The Sun. — London, England, 1858-12-18 00:00:00

WINTER —NO GENTLEMAN during the Winter should be without one of MACDO T OGALL'S FAMOUS HIGHLAND CLOAKS, Universally acknowledged to ig the most comfortable, useful, and gentlemanly upper G/rtnent now in use, either e r Town wear, or the Rail, the Coach, Riding,-Driving, and Walking. They are made of Scotch Tweeds, in every variety of Plain Colours, and very pretty Mixtures : also in dark Grey and Black, forClergymen's wear. Good useful qualities from.... 265. to 365. The best do. do. 38s. to 50s. The Height and Size round Shoulders is sufficient measure. Patterns and price per post, free. Any number of Cloaks forwarded in four days from date of order, free to London. D. MACDOUGALL, THE ROYAL TARTAN WAREHOUSE. INVERNESS. R OYAL ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT GARDEN, under the sole Management of Miss Louisa Fyne and Mr. W. Harrison.—The public are respectfully in formed that this new and elogant Theatre will be OPENED for the first ENGLISH OPERA SEASON on MONDAY, Dec. 20, when will be presented an entirely new and original Opera, by Mr. W. Balfe, entitled SATANELLA ; or, THE POWER OF LOVE. Playhouse prices. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. Under the Management of Mr. Charles Kean. THIS EVENING, LIVING TOO FAST. THE JEALOUS WIFE. Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean. Followed by a new Farce, in one act, entitled THIRTY-THREE NEXT BIRTHDAY. THEATRE-ROYAL, HAYMARKET. Lessee, Mr. J. B. Buckstone. THIS EVENING will be performed a new Comedy, THE TIDE OF TIME. Messrs. Buckstone, Chippendale acc. ; Mesdames Reynolds and Poynter. A new Spanish Ballet, THE INFLUENCE OF GRACE. In which Perea Nena will appear. THE TOODLES. Sir Wm. Don, Bart. And A DAUGHTER TO MARRY. Commence at 7. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE, Lessee and Directress, Miss Swanborough. THIS EVENING, THE LITTLE SAVAGE. After which THE MAID AND THE MAGPIE. WOOING IN JEST AND LOVE% IN EARNEST : Miss Swanborough. And THE BONNIE FISH WIFE. Commence at 7 o'clock. A STLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE, Westminster-road. Sole Lessee Mr. William Cooke. THIS EVENING the performances will commence with the successful gorgeous Spectacle of THE REVOLT IN THE EAST; or, The Fugitives and their Faithful Steed: concluding with a Grand National and Allegorical Tableaux. After which SCENES IN THE ARENA, introducing Mr. W. Cooke, and his beautiful horses, Mr. Runnels, Madame Blanche, Miss Emily Cooke, Illadame Fleurette, and the first male and female equestrians in the world. Dress Circle, 3s. ; Boxes, 28. ; Pit, is, ; Galleries, fid. Stage Manager, Mr. R. Phillips. CANTERBURY HALL, Westminster-road.— Proprietor -C. MORTON. The public is most respectfully informed that the FINE ARTS GALLERY, in connection with the above Hall, IS NOW OPEN DAT AND NIGHT, f rom 11 o ' c l ock a.m. until 12 o'clock p.m. The New Galley contains an extensive Collec tion of Pictures, by Ancient and Modern Masters -and is also devoted to Art productions generally. The Proprietor feels he may confidently assert that, viewed altogether, the exist irw; Music Hall, the New Fine Arts Gallery, and the recently added Ante-Hall, will present an attraction which, whether as regards the architectural beauty of the structures them selves, or the varied and hitherto unattempted combinations within, will be found to be wholly without parallel in the Kingdom. The MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT commences as usual at Seven o'clock. In addition to the usual entertainment, the SAUVLET FAMILY, of Amsterdam, Eight in number, whose varied instrumental performances have created so marked a sensa tion in the principal cities and towns of the Continent, will perform every Evening at Nine and Eleven o'clock. TIIE WEATHER.-SUN OFFICE, DEC. 18, THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 47—highest since noon yesterday. 47—lowest this morning and during the night 49—this day at noon. BAROMETER - 29.59--falling rapidly. WIND, South-Westerly; fresh, with rain. THE SUN. SATURDAY. DECEMBER 18, 1858. The President's Message has been received—not quite so rapidly as it had been anticipated would have been the case at the completion and satisfac tort' working of the Atlantic Telegraph—but still, thanks to the efficient management of the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company, in about half the time that would otherwise have been required. The Prince Albert, which sailed from St. John's, New foundland, on the night of the 10th instant, arrived off Arran Island on Thursday, making the run from the New World to the Old in five days sixteen hours and a•haif. We have now the important document delivered at Washington on Monday week, and for that we are indebted to the enterprise of Mr. LEVER and his coadjutors, and to the judicious support afforded by the Government, through Mr. G. A. HAMILTON, to the auspicious speculation. The Message is of a more satisfactory character than many of those by which it was preceded. It is mainly directed to domestic matters, and there cal be no doubt that there is great room for improve ment, and that the gentle hints thrown out by Mr. BUCHANAN may be turned to beneficial purpose. That, however, will depend on the disposition and feeling of the people. If they can be induced to pull cordially together, to abolish the odious slave system, or at least materially modify "the domestic institution," so that such atrocities as some think are of too frequent occurrence may no longer be possible, the Union may be maintained ; but if, on the other hand, the small party in the South can insult and outrage the feelings of those who are in everyrespect their superiors, there will be a defective link in the chain, and there must speedily be a separation when such discordant elements are con nected together. The American law is favourable to divorce. It allows it on mere incompatibility of temper, and it will be the like between States as between private persons. Mr. BUCHANAN foresees the difficulty, and he has endeavoured to avert it, but we fear that it will be beyond even his persua sive powers to accomplish the great desideratum. He wishes that the whole country "may compose one united nation, more populous, powerful, and free than any other that has ever existed" (!)—bu hints that the federacy may be rent asunder and divided into groups of hostile and jealous states, * * * or may possibly have remained united, and sought refuge under the shelter of one great and overshadowing despotism !" These are but too probable contingencies, and it has be come essential to warn the people against Permitting the liberty whichlthey enjoy to degenerate into licentiousness, or to tolerate laws unbecoming a nation of free men who have nobly protested that " every man is equal in the sight of the Deity." We are, of course, deeply interested in the manner in which great Britain is referred to in the Message. It is quite as well as could h a ve been anticipated. There is a gentle crow and a hearty chuckle at our definitive abandonment of the " right of search,"—. in which, however, it had been ascertained that we were not justified, even by our own laws —and also at the principle recognised at the Conference of Paris—that "free ships made free goods." These had been objects which the Government of the United States had long, but fruitlessly, endeavoured to accomplish, but which, having achieved, the PRESIDENT recommends that the concessions of England should be gracefully reciprocated, "by placing the odious and barbarous system of privateering under the ban of the law, and by maintaining on the coast of Africa, and in the seas around Cuba, squadrons sufficient to prevent the American flag from being used, as it now fre- A . . • 10 11 ` Mt' v•int, i• „2 - ;• 1' _e?'• ' 4• ' \ = O " ,-; `' .11 1 C 4 . 11ki st. ' .6 .6.11 1 Or 1, quently is, to cover the most detestable and iniqui tous traffic that has ever affected and outraged humanity," This is strong language, but .every word of it is to the point, and we rejoice to find that Mr. BUCHANAN takes so just a view of the slave-trade, which, through the cordial co-operation of Ame rica, may be completely annihilated. We have so often expressed our opinions on the subject of pri vateering, that it is scarcely necessary to repeat them. It is one so closely allied to piracy that almost any person who could engage in the one could easily be persuaded to enter into the other. We know that in the olden time, even within the present century, it was considered not only justifiable but praiseworthy, and that some conscientious men engaged in it. A sounder judgment has, however, since prevailed ; and we can congratulate not only Great Britain, but the whole of the civilised world, on the aboli tion of one of the terrible nuisances by which our ancestors were tormented. The difficulty with Paraguay, it is hoped, may be satisfactorily arranged, through the friendly offices of England and France. Mexico, however, must be prepared to indemnify the citizens of the United States for their losses, or to witness the occupation, and possibly the annexation, of a portion of her terri tory. A covetous eye is also directed towards Cuba, which it is desirable to purchase ; but the acquisition whereof seems to be looked for in the same way that King AHAB, or rather his Queen, obtained the vineyard of his neighbour. The MuNRo doctrine, as it has been termed, has been reasserted a very convenient one for " the States," but which must also be taken into account by other nations. It never has, and, we believe, never will, be recognised by Euro pean diplomatists ; and whatever may be the desire of the Cabinet of Washington, it cannot oppose its single will to the rest of the world. American messages should, however, be read with American spectacles, and, perhaps, like many other documents emanating from the same quarter, it may be found that " sayings and doings" are very different. The - enthusiasm of all classes, of all parties, colours, and creeds, appears to have been awakened in India by the Royal Proclamation. It is a happy augury that such should be instantaneously the unanimous reception accorded to the historical document inaugurating what some of the Hindoos have aptly designated the VICTORIA Era. That no prejudices should have been anywhere raised, that all opinions, however various, should have been simultaneously conciliated, must certainly be regarded as an incident in many respects remark able, in some altogether unprecedented. Here is a vast territory, numbering within its limits nearly one entire quarter of the human race—alien to our religious, social, and political systems—kept under our authority less by the arms of 100,000 fighting men (the QUEEN'S soldiers) than by the influence of our national character : suddenly declared an integral portion of the British Empire, after hav ing been, during the whole century last past, an insulated proconsulate, half governed by the CROWN, half by a mercantile Company ! Yet the transference of the sovereignty, or rather its entire absorption by the Crown, is so wisely and judiciously announced to the millions most deeply interested in the change effected, that the event is welcomed as the augury of a happy and glorious future for her Britannic MAJESTY'S Empire in Hindostan. Several of the most important sources of the popular enthusiasm awakened among the Hindoos by the Royal Proclamation deserves to be here especially particularised. They are matters, we conceive, in many respects of especial significance. The oriental imagination, as we remarked in these columns a few days since, appears to have been especially and powerfully impressed —nor, indeed, can this for one moment be wondered at—by the sublimity of thk literal and strictly accurate de signation of the English Sovereignty, which forms, as a matter of course, the preamble of this famous Proclamation. VICTORIA, by the Grace of GOD, QUEEN of the United King dom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of all the colonies and dependencies thereof in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Australasia : VICTORIA, by the Grace of GOD Monarch of this world-wide dominion, greeting her Asiatic subjects collectively, claims from them, through this his torical document, their future allegiance—the allegiance of nearly 200,000,000 souls ! Her Bri tannic MAJESTY having but very recently with a strong arm put down in a few months, crowned with victory upon victory, a disastrous and san guinary rebellion, asserts in no boastful mood, but with an awful consciousness of power—the will henceforth to maintain rigidly intact her Royal authority over all those vast dominions. Our Sovereign Lady accompanies this haughty assur ance to the population of her Asiatic empire with another, that mercy will temper justice in her treatment of the repentant participators in the late bloody insurrection. Beyond this, the people of India appear to have marked with pecu .ar wonder and satisfaction that the liabilities 01 the Company are accepted wholesale and retail by the Crown—to us a mere matter of course ;to the Eastern multitude a subject of admiration and astonishment. To the Hindoos—never was there such exalted honesty, such superb magnanimity. Even the bold but temperate re f erence made in the Proclamation of the SOVEREIGN to the future re- lations henceforth to subsist between Paganism and Christianism—has been accepted with one unani- mous and unconditional outburst of satisfaction Nothing, indeed, could be more auspicious altoge, ther than the one universl f ee li ng with which the Asiatic subjects of the Crown have welcomed tho establishment amongst them of the Royal authority of the SOVEREIGN. His Highness the Prince Carraccilo has taken his departure from the Brunswick Hotel, for Paris, en route for Rome. The Marquis of Hastings and Lady Constance Hastings, accompanied by Capt. Yelverton and the Hon. Barbara Yelverton, have left Wallace's Hotel, Hyde-park corner, for Willesley Hall, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, the seat of Mr. and Lady Edith Clifton. Baron Frederick de Grote has arrived at the Clarendon, from Paris. Capt. Barclay and Mrs. Barclay have arrived at Wallace's Hotel, Hyde-park-corner. The Right Hon. Sir John and Lady Pakington have left town for their seat, Westwood Park, Worcester shire. DEATH OF THE COUNTESS OF WILTON.—W, regret to announce the demise of this much-respected lady, who died on Thursday morning at Egerton Lodge, Melton Mowbray, after a brief illness, from an attack of typhus fever. The deceased lady was the youngest and only sur viving child of Edward, 12th Earl of Derby, by his second countess, Miss Eliza Farren, the celebrated actress. She married, in 1821, the present Earl of Wilton, by whom she leaves a family of two sons and three daughters. Few members of the aristocracy have enjoyed in a higher degree than the lamented countess the esteem and admiration of their compeers. In every relation of life her ladyship's conduct was unexceptionable ; and whether in the promo tion of any good public work, or in the more congenial duty of furthering the happiness and social comfort of her de pendents, the countess was ever foremost. Her loss will be keenly felt, not only by the members of her family, by whom she was affectionately beloved, but also by a very numerous tenantry, whose heartfelt regard has long been secured to her by the practice of virtues of a very benevol en t charac ter. The deceased countess, although junior in years, held the relation of aunt to the present Earl of Derby. THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 18, 185 g. LATEST NEWS. AMERICA. THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. GALWAY, DEC. 17. The Prince Albert has arrived at Galway from St. John's, Newfoundland. She sailed on the night of the 10th inst., and arrived off Arran Island last night, making the run from land to land in five days 161 hours. The Prince Albert brings telegraphic news from New York to the 10th, six days later than those per last arrival. The President's Message is mainly 'devoted to domestic topics. Regarding foreign relations, its language is peaceable, except with reference to Paraguay and Mexico. It expresses satisfaction at the abandonment of the right of search by Eng land, itnd announces that the present new Minister of Spain has full power to settle the Mexican ques tion. The President hopes the Liberals there will soon regain power and establish stable Government, otherwise the United States must take possession of a portion of that country to indemnify its citizens for losses. He proposes the military occupation by the United States of Sonora and Chihiagua to prevent hostile Indian incursions. " Cuba ought to belong to America," says the President, and he recommends its purchase. The Munro doctrine heretofore announced by Secretary Cass to be adhered to in Central America. Nego tiations are on foot for an anticipated settlement. The Paraguay difficulty will be settled without bloodshed. The President alludes to the co-opera tion of the American Minister with England and France in the Chinese treaty. He proposes to change the present tariff ad valorem to specific duties. The dates from California are to the 20th of November, via Tehuantepec. Business in San Francisco was improving. The down steamer Panama took 2,250,000 dots. specie. The ship Lucas, from Victoria, bound to Fras , River, was wrecked. Fifteen lives lost. BERMUDA, DEC. 1. The British barque Columbia, from Quebec, bound for Queenstown, was abandoned at sea ; the crew had arrived at St. George. The ships Cerro Gonda, from Liverpool, and the Star Queen from Calcutta, put into the same port leaky. The Prince Albert brings 180 passengers. She signalled the Pacific, of the same line, on the 14th inst., and the City of Washington on the 7th, off Cape Race. A despatch from Trebisond states that a serious affair took place in the early part of Nov. between the Russians and the Circassians in the neighbour hood of Anapa. A fort occupied by the former was carried, after a sanguinary combat, by the Circas sians, under the command of Ibrahim Pacha, son of Sefer Pacha. The Russian garrison, consisting of 200 men, were overpowered by numbers, and a large quantity of arms fell into the power of their assailants. It is understood that the Court of Saxony and those of some other German States have made advances with a view to bring about more cordial relations between Russia and Austria ; but it is doubtful that these efforts hare as yet produced any good result. The coolness between these two Courts is very great. sition of the legations, should form an exception, and that their entry be authorised. To maintain completely that custom in conformity with the exception agreed to, it is necessary that the size and strength of the vessels to which a passage is to be accorded shall be known, so that the same be clearly stated in the note of authorisation drawn out at the Porte. I beg that, you will always keep this regulation in view in future demands for au thorisation. " MElihmED FUAD." SHIPWRECKS IN THE ROYAL NAVY. It is no wonder that the " Shipwrecks in the Royal Navy" should ha ve reac h e d a th i rd ed i tion. It is a very simple and unpretending little book, but there could hardly be a more interesting one. Its fault, a fault almost inseparable from its plan, lies in a certain monotony which pervades it. Forty successive stories of shipwrecks rather pall upon the reader, especially as the main features of each story have a considerable resemblance to those of the rest ; but almost every account is in itself inte resting in the very highest degree, and when all are taken together, they combine to give an impres sion of heroism and of adventure which can hardly be equalled by any other work of the same kind with which we are 'acquainted. It is also due to the author, or rather to the compiler, Mr. Gilly, to say that the style of the book is very good. It has an air of candour and authenticity which to us is very winning : Between 1793 and 1857 no less than 424 ships of the Royal Navy were lost at sea. Mr. Gilly gives a table of these events, showing the size of the ships and the number of men lost. Some of them were•awful catastrophes, as, for example, the burn ing of the Queen Charlotte, of 100 guns, off Leg horn, when 673 men out of 859 were lost—the wreck of the St. George, of 98, and the Defence, of 74 guns, on the coast of Jutland, in December, 1811, out of whose crews, consisting together of 1,331 persons, 13 only were saved—and more ap palling than all, the destruction by lightning of the Resistance, of 44 guns, which was blown up in an instant, in the Straits of Banca, four men only surviving to tell the tale. Most of the calamities recorded by Mr. Gilly gave occasion for the display of the qualities of courage and subordination, though occasional instances of bad conduct are also to be met with ; and some of them brought to light a kind and degree of resource, endurance, and moral and physical courage altogether wonderful. We will give the substance of a few of these stories. The following is perhaps as striking a case as could be mentioned of the triumph of discipline an dpresence of mind :—ln 1804, the Hindostan store ship, of 64 guns, was sent out with supplies for Lord Nelson. On 2d April, at 7 a.m., about 13 leagues S.E. of Cape St. Sebasti' was discovered to be on fire. In ten minutes n +he fire was first discovered the deck, and the p or t s opened to g i ve light and room below. The boats were then got out and taken in tow, the marines being under arms with their muskets loaded with ball to prevent any person from entering them without orders. Till about noon, large numbers of men were employed in attempting to empty the magazine, in which duty they per sisted, although the smoke was so dense that many of them were taken up insensible. This occurred to Lieut. Banks no less than three several times. By degrees the men were driven on deck, and at last the fire burst through the hatchways, notwith standing all their efforts, and rose as high as the lower yards, but at about 5 p.m., after more than 10 hours of the most incessant and daring efforts, the ship made the shore, and was run aground in the; bay of Rosa s , w ithi n a m il e o f the beach. All the crew except five were save g... Discipline; per haps, never won a greater triumph. Lord Nelson said that the preservation of the crew seemed little short of a miracle, and that he had never read such a journal of exertions in his life. The fire was sup posed to have originb.ted in the spontaneous com bustion of some hemp. The awful nature of the catastrophes which sometimes occur at sea is - well illustrated by the loss of the St. George and Defence in a storm which took place off the coast of Jutland in December, 1811. The preceding month had been extremely tempestuous, and on the 15th the. St. George was overtaken at her moorings by a tremendous gale. All hands were summoned to give the ship cable, but, whilst they were veering it out, ,a large mer chantman drifted through the darkness against the bows áf the St. George, cut her cables, and instantly sank. The St. George drifted on to a sandbank, where she lost her rudder and all her masts, but she got off in the course of the next day, and reached Gothenburg in safety. After partially re pairing damages, she set off again with her convoy, and was again overtaken by a storm, and again driven on' to a shoal. The scene which ensued was horrible beyond all the horrors of sea-fights or even fires. The complement had originally been 750 men, but the wash of the sea and the falling of the masts rapidly reduced their number. " Mingled together were the living, the dying, and the dead. The bodies were piled up by the survivors in rows one above another as a shelter from the violence of the waves which broke over them." In the midst of all this misery discipline still prevailed. Three or four of the men asked leave to try to reach the shore in the yawl. It was at first granted, but afterwards recalled, and the men were directed to return to their posts. They did so without a murmur. Seven men only were saved, being washed on shore by the waves. All the rest were lost. The Defence, of 74 guns, and the Cressy were in company with the St. George ; and when the St. George went on shore, the Cressy, seeing that it was impossible to give her any assistance, veered and stood off to the southward, by which she was saved. The captain of the Defence, with romantic heroism, refused to follow the example of the Cressy, because " the admiral had not made the signal to part company." The consequence was that the Defence shared the fate of the St. George. She struck; the guns broke loose, killing and maiming the crew; a spare anchor was thrown up on end by a sea, and falling on the forecastle killed about thirty men, and ultimately the whole of the officers and men, except six persons, perished. The loss of the Saldanha frigate, on the 3d of Dec., 1811, is perhaps even more striking. On that day a tremendous storm broke on the east coast of Irelan'd. The Saldanha had been sent from Cork to relieve the Endymion at Lough Swilly. "About ten at night, through the darkness and storm, a light was seen from the signal towers passing ra pidly up the lough, the gale at the time blowing heavily right into the harbour." Next morning the Saldanha was discovered a complete wreck at a place called Ballyna Stokerbay. Every soul on board had perished. In the August of the follow ing year a gentleman's servant shot a parrot in a tree near Byrt. It had round its neck a gold ring, with the inscription "Capt. Pakenham, H.M:S. Saldanha." The stories of individual gallantry contained in the little book before us are, • perhaps, the most pleasing part of its contents. They are very nume rous, and all of the: have a strong family likeness. The most wonderful of all is unquestionably one which relates to the fate of Lieut. Smith, who com manded the Magpie sloop. She was sunk by a hurricane off the coast of Cuba, at nine p.m. on the 27th of August, 1826. A gunner's mate named Meldrum swam off as the ship sank, and after swimming about for a time, hearing voices in the darkness, foUnd Lieut. Smith and six others cling ing to a boat which was floating keel uppermost in the water. Lieut. Smith gave orders, which were promptly obeyed, to get the boat righted, and the men got in to bale her out. Whilst thus engaged an alarm was given that sharks were coming, on which the men lost their presence of mind, capsized the boat, and more than one was drowned in the confusion. Lieut. Smith still retained his self-possession, and persuaded them to recommence their 'operations, and by ten in the morning, after thirteen hours passed in the water, the boat was 'nearly cleared. Just at this moment the sharks did really come. For a few minutes they rubbed against the men without hurting them, but soon two men were seized. Lieut. Smith still cheered on the remainder to provide for their safety, but whilst he did so one of his own legs was biten off. He restrained him self from any exclamation for fear of discouraging the men, when the second leg was bitt en off, just as the sailors cleared the boat and raised him into it. When placed in the boat he gave a message to the admiral, about the loss of the sloop, to be de livered by the survivors, and said, "I have but one favour to ask, and that is, that he will promote Meldrum to be a gunner." After a time the boat was again 'upset on another alarm of sharks, and Lieut. Smith was released from his tortures by drowning. More heroic fortitude is nowhere re corded. The survivors contrived to right the boat again, but two of them jumped overboard in deli. rium. The other two were ultimately rescued. Meldrum saw a brig within about half a mile of the boat, swam towards her, and was taken up. Mr. MaClean, his companion, was living in 1857, and was then a lieutenant in the coast-guard. The wonderful fortitude of Lieut. Smith was per haps equalled, or almost excelled, if possible, by the heroic self-devotion of Capt. Baker, of the Drake, a 10-gun brig, whi c h was l os t on the coast of New foundland on the 20th June, 1822. She struck at the foot of some c liff s which the boatswain suc ceeded in reaching with a rope. The ship was thrown by the force of the sea close to an isolated rock, between which and the cliff a communication was established by means of the rope. Capt. Baker ordered the men to leave the ship for the rock, which they refused to do unless he would go first. He , insisted, however, that they should do so, and was the last man to leave the wreck. When they reached the rock, it was found that it would be shortly covered by the tide. Capt. Baker again refused to leave the rock whilst a single man re mained upon it. He stood by the rope, and each man in turn passed to the shore as he gave the word. No man offered to move till he was ordered, and each in turn pressed his commander to precede him. Forty-four out of fifty persons succeeded in passing safely. Of the remaining six one was a woman, and one of the sailors offered to carry her across, The rope broke under the double burden, -- ADULTERATION OF EGGS..__ he public has latel heard much about the adulteration of various kinds of food, and yet it is not aware that a large proportion of the eggs that are now being eaten in London are what is called by the cheesemongers "pickled eggs." - This "pickling" is done during summer, while eggs are at a low price, mixing lime and water in casks and filling the casks with eggs, permitting them to lie four or six months in this hot lime mixture, thus destroying all the natural flavour and nutritive power of the eggs, rendering them insipid to the taste and impregn a t e d with 'a strong deco c ti on of lime, which is injurious to the stomach. Pickled eggs look very white and clean, resem bling new laid eggs , and are sold in winter, when good fresh eggs are scarc e and dear. They may be known by the fol lowing signs :--The feel of the shell is rough, from some times part of th e li me no t h av i ng been quite washed off; they feel cold and damp, as the lifesof the eggs is destroyed and partly wasted inside, where a good egg is always dry to the touch, life existing in it. Through lime-gas in pickled eggs they often burst when put into boiling water, and will always be found partly empty, or with a few drops of lime-water In them, when cooked. FRANCE. PARIS, FRIDAY. It is said that a contract has been signed between the Marine Department and, a firm at Marseilles _ _ _ to supply the islands of Guadaloupe and Martinique with 20,000 free Africans suited for agricultural labour before the Ist of January, 18G3, and that similar contracts have been entered into with other houses, which Prince Napoleon, as Minister of the Colonies, is resolved to avail himself of. The officer late in command of the Antelope steam cutter is to be tried by Court Martial at Cherbourg for the loss of that vessel. There is hardly any doubt, however, of his acquittal, as his testimonials of his professional skill are said to be excellent. The illoniteur publishes a report to the Emperor from the Prince Minister of Algeria, recommend ing the re-constitution of the Imperial Court of Algiers, and the assimilation of it, as regards the number of chambers and their attributions, to the same courts in the mother country. The report is followed by decrees carrying out the above sugges tions, and making the promotions and nominations necessary for carrying them into execution. BOURSE, Dec. 17.—The market at the opening was rather buoyant, with an advance on yesterday's quotations, but transactions were limited. Threes have been done at from 73f. 35c. to 73f. 45c. ; Mobi lier, 985 f. to 992 f. 50c. ; Austrian, 646 f. 25c. to 647 f. 50c.; Orleans, 1,395 f. to 1,400 f. ; Northern, 1,005 f, to 1,010 f.; Lyons, 885 f. to 890 f.; and Southern, 587 f. 50c. to 590 f. The market was dull towards the close, when the following were the last quota- aons: • 41 per Cents. .... 96 80 Credit Foncier 60 Do. end month .. 97 10 Belgian 4f . 99k 3 per Cents. 73 20 Piedmonteso (5) 94 Do. end month.... 73 35 Roman 93 Bank Shares...... 3145 Austrian Credit Mobilier 987 JO Spanish Threes Do. Account] 900 .Homo Debt 43 50 RAILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans Northern New ditto 847 50 .. 845 Lyons and Mediterranean BB5 . 882 50 New ditto — Geneva — Midi -- Southern .. 587 50 Western 607 50 .. 605 Eastern Grand Central Sardinian 415 .. 420 Austrian Exchange on London, at sight, paper, 25f. 12}c. ; money, 25f. 10c. ; three months, paper, 24f. 97i0. ; money, 24f. 95c. . . 621 25 RUSSIA. A St. Petersburg letter of the Bth says The Russian representative at the Austrian Court, M. de Balabine, has certainly been sent to Vienna only on a private mission, as some journals have stated. As long as Austria hesitates to accredit a minister to this Court, M. de Balabine will have no other title ; but when Austria shall have made a choice, he will be named Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. A tendency is also noticed on the part of Austria to come to more in timate relations with this Court ; at least the ap proaching arrival of Baron Werner, Austrian Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs, is regarded in that light. The immediate cause of the baron's voyage is the difficulty experienced in the conclu sion of a treaty of commerce with Austria—a diffi culty which he hopes to remove ; but his mission, it is said, is not to end there, as he is to endeavour to improve the relations between two powers." TURKEY. An official correspondence having been lately exchanged between Mehemed Pacha, Minister of Foreign Affairs ad interim, the Legation of the United States of America, and the great maritime Powers, relative to the passage of the Dardanelles by the Wabash steam frigate, the following note has been addressed to all the Legations : " 10th Rebuil-Akihir, 1275. "As you are aware, an ancient custom of the Ottoman Government interdicts foreign vessels of war from entering the Dardanelles. That custom having been confirmed by the Treaty of Peace signed at Paris on 30th March, 1856, it was agreed that light vessels of war, remaining at the olispo- DENMARK. A Copenhagen letter of the 12th states The Second Chamber of Denmark has definitively voted the State budget for 1859. The receipts are 6,147,000 thalers, and the expenditure, 3,260,000 thalers. The common expenses being under the control of the Supreme Council, a deputy proposed that the ex penditure of Denmark per se should be submitted to the control of the Diet of the kingdom. The Ministers strongly opposed the proposition, the adoption of which would be, they said, a condemna tion of the common monarchy ; they also gave it to be understood that a vote in favour of the motion would lead either to the retirement of the Ministry or to the dissolution of the Diet. In consequence, the proposition was withdrawn. The First Cham ber voted the first reading of the bill relative to the budget. The session will close before Christ mas." A communication from Frankfort gives some details relative to the intentions of the Diet in the Danish question : " The Assembly has laid down the principle not to interfere in the propositions which the King of Denmark may think proper to transmit to the States of Holstein. The Danish Government will thus have its hands free, and no pressure will be exercised on the part of the Germanic Confedera tion. This new position created for Denmark by the committees of the Diet, in favour of the dynastic principle, appeared to all the delegates the most rational mode of enabling it to release itself from the embarrassment in which it is placed on both sides. The Diet appears also to have de cided in the same sitting not to send any commis sioner into the duchies during the session of the States. Up to the present time no one knows the nature of the propositions which Denmark is pre paring to submit to the States, but under any cir cumstances they will be connected with the changes to be made in the first six and principal articles of the special Constitution of 1854." ITALY. A letter from Rome. of the 14th says :—" It is thought possible that there may be two cardinals nominated at the consistory of the 20th, one for Rome and the other for America. If that should be the case, it will be the first time that America will have had a cardinal. The persons generally mentioned are the Auditor of the Chamber and the Archbishop of Baltimore. The Pope has ordered prayers to be offered up for the success of the French and Spanish armies in Cochin China. The Giornale di Roma in its official part speaks of the expedition in terms very,flattering to France." GREAT SALE OF SERMONS.—NearIy eight thou sand copies of the Rev. Dr. Guthrie's new volume of ser mons were sold to the trade on. the day of publication. WRECK OF A PORTUGUESE SCHOONER AT YAR MOUTH.—TRIIRSDAY.—Late last night the Portuguese schooner Profita, from Leith to Lisbon with coals, was ob served on the Scroby Sands. The Caistor life boat, which belongs to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, having been manned and launched, gallantly put off to her assist ance, and soon succeeded in reaching the wreck, and in taking off its exhausted crew of eleven men, who, in the absence of the lifeboat's timely help would all probably have met with a watery grave on this dangerous sandbank. As it was, one poor fellow, a black man, died from his long exposure soon after ho had been landed. The lifeboat's crew were engaged in their good work from ten o'clock at night until two the next morning, and ,the service is con sidered to be one of the most spirited ever performed by the Caistor lifeboat. A POLICEMAN SHOT.-4 policeman has been shot at Swalwell, under peculiar circumstances. It appears that on Wednesday morning two policemen proceeded with a warrant to the house of a young man, named Norval, who resides with his father at Swalwell, for the purpose of apprehending him for being in arrears of p a y men t un d er an affiliation orde r . At the time when the policemen cause up, Norval and his brother were in the same room and Norval, who is kno wn as a sportsman, said—in a kind of joke it is to be hoped—he would shoot the officer with his gun if he attempted to take him. He immediately, how ever, laid down the gun, and his brother took it up, and by some means or other, in the confusion incident on the arrest, it wen/off, and shot one of the policemen in the leg. Both men were immediately arrested, and having been taken before the magistrate on the charge were committed. SHOCKING DEATH THROUGH STEALING RUM.— A seaman, named George Johns, met his death the other evening, at Gloucester, through his clothes catching fire while stealing rum. The deceased was one of the crew of the Shamrock schooner, lying in the Gloucester Docks, alongside another schooner named the Eliza, which had a cargo of rum. He took a tea-kettle and a gimlet, and with the latter he bored a hole in one of the rum puncheons, but as the liquor did not run out sufficiently fast, he bored a vent hole in the top of the cask, and endeavoured to catch it in the kettle. rt, however, spirted over him, saturating his clothes l and as he had a light with him speedily became enveloped in flames. He rushed frantically on deck, and endeavoured to escape to his ship, a part of which he set on. fire. The captain, who was below, was aroused by the noise, and the flames were extinguished, but the man was found to be insensible, and shockingly burnt. He lingered in great agony' until the next evening, when he expired. FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT IN THE VICTORIA Do cxs.—This morning, at half -past 10, a frightful acci dent, which it is feared will t erminate fatally, occurred at the seaabve extensive docks. A. labourer, named Roberts, who remarkably active and powerful man, was em ployed in unloading a vessel, now discharging her cargo. The cargo was very nearly out, and of course there was a considerable depth in the hold, it being nearly empty. The injured man caught his foot against a spar lying on the deck, and before he could raise himself he fell , headleng down the hold, a depth of nearly 40 feet. Being a heavy man, he descended with fearful velocity, and reached the bottom frightfully crushed and mutilated. He was speedily brought out and conveyed to a neighbouring surgeon's, but no hopes are entertained of his recovery. HORRIBLE DEATH IN THE FoG. - --During the dense fog which prevailed on Tuesday evening last, an ac cident of a shocking nature occurred to an old man at Hill Top, in South Staffordshire. The deceased, whose name was John Lawrence, and who was aged 74, was employed as watchman at the colliery of Mr. Hartland. At 5 o'clock he was going his rounds, and n one of his master's pits, when, in wonasthneeae tonin thgetoquutehstoiof consequence of the thick mist which sur roun d e d t h e spot, Pnd t en shaft, and fell into th e pit. he body in its fall bounded roefc great depth, o a h ale fa shaft il tios and rebounded against the sides of` the shaft, until upon reaching the bottom life was quite extinct and the corpse dreadfully mutilated. At the time of the accident the de ceased had a son and a grandson working in the pit, and it was at their feet that his mangled corpse fell.—Manchester Guardian. THE SHIFTING SANDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. —M. Marcel de Serres, a learned geologist of Montpelier, has just communicated to the Academy of Sciences some curious facts concerning the "dunes," or shifting sands existing on the French M editerranean coasts. These sands, it must be underst oo d , are first thrown upon the shore by the sea ; when dry, thfy are carried inland by the winds, to the distance of several kilometres, covering fields and vineyards to the depth of bee or three feet, suffocating vegetation, and transforming th e richest cultivation into a desert waste. The only effected means of counteracting this evil is to plant tamarisks along the coast so as to form a barrier; but instances are frequent where neither plantations nor walls have been sufficient to prevent the sands from covering roads and fields. Last August, two houses, several stories high, about a mile from Agde (Hdrault), were cempletely buried under the sands. The houses happened to be uninhabited at the time, so that no lives were lo s t : and f ortunately, a north wind succeeded to the opposite one iihich had brought the sands, and blew them away again. M, Marcel de Serres, in study ing this phenomenon, has discovered that these shifting sands form two distinct zones; the first, Consisting of very fine sand, contains very few shells or other organic matter ; the second, on the contrary, ecntains a large proportion of shells, round shingles, and fr2gments of rock. This second zone remains near the coast ; the former one, on the con trary, is carried inland as b e f ore stated. Notwithstanding, their disastrous effect, these sands when mixed with rich mould make an excellent soil for growing the vine. MINES.—The mining share market, notwith standing a heavy settling duin— e the week, has continued in a very buoyant state, and, apart from a few fluctuations in prices, business transactions may be regarded as of a satisfactory character. East Basset, through reports cir culated early in the week of failures in the 80 fm. level, re ceded to 150, sellers, but aft erwards rose to 1571 1621, and in demand ; the latest report we have seen values the 80 west at £lOO per fin.; th e 80 east, £BO per fm. ; the winze below the 60, £6O per fm. ; th e stopes i n the b ottom of the 60, £6O perfm. West Stray Park shares have risen to 5, 51; the silver lode of North Dolcoath having, it is said, been met with in the north part of the sett. East -Rosewarne, after receding to I rose suddenly to and left off at 1, 1. Bunten, 101 to 11k, and good business doing ; the lode has improved to £l2O per fin. ; in our last an error occurred—instead of " mine rather improved," which, as a correspondent says, is not saying much, we wrote "mine further improved." West Caradon shares have been in request, at 130 to 135; South Caradon, 405 to 410; South Caradon Wheal Hooper, to ; Ludcott, 2k to 21 ; Gonamena, 8 to 81; Craddock Moor, 28 to 30.-1 ining Journal of this day. The" Times, in a recent "leader," very properly compares Regent-street to a constant and perpetually re curring exposition of all that is grand in the manufactures of Europe. Wealth, directed by good taste, brings to its windows and its salons the finest and rarest products of the world. Amongst the most recent of such novelties are the exquisite cabinets, ink-stands, and ornaments for the writ ing-table, fabricated in Thraya=wood, from Algeria, the exclusive supply of which has been secured by Mr. T. A. Simpson and Co., to give an additional grace and attraction to their vast collection of beautiful. objects of art, at the corner of Beak-street. The boudoir of the Empress of the French is entirely fitted with this wood. Strange, indeed, is the reflection that, perhaps, a noble of the last regime, felled and rough-hewed the very tree that is destined to receive its polish from the hands of an humble, but free, English artizan i—Vnied Service. and almost immediately aferwards Capt. Baker, with the survivors, was washed from the rock, notwithstanding the desperate efforts of the crew on the cliffs to reach them. We may add a single specimen of the curious anecdotes in which this interesting little book abounds. The following is from the account of the wreck of the Minotaur :—The fate of Lieut. Sals ford was distinguished by a singular circumstance. A large tame wolf, caught at Aspro, and brought up from a cub by the ship's company, and exceed ingly docile, continued to the last an object of general solicitude. Sensible of its danger, its howls were peculiarly distressing. It had always been greatly attached to the lieutenant, and through the whole of their sufferings he kept closilo his mas ter. On the breaking-up of the ship, both got upon the mast. At times they were washed off, but by each other's assistance regained it. The lieutenant at last became exhausted by continual exertions, and benumbed with cold. The wolf was equally fatigued, and both held occasionally by the other to regain his situation. When within a short distance of the land, Lieut. Salsford, affected by the attachment of the animal, and totally unable any longer to support himself, turned towards him from the mast, the beast clapped his forepaws round his neck, while the lieutenant clasped him in his arms, and they sank together.—Saturday Review. EAST INDIA COMPANY.—At a Court of Directors held on Wednesday, the 15th inst., Colonel Sykes, M.P., was unanimously elected chairman. The Peninsular and Oriental steamer Indus, to sail on Mondayfor the East, will take out silver to the amount of £324,262, of which £lO,OOO is for Ceylon, £120,900 for India, and £193,362 for China and the Straits. Silver continues in demand, and a further supply from Mexico will not be due till the Ist of January by the Atrato. The deficiency in the receipts from Mexico this year, consequent, it is believed, solely upon the anarchy which has desolated the country and prevented the possi bility of transmission, now amounts to more than £1,700,000. The Pera, with the heavy portion of the China and Calcutta mails, having lost her screw just after leaving Gibraltar her mails andpassengerswillbe brought toSouth ampten by the Peninsular steamer Alhambra, and will therefore arrive about the 23d inst., instead of the 20th, when the Pera would have been due. As the Pera has a valuable cargo, including .4600 bales of silk, the Ripon has been sent to tow her home. ENFILINCF-sElms:Lor-Do Silit stand that - ICfr...W. Marratt, secretary to the Doncaster Reform Association, has called a preliminary meeting of the gentlemdn who are in favour of the Parliamentary represgttation of Doncaster, for the purpose of bringinc , the claimstf the borough befo re the existing Government,. and also of expressing the sentiments of the inhabitants of the town on the subject of reform generally. SINGULAR ESCAPE.—On Tuesday night, as a man named Robert Wilcockson, in 'the employ of Messrs. Barber, Walker, & Co., was attending to bis duties at the Underwood Colliery, in placing the trams on the top of the shaft, he inadvertently put the tram on the wrong side, and was precipitated in consequence down the pit, a depth of 200 yards. Providentially, catching hold of the rope at the commencement of the descent, he slid down to the bottom without any harm, and returned to his employment on the surface as coolly as can well be conceived.—Nottingham Review. A MEMORIAL OF WALLACE, THE SCOTTISH HERO, FOR WESTMINSTER HALLe—WalleCe was tried in the "great hall" at Westminster in the year 1305. It may be that the subject was not honourable to England, more particularly considering what was the issue of that trial ; but if illustrations of history should be as truthful in their impressions as history itself, it would be a sin of omission to leave out an appropriate subject on the sole ground of its not flattering our national vanity. Indeed, the emphasizing the event by a great picture, as a memorial of honour to Wallace, would be one of the few modes now left to us of lessening the disgraceful stain it lea ves i n our arc hi ves, an d at any rate it affords us the opportunity of expressing our present sense of it.—The Builder. THE LAST MALE REPRESENTATIVE OF• SIR WALTER SCOTT.—The death of the only son of Mr. Hope Scott, Q.C., is announced. This interesting child was the only living male descendant of his illustrious great grand father, Sir Walter Scott, whose name he bore. He was only a year and a half old, and has survived his mother, the poet's granddaughter, little more th an s i x weeks. An infant sister died a fortnight ago. Only one little girl re mains to bear the great name of which she is the sole sur viving representative.—Scotsman. Rome is beginning to assume the gay aspect which it always wears when the hotels are full and the carnival is approaching. Amidst the most recent visitors are the Arch dune Louis of Austria, Lord and Lady Lismore Captain Aubrey de Vere, Mr. and the Hon. M rs . J. G. Marshall, the Earl and Countess of Sheffield, the lion. Douglas Hol royd, Col. Sir Wm. Davis and family, Sir John and Lady Duckworth and family, Lady Mordaunt and family, the Hon. James F. Stuart Wortley, Hon. Mr. and Lady Chi.. chester and family, Princess Durousoff and family, Prince and Princess Wertheim, Prince and Princess Camporeale, Count Stroganoff, and a host more of titled dignitaries from various parts of the Continent. " UNCLE TOM'S CABIN" " TRANSLATED" IN ROME.—A letter from Rome in the Independance of Brus sels"states that a translation of Uncle Tom's Cabin has just been published in that city, but that the Protestant senti ments expressed in the work have been changed into Romish ones. Thus, the reason assigned for the cruel whipping of Tom by the ferocious Le Gree is that Tom be lieved in the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. DR. RAE ON ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS.—A lecture illustrative of life in the hyperborean regions was delivered at Niblo's Saloon last evening (Nov. 26) by Dr. Rae, the gentleman who has been made famous by the discovery of certain relics of. Sir John Franklin. The lecture was de livered under the auspices of the Geographical and Statis tical-Society, and the audience was as large as the saloon would admit. The lecturer described the manner of the formation of icebergs, narrated his several northern jour neys, related interesting anecdotes connected with his own experience and observations, and gave a thrilling account of his discovery of relics of Franklin's party. These relics were exhibited, and excited deep interest. --New York .Evening Post. COMMUTATION OF SENTENCES.—At the last ses sions of the Central Criminal Court it may be recollected that an old man, 63 years of age, named Edward Mark Council, was found guilty, and sentenced to death, for feloniously shooting at and wounding William James Budd, an inspector of police. The convict has had his sentence commuted, and has been ordered to undergo penal servitude for life. John gennessy, convicted at the same sessions, of a robbery witholence, by wounding John Avis; and who was also sentenced to death, has had his sentence commuted, and he is ordered to undergo ten years' penal servitude CAUTION TO LADIES.-•-A shocking accident oc curred on the Ilth inst., resulting in the death of Mrs. Eckett, ewidow, residing in Arboretum-street, Derby. It appears that Mrs. Eckett, having put her two you nges t children to bed, was dressing her hair by a glass over the chimneypiece about 9 o'clock when her dress, which was muslin, and expanded in the dangerous fashion of the day, was drawn towards the fire and ignited. Attempts were made to envelop her in the hearthrug and table-cover, but she threw them off and rushed into the street, screaming fearfully; the draught, of course, added to the intensity of the fire, and before the neighbours, who were alarmed by her screams and hastened to assist in extinguishing the flames, could succeed in doing so, she was burnt in nearly every part of her body. Every attention was paid to the sufferer, but she gradually sunk from, the injuries inflicted and the shock sustained by the system.—Derbyshire Advertiser. JUSTICE IN RUSSIA.—A St. Petersburg letter, in the Emancipation, of Brussels, relates the following curi ous story :—" Prince Leon Kotchoubey, of a rich and ancient family, a man of imperious character, had long em ployed as his land agent an Austrian named Saltzmann. About a year ago, when they were alone together in the Prince's cabinet, a warm discussion arose about some ac counts. A pistol was suddenly fired, which wounded the agent in the side. When some of the household rushed in to see what had taken place the Prince accused Salts mann of having fired the pistol at himself in a spirit of revenge and to drag the Prince into a criminal trial. On the other hand the agent asserted that Prince 'icon had fired at him in a fit of rage. The medical men who were called in declared that the wound could not have been produced by the man's own act. The case came before a police tribunal, presided over by a Gene ral Pool. The influence brought to bear on the court led to a declaration that the Prince was innocent, and the unfcrfimate Saltzmants., being declared guilty of wounding himself,. was thrown into prison. The sentence, in due time, received the confirmation of the Governor of St. Petersburg, and the affair seemed at an end. The wife of the imprisoned man, however, was a woman of energy, and she went about from door to door with her four young children, imploring every one to aid her in obtaining jus tice. She was at last called to Tsarskee Selo, and also im prisoned, leaving the children to be provided for by any one who might have pity on them. Public rumour brought the case to the knowledge of the Emperor, and he ordered an inquiry to be instituted by th e Senate, whose decision no one doubts of. The following are said to be its disposi tion s:-1. Saltzmann, having been unjustly condemned, has a right to fix the indemnity which the Prince should pay him; secondly, the governor who confirmed the sen tence cannot be reached in his person, as he is dead, but his memory shall be branded with reprobation ; and, thirdly, General Pool is to be tried for injustice, and his two assistants in the affair shall be similarly treated." THE COLLISION AND Loss OF LIFE IN THE CLYDE.—The Shipping Gazette gives the following parti culars relative to this collision. About a quarter-past two a.m., the tug-steamer Glowworm, (not Glendower, as stated yesterday), belonging to the Glasgow Underwriters' Asso ciation, was coming in the channel, about two miles outside the Cumbraes, and at the same time the tug-steamer Champion, belonging to the Greenock Towing Company, was going out, when, by some misunderstanding, they ran direct into each other, and almost immediately after the Champion went down. There were seven men on board at the time, and they all got on deck, and contrived to get out the steamer's boat, but the boat being small she c a p s i ze d , and they were left struggling in the sea. In the meantime the Glowworm had put round, and sent her boat in search of the drowning men, but only three were picked up, viz., Daniel M'Bride, pilot ;, Hector M'Neill, a deck hand ; and Neil Logan, one of the firemen. The other four must have sunk. Their names are—Alexander Storms, master' Thos. Cron, engineer; John Sommerville, fireman; and John M'Donald, a deck hand. These poor men were all married, and have left wivesend THE MURDER NEAR NOTTINGHAM, NOTTINGHAM, Fricity. The inquest upon the body of Mr. John Weee' head was held yesterday afternoon at Bulwell,near, Nottingham. Since Wednesday several importaeb particulars have come to light. A short time before the assault, which resulted in the death of Mr. Woodhead, a number of persons were drinking in his house. The deceased, hearing some one in his bedroom, went upstairs, and seeing a man there he seized hold of him, and a struggle ensued. whilst at the top of the stairs he received the blow on his head which caused his death. Before the unfortunate man died, he was unable , to state whether the blow he received had been aimed at him by the man with whom lie had the altercation in the bedroom, or whether it was from some one behind. A witness, named John Hollingworth, said he known the deceased for 20 years. He lived seP l2.- rate from his wife, allowing her the rent of some houses for her maintenance. Witness was at the Masons' Arms (kept by the deceased), on Tuesday' night. In the room w h ere h e sa t were Josepla• Lomas, John West, three other men, and the land lord. West was singing a song : he wore a dark coloured cap. Woodhead served him with ale, and shortly afterwards went upstairs. Witness beard him exclaim, " Here, here." It was in a faint tone, so that he could not distinctly hear what he said? Instantly afterwards he heard a lumbering noise oil the stairs. Witness rushed out of the tap-room, followed by West, into the passage towards th e street door. As it was dark he returned to the roe ° fora light. He then went and found Woodhead lying on his side on the floor at the bottom of the stairs; Witness picked up a cap lying close to him, and gave it to a man named Read, telling kim to tak?, care of it. He was not a war e that the cap found on the floor had been worn by any of the men in the tap-rooms. (The cap was then produced and iden tified by witness.) There was a pool of blood wh ere deceased was found lying. Deceased apps' insensible when witness got to him, but while bell removed he spoke. Witness could not distinctly' hear what he said, as the sight of the blood and the mangled state of the body made him ill. Fre lll the moment of going into the tap-room , r 4 4 ". hegra no one in .bl!. Witness itiought that no one he saw in the tap-room had coal' mitted the assault. Two of witness's neighbours , named Hall and West, had left home on accotal of the transaction. Witness thought he hear; something rush along the passage after decease; fell down stairs, and witness thought that if he had had a light whenhe firstlwent out into the passage? he should have seen what it was. He would swear that he had no knowledge beforehand that there was going to be an attempt to rob the house, and did not know whether the cap belonged to a mad named Hall, who had absconded. Another witness, named Read, deposed to having seen the landlord leave the room, and hearing lumber up stairs, a kind of shout for help, and thena noise as if two men had fall e n d own stairs. The, shout was from Woodhead, who said, " Stop him; or something like that. Witness and the rest of the company instantly rushed out of the tap-room! and saw a man go out of the front door into the street ; he was going very swiftly, and had neither cap nor hat on. Witness could not distinguish who he was, but believed he wore black clothes. No attempt was made to go after him, as it was very dark night. A surgeon was sent for, and deceased, in answer to a question put to him as to who had struck hiel? said, " It was a man who has been here to-day . ba: done it • if I could see him I could swear to him. Deceased also said the man was behind some malt" bags. The inquest was adjourned for a fortnight. It is stated that two persons have been arrested on suspicion, and w ill b e b roug ht b e f ore th e magma' trates this day (Friday). MURDER OF A NORTH SEA PILOT. In the early part of November the newspapers gave an account of the body of a man, apparently a master of a ship, or a North Sea pilot, having been picked up in Westgate Bay, near Margate', murdered, with four stabs u n d er th e r ib s , one 01 which had taken away his life. The report also stated that the legs of the murdered man had been tied, and the body had been weighted with stones_ to make it sink. The body had the appearance of having been about a month in the water, and it vivo thought that the person had been murdered on board a vessel off the coast, and thrown overboard' and that the heavy gales that had prevailed bad drifted it up on the shore. The body was that of a middle-aged man ; and a full description of it and of the dress that had been worn by the man was sent to all the principal seaports in the north Of England. However, as no one supposed to have been murdered was missing, the mystery was not cleared up. The North Sea pilots who subse quently took vessels up to the Downs were told by the people on the coast that it was the general impression that the murdered man must have been a North Sea pilot ; and some persons who had seen the body gave it as their impression that they had seen the person alive acting hn that capacity. One of th e pil o t s , M r . F os t er , u rged by these remarks, had the curiosity to go to the po lice-station at Sandwich, and examine the clothes- Upon looking at the trousers, he was strongly im pressed that they belonged to Mr John Halcrow" North Sea pilot, of North Shields, whom it Wag conjectured had been lost with the Tuscan bark Zemira, on the 7th Oct., on the Newcombe Sands' off the Suffolk coast, when it was stated that he and. the master and two of the crew were drowned. The great difficulty was to reconcile the fact of the loss of the vessel with the finding of the body so far south of where she was wrecked, But, upon the arrival of Mr. Foster in the north this week, the description of the clothing found upon the body was submitted to the widow and family of Mr. Halcrow, and they immediately discovered a resem blance between them and those that would be worn by the unfortunate man when he was at sea. " was marked upon Mr. Halcrow's drawers and flannel shirt, and these marks corresponded with some on the dress of the murdered man. A pair of blue worsted stockings was taken off the feet of the murdered man, which the handbills giving the in formation of the murder stated had "B. D. marked upon them. "My husband," said Mrs. Halcrow to the river police, who made inquiries of her, " when he proceeded to sea, had on a pair of blue stockings, which he had borrowed of a mat e of a ship on a:former voyage to the Downs ; but those stockings were marked " D. 8," Upon com municating with the police au th o rities in Kent, our Tyne police ascertain that " 8.D." is a mis print in the bill, and that the letters on the stockings are "D. 8." A pocketbook was also found upon the body of the murdered man which contained various bearings of the west coast of England. A leaf of this pocketbook has been sent down to Shields, and Mrs. Halcrow distinctly and decidedly states that the writing is that of her husband. This seems convincing proof of the iden tity ; but we understand that one of Mr. Halcrow's family will proceed immediately to Kent to examine the clothes. If the identity of the body as that of Mr. Halcrow be established it would seem that the vessel had arrived in safety in the Downs after a . quick passage from Shields, and that for some reason the unfortunate pilot must have been cruelly assassinated, and his body, after being loaded with stones, thrown into the sea. Immediately following his murder, or at the time it is conjectured that he was murdered; the vessel encountered a fearful gale from the S.S.W., and was obliged to run north again. Being without a head on board, and ignorant of the coast, the vessel was run upon the fearful Newcombe Sands, and was immediately broken to pieces. The mate and seven of the crew were rescued by the Pakefield lifeboat, floating on pieces of the wreck. The master and two of the crew, and it was reported by the survivors, the pilot, were drowned. The men have departed to their own country, but there is little doubt that if the clothes are identified as those of poor Halcrow means will be adopted to bring the men back to justice. The widow of Mr. Hal crow is left in a very destitute condition. She is expected to be confined of her ninth child in about a month's time.—Manchester (Guardian of yester day. THE SANITARY CONDITION OF WINDSOR.--Mr. Austin has reported the results of his inspection of the town of Windsor in reference to its sanitary condition, it having been supposed that it was such as to be prejudicial to health. After going fully into the subjects of the water supply, drainage, and ventilation of the sewers, in the town gene rally, he says " The principal part of the C as tl e being drained.quite distinctly from the town sewers is apparently safe from any contamination arising from the present great depth of these works, but two other portions of the Castle buildings, the Royal Mews on one side and the Horseshoe Cloisters on the other, are drained into the town sewers, and being about the highest point of the whole system must be especially exposed to danger until proper means of ventila tion shall be generally provided." In 'addition to the ge neral defect of a want of ventilation in the drains, several nuisances exist in the town—pigstys, dungheaps, neglected surfaces, and deposits in gulleys. He considered these de fects arose from the employment of incompetent services in the superintendence of the house drainage of the town, and of the want of attention on the part of the surveyor to the proper working of the general system of drainage. Unless these defects are remedied the works which have been executed at so large an expenditure will remain a source of danger and annogance. Mr. Austin recommends that a thoroughly competent and active surveyor should be im mediately employed by the local board to make a house to hottse inspection throughout the town, to ascertain the drainage, &C., of every house, and report to the board, whi t , tak e £lO and. be en e xel Lon e Thu] gold lOgni Joi Qt sli . L , 3 Per 4,4 India Ditto Ditto IJitt o COllBO Exch f Ditto Ditto tr az i DE Chiba b at , ' tow n , been, E father M, ag sera tio nle office. qu Pa ha