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one who has held the office of Premier , and who may again be called upon to assist the Queen with his counsel . Last year he condemned the Turkish atrocities , though it has since been proved that they wero terribly exaggerated ; bnt

he refuses to believe in Russian atrocities , though much trustworthy information has been given , showing that the war has been waged with the greatest bitterness by Russia , and that there is littlo to choose between the Cossacks and

the Circassians . Tho British Association has been holding its annual meeting at Plymouth . There was a numerous gathering of tho men of science . The various sections having severally elected their presidents , set to work with a will , and a

number of valuable papers were read . Earl I ortescue presided in the section of Economic Science and Statistics , and delivered a long and highly interesting address , for which , on the motion of Lord Houghton , duly seconded , a vote of thanks was heartily accorded to him . Dr . Gwyn Jeffreys

presided in the Biological Section , and opened his labours with a very elaborate address on deep-sea mollnsca . In the Anthropological Section Mr . Francis Galton , F . R . S ., read an important paper on those groups of men who are sufficiently similar in their mental character , or in their

physiognomy , or in both , to admit one classification , as types of character such as are universally recognised as being exceedingly true to nature . In the Mechanical Science Section Sir . E . Woods , C . E ., the president , delivered an address on the application of adequate brake

power to control railway trains , and illustrated the comparative merits of the different systems by diagrams . In the Mathematical and Physical Science Department Mr . Preece gave an account of the Telephone , and Sir W . Thompson and Professor Houghton cansedmuch amusement

by putting a series of questions through it , the one in broad Scotch , and the other in equally broad Irish . The proceedings were brought to a close on Wednesday . Professor Allen Thompson presided . A vote of thanks "was passed to the Mayor and Corporation of Plymouth for

allowing the use of the Guildhall , as well as for their brilliant hospitality , and likewise to the local secretaries , the Excursion and Conversazione Committees , & c , & c . These were duly acknowledged , and the whole terminated with a vote of thanks to the President for his services ; and in

responding to the compliment thus paid him , the President announced that the next meeting would be held at Dublin , on the 14 th August 1878 and following days . Mr . William Spottiswoode , who is a distinguished savant , will preside .

The South Coast regattas are now in progress , and among those which have been recently held are the Hayling Island Regatta , which is reached by a branch line from the Havant Station . The naval authorities at Portsmouth take

a great interest in this event , and as the weather was very satisfactory , everything passed off successfully . Other aquatic fixtures have been held , among them the Kingston Bridge Amateur Regatta and the "Falmouth Regatta . The York Race Meeting has been held this week , and Mr . M .

Dawson ' s II Gladiatore won the Great Ebor Handicap by a neck , after a most exciting struggle , Mr . Whittaker ' s Mrs . Pond being second , and Mr . Northern ' s Agglethorpe , halfa-dozen lengths behind , third . Hampton , the favourite , after a game effort to win , was eased , when it was found

that perseverance would be of no avail in securing the honours of victory , Glendale , who was second favourite , being nowhere . In the cricketing world , Yorkshire , though she showed to far greater advantage in her second than in her first innings , has had to succumb to Gloucestershire ,

"who came off victoriousl y by nine wickets . Yorkshire , in their first attempt , wero all out for 47 runs , Myers with 22 , and Lockwood with 23 , being the only two who made any stand . In the second innings their score was 2 G 0 , Lockwood contributing 82 , Myers 83 , Ulyett 30 , Myers and Eramett

each 28 , and Armitage , not out , 20 . This left Gloucestershire 101 runs to win , and the feat was accomplished with the loss of one wicket only , Dr . E . M . Grace being not out 53 , and his brother , G . F . Grace not out 43 . The match between Middlesex and Notts ended in a draw , very largely

in favour of the former , who had scored 400 ( Mr . A . J . Webbe 100 , and the Hon . A . Lyttelton 100 ) in their innings , while Notts scored only 197 in their first , and 137 for nix wickets in their second . In Surrey v . Kent there was likewise a draw , the former having six wickets to fall , and 117 runs to make . Lancashire has beaten Sussex in a single innings , with 40 runs to spare , and Derbyshire has

been virtually defeated by Yorkshire ; for though the weathei

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did not permit the match being played out , tho latter had only 17 runs to make , and an innings to do it in . The weather has been very unsettled of late , and there have been a succession of thunderstorms in various parts of the country . During one which broke over Nottingham

towards the end of last week , four boys , who were at play on Robin Hood's Chase , took shelter under a tree , and were dreadfully burned , one of them not being expected to recover . In another which passed over Stratford , the

lightning struck the belfry of a school , and knocked it through into the school-room beneath . Cambridge , parts of Warwickshire , and Sheffield and North Derbyshire , have been similarly visited .

Professor Cavill is said to have accomplished tho feat of swimming the Channel in about twelve hours from starting . Ho started from Capo Grisnez on Monday at 3 . 40 p . m ., and though the weather was not the most favourable for such an attempt , ho reached within fifty yards of the English coast about a mile to the north of tho South Foreland

Lighthouse at 3 " 45 a . m . on Tuesday morning . He was accompanied by a French lugger , and , sorely against his will , was taken on board , as the Frenchmen declined to risk their boat on so rocky a coast . Cavill was none tho worso for his feat , and though no representative of the

press accompanied him , the French boatmen have certified that he did accomplish what ho had undertaken . Cavill swam with a powerful side-stroke , whereas Captain Webb swam the breast stroke . There is also a slight difference

further . Webb did accomplish the whole distance from shore to shore , whereas Cavill was not allowed to swim tho fifty yards or so which remained , owing to the excessive caution of those who accompanied him .

Another of these feats of endurance was accomplished on Monday-Tuesday at the Lillie Bridge running grounds , tho contest in this instance being a walking competition between two amateur pedestrians , the distance , one hundred miles , to be covered within twenty-one hours , for a silver cup and

gold medal . The competitors were a Mr . E . J . Dixon of the Mars Football Club , and Mr . E . M . Dundas of the London Athletic Club , the former winning by close on two miles , Dundas giving up when he had walked 98 miles in 20 hours 36 minutes _ seconds , his opponent accomplishing the full distance in f owe seconds longer time .

The news from the Danube and Armenia contains no

mention of any battle on a large scale , though rumours have reached this country to the effect that Suleiman Pasha has met with a serious repulse in the Shipka Pass , while on the other hand there are reports of several small Russian reverses on the Danube . It seems likely that towards the

end of the present week thero will be more serious collisions between tho armies , as the Russians under the Grand Duke Nicholas are concentrating their forces , while the Turks , who are opposed to them are displaying considerable activity under their three generals . If the rumours of

Suleiman ' s defeat in the Balkans with heavy loss should prove true , it will probably derange the plans of Mehemet Pasha , the generalissimo , and may imperil the position of Osman Pasha at Plevna ; but we must wait for confirmation of this report , which may , after all , be only the check which

he himself acknowledges he has received , and which to all appearances he makes very light of . In Asia an attack on the position occupied by Ahmed Moukhtar Pasha ' s army has been made in great force and unsuccessfully , the Russians being defeated with a loss of about 1 , 200 or 1 , 500

men , while the Turks lost about a third of the number . These losses are not very heavy , but the Russians move more cautiousl y than they did formerly , and their men are better protected then they were . There has also been fighting in the vicinity of Kars . The bombardment of

Rustchuk continues , but no great harm has been done to the defences . A Roumanian steamer has been sunk on the Danube . Hafiz Pasha announces from Montenegro that tbe mountaineers have been defeated in an attempt to capture a convoy of provisions . As to the political aspect of the

question , innumerable are the rumours which are being received from all quarters . Austrian policy is as mysterious as ever . Servia may or may not bo preparing to renew her attack on Turkey , the Roumanians do nofc scem altogefcher pleased with the part assigned to them , and the designs

of Cfcrmany are kept a profound secret . Meantime , Russia ' s movements are bumpered by the weather , and sho is believed to be making up her mind for a winter campaign . So , too , are the Turks , winter clothing being all ready for distribution among the troops . Thus

ifc is evident the two powers are resolved on , continuing