The Express.
London, England, 1868-02-29 00:00:00

LO.qT IN LONDON.

THE diuppearance of the Rev. Mr. SPIKE
was considered to be a most unusual and alarm-
ing circumstance. When the discussion of the
subject brought a number of letters to the
newspapers relating other cases of mysterious dis-
appearance, the excitement of the public became
intense. Because at one time or other a dozen
ipersons had been lost in London and never again
heard of, a good many people were beginning to
think that Loudon was not a fit place to live in.
Others were incredulous, and refused to believe
half the tales that were told. What will these
alarmists and these sceptics say to the return fur-
nished by the police of persona lost and missing
during the years 1841 and 1860 1 Here is the
return :

Reported lost Restored by
or basting. the police.
1441
1812
1441
1414
1.415
l'Hil
1347
144$
1449
1350
1.151 1,876
1352
1453
1454
1855
13. t 1
1457
1353
1451
1.4)

This return was furnished by the pollee to
Mr. Hem( Mavnzw, when ho was investigating
the condition of the London poor. The figures
seem to imply that about 2,000 persons are lost in
London every year, and only half of them found
again, leaving annually 1,000 disappearances never
accounted fur.

NE% El: was anything like the complaisance,
the apologetic deference, with which Lord STAN-
LEY notified to his august Majesty of Abyssinia
the painful necessity under which he considered
his Government to lie, of landing a few thousand
troops in that little-known land, and giving
the redoubtable THEODORE'S a thrashing. In
the despatch from the Foreign Secretary to the
African King, dated September 9, 1867, and
quoted by us yesterday evening from the newly
published Blue Book, Lord STANLEY quite mourns
over the bad manners of the descendant of
Socomo,.. "The QUEEN would fain hope that,
" even in this last hour, your MaJsarr moy be
" induced to listen to words of peace. . . It is
" the earnest desire of the Quasir that this last

" opportunity which her MAJ WIT offers to you
" may be taken advantage of by your Hamm "
(by the rendering up of the prisoners), " and
" that peace may be so preserved between
" England and Abyssinia." Thereupon, Lord
STANLEY concludes— " I bid your MAJasTY
" heartily farewell. —Your sincere friend, STAN-
" LIT." When two civilised monarchs fall out,
they do not proclaim war after this ooinplimentary
fashion. The style is quite that of the old Lanes-
Lars and Gsveututs, whose skill in hacking and
hewing was only equalled by their knightly
amenities ; or that of modern prize-fighters, who
shako hands before engaging in the fray ; or that
of the English and French officers at the battle of
Fontenoy, who bowed to each other from the
opposing ranks, and mutually declined the honour
of firing first. A deceased essayist tells a story
of a gentleman of mild manners, but resolute dis-
position, who one day addressed another gentle-
man who had offended him after this suave manner,
ending in the application of a stick :—" Sir,—l am
" extremely sorry—to be obliged to say—that you
" appear to have a very erroneous notion of the
" manners that become your situation in life ; and
"lam compelled, with great reluctance, to add—

" that if you do not think fit, upon reflection, to
" alter this very extraordinary conduct towards a
" gentleman. I shall be under the necessity of—
" caning you!" Lord STANLEY addresses THEO-
PURL'S in much the same fashion, previously to
applying the cane. One of the most disagreeable
results of unduly meddling in the internal affairs
of barbarous countries is the being thus obliged to
be o auplimentary to a savage.

Tinpm shareholders of the Great Western '
Railway, whose expectations were pleasantly
raised by the preliminary statement of the balance
available for the payment of dividends, will to-day
find their hopes considerably chilled by the expres-
sion of regret in the directors' report that
it is not possible to pay those dividends
in cub. The report throws the blame
upon the recent proceedings in Chancery,
which have prevented the acceptance of
• a good deal of stock in lieu of dividend, by othc. .
; proprietors desirous of tak:ag the same. Under]
any circumstances, some weeks must elapse before
the bill introduced into parliament for legalising I
the lama of stock already mode, and snob
further issue as inay by voluntarily aocaptai