The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, ...LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 6, 18b5.

vantage of the Prussians when they are not quite
so omnipotent as they are now, nor so unwisely
allowed to have their own way.

Austrian affairs are also most confused
and complicated at present, and, notwith-
standing the great exertions that are being
made by the Government, very little is really
being effected, and it cannot be said that any prac-
tical result has been arrived at. The Ban of
Croatia has been summoned to the Council at
Vienna, and his departure from Agram was the
signal for a kind of demonstration being made.
One of:the national party addressed him, and urged
upon him the necessity of making known to the
Imperial Government the state of public feeling in
that locality. M. CEPULIST, as Vice-President of
the Diet of the three united kingdoms of
Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia, declared
that it was expedient to tell the E3l-
- that they had no other wish than
to see their native country form part of a great,
undivided, and constitutional Austria, "all the com-
ponent parts of which shall enjoy equal privileges."
It was also stated to the Ban, as part of his mes-
sage, that great regret was experienced at the with-
drawal from the Diet of many members who disa-
greed as to the interpretation of the Standing Orders.
These dissentients have referred the case in question
to the Imperial Government as an arbitrator, in-
stead of settling the matter at home.
It is stated that the EMPEROR is, on the whole,
dissatisfied with the doings of the Ban, and
perhaps this is no more than we might
have expected under the circumstances of the case.
Talk as they may, there is no real desire on the part
of the Imperial Government to witness an inde-
pendent constitution, or a free expression of opinion,

in the several States of the Empire. The difficulties
that environ the Austrians doubtless afford satisfac-
tion to the Cabinet of Berlin. The wily BISMARCK
has never been at a loss to take advantage of the
troubles of others ; and, be they friend or foe,

it is all the same. It is said that a
semi-official paper has denied the assertions
of a Paris journal, to the effect that Herr
Herr von BISMARCK instructed the President of the
Bank of Prussia to raise the rate of the 9th May dis-
count should any Prussian banking house take up
any of the Austrian Loan. This may or may not
be true, but it shows the state of things when such
a rumour gets afloat, and the credence that has
been attached to it speaks volumes as to the con-
duct of the Prussian Minister. It would seem as if
the two German Powers could neither be honest,

fair, nor faithful friends according to the interpreta-
tion of the terms by the laws of chivalry and

honour.

It seems that the arrangements entered into with
the Bhootanese are not at all of a satisfactory na-
ture. It has from the first been a mismanaged
affair, and the last bulletins do not improve its
character. It is said that the Deb-Rajah and his
advisers, who have all along inclined to the pacific
side, have intimated to the Engiish authorities that
they will not fight, and will yield to every demand
provided we increase the stipend which was formerly
paid to them for part of the Dooars. This condi-
tion is, we suppose, based upon the acknowledged
intention of the English to retain possession of
all the Dooars, but the notion of an increased
subsidy to the offenders is certainly a strange con-
clusion to the long-pending dispute. Bad as this is,
there is another side to the question which is still
worse. We have always heard of the divided autho-
rity in Bhootan as a fruitful source of evil, but the
latest development of it is that TONGSO PEULOW,
the leader of the mischief, is not inclined to agree
with the pacific theories of the Deb-Rajah, and
means to carry on the war on his own account. The
Deb-Rajah is powerless to deal with him, so that one
of our columns under General TURNER is forced to
undertake the office, and we have accordingly
undertaken the expenses of peace and war at the
same moment. This seems to be a very strange
conclusion to the business, and one which will seri-
ously encumber our Indian Exchequer. Even with
these favourable arrangements, no confidence is
placed in the good faith of the Bhootanese, so that
we seemed to have solved in a most satisfactory
manner the proverb of " How not to do it."

MEDITERRANEAN SUBMARINE TELEGRAPIIS.—Our
Malta correspondent writes as follows, under date
of November 23:—" The interruption which occurred on
the 16th inst., in the Malta and Alexandria cable on the
Benghazi section has at times interfered with the work-
ing of the line. At the present moment, however, lam
informed that the communication is comparatively satis-
factory, though I believe it is not likely to continue
long so. Immediate steps are to be taken to remove the
cause of the present fault, and the telegraph steamer
Hawk, which has just successfully completed the repair
of the Corfu and Otranto cable, is to be at once de-
spatched to Benghazi for this purpose."
STORM AND FLOOD IN TIIE WEST.—During
Sunday and Monday the wind blew with considerable
force from various points, veering from the north-east to
the south and north-west. This occurring simultaneously
with the spring tidos has occasioned floods in some places
and wrecks in others, but the port of Plymouth has escaped
without harm, although the tide on Monday morning was
remarkably high. The tide rose very high at Teignmouth,
and did much damage to the houses near the Den, over
which the waves dashed. Torbay, St. Austen, Mounts
Bay, and other places felt the effects of the storm.
COUNT BISMARCK'S VISIT TO FRANCE.— The
Memorial Diplomatique declared that it is in a posi-
tion to clear up the mystery connected with the recent
somewhat enigmatical article of the Constitutionnel relative
to Count Do Bismarck's visits to Paris and Biarritz. Tho
French journals, our contemporary observes, were very
naturally delicate of entering on the question, not being
very certain how their observations might be received ;
but, as it is not constrained to the same reserve, it has no
hesitation in explaining what is meant. Accordingly it
gives the subjoined particulars :—" In the deep-seated con-
viction of Count De Bismarck, the annexation of the Elbe
Duchies to the Prussian kingdom might be effected with-
out the slightest difficulty, if France would consent to pre-
serve a complete neutrality in face of the arrangements in
which Prussia flatters herself that sooner or later she shall
be able to force Austria to acquiesce. The calculation of
that statesman appears to bo this : neither England nor
Russia will over draw the sword to save the sovereign inde-
pendence of the Duchies. Austria herself, whose finances
so much require to be husbanded, will not have recourse
to war for a cause which in reality does not affect either
her interests or her honour. Not being able to offer to
Austria any territorial compensation for the abandonment
of her rights of co-proprietorship in the Duchies, Count
De Bismarck was disposed to offer to the Vienna Cabinet
a very large pecuniary indemnity, considerable enough,
indeed, to relieve efficaciously all its financial embarrass..
ments. If we aro well informed, he even named the sum
of 80,000,000 thalers (300,000,000 francs) as the sum which
Prussia would be ready to pay into the Imperial Treasury
in return for the renunciation by Austria of her rights of
condominium. In order to carry out that project, it became
necessary to place the Vienna Cabinet in the impossibility
of contracting a loan. Count de Bismarck, who is above all
a man of action, himself understood to thwart all the efforts
of M. De Beke, sent to Paris with that object by the Aus-
' trian Minister of Finance. It was not by a simple coinci-
dence that the Prussian statesman left Paris for Berlin on
the day when M. Do Beke left for London to call on the
houses of Baring and Rothschild for a definitive resolution.
The Count knew well that the march of negotiations with
thellNv,hh ießenhohtthei
elcehAairlundstthroio.fauntsheleoaaptur
o:1 Parist
baleenefdnt
concluded
hope of success to
M. De Beke. His disappointment was only the greater,
n
h
tphl
oa
yimarket.esdsubeyOot
ft;
treuireaders
Prussianlo a n know
G ocivueaerlsurtemi
ednny. all satisfactory raiynn
03t mannerhuevrEerseenicni
Government toT dheiscfrreiednitdblyefosruephpaonrat
given on this occasion by the French Government to the
Austrian Treasury speaks very plainly as to the manner in
which the overtures of the Prussian Minister, tending to
obtain that the Court of the Tuilieries should close its eyes
to the bargain he hoped to make with Austria, must have
been received."
PRIVATE BILLS.—An official list was yesterday
issued, showing that the number of plans deposited
at the Private Bill-office of the House of Commons was
450, of which 334 related to railways, and of that number
18 have reference to railways from London to the suburbs.
The number of local bills will be increased by the 23d inst
when copies of all bills must be lodged at the Private Bil
9140 of tho Rome of c 01211119110,

LA TEST INTELLIGENCE.

(RELTTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.

ARRIVAL OF THE CITY OF WASHINGTON.

(Via Roche's Point.)

NEW YORK, Nov. 25 (Morning).

The New York Times says that the Federal Go-
vernment have no ground for demanding the sur-
render of the crew of the Shenandoah.

The American Consul's acceptance of the sur-
render of the Shenandoah as a war vessel precludes
the Federal Government from complaining against
the British authorities for discharging her crew.

The recruiting superintendent of Pennsylvania
has been ordered to despatch 430 cavalry recruits
to the department of the Gulf.
The Governor of Alabama, in his message to the
Legislature, urges the adoption of the constitutional
amendment abolishing slavery, the and passage of a
clause for the protection of negroes.

President Johnson has informed the Governor of
Mississippi that the Federal troops would be with-
drawn as soon as it is manifest that peace and order
can be maintained without them. Measures should
be adopted to give freedmen the necessary protec-
tion to enable them to assume all their constitu-
tional rights.
The Governor of Mississippi, in his message to
the Legislature, recommends that negro testimony
be received in the courts of justice, and that mea-
sures be passed for the protection of negroes and
for the taxation of negroes to support vagrant
blacks. He approved the adoption of a special
code for their government.
The Governor of Louisiana has called a special
session of the Legislature to elect members for Con-
gress.

General Fisk has made a speech, stating that
President Johnson had informed him that he in-
tended to carry out Mr. Lincoln's views and see
the freedom of negroes guaranteed. He might not
believe in their ultimate attainment, but he meant
that they should have a fair chance.

The Freedmen's Bureau would be continued
until the Southern States resolved to deal honestly
and justly by freedmen.
A Radical Republican meeting has been held at
Dr. Checver's church, in New York, at which
speeches were made denouncing President John-
son's reconstruction policy, and declaring him to
be the counsel for the rebel states and the upholder
of the secession doctrine.

Mr. Seddon and ex-Governors Magrath and Lub-
beck have been released Qn parole.
The United States' Circuit Court of Maryland
have decided that the Government tax cannot be
deducted from the interest due to foreign stock-
holders of the American railroads.

Mr. Mackenna, the Chihal envoy. to the United
States, has made a speech at Panama denouncing
the conduct of Spain as a iretext for obtaining a
foothold on American soil.

A cargo of slaves has lately been landed on the
north-west coast of Cuba.
The steamer Gambia left New Orleans on the
24th instant with 1,700 bales of cotton for Liver-
pool.
A steamer has arrived at N*ew York with 3,000
bales of cotton from Apalachilla, Florida.
The British ship MariannuE has been wrecked off
the coast of Georgia. The crew were saved.
A British bark, name unknown, coal laden, has
been driven ashore and abandined off Savana.

Money abundant ; gold, 147 ; Exchange on
London, 160 ; do. on Paris, 3.54 ; Stocks steady ;
New York Centrals, 97 ; Illinois, 133 ; Erie, 934 ;
5-20 Bonds, 1014 ; cotton dull ; Middling Upland,
53 ; flour firmer ; wheat heavy ; corn quiet ; pro-
visions declining ; coffee steady ; sugar good in-
quiry ; molasses dull ; petroleum very firm ; crude,
41 ; refined, 66.

NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 23.
Cotton dull ;ling Upland, 52 to 53 ; sales
to-day 2,200 bEles.

MOBILE, Nov. 23.
Cotton limited demand ; Middling Upland, 50 ;
to-day's sales, 800 bales.

MEXICO.
NEW YORK, Nov. 5 (Morning).

The New York Ihrald publishes adviccs from El
Paso to the 20th October, which state that the Im-
perialists were advancing on that city. It is believed
Juarez would shortly go, via California, to the
Southern provinces of Mexico. Juarez had levied
heavy compulsory loans on the surrounding popula-
tion.

Advices from Rio Grande to November 15, via
New Orleans, state that the Republicans were en-
camped eight miles from Matamoras.
Matamoras papers of the 10th November state
that no further attack on the city was
apprehended.
From Vera Cruz, on the 13th November, it is
announced that the Imperialists had combined
successfully against the guerillas. There is no confir-
mation of the reported withdrawal of the Impe-
rialists from the interior of Mexico.

The Empress, with a large suite, left for Yacatan
on the 6th.

BELGIUM.
THE KING OF THE BELGIANS.
BRUSSELS, DEC. 6.

The ILtoniteur Beige of this morning publishes
the following bulletin respecting the King's health :
" The abdominal symptoms are unaltered. His
Majesty recovers his strength but very slowly.
(Signed) 4' WIMMER.
DE ROUBAIX.

" Palace of Laeken, Dec. 5."

FRANCE.
PARIS, DEC. C.

M. Behic, Minister of Agriculture, has addressed
a report to the Emperor, in which he announces
that two gazelles brought over from England had
infected with contagious typhus divers animals in
the Farm d'Acclimation. An Imperial decree has
consequently been published, by which the decrees
of the sth Sept. last, prohibiting the importation of
such domestic animals as might cause the introduc-
tion of contagious typhus into France, is extended
to all quadrupeds, with the exception of horses,
asses, mules, and dogs.
BOURSE, Dec. s.—Three o'Clock.—The tone of
the market has suddenly changed. Heavy sales
for the close have caused Stock and Shares to de-
cline to even lower prices than yesterday. The
following were the last quotations :

4i. per Cents 97 25 Roman
Do. end month Ottoman Fives -
3 per Cents. 69 Mexican Loan 5O
Do. end month 69 05 Do. Bonds 333 75
Credit Mobilier ... 882 50 Russian -
Do. end month ... 885 Austrian
Bank Shares 3797 50 Spanish Threes ...
Credit Foncier 1330 Rome Debt —
Italian Loan 65 10 Deferred
Do. end month 65 17

Acct.
... 832 50
... 1105 -
- ~. 837 50
... 572 50

222 50

436 25

of the indirect taxes, and for the administration of
justice, have been decided upon by the Government.
The post of Director-General of the Lotteries,
with the staff attached thereto, is suppressed.
The Patria and the Correspondencia state that
the Queen will only return to Madrid after her con-
finement, and therefore will not be present at the
opening of the Cortos.

LITERATURE.

Doctor Marigold's Prescriptions•

Immediately upon the close of the last of his great
serial fictions and after thirty years of most indus-
trious authorship—it is surely very remarkable that
Mr. Dickens should now prove himself to be still
in all the fullness and freshness of his strength as
our Great Master Humorist, as he here incontes-
ably does, in this glorious green number—the
Christmas Number of All the Year Round—" Doctor
Marigold's Prescriptions." In his happiest moments,
he has never, in fact, been in greater force. So far
as the
.limits of his canvass will admit, the pic-
ture drawn here by the hand of this
incomparable Artist may take rank with
his most delightful and felicitous masterpieces. The
character of Doctor Marigold—lightly sketched in
though it is with a few rapid touches—is a creation
as complete and as perfectly inimitable in its
way as any one among the most famous of the other
creations of our Novelist. Mere sketch though it
is, when placed side by side with such highly ela-
borated portraitures as those of Mrs. Gamp or Sam
Weller, of Mr. Pecksniff or of Wilkins Macawber—
Doctor Marigold can hold his own with the very
best among them, and can do this, to our thinking,
even more triumphantly than that dear old
body Mrs. Lirriper I It is so contrary to fact
that (as happens very often with others, after a
good many years of authorship) Mr. Dickens can
be said to have in any way written himself out or
to evidence even anything like the beginning of a
diminution of his powers—that, on the con-
trary, his genius reveals itself to us as
radiantly as ever it did in his life in the pages he
has here devoted to the delineation of Doctor Mari-
gold. In its breadth of humour, in its vivacity, in
its volubility and effervescence, it is as rich and racy
as anything lh " Pickwick." The patter of Doctor
Marigold, who is a Cheap Jack—the very Prince
and Paragon of Cheap Jacks—is as exhilarating
as the talk of Sam Weller when we first
meet with him as Boots in the Borough, or as he
becomes better known to us, still, in the
dialogues that take place afterwards between him-
self and Old. Weller, when Sam has long since
settled down as man- servant to Mr. Pick-
wick. Mr. Dickens's animal spirits—to say nothing
of his genius and its originality are fairly
inexhaustible. They are, quite certainly, as fresh
and buoyant, as elastic and exhilarating as ever
they were—even as they were in his earliest days,
when, at a single bound, he assumed his position in
the very front rank of the imaginative writers of
his age and country. That foremost position
he has since held uninterruptedly. And long,
with God's blessing, may he still continue to hold it
to the delight of the present generation ! That he
does actually retain his rare and some of them in-
comparable powers still well in hand at the point of
that wonderful pen of his with which at pleasure
(not only at his own pleasure, but at ours) he
moves us to tears and to laughter, to exquisite tears
and to innocent laughter, take (as proof positive) the
very opening words of his introduction to "Doctor
Marigold's Prescriptions" :
I am a Cheap Jack, and my own father's name was
Willum Marigold. It was in his lifetime supposed by
some that his name was William, but my own father
always consistently said, No, it was Willum. On which
point I content myself with looking at the argument
this way : —lf a man is not allowed to know his own name
in a free country, how much is he allowed to know in a
land of slavery ? As to looking at the argument
through the medium of the register, William Marigold
came into the world before Registers come up much—and
went out of, it too. They wouldn't have been greatly in
his line neither if they had chanced come up before him.
I was born on the Queen's highway, but it was the King's
at that time. A doctor was fetched to my own mother by
my own father, when it took place on a common ; and in
consequence of his being a very kind gentleman, and ac-
cepting no fee but a tea tray, I was named Doctor, out of
gratitude and compliment to him. There you have me,
Doctor Marigold.
I am at present a middle-aged man, of a broadish build,
in cords, leggings, and a sleeved waistcoat, the strings of
which is always gone behind. Repair them how you will,
they go like fiddle-strings. You have been to the theatre,
and you have seen one of the wiolin players screw up his
wiolin, after listening to it as if it had bean whispering the
secret to him that it feared it was out of order, and then
you have heard it snap. That's as exactly similar to my
waistcoat as a waistcoatand a wiolin can be like one another.
I am partial to a white hat, and I like a shawl round my
neck wore loose and easy. Sitting down is my favourite
posture. If I have a taste in point of personal jewellery,
it is mother-of-pearl buttons. There you have me again,
as large as life.

Recalling to mind, a little later on, the fact that in
his early childhood his head " was flaxen curls,"
Doctor Marigold adds, apologetically, in one of our
author's deliciously ridiculous parentheses, "(though
you wouldn't know an old heath broom from it no w
till you come to the handle and found it wasn't me !)"
The first genuine display of Doctor Marigold's genius
(for it is nothing less) for the Cheap Jack patter is
afforded through his reminiscence of his own father,
old Willum's, dying speech—delivered profession-
ally—from between the blankets. Where the
poor used-up old Cheap Jack, " without a tooth
in his head and with a pain in every bone,"
puts himself up for the highest bidder, offering
amongst other inducements, when he can't get
any bid at all, to " throw you in a warming pan for
nothing and lend you a toasting fork for life I" After-
wards we have Doctor Marigold's own matchless
parallel between his professional patter, the
patter of the Cheap Jacks, and the political patter of
what he calls (with a reason) the Dear Jacks, in the
very same market-place—from the platform, not of
a cart,but of the hustings. His own lingo_who but the
realiser to us of a Mrs. Gamp, or of a Mrs. Lirriper,
could ever have dreamt of it ?—" Here's a pair of
razors that'll shave you closer than the Board of
Guardians"—" Here's a genuine chronometer watch,
in such a solid silver case that you may knock at
the door with it when you come home late from a
social meeting, and rouse your wife and family, and
save up your knockers for the postman "—" Stop,
again ! I'll throw you in another article, because
I don't like the looks of you, for you haven't
the appearance of buyers unless I lose by you"—
" Now I won't ask you how much for the lot, but
how little ? How little do you think of ? Don't be
ashamed to mention it ! Why, you're thinking of
three and threepence 1 And a set of printed tables
in the lot that'll calculate your income up to forty
thousand a year ! With an income of forty thou-
sand a year you grudge three and sixpence. Well,
then, I tell you my opinion, I so despise the three-
pence that I'd sooner take thi ee shillings !" Never
was there surely such a Cheap Jack as Doctor Mari-
gold —in another sense than Byron's footpad in
" Doli Juan," (but if possible more intensely)—
"So prime, so flash, so nutty, and so knowing !"
As another—more comprehensive and most charac-
teristic—specimen of his irresistible volubility of
humour, take his record of his own courtship :
"I courted my wife (he says) from the footboard of the
cart. I did indeed. She was a Suffolk young woman, anal
it was in Ipswich market-place right opposite the corn-
chandler's shop. I had noticed her up at a window last
Saturday that was, appreciating highly. I had took to her,
and I said to myself, ' If not already disposed of I'll have that
lot.' Next Saturday that come I pitched the cart on the
same pitch, and I was in very high feather indeed, keep-
ing 'em laughing the whole of the time:and getting off the
goods briskly. At last I took out of my waistcoat-pocket
a small lot wrapped in soft paper, and I put it this way
(looking up at the window where she was), Now here
my blooming English maidens is an article, the last
article of the present evening's sale, which I offer
to only you the lovely Suffolk Dumplings biling
over with beauty, and I won't take a bid
of a thousand pounds for from any man alive. Now, what
is it ? Why, I'll tell youwhat it is. It's made of fine gold,
and it's not broke, though there's a hole in the middle of
it, and it's stronger than any fetter that ever was forged,
though it's smaller than any finger in my sot of ten. Why
ten ? Because when my parents made over my property
to me, I tell you true, there was 12 sheets, 12 towels, 12
tablecloths, 12 knives, 12 forks, 12 tablespoons, and 12
teaspoons, but, my set of fingers was two short of a dozen
and could never since be matched. Now, what else
is it ? Come, I'll tell you. It's a hoop of solid gold,
wrapped in a silver earl-paper that I myself took

off the shining locks of the ever beautiful old lady of
Threadneedle-street, London city. I wouldn't tell you
so if I hadn't the paper to show, or you mightn't believe
it even of me. Now, what else is it ? It's a man-trap
and a handcuff, the parish stocks and a leg-lock, all in gold,
and all in one. Now, what else is it ? It's a wedding ring.
Now I'll tell you what I'm a-going to do with it. I'm not
a-going to offer this lot for money, but I mean to give it to
the next of your beauties that laughs, and I'll pay her a
visit to-morrow morning at exactly half after 9 o'clock as
the chimes go, and I'll take her out for a walk to put up
the banns.' She laughed, and got the ring handed up to
her. When I called in the morning, she says, 'Oh dear '
It's never you, and you never mean it ?" It's ever me,
says I, and lam ever yours, and I ever mean it.' So we
got married, after being put up three times—which, by-the-
by, is quite in the Cheap Jack way again, and shows once more
how the Cheap Jack customs pervade society."

Summing up the delights of being a Cheap Jack,
thus quoth Dr. Marigold :

"We might have had such a pleasant life ! A roomy
cart, with the large goods hung outside and the bed slung
underneath it when on the road, an iron pot and a kettle, a
fireplace for the cold weather, a chimney for the smoke, a
hanging shelf and a cupboard, a dog, and a horse. What
more do you want a You draw off upon a bit of turf in a
green lane or by the roadside, you hobble your old horse
and turn him grazing, you light your fire upon the ashes of
the last visitors, you cook your stew, and you wouldn't call
the Emperor of France your father. But have a temper in
the cart, flinging leaguage and the hardest goods in stock at you,
and where are Nett then ? Put a name to your feelings."
Unhappily, ikowever, his feelings get him down at
times (as he expressively puts it) and roll upon him.
First of all by reason of his wife turning out a terma-
gant—next because of his little four-year-old daugh-
ter, Sophy's, troubles in life and pathetic death in
his arms eventually—and last of all, when his wife
and child are both gone, and when even his adopted
daughter (a deaf and dumb Sophy who has been
introduced to him by a giant named Pickleson) gets
married, and leaves the poor tender-hearted glib-
tongued Cheap Jack to a sense (occasionally a
very profound sense) of solitude and desolation.
How exquisitely Doctor Marigold relates the story
of little Sophy's death in his own arms, while plying
his profession with a wild patter of mingled ten-
derness and absurdity—no one but Doctor Marigold
himself can relate Listening to him as he here
does relate it—one might say of him as he says of
himself elsewhere, under other circumstances, ",You'd
have laughed—or the rewerse—it's according to your
disposition !" In these subtle blendings together
of tears and laughter, of the exquisitely
ludicrous and the exquisitely pathetic, Charles
Dickens is assuredly without his peer in all
literature ! And, here, in little Sophy's instance we
have the latest specimen, and in itself one of the
very loveliest of all the specimens of his exceptional
powers in that way, as master—at his own will and
simultaneously—of our tears and of our laughter.
Proceeding, ostensibly, though the whole of this
soliloquy, as it may be called, of the introduction to
the Christmas Number of All the Year Round, does
from the lips, or rather from the pen-point of a
poor homely Cheap Jack—" a rough chap in a
sleeved waistcoast"—we read it laughing, through
our tears—we read it through our tears, laughing!
What Pickleson the giant (called Rinaldo di
Velasco) had to do with it all—" He was a languid
young man, which I attribute to the distance be -
tween his extremities—He had a little head and less
in it, he had weak eyes and weak knees, and alto-
gether you couldn't look at him without feeling that
there was greatly too much of him both for his
joints and his mind "—How the giant gets tipped
(and why), first with sixpence " (for he was kept as
short as he was long)," afterwards with four-pound-
ten—Whence the title comes, the title of " Doctor
Marigold's Prescriptions" How the happiest of
happy incidents closes the whole record of the
good Cheap Jack's wanderings over England, and
that very comfortably, by the way, at a moment
when he had just "knocked up" (and enjoyed) "a
beefsteak pudding for one, with two kidneys, a
dozen oysters, and a couple of mushrooms thrown in"—
(" It's a pudding, says Dr. MarigOld himself, to
put a man in good-humour with everything except the
two bottom buttons of his waistcoat)"—Doctor
Marigold, and Doctor Marigold alone, can tell as it
all ought to be told. As for the half dozen inter-
mediate stories, here grouped together under the
general heading of the " Doctor's. Prescriptions," in-
cluding amongst them one from Mr. Dickens him-
self —a weird, eltritch story about a Murdered Man's
Ghost (To be Taken with a Grain of Salt)—we have
no thought, honestly speaking, for any one of
them. We have an ear for nothing but the Cheap
Jack's patter. We have an eye for no one but that
rough chap in the sleeved waistcoat, dear, delightful,
supremely pathetic and laughter-moving Doctor
Marigold.

Meeting of Parliament.
(From the Gazette of last night.)
BY THE QUEEN.—A PROCLAMATION.

VICTORIA, R.—Whereas our Parliament stands
prorogued to Thursday, the 28th day of December
instant, we, with the Advice of our Privy Council,
do hereby publish and declare that the said Parlia-
ment shall be further prorogued on the said 28th
day of December instant to Thursday, the Ist day
of February next ; and we have given order to our
Chancellor of that part of our United Kingdom
called Great Britain to prepare a writ patent for
proroguing the same accordingly; and we do hereby
further, with the advice aforesaid, declare our royal
will and pleasure that the said Parliament shall, on
the said Thursday, the Ist day of February next,
assemble and be holden for the despatch of divers
urgent and important affairs ; and the lords spiri-
tual and temporal, and the knights, citizens, and
burgesses, and the commissioners for shires and
burghs of the House of Commons, are hereby re-
quired and commanded to give their attendance
accordingly, at Westminster, on the said Thursday,
the Ist day of February next.
Given at our Court at Windsor, this fifth day of
December, in the year of our Lord, 1865, and
in the 29th year of our reign.
God save the Queen.

A Perfumed Royal Almanack for 1866 has just
been issued from the establishment of Messrs. Napoleon
Price and Company, A dainty little rose-coloured "an-
nual," it may be called—blooming hardily like a winter
flower, but with leaves as fragrant as those of the
flowers of spring, as the leaves of the violet or of the
primrose.

DEPARTURE OF QUEEN EIIMA.—Her Majesty
Queen Emma, of the Sandwich Islands, attended by Major
Hopkins, left Claridge's Hotel yesterday for the south of
France, where her Majesty will pass the winter.

DEMOLITION OF THE COLLEGE, DOCTORS'-COM-
MONS.—The necessary preliminary steps are now
being taken by the Metropolitan Board of Works of grant-
ing compensation to the advocates, proctors, and other
persons resident, or having a vested interest in the college,
Doctors'-commons, previous to the early demolition of the
ancient building, the site of which is required for the for-
mation of the contemplated new street from Blackfriars-
bridge to the Mansion-house.
WILD ANIMALS IN INDIA.—We have before us a
list of animals killed in these provinces during the
first half of this year, with the amount paid for rewards.
Total number of animals killed: Tigers, 359; leopards,
516; bears, 293; wolves, 99; hyaenas, 285; making in all
1,553, for which 23,561r5. Ba. have been expended. The
number of animals killed is larger than the number killed
during the preceding year, the rainy season of 1864, but
is somewhat less than the result attained in the corre-
sponding half-year of 1864. Mr. Campbell hopes this
decrease may be due to an actual decrease in the num-
ber of wild animals.—Central India Times, Oct. 28.

... _
EXTRAORDINARY LONGEVITY. The following
rare illustrations of prolonged existence appeared in
the obituary of the Times of yesterday, where the deaths
of four ladies and three gentlemen are recorded whose
united ages amounted to 602 years, giving an average of
86 years to each. On the 4th inst. the list was almost as
remarkable, as the deaths of five ladies and one gentleman
appeared whose ages amounted to 505 years, or an average
of 84 years and two months to each. Taking the two con-
secutive days it would appear that the united ages of the
nine ladies and four gentlemen amounted to I,lo7,affording
an average of 85 years and rather more than one month
to each. In most of the cases recorded the ladies have had
a considerable advantage in years over the gentlemen, but
not so on the present occasion, where the average ages of
the latter appear to be 88 years and one month and the
ladies 83 years and two months each.
The Port Phillip and Colonial Gold Mining
Company have received a telegram from Melbourne
via Suez, in anticipation of the Australian mail,
giving the results of the two last weeks of Septem-
ber and the two last weeks of October. During
the six weeks of September, 6,884 tons of quartz
were crushed, yielding 3,350 oz., 15 dwts. of gold,
or an average of 9 dwts. 17 qrs. per ton. During
the two weeks of October 2,280 tons of quartz were
crushed, yielding 997 oz. 10 dwts. of gold, or an
average of 8 dwts. 18 qrs. per ton. The remittance
Ls £2,500.

.... ......

-04
Cant '1 tirdat

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, Tuesday.

The Queen, with her Royal Highness Princess
Helena, walked and drove in the grounds this
morning.

His Serene Highness Prince Christian of Schles-
wig-Holstein, attended by the Gentlemen in Wait-
ing, went shooting.
Her Majesty held a Council to-day at one o'clock,
at which were present—Earl Granville, the Lord
Chancellor, the Earl of Clarendon, the Right Hon.
Sir George Grey, and the Right Hon. W. Glad-
stone.

Mr. Chichester Fortescue was presented to the
Queen at an audience, by Sir George Grey, on
being appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland.
Earl Granville, Lord Clarendon, and the Right
Hon. W. Gladstone had audiences of the Queen.
The Earl of Caithness and Lieutenant-Colonel
Kingscote were the Lord and Groom in Waiting.
Mr. Helps was Clerk of the Council.

The Earl of Caithness and Lieutenant-Colonel
Kingscote have succeeded Lord Methuen and the
Hon. Mortimer Sackville West as Lord and Groom
in Waiting.

-4,

The Visit of the Prince and Princess of
Wales to Lord Suffield.
GUNTON PARK, Tuesday.

Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess
of Wales arrived here yesterday afternoon about
four o'clock, having posted from Dereham to Gun-
ton via Reepham and Aylsham, a distance of about
24 miles. Their royal highnesses were accompanied
by the Earl of Dunmore, Lord and Lady Royston,
Lord Suffield, and the Hon. Harbord Harbord ;
the Marchioness of Carmarthen and Lieut.-Colonel
Keppel were in attendance on their royal highnesses.
From East Dereham to Gunton was one continued
series of ovations. The prince had vacated his
seat in the open carriage and joined Lord Suffield
on the box of the break, whence his lordship
managed his four in hand. The princess and the
ladies of the party followed in an open carriage.
The first stay was at Reepham, a very pretty little
town, about equi-distant between Dereham and
Gunton, and it had been arranged to change horses
at the King's Arms. Triumphal arches, flags, , and
decorations there were in great profusion, and
the streets were thronged with spectators. In front
of the King's Arms the 6th Norfolk, or Aylsham
Volunteers, were drawn up under the command of
Adjutant Toke and Captain Scott, and as the
royal cortege entered the town and the crowd
shouted lustily, the volunteers presented arms and
the band played the National Anthem. Whilst the
horses were being changed their royal highnesses
partook of some refreshment, and the band played
" God bless the Prince of Wales." After a stay of
about 10 or 15 minutes the royal travellers proceeded
through several smiling villages, followed every-
where by the good wishes of the yeomanry and
peasantry, who mustered all along the country side.
At Aylsham, the- last town to be passed through,
hearty and loyal efforts had been put forth to give
their royal highnesses a fitting reception.
The decorations throughout the town were very
good, and the mottoes thoroughly in character.
The tenantry and local yeomanry, by the express
wish of Lord Suffield, rode out to meet the cortege,
and had got as far as Alby Horse Shoes, where
they lined each side of the road for their royal high-
nesses to pass through, afterwards bringing up the
rear and acting as an escort. A great number of
carriages of every description, heavily freighted with
human beings, had also assembled from Cromer,
Holt, North Walsham, and the neighbourhood ;
and, tired as by this time their royal highnemes must
have been with their long-continued bowing, they
charmed everybody with the apparent pleasure with
which they returned the greetings of the populace.
More triumphal arches.; and, finally, they had en-
tered this magnificent park, in which but a very
select few were admitted ; and thus terminated a
journey marked by the most loyal and enthusiastic
conduct. Fortunately the weather, which in the
morning -was wet and uncomfortable, cleared, and
was very bright and beautiful the whole of the way.
The company staying at the hall have been arriv-
ing all day, and include the following :—The Prince
and Princess of Wales, Lieut.-Col. Keppel, Equerry
in Waiting ; the Marchioness of Carmarthen, Lady
in Waiting ; the Earl and Countess of Leicester,
the Earl and Countess Spencer, the Earl of Dun-
more, Lord and Lady Rendlesham, Lord and Lady
AlfredPaget, Lord and Lady Royston, Lord Berke-
ley Paget, &c.
During dinner last evening the band of the East
Norfolk Militia performed a selection of airs.

It is understood that the royal and distinguished
sportsmen staying with Lord Suffield will commence
shooting this morning in the park, which is about
1,000 acres in extent, and which has been reserved
for two years, in order to afford some splendid
battue shooting on this occasion. A grand ball takes
place this evening, and to provide accommodation
for those invited, the Hotel de Paris and other sleep-
ing accommodation at Cromer has been secured
by Lord Suffield. The Prince of Wales will have
one or two more days in the Gunton preserves, and
probably have a " day out" with Lord Hastings's
hounds, and will leave on Friday or Saturday, his
Royal Highness having promised to honour Lord
Sondes by lunching with him at Elmham, from
which station his Royal Highness will proceed to
Sandringham by special train.

O-

Marriage of the Princess Helena.
(From the Gazette of last night)

At the Court of Windsor, the sth day of Decem-
ber, 1865, present—the Queen's Most Excellent
Majesty in Council. Her Majesty in Council was
this day pleased to declare her consent to a contract
of matrimony between her Royal Highness the
Princess Helena Augusta Victoria and his Serene
Highness Prince Frederic Christian Charles Augus-
tus of Schleswig Holstein Sonderburg Augusten-
burg ; which consent her Majesty has also caused
to be signified under the Great Seal.

--0--

THE PRINCESS LOUISE.—Her Royal Highness
the Princess Louise and suite honoured the performance of
" Rip Van Winkle," at the Adelphi Theatre, with their
presence last night. Her Royal Highness returned to
Windsor by special train at 10.30 p.m. The train wag
fitted with the electric system of communication between
passengers and guards.
His Excellency the Belgian Minister and Madame
Van de Weyer have arrived at their residence in Arlington-
street, from their seat near Windsor.
The Marquis of Bowmont has returned to the
Clarendon Hotel.
The Marquis d'Andigne has returned to the
Clarendon Hotel from Do wnham Hall.
The Earl and Countess of Dudley have arrived
at Dudley House, Park-lane, from Paris. In a day or two
they leave London for Witley Court, Worcestershire.
The Earl and Countess of Stamford and War-
rington's shooting party assembled at Enville Hall, Staf-
fordshire, one of the family residences, and not at Greville
Hall, as stated yesterday in error.
Viscount Hill is entertaining a shooting party at
his seat, Hawkstone Park, Salop.
Lord Brabazon has arrived in town from the
Earl and Countess of Meath's seat in the county Wicklow,
Ireland.
The Right Hon. Chichester Fortescue, M.P., the
newly-appointed Secretary for Ireland, will leave town on,
Saturday, accompanied by Frances Countess Waldegrafer
for Dublin, to enter upon his official duties.
The Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., M.P.,
expected to arrive from Ireland on Saturday next. Lady
Emily Peel is in town.

THE JAMAICA INSURRECTION.--A public meet-
ing was held at Brighton on Monday night to memorialiS6
the Government to institute a prompt inquiry as to the
insurrection in Jamaica, and its suppression. The incra°-
rial calling for investigation was unanimously adopted.
Mr. White, Mr. Coningham, and Professor Fawcett were
present, and addressed the meeting ; and letters of apologi
were road from Mr. Dodson and Lord E. Cavendish, the
county members. Mr. White freely expressed his iudig'
nation at Governor Eyre's proceedings as U trotted .1
himself. Professor Fawcett desired to say nothing to coto
w
mit himself on a matter whereon he would be called ou
deal judicially in the House of Commons, but he 01011014
there should be an immediate and searching iliitlirY'