The Express.
London, England, 1868-09-01 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON_BRIDGZ..

To-Der —Morning, lh. 45m. -Afternoon, 2h. 2m.
To-Mearow —Morning, 2h. leen Afternoon, 214 36116

NOTICE.
NOTICIN of MIMI, MAZZIAOSII, Iltad DRATIIIN We maned
until it o'olsek for insertion woe e►ening. Price ie. Ott

LOA-DON, TUESDAY, SEPT. 1.

TVINKLE IN THE STUBBLE,!.

laritoron the modern system of shooting in
iAttries more or lees deprives a bad shot of display-
ing his powers of missing to advantage, still he
occasionally manages to triumph over the difficul-
ties in his way, and to exhibit his capacity for
lodging charges in anything but the birds. A
keeper knows a Wiwituit at once. Wiwiruz still
retains a belief in the sporting virtues of costume,
and his tailoring for the stubblee is perfection it-
self. His gun is in the nattiest order, and his
language is technical to a degree. The keeper, with
a prospective eye to his half-crowns, humours him
to the top of his bent. He never for a moment is
deceived by the knickerbockers, or the terms
borrowed from the erudite " Stonehenge," but it
is his business to pretend to swallow WINKLE pure
and simple. It is wonderful also how Wnex.LE
manages to the last minute to escape the keen
judgment of the gentleman to whose preserves he
has been invited. tip to the moment that he
sends a dog or a beater whimpering after a rather
dangerous show of awkwardness, he sustains the
reputation he has claimed. Of course the im-
postor is ultimately as completely exposed as the
great original in " Pickwick."
This day will see many a pretended votary of Sr.
PARTRIDGE compelled to surrender the fame he has
acquired on his own statements. When the
season is a bad one, and the birds weak
on the wing—when, in fact, the coveys are
so backward as to be composed mostly
of choepers, your Wurxr..x is not so easily found
out. At such a time you might make a fair bag
with a walking stick. But this year the partridges
are strong and vigorous. The weather has been
favourable for their increase and for their develop-
ment. Instead of fluttering up weakly and irre-
gularly from the turnips in such a Style ea to
enable our Wriirrma to remember that he has a
gun in his hands, they are certain to rise with a
loud rattle and whirr which usually deprives the
sort of sportsman we refer to of his senses, and
makes him see those fireworks which LEECH
reprlalanlild as the effect of a pheasant upon
the nerves of a Cockney when the bird was flushed
under his nose. The feeling of a WIRELR in the
partridge field is similar to that overwhelming
mood known as stage fright. Here is the very
place in which he was wont to brag of his prowess.
What if he fails to hit everything ? Under the
most fashionable custom of the present day, aa we
have observed, he may escape immediate notice.
He may even manage to claim several birds which
have fallen to his neighbours' guns, and indeed
Wiwi-Les have been known to do this while the
cartridges remained all the while aa they were in
their barrels. But bring Wurxtn into the stubble,
turnip, or potato field with another gun,
and a brace of dogs. Place him near
the hedges for two reasons. Ho cannot so easily
pepper the pointers there, and he is more certain
to miss completely than if be fired from a more
advantageous position. It is quite fair to do this,

for in nine cases out of tea where he dot/ ouch a
bird he simply wounds it, when it e. to
die miserably. To be sure, now and
drives the whole ounce and • quarter into IT
ridge, and hawks the bird into a pul
and feathers, but this is a mere chaitr+st
frequently occurs by the gun going Eff ;
own account at least, tbM is, before WINKLE has
at all broaght it to Lis shoulder.
Yet let us not be unkind to WINKLE, There is
no one after all who is so welcome to a day's
shooting by himself as he. He may indeed render
the birds wild, but be will not thin them appre-
ciably. He is invariably generous to the keepers,
and his stories when the wine is up are not un-
amusing, from their being so much out of propor-
tion with the performances you have had the plea-
sure of witnessing. Then there must be bad shots
to show off the amok ones, and WINKLE permits
his eye to be wiped with good grace and good
humour enough. A sulky WINKLE is an intolera-
ble nuisance. He tries to pass off his want of
skill upon his gun, upon the light, upon having
smoked too much the night previously, upon every-
thing, and he begins to curse and growl. This
sort of WINKLE should, if he perseveres in such a
style, be as summarily dealt with as his great
ancestor, whose gun Mr. ricrerici called
upon the shooting party to take .away.
You will have no comfort with him until
luncheon time, when a jaidolls application of
beverages may reduce him to 3 Christian and a
sportsman-like frame of mind. It must be said,
however, that the type of sulky WINKLE is rare.
The fellowship of partridge shooting, and the
genial hospitable manner in which it is carried out
in England, would render Thalami= temporarily
amiable. Then, after dinner, all mon are equal,
and WINKLE is allowed to relate his experiences,
independent of his little mishaps during the day.
No one would be ill-bred or unkind enough to
bring up to confront him those outrageous misses
which contributed not a little to the fun of the
proceedings, and it is a peculiarity in the nature
of a true WINKLE that he eves remains utterly
unconscious of the opinions which his listeners
entertain of his deadly aim.
We are surprised that our sporting contempo-
raries do not attempt to cure the Wiwriats, or to
turn them in some manner to account. You
never hear of these gentry in the Field or in Land
and Water though you may find hundreds of
specimens just now preparing to bang away right
and left throughout the length and breadth of
England. It may be remembered that the
Pickwickian thought of reforming his shooting by
fastening a stuffed bird to a pole, and then firing
at it from gradual distances, but Mr. We:Lt.'s put
this idea out of court by relating the precedent
of the gentleman who tried the thing but
once and never saw as much as a feather
of the stuffed bird afterwards. Here, however,
was a confession on Mr. Wilma's part and a
desire for improvement. Our sporting contem-
poraries should endeavour to satisfy the require-
ments of the class. The Wnrimze would not, we
imagine, fire so crookedly if they could help it.
Since old Haynie ceased to write few attempts
have been made to teach shooting as an art.
The worst of it is, however, that shooting is
almost as bard to teach as poetry, and that may
be the reason why the Field does not try it.
Besides, it may be on the other hand, that
WLYKLE prefers to miss. When ho does hit he
enjoys his success treble-fold. To all who shoot
in his company, however, this week, we venture
to impart one piece of advice: Give him as wide a
berth as possible, and never allow him an oppor-
tunity of favouring you with an uncomfortable
prospect which he often tries to display—a sight
of the interior of his gun, seen from the muzzle.

ia Oaloutta.

GENERAL PEEL.

THE EXPRESq, TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBrR 1, 1868.

Ix:General Psim's letters which appeared in the
Te,'n of this morning, in defence of the increased
army expenditure, there is a concluding sentence
which we are sure will be read by men of all.
parties and opinions with equal and sincere regret.
General Pm announces that he is " not a

" eaadidate for a seat in the next Parliament."
There aro names and faces which will be missed
rather than wanted in the new Parliament; but
Liberals and Conservatives alike will mark with

a EA.

staff et meimato to enpoilto timer hassnlost rooms.
Nothing will ever periwido the piano that t a brook- 71W
Winn' Übe two waggon-loads of wails &mild tiara Imo

left ter a single instant with maim a mM . upon it not
break flied. Oae or the other there oagbt to have beta ;
and ii it be maintained that railways cannot afford tha,
daft of men sunksient for midi precautions, parliamiat
will have to interfere and assert the aldose of publicise /ft '
over the predits of private enterprise.
If, observes the Pot, a system of government Mime-
den bad been in tome, in all home probability the tate
/aortal dieser", as well as others of a similar kind, would
never have oocured; for sorely no government inspector
would ham permitted for a moment a "pick up" goods
train to run in front of a last express with such a short in-
terval of time between them. Everything, it thinks, points
to the eventual mumpticet by the state of the whole rail-
way system.
As to the causes of the disaster, the evidence of spch
railway servants as have yet been examined memo to place
it beyond reamnahle doubt, in the opinion of the 7194-
graph, that cardamom at the Llandulas siding imme-
diately led to the catastrophe. Evidently the goods train
was so Long that it emboorreseed the men at the siding ; it
is not absolutely certain that, even by " squeeing," the
whole could. hpve been accommodated there. In any
case, ou the very spot where all this olunr.y manouivring
of a train 600 feet long was going forward, the Irish mail
was due in three minutes.

pain the absence of one whose noble and charm-
ing personal qualities and high-souled political
integrity have so well sustained the honour
of a name that must ever be dear to England.
Liberals who have watched General PERL's career
will heartily acknowledge that the new parliament
could better spare many a man of more " liberal"
opinions. The character of our public men is a
more precious possession to the country than their
professed political creed, and there are reasons for
apprehending that it may become lees difficult to
replace a Tory by a Liberal member, than a Tory
or a Liberal member by an honest gentleman.

NE WS.

ALLIANOR
ND SPAIN.
:iag explanation
wau of the (limit

from various indi-
cations, has already boon suspected to be import-
ant. If this journal may be believed, the mission
.911, the' young couple is to induce the Emperor to
o&svnt to a treaty of alliance offensive and &-
kursive with Spain, which Queen Isabella has
already been negotiating. but which wont off upon
•oert.fn differences. It was about this proposed'
treatly that the Queen of Spain desired an inter-
vidwi, with Napoleon 111. The bases of a secret
oonvbntion (what an attractive word that is,
secret ") wore actually settled between France
and /Sputa, inpursuanoe of which Spain undertook
to furnish an army of 40,000 men and a naval
sonadron to the Pope in case of a war between
Franco and any European power. In return for
tin Service Spain desired that France should en-
me, to protect Spain by an armed intervention in
her dynasty should be attacked. The Em-
peror, it is said, was willing to protect r Spain
against any attack from without; but hesitated
to undertake to guarantee Isabella's dynasty
against **tacks from within. It is, the Guidon
says, to see whether those difficulties can be got
over that the Count and Countess Girgonti have
come to Fontainebleau to consult with the Em-
peror, M. Bouher, M. do Moustier, and M. Mon.
It is further stated that the Count is charged with
a confidential mission from his cousin Fmneis 11.
to the Emperor.

(711110001:1 sauna's .110ENCR.)
THE BRAZILS.
SEVERE FIGHTING AND LOSS OF LIFE.
SOUTHAMPTON, Sur. 1.
The Royal Mail steamship La Plata, from the
Brazils, de., has arrived here with 96 passengers,
33,8871. in specie, and 1,561 packages of cargo,
chiefly coffee.
The British steamer Newton arrived at Bahia on
the 11th August. Her Majesty's ship Falcon, from
Australia, arrived at Rio on the sth, and was to
leave for England on the 9th. The Gnat left Rio
for China on the bth. The Narcissus and Egmont
were at Rio when La Plata left.
Intelligence from Rio Janeiro is to the Bth. On
the 16th, in consequence of information received that
the Paraguayans were evacuating Humaita,l2,ooo
allies advanced against the works and captured a
redoubt, but were compelled to retreat, during
which the Paraguayans opened a terrible fire
upon them. The Marquis do Caxiaa estimated
the loss of the allies at 600, but other
officers state that the loss was more.
In a second engagement, on the :16th,
the allies attempted to expel the Paraguayans
from a battery in the Chacos, but were repulsed.
A rout ensued, pursued by the Paraguayans.
The loss of the allies is officially stated to be 550
men killed and wounded.
The Paraguayans evacuated Humaita on the
25th, and unperceived by the allies, crossed over
to the Chaco. The allies took possession, and
found no food, but a considerable quantity of am-
munition, and 200 cannon, which had been spiked.
Those of the waterside batteries were thrown
into the river. In the rear of the River Tebi-
query General Lopez bad raised defences of a for-
midable character, extending to the centre of
Paraguay, and beyond where ironclada could
operate. To a 1 tempt taking these works, and
follow Lopez to his arsenals and base of opera-
tions at Villa Rica, was considered impossible, and
would have entailed a greater waste of life and
treasure than even hitherto had been the case.
The new ministry has postponed the elections
for deputies and senators until January next. The
United States gunboat Wasp will be allowed to go
to Ascension to convey Mr. Washburn and family
from Paraguay. The troubles in Corrientes
had not terminated. trquiza placed 2,500 men
upon the centre of the Rio frontier in observation
of the government troops under General Mitre.
The Monte Video Banks resumed operations
upon the basis of the decree of the 16th ult.,
suspending specie payments for 20 months, and
the issue is to be reduced to double the re-
mission, and the three per cent. to be called in
monthly.
The Buenos ityrrs Standard says that both en-
gagements in Paraguay resulted in favour of the
Paraguayans. The attack upon Uumaita ended in
a disastrous retreat, owing to the terrible execution
of the Paraguayan artillery. The fire was irresis-
tible at all points, and the Paraguayans rent the air
with their shouts as they butchered the unfortunate
Brazilians who were hemmed in on all sides. The
precise number killed was not known, but the
divisions were literally cut to pieces.
At Rio transactions of all kinds were limited.
Money was abundant. Banks discount 9 per cent.,
but should the Government issue stock at a low
figure the floating capital of the country will be
absorbed into policies, and discounts attain a
fabulous price. Exchange closed at 18 to 181.
At Buenos Ayres trade was dull, and little doing
in produce. Exchange, 50j to 31.

The A venire of Naples confirms the announoe-
meut of the visit to that city of Ring Victor Emmanuel
and the Prince and Princess of Piedmont in the middle
of September. His Majesty is to remain there until the
opening of the chambers.
If the French functionary of the Second Empire
could be regarded as a fair specimen of his countrymen,
our neighbours would deserve the appellation which
Voltaire bestowed upon them in a moment of disgust—UM
potpie yak:. At a recent municipal banquet at Lille, the
Prefect, not content with celebrating the virtues of the
sovereign who had csownod the edifies after saving
France, and calling the Empress "a saint," and the
Prince Imperial " that noble child," proceeded in the fol-
lowing strain :—" Let us bow with devotion and respect
before this Alves* 'Knit!, of genius, of hope, and of
charity."

Mgr. Luigi Pilippi, Bishop of Aquila, has just
published a curious work on modern spiritualism. His
eminence expounds the doctrine of tho church on the sub-
ject of good or rebellious angels, and shows that the
fees with which people occupy themselves now-a-days
have their prototype in the Old Testament as well as in the
annals of the church.

The King of Prussia ia expected at Kiel in the
second week of September, and the necessary preparations
are already being made in the chateau. During his stay
in Schleswig-Holstein, his Majesty will be present at ma-
muerte of the 18th divicoa, and will afterwards visit
Altona, Rendsburg, Schleswig, Flensburg, Sonderburg,
and Oluckeburg. King William was at Coblenta when he
heard of Count de Bismarck's accident; and being anxious
to testify the sympathy ho feels for the Federal Chancel-
/Or, he immediately telegraphed to Varzin expressing his
condoler°, with the minister, and congratulating him on
having escaped re great a danger.
Fsperimenta have just been made at La al'peacia,
by order of the Italian Minister of Marine, to test the
quality of a bed of coal recently discovered in the valley
of the Taro by Colonel Leonard. A comparison warn made
between this fuel and the best anthracite from Canliff, on
board the steamer Anthien, and the result, relative to the
speed attained, was quite satisfactory. Coal extracted
from the Taro-pita was used to light the town of Sperm*
and no perceptible difference was found between the gas
produced and that from the combustible mildly employed.

tule. The general election will take' place 0 '.l 'hil'OltAltlES.
i N. ~ her. Sir Jona LaiMIMI re- 111 .
t .. . • Jan _ t. , meal tii
1 1 AY.)
volie
41
tio -4,, . t 11. ~1 (t... r '. it *pit. .
hirao • ATABMOPIIII
. _r.:. •'.
the of the . note • i new : P :.. ' .J. • r
retitle : 1 -to .. ii . i
... li. .11/ '3 e *ca e near Abe g e
comment• to more t
.... •
t '• - ornalat-Inditt:. r• . ..m ''' e. • to b° . .
ills .. . ocatemporarfen . . Timm draws attention - the
en ititertating question or the nob]. pi . _
_._. s danger to which railway passengers are daily exposed by
fl lends whether the new Tory Viceroy ' l -aou baring a Wag goods train between two (ant ones on the
Ca/cetta before his order of mean, or whether the ame raft. Hut It it must be eo, and it racehorses and
order of recall will be tha first official maw bruil-4bioeled wigwam sire* rue the same Mtn* an i
that Toiiohm him from Downing-street as hht Sin as well as they eon with OM another, it is evident
arrival is Oaloutta. • .fire mangy ie babe touad in bargee akliiip pad i Igegiq
- ' ithlt et servants to await. these hamar*** preetnsa.
.......i__ _.., _..__ ................1.. •4 ...Ail. il.• 41.. 1.....1._...

....- •
4...
le I r ••• N
kTIII s i y.)
IN _
I
: ‘ll
•
Iti 1111:4 TR OF
••
t- •• :. W ANTI
• ... t aulots give* a very startlii
the vibit to Pontahieblem
and Countess dirgenti, which, frog