The Sun. — London, England, 1848-01-21 00:00:00

THE QUARTERLIES. T'T DEVP, URGr" REVIEW. No. Cr.:7X r' TIIE Q UARTERLY REVIEW. No. CLXIII. THE WES7'MINSTER REVIEW. No. XCV. THE DUBLIN REVIEW. No. XLVI. As we have already commented upon the principal political article in the Edihburgh Review—namely, the paper in which " the State of the Nation" is considered in its relation to the Ministry and the New Parliament—we shall restrict ourselves to the contributions which partake more of the character of general literature. We are especially induced to do so, moreover, because we have reserved until another opportunity our remarks upon the most able and elaborate political treatise which has anywhere ap peared for a very considerable time, and cer tainly the most valuable article in the new number of' our contemporary. We mean the concluding disquisition upon the difficulties of Ireland—a dis quisition which is entitled " The Irish Crisis," and which is a comprehensive review of the problem so long discussed in the Parliament of the United King dom. Foremost among the critical papers is the notice of Lamartine's Histoire des Girondins," foremost, we mean by position, for we cannot but think the criticism inferior to several of its successors, seeing that it is eminently super ficial and discursive. It can scarcely be considered, indeed, a substantial criticism ; it is rather a rennin.- commentary. A running commentary too, of a kind singularly dry, prosaic, barren, and unsuggestive—upon an original which is as singularly attractive in manner, poetical in composition, fruit ful in ideas and language, and suggestive of the loftiest principles and the most thrilling analogies. Ready, as we are, to coincide with the reviewer in regretting that the splendid " History," by Alphonse Lamartine, can scarcely claim for itself, with pos terity, that severe and exalted definition—seeing that it is rather biographic than historic, rather anecdotal than purely descriptive—we cannot, by any means, agree with him in lamenting the extraordinary rapidity with which it has been written. Instead of mourning over that rapidity we exult over it—we exult over it, because the eight volumes which it has produced bear upon themselves, for that very reason, the impress of spontaniety, and because, bearing upon themselves that impress, the opinions of which those volumes are the embodiment are ripe rather than ephemeral. La martine penned his immortal work from one conti nuous and vivid inspiration. Every sentence is kindled by enthusiasm—every section glitters with passion —every book reverberates with the elo quence of poetic oratory. Sometimes the page seems to blaze with the glorious utterances of Vergniaud, sometimes it is suffused with the pathos of Antoinette, sometimes it is lurid with the crimes of Marat, sometimes it is swimming with the tears of Roland. Lamartine, in inditing the " History of the Girondists," beginning with the death of Mirabeau, and ending with the death of Robespierre, manifestly did not intend to write a regular history or a regular series of biogra phies ;he wrote what he wrote—a work that will be for ever a phenomenon of eloquence—a book which may more truly than the moon-dreams of Hans Christian Andersen be called " A picture-book with out pictures"—a narrative as fervid as Demosthenes and as rhetorical as Burke, as gloomy as Dante and as bewitching as Petrarch, as vividly in relief ae the sculpture of Roubilliac and as gorgeous in colouring as the pencil of Paulo Veronese. It is scarcely pos sible to close the " History of the Girondists" without acknowledging with the Edinburgh Reviewer that the author's explanation of the character of Maxi milian Robespierre is, on the whole, satisfactory. As the same writer happily observes—" Historical truth, and a knowledge of human nature, gain by reducing the distorted and exaggerated traits of the monster into the features of te man actuated by the or dinary passions of humanity, gifted with many noble and even amiable qualities, and plunged into eternal infamy by common human weaknesses, tried in fearful times by most extraordinary emergencies." After the review of Lamartine, comes a well-natured notice of the writings of Thackeray—William Make peace Thackeray—better known by his pseudonyms in Punch Fraser's Magazine, Cruilishank's Omnibus, Sco. &c. Everybody has heard of Michael Angelo Titmarsh, of Jeames, of Fitz-boodle, of Yellowplush, of the Fat Contributor and the Snob Contributor to the " London Charivari." The real man is rising out of his masquerade, and assuming that position in the light literature of the age to which his abilities, his wit, his humour, his bon hommie, his sarcasm, and his naturalness peculiarly entitle Mm. For " Vanity Fair" is revealing the true powers of Mr. Thackeray. We had recently t o c ondemn the frivolity of his Christ Mas " Our Street"—a production altogether un worthy of him. In doing so, however, we cordially coincide with his reviewer in the Edinburgh, that by his other books he has proved himself to be " an acquisition of real and high value to our literature." " Let the public give him encouragement," says the same critic, " and let him give himself time, and we fearlessly prophecy that he will soon become one of the acknowledged heads of his own peculiar walk of literature." Mr. Thackeray and the public must settle this matter between them selves, and may they realise the prediction S There is afterwards a very copious examination of the ques tion as to whether Watt or Cavendish was " The Discoverer of the Composition of Water." It is one of the moot points in the history of chemical analysis, and for that reason alone, apart from the sagacity of the present inquirer and the importance of the disco very, the paper will be perused with extraordinary curiosity. In conclusion the Reviewerrernarks—" We think it plain that, though Cavendish may have had floating visions of the discovery at an earlier period, be had no clear revelation of it till it was announced by Watt ; and that, even if his conception of the theory could be traced to a prior date , it is evident that he never would h ave b een delivered' of it, had not Watt assisted at the birth." Like many other scien tific disclosures—such as the one of the differential calculus by Newton and Leibnitz, of the electrotyping system by Jacobi and Spencer, and of the new planet by Leverrier and Adams—this one of the composition of waters appears to have been a sort of Siamese revelation. The other article, not yet mentioned, is a profound and beautiful criticism upon the " Kosmos of Alexander Von Humboldt. " Kosmos," exclaims the Reviewer, " the adornment, the orderly arrangement, the ideal beauty, harmony, and grace of the universe ! Is there, or is there not, in the mind of man a conception answering to those magnificent, those magical words ? Is their sound an empty clang, a hollow ringing in our ears, or does it stir up in the depths of our inward being a sentiment of something interwoven in our nature of which we cannot divest ourselves, and which thrills within us as in answer to a spell whispering more than words can interpret ?" The answers to these inquiries are contained in the paper of which they are :the com mencement. Such are the component parts of the 175th Number. Be it observed, before we pass on wards, that in consequence of the death of Professor Napier, the late editor, new arrangements have been entered into, which have led to a transference of the Review from one capital to another—the Edinburgh is now published in London, so that it will continue _henceforth to be a practical " bull" in blue-and buff. A more than readable paper, a paper indeed of remarkable interest, opens the Quarterly Review. It is entitled " The Last Years of Frederick the Second," and has been suggested by the presentation of a copy of the splendid edition of the works of the great Prussian conqueror (printed at the r o y a l p ress a t Berlin, in 1846), by King Frederick Wilhelm IV. to the University of Oxford. We do not propose, says the reviewer, " t o d escant e i t h er upon the freaks ° f‘his (Frederick the Great's) youth, or th e g l or i es of his wars; both are sufficiently well known—the former through his own sister, the Margravine o f B are i t h , and his favourite, Voltaire ; the latter th roug h t h e pages of more than one historian. But it seems to us that his system of administration in peace has by no means received the same degree of attention as hi s Military exploits. N or are the habits of his declining age so familiar to us as those of his early manhood.' These habits and this system, therefore, are taken as the themes of the disquisition, and from it may be ob tained a rap id , t h ough detailed, description of " the life of Frederick, public and private, since the peace of Hubertsburg." Beyond his vast, and indeed sublime capacities as a warrior, and his extraordinary F,enius it? military and political administration, there is very little fascination to us in the career or cha racter of thi s renowned monarc h . Th e pover t y o f hi s p er sonal h a bit s, t h e eccentr i c i ty o f hi s manners, t h e cidity o f his disposition, his uncleanliness, hi s eideeeaspticisin, and the depressing looseness of his upon religion, form a most unwin- Ai n pia f n , i __ , a_ most unprepossessing,. and, to speak . a very repulsive individuality. Alluding to the Justice with which the character of this sovereign is now viewed in Prussia, the writer observes with ver y felicitous brevity—" On the one hand there a nd there ought to be, the greatest admiration for his militarthere is• y genius and ren ow n ; on th e other hand, iron despotism, no leanin g t o hi s i n fid e l p hil oso ph y , or t o hi s To espotism, or t o his fantastic notions of finance." ourselves it appears that there was something grand and colossal in' the intellect of Frederick the Great, but then there was nothing in it sound or whole acme. A long but rather scrambling notice of the "ncluding series of the important historico-legal work just completed by Lord Campbell—" The Live s of the Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of n gland "—follo ws . Th e no ti ce i s pr i nc i pa ll y de rd to an enumerat i on of some of the more singu t i i Passages in that erudite and voluminous compile- One suggestion made by the reviewer appears " to be excellent • it is that the noble and learned aut hor might advantageously have given in a sum way a pedigree ee r the holder s of the Great Seal ever since that office k w as exclusi ve l y occup i e d b y l a y men — n am e ly, aft e r ee re tirement, in 1625, of the last clerical Lord Per ) Bishop Williams. jJaving made the sugges- THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 21, 1848. THE LOSS OF THE AVENGER. The fallowing extract from a letter written by Mr. Larcom, the gunner, to a distinguished officer of the navy has been published "her Majesty's ship Ceylon, Malta, Jan. 4, 1847. " Dear have not the least doubt that you have heard of the fate of the unlucky Avenger, which was lost on the Sorelli Rocks about twelve miles to the south-west of Galita, on Monday, at ten P.M., going at the rate of eight or nine knots, under double reefed topsails and reefed foresail. At the time she struck I was in my bed, but being awakened by the shock, I jumped out and felt for my clothes ; a heavy sea, however, striking the ship at the time, I ran on the deck in my shirt, where I found Lieut. Rooke pressing the men to clear away the cutters. Seeing the state the ship was in, I ran down to my cabin and got my trousers on. By this time the ship was on her beam ends, with her deck exposed to the sea. Li e ut enan t R oo k e f a ili n g (in the confu sion) to get th e cu tt ers c l eare d awa y, desired me to assist him, whi c h I i mme di a t e l y did. The surgeon, second mate, master's assistant, captain's steward, a stoker, and a second-class boy, got into the boat before it was lowered, when Lieutenant Rooke,lower ing the foremost fall, and myself the after one, we got down the falls ourselves and shoved off from the ship with the intention of saviag any one that might be washed off from the wreck. Before we shoved off from the ship they commenced lowering the other cutter, but unfortunately she was dashed against the ship's side and was stoved, and the gig astern was washed from the davits. " We had not shoved off five minutes before the mainmast went over the side, taking with it the mizentopmast and th e f unne l ; a b ou t a minute or two after that the foremast went, taking with it the bow sprit ; and in les s th an a quar t er o f an hour after she struck she was a p er f ec t wrec k, ever coming off a ga i n , an d a ll h o p e s of saving the ship's company w ere l os t . leaving no chance of " The wind and sea increasing all the time, and our boat's crew being nearly worn out, we held a consultation among ourselves as to what was the best to be done, when it was agreed that we should run to leeward of the Island of Galita, and wait there till daylight, and try to get assistance to send to our ill fated companions. But when we got to leeward Gf the island the wind suddenly shifted to the N.E., blowing, if possible, harder than before, which caused a heavy cross sea, and baffled all our hopes of getting assistance, :if any could have been obtained in the Island of Galita. The only thing we had then to do was to retrace our steps back to the place where we came from, as the wind was blowing directly from the op posite point from which it was blowing before, and we then passed over a reef on which I shall always think our ill-fated ship struck. " The wind kept veering about, as God Almighty would have it; if it had not been so we should have had to beach the boat in the night, and we all must have been lost. As it was, daylight came, and we saw the land about twenty miles off; the boat at the same time was standing right for it, and when we got nearly in for the shore there was such an awful sea, that I thought every moment would be our last. As it happened we got into a little bay, and in one place, for about fifty yards, we saw it was a sandy beach, and we thought we should be able to land in safety there. But it was not to be so; for when about one hundred yards from the beach, the rollers lifted the boat nearly perpendicular, and her stern taking the ground, and all power of the steering oar being lost thereby, she swung broadside on a roller coming in directly after, and was swamped, when, I am sorry to say, four out of our little party, namely, Mr. Steele, doctor; Mr. Betts, second master; Mr. Ayling, master's assistant; and John Owen, stoker —sunk to rise no more ; and three only besides myself reached the shore, namely, Lieutenant Rooke, William Hill, captain's steward, and James Mor ley, boy. When we reached the land we fell exhausted on the beach, and nearly blind from the sand getting in our eyes as we struggled to the shore. Having some what recovered ourselves, we all got up and walked along the shore, not knowing at the time where we were going, as we hardly had any senses in us, when we fell in with an Arab, who kindly took us into his hut, and gave us some warm milk, which greatly revived us. We dried our clothes, and contented our selves there for the night, having made him (the Arab) understand that we wished to go where there was some British consul, and to which we understood he would guide us the next day. " In the morning we were determined to set out as early as possible ; but neither of us having any shoes, Lieutenant Rooke cut the legs of his boots off, and I made of them a pair of slippers for myself and a pair for the steward. The boy at the same time took the sleeves off his jacket, and adapted them to the same purpose. Having walked about thirty miles that day, we put up at an Arab hut, and remained there for the night, having been given to understand that we should have horses in the morning to take us on our journey, which we commenced again as soon as daylight, and arrived at a place called Biserta. Here was a vice-consul, and he gave us refreshments and shoes, and handkerchiefs to tie round our heads, for we had lost our hats in getting ashore ; but there not being a vessel of any sort in this place that we could send to our ship, Lieutenant Rooke determined to push on for Tunis, that being the next port. Accordingly we got a boat and arrived there in it at midnight ; and not being allowed to enter the town we remained on board until the morning, when Lieutenant Rooke went to the Consul-General, Sir T. Reade, who immediately sent to Malta to give intelligence of what had hap pened, at the same time sending two schooners to the place where our poor ship was wrecked, we ourselves going there in a large pulling boat for fear that the schooners should be becalmed outside. The Bey of Tunis also sent the whole of his squadron, to see if they could recover any of the vessel or of her crew; but I am sorry to say neither they nor we could find either, the ship having disappeared. There cannot be the least doubt that everybody perished except ourselves, for the wind having shifted, and such a heavy sea rising at the time, she must have been washed off the rocks, and have sunk in deep water. " We are now at Malta waiting a passage to Eng larid, where I hope I shall reach by the latter end of Late this month, when w e s h all he able to descr ib e all the "JOHNhe ATljitaj particulars—So no more from your humble and obedient servant, R es e ty 9 s M s , hi g p unner, " Le o Avenger." (From th e H era ld . ) H Avenger How came the on the Sorrelli rocks is a suggested question which has ested itself to most persons. Those who have read the acconnts of the wreck, and who know the steam-packet r ou t e to M a lt a , or w h o h a ve referred to the chart for it, must come to o n e or other of the conclusions:---that the ship overrun her di s tance in a very s h ort time, which is not very likely, seeing the master had taken a few hours before the bearings of the ship she struck ; that her steering was so wild and uncertain all l s to throw her out of her course, which is not at temerity to i h n e improbable ;or that, with a a for da a eyer deplored, the Avenger determined, pae r b x and tempestuous night, to cut off the Ori ental steam-vessel a, Peninsular, and (whi.h self to be a faster boat), - had proved her ofpit.he run at all hazards through by endeavouring to between the island dangerous navigation .. ita, and the fatal rocks of Sorelli, instead of keeping if the Pacha's c ou r se , f ar t o ta the southward of the , attempted, it was, indeed, the latter " shave" was commanded awful mistake on the part of these who foll or risked the sad re sults, which too surely uncer tain ship as the Avenger. l o t wed, in such an s was mentioned yester day that the Avenger w as ov upplied with the proper charts for her station; but .if she had not re ceived any either at Lisbon or e Cr: Gibraltar, the common chart which has been issued all her Majesty's ships going to Lisbon, for a lo ng o number of years, (as we have ourselves seen) c le arly gives the position of the island of and distinctly prominently upon its face the Sorelli and , and bears It may not be true that there was t reeks. the part of the A ven g er to tr y to get any intention Malta there are circumstances which lead t o informed that that such was the case. We related° the supposition on Saturday the manner in which the l ife of Colonel m all probability preserved—namely, by`lntyre was in out of the Admiralty re g ulation, which forbids carrying forbids any ship of war to take p assen g ers fr ont Gibraltar when there is a contract packet steamer i n to the same destinat ion. It i s re Port proceeding ported that the gallant Colonel is not the only person who owes his life to obedience to thi s order, but many persons had embarked at __moreover that i- Avenger, and by perm ission of the captain in the captain were about to take a passage in her to It alt was only by the capt ain of th e paczia g a t and that it board the Avenger at G ibraltar, and r oing On tequiring that the Admiralty orders w ith re spect should be strictly observed (thoe ord passenger: tirs having happily been put in force , too, f ur the first tune), that, much to the unconcealed annoyance and chagrin both of the officers of the Avenger and th e parties them• selves who were to have been t heir mpagnons de voyage, they reluctantly shifted their quarters to the handsome accommodations on b oard the We noticed on the 7 th instan t , that the losspacket-ship. Avenger was " decidedly t he worstwhich has of the occurred in the annals of th e Royal Navy since December, 1811, when the St. George, 98, and the Defence 74, stranded on the coast of Jutland, and, with the'exception of sixteen seamen, all souls perished." W e perceive that a correspondent has corrected a contemporary by since quoting the above as that of a later disaster than that which befel the Athenienne, 64 guns, on the Sk . irk rocks (noted in Captain Mundy's extract yesterday), off Sardinia, , Oct. 20, 1806, when 347 souls perished. l cir cumstances attending the loss of this ship he are fear s fully interesting, as many who know Sir Win. Pym, tion, the reviewer illustrates his meaning by giving r. - 1' • Coventry—was the eldest son of a Judge of the Common Pleas, and heir to a handsome fortune. Oxford. Finch—son of an eminent barrister— one of an ancient and distinguished famille de la robe. No university mentioned either here or in Collins. Littleton—a lineal descendant of the great Chief Jus tice—son of a Welsh Judge, and heir to a good estate. Oxford. Lane—of obscure origin—neither pedigree nor place of education ascertained. Whitelocke—only son of an eminent and wealthy Judge of the King's Bench. Oxford. Herbert—son and heir of a country gentleman of noble descent. English University. Clarendon—son and heir of a considerable squire, and nephew of a Chief Justice. Oxford. - - Shaftesbury—born to a baronetcy and 8,000/. a year— an immense fortune two centuries ago; an Earl and Cabinet Minister before he became Chancellor. Oxford. Bridgeman 7 son to a bishop, and heir to a good fortune. 'Cambridge. Nottingham—son and heir of an eminent and wealthy barrister, who was Recorder of London and brother to Lord Keeper Finch. Oxford. Guilford—second son of the heir to a barony—but began the world in great poverty, and in his rise to the Seal owed little or nothing to his birth. Cambridge. Jeffreys —younger son of a poor Welsh gentleman, who wished to bind him apprentice to a shopkeeper. No public school nor university. Maynard—eldest son of a considerable squire. Oxford. Trevor—second son of a very poor Welsh gentleman, but nearly related to Jeffreys. No public school nor university. Somers—son of a country solicitor. No public school nor university. Wright—son of au obscure clergyman. Cambridge. Cowper—heir to a baronet of good estate. No public school nor university. Harcourt—heir to a very honourable family, but mi serably impoverished through the civil wars. Ox ford. Macclesfield—" could not distinctly tell whether he had a grandfather;"—his father a country solicitor. No public school nor university. King—son of a provincial shopkeeper. Leyden. Talbot—eldest son of a bishop of noble descent. Oxford. Ilardwicke—" son of a small attorney at Dover, of respectable character, but in very narrow circum stances." Never at public school or university. Northington—heir to a genteel family, but the estate grievously encumbered. Oxford. Camden—his father was a Chief Justice, but died poor when he was only ten years of age. Cambridge. " Charles Yorke, the second son of the great Lord Ilardwicke, was born on the 10th of January, 1723, in a splendid mansion in Great Ormond-street. His father, then Attorney-General, and making a larger income than had ever fallen to the lot of an English barrister, continued near forty years after wards to fill the highest offices of the law, accumu lating immense wealth, and able to make a splendid provision for all the members of his family. Yet Charles, even under the enervating influence of a sinecure place which was conferred upon him—from a noble love of honourable distinction, exerted him self as strenuously and perseveringly as it; being the son of a poor Scotch clergyman, who could give him nothing beyond a good education, he had depended entirely on his own exertions for his bread, and for his position in the world."—Vol. v., p. 367. Cambridge. Bathurst—second son of an eminent politician, created an Earl, whose coronet eventually descended to him long after he had won for himself the Barony of Apsley. Oxford. Thurlow—son and grandson of country clergymen ; could carry his descent no higher—used to say among fine people that he believed the founder of the family was a carter, Cambridge. Loughborough —son of a Scotch judge, and heir to a small estate. Edinburgh. Erskine—third son of a very poor Scotch Earl ; entered at Cambridge in his 26th year; may be said to have been wholly self educated. Eldon—younger son of a provincial tradesman. Oxford. Thus, out of thirty Chancellors or Lord Keepers, scarcely twenty had had " a regular gentleman's education." By way of completing the list, the writer afterwards mentions the three illustrious suc cessors of Eldon ; thus : Lyndhurst—son of a celebrated Royal Academician. Cambridge. Brougham—representative of a very ancient and honour able family, but inheriting a diminished estate. Edinburgh. Cottenham—second son of an eminent physician, who rose to a baronetcy, of which the Lord Chancellor is now heir presumptive. Cambridge. The whole of this article is crammed full of anec dotes, and shows in a conspicuous manner the enter taining character of the volumes penned by Lord Campbell. We trust that, notwithstanding the numerous exceptions taken to his books by the Quarterly, that the Noble and Learned Lord will receive in good part the hint with which the criti cism is brought to a conclusion, namely, that he should, in his leisure hours, undertake the production of " The Lives and Adventures of the Attorney - Generals who have not been Chancellors." Lord Campbell has literary abilities such as should not be allowed to run fallow. On finishing the article on the Chancellors, we turn over the leaf, and come upon a castigation of " The Memoirs of Viscountess Sundon," recently published—a frightful castigation. Mr. Robert Montgomery could scarcely have winced more at the onslaught made upon him by Mr. Macaulay, through the pages of the Edinburgh, than Mrs. Thompson must inevitably do at the exco riating sarcasms of the Quarterly. We turn with a sensation of indescribable relief from the bitterness of this criticism to the gentleness of the one which fol lows, on " The Memoir of the Life of Elizabeth Fry." The beneficence of that amiable and most estimable woman is reflected in the manner of the reviewer—a manner deliciously suave and genial. Mr. Broderip's " Zoological Recreations," a reprint of some twenty papers originally inserted in the New Monthly during the editorship of Theodore Hook, are warmly eulogised, and in the course of the pane gyric an interesting account of the extinct monsters which inhabited the earth prior to the creation of man is given. Next is a brief commendation of the efforts now being made in our populous cities for the -erection of cheap and decent " Lodging-houses;" a generous allusion to the evils of negro slavery, in an article headed " The Friends of the African ;" a se rious inquiry into the system adopted towards the" Pen ton ville Prisoners," and a humourous comment upon the "Accumulations of Capital" in reference to the late monetary crisis. When the reviewer eluci dates his theories by accounts of Bamboo and Co. trading with the East Indies, and Cockleshell and Co. trading with the Mauritius, we begin to suspect a certain identity between himself and a fascetious quidnunc who cracks his statistical jokes in the columns of a daily contemporary. In the paper upon "Pius IX." we can find nothing whatever to com mend; it could scarcely have been expected, however, that a Tory should be able to sympathise in any manner with the Great Pontifical Reformer. Of the final contribution, namely, the remarks upon the various "Ministerial Measures," we may speak elsewhere at a better opportunity. We must observe, however, that the scurrilous and defamatory attack contained in it upon Father M'Dermott, of Strokestown, has been utterly refuted (like the groundless calumnies of Lord Farnham and Sir Benjamin Hall) by the letter of " the Dove of Elphin " and the very conclusive document signed by twenty-eight respectable mem bers of the maligned priest's congregation. This is another argument for the employment of tem perate language when a criminal act is by no means proven. Several evenings back we noticed the inadequacy of the strictures contained in the Westminster Review on the " Occupations of the People," and the admirable " History and Exposi tion of the Currency Question" which follows, has already been commented upon very largely in another department of our journal. We would observe of the latter article, in conclusion, that it is indisputably one of the ablest and most comprehensive papers that has anywhere appeared on the fallacies and incon gruities of our deplorable monetary system. Several other contributions have reference to some of the more important political topics of the day, two of the most prominent being the "Popular Colleges," and the monstrous practice of " Bribery at Elections." Until we obtain the ballot we are satisfied that nothing at all approaching to a fair representation can be an ticipated. Hitherto that great boon has been with held, because it is supposed to be of too aristocratic a complexion for the householders of the United King dom. Too aristocratic forsooth ! Which we should like to know is the more aristocratic proceeding— selecting a member for some exclusive club in Pall mall or Waterloo-place, or choosing a senator to the popular House of Parliament ? (using " aristocratic" here, be it observed, not in a Pick wickian but a strictly Johnsonian sense). There is an interesting inquiry into the different plans which have been latterly proposed for ensuring the "Preservation of Food," and a forcible argument upon the " Economy of Railway Traction." Per haps the veriest curiosity in the way of a scientific problem which still remains unsolved is that of aerial travelling. Since llenson's patent glimmered out, the notion of periodical transits through the atmosphere has been marvellously depreciated. One failure, how ever, is not enough to demonstrate the imprac ticability of anything to which scientific principles are applicable—nay, nor a thousand. Every one has read of the failure of the experiment made by the flying philosopher in " Rasselas," and every one has heard of the failure of the experiments of Mr. Henson, but every one -has heard too of the equally signal discornfitures of Watt in the fabrication of a locomo tive steam- engine, and yet there are steam-engines at this very moment rushing in all directions over Great Britain, over the European continent, and over the continent of America, burrowing under tunnel, shooting through bridges, tearing along via ducts, and ploughing along the principal rivers and the seas and oceans of the whole globe ! What can yet be said about the possibilities of " Aerostation " may be found in an intelligent ar- I tide in the Westminster Review. The splendid edi tion ”Peertly prtNished of " Lord N.l4on's patches" is briefly reviewed; and there is also a very pleasant essay upon " Animal Instincts" in a previous portion of this Quarterly. By way of a supplemental continuation of the Foreign Quarterly (No. LXXX.)— amalgamated some time since with the Westminster — we have a notice of the satirical romance of Iduna Grafin, called " Diogena" (a sparkling pasquinade upon the fictions of the Countess of Hahn Hahn) ; another upon the " Ruckkehr" of Prince Puckler Muskau ; another upon " La Russie et les:Russes," by N. Tourgueneff; and another upon the " Reise Erinnerungen" of Theodore Mugge. Besides these there area variety of " Miscellaneous Notices." From the " Correspondence," which is appended to the review of Foreign Literature, we find in a letter from Rome allusions to the changes made of late in the form of the Pontifical Government, by which changes laymen as well as ecclesiastics are per mitted to participate in the labours of the Roman Legislature. "It required an enlarged mind," says the writer," "and a generous heart to conceive the idea, for which eternal praise and gratitude to the immortal Pontiff." Unfortu nately the recent reorganization of the Roman Cabinet has for the moment disappointed these expectations : still—we shall see The arrival of Lord Minto in the Eternal City is described as having caused much enthusiasm; public dinners were preparing for him in the Circolo Romano, and in the Casino of Merchants. Some considerable time has elapsed since the Dublin Review has been submitted to our consideration, it is therefore with peculiar pleasure that we welcome the new number, as bring ing to us the face of an old acquaintance, and as reminding us of the sentiment of true Christian brotherhood, which is every day being strengthened between our Protestant England and our Roman Catholic fellow-countrymen. The first article is, so to speak, clever and appetising; it is a critical paper of unusual merit upon " Spanish Novelists." As affording a glimpse into a region of literature only hinted at by a cursory allusion of Schlegel, it will be singularly acceptable, and affords a fair notion of the story-tellers of the Peninsula. " Vestiges of the Catholic Faith in Scandinavia," is one of those odd chapters which are interesting to us all, but will prove singularly so to the Roman Catholic subscribers to this quarterly. We can by no means whatever co iecide in the estimate formed of the historical abili ties of Mr. Prescott, the author of the " Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella," and of the "Conquest of Mexico." In a criticism upon his " Conquest of Peru," the Dublin Reviewer says that the author has no pretension " to depth or profundity, to manliness or vigour, to accurate delineation of character, to originality of thought, or classic elegance of idea, to statesmanlike reflection, or philosophical observation." Has the reviewer really read the " Reign of Ferdi nand and Isabella ?" We doubt it. If he had, and read it, too, with dispassionate intelligence, he must have recognised the manliness of style, the vigour of description, the depth and profundity of its intended moral, the classic elegance of its imageries (as where the historian is speaking of the navigation to the Ba hamas), the statesmanlike reflections and philosophical observations upon the policy of the great Queen, and the frequent originality of thought which marks the development and play of her ambition. As to the accuracy with which Mr. Prescott can delineate a character, witness his portraiture of Ximines, or of Ferdinand himself! In a subsequent notice of Her man Melville's " Omoo," there is a capital diatribe against the " cheap and nasty" system which is pre valent just now not only in groceries and steam boats, but even in books and newspapers. After a very eulogistic mention of an historical manual by one of the professors of Oscott, there is a bitter but dashing response to " Mr. Brownson on Develop ments." These contributions are followed by an ac count of " The Russo-Greek and Oriental Churches," a paper of singular length and completeness; by a chapter on the "History and Antiquities of Ireland ;" and by a decidedly Roman Catholic comment on the " Present Position of the High Church Theory." In addition, there are several supplemental " Notices of Books." As far as general talent is concerned, the Dublin Review may rank with its contemporaries; but it is exclusively, professedly, and intensely the exponent of the opinions entertained by those reli gionists who are subservient to the Papacy. COURT CIRCULAR. WINDSOR ' THURSDAY .— The Queen and Prince Albert took their usual early walk. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice, took walking and pony exercise to-day in the Little Park. Her Royal llighness the Princess Helena was also taken an airing. His Royal Highness Prince Albert enjoyed the sport of shooting this morning, accompanied by the Earl of Liverpool, and attended by the Earl of Mor ton, Sir Edward Bowater, General Bowles, and Captain the Hon. A. Gordon. The Earl and Countess Cowper are expected to arrive at the Castle this evening, on a visit to her Majesty. The royal dinner party at the Castle this evening will include the Earl of Liverpool, the Earl and Countess Cowper, Mr. G. E. and the lion. Mrs. Anson, and the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Whewell, The band of the Royal Horse Guards will attend during dinner. The Queen's private band will after wards attend in the Castle. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent arrived at her residence, Clarence house, St. James's, at half-past eleven o'clo c k yester d ay morn i ng, from F rogmore House, Wind sor . H er R oya l Hi g h ness, atten d e d by Sir George Couper, left town at two o'clock this afternoon, on her return to Frogmore House. The Postmaster-General had an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer yesteday. The Attorney General had also an interview yesterday with the Right Hon. Baronet, at his official residence in Downing-street. _ A deputation from the Sunday School Union, consisting of Messrs. Watson, Cuthbert son, Jackson, Latter, and Groser, waited on the Lord Presidrnt at the Privy Council-office yesterday, on matters relating to Education. Mr. John Wood, Chairman of the Excise; had an interview, on Wednesday, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners fckr England had a general meeting yesterday, at their office in White hall-place. The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lady Mary Wood had a dinner party, on Wednesday, at their residence in Downing-street. THE LATE DUKE OF PRASLIN AND MADEMOISELLE DELTJZY. By his will the late Duke de Choiseul-Praslin left to Mademoiselle Deluzy-Desporees, the governess of his children, a life income of 3,000 francs. After her release from prison she commenced an action against Marshal Sebastiani, the guardian of the Duke's children, who had, it appears, declined to pay over the legacy. Yesterday the case came before the Civil Tribunal of the Seine, when a demand was made in' the name of Mademoiselle Deluzy that the legacy of 3,000 francs a year left her by the will of the Duke, which was dated 15th February, 1843, should be paid to her; that a book-case, about 100 volumes, some articles of porcelain, crystal, and silver, several gowns, and articles of dress, together with the furniture of her chamber, and many other obj ects which she specified, should be given up, she attaching great value to them on account of the greater part of them having been given to her by the Mademoiselles de Praslin, her pupils; and finally, that] a' sum of 5,000 E, which she had economised out of her salary, and placed in the Duke's hands, without, however, having received any written ac knowledgment, should be restored. On behalf of Marshal Sebastiani, it was stated that be made no opposition to the payment of the legacy, that he was ready to give up every article that belonged to Mlle. Deluzy, but that with respect to the sum she had left with the Duke, as it was really only 4,000 f., not 5,000 f., he was not prepared to pay more than 4,000 f. The Tribunal, by its judgment, declared that the legacy of 3,000 f. a year shall be paid half-yearly to Mdlle. Deluzy Desportes, with the arrears due from the 24th August last ; that she shall receive 4,000 f. (instead of the 5,000 f. she had demanded), with in terest from the date of her demand; and that all articles belonging to herlshall beyestored.—Galignani. NEW PUBLICATIONS FOR JANUARY. Mr. Col burn announces the following interesting works for appearance during the present month :—l. King Arthur, by the author of " The New Timon." 2. The Court and 'Times of James 1., edited by the author of " Me moirs of Sophia Dorothea," 2 vols. Bvo. 3. Angela; or, the Captain's Daughter, by the author of " Emilia Wyndham," 3 vols. 4. Reminiscences of Prince Talley rand, with extracts from his political writings, 2 vols., with portrait. 5. Meinoirs of Mademoiselle De Mont pensier, written by herself, 3 vols., with portrait. 6. Adventures of a Medical Student, by the late R. Douglas, Surgeon, R.N., with a memoir of the author, 3 vols. At the Court of Governors of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, must numerously attended, held on the 2011 inst., the Right Honourable John Kinnersley Hooper, Lord Mayor of London, was unanimously elected Presi dent of the Hospital, in the room of Alderman Lucas, deceased. SOUTHAMPTON, THURSDAY, JAN. 20.—The Penin sular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company's ship Hindostan, S. Lewis, commander, sailed to-day for Gibraltar, Malta, and Alexandria, with the usual East India and China mails. The Hindostaa has the large number of 130 passengers, and a valuable freight, con sisting of indigo, cochineal, and bale goods for Malta and Alexandria, and about 450 small packages of general merchandise for Aden, Suez, Ceylon, Madras, Calcutta, Singapore, Hong Kong, &c. named Crawford, has bee n comm i tte d woman, to Ayr gaol, on suspicion of poisoning her daughter. of the medical department, one of the survivors, may remember. Tlie captain, it appeared, had obstinately persevered in the course the ship was steering, but went down to his cabin to assure himself by looking over the chart. And it is related of him, that, tracing the course of the vessel, he exclaimed, with his finger in the position in which they were indicated, " If these are the Skirks,we are now upon them," when at the very moment the ship actually struck the knell of her dissolution, and with it that of the number of lives above-mentioned, and the gallant captain him self, who refused to be saved. From the date of the loss of the Athenienne, however, to that of the two line-of-battle ships before quoted, there were many awful wrecks of men-of-war. Of the number we may mention that of the Blanche frigate, on the French coast, March 9; of the Boreas, upon the Hanois Rock, in the Channel, Nov. 28 ; and of the Anson frigate, near the Land's End, when 125 persons were drowned, Dec. 29, 1807 ; of the Agatha, near Memel, when Lord Royster and others were drowned, April 7; the Astrea frigate, on the Anaguada coast, May 23, 1808 ; of the Magicienne frigate, at Mauritius, in August; of the Satellite, 16, sloop, when all on board perished, December 14 ; and of the Minotaur, 74, wrecked on the Heak Bank, when, of 600 persons on board, 480 were drowned, December 22, 1810 ; the Barham, 14, foundered on the coast of Corsica, July 29; of the Pomone frigate, on the Needle Rocks, crew saved, October 14; and of the Saldanha frigate, on the Iriah coast, December 4, 1811, when 300 perished. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. TATTERSALI7B.-Y ESTERDAY. The publication of the Handicap for the Chester Cup has had the effect of making Blaza first favourite; 25 to 1 was the highest off. r yesterday, and this only in one quarter; 1,000 to 30 was offered, bar one; 40 to 1 would have been taken, and Keleshe, we believe, would have been selected. A slight improvement in Surplice was the only change in the Derby. Latest prices:— LEAMINGTON STF:EPLEC lIASE. 6 to 1 agst M. L. Little's The Chandler—taken 7 to 1 agst Mr. J. Elmore's Gazeley—taken 10 to 1 agst Mr. J. C. Maddock's Proceed—t to 501. 12 to 1 agst Mr. E. Nunn na Evergreen—t to 751. NEWMARKET HANDICAP. Even on the field agst fifteen 16 to 1 agst Mr. Sandford's Kimblesworth CHESTER CUP. 25 to 1 agst Col. Anson's Blaze—take 30 to 1 33 to 1 agst Mr. Disney's . Keleshe—take . 4o to 1 1,000 to 20 agst Mr. Bouierie's War Eagle taken and offered 1,000 to 20 agst Mr. Clifton's Giselle—taken 1,000 to 20 agst Capt. Pettat's Newconrt—t and offered 1,000 to 20 agst Mr. Pedley's Cossack—t and offered 1,000 to 15 agst Mr. F. Clarke's Joe o' Sot 1,000 to 15 agst Mr. J. B. Day's The Tartar—taken DERBY. 9to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Surplice—takelo to 1 20 to 1 agst Mr. Bowes's Springy Jack—taken 25 to 1 agst Mr. J. B. Day's Nil Desperandum— taken to 1601. 33 to 1 agst Mr. Payne's Cervus—taken and offered 1,000 to 30 agst Mr. Pedley's Beaborough--taken 50 to 1 agst Mr. Wigram's Heraun—taken to 701. 1,000 to 25 agst Mr. Gully's Edie Ochiltree —taken and offered INTELLIGENCE EXTRA. THE ROYAL LEAMINGTON AND SOUTHAM STEEPLECHASES. Acceptances for the Grand Open Steeplechase Handicap of 20 sous. each, Chandler, list 91b—Proceed, 1 Ist Sib—Jerry, 1 lst 41b —The Nigger, Ilst 31b—Discount, lOstl2lb—Profligate, lOst Sib— ramworth, lOst 61b—Chronometer, lOst 61b— Culverthorpe, lOst 51b—Boxkeeper, lOst 41b —Gazeley, 1 Ost 41b—Matchless, 1 Ost 31b—St. Ruth, 10st 21b—Eagle, 9st 101b—Gayhurst, 9st 81b—Evergreen, 9st 71b—Miss Fop, 9st 51b. Nominations for the Aristocratic Chase. Belshazzar, Repealer, Thurgarton, Red Lancer, The Dove, Kitty, Pullaway, The Ticket, The Cart Horse, Forester, Carlow, Ballybar. EPSOM FIRST SPRING MEETING. Handicap for the Great Metropolitan Stakes of 25 sous. each, 15 ft, and 5 only if declared on or before Feb. 1. st lb; st. lb. Executor, 4 yrs Pyrrhus the First, 5 yrs Jericho, 6 yrs 9 O'Gannet, 6 yrs 7 1 War Eagle, 4 yrs ... 8 13,T0m Whiffler, 4 yrs 7 1 Lightning, aged 8 13 Sagacity, 4 yrs Inheritress, aged Jonathan Wild, 5 yrs 8, 7,Marietta, 5 yrs Lady Wildair, 6 yrs 8 7,Sister to 2Egis, 4 yrs 7 0 Rattrap, 5 yrs 8 2 Mountain Dew, 4 yrs 7 0 Blackbird, 5 yrs 8 2:Tit-bit, 5 yrs 6 13 Morpeth, aged 8 2 'Queen Mary, 4 yrs... 6 13 Reminiscence, 4 yrs 8 21 Antagonist, 4 yrs ... 6 13 Mogador, 4 yrs Vesta, 4 yrs 8 & I Muscow, 5 yrs Antler, aged Ranelagh, 5 yrs Rowena. 6 yrs Bourton, 5 yrs Miss Elis, 6 yrs Sweetsauce, 4 yrs ... 7 12'i Milliner, 5 yrs Shawn Buidhe, 4 yrs 7-12 Auricula, 5 yrs Atlantic, 4 yrs Sut]ej, 6 yrs 7 12; ham, 5 yrs Cleimont, 4 yrs Peep-o'-dayßoy, 4yrs 7 10 Passionate, 4 yrs ... 6 4 Britannia, 6 yra Mirmillo, 4 yrs Sir Arthur, 6 yrs 7 10' Wiclred, 5 yrs 6 4 Clumsy, 6 yrs 7 10 Snuff Box, 3 yrs ... 5 7 Joe Lovell, aged__ 7 10 Prince Charley, 3 yrs 5 7 The Tartar, 4 yrs Crozier, 4 yrs 7 9 Sampson, 3 yrs Montpensier, 4 yrs... 7 8 Eagle's Plume, 3 yrs 5 7 Best of Three, aged 7 BLatitat, 3 yrs 5 6 Questionable, 4 yrs... 7 8 Cracow, 3 yrs 5 6 Walmgate-bar With- Bletchington, 3 yrs out, 4 yrs 7 6 Black Ball, 3 yrs ... 5 4 Tufthunter, 4 yrs I 7 6 Glen Saddel, 3 yrs... 5 3 Fergus, 4 yrs Projectile, 4 yrs 7 6 Good Boy, 3 yrs ... 5 3 Spectator, aged Cremorne,'4 yrs 7 4 Self-Defence, 3 yrs . 4 13 Stull; 4 yrs Premier, 5 yrs Rufus, 5 yrs Alboni, 4 yrs .... .... 7 2 Reminiscence, 3 yrs . 4 10 NORTHAMPTON AND 48. 1 1 8 ) YT CHLEY HUNT RACES, The Great Northamptonshire Handicap of 25 soya. each, 15 ft, and only S if declared by the Ist of February. st lb at lb War Eagle, 4 yrs .... 8 13 Inheritress, aged 8 8 Lightning, aged 8 5 Lady Wildair, 6 yrs 8 5 The Cur, 6 yrs Saddle, 4 yrs . Morpeth, aged Rat-trap, 5 yrs Reminiscence, 4 yrs 8 2 Prussic Acid, 5 yrs 7 13 Grimston, 5 yrs 7 12 Rowena, 6 yrs 7 10 Clermont, 4 yrs 7 10 i Tuft-hunter, 4 yrs 7 10 The Windsor Painter, 6 yrs 7 10 Bourton, 5 yrs Miss Elis, 6 yrs 7 10 Fergus, 4 yrs 7 9 Peep-o'-dayßoy, 4 yrs 7 9 Antler, aged Mirmillo, 4 yrs 7 8 Ennui, 5 yrs Joe Lovell, aged 7 7 Vesta, 4 yrs Freo Lance, 5 yrs 7 7 Best of Three, aged Joe o' Sot, 4 yrs Sheraton, 5 yrs 7 7 Watch-dog, 4 yrs Hydrangea, 5 yrs Tarella, 4 yrs ..... Intrepid, aged Spectator, aged Marietta, 5 yrs Rufus, 5 yrs Pantomime, 4 vrs Vampyre, 4 yrs 7 3 Scandal, 4 yrs 7 3 Sagacity, 4 yrs Clumsy, 6 yrs... 7 2 Bingham, 4 yrs ... Stultz, 4 yrs Cosachia, 4 yrs Queen Mary, 4 yrs . 7 0 1 Pottinger, 4 yrs 7 0 Bukhara, aged Chance, aged Tit-bit, 5 yrs 7 0 Ballinafad, 4 yrs Avenger, 5 yrs Little Mary, 6 yrs 7 0 Teresa, aged Walmgato-bar With out, 4 yrs 7 0 The Premier, 5 yrs 7 0 Marquis of Conyng ham, 5 yrs 6 13 Fitzwilliam, 5 yrs Lethargy, 4 yrs 6 13 Congress, 4 yrs 6 12 Britannia, 6 yrs 6 12 Counterfeit, aged Sultana, 4 yrs Shy-lock, 4 yrs Circassian Maid,4yrs 6 11 Chemisette, 5 yrs 6 11 Antagonist, 4 yrs Palms, 4 yrs Enchanter, 4 yrs Louisa Newell, 4 yrs 6 10 Sir Peter Laurie,4 yrs 6 9 Prospect, 5 yrs St. Oswald, 4 yrs 6 8 Wee Bit, 4 yrs Blue Light, 5 yrs Lyme, 4 yrs the Hatter, 5 yrs Mountain Dew, 4 yrs 6 7 Columbus, 6 yrs Lush, 4 yrs Sister to Agis, 4 yrs 6 7 Milliner, 5 yrs Widred, 5 yrs 6 5 Marlow, 4 yrs Passionate, 4 yrs 'Sylvan, 3 yrs 5 7 Cracow, 3 yrs 5 7 Stourbridge, 3 yrs 5 7 Good Boy, 3 yrs 5 5 Reflection, 3 yrs 5 2 Hornpipe, 3 yrs 5 0 Fernhill, 3 yrs Telegraph, 3 yrs Self-Defence, 3 yrs 5 0 Latitat, 3 yrs 5 0 Matadore, 3 yrs 5 0 Embrace, 3 yrs Miss Margrave, 3 yrs 4 12 Black Ball, 3 yrs Convict, 3 yrs 4 12 Duplicity, 3 yrs 4 10 Egremont, 3 yrs 4 7 B f by Thistlewhip per, dam by Cain, 3 yrs argrave have been entered owners, and will be struck LU. Pantomime and Miss M without the consent of their out, unless ordered to remai, GAME PRESERVERS.—FroIn information we have gleaned, it is a " great fact" that most of the game pre servers are prodigiously sore when they have a few fees to pay in the way of magistrates clerks' fees—yr.!, even a few fees to justices' clerks when a poacher is com miffed to prison. Cmve3ing to gaol maintenance therein, &e., are all placed up:m the public rate-pa) ers, and yet most of the game mania nobility and gentry begrudge a few fees (probably not more in a case than half a sovereign, including constable, &c.) , having to pay justices' clerks. There are those, too, when a poacher pays penalty and costs, who expect the witnesses (who are their own men) to be al'owed for their time in laying information and in attending magistrates when the case is heard. Verily, what tine feelings and nice consciences have some of our " fine English gentlemen !"—Fran a Correspondent. THE LOSS OF HER MAJESTY'S SLOOP SNAKE.-- The Zuid Afrikaan reports the following :—" Arrived in Simon's Bay, Nov. 10, Honourable Company's mail steamer Progresso, Lieutenant Romeiro, from Mozam bique, O-ctober 13, to Simon's Bay, with s t ores save d from the wreck of her Majesty's sloop Snake, stranded within a few miles of Mozambique. Passengers ; Dr. Maranda, Portuguese army ; Lieut. Webber, and 42 officers and men of her Majesty's sloop Snake. The re mainder of the crew have been convey e d t o t h e M aur iti us in a French ship." IRISH SPECIAL COMMISSION. (From Saunders's News Letter of Yesterday.) CONSPIRACY TO MURDER.—ANOTHER CAPITAL CONVICTION. ENNis, TUESDAY, JAN. 18.—In the case of the Queen against .Michael M'Mahon, for conspiring to incite John Perry and others to murder, or subscribe money for the payment of the murder of Mr. Matthew Rolland, the following evidence was elicited for the prosecution after I dispatched my letter this morning by the mail : This ease was looked upon $3 one of the most im portant on the calendar, as from its nature it was considered more calculated to arrive at the root of the secret system adopted by criminals to perpetrate the barbarous murders which have taken place in this and the adjoining counties. Michael Hawkins—l know the prisoner and Mr. Rolland. The prisoner came to me and spoke to me about him. Ile said lie wanted some money to make up 9/. for a party who was to shoot Mr. Matthew Rolland. Ile said Rolland was the first man who prevented them from getting their diet on the works ; he also said he had a great many farms, and it would be better if the poor people got them; he said some of the 9/. was paid, but not all ; that there was some promised. The prisoner then desired me to go to Michael Morony, and ask him to subscribe to the money that was wanting. When he asked me to do that, I said I would. I did not go to Morony imme diately, but I did afterwards. The Moreny I went to was not the man who was on the table, but his son. The prisoner ails() told me that James Driscoll was to pay part of the money. He was speaking to me in this way f or a f ortn i g h t . I was gett i ng i n d read o f God and man, and I went to my clergy and t o ld my pastor, an d be advised us all not to join in any bad business; I then gave it up. When I was telling Morony of it the prisoner passed along. Cross-examined by Mr. O'IIEA—I was never se cretary to a meeting, or to any treasonable society. I was never connected with anything dangerous to my soul or body. I had no quarrel with Mr. Bulland but "he had an oddity of a form with me." lie was a committee man on the board of works. I asked him for work, and did not get it. M'Mahon got on the works. The "oddity of a form" existed before this time. I could not tell the cause of our difference. All the difference was, that we did not speak. I remember the time of the Terry Alts,lB3l. I know Clonarkin Hill. I never gathered a thousand Terrys there, or served any threatening notices at that time. James Driscoll, examined by the ATTORNEY-GE NERAL—The prisoner lived about a mile from me. He came to me last November and asked me for a The reason of money to shoot Mat Rolland. reason he assigned was, that Mr. Rolland was not dieting the men, and was not giving himself em ployment. He also bid me ask James M'Enery, of Tyrivana, my brother-in-law, to subscribe, and said he would speak himself to Pat M'Mahon and Mick Morony, and get money from them. I requested the prisoner for God's sake to drop such wicked business, and refused to subscribe. He said I believe it is as good to drop it. Cross-examined by Mr. O'HEA—I am no relation of John Morony, but my wife is; she is first cousin. Rolland got a farm I was looking for; the one Hines had. I never said he ought to get a bullet through his body. If Bolland was dead somebody should take it at a fair price, but its no bargain now. The case for the Crown having closed, Mr. O'HEA addressed the jury for the prisoner, and contended that the indictment was not proved. His client was charged with conspiracy with others named in the indictment to murder the first witness produced for the prosecution, or to procure his assassi nation ; but that case was not made out, therefore he should be acquitted. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL replied on behalf of the Crown, and submitted that the indictment was fully sustained, as it was not necessary to bring home the crime to the other persons whose names were set out in it. The CIIIEF JUSTICE charged the jury, who con victed the prisoner of the conspiracy, acquitting him of the solicitation to murder. He received the an nouncement with apparent indifference.—On Wed nesday sentence of death was recorded against him. In pronouncing it, the Chief Baron spoke of the atrocity of the prisoner's crime, which he said was calculated to uproot society to its very foundation by encouraging a system which, if carried out, would corrupt the entire population of the country. ATTACHING A DWELLING-HOUSE AND ROBBERY OF Anus. Daniel M'Namara, John Slattery, J o h n Rochfort, Michael Murphy, Denis Kennedy, Thomas Hogan, and Michael Kennedy, were indicted for having, on the 25th of September, 1847, attacked the dwelling-house of Michael Hennessy, at Ballyhoy, in this county, and unlawfully obliging one Thomas llennessy to deliver to them a gun, his property. Some of the prisoners were charged with the former offence, and others with the felony of arms. The jury convicted Murphy, M‘Namara, and Slat tery, acquitting the other three. His Lordship then pronounced sentence on them as follows : Slattery, 14 years' transportation ; Murphy, seven years' transportation ; and M`Na mara, 12 months' imprisonment. ENNIS, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 19. SENTENCE UPON CRowE.—John Crowe, the man who was convicted for conspiring with the two con victs Patrick Ryan (Small), William Ryan (Puck), James Hayes, and others, to murder the late Mr. James Watson, of Ballycorney, having been placed at the bar to receive the sentence of the Court, The Clerk of the Court asked him the usual ques tion, whether he had anything to say why sentence of death should not be pronounced against him. The prisoner, who appears to have suffered con siderably since his conviction on Monday, judging by his haggard countenance, said in a weak and unsteady voice—l have only to say, your Lordships, that there was not one word of truth sworn on the table, but what was sworn as to my going to Mr. Arthur to speak to him about the cattle. Everything else which was stated was perjury, for I never saw the men lam charged with to my knowledge. lam innocent; and I hope the Court will grant me along day, and let my body be buried with my parents. That is all I have to say. The Judges having put on their black caps, The CHIEF BARON pronounced the extreme penalty of the law, observing that the crime of the priso ner, who was a man far above the lower classes of society, was of a much deeper die than that of the men who actually perpetrated the murder which he hired them to execute. His Lordship concluded by naming the 19th of February for his execution. The prisoner left the dock without making any further observation ; his step, however, and general appearance, displayed the utmost degree of fear and cowardice. His unfortunate wife and children were all within hearing of the sentence, but they listened to it in perfect silence, as if they expected nothing else but the last penalty of the law. MURDER OF MARTIN M'MAUON.—Thomas M'En nery, Patrick Gearan, Charles Healy, and John Griffin, the first of whom was convicted and the other three of whom pleaded guilty of the murder of Mar tin M'Mahon, having been called to the bar, sentence of death was recorded against them. The Chief Ba ron, in pronouncing it, stated that they would have been sentenced to death were it not that it appeared that they did not contemplate murder, although death ensued from their conduct, and also from the fact that the arms which they carried were not found to be loaded, and no shots were fired. POSTING THREATENING NOTICES.—James Herse, James Duggan, Lawrence Shanahan, and John M'Mahon, for posting a threatening notice on the gate of Colonel Crofton Vandeleur—twelve months' impri sonment each. ATTACKING A DWELLING•HOUSE.— Thomas King, Martin Malony, and John Duggan, all very young men, under 25 years of age, were indicted for having on the 4th of December, 1846, at Tullagh, in this county, assaulted the dwelling-house of Patrick Burke. _ _ _ The prosecutor deposed that he was a blacksmith, and that about twelve o'clock on the night in ques tion his house was attacked, but he defended it, and would not let the assailants in; he could not identify the prisoners. Patrick Cunningham (an informer) identified all the prisoners as persons who accompanied him in the attack upon Burke's house. Some corroborative evidence having been given of a very strong character, The CHIEF BakoN charged the jury, who convicted all the prisoners. His Lordship sentenced them to be each imprisoned for eighteen months with hard labour. ADJOURNMENT OF THE COMAIISSION AT ENNIS. The A TTORNEY•GENERAL, in moving the adjourn• ment of the Commission, referred to the cases which had been tried during the week. Their Lordships were sitting in Clare. He said that owing to the dreadful state of crime in the country there were no less than five men sentenced to death, and five against whom sentence of death was recorded—towards whom it was most probable the Government would, upon the recommendation of the Court, extend mercy. There were also fourteen or fifteen pr isonen sentenced to banishment from the country, and not a single case was tried in which some of the parties charged were nut found guilty after the fullest and fairest inv.! stigation—the prisoners in all instances obtaining the benefit cf the slightest doubt that could be entertained as to their criminality. The Learned Gentlemen implored of the people to abstain from crime and to deliver up their arms ; and, in conclu sion, moved that the Commission should be adjourned to the 7th of February, in order that in case the law was violated in the mean time, that the most speedy justice should be done. The CHIEF JUSTICE said, he and his learned brother fully agreed with the Government as to the propriety and necessity of adjourning the Commis sion upon a full consideration of the cases which had come before them. The state of the country was such that the law should be carried out promptly in order to preserve life and property. Their Lordships then rose at half•past one o'clock. REMOVAL OF CONVICTS.— The :, , everal convicts sentenced to transp rtation during the Litting of the Special Commission in this county, were removed hand-cuffed and in chains, as soon as the Court rose, Ito Limerick, en route for the metropolis. They were tied on cars, having been taken direct from the dock, and were escorted by a troop of the Queen's Bays and a strong party of mounted constabulary. There was not much feeling exhibited for the unfortunate men by those who witnessed the melancholy spectacle ; a few of them had a friend or two to bid them farewell, but the great majority seemed to be totally deserted by friends, if they bad them, and also by their com panions in iniquity, who most probably did not wish to come into close proximity with the authorities. THE BURNING OF A PRISONER IN TIIE GRAVESEND LOCK• UP. GRAVESEND, THURSDAY EVENING.—This forenoon, at eleven o'clock, Mr. Carttar, the Coroner for West Kent, held an inquiry at the Town-hall, concerning the death of Thomas Budge, a Waterman, aged 40, who perished in the recent conflagration of the strawhouse, attached to the borough lock• up. The body being viewed, Sergeant Denyer, No. 1, of the town police, was called—Between twelve and one o'clock on Saturday night the deceased was brought to the station-home, ' charged with being guilty of violent conduct. fie duly booked the charge against him, and he then Lai him placed in the strawhouse. It was well furnished with straw, and was generally used as a refuge for destitute persons found wandering in the streets by the police, or noisy prisoners. The deceased kept singing, whistling, and shouting for some hours after he was locked up. Inspector Penman, on leaving the station, at half-past five, heard him making a noise —shouting and dancing about. At six o'clock, a man named Washer, a labourer, employed in cleansing the market-place, came to the station-house, and stated that the strawhouse was en fire. Knowing that Budge was there confined, he immediately ran with , the keys to open the door. It was nearly burnt through, and on opening it the inside seemed all on fire. The steps leading from the door had fallen down into the store• place underneath, used by the market people for the stowage of their stands, boards, and trestles. Neither saw tor heard anything of the deceased until the fire was subdued. His re mains were found in one corner of the building, lying acoss the rafters. By the CORONER.—The last person who was put in the straw-house previous to the deceased, wa., a desti tute female of the name of Newport, on Friday night. She sold lucifer matches about the streets. If nothing had occurred to the deceased, he would have been taken before the magistrates on Monday morning. The police had no orders to visit prisoners whilst con fined in that place. The deceased had frequently been placed in the straw. house. The magistrates have directed the imprisonment of disorderly persons there, when the ordinary police cells were vacant. Jane Newport, a miserable looking creature, who was said to have once occupied one of the principal hotels in the borough, said she was married, but her husband had separated from her. She now subsisted by selling lucifer matches. Being destitute, she was allowed to sleep in the straw-house on Friday night. She had no lucifer matches when she went in, or about her possession. That she was certain of. The CORONER then summed up, and suggested the propriety of the borough magistrates directing the police to visit the prisoners every hour, as in the me tropolitan districts; for this unfortunate occurrence, without imputing blame to any party, showed the necessity of such a regulation. The jury, after retiring, found that the deceased died from the effects of fire, but how caused there was no evidence to show. They also considered the deceased was in legal custody; and after recommend ing the adoption of the Coroner's suggestion, pointed out other improvements which could be made in the rebuilding of the house. The Mayor and Mr. Oakes remarked that the magis trates had already determined on carrying out those preeautions. GAS MOVEMENT. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SlR,—The price of gas being about to be reduced throughout the metropolis (by meter) to six shillings per thousand cubic feet, it now remains for consumers to consider why they have not an equitable standard by which those instruments should be tested; at pre sent none exists, and the public are at the mercy and caprice of gas-light companies. As all weights and measures by which every other article is sold are stanzped under Government authority, IN by should not an Act of Parliament regulate the standard of gas meters ? Consumers must take care of their own interest, and apply for an Act to regulate the just registration of the admeasurement of gas, that perfect confidence may be established amongst all parties. I am, Sir, your moat obedient servant, J. S. UNDERWOOD, Gas-light Surveyor. TAXES OFFICERS.—We understand that the as sessors and collectors of taxes intend shortly to renew their application for increased poundage. We trust these ill-used officers will succeed, as in fairness and right they ought. Under the head of Palermo, January 3, the Patria of Florence has the following :—" A report is still in circulation that at Syracuse the people have got posses sion of the fortress, permitting General Palma to retire with most of his officers. The soldiers of the citadel are said to have fraternised with the people." A private, named Moore, of the Scots Gre3 s, was accidentally drowned in the Lake of Ballinturly, county Roscommon, on Saturday last, in returning from a harassing night's duty i n searc h o f fi re - arms . THE LATE LORD REAY.—A notice respecting the will of the late Lord Reay having some time ago ap peared in our columns calculated to convey erroneous impressions as to provisions made by the will for his successor in his title and for his nearest relations, it has become necessary to state the fact that although Lord Reay sold the family estate, called, from its extent, the " Reay Country," to the Duke of Sutherland, for 314,0001., he has not left any productive estate or fund whatever for the purchase of an estate for his family, or as a provision by annuity or otherwise for any of his nearest relations.—Morning Post, FATAL ACCIDENT AT THE, BLACKWALL RAILWAY. —A melancholy accident took place at the Blackvvall Railway, on Tuesday evening, to one of the conductor.; at the Minories station, named Rutherford. It is sup posed he omitted to unhook the rope attached to this carriage, which, on arriving at the Minories, dragged off the entire front of it, whereon the man was standing, which circumstance threw him across the rails, and the carriage went over his arm and leg. Death terminated his sufferings on Wednesday morning. COMPENSATION FOR RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.—In the report which we gave some weeks ago of the condem nation of certain employes on the Orleans Railway for having by their negligence caused the terrible accident which took place on that line on the 20th of Novemb er , we stated that the Correctional Tribunal of Orleans ha d until liint should edfrom a b w e a a rd bl i e ng to da m m a a k g e es n to cian t vi h irn e i eg been able to persons e into rson s their injured re spective cases. Two parties not h come to an arrangement with the Company, the Tri buna on l, in its of thesesittinga few days ago, was called on to decide. parties was a female, named Garb 6, of Orleans, who received some violent contu sions; the company bad offered her 500 f., and the Tri bunal awarded her 1,0001. The other party was the widow of a man named Perrin; the man having died after having had his two l egs , w hi c h were crushed, am putated. The Tribunal awarded the widow and ber children 15,000 f., 14,000 f. of which are to be placed in the public funds, the interest to be allowed to the widow for life, and at her death the fund to be divided among her three children. On the marriage of her two daugh ters they are each to receive fortunes of 1,5001., the same as their father allowed to his eldest girl, and the interest paid to the widow is to be reduced in proportion to the amount withdrawn. Finally, if the widow shall marry again, she is only to receive a third of the inte rest on the 14,000f.—Galignani. SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY ATMOSPHERIC SYSTEM.— On Monday all the trains to Newton—except the first and last each way—commenced running by atmospheric power, and the trial has fully answered the expectations of the most sanguine supporters of the system. Not withstanding all the disadvantages which must attend the commencement of every new undertaking, not a single instance of stoppage or delay has occurred on the new piece of road fronsTei;;nmouth to Newton. On the first day the express train was unusually heavy, and it started from Newton six minutes after its pr o p eri time, but it reached Exeter at the regula . r period, ou gaining six minutes on the twenty r0,a19 thirtyl se Wednesday, the down express train Ty at Nowtoti, minutes late at Exeter, but, on arriving th,re. ten minutes had been recovered . ....M in mach, tuo very short fore, in praise of this systep le - wis . time, we learn, an express train s om es, e p a r. ll ( i 7thc oi :lt lj i ' no a sp t atmospheric attain- ll'hj A vaidl s ttlna o r n :h e efrn t o ir m o s o eT f e what of its power, we may mention t hat on Sunday week a coa l train was started from Exeter at 10 A.M., coasistit.g of ninety true, containing ninety tons, and i t reached s umm er House—a distance of 20 miles —including stop pages at Teignmouth and Dawlish, in 50 minutes. We have been favoured with another account, which states that the distance was accomplished one day last week— frein Teignmouth to Newton, 5 miles—in ii minutes and 15 seconds, and that at a part of the distance the speed was e‘idcntly at the rate of 80 miles an hour. Tris was an experimental trip. On Wednesday morning, the 12th inst., the 9.50 AM. train ran from Teign e mouth 'to Newton, with five full carriages in 7i minutes. Everything appears to leo with the utmost ea.:o and re gularity, and we believe every one who has seen the working of the system feels the most perfect confidence in its success.— Western Luminary. THE OPPRESSIVE ADVERTISEMENT DUTY.—In the London Times of Tuesday and Wednesday there are 348 advertisements from coachmen, butlers, footmen, cooks, house-maids, nursery-maids, and maids of all work who " want places." The duty on these advertisements amount to 261 25., which Government takes out of the pockets of these unemployed persons, and for what ? Simply, solely, and wholly, for endeavouring to obtain employment ! Sheftieiti Times.