The Sun. — London, England, 1850-02-14 00:00:00

LITERATURE. ell P EDITION OF PRESCOTT'S IVOl?KS.—llistor f Conquest of Mexico. n • y o the i n ui(lrig the i.ew e di t i on o f Pr.:scoter, "Ferdi and and Ldbell a ," one of the masterpieces of Ame rrxcellent ican literature, we have already commended the very form in which Mr Bentley is re. issuing rescott's worlo. The size of each volume is similar to that of the twenty-volumed edition of Alison, and the binding, printing, &c., are all in their several ways Admirable. The volumes before us contain the tom- Zencement of the fifth edition of - the Conquest of it exi c()) an trent already celebrated by the pen of bertson. In reference to which circumstance Mr. _ o.)tt observes in his preface that "Robertson's narrative is necessarily brief, forming only part of a blnc're extewled work, and that neither the .r • t * ish nor the Castilian author (Solis) Itli;8.8 provided with ttte important materials for relating r em event, which have been since assembled by the Spanish scholars." Numerous and rich resources for procuring infirnlation have been thrown t°Petato..Mr. Prescott, of w hi c h h e has availed him- I nth his ordinary zea l an d discrimination. He rl:introduced the history of the actual con aetst (.1 Mexico, with an account . of the ord er condition of the ancient Mexicans, in recta r to acquaint the reader with " the cha .r of that extraordinary race, and to enable him two understand the difficulties which the Spaniards had i n encounter in their subjugati o n." O ne paragraph rest ' The Prefa ce possesses a peculiar And mounful inte- The historian asks the reader's pardon for any l i t r i _oltl errors that may be perteptible in his work, for „...` 4ll lgh the history is written by his own hand, lie ;°er reads or even sees his own manuscript. He tuts Writing-case4-41 /l i t made for the blinc', which does not she writer t o ca t c h s i g h t o f t h e characters tort, traced y his own pen. While the readers f this his ; ge 7, and all the numerous admirers of Mr. o Prescott' t0e " 143 ) cannot but be saddened by this melancholy atit n t l r e ' ritn durn, they cannot at the same time fail to 1 04 e Yet more the noble spirit and marvel tn., perseverance which thus pursues its way e,unted by almost insuperable difficulty. How us :" those who are gifted with the free t i lt of all their faculties be called to account for idle oli s an d hours innumerable, when this man, bereft ittruhaltnost essential sense, pursues the arduous re kitei " of an historian, and gives to the world a od hn:s_l---the monuments of his genius, his patience, rei,dl`. P er severance—which he himself has never tei t Another p arag r a ph i n thi s p re f ace we ar e rvfibrpted extract, not because we agree with its adini;:2lsel f- depreciatory sentiments, but because we ` !Ea graceful eulogiam on a brother author : Istbeittne prefac e to ' T he History of Ferdinand and ttIL . a ' I lam en t e d, t h at , w hil e occu pi e d with that Jeet 4 tvit Atte nti oof its most attractive parts had engaged the 14r ashi °11 ( I . the most popular of American authors, t h e reverse Irving.. By a singular chance, something 11 04 e reverse of this has taken place in the composi- Nit e r t he present history, and I have found myself un- I ke nu : 1181 3' takiag up ground which he was preparing to , c ulli e i;„' It It as not till I bad become master of my rich Rreo ol l° of materials, that I was acquainted with this ense ; and had he persevered in his design, I 4tok unh esitatingly have abandoned my own, if not hPe t e h ° ,, ur tesY, at least from policy ; for, though armed Bet s' p, of Achilles, this could give me no 11 ;,' 'access in a competition with Achilles himself. the pi . ' li noner was that distinguished writer informed of 4 1144 eNrations I had made, than with the gentlemanly °f hleh Will surprise no one who has the pleasure ' U te4t," l luaintance, he instantly announced to me his Alit t.ion " leaving the subject open to me. While Ido Preii i t c l i !t'ue to Mr. Irving by this statement, I feel the 'iettilce it does to myself in the unavailing regret . l;am nt in the bosom of the reader." Thi , - EAR BOOK OF FACTS FOR 1850. totijoistructive annual (just published) continues tip os " ; ', n tain its character, as a faithful and popular detefi," :4 of all that is useful and interesting in the lof orh ,"Pnlent of science throughout the past year. T h e vtlt, - " lt tion which it affords upon almost every no . - ter," either in pure philosophy or applied science, is sco t a , to Plete, w i t h out b e i ng te di ous, and all the r u e kopti,"eoveries and inventions of th e l as t twe l ve s ti a s are cle ver l y ep it om i se d, f rom t h e pro f oun d a, tls Inti le ate subli m ities of electricity and dill-magne t t - stin ° Le newly paten ted machinery for manufac • I lete b Qer barrels ,by steam. Indeed, the subjects th tosch(l4,eussed are altogether so numerous—in e „Ri1 0 , 11 ,, t4 ,ea1) useful, :and decorative arts—in natural din qs, - ;,1 3 : 1 3', in electrical and chemical science, an e it eh Lus departments of natural history, that no Mused well take up the volume without being bot h m alter ;;; and instructed. Among the more e- • t i," papers, we may perhaps me.n -"ao upon the electric light. Mr. Still's, „ v ttit o , - , w ed known to the public as the original in- C ie of the self-acting mechanism for preserving a l• itolTtance between the carbon electrodes, and thus , sl,2loing continuity of action, appears to be inde itl°Cule in his efforts to bring the matter to perfec -44, his most recently published improvements are it:tailed, together with the careful experiments beLno I,,7llortarit deductions of Mr. Grove, relative to 1 ,, -4 .•tical value of this new system of illumination. • c o als° refer to some interesting extracts upon L ltri% e et of colliery ventilation. Mr. Goldsworthy ry ingenious method of extinguishing L." a ee 14 f.` 41 - e pits has already appeared in our columns he t m .° Ner occasion, or we should certainly . 41) transcribe it here. In connexion with h 4 4 1 ) ,_ . "Ni t J e et, however, Ns e give the following " New hew °t: Preventing Accidents in Coal Mine . s n : mod e of preventing those dreadful explos io ns jof which are so continually occurring in our .1- "„) has been proposed by Mr. Isham Beggs, n l p t s ‘Pfidently stated to be of great use in the ~4 t ofe ° l l. human life. It is based upon unerring hyl t i n -11 ` and electrical principles, and it affords to the de de i to tniner, at any required instant of time, a sure of h e Presence of fire-damp, and the precise h °- ! danger pertaining to the atmosphere by t• he h e as surrounded. The arrangement is placed il lb ` 13 . 1) ° , the pit, and the principle of its action s' b ilB ilY understood from the following explan -11,(1. b'"„", Y means of a single acting-pump, a portion 4 4 " e 'r .which is ascen ding . the upcast shaft of t 'oo ß is being continually blown through . a it,1114 .tnetallic vessel, the capacity of which is twen t y ..qt;_4l4}:"; the whenever it is required to test the il lm . ur i v ig of . pitthe two stop-cocks communi -41715'11(1,0'1Q this vessel are closed, and the blowing is 64,14 t;if. O oe cubic inch of fire-damp is then, by 'jet a small pump, drawn from a bag or 41' A -.°l a nd introduced into the metallic 11 td' aC bo fine wire of platina placed within teeati l3 next ignited by making contact with an lit p re i n v° l lt aie battery. If the atmosphere of the Lmo o — f ierably pure, no effect is produced, for a .° 4 B volume of fire dampwi th . 20 volumes of ktes ie Cr is inexplosive ; but if the air . which flied.l l , l 11,1 1 h 4 the upcast shaft (and of which the I bat Portion is a sample), should happen to con . - 0 4 6 1111 Po r t t i L e °,lle -fortieth part of inflammable gas, this k 4 .4 , 0 (14, e ," 311 added to the one-twentieth . artificially tOy l \nil constitute a mixture of lin 13 I=3d, Vitatinawwl.ll with take place, which,. com 'suit ea!, ith a little gunpowder, is made e ither to otql . i h " li n i nn f , explode . a maroon, or give some ot her tend ed ° approaching danger. The invention is %loosl4f th enera phm ine ord indications o e g of , with a view to the prevention Itia'ae4r"4, l ind it doe s no t pretend to guard against i the f arti;""t of sudden blowers. Our readers etpilli 4 •_ er details, with an illustrative ls dis o g : r , am w. , m e e j i:} 7 journa/ for January 19, t 5 1tt t ,,, 41 r. re the present volume withou con ratulat °o3, r e rn ba on the success of his l abo urs, g and Pro:N er : °l :nulendi ng the " Year Book of Facts" to t hal% a ", 45 popular arcanum of philosophi . cal xt book of scientific advancement during Wov e months. A C44 -R-T;E ' NER'S MAGAZINE OF N%14.1 1 , ii ,, BOTANY. fso.l. . het tlttpte. periodical so entitled, and illustrated has 131 ^ ki 410 4 of beautiful coloured engravings, Veto Iblti,tntoenced. Conducted as it i s by botanists tht"o24rgo'ble eminence, it cannot fail to comman . d . a the "ier a i a mount of professional atten tion, . while p u blic will be fascinated to its pages by tpNad ititfel,trv:Teresting natur e of the letter-press, !tith iNtril°!ng loveliness o f the illustrations. The , It their a b i 't of the new pe riodical is embellished r 4 re B, e q: drawn and painted plates, represent -1)1 qu i : °les of the passion -flower, of the ane 1115...4 tri o , gerani oro, o f a yellow-blossomed shrub h,7 4 kin .8"' blossomed hot-house plant. Besides %trt4,10iet,114,,,,1 ill ustrations, there are numerous wood tl 4o, r , l ti o p,"' 'othe excellence, and the whole of the m lit ot 'l , literary and pictorial, are well arranged ktt BLAC EC BURN.—A I,"' nii:,,atilltl OCCURRENCE A T ,edblock -444: ,eter- ''' Calvert, who was etn lks, cis) ton-le -4,4lyleft the ipakeasb,,,,,, print wijoanuary 2. ijis , it hotue about noon , . on his return during tip, I '4l i a .er inociotily :malting his account, and .n. pidlitat4 18, became alarmed on known, au akitive 1 1 1 1P Y Iv IP9R•beeenling generally ht without success. bets thaal root edtotAttu respecting him, -u 11, 4 or L I a th elapsed without any anxious an t 4 • "Ard of h. notwithstanding t he bod one baying d Of s, 84 40 __ _, 11:11, .hisfoe. The 146,Ns ,4',,vhoeavours to ascertain . morning r,` le th'rtuonte !pan was found on Sa.u ib rdaY a shocking •l iv e of c4een'Antnal, near Church, butdinnnstil such been rat; Ittltilkl;:iti C. th I, r P , , , ,( Z i e ti° t t i l la t n h at by ho_c i o s l h u clothes, which it and w t h' chi t ," to take oft Deetast d has left a w 11/41,. area. Zthe (t):4141"1 °P SUG A.A—A considerable the itritititirgo i.f the vessel Pauline Houghton,. fr om ..,been %kis ( ' 66-:\ consisting of sugar in bsgs, har,n6a been portion p t i shore -24'ikate, near wbicti place the vessel h a s 'lick ,' uut since got revers and rmov4l to London, the titt,,,,,: Pa l ere of - the ue at the port of Rams was I,'lleci 17Prnaitted the portion of the cargo whi e cp for lihNelit Margate to be re-shipped into TT 1 . 5 .. es. -44t104.41u0 t ) the docks in London, the original d THE SUN, _ LOND9N, Jack," at this rate he will soon be' dabbed " Retro grade John." The Times and Lord John are wise in their ge neration, however. The latter will not extend the franchise " this year." And the Times declares the repeal even of the advertisement duty not seasonable. " 'The present is not the time for it." Why the pre sent is so very unfavourable to such relief, perhaps the Ministerial subs who represent the Times on the Treasury bench will tell us. There is a surplus, and Ministers on the strength of it are lavishing their thousands. There is the First Lord of the Admi miralty, who wants 100,0001. for head money, to reward the slaughter of the Dyaks. The Times party will vote that 100,000/. with glee ; but they could not spare it from weighing upon books, journals, and knowledge. The Times pleads that it is better to pay off the National Debt. We remember the time NN hen there were five miliioes annually raised to be devoted to paying cff the National Debt. Of these five millions sterling, so voted and raised annually, how many were spent in the actual reduction of the debt ? Not one. Fearing that this humbug will be exposed, the Times has other arguments in store, to stave off what it dreads above all things, the diminution of the taxes on newspapers. If you must reduce taxes, it says, diminish the duty on soap and candles, malt, or tea. Right well does the Times know, when indulging in such recommendation, that the Chancellor of the Exchequer will not touch a tax that brings in four or five millions. Whereas the tax on advertisements, which scarcely exceeds the late Queen Dowager's pension, would make no sensible subtraction from the credit side of the Exchequer, whilst it would be a great relief to the industrious and the struggling. The advertisement duty, says the Times, " cer tainly presses with some, inequality." 'We should think so. " But, after all," continues our cotempo rary, " few domestic servants advertises more than a dozen times in their lives." And it might have added " thousands upon thousands never advertise at all." How much oftener they would advertise if they had an untaxed opportunity, does not enter into our co temporary's calculation. He is too intent upon con sidering how he may make these poor servants con tribute most to the paying off that national debt hich their masters have contracted. The advertisement duty stands in a quite different category from the other taxes on knowledge. For a great portion of knowledge, in the eyes of such philosophers as the Times, is a luxury that the poor can do without. An advertisement for the needy man is, on the contrary, at times, a necessity great as his loaf, being often his loaf provider ; therefore this is not to be compared with a tax on soap, or on books, or on malt. The advertisement duty is a tax on the first necessity of life, on the finding of employment. After the bread.tax, we know of none that so impe ratively calls on the Legislature to rescind it as the advertisement duty. The task, too, is easy, for the sum is insignificant. And there is really but one serious obstacle in the way of its repeal, and that is, the interest of the Times newspaper, which Lord John Russell durst not offend. 'We limit our remarks at present chiefly to this duty, because we perceive that Mr. Swart is about to bring it forward singly, and that it stands on the order- book for to-night. In considering the paper duties, the arguments of the deputation which yester- day waited on the Minister afford ample materials. We allude to them for the present merely in order to give another amusing instance of Times ratiocination. " Excluding Bibles and Prayer-books, which pay no paper duty, there are few cottage libraries," it says, " which weigh 10 lbs. and that have consequently paid ls. 33. to the Exchequer." We concede the fact, and we ask the cause of it? The reply is obvious—because books for general sale among cottagers cannot be produced at cottagers ' prices, in consequence of these very taxes upon knowledge. " Bibles and Prayer• books," the Tiines admits, " are to be found in great numbers in these cottage libraries." Why ? The Times itself tells us, because " they pay no paper duty:" Bibles and Prayer-books, being relieved from such .duty, can be produced at amazingly low prices : it inconsequently within the means of most cottagers to procure them : and the Times tells us that they do procure them. If they had the opportunity of procuring works of utility and information at an equally low rate, wby should they not procure such works also ? But the Times is right in one line of argument, which is, that taxes on knowledge do not weigh on the pockets of the poor so much as the tax on malt, tea, or spirits—because, in fact, the people can do ' without intellectual food, whilst they will not dispense with the excitement that is obtained through the stomach. Gin will be drank, whether it be dear or cheap Whilst books will not be read if dear, and will only be attainable if cheap. But whoever looks at the question in a moral or a Christian point of view, will not commit the blasphemy of likening the tax on spirits to the tax on books, and coolly telling the Legislature and the public that they are all one, and that they weigh equally upon the poor. So cold blooded—indeed, so Satanic a comparison, merely betrays a total absence of moral sense. DUTY ON FOREIGN BOOKS. TO THE EDITOR OF T 12.8 SUN. sin,The duty levied on foreign books is said to produce about 8,0001. a year. To raise this trifling amount every one of our volumes of Greek and Latin Classics is made to contribute from three to four shillings, being a tax of no less than 30, and, in some instances, more than 70 per cent. on the net value of the books, and acting very nearly like a prohibition. We beg leave to give you this single instance in favour of free trade in books. Your obedient servants, DIDOT and CO. 21, King William street, Strand, Feb. 13, 1850. POOL, NEEDLEWOMEN. TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE. Sir,—Will you permit me to offer a very simple suggestion with respect to the poor needlewomen, namely, that there should be a registration, gratis of their names and addresses, to which persons wishing to employ them might have easy access. I myself, in common with every other mistress of a family to whom I have ever spoken on the subject, have often experienced the greatest difficulty in dis covering a needlewoman when I had occasion for one. Their means, of course, do not allow them to ad vertise ; and as they necessarily live in by-streets and obscure lodgings, it seems no easy matter to find them out. _ Valuable u your time must be, you have already devoted so much to the cause of these poor creatures, that I venture to hope you will excuse my troubling you, and I remain, Sir, your obedient servant, February 10. J. P. S. DIAMOND DUST. (From Eliza Cook's Journal.) COQUETTE.—A young lady of more beauty than sense —more accomplishments tban learning—more charms ti person than graces of mind—more admirers than friends —more fools thafl wise men for attendants. Avarice and vanity are the principal elemetts of all Neither act nor speak ill, though free from witnesses. Learn to stand more in awe of thyself than of others. When the fox preaches, beware of your geese. Were perfection itself on a throne, courtiers would still find means to flatter it. The secret of making ourselves amiable is to love. True feelings and real sorrows open our eyes to the full detection of those that are the spurious product of ennui or affectation, and enable us t. seo distinctly into the hypocrisy of others' hearts, by putting them to the test of a comparison with our own. THE SCREW PROPELLER.-011 Monday last a question of considerable interest, in respect to steam navigation, was argued before the Judicial Committee, at the Privy Council-office, Whitehall, Lords Brougham, Campbell, and Langdale, Dr. Lushington, and Mr. Pem berton Leigh being present. An application was made by Sir Frederick Thesiger, on behalf of the patentees of the screw propeller, for an extension of their patent, which expires in May next. The evidence went to prove that no less than 30,0001. had been expended in building the Archimedes and in defraying other weighty charges to establish the screw-propulsion principle; and it further appeared, that although no less than 32 ships of war and 100 mercantile steam vessels had been con structed already upon this system, not more than two or three had paid for the patent licence. Those evasions had been occasioned by the conflicting claims of five different patentees; but, as these have now united in one association, it is expected aat all who have adopted the use of the screw propeller will have to pay for their licences. As the Admiralty aro interested, either di- . rectly or collaterally, in this question to the amount of about 25,0001., Sir John Jervis, the Attorney-General, assisted by Mr. Crowder, Q.C., opposed the application for an extensi o n o f M r . F ran k P ett i t S m i t h' s patent; but, after examining Captains Chappell and Crispin, R.N., and Messrs. Brunel and Galloway, engineers, their Lordships decided on granting an s xtension of fire years to Mr. Smith's patent upon certain conditions; and there is now therefore a fair prospect of that gentleman and bin supporters recovering a portion, if not the whole, of the licensing moneys to which they are unquestionably entitled. SCOTCH AND ENGLISH ENTERPRISE IN DUBLIN.— How comes it that strangers can flourish here? At the head, or very near the hued, of every trade, yo u fi n d an Englishman or Scotchman. Is this because they wor k better?—and, if not, what is the rea son ? C an wo not compete with them—Re, the natives, with native advan tages? M‘Glashan, the most prosperous publisher, Scotchman; Poison, the most prosperous confectioner, ditto; Gunn and Cameron, the most prosperous adver tisement publishers, ditto; Mr. Pigot, the music pub lisher, an Englishman; Mr. Butler, Medical Hall, ditto; Mr. Andrews, Dame-street, ditto. Englishmen and Scotchmen can prosper in Dublin, if we cannot. We ought to ask ourselves, what have we done, or left un done, that produces this result? lam convinced that want of a good business education and training —want of being drilled into habits of punctuality—are the great impedimenta. Look to tbio.--Dublin IVatim. TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE. (From the Times.) Mr. Milner Gibson had a notice on the list for last night, which, as the matter is weighty, and the terms comprehensive, we will transcribe in this place. It was to submit a motion to the House "as to the policy of abolishing all taxes which directly impede the diffusion of knowledge amongst the great body of the people, with a view to the repeal of the stamp on newspapers, the excise-tax upon paper, the tax upon advertisements, and the duty on foreign hooks." By postponing this motion for the present, he has disappoineed us of a debate which promised to be more than usually interesting, whatever its imme diate practical result. Without waiting till Mr. Milner Gibson has found a more convenient oppor tunity for his motion, we will at once state our views on a subject in which we happen to be peculiarly con cerned. As public' men, anxious for the solvency and credit of the country, we are under the painful necessity of moving the previous question, Can "we remit any part of our taxation at all ?" On this point we expressed ourselves very strongly before the opening of the session, and we do not see any reason to recede from what we then said. The nation must gird itself up to the task of paying its debt. A school of repudiation is rising up amongst us, and day by day gaining new converts, warning us that if now—only one generation removed from the close of the war—we make no effort to liquidate our debt, and are coolly scrutinizing the obligation, it will pro bably be much worse in the time of our children and our children's children. All taxes are evils. Every body knows that. But in our case they are the inevitable consequence of our deliberate acts. We chose to chastise the pride of the Grande Nation, to conquer foreign co lonies and domineer over our own, to be masters of the sea, to restrain the excesses of the French Revolution, and the ambition of the succeed ing Consulship and Empire, to rescue the Peninsula and subsidise Europe, to ransom our slaves, and do other great acts. But these things were not to be done without paying for them. It is a law of nature. Labour is not without weariness, nor achievement without cost. So now, in consequence of our redun dant heroism, we are suffering infinite maims, muti lations, and disabilities. Every tax is a scar that tells a tale of glory. The nation lost an eye in such a war, an arm in another; a limp in its gait recall one stormy passage, a gash on the cranium another, and a frightful scar on its features a third. It is obliged to think, and see, and hear, and breathe, and move, and live under perpetual disadvantage. But no soldier complains of his wounds. He took his chance of them when he chose his profession. Unless, then, it can be shown that " taxes on know ledge" to the extent now suffered by the British people are much more objectionable than taxes in general, or that their place can be advantageously supplied by other taxes to an equal amount, we can- ' not subscribe to Mr. Milner Gibson's motion. Do the taxes on knowledge burden and hamper " the great body of the people" more than the taxes on soap, on candles, on bricks, on windows, on convey ' ances, on malt, on sugar, or on tea ? This is a ques tion of details, for we must not be misled by the im posing title—" taxes on knowledge." As " the great body of the people" have very little to do with foreign books, their only tax on knowledge of that staple and permanent character which is arranged on a shelf, or stored in the brain, is the duty on paper. The net receipt on paper duty from the United Kingdom for the year 1847 was 762,172/. ; a sum which, considering what we must pay, is not to be trifled with. It is now lid. per lb. on all kinds of paper, and, of course, falls more heavily on good paper than on inferior qualities. The paper duty on 200 octavo pages of good substantial paper is just about one penny. The duty on such a work as Hume, or Gibson, or the "British Poets," or a gene ral biography in one thick volume of 1,200 pages, is 6d. Excluding Bibles and Prayer-books, which pay no duty, there are few cottage libraries that weigh ten pounds, and that have therefore paid Is. 3d. to the Exchequer at the present rate of duty. The duty is about 20 per cent. on the price the printer has to pay for good paper. Its proportion, therefore, to the price of a printed volume, or any other publication, can never be more than that, and will generally be very much less. It must fall most heavily on popular editions of standard works, or any popular works for the success of which a large sale is necessary, such as Mr. Chailes Knight's " Penny Cycloptedia," or. Chambers': Journal. In his curious and interesting ' pamphlet, the " Struggles of a Book against Exces sive Taxation," Mr. Knight fully explains how this is the case. An immense impression of many thou sand copies must be struck off at once. It will take many years to sell them, if indeed they ever are sold ; and meanwhile the duty paid on many tons of paper is so much sunk capital. On such works as the above an adventurous publisher may lose several thousand pounds by the duty on paper, which he pays as fast as he prints, but which he is either slowly or never repaid. The extraordinary pressure in such cases, however, arises from the cheapness of the publication, and the fact of the paper being the chief part of the cost. Even in such extreme cases the duty can never amount to one-fifth of the whole cost, and must, therefore, be a much less proportion of the publishing price ; bet, for the reasons men tioned by Mr. Knight, it operates against cheap editions fur the poor very seriously. The other " taxes on knowledge" are those with which newspapers and other periodicals have only to do. The gross receipts from the stamp on newspapers throughout the United Kingdom in 1847, were 343,2781. Under existing circumstances, we think that sum can hardly be dispensed with, and, for our own part, we submit to it cheerfully, as being, in fact, a very reasonable rate of postage for the convey ance of our papers. Almost every copy of our jour nal performs at least one journey by post; and if it performs half-a-dozen it pays only a penny. The stamp gives it the free range of the post throughout the best half of the world with infinitely less trouble than any other form of postage that could be con trived ; and the most zealous liberator of knowledge would hardly require that newspapers should be franked altogether. On this point, then, we have nothing to say, except that we see no reason for a change which would cost the nation a third of a million. The other tax which particularly concerns us is the tax on advertisements, which in the United Kingdom produced in 1847 162,7341. This is a tax on publicity, and may be compared to the nume rcus much more expensive expedients by which some people make themselves, their manufactures, their undertakings, their mercantile or their professional arrangements known to the world. Tlie tax cer tainly presses with some inequality. If a scheme could be suggested for relieving domestic servants from the duty, we, for our part, could have no objec ticn; but, after all, we apprehend that few domestic servants advertise more than a dozen times in their lives, and that, from a comparatively untaxed class, is only 18 =. a piece towards the expenses of the nation, perhaps in the course of twenty years' service. If a ship is advertised twenty times to sail to Calcutta, the amount of duty it pays is only 305., perhaps for a cargo worth 30,000/. We see no way of removing the inequalities complained of, for an ad valorem duty is manifestly impossible. To recapitutate, the gross receipts of the above three " taxes on knowledge" for 1847 were as follows :—Paper, 617,245/. ; stamps, 343,2781. ; advertisements, 162,7381. ; total, 1,123,2611.; from which must be deducted the ex penses of collection, which, except in the first item, are absolutely nil. We shall not be expected to suit the subject with out adding something about ourselves. The taxes on the Times amount to rather more than 16,0001. a year for the paper, 60,0001. a year for the stamps, and 19,0001. a year for the advertisements; total 95,000/. a year. When to this sum are added those taxes which we pay in common with all other manufac turers and capitalists, it will be easily understood that the question of taxes on knowledge has a peculiar value in our eyes. In the event of a remission, or re duction of duty, it is rash to conjecture the proportion of the advantage that would fall to our share. Others, indeed, have not scrupled to predict that our alleged " monopoly" would be destroyed ; but, as this predic tion has been made once already, and been signally disappointed by the result, we entertain very little alarm for the future. The superior popularity of a journal cannot be effected by those conditions of price which are common to the whole periodical press. We speak, then, without prejudice when we say, that though we should expect to gain very largely by the remission of " taxes on knowledge , " we cannot think the present a time for it. (From the Daily News.) The Times was exceedingly indignant some time back when it was accused of being hostile to a repeal of the advertisement duty, or of the taxes upon knowledge. It declared itself quite above being af fected either by competition or considerations arising out of such trifler. Be this as it may, the Times yes terday came forth with an article strenuously opposing any reduction of any taxes, either on nesi 'papers or knowledge I After ccqueting with these, and indeed with all other measures of liberal progress, as the session ap proached, the Times has already turned to pooh-pooh or anathematise them all, finding, no doubt, that there reigns a dead calm in public opinion, and that the popular feeling, strained by protectionist or anti protectionist efforts, runs not very strongly for the moment in any direction. Having vapoured for the last two months in the ranks of semi-liberal opposition, the Times already takes its place at the tail of the ministerial phalanx, and declares with Lord John Russell that there shall be no ex- tension of the franchise, no throwing open of the press, no reform in colonial administration beyond a mere make-believe, no foreign policy permitted ex cept in the direction of a rapid return to a Castle reagh policy and the Holy Alliance. Instead of our Prime Minister meriting the appellation of " Finality THUR&DAY .ETENING, THE CHANNEL ISLANDS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sus,—l beg leave to inform you that the Lord Chancellor's warrants of attachment against Mrs. Belson and Major Hartman, for contempt, in having refused to make a return to the writs of Habeas Corpus, which required them to produce the bodies of two of Captain .13elson's children before the Vice- Chancellor, have at length been enforced. The parties are now in custody of the tipstaff on their way to the Queen's Bench prison. In my letter of the 20th December I intimated that the Royal Court of Jersey had, for divers rea sons, obstructed the service of these warrants, in consequence of which Captain Belson bad complained of their conduct to her Majesty in Council, and that an order had been sent down calling on them to show cause. His petition and their answer having since then been referred to the Committee of Council fur the affairs of Jersey and Guernsey, the whole qucE tion touching the claims of the Jersey Court has been fully entered into and judicially decided. The result is that all the twaddle about the constitutions of King John, and ether questionable authorities, have been pitched overboard, ar.d the baliff and jurats made to understand their relative bearing and proper position. The arguments were exceedingly interest ing, and although their Lordships did not pronounce their decision at the time, it was easy to see from the tenor and force of their occasional remarks that judg. meat would go against the Court. The premonitory symptoms of what would be the upshot of this affair soon began to show themselves, in,two peremptory order s in Council which were suc cessively received here, commanding the bailiff and jurats forthwith and without delay to register the Habeas Corpus Acts of Charles 11. and George 111., and carry them into immediate execu tion. The authorities had been ordered and directed to do this in 1832, but having failed to comply, they now pretended that the non-registration of the Acts had rendered them of no force in the island I This dictum having been overruled by the Privy Council, the Acts were now registered, after being buried in oblivion for eighteen years ! On the 4th inst. the Lords of the Committee re ported, that it was advisable that her Majesty should enforce obedience to the Chancellor's warrants, and consequently, on the following day an order in Council was issued, commanding the Lieutenant- Governor, Viscount, denunciators, constables, and all other persons, to aid and assist th e tipsta ff in ap prehending Mrs. Belson and Major Hartman, that they may be taken to England and committed to the Queen's Bench prison. The tipstaff (Mr. Allan) arrived here by mail steamer, on Saturday afternoon, with an authenticated copy of the order (the original having been sent by post to the bailiff ) but did not land until th e preliminary measures h a d been con certed by the local authorities, to ensure the capture of the parties—atrange to say, one of these measures was the preparing of a writ (?) for the purpose. It would seem by this that the order in Council, like the Chancellor's warrants, was not of itself a suffi cient authority, and, therefore, the bailiff issued a spe cial writ, called Ordre de Justice, for the apprehen sion of Mr. Belson and Major Hartman. This writ was placed in the hands of Mr. Denunciator Godfrey, and promptly executed. The parties were captured about eight o'clock, and severally admitted to bail, in 2001., to appear before the Royal Court on Monday morning, when her Majesty's law officers would read the order in Council, and pray their Worships to di rect that it should be registered, in order that it might draw its full and entire eject. What does this mean ? On Monday the Court met, and, on calling the cause, xiajo r Hartman,w was taken thatby counselthey were for Mrs. Belson bound to answer suit until four days had elapsed, as if her Majesty's mandate bad merged into the bailiff's writ; but the joke was too rich for the occaiion. However adroitly this objection' may be pleaded in ordinary cases, it would not do in the pre sent one. A medical certificate was also about to be read, showing that Mrs. Bel son was not is a fit state of health to encounter a sea voyage; but the bailiff and jurats finding the subject exceedingly unpleasant and very humiliating withal (they having lost their cause at an expense of a few hundred pounds), would not listen:4o these pretensions, but granted permission for the order in Council to be registered, and for the parties to be handed over to the tipstaff, who leaves the island with them to-morrow. Rumours were circulated that the jurats intended to resign office ; but, unfortunately, they have not thought proper to do their country so great a service ! The majesty of the law has been vindicated, and the public must ever feel indebted to Captain Belson for having cleared away the rubbish which obstructed the prompt intention of, and summary supervision by, the superior courts of Westminster, to redress the per sonal injuries inflicted by the local tribun a l. It i s t o b e hoped that he will show moderation and forbearance in his triumph, and that the parties, who are evi dently the victims of bad advisers, will purge their contempt of the Court of Chancery, and be speedily discharged out of custody. In closing this ndrrative, I beg leave to make one more remark. It appears to me that a standing order ought to be issued by the Privy Council, to prevent these obstructions to the course of public justice from ever happening again. To effect this, the repealed order in Council of May 21, 1679, by which the Court lays claim to the right of withholding the re gistration of Acts of Parliament, Orders in Council, %arrant'', &c., and pretends, by so doing, that such documents have no legal force, ought to be formally expunged from the records. Nay, more, I think that this system of busking, or null:fying, the Imperial statutes and mandates, ought to be made a penal offence; and that the fact, as to whether the bailiff and jurats had, or had nor, complied with the order of the Privy Council, ought always to be certified to ilnum thensABRAHAM a w worts entitledtheir Lordships by the clerk of the court, within seven or fourteen days after th e rece ipt o f the order. Nothing short of this will p reven t a repetition of these scandalous proceedings. With many apologies f or t respass i ng on your co - Sir, your faithful friend i g l ee s d ub ca sc u r s i e b myself, cause, e " JONES 14 T E he C L lt aw A s S , ' Author of Cus toms, and Privileges of the Island of Jersey." Alderbury Lodge, Les Petiti Van; Island of Jersey, Feb. 12,1850. THE LATE DR. LYNCH. --~Last evening, in pur suance of a resolution agreed to by .a committee of ir quiry, a meeting of the friend s of the late Dr. Lynch was held at Anderton's Hotel, Fleet-street, for the purpose of adopting measures to ascertain why the money subscribed to the widow and family of the de ceased gentleman has not yet been paid over to those for whom it was intended —Mr. Edwards ix the chair. I t appeared from a statement made by Mr. Willoughby that Mrs. Lynch had made frequent applications for the money, but without success. At one time Exchequer bills were offered to the lady, and at another, when pressed by necessities, she was compelled to request an advance of 201. This eura was handed to her, almost on sheshouldin London not make soother . w not a b s erapplica 4hoen. condition Th e ain that amount t subscribed 4111., and upon. his (Mr. Willoughby) writing to one of the tre - surers to ascertain why the money had not . been paid, he received an answer t o t h e effect that it b a d b een in vested with him and another as trustees, that they had placed it in the hands of a banker, and that they had no right to appropriate it without the authority of the committee, a meetin g o f which was to b e h e ld on Friday, the 22d inst. Il e (the treasurer ) h a d. how ever, given Mrs. Lynch 201. out ef his own private means, and he had, moreover, purchased three loot. Ex chequer-bills out of his own pocket rather than touch the money at the bankers, so that he was in actual ad vance upwards of 3301. Under these circumstances be, Mr. Willoughby, thought the time had arrived when they should come to some definite arrangement upon the subject. ,It appeared t o have been supposed that the money was intended to be invested for the future benefit of Dr. Lynch's children, but he contended that the ob ject of the subscription was to afford immediate relief to the widow and her family. Several other gentlemen addressed the meeting, and the following resolutions were adopted:—,. That this meeting has learnt with consider able surprise and regret that the subscription raised for the benefit cf the widow and children of the late Dr. Lynch, in August, 1847, has not yet been ap propriated according to the intention of the subscribers, nor invested f or t h e i r benefit." " That this meeting, believing th a t t h e su b scr i pt i on ra i s ed for the w id ow and children of D r . L ynch was L enev olently intended to aid the m in their immediate necessities consequent upon the sudden death of Dr. Lynch, strongly urges upon the committee and treasurers to pay the amount immediately , to Mrs. Lynch, this meeting having full, confidence in her integrity that she will act as appears best for the interests of her own family." A committee was ap pointed to carry out the objects of the meeting, REPRESENTATION OP THE STEWARTRY OP KIRK CUEBBIGHT.—A requisition ha ving been presented to Mr. John Mackie, of Bargaly, the convener of the ste wartry, inviting him to become a candidate to fill the vacancy caused by the elevation of Mr. Maitland to the Scottish Judicial Bench, that gentleman has accepted the invitation. In his address to the electors, Mr. Mackie says—" You are aware that I have always been Liberal, though not extreme, in my political opinions. I will attach myself to no particular states man or patty, but support those measures which, in my opinion may Le most conclusive t ) the good of my country. I approved of the free-trade measures brought forward and carried through Parliament by that emi nent statesman, Sir R. Peel ; and I am still of the same opinion, as I entertain a conviction that the present l ow price ef agricultural _ produce is only temporary, and will pass away as on many former occasions." Mr. P. Francis Johnson, of Carnsalloch, son of the late Sir Alexander Johnston, has also issued an address to the electors, from which the following is a quotation : " My anxious desire will be to promote economy and retrenchment in every department of the state, and to support such measures as may procure the fair and equal taxation of every class of the community. The agricultural interests, the present state of which I deeply deplore, will find in me a steady friend ; and it will be my peculiar duty to promote their welfare, and to assist in removing the burdens which press unequally on them " FEBRUAR Y 14, 1850 7 INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. On Tuesday, Feb. 12 (William Cuhitt, Esq., Pre sident, in the chair), the first paper read was, "An Account of the Cast-Iron Lighthouse Tower on in the Bermudas," by Mr. P. Paterson. 'The site chosen for this tower was in latitude 32 deg. 14 min. N. and longitude 64 deg. 50 min. IV., being the southern part rf the I3,2rinuda., at which point they are most safely approached. It was at first determined to construct the tower with the materials found in the islands; but, after some pro gress had been made in quarrying and dressing the stone, it was ascertained to be of too friable a nature for the purpose, so that the H ome G overnmen t in structed Mr. Alexander Gordon, M. Inst. C. E., to prepare a design for a cast-iron tower, similar to that which had been erected from his designs at Mo rant Point, Jamaica, and which had proved very successful. The form of this tower was that of a strong conoidal figure, 103 feet 9 inches in height, terminated at the top by an inverted conoidal figure, 4 feet high, in lieu of a capital ; its extreme outside diameter was 24 feet, at the narrowest part 14 feet, and at the top 20 feet. The external shell was constructed of 135 concentric cast iron plates, having inside flanges, and varying in thick ness from one inch at the base to beabout three-quarters of an inch at the top. In the centre of the tower there was a hollow cast-iron column, 18 inches in diameter in the inside, and of three-quarter inch metal, f)r supporting iresnel's Dioptric apparatus, and in which the revolving weight descended.; it was also used, in the daytime, for the raising and lowering of stores, and likewise coatained the waste-water pipe. The lower part of the tower was filled with concrete, leaving a well, faced with brickwork, about eight feet in diameter, and twenty feet in depth, in the centre. Above this were the seven floors, the two lower ones being lined with brickwork, and used as store-rooms, and the upper ones, lined with sheet-iron, were used as living rooms for the light-keeper. The details were then given of the mode of constructing the floors, the windows, the staircase!, and of attaching the lantern and light room to the main structure ; it was stated that the light was visible from all points of the compass, excepting when obscured by the high land between Gibb's-hill and Castle-harbour ' from the deck of a vesse l a t a distance of about 27 miles, and possibly even at a still greater distance. The structure occupied less than one year in its actual erection, the different parts hav ing been landed about the end of November, 1844, the first plate being erected on Gibb's-hill on the 19th of December, 1844, and the last plate of the tower on the 9th of October, 1845. The whole cost of the structure, including the lantern and light apparatus, was stated to have been about 7,6901., and the annual expense of maintaining it about 4501. The next paper read was " A description of Sir George Cayley's Hot Air Engine," by Mr. W. W. Poingdestre. After entering briefly into the theoretical considerations of the expansion of heated aeriform bodies, and detailing the attempts made by Lieutenant Ericson, for employing hot air, instead of steam, as a prime mover, the author proceeded to state that, in 1837, Sir George Cayley, dart. Assoc. Inst. C. E., applied the products of combustion from close furnaces, so that they should act at once upon a piston, in a cylinder, similar in every respect to that of a single acting steam. engine. The engine consisted of a generator of heat, a working cylinder, and an air pump or blower, the air-pump being half the size of the cylinder, and blowing air into and through a fire perfectly enclosed within the generator ; the doors of the furnace were made perfectly air-tight as soon as the fire was well got up, the first impulse being given to the engine, by throwing a few jets of water upon the fire, which caused the air pump to work im mediately, and continued so for hours; the fire being replenished by stopping off the blast from the furnace, and opening the upper bonnet. After the air had passed through the fire, the gaseous products of com bustion, generally at a temperature of 600 deg. of Fahrenheit, passed laterally through a chamber, used for separating them from any: ashes or cinders, into the working cylinder before alluded to. The difficulties attending this description of engine, were the liability of the working parts to be de ranged, by the great sensible heat destroying the valves, pistons, and cylinders, and carbonising the lubricating oil. It was stated, that Mr. A. Gordon, M. Inst. C. E., had made a successful experiment, on the application of the heated products of combustion for propelling a boat, without the intervention of any machinery, between the furnace and the water to be acted upon. The paper announced to be read at the meeting of Tuesday, February 19, was "Description of the Iron Roof over the Railway Station, Lime-street, Liver pool," by Mr. Richard Turner. COURT CIRC ULAR. The Puke of Wellington had an audience of the Queen yestirdsy, at Buckingham Palace. His Royal Highness Prince Albert presided yesterday , eternoon at a meeting of the Chairmen and members of Committees of the Royal Commission f,r the Exhibition of 1851. The mee t ing was hekl at Buckingham Palace, at thr•a o'clock, and was attended by Earl Granville, Lord Stanley, Sir Richard Westrnacott, Sir Charles Lys!), Sir Henry do la Becl.e, Mr. William Cubist, Mr. Thomas F. Gib■or, Professor On en, Mr. Brunel, Mr. Pusey, ?LP., and Dr. Boyle. Mr. Scott Russell attended as Secretary to the Commission. Lieut.-Colonel Reid, RE., Mr. Henry Cole, and Mr. Charles W. Dilke, jan., were in attendance as members of the Executive Com. wittee. Colonel the Hon. Charles Grey, his Royal Highness's Private Secretary, also attended. The meit ing broke up at twenty minutes betore eight o'clock. The Royal Family took their usual walking and pony exercise yesterday. The Lord Chancellor and Lady Cottenham, Lord George Lennox, and the Right Hon. Sir Francis and Lady Arabella Baring, had the honour of dining with her Majesty and the Prince yesterday evening, at Buck ingham Palace. Didpatehes from the Governor of the Bahamas were received yesterday at the Colonial-office. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat yes terday, and resumed the hearing of an appe-il from Bengal (part heard), " Anund Lal Sing Des. v. Maha rajah Djeraj Gurrood." --- - - - BRITISIT AND FOREI GN BIBLE SOCIETY. --- Yes terday evening the 45th annual general meeting of the Bread -street branch of this association was held at the London Coffee-house, Alderman Sidney, M.P., in the chair. The proceedings having been or coed by prayer, the Chairman said he was glad to be able to congratu late them upon the prosperity of the society. In the ad dress which they heard in the House of Commons the other night, in which the Prime Minister propounded government to all our colonies to the utmost bounds of the world, he had not mentioned a word about religion, because the Bible societies and other kindred institutions preceded him there, even before regular government was established. It appeared from a view of the plans and operations of the society, which was submitted to the meeting, that during the forty-five years of its existence the society had put into circulation nearly 22,000,000 copies of the Scriptures, either in whole or in part, and its expenditure for this pur pose had exceeded 3,500,000/. sterling. Tie receipts for the past year alone had amounted to 95,933/. 16s. Id., arising from the usual sources of donations, annual subscriptions, sales, and legacies; the payments during the same period having been 88,8311. is. 2d., and its engagements had exceeded 67,0001. There had been issued from its depositaries, at home and abroad, within the same ear, no fewer than 1,107,518 copies, and if the aggregate issues of foreign Bible societies were added to those of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the grand total would amount to more than 36,000,000 copies of the entire Bible or New Testament. or integral portions thereef, in different languages. The society had promoted the distribution of, printing, or trans lation of the sacred volume in whole or in part, directly in 81, and indirectly in 59 languages or dialects. Within the United Kingdom there were no fewer than 3,217 auxiliary brances or associations, and 525 in the British colonies and their dependencies. There were also more than 50 principal foreign societies, with their respective branches, spreading their salutary influence over the states of Europe, all more or leas effective in the distri bution of the Scriptures. The adoption of the report having been passed, several practical resolutions were agreed to, and officers for the ensuing year were elected, and the meeting separated, after the usual courtesy to the chairman. RECOVERY OF HER MAJESTY'S MAIL.PACRET ONYX.—lntelligence has been brought by the Sir Ed ward Banks, which arrived last night at St. Katharine's, of the floating of the mail steam-packet Onyx. The vessel having been lightened by the removal of the pad dle-boxes and all the heavy fittings, a successful effort was made on Tuesday to tow her off the beach at Ostend. The operation was favoured by an unusually high tide, and at about half-past one o'clock, a good pur chase having been obtained by the vessels ordered on the duty by the Admiralty, elle glided into deep water as if leaving a dockyard slip, and was taken in tow by the Princess Alice and brought into harbour. A. soon as the weather permits she will be towed to Woolwich to be repaired. INAUGURATIOX OF THE GREAT TUBULAR BRIDGE OVER TIIE MENAL—Wednesday last, the second tube was lowered to its permanent seat on the Carnarvonshire side, in the presence cf its distinguished founder, Robert Stephenson, M.P. So eucceseully was every part brought to bear on lowering the tube on the rock tower, that an extension of thret -tixteenths of an inch took place, denoting great rigidity. The gale on We Inesday, and again on Saturday, when the wind was west and by south, or at right angles with the bridge, did not affect the structure in the least, though a pressure of seventeen and a half pounds to the square foot was ascertained. The only unfinished operations connected wi h this bridge are the filling up of the gap on the near side, and the grand junction with the Carnarvonshire tower, for which a period of three weeks will suffice—two other weeks will suffice for lining the rails—from which it will he seen that the line will be in readiness fur opening within a period cf five weeks from this date. Of course there will be a public demonstration on so interesting an occasion; and we know it to be the intention to get up an ovation for Mr.:Stephenson in the manner of a public entertainment.—North Wales Chronicle. METROPOLIS WATER BILLS•---TIIO folio% ing portant order was adopted by the Rouse of Commons, on Tuesday, on the motion of Sir G. Grey—" That no Dill for the supply of water to the metroplie, or an part thereof, be read a second time bel9ie Alter. THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF BISHOP'S ROCK LIGHTHOUSE OFF SCILLY. Amongst the various disasters and loss of property which occurred in the terrific gale of Tuesday night, the sth inst., we have to record a no less serious oc currence than the total destruction of the Bishop's Rock Lighthouse off Scilly, the erection of which was rapidly approaching completion. The rock is situated about eight or ten miles westward of the Land's End, and the lighthouse was in progress of erec tion by Mr. Douglas for the Honourable Corpora tion of Trinity House, under the superintendence of Messrs. Walker and Burges, the eminent engineers. As to the immediate cause which produced the dis aster, of course no d e fi n it e i n f ormat i on can as yet be obtained.. All that is known is, that on the Tuesday night, the lighthouse was standing, and few, if any, had any apprehension of its safety. On the following morning not a trace e.f its existence was visible upon the turbid mars of waters on whose sur• face it had before risen as a warning beacon. As our readers have already been made acquainted by us, the lighthouse was formed of cast-iron columns, braced and stayed with wrought iron rods. The columns were sunk into the roc k ; and the present surmise is, that in penetrating the rock fur this pur pose, some fissure of which the engineer might not have been aware, has thus been rendered a greater source of that insecurity of which we now record the result ; and that the rock with the light-house upon it, has been swept away by the fury of the waters. The lighthouse had been constructed by Messrs. Robinson, of Pimlico, and the lantern was in progress .by Mr. Wilkins, of Long-acre. It was anticipated that the erection would have been complete early in summer. It would have been upwards of 120 feet high, being 20 feet higher .than the far-famed Eddy stone, and had been considered peculiarly adapted, notwithstanding its apparent lightness, to withstand the heavy seas which fall in at that point, as from its construction the sea would pass through without taking any hold in comparison as it does when meeting with a solid body. The centre column was about three feet six inches in diameter, and the entr ance to the light was by the int e ri or o f this column to the hopper, over which, and under the gallery, were the living room, store, &c. The whole of this structure has now, however, become a total loss.—Penzance Gazette. A BRILLIANT METEOR. On Monday evening, about a quarter before eleven o'clock, a brilliant meteor, according to all ac counts intense beyond any on record in modern timer, was en throughout the metropolis. The direction in which it travelled appears to have been from W. to E., and it is described by observers as having been remarkable for the beauty and variety of its co lours, the intensity if the light proceeding from it, and the length of time during which it was visible. The body when first seen resembled a large ball of fire of a deep red colour, and the coarse traversed by it seemed to be a curse, in its passage over which it gradually ac quired the appearance of a broad stream of fire of vari ous hues—green, crimson, purple, violet, &e. The light evolved was so vivid as to approach that if noonday, and cast very strong shadows on the ground. Immedi ately before it disappeared, its light seemed to be con centrated, when it burst like a rocket, producing an ex plosion the echoes of which resembled distant thunder. One of the most remarkable circumstances attending the phenomenon was its long continuance, which extended to fire or six seconds. It was simultaneously observed in various parts of the kingdom. The following letters have been addressed to the editor of a morning contemporary : Sir,—Yesterday evening, at about half-past ten o'clock, I was observing the peculiar clearness of the atmos phere, the weather having rapidly changed from stormy rain, which had prevailed throughout the day, to that brilliancy of sky which usually betokens, at this season, frost; when, suddenly, I was almost bereft of sight by the appearance of a magnificent meteor which made its appearance in a westerly direction, and passing rapidly across the zenith, exploded in the east, about 15 dog. above the horizon. It was followed by a luminous tail of extraordinary length and brilliance, and the disk of its neuclus appeared to be nearly half the diameter of the moon when full. Fire balls of a bluish colour fell from ---- the tail in profusion. Some idea may be formed of the intense light cast from it when I state that I could discern nothing whatever for several minutes after ; indeed, many families in the neighbourhood sitting in w ell lighted rooms, where there were apertures or crevices through the shutters, were alarmed, and went out completely terrified. Pheasants com menced crowing on their roosts, and dogs were barking; in tact, all living creatures out of doors were evidently disturbed by it. The wind which had been blowing boisterously nearly the whole day from the south west was, at the time, west by south-west, and mode rately brisk. The explosion of this brilliant specimen of an eccen tric and, I believe, unexplained varitty of aerial phe nomena was not, as is sometimes the case, audible, and I conclude, therefore, that, although doubtless within our atmosphere, its distance from the surface of the earth must have ten very great; hence, probably, it was observed in other parts of the country by indivi duals far more scientific than myself, who may, perhaps, furnish you with a better description f it. In the absence e f such you may possibly deem ac ceptable the humble communication r f, Sir, your most obedient servant, G. 1110)11'50N, Jun. Preatwood, Stourbridge, Feb. 12. Sir,—At a quarter before eleven o'clock last night, beit g in conversation with Mr. John Liner, in front cf his house, which directly faces the north, he called my attention to a falling star. When I first observed it it was coming from the north-west, and did not appear much larger than failing stars usually are; but it con !limed its course, so try moment increasing in brightness, and exhibiting a tail of a blue colour and remarkably vivid, until it had reached the east, when it exploded into thousands of brilliant coruscations and disappeared. After an interval of about 90 seconds it was followed by a loud clap of thunder, of a very peculiar crackling na ture, of long duration, which passed off into the north east. Yours, Padbury, Buckingham, Feb. 12. It. VICARS, Jan. iioxTON RAGGED SCHOOL —A tea festival, fol lowed by a public meetinr, :took place at seven o'clock last evening, at the Iloxton Academy Chapel School, for the purpose of receiving subscriptions to liquidate the debt incurred by the erection of the Hoxton Ragged School. The meeting was principally composed of re spectable females, with a few clergymen and gentlemen interested in the success of the institution. The chair having been taken by Joseph Bateman, Esq., the even ing's proceedings were opened with a prayer and a hymn. Subscriptions and donations were banded in to the amount of about 121, after which Mr. Benjamin Cobden proceeded to lay before the meeting the re port of the committee, from which it appeared that the total cost of the building amounted to 6501.; the donations and subscriptions received to 2201., leaving a sum of 4301. to be paid off. The course of in struction which it was intended should be carried on in the school, would be for infants daily; for grown-up boys and girls, three nights in each week; and tor parents and o'd persons, two nights in each week, with constant Sunday-school instruction. It was also intended, as soon as sufficient funds had been raised, to ( pen indus trial eassts, so as to fit those of the pupils who might wish to emigrate to the colonies to become useful and industrious citizens. The meeting was subsequently addressed in brief terms by the Rev. Messrs. Johnson, Rotheray, and Addison, as also by Mr. Joseph Payne, who forcibly pointed out the necessity that existed for establishing and upholdieg such useful institutions, as, by their agency, thousands were saved from perdition, and taught, by a superior discipline to that which nas practised in gaols and penitentiaries—the discipline of Christian love and of the Gospel—to become useful, intel ligent, and respectable members of society. 'The meet ing, at half-past nine o'clock, was closed with au appro priate prayer and hymn. DEATH FROM SHAMEFUL NEGLECT.—On Friday an inquest was held at Bradley, on the body of Thomas Cox, a boy shoat nine years of age, whose death re sulted from the reprehensible though common practice of leaving old coal pits without any fence around or any covering over them. The deceased, who lived at Brad ley, Ist; home on Wednesday morning, with his father, for the purpose of going to work in a coal pit, near Dar'Aston. When they got into Mr. Loxdale's field, near Potter's-bridge, the deceased's bat was blown off, and they both ran after it a short distance. It began to rain, and deceased's father desired him to go into a hovel close by, whilst he (the father) looked tor tLo hat. As the morning was dark and windy, he could not find the hat; and in going to the hovel to meet his son, he had, using his own words, "a very narrow escape of his life, in not falling into an old pit, which was exposed without any fence round or over it." He could not find his son, and it then occurred to him that he had fallen down the pit. Some tackling was obtained, and the de deceased brought up, with his head fractured, both his legs broken, and otherwise dreadfully crushed, quite dead. "The pit in question," the boy's father said, "is an old coat pit, situate in the Old tiquirrel field, near Billiton, the property of Mr. Loxdale, and in the occu pation of Mr. William Baldwin, of Bilston, coal and iron master. A public road passes within twenty ards of the pit in question, an d t h ere i s no f ence against e it h er the road or the pit. Th e p i t i s a b ou t 35 yards d, h of) There are two or three other pits near the one in ques tion, in an equally dangerous state." The jury opinion that there had been great want of pr op er a verdict of "Accidental death;" exprcss i n at; an returned ttention and care on the part o f t h e occu pier o f the pit in question in r of having seen that it was properly p rotested ."— Wei- verhampton Chronicle. °moral. CHANGES.—We give the following as to Victualling yard, Gosport, they have reached us—namely, that Mr. T. T. Grant, hsa-srekeeper of the Clarence a ccepted the office of Comptroller of the Victualling Department of the Navy, vice Meek (paymustf r and purser), retired; and that Assistant-Paymar-Genr.,:t.l Anderson will succeed the, respected veteran officer Mr. Brigp, as Accountant-Genet al of the Navy, and not Mr. Bromley, who, a short time since, jumped from a second-class Admiralty clerk to be secretary to the Audit Commissioners. It is said that the !att.r is to have a superior appointment at the War-office.— Herald. THE SANITARY CONDITION OF BRISTOL --- The Town Council of Bristol i aving forwarded a memorial to the General Board of Health, Mr. George F. Cl ai k e , one cf the superintending inspectors, commenced a public inquiry es to the sanitary state of the borough yesterday (Wsclutisliy), iu ths.Quildligli Bristol. __._..7,_,„L.__4l::*N,N SPORTING INTELLIGENCEAsis_. .......,..-4 , ,, , i CHESTER RACES. , )y , , , , ., )....-,7 : ~ Acceptances for the Chester OW r- ' '' . Yrs. at Ibl' ;TM at kb ----A Collingwood Cossack P,ep- u . -d ay -8 0 y... 6 9 o,..aic by Verulam 4 6 7 - F‘atcatch er ......... 5 8 B'Melbouri aa .; ,;'l / 4 Dough ............... 5 8 5 Keleshe _ . ,A) _ i 6 - .6 .1. ,0 - ?1 . 7 . , - ./ John Cosier ..... . 5 8 5 ‘'.:.'unr.yside Ellerdale. .......... 6 8 3:Melody Lady Evely n ...... 4 4 6 6 8 21uxo Mahon ............... 5 8 01Pr j r 6 6 6. mrosc Inheritress ......... 566 a 7 1 0jGaffer Green The Horn ( f Ch ase 6 7 I O'Caurrire 6 3 Hotspur ........... 4 7 10/Yadarm a 6 0 Sylvan . 5 7 $ Fleur do S e i ne ... 5 6 0 Es • ell/rine . eitzpatriek ... .... . 4 6 0, TI eßaronesr(lriah)4. 7 6 Vesta Chrmont 6 7 5 Martin ... Chatterer 4 7 5 Wil ...... 4 6 9 d Rose ......... 4 15 12 G : Pe'us mica Dulcet a 7 3Bc by Gladiator... 4 5 10 Woole ich Ellerslie ...... ...... 3 5 9 Wrstow ...... 4 5 8 Idleboy, by Hark - lioland .................... awri y 4 . V 5 5 7 U Gentral Salo ...... 4 5 8 . Quiz (late Reis- Fby Vulcan ...... 4 5-. a thorpe) Fugleman Loup garou 4 7 0 Countess of Alb,- . Pelham Osterlvy Oarless ' Miss Ann Lady Superior ... 4 7 1 Seignor of Holder- Velox The Darter 5 6 12 dark Tapley Woodlark Rhesus 4 6 12 MolgraTe 3 4 12 Sir Richard ...... .. 4 6 12' Laura . 3 4 10 Tarn Wadlin ...... 4 611 Gleam Cockeemouth CEdipus Abbot of Meaux,.. 4 6 10 tanthe 3 4 10 cut p li r i i s e s s a t w e s a ll y .... .. 4 4 6 6 1 10 0 C Ey b e y - tp a e n - B e r o c ) o . 4 Bt , The Flea 4 61( of Concertina ... 3 410 Chantrey 4 6 10 Equira 3 4 8 Die de Brabant ... 4 6 10 Augean Imperatrix Mounseer Giselle a 6 8 St. George Lismahago The Knout 4 6 8 oat cif Sprite ••• 3 4 4 Testator Eva Tiflis RACES T 0 COME. IZIIR Lincoln Spring LiTerpool. CH. Doncaster Spring Warrick 1 ,IL. Catterick Bridge Northampton & Pytch ley Hunt 3 Croxton Perk 9 I Epsom Spring .,... 11. 1 Newmarket Craven ......15 I Bath U3 Newmkt. First Spring 29 AT. Chester Spring Newm. Second Spring l4 Shrewsbury l5 Manchester Epsom Summer 2B Edinburgh Newton 5 Ascot liumpton Newcastle Bibury 26 Stock bridge 27 iitT, Newmarket 2 Liverpool Nottingham l6 Stamford l7 Salisbury lB Winchester 23 Goodwood ♦UG Ripon Brighton Wolverhampton l2 Eglinton Park ... 13 or 14 SEFTE. Warwick .. Lichfield ' ... Newmkt. First October _,.. 1.„ I Chester Autumn lit lIIST. Reading York Stirling Doncaster Manchester Autumn 2 MLR. OCTO; ;MBER. Newmkt. Second 0.3.... 14 Newma►ket Houghton.. 28 FUNERAL Or THE LATE Mss. WADDINGToN.-- On Saturday last the remains of Mrs. Waddington, of Llanover, were consigned to the grate. Her funeral was conducted in the strictest conformity with her wishes, and while nothing was expended in mere show, plain mourning was given to all those who had more particu larly- served her, and to whom it would benaost useful. She had long since chosen the spot in the churchyard at Lien over where she was to be laid, desiring ;bat she might not be placed in a vault, or in a lead coffin, but " that the earth should corer her, and that the green turf should grow over her deep grave." The place se lected by ler adjoins the vault in which other mem bers of the family are buried, ;and over which, with honeysuckles and other flowers, grows a pine, reared by herself, from seed she had brought from Italy thirty three years age. At twelve o'cleck the fine Welsh hymn calved Gorphenwyd" was solemnly sung as the procession lett the house on foot. After the c,,ffin was lowered on the large stone which had been prepared for its reoeption, the pall-bearers dropped the snowdrops and other flowers which they carried, upon it; and a bystander (who remained long aft.-r tbo funeral was over) remarked that all those there employed seemed to touch the light soil, with which the grave was being filled, with reve rence—that all rough stones were removed from it, and it was dropped Featly in almost by handfuls; nor was the grave abandoned till after dark. The next morning a green turred grave was seen covered with flowers, and the road to the church was strewed with snow:ft - opt, and sprigs of yew, and other evergreens. Sir Benjamin Hall was forbidden by his medical advisers too leave London, as he had intended, the state of his eyes I sing so very critical that exposure to cold would have been attended with great danger. The deceased lady was the immediate descendant, in the fifth generation, of the celebrated Sir Bevil Granville, who was killed at the battle of Lansdown in 1643, and was great niece and adopted child of Mary Granville, so well known ae the admirable Mrs. Delany.— Welsh Paper. GLASGOW ITAIDOUB.--We have much pleasure 'in noticing that the magnificent first-class steamer Asir, which was recently launched at Greenock, arrival in our harbour yesterday, having been tugged up from the former port. She has been placed alongside of the Simoom frigate at Lancefield quay, preparvory to get ting in her engine?, &C., which have been constructed by the Messrs. Napier. No time will be lost in getting this fine vessel ready for sea. Ifer machinery, we under stand, is all ready, and it may be confidently predicted, from the celebrity of both builder and engineer, that the Asia will prove another triumphant instance of the superiority of Clyde-built ocean-going steamers. The same tide that brought up the Asia floated along with it the largest trading-vessel which, we have authority for saying, has yet entered our harbour. This was the American built ship Huguenot, Captain W. Gardner, freighted with a cargo of ootton, from Savannah, from whence she made an excellent passage. Notwithstand ing her great size, measuring, we believe, nearly 1,000 tuns register, her draught cf elver was not so great as that of many veAels of inferior tonaage which have got alongside our wharfs, Icing only sixteen and a half feet. This is accounted for by the circumstance of her cargo being entirely cotton, of which she has no fewer than 3,500 bales on board—the largest cargo of this de scription which has ever teen landed at Glasgow. Now that the capabilities of the river are becoming better known, we may calcukto upon 'tieing more frequently, as large, if not larger ships in our basin.—?earth British Mail. The Earl Fitahardinge has left town for Berkeley Castle, where the Noble Earl will reside uniil the close of the hunting season. FALL or A PORTION OF THE CDURCIITAID WALL AT OLDHAM —On Friday, the Bth inst , a portion of the well which surrounds the graveyard of Ike church, and abutting into Church-street, suddenly fell, and for a time obstructed the street; about ten yards in length of the wall came down. It h a . f or some time been yielding to the lit essure of • arth above, end it i s suppose d that the effect of the late severe frost had so loosened the materials as to causn it to give way. The surface of the yard at this place is about ten feet above that of the street, and when the w all fell it exposed to view tiers of c• ffiva near the surface. A woman passing at its time, arresly escaped being buried in the ruins. Fortunately there was no person hurt. ANOTHER " CASE" FOR THE PROTECTIONISTS:—We read the other day, in one if those amusing miscellanies, a " City article," that pepper aa4 getting up, and we foresaw at once that the Protectionists would have • good cry directly they set their eyes on pepper. They will of course bewail the additional di ffi culty of getting their rents in those cases where the rent is a peppet corn, sod , declare i t " Look at pepp er ," ground down worse th an they will . There is no fear that the article will maintain e to v t e , r hi g h a price, for pepper is about the last thing th a t wh s they ira n t areifrantic shoutbeing oun of people will pay for through the nose very readily.—Punch. A US TRlANlstrupErtce.—The Vienna paper the Lloyd, of the 3d inst., asserts that en Austrian fleet Is preparing to sail for Greece to oppose the proceeding, of Sir Sir. Parker and the English squadron. WINDINS -UP OF RAILWAT AND JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES —At a general meeting of the Masters in Chancery just held, it was resolved that in the tsxation of costs under the Joiit Stock Companies Winding -tip Acts, the principle of pad ment by hourly 'swi:as shell be disregarded, and of solicitors' fees, and in mos whey* the hlasteri are attended by counrel, their ftes.ahall be regulated upon the same principle as if the procoseins took place iu the Court of Cl . aueery, and that in wing costs as between p ar t y an d party, no coats of counsel More the Master shall be allowed unless specially ordered, and with respect to the oasts of solicitors and tlicial tnansgerr, the Masters are to give any special directions they may think fit. A Superintendent of Police has absconded from Wellington, Shropshire. ills name is Beefier, and he was suddenly missed on the 23d ult., and his where abouts has not yet been discovered, although hand-billa have been circulatel throughout the kingdom with view to his appre he ns ion. It is reported that his defal catiwis are heavy.— Wolverhampton Chronicle. FUNERALS IN THE OAXNEYS.—Ths Sootch papers announced that a hearse has recently beep introduced into the Orkneys for the first time. CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY.—Trafic fo r the Week ended Feb. 10, 1650;—C. and 11. Main bite_ 1,0931. 10s. 6J.; Mold, 361. 105. 9d.i otev z b oo t h 904 71. 9d,...190,1, 1 7 2194 h. td. '1111".