Mr. Savile's Cremorne, 8 st. 10 lb. (Maidment) Lord Falmouth's Queen's Messenger, 8 st. 10 lb. 2 3 The betting was 2 to 1 agst. Prince Charlie, and 3 to 1 agst. Cremorne. 3. A MEMORY OF GRETNA GREEN.-Simon Lang, the last of the Gretna Green priests, died at Kelling, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, and was buried in Gretna churchyard. The united careers of the two Langs, father and son, as priests, extend over fully eighty years. David, the father, was born and brought up in the parish of Gretna. He donned the priest's ceremonials in the year 1792, and continued in the wedding line till the time of his death, nearly forty years after. The greatest achievement of his reign was the marriage of Thomas, Lord Erskine, in his old age, to his mistress, Miss Sarah Buck, of York Buildings, Marylebone. For this event, it is said, he netted the sum of 100 guineas. David succeeded in joining several scions of noble and powerful houses, including the Villiers, the Beauclercs, the Coventries, and others of almost equal standing. He was cut off rather suddenly in 1827, in his seventysecond year, from the effects of a severe cold, caught while attending at Lancaster the great sensational trial of Wakefield, for the abduction of Miss Turner, a rich heiress, fifteen years old. After this event Simon Lang at once entered upon the duties of the priestly office; and as his father's fame was full in the land he naturally fell into a lucrative branch of business at once. In spite of unfair opposition, Sim flourished abundantly, following closely his legitimate occupations of marrying and weaving, and occasionally varying the tone of these by doing a little smuggling on the quiet. He long outlived all his competitors and saw the decline of the golden days of old Gretna; but still he continued in harness to the last. About twelve months since he went through probably the last marriage ceremony he ever performed, in complete déshabille, having nothing on but his shirt and drawers. The reason of this unwonted exhibition was that the parties reached Gretna from Dumfries by the midnight train, and the old priest was aroused from his slumbers to do duty at a moment's notice. A PROMISE NOT TO MARRY.-A case, which caused great amusement to everybody concerned, came before the judges sitting in Banco in the Queen's Bench. The declaration set forth that in 1868 Miss Crowdy, aunt of the plaintiff, Mr. Creswell, from her care and affection for her nephew, who was twenty-three years of age, conditionally on his not marrying a certain young lady, a widow with three children, whom he had lately met on board ship on a voyage from the Cape of Good Hope, agreed if he should continue unmarried to the young lady to allow him 3007. a year during his life. For some reason or other, however, the defendant had intermitted her payments, and in 1871 this action was brought to recover some arrears. The aunt demurred on the ground that the contract was not legally valid and was revocable at will, there having been no legal consideration. The judges held, however, that the fact of the plaintiff having foregone the domestic happiness he had promised himself was a sufficient consideration to make the agreement good in law. It was further urged that a contract to refrain from marrying was against public policy. Mr. Justice Blackburn pointed out that this was not a contract to refrain from marrying altogether, but to refrain from marrying a particular lady. But (said the defendant's counsel) if a man does not marry the woman he loves, the likelihood is that he will not marry at all. Mr. Justice Blackburn held that that was too romantic for a court of justice. The demurrer was overruled. 9. A CHURCH SET ON FIRE BY LIGHTNING.-During a thunderstorm this day the tower of the parish church of Rainham, in Kent, was struck by lightning, which had run down the shaft of the vane and set fire to the beam in which it was fixed. It thence passed to the bell used for tolling the death-knell and was conducted by a wire attached to it into the church, where it displaced a stone in the wall near the west porch and passed out into the graveyard. It melted the lead on the roof of the tower, and did so much damage that it was found necessary to remove the vane to make the requisite repairs. On Thursday night all was considered safe, but about five o'clock on Friday morning smoke was seen issuing from the church. The tower being ascended without loss of time, it was found that the woodwork of the belfry was burning. The fire was discovered just in time; had it gone on for another half-hour serious injury must have been done. As it was, the belfry was so filled with smoke that those who assisted in extinguishing the fire were greatly hindered in their work; but the flames were eventually extinguished by the exertions of the villagers. The tower of this same Rainham church, one of the most imposing in the neighbourhood, was struck by lightning on October 20, 1791. The church, which is eight centuries old, is one of the most handsome of the parish churches of Kent. 10. AN EXTRAORDINARY SCENE took place in the Central Criminal Court. Sarah Murray and Mary Lynch were indicted for assaulting Susan Snellgrove and causing her grievous bodily harm. In the beginning of March a notoriously bad character, named Daniel Harris, was committed for trial at the Surrey sessions for a street robbery. There was some difficulty in establishing the identity of Harris, and Snellgrove, who appeared to have seen him running away after the robbery, was subpoenaed by the police to give evidence. The trial was to come on at the March sessions, and as the prosecutrix was going there, the prisoners followed her and declared that if she gave evidence against Harris they would settle her before night. On the same evening the prosecutrix went out, and when she had gone a short distance she saw the prisoners. Lynch struck her a violent blow, which turned her round, and Murray then struck her a blow on the eye, which was knocked completely out of the socket. The clothes of the prosecutrix were torn entirely off her by the prisoners and some of their companions. At the hospital the remains of the wounded eye were removed, and for some time it was feared that she would lose the sight of the other. The jury found both prisoners guilty of the entire charge, and added that they were of opinion that the act was done with the intent to take the eye out. Baron Bramwell, in indignant terms, remarked upon the savage nature of the act committed by the prisoners, and sentenced them to be kept in penal servitude for life. The moment the sentence was pronounced the prisoner Lynch rushed at Murray and seized her by the hair, and it was with difficulty she was rescued from her. She was then about to commit some other violence, but the warders seized her, and they were both removed, shrieking, from the dock. The prisoner Lynch was under the impression apparently that Murray had given the information that had led to her apprehension. 13. THE EMPRESS OF GERMANY Concluded a visit to England by leaving Windsor Castle this morning. The Empress's last day in London was spent in a round of farewell visits. 14. MURDER OF TWO OFFICERS IN INDIA.-A deplorable occurrence is reported by the mail from India. A private named John Butler, of the 108th Regiment, stationed at Deesa, a man of bad character, in a determined manner watched all night for Captain A. H. Laurie, of his regiment, and on his going out in the morning for parade fired at him two or three times. Lieutenant and Adjutant Albert Munro, hearing the shots and the screams of Mrs. Laurie, who witnessed the occurrence, rode to the spot and was shot dead by Butler. The wretch then fired again at Captain Laurie, who was fearfully wounded, and at two other officers, who fortunately escaped, and when pursued he managed to blow his own brains out, firing in all eleven shots from his gun in a few minutes. Captain Laurie died shortly after. THE "CLAIMANT" AT ALRESFORD. This afternoon the "Claimant," upon the invitation of a number of the tenants of the Tichborne estates, and of the townspeople of Alresford, which is distant some three miles from Tichborne Hall, paid a public visit to the little village of Alresford, where he was received with every demonstration of enthusiastic welcome. The "Claimant " has been stopping for the last few days at The Grove, Ropley, the seat of Mr. Guildford Onslow, M.P. for Guildford. At the villas and houses of the well-to-do people of the neighbourhood ladies appeared at the windows or at the gates and waved handkerchiefs, "Sir Roger" acknowledging the compliment repeatedly. When the outskirts of the village were reached a band met the party, and there was on the ground a large body of respectable-looking men wearing blue silk rosettes. The horses were taken from the waggonette and, amidst the most enthusiastic cheering and shaking of hands with the "Claimant," the vehicle was drawn into the yard of the Swan Hotel, where the people assembled to the number of about 2000 and constituted a meeting. After Mr. Onslow had made a C speech expressive of his entire belief in the "Claimant's" virtues and identity, the party adjourned to the Swan, where the "Claimant" himself made another to the same effect. 15. EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING.-A severe thunderstorm which occurred this afternoon was experienced with peculiar severity at a farm occupied by John Nuttall, of Pilsworth, about two miles from Bury. The chimney on the western gable of the farm was struck, the chimney-stack completely demolished; the roof was smashed through, and nearly one half of the thick brickwork of the gable end was ruinously demolished or shaken. An aperture some yards in extent was broken through the brickwork in the region of the flue into a bed-room, the fireplace, fender, &c., being broken into pieces, a large wardrobe on the opposite side of the room broken from top to bottom, and the large-paned window utterly demolished, some of the pieces being blown forty yards away. The destruction was continued through the thick hearth-stone, which was split up, and down into the parlour below, where the flue was smashed out, the fireplace and grate broken into fragments, the window-panes blown out, pictures and frames shattered to pieces, several square yards of the flooring and Brussels carpet torn up into shreds, the door split, a sewing-machine whirled down and broken, chair-legs and backs smashed off, and several hundredweights of débris deposited on the hearth. At that moment five persons were taking tea in the kitchen, about twelve yards away, but not one of them was hurt. 17. EXPATRIATED COMMUNISTS.-Twelve Communists landed at Dover this afternoon. How these poor fellows suffered after being landed on our shores is well described by an eye-witness of a scene which occurred at Bexley Heath, on the high-road between Dover and London, on Tuesday night : "I was seated at home, about half-past ten o'clock," he writes, "when the door was opened in response to a loud knock, and, standing outside, accompanied by a policeman and surrounded by a throng of people, was a band of about a dozen of the most triste and wretched-looking wayfarers I ever saw in my life. They were haggard, travel-stained, and utterly broken down, some of them being almost shoeless, and one poor fellow groaned aloud from the excruciating agony he must have endured. His feet were literally raw, and his companions were in various stages of a like condition. They had applied at the police-station; but, as they were unable to speak a word of English, and none of the officials there could understand French, they were brought to me with the view of ascertaining who they were and what they wanted. One of their number, an exceedingly intelligent and handsome young fellow, who satisfied me at once, by means of books and papers, that he was of the respectable ouvrier class, said that he and his companions had been indiscriminately seized, together with many hundreds of others, who, like him, had had nothing whatever to do with the Communistic rrection, and thrown into prison; that now, the principals of the rebellion having been executed, or otherwise dealt with, the Government were at a loss what to do with the great mass of untried prisoners, and that the latter were being hurried off out of the country in batches; that they (my suppliants) had been taken from their confinement at Cherbourg, driven through Paris without being permitted to communicate with any of their friends, conveyed to Calais, and sent across the channel to Dover, where they landed on Saturday without a sou in the world; that they had walked thus far on their way to London, were sinking from fatigue and starvation, and wanted some shelter, no matter how lowly, in which they could coucher pendant la nuit. We found it impossible to accommodate them in that way in such a quiet out-of-the-way place at such an hour, and, collecting several shillings for them, giving them a couple of loaves, and providing them with some instructions, written in French and English, as to how they had better proceed on arriving at Woolwich, five miles distant, we set them off, fervently expressing their mercis beaucoup between their groans from pain and their protests against the heartlessness of the Government of their country. 21. A MEETING OF AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS, at which about 1000 were present, was held at Yaxley, a village in Huntingdonshire, and ended in a serious riot between the labourers and the farmers. A chairman, being appointed from the men present, proceeded to address the assembly, when a number of farmers, their sons, and friends, marched on to the green, having in each hand bird-clappers, and drowned the voice of the speaker. The disturbance was patiently borne until the labourers had taken the measure of the farmers present, when a message was sent to them that they had better leave the men alone, or it would fare badly with them. The answer to this was a renewal of the clapper din. As soon as speech could be heard a stalwart labourer shouted, "Nolls, we can stand this no longer," and with one action the "Nolls" made a furious charge on the farmers. The young farmers stood the fight bravely, many of the labourers not desiring to hurt their masters; but the strangers from the other farms were not so mercifully disposed, and the bird-clappers were most unsparingly used on the heads, backs, and legs of the young and old squires. The women who were engaged in the affray gave their husbands some trouble to quiet them and prevent a further attack on the farmers in their homesteads. 27. IRISH MURDER.-The sense of security which the public generally were beginning to feel received a rude shock by the report of a savage murder perpetrated in one of the most populous suburban districts of Dublin. There can be no doubt that it is agrarian, and it therefore excites the more alarm. Mrs. Harriett Neile, the lady who was murdered, resided with her husband and two sons at Sydenham-terrace, Brighton-road, Bathgar. It is a rather retired part of a populous locality. She is reported to have possessed some landed property in the King's County which she was desirous tc |