The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-12 00:00:00

THEY'SUN,T,LOINDON, THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 12, 186,7,.

LONDON, THURSDAY, OCT. 12, 1865.

Those who thought the Fenian conspiracy was
getting out of date in interest and importance will
find themselves mistaken in their reckoning. As
time passes documents are found which throw light
on the proceedings, and reveal some strange secrets.
The most astounding circumstance that has yet
occurred, however, since the commencement of the
affair has been the seizure of Captain UNDERWOOD
O'CONNELL, who holds a commission in the Ameri-
can army. He stands charged with coming to this
country for the purpose of promoting the Fenian
Conspiracy, which he has made great efforts
already to further in America. His capture
is the most important thing that has yet
taken place, and it is certainly a conclusive
answer to those who denied that the American
agency was very active in this matter. Mr. BARRY,
in his speech on the prosecution, declared that
many of the statements he had made at the outset
of these trials would no doubt be substantiated
before the close of the investigations. One portion
of his remarks has already been verified to the
letter. He stated that " trained military leaders
were promised from America to take the command
of the insurgents in Ireland," and while he was
making this statement Captain O'CONNELL was on
his voyage to Ireland. It appears that documents
were found upon him that proved his complicity is
the conspiracy, and not being forewarned he had not
thrown them away, as was the case with some others
coming over from America. Some of those papers
in question bear the signature of O'MAHoNEY, the
New York Head Centre, and thus the collusion is
clearly proved. In one of these great confidence is
expressed in the ultimate success of the Fenian
movement, both in America and in Ireland. 44 The
Irish spirit," it is said, " is thoroughly aroused from
Labrador to the Gulf of Mexico," and care must be

taken that the cause does not languish in Ireland.
It appears that the Irish expect great things
in the way of subsidies from the organiza-
tion in America, and indeed O'MAHONEY de-
clares that the question of success depends upon
money. This letter is dated January, 1860, so that
we may judge how long the movement has been in
course of formation. Mr. BARRY'S affirmation con-
cerning the Irish People newspaper being the recog-
nised organ of the Fenians is also proved abun-
dantly in these documents that have been brought
into court. O'MAHONEY states that a subscriber to
this paper is as good as an actual member of the
F. B. So the profits derived from it go to support
the organisation at home.
In another letter allusion is made to the fact of
assistance being afforded in America for the train-
ing of leaders to support the cause in Ireland. One
of them, dated Fenian Headquarters, New York,
contains special reference to the matter. It is writ-
ten by O'MAHONEY, and he states that the death of
General CORCORAN is a sad blow, but that he did
not depart until he had " made some hundreds of
excellent young officers of the true Fenian creed,
pressing closely upon his heels in the race of
renown, and the army of Ireland's redemption
will not want, in any case, enough and plenty of
able officers to fill every possible grade." Such
language proves that it is now high time some
strong measures were adopted to crush this move-
ment, and it is sad to find how much mischief has
been done already in compromising those who have
hitherto borne respectable characters, and filled
stations of some importance. One of the Queens-
town Commissioners has been arrested on a charge
of high treason, and great consternation was thereby
created in the locality. At the same time another
arrest was made in the person of a young man, who
was seized on board ship, having taken his passage
for America.

It is impossible to overrate the misery thus pro-
duced in households by these numerous arrests,
and in many cases the prisoners are the victims of
craft and cunning, and the agitation that is so
grandiloquently called a national movement is, in
fact, nothing but the working of certain evil spirits,
whose restlessness and love of mischief induce them
to mix themselves up in the affair, and drag many
down with them to ruin and misery. Upon the
accounts received Mr. BARRY asked the Court to
send Captain O'CONNELL for trial, and again re-
marked how correct he had been in his allusions to
commercial interference. These documents, he
might well say, " threw light as to how the
organisation was carried on in America, and that
the subsidising of the Irish branch of the Associa-
tion appears to have been carried on by the trans-
mission of various sums of money, small as com-
pared with the resources of England, but consider-
able, having regard to the class of life of the persons
who appear to be principally engaged in this con-
spiracy."

In fact the revelations which have been made by

the discovery of these documents is by far the most
important event that has taken place since the
commencement of the Fenian prosecution, and the
corroboration thus afforded to Mr. BARRY'S
statements is indeed surprising. The way is
now made much clearer for those who have
to investigate these matters, and some decided rules
have been laid down for their guidance.
It is now some time since such stringent
measures were adopted as the authorities have
wisely deemed it necessary to take in order to meet
the emergency that has arisen. No doubt it will
take some time, under the most favourable circum-
stances, before the angry feelings engendered by
these prosecutions are done with, and it is the more
unfortunate that this mischance should have

occurred, because Ireland was becoming more
tranquil, and the people less disaffected than had
been the case for some time. What strikes us
more forcibly than anything else, however,
is the intolerable impertinence and extreme incon-
sistency of the Americans. Had our Government
acted with promptitude and decision during the last
few years we should never have heard of Fenianism,
but it appears to be the fashion on the other side of
the Atlantic to rail at everything English ; and the
extraordinary latitude thus given has been a grand
opportunity for the degenerate and unworthy sons
of the soil who have left their native land, and carry
with them no better regard for its welfare than to
foment discord and to encourage strife and discon-
tent. The affair is trifling in itself as a conspiracy,
but its consequences will not be so easily got over,
and many will curse the day when they first heard
of the Fenians.

Among the most salient points which distinguish
the American national character, a degree of as-
surance has always been reckoned. This may not
altogether arise from the unenviable quality of
self-conceit, but partly from that strong self-reliance
and independence of character which have raised
the American nation to its present high position.
If we wished, however, for an instance in which
confidence passes into effrontery, we should cer-
tainly not have very far to seek. The correspond-
ence between Mr. ADAMS and our Foreign Secre-
tary, if it were not upon a matter of very grave
and serious import, would be almost amusing
from the high and injured tone adopted by the
representative of the United States. In the coolest
and most decided manner Mr. ADAMS informs
Lord RUSSELL that his Government " cannot avoid
entailing upon the Government of Great Britain
the responsibility for the damage," inflicted by the
Alabama, the Stonewall, the Shenandoah, and
others. We might almost be excused for taking
these statements as so many empty words
but for the fact that it appears very probable that
the United States Government will make political
capital out of the matter on the assembling of Con-
gress. The idea of humiliating the Britisher and
of making a handsome profit out of the affair
would no doubt be very well received both in
Washington and New York, for since the termi-
nation of the war, the Americans of the Northern
States, at least, probably believe themselves suffi-
ciently powerful to compel submission on our part.
The latest intelligence from America informed us
that the persons who had suffered from the
depredations of the Confederate cruisers were noti-
fied to give particulars to the authorities, in order,
we presume, that the little bill may be presented in
due form to the British Government. Every argu-
ment, answer, illustration, and remonstrance falls
..
powerless against the shield of Mr. ADAMS'S
stubborn reiteration of his claims. He is
open to conviction, but convince him if
you can. Lord RUSSELL is no mean autho-
rity on points of constitutional law, and has
certainly experiencz enough as a diplomatic corres-
pondent. With great industry and pains he cites
examples, taken from American history itself ; he
quotes the decisions of American authorities ; he
tries plain English common sense, and draws con-
clusions that to an unprejudiced observer appear
indisputable, but all in vain. If beaten, like the
English soldier, the American advocate does not
know it, and when argument and eloquence
have been exhausted on the subject he
starts up again with the same formula—England
has built the ships, the ships have injured American
commerce, England must pay for the injury.
It is only jut to Earl RUSSELL to say that he re-

fuses to acknowledge any claim upon the English
Government for losses incurred through the Ala-
bama or other Confederate vessels, though that he
should propose a commission for the decisionof all
claims arising during the late civil war is, to say the
least of it, inconsistent. The tone of Mr. ADAMS,
all through the correspondence, is arrogant, and in
parts almost insolent. He evidently considers that
there is no evil which the English dread like war,
and by scarcely concealed threats he hopes to inti-
midate them into the payment of the indemnity de-
manded. We cannot but regard Lord RUSSELL'S pro-
posal of the commission as a very great mistake. If he
denies the claims in toto, why appoint a commission
to try them? Any ordinary claims on either side
arising from the ordinary course of war can be
surely settled by the regular tribunals. It is not
necessary to appoint a joint commission, unless the
affair has passed from a mere individual matter to
grave national importance. Lord RUSSELL denies
every charge. He points out that the recognition
of the Confederates as belligerents, of which
so much has been said, was in reality made
by the Washington Government itself when
it established the blockade. He cites Ame-
rican authorities in flat contradiction of Mr.
ADAMS'S interpretation of international law, and
mentions instances in which American statesmen
have justly resisted such a claim, and yet he con-
eludes by a most uncalled-for and unwarrantable
concession. It is surprising that the Foreign Se-
cretary did not see what a serious mistake he was
committing in proposing a commission. No de-
cision of English authorities would satisfy the
Americans ; and are we to submit to the dictation
of American judges against the verdict of our
countrymen ? To agree to such a silence
is merely to keep up the irritation, to encou-
rage fallacious hopes, and to pave the way for
further misunderstanding and dispute. When will
Lord RUSSELL learn the value of a prompt and de-
cided negative ? Had he shown anything like firm-
ness or resolution at the outset of this war, no Ame-
rican ambassador would have dared to address such
language to a Minister of the British Crown as he
does in this correspondence. Mr. ADAMS is, of
course, quick to see the flaw in his adversary's
armour, and does not lose a moment in taking
advantage of it. He awaits the instructions
of his Government before he can reply to
it, but he does not abate one atom of
his pretensions, and it is very evident from his
concluding sentences that he believes his threats
have produced their due effects. The " coldness
and apathy." of England, the " strong sense of in-
jured feeling" in the United States, are forcibly
dwelt upon, and even his forced courtesy bears the
appearance of a wonderful effort of magnanimity
towards those who have deeply injured him and his
country. It is such language as we might suppose
JEFFERSON DAVIS and General LER might have
held had the fortunes of war been different, though
even then no foreign statesman has a right
to dictate to the English Government what
course it shall pursue. But if we ask
ourselves in what degree these injured Federals
were indebted to the assistance of this country for
their success their conduct in this matter
becomes as inconsistent as it is outrageous.
Men and arms are usually considered the two in-
dispensable conditions of war, and to what extent
was America indebted to England for both ? The
tide of emigration pointed in a steady stream west-
ward. Irishmen filled the ranks of the constantly
diminished armies. When the patriotism of Ame-
rican citizens was principally represented by bounty
jumpers, their place was supplied by Irish emigrants.
As for the ammunition it is shown by statistics
that the number of small arms manufactured

t Birmingham never reached to so great a

t,ight as during the American war, and these were
!inveyed direct to the Northern States. How, then,
in the name of common consistency, can the Ameri-
cans accuse us of favouring the South when we sup-
plied the one with unarmed ships and the other
with guns reckoned by tens of thousands The
extravagance of the claim would be absurd. Coming
from any other nation but from one who has pro-
fited so largely by the laxity and partiality of our
Foreign Office, it is really intolerable. The great
cause of offence is the looks of sympathy shown by
"an influential section" towards the North.
Wile English could not be made to see
that what was white in the reign of
GEORGE 111. was black in the reign of
Queen VICTORIA. Had the right of secession been
claimed by the New England States, we apprehend
that the verdict would have been different. As it is
those same states are discontented because the rich
fields of the South are not partitioned amongst
them. Perhaps Mr. ADAMS thinks that a diplomatic
commission may end in some nice little compromise,
such as that mislaying of the map which lost us the
State of Maine, and he relies upon extorting a good
deal from the Whig love of peace and dread of war.
Her MAJESTY'S Government probably hopes to tide
over the winter by their imprudent proposal, but
temporising is always short sighted. England will,
we hope, never refuse to recognise her just liabili-
ties, but the Yankees might with just as much
reason ask us to clear off their national debt as to
compensate them for the damage done by the
cruisers. Will they compensate us for the damage
done to Lancashire by the blockade ? Will they
repay us for the cost of putting down Fenianism,
which they have openly supported and encouraged ?
Happily, though the Foreign Secretary holds the
pen, the House of Commons holds the purse ; and,
in spite of electoral deficiencies, the public spirit of
Englishmen is too surely represented at St. Stephen's
to admit of the liquidation of any such preposterous
demands.

DISCOVERY OF A WRECK IN THE TYNE.—FINDING
OF AN OLD BREECH-LOADING GUN.—On Friday
last, while the River Tyne Commissioner's dredger No. 4
was at work above Messrs. Leslie's iron shipbuilding yard,
Hebburn, the buckets met with an obstruction, and upon
an examination being made, it proved to be the wreck of
an old clinker-built vessel, which appeared to have been
embedded a considerable depth in the water for a number
of years. Upon portions of the wreck being brought up,
there was discovered among it an old wrought-iron breech-
loading gun, of about 6 feet in length, and having a 2-inch
bore of a conical form. A portion of the breech was, upon
examination, found to have been broken off.
THE WAY TO HEALTH.—I have suffered more
from illness than most men, and have only found
two medicines, two physicians that never failed—the desert
and the lofty mountain. The dry air of the upper Alps is
as the life-giving breath of a puror and higher world. No
doubt much must be ascribed to the good effect of the ex-
ercise that one takes in Switzerland; but the very fact
that that country affords so many incentives to exertion,
may be set down among its medical advantages. Mr.
Michie bears similar testimony to the effect of a similar
atmosphere in Russian Asia. " The constant exposure,'
he says, "to the clear bracing Siberian air was certainly
most beneficial ; and I am convinced of this, that with
all its ice and snow, there is no finer—that is, more
salubrious—climate in the world than Siberia." In the
Alpine zone, from about 5,000 to 7,000 feet, in which
trees end, where rhododendrons, gentians, ranunculi,
and anemones are found, and which impinges on the region
of eternal snow, the appetite rapidly improves, digestion be-
comes easy, the blood is purified, the breathing is fuller, the
nerves are now strung, muscular force increase; the
heart beats oftener and stronger, the blood is thrown more
upon the lungs and skin, the processes of chymification
and chylification are quickened, there is an increase of red
arterial blood, and the spirits rise in a corresponding degree.
Many of the victims of too sedentary or luxurious civilisa-
tion soon find among the Alps that they are approaching
the physique of the guides themselves, though a long inter-
val may still remain. Pale faces become ruddy and brown,
the breast expands, fatty degeneration gives place to firm
muscle, melancholy to liveliness, and nervousness to nerve.
—Blackwood's .3lagazinefor October.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

ROME.

ROME, OCT. 11.

Yesterday a party of 10 Pontifical gendarmes
encountered a band of brigands near Spurgola, and
effected the release, without any payment to the
brigands, of a prisoner for whom they demanded a
ransom of 12,000 crowns.

that the malady will not have the same intensity as
even in 1854, when far fewer victims were carried
off than in 1849 and 1832.

The sanitary returns from' the South of France
continue to be extremely favourable. At Marseilles
on the Bth there were 20 deaths, 8 from cholera ; at
Toulon, on the same day, 18 deaths, 7 from the epi-
demic ; at Aries, 10 deaths, 7 from cholera ; at Aix,
no new case had been declared; and at Nismes, on
the 7th, only one had been registered. The sub-
scription opened at Marseilles in favour of the fami-
lies attacked has reached the sum of 103,826 fr.

The Mayor of Marseilles has published a notice to
the effect that, in consequence of the decrease of
cholera, both in that and in the neighbouring towns,
and of the general amelioration of the public health,
the ten medical dispensaries hitherto kept open
during the night will henceforth cease to be so.
Marshal Canrobert is continuing the inspection
of the military establishments and forts in his com-
mand. Two days back he visited Vincennes and
the Fort of Nogent, and afterwards the Hospital St.
Martin and the Fort of Aubervilliers.
The Journal de Rennes has received a first warn-
ing from the Prefect of Ille-et-Vilaine, for an article
in which " the writer persists in making unjust im-
putations against the Administration, and blames in
very reprehensible terms the exercise of a right
which it holds from the constitution and the law of
May 5, 1855, such attacks being of a nature to ex-
cite discontent amonst the population, and lead to
contempt of the Government."
The bulletin of the Paris Observatory gives the
following as the atmospheric situation yesterday :
" The gale of Monday, arrested by the strong pres-
sures which prevailed in the north of Russia, still
remains on the western coasts of France. It con-
tinues to exercise its influence over the British
islands also ; at the same time it threatens the
Channel and the North Sea, and afterwards the
Baltic. The gales which blew on the coasts of Pro-
vence have invaded Italy, where storms are signalised
at Rome and Naples. They are likely to continue."
in Paris yesterday the sky was cloudy in the morn-
ing, but no rain fell, and later in the day the weather
was fine and bright. At three in the afternoon the
thermometer marked 19 8-10 Cent. (67 4-5 Fahr).

In consequence of the sudden change in the
weather the orange trees of the Tuileries gardens
are now being removed to the conservatories for the

winter.

M. Bougeard, condemned to four months' impri-
sonment for his book " Marat ;" and M. Guillot,
responsible editor of the Rive-Gauche, sentenced to
two months, have constituted themselves prisoners
at S te-Pelagie.

BOURSE, Oct. 11.—Two o'Clock.—The market
has been well sustained since the opening, and an
advance has taken place in many securities.
Threes, for the Account, are doing at 67f. 85c.
Italian Fives are unv&ried. Credit Mobilier Shares
have gained 7f. 50c., viz., 850 f. Lombard Shares
have advanced 6f. 25c., viz., 436 f. 25c. Saragossa
Shares are offered at 262 f. 50c., with a fall of 7f.
50c. Mexican continues in favour, with a further
advance of -34- per cent., the present quotation being
49. A rise of * per cent. in Consols encourages
buyers. Three o'Clock.—A retrograde movement
has taken place, and the market has closed A the
following lower prices :

4} per Cents 96 --
Do. end month — ____

--- -----
3 per Cents. — 67 771
Do. end month 67 75

Ditto Threes —
Roman
Mexican Loan
_4Bl _

Credit Mobilier 842 50
Do. end month 843 75
Bank Shares 3600
Credit Foncier 1315 17-

Do. Bonds 3l7' 50
Russian -
Austrian
Spanish Throes
Home Debt —
Deferred

Italian Loan 65 20
Do. end month 65 15

VATS.
Cash. Acct.
817 50

Orleans
Northern

- - ... 1087 50
- - 857 50
- - ... 562 t 0
- 530 -
- - ... 533 75
- - 612 50
- - 402 50
- - 435 -
- - 201 25
- - 256 25

... 205 -

LITERATURE.

Charles Dickens's Serial Story,

Our Mutual Friend. By Charles Dickens. No.
XVIII. Chapman and Hall.
Such a dressing as we very much fear no
scoundrel ever yet received in reality—a drubbing
to a t—a thwacking finished off to the minutest
weal in a very trellis-work or embroidery of
weals upon the recipient's back and shoulders—we
have here described, in refreshingly vivid cha-
racters, as having been administered to Pubsey
and Co., in the person of Mr. Fledgeby by
the avenging muscular energies of Mr. Alfred
Laramie, late of Sackville-street, and still of the
gingerous whiskers and the too-much nose ! " A
Few Grains of Pepper," the chapter, containing an
account of this most exemplary punishment, is
significantly entitled. The cries of the vic-
tim—that Tingling - Tossing - Aching - Screaming-
Scratching-Smarter, as Miss Jenny Wren calls
him with a sort of gusto—still ring very pleasantly
in our ears, as we think of it—" Ugh ! Ow ! ow !
ow ! Oh my eye 1 Oh Lord !" Nay, we yet seem
to behold him, as Jenny beheld him at the very last,
" plunging and gambolling all over his bed like a
porpoise or dolphin in its native element !" Re-
membering, too, with a chuckle of satisfaction the
artistic sprinkling of a little pepper, just a few grains,
all over the six large plasters of brown paper steeped
in vinegar, applied to his excoriations by the hand
of the Dolls' Dress-maker ! And disposed to regret,
with little Jenny, after all, that those few grains of
pepper had not been mingled with a taste of
cayenne and just the least suspicion in the world of
chopped pickled capsicum. However—barring those
two slight oversights—this trouncing of Mr.Fledgeby
of the Albany, otherwise of the Messrs. Pubsey and
Co. of St. Mary Axe, is accomplished, it will be found,
to the reader's very heart's content—almost, we had
said, to just absolute perfection. In the very next
chapter to the one containing the record of this
fitting close to the usurious career of Little Eyes,
we find the good old Jew Riah—Fledgeby's agent
and hight by him " that Dodgerest of Dodgers"
—driven forth into the streets by that same amiable
young man his late employer, with a curt and brutal
" Get out !" Wandering thereupon through the
streets, hand in hand, with the poor little crippled
golden-haired Dressmaker of the Dolls, Mr. Riah and
Jenny Wren, meet by chance with the dead body of
poor little Jenny's drunken old dog of a father then
and there borne by them upon a stretcher.
The whole of this portion of the story is wonderfully
written—written as Boz and Boz alone could write it !
The " solitary members of the drunken tribe" hover-
ing about the purlieus of Covent-garden Market, at
the small hours of the morning, are depicted
here with the marvellously realistic pencil of the
Author of the Sketches. Their finding companion-
ship—these wretchedest of all the wretched waifs
and strays of intoxication about the metropolis—
may be in the beer and gin " slopping about among
the carters and hucksters," maybe in the trodden
vegetable refuse, " so like their own dress, that, per-
haps, they take the Market for a great wardrobe !"
Their presenting to view, as the very acme of such
obscene spectacles of misery, "dozing women-drunk-
ards" that you will seek for elsewhere in vain I—it is
altogether a terrible picture ! " Open to the day no-
where else," says our great delineator of the London
Streets and their motley population, " open to the
day nowhere else are such stale vapid rejected cab-
bage-leaf and cabbage-stalk dress, such damaged-
orange countenance, suchsquashedpulp of humanity I"
And here, among them, he tells us—(this gentle
philanthropist, who, with the lightest touch of
his pen as a novel-writer, has often before now
effected more practical good in the amelioration of
crying abuses than one half the Lords and Commons
in Parliament assembled)—here, among these miser-
able creatures, " there is a swarm of young savages
always flitting about this same place, creeping off
with fragments of orange chests and mouldy litter--
Heaven knows into what holes they convey them,
having no home ! —whose bare feet fall with a blunt
dull softness on the pavement, as the policeman hunts
them, and who are (perhaps for that reason) little
heard of by the Powers that be, whereas in top boots
they would make a deafening clatter I" By them it is
that that Bad ()Mid Mr. Dulls—through " the Hor-
rors" and " the Trembles," and drunken dozings,
and all sorts of foul bespatterments, is hunted
through the last phases of the deadliest intoxica-
tion 1 Until, under the appearance of a mere
bundle of torn rags, strapped down upon a
stretcher, the degraded creature is borne (dead) into
the Doctor's—" the window becoming from within
a wall of faces, deformed into all kinds of shapes
through the agency of globular red bottles, green bottles,
blue bottles, and other coloured bottles." A horrible
interior, painted with all the minuteness of one of the
old Dutch painters! Then comes the final ceremony
of all—the funeral of Mr. Dolls the Drunkard—the
wretched old fellow, after that previous carrying of
him through the streets, seeming (we are told) to be
twice buried. Half-a-dozen blossom-facedmen taking
him on their shoulders, and shuffling with him to the
churchyard, preceded by another blossom-faced man,
"affecting a stately stalk, as if he were a policeman of
the D(eath) Division, and ceremoniously pretending
not to know his intimate acquaintances as he led the
pageant 1" Finally—the troublesome deceased being
at last got into the ground, to be buried no more—
we have a glimpse of the stately stalker stalking
back before the one poor little mourner, the solitary
dressmaker, "as if she were bound in honour to have no
notion of knowing the way home"—When—" those
Furies the conventionalities, being thus appeased"—he
leaves her !
The exquisite scene that follows in the next chapter
where the Dolls' Dressmaker (having been summoned
by Mortimer Lightwood to the seeming deathbed
of poor mutilated Eugene Wrayburn) "discovers a
word" is so full of tenderness and tears that we
shrink from marring its effect by anything like
deliberate and minute analysis, even by an attempt
at illustrating its intrinsic beauty by means of any
mere fragmentary quotations. " Effect is given to
the Doll Dressmaker's discovery" in the final
chapter of the number—this happy effect of a
subtle discovery, being nothing less, after all,
than the marriage, by the Rev. Frank Milvey, of
Lizzie Hexam and Eugene Wrayburn, to the ulti-
mate astonishment, we may presume, of 0. R. F.,
to the complete satisfaction, we may rest perfectly
well-assured of every reader of 0. M. F., and to the
pure and unselfish delight of that dear fellow, Mor-
timer Lightwood, one of the most charming cha-
racters in the whole story, and that simply because
so utterly unselfish in the warmth and depth of his
self-abnegatory friendship. Bradley Headstone's
dropping down in a fit upon the railway platform
as the train speeds off with Mr. and Mrs. Milvey
on their way to this same marriage ceremony, is
noticeable among the graver incidents recounted
in this October nuaiber--as, among the very
liveliest portions of it, there stands forth, in
laughter-proving vividness cf verisimilitude that arch
representative of the genus SPRODGKIN, as it must
infallibly come to be called henceforth—simply by
reason of her appropriately ridiculous name—Mrs.
Sprodgkin to wit ! Speaking of the Rev. Frank and
Mrs. Milvey as being just then upon the eve of
starting post haste to the suddenly-improvised mar-
riage of Eugene Wrayburn, saith our Novelist of
what we have but just now called—
THE ARCHTYPE OF THE GENUS SPRODGKIN.
That worthy couple were delayed by a portentous old
parishioner of the female gender, who was one of the
plagues or their lives, and with whom they bore with most
exemplary sweetness and good humour, notwithstanding
her having an infection of absurdity about her, that com-
municated itself to everything with which, and everybody
with whom, she came in contact. She was a member of
the Reverend Frank's congregation, and made a point of
distinguishing herself in that body, by conspicuously
weeping at everything, however cheering, said by the
Reverend Frank in his public ministrations ; also by
applying to herself the various lamentations of David,
and complaining in a personally injured manner (much in
arrear of the clerk and the rest of the respondents) that her
enemies wore digging pitt falls about her, and breaking
her with rods of iron. Indeed, this old widow discharged
herself of that portion of the Morning and Evening Service
! as if she were lodging a complaint on oath and applying
for a warrant before a magistrate. But this was not her
I most inconvenient characteristic, for that took the form
I of an impression, usually recurring in inclement weather
and at about daybreak, that she had something on her
mind and stood in immediate need of the Reverend Frank
to come and take it off. Many a time had that kind crea-

ture got up, and gone out to Mrs. Sprodgkin (such was
the disciple's name), suppressing a strong sense of her
comicality by his strong sense of duty, and perfectly
knowing that nothing but a cold would come of it.
However, beyond themselves, the Reverend Frank Mil-
vey and Mrs. Milvey seldom hinted that Mrs. Sprodg-
kin was hardly worth the trouble she gave ; but both
made the best of her, as they did of all their troubles.
This very exacting member of the fold appeared to be
endowed with a sixth sense, in regard of knowing when
the Reverend Frank Milvey least desired her company,
and with promptitude appearing in his little hall. Conse-
quently, when the Reverend Frank had willingly engaged
that he and his wife would accompany Lightwood back,
he said, as a matter of course,—" We must make haste to
get out, Margaretta, my dear, or we shall be descended on
by Mrs. Sprodgkin." To which Mrs. Milvey replied, in
her pleasantly emphatic way, " Oh yes, for she is such a
marplot, Frank, and does worry so !" Words that were
scarcely uttered when their theme was announced as in
faithful attendance below, desiring counsel on a spiritual
matter. The points on which Mrs. Sprodgkin sought
elucidation being seldom of a pressing nature (as TVho begat
Whom, or some information concerning the Amorites), Mrs.
Milvey on this special occasion resorted to the device of
buying her off with a present of tea and sugar, and a loaf
and butter. These gifts Mrs. Sprodgkin accepted, but still
insisted on dutifully remaining in the hall, to curtsey to
the Reverend Frank as he came forth. Who, incautiously
saying in his genial manner, " Well, Sally, there you are !"
involved himself in a discursive address from Mrs. Sprodg-
kin, revolving around the result that she regarded tea and
sugar in the light of myrrh and frankincense, and consi-
dered bread and butter identical with locusts and wild
honey. Having communicated this edifying piece of in-
formation, Mrs. Sprodgkin was left still unadjourned in the
hall, and Mr and Mrs Milvey hurried in a heated condition
to the railway station. All of which is here recorded to
the honour of that good Christian pair, representatives
of hundreds of other good Christian pairs as conscien-
tious and as useful, who merge the smallness of their work
in its greatness, and feel in no danger of losing dignity
when they adapt themselves to incomprehensible hum-
bugs.
With which exquisitely ludicrous sketch of another,
not individual, but entire class of our fellow-creatures,
hitherto overlooked, but here at last touched off
to the very life, serio-comically, by the pen-point of
our great Humorist—let us close our notice of the
Eighteenth Number of " Our Mutual Friend :" now,
according to the bookseller's announcement, within
less than a fortnight from the date of its complete
publication. Already—before the close of it has
made its appearance—we may with confidence
pronounce it to be one of the most remark-
able among the more highly elaborated and
thoroughly artistic productions of Charles Dickens
as a Novelist—a book that upon the whole is fully
upon a level, as a work of art, with the majority of
his world-famous fictions.

•
‘01111.4 6111111111:

The Royal Family in the Highlands.

-

Her Majesty, accompanied by the Princess Helena
and the Marchioness of Ely, left Balmoral on
Tuesday morning in a four-horse coach, on a three
days' visit to the Dowager Duchess of Athole, at
Dunkeld. 'The royal party passed Braemar at
11 a.m., and proceeding over the Cairnwell and by
the Spittal of Glenshee, taking luncheon about a
mile south of Spittal. The Duchess of Athole was
expected to meet the royal party on the road. The
servants and luggage passed through Blairgowrie 00
their way to Dunkeld, with more appearance then
the royal party, who, it is'understood, wish to travel
quietly.

The Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse, travel'
ling under the title of the Count and Countess
Staufenberg, arrived at Inverness on Saturday, on
their way to Balmoral.

The Duke and Duchess of Sutherland are enter-
taining a large party at Dunrobin Castle, Suther-
landshire. The Duke and Duchess of Manchester haV
joined the party from their seat in the north of Ireland.
The Duke Vallambrosa, Lord and Lady Bagot, Lord Albert
and Lord Ronald Leveson-Gower, Mr. Lascelles, and other
friends have assembled there. On Tuesday and Wednesday
last the annual meeting of the volunteer rifle corps toolc
place at Dunrobin on the lawn between the castle and the
sea shore. The duke and duchess and their friends were
present both days. The great prize was carriedoff by Cal?
thin Peacocke.

The Duchess (Dowager) of Sutherland is staying
with the Duke and Duchess of Argyll at Inverary Castle,
Argyleshire. It is not the intention of the Duchess to g°
to Dunrobin this autumn.

The Duchess Dowager of Athole arrived at
Dunkeld on Friday last, from visiting Mr. and Lady Anne
H. Drummond-Moray at Abercairny, their seat in Perth'
shire.

The Marquis of Carmarthen and Sir Joseph and
Lady Bailey have arrived at Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley'
square.

The Countess of Lucan has arrived at the
Alexandra Hotel from Harrogate.
Viscount and Viscountess Chelsea have within
the last few days left Ashdown Park, where they had been
staying on a visit to the Earl and Countess Craven, for
tour in Norfolk.

Viscount Falkland has left the St. George's
Hotel.

Lord Edward St. Maur is about to leave town
for a tour in India. It is expected his lordship will leaYe
in the course of the week.

The Hon. Frederick and Lady Elizabeth Villiers
left town on Tuesday to join the Countess (Dowager) 0.
Jersey at St. Loonards-on-Soa.
Lady Augusta Poulett has left Thomas's Hotel
for Eastbourne.

Lady Grant, Mrs. and the Misses Appack have
arrived at the Alexandria Hotel, Hyde-park-corner.
The Right Hon. T. Milner Gibson left town
yesterday for Theberton House, Saxmundham.

- Sir John and Lady Haringtofi have left FO'
rance's Hotel for Scotland.
PRINCE AMADEUS of SAVOY.—The intended
visitof Prince Amadeus to Aldershot was yesterday Pit
off. His royal highness and suite, accompanied by hd
Excellency the Italian Minister and Count Maffei, visit
Windsor Castle and the home farm, &c. His Royal Hier.
ness.the Duke de Chartres called at the Italian Legatioll,,
yesterday, with the view of paying a personal visit tv
Prince Amadeus, but after staying nearly an hour, 0613.6
to the prince's absence at Windsor, returned to his Ivor
deuce at Ham-common.

---
LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.—Messrs. Hurst ILud
Blackett announce in their List of Works in preparation
" The Memoirs and Correspondence of Field Marshal VlO
count Combermere."—The second and concluding volute°
of Miss Meteyard's " Life of Josiah Wedgwood," with 301)
Illustrations.--,, From Cadet to Colonel ; the Record of
Life of Active Service," by Majot-General Sir Thoul°
Seaton.—" Religious Life on the Continent," by 3-I°.
Oliphant.—The third and fourth volumes of the 11°11;
Grantley Berkeley's "Life and Recollections."—" SP`clf,„.
and Sportsmen," by Charles Stretton, Esq.—" Social
in Florence," by Count Arrivabene. Among the see3°
Publisher's forthcoming New Novels are "Agnes," by /11'9,,'
Oliphant.—" A Noble Life," by the Author of "
Halifax."—" Hester's Sacrifice," by the Author of "
Olave's."—" Fides, or the Beauty of Mayence," by
13.1
Lascelles Wraxall, Bart.—" Chronicles of Dartmoor,"
Mrs. Marsh.—" The Clyffards of Clyde;'' and Works by ti'"
Hon. Mrs. Norton, the Rev. J. M. Bellew, Mark Letoevl
Walter Thornbury, the Author of "No Church," t'll°
Author of " Grandmother's Money," &c.
f
A BALL IN A BEER BARBELL. In the garden - o
a restaurateur at Vienna there had existed since 1853 511
enormous beer-barrel, the capacity being such that.the
terior had been converted into a room for dancing. 033
nights back a ball took place there, which visitors did '3'3.,
leave till three in the morning. At half-past four, 5'713:1
all was quiet, an alarm of fire was given, and the bars,,-
was found to be in flames. In the course of two halve,
spite of all the efforts of the proprietors, it was reduced "
ashes. The loss is estimated at 40,000 f.
I,,nt
CHOLERA AT EPPING.--A local corresponuv-0
sends the following report, but we have as yet 13
evidence that the cases referred to are of the Asiatic 15
of cholera ;—" The inhabitants of Epping and the ncighf
bourhood are now in considerable alarm in consequence
the outbreak of cholera at Thoydon, a village about a
and a half distant. Dr. Elliott, the medical officer to t',
West Ham Local Board of Health, at the usual ordiaTo
meeting, called attention to the subject. He said he g
received a communication from Dr. M'Nab, who, dorl'of
the past few days, had been attending a family that 11101
been attacked by cholera. The house in which it
..,)313a
raged was situated on a hill. The lady of the house, "t,
had just returned from a watering-place, was the first4et
tacked. The husband then fell ill and died. The dallgooo
was next seized by the disease ; and afterwards the
was attacked, and died. The groom was also attac/0D "01
and died. He had further heard that two children or
been attacked by cholera that day, and also that the sod
geon attending had been seized; and it was even rule°llo'
that he livid died. From inquiries made yesterday 131°,3(A
ing, however, the alleged death of the surgeon i°
corroborated. The other deaths are, however, reltrtioll,
The Westham Board of Health, on the recomnieur
of Dr. Elliott, at once appointed an extra inspect°
nuisances."