Literary Extracts.

LITERARY EXTRACTS .

A EEJIIKKABLE CURB . '—Dr . Douglas related to me the following story , which exhibits thc curative advantages of a lenient system of treatment in dealing with the insane - . — " Several years ago , a very bad case of mental aberration was brought to " the asylum . It was that of a well-to-do farmer , a " married man , whose recovery was considered all but hopeless . After thc lapse of several

months , this patient escaped , wandered about the country , and was finally returned to Beauporfc . Dr . Douglas , being addicted to fishing , was one day induced to take this poor man with him on an angling expedition . He appeared highly delighted with the excursion and the sport . Next morning , greatly to tho surprise of the physicianthe patient requested that he might

, be suffered to renew the same recreation , faithfully promising to return to the institution . After considerable hesitation , permission was accorded , although grave doubts were entertained of the man ' s sincerity . This privilege , however , was not abused ; and as the patient seemed to improve by the gentle excitement the amusement occasioned , he was allowed to indulge his

predilections very frequently . Permanent recovery was the gratifying result . Por three years this man has been residing on his farm in the full enjoyment of mental health . Ho keeps up a regular correspondence with Mr . Douglas , to whose leniency he attributed his freedom from a malady with which he had been so longafflicted . — "English America ,. " BI J Samuel Datj .

Ar01702

EOYAL ACADEMY OI ? Am-s . —At the award of medals and prizes on last Saturday , the Travelling Studentship in Architecture of £ 100 for a year was gained by Mr . Richard Plienc Spiers , eldest son of Bro . Alderman Spiers , Deputy Provincial Grand Master for Oxfordshire . The subject was " a museum of natural history and science , " and the whole work had to be clone within tho walls of the Academy iu a period of thirty

clays . The drawings comprise an elevation , plans of the two principal floors , and a perspective view . Mr . Spiers obtained last year tlie silver medal and books for his measured drawings of St . Stephen's , Walbrook ; and the gold medal , books , and a scholarship for an original design for the vestibule and staircase of a royal palace , subsequently exhibited in the Academy . Last year he was initiated in the Churchill Lodge , Oxford , and he has passed the greater part of the present year in Italy .

The Week.

THE WEEK .

Tnii COURT . —The Queen and younger branches of the Royal Family remain at Osborne , whither they proceeded on Saturday . The Prince and Princess of Wales are still at their , seat in Norfolk . GENEEATJ HOME NEWS . —At last , after a lengthened series of weeks , in which there has been a high rate of mortality , the

deaths ! in the metropolis have fallen to nearly the average rate . The deaths last week were 1 , 449 , the estimated average , 1 , 434 . For the same time the births were 1 , 952 , which is slightly below the average . AVe have to record another decrease in the pauperism of the" cotton manufacturing districts . According to the returns of | the Poor-law' Board there appears to have

been a net decrease in the twenty-eight unions , on comparing the numbers relieved by the ^' guardians in the second wicb the first week of the present month , amounting to 1 , 360 . The unions which were chiefly concerned in the production of this result are the following : —Ashton-nnder-Lyne , which diminished by 470 ; Bury by 160 ; Blackburn by 130 ; Burnley by 260 ; Haslingden by 250 ; Rochdale by 120 ; and Stockport by 130 . The able-bodied paupers ( adult males and females )

decreased by 867 , leaving , however , 27 , 400 of that class still on the union lists . The disbursements for outdoor relief in the week amounted to £ 6 , 287 ; or £ 100 less than the Guardians distributed in the first week of the current month . Mr . Farnall ' s report upon the condition of the twenty-seven unions included in his returns shows that in the three weeks ending on the 10 th inst . there was a total reduction of 5 , 503 in the

number of persons receiving- parochial relief . Ashton , Stockport , Haslingden , Oldham , Burnley , Bury , Todmorden , and Preston present the greatest improvement . The average per centage of pauperism iu the population of the twenty-seven unions on the 10 th insfc . was 5 ' 2 ; in the corresponding week of 1861 ifc was 3-0 ; and in the same week of 1863 ifc was 0-6 . A painful disclosure was made at the meeting of the Hulme Relief Committee . It was stated that a deficiency of £ 2 , 400

had been discovered in the accounts of the treasurer—a person who seems to have enjoyed the full confidence of the Committee . Ifc was decided to make every effort to meet this loss , and with that object a subscription was at once opened by the gentlemen present . The Gazette of Tuesday contains the promised commission to inquire into the state of

middleclass schools , having reference to any endowments that may be available for tbe purpose . Lord Taunfcon is chairman , and the principal other commissioners are Lord Stanley , Lord Lyttlefcon , Sir Stafford Northcote , Dean Hook , of Chichester ; Dr . Temple , of Rugby ; Mr . Baines , M . P . ; Mr . AV . E . Forster , M . P . ; Mr . Thomas Dyke Acland , & c . The directors and guardians of

the poor in the parish of St . Pancras have taken the first step in organising a movement throughout tho country to resist the recommendation made by a select committee of the House of Commons last session , that Roman Catholic chaplains paid out of the poor-rates should be introduced into workhouses .

Resolutions affirming that Roman Catholic inmates of workhouses now enjoyed full liberty of worship , and that communications be opened up with other parishes for a joint resistance to this new scheme , were unanimously agreed to . In a letter to a Devonshire clergyman , Mr . Gladstone pronounces the constitution of the present Court of Appeal in ecclesiastical causes to be " unsatisfactory , " anel expresses the opinion that "it is to

the bishops of the Church , in conjunction with the Queen's Ministers , that it principally appertains to consider in what way the constitution of that Court may most properly be amended . " ¦ At the meeting of the Metropolitan Board of Works ifc was agreed immediately to take steps for covering in the Ranelagh open sewer at Paddington . Several streets were renamed , and , among others , ifc was decided to abolish the old and picturesque name of Horsemonger-lane , so long attached to the

well-known thoroughfare in the Borough , and to replace ifc by the title of Union-road . The London , Chatham , and Dover Railway have commenced running trains across their bridge at Blackfriars into the new station at Ludgate-hill . There was no ceremony connected with the opening ; the first train crossed the bridge and ran into the station a little before eight

o ' clock in the morning , and after that there was a regular stream of trains going both ways across the bridge . There are four lines of rails laid down , but for the present only two are used . Tho station opened is a mere temporary one , and does not at all represent that which will afterwards be in use ; but as a

makeshift ifc seems to answer its purpose pretty well . The Secretary of the Financial Reform Association recently wrote a letter to Mr . Cobden , pointing out a passage in the hon . gentleman's Rochdale speech which seemed to ignore the fiscal burdens which the association seeks to remove . In his reply Mr . Cobden expresses his entire sympathy with the cause