Our Weekly Budget.

committed an act little short of high treason . However , an eminent poet once remarked , and less eminent people have frequently repeated it : —

" One touch of Nature makes the whole world kin . " It is at least a satisfaction to know that the flesh of young princes and princesses is as sensitive as the flesh of ordinary mortals . We hope to hear , however , of no more similar indiscretions at the expense of the Royal boys

and girls . But to pass on . The preparations for the Prince of Wales ' s visit are now nearly complete . The officers and crew of the Serapis have taken up their quarters on board that vessel , which has been thoroughly overhauled and magnificently furnished for the reception

of the Prince and his suite . It is expected she will leave harbour forthwith , so as to await His Royal Highness ' s arrival at Venice , whence he will be conveyed on board by the Royal yacht , Osborne , the draught of the Serapis being too great to allow of any nearer approach to the Queen of the Adriatic than within a distance of seven miles . The

arrangements , as thus far made , are , we believe , as follow : The Prince will leave London on the 12 th prox . for Paris , reaching Venice the 16 th . The Serapis will then proceed to Corfu , or it may be direct to Athens , where the Prince will visit his brother-in-law , King Georgeof Greece . On reaching

Ismailia the Prince will disembark for the purpose of visiting Cairo and other places . At Suez he will again embark on the Serapis , and after calling at Aden will reach Bombay , about the Sth November . After a stay in this presidency of some eight or nine days , the Prince will

proceed to Calicut , where he will land and visit Mysore . Thereafter he will go to Colombo in Ceylon , where a stay of ten days will be made , in order that His Royal Highness may enjoy some shooting , and visit some of the coffee plantations . A move will then he made to Calcutta , which will be

reached a day or two before Christmas day . Visits will be paid to Delhi , Lucknow , and other important cities , and the _ Prince will gradually work his way back to Bombay , which he is expected to reach by the 17 th March , thence returning home by the same route as on the outward

journey . It is needless to add that every preparation is being made for the reception of His Royal Highness , and no doubt the visit will have an excellent effect in cementing still closer our grand Indian dependency with the British Crown . We anticipate nothing but good from this visit .

The Prince will become known to a part of his future subjects , and will be able to judge also , with his own eyes , of the magnificent resources of onr Eastern Empire , so grandly acquired , last century , by the energy and courage of a Merchant Company , and so heroically preserved a few

years since by the valour of our troops . The court of inquiry into the loss of H . M . Ironclad Vanguard is still progressing . Amass of evidence has been given as to the circumstances under which the col lision occurred , and the second part of the inquiry has been entered upon , namely ,

as to what happened after the collision had taken place . Thus we anticipate that no long time will elapse before the court will deliver its opinion as to the conduct of the officers and men now on their trial . As to the loss of the Edith , which was run down some time since on the Mersey by the

steamer , Duke of Sutherland , the verdict is that the collision was accidental , but a rider is appended that the captain of the latter vessel committed an error in judgment in steaming into port at such a speed when he knew another steamer was outward bound . The loss of the Mistletoe is still on

the carpet , and much misconception appears to have arisen in connection with a letter written to Lord Exeter by the Queen ' s command , in which the wish is ' expressed that yachts should give Her Majesty plenty of sea room . When crossing the Solcr . t wc see no reason why Her Majesty ' s

wishes should not receive the most respectful attention . She has a right to move freely about from one residence to another without being pressed too closely by the over curious . We do not imply by this that the owner of the unfortunate Mistletoe exhibited any such curiosity , for in

his evidence he most emphatically disclaimed any such idea , but all yachtsmen arc not as courteous and considerate as Mr . Heywood . We note with pleasure that the families of the captain and mute of his yacht have not been lost sight of by the Queen , who has right royally placed certain

moneys at their disposal , while the Lords of the Admiralty have taken the cases into their consideration , and , under the circumstances , have awarded gratuities to the captain ' s widow of £ 500 , and to the mate ' s of £ 400 . Their lordships , however , require that guarantees shall first be given

Our Weekly Budget.

that no claims 'whatever will be made on H . M . Government for compensation in connection with the recent accident . We never knew of an excursion season passing without a multitude of accidents . We presume they are inevitable , yet some half-dozen occurring at or about the same time is

rather more than we have a ri ght to expect . But , considering the multitude of what Mrs . Partington has described as " exertionists , " we have no reason to be surprised at the number of casualties occurring from time to time . People

will travel , and points and signals and railway officials have a knack of getting out of order or doing the wrong thing at dangerous conjunctures . Perhaps we must congratulate ourselves the accidents are so few .

Cricket is all but over , and very soon football will reign in its stead , when we shall read of little else but " hots , " and " scrummages " " punts out " aud "touches down , " threequarters , half , and quarter-backs " and so forth . Meanwhile we note that Mr . W . G . Grace has just achieved his highest

score this season—210 , but with one or two chances in its manipulation . This was against eighteen of the Hastings District , who , though a strong team , appear to have made little stand against the United South Eleven , opposed to them . Two other extraordinary feats have been

accomplished . One Perkins has walked eight miles in fifty-five seconds under the hour . We have no intention of challenging Perkins in pedestrianism , unless , perchance , he will consent to give us a five miles' start , in which case we fancy we might contrive to hold our own . In the other case , aMr . John

Alcock , of the Oxford Tavern , Macclesfield , backed himself to walk backwards from that town to Buxton , a distance of twelve miles , within three hours . The task was accomplished with sixteen minutes to spare . This almost beats " that

sprightly Scot of Scots , Douglas , that run o horseback up a hill perpendicular . " Soon we shall have people running upside-down , and hanging on by their eyelids to the ceiling . Truly a topsy-turvy world this !

There have been the usual attractions during the week at Alexandra Palace , but the weather somewhat interfered with the display of fireworks on Tuesday . The Carl Rosa Company , however , have been highly successful with their English Opera . On Thursday the Christy ' s Minstrels made

their last appearance at the Palace this season , and to-day , if the weather proves fine , there will doubtless be a considerable gathering to hear Faust . On Monday a special programme has been prepared for the annual fete of tho Foresters , which will conclude with a grand pyrotechnic

display , illuminations , & c . The chief event , at the Crystal Palace , has been the Exhibition of Bees , under the auspices of the Bee-keepers' Association . In the musical world there have been two important annual festivals held—that of

Norwich , and that of the Three Choirs at Worcester . The former has proved a grand success , but the latter has been less satisfactorily attended than usual , as the festival has been shorn of some of its greatest attractions

Our friend from the neighbourhood of Colney Hatch is quite proud that we exposed one of his eccentricities last week ; so proud , indeed , that he has honoured us with another specimen of his mental weakness . He writes , II y a , en Anrjleterre , deux Ancjots—VAncjot cm ' on chante , et

Lingot qu ' on adore . Madame Angot has certainly achieved greatness in this country ; this is indisputable , and ingots are not to be sneezed at ; yet we tremble for the

consequences if our correspondent is permitted to continue his wild career unchecked . Heaven knows what will befal him if he does not soon pull up and repent him of his evil ways .

Another of ouv numerous correspondents has asked us to describe the difference between " organic" and "inorganic " matter . We confess we feel a little nervous about the

answer we shall give him . We are not a little unscientific in our ideas—we say it with much sorrow . We can only hazard an answer , but this , we can only hope , will prove not unacceptable . We consider " organic matter" is harmony gone mad , while "inorganic" is the barrel and other apparatus which provides the discord .

The sea-serpent has made its appearance again , not , however , in tho sea—so far as our knowledge goes , but in the columns of the Dai ? ;/ Telegraph . We presume our contemporary has been less successful than usual in procuring a seasonably big gooseberry , and , in default , has fallen hack

upon this ancient mariner or monster , whichever he may be . One of our contemporary ' s correspondents , it seems , in his eagerness to lasso one of these serpents , only some eighty or ninety feet , long , managed , in his excitement , to overbalance himself , and went head over heels into the sea within easy