The Sun. — London, England, 1870-12-28 00:00:00

MONETAR Y REPORTS.-YESTERDAY. The Stock Exchange markets have been characterised by much quietness to-day. Business in all departments has been on a very moderate scale, and the movements have been of a very trifling nature. In the railway market, South Eastern Great Eastern, North-Eastern, and Great Western have shewen a slight improvement, whilst Caledonian and Great Northern A, on the other hand have been rather easier. As regards foreign bonds, Peru vian and Turkish, on a preponderance of sales have been slightly reduced in prices. The Con sol market has been quiet at 91k, 91i for delivery and the account. Reduced and New Three per Cents., 01, 911. Bank Stock, 232, 234 ; Exchequer Bills, 10s. to 15s. pm.; India Five per Cents., 110, 1101, ex div.; and India bonds 225. to 275. prem. The transactions in Colonial Govern ment securities have been limited, but the quotations have been supported. _ _ Business in English railway stocks has been limited to-day. Nevertheless, the bulk of the fluctuations have been of a favourable character. South Eastern at 741, 74i, and North Eastern at 1441, 1441, are 1 better ; and Great Eastern at 391, 391, and Great Western at 701, 701, chew a rise of 1; but Great Northern A has fallen 1, or to 1321, 1331, and Caledonian 1, or to 86, 861. Metro politan is quoted at 63, 631; Brighton, 41, 411; Midland, 1281, 1281 ; and North Western, 128, 1281. Indian railway stocks have been purchased cautiously. Bombay, Baroda, and Central Indian, 1051; East Indian, 1101; Great Indian Peninsula, 1071 ; Madras, 1051; Oude and * Rohilkund, 1031, and Scinde, 103. Canadian shares have been quiet. Foreign shares have been in limited request. Antwerp and Rotterdam, 111; Central Argentine, 201; San Paulo, 211; and Lom bards, 141. The tone of the market for foreign bonds has been quiet, and no change of importance has taken place in the quotations. Peruvian (1865), at 93, 931- ; and Turkish Five per Cents., at 44, 441, have been 1 andl lower respectively ; Egyptian (1868) are quoted at 771, 78 ; Ita lian (1861), 551, 551 ; Spanish, 311, 311; Turkish (1869), 501, 51; Mexican, 131, 13i ; United States Five-Twenty (1882) Bonds. 881, 881; ditto (1885), 881, 881 ; French scrip, 1 dis. to 1 prem. ; and North German, Ito prem. Bank shares have been quiet. Agra A, 8 1-16; Anglo Austrian, 161: Imperial Ottoman, 11, 12; London Joint Stock, 331, 34 : London and Westminster, 631, 1 ; Oriental, 401 ; and Union of London, 381. In telegraph shares business has been restricted. Anglo-American, 771 ; British Indian Submarine, 61; Falmouth, 91, 5-16 ; and French Cables, 131. Miscellaneous securities have been quiet. City Offices, 92 ; Commercial Union Assurance, 81; Peninsular and Oriental Steam, 461, 1; and Universal Marine Insu rance, lli. l The Discount Market has been fairly supplied with capital. The demand for accommodation has been to a moderate extent, but three months' paper has been taken at 21 per cent. _ _ The City of Paris has arrived from New York with £19,367 in specie. The Avoca left Melbourne on the 6th inst. for Galle with £597,000 in gold for Europe. Advices from Adelaide state that as the estimates for the financial year shew a deficit of £200,000, it is pro posed to raise that amount by an issue of bonds, bearing 5 per cent. interest. LONDON STOOK EXCHANGE.-T UESDAY. The prices under the lines indicate the business done. MR. GLADSTONE AND THE ROMAN CHURCH. A gentleman who describes himself as " impelled by a fervent and active zeal for the preservation of the Estab lished Church of England and our glorious Reformation," lately sent to Mr. Gladstone two letters, which appeared in the Rock newspaper, containing an assertion by a lady, not named, that the Premier was received into the Romiol Church at the same time as herself. His letter elicited the following reply : - - _ 10, Downing-street, Whitehall. Sir,—l am directed. by Mr. Gladstone to acknowledge the receipt of a letter, dated the 18th inst., written by you on behalf of the committee of the Birmingham Pro testant Ass ociation, asking him whether he can in justice to himself and theßritish naion,"allow certain letters which have appeared in a newspaper called the Rock, stating that he had been received into the Church of Rome, to be pro pagated if untrue. Mr. Gladstone desires me to thank you for your letter, and to inform you in reply that he cannot undertake to contradict this or any other imputation which is alike foolish and insulting. He is quite content to leave this matter to the good sense of his countrymen ; for if his acts do not confute such imputations, he is convinced that his words will not do so. Mr. Gladstone begs that you will use your own discretion as to the publication of this cor respondence in the newspapers.—l am. Sir, your obedient servant, ALGERNON WEST. December 24, 1870. GOVERNMENT SECURITIES. Three per Cent Consols 911 911 DoApril &Oct 1883-85.. 11111121 911, I x d 1111 Do for Account • 914 x d 1031 Three per Centßeduced 911 911 Brazilian, 1865, 5p 0 .... 92 93 911, 1 93 New 3 per Cent 911, 1 Do Rail Deben 7 p 0 .. 101 103 Exchequer Bills, March 10 15p3n 1011, 21 pm Italian, 1865, 5p o Do, June lO 15pm Peruvian. 1865, 5p c .... 93 94 lls p m 93 Bank Stock 233, 18 Russian, 1862. 5 p 0.. .. 83 85 ludia 5 per Cents 1101, 1,8 x d Do Nicolas 4D 0 lb dia Bollds — 661 27s pm Spanish. 1867. 3pc Can 6 pc Jan&Julyll77-84 105 107 311 Do March & Sept. 103 105 Do. 1869. 3p c Do 5p c Jan & July .. 99 100 34 8 931 Turkish. 1858, 6p o 7B 80 Do Inscribed Stock .. 98 100 798 Dom of Can 5p c 1903 .. 97 99 Do, 1865. 5p c Ceylon 6 p c May and 441, 8, 8 November 1878 lO6 108 Do, 1865 6p c Mauritius 1 pc Jan and 621 July 1873 lO3 105 U. 5.5-20 Bonds,6p c 1884 881 881 New S Wales 5 p 61871-76 102 103 881, 1 New Zealand 6p c 1891 lO9 111 Do do 1885 881 881 Do 5 p a Do 5p o Consolidated 100 1008 Do 10-40 Buds, spo 1901 871 871 1001 NrieSha,loo dole, all pa.id Do 6p c Mar &SeptlB9l 108 110 Illinois Central Shares .. 11111121 1)o June & DeclB9l 107 109 Atlantic and UW R Con Viet 6p c .Tan & July 1891 115 117 Mortgage Bonds 1161, 16 RAILWAYS. Bristol and Exeter B7 89 Do'lnd do Scrip .... par 2pm 873 Do let Pref 80nd5.... 573 581 Caledonian 861, 3 2nd Pref Stock Great Eastern 79 391 40 39, Do 3rd Pref Stock . .. 30 32 Great Northern Do A 1333134; 4th Fret Stock 1333, I, Great Indian Pen g s' , a 107 108 Great Western 7O 703 1071 701, Great Western of Canada 141 141 Lancashire & Yorkshire 173 134 143 1333 Do 6p c Bonds, 1873.. 98 100 Lou. Brigh, and S Coast 401 411 Do 53 do, 1877-8 94 96 41t, Do 5 p c pref. issued 80 idis 3pm Lon, Chat, and Dover .. 123 123 Madras guar 5p a 12/, 121 1051. 5 Lon and North-Western 12731283 N. Railway of Canada. 1283, 71, 6p c Ist Pref Bonds Lon and South-Western 90 91 Oude and Rohilkuud g 903 5 p a Man, Sher, and Lincoln 453 453 Scinde, Punjaub, and 453 Delhi guar 5 p a Metropolitan Midland .... 12831283 Bahia and San Francisco 12 9 i, i g 7 po North British North-EasteniConsols— 144 145 Buenos Ayres Gt Sthrn.. 24 25 144, 3 Dnnaburg and Witepsk 18 19 South-Eastern ' , Atlantic and St Lawrnce 75 77 Eastern of France — 76 Great Luxembourg 3ombay, Baroda, and Lemberg Czernowitzgua Central India, g 5 p C.. 105 106 7 pa 1053 Northern of France Buff and Lake Huron —3/ 41 Ottom (Smyrna to Aidin) 5 5; Do 53 nc 80nd5,1872-3-4 79 81 Recife and San Francisco 791 (Limited) guar 7 p a Cape guar 6p c East Bengal guar 5 p c 10431051 213 East Indian, g 5 p c 110 Grand Trunk lo Canada Do Equip Mort Bud 1 charge 6p o 91, 3 - - BANKING COMPANIES. Pd Pd 1 Agra Bank (L) A 7l 81 20 Lon Char of Austrlia 23 24 8 1-16 23} a d 25 Alliance (L) 10 Anglo-Austrian 1o , 31 20 Anglo-Egyptian (L) 20 21} 20 Lon and Westmnster 621 6 1 50 British N American 53 55 634, 1 20 Ch of India, Austrlia 14 15 10 Metropolitan Bl 9 25 Char Merc of India 221 231 20 Midland IL) 10 City 25 Colonial 4 Consolidated IL .. 20 Eng. Scot. and Aus . 0 151 16 25 Union of Australia.. 411 421 20 Imperial %Li 10 Imperial ottoman 12, 112 TELEGRAPH COMPANIES. PA Pd 100 Anglo-American L) 77 79 6 Great N. China, and 77h Japan Extension.. 2k 2 dis 10 Anglo-Meditni (L) llB 121 7/ 100 Atlantic — 5 Indo-European (LI.. 10 12 100 Do 8p c — 10 Marseilles, Algiers, 10 British Austral') (L) 5 41dis and Malta IL) ... 51 51 10 British Ind Exten IL). 51 6) 10 Mediterni Ex (LI . • . 41 5 10 British Indian Sub- 2) Pnmaand S. Forel L 7A 2) dis marine, (L) 6) 8 Renter's 7 ChinaSubmarine(L) 515/dis 20 Soc Trans France (L) 13) 13) 10 Falmouth, Gibraltar, 111 and Malta (LT 9), 5-16 x d Do Scrip 10 Great Northern .... 111 12 10 W India &Pan ama(Ll 4) 5k MISCELLANEOUS SECURITIES Pd Pd Anglo-Austrian Bnd- 20 it Inge Can Cavour 21 4 holders' Certificate 11 21 100 Do 6p c Bonds. re -10 BerlinWai , erworks(L) 141 151 deemaCe 1870 . 64 r 6 30 13olckow-Vaughan L) 30 35pni 30 London Fin A ssoc(Ll 19 IB,bs 100 Boston City (U.S 4 Lon Gen Omnibus .. 2; 3 p c Sterling Loan.. 91 93 2 Lon & Prov Marine L) 11 pm 4 Brit & Fp) Marine( Ll 213-Ipm 100 Madraslrrig. &Canal 25 Canada Company. .. 73 75 gsn c by Lid Gov. 102 103 10 Ceylon Company Ll 31 31dis 2 Mauritius Land IL) 1 1 dis. 35 City offices (L) 251241 dis 5 NatnlDisetCornp L) 11 111 91 21 N Zealand Loan and 20 Colonial (L) 5 Corn Union Assumce 31 4pm 5 N Zealand Loan and 81 Trust (L) 10 Crdt Fono of Eng (L) 2 2 1 61 N Britsh and Mere ILI 281 241 100 Crystal Palace 100 Do Pref 100 Do 6p c Peri) Deb.. 112 117 461, 1 x d 274 Ebbw Vale Steel L).. 9 Blidis 10 Do do New. 1867 4 2 dill 100 Viceroy of Egypt 7p c 50 Rhyinney Iron Mortgage Loan.... 78 80 15 Do New Bl 9 1 801 60 Royal Mail Steam 100 Egyp 9 p eV' roy Loan. 12 Tel Con and Main L) 26 261 guar by Egyp Gay.. 94 96 2 Themes and Mersey 951 Marine Insur (L 13 Fore-st Warehouse IL) 7 Bpm St. Tobacco 6 p o Loan 100 Ficti and Colonial Gov guar by Italian Gov 87 89 Trust 6p c Bonds.. 98 100 5 Trust and Loan Co of 74 Gen Credt &Diset IL) 4 I dis Upper Canada ... • 1 1 _ pin 14 Gen Sun Navigation 271 281 5(7 Marine. Lvpooi IL 41 op•ii 7 Mooper's Tel Works 1 )dis 20 Union steamship (hI 23 .5 17 iludeou'a Bay BBl 6 United Dis Comm IL )dis Ifir 45 IndrbbrAlut P er' and 5 UnivMarnielnsuriLi 61711 Tel Works LI ... 43/ 441 114 5 Inter - id Final, sociL) ljladis 12 War7ant Finance.... 9 7dix MARKETS, METROPOLITAN MEAT MARKET, TursbAy.--There have been fair supplies of meat on offer here to-day. The trade has been heavy, and prices have been rather easier. Beef from 28. Bd. to ss. 4d. ; mutton 3s. 4d. to ss. ; veal 48. 10d. to Is. 2(1. ; and pork 3s. 4d. to ss. per 81b., by the carcase. METROPOLITAN HAY AND STRAW MARKET, TUESDAY. —There was a moderate supply on offer at the market to-day. The trade was quiet, at about previous quotations. Prime dow hay, 130 s. to 140 s. ; inferior ditto, 110 s. to 120 s. ; prime first-cut clover, 130 s. to 140 s. ; inferior ditto, 115 s. to 1255. prime second-cut clover, 128 s. to 1355. ; inferior ditto, 105 s. to 115 s. ; and straw, Us, to 38s, per load. 1 LIE Str,N; LO DON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 187 e. THE PRINCESS LOUISE. I remember so well the day when I first saw her Royal Highness the Princess Louise. It was a day in the early spring, soft and brilliant j not without showers, yet crowned with snnshine. I had made a journey of some little trouble to go to the Royal Isle of Wight, • for the foundation stone was to be laid of a building belonging to an institution that was clear to me, and the Princess Louise was to lay the first stone. She has taken her part since in much more brilliant and crowded ceremonials, but I cannot but think her Royal Highness will long remem ber that day in the undercliff. lam sure that there were many there who will long remember her. We waited some time for the sound of her horses' hoofs, for she had to traverse the whole breadth of the island on her errand of mercy. There as a throng of fair ladies present, but as the eye wandered over that living parterre there was no more sweet and intellectual face than that of the young Princess. Her duties were long. and must have been fatiguing, but they were done gracefully and well. There was one murmur of praise and congratulation. All of us remembered that day, and will always recollect it with pleasure. One slight incident occurred ; but to me, a man of 'a loyal nature, the incident was in no wise slight. The Princess went off, magna contitante caterva, to a distant part of the grounds, to plant a memorial tree. I admired the courage that I dared not imitate, for the wet grass was associated in my mind with the ailments of the poor people for whom our good work was intended. But as, with a lady on my arm, I lingered by one of the pathways, it so happened that the Princess suddenly came back that way, and passed close by. We stood quite alone, and made respectively curtsey and bow, and the Princess gave us a gracious salutation and a courteous glance of her candid eyes. It was but a trifle, yet one which we valued and treasured. We know but little of the your g life of the Princess, and yet we know that it presents a fresh fair picture that might easily be shadowed forth. Happy is the nation that has no history, and happy are the princes who in contem porary history are unknown, Yet in the " fierce light which beats upon a throne " much of the private life of the English Royal Family has been unveiled. The Queen herself has given us glimpses of her home and of hEr family life. We have all been privileged to see how the fair children of Osborne and Balmoral grew up under the plastic care of the Prince Consort, and to observe evidences of the care, forethought, and tenderness with which the training and education of his children were attended. And whispers came respecting the Princess Louise on how rich a soil these fruitful germs were implanted. We were told of the rare culture and intelligence which she possessed. We see with loyal appreciation the wisdom and love which the Queen manifested towards her children. We recollect how in her Highland book there is a simple men tion of her Majesty teaching her eldest child her lessons while on one of her excursions. The Queen herself has touchingly shewn how she values the peace and security which a happy marriage can impart, and how little she desires for her children a position of solitary splendour like her own. In a memorandum contributed to " The Early Years of the Prince Consort," she says, " A worse school for a young girl, or one more detrimental to all natural feelings and affections, cannot well be imagined than the position of a Queen at 18, without experience and without a husband to guide and support her. This the Queen can state from painful experience, and she thanks God that none of her dear daughters are exposed to such danger. We have all some knowled , :re of the great accomplish. ments of the Princess. We need hardly say that she is an accomplished artist. In the Old Bond•street Gallery of the British Institution she exhibited some works at an exhibition on behalf of the destitute widows and orphans of Germans killed in the war. "The battle is decided, the defeated and the pursuers have passed from view before the day has quite closed in night, leav ing the dead and wounded far behind. Pallid light still lingers in th e deep blue sky, contrasting with the glare of a burning village ; the dead and wounded; both French and German, are on the plain, and there are dis mounted cannon. A sister is supporting a wounded soldier, stanching the blood, and another sister is bearing her help. It is a gleam of mercy on the battle field." We believe that the Princess Louise has given much practical attention to such deeds of mercy. In the Royal Academy two years ago she exhibited a bust of her Royal mother, not indeed the work of a great artist, but in finitely above the ordinary level of amateurs. Even amidst the terrible scenes of the war, the excite ment of telegrams, the battles and rumours of battles, there was a thrill of pleasure and sympathy through the country when that little piece of home news came from Balmoral. It seemed sach a gracious thing that while the horizon abroad was wrapped in fire and flame the security and love of our English homes seemed symbolised by the story of love and coming marriage in our own Royal house. It was felt that the Queen had done such a wise, motherly, and national act in overruling the prescriptive etiquette of Courts by the higher law of her own sense and feeling. She virtually declared that she ruled a nation among whose sons, as among princes, she could find a fitting mate for her beloved child. She gave away a daughter of England to a peer and representative man among her subjects. If Love should wander beyond the range of titular princes, his sweet, pure course should not be checked by pride or precedent. Is not, too, the son of a great British duke, himself a great duke to be, in the best sense a real prince, as much as any prince of Italy or Germany ? The of Lorne, held by the young nobleman who has just leaped into such splendid and sudden fame through his affiance with the crown, suggests many associations. In the first year of the last century tha Baron Lorne became a marquis when the Earl of Argyle became a duke. It was the first Earl of Argyle, the re presentative of that mighty Campbell clan which has been historical ever since Scotland had a history, who first obtained the lands and lordship of Lorne. We do not wonder that poets and artists and literary craftsmen are now busy with the land of Lorne. It was part of that land of Morven, the hilly country dominated by Ben Cruachan, over which the legendary Fingal bore sway —the home of the Ossianic poetry. The far-famed region of Lorne extended over a broad territory on the western side of glorious Loch Awe, including the many islets of the adjoining friths and fiords. The domains of Argyle included lands on both sides of Loch Awe, extend ing from Loch Fyne to the Atlantic. Lord Lorne's second title of Kintyre is derived from lands there, and in their centre is Campbelltown—an appropriate name for the Kintyre capital. The land of Lorne and the 'Western Isles appear now to be in a fair way of receiving copious illustration. The Duke of Argyle is just publishing a work onlona ; and the beautiful story of the sacred isle is indeed one from time to time worth re-writing for each generation of readers. We do not wonder that among those who are locally connected with Balmoral and Inverary there has been the expression of much earnest and hearty feeling. We all read the paragraphs of the rejoicings of the Clan Camp bell, and the offerings of respect and regard from the household of Balmoral. In truth such are the feelings of us all. It may be truly said that the forthcoming marriage of the Princess Louise will be one of the most important landmarks in our domestic history. There is no need to rivet and strengthen that feeling of loyalty to the throne which is a passion with Englishmen ; but all the wisdom of the Cabinet could not have devised such a means of binding the hearts of the people to the Queen, and making all hearts beat together in unison. Long after the garlands of conquerors have withered, long after therecollection of battles and sieges has become indistinct, it will be remembered that the news of the sanctioned alliance between our beautiful and gifted Princess and the man of her choice, worthy of the historic name he bears, sent a vibration of happiness through the country, and deepened the intensity of that heartfelt prayer which, in all English shrines, we offer for the welfare of the Queen and Royal Family of Great Britain. —London Society. It was one slid of a penurious money lender that he kept the trunk containing his securitiys near the head of his bed, and lay awake to hear them accumulate interest, In the theatre of ;gar the boxes are for cartridges, the stalls are for the cavalry, the vivandibres' tent is the gallery, the pit is for the dead, the tiers are those of widows and orphans, the prompter is ambition or revenge, or conquest, or sometimes a just cause; the stars are the marshals and generals, the stock is the army, and the curtain, which closes in the final scene, is generally a tape bound diplomatic rag, or a patched-up peace. One of the strangest places to sleep i❑ is an American railway car. It seems so odd to climb uo on to a shelf, like an upper berth in a steamer, and go to sleep while the train rushls and rattles on at the rate of forty miles an hour. The panting of the engine, the rumbling of the multitudinous wheels, are sounds from which you cannot easily divert your thoughts : if you do doze, the stopping at the stations is sure to awake you by the comparative quiet, and then a half drowsy fear seizes you that the train is perhaps being taken to pieces, or that it has reached its final goal. Then, again; you are apt to start at some louder pulsa tion or scream of alarm from the engine, and to imagine that a collision is about to take place. That alarm once roused, away jangle all your nerves, and there is no more sleep for you, my gentleman, that night. TWO YOUNG WOMEN SUFFOCATED IN BED. — Between two and three o'clock on Friday morning Mr. Carson, bacon curer, Kirkpatrick-Durham, near Castle- Douglas, was aroused by a stifling smell coming from the direction of the bedroom above, in which his daughter, Grace Carson, and the servant girl, Mary M'Craitl slept. On entering the room he found it to be filled with dense smoke, emitted by the smouldering feathers of the bed on which the young women lay. They were immediately carried downstairs, and medical assistance procured, but life had been extinct for an hour before the accident was discovered. The two girls went to bed about ten o'clock on Thursday night and, it is believed, placed a hot brick at their feet, which, having been overheated, ignited the feathers, and the gas given off by the smouldering feathers caused their death. One of Miss Carson's toes was slightly charred, but otherwise neither she nor the servant was ex ternally injured. Miss Carson was fifteen years of age. NOTICE.—KINATIAN'S Whisky Depot. Kinahan and Co. have removed to their new and spacious premises, No. 6a, Great Titchfield-street, Oxford-street, leading from Margaret-street, Regent-street, and Market-street, Oxford-street. Kinahan's LL. Whisky.—This famous and most delicious old mellow spirit is the very cream of Irish whiskies, in quality unrivalled, perfectly pure, and more wholesome than the finest cognac brandy. Can be obtained all over the kingdom, in the well-known sealed and labelled bottles, or in bond for exportation at the London Docks. Wholesale Agents to Messrs. B ass , Guinness, and Younger, and Dealers in Foreign Wines and Spirits. THE WAR. THE SIEGE OF PARIS. • LETTER FROM M. GAMBETTA. A letter, dated Bourges December 14, had been received by the Government from M. G-ambetta just before the last balloon left Paris. The provincial dictator describes, in language by no means bombastic, the operations since the recapture of Orleans by the Germans. The letter concludes :—" Chanzy is now in perfect security in la Perche, ready to take the offensive in • the direction of as soon as he has rested his troops, which have fought admirably without interruption against superior forces from the 30th of November to the 12th of December. Thus you see that the Army of the Loire is far from having been annihilated, according to the lies of the Prnssians. it is divided into two armies of equal force, ready to operate, the one by —, the other by —, in order to march upon --. In ' the North Faidherbe will have retaken La Fire, and found large stores of ammunition and provisions with guns. But we are very anxious about you. It is now more than a week since we received any news of you, whether from yourselves, frqm the Prussians, or from abroad. The cable with England is not acting? What is happening ? Take advantage of this south-west wind to send a balloon which will fall in Belgium, and so put an end to our solicitude. The Prussian retreat is a movement about which there can be no mistake. If we can only hold out—and we can if we have only the will — we shall beat them. They have already suffered enor mous losses.; and I learn from the most trustworthy sources that the experience the greatest difficulty in obtaining supplies of food. But to triumph we must re sign ourselves to supreme sacrifices without murmuring, and fight even to the death, In the interior the most admirable order reigns on all hands. The Government of National Defence is everywhere respected and obeyed." " INACTION." Some loud complaints of the inactivity of the Govern ment find expression in the Paris journals. The (pinion Nationale in particular urges the Government to further efforts. "We have here an army of 300,000 men, with a formidable artillery, and we do nothing. We neither try to pierce the lines, nor to raise the siege, nor even risk partial actions in order to kill as many Prus sians as possible. Which is the best system to follow? We do not pretend to answer this question. But, un doubtedly we are following the worst in doing nothing. We are losing time, we are eating up our stores, and we are not pushing on the work of deliverance. This inaction is deplorable. It allows the enemy to detach one er even two hundred thousand men from Paris, and to send them into the provinces to the succour of Frederick Charles. There will always remain a sufficient number of men to defend p"sitions which are never attacked. Moreover, our soldiers, inactive in their bivouacs, up to their knees in water, with all the ennui and none of the excitement of war, will inevitably become demoralised. Why, we may ask, were the war battalions of the National Guards formed ? Was it for precaution or action? Why are cannon being made by thousands, and projectiles by hundreds of thousands? Was it to offer to the King of Prussia specimens of Parisian industry on the day when hunger forces us to capitulate? He will not feel grateful to them. Let Parisians die, but save Paris. We do not ask you to fight a battle of twelve days, like the Army of the Loire, but we do ask you not to remain inactive for sixteen days, but to use to some purpose the forces which you have in hand. At the commencement of the month you destroyed 20,000 Prussians. What prevents you doing the same every week?" women drew him out of the salle. In the street he was roughly treated by some persons armed with guns, and was struck in the forehead by a bayonet. He believed his life to be in danger, and wishing to frighten the rioters, he drew his revolver and fired twice, without hurting any one. He was at once disarmed, and dragged into Valentino amid shouts of "He has fired 'on the people ! He must be shot ! " A dozen of the most extreme members of the club at once formed themselves into a court martial and ordered the unfortunate Arnaud to be shot. A. few minutes later the sentence was actually carried into effect, and Arnaud was executed on the Place d'Armes at a few paces distance from a barrack, and a station of the National Guard. It was one o'clock in the afternoon when the murder was committed. Arnaud died with great courage. Ha took off his tunic, flung aside his kepi, and shouted "Viva la Republique !" At first the people were absolutely stupified by the crime, but soon a general feeling of irri tation displayed itself, which threatened to become gerous for the agitators , Action was i in mediately taken, and the ringleaders of the affair were arrested without delay. The judicial inquiry was carried on very energetically, and among those arrested were the ringleaders of the Valen tino Club who formed the mock court martial. One of them, named Lapierre, gave the order to fire on the victim, who, it seems from the last details cur rent was not killed, but only wounded by the first fire. He was despatched by a wretched gamin only fifteen years of age, who stepped up to the wounded man and :fired a carbine full at him. The detestable viragoes who had played so prominent a part throughout stood ranged as spectators on either side, en joying the sight, and afterwards remained to guard the corpse, while the assassins were making their arrange ments to convey it to the Mairie, where they made the official statement of the death. A terrible scene took place when Madame Arnaud beheld the mutilated remains of her husband. She fell fainting to the ground. The murdered man had in vain intreated permission to say farewell to his wife and children. At first the news of the crime was received with incredulity, the time con sumed having been so short, but when the truth was knoirn the public indignation became unbounded. The National Guard at the Croix Rouse are especially loud in their protestations, and the papers are full of their appeals to the authorities to repress such outrages energetically. The instigators of popular disturbances can, it is evident, no longer reckon on the assistance of this army. All the National Guard expressed an earnest wish to attend the obsequies of the unfortunate Arnaud, and leave to this effect was given by the general. The municipal council and the judicial body, as well as all the civil authorities, were pre sent. The pall was held by the Prefect, the General of the National Guard, the Mayor of Lyons, and the Pre sident of the " chefs des battaillon." Such a funeral has seldom been seen in Lyons. Arrests are still going on. It appears certain the assassins were few in number, though they appeared to be numerous, from the number of gamins and women who accompanied them. It was these same women who an hour later presented themselves at the Hotel de Ville to demand that all the mobilised regions of the south should be at once set on foot. They were received with a very bad grace, but little attention was paid to them in the midst of the gene ral excitement. Six of them are arrested, the total num ber of arrests being seventeen. Two members of the Socialist press are among those sought for. It seems that two or three citizens saw the preparations for the execution, and tried to interfere, but were repulsed by the women, who threatened they should be treated like Arnaud. They hurried off for assistance, which came too late to be of any use, the whole affair, trial, execution, and all, being over in half an hour. Some soldiers who saw the cortege en route thought of stopping it, but seeing two officers of the National Guard among the party they thought the execu tion was a legal one and passed on. The whole of the Valentino meeting were implicated in the crime, as the condemnation to death was voted unanimously. M. Arnaud was foreman of a silk weaving manufactory, and was well known at Croix Rousse for the ardour of his republicanism. He was down on the Imperialist lists as one of those to be arrested in case of a coup d'etat. He was greatly esteemed in the town, where a most painful impression has been produced byhis death. At Croix Rousse the feeling is so strong that some are wavering in their republicanism. The red flag, the banner of assassins, must, all agree, be extirpated. The council of the commune has decided that the town shall adopt the children of M. Arnaud, and that a pension shall be settled on his widow. MR. GLADSTONE AND IR. SOTHERN. There are men who grumble at the salaries paid to the higher servants of the State. There is not, we venture to say, a tavern in the kingdom which has not resounded with denunciations of the £5,000 a year paid to the Prime Minister ; and as we have already seen, a famous gathering at our own Pomona Gardens was not very long ago well-nigh converted into stone by the appalling disclosure that a member of the Cabinet—one of the most distinguished poli tical men of these times—had during his illness been draining the resources of the country to the tune of £5OO a quarter. Economy, public and private, is an excellent virtue. It is the secret of our national wealth.. We go upon the deliberate principle of economising in time, space, and human power. In the matter of money our reputation is commonly supposed to be perfect. As a nation we are believed to be the most parsimonious in the world—mere shopkeepers, with an unwavering eye to the till, and destitute of all ideas. This is our reproach among the nations of the earth. It may be well founded or it may want all foundation. For our own part, we are disposed to believe that our character in this respect is a mixed one. Economy—that is, in the public service— is a universal cry ; but we imagine it would be found on investigation that—the Russians and Americans perhaps excepted—we are the most prodigal people on the face of the earth in the gratification of our personal tastes. Ap peal, for example, to opera singers and dancers. And here is a case in point. We come across it in the Melbourne Argus. Mr. Sothern, the actor, waq asked to visit Australia. He replied like a sensible man of business. " I should lose," he wrote, " a good sixteen weeks in the passage to and fro. That loss of time means to me a loss of £4,Boo—call it even £4,000. That amount has to be considered when making an engagement, for I leave a certainty here to run the risk of an undoubted uncertainty there." We have no fault whatever to find with Mr. Sothern. His talent is his capital, and he has a right make the most of it. But when the British public is disposed to cry out about the salaries of our best men, we hope it will bear these facts in mind—that, on the lowest computation, a popular comedian rates sixteen of his precious weeks at precisely double the money value of twelve months' service at the Board of Trade by Mr. Bright, or twelve months' service at the Education Office by Mr. Forster. Mr. Sothern's lowest estimate for six teen weeks is £4,000; his highest is £4,800, or within £2OO of the annual salary of the Prime Minister. This ii a little discourse in which the "application" may fairly be dispensed with.—Manchester Guardian. AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS. The week opened with slight rain in the morning, succeeded by fine weather for the remainder of the day, with the wind N.N.W. On Monday much rain fell throughout the day, with the wind high from the west. Tuesday quite a fine day. Our advices from the West Riding of Yorkshire runs thus :—" Our farmers complain much of the turnip crop; but some very fine crops of mangel wurzel have been grown : on one farm they ave raged nearly fourteen pounds each, many roots weighing twenty-eight pounds a piece. Potatoes are a plentiful crop and of good quality, and at a very reasonable price, 7s. to Bs. per 2521b5." From the East Riding before the frost : "The growing wheat plant comes up strong and healthy, and prospects for the future are thus far promising." From Lancashire, under the same circum stances ; " Vegetation in East Lancashire assumes a healthy appearance for the season of the year, and the young wheat plant is progressing satisfactorily." On Wednesday, with the wind N.E„ came very sharp frost, with snow showers at intervals during the day. From Scotland, the eastern coast, we are advised : "That in the North on Saturday week the frost was very keen, and early on Sabbath morning snow began to fall, continuing for several hours, when it changed to a heavy rain, and before night the snow had all disappeared. On Monday morning the river Deveron was greatly swollen, and did some damage to turnip-fields. On Tuesday morning the rain somewhat abated, and was succeeded by a fresh fall of snow, which on Wednesday morn ing lay several inches deep. Agricultural opera tions have been mostly suspended. Turnips are standing out well in this district, and large quantities of them have been stored ; straw appears not to stand out so well, but it is of excellent quality." On Thursday there was again a very sharp frost, with snow continually falling during the early part of the day, but with the remainder fine, with a brilliant starlight night." Again, from Lancaster of this date : " The weather is fine, with severe frost. From Suffolk : " The mild weather noted in our last advice continued until Tuesday night. The past two days have been bitterly cold with north-east wind." From near the coast of the same county : "We have a charming change in the weather, from rain and tog to sharp frost." From Bristol: "During the early part of the week the weather was mill, since then severe frost has set in." Friday was again very sharp, with the day very cold and very fine throughout. From Devon shire our correspondent writes :—" " Very bright weather, with hard frost, thermometer standing at 11 degrees at nine o'clock p.m." From Lincolnshire :—" Immense floods have resulted from the incessant rain, and all low lying districts are in a bad state. Frost has now made its appearance again with great severity, the thermometer marking 21 degrees of frost on the morning of the 23rd. A good covering of snow has fallen, and this will in a great measure preserve the turnips." From Cambridgeshire : " We had an unusually heavy fall of rain on Monday, and up to Tuesday evening it continued very wet. On that night it turned to frost, and after a fall of rain on Wednesday the weather has become very severe indeed ; during last night 27 degrees of frost—the coldest since the memorable Christmas eve of 1860— brilliant and sharp, with every prospect of continued hard frost. Should this continue farmers will have nothing to do but thrash. Some samples of wheat are softened by the wet weather, but on the whole our wheats never came to hand in November and December as dry as they now are." The covering of snow to the wheat plant will be of great service in protecting it.—Mark Lane Express. The Minerva, of Seaham, bound for Rochester with coals, is ashore at Palling, and will become a total wreck. The crew were landed safely. FATAL COLLISION AT SEA.—On Friday morning, in a thick snowstorm, the French brig La Concepcion, bound for Barcelona, with coals, was run into off the Scilly Islands by the English barque Carry Wright ; the Concepcion being cut in two amidships. The master and five men got on board the barque, but one man and a boy were drowned. The Clonmel Chronicle says the intellgence of the intended release of the Fenian convicts was received at Tipperary with almost frantic enthusiasm. The result was a general illumination on the Sunday night with a display of fireworks. The paper named proceeds : " There was not, we learn, a single house in the whole town that did not present a blaze of light. Such is the state of terrorism there existing, that those inhabitants who did not in the least degree sympathise with this o va tion were compelled, through a feeling of self-preserva tion, to join in these rejoicings." IMPROVING WINE BY ELECTRICITY.—At Digne in Germany, several butts of wine were shattered by lightning, and their contents passed along the floor into a cistern beneath. It was found that, far from having suf fered by the accident, the wine was improved so as to sell at 60 instead of 10 cents per litre. Subsequent experi ments tend to chew that a current caused by the immer sion of two platina electrodes in connection with a galvanic battery has a similar effect on wine. Even poor wines seem to assume an agreeable flavour through the process. Food ✓ournal. MELANCHOLY AC CIDENT.—TiIe Manchester Ex aminer says : The other evening a melancholy accident happened to Miss Emily Oswald, only daughter of Mr. Oswald, the proprietor of the Swan Hotel, Egham ilythe. The deceased was running across the yard adjoining the hotel, when her face came in contact with a cart that was standing there, with such force that her head was knocked backward and her neck broken. Death appeared to be instantaneous. The deceased was about 21 years of age, and was greatly respected. A few moments prior to the accident she had arranged to accompany some young friends to an entertainment at the institute, and was at the time of her melancholy death hurrying to prepare to go with them. DEATH OF " CHICKEN Tom," THE MISER. —The Kirkby Lonsdale correspondent of the Kendal Mercury announces the death of Thomas Walker, of Hutton Roof, better known by the soubriquet of `' Chicken Tom." This character, with upwards of £3,000, lived in a small cottage by himself, and even deprived himself of the common necessaries of life. His clothes were old and in rags, and he was always glad to make a penny by selling besoms, but his income he principally derived from sell ing fowls and chickens—hence his nickname. Last Satur day week the man's neighbours thought something wa3 was wrong, as his house was closed. The door was broken open, and in a miserable condition this creature was found dying, in fact, and without the common necessaries of life to support him in his old age, for he was an old man. He expired on the Monday following. CAI I AFFORD IT ?—Pay your Stationer 6d. for a reply. Map of the World gratis in all Letts's Office Diaries. Letts's M. and is. Diaries give most value for your money. Letts's Densekeepers' and Ladies' Diaries are much improved. Wts's Invisible Ink for Postal Cards, 6d. per bottle. A. REMARKABLE PROJECT. In Dr. Russell's last letter from Versailles appears a a very important paragraph. It indicates for the first time a prospect of General Trochu not giving in, even when the food of Paris is quite exhausted. He means to retire to Mont Valdrien, and leave the capital to take care of itself :—" I have now arrived at the conclusion, with a moral certainty to my own mind, that General Trochu is forming a vast intrenched camp under the guns of For Valdrien, into which he intends to retire when Paris is all but starved and the population is becoming troublesome. As the Provost of Dumfries said, "Even I, my ain self, may be mistaken." But that is my theory. The fort is in itself a little town ; it is safe from fire ; it commands Paris. Day after day I have seen long convoys of carts going along the road from Courbevoie to the rear of the the fort, as if heavily laden, end returning briskly, as if light. The labour bestowed on the intrenchments and their extent indicate some large scheme. In good maps there is a windmill marked about 800 metres to the W.N.W. of Val4rien. This is the centre of one great redoubt. There is another still larger —to the south of the Mill Battery, and beyond it to the south, again--that is, nearer to the German position—is yet another work, with its front defended by rifle-pits. There can be no question about the intention of these intrenched positions ; they can cover a very large force ; nor can there be any doubt but that the Ger mans intend to try the " metal " of the French guns and their own by opening fire on various points which appear assailable. SMALL HOPE FOR THE FRENCH. A. military correspondent of the Times gives a minute account of the performances of the German army, and the means at its command. He argues at length on the great superiority of the German soldier to the Frenchman in physical power, the completeness of the arrangements for supplying the German forces with ammunition and food, upon the demoralised state of the French, and the excellence of the chassepot as com pared with the needlegun. His final summing up is ex ceedingly unfavourable to the French. It might be con sidered decisively so, were it not that he writes from the German headquarters, and thus the information he gets respecting the Army of the Loire may be open to ques tion. However, here it is : " Looking back over the events of this short campaign of the Loire since Prince Frederick Charles came down with his victorious troops from Metz, and took the command, one cannot but be struck by the want of fighting power shown by the French, and their increasing demoralisation. M. Gambetta thinks to find favour with fortune by changing his generals. To have any fair hope of winning he must change his men too, or at least their condition of mind and body. From what intelligence I can pick up, the inference cannot but be drawn that the Army of the Loire, if army it can be called, is not only demoralised, but almost mutinous. The men have learnt to expect ill success whenever they meet their foes. I have heard of officers shot for not leading on their men, and of men muttering that they will shoot Gambetta if he refuses to make peace. One may admire the tenacity and pt rsistence of the man. Certainly he has created and equipped an army in an ex traordinary short space of time, and while there is life hope cannot be denied. But if hope be carried so far as to prevent the sick man from taking the only medicine likely to restore him, it savours more of recklessness than of courage." THE LAST GREAT SORTIE. The sortie from Paris on the 21st was nothing more than an artillery battle, a preliminary, as it were, for future operations. Large numbers of field batteries were sent out in all directions in the east, north-east, and north, and they pounded away, French and Germans, until night fell. In the evening the French bivouacked outside their forts so as to be ready for any enterprise the next day. The Daily News correspondent says of this affair :—What is the raison d'etre of this great powder burning demonstration of to-day. It could hardly have been intended as an attempt to break through. Speculations in the early part of the day were various. It might be a reconnaissance in force to discover by drawing their fire whether the besiegers had and heavy artillery mounted on the works between Sevran awl Pont lbion, with future intentions towards the forts. It might have been that, in the knowledge of the railways being in use as far as Gon nesse and Sevran, the speculation might have been ven tured that to these termini were centering the siege guns and that under a heavy artillery fire the infantry might get the chance of making a dash on an exploring and destroying expedition. But in my humble opinion the cue was given to the motive of the day's work in the terms of a communication made by General von Montbe, at his hospitable dinner table. All day long heavy columns of French infantry massed on and about the slope of Avron, and as far forward as Neuilly, had been threatening the gap of Chelles. I believe I have already referred to this alluvial tract as the likely area of a sortie, It presents several obvious advantages. It is quite flat, is open in the physical sense all the way to Lagny—all the way to Chalons for that matter—and the French holding Neuilly as they do, already sit astride of the flat country, and can make their dispositions without annoyance or exposure on the same level as their succeeding operations. Then there is no river to cross. But for that somewhat sturdy obstacle the Saxons there would be a straight run home unobstructed by water or broken ground all the way, as I have said to Lagny ; and behind a sallying force there stands up the formidable Avron, a most judicious bottle holder, and something more. No doubt there are disad vantages to set against all these advantages. This world is a vale of crosses, and nobody can expect to have it all his own way, The bluff of Montermeil enfilades a force coming up the flat toward Chelles as soon 'as it chews out from Neuilly. The height behind Chelles looks direct in the face of any such force ; and owing to circumstances attributable to the Germans any contemplation of a hostile force on the part of the heights of Chelles would not be so harmless as normally is the case. These heights, too, narrow the fair way considerably, and from the onset it is the reverse of too large. Still I have wondered that the French, who have essayed far less eligible ground for a sortie in a physical sense, should not have tried this. It was clear that I was not alone in my opinion, for Chelles was the line taken by the 24th Division Artillery this morning from Le Pin. The French columns—a whole division it was known—sheaved opposite the gap, ready to throw themselves into it. But they knew of old results of a concentration at any point of the deadly field artillery of the Germans. Had they come on directly, and with no diversion, what would have hindered it, but that the Saxon batteries from the Marne to the inundations, the Guards batteries from Livry to Gonnese, should have been waiting .there for them across the throat of the gap at Chelles and on the crest of Montfermeil ? Wherefore was made a great artillery , demonstration, supported with infantry, to look in earnest on the north-eastern face in the hopes to draw off the Artillery from the Chelles positions, and leave the coast comparatively clear forsan attack. The plan might have succeeded with a weaker artillery than that possessed by the Germans—that it did not; as it was partially successful, I am not quite prepared to assert. Any how, the French division about two o'clock thought itself justified in advancing to the attack up the northern bank of the Marne, What happened is to me as yet involved in obscurity. The sequence of General Montbe's communication was that after a good deal of fighting up till about half- past four the French had not succeeded in gaining any ground, and had then slowly fallen back into their old position behind Neuilly. Now, however, when I come to headquarters here, I find no conceal ment made of what seems to be an assured fact, that Ville Evrart and Le Maison Blanche, the two keys to the Prussian outpost line athwart the alluvial plain, were taken this afternoon by the French, and are now held by them ; and there is a design of retaking them to-night under cover of the darkness. On the fifteenth of December, a party of twenty Arab horsemen passed through Lyons. They were said to be the advanced guard of a great troop of Bedouins, who were to be sent in campaign against the I,Thlans. Some Arab horsemen already form part of the Loire Army. At Metz the other day a Prussian sentinel was killed by a shot from a gun. Several persons have been arrested, and if the assassin is not discovered the town will have to pay a fine of £2,000. In many of the private dwelling-houses discoveries of hidden Chassepots and cartridges have been made. Trustworthy information records that the Prussian corps operating about the Loire have been raised to their full strength within the last ten days by the levies of 1870 ; " but at the rate they are losing men by battle and small-pox (which is raging fearfully in their army) they will require another draught in another fortnight." The losses of the Saxon troops before Paris amounted, up to the 2nd inst., to 2,194 killed, wounded, and missing. On that day alone the Schutzen regiment lost 567 men, or about a third of its effective force. "In common with the whole country," says a letter from Dresden, " our King has been afresh painfully affected by the largeness of these losses." The writer adds that the entire Saxon fortress artillery has been despatched to Paris. A Bavarian . soldier before Paris has written to his friends to say that the French are not at all inclined to open the gates of their town, and he is quite undeceived as to the notion of the winter being mild in Paris, for during the last few days the cold has been most intense. There had been no time to get their horses rough-shod, which, in the everit of a sortie, would be awkward. The other day a column of troops had to stop in the middle of the street. and the horses fell at every step. The artillery horses suffer terribly, as they are at the outposts exposed to the air night and day. Their shelters, composed of branches, afford them very little protection. The men, however, have succeeded in making good huts of earth. There was abundance of food, and the outposts had fur cloaks to wear. Three Francs-Tireurs having been hung by Baden sol diers ; Colonel Bourras wrote to General Werder, at Dijon :—" I am informed that three of my Francs-Tireurs who were captured by your soldiers have been hung. I beg to ask you whether this was an isolated case which will not be repeated. If this manner of treating prisoners becomes the rule, I shall be obliged to resort to reprisals on the seventy prisoners who are at present in my hands." General Werder replied : —" I have given orders to inves tigate the case of which you apprise me. Whatever the result, I hasten to announce that similar cases will not occur, and that I shall never permit a prisoner o f war to be sent to the gallows." THE NEw PHASE OF THE WAR.—The Frank fbrt Gazette publishes a letter from a Hessian officer which gives a gloomy picture of the way in which the war is now carried on in the French provinces. It mentions the burning clown of the village of Coulours, near Ville neuve, where a Hessian foraging expedition had been sur prised, with the help of the inhabitants, and a portion of them destroyed. After the enemy had been driven off, the bodies of three German soldiers were discovered with their heads cut off and carried away. The village of Auxon, near Troyes, has also been plundered and burnt as a pun. ishment for the barbarous massacre of an etappen troop, whose noses and ears were cut off. In the region of the Loire sons of the nobility are to be found among the Francs-Tireurs. Fanatical priests persuade the people that the war is no longer directed against their country, but against' their religion, and that the object of the in vaders is to force the people to become Protestants. We understand that the Rev. W. Busfield, M.A., on account of the state of his health, has resigned the rectory of Keighley, Yorkshire, to which he was ap painted in 1840. The resignation will take effect on the 20th of March next. The value of the living, of which the Duke of Devonshire is patron, is estimated at 2428 a year. LITERAL.—Among the Sunday-school children of a certain church was a poor little fellow, who could not tell the number of the house in which he lived, and was charged when he next came to school to bring it. The next time he appeared he was asked if he had brought the number. " No, sir," said he ; "it was nailed on the door so tight that I couldn't get it off." [ADVERTISEMENT.]—HOLLOWAY'S PILLS.—The Females' Friend.—So soon as the human functions are disordered they should be rectified. It is a hopeless delusion to leave the malady to its own course. A few appropriate doses of Holloway's Pills at the proper period will prevent many a serious illness. They arrest all morbid influences, and prevent disease from extending and affecting more distant organs. Their primary action is upon the blood, stomach, liver and bowels. Their secondary action strengthens the nervous centres, No drug can be at once more harmless, yet more antagonistic to disorders affecting the other sex. The most perfect reliance may be placed on their purify ing regulation and renovating virtues. They may - 11)e safely taken by females at any age. FOOD, The proceedings of the Government with respect to bread and wine produced something like a panic. An official note stated that there was bread and wine until March ; and one day a decree was issued putting into requisition all stores of flour and wheat. In the Villette and Belleville quarters the significance of this pre cautionary measure soon became exaggerated. Bread was not only on the point of being rationed, but rationed at the lowest estimate capable of sustaining life. " Every baker in the neighbourhood," says one account, " saw his shop immediately besieged by an army of m4nageres, who, so anxious were they to lay in a stock, in some cases obliged the unfortunate man to sell even the small loaf he had put aside for the use of himself and family. Such a state of things could not exist in one part of the town without soon spreading to othe others, and by the evening even the very heart of the city had caught the contagion to such a degree that by six o'clock there was no bread to be had anywhere for love or money. On the following morning an appeal to the public good sense, signed by all the members of the Govern ment, was placarded about. Though it assured the in habitants that bread would not be rationed, and that there was no fear of scarcity, the bakers' shops were closed at an early hour; but on the morrow ' all seemed to have been forgotten. It has been since ordained by our all paternal rulers that in a few days we are to have nothing , but brown bread, as being better for the health than white now that it has become the only thing we have to eat or very nearly so." The correspondent of the Telegraph says : Yesterday, attracted by a crowd round a butcher's shop, I looked in and saw some meat exposed for sale that positively set one's mouth watering. On inquiry I learned that the meat in question was all sold for 15f. per lb. It consisted prin cipally of a young elephant and two camels which the enterprising butcher had bought at about £BO each in the Zoological Gardens, and for which he had found ready purchasers, A few pieces of dog, that he had also for sale, he informed me were almost equal to beef, and preferable to horse ; but as I did not quite like their ap pearance, I declined to purchase any at four francs per Pound. I and others have eaten cat, and find it little inferior to rabbit ; I have also tasted mouse and rat—but I must reserve the account of my gastronomic observa tions. ANOTHER EDITION OF "LA LANTERNS." M. Henri Rochefort has written a preface to a new edition of La Lanterne which he is about to issue. He calls the regime of the Empire no reign at all, but "a weary sitting of drunkards," and declares that he would not pub lish the history of such moral and political obscenities, but the world ought not to suppose that thirty-eight mil lions of human beings could have lived for twenty years with a bandage over their eyes. "In reading my essay you will see that many of my prophe cies have been accomplished. I do not pride myself on this. For a lower empire there were only three ways in which it could fall-1. By a military revolution. 2. By a popular insurrection. 3. By a foreign invasion. In prophesying all these I could not fail to be right. With his usual foresight Napoleon chose the last. It is the most cruel for us, but the best for him. He alone will not suffer by the siege. This third-rate actor was without the courage to play to the last his part of Emperor. He who gave up our country to ruin wrote the other day to an English officer stupidly complaining that we had fallen into a complete anarchy. His uncle, Napoleon. 1., who was little less of a bandit, than he, at least knew how to veil his effrontery in phrases like this—" Let my ashes repose by the banks of the Seine, among the people I have loved BO well." The nephew is reduced to calumniate the nation which he had endeavoured to stupify, like those criminals who, in the dock, shake their fists at their victims, and shout :—" The wretch, just as I was going to strangle her, she, was wicked enough to shout for aid." Thus this pretender who the Mornys, the Persignys, and the I'rop longs helped to pasture in the Tuileries, was without those qualities which his trade rendered necessary. When these panderers who held him in a leading string loosened the cord and allowed him to walk alone, he shewed that he had never ceased to be a—brute." THE TRAGEDY AT LYONS. LYONS, Dee. 22. A painful incident has startled and saddened the town. The details, so far as they are yet known, are as follows :—During Monday evening the news of the defeat at Nuits produced some agitation in Lyons, and some ruffians of Croix Rousse, who seize every oppor tunity of creating a disturbance resolved to make the most of it. A meeting was held in the Salle Valentino, the origin of many previous troubles, when it was determed to have a demonstration with women in mourning and the red flag, with the object of clearing out the Hotel de Ville, and installing the revolutionary commune, who would know how to conduct thh war, with more energy and more success. The club was in session All night, but after all there was some difficulty in getting up the demonstration. Some women were forth coming, but no guns. A few excited National Guards were caught, and induced to join, but there were not suf ficient to sweep out the Hotel de Ville. A bat talion, at least, was wanted for that purpose. A visit was paid to the abode of one of the heads of battalions belonging to the Croix Rousse, and it was demanded that he should beat la generale. This he refused to do, and after awhile the conspirators bethought them of M. Arnaud, commandant of the 12th battalion. He was induced to cone to Valentino, on the pretext of being . wanted in connection with the service, and when there he was ordered to come to Lyons with his battalion. He refused decidedly. The excited BIRTHS. On the 25th inst., at Rose Cottage, Waltham Abbey, the wife of James Carr, jun., of a daughter. On the 23d inst., at Waterloo, near Liverpool, the wife of A. W. Chalmers, Esq., of a son. MARRIAGES.' On the 22d inst., at Buxhall, Arthur Hickman, son of Henry William James Windsor, of Woodford, Essex, to Emma, the daughter of John Youngman, of Buxhall, Suffolk. On the 22d inst., at St. Barnabas', Upper Holloway, Christopher James Clarke, Esq., 0.E., soh of the late John Clarke, Esq., of New Parks, near Leieester, to Caroline, eldest surviving daughter of the late Bev. A. Wade, rector of Elton, county of Durham. DEATHS. On the 22d inst., at Poulton Hey, Bromborough, Cheshire, Henry Ashton, Esq., aged 75. On the 21st inst., at Fort Granite, co. Wicklow, Thomas Stratford Dennis, Esq., aged 90. London : Printed by GIDEON ACLAND BOYCE, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, and Published by him at THE Surf Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County of Middlesex. Wednesday, December 28, 1870. C I Entei by E. C. Pa Willie Adolf and C other agree Resjd tton c Senor the ( hg ( Laugl Fin View Curl Ad' or by wont] preset large A Thy th( the e pate Music have most celobi chef, positi assiin W. G Thon T' lead, free, tea In Any c on ap went stand Mali and Majel Sir MIN: Lyell met' at 9, MIL( provi with RAB all e: in La the C 0 Ptt LOG T] P stree trath in eh in bc T and. at th Indil Mild A ii ~~~ i.~. need Lady and. any 11 ptri, I cried enri Puri