The Sun. — London, England, 1854-07-27 00:00:00

I A THE OV D MAIL part of the only two Europeans on board, and the greatest possible cowardice on the part of the Lascar • crew. The arms of the general were seized, the captain • of the ship was shot dead, and the mate wounded ; the vessel was taken by the Seiks, the crew were all mur dered, and the guard the same. The mate alone escaped and got to Rangoon to tell the tale. The ships ran on shore near Amherst, and all the convicts got off into the jungles. , From the Cabool correspondent of the Delhi Gazette, we learn that intrigu-s between the chiefs in Oentral Asia and the Russian Government are still going on. • Very little faith can be placed on these reports. But a . report which two months ago found its way into the • bazaars of British India seems to be confirmed by this Cabool news-writer. It is to the effect that a Russian force of 4,000 men had, in a country called Hoorgunj, dependency of Kniva, met with a Kokanee army of 12,000 men, and the Russians had been completely vic torious. So far as the dates of these native letters can be made out, this fight must have taken place some time in. March last. The King of Bookhara still con tinues his correspondence with the Russian and Per sian Governments. Nearer our own frontier, the famous Major Jacob, of the Scinde horse, has been on a political mission to the Khan of Khelat, a chief tain of great power, and to whom vast tribes of Beloochees and Affghans surrounding our Scindian frontier owe allegiance. The actual nature of the mission is not positively known, but it is supposed to be with reference to keeping the tribes near our froi tier quiet. At Peshawar, and in the adjoining countries, every thing is perfectly tranquil. Nor is there anything of note to report from the north-west provinces. The electric telegraph has broken down somewhere between Bombay and Agra, and for some time we have not had any despatch by that means ; from Calcetta. to Agra it is worth g well. In the Nizam's dominions matters are for more quiet than they have been for a very long time. Mr. Bushby, the British resident, seems to manage his Highness, as well as the Arab troops at 11)derabad, better than General Frazer used to do. It is stated in a Calcutta paper that the Company's currency is to be forthwith introduced into the Nizam's domi nions. The Governor-General is at Calcutta, and for th• present seems to have given up all intention of visiting the north-west provinces. The electric telegraph from the metropolis to Agra, and which in a day cr two will be in working order as far as Lahore makes it of little consequence whether his lordship re ' sides at Calcutta or the Punjab. Messages and orders, which formerly took nine days to accomplish, are de livered now in one hour. It is the same with ur Bombay Governor, Lord Elphinstone. He leaves the Presidency on the 22d for the Deccae, and will make the Govern ment-house at Dafoorie, near Poona, his head-quarters for the next three months. But having electric telegraph communication between the Secretariate in Bombay and his residence, Dafoorie, he will be able to communicate nearly as quickly with the Secretariate here as if he was present. Lord Harris, the new Governor of Madras, is ' takingsteps to put the establishment of public works in that presidency on a proper footing. A proclamation, an nouncing that the celebrated BliowTambekin is no longer to be emFloyed as Minister by the Guicowar, nor to be al lowed to reside in his highness's dominion, has been published by the Supreme Government. It appears, however, that with this declaration his highness has, in point of ? fact, had nothing whatever to do, but simply turned off the Minister to please the then resident, Colonel Outram. Three residents (Major French, Mr. Davies, and Mr. Seton Karr) declare that the Bhow was a faithful servant of the Guicowar, and was always on good terms with him. Colonel Outram, however, de clares him to be a rascal, and orders his highness to turn him off, and not allow him to live within the Baroda dominions. We have to record the death of two officers of the Company's service—Major John Watkins, of the 23d and Mr. Travers, of the civil service, sub collector of Alibaugh. The Money Market is easier than when the last mail left, but the trading season has closed. By the arrival of the Overland Mail private corres pondence, and files of papers have been received from Bombay of the 23d of June, Calcutta 13th of June, and China (Hong-Kong) 6th of June. This arrival also brings the missing China mail of 22d of May. BOMBAY, June 20.—Since the departure of the last mail on the 7th inst., there is little or nettle g to com municate. The south-western monsoon has fairly set in, and the rain is now pouring down in torrents. In consequence of strong breeze?, frern the south-west, the mail is despatched on the 20th instead of the 28th. In various Indian journals there are surmises of another Burmese war being likely to take place era long. But our friends in England may set their minds at rest on this subject. It is known from the very best source of information, that the officers in civil charge of the various districts of Pegu and Bur mah have one and all declared that the country has never been so quiet as it is now. Flying and most ab surd rumours have found their way into the papers re spectin r the King of Ava being confine!, and his war like brother, who hates the very name of Englishmen, having ascended the throne in his stead ; and also that the new ruler.had fitter out a fleet of a thousand boats, and in each of which he was going to place 25 men, and with this force attack the British force on the river, from the frontier to Rangoon. All this is purely imagi nary. The ately of the boats originated in the Kt g hay ing built 10 small prows for the use of his wive.. and otla y females of his harem. The latest date from Ran goon is of the 2,1 inst., and then everything was perfectly tranquil throughout the country. A new system of river police for the Irrawaddy has been proposed by the com missioners of those provinces, and sanctioned by the su preme Government; and it is supposed that this measure willl afford efficient protsction to life and property on the river. The gunboats hitherto used against dacoits are to be withdrawn, and canoes substituted in their place. The latter are propelled through the water with much more ease than the former. Each of these canoes is to be armed with a wall piece, and is to have muskets which the crew are to use if needed. The crew are to be Burmese; and the fleet is to consist of 25 canoes, five of which are to be stationed at Rangoon. five at Bassein, ten at Sarawak, and five at Prome. There is an inspec tor, on a salary of 250 rupees a month, stationed at Kanoung, and a deputy-inspector, on 100 rupees a month, at Isangwang, the southern point of the Irra waddy. The steersman in each canoe is to have 25 rupees a month, the prowmen 15, and the crew 10 each. The inspector and his deputy are to be Europeans. The steersmen Are to report to the deputy commissioner all cases of-dacoity or other crime coming under their ob servation. It is supposed that this new establishment will be very effective, and will relieve the troops in Burmah of a great deal of their present work. By this mail are sent home very full accounts of the mutiny on board the ship Clarissa, bound from Ran goon to Singapore with felons, chiefly condemned Seiks, from .the Seik regiments serving in Burmah It is another version of a very old and oft-repeated tale— frightful apathy on the part of the native guard, and great boldness and determination on the part of the pri loners; determined courage and self-sacrifice on the COMMERCIAL. CALCUTTA, June 13.—London letters of the 24th April Were delivered on the sth inst., and although it was satis factory to find the healthy Lone of the London Money- Market restored, and Consols buoyant, still the depression which had taken place in the several articles of Baltic pro duce, the speculation in which had given rise to corres- P 6 ncling operations on this side, had its natural effect, and caused a dulness in our markets, and led many to pause in their purchases. We have since received, by electric telegraph, via Agra, heads of intelligence by the London Mail of the 6th May, which, as far as we can judge, do not appear likely to alter the impressions made by letters of the previous date. Our accounts from the indigo districts are, as is often the ease at this season of the year, most uncertain ; the rain Which they so long wanted has fallen in such abundance as to threaten great mischief unless they should now be blessed with a su - ciency of fine weather, in which case doubtless the crop will be large ; but letters evidently show a considerable amount of alarm in the minds of many of the planters. CHINA. (From the Overland Friend of China of Tune 6.) The hiatus caused by the possible total loss of the mail by the Douro, with our summary for the fortnight ending the 23d ult., entails a recapitulation of the prin cipal events in China during the whole of the past month. The Peninsular and Oriental screw steamer Douro, the second day out from Hong-Kong, experienced a typhoon, in which, her funnel being washed overboard and other damage sustained, Captain Hederstedt re solved on bearing up for the port he had left. The fourth day out, the vessel struck on one of the Paracels, Where she hung when the boat left, which brought here two of the passengers and an officer, who, with a crew of five, in eight days travelled some 350 miles. The Malta, Which was to have taken the present mail, started for the Wreck within five hours after the receipt of the news ; ,We are told by one of the passengers, th a t w h en t h ey left, if the weather continued as it was, the vessel might "id together for a month ; and that he did not think the hull had sustained any material damage. Captain t federstedt had nearly completed two rafts, sufficient to carry all on board if the vessel broke up. The Douro's cargo consisted of some 1,600 bales of silk. The principal items of news by the lost mail were as follows :—Further proofs of the mendacity of the man agers of the Peking Gazette, and the great success, in stead of defeat, of the patriot army, now known to be °Perating in three grand divisions. Continued insur rection in the green tea districts, and approach of relief from Nanking to the holders of Shanghai, and mis cuievous conduct of the French Marine. Serious entente at Niugp o ; the crews of the Imperialist letters of • marque fighting with the Portuguese Lorcha men. In sUrrection at Ta.ichow, about 60 miles from Ningpo. Hard fightng under tbe:banner of Teen teh Wang, in the Fokien • Province. Death of the Mr. Brine who was shot in the attack on the Imperialist camp at Shanghai on the 4th of April. Arrival of crew and passengers of the wrecked Atnerican barque Sarah Moore. Arrival of Admiral Stirling, and movements of our ships of war in these seas, & c. _ To th e f orego i ng we have now to add the news of the fortnight ending this date. And here we have to re verse the usual order of our report, and, as undoubtedly most interesting at home, give, before our Chinese pro vincial intelligence, a detail of the progress and position of British arms in these seas. The Malta, with the d eclaration of war by combined France and &Wand against Russia, arrived on the 25th of May. Within an hour the blue peter was flying on board the Win chester, 50 guns ; Spartan, 28 guns ; and paddle steamer Barracouta, 6 guns ; and at sundown those :vessels left the harbour, bound, it wa, generally be lieved, in search of the Russian frigate Pallas, and cur vetted OliYontza, Dwina, and Aurora—all presumed to be hovering on the coast of China, waiting for the announcement of war, to commence offensive operations. Admiral Stirling, with commendable foresight, took due precaution in preventing the Russiati admiral from ob taining the despatches which had been kindly forwarded to him (by his agents here) in the British ship Akbar. It is said that before the Akbar reached Shanghai her mails were taken out of her by H.M. steam-ship Rattler, and that they now lie at the British consulate, Shanghai, under seal ; applications for letters by the several Rus sian officers there having been rejected until the declara tion of war or otherwise became known. The Russian steam-tender Vostock has been busy boarding vessels to inquire for news, and on one occa sion was within a . mile of H. M. steam-ship Styx, her vicinity having been hid by a thick fog. The Styx tried the Vostock's rate of going for an hour or two, and found that with two boilers on the lowest grade of expansion, it was quite possible to keep way with her. The Vostock ran away to the south-east, and has riot sine:: been seen, al thou.4h one report runs that she passed through Hong- Kong harbour only a few nights ago, and that boat-loads of provisions have been despatched hence to be put on board the squadron directly they arrive. Reports, how ever, were still, up to a week ago, being taken to Shang hai by Chinese fishing boats, of six Russian vessels as not far from that port, and, with a head wind to contend against, they can hardly be in Hong Kong under a fort night at the least. Indeed, the more we think on the matter, the more we feel certified that Hong Kong is not the place where Russians will make any demonstration, hard knocks and little pelf being all the substantiality they can at all anticipate. Apparently struck, however, with the want of defence, against Chi nese pi ra t es , o f which there are large numbers close to us, his Excellency the Admiral has directed the Spartan to return here. • The day after a grand ball at Government-house, given on the anniversary of her most gracious Majesty's birth day, his Excellency :Sir J..hn 13 .wring took his departure for Shanghai, in H.M. steamship Barra,couta, with the intention, it is said, of proceediug to Nanking so soon as the exigencies of the service permit the admiral to place a steam-vessel at his Excellency's dispoSal. During his absence the Government of the colony has devolved on the Honourable the Lieutenant-Governor. CANTON MARKET.-JUNE 4.. Teas.—The transactions (luring the mouth have been so trifling as scarcely to call for any remark. For the few country teas remaining holders demand extreme prices, and the new Canton teas are held at rates which prevent operations to any extent. FREIGHTS.—To England, 6/. to 61. 10s. To United States, 16 to 18 dols. IMPORTS.—Cotton and Woollens.—Business in piece goods remains at a complete stand-still. AUSTRALIA. SYDNEY, MAY 24.—TheGovernor-General returned from his tour to Moreton Bay and Port Curtis on the 10th of May, one day too late to prevent the little difficulty in which the Legislative Council had been placed by his absence. It met from its prorogation on the 9th, but found no official in structions as to what it was to do : it could neither proceed to business, nor prorogue itself again. The Colonial Secretary, Mr. Riddle ; proposed an adjournment for a month, it having been intended that the meeting for " the despatch of business" was not to take place till the beginning of June. This interval was thought too long, chiefly from an anxiety in the public mind as to the defences of the port and harbour, on which a communicati ,n from the Executive, at the earliest possible moment, was desirable. Finally, an adjournment for a week was moved and carried. The Calliope must have been almost within sight of _the Heads when the members were resolving the little legal puzzle presented to them, b t the winds and waves perversely delayed the Governor's landing till the following morning. On the 16th, when the Council re-assembled, his Excellency sent down the following Message : " The Governor-General, in announcing to the Legisla tive Council that he deems it expedient to prorogue the Council to Tuesday, the 6th of June now next, desires to express his regret that any inconvenience to the members and anxiety to the public mind should have been occa sioned by his unexpected inability to return from his visit to the Northern Settlement before the day to which the Council lately stood prorogued. His Exc elleney's move ments were regulated with a view to his return by the Ist of the present month ; but they .vere impeded by circum stances entirely beyond his control. "2. The Governor-General would gladly have availed himself of au earlier time for receiving the advice and assistance of the Legislative Council if he had seen grounds for participating in the anxiety which is stated to prevail on the subject of the defences of the port and city of Sydney; but his Excellency has great pleasure in stating that he is satisfied, from the ruo .t authentic sources of in forwatio❑ within his reach, that no immediate occasion for alarm exists. "3. FlOll3 this information it would appear that the accounts which have reached the co:ony with respect to the strength of the Russian naval force in the East Indian seas have bee❑ much exaggerated, as will be seen by the annexed return of the English, French, and Russian squa drons in the China seas. " 4. It has nut been in the Governor-General's power to obtain such anth'ntie intelligence regarding the Russian naval force in the Pacific ; but he has reason to believe that only one ship of war belonging to that nation is sta tioned there; while it is well known that the British and French squadrons in that vicinity are of considerable strength. "C. Under these circumstances the Governor-General does not deem it expedient to convene the Council for the despatch of business without giving the usual time fur preparation, and for the assembling of members from the country. Meanwhile his Excellency will cause the works of defence already commenced to be prosecuted with vigour, and will` secure the continued presence of one of her Majesty's ships of war. " Government House, Sydney, 16th May, 1854." The Council was then prorogued till the 6th of June. Though no business was done, these two short sittings will be reckoned as a session. THE (A,LONY OF VICTORIA. (Fro rt the Melbourne Argus, May 26.) The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamship Madras is expected to arrive to-day on her homeward passage ; and if she does so, she will probably sail again to-morrow at noon ; we therefore publish this morning the brief sketch of the condition of Victoria which we usually prepare for transmission by every favourable op portunity. The short summary by the Golden Age, dated the 4th instant, was prepared in a hurry, in consequence of our having only at the eleventh hour been informed that newspapers could be forwarded by that route. That summary did not therefore contain a statement of the weekly arrivals of gold by escort, and other details which we always endeavour to supply for the informa tion of our dis aut readers. In compiling the present summary we shall commence our historical record from the 25th March last, the date of our summary by the Chuan. We are enabled again to report favourably of the condition and prospects of the country. The present season hitherto has been a remarkable and pleasing contrast to that of last year. The country has been blessed with early and copious rains, which not only have produced a luxuriant growth of grass, before the winter frosts set in, but an unusual " period has been afforded for agricul tural labours. There are many indications of great pro gress in settlement. Large quantities of agricultural lands have been purchased, and fencing operations are in full vigour on most of the lines of road. Agricultural labourers and agricultural implements, seed wheat, and seed oats have been in great demand ; and it is certain that a very large additional breadth of land will this year be put under crop. Another good symptom has lately been exhibited, in spirited ploughing matches, and shows of stock and produce by the farmers in the neighbourhood of Melbourne and of other principal markets. THE GOLD. Since our last no new gold fields have been discovered, and the full va'ue of the new diggings at Tarrengower and Ouneo, of which we have previously spoken, has not been ascPrta,ined. It appears that the climate and :country at Tarrengower are naturally very dry, and the diggers have not, at the date of our la 4 intelligence, been able to make much progress with their accumulated washing stuff. At Oineo, in Gipps' Land, on the other hand, the country is so extremely wet, that comparatively little ca❑ be done till the height of summer. As a favourable circumstance we may mention, however, that a nugget weighing 19i ounces has been recently discovered at this new locality, ffording another instance of the great dif fusion of the precious metal throughout the colony. MAIKET NEWS-(TIIIS DAY.) GENERAL AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN For the week ended July 27, 1854, made up from the Returns of the In- pectors in the different Cities and Towns in England and Wales, per Imperial Quarter. WHEAT. I BARLEY. i OATS. BYE. I BEANS. PEAS. 71310,i 37i Id 3os 7d 47s 9d 48s Ild 145 s 4d THE SIX WEEth AVERAGE. WHEAT. BARLEY. I OATS. I I RTE. BEANS. PEAS. 76s ld 37s Od 30s 2d 495 4d 49s 4d 468 10d DITTIES ON FOREIGN CORN. WHEAT. I BARLEY. I OATS. I EYE. I BEANS. I PEAS. Is Od is Od Is 01 Is Od is Od Is Od QUANTITIES OF GRAIN SOLD LAST WEEK. Wheat, 45,948; Barley, 2,12; Oats, 5 775 ; Rye, 70 ; Beans, 1,964: Peas, 175 quarters. HAY MARKETS. SMITHFIELD.—Meadow hay, 2/ 8s to V 15s ; clover ditto, 31 Os to 61 Os ; and straw, 1/ 16s to 2/ Os per load. A moderate supply, and a fair demand. UuntnEßLANE.—Meadow hay, 2/ 10s to 51 Os ; clover ditto, 315 s to 51 15s ; and straw, 1/ 16s to 21 2s per load. Both hay and straw were in fair request, at full quotations. WHITECHAPEL.—Meadow hay, 218 s to 4/ 15s; clover ditto, 3/ 5s to 6 , Os ; and straw. 11 16s to 2/ Os per load. supply good, and trade rather dull. New meadow hay realised 503 to 755; and new clover, 65s to 95s per load. MEAT MARRET_§. NICIVGATR AND LEADENHALL.—The general demand ruled dull to-day, at the following quotations : Beef, from 3s cd to 4s 4d ; Mutton, 3s 2(1 to 4s 8(1 ; Lamb, 4s 4d to 5s 4,1 ; Veal, 3s 2d to 4s 8d ; Pork, 3s 4d to 4s 8d per Blbs, by the carcase. SouTHALL, July 26.—The show of stock was tolerably goo d, but in very middling conditi on . Th e t rade was h eav y, and in some instances, prices had a 'downward tendency. Beef, from 3s 4d to 4s 8d ; Mutton, 38 4d to 4+ 10 t ; Lamb, 413 4d to 5s 4d ; Veal, 3s 4d to 4s 8d ; Pork, 3s 4,1 to 4s 8(1 per Sibs. to sink the offals. ROMFORD, July 26.—T0-day's market was fair supplied with each kind of stock, which sold slowly, as fol lows • .—Beef, from 3 s 4 d to 48 8(1; Mutton, 3s 4cl 4s 4d to 58 6d ; V ea l , 3 s 2d to 4s 84 ; per Blbs. Q uar t er o ld St ore Pi gs, 2 t P o l o s ri t s o , 1 2 31 1 4d to each. 4s 84 LIVERPOOL, Wednesday.—At noon to-day the United States mail steam-ship Atlantic, Captain Briggs, sailed fro .1 the Mersev for New York with the usual bi-weekly mails for the Western Continent, 160 panengers, and a full cargo of illerchandist oh freight. SHARE MARKETS. (THIS DAY.) BRITISH RAILWAYS. leloslag Prices th Isiay . 23 - 24 5 - 54 9 - 10 11i-lod 17 18 , 7 -- 9 8 160 63 634 —16 A 12 14- * . a id 7 -- 8 17 - 18 13k - 332 1 35 - :37 25 - 27 64 - 66 5 3 - CO 24 - 26 66 - (8 891 - 75 - 77 126 - 128 96 - 98 79 - 791 ... ... 8 9 91 11. 13 o 11. —l3 p 66 64 1 — 64 it 14i : 151 169 i —llo4xn 104 i —105 i = 1 ) ) d 82 84 9 8 d 8 7d 23 - 24 .ci ga 38 40 i d par 6i —6,, 2 24 6 -- 8 50 52 3i 31 33i ... 344 par § P id 4 d 6i id 1 p 32 - 34 oi 95 53 60 65 70 65 - 70 24 - 2i 18 - .20 9 - 10 14 - 15 3i - 3itt 14 - 16 634 - 354 - 364 34 1 - - 86 3 -- 817 18 -- 19 4 - 5 23 - 25 6j - 6 ••• ... - 7 73i —74 i 7 6 r -- 4 3 d I 55 5 4 Sid i 1 ai 3 d id—ip ' -- 3 1) d 3i 2 p i d i P 40 1 6 i - 5 id per 18 19 id- ip • • • ..-• . ••• die ••• ••••. . Par..i pl . ... i d par •11. ..., . 7§ - 8 32a _ 32 8 := ' 17 1 --- 18 pi 45 :.. 7 40 -. 42 31 i -31 i Pin 221 1 d ' d 8 i -- • • • •• • - 1113, ..• -- 3 1 - 6 4 p .. • .... . ••• - 4i - ••• --- ••„ 45 - 46 ..• 65 - 70 88 92 i 4$ i --- id 20~ - 21 .. - ••• i -1i .... •••• ••• i••••• 1 Business done this day. I 17 id I- i P -Si— -34..— 36 — 7 lb THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 27, 1854. THE FLEET AT CRONSTAD±. The following is a more detailed report of the speech deliVered by Admiral Berkeley, on Tuesday 'night, in the House of Commons than appeared in our impres sion of yesterday : Admiral BERKELEY said, he should not have troubled the house with many words had it not been that the hon. member for Aylesbury had thought proper, in endeavouring to ,how his antipathy towards the head of the Government, to lay about him right and left upon every party belonging to it He was glad to see the noble lord the member for Marylebone return to his place. Both the noble lord and the hon. gentleman had attacked the navy, not sparing that depart men t t o w hi c h h e (Ad m i ra l B er k e l e y) had th e nour to belong. He would not indulge in insinuations, nor would he state facts which he could not vouch for. Ho would not follow the course of the hon. member for Aylesbur c, who stated things as facts, and, when they were contradicted was only the more determined in reiterating them. The hon. gentleman had complained of the Admi ralty having conferred a decoration on the gallant officer who had served at Odessa. He begged leave to tell the hon. gentleman that the decoration was not conferred upon that gallant officer for his conduct before Odessa, but that the late First Lord of the Admiralty had made up his mind to confer that honour upon him for the services he had performed at Lagos, and surely there could be no ob jection to Odessa being added to Lagos as a ground for that distinction. The hon. member for Aylesbury had stated that various sums of money had been paid for demurrage, owing to the delays of the Admiralty; he stated that between 20.000/. and 30,0001. had been paid in conse quence of those delays. He begged again to tell the honourable gentleman that no demurrage what , oever had been paid. It was true that transports which had taken the troops to Constantinople had been detained there in order to convey those troops to Yarns ; and he would ask the honourable gentleman, whether he would have sent those transports about their business, or would have retained them till the army no longer required their services ? The hon. gentleman was also very unfor tunate in his remarks respecting the Himalaya. That vessel, having performed its duty to the Government, returned to Malta, when it so happened the); the party who had char- ' tered her wished her to go to Alexandria, she not being wanted by the Government at that time to rettun with troops to Constantinople. She went to Alexandria, and then returned to perform those duties for which she had been engaged. The noble lord the member for Marylebone said, last night, that although the army as a demonstration was very good, it was not fit for action, and that the same observation applied to the navy. Now, he ventured to tell the noble lord, in the face of the house and the coun try, that we never had finer fleets, or admirals more firmly resolved to carry on the war in the manner which the country expected it to be conducted. Lord D. STUART assured the gallant officer he had mistaken his observations ; he had never said that the British fleet was not fit for action. What he said was, that it had not the vessels necessary to conduct operations in shallow water. Admiral BERKELEY.—Since the noble lord disclaimed the language, he would not further advert to it. The noble lord, however, proceeded to say that " There was a great deficiency of vessels of shallow draught of water and of mortars. He was assured that Cronstadt was accessible on the south side to vessels of very consider able size, and, that if 20 vessels with mor tars were sent there, the place might be successfully bom barded, and the Russian fleets and arsenals might have been laid in ruins before this, had the gallant officer in command of the fleet been supplied with requisite means by the Government, and not received orders to hold his hands. The noble lord likewise said, "Ho believed it would be possible to procure steamers of 200 tons, drawing only three feet of water, which would carry one or two heavy guns." Now the country would be extremely obliged to the noble lord if he would teach the Surveyor of the Navy how to build steam-boats drawing only three feet of water, which would be able to carry two very heavy guns besides engine boilers, coals, and stores. (" Hear," and laughter.) Thn as to the statement that Cronstadt might be suc cessfully bombarded by twenty vessels, he begged'to read to the house an extract from a letter written by the gallant admiral in command of the Baltic fleet. He had served with the gallant admiral; he knew his determination, and he was sure that he would leave nothing undone on his part to enable him to get at the enemy. (Hear, hear.) Before the noble lord again talked of knocking down Cronstadt, let him ponder on the passage he (Admiral Berkeley) was about to read. Admiral Napier said : "It has not been in my power to do anyth,ug with this powerful fleet ; for attacking either Cronstadt or Sweaborg would have been certain destruction." This was not all ; Admiral Chads—than whom no man possessed a greater amount of scientific knowledge—wrote also in these terms, — "After two days' inspection from the lighthouse, and full views of the forts and ships, the former are too sub stantial for the fire of ships to make any impression. They are large masses of granite. With respect to an attack on the ships where they 'ire, it is not to be entertained." It was said that the Government was not in earnest in the prosecution of the war, and that Sir Charles Napier had not been supplied with everything he wanted. Upon this point he must trouble the house with another extract from a report written by Admiral Seymour, who was Cap taro of the Fleet, and whose duty it was to see that the fleet was provided with everything necessary for the ope rations of war and the comfort of the seamen. Admiral Seymour wrote : Wo have never been any time in want of anything, thanks to the provident measures adopted by the Ad miralty." (Hear, hear.) The passages which he had. read proved how unfounded the statements were which hnd been made on the subject, and yet those statements, unless they re ceived a positiVe contradiction, such as that he had been able to give, made an impression on th 3 country. (Hear.) The Secretary-at-War had completely rebutted the erro neous statements put forth respecting the army, and he trusted that he had done the 50.0. e service for the navy. Only one observation further he felt it necessary to make respecting the noble l o rd' s i ns i nua ti on , th a t Si r C. Napier bad received instructions from the Government " to hold his hands." In the strongest language which man can use (continued the gallant Ad m i ra l) I declare—and as it is part of my duty to draw up orders for the admirals, I can speak with authority on this point—that there never was a British officer who had more completely a carte blanche to undertake what he pleased. So far from his hands being tied up by the Government, they have afforded him every encouragement to proceed. (Cheers.) 20 20 10 10 20 20 50 20 25 25 18 20 St. 12 St. 50 40 8I 2E; COURT OF ALDERMEN. A court was held for the despatch of public business. The TOWN CLERK read a letter, of which the following is a copy : "Charity Commission, 20, Duke-street, Westminster, July 14, 1854. " Sir,—l am directed by the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales to request that you will favour them with a copy of the minutes of proceedings taken on or about the mouth of February, 1852, before the Lord Chief Baron, on the matter of chanties relating to poor pri soners in the city of London, and which appears to have been printed by Arthur Taylor, the printer to the Cor poration. " An inquiry is now in progress before one of the in spectors into the City charities, and it is conceived that the evidence taken before the Chief Baron will afford him much assistance.—l am, sir, your ob e di en t servant, " H. W. VANE, Secretary. "To the Town Clerk of the City of London." Referred to a committee. THE THAMES STEAM-BOATS. Alderman LAWRENCE said the crowdine, of steam boats had become a mat ter of g reat anxiety within the last few days. The Commissioner of the City of Police had withdrawn from the service of looking after the steam vessels which received and landed their passengers the two officers who had for two years performed very im portant duties to the public in the situations within the amity district. It was to be regretted that those officers had been withdrawn from a service so beneficial to the community ; but the Commissioners had, upon being written to on the subject, replied that he could spare two men from his force to apply themselves to that sort cf labour. THE CITY BEAL. Some conversation took place upon the resolution of the Secondaries and'City Courts. Committee of the Corn• mon Council, for a conference relative to the mayoralty seal. It concluded in a determination to refuse to hold a conference upon that subject, upon the ground that it involved one of the essential privileges of the Court of Aldermen. Alderman Wilson and Sir Peter Laurie urged upon the court the necessity of m detaining without violation the privileges of the court at a period when there ap peared to be in most important. quarters a strong dispo sition to abridge, and indeed to destroy them altogether. EXTRA CONSTABLES WITHIN THE CITY. The Recorder stated his opinion relative to the admis sion of extra constables within the city of London, and warned the court to be cautious as to the admission of such constables, lest by error in the mode of admission under the custom they might be placed in serious diffi culty and responsibility. LLOYD'S SHIPPING-(THIS DIY.) LONDON, July 27.—Wind this day at Noon, S.E ; light pleasant breeze, and cloudy. DovER, July 26.—Wind, E. Arrived—Marianne, from Tarante, for Hull. RAMSGATE, July 26 . -- Arrived—Friendship, from Havre, for London, with mainmast unshipped and bulwarks and stauncheons carried away. PORTSMOUTH, July 2 6.—Wind, E. Arrived—H.M.S. Athol, from Ascension ; Louisa, Callao. Sailed—Owen Glendower, for Bombay. SOUTHAMPTON, July 26.—Wind, S.E. Arrived—Cl menco Louisa, from Buenos Ayres ; Rainbow, Queb ec . COWES, July 26.—Wi n d , S.E. Arrived—Emma and Louise, from Havannah. PLYMOUTH, July 26.—Wind, S.E. Arrived—Penelope, from Akyab, for Antwerp ; Lady Peel, Quebec ; Clio, do. ; Elizabeth, Dordt, for Antw erp ; D uchess of North ampton, London, for Hob ar t T own ; Vimeira, do., for S ydney, N.S.W. Off Port—Euphemi a , f rom Bombay. HARTLEPOOL, July 25.—Wind, N.E. Sailed—Theresa, for. Bengal. CRYSTAL PALACE, WEDNESDAY.—`SHILLING DAY,__ Admission at the doors, 12,219 ; admission by season tickets, 822. Total, 13,041. LIVERPOOL, Wednesday.—At noon, to-day, the United States Mail steam-ship, Atlantic, Captain Briggs, sailed from the Mersey, for New York, with the usual weekly mails for the Western Continent ; IGO, passengers and a full cargo of merchandise on freight. DEATH FROM EATING SWEETMEATS. —On Tuesday inquest was held in Bethnal-green, before Mr. Ba‘ er, on the body of a young girl, aged thirteen, who had been in the habit of eating an excess of sweets, and who died on Saturday last from mortification of the stomach, which was shown by the medical evidence to have arisen from the poisonous ingredients used in colouring the sweets, of which deceased had largely partaken. Ver dict accordingly. The fatal accident which occurred to a female at one of the stations of the A teuil Railway appears to have been caused by her own imprudence. Having dropped a valuable pocket handkerchief, which she held in her hand, she alighted, thinking she could have time to pick it up before the train started, but just as she was in the act of stooping for that purpose, the train moved, Liad she,vras struck on the head so violently,.that she was kiled oh the spot. 20 25 100 100 20 20i! 100 20 all all 100 100 t/ is 2/ 2s 100 100 100 100 2/ 2s all 16i 100 all 81s. 100 20 13§ 100 all 3 8 2s. 18 10 all Ritt.wAre. Aberdeen Anibg Nottng. Bost and Eastn. Junct Belfast & Ballymena Birming. Wolverh. & Stour Valley Birkeuhd. Lancsh tlt Cheshire Junct Do. Chesh. & Birk., £5O and £25 Cons. Do., £20....... Blyth & Tyne original £25 (issd. at £45 ) Bristol and Exeter Caledonian Chester & Ilolyhead. Cork and Bandon Cork, Black, &Pass ' Cornwall Crieff Junction Dublin&BelfastJunc Dundee Perth &Aber deen Junction Do. New East Anglian.... Do., (XlB E dz ID_ Eastern Counties Eastern Union, A Stock .. De., B. Stock Do., New A rasi Lancashire Edinburgh & Glasgow Edinb. and Peebles Edin. Pith & Dundee ( a o s t g h o w & & C S lye..de e J s o u r Great Northern . Do., A. Stock Do., B. Stock Gt. Sth. B:West.(lre ) Great Western Irish South-PAstern. Lancaster & Carlisle. Do., Thirds Do. New Thirds Lancash. andYorksh IDo Fifths D 9. , Wst. Riding Un Leeds Northern Liv.Crsby.&Southpt London & Blaekwal Lond. Tilb. &Sthend. Loud. Bright & S.Cst. Loud, and N. Westn. Do. Fifths _ Do.lo/.5h.,.M&8 * * * Do. Eighths London and S. Westn Do., £5O Do., £49 Lndndrry& Coleraine Lndndrry. & Ennisk. nanch.Shef.& Litwin Do., Man. & Liu. Un Midland Do. Birmng. &Derby Midld. G. West. (Ire.) Do. Half Shares Newcastle & Carlisle Newmarket Do., Bury Extension N wpt.Aberg. & lirfd Newry & Enniskillen Newry Warrenpoint and Rostrevor Norfolk • Northn.Connties Un North British North Devon, No. 1 Do., No. 2 Do., A Deferred Do., B Guaranteed North London po. New £lO N. &S. Wstrn. , II amp. stead, and City Jn., North Staffordshire , North Western N. & S. Westrn. June, Nuneaton, Hinckley and Leicester .. ...... Oxford, Worcesteic Wolverhampton Portsmouth Scottish Central Scottish Midland Shrewsbury & Bit mg Do. L. & N. Western Guaranteed St (,a Shrewsby. di flelefd Shrewsby. & Cheste) (N. W. Min,; Do. lialves,i Do. Oswestry 'Shropshire Onion Do. A, B, C,& D,fulfy paid up at per cent South Devon South Eastern South Wales S. Yrksh. & Riv. Dnn Do.. Staines, Wok. &Wok Stockton & Darling Stockton & Hartlepl Taff Vale Do. .£lO shares. Do. Pref., No. 1 Thames Haven Dock and Railway Vale of Neath Watered. & Kilkenny Waterford&Limerick West Cornwall IWest End of London and Crystal Palace West London Wimblcdn & Croydon I York Newctl. &Berw.j Do. Extensions Do. G.N.E. Purchase York& N.Midland•... Antwerp&Rotterdam Belgian Eastu. June Beziers to Graissessac Bombay, Baroda, and Central In dia,Scrip Central of Italy Charleroi & Erquelin Demerara Dijon and Besancon Dutch Rhenish East Indian Do. Ertension Gt. Indian Peninsula :3d. Junct. of France Grd. Trunk of Canada Do. Debentures Do. d 0......, Gt. Central of France Gt . Western o f Canada 5hare5........... Do. Bands (Ist is.rs7 Hamilton & Toronto IDo. 6 per cent. ...... Lake Coust. &, Basle Lucca & Pistoja 5 p.c. Luxembourg ........... Do. (Railway) ..... Do. _ ....... Do. (Cana1),,,....."' . ........ . Do. 6 p. et. pref...... Lyons and Geneva Lyons & Mediterran. vladras Maria Antonia ........... Do. do. New .... Melbourne Dlt. .. R y , Namur it Liege (wits interest) ............. Do. (ex interest) N o rthern of France Do. 201. 3 p. c Bds. (fmy. . B. dti Ams. Shs., NorwegianTrunkPrel Paris and Ly0n5...... Ditto Bonds Paris and Orleans.... Paris and R0uen...... Paris and Strasbourg ParisCaen (I; Cherbrg. Quebec & Richmond Rouen and Havre..... Royal Danish ......... Royal 5wedi5h......... Sambre and Meuse... Do. 54 p. cent. Pref. Southern of France.. St. Andrew's and Quebec (A) ......... West Flanders........ Do 5} per c. Pref... Western of France... West. of Switzerland Wiesbaden ............ 1 Zealand ...............I Aubin Coal and Iron tustralian A gricult. Australsn.Pcific.Mai l Australn. Royal Mail Berlin Water Works Brit. American Land Brit. & Coln. Smeltg. and Reduction Co Canada Crystal Palace Do. New.... ...... Crystal Pal. of France Eastern Steam Electrit Telegraph(A) Do. (B) Electric Teleg. of Ir Gen. Steam Navigat General Screw Steam Irish Beetroot Sugar Magdalena St. Navig. Nat. Pat. Steam Fuel Netherlands Land N. S. W. Coal & Inter Steam Navigat. Co N. B. Australasian Do. New Nrth. ofEuropeSteam Peel Rr. Ld. & Mimi. Peninsular& Oriental Do. Do. Portland Iron Co Royal Mail Steam ... Scot. Austral.•lnveet. South Austral. Land Submar. Telegraph.. Do. Registered. - Iran Diernesz Land 100 5 100 all 5 10 St. 5 all all [OO all 68 70 St. St. 20 St. 1001 100 100 100 100 all 100 10 25 10 ..0.6 4i i 21 i Shr. Paid. Rarmars. Leasing Closing Prices Business Compass. this day. this day. 50 all Bedford and London & Bletchley . , N. West. St. 100 B uc k g h ams h. L.&N.W. 95 100 50 all ClydesdaleJc. Caledon... 96 93 St. 1.00 E. Lincoln gr 6 per cent. Gt.Nrthn. 134 137 25 all Glas. Barr. & Caldonian. Neils. Direct 25 all Do. New Do ••• 25 all Glstr.dt Dn.Fr Gt. Westn 28 30 100 all flrtlpl. Dk. &n. New. Railway & Berw. 50 all Bull & Selby Y. &NMd 103 105 25 all Do. Shares. Do sl— 524 124 all Do. ; Shares. Do 251 264 13i all Lon.&Greenw S. Eastern 124 --134 20 all Do. Preferenc e Do 234 244 20 100 Lowestoft gr. 4 per cent. Norfolk „, 20 WO Do. 6 per ct. 54 all Vlanch. Bxtn. L.&N. W. ••• and Matlock & Midld. 2 - 21 50 all Nliddlosbro' & Stckton Redcar . Darlingt. .•. lOf all Ilidld.Bradfd Ilidland.. 93 95 50 all Northern and Easternsp.e. E. Count. 57 59 50 •k, Do. 6 per ct. D 0......... 50 all Do. Fixeds pk Do ... 25 all Brest. & Wyrc L. &N.W &Ln&Yk 12i 12 Do. 1 Shares. Do ••• St. 100 Etoystn.& Hit. GtNorthn St. 100 Do.Shepth.St Do 134 137 25 18$ Shef.Rothao6 Lancash& Goole g. 5 p.c. Yorksh. • . 12 94 3. Stallordsh. 11.MClean lid 50 all Wear Valleygz stockt. & 6 per cent... Darlingt. , 25 all Do Do St. 100 Wilts&Somrst,GtWestn 9l 93 PREFERENCE SHARES. Aberdeen . Do. No. 2, p. c. Blyth and Tyne 10 per c. pref. (issd. at 501) Brie. & Ex. 4 p. c. St. Do. 4 p. c. Shares Caledonian £lO Chester & Holyhead Guar. 5i per cent Cork &Bandens4p.c Dundee Perth &Aber deen Junction EastAngliaa (1210 s) 6 per cent Do. (X 5) 7 per cent • Do. (.47 17s) 7 p. c. Eastern Counties Ex tension, 5 p. c. No. 1 Do. No. 2 . 95 - 97 li id ••• "'• • 31 - 4 - i - 1 - 131 - Do. New 6 p. c. St. Eastern Union, Scrip Guar. 6 per cent Do. W. 10 per cent. Do. 10/. Debentr.Sh- East Lancash. 6 p. cts. East and West York shire June. Pref... Edinb Pith. &Dundee 1 1 1p p l 13 1 a 22 - 24 • •• ... •••• 4 per cent. Glasgow& S. Western 31 - 3i Guar. 5 per cent... Great Northn. 5 p. c. Do. 5 p. c. Redeem. , at 10 p. c. prem... Do. 4i p.c. Scrip.... Gt. N. of Scot. Ist Prat Gt. Southn. &Westm. (Ireland) Eighths)... Do. 4 per c. Pref. Sh. Gt. Westn. (Berks & Hants Ex. 5 p. c).. Do. cov. red. 4i p.c. Do. con. red. 4 p. c. Dc,. irred. 4 p. c. Lan. &York. F. £2O Do. 6 p. c. Stock Leeds N. 6 p. c. No.l Do. Quarters, 1848 London and Brighton, Guaranteed 5 p. e Do. Pref., 5 p. e. St. • o. Convertible, 5 p. 116 -- iiT c., 1852 " Do. New Guar.6 p. c. Lon. &N. W., Coy. & Nuneaton London & S. Western! Con. Thirds. Londonderry& Coler Shares Londy. & Sb %fan. , Shef., & Lin.; Shares, No. 1. Do. New, £lO Do. £6 Vlarypt & Carl. 4 p, c. Do. 4i per cent Do Aid. Consol.6 p.c.St. 'Do. Consol. Bristol & %rm. 6 per cent , Do. Pref. 4i per cent Norfolk Debenture Do. Prof. 4 p. c. Stock Do. 5 p. c. Ext Do. 5i per ct.pref Do. Way. Val. 5 p. c North British North Staffordshire ! Oxford, Worcester, & Wolverh..£ls, 6 p.c Do (Scot. Cent., New Pret Shrews. & Birm.N.G. Shrewsby. & Chester (Nor.W.Min), 8 p.c. Do. 5 per cent !South Devon. fixedoli per cent S. Eastern (Reading Aim.) of £1 Os. 6d. Do. 4 ipar cent. S.Yorksh.4p.c.Guar Stockton and Dar- lington, 4 per cent Do. do. do. Stockton and Hartle- pool, guar. 5 p. c. till Ist July, 1856 Waterfd.&Kilk.6p.c. York, Neweastle,and Berwick,4 p.c. Pref Do York&N. MicilandH. and S. Purch [lO - 112 Al - 103 6 - 64 96 98 88 90 92 04 Id par 135 137 ..• """ ••.• 2i - 3 p 6i - 7i 10 - 10 i - iP .36 138 lg id ••• ..... ••• 90 - 93 ... -- .+. in - 113 10 -- 11 164 -- 174 10 -10 i 11 -- 13 id -- p .00 --103 23i 104 5i FOREIGN. per cent. I in ittgua Fria Anglo Austrin. Gold Anglo Californian Australasian Australian Australian Cordille Australian Freihold Ave Maria Baden (Gd. Duchy oi) Blaonarvon Ir. & Coal isritish Austrin. Gold British Iron Brazilian Imp. (issued at .C 5 pm Do. Cocacs & Cuiada Do. St. John Del Rey Carson's Creek Clarendon Con. MM Co. of Jamaica Cobre Copper Colonial Gold Copia.po ,2opper Miu. of Eng, Do. Pref. 7 p. cent. English and Austrin Copper Smeltg. Co General Great Nugget Vein, Do. Registered , Great Polgooth Liberty Linares L.ond.&Californ.Gold Quartz Crush. Co INfariquita Ylexican&S.Amerien New Granada INew Linares Mining and Smelting Co Nouveau Moude Pontgibaud Silve , Lead Min. & Smelt Port Philip Quartz Rock Ithymuey Iron Do. New Santiago de Cuba .''.outh Australian Tin Croft United Mexican Waller West Granada West Mariposa Worthing Mining of Australia... .... : Yuba JOINT-S! Xustralasia British Colonial Bank and Loan Company British N. American Chartd. Bank of Asia Chrtd. Auk. of India, Australia, & China Colonial Commercial of Lond English Scottish and Australian Lond. Chart. Bk. of Australia London and County London Joint Stock Lond. & Westminster National Provincial of England Do. New National of Ireland New South Wales— Oriental Bank of Corporation..„•••••• Do. Now P rov i nc ial of Ireland Do. New Loyal Australn.Bkg & Gold Imp CO south Australia Union of Australia.. Do. Now Union of L0nd0n...., 50 50 100 100 20 50 20 25 20 10 20 35 5 25 all 1 83 - 85 ..•i - i - ... ' 3 —lid 201 -- 21 ...... ••••••• 45 - 47 41 -• 43 71 - 73 Bii 6 47 6 xd 72 WESLEYAN CONFERENCE.--The sitting of the Wes leyan Conference commenced at Birmingham yesterday. The Rev. John Farrar, classical tutor at the Richmond Institution, was elected president for the ensuing year. He obtained 125 votes; the Rev. J. Egelin 6$ • Easi the Rev. IVwer Totes. mowed _ _ LITERATURE. Katharine Ashton. By the author of " Amy Her bert," " The Experience of Life," &c. 2 vols. Longman. Among those who make it their study or their pleasure to be well read in, the literature of the 1 present day, there are few who do not yield a high place in their regard to the writer of this story. It is not to her skill in the delineation of characters, although they are natural and life-like ;it is not to any remarkable events ; yet they here and there arrest the attention, that we must attribute her renown or account for her success. It is from a higher source and a better that she derives the interest that enchains the attention, and the influence that directs the thoughts. The motives of men's actions, the effects that ensue from the simplest events, the power the meanest member of society can exercise over it, in use or abuse, are all carefully registered and accurately demonstrated. No imaginary joys are shown, and no exaggerated sorrows appear. The light and darkness, the sun and shade of life, are seen each in its turn. Katharine Ashton has the same characteristics of style as the preceding works, but there are also novelties to be met with. Colonel Forbes is a character that has not hitherto appeared in the foreground in any of her pictures of home-life ; and the evil consequences resulting from his peculiar mode of selfishness are admirably shown forth. Possessed of a kind disposition and a loving heart, with high principles and an unde viating sense of honour, he yet rendered himself unhappy, and caused his amiable and excellent wife the greatest' misery. Indeed, his capricious and cruel conduct prevented her enjoying that repose and mental quietude absolutely essential to her very existence. So as fully to illustrate the meaning of her remarks, the authoress has depicted Jane, Mrs. Forbes, as being of too yielding and passive a nature.- In order rightly to have influenced Colonel Forbes, his wife should have risen superior to unpleasant scenes, and have shown herself indifferent to trifling ebullitions of impatience and vexation. Her desire to make all things straight created for her an exceedingly crooked and rugged road. It was precisely in this point that Katharine the he-. roine differed from her friend. She knew the right, and unflinchingly pursued it. Jane pos sessed the calm gentleness and meek endurance which seem to be saint-like; but Katharine Ashton, with her spirit of truth and fervour of resolve, evinced the noble courage which in more exa lt e d or fortunate circumsta nces has made glorious the hero and immortalised the martyr. It was indeed a bitter lesson—one that might well teach pride its hollowness, and show ambition its impotence--that the great man of the world had to learn from the simple country maiden. With all his wealth and his power, his high station and his deservedly good name, with friends among the good, the great, and the gifted, he felt himself nothing in the pre sence of Katharine. She did not bend to his grandeur. In outward things he was her superior, but she knew that to be the effect of chance ; and while she paid him all due respect was neither abashed nor afraid. But Colonel Forbes felt that he was immeasurably the inferior in what his good sense and accurate judgment told him was the true and the valuable in human nature. In pure and perfect unselfishness, above all things, was the marked difference manifested. What even the greatest affection could not persuade him to do in the least, a high sense of duty enabled her to per form to the utmost extent. The concluding scenes are powerfully sketched. It is but in accordance with reason that such long existing feelings must have a difficult and dilatory uprooting. It is face to face with death that he was first struck with the awful importance of the life he had been leading. Suddenly laid on a bed from which he might never rise again, with all his busy hop es an d plans of ac tive life fresh in his mind and uppermost in his thoughts; how strange to contemplate the great change before him. Jane had seemed dying for a year, but he was so strong and vigo rous th at such a casualty neve r occurred to him before. Not that he feared death. He feared nothing, but he was ap palled at the vision of his life as it rose before him. Jane, on her side, saw too late how very wrong her conduct had been, but her last hours were soothed by the hope that her mistake had resulted principally in suffering to herself, and by the pro mise of a better spirit having influence and sway in the life and actions of her husband. Katherine Ashton had many trials and vexations in her life previous to her living with Mrs. Forbes. Her father and mother died rather suddenly, and her only brother married an old school-fellow and friend of her youth, but one who was most uncon genial to her in every way. To add to the an noyance they were all compelled to reside together on a small farm that John Ashton had very un wisely taken on his foolish marriage. At last, to complete the confusion and dismay, the little household was broken up, and the imprudent and inexperienced young couple set off to Australia to make their fortunes, as they supposed. Katherine would not accompany them ; she felt it to be un safe and insecure to do so, and she had ties in England. Many dear friends she had known from childhood, besides an attachment which, though apparently hopeless, she could not bear to give up entirely. Charles Ronaldson she had known for a very long period, and although he had seemed strange in his manners at first, and alto gether too unpolished and uninformed to be her equal, he returned after a long absence greatly improved. Still the barriers her former coldness interposed between them remained, and for a long time all was uncertainty and disquietude. She had a hard struggle with herself to decide whether or not she would offer herself to be Mrs. Forbes's maid. It was decidedly going down in the opinion of many, but then again she was free to decide for herself, and she was sure of a good position in Jane's household. For Colonel Forbes himself, although he did not like her, was al ways courteous in his bearing—she would have nothing to apprehend from him. The sequel justi fied her ideas of her duties ; all respected her be cause she knew how to respect herself. Katharine Ashton dignified her position; her position did not dignify her." It was a sweet and sustaining thought to carry with her through her after-life, to take into her new home, and remember in her sorrows and joys, that she had been the ministering spirit and guardian angel of one who had claims upon her gratitude and affection. By the exercise of her tact and observation much had been effected in a simple manner - she had procu re d f or J ane what she much needed, rest, and she had stimu lated Colonel Forbes to what was still more essen tial, reflection. To have shed peace on a troubled soul, and to have rendered blessed the passage to the grave, to have influenced and inspired one des tined for a long career of importance and interest, to the best and the highest, was not to have worked in vain. The success that crowned her labours was not apparent to every one, but the mission was not the less pure from being undefined in mark and invisible in goal. It was planned in the solitude of her heart; it was carried on amid hidden sacrifices, in prayers and tears; its witnesses were the " unseen and the eternal;" its results were not for earth but heaven. It was re marked by the authoress in a former work, wh en the heroine was seeking to put away all cares, that " the deep tides of the Jordan can never cease to flow between the toils of the wildern ess d and the rest of the land of promise." This feeling en influences all her narratives of domestic life in all its details; simple or grand, young or old, mediocre or gifted—all are introduced as the heirs of suffer ing. Trial and trouble were about the path and over the home of Ruth and Madeleine in the country parsonage, .of Amy Herbert in her uncle's family, of Gertrude in the h career of Margaret Per civalfailure of her day-dream, of the Earl's daughter t in her father's princely e abode, and, above all, is the darkness visible. Yet in this twilight atmosphere the reader may perceive a calmn ess , a serenity, a cheerfulness, and satisfaction not often found in brighter scenes,. .nor always met with in most a f us r picious circumstances. The the most part make their what seem the heroes and heroin such en deavoursandtohe recompence- of first object duty, is wisely shown to be peace and not The motto of Katharine• pleasure. Ashton is, behaviour low, thy projects high." " Pitch thy Such is the tenour of the maxims laid down and the precepts inculcated. There is no selfish sorrow tolerated, and no repining spirit allowed ; but the young are instructed how to meet dangers instead of sinking under them. They are shown that life i s full of troubles, many of which can be mitigated by patience and perseverance, some of which must be borne with resignation, and none of which are so great but that with faith and trust they may not be robbed of their sting and victory. ----- Syria and Palestine in 1851 and 1852. 2 vols. By C. W. M. Van de Velde. Blackwood. Sorry are we to say it, but the impression pro duced en our mind by this exquisitely " got up" work is that of cant, cant, cant —or, to speak other wise, of unmitigated religious affectation. Ac cording to the title-page, we learn that the writer of these vo l umes was lately a lieutenant in the Dutch Royal Navy, and that lie is a Chevalier of the Logion of Honour. He is evidently a prying traveller and a garrulous correspondent. But for all that we could learn from the text itself, we might have supposed, not unreasonably, that the author was a veritable double of the redoubtable Praise-God-Bare-Bones. We have al ready remarked that the " getting up" of the work, in the homely phrase of the book trade, is worthy of all comm en- . dation. It is so. Binding, paper, illustrations, iudices, typograpbl.lll 3,„re wouderfully CreilaitaDie both to the skill and taste of those employed on the Messrs. Blackwood's eminent establishment. The work itself, however, whether as a religious comment or as a literary production, is to our thinking, th e very reverse of all this. It is no thing less than an elaborated diatribe extending over upwards of one thousand pages octavo--sneer after sneer, vituperation after vituperation, against many millions and tens of millions of believers in Christianity. Those who do not exactly coincide with the particular tenets admired by Mr. C. W. M. Van de Velde are to him literally anathema maranatha. His own individual belief is the " ear of corn," or the " stream of water," the one uni versally applicable and infallible criterion. Those who coincide with him are the true Gileaditeq—all the rest of mankind, tripping in articulation over that inexorable shibboleth, are Ephraimites, Pariahs, Lepers, Idolaters, Outcasts, Blaspheme rs . Every thing good and blessed is, on his side, every thing vile and detestable on the side of those with whom he cannot conscientiously hold communion. At the close of the second volume there is an astonishing catalogue of Scriptural quotations —the holy seasoning sprinkled lavishly through this enormous mass of sanctimonious uncharitableness. It savours not to our palate—we must avow at once —even with the squanderings of that same holy seasoning. Rather we should say at once, the con tinual application to the purposes of sectarian malignity of those sacred utterances from Holy Writ appears to us nothing less deplorable than a deliberate and systematic profanation. The work is a mistake from first to last. It consists of a series of slovenly epistles, penned while the traveller, in 1851 and 1852, was journeying through Syria and Palestine. It affords the reader no new informa tion. It strings together a confused mass of old threadbare particulars, and does this, it would seem, only for the purpose of enabling the author to cover the various religionists with whom he can not exactly sympathise with a thousand exceed ingly heavypages of fanatical abuse and unmitigated misrepresentation. We cannot for the life of us believe in a race of monstrosities. Occasionally, of course, mankind may be horrified by the apparition of some dread abortion. But cases like these are only excep tional. Th e kin g d om o f t h e anthropo phagi, or men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders," has yet to be discovered. A pig-faced lady does not appear in every generation. The living skeleton was a creature to be wondered at once upon a time—but the like of it has never been heard of since, thank Heaven. Mr. Waterton, it may be remembered by some, gave as a frontispiece to one of his charming volumes, the effigy of some thing between a man and an ourang-outang, and which he designated, for want of a more definite title, a " Nondescript." We don't remember ever to have heard of a brother or sister, or an aunt or cousin, of the Nondescript spoken of by our accom plished naturalist. An old saying tells us that the Devil himself is not so black as he is painted. The traveller who has penned the " Narrative" before us seems, however, to be of a wholly different opinion. He appears to have discovered mon strosities, and abortions, and horrors, without number, a whole multitude or nation of anthro pophagi. Not, however, in the mountains of the moon, or among the worshippers of Mumbo jumbo ; neither in Central Africa, hard by the wondrous regions beyond the half-fabulous Timbuctoo • nor yet again in the hithert o unpene trated wild s of Australia, the domain of the rico chetting kangaroo and the vermin-nourished aborigines. Not there, but in the Holy Land, in Syria and in Palestine, in the sacred haunts of the Redeemer, in the village of His birth, in the city of His death, in the garden of His prayer, on the hill of His crucifixion. The race of preternatural idol aters, the minions of a grovelling superstition dis covered by Mr. Van de Vede appear, according to his record of them, to infest the vicinity of the Jor dan and the highways and byeways of Jerusalem ! They are rife near the valley of liedron, and under the roofs upon Mount Moriah, and up the acclivity of Zion, and around the spot pointed out as the site of the Holy Sepulchre. He does not anywhere simply insinuate all that by the force of mere reti cence. He vociferates it all, letter after letter , volume after v o l ume , th rough twice five hundred: pages, of altern a t e sneer i ng and vituperation. It is scarcely necessary for us to say, at once, that we don't believe all this. We are of the opinion of Little Paul Dombey, when Mrs. Pipchin told him of the mad bull who eat the little boy for asking questions. " I don't believe that story." We can not, of course, help thinking, and believing with all our hearts, that hundreds, and thousands, and millions of our fellow-Christians are wrong—but we cannot conceive •it possible that therefore and because they do not precisely coincide with us in our religious opinions, that they are for that reason necessarily monstrosities, pariahs, lepers, idolaters, Ephraimites, and blasphemers. Never was any motto more unluckily selected for a work than the one that here figures on the title-page, "We walk by faith, not by sight." The declaration of Saul of Tarsus to the Corinthians. It should be exactly the converse of this, according to the Dutch Lieutenant. We doubt not that the author of these volumes intended them to be evi dence of an earnest love for Christianity. Instead of this they constitute a voluminous attestation of deliberate and deplorable uncharitableness. Tempel•. By Emilia Marryat, daughter of the late Captain Marryat, author of " Peter Simple," dm. 3 vols. Newby. It is most probable that many will look with in terest on this story on account of the authoress's distinguished name. It is a first attempt, and a promising one. The characters are well sketched, and the conduct and disposition of the hero is given with a painful accuracy, considering their awful tendencies. After many slight offences and minor quarrels and annoyances, Lawrence consummates the works of his evil temper by killing a friend, who was also to become his brother-in-law. A most exciting scene follows, in which he declares himself a murderer. A trial, of course, takes place, when, to the horror of his friends, Lawrence persists in pleading " guilty" to the charge preferred against him. He is condemned. to death, but, by the strenuous exertions of friends, the sentence is commuted to transportation. This point in the narrative is most significant in showing the horrible effects that ensue from the indulgence of passion. It carries out the moral to those who may be of bad temper, but at the same time it, of course, de tracts from the pleasure of the perusal. It is to be hoped that on another occasion the authoress will select a subject that will require less awful illus. trations. The introduction of Lawrence's brother, Herbert, is a very pleasing digression to the more l stirring scenes in which the hero plays a part. the time of the trial, and its consequent miseries, the calm bearing and resigned composure of Her bert was of essential service to all the afflicted members of the party. On the whole, a useful lesson may be learned from this rinectohred control f ut t r h o e l " evil wrought by want of thought and governance of " Temper. SATURDAY H AL F-HOLIDAY 1110VEMENT.— DUme prom t r h O S: r y ,o - a v e t t m e nd e n t e d fo ra r e o e b tin ta g i n o i n f g t the e sa r tu m r d o a t y e r s and friends of half-holiday i connection with the wholesale drapery trade was held at the Guildhall Hotel, on Tuesday evening last. Mr. S. Westbrook occupied the chair, and, after making a few introductory remarks, called upon Mr. Lilwall, one of the honorary secretaries, to read the report, which stated that the efforts of the committee had already been, crowned with much success, a portion of th e h ouses now closing at one ; o th ers (and amongst those some of the most extensive in the City) at two : and very few esta blishments of any account being kept open later than three o'clock. The report went on to state that the committee had been encouraged by the general and marked courtesy with which they had been treated by the firms, and that they had no doubt but that all the young men desired would ere long be achieved. A gen tleman, representing one of the leading houses, stated that their customers had, in numerous cases, expressed. themselves as cordially approving the movement, and that he had not heard of one solitary instance of ata opposite character. A resolution was unanimously passed, expressive of regret that a large majority of the persons now liberated at au early hour on Saturday are virtually excluded on that day from the Crystal Palace, by the charge of admission being ss. A second resolution was also unanimously passed expressive ar t the opinion that the directors of the company . 0 _ anxious, in their arrangements, to meet the t a s r lau mo u f the people, and that the higher classes, from .!! tives, would readily fall in with an adltearatthiclrnsdimoetiatut 5 0 7 day to another part of the week ; m the resolution was to the effect that a memorial, the point, bodying the feeling of the meeting P should directors. be Af After immediatelyvot votes o f prepared thanks ahnt.tdv nfaogunr,bweaterbndeepdams to the i n the hon. secretaries and the chairman, separated. action the Ruse out sa n havingaßUSSlANmy has foughtha d GENERALS aftnhyemKlLLED i rn AND o general f fi N c l ° r N o t ; I high D— W r t n h l the time when it opened the put hors de comb a t .. from and invalided iri before sdhteadi p; L S , ettrpei Lieutenant t ntc o ti its vei tns discomfitureGeneral woundeds eh i d a e t ra, Gt Silistria,mi u o r g r i e a n o Silistria (dead) ; Lieutenant -General Sal wounded a wan,killed at Silistria ; Lieutenant-General Dreschern a of a disease at Roman ; Lieutenant -General Chruleff, Lieutenant-Gene. : s . l a ei i evde r illyrewpSdipedt,atshGoiturghein7se(ld;aadt) Bucharest ; Lieu tenant-General Bebutoff, wounded at Giurgevo ; Major- General Ponoff, wounded at Silistria ; Major-General Stolpakoff, .killed at Sili s t r i a ; Major-General Meyer, killed at Silistria ; Major-General Buterlin, wounded near Fra:;eschi. The name of Lieut.-General Ludert is not included in the above, although reports of his hav ing been severely wounded, and since dead, have been repeatedly circulated, and are again renewed. AN A-in-SLAVERY CC:IMRE= is to take place 4 liwtoeter Ttebtlacy. 79i i lo' f 66 6 33f x in li x in x in x in 91 i in i• ..... SOO •• --- • 3 —1• d 93 96 3} 3} 1 —id i - 1 1 d 2 I' • - 9 I - 8i - 3i - 2 - 26 - 28 d 46 - 48 11 - 12 52 - 57 . --• ... 11 - li i - 4 i - 14 9 -10 6 - 6i A - i ..i . 1 " . i. 16 - 17 i - t 30 - 32 9 - 10 4 - 5 - 1 - 4 3i - 4 i - i k - i • • • ...."' • • • i ----. i a in a in x in 50 1 20 35 all all all all 1 10 1 1