The Sun. — London, England, 1842-09-07 00:00:00

NOTIFICATION. Allahabad, June 27, 1842. The Right- Hon. the Governor-General .of India is plexied to direct the publication of the following dia pa:ches from Major-General Nott, commanding at Can dahar:— F ; •,,ni Major-General W. Nott, to G. H. Maddock, Esq., Secretary to the Government of India, with the Governor-General, Head Quarters. " Head-quarters, Candahar, May 21, 1842. " have the honour to forward to you a dis patch from Major-General England, No. 524, of the 29th ultimo, detailing an affair with the enemy in Pishaen.—l am, Sze— W. NOTT, Major-General, "Commanding Lower Affghanistan and Scinde." ".FROM XAJOR-GENERAL R. ENGLAND TO THE ASSIBT- ANT-APJUTANT-GENERAL, CANDAHAR. " Head-quarters, Scinde Field Force, Camp at Lora River, August 29, 1842. " Sir,--I have the honour to acquaint you, for the iafortnation of ti:e Major-General commanding the troops in Lower Aff i llia,nistan and Scinde, that I yesterday at tacked the enemy's strong position in front of the village Hylculzie with one troop of Bengal Horse Artillery, 34 Lig:it Cavalry, Poona Horse, her Majesty's 41st Rl gini,nt Light Battalion, 25th Regiment . Native Infantry, an,l'ilisperied them in all directions. 4 - 2. The three columns of attack were well led by Major Simmons, her Majesty's 41st Regiment ; Captain Woodburn, 25th Bombay Native Infantry • and Major C;)::hr.in, her Majesty's 41st ; the latter being accom panied by a wing of the 25th Bombay Native Infantry, umier Captain Teasdale, commanding that corps. " 3. The reserve was in the hands of Major Browne, coinmancling her Majesty's 41st Regiment. " 4. 'Nothine• ' could be more successful than the coin bir.ations, and the insurgents, after a short resistance, lied into the rugged mountains in their rear, leaving their st-andartli, and being closely and gallantly pursued by the 3d Light Cavalry, under Captain Delamain. 5. The practice of Captain Leslie's Horse Artillery was., as usual, most effective, and the conduct of the tro...ps excellent. " 5. I beg to annex a list of the casualties which have Ocearred in this affair. " I have, &c., E. ENGLAND, Major-General, " Commanding Scinde Field Force." It tarn of Casualties in Action with the Enemy near Hykulzie this day. Camp, near Hykulzie, April 28, 1842. H. M. 41 s t Regiment-2 rank and file wounded. 3d Light Cavalry-1 Lieutenant, 1 havildar, 3 rank and Ilk., 7 horses, wounded ; 1 horse missing. Light Battalion —2 rank and file wounded. (it c )leral Statt-1 captain wounded. Totz.l-1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 1 havildar, 7 rank and file, 7 horses, wounded ; 1 horse missing. Grand Total-10 Officers and men, 7 horses, wounded ; 1 horse missing. REMARKS. Wounded-4 rank and file severely ; 4lrank and file ',;•tmes of Officers Wounded—Lieut. W. Ashburn(r, 31 Cavalry, seve;ely wounded.—Captain Deere, A.D.C., slightly wounded. R. ENGLAND, Major-General, Commandingg Scinde Field Force. FROM MAJOR-GENERAL W. NOTE, COMMANDING LOWER AFFGIIANISTAN AND SCINDE. " Candahar, May 29. " Sir,—Altar Khan, chief of Zemindawur, having assembled 3,000 men, crossed the Helmund and joined the rebel force under Prince Suftur Jung and Atta Ma homed, on the right bank of the Urghundab, taking ad vantage of the absence of Brigadier Wymer, who had beet detached into the Ghilzee province with a large portion of my force, and nearly the whole of my cavalry. The enemy, under an impression that we had not a suffi cieut number of men to hold the city and at the same time to attack them in the field, took possession of some steep rocky hills within a mile of the city walls. I in stantly moved out with the troops, leaving Major-Gen. England, K.H., in command of the city. The Ghazees had about 8,000 in position, and 2,000 men guarding the Wullee Pass and roads leading to their camp. Our troops carried all their positions in gallant style, and drove them in confusion and with great loss across the Urg hunttab river. " I was ably assisted by Brigadier Stacey and every offieer present. " Major Rawlinson, Political Agent, with his accas torrwd zeal, was in the field, and gallantly led a small body of Persian and Affghan horse to the charge. " I am, &c. " W. NOTT, Major-General, " Commanding Lower Affghanistan and Scinde." QUEEN'S VISIT TO SCOTLAND. ANOTHER ACCOUNT. EDINBURGH, SATURDAY EVENING, SEPT. 3.—At an early hour in the morning the crowds began to assemble. The Canongate was the first position in which the great bulk of the population took their ground, and from the termination of this antiquated street—a street not to be equalled in - the strangeness of its appearance, and the many remarkable historical facts with which it is connected, by the streets of any other capital in Europe—up to the Lawn-market, and thence to the very entrance of the Castle, where the way is almost precipitous, as compared with streets in general, the whole length of road was in a manner choked up with a living mass. Close to the Exchange was erected the "barrier"—a row of strong pie,_:es of timber, placed perpendicularly, and capable of resisting the attack of a small rising. It was here that the keys of the city were to be presented to her Majesty by the Lord Provost and the members of the Town Council, who, for that purpose, were in attendance in the Council Chamber, which is in the Exchange, awaiting the arrival of the Royal carriage. - Within the walls of the Castle and on the eeplanade before it, a great number of persons were admitted by tickets. Those who were fearful of the crushing in the main gangway of the street, were to be seen at the windows and on the seats of the scaffoldings erected against the sides of several of the churches and public buildings, and in these places also were to be seen the females and children. Every wic dow to the highest story or tier of every house was occupied; even in some places spectators were to be seen seated on the roofs of the houses, and com manding a sort of bird's-eye view of what was being traeeacted many feet beneath their almost perilous situation. The crowd was tremendously thick in I3e uk-street, the street leading from the Lawn-market to the "Mound," the connecting link from the old town to the new. The " Mound " itself was swarming with human beings, the dwarf wall which forms one boundary of it was covered with people, and the trees behind were studded with groups of boys, wl - v) Were swayed backwards and forwards in their seats as the wind and their own weight moved the branehes. On the opposite side were hundreds on see o:clings, whilst in the arena between were thousands of persons on foot, and along line of vehicles fgleel with those who preferred to move about at in tervals from one place to another. Along Princes street, leading to Dalmeny Park, the crowd was also dense, whilst at the windows of the houses and hotels, with which this district abounds were spectators of a higher class and rank. At the New Club-house, which is situate in this street, exactly opposite to the Castle, were the elite of all the beauty, rank, and fashion of Edinburgh and the adjoining country, indeed of all Scotland, and certainly there was an admirable display of the feminine beauty and grace of the north. The line .of route beyond Dalmeny Park, Queensferry, B:c., .also had its crowds, but they were not so thick as in the streets just named. The Royal party quitted Dalkeith about half-past an escort of the Enniskill en Dra ten o'clock, with goons, and arrived at the bottom of the Canongate at about twenty minutes past eleven. Their arrival was immediately announced by a salute of twenty-one guns from the Castle. Here the body-guard of Archers, under the command of Lord Elcho, fell into the procession, and took their place around the Royal carriage, the Dragoons riding in advance, six abreast, and clearing the way, which, as they proceeded, was no very easy task, and another guard of the same regiment following. The 53d regi ment was also employed to keep back the pressure of the multitude, and was placed at intervals along the street. Her Majesty and his Royal Highness Prince Albert were in an open phaeton, Her Majesty was wrapped round by a blue shawl or scarf, and wore a white silk bonnet and feathers. His Royal Highness was in a plain brown coat. 'They both looked remarkably well, and returned the enthusiastic shouts which arose from thousands of throats immediately as they entered the city, and by which they were a ccore panied through out their whole passage, with their usual affability and condescension. The cortege, which consisted of a long line of car rlaga, in which were to be seen the Duchess of Buccleuch, the Duchess of Norfolk, the Earl of Aber deen, Sir R. Peel, who was repeatedly cheered, and others in attendance on her Majesty, proceeded, amidst the usual demonstrations of loyalty, to the barriers, where the Royal carriage was met by the Lord Provost and the Members of the Council, in full civic costume. His Lordship at this point of the pas sage advanced to. the Royal carriage and presented the keys of the city to her Majesty. This ceremony having been concluded, the Royal cortege proceeded onwards towards the Castle amidst the cheers of the beholders, and entered the esplanade abort five minutes before twelve o'clock, where thy were received by the Commander of the Forces, Sir Niel Douglas, who accompanied her Majesty and 'Prince Albert in the inspection of the various parts of the building which attracted their attention. The Queen and the Prince were recognized as they looked down from the lofty battlements, by the people on the Mound, and were immediately cheered. The Juke of Argyll, Lord Melville, and the Lord Justice Clerk, were also at the entrance of the Castle to receive her _Majesty, and accompanied her in her inspection. The Royal party made, however, a very short stay in the Castle, for at twenty minutes past twelve the whole wrtege passed through Bank-street, and debouched upon th• Mound. The Mound at this time p resen t e d a scene the most animating that can be imagined ; p e rhaps a larger mob i of persons could not be collected together n so short a space o f ti m e in any given point of a modern city as was collected here to-day at the moment the Royal cortege appeared on the higher ground coming down from the Catle ; there could not have been less than 30,000 persons, all to he seen from one point of view, and all thickly wedged together. This immense clus ter was momentarily increased by hundreds of persons hurrying across the North-bridg?, and from the dif ferent closes and " wynds " leading from the High street, as the cortege passed, the shouts that rent the air were really tremendous, and it required some nerve in the illustrious personages it was meant to honour not to feel alarm at the uproarious welcome. Fortunately her Majesty and her Royal Consort pos sessed the firmness, and received the welcome of her Scottish subjects as it was meant. And now a most painful scene occurred, which if it have not occa sioned the death of any persons, has been the cause of broken limbs, dislocations, and bruises, to upwards of 20 individuals, many of them females. Just after her Majesty's carriage had entered Princes-street, a large portion of a scaffolding erected at the corner of that street, opposite the shop of Mr. Hill', the pub ' lisher, suddenly gave way, and in an instant nearly 150 persons were precipitated from a height of 20 or 25 feet to the earth, amidst the falling of planks, heavy pieces of wood, small beams, &c. The reserve guard of the Enniskillens, with the most prompt hu manity, immediately cleared the ground around the place, and afforded an opportunity for the maimed and wounded to be extricated from beneath the ruins of the scaffold, and carried to the houses in the neighbourhood. Many were conveyed away on hoixds, bleeding and mangled, and others were put into carriages and taken home. A female with a child in her arms was amongst those who fell from the highest altitude, yet both escaped miraculously unscathed. This mournful event was the only draw back on the proceedings of the day, but it is satisfac tory to state that no lives have been lost. When the Royal procession reached the corner of Charlotte-street, which is on a right line with the western end of the castle, the guns of that fortress thundered forth another Royal salute, and the multi tude set up a cheer that almost seemed an exaggerated echo of the report, so loud was it, and so perfectly overpowering. The Royal procession then moved slowly along Queensferry-street and the Dean-bridge ' to Dalmeny Park, the seat of the Earl of Rosebery, where the Royal party partook of a splendid luncheon provided for them by the noble owner. After a short stay at Dalmeny, her Majesty re. turned by the Leith Queensferry-road, proceeding along it, Jamaica-street, North Leith Junction-street, Hermitage-place, Leith Links. to Seafield Baths, and thence to Dalkeith, by the Portobello-road. Through out the entire of the route her reception was of the most enthusiastic description, and could not fail to make a happy impression on her Majesty's mind. The morning, though very lowering, was tolerably fine, but in the evening the rain set in, and continued till after her Majesty's arrival at Dalkeith. DALKEITII PALACE, SUNDAY EVENING.-At half past eight o'clock this morning her Majesty and his Royal Highness Prince Albert went out privately, and walked for some time on the terrace and slopes of the pleasure gardens, unattended by any member of their respective households. At eleven o'clock Divine service was performed at the Palace, the principal dining-room being appro priated for the solemn duties. A temporary pulpit and devotional chairs in the Gothic style, of oak, richly carved, and trimmed with crimson velvet, were used on the occasion. In addition to the Queen and Prince Albert, the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, Duchess of Norfolk, Lord and Duly John Scott, Earl and Countess of Cawdor, Lady Caroline Thynne, Earl of Morton, Hon. Miss Paget, Colimel Bouverie, and the junior branches of the Duke's family, were present. The Rev. E. B. Ramsay, of St. John's Episcopa lian Chapel, Edinburgh, officiated on the occasion. The Earl of Aberdeen, with Sir Robert Peel, Earl of Liverpool, and Mr. G. E. Anson, went to the Established Church of the town of Dalkeith. - This afternoon, at half-past four, several of the illustrious guests, inmates of the palace, went out walking, and at 20 minutes to five her Majesty, with the Duchess of Buccleuch, went for a drive in a pony phaeton, the Duchess driving—his Royal High ness Prince Albert, the Duke of Buccleuch, and the Earl of Liverpool, accompanying the Queen on horse back, attended by out-riders and grooms. The Royal party were absent from the palace upwards of an hour THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 7, 1842. reign. The occasion of perforMing this ceremony i was most judiciously chosen, and great praise is due to the craft for the mannerin which it was executed. The urbanity and grace of the Most Worshipful Grand Master will long be remembered by the Brethren, and will form one of their most pleasing recollections associated with the Royal visit. PREPARATIONS ON THE ROAD TO DUPPLIN CASTLE. North.of Queensferry, on the - road through which the Royal cortege will pass to Dupplin Castle, active preparations are in progress for a loyal welcome. All seem to hasten the happy day to behold Scotland's Queen and her illustrious Consort, and the warmth of joyous feeling now excited by this auspicious event is evident to all who pass along. Nothing is talked of but the Queen's coming. Triumphal arches are erect ing at the east and west end of the Royal burgh of Inverkeithincr—at the entrance to Duloch, the country seat of Lord Cuninghame—at Fordel, the residence of 'Sir Philip Durham—at Kinross—and the Bridge of ! Earn, which will be liberally and tastefully orna mented with flowers, surmounted with crowns. Scaf foldings are also making their appearance in various places along the road, to enable the inhabitants of the several districts and surrounding country to obtain a sight of, and greet, their beloved Sovereign as she passes into the Highlands. This evening a detachment of the Enniskillen Dragoons arrived here from Edin burgh, and another party are expected early on Mon day, which indicate to the inhabitants the near ap proach of her Majesty and suite. V.lO NE Y MARKET and CIT 3C NEWS. FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY. TIMES.—The false colour throWn over the hews feom India by the French telegraphic dispatch, pro fessing to give its leading points, is beginning to at tract that degree of attention in the City which pro perly belongs to it. Among the great capitalists, and the Money Market generally, there is but one feeling, and that of indignation, at the treachery which they believe to have been practised in this instance by the French Government, affecting for the moment not only the funds of our own and other countries, but produce and every description of property, and this, as they are firmly persuaded, from motives of a personal and sordid nature. It were greatly to be desired that the men at the head of affairs in France, and who are responsible for, if not actually participat ing in, the deception practised, could hear the judg ment passed on their conduct by those on whom it has inflicted more or less of injury. If not absolutely cal lous, they would shrink back and feel eternally dis graced under the infliction. If this is the system meant to be persevered in, it will become a stigma on the whole country, and the principle of honour among Frenchmen, which has had for ages the confidence of Europe, will be given up as lost. It is difficult, per haps, to state in figures the entire consequence of these misrepresentations. It is not merely by the difference of one-quarter or one-half per cent. in the value of British and foreign securities, which was observable in the quotations before and after the publication of the telegraphic despatch, that the in jury is to be estimated, though that, spread over hundreds of millions, is no trifle, but that check to I public confidence which is thus wantonly interposed, and which disturbs the operations of every man of property and every merchant. No trust could be more sacred than that which is placed in the French Government under our Post-office treaties, which make France a part of the high-road to our Indian possessions, and to violate such a trust is pronounced on all hands to be utterly dishonourable and base. If this conduct is not made the subject of a remon strance on the part of our own Government, and the observance of better faith in future stipulated for, no confidence can exist among our merchants and capi talists under the present arrangement, and they will catch eagerly at every proposal and every project cal culated to render them independent of b ranee for the future in the communications with India. The annexed letter, which appeared in the last number of the Banker's Circular, deserves some at tention, as evidence of the present state of feeling among the banking interest, who believe that all the banks of issue in the kingdom will be called upon to defend themselves, or, as they term it, the public in terest, against the Ministry of Sir R. Peel. The writer of the letter is Mr. James Taylor, of the firm of Taylor and Lloyd's, of Birmingham : " TO THE COUNTRY BANKERS OF ENGLAND AND THE MANAGERS OF STOCK BANKING COMPANIES. " Birmingham, Aug. 25, 1842. " Sirs,—When the Bank of England Charter comes under the consideration of Parliament, it must lead to a discussion on the national currency. " Having had my attention drawn to this subject by banking engagements for the last 42 years, and it being my earnest desire to see all banking establish meats put on the soundest and firmest basis, as I am persuaded that continuance of prosperity in manufac tures and commerce can only thereby be maintained, I am led to submit my reflections for public con sideration. " The Bank of England has been compelled to find all the specie for stock and country banks, and it has therefore very naturally striven to absorb to that Cor poration the exclusive right of issuing promissory notes. A late Act, which obliges stock and country , banks to make a monthly return of the amount of their notes actually in circulation, may by degrees operate in favour of the object so much desired by the Bank of England, and lead to that Company becoming a much greater, if not the sole, issuer of notes. " The object might be obtained by employing the Bank of England as the agent, and by resting the validity of the new note-issue on the Government, and without the Government being exposed to any hazard of loss. " Possibly the late discovery of the Exchequer fraud may have made currency quacks aware of the danger of exposing the State to the issue of a national paper note circulation ; and more probably so, when these individuals shall have learnt that much of the advantage of such note circulation may be obtained without risk, and at a comparatively easy cost to the Government. " The monthly returns of the banks of issue having declared the amounts of the notes outstanding of every such bank, the Government might encourage these banks to pay into the Treasury (there to be re tained so long as the bank shall continue a bank of issue) one-fourth more than the amount of the bankers' notes outstanding (viz. 50,0001. if the monthly return be 40,0001.), to make up in a degree for the notes that are held as a rest in every banking office, by an allowance of 3 per cent. interest to be paid by the Treasury, by which the Government would be borrowing the money at an average rate of Exchequer interest. " These payments might be made into the Trea sury by monthly instalments, and warrants might be given, addressed to the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, requiring the Bank to supply the party with notes to be issued by that Company, de signated Provincial Notes of the Bank of England,' made payable only at the Bank of England; but within an engraved border in the centre of these notes Caere should be, in print and in writing, the place of re-issue, the local banker's date and number, the firm of this bank, and the signature of a Director or partner. Every bank, through its London agent, should be obliged to clear its own re-issue of these notes, when paid by the Bank of England, in the like manner that it now does all of its draughts that now get into the Bank ; and if it failed in doing so, it should lose the privilege of issuing the provincial notes of the Bank of England; and as the notes re-issued by such bank be paid by the Bank of England, it would be reimbursed by the Treasury. " The adoption of this plan would set at liberty some portion of the capital reserved to pay the bankers' notes at the place of issue, as well as the place where they are made pay a bl e i n L on d on ; an d every individual, poor or rich, would be quite certain of receiving the full value for these notes. " There could be no reason why the provincial notes of the Bank of England should not be made a legal tender to the fullest extent that Bank of England notes are now admitted to be a legal t en d er . Th e re spectable banks of issue might find it advantageous to receive the trovernment allowance of interest, and to obtain, by the re-issue of their share of provincial notes, whatever rate of interest money shall produce in the market. "Since the panic of 1825 and 1826, an Act has passed which makes it legal for country banks of issue to pay their notes, if presented in any sum ex ceeding the amount of 51., in Bank of" Erighind notes; and for the better security of the Bank • of England, it might be very desirable (should it not be judged right to authorise the Baal: to pay the provincial notes always in silver) to give to the Bank at least the option of paying the provincial notes in gold or silver. " The Bank of England, for the cost of providing the provincial notes, and for the trouble of paying them, might be remunerated by a commission of 10s. for the first year on the total amount of the issue to be paid by the Treasury, and of ss. afterwards on the amount of these notes annually paid at the Bank of England. "Could a banking system on this principle be ex tended to Ireland, I have been told by an intelligent Irish friend, that a great benefit would thereby be conferred on that country. "I have the honour to be, Sirs, your faithful and obedient servant, " JAMES TAYLOR." The Director of the French Customs has granted Messrs. Ws horn and Co. permission to send the bag gage of Indian passeng ers through France via Mar seilles, under their seal, provided an inventory be pre viously handed to them for transmission to the autho rities at the port of landing, who have received direc tions to dispatch them without being opened. A route-book has been published by the same firm con taining useful information for Indian passengers. CHRONICLE.— The increase which has taken place in the circulation o f the Bank of England, has been occasioned, to a great extent, by the amalgama tion of several private banks and joint-stocks within the last twelve months into the capacity of agents for the Bank parlour, and the i r ceas ing as such to issue anything except Bank of England paper. The de crease in the circulation of the private and joint stock banks is partly accounted for by the same cause, but chiefly by the general starvation of trade. With a constant glut of money in tondon , there is still little evidence of a g reater s u pply of bills. The circulation of the United Kingdom last year, as compared with its present state, is as follows : Bank of England Private Banks Joint Stock Banks „I Chartered, Private, and Joint Stock Banks in Scot- land Bank of Ireland..... Irish Private and Joint Stock Bullion in the Bank Grass Circulation 1842. Aug. 00. 20,361,000 5,150,628 2,823,000 2 ,674.835 2,831,7 W 1 ,632,617 9,570,000 1841. Aug. 23. 17,928,000 , 5,84 4,0 '0 3,215,2531 3,074,3931 2,950,8751 35 ,463,920 1 , 868,3611 4,801,0001 34,891,18-, Increase. .2,423,0001 :4,769,0001 De - crease. 689,372 392,253 199,558 19,125 582,7381 1235,744 The result is, that notwithstanding the increase of 2,423,000/. on the part of the Bank of England, and store of t he of 4,769,0001. of addition to the bu llion, decrease of the notes in issue by the joint-stock and private banks, has counterbalanced it in so much that the whole currency of the United Kingdom is now only 582,7381. greater than it was in August, 1841. We shall see whether the flush of the October divi dends, and the exertions of the Thank to maintain their dividends to the stockholders, will have the effect of inducing an expansive . action on the part of the country banks of issue. As far as figures go, our previous views in regard to the currency are likely to .be verified. The action of the Income-tax will check the glut to be occasioned by .the October dividends, and the reduction of the rate of interest on loans is calculated also to absorb it by anticipation during the shutting. DR. PAYERNE'S DIVING-BELL EXPERIMENTS at SP/THEAD. On Friday, the 2d instant, Major-General Pasley went out to Spithead to inspect the operations against the wreck of the Royal George, and, at the same time, to perform a promise he made sometime ago to Dr. Payerne, to afford him the means of proving whether his invention for producing pure air, fit for the respi ration of man, and for supporting flame, without communication with the external air, which he had so often successfully exhibited in London, in the diving-bell of the Polytechnic Institution, would be equally efficient at Spithead. Of this great doubts were entertained by the General, on his first inter view with Dr. Payerne, after having witnessed his performance at the above-mentioned institution, for, as he told the Doctor, though he was satisfied that he could produce good air at any depth, the pressure of from 12 to 15 fathoms of water at the bottom of the anchorage at Spithead would compress the air in a diving-bell so much, that though men might exist in it, they would not be able to work to advantage ; being nearly up to their necks in water. Therefore, unless the Doctor could get over this difficulty his ingenious and novel invention would not be attended with any practical benefit, at least in deep water, as it would not dispense with the necessity of still using an air pump to expel the water from the lower part of the bell, according to the system hitherto in use. Dr. Payerne, who at that time was not possessed of any experience in diving, his first attempt having been made at the Polytechnic Institution, was not prepared for this difficulty ; but, having afterwards fully considered it, he adopted an, expedient for re moving it, which proved completely successful, on giving it a fair trial at Spithead, as we shall now pro ceed to relate. This consisted in filling four iron cylinders, with condensed air, which was forced into them by a small air-pump until the gunge proved that the pressure was equal to nine or ten atmospheres. These cylinders were four feet long, and about a foot in diameter, with hemispherical ends, being the same that had been used for containing condensed gas during the period that the Portable Gas Company was in operation. Each of these cylinders held about three cubic feet of compressed air, and the whole were lashed to the bottom of a wrought-iron diving bell made two years ago by . Mr. Taplin in Ports mouth dockyard, according to the dimensions pre scribed by Major-General Pasley, to be used over the wreck of - the Royal George, if required . ; but which had not yet been done, as it was found, contrary to previous expectation, that helmet-divers were far more efficient. than bell-divers could possibly have been.- When the preparations were completed Dr. Payerne took his seat in the diving-bell, accompanied by Major-General Pasley, who, having full confidence in the goodness of the Doctor's air, but less in his ex pedient for keeping out the water from the bottom of the bell, took the precaution of putting on a water tight diving dress, offering another to the Doctor, who rejected it, in the belief that he would be able to keep the bell completely dry. They had, however, scarcely descended more than 10 or 12 feet below the surface, when the water came in upon them so fast that the Doctor requested that the bell should be hauled up out of the water, as he said he was sure that it must be leaky. This was done accordingly, and on letting it down empty his assertion was found to be correct, for the air issued rapidly from the top of the bell, in consequence of the cap over the hole, through which air would have been forced down in the common mode of using the bell, not having been screwed on tight enough. This defect being remedied and the bell let down empty a second time, there still appeared a slight leakage from the lower part of it, which was so inconsiderable that Dr. Payerne and the General went down a second time, the former having put on a diving dress also. One of the air cylinders had been emptied in their first descent, so that only three were now available, the contents of which they let into the bell by turning the cocks at the end of each, So that when they descended to the depth of 121 fathoms or 75 feet, the water only stood about six inches high in the bottom of the bell, when they were hauled up - by mistake of a signal before they had quite reached the bottom. After this, Lieutenant Hutchinson, the executive engineer employed at Spit head about the Royal George, and Mr. Hardiman, Dr. Payerne's assistant in the mechanical and engi neering branches of construction connected with his inventions, went down together, but as the slack tide was nearly over, they would not wait to have the cylinders filled again with compressed air, which could not have been done in less than an hour. They were, therefore, obliged to make the signal to stop lowering, after they had only descended twenty-three feet, the bell being at that time nearly half full of water, which was gradually increasing upon them, owing to a small leak at one of the rivet holes in the lower part of it. Such were Friday's proceedings, at which a number of naval and military officers and men of science attended, and which were also honoured by the presence of many of the fair sex. Amongst the fornrier we observed Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, Rear-Admiral Hyde Parker, Major-General Sir H. Pak enham, Sir I.Brunel,Capt.Dickenson,R.N.,whois himself a distinguished sub-marine operator, having recovered the lost treasure of the Thetis frigate, on the coast of Brazil, some years ago, in a manner which did him and his gallant seamen the highest credit ; Captain Codrington, R.N., Dr. Richardson, &c. The French General, Count D'Henin, and his amiable daughter, were also present, besides numerous specta tors from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. On Saturday the same experiments were repeated, but in the presence of fewer spectators, and " the diving-bell had by this time been made perfectly water-tight. Dr. Payerne and Major-General Pasley went down twice, first to the depth of twelve fathoms and a half, when they were pulled up by mistake of a signal before they reached the bottom, to their great disappointment. After :the four cylinders were filled again with corn pressed• air, which was done in about an hour, they descended a second time, and as the men above had strict orders not to stop lowering until the diving-bell reached the bottom, and not to haul it up again, unless they pulled the signal line three or four times, Dr. Payerne had the satisfaction of getting a small piece of wood from the wreck of the Royal George, after which they ,made the signal to ascend. Another experiment, still greater interest, was tried at the suggestion of Lieut. Hutchinson, who went down without any air cylinders, accompanied by Mr. Hardiman, having the end of one of the diver's air-pipes with them, through which air was forced into the bottom of the diving-bell by one of the small pumps which usually supplies air for a helmet-diver. By means of this pump the water was expelled from the lower part of the diving-bell, and replaced by condensed air, which enabled them to descend to the very bottom, there being no cylinders to prevent the bell from taking the ground, as in the former experiment; and Mr. Hardiman also brought up some small relics from the wreck. Some uneasi ness was caused, both to them whilst at the bottom and to the men above, by its becoming impossible to communicate with signals, in consequence of the signal line becoming entangled with the bell rope, by which the bell had been let down. The result of these experiments is, that both Major- General Pasley and Lieutenant Hutchinson expressed their high opinion of the merit of Dr. Payerne's in vention, as applied to the diving-bell • for they con sidered that the air they breathed in the bell was per fectly good; and the whole apparatus for purifying it Was contained in a case not larger than a common portable writing-desk, which gives no trouble but that of turning a small winch er handle oceasionall, and as, besides water, two very cheap and simple ingre dients only are used, the manipulation requires no science on the part of the person in charge ; and, when the diving-bell is once filled with compressed air, either by letting it escape from vessels previously filled with it, as in the first experiment, or by four men pumping for less than half an hour, as in the se cond experiment, no more pumping is necessary, as the air in the bell never requires to be changed. In the common mode of working the diving-bell, on the contrary, a powerful pump, manned by six or eight men, would be required at Spithead, which must be kept constantly at work the whole time that men are down in the diving-bell ; and this incessant pumping is so laborious that from twelve to sixteen men, work ing in two reliefs, would be necessary for the purpose of expelling the water. It is to be remarked that the French have for many years speculated upon the practicability of submarine boats, as we know by having seen French pamphlets on the subject. We' are informed that one of Dr. Payerne's countrymen, the Marquis D'Aubusson, has been engaged in this object for several years, and that after planning all the other arrangements to his own satisfaction, he could not satisfy himself as to the means of supplying the men in his submarine boat with air. 1)r. Payerne stated, that a conversation on the subject of the Marquis D'Aubusson's plan with a person who mentioned it to him, first induced him to consider whether it might not be practicable to pro duce pure air under water, without any communica tion with the atmosphere, and that this led to the in vention which he first tried at the Polytechnic Insti tution, and of which, as applied to the diving-bell, he has proved the safety and superior efficiency at Spit head. The diving-bell is necessary in so many works , of importance, which either cannot be executed at all, or not so well, without it, that Dr. Payerne, by this most ingenious invention, has rendered a great service to the civilised world. PREPARATIONS AT TAYMOUTH. Ever since it was known that her Majesty and her Royal Consort were to honour famed Breadalbane with a visit, tradesmen and labourers of every class and grade have been employed, from grey dawn to dusk, in putting every thing in and around the princely Castle of Taymouth in a state of preparedness worthy of its noble proprietor, and, it is trusted, of the Royal visi tors. Triumphal arches are being erected at all the approaches to and from the castle, as well as at each end of Kenmore-bridge, which nobly spans the infant Tay, and at the pier at Acharn, two miles distant from Kenmore, where her Majesty is expected to land from her excursion on the lake, when she visits the far famed Falls of Acharn—the hermitage and approach to which have undergone scrubbing for the purpose. A party of 200—it is even said of 250—brawny Highlanders, in full Highland costume, are to assemble at Taymouth on Friday, the 2d, and are to be put in training for forming her Majesty's guard of honour during her stay. They are directed to appear provided with full camp accoutrements, and are to have their bivouacs there till she leaves on the 9th. The tenants and other visitors are also requested to come provided each with his quaich (cup) to join in drinking to her Majesty's health—the beverage, best mountain dew of course, is to be provided by the Noble Marquis. Such huzzas, we are sure, the Highland hills never reverberated to before. Four platforms, 20 by 24 feet, are also to be erected on the lawn in front of the Castle, where her Majesty will witness " Tullochgorum ' " and other national dances, in all their peculiar evolutions and variorums, tripped with all the characteristic airiness of High landers. It is not supposed that Prince Albert, as has been reported, will go to the Black Mount Forest—the shortness of the stay of the Royal party indeed precludes the possibility of it, if he is to in dulge in any spert around Taymouth. It is rather expected that he will spend one day at grouse-shoot ing in Taymouth and Kenmore hills, and another at deer and roe-hunting in Drummond Hill. We understand that the Highland gentlemen have arranged triumphal arches along the road by which her Majesty will progress from Perth to Kenmore. From Rannoch to Aberfeldy there will be nearly 600 Highlanders in full costume, who will meet at Ken more. From Atholl to Dunkeld there will be an eqUal number of Highlanders, headed by Lord Glen. lyon, and Fascally, Balnakeilly, Lude, &c. The Atholl men, so much admired at the tournament, have been greatly augmented in force, and will be com manded by Lord Glenlyon and his brother, the Hon. Captain James Murray. It is expected that the Queen will come from Scone, by the bridge of Isla, through Meikleour, to Dunkeld, and lunch with the Duchess of Athol. This is probable, from the great attachment uniformly evinced by the Athol family to the Crown. The whole Societies of Dunkeld go along with the Highland bands ; and all, we believe, will meet in the home grounds of the Athol family. THE VICTORIA HALL. During the time her Majesty was visiting Dalkeith Castle, the foundation stone of the Victoria Hall, and the buildings erecting for the accommodation of the General Assembly, was laid by Lord Frederick Fitz clarence, G.C.H., Grand Master Mason of Scotland. The other officials present were—the Earl of Buchan, Acting-Depute—P. M. Stewart, Esq., M.P., Acting- Substitute—EL W. Melville, Esq., Senior Warden-- Sir D. Kinloch, Bart., Acting Junior—W. A. Laurie, Esq., Grand Secretary—John Maitland, Esq., Grand Clerk—Thomas Graham Dundas, Esq., jun., Grand Deacon—Wm. Baillie, Esq., younger of Polkem met, jun., Grand Deacon—the Rev. Alex. Stewart, minister of Douglas, Grand Chaplain—Wm. Cun ningham, Esq., Grand Jeweller—James Gillespie Graham, Esq., of Orchil, the architect of the buildings, Acting Grand Architect, &c. &c. His Lordship, besides the Grand Lodge, was accompa nied by about three hundred of the Brethren, com posed of many deputations from Lodges in the provinces. The Sovereign, as she passed to and from the Castle, noticed, in an especial manner, the Grand Master, by repeatedly bowing to him, and waving her hand. The ceremony within the great tower of the Hall, though short, was most solemn, and the addresses of the Grand Master and the Grand Chaplain, l andain , were couched in terms at once ele gantimpressive, in the course of which allusion was made to the auspicious occasion of her most gracious Majesty's visit. The Grand Master, on returning to the hall of the High School, returned thanks for the support he had received from the as sembled brethren, in a speech replete with good feeling and good taste. A gallery was fitted up for the accommodation of the fair sex, among whom we noticed the Countess of Glasgow, Lady Augusta Fitzclarence, and a numerous assemblage of beauty and fashion. The following is the inscription of the plate deposited in the stone :—" To the glory of God, in honour of the Queen, on the 3d day of September, in the year of our Lord MDCCCXLII. The day of our Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria visiting the City of Edinburgh, the Right Hon. Sir James Forrest of Camiston, Bart., Lord Provost, the 1 1 Rev. David Welsh, D.D., Moderator of the Assembly. The foundation stone of this superb structure to be called Victoria Hall, for the use of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, was laid by the Right Hon. Lord Frederick Fitzclarence G.C.H., &c., Grand Master Mason of Scotla n d, i n presence of the Grand Lodge and other - Masonic Lodges. James Gillespie Graham, Esq., of Orchil, Archit ec t. John. Lind, master builder of the Hall. Length of building from east to west, 141 feet. Height of spire over the entrance, 241 feet." There were also depo sited in the cavity of the stone, inclosed in a glass jar, an Edinburgh Almanack, the newspapers of the day, a plan of the city, and a beautiful engraving of the building, with coins of the present THE ACCIDENT AT EDINBURGH. (From the Courant.) The pleasure of the day, we are truly sorry to state, was marred by an accident which took place by the falling of a large scaffold erected at the bottom of the Mound, a few minutes after her Majesty had passed. The eagerness to obtain a sight of the Royal train had induced a very great number of spectators to occupy this station ; and, from the pressure, it gave way with a loud crash, which spread an immediate alarm among the people. Many gentlemen hastened to the spot to extricate the sufferers. The most prompt atten tion was immediately given by all the medical men ; among whom we observed Dr. Alison, Dr. Craigie, Dr. Glover, Dr. Dunsmure, Dr. Moir, Dr. Reid, and others. The sufferers were conveyed some to the gardener's house, and others to the Infirmary. In consequence of the crowding of the people to the spot, it was found necessary to procure a body of dragoons to clear a space through which to convey away the sufferers. A lady, who was very severely hurt, died on Saturday afternoon. Mr. Dickson, painter, died yesterday ; and it is feared that another case will prove fatal. Various opinions are abroad regarding the causes of this accident ; but as the matter is at present under judicial investigation, we forbear entering into them. One thing seems to be admitted on all hands, that there was a rush of per sons to the gallery more than it would hold. We subjoin an apparently official report from Professor Millar upon the subject, from which it will be seen that nearly all the injured persons are recovering. " Edinburgh, 23, York-placd, Sept. 4. " I have examined and inquired into the various cases of injury occasioned by the unfortunate acci dent of yesterday, so far as circumstances have per mitted. " I have to report that one person is dead, and that another is so seriously hurt as to preclude the hope of recovery ; that not a few fractures have been sus tained, both of legs and arms; and that many bruises, sprains, and slighter injuries have occurred, swelling the number of the hurt to about fifty. But I am glad to say that, excepting the two cases first mentioned, there is no prospect of further loss either to life or limb. (Signed) " JAS. MILLER, "Professor of Surgery." The following is a list of those who were hurl on this occasion : George Stewart, 146, Kirkgate, Leith, bruised ; James Miller, from Stirlingshire, bruised ; Isabella Donaldson, 15, Jhessel's-court, bruised; Catherine Milligan, 82, St. Mary's-wynd, bruised ; Jane Walker, Glenfinnart, compound fracture of ancle; Thomas Dickson, • St. Andrew-street, compound fracture of leg, fractured vertebra, spine broke, dan gerous, and not expected to recover ; Miss Amelia Dow, 18, Calton-street, wound of scalp, and bruises of shoulder ; Miss . Agnes Dow, ditto, bruised ; Miss Helen Bowie, 16, Calton-street, sprained ankle; Mr. Marshall, 2, Buccleuch-place, one rib broken, and bruised; Mrs. Marshall, do.; severely bruised ; Mrs. Deas, 7, Dewar-place, dead ; Mr. Wood, at Mrs. Ross's, 14, New-buildings, compound fracture of leg, and dislocation of arm ' • Mr. Scott, 9, Gayfield square, leg fractured, and dislocated ankle ; Mrs. Dr. Murray, Penicuik, internal injuries; Mrs. Davidson, 8, Saxe Coburg-place, bruised ; the two Misses Da vidson, her daughters, each a leg fractured; Bailie Fleming, from Glasgow, several contusions ; Widow Paterson, Cox's-court, Richmond-place, severely bruised : Dr. Cruickshanks, 8, Hill-place, severely bruised, and dislocation of collar bone • Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, slightly bruised ; Mr. Airth, Her mitage-place, compound fracture of leg; Mrs. Airth, much bruised; Misses Whitehead, Paisley, slightly bruised : Mr. and Mrs. Turnbull, West Circus-place, contusions ; Mr. and Mrs. Gibson, St. Andrew square, slightly bruised ; Misses Marshall, St. An drew-square, contusion, and injury of knee ; Miss Deas, Dewar-place, and Miss Cairns, Glasgow, se verely bruised, but not dangerous ; Elizabeth Muir, Pleasance, fracture of arm ; Andrew Craigie, Green side-row, fracture of leg ; Mrs. Broadfoot, Quality street, Leith, slightly bruised ; Mrs. Kerr, St. Ber nard's-crescent, fracture of arm and severe contusions; Miss Kerr, do., contusions; Mrs Stevenson, do., se vere contusion ; Miss Ewart, contusions; Miss Black wood, George-street, contusions; a young lady there, slight contusions ; Miss Fernie, Saxe Coburg-place, slight contusion ; Henry Robinson, Greenside-place, bruised ; Margaret and T. Robinson, same place, slightly bruised; Mrs. Macallan, Frederick-street, se vere contusion. EGYPT. ALEXANDUIA, AUG. 22.—The Great Liverpool ar rived here on the morning of the 18th, bringing with her 56 passengers for India, amongst whom were the Marquis and Marchioness of Tweeddale and suite, on their way to Calcutta. Mehemet Ali has taken up his abode for a' few weeks at a country house on the banks of the canal. His son, Said Pacha, is expected down in a day or two from Cairo, and it appears that a fresh order has been given for the fleet to prepare immediately to proceed to sea, and the Pacha is not coming into town until after its departure. It is riot known what the intentions of the Pacha may be in sending out his ships, and it is said here it is only to exercise the men off the harbour. Mr. T. Wilkie, brother of the late artist, sent to the Pacha this month his portrait, begun by Sir David when here in May, 1841, and which he took with him intending to finish it in England. The Pacha said he would take the picture if his friends thought it was like him ; but as all who saw it seemed to agree that the portrait did not resemble him much, it goes back again to London by this steamer. The price demanded was 2101. sterling, and it is likely that Mr. Thomas Wilkie will obtain a much higher sum for it in England, it being Sir David's last work, and a most beautiful painting. Hekekyan Bey is gone over to Suez, to fix upon a plan for the hotel which the Pacha has promised to build for the Peninsular and Oriental Company. It is to be an immense building, to contain at least 85 bedrooms, and the cost will not be less that 2,500/. sterling. The Pacha has an idea of bringing out a house of sheet iron from England for this purpose, which certainly would be a great improvement, be sides being less expensive. Mr. Blondel, a Belgian traveller, who had been taken prisoner in tht upper part of Abyssinia, has been released from the hands of his captors, and is now at Cartoum, through the me dium of Mehemet Ali, who sent strict orders to Ahmed Pacha, Governor-General of Soudan, to em ploy every means to liberate him. The Pacha has lately been taking into consideration the improvement of the transit through Egypt. At one time he talked of having a railroad laid down between Suez and Cairo, but the difficulties and expenses attending this work would be so very great, that he now seems de termined to cut a canal through the Desert, thus having an easy and free communication by water all the way across the country. On the 19th inst. the Government sold by public auction 10,000 ardebs of wheat, which fetched an average price of 47 piastres per ardeb, equal to 19s. per imperial quarter, free on board ; also 10,000 ardebs of beans, and 5,000 ardebs of lentils, which found buyers at 28 piastres per ardeb, equal to 1 ls. per quarter, free on board. Prices of all seeds and grain have declined from 12 to 16 per cent. since the arrival of the English steamer. Hopes are now entertained of having a good Nile this year, and during the last fortnight the water in the river has been increasing rapidly, and on the 17th the canal of Cairo was cut, which proves that then the land began to be inundated. SCOTCH PIUDE.—A day or two before the Queen's arrival in Edinburgh, a poor old woman, who makes her livelihood by selling fruit in the streets from a basket, was complaining sadly to a lady—" Eh, Mem, d'ye ken that we're no to be allowed to carry our bas kets a' the time the Queen's here." The lady explained to her that perhaps the reason for this cruel prohibi tion might be, that the Magistrates wished to hide every symptom of our Scotch poverty from the prying eyes of our rich English visitors. " Eh , mem , ' said the old Scotch woman—her eye lighting briskly up, her sharp, thin, primped Scotch features pursing up with Scotch pride, and her whole tone and manner changed in the moment—" D'ye think that's it ? Aweel, if I thocht it was for that, I would rather live on bread and cauld water for a week to come than put a han to my basket." —Aberdeen Banner. FRENCH EXPIILSSS. In our City article of this day a subject is glanced at which has attracted and deserves no ordinary at tention from the commercial classes of England.* We mean the trickery which appears to be resorted to by the French Government in their dealing with the Indian news whi c h our vesse l s b r i ng t o Marseilles. Our readers have probably long been familiar with those arbitrary interferences, unsanctioned even by their own not very independent Courts of Law, by which they have exerted themselves to impede the transmission :of news safely and accurately to the English Press. It is not easy for an uninitiated public to detect the inducements to that apparently gratuitous sacrifice of character which necessarily at tends upon a despotic and obnoxious course, pursued, as we have said, in the very teeth of formal decisions pronounced by French Courts in favour of the rights of the foreign Press, and literally condemning the Government's conduct. These acts, however, of oppression may be carried on without that very instant notoriety which is the necessary and almost __immediate result of their present pro,- ceedings. The proprietors of a journal may be un willing to plunge themselves fairly into a contest with the Government of one of the great European' Powers, and the matter may blow over. Justice, even when thereis a fair prospect of getting it, may not alwayS be worth the difficulties and disadvantages which are its price. Those who are obliged or who are anxious to run their couriers, however legally, across the whole length of France, are too dependent upon the. vexatious impediments which Government may be pleased to interpose willingly to provoke its hostility. The last Indian mail, however, has fur nished occasion for a bolder experiment. The most important statement of the telegraphic despatch for warded and announced to the public by Government authorities has been found to be utterly unjustified by the details of the Indian news. A statement was coined by somebody, calculated to produce—and which did produce—a visible effect on prices, and the falsity of which must have occasioned losses as serious as undeserved to those who founded their speculations upon it. This is no longer a private but a public injury. It is an act of dishonesty which calls forth the reproba tion, not of one, or two, or three individuals, but of the 'commercial classes of two great countries. It is an act which a Government, or a Government func tionary, would hardly have ventured upon from the mere caprice of power or personal animosity. Its im portance is too great, its detection too certain and too immediate, to admit of this hypothesis. We do not know whether the business morality of the Bourse at Paris is less exacting than that which reigns in the commercial circles of London ; but let our readers conceive the indignation which would burst upon the head of ony member or employe of an English Cabinet, who, having in his hands correct and important ac counts, was proved to have deliberately misled specula tion by publishing, with the authority of Government, a garbled or perverted statement of them. Even in this country, we say, where stock jobbing., is not an ordinary crime of Ministers, such a breach of faith to the public, such an abuse f powers delegated for the public service, would elicit not merely energetic com plaints of carelessness and consequent injury, but pointed and unsparing accusations of interested dis honesty. Nor certainly would our knowledge of French politics lead us to be more chary of our in ferences with respect to the a u th ors of V t.he present deception, even if report did not point to a gentleman high in the confidence of M. Guizot as not very cre dita')ly implicated in the manoeuvre. The transactions of the Cabinet and of the Bourse have unfortunately been too' frequently mixed up in that country to allow us to wonder at, or dismiss as incredible, such an accusation, however much we may regret the stain which it casts upon a Ministry to which we wish well. Nor is this trick much less discreditable in a na tional than in a commercial point of view. It is some considerable advantage to the French port of Mar seilles 'to be made the rendezvous of our East Indian packets. It is not altogether a matter of indifference, whether or not the current of communication and of voyagers which those packets occasion is carried to England through Marseilles and Paris, or by some other and independent rou t e . W e do not wish to magnify this convenience or advantage ; but a con venience and advantage it certainly is which is con ferred upon parts of France in this choice of a har bour by the English Post-office. Call it even a con fidence, a compliment—and in return even for such an act of friendship, fair play, one would think, might at least be expected ; and an English Ministry might fairly complain at finding a power which they had confided to their allies thus unscrupulously abused to the misleading of themselves and the British public— to the creation of false impressions, not, perhaps, at the present moment of any very vital importance to their interests, but which, in other and more critical circumstances, might exert a serious influence upon their Parliamentary or other political contests. But it might be answered that we are reversing the relations of the parties ; that if we are to strike a debtor and creditor account at all, France is not fa voured in being made the means of transit for our Indian intelligence, but favours England by allowing herself to become so ; that we have no choice in the matter, and must for our own interests take the only safe and rapid means of gaining our news, and be thankful that that is permitted us. We think not. It is, we believe, a mistake to sup pose that the shortest route by which news can be transmitted from Alexandria to London is that by Marseilles ; and taking into consideration the system of impediment at present pursued by France, we have little doubt that, by an arrangement with Aus tria and other German Governments, an equally speedy communication might be effected through Venice, which would shake us free of the petty and unworthy obstacles to which we are now liable ; and we presume there can be little question of - the readi ness with which Austria would second an arrange ment so conducive to the prosperity of a seaport of her own, of which she is wisely and naturally anxious to increase the importance. We should be glad to believe that the misconduct of which we have now to complain resulted from the ignorance, the misapprehension, the animosity, or the hurry of a mere subordinate. It is with reluctance that we admit the suspicion that any functionaries of a higher rank in public opinion, and in the responsi bilities of their office can be parties to a proceeding so discredit a bl e . Nor, indeed, should we have al lowed that suspicion to enter our minds were the pre sent a mere isolated case. Unfortunately we have ourselves had reason to complain that it is not so, and from the treatment which has been perseveringly ad ministered, in spite of justice and declared law, to our selves and others, we are compelled to conclude that there is some more powerful influence at work than the officer in charge of a telegraph—that it is not to an agent but to a principal, not to an accident but to a system, that these dishonest tamperings are due. And for the sake of justice we are glad that they have now reached a point which brings them into conflict, nik with the protests and actions at law of, detached indi viduals, but with the powerful voices of those in fluential classes who do no t usually exert their voices in such matters in vain.—Times. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SlR.,—Seeing in your paper of this day, an extract from the Journal des Debats, stating that England is sinking in the scale of nations into wretchedness and poverty, I beg to contradict that statement. A respectable farmer told me yesterday, that the rents of farms in Somerset had more than doubled within these forty years; and I know myself, and can prove, that, since 1750, land in most cases has quadrupled its value, without the owners of it laying out one six pence to produce this result. So that, although we know millions are starving, yet thousands are better off, without any exertions of their own. Bath, Sept. 3, 1842. SKELETON. POST OFFICE. MONTHLY STATEMENT OF LETTERS DELIVERED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM : Week ending Aug. 21, 1842 . . 3833880 Week ending Aug. 22, 1841 . . 3,697,949 Week ending Nov. 24, 1839 . . 1,585,973 Increase since 1841, on the week's letters . . . . . 135,931 Increase since 1839, on the week's letters . . . 2,247,907 MELANCHOLY AcCIIANT AT SEACOMEE, CHE SEIRE.—SEACOMBE, SUNDAY.—This village, situate on the banks of the Mersey, opposite Liverpool, was last evening the scene of a heart-rending occurrence. Be tween eight and nine o'clock last evening, when the tide was coming in strongly, a young female, named Evans, staying at the house of Mr. Bevington, tea-broker, of Liverpool, and sister to Mrs. Bevington, accompanied by Mr. Bevinp., , ton's servant, proceeded down the garden steps on the river side to bathe, but they had no sooner leaped into the water, than the strength of the tide car ried them out into the river, and before assistance could be procured they had sunk to rise no more. Several persons witnessed the distressing calamity, but the action of the tide was so rapid, that it was impossible to rescue them, and the bodies were washed away. Miss Evans was about being united to a gentleman, now in America, to whom she had despatched a letter a few days ago by the Great Western steam-ship. This morning the bodies were discovered at low water, some distance from the spot Where the accident happened. CORONER'S INQUEST.—DETERMINED SUICIDE OF A MAN, AGED NINETY-SEVEN YEARS.--Yesterday, at eleven o'clock, an inquest was held at the sign of the Coburg Arms public-house, in Webber-street, New -cut, Lambeth, before 'William Carter, Esc., the Coron er f or Surrey, on view of the body of William Humph r i es , aged 97 years, who was found lying dead in his bed on Sunday morning last, with his throat cut. The soft parts of the neck were completely cut through to the bone. The evidence adduced proved that th e d ecease d committed the act himself ; he had for some time past been bedridden, and his mind had evidently become affected by the infirmities incidental to his advanced years. Verdict—" Temporary insanity." 13, Great Marlborough-street. LIVES OF THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. By AGNES STRICKLAND. • NEW ani REVISED EDITIONS of the FIRST FOUR. VOLUMES of this WORK Are now ready, and may be had of all Bookse:lers. The FIFTH VOLUME, comprising the LIVES of QUEEN KATHARINE PARR and QUEEN MARY, is also - just published. Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborougb.street. With copious Index and Profitable Hints, APLAIN and. PRACTICAL GUIDE to the INCOME-TAX, 5 and 6 Vict., cap. 35. By A COMMISSIONER. Price Is. (post-free, by authority.). Enables every person to fill up their own Papers, avoids all penalties, fines, and liabilities, and is expressly adapted to the use of every trade, profession, employment, and vocation, be• sides containing valuable information and copious instructions all points; the whole freed from the obscurity of legal lan. guage, and put into plain English. London : published and cold by E. Smith, at the Central Office, No. 6, Wellington-street, Strand ; and W. Strange. 21, Paternoster-row. Price is. (post-free, by authority). HAMBURGEg, 12TE AUGUST, 1842. IS VIAJ ES the EMPEROR of AUSTRIA; HIS MAJESTY the EMPEROR of RUSSIA, AND HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF PRUSSIA, Raving AUTHORISED and GUARANTEED several WIS• T I -I I BUTIONS •nt 'MONEY DIVIDENDS, by which. though they are NO LOTTERIES, LARGE FORTUNES may be obtained, dEINE tittOTHERS, at HAMBURGH, are Selling GENUINE and WARRANTED SELECTED BONDS for the said DISTKIBIJ I'IONS. Persons desirous to purchase naav receive, PREVIOUS to giving any order, the PROS •'ECTUS with full PARTI• MARS, upon addressine - , WITHOUT DELAY, a line to HEINE BROTHERS, at HAMBURGIL • PURATRE ROYAL, COVENT-GARDEN. The Public is respectfully informed that this Theatre will OPEN FOR THF•. SEASON ON SATURDAY Nh..XT, SEPTEMBER 10, when - Will be performed Bellini's Opera •If NORMA.—Pollio, Mr. W. Harrison Oroveso, Mr. Giubilci; Flavius, Mr. Binge; Nnrtna, MINS Adelaide Kemble; Adalgisa, Miss It.inforth; Clotilda, Miss Lane. Att,2r which win be produced a New Comedy, in Two Aets writ. en by Douglas Jerrold, Eq., entitled OELICRUDE'S CHE RRIES, OR WATERLOO IN 1835 - Willoughby, Mr. Bartley; Vincent, Mr. W. Lacy; Guibert, Mr. addear; Jack Halcyon, Mr. Har ey ; Crossbone, Mr. Meadows; Angelica, Miss Cooper; Mrs. Crossbone, Mrs. Humby ; Gertrude. Mrs. W. Lacy. Doors ope Vat half-past ants the Parformances begin at Seven. Dress Boxes is., Second Price 3s. rd , First and Second Circles 50.. Second Price 2s. 6d. ; Pic 35. , Second Price :Is. • Gallery Is. Tickets. and Places for the Boxes to be taken of Mr. *hither, at the Boa— t):Hee, from Ten till Four, where Season Tickets may be had. Prirote Boxes to be had at he Box-0:H e; of Mr. Andrews, 107. New Bond-street; Mr. Mitchell, Old Bond street; and of Mr.. Sams Pall Mall. DAVIDGE'S ROYAL SURREY THEATRE. THIS EVENING, SEPTEMBER 7, Will be acted. Colley Grattan's Historical Play of BEN NAZIR, THE AR 10EN.—Be i Nazir, Mr Butler (as acted by him at all the principal Theatres I , America); King Charles, Mr. H. Hughes; k:tni.rance, Mrs. H. Vining. After which, an New Petite Serio-Comic Drama, entitled THE WELCi4I): HOME.— Lt Merton by Mr. R Honner. To eopcbide with, the Comie Extravaganza of tNGELS AND •LUCIFERS.—/Knjamin Brimstone, M'. 0. Wild; Sally Gingham Alps . legtey. l'o conclude with the lanhable Entertainment called MY DIAN TOM.—Tom Chaff, Mr 0. vt ild ; Mrs. Kate Moreton, Miss E.:Ter. rey, who will sing •‘ Kate Kearney." Places and Private Soles may be ad. of Mr. J. Kerschner, at the ex Unice, from Eleven till Four daily. THEATRE-ROYAL, ENGLISH OPERA-HOUSE. ... FIRST NIGHT OF THE NEW SEASON. - - Two Now Pieces I! M. Carter, the Lion King, anti his highly trained animals of the Dwelt I ! THIS EVENIN G, SEPTE 11 BEE I. - _ Will be per *Tined the Burletta of MY FELLOW CLERK.... Tactic, Mr. W. Howard; Victim, Mr. Oxberry; Fanny (with Songs). Miss Holmes", After which, M CARTER, the Lien King, will appear in a new Oriental Dram; written ex;Te.sly for him by J. 'l. H-fines, , E Ese.. called I'HE LION KING; CBI R, THE BRUTE TAnft HE DI.: ERT.—Omer, thu Lion Tamer, M Carter. . . _ _ _ To conclude wi fi a Novel Burletta, wri ten by Plow Egan. Esq., full of fun, frolic, and whim, called 1, , FE IN DUBLlN.—Cerin thian Tom, Mr. Wm. Howard; Jerry, Mr. J. T. Haines; Jemmy Green, Ir. ()sherry; Logic, Mr Honing worth; Mrs. Green, Miss I. Nlelvill ; Kate Srilli :nt, Miss rescott Wade; Betsey Tasteful Miss R. Isaacs; Rose Das all. Miss Beresford. Boxes, 4s. Pit, Gallery, Is. Doors even at Half-past KZ commence at Seven; Half-price, a Quarter before Nine Private Boxes to be had of Mr. Grogan, at the Private Box-office; And of Messrs. Andrews, Mitchell, Sams, and Baily, at their Libraries. ROYAL SURREY ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. First perfornutre.7 of a row Fantasia, " Em Straus, von Handel I" The G;raudola will commence this week at Half-past Eight. (IRANI) EVENIN% FETES, MONDAY, TUESDAY, and THURSDAY, with the folowiug matchless combination of uniq e attractions:— - Til;ceTe)rated. MENAGERIE, recently enriched by several Zoo toci c rar i s. stupendous te TYPO RAM IC MODEL AL-FRESCO of ROME from the I r eft bank of the Tiber. The PROMENADES tl :SICALES by the unrivalled Bind Of Wind Instruments, conducted by Mr. Godfrey including Beeth3o - Sinfonia in C minor, the Grand Duo " Day, Val" from " t,uillaume Tell " p rformed y Hadley and Prospere, a new se icctio of favourite moiceaux from the wotka of Handel. and a Va." rietyof popular pieces :: Alter ih . Concert the Illumination of St. Peter's, and the °lran dole of Saint Angelo, with Southby's magnificent Pyrotechnic Spit" tacle4, Extr ordinary Aquatic k ireworks n the Lake, and Superb . Ca,ead of Fire. Admission to the whole of the Entertainments, One Shilli i Open at Ten in the NI orning.—Feeding at Five.—Concert atnHalf past Five.—Fireworks at Halt-p•st Eight, HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE THIS DAY. Slorning... 13 minutes after 3 Evening ... 30 minutes after 3i. Az an, LONDON: WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 7, 1842• The distress of the industrious classes is be ginning to exercise the ingenuity of the leisure classes; and prizes are offered for the best ex planation of its cause. A correct notion of what is meant by public distress, and a clear descrip. tion of what is to be inquired into will much help the investigation. It is necessary to bear in mind that pOVerty is the general lot of the bulk of the community Inquirers into the rates of wages at different periods, have shown that throughout the long period which written history records of England the wages of the working classes, when Mil' employed, have been barely sufficient to enable . • them to subsist and rear a family. So corn' pletely was this the case, that the careful 11 , Ire RICARDo, deducing his definition from actual fact, said that " the natural price of labour i 5; that price which is necessary to enable the labourers, one with another, to subsist and per. petuate their race, without either increase Or diminution." By natural price Mr. RICARDO aid not mean the •natural rewards of labour, but the sum which other men than the labourers must pay to have their services,.and that he believed, from the facts of our history, was just sufficient to enable them to subsiSt and perpetuate their ' race; and no more. Now when such is the condition of the bulk of the communitly, a large number must always be on the verge of distress, or deeply immersed in it. 1 • truth a prosperity in which all classes feel at their ease must be the exception, not the rule, for . society. A very little reflection and experience matt convince every person that such is the case. We scarcely remember a year in which com plaints of disease and distress have not been; rife amongst us. No longer ago than 1830 there were great riots from distress in the south of England, and the NeW . Poor-law was passed, because the poor-rates were eat ing up the estates of the landowners. Before then, not less than one-ninth of the people were actual paupers. But at that period' the distress .„ was more prominent in the agricultur a l th a n in the manufacturing districts, and the poor-rates;? were much higher in the former than in the ter. At that period, too, and down to 1836 1 the distressed people were drahed in con siderable numbers, or rather emigrated; from the agricultural to the manufacturing dis tricts, and there found employment, wages, and subsistence. Since 1838, the manufactav ing districts have no longer been ab'e to employ the spare hands of the agricultural tricts; there has not been full employment for those persons already there, and the want of employment for persons there, as contrasted with the quantity of employment in 1832-1835,, and the. consequent decline in wages below tb'e level of subsistence is the distress to be inquirf 2 cl into. It is of equal importance to ascertain the cause of the prosperity between 1832 and. 1838, which is the exception to the general rule of Kevalent distress. Now it needs no proof that the harvests were abundant from 1832 to 1837, and were scanty from that period to the present. No other cause,' either 'of the prosperity of the ibrmer or the distress of the latter period, is one tithe so important as the variations in the harvest. But that cause of prosperity and ad versity has existed from all tiine, and why our extensive commerce, of which the object is, tos equalise the effects of seasons, failed to distribute them more equally over the two periods, is tyre astounding and important question. It is, however, easily answered. The law forbad. the equalisation. The law made it im possible for the merchant to export it bounteous years, and impeded importation in sterile years. The law did not cause varying harvests, but it prevented commerce from neutralizing their effects, and was therefore the secondary cause of the heated and forced • i'l tete rt.. t: _ ' •‘, w.;a l "'" .4 ' e . „,.t 5 4) ^ixtf;', 4 ,, ' . '• 4 4, ge , i t i ( 100 67, , ,,,,,,-„ , .P ..2,11.... 4 c, . , *** 1 t .. ,‘ • . '; 17 .4 -..- , 99 4. 'VIZ' ~• .• ' , .'1., ,;4.til"'" '''' .; • it. s ' blight wn; . ?thee 1838. ct'rn at one stiMulns to tion for the to put up vi :greatly dim biiity of ma If were feritig with coerce, and proceedings inapplicable called, or o temporaries be one of bli nomena of t] sanguine Inc is not extra _that the wl more count business is Wdll ts of soc conduct as that all coi man. It ha broad, and and natural When the 1 inakes the chants must errors, and li tIPPIy and it is the o bj ( M erchants al t ogs, are tL ( forced enter) arc the cons legislator, b he knows ne introduced i our Present ( the material scrutinised. 'Null sendo n. a e T t ,i es l oss r aoeno e sTty:oo l lowel. f i euKyl te‘lttav, STOKER t e lßsaan y li terday- trans the great ini th 3 West L probably be mail, and lei despatched e almost as far i slands, and i 1 ,000 or 1,201 propriety of 1 vietion has f .1,200 ton stet of longitude letters, when the expense fail to ask vessel should the United S fi:raosri lit West Indies'. Own proposal Halifax, whe Would go t 4 Georgia, or C the United Si nearer the W At present and from B arrives at B( of at the Arr throu g h the 1 New Orlean and to the po of the Unit in the Uni letters, and to every pat Post•office, t' pony which a eels from Bc have no clout cost, convey tended for dig extreme Sout out much dif with the Gen send its own Savannah, or to that port r half 1,200 toi the West Ind -a voyage of F. indeed, there /lean colonie `traffic to pa 2 ; steam-boat fr be no use trl States ; but ii extremely wa when nearly ) )erformed for t .ing expense We do not 0 ded in our au ggest, shou '&bt employed I e.:.ters across i. Pale Halifax v eniences wh 3 tatef.; for cc houtltern poin to we6l for az tur mails to be far bi t'llui . ng one sc Atlantic. It which are no , the expense o 800 miles, fr( States to Hal great portion United State: which is now be sent by Would be en the United S tiations, if ne tbe Governor -I mpossible to transport, w States for should be r Znglish corn ' If it be s United State business, p perform whi money. Alt `coming to ] tome by wl Twice lately Mail-packet fl ing ) we gence from United Stai quake at St. were first ma That States by c: 'conclude, th tarried by Me West In 'Gaited Stat( by the w ould be t Indies more If interruri we should a s now to 'c own resourc We ca n , mai O. Purpose STOKE R 1( as so me Cot volves far h fits: and des, 'urged spirit Ilaunication