The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-18 00:00:00

man who may be unable to purchase a machine
may thus be able to provide for his family. The
machines usually sold only cost 125 fr., but Mr.
Goodwin kindly means to give 89 machines of
the value of 350 francs, and 89 Imperial
shuttles of the same value. Her Majesty, ever
ready to accept the task of assisting the poor,
has graciously availed himself of Mr. Goodwin's
philanthropic offer.

The police of the canton of Lucerne (Switzer-
land) have offered I,ooof. reward to the person who
shall discover the body of a young English traveller
who disappeared at the end of September, and who
has probably perished on the Pilate.
The Havre papers states that a very violent storm,
accompanied with thunder and lightning, burst over
that town on Saturday morning. A week pre-
viously therewas a similar storm in the environs of
Dieppe.

A few days ago, about half-past ten o'clock in
the morning, there was rather a powerful shock of
earthquake at St. Pe de Bigoine, in the Upper
Pyrenees. Its duration was from six to eight
seconds, and a short time previously a loud rumbling
noise was heard, proceeding from east to west. In
the interior of the houses the ceiling cracked as if
about to burst, the furniture was shaken, and the
doors were moved as if by the wind. Very great
alarm prevailed among the population, and it is
added that some of the inhabitants begin to lo se
their confidence in the permanent stability of the
earth.

The Tribunal de Montbeliard has given rather a
curious decision, bearing upon the question how
far paternal authority may be exercised legally. A
father it appears sold his consent to the marriage
of his son, that is to say he compelled him to sign a
certain number of bills of exchange before the con-
sent could be obtained. When the bills came to
maturity the son refused .to pay them, on the
ground that his signature was improperly obtained.
The father sued his son' before the Tribunal of
Montbeliard. The Court decided that " any pecu-
niary stipulation relative to the exercise of paternal
authority, particularly in regard to marriage,
must be considered as null and void, and con-
trary to our laws and our manners. There
could not be any sale of paternal power." The
Court, therefore, annulled the bills of exchange,
dismissed the complaint of M. Miget, the father
(the plaintiff), and condemned him to pay all the
expenses of the proceedings.
The storm is over. It was very bright and fine
until the afternoon, when dark clouds gathered
around, and the rain began again but not violently.
Fears are beginning to prevail of another rise in the
waters of the Seine.

A touching and affecting account is given of a
mother being prevented from committing suicide by
her little child in the bed. A woman named
Catherine, living at Passy, in consequence of poverty
and ill-treatment of her husband, resolved to hang
herself. She fixed a rope to the window, and then
went to take a last kiss of the infant in the bed.
In doing so the rope displaced the curtains,
and a little branch of the palm or box-tree hoarded
up in houses from one Palm Sunday to another fell
down. The incident caused a feeling of religion
and devotion in the mother's heart, and she knelt
down to pray. In a moment, however, she tied the
rope round her neck. The mother's movements
alarmed the child, and she called out. Assistance
came, and in time to prevent suffocation. When
recalled to her senses the mother saw the branch of
palm in the child's hand. She again prayed, and
promised those who came to her assistance that she
would not again attempt suicide. The husband,
moved by the incident, has promised his wife to
behave better to her.