tht 31ittrufelio.

A deputation of persons desirous of legislation on the supply of gas to the metropolis waited on Mr. Milner Gibson on Wednesday. The gas companies have endeavoured by private arrangements to prevent com- petition and thus keep up the price of gas. The deputation desires to see the sale, quality, and priee of gas regulated by an Act. Mr. Milner Gibson said the question should have the attention of the Government.

The deputation waited on Sir George Lewis on Thursday. The Home Secretary, although desirous of bearing the other side, showed that the Government will either promote an inquiry or take up the case and bring in a bill based on existing information. There is prima facie ground, he said, for the Government to consider the question, perhaps to take it in hand.

Mr. Williams addressed his constituents at the Horns Tavern, Ken- nington, on Monday. The bulk of his speech related to our alleged ex- travagant expenditnre, but while he dealt largely in general charges, the i orator did not enter into details or. specify any of the real sources of waste in our army or navy. Mr. Williams also spoke against flogging, and expressed a hope that Lord John Russell's Reform Bill for 1860 would be more liberal than that of 1851.

At the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on Monday, Mr. Francis Galion read a very intestosting paper on sun signals." By means of a heliostat, which can be carried in the waistcoat-pocket, sig- nals can be made to an immense distance by reflecting the sun's rays. Some progress has been made in a system of notation. These heliostatic signals are of great use in triangulating a country.

Dr. Shaw read extracts from voluminous papers describing the pro- gress of Dr. Livingstone.

The first portion, dated May 12, 1859, gave an account of Dr. Living- stone's journey to Shirwa, a large inland lake. It had no known outlet,

and, according to native reports, was, separated from Lake Nyingesi by a

tongue of land only five or six miles broad, and the southern end they dis- covered to be no more than thirty miles distant from a navigable branch of the Shire. The water of the Shirwa had a bitter taste, but was drinkable. Fish, alligators, and hippopotami abounded. During strong southerly winds the water was said to retire sufficiently from that side for the people to catch fish in weirs planted there. The lake was of a pear shape, and in its wide part from twenty-five to thirty miles in breadth, the narrow portion being prolonged some thirty miles south from where the tra- vellers stood. Its length might be from sixty to seventy miles, not in- cluding the southern narrow portion of thirty miles. The height of the lake above Chibiaa Island, where they left the launch, was 1800 feet, and 2000 feet above the level of the sea. Mount Zoreba, in its neighbourhood, was 6000 feet high. The whole region was well though not densely peopled. The Portuguese did not even pretend to know Shirwa; frequent inquiries were made- of the natives as to whether any white men had ever visited them before and they invariably replied in the negative. Dr. Livingstone, therefoic, claimed the first discovery for himself and party, although the Portuguese claimed the honour for themselves. The Manganya cultivated

the soil, which was very rich, extensively. The grass was generally from six to, eight feet long ; a few yards' distance often completely hid a com-

panion and guides were always necessary. Gardens were common high up the hills, and on their tops cotton was much cultivated, and the further they went the more important the crop appeared. Every ono spun and wove cotton, even chiefs were seen at the spindle and distaff. The process of manufacture was the most rude and tedious that could be conceived. There were two varieties of the plant, and`there were no insects to spoil it. Among the Manganya every one carried a knife, and almost every village had a furnace for anniting black magnetic iron ore. A people to the north- north-west had manufactured a rude imitation of a pistol, which they fired only on occasions of mourning. They were not aware that it could propel a ball. Another paper was also read, on the navigation of the Zambesi, which Dr. Livingstone stated to be navigable. In the midst of great dis- advantages they had travelled upwards of 2350 miles of river. From Oc- tober, 1858, to June, 1859, 6782 elephants' tusks had gone down the Zam- besi from Tete alone. Two-thirds of these were large, or upwards of thirty pounds each, and the weight of the whole was 100,000 pounds. The mer- chandise was conveyed in unwieldy canoes, which cost from 601. to 70/. each. The Americans were absorbing all the trade of the east coast below Zanzibar.

The Chairman, Sir Roderick Murchison, also read extracts from let- ters which had been addressed to himself, and announced that he had the assurance of Lord John Russell, the Foreign Secretary, that every aid which he could afford would be given to Dr. Livingstone.

The 195th anniversary of the Scottish Hospital was kept on. St. An- drew's Day in the usual style. Lord Eicho presided over a dinner, which gave occasion for an outpouring of funds in aid of this noble charity.

At a meeting of civil engineers and friends of the late Mr. Brunel, helm on Saturday, it was resolved to erect a monument to his memory, in order "to mark the high sense universally entertained of his gcnius and professional attainments, as exemplified in his great public and national works, as well as of the worth of his private character." It was men- tioned at the meeting that the charities of Mr. Brunel in his own parish might be counted by thousands.

The Reverend Mr. Maguire made explanations to a crowded congrega- tion in his church on Sunday respecting the charge preferred against him by Miss Lettington. Instead of insulting the young woman be said, he treated her with courtesy and attention in consulting her wishes in reference to the open window and the smoking. In turning round to request the passengers to close the window of the next compartment, which was open at his back, if he did interfere with her in the manner stated (he did not know that he did) it was without motive, unintentionally, and unwittingly. To that be was ready to pledge his oath, if his word spoken in that sacred edifice should not be deemed sufficient. He denied that he ever Offered the parties accusing him 1001. to withdraw the charge. He did not offer them a penny. Nay, more, when a person waited en him, and in the presence of his wile and curate told him that one of the passengers was ready, if paid for it, to come forward and prove a com- plete negative to the charge, he spurned the compact. It was equally false that he attempted to escape, for he invited all the parties to accompany him from the platform to the waiting-room, where he was ready to settle the matter by a satisfactory explanation. Another false statement was that he had asked them to his house, that his wife and family might intercede for him. Were he guilty hie wife and family should never be asked to do any- thing of that kind. He did ask them to his house, but there was nothing said about family intercession, and his reason for giving them the invitation was that they might ascertain the truth of his statement, that ho was a clergyman and a married man.

The performance of divine service at St. George's-in-the-East on Sun- day was interrupted by hisses and jeers less than formerly. Many of the congregation " said" the responses instead of intoning them ; and a partisan of the rector's endeavoured to have one arrested, but failed. Mr. Lowder, a curate, was followed, however, by a mob, and only es-

caped insult in consequence of the exertions of police.

The Judges of the Court of Divorce have dismissed a petition for a discos lution of marriage on the ground of adultery preferred by one Captain Lloyd. The respondent was of course his wife, and the co-respondent George Augustus Hamilton Chichester. Lloyd was in the Queen's Bench Prison ; Chichester and Mrs. Lloyd were living in Paris. That adultery had been committed was beyond doubt, but in the course of the evidence it came out distinctly in the opinion of the Court that there had been collu- sion between all the parties. Lloyd bargained for money before he would sign the petition, and Chichester paid an agent for his trouble in going to Paris that he might obtain evidence indispensable to the success of the pe- tition, which evidence Chichester enabled him to obtain. The Court said the evidence of collusion was too gross to be overlooked.

In the same Court the Reverend John Rogers petitioned for and ob- tained a dissolution of marriage. His story is remarkable. Educated for the Church, the death of his father left him without means of support, and he enlisted as a private in a dragoon regiment. At this time he married, and afterwards went to India, where he remained twenty years. On his re- turn home he was ordained, and finally became chaplain of Winchester gaol. In 1856 a young man of good family, John George William Paul, was imprisoned in the gaol, having been convicted of obtaining money under false pretences. Mr. Rogers took an interest in his case, and admitted him to his house when he quitted the prison. In 1858 Paul eloped with Mrs. Rogers. The defence was—counter charges of adultery and cruelty, which could not be sustained at all ; and the Court dissolved the marriage.

In the case of Wotherspoon versus Turner, heard before the Master of the Rolls, the plaintiffs, as the alleged exclusive purchasers of Messrs. Fulton and Co.'s right of manufacturing a flour starch known as " Glenlield Double- Refined Powder Starch," moved for an injunction against the defendants from selling a starch in wrappers too closely similar as to device, colour, and description to those used by the plaintiffs. No material objection being offered to the motion, the Court granted a perpetual injunction against the defendants, subject to the minutes of the order being settled by counsel on either side. This is the fourth time that Messrs. Wotherspoon have been obliged to defend their well-known trade mark against imitation.

Mr. Palm a moister, was prosecuted by the Crown in the Court of Ex- chequer, to recover 14004 penalties incurred for an attempt to defraud the revenue. The defence was that Edwards, his manager, unknown to him, had committed the frauds. Edwards appeared as a witness for the de- fence, and explained how he had robbed his master and cheated the excise. The Chief Baron left it to the jury to say whether they really believed that Palin was ignorant of the malpractices of Edwards. The jury found for the defendant.

Smethurst was tried and found guilty of bigamy at the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday. The defence set up was that Mary Durham, the pri- soner's wife, was a married woman when Smethurst was married to her in 1828. The evidence to prove this was that of a person calling himself her son, and his son. Their father and grandfather was a Mr. Laporte, now dead, otherwise Johnson. There was a Mrs. Johnson and a Mrs. Laporte. No proof of the marriage of Mary Durham with Johnson, otherwise Laporte, was adduced. Mr. Sleigh, for Smethurst, described him as unfortunate, as deserving of "sympathy and commiseration," and insisted that he was in- nocent of the murder imputed to him; a remark for which he was rebuked by the Judge. Baron Bramwell summed up, and kept elear altogether of the charge and conviction for murder. The Jury found Smethurst guilty, and the Judge passed what he called sentence Inflicting a severer punishment than is usual—one year's imprisonment with hard labour.

In the same Court, Sarah Jane Wiggins was found guilty of manslaughter. This is the case where Wiggins, entrusted with the care of three children, beat one, a sickly infant, and strapped him up, first to the bedpost, next in a horizontal position hanging from the upper rail of the bed, and left him there, half naked, a whole night each time. She did this because the poor little creature cried for water. The result was the death of the child. The Court sentenced the cruel woman to ten years' penal servitude.

Jacob French was indicted for assaulting Maria Astell in a carriage on the Brighton Railway. The two were alone in the carriage. It was dark. French talked about love-making, and tried to kiss the girl, who resisted. She got out at the next station and entered another carriage. French apo- logized ; he afterwards gave the girl some money, and at the trial she de- clared she thought that to be locked up one night was sufficient punishment, and that she did not want to have anything more to do with it. The Com- pany, however, prosecuted, and the Jury found French guilty. Sentence— one month's imprisonment. The Reverend Henry John Hatch, late Chaplain of the Wandsworth House of Correction, has, been found guilty of an indecent assault upon two young girls, the daughters of a gentleman, seat to school at his house. The evidence against him entirely consists of the stories of the little girls. They even say that he carried on his evil practices in the presence of his own wife, a fact not disproved. Many gentlemen gave him a very high character, and he most emphatically declared himself to be innocent. The Jury thought otherwise. Sentence—two years' imprisonment with hard labour.

At the Middlesex Sessions, Brooks, the man who forged an order for a cheek book and presented it at the London Joint-Stock Bank, was found guilty. He was also found guilty of uttering a forged check. Sentence, ten years' transportation.

James Moore, parasol-maker, was brought on Tuesday before the Worship Street Magistrate, on suspicion of having murdered his wife. The story in this case is very ghastly. Moore and his wife lodged in King's Head Court, Shoreditch, at the house of Turner, a baker. Turner said that Moore came in at the front door about three o'clock on Monday afternoon. Moore went up stairs and soon came down. He asked Turner to go up with him, and when they arrived in his room they saw the headless body of a woman, stripped nearly naked, lying on the door. Turner at once went out with Moore to inform the police. At the office it was remarked that there were stains of blood on Moore's trousers. Accompanied by a constable, they re- turned to the house. it was then that the usher of the Court observed a little child seated on the floor, its head resting on a pillow. On removing the child and the pillow, the head of the slain woman was found in a basin. Moore was then taken into custody. His clothes were taken from him ; the room was searched, and various blood-stained garments were found, some showing that the woman must have been killed after she had partly dressed herself, others belonged to the prisoner. Moore made and signed a statement, declaring that he left his wife alive at half-past seven. The evidence of Mrs. Turner and others showed that screams of " Murder!" were heard in Moore's room a little before eight o'clock. Mrs. Turner ran to the room ; the door was locked ; she called and obtained no answer. She ran down the stairs intending to call a constable, but as the cries suddenly ceased, she did not do so. Eliza Turner, a child, saw Moore leave the housequietly between nine and ten o'clock. A surgeon deposed that the woman had been dead probably six or eight hours. The wounds on the head were inflicted with a blunt instrument. The head was cut off with a sharp large knife before death took place. There was a long wound in the abdomen. The cuts on the dress were made after the death of the wearer.

Moore was remanded. He had been recently imprisoned at Holloway for assaulting a woman. When he had been there three months he became in- sane, and was sent to a lunatic asylum.

Mrs. Rowley, wife of the Honourable Hugh Rowley, has obtained a de- cree of dissolution of marriage from the Divorce Court on the ground of adultery and cruelty. Mr. Rowley did not appear, because he had no answer to the first charge. He has now met the second by obtaining a summons from the Westminster Magistrate calling upon his late wife to answer a charge of perjury ; first that Mr. Rowley had never given her any money since her marriage ; next that he had brutally cut off her hair ; and thirdly, that he had knocked her down. Mr. Rowley declares these statements to be false.

In the case of the youth Howell, shot by Mr. M'Kenzie in a workshop while experimenting on a pistol, a Coroner's Jury have returned a verdict of " Accidental death," and the Guildhall Magistrate has dismissed the charge of manslaughter preferred against M'Kenzie.

Mr. Babbage is a confirmed enemy of street music. The other day a band of musicians were playing to a wedding party near his house. He rushed out to order them off. They then went into the house at the request of the owner. Mr. Babbage endeavoured to have them turned out by the police, but failed. When they came out, Mr. Babbage caused them to be arrested. Now at the Marylebone Police Court this was shown to 'have been illegal ; and when the Magistrate dismissed the charge, the men intimated an in- tention of bringing an action for false imprisonment.

Several fires occurred in London on Saturday night and Sunday morning, and much property, but happily no life, was destroyed.