CROKER.-The following verses are engraved on the red granite slab in West Moulsey churchyard which covers the late Mr. Croker's remains, and the remains removed from Wimbledon of his only child, Spencer Perceval Croker, who died when a boy three years old:

"Oh! pity us who lost when Spencer died

Our child, our hope, our pleasure, and our pride!
In him we saw, or fancied, all such youth
Could show of talents, tenderness, and truth;
And hoped to other eyes his ripened powers
Would keep the promise they had made to ours;
But God a different better growth has given-
The seed he planted here now blooms in heaven."

MR. EDMUND YATES, in his paper called The Town Talk, says:

Mr. Thackeray is forty-six years old, though from the silvery whiteness of his hair he appears somewhat older. He is very tall, standing upwards of six feet two inches, and as he walks erect his height makes him conspicuous in every assembly. His face is bloodless, and not particularly expressive, but remarkable for the fracture of the bridge of the nose, the result of an accident in youth. He wears a small gray whisker, but otherwise is clean shaven. No one meeting him could fail to recognize in him a gentleman; his bearing is cold and uninviting, his style of conversation either openly cynical, or affectedly good-natured and benevolent; his bonhommie is forced, his wit biting, his pride easily touched; but his appearance is invariably that of the cool, suave, well-bred gentleman, who, whatever may be rankling within, suffers no surfacedisplay of his emotion.

It

JIDDAH, THE SCENE OF THE LATE MASSACRE.Djidda, or Jiddah, is the port of Mecca, and one of the chief entrepôts for foreign commerce in Arabia. Resident population, according to Ali Bey, 5000; but this number is often very much increased by the influx of strangers. The inhabitants are nearly all foreigners, or settlers from other parts of Arabia, the only natives being a few sheriff families attached exclusively to the officers of religion and law. is one of the holy places of Mohammedanism, and its sanctity is increased by the neighborhood of the reputed tomb of Eve, a rude stone structure, about two miles to the north. The caravans to Mecca start daily, and those to Medina every forty or fifty days. Twice, at least, in every year Djidda is inundated with inhabitants, namely, on the arrival of the Indian fleet, (about May,) when merchants from all quarters pour in to purchase at the first hand; and during the hadj, when pilgrims come from all the African ports in vast numbers.-McCulloch.

A LION IN THE PATH. As the diligence which plies between Guelma and Bona, in Africa, was a few nights ago proceeding along the road, near the village of Penthièvre, the horses all at once reared up, and refused to advance; and the driver perceived a gigantic lion seated in the middle of the road. He at once informed the passengers, and they all manifested the greatest consternation; but at his suggestion they lighted chemical matches, and burned paper. The light of the moon was, however, so strong that it paralyzed the glare of the flames, and they produced no effect on the lion. The consternation of the passengers was on the increase, when the animal relieved them by walking slowly away.-Galignani's Messenger.

A FRENCH FLYING MACHINE.-The Emperor has just made a present of 5000f. to a private in the line who asserts he has discovered a solution for the great problem in aeronautics - the art of flying. He has invented a kind of air-ship, consisting of a platform of silk stretched over whalebone, to be propelled by two gigantic wings of the same material, placed on each side. The aerial navigator is to be suspended at a distance of about four feet from the platform, while his feet rest on pedals, by means of which the wings are set in motion, while bis arms rest on a lever which imparts to the platform the direction he chooses to give it. Only a model of this machine has yet been constructed, and it appears to work well. Thanks to the Emperor's munificence, it is now about to be constructed on a large scale.-Paris Correspondent of the Morning Herald.

WONDERFUL ACHIEVEMENT. M. Garvani, a French machinist, has perfected his aerial ship at a cost of 200,000 francs, and made a voyage to Algiers, Africa, and back with it--a distance of fifteen hundred miles from the starting-point. The average speed was almost one hundred miles an hour, the voyage occupying eighteen hours. M. Garvani is to make the attempt from Havre to the city of New-York as soon as he has further, tested the character of his invention by a few short trips over the Mediterranean and its neighboring provinces.

THE RUSSIAN DISASTER AT ASTRAKHAN.-The most important bit of continental intelligence just arrived is the total destruction by explosion of a powder magazine of the city and seaport of Astrakhan, on the Caspian. It amounts to a Russian disaster almost equalling the downfall of Sebastopol At Astrakhan for years an arsenal of enormous resources had been in progress, intended as the basis of immense operations against Persia, Bokhara, and the whole Asiatic continent. Steamers of every caliber had their starting-point here, and the Wolga conveyed stores to this depot from every province of the empire. To judge of the warlike paraphernalia piled up here for ulterior purposes, it is only necessary to state that the magazine which blew up the place, and killed half the inhabitants, contained 6000 pouds-that is to say, nearly 200,000 pounds

of gunpowder. It was the very busiest season of the year for the navigation of that inland sea, and the loss of shipping is fearful.--Paris Letter, August

31.

ONE of the semi-official morning papers says that it is authorized to state, in answer to those periodicals that have denounced the introduction into Spain of anti-Catholic books and pamphlets, that any persons found guilty of these attempts to pervert the habits and creed of the Spanish nation will be punished as the law directs--that is, with hard labor for life. The publications alluded to are said to be smuggled into Spain from Gibraltar.

THE Medical Times says that the 300th anniversary of the Jena University has just gone off with great éclát. The young Royal couple of Prussia presented three marble busts of Hegel, Fichte, and Schelling.

COUNT DE MONTALEMBERT is writing a new work on England and Protestantism, to appear towards the beginning of winter.