9-24 'THE FIELD. 
murder him, or do grievous bodily harm. — The lad sobbed aloud, buried 
his face in his hands, and said lie had nothing at all to say. — Mr. 
Yardlcy committed him for trial at the next sessions of the Central 
Criminal Court. 
/nmgtt SnMligmg, 
FRANCE. 
(From our own Correspondent.) 
Paris, Thursday, Sept. 28. 
The Emperor' and Empress — Preparations for Next Year — 
New Paris Police — The Opera-singer and lur Critic — How 
an Englishman spends his Money— Fatal Duel— Theatricals. 
There is n general report here that the Emperor and Em- 
press will visit her Majesty and Prince Albert at Windsor 
during the present autumn, and remain for a week. The 
account of the speeches, or rather the conversation, which 
took place at the much-talked-of farewell supper, given by 
the Emperor to his Royal Highness at Boulogne, is asserted 
here to be true to the letter ; but both the Emperor and his 
principal guest were extremely angry at the publication of 
vrhat took place. But the correctness of the report is gua- 
ranteed by one of the company at the royal table. 
Paris continues to furbish up all its old buddings, in honour 
of its expected visitors next year to the Exhibition ; and 
every quiet, antique street and court in remote parts of the 
town, which have not known the brush or ladder since their 
construction, are now perforce undergoing the cleansing pro- 
cess, by orders from Government. This has occasioned much 
grumbling on the part of messieurs les proprUtaircs ; but 
the effect is already beautiful. When completed, Paris will 
assuredly be, until its now, brilliant addition, by far the most 
magnificent of European capitals. 
All visitors to Paris will be delighted to learn that wo are 
about to have a police system similar to that of London. 
Residents are not quite so elated on the subject, as they will 
naturally have to pay for it pretty handsomely. The ad- 
vantage is very great over the old system, by which horse- 
patrols slowly move through the streets at stated intervals, 
during the night, and whose hoofs give marauders and other 
lawless vagabonds due notice of the precise moment when 
to decamp and when to return. They have long been 
the laughing-stock of the nightly filibusters of Paris. It 
must be said, however, that, for a capital so ill-protected, the 
number of robberies aud outrages are exceedingly limited. 
I last week mentioned the disgraceful traffic by which a 
distinguished artiste of one of our leading theatres of the 
capital had been induced to pay for the favourable notice of 
a writer for one of the influential journals the sum of 8,000 
francs per annum, with, perhaps, the more scandalous fact, 
that the individual stigmatised by so base a betrayal of his 
duties had been able to command influence enough to sus- 
tain him in his post, and still continued to deliver his honest 
and impartial critical opiuions in the weekly feuilleton of the 
newspaper in question. The Figaro, which gave the particu- 
lars of this ignoble business to the public, intimated that it 
would publish further details on the subject in its next 
number ; but deep was the disappointment of hundreds of 
readers on unfolding its columns on Sunday last to find not 
a syllable— not a hint on the subject. The affair, in fact, 
had been burked. The inference drawn by the public from 
this silence is, that the same influence which sheltered the 
offender from well-merited dismissal, has also been exercised 
on his behalf at the bureau of our friend, the vivacious 
“ Tonsor. This silence of the press, however, only makes 
the public more curious and more loquacious on the affair ; 
and report thus supplies the following account of the causes 
which led to the revelations made to the proprietor of the 
Paris journal on the part of Mdme. . The voice of 
rumour proclaims that the fair artiste who had paid the 
enthusiastic scribe with such ill-requited liberality, haviug 
accepted an engagement for St. Petersburg, on terms which 
rendered her future career wholly independent of the criticism 
of the honest Parisian press, she determined, on quitting 
France, to leave a Parthian farewell for her quondam friend. 
Indignant at his ungenerous (to say nothing of honour aud 
principle) neglect from the time she had ceased to pay for his 
praises, Mdme. made no secret of her feelings upon 
his conduct, and looked forward with anxious desire for the 
moment when circumstances would place her in a position 
to brave his wrath and expose his dishonesty. Hence the 
disclosure to the editor in the terms described last week ; 
it was m^de by the lady's husband on the eve of their setting 
out for the Russian capital. The circumstance of the depar- 
ture of the accuser was, it appears, adroitly made use of by 
the acoused, aud he and his patrons entirely deny, according 
to one version of the story, the truth of the charge, notwith- 
standing the direct, formal, and explicit manner in which it 
was made, evidently with a view to challenge publicity. 
There is, however, another version afloat of the cause which 
led to the re-instalment of the inculpated feuilletonist, 
namely, that the system of bribery is so generally prevalent 
throughout a great part of the press, that it would be unfair 
to visit M. — with punishment for practices the exist- 
ence of which has been recognised by usage among the 
“ gentlemen of the press 1” It is, I believe, only fair to say 
that this last version is a gross libel on the character of the 
journals in Paris, most of the writers in which would spurn 
any traffic of this nature with becoming indignation. Some 
of the musical journals are understood not to be so puncti- 
lious ; but these are scarcely known to the public at large, 
being almost wholly supported by musical artistes, who are 
somehow persuaded that they can be of benefit or injury to 
them. The best thing in the present affair is that it is likely 
to lead to a general reform, as the Literary and Dramatic 
Association is about to take up the affair, and to submit the 
writers and their practices to severe investigation. 
A rich Englishman, who has lately taken up his quarters 
at the principal hotel in Granville, and who is evidently 
troubled with more money than wit, has recently been visited 
by the police, to remonstrate with him for creating daily 
confusion and riot in the town by throwing money out of his 
window to the populace of the place. The eagerness to profit 
by this vulgar munificence is so great, that peasants from the 
neighbouring villages flock into the town every day in great 
numbers, and the struggles for the spoil are described as 
positively murderous. “ Milord ” expressed himself very 
indignant, on the “ trueborn Englishman" plan, at the inter- 
ference of the authorities, and threatened to acquaint the 
Emperor ! 
A singular, but unfortunately fatal, duel took place on the 
plaiue de Monceaux on Monday. Two young mechanics, 
employed in the engineer department of the Versailles Rail- 
way, having quarrelled about a pretty sempstress they had 
met at a public dance on the Sunday night, resolved to settle 
the dispute by weapons which, though much used in the days 
of Goliath, are not familiar to modern warfare — videlicit, 
stones. They stood at a hundred yards’ distance, but both 
being very adroit, they were dangerous antagonists; aud, 
after a few throws, one of them received a blow on the temple 
which felled him to the ground. He was carried to a neigh- 
bouring hospital, but expired in a short time, notwithstand- 
ing all the appliances of surgical skill. 
A few days of chilly weather have somewhat brought up the 
theatres, which all have been doing badly, with the exception 
of the Frangais on Rachel nights. “ Arna ’’ and “ Norma ” 
have come back to the Vari6tds, and are felt in the receipts. 
Bouffd, you will be glad to hear, played one night for a 
benefit at the Porte St. Martin, with renovated health ; his 
powers are not yet what they were, but he is gradually 
gaining strength. The house was crowded to the ceiling, and 
the manager arranged with him for twelve performances ; 
but the Minister (!) interfered and forbad the engagement, 
on the ground that it was not a theatre for vaudevilles. 
Nota . — The after-pieces here invariably belong to the vaude- 
ville class. 
COLONIAL. 
THE OVERLAND MAIL. 
India, China, and Australia. 
(By Submarine and European Telegraph.) 
Trieste, Wednesday. — The steamer Bombay arrived this 
morning at 8 o’clock from Alexandria (the 22nd of Septem- 
ber), in 111 hours. The Iudia mail left Alexandria on that 
day, with advices from Calcutta of the 19th of August; 
Madras, the 24th of August ; Bombay, the 28th of August; 
Shanghai, the 24th of July ; Amoy, the 29th ; Canton the 
5th. aud Honkong, the 6th of August; Singapore, the 13th 
of August; Sydney, the 21st of July ; Melbourne, the 25th 
of July; and Adelaide, the 29th of July, Trade in Iudia 
was dull. Exchange at Calcutta, 1.1 1J. Canton was in a 
state of seige, all business suspended, and in a few days 
would be in the hands of the rebels. No tea brought to 
market. Whampoa and Fushan are still iu possession of the 
rebels. Sir Jolm Bowring was in the north. Exchange at 
Shanghai, 6.1 ; Canton, 4.11. 
In Australia there is great depression in all commercial 
affairs. The half-yearly report of the Great Nugget Vein 
Mining Company is unfavourable, and no dividend was 
declared. Mrs. Chisholm and her party of emigrants lauded 
at Port Phillip on the 14th of July. New South Wales gold 
was worth, at Sydney, £3 17s. ; Port Phillip, £4. 
AUSTRALIANA. 
Reduction of Postage to New South Wales, Victoria, 
and South Australia. — General Post-office, Sept. 1854. 
— On and from the 1st October next, the postage upon letters 
conveyed, whether by packet or private ship, between the 
United Kingdom and the following British colonies — viz. 
New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia — will be re- 
duced to a combined British and colonial rate of, — For a 
letter not exceeding half an ounce in weight, 6d. ; for 
a letter exceeding half an ounce and not exceeding one 
ounce, Is.; for a letter exceeding one ounce and not ex- 
ceeding two ounces, 2s. ; and so, increasing one shilling for 
every ounce or fraction of an ounce. The postage upon 
these letters may be paid in advance, or they may be for- 
warded unpaid at the option of the sender. The foregoing 
reduction of postage will extend to all letters directed to 
Van Dieman’s Land, which are sent by the Australian Mail 
Packets, whether those which go direct to Australia, or 
those which take the route of Singapore, as well as to all 
letters for New Zealand specially addressed "via Melbourne,’ 
or “ vi& Sydney," but upon such letters, both those for New 
Zealand, and those for Van Dieman's Land, the postage must 
be paid in advance, or the letters cannot be forwarded. To 
the reduced rate of 6d., a French transit rate of 5d. per 
quarter ounce, must be added in the case of all letters for 
the above-mentioned colonies, which may be specially ad- 
dressed to be sent viA Marseilles, making the total charge 
upon such letters : — When under a quarter of au ounce in 
weight, lid.; when weighing a quarter of an ounce and 
under half an ounce, Is. 4d. ; when weighing half an ounce 
and under three-quarters of an ounce, 2s. 3d., and so on. 
The correspondence for Western Australia is forwarded as a 
rule by private ship. Letters for that colony specially ad- 
dressed to be transmitted “ via Singapore," will continue 
liable to the existing rate of Is. the half ounce, or, if also 
directed to be sent “ viu Marseilles," to the existing rate of 
Is. lOd. the quarter ounce, but letters for Western Australia, 
addressed to go by the direct Australian packet, will be sent 
in the mail for Melbourne, and will be liable only to the 
reduced rate of 6d. Iu all cases the postage must be pre- 
paid. It must be understood that the foregoing reduction 
of postage applies only to letters put into the post on or 
after the 1st of next month, and that all letters which are 
put into the post before that date will be charged with the 
existing rate of postage. 
Outward Bound. — The departures from the port of Lon- 
don for the Australian colonies during the week have com- 
prised seven vessels — three for Port Phillip, with an aggre- 
gate burden of 2,545 tons ; two for Sydney, with an aggregate 
burden of 1,274 tons ; and two for Adelaide, with an aggre- 
gate burden of 762 tons. Their total capacity was conse- 
quently 4,581 tons. The rates of freight exhibit no material 
alteration. 
Arrival. — The Eagle has arrived in the Thames from 
Melbourne, whence she sailed on the 30th of June, with 
80,000 ounces of gold and 35,000 sovereigns, making a total 
of £355,000. 
GOLD J^IELDS. 
Gold in Cornwall. — Ten waggons laden with ore from 
a mine near Callington passed through Saltash on Tuesday. 
The ore was Bafely enclosed in boxes, and is supposed to 
coutain a large proportion of gold. It has been shipped for 
Messrs. Ransome and May, of Ipswich, to be crushed aud 
assayed. 
Australian Gold Fields. — At the recent meeting of the 
British Association, Mr. H. E. Michel, B.A., New College, 
Oxford, presented a paper which was read by the secretary, 
“ On the Results to be obtained by the scientific Treatment 
of the abandoned workings of the Australian Gold Fields,” of 
which the following is au extract : — “ Whilst at the present 
moment public attention has been so forcibly directed to the 
obtaining of gold from Englishore, itmigbt not be inopportune 
to inquire into the results which might be achieved were 
capital aud scientific knowledge directed to the treatment of 
abandoned Australian workings. The average rate of laboiir 
bemg £1 a day has caused the partial abandonment of 
auriferous strata, whose results operated on by the simple 
cradle did not attain that limit. Yet under certain con- 
ditions from an ounce to an ounce and a half might be re- 
covered per ton of earth. Opposed as I am to experimental 
quartz crushing, I believe that until the rail has bridged the 
ravines of Australia, and the tunnel penetrated her moun- 
tains, results which will pay for the expenditure necessary 
for that process can never be attained. But the solution of 
the great problem of the disintegration of the auriferous 
matrix by the electric current, would at once render our 
quartz veins productive, and rank the scientific discoverer 
amongst the first men of the age. At present, with the aid of 
powerful machinery, the earth, stones, and clay carefully 
washed, exposed to the action of sieves moving horizontally 
under water, and afterwards carried down sluices, would 
with the addition of the amalgamating process, recover all 
the contained metal Companies failed hitherto, from in- 
competent managers unacquainted with the country or its 
requirements ; the machinery, too heavy for transports, was 
abandoned and the tribute system, which is the best spur to 
individual mining energy, was ignored. Whilst abandoned 
ground can now be obtained on leasehold, companies can 
count on the assistance of the Colonial Government, anxious 
to develop the resources of the country, and it is a matter of 
surprise that as yet no steps have been taken in this direc- 
tion. Sluice washing of the rudest nature, without the aid 
of machinery, has been found on the Ovens to pay remarkably 
well, and is extensively practised, and new gold fields having 
opened up at Mount William, the Avoca, and the Bucklan.l 
rivers, the Bendigo, Ballarat, and Forest Creek districts having 
been partially draiued of their occupants, no difficulty would be 
experienced in obtaining ground. Unlike speculative miuing, 
results on this system could always be predicated with some 
degree of certainty, whilst errors would lie directly at the 
door of the manager. Iu no instance hitherto has tbo 
process been attempted on a large scale, whilst the new field 
thus opened to adventure is of a magnitude which baffles 
calculation. From Beugarra to Bendigo, a distance of more 
than 1,500 miles, auriferous gullies, each one of which would 
give employment to several engines, are to be found in 
profusion. The system once brought into operation, an 
increased impetus would be given to trade by the increased 
production of gold ; the demand for steam-engines would bo 
largely augmented; railroads would become a necessity to the 
Australian ; the demand for iron rails would benefit the 
ironmasters of England ; whilst the countless wealth of the 
antipodes would fertilize Europe in a steadily increasing 
stream. Emigrants, at length convinced that solvent com- 
panies can afford to pay them £1 per day, will seek iu 
thousands the great southern land ; whilst by the increased 
consumption of manufactures an impetus will be given to 
trade unparalleled in the history of nations. The experiment 
is yet to be tried, and it remains for the scientific and intel- 
ligent capitalist to consider whether these propositions are 
feasible, or whether utopian and impossible results have been 
predicated." 
(Dnr Irthr-jkg. 
WHIPS AND SPURS. 
Mr. Editor, — I really thought the much-vexed question of ladies’ 
whips and spurs had been set at rest by the last letter but one In your 
paper — the only sensible epistle, I think, that has appeared. But, 
since the “ Brighton Riding-horse ” has wound itself up to Indite 
another of its lengthy productions, I must beg to insert a line or two In 
answer. 
And, first, I wish I had that very horse in harness, for, I malic no 
doubt, it's just the one to jib, or be what they call on board, skulker and 
shirker. If men, who have twice our strength — and, it is fairly to be 
inferred, intellect to match — (though I have known many a heavy 
dragoon whose brain was about as large, and as useful, as when he sat 
on his mother's lap) — have, for protection, pleasure, or vengeance, two 
spurs, a lady might, with justice, wear four, and a brace of whips, If 
she could carry them. And as true merit, like scum, will rise, and 
mediocrity must find its level, so if a girl can manage her horse, lie will 
soon find it out ; if she cannot, he finds that out too. In the first place, 
she is worthy of her spur ; in the other, he throws her, and there ends 
the matter. Our sex manage lovers and husbands the same way, and 
understand perfectly well what they may do, or how far they may go, 
without losing their mastery, or over-irritating their subject. There- 
fore, I think this a question which may be safely left to the discretion 
and ability of the riders. As for laying down one system for all horses 
and all equestrians it is absurd, as there never yet were two horses or 
two riders who required or used the same management Of course, it 
is notorious that at Brighton, as at Scarborough nnd elsewhere, people 
ride who never mounted a horse before in their lives. So I suspect 
that the hack who writes has been pulled about by querish hands, and 
kicked with reckless heels ; guided, perhaps, by fingers more intent on 
grasping the crutch or the pommel, than relieving the mouth. I can 
only say I have for a couple of years ridden a young thoroughbred, 
which had a trick of bolting round quickly to the left, whenever ho 
deemed he had a rider on his back who could not resent his conduct. 
But if he were aware that she wore a spur, and would use it if required, 
he never, to my knowledge, so much as attempted it. I need not say 
how useless a whip on the right side is to worn a horse from the left I 
am no advocate for cruelty, and am very fond of my horses ; but 1 
never ride without a whip and spur, which punish if required. 
With apologies for trespassing on your space, I remain, Mr. Editor, 
yours, Amv, 
P.S. — My horses prefer being stroked by hands gloved, in well-fitting 
buckskin — not white kid, suitable only for the Brighton riding Indies. 
MOTHS. 
Sir, — S o many useful questions are asked and answered in your inte- 
resting paper, that I trust you will permit me to inquire if any of your 
readers can inform mo how to eradicate moths from tbo lining of a 
carriage ? I am, sir, yours, &c., A Subscriber. 
GUNS. 
Sib, — I have been, with many hundreds of others, much amused 
lately by the publication in yours and other journals of the proper and 
safe way to handle or curry a gun — a thing ninety-nine boys out of 
eVery hundred, to say nothing of sportsmen, ns well knew before as 
they did how many beans made live. But there is one thing in that 
letter I cannot agree with, nor do I know one first-rate sportsman with 
whom I liavo been out — and that is no small number — that does 
not carry his gun, in the field or on the moors, full-cocked , as being 
quicker and safer far. If you havo to cock too much, or move two 
locks after your bird has risen, you would lose many double shots, as 
well as from the flurry on the bird rising, even with old sportsmen ; 
that you would often miss letting the seer go with the full cock, on the 
thumb slipping, and your gun go off, to the great dunger of your friend, 
or your dog. I have known a few such accidents; and I could name a 
few of the great guns who would not go out with any one carrying his 
gun In that way but with my saftty-gtuird to a gun. The expense is 
trifling, and I havo used one for twenty years, in all weathers, and have 
never had it get out of order ; and I will contract to keep it in repair 
for a shilling a year. With It no accident can happen getting through 
a hedge, if carried at half-cock, full-cock, or, what is much ottener the 
case, that having fired one barrel only, In your hurry you forget to put 
