cut both legs and part of the lower part of the body of
Gunner George Brown the 2nd, and cut the upper part
of the head off of Gunner G. Gosling. Brown was
alive when taken off the battery, but has since died
Gosling was killed on the spot. Several fragments of the
gun, with the entire inner end, passed within arm's
reach of Captain Inglefield and Lieutenant G. Maule.
Had the sad accident occurred five minutes sooner, from
six to eight persons must have been killed, as they had
only that moment left the place.

A soldier of the Foreign Legion has Lost his Life at
Portsmouth under very lamentable circumstances. A
number of the men attempted to force their way out of
barracks, contrary to order; the sentries were directed
to resist them; and two presented their bayonets. In
the excitement and confusion, Joseph Goltswaltz, a
Frenchman, ran upon the bayonet of Nusbaum, a
German; and almost instantaneous death ensued. An
unfortunate feeling has been created between the French
and German soldiers by the misadventure. Nusbaum is
in custody. An inquest was held on the body, when it
was clearly proved that the soldier on guard only
performed his duty; and that the deceased himself, in his
furious excitement, ran upon the bayonet presented
against him. The verdict therefore was "Justifiable
homicide."

Two persons were accidentally Killed near Harrogate
on the evening of the 18th inst.—William Rhodes and
Benjamin Burrows, the former a farmer from Staigburn,
and the latter a woodsman from Farnley, near Ottley,
were returning in a spring-cart from Knaresborough
sheep fair. Between Harrogate and Beckwithshaw,
Rhodes had occasion to get out of the cart. In doing so
he fell astride the shaft, which set the horse kicking
and plunging. He was thrown off, and hit in the face
by the infuriated animal. The horse's shoe struck the
ball of the eye, destroyed it, produced a pressure on the
brain, and caused instantaneous death. Burrows, who
is an old man upwards of seventy years of age, in the
meantime was endeavouring to get out of the cart, and
while doing so the horse ran backward into the deep
ditch, which upset the cart and the old man, and the
horse fell upon him. He had to remain under the
animal a length of time before assistance could be obtained
to release him, and when taken up was found to be
quite dead. Two boys were in the under part of the
cart, but escaped with little injury.

A destructive Fire took place at Monkwearmouth, on
the morning of the 20th, at the Patent Ropery belonging
to Mr. Hay. It is supposed that the accident was
caused by a boy who lighted a lucifer match near some
hemp. No lives were lost, some of the workmen having
saved themselves with difficulty by leaping from the
windows. But the whole of the valuable machinery is
destroyed, and a large quantity of rope and hemp.
Altogether the damage is estimated at about £10,000.

A great Fire took place at Rochdale, which destroyed
two large cotton-mills belonging to Messrs. Jennings.
The loss of property is estimated at £25,000; and
several hundred workpeople are thrown out of employment
at an inclement season, and at a time of great
depression in the trade.

On Wednesday night, the 24th inst., a serious Railway
Accident happened on the Croydon and Mitcham
line, near Beddington. The line was only opened
two days before, and consists of only a single line of
rails. The engine of a passenger train ran off the rails,
dragging the tender and passenger carriage after it.
One of the carriages was smashed to pieces, the driver
was killed on the spot, and several persons were hurt,
but not dangerously. The driver is said to have been a
very steady and experienced man.

    SOCIAL, SANITARY, AND MUNICIPAL
                       PROGRESS.

THE friends of the Reformatory Schools have had
several meetings, on the occasion of the visit to this
country of M. Demetz, the founder of the celebrated
Institution at Mettray.

On the 3rd inst. there was a meeting in Birmingham
in aid of the Warwickshire Institution. Among the
distinguished persons present were Sir Eardley Wilmot,
in the chair; Lord Calthorpe, Lord Leigh, Lord
Lyttelton, Mr. Adderley, Mr. Monckton Milnes, the
Birmingham and Warwickshire Members, the Rev.
Sydney Turner, the Rev. Angell James, and the Arch-
deacon of Coventry. In acknowledgment of his health,
proposed by Lord Lyttelton, M. Demetz spoke in
French to this effect:—I scarcely know how to thank
you for the interest you express in the colony of Mettray,
and the good-will you have shown to its director. I
have readily accepted the invitation with which you
have honoured me, in the hope of both learning and
imparting something that may be useful, so that our
two countries may profit by our common labour. That
free trade, about which some still doubt in reference to
commercial interests, can find nothing but approvers
when it concerns the interchange of thoughts and views
which may be useful to society and to mankind. In the
fair domain of benevolence we are but one people. The
customhouse and the frontier are unknown. Linked as
we already are in policy, let us unite ourselves together
by the still more lasting bonds of charity; and what
sweeter application of that virtue can there be than the
helping of the young? It matters not to what class
they belong; if they have shown perverted dispositions,
there is the more reason to assist them. To despair of
the young is to despair of mankind. Let us despair of
none. If under many circumstances we have not fully
succeeded in our efforts, it is perhaps because we have
not done all that was needed to insure success. Let us
prove to the sceptic, by our zeal, that when the
improvement of man is in question, to be willing is to
be able, if we only will with a deeply devoted heart,
and that he will not shrink from any sacrifice where
the training of the child is concerned. No sacrifice
can be more painful. The least offering may do
something to eradicate a vice or to awaken a virtue. It
is the saying of a great statesman, that 'on the good
training of the young depends the prosperity of the
state.' May all success attend the work you have here
in hand, and extend it more and more widely; and
may the good providence of God grant long life and
happiness to the devoted and earnest men who have
given it their powerful sanction and generous support."

On the 6th there was a numerous meeting at Bristol,
on the invitation of Mr. Commissioner Hill, to hear
from M. Demetz an exposition of the principles on which
the establishment at Mettray has been founded, and is
at present conducted. M. Demetz, having been
introduced to the meeting by Mr. Hill, said:—" My attention
was drawn to the subject of reforming young
offenders by the numbers of children brought before
me in the performance of my duty as judge at Paris.
Many of these were no higher than my desk, and, as
there were at that time no establishments for the
reformation of juveniles only, I was obliged to consign
all to prisons, where they were associated with grown-
up criminals, most of them the most hardened of their
class, where, moreover, the treatment for children was
the same as for adults, and which, consequently, I
knew to be utterly unfit for them. M. de Courteilles
and myself commenced the institution of Mettray in
July, 1839, by assembling twenty-three youths of
respectable parentage, whom for six months we occupied
ourselves in training for teachers. We thus began the
Ecole Preparatoire, or school for officials, which I
believe to be the most important feature of the institutution,
so important, indeed, that if that were to be
given up Mettray itself must cease to exist. In
January, 1840, we admitted twelve young criminals,
and very gradually increased the number. Mettray
has first for its basis religion, without which it is
impossible for such an institution to succeed; secondly,
the family principle for a bond; and thirdly, military
discipline for a means of inculcating order. The military
discipline adopted at Mettray is this—the lads wear a
uniform, and they march to and from their work, their
lessons, and their meals with the precision of soldiers,
and to the sound of a trumpet and drum. But, as the
sound of the trumpet and the drum lead men to perform
acts of heroism, and surmount the greatest difficulties,
may it not reasonably be employed with the same object
at a reformatory school, where, in resisting temptation