The Sun. — London, England, 1847-06-14 00:00:00

THE UNITED STA AND AIEXIC.J. ARRIVAL OF THE BRITANNIA. LIVERPOOL, SUNDAY - NIGHT, Half-past Nine o'clock. The British and North American royal mail I/teal: a - ship Britannia, Captain Harrison, entered the li ver to-night at nine o'clock, after one of the most rapid passages ever made by this celebrated line of st eam-ship s ; and it may be here noted as a remark able fact that this same ship has sailed from Boston on the Ist of June for the last four years, and arrived at Liverpool on the 13th, as she does this day, estab !ill:ling for herself the character of being as punctual nok her arrival as the railway mails in England. The Britannia brings 112 passengers, and the bails from Canada and the United States to the Ist instant. Her able commander, Captain Harrison, Was highly comp li mente d b y hi s passengers, on hi s eedy arrival off Liverpool. The Britannia news is fifteen days later than pre viously received. On boarding the Britannia, we learnt from the 118 sengers that the Washington would positively leave IN ew York on the same day as that of the Britaania, the Ist inst., so that the arrival of these two /essels have excited no little interest at Liverpool, and other commercial towns west of London. The politi ca l news b y t hi s arr i val is not essent i a ll y 4130rtant. From the seat of war, the latest was by Wa y of Orleans, which is given in a paper of that city, an d which states that— t" Letters dated 'Walnut Springs, May 3d, give a re oirt that Colonel Doniphan's force had been attacked at Pass of Sierra Gordon, about half-way between Sal onls and Chihuahua, by a Mexican force from Durango, der General Rieso. Colonel Doniphan was defeated, thce loss of seven men and all his artillery. An Eng- R lB ' Rentlema n , w h o arr i ve d at S a l t ill o on t h e 3d M arc h, lays Col one l Doniphan, started from Chihuahua on the at 13 f April, viii San Jose del Parral, and Saltillo (.11:iers think that his command must be within a few ' 44 3's ) march of that place. fGeneral C a d wa ll a d er and staff, Col. Ramsay, Major orgeo, Captai ns C arr , Sy-berg, Butler, Bernard, Biddle, an d lothers acier f had arrived at Palo Alto. General Cadwal nra orthwith proceeded with his command, except the g o ons, to Vera Cruz to reinforce General Scott. The welt of Inqui r y i n th e cases o f G enera l L ane an d C o - Bowle s has given its report. The conduct of the Homer is fully approved, and the personal courage but p3.he capacity of the latter. The latest Monterey eer thinks that an advance on San Luis is dinseigned veneral Taylor, as unusual activity prevails every forrtraent. General Urrea has issued proclamations 1 ) ,/ e !Ilea and contributions, and left for the city of so Sas the moras Fof te of Ma. Vera Cruz da t es to the Mata evening of lag the 15t h 15th h of May, fury nu nothin g later from General Scott." New York commercial paper of the latest date of".l,The situation of our public affairs, and especially a i,e war in Mexico, has undergone little or no change o u_e . the departure of the steamer of the 16th of May. r ."Flg to the expiration of their terms of s. rvice, five t Zg t t,nent s of volunteers, of these one of cavalry attached d at n: r army under General Scutt, were at the latest be e e nt t r °,l 3l Jalapa, of llth about to take up their United atarch for Vera Cruz, thence to return to the te d States, there to be mustered out of service. This re nnutio n o f a force previouly too small i n num b er to tn e i r 4 es therwise teen very hazardous, upon the ordinary i i n ti of war, an advance into the heart and against G en tpttal of an enemy's country, necessarily compelled L e 4 3 . i Scott to suspend that advance, and accordingly " Yet at Jalapa. Some of the new levies would tat: reach Vera Cruz, and thence be hurried into the fey er reach as well to avoid the pestilence of the yellow his ,„? 1 the coast, as to enable the General to pursue U n i o '„' e tc',vious march to Mexico. The Washington Genera]- gives the assurance that in the month of June Scott will have an army of 20,000 men. " With G e _ out waiting for reinforcements, however, wh ue s ral Scott was pushing his column on to Puebla, 1 14 , 1 r . 61 10 resistance will probably be attempted. He !ssned a striking and well-timed proclamation to the s t l ez _leans, announcing his advance, and dispelling the e presentations and delusions, by virtue of which thei r t ilt °wll ambitious but incapable generals and magis witless:4W. sought to stimulate them to continue hos es, In the c a pi ta l o f M ex i co comp l ete anarc h y seems to v ail The latest dates from the city are the 4th or znalc °,' May, when little or no preparations for defence were s e , Mg- Indeed, money, munition, arms, and men, all Cla to be wanting. The Substitute President Anaya cre vice declared the city under martial law, but his term of Would expire on the 15th of May, when a perma ttiCt president was to be regularly chosen. Meanwhile ate,hetter portion of the population was leaving the city, the Government itself is said to have made all its pre p a rations, as soon as the Americans shall adv a n ce , to move with the archive of the State to Morelia. anta Anna was still at Orizaba, talking big and s:_l9g little or nothing to justify his words. Some ap hension was for a moment enterta i ne d at V era C ruz, Znereti ethe Am er i can garrison is very small, that he me tatScott falling uponith at p l ace —b etween wh i ch an d G en. garrissorY he is —but later adviceshad.re-assured the thing they,. moreover, had put and kept every tempting, n lion to resist such an attack. A more becaus e an easier and very rich prize, would be offered to his monstrous en train with if i n d ee d h e h ave an y, by a and so waggon me half a with provision and ammunition,. i Was to leave Vera Cruzoiflor of jal d ap ul a l , ar a s bo i u n t gold, tne 20t l e e s c . o u rt n ed . by not more than a thousand men. If Santa ' OO hare really the force he is represented to have, of e r or five thousand infantry and cavalry, there will Z ri In no sort of excuse if he do not attempt to intercept capture this train, yet little or no solicitude is felt fordaring safety, so little is the belief in Santa Anna's , — „ t "lg. As an additional security to the train, how. ere General Scott has so ordered its advance, and the ret urn march of some of the volunteer regiments whose ti v , 4 0„ 41 is expiring, that at least one of these regiments (11 is every night with a train, in addition to its proper escort. "From the Pacific we hear that all the smaller ports I, f the peninsula of California had been taken p k ossession 'V vessels of the American squadron, and that they were peacefully held." The most important portion of the intelligence by 1.1 1 6 arrival relates to the COMMERCIAL. 0 n the departure of the Britannia commerce was tio • Ishing in all the commercial cities of the union. forthcoming crops of corn and grain were most prem • ising,money plentiful, the credit of the Govern nt at . - s good, and all the State stocks, including - yen those of the non-paying states, are becoming 111 °re valuable. ✓ xchange on Europe conti n ue s a t a ra t e w hi c h fonder the further impo r t a ti on o f spec i re. Bill s on -dniadon range from 6i to 7i ; on Paris from 5 321 I°s 30. Freights —To Europe are dull, and rat es h ave f a ll e n (111 . Flour is taken by British vessels at 2s. There is Zva , little offering for Havre, and our quotations may considered nominal. „ To Liverpool--Cotton, per lb., 3-IGd. a /I ; Beef, tce., ' B .; Beef and York, bbl., 35.; Flour, 2s. a 2s. 6d. ; Tur pentine, 35.; Leather, per lb., 5 16d. a id.; heavy goods, t on, Ms. a 405.; Grain, bushel, 9d. a 10d. The prices of bread-stuffs continue extravagantly high. The best brands of Southern Flour sold last week for home use, in the market, for 9,1 dolls. per bbl.; and Genesee, for exportation, at from 8 dolls. 50 c. to 8 dols. 75e.; Wheat brought 2 dolls. 5 c. per bushel of 60 lbs., and Indian Corn I doll. 8 c. a 1 dol. 12 c. for yellow, per bushel of 56 lbs. There is some little pause at present in these prices, yet contracts have been freely made to pay for these staples deliverable from June to August, prices equal to, for Flour 8 dolls. 5O c. to 8 dolls.; from 2 dolls. in June, to 1 dull. 65 c. in August ; for Indian Corn, from 1 doll. 2 c. in June, to 97 c. in July, and 92 c. iB August. All this shows great confidence in a continued foreign demand at high prices, and is the more remarkable be cause the arrivals daily from the canal are very heavy, cquallin g 30,000 to 35,000 barrels a day for many consecu tive days, and the account from the interior makes it evi dent that the stocks are larger than was before generally 04 timated. The total of our exports of bread-stuffs from the United Stat'eS to Great Britain, since Ist September to 21st inst. ~'re, say two million barrels of 200 lbs. of flour ; 585 ,000 lbs. corn meal; 1,802,000 bushels of 601bs. of wheat; a. id 1,180,000 bushels of 56 lbs. of Indian corn. Lsports, receipts, and stocks of Cotton at the ports of the United states (in thousand bales) txports to Great Britain. France. Other. Total. Rec'ts. Stocks. 100 far this season. 6 5 193 124 922 1765 521 , sametime,lB4. 735 256 127 1118 1927 533 Do. 1841. 1160 298 236 1694 2282 348 Do. 1844. 915 233 94 1242 1887 408 Do. 1843. 1321 305 150 1776 2230 249 It will be seen that the receipts and exports of cotton during the last fortnight have been less than in the same Period of tiny of the last four years. Nevertheless vs the consumption in Europe seems to m'Lave fallen off so cot,saiderably, it may be well to see h o w eounaehuie"e..otton will arrive in Great Britain in the year , eing on Ist January—as this may be a much mor crop -im portant faring b e l ow 1,800,000, of which t here cannot now be much if any doubt. 1846-7 1845-6 735 it e x e l "ted to Great B r it a i n a s above .............. 605 e ived in Great itrltain before 31st Decemb er .. 46 155 To fil . the 580 in Great Britain, after 31st Decemb er.. e jlaus we se e th a t t h oug h our export is ve ss r 9 y deficient, t 't` vs is year's i mport of Great Britain will be (ceteris pa lastonly 21,000 short of the corresponding period of alit y ear. It is evident, therefore, that unless the rate of con "naption in Europe rallies up very materially this sum- Ilter, it will require great firmness on the part of holders in withstand the effect of the increasing stock of the raw laaterial in Liverpool. The growing crop is backward, 1 31.1 t its con di t i on has lately been impr , ved by seasonable r ains__ in th e Atlantic States, where it had been chie fl y vonaplained of as unpromising. Cotton —The market remains inactive, A few bun tl re t i bales were taken to-day by spinners; but s hipp e rs do not come forward at present prices, and holders do Oat appeg willing to submit to any decline. We quote ..• alf 10 Of THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 14, 1847 Uplands—very orthuary to middling, 10-lc. a 114 e. per lb.; fair to good lair and good, 124 e. a 13c. and 134?. Tennessees Alabamas, 104 c. a 11ie. Louisianas, &c.—ordinary to middling, 104 c. a 114 e.; fair to good fair, 13c. a 134 e.; good and fine, 14c. a 144 c. per lb. The sales since the 14th instant are estimated at 4,200 bales. The exports, &c., of cotton since the Ist of September are as follow.— Total Fxports. To G. Britain. ltecipts. Stocks. This year - - 924,000 605,000 1,684,001 523,000 Last year - - 1,130,000 744,000 1,933,000 530,0 0 Year before - - 1,714,C00 1,175,000 2,293,000 537,000 Flour—The receipts continue to be unusually great, nevertheless the downward tendency in prices appears to be checked. A few lots of Western Canal, in poor order, sold this morning at 8 dolls. to 8 dolls. 124 c., but the bulk of the sales at 8 dolls. 25e. 2,000 barrels Genessee to be celivered in June sold at 6 dolls. 500 barrels Jer sey corn meal brought 5 dolls. 374 c. The market re mains bare of southern flour. Corn is firm, sales of 25 000 bushels at 105 c.. to 1124 c. for mixed, white and yellow, 10,000 ditto for delivery in July and August brought 95c. to 97e.; 500 bushels of rye were taken at 11.5 c., and 1,500 at 120 c. The receipts of flour to day via the North River are 24,717 barrels—making 181,110 barrels received during the week, which is about 50,000 barrels more than were ever beton received within the same space of time. Potashes are dull of sale at 4,874 dolls.; shippers offer 4,75 dolls. Pearls are steady at 6,50 dolls. Pork is firm; sales of new Mess were made at 16,50 dolls; and new prime, 14 dolls.; old Mess 15,50 dolls. Beef has an upward tendency. Sales of Turpentine at 34 dolls, a 3i dolls. per brl of 280 lbs., for prime soft Newbern. Spirits of do. do. 35c. a 36e. The Canadian Government have authorised the transmit through Canada of foreign wheat and Indian corn without payment of duty. The Inspector-General, under date of 15th May, gives notice of this fact, and states that foreign wheat and malio, on being entered for exportatiou, shall be per mitted to pass through Canada to its port of exportation, on bonds being giving in three times the amount of duty otherwise payable, that the said grain shall within six months be exported. The " ship fever " introduced by the Irish emi grants, was spreading in the Atlantic cities of the United States, and also in Canada, and causing eonsi de-rable alarm. The quarantine regulations were being enforced with great strictness, and hospitals and boards of health established. NEW ORLEANS, MAY 22. Every day or two produces its news. We now learn that the rancheros, or guerillas, had been very trouble some near Vera Cruz; two hundred of them had been followed by Walker and his rifles, and four killed; .ix United States dragoons had been killed by these people on tne previous day. The Mexican Congress had re fused the mediation of England by a vote of 44 to 33. The returned officers of volunteers in this city tell me that, in their opinion, there is no chance of peace—not even if the capital be taken; but they think there will be no more pitched battles. Four of the states north of Mexico talk of separating and be coming a new republic under our protection, but per haps this report is but a weak invention of the enemy. The American officers, who are prisoners in Mexico, are reported to be well treated ; but the capital and Go vernment are full of confusion, and will not send Santa Anna a dollar, though he tells them that he has rallied 7,000 men at Orizaba. The U. S. fleet is spread along the Gulf shores to prevent the escape of Santa Anna by sea, if he should attempt it. Everything is in confusion at Yucatan, where another revolutionary movement is going on. On Rio Grande a camp of instruction has been formed at Palo Alto, with 1,400 men. General Cushing had unfortunately broken his leg at Matamoras by a fall. The number;of regiments returned and to re turn from General Scott's army is seven. The Illinois regiment brings home less than one-half its men. The division of the army to march on Puebla and Mexico, cannot now reach 6,000 men. Will General Scott march right straight on to the Halls of Montezuma, or will he nit ? That is the question. From all that I can hear and read, I think he will go to Puebla, and wait there for reinforcements. A great many of the returned vo lunteers are very sick—hospitals here and at Pensucola full of " discharged on account of sickness." THE BRAZIL MAIL. FALMOUTH, JUNE 13. Her Majesty's packet Swift, Lieutenant Long, arrived last night from the Brazils, having left Rio de Janeiro on the 13th of April, Bahia on the 20th of April, and Pernambuco on the Ist of May. She brings on freight about 10,0001., and the following passengers, viz. :—Lord A. Beauclerk, late of her Majesty's ship Curacoa ; Captain Thompson, late of Curacoa ; Captain Proctor, late of Harpy, Mr. and Mrs. Hapley, Mr. Sanville, Mr. D. Last, Mr. De Castro, Mr. Plowes, Mr. Finnie, Mr. Murray, Mr. Ramsden, Royal Navy ; also Dr. Coates, left at Pernambuco ill. Her Majesty's steamer Rattler, having on board Lord Howden, had arrived at Bahia, and sailed for Rio de la Plata on the 26th April. The Swift left at Rio de Janeiro the Crescent, Curacoa, and Firebrand. The Griffin steamer, with the River Plate mails, had arrived at Rio on the 9th of April. The news by this packet has been anticipated by the recent arrival of her Majesty's brig Frolic. The ex change at Rio was 281, and at Bahia The want of tonnage appears to have increased, and 555. to 70s. had been obtained for the Channel. Coffee had ad vanced a little in the higher qualities, and although the stock was very large (45,000 bags), the propor tion of these qualities was very small. The present quotations are :—Superior, 2 reis 950 milreis to 3 reis 50 milreis ; good first, 2 reis 800 milreis to 2 reis 850 milreis ; good seconds, 2 reis 400 milreis to 2 reis 500 milreis ; Sugars are quiet—white, 300 reis ; brown, 2 reis 100 milreis to 2 reis 200 milreis per arroba. Hides had been bought up for the Ameri can market at 170 reis per lb., and the stock was re duced to 7,000. Government stock had remained firm, notwithstanding considerable sales for foreign account (chiefly English), &c., at 821 and 82} per cent. Since the departure of the Penguin steam•packet, about 200,0001. has been done ; the transactions of the last week being at the rate of 28i and lastly at 28, with more money at 281 than bills. The news from the Emperor was very satisfactory ; he was diverting himself by gratifying his subjects who approach him. He was expected to return in a week. The Empress was going on well. JUNE.—The Spring is gone ; the Summer is come B autitul as Spring is, and delicate and poetical her children—the snow-drop, the violet, the primrose, and the cowslip—we have seen and loved them once more, and we will no longer regret them. As they came and passed away amid the lingering chills of winter, we wel comed them, and we mourned over their departue. No season like Spring makes us so sensible by its fleeting beauties of the fleeting time; but Summer is the season of full blown enjoyment, and now let us enjoy it. The great, wise Monarch of Jerusalem exclaimed in review ing these very things, " Come on, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are present, and let us speedily use the creatures like us in youth. Let us till ourselves with costly wine and ointments, and let no flower of the Spring pass by us. Let us crown ourselves with rose buds before they be withered." That was wisdom in Solomon's time, and it is wisdom now. It is wisdom to grasp the good that is before and around us, and not to waste time in lamenting what is gone, or may soon be going. And June seems the season made for the universal rejoicing of all the creatures of existence. The country is arrayed in its fullest yet newest beauty. The trees are once more thick with leaves—leaves of the most delicate freshness. It is, as Spenser says, wherever we turn our eyes, " a leafie luxurie." The ground is covered with deepest grass, and the birds and insects, and flowers which are moving, singing, and blowing over the whole face of nature, are countless. On Saturday the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Saxony, Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, Count Beust, accompanied by Lord William Ashley and their suite, occupying three carriages, visited Guildhall. They regarded with much interest the beautiful specimens of penmanship in the Chamberlain's parlour, but particu larly the hand - writing o f Shakspere in Cher e City laurib i rary. Aldermen Farebrother, Johnson, Sir Pet Le, and Sidney, attended them over the building.—Observer. Measures are in progress for the erection of a statue of the late Dr. Chalmers, to be executed by Mr. Steel, from the admirable bust lately sculptured by him, and to be placed within the new college. MARRIAGE OF JOHN BRIGHT, ESQ, Thursday morning, being the weekly meetininWake g of the Friends at their meeting-house, George - s treet, fie ld, was fixed upon as the day upon which Mr. Bright's marriage with Miss Leatham should be solemnised according to the usual form of that body. Half an hour previously, to the filled time appointed (half-past ten) , the c ha p el be g an to be _ by a numerous and respectable portion of the inhabit an ants of the town and neighbourhood. Am on g st the comp y' pre sent, most of whom were of the fair sex, we observed a great number of Mr. Bright's political friends. Within a few minutes of half. past ten the wedding party arrived, and immediately took the seats apportioned to them. The whole company sat for about three quarters of an hour in perfect silence, when Mr. Bright arose, and taking the right hand of Miss Leatham, pronounced in a low, but distinct voice, the following words :—" Friends, I take my , friend, Margaret Elizabeth Leatham, to be my wife, and promise by Divine assistance to be unto her a loving and faithful husband until it shall please God to part us by death." While still holding hands, Miss Leatham pronounced the same words, substituting John Bright for her own name, in a low but tremulous voice. After which an other pause of some minutes occurred, when one of the con gregation offered up a short prayer, the whole assembly standing. After some minutes had again elapsed, Mr. George l3enington, draper, read the certificate, or declara tion, which was signed by the bride and bridegroom, and their relations and friends, and afterwards by a large number of the congregation. The wedding party consisted of the bride and bridegroom, Mrs. Leatham (mother of the bride), Mr. Bright (father of the bridegroom), Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Loatharn, Miss Priscilla Leatham, Miss Priscilla Bright, Mr. Charles Albert Leatham, Miss. Esther Bright, Mr. Ed ward Aldam Leatham, Mr. Jacob Bright, jun., Miss M. W. Barclay, Mr. Joseph Gurney Barclay, Miss J. M. Barclay, Miss Ann F. Barclay, Mr. J. Priestman, jun. , and Miss Elizabeth Thornhill. The whole ceremony l as t e d about an hour and a half.—Lecds Mercury. LITERATURE. I?AIVTHORPE. One Vol. The motto on the title-page—a line front Balzac, " I hal commenced an insensate struggle ; I corn. batted misery with my pen,"—sufficiently indicates the purport of this volume. It is the history of an author. A fertile theme for the pen of the romancist, and one of which he not unfrequently avails himself. In this instance, however, it is not only as a ro mancist, but also as a moralist, that the writer of this fiction has selected a literary hero ; the adventures of Percy Ranthorpe serve, not only to " adorn a tale," but also, and very effectually, to " point a moral" and convey a useful lesson. Man of genius though he was, to a certain extent, at least, the hero—this Percy Ranthorpe—is no all-perfect ideal ; neither does he possess all the attractive attributes generally asso ciated with the poetic character. He is represented rather as a very natural personification of a class, of which, doubtless, many members are now existing : " A creature, not too bright or good, For human nature's daily food;" endowed with considerable talent and even genius, and also possessing no little ambition and no little self-conceit. In the narrative of his arduous career up that terrible acclivity—the hill of farae—is very vividly pourtrayed, most of the varied phases of; an author's early life, and the dangers and difficulties that crowd his way. In the preface we are told that " Ranthorpe " was written five years ago, and the author has employed the interval in following Boileau's advice, " Vingt fois sur le metier, remittez l'ouvrage," and "Polissez souvent et souvent effacez," so wall that his composition has doubtless consider ably improved in style, and considerably diminished in quantity. Originally intended to fill the pre scribed three volumes, - "RanthorFe" is now con densed into some three hundred and fifty pages, yet is nevertheless likely to afford as much interest and amusement as many of its competitors of greater weight. The writer himself admits that such a great change in the structure of his work has occa sioned many faults in the arrangement of the details, which to a certain extent must have been unavoid able. The most conspicuous evidence of the con densation of the narrative is the variety of person ages and incidents, with which it is crowded, but to the general reader, this feature will he rather an attraction. To the general reader we can cordially recommend it, it is full of animation and activity, the interest never flags. The variety of scene and character is almost boundless ; for ex- ample, we are introduced to the poet first in his hard-wo r ki ng obscurity; then we follow him as the " lion into a.. h of fashion ; we see him forget the humble love Of his early life to fall at the feet of some heartless coquette, and then, after finding him repulsed with scorn, we follow the fortunes of the lady through her eventful and instructive career. It is useless, however, to attempt to give even a summary of the variety of adventures detailed here. But " Ranthorpe" has a higher attrac tion than the power of affording mere amusement—it is interspersed with many beautiful thoughts, and many , reflections pregnant with moral truth. A useful lesson, too, as we have said before, is conveyed in the history of its hero. Even at the risk of diminishing our approbation and regard for the young poet, his biographer has been careful to expose to us his faults— faults rather incidental to his position than to his character. The titles of the three first " books" into which the history is divided, sufficiently indicate the moral which it conveys—" The Poet's first struggles," " The Lion," " The unsuccessful Au thor." The publication of his first book of poems— The Dreams of Youth"—obtains for the young author no inconsiderable celebrity—he is wel comed in those circles where every novelty is received with avidity —he literally descends from the garret to the drawing-room, from the poet he sinks into the lion. In thin incident of his career is very naturally pourtrayed. one of the casualties so often fatal to successful genius. Escaping from the jaws of despair, he is carried amid the vortex of dissipation—the Scylla and Charybdis which guard the path of fame. In pourtraying this period of his hero's life, the author introduces a chapter on " the aristocracy of intellect," which is well worthy of attention. He premises that there are two aristocracies, one of birth and one of in telligence. To the former he allows much, too much indeed ; for instance, he observes, " the aristocracy of birth is not the figment certain democrats proclaim. A thorough bred hunter is not a hack." To this comparison we most certainly object ; true we agree with our author, that between the " two nations" there may exist as great a difference in beauty of person and refinement of manner as there does be tween the two quadrupeds he has mentioned; but surely the cause is a very different one, and is attri butable not to birth, but education. The following remarks upon the anxiety which individuals of each aristocracy evince to become members of the other are full of truth: — "Whatever future changes may produce, there are at the present day two potent aristocracies, both swarming with presumptuous parvenus, despicable and despised: parvenus (let it never be forgotten) of intelligence as well as of station: men who aspire to qualities they have no claim to: eunuchs of ambition! " Society is brimful of absurdities, which no ridicule will rewither ; and of this kind is the absurdity of the members of one aristocracy consenting to become parvenus in the other: authors degrading themselves into parvenus of station, and lords descending into parvenus of intelli gence—this indeed is a misconception sometimes fatal; always ludicrous. Lords consent to be lords; and, before attempting to be authors, rigidly scrutinise your claims and title- deeds! You are proud of your own blazonry, and ridicule the pretensions of the parvenu ; but you become equally ridiculous when aiming after the blazonry of mental aristocracy—the titles of books; unless, indeed, you have the gift of genius to secure your position. " Authors consent to be authors ; and before attempt. ing to move in the first circles,' unless your position call you there, rigidly scrutinise what it is you want : what is your aim, and whether this society and its demands be compatible with the mission of your lives. Do not degrade yourselves by abdication of a rightful throne for a baffled attempt at usurpation of a foreign One. " Either there is dignity in intellectual rank, or there is not: if there is, no other rank is needed; if there is not, no other rank can give it ; for dignity is not an accident, but a quality." The chapter following Rauthorpe's precipitate retreat from the theatre, after the failure of his tragedy, vividly pourtrays what many must have felt. It is called " Aspiration and Inspiration," and points out the terrible difference which exists between them. With an extract from these suggestive remarks, we must take leave of " Ranthorpe, in the hope, how ever, of ere long again meeting with its author. " There have been few men of genius, I fancy, who have not had their moments of despondency. Exalted by the contemplation of Beauty, and the harmonious witcheries of Proportion, they have looked upon their own efforts with disgust ; aspiring after perfection they have doubted their capacity to attain it, and questioned themselves narrowly as to whether they have not mis taken the aspiration, common to so many, for the in spiration given to so few. The very superiority. of mind which enables them to conceive perfection, only the more readily detects the distance which separates their works from it. _ _ _ •• In moments of despondency, when with bitter irony a man interrogates himself and says—Am I what I thought myself ? and receives only dark, vague answers—then, should failure come as confirmation, the thought of suicide arises, and is eagerly clutched at by despair. To such despondency a few noble spirits have succumbed: spirits who had endured the goading evils of poverty, envy, and neglect—endured them to a frightful extent, but never suffered them to quell their giant energies. " They wrong us who believe we quail before the ordinary ills of life! We have more than a common courage to endure; the history of our heroic predecessors amply shows it. Our lives are chequered ; but because our path is on the stony highway, where thorns and flints pierce our bleeding feet, have we turned aside? Have we ceased the combat when wounded? No; if the path be stony, are there not flowers growing on the hedge? If the path be dark before us, have we not an inner lamp to guide us safely onwards? Ay, a lamp whose smallest glimmer irradiates the world with beauty ! By its light we walk, and walk cheerily; by its rays we are warmed and gladdened in the depth of winter nights, when perhaps the last dying embers flicker on our deso late hearths. We may be poor, but we are never abject; we may be neglected, but we are not unhappy until we neglect ourselves! It is only w h e n this inner lamp is quenched, or when we look on it as some false will-o'- wisp, that all the glory of our mission fades away ; and then what wonder if we arrest our steps and die blas pheming? Answer, Chatterton! Gilbert! Ilaydon! To have passed a life of cherished hopes and visionary efforts, and to find at last that they were based on air! To have forsaken all this bounteous world affords, to feed the hungriest vanity, or greediest sense, and to find that you have been a dupe, a miserable dupe! To hear the ceaseless roll of waters as they break upon the shore, and know how great the busy joyo u S wor ld th e y speak of; yet to feel like some poor stranded barque that had tempted the rough waves in youthful confidence, and now lies broken and deserted on them! To feel that everywhere around you men are happy, busy, and you alone without an aim—you alone purposeless, hopeless, joyless.—you alone wasted ! And in this despondency to recal the delicious reveries and bounding hopes which once were yours; to recal the lonely walks, on summer eves, along sequestered streams, where your busy fancy struck out many a gilded pageant of the future; to recal your midnight studies, when with burning head and aching eyes you peered into the secrets of the great Departed ; and then to look upon your present state, aimless and joyless! To awaken from the dream of life to find that l 11,der lamp was false, a m oc k ery o f your h o pes! This is misery—this is despair mighty enough to quell the stoutest heart! " And this despair seised Percy Ranthorpe, and he resolved to die!" - FINANCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND. By Thomas Doubleday. A peculiar interest attaches itself to this remark able work at the present moment, seeing that every endeavour is now being made for the reparati on o f a protracted injustice. The national mind, we do firmly believe, is ripe fora comprehensive reorga. nisation of that most injurious system of taxa tion which has for so long a period tended to paralyse the industry of the population. Mr. Doubleday has described the atrocious origin and the malign influences of the national debt of England in his financial history of the country, and he has described them with such admirable perspicuity as to their gradual developement, and with such wither ing sarcasm as to their producers, as to afford him, in our opinion, a right to the title of a patriotic phi lanthropist. It is a curious circumstance to re flect upon the monetary and social condition of our Anglo-Norman ancestors under the sovereignty of the Plantageneta, when the revenues of the monarch and the state were derived in a particular manner from his territorial possessions—when the royal beeves and the royal harvests were carried to his shambles and his granaries from his own pasture and arable land, and were not wrung from the pittances of the wretched artisans, earned by the de nial of their domestic comfort and the perpe tual sweating of their' brows. Until the aristo cratic ambition, and the feudatorial avarice had beaten down the buttresses and desolated the orchards of the religious establishments ; until the lords of the soil had glutted th e i r co ff ers w ith the most unprin cipled and profligate spoliation, and had by the con tagion of their example rendered their lord para mount, the King, the participator in their corrupt and execrable proceedings, the miseries of a poor law were unexperienced, and the labour of the land untaxed. Those are the circumstances which do, in a very great measure, render the olden times, in com parison with ours, the golden days; those, at least, are the antique c us t oms w hi c h we would willingly see revived by the disciples of Young England ; those are the immunities which must, in a very great measure, have compensated our forefathers for the scientific advantages reserved for a future generation. 'While, indeed, we have been blessed with the art of printing, we have been cursed with the woes of t axa ti on ; while our activity has been promoted by a magic-dragon of steam, our strength has been undermined by the horrors of the nightmare of the National Debt. The creation and growth of these monster evils are well and compre hensively described by Mr. Doubleday. From the first dawning of the debt until its accumulation in 1711 to a principal of 16,394,7021. ls. 7d., in 1739 to a principal of 46,954,6231. 3s. 4d., in 1748 to a principal of 78,293,313/. Is. 10id., in 1775 to a principal of 135,943,0511., in 1783 to a principal of 257,213,0431., in 1797 to a principal of 413,140,832 Z., until its extension in these latter times, after the wars against France— war , : forced upon us by the pertinacious egotism of Pitt—to a terrific total of 800,000,000/. How such miseries have been entailed upon the industrious population of these islands is readily to be comprehended, when we recal to our recollection the expenses of a protracted war, the odious subsidising system of William Pitt, and the monetary suction of the nobility. Mr. Doubleday has, in his present compo sition, become in a very great measure the impartial historian of English Finance ; at the same time it must be acknowledged that his style is throughout impassioned, but this earnestness arises from the ardour of his patriotism. In writing these brief observations we are in no manner disposed to dismiss a volume so remarkable and valuable with a few cursory remarks. We are only solicitous to direct the attention of the public, as speedily as possible, to a very extra ordinary and perspicuous work, recounting the in justice and incompetence of bygone statesmen. As we shall repeatedly have occasion to refer to the ar guments of Mr. Doubleday, either for the purpose of coinciding with them, or refuting them, we shall abstain from entering upon their general analysis. HOME AND I7'S INFLUENCE. A Novel. By the Hon. Adela Sidney. 3 Vols. The title of these volumes is a recommendation in itself, and when we have said that, the tales which they contain effectively carry out the moral which that title seems to convey, further commendation is almost needless. It would be well if a larger portion of fictitious literature were devoted to a similar pur pose, and inspired by as amiable motives, as are these volumes by Miss Sidney. However much it may be customary to regard novel-reading either as a sad waste of time, or, at best, only as a means of making a few hours pass pleasantly, we are inclined to think that works of this class, not individually, perhaps, but collectively, exercise a not unimportant, and might exercise a most beneficial, influence upon the morals and the disposition of the community. Historical or political romances are, doubtless, useful in their way, as tending to impress certain facts more indelibly in the memory, by means of familiar association and kindly sympathies ; but their influence is immeasur ably less powerful than that exercised by the un pretending domestic novel. Always supposing such a novel qualified to execute effectually its important mission, namely, teaching by example. To do this it is necessary not only that some good lesson should be inculcated by the moral of the tale, but also more es pecially to render the example available, it is im• perative that the characters and conduct of its heroes and heroines should be truthfully and naturally pour - trayed ; and then, according as they are good or evil, they may serve as an incenti v e or a warning. His torical romancist though he was, such lessons abound in the pages of Sir Walter Scott. We may ponder with admiration, reverence, delight, or a thousand kindred emotions, over his narratives, of the gallant doings of the old crusaders, or the varied fortunes of modern monarchs, from the doughty Richard to the gentle Mary, or p e d an ti c J ames; but we turn with a sympathy ever glowing, and an interest ever new, to study the histories of his humbler characters—fic titious they are c a ll e d, b ut we k n ow them to be realities—and from th ose hi stor i es h o w many lessons may we not learn ! F or i nstance , a hundred elabo rate orations, a hund re d e l oquen t panegyrics, upon the various excellen ces an d beauties of those two most necessary and not inc om p a tibl e v i r t u es, resolution and humility, must inevitably fail in producing a hun dredth part of the effect which would the perusal of, perhaps, the most beautiful of all Scott's beautiful tales —the " Bride of Lammermoor." There, in the odious character of the imperious Lady Ashton, and the pitiful weakness of the gentle and yielding Lucy, its fair readers more especially, may see the fatal effects of two opposite extremes and become more anxious to discover that happy juste milieu which avoids them both—excluding alike wilfulness and weakness. Innumerable lessons of this kind may be found in the pages of the great novelist; and, notwithstand ing their manifold attractions, it is for such lessons that they are chiefly valuable. And such or similar lessons we are always glad to find in the works of our modern novelists, and it is because they aspire to follow in the same course that we gladly welcome Miss Sidney's otherwise unpretending tales. To extol the happiness, and illustrate the beneficial in fluences of domestic life, is a peculiarly appropriate subject for a work which, like this, is chiefly designed for the younger and fairer members of the community. The early studies of kings are chiefly directed towards obtaining a knowledge of the countries over which they are to rule, and in gathering from the records of other sovereigns lessons of experience for their future guidance ; and in like manner should the early studies of women tend in some way to qualify them for the right ad ministration of the future scene of their sovereignty — the little empire of home. These three volumes con tain three tales—pleasing tales, pleasingly written— " Beatrix," "Dinah," and " Clemence." Of these the last is by far the most interesting, and is an exquisite romance. It is liable to some objections, certainly, and the conduct of the heroine, in her heroic self sacrifice, is perhaps not very wise, even if natural ; but then we must remember " he never errs who sa crifices self;" or if he do, " such hero-errors purify our kind?' The story of " Dinah" is perhaps likely to be of most practical benefit. It very for c ibl y pour t rays , i n th e person of its heroine, the terrible consequences which are occasioned by a fault-fin ding, d om i neer i ng t emper . " Home and its Influence," then, m a y b e cor di a ll y re commended as likely to afford, not only harmless and agreeable recreation, but also many not un i mpor t an t lessons. The object of the whole is to "that happinessve, i in the is concluding etwnoartdusrfrof_othnaet all ofth th e e tale s ~h charms of pleasure— , the excitement of fame—bear with them c oncea l e d thorns ; but that existence is happin ess on l y w h en . virtue and love shed ,, their lustre over an united and intellectual borne. ameret THE NATURAL 11161 OR Y OF THE BALLET GIRL. By Albert Smith. The cloak of Buffo') has been a very l ong while falling, and Albert Smith has cau g ht i t w i thout any doubt. It sits admirably on his s h ou ld ers—may he wear it just so long as it shall not become threadbare! After flaying the execrable, and det es t a bl e, and most atrocious, and most abominable race of " G en t s " alive ; after punishing the whole genus of " Gents" with a sort of literary " tar - and-feathering," Albert Smith changes his theme from the grubs, as he very expressively terms the " Gents," to the butterflies, as he no less expressively terms th e " B a ll et G i rls. " But his labour in this. second chapter of his facetious " Natural History, is not the labo ur o f d estruct i on, or scarification, or ridicule, or satire. Tothe honour and good taste of the author, be it said, the poor " Ballet Girls" may here find their palliation, if not even their panegyric. On this account the little book before us, anent the danseuses, is right welcome; it is a blithe, sparkling, humourous sketch behind the cenes, and it is a very great deal more—it is the enunciation of a kind word, and the expression of a generous and honourable sympathy for an abused, and we do believe, a wrongfully slighted class. We cannot afford a better notion of the gentleness of sen timent which imparts pre s s u e ch nt b a r pl oc e h a u s r a e n , t fl tha a n v o b u y r g t i o vi t n h g e out -Pfoluloriwnignsgodfetfehnece of the moral characters of the members of the corps de ballet. " The Ballet-girl is my fond of finery. Ina rosi- tion where so much depends upon effect, this passion is, in some degree, excusable ; and for this reason effect is the great end desired. She believes in the jewellery of the Lowther Arcade to a great degree ; that emporium stands higher with her than ever did the firm of Storr and Mortimer with its warmest and most wealthy pa trons. And herein lies her greatest danger. The hand some presents made to some of these girls—who work so very hard at so very small a salary—might well turn their heads ; as might the offers of a splendid settle ment or establishment, contrasted with their, in most cases, very humble homes. " But they have all got mothers, who are the ladies patronesses of strange bonnets and abnormal dresses. The more rigid ones come to the theatre every night to fetch their daughters home, and are allowed by the stage-door-keeper to stand inside his lodge, and near the fire in winter. And in no manner will they permit any one else to see their young ladies home, unless he pays them very great attention, or is their proper accepted admirer. And even then he must, to find great favour in the eyes of the mother, be somehow or other con nected with the profession. "And indeed the object of the Coryph6e in marriage is not altogether to be taken out of the theatre—gene rally the reverse. A very large proportion of the young persons now enumerated in the corps de-ballet of the various houses Miss' Such-a-one, are married. And, married or single, we speak advisedly in saying that nothing can be more exemplary than the conduct of the ballet generally, taken as a mass. Many of them—in several instances two or three sisters—contribute in a great degree to the support of their family, either by their salaries (which may be averaged at a guinea a week in the more respectable theatres), or by teaching dancing on their own account. An intimate acquaint ance with the internal economy of a theatre, and the fortunes of those assisting to form its company, enables us to state earnestly that amongst no other class have we witnessed more domestic devotion, or readiness at all times to proffer mutual assistance, in the event of accident or other misfortune, than in the corps de ballet; and that in contradiction to the notions of the Gents, by no others have we seen any transgression against propriety, or advances even supposed to be questionable, more effectually repulsed. We do not deny that there are several who cannot lay claim to a reputation en tirely unblemished ; but is as false as it is uncharitable to suppose that the attributes of those few are alike characteristic of the entire class." The descriptions of the domestic and artificial (that is stage) life of the " Ballet Girl," is as lively as it is doubtless faithful, from the enthusiasm with which she listens to the bang-bang of the tambourine in the hands of the ballet master, to the delight with which she and you hearken to the "glou-glou" of the cham pagne, when poured out in those long and distract ingly narrow glasses at the White-bait-house down at Blackwall. In the masterly picture of Van Am burgh, in the den of the great li on , b y Ed w i n Land seer—in this year's exhibition of the Royal academy—may be discerned first at the foreground, on the ledge, as it were, outside the bars of the iron cage—a piece of orange peal—a torn play bill—a scrap of laurel—and a bunch of flowers ! Those little adjuncts are inimitably introduced, suggesting by symbols, as they do, the atmosphere in which Van Amburgh and his tame wild beasts are visible. Hen ning might have taken a hint from Landseer, and thrown a bit of orange peal, a torn play bill, a scrap of laurel, and a bouquet, into the wood-cut on the title page, for they equally represent the atmosphere breathed by the Ballet Girl, and betoken the precise character of this agreeable volume. A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE TEETH AND GUMS. By William Ward, open. Mr. Wardroper in his intelligent and remarkable title treatise upon the structure and diseases of the teeth and gums, has stricken a severe blow at what he calls on his title page " the pernicious practise of indiscriminate tooth-drawing." The purpose of the arguments employed in this publication will conse quently be most welcome to the multitude who are liable to the excruciating torments of this dental disease. Mr. Wardrope attacks all the old systems hitherto practised by surgeon-dentists ; he attacks them boldly, but, at the same time, he attacks them with extraordinary skill, and with much apparent jus tice. His reasoning is not based upon some crochet born in his own imagination—it is founded upon the anatomical principles established by the great and il lustrious John Hunter. It will be useless, therefore, for any one to deride the propositions of the author as those of a charlatanic innovator. A single sen tence extracted from the preface will show the origi nality, the keenness, and the common-sense that may be expected in the treatise. "The only remedy," says the writer " in nine cases out of ten for the toothache, especially when the tooth has been affected with caries, has been extirpation, and that, too, recom mended by all the leading men in the profession, as the only efficacious alternative. This, when seriously reflectod on, appears to be almost as ludicrous as that a man should surer amputation of the head as a cure for the headache.' We recommend the pamphlet to the notice of all sufferers, and, generally, to the conside ration of all practitioners. FINE ARTS. EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS AT THE 881- TISEI INSTITUTION. On Saturday afternoon we were much gratified with the collection of pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, French, and English masters, tem porarily suspended on the walls of this excellent in stitution by their munificent proprietors. Every body knows that a " private view" implies a more numerous assembly of spectators than is visible on what is characterised, by way of distinction, as a " pub lic view." We were prepared to find a tolerable at tendance of visitors, but we were at once gratified and disappointed at the number of distinguished per sons by whom we had been preceded. Our gratifica tion arose from the evidence thereby given of the appreciation of the master-pieces of true art, and of the visible denial that English sight-seers are only to be tempted by novelty—no matter how vulgar and contemptible that novelty may be. Our disappoint ment, on the contrary, originated in a more selfish feeling, inasmuch as the throng prevented our ob taining that unembarrassed view of the paintings which is so essential to their due estimation. After the pictorial creation of the artist has left his atelier—ripe with genius and blooming with inge nuity—the most important requisite for the mani festation of its beauty, is, unquestionably, the point from which it is regarded. With one or two fortunate exceptions we were baffled in our endeavours to regard the pictures, now hanging upon the walls of the Institution, in a proper light—and this, from the number and curiosity of those who, like ourselves, were engaged in the pleasant task of inspection. What little, however, we were enabled to distinguish has satisfied us that the present col lection is scarcely to be surpassed in variety or value by any one of its predecessors. Some of the most valuable among the private galleries of England have given up for a time their treasures for the decoration of the apartments of the British Institution. Among the proprietors of these paintings, indeed, may be enumerated her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, the Marquis of Bute, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Northwick, Sir W. W. Wynn, the Earl of Ellesmere, the Right Hon. H. Labou chere, the Royal Academy, &c. &c. Among the most striking specimens of the Italian masters is a Guido (No. 13), being a representation of " St. Peter," of marvellous inspiration, and of that bold yet delicate colouring which is the chief characteristic of that immortal maestro a " David " (14), of Guercino—a little jewel of Claude (16), " The Landing of St. Paul, though somewhat faint and decayed in tone : a portrait of Ignatius Loyola, by Titian, with a haunting, pensive, meditative, jesuitical countenance, such as arrests attention and fastens indelibly upon the memory. One small picture of an unpretending character (68), a mere group of cattle standing in the foreground in a piece of water among sedges and rushes, and backed by a dingy waste of clouds, is a wonderful represen tation of nature, but to say that it is a Cuyp is to say that it is wonderful. Among the most celebrated paintings in the collection are the " Ratcatchers," by IVilkie ; the portrait of " Hunter," the anatomist, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and the portrait of " Lady Peel," by Sir Thomas Lawrence. An original Hogarth (149), the property of Mr. John Murray, being " The Beggar's Opera, with the portraits of Walker, the original Macheath; Miss Fenton, after wards the Duchess of Bolton; the Duke of Bolton,"i &c., has the stamp on it of the great master. "The Water-Seller," by Velasquez, is one of the mostextra ordinary pieces by that glorious Spaniard ; from the old ragged, hirsute water-seller himself to the boy who is going to drink, and from the glass of limpid water itself to the stone pitcher, with the drops trickling down its sides—the painting is a b r illiant transcript of reality. Dance's Garrick as Richard the Third (131) ;" the " Orpheus," of the same artist (152) ; the " Lady and Boy with Fruit," by Rubens (91), a picture of delicious beauty for colouring ; and a large landscape (22) with figures and cattle, by Cuyp, are amongst the most conspi cuous in dimension, and the last mentioned in merit also, in the Exhibition. The cool green scenery of Hobbima; the rich and glowing tones of Sir Peter Paul ; the quaint odd naturalness of Teniers, espe cially in the " Robbers plundering a Farm-house," (73), and most of all, in the Clown who is just going togcel Claude be su d; pinked the i ; n ktehde gleaming t o a n t he i m a h t e i art's oa nndofeffluv contenteffulgent vn by et one of r 1 nsuann : s na as t he eihn p e s i I t l ha o ef " Battle-piece," (20) where the centre-figure of the wounded horse evidences the " power" of the master in a significant manner; and the force and vigour of Rembrandt contrast in a wonderful way upon the walls of the Exhibition-rooms of the Institution. The collection is most valuable and most interesting. The failure of a very old and respectable house, Cattley and Stephenson, Russia merchants, was announced on Saturday, and created much surprise. The liabilities of the firm are stated at 75,000 L, and the assets are calculated to yield only 10s. in the pound. It is thought that this failure will not affect the solvency of the St. retersburgh firm of Cattley and Co. BIRMINGHAM AND OXFORD JUNCTION RAILWAY. THE BATTLE OF THE GAUGES. BIRMINGHAM, SATURDAY. - This day, according to announcement, an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the above company was held at Dee's Royal Hotel, for the purpose of considering the cm,duct of the directors with reference to the proposed sale of the line to the Great Western, and of considering the propriety of instituting a suit or suits in equity, or of instituting such proceedings in or out of Parliament as might be deemed advisable. Mr. P. H. Muntz, the chairman of the board of directors, presided, and was supported by Mr. Russell, M.P., Mr. Barlow, and other directors of the Great Western Company. The " Mozley party" assembled in great force. As, how ever, it will be seen by the result, the proceedings were unexpectedly brought to a very sudden termination. The Secretary having read the resolution by which the meeting was convened, Mr. MOZLEY presented himself, and said he was happy to announce that he believed the proceedings of the present meeting would not occupy any great length of time. He regretted that a Committee of the House of Commons had refused to allow the shareholders a hear ing of their case; and he regretted this the more because the course adopted, and of which they had a right to complain, was taken upon objections suggested by the trustees of their own property.—(Hear, hear.) The House of Lords had, however, done them greater justice; the Standing Orders Committee had decided that the orders had Hot been complied with, and that before the Bill now before Parliament should be further pro ceeded with it should be brought before the share holders for their approval or disapproval. He should, therefore, content himself with moving the following resolution:— " That inasmuch as this meeting is informed that the Standing Orders Committee of the House of Lords have decided that it is the duty of the directors to lay the Bill now before Parliament for amalgamating this com pany with the Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Dudley Railway Company, and selling the united undertaking to the Great Western Railway Company, before the shareholders (under the order known as Lord Wharn cliffe's order), this meeting deems it right, from respect to the House of Lords, to adjourn, in order to afford the directors an opportunity of submitting the aforesaid Bill to the shareholders, or taking any other steps in con formity with the resolution of the Standing Orders Com mittee; and it is accordingly resolved, that this meeting is adjourned until Saturday, the 19th inst., at Dees Royal Hotel, Birmingham, at two o'clock in the after noon, and that the further consideration of all and sin gular the matters mentioned and referred to in the requisition of the shareholders of the 29th of April, 1847, be adjourned unto, and be resumed if necessary, at such adjourned meeting." He (Mr. Mosley) hoped that the meeting would think with him, that this was the most proper course to be adopted, as it was in strict compliance with the expressed wish of the House of Lords. The directors would now have time to reconsider the matter, and he was not without hope that, in the interim, some means might be suggested by which the unseemly and expensive contest in which they were engaged might be terminated. He (Mr. Mosley) was not prepared to say that some arrangements might not be made by modification of the Bill now before Parliament, which would satisfy the great body of the shareholders, and meet the object which the Legislature originally had in view. Mr. Peßsobla seconded the motion, and being put by the Chairman, it was carried unanimously. The meeting then adjourned until Saturds. ELECTION MOVEMENTS. next. BRADFORD.— Mr. Busfeild has sent an address, but the Leeds Mercury intimates that it was not published. Colonel Thompson has declined to stand unless pre sented with a requisition promising success. REPRESENTATION OF THE CITY OF LONDON. - The election movement in the City has received a fresh impetus during the last few days, by the announcement that Mr. William Payne, the coroner, will become a candidate for its representation in Parliament. Mr. Payne's high character in the City, and the general respect in which he is held by all political parties, will render him a powerful opponent. His intimate ac quaintance with the commercial interests of the City, acquired by unceasing attention to the subject, have brought him to the conviction, as stated in his address, that much remains to be done, and that he is determined on endeavouring to accomplish it. On these grounds alone he has received the votes of many who might otherwise have opposed him. Mr. Lyall, it is already known, retires from Parliament at the close of the pre sent session, and the only candidates at present in the field to supply his place are Mr. Payne and Mr. Alder man Johnson. The latter belongs to the old and well nigh exploded high Tory school, and pledges himself to vote for the resuscitation of the restrictive measures which public opinion has so unequivocally condemned.— From a Correspondent. DOVER ELECTION.—The candidates for the repre sentation of Dover are E. R. Rice, Esq., and Sir John Rae Reid, the present sitting Members; and Mr. Prin sep, an antiquated Tory and protectionist. Mr. Prinsep is the choice of a small clique of ultras, who have started him to supplant Sir John Rae Reid, because the worthy Baronet would not further submit to their ex tortions. Owing to a promise, given by Sir John under misrepresentation, he is, according to his high sense of honour, debarred from soliciting the votes of the con stituency (though he has declared his readiness to sit it elected); but, from the strong feeling manifested in his favour, his non-appearance in the canvassing arena will be amply made up by the exertions of his friends, whose canvass in his behalf far exceeds their most sanguine expectations. The Prinsep faction are finding their canvass tremendous up-hill work; but we understand that, by the aid of certain appliances, they expect yet to make head-way. They will, however, we guess, have their work to do; for, as we said last week, Sir John's free trade policy has obtained for him the support of a large number of those who were formerly his opponents. and from this circumstance, as well as the exertions of his Conservative friends, to all present appearances it seems that there will be no change in the representation of Dover at the approaching election.—Dover Chronicle. DEAL ELECTION.—As we stated last week, Lord Clinton, son of the do-what-he-likes-with-his-own- Duke, has appeared as a "No Popery " candidate against the two Liberals, Lord Paget and Mr. Grenfell, but it is not for a moment supposed that he has the slightest chance of success. Lord Clinton has trimmed his sails according to the wind; but although a few mis guided persons may be caught by the hypocritical manmuvre, no true Protestant Dissenters can possibly so far forget themselves as to follow in his wake, which would most inevitably lead them back to the shoals and quicksands of High Church oppression and ascendancy. Both Liberals have expressed their satisfaction at the result of their canvass, which we have reason to believe has been extremely favourable.—lbid. DEATH OP LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR COLIN CAMPBELL, K.C.B.—We regret to have to announce the de mise of the above gallant General, the late Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Ceylon, who expired between 4 and 5 o'clock yesterday morning, at his temporary residence in King-street, St. James's. The deceased was the fifth son of Mr. John Campbell, of Melfort, Argyleshire, and conse quently brother of the late Sir Patrick Campbell. He was born in 1777, and married early in life, and leaves issue three sons and three daughters, namely, Colonel Fitzroy Campbell; Lieutenant A. Campbell, 60th Foot, Aide-de-Camp to Lien tenant-General Sir Charles Napier, in India ; Captain F. Campbell, R.N.; Mrs. Phipps, married to the Hon. Edmund Phipps; Mrs. Maclean, wife of Captain Maclean, of the Royal Artillery, serving in India; and Miss Campbell. Sir Colin entered the army in 1799, and almost immediately commenced the active duties of his profession. He served under the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsula, and per formed the duties of Assistant-Adjutant-General and As sistant-Quartermaster-General. For his distinguished ser vices at Talavera, Busaco, and Fuentes d'Onor, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, NiveUe, Nive and Tolouse, he received a cross and six clasps. He was also at Waterloo, where he commanded the Royal Scots, the officers of which regiment testified their admiration of his gallant conduct by r p esen ting him with a sword valued at seventy guineas. Ile was also created a Knight of the Order of the Bath in re cognition of the services he rendered on that memorable occa sion. The gallant deceased also, in consideration of his eminent military services, received the order of knighthood from Austria of the order of Maria Theresa; from Russia of the order of St. George ; from Portugal of the order of the Tower and Sword ; and the King of Bavaria nominated him a knight of the order of Maximilian Joseph. After holding the home appointment of Governor of Portsmouth, and the command of the south-west district, he was appointed Lieu tenant-Governor and Commander of the Forces in Nova Scotia. On his return from North America he was selected as Governor of Ceylon, to which colony he proceeded in 1840, and remained there up to Viscount Torrington being ap pointed Governor, a few months since. In August, 1836, b e was appointed Colonel of the 72d Highlanders, which neces sarily becomes vacant by his death. The commissions of the gallant General were dated as follows :—Ensign, October 3, 1799 ; Lieutenant, August 121, 1801 ; Captain, Jaunary 9, 1805 ; Major, September 2, 1808 ; Lieutenant-Colonel, May, 3, 1810; Colonel, June 4, 1814; Major-General, May 27, 1825 ; and Lieutenant-General. June 28, 1838. DEATH OF MR. CHARLES SHERIDAN.SOCiety h as lost one of its choicest favourites and ornaments in Mr. Charles Sheridan, who combined all the gifts and qualities that distinguish his remarkable family—wit, beauty, accom plishments, the graces of manner, and the charm of a cor diality the most sincere and genial. We know of no one who was more universally welcome wherever he went, and so liked and admired. His conversation was full of liveliness and zest; his wit was light, easy, and managed with good taste and feeling. His talents were excellent, and all that he wanted was the energy for their application, which his health, perhaps, refused him, the threatening symptom of which was a prevailing langour when unexcited. The premature end of one so young and so gifted seems to bear out the thought, turned in so many forms from Sophocles to Shakspere, down to Jeffry, Moore, and Byron, that " Heaven sends its favourites an early doom."—Examiner. DERBY AND ST. LEGER SWEEPSTAKES.—On Tues day, at a petty sessions held at the Holborn Union Work house, Little Gray's Inn-lane, before Mr. Whiskin (chair man), and a bench of magistrates, for the transfer of licenses for the Holborn division, the subject of sweepstakes being allowed at the houses of licensed victuallers came on for consideration. Mr. Hector Rose, one of the licensing ma gistrates, stated, that at a meeting of the licensing magis trates for the Marylebone division, a resolution was come to to send a notice to all the proprietors of licensed houses in the district, intimating that in the event of sweepstakes being continued after the notice had been received that they were illegal, such continuance mi g ht endanger their licenses ' at the next licensing day. He th oug h t that the bench might come to a similar arrangement with respect to ns r d tuallers in that district. Th e chairman having observed icee that he concurred in the view t a k en by nir. Rose, said it would be advisable to instruct the high constable to inform the licensed victuallers in the district that continuing to hold sweepstakes might endanger the licenses of their houses in the ensuing March, and a similar intimation might be given to those applying for the transfer of licenses. The bench having entered into a resolution to that effect, Mr. Bradshaw, the high constable, and Inspector Dodd, of the. F division, received instructions to call upon all the licen:_ed victuallers in the district to notify the feeling ent ertained Observer, PRIEBURG, JUNE I.—The iron railway from this place to Mullet:a IGO opened this day. 1 ff ✓ es ^ 2. ~d ~ ~ t%: ALARMING FIRE AT. ; 11.471"AL / -7_ BATH, JUNE 12.—At a late hour last rifiel .ert _=• - 4 3 • an extensive and alarming nature, and wh • • .wo t xr e. caused fears to be entertained for the safistP - nificent Abbey Church of this city, broke out upon the premises of Mr. Long, silk-mercer, &c., within a short distance from that venerable edifice. The alarm was first given at a little past twelve o'clock, and was quickly spread throughout the city. The firemen of the different insurance companies, the police and other officers, were promptly on the spot. A crowd consisting of some thousands of persons was speedily collected around the building. The fire spread with amazing rapidity, and seemed to defy the efforts used to subdue it. The flames, which broke forth in all directions, threatened the safety of the adjacent premises, and at one time it was thought by many scarcely possible to preserve those of Messrs. Shaw and Beale, the woodwork and paint of which were charred and blistered by the heat. Had these premises caught, the destruction must have been extensive, as the stock of Messrs. Shaw and Beak is highly valuable. Large flakes of burning embers flew about in all directions, descending on the roofs of the houses, and many an anxious eye was directed to the noble towers of the Abbey, brightly illuminated as they w.re by the fire, in the fear lest some of them might ignite that time-hallowed and holy pile. The exertions of the firemen and neighbours were unceasing, but the conflagration could not be subdued until Mr. Long's pre mises, with the whole or nearly the whole of his valuable stock, was destroyed. The extent of the damage has not transpired, but it cannot fail to have been very con siderable. MR. WYLD AND THE BRITISH MUSEUM. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SlR,—Permit me to call your attention to the recent decisions at the police-office, Bow-street, upon certain cases arising out of the Copyright Act, and upon the injurious effect such decisions must have upon the ad vancement of art and literature. Under the old Copy right Act the trustees of the British Museum claimed a copy of all books and maps, and both authors and pub lishers were content to supply them. Under the new Act, the trustees claim copies of every book, map, or publication which may differ in the slightest degree from the original publication, and, as it was decided by the magistrate in Mr. Smith's case, every addition to the original publication, if it were only the crossing of a t, or the dotting of an i, entitles the trustees of the British Museum to another copy of the work, and the counsel for the trustees stated it to be their determination to enforce their claim; unfortunately the Act of Parliament allows of no appeal from the magistrate's decision. If such, Sir, be the future conduct of the trustees, it is fraught with oppression to every author and publisher in Great Britain. Upon the publication of maps this decision will act as a bar to future improvement. Maps are printed in very small quantities, and slight altera tions are made upon the plates each time the maps are printed; if the intepretation of the law b', the magistrate be a correct one, the trustees of the British Museum will be entitled to 50 or 100 copies of many maps every year; whatever may be the literal reading of the Act of Par liament, such could never have been the intention of its turners. The case decided on Friday, relating to my " Popular Atlas," is a very important one. This work consists of a republication of maps heretofore published ; the British Museum has been supplied with the previous publica tion, but they contend that the publication of the maps in the serial form entitles them to other copies. If such be the interpretation of the law the British Museum will soon be too small to contain the myriads of amended works, either books or maps, which the trustees will be come possessed of, and the effect of this decision must be to stop the issue of works in a cheap form, and to prevent imprbvements in maps and corrections of books. Should the slightest alteration (one word only) be made in the re-issue, and the publisher omit to !send the amended work, he will be subjected to informations at the public police-offices, to fines, and the enforcement of costs. lam sure, Sir, that I have only to excite public attention to this oppressive law through the instrumen tality of your columns to obtain either its modification or repeal.—l have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, JAMES WYLD, Geographer to the Queen and Ibis Royal Highness Prince Albert. THE MURDER AT BIRKENHEAD. —BIRKENHEAD, SATURDAY.—The coroner's inquest relating to the murder of Thomas Finnigan, whose body was found in the Morpeth Dock, was concluded yesterday at the Adelphi Hotel. It will be remembered that on the night he was last seen alive he had been to the festival of some club at Tranmera. Se veral days after, his corpse was discovered in the dock, a handkerchief was found stuffed half way down his throat, the side of his head lacerated, and the trousers pockets turned out as if they had been rifled. A man of the name of James Silk was taken into custody on suspicion of being concerned in the murder. Mr. Vaughan, the surgeon, who examined the body, gave it as his opinion that death had been caused by suffocation. On the resumption of the proceedings the Coroner informed the jury that the magistrates had directed the capture of Ann Tobin, a young female, on suspicion of being implicated with the man Silk in the murder. A great mass of evidence was taken; and although it left no doubt of the unfortunate young man being murdered, it did not tend to criminate the parties in custody.. At a late hour the coroner summed up the evidence, and the jury, after an hour's consultation, returned a verdict of " Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown." MURDER BY ADMINISTERING POISON. CAR LISLE, SATURDAY MORNING.—The greatest excitement prevails in this city, consequent on the discovery of a mur der committed under somewhat revolting circumstances, the unhappy victim being sacrificed by means of arsenic being mixed in her food. The particulars are thus de scribed :—On the 29th of last month Mrs. Mary Thompson, the wife of a millwright and engineer in Union •street, Bot chergate, died after several days' intense suffering. Her death being attended with some suspicion, notice was ssnt to the coroner, who summoned a jury, and on their meeting the inquiry was adjourned to enable Dr. Elliott and Mr. Dior. tinier, surgeons, to make a chemical analysis of the contents of the untortunate woman's stomach. tor. Elliott and Mr. Mortimer, surgeons, deposed to ha v in g d etec t e d fif ty - one grains of arsenic in he stomach of the deceased, which was the cause of death. They also analysed a white powder found by the police irethe deceased's husband's pocket, It was arsenic. The husband is in custody. They likewise found arsenic mixed in oatmeal in the house. Several wit nesses spoke of having heard the deceased complain of the conduct of the prisoner in consequence of his cohabiting with another woman. The inquest was adjourned. FRENCH FLOUR.—Several arrivals of flour have taken place within these last few days from France, of which the following were from the port of Havre :—the George brought 492 barrels; the Burtens, 740 barrels ; the John and Mary, 650 barrels; the Britannia, 842 barrels; the James Watt, 457 barrels ; the Columbine, 100 barrels ' • and the Betsy, from the same place, the large quantity of 1,400 bar rels of the article, the produce and manufacture of France. INTREPID CONDUCT. —On Thursday, during the Ome that a company of the Royal Sappers and Miners were practising under command of Lieutenant James Liddell, Royal Engineers, in forming bridges with pontoons, at St. Mary's Creek, an alarm was raised that two soldiers were drowning. Lieutenant Liddell went to the spot, threw off his sash and sword, and plunged into the water with his uniform on, and after some difficulty succeeded in bringing one of the men to the shore, and two artillerymen also dived after the otber•man, whom they fortunately caught just as he was sinking for the last time. They brought him ashore and laid hint on the grass. Both the men appeared nearly dead. They were removed to the barracks, and attended by the medical officers of the corps. Their names are Thomas Birt and John Masters; they are attached to No. 4 company. The names of the two men who assisted in saving one man are John Brady and William Somers. They also belong to the No. 4 company of Artillery. Lieutenant LiddeD. and the two artillerymen deserve the notice of the Humane Society for their intrepid conduct in saving two live-- The creek is not only very deep, but it is very danger-,,us, owing i to the numerous eddies, which have proved fatal to expert swimmers; and in consequence of the great number of lives lost every summer by parties bathing, the com mandant last year issued an order forbidding soldiers bathing in that place. On Saturday, Mr. Duncombe, solicitor to the Pro tection Society, appeared at Bow-street Police-court, before Mr. Henry, to claim protection for an hotel, according to the Act of Parliament, under peculiar circumstances. lie stated that the house in question was the Exeter'Hall Hotel, in th e Strand, the proprietorship of which had been disposed of before the last licensing day ; and on the sth of March, ap plication was made to Mr. Jardine to grant protection, He did so; and on the Special Sessions a renewal was refused by the Magistrates, against which refusal the proprietor ap pealed at the Quarter Sessions, and then the license was granted, the Magistrates declaring they had been imposed upon by misrepresentations to the prejudice of the parties cons cerned. The original license was granted on the distinct un derstanding with the Court that the house was not to be opened as a gin-shop, and the same li cense having existed up to the month of March, ' but upon Mr. Nix applying for a renewal of the license (he having held it for a considerable number of years, and it being his intention to transfer it to Messrs. Walker and Cousens) it was refused, which gave rise to the appeal before mentioned, and on the 4th of .Iqay it was re newed, the Magistrates haring emphatically declared they had been deceived. Such were the grounds upon which be (Mr. Duncombe) appeared before the Court, with the protec. tion granted by Mr. Jardine in his pocket, for a renewal o f the same. Mr. Henry said be considered that the case was of a very peculiar nature, the grounds stated being, In his opinion, quite sufficient for the parties to the protection sought for • at the same time, it would be proper to give ' notice to the officer in the usual way, as some months had elapsed since the inquiries were made which induced Mr. Jardine to grant the protection on a former occasion. Mr, Duncombe assured the Court that the gentlemen seeking to have the transfer made to them were persons, to his know ledge, of the highest respectability, and upon that point no hesitation was necessary. Mr. Henry then ordered the trans fer to be granted. DEATH FROM MORPHIA.. —On Saturday Mr. Wak ley, M.P., held an inquest in the Middlesex Hospital, on Mary Anne Moody, aged 33. Mr. Code, house physician, stated that the deceased was brought to the hospital the pre vious day, quite insensible from the effects of morphia. He applied the stomach pump and galvanic battery ineffectually, as she gradually sunk, and died in an hour after her admis sion. He understood that she had taken five grains of morphia, which were equal to an ounce of laudanum, and sufficient to destroy life. The deceased, who had been an out ;patient, was allowed a small quantity of l a u_d t a e n r um of , thead ministered in a mixture. Miss Perkins, daughter proprietor of the Hope, John-street , Tottenham-court-road, early in the house deposed that the deceased came int f o water, into which she morning, and asked for a glass 0_ a glass of gin.. After• whichben she was taken to the hospital. poured half the contents of h e p sh h e ia s l u p d r d od en u l c N e . d b .: a h m e e th d e r n ow h s ad y_. and ultimately insensible, but whether the act was intentiona l r otherwise , there was Verdict—" Deceased kffledwherseyb, s an overdose of morphia, no evidence to show." We are sorry to hear that the celebrated dauseuse, Medemoiselle Lucille Grahn, has been for some days con fined to her room, by an inflammation of the left foot, which has prevented her from appearing at her Majesty's Theatre ; but we understand that she is now much better, and will shortly resume her professional avocations. PARISH OF ST. PANCRAS.—The first of the ecclesi astical districts into which it is proposed to divide this extensive parish has been formed. It is termed the "Gray's Inn district," and the Rev. R. Allen, MA., has been ap pointed to the incumbency, on the nomination of the Rev. 'Thomas Dale, M.A., the Vim.