The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1866-03-06 00:00:00

NOTES OF THE WEEK_

I.—The week has been crammed full of
Canards, until the first of March, seemed by
a long way to anticipate the first a April.
The Pali Mai Gayeties led off with a
rumour that Her Majesty was dangerously
ill, which happily, it took the immediate
precaution of contradicting, although, in
these country
.parts we are, even yet, filled
with anxious Interrogatories as to what we
may have heard on the subject. That Her
Majesty, more keenly susceptible of the pangs
of domestic affliction than the great are ever
expected Or possibly permitted to be, may
have undergone depression and grief in con-
sequence of the sudden death of so prominent
a member of the Royal Household as the late
Sir Charles Phipps, can readily be believed
but the Court Circulars show that the
Queen'a daily walks and drives at Windoor
have been kept Up as natal, and that Her
Majesty is not senotudy indispeserl Nearly
as unlucky wag the 4004 Of Pall Mall in
the statement tritticnbed into our last that
Priam Leopold (who is net however a robust
youth) was in such a state of health as ti
necessitate his immediately proceeding to
Egypt; for, a Metropolitan joUrnilM dries
pronounced this, report "totally devoid of
foundation," and traceable to " nothing but
a comparatively trivial circumstance,' of
which, however, it may be as well to give, as
our London contemporary does, a precise
definition, "Some time since the Prince
accidentally hurt his knee, and one practical
consequence was thit it was necessary to
him up and down stairs; but no mim
chief has resulted, and the health of his Royal
Highness is actually better than it has been
for years." In one other Court rumour, the
Pall Hall Gazette is doubted perhaps,
though not exactly contradicted—it is to the
effect that in order to retain her next married
daughter at home, the Queen means to create
her husband a British Peer, by the title or
Duke of Kendal, and thereby render hint an
Englishman. The aristocracy, according to
the Pig Mall authority, are likely to meet
this proposal with strong opposition. We
cannot ielagine that there is in it anything
unconstitutional, or that the Queen, who is
the fountain of honour, has not the power
of conferring on her sons-in-law, Blitish
Peerages. But the expedienby, the novelty,
and popularity of the step, are quite other
questions, and questions which we venture
to hope, will not be praztically raised, unless
upon the prospect of some clear and corres-
ponding advantage. Novelty has, perhaps,
been pushed far enough In the OW of the
peerage, in the creation of life , like
that of Lord •Wenslyda'e, to w ich e must
presume, may now be added that of Viscount
Umiak, or how else ate we to read the
announcement of Sir Charles Wood's eleva-
tion, under that title to the "second order
in the peerage." Time was when a Peer of
Parliament could, like Earl Gray, the Re-
former, elect "to stand by his order ;" the
time appears to be corning when he may be
somewhat dubious of what his order is. At
all events, it is asserted that Prince Alfred
will speedily take hi* seat in the House of
Lords as Duke of York. The great canard
of the week, his been, however, not by any
means a duck's (unless it were the Duke of
Somerset's), but a veritable mare's nest, dis-
covered by the Times of Wednesday, and
recanted on the day following—that Earl
rtussell bad tendered his resignation to Her
Majesty, and had advised the Queen to send
for the. Duke of Somerset. The Times, in
backing out of its unsubstantiated announce-
ment, rather seems to say that the statement
was premature, than that it was altogether in-
accurate; sad the Morality Advertiser signifi-
cantly asks us to await what eight days may
bring forth. Now, eight days from the date of
our prime* writing, that is, Monday next, will,
according to a hint dropped by Mr. Glad-
*tone, brieg forth the Reform Bill. Lord
Russell, says the Advertiser, is wearied with
the cares of office, and will seek relief from
them once be has brought out his Reform
Bill; but surely be cannot do all this in one
week, and so it is difficult to know what to
believe, except that there is something un-
settled, unsteady, and uncertain in the
Ministry, and that they miss their great and
happy head—Lord Palmerston.

II.—A Dv Or Humitt•ftolt has passed
over the land. The people have bowed the
head and bent the knee in submission to the
will of God, recrignisieg His mercy even in
His judgments, and making open confession
of the sin which alone provokes the wrath of
the Almighty. Thus have we as a nation so
far made public avowal of the hopelessness of
seeking by finite means, by Orders in
Council, ad Acts of Parliament, whitewash
and specifics, to cope with the inscrutable
agencies at work in the pegilence that
" walketh at noon-day." So far this is well,
and a repentance not to be repented of, be-
cause, were it only from the calm philoso-
phical view of these, God's terrible dealings
with men, to which a day so' set apart
for meditation upon them must give
rise, all Who have earnestly embraced
this opportunity of seeking counsel from
On High in their extremity, must have
profited bz the occasion. Were these notes
intended r any other pages than those of
In ordinary newspaper, we might be tempted
to ask whether he generality of the wor-
shippers who crowded the churches on the
day of fastig have looked beyond the mere
immediate incidents of the moment. The
Bible is a /41story—the most truthful that
was ever penned—and it is the history of
God's own immediate dealings with mankind.
Now we find throughout the whole of this
Grand Bible History no other eorrective ap-
plied to recal,l men from the errors of their
ways than just such manifestations as we are
at this moment responding to. The Sword,
the Pestilence and Famine have testified from
the first of tans to the Divine displeasure,
and the utne tokens and threatenings are not
more equivocal even now. The goodness of
God as the more expressly shown in sending
as such warnings, in the consideration that
were Ile not merciful as Ile is powerful,
indeed of admonition we might have met
with deldrustioa. All this may have been
1114 *ter raid a thousaad times frog;

the fast-day pulpit, and repeated in the
fast-day prayers; but, as we felt it a duty
to urge the inatitntion of the day of
humiliation, we certainly Cannot ahrink
front following tip the observance with
txtrvespernding remarks. The doveruntent
have, to the universal grief, we will nut say
indignation (for the feeling would be ua.
worthy), of the country, refund the appoint-
ment of a general fast on account of the sub-
sisting cattle plague and approaehiicholera,
it devolved on the Church to take o within
the bounds of her several diodeses t such
an expression .r public contrition should
nevertheless be made. Fridal last was v..ry
generally adopted in the perish churches of
the diocese of Sarum as the day set apart, and
we rejoice to think that from all quarters our
accounts of its observance afford gratifying
evidence of a sincerity and devotion which '
we hope may be feltlud acceptable in the sight
of God, Having dons this however, it by no
means beaches us to fold the hisids in resigna-
tion and lapis lik stiperatitious fatalists into
supinenein and indifference. On the contrary in
the face of a calamity so dread as to call forth
the strongest religious feelings of the wintry, I
it becomes more and more inmmbent on all
who have true reliant* on hod's gdoduess to
alert every human effort to oVerootne the evil,
assured that a blessing will attend their
endeavours. Already there is 'management to
believe that the plague begins to be stayed.
The returns show idiselnutlon of 000 oases on
the week, and although it map be true that a
bomber of inalifistera who lass week reported
Ihiougut thiln upwards of 9000 cases have not in
this instance done so, still even at the worst the
disease is stationary rather than progressive, and
there is besides the chance that the defaulting
inspectors may have found leis urgent same
for mending la their returntemTisrritorially,
though not numerically. the NOireeer,
scents to beettending. NutnerieslVit obviously
exhausting itself; and just at this juncture comes
the New Cattle Diseases' Prevention AM iota
operation—which, although it will remit' but a
very imperfect measure until supplemented by
that of Mr. Ward Hunt, for the present stailved
with a "Select Committee" of the House of
Lords with the Prinse of Wales at its bead may
front Ii slaughtering provision materially
the rigid and to all whole/ale, but may tamable
praises of "stamping out" the dishest In all
the smaller boroughs " embed to the County
rata," which we happen to have visited this week
we have found the tonal authorities by the way
rather startled at the summary privation of their
powers seeompliahed by the be* art This is
not done in a Very direct fashlda It this, but
iii on that is none the less Away*. In the
schedple appended to the Aqt the various tonal
and. other *Swaim. ' ant *mitt are Us forth
with all jiteeirldn, 'end, " 6 among the
rest; but on turning back to definitions at
the beginning of the bill, it will be found that
Rarolighs as a guiding prinsiple of the bill shall
be taken only to mean suck places as are
large enough to be asiesscd Li. their gt:
Countyand not to the County
summarily clears !Way no end at °enflaming
jurisdictions, as although those Borough Magis-
trates. whose munici ities are as tweed to the
County Rate, my sit in judgment to enforce
the statute and the orders made under it, they
no longer enjoy the power of making orders for
themselves, but must Apply those made for
them by the County Magistrates in (loader
Sertions amembled: