garet, are my sisters. I had my dinner on Saturday, after my father and mother had theirs, with my sisters. My father then went to the town. My mother told me to wash the things up, and then Jane and I went out. After being out a good bit, I wanted to get in, but found the door fast and the blinds all down from the front. [The poor child confirmed her father's evidence, as to the discovery of the bodies.] My mother had been just the same to us as always. She said nothing to me, or Jane either, when we were at dinner, nor when we went out. When Jane and me went out to play, Mary wanted to go with us, but my mother called me in again, and took Mary from me. She did not say anything, but Mary cried when I went out again. My mother was giving the baby (Margaret) the breast when we went out. won Robert Henderson, a country constable, said: I was with her during the night, and about 6 o'clock on Sunday morning the deceased remarked that she " dered the Lord had spared her so long after her canny bairns had gone.' Thomas Stoker's sister asked her why she did it, and she replied, "I had it to do; there was some one spoke to me from behind my back; and I was frightened that the canny bairns would want." She never blamed anybody else for doing it. The unfortunate woman and her husband bore excellent characters. He was a hard-working and intelligent man, she remarkable for her industry and attention to the affairs of their humble household. The husband had, however, been thrown out of work a short time before by illness, and it is thought that the distress thus produced worked upon a mind somewhat diseased by previous ill ness. 22. WILFUL RAILWAY DISASTER.-A poor fellow lost his life from an act which may well be described as diabolical. As a goods'train of 24 waggons was traversing the line of the North-Eastern Railway between Thirsk and Harrogate, it met with a sudden obstruction. The engine jumped off the rails and was overturned on the embankment, the tender and four waggons rushing over and crushing it. When the enginestoker recovered his senses, he sought for his companion the driver, and found him under the ruins of his engine dreadfully hurt and burnt, and he died a few days afterwards, leaving a widow and two children. The cause of this disaster was manifest. Some workmen were employed in repairing the line, and for this purpose a rough truck called a 'bogy is used. When these men left work at night a pair of wheels belonging to a disused bogy were lying in a ditch by the side of the line. During the night some miscreant had placed these wheels (which are connected by a solid bar or axletree) across the line and thus caused the collision, which deprived a worthy man of his life and his family of bread. Even this crime, bad as it is, is insignificant to what might have been the result; for, had a passengertrain come up before the goods'train,-one came up soon after,— the loss of life and injury to limb might have been fearful. Although every exertion was used, and a large reward offered, the perpetrator of this shameful act could not be discovered. 66 THE MURDER AT HOLYWELL.— A singular case of murder occurred at Holywell in Wales. Thomas Edwards, an old man 80 years of age, and dying fast from want, sickness, and natural decay, was deprived of the little life left in him, by the hand of his own wife, an old woman of almost as great an age as himself. The aged couple had outlived a respectable position, and descending to indigence, had become at length dependent on parochial relief. Notwithstanding their poverty they had continued living together on good terms; but the old man had been now for some months confined to his bed in a dying state, and the wife, in scarcely better condition, was suffering from a sore on her leg, which produced great bodily exhaustion and mental irritation. A niece of the old woman married to a collier in the neighbourhood, possessed a key of their dwelling, and was in the habit of going to and fro on domestic purposes. Otherwise, the helplessness of the old couple seems to have been little cared for by the neighbours. On the 22nd of May, the niece let herself into the house, and approaching the bed on which the old man and woman were lying, was startled to see them both bleeding from wounds in their throats. She immediately procured assistance, and it was then ascertained, by means of signs from the old woman, that she had with a razor first cut her husband's throat, and then attempted to destroy her own life in a similar manner. Later in the day she recovered her power of speech, and in accounting for her murderous acts to the police-constable who was present, she said, "Having seen better days, and now being poor, and Thomas being ill, calling every quarter of an hour for attendance, she preferred dying to living." The wound in the throat of the poor old man would scarcely have proved fatal to a stronger person, but his frame was too feeble to recover from the shock it had received, and he died in the course of the day. The injury which the woman had inflicted upon herself was of a more serious character, but at her trial, which took place in the following August, she was able to appear, and conducted herself in a firm and collected manner throughout the proceedings. Some evidence was brought forward to prove her insane; but the few symptoms that were alleged, were quite consistent with the poverty and misery of her condition, and the jury speedily determined on a verdict of Guilty, but recommended the prisoner to mercy on account of her great age. The spectators in the court, appearing to be less leniently disposed towards the aged prisoner, received this announcement with considerable murmuring. The Judge in passing sentence of death told the prisoner that the merciful recommendation of the jury would be attentively considered in the proper quarter. The greater part of the evidence of the trial was given in the Welsh language and translated by an interpreter. 27. EXPLOSION OF THE WALTHAM POWDER MILLS.-About 7 A.M. a series of loud explosions warned the neighbourhood that the Government powder-mills at Waltham Abbey had blown up. The buildings and machinery within these works are of the most improved construction, the different pro cesses being carried on in separate sheds, and every arrangement calculated to prevent mischief being adopted. The sheds in which the explosion took place were the grinding-rooms, Group No. 6, in which the powder is ground upon iron beds, by iron runners of great weight, so arranged that they do not come into actual contact with the beds. Orders had been given that the works in this group should be stopped in order that the mills should be cleaned out and the machinery repaired. For this purpose several men had gone down a "man-hole" in order to get at the engine-shaft, and four others, the most experienced men in the department were engaged in cleansing the grinding machinery, and had cleared the beds of all loose powder, except a small quantity which had fallen down within the fittings, or lay under the runners. When this is required to be done the powder should either be wetted, or leather should be placed to receive the runner, which is then moved with a wooden lever. The men on this occasion neglected the two former precautions, and had moved a runner with the proper lever, when the loose powder exploded, probably through the metal runner having come into contact with the metal bed. The consequences were very disastrous to the men engaged. One was blown out of the shed most frightfully burnt-his eyeballs were blown out of the sockets, and the skin stripped from off his face, arms, and thighs. He died a day or two after. The other three were very very seriously burnt, but not fatally. Their clothes, it is supposed, were filled with particles of powder, which ignited instanta neously. The men down the man-hole were almost suffocated by the fumes and smoke, and were not withdrawn without difficulty. Four of the mills exploded in rapid succession, and their iron roofs and sides were blown in all directions. 28. EPSOM RACES.-The great racing meeting of the year was eminently successful, the weather being remarkably fine, the attendance as numerous as ever, and the sport marked by some exciting incidents. The race for the Craven Stakes terminated in a dead heat between Lord Aylesbury's Cantine and Lord Derby's Cape Flyaway. Cantine walked afterwards over the course. The Wodecote Stakes were won by Baron Rothschild's Wingrave. For the Derby the favourites were Dundee, 3 to 1 agst. ; Diophantus, 4 to 1; Dictator, 6 to 1, Klarikoff 7 to 1, Kildonnan, 12 to 1; Rouge Dragon, 14 to 1; Kettledrum, 16 to 1. Value of the Stakes, 6,450l.; 238 subscribers; 18 started. In the race, before the distance" had been reached, one of the horses swerved, and by so doing knocked another against the favourite Dundee, who was then coming up at a pace which made him a clear winner, and knocked him out of his stride. In a few moments Dundee was observed to falter, and then to break down. Nevertheless, he struggled on, passed several horses, and was beaten by a length only by Colonel Townley's Kettledrum. The race over, it was found that the high-spirited favourite had made the last struggle on three legs. He proved to be so hopelessly hurt that he has been put to stud purposes. 66 On Friday, the Oaks, value 4 550l., 171 subscribers, 17 started, were won by Mr. Saxon's Brown Duchess, a filly, so low down in the list that the odds were 100 to 7 against her. Klarikoff, the fine horse which ran fifth in the Derby, came to a shocking death a few days after the Ascot Meeting. He was entered for the Queen's Vase at that meeting, but did not start. On the 19th of June the horses in the training of Mr. John Scott were removed from the temporary quarters at Leatherhead for the stables at Malton. Klarikoff, with three stable-boys, was placed in a van on a truck of the Great Northern Railway. The train had left Retford, and was on its way to Bawtry, when one of the lads discovered that the upper front portion of the van was on fire. The flames speedily enveloped the poor animal's head; he plunged and kicked violently, until he had forced out some of the side panels, when the whole carriage became a mass of flames. Under the circumstances, no means existed of releasing the poor creature; nor could the engine-driver even be made aware of the danger, until some platelayers signalled the alarm. The train was then stopped; but the van was by that time entirely consumed, and the remains of "this high-metalled racer" were found reduced almost to ashes. The boys escaped by creeping along the truck to the front of the van. It is said that two days before the Derby, Earl St. Vincent had given to Mr. Howard, the owner, 5000 guineas for a half share of Klarikoff, with half of his engagements. 29. ACCIDENT ON THE GLASGOW AND SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.An accident, attended with fatal consequences, occurred on the VOL. CIII. Glasgow and South-Western Railway to the train due at Carlisle at 7.15 P.M. When near the village of Dornock, about three miles from Annan, the carriages ran off the line, and some were overturned. The mail-guard perceiving an unsteady motion of his carriage looked out of the window to ascertain the cause, and was instantly thrown down and killed. Mr. Crowther, a corn-merchant of Carlisle, received such injuries that he died in a truck of a goods'train which came up soon after and conveyed the injured persons to Carlisle. Mr. Carr, also of Carlisle, had his leg broken, another had his thigh fractured. Several other passengers received greater or less injuries; some being very seriously hurt. EXHIBITION OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY.-As the names of Eastlake, Herbert, Mulready, Maclise, Webster, Frith, Egg, Poole, and Millais were absent from the catalogue, this year's Exhibition cannot be considered one of noticeable excellence and in truth there was no one "sensation" picture like Frith's "Derby Day" of 1859, or Landseer's "Flood in the Highlands" of 1860. Some pictures, however, there were excellent enough to sustain the reputation of the English School. The most popular work of the Exhibition was Mr. Faed's "From Dawn to Dark "—an interior of a Scotch peasant's cottage, in which the brief day of human existence is typified by the crowing baby on the mother's lap, the elder children, the parents, and the white shrivelled hand of their parent, just shown by the withdrawn-curtains of her death-bed. The rival in popularity of this admirable work was Sir E. Landseer's "The F Shrew Tamed." A beautiful mare —a master-work of that skill in animal-painting which has placed Landseer at the head of his artjust tamed by Rarey's system, now gently and quietly reclines on the straw, and turns her head to caress the jewelled hand of her fair subduer, who reposes herself confident and triumphant on the animal's glossy hide. Unfortunately the picture was suggestive of one of the social scandals of the hour, and the public were as much attracted by "The Pretty HorseBreaker as by the wonderful art of the painter. Sir Edwin also exhibited three fine drawings in pastel, one of which, "The Fatal Duel" of two stags, is a wonderful exhibition of the master's power over the form, movement, and expression of animal life. Of the works which, after these, attracted notice and received favourable criticism, a few may be selected for mention. Mr. Noel Paton's "Luther"-the future Reformer in a monastic library, agitated by his first doubts as to the reality of the existing teachings. Mr. F. Leighton exhibited several works, in which his poetic feeling, and refinement in drawing and colouring were beautifully shown, particularly one fantastically entitled "Lieder ohne Worte." A powerful picture by Mr. Ansdell, "Hunted Slaves," attracted much notice. Mr. Dyce's "George Herbert at Bemerton"-a work of exquisite finish and refined sentiment. Mr. Elmore's Marie Antoinette in the Temple," another touching phase of that unhappy lady's sufferings. In his Aute-Chamber at Whitehall during the dying moments of Charles II." Mr. E. M. Ward exhibited a worthy companion to 66 66 his other representations of Court and City history. Mr. Frith, as already said, had no picture; but his principal rivals in depicting crowded scenes of life and bustle were in force. Mr. O'Neil, pursuing too tenaciously the prototype of his "Eastward Ho!" sent "The Parting Cheer," the departure of an emigrant ship; and Mr. Hicks, who succeeded so well last year in representing the last struggle at the General Post-Office, follows up that delineation of tumult by a capital representation of "Billingsgate." "Billingsgate." "The Franciscan Sculptor and his Model," by Mr. H. S. Marks, is also a capital delineation of earnestness and humour. Mr. D. Roberts' "Ruins at Baalbeck" and "Fête Day at St. Peter's, Rome;" Mr. Redgrave's "Young Lady Bountiful;" "Seashore Incidents," by Hook; and works by Cope, Goodall, Holman Hunt, Solomon, Calderon, maintain, if they do not advance, the reputation of English artists. Of the class of landscapes, the works of Creswick, Stanfield, Linnell, cannot be otherwise than admirable; but possibly the palm of excellence in delineating nature must, for this turn, be awarded to Mr. Maccallum's "Burnham Beeches," and "Winter in Sherwood," or Mr. Anthony's "Sunset." The portraits exhibited this season were of more than usual finish and interest. Mr. Grant's "Lord Clyde," "Lord Crewe," and "Lord Broughton;" Sir J. W. Gordon's "James Smith of Jordan Hill," "Principal Forbes, of St. Andrews," and "Dr. Wood, President of the Edinburgh College of Physicians," are admirable examples of skill in this department of the art; but the portrait which |