The Express.
London, England, 1866-12-14 00:00:00

•
TIM., EEC, FRIDAY EVENING, %, DECEMBER 14,..

THE Idea of December seem destined to be as
memorable as the Ides of March. On the 13th
of this month Rome was free from foreign
troops. The evacuation of the Castle of St.
Angelo, and the departure of the last French
soldier from the Papal territory, open a new
era in the history of Rome and of the
world—not leas momentous, perhaps, than that
which dates from the assassination of CJESAR.
Then, as now, the timid friends of order feared
the approach of revolution and chaos. But as
the fall of its founder established the Empire,
so, probably, will the virtual cessa-
tion of the Temporal Power of the POPE
aggrandize rather than diminish the moral and
spiritual influence of the Church of Rome. It is
not to be expe_ted that the authorities of that
Church, and, less than any, its venerable Head,
should at once he able to accommodate their feel-
ings to the new situation on which they are
about to enter. The leaf is being turned upon a
great past, which cannot be parted from without
emotion. A future of vast possibilities is before
them, but it is all uncertain. The memo-
ries of a thousand years of sovereignty
are real. The transition from the old to
the new, from the familiar to the strange, is always
solemn ; and those in whose persons the Church
of Rome is making this change may be excused if
they are overpowered by the occasion. What is
to be regretted is that the feelings to which ex-
pression is given by his Holiness should seem
to be those rather of passion—even of personal
pique and irritation—than of reverential acgr•es-
cence in the Providential decrees. Much allowance
may be made for the querulousness of age, im-
patient and fearful of new things ; and the allow-
ance is certainly required. Sir ()gown BOWYER
has informed the world, in correction of a very
general error, that the Pore blesses, but does
not curse. His blessings, however, are sometimes
so like curses that it is easy to account for the
popular mistake. His prayers for the Emperor
of the FRENCH resemble indirect maledictions;
and are as near an approach to an interdict, and an
absolution of the French nation from their alle-
giance, as a nineteenth-century Pope could venture
to make. The insinuation that while the French are
a Christian nation their Sovereign is not a Chris-
tian ruler; the doubt thrown upon his title tot e
called the Eldest Son of the Church, and the inti-
mation that consciences will not (that is to say
ought not to) be satisfied, amount to a defiance and
menace. The POPE replies with these words to
the withdrawal of the French troops, as two
years ago ho replied with the Encyclical of the
Bth December to the Convention of September 15.
His Holiness strangely forgets the power by
which he was restored, and the conditions on which
his sovereignty was guaranteed. He was brought
back by the French Republic, which, if the
doctrines of the Encyclical be true, was a go-
vernment illegitimate in its origin, constitution,
and acts. The Foreign Minister who was the
instrument of his recall was the illustrious ex-
pounder of the principles of democracy, M. nz
TOCQUEVILLS, who in the Legislative Assembly
declared that the only safe basis on which the tem-
poral power of the POPE could rest was that of poli-
tical reform. The PRESIDENT of the REPUBLIC was
even more explicit. The conditions on which the
Prince LOUIS NAPOLEON undertookthe restoration of
the POPE are contained in hie celebrated letter to M.
Ewalt NEY. They are summed up in these words:
" A general amnesty, secularization of the admi-
" nistration, the Code Napoleon, and a Liberal
" Government." The world knows how far this
understanding has been complied with on the part
of Pies IX. Every remonstrance and represen-
tation has met with the unvarying reply : Nun
posatimua. It is not strange that at last France
should have caught up the phrase, and used it in
answer to the appeal for continued intervention.
The only reproach which can fairly be addressed
to the EMPEROR, who was not responsible for the
first design of intervention, is that he should have
persisted in the fact for years after it had become
apparent that the conditions which he bad pre-
scribed would never be carried into effect.
The beldneaa of the POPE'S language is itself a
proof that the independence of the Holy See is in
no respect bound up with the maintenance of the
temporal power. Pies VII. was never more
thoroughly master of himself than when he was a
prisoner at Savona and Fontainebleau ; and
Pius IX. has never been leas subject to any

earthly superior than at this moratt fancier
desertion by the Powers of thkfter Oa%
bable, indeed, that his Holiness lmelrTeil than
any one else at Rome the extent of the dependence
into which his temporal sovereignty plunged him.
The deference paid by all to his august office, en-
hanced by the true respect which his personal cha-
racter awakened, kept harsh realities at a dis-
tance. The forms of submission were not un-
likely to be taken by him as signs of substantial
authority. His Ministers, who had to combat and
yield to exactions, to submit to humiliations, and
to make the beat terms they could with over-
bearing protectors, knew better the real position
of affairs. The result of their negotiations alone
Came to the POPE, without any acquaintance
with the process ; and be may have fancied
himself to be acting of his own free will, as an
independent sovereign, when he was merely
yielding to a decently-veiled coercion. In assert-
ing the necessity of the temporal power to spir;tual
independence, the POPE contradicts facts notorious
to everyone but himself ; but there is no reason to
suppose that he himself was fully aware of his sub-
jection. He may learn how complete it was when
he becomes cognizant of the greater freedom which
his emancipation from the restraints of sove-
reignty confers upon him. To take an example
a Pope who is simply the Head of the Church,
and not a sovereign Power in diplomatic rela-
tions with the schismrtic Court of St. Peters-
burg, need not economise the expression of
his sympathies with the persecuted Catholics
of Poland, as his Holiness has more
than once been obliged to do. If now
he feels humiliation that during his papacy
the temporal power has been practically annulled,
he may one day feel it matter of pride that under
his pontificate the Church entered upon a new
career of more vigorous, because less fettered,
spiritual life. This result is not improbable. The
fact is notorious that where the separation
of the civil power and of the church is most
complete, there the Roman Catholic religion
is seen at its best. The Reformation, as Dr.
NEWMAN contends, gave it new life. There is
more zeal, and piety, and purity of manners
among the Catholic priesthood and the faithful
of France, with its equality of all creeds before the
State, and its Galilean traditions, than in Spain or
in Italy; and in Protestant England and the
United States than in France. Where the POPE'S
temporal power is least his spiritual authority is
greatest ; and when he ceases to be even in name
sovereign of an Italian State his pastoral supre-
macy will be more heartily and w'dely revered
than ever. Protestants cannot safely indulge the
illusion that the political embarrassments and
decline of the Papacy are in any degree likely t
weaken it as a Church. On the contrary, the
principles of the Reformation will probably need
more strenuous assertion against an invigorated
adversary.

OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

(THLS DAY.)

1 NE RLOROANTMATION OF THE FRENCH ARMT.
The Times describes the now organisation of the
French army as a scheme which is due to the example of
Prussia. It pro% idee, not any material augmentation
of the regular army, but a strong reserve of disciplined
soltliers, who, while available at call upon any emergency,
shall nevertheless be detained for as short a time as pos-
sible from the rank+ of civil life. The new reserve force
of 400,000 men ICU differ little from our own militia—
their duty not extending beyond instruction in the ru-
diments of military discirline. These arrangements will
certainly pro% :de the materials of a most powerful
force, especially under the condition of military service
in the French erupi^e, for France, it must be remarked,
has only one great dependency to garrison. The moral of
all this is that war is a more likely contingency than ever ;
that in these days regular soldiers, numerous as they are,
do not suffice for the purposes of a state. That the ini-
tiative in their rivalry of force is taken by the most
thrifty and best educated people in Europe, should teach
us to mistrust most seriously the effects of modern en-
lightenment in diminishing the liability of nations, or
preserving the peace of the world.
The Tclegrnph thinks that now perhaps the action of
our own government will be quickened. France is about
to arm 1,200,000 men ; Prussia at least 1,000,000; and
Austria upwards of 1,000,000. It is impossible not to
feel the pressure of those gigantic hosts. We cannot re-
frain from considering what would happen to us should it
turn out that, in spite of the best intentions, they were
arrayed directly or indirectly againat us—used to hurt us,
or to hurt our old friends. Compared to these conti-
nental armies we have nothing, or next to nothing ; yet
we allot more than forr .een millions a year to the main-
tmance of our little army. The French ICI pay only
nineteen millions sterling, and the Pr assians yet less,
for their respective million of soldiers. The actual
force we possess lacks the sae.' princ'ple of organisation ;
and every military arrangement, if we are to be abreast
with the time, from the relation between the Horse
Guards to the supply of the commonest necessaries, must
be fully investigated.

eolleg., mutt the auiss
ion of Ills• ashcans
lIISCEILLNEOCS TOPICS.
Auturnng that no irregularity occurred in obtaining
warrant in Ireland against Meany, the Times insists that
his arrest in England and removal to Ireland, on the order
of a London magistrate, is in exact accordance with a pro.
vision in the Act 11 and 12 Vic., cap. 42. That the
Habeas Corpus Act should be suspended in Ireland does
not affect what was dons in London. Whether the Lord-
Lieutenant might have availed himself of it to imprison
at his own discretion a Fenian arrested in England, it is
quite superfluous to discuss. An act of this kind, if tech-
nically justifiable, would certainly be morally indefensible,
but no set of this kind has been done or contemplated.
Had it been, Moray would never have appeared in •
Dublin police-court at all, nor would the intervention of a
magistrate have been needed. As it is, he was arrested,
has been committed, and will be tried at the next assizes,
and not the remotest analogy exists between his case and
that of Gordon.
Noticing the discussions which are taking place regarding
political demonstrations, the Daily News observes that the
working men lose more than others by them ; and it
is only their exclusion by want of votes from every legi-
timate form of expression whichforces them to this peculiar
one. Moreover they are urged to it not lees by the argu-
ments of their opponents than by the necessities of their
position. To say to the working men in one breath, you
shall not have the franchise because your not agitating for
it shows your indifference, and in the next, you shall not
have it because your agitation for it shows you to be dan-
gerous--is an evident mockery of justice and oommon
sense. The demonstrations are an evil, but it is their
opponents that make them a neoesami evil, by declining
to receive any other evidence. This being the case, it is
obviously the interest of all honest politicians and all
quiet members of the community that they should be
made as short and as safe as possible. It is plain that all
these ends would be better fulfilled by giving the use of
Hyde-park than by refusing it. There would be easier ac-
cess, a shorter procession, less waste of time, less crushing,
more rapid dispersion when the business was done. The
reviews and inspections, distribution of medals, and
similar proceedings, of which the park is frequently the
scene, interfere with the purposes of recreation quite ea
much as a reform meeting would.
The rinses advises Austria not to yield to the Hungarian
demand for • restoration of the constitution of 184$. If
she does this she will be pulling herself d0v..1 without
building up Hungary. So long as Austin is what she is,
her real element of strength lies in her German provinces.
It is in that element that, in extreme cases, she must seek
her salvation.

41Wilemgivellolleam
.14"aritrodsthe

r-

irhe Court.

WINDSOR CASTLE, DEC. 13.

The Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, accom-
panied by Princess Louise, and her Majesty walked in the
grounds this morning, accompanied by her royal highness.
The Princess Beatrice rode in the Home Park, and Prince
Leopold went out walking.
The Dowager Lady Cowper bad the honour of dining
with the Queen and the royal family yesterday.

A Committee of the Lords of her Majesty's Most Ho-
nourable Privy Council sat yesterday at Whitehall on
the subject of quarantine. The lords present were—the
Right Hon. Spencer Walpole, the Right Hon. Sir Staf-
ford Northcote, and the Right Hon. Horatio Waddington.
Mr. Harrison attended the couunittee.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat
yesterday. The lords present were—Lord Justice Cairns,
Sir E. V. Williams, Sir it. T. Kinderaley, Sir J.
Colvilo, and Sir Laurence Peel.
Despatches were received yesterday at the Colonial-
office from the Governors of Tasmania, Hong-Kong, New
Zealand, Labuan, South Australia, Victoria, Na•al, and
Malta. Despatches were sent to the Governor of Canada.

THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES.

DISS, TIII7R-SDAT AFTERNOON.

Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess
of Wales left Oakley-park, the seat of Sir E. C. Kerriaon,
Mart, M.P., this afternoon, and returned to Sandringham-
house by a special train, which started at 3 p.m., and ran
on direct to Teowae (Norwich), proceeding thence after a
delay of three minutes to East Derehaan and Lynn, whence
it paused on to Wolf erton (Sandringham), whore it was due
at 3.15 p.m. The special train was in charge of Mr. Robert-
son, general superintendent of the Great Eastern Rail-
way, and Mr. T. Stevenson, district superintendent at
Norwich ; and the arrangements for the comfort of the
Prince and Princess was all that could be desired. His
Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh also left Thorn-
ham-hall, the seat of Lord Hartismere this afternoon, and
accompanied the Prince and Princess of Wales on
their return to Sandringham-house. The Countess
of Macclesfield was the lady-in-waiting on the
Princess of Wales, and Lieutenant-Colonel Keppel was
in waiting upon the Prince of Wales. The Duke of
Edinburgh was attended by his equerry, Lieutenant Haig.
During the stay of the royal visitors at Oakley and
Thornhain about 5,000 head of game has been killed, about
3,000 having been shot on Sir E. Kerrison's estate, and the
balance on that of Lord Hartiamere. The Prince of
Wales has been unable to participate in the sports of the
field, although to-day his royal highness is much
better. He has suffere I from fatigue, a slight cold, and a
boil in the neck. Her Majesty sent a telegram to Oakley-
park yesterday to ascertain the state of the Prince, who
forwarded a re-assuring reply. The festivities of last even-
ing were a concert at Oakley-park, and a servants'
ball at Thornham, generously given by Lord
Hartismere, At the concert at Oakley-park. an operetta
by Mr. Gelman Reed, LrisArn and Frit:Mtn, was per-
formed, Mr. Sydney Naylor acting as conductor, while
the principal parts were sustained by Miss Robertine
Henderson and Mr. Whiff en. The operetta was followed
by some songs from the Wvlow BeicilM-d, and the even-
ing, in the course of which refreshments of an elegant
character were served, concluded with dancing. The
Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh,
and the distinrioiahed guests staying at Thornham-hall,
as well as those, of course, at Oakley-park were present,
besides a select circle of the clergy and neighbouring
county families. To-day • dinner has been given at
Oakley-park to a large number of school children, and
the festivities of the week will terminate with a dinner
for Sir E. Kerrison's tenantry at Eye, at whicb the hon.
baronet will preside. The royal visitors were escorted to
the station this afternoon by Sir E. C. Kerriaon, Lady
Caroline Kerrison, Lord Hartismere, the Hon. J. Henniker-
Major, M.P., Lady Alice Henniker-Major, &c. The
I'rince and Princess arrived in an open carriage, and the
Duke of Edinburgh, who appeared in shooting cestnane,
having pursued the sports of the field to the last, arrived
with Lord Hartismere. The Diss Volunteers were in at-
tendance at the station as a guard of honour, and bravely
faced the rain which fell. Mutual adieux having been
exchanged by the royal visitors and the hosts and hostesses,
the special train moved off amid the cheers of the spec-
tators.

To-morrow morning her Majesty, accompanied
by their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess Chris-
tian, Princess Louise, Princess Beatrice, Prince Leopold,
and Prince Henry of Prussia. and attended by their suite,
will take their departure for Osborne, where they will
arrive at '2 o'clock to luncheon. The court will not return
to Windsor before February next.
_

The visit of their Royal Highnesses Prince and
Princess Christian to the Earl of Derby, at Knowsley, ter-
minated yesterday, when they returned to Windsor.
Their royal highnesses, accompanied by the Earl of Derby,
left Huyton station in one of the royal saloon carriages,
which was attached to the express train which leaves
Liverpool at 11.30 a.m. A large crowd was ataacted to
Huyton station in the hope of catching a glimpse of the
Princess, who was scarcely visible in the dark station on
the night she arrived. During the Toesday and Wednes-
day their royal highnesses were at Knowsley the male
visitors slaughtered 1,944 head of game, of which 650 were
pheasants.
His Excellency the Prussian Ambassador and the
Countess Bernstorff have returned to the Prussian Em-
bassy, on Carlton-house-terrace, from visiting Viscount
and Viscountess Holmesdale at Linton, Kent.
_

Lord and Lady Alfred Paget have arrived at
Brockleiby Park, on a visit to the Earl and Countess of
Yarborough, from their seat in Norfolk.
We (Devizes Gazette) are glad to hear that the
health of the Lord Bishop of Beth and Wells is slightly
improving.

LATEST 411 TELLIGENCE.•
- SPAIN.

A letter from Madrid of the 9th says
The Minister of Justice has just published to the Gaze&
an ordinance requiring M. Oloesga to present hiutself
within thirty days before the military tribunal sitting at
Madrid. The chief of the ultra-progreselst party, who has
attired at Florence, as is known, is proceeded against as a
conspirator. A former journalist, M. Fernandez de los
Rios, who has disappeared,is also cited to appear to answer
a similar charge and illicit retention of arms. The Duke
de Vengua, the direct desoendant of Christopher Colum-
bus, has just died here. Although by direction of the de-
ceased no invitations were issued for the funeral, a con-
siderable number of persons, amongst them several minis-
ters, senators, and the Pope's Nuncio, followed the bier.
The title of First Admiral of Spain, granted in memory of
his illustrious ancestor, does not expire with him, as be

heir.

(Ravree's Tali:mums.)
BELGIUM.
BRUSSELS, Dec. 14.
A royal decree has been issued appointing
General Baron Goethals;aide-de-camp to the King,
to the poet of Minister of War.

CHINA.
(By overland telegraph from Gale.)
HONG KONG, Nov. 15.

The French expedition in the Corea has pene-
trated to gang-char without meeting any reels-

tance.
Advices from Japan announce that the civil war
is suspended.

-----
LNOTIIF.R DREADFUL COLI,II DY EX-
mosiow NFAR TUNSTALL, STAF-
, FORDSHIRE:

NEARLY ONE HUNDRED LIVES LOST.
(From the Manchester Guardian of this day.)
About 11 o'clock yesterday morning an explosion
of fire-damp occurred at the Talk-cf-the4.lll Colliery,
near Tunstall, by which, as far as could be ascertained
last night, nearly 100 lives were lost. The colliery is
situated in the parish of Talks, about a mile from the
Harecastle station ; it belongs to the North Staffordshire
Coal and Iron Company (Limited), and has been worked
about 18 months. The coal which it produces is known
as Banbury coal. From the mouth of the shafts—two' in
number—to the bottom of the pit is a depth of 350 yards,
and the workings extend about 600 yards in various direc-
tions. The number of men and boys employed was about
150. These poor fellows demanded the pit at 5 o'clock
yesterday morning, and engaged in their hazardous
occupation till 11 o'clock. About that hour a smothered
report was heard by those standing on the pit bank,
flames rushed furiously from the mouth of the pit, and
an instant afterwards the surface of the country for •
great extent on all aides was covered with thick soot.
The shock caused by the explosion was felt at the
distance of half • mile. Quickly the colliery was
thronged with anxious relatives, who, in the thought-
lessneu of their trouble, would unwittingly have
hindered the attempts which were at once started to rescue
the perilled miners. Mr. G. Johnson, the company's
manager, got the pit bankcleared as soon as possible, and the
cages were lowered into the mine. In a short time about
50 terrified men and lads were brought to the surface by
way of No. 2 shaft. The efforts at No. 1 shaft were not
so successful, several men who were raised at that point
being burned more or less severely. The scene at
the time of the early rescues was most touching, the joy
of mothers, wives, and children being intense and loudly
expressed on finding that their relatives were only burned.
The needs of the injured men were promptly met
by Messrs. Barnes, Bruce, and Greatorex, surgeons,
who, together with the incumbent of Talks, the
Rev. M. W. M'Hutchin, were quickly on the scene of
the catastrophe. The latter gentleman was particularly
active in his efforts to relieve the poor fellows. Through-
out the afternoon the search was continued, and as from
the suffocating atmosphere within the pit,
offrequent relays
of assistants were necessary,
u the serrices those who had
isition. The willingness with
escaped were called into req
which they came forward was, as Mr. MMutchin informed
us, truly admirable, while their sympathy was such as only
those acquainted with the dangers of their calling could
fully appreciate. They bravely descended the depth from
which they bad •onarrowly escaped with their lives, searched
for their mates, and, placing those they found in the
cage, were with them drawn up No. 1 shaft to the
outface. The exploration rendered the searchers almost
unconscious, and as each one came to the surface every
means were taken to revive him. Some of them re-
mained for a long time half insensible, while others, on
whom brandy and chloroform had a more salutary effect,
soon came round, and were ready for another descent.
The bodies brought up from time to time were examined
by the surgeons, and were, with few exceptions, pro.
flounced dead. The fatal word was sadly heard by the
men at the pit bank. At this time women and children
had been prohibited from approaching the shaft, and
thus many painful demonstrations were prevente:.
Additional melancholy was given ••
to the poems at
the pit mouth by the shadows cast upon
the grimy faces of the deceased by the lurid glare
of the fires which had been kindled to assist identifi-
cation. The latter result was attained in very few
instances, smoke and disfiguration rendering it difficult.
Once a looker-on ventured to guess that " it was Dick
So-and-so," while another aeon lad that it was " him as
worked with Jack Knowles." In pairs the bodies of the
unfortunate men were placed in carts and conveyed to the
Swan Inn. Along the road many women anxiously asked
about their husbands and sons, but seldom could their
questions be answered. One poor woman pushed forward
to a cabin near the pit, and plaintively put the doubting
question that she " reckoned they'd heard nowt o' Jim
yet I"
The scene in the pit is described as frightful. Bodies
and limbs lay apart, and several headless trunks were sent
up. The total number found in an injured state up to
8 o'clock last night was 13. The dead bodies numbered 43.
after-damp was the cause of death. Deducting the unin-
jured, the horned, and the dead, there must then have
remained in the pit between 40 and 50 men, and, as none
of those brought up towards the end of the day was alive
it is but reasonable to suppose that these, too, have
perished.
This is the first explosion at this colliery, although it is
described as of a very gassy character. All the most
recent methods of ventilation were in use, and the cause
of the explosion is not at present known. During yester-
day afternoon the government inspector for the district'
Mr. Wynne, descended the pit. The pit stable, we are
informed, caught fire, and it is supposed that seven or
eight horses have been destroyed.
One collier who had aided in the extrication of the
dead, told his comrades, on reaching the pit bank in a
fainting state, that he had seen foe- men lying dead in a
heap. Several who, like this man, had become worsted
by their labours were ordered to remain quiet upon one
side, but the brave fellows insisted, in tones and with the
appearance of drunken men, occasioned by the gas, that
they " could goo again."
After the bodies had been washed, a number of the de-
ceased were identified.

The marriage of Lady Victoria Cecil, youngest
daughter of t•te Marquis and Marchioness of Exeter, and
the Hon. William Evans Freke, second brother of Lord
t!Hrberi, 11.11 be celebrated to-morrow at Burghley House,
Stamford.
The death is announced of Lady Anna Maria
Dawson. for many years Lady of the Bedchamber to her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent. Her ladyship was
the only surviving daughter of John, Earl of Portarlington,
and granddaughter of the Earl of Bute, Prime Minister to
George 111.
The Rev. W. J. E. Bennett, the vicar of Frome
Selwood, has, by the advice of his medical attendants,
left England to pass the 11 inter months in a milder climate.
The Committee of the Corn Exchange have re-
solved that that establishment shall be closed on Monday,
the 24th, the day preceding Christmas Day.
Among the Manchester and other wholesale
houses which will not be open for business after Saturday,
the 22nd, until Thursday morning, the 27th, are Messrs.
Leaf, Sons, and Co. ; Caldecott, Sons, and Co. ; W. and
R. Morley ; Arthur, Kay, and Evans ; Vyse, Sons, and
Co. ; Field and Sons ; F. Goodyear and Co. ; S. Maw and
Son ; and Norton and Townend. The following Girls will
observe the 2Gth, Boxing-d►y, as a holiday:—James
Shoolbred and Co., Marshal and Snelgiove, Debenham
and Freebody, Grant and Gask, Hailing, Pearce, and
Stone, Redmayne and Co., Farmer and Rogers, J. Allison
and Co., C. and H. Dickens and Jones, \V. C. Jay, Peter
Robinson, Horiitt and Co., Spencer, Turner, and Boldero,
D. B. Johnstone and Co., Harvey, Nicholls, and Co., W.
Tarn and Co., Atkinson and Co., Olney and Sons, Hitch-
cock, Williams, and Co., John Harvey and Son, J. Spence
and Co., A. and W. Allan, Capper, Son, and Co., John
Sharland, T. Simpeon and Co., T. Venables and Sons, W.
and H. Clayton, and G. Davenport. There seems to be
no question that the 26th will be the holiday generally
observed in all trades.
The preparations for the Chancery litigation in
the case of Overend, Gurney, and Co. are, it is stated,
proceeding vigorously. A special commission has been
sitting at the Law Institute for the last seven days ; Mr.
Roxburgh, instructed by Messrs. Maynard and Sons, ap-
pearing on behalf of the liquidators ; Mr. Mathew, in-
structed by Messrs. Young and Co., for Messrs. Gurney ;
Mr. Clement Swanton and Mr. Montagu Williams, of
the Common Law bar, instructed by Messrs. Clark, Son,
and Co., for the shareholders. On Wednesday, Mr. Birk-
beck, one of the partners and directors, was under cross-
examination, but he ref used to give further evidence unless
he had the protection of counsel, and accordingly counsel
were summoned, the business being adjourned for that
purpose. Yesterday the examination was rammed with
increasing interest._ _ _

--- -
The gaming tables of Spa are condemned "in
principle," as M. Vandenpeereboom has lust declared at
Brussels, in answering a question put by M. Kenya de
Lettenhove in the Chamber of Deputies. But in order not
" to communise the intestate " of the watering-place, those
establishments wit be maintained until 1876.