The Week.

to be sent to the magistrate for her relief . Oa Thursday , however , statements were made at the court which show that Ellen Williams had been telling gross falsehoods . No part of her story seems to be true , except that some time ago she came to London from Wales . She had undergone no such trials as she had stated . The magistrate expressed himself strongly as to her conduct , and cautioned her how she behaved in future .

Friday night ' s Gazette , the 21 st , contains a despatch from Captain Baivden , of H . M . S . Wasp , announcing the capture of nn Arab dhow with 2 S 3 slaves on board . The capture was made about ten miles from Zanzibar . The Arabs fought hardly , and killed one man and wounded others . They were , however , beaten finally . The case of Constance Kent came on Friday ,

the 21 st inst ., to a sudden and unexpected conclusion . To the surprise of every one in the Assize Court at Salisbury , she pleaded guilty to the indictment , and she was sentenced to death . It was confidently anticipated that a plea of not guilty would have been entered on the record , and that a full investigation into all the circumstances of this most extraordinary

crime would havo taken place . Constance Kent has pleaded guilty , and that , too , with the full concurre . ice of her learned counsel Mr . Coleridge . We are , therefore , bound to believe in the genuineness of her confession , and in her willingness to offer expiation for her offence . But , taking into account the youth and sex of the unfortunate prisoner , and tho fact that

her conviction was entirely here own act , it cannot for a moment be supposed that the extreme penalty of the law would be enforced . The community generally will share the emotion of the judge , and , like him , be disposed to unite mercy with justice . -Tho contest in Berkshire was disgraced by a riot at Maidenhead . The mob , incited , as it is said , by a squabble which took place between a farmer and some of their

number , endeavoured to storm the hotel which formed the local head-quarters of the Tory party . For hours a small band of policemen kept the mob at bay . The Mayor read the Riot Act , and sent for a detachment of soldiers , but . before they arrived comparative order had been restored , and the civil authorities felt themselves able to maintain the public peace without military aid . Miss Maiy Ann Hayter was ono of

those phenomenal beings who are a puzzle to their fellowcreatures . As we gather from the inquest which has been held on hor body , she literally starved herself to death . Although she had £ 300 in a bank , and £ 20 in the house at the time of her death , she said that she could not afford such things as meat aud beer , and consequently bread and tea

constituted her sole diet . The medical man who attended upon her reported that she died from syncope or exhaustion ; and the jury returned a verdict to that effect , adding thereto that death was accelerated by her denying herself the necessaries of life . The Privy Council has issued a circular to the local authorities of the outports of the United Kingdom , suggesting the adoption

of precautionary measures against the spread of cholera ov other epidemic disease . The annual rifle competition at Wimbledon was brought to a close on Saturday last by the distribution of the prizes , and a grand field day of tho Volunteers . The general prizes were distributed by Lady Spencer ; several of the special prizes were given away by the donors ; and addresses were made

by Lord Elcho and others . The review took place in the evening . About 12 , 000 men were on the ground , divided into two bodies ; the whole under the eye of his Koyal Hi ghness the Duke of Cambridge . There was an immense number of people on the ground , aud great interest was taken in the proceedings . A shocking death occurred through crinoline a few days ago . From the evidence given at the inquest , it appeared that a married woman , named

Pigott , was sitting with her infant in her lap at her own fireside , when her light muslin dress , which was widely distended with crinoline , was wafted towards the fire , and in an instant she was in a blaze . Her screams and those cf her children who were in the house with her , attracted the attention of an inspector of police on the Great Northern Railway , who lived near , and who was himself severely burned in the vain attempt

to save Mrs . Pigott ' s life . The jury returned a verdict of accidental death . A murder was committed at Devonport on Saturday last , under remarkable circumstances . One of the detective officers there came upon a quantity of copper ore with the Government mark upon it on the premises of a marine store dealer named Bunker . Bunker , it would appear , became

very violent on the discovery being made , and in the quarrel that ensued the officer was stabbed . The wound proved mortal . It is reported that , iu consequence of tho receipt of important despatches from England , Lord Monck is about to convene a session of the Canadian Parliament . A defect- in the insulation of the Atlantic

cable was discovered on board of the Great " Eastern on Monday , the impression being that the fault lay in the splice . We are glad to be able to remove the alarm which such an announcement was calculated to produce . An official telegram , received from Valentia pronounces tho cable to bo " all right . " There was a hitch , but it has been rectified . A later telegram from the

Great Eastern in lat . 52 , long . 12 , states that a small fault had been discovered in the cable and cut out . She began payingout again , and the signalling ivas perfect . In charging ; the grand jury at Maidstone Baron Piggott made special allusion to the Staplehurst tragedy . Later in the day a true bill was returned against Benge and Gallimore , the two men who are charged with manslaughter in connection with the accident .

Scarcely has tho Wimbledon rillo competition closed when another on a smaller scale , but of great interest , has commenced in Windsor Park . Tho different companies of the Berks Administrative Battalion took up their quarters in a camp pitched for them , by Her Majesty ' s permission , in Windsor Great Park , aud the competition is likely to last for a few days . The prizes are considerable both in number and value . An

Order in Council has been issued in consequence of au infectious disorder having broken ont among the cattle in and around the metropolis . The order , after reciting tho Act of Parliament under which it is issued , directs that all persons who keep cattle and who find that any of their stock is affected with this disease , shall immediately give notice of the

same to the clerk of the Privy Council at Whitehall , when an inspector will fie sent to report upon the case and the eircumstancesjittending the disease . Neglect to comply with this regulation will subject to a penalty . A principle of some importance was laid down by Sir James Wilde in the Divorce Court ou Tuesday . A divorce had been granted to a wife on the ground

of her husband ' s adultery and cruelty , and she then applied for alimony . The husband resisted , on the ground that she had an income of her own . But the judge decided that tho husband ought not to be allowed to free himself from all his responsibilities hy means of his own profligacy , and ho therefore ordered him to allow his late wife an income proportioned

to his means . There will be but one feeling—that of gratification—at the announcement which > vo make iu respect to Constance Kent . Sir George Grey , after carefully considering all tho circumstances of the case , has remitted the capital sentence , and the unhhppy girl will spend the rest of her life in penal servitude . No greater or more appropriate punishment could have been inflicted upon her . Mr , Stapleton , a surgeon at Trowbridge , makes nn appeal on behalf of Elizabeth Gough ,