The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-01 00:00:00

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HER MAJESTY.

BALMORAL, Sept. 28.
The Queen went out, accompanied by Princess
Louise, and attended by the Marchioness of Ely.
Princess Christian drove in the afternoon, attended
by the Hon. Mrs. H. Ponsonby.
Prince Christian went out deer-stalking.

The Grand Altarpiece for Westminster Abbey

-..1P----

The magnificent specimen of mosaic by Dr. Salviati
for Westminster Abbey is now complete, and its
exhibition in the Jerusalem Chamber has elicited
nothing hut the most unreserved praise. The sub-
ject is " The Last Supper," the size of the work being
12ft. Gin. by oft. sin., and the whole set in a splen-
did entablature of alabaster, carved in the style of
the surrounding architecture. Christ is represented
in the centre of the table, with the Twelve Disciples
on either hand, except Judas, who is apart from the
others, and is represented with downcast eyes as
he hears the Saviour exclaim "One of you sh all betray
me ;" whilst the others are appealing towards the
Redeemer, saying, " Lord, is it I?" As a work of
art, this specimen of modern mosaic work is one of
the most remarkable ever placed before the wonder-
ing eye of the lover of the good and beautiful. The
combination of the tiny cubes of colour in the rich
groundwork of bright and shining gold produces an
effect so perfectly astonishing that at first it
would seem that we were gazing on a glorious
specimen of an old Italian oil painting, and
not a specimen of modern mosaic. It is a subject
of much gratification that the Dean and Chapter of
Westminster has secured such a splendid specimen
of art for the venerable abbey, and well would it be
in an artistic point of view if the introduction of
mosaic work was made much more general than
is. The Wolsey Chapel at Windsor, decorated by
Dr. Salviati, shows in a most remarkable manner
the grand effect to be produced .by mosaics which,
unlike many of our great frescos, are imperish-
able. We have nothing but unmeasured praise
to award to Dr. Salviati and the whole of the artists
engaged in the production of the work, at the same
time wishing that the taste for the art which he has
taken such pains and labour to revive may extend
in every direction where artistic decoration is re-
quired.

MR. BRIGHT'S MOS

POWERFUL ARGUMENT

for a redistribution of the e:

Lectoral districts may be best

expressed thus, namely, that
" 145 boroughs,
with
79,000 electors,
1,350,000 population,
paying
£367,000 income-tax,
have
215 members;

whilo 109 borough;
with •
485,000 elector;
9,305,000, population,
paying
£5,240,000 income-tax,
have
181 members."

TONIC SOL-FA ASSOCIATION.—This association
repeated at the Crystal Palace on Saturday the concert
which it gave on Sept. 19. The pieces were admirably
rendered, and were received with great applause by a very
largo audience.

The Nain Jaune says that the property of Dr.
Glandier, where Madame Laffrage poisoned her husband,
has just come into the possession of the Carthusian monks.
His Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
has kindly promised to become the patron of the Irish
branch of the National Lifeboat Institution, and to contri-
bute £lO a-year in aid of its funds.

TIIE LATE DISASTER OFF BOULOGNE.—We are
requested to state, by the French Lifeboat Society, that it
has no lifeboat at Boulogne. There is a local lifeboat so-
ciety there, which acts independently of the central insti-
tution at Paris. All the lifeboats belonging to the French
National Lifeboat Society are organised precisely like those
of the National Lifeboat Institution of England.
COL UMB US AND CERVANTES.—Commemorative
slabs of marble have just been placed on the houses at
Valladolid which had been inhabited by Christopher
Columbus and Cervantes.

A VEGETABLE KING.—The annual ceremony of
crowning the king of the pumpkins at the Central Markets
Paris, took place on Friday. The vegetable which obtained
the honour this year weighed 258 pounds, and measured 10
feet 4 inches in circumference. It was grown at Gonesso
(Seine et Oise).

A SUBMARINE PRESCRIPTION. -AI/10nd the
uses to which the Atlantic cable has been put is ono
which would hardly be anticipated. A correspondent com-
municates to us a telegram which he received from a
patient who, being seized with a renewed attack of an ill-
ness from which he had suffered in this country, and for
which he had been successfully treated, telegraphed to his
old medical attendant for directions. These were returned
by the same channel without delay, and we hope they
may have prospered, and that the proper remittance will
follow by an early packet. This prescription will rank
among the curiosities of telegraphy.—The Lancet.
ELECTRIC BULLETS.—An Austrian chemist, M.
Leinelbroek, has discovered a way of enclosing electricity
in small glass capsules, which will explode under the in-
fluence of the slightest shock. The capsule is enclosed in
a steel cone, so that if shot from a rifle it will enter the
flesh, and the explosion which follows is sufficient to kill a
man. Experiments have been wade on oxen and horses
with perfect success, these animals having fallen down as
struck with lightning. Even the slightest injury inflicted
by this means is said to have caused death. We do not
warrant the truth of this statement ; but, admitting it to
be correct, wo fail to see the advantage of the invention,
since in war the chief object to be aimed at is fortunately
not killing, but disabling the enemy.—The Mechanics'
Magazine.

ROSSI.NI'S 46 MASS" AND 64 HYMN TO THE Di-
PEROR."—Rossini has, during his summer sojourn
in Palmy, finished the orchestration of his " Petite Messe
Solennelle," which was twice performed with pianoforte
accompaniment at the house of Count Pillet Will (Rossini's
banker). The great master's last work is a " Hymn b. la
l'Empereur," for barytono solo, with choral and orchestral
'arrangement and incidental military band. It is hoped
that this work will be performed at the opening of the
Paris Exhibition. During that season possibly the
"Messe" may be heard too, if the choice of the solo singers
is to the liking of the maestro.—Musical World.

AN M.P. AN AMERICAN NEWSPAPER CORRESPON-
DENT.—The New York Home Journal, of September 12, says
that Mr. Thomas Hughes, the author of " Tom Brown at
Oxford," has just become the speciafLondon correspondent
of the New York Tribune. In accepting the engagement,
Mr. Hughes writes :—" I have always wished to have the
chance of constant speech in your country, to which I am
much attached, and where there is as much misunder-
standing about England as we have hero about you."
_ _

The Moniteur du Soir, in its weekly bulletin,
says : —" The journals of Canada have raised a warm
controversy respecting the extradition of a defaulting cashier
of the Bank of France, who had fled to that country. It is
known that all the formalities prescribed by the law have
been observed in this instance. After inquiry and decision
by a competent judge the order for the delivery of the pri-
soner was regularly given by the Governor-General of the
British Provinces. The excitement which has been caused
by this affair, and which refers to the points of procedure
raised inopportunely by the counsel for the accused, seems
to have arisen from considerations foreign to the question
itself. The essential points have been authoritatively ex-
plained in a letter addressed to the principal Canadian
newspapers by the lawyer who represented the British
Crown before the Montreal court."

TIIE MOORS AND FORESTS.—CRIEFF.— Good sport
is still enjoyed at grouse and black-game shooting
on the moors of Corriomuckloch, Glenquoicb, and Drum-
mond Castle. Large bags of partridges, wild ducks, and
other game have been made the last few days on the
lands of Innerpeffray, belonging to the Hon. Capt. Drum-
mond. Several very good stags have been killed during
last week by W. Cunliffe Brooks and the Earl of Mar.
Mr. W. Cunliffe Brooks also killed his third royal stag, a
very large one, with an admirable head. It was shot in
the right place at 90 yards, whilst going at full speed.
It was afterwards photographed, es it had fallen dead,
by Mr. Vernon Heath, who has been collecting materials
for his illustrations of the " Lady of the Lake." Mr.
T. Everett Millais, Mr. Lewis, and Mr. Ashworth, each
killed a good stag ; the first-named gentleman accom-
plished his stalk during a hurricane of wind and rain.
The Scotsman.

A CLEVER TRICK.—On Friday evening last a
number of colliers, near Chesterfield, whose Atock
of the " indispensable" was exhausted, and who were, as
the saying is, "on the spree," resorted to the following
ingenious expedient to replenish their bottle. Tho leader
of the gang first putting into the bottle (which contains a
gallon) half a gallon of water, went to the Horns public-
house, near Chesterfield, and called for half a gallon of gin
stating that they had already half a gallon in tho bottle.
The unsuspecting landlord immediately measured out
the desired quantum, but the men showing no inclina-
tion to pay he desired his gin returned—a request they
complied with most willingly, coolly walking off to en-
joy the half-gallon of "gin and water" they had so cleverly
obtained.

WESTON S RETREAT.—The ,public will hear no
further contention respecting a license for Weston's Re-
treat at Kentish Town, as the Midland Railway Company
have purchased the property.