The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-02 00:00:00

THE NORTHAMPTONSHIRE STAKES.

The following remarks on the two-mile handicap, the
Northamptonshire Stakes, are from the Echo :—"Here old
Romping Girl heads the list, and worthily, for this dis-
tance exactly suits her capabilities, though she can hardly
concede the weight to several candidates lower in the
scale. The four-year-olds are very well represented,
and several are most favourably weighted. A brace of
dark horses, much talked about last season, Royal Head
and Vansittart, are entered here, as well as in the Chester
Cup, and they may be expected to figure conspicuously
for one of the coming handicaps. The Newmarket
Handicap, sixty-nine subscribers, run on April 20th,
over the last mile and a half of the Beacon Course,
has Pero Gomex handicapped at the same weight as Blue
Gown last year, while See-Saw figures at a pound
Count de Lagrange has utered a trio, Gondolier, Nelusko,
and Ourogan ; and in Vestminster, 7st. 111 b., and Cherie,
7st., we have the winners of the two great autumn handi-
caps, the latter appearing the best in. Of the three-year
olds, Kennington, 7st. carries the top weight, and he is
considered worthy of the same honour in the City and
Suburban. This smart youngster can hardly fail to pay
his way during the coming season."

DESPERATE ENCOUNTER WITH A THIEF.

An attempt at robbery was made on Monday morning
in Birmingham, tecompanied with violence of no ordinary
character. A young man entering the shop of Mr. Carter,
pawnbroker, in Aston-street, said he wished to buy a
watch. Suddenly the man grasped six or eight watohes,
and, saying "these are mine," Turned towards the deor,
with the intention of escaping. In this, however, he was
checkmated. It is Mr. Carter's custom when selling valu-
able property to close the shop door, and bolt it by means
of a spring, which is concealed close to where he stands
behind the counter. In the present instance the door
was shut and bolted. The thief turned towards Mr.
Carter, who seized the man by the throat. The man
seized Mr. Carter's arm with his teeth, and bit the flesh
through. Mrs. Carter came to her husband's assistance.
The man seized her finger between his teeth, and bit
it to the bone. He pulled a handful of hair from her
head, and tore an earing from her ear. A fearful struggle
followed. The man, putting his hand into his pocket,
produced an open clasp knife, saying, "Now, you -,
I'll stab you." In the struggle Mr. Carter was cut
about the face and neck, and he received several
severe gashes in the arms and neck. Backwards and for-
wards the men struggled and fought, throwing aach other
from side to side of the shop. Mrs. Carter shouted
"Murder !" and, at length, seeing that matters were becom-
ing very serious, she opened the door. A crowd of people
rushed in ; and a young man named Jones, went to Mr.
Carter's assistance. He was knocked down, and the
fellow got his knife into Jones's mouth, and cut
open his flesh from the corner of the mouth to the
jaw bone. The wretch then stabbed Jones in the throat.
when his hand was seized by another 'young man named
Gridland. M.r. Carter got his knee into the pit of his
stomach, and with his hand pinched his throat till the
fellow was black in the face. Even then he struggled till
completely exhausted. The fellow was handcuffed and taken
to the police station. He provedtobe G. Fisher, aged 23, a
gun instrument maker, no fixed residence, who was only re-
leased from gaol on Friday last, after serving a term of 15
months' imprisonment for stealing a watch from the shop
of Mr. Emmanuel, Edgbaston-street, in a precisely similar
manner to that in which he evidently intended to steal
those in the present instance. On arriving at the police-
station, ho 'assumed a very meek and penitent air. "Ho
feared God would never forgive him."

NATIONAL ANTIPATHIES.—ETery true English-
man at the bottom of his soul hates a foreigner, or, if that
expression be a trifle too strong, has a keen perception of
the notorious inferiority of all other races. The
feeling, however, fluctuates strangely in intensity.
Probably, if the truth were known, our normal state of
feeling is one of contempt towards every ono who does not
speak English—and, moreover, the English of England, tem-
pered by uncomfortable doubts as to the perfect security of
our position. We don't think a Frenchman our equal, but we
rather shrink from comparing Paris to London. We treat
a German with affable contempt, but we have a vague awe
for his supposed authority on philological cr
inquiries, and some suspicion of his growing practical
abilities. An American is, of course, a bad imitation of a
Briton, but he certainly inhabits a larga country, and
though we sneer at his amazing statistics, they do convey
some unpleasantly significant facts. The dislike or the ad-
mirAion comes uppermost at different times. We generally
regard the chief nations of the earth as our rivals,and dislike
them accordingly—especially if we fancy that we arc passing
them in the race. It is pleasant to be able to point to our
next-door neighbours as illustrations of the failing from
which we are exempt. Our grandfathers used to contem-
plate the miserable French slaves to an arbitrary monarchy
as living illustrations of the evils produced by the want of
a British Constitution. If they had been perfectly certain
of their own indisputable superiority, their antipathy
would have been swallowed up in their conoeit.—Fi•osn
lirational Antivathies. in the Cornhili 'Magazine fol' ZWruarm.