each political community belongs the task and the duty of inde pendently fostering at home its own welfare, and the principles of freedom and justice ; and that the armed force of each country is destined to protect its own independence, not to assail that of others. The legislative period of the present Parliament is approaching to a close. by its former successful ac tivity, and the fruitful co-operation with which the Confed erateGovernmentsandParliament have com bined their labours, the Federal institutions have been firmly founded, and have developed in a direction destined to prove most beneficial to the interests of the Fatherland. The deliberations of the present session will be renewed, and your energetic activity is again claimed for the furtherance of this object. By fulfilling the tasks which will be laid before you, you will bring the successful career of the present Parliament to a termination, which will cause the labours it has exacted to be rewarded with a nation's thanks, and secure for it a prominent place in the history of the institutions of the Fatherland. Mr. George Wood, of Wood's Museum, New York, has tendered, for the purpose of an " Inventors' Perpetual Fair," one or more of the largo hall sin his museum, free to all inventors in tho United States, for the exhibition of working models and, if necessary, working machinery. Offers of the latest improved engines and shafting, as Well as of a number of other machines, have been already :eceivel, and the boilers have been set and aro ready for connections. The plan proposed is to have no admission fee to visitors, and no charge to exhibitors other than their proportionate share of the expense for gas and attendance. A SILENT COAL SCUTTLE.—Great annoyance is often caused to invalids by the ordinary method of putting coals in the grate by means of a coal scuttle. A very simple remedy, and one which should be introduced into every sick room, consists in placing the coals in paper bags, holding about 41bs. each, and laying them quietly on the fire with the hands, when the bags ignite, and leave the coals to be distributed noiselessly over the fire. We notice the above in the San Francisco Scientist Press, and the expedient appears so completely to inert the case, that it is strange it has not been adopted before. di ell E 5,