The Floods In France.

reached Barsac . Thence , as far as La Ruole , the whole valley had suffered severely , and hay , straw , and various kinds of debris in the branches of the trees which bordered the fields showed the heig ht the water attained . In that district the greater part of tha loss sustained consisted

in this year ' s crops , and , with few exceptions , it was probable that even the vintage was not entirely destroyed . At La Reole the damage done commenced to be more apparent , and thence to Agen the destruction caused by the floods could scarcely be exaggerated . Dams had been swept

away , and in several places the railroad had been broken up , and rails and sleepers had been thrown to a distance of 30 or 40 yards , while portions of the embankment had disappeared altogether . Over some fields a thick alluvia' deposit had been left by the water , which , although it had destroyed

this year ' s harvest , would doubtless prove to be of great value hereafter , but where a coating of sand or stone had been deposited the damage done to small proprietors was almost irreparable . Fortunately , the high hills on each side of the valley formed some protection and lessened the

loss in cattle , which otherwise would have been much greater than it was . At Agen the destruction was quite beyond description . In places the torrent had trenched the ground to the depth of several feet , houses had been completely swept away , and scarcely a vestige remained of the

beautiful public gardens and promenades which ornamented the quays on the right bank of the river . Clothing was very much wanted , but it was useless to send anything but under-clothing to the peasantry , as they were too proud to wear cloth clothes which could be recognized as being

the gift of charity . The workmen in the towns made no such objection , and gladly accepted garments of every description . Agricultural and other tools and implements were much needed , but they must be of the same style and pattern as those to which the workmen and peasants

were accustomed , or they would not be appreciated . Cattle were also wanted , but an English cow would only be acceptable to a rich proprietor , as the small farmers used even milch cows for draught purposes . The part of that department ( Lot et Garonne ) which was not

inundated was quite able to supply the number of beasts which were lost . And then they go on to-day ; on arriving at Toulouse they at once proceeded to the Faubourg of St . Cyprien . No description in words , no series of sketches or photographs , not even themost vivid imagination ,

could picture the terrible scene that once thriving place , which was lately occupied by from 18 , 000 to 20 , 000 inhabitants , now presented . What St . Cyprien must have been in the last days of June it was too horrible to conjecture . No bombardment ever wrought such complete and

general destruction . Nothing was too great or too strong , nothing too insignificant , for the invading flood of waters which between the morning of the 23 rd and that of the 24 th rose between 30 and 40 feet above its usual level , and overwhelmed that extensive tract , destroying the

lives of some hundreds of men , women , and children , and leaving behind it nothing but ruin and misery . Most of the houses were knocked out oS * all shape , the majority of them being nothing more than a chaotic heap of bricks , slates , tiles , and pipes , while the few walls that

were left standing were propped up on all sides with timber . In some places the walls had been undermined by trenches from six to ten feet in depth . The large suspension bridge called the Pont St . Michael had been . literally torn away , and some of its strong wire cables were lying

along the banks of the river , with large trees and portions of the former planked roadway tightly held within its strands . In Toulouse itself but little damage had been done , except at St . Michel and in the Quartier des Amidonniers—two districts forming the extremities of the city on the ri ght bank of the river . The latter quarter was

covered with mills and manufactories , all of which had been more or less injured , while some had been totally destroyed . As a consequence ° f that a large nnmber of artisans had been turned out of employment . In the village of Les Sept Deniers the fruitful gardens which hel ped to supply the cily were utterly destroyed , » ie houses had fallen , and the inhabitants were J'spersed . They mi ght also mention the case of

The Floods In France.

Fernouillet , a village lying at a distance of six miles to the north of Toulouse . That commune was one large garden , cultivated by an industrious population . Now in many cases it was impos . sible to distinguish tho boundaries which formerly existed between the different little properties .

Of 223 houses in the village , only eight were now standing , and of these few scarcely , one was at present habitable . Fortunately precautions which proved successful were taken in time , and of the 950 inhabitants all were saved excepting two . In the department of L'Ariege , the village which had most suffered was Verdun . Durina

the night of the 23 rd of June a landslip is supposed to have happened from one of the hills ; that blocked up the bed of the torrent , forming a sort of dam , which retained the waters until they had acquired such volume and weight as to burst it . Sweeping every obstacle in their

downward course , the pent-up flood rushed upon the village , burying under its ruins about 82 persons . 147 horned cattle , and over 600 sheep and pigs . The extent of the catastrophe might be imagined from the fact that 300 soldiers were engaged in clearing the ground , and they have

not yet succeeded in discovering all the bodies . Upon these indubitable facts they base the following propositions : —That it is only necessary to include four departments in the division of the fund—namely , La Haute Garonne , Lot et Garonne , Tarn et Garonne , and L'Ariege .

In coming to that conclusion they had beon guided by the decisions ' of the Conseil Municipal of Paris and the Alsace and other committees . The order in which they had planed those departments was based on the following figures : —La Haute Garonne stood first , as having

suffered more severely than any of the other departments . Its loss amounted to no less than 32 , 2 i 5 , 8 oofr . Lot et Garonne had sustained losses estimated at 24 , 2 co , ooof .-Tarn et Garonne , i 3 , 6 . 50 , eoof .- and L ' Ariege , 7 , 44 6 , 966 ^ By a comparison of the total of losses they beg

to suggest that the following partition should be made of the Mansion House Relief Fund : —La Haute Garonne , 4-iothsj Lot and Garonne , 3-iothsj Tarn and Garonne , 2-ioths 5 L'Ariege , i-ioth . That those sums should as far as possible be spent in the purchase of those articles

which have been already mentioned—namel y , strong iron bedsteads of simple form , blanketscoarse linen for sheets and shirts , flannels , wool , len stuffs for women ' s clothing , and in "bons " or orders for artisans' tools and fanning implements . But , inasmuch as there was a

difference in the actual requirements of the sufferers in each of the four departments , and gifts in kind were more serviceable than gifts of money , they would strongly urge on the com mittee the desirableness of their being represented by two delegates , one of whom should be

at Pans in communication with the Central Committee , and the other in the South of France to act in concert with the Departmental Com . mittees . If that suggestion should be adopted , the wants of the sufferers and the wishes of all parties could be met without wounding national

susceptibilities ; and at the same time , if gifts in kind should besentto France , such delegates , actinginconcert with each other and with the Central and Departmental Committees , would be in a position to judge of the quantities respectivel y required , and the ports and railway stations to

which the objects should be addressed . Such a plan would also insure economy both in time and money , while it would be in accordance with the wishes expressed by the French authorities . A tabulated statement appended to the report showed that the entire losses were estimated at

99 , 849 , 919 ^ , thus enumerated : —Farms , mills , and manufactories , 22 , 1 * 571 , 345 ^ 5 furniture , merchandize , and stock-in-trade , 14 , 783 , 545 ^ 5 land 18 , 21 3 , 29 / f . 5 crops , 25 . 635 . 737 f . 5 and cattle , 2 , 44 6 , 000 !" . Seventeen communes had been totally and 260 partially flooded . And the final conclusion to which these tsvo worthy

delegates come to in their most lucid report is , that the distribution had better be left to the Central Committee , presided over b y Madame McMahon , instead of to special English agents . We , ourselves , fully concur in the conclusions of this just and admirable report , and , to say the truth , we never could understand why any doubts should be entertained as to any want of

The Floods In France.

fairness on such a matter by the Central Committee , aad least of all can we comprehend the action ofthe Mayor of Birmingham in the matter . Why a French eom mittee , in the presence of such overpowering calamities , should be supposed more likely than an English committee to

be actuated by unworthy motives we cannot possibly realize , and we think such a view unfair , both to the Government and the People of France We trust , therefore , that the London committee will accept the conclusions of their able delegates , as , on calm reflection , such a conclusion will be

that , we feel sure , of all English contributors . The fund , so far , may be said to reach to something like £ 25 , 000 in round numbers , but it is clear , if our aid is to be commensurate with the exigencies of the case , a larger amount must be raised . The total loss sustained by the French

people is over four millions , and many years must elapse before these fertile districts can again be what they were once , if ever they entirely lose the traces of this great disaster . We beg , therefore , to commend this fund to the notice of our lodges . We trust sincerely that in the

spirit of fraternal philanthropy all our lodges may send a contribution , be it large or small , to the Lord Mayor ' s Committee , and we shall be most happy to announce , in a special column , all such amounts forwarded ¦» to the committee of which we shall receive notice . Indeed

we may add , that if any of our lodges or brethren prefer to forward such subscriptions to our publisher , Bro . George Kenning , he will have the greatest pleasure in personally paying the amount over to the Mansion House Executive , and acknowledging the same in the Freemason .

What Next?

WHAT NEXT ?

A rumour comes to us , on ecclesiastical authority , moreover , which seems to us both a little strange and startling . There is , iu the glorious fane of Winchester , dear as well as glorious to all old Wykehamists , specially from pleasant memories of other days , a well-known

slab , said to cover the bones of St . Swithin , or St . Swithun . Of course this fact , like many other similar facts in the world , is said by some to be a fiction . St . Swithin was , according to his own wish , originally buried outside the church , at a spot where what Rudborne calls

" modica cupella , " a little chapel , was raised over his grave . About r 00 years afterwards St . Ethelwold , Bishop of Winchester , translated his remains with great pomp into the Cathedral . St . Ethelwold was succeeded by St . Elphege , who was martyred by the Danes , and who was

translated as Archbishop of Canterbury from Winchester in 1006 . He took with him , Osborne tells us , the head of St . Swithin to Canterbury , and from this relic William of Sens , the Master Mason of Canterbury , took a portion to Sens Cathedral . It is upon these facts that

many writers declare that the slab covering St . Swithin does not represent trul y his place of sepulture . It was opened in 1797 , when the bones of a person buried in a black serge cowl were found . It was felt that they were the remains of a person of note , and Milner

suggests of the famous prior Silkesteade , whose actual burial place is , we believe , unknown , though probably in his own chapel , as it is called . Knowing how , in old days , people were proud , and inclined to boast of relics , we are led to believe that the remains discovered in 1797 were actually those of St . Swithin , probably

re-interred when the shrines were broken up , and removed at the Reformation . Now it seems that a tomb is about to , be raised to Bishop Sumner , and that this old slab is to be disturbed to make way for it . We object to such a proceeding in toto , as a proceeding of modern iconoclasm and of barbarism . Whether the slab

covers the remains of St . Swithin or Silkesteade matters little ; like Archytas , it may say to the executors of Bishop Sumner , or his injudicious friends : —

" At tu vaga ; ne parce malignus arena :, Ossibus et capiti inhumato . " Or , as Francis translates it : — " Nor thou , my friend , refuse with impious hand , A little portion of this wandering sand , , To these my poor remains . "