The Bangkok Recorder.

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The Loved and Lost.

lost,

Because we miss them from our onward road?

God’s unseen angel o’er our pathway cros-

s’d,

Looked on us all, and loving them the most,

throughway relieved them from life’s

weary load.

They are not lost ; they are within the door

That shuts out loss, and every hurtful

thing-

With angels bright, and loved ones gone, before,

In their Redeemer’s presence evermore,

And God himself their Lord, and Judge,

and King.

And this we call a “loss;” O selfish sorrow

Of selfish hearts! O we of little faith!

Let us look round, some argument to borrow

Why we in patience should await the

morrow,

That surely must succeed this night of death.

Aye, look upon this dreary, desert path,

Thorns and thistles wheresoe’er we turn;

What trials and what tears, what wrongs

and wrath,

What struggles and what strife the jour-ney hath!

They have escaped from these; and lo!

we mourn.

Ask the poor sailor, when the wreck is done,

Who with his treasures strove the shore

to reach,

While with the raging waves he battled on,

Was it not joy, where every joy seemed

gone,

To see his loved ones landed on the beach!

LONDON: JULY 9—10. 1866.

THE BATTLE OF SADOWA.—The details of a great battle like that of Koeniggratz or Sadowa are not quickly learnt. Few have an opportunity of seeing the gener- al plan of attack and defence, and still fewer can understand it. In the magni- tude of the armies engaged as well as in the importance of the interests at stake the late battle has seldom been surpassed. Nearly a quarter of a million of men were arrayed on either side; they exten- ded over a great expanse of country, and were lead by Royal Generals who exer- cised almost independent commands. As military historians have disputed for half a century about the incidents of Leipsic and Waterloo, it may be that this battle, which in magnitude equals Leipsic and far surpasses Waterloo, will for many a year be the subject of controversy. But we are happy in having at the seat of war a correspondent who is well qualified to form a judgment on such operations, and who has produced a description which, considering the circumstances un- der which it was written, is a marvel of accurate observation. It is not too much to say that we learn from his letter more than was known of the action by the great majority of those who took part in it. The public is, indeed, well served by those who narrate these wonderful events of war almost before the smoke has cleared away from the battle-field. We learn so speedily and with such compar- ative accuracy the general plan of an en- gagement that we are apt to forget how recent these advantages have been, and to undervalue the assistance which the narrative of a competent eye-witness, written on the very field and on the very day of battle, gives, not only to his con- temporaries, but to future historians. The grandfathers of the present genera- tion were very differently situated with respect to the battles which distinguished the early part of the present century. When Napoleon crushed the two Empe- rors at Austerlitz or broke the power of Prussia at Jena, there was no such clear conception of what had been done. A reference to the press of the period will confirm what most of us have heard from our elders concerning the suspense which prevailed during the great campaigns. A decisive victory was seldom announced as such and accepted by all the world within 24 hours. Still less did people know the number of men engaged, the dispositions of the Generals, the conduct of the soldiers, and the various details of the action. News came straggling home- wards that the campaign was going a- gainst the Austrians or the Russians; a great firm in the City had it that Bona- parte had won another victory, and that an armistice, and then a peace, was like- ly to be the result. But somebody con- tradicted this, the public was warned not to believe sinister rumours, and it was shown a raison [?] how impossible it was that the combinations of the Allies should have failed. At last, after a week or ten days' suspense, the worst intelligence was fully confirmed; but even then the pub- lic had no account of the matter more trustworthy than Napoleon's bulletins and scraps of letters from officers or soldiers which might find their way into the French papers, and then after a time penetrate into this country. Even the subsequent victories of the Allies were very inadequately understood for a long time. The campaign of 1813 was only known as a series of tremendous battles in and about Saxony, in which the French, sometimes victorious and sometimes de- feated, were at length overpowered at Leipsic, and compelled to fall back on the Rhine. The telegraph and the mili- tary correspondent have changed all this. We probably know more of the battle of Königgrätz, which was fought this day week, than the British public knew of the battle of Leipsic three months after- wards. The forces engaged, the com- manders, the stations of the different corps, the nature of the ground, the man- ner of the attack, and the resistance it met with, are all described by our cor- respondent with an exactness which as- sures us that we have the main incidents of the battle. All that he saw he tells, and his military knowledge enables him to form a correct judgment of the oper- ations which were beyond his own sur- vey. And what a battle it was as here described within a few hours after the Austrians had been swept from the field, and while the Prussians were still pursu- ing their retreating legions! There has been nothing like it in our time, and on- ly once in the great war of the French Empire has there been such a contest and such a carnage. The whole Prus- sian and Austrian armies were engaged; all that these two military Monarchies, fresh from the repose of a long peace, could place in the field was there. The delay of Benedek had enabled the two main armies of the Prussians, each one of them a national host in itself, to com- bine, and, as their losses had not been large in the previous encounters, they confronted the enemy 240,000 strong. The Austrians are supposed to have had an equal number. A survey of the field of battle with a good map will show the extent of ground over which these im- mense levies of men were spread. It is, indeed, wonderful that such extensive operations should have been begun and completed in a single day. Where nearly half-a-million of men and 1,500 guns are in the field we might expect a conflict as long as Leipsic. But the irresistible onset of the Prussians and the skill of their Generals decided the battle in a single long summer's day. The narratives of its incidents given by our correspondent does justice to the obstinacy and courage of the Austrians, but raises higher our estimate of their opponents. It is evid- ent that the Austrians were very strong- ly posted, and that it was a work of dar- ing and endurance to dislodge them. On- ly Generals having complete confidence in themselves and their troops would have ventured on such an enterprise. General Benedek could have little hope of achieving the objects of the war by taking up his "partly intrenched posi- tion." The Austrians could not by hold-

ing their ground in Bohemia either de- liver Hanover and the Duchies, or make those conquests of Prussian territory which were to enable them to cede Venetia with grace. But if their design had been merely to protect their own territory, they, perhaps, could not have done better. They had a position well protected by slope and wood, and they made a good use of it. Their artillery appears to have been excellent. They mowed down the advancing Prussians, inflicting on them terrible losses, while they themselves were almost uninjured. From our correspondent's account we must judge that the Prussians did not win the day merely by the possession of a superior arm. Through a great part of their advance the needle-gun gave them no superiority. The Austrians were pro- tected by the nature of their position, and musketry fire was useless against them. The capture of the wood above Sadowa was accomplished by real hard fighting. The Austrians would not retire, but waited for the struggle. "The 27th Prussian Regiment went in nearly 3,000 strong, with 90 officers, and came out on the further side with only two officers and between 300 and 400 men, standing; all the rest were killed or wounded. Again, when a second wood opposed their progress, "they advanced against it, but did not at first make much impres- sion; for, the Austrians being here again concealed, the fire of the needle-gun did not tell, and a whole battery placed at the far end of the wood fired through the trees and told on the Prussian ranks with awful effect." These and other incidents make it clear that the greatest battle of the present age was won by the superior prowess of the victors, and was not a con- sequence of a merely mechanical advan- tage. The needle-gun added, no doubt, to the completeness of the victory, but if the Prussians had possessed no such weapon, the spirit of their onset, and the skilful arrangements by which a part of their army was brought on to the flank and rear of the enemy, would have effec- tually dislodged the Austrians from their position.—(TIMES.)

From the L. and C. Express July 17th

The Negotiations for Peace.

—M. Benedetti, the French Ambassa- dor, and the Count de Barral, Italian minister at Berlin, have accompanied the King to the Prussian headquarters at Brunn. Negotiations are in progress there for a truce of three days; and not for an armistice. An attaché to M. Bene- detti left Brunn on the 14th for Vienna. The Berlin official STAATNANZEIGER of yesterday says:— "The assertion of vari- ous newspapers that Prussia has demanded the cession of Bohemia and Moravia as a condition of peace are entirely un- founded. A glance at the map shows that the possessions of these countries by Prussia would not be a source of strength, but of weakness ; national interests also would render such an acquisition undesi- rable. The aim of the policy of Prussia is directed towards the establishment of a new Confederation and the convocation of a German Parliament. Connection with countries only in part appertaining to German nationality would place ob- stacles in the way of the assembling of the Parliament." The Paris CONSTITU- TIONNEL has an article blaming certain journals for seeking to induce the French Government to require territorial enlarge- ment, in order to secure territorial enlarge- ment obtained by Prussia.

France.

—A Toulon telegram of yesterday (the 16th.) states:—-The levy which has been ordered throughout the whole maritime registry has been countermanded, and the arming of the fleet has been suspen- ded.

THE NEW RIFLE.—-The Snider Enfield rifle can be fired fifteen times in a minute, while the extreme rate of fire of the Prus- sian needle-gun does not exceed six to eight shots. The Snider principle admits of capping being done away with, and that the converted Enfields will be loaded with self-igniting cartridges fired by a pin, which having struck the cartridge is returned by a string to its position.

THE BERLIN FEELING ON THE FRENCH INTERCESSION.—-Referring to the proffer- ed mediation of France, the Berlin NA- TIONAL ZEITUNG employs rather confident language:—-“Desirous as we are to hope for the best from France, still we think it necessary to prepare for the worst. Little consideration was excercised by Louis Napoleon in hastening to reap the first fruits of the Prussian victories, and procure by a sort of political farce a seeming right to interfere. The appro- priation of Venice in the ludicrous man- ner concerted between the assigner and assignee is certainly no very promising inauguration of the new public law of Europe, which is to replace the treaties of 1815. If Italy is content to be held in leading-strings by France, Prussia cannot be expected to submit to similar treatment. Between Prussia and France no other relations are possible than such as one independent State may bear to another, and it will entirely depend on the attitude of France whether our former good understanding shall continue or not. In the latter event we, and with us all Germany, shall be forced into the policy of 1813, against Louis Napoleon and his whole dynasty. The less we speak of this alternative just now the better, but we all know what it may become our duty to do under certain circumstances.

Anxiety is again felt for the health of the Pope. His Holiness does not sleep well; we should be surprised if any potentate in Europe, secular or spiritual, slept soundly in these times.

The TELEGRAPH or Ktau announced that the cholera has appeared in Southern Russia, and has fallen with great virulence on the towns of Ouman and Krement- chong.

The BOUDNARIES of the province of Venetia are well known, but not very generally the extent which it occupies on the map of Europe. It contains 23,482 square kilometres (3,870,500 acres), and has 2,493,068 inhabitants.

The P. and O. Company's
Mail Contract.

The last convention made between the Government and the company is dated Feb. 27, 1866. The following extract gives the company's contract time. The contract now runs subject to a year's notice. The penalty for non-delivery in the specified time is £50 per day and an allowance is made of £25 per day for early delivery:—-

HOW THE NEEDLE-GUN IS USED.-—When firing in line the soldier does not stand with his front to the enemy, but sideways, like the archer when pulling the string of his longbow. The musket is not brought up to the shoulder, but rests the whole time on the bent left arm. After each shot the receptacle for the fresh cartridge flies open of itself. The cart- ridge pouch is fixed to the girdle, and in a second the musket is reloaded; a slight movement, and it is ready for firing. Dur- ing the whole time the musket remains in the same place, as on a rest, in the hollow of the left arm. The right hand only has to be occupied. And in this way the Prussian soldier is enabled, without the fatigue of muzzle-loading and the many movements attendant on grounding his piece and again bringing it up to his shoulder, to discharge his musket seven times in a minute.

ORDERS FOR MUSKETS.-—The Ost DEUTSCHE POST states that the Austrian Ministry of War has ordered 50,000 need- le-muskets for the Austrian army. They are in course of completion, and will be delivered at the rate of 2,000 a day. The Prussian Government have already given an order for 40,000 of the newly invent- ed American gun, which, it is said, allows twelve shots to be fired in a minute.

THE JAMAICA COMMITTEE.—-Mr. Char- les Buxton has resigned the chairmanship of the Jamaica Committee in consequence of that body having committed themselves to the prosecution of Mr. Eyre, the late Governor of Jamaica, for the murder of Mr. Gordon, and a meeting was held to choose a successor, the proceedings at which were rather stormy. Mr. Peter Alfred Taylor, who was in the chair pro tem., after referring to the inconvenience which he said Mr. Buxton's conduct had occasioned, found fault also with Mrs. Gordon. It seems that lady has declined to prosecute, her opinion being that if she could be favoured with an interview with her deceased husband he would be sure to forbid her doing so. Mr. Buxton who was present at the meeting, took oc- casion to say that he had not influenced Mrs. Gordon in her decision; in fact he had not seen her, and as to his differences with the committee, if they could have prosecuted Mr. Eyre for misgoverning the colony he would have been ready to take action in the matter, but he could not look upon him as being guilty of the wilful deliberate murder of Mr. Gordon. Mr. Bright was very angry with Mr. Buxton for doubting that Mr. Eyre was a murderer, and that he ought to be punished as such. He had himself, he said, discussed that question with one of the oldest and most esteemed judges in Eng- land, who said—not in his (Mr. Bright's) presence alone, but before several per- sons—that in his whole life he had never seen or known a case more distinctly of murder than the putting of Mr. Gordon to death. His opinion distinctly was, that if Mrs. Gordon was willing in her own name to commence proceedings with a prosecution of Mr. Eyre, the committee should undertake to collect funds and give her such legal assistance as was in their power. But if Mrs. Gordon was prevented by anybody from prosecuting, and was altogether against such a thing as a prosecution, it would make the position of the committee more difficult, and the whole question would have to be re-con- sidered. Mr. John Stuart Mill was elected chairman, and in taking the office he said, “I accept the post you have given me. I do so in the full conviction that the objects of this committee are simply to ascertain whether there exist in this coun- try any means for making a British func- tionary responsible for blood unlawfully shed, and whether that be murder or not. I believe it to be murder. This com- mittee ought not to rest until it obtains from the Legislature the assurance that men like Mr. Eyre will be made respon- sible for these criminal actions.”

THE CAPTIVES IN ABYSSINIA.—-An im- perial letter, the writer of which is his Majesty Theodore of Abyssinia, has been published. It is addressed to Dr. Beke, and was brought By Mr. Martin Flad, one of the missionaries so long detained in that country, who has just arrived in England with despatches for Her Majesty’s Go- vernment. Mr. Flad quitted the Empe- ror’s camp at Zagye, on the south-wes- tern edge of Lake Tsana, on the 20th of April last, at which place Mrs. Flad and their three children, Consul Cameron, and the remaining captives, together with Mr. Rassam and his suite are detained until Mr. Flad’s return. The following is the letter:—-”In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, one God, the King of Kings, Téoderos, may this reach the Englishman Charles Theodore Beke. Thou and thy wife, by the power of God, have reached my country. Are you well? I; God be prais- ed, am well. What time you come? Come by Matamma. As regards the per- sons who were imprisoned, by the power of God, out of friendship to the Queen of England, I have liberated them and given them to Mr. Hormuz Rassam. May this give you pleasure. Written at Zagye in the 7358th year since the creation of the word, and the 1858th year since the birth of Christ.” To this letter is affixed the Emperor’s seal, bearing the device of “the Lion of the Tribe of Judah,” with the title, “The King of Kings, Téoderos of Ethiopia,” and in Arabic characters.

CURIOUS MATRIMONIAL COMPLICATIONS. —-The Queen’s eldest son-—the Prince of Wales—-is married to a daughter of the King of Denmark, who has been depriv- ed of a large portion of his territories by the King of Prussia, uncle of the husband of the Queen’s eldest daughter, and this mutilation of Denmark was effected nomi- nally in the interest of the Duke of Augustenberg, whose younger brother, Prince Christian, has been married to the Queen’s third daughter, the Princess Helena. 2. The Queen’s first cousin, the King of Hanover, has been deprived of his kingdom by the same King of Prussia, in whose army the Queen’s son-in-law, the Prince of Prussia, is a commanding officer. 3. Prince Alexander of Hesse, who commands the Federal army raised to oppose the King of Prussia, is brother to Prince Louis, the husband of Princess Alice, the Queen’s second daughter. 4. The Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Albert’s brother, and brother-in-law to the Queen, holds command in the King of Prussia’s army now invading Hanover, which kingdom, by the way, until the accession of Her Majesty, formed part of the territory of the King of England. And lastly, Prince Teck, recently mar- ried to the Queen’s first cousin, the Prin- cess Mary of Cambridge, holds a commis- sion in the army of the Emperor of Aus- tria, and may at any time have to leave his bride for the seat of war, to fight the King of Prussia, who has the Queen’s son-in-law and the Queen’s brother-in- law both officers in his army.

THE EMPEROR AND THE NEEDLE GUN. —-The latest story about the needle-gun and the FUKOKE it is exciting in Paris is told by the correspondent of the STAR:—- “The Prince Imperial asked his father to explain the difference between the needle-gun and the ordinary firearm to him, Wishing to give example to theore- tical demonstration, the Emperor went down to the court of the Tuileries, and calling the sentinel said to him, ‘Mon brave, load and fire to amuse these child- ren,’ the children being the young Prince and l’ Espinosa. Meanwhile his Majesty, who had a needle-gun in his hand, loaded and fired five times before the private had fired his single shot. The soldier was amazed. ‘Hein,’ said the Emperor, ‘it’s quicker work with this gun than with yours; would you like to have one? Certainly, sire.’ ‘Then so you shall,’ answered the Emperor.”

The largest income of a Bostonian is that of Mr. Royal E. Robbins, treasurer of the American Watch Company, who is assessed for $377,000. In New York the largest income assessment is that of A. T. Stewart, the dry-goods merchant —-$4,780,000.

Bangkok Recorder.

The Petchaburee Laos.

While the Laos are monopolizing such a large share of public attention just at this time, it might be interest- ing to give our readers a short notice of a small colony of the same wide spread and numerous family located at Petchaburee. They have an inter- esting history handed down by tradi- tion among themselves, the main facts being substantially as follows.

About 89 years ago or A. D. 1777, and probably contemporaneous with the American revolution, there was a civil war in their own country to the Northeast of Siam-proper, probably not far from Weang-chan, and the party to which they belonged being defeated, they took refuge in Siam, and were assigned a home in the plains around Petchaburee. What were their precise numbers when they first came, or the nature of the political revolution that tore them from their own land, and planted them here cannot be very definitely ascertained from their own statements. Only one or two of their original colony are still living, and must have been very young when they left home, and are now almost in their second childhood, so that it is very difficult to obtain exact information from them. So also any information among an uneducated ignorant people, even though a single generation inter- vene, must be very defective.

Whether or not it was during some of the upheavings occasioned by Phya Tak, who conquered the Weang-chan provinces about A. D. 1777, we are not able to say, though it is altogether probable that it was. We have no doubt that the facts are in the posses- sion of the Siamese government, and that their archives and records would give light on the revolution that sent them here, and in reference to their number at the time. We are inclined to think that their original number was not very large, and that their rate of increase must have been very great.

From all the data that we can gain, and all the facts that we can now gather, we think that their present population must be more than ten thousand, it is probably nearer twelve than ten, counting men, women, and children of all ages. When called out to do Rachakan, or the king's work, they number at a time from 500 to 800 able bodied men. Now if we remember the rule by which they are levied, that each man is required to work one month out of four, and that consequently only one fourth of their number is on the roll at any one time, there must be four times the above number or somewhere between two and three thousand working men. These can hardly constitute more than one fifth of the whole population including women and superannuated men and children, thus making the whole num- ber somewhere between ten and fifteen thousand souls.

If incorrect either way we would be glad to stand corrected if there are any reliable records.

These Laos reside in villages varying from two or three hundred, to more than the same number of thousand souls, in the plain beyond and around Petchaburee, the nearest being less than two miles and the furthest twelve or fifteen miles from that place.

The names of the principal of these villages in their order are Tapan-yee Hou, Weang-koy, Wang-tako, Hua- tapan, Nawng-trong, Nawng-chik, Tap k'ang, Dawn-sai and Kow-koi.

This Laos tribe partakes to a great degree of many of the characteristics which belong to their whole race, be- ing an able bodied and tolerably mor- al and frugal race. They seem to have much less of levity of character, and much greater stability as a whole in all their wide dispersions than the Siamese, though the latter are now the governing race and they the governed, and to some extent an oppressed peo- ple. Being refugees originally from their own country to this, they are here entirely at the clemency of H.M. the king, who uses them as serfs of the soil, doing much of the drudgery not only in Petchaburee, but also in different parts of the kingdom where- ever their services are needed. They are generally regarded as more reliable in doing the king's work, where only physical strength is concerned than the Siamese. They have a reputation for honesty and are a quiet and peace- able people.

Most of the brick, mortar, sand, water, and other materials used in building the palace on the mountain were carried up by the Laos. They have been, if not hewers, at least cut- ters of wood and drawers of water. But though their condition as an exil- ed race is worse than that of the Sia- mese, yet they have in return some privileges that the latter do not have. They are allowed to clear up and cul- tivate their own fields anywhere in the plain not yet under cultivation, without the usual tax required from the Siam- ese government. And notwithstanding the hard service which is required of them, they are improving their condi- tion somewhat, especially under the mild and just administration of the Lieut. Governor. No class of the po- pulation there express a deeper re- gret than they do, that His Excellency the Lieut. Governor is to be removed from that place.

Any one acquainted at all with Sia- mese laws and custom knows that their great defect is the absence of any just and binding authority. Every- thing depends upon the ruler. If he is a good and just man the people will be exempt from oppression, but if not there is nothing in the law to restrain the oppressor of the people. And it is a notorious fact, too, that much of the oppression in Siam is the work of the under-officials and petty officers, of which those in authority know nothing.

With a man of influence such as the Phra Palat, these petty officers are afraid to transgress the bounds of de- cency, but now that he is gone, the Laos begin to feel their power. We have already heard complaints that now while the same amount of work is required of them as formerly, they have to furnish their own oxen in- stead of having the royal ones given them as formerly. As we have always been interested in these people since we first became acquainted with them we may give some other facts in re- ference to them in a future issue of our paper.

Laos States Tributary to Siam.

There are six Laos States lying main- ly North of Siam-proper which are tributary to Siam. These are Cheang- mai, Lamphoon, Nakawn Lampang, P'ree, Nand, and Cheang-rai. It is not in our power to show the geogra- phical relations of these States to each other, nor to speak with even an aprox- imation to accuracy of the amount of territory they all comprise, as there has never been the least scientifical survey of it, and consequently there are no maps of the country which can at all be relied upon. We see in a map appended to Sir John Bowring's work on Siam that Cheangmai is a very little west of north from Bangkok on the Menam River; Lamphoon about 10 miles south of Cheangmai on the same stream; Nak'awn Lampang about 60 miles S. E. of Lamphoon, on a tributary of the Menam River; P'ree about 40 miles S. E. of Nak'awn on still another tributary of the Menam; Nand about 60 miles N. N. E of P'ree on the same stream, and Cheangrai is put down on a branch of the Salween 60 miles N. W. of Cheangmai. Now this map, while it may show the gen- eral directions of those Laos states from Bangkok, with some degree of accuracy, must be greatly out in regard to giving their distances from each other and the extent of the ter- ritory they all comprise. As there delineated, they do not embrace more than a quarter of the square miles that constitute Siam-proper. But our im- pression is, that the Laos country is full as extensive if not more so than Siam, and contains full as many souls. They are weak not for the want of numbers, but for the want of union.

For a long time before the founding of the old city Ayuthia, in A. D. 1351, they were independent kingdoms. They lost their independence soon after that time in consequence of be- ing situated between more powerful kingdoms that were at war with each other. Those kingdoms were Burmah, Pegu, and Siam. Had they enjoyed the spirit of union in a combined con- federacy, doubtless they could have successfully resisted the invasions of their country from the west and south and S. E. But no such union seems to have ever blessed them, and consequently they became the prey of their powerful neighbors for hundreds of years, being sometimes all brought into subjection to Burmah, sometimes to Pegu, sometimes to Siam and some- times, we believe, were divided among the three dominant nations. They had little or no rest and consequently no prosperity until Siam became strong enough to bring them all over to her- self and hold them firmly as her tri- butaries.

This appears to have been fully accomplished at the beginning of the reign of Somdetcb Racha P'ra P'oot's Yawt Fa, the grand father of his pre- sent Majesty the king of Siam. He was the first monarch of the present flourishing dynasty, and began to reign A. D. 1782, which was only fifteen years after the fall of the old capital Ayuthia under a siege of the Burman army three years. Many of the Sia- mese, it is said, were at that time car- ried captives to Burmah and most of the remainder of the citizens fled to the south. Consequently the Laos States became again tributary to Bur- mah.

It was but a short time, however, before the scattered forces of the Sia- mese were rallied and reorganized under the leader-ship of a Chino-Sia- mese general named Phya Tak Sin. He must have been a man of extra- ordinary abilities. Siamese History says, that with a small force of only a few thousand men he routed the Bur- man troops that were still quartered at the old city and other places, built a walled city at Ton-booree, now the site of H. R. H. Krom Hluang Wong- sa's palace, and reigned as king under the title Phya Tak Sin. In the mean time he conquered Korat, Cambodia, Weang-chan and virtually recovered all the tributary states of the Laos. He was seized with insanity A. D. 1780—-thought himself to be worthy of adoration as a Buddh-—made most oppressive exactions from the rich and treated his officials with great severity. A sedition was the conse- quence. The populace broke into his palace intending to assassinate him. But he escaped and fled to a temple, was immediately admitted into the priesthood, and being clothed with the sacred yellow robes, was effectually shielded from the power of the mob. But on the return of Phya Chakree from the war against the Anamese the next year, he ordered Phya Tak Sin to be dragged from the temple and executed, when he himself assumed the reins of government and reigned under the title Somdetcb Rscha P'ra P'oot'a Yawt Fa. The walled city which Phya Tak Sin had made, not suiting the new king, he built a new one on the opposite side of the river. This was done quite early in his reign, and the brick walls forming an irregu- lar circle of about six miles being 15 feet high and 15 feet thick are still standing very much as they were at the beginning.

From some government documents, which we have lately seen, it appears that those Laos States above named have been settled and peaceful in their dependency on Siam ever since the beginning of this dynasty, which is now 84 years. The most northern of those States bounds on another Laos State called Cheang-tung which be- longs to Burmah.

If we are correctly informed, five of the principal Laos States above named are in a certain sense indepen- dent of each other, each being ruled by its own hereditary Prince; but that Cheang-rai is entirely dependent on Cheang-mai and has been so from 1782. The king of Cheang-mai seems to stand as Lord Paramount to all the five states, while he himself is depen- dent on His Majesty the king of Siam as his own Suzerain.

The Needle Gun.

The article which we copied last week from one of our Singapore Ex- changes, on the Origins and History of the Needle-Gun, would seem to be in several particulars quite incor- rect. From a very reliable source we have since learned, that it is a great mistake that that great invention is due to an Englishman in Canada and that it is a new thing. Our inform- ant, who is remarkably well posted in European affairs, affirms that the needle-gun was first invented by a German named Herr Dreyse at Soem- merda in Germany in the year 1832, that from that time to 1844they were chiefly used as fowling pieces: that in 1844 the Prussian government made a trial of the needle-gun in- stead of the percussion gun; that the 11th Regiment of Infantry stationed at Glatz were the first Prussian sol-

diers who tried them as an arm of war, and finding them quite superior to every other for infantry and caval- ry purposes, the Prussian govern- ment had great numbers of them made between the years of 1846 and 1852, so that the infantry and cav- alry troops were supplied with them from that time onward to the begin- ning of the present war.

And with regard to the insinuation that Count Bismarck has been the chief man in having the needle-guns made and introduced into the Prus- sian army, our informant would have us understand that the Count had very little to do with that matter. As proof of this he states that Count Bismarck was not in position to exert such an influence until since 1862; because for several years up to 1860 he was Ambassador for the Prussian government at St. Petersburg, was Prus. plenipotentiary at Paris in 1861 and was not called to the Premier-ship until the year 1862.

Now if the above statement be a correct one (and we see not how to discredit it) it is certainly very strange that the Prussians appear to have made little or no use of their needle-guns in their late war with Denmark, and that their neighbors the Austrians and other German States together with France and Eng- land seem not to have heard of their superiority over the guns that were commonly used by infantry and cav- alry troops, and consequently had taken no effective measures to furnish their own troops with that powerful arm. It may indeed be replied that those governments had heard much in praise of the needle-gun but did not credit the reports, and hence did nothing to avail themselves of the im- provement. But this explanation would still leave the matter in a great fog, for how is it that all those gov- ernments should thus show themselves so much more slow to catch a new and bright idea than the Prussians?

We cannot but suspect that the needle-guns as they were when Count Bismarck came into power as Premier of Prussia were too im- perfect to command much confidence even in the Prussian government, and that through his keen sightedness and great power of accomplishment the invention has been so much im- proved as to justify the greatest confi- dence as an arm of war, and that consequently the Prussian soldiers were fully armed with them, as it were under disguise, and hence the wonderful power of the Prussians a- gainst the Austrians in their late great battles, and the astonishing ce- lerity with which they have closed one of the greatest campaigns Eu- rope has ever witnessed.

If this exposition of the mystery be in the main correct, Count Bismarck will still have a good claim to the name of introducing a change in modern warfare that will greatly abridge the term of all future wars among civilized nations. It seems to us that if wars must come, it is far better to have a few short and decisive battles at the outset like the Prussians and Austrians, though they be with terrible destruc- tion of life, than to have them long protracted with scores of indecisive battles, less bloody when individually considered, but more so collectively, and with vastly more destruction of national resources, private fortunes, and public morals. How much better is it that the Prusso-Austrian war should be settled quickly though it was with tremendous slaughter, than that it should have proceeded slowly and in- volved as it consequently would have done the whole of Europe, and extended through four long years of destruction as the Am. civil war did. Much as our sympathy has been against Count Bis- marck for his apparent love of war, and inordinate love of power, we frankly confess that we now heartily award him our praise for his keen foresight into the advantages of the needle-gun and the sound judgment and good sense he exercised in having the Prus- sian troops so fully armed with that powerful abridger of carnal warfare. It appears that he had the greatest confidence that such would be the re- sult, if the war should break out, and often spoke of it while concealing the means by which it would be accomp- lished.

We have recently heard that the needle-gun was introduced into the Union army of the U. S. in the late civil war, and that a few regiments were armed with it, and demonstrated its great superiority over all other small arms as early as 1862. But why the improvement did not come into general use in the Union Army after that, is to us as great a mystery as any we have above noted concerning the stupidity of European powers in regard to the needle-gun.

It appears that since then there has been another great improvement made by some American in the needle-gun by which it can discharge 16 shots every minute.

LOCAL.

We can scarcely go out in any di- rection without the afflicting sight of large amounts of property, both pub- lic and private, rapidly going to ruin for the want of proper care. In pas- sing a government dockyard a few mor- nings since we could not but be op- pressed with the view of sailing ves- sels, steamboats, dredging machines, engine boilers etc. laid up, but too generally very imperfectly covered and consequently cracking open, rot- ting, and rusting away as though there was not money enough in the kingdom to keep them well housed, in good repair and in some profitable use. It looks as if they had been ridden as hobbies until they have lost nearly all their power to interest their owners, and that now some new play things are engaging their attention. We do not say that such is their childishness, but only that such views as we have of them has too much of that appearance for a people that would rise in power and true great- ness.

In our morning walk to day we saw heaps of iron frames for bridges, and large iron cylinders once neatly polished but now all exposed to rain and rusting out in utter uselessness. These iron works must have cost the government large sums of money to import from Europe. We have seen these costly goods lying where they now are a long time. Why is it that they cannot at the least be put under some suitable shed? What a pity it is that iron bridges, so much needed in Bangkok, procured at so much expense, and all prepared for use, can- not be put into service at once? If set up and well painted they certainly would last longer than they will as they now are.

Mr. T. Appleing, an Exhibiter of Dissolving Views, and of whose ac- ceptable performances at Penang we have had reports in our Penang ex- changes for May last, arrived here on the 4th inst.—-coming from Penang overland. He has been three months and seventeen days making the passage, spen- ding some time in exhibiting his views on a small scale in several of the prin- cipal towns through which he passed, and much more in waiting the slow movements of the different Rajah's to whom he had letters requesting facili- ties for travelling from one to the other. With the exception of their tardiness Mr. A. brings good reports from them all as having been truly kind to him, not willing even to take any pay for his board, or for use of elephants or escorts. And he would hereby return thanks to them all for their gentlemanly treat- ment of him. He left Penang in a small sail boat and stopped at Quedah. From Quedah he went to Tonga, thence to Ponga, and thence to Kopa. Here he left the boat and traveled elephant- back across the Peninsula to Bandan, thence to Chiya, and thence to Chum- pon. From the latter place he came in a small sailing boat to Taschoen and finally to Bangkok.

He reports that large portions of the country through which he passed in this journey are yet but a “howling wilderness”, that the mountain passes are highly romantic and exciting, that human beings seemed quite sparse, the soil generally excellent, and that there is no want of any physical element to make the country a delightful one under a thorough Christian govern- ment.

Mr. Appleing expects to remain in town several weeks during which time he hopes to have many exhibitions of his Dissolving Views.

The king of Cheangmai took a Steam Boat excursion on Monday the 3d inst. on board the Rapidity belonging to Phya Sooriwongs Weiyawat and return- ed the same day. It was, we learn, his intention to go down the Gulf some distance But finding himself a poorer seaman than he anticipated, and that old Neptune was dreadfully disgusting in his influences on himself and familly, he turned back at the anchorage and hastened to quieter times. About 100 Laos accompanied the king including the royal familly, and Mr. J. G. Cox English secretary to the prince. His E. Phya Sooriwongs Weiyawat went as Captain of his own Boat.

THE WEATHER appears to be as good as could be wished for in regard to the next rice crop. Reports from all quarters concerning it are the most favorable. It is probable that the tedious work of transplanting all the rice fields is now done.

We hear, too, that the price of rice has fallen a little within a few days, which is another evidence that rice dealers are expecting an abundant crop.

HEALTH—-It appears to be a time of usual health among the native citi- zens of Bangkok; but there is at pre- sent an unusual number of the Foreign residents reported as being on the in- valid list. Some are at the Sanitarium at Anghin and report well of the place as a health-recruiting station.

Passenger per British steamer “Seewoon” which sailed for Singa- pore on the 5th inst. Captain Shan- non.

News Items.

From the "Overland Trade Report" of July 29th we glean the following items.

H. B. M. Gunboats Osprey and Opossum of 3 gun each, struck a severe blow at piracy on the 20th July in Sa-ma bay in the island of Hainan, at this place they fell in with and captured after two hours fighting, a fleet consisting of 22 regular pirati- cal junks carrying 240 guns. The junks were all burned notwithstanding the fact that some of them contained opium and other valuable cargo.

COMMERCIAL BANK—-On the suspen- sion of the the Bank, the assets had been placed in the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, in the name of the Manager of the Commercial Bank, with the understanding that the bank was not to make use of any of the money, nor the creditors institute pro- ceedings against the Bank, until fur- ther information arrived from London. But some of the creditors instituted proceedings against the Bank, and when the adverse judgment of the Act- ing Chief Justice was pronounced on the eve of the departure of the mail, the manager of the Commercial Bank availed himself of the power so strange- ly left in his hands, and transmitted every dollar of the money belonging to the Bank home to England, endos- ing all the bills to the official Liquid- ator in London, although the name of that officer was still unknown.

AGRA AND MASTERMAN'S BANK—-en- gaged in arranging its affairs conse- quent on its suspension, sent to the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank $50,000 worth of notes on that bank for pay- ment. The notes however were no sooner in the custody of the local Bank than it refused either to pay or return them.

The manager of the Agra Bank at once summoned the manager of the Hongkong Bank to the Police court for the illegal detention of his pro- perty. The manager at first offered to return the notes to the Agra Bank endorsed with an explanation of the circumstances under which they had been refused payment, but this was naturally declined. Then they were offered on condition that their numbers should be taken in presence of a notary public. This also was declined, and finally in the morning when the case was appointed to come on at the police court, the local Bank offered to pay the notes in dollars. This offer came at so late an hour that there was no time to stop the case, which proceeded and was dismissed by the magistrate on the ground that he had no jurisdic- tion. On the following day however, the notes were returned to the Agra Bank unconditionally.

THE NEW PIRACY COURT—-is to be called "the High Court of Hongkong for the suppression of Piracy," and is to consist of the Chief Justice, the Admiral of the station, the senior naval officer, the Judge of the court of Summary Jurisdiction and two unofficial members appointed by the Governor.

To be brought within the jurisdic- tion of the new Court the acts of piracy must have been committed "On the High Seas, or waters where the su-

preme Court of this Colony, or the Court to be hereby constituted hath, or here after may by Imperial enact- ment, Order in Council, Treaty or otherwise, aquire any jurisdiction, other than within the harbor of Vic- tory in this Colony."

Under the new ordinance "the act of cruising without a commission and with intent to rob," will bring a junk under the operation of the law, so that it is no longer necessary that a pirate should be caught red handed in order to be amendable to punishment.

THE HARBORS AND COASTS ORDINANCE is directed to the regulation of all junks trading with this harbor, on the same principles which govern the re- gulation of all other Mercantile traffic. Fines varying from $20 to $200, im- prisonment from one to twelve months and the forfeiture of the junk, are among the penilties that can be inflict- ed under this ordinance. This is en- ough to give the partners in the pirate firms in Hongkong a sun stroke, or the Hongkong fever on the spot

JAPAN.—The Belgian Treaty will be concluded in a few days. An Ita- lian frigate—the Magenta has arrived in the harbor, the Captain of which is accredited with powers from Victor Emanuel to enter into treaty with Japan.

Death of Mrs Carlyle.

The wife of Mr. Thomas Carlyle, the eminent English author, died on the 24th April, under very peculiar circumstances. She was taking her usual drive in Hyde Park, London, when her little favourite dog, which was running beside the brougham, was run over by a carriage. She was greatly alarmed, though the dog was not seriously hurt. She lifted the dog into the carriage, and the man drove on. Not receiving any call or direction from his mistress, as was usual, he stop- ped the carriage, and discovered her, as he thought, in a fit or ill, and drove to St. George's Hospital. When there, it was discovered that she must have been dead for some time. Mrs. Carlyle's health had been for several months fee- ble, but not in a state to excite anxiety or alarm. Mr. Carlyle was still in Scot- land. Mrs. Carlyle was the daughter-of Dr. Welch, of Haddington, and a lineal descendant of John Knox.—PRESBYTER- IAN.

The Death of Mrs. Thomas

Carlyle is thus alluded to by the Lon- don correspondent of THE ROUND TA- BLE:

"The death of Mrs. Carlyle has strick- en a wide circle with sorrow. She was with those who knew her as marked a character in her way as her husband in his. Humorous, cultivated, witty, kind- ly, she suggested a chapter on the domes- tic relations of men of genius in contrast with the many sad ones. When Carlyle heard of his wife's death, he was in Scot- land. Friends tried hard to dissuade him from coming to London, as it was known that his wife's body was to be taken for burial to her birth-place, Haddington, not far from Ecclefechan, where Mr. Carlyle was staying. But the old man persisted in taking the long journey both ways, and so came down with Dr. Carl- yle, and returned again to Scotland with the corpse. The funeral took place on Thursday. The remains were laid with- in the choir of the ruined cathedral at Haddington, in the same grave as her father, Dr. Welsh. According to the Quaker-like custom of the Scottish Church, there was no ceremony or ser- vice over the grave. But Mr. Carlyle, much bowed with suffering, came forward and threw a single handful of dust upon the lowered coffin. There is much ap- prehension among Mr. Carlyle's friends as to the effect of this blow upon him."

To Remove Dust from the
Eye.

Take firmly hold of the upper lid, and, drawing it forward, press the under lid up so as to wash the ball of the eye with the under lash. The relief is instant and entire.-—Boston Recorder.

Different Styles.

There is no model style. What is pleas- ing in the diction of one author disgusts us in a copyist. Every writer is his own standard. The tread of Johnson's style is heavy and sonorous, resembling that of an elephant or a mail-clad warrior. He is fond of leveling an obstacle, by a polysyl- labic battering-ram. Burke's words are continually practicing the broad-sword exercise, and sweeping down adversaries at every stroke. Addison draws up his infantry in orderly array, and marches through sentence after sentence without having his ranks disordered or his line broken. Luther's words are "half battle;" his "uniting idiomatic phrases seem to cleave into the very secret of the matter." Gibbon's legions are heavily armed, and march with precision and dignity to the music of their own tramp. They are splen- didly equipped; but a nice eye can discern a little rust beneath their fine apparel. Macaulay, brisk, keen, lively, and ener- getic, runs his thoughts rapidly through his sentence, and kicks out of the way every word that obstructs his passage. He reins in his steed only when he has reached his goal, and then does it with such celerity that he is nearly thrown backwards by the suddenness of his stop- page. Jeffrey is a fine lance, with a sort of Arab swiftness in his movements, and runs an iron-clad horseman through the eye before he has had time to close his helmet. Talfourd's forces are orderly and disciplined, and march to the music of the Dorian flute. Those of Keats keep time to the tones of the pipe Phoebus. Willis' words are often tipsy with champagne of the fancy: but even when they reel and stagger they keep the line of grace and beauty. Webster's words are thunderbolts, which sometimes miss the Titan at whom they are hurled, but always leave enduring marks were they strike. Words are not, when used by a master, the mere dress of thought. They are, as Wadsworth happily said, the incarnation of thought. A thought. A thought embodied and embrained in fit words, walks the earth a living being.-—E. P. WHIPPLE.

The New Proposition.

The following is the text of the Joint Resolution adopted by the Senate last week. It will be seen that it materially modifies the Report of the Reconstruction Committee, especially in the 3d Section, and it doubtless is the most satisfactory amendment which there is any prospect of getting adopted. It passed the Senate by just a threefourthe majority—a handsome margin over the desired two-thirds in the contingency of a Presidential veto.

United States passed by the Senate

and House of Representatives of the

United States of America in Congress

assembled, two-thirds of both Houses

concurring.

A Joint Resolution proposing an am-

That the following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when, ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures shall be valid as part of the Constitution.

ARTICLE—Sec. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and sub- ject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any laws which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be ap- portioned among the several States accor- ding to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed, but whenever the right to vote at any election for elec- tors of President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, Executive and Judicial officers, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male citizens being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in the rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Sec. 3. No person shall be Senator or Representative in Congress, or Elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, within the United States, or under any State, who, having taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an Executive or Judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; but Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.

Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law including debts incurred for the payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned, but neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for loss or emancipation of any slave, but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Different Species
of Elephants.

Dr. Livingstone in his last work on Af- rica says:-—A considerable difference is observed between African and Asiatic elephants. Of the latter, only the males have tusks, and this not invariably; while in the former, they are found both in males and females. The African male elephant, moreover, is distinguished by the convex shape of his forehead, and the enormous size of his ears, resembling those found upon Roman coins. Another very remarkable peculiarity is, that in the part of the jaw corresponding with the place in which the wisdom tooth ap- pears in man, there is a succession of new teeth, each of which, as it comes up, pushes "the others along, and out at the front end of the jaws, thus keeping the molars sound by renewal, till the animal attains a very great age." Locality, it appears, very much affects the character of the tusks: those of animals from marshy districts being the largest, those from dry districts the densest and heaviest. In the great marshes on the Shire, near the Ruo, there is one called the Elephant Marsh, in which a vast num- ber of these animals are found; eight hundred were counted in one herd. But elephants must soon disappear from the country, as thirty thousand are said to be annually killed for the sake of their tusks.

A Maine Colony for Palestine.

A vessel will sail from Jonesport, Maine, for Jaffa, by the way of Malta, about the middle of next July, loaded with lumber and other building materials, furniture, agricultural implements, and about twen- tyfive or thirty families, numbering in all about one hundred and twenty persons. Their new home is near Jaffa (the ancient Joppa.) It is situated in the midst of orange groves, lemon groves, pomegranate groves, fig trees, grape vines, date trees, and almost every description of Oriental fruit and shade trees.—-PRESBYTERIAN.

Mortality in the Army.

The statistical tables prepared at the war office show that of the: 2,154,311 men in the service during the war, 280,- 420 died—-184,381 of disease, 96,089 in battle or of wounds. The officers con- stituted about one-twenty-fifth of the army, but one officer died in battle or of wounds to every eighteen enlisted men, showing greater exposure of officers than of men in battle; while a less proportion in officers than of men died of disease, doubtless because they were better shel- tered and fed than the rank and file. The mortality from disease among the colored troops was extraordinary. As they were in a climate to which they were accustomed, and were at least as well cared for as when slaves, it was sup- posed that camp life would not unfavor- ably affect them. But while of the 180,- 000 negroes enlisted during the war, 2,997 died in battle or of wounds, 26,301 died of disease, or nearly one-seventh of the whole number. Perhaps this great mortality is to be attributed in part to their inaction in camp, for a very small proportion of the whole number were ever called into active service, and these on only a few widely separated occasions. It also appears that more than half the colored troops were constantly on the sick list.—-These singular facts are yet to be accounted for. Physicians say that one reason for them is the lower mental and moral tone of the black soldier, as compared with the white.

The mortality from battle ranged highest in the northern states. The pro- portion of deaths from battle to each thousand soldiers was in the New Eng- land states, 44.75 ; in the middle states, 31.79 ; in the western states, 36.81 ; and in the border states, 25.32. If those figures do not accurately measure the comparative courage of the men of dif- ferent sections, they do at least show that the New Englanders are not inferior to any other in fighting qualities.

Words in Use.

The peasants of England have not more than 300 words in their vocabulary. The ancient sages of Egypt, so far as we know from their hieroglyphic inscrip- tions, used but 685 words. A well edu- cated person in England seldom uses more than 3,000 or 4,000 words in actu- al conversation. Accurate thinkers and close reasoners, who avoid general and vague expressions and choose the words that exactly fit their meaning, employ a large stock, and eloquent speakers may rise to the command of 10,000. Shake- speare, who probably displayed a greater variety of expression than any other writer in any language, produced all his plays with about 15,000 words. Milton's works employ 8,000 words ; and the Old Tes tament has but 5,642.

LAST year 365,000,000 eggs were im- ported from the Continent and from Ireland into Great Britain. During the current year the number imported has been daily on the increase. In May last it exceeded 56,000,000. Estimating the value of imported eggs at 6s. per 120, those imported in 1865 must have sold for upwards of three millions sterling.

THE tax upon dogs, or upon dogs' friends for keeping them, is returned in the financial accounts for the year ending with March, 1866, as amounting in Great Britain to £219,313, an increase of £8, 984 over the previous year.

PRINCESS HELENA'S WEDDING PRE- SENT.-—The list of costly gifts presented to the Princess by the Queen, the other members of the Royal Family, the Bride- groom, and his relatives, is so lengthy that it occupies two-thirds of a column in THE TIMES. The Tumongong of Johore presented her Royal Highness with a magnificent enamel antique neck- lace, richly set with precious stones.

PIE-PLANT.—-A horticulturist adver- tised that he would supply all sorts of trees and plants, especially "pie plants of "all kinds." A gentleman thereupon sent him an order for "one package of of custard-pie seed, and a dozen of mince-pie plants." The gardener promp-

tly filled the order by sending him four goose eggs and a small dog.

The official STAATS-ANZEIGER of Ber- lin says:

"We are authorised to declare that during the recent fighting in Bohemia not a single Prussian cannon has been captured by the enemy. If, therefore, a piece of Prussian artillery has recently been drawn through the streets of V ein- na, as asserted by some journals, it can only be the field-piece presented to the Emperor by the King of Prussia at the time of their alliance."

Gov. ORR, of South Carolina, has ex- pressed his opinion respecting the teach- ing of freed people, that it is good for them and good for the State. He says the teachers shall be protected in their duties, and that the prejudice against them and their occupation is disappear- ing.

THE NUMBER of Americans visiting Europe is shown by the amount of pass- ports issued by the Department of State to be largely increasing. More have been issued in 1866 than in any previous year, sometimes as many as 40 in a single day.

Mr. GEORGE PEABODY, who is now sojourning with his friends in Essex country, Mass., has been notified to make a return of his income since September, 1862, for the purpose of taxation under the revenue laws of the United States.

Gen. SCOTT died at West Point on the 29th ult. His funeral was attended by leading officers of the army and dis- tinguished officials from the Capital. The events of the late war have overshadowed those that made him famous, but he will find his place in history as one of the most distinguished of Americans.

THERE is a pump near Pittsburgh which produces ten thousand gallons of milk in one year. The milkmen stop there on their way to the city.

THE NEW—YORK Board of Health have decided that sprinkling the streets is injurious to the public health. It is said that by dampening the dust a nuis- ance is evolved by the heat of the sun, which is poisonous.

A LATE Richmond (Ind.) paper says that the latest style of bonnets received there from the East consists of two rye straws, tied together with a blue ribbon on the top of the head, and red tassels suspended at each of the four ends of the straws. It is a "love of a bonnet;" price only $10.

Odds and Ends.

-—Sunday is the core of our civiliza- tion.

—-Ambition travels on a road too nar- row for friendship, too steep for safety.

-—An exchange says: “Lovers, like armies, generally get along well enough till they are engaged.”

—-Many run about after happiness, like an absent minded man hunting for his hat while it is on his head.

—-The best way to meet just, but ad- verse comments upon character is, not to fight the comments, but to mend the character.

—-The facility of genius is the power of lighting its own fire.

—-An Irishman observing a dandy tak- ing his usual strut in Broadway, stepped up to him and inquired, “How much rent do you ask for those houses?”—- “What do you ask me that for?”— “Faith, and I thought the whole street belonged to ye.”

—-It is not TALKING, but WALKING with God, that MARKS a man a Christian.

—-It is safer to be humble with one talent than to be proud with ten.

—-That was a pleasant and instructive reply made by the chief manager of the immense corporation known as Wells, Fargo & Co.’s California Express, when asked what new lessons his great experi- ence had taught him. “It has taught me,” said he, “to trust men. Show confidence in them, and they will prove worthy of it.”

—-A soldier who, in going from Bal- timore to Rock Island, had met with four accidents, was on the fifth occasion in a car that completely turned over. Making his way through a window, and gaining an upright position, he looked around him and coolly inquired:—- “What station is this?” He thought this was a way they had of stopping.

—-As a surgeon in the army was going his rounds examining his patients, he came to a sergeant who had been hit by a bullet in the left breast, right over the region of the heart. The doctor, surprised at the narrow escape of the man, exclaimed, “Why, my man, where in the name of goodness could your heart have been?” “I guess it must have been in my mouth just then, doctor,” replied the poor fellow, with a faint and sickly smile.

—-“I should think these omnibus wheels would be fatigued, after running all day,” observed John. “Well, yes, replied Tommy, taking a squint at them, they appear to be tired.”

—-The truest Christian politeness is cheerfuluess. It is graceful, and sits well on old as well as young. It is the best of all company, and adorns the wearer of it more than rubies and diamonds set in gold. It costs nothing, and yet is valua- ble.

The Uses of Sunshine.

By the use of this term we do not mean merely sunlight, but the direct rays or shine of the sun. Mankind are dying for want of it. We build our houses to be sure, with a world of windows, but they are chiefly put in to make a hand- some display outside. We are careful to curtain them inside, so as to shut out the rays of the sun. It is a good argument in favor of curtains and blinds, that if the light be let in too strongly it will fade the carpet. So far as carpets are con- cerned this is true, as they are generally made, but can we have colors in carpets which the light will not seriously effect [?] If carpets fade by letting the light in, there is another thing that fades by keep- ing the light out, viz: the human being. On the shady side of the street, the hos- pital, and prison, cholera, scrofula, bili- ous complaints, and nervous diseases are more frequent and fatal than on the sun- ny side.

We advise everybody to live on the sunny side of their house. The room in which the family spends most of its time should be on the side in which the sun can find its way into it. Let the parlor, if it be seldom used, be on the shady side. We observe that there is not a cottager so ignorant that will not set her plants, if she has taste enough to grow them, in the east window in the morning, and at noon carry them to a south window, and in the afternoon put them in a west win- dow. But perhaps she is careful to keep her children in the shade, and her preci- ous self, so far as possible, out of the rays of the sun. The plants, in obedience to natural law, are kept healthy while the children and mother, being kept in the shade, suffer in consequence.

Light is beginning to be considered a great curative agent, and we apprehend that the time is not far distant when there will be sun baths. Corridors with glass roofs will be so adjusted that per- sons can properly remove their clothing and take a bath in the sun for an hour or two, much to the improvement of their health. The chief advantage in going to the country is to get into the sunshine, and to be in the pure breezes. If we desire merely to keep cool, we should stay in the shady city. People talk of "hot walls" "burning pavements;" it is much hotter in the country, for the breezes that play there in mid-day bring only heated air in from outdoors. But in the city the breeze brings air in from the shady side of the street, and the lower rooms of a city house are much cooler in mid-day than the exposed houses of the country.

Our soldiers, who were able to bear the labor and fatigue of war, are inviger- ated by the out door life they lived. We knew a young man in New York who came back from the war and resumed his former occupation of book-keeping; and lost 30 pounds weight in six weeks It would do him good to be a farmer.

Parents can do nothing better for their puny sick boys than to put them on a farm for two or three summers and let the sun bathe them the livelong day. They will, by such a life, grow rapidly, and become tough, brawny, and broad. We have seen this tried to the highest advantage in more than one instance un- der our advice.—-PHRENOLOGICAL JOUR- NAL.

National Debts.

Scientific men have been telling for sometime that the coal beds of England would become exhausted in the course of time-—a hundred years or so—-or would be dug so low that the coast of coal would be so increased that England would lose her advantage and supremacy as a great man- ufacturing nation ; but the people of that country did not really believe it, or have not stopped to think of and realize it, till John Stuart Mill, the eminent political economist, took up the matter in parlia- ment the other day, announced his full be- lief in the early exhaustion of the coal beds, and the approach of a day when England will not be able to bear so heavy burdens as now, and solemnly warned his countrymen that if the national debt is ever to be paid, this generation must take held of the work. And Mr. Gladstone, in presenting his annual budget, on the 3d, reiterated the same views, and fully com- mitted himself to the policy of beginning in earnest and at once the work of reducing the national debt.

Mr. Gladstone also entered quite large- ly, in his peculiarly clear and interesting style, into the general subject of national debts, and the stealthy borrowing of money which, he declares, has become the stand- ing vice of almost every government in Europe. “There is nothing,” said the chancellor, “so insidious as financial dif- ficulty. It approaches with smiles and caresses. Borrowing for the first time appears open to no objection. There is nothing in it alarming or menacing. It is like the cup of the lioness, spoken of by one of the Greek poets, which was rashly taken by the hunter into his house. When it was young it was reared with his dogs and placed among his children. But when it grew up and felt its strength it deluged the house with gore.” The debts of nine European countries now amount to $7,500, 000,000, all accumulated within the pres- ent century, and the greater part in the last twenty years. The English debt is $8,994,545,000, a little larger than our own, but as the rate of interest is less, not so much of a public burden. This debt is $8,000,000 less than just before the Crim- ean war, showing that in twelve years England has repaired the losses of that campaign and commenced the work of re- duction again, but not fast enough, as the chancellor of the exchequer seems to think, and he proposes a plan, which, by 1885, will extinguish about fifty millions of the capital of the debt. In his speeches on the reform question Mr. Gladstone has alluded to this country in very complimentary terms, and it is pleasant to see that in the matter of a national debt, also, he finds the most satisfactory example in the United States. He declared that he contemplates our debt with the least anxiety of any, and said that if our people show the resolution in finance that they exhibited during the war, it may be extinguished in a genera- tion, and without constituting any difficul- ty to the American people.—-SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN.

PURCHASING LOWER CALIFORNIA.—-It is stated that a negotiation of considera- ble magnitude has just been concluded with the Republican Mexican Minister at Washington, which involves the cession to certain American capitalists, of nearly the entire peninsular of Lower California for colonization purposes, and to secure the development of the extraordinary mineral wealth of that territory. The Mexican Republican Government retains an interest in the proceeds of the enter- prise, but it is understood that the sum advanced by the parties who have secured the grant is upwards of a million of dol- lars. The names of the following per- sons appear in the conveyance as holding the privileges in trust for the parties: Jacob B. Leese, Benjamin F. Butler, John Anderson, George Wilkes, William G. Fargo, William R. Travers, S. L. M. Barlow, Francis Morris and Edward S. Sandford.

REPORTED MASSACRE AT GOODWIN, ARIZONA.—-A despatch from San Fran- cisco, May 6th, says : A messenger arriv- ed yesterday at Los Angeles, bringing a despatch from the commander of Fort Grant to Gen. Mason, announcing that Fort Goodwin, Arizona, had been taken by two thousand Indians, and twenty- four men massacred, with one exception, and the fort burned. The man who es- caped was out hunting at the time, and witnessed the commotion from a distance. He saw the fort burning, and heard firing of guns during the fight, which lasted nearly an hour.

CONDITION OF THE FREEDMEN.—-The official reports of the Assistant Commis- sioners of the Freedmen’s Bureau to the Commissioner at Washington, for the month of April, show a continued im- provement in the relations between the white and black races in the States re- cently in rebellion. The freedmen seem to be gaining more correct notions of their responsibilities as well as privileges in their new character as freedmen, and where they conduct themselves inoffen- sively the whites are becoming more dis- posed to treat them civilly and deal just- ly with them.

THE ANNIVERSARY of the death of Stonewall Jackson was observed at Rich- mond on the 10th by floral decorations of the graves of Confederate soldiers at Holyrood and Oakwood. Both cemeteries were thronged with ladies and their es- corts. Several brief addresses were made at each place. The Richmond Inquirer had its columns in mourning.

GEN. SANTA ANNA, of Mexican fame, arrived in this city on Saturday last and went to Elizabeth, N. J., to stay with a friend. The object of his visit is not made known. He favors the liberal Government and is probably here in that interest. Arrangements are reported for a mass meeting of the friends of the Mexican Republic at Cooper Institute.

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Bangkok, 3rd Aug. 1865. (L. F.)

CORRECTION.

In the Tide Table of the Bangkok Calendar for 1866 for May, June, Au- gust, and October, for High read Low, and for Low read HIGH.