The Express.
London, England, 1866-04-17 00:00:00

REPLY OF PRUSSIA TO THE LAST
AUSTRIAN NOTE.

BERLIN, Aram 17.
The Prussian reply to the Austrian despatch of
the 7th inst., which was forwarded to Vienna on
Sunday last, refuses to rescind the order issued on
the 28th ult., for the mobilisation of Prussian
troops.

THE NEW SPANISH NATIONAL BANK.
MADRID, APRIL 16, EvaNum

The Minister of Finance is ill.
The committee of the Chamber of Deputies upon
the bill for the New National Bank have an-
nounced that they will not meet until the Minister
of Finance is able to be present at their sittings.

A duel in Presburg has created a great sensation.
It seems that Prince Lechnowsky and his friends rose from
• table when Count Nemes seated himself. The latter felt
it as a personal insult, challenged the prince, and a duel
took place with pistols at 20 paces. The count received his
adversary's bullet in the shoulder, which was completely
smashed, and the ball traversed the threat, wounding the
windpipe. It was reported that the count had died, but
he still lives, though only faint hopes are entertained of
his life.

The Etinenent says :—" M. Rennin left Europe
in November, 1864, for Alexandria, after visiting Egypt ;
he afterwards went to Beyrout and Damascus, where
Abd-el-Kader received him hospitably. Here a curious in-
cident occurred. M. Renan, who speaks Arabic, was con-
versing with the Emir of the past and the present. ' Let
us speak of you,' said Abd-el-Bader, ' and of your ' Life of
Jesus.' You have then read it 1' said 11. Renan with
surprise. The Emir sent for the volume, and opening it,
said : Bee ! not only have I read it, but I have annotated
it.' The ' Life of Jesus,' annotated by Abd-el-Kader, is
certainly a curious work, and what is still more strange,
the Emir thinks of publishing it !"

A curious geological fact is noticed in the Isle of
Wight, consisting of a layer of pebbles, each about the
use and colour of a horse-bean, which has been gradu►lly
moving eastward along the south-western shore of the
island. The layer has now reached Ventnor. A few years
sinoe no such pebbles were to be found on that coed.
They probably originated on the coast of Dorset. They
are like all gravel, broken and water-worn dints. The
layer has probably been formed under the sea, sad driven
by some minimal disturbance from the Dorset shoves, past
the Hampshire 'oast, on to the lake of Wight beech.

E•.
• r

iIAVUL MURDIIII IN DRURY-LANE AND
WITTED SUICIDE 07 THE MURDERER.
IISDAY.)

Ohortiyafter 6 o'olooh•diie morning another fear-
fungigedy was brought to light, • 'hooking murderhaving
been soinnmitted in the densely populated neighbourhood
known as Feather's-court, Drury-lane. It appears that
a man named James Whitley, a bricklayer's la-
bourer, with his wife and six children, lived on
the third floor, at No. 8, in this court. At about 6 this
morning the eldest of the children, • boy, left his
home to go to work, and shortly after that the next in
age wee sent by his mother to fetch some bread. A short
time after the latter had gone a man named Madison,
living at No. 3, opposite, heard faint screams of " Murder."
He accordingly went to the house—the cry of " Murder"
being continued. In the meantime the 'creams had
aroused some of the other lodgers, who, on ascending
the stairs, found the unfortunate woman Whitley lying at
the bottom of the second flight bleeding profusely from
the neck. They endeavoured to get a word from the poor
creature, but she had °eased to breaths. Polioe•constable
123 F and Sergeant Chappell were soon on the spot, and
Drs. Welsh and Harvey were prompt in their attendance.
Both of the medical men were of opinion that the deceased
had been dead some short time, and the lifeless body
was ordered to be conveyed to St. Clement's dead-house.
The constables, on entering the room, found a frightful
spectacle before them. To the left on entering was the
wretched man Whitley, crouched in a pool of blood, with
his head nearly severed from his body and resting against
the wall. In the centre of the room was • large
quantity of blood, which had evidently come from
his wife, and it could be seen that the woman
had crawled to the door, and from ;thence to the stairs,
where she must have fallen. By the side of the man yea •
large clasp knife, with which he must have first cut his
wife's throat, and then his own. There was a misersbly-
clad French bedstead in the room, in which Whitley and
his wife slept, and at the foot there were four young
children on the floor in a deplorable condition.
The screams of the little ones were, it seems,
not heard till after those of the mother. Whitley was at
once taken to King's College Hospital, where he lies with
no hope of recovery.
From the statement of the sister of the murdered woman,
who was sent for, it seems that formerly both lived happily
together. Of late, however, there had been a good deal
of drinking going on, and it was not unfrequent, as the
neighbours state, to hear them quarrelling and fighting.
The children have been removed by the authorities to the
workhouse. The home itself was of the most deplorable
description, containing scarcely a vestige of furniture.
The police have been told that there was some jealousy
existing on the part of the man ; but nothing conclusive
has transpired on this point.