The Express.
London, England, 1867-07-29 00:00:00

Dr. Hampden, Bishop of Hereford, who has been
so ill as to cause the greatest apprehension amongst his
friends, is slowly recovering. He has considerable physical
strength, but his mind seems to have been affected by the
bard work of many years. Dr. Hampden has been •
great contributor to theological literature, in addition to
his discharge of the episcopal duties of the diocese of
Hereford during • penod of nearly twenty years. The
bishop and his family are at present residing in the Isle of
Wight.—Birmingham Post.
An action of libel, founded upon an article which
appeared in the Daily Telegraph with reference to the
late Londonderry election, and for reprinting which the
Northern Whig was brought into court at the last
Donegal assizes, has again been tried at the Cavan assizes,
this time in the form of • complaint against a newsagent in
Derry named Hempton, who published the libel, as it was
contended, by selling the newspaper in his shop. and call-
ing attention to it by a placard. The verdict of the jury
was one farthing damages and costs. The plaintiff in this
instance was Mr. Humphreys, the agent of the Marquis of
Abercorn.

CLOSE OF THE WESTMINSTER ABBEY SERVICES.—
Yesterday the special evening services in the nave of West-
minster Abbey were brought to a close, the sermon being
preached by the Venerable Archdeacon Wordsworth.
EXPLOSION AT THE MANSION-HOUSE.-011 Satur-
day evening, at about half-put six o'clock, an explosion of
gas occurred at one of the mains of the Great Central Gas
Consumers Con.p•ny which runs under the pavement at
the back of the Mansion-house, and close to the cooking
department. It is supposed that the pipe in question—
commonly called a three-inch pipe—had in some way been
interfered with and cracked, by the works which have
been going on in restoring the foundation of the Mansion-
house, and the gas which had escaped became ignited from
some unexplained mum, which led to the explosion. For-
tunately but little damage was done, the thoroughfare
being a narrow and somewhat unfrequented one. The
officers of the City Gas Company, who have the lighting of
the Mansion-heuae, were quickly in attendance, including
Mr. Stevens, the superintendent, and Mr. Faithful!, the
inspector, and the injured pipe Will remedied in the course
of the evening.
NARROW ESCAPE OF A TRAIN FROM BEING PRE-
CIPITATED INTO THE SEA.—Ai the train due at Holyhead
at 2.25 p.m. yesterday was proceeding from that station
to the mail boat, the pointsman at the pier omitted to
' direct the train in its proper direction. Half the train,
therefore, ran into a train of coal waggons, and was only
prevented from running into the harbour by changing the
points as the other half of the train passed, and row-
I ing the latter part off the line which held on the former
put. The carpenter of the Connaught was knocked down
I by a pair of gates being carried away be the engine, and
had to remain in Holyhead.—Dablia Erenia9 Mail.
CHINESE COCK-FIGHTING.—Although gambling
may be considered the most favourite of all the vices to
which the Chinese are addicted, nevertheless there is an-
other to which the greater portion of the lower dames in
this place are very partial, and that is cock-fighting.
Almost every Sunday which is the day amongst all others
in the week they select, owing, we suppose, from their
having less to do on that day, numbers of Chinese may
be seen passing along the New Harbour-road, seated in
back carriages with a gamecock on each of their laps On
reaching Campong Bahru, they hire a small boat to take
them over to Palo Brani' and aft
after walking some little dis-
tance into the interior, they proceed, after partaking of a
hearty repast, to indulge in the sport above alluded to,
resting perfectly assured that they are beyond the clutches
of the police, and that there is not the least probability of
their little game being interrupted. Towards evening
they return to town, after having, no doubt, either won or
lust a considerable amount of money on bets. —Straits
Times, June 21.
A FRENCH VIEW OF THE SHEFFIELD GI/TRAGER.
—The Reeve der Devi Monde., publishes an article on the
reform movement in England, in the course of which the
writer refers to the Sheffield outrages in these terms :
" The list of these crimes is too hideous for us to attempt
to produce it. What we must not omit is that the guilty
were generally pretty well known, and no one dared
denounce them to justice; that the secretaries of other
onions bore their share in the expense of these expedi-
tion. ; that, finally, these murderers and incendiaries have
declared that not only had they no motive for animosity
against their victims, but that often they did noteven know
them. What is, above all, noticeable in these
little jobs is the indifference with which the
workmen have always acted, and the entire absence of
that sort of shame which is rarely wanting, even in the
vilest of mankind. Where morality and religion had I
ceased to influence the conscience, it might be supposed
that the fear of the law would yet have been &sufficient
check. Not a bit of it. The Sheffield workmen seem to
fear the vengeance of the chiefs of the unions alone, and
obey their secretaries as implicitly as the fanatics of Syria
800 years ago obeyed the Old Man of the Mountain. Only
that the assassins of those days were animated by the hope I
of going to that paradise of whose delights they were
granted a f2rptaste, while it is for a few shillings and for a
settled prii% Ihat murder is done in Sheffield. In reading the
reports of the sittings of this commission we involuntarliy
call to mind the celebrated inquiry which was made at
Rome in the time of Alexander VL , of which Burkhardt
has preserved us a few particulars, when the Duke of Va-
lentinois, jealous, as it is said, of the preference which
his sister, Lucretia Borgia, manifested for his brother, the
Duke of Candia, had mused him to be assassinated and
thrown into the Tiber. A boatman bad seen the whole
affair ; and when he was asked why he had not given his
evidence sooner, be declared that ea he had witnessed in
the course of his life many similar adventures
to which no one had paid any attention, he had
not thought that this last could produce more
impression that the others. This wire answer gives an
idea of the intimidation which used to prevail in Rome,
and has prevailed but recently in England ; it explains the
indifference with which these crimes, instigated by the
heads of the unions, were regarded in Sheffield, even by
people who had no interest in the matter and held a
respectable social position. Such moral views recall th •
most infamous times of Italy in the fifteenth century
coupled with the Kenos of brtgandage enacted in London
itself by hordes of robbersand thieves who under thepretenee
of accompanying volunteer regiments, ;tripped at mid-day
those whom they encountered on their route, they are well
calculated to teach modesty to nations who are proudest of
their power."
GOVERNMENT CONTRACT FOR RIIM.—The Ad-
miralty on Saturday accepted the following tenders :
Hoary White and Co., 28,000 gallons ; T. Lowndee and Co.,
13,000 galloon.