The Sun. — London, England, 1861-02-23 00:00:00

ROYAL ENGLIS-H OPERA, COVENT-GARDEN. Under the Management of Miss Louisa Pyne and Mr. W. Harrison, Sole Lessees. THIS EVENING, the First Act of BIANCA, THE BRAVO'S BRIDE : Mr. W. Harrison, (to. Followed by Auber's LE DOMINO NOIR. Miss Louisa Pyne, miss Thirlwall, Miss - Leffler ; Messrs. H. Haigh, H. Corri, A. St. Albyn, and Horncastle. To conclude with a Divertissement. Conductor —Mr. Alfred Mellon. Commence at Seven. THEATM-ROYAL, HAYMARKET. Lessee, Mr. J. B. Baokstone. THIS EVENING, the performances will commence with the Comedy of THE BABES IN THE WOOD. Messrs. E. Villiers, Buckstone, W. Farren, Mrs. Wilkins, and Miss F. Stirling. Alter which, a new Pantomime, QUEEN LADYBIRD AND HER CHILDREN. The Pantomimists by the un rivalled Leclercqs, Herr Cole, and Fanny Wright. Commence at 7. LOYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.-- , Lessee and Manager, Mr. A. Harris. THIS EVENING, the Farce of A.S.S. To be followed by DON CA:SAR DE BAZAN. Don Caesar. Mr. Fechter. Supported by Messrs. Basil Potter, F. Matthews, J. G. Shore, Miss 31. Harris, Miss C. Leclercq and Mrs. Weston. After which, a new Christmas comical pantomime, entitled 'ROBINSON CRUSOE ; or, - Harlequin Friday, and the King of the Caribbe Islands : in which Monsieur Espinosa and Mdlle. Marie Dumilatre, of the principal cantinental theatres will appear. Clown, Mr. A. F. Forrest. THEATRE - ROYAL LYCEUM. Soie Lessee and Directress, Madame CELESTE. TUTS EVENING the new drama, THE HOUSE ON THE MIDGE OF NOTRE DAME. Principal characters by Mr. G. Vining, Sir. J. Johnstone, Mr. Villiers, Mr. Clifford, Mr. John Rouse, Mr. Forrester, Mr. Morris • Miss M.Ternan, Miss K. Saville, Miss L. Thompson , and Madame Celeste. Alter which, the Lyceum Christmas Comic Extravaganza, (7RYSTABELLE ; or, The Rose without a Thorn, showing THE VISION OF A. ROSE, ITS FADING AT EVE, AND THE MAY-B LOOM OF THE WILD BRIAR. To conclude with a new Divertissement. Miss Lydia Thompson, Ac. • A DELPHI, NEW THEATRE-ROYAL. .1 - ' l / 4 . Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Beni. Webster. THIS EVENING, AN UGLY CUSTOMER. Messrs. J. 1,. Toole, C. Selby, and Warde; Miss K. Kelly, and Miss E. Thorne. Atter which, THE COLLEEN BAWN. D. Boneicault, D. Fisher, Billington, Falconer, Stephenson, C. J. Smith, Romer. Miss Agnes Robertson, Miss Woolgar, Mrs. Billington, and Dirs. Chatterley. To conclude with a new Burlesqne Extravaganza, entitled BLUE BEARD FROM A NEW POINT OF HUE. Messrs. J. L. Toole, P. Bedford. C. J. Smith ; Miss Woolgar, K. Kelly, Laidlaw, and N. Thorne. Doors open at half past 6—Commence at 7. liox-office open from 10 till 6. No charge for booking. Private boxes, £2 25.; Family Boxes, It Orchestra Stalls, es. ; Baloony, 4s. ; Front Circle Stalls, Is. ; Pit Stalls, 28.; Pit, is. 6d. ; Amphitheatre, is ; Gallery, 6d. Acting Manager—Mr. Wm. Smith; STLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.- Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Wm. BATTY. Immense success of " Turpin's Ride to York." THIS EVENING. will be reproduced TURPIN'S RIDE TO YORK, A r4D THE DEATH OF BLACK BESS, in which the Brothers Edwin will appear with their celebrated Steed Black Bess. To be succeeded by Scenes in the Arena, supported by talented Parisian and British Artistes. Concluding, with Batty's Prize Equestian Comic Panto mime, for Good Little Boys and Girls, by T. L. Greenwood, entitled HARLEQUIN AND TIIE WONDERFUL HORSE ; or, Percinet and Grociosa, the Ugly Duchess and the Greedy King, produced with Gorgeous Scenery, by Mr. Cuthbert, new Costumes and Appointments, and introducing In the comic scenes Patty's Prize Equestrian llarlequinade, and the celebrated Old Bob Ridley. Box-office open daily from 11 till 4 Stage Manager—Mr. W. WEST. Director of the Arena—Mr. Pearson; Commence at 7. CANTERBURY -HALL CONCERTS!!! A Grand Selection from Verdi's Opera, IL CORSARO, consisting of the following Morceaux : Preludio. Coro Scena ed Aria. "Tutto parca Sorridere" Coro di Odalische " Oh qual perenne" Cavatina ('oro ed inno Scena ed Aria " Cento !eggiadre Vergini" Terzetto Finale "Voi tacete io noa" will be performed EVERY EVENING, in the original key and Italian language—in addition to the usual attractions. Mr. F. JONGHMANS, Musical Director. Also, in preparation, Selection. from Verdi's New Operas, tin Ballo in Maschera," "Simon Boccanegra ;" and Flo. tow's celebrated Opera of "Stradella." HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tara DAY.—Moming, 12h. 27m.—Afternoon, 12h. 54m, To-MORRO W. -Morning, lh. 17m.—Afternoon, lh. 42m, THE WEATHER.—Svx OFFICE, FEB. 23, 1861. THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 53 —highest since noon yesterday. 44—lowest this morning and during the night. 47—this day at noon. BARO3IETER-29,58. WlND—Easterly—light ; with very dull, miserable, rainy, foggy weather. J..' 1 ....644, r. i 4, , c ,,,, , . - . - it. , l: - , , ,, - , -- ,.,, = _ . 7 ~.,..._,....,„.„.„..,,,,,,,,,, ~ .. %,-,......., ~., .......,_ —F - 4-,_ ,-t. -V:53 .1. - ', , ,N.:4 r • , 0 i5 „..#1,....15 tr ,Lr.01 t, r- :-..,.....,-e.-:-.!!!.t..47_', -,,,,..4,15t..-- -/ "_? - -r - z: - Z, ,•,-_,;_.„, ''' ,-.., _ __- _ THE SUN. LOY DON, SATURDAY, FEB. 23, 1861 The Paris Correspondent of a contemporary, who generally has good information, writes—" The intelligence from Austria becomes daily more revo lutiqnary. We may expect a general outbreak ere long, and the flight of FRANcis Josaru." These, if we can look on them as at all well-founded, are startling expressions, yet we are by no means sure they may not be a prevision of the truth. If the writer has, as in the society of Hungarian exiles and other foreigners. at Paris he is likely to have, information more special than what reaches us by the ordinary channels, then his remark is evidence additional to what we already possess. But even if not—if it be but the mere outspoken interpreta tion of telegrams and printed correspondence which we all see, the interpretation is not one to be utterly rejected. At first sight it may seem strange to think of an Emperor who has 150,000 men in Venetia alone, commanded by a veteran who is popular with the army, and who will have even Archdukes, while serving under him, conform to military discipline—an EMPEROR who has probably as many in Hungary, since we read lately of 85,000 on its eastern frontier only, and a large force also in:the other provinces of his empire—it may seem strange to think of such a monarch being on the eve of flight, becaus'e a general outbreak and a revolution are anticipated. And then, again, the King of ITALY has, even to his Parliament, intimated that the time for waiting has come ; in other words, that he and Count CAVOUR do not include an attack on Venetia in their policy for the year 1861. England, too, and France, united in telling the Italians that Austria, though she cumbered the ground, with no hope of ever doing anything better, must he let alone this year also. Altogether the position of Austria, to outward appearance, was better far than at the close of 1860. But there is another side to the case. The in ternal difficulties of the empire are little affected by these external alleviations. The despised idea of nationalities has risen to life with full strength during the last year or two; indeed it has been growing ever since its violent suppression in 1848. The most unwilling witnesses now admit that what is meant by that word, however difficult it may be logically to define it, is a grave political reality. It has outlived all the Holy Alliance schemes of 1815, and all thecruelties by which those schemes have been supported ; and Europe, new, reminds one of that splendid valley of vision described by the prophet, in which the bleached bones of the de s!.royed children of Israel were seen fast uniting with each other, then clothed with flesh, then standing up a vast and mighty army, and lastly, restoring their ancient kingdom to its pristine national state. Already thin resurrection has begun in. the South of Europe. The dissipated skeleton of Italy is now standing before Europe as a living power; Hunga r y, w i t h its ancient and long affiliated territories, is instinct with national life, and shows in every way that nothing bnt its fully recognised and distinct nationality will satisfy it. And all the other provinces, Bohemia, Gallicia, and the Tyrol, are awaking to the consciousness of their own rights and th© rights of the other provinces. In 184 8 it was very different. Then a large part of the provinces retained their alle giance to the principle of an empire, an d and were willing to aid the little hereditary Archduchy of the HAPSBURGS in retaining, their rule over the rest, Jt was one of the earlier errors of Hungary, in 1848, to aid Austria in keeping Italy—one quickly, and for ever, renounced. Now the HAPSBURGS and the petty German Archduchy stand alone—the Germans detested, and most deservedly so, all over the provinces, and wished back, both soldiers and civilians, with many curses on their heads, to their own fatherland. Another difficulty is the HAPSBURGS themselves. Like the BOURBONS, they are incurable, and never to be trusted. A theologian might cite them as an illustration of the doctrine of " Original Sin." They have all inherited from the founder of their race the same treachery, cunning, cruelty, and tyrannical pride. These qualities, each according to occasion, have never been wanting in the stock. Even their last liberal EMPEROR was so tyranni cally liberal, so forced his reforms on the empire, that his death alone averted a ruinous explosion. And then the army at command of the EMPEROR ; can he trust it, more than any of his subjects can trust him ? There are numerous Hungarians in the Italian army, who cannot be relied on to fight against _ltalian.liberties, or even to remain quiet if their country rises. The same is true of the half savage Croats, who in 1848 were led by JELLA MICH against the Hungarians, but who now make common cause with them. And though the Ger man soldiers are numerous in Hungary, they would, as in 1848, find that a country of 14 mil lions of brave people were not to be crushed so easily. A Vienna telegram tells us to-day that a report is current of a convention between Austria, Russia, and Prussia, for acting in common should insurrection break out in Hungary or Poland. No doubt the Court of Vienna would like such a convention, bat it remains to be seen whether the Prussian Chambers, who have lately voted so rightly in regard to Italy, would stultify themselves by reversing their vote in regard to the liberties of Hungary. As to Emperor of RUSSIA, he has no soldiers to spare, and serf emancipation will keep his hands full. Whether Hungary will rise depends on the Government at Vienna. The kingdom seems determined to do all by legal action ; the Court of Vienna and the Government seem inclining now to try what more violent measures can effect: Passive resistance, doing what is legal, in destinction from obeying the illegal edicts and diplomas of the EMPEROR, is the policy and strength of the Hungarians. Among their last acts we read that the Obergespaune, lords-lieutenant of counties, have petitioned for the restoration of the laws of 1848, and the Prince Primate has consented to lay their petition before the EMPEROR. The Judicial Conference has adopted the press law of 1848, and trial by jury; also the Hungarian laws relating to letters of Exchange ; the Municipality of Buda has excluded all non - Hungarian residents in the:city from electoral rights—this, of course, is pointed at the Germans. The munici pality of Pesth demands the dismissal of the Ban of Croatia, and the appointment of a Hungarian in his place. But how is Austria meeting these proceedings ? Hitherto it has been chiefly by coercion, by modification, or by not noticing —occasionally by refusals ; but lately we read of different measures. " The State of Siege"—that old and hateful formula of Conti nental despots—is now heard of again. Four dis tricts were yesterday to be declared in this " State of Siege," that is the state of being unmanageable by despotism. Concurrently there was the announcement that the Diet was to be convoked at Buda (not at Pesth), on the 2d April, to crown the King of HUNGARY, to receive communication of the inaugural diploma, and to elect the Palatine of Hungary. But Pesth is the part of the city in which the Hungarians desire to meet, because Buda is under the cannon of Austrian soldiers. And the diploma, unless it be the one agreed to by the late EMPEROR, in 1848, for himself and his successors, will be a farce, an, almost a signal for war. All these incl. dents seem to indicate an inclination to resort to coercion, to which it is certain the Hun garians will not long yield, and, if persisted in, the issue may easily be an insurrection in Hungary, a war in Venetia, even against the wilt of VICTOR EMMANUEL, and GARIBALDI, and TURR, KLAPKA, KMETY, and Kosswrs himself, on the scene again. This is the most likely result of coercive mea sures, unless indeed the Austrian army be nobly faithful to the people, nobly unfaithful to the HAPSBURGS, and their mere German tools; and FRANCIS JOSEPH see his troops melt away as those of the King of NAPLES did before a few thousands, while he himself is obliged to run for some fortress in his States, or perhaps, for Brighton itself. The ill-wind of the 9th instant has blown good to the great cause of the Harbours of Refuge. A distinct pledge, it may be remembered, was made to the House of Commons last year by the Prime Minister—a deliberate and explicit assurance of Lord PALMERSTON'S—that something should really be at last done in this matter next Parliamentary session (that is, during this present session of 1861) by her MAJESTY'S Government in furtherance of the humane project recommended by the Royal Commissioners. Of that promise Lord PALMER STON was reminded last evening by the hon. gen tleman the member for Northumberland. And it is due to the noble Viscount to remark at once that —while regretting that her MAJESTY'S Government is still precluded by circumstances from proposing to Parliament to advance, from the public revenue, for the purpose here suggested, grants in any way , commensurate with the object in view—our veteran Premier intimated at the same time that he had borne his pledge of last session so vividly in his remembrance that his right hon. friend the President of the Board of Trade has at this moment in readiness for presentation to the House a Bill calculated in every way to ad- Vance the improvement and extension, and we will hope also, even now, so far as may be in any way the multiplication of H ar b ours of practicable, Refuge along our coast-line. The difficulty of selecting the points of that extended coast-line most urgently requiring attention in this way with a view to their improvement, the First Lord of the Treasury whimsically illustrated in the early part of his Ministerial explanation of last evening, in answer to the enquiries addressed to him by Mr. LIDDELL namely, when reminding the House of what had just then been heard in it in the way of casual suggestions, Lord PALMERSTON remarked " The honourable member who began the discussion inside the premises chiefly confined his representations to harbours of re fuge on the north-cast coast of England. Imme diately afterwards another hon. friend of nine draws attention to the state of the Welch coast ; an hon. member opposite shows how important it is to have harbours of refuge constructed on the Irish coast, and my noble friend the member for Wick (Lord Bury) would, I have no doubt, be ready to insist on the extreme advan tage of an harbour of refuge for the place he represents." S o th a t ver y r apidly, one after another, E ng l and, Wales, Ireland, Scotland were eared for by difleient representatives ! however, of Instead, proposing to advocate the com- i THE SIIN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 23, 1861. LATEST NEWS. (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.). TURIN, FEB. 23. Admiral Persano has arrived in the waters of Messina, to summon the Commander of the Citadel ,o surrender. General Cialdini remains at Naples, but will join Admiral Persano in case the Commander refuses to comply with the demand. The report published by some Italian newspapers in reference to the surrender of Civitella del Tronto is untrue. RIETI, FEB. 22. About 1,000 brigands, with artillery, under the command of Count Christen, have attacked Carsoli. The Italian volunteers retired fighting. On receiving this news Colonel Masi and Major Vincentini hastened to the spot, energetically at tacked the enemy, and pursued them as far as Oricola, killing many men. VIENNA, SATURDAY. The Presse says :—" A report is current that a convention has lately been concluded between Austria, Russia, and Prussia, for acting in common in case an insurrection should break out in Poland or Hungary." PESTH, FEB. 22. The Judicial Conference has, by a considerable majority, decided against the re-establishment of the Hungarian laws relating to inheritance. LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY. The Royal Mail steamship Niagara, which sailed :o•day for Halifax and Boston, took £75,402 in specie. NAPLES, FEB. 22, 6.15 P.M. The Papal Zouaves have massacred Dr. Latini and his little daughter, aged six years, in the village of Collalto. Francis 11. has refused to receive General Bosco on account of his having said to some Neopolitan noblemen that he intended to return to Naples. The Queen of Spain is about to purchase some property of Francis 11. MARSEILLES, FEB. 22. Letters from Rome to the 20th inst. state that a proclamation of the National Committee announces that Victor Emmanuel will soon be proclaimed King of Italy at the Capitol. The same proclama tion expresses thanks to France for her reserved attitude in Rome. The French authorities had taken possession of the keys of the Capitol, in order to prevent the ringing of the bells by the people. The Papal Government had exiled several per sons, among whom was Signor Titoni, a rich mer chant, who was suspected of having promoted the late political manifestations. The Abbe Passaglia had returned to Rome, NAPLES (via Marseilles), FEB. 19. The property of the religious orders which have been 3uspended has been taken possession of by the Government. The garrison of Gaeta, being prisoners of war, have been sent to the Neapolitan islands. ST. PETERSBURG, FEB, 22. The project of a new tariff of import duties on European goods, drawn up by order of the Emperor, will shortly be published in the Borzcn zeitung of St. Petersburg. mencement of entirely new Harbours of Refuge, Lord PALMERSTON prudently concurs with the hon. gentleman the member Northumberland in ap plauding first and foremost the notion of improving, and especially in this way of enlarging, certain harbours of refuge already in existence. The ina dequate dimension of several of these harbours is unhappily a matter of most painful notoriety. Their insufficiency in almost every particular, in size, in number, in actual convenience, is lamentably indicated time, and again in the stormy seasons, particularly during the terrible periodical recurrence of the equinoctial gales, by an appalling loss of life and by the most deplorable destruction of property, property sunk in the deep sea, past every chance of recovery. As to the last mentioned class of misfortunes, the loss of vessels and of their cargoes, that undoubtedly is a loss (as the Prime Minister took occa sion to remark yesterday) falling upon indi viduals—those individuals having the means of, to a certain extent, indemnifying themselves by marine insurance and the like kind of provident arrangements. As to the loss of life, however— " the loss of most valuable lives, the loss of some of the best seamen in the country"—that Lord PALMERSTON solemnly and impressively pronounced to be " a loss against which no insurance can be effected, and for which no compensation can be obtained, and which is therefore a dread calamity to the country." Against the perpetual renewal of that dread calamity along our coasts, the promoters of Harbours of Refuge are striving to guard the gallant fellows man ning the mercantile marine of England and of other maritime and commercial nations trading with our own. In that humane effort they will now, to a certain extent at least, be assisted by her MAJESTY'S Government. How far assisted in this by the House of Commons there will soon be an opportunity of judging, immediately upon the introduction of the bill now in the hands of Mr. MILNER GIBSON for presentation to it, a bill (as described by Lord PALMERSTON) enabling the Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners to make advances both in England and Ireland to those who are prepared to take money on cer tain conditions for the purpose of improving exist ing Harbours of Refuge. The urgency of the matter involved in this foreshadowed ;measure of assist ance, has assuredly of late, as recently indeed as within this last week or two, been illustrated very fearfully. During the gale of the 9th, for example, at Hull alone, by the loss of seven vessels, and the driving of no less than forty others ashore outside the harbour—at Whitby, again, by the drifting ashore of six other merchantmen—at Hartlepool, by the wreck there, within five hours, of absolutely as many as sixty-seven vessels, " thirty of them being totally lost, and eight foundering, with every soul on board, in sight of thousands who were looking on and were unable to render any assistance." This, recollect, was on the 9th inst. during the raging of that fearful gale at Hartle pool. Altogether there were there and then lost on that single day no less than fifty lives, and, together with those fifty lives, property to the value, it is computed, of £150,000 sterling ! But turn again to the record given at Lloyd's only three days' afterwards, on the 12th inst., as the House of Commons was reminded yesterday by the hon. member for Northampton—" when notice of 139 losses of ships was posted up at Lloyd's, being the largest number ever known in a single day !" Reading this, noticing this fearful record, it:must be obvious that it is time indeed the Legislature and the Government bestirred ' themselves, if it is only to carry out some few of the admirable suggestions thrown out in regard to the development of the system of Harbours of Re fuge in the elaborate report upon that subject, pre sented to Parliament in 1858, as the result of the anxious deliberations of the Royal Commissioners. THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY- LAN E.—This fashion able place of amusement was honoured last evening by the presence of her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, accompanied by the Princess Mary, Captain Cust, and suite, to witness the performance of Mr. Charles Kean in the play of " Louis XI." The Earl of Winchilsea has left the St. Georgi's Hotel. The Prince Bariatinsky and M. and Madame Berikoff have left the Brunswick Hotel, Jermyn-street, for Paris. The Duke and Duchess of Beaufort are shortly expected at Curzon House from Badminton, Gloucester • shire. The Earl and Countess of Westmoreland come to town to-day from visiting Mr. and Lady Augusta Sturt at Critchill House, Dorset. THE NEW PHYSICIAN TO THE QUEEN.—The Gazette has announced thq appointment of William Jenner, M.D., to be Physician Extraordinary to the Queen, in the room of the.lamented Dr. Baly, F.R.S. Dr. Jenner was educated at the University College, London, and took the degree of M.D. in 1844, without obtaining honours. He had been elected fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1837. He is professor of pathological anatomy in Uni versity College, physician to the Hospital for Sick Chil dren, fellow of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, member of the council of the Epidemiological, North London Medical, and Pathological Societies, and secretary to the fever committee of 'the Epidemiological Society. Dr. Jenner is known as the author of " The Gulstonian Lectures (1853) on the Acute Specific Diseases;";of a paper " On the Specific Cause of Typhoid, Typhus, axd Relaps ing Fevers," printed in the Medico•-Chirurgical Society's " Transactions" for 1850 ; of essays "On the Identity or Non-Identity of Typhus and Typhoid Fevers" (1850) ; " On the Diseases commonly confounded under the term Continued Fever " (1851), and various other professional papers. ' PEMBROKE ELECTION.—The polling for the Pembroke Boroughs closed on Thursday evening. Sir Hugh Owen, the Liberal Candidate, was returned by a majority of 86. TALBOT V. TREHERNE.—Yesterday (Friday) evening, at six o'clock, the jury decided in this case in favour of the plaintiff, thereby affirming the will of the Rev. G. M. Treherne. The case occupied ten days. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ROOMS.—Wo have much pleasure in drawing the attention of our readers to the Annual Benefit Bal Masque of Mr. W. M. Packer, musical director of this establishment, as advertised in our columns for Thursday next, the 28th instant. For many years has the efficiency of the band, aLd the excellent taste displayed in the selection of the music, been the theme of admiration of the visitors frequenting this fashionable and well-con ducted establishment. The previous entertainments of this description have always met with a large amount of patronage, and have been carried out with great spirit. We are well assured, therefore, that nothing will be want ing, on the part of either Mr. Packer or the direction, to render this Bal even more attrae ivo than any previously given. —Era. A SHIP's COMPANY POISONED.—SHIELDS, Feb. 21.—The crew of the Boxer, of Colchester, have had a narrow escape from an awful death. The vessel is lying in the Tyne, and the night before last a messenger was sent hastily ashore for a medical man, as the master, mate, and five of the crew had been seized with a serious illness. Dr. ta t h h n eadyt administered are e e nd l t a ai b nd o og u te e r r n tt g ho Emmerson p rocee d e d promp tl y a b oar d , an d a t once saw n ra o out r of e a o u t u h n g e d h m e r f , rand the a t effects mwe tthh e og frfive t cares poison, c a w men were in extreme peril. The master and men, it seems, had partaken of a pudding for dinner, and were shortly after attacked by the dangerous symptoms. The cook who made the pudding had taken the flour for it from a locker, and on searching the locker, to the horror of every one, a parcel of arsenic was discovered. It seems that the parcel had been found in the cabin, and the mate, imagining that it was flour, had put it into the flour locker. The cook, on going for the flour for the pudding had thrust his scoop into the parcel, but, not liking the contents, he had with drawn tho scoop, and had taken his,flour for the pudding from the usual source. Seine particles of the arsenic had adhered to the scoop and got mixed up with the flour, and had occasioned all the mischief. The poison had been on board the ship two years, and was the remaining quantity of a parcel sent aboard to destroy worms in the ship's bottom. The master did not know that it was in the vessel. The advices front Paris yesterday state that M. Marcuard, M. Blount, and another have been named liquidators "of the estate of N, CHINA; • SHANGHAI, JAN. 5. The troops at Tientsin are healthy and in com fortable quarters. The treaty between Russia and China, which was signed at Pekin on the 14th November, cedes to Russia thy; seaboard between the rivers Amoor and Tumen. Chusan has been evacuated by the allies. The rebels remain quiet. The English Admiral, in the Imperieuse, with three sail of the line, has left for Japan. Trade is languid. BATAVIA, JAN. 16. A treaty has been concluded between Holland and Siam. A destructive hurricane has passed over the island. The coffee plantations had snared severely. FR AN CE. BOURSE, Feb. 22.—The market has been more buoyant, and, although business continues limited in amount, a better tone prevails. For the Ac count, Threes commenced at 67f 90c, and are now at 68f 10c. Railway Shares firmer. The follow ing are the last quotations :- 41 per per Cents 97 95 Credit Fancier Do end month.... 97 90 Belgian 41 93a 3 per Cents ...... 68 20' Piedmontese Fives 7605 Do. end month.... 68 20' Roman Bank Shares 2875 Austrian .. 6B 25 Credit Mobilier 665 —' Spanish Threes.... 47 50 Do. Account 666 25 Home Debt RAILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans l4ll 25 .. 1408 75 Northern New ditto 892 50 .. Lyons and Mediterranean 933 75 .. 935 Geneva 3 75 .. 375 Southern 525 .. 526 25 Western Eastern Sardinian Austrian Low bard 475 .. 475 I'YRIA. At the moment when the Conference on the ques tion of Syria has met, it may not be without inte rest to publish the following circular of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, dated 18th January : " Monsieur,—We are approaching the term fixed by the convention of the sth of Sept. last for the duration of the occupation of Syria. I have several times had to mention to you the intentions of the Emperor's Government on the subject. Invested with the mission of executing decisions come to in common, we are desirous, above all, of fulfilling the conditions on which we have received this mandate. For that reason, however, we consider it a duty, before quitting mine in Syria,concert expeditionary corps a t th e p er iod agreed upon can t o whetheren a t b h l e e t d h e e p P a r o t w u r e e r s o t o f ex t hae be effected without danger for the tranquillity of the country, and it appears to us opportune to call their attention to this fact. " The Powers did not propose to themselves any political object in Syria, and the Emperor's Govern ment entirely coincided with their ideas. They pursue a work o f h uman it y ; has that been accom plished ? The C a bi ne t s are as well acquainted as we are with the real state of things, and know how slowly the work of pacification has hitherto progressed. " The Europea n C omm i ss i o n, instituted at Bey rout, had, in the fi rs t p l ace , to provide for the most urgent necessities, by causing on one side repa rations, and on the other punishments. That was, a however, only a p ar t o f it s task, and not the most Important ; it had to collect and propose to the Powers the el ements of the new arrangement which was to b 3 combined with the Ottoman Government, for the administration of the Mountain. This work, in fact, is the indispensable complement of all the other measures already taken or to be adopted iu common accord with the Porte. So long as this is Lot finished, it may be said that nothing has been done ; for in th e sta t e o f di sor d er in which every thing in Syri a now is, the essential point is to fix the conditions o f th e new G ove rnment of th e Lebanon, and it is that also which the Powers have desired. " Not only has that wish not been fulfilled, but the Commission has scarcely come to the end of the questions of repression and of indemnity as regards the Lebanon ; and, on the other hand, no definitive understanding has been arrived at for the indemnity to be paid at Damascus, and the Porte puts forth the pretension of settling that question at Constan tinople. The administrative reorganisation has been, it is true, recently touched on in confidential conversations ; but the delegates, absorbed by other cares, have not up to the present time found them selves sufficiently prepared to treat the subject officially, and it would be difficult to determine the moment when they may be able to communicate to the Powers the result of their investigations. In short, the very uncertainty which those delays throw on the reorganization of the Lebanon, keeps the public mind in a state of extreme excitement ; and the information which we possess make us fear that the departure of our troops would be followed by fresh outbreaks, if it should take place before the arrangements necessary for guarantee ing the security of the people have been adopted. "In presence of considerations of that kind, all the Cabinets will understand that we are most anxious to relievc, ourselves from all responsibility. If, on the one, hand, we are determined to abide by the stipul.4ions decided on by the Conference, we, on the other, do not wish to incur any reproaches for 'got having pointed out the dangers which we foresee. We are therefore induced to request the Powers to make known their opinion on this sub ject, simply reserving to ourselves to express our own in the deliberations, as one of the parties to the Convention of the sth Sept., that is to say, on the same footing as the other Cabinets. " We have proved, by the manner in which we have urged on the labours of the Commission, how desirous we are to be able to evacuate Syria at the period stipulated, and no one would feel greater satisfaction at finding that circumstances would allow that wish to be realised.Mlf the Powers decide that there are grounds for prolonging the period of occupation, we, having accepted the con dition of furnishing the expeditionary corps, shall doubtless not refuse to continue the sacrifices we have imposed on ourselves, to lend the Sultan the co-operation of our troops. But in case the Cabinets should be of opinion that it would be proper to fix on one or more of them to take part in that mission, we shall be ready to accept their co operation. " It appears to me that the most natural means of coming to an understanding on those different po'nts would be to convoke the Conference. If that manner of viewing the question obtains the assent of the Cabinet of I beg you-to make it known to me as soon as possible, and I would bring about the meeting of the plenipotentiaries es soon as the adhesion of the different Courts shall have reached me. You will please to read to M. - and leave him a copy of this despatch, which I also address to the Emperor's representatives at:-. TIIOUVENEL." PRUSSIA AND ITALY. A letter, dated Turin, 20th February, says : " General Bonin leaves Turin to morrow. All the Deputies have decided upon leaving their cards at his hotel by way of expressing their thanks for the vote of the Prussian Deputies in favour of Italy. During his stay at Turin General Bonin has strictly confined himself to his mission, simply one of courtesy, and has even declined any conversation of a political character." DENMARK. The Dagbladet of the 19th inst. publishes the following : " An order was issued on the 15th inst. by the Minister of Marine, designating the officers'who, in case of hostilities, are to take the command of the ships of war, and giving directions for the disposal of the gunboats destined to blockade the enemy's ports or to be stationed on the eastern or western coast of the peninsula of Jutland. " The Minister of War is also showing great activity. The services of 120 officers on the reserved list hare been accepted." Respecting the rumoured difference of opinion in the Ministry, the Dagbladet says:— "It is natural that the gravity of the moment should give rise to debates in the Ministerial Council, and that on certain points there may be a difference of opinion, but there has been no diffe rence on principles, and the most perfect union pre vails now among the members on the means to be adopted to meet the invasion of the Confederation. A Cabinet Council will be held to-day, in which the plans of the Ministry will be submitted to the King for his decision." TliE AFFAIRS OF M. MIRES. The Paris correspondent of the Morning Pos, says : Public attention in Paris is centred on the finan cal complications originating in the failure of M. Mires, and the consequences arising therefrom. The Bourse yesterday was enlivened with all descriptions of reports about the failures of large houses at Marseilles connected with Eastern trade. We are also favoured with the names of certain establish ments in Paris as likely to go. A panic reigns in our money market. The Threes have fallen to 67f. 90e. Every one wants to sell ; but where are the buyers ? "La stagnation continue" were the last words I heard yesterday on, leaving the money market. Mobiliers and all societies of associated capital have fallen considerably, and will, I sus pect, go down lower. I think the alarm is exag gerated, but we have not seen the end of it. On of the lithographic-sheets sent from Paris to the provinces has the following details :—" A commissary of police arrived at the residence of - M. Mires on Sunday evening, when that gentle man was at dinner with the Prince de Polignac and the princess, his daughter, and presented a warrant for his arrest. The prince wanted to discuss the terms of the warrant, but the commis s sary replied that he could not enter into any dis cussion,'bat must fulfil his duty, and he led off M. Mires to Mazas. Efforts are being made to obtain that 'gentleman's release on bail." The same sheet adds :—" M. Mires is of Jewish ori gin. He was born at Bordeaux in 1805, and was a simple broker (courtier crafaires) there when the revolution of 1848 broke out. He afterwards became in succession gerant of the Gas Company of Arles; founder (with M. Millaud) of the Caisse des Chemins de Fer ; contractor for the loan of the Department of the Seine; commanditaire of the coal-pits of Portes and Senechas, and of the Company des Ports de Marseilles ; director of the Roman railways ; and recently contractor for the Ottoman loan. Two journals of Paris, the Consti tutionnel and the Pays, belong to hint,". • (From the Daily 11eum.) The Princess de Polignac, Mires' daughter, who is far advanced in pregnancy, was with her father at the moment of his arrest, and it was feared that the shock had dole her serious injury. She, how ever, bore up wonderfully, and within the last two days has paid many visits on her father's behalf. She obtained an interview with him at Mazas, but only in the presence of' witnesses, M. Mires being au secret. Some idea may be formed of the effect likely to be produced in Constantinople when news of M. Mires' arrest comes to be known there, from the following extract of a letter, dated Feb. 13, re ceived by the mail just arrived :—" The news that the Bank of France has refused to discount Con stantinople drafts on the house of Mires has pro duced a tremendous sensation. These drafts, mind, are made payable to the order of the Minister of the Interior, and are endorsed by him. As soon as this resolution of the bank was known at Galata, several leading bankers went to Ali Pacha to entreat him to find some means to mitigate the existing embarrassment. Ali Pacha replied that he was aware of what had passed at Paris—that he would telegraph to the am bassador there to do what he could to remove the difficulty. At the same time Ali Pacha solicited the favourable intervention of M. de la Vallette, the French ambassador. " What can we do ?" said Ali Pacha, in dismissing the bankers. " We will give you our blood, if you wish it ; but as to money we have none." Anxiety is at its height. We await with breathless impatience the despatches from Paris, which will decide the fate of Galata. Everybody has more or less paper drawn upon Mires. Only a few daystsince this paper was more inquired for than any other—it was the only paper in fact which inspired confidence. If the Bank of France persists in its refusal to discount it three-fourths of the houses in Galata will be com pelled to stop payment. By the boat of the Mes sageries Imperiales, which leaves for Marseilles this evening, several Galata houses have sent specie to take up drafts coming due. This place is drained of bullion, and this accounts for the extraordinary movement in the exchanges. The English pound is now worth 150 piastres. ANOTHER CRINOLINE ACCIDENT. —Yesterday morning as a lady was endeavouring to enter an omnibus in the Euston-road which had stopped at her request, the folds of her voluminous dress were caught by the wheel of a passing cab, and she was carried a considerable distance by the vehicle before she could be extricated from her perilous situation. On being conveyed to a surgeon's it was ascer tained that the unfortunate woman had sustained a frac tured leg in addition to several severe contusions, and she was conveyed to her home, in Oakley-street, in a most - - pitiable condition, AMERICA. ..... ---... A11.. - - - LONDONDERRY, FRIDAY NIGHT, .The Montreal Ocean Company's steamer Bohe mian, from Portland (Maine) on the 12th inst., has arrived, and landed all mails except those for Liverpool. The Anglo-Saxon and the Canada had arrived out. The Bohemian passed the North American on the 14th inst. Five vessels belonging to New York shipowners had been seized at Savannah in retaliation for the seizure of muskets at the former city. The vessels were, however, subsequently released on the muskets being given up. The Southern Congress had constituted a pro visional government, which would immediately enter upon its duties. No plan of compromise or reconstruction had been entertained. Mr. Jeffer son Davis had been chosen President, and Mr. Alex. H. Stevens, Vice-President. These actions had been endorsed by the Louisiana Convention. Tennessee had voted against the holding of a convention. It was expected that Fort Sumter would be attacked on the 12th inst. Government intended to send reinforcements immediately. Mr. Lincoln had started for Washington. It was thought . prope.ble that the Peace Confe rence at Washington would make its report on Le 12th inst. It was reported that the British consul at Ha vannah had been tarred and feathered, but the report was believed to be false. COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. NEW YORK, FEB. 9. Exchange depressed. Bankers' bills, 1051. Cotton sales, 1,100 bales middling upland, 11-1-. Breadstuffs drooping. Provisions quiet. Stocks dull; New York Central, 76 ; Illinois, 742; Erie, 32k. NEW ORLEANS, FEB. 9. Cotton has a declining tendency. Sales today, 4,500 bales midiling, 10t. LATEST BY TFLEGRAPH. NEW YORK, FEB, 11. Stocks buoyant ; New York Central, 761; Erie, 34,. Cotton dull and irregular. Breadstuffs slightly lower. Provisions dull. (From the New York Herald, Feb. 9 ) NEGOTIATIONS RESPECTING FORT SUMTER WASHINGTON, FEB. 8. The President of the United States, in a message trans mitted to both Houses of Congress to .day, says that all the correspondence which occurred in December last between the Commissioner from South Carolina and himself was sent in with his message of January 8. On the 14th of that month Colonel Hayne called and informed him that he was the bearer of a letter from Governor Pickens, which he would deliver next day. He (Hayne), however, was induced by the interposition of Hon. Jefferson Davis and nine other Senators from the seceded and seceding States, not to de liver the letter on the day appointed, nor was it communi cated to the President until the 31st of January, when Col. Hayne's letter of that date was also communicated. The letter of Hon. Jefferson Davis and the nine Southern Senators urging this delay bears the date of January 15, and was the commencement of a correspondence the whole of which, in the President's possession, he now submits to Congress. Most of these letters have recently been pub lished. The following is the concluding part of Colonel Hayne's letter:— COLONEL liAYNE TO THE PRESIDENT. Washington, Jan. 31, 1861. I advert to this point for the purpose of saying that to send reinforcements to Fort Sumter coull not serve as a means of protecting and preserving the property, for it must be known to your Government that it would inevi tably lead to immediate hostilities, in which property on all sides would necessarily suffer. South Carolinahas every disposition to preserve the public peace, and feels, I am sure, in full force those high Christian and moral duties referred to by your Secretary, and it is submitted that on her part there is scarcely any consideration of mere pro perty, apart from honour and safety, which could induce her to do aught to the prejudice of that peace, still less to inaugurate a protracted and bloody civil war. She holds her position on something higher than mere property. It is in consideration of her own dignity as a sovereign and the safety of her people which prompt her to demand that the property should not longer be used as a military post by a Government she no longer acknowledges. Sho feels this to be her imperative duty—it has, in fact, become an absolute necessity of her condition. Repudiating as you do: the idea of coercion; avowing peaceful intentions, and expressing a patriot's horror of civil war and bloody strife among those who were once brethren, it i 3 hoped that, on further consideration, you wil not, on a mere question of property, refuse the reasonable demand of South Carolina, which honour and necessity alike compel her to indicate. Should you disappoint this hope, the responsibility k3r the result surely does not rest with her. If the evils of war are to be encountered, espe cially the calamities of civil war, elevated statesmanship would seem to require that it should be accepted as the unavoidable alternative of something still more disastrous —such a national dishonour or measures materially affecting the safety or permanent interests of a people, that it should be a choice deliberately made and entered upon— war and its set purpose. • But that war should be the inci dent or accident attendant on a policy professedly peaceful and not required to effect the object which is avowed as the only end intended, can only be excused where there has been no warning given as to the consequence. I am instructed to further say that South Carolina can not by her silence appear to acquiesce in the imputation that she wee guilty of an act of unprovoked aggression on firing on the Star of the West. Though an unarmed vessel, she was filled with armed men, entering her territories against her will, with the purpose of reinforcing a garrison held within her limns, and against her protest. She for bears to recriminate by discussing the question of the pro priety of attempting such reinforcement at all, as well as of the disguised and secret manner in which it was intended to be eflected ; and on this occasion she will say nothing as to the manner in which Fort Sumter was taken, into the possession of its present occupant. The interposition of the Senators who have addressed you was a :circumstance unexpected by my Government, and unsolicited certainly by me. The Governor of South Carolina, while he appreciates the high and generous mo tives by which they were prompted, and while he fully approves the delay, which, in deference to them, has taken place in the presentation of this demand, feels that it can not longer be withheld. I conclude with an abstract from instructions just re ceived by me from the government of South Carolina : The letter of the President, through Mr. Holt, may be received as the reply to the question you were instructed to ask. As to his assertion of his right to send reinforce ments to Fort Sumter, you were instructed to say to him, if he asserted that right, that the State of South Carolina regarded such a right, whon asserted or with an attempt at its exercise, as a declaration of war. If the President intends it shall not be so understood, it is pro per, to avoid any misconception hereafter, that he should be informed of the manner in which the Governor will feel bound to regard it. If the President, when you have stated the reasons which prompt the Governor in making the demand for the delivery of Fort Sumter upon the pledge you have been :authorised to make, should re fuse, you will communicate that refusal without delay to the Governor. If the President shall not be prepared to give you an immediate answer, you will communicate to him that his answer may be transmitted within a reason able time to the government at this place (Charleston). The Governor does not consider it necessary that you (I) should remain longer in Washington than is necessary to execute this the closing duty of your (my) mission in the measures now indicated to you (me). As soon as the Gov ernor shall receive from you information that you have closed your mission, and the reply, whatever it may be, of the President, he will consider the conduct which may be necessary on his part. Allow me to request that you will, as soon as possible, inform me whether, under these instructions, I need await your answer in Washington, and if not, I would be pleased to convey from you to my Government inform a don- as to the time when an answer may be expected in Charleston. The following is Mr. Molt's reply : War Department, Feb. 6, 1861. Sir, —The President has received your letter of the 31st ult., and has charged me with the duty of replying thereto. In the communication addressed to the Presi dent by Governor Pickens under date of 12th of January, and which accompanied yours, now before me, his Ex cellency says :—" I have determined to send to you the Hon. J. W. Mayne, the Attorney-General of the State of S ou th Carolina, and have instructed him to demand the surrender of Fort Sumter, in the harbour of Charleston, to the constituted authorities of South Carolina. This de.. mend I have made of Major Anderson, and which I now make of ydu, is suggested because of my earnest desire to avoid the bloodshed, which a persistence in your attempt to retain the possession of that fort will cause, and which will be unavailing to secure to you that possession, but induce a calamity most deeply to be deplored." The character of the demand which was authorised to be made appears, Under the influence , I presume, of the correspondence with the Senators to which you refer, to have been modified by the subsequent instructions of his Excellency, dated the ai 2 ns 6 t v h ,pi „ oe a ph n e d hr tey r e ,s c at e yh. i svetelf rights o we u h r sa s o e e l e f vtehr o a n tt t ht h e, e e yr t iS m O s t a u h y m o f t b e Sumter i se of heldJanuary,th United States can be ascertained, and for the satisfaction of these rights, on the pledge of the State of South Ca r oli precisen a , you pur p a e r r e t authorised r e i u s r e d i n t s o t r u gi e v ni e .en th s? e a f s ull th s u co s pe m .' e ' difi T e h d e , y e e o ni u s h a a s v e a m e x i I p i r t e s s r syed man in t e t he demandf ol l following theeg s words urren :d—er" ofl d s o f n e not tress, but as the legal officer of the State, its Attorney • General, to claim for the State the exercise of its undoubted right of eminent domain, and to pledge the State to make good all injury to the rights of property which arise from the exercise of the claim," and lest this explicit language shbuld not sufficiently define your position you add, " The pioposition now is that her. (South Carolina's) law officer should, under the authority of the Governor and his Council, distinctly pledge the faith - of South Carolina to make such compensation in regard to Fort Sumter and its appurtenances and con tents to the full extent of the money value of the property of the United States delivered over to the authorities of South Carolina by your command." You then adopt his Excellency's train of thought upon the subject so far as relates to the suggestion that the possession of Fort Sumter by the United States if continued long enough must lead to a collision, and that an attack upon it would scarcely im prove it as property, whatever the result, and if captured it would no longer be the subject of account. The proposal, then, now presented to the President is simply an offer on the part of South Carolina to buy Fort Sumter and contents as property of the United States, sustained by a declara tion in effect that if she is not permitted to make the pur chase she will seize the fort by force of arms. He concluded as follows :—lf, with all the multiplied proofs which exist of the President's anxiety for peace, and of the earnestness with which he has pursued it, the au thorities of South Carolina shall assault Fort Su ter and peril the lives of the handful of bravo and loyal men shut up within its walls, and thus plunge our country into the horrors of civil war, th-n upon them and those they re • present must rest the responsibility. Your obedient ser vant, J. HOLT, Secretary of War. TO Hon. J. W. Hayne, Attorney-General of the State of South Carolina. THE LAST WORDS OF COL, HAYNE. Washington, Feb. 8, 1861.. The following is the rejoinder of Colonel Hayne to the communication of the Secretary of War, which was sent to the President to-day, not in time, however, to be sent with the documents which the President communicated 0' Congress this morning. It closes up the interesting correspondence which has been going on for some time, and precludes any hope of settlement, or of long preventing collision between the Federal and State authorities in the harbour of Charleston. Colonel Mayne expressed the opinion before leaving here that an attack would shortly be made upon Fort Sumter, and that it was the settled determination of the people of South Carolina to take that fort at all hazards. LITERATURE. The Constable of the Tower. By W. Harrison Ainsworth. Another instalment of this enthralling romance incomparably the best instalment that has yet appeared, as the narrative itself gives promise of proving when completed, the most resplendently elaborated of all 111 r, Ainsworth's historical-roman- tic masterpieces—adorns the newly issued March number of Bentley's Miscellany. Half a dozen more chapters have here carried us already deep into the intricate labyrinth of the plot. At every turn, too, in the maze of the story we come upon new characters, or better still (as will be seen im mediately), upon old, old friends, not in any way, happily with new faces, but rather with faces and forms, and even costumes, many of them long since delightfully familiar. In this way it is that, as we are accompanying at the romancist's instance the royal cortege attendant upon the Boy King Edward VI., while he is making the round of that half fortress, half prison, the grey old palace of The Tower of London, the Tower of which the nominal hero of this fiction is THE CONSTABLE, we come suddenly upon our little eltrich acquaintance XIT. While Edward was moving slowly along through the crowd, his atd ention was caught by a fantastic little figure, which at first he took for a monkey, but on examining the grotesque object more narrowly, he found it to be human —though the smallest specimen of full-grown humanity ho had ever set eyes upon. Attired in a tiny doublet of bright orange-coloured satin puffed out with white, with hose to match, the mannikin wore a scarlet cloth mantle lined with sky-blue silk, about large enough to cover the shoulders of a Barbary ape. In his hand the little being held a flat bonnet of green velvet, which he waved enthusiastically to the king. The dwarfs features were decidedly of a simous character, the nose being flat, with wide nostrils, and having a long interval between it and the mouth, and the hair being of a tawny hue, with a marked resemblance to fur. The position occupied by this gro tesque little personage was such as enabled him to overlook the royal party; he being perched on the broad shoulders of a gigantic warder, whose colossal frame towered far above the heads of the bystanders. _ _ _ Standing as a pedestal below which pert little manikin looms our burly familiar of days long ago— when Mr. Ainsworth's illustrator, instead of Johti Gilbert, was George Cruickshank—the giant warder OG—FROTITteR or GOG AND MAGOG. This tremendous son of A nak was quite as noticeable in his way as his pigmy companion —more so, perhaps. His features were broad and good-humoured; and - mightily pleased the king, who could not help regarding him with a certain degree of wondering admiration. .He was clad in the scarlet cassock of a warder, with the rose and crown embroidered on the front and back, and carried a partisan almost as long as the spear of Goliath of Oath. Later on here in the new narrative of our his toric romance writer. appears 'a more picturesque figure still in some respects (also vividly borne in remembrance in connection with he Tower of London) the sinister and repulsive form of MAULER THE HEADSMAN. Tho aspect and demeanour of this personage were savage and repulsive, and even the king's presence did not seem to inspire him with much awe, though he rose on Edward's appearance, and made 'a clumsy attempt at, an obeisance. The upper part of his frame was strongly, though not stoutly built, the arms being remarkably mus cular, but his lower limbs were less powerful, and he seemed to be halt of the right leg. His physiognomy was singularly repulsive, the nose 'being broad and flat, and the eyes fierce and bloodshot ; the forehead bald, and the hue of the skin dull and earthy. His cheeks were clothed with a shaggy black beard, and the sable locks left on either side of his head were wild and un • kempt. His habiliments were of red serge, but above his doublet he wore a leathern jerkin, which was sullied with dark stains, as if of blood. On his right hip he carried a broad two-edged knife, protected by a sheath. But the implement that proclaimed his revolting office was an execu tioner's axe. This ho had not the grace to lay aside, but continued to lean upon it while standing before the kind. Another axe, similar in size and form, was reared against the wall, and near it stood a two-handed sword, sometimes, though but rarely, employed in capital punishments. When the headsman arose, it instantly became apparent that the seat he had occupied was the block—and, more over, that it was a block which had been much used. Turning, however, from old friends and familiars like Xit and three giant warders of the Tower, we follow Edward VI., at the novelist's behest, into the privy garden early in the morning ; marking him as he strolls there, studiously conning the " Institutes of Justinian," referring occasionally to another ponderous tome, Braeton's "De Legibus," borne behind him by John Fowler, the Boy-King's faithful attendant—a wight of whom the writer whimsically observes— He was short and stout, by no means ill-favoured, and worn a reddish sugar-loaf beard. Fond of good cheer, he had usually a ruddy, jovial look, and a droll, good-humoured expression of countenance ; but his face was now pinched with cold, and his nose, large, knobbed, and mulberry-coloured, was literally blue with cold, and he had much ado to prevent his teeth from chattering. Here it is in the Privy Gardens of the Tower that Edward, then merely a stripling, meets and con verses with the Lady Jane Grey, then a young blooming slip of a maiden. This interview is charmingly described—as is another graceful scene a little later on introduced, more of a love scene than the one just particularised—the meeting between Sir Thomas`Seymour and the Princess Elizabeth, when the latter is conducted to the Tower, from Hertfordshire, by Sir Thomas • Seymour's half- Italian Es quire—Ugo Harrington. The contentions (for influence over the young King) between the two ambitious brothers, Sir Thomas Seymour, and his elder, the Earl of Hertford, the Lord Protector — and the contentions (for precedence in the courtly festivities) between the Dowager Queen Cathe rine Parr and the Countess of Hertford, wife of the Lord Protector—are alike admirably and powerfully depicted by Mr. Ainsworth. No man now living perhaps is better " up" in the period than the author of " The Tower of London," and its sequel, " The Constable" of that ilk—certainly no man is more admirably well acquainted with the manners and customs of those far off times—in which he moves like one familiar to the age and scene among clusters of his own creations intermingled with well-known and many of them world-famous historie,characters. " The Constable of the Tower"—we speak from our own experience —is already repaying, in the Reader's delight, for the evident care lavished upon it byrthe Romancist. DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT TIIE LATE GENERAL LveoN's.--BROADWAY, Feb. 21.—A fire broke out at the residence of the late Gen. Lygon, at Spring-hill, near this place, on Tuesday, which has proved most destructive. The house had been unoccupied, except by domestics, since the death of the General a few months ago, but on Tuesday morning the servants were aroused by a sense of suffocation, and on getting up they discovered that the butler's pantry was on fire. The house is situate in a romantic position on the Braadway Hill, but some miles from any town, so that some time elapsed before fire-engines could be brought from Campden, Broadway, and Moreton. In the meantime the neighbouring farmers and their :abourers were strenuously employed in rescuing the pictures, furniture, and valuables from the burning building, and by a judicious use of water they succeeded in preventing the fire extending to the principal suite of rooms. The late general's , bedroom, Earl Ileauchamp's bedroom, the pantry, and several other rooms near, however, were completely gutted. The property saved, however, was very considerable, said to be worth £!0,000. A telegram was despatched to Earl Beauchamp, at Madresfield, distant 30 miles, early in the day, and his lordship arrived at Spring .hill in the afternoon. By this time the firemen had obtained an ascendancy over the fire, and soon afterwards it was completely extinguished. Tho damage is estimated at between £;3,000 and £6,000. Of course the property is insured. The origin of the fire is not certainly ascertained, but is believed to have been caused by a beam in the chimney of the butler's pantry taking fire. SAGACITY CF A PONKEY.—The other day a poor donkey, with scarcely a shoe to his foot, was seen at Braunton, Devon, wending his way, as it was thought, homeward; but having to pass a smith's shop where he was always shod, the poor animal walked up the court to the shop-door, and there stood quietly, without company or any harness, until the hammer of the smith—who na turally thought that some person must have takes it there —commenced•work, and put a new set of shoes on, when the "poor patient ass" quietly walked home, apparently with much more case and freedom.— Western Morning Atkcs.