instructor of the corps. The corps were engaged in target-practice, and had made some excellent shots from each gun. Ten rounds had been fired, when simultaneously with the explosion of the eleventh round, a cry was heard, the men in the battery were covered with dirt and stones; and then it was said that some men had been injured. On looking round the officers found that the middle gun (No. 2) had burst into fragments, that the gunner who fired the piece had been wounded in the head, and that another had his arm broken and was otherwise injured. Serjeant Matthews, who had got upon the parapet and was looking down into the ditch, exclaimed, "There are some people hurt in the ditch, sir!" And it was then discovered that six persons were lying moaning at the bottom. It appears that when the guns have been loaded and are laid at the target, all the gunners except those who are to fire them draw aside, and that on this occasion a part of the men present had withdrawn to the parapet. What occurred is forcibly described by a witness. "On No. 2 gun being fired for the fourth time, I saw from fifty to sixty pieces blown upwards from the gun, and in the midst of them a huge fragment, which ascended higher than all the rest. It rose at least fifty feet into the air. At the same instant I saw four persons swept off the parapet, the nearest to me, whom I have since ascertained to be Mr. Thompson, turning several summersaults in the air before falling. I saw, also, two falling together, and a fourth descending singly." Six persons had, in fact, been blown over- Lieutenant Thompson, who appeared to be injured in

the back, and who died in half an hour; Serjeant Monger, who received mortal injury by the concussion; Mr. Harris, a young gentleman, nephew of Captain Wollaston, the captain of the company, who was present as a spectator, and who received so severe a concussion of the brain that he was taken to the hospital in a dangerous condition; gunner Boulding, who was hurt, but not very seriously; and two others, who received no injury.

On examining the gun, it was found to have burst near the trunnions, the muzzle dropping to the ground, and the breach being blown thirty yards to the rear. The middle portion was blown into fragments, the largest of which, a piece three feet long, fell into the trench beside the injured persons, but apparently without strik ing them; two other fragments were blown into the goods station of the South Eastern Railway.

An inquiry into the history of the gun brought out some curious details. It was no less than 55 years old, having been cast in 1805. It was immediately put on service in the Edgar, and afterwards in the Barham and the Asia. It was returned to Woolwich in 1845, and was then searched (examined) for the last time. It was sentenced to be revented; and having been thus repaired, was issued to the works at Dover, in 1850, where it was placed in Archcliff fort, apparently without being tested. Since that time the gun had been fired about 180 times. The artillery officers stated that 1000 rounds may be taken as the "life" of a gun-the bursting of all cast-iron guns is only a matter of time, and upon examination they can, within a

jury system as obsolete and the jurymen as nuisances. At any rate, he thanked the grand jury in the usual curt formula, and added nothing.

"And I also, my lord and gentlemen," suddenly interposed the high sheriff, when his lordship's voice stopped without uttering the suggested courtesy; and to the astonishment of the tipstaffs and the judge, the high sheriff actually began to supply the omission which he believed to have been made by Sir Colin. The judge loudly ordered him to sit down, and not to interrupt the proceedings of the court. But the high sheriff would not sit down. Again and again the command went forth, but the sheriff, grateful to his country neighbours, still endeavoured to utter his thanks. Then did the judge exercise a power which they rarely in these days exercise, and never wisely: he told the high sheriff that if he did not sit down he should fine him 500l.; and, as the high sheriff did not sit down, he did fine him 500l. Even this did not stop the persistent gratitude of the high sheriff; so now the judge placed his hand upon his shoulder, and ordered him into his own custody. Upon this the high sheriff was fined 500l., and committed to a sort of embarrassing kind of metaphysical imprisonment, all because he had a too-courteous idea that some one ought to thank gentlemen for coming a long way to perform an onerous and unremunerated duty.

On reflection, both parties perceived that they had acted injudiciously the judge that he had acted rather intemperately with a well-meaning gentleman, the high sheriff that he had gone beyond his office, and trespassed on the

duty of the judge. The interposition of friends brought about a rapprochement between two estimable men, the sheriff made the amende, and the judge remitted the fine.

Unfortunately the high sheriff, who in this dispute had the sympathy of his friends, was so injudicious as to commit himself to another controversy with the same judge. The assize courts at Guildford are discreditable to the county. They are little better than sheds, with open gratings at the ends, so that the judges of assize are open to public inspection like wild beasts; and in return have the privilege of gazing from the bench on the traffic passing through a busy market-place :-the courts are further open to the objection that the noises of the low crowds that assemble round a criminal court readily permeate these justicesheds, and drown the voices of counsel and confound the wisdom of the judge. On one occasion, Mr. Justice Blackburn ordered the lower end of the court to be cleared. This struck the excited mind of the high sheriff as an invasion of the rights of the people, misunderstanding the doctrine that an English court of justice is open to all. Mr. Evelyn very ill-advisedly caused placards to be posted against the doors of the court, protesting against the unlawful exclusion of the public, and directing his subordinate officers to disobey for the future any orders of the judges to the same effect. Mr. Evelyn was now hopelessly in the wrong, and had, indeed, offered a great indignity to the representatives of the Queen. The Lord Chief Justice thought it necessary to take some action in the matter, and having consulted with the Lord

Chancellor and other judges, summoned the high sheriff to appear before him. Mr. Evelyn was still so ill-advised as to defend the propriety of his proceedings. The Lord Chief Justice, with great temper and good feeling, endeavoured to recall him to a true sense of his position and the sober certainty of facts, but with the inevitable conclusion of inflicting a fine of 500.

15. FATAL ACCIDENTS TO ENGLISH TOURISTS IN THE ALPS.-The spirit of enterprise which compels Englishmen to scale every mountain, trace every river to its source, cross every desert, and traverse every sea-to drink tea in China, eat it in Tartary, to dine off buffalo humps in the prairies, or snakes in Australia-and all for the fun of the thing -however much it may tend to maintain the national energy, nevertheless must submit to reverses. Fortune must be propitiated by victims. Such a sacritice has been needlessly offered in the persons of three English tourists, among the well-known and oft-traversed passes of Mont Blanc.

"On Wednesday, the 15th of August, three English travellers -viz., Mr. J. M. Rochester and Mr. F. Vavasour, both of Cardiff, and Mr. B. Fuller, of London, left the Montanvert, near Chamouny, at 5 o'clock in the morning, with the intention of crossing the Col du Géant for Cormayeur, attended by three guides, of whom Frederic Tairraz, the brother of the wellknown Jean Tairraz, who keeps the Hotel de Mont Blanc at Aosta, was the chief; a porter carrying their knapsacks. The weather seemed favourable. Some time, however, before they reached the summit, a thick fog came on, ac

companied by a storm of hail and rain.

"The travellers were extremely fatigued by the long ascent, rendered more difficult by a recent fall of snow, into which they sank up to their knees. This, and the state of the weather, caused the guides to urge them to turn back. They, however, refused to comply with this advice, alleging that they were too tired to return, and preferred proceeding. At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon they reached the summit. The travellers had been tied together by a new rope, of sufhcient strength, at intervals of ten feet; two guides held the ends of the rope twisted round their hands, one preceding the party, the other following, while Tairraz walked with the travellers, grasping the rope from time to time. In this manner they descended for a considerable distance without any accident, the guides continually urging the tra vellers to plant their heels firmly in the snow, and to walk as steadily as they were able. About 6 o'clock they reached a place where it is necessary to traverse a steep projecting ridge by a muddy and slippery path, the descent of which was, however, gradual. This path was then covered by fresh and sloppy snow to the depth of about a foot. The tired travellers were advancing on this path with unsteady steps, when all at once, at the very angle of the ridge, one of them slipped, fell, and dragged with him his two companions, with the three guides, over a steep and long slope of snow. The two guides at the ends of the rope made every effort in their power to arrest their progress, but in vain; and seeing that they were all upon the point of being launched

of devotion did a great deal of good, by quieting the minds of the common people, who believed that it would put a stop to the earthquakes; in fact, there have only been some slight shocks since. It was an imposing sight to see a procession of 8000 or 10,000 people going along the streets by torchlight, and praying in a loud voice, in a more solemn and probably more sincere manner than they ever did in their lives before. A chasm, nearly a mile long, and several feet wide, has been opened in the ground at some distance from the city; and all the farms have been much injured by the unsettling of the surface of the ground. It is not likely we shall be disturbed again for a long time, as these very heavy shocks only occur at long intervals."

In the CHRONICLE of last year (page 125) mention was made of the disgraceful disturbances at this parish church. These outrages continued throughout the greater part of the year; and it is to be feared that the comparative quiet which prevailed towards the close was but a lull in the storm.

The Festival commemorating "Peace upon earth and good will among men," had no effect in stilling the dissensions between the Rev. Bryan King and his congregation. The uproar within the church was continued Sunday after Sunday, especially during the evening service. On the evening of the 29th January, the insolence of the mob rose to mischief. The Times can describe their conduct

by no other term than "devilish." On this occasion 3000 persons were in the church, of whom a third were boys and girls-always the foremost in mischief. The procession of priests and choristers was the signal for the commencement of every description of noise, and the most horrid execrations were hurled at the procession. One favourite mode of annoyance had been to "say" the responses in the loudest possible voice, in order to drown the " chant" of the choir. This irreverent proceeding was now extended into blasphemy, for the miscreants substituted imitative responses equally indecent and wicked. The preacher delivered an excellent and moderate discourse, which was for the most part inaudible; but having delivered with great energy the exclamation, "But who is fearful for the everlasting Church of Christ?" the vulgar ear caught the expression, and the church resounded with the slang phrase, "Who's afraid?" which was frequently repeated, and always drew long-continued, derisive laughter. When the service was concluded and the clergy had withdrawn, the outrageous mob made a rush at the altar. The altar-rails were gallantly defended; whereon the mob gathered the cushions and hassocks from the pews, and hurled them at a beautiful chandelier suspended over the apse. This was repeatedly struck, and there was a great chance that it would have fallen. The mob upstairs, in like manner, assailed a large cross over the altar, from the galleries, with the same missiles. In other parts of the church the vagabonds were fighting among themselves; parties in pews sang indecent or noisy songs; the interior of the

building presented a scene resembling the orgies of a lunatic assylum broke loose. Much mischief might have been done to the build ing, had not a strong body of police entered, and by a sudden exertion of vigour expelled the ruflians. Outrages of as determined a nature were recommenced at the evening service of the following Sunday. The morning service had been performed in comparative quiet, although the sermon was preached by the Rev. F. G. Lee, a gentleman who had been prohibited by the Bishop of Loudon some time before, on account of the extraordinary vestments he wore, and other peculiar conduct. Probably the reverend gentleman had somewhat toned down his pretensions, for on this occasion he wore a plain white surplice, which, though objected to by the parish ioners, did not give such glaring offence. The great cross over the altar had been removed, and some of the smaller altar decorations had been taken away. These concessions appeared to have produced a sedative effect.

Perhaps Mr. Lee was not immediately recognized; but it got abroad that he was to preach in the evening, and long before the church doors were opened a riotous mob of near 4000 persons had assembled. No sooner was the building filled than this "congregation" commenced howling and yelling fearfully. When the choristers entered in procession, the storm burst forth in fury: yells and execrations were shouted forth; and cries of Fire!" rendered more terrifying by the turning off several of the gas-lights. When the reader commenced the Lessons, there were vociferous cries of "Off! ot

No Popery!" and a body

of men and boys in the gallery began to sing, Rule Britannia," the famous chorus being taken up with tremendous energy by the mob in all parts of the church. When Mr. Lee ascended the pulpit, the same yells and hootings were shouted, and the rev. gentleman was assailed with the filthiest epithets the language can produce. As he preached, the mob again sang," Rule Britannia!" and then commenced, "We won't go home till morning," which proved so popular, that it was kept up to the close of the address. The rector and churchwardens had removed all prayer-books, cushions, hassocks, and everything which could be used as a missile; this form of outrage was therefore pretermitted, but the mob did all the mischief they could contrive. The interior of the church was now a ruin, and filthily dirty. The mob seemed disposed to remain and continue their orgies through the night; but the sudden entry of a party of police put them to tlight. Three boys and a woman were brought before the magistrate for their misconduct on this occasion, but no act could be distinctly proved against them, and they were discharged-the magistrates taking the opportunity of declaring their intention of punishing with the utmost rigour of the law any proved offender.

Proceedings of a similar disgraceful character continued for some weeks. The Bishop of London, exercising an authority which the rector protested against, caused the crosses and inscriptions to be removed from the altar, and divine service was performed under the inspection- perhaps not to the great edification-of 300 policemen. This strong guard prevented