The Sun. — London, England, 1861-02-02 00:00:00

:RO YAL, ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT-GARDEN. Under the Managem •nt of Miss Louisa Pyne and Mr. W. Harrison, Sole Lessees. THIS F.VF.NING, and durinfr the Week, Balte's New Let;endary Opera. BIANC N. THE M BII.AVO'S BRIDE : 10 „,„ p yre , Miss Phirlwall ; essrs. A. Lawrence, TJ w,Thartnn. Corri, A.Altln, G. Kelly, Wallworth, T. ,Distin, Lyall, and W. Ha St. rison. With the Grand Pantomime, BLUE BEARD ; or, Hanle ..quiu and Freedom in her Island Home. Clowns, Messrs. H. Bolen°, H. Payne. Hildyard, and Lilliputians. Harlequins, Messrs. Milano and F. Payne. Pantaloons, Messrs. Barnes ;and Tanner. Columbines, Mdme. Boleno and Clara Morgan. iiprites, the Zelinski Family. Mr. W. H. Payne, Mlle. ,Lamoureux, &c. Conductor—Mr. Alfred Mellon. Commence at Seven. THEATRE -ROYAL, HAYMARKET. Lessee, Mr. J. B. Buckstone. "r TITS F.VENIN( the rertorraane.es will commorne with SHI 4 STOOPS TO CONQUER. Miss n ardcas tle, by Miss Fanny Stirling; Tony Lumpkin, by Mr. Buckstone. After which, a new Pantomime, QUEEN LADYBIRD AND HER CHILDREN. The Pantomimists by the un rivalled Leclereqq, Herr Cole, and Fanny Wright. Commence at 7. OYA T, PRINCESS'S THEATRE. OPENTNCT of PARLTAMENT by her MAJESTY in state and DAY PERFORMANCE of the Pantomime. ROBINSON CRITSOE commencinv at half -past 2, and g* concludin at half-past 4, on TUESDAY, Feb. 5, and posi tively the last.—Excursion Trains from all p a rts of the country. ------- VOYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.— Lopotee and Manlyzer. Mr. A. Harris. THIS EVENING. the performances Will comm Garden ence with BUY BIAS. Messrs. Pechter, Basil Poter, , Ray mond, Graham, Cathcart , and A. Harris. AChristmas comicalntoime, ROBINSON CRUSOE ; or, Harlequin Friday, m and the entitled Kina of the Caribbe Islands : in which Monsieur Espinosa and Mdlle. Marie Dumilatre, of the principal cantinental theatres, will appear. Clown. air. A. F. Forrest. THEATRE -ROYAL LYCEUM. oois *Lessee and Directress, Madame CELESTE. THIS EVICNING, a new Drama, entitled THE IRISH EMIGRANT. Messrs. G. Vininz. J. Johnstone, T. Lyon. Forrester, and John Drew; Miss Kate Saville, Miss Stuart, and Mrs. .1. Rouse. After which, the Lyceum Christmas Comic Extravazanza, C'TtYSTABET.LE ; or, The Rose without a Thorn, showint* ruF. VISIONT OF A ROSE, ITS FADING AT EVE, AND THE MAY-BLOOM OF THE WILD BRIAR. To conclude with MORE BLUNDERS THAN ONE. Larry Hoolagan, Mr. John Drew. A DELPHI, NEW THEATRE-ROYAL. golf. Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Beni. Webster. THIS EVENING, AN UGLY CUSTOMER. Messrs. J. L. Toole, C. Selby, and Warde ; Miss K. Kelly, and Miss E. Thorne. After which. VIE COLLEEN BAWN. D. Tioucicault, D. Fisher, Billine-ton, Falconer, Stephenson. C. J. Smith, Romer. !Miss Agnes Robertson. Miss Woolgar, Mrs. Billington, and Mrs. Chatterley. To conclude with a n:-v; Burlesque F,xtravarranza. entitled BLUE BEARD F ftOM A NEW POINT OF HUE. Nressrs. J. 1,. Toole. P. Bedford. C. J. Smith ; Miss Woolgar, K. Kelly, Laidlaw, and Thorne. Doors open at halt past o—Commence at 7. Box-office open from 10 till 5. No charge for booking. Private boxes, £2 2s. ; Family Boxes, £l. Urnestra Stalls,Circle Stalls, Ss. Pit Stalls, 2e.; Pit, 15. 6d. ; Amphitheatre, ls ; Gallery, 6d. Acting Manager—Mr. Wm. Smith. 4 1, STLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE, Proprietor and Manacrer, Mr. Wm. BATTY. Last week of Mr. J. Crockett and the Trained Lions. This Evening*, a new Spectacle, en-titled THE LION CONQUEROR; or, The Death Jungle, expressly for the introduction of the Wonders of the World, " The Groupe of Performing Lions." The Lion Conqueror, Mr. J. Crockett. To be succeeded by Scenes in the Arena, supported by talented Parisian and Bri , ish Artistes. Concluding with Batty's Prize Equestian Comic Panto mime, for Good Little Boys and Girls, by T. L. Greenwood, entitled HARLEQUIN AND THE. WONDERFUL HORSE ; or. rodci and Grociosa, the Uglchess and the Greedy King, puced with Gorgeous Sccenery. by Mr. Cuthbert, new Costumes and Appointments, and introducing in the comic scenes Ratty's Prize Equestrian Harlequinade, and the celebrated Old Bob Ridley, and Brandon Ledger. Doors open at half - Fee t 6, performance commence at 7. CANTERBURY -HALL CONCERTS!! A Grand Selection from Verdi's Opera, IL CORSARO, • consisting of the fo Prelud llow io ing Morceaux : Coro Scena ed Aria. "Tutto rarca Sorridere" Coro di Odalische. "Oh qual perenne" Cavatina Coro ed inno Scena ed Aria.. " Cento 'ezgiadre Vergini" Terzetto Finale "Voi tacete lo non" will shortly be produced, in the origmal key and Italian lanq - unze—the first time of performance in this country—in addition to the usual attractions. Mr..F. JONGIIMANS, Musical Director. Also in preparation, Selections from Verdi's New Operas, "Un Ballo in Maschera," "Simon Boccanegra ;" and Flo tow's celebrated Opera of "Stradella." • HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tale DAY.—Morning, 6h. 30m.—Afternoon,:6h. 54m, TO-MORROW. -M0T1117111 , ,, 7h. 18m.—Afternoon, :7h. 46m THE WEATHER.—SUN OFFICE,: FEB. 2, 1861. THERMOMETER, IN TIES MIAMI. 52—highest since noon yesterday. 36—lowest this morning and during the night. 42—this day at noon. lia_nolawrzu-30.69 ; a rise of half-an-inch since yes. terday, w iN p--North-Westerly ; rather fresh, with fine cold weather, and a tendency to frost. , ..- 4N ;'' 74- ) ' ' Ar_ 4 l . s ~..,,_.,....7v. (p l . 4" - ,,;;9_, --,A,,,44,.....,.. hi: :_____t4LT - ." : - . a.,NrAct '''% - * "-- ~.,....- zir...;, k/' . & , : i,:,,,e2 „.., 4 -N-4 ', - X oi r ___ ~, ... -. • • • ~,,,..... THE SUN. LONDON, SATURDAY, FEB. 2, 188 IMPERIAL AND ROYAL SPEECHES ! On Monday next we fully expect to present our readers with the Speech of the Emperor Louis NAPOLEON to the French Chambers ; and, on Tuesday, that of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen VICTORIA to both Houses of the Imperial Parlia ment. May they be worthy of each, and fraught with peace to the nations ! Yesterday we had to draw attention to the sinister designs of France in the direction of Syria. To-day we have only too much reason to comment in a similar strain upon the suspicious projects of Prussia in the direction of Schleswig-Holstein. It augurs but ill for the new reign that scarcely has the Regent become KING, when the covetous grasp of the Prussian Monarchy appears to be again extended towards and again closing around those southern provinces of the King of DENMARK. It is as if the evil example set by France, in the acquisition of the western provinces of the King dom of Sardinia, in the absorption into the Empire of Nice and Savoy, in violation of all the laws of territorial demarcation laid down by the great Powers of Europe in solemn con clave assembled, in dereliction of all honour, in defiance of all the most solemn and re iterated promises that no annexation of the kind was even meditated--it is, we say, as though this nefarious policy on the part of France had proved so far contagious that it had revived anew in the heart of the Prussian Government the old, shame less lust of spoliation for which that monarchy has, so often before now in the annals of Europe, ren dered itself so discreditably noticeable. With Prussia, as with Austria, the rise into existence of a great Power has been the rise of robbery— the rise of diplomatic fraud and military bri gandism. As with Prussia and with Austria —so has it been also in this way in the mightier instance of the great Russian Autocracy. With each of these three among the great powers of Europe it has been virtually as it was literally in the instance of Ancient Rome. The legendary and almost mythical narrative of the Vise of the Roman autho'rity sets forth, as even the Proverbial schoolboy knows, with the clustering together of a band of robbers, championed at first by c hieftians, nurtured by no less grimly foster-parents than wolves. Reading the history of the rise and firowth,and development of the three great northern i'o v. era of Europe, it would seem almost to be like a repetition of the old familiar tale. There alike in Russia, in Austria, in Prussia, as in the antique pre-classic age when Rome sprang into being is Central Italy, under the rival leader ship of REMUS and ROMULUS--it is a little cluster of robbers, led on by chiefs as pitiles s i n th e i r spoliations as though they too had imbibed into their being, in some mysterious manner, strictly .wolfish temperaments. From the apparently trivial nucleus of an insignificant principality, th e circumference (in each) of an expanding domi nion has rapidly spre4.d and spread around it in all directions like a circle upon water when a stone Eas been cast in to disturb its tranquillity. It has thus been with Prussia—born from the little prin- cipality of the House of BRANDENBURG. It has thus been with Austria—born fr om the diminutive 1 State ruled over by the House of HAPSBURG. It has thus been upon a grander scale yet, with the original domains peatled by a race of serfs (iwning allegiance to the House of ROMANOFF. Is it not one of the most frightfully notorious incidents in the modern annals of Europe, that these three enlarging and despoiling Powers, having at length extended their frontiers by piecemeal spoliations of the most flagrant character, having at length extended their frontiers until they pressed equally from three different directions upon the boundaries of the glorious but ill-fated kingdom of Poland — then and there accomplished together, as the climax of all their atrocious robberies, the partition of that resplendent territory and of that heroic race—the Barrier and the Champions of Christendom! Since which infamous crime—one of those heinous and preternatural political crimes that cry aloud to Heaven for vengeance—the accomplices in that execrable murder of Poland have still from time to time so far obeyed the instincts of their nature as to endeavour at least, upon every possible oppor tunity, to continue their system of annexation upon annnexation. .Russia, it is true, has long since been almost too large for further expansion—lying there extended in all her " lubber length"—like an over-gorgedboa-constrictor, across the width of the two hemispheres. Austria, at once huge in her dimensions and heterogeneous in her character, being composed of a mass of incongruous nationalities incapable of cohesion, has long been threatening to fall asunder, as she must inevitably fall asunder elentually—either " dissolving in the silence of decay" or separating abruptly in the shock of some comprehensive catastrophe. Prussia alone might yet—notwithstanding her antecedents—Prussia alone of the three might yet, if she could at length in real earnest, but for once and for all, assume that nobler role with which she has so often been dallying—Prussia alone might at last take her place securely and honourably among the Constitutional Powers of Christendom. Instead of which, so engrained in her nature is the greed of annexation, so tainted is she with the leprosy of spoliation that one might as well attempt again, like the people in the fable to scrub the Ethiopian white, as hope to witness the adoption at last at Berlin of an honour able policy—a policy not tending as hitherto to a greater or a lesser degree of territorial aggrandise ment —a policy, in fact, worthy of her late preten tions as an un- aggressive and strictly Constitutional Government. As a Constitutional Government, Prussia is, in truth, turning out once more to be one of the veriest shams and impostures in all Christendom. The new KING thus absolutely appears, now upon the very morrow of his ascension to the throne, to have taken a leaf—as in other words we have already intimated—out of the Bc ok of Fate of NAPOLEON 111. What the French EMPEROR did in the absorption into his empire of Nice and Savoy—fraudulently abstracted from the kingdom of Sardinia ; the Prussian Sovereign seems now bent upon imitating to the south-west of Germany, namely, by the absorption of Schleswig and Hol stein, of one or the other, or of both, and with them also of Lauenburg—fraudulently abstracting them from the ancient Kingdom of Denmark. These suspicious designs on the part of Prussia are, as we all remember only too well of very old date. It is a sinister project about which we have heard, and read, and talked, and written at frequent intervals duringmany years usque ad nauseam. It has been again and again agitated—but now worst of all, it is yet once more revived under the new Sovereign and as we had hoped under his better regime, and under happier auspices alike for Prussia and for Germany. The suspicious and sinister situation of this unhappy question about what is absurdly called by the blent title of Schleswig-Holstein, may be understood upon a merely casual glauee down the correspondence which not very long since took place upon this very topic—a topic of vital interest to Europe generally, but especially of vital interest and importance to our ancient and loyal ally, Denmark. The diplomatic correspondence which took place dur ing last October, November, and December, between Lord BLOOMFIELD, her Majesty's Am bassador (then) at the Court of Vienna, and Lord JOHN RUSSELL, her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, on the part of England, and through the diplomatic intervention thus of Eng land, on the part also of Denmark—and on the other side, the Baron SCHLEINITZ, the Chief Minister of the Prussian Government. This correspondence, it is true, as the date indicates, took place prior to the death of the late King of PRUSSIA, an event which only took place at the very turn of the year 1860-1861: But Prussia was then ruled by a Regency—the Regent being thq now reigning Sovereign of Prussia. The policy of the kingdom is unchanged. It is the same to-day that it was thus notoriously yesterday. It is a policy most sinister, most suspicious. How sinister, how suspicious it is in the direction of Schleswig, and Holstein, and Lauenburg, will be seen from the ominous despatches written by the Prussian King's Prime Minister, Baron SCHLEI- NITZ. nothing to satisfy the demands of the public ; but can nothing special be done ? The sugges tion of a commission to be issued direct by the Crown has substantial objections to it. The Constitution does not give the Crown such power ; we all know how it was abused in the days of the STUARTS ; the Star Chamber is become a sym- bol for illegal oppression of private individuals by the Crown; nothing which could furnish a precedent for the Head of the Executive, vexing the subjects of the realm by a process at all similar, could be tolerated for an hour. And, though in this instance it would be done in furtherance of the ends of justice, yet such evil must not be done that good may come, nor a little wrong done to do a great right. But is there not a course open which is not liable to this unanswerable objection. The judges are irremoveable, dum bene se gesserint, except upon address to the Crown by the House of Commons. It is felt that their irremoveability is one of the bulwarks of our liberty, our best security for justice, when the feeble subject stands at the bar with the Crown for his antagonist. Yet this all-important security is considered safe in the custody of the people's representatives. No judge has ever entertained a moment's apprehension of Royal vengeance in any charge he has been called on to try; nor even in the other direction has ho ever feared that, in sustaining the legal rights of the Crown, he should incur the displeasure of a majority of the British House of Commons. Can not a similar course obtain for the country a re-investigation of the Road murder case ? Par liament meets on Tuesday. Could not some member competent to argue such a case give notice of moving for an address to the QUEEN to appoint Commis sioners to sit and adjourn as long as they might think it desirable, to reinvestigate the whole affair. A Commission so appointed could never become a dangerous precedent. No one would fear that the House of Commons would use such a power arbitra • rily ; while it would cure a defect in our law of the existence of which the Lord Chief Justice has given the clearest evidence. We might go farther. If it should be alleged—for who knows what quirks and quibbles lawyers will not resort to —that the House of Commons and the Crown together have no power thus to act; that witnesses might refuse to answer, and be leg ally irresponsible, even this admits of an easy remedy. A short Act of Parliament might be passed to authorise the course suggested; in any case in which the representatives of the people might think that justice required inquiries to be made beyond those which the present state of the law permits, it is at least as important that a commission should issue, as that one should be granted to look into the details of a corrupt elec tion. Whatever the course adopted, it is to Par liament only the country can now look to redress an acknowledged error. The poor little innocent, so ruthlessly destroyed, has become a subject of deep and tender interest in every family in Britain. No atrocity has for a long time so deeply touched so many hearts ; and the country looks to its repre sentatives to give effect to the demands of the universal feeling. The " Moderator of Revolutions" has been at. tempting to moderate between Kings. Long his moderating efforts took the form of moderating the fire of the Sardinians on Gaeta; now that he has withdrawn his fleet, he has been attempting to bend the obstinacy of the ex-King at Gaeta. Using General CIALDINI as his postman, he trans mitted, it seems, a letter to the KING, suggesting to him the desirableness of giving in now, to avoid the humiliation of a capitulation. The advice was good, indeed, but how much better had it been if he had given it before he enabled the garrison to provide itself with supplies of all kinds, and ammunition, by his three months' encouragement to resistance. Nothing can now atone for having thus prolonged the unsettle ment of Italy. Nothing can excuse the bloodshed of which he has thus been guilty, not at Gaeta only, but in the Abruzzi, and in all places where reactionary brigands pleaded the ex-King's name as a justifica tion for creating disturbance and plundering the inhabitants. What answer FRANCIS ll.,late King of Naples, returned, is not yet known, but as his reply had been forwarded on the 28th under a flag of truce to Admiral PERSANO, and we have not heard of a suspension of hostilities, it could hardly have been one of assent. Accounts vary much as to the effect of the besiegers' fire. That much damage has been done to the place may well be supposed true, though other accounts deny it. The sea face of the batteries is evidently very strong ; and it seems not improbable that PERSANO'S chief services will be confined to a blockade. His first attack was a very furious one, but he seems neither to have sustained nor inflicted much damage. The Cavalli guns appear both in range and power to rival our Arm strongs. The Sardinians have several more batteries ready to open fire soon, and the attack will then be made, it is said, with not fewer than 180 guns. As so little'can be done by sea, a naval brigade, like ours at Sebastopol, is talked of. The duration of the siege will, however, be a matter of little consequence if Venetia is to be let alone this spring. The Sardinian Government, bound over to keep the peace by the Emperor of the FRENCH, is not likely to commence hostilities, and the elections have gone by immense majorities in favour of CAVOUR. The Italians most certainly cannot be charged with visionary enthusiasm, nor even with yielding to their natural impulses in regard to Venetia. The conduct of the EMPEROR, of CAVOUR, and of Austria, all seem to show in different ways, that they calculate on peace for this year. Austrian reaction in Hungary could hardly be explained without it. Yet just in this last fact lie■ the possible danger. If Hungary persists in fighting the legal battle with the perfidious and revolutionary HAPSBURG Government, peace may continue; but should Hungary be provoked to insurrection, then GARIBALDI, and other patriots too, would soon be at their posts; the Hungarian and Croatian regiments in Venetia would render the whole force there untrustworthy; Italy would rush in, despite CATOUR and Louis NAPOLEON ; and we might have a vast political and military conflagration. Would that Austria might perish is it! is the prayer of every Englishman. The Road murder case may seem now to be effectually shielded against all further legal in quiries, and the discovery of the murderer to be left to one of, those unlooked-for revelations which have generated the common proverb that " murder will out." The chief coroner of England, and the judges with him, have unanimously refused the writ for making a better inquiry than the one which few will have the hardihood not to pro nounce one of the worst ever made in England. We need not impute corrupt motives to the Coroner, but it cannot be denied that in a matter calling so imperatively for the utmost efforts of inquest he, as it were, in "twice ten minutes, huddled up the case, and with a well-bred whisper, closed the scene. There was," to say the least, perfunctori ness, and rejecting of tendered evidence, -which the Lord Chief Justice himself admitted should have b e en received. if it was not an error to refrain from summoning suspected persons, it was certainly an error to refrain from hearing the evidence of any of the suspected who volunteered :themselves for examination. But the cardinal error was closing the inquest. In a case so full of a strange combi nation of certainty and mystery, when almost every one felt certain that the murderer was one of the inmates of the house, and when yet the utmost un certainty exited as to which it could be, what could be a more obvious course than to retain the inquest open for almost any reasonable length of time; and thus to have a court ready legally autho rised to assemble from time to time to consider and examine into any fresh facts or incidents which might occur. This is, we believe, the grievance which is felt by the whole country. Individuals may have their private opinions as to the motives of the Coroner, but his closing the inquest in such an atrocious and mysteriously certain case, is felt by all to have been equivalent to a denial, or at least to a miscarriage of justice. It id now seen that the common law can do, ARYGLLL Rooms.—Mr. R. Bignall's Second Subscription Ball takes place at the Argylle-rooms on Monday evening, and will no doubt be fully attended The band under the direction of Mons. A. Lamotte will be considerably increased on this occasion. Astley's Royal Amphitheatre is announced for sale by auction at the end of the present month. Yesterday the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council granted Mr. Hoe, an American, a prolongation f. five years of his patent for improved printing machines. The fifth Royal Dramatic Performance took place at Windsor Castle last evening. The }laymarket company had . the honour of performing Tom Taylor's comedy, in three acts, "The Contested Election." Charles Matthews sustained his original part of Dodgson. The navigation on the Saone in the neighbourhood of Lyons, which had been interrupted by the frost and the high waters, is now resumed. The cause of the resignation of M. Jacini, Pied. montese Minister of Public Works, is said to be his not having been returned at the late electious, THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING; FEBRUARY 2, 1861. A Cabinet Council was held yesterday at the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, in Downing .street. All the members wore present. Her Majesty and his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, and the youthful members of the Royal Family, will arrive at Buckingham Palace on Monday from Wind sor Castle. The Queen will hold a Privy Council the same afternoon, when the Royal Speech to be delivered at the opening of Parliament the succeeding day will be settled. Owing to the very dangerous illness of a member of the family of bis Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, the meeting of the Convocation of the Province of Canter bury on Wednesday next will only be pro forma, and due notice will be given of the further meeting of the body for business. SIR BENJAMIN BRODLE.—The scientific public will be glad to know that the learned President of the Reyal Society is recovering from the operation for cataract, which was performed upon the right eye, and which promises to be successful. DEATH OF THE DAUGHTER OF ROBERT OWEN. —Mrs. Jane Dale Fauntleroy, only sister of Hon. Robert Dale Owen, died at New Harmony on the 10th inst. She was the widow of a United States officer. This celebrated family is now reduced to two brothers—Robert Dale and Richard.—New York Herald. DEATH OF MR. BURFORD, THE ARTIST.—Mr. Robert Burford, the well-known artist and respected pro prietor of the Panorama, Leicester -square, died on Wed nesday last, at his residence, 35, Camden- road Villas, having attained the age of 70.—Era, THE RoYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS.—Mr. Paul Falconer Poole, A.R.A., has been Elected a Royal Acade mician, and Baron Marochetti and Mr. R. Ansdell, asso ciates. The Submarine Telegraph cable between Port land and the Channel Islands is again out of order. The letters from Berlin meition the failure of a money dealer in that city, who hai absconded after commit ing forgeries. His liabilities are aot supposed to be exten sive. The appeal of Mr. rode is fixed for hearing before the Judicial Committee on Tuesday next. Mr. Poole will be represented by Dr. Phillimore and Mr. Coleridge ; and the Bishop of :Jondon by the Queen's Ad vocate (Dr. Harding), Dr. 3wabey, and Mr. Montagu Smith. MR. lorrN COOPER.—This veteran actor, whom most playgoers, whatever be their age, will recollect as one of the well .tested props of the "legitimate" drama, gene rally visible in those parts in which much declamation is required, has at last retired from the stage, which had be come to him a second nature through a service of 40 years. But from his other profession, that of a teacher of elocu tion, in which he has acquired equal celebrity, he does not retire, and he has warned the public not to confound one retirement with the other. EFFECT OF INTOXICATION.—Yesterday morning at half-past five o'clock a Marine named James Mugg was found dead in the fore cockpit of the Hero, 91, under repair in Keyham Steamyard, Plymouth. Ryan, another Marine, was lying near almost exhatsted, and Kilroe, dangerously intoxicated, was discovered in the 'tween decks. All be longed to the night guard, and while on duty broke into the wardroom stores and drank wiisky to excess. Mr. Foster, surgeon, applied the stomact pump to Ryan and sent him and Kilroe on board the hulkßellona. An inquest will be held to-day respecting Mugg by Mr. Eastlake, Admiralty Judge-Advocate. AFRICAN AID SOCIETT.—At a meeting held in Birmingham yesterday, the dayor in the chair; present also, Lord Calthorpe, Lord Afred Churchill, Mr. Spooner, M.P., it was resolved to form t Birmingham auxiliary to the society above-named. The desirability of so doing was urged by Lord Alfred Chnrclill in a speech of great length, who spoke of the usefulness of this object as a means of obtaining a supply of cotton from that quarter. Labour was, he said, to be obtained at an extremely low rate, and there were from 40,000 to 50,000 coloured persons in Canada, who had escaped from the United States, ready to emigrate to Abbeokuta and form a great negro nationality. SIX FIRES IN ONE NlGHT.—During the whole of Thursday night and yesterday morning the firemen of the London Brigade were attending fires, not only in the metro polis, but in the suburbs. Dne, nearly attended with a lamentable loss of life, happened at No. 3, Brunswick place, Lower Tottenham. The premises belonged to Mr. J. Bettington, shoemaker, wiz also occupied the next house, No. 2, as a beer-shop. Another fire, in Pheenix-place, Ratcliff-cross, destroyed the cabinet-makers' workshops belonging to Mr, C. Smith. A fire likewise happened in the premises of Mr. J. Milsma, a hatter, 134, Drury-lane. Another fire took place in the premises of Messrs. Cox and Gould, manufacturing chydsts, No. 8, Chicksand-street, Brick- lane, Whitechapel. A 'fire likewise broke out in the second floor of the premises lelonging to Messrs. Bentley and Co., 46, Gutter-lane, bat the damage done was not very considerable. The other fire happened in the pre mises of Mr. Pittman, tobacconist, in Cambridge-road, Bethnal-green ; a portion of the stock was destroyed. THE GUANO TRADE AT LIVERPOOL.—At the /wily meeting of the Mersey Dock Board, held yesterday, a considerable amount of discussion arose on an application on the part of Messrs. Anthony Gibbs and Co. to have a reduction made on the charges for warehousing guano at Birkenhead, which at present amount to 3d. per ton, and it was proposed to reduce the charge to ld. In the course of the discussion it transpired that Messrs. A. Gibbs and Co., through their agents, Messrs. Gibbs, Bright, and Co., paid on guano the sum of £7,000 in warehouse and dock dues, and it was intimated that if the reduction referred to were not made they would order their ships to other ports. After a protracted discussion, :t was resolved to adhere to the present rate of 3d. per ton for warehousing. A CHILD SAVED FROM DROWNING AT FOLKE STONE.—A very generous and noble act was witnessed several days ago on one of theWilliamsburgh ferry boats, which is worthy of record. A3out 6 o'clock a little boy in stepping from the bridge accdentally fell into the water. The child was carried out b: the current caused by the motion of the paddles, the caltain having reversed them, and sank. No person seemed cmfident enough to undertake the rescue. A gentleman, seeing what was the matter, threw off his coat, and plunged into the water without a moment's hesitation. The child had come up, and now sank for the second time, and when the swimmer got out far enough was out of sight. He instantly dived, and after a brief interval rose to the sueace with the boy in his arms. The child grasped the arm o; the swimmer with a deadly clutch. They were hauled nit of the water together. Measures were taken to resueitate the child, which was effected by the time the boat arived at Williamsburgh, and the rescuer quietly went his vay home, a gentleman lend ing him an overcoat without iiquiring his name, saying ho was not afraid that the coat vould not be returned. The name of the brave rescuer was Richard Marsh, a merchant in William-street, son of M,. Richard Marsh, Victoria grove, Folkestone.—Kent H era ld. LORD DUDLEY ON DRUMENNESS.—Lord D udley in the course of a speech at be Dudley Mechanics' Insti tution soiree, onToutehrsedayinzennienegs, they r exerted,emaredth tended tsu d c e h d institutions, a mong to make home duties more 'egarded, and also struck at the root of that greatest of all mrses—the curse of drunken ness, (Cheers.) Twenty-fm years ago, individuals of the class to which he belonged vere too often so inebriated as to be unable to walk up to bd. The society of ladies was given up immediately after tie dinner was concluded, and the men finished their eveniags by themselves, often in a most degrading way. But a great change had taken place since then, and now f a man was pointed at in the higher ranks as being Indicted to intoxication, he was at once a marked man, and lost caste and rank completely. The class next to the rank he had spoken of was perhaps nct altogether so severe as the higher class, but still from he moment such a feeling took root it must grow, and it was impossible at the present day for a man to take a high stand among his fellows if he gave way to such practices. With the middle class, how ever, unfortunately, the improved state of things stopped —it went no further. He (the president) could confidently appeal to those who lived in the town and district for sup port to his observation that drunkenness was the one great vice of this place, and led more than anything else to the productioß of that great calendar of crime which they saw from time to time. (Hear.) There was nothing that he knew of which could be put into the scale to counterbalance its evils.. The one great source of nearly all the evil authority and power had to contend with was the drunken ness of the lower classes, and the temptations presented by the flaring ginshop, and the society it offered was too often more than enough to induce men to leave their miserable dark houses to be taken care ofby th th e e t ir own wiv , e a s n a d n t d h c o h se ild w r h en o as best they could. If this were a true representation of the state of things existing in started the Mechanics' Institution knew it was so, and if they were striking at the root of se huge an evil. then the work they were engaged in was so important and onerous that everybody would be justly held responsible for the consequences of withholdinghis co su u p ld po e r x t c a e n e d d countenance from from it. (Loud applause.) As regards the Savoyards whom we saw at Aix and the neighbourhood, nothing mild, and amiable manners —civility without servility. With above six thousand visitors to a small town, con verted for the season into one vast lodging-house or hotel, nothing of the corruption of manners of such places seems to have taken place. You are asked in a mild, gentle voice if you want a carriage, or a boat, or a nice donkey. No pressure, no crowding, nor abuse. The peasants have the same mild manners. A family out of Aix were gathering their grapes, much cut up by the mildew and the bad sea son; nothing could exceed the gentlemanlike manner in which the father, assisted by wife and daughters' selected the few ripest of the red grapes to give us, saying of the white ones, " I should offer you some of those, but but they are not ripe." The very dogs are quiet and well behaved ; and there was one lame bey on crutches, just out of Chambory, with a beautiful face and a pair of gold ear rings, who submitted himself as an object of charity by reason of his lameness, with a delicacy of manner that made Sterne's beggar mot a caricature. This lid nothing in it of the Italian lady begging with fan ancr mantilla, or the Spanish beggar who collected from the ch:hritable back. — Once er Week. (R►EUTER'S TELEGRAMS.) FRANCE. GAETA. , LA 1 ESI N IN b. PARIS, FEB. 2. The Moniteur of today announces that the Senate has agreed, by 122 against 2 votes, to the Senatus Consultum, in reference to the publication of the reports of the sittings of the Corps Legis latiff. It also announces the close of the extraordinary session of the Senate, PERUGIA, FEB. 1. Four hundred muskets, destined for the reac tionists in the Abruzzi, have been seized by the French at Ticovaro. ROME, FEB. 1. Reports are current in official quarters here that last night the firing at Gaeta was very violent on both sides, but that little damage was done in the city. For several hours a Sardinian gunboat fired near the Convent of the Holy Trinity, but when the battery Transylvania replied the gunboat re tired. NAPLES, JAN. 31, 4.54 P.M. The elections are favourable to the Govern meat. The Republican party has been beaten at Naples and in the provinces. The siege operations before Gaeta are being actively continued by the Sardinians. The firing is feeble on both sides. Prince Carignan has left Mola di Gaeta. TURIN, FEB. 1. On the 28th ult. General Sonnaz attacked the reactionary bands, who were entrenched at Banco, and obliged them to surrender. PESTH, FEB. 1. In to-day's sitting of the municipality of this city M. Deak read the projected address in reply to the Imperial rescript. This address was opposed by M. Szilagyi as being too moderate, but was defended by M. Eotvos, who caused its adoption by the Municipality: PARIS, FEB. 1. The Pays says :—" Admiral Le Barbier de Tin au has arrived here on a special mission, and has de manded instructions before reassuming the com mand of the fleet in the Mediterranean." PARIS, FRIDAY. We learn that General della Marmora, sent by the Piedmontese Government to present the con gratulations of Victor Emmanuel to the King of Prussia on his accession to the throne, is much dissatisfied with his reception at Berlin. A telegram from Co n stantinople, of the 29th Jaivary, announces that the Turkish Government, being requested by Russia to require the prolonga tion of the French occupation in Syria, replied that it would insist on the faithful execution of the convention with France. Accounts from the ports of Brest, Cherbourg, Lorient, and Toulon state that large supplies of copper and iron have been received there for the use of the dockyards. Orders which were given at Rochefort to construct two steel-plated frigates have been transferred to Brest and Cherbourg. Nine hundred seamen have arrived at Toulon to complete the crews of the ships of war in that harbour. Some of the provincial journals having stated that Marshal Niel would this year be appointed to command the camp at Chalons, the Propagateur of Lille contradicts the report, and states that it has grounds for asserting that Marshal de Mac- Mahon will again have the command. The camp is to be formed in the beginning of March, and to consist of 60,000 men. The aSemaphore of Marseilles states that nume rous detachments have lately passed through that town, on their way to Rome. On Wednesday last, 90 men of the 19th Regiment of the Line embarked on board the steamer Carmel for Civita Vecchia. Preparations are now in propress for establishing a new line of electric telegraph between Paris and London by Dieppe and Newhaven. Three wires from Paris will meet one from Havre at Malaunay, and the four will cross the Channel from Dieppe to Newhaven. When this line is completed France will be connected with England by 12 wires—four from Calais to Dover, four from Boulogne to Folk stone, and four from Dieppe to Newhaven. These last are especially intended to connect Lyons, Bor deaux, and Marseilles directly with London. BOURSE, Feb. I.—The following are the last quotations : 4t per per Cents ... 97 20 , Credit Fancier -- Do. end month.... —1 Belgian 4 3 per Cents Do. end month 67 90 I Roman Bank Shares 2900 ' Austrian Credit Mobilier.... 660 Spanish Threes 47i Do. Account 662 50 ; Home Debt RAILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans 1395 .. 1387 50 Northern New ditto Lyons and Mediterranean 915 .. 917 59 Geneva — .. 370 Southern 513 75 .. 516 25 Western Eastern Sardinian 383 75 .. 380 Austrian Lombard 472 50 .. 473 75 Exchange on London, at sight, paper, 25f. 22ic.; money. 2.5 f. 191 c. ; ditto, three months, paper, 24f. 87e. ; money. 24f. 85C. A letter from Gaeta of the 29th states that the fire of the besiegers had become heavier during the last day. The fortress had fired moderately, chiefly for cutting off the convoys of munitions going to the Piedmontese. The fleet, since the 22d, remains quiet at Mola. Another letter from Gaeta, dated the 30th ult., says :—" Last night the Piedmontese threw two thousand shells into the town. The houses have suffered a little, but not the fortifications. Today the firing is not heavy. The Piedmontese have unmasked another battery, but they keep as far off as possible. The fortress uses rifled cannon. ITALY. The Nationalites of Turin of the 31st ultimo, states that it is Count Cavour's intention to pro pose the following four points to the Italian Par liament :-1. A loan of from 300 to 500 millions of francs. 2. A declaration conferring the title of King of Italy up)n Victor Emmanuel. 3. The calling out of all the military reserves. 4. Full powers granted to the King for an unlimited period. It then says : " This programme of the session, according to some, denotes great tact ; for the three first pro positions are favourable to Garibaldi's plan of arming all Italy, whereas by the fourth the Cabinet reserves to itself the exclusive right of carrying out its own policy. But we do not at all believe this to be the Ministerial programme ; for this simple reason, that our Cabinet wants to follow a policy of peace; and certainly the above programme is as warlike as it can well be." A Turin letter, in the Gonriere Mercantile of Genoa, states that the immense majority of the e Ections is Ministerial; that Guerrazzi has hitherto failed in all the Colleges, and Brofferio, the great leader of the extreme Parliamentary party, is in the same position. In Lombardy, Cremona alone has declared for the extreme party, having elected Mauro Macchi, by a large majority. But this, it seems, is owing to the intrigues of the clergy, whose tactics consisted in sending extreme men to the Parliament, in order to embarrass the Government. General Garibaldi has written a letter to the Diritto of Turin, dated Caprera, 20th ult., request ing it to state that a letter, addressed under his name, to the Neapolitans, on the 11th of November last, that is, two days after his departure ,from Naples, is a forgery. LITERATURE. The Wild Euntress. By Captain Mayne Reid. Author of " The Scalp "Hunters," &c. 3 vols. Ben tley. This is a stirring and spirited narrative which is replete with vigour and vivacity. Few can fail to be delighted with its perusal. The change is a refreshing one from tales of fashionable life at home, and stories of quiet domestic people, to the records of bold deeds of daring enterprise, and relations of " Hair-breadth 'scapes and hair-breadth snares, Hair-brained perils, 'ventures, cares," ,hat befell tho dwellers in the wilderness of the back- woods, or the wanderers over prairies and through forests beset with foes on every side from the., savage Indian to the saintly Mormon. The story begins in the backwoods. We are told that " the i white-headed eagle, soaring above the spray of a Tennesean forest, looks down upon the clearing of the squatter." There is a striking account given of the means employed by these builders in the wilds, and the author observes " Such a pic ture is almost pecu;iar to the backwoods of America. Some may deem it commonplace. For my part I cannot regard it in this light. I have never looked upon this primitive homestead of the pioneer without receiving from ' it au impression of romantic pleasure. Something seems to impart to it an air of vague and mystic grandeur. Perhaps I associate the picture with the frame in which it is set—the magnificent forest that surrounds it, every aisle of which is redolent with romance. Such a scene is suggestive of lore and legend—of perils by flood and field always pleasant to be remembered—of desperate deeds of heroism performed by gallant backwoodsmen or their equally gallant antagonists—those red war riors who once strode proudly along the forest path, but whose upright forms are no longer seen under the shadow of its trees." The interest and excitement of the story commence at once, for in the first scene the reader beholds the elements of war fare in the apparently tranquil and peaceful scene of the squatter's cabin. The two daughters of Hickman Holt are introduced, and they are lovely maidens to dwell in so wild a scene. Marian and Lilian are very different in all but affection for each other. They were half-sisters, being the daughters of different mothers, from whom each derived her peculiarities. Marian is the heroine, and gives her name to the work, as she afterwards became, partly from choice, partly from necessity, " The Wild Huntress." Hickman Holt, the father, is a very distinct style of man; "we behold a personage of unwonted aspect, a man of gigantic stature, with a beard reaching to the second button of his coat, and a face not to be looked upon without a sensation of terror—a countenance expressive of determined courage, but at the same time of fierceness, untempered by any trace of a softer emotion. His costume is common enough on the banks of the Mississippi ; the colossal form is not rare, but the fierce and somewhat repulsive countenance—that is, more individual." An im portant person in this story, who plays no mean part in its intricate and involved labyrinth, is Josh Stebbins. At the time of his introduction to us he has just entered on a new vocation. " The ei-devant attorney's clerk—whilom the schoolmaster of Swampville—is now an apostle of the Latter-day Saints." He is about as despicable an addition to the rank of that wretched community as any who ever joined them. The object of this horrible man's schemes was to lure away these flowers of the forest, the beautiful Marian and the lovely Lilian, .to the Salt Lake Settlement, where he destined them for the harem of the Mormon Prophet. Marian very imprudently, in a fit of pique at the supposed defec tion of her lover, Frank Wingrove, a young back woodsman in their vicinity, agreed to marry Josh Stebbins, long a suitor for her hand. She was fur ther impelled to this by her father assuring her that some dreadful calamity would befall him if she did not consent to become the wife of Stebbins. For a long time we lose sight of the maiden, and when she reappears it is as the wild huntress. She soon found out for what purpose she had been decoyed away, and that the marriage with Stebbins had been a false one, in order to get her to leave her home by a sure pretext. She fled away, and after many perils she dwelt among the tents of an Indian tribe, whither her preserver, a brave trapper, had conducted her. Meanwhile Stebbins returned to the squatter's cabin, and told a plausible tale, which induced Holt to depart with Lillian and accompany his supposed son-in-law to the Mormon settlements. A party of brave adven turers, including Wingrove, the lover of Marian, and Edward Warfield, followed in the track of the caravan. Their adventures were most remarkable, and the passages which relate the escape of War field and his subsequent meeting with Marian are most exciting, and reach to a pitch of thrilling interest. Sad as the sufferings were that befel that little band of intrepid pilgrims, they were most fortunate for the immediate fur therance and ultimate success of their scheme. Had not the tragic events occurred they would not have met with Marian, and they would not have gained the invaluable assistance of the Utah chief, through whose agency and instrumentality they were enabled to penetrate in disguise into the tents of the Mormons, and carry off the beautiful girl destined for so dreadful a fate, and who had not the spirit and strength of her sister to extricate herself from perillar to protect herself if wandering alone. The crisis soon came—the very first evening of their arrival the discovery of the flight was made, and the pursuit started. In consequence of Marian's dog Wolf, who had been her brave defender in many a danger, and who was left behind, the cruel hunters reached their prey, but an unexpected defection took place in the person of the gigantic Holt, who followed in the train of Mormons with the apparent object of reclaiming his daughters. When the parties met face to face, he turned round on Stebbins and compelled him to confess the treachery of his conduct in holding a threat of a charge of murder over his head for so many years. Holt's second wife had committed suicide ; but the appearances were so suspicious that Stebbins, then an attorney's clerk, took advantage of them, and threatened to prove Holt guilty at any time he chose to make his statements public. With the barrel of a rifle on his breast, the cowardly wretch aid the vile traitor was forced to confess, and then Holt would have suffered him to depart, but Win grove rushed forward and proclaimed his conduct towards the sisters. As may be supposed, the rage of the indignant father knew no bounds; and if ever one human being was justified in taking away another's life, it was when the squatter's" unerring aim deprived the " Saint" of life. It was a joyous return home of the long-separated family to the banks of Mud Creek, and few wanderers ever met with more adventures within a year than did these heroes and heroines of the wilds. A bright picture is drawn of the transformation which the original dwelling of the squatter under went before it became the home of Warfield and Lillian. " Ah! the squatter's clearing, with its zig zag fence, its girdled trees, and white deadwoods, it is no longer recognisable; the log hut is replaced by a pretentious frame dwelling, with portico and verandahs—almost a mansion. The little maize patch, scarcely an acre in extent, is now a splendid plantation of many fields, in which wave the golden tassels of Indian corn, the broad leaves of another indigenous vegetable—the aromatic Indian weed' —and the gossamer-like florets of the precious cotton plant. Even the squatter himself you would scarcely recognise in the respect able old gentleman, who, mounted upon his colt, with a long rifle over his shoulder, rides around looking after the affairs of the plantation, and picking off the squirrels who threaten the young corn with their destructive depredations." This scene reminds one of the lines of Campbell— " To see a world from shadowy forests won In youthful beauty wedded to the sun, To skirt our home with harvests widely sown And call the blooming landscape all our own." Few tales of these distant regions and these scenes of M ild life can surpass in exciting ,i . nterest; glow. ing descriptions, and viv id delineations the works of this author, and " The Wild Huntress" is not inferior to some of his earlier and celebrated productions. From first to last, it abounds with a dventures and narrations, of the most brilliant kind, that are related with elo quence, and also with so much graphic force that the wildest events appear probable from the manner in which they are described. Those who desire to peruse a vivid and varied sketch of forest life a n d wild adventures , combined with a romantic tale of bold and brave hei oes, and of lovely and noble heroines, cannot do better than possess themselves of this work. If they seek amusement, they cannot be disappointed; if they wish to meet with inte resting knowledge of Indian life, they will find it to the fullest extent ; and if they would be charmed and fascinated by "fair women and brave men," they will meet them in the daughters of the squatter on the banks of the Obion, and in:those devoted deli verers who tracked their path through perils and amid dangers that might hav e proved the test of many a knight of old, who won for his guerdon the golden spurs and the hand of his " layde love." This novel can therefore be fairly recommended as a brilliant and successful attempt to pourtray and personate the types of a noble race now fast disappearing , and the adventures of an interesting family doomed to strange and sad vicissitudes. " The Wild Huntress" has every prospect of being one of the most striking novels of the season, from its excit ing subject and attractive style. Gems and Jewels ; their history, Geography, Chemistry, and Ana. By Madame de Barrera, Author of " Memoirs of Rachel." Bentley. An interesting volume, compounded of history, science, and anecdote, relating to gems and jewel lery of every kind, from the earliest ages of which we have any record down to the present time. The pai, , siou for ornament has always existed in men. The savage nations, the lowest in the scale of humanity, and the luxurious votaries of effemi- nate civilisation, alike share this feeling. Strings of beads arid showy trinkets have long proved the most advantageous articles of barter with the wild natives of newly discovered lands ; and the inhabitants of the leading cities of Europe, while they smile at the childish simplicity of the bar barian chief, have shown themselves no less suscep- tible to the glitter of diamonds, or the sparkle of rubies. The latter gem indeed, as Madame de Barrera informs us, is more highly valued for or namental purposes than the diamond, owing to the rarity of large and perfect stones. This scar city proceeds from the high estimation in which it is held by Eastern potentates, and the jealous care with which the East Indian princes especially have prevented rubies from being exported from their dominions. The rubies of Ceylon are esteemed the best, and are brought down by the torrents from the mountains into the beds of the streams. Tavernier, a French merchant jeweller and celebrated traveller of the 17th century, who spent 40 years of his life tra velling in the East as a trader in precious stones, alludes to the eagerness with which this gem was sought in the East Indies. He asserts that he found it more profitable to bring fine rubies back from Europe than to take them there from Asia. As may be supposed, the authoress of the work before us quotes frequently from Tavernier's writ ings. She has evidently bestowed much care and Obour on the compilation of her book, and has collected a large amount of varied information. She has divided the work into different parts, each treating of a separate branch of the subject. The first gives us a general history of gems, their uses among different nations, and some of the romances or tragedies connected with them. The second and third parts will attract the more scientific reader, as they relate to the geography and chemistry of precious stones, giving ample details of the locali ties where they have beeniprincipally discovered, and their component parts when subjected to chemical analysis. The fourth division treats of the quali ties, properties, and virtues superstitiously attri buted to gems ; while the concluding portion re lates to historical jewels, tracing the his tory of individual stones, and discussing the peculiar importance and significance of various articles of jewellery in ancient and modern times. It will thus be seen that although treating of mere articles of ornament the work is by no means of a, superficial character. It has apparently been com piled from many different sources, and classified with skill and ability. Occasionally we meet with slight repetitions. A fact or an incident alluded to under one heading re-appears under another. This, however, is not often the case, and in such a mass of disjointed information it is not surprising. The style, when treating directly of the subject, is clear and to the point ; it is only in the introductory passages that we are inclined to smile at the grandiloquence of the writing, But great allowance must be made for a lady moralising on such a topic; since such is the fascination these glittering baubles possess over the fair sex that the authoress confesses there have been few thefts of jewels in which a woman has not been implicated. M. Babinet, member of the Paris Institute, to whose approval the work was submitted, has furnished the writer with a highly complimentary preface. In it, in his capacity as mineralogist, he alludes to the chemical nature of gems. "It would seem " he observes, "as though the mighty creative and organising power had chosen to manifest its omnipotence by producing the most valuable sub stances from the most ordinary elements. The diamond is crystallised carbon, the sapphire and the ruby are crystallised clay; the topaz, the emerald, the amethyst, are i n a greater or lesser degree merely pebbles tinged with certain metallic particles, more especially with iron, which has been called the great colourist of mineral nature." But, as the author observes, there is an immense aifference between the analysis of bodies and their synthesis. "The chemist may reduce a fine diamond to a small amount of carbon, but of that carbon he cannot reconstruct the gem he has destroyed ;" and, in spite of the efforts of science, the manufacturing of diamonds has proved no more successful than the artificial propagation of pearls. Of the diamond many interesting particulars are given. M. de Morveau, in the last century, exposed a diamond to intense heat, enclosed in a small cavity in a piece of iron. " When the cavity was opened the diamond was entirely gone, and the iron around converted into steel. This proved it to be pure carbon, which combines with iron to form steel, and not charcoal, which is generally an oxide of iron." It was an error to suppose that the diamond was incombustible. If exposed to sufficient heat it Will burn with an un dulating blueish flame, and.,ultimately disappear, leaving no trace. We quote a few interesting par ticulars of the nature of this gem : The diamond, when first taken out of the mine, is covered with a thick crust that scarcely permits of any transparency being visible ; and even the most practised eye cannot then tell its value with certainty. It usually resembles a clear, semi-transparent pebble, well worn by the waters, a bit of unpolished glass, or of gum-arabic. Thus coated, it is called a rough diamond. This crust is so hard that there is no substance save that of the diamond itself that can take it off. The diamond cuts every substance in nature, and can be cut but by itself. Allusion to the dust of the diamond being the only sub stance that has power to lessen that gem, is touchingly made in the verses composed by Charles 1., the night after his condemnation : " With mine own power my majesty they wound, In the king's name the king himself's uncrowned ; So doth the dust destroy the diamond 1" There are few things in the history of commerce more remarkable than the enormous mercantile value which has been set, by all civilised nations and in all ages, on gems. The jealousy with which the traders of remote times have protected this branch of commerce, and the favour with which it was regarded by semi-barbaric nations, proved the high esteem in which they were held. At the present day a very large amount of capital, in almost every part of the world, is vestedin precious stones. Of this capital, however, coloured gems do not appear to represent more than 1-10th, while diamonds constitute the remaining 90 per cent. With the ancients the case was reversed. Their preference for coloured stones might arise in a great measure from their ignorance of the art of cutting and polishing the diamond, which reveals its prismatic hues to such advan tage. The ancients, moreover, lived more in the bright light of day than the moderns, and it is by that light alone that the richnes s o f m i nera l colours canbe fully appreciated. The diamond, on the contrary, is far less brilliant in the broad glare of day than by night. Comparing the diamond with those substances which are of the greatest utility to mankind, we find the money value of the latter to be in an inestimable ratio. Take a substance very similar to the diamond in composition, namely, coal. To express the value of an ounce of coal, we have no coin sufficiently small ; it is the same with iron and lead,—metals of inestimable importance. An ounce of copper may be worth a penny ; an ounce of silver may be worth ss. ; an ounce of pure gold £4. But the very refuse of the diamond, that which is used for the purpose of breaking up into small particles for cutting other stones, is worth £5O an ounce. Not the least curious among the scraps of infor mation collected in these pages are the accounts of the absurd speculations of ancient philosophers, who, according to their custom, indulged in the wildest theories without the slightest foundation. Amber, in particular, gave rise to the most extraor dinary conjectures. The Romans set a high value upon this substance, and its quality of negative electricity made it remarkable among the Greeks. "It is from electron, the Greek word for this sub stance, that electricity takes its name." The early chapters of the work contain many interesting anec dotes, and the mournful histories of the envied owner of invaluable jewels might teach a moral to those dazzled by pageantry and power. The jewels of the hapless Queen of Scots fell into the hands of her relentless enemy, Elizabeth ; but it is a satis faction to ind that the rapacity of the maiden Queen was properly punished. She availed herself of the opportunity offered to secure her rival's beau tiful and costly pearls at a low price;. and soon after Queen Mary, in one of her anxious appeals on the subject, offered Elizabeth the choice of them. The famous story of the diamond necklace and Madame Lamotte is given in full ; and numerous anecdotes, which have come down to us froth earlier times, whether true or false, are cited. The story of the Earl of Essex and the ring is of course not omitted, but we wonder that the authoress has not included some of the won derful tales told of Buckingham's diamonds, and Anne of Austria. In the chapter on famous jewels a history of our own Koh-i•neer is given. The records of the gorgeous spoils of Roman wars are succeeded by the lavish pro fusion of the middle ages. In these more sober days it seems marvellous how bankrupt monarchs and penniless nobles found means for their pro digality. Gifts in gems were, at one time, greatly the fashion. The following anecdote gives all amusing evidence of Parisian gallantry . The gallants of the Court of Louis XV. carried extrava gance as far as the famous Egyptian queen. She melted a pearl—they pulverised diamonds to prove their insane nog' nificence. A lady, having expressed a desire to have tite portrait of her canary in a ring, the last Prince de Conti , requested she w ou ld a ll ow hi m t o g i ve it t o h er; s he ac cepted, on co n di t i on t h at no prec i ous gems shou ld b e set in it. When the ring was brought to her, however, a dla_. mond cover e d th e pa i n ti ng . Th e l a d y h a d th e b r illi ant taken out of th e se tti ng , an d sen t it b ac k t o t h e g i ver . . 1 1: prince, d e t e rraitted not to be gainsaid, caused the stone to 1" i