play on the burning mass, but it was found that the deck had ignited, and at 7 A.M. the flames broke through. The masts, one by one, fell overboard; all hopes of saving the ship were abandoned, and the two longboats and ship's lifeboats were launched and provisioned. The ship being nothing but one huge blaze both fore and aft, the boats left, and steered for Diego Garcia, the southernmost island of the Chagos Archipelago, which, after several days and nights' hard rowing and exposure to heavy seas and bad weather, they succeeded in making. Upon this island they remained for fifty-four days, subsisting principally upon what fish they could catch. One man was prostrated by epilepsy, but recovered. On December 28 the shipwrecked crew were taken off by the Capetown schooner "Barso," Captain Christienson, which had touched there on her way from Port Louis, Mauritius, to Six Islands. January 5 they were landed at Port Louis.

On

A PICTURE has just been added to the National Gallery, being that bequeathed to the nation by the late Mr. W. Linton, the well-known painter of classical landscapes. The picture is one of the deceased painter's best productions, instinct with solemnity and dignity befitting the subject. It is "The Temples of Pæstum,” and shows the ruins of those gigantic structures standing in the marshy level between the mountains and the sea.

10. A PIECE OF GOOD FORTUNE has just fallen to the lot of Dr. Halifax, of Brighton. An aged miser, who died a few days since at Woolwich, has left him a legacy of 6,000l. The old gentleman, John Clark by name, was a rather singular character. He was eighty-six years of age, and, although he was reputed to be the possessor of a large fortune, he lived to the last in a squalid hovel in the poorest part of Woolwich, where, being a man of education, he devoted himself to the accumulation and study of books, of which he leaves a large store. It is said that the front shutters of his house have not been opened for thirty years, and that he never took a regular meal. He did not know the taste of wine or spirits. The value of his estate has not yet been computed; but, from the fact that besides the legacy to Dr. Halifax, he bequeaths 5,000l. to his housekeeper, and various legacies of smaller amount to the local charities and to a number of the poor neighbours by whom he was surrounded, it is estimated at between 30,000l. and 40,000l.

TESTIMONIAL TO MR. DARWIN.-Mr. Darwin has received as a testimonial, on the occasion of his sixty-ninth birthday, an album, a magnificent folio, bound in velvet and silver, containing the photographs of 154 men of science in Germany. The list contains some of the best known and most highly honoured names in Europe. He has likewise received on the same occasion from Holland an album with the photographs of 217 distinguished professors and lovers of science in that country. These gifts are not only highly honourable to Mr. Darwin, but also to the senders, as a proof of their generous sympathy with a foreigner; and they

further show how widely the great principle of evolution is now accepted by naturalists. The German album bears on the handsome title-page the inscription, "Dem Reformator der Naturgeschichte, Charles Darwin" (to the Reformer of Natural History).

FUNERAL OF MR. GEORGE ODGER.-The remains of Mr. Odger were this day honoured with a public funeral.

The crowd around the house of the deceased was immense, and the marshalling of the throng required all the energy of Mr. Shipton and his fellows. The space of several adjacent streets was necessary to form the line of procession, which was headed by the Italian band from the democracy of Clerkenwell Green. The line began to move towards Brompton Cemetery shortly before three o'clock, the band playing the "Dead March in Saul." The trades unionists marched in front, and were noticeable for their want of marching organisation, the most elementary knowledge of drill being altogether lacking. The coffin was borne upon an open hearse, and every outward mark of respect was paid to it by the people. The family of the deceased were in the usual funeral coaches, and there were present on foot, Sir Charles Dilke, M.P., Professor Fawcett, M.P., Mr. Burt, M.P., Mr. Cowen, M.P., Mr. Macdonald, M.P., Professor Beesley, Dr. Bridges, Mr. F. Harrison, Mr. George Jacob Holyoake, the Rev. G. M. Murphy, and in carriages Sir John Bennett, Mr. Mundella, M.P., Miss Helen Taylor, &c. The procession passed through the Seven Dials into Cranbourne Street, thence to Piccadilly, and so down to the Fulham Road. Throughout the whole route the long procession was protected from the traffic of the streets by the police, and, with the exception of parts in Piccadilly, great crowds lined the way. Order was maintained throughout until the gates of the cemetery were reached, when dense moving throngs of people who had accompanied the procession by walking on either side became wedged in, and a scene of great confusion arose, attended with no little danger to life and limb. The rougher parts of the crowd were ungovernable, and hustled the procession, clambered over tombs, and scrambled over graves. Around the open grave some climbed into the trees. The chaplain of the cemetery read the service of the Church of England over the grave, his voice, while standing in the dense mass of human beings, being most distinctly heard, the only interruption being from the sobbing women whom the dead man had left to mourn his loss. The minister left the grave, and then Professor Beesley, Professor Fawcett, and the Rev. G. M. Murphy addressed the assemblage. The people lingered about the grave for some time, and all had an opportunity of seeing the polished oak coffin and the brass plate, upon which, in large letters, stood the words, "Mr. George Odger, died March 4, 1877, sixtythree years of age."

THE LATE LADY AUGUSTA STANLEY.-Her Majesty the Queen has caused a monumental cross to be erected at Frogmore, in Windsor Park, in memory of Lady Augusta Stanley. It is of

fine blue Cairngall granite, all polished, and is beautifully enriched on the front and sides with entwined ornaments, after the style of the early Christian crosses that may be seen in the west of Scotland. It stands upon a rock base, or unhewn block of granite, and the total height is about 7 ft. Its site is chosen in the private grounds at Frogmore, in front of the mausoleum of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, the Queen's mother. This monument was designed and executed by Messrs. Macdonald, Field & Co., of Aberdeen and London, under the special directions of Her Majesty. The following is inscribed, in gold letters, on the stem of the cross-"To the dear memory of Lady Augusta Stanley, fifth daughter of Thomas Bruce, seventh Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, this cross is erected by Queen Victoria, in grateful and affectionate remembrance of her faithful labours for thirty years in the service of the Queen, the Duchess of Kent, and the Royal family. Born, April 3, 1822. Died, March 1, 1876."

MR. Ross, who was carried off from Palermo by the brigand Leone and his band, is now in England on a short visit. Mr. Ross describes his adventures as not unmixed with a certain amount of fun. Finding himself completely in their power, he endeavoured to make himself as comfortable and agreeable as he could; the only annoyance being the active pursuit of the troops, who kept the brigands moving and hiding from place to place. Leone assured Mr. Ross most solemnly that if the troops surrounded them, he (Mr. Ross) would be the first man to fall. When the ransom arrived, Mr. Ross had become such a favourite that his captors tried hard to persuade him to join the band. They were much affected when he finally left, and, as they kissed him, swore that neither he nor his friends should ever again be molested. Two of the villains went as far as they dared with Mr. Ross, and on saying farewell they burst into tears.

17. ST. PATRICK'S DAY was kept in Dublin in the usual manner. On the previous evening a grand ball closed a season of great brilliancy at the Castle, where, in order to make the celebration conduce to a useful object, the Duchess of Marlborough had desired the ladies to wear Irish poplins. The ceremony of trooping the garrison colours, and mounting guard in honour of the anniversary, formed an imposing part of the popular celebration of the day. When the troops had been formed, the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, accompanied by the Duke of Connaught, Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill, Lady Rosamond Churchill, and a distinguished party of guests, came out on the balcony to view the stirring scene. The Lord and Lady Mayoress were also present.

The same day it was celebrated in London by a dinner of the Benevolent Society of St. Patrick at Willis's Rooms, at which Sir Michael Hicks-Beach presided; a "national gathering" and amnesty meeting at the Surrey Gardens, under the presidency of Mr. Butt, in the afternoon; and a Home Rule dinner in the evening at the Cannon Street Hotel, with Mr. Butt as chairman. At the dinner

at Willis's Rooms, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach said there was every reason to believe that Ireland had entered upon a steady, quiet, but satisfactory and progressive path of improvement. Even during the short time he had had anything to do with the government of Ireland, he had seen a vast improvement in the direction of that self-reliance upon which Englishmen so much pride themselves.

SAD DEATH IN PRISON.-At the recent Liverpool assizes Mr. Joseph Greenough, a gentleman, nearly eighty years of age, was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment with hard labour. He claimed to have acquired by purchase, thirty-seven years ago, a certain piece of land at Parr, near St. Helens, which one of his tenants had enclosed and built a cottage on. Instead of proceeding by action of ejectment, Greenough, with six others acting under his direction, went unarmed in the middle of the day, and endeavoured to take forcible possession. The tenant resisted, and, in the course of the disturbance, he, together with his wife and son, was assaulted. A charge of tumultuously rioting and assembling was brought against Mr. Greenough and the others, and the whole of them were convicted, the subordinates being sentenced to two months' and one month's imprisonment. The extreme severity of the punishment adjudged to Mr. Greenough, and his advanced age, awakened considerable interest at St. Helens, his native place, and where he had passed his life. Steps were being taken by his neighbours to lay the case before the Home Secretary. On March 28 the Under Secretary of State was waited on by Mr. Greenough's London solicitor, who handed him two letters, one from a distinguished ex-judge, the other from a leading member of the Parliamentary Bar, a Queen's counsel, who had known Mr. Greenough about twenty years, expressing his belief that the sentence would be the prisoner's death. Both letters expressed a hope that favourable consideration would be given to the case. On March 30, before any answer had been received from the Home Office, Mr. Greenough died in Kirkdale Gaol. He has left a fortune estimated to amount to nearly half a million.

MEETING AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY.-A preliminary meeting was held in the Jerusalem Chamber this day-Dean Stanley in the chair-to promote a celebration of the four hundredth anniversary of the introduction of printing into England by William Caxton, who printed his first book here, in a room adjacent to the Abbey. The meeting was very influential and thoroughly representative.

THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF BERLIN has just suffered a great loss. One of the finest of its pictures has been stolen. The missing canvas is a small but exquisitely finished specimen of Van Eyck, signed and dated 1440; the subject-the Virgin crowned, seated with the child in her lap, and in the background a Gothic cathedral. A strange destiny seems to attend the works of Van Eyck. He is pre-eminently the thief's favourite artist. The two remaining specimens of him in the Berlin Gallery have

also a defective title. They had once been part of the famous triptych in the Cathedral of St. Baven at Ghent. Many years ago two of the shutters were stolen from the church. This was before the days of telegraphs, and probably before the days of detectives. For a very long time they remained unheard of, but ultimately found their way into the Berlin Gallery, for which they were purchased from a private collection, having in the meantime passed through several hands. The last theft has an interest that extends to our own country. It shows that this particular form of robbery is epidemical, and on the increase. It shows, moreover, that the thieves have discovered a safe market for their plunder.

-LORD DUNDONALD.-Under the commonplace form of a Parliamentary return lately issued will be found one of the most striking chapters in the romance of war' which English annals can show. It is contained in a petition from Lord Cochrane to the Queen, "praying Her Majesty to complete the gracious act of Royal justice which restored the late Lord Dundonald to his rank and honours" by granting compensation for eighteen years' loss of pay and allowances as a naval officer. We have no intention to enumerate the astonishing feats in naval warfare which Lord Dundonald performed during the earlier years of this century-feats which, as the petition truly says, associated "romantic daring" with "sagacious calculation;" but it is perhaps as germane to the matter in hand to point out that the admirals under whom he served, men like Keith, Collingwood, and Lord Gambier, who knew and could appreciate valour and seamanship, repeatedly thanked him for his services, which also procured him the Order of the Bath. All this, however, went for nothing when, being accused of spreading false reports for stockjobbing purposes, he was convicted and sentenced to a fine, imprisonment, and degradation. We must pass over his achievements in South America, whither he repaired after his release, and gladly record that twenty years after his degradation it was discovered that he was an innocent man, the victim of political partisanship and evidence glaringly defective, and he was then restored to his rank and honours, besides being appointed to high command. Ample restitution, indeed, was made on all points except in the loss of his pay, and this his grandson now asks. Equitably, of course, the claim is good, and it would seem that there is also at least one precedent for granting it. The petition, we should add, is endorsed by an almost unprecedented array of names of men eminent in every walk of life and in every branch of the service, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and including peers, judges, and, we believe, every admiral on the list.

-- MR. JOHN PARRY.-The farewell benefit performance at the Gaiety Theatre, a few days ago, has left us with pleasant recollections of the many hours of refined amusement, in the "buffo" style of musical comedy, which we have owed to this clever veteran performer. Mr. Parry, whose father was also a musician of good repute, is about sixty-six years old, and is a native of London.