The Express. — London, England, 1847-01-04 00:00:00

HIM WATER AT LONDOI-BRIDOE. T. DAT —l7loralair, 13 min. part S; Afternoon, 59 ml•. port 3. To-lionsorr—llorsing, 18 Ws. pant 1; Alterman, 38 min. pot 1. LONDON, MONDAY, JAN. 4. Tar first political article of a foreigner's creed is, that government can do everything ; that it can set the little as well as the big wheels of the political machine in movement, and that the people have nothing to do save to obey instructions, otherwise orders, from the taxman, the churchman, and the pollee. The belief of Englishmen in those matters is very different They admit that government can do a great deal, but not all; that it has numerous and im portant duties, but that the individual has a great number of duties too, public duties, which he cannot delegate even to the state, for the good reason that the state cannot perform them. The state is a machine necessarily without heart, discrimination, flexibility, and though sometimes set to do the more delicate tasks of our nature, it does them clumsily and tosatisfettorily. deb is an awkward censor, an indiscriminate reerader of social worth. It cannot distribute wealth or honour 'wording to merit, nor even indict penalties = according to demerit, though the task be more to it. The state, in fact, cannot enact or supersede the part which private virtues were des tined to play in life. It cannot award esteem; above all, it cannot satisfy the feelings, supply the wants, or perform the tasks, of private charity. Whilst all admit the necessity of a pocr-law, all are sensible of its crying faults. The very idea of distributing charity by rule, and relieving distress ml discernment or sympathy, but by ate- Isere physical claasitication, is revolting. gainst a poor-law is made of this inevi created by inevitable defects. The antidote for this is to consider that but the rough work of charity ; • more is required from those classes he wealth, the discernment, and of the upper classes in a nation reflections are called forth by the circulating in our city for a subscrip t Irish distress—proposals to e our utmost support—nevertheless, -.mit the very many circumstances repul- English charity hitherto, which accompanied We shall not allude to the hateful Satanic sentiments, of Irish dema add, that never were the mass of d by them than last year. But what English minds has been the double `n from Ireland—the one of distress, of arms-buying, idleness on the , apathy on the part of the land two accounts the fact of the im - English government was expend tthere ts little wonder, that the idea of 'ion had not been entertained, or even now it met at first with month, however, the facts connected Ireland have poured over, so full truth and horror, as to place the certain existence of the direst t once most painful to think of, sentiments of private charity, is of extreme distress and famine adjoining the sea, where industry with poverty, I yet where the 3 crop has completely thwarted this industry. It is console iat the most fearful effects have , the central, the agricultural and parts of Ireland, but in the thin, and, squatting population, such as that of IN and on the sea-coast of Munster. This because means can certainly be applied ' of each districts, are sensible of its crying distributing charity by r sot by moral di.cernment Norio, and mere physical c The outcry against a poor-1 table disgust created by true remedy and antidote a poor-law can do but U aid that something more is who are gifted with the we generous sympathies of tl like this. Although these reflecti proposals now circulating tion in behalf of Iris which we would lend our at one must admit the very sive of English charity h Irish distress. We shall provocations, the Satanic gogues, except to add, t lsss influenced by thi most perplexed English series of accounts from I starvation, the other of a part t t e ' lz to bei ree s' two lams ear that iha Eogl iabothihUthithere a pith athessiption hs *a Whoa iwersasd ever t Veto lest month, he with Maws in Ireland at chasawbatini truth beyond a 9 wasdisa the c Leine. What is at ono yet most exciting to sent that the instances of e occur ia districts adjoin has been united witl failure of the potato CT all the effects of this tary to think, that ti sot been felt in the c thickly-peopled parts of as it were, the squatting Sligo and Mayo, and on is consolatory, because n be tie permeate ism THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 4, 1847. THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET.—Triumph set &sem of the sew greed fairy Ereraregansa of THE THEATRE PRINCE, or the Weed of Trenqull thoggreates bit ever made : yetis the Public Prom. In order to ere es much variety aa possible, the interposing and succeosful new Dream of THE ROUND OP WHONO will only be performed on Monday, Wed leader. and Friday, and three doses a week. —On Tuesday, the Comedy of LONIYPI ASSPRANCE.-05 Thursday, the Comedy of YON EY.—On Saturday, the Comedy of LOOK BEFORE TOW LEAP, and every night the new grand foiry Extravaganza of THE INVI SIBLE PRINCE, or the Island of Tranquil Delights, with movie sent Stenger', dreams, te.—.l. T. Archer. box took -keeper. - ---" --- - - AINT JAMES'S ASSEMBLY-ROOMS, late § CWX7RFORD'S. —SU BSCRIPTION BALLS—TO-MORROW E ROC the YlktsT BALL of tie present SERIEd will take place sad Commence at 9 P.ll.—The whole of the spleedid Rae of rooms of this magnificent establishment will then be thrown open to the Sub scribers. which for grandeur and brilliancy will far surpass any idea that can be conveyed in the form of an adeecirement.—The Band I. sompkted of artists of the highest talent —Efficient Masters of the OPTOMUIIII4I are retained, sod every erosible means aiard to aver eantinu.a pitronage. —The Sobseripuon will be as ws : Gentle- Zlea only, to any One of the 11.1111., to.; for a body and gentleman, l'a. td. Tickets fur which ten be procured at all the principal Music-milers at the Wes.-end sad the City; also, at Mr. Ctarke's place. irornsdi dely adjoining the mtalninhaseot.—N.B.—Tbe doo.na can be ...retired on any E,ClllO‘ except throe on which the present Balls Lie place, via.: every MONDAY and 111UPSDAY, by addressing a line to the Treeserer. WEIPPERrS SOIREES DANSANTES.- PRINCME CONCERT ZOOM!. TITIS EVENING (Monday), U. 4. and every Monday. A subscriber of two guinea. is entitled to a double transfersbla ticket for aid nights, and the sabsoription can commence on any Monday. The Palace baud waste, of the alms satiates as attend her %deity's state halls and lilmaided Conductor, Mr. Weippert ; Leader, Memoir Urinal; Cornet 1-Piston, Mr. Handley; ophicle.de, M. Pramere ; Y. C.. Mr. Conic Commence at Ten o'clock. Tickets, 7s. each, at Weippert's Guadrille- Meer. 21. Soho-square. CHUSBY-HALL. --The ..EttiLOPIAN JEKE NADER& Pen, Harrington, Stanwood, and German (from the M. James's Theatre), will give A SERIE4 of their INIMITABLE ENTERTAINMENTS, at Crceby-hsli, BiAnpnrete street. The first of which will take glees THIS EVENING, Jan. a; also MONDAY neat, Jan. 11; WEDNESDAY, the 6th and lath ; end FRIDAY EVENINGS, the Bth and 13th. The entertainments ernmmencenieb evening at Eight &elnek.—llekett may be *mined at the Library of the [mediation. Reserved Seat Entrance, Great St- Helene; Baxley Entrance, Craby-square. AUItENT'S CASINO, ROYAL ADELAIDE GAI.LERY, STRAND.—The Merry Song and the Macy Dance —lletrosalitan Terpsichorean v. Thantom Dancers —Band of 10 per formers conducted by Laurent, Jan. Grand Vocal Concert. Refresh ing beverage supplied at the most reduced t.tr.N. Admission. tine D3ors open at Seven, commence at Huff-past, and terminate at Deven. GRAND HARMONIC HALL.—GRAPES TAVERN, Southwark Hridge-road, Borough. licensed pursuant to Act of Parliament. Proprietor, Mr. R. PRERCE.—OPEN EVERY NIGHT.—IMMENSE ATTRACTION.—Mast extraordinary and un equalled Company of Vocalists and °encore, the whole combined terming an evening's entertainment of a most plening description. Ent appearance of American Barlow, whose novel performance hot been ngbtty boiled with Noun of applause. Real Life la Ameries— httroducing the Songs and Dances es given by the Nieves on the gientation mends, accompanied by the Hilljn, Canoe Phidle. Tambo, &e. Re. Thee excellent comic ling.'. Mr. W. Warn, will hand..., nob evening, a variety of °oink Effusions, Doak Invention, Sketches if E.:nitric Characters, and new Comte Songs, written by himself. IU. Charles Simun, the only English Improvintore, is engaged at this nitabliehment, and will appear this en ning.- .Doore open at Oven, the Concert to commence at half-peel. Managing Director, Mr. W. Wank, whom Benefit is fixed for Wednesday next, January •It, 11147. GERMAN LANGUAGE and DRAMATIC READINGS.—DR. HEINRICH FICK. Author of a Germanand Reek/ Dietionary sad other works, TEACHES GERMAN, his native tongue, in town (twice week in the City), and neighbourhood. Ile is the bearer of the highest certificates from Vice-Chancellors and Reads of English and foreign Universities, end some of the moat emi nent scholars and authors of this country, his pupas. DRAMATIC lEADINOO upon the hest models of the Gomm stage. The highest reference. given. Direct to 0. Ports...passe, Connaught-n.406,, CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS. ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.- NtOFESSOR SCIRENBEIN% GUN-COTTON, and ether Explosive Oxispotmds, with brilliant Experiments, lectured os by Dr. Ry e s, daLy, at half-put three o'cleck, and on the Everdnes cif Mondays, Wedomdays, sad Fridays. The principle of the Tarim ELECCRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPHS explained daily by PrafeMnr Raebbodher, ineluding the patent of Messrs. Cook and Wheals's, which is in use on the Railways, and the more recent mast of Messrs. Note and Gamble. The various Models explained. *wild opecimemo of DISEASED POTATOES exhibited by the OXY-HY MOGEN MICROSCOPE, with the Destructive Insect, supposed by A. Scam Esq., F.R.S., to be the cone of the disease. A hemtiftil series of NEW DIESOLVLSO VIEWS. The DIVING-BELL and DIVER, with Experiment. The PIIYSIOSCOPE, New CURD MATROPE, lac. he.—Admission, la.; Scheel. half-pries. NEW CIIRisTMAS BOOK. BY MR. DICKENS. Jurt publigied, price Ss., mall Svs, THE BATTLE OF LIFE. A Lovg STORY. By Deuces DICE.. The Thoeirstiene by DANIEL MACLINE, ILA.; CLARKSON STANFIELD, ILA.; !wax Lams ; 1111 d RiCNAID DULLS. - - London : Bradtnu7 and Evam, Whiterrurs. - c - hi epprego. • MAILS. The malts for British North America, Bermuda, and the United States, will be made up on the evening of the 4th January. The mails for the Bruits, the Meer Plate, Monte Video, Pernam buco, B&W!, Madeira, and BUCIOS Ayres.. will ba dapetched on the earning of the 4th January. The mails for Vigo, Oporto. Lisbon. Madeira, Cadiz, and Gibraltar, will he made up on the morning of the 7th January. The overland closed mails, rid Marseilles, to the Mediterranean, Egypt. Aden, Ceylon, India, Hoag Kong, At., will be made up on the warning of the 7th January. me West India 11111i1s, excluding those for Mexico, Honduras, and ale tfayannah, will be made up on the morning of the 17th January. Th, overland malls fnr Gibraltar, Malts, Greece, the lonian Islands, Egypt, Aden, Ceylon, India, Hong-Kong, and China, vin Southampton, wall be made up on the evening of the Taormina of the 20th January. The malls for New South Wales. Van Diemen 'a Land, and New Zealand will be made up on the evening of the Slat Januar TO CORRESPONDENTS. •.• AdvertLenient* intended kw TM Express, London evening paper, moat be at the Moe by Two &dock on the day of publication. I whilst the remedies for over-population in the inland counties remain still difficult and doubtful. In another column will be found a letter from the Home Secretary, in reply to the deputation from Skibbereen, followed by a statement of the use pro posed to be made of the sums which may now be I raised by private subscription. Her Majesty has, with her known benevolence, come for ward, we understand, to place her name at the head of the list, and the leading firms and merchants of this opulent city have not waited for that high example to place their names opposite to sums worthy of them and of the sacred object of saving the lives of thousands, not only of fellow-creatures, but fellow-subjects. It is to be regretted that so potent an organ of public opinion, as the Times, should have set its face so peremptorily age nut this great act of charity. On Monday last, on almost the morrow of Christmas, at a period when the wealth of this capital were in all the enjoyments of good cheer, and in the midst of those enjoyments not unmindful of the want which in these realms is proportionate to opulence; at such a period, the Titnes thought fit to denounce this project of charity. Government, it declared, had dune enough, was doing enough. It protested against appointing " any other steward of national bounty ;" and argued, with that generous and lofty flow of imagination so natural to it, that " when a people was to be rescued from the gripe of starvation, it wouldn't do to have two strings to your bow." We admit that one bow-string is enough, provided the object be to strangle, in Turkish fashion, the millions of starving Irish. But when we read of daily and hourly deaths from starvation, of those extreme cases which the Home Secretary tells us, " neither Poor-law nor public works can reach ;" when we hear of the cottier slaying the companion of his daily toil, the earner of his daily pittance, his poor ass, to feed on it ; when the population of w hole districts are represented as prostrate in fever and inanition—for any writer or speaker to stand up and adjure the wealthy of this empire to withhold their charity, and leave these wretches to starve—and this I in obedience to the lofty maxim of "not having two I strings to one's bow "—is indeed such an outrage upon common sense, decency, and feeling, that we did not think any organ of the press could be guilty of. The objections of the Times as to the difficulty of a vod distribution, as to the unfairness of relieving districts where landlords hang back, and as to the advisability of leaving all to government, are an swered, and more than answered, in the documents which we this day publish. And we have great hopes that our contemporary will be so impressed with these refutations of its opinions, and so seriously influenced by the list of sums and subscribers towards this great act of national charity, that it will come round to its support with its usual readiness to forsake opinions grown worthless, and errors which the great and wealthy happen to repudiate. THE minds of Scotchmen are essentially systematic. They are prepared to give a reason for everything they do, and are incessantly in search of some general principle to which they may square all their actions. To this feature in the national character we attribute a curious and edifying pamphlet that has just been flung by some citizen of Auld Reekie at the heads of the directors of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. The author has been at the trouble of raking up and digesting, for the instruction of those gentlemen, the views of CALVIN, LUTHER, MILTON, JEREMY TAYLOR, cum muftis olds, on the nature of Sab bath observance. To us, Southern', less addicted to chopping logic, this seems rather a round about way of arguing the question of Sunday railway trains. These ponderous efforts of the Scottish intellect have this advantage, that when they do settle a question, they eo it effectually and perma nently. But then it nod the nearest, oar grand children who can hope to benefit by such complete conversion as they aim at. The prospect is a dreary one, if the Sunday trains on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway are to remain in abeyance till the theologians of Scotland have settled the abstract question of Sabbath observance. We place more faith in the efficacy of the votes of the Edinburgh and Glasgow town-councils, the memo rial of the merchants frequenting the Royal Exchange of Glasgow, and such like movements, than in the brochure to which we have adverted, interesting and instructive though it be. Some hope, too, Iwe are inclined to repose in the worldly ' wisdom of the directors of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. The members of that board who believe it their duty to interdict the running of Sunday trains are, we have good reason to believe, a minority . The Sc otch: directors are divided among themselves on the question. The new English di rectors, from an idea that the question was one which their Scottish colleagues were best able to settle in conformity with the public feeling of Scotland, left it to their decision. The expression of public sentiment which has been provoked by that decision, must by this time have convinced the English gentlemen that the majority of their Scotch colleagues have acted not upon the opinions most prevalent in Scotland, but upon those of their own (comparatively) narrow coterie. The majority of Scotsmen, we believe, are de sirous, not only that the Sabbath should be a day of rest, but also that its repose should retain decidedly a devotional character. They are, however (with some sectarian exceptions), aware th at accidents are con tinually occurring to render an absolute cessation from labour on the Sabbath impossible, and that, to I insist upon people fixing their thoughts exclusively on devotional meditations for sixteen or eighteen hours at a stretch is impossible. On this ground, dinners are allowed to be cooked, medicines to be dispensed, and healthful exercise to be taken, on Sunday. Before the days of railroads, poet-chi:Ws, gigs, and other conveyances, were free to be hired on Sundays, as on other days. There is (or lately was) a steam-boat company in Glas gow so serious (to use the national phrase) that they kept chaplains on board their boats plying between Liverpool and Glasgow. The duty of these reverend gentlemen was to perform divine service for the benefit of the 'passengers and crews of the boats sailing from either port on Saturdays. But even the managers of this company, though they gave such an unequivocal proof of their anxiety to hallow the Sabbath, felt that there was no call on them to prevent their boats from making part of their on that day. It has uniformly been found that ways put down posting as well as stage-coaches. The proprietors of a -successful railway are, there fore, bound in common equity to afford the public as much accommodation as they take from it. 'The per sons who travel by railways instead of in post chaise, avail themselves en route of the ordinary baba It is the power of the trains to accommo date so many that makes railway travelling super b& galling. This holds good on Sundays, ea wry other day. The railway oompatues, 111111 Mire, can only provide for cases of necessary or bsaltts-seeking travelling by running_ trains as on ether days ; it is not enough to tell a man that in urgent need he may have a special blob It is peeper that the Sunday trains should be so timed as not to interfere with divine service, but with this restriction, at least as much accommoda tion onto be provided for travellers on Sundays as on other days. The truth is that a railway train from Edinburgh to Glasgow does not set more people to work then we mail-ooach used to do, while it &ebb sedates a bodrith them the swabs; of peanamgas. The whalle.llll MOW this *r other bibs et I:evening mike there people to make Sunday a day ' of It is is the buiewe of the directors of the Edin burgh and Gloom Railway who entertain times opinions to urge them upon the minority, and sbsuY they prove obstinate, to outvote them, and set Sun day trains a- canning again. The Scotch public, they must be aware by this time, will not submit to hayed the ultra-Sabbatarian views of a few gentlemen, who, by the accident of being directors and the courtesy of their colleagues are enabled to stop trains, enforce upon it a Judaical observance of the Sabbath alien to its opinions and sentiments. It is true that till the Caledonian can bring the Wishaw and Colt nese Railway into play (before which some years must elapse), the Edinburgh and Glasgow will have a monopoly of the travelling between these cities. But 1 this very circumstance will lend weight to applications I to the legislature to compel the company to afford proper accommodation to the public . The directors cannot be more jealous of the interference of govern meat and the legislature in the details of railway management than we are. But if railway directors avail themselves of their privileges to compel a reluc- Mat community (to its great moonvenienoe) to oon form to the peculiar opinions of a few individuals, government and the legislature cannot help inter tenng. SERIOUS alarm tuts been caused in the manatee taring districts by the low stocks of cotton on hand both here and on the Continent, conjoined with the certainty of a deficient crop in America, not counter balanced by more abundant crops in any other quarter. 'the tables compiled by the associated brokers of Liverpool show that the aggregate stock of cotton in all the ports of the kingdom only amounted on the 31st of December to 343,790 bales, compared with 1,053,270 in 1845, and 903,107 in 1844. The stocks at Havre have been reduced in quite as great a ratio. The stocks in that port on the 31st of December last amounted only to 25,500 bales ; on the same day of 1815 they were 50,000 bales ; of 1844, 53,000 bales; and of 1843, 100,000 bales. The latest account+, from America estimate the yield of the crop exactly at the same amount as those which preceded them, varying from 1,800,000 bales to 2,000,000 bales. The crop of 1845 yielded 2,100,000 bales, that of 1844 yielded 2,400,000. A gentleman long in the cotton trade, writes: "In all my experience I never knew the disproportion between supply and demand so great as at present. The only year that approaches it is 1825, when the price of American cotton ranged from lid. to 13d., while the same cotton ranged on 26th December from to Bfd." There is no doubt that of the cotton crops of 1848 Great Britain can command more than its average proportional share. The manufacturers of less wealthy countries must give up bidding and stop their works before cotton reaches the price, which renders such a step unavoidable in this country. The buyers on speculation at Havre have their eyes on the English markets. "On our market," says the Journal du Harre, of the 2nd inst., "the transactions at Liver pool produce more effect than the news from the United States. There is a disposition to operate, and holders are raising their demands." Still it is ad mitted on all hands that the operations of our cotton manufacturers will be materially crippled during the ensuing year. Nor do the apprehensions of the manufacturers stop here. Serious doubts are entertained whether the deficient supply will be confined to the year 1847. It is maintained by some that had the American crop of this year reached the enormous amount of 3,000,000 of bales, last year's having been 2,100,000, the pro portional allotment of Great Britain out of the in creased quantity would not have been more than enough to meet the ordinary increase (9 per cent.) in the consumption, and leave an adequate stock on the 31st of December, 1847. The demand of our manu facturers cannot be satisfied by a continuance of American cotton crops equal to what we have had; • progressive increase in their amounts is required. Now, there are some circumstances connected with the cultivation of cotton in America, which induce grave fears that instead of increasing , it may pos sibly retrograde. The bulk of the deficiency this year is in the crops of the southern and western states. By the latest returns, it would appear that the Atlantic states have had average, if not mote than average crops. In Mobile and the western states, what the Ay began, the early frosts completed. But there also appears to have been another agency at work in addition to insects and inclement weather. From the report of the Commissioners of Patents for 1845, it would appear that in some parts of Loui siana sugar cultivation has been superseding the culti vation of cotton. At p. 903, we read: It thus appears that in 17 parishes there are 367 cotton plantations which have been changed into sugar estates. But even this does not show the full number, as many other small cotton growers have also abandoned that culture for sugar, but not having the means to erect sugar works themselves, all grind their canekat the mills of their immediate neigh bours, and these small estates are not reckoned among the 367 new plantations. In the three other parishes, Vermillion, Lafayette, and St. Ltudoy, where there were Si old planta tions, T have not investigated the number of new ones, but from the information I have obtained there must be 25 to 30, or even more. The zeport adds that the proprietors of 120 to 130 estates were only waiting the action of Congress on the new tariff, to change from the culture of cotton to that of sugar. We do not believe that the cultivation of sugar will be found very profitable in any part of the United States. It is improbable that any countries north or south of the 21th parallel can compete in this branch of industry with those within the tropics. The frosts of Mobile, which even the cotton cannot stand, will do still more mischief to the canes. But this experimental shifting from growing cotton to growing canes, shows that cotton cultivation is ceasing in the United States to be a gainful occupation. The reason of this is obvious. It is by means of their slaves alone that the Americans have been able to make their cotton grounds pay. As soon as the British legislature restricted the hours of working for slaves in oar West India colonies, the cotton grounds were abandoned, to concentrate the labour of the slaves on the sugar estates. Since slaves have ceased to be imported into the Union, their value has risen enormously. Slave breeding is much more expensive than slave stealing. The slave labour of the Union is almost as dear as the free labour of our colonies. And it will continue to be so. A slave-breeding interest has grown up in the States, which will vote along with the abolitionists, to prevent the re-establishment of the slave trade. The price of labour in the United States has permanently reached • height that will effectually prevent the extension of cotton-growing, if, indeed, it do not contract it. The rude settlers in North Brazil may continue to grow cotton with sufficient remuneration for their purposes, , but the gentleman cotton-growers of the Carolinas and the keen money-makers of the new states, are already looking about them for more profit able employments. Ootton-growing is the business of poor and rude countries with swarms of unem ployed labourers. In some provinces of British India it might succeed. At Natal, where the Fingoes may be had, it might succeed. On the coasts of western and eastern Africa it might succeed. But in each and all of these places, to be cultivated successfully, cotton must be taken in hand, not after the dilettante scientific fashion of the East India Company, but after the fashion of those pioneers of civilisation, who spe culate in turning to account the labour of such densely-peopled but imperfectly civilised countries, as are found in some parts of India and Africa. Friday and Saturday being the jots,- de Can and the next day were periods of general festivity and compa rative suspension of business in Paris. On Friday all public offices and places of business were closed. During the few days previous to Friday, as we stated in our correspondence, a good deal of anxiety was felt at court respecting the address of the diplo matic body to be delivered by the Pope's nuncio, as its senior member, in which, as was natural, some re ference to the Montpensier marriage would be made. This produced a good many goings and comings be tween the Hotel des Affaires k:traneres and the Bri tish embassy. The presence of Lord Normanby at the ceremony of annual congratulation was most desirable to the court, but was only to be procured by a distinct understanding respecting the terms in which the Montpensier mar- I riage should be referred to in the address. Many were the changes of determination on the one side and on the other on this point throughout Wednesday and Thursday, and it was not until near midnight on the latter evening that, at the request of the Bing, the paragraph was attenuated to the degree of on mearungnees required by the British ambassador. In fine, he was induced to go. The deputations which presented addresses were those from the Peers and Deputies, Courts of Casea tion and Account, the Royal Council of Public In struction, the Cour Royal, the Institute, &c. The diplomatic body was received at four o'clock, when the papal nuncio delivered the following address: I Sire,—The Corps Diplumatique always awaits with the same hopes the return of this solemn epoch of the new year, boast= they find pleasure in offering to you, in the name of the soesiakpa they have the honour to represent the most AMMO when for th e perfect prosperity of your Majesty, of Ms reysd lostlT, and of France. It Is do with great satisfaction that they congratulate yam, Sire, ea the maintenance of general peace, the admira ble mob of the wisdom of your Majesty and of the other sad their cabinets. It is the noblest claim to the trtoes, wham glory and happiness consist in y. Tleft Mee general felicity, your Majesty has, at Vae sans dim seen the happiness of your family incleaw.d— a fink *ldol% has afforded, and will always affurr',, the tosearnseamisestations to your paternal feelings. we teats your ?esty will behold many returrj. of this haw day, which will still find you as illustrivus on the throw, as happy by the aide of your royal and virtuous sponse, and in the midst of your nauseous and illustrious family, as new. Deign, Sire, to accept the well-srlahes and congratulations of the diplomatic body. and their respectful homage. To which the King replied as follows: I deeply feel what you have just expressed for France, for my family, sod myself, in the name of the diplomatic body and the sovereigns which you represent. Like you, I share the universal confidence that Heaven will continue to pour its blaming on our united efforts to ensure the maintenance of twins rsal peace, the fruitful source of the prosperity of states, and the happiness of nations. It is in my name, as well as in that of the Queen and all my family, that I thank you for your participation in the renewal of the domestic pleasures which Providence has reserved to LW, and whiLla, as you say, form one of the greatest consolations it can procure us. You are aware how agreeable it is to me to receive through you the expretaion of the well wishes of the diplo• matic body. The Madrid mails to the 27th ult. inclusive were received in Paris on Friday and Saturday. The ministerial crisis had continued, and various and con tradictory rumours were afloat. El Clamor Palle° of the 27th gave it as positive that the six ministers had given in their resignation, which had been accepted, and that on the same evening a new Cabinet was to have been named. It was said that the Marquis de Viluma had been I named President of the Senate, that General San Miguel was to be the Progressista candidate for the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies. Great apprehensions were felt respecting the move ments of the partisans of the Count Montemolino. Reports were spread that he had obtained resources in England, and meditated a descent on Majorca, where considerable preparations for defence were going on. The Infant Don Enrique was preparing to leave Madrid for Cadiz. _ _ . There was no bourse on the 25th, 26th, and 27th at Madrid. _ _. ----- The weather continued extremely severe, and all the mails continued to be late. ---...--- The Heraldo of the 27th gives an analysis of the parties in the Cortes as follows: 250 Moderados; 48 Progressistas; 8 doubtful, and 41 elections not yet decided. There must besides be new elections in 32 colleges, in consequence of double elections. Of these 32, 9 will be Progressistas and 23 Moderados. In the 41 elections which remain undecided the Heraklo says that the Progressista party has not above 10 candidates. FRANCE.—STEAMERS Olf TIM WEST COAST OP Munoz. —The Moniker states that contracts for the delivery of English coal at the different points on the west coast of Africa will be adjudged on the 29th instant. The places and quantities are :—Ooree, 2,000,000 kilogrammes • the Ga boom, 2,500,000 ; Sierra Leone and Axial, 1,500:000 ; Fer nando Po and Prince's Wand, 1,500,000. This distribu tion bespeaks more anxiety for the extension of French settlements on the coast than for the suppression of the slave-trade. SPAIN. —A MINISTERIAL CRISIS. —IL is stated in the Esperanza, that the ministerial crisis again impends. "A person well informed attributes this result to the strong determinations which Canes& has shown to resign a post which so many others have coveted. Isturitz and Mon will continue to occupy their respective posts. Bravo Murillo will have the portfolio of Justice, and Ortera that of the In terior. Fidel will be called to the presidency of the Cham ber. No one is named for the departments of War and Marine." El Clamor Public° adds, that the Queen had named the evening of the 27th Mt. for appointing the new ministry. It was reported that Filuma had been named President of the Senate. _ _ COUN r DE MON TEM OLI N. —Confidential letters have arrived from London, which 113 CM to have made no pleasant impression on ministers. It is believed that these tidings relate to the Count de Montemolin, and that, notwithstanding his pl: dges, he is endeavouring to , profit by the present position of European diplomacy, to carry out, in our north and east provinces, his long meditated project of sovereignty. There is something remarkable in the bearing of the Carlists, too, just now. Never before did the active Cartist party ap pear so quiet and resigned. This must indicate one of two things: either that they have ceased to hope for the realization of their views; or (and this is more probable), t tat they are too much internally occupied just now to make any unnecessary display of their external relations. L'Espanol, Dec. 20. ITALY.—A letter from Rome in the Nuremberg Correspondent says :—" The elevation of M. Marini to the rank of cardinal haa crested some dissaVsfaction. On the door of his residence, soon after the news of his elevation, there was found written is the morning with chalk, Prima Cantenato di Pio IX. (first error of Pius 1X.)" A letter from Genoa states that the anniversary of the expulsion of the Austrians from that city was celebrated there on the anniversary of the event, being the sth of De cember. Illuminations on the same evening took place at Bologna, Ferran, and other towns of the Romagna. The Pope's name was loudly cheered. The Austrian government has addressed notes to the governments of Rome and 'rutin on these events. - . HOLLAND.—TRE HAGUE, DEC. 29.—The Minis ter of Finance presenting yesterday to the States General the biennial budget for 1848 and 1849, gave • state ment of the financial situation of the country. A rapid examination of the financial period which has just elapsed, said his Excellency, suffices to convince us that the state of the finances of the kingdom is now prosperous, the arrears being provided tor, the reduction of the interest of the funds regulated, and exchanges of the old depreciated coin almost wholly terminated. Thus we have every reason to rejoice at the result which the public treasury presents at this moment. The public credit being re-established in • legal manner is now fixed upon a solid basis, and the general crisis occasioned for some time by the speculations in railroads has not hail any injurious effects upon it. In this state of things, when the greatest publicity prevails in our finance., and when everybody may so easily inform himself of their situation, must we not be astonished that attempts have been made to alarm people. minds by a report of • considerable deficiency ? At the end of the session of 1845, instead of a deficiency, there was • surplus of more than a million. The minister congratulated himself that the exchange of the old currency has ren effected before the end of the year, and expresse d his satisfaction at being side to announce, that the amount which had been calculated as likely to result from the ex change and recoining of the old currency, will not exceed the original estimate. The minister then pointed out the considerable increase which has taken place this year in our mercantile navy. Though the year is not expired, the num ber of arrivals known up to this date exceeds by nearly two thousand those of the last year but one, and by about thirteen hundred those of last year. GERMANY.—A letter from Vienna, in the Frank fort Gazette, states that Prince Metternich has already con fidentially communicated to M. de Flahaut the reply of the Austrian government to the French protestation against the incorporation of Cracow. A letter from Berlin, of the 25th ult., states that, by Royal ordonnsnce, the long formula hitherto in use in courts of law, when an oath is taken, is to be replaced by the words, " I swear before God to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." The witness is to hold up the thumb and the two first fingers, perpendicularly, in sign of the Holy Trinity, the other fingers being boat down. During the taking of the oath all persons in the wart are to stand up. Owing to the political manceuvrea in the Canton of Tessin, • cordon is to be drawn along this frontier of the north of Italy—probably near Lugano ea the Lego Maggiore. As a good deal of smuggling is carrieli on at this point, two ends will be attained at once. CHACOW.—On January 12 the Austrian system of rovernment will be introduced at rjracow._ PRUSSIA.—EDICT OF RELY GIOOS TOLERATION. ICI The first paragraphs in the ov Aline of this expected edict contain a confirmation of past eines of religious liberty, and then refer to the religious parties which have recently arisen, bat have not hitherto 1 men sure of their recognition by the state. We learn, four a one who has read the outline of the edict, that it will cora sin no admission of the rights of new separatists, but that to; oration will be extended to them simply by an act of imp, rial grace.—Allgenteine Zeitung, Dee. 18. DENMARK.—It 'is beyond a doubt that the cabi nets of Vienna and Bee lin have addressed energetic remon 'trances to the court di Denmark, calling upon it to abandon a line of policy dstrid tents' to good order and peace in Den mark, and adapted to keen up political excitement in Ger many. Independently of the duchies, the free town of Lubeck has been a topic of conversation, as not having been well treated as a faithful ally. The Rassian note is said to contain similar remarks. What the Danish government will reply is 'variously eosjectured. Whether the reply be an evasive one or not, it was presumed that the step taken by the three powers would have some effect, and the dis missal of the iminiaters who counselled the letter patent was spoken of. It was also rumoured that special ambassadors were to 'oe sent to Vienna and Berlin. INDIA. From the Overland Bombay Tines. COLOURS TO 7 as FIRST BOMBAY FUSILIZILS.—We have letters from Kul riche° dated the 6th Nov., which describe the interesting, ceremony of the presentation of the colours to the First F,ombay Fusiliers in the presence of the assem bled troop 'at Kurrachee, on the evening of the 4th instant. Sir Charier, Napier presented the new colours. The scene wee grand and imposing. Three battalions of British Infantr three of Native, and five batteries of European Artifir r 7 ., formed—in quarter distance columns—three sides of ar pare, The Fusilier Regiment in line formed the fourth aid.. The ceremony of a farewell salute to the old er ,lours, and the consecration of the new, having been gone through, the Veteran General, in presenting to the Fusiliers their new standards, spoke to them in terms that thrilled the heart of every soldier present, and which—in the words of Col. Cumming, when returning thanks—" would be remembered long after the colours themselves had passed away." The old warrior's voice rung out clear and distinct beyond the farthest ranks of the dense muses of soldiery, who drank in his words with avidity. I can convey but a poor idea of his speech; the old general, his tone and address, and the whole scene, are re quired 2 , to give effect to his words, which wore nearly as 't So:iiers ! I have this avy the honour to present new colours to t:.'e oldest regiment In :he service of the East India Company, a regiment which amulet tread on a., part of our eastern territory whose history has not been illus• tasted by its glory and by its b l ood, tither in victor y or in defeat! Aye, in defeat! for thong ,h defeat nos in the long course of age, (Alen at times, like a direful vapour on the arms of England, and for a moment veiled their brilliancy, still has the indomitable com-age of the Euro peans remained unbroken, and, es the auntie...en of its beams, is be traced, though dimly, through a mark v mixtl other , so has British valour been ever traced through detests battles and better lcaling gave teeth victories oar ler". To a young corps, unknown to history, I could spa largely en the duties or soldiers to their colours; but to 7°° , til Fusilier', whose bayonets gleam with the splendour 0/ Indian triumphs, whose standards are wreathed with the accum 'dated Marna of ages, I have only to point out past exploi to recall to your memories the battle-fields under Cs.iret Laurence, Coote, Cornwallis, Smith—from Plasey ta Beniboo Ali. Aye, and long before Plumy, including iunn • seeable sieges and assaults, unsurpassed :n number and in daring by any regiment in the world. Were I to dwell on all the battles and stormings it would keep us till midnight ; and I will, therefore, speak but of two, which appear to inc to be among the most celebrated; I mean the capture of Ahme dabad and of Serintrapatam. At Ahmedabad the two in- trepid men, Ensign Hiems and Sergeant Hugh Fridge, both of your regiment, led their stormers to the walls, and, sword in hand, they mounted the breach and won —lf iem" his lieutenancy, and Fridge, the honour of carrying the co lours for which he had so bravely fought! A few years after, the same courageous soldier, the same Ilugh Fridge (now become Capt. Fridge, of the Bombay Eutopeans), mounted the immortal breach of Seringapatam, close following the more young, more active, and more renowned Serg, ant James Graham, who there fell ! not the first bearing that ho noured name, distinguished by a glorious death in the ser vice of the British throne! Soldiers! it must rouse the minds of military men to think of the exultation of your regiment, as, in a dense column, it dashed up the breach following the gallant Graham, and beheld the hero waving the colours of England on the summit amidst the flashing of dlysorean *clinkers, the fire, the smoke, and the loud cheers of the stormers as the fiet rely won their bloody footing aloft! Take your splendid colours, soldiers! reful gent with the glories of a hundred battles! Ye are as good men, as brave men, and as strong men to do battle, as the heroes who set rat before you, and the day will come when, in future combats, you shall renovate your fame as you have this day renovated your standards! "—Gentleman's Gazette, Nov. 17. Public expectation has been awakened lately regarding the probability of a Sikh contingent being raised for ser vice at Lahore on the withdrawal of our troops ; how far such expectation is likely to be realised it is not, at present, in our power to state; it is probable, however, that the rumours on this head have had their origin in the matured determination of government to raise, as men tioned by us some time ago, one Sikh regiment The orders for these may now be daily expected. The regiments are intended for service in the Cis-anal Trans-Sutlej states, and are to be paid for out of the commutation money of the con tingents of the Jagheerdan, which have been done away with, now that military services are no longer required of the chiefs. A battery of artillery is to be raised at the same time, and else a company of guides. Captain Waterfield is to have one of the corps of infantry, Captain Winter another, and Lieutenant Olpherts will be appointed to command the artillery. These officers severally belonged to the late Bun delkund Legion. We have heard, further, that Captain Starkey has been appointed second in command to one of the infantry corps.—Delhi Gazette, Nov. 11. Casualties by death in the armies of India reported since the departure of the mail of 16th Nov. : H.M. Troops.—Assist: Surgeon W. Turnbull, 94th liege, on board the Hindoostan, on her voyage to Ceylon, on the 14th Oct. ; Dr. F. Dill, colonial surgeon, at Hong Kong, on the 30th Sept. Bombay.—Lieut. T. B. Stanley, Artillery, at Kurrachee, on the 24th Nov. Madras.—Ensign H. E. M. Palmer, 41st Regt., at Wal tale, on the 9th Nov. Bengal.—Brigadier E. J. Smith, C. 8., Engineers, at Subathoo, on the 11th November • Captain J. Sutherland, late of the 56th BRIO., at Itajcund, in Tirboot, on the Bth October. H.M. Navy.—Midshipman J. E. Grant, of the Agincourt, off Ningpo, on the sth Oct. (From the Overland Bengal Hurlaaru.) The most interlining topic of discourse which the past ten days have furnished to us of Calcutta, is the report of the committee appointed by government to test the efficiency of Dr. Esdaile's mesmeric operations. We believe that copies of this report went home by the loot mail, but as it may not have been made public in England before this arrives, we give the moat important parts of it a place in our columns. The principal results of the experiments performed by Dr. Esdaile before the committee, as recorded in the minutes of proceedings, are as follows. Often native patients subjected to mesmeric manipulations, seven were reduced to a state of corns ; the remaining three being dismissed ; one for being drunk ; another because he had a chronic cough, which interfered with the process; and the third, because he resisted the mesmeric influence for eleven days, without giving way to it. The seven men reduced to a state of coma, were subjected to surgical operations of considerable severity. In one of them the result wan deemed inconclusive, from the patient having subsequently, when in the natural state, home • similar operation, without showing signs of pain. In three cases apparent signs of pain were exhibited in the distortion of features and writhing of the body,—"instructive move ment.," Dr. Esdaile called them,— but the patients offered no resistance to the operator, did not re quire to be held, and, on awaking, declared them selves unconscious of what had been done to them, In the remaining three not a symptom of feeling was displayed, the inaeuibility to suffering being apparently most perfect, It is remarked. and is a singular fact, that whereas in the cases in which outward signs of pain were exhibited, the pulse remained as before the operation began; in those where total insensibility was manifested it was greatly accelerated. These results are considered by the public as completely establishing the pretensions of Dr. Esdaile, and as proving the efficacy of the mesmeric agency. The report of the committee, however, which is considered as that of the medical members who formed the majority, is generally considered to display much of jealousy and prejudice against the new power. It has been much criticised by the local press, which is unanimous in its con demnation. The committee, however, though evidently bear ing no good-will to the science, bar been constrained by the facts elicited to recommend further investigation, and the government has, as already mentioned, determined to place Dr. Esdaile in charge of a small hospital, to which the pub lic is to be admitted to witness his operations. No change has occurred in commercial matters to call for particular notice. The money market is lively, and exchange has risen slightly, being quoted at Is. Ilid. to Is. 114 d. for good ten months' bills. (From the Overland Englishman.) Locally we have little more to report than a sudden burst of legislative vigour. In the last few days no less than four draft acts have made their appearance, to ripen into laws when the Legislative Council is complete. The moot im portant of these is an act for municipal improvements, ap pointing a body of commisaionen to keep our streets in order, to widen, light, and water them, and to open new thoroughfares, and effect ornamental improvements. As nothing can be awe without money, the good people of Caleutta are to be taxed in their horses and their carnage*, and even the labourer's car is not to escape. If the money is well laid out, people will have little reason to grumblb at the impost, for the present state of our municipal affairs is disgraceful. Another act, which may be considered supplementary to this, being for the survey anti assemment of bads within the town, will bate the effect of a system of registration, and will thereby lessen the expense of convey ance, which has hitherto been a most severe tax upon pro perty of small value. The example of the Hindoo stodents, in seeking to com plete their education in England,hae not been lost upon other Asiatics. The Armenian community, who are here respect able and thriving, are about to be represented in the schools of London by a medical pupil from their own body. It is to be hoped that he, as well as those who preceded him, may be so succeasful as to induce many others to follow their example. libe Court. WINDSOR, SUN DAY.—Yesterday morning the Queen and Prince Albert took their accustomed early walk. Their RR. HR. the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice took walking exercise in the forenoon of yesterday. Her 'Majesty and the Prince Consort proceeded to. the Lake, at Frogmore, this afternoon, for the purpose of his Royal Highness enjoying the exercise of skating. lice Majesty's sledge-chair was taken to the Lake, but not used ; the Queen promenading with the lady and maids of honour in waiting on the borders of the ornamental water. H. R. H. Prince Albert, accompanied by H.R.H. Prince George and the Earl of Lincoln, and attended by the Hon. Col. Phipps and Col. Seymour, enjoyed the sport of shooting yesterday morning. The Queen and Prince Albert, the ladies and gen tlemen of the court and the domestic household attended divine service this morning in the private chapel of the Castle. The Bishop of Oxford officiated, assisted by the Hon. and Rev. C. L. Courtenay. The Duchess oflient also attended divine worship this morning in the Queen's private chapel. Her Royal High ness remained at the Castle to luncheon with her Majesty , and the Prime, and returned to Frogmore at three o'clock 1 This morning her Majesty and her Royal Consort walked in the grounds adjacent to the Castle. Their RR. HH. the Prince of Wales Prince Alfred, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice took walking exercise on the Eastern-terrace and slopes. Their RR. HR. the Duke and Duchess of Cam bridge and Prince George, and the Princess Mary, lefrthe Castle yesterday for Kew. H. 8. H. Prince Frederic of Hesse accompanied their Royal Highnesses. The Duchess of Sutherland and Lady Caroline Lerman Gower, the Earl and Countess of Lincoln, and Capt. Francis &morn, also took their departure from the Castle yesterday. The Bishop of Oxford arrived at the Castle yeabv - . day, on a visit to her Majesty. Lord Waterparh arrived at the Castle ya ster d a y, and succeeded the Earl of Listowel, as Lord-in-Wai%j ag i s her Majesty. Mr. J. R. Ormsby Gore, Groom-in-Wai , ,ing, sa d Lord Alfred Paget, Clerk-Marshal and Chief Ec,uerry, have also arrived at the Castle. The day fixed upon for the der i arture of the i court for Claremont, there to remain until within • few days tithe opening dike Naios of jurdistalmt, is Thursday next. Her hfsjesty and the Prince Consort will be acwom ponied by the royal family, and attended by a Urn .c 1 suite. Lord John Russell arrived in town on Saturday, from his residence at Chorleywood. Mr. Bagshaw had an interview wilt the Right Hon. T. M. Gibson on Friday, at the uffi ,f the IL.rd of t Trade. The Conde de Montemolin and suite wit ne‘se I tlos performances at the Lyceum Theatre on ••;atur,lay. TM Conde expressed a previous wish to see Parent* an Guan'ians," with the pantomime, to which the sx .1 a acceded. Sir G. H. Seymour, her Majesty's P! t. .• . - at the Court of Belgium, is shortly,expeccd t. .s s land, on his way to his mew post us Minister I 0,. at Lisbon; and the Lords Commimoners of .ok r • Treasury have cowed the same to be notiticd of the revel,. at the voious packet ports, in • • usual attention -hown to persons of his Esce mar be observed :n his case. It is confidently stated in military cirri. heilithit Lodi House—and we believe there inn Teed any, doubt of the truth of the report— r.t ',9id Has ding, has bees recalled from India, and that to be „ um . rded in the Goveroor Generalship of that country by the Mn rquis of Clanricardo.—Uniled Service Gazette. FAMINE rx leztrita—A eirctille has • add id b In, to his clergy, in which he recom• • nth or Long. the Rev. Dr. Griffiths, Roman C tin.. a made from the pulpit of every chap.' fo r t or relieving the distress i n Ireland aad is The . money collected in consequence o led into two equal portions, of which o the poor in London. And, as it is each thi:hil: I::waPn ci Pl ir t ftb‘ i . . L ebet2 t h i „, nd t eidn t h 'fn e , money collected for the Irish poor very r t ey h e md t e p y r r ib l should 'drained to Dublio, he recom mends be - ore Sunday, the 17th, to the l p la cing be insm e e each at e c ti co t r u m. 6, Henrietta-street, Covent agecoarduennt. at the Commercial Batt k, PROJECTED RAILWAY THROUG 11 HEG:INT'S PARR. —On Saturday a deputation presented a memorial from the inhabitants of Regent's-park and its vi 'Unity, praying the park. The memorial stated that the railwa which was made nest e s v enron to t° fo op rr e a ra an ilw aP a P y li t e l:ro ti° 4 ‘ rhnedlLgel to intended to run along the water-course or on the hank of the canal, would be injurious to the health arte comforts of the inhabitants of the park, would deteriorate their pro perties, and consequently lessen the rates, and a 'cold be a direct violation of the c ivenant made by the Wo silo and Forests, which those who sunk large sums in build cog the princely mansions with which the park was stu Iced. Mr. Laurie hoped that the vestry would lend them the it assist/mow in opposing the projected railway, which would be alike destructive to the comforts, the interests, and the health of those residing in the park, and would also deprive the public generally of that recreation which the park at present afforded. The speaker having produced a map of the park, together with a copy of the agreements upon which the ' owners of the houses erected them (and which agreement secured to them a quiet undisturbed tenure of 99 years) stated that 150 crown tenants had prepared a memorial to the Woods and Forests against the proposed railway, which they would present to Lord Morpeth as soon as hi. lordship arrived in town. Mr. G. Daniel assured the vestry that a railway through the park would reduce the rat ss 10,0001. a year. Mr. Thackeray moved that the memorial it: referred to the committee appointed to watch the proceedings of the railway company, which was carried. °raisin FOR TUE POOL—It ie said that a company is about to he formed for the erection of public or. ma on the same principle as the baths and witahhouses. The labouring poor will then be enabled to make their own bread, of what ever quality their means will permit; and as pans and other requisites will be provided, and the baking performed at a very trifling expense compared with the preso t bakers' charges, such a plan bids fair to answer. An establishment of the kind has been for some months in operation, near the Hotel de Ville, in Paris. Considering the annual ansump tiou of bread in the metropolis amounts to above 850,000,000 11w., or 15 ounces daily to each person, the system, it adopted, yield a large remunerative profit. WINTER IN TTIE PARRS.—We are in St. James's park it seems a grand object of attraction. Wa•ch the gaunt, skadowy trees, rearing themselves like vegetable ske letons in the mist; see dimly, and as through a glass, the hazy lines of surrounding ranges of houses. The grass is crisp, and powdered with a dry flaky snow, through which the hardy evergreens burst out in sturdy, prickly jangles. The hard frozen esplanade, behind the Horse Ouesils, is thronged with moving figures, all rushing to or from the eastern park entrance, with its sentinels in green standing at the door of their Cockney pagoda. There are portly, stout people, evidently walking for an appetite, and thin lade with skates, and be} s with buttoned jackets and comforters, and ladies all muffs and tippet., with a strong suspicion of red about their noses. We enter. Everybody leaps the slight east iron fence, and makes directly for the water, or rather the ice. Frost seems to suspend the laws of the Woods and Forests, and bind up the energies of their ordinary of& eery. Lining the water's edr, there is a shouting, shifting fringe of people, through which you see the cloud of moving, crooning, darting figures, which shoot here and there, backwards and forwards, passing and repealing, hither and thither, on the dull, bending, crackling sheet of ice. Such a confused, ceaseless hubbub; such endless, slippery scrambles along the brink; such a clamour from the men with skates, who are boring people's hoots; and the men with drawers of brandy-balla rotted their necks; and from the ceaseless rows of boys, who go screaming and laughing down slides ; and from the skaters to get out of the way ; and from the people, who are stumbling and staggering along the ice, half walking, half sliding, to keep out of theirs. From bank to ice, from ice to bank, such a ceaseless, inter change of inquiries, shouts, invitations, warnings, broken every now and then by a burst of laughter, as a gentleman, who has been skating backwards, suddenly comes down with a crash, which instanter produces a cobweb of cracks beneath him, and accompanied throughout by the low, hol low, deep-tuned rumble of the ice, as the thousands it sup ports go careering along its scratched, scored, bending surface.—Jervold's Magazine. " THE BATTLE OF LIFE" IN FRENCH.—The fenilleton of the National, of the 31st ult., contains the first portion of a translation of Dickens's new work, " The Battle of Life." EFFECTS OF VAPOUR OF ETHER its DEADENING SENSIBILITY DURING III:ROICAL OPERATIONS.—Sir,—I feel it would be wrong to withhold from the faculty and the public in general that we have repeated the American expe riment of administering the vapour of ether as a means of deadening the sensibility of the nerves, and with the most perfect success. A young man was to lose his leg by ampu tation of the thigh at the Bristol General Hospital, and was thought a good opportunity for the trial. The operation was rather a long one, from several arterial branches having to be taken up ; it occupied fifteen minutes, and during this whole time the man was kept in a perfectly quiescent state, without motion or sound. He afterwards stated himself to have been conscious of the amputation, but without pain be yond that of a scratch ; and during the operation it was found that with the assistance of wine on the one hand and the vapour of ether on the other, he could be elevated or depressed with the most complete control; his absence of pain being continuous. The operator, Mr. lan•down, and the other medical gentlemen present, will, no doubt, give the public the details of the ease, and my duty is merely to. show the very simple application of the agent. No compli cated apparatus is necessary, nor any extraordinary care in purifying the ether. A common but very large bladder should be fitted with a collar, to which an ivory mouth-piece with a large bore can be screwed without the intervention of any stop-cock. Pour in about an ounce of good common ether, and blow up the bladder with the mouth till it is nearly full, place the thumb on the mouthpiece and agitate the bladder, so so to saturate the air in it with the aspostr. As soon as the patient is ready for the operation, else his nostrils, introduce the mouthpiece and close the lips round it with the fingers. He must cow breathe into and out, of the bladder, and in about one or two minutes the muscles of his lips will lose their hold. This is the moment hr tb e fink cut to be made •, in two or three minutes the effect begin to disappear ; the mouthpiece should again be inymdoced„ and this repeated so often as required. If the pul',e should iodinate a sinking of the patient a little wine w dl r e s tore him. I have no doubt but the inspiration of ni'crons oxide (laughing gas) would have a similar effect upor , the nerves of sensation as the vapour of ether, as I have noticed that persons under its influence are totally ineensib Is to pain ; but I do not think it would be advisable to ue .! it in surgical eases, from its frequently producing an miff smamable dispo 'Mon to muscular exertion, which would % en d er th e p a ti e nt unsteady and embarrass the operator. ^, h o administrator of the vapour will of course take great oat' that no fluid ether shall be allowed tube drawn into the l• , L ccgs ; otherwise Buffo sation would result, or at the best a violent cough, which patient.—W. HEILSPATIL — Briav A, Jan. 1, 1817. must protract the operation and coneiderably distress the MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEAR Ncit OF A LADY,— During the put week much conversation and excitement ha* keen (:twinedOnnW ;bout the neighbourhood of Twickenham and Riebmer ,d in consequemise of the mr terious disappearance of lady 70 7,, of aq., named Smith, the wife of ages tleman residing at Twicl,nhazia. It appeared that she seer ,t to bed with her hitsbatir usual health and spirit . on the night after Cb On by awakening to ' the course of the night, he s47'e.' , t he supposed at the , V jne to he hi% wife's head on the pillow next his, but on wetting up the following morning he found th a t th e p 7 .ow l had been dressed up, ,t is supposed, b 7 the la d y nisi ,elf to represent her still lying there. and although "pi search was made after. both on and off the Riernieest ale was nowhere to be food. Ricer that time a description 'of her person has been forwardel to all the divisions of the metropolitan and city police, and the river, both akars and below - Twickenham, has been dragged . with °it and' ' trace of her being discovered.—Siosday Tom . at , LINO ArrEILPT TO ROB AND MURDER. —On Saber day information was given to the police of • daring %kw Apt at robbery and murder. On Friday morning ekr rimpton, harness maker, of No. 64, Great HIT, left horns I.r re of paying his quarter's rest ea Mr. Brier, his ma~sei r ing adjacent to the Breathe Arras, St. Prownweeall. Prior to hie gains be sabered a public...house awl bed ems regresbassth _when M took nth Ws wee and wig a Meet wham be bag asidethally meth Oth he wee about to pay We. Dryer. There we the eathieleas-looking fellows present, who sisamod to pay attention to what was ot'og forward. After he bad paid the rent he wee proceed ing Yamawatda, throe Oapennagen-lialik, when two men ems b mad basest a meat Warr an do head, and he gril nearly stnanni. Ea, lawaver, willed with great courage, but he was at evarpowaesi ma eaa in sensible, and he wee MEM Ism slinreramla weltering in his blood, with hlepthkelle normallaaklroat. After having been removed to a pablialiones neag the )(oriel Prison, where he deuce ; wh, description their di teal THE SM esp. 9:i, coin ow truth, ti gram 1844; t en,. and n and derrn.d there hal h. distrkta sue law, had, at sob, while h eallp withou ePPY • (re 14 • of the towns, cit., justice ,h,ll lughly mead of the act 1) bat F6t th **anima , *sou that ju Ow of ju,i not, howeve sal made • ad tane di riet else f or mum sanitary mall small fir so grouped togs 57, aith gr .1 courts, th it therefore, hi plan of the '1 tion that the that all pleas claimed is no shall be bean person who c before the cle thereof in a h the persor. co he shall appe to support the not prove his and sate:end But if the del stituted and follow, just a' absence be gi court may ac any means th judgment has then the cred another some answer such conduct in re not attend th cuae, or refusi by his =wet the plaintiff o breach of tru bility without pectation of h have made, o transfer of an: ooncelled the any of them ; Judge of the then, or has I sufficient men costs so recovi instalment or meet was obt, or neglect to I asshall be ord sided, it shall to order that mon gaol or h place in whiel prison which any period no this clause is i the act, and o some years of another step f but it is a she of justice, an mercial peopli West nairsater FIRES.—) noon of Saturn from the ',aim and apparent' of the fire. 1 be able to saw should the rui get out an im which can Ix Shortly beton out at No. 1, menced in th belonging to B the entire but London Brig; promptly aft tire eatingui destroyed.—A On Saturday situate in De Queen Anne's ground floor, London Dash panics, arrive< all possible op before the fir not until the whole of the furniture wen -7- 7be interruptei adjoining the INQUESTS, —By Mr. W.I hithe, ou the 1 home in a Ter: the relieving him. He en, front exhaust by an o:d workhouse d seeing hie atteu ed, bu The jury rei BURNT TO D Lion Inn, at Sarah Sem, On Tuesday s: ceased mks(' ahe Soon after, a cry of "help smell of fire. mediately vret found envelop tier over the I body. Mr. CI applied every the night. II a?oala to put vary returne KIIFFRAL OF the Plough, Mayes, aged 4 reported had refused out-d< 'Yitornas Donn hsd been i n ' , when her hue' completely de could not coat .herself and chi disuses, Wcin 7 ; The /dendaeit -master, astiatei treated her wit anedieal akar 14th of Novem tremely emu weakness, and applied for a o He zoadu t z day. i not say wheals area ant at leo aloe and idyl nether, mar 'William Bow 11!art . rittemmd a -- husband. I* and was told t be: she did no dtsth. That n i g to the verythht 'eh poor. charge Wino' The tone <uhjec4 add men 'a /mon - - The eympt ties we just speaking usid. landlord elan %rein of As 1 maxhsa =we tinge Ilan can pay and .team reo b&v. the Lad A very uumpli oho that am t v_klu pole .t Liam, give. Kam who I the smutty th for rtmt, ter