The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-28 00:00:00

DISEASED CATTLE AND DEAR MEAT.

The foot and•mouth disease was again the topic of die.
cussion at a special meeting of the Home Cattle Defence
Association on Thursday. Mr. Waller, the secretary,
read several communications respecting its ravages in
various parts of the country. " However lightly," he
said, "the disease may be spoken of in some
quarters, the enormous loss of meat resulting from
it renders its prevalence little short of a national calamity;
one, too, which we have every reason to believe we
might have escaped altogether, for whatever mystery
may now attend the causes producing the disease in some
localities, the instances have been multiplied in which the
disease could only have been introduced by foreign cattle
and:sheep. But:can it be matter of wonder that beasts shipped
at Oporto, landed at Southampton, and railed, after more or
less delay to Aylesbury, or from the first-named port rid
Liverpool to Maidstone or Ashford, after journey., in
fact, of from six to eight days, are struck with disease, and
become themselves centres of infection? The press
now teems with recipes for the complaint, but is not pre-
vention better than cure? There is, it is true, veterinary
inspection at the place of landing, but if the malady is
only latent the inspection is of course valueless. Sheep
are known to convey the disease, and yet sheep coming
over from infected countries and with infected cattle, and
without quarantine and unmarked, are allowed to be
driven aeywhere. It is worthy of remark that, notwith-
standing the trade is thus free and prices are high, our
supply of foreign mutton does not increase."
in the discussion which then ensued, the opinion
was expressed that the disease was constantly
being taken into the London cowsheds by foreign cattle.
from whence it was communicated to the provinces. Mr.
Waller stated that at the first meeting of the association,
In May 1867, it bad been suggested that all London dairy
cows should be excluded from the home market. Mr.
Waller added that the universal opinion in the grazing
districts was that no better mode of dispersing the disease
over the United Kingdom could be devised, than that of
holding the large cattle fair at Barnet on tho 4th proximo.

At the meeting of the Manchester Guardians on

Thursday, it was resolved, by a majority of one, to appoint a
Roman Catholic priest as the paid religious instructor of the
Roman Catholic children attending the Swinton Schools.
ALLEGED ARSON AT PORTSMOUTH. At the
Portsmouth Borough Police-court, on Friday, before W.
G. Chambers and R. Marvin, Esqs., Edmund Downer,
who was remanded from Wednesday last on a charge of
having set fire to his place of business at Southsea,
again came up. Mr. Cousins appeared as his solicitor,
and, at the commencement of the hearing of the case,

Mr. Barber, the superintendent of the police, said that

he had communicated with the office in which Mr. Downer
_ras insured, but they did not feel inclined to prosecute.

He, therefore, would not take upon himself the responsi-
bility of proceeding with the case, and should not, oiler
evidence. Mr. Downer was consequently, immediately
discharged:

The following is the descript!on of an instru-
ment for prognosticating the weather devised by M.
Bonnevile, of Paris. The instrument is composed of the
motor, which imparts motion to the index needle. The
motor is composed of two wooden strips, or thin blades,
stuck one upon the other, of different hygrometic capa-
cities, one of which is called the positive and the other the
negative. These strips, or thin blades of wood,
are curvilinear, and assume the form of an arc
of a circle. One of the extremities of this arc is fixed

to a square held by screws on to a brass disc ; the other
extremity is loose and movable. It is connected by a
silken thread passing round one of the two grooves of a
pulley, with an arbor forming the axis of the index
needle. The force of the motor is opposed by a spring
fixed upon the brass disc, and connected by another silken
thread with the arbor, round the second groove of which
it is wound. The expansion of the motor, or its contras•
tion as shewn by the index, indicates the presence of
much moisture in the air, or the opposite condition.

LIBERAL BANQUET IN PERTHSHIRE.—At Perth,
on Friday night, a banquet to celebrate the triumph of
Liberal principles in Perthshire, in the late election of Mr.
Parker, was held in the City Hall. About 500 gentlemen
were present, among whom were the Earl of Dalhousie, Mr
Kinnaird, Lord Rollo, the Lord Advocate, Mr. Baxter,
M.P., Mr. Adam, M.P., Mr. Carnegie, M.P., Mr. Potter,
Kr. Mr. J. M. Graham, of Cultoquhey, occupied the chair.
The hall was beautifully decorated with flags and ever-
grzens. The chairman read a letter of apology from Mr.
Gladstone, in which he said that in returning Mr. Parker
the electors of Perthshire had made a most valuable addi-
tion to the Liberal ranks. In proposing Mr. Parker's
health, the chairman complimented the constituency
on having such an able representative, and on the triumph
whi-113 the Liberal party had gained at the last election.
Mr. Parker, in returning thanks, referred at some
length to the proceedings in Parliament during last session
connected with the Irish Church Bill and other measures.
In alluding to the Liberal victory in Perthshire, Mr.
Parker said that the reason why Sir William Stirling
Maxwell was defeated was not on acc un% cf his opini, n 3
on such questions as hypothec or th 3 gam3 laws taken
singly, but because he had declared he was a Conservative,
and preferred the leadership of Mr. Disraeli to that of
Mr. Gladstone. They were tired of Mr. Disraeli and the
Tories, and he (Mr. Parker) had no doubt that the political
life of Liberalism would be conducive to the highest
interests of the country and the nation.

THE HEROINE OF "L'HOMME Qu I RlT."—Josiana,
wyearsyfietashll_.
toNootthalini.g cprouelrd
hbeaimr owreasreosfpitehndatentt. She was
ingewhich
might be called red gold. She was plump, fresh, strong,
end rosy, with immense boldness and wit. She had eyes
which were too intelligible. She possessed neither lovers
nor chastity. She walled herself round with pride.
Men ! oh, fie ! a god only would be worthy of her, or a
monster. If virtue consists in the protection aan inac-
cessible position, Josiana possessed all possible virtue, but
without any innocence. She disdained intrigues ; but
she would not have been displeasd had she been supposed
to have been engaged in some, provided that the objects
were uncommon, and proportioned to the merits of one
so highly placed. She thought little of ber reputation,
but much of her glory. To appear yielding, and to be
unapproachable, is perfection. Josiana felt herself to he
majestic and material. Hers was a cumbrous beauty.
She usurped rather than charmed. She trod on hearts.
She was earthly. She would have been as much asto.
i;:shed at being proved to have a soul in her bosom
as wings on her back. She discoursed on Locke ; she
was polite ; she was suspected of knowing Aralu:o.
To be flesh and to be woman are two different things'
Where a woman is vulnerable— on the side of pity, for
instance, which so readily turns to love—Josiana was not.
Not that she was unfeeling. The ancient comparison of
flesh to marble is absolutely false. The beauty of flesh
onsists in not being marble : its beauty is to palpitate,
to tremble, to blush, to bleed, to have firmness without
hardness ; to be white without being cold ; to have its
sensations and its infirmities ; its beauty is to be life', and
marble 18 loath.-- Virtu' Ht g9' .Zircw Romicc tin Ti
Otnatintellictfillitlf•• •