T‘I-IE] PHCENIX. 3 have referred. the people of Ireland have nobly done their duty. The Sword of Honor with which they have presented him is a source ofterror to England, of hope to Ireland. and a precious link ofaffection between Erinn and her glorious son. To our Bishop of Marseilles, I know my countrymen will not be less generous than to our great Marshal. Some testimonial to express their pride and pleasure at his extraordinary advancement, and their gratitude for the kind regard towards Ireland which the Emperor has shown in this selection, is only what is due t'rom them on this occasion. I have not time to say more at present, as I am anxious that this letter should leave to night, in order that it may appear In your next impression. I, therefore. willingly leave wiser heads to decide the form in which Irel-and’s feelings in this matter would be best expressed. D. 0D. ....4 Fight for the English Championship. (From the London Times.) 1'1‘ is, perhaps, no information even for those least ac- quainted with the dirty arcana of theprize ring to be told that the champion’s belt, for the possession of which Heenan and Sayers struggled with such cruel obstinacy, was evidently awarded to neither, The trophy was left open to public competition, though, as the belt happens to be one of those peculiar gifts of fortune which are not to be had for asking, and as its possession entails some personal responsibility, in the way of having to fight all comers, no matter how many or how big, the number of candidates for the dangerous honor was, on the whole, decidedly limited. The first claimants were Hurst and Paddock. Hurst is the champion wrestler of Laucashire, a man of gigantic frame and almost superhuman strength, but perhaps the most unskilful boxer that ever entered the prize ring. In his contest with Paddock he was dreadfully punished, but almost by accident contrived at the cl_ose of the fight to hit his adversary one blow, and one blow from such a Goliah was quite sufficient, for Paddock was all but killed by it. Hurst, therefore. came into full possession of the turbulent honors of the belt, to which a boxer named Mace at once laid claim. Mace is a very small man, though possessed of wonderful strength and activity, almost a harder hitter than Sayers himself. and reputed to be the most scientific pugilist alive. Yet, even with these advantages, it seemed almost monstrous to suppose that he could contend, foran instant, with any chance of success against an adversary so overpowering in strength, and size, and weight as Hurst. Nevertheless, a match was made for the championship, and recently it was fought to an issue on an island in.the Medway, and resulted in Macepunisbing his gigantic antagonist so fearfully that he may literally be said to have killed him withoiit receiving a single blow in return. The contest between the two men, as they entered the ring, was even more startlingly disproportionate than that between Heenan and Sayers. Hurst stood nearly six feet three inches in height, and weighed 16 stone while his gigantic awarthy chest and limbs, in which the muscles stood out in great folds and knots like bosses of bronze, made his figure look even larger and more formidable, if possible, than it was in reality. In looking at his massive propor- tions, and the evidences of tremendous strength as the tbews and sinewscrept and rolled with every movement. one felt a kind of fascinating terror, which changed to almostsickening apprehension for the‘ fate of the man‘ who had dared such a Colossus to combat. Among ordi- nary men Mace would have seemed ,a. terrible antagonist for anyone to cope with, but, dwarfed and almost over- sha/d9._wed by the giant he had challenged, his venture seemed little short of sheer madness.-,His,beigbt is barely over 5ft. 8in., his weight only ten stone and a-half ; yet, as he preparedhimaelf for the contest, there was an easy air of nonchalance about him which, coupled with his compact, fair frame, and lithe and active figure, on which the small, but hard and well-developed» muscles, showed out in startling relief, made his venture appear less desperate than it was to those acquainted with his skill and strength. Hurst, to his other advantages, added that of winning the choice of corners, and of course took that with his back to the sun, leaving its fierce rays full in the face of his antagonist. When at last, after shak- ing hands, the men stood alone in the centre of the ring. it seemed almost like conniving at a murder to permit a contest between two men so dieproportioned in size, height, strength and weight. Yet Mace, as he stood up almost in the shadow of his great assailant, seemed con- fident, tbough,-of course, very cautious. Lightly Mace moved in and «out, f'einting and smiling, as with a. noise- less bound, like a cat, he sprang just out of distance of the pondeious arms that seemed only required to. move to crush hlm. Gradually they drew nearer and nearer, the giant waiting for his chance, which the other now and then prepared to give him, though, in reality, he ventured nothing. At last Mace carefully ventured in, and struck his opponent slightly three or four times in the face.- They were only little blows, but enough to show him that he could reach the slow, unwieldy boxer, when 3he chose, and get out of all danger of return with perfect certainty. Apparently satisfied with this know-, ledge Mace began the fight with a terrible blow, which completely closed Hurst’s eye, and seemed to make his bulkly frame tremble to his very feet. Before the first round, which lasted nearly twelve minutes, was over, Hurst was half‘-smothered in his own blood, and his face so gushed, that as faras appearances went, Mace might have been assaulting im with a razor. Still, as it was known that Hurst bad but to give one blow to win the day, no oneseenied inclined to back Mace, who might at any momentget a stroke that would annihilate him. Yet the tremendous blow that seemed always impending nevercame. Hurst knew evidently nothing of’ boxing, and his antagonisttberefore merely drew aside with the most}1erfectaang.froz'd from the slow, awkward, move- ments of the ponderous arms, delivering his own strokes full on‘ the headand face of the giant with a force and rapidity that was terrible. In vain, like a blind Cyclops, Hurst threw his arms abroad, and strove to grasp, to strike, even to touch his little wiry foe-—-in vain he strove to hem’ him into a corner. Mace would simply inflict his tremendous blows full on the smashed face of his op- ponent, pass under his arm, and begone, almost before the eye could follow his movements. Hurst was literally deluged with blood, which poured over his huge figure in such streams that Mace himself was covered with it, and the clothcozof Hurst's two seconds almost saturated. Nothing showed the enormous strength of the man more than that he could sustain this fearful punishment and loss of blood with apparently little diminution of his col- lossal power. He still pursued Mace with unabated de- termination, but never once even touched him, while, on the other band, Mace’s blows sounded loud all over the ring, till from a sharp crashing smash they gradually deadened down to a splashing sound like striking raw meat,~.that was sickening to hear. Nothing stopped the copious streams of blood that flowed from all parts of Hurst’s face, and the whole of this one-sided contest be- came disgusting and horrible beyond all description. Afterthere had been ten rounds, and the fight had lasted some three quarters of an hour, Hurst’s seconds and backers saw that his chance was hopeless‘, and urgently strove, to make him discontinue. But, though utterly blind, his features smashed out of all recognition almost as n. human being, and reeling from his fearful loss of blood, the gory disfigured giant still tottered from his corner, only to be sent staggering back by an antagonist that he seemed capable of annihilating. Mace now, no longer fought: cautiously,but, hit when and where be pleased, and even closed with the great wrestler and threw him heavily. It was all over-Hercules" himself‘ would_have succumbed to such fearful blows, and the alarming haemorrhage which followed them,aud which now began to soak all the grass of the ring. Brettle, Hurst’s chief backer, at last rushed into the arena, and insisted on him fighting no more, but the unaimed giant seemed incapable of understanding his defeat f'roin such a little man, and groped and staggered out again. Blind and fainting it only required one or two more blows to finish the aff-iir; but the infliction of those on the help- less heap of flesh was horrible and sickening beyond all . Europe. prosperit,y_—not from any peculiar generosity in us, but because in their prosperity we have a decided interest. Why, then, are we fortifying Spitliead, building more war steamers, casting more Armstrong guns, enrolling volunteers, and cultivating a martial spirit? Simply be- cause of the prevalence of a palpable fallacy. and the existence of an apprehension never to be realized if we do not what is right. The fallacy consists in the belief that a nation has a right to do anything it thinks fit. For instance, that France has a right to increase her navy to any extent without reference to the feelings of Great Britain, and that Great Britain herself has a right to take any. course she pleases in Canada or the West Indies, without reference to the feelings of the United States, the States of South America, or the governments of Now France has confessedly been acting in description. His seconds and backers gave in for him a way to endanger the peace of the world and without his knowledge, and kept Hurst in his corner till the safety of Great Britain. She has augmented her he gradually became almost iusensible, and all the rc- navy, she is building new ships, she is exercising and storative arts of the ring were exhausted in efforts to keep him from fainting, which, in the absence of a sur- geon, and Ill his then fast failing power. might have been a most serious affair. The spectacle which he presented for what? is too horrible for description. Even the oldest cham- pions of the ring were aghast at the fearful punishment indicted in fifty minutes. Mace had not a. single mark on him. The dockyard police were despatched in a steamer from Chatham to prevent the fight, and arrived just as it was over ;—quite official that. It is a kind of set off to this revolting business to say that poor Hurst’s comrades on both sides were most solicitous in their care of him after his defeat, and Mace went about among them and raised a subscription for him amounting to £35. Such facts, though undoubtedly praiseworthy, but poorly counter-balance the horrible nature of the whole contest. Yet pugilists think that in a few years the Ring will again glow with all the brutal magnificence of the Re- gency. Revive the Ring! It would be easier to resore the Heptarchy. ->u<.u<.:_.._. The Saxon’s Terror. Rncnxrhv, Sir M. Peto called attention, in the House of Commons, to the expenditure in the progress at Spit- head. “ The report of the commissioners admitted that vessels might take up a position out of range of the forts and shell the dockyard. All those that knew anything of Portsmouth Dockyard knew that it had a large area, and all naval officers would admit that firing at objects from a distance would be futile. He would ask the house whether they were spending the money at the right place in defending the right place? But these forts at Spit- head would cost much more than the estimate, and he would press upon the government not to act too precipi- tately in this matter; The house ought to act with ex- treme caution upon this matter, for he never found a man either in the army or the navy who spoke with favor of these forte.” Sir J. Smith preferred forts ; Admiral Duncombe iron-clad ships; but Captain Jervis had a very poor opinion of iron-cased ships, for “ every inch of iron plate with which a ship was covered required 1,000 tons of measurement ; and if they had plates seven or eight inches thick they would require the ship to be 7.000 or 8.000 tons burden. The committee had shown that the whole of the expenditure which France had in- curred in iron ships had been thrown away, and that we must be careful not to waste our money in the same way.” Lord Palmerston, “ wiser than all these together,” placed the question, for and against, before the house : What is it that Portsmouth has to fear? Why, a fleet. Now, that fleet we must imagine to be the strongest fleet that the eney, whoever that may be, can concentrate upon that point. It would consist of ships of the largest description, of the most formidable armament, and to meet those things we should have afleet of :1 correspond- ing size. Does my honorable friend propose that we should have ‘permanently stationed at Spithend ten iron- cased ships of the largest dimensions, equal to any fleet that might be brought into Spithead? Unless your fleet was equal to any fleet that could be brought against it, you might bring upon yourselves defeat and disaster. You are to look upon the fleet to protect the arsenal, which would be valuable over and above the fleet which it has for its defence. Then, again, you never could reckon on having your floating defences on the spot where they are wanted. If there was alarm in another part of the coast, do you imagine that the government would allow these ten formidable ships to remain at anchor at Spitbead when there was an attack on Plymouth, and a demonstration in other parts of the coast? 'I‘heu, again, take the expenses. What we propose to establish would not cost more, nay not so much, as the armed fleet which, according to Captain Cole’s theory, would be permanently stationed at Spithead. But the ships would decay and require repair, and require a large number of sailors to man and work them. The balance -of opinion is entirely in favor of forts as against ships. There seems to be scarcely a limit to the power of artillery, but there is a. limit to the resisting power of ships, because there is a. limit in the capacity of a ship to float with a. certain weight upon her, and I defy you to construct a ship with an iron coating of suflicient thickness to repel the heavy shot that are now fired from cannon, and yet be buoyant enough to float on the water. That is not the case in a fort. You may make walls for your fort as thick as experience may show to you is necessary to resist the attack of heavy ordnance. Then, again, cannon of a certain weight is unmanageable on a floating ship. You- may have them on deck, but on deck they are exposed to the fire of an adversary, and are soon disabled. In forts you may have any amount of weight of ordnances, and I venture to say if an enemy’s fleet were to assemble at Spithead, and these forts were constructed and armed, and the guns of Sir Wiiliam Armstrong and others put into them, these ships would very soon be sent to keep company with.the Royal George. My opinion, notwith- ‘ standing all that Captain Cole has said in favor of float- ing defences, is that permanent ones are indispensable. I do not say that we should not have a certain number of ships to assist the" forts, but the latter will also be necessary. Sir H. Verney said no ship could enter Spithead if the buoys were taken up ; but Mr. T. G. Baring showed that the chart, without the buoys, would be quite suflicient. Lord Palmerston is right enough in his estimate, if the enemy did come to Spithead ; but would they come? The ducklings rejected the invitation of the cook when she requested them to come and be killed. There are sundry other places to go to, and while the forts cannot be moved, the ships can. We are in for an expenditure of £20,000,000, at least, if more forts be erected; and when they are finished they would be like Dr. Kitchen- er’s cucumber——of no use unless there be plenty of ships to obviate their immovability. Lord Palmerston admits as much ; and the question, therefore, is, if we have not‘ enough of ships, why not build more rather than erect stone walls? But there is a prior question. Instead of laying in a stock of destructive powder to blind the enemy, why not at once catch him and kill him? The French have al- ways been a nuisance to us; they have involved us in numerous wars, and they now inflict upon us a national l tax of at least £20,000,000 a year. We wish them every possible good—peace, free trade, . iiicreasing her army. but she has no right to do so while it alarms her neighbors and increases their expenditure. We are building ships, we are casting cannon, and all For fear of France. It is a. proper fear—a perfectly reasonable one—for France can have no earth- ly olject in view in augmenting her navy but to injure Great Britain when occasion offers. There is no disguise about this fact. Every one admits it. Our government dare not deny it ; but we submit to it simply because it is said France has a right to do it. Well, suppose we concede the right. We have almost a right to tell France to stop, or we will stop her. That would be war. Be it so. If there be danger the sooner we confront it the better. Toulon and Cherbourg are menaces. We acknowledge it; we feel that it is so, and we are paying enormously to prevent that fear being realized. There would be no impropriety, no immorality, no violation of the laws of nations if we, being strong enough, should tell France at once, “You must stop. You must dis- mantle your ships —you must cease to build new ones. They are a menace to us: you frighten us-—you tax us : because you can want your ships f'or no purpose on earth but to invade us. We will not endure any longer the terror you inspire. We are the only naval power in the world that is equal to you ; but if you reduce your navy we will reduce ours. We are stronger than you, because we are richer. Do what you like, we will, when we chose, beat you. You could injure us; it is openly avowed that you could effect a landing on our coast; you could sack London. In doing so you would do us immense injury, and it is for fear of that injury that we tell you nowyou shall not ; for we will nip the danger in the bud, and if you don’t reduce your ‘navy we will destroy it. We have a right to do so ; the circumstances of the case give us that right.” Lord Palmerston will not use this language towards Louis Napoleon. He is not afraid of France, but he is terribly afraid of the order to which he appertains. The alarm which Louis Napoleon has created is found ex- ceedingly useful to those who exercise patronage and who are the recipients of it. The House of Commons never objects to the army and navy estimates, for these army and navy estimates constitute a fund out of which numbers of the upper ten thousand draw annual sti- pends. There are, for instance, ninety-five staff officers in China receiving £66,000 a year—a. sum larger than the whole of Canada pays for her expenses. There are one thousand eight hundred British officers in Australia, and of these forty-seven are staff officers. At Gibraltar there are fifty staff oflicers; in Malta there are sixty- eight; in the Ionian Islands there are fifty-one ; and, at the Cape of Good Hope the number is comparatively large. Great fault has been found with us for question- ing the propriety of government at present in sending our troops to Canada. A moment.’s reflection, however, would convince any one that our observations were just. The army in the colonies costs this country more than £3.000,000 a-year; and yet ‘- it is impossible,” says the Daily News, “ that in the event of any war, the garrisonsi now stationed in the colonies would be of any material use. As was pointed out some time ago, if any army had permanent command of the sea, or had a sufficient number of troops to land and conquer the colonial terri- tory, the present garrisons would be utterly useless, whilst, for the purpose of resenting what are called insults, these garrisons are enormously expensive and quite unnecessary. And then, would 3,000 men do to defend a population of three millions against the power of thirty ?”—Lt'verpool Post. 1 '0' THE ROYAL CLAIMANT AGAIN. S112 Cnnsswnu. Cunsswnm. is likely to be again occu- pied before long with the case of Mrs Ryves, who, the reader will remember, claims to be the granddaughter in legitimate descent of the late Duke of Cumberland, brother of George III, by his marriage with OliveWilmot, on the 4th March, 1767. Her case appears to rest on the validity of his marriage, and this it is stated is proved by regular certificates of the officiating minister, together with the signatures of the contracting parties, and of two witnesses present at the ceremony, one of whom was the late Earl of Warwick. Of this marriage there was issue _..one daughter, born 3rd April, 1772, the late Princess Olive of Cumberland. who married John Thomas Serres, and had issue the claimant, Mrs Ryves. These facts and certificates it is stated are verified by the signature of the late King George III, and by the signatures of Wm Pitt, first Lord Chatham, the then Solicitor General, Sir John Dunning, afterwards Lord Ashburton, and other eminent personages. During the lifetime of the late King George III, all the parties to this marriage, which was expressly declared to be legal by his command, were bound to secrecy, and the infant issue was con- demned to privacy, owing-to the act of bigamy which, if these statements are correct, was committed by her royal father in contracting a second marriage with Lady Ann Horton. on the 2nd October, 1771, his first wife being then still living, but who afterwards died in France, on the 5th December, 1774, of a broken heart. The late Princess Olive, the duke’s issue by his first wife, who subsequently became Mrs Serres, was born on the 3_rd of April, 1772, and was educated in privacy as the niece of Dr Wilmot, her maternal grandfa her. She was not made acquainted with the secret‘ of her birth until, in 1815, a. dangerous illness of her then sole surviving guardian-——Lord Warwick——warned him to deposit the facts and proofs in other bands. Lord ~War- wick lived long enough to obtain the recognition of her rights by her cousin, the late Duke of Kent. The duke died on the 26th of January, 1820, and the demise of his Majesty King George III occurred within a weekyof that date. The obligation to secrecy then removed, ineffec- tual efforts were made to procure the recognition of her rights through the medium of the Privy Council, but without any determined result. George III having be- queathed to Mrs Serres as “ Olive, our brother of Cum- berland’s daughter. the sum of £15,000 as a recompense for the misfortunes she may have known through her father,” application was made in 1822 to the Prerogative Court of Canterbury to admit the same to probate, but although the genuinenese of the document was inoontos- tibly established by evidence, and indeed was not at all challenged or questioned, the court refused probate on the ground» that there was no precedent of a monarchb will having been proved, and that the court had no _Crookhaven recently, short of provisions. jurisdiction. The rli.imant’s mother, the Princess Olive of Cumberland, dlr d in 1834. and was interred in Saint James’s Churchyard, Piccadilly. The Court of Probate has already declared her mother’s marriage with John Thos. Serres to be proved, as well as her own marriage. It appears, therefore, that what has now to be done is to prove the marriage of the Duke of Cumberland with Olive Wilmot, in order to establish the legitimacy of the Princess Olive, the mother of the claimaut.—Time.s-. -—j——>p>—::— Mutiny at Sea. THE “Alina of Luiz,” an Argentine vessel, put into On inquiry it was ascertained that the vessel on her voyage from Buenos Ayres to Antwerp was abandoned by the master, Captain Pertus, in consequence of the mutinous conduct of the crew, and was taken on board the “ Hochelaga,” Captain Jago‘, bound from Callao to Fallmoutb. The chief mate of the “ Alina of Luiz,” was put in command of the vessel by the crew, but owing to his unskilfulness, the men deposed him, and meeting with the “George Laidlaw” the mate of this vessel, William McIntyre, was put on board her, and he succeeded in bringing her into Crookhaven. * The “ Alina of Luiz,” is at present, at Cove, having been brought from Crookhaven in tow of a tug boat belonging to Mr. W. D. Seymour, the Argentine consu . o.oo The Death of Rufus. WHILE his attendants were lacing on the king's boots, and be was laughing and joking with his nobles, an armorer craved permission to present him with six new arrows. The king received them with great satisfaction, praised the work and the temper of the steel, kept four for his own use, and gave two to Tire], with these com- plimentary words, “ The sharpest —arrows for the best marksman.” At the moment of departure Rufus was delayed by the approach of a monk of St. Peter’s Abbey, Gloucester, who presented him with a letter from the venerable abbot Serlo, which he earnestly entreated him to read, as it deeply concerned him. Rufus, who was now impatient to " be off to the forest in pursuit of‘ his sylvan sport, would faiu have excused himself, but the urgency of the messenger prevailing over his reluctance, he opened the abbot’s letter and read, “ A certain monk of good repute and holy life in St. Peter's Abbey at Gloucester, has dreamed that he saw the Lord Jesus seated on a lofty throne, and the glorious host of heaven, with the blessed company of saints standing round, when a virgin resplendent in light but bathed in tears and full of sorrow, representing the afliicted Church of this land, cast herself at his feet, exclaiming, ‘ Oh Lord Jesus Christ, Saviour of Mankind, look with an eye of compas- sion on thy people, now groaning under the yoke of William, and take vengeance upon him for his wicked- nese.’ And the Lord replied, ‘Be patient, for the time is at ha.ud!”’ Having read the letter, which concluded with an earnest exhortation from the abbot for him “ to give heed to this solemn warning, and forsake the evil courses .into which he had fallen.” Rufus burst into an immoderate fit of laughter, and exclaimed, "I wonder what has induced my Lord Serlo to write to me in this strain, for I really believe he is a. worthy abbot and a good old man. Lo, now, he considers it necessary to communicate this folly to me, who have something be- sides to attend to than the dreams of his snoring monks, and he even takes the trouble of committing them to writing and sending them all this distance. Does he think I am become like the English, who will defer a journey or fear to undertake their business, because some dozing old woman happens to dream or sneeze? Come, Walter do Poix, to horse!” Attended by his brother Henry, and a jocund company of nobles, eager for the sport, the Red King galloped off to his favorite hunting ground, laughing at the dreams and prognostics which had ushered in the morning of that bright summer day. It was the 2nd of August, rather warm weather f'or the chase, but the season for hunting or shooting the buck was from Eater to Michaelmas, being what is termed the time of grace or fatness. The king and his favored companion, Sir Walter Tirel, and a few attendants, pro- ceeded to Cheringham, in the forest of Ytone, where they took their station apart from the others, who were hunting in a separate glnde. It was the custom, on such occasions, for some of the huntsmen and servants, with their dogs, to sweep the deer from all directions towards the royal station, in order to drive them before the king and his party, that he might, with the greater conveni- ence, take deliberate aim as they passed. Rufus and Tire] now stood with their bows in their hands, eagerly watching for the first appearance of the. game. They waited for some time in vain. At last, just as the sun. began to decline, a noble stag rushed past. The king shot, but only wounding it slightly, it fled with the arrow in its side. Anxious to see in what direction it went. the king raised his hand to shade his eyes from the slant: ing rays of the sun, as he looked after the wounded animal, and, being greatly excited, shouted impatiently to his companion, “ Shoot, Walter de Poixl Shoot as if it were at the devil l” Tirel, who had marked another approaching within proper distance for a shot, launched his shaft, and unwittingly lodged it in the broad bosom of his royal friend. Rufus made an impulsive effort to draw the arrow out, but in the attempt broke it off close to the barb, and, falling. on his face, expired without ut- toridgn: single word.-L,§g,¢§.s of the Bachelor Kings of Cl , .