The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-08-21 00:00:00

Uct•aturr. NOTICES. The Epochs. A Poem. By Robert W. Thom. (Second Notice.) A poet, in these days of degenerate literature, who is too high-souled to resort to puffery, has a small chance of being recognised amidst the swarm of ephemerals—the Albert Smiths, and others of the same calibre•—who ' flutter on the stream of popularity. Smartness, flippant wit, and namby-pamby versification, command their full ready reward in the literary market, whilst the deep toned voice of genius appeals to uniistening ears. True poetry is voted " slow ;" too mystic for fast young men and languid ladies, too frivolous (!) for utilitarian philo sophers and money-seeking men of the world. " L'Alle gro" and " Il Penseroso" of another Milton, if another can be found capable of anything to approach these ex quisite compositions, would only furnish food for a squib in Punch; and another " Hamlet," or " Midsummer Night's Dream," would fail to draw an audience, and certainly a publisher. Second-rate novelists and facetious writers alone engross the gay portion of mankind ; and staticians, the grave. We know not whether the author before us, to whose beautiful poem we are about to draw attention in a se cond notice, is destined at an early period to make his light shine through the haze of dulness andotlippancy min gled, which has fallen upon the national mind. But of this we are certain, that it will not be his want of " the faculty divine" which will prevent him. He may not attain fame per Ba/turn; but the mingled sublimity and beauty of conception, the pure thoughts and deeply poetic feeling, scattered through this work, will be appreciated by those whose good opinion is worth Navin". We do not at all wish Mr. Thom to believe that he is without faults. The poem before us has many and grave ones. We could point out instances of unmusical and faulty versification ; lines too short, and rhymes which are not allowable. As a whole the poem is faulty in construction. It has no plot like " the tale of Troy divine," or the history " of man's first disobedience and the fruits of that forgiven sin;" and critics may carp at something in every other page. But these are only like spots upon the sun's face ; and may mar, but cannot obscure, the many beauties of the poem. We gave last week, as a specimen, one of Mr. Thom's exquisite delineations of nature in her chastened domes tic attire. We shall close this notice with an extract of a different description, which we find in Book VI. THE CITY OF THE DESERT. " A city of the desert I Lo! the moon, Forth from a multitude of nights, had seen Its chambers desolate ! The sun at noon Beheld its halls unpeopled ; and the sheen Of all the stars through flowing years had been Unmarred amid its marts! Night into day, Day into night had melted on the scene Of solemn desolation, whereon lay Oblivion waxed old, and slumbering 'mid his sway ! " There was no voice of being in the air; There was no motion on the hollow lake ; There was no tree uprising any where, The idle compass of the view to break. The very light was idle, nor did shake With motion of a bird. All hush ! I could Hear mine own heart the desert stillness wake! The sun, that late amid the heavens stood, Was not the dweller of a deeper solitude ! " Once Life stormed in these streets, as the old sea • Chafed in its channels when the angry wind Blew hostile to its current. Can it be,' I cried aloud, that storm of humankind Has sunk to this dread calm ! What heart divined That on that strife of souls would rest so well Silence profound? Thou city! thou didst bind Thy hopes to the fleet hours, though these did tell That nought of earthly kind might in their bosoms dwell ! " Thy mighty I where nre they ?—kinc., , , senator, Warrior, and poet, priest, philosopher? Sceptre, and sword, and statute, are no more I The lyre bath waxed mute within the shore Of this broad sea, where solitude cloth pour Its white unbroken waves from age to age I Ay, it has grown as mute as where the roar Of nations mock the heavens ! The lofty sage Has perished withthe wars 'twas his in thee to wage! 00 The children of the stranger have for toys The gods thou worshipped, and in mockery spit Upon their solemn faces! There was noise And tumult in the day when thou didst sit Amid thy vanities, and badst uplit Altars to their vain worship in the tone • Of One eternal! So 'twas done; and yet Time the Almighty's breath on thee has blown : And where art thou and they? Ask of the desert lone ! " Where are the glories of thy battles gone? Where is that power thy subtle councils won? Where are those songs thy minstrels poured upon The ravished car of Life? Thy creeds begun In truth or falsehood—where? The solemn Sun Asks for them in its course, and groweth old Asking in vain ! As Winters that have done Their work upon the earth, they are uprelled And garnered. Where ? No mortal tongue bath told ! VII. "'Thou bast no dwellers in the solitude Of old eternities, whose fame recall Thy name or history—none! The darkening flood Of the descending years has swept o'er all ! Some cities sow their seed ; and when they fall, Have their successors, who adopt their name: But thou hast vanished wholly ; none recall Thy name, thy date, thy glory, or thy fame, Who were thy dwellers first, or from what source they came.' There is another beautiful picture in the same book—the death of a denyer of God—which we may quote hereafter. We understand that Mr. Thom is preparing for publi cation another revision of the epochs; and would recom mend to him a thorough edition, and the removal of the faulty lines, some of them probably' the work of the printer, which occur in the present edition. THE MANSELS : A TALE OF THE LATE MONETARY CRISIS. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. In our observation of those violent storms which, from time to time, sweep over the face of the natural world, we most frequently lose sight of all save the aggregate of the havoc committed. We have before us only a dark and indistinctly-traced panorama of evil ; of the fruits of industry snatched from the hands which toiled to create them ; of beautiful spots of the earth blighted and de faced ; of wrecks of once stately monuments of the power and genius of man drifting helplessly shoreward, the sport of the wrathful waters, which they lately breasted in their pride, mingled perchance with a passing thought of the agonised and despairing struggles of those, who have gone down to their last home beneath their treacherous element. We regard, in our uninquiring selfishness. only the sum of the calamity which has befallen our fellow-creatures ; and rarely direct our vision more closely to the hearths made desolate, or to the throbbing brows and crushed hearts of those left behind, upon whom the weight of the affliction has fallen. And thus it is also with respect to the note we take of the 2onvulsions which occasionally visit our social world—of those crises and reverses which, ever and anon, throw their black shadows over our industrial and commercial system. We hear of the• fall of some commercial leviathan, or some too aspiring trader; and sermonise coldly over the evils of " undue speculation," or perhaps congratulate ourselves that, these men having been swept down, more room will be loft for our humbler exertions in the pursuit of com petence or wealth ; but here we stop short. The victims have fallen. Their place in the social world knows them no more ; and that suffices us. We neither care to trace the steps of their fall, nor to contemplate them as they mingle, heart-broken and humbled, amongst the mass, to whose level they have been cast down. One of these social crises has just passed over our heads—or ought we not rather to say that it is, at this moment, afflicting us ?—for, although it has been already fertile enough in ruin and disaster, its pressure is yet heavy upon thousands in every class of the community. The hurricane has swept down the lofty turrets, the tall pillars, the gilded and glaring excrescences, the lath-and plaster work of our commercial fabric ; and it is now busy with the more solid buttresses, and the humble plants and shrubs, which have twined round its basement, or grown beneath its shadow and shelter. The merchant, the fabled millionaire, and the gambling speculator—the men who would be rich in a day—have been prostrated ; and the honest and cautions trader, the shopkeeper, and the artizan, are now suffering in the general prostration of credit and of industry. In the following hasty sketches, we purpose admitting our readers behind that veil of secret disappointment and suffering, which the public are seldom permitted to enter; and it our " o'er-true tale" may appear to some to be exaggerated, and may appear to others to relate to a class too humble—too near to the foot of the social edifice—to attract any large amount of sympathy, or to be of any serious consideration, with respect to its bearing upon questions of national policy, we congratulate the former upon their practical immunity from contact with the full sum of the world's wretched. ness, and hope to satisfy the latter that no class is so humble as to be beneath the fostering care of the really wise and Christian statesman. We disclaim, however, any intention, in the pursuance of our task, of endeavour ing to influence political conclusions by the sidewind instrumentality of a tale. Our business is only with facts and with human nature ; and we leave to others to draw conclusions from these, if they choose. CHAPTER I. Early in the afternoonof the 24th of December, 1846, a neat pair-horse carriage drove off from a house, in one of the leading mercantile streets of the flourishing com mercial town of ; and proceeded at an easy pace towards a fashionable portion of its outskirts. There was nothing in the style of the vehicle, or its appointments generally, of a pretentious character. No crest, or armo rial bearings, ornamented its panels ; and the livery of the servant who drove it was almost studiously plain. The whole equipage, indeed, spoke of moderate wealth, enjoyed without ostentation. There was one person in. side, a gentleman somewhat beyond the middle age, in dress and personal appearance perfectly in keeping with the carriage itself, which we shall request our reader to follow with us for a distance of four or five miles, along the smooth macadamised road leading to the ou`skirt in question, lined with villas and cottages ornees, until at length it turned up a winding gravel path, and stopped at the door of a neat and substantial stone mansion. Upon •its steps the visitor—or we may as well say the owner of this mansion—was received with a glad welcome by a lady of nearly his own age, from her matronly i appearance evi dently his wife, with, by her side, a fine intelligent-look ing youth of about fourteen years. He was also saluted from one of the windows by two young ladies, who ap peared to have risen from the useful or elegant occupa tions, in which they had been engaged, at the sound of his approach. The mansion at which we have thus ar rived, is that of Mr. Mansel (we use a fictitious name, for obvious reasons); and, whilst he is exchanging the usual daily greetings with his amiable family, we shall take the opportunity of making the reader acquainted with a little of his past history, and his present position in 'life. _ _ _ Mr. Mansel was a ydunger sm of a tradesman, moving in the subordinate ranks of co coerce, but who had ac quired, by persevering industry and, integrity, a moderate competency. He had received a liberal education, for his class, which he had seized every hour of leisure, after his withdrawal from school, to improve. He was destined for commercial pursuits ; and early in life was placed, as an apprentice, in an eminent commercial house, in the important town in which we now find him occupying the position of a merchant of high standing and acknowledged substance. We shall not attempt to trace his career up wards. Suffice it to say that his elevation was attributa ble to none of those extraordinary incidents upon which novelists delight to found the fortunes of th e i r heroes. He neither married the only daughter of his wealthy em ployers, nor was taken into their firm. On the contrary, having assiduously and satisfactorily served the latter for some years after the expiration of his apprenticeship, he commenced business on his own account, conducting it cautiously, keeping within his means, and avoiding all extra risks, in order to enable him to marry the object of an early affection, not blest with fortune; and, step by step, he had proceeded, encouraged by the rewards of a happy home and a good conscience, until he had already begun to rank with those of his competitors in the race of life, who, at his humble outset, had looked down upon him with contempt, and almost pity. During no part of this struggle, however, had Mr. Mansel displayed the sordid characteristics of the mere seeker of wealth for its own sake. His heart had rather expanded than con tracted during the progress of his acquisitions. Year by year, as he advanced in worldly position, were the com forts, though not the superfluities, the elegancies, not the mere glitter and show, of his family and domestic ar rangements, increased. Taking care that none of the additions made, either to his style of living, to the educa tion which he gave to his children, to his unostentatious charities, or to any other branch of expenditure, should be less than he felt that his improved circnmstances would fairly justify, he equally avoided such large in creases as would draw down observation upon him, or attract envious or ill-natured remark. Theresult of such a course, added to great kindliness of manner toward all with whom he came in contact, or with whom he had dealings, produced the gratifying result, that, whilst he was recog nised as the possessor of ample resources, if not of great wealth, his success in life was set down by the world as well deserved. We have mentioned, as composing the family group who welcomed Mr. Mansel to his home, two young la dies, and a youth about fourteen years of age. We have another son, however—his eldest—to introduce to our readers. William Mansel, whose ege was at this time little above three-and-twenty, had from early boyhood been placed in his father's counting-house; and, for the preceding two or three years, had been able to take, as junior partner, not only what may be called the drudgery of mercantile life, but a great portion of its every-day re sponsibility, from off his father's shoulders. Although still consulting him upon all important mat ers, and con ceding the most implicit deference to his superior experi ence, William had become to be regarded by the mercan tile community of the town of head of his father's house; and Mr. Mansel so justly confided in his prudence and ability, that he no longer denied himself altogether the relaxations of home, and the health-inspiring enjoyments, which he had earned by a life of honest enterprise and painstaking. Hence we find him returning early from the city on the evening to which we have referred, leaving his son to come, by om nibus or other conveyance, after the close of business. The disposition of such a young man, possessing, in his capacity as a merchant, the prudence and forethought of mature years, may at first sight be set down as one of a cold and calculating character. But this was not the disposition, naturally, of William Manse'. His mind had been carefully disciplined to fill the sphere in which it was the wish of his father that he should move; yet that discipline had only restrained, not extinguished, the buoyant spirits and affections of his youth. In his own home, or when mingling amongst those of his own age and temperament, few could throw off more readily the mere man of discounts and per centages, profit and loss, imports and exports, and become the light-hearted and joyous companion. He was inceed the life of that quiet hone-, which was never regarded as entirely itself until his wticorne step had :ntered its threshold. Such were the members of the family, whose fortunes we shall have to trace in the succeeding chapters. The reader, we think, will acknowledge that it is not one upon whose history any author would fix to found a romance. Hundreds of such families, whose characteristic is honest and unobtrusive worth, enjoying peacefully and grace fully—and. we may add, gratefully—the reward of well directed enterprise, are to be found in our commercial tol;ns; and there are few who will not at once acknow ledge that, within their own circle of acquaintance, there is one at least who might have sat. for the picture. b' T,•. CHAPTER 11. Christmas Eve ! To how many homes in happy Eng land—she is still " happy" England, privileged England, beneficent and Christian England—does the approach of that blessed Eve bring glad thoughts, pleasing memories of the past, and affectionate reunions around the paternal board ! It may have lost many of the features which distinguished it in the olden time—the yule log blazing. up the wide hall-chimney, and the stupendous yule cake and bowl of fermenty, served up upon the hall table; — yet it is still dear, still an evening when the feelings ex pand, and the gnawing cares of the world are thrown aside, in thousands of the homes of happy England. The rich warm-looking curtains are drawn in ; the fire burns cheerfully in the grate, to the evident delight of a staid-looking mouser, which lies stretched in luxurious enjoyment on the triple-piled hearth-rug. Everything in that well-furnished dining-room betokens affluence and comfort, the sense of which is agreeably heightened by the sound of the wind sighing, as it sweeps by the walls outside, and dashes together the branches of the snow laden poplars in the shrubberies. We are in the dining room of Mr. Mansel, around whose board i 3 now seated, after the removal of a plentiful supply of substantials, intermingled with " all the delicacies of the season," the assembled family, with the addition, according to invari able custom on this festive eve, of Mr. Williams, for many years past the trusty head clerk of the firm. This gentleman was one of a class not at present so numerous as they were some thirty or forty years ago. Mr. Williams was verging upon the ripe age of sixty, during which he had gone through, under but two employers, the various stations of errand-boy, junior clerk, &c., up to that of head clerk, or factotum, the latter of which he had held in Mr. Mantel's house for the last twenty years, having commenced his engagement there as sole clerk. It was not believed that he had ever entertained a higher ambi tion ; and he would probably , have been as much sur prised, had he received the offer of a partnership, as the " Mr. Owens, of the house of Osbaldistone and Co., Crane-alley, London." so excellently painted by Sir Walter Scott, and whose character, but for the anachronism, his own might have suggested. By Mr. Mansel himself, he was regarded with all the respect due to an old and a faithful servant and friend, mingled, however, with some what of the same sort of feeling as he regarded his ledger, or his receipt file; whilst the younger branches of the family entertained for him almost a paternal affection. The dinner—a late one—was removed ; the party were enjoying their dessert and wine, with Christmas cakes, &c.; and the usual felicitations of the season had been exchanged on every side. Mr. Williams had cracked his best jokes, which S had been kindly listened to, with the show, at least, of the same glee which they excited when new. Mr. Mansel was all happiness, as he looked upon the assembled party, the affectionate partakers of a pros perity, of which, and the exertions by which it had been earned, he was justly proud. Mrs. Mansel's eyes glanc"d alternately, with the fond look, which a happy wife and mother can alone give, upon her husband and the chil dren of their love; and a contented and perfect happiness was upon every face. William Mansel alone, usually the life of that party, seemed occasionally to lapse into a thoughtful calm of manner. His ordinarily buoyant spi rits no longer displayed themselves in an unceasing flow of happy mirth and humour; and when occasionally he attempted to assume his natural manner, a careful obser ver would have detected the effort as a forced one. As the evening wore away, the female portion of the party formed themselves into a quiet circle by the fire side, leaving the three gentlemen to their own converse, which soon turned upon the business events of the day, and the past occurrences and future prospects of the com mercial world. Most of our readers will remember the untoward events which threw a gloom over the spirits of all classes of the community, during the latter end' of 1846. The harvest in Great Britain, and throughout a large portion of the Continent of Europe, had been a deficient one ; and the loss of the potato crop had brought Ireland to the verge of famine. The railway mania had sustained a serious check, inflicting heavy losses upon those who had embarked in it; and our commercial classes generally had been affected with very great trepi dation, with respect to the possible result of these com bined circumstances. As the year drew to a close, I'm ever, the large importations of grain, which we bad drawn principally from the American markets, had dispelled any alarm on the subject of a deficiency of food for our people; and there were sanguine people, and even men of pru dence and experience, who anticipated confidently a r, - viva], and a return to prosperous times, at the commence ment of the next spring. Mr. Mansel was amongst this hopeful Mass, and he was joined in opinion by his old clerk, Mr. Williams; and when he wrung the hands of the latter, as he prepared to depart, the worthy merchant. expressed his views in a speech which, mingled with fervent thanks to God, con tained something of self-congratulation upon his firm having escaped the difficulties and the serious losses, which so many of the community had sustained. " I thank God, my dear and faithful friend," he said, •‘ and, next to Him, the prudence and ability with which I am assisted in my business operations, that our house, at all events, will be enabled to stand firm, amidst any untoward disappointment of the prospects which, I trust, I see truly before us in the year to come. We have trafficked in none of the bubbles of the late unhappy times; we have never held a railway share, or placed confidence in the security of those who did ; we have not been tempted by the abundance of money, or the unsullied credit of our house, to extend unduly our operations, which have been throughout legitimate in character, and transacted with houses of the highest standing. I fear not therefore any serious consequences to ourselves, should my antici pation of better times not be realised ; whilst I feel con fident that my long experience of similar periods of tem porary commercial depression has directed me to form a correct opinion on the subject." There were no secrets in this happy circle; and Mr. Mansel had elevated his voice, as if desiring to attract the attention of the whole of it to his remarks. They were responded to with ad miring pride by his children and his fond wife, and by another fervent grasp from his faithful clerk. William Mansel alone, whilst smiling affectionately in the face of his beloved parent, could not restrain a slight misgiving, and a half-uttered prayer, "God grant that it may be so ! ' (To be continued in our next.) THE FUNERAL AT SEA. LFrom Fraeer's Magazine.) A serious accident had occurred on deck ; one of the watch had been struck about the ear by the clue-blocks of the mainsail in their furious recoil, and he was carried below to his hammock dreadfully injured. There was a ship's surgeon, who immediately attended to him ; but he never spoke again except to ask for water, and died next morning watch. The man was a middle-aged able sea man. I had spoken to him myself at the wheel only the last fine night, and found that be had been " round the world" no less than three times; once in the Warspite, the first line-of-battle ship that performed this feat. He had also been with Captain Beechey to the Pacific, and seen Pictairn's Island. _ _ _ VV The poor fellow was buried the afternoon following his death, as there is a general prejudice against keeping a dead body. The weather was still wild and threatening, the ship drove heavily :to leeward on the large leaden coloured masses of water, with staysail, and close-reefed topsails, and spanker set. I noticed that the men did not talk of their late comrade, but seemed uneasy until the solemn load should be withdrawn ; and although I believe none of them would have been afraid of the elements face to face, yet in that mood every pitch of the vessel was pro bably regarded by them as supernaturally stiff and unboy ant ; the clouds gathering to westward late in the day, wore an aspect more ominous than clouds of themselves could put on. The body war brought up from the half deck, rigidly sewn into the hammock which never more should swing below to the motion of the breeze; a couple of large shot at the feet inside; it was laid on a wooden grating across the spars which were fastened to the lee bulwarks of the gangway. I observed that some more familiar messmate had attached to the canvass envelope ment a front-label from the seaman's hat, with the name of the " Warspite," in bright letters; and also a rudely painted scrap of tarpaulin, bearing the name of the de ceased—" Robert Wilkes, aged 47." It was a token of rough care, which, under the circumstances, appeared affecting. The passengers stood in a group beneath the quarter deck. every one doing the best to attend in spite of the unfavourable weather; while the crew were gathered in a half-circle beyond the captain and officers to hear him reed the service. Tho gale had somewhat lulled at the time, and it was clearer to the east; but to westward, in the obscure approach of sunset, a hoet of mighty clouds were rolled up from the dark-blue horizon till their rounded and many-figured summits, standing out in relief against an empty space of sky, were tinted with a lurid and brassy glow. The unbroken wave-tops on that side caught a gleam of light as they arose, that brought out in more vivid contrast the huge shadows of their liquid blackness on the other, wrinkled and freckled with foam, while the spray showered now and then into the hollows, and a grey gull or two, with expanded wings, was seen dipping aslant in the atmosphere beyond. The leaves of the prayer book fluttered as the captain tried to keen his place, and a'l waited at intervals for a weather-roll that would allow him to resume. At another time the mainyard would have been respectfully backed till the moment of burial, but this could not be conveniently done on the present occasion. The chief parts only of the service were read; and, indeed, to omit these, in their solemn appropriate ness, because of a mere gale of wind, would have been felt unworthy of brave seamen or good shipmates; never theless, all were glad when the captain reached the close. At that minute the shiptunlc in a trough, the voice of the blast seemed to be stilled on deck, though whistling loudly through the upper spars and rigging. A thrill of awful emotion passed into one's spirit, as we heard distinctly the words, " Forasmuch then as it bath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the deep—" The ship rose high up on a vast wave, the voice of the captain blew away to leeward, but he made a sign with his hand to the men ; the end of the grating flew up, and shooting from her uplifted side, feet foremost, the body, wrapped within its hammock, plunged far down into the long, yeasty sweep of the element below. The pale waters closed bubbling over, and it seemed as if at that instant a mighty hand threw upon it into the abyss, like the symbolic shower of earth, a green surge from the abundance of ocean, with a weltering plash, far different from the rattle on a coffin lid ; next moment it had swelled noiselessly up above our mainyard, and with heads un covered did we listen in the hollow to that striking sen tence, "to be turned into corruption, looking for the resurrection of the body (when the sea shall give up her dead) and the life of the world to come, through our Lord Jesus Christ." The captain closed the book. " Keep her away, my lad !" he shouted through his hand to the man at the wheel. " A bit of a pull on the weather mainbrace, men !" said he again ; and in a short time the wind was found to have charged a point or two, so that one reef was shaken out of the topsails, and the ship, driven more swiftly, rose and fell less upon the seas, whose direction coincided more with hers. At night, in the first watch, i was on deck for more than an hour before going to bed ; the moon was out again, and it was somewhat of a "white gale" from the south-east—that is, one with a clear sky, to windward, often some of the most violent, and generally from a north-easterly quarter. A lone., low bank of cloud lay to the west, brightened by moonlight, but appearing to look solemnly over the heaving outline of waters like the heads of strange mourners, pale-faced, with dark-hooded gar ments, leaning over a sepulchral boundary. The seamen else to be disinclined for any usual conversation. All now seemed to talk together of their lost messmate, or "poor Bob's" good points now came oat; he was the best hand at a `' Turk's-head knot" in the ship, or a weather-earing, or a song of a Saturday night, they said. TIE LIVERPOOL irtAivitAki. THE RIVER JORDAN. A very interesting work entitled " Narrative of the United States Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea," has just been published by Captain Lynch, commander of the expedition. The whole volume de serves a careful perusal, but of course we can only find room this week for one or two extracts, more of which we shall probably give hereafter. On entering the Jordan from the Lake of Tiberias, the course of the river was found to be very sinuous and full of rapids, the descent of which was often accompanied with risk ; the following description will give an idea of the obstacles which were met with, more or less, every day during the navigation : " At 10 15 a.m., cast off and shot down the first rapid, and stopped to examine more closely a desperate-looking cascade of eleven feet. In the middle of the channel was a shoot of an angle of about sixty degrees, with a bold, bluff, threatening rock at its foot, exactly in the passage. It would therefore be necessary to turn almost at a sharp angle in descending, to avoid being dashed to pieces. This rock was on the outer edge of the whirlpool, which a cauldron of foam swept round and round in circling eddies. Yet below were two fierce rapids, each about one hundred and fifty yards in length, with the points of black rock peering above the white and agitated surface. Below them again, within a mile, were two other rapids —longer, but more shelving and less difficult. " Fortunately, a large bush was growing upon the left bank, about five feet up, where the wash of the water from above had formed a kind of promontory. By swim ming across some distance up the stream, one of the men had carried over the end of a rope and made it fast around the roots of the bush. The great doubt was whether the hold of the roots would be sufficient to withstand the strain, but there was no alternative. In order not to risk the men, I employed some of the most vigorous Arabs in the camp to swim by the side of the boats, and guide them, if possible, clear of danger. Landing the men, therefore, and tracking the Fanny Mason up stream, we shot her across, and, gathering in the slack of the rope, let her drop to the brink of the cascade, where she fairly trembled and bent in the fierce strength of the sweeping current. It was a moment of intense anxiety. The sailors had now clambered along the banks and stood at intervals below, ready to assist us if thrown from the boat and swept towards them. One man, with me in the boat, stood by the line: a number of naked Arabs were upon the rocks and in the foaming water gesticulating wildly, their shouts mingling with the noise of the bois terous rapids, and their dusky forms contrasting strangely with the effervescing flood, and four on each side, in the water, were clinging to the boat, ready to guide her clear of the threatening rock if possible. " The Fanny Mason, in the meanwhile, swayed from side to side of the mad torrent, like a frightened steed, straining the line which held her. Watching the moment when her bows were brought in the right direction, I gave the signal to the rope. There was a rush, a plunge, an upward leap, and the rock was cleared, the pool was passed, and, half full of water, with breathless velocity, we were swept safely down the rapid. Such screaming and shouting I the Arabs seemed to exult more than our selves. It was in seeming only : they were glad ; but we were grateful. Two of the Arabs lost theirhold and were carried far below us, but were rescued with a slight injury to one of them. " It was exactly twelve o'clock when we cleared the cascade. Mr. Aulick soon followed in the Fanny Skinner, and by his skill and coolness passed down in perfect safety. ' The descent of the Jordan was made in April, when the river, though subsiding, was still full, and occupied eight days of hard work. The general character of its course is described in the following extracts : " The boats had little need of the oars to propel them, for the current carried us along at a rate of from four to six knots an hour, the river, from its eccentric course, scarcely permitting a correct sketch of its topography to be taken. It curved and twisted north, south, cast, and west, turning in the short space of half an hour to every quarter of the compass—seeming as if desirous to pro long its luxuriant meanderings in the calm and silent valley, and reluctant to pour its sweet and sacred waters into the accursed bosom of the bitter sea. " For hours in their swift descent the boats floated down in silence, the silence of the wilderness. Here and there were spots of solemn beauty. The numerous birds sang with a music strange and manifold ; the willow bran ches were spread upon the stream like tresses, and creep ing mosses and clambering weeds, with a multitude of white and silvery little flowers, looked out from among them ; and the cliff swallow wheeled over the falls, or went at his own wild will darting through the arched vistas, shadowed and shaped by the meeting foliage on the banks ; and, above all, yet attuned to all, was the music of the river, gushing with a sound like that of shawms and cymbals. " There was little variety in the scenery of the river to-day. The stream sometimes washed the bases of the sandy hills, and at times meandered between low banks, generally fringed with trees and fragrant with blossoms. Some points presented views exceedingly picturesque— the mad rushing of a mountain torrent, the song and sight of birds, the overhanging foliage and glimpses of the mountains far over the plain, and here and there a gurgling rivulet pouring its tribute of crystal water into the now muddy Jordan. The western shore was peculiar, from the high calcareous lime-stone hills, which form a barrier to the stream when swollen by the efflux of the Sea of Galilee during the winter and early spring ; while the left or eastern bank was low, and fringed with tama risk and willow, and occasionally a thicket of lofty cane, and tangled masses of shrubs and creeping plants, giving it the character of a jungle. At one place, we saw the fresh track of a tiger on the low clayey margin, where he had come to drink. At another time, as we passed his lair, a wild boar started with a savage grunt and dashed into the thicket ; but, for some moments, we traced his pathway by the shaking cane and the crashing sound of broken branches. " The birds were numerous, and at times, when we issued from the shadow and silence of a narrow and ver dure-tented part of the stream into an open bend, where the rapids rattled and the light burst in, and the birds sang their wildwood song, it was, to use a simile of Mr. Bedlow, like a sudden transition from the cold, dull lighted hall where gentlemen hang their hats, into the white and golden saloon, where the music rings and the dance goes on. " The hawk, upon the topmost branch of a blighted tree, moved not at our approach, but— . Stood with the down on his beak, And stared with the foot on has prey;' and the veritable nightingale ceased not her song, for she made day night in her covert among the leaves ; and the bulbul, whose sacred haunts we disturbed when the cur rent swept us among the overhanging boughs, but chir ruped her surprise, calmly winged her flight to another sprig, and continued her interrupted molodies. " Many islands, some fairy-like, and covered with a luxuriant vegetation, others mere sand-bars and sedimen tary deposits, intercepted the course of the river, but were beautiful features in the general monotony of the shores. The regular and almost unvaried scene of high banks of alluvial deposit and sand-hills on the one hand, and the low swamp-like shore, covered to the water's edge with the tamarisk, the willow, and the thick high cane, would have been fatiguing without the frequent occurrence of sand-banks and verdant islands. High up in the sand-bluffs, the cliff-swallow (asfur) chattered from his nest in the hollow, or darted about in the bright sun shine, in pursuit of the gnat and the water-fly." . . . " But, altogether, the descent to-day was much less difficult than those which had preceded it. The course of the river formed a never-ending series of serpentine curves, sometimes dashing along in rapids by the base of a mountain, sometimes flowing between low banks, gener ally lined with trees and fragrant with blossoms. Some places presented views extremely picturesque, the rapid rushing of a torrent, the song and sight of birds, the overhanging trees, and glimpses of the mountains far above the plain. The river was falling rapidly; the banks showed a daily fall of about two feet, and fre quently we saw sedge and drift wood lodged high up on the branches of overhanging trees—above the surface of the banks—which exclusively proves that the Jordan in its ' swellings' still overflows the lower plain, and drives the lion from his lair, as it did in the ancient time." SECOND EDITION. Standard-office, Two o'clock, p.m. _ - LIVERPOOL CORN MARKET.—Tx is DAY We have still very little produce either coastwise or from Ireland, and the arrivals of grain from Europe for the week ending yesterday are generally rather moderate: from the United States, however, we have to note a further liberal supply of Indian Corn, with upwards of 30,000 barrels of Flour thence and Canada. _ _ _ _ At this day's market there was a fair attendance of country millers and dealers, and Wheat of all descriptions was in mo derate request, for present consumption, at the rates of this day week. Prime brands of Flour were in tolerable request on the full terms last noted, inferior kinds remaining neglected. In Barley, Malt, Beans, and Peas, no change. Oats and Oatmeal dull, each merely supporting late prices. Of new Irish Oats few small parcels were at hand, and were sold at 2s. 10d. to 3s. per 451 b. Oatmeal very difficult.of sale, at late prices. Indian Corn being in limited demand, yellow receded Is. per qr. from the rates of this day week; but white being scarce, realized an advance of Is. 1 C 7 1r- ;.- m - - 81 4 :I " ... 9 .1 ' 4 x 4tr nn 4 "- 2m :1 r 0 . 941 0 0, 5. 0,..40 . = CO .--. gT . . > .1 g•Bgs2 C a § 1 1 CD , M 0 = Clq C , ° ca , q tv r• , •• "A- m ;:1...4 2.,, = *...`A•• I .9. (2 ' ,-.°) 0 5 "g; 0 =C. E. ›. n.. 9 =m ' (1 t .v.i., ID 0 R e* I. " 0, =., ...„ 19 =2. B YO.. R,D54 - =p.n., - • E..ct °- (1 . CD y,, . g o=l L 4 ,-+ j. 4 g.. tic? r = = n 600 . = .. cg • • .1 ..g cli ,r,. n . C P . 9:4 U 4 ° Zr ., . • g 0 . o o P .• . it 0 E . ,, , IZ ?o '.. 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Sir James Duke, Lord Mayor of London, has been presented with the freedom of the city of Edinburgh. The issue of the new florin coinage took place on Thursday. Rebecca Smith, who was sentenced to death, at the Wiltshire Assizes, for the murder of her child, has con fessed that she had previously murdered seven others. She was an orderly and decent woman, and the only motive for committing the deed was lest they. should come to want, her husband being a dissipated man. A VILLAGE ENCAMPED.—THE CriOLEMA AT MEGA VENY.—On application to the authorities by the Board of Health, the Ordnance department have ordered tents to be supplied to the inhabitants of Megaveny, Cornwall, for them to live under whilst their village is being cleaned. Her Majesty's lighter Rochester sailed from Devonport, with the tents, on Tuesday last. POTATO DISEASE.—A plan has been practised, most succesfully, by an extensive potato-grower in Holland, and by some leading farmers in this country, to arrest the disease, by cutting the haum with a vergsharp knife close to the ground, and covering :the stumps left with two inches of soil. The potato grows to its full size, and ripens well for keeping. The turn out of colliers in South Staffordshire extends, and promises to be all but universal. About 500 of the .thick coalmen in the neighbourhood of Netherton and Brierly-hill ceased work on Friday. Instead of quietly sub mitting to a reduction of 6d. per day as proposed by the masters, the men now require an advance of 6d. on their previous wages. Maria Lindsey, 22 years of age, unmarried, mother of a child seven months old, and snapected to be again en ciente, drowned her infant on. Tuesday, in the Surrey Canal at Peckham, and then threw herself in. Slighted by the father of the child, though promised marriage by another party, she was observed often to weep, and had more than once threatened to destroy herself. _ _ Two cashiers, David M'Culloch and Joseph Goodsir, in, the British Linen Company's Bank in Glasgow, who were some time ago discovered to have appropriated the money of the bank to the extent of X 31,161, for the purposes of speculation, have been sentenced, M'Culloch to twenty one years transportation, and Goodsir to outlawry for not appearing in court. HORRID MUTILATION OF A CHILD.—An inquest was held on Friday at a farm-house near White Hall, St. Gilee's, Colchester, on the body of a full-grown male child, which was found in the water-closet of White Hall. The body had literally been cut limb from limb. Jane Simonds, the cook of the mansion, bad recently been delivered of a child. Medical evidence proved the infant to have been still-born. Simond's, on her recovery, will be taken be fore the magistrates for concealing the birth. ACCIDENT AT THE BRITANNIA-BRIDOE WORKS.—A dreadful accident occurred at the Britannia-bridge works on Friday, by which it is too probable a man has lost his life. Between eleven and twelve the operation of taking a six foot " lift" with the large single hydraulic press on the Anglesey tower, commenced and proceeded well until the cro'Ss head had risen about three feet, when suddenly the bottom of the cast-iron cylinder of the press was forced out by the pressure of the water within, and fell on to the top of the tube below it. By the sudden falling down of the run anti cross head some of the minor parts of the press were broken, and some of the scaffolding boards dislodged, and either by their fall or by that of the bottom of the cylinder or minor parts of the press, a rope ladder underneath was struck, and a man ;one of the sailors) who was on it at the time precipitated on to the top of the tube. His thigh and arm were fractured ; and in addition to other less serious injuries he sustained a concussion of the brain. Not the slightest hopes are entertained of his recovery. Various causes may be as signed for the accident, but the true eee appears te have been some defect in the casting, THE AWFUL Cf:/MEM' ACCIDENT AT ABERDARE.— There were 114 men employed at this colliery; 43 were brought up dead ; 10 alive, but died subsequently ; 15 were insensible from the effects of " choke damp," but recovered ; 35 were unhurt ; and 12 were not down when the accident occurred. It has been discovered where the fire originated, but the cause yEt remains unascertained. A SIGN OF TUE TIMES.—It is understood that the lease of one of Lord Grey's finest and largest farms, in that part of North Durham adjoining the banks of the Tweed, and which has been occupied for the last few years by a tenant second to none in the district for his wealth, intel ligence, and respectability, has just now been thrown upon his lordship's hands. LOOK HIGHER.—A lady applied to an eminent philan thropist of Bristol, Richard Reynolds, on behalf of a little orphan boy. After he had given liberally, she said, " When he is old enough I will teach him to name and thank his benefactor." " Stop," said the good man, " thou art mistaken. We do not thank the clouds for rain. Teach him to look higher, and thank Him who giveth both the clouds and the rain."—Christian Trea sury. . _ The French government has accorded to Mr. Jacob Brett the authorisation to establish on the coast of France a submarine electric telegraph between Calais and Bou logne, which, crossing the Channel, will go to Dover on the coast of England. The treaty entered into with Mr. Brett guarantees certain advantages to the French govern ment, and leaves all the expense at the charge of Mr. Brett, assuring him, however, a privilege for ten years in case the experiment should succeed. The works must be terminated by the Ist of September, 1850, at the latest ; but it is probable they will be finished sooner. MR. CHARLES BErrhEft.—We insert in other column an advertisement relative to the very lamentable case of this gentleman, and earnestly do we hope his appeal to the national feelings will produce beneficial effects ; for cer tainly the trials to which he had been so severely sub jected, well deserve the most grave consideration of the wealthy, the liberal, and the just among our fellow-coun trymen. Few indeed could have borne up against the overwhelming tempest as be has done, with mental heroism, we believe, altogether unexampled. We trust the present appeal will secure him the sincere sympathy of all good men. THE GRACELESS COINAGE.—" A straw thrown up into the air, shows which way the wind blows ;" so does the new coinage recently issued from the Royal Mint. All coins hitherto circulated in this country have borne the stamp of the principles on which the Sovereign of these realms wears the Crown and wields the Sceptre. The royal effigy has ever been surrounded by an - inscription setting forth the name of the kingdom, " Britanniarunt Regina," the title on which the kingdom is held ; "Dei Gratia," and the religious character of the kingly office, " Fidei Defensatrix." Why, then, are all these omitted on the " florin" pieces just put into circulation ? Why have we there a bare "Regina" substituted for the proper constitutional title of our Sovereign ? Is it not enough that we should have a novel kind of money, with an out landish name, inflicted upon us ; must we have the foreign notions of the regal authority foisted upon us at the same time ? BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.—At Croydon Assizes, on Tuesday, Miss Martha Browne, daughter of a respectable tradesman at Wandsworth, brought an action of this kind against Mr. Dellow, a man of property in London and a common councilman. The plaintiff was 25, and the defendant a widower, aged 36. The defendant was received as the accepted suitor of the plaintiff, and wrote several letters of a very common-place description, but clearly establishing the fact of the promise of mar riage. A day was fixed for the celebration of the mar riage. At length, without any quarrel, or cause being as. signed, the defendant appeared to have all at once relin quished his intention of marrying the plaintiff, and an nounced that determination to her in the following letter: " November 25th, 1843. " Dear Martha,—Whatever may be our future lot in life, or whatever may be the change in our circumstances, of this be assured, in me you will ever find a steadfast friend, and one al ways ready to protect . your interest. I hope I shall not hurt your feelings by informing you that I do not intend to pay my addresses to you any longer. I hope, however, that this will not destroy our friendship. Give my very kind love to your father and mother. " RICHARD DELLOW." The defendant suffered judgment to go by default, and the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, damages £l2O. SEMI-GRAVITATING STEAM ENGINE.—There wrs exhibited on Friday week, before a large party of gentle men, in Greenock, a novel 6-horse high-pressure steam engine, constructed to drive a thrashing mill in the island of Islay. The cylinder receives the steam only at the bottom; it is 12 inches diameter; the piston is solid, 12 inches in depth, and metallic packing ; the connecting rod is inserted half into the solid piston and held by a pin ; the upper end is connected to the crank in the ordinary way; that, with the eccentric wheel and strap and fly wheel, are all the trappings on the engine. The connect ing rod and piston weigh three cwt., and the fly wheel 10 cwt. ; one half of its circumference is hollowed out with cores in the inside of the rim—the other is entirely s lid. This engine will perform the work of any 6-horse power engine, with much less fuel than is commonly used : at the present prices of coal 11d, per hour will suffice to keep up the necessary supply of steam in the boiler. The engine stands on a small space, and is constructed at one third less price than the ordinary cost of engines, and so sims,le that any labourer or peasant may easily attend to it. EMIGRATION.—The annual report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners has just been published. From this it appears that while the average emigration from the United Kingdom during the ten years ending in 1846 Nas about 84,000 persons, (74,000 to America, and 10,000 to the Australian colonies,) the number who left in 1847 was 258,270, and in 1848, 248,029. In the latter year, the total to North America was 219,591 ; but of these 188,233 proceeded to the Unitei States, and only 31,064 , to the British colonies. About eighty-five per cent. were Irish, and it has been stated that they were this year generally of a better class than those of former years, and that the whole body carried with them considerable capital. With regard to the Australian colonies and the Cape of Good Hope, it appears that since November. 1847, when the renewed emigration was commenced to New South Wales, the total emigration has been 28,158, of whom the number despatched in 1148 was 18,611. Of the entire amount, 9;656 went to Sydney, 9,076 to Port Philip, 8,631 to Adelaide, and 795 to the Cape of Good Hope. MURDEROUS STRUGGLE WITH CONVICTS.—On Thurs day evening week, the mail-coach running from Montrose to Aberdeen, contained six convicts who had been re moved from Dumfries prison, in order to make some repairs therein. They had not been long on the coach before they began to exhibit symptoms of misohief. Their malicious exertions were chiefly directed towards the driver, whom they attempted to force from his seat. At Bervie the convicts got outrageously violent, and leaped from the coach, when it was discovered that they were armed with deadly weapons. One of them had a razor blade. sharpened at the point, and mounted on a strong handle, with which he made thrusts in every, direction; other three had strong pieces of wood about 14 inches long, and loaded with lumps of lead, from one pound to two pounds in weight, strongly and carefully fastened on with screw nails, and another had a hatchet !' They were handcuffed together, but the outside hands being free, and the whole of them acting in concert, there was at one time every probability that they would succeed in making their escape. At this crisis a Mr. Leys came to the assistance of the constables ; and being a strong man he felled severatof the villains to the ground. The teeth of one of them were entirely knocked out by one of his blows, while several others he temporarily disabled and after a fearful struggle they were again all secured, and replaced on the top of the coach, when the superintendent took up his position in front of them, with a loaded pistol in each hand, which he warned them would be fired into the bodies of any of them who might attempt to move. In this style the coach drove on, and the prisoners were safely lodged in the West Prison, Aberdeen. THE CROPS AND STOCKS OF RAIN.—The Gardener's Chronicle,, gives reports from practical men in all parts of the country, which show that the crops of the present year, taken altogether, promise an abundance of food for man and beast which has rarely been exceeded. Taking the wheat crop as the most important, we find that out of 269 reports in which its condition is stated, 70 represent it as an average crop, and 21 as below an average ; whilst no less than 178 describe it as " good," " very good," " excellent," or iqdicate, by the employment of some simi lar term, that more than anaverage produce of this most important crop may be expected. The reports as to bar ley and oats though not so extensively favourable as those of the wheas crop, still present a preponderance of satis factory results ; and there is every reason for believing that the crops will exceed an average. With respect to the remaining crops, there is, as regards beans, peas, potatoes, and the green crops, about the same balance of favourable testimony as that relating to wheat ; and the only crop which is generally described as deficient, is that of hay, which is generally described as " light." It has, however, been got in in such excellent condition, as to render it probably equal in nutritive power to an average crop. Together with the details respecting the growing crops, the report gives a statement of the stocks of old wheat in the hands of the farmers. which appear to be light beyond all precedent. Out of 194 returns, in which the stocks are stated, 19 describe it as an " average," 5 as over an average, and 170 as below an average ; a very large proportion of these, in fact, stating that there is either " very little" or " none." Considering the low prices that have recently prevailed, this absence of stock is somewhat remarkable. FEARFUL MORTALITY.—For some days past consider able alarm has existed among the inhabitants of that part of the Wandsworth-road comprised within the parish of Clapham, in consequence of the cholera having appeared in the most malignant form, and occasioned a mortality unexampled, even in the most squalid and ill-drained por tions of the metropolis. Albion-terrace, a row of second class houses on the north side of the road, has been more particularly the scene of the calamity, and in ten of the houses during the course of eleven days there were seven teen deaths from Asiatic cholera. In one house no less than six persons died of cholera. This house was in the occupation of the Rev: T. Harrison, a Dissenting minister, with whom an aged lady, named Roscoe, and a Mrs. Edwards, relatives, were staying, preparatory to a depar ture of the whole of the family to Brighton. Mrs. Roscoe was first seized, and died on the 4th instant. Mrs. Edwards, who had attended upon her relative, was next seized, and on Mr. Harrison returning from the funeral of Mrs. Roscoe (his aunt) on Tuesday last, he found his wife attacked with the same disease, and that lady expired early next morning. It appeared that Mr. Harrison, overwhelmed with grief, fled the house soon after his wife's death in company with a lodger in the next house, and nothing more was heard respecting him until information was received of his death having taken place at Jack Straw's Castle, on Hampstead Heath. On the same morning that Mr. Harrison left his house Mrs. Edwards died, and the cook was taken ill and died the same even ing. On the following day (Thursday) the three bodies were taken to Mrs. Roscoe's grave in Kensall-green, and on the return of the mourners the nurse who had attended Mrs. Udwards was found dead. Aug. 21_,_2 LA*NCHING OF TWO FINE STEA3I-VES -----.-----. - - - FOR THE MERSEY. h f $ On Saturday, two beautiful iron steam-boats. -,40. the Corporation, to ply between Liverpool and 9.'00 head Ferry, were launched, almost simultaneoalY, d 0 , the respective building-yards of Messrs. Vernon and Messrs. P. Cato and Co., in Baffin-str eet ' d it building of these vessels was offered by contract, ae ic , n ot creditable to our "local governors" that they Sa o always accept of the lowest contract, but en deac t i o de l obtain the best article at a fair and paying price., „„ato these circumstances the two firms named were seleni. it be the builders of the boats, and it appears to us tha t, a generous rivalry to excel, they have each of th i e , t duced very fine specimens of river steamers. o of the propriately, the vessels bear the respective narn e ' builders,—" The Vernon" and " The Cato." a bout "THE VERNON."—This vessel was launc hed id the elevett o'clock, and went off in gallant style , 331 3 , gal• cheers of a large assemblage of spectators. She w v e rool i , lantly christened, or named, by the lady of Mr. coe d; jun. A more beautiful launch we have never with ti` o 0 and when afloat she stood most steadily and elegane or the water. She is what is termed " d ou ble-1) 0 %10g adapted for running either end foremost ; and we r , Th e venture to predict that she will beat her predecesso_ of Fairy, as smart as she is, and constructed by th,t4lth builders. Her dimensions are : length, 130 feet; rolle• enel (or beam,) 16 feet 9 inches ; and depth. 7 feet 71 1 woe' Her model is truly beautiful in her lines and gl, s tew ture, and there can be no question but that she wi be fore with a rapidity exceeding that of the fine bos i t s built by the same scientific parties,—for every 'i s no° perience gives them additional skill. The Vernon tore painted light-blue in the upper works, and in rese e3 ,llc l ; of yellow metal below. Her name appears at ea a bed. work, within a fi nely-executed piece of decorative e becl. work, forming a splash-board. She drew, when lsergioe. about 3 feet 3 inches, and when fully loaded wi l ,',„ en r fee t ' &c., will not, it is expected, exceed a draught 0 1 ;'", r , 011 She will be propelled by an engine of 60-horse Pp o ut the direct-acting principle, from the manufactol o, end celebrated engine -makers, Messrs. Fawcett, Pre.', v) ,„ io' eluding ladies, partook of refreshments • Co. After the launch a few friends of the buile e- oola' in room, admirably served by Mr. Fisk, of Cas t bel e° Mr. Vernon, jun., in the chair,—Mr. Vernon, sc";:dil e absent from indisposition. The healths usually such occasions were proposed, and r espcndeu i j taw, much feeling and enthusiasm. Mr. Vernon Our; i s sou, liberality of the Corporation in the building 0 " to Pe the other vessel, in giving the builders a libeTirbe s ' forth their energies, or, in other words, to do W il d be according to their abilities, to give satisfactie e t ,' ho v ° , the et t, proposed the health of Mr. Alderman Coope r - cooP e ; present as the representative of the Council. — x r * said that the body to which he had the honour tob.ectie had in the building of the two vessels but 011 e, i ° ttee r view, the better accommodation of the blic an" pu be t couragement of their own local shipbuilders, wn,",.,,0, lieved, if not restrained by too low a price, colic' '7 4 1, ~the as fine and fast vessels as ever floated. He PreP °• hc Y r. health of Mrs. Vernon, which was responded to re' I ,f Vernon, who proposed the ladies, which was P.el f ,, r otil - ,„ plied to by Mr. John Nicholl. Amongst the l e- , c .e0 1 ‘ , 1 toasts were the health of Mr. Henry Steel, i r ;iiott l , elected a member of the Dock Committee, wh,.? replied; Mr. M`Nickoll, Mr. Thomas Wilson Gr e e t , Yr' had superintended the building of the new v es d s- good j e ; Allen, &c., all of whom replied. The last-nani e r ;On man alluded to the proposed removal of the thinfi r ote' from the south to the north end of the town, O.:d i stil ° that those in power would let well alone. He sal" " coo l ' shipbuilders had been also deprived of their due B r e j o ioti modation, and as both avocations were almost. 6) 0 01 ' expressed a hope that their mutual accommodatOnfo e yet be considered ; but to effect this they u m st e for the good of both. He himself would not ° if ke be chance of remaining at the south end of the tow s ' could. e T h dE shortly C A o . 11 11 launched before " The t h s t e e amer Vernon, he and r i bearing underthi s s r t .i f i c itt i. 0, 1 1 , happy circumstances, the sight being most gr 5 ,„,,', 1P The dimensions of the vessel are—length for tonirSi t et e feet ; beam, 18 feet ; depth, 8 feet. She is e ",,,0 tb Proportion, and of greater beam, or bearing, 1,.` - rs ofel . ,l Vernon—built, in fact, not so much for speedas,, l °,go, in heavy weather, and the carrying of a good n - 0 0- , even for towing. She is, nevertheless, a veil °l o t 13 " f and beautifully moulded vessel, and will, sve, u ght doubt, sail, or rather steam, very fast. Her ur- 3 feet of water, when launched, appeared to be about 1 ,10,, inches ; and it is calculated that w ith her engines 60 horse-power, by the same makers,) and ;fall I° ,, e i l ow, will not draw more than 4 feet 2 i nc hes. She i 5 r e rsw black, with yellow metal coloured bottom, and OP rc ite , us to be a strong powerful boat, suitable for win ter or other work as occasion may require. After tu 'in t. % the company present partook of slight re f r eshineT_Afb ll ', builders' office, and the customary toasts were btlebuo),bol eloquently proposed and replied to. The men a i‘ , oo obe l• the yards enjoyed a holyday after the respective POLICE INTELLIGENCE. 0 05 ' 01' CAUTION TO SHIPPERS, MERCHANTS, A+ „r, M te e 4 —Mr. Lamont, of Water-street, was fine"limit e lings, yesterday , . being a mitigated penalty, th e t its top w hew h irsn i i c oe h drns : o s ot filc .43 tec ae 3 brp , tpeaje u inna n gr degdeorodin egligently the sr. oLf oaehaeol served, Lamont arrival hie , vdaad,l whichdovufi. s b ly por l i ri c e continuance on the quays of goods b e yond ° ; s ed t b ; the left 0 .4 counter at Kirk and Crook's (the owners') 0 latter never got it. Mr. Rushton decided tu" notice ought to be served personally. off!! : SHADIEFUL CONDUCT OF SAILCRS.--On ° e man, named Bryan Brady, was found stowed a 0 board the ship Garrick, outward bound for -timer°. slO him, and, w M it s h m t o h n e t coraiti' was taken from his hiding-place by the boa - ; passage, upon which the boatswain commenced 'pia; m ate, 6 one istered the rope's end to his back in so cruel a in n 0,° 4 : that he was obliged to be conveyed to the Northe r- -; te' t pital. On examining his wounds it was disea ve s'" he had sustained a compound fracture of the a° r ' e lco,' that his back was covered with black and di5c010„,,,," money. He tnhOetsseucoffincdient to F ri bes tusions. Wednesday the second mate arid . ' were both committed for trial. b eid e A meeting of the inhabitants of Westminster / or 0 0 the other evening at the Hanover-square roan: ls ' 4 , o , purpose of affording an opportunity •` for the !ft; flu p , of public opinion upon the present position of L ioe lelfo garian people in their righteous struggle f°r,., bele, c el Bence." A meeting of the same character w7dcoci ° Tuesday at Derby, at which several clergymen the cause of the Hungarians. „ , d o , 0 0, A MARRIAGE SUSPENDED.—A short tin- ;4- t ie ding party had assembled in our charming ' - o ad ie to [lnnerleithen), bride and bridegroom met, w ho sit anxiously waiting the arrival of the clergYtea ° of tl " to unite them for weal or wo during the thrldigtiAt'l natural lives. At length the much-longed-fe r r ee e ;en made his appearance, when the ceremony wa s rholie t be with instanter. On the lines being produce d , „001,0 he discovered that objections were entered,l s , engagement by a weaver resident in Galash' e tbe te d being the case. the minister at once refused to ink statbis on hearing which determination the bridegro e r oof e d to his feet, and, with hat in land, wavvel a t t r e o et head, and with loud voice exclaimed, " °' be biense I'm gone and he was as good as his word , A l e" - out that very night to America, leaving his he tr „," r . ,0 1 , to pine in single-blessedness.—Border Adver .i 11811; EXTRAORDINARY OCCURRENCE.—The (P e ' ; sta; to Horbury, near Wakefield, has been thrown into c ota . ,," e o great excitement by apainful occurrence that b 3 ' co tlor b ie light within the past week. An i n d e pendent., s pec t :io of the name of Craven lived i n the village it? lived 'o'l style. He was a bachelor, and a young 10 1 0 001 1 ,cl him as housekeeper, who was known as Miss u,id b 0 was reputed to be his natural daughter. In the ers oo,o l ; last week a report prevailed that this young; Po o ' oo o given birth to a child, which had been mad e 1 9 0° 0 (4 and that the body had been found buried in the } ; l o o f belonging to the house. The report was et w ho Ilito long in coming to the ears of the constable s, a 7 0 r it, tuted proper inquiries. On Saturday the b e id of t to be 0 child having been produced, an inquest was,-...„0 0, , bee' when. Ellen Sykes, servant to Mr. Edward "' - o hOc,e o ; such evidence as at once proved that Miss Crav e f - gr. 00' delivered of the child, which, in the opinion T he °e t VI! Greenwood, surgeon, had been still born• if in ildia stated that she heard Miss Craven crying out a s i o ce l ot pain all Saturday morning. The jnry return 7 tr t „il that the child was still.born.—On Monday I ‘ . "„ r r e . applied to the magistrates for warrants of eP ts re c i - pa'' against the parties concerned, but the rnagistra . 5 s teP!, some evidence to be produ ce d b e f ore taking,t w a ot ty ci the issued summonses to the witnesses at the Ing o , e o ftt pear before them. This no doubt has been de e D oi ik warrants have been granted, although we h al o ha ve 'nation to that effect. Mr. and Miss Cra ye oe. Horbury, no one knowing whither they are it i , FRIGHTFUL MURDER.-011 ThursdaY , t tbe a i?" remains of a man named O'Connor, a gauger sewn, don Docks, in receipt of a salary of £3OO, w er d, ba t tlie ° house at Minerva-place. at present unoccuOie was let to a man about six months since, wh9., een se;, with his wife, and O'Connor was frequently In consequence of O'Connor not having beet:noir; the veral days, the police, suspecting that some t i o ns 10 0,5 had been resorted to, and observing indi ca el, r e t" back kitchen of the sags having been remqe.coceirv-focete the stones and earth underneath, and there a'', 11 .5 0 t, I body of the murdered man. He was lying ° To pe ti,` with his legs doubled up, and tied with a s d, Over' haunches. He had been shot through the e i e ; slugs were found near the temple or frontal,T,' w ife m . o lt , can hardly be any doubt that the man or in r ;;00 1 , 1 ", nutted the murder, as they sold all their V° lee r jet`,l, on Tuesday, and exhibited a strong desio tho 0 , 1 a; neighbourhood. The woman was also at _,'. s fte, r 4c l3 ` 4 man's lodgings on the day he left, and the i r,; a g she unlocked his drawers ; but no susPie i° ,, e eo to her, as she was in the habit of visiting tu_ eo l.r a" i absence. The deceased was possessed of a n d S har we , ,, chiefly consisting of foreign railway bond 9 %jell sides about £3OO in cash—the whole of bee a d . 3 stolen. In fact, nothing of the least value LtrespatTo A number of detective police have beell ies ouca t ba several provincial and seaport towns, hoesn",isocer-iw the suspected parties. The police 3nucealej in the umbrella belonging to the deceased co n s toini_er chimney, and a cheque belonging to him t ole dust heap, in the yard. It is stated tha ne ,a_ l , l e . r t s the woman had a criminal connection. Z e w its , t ° o odA Genevese, and was very good looking. ' s 1 ;t1 in the Duchess 'of Sutherland's service , 3fanatro, to Lady Blantyre. The man, whose navywesret° formerly in the employ of the Great -e,. in f Manning was guard, itnhethaemsohuonrtt of sp a x ce 4,ooo of t w w u elv s e to nr en nt c h ro , m hu l t i a, ° Atig, A Fr e R RII - 1 karl neb, ' fron t ;, l( lz s frern fr i ll E, 7i l , ~ ,,t1),11 11 4, t