The Sun. — London, England, 1849-01-30 00:00:00

SIR BULWER LYTTON'S EPIC. KING ARTHUR. PARTS 11. AND 111. Our national literature does not contain a more brilliant example of versatility than that which is afforded by the career of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton. Nor is the versatility of this illustrious author cha racterised by any of that intellectual mediocrity which is generally the result of a miscellaneous application of the mind to the various branches of knowledge He has, on the contrary, acquired for himself an ele vated position in the different departments of letters, to which he may, from time to time, have dedicated his very distinguished abilities. Whatever he has endeavoured to accomplish in earnest he has achieved with the most felicitous success. As a dramatic writer he has produced several of the finest plays of modern times ; and among these the most effective "stock piece" that has appeared in our generation. In political composition he has penned a work which must always rank him high in the list of constitu tional reformers—a work which might not inaptly be designated the vade meenm of a young Member of the British Parliament. To the Historical Library, he has contributed a fragment tot unworthy in its elo quence of one who has aspired to commemorate the glory of the Attic republicans. As a metrical trans lator he has displayed a remarkable capacity to embody in a new language not merely the signi fication, but the very manner of the original. Ile Las revealed a depth of contemplation, and an abstraction from things familiar in his essays which goes far to prove the command he pos sesses over his imagination. He has revived not only the landscapes and the manners, but the souls and the individualities of the past in his historical ro mances. He has sounded the innermost recesses of his own nature in those domestic novels, which con tain more of himself, more of his fancy, of his sensi bility, and of his faculty for observation, than per haps all the rest of his effusions put together. Beyond this he has created in the flowery regions of fiction a species of narrative fraught with a beautiful though Indistinct fascination—we mean those narratives 'which combine, in such delicate confusion, reality and ideality, th e sensuous an d t h e metaphysical. That he might, if he so pleased, rise to considerable eminence as a biographer was testified two or three years since by a brief but noble panegyric on one of his deceased c ontemporaries. Yet, unsatisfied with reaping the harvests of celebrity in these splendid fields of litera ture, he has now adventured upon a track already trodden by so many august predecessors that track which c on d uc t s to t h e loft i est fane of Immortality, that track which has been sown with the tears and the life -drops of aspiring pilgrims—the path of Poetry. After touching his lyre into a symphony of Minor songs, elegies, ballads, satires, sonnets, odes, and idylls, he has at last dared to lift his voice to the sublime tones of the epic, and that epic the grand national epic of KING ARTHUR. There is in all this a Patience that extorts our respect, a genius that wins Our admiration, a perseverance that excites our won der, and an audacity that almost disarms our criti- C ' s ren• We recognise in the gradual ascension of our author's intellect from the tale to the history, from the essay to the drama, from the song to the epic, a com bination of all those qualities which tend to ensure a victory if only accompanied by innate power and ex traneous determi na ti on . In "King Arthur', we be hold the crowning achievement of his life. His am bition cannot rise to a greater altitude. He has ac complished that which once had its seductions for the deathl ess and ma j est i c m i n d o f Mil ton. I n R omance he had already taken his place with Scott, , an d Victor H ugo , an d B occacc i o . A s a nove li st h e a d long been num b ere d i n t h e same ca t a l ogue wit h '"Fielding, and Le Sage, and Dickens : as a political Philosopher with Condorcet, ' and Defoe, and Consi derant as an essayist with Steele, and Budgell, and Lamb: as a dramatist with Sheridan, and 'l'alfourd, and Knowles : as an historian with those celebrants of antiquity who are neither so profound as Niebuhr voluminous as Gibbon. He has now assumed a Place in that division of our library which we love so earnestly -_a place among the Kings of English Poetry, among our Drydens and our Cowleys, our \Yellers and our Coleridees. Actuated by a sentiment of candour, and impelled to the confessional by his reiterated identification With the authorship of the previous portions of the present work, and with th e pre li m i nary poem of the New Timon," Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton has at length affixed his name to "King Arthur." We must be allowed in some measure to felicitate our selves upon this circumstance, as we had so frequently and so emphatically insisted upon the fact that Bul wer was, and that no one but Bulwer could be, the an onymous bard of both productions. Our opinion Was enforced by quotations from his acknowledged and the correctness of this opinion has now bee n happily demonstrated. The conclusion of c 4i ng Arthur" is lyi ng b e f o r e us i n e i g ht books— rlieting the number which constitute " Paradise ‘ .2 3 t) and the "..Eneid." There is throughout the h ag not of the composition an evidence that the theme it 8 not been lightly scanned by the poet prior to fes tdievelopment as an epic. Sir Edward has mani c, 8 1 3' Prepared his mind for the undertaking not - , n Y, as he himself expresses it, in his Preface, by a ,t`Prolonged apprenticeship to the principles of art, 1 7 1 3' th e contemplation of its masterpieces in many s e t P l ageel and by such familiarity with the re sereee f , nts native tongue as study and practice re could enable him to obtain, but also in a particular ' l nner by his examination of the literature of the earlier cl'andinavians, of the ancient Cymrians, of the axon vv e ci cirlicl ers, and of the whole Teutonic family, as T e a s by a careful perusal of the records of the b uk , ° _, ve re,s, the Fabliasts, and the Troubad sirs. of elWith a reverential affection for the primitive e , of his country, he has commenced and com eeelend ,his commemorative poem of the favourite hero ti g' 4ll d. In this poem he has united all the prin. bePta elements of what may be termed for want of a t - pithet—Ch r i st i an Horn- ace. Those elements the from a bin ar y cen t re o f W ar an d L ove; an d the atmosp here of the entire work is coloured with Agorgeous h ues o f F a i ry l an d an d E nc h antment. r t h ur himself —the very eembodiment of Christian tri l e ai, rY— is co n d ucte d through the vicissitudes of his enterprise to the acquisition of the most sublime * * ll es of huma n it y . U i d er t h e sym b o li ca l f orms o f the aword, the shield, and the virgin—the sword of to re i t ; ne re, the shi e ld o f Th or , an d t h e ma id en o f t h e ness --he acqu i res Knowledge, Liberty, and Happi lee " .. .the three G i f ts w hi c h man i s cont i nua ll y lei' l ) ! - I,"Ing to att a i n i n hi s a d vance towar d s c i v ili zat i on. lißhltie over the N.N hole narrative there is diffused the . f a twee le purpose, firstly the conservation of the British Pe op l e an d ofßritish independence from the t s of an invading enemy, and, secondly, the is destr ucti( n o f t h e idulatreue creed of the heathens by e _Potent b eneficence of Christianity. In this there rel Y extraordinary grandeur of inte n ti on and nArvelle the co us symm e t r y o f propor ti on . Of t h e a i m o f une mpositi on we can only speak in the language of r ee ,f cePtionabl e eulogium. Our province in that di n extend s no f urther. We can merely state the p ees n r,o of the author's purpose, and dismiss it with ex ions of unqualified commendation. It is simply s the treatment of the subject that we have to do eielreviewers. And with the treatment of the mate -84181 which compose the epic of "King Arthur" we matt e Find much difficulty to quarrel, saving only in te of a very subordinate importance. The poem ,"_llWorthy of the portions already published, and of the 'tee Cation already gained by its author. It is worthy ti l e t . he genius of the poet, and of the subject selected n f for celebration. Arthur. It is worthy of Bulwer and A Of th e • Amon the comparatively lesser merits th e i compositi on t h ere i s one which we must, never es, menti on a t once, seeing that it attaches to a th"c4k t, tre ating altogether of' antiquity an imme t a nd even c on t em p orar y i n t eres t. W e mean in troducti on , eaus, un d er an assume d gu i se , o f c ee `, J c allusi ons to t h e events o f t h e present epoc h , th e vied with portraitures of men still living under this Mask of fictitious or legendary characters. In _e respect Sir Ed war d h as avail e d himself of the e , elane uents afforded by the medreval poets, and espe- T, bY the sarcastic and debonnair romaunts of the criVadours. Queen Isabelle was thus depicted as reidering the tent cloths of Darius, and the Drench I • Ch o 34 aureate was described among the courtiers of the ate d°nlan Conqueror in the elaborate poem of etneiallexandriade. The Fabliasts have, in like manner, e ui l' e. nYed the same license; agreeing in that parti let,7l with the immortal writer of the Orlando ten nation,Bo.NVhile, as an a ddi t i onal and conclusive vie may b e b orne i n remembrance that l thus m a d e reference to the age of Augustus, a nd that a,Spenser thus offered homage to the Court of t`aleabeth Ho Sir Edward Bulwer • -, ltton has * w deli neated s w ac a c r e r o s i s u o f e r u s i Imyost conspicuous states ken, orators, and d the sketchesmoatyLordappreciated by t hose who peruse fiToh rd n • Russell, L ord Palmerston, Lord Durham, Lord in t ge, the Marquis of Anglesea, the Duke of We i ll. Li ng o re 'gilt Hon. Thomas Babington Ma fight • • the cau ay, and Mr j'istnin Disraeli, which were transcribed into our . ;°l7ll`}trans on Monday, the 22d instant. Those th ine nt personages, it will not be forgotten, w ee , le era clothed in the costume of the Knights of the tOund Table ; and it is after their di lineation that at : Poet breathe! forth this most admirable stanza —a tle n tia a in which the metaphor is as perfect as any. p eel ,R we know in the language. It expresses the ti eue t , of patrioti sm i n com bi n i ng in o n e h artno th e , 'and men of th e most oppos i te an d an t agon i st i c tkete rs " T hus class'd, distinct in peace—let war dismay, ~c,Straight in one bond the divers natures blend — varying tints i n tranqu i l sunsh i ne play, But form one i r i s if t h e rains desearei ; fused in li g h t aga i nst the clouds that lower, For Old the deluge while they own the shower!" THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 30, 1849 Ilenricus, the Cymrian Bishop, is a limning such as can never be mistaken even by the most obtuse and jolter-headed reader in the United Kingdom. It is not so much a faithful miniature as it is a photograph. Its excellence is not similitude but identity. The original could scarcely have been more visibly inti mated, if the picture had been labelled " Henry, Lord Bishop of Exeter :" " Henricus—so the prelate signed his name— Was lord high chancellor in things religious; With him church militant in truth became (Nam cedant alma toga) church litigious; He kept his deacons notably in awe By flowers epistolar perfumed with law. " No man more stern, more forrter in re, No man more mild, more suaviter in mock; When knots grew tough, it was sublime to see Such polished sheers go clippir:gly in aodo : A hand so supple, pliant, glib, and quick, Ne'er smooth'd a Land, orburn'd a heretic. " Ile seem'd to turn to you his willing cheek, And beg you not to smite too hard the other; He seized his victims with a smile so meek, And wept so fondly o'er his erring brother, No wolf more righteous on a lamb could sup, You vex'd his stream—he grieved—and eat you up." Precisely with the same keen irony is the Count de Neuilly scourged under the purple of Ludovick the Vandal—his Minister Guizot coining in for a side-lash, under the appropriate nickname cf Astutio. Introduced in Book IL, they are permitted to make an ignomi , nious exit in Book XL, not, however, without some virulent derision being scattered over the memory of the downfal of the French monarch and the esta blishment of the Republic, during the outbreak of February. " A plump of spears," says the satirist, would hare saved the throne, but No— " One morn a riot in the streets arose, And left the Vandal crownless at its close." Ludovick fell, says he with facetious exactitude-- " Tripp'd by the slide of his own slippery feet." Hear him further on laughing to scorn the ignoble cowardice of the Orleans dynasty : " Er'n at the last, to self and nature true, No royal heart the breath of danger woke; To mean disguise habitual instinct flew, And ihe king vanished in a craftsman's cloak. While his brave princes scampering for their lives, Relictis parmulis—forgot their wives." Much ridicule is subsequently levelled at the ultra democrats for the extravagance of the nostrums vended by them as panacea for all revolutionary dis eases. Besides the foregoing, there are casual gibes at the Puseyites, at the Surplice schismatics, at the Irish agitators, at the preposterous doctrines of the Utilitarians, and at the mystical absurdities of the Bentharnites and Coleridgeans. The latter are sub jected to a poetical flagellation during the narra tive of the mishaps and adventures of Sir Gawaine—who, by the way, is a kindred spirit with the merry exquisite so pleasantly pour traved as a Norman Knight in the noble romance of " Harold," we mean of course Messire William Mallet de Graville. But there are likewise many more serious and certainly more commendatory allusions to matters of vital importance to the existing generation ; and these allusions are rendered the more Impressive by their association with the wanderings of the heroic Sovereign, the " Poet-King " Pen dragon ! Immediately after the description of Merlin's ad dress to the Knights of the Round Table assembled in conclave, when the Prophet-Magician summons them to battle and when— " Sudden every shield Leapt into lightning with the flashing sword," we resume the thread of the narrative which tells of the pilgrimage of Arthur. His escape from the Etrurian valley is recounted with surprising vivid ness—the egress being through the temple of the funereal diety, where— " Betore the inmost Penetralian doors, Holding a cypress branch, the augur stands; The King's firm foot strides echoless the floors And with dull groan the temple veil expands; Advance the torches and their shaken shine Glares o'er the wave that yawns behind the shrine." [From this isolated stanza it may be conjectured how copiously the scenes are painted in language.] ./Egle endeavours to follow her spouse and is drowned in the cataract. The discovery of her corpse and of the insensible body of the monarch by Lancelot is one of the most thrilling incidents in the poem : and the contrast presented by the two forms, the reviving form of Arthur and the inanimate remains of .2Eg►le, is exquisitely touching— "Dark—wroth—convulsed, the soul earth holdeth, lay; Calm from the bier beside it smiled the clay:" Over the memory of the latter are chaunted the " Etrurian Ishenim" by the Heathen priesthood and the " Christian Funeral Hymn" by the monks—those " hermits of the Lord !" In these elegiac strains are admirably displayed the influences for good or evil of the true and the false religion. Arthur's grief for the departed is profound, and, in depicting its poig nancy, the poet ejaculates this golden couplet : " Three truths unite the children of the sod— All love—all suffer—and all feel a God!" In the midst of his secret lamentations, however, the royal Adventurer is summoned to the fulfilment of his destinies. He descends with " the weird lady" into the mere in quest of the sword welded from a gem. While he tarries in the submarine Halls of Time the successive eras of English history—per sonified in Richard Cceur de Lion, in Henry VII., in Henry VIII., in Elizabeth, in Charles 1., and ulti mately in Victoria—pass before him like a panorama. Incidentally in the course of this superb pageant, the bard apostrophizes the shades of Shakspere, of Spenser, and of Milton, closing with a rythmical outline of the present reign and of the existing civilization. Its magnificence and its odium, its deficiencies and its amplitude, are revealed in a diction at once terse and melodious. The colossal phantoms of the Past, the Present, and the Future are grandly conceived, and seem to be built up, as it were, out of solid " cha racters" like granite. Take the mention of the What Has Been— " Dead on dead knees the large hands nerveless rest, And dead the front droops heavy on the breast." Arthur passes through a tremendous ordeal of temptations before he obtains the Diamond Sword. Among others, he is invited to rule over the Cy m rians by grinding the populace under an armed des potism, the tempter exclaiming— `• From its own entrails if the worm supply The silken purple—let it weave and die!" After repelling the proposition with imperial scorn, Arthur appeals in these glorious words to the God of the Christians— 'Thou litsidst, Give due to Casitte—Lord! secure The mightier tribute Caesars owe to nice! Thou who het oped G. , d's kingdom to the poor, Reveal humanity' to kings!—agai❑ Descend, Mi•e,iatil—and to earth make known How Christ had nign'd if on the Chtsar's throne!'" Ile acquires, however, in their appointed sequence the Sword, Knowledge—the Shield, Freedom—and the Virgin, llappiness. Ilia success is attributable conjointly to his valour and his magnanimity. By a lofty and felicitous allegory, it is implied that Free dom is the crowning emanation from centuries of toil, and not the Presto ! of a Parchment Constitution —the result of ages of preparation, and not the ebulli tion of an abrupt outbreak—the Wanderer rending the silver guerdon of his bravery from the midst of the bones of departed generations, and from the en trails of an extinct volcano. On the completion of his labours Arthur discovers instinctively that the Maiden of the Tomb possesses a subtle and mysteri ous identity with the guide and guardian of his pil grimage. Before the halo of the final vision has dis appeared, "their parting ray," says the poet— _ "On Arthur's brow the faithful memories leave, And the Dove's heart still beats in Genevieve I" The music, the plaintiveness, and the indescribable beauty of that last line can be realised only by those who have followed the King and the Dove through their peregrinations. Then do those delicious verses recur to the memory (B. V. it. 38)— " The❑ oft, in truth, and oft in blissful hours, lifiss'd was that faithful guide through stormier life. Ah, common lot! how oft, mid summer flowers, tile miss the soother of the winter strife; flow oft we mourn in Fortune's sunlit vale, Some silenced heart with which we shared the gale!" Although Genevieve is not introduced until imme , diately anterior to the conclusion of the epic the pro tracted companionship of the Dove and the Sove reign prevents their union from bearing en appear ance of suddenness. Their alliance, moreover, requires no long negotiation, for as Sir E. Bulwer Lytton has himself remarked with so much truth and sweetness— " Love wants not speech ; from silence speech it builds; Kindness lihe light speaks in the air it gilds." Of " King Arthur," as an heroic poem, we cannot speak too highly. If, as the author has declared in one forceful verse— " Man's noblest poem is man's bravest deed," then does the epic under consideration deserve the encomium of being the record of a thousand of those acted masterpieces. The whole history of King Arthur, as narrated by Sir Buisrer Lytton, the death of the bard Caradoc, the character of the Earl Ilarold, the budding knighthood of Lancelot, the storming of Carduel,—all entitle it to that panegyric. It is in itself an elevated eulogium upon chivalry, an impassioned memento of romance, a tribute to the genius of patriotism, an evidence of devotion to fatherland, an expression of homage to Christianity, a token of enthusiasm for Liberty, and a testimony of confidence in Civilization. But beyond all this, th e poem has still a mu l tip l ic i ty o f graces ;t alternates the droll with the pathetic, the witty with the sublime, satire with solemnity. In this respect it conveys an accurate impression of the va riable temperament of the hall-educated nortbmen in that primitive epoch of Catholicity. Sir Gawaine is rendered th e medium groundwork of his adventures, of dven a t s ur fi es h , c o tu r at rather of Iris mis adventures, is conveying to us upon the agclotr'geteiotuhrsesa,B that of an ormer— a,glit pal from Fi g iiry a l n and ye The effect of his calamities—especially when he and the dog (such an unconscionable wag of a dog !) are about to be roasted as a propitiatory offering to Freya—is infinitely comical : as also his bridal nigh!! his exorcism of the tempest ! his first inter view with the nasal pigmies ! and his grotesque ab horrence of that diabolical scapegrace the raven ! To exemplify at a glance the humour of the mere style of these jocose episodes—reminding one of the irresistible tones of " Beppo " and " Don Juan " take the close of Gawaine's interview with Henricus —the Bishop loquitur:— " Depart, my son—at once, depart, I pray, Pay up your dues, and keep your mind at ease, And call that creature—no, the other way— When fairly out, a credo if you please;— Go—pax vobiscum;—shut the door, I beg, And stay;—on Friday, flogging —with an egg!'" Before terminating our observations, we must tran scribe one passage from the "Preface" withlut abre viation—it breathes en air at once of so much manly dignity, and yet of so much winning diffidence. It runs as follows : "Whatever the defects of this poem, it has not been hastily conceived or lightly undertaken. From my earliest youth, the subject I have selected has haunted my ambition—for twenty years it has rested steadily on my mind, in spite of other undertakings, for the most part not wholly ungenial—since a lengthened and some what various practice in the conception and conduct of imaginative story ought to be no disadvantageous preparation for a poem which seeks to construct, from the elements of national romance, something approaching to the completeness of epic narrative. If my powers be unequal to the task I have assumed, at least I have waited in patience, until they were matured and disci plined to such strength as they might be enabled to at tain; until taste, if erroneous, could be corrected,inven tion, if sterile, be enriched, by some prolonged appren ticeship to the principles of art, by the contemplation of its masterpieces in many languages, and by such fami liarity with the resources of my native tongue as study and practice could permit me to obtain. But every one knows the proverb, that The peet is born, the orator made;' and though, perhaps, it is only partially true that the poet is born,' and a slight examination of the higher order of poets will suffice to show us that they themselves depended very little on the innate faculty, and were not less diligent in self-cultivation than the most laborious orator—yet it would be in vain to deny, that where the faculty is wanting, no labour can supply the defect: and if certain critics are right in asserting that that defect is my misfortune, I must content my self with the sombre refl,ction that I have done my best to counteract the original unkindness of nature. I have given to this work a preparation that, evincing my own respect to the public, entitles me, in return, to the re spect of a .just hearing and a fair examination: if the remit be worthless, it is, at least, the worthiest it is in my power to perform—and on this foundation, however hollow, I know that I rest the least perishable monu ment of those thoughts and those labours which have made the life of my life." Having scrutinized the composition throughout with an exacting eye, we must confess at once that our judgment has detected but few blemishes, and those blemishes of such a subordinate character as to admit very easily of correction. Sometimes the writer in advertently repeats himself' (as in the Notes, Vul. 11., pp. 273 and 279), and occasionally the repetitio❑ amounts to a plogiarism of his own metaphors, as where he says (Book VII., stanza 20)— " The Sybil of the sources of the Deep Heard nor replied, but indistinct and wan, Went as a Dream that thro' the worlds of Sleep Leads the charmed soul of labour-wearied man ;" having previously written (Book 1., stanza 16)— " Onwards he went ) the invisible controul .., . (ompell'd him as a dream compels the soul." Defects of this insignificance are, however, assuredly, as nothing when placed in c om p ar i son w i t h the lofty merits of an epic which must henceforth be ranked amongst our national masterpieces. Cordially and respectfully do we bid Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton farewell, now that he has sung of the glories of Ca radoc the Bard, of Genevieve the Maiden, of Lancelot of the Lake, of Gawaine the golden-tongued, of Merlin the Magician, of Crida the son of Odin, of Harold the Saxon Earl, of Geriant, of Lolod, of Dryda‘, and above all of the royal hero King Arthur, " The knightly Caesar of the Christian North ;" and now that, in so doing, he has crowned himself with perennial bay-leaves. COURT CIRCULAR. WINDSOR, MONDAY. Her Majesty walked through the Little Park to Frogmore this morning, returning the same way. The Royal Family took their usual exercise. His Royal Highness Prince Albert went out shoot ing this morning. His Royal Highness was attended by Colonel the Hon. C. B. Phipps and Captain the Hon. A. Gordon. The Bishop of Oxford left the Castle to•day. The Queen will hold a Privy Council to-morrow (Wednesday) afternoon, at Buckingham Palace. Summonses were issued yesterday to the Ministers and Officers of State. A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon at the Foreign-office. The Ministers present were Lord John Russell, the Lord Chancellor, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Earl of Minto, Sir George Grey, Viscount Palmerston, Earl Grey, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Francis Baring, Sir John Hob house, Lord Campbell, the Right Hon. H. Labou chere, the Marquis of Clanricarde, and the Earl of Carlisle. The Council sat two hours and a half. Sir Henry T. De la Beche had an interview with Earl Granville yesterday at the Office of the Board of Trade. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. TATTERSALL'S.—YESTERDAY. Inheritress and Geraldine were backed for the Chester Cup at improved prices, the general transactions, how ever, were few, and in small amounts, and the quota tions, in most instances, the same as on Ti•ursday last. The betting, in fact, turned chiefly on the Metropolitan Handicap, for which Loupgarou was backed very freely, commencing at 20 to 1, and closing at five points less. Backbiter and Clarissa were also in favour, and in the easrly part of the day 8 to 1 was taken about Canezou, the odds, however, being afterwards offered currently. Lugar receded to 20 to 1. The Flying Dutchtnan was backed for the Derby at 9 to 2 to 250/., and anything above 20 to 1 ,would have been taken about Strongbow, Nunnykirk, or Oaterley. 2,000 to 60 was taken about Elthiron, 1,000 to 20, five times, about Chatterer, and 1,000 to 15 about the colt out of Flambeau's dam. Closing prices:— METROPOLITAN HANDICAP. Bto 1 agst Lord Stanley's Canezou—taken and afterwards offered 15 to 1 agst Mr. Gregory's Loupgarou—taken 16 to 1 agst Mr. B. Green's Flatcatcher—taken 16 to 1 agst Colonel Anson's Backbiter—taken 18 to 1 agst Mr. Greville's Clarissa—take 20 to 1 20 to 1 agst Lord Eglinton's Lugar—taken 30 to I apt Mr. S. L. Fox's Executor—taken 33 to 1 agst Mr. Gordon's Do the-Boys—t to 1001. CHESTER CUP. 25 to 1 agst Mr. Nolan's Blucher—taken and after wards offered 25 to 1 agst Mr. Meiklam's Inheritress—taken and afterwards offered 28 to 1 agat Mr. Greville's Geraldine—taken 33 to 1 agst Mr. J. B. Day's The Tartar—taken 40 to 1 agst Mr. S. L Fox's Executor 40 to 1 agst Mr. Quin's Farewell 50 to 1 agst Mr. Gregory's Clermont 3,000 to 60 agst Mr. M. Blake's Ballinafad—taken and afterwards offered 3,000 to 60 got Lord Howth's Peep-o'-Day Boy— taken and afterwards offered 1,000 to 15 agst Mr. Maughan's Bathmines 1,000 to 15 agat B. Green's Pelham—taken and after wards offered I,SOO to 15 agst Mr. Drinkald's Dulcet —taken and afterwards offered The following horses were scratched at Chester up to post time on Sunday evening: —Bon-Mot, Delusion colt, Tom Tough, Didsbury, Mogador, Crazy Lad, Tom Tit, John Orridge, and Parable. DERBY 4 to 1 agst Lord Eglinton's Flying Dutchman -900 to 200 taken 7to 1 agst Colonel Peel's Tadmor—taken to 1001., and afterwards offered 12 to 1 agst Lord Clifden's Honeycomb 20 to 1 agst Lord Stanley s Strongbow— taken to 501., and afterwards off, red 20 to 1 agst Mr. A. Nichol's Nunnykirk—tak 25 to 1 20 to 1 agst Mr. Gully's Osterley—take 25 to 1 25 to 1 agst Lord Stanley's Uriel—taken 2,000 to 60 agst Lord Eglinton's Elthiron—taken 40 to 1 agst Mr. Bowes's The Knout 50 to 1 agst Mr. Medley's Old Dan Tucker 50 to 1 agst Mr. Watt's Chatterer—taken and after wards offered 1,000 to 15 agst Duke of Rutland's c out of Flambeau's dam—taken It was reported yesterday, at the West-end, that The Cur has been scratched for all his engagements. OPERA CO1411(113E, ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.—The second representation of Auber's opera of L'Ambassa drice, attracted last evening to this theatre a crowded and brilliant assemblage. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, his Royal highness Prince George of Cambridge, and the Princess Mary of Cambridge, honoured the performance with their pre sence. Their Royal Highnesses were attended by the Bai on Knesebeck, Baroness Bo:6, and Lady Augusta Cadogan. There were also present her Serene Highness the Hereditary Princess of Parma and suite, the Turkish Ambassador and suite, the Earl of Chesterfield, the Countess of Tankerville, the Marquis Clanricarde, the Countess of Oxford, Lord Bateman, Lord Sandwich, Lord Cratibourne, Sir John Lyster Kaye, the Hon. George and Mrs. Cadogan, Colonel Dundas, Miss Dor mer, Mr. Henry Greville, Mr. Eugene de Gtrlache, Major and Mrs. Mounijoy Martyn, Mr. and Madame thtidli, Mr. and Mrs. dam Sandford, Mrs. Fremantle, Mrs. Dodd, Mr. .Brunel, Colonel Barlow, &c. - OLYMPIC THEATRE. —Last night a new classical drama, entitled The Hemlock Draught, was to have been produced at this favourite little theatre; owing, however, to the sudden indisposition of Mr. Leigh Murray, who was to have sustained the principal character, the piece was necessarily postp 'fled. EARLY PROGNOSTIC.—There will be but a partial show of blossoms ou the apple trees.—Plymouth Times. THEATRICALS AND MUSIC. As we anticipated last week, the success attending theatrical representation proceeds on its course as triumphant as the most ardent admirer of this species of amusement could desire. We subjoin a list of novelties and revivals for the week : HER MAJESTY'S AND ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.— As the London " season" draws near, the busy note of preparation is heard in these two aristocratic places of resort; numerous important engagements have already been entered into by the managers of both these theatres, which, in the course of a few days, we shall announce. From what we know at present it promises to be a splendid season. HATMARIEET.—Mi,S Laura Addison having re turned from her provincial engagements, made her first appearance last evening as the Queen, in Hamlet. On Thursday we are to have The Housekeeper, with a cast as near as possible similar to that at the Windsor Castle theatricals on Thursday last. Buck stone, in conjunction with Mrs. Fitzwilliam, join the company at this theatre. LYcEust.—The bill at this elegant theatre remains the same as last week, the present entertainments securing a house crowded with rank and fashion. This is not surprising when we take into account the splendid nature of the performances and the talented artistes engaged in them. I IADELPIII.—Kenny's Sweethearts and Wives is an nounced for representation here this evening, when Wright will appear in the same character as, he did at Windsor Castle, to the infinite delight of the regal audience. SADLER'S WELL S. — Shakspere's King John was performed here last evening with a very excellent cast ; Phelps sustained the character of King John, Mr. Marston that of Palconbridge, G. Bennett, Hu bert, and Miss Glyn, Constance. OLratrlc•—A new classical drama (so says the bill) is to be produced here, by Oxenford, entitled The Hemlock Draught ; the principal parts to be filled by Mr. L. Murray and Mrs. Stirling. A new classical drama is indeed a novelty. MARYLEBONE.—A new farce, with the quaint title of ls'nt it a Duck, was performed for the first time last evening. Mr. G. Herbert sustained the leading part. It is generally rumoured that we are to have another theatre in addition to the number (nearly twenty) now existing in London. The Rotundo in Blackfriars'-road is destined to be the place selected. An ex-lessee and a popular manageress of a metropo litan theatre are at the head of the speculation. The Rotund() possesses peculiar facilities for such a change, and, if well carried out, a theatre might be con structed rivalling in size even the Royal Italian Opera. A relative (we believe a brother) of the author and the inimitable representative of the character of Mon sieur Jacques (Morris Barnett) is about to make his first appearance in that character at one of our prin cipal theatres. Mr. T. Matthews, the Clown, received a very gra tifying testimonial a few evenings ago. A gentle man, who had been enjoying the fun of the panto mime at the Surrey Theatre, , having int ro d uced him self, offered for Mr. Matthews 's acceptance Joe Gri maldi's snuff-box (a tortoiseshell one, mounted with gold) ; we need not say the present was duly accepted and very neatly acknowledged, That London is without an English Opera at the present time is a striking and much to be regretted fact. Whether the want of patronage, or the enor mous salaries demanded by some of our English singers —salaries which it is impossible for a manager with a view to a remunerative return to give, we will not now stop to inquire. However, such is the fact, and we think the singers have themselves to thank. This want is in a great measure remedied by the number of delightful concerts and musical entertain ments that are now to be met with, and at such mo derate prices of admission. The following are an nounced to take place during the next few days.; SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY.—The next concert to be given by this society will consist of Beetho ven's service in C, a selection of sacred music, and Mendelssohn's " Hymn of Praise." The vocalists engaged on the occasion are the Misses Williams, Mr. Bodda, and Mr. Lockey. Mr. Costa of course con ducts the concert. WEDNESDAY EVENING CONCERTS.—These delight ful concerts still attract a crowded audience. On Wednesday evening the programme contains some first-rate compositions. Miss Day will perform a fantasia on themes from Wallace's opera of Maritana, on the pianoforte, Mr. Sims Reeves will sing the beautiful Irish melody of "The Last Rose of Sum mer," the elder Braham will again with Sims Reeves sing Lavenu's duet, " A Father's Blessing," and altogether a delightful evening may be anticipated. HANOVER-SQUARE Rooms.—Mr. Barker, the talented composer of several very popular pieces, gives a musical entertainment here on Saturday evening; the programme contains among other very pretty songs " The Irish Emigrant," " The Dream of Life" and " The Lament of the Irish Chieftain." LONDON SACRED HARMONIC SOClETY.—Handers oratorio of Samson will be performed at Exeter-hall by this society on Friday evening. Miss Birch, Miss Dolby, Mr. H. Phillips and Braham will sustain the principal solo parts. On Thursday Sir H. Bishop delivered the first of two lectures at the Whittington Club, oa " Secular Music in England during the 11th and 18th Centu ries." The lecture was received with the greatest attention, and the vocalists that performed the illus trations were highly applauded. The first meeting of the Melodists' Club took place on Thursday, at the Freemason's Tavern, when about 50 persons sat down to dinner ; E. Goldsmid, Esq., in the chair. Several glees, duets and songs were sung, and the evening passed off most delight-. fully. zas," with infinite humour and spirit. Made moiselle Vera sang the " Bel raggio," from Semiramide very finely, and the duet " Per piacere," from the Turco in Italia, with F. Lablache, very excellently. Belletti's fine bass tones were heard to much advantage in the grand scena, " Sorgette ! e i n s i b e l g i orno, " Rossini's .2lfaonzetto; he afterwards gave Balfe's buffo song, " The Postilion," with great comic effect. Miss Bassano sang "Si m'abbandoni" very tastefully, and afterwards gave the duet from Ros sini's Ragata Veneziana with Miss Durlacher; both young ladies gave this duet admirably. Thalbeig gave his marvellous Tarantella on the pianoforte and the concert concluded with the magnificent preghiera from Mose, given by the whole of the artistes. The hall was nearly as crowded at the con• elusion as at the commencement of the concert, and this we take to be the higlibst compliment that could be paid to the artistes engaged. Many distinguished persons were present, among whom was the Duke of Wellington, who was greatly applauded on his entrance. PRESENTS TO MADLLE. LIND AT NORWICH. • -- THE BISHOP'S PRESENT.—We noticed a fortnight ago the Bible which the Lord Bishop intended presenting to Madlle. Lind. This splendidly-bound volume was given to her before she left the palace, the following texts of Scripture being written in it by his Lordship. " The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; He 511111 preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even fur evermore."—Psalm cxxi. 7, 8. _ " And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment. That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere, and without offence till the day of Christ."— Philippians, i. 9, 10. THE MAYOR'S PRESENT.—The mayor, knowing that Mdlle. Jenny Lind was not only acquiring our language, but had began to read Milton, procured Martin's edition of Milton's " Paradise Lost," handsomely bound, and Presented it to her at the palace. She appeared highly pleased. On the fly-leaf of the book was the following inscription:— " To Mdlle. Jenny Lind, from the Right Worshipful the Mayor of Norwich, Samuel Bignold, in testimony of his appreciation of her talents and genius, but more espe cially of the virtue and benevolence which have prompted her to consecrate the wonderful gilts with which Provi dence has endowed her to the cause of charity; and in commemoration of her goodness in devoting her ♦ocal powers to the benefit of the poor of Norwich, on the 22d and 23d of January, 1849, when two concerts were given, by which 1,2001. was realised. " She sang With notes angelical,"—" and took with ravishmet, The thronging audience." —Norfolk Chronicle. HENLEY AND LONDON WATER WORKS AND NAVIGATION. A highly influential meeting of landowners, mill owners, and others interested in opposing the progress of the contemplated Bill for the construction of these works was held at the Town Hall, Maidenhead, yester day afternoon. George Henry Vansittart, Eq., occu pied the chair; and the following gentlemen were either present or represented by their agents: the Earl of Orkney; Sir John C. Rashleigh, Bart.; C. S. Murray, Esq.; T. Y. Williams, Esq.; M. Swaby, Esq.; G. E. G. East, Esq.; H. Skrime, Esq.; John Rogers, Esq.; and Charles Clowes, Esq. Mr. 6WAEY moved, and Mr. LOVEGROVE seconded, the following resolution:—" That it is the conviction of this meeting that the proposed scheme is uncalled for by the public exigency, and will occasion serious injury to the proprietors and occupiers of land in the line of the intended canal, and especially in the lower ground, where the requisite embankment of between twenty and thirty feet in height will much increase and prolong the mischief occasioned in times of floods; and that as re gards the numerous and valuable mills on the River Thames between Henley and Staines, the water to be abstracted will cause irreparable damage, approaching to destruction." Mr. VENABLES (with reference to the loss which the project would entail upon the millowners and tenants on the banks of the Thames) said that if the quantity of water mentioned in the prospectus of the company were taken from the Thames, it would, in dry seasons, be tantamount to an absorption of the whole quantity coming down the River. As an inevitable consequence, the mills would for that period be entirely useless.— (Hear, hear.) Independently of the waterworks at Windsor, which were constructed at a very large expense indeed, there were eleven mills that would be effected, and thus compensation to a very considerable amount would be required, both by the owners and tenants of mill property on the banks of the Thames.—(Hear.) The resolution was put from the chair and carried unanimously. Mr. LEWIS ROSE moved the next resolution, which was also carried unanimously:—That a due regard to the interests of the proprietors and occupiers of the land and mills requires that the proposed schemes should be opposed in the most strenuous manner before the Com missioners for the preliminary inquiry, under the recent Act of Parliament, and the proprietors and occupiers present (in person or by their agents) pledge themselves to such opposition." Several other resolutions of a similar character were agreed to; and a vote of thanks having been passed to Mr. Vansittart for his able and efficient conduct in the Chair, the meeting separated. DESTRUCTIVE EXPLOSION AND CONFLAGRATION.— About half-past three o'clock on Thursday afternoon, a most serious occurrence took place at the works of the Edinburgh Gas Company, which resulted in the almost entire destruction of the splendid new gasometer lately erected, adjoining the working prernises,of the company, in the North Back of Canongate. The gas-holder, which is 100 feet in diameter, and 40 in depth, is erected on a piece of ground entirely isolated from the adjoining buildings, and completely surrounded by a massive wall. About the hour mentioned the inhabitants of the district adjoining the locality in which the gas-bolder is situated were startled by experiencing a severe shock, as it from some violent convulsion of nature, though without an explosive noise at all corresponding to the intensity of the vibration. The houses were shaken to their very foundations, while the inmates were stag gered or thrown down, and articles of furniture and household utensils dashed with violence from their places and broken or destroyed. The glass in the win dows was for the most part completely demolished, the noise of which, coupled with the suddenness of the occurrence, caused great and general alarm. The cause of the disaster was soon ascertained, and the at tention of the crowds, who now thronged to the spot, was drawn to a sheet of bright flame arising from the gas-holder, which told too truly that the immense quantity of gas which it contained had, by some un known means, caught fire. In another moment the whole was one sheet of flame. The fire continued to blaze with great fury until gradually, as the gas was con sumed, the gas holder immerged in the tank amongst the water beneath, and the conflagration was ultimately extinguished by means of wet blankets and coarse sack ing being spread over the shattered remains of the gas• holder. The most mysterious part of the matter is, by what means the gas in the holder became ignited. The gasometer, as before stated, was completely isolated, surrounded by a wall, and, as we are informed, no fire or combustible substance allowed inside. The only con jecture which can be hazarded is, that the late high winds with which we have been visited:must have strained the pillars and framing of the structure, and thus caused a friction of the chains and guide rods, which occa sioned the catastrophe. There were in the gas-holder at the time nearly 300,000 cubic feet of gas, the greater portion of which would of course be consumed; and we have heard the total damage estimated by a mechanical gentleman at about 2,0001. It is consolatory that no lives have been lost, nor any one injured by this lamentable occurrence.—Edinburgh Advertiser. DETERMINED SUICIDE BY PRUSSIC AClD.—Yes terday morning William Vaux, late an estate and house dead aiiwonhritsh, from bed, the at t hs , Trafalgar-place, la ) ce, w effects of a large dose of prussic acid, which he had swal lowedlaugzitr; gaged lodgings, NO 4 . 5 2 years, r a during the night. It appears that the deceased had latterly been so reduced in his circumstances that he has been living upon his friends, and the circumstance, it is evident, had very much preyed upon his mind. On Sunday he dined out, and having returned home, re tired to rest about half-past twelve o' c l oc k. F in di ng that he did not come down to breakfast at hi s usual time, a little girl was sent up stairs to his bed-room to call him, and, after knocking several times at the door, she entered the chamber and found him in bed quite dead and cold. On his table was found a phial contain ing about two table spoons full of what was found to be prussic acid, though the label on the b o t t l e i tse lf h ad been carefully scraped off. In a me moran d um, a l so found on the table, there were some lines, in the de ceased's handwriting, to the effect that his friends should no longer be troubled with his support, as he should be found dead, and he cared not if they buried him in a hogst ye: The weather is still boisterous and generally wet. Yesterday was one of the worst days we have had for some weeks ; for although the wind was not so strong as on that day week, the rain was battering and con tinuous during the day, and in the evening wo had some heavy gusts of wind, with rattling showers of hail, from the north-east, which, at a later hour, were followed by sleet and rain. At the time we went to press there seemed to be a lull.—Culedonian Mercury. THE YEAR 1849; THE 1849TH YEAR OF CHRIST. 5798th after the creation of the world, according to Scaliger'a computation; but the 5853rd year, according to Eusebius. IT IS THE 6562nd year of the Julian period. 2625th year of the Olympiad. 2602nd year of the building of Rome. 5610th year of the Jewish computation, which begins with the 17th of September. 1265th year after the Hegira. 7357th year according to the modern Greek calendar. 783rd year of the Norman line i❑ England. 695th y( ar since the conquest of Ireland by England. 685th year of the Plantagenet line. 450th year of the line of _Lancaster. 388th year of the line of York. 364th year of the line of Tudor. 332nd year since the Reformation of Luther. 224th year of the Stuart line. 135th year since the accession of the House of Bruns wick. 13th year of our Sovereign Queen Victoria. ALARMING FLOOD AT INVERNESS. On Thursday last Inverness was subjected to an awful calamity by •he overflowing of the river Ness, on both sides of Is bleb the town is erected, in conse quence of which the old bridge was entirely swept away, and one-third of the town laid under water. It appears that for some days previously the wind blew tempestuously from the west and south-west, and great quantities of rain fell, but up to Wednes day evening no apprehensions of danger were enter tained by any one. The river at length overflowed its banks to an extent never before witnessed, and as the old bridge, a structure built in 1668, showed symptoms of giving way, all access to it was about ten o'clock denied by order cf the magistrates. During the night the flood continued to increase, and at five o'clock in the morning the centre arch of the bridge yielded to the pressure of the waters, and shortly after six the whole structure was entirely swept away. In the rnesn time the waters had spread over the roads and low haughs above the town, and in the town itself flooded one third of its extent, reaching as high as the first floor windows. As seen from the Castle hill the spectacle is described as having been one of awful majesty ; and to this point the inhabitants repaired in the greatest terror and alarm. Along Bank-street, Douglas-row, Ness- walk, Huntley-street, and Gilbert-street, the waters rushed as powerfully as if they had formed part of the bed of the stream, and gardens and other open spaces presented all the appearance of newly formed lakes. The parts of the town which suffered most were those lying be• tween the Little Green and lluntley-place, on the west side of the river, and the Haugh, Bank-street, and Douglas-row, on the east side. As the inhabi tants, unapprehensive of danger, had, generally speaking, retired to rest, many of them experienced much difficulty in effecting their escape on the alarm being given, and numerous hair-breadth escapes were made. In some places people were led from their houses wading breast-high ; and, as the fall of the bridge had destroyed the gas-pipes, darkness increased the ge neral terror, while the panic was still more heightened by an unfounded rumour that the Caledonian Canal had burst its banks, and that the unhappy town was thus surrounded with water. The number of people thrown houseless by this calamity is immense; but they have been temporarily provided for by neigh bours and relations, and by the town council and parochial board. Boats continued during the day to navigate the flooded streets, for the purpose of• re moving the inhabitants, and in some instances when boats could not be had the sick and infirm were seated in washing tubs and floated to places of safety. All communication betwixt the east and west sides of the river by bridge has been completely shut up, as the only other bridge that connected them (a wooden structure) had become unsafe. On Saturday reports were current in Inverness of other northern rivers having overflowed their banks and caused much destruction, but no precise accounts appear to have been received. ANOTHER ACCOUNT. We learn from a correspondent that the weather , in the north of Scotland, and particularly in Inver , ness-shire, has been tempestuous to an almost unprece dented degree during all last week. One storm of wind and rain followed another for several days and nights, almost without intermission, and with un equalled severity and heaviness. Those storms were frequently accompanied by vivid lightning. Many of the roads and wide extents of low-lying lands were flooded, and travelling became exceedingly difficult and dangerous. But the greatest calamity which has hitherto come to our knowledge arising from these storms is the complete destruction, on last Thursday morning, of the fine old bridge over the Ness at Inverness, which, after bravely standing the floods and tempests of more than 160 years, has been a t l engt h , in the apparent plenitude of its strength, carried away at one fell swoop. There is much interest of an historical and antiquarian kind attached to this bridge, and its local posi tion and the elementary peculiarities it had to battle with gave it an uncommon celebrity. It was built at the foot of the romantic hill on which, ac cording to Shakspere, Macbeth's castle stood. The building of the bridge began in 1685, and was finished in the year of the revolution (1688). It spanned the swift waters of the Ness by seven well-constructed arches. The late eminent engineer, Mr. Telford, esteemed it the handsomest old bridge in Great Bri tain ; although it had a slight rise in the centre, yet the arches partook more of the modern eliptical form than was at all common in days of old. It is stated in the statistical account of Inverness that the ancient gaol of that burgh consisted only of a single damp dingy vault of one of the arches of this bridge. This strange place of imprisonment was always pointed out as a curiosity to strangers. The bridge (older than any on the Thames) might have continued to defy the river currents for another century, because the Ness, although a copious and rapid stream, is a singularly agreeable and well-behaved one, seldom overflowing its banks, and never emulating the furious savage outbroaks of its neighbours—the Findhorn and Spey. This equability of current was caused by its waters being husbanded in Loch Ness, and given out gra dually by a narrow outlet. From the great depth of the lake, and the short rapid course of the river, there was never any ice to injure the fabric; but a cause was at work for its demolition which could never have entered into the calculations of its architect. It is well known that the Caledonian Canal is carried through the great glen of Scotland, by joining the three great lakes of Ness, Oich, and Lochie, by short cuttings between them. The summitlock of the canal, on Loch Oich, about 35 miles from Inverness, is 95 feet above high water at Inverness. Some of the banks and locks of the Oich, near Fort Augustus, are said to have given way, anti to have allowed the waters of the upper level to flow into Loch Ness, which, although possessing a capacious basin of about 25 miles in length, and of about an average breadth of one mile, became sw o ll en t o suc h a s i ze as to pro duce a fresh or speat in the river of unprecedented violence, causing the lamentable catastrophe to the bridge we have just mentioned. All the lower part of Inverness was laid under water, the houses for saken, and the inhabitants glad to make their escape in boats, and such other craft as could be got at. Happily no lives were lost, but there has been great destruction of property; and much inconvenience must follow from the lines of communication being interrupted. The wooden bridge, now the only means of land communication between the two dis tricts of the town and between the eastern and northern counties of Scotland, is left tottering to its base, and in momentary danger of being swept away. Other accounts ascribe the calamity solely to the rise of water in Loch Ness from heavy rains and melted snow, and make no mention of the inundation from Loch Oich. GREAT FLOODS.—The weather throughout the week has been exceedingly bad. One storm of rain and wind has succeeded another, and lightning has been fre quent in the evenings. On Sunday it blew hard frcm the south-west, heavy squalls occurring frequently, with rain. The storm increased as night drew on, and the lighting was particularly vivid till midnight. Some of the flashes seemed to open up the whole heavens, and filled the sky with momentary brilliancy. During the night the storm continued violent, but it gradually sub sided towards morning. O❑ Monday night the gale re commenced, lightning playing across the sky, and all night long the rain fell in torrents almost unequalled in heaviness. On Tuesday and yesterday the weather con tinued wet and stormy. The immense quantity of rain which has fallen has swollen the Ness, and it now flows discoloured and muddy, heavier than we have seen it for many a day. It overflows the road behind the Caledo nian Hotel stables, and on the opposite side it has co vered the pathway, and still continues to rise. Meeting a difficulty in passing through the arches of the old bridge, the water sweeps over the piers, and it rushes beneath the bridge in a boiling and foaming flood. By evening the river had increased so much as to make Ness Bank and Douglas Row impassable. The Maggot and other low-lying quarters were flooded. The Ness has not been so high since the great flood of 1834. The North mail last night was upwards of two hours behind time. We learn that the river Conon is flooded almost beyond precedent. The mail had the greatest difficulty in getting across the bridge, where the water was from four to five feet deep on tho road. The Spey is also overflowing its banks and sweeping, in an immense tor rent, over the adjoining lands. Great damage, we fear, will be done by the floods, which, as we go to press, are still increasing, and cause the utmost alarm and coaster nation.—lnverness Courier. The Ofitrheerwtialhieh FIRE IN EAST SMITHFIELD.—Last night, about seven o'clock, a considerable alarm prevailed among the inhabitants of Rosemary-lane, sequence of a fire having been discovered on th• pre mises of Messrs. Tidmarsh and E Brown,Smdeitahlefiresldinineacfi:trhns-t -enware, which, but for the prompt arrival of the engines, would have involved a vast amount of property, as the premises adjoining her Majesty's Mint, and i o n n g e 4 it i h ve e i r l, si t d h e were rows of houses which were entirely built of w oo d , that have been erected many years. with hitiously turned observed in one of the crates, which was filled with straw, and spread rapidly. The alarm he Wellclose-square engine arrived in the shortest pos s ible 0 set at work, e n o s6omone•arrlitvewdatsthe speedily on, and abundantly supplied, the fire was checked, much to the satisfaction of a speedily persons of the Jewish persuasion, wh 1 l arge n um b er of ing building called " the London o n lad, i n an a " Exchange, ,, a large amount scaring of azaar," or " The up in boxes, which would h are b ' appwel lo c k e d THE R l'SrE ECRUITING S een inevit a bl y destroyed. m --W orders have been received here •for e understand th a t to their respective regiments the immediate return, of officers and men engaged in the non-commissioned branch of the service, it . the recruiting service. This com mitted to the local pens' is understood, is to be com expected to be made - ion corps, by which a saving is stationed here In the expenditure, The • are to leave E • parties donian Mercury of Monda y. Edinburgh to-day.--Cale- THE 111 Ax • TIRDO M OF ..- ' is the two hundredth 11/sG CHARLES.—ThiS day anniversary Charles 1., at Whitehall. of the decapitation of ASTLEY'S AMPHITHEATRE. A very beautiful scene of equestrianism, described in the bills as a gorgeous arena cavalcade, was pro duced here last night, under the attractive title of the Amazonian Maids and their War Steeds, and met with an encouraging reception. The intention of this scene de cirque is to give greater scenic effect to the graces of female equitation, which have always been a favourite object of contemplation with admirers of the circle. in the present instance the intention has been well carried out, and the effect to the eye is exceedingly fine, the costume of the riders and their armour, and the trappings of their horses, conspiring to produce a splendid coup d' tell, admirably suited to the graceful evolutions in which they form so essen tial a particular. Mr. Blake's equestrian spectacle called the Wars of the Jews ; or, The Fall of Jeru salem, continues attractive, and the pantomime of Robin Hood was received last night with undiminished applause. MR. BALFE'S CoN CERT. MADEMOISELLE JENNY LIND AT EXETER Exeter-hall was last night crowded to overflowing in every part. It was Balfe's benefit concert, at which Jenny Lind was to sing, and had the hall, therefore, been twice as spacious as it is it would have been crowded. The first piece sung by Jenny Lind was the far-famed "Deb vieni," from illozart's Nozze di Figaro. It was given with exquisite sim plicity and a charming purity of style. She next sang the magnificent " Casta Diva" from Norma, and never have we heard this magnificent hymn so exquisitely rendered. The introduction was given, not as a mere musical display, but as though it were the " outpouring of the soul "—there was a reality in Jenny Lind's rendering of this portion of the hymn which we have never perceived in any other singer. Her sotto voce tones—delicious, rich, murmuring tones they were—were heard clearly and distinctly at the very furthest ex tremity of the hall, and that marvellous faculty of voice which she alone possesses, and which we have on some occasions termed vocal ventrilo quism, was here exhibited in the highest degree of perfection. The voice seemed gradually to die away in the distance, and then return in a full gush of melody. Her execution of the finale was a marvel of florid brilliancy. She next took the voice part in the trio for voice and two flutes from Meyer beer's Mika, and here the nightingale like tones of her voice were heard to great perfection, vieing with and overcoming the two flutes. Then she sang the admirable comic duet of Fioravanti, the music lesson, with Lablache. This, of course, commanded an encore. Last of all she sang a new song, composed expressly for her by Balfe. The following are the words of this song : " A rose gaz'd from her bower green Upon the summer light, And never had creation seen A flow'r so fair and bright. Her modest form so soft, so meek, With morning radiance dy'd, Beam'd lik e th e l o vely blushing cheek ButO l'osoonmae storm, yollp g il dark lag o e e b r h r t de e . vale, Its mountain fury shed, And, shrouded i n th e twilight pale, The lonely ros e l a y dead. And so it is, a gen tl e m ind S The i oo n sob k t under soo s erfrmt ~aeen m may a better heart." poet.) T sorrowsppaassss,passant buttes dart;tlhea behind a both s i nger an d composer are wor thy The melody of this song is ver y grace f u l, and there is a ca d enza at the blightedhear (We close of each verse which is exquisite. Jenny Lind exerted herself to the utmost to secure the success of the new song, and was rewarded with an enthusiastic and unanimous encore. She was received throughout with more than enthusiastic applause she was received as though those present not only ad mired, but respected and loved her. The great Lablache was in every sense of the word as great as ever. lie was in superb voice, and in addition to his duet with Jenny he sang "Un Segretto," from the Cenerentola, with his son, and Itossini's ‘f Dan- THE ARMY. Orders have been received at Chaffin ria for the sus pension of recruiting, and all the parties 1 iave been called in. As the depot at Chatham is exclusively for recruits for the Queen's regiments serving in India, and which regiments are not included in the contemplated reduc tion of the army, we are inclined to think that the de mands for the India service will be met 135 the transfer of those men who will become supernumeraries upon the British establishment in consequence of the n.ew arrange ments, as, under existing circumstances, we cannot hope that it will not be necessary to maintain the army in the East up to its full strength. We regret to announce the demise of Major-General Sir Guy Campbell, Bart, and C. 13., which took place at Kingstown, on Saturday last, the 27th inst., after a long and painful illness. By this event the colonelcy of the 3d West India Regiment and an appointment as major general on the staff of the army in Ireland, have become vacant. Sir Guy Campbell served in the Peninsula, and commanded the 6th Foot at the battle of the Pyrenees, for which he received a medal. He served also the cam paign of 1815, including the battle of Waterloo. PLrarourn, JAN. 27.—The men belonging to the 28th and 82d Regiments, now stationed here and at Devon port, were assembl e d on t h e para d e at Mount Wise th i s morning, for the purpose of hearing the sentence pro mulgated which had been passed upon Mathew Toomey, a private of the 28th Regiment, - who had been tried by court-martial. The prisoner, whcia tried, was charged with having in August last disobeyod the orders of Cap tain Fraser, of the 28th Regiment; and a second charge was, that he had attempted to beat ear to stab the said Captain Fraser, while in the execution of his duty. On these charges he was found guilty; and having been several times before convicted, he was sentenced to be transported as a felon for fourteen years. The men belonging to this regiment still occasion much trouble through their great irregularities. Courts-martial upon them are of very frequent occurrence, and every- evening since they have been here, now more than five months, pickets have been out to pick up the drunken and dis orderly. This makes the duty very severe, but the men, have only themselves to blame. There have been erected in the lower sally port of the Plymouth citadel a powder magazine and three arm sheds. In this part of the citadel, during the last few months, there has been much activity, a number of workmen having been engaged in erections, removals, &c.; but now all the improvements are completed. beveral guns, 18-pounders, have been mounted on metal carriages, and the muzzles of them are placed opposite the town in a very commanding position. An observa tory has been erected at the top of King George's bas tion; it is the same observatory as was for some time on the cross of St. Paul's cathedral. Observations by a theodolite arc being daily made for the Government by Corporal Wotherspoon, of the Royal Sappers and Miners, in connexion with the Ordnance survey that is being made of the three town. THE 9 1ST FOOT.—HEAD• QUARTERS, PORTSMOUTH.--• Two officers and fifty men of the Ist battalion of this regiment are ordered to embark at Woolwich, on the Ist of February, as a guard to convicts for Bermuda, whence they will proceed to the Cape of Good Hope to join the reserve battalion. GARRISON SURGEON OF PORTSMOUTH .--Th S (ARCO has become vacant by the decease of Dr. Chaldecat. Economy in the united services being the order of the day, the appointment will not be filled up. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. PLYMOUTH, JAN. 27. ller Majesty's steamer, Sprightly, Master-Commander James P. Moon, arrived on Wednesday from Holyhead, came into harbour for coal, and sailed the next day for Woolwich. Her Majesty's packet brig Linnet, 8, Lieutenant- Commander Thomas James, arrived on Wednesday from Falmouth ; when coming into harbour to refit, and in trying to catch her moorings, she broke her halser, drove alongside the Calcutta, 84, carried away her own main boom and other spars, and crushed her jollyboat. Her Majesty's brig Espiegle, 12, Commander Fre derick A. Campbell, touched at this port on Thursday, from China, last from Ascension, and sailed again for Portsmouth, to be paid off. Her Majesty's transport Adventure sailed yesterday, with stores for Deptford. _ _ Her Majesty's frigate Juno, 26, Captain P. Blake, is ordered home from the Pacific, and is to be paid off here. DOCKYARD.— Several divisions of shipwrights have been actively employed in getting the Scorpion, survey ing vessel, ready to proceed to Bermuda. All acting leading men are in future to have no increase of pay. Five leading men shipwrights, 25 shipwrights, 2 leading men joiners, 1 engine maker, 1 leading man caulker, 3 sail makers, and 1 cooper, were examined yesterday by the surgeon, preparatory for superannuation. The sub scribers to tho Lending Library, to which the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty presented 150 volumes of books, have appointed the following honorary ,fficers:—viz., Mr. John Besley, secretary;, Mr. H. B. Triscott, treasurer; and Mr. R. T. Gilbert, librarian. JAN 28.—The steam-sloop Rattler and four others arrived here this morning, entering the Sound by the Eastern Channel, between half-past nine and half-past ten o'clock. They proceeded at once through the Sound to their appointed moorings in Hamoaze. Wind westerly, veering occasionally to the northward and southward, with cold rain and sleet. WOOLWICH, JAN. 29.—The Janus steam-vessel is now nearly ready for sea, and the President having arrived with several other vessels to be paid off, when that takes place the Janus will hoist the pendant of Lieut. Powell, who has been appointed to her, and Captain Fitzroy will hoist his pendant on the Arrogant steam-frigate, at Portsmouth, about the same time. The Niger steam-vessel is making ready for sea, and will be stationed at Devonport as one of the advanced war steamers. The Supet b, Captain Purcell, is getting ready for sea at Portsmouth with all dispatch, and is expected to pro ceed to Cork for service on that station, and relieve tho Ganges, the latter being about to proceed to the Medi terranean station. The firm named in the account of the launch of the Vulcan stcam•frigate should have been Carter and Bo nus, instead of Capper and Bonus. SERIOUS ACCI D ENT ON BOARD THE PRESIDENT.— The President, 50, Captain Stanley, arrived at the Nore on .‘2.aturday from Portsmouth, and saluted the Port- Admiral. On Sunday she weighed anchor, in leaving which the paul of the capstan gave way and seriously hurt 19 of the men who were working it, three of whom are in a dangerous state. In going into harbour she missed stays in tacking, and ran into the flag-ship Ocean, carrying away the jib boom of that ship and her own flying jib boom ; she ultimately dropped anchor, which brought her up, but not before she got nearly on to the dock-yard wall. The Africaine and Fearless steamers were promptly at her assistance, and got her to moorings adjacent until she can be navigated to Chatham to be paid off. The Espiegle, 12, Commander, F. A. Cambpell, arrived at the Nore on Sunday afternoon, to be paid oft: The Formidable, 84, was undocked on Saturday, at Sheerness, and is being masted. The Driver steam-sloop, Commander Johnson, arrived at Plymouth with the convoy of steamers for the re served squadron on Saturday night, and left on Sunday on her return for Portsmouth ; she arrived yesterday morning with the officers and crews of the respective vessels. SPRING ASSIZES. WESTERN CIRCUIT. The commission days on this circuit have been ap pointed as follows: Winchester ... ... Thursday, March 1. Salisbury ... ... ... Thursday, March 8. Dorchester Tuesday, March 13. Exeter ... . . Saturday, March 17. Bodmin ... ... Saturday, March 24. Taunton ... Saturday, March 31. METROPOLITAN FINANCIAL REFORM ASSOCIATION. —A meeting was held at the Whittington Club yester day to consider the propriety of forming a Metropolitan Financial Reform Association, to act in unison with the Financial Reform Association, established at Liverpool Mr. Phu's' of Notting and Manchester. The meeting was convened by a cir cularr signed " Francis Place ;" but the chairman, M a. .- Samuel Harrison, had to deplore the unavoidable b sense of Sir Joshua Walmsley, , and other leading members of the party. Mr. Searle, That, hill, moved the first resolution, to avert from this country the c fro m the want of inflicted in other European states, s 'art of the people which have been a wholesome control ou thep it is necessary that over their respective governments , b© adopted by our Go. the strictest economy shouldcontinuance of this economy, when and to secure a evils .1 .11 necessary that the 'louse' when obtained, it is also ~ should b e forthwith reformed, until i t of Commons fit state to exercise complete con trolshall be in a he üblic expenditure of t . . P mo ney." Other over the i a d tbe Association to act - . resolutions pledged have 'in unison with other similar bodies as been, such or may here after In be, instituted. proposing the fourth resolution, Mr. Hy de called attention . to the w onderfuleffect th e creation of forty shilling freehold * creation freeholders in South Lanca shire had created. Four years a 1. an d a mall' ago they con tested South Lancashire and were d defeated. The Anti- Corn-law League set t o work 9.11 freeholders, and at t h e last election not only did tree trade principles trium h b , Lit that triumph did more to insure the r e p ea l of the corn -laws than all the agitation which had preceded l ' t- He moved " That it is also ne cessary to promote throughout ' the country a well organised system for increasing the number of forty shilling freeholders incounties, and complete atten tion to the registration of voters in counties, cities, and boroughs," Mr. Dyke, of St. Pancras, bore his testi mony to the ease with which forty-shilling freeholders were manufactured, the small sum of two shillings and sixpence per week being sufficient. A committee was appointed to carry out the details connected with the formation of the Association. STArFORD AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION SOCIETY. —The annual meeting of the members of this society was held at the Swa❑ Hotel, Stafford, on Saturday last. Earl St. Vincent, the president occuFird the chair, and among the gentlemen present were—Mr. C. B. Adder ley, M.P.; Major Chetwynd, Mr. Thomas Boultl ce, Mr. J. Hartbhorne, the Rev. T. Hicken, &c. The report having been read and approved, Major Chetwynd, in a short speech, highly eulogistic of the deceased, pro posed that the sum of 251. be subscribed out of the funds of the institution towards the testimonial to the memory of the late Lord George Bentinck. The motion was carried unanimously. Earl St. Vincent was reap pointed President. The malt-tax was warmly de- Bounced, and the opposition of the Metropolitan Society to its continuance supported. The meeting did not last an hour. A subscription has been commenced at Norwich, headed by the Mayor, for a portrait of Jenny Lind, to be placed in St. Andrew's Hall. ,hSt ira. 'Or ,olfe ,pet Qe nt re" r o f toile rime