The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEYIBER 20, 1863.

on the peculiarities of each, Mr. ADDERLEY remarks
that his views expressed on this subject some time
ago accord with those of the last named authority.
It would appear that there is some ground for
awarding favour to this last notion, "Punishment
is not education." Doubtless, with the,best inten-
tions, and animated with the most sincere endea-
vours to benefit the unfortunate individuals, who
are outcasts from society, most of the alterations
and modifications of the latter-day reformers and
prison worthies have failed completely and alto-
gether. It would be better to keep to the direct
object that should be in view all along, that of hold
ing out some sort of terrorism to the delinquent,
instead of trying to be too comprehensive, and thus
failing in a way prejudicial to the prisoner and
hurtful to the interests of society. Indeed it may
be questioned if a due iiimount of severity would no,
be the simplest and surest means of reformation ; it
would at all events hold out some deterrent influ-
ence, which at present does not seem to be done at
all by the philosophic views adopted, and
the philanthropic measures instituted to soften
down punishment until it becomes almost
a mockery to call it by that name. Mr.
ADDERLEY has very clearly explainel his
notions on this all-important subject, and though,
doubtless, many will be disappointed at the solem-
nity and severity of his ideas, there is great truth
in his observations, and it would be well if more
attention were paid to his theories. Put into prac-
tice, our prisons and gaols might lose some of their
interest for those who are morbidly sensitive upon
the subject of severity to criminals, but they would
gain much in essential service to the country gene-
rally, and to other interests particularly. Surely
the definition here met with in respect to the right
nature of penal laws is a very correct one, namely,
that it should present " definite terror to the public
mind exceeding temptation to the offence." If this
effect were once given to the system of penal disci-
pline a very different result would ensue, and a far
greater proportion of safety would be felt by those
who are now in constant apprehension of some out-
rage being committed at home or abroad. It seems
a hard thing to disallow the practice of leniency to
a great extent, but the right course is the ono that
is always the wisest and the kindest. Mercy may
be shown with great advantage to the weak, the
tempted, and the penitent, but the hardened crimi-
nal should have a full measure of justice meted out
to him. Mr. ADDERLEY has announced his inten •
tion of setting forward his views, on the question
of secondary punishments being rendered more effi-
cacious, and doubtless he will bring to light some
notions worthy of attention, at any rate no harm
can possibly be done by calling notice to the sub-
ject, and much good may be effected by the general
discussion of the question. Much has been said
sententiously about a panic legislation being quite
absurd, but it is creating the evils referred to to per-
sist in delaying until all alterations and changes are
done in a hurry that defeats its own purpose, and
occasions universal confusion and ferment. This
topic of prison discipline is one of the chief social
questions of the day, and it ill becomes those who
shirk inquiry and procrastinate reform until the
evil assumes a magnitude that is appalling.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

THE SCHLESWIG-HO L STEIN QUESTION.
HAMBURG, Nov. 20.

Yesterday evening a meeting was attempted to
be held here by citizens of Hamburg and inhabi-
tants of Schleswig and Holstein, who had arrived
here for that purpose. They were, however, dis-
persed by the police in three different places, and
finally proceeded to the village of Uhlenhorst,
where the meeting took place.

Addresses were voted to the Prince of Augusten-
burg and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Tne Prince of Augustenburg was requested in the
address voted to him to place himself at the head
of the people.
Twenty-four members of the Holstein Diet
unanimously resolved yesterday to solicit the
Federal Diet for the most speedy protection of
the rights of the country. This request has
already been sent to the Federal Diet.
The other members of the Diet who were not
present at the meeting on account of its having
have been asked to
sbiegenn prohibitede s
sb.y the police,

CHINA AND JAXAN,
SHANGHAI, OCT. 9.
Alsjor Gordon is before Soochow.
An attack on that city is imminent.
Reinforcements have been sent to Taitsand and
Cluinsan.

The news from japan is unfavourable, Armed
men are appearing at Nagasaki,
Prince Satsuma and other princes are preparing

for war.

SPAIN.
MADRID, Nov. 20.

It is stated that the Government supports the
candidature of the Archduke Maximilian of Austria
tor the Mexican throne.

Advices from San Domingo report that the
Spaniards have retreated from Puerto Plata in
good order.

LITERATURE,

Mrs. Jones's Evening Party. By Edmund Rout-
ledge. One vol. Pp. 156. Routledge and Co.
Since the earlier days of Albert Smith we don't
remember any more delightful prattling gay
capital bit of fun .than this whimsical little
record of Mrs. Jones's Evening Party, by
Edmund Routledge. The heroes and heroines
of the domestic scene aro precisely of the kind,
style, or manner of the imaginary creatures people-
ing poor Albert South's tales of frolic—some of it,
frolic, fast and furious. They are of the genus of
our old and young friends in " Christopher Tadpole,"
and the like. Tne incidents, here as there, consist,
for the most part, of practical joking. There
Ire, in each instance, frequent touches of
humour, sometimes of satire, but the latter always
perfectly innocent and inoffensive. Stout Mrs. Jones
with her Malaprop-iiae blunders in the way of
scientific mis-quotation good-tempered and
slightly hen-pecked Mr. Jones of the City and
Ciapham—lackadaisiacai Miss Tozer, the latter's
step-daughter—and hobedihoyish Jones junior, the
former's (that is Mrs. Jones's) stepson : all these are
very drolly and amusingly discriminated. Ditto
might be said of several among t ,e motley guests
collected together for " the Party." Icotance, for
example, Mr. Flutter, the semi idiotic joke-
maker, who is always poking fun at the
others, somehow, as one may say, with the wrong
finger! Mr. Plastic, with his conjuring tricks and
his Shaksperian Puzzles, these latter the oddest
pictorial freaks of fancy well conceivable! Mr.
Stouter, the fat friend and intimate of the host
Jones—that same intolerable Mr. Stouter, who is
perpetually thrusting into the conversation (apropos
to boots, or to just nothing in fact) allusions to his
crony, Old Wippermann ! Just as Jerrold's Job
Caudle used to be continually fretting Mrs. C. with
references, distractingly iterated, to his crony,
Prettyman! Tnese and a few others make up the
personages of this comical, dramatical, fan-
tastical, whimsical sketch, in which the anima•
tion of the young writer never flags from the
beginning to the end of his amusing narrative.
Mr. Edmund Routledge is very manifestly—what his
young lady readers are quite certain to look upon
him as—a bit of a quiz. Ha has, clearly enough, a
lively sense of the humorous. He can write, more •
over, whatever his theme, at all times quite unaf-
fectedly. His English version of the popular
French novelette about the Adventures of a Spurting
Dog, in every word of it (and we examined it pretty
closely throughout), was far more than merely satis-
factory. It was delightful indeed—as vre took occa-
sion to intimate in these columns almost immediately
after its publication. He has, besides this, written
a capital little handbook about Cricket. He has
collected together two or three laughable mis-
cellanies, such as a smal . volume called " Hodge-
podge," and another small volume of " Jokes and
Riddles," what Lord Dundreary pronounces
Widdles ! Added to which, he is editing, or has been
recently and for some time past editing, and that
too very ably and pleasantly, indeed, a boy's
magazine—" Every Boy's Magazine"—a genuine un-
mistakeable boy's magazine, an illustrated periodi-
cal that, we feel certain, must be as greedily devoured
as nuts or figs by the boy-readers of it. A selection
of some of the funniest serial narratives published
in the course of its periodical issue, makes up, in fact,
this amusing sketch of " Mrs. Jones's Evening
Party." Several portions of the narrative are, each
of them, worth the cost of the whole collection; such
as " Valentine and Orson, or the Swell and the
Rough ;" as that ridiculous Mr. Flutter's " Fanciful
Roll of Riddles ;" as Mrs. Jones's Quaint Collection
of Queer Epitaphs; or, to crown all, as the " New
Drawing-room Burlesque." Nine illustrations are
scattered among the letterpress. The volume alto-
gether is just one of those books so safe to be tho-
roughly thumbed by the young people of the
household that the majority of its leaves will for
certain be dog's-eared long before Christmas.

Maple Hayes. A Novel. Three vols. Newby.
Although this story is improbable, even to the
verge of impossibility, it possesses a certain amount
of interest of the sensational kind. The author
has evidenced no inconsiderable ability in the
construction of the greater part of his plot,
Ind very considerable power, indeed, in
the delineation of the principal charac •
ter.' Twenty years before the story begins, an
Englishman, travelling in France, has married
and deserted a village girl. After his departure,
stung by the taunts of her associates, the deserted
wife, ignorant of the name and whereabouts of her
husband, comes to England with her infant son.
Slaving some idea that her treacherous husband is
engaged in the pottery trade she opens a shop for the
sale of earthenware manufactures, hoping and be-
lieving that time will bring nim to her door. In this
belief she " waits"—waits on for twenty years,
until her black hair is whitened by suffering,
until she has become prematurely aged. The
character of this woman, and the intensity
of her fiendish craving for revenge, are very
powerfully described. One great blemish in
the tale as a work of art is—that our sympa-
thies are enlisted on the wrong side. The treacher-
Jus husband, and not the deserted wife, becomes
the object of the author's tender interest, and the
poetical justice so ingeniously brought about and so
awfully awarded at the close of the history, is, to
say the least of it, very "one-sided" justice. As to
the episode of Either's imaginary marriage, it is
impossible, and unnecessary, and ridiculuus.

Cassell's Robinson Crusoe.—Defoe's master
piLce is certainly just now putting our popular
publishers upon their metal in the way of
illustrative competition. Simultaneously with
the issues of complete editions superbly embellished,
the Messrs. Cassel:, Petter, and Gilpin are now
beginning with this initial instalment, the periodi-
cil publication in penny weekly numbers, of an
illustrated edition of "Robinson Crusoe" for the
million. Considering the price at which the serial
makes its appearance, it is everthing that could in
reason be looked for. Together with the first
number of it, there is given away a wonderful
" large engraving " (10 in. by 21 in.) a sort of
zoological nightmare, entitled " The Hunting of
Wild Animals"—bisons, camelopards, emus, and
all kinds of other outlandish quadrupeds inter-
mingled pith ostriches, &c., scouring over a wil-
derness of Martinesque proportions.

Cassell's Natural History.—Another excellent
auxiliary in the working out of the self-education
of the multitude is here supplied by the Messrs.
Cassell, Fetter, and Galpin. It is worthy of, and
indeed entitled to, what we doubt not it will earn
for itself, a wide circulation.

Thorley's Farmers' Almanac for 1861. Ward and
Lock.—A fourpenny almanac full to repletion of use-
ful, and some of it even to the general reader, interest-
ing information. There is no discernable indication
of haste or carelessness in the putting of this infor-
mation together. It appears to us to have been
well considered throughout. The following little
tabular statement as to the fluctuation of the
corn averages will bo found of interest to all :
The averages deduced from the London Gazette, for the
fifty-two weeks ending Michaelmas, 1863, were :—Wheat,
46s 8d per imperial quarter; barley, 34s 3d per imperial
quarter ; oats, 21s 9d per imperial quarter. During the
saute period, the following abstract shows the dates of the
highest and lowest prices, with the difference :

s. d.
Wheat, Oct: 10, 1862
Barley, March 13, 1863
Oats, July 10, 1833
Lowest prices. Difference,
• s. 'l. 8. Ci.
Oct. 2, 1863
July 24, 1863
Jan. 23, Oct. 2, 1863 20 2 10

The following also, though the authority is not
given, has its attraction for most readers, but more
particularly for vegetarians :

WONDERS FROM CULTIVATION.
Thereis scarcely a vegetable which we at present employ
that cm be found to grow naturally. Our wheat is a ficti-
tious production, rais'd to its present position by the art of
agriculture. Rice, rye, barley, or even oats, are not to be
found wild—that is to say, growing naturally in any part ot
the earth—but have been altered by the industry of man-
kind, from plants not now resembling theta, even in such a
degree as to enable us scarcely to recognise their relations.
The acrid and disagreeable apron gravoleta has been trans-
formed into delicioue celery ; and the co4wQrfl Ft piatit Of

scanty leaves, not weighing altogether half an ounce, has
been improved into cabbage, whose leaves alone bear many
pounds, or into a cauliflower of considerable dimensions,
being only the embryo of a few buds, which in their natural
state would not have weighed as many grains,. The potato,
again, whose introduction has added millions to our popu-
lation, derives its origin from a small bitter root, which
grows wild in Chili and Monte Video.

The Metropolitan Board and Thames Em-

banknient Contract.

Yesterday the Marylebone representative vestry was
engaged for some considerable time in discussing a matter
arising out of some questions put to the members for
Marylebone at the Metropolitan Board, in reference to cer-
tain disclosures which have been mach with regard to the
recent tenders and acceptance of contract for carrying out
the northern Thames embankment; Mr. Churchwarden
Hodges in the chair.

Mr. FILMIC said he had given notice to the two hon.
gentlemen who represented St. Marylebone at the Metro-
politan Board of Works of his intention to put a question
to them as to the truth certain allegations which were
going abroad in reference to the certain acceptance of con.
traces for carrying out the Thames embankment, The
allegations were, that although Mr. Ridley had put in a
tender, which had been accepted, for the Northern Thames
Embankment at £195,000, Messrs. Baker for £195,600, and
Mr. Moxon for £510,076; and although Mr. Ridley, in
addition to four other securities, offered to deposit £20,000
in the hands of the boards, the chief engineer made
such representations that the board were induced
to reject Mr. Ridley and the others, and accept the
contract of Mr. Furness at £520,000, thus taking out
of the pockets of the ratepayers and completely throwing
away £21,500. That thin sawe Mr. Furness had, on the
recommendation of the chief engineer, obtained the con-
tract for the northern outfall, at £164,000, when there
was a tender for £131,000, and that it bad transpired that
without the knowledge or consnt of the Board of Woiks,
their chief engineer was to be or had been paid from this
same contractor a sum of about £15,000 as a per centage
upon some works being carried out by him at Odessa. It
was a most important matter to the ratepayers of the me-
tropolis, who would be the sufferers, if contractors were not
dealt with fairly and honestly at the Metropolitan Board,
and it was therefore the right of every vestry and district
board to know if there was any truth in these allegations.
(Hear, hear.)
Mr. NICIIOLAY said as a friend of local self-government,
end one who was most anxious that the Metropolitan Board
should not lose the high estimation in which he believed
it was at present held by the public, he was fully pre-
pared to answer these questions. He deeply regretted to
say that from what had occurred there was no doubt
but that the allegations were too true, It was true
that Mr. Ridley's tender for £495,000 was in the first in-
stance accepted ; that in addition to other securities he
offered to deposit £20,000 in the hands of the board, and on
a doubt being expressed of his ability to carry out so great
a work, he answered that ho should be assisted by the emi-
nent firm of M'Cormick and Sons. On the question being
put to the engineer as to his views, he said that Mr. Fur-
ness's experience and capabilities were such that ho had
greater confidence in him, and the board, acting upon the
opinion of their engineer, annulled the contract of Mr.
Ridley. He (Mr. Nicholay) had voted for Mr. Ridley
from first to last, because he thought him quite capable of
carrying out the work. It subsequently transpired,
through Mr. Baztlgette being made a defendant to a bill
in Chancery, that he was concerned with this Mr. Furness
is certain drainage works at Odessa, and was to receive
from him a per centage amounting to over £12,000. Now,
not only was this a startling affair, but it must be borne in
wind that Mr. Bazalgette received from the Metropolitan
Board a salary of £1,700 per year, in consideration that his
talents and time were to be devoted excluaively to the
service of the board, and that he was to take no other
works without their knowledge or consent. Here then was
a breach of contract, and when these matters came before
the board they were not only much grieved, but as-
tounded, and at the chairman's suggestion the whole
matter was referred to a committee to investigate. That
committee had not yet reported, and he (Mr. Nicholay)
had no desire to prejudge the question, but as the matter
had oozed out in a letter published in a rocal journal, and he
was asked the question, he felt it his duty to state the facts,
which could not be materially altered when that report came
forward.

Mr. D'IFFANGER said he was free to confess the circum-
stances which had come to light were deplorable and not
free from suspicion, but on investigation he thought they
would turn out not so black as they seemed. He was not
there to defend Mr. Bazalgette, but he could have wished
that the publicity had been deterred till after the pro
ceniings in Chancery, as Mr. Baz tlgette's statement would
then be upon oath, but that of S r John Hare, who bad
filed the bill, was not. What had transpired was, that Sii
J. Rennie bad obtained the concession to carry out the
works for the sewage of the city of Odessa, and came to
Mr. Bazalgette to ask him if he could recommend a contrac-
tor. He said yes, and recommended Mr. Furness, and there
was an understanding that Sir J. Rennie and Mr. Bazalgette
should have 4 per cent. between them out of the money to
be paid for the works, which was £741,000, or 2 per cent.
each. Sir John Hare, who was also concerned, feeling
aggrieved, had filed a bill in Chancery against Sir J.
Rennie, Mr. Baz Algette, and that was how the
matter came out. With reference to this contract,
although on the face of it it might appear that favou-
ritism was exercised by the engineer towards Mr.
Furness, the facts were that Mr. Ridley himself con-
fessed that he had never carried out works of such magni-
tude. Messrs. Baker refused to contract unless there
was an arbitration clause introduced; and Mr. Moxon
was not accepted, because (although the Metropolitan
Board did not loose a penny by it), having ruined himself
by his contract for the northern high-level sewer, they
feared the contract would be too large for him ; and it cer-
tainly was not without suspicion that Messrs. M'Cormick
and Son, whose own tender was the enormous sum of
£633,727, should offer to join Mr. Ridley in the same work
for £195,000.
Mr. FREETII looked upon the whole affair as extremely
suspicious, and cal, ulated to destroy all confidence in the
engineers. Ho moved a resolution to the effect " That the
members for Marylebone be requested to watch, at the
Metropolitan Board, the proceedings in regard to the recent
contracts for the Thames Embankment, and communicate
any information they think necessar3, from time to time,
on the subject to the vestry."
Mr. SURRIDGE seconded the resolution, and it was carried
unanimously.

Names of English Rivers.
—s-

My friend Grimson divides the derivation of
names of rivers into seven classes. 1. Those which
describe the river simply and abstractedly as the
water. 2. Those which describe it as violent, gentle,
wide, or sluggish. 3. Those which describe a river
by its course, as winding, straight, or crooked. 4.
Those which refer to the quality of its waters, as
clear, bright, dark, or turbid. 5. Those which refer
to the sound made by its waters. 6. Those which
refer to its source or the manner of its formation.
7. Those which refer to it as a boundary or a pro-
tection. Of the first simple and more barbaric
class, which includes mere appellatives, are many
English rivers whose names end in " a" and " ew,"
as the Rotha and the Caldew. The Avon which
wanders by the church where Shakespeare lies
buried, owes its name to the old Celtic word avon
(water), the Gothic Ahva. The Devonshire Anne,
the Cumberland Eheu, and the Cornish Inney, owe
their origin to the same simple source ; while the
Scotch Bannock and Errick, like the Berkshire Ock
and the Devonshire Oke were christened from the
obsolete Gaelic word oich, signifying also water.
From the Sanscrit amba (water) flows as it were the
Berkshire Emme, the Humber, the Mole, that mys-
terious stream in Surrey, and the Staffordshire
Hatrips : all expressing what the Sanscrit root of
ambu does—movement, the most wonderful thing
about water being its involuntary movement and
inner life. It is to the Celts we are indebted for
that dangerous gift whisky ; to them too we owe
its name, which means water, from the Welsh wyag,
water. From this root come the names of many
rivers, as the Devonshire Axe, the Sotnersetshire
Axe, the Wiltshire Usk, the Scotch Esk, the
Monmouthshire Usk, the Oxfordshire Isis. The
Sanscrit word ud (collected waters) is also a start-
ing place for derivations, according to Grimson.
Zo
it the river Otter owes its name and also thwoe Dors.ect.-
shire Woder and the Sussex Adur, a rdhi
drench
exactly corresponds in origin withtt
Camber-
he
Adour ; and now, though wo disap p
.n
ilysee,
lend people, we must remark thatbt huotclifrottingham_
r oEmd etnh
ed
oo
led
not derive its came from Parad s
Welsh verb eddaih (to flow),
The Welsh
worda. thv
It fr
stood (water)
and
shire Idle and the Scotch Eli—ictlzh. e N
the Staffordshire Dove, and through itc stream it
o sponsor bas
t o s t
tet7e td t
York:rP
gave a name to the town of Dover; signifying
simply to move. The root exists In the Basque
word ur (water), and the Hungarian er (a brook).
Under this one root, Grimson clusters the Radnor-
snit., and Worcestershire Arrows, the Sligo Arrow
and the SUS3eX Aran, the Yorkshire Arke and the
Lencashice Irk. 00e would not have expected that
any English river would have a name derived froua
the same source as that of the great German Rhine,
yet so it ie. Tim Saneerit ri (to flow) is found in
the name of the 'Ferman stream, as welt as of the
Worcestershire Rea, the Devousnire Wray, and
the Rye, the tributary of the Liffey,—Dickens's
" 411 the Year 1"ioun.(1."

-
Tt (4min

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, Nov. 19.

The Queen, accompanied by their Royal High-
nesses the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia
and Princess Charlotte, drove out this morning in a
carriage and four, attended by Colonel 11. Pau-
sonby, Equerry in Waiting, on horseback.
Count and Countess Bernstorff and the Duke of
Newcastle arrived yesterday.
The Duke of Newcastle had an audience of the
Queen. _ _

The dinner party consisted of their Royal High-
nesses the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia
and Princess Helena, the Prussian Ambassador and
Countess Bernstorff, the Duke of Newcastle, the
Hon. Lady BicHulph, and the Ladies and Gentle-
men in Waiting on the Queen and the Prince and
Princess of Prussia.

Several of the ladies and gentlemen of the house-
hold, as well as several of the Cabinet Ministers,
have occasionally of late had the honour of dining
with her Majesty and some members of the royal
family in her Majesty's private apartments.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Den-
mark visited her Majesty to-day.

The Prince and Princess of Wales.

SANDRINGHAM, Nov. 19.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, with
Major Teesdale, Lord Alfred Hervey, Mr. L. W.
Jarvis, and other gentlemen, were out shooting in
the Wolferton wood yesterday.
Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, at-
tended by the Countess of Morton, drove out yester-
day afternoon.

The Duke of Devonshire has left Devonshire
House, Piccadilly, for Chatsworth, Devonshire.
The Duke of Newcastle returned to London yes-
terday morning from Windsor Castle.
The Duke and Duchess of Sutherland are among
the English nobility who have been honoured by an invi-
tation to join the party about to assemble on a visit to their
Imperial Majesties the Emperor and Empress of the French
at Compiegne. _

His Eminence Cardinal Wiseman arrives this
day in London from Broadstairs, where his health, we are
glad to announce, has much improved.
The Marquis of Bristol is entertaining a family
party at Icksworth Park, near Bury St. Edmunds.
The Marquis and klarchioness of Normanby and
family have lett town for Mulgrave Castle, Whitby.
The Earl and Countess Fitzwilliam and Ladies
Wentworth Fkzwilliam arrived last week at Wentworth
House, Yorkshire, from visiting the family estates in Ire-
land.

The Earl of Shaftesbury and Lady Caroline Neeld
have left town for St. Giles's, Dorset. The Countess and
Lady Victoria Ashley have gone to join the circle visiting
Lord and Lady Egerton of 'Patton, at Tatton. Park, Che-
shire.

Mr. Chichester Fortescue, M.P., and Frances
Countess Waldegrave arrived on Tuesday on a visit to their
Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess d'Aumale, at
their seat in Worcestershire. The hon. gentleman and the
countess leave to-morrow for iiudbrooke, the countess's
seat in Essex.

Lord and Lady Blantyre and the Hon. Misses
Stuart have arrived at Erskine House, N. 8., to pass the
winter.

The Countess and Madlle. Stankeiller have re-
turned to, the Brunswick Hotel, Jermyn-street, from the
Isle of Wight.
Le Baron Kahn and M. d'Arnheim have left the
Brunswick Hotel, Jermyn-street, for Paris.

Sir J. Brooke, K.C.8., the Rajah of Sarawak,
has arrived at Brown's Hotel, Dover-etreet.

THE ALEXANDRA CASE.—The London corre-
spondent of the Manchester Guardian says :—" I
have been sounding my legal acqu iintances about the argu-
ment in the Alexandra case. I find a very strong feeling
among them that the ruling of the Chief Baron will be sup-
ported by the Court. If so, I should think it extremely
unlikely that the matter will be carried further, after such
a discussion as it will have received. The general impres-
sion among lawyers seems to be that the object aimed at by
the statute was the prohibition of armed ships sailing under
letters of marque of the South American Republics, and.
actually equipped and owned by English owners, and that
it was never meant to include such transactions as Messrs.
Laird have engaged in. The language of the act favours
this interpretation, as do the contemporary discussions and
history."
THE SUPPOSED CONFEDERATE STEAMER PAM-
PERO.—It is currently rumoured in town that Cap-
tain Farquhar of her Majesty's ship Hogue, has received a
communication from tke Admiralty to detain the screw'
steamer Pampero, launched by Messrs J. and G. Thomson,
of Glasgow, at the end of last month, if any attempt is
made to take her out of the Clyde. The interference of the
Government, it is believed, is principally with a view of
ascertaining the truth of the allegations made regarding this
vessel by the Glasgow Emancipation Society, that the ves..
sal was believed by them to have been constructed for the
Confederate Government, and that. like the Alabama, she
she was intended to prey upon the merchant shipping of
Northern States; that she is fitted with disguised portholc
and other requisites for a war ship; and craving the Go-
vernment to make an investigation into the character,
ownership, and destination of the ship. The Pampero is a
screw steamer of 1,000 tons, and was said, when launched,
to be for London owners.—Scotsman.

THE GARDEN ORACLE FOR 1864.—Mr. Shirley
Hibberd, in the preparation of this work, ingeniously shows
by the growth of plants and the development of flowers the
progress of the seasons instead of by saints' days and anni-
versaries. It is in fact an arrangement of flowers for every
day throughoUt the year, mingled With some curious rewc-
lations as to their history, and secrets as to their successfial
cultivation.

AUSTRALIA, emphatically the land of the future,
has a fauna that may be summed up in the briefest
of catalogues. The kangaroo, the wild dog, the opossum,
and an animal something between a rat and a rabbit, make
up pretty nearly the total of her quadrupeds, and of these
none, with the exception perhaps of the kangaroo, can fairly
be placed on the game list. Of birds, it is true, there is a
somewhat greater variety, but, though headed by the euieu,
the array is but paltry compared with the brilliant muster-
roll of a single square mile of Brazilian forest or Indian
jungle. All this, while it detracts much from the interest
of the explorer's journal, proves a formidable addition to the
peri:s of his route. No food is procurable save that which
tie takes with him, and provisions form a very serious item.
in the "impedimenta" of an expedition of from 2,000 to
3,000 miles, In Atrica, a single pound of powder represents
a fortnight's subsistence. In Australia, powder is as in-
convertible into game as greenbacks into dollars. The pos-
sibility of starvation, and the certainty of scurvy from lack
of fresh provisions, added to a not unfrequent scarcity of
water, even harder to bear than that of food, make up the
hardships of a campaign more dangerous, if less fertile in
incident, than that of the African hunter.--Aucturday
Review.
ARRIVAL OF INDIAN SCULPTURE AT WINDSOR
CASTLE.—Within the last few days a
number of
and
h of
brownish veins, comprise a small temple of the most beau-
tifullarge wooden cases, containing a quantity of Indian scuip•
ture, apparently presented to her Majesty, have arrived at
Windsor Castle. The cases have been deposited in the
Castle storeyard, where their contents are being unpacked
and
white cleaned.
statuary
marble,'!l
The sculptures
oriental construction, with delicately perforated panels,
ri i
slightly y andtinted
carvings,
here d
whichthere are
it
pilasters, and cornices, ornamented withartists
, lea. ves and cupola
dome, all finely chiselled by eastern and two beau-
Atisftihl h
n ovi
executedyettcentp Oir
110. rh
elephants, furnished with housings, bells
round necks
and tassels depending from their ears
mounted 'fiat pedestals, carved in the same material
e elephants, which are magnificent
pieces of carving, are each about four feet high and four
feet iu length.

FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT.—A fatal accident took
place on Tuesday evening, about 5 p.m. The scone,
of the catastrophe was about a mile from Crewe Station On
the London and North-Western Railway. It appears that
a large body of labouring men employed in the erection of
largo steel works near Crewe had just left work and were
proceeding home down the Chester line of rails, when '
goods train passing at the time caused them all to get on t')
the up line, and unfortunately at the same moment the
Chester train, due at Crewe at 5 10, dashed up, and before)
two of the men had time to escape dashed them on the rails,
killing them on the spot. The engine pulled up at the
station, when on the buffer plauk was found the hat of en°
of the poor men, and on the buffer some hair and blood.
ELECTING THE JUDGES.—'tile New York paPers,
have lately been putting forth advertisements et
rival candidates for the election of judges of the Superior
Court. At an electioneering meeting Mt. Brady, one of the
foremost members of the bar, stated that if certain
ima-
noeuvres should succeed " there will be two persons ad
New York, each of willow will own a judge, body an
soul." lie stated that in many eases he now has to hand
:-
back papers brought to him, and say, " I can be
you
service in this case, for it is to be heard by So-and-se ; e
the judge's partner, friend, agent, or huckster, there coil::
must employ such a man, between whom and the judg_t(,).':
a great affection. Employ him,
cliauce to iaaintaia ;yew rights jai a court of justice. '
and you will have