The Sun. — London, England, 1824-06-18 00:00:00

THE LONDON* JOURNALS. DAILY Extract: from the Morning Pdpers, June 18. THE TIMES.) A mail from the Leeward Islands arrived yes terday, with letters from St. Thomas's to the 17th Of May. One letter, dated the 13th, contains a vague account from Laguayra of an action having taken place in Peru between Bolivar and Canta rac, in which the latter was victorious, and in consequence gained possession of Lima. No 'dates are given, nor is any place assigned for this battle. The circuitous route by which the news has travelled, renders it barely possible that the advices from Peru can have been brought down to a date so recent as has been previously re .ceived by way of Jamaica, when it was known that a negociation had been set on foot between the President and the Royalist Generals. That there should be an engagement at all, at least -while the negociation was proceeding, is a most unlikely event : but the credit of the story is perhaps more completely destroyed than by any Teasoning on its improbability, by the silence of of all the other letters from St. Thomas's, some of which are dated two days later than that in "which the account of the battle is contained.—, Some occurrences of an unpleasant nature are stated to have taken place at Maracaibo, where the irregularity in paying the troops had led to a mutiny, the result of which was not known, as no vessel had arrived from thence for more than a month. By the papers from the West India Islands, we perceive that procla mations have been issued in the name of the King, for the purpose of counteracting the impression known to exist among the slaves that orders had been sent out for thir emancipation, declaring such impression to he erroneous, and enjoining to the slaves submission to the laws and obedience to their masters. At Barbadoes advices had been received from Demerara of the 26th of April.—' These supply one very remarkable fact, taken in connexion with the late proceedings in Parliament relative to the case of the unfortunate Mr. Smith, the Missionary, which is, that the Rev. Austin, a clergyman of the Established Church, and Mr. Arrindell, the prisoner's Counsel, had . had the boldness to circulate letters in the co lony itself, after the proceedings had closed, expressing their belief of Mr. Smith's entire in-, nocence. The general interest excited here by the case will justify our giving the extracts from the letters alluded to : Extract from a letter of the Reverend W. S. Austin :—" I feel no hesitation in declaring, from the intimate knowledge • which my most anxious inquiries have obtained, that, in the late scourge whic;i the hand of an All.wise Creator has in flicted on this ill-fated country, nothing but those religious impressions which, under Providence, Mr. Smith has been in strumental in fixing—nothing but those principles of the Gos pel of Peace which he has been proclaiming—could have prevented a dreadful effusion of blood here, and saved the Jives of those very persons who are now (1 shudder to write it) seeking his." Extract from a letter of William Arrindell, Esq. of Deme rara,Mr. Smith's Counsel, addressed to Mrs. Smith; after the proceedings of the Court-Martial were closed :—" It is almost presumptuous in me to differ from the sentence of a Court ; but, before God, Ido believe Mr. Smith to be innocent. Nay, I will •go further, and defy any Minister, of any sect what ever, to have shown a more faithful attention to his sacred duties, than he has been proved, by the evid,enec on his trial, to have done." 'A meeting was held on the 3d of May of the in tiabitants of Barbadoes, for the purpose of pre paring a petition against the Alien Act as in force in that island. His Majesty's ships Eden and Scout had returned to Barbadoes from Para, which they left in a state of tranquillity. It was said that the Scout had been fired at by the fort in passing up the river, but silenced the batteries by a couple of broadsides. [MORNING CHRONICLE.] , The Treaty with the Netherlands respecting possessions in the East, against which so much bas been said, was last night discussed. It is agreed on all hands that Lord Castlereagh, in his eagerness to stand well with the great Monarchs by whom he was cajoled, sacrificed in too many instances the intere,ts of his country, and, we believe w e may add, that the stipulations into which he entered with regard to the Dutch Pos sessions in the Eastern Archipelago, are generally considered not the least objectionable of his mea sures. Mr. Canning, in introducing the subject of the Treaty to the House, took care not to charge himself with the responsibility of the as signment of the conquests from the Dutch to the new kingdom of the Netherlands. The fact is, that ndther Lord Castlereagh nor any of those who accompanied him to Vienna, knew any thing at all of the countries which he so generously disposed of. That they are of the utmost importance no one who looks into Mr. Crawford's account of the Eastern Archipelago, or reads his masterly evidence before the Committee of the Lords, on the Fo reign Trade of the Country, can doubt for a mo ment. 'I he worst of the matter is, that we have transferred to the Dutch, what we had no right to ourselves—many millions of the natives. It was observed by Mr. Hume, that " by our atten tion to the interest of the natives, we had brought J.,va to a state of civilization, equal, be would say, at least to that of the people of Ire land ;" aed with " a violation of good faith, our Government had delivered over the natives, bound hand and foot," to the Dutch, who were detested in the East more than any other Eu i-opean nation. In fact, We had, " received —Hanca from the natives under the express stipu lation of not giving it up to the Dutch." • LMOII.NING POST.] We are somewhat at a loss to account for the complaints daily urged against the temporary renewal of the Insurrection Act, when his Ala iesty's Ministers have declared that, in thus pro posing it, they merely wish to obtain breathing time for the introduction of more constitutional means of permanently governing Ireland. It has filways indeed been admitted, that this severe law was resorted to as a matter of necessity; and rather as an experiment to check a malig nant distemper which could • be referred to none of the- ordinary sources of disease, nor prescribed for on re con i ze d pr i nc i ples. What, then is the use of co n d emning now a law which , never was defended on other groun d s t h an those of immediate exigency, and which is continued ' for a few months longer merely as a protection for the lives and properties of his Majesty's peaceable subjects, in those districts where a lawless insubordinate spirit may impose the pain of resorting to such a system of coercion. Were the latter not the case, we should ourselves per haps think that a more judicious enactment than the one in question might be devised. But all considerations, doubts, or speculations of this nature vanish, when we reflect that the com parative merits of the measure come not rea sonably under review. Many of its defects (to use the mildest term) may have been exemplified by the evidence before the recent Parliamen tary Committee—but the point for decision is not whether the Insurrection Act be faultless—nay, whether in any respect it be the best means of preserving peace and establishing tranquillity in Ireland—it is, whether having employed this law heretofore, the Legislature will prefer continuing it another year, or at the close of the Session en deavour to concoct some new empirical Bill to meet the evils of a few months more, when an other and better system shall be brought into operation. Upon these grounds we deem it sheer trifling with the Public to dilate on the theo retical imperfections, or the practical inefficacy of the Insurrection Act, at the present moment. [MORNING HERALD.' The Scotch Judicature Bill, which passed the Lords without a division, was last night abandoned in the Commons. The Lords had treated the County Courts' Bill in the same way. Here was a Rowland for their Oliver. One of the objects of the Bill was to facilitate and shorten the forms of proceeding which now prevail, by reducing the quantity of printed and writ ten papers presented to the Courts. This im. provement in the form of Process Mr. Peel would have passed without any hesitation or delay, but that, in that case, the postponement might impute a disapprobation of the rest, which respected innovations in the administration of justice, by extending the Trial by Jury in civil cases. Mr. Peel, who moved the second reading, explicitly declared that he approved of the Bill, recom mended as it was by the Scotch Commission, and evidently calculated to promote the administration of justice. lie proposed to abandon it for the present Session, solely on the ground that the lawyers and freeholders of Scotland had had no opportunity of examining its merits. Mr. Aber cromby expressed the greatest dissatisfaction and despair at this course of proceeding. From the analogy of the Scotch Jury Bill, he inferred that the Lord Advocate would issue his mandate to his obedient freeholders, who would of course pe tition against the Bill. The promised success of the Jury Bill he could not anticipate for this Bill, because the one was intelligible to English Members, and the other only to Scotch Members. Thus it was thrown out for this Session. Peti tions for delay had been presented from the Fa culty of Advocates, the Writers to the Signet, and the Freeholders of Edinburgh. Mr. Aber cromby displayed with triumph the names of dis sentient Advocates—Mr. Cockburn, Mr. Jeffrey, Mr. Moncreiff, &c. On the other side was Mr. Cranstoun, Dean of Faculty ; but Mr. Aber cromby claimed his heart, though his official sig nature was necessarily on the other side. [NEW TIMES.] Very little business is transacting in the funds at the present time, and the prices in conse quence are stationary. Consols yesterday closed, after experiencing little fluctuation, at 951- for account. The Foreign Market continues equally dull. Mexican Scrip recovered to 1 premium, and closed at about ts i . Colombian Scrip was also higher, notwithstanding the exertions of a strong party to produce a decline. The other Securities remain at their previous prices.— Conjecture is busily employed in the City, from the circumstance of an insurance having been effected at Lloyd's upon a vessel freighted with a considerable amount in specie, bound from Gib raltar to llavannah, upon account of the Spanish government. This vessel is known to belong to a celebrated Loan Co►►tractor in the City, and various rumours were in circulation from this cir cumstance, as to the necessity for so large a sum in that quarter. The premium was 15s. per cent. [BRITISH PRESS.] Two series of papers, on the subject of the slave trade, have, within a few days, been laid on the tables of both Houses of Parliament. The first series of these important papers comprises the correspondence of Mr. Secretary Canning, during the last year and the present, with Sir William A'Court, the British Ambassador at Madrid ; with Mr. Ward and Sir Edward Thorn ton, at Lisbon ; with Sir Charles Stuart, our Am bassador at Paris; with the Earl of Clancary, at the Court of the Netherlands ; besides that with Mr. Chamberlain, the Consul-General at Rio Janeiro, and of Mr. Stratford Canning, the British Ambassador at Washington, whicht includes the interesting correspondence between the latter and Mr. Quincy Adams, the A merican Secretary of State, on the proposition of the mutual right of search by both nations, and the resolution subse quently adopted to make the traffic in slaves piracy. The second series of these papers com prises the communications of Mr. Canning with Messrs. Gregory and Fitzgerald, the British Commissioners at Sierra Leone, respecting the continuance of this nefarious barter by the sub jects of Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, with the Right Honourable Secretary's corre .spondence with the British Commissioners at the Havannah, Rio de Janeiro, and Surinam. This vo luminous correspondence with our Ambassadors at almost every Court in Europe,and with the Commi ssioners and Consuls of Great Britain throughout one half the globe, shows the unwearied efforts made by Mr. Canning to extinguish, by all the power and influence of Great Britain, the rem nant of this infernal traffic still preserved by the different powers 'of Europe. The attention of the Right Honourable Secretary to this im portant subject has been ceaseless. Amid the multiplied concerns of his high station, the sa cred rights of humanity have never one mo ment been forgotten ; ' they have always been uppermost in his mind. Loud and repeated ! complaints have long been made, of the way in which France, Spain, and Portugal. disregarding the solemn treaties they had respectively signed for the extinction of the trade in human victims, still suffered this Iniquitous traffic to be sactioned by their flags, and Africa to be desolated by the inhuman barter. We find accordingly Sir Charles Stuart, in May 189.3, remonstrating strongly with M. Chateaubriand on this outrageous v i o l a ti on of the rights of humanity, and laying before him unanswerable documents from the British Governor of Sierra Leone, with the de position of an European inhabitant of that settle ment, shewing—" That the trade was then car ried on to a greater extent than at any former period—that no less than fourteen French vessels had completed cargoes of slaves at the Galinas within the short space of four months—that every port along the coast, not actually in the possession of Great Britain, was frequented by vessels under French colours, employed in this trade; and that their undertakings Were encouraged by the na tives, under the persuasion that the trade was lawful, because the respect due to the flag of France caused the British cruizers to allow it to be carried on with impunity." A subsequent dispatch from Mr. Secretary Canning to Sir Charles Stuart, dated in June 1823, enclose the copy of a letter from Mr. Parkinson, the British Consul at Pernambuco, giving a fresh instance of the continuance of the abominable traffic, by the subjects of France, and the unwarrantable conduct of M. Lane, the French Vice Consul at that port, respecting a native of the lonian Isles, charged with assaulting the mate of a French slaver. COMMON COUNCIL. A Common Council was yesterday held at Guildhall 7 for the disposal of various city business. LORD MATOR. OF DUBLIN. The LoRD-MAYoR stated, that when the Lord Mayor of Dublin and the deputation from the Corporation of that city were in town, he paid them, as he was sure every other person in his situation would have done, all the attention in his power. —He had since then received a letter communicating a vote of thanks to him upon the subject. As the compliment was to himself personally, he should not have presumed to bring it before the Court, had he not been informed by Sir Edward Stanley that it was the wish of the Corporation of Dublin that he should do so; he, therefore, felt he should be guilty of dis respect towards that body if he did not order it to be laid before the Court. It was then read by the Clerk, and ordered, upon the motion of Alderman Lucas, to be entered on the Journals. BIBLE SOCIETY. Alderman KEY presented a petition from the City of Lon don Auxiliary Bible Society, praying for pecuniary a►d ; and moved that it be referred to the Committee for General Pur poses. Deputy RouTir opposed the motion. This Society made a similar application to the Court three years ago, and received 1001. ; if they were successful in the present attempt, the Court' would be receiving fresh applications from them every year in future. He therefore, as an amendment, moved the previous question. Mr. S. Drxorr seconded the amendment. If they granted this application, they would have a hundred more from other institutions, and their funds would thus be soon exhausted. Mr. PAT TEN was averse to the too wide circulation of the Bible, since it subjected those into whose hands it fell, should they be tempted to question any part of it, to be dragged into a Court of Justice, and to undergo a severe penalty. Mr. JONES opposed the motion : the applications of this kind would become so numerous, and the Committee were so generous, that the Corporation would soon be impoverished. Mr. Jury thought when . the Court were voting 2001. and 3001. to other societies, 100/. was not enough for this ; neither, if they meant to close their funds against applications of this nature, ought they to commence their refusal with the present. Alderman MICAS thought the Court might very reasonably refuse this application, as coming so close upon the heels of the former. Alderman BROWNE slid, the question at present was, not whether the Court would give any thing, but whether they would refer the consideration of it to the Committee. Mr. OLDHAM would never refuse to refer a petition of this kind to a committee, so long as these institutions were the glory of the metropolis. Mr. JAMES was surprised to hear the necessity of preserving the Corporation funds urged in reply to an application of this nature, whilst they were freely expended in summer excursions, and other similar amusements. The question was then put. The LORD MAYOR declared the shew of hands to be in favour of the previous question; but upon a division, the num bers were,—for the previous question, 45; for the motion, 47; which was therefore carried by a majority of 2. OLD BAILEY NEW COURT. Mr. CANCTIIMINE, after relating the circumstances (which have been already stated to the public) respecting the disposses sion of the Committee of City Lands, by the oiicers of the Lord Mayor, of the gallery in the New Court, brought up the Re port of Committee upon that subject. It set forth the great saving that the second Court would effect to the Lord Mayor, by which his Lordship would be enabled to pay his servants additional wages, and dispense with the practice of taking fees for admission to the Court. Mr. Cawthorne moved that the Court agree with the Committee in their Report ; and that it be referred back to them, to consider the best means of abolish ing that practice. A long discussion ensued upon this subject, in the course of. which it seemed to be admitted on all hands, that none but those persons named in the commission had a right to interfere with the internal regulations of the Court ; and that although the practice of taking money for admission to seats in the gallery hail the effect of excluding i mpro p e r persons, yet it was one which ought to be abolished, if that could be done without inconvenience. It was ultimately agreed that it be referred back to the Com mittee, with directions to confer with a Committee of the Board of rldenuen (if they have no objection) as t o the practicability of adopting some expedient for discontinuing the practice of taking fees for admission into the Court at the Old Bailey. Deputy ROUT 17, at the suggestion of Mr. Alderman Wood, consented to withdraw his motion for increasing Mr. Sergeant Arabia's salary to 5001. a-year ; and that this subject be simi larly referred with the foregoing. THE MAGPIE.—It is a well known fact, that about forty years ago an Irish country gentleman imported four of these birds into the Emerald Isle, which was before entirely free from the depredations of this beautiful but mischievous creature - ; since that time they have increased prodigiously, and have spread over the rhole country, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants ; an d t h e ne ighbourhood where this bird was hatched is greatly i n f es t e d by his species, from the vain hope of having a simila r progeny. A singular scene took place in the neighbour hood of the slaughter -house in Canal-street, on Friday. It being the first s ki n mar ket-day since the passing of the Hides and Skin s Bill , b y w hi c h the Searcher's office h as b een , suspended, the y oung K n i g ht s of the Cleaver, to testify their joy at being reli eve d f rom the surveillance of the searcher and his assistants had four effigies prep ared fo r consignment four representat A iv t es six of the ?'lock Tirsioranrirnagy,ed in by signal, the to the flames. mourn ing, were drawn to the top of the w all of the slaughter house, and th ere rema i ne d * s uspended till on e o ' c l oc k (the hour wh en t h e tanners are generally all co ll ec t e d), o'clock h ffi e ce when they were set on fire, amidst a volley of musketry and cheers. The salutes were repeated as each figure fell from the wall, and the whole concluded with a loud huzza. The farce passed off without any disturbance. — T hi s indignity was not meant to apply in the slightest degree to tile officers personally, but to tile office.—( Edinburgh Courant, June 14.) The workshop and machinery of the United States' armory, at Harper's Ferry, were entirely consumed by fire on the morning of the Bth ult. The fire is supposed to have been the work of an incendiary. The loss to the public, including 700 finished muskets, is estimatad at 100,000 dollars, a nd 200 workmen have been thrown out of employment. LITERARY NOTICE. The WORLD in MINIATURE, edited by FREDERIC SMORER.L. SOUTH SEA ISLANDS : being a Descrip tion of the Manners, Customs, Character, Religion, and State of Society, among the various Tribes scattered over the GREAT OCEAN, called the PACIFIC, Or the SOUTH SEA : illustrated with Twenty-six Coloured Engravings. In Two Volumes. The subject of the present Work, which fol lows the beautiful series that we have duly no ticed in its progress, derives an additional interest from the visit of the extraordinary characters who have recently arrived in this country, and who came from the regions here described. The title-page so amply expresses the contents of the volumes before us, that we need only observe that Mr. SIIOBERL, with his usual diligence, has extracted his materials from the best authorities, and presented them with his usual correctness and elegance. All the information that has been given to the world from the original discoveries by Captain COWIE, and by every subsequent navi gator, of this and all other countries who have engaged in similar expeditions, is embodied and detailed in these interesting volumes. The en gravings are well executed, and coloured exactly according to the models which have been brought to this country, and to the drawings that were taken on the respective spots. The features of the inhabitants of the several islands, though they exhibit a general resemblance, seem to bear a peculiar character and expression. In justice to Mr. ACKERMANN, we deem it proper to ob serve, that the present volumes, in neatness, com pactness, and beauty, fully equal all the pre ceding series, and the Readers will have the pleasure, without the difficulties and dangers of voyages and travels, of obtaining all the informa tion from this 'WORLD IN MINIATURE that has hitherto been presented to the Public, and will possess themselves of a minute as well as com prehensive knowledge of THE WORLD AT LARGE. DUTCH PAPERS. FRANKFORT, JUNE 11.—Our readers are already inform ed that the Austrian Minister, Prince Metternich, takes ad vantage of his Sovereign's journey into Bohemia, to visit his estate of Johannisberg in the Rheingau. He appears to have entered on the way on important negociations, as at Munich he passed two days in very long conferences with a Bavarian Minister, Count Richherg, at the conclusion of which, a courier was dispatched to the Emperor at Prague. It is probable also that political matters will be discussed at Johannisberg itself. The Russian Ambassador Extraordinary, M. Von Ta tischeff, travelling after the Austrian Minister, arrived here yesterday from Vienna on his way to that castle. The Stuttgard Papers contradict the report mentioned in the Etoile of Paris, that the Bishop of Evora, who resides at Stutt gard, had been arrested on account of an illegal correspond ence with the Pope. LEIPSIC, JUNE 4.—The Rev. Ignatius Lindl, well known in Bavaria by his numerous works, as a Roman Catholic Priest, and whose Sermons are spread all over G ermany , h as announced, in a confession of faith, upon 1 Corinthians, iii. 2, published here, that he has gone over to the Evangelic Protestant Church, and at the same time explained the reasons founded on the Revelation, as contained in the Bible, which have in duced him to this step. The King of Prussia has lately prohibited his subjects from frequenting the University of Tubingen, in Wurtemburg, on account of the bad principles prevailing among the Students there. The Stuttgard official Gazette observes, that a Govern. ment may, doubtless, prevent its subjects from frequenting any particular University, but that the Prussian p ro hibiti on must be grounded on false information. HAGUE, JUNE 13.—His Royal Highness Prince Frederick arrived here the day before yesterday from the Loo, and having yesterday inspected the School of Artillery and Engineers, at Delft, returned to this place. AMSTERDAM, JUNE Ib.—EXCHANGE : London, one month, 39. 10. ; two months, 39. o. —(Dutch Papers, June 16.) BRUSSELS PAPERS. HAGUE, JUNE 11. ADDRESS OP THE STATES-GENERAL TO HIS MAJESTY. SIRE !—We have examined with all the attention that the importance of the subject merits, the documents concerning the state of agriculture, which your Majesty has been pleased to cause to be communicated to us according to the speech deli vered at the commencement of t his Session. Since that time the decline in the price of grain has continued in an alarming manner, and is now such that it seems absolutely necessary to assist agriculture by efficacious measures. Full of confi dence in the wisdom of your Majesty, and encouraged by your constant care to reconcile different interests, we venture to solicit you to take this subject into further consideration. We offer to your Majesty, with the assurance of our profound re spect, the union of our efforts to contribute by the most suita ble means to the salutary measures which a wise foresight may uggest.' BRUSSELS, JuxE 14.—The Antwerp Journal says that David's picture of Mars disarmed bi Venus, has been pur chased by an Englishman for 60,000 francs. ST. PETERSBURGH, MAY 29.—The Emperor and Empress removed to their summer residence on the 25th. Sir Charles Bagot, the English Ambassador, is going to England on board - the Thetis frigate. BRESLAU, JUNE s.—Private letters from Prague say that hopes are entertained there that his Majesty the King of Eng land will visit Carlsbad this summer. CIIRISTIANA, MAY 28.—The Norwegian Storthing, in its Sitting of the 22d, unanimously rejected in succession all the Royal propositions, 13 in number, of alterations in the Consti tution. It further resolved unanimously to present an Address to his Majesty, stating the grounds of the rejection. COPENHAGEN, JUNE B.—All the Bonds issued after the publication of the N ational Bank of 4th February, 1820, bear ing 5 per cent. interest, are called in to be.paid by the 11th of December, unless the holders prefer to let_ their money remain at four per cent., which they must declare by the 15th August next. EXCHANGES. HAMBURGII, JUNE il.—LODdOn, 3F> 7t, ; two Us. 364;. PET ERSBURGII, MAY 28.—London, 9 13-32.—( Hum burgh Papers, June 11.) DuEr..—A meeting took place on Wednesday, at Smallberry Green, between Mr. H—N and Captain G--E. The dispute originated re specting a race at Ascot Heath, on Tuesday, when Mr. JAMES RAMSBOTTOM, as second for the lOgs. Sweepstakes, claimed Picton, the winner, for 300 sovereigns, his horse Cephctlus being se cond, but he did not claim the horse within a quarter of an hour, agreeable to the regulations. The dispute was on a wager whether the horse was claimed in time. Mr. H--N was wounded slightly in the shoulder, and the affair termi nated. DREADFUL ACCIDENT ON BOARD A STEAM VESSEL.---Extract of a private letter, dated New `fork, May 16 :—" Last evening the steam-boat Etna, a passage-boat, running between this and New Brunswick, on the route to and from Phila delphia, burst her boiler, when within five miles of this city, and dreadful to relate,between 20 and 30 passengers were killed and wounded; eight bo dies are found, four of which are ladies, and are the daughters of Job Forman, a merchant of this place ; ten are now at the hospital, some of whom are in a very dangerous state ; four are known to have jumped overboard, one of whom is known to be saved. How many were on board is not known : we hope no others will be discovered." FOR TIIE SUN. THE ROYAL SOCIETY. MR.. EDITOR—The ROYAL SOCIETY of GREAT BRITAIN justly claims a high rank amongst the several Societies founded in different counties of Europe for the express purpose of giving coun tenance and encouragement to scientific pur suits. The names of many of the members of this Society are names that will be ever consi dered as amongst the very brightest that have ever yet graced the annals of science. Whilst they cast a splendid lustre upon the philosophi cal annals of their native country, their genius and their labours have entitled them to the ap plause of every civilized nation, and obtained for them the admiration and respect of every suc ceeding generation. Like many other useful institutions, the Royal Society was little remarkable in its infancy. It was not until about the year 1645 that several men of science, or fond of scientific pursuits, at that time residing in London, agreed to meet once every week for the express purpose of discours ing upon matters connected with the advancement of mathematics and of philosophy. These meet , ings were held sometimes at the house of Dr. Goddard in Wood-street, because he there kept an operator to grind glasses for telescopes, and, at other times, either in Clieapside or at Gresham College. During the course of the years 1648 and 1649, several of the Learned Gentlemen who attended these meetings having been appointed to fill places in the University of Oxford, they, in conjunction with some of the eminent members of that learned body, speedily instituted a society upon a similar plan in the city of Oxford. Many men of eminence belong ed to this Oxonian Society, among which were Dr. Wallis, Dr. Wilkins, Dr. Willis, Dr. Ba thurst, and many others, well calculated to shed a lustre upon the labours of the Society. They met at first at the apartments of Dr. William Petty, but upon the removal of that gentleman to Ireland in 1652, the meetings were held at first at Dr. Wilkins', and, at a subsequent period, in the lodgings of the celebrated inventor of the air pump, Boyle. In the course of time, most of the gentlemen composing this Society having fixed their residence in London, about the year 1659, they still con tinued to act in concert, and met for this pur pose twice a week at Gresham College. As their meetings became more generally known, they were joined by several new associates, amongst the most distinguished of which were, Sir Paul Neil, William Brereton, Esq. Lord Brounker, John Evelyn, Esq. Thomas Henshaw, Esq. Dr. Timothy Clarke, Henry Slingsby, Esq. Dr. Gut, William Belle, Esq. Abraham Hill, Esq. Dr. W. Crowne. These scientific meetings, until the troubles and disturbances which in 1659 imme diately followed the resignation of the Protec torate by Richard Cromwell, obliged them to abandon Haerlem College, which was converted into barracks for the soldiery. No sooner, however, had the restoration of Charles 11., in 1660, given peace to the country, more ela. ri u , o h l i e s ro ra u p sl id y and security to individuals, than the dispersed members once more united and revived their meet werefirsnt news establishment. m attended than they had been at any previous ogds - Increase in the number of their associates, encou raged them not only more zealously to prosecute the original object for which they had assembled, but likewise to give more stability to a❑ institu tion of which the utility was sufficiently obvious. Accordingly, upon the 23th of November 1660, the principal members having assembled at the apartments of Mr. Rooke, there unanimously came to the resolution of constituting themselves ' into a society for the encouragement and promo tion of every branch of experimental philosophy. Mr. Boyle and Dr. Wilkins, afterwards Bishop of Chester, were the chief promoters of this in stitution, who, in consequence, were regarded with justice as the founders of the new Society. A series of regulations being now drawn up, it was further agreed that every member should pay the sum of one shilling weekly,the amount of which was to be applied to defray the necessary expences attending upon philosophical investiga. tions. A President, a Secretary,and Registrar,were next elected from among the Members, and an Amanuensis, as well as an Operator, were hired for the purpose of carrying into effect the object of the Society. The number of members was, in the first instance, limited to fifty-five ; but as applications increased, and it was thought unjust not to admit all men whose names or knowledge could either shed a lustre upon the Society, or tend to the accomplishment of its views, this number was soon afterwards extended, and ad missions were finally left open to every candi date, properly recommended, each candidate being either admitted or rejected by a ballot. This infant Society soon attracted the notice of Charles 1 1., and was also patronized by many of the nobility. On the 15th of July, 1662, it received a Royal Charter, by which it was con stituted into a Body Corporate. This patent was, however, all that it obtained from its Royal Patron. Though Charles was fond of the sci ences, and more especially of chemistry and of mechanics, the craving appetite of his courtiers, the expence of his mistresses, and his own thoughtless prodigality, left him no means of affording any other assistance to the new So ciety, saving his Royal patronage, and the in terest he ever continued to feel in the progress ' of its scientific labours. A. P MARRIED. On Wednesday, June 16th, Thomas Cramer Roberts, Esq., of Lincoln's-inn, Barrister-at-Law, to Mary, youngest daughter of the late C. Gowan, Esq. At Clifton, on the 16th inst., Thomas Millie, Esq., of Han well Park, Middlesex, to Elizabeth, second daughter, of T. M. Hall, Esq., o f E r i na, i n t h e county of Clare. DIED. On Tuesday morning, aged 9 months, John, youngest child of Lord and Lady Milton. On the 10th inst., Mr. Fitzgerald Wintour, student of Mag dalene College, in the 20th year of his age. Lately, aged 83, Mr. John Theodorick, many years post master of Thetford. Printed and Published for the PROPRIETORS, at the,ftif- Orrlcit, 112, Strand, by J. B. CARsTAin v-~