The Sun. — London, England, 1846-02-02 00:00:00

ATERFORD AND KILKENNY RAILWAY COMPANY. MEETING OF PROPRIETORS. An adjourned special meeting of the proprietors of this Company was held at the Hall of Commerce, Thread needle-street, on Saturday, parsuant to a resolution to that effect agreed to at the last meeting. The CHAIRMAN (P. Butler, Esq., M.P.) said, that as a quorum was present he, as Chairman, would call on the Secretary to read the notice convening the meeting, as well as the original motion, and the resolution read at the last meeting, to the effect that the meeting having heard the statement of the Chairman, made at that meet ing, with respect to the various plans and extensions, do approve of the same, aid authorise their directors to take the necessary steps to carry the same into effect in the ensuing session of Parliament, to abandon any such scheme in case it should hereafter appear expedient to do so. It also proposed to empower the directors to oppose any railway which they might consider would compete with, or be in opposition to, their line. The SECRETARY having read them, The CHAIRMAN said that the meeting which had taken place so recently, the discussion which ensued there, as well as the terms of the resolution just read, and which would be submitted to them for their ap proval, rendered it unnecessary for him to occupy their i time by any observati ons . H e wou ld merely state n general terms that all that was asked from the share hulders was to authorise them (the directors) to pro ceed with their arrangements with the Carlow and Kil kenny line, on t erms w hi c h t h e y w ould submit to another meeting, convened f o r the purpose. They also asked for general p owers; an d h e did think that it was not presumptuou s i n hi m , as th e Chairman of the Board, to say that there was a perfect confidence that they interests of exercise their powers beneficially for the of the Company. If they should have to take any steps against those who were opposed to them, a meeting of the shareholders would be called for that purpose.— (Hear, hear.) Nothing remained for him to add, but that it would be for the interest of the Water ford and Kilkenny Company to let the re solution pass. He was sorry that the meeting was not larger, but that seemed to indi cate confidence in the directors. Any question that should be put would be satisfactorily answered by the Secretary and other . officers of the Comp an y p resent. Mr. TITE said it was incumbent o n hi m to ta k e some part in the discussion there that day, in consequence of what had fallen from him at their last meeting. Since then he had made so me i nqu i r i es i n Ireland, and had obtained information from th e wort h y Ch a i rman , but still the opinion he expressed at the preceding meeting was unchanged. He had no doubt that their line was an excellent one, and all that was required was to secure the means necessary to carry it out.—(fl ear. ) Th ere was i n I re l an d, as we ll as in England, a spirit of reckless speculation, which he hoped would not operate on their Company. He must repeat what he had said about the wooden rail, and he trusted that the directors would consider it in the same light that ho did, and substitute the iron rail. He would not, however, press the point, and would conclude by suggesting that in the resolution, instead of the ensuing, they should say the present, session. Mr. HULSE proposed the resolution in the amended form. Mr. RICHARDSON said he felt great pleasure in second ing that resolution. - After a short discussion the resolution was put by the Chairman and unanimously agreed to. A vote of thanks was then given to the Chairman fur the clear statement he had made to the meeting, after which the meeting separated. ASCENT OF THE WETTERHORN, The journals of Berne and Zurich recently announced, that the central peak of the Wetterhorn, one of the highest points of the Bernese Oberland (highlands), had been ascended by a young Englishman, the son of Dr. Speer, an ascent hitherto unaccomplished, and by no means devoid of dangers and difficulties. We (Atheneum) have much pleasure in being able to afford our readers the following personal narrative of this bold and hazardous enterprise : " The valley of the Grindelwald, situated in the heart of the Bernese Oberland, may, without any doubt, be regarded as the formidable rival of that famous locality, upon which the immense masses of the monarch of all European mountains raise their gigantic forms. Although the valley of the Grindelwald may have no reason to boast in the presence of Mont Blanc, it is, nevertheless, the locality around which the giants of the Alps are as sembled as in concert. " This valley is bound, on the south, by three moun tains, the highest of the whole chain, with the exception of Finsteraarhorn ; on the right, by the Bigger, or Great Giant ;' in its centre are situated the Mitten berg ; and, on its left, the three summits of the Wetter horn' (Weather Peak). The first of the three, the Bigger, is 12,000 feet in height, the second 13,291 feet, and the last 13,184 feet above the level of the sea. Seen from the village of Grindelwald, they appear like a won derful succession of rocks, raising their lofty crests, almost perpendicularly, to an elevation of several thou sand feet. These immense black masses of mountain are crowned with plains of snow and ice, which are over topped by the peaks themselves ; whilst the two seas of ice, known by the appellation of lower and higher gla ciers of Grindelwald, scintillate at the boundary of the pasture lands, and in the wide intermediate valleys which separate the three mountains. Until late years, it was generally thought, in the vicinity, that these summits were inaccessible ; and yet, experience had proved the contrary, as regards one of them, the Shreckhorn, or "Terrorpeak,' which had been ascended by three Swiss naturalists and their guides, after innumerable difficul ties and dangers. They had left there an indisputable proof of their appearance, by planting a flag, that I was at length able to discern, by the aid of a telescope. This exploit is not yet believed amongst the guides and the chamois-hunters of the Grindelwald. " This summit, until then unascended, of the great peak of the Wetterhorn, was, nevertheless, an object of ambition to me for several months ; but, it was only on my arrival at Interlacken, that I set to work for the purpose of obtaining information as to the possibility of my enterprise. Of the guides who dwelt in the place, only two were good mountaineers, and I learned from one of these, that all the attempts to ascend the Wet terhorn, from Grindewald, had been vain ; and that the only possible plan was to ascend to Grimsel, situated at an elevation of 6,570 feet up the southern in c li na ti on of the great chain, where wsight find the most in trepid and adventurous mountaineers of the Bernese Oberland, the men by whom the invincible Jungfrau was happily conquered some years ago. Acting, therefore, upon the advice of this guide, whom I immediately engaged, we set out from Interlacken, on Thursday, the 14th of July, at six o'clock in the morninee and ar rived at Grindewald, at ten o'clock. 1 had then every opportunity of satisfying myself respecting the informa tion I had obtained with regard to the guide. I found it exact in every particular. We consequently left Grindewald, the following morning, advancing through the great Schiedeck, passing at the feet of the glaciers of Schwartz wald and Rosenlani, and arrived at Meringen, at eight o'clock at night. We again quitted this place, at an early hour on the following morning, continuing our ascent above the valley of the Aar, pass ing through the villages of Im, Grand, Guttanein, arid by the celebrated cascade of Aar, to Handeck. Since our departure from Meringen, we had been constantly mounting, as was shown by the large heaps of sno w , and the numerous avalanches which - we found on our passage, and which retarded our progress disagreeably enough. " The vestiges of vegetation sensibly diminished in proportion as we approached Grimsel; the Alpine rose, alone, flourished in those wild regions, whilst immense fallen rocks, a few blackened pines, and the roaring o innumerable mountain torrents bore a melancholy testi mony to the unbridled fury of the various elements by which we were surrounded. On our arrival at Grimsel, a council of war was held between the host (an old and skilful mountaineer), three of my guides, and myself; upon the means to be employed, as well as the possible results of our enterprise. It terminated favourably. Two of the most courageous guides, I. lann, and Gas. pard Alphanalph, consented to accompany me, and, us both had sealed the summit of the Jungfrau, I imme diately reposed the utmost confidence in them, and left them in the company of my first guide, to make preparations for our expedition. I retired to rest early, aware that we should pass the following night upon the glacier of the Aar, a very unfavourable place for repose. Next day the sun rose is uncloueed majesty, and I found my three mountaineers completely accoutred, armed with hat chets, cords, cramp-irons long •tieks terminating with iron hooks, blue veils, &c., two days, and thetg which, forgetting ' provisions for testimony to the triumph o , as we hoped, would bear Grimsel, our path led us our i expedition. On leaving fall the midst of • en rocks, above a wild valley, h e n u t n o d the left by the Leidelhorn, and on the right is b e y d Ju o c n hliberg and the Broniberg. This valley, which is 7,000 feet above the level of the sea, seemed gradually to enlarge, and we perceived its further extremity closedy n each sid e by a wall of ice, raising itself perpendicularly tot a height of of 200 or 300 feet ; this was the extremity the glacier of the Aar. When we had attained the summit of this wall by scaling the rocks which bord ere d i t, we perceived thi s vast glacier, stretched out before u s f or a space of several miles, encompassed by ti e gigantic peaks of Finsteraar horn, the Schreckhorn , the Oberaarhorn, th e Vi scher: horn, and the Lantenraarhorn ; the first raising itself to a height of 14,000 feet, and the others varying f r o m 11,000 to 13,000 feet above the level of the sea. " We reached the pure and shining surface of the glacier itse • lf, which we found covered on all sides with with another, the greater porti on crevices parallel one being filled with snow; we took all the necessary pre caetions, by sounding them with grappling-irons, bet, re intruitii g our bodies to so frail and treacherous a sup por. t Advancing in this manner along the glacier for hut opposite, erected three hours, vve arrive at the little . h . • him to pursue further for M. Agassiz, to encourage the - experiments upon the increase and the progress of glaciers. This hut, situate 3,000 feet above the level of the ice, is almost entirely sheltered from the fall of avalanches, and the effects of the hurricanes and snow storms, to which these elevated regions are exposed. The sun was gradually disappearing beneath the horizon; the innumerabl e p ea k s an d g l ac i ers were i llum i ne d by his last rays in such a mann er th a t th e ent i re c h a i n of mountains presented the appearance of a shining stripe. This magnificent spectacle suddenly disappeared, and every object resumed its pale blue ti n t i n p ro p or ti on as tshad night concealed them frem our sight ; we soon saw nothing b ut the white line of th e l east remote Peaks. We then endeavoured to taste a few hours' repose, taking all the requisite precautions to e prot et ourselves against the intense cold, in Whi c h we only partially succeeded. Sleep care _ , however, e• but tardily; the novelty of the situation was too exciting. " Towards midnight, several enormous avalanches fell on the opposite side of the glacier, with a roar re sembling the most violent explosion of thunder ; this was sufficient to banish all ideas of sleep, and we were soon on foot, diligently preparing for the seventeen hours of consecutive ascent which we had to make upon the ice and the snow. The first difficulty to be surmounted was the descent on to the glacier, into the crevices of which, seeing how insecure it was, we found it necessary to descend. We were thus placed in the bottom, around the three sides of which walls of ice raised themselves almost perpendicularly. It was necessary that we should attain the submit of these walls in order to emerge from our chilly and frightful dungeon. lann, our head guide, began to cut out steps in the ice, so that, at the end of a brief space of time, we were extricated from our retreat, and out of danger, upon the glacier of Lanteraer, at its junction with that of Finsteraer ;—the first descends from the Schreckhorn and the neck of the Lanteraer, and the second from the Finsteraerhorn and the peaks adjacent. " Our course through the glaciers was then directed towards the Abschwung, along the base of which we proceeded cautiously, the ice being very slippery at this early hour. The crevices were sounded, and those , that were half opened avoided as much us possible. These last, at an elevation of 9, 000 feet, almost entirely dis appeared, and the surface of the glacier appeared covered, for a distance of some miles, with a thick bed of untouched and unbroken snow, whilst before us, and at a distance of three hours' walk, the neck of Lanteraar raised itself 1,000 feet in height, hitherto deemed inaccessible. Its brilliant white crest, marked in bold relief against a deep blue sky, made us believe that it was close at hand. We soon perceived, however, our want o f s kill i n calculating distances in regions, where the vast extent of the ob jects, combined with the peculiar light reflected by the snow and the glaciers, confounded every one of our en deavours. We continued for several hours to climb up long slopes of snow, burying ourselves knee-deep at each step, and yet the distance did not appear to dimi nish. At length we reached the first ridge of those cre vices that are usually found at the foot of the most rapid descents. In the midst of these crevices it was neces sary to advance with the greatest caution ; a great num ber of them touch each other. We thus proceeded through thie labyrinth of frightful blueish gulfs to the foot of the formidable neck of Lanteraar, which rose al most perpendicularly far above our heads for several hundred feet, whilst upon its slope, we perceived a mass of suspended snow which seemed to threaten us from afar ; for we could not find a more formidable barrier. It was necessary, however, to surmount it, and the ques tion was, how to do so ? " At our feet was a deep precipice on the opposite side of which the snow wall rose abruptly, not leaving the smallest space for the feet. Notwithstanding this, our chief guide succeeded in piercing in this wall, by means of his long Alpine stick, a hole, into which we could leap, without much danger of falling in the half open precipice which gaped beneath us. He crossed the first, and held out his stick to assist the next corner. I seized the friendly aid thus offered to me, and took the fatal leap ; but the snow gave way under me, and I remained suspended above the abyss, grappling, with my utmost strength, the pole which had been stretched out to me. I was immediately rescued from this peril ous position, and, the other guides having passed with out accident, we found ourselves leaning our backs against the snow wall which forms the southern aspect of the neck. We commenced our ascent with care, the first guide having been relieved by the second, who, hatchet in hand, cut out in the snow holes into which we could place our feet and hands. The steepness of the neck was such that the bending of the body forward, which is necessitated by all ascents, placed our breasts and faces in complete contact with the snow, whose ex cessive glare very much fatigued our sight, in spite of the blue spectacles which we wore. In this critical position, our ascending progress became slower, the advance of the foot, from one step to another, being an important matter ; for one single slip—the slightest inclination backwards, or even the least dizziness, must inevitably have proved fatal to one of us. Neverthe less, thanks to the efforts of the hardy mountain eers, the summit of the neck was at length attained, five hours after our departure from the encampment of the previous night. During this time, the field of our view had been necessarily limited, by the interposition of the neck of Lanteraar ; but, its summit once attained, we were able to contemplate a great portion of Switzer • land, extended on all sides, at an awful depth beneath our feet ; whilst on every side rose the summits of those gigantic barriers which bar the valley of Griudewald. On our left were the Great and Little Schreckhorn, and Mestemberg; and on the right the object of our am bition, the three peaks of the Wetterhorn, the Wetter horn itself, the Mittalhorn, and the Rosenhorn ; be neath us were spread out the plains of snow which de scend from those summits, and crown the higher glacier of Grindewald. " It was then deemed necessary to descend the slope, on the opposite side of the neck which we had just climbed, before arriving at the foot of the great peak, which appeared to rise near us, to a height of 2,150 feet above the platform of snow, upon which we stood, and which was, itself, at an elevation of 10,000 feet. We, therefore, commenced our descent, which, although not so dangerous as our former ascent, nevertheless, de manded a greater exertion of strength. We had thus, constantly, before our eyes, the precipices of snow and ice, closely attached to numerous crevices. The chief point depended upon the ropes and hatchets, and the descent was effected without accident; after which, we once more ascended successive slopes of snow, occasionally proceeding, with much difficulty, in the midst of the half-opened crevices, which presented the appearance of a deep azure. Our course was directed towards the base of the central peak, known by the name of Mittalhorn, which then rose over our heads like a vast pyramid of ice and snow. In my eyes, it was so impossible to climb it, that I ven tured to ask the guides if they hoped to reach its summit? They replied, that they felt sure of it. I was, therefore, reassured, believing that I was in excel lent company for this work. The south-eastern side of the peak seeming, from all appearances, to be the most practicable, we began the difficult task of climbing the virgin mountain. The ascent in itself resembled that of the peak of Lanteraar, but it lasted much longer. The surface of the snow and ice was much more compact, and rendered it necessary for us to widen, with our feet, the spaces cut out with the hatchet, in order to facilitate their change of position. We mounted, therefore, but slowly, placing our hands in the holes cut above our heads, by the the guide who took the lead, gradually inserting the foot in the last aperture, and the body completely sink ing into the snow at each step. In this disagreeable position, we had constantly before our eyes the vast pre cipices of ice which lay extended beneath us ; and this sight cherished in our minds the consolatory idea, that one little false step might effect the destruction of the whole party ! This might very easily have happened, glued, as we were, one to another. We had remained three hours upon the peak, and we were assured by the guide, that in another hour, if no accident intervened, we should have reached the summit. 'We, therefore, prepared our flag, and, after having snatched a few mi nutes' repose, whilst it was b e i ng ro ll e d roun d t h e flag staff, placing ourselves with our backs against the snow, we then advanced with more ardour, the guide making the mountains reverberate with the sounds of his na tional songs ; whilst the greatest gaiety animated the whole par ty, et th. , prospect of so propitious a result. The a hire and n riant summit of the peak then ap pease iriecliatelyov, r oar heads." Here, baviiig- brought our travellers to the long f goal, "c must allow th em t o p ause and take hr. al !, • ore ri iol,ring an account of the sublime and splendid p “-p,•ct which immediately astounded their sight. " We had tti,, attained an elevation of 10,154 feet, after a continual asc , ,,t of three days, from the level of the plain. During this time, we had been too much oc cupied in surmounting the obstacles which we had en couoterod in our progress, to be able to contemplate with attention, the wonderful panorama, the extent of which was enlarged every instant. Once on the summit of the peak, we had an opportunity of examining the relative position of the surrounding peaks. The greater portion seemed to extend far beneath ns. On the north, we perceived the Faulhorn and the chain of monntains which borders the lake of Brienne ; and, behind them, the pass of 13runig ; then the lakes of Lungerne and Lucerne, on the banks of which rose the Righin and Mount Pilate, whose summits, the glory of so many cockney tourists, appeared to us like molehills ! On i the east, the eyes wandered over the indefinite chain of mountain-peaks. " On looking towards the south, we perceived, on that side, the two monarchs of the Bernese Alps, raising their heads side by side—viz , the Rosenlani and the Berglistock. Separated from them by the neck of Lan teraar, we descried the red Schreckhorn, very properly called the Peak of Terror,' whilst the last of the groups, the Finsteraarhorn, appeared to overtop its companions. On the right of these two peaks was seen the brilliant Vischerhorner, the nearest of all, beyond which we dis covered the three rival peaks, the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau, rising together to a heig,nt of more than 12,000 feet. At the base of these gigantic mountains, lay the Wengern of the Alps, which looked like a mere undulation, whilst we could scarcely distinguish, far beneath us, the village of Grinderwald, and the river of Lutchinen, winding like a silver thread in the midst of the valley. " On all sides of the peak, upon which we were sta tioned (and on the summit of which twelve persons could hardly find room), we had before our eyes vast and pro found precipices, at the foot of which were stretched the plains of snow, and the numerous glaciers, situated still lower down. On the left were observed the higher glaciers of Grinderwald, and those of Lanteraar ; and on the right, those of Gauti, Reufen, and Rosenlani, and E n r e e l s h o o l r y n ed t r abov e w hi c h rose the peaks of Wellborn, Lusenhorn, ha ' irila g gWe cast geeedY t g r l y an a c n e d s r o e n ach thi t s he si u d n e e , x t p h gui ( r ies gion of th e R osenlani. Wo had been about r t e ss d 'ent e ): . to o minutes upon the summit, expose;] although in to a violent ahren tglamleplaoinf the wind he r m and om t a e n r a :t r t it ' g u . die o n f heit's scale) during the night The commencedg ourusaear ance of some nebulous clouds in the horizon a a v p e p forewarning, and we consequently de scent of the peak, after having firmly fixed our flag, taking the opposite side to that by which we had as cended, in order to reach the plains of snow which sur mount the great glacier of Rosenlani. Seeing the steep. ness of the slope, we deemed it necessary to sit down and to slide over the snow, directing our course by means of our clamp irons. " In this manner we descended to the surface of the plateau with the greatest rapidity. There again we had need of many precautions, the greater portion of the crevices being covered with a thin bed of freshly-fallen show, incapable of supporting the weight of a human body. " After having crossed the plateau, we arrived at the foot of the Rosenhorn. This is an elevated peak, situate at the junction of th e glaciers of Rosenhali and Reufen , which, o _ at this s p o t, i s confounded with the great slope snow descending from the Wretterhorn. This region THE SUN LONE/ON, MONDAY EVENING-, FIRBRITAELY 2, 1816. being, like the preceding, a terra incognita, our advance became slow and irresolute, and on the descent of the Rosehorn, our difficulties seemed to increase instead of diminishing. " The fragments of rocks and the detached stor es continually rolled beneath our feet, and fell like the shower of rain into the precipice, at the bottom of which, at a frightful depth, we were able to distinguish the great blue crevices and the points of the glacier of Rosen lani. After having quitted the rocks, we again found ourselves upon inclined plains of snow so rapid, that eve were obliged, for a length of time, to descend backwards as if upon the steps of a ladder ; the hatchet was then in constant requisition. At the foot of one of these steep slopes the snow gave way under our feet, leaving a large crevice, about fifteen yards in breadth, the opposite edge of which was twenty feet lower than the one on which we found ourselves. This difficulty appeared at first utterly insurmountable, the very guides themselves were disheartened and discouraged, and all offering our advice in the midst of a pause, we at length set our backs against the snow, close to the brink of the precipice which yawned beneath us. At length lann conceived the hazardous plan of leaping it at one bound ! He put it into execution, and reached the lower edge safe and sound. The ropes having been detached, the remainder of the pa. t) screwed up their courage to the sticking point,' and despair lending up fresh courage, we darted forward by turns above the precipice, off the smooth surface of the snow which lay beneath. Our fortunate triumph having vigorously excited us, we prepared to traverse a narrow slope of ice, in which our conductor carefully cut out some steps, when► a low noise suddenly arrested our at tention. The guides, who happened to be hindmost, violently pulled back the remainder of the party, by means of the ropes, and a second afterwards, an immense avalanche rolled down upon the slope that we were pre paring to cross, leaving all petrified with dismay at the dreadful danger which we had so narrowly escaped. "The cloud of snow in which we had been enveloped, having dispersed, we resumed our descent, and continued it during three hours, upon a succession of vertical walls of snow and ice, and reached the glacier of Rosenlani at five o'clock. The passage of this glacier mnch res palsies that of the famous glacier at Bossons, on Mount Blanc ; the crevices there are so numerous, that there is merely a furrow of ice between them ; these furrows being the only path by which the wanderer can advance. "We had every moment before our eyes icy preci pices, which, at every step, seemed ready to swallow up the unfortunate wretch, whose presence of mind might have failed, whilst the pinnacles of ice which rose above us, often tottered upon their very unstable foundations. " In our present state of fatigue, the passage of the glacier was very perilous ; but the minute care and courage of the guides, skilfully prevented the occurrence of any accident ; and at eight o'clock in the evening, we bade an eternal farewell to those plains of snow and peaks of ice, upon which we had trod for seventy con secutive hours. All danger was now over ; and the ex citement having ceased, the difficult descent of the rocks and overthrown peaks, became insupportably fatiguing. The baths of Rosenlani were still far below us ; the sombre aspect of the pine forests, which extended them selves at the bottom of the valley, formed a striking con trast with the continual light of the preceding hours. " Night gradually extended her veil over the sur rounding objects, the lights in the houses soon became perceptible, and at nine o'clock, P.M., we all arrived safe and sound at the baths of Rosenlani, where a great ex citement had prevailed, for several hours, at the dis covery of the flag that floated on the summit of the peak. After having seen four black specks, at a prodigious height, and having observed those specks change their positions, the inhabitants of the valley had justly con cluded that ene of their gigantic mountains was on the point of losing, for ever, its reputation of inaccessibility. " The following morning, I took leave of the two in trepid chamois-hunters, to whom I had been indebted for my preservation, on several occasions, during the perilous adventures of the preceding days. Soon after wards, I heard that these two unfortunate men had been attacked by a disorder, arising from the hardships of their last exploit; as for myself, I escaped with the usual consequences of so long a sojourn in the midst of the snows of those elevated regions —that is to say, with the loss of the skin of say face, and an inflammation in my eyes. We recrossed the great Schiedeck, and arrived at Interlacken, on the 20th of July, myself and my guide, who was also in a very pitiable condition; and thus con cludes the history of my ascent of the Wetterhorn." PROPOSED LINES OF RAILWAYS AFFECTING THE METROPOLIS. Mr. Fowler read a paper at the Royal Institute of British Architects last Monday evening, on the proposed lines of railway which affected the metropolis, about to be submitted to Parliament. He stated, that he was in debted to Mr. Austin, the engineer, honorary secretary to the Metropolitan Improvement Society, for the facts that he was about to lay before the meeting. who, with a laudable zeal in the cause of im provement, had been at considerable pains to pre pare a plan of the whole of those lines for which the deposits had been completed. He need scarcely say, that there had been a whole host of other schemes, which, fortunately, had not survived the fatal effects of the, late panic. Of those that remained, it appeared from the plan, that there were twenty-one different lines, comprising 100 miles of proposed railway, within a circle of five miles from St. Paul's. The spaces scheduled for termini, within a circle of miles of St. Paul's, together with that necessary for the construction of so much of the lines, constitute an area little short of 200 acres. To form a more vivid idea of the extent of this area, it may be stated, that it exceeds that portion of London extending from High-street, Whitechapel, to St. Paul's Cathedral, included between Leadenhall-street, Cornhill, the Poultry, and Cheapside, on the north, and the river Thames on the south. It constitutes an area equal to one third of the city of London, and little less than one-half of that devastated by the conflagraii )11 of 1666.: On a moderate calculation, it would in volve the destruction of between 9,000 and 10,000 houses, and cause an expenditure, for the purchase of property alone, of about 15 millions sterling ; Mr. Fowler stated, that a memorial on the subject had been forwarded to Lord Lincoln, first Com missioner of Woods and Forests, by the Metropolitan Improvement Society, praying that the Metropolitan Improvement Commission would take the subject into their earliest consideration ; and it behoved, not only professional men, but all who desired to see a right direction given to this extraordinary movement, to second the prayer of the society, that this branch of the general subject of railway com munication should be considered as a separate and dis tinct whole, in order that a comprehensive and sys tematic plan might result from what was now a heap of confusion, arising from the fact, that each line had been separately laid down by its respective Company, without reference to, or knowledge of what was being proposed by the other.— The Builder. MANSLAUGHTER. - ABINGDON, FRIDAY A YTERNOON.—ThIS town has been in a state of considerable excitement for a day or two, in consequence of the death of a man named Thomas Burnett, who was struck a week ago by his employer, Mr. Thomas Fowler, corn-merchant, of this place, and died on Wednesday last of the injuries he sustained. An inquest was held yesterday, and adjourned to this day, at the Red Lion inn, Abingdon, by Mr. E. Cowcher, when a numerous and highly respectable jury was sworn in. From the evidence it appeared that Mr. Fowler, having reason to doubt the honesty of bis servant, who had been in his employ about two years, discharged him; and on Thursday week, the 22d instant, the deceased called at his house, and, in a very imperative mode, demanded the sum of Is. 6d. as due to him. Mr. Fowler denied he owed it, and told the deceased that if he chose to apply to the mayor, he would pay whatever his worship decided he was entitled to. Mr. FoNler then left his office, and was going to his granary, when the deceased followed him, threatening if lie did not pay him, he would break his head, putting himself at the same time in a fighting atti tude. Mr. Fowler was alarmed at the violent conduct of the deceased, and stepped back till he came back against the ladder in the granary, close to which was an ordinary stable-shovel, which he seized to defend him self with, and struck the deceased on the head with the back part of it. He immediately fell, and on being as sisted up, had not sufficient strength to stand. He was afterwards conveyed home in a wheelbarrow, and lin gered till Wednesday last, when he expired. A post mortem examination took place, conducted by Messrs. Hester and Box, and they were of opinion that death was occasioned by the injuries which the deceased sus tained from the blow he had received from Mr. Fowler. There was a considerable fracture of the skull, which was remarked as being particularly thin. The evidence adduced by the various witnesses confirmed the facts as to the disagreement between Mr. Fowler and the deceased, as well as the latter's violent threats and conduct towards the former. The Coroner bestowed great pains in calling the attention of the jury to the facts which had been submitted to them, and strongly urged upon them the necessity of di sm i ss i ng from their minds any prejudice towards either party, but to weigh well what had been placed in ev id ence before them, and return such a verdict as that warranted. The room which was very crowded was then cleared, and the jury, after deliberating a short tim e , returne d a verdict of " Manslaughter" against Mr. Thomas Fowler, who was immediately committed on the Coroner's war rant to Abingdon Gaol. Mr. Charles Curtis, solicitor to Mr. Fowler, left soon after with a copy of the deposi • tions for London, to get a judge's order to bail the de fendant. Mr. Fowler has been in business at Abingdon, as a corn-dealer, about three or four years, and is a par ticularly quiet and inoffensive man ; he is upwards of 60 years of age, and suffers so much from lameness, that he is obliged to walk with a stick, but on the occasion of this unfortunate occurrence he went without it from his office to his granary, and was therefore at a loss for something to defend himself with, until his eye caught the shovel with which he struck the deceased. A strong feeling prevails against the defendant among the work ing portion of the community at Abingdon, and to such a pitch was this carried, that on Thursday evening when the inquest was not concluded, they dressed up an effigy, and taking it in a boat opposite Mr. Fowler's house, which is by the water side, they burnt it amid yells and execrations. A NEW VENTILATOR. —Dr. Aldis, physician to the London and to the Surrey Dispensary, deploring the usually vitiated state of the air in the habitations of the lower classes, has contrived a new ventilator for windows, cheap and simple, which promises to be serviceable. At this time of the year the poor cannot be led to open the windows, and the object is to bring in fresh air, without producing per ceptible currents. The ventilator in question consists of a small pane of glass in a hollow tin frame, in the outer face of which frame are openings; these communicate with a wide flat tube on either side, attached to the two upright sides of the frame, curved inwards, and perforated with small holes on the under side.—The Builder. The Duke of Buccleuch left town on Saturday for Thames Ditton. THE PREMIER'S MEASURE. (From the Journal of Commerce.) Sir Robert Peel has shown himself to be equal to the difficulties of his position. lie has viewed with a com prehensive mind the exigencies of a portentous crisis ; and, with a sound and unflinching judgment, he has in dicated perhaps the only means for its satisfactory so lution. Placed between two uncompromising anta gonists, he has, with strict propriety, demanded from each concession—from each a relaxation of pretensions in favour of the common interest of the entire commu nity. The Government has shown a becoming spirit of impartiality in the adjustment of a rancorous feud, which has long disturbed the tranquillity, and threatened to embroil the cation in irreconcilable antipathies, and destructive strife. The sound thinking, and the friends of their country, of both parties will hail with joy the opportunity now presented of extinguishing a contest which, if prolonged under the feelings of class antagonism, beginning to exacerbate dissatisfaction, must have ended in political convulsion. We hope most fervently, that there will be found, both in Parliament and in the country, so much good sense and conciliatory di s p os i t i on, as to maidisc the exaggerated demands of the purely selfish, and to abash the arrogance of presuming faction. In the spirit of conciliation, and in views of profound policy, the Ministry has proposed a salutary compromise. The Government, so far, has done its part well. If the pro posed measure shall be thwarted by the stubborn inflexi bility of intemperate partisans, the public will rightly comprehend on whom will rest the blame of a perpetual diiorder. Beginning properly with the claimants fur an abolition of protecting duties, Sir Robert Peel has said to the ma nufacturers—" You, gentlemen, cannot object to be sub jcNor w w. i h ll ich the y y o , u fo s r o presb© to others." d o ec f la P r cic e 'ly dopenly th a t th e y covete d no protection vtee d long o asince course t h eir leaders h strenuously from State duti es . Act i ng on the admission, and on the equity of th e d eman d , t h e Mi n i ster - ' has proposed a very sweepin g a b o li t i on an d re d uct i on of e a t import duties on foreign fabrics and products. It is an immense stride towards perfect freedom of commercial interchange, which will astonish some of our compe titors ; but which will work no permanent detriment to our home industry. The measure promises to apply the only unequivocal test of the sound direction of the productive powers of a people. It will say to every class of manufacturers, "if you are making goods which foreigners can undersell you in in your own market, it is a proof that you are misapplying your industry, and are imposing a tax upon your countrymen: take to some other more nationally beneficial calling." But we ap prehend no disturbance of the large staple occupations of British industry ; in all these walks of productive labour we hare exclusive advantages, and we stand pre eminent. Some of our countrymen may and will feel the pinch, in competing productions which have an adventitious value from the exercised taste in their getting up. The rub will do them good in the end ; it will set them about getting rid of their hereditary notions, and looking out for some of the refinements of modern art. They will be brought up to the mark with a little whipping and spurring. We have no misgivings about the abilitiy of our country men when they have proper guides, and a wholesome stimulus. Under the new tariff, Sir Robert Peel pro ' poses to admit manufactures and finished goods, ge nerally, at a maximum duty of ten per cent. ad valorem ; except silk fabrics, which will pay fifteen. Now, these duties may very fairly be considered duties for revenue on commodities which are not necessaries ; but which may have some peculiarities of taste or quality that make them attractive to a certain class of purchasers, both able and willing to make a small contribution to the State whilst indulging a preference or a fancy. That simple, unornamented goods should come in under these duties, to compete with our own similar productions, is commercially impossible. We have the raw materials duty free, and manufacturing power either cheaper or more effective than elsewhere. It must be borne in mind, that in the actual state of manufacturing industry in all the great staples, the wages of labour make but a small part of the entire cost of production, compared with their relative amount under the primitive system of manufacture ; so that any local difference of labourers' wages, from habits or from cost of maintenance, tells but little in the market-price of goods. The rivalry will be felt for a time in certain handicraft trades ; some of which will have to abandon old habits, and the profes sors, perhaps, to add another day or two to the week— which they can easily do, and still keep the Sabbath holy. Sir Robert Peel, in his speech, alluded to a trade which will certainly feel the effect of the diminished duty—the carriage -makers. This indeed is a trade under very peculiar conditions, and it may in a great measure impute its anomalous position to the ways and habits of its customers. Many of the Noble Lords and Honourable Gentlemen, with their female appendages, who ride in carriages, do not make a point of paying ready money for these wares—some of them do not pay at all ; and very often there is an inclination to postpone the settlement of the coachmaker's bill to the Greek Kalends. Hence it is that the London coach builder has got into a rooted habit, not of' considering how much a vehicle has cost him, but how much, upon a remote contingency, is likely to return him an average living profit. The calculator of chances on lives would be often puzzled to find out a fair rate for a coach builder's customers. This is one reason why London coach-making has no affinity in prices with those of the same craft in other localities. The coach business is one which comprises in its operation a large proportion of manual labour ; and therefore, in point of economy, it is ill-placed in the metropolis, where the wages of such labour are necessarily dearer than in the country ; but the habits and class of the customers have necessi tated the establishment of coacicemaking in London. Another large handicraft trade will be, in some of its branches, affected by the proposed change of duties ; and that is the shoemakers. It cannot be denied that boots and shoes are made in Paris, and indeed in other parts of France, in what may be truly called a more masterly manner than, for the most part, they are to be met with in London. There has been more mind exer cised in the craft in Paris than in London. The French artisan has been aware that his object was to make a covering for the human foot ; whilst the English cord wainer has never entertained a thought beyond that of covering his last—the thing bearing as remote a re semblance to the foot of man as the sign of the Red Lion to the beast of the forest, The cobbler must for sake his last and take to the study of anatomy; in the course of which higher pursuits he may perchance find out how it is that he has been the hereditary generator of corns and bunions. Under the competition we trust that the shoemaker will improve his art, and the tanner his leather; the materials are supplied without fiscal burden, and we have a right to expect as good an article as can be furnished for the same money else where. The quality of leather in England has for some years been deteriorated by modern improvements. The tanners mast go back to some of the practices of their ancestors. It is impossible, in the brief space of a single article, to advert even cursorily to the various classes of pro ducers which will be more or less affected by the pro posed diminution of import duties on finished goods. We shall take ocher occasions of commenting on the special effects of the change, as we shall see that change as• sunning the sanction of law. In many cases we antici pate that the coming rivalry will operate as a salutary stimulus in sharping the wits and improving the tastes of our jog -trot tradesmen ; who have never sus pected that they were not taught everything belonging to their craft, when they were apprentices. In no case of extended industry do we think that foreign competition in the home market will be productive of the smallest perma nent detriment. This knocking down the barriers be tween ours and foreign workmen, and pitting them against each other, necessarily implies that they are to oe placed on equally favourable terms as to sustenance ; and such equality is provided for by the great scheme which Government has laid before the country for its considera tion, and adoption if approved. By removing all cus toms' duties from foreign provisions of every kind, the maintenance of labourers here and elsewhere will, in a short time be brought nearly to one common level. The differences, if they exist, will be found in a great measure to arise from diversity of habits, and from the snore or less prevalence of frugality or of extravagance. To talk of an impossibility of the labourers of a country taxed as this is not being able to compete with those of less burthened countries, when they shall be fed and clothed as cheaply, is mere thoughtless babble. What should hinder them from competing ? They are as strong, as intelligent, as industrious ; and if their food be un taxed, and their clothing untaxed, and if they have a thousand mechanical aids, and the free support of large commercial capital, and a practised intelligence to guide them, why should not the produce of' their labour be rendered as cheap as that of their competitors P We know there are those who talk much about the restraints on British industry from the enormity of our debt ; whilst they have themselves, through a long life, been witnesses, if not abettors of the fact, that the produce of British manufacturing skill finds a daily market in every corner of the habitable globe ; although we have to furnish the annual interest on a debt of eight hundred millions. Give free scope to our industry, as is now for the first time attempted, and that will enable us to sustain our fiscal burthens without diffi culty, and without a murmur. To think that we shall be better able to pay our debt by restricting our commer cial intercourse with the external world, from which we draw the whole of our accumulating wealth; is to betray a puerility of intellect and a poverty of understanding which do not characterise British traders. Does Lord Ashburton think that we shall be better able to meet our home pecuniary obligations by lending from time to time large portions of our spare capital to the repudiating states of America? We rejoice exceedingly in the Ministerial announce ment of a comprehensive and enlightened se:seme of commercial poli c y ; an d we s h a ll h a il w i t h acc l amat i on its a !option into th e l aw o f t h e l an d, as th e su r e b as i s of Britain's future, long-enduring, industrial supremacy. MODE OF CULTIVATION ADOPTED IN CORNWALL TO RAISE EARLY POTATOES. 1. The potatoes are set in December and January. 2. The sort planted are the kidney, and the ashleaf kidney. The best ashleaf kidney are procured from Somersetshire, and are planted in the neig!ibourhood of Uxbridge. 3. The best soil is a light loose soil, and the ground should be well worked. Old grass land is preferred. 4. The seed should be set about eight inches in depth, four inches distant from each, and the rows fourteen inches apart. An open situation, facing south or south-east, is the best situation—proximity t o t h e sea i s t h e mo st advantageous. 5. The best m anure is long stable dung covere d w ith sea weed, the seed being first slightly covered with earth. 6. The finest, to s cleanest, healthiest seed is best. Whe n cut , never plant a pi ece with more than two eyes, some pre f er one. 'Wh en small potatoes planted wh o l e. 7. To p ro t ect the o tforoesin b ai e •e in use in d, ur t e h d ey b a y re ea s r o ly m s e p ti r m in e g s frosts, is impracticable in extensive plantations; but in small quantites, they may be protected by being planted in shel tered situations, and litter kept over them, or by trenching them as celery, and covering the trenches with litter trans versely till the weather becomes warm. PRISON DISCIPLINE. The subject of prison discipline has, of late, under gone a great deal of what is called consideration and discussion in the Court and in the Committees of Alder men, and the crowded state of the City gaols :has from time to time forced itself not only upon the attention of the City Magistrates, but of the Home-office, by the mere dint of its importance. The followieg statement embodies the views and opinions of the opposers of the existing system, and of those who contend that the in terposition of the Government, in the City gaol affsirs, would be of injurious tendency not only as regards the privileges of the citizens of London, but as respects the improvement of the mural condition of society. It is admitted by the former, who constitute the mi nority in the Court of Aldermen, that of late years the establishment of the Central Criminal Court, with its monthly sessions, and the power given to the Middlesex Magistrates of committing prisoners for trial at the Westminster sessions, have greatly reduced the numbers confined within the walls of Newgate, and so far have operated most beneficially upon the state of that prison; but those partial improvements have struck far, very far short of the root of the evil. One of the City prisons, Giltspur-street Compter, affords a most impressive in stance of the bad consequences which result from over crowding those receptacles of crime and misfortune. Giltspur-street Compter was originally intended for City debtors, and if it had been confined to that purpose, was capable of affording tolerable accommodation ; but, in the year 1812, an Act of Parliament was obtained for building a debtors' prison in Whitecross-street, and ever since that period the Giltspur-street Compter has been used as a City house of correction, and also as a place of confinement for remanded prisoners, and for those who are committed for want of hail. The prison itself stands upon a site containing less than half an acre of ground, and the number of prisoners confined within its walls varies generally from 240 to 300, and sometimes even exceeds the latter number. By the new Building Act, no prison can now be erected upon an area of less than five acres, and this rule is ap plicable to provincial as well as to metrrpolitan districts. Giltspur-street Compter, therefore, standing upon an area of less than half an acre, though it does not come under the provisions of the Act, which has no retrospec tive operation, is condemned by it as deficient in she pro portion that less than half an acre bears to five acres, the smallest scale upon which the Legislature has de clared future prisons shall be built. If the only objection to small prisons, and the consequent overcrowding of prisoners, were the injury thereby inflicted on the bodily health of that wretched portion of our fellow creatures, it would be a sufficient reason for correcting the defect. But the great evil is to be found not in its physical, but in its moral consequences. An injury to the constitution from confined and unwholesome air would be bad enough, but here is an injury preying upon the mind, penetrating the heart and soul, and producing a moral contagion on the human subject which may be said to affect eternity itself. Want of room includes want of classification, and want of classification prevents anything like a remedial or beneficent spirit from mingling with the severity of our criminal laws. Far from encouraging, or facilitating, or indeed permitting the return of a young offender to ♦irtue, it shuts the door of repentance for ever in his face by placing him in the society, and as it were under the instruction of the most experienced practitioners in every species of enormity. The child who has committed a first offence, the adult who has arrived at the full maturity of crime, and the veteran more hardened by his vices than his years, who seems to take a pride in the empire of wickedness, are all huddled together, breathing the same tainted atmosphere, and assimilating with a sort of ma lignant rivalship to the worst specimen amongst them. Such is the state of that part of the prison known as the Compter, where prisoners untried and of course uncon victed, and possibly innocent, are associated with some of the most depraved characters on the face of the earth; but bid as this division of the prison is, the other divi sion, now known as the house of correction for the city of London, is by many degrees worse. Here are to be seen in the same room from fifty to sixty male prison ers of all ages, and of almost all degrees of criminality siting together, closely packed on benches, picking oakum. The most disgusting conversation is continu ally going forward; the most revolting levity pervades the whole demoralised and demoralising mass, and the wretch who might, in the first instance, have been sent there for some slight offence, soon finds the sort of school he has been introduced to, and there treasures up lessons and forms connexions, well calculated to fit him for the mischievous career which society may be said to have destined and fitted him to run. Immediately above this den of infamy stands the treadmill, on which a similar number of persons are kept constantly at work, and there, as in the oakum room, their intercourse with each other is perfectly unrestrained and their conversation distinguished by the same reckless disregard of all de cency and order. The sleeping apartments are over crowded in the same manner, and the same want of classification and arrangement, proceeding from the same cause, is observable in the wretched wards devoted to rest and forgetfulness. Such is the information, and such are the opinions gathered from those who view with indignation and contempt the civic gaol system. They call for a remedy for so monstrous a state of things. They say the neglect is inexcusable, not only because the evils resulting from it are so formidable, but because the remedy is so palpable to the slightest consideration, and so obviously within the reach of the civil authorities. To erect a house of correction adequate to the wants of the city of London, would, they assert, require an area of from five to tea acres, and if a prison of such extent were built they would hope to see a proper classification of prison ers enforced and the working of a system of prison dis cipline calculated, not only to punish, but to reform those who become amenable to its regulations. The gentlemen who consider the above description as a mere picture reflected from a diseaied imagination, which "sees more devils than all hell can hold," inva riably condemn and discourage allusions to the Giltspur street Compter. In the Court of Aldermen, at any rate in the presence of the members of the press, if we may judge from the newspaper reports of the business trans acted there, where hints have been, from time to time, thrown out expressive of a suspicion that improvement is unattainable without the means of affecting classification, a general murmer is heard, and a peremptory reference is made to the Gaol Committee, in which " profound" it is doomed to repose until some new occasion arise, or some new member, uninstructed in the ways of the Court, is shocked at the horrible reality, and speaks what he thinks. It has, however, been sometimes the case that a plump denial has been given to all charges of bad arrangement and management in the prison, fol lowed up by a high compliment to those by whose judg ment and assiduity the reform has seen brought to per fection, and by a sneer at the menaced interference of a Secretary of State with the functions of the magistrates of the City of London. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, Jan. 31. TILE QUEEN V. TILE REV. JOSIAh BARTLETT. This was a rule whick had been obtained in the Bail Court a short time since, for a criminal inf,rmation against the defendant for the publication of a libel on Mrs. Marianna Tozer. At the time the rule was ob tained the particulars of the libel were make public, and they then appeared to be of a most defamatory character. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL having now moved to make the rule absolute, Mr. Sergeant WuxiNs said he had been instructed to show cause against it, but that it would rather be his duty to declare to the Court that the defendant extremely insinua tien r s eg he r e l f ; t a e what he dd uttered against had t o h n a the lady ndthat we were e a l h alto gether t e without foundation. Some erroneous impression under which defendant had laboured, had prompted him to take the course which he now so deeply lamented, and influenced by them he was induced to believe that the lady had given rise to disorder in his family. In a fit bordering on madness the letters had been written, but he was now ready to avow that it did not contain a word of truth. lie would also say that the lady was in fact a most excellent person, and that to the last day of his life he would deplore his having ever attacked her so unjustifiably and so improperly. In making this state ment he hoped he had only done his duty. The ATTORNEY -GENERAL expressed himself fully sa tisfied with so ample a retraction of so foul a calumny, and one which had been so handsomely made by his Learned Friend. Under ordinary circumstances he would have been content to discharge the rule on pay ment of the costs, but in the present instance he must press the Court to make the rule absolute.—Rule ab solute. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. SOUTHWARK. On Saturday two policemen of the M, or Southwark division, named Roberts and Parsons, were, by direction of the Commissioners of Police, charged before Mr. Traill with assaulting and threatening a man:named Evans, keeping a lodging-house in the ricinity of this Court. The complainant stated that on Wednesday morning, between one and two o'clock, while he was sitting in the front parlour with two of his lodgers, a loud knock came to the street door, and on opening it the two de fendants rushed in and asked him what business he and his lodgers had to be up at that hour of the morning? Before, however, he had time to answer such a ques tion, one of the defendants (Roberts) struck him a severe blow on the face, which knocked him up against the wall, and the other defendant pulled out his staff', and, flourishing it about, said that he would like to lay it about the head of the complainant, and ultimately struck one of' the lodgers, who had given no kind of offence. The defendants, before they quitted the house, expressed their determination not to rest until they suc ceeded in routing the complainant out of the house. In reply to Mr. Traill, the complainant said he never ' gave the policemen any provocation. Roberts, in defence said, that on the morning in question, on passing the complainant's house, he heard talking in the parlour, and on listening he overheat•d some person threaten to throw a brickbat at Parsons when an Opportunity presented itself ; that he (Roberts) informed his brother constable of what he heard, and they accordingly went together into the house, but he denied having used the violence attributed to him. James Humphries, an old man, confirmed the com plainant's account of the transaction in every particular, and added, that the purport of the conversation pre • viously to the intrusion of the two policemen, had no reference to any member of the police force ; that the fact was they were talking about the repeal of the corn laws. In reply to the magistrate, the witness said the police men on rushing into the house did not say what they were there for, but without any ceremony one of them (Roberts) struck the complainant. Parson, in reply to the charge, said that his brother constable informed him that he heard threats used against him by persons in the complainant's house, and that was the reason he accompanied him there. He, however, denied assaulting any person, and concluded by saying the house was one of very bad repute. Air. TRAILL —Have you reported the character of the house to the superintendent, far that would have been your duty, and not to have intruded yourself into it in the way described. Both the defendants admitted they made no report on the subject, but they maintained that they considered it a part of their duty to enter houses of a similar character, if they heard anything was going forward of an improper description. The complainant said that he kept a lodging-house, and that he was doing nothing that should have sub jected him to such treatment as he experienced at the hands of the two policemen. Mr. TRAILL said, that even admitting the defendants, in passing the house, had heard the threats they men tioned, they would not be justified in entering the house, far less in assaulting the landlord of it, for if that were permitted, no man's house would be safe from the intru sion of the police, when they thought proper to enter. The magistrate then inflicted penalties of 20s. each on the defendants; and, addressing the superintendent, said the conduct of the constables was quite indefensible, and deserved severe reprehension. It may be proper to remark that the infliction of a fine, by a magistrate upon a policeman, disqualifies him from serving in future in the police force. THAMES. On Saturday a good looking young women, named Ann Gardner, large in the family way, appeared to an swer a peace warrant, issued at the instance of a ballast agent, John Anderson. The case was a very heartless one, and Mr. Pelham was engaged for the defence by some of the inhabitants of %Yapping, whose interest was ex cited in favour of the young woman, Gardner, who is only about eighteen years of age, and who has been ruined by the plaintiff. Anderson complained that the young woman was con stantly annoying him, threatening to tear him to pieces, and preventing him in his occupations. For the defence, it was shown that the plaintiff had effected the young woman's ruin by the most solemn protestations of meaning to act honourably by her. According to her statement, she is the daughter of a solicitor, and though she kept company with the pro secutor, to whom she admitted she was much attached, he had not succeeded in effecting his purpose until hav ing repeatedly promised marriage, he had given two written documents to the same effect. The papers, which were produced, ran as follows: "London, 16th, 1845. " This is to certify that I Jon Anderson am to marry Ann within the term of to years or sooner if possabli, Somere perhaps wen I return. Witness my and, the sixteenth day July, 1845. I am, yours truly and affec tionate lover. " JON ANDERSON." The next ran:— " London, 14th, 1845. " I promise to marry Ann Gardiner as soon as pos sible, for me to do which, I have not mentioned the time at present, but as soon as I can. Witness my and. "J. ANDERSON." The complainant, in aggravation of the charge, urged that the young woman annoyed him, even on the Sabbath. Mr. BALLANTIXE—Don't talk to me about the Sab bath. You have ruined this young woman for life, and now you turn round on her in your sanctimonious ness. Complainant—Why, she has been as large as that for the last twelve months. _ . Mr. Pelham—lf so, it is a curious physiological fact, and in the teeth of all experience as regards gestation. Mr. BALLANTINE dismissed the case, and told the girl that as regarded the letters she had better leave them in Mr. Pelham's hands, and he would probably put her in the way of redressing the wrongs which she had sustained at the hands of complainant. The young woman then left, to the great satisfaction of a crowded Court. BRENTFORD PETTY SESSIONS. At the Brentford Petty Sessions, on Saturday, Mr. Samuel Parnell, a master baker at Old Brentford, was fined 40s. and costs, for a most cruel and brutal assault upon a female named Anna Maria Smith. It appeared that the female in question had had a child by the defendant, which she had affiliated to him before the Kensington magistrates, who had ordered him to pay 2s. a week for the support of the child. On the 18th inst. defendant sent complainant the amount of two weeks, instead of three, which was owing, and part of it was a bad half-crown. She accordingly went to the shop to see him, and while she was telling his house keeper the object of her visit, the defendant seised her by the shoulders behind, and forced her out of the shop, and on leaving go of her he kicked her in a brutal manner. By the defendant—Had sent her 4s. out of the 6q. he owed her, amongst which was a bad half crown, and that was the reason she went to him. The defendant declared that he had sent her all the money, and that so far from having sent a bad half crown, he had sent it her all in halfpence, and the time before all in farthings. The BENCH said that only showed the feeling he had towards the mother of his child, and such payment was quite illegal. The defendant had been guilty of a most unmanly assault, and must pay a fine of 405., or 21 days. imprisonment.—The fine was paid. DREADFUL SHIPWRECKS. EIGHTY LIVES LOST. The losses announced during the last week have been truly appalling, several American packet-ships being among ' the number wrecked in crossing the Atlantic, with the loss of all hands. The first on the list is that of the Montreal, a fine new ship,34s tons burthen, a trader between London and Que bec, which was lost during a snow storm on the night of the 14th of last month, on shore near Cape Chat, and not one belonging to her was left to tell the tale. The wreck, when discovered, was fast breaking up, her masts were gone, and her hull had parted in two. On shore the bodies of the captain, wife, and child were found, the latter being clasped in its mother's arms. Four other bodies were after. wards discovered entangled in the wreck. They have all been buried in one grave. The vessel was laden with flour and other articles. The next melancholy affair is that of another packet-ship, supposed to be the Saxon, bound to London, lost, with all hands. The ship, which has a large amount of insurance on her at Lloyd's, was 367 tons buithen, and left Boston, where she belonged, on the 13th of last month, manned with a crew of twenty. She was last seen on the 17th, and her de stractiou is supposed to have occurred about the 19th, on a reef of rock called the Ledges, near Red Head, as her wreck was passed by the Stamboul, from Smyrna, on the 24th, 25 miles N.N.W. of St. George's Shoal. Another loss took place on a field of ice, the particulars of which are thus described :—The brig Laurel left Quebec on the morning of the 29th of December, with a cargo of 400 barrels of flour and 28 of butter. On arriving off Cacona, on the banks of Newfoundland, she was met by a large field of ice, and every effort to steer clear of it proved abortive. The ship becoming fixed in it, she was shortly driven ashore on Green Island, where she immediately became a wreck. The crew suffered severely for three days. The barque Uni verse, of Boston, was lost under similar circumstances; for tunately, the crew were saved. The ship Cambridge, from Liverpool, on the 23d of De cember, saw a vessel in distress, which proved to be the Lord Lynedoch, of London, in a sinking state. They took off the crew, thirty-two in number, who were in a d rea df u l state. The vessel foundered shortly afterwards. The East India Company have received information of the total loss of one of the Company's war sloops, named Coote, commanded by Lieutenant J. S. Grieve. The disaster happened on the 3d of November last, on a reef of rocks opposite Calicut, the vessel at the time being on an expedition to the Malabar coast. The brig Merlin, of Newcastle, was totally destroyed by fire on the 3d instant. She was laden with wine and fruit, and within twelve hours after leaving Oporto Bar she caught fire. The captain and crew were soon forced to take to the boat, and abandon the vessel. They were afterwards picked up by a foreign schooner, which conveyed them to Gibraltar. On the books are also reported the total loss of the ship City of Shims, in the Mindora Sea, with forty persons drowned ; and also the wreck of the Gustave Edouard, a French Indiaman, 650 tons burthen ; and another vessel, name not exactly known—both attended with melancholy results. SINGULAR ADULTERATION OF CHAMPAGNE.—A sin gular mode of increasing the intoxicating power of cham pagne has recently been discovered in Germany. It appears that a wine-merchant of Rheims has for some yea rs p ast enjoyed the almost exclusive privilege of supplying the kingdom of Wurtemburg with that wine, and that an extraordinary effect has been noticed to attend the drinking of a single glass thereof. After several ana lyses of the wine had been made, the contents of so me of the bottles were examined by Liebig, who ascer tained by analysing its gases, that it contained one volume of carbonic acid gas, and two of the laughing gas or protoxide of nitrogen. The last-named gas, the peculiar effects produced by which on the animal economy, when it has been respired, are well-known, is p repare d b y the de composition of the nitrate of ammonia. If this salt be at all impure, and not unfrequently wh en it i s used absolutely pure, nitrous acidis evolved in the first instance during its decomposition. Chemists, therefore, when preparing the the laughing gas, are in the habit of throwing away the first proportions of gas that come over, and further test the character of the gas before th y allow it to b e i nsp i re d, as the nitrous acid gas would act on the economy as a dan gerous poison. Furthermore if th e l ungs cont a in a i r when this gas is inhaled, nitrous acid gas will be formed, and danger result. There is anothe r d anger occas i onally encountered, when this gas is used f or purposes of exhilira tion by respiration. In persons of a c onsump ti ve h a bi t, i t may cause severe pain at the chest, difficulty of breathing, and even spitting of blood. In those who have a tendency to apoplexy or palsy, mischief in the head may be caused by its incautious use. How far these results may be modi fied by the gas being taken into the stomach, it is at present impossible to say, but the subject admits of, and deserves further inquiry. At all events, there is the danger of a portion of nitrous acid gas being used in the wine, together with the laughing gas, and the adulteration is one of a most improper, as well as singular, character. It can hardly be regarded as altogether innocuous.—Medical Times. IR/STAGE CARRIAGE DUTIES.-011 Saturday a deputa tion from the coach proprietors round London, headed by Colonel Wood, M.P. for Middlesex, waited by appointment on the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the subject of the stage carriage duties. The trade complain that, all along the banks of the river Thames from Hampton Court to Wool. wich, they have to compete with untaxed steam, and on many roads with the rail also, and soon will on all; the rail paying 5 per cent. duty on their receipts, except third-class passengers, on which they pay nothing, whilst the coach pro prietor pay duties amounting on many roads to 25 per cent., and seldom less than 16 per cent. on their receipts, besides heavy annual licenses, from which the rail and steam are totally exempt, and they ask, on principle, to be placed o n an equality with the steam-boats and railroads. All the proprietors forming the deputation gave it as their decided opinion that if the Government placed them on an equality with the railroads as regards the duty, many long coac h es would be placed on the road again this spring, the heavy duties being the only hindrance, and that at by a judicio us re duction, the Government would in this instance, as in most others where duties had been reduced, be rather gainers than losers, in consequence of the extra carriages th a t would be started. The Chancellor promised to give the case, w hi ch was argued at great length, his serious consideration. The Sacred Harmonic Society's next performance takes place on Thursday next, when Handel's Samson will be given. The cast includes Braham, Phillips, Leffler, Miss Birch, and Miss Hawes. EW MONEY MARKET and CITY CITT, SATURDAY EVC,314°:.,,, TIMES.—Money t ran sactions remain in the most tin"' tain state possible ; the Circular to Bankers sa y s . -- There is no describing money by rates, which the course of the same day according to the circum!t.str.'„" of the parties. Very few bills are taken in by the bfy kers under five per cent.; and the temper of the Ban t l o 'f i 'd be, known from the fact, that after having 100,000/. on Exchequer-bills for a month, they imloret,„„k borrower to curtail the time for the loan, and to Lake l l; one-fourth or one-half of the sum which he bad paid for ►• terest." &d i " In general the discount brokers maintain a pretty e 1 40 competition with the Bank, but the latter now aprof, r ot by far the greater part of the business, and this is a new e, I, to rs' agreed ifethe ol'clifficuity at the present moment, for the Bank Directors havingso large and important a trust to exercise must d P if t hey with greater caution than other establishments, an see the least danger a-head will suspend the reb el .. h im er ellY distely. That they will continue to give assistance il n d is a much more prevalent belief than the contrary V`",,,,, e et monied interest have this further reliance—that the P':i jee t board have a wary eye to profit, and would feel it ri th s:7 o of great gratification so early in the working of A i y ideei system to be able to announce an increase in their " the eS; to the next court of proprietors. The knowledge of r ote tent of the business they are engaged in has, in fact, im,?.,, 0 r of late the value of Bank Stock at a time when other n' t err tion of stock were giving way, and these would be ng a l ' 0 ;00 fore no other rational construction than such an esc r ot. as that just adverted to. The enormous amount of P Ain g e deposits disclosed by this wee k's return, %re 14,000,0001., further shows the vast available Po ° to sst; sessed by the establishment; yet no man can vent a g n t hy ° how far it may be prudent for them to go, and, w f b e All I A may think fit to withhold that support upon whic h City depends. pith th e i Mr. Cobden's letter does not raise his character ti W E pr ee , ,! men of business here, where everything is ° nine° j lisf e ' ' tical, and where such a course as he would adoP t i :d byres . , tensed as headlong legislation, which if atternPt he "r e , Minister, would drive him from power, or throw tri w ithoP: country into confusion Our merchants, and tb 3 ,, t ,•, ' any peculiar sympathy with the landholders, ere t ly',' • upon calmer reflection, to think the Minister enru" — r e.ly" already, as regards his mode of dealing w ith the _ i e ° 2 00 = and a few timid voices are beginning to be her n a r lf the other parts of his measure, but more Perl n c 7,ool 2 " reduction of duty on cotton and silk foreign Inn, e peu'' articles. To this, which is a common reaction of tts ellf . mind in all such cases, no great importance need be cut e though it is not to be omitted in adverting to the hdif il feeling in the City on th e present occasion. With O t t impressions there aris e s, b y a natural transition, & t hey — of much opposition to the Minister on other Poi nts the corn-laws. Nothing, h owever , on thi s side der , O f tion can be said yet to assume an important 610 °1 : 0 0 . iet e i The Select Committee of the House of CommonSlirsit*P.; to arrange the mode of proceeding with railway ell v, settle the extent of them, is certainly sinking in ,s eed'A in the City with the same men whd do not deni; ep ect; sity, under the circumstances into which, with l a. 11 / 1 those undertakings, the conntry has been brotigi7os.o" contend that this ought to have been done in the la s :, 0 0 ; instead of so much being done to encourage raii°7ool,l prise in all directions. Nothing that the Contnli, tt t e ieifir e , will give satisfaction ; that is perfectly evident, 0.11" t-e the subject is obviously doomed to be an annoYanc e gislature during the whole course of the session. this m decision of some rule or principle of proceeding by ` n gof,,, e. mittee may, however, materially assist in disli si ,, --1 7 e , vexatious question of the payment of the dePos,,",."tbrt companies who do not find it prudent to go on ant e hied cision, may help in restoring the equilibrium in . .,;eietr,e' Market, and facilitate the movements of other 0 0 % - tr ibe': withdrawing at once, and by proceeding to a re,' - ' 13 e f 15,1 of the funds they have in hand. To give renew fer.a to the Money Market is a more important objec"treetv time being, than any question arising out of the Col ls e d. of new railways, at least so far as the City is concern -- - THE « GREAT UNPAID,A,. 003 " TO THE EDITOR OF TEE S' SlR,—The glaring and unpardonable negligl o opoi, magistrates in some of the provinc e s appears t ° pspr i the increase, and this piece of insult upon. ° l r ises,/ must be stayed. Wherever cause for counPloi r t this respect, the public may easily remedy it• trvi f a score only—no matter how humble in station to. mit a short memorial (showing the grievanne). o „,e, Lord-Lieutenant, and it will be his bounden dal or our into it. The remedy is very plain a nd easy.-- - ,TO dient servant, OBSEP Jan. 30, 1846. 119 DEATH OF SIR JAMES R IVETT C A RNA L , 1 3 $ We have to announce the decea , e of the above g4ti whose dissolution took place on 'Wednesday last , s e , se ed Pi r chile, his residence i n Lymi ngton , H ants. The dec frb . s, for some months past suffered from severe illness; o f dal( ceased was some years back chairman of the board Ge es, tors of the East India Company, and was forrnerleX e d of Bombay, in which appointment he was succee'.o et A late Sir William Macn aug ht en. Th e l ate B ar onet '102,1 House of Commons so :ne y ears ago , f or S an dwich , : so a created a baronet in 1836, and is succeeded by In' tinc l John R. Carnac, late of the 73d Regiment. 0 13 ,4 oi DEATH OF MR. CARPUE.—We regret to d i that this veteran reformer, and celebrated surgeon'4 Friday evening last, at his r esid ence i n Ch ar lotte-st d ' , : te roy-square, after a protracted ill ness . The imnle of his death, we understand, was dropsy. Mr. CaLly,st at well known some years ago as a veteran reformer, _TO! of the abuses in his own profession, b u t a lso of tho7e, affect the common weal. In times of great politics', OP' ment, during the elections, he was ever to be fon.tt eif post, either on the hustings at Covent- g a r d en , o r activA,, gaged in canvassing in support of his ow n p ecu liar °P e l le In the medical profession he w a s k nown as one of %de) stern and uncompromising of all th e opponents o f the of Surgeons, by the governi n g b o d y o f w hi c h , to their 'Bl disgrace, he was constantly refused a seat at Ol io tb. cil, though eminently entitl e d t o it b y hi s rank,. profession, and surgical and anatomical attain Carpue was scarcely known as a writer, his princira p olot we believe, his only work b e i ng O n t h e T a li aco tian and On the High Operation of the Stone. _1 Asa ea 7,t' on anatomy and surgery, his styl e o f l ec t ur ing Irag i n .of but eminently successful. Shortly a ft er the openly.:!d Brighton Railway,.Mr. Carpue, who had then ree f t Ow . ; public and profes s i ona l lif e , except i ng hi s ap poiattnen,,,,k; vaccine establishment, was travellin g on that rail: al ; 5 that fearful accident happened by which so man/ ri e d can sacrificed. Two of Mr. Ca r p ue ' s servants wer e Kin forj, occasion, and he himself was most seriously injur e "' OIL while but little hope was en t er t a i ne d o f hi s reco verf; e d, P; ferings were dreadf u l ; an d even w h en apparentlYTricol,,4 still complained of great opp ress i on a t t h e c h es t and 0" of breathing. How far thi s acc id ent may have lai d tbe o o dation of the disease which ultimately destroyed him 'bad unprepared to state; but he himself having, a fter It be P , curred, expressed his firm conv i c ti on t h at i t would death' death. He proceeded a ga i ns t th e company by civ and recovered 1001. damages. F rom t h at t i me to •is alts nothing was known of hi m b y t h e public. He bsdfj, gether retired, and free from th e t urmo i ls which 9. gaged the greater part of a l ong lif e. He was 84 „00 —Observer. i wtt THE WAGES OF THE D OCKYARD ANTI- vICV b Meetings of the artisans of the Dockyard have h e f e , cifi with a view of organi s i ng a movement to obta i n an ill of wages. The ship wr i g ht s o f W oo l w i ch Dockyard t:,e'allol the proceedings, and wrote to the shipwrights anaL r jan of Devonport and o th er d oc k yards; other classes of r-he learning this summon e d a meet i ng, in order that '" t he might be made by all h an d s . T he result has been t i t iolyj pointment of a committ ee , an d t h e adoption of a Pe:epe:2 the Admiralty, setting forth the high price of food as 7,r e siv ground for the increase which they solicit. • Pr Standard. b. 01 EXPENSIVE CLOAK.—Hi s M a j es t y Kanikeelld still in his possession the mamo, or feather war - ci °sjc ,,,alet li m father, the celebrated Tam e h ame h a. I t was not c°4lool until his reign, having occu pi e d e i g h t p r ecedin g yea its fabrication. It is four feet in length, with eler d ,, f or' a half feet spread at the bottom. Its gro u ,%•ch is a coarse netting, and to this the feathers, .., , ray very small and exceedingly delicate, are san l ' o ec,, e l " tached, overlapping each other, and forming a 4 1 ' 4 s P i smooth surface. The feathers around the beru",ell, o inverted, and the whole presents a beautiful brigh t JP 0 eolour, giving it the appearance of a mantle of Cott, deed it would be difficult for despotism to manT s- . 0 -0t0; richer or more costly garment for its proudest' . 0 0 13 .4 Two feathers only (such as are used wholly in it s . r 01 ; e facture) are obtained from under the wings o' ht - sh„i' species of bird inhabiting Hawaii, which is cang",,abe4 with great care and toil. Long poles, with an_ . ; substance smeared upon them, and well baited, w:„ ( 1 near their haunts. The bird alights upon it , 7404 able to disengage itself from the adhesive r''', ) ,"e b l secured, the much prized feathers plucked, and 1 " - clooj e set at liberty. A piece of nankeen, valued at ove n / toi, and a half, was formerly the price of five featherl:oow . „, kind. By this estimate the value of the cloak pity i equal that of the purest diamonds, in the severairs O A e" peen regalia, and including the price of the fe ath fijell e k less than a million of dollars worth of labour was e rele upon it, at the present rate of computing wages. fee',lf spear accompanying the cloak is ten and a hi 7 i d fte. s S length, of a dark-red wood, flattened to a point, a"." reki polished. It possesses an additional interest, when so" that it was the favourite weapon of a savage conclu e Ner" deep stained with th e bl oo d of many a Hawaiian Yr- Hawaiian Spectator, vol. 2. be THE DUKE OF RICHMOND ON POOR RATINIV,I fishmonger Duke asserted in the House of Lords, °" paele; evening, that the poor rate pressed so heavy on the - te the that " one of his tenants alone paid more in poor yip the whole of the League put together !" About thr'e, ago, we know that the Messrs. Marshall of this Pla ce ' upwards of 2,0001. of poor rate in one year for the P„d's t • i in Holbeck alone. Which of the Duke of Rich m° "art nants, we wonder, pays as much as the twentieth P this amount in annual poor rate I—Leeds Tim's. BIRTHS. .e• O' On the 20th of Nov em b er l ast, at Madras, the wife O f the 111.)tib so K. Hamilton, of a son. S. ''' On the 27th ult., a t M anor House, Bognor, the lady 0 f Esq., of a son. 0 ortl° ll On the 28th ult. , a t Blackheath, the lady of Jain or Esq., of a son. ~,f On the 28th ult., th e l ady of Francis Morph)", v —s - . ,, "' of den of j, T , • place, Russell- square, o f a son. wife On the 28th ult., at Hornsey-lane, Highgate, the .S. Watson, Esq., of a da ug ht er. the /4e,., , , On the 28th ult., at th e R ectory, Leigh, 00 MO' of 0 l aff Eden, of a son. On the 29th ult., at Gloucester-villa, Regent's-par t ' th It. Phillips, of a son. or tb° MARRIED. Horn e ' sci eg . On the 19th of No vem b er, at Bangalore, George orejg, (lam King's Hussars, to A gnes M ars, daughter of the late J . yr. On the 27th uit , at St. Mary Abbott's, Kens i n gton " Cotman, of Mancheste r , t o Eli zabeth Winifred, Y owl sge t Matthew Terry, Esq. DIED. rill' i B a o „ n a i t i lr , s l o l n t h .. i u l t a . , at Genoa , E .rter o f lat e jail' On the 20thult . , at Hackney, Hannah, relict of the 91' Ileedham, of Highgate. .i.r rat " lei' On the 24th ult Tremacloc, Carnarvonshir e . ..,.., t re.- A. R. Mapwell, Esq., late of the 2d West India Reg i _ ine iifg . rf '' On the 25th ult., at Asherton , Sidmouth, SoPm a ' Sir Wil li° Potts, the wife of G. Potts , Herman Count Patting.— Esq., aged 27. blre. -- On the 27th ult., at Courteen Hall, Northampto n, lie rirl RhOolest,hEe g2q7.t,hlatuelto.f, here }l3fasiregsatyre,st-Wstroeodets, Wake , aged 78. Fores_ F o r iclt, On the 27th ult., Edwin Craven, infant son of W. J * ' el , 04 of Church-row, Limehouse. telo rj Emilie Scarth, aged 7 years. . re o f CAP On the 27th ult., in London, Frederico, only child M. red .-f. A , On the 27th ult., at Paris, Jane, the w i fe Elliot, R N. gag a°. Diary Pre.— widow e On the 28th ult., at Turnharn - green, Miss Ma __, wid On the 29th ult .. at Lambeth-terrace, Frances P.. ---... On the 27th ult., at Stoke Newington, Dir. William fon. o f late Mr. Charles Fox.aCsendistzsquare, 04., - -- -- ii2. ~0. of s °„iso' - - t London : Print and Published by MURDO Y01i , ",.. - '0 p.,.. t , Strand, r, at The Sun Office, No. 112, Strand,'" Fabra"" of the Savoy, in th• County of lifiddlesex, Mendel, 2, 1846. i i l 1