The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-05-23 00:00:00

flay 23,18448. Literature. VARIETIES. .merican Sun advises Louis iippe to go to sunerica, to embark his sons in trade, or purchase them Larras, and offers him a place for his grandson in the French editorial depart ment of his journal. THE MARCH OF REFINEMENT.—A correspondent of the Su f folk Chronicle states that he lately witnessed a cheveaux de frize of parasols in the hands of the •children of the national School at Halesworth ! Question.—How can a daughter-in-law be her mother in-law's mother-in-law ? Answer.—An old widower flamed Gregory h a d an only daughter. Mr. J o h nson , his friend had also an only daughter. Mr. Gregory fell in 'eve with Miss Johnson ; and Mr. Johnson, in turn, with Miss Gregory. They were married, and thus each lady became mother-in-law to her mother-in-law, and each gentleman married his daughter's daughter-in-law. WILL OF LORD GRANVILLE SOMERSET.—The late Right lion. Lord Granville Somerset, M.P. for Mon- Mouthshire, who died on the 23d of February. at the age of 56, had executed his will in the year 1842, commencing with these impressive words :—" This is my last will and testament. I commend my soul to that glorious Trinity whose power 1" recognise, whose commands I have dis obeyed, but on whose mercy and forgiveness I rely through the mediation of my Saviour." DOLGELLY AND BARMOUTH.—When we approached the Drenchenfels and the first scenes of the Rhine's glory, ~ ..servant of my friend R—, well cognizant of his native Merionethshire, asked me if his was the Rhine, which he had ;ward was so beautiful ? I told him we were not yet In its most striking gorges, but that this was the first great scene, of which so much had been written. " Well , said the honest Welshman, " I think we can match it between Dolgelly and Barmmith." " Indeed, you can," W as my reply, and surely the Welshman was right. Let any One who has knowledge of the two scenes call to me mory that glorious estuary reposing in beauty and crowded with grandeur; look down its avenue of sparkling water the distant sea, glistening in the western light ; let rt. glance on the one side at its curving shore of oak *Prulkled meadows edged and broken by rock, and on the .°tlier to the pillared precipices of Cader Idris, and then, 1 1T 1 all respect to the noble substance of the flowing the°, gaze at its vine-spotted banks, and say if there is %latest approach to rivalry.—Taffourd's Vacation Rambles A BAD SHOT.—Once when he was staying with Mr. eke at Holkham, a well-known professor was also one Of the visitors. The venerable historian had never had a fun in his hand, but on this occasion Mr. Coke persuaded him to accompany the shooting party ; care, however, 'was taken to place him at a corner of the covert, where it was thought the other sportsmen would be out of his reach. When the rest of the party came up to the spot *here he was standing, Mr. Coke said to him, " Well, what sport ? You have been firing pretty often ! " '" Hush !" said the professor, " there it goes again !" and he was just raising his gun to his shoulder, when a man walked very quietly from the bushes about 70 yards in front of him. It was one of the beaters who had been sent to stop the pheasants, and his leather gaiters, dimly seen through the bushes, had been mistaken for a hare by the professor, who, much surprised by its tenacity of life, had be en firing at it whenever he saw it move. " But," said Mr. Buxton, " the man had never disco vered that the professor was shooting at him !"—Life of -Sir T. F. Buxton. O'CON NELL ' S C HARACTER OF L ORD N OR BURY.— g 4 The seemly character of the bench was in the hands of a bad keeper when committed to the care of Lord Nor bury. All who remember him as he presided in court, can bear witness that nothing appeared to delight him so ranch as the uproar of merriment created by his volleys of Puns. What is your calling and occupation my honest ?' he once asked a witness. Please your Lordship, I keep a racket court.' So do I,' rejoined Lord Nor bury, in gratified allusion to the racket which his witti cisms constantly excited in court. It was an appropriate joke at the burial of a joking, hanging judge—that jest of a butcher's apprentice that Brophy the dentist told me. When they were burying Norbury, the grave was so deep That the ropes by which they were letting down the coffin did not reach the bottom of it. The coffin remained hang ing at mid depth, while somebody was sent for more rope. ~Aye,' cried a butcher's 'prentice ' give him rope enough, Z . oll .'t stint him ! He was the boy that never grudged rope a poor body !' It is told of Lord Norbury, that when Passing sentence of death on a man convicted of stealing a Watch, he said to the culprit, ' My, good fellow, you made a grasp at time; but, egad, you caught eternity.' " O'Neil's Irish Recollections. REPUBLICAN PARIS.—Is there any former lover of f P aris who imagines that, when the barricades of the last insurrection have been removed, the devastations repaired, and the street - lanterns mended. Paris will wear, with its r epublican face, the same aspect as it did of old ? If there be such a man, let him still cherish the fond delusion, and not come and see. Or, would he learn the truth, let him try the experiment of taking from the fairest face he knows and loves, the gay, coquettish cap of gauze and ribbon, the light, butterfly-like chef-d'oeuvre of the most tasty 'alley of a French marchande des modes, and let him put 911 that head the Phrygian cap of liberty, the bonnet rouge, to all its startling coarseness of red cloth. He thinks, Perhaps, that the face will be the same, or at least wear the same expression as before ! Fatal mistake ! Ani mated , gay with colour, flushed with the red reflected !lilts, picture-like even, may be the pretty face—but it will have utterly lost its former charm ; it will look staring, vulgar, swaggering, disordered, at best Bacchante-like. Or, to take a more psychological comparison, let him think , the company of the beloved, and try to remember how he looked upon the objects that surrounded him. Of a surety, whatever their natural want of beauty, they wore a pecu liar look of brightness • there was a magical veil of rose coloured charm upon all. Let him then reflect upon the aspect of the same spot when she was gone. The objects remained the same, but certainly they wore not the same air to his eyes ; they were the identical objects he had ~,,° Uk ed upon before, and yet he could have sworn that they 'A e re changed—that the whole landscape was discoloured. : 1 ; k1 so it is with Paris. Streets, squares, and houses are ITte same, but its moral appearance is totally altered : there is a changed look in the very air; the impression on t he mind is as different as rose-colour is from gray upon the sense; the phychological tint has been washed out, blurred away, and replaced by a troubled, confused, inde scribably unharmonious and uncongenial colour.—Black wood's Magazine. THE REV. DR. WNEILE ON THE DEFENCE OF PRO TESTANTISM.—At the meeting of the British Reformation Society on Thursday week, the Earl of Canan took the chair, and the Rev. Hugh M'Neile made a powerful address, which he opened as follows :—" In every warfare it is an important part of good generalship to take a com prehensive view of the position occupied, so that we may know the real nature of the enemy we have to oppose, and not spend our strength on one point while we leave some other point unguarded, where that enemy may dis cover our weakness. (Hear.) Mr. Bevan referred to a kindred Institution, which has aimed at the preservation, if possible, of what is commonly called our national Pro testantism. So far as we may aver from the facts of the ease, the labours of that Institution have been successive ' failures ; the progress that our legislation has made, has been in defiance of every such remonstrance ; and our national Protestantism, as commonly understood, has disappeared from our national statute-book. If the a ttempts of that Institution have been failures ; if ther e be every reason to believe that no such attempts can now succeed, that the progress of legislation alluded to must g o en, so far as man can judge, in the same course which We h ave d eprecate d, b u t w hi c h we have failed to arrest ; Via remains of our position for defence ! (Her.) rve felt compelled to look about, and examine thi a s ; and have thought that the nation should be considered in a tPfold aspect : its representative aspect, which is presen eq by the Legislature and the Government ' • and its actual t i syect, as God sees it, which is presented by the state of "e Population. And it is quite possible — l d o not now ventur e to state a fact, because I am not in possession of sufficient data,—but it is quite possible that the nation in its actual state may advance in the proportion of real religion found in it, while the laws passed in former times for the protection of that religion are disappearing from our statute ..book. (Hear, hear.) But then, if this be so, t must b e by th e u se of means ; and if, while we acknow ledge the failure with reference to what is commonly un derstood by " National Protestantism," we turn our view and our hope to the only other alternative—the actual Position of the populat ion, 'then, I think, that efforts such as this Society invites us to, are prggisely those which ell , consistent Christian and Protestant ought to re double through England. (Hear, hear.) We have no thing else for it. STATE OF TRADE IN PARIS.—In an article in the laSt number of Blackwood's Magazine, entitled " Republican "is" a picture is drawn, fearful in its detais, but yet true, of the condition of Paris and the Parislians, since the overthrow of the monarchy, the puerile folly, the Wildness, and the despotic tyranny of the ferocious mob Who now govern France alternately with the military vfor ce Think not also that the Boulevards retain their flittering aspect of rich decorated shops, teeming with the u, rY of colour and gilding as before. We are in the midst of a financial crisis, and misery and want are in . e L e asing daily. Trade has ceased with the want of con fidence ; ruin has fallen on many ; workmen have been n 'issed, and shop-boys turned adrift in hundreds upon the streets and, in spite of the " roasted larks" all ready for hungry mouths, and " showers of gold" which the Government promises as about to fall from the heaven of the republic upon the working classes , it is no t o nl y on faces of the tradespeople at their shop doors , or behind th e e mockery of their plate-glass windows, that there is ;InPressed a gloom, but upon the many hundreds and thousands who seek work and cannot find it, and who W ander up and down with hanging heads , or wile away th eir weary hours in loungingabout the outskirts of the dis puting groups. See ! how shops are shut ! See ! dossed sadly the placard of " boutique d louer," upon the doors, meets the eye at every ten steps, and tells a I ke of bankrupt c y ; how many rows of dismal shutters, e coffin-lids erect upon their ends, give by day to the and that fu nera l l oo k they formerly only gave by night; J lcl c halked upon these shutters are still the words— armes donnes au people," a still remaining souvenir of th e days of tumult, disorder, and bloodshed, when every _ease in P ar i s was scraw l e d over by the same announce !cent, in order to prevent the forcible entry of the mob into W private dwellings, to carry off defensive weapons. If va e s t , 3 te aside into one of those monster -hops, with their co p rridors, and avenues, and galleries, and stair-cases. Which lately were so crowded that it was difficult for cus • 'enters,i to be serve d even b y th e h un dred commis within, 7 4 at a s cene o f desert listlessness meets your e yes ! There loscarce a solit ary cus t omer w h o wan ders amongst their • I.7ni w g galleries, vainly draperied and beshawled with a ll the rider s of modern manufacture. The weary looking BhOP 2 boys, the fe w th a t rema i n , r un out of breath from wan`Lend of a l ong ga ll ery t o ano th e r, to get what you ', for they have now several departments of the eps.t..,ablis it hment as under their care. There is no trace her e of ~ ris as w.” The it MISFORTUNES OF UNCLE JACK. (Prom " The Caxton," in Blackwood's Magazine.) Uncle Jack was a light-hearted, plausible, enthusiastic, talkative fellow, who bad spent three small fortunes in trying to make a large one. He was a great speculator ; but in all his speculations he never affected to think of himself,—it was always the good of his fellow-creatures that he had at heart, and in this ungrateful world fellow creatures are not to be relied upon ! On coming of age, he inherited £6OOO from his maternal grandfather. It seemed to him then his fellow-creatures were greatly im posed upon by their tailors. Those ninth parts of huma nity notoriously eked out their fractional existence by ask ing nine times too much for the clothing which civilisa tion, and perhaps a change of climate, render more neces sary to us than our ancestors the Picts. Out of pure phi lanthropy, Uncle Jack srarted " a Grand National Bene volent Clothing Company," which undertook to supply the public with inexpressibles of the best Saxon cloth at is. 6d. a pair ; coats, superfine, £1 18s. ; and waistcoats at so much per dozen. They were all to be worked off by steam. Thus the rascally tailors were to be put down, humanity clad, and the philanthropists rewarded (but that was a secondary consideration) with a clear return of 30 per cent. In spite of the evident charitableness of this Christian design, and the irrefragable calculations upon which it was based, this company died a victim to the ig norance and unthankfulness of our fellow-creatures. And all that remained of Jack's £6OOO was a fifty-fourth share in a small steam-engine, a large assortment of ready made pantaloons, and the liabilities of the directors. Uncle Jack disappeared, and went on his travels. The same spirit of philanthropy which characterised the specu lations of his purse attended the risks of his person. Un cle Jack had a natural leaning towards all distressed com munities : if any tribe, race, or nation was down in the world, Uucle Jack threw himself plump into the scale to redress the balance. Poles, Greeks (the last were then fighting the Turks,) Mexicans, Spaniards,—Uncle Jack thrust his nose into all their squabbles ! Heaven forbid I should mock thee, poor Uncle Jack ! for those generous predilections towards the unfortunate; only, whenever a nation is in misfortune, there is always a job going on ! The Polish cause, the Greek cause, the Mexican cause, and the Spanish cause, are necessarily mixed up with loans and subscriptions. These continental patriots, when they take up the sword with one hand, generally contrive to thrust the other deep into their neighbours' breeches' pockets. Uncle Jack went to Greece, thence he went to Spain, thence to Mexico. No doubt he was of great ser vice to these afflicted populations, for he came back with unanswerable proof of their gratitude in the shape of £3OOO. Shortly after this appeared a prospectus of the " New, Grand, National Benevolent Insurance Company, for the Industrious Classes." This invaluable document, after setting forth the immense benefits to society arising from habits of providence, and the introduction of insu rance companies—proving the infamous rate of premiums exacted by the existent offices, and their inapplicability to the wants of the honest artisan, and declaring that no thing but the purest intentions of benefiting their fellow creatures, and raising the moral tone of society, had led the directors to institute a new society, founded on the purest principles and the most moderate calculations — proceeded to demonstrate that twenty-four and a half per cent. was the smallest possible return the shareholders could anticipate. The company began under the fairest auspices : an archbishop was caught as president, on the condition always that he should give nothing but his name to the society. Uncle Jack—more euphoniously desig nated as " the celebrated philanthropist, John Jones Tibbetts, Esquire"—was honorary secretary, and the ca pital stated at two millions. But such was the obtuse ness of the industrious classes, so little did they perceive the benefits of subscribing one-and-ninepence a-week from the age of twenty-one to fifty, in order to secure at the latter age the annuity of £lB, that the company dis solved into thin air and with it dissolved also Uncle Jack's £3OOO. Nothing more was then seen or heard of him for three years. So obscure was his existence, that on the death of an aunt, who left him a small farm in Corn wall, it was necessary to advertise that " If John Jones Tibbets, Esq., would apply to Messrs. Blunt and Tin, Lothbury, between the hours of ten and four, he would hear of something to his advantage." But, even as a conjuror declares he will call the ace of spades, and the ace of spades, that you thought you had safely under your foot, turns up on the table—so with this advertisement suddenly turned up Uncle Jack. With inconceivable sa tisfaction did the new landlord settle himself in his com fortable homestead. The farm, which was about two hun dred acres, was in the best possible condition, and saving one or two chemical preparations, which cost Uncle Jack, upon the most scientific principles, thirty acres of buck wheat, the ears of which came up, poor things, all spotted and speckled, as if they had been inoculated with the small-pox, Uncle Jack for the first two years was a thriv ing man. Unluckily, however, one day Uncle Jack disco vered a coal-mine in a beautiful field of Swedish turnips ; in another week the house was full of engineers and natu ralists, and in another month appeared, in my uncle's best style, much improved by practice, a prospectus of " the Grand, National, anti-Monopoly Coal Company, in stituted on behalf of the poor Householders of London, and against the Monster Monopoly of the London Coal i Wharfs. " A vein of the finest coal has been discovered on the estates of the celebrated philanthropist, John Jones Tib bets, Esq. This new mine, the Molly Wheel, having been satisfactorily tested by that eminent engineer, Giles Compass, Esq., promises an inexhaustible field to the energies of the benevolent and the wealth of the capitalist. It is calculated that the best coals may be delivered, Thstrneq. fnr now 1 yielding a profit of not less than forty-mil per cent. nn to the shareholders. Shares, £5O, to be paid in five instal ments. Capital to he sub.cribed, one million. For shares. early application must be made to Messrs. Blunt and Tin, solicitors, Lothbury." Here, then, was something tangible for fellow-creatures to go on—there was land, there was a mine, there was coal, and there actually came shareholders and capital. Uncle Jack was so persuaded that his fortune was now to be made, and had, moreover, so great a desire to share the glory of ruining the monster monopoly of the London wharfs, that he refused a very large offer to dispose of the property altogether, remained chief shareholder, and re moved to London, where he set up his carriage, and gave dinners to his fellow-directors. For no less than three years did this company flourish, having submitted the entire direction and working of the mines to that eminent engineer, Giles Compass—twenty per cent. was paid re gularly by that gentleman to the shareholders, and the shares were at more than cent. per cent., when, one bright morning, when least expected, Giles Compass, Esq. re moved himself to that wider field for genius like his, the United States ; and it was discovered that the mine had for more than a year run itself into a great pit of water, and that Mr. Compass had been paying the shareholders out of their own capital. My uncle had the satisfaction this time of being ruined in very good company : three doctors of divinity, two county members, a Scotch lord, and an East India director, were all in the same beat — that boat which went down with the coal-mine into the great water-pit I FRANCE AND TAHITI.—RIGHTEOUS RETRIBUTION.— The Scripture abounds in instances of retribution : and history, since that day, supplies similar. Have yoli ever considered how very singular it was, that the Jewish people, on taking a certain neighbouring prince prisoner, should have treated him with such barbarous indignity, as to cut off his thumbs and his toes ? It was not their custom to do so ; so faras we know, they never did it in any other instance. And presently we learn the reason. " And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table ; as I have done, so bath God re quited me." You recollect also what Samuel said to Agag :—As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women." You recollect the gallows that Haman prepared for Mordecai, and who was hanged upon it,—Haman himself. These are inti mations of God's dealings even in this world. And one modern parallel shall suffice, and then I must release you, (Cries of "Go on," and " Hear hear.") I look at one of our Royal residences in the neighbourhood of this metropolis, and there I recognise some fugitives from their own country,—one that was a King, one that was a Minister; there may be one that was an Admiral,—l know not certainly how that is. And if in the contem plation of that fallen party I were invited to name one name, which would bring out God's righteous retribution upon men—and I say this without any unkind feeling towards them—(hear, hear)—it would ill become an Englishman to triumph with the slightest feeling of unkindness over fallen greatness—(hear, hear) ; and if any such feeling seem to mingle with what I shall say, I beg utterly to disclaim it ; I have no such intention. I claim history as a fair field of comment for him who ob serves God's dealings among men, and I altogether dis claim any personal unkind feeling—(hear, hear) ; but if I were to name a word calculated to make the ex-King of France and his Ministers and Admirals tremble —calculated to make them see how the hand of God has been over them—the word I would name is, Tahiti ! (Cheers.) The annals of Propagandism in its most barbarous age supply nothing more barbarous than the treatment which an innocent Queen received at the hands of France. (Hear, hear.) The men of God, who had been the messengers of Christianity to her and her realm, who were respected by her, approved by her, located in her territory, attended to by herself and her court as their teachers—these men were rudely thrust from the island by violence. The priests of an opposite faith, which she disclaimed, were forced upon her accept ance. When she entreated their departure, they re fused ; when, exercising her authority, she compelled them to depart, the powerful arm of France was raised to force them back upon her. And at last she was herself turned from her realm, consigned to a small island in the neighbourhood, a fugitive from her home, and her land itself made an example .of the vanity of propagandism. (Hear.) It was not worth the pains to France as a colony ; it was only the triumph, the vain triumph of propa gandism. There was an island where Protestant Christianity had planted a successful mission ; the jealousy of Rome could not bear it ; it was a bright spot, over which she wished to throw her own sable mantle ; and she did it with a violence that deserved any possible recrimination. (Hear, hear.) Of course, Ido not mean to say that all that has been done since has been in con sequence of that act. That is the misrepresentation, the wilful misrepresentation that will be made of what I am saying ;—the gentlemen of the press—those who pretend to lead, and, to a great extent, do lead the public mind, will say, " that we have the secrets of heaven, and that this was the sole cause of the French revolution." I said no such thing. (Hear, hear.) But I said this, "that if it please God, in the visions of the night, to bring the history of that affair of Tahiti to the recollection of Louis Philippe, and of Guizot, while they lay awake on their beds, (hear) and if it please God, by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, to give them repentance for their treatment of Pomare, (hear) I shall rejoice and be glad."—Rev. Dr. MWeile at the British Reformation Society Meeting. TICE* LIVERPO' YANKEE EXAGGERATIONS. The American journals are filled with speculations on the probable result of the late Chartist demonstration. Brother Jonathan seems to have given rein to his imagi nation. Long after the last of the extraordinary guar dians of the public peace in London bad flung down his club at the feet of his domestic Omphale, and yielded to the proud weakness of a hero returned home, the good folks at New York gave us credit for having altered the form of our constitution. In London we were at Year 1 of the British Repu'alic, under the auspices of President Cuffey. The " corrupt aristocracy" bad taken flight, the Dukes of Newcastle and Norfolk were seriously perpen ding by what means they could earn an honest livelihood. The Bench of Bishops had been massacred in batches, and a receipt in full for the national debt had been tende red for signature to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. This has not been quite so, but it is amusing enough to see with what Alnaschar speed the American sympathizers built up their castles in the air. Here is the first note of the trumpet : " There is the greatest interest manifested in this city, and indeed throughout the country, to receive later advices from Europe. The new steamship America, which is now in her 14th day, may arrive at any moment.• She will bring one week later intelligence. Actual war between Russia and Germany for the independence of Poland ; Austria and Prussia for supremacy in Germany ; Denmark and Prussia for the annexe. tion of Holstein to the German Confederation, and Sardinia and Austria for the independence of Italy; and a revolution in England and Ireland for universal suffrage, and a repeal of the union, or something more, may have broken out in even that brief space of time." There is an old comparison in the literature of the United States—when it is wished to express speed the simile of " greased lightning" is employed by the more forcible writers. We have in Europe been proceeding at a pace rapid enough in all conscience, without playing out on all sides such a general St. Bartholomew's as this. With the full recollection before us of the sepulchral tones in which a few weeks back the itinerant newsmen who traversed the more distant squares and streets of the metropolis used to roar out their cry of " War ! war ! war Funds down ! Funds down !" we must demur to these anticipations of our Republican friends on the other side of the Atlantic. The passage we have just quoted relates to Europe in general—here is one which deals with the case of Great Britain in particular : "The condition of England, or rather that of the whole British empire, has, according to the last accounts, reached a perilous crisis—one from which there would seem to be no escape, without either a revolution or a bloody civil war. It is an even chance according to the last accounts, whether England is at this moment declared a Republic, or is in the midst of a civil and bloody war that may last for years." EXTINCTION OF THE PAPACY. (From the Standard.) The late revolution at Rome deserves more considera tion than our contemporaries seem disposed to bestow upon it. The question seems properly to force itself upon our attention. Are we not now witnessing the fulfilment of one of the most striking prophecies of the Apocalypse—the overthrow of the mystic Babylon ? We, at least, shall be thought free from being misled by a strained interpretation of scripture, when it is re membered that, reasoning upon purely political grounds, we predicted more than six months ago that Pius the Ninth would probably be the last Pope of Rome. This was a merely political prediction, and to this we adhere ; for whoever shall conquer in the present strife, the tem poral authority of the Pope is extinguished for ever. If the Austrians prevail, as we trust they will, they will not be again guilty of the folly of re-establishing upon their weakest frontier that which has ever proved the disturb ing power of Europe. If the French once more achieve the Protectorate of Italy, they, we may be sure, will use it as their predecessors used it forty or fifty years ago. In either case the Papal States will disappear : in the former, absorbed into the Lombardo Venetian kingdom ; in the latter, making part of the French kingdom of Italy. There is something so remarkable in the downfall of the Papacy, be it but temporary, be it final (as we de voutly believe it to be), that we cannot withhold from our renders the striking fact, that a pious interpreter of Scripture prophecies, 147 years ago, fixed the event as foretold in the Apocalypse for this very year One Thou sand Eight Hundred and Forty Eight. The prediction will be found in a little tract, by the Rev. Robert Fleming. published in 1701, under the title of " The Rise and Fall of the Papacy." This little work, of which some editions have been lately printed at a cheap rate, is one of the most remarkable and interesting reli gious works that we have ever seen. It is written in a pure Saxon style, a clear method, and in a sober Christian spirit, as far as possible removed from enthusiasm. The book extracts from the " Apocalypse," by reasoning almost strictly arithmetical, a prediction of the persecu tion of the French Protestants in 1723—0 f the massacre of the Protestants at Thorn in 1724—0 f the movement against the Jesuits towards the close of the last century, and the destruction of the French monarchy at its end, placing the consummation of that destruction as to be effected before the year " one thousand seven hundred and ninety four"—a prediction fulfilled to the letter by the murder of the king and queen in 1793. Using the same canon of interpretation, Mr. Fleming foretells the obscuration of the Papacy in the first years of the present century (the imprisonment of Pius VI. by Napoleon), and its final destruction for the present year 1848. Mr. Fleming died in 1716, before the fulfilment of any of the extracted predictions of which we have spoken, so as to exempt him from the class of seers who prophecy after the PvAnt. SOCIETY FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE LABOURING CLASSES. The annual meeting of this society, in London, was held on Thursday in the large hall of the Freemasons' Tavern. Long before the hour for which the meeting was called (12 o'clock), the hall was crowded by a large number of ladies, among whom were the Duchess of Sutherland, and many other ladies of high rank. On the platform were Lord John Russell, the Duke of Argyll, Earl Fortescue, the Marquis of Westminster, Lord Ashley, Lord Ebrington, the Bishops of London, Salisbury, and St. David's; Dr. M'Neile, of Liverpool; Professor Whewell, Sir T. Acland, S. M. Peto, Esq., M.P., &c., &c. His Royal Highness Prince Albert oc cupied the chair. Prayers having been offered by the Bishop of London, Prince Albert rose, and was received with loud cheers. When they bad subsided, he said—Ladies and gentlemen, when four years since this Society for the Improvement of the Condition of the Labouring Classes was first established on its present footing, I accepted, with pleasure, the offer made me of becoming its President. (Loud cheers.) I saw in this offer a proof of the appreciation the society en tertained of my feelings, my sympathy, and my interest for the class of our community which has most of the toil and least of the enjoyments of the world. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I conceived that great advantage would ac crue to it from the endeavours of influential people, who were wholly disinterested, to act the part of friends to those who required advice and assistance, which only a friend could tender with advantage. (Loud cheers.) This society has always held this object before its eyes, and has ever been labouring in that direction. You are all aware that it was established to erect model lodging-houses, loan funds, and the allotment of land in different parts of the country ; but it has been careful only to establish exam ples and models, mindful that any real improvement which was to take place must be the result of the exertions of the working people themselves. (Cheers.) I have just come from the model lodging-house, the opening of which we celebrate this day—(cheers)—and I feel convinced that its existence will by degrees lead to the erection of others, and that it will lead to a complete change in the domestic comforts of the working classes, as it will exhibit to them, that with real economy can be combined advantages and comforts to which they have hitherto been strangers, whilst it will, at the same time, show those who possess capital which they are desirous to invest, that they may do so in connexion with this institution with great advantage and profit to themselves, dispensing, at the same time, those comforts which I have enumerated to their poorer brethren. (Cheers.) Depend upon it, it is to the interest of those classes who are so often contrasted, but whose interests are identical, to unite, and it is only ignorance which prevents them from uniting for each others advan tage. To dispel that ignorance, and to show the means how man can help man, notwithstanding the compli cated state of civilized society, ought to be the aim of every philanthropic person. But it is most peculiarly the duty of those who, under the blessing of Divine Providence, enjoy station, wealth, and education. (Cheers.) Let• them be careful how to avoid any dictatorial interference with labour and employment, which frightens away capital, destroys that freedom of thought and independ ence of action which must remain to every one if he is to work out his own happiness—(Loud cheers)—and to repose that confidence in each other, on which alone the enjoyment rnd mutual benefit of mankind rests. After some further remarks appropriate to the subject, his Royal Highness resumed his seat amid loud cheers. Lord Ashley, who was received with cheers, explained the progress which had been made in prosecution of the society's objects. and the further measures which it was hoped shortly to accomplish. Little had yet been done in respect to the Loan-fund, but it was expected that by the next meeting much will have been effected. I n the allotment of land a good deal had been effected; but the greatest progress had been made in that part of the society's scheme which related to the erection of an im proved kind of lodging-houses for the working classes and the poor, affording comfortable and wholesale ac-. commodation at rents which are ordinarily paid for the most wretched and filthy rooms. The next step rpro posed to be taken is that of building houses for females. The Duke of Argyle moved the adoption of the report, which was seconded by the Rev. Hugh M`Neile in a very brilliant and eloquent speech, which we regret to find has not been reported in the London papers. The second resolution, inviting the cordial co-operation of the clergy to give efficiency to the various plans for im proving the condition of the working classes, was moved by the Bishop of Oxford, seconded by Sir Thos. Acland, M.P., and adopted. A subscription of £lOO from Mr. S. M. Peto, M.P., was here announced by Lord Ashley. The announcement was received with loud cheers. A resolution calling upon the wealthy to aid the society was proposed by the Bishop of St. David's, and seconded by Mr. Colquhoun, and was carried. A committee, headed by Lord Ashley, was then ap pointed for the ensuing year. On the motion of Earl Fortescue, seconded by J. Labouchere, Esq., a vote of grateful and respectful thanks of the meeting•was passed to the Prince for his conde scension in taking the chair. Prince Albert briefly returned thanks, and the meeting separated, chaunting the national anthem. A number of the inmates of the model lodging and dwelling-houses then partook of a generous repast, pro vided for them by the society. OL STANDAri. THE REVUE RETROSPECTIVE. The sixth number of the Revue Retrospective continues its extracts from the private papers found at the' Tuileries. The editor precedes them by the following remarks : "We publish to-day the first portion of a correspond ence which will be read with great interest on both sides of the Channel. The affectionate language of this corres pondence increases gradually to professions of devotion until the moment of rupture arrives, It is precisely on New Year's-day that Lonis-Philippe for the first time, at the moment that he sends New Year's gifts to the Royal children, places himself open to an accusation of the Queen of England of double-dealing. " A very formal letter from Queen Victoria to Queen Amelle which will close the series of these letters, is the letter which gave rise to the lengthened justification which Louis Philippe addressed to the Queen of the Belgians, to be communicated by her to the Queen of England, and which appears in the second number of the Revue." The first letter of this series is dated Chateau d'Eu, October 15, 1844. It informs her Majesty, who is ad dressed as " Madame, ma bien bonne et tres chere soeur," of the safe arrival of the writer (Louis-Philippe) at d'Eu, after his recent visit to England. No. 2 is from her Majesty to the exrking, acknowledg ing the receipt of his letter. It contains the following passage : " I need not repeat how much we desire to see strength ened between the two countries thatentente cordiale which already exists between us personally." Another letter, dated St. Cloud, December 4, 1844, is in reference to the projected visit of her Majesty to the French capital. " Above all things (says this letter), I beg of you both (Prince Albert) to be convinced that I should never con sent to your undertaking this journey without having first assured myself that your reception would be such as I received in England. That assurance is mine to-day." A prophetic spirit then seems to come over the fallen monarch, for he adds in the very next line— " But I am too well acquainted with the men and the times I live in, ever to speak with certainty of the future; and my advice is never to engage ourselves until that fu ture shall nave approached nearer to the present, so as to enable us to form a correct judgment of what we may and what we may not undertake." After alluding to the beneficial effect produced in France by the reciprocal visits of the two sovereigns to their re spective countries, the ex-king- pourtrays the enthusiastic reception her Majesty would find in Paris, which he says— ' Will be the most efficacious means for popularising that entente cordiale, the happy results of which are each day more manifest." The next letter is dated Paris, Feb. 14, 1845, from Louis-Philippe to her Majesty. In alluding to her Ma jesty's speech on the opening of parliament, the royal writer says : " I was deeply touched by the words of your Majesty which related to myself. I rejoice to be able to add that your speech was hailed with joy in France, the effect of which was increased by the debate which ensued, and es pecially by the excellent speeches of Sir R. Peel and Lord Aberdeen." _ _ _ The following letter, addressed by Louis-Philip to the Count de Jarnac, (godson of the ex-King,) is dated 14th Dec., 1845 : " My dear Philippe ' —I thank you for the information you have sent me. I beg of you to be my interpreter to your uncle, the Duke of Leinster, and to tell him how sensible lam of his kind message. But I have another commission for you to execute, which I have already in trusted to M. Guizot, but which I wish to repeat in every possible manner ; it is to express to Sir R. Peel and to Lord Aberdeen, how afflicted I am at their resignation, the more so, as I had hoped to see their ministry co operate with mine in entertaining and perpetuating that entente cordiale which they so efficaciously contributed to form, and which has been so well cemented by the per sonal and friendly relations it enabled us to carry on." In another letter to Her Majesty, dated the 17th Dec., 1845, Louis-Philip again alludes to the resignment of the ministry as follows : " I was in hope that this ministry, which always so well agreed with mine in establishing between the two govern ments that entente cordiale which is the basis of the peace of the world, and of the prosperity of the two countries, would long continue to consolidate it more and more. This hope has been deceived. We must resign ourselves to it." On the 28th of December, on the reinstallation of the former ministry, the King writes to Her Majesty to ex press his joy : " Allow me to congratulate you on the maintenance of the ministry of Sir R. Peel and Lord Aberdeen, and I hope also of the Duke of Wellington. It is with sincere satisfaction that I behold the happy termination of the ministerial crisis. and of the anxiety it must have caused you. No one is more capable than myself, who have suf fered so often, to appreciate what your Majesty must have suffered." _ . The last letter in the present number of the Revue is an affectionate letter to his Lien chere petite cousine, the Princess Victoria, and the other Royal children. It is dated January 27, 1846. The present number also contains a remarkable docu ment. It is a Report of M. Delessert, the Prefect of Police, to the minister, on the state of the political and social pulsations of the Paris public. It is dated January 19, 1847. This Report foretells a great Communist move ment, and draws the attention of the government to the pamphlets published by Cabet, Desamy, Pierre Leroux, Proudhom, and other of Fourier's school. This Report ;Oyes a list of, and Lasses in review the different publica- Orittral Aliort Up to Friday no rain had fallen in the neighbourhood of . Leeds. Wm. Tomkins was on Thursday convicted at the Cen tral Criminal Court of the murder of Maria Eddor on the 15th of April last, and sentenced to death. Bets have been offered in London that the price of wheat will range below 30s. per quarter by November • next. At Haverhill, Suffolk, Hannah Bowyer has been com mitted for trial,, charged with the murder ,of her illegiti mate child, aged two and a half years, by administering poison. An explosion of fire-damp took place on Wednesday, at the coal-pits of Messrs. John Russell and Co., Risca, Newport, South Wales. Three persons lost their lives, and several others were seriously injured. During the thunder storm at Worcester, a few days since, an oak of considerable dimensions was struck by the lightning, and the branches were all cut from the trunk, which was shivered to shreds in a singular manner. Last week, an unanimous determination in favour of early closing was arrived at amongst the metropolitan ironmongers, to terminate business at seven o'clock in the evening. Saxton, a lacemaker of Nottingham, has been killed by a very simple accident. As he stood talking in one of the streets at night, a man ran against him ; Saxton fell, his head struck the ground, and the concussion proved fatal. On Sunday week three lads left Scarborough in an open boat, and have not yet been heard of. It is most proba ble that the boat upset, and that the unfortunate lads have been drowned. At the sale of the pictures of the late Mr. Wells, in London. on Friday, Wilkie's celebrated picture, Distrain in g for Rent, was purchased by Mr. W. Wells, nephew of the deceased, for 1,050 guineas. The Duke of Cleve land had nearly obtained it for 1,000 guineas. Lieut.-General Sir C. Napier landed on Tuesday at Portsmouth, from India. He was received with all due honour by the mayor, corporation, and inhabitants of the town, the band of the 17th regiment playing, " See the conquering hero comes." The committee for getting up.a " Public Order Memo rial," in commemoration of the 10th April, have deter mined to abandon the design, and, after the expenses have been defrayed, the subscriptions (including £lOOO from her Majesty and the Royal Family) will be returned. A QUERY.—Mr. Feargus O'Connor's Land Allotment Society now numbers 100,000 heads of families. Out of all this number some one hundred and sixty have found a refuge on the O'Connor estates in four or five years. Query—How long will it take him to " locate" the re maining 99,840 ? THE CONVICTS ANNETTE MEYERS AND MARY ANN HUNT. — These criminals, who have so long been confined under sentence of death in Newgate, were yesterday re moved to Tothill Fields prison, where they are to under go two years' imprisonment, and then to be transported for life. On Wednesday, a terrific thunder storm occurred at •Whittlesea, and the spire of the church was struck. The south-west pinnacle was rent from top to bottom, and must be taken down, and it is feared that the spire will have sustained extensive damage. The spire cvas one of the handsomest in England. On Thursday, at the Glasgow High Court of Justiciary, David Gibson, a doctor of medicine, was tried for culpable homicide, in granting a false certificate as to the state of health of a prisoner. He was found not guilty, and the verdict was received with marks of satisfaction by all present, and Dr. Gibson was highly congratulated. The stupendous works of the new steam-basin at Ports mouth, having been completed, the Admiralty have de cided upon a formal opening of this great national under taking on the 25th instant. It is confidently expected that her Majesty and his Royal Highness Prince Albert will honour the ceremony with this presence. In the rouglyplate glass manufacture, an improvement or simplification has been patented by Mr. Jas. Hartley, of Sunderland, viz.,—the transfer of the molten " metal" by ladling directly from the melting-pot to the table, without the use of a cistern or a second heating. The plates so made are then annealed by piling, as for crown and sheet glass, and not with the usual costly furnaces. It is reported that the Bank of England is now in pos session, through the sheriff of the county of Glamorgan, of all the property at Cwmavon copper-works, which they hold for a debt of upwards of £276,000. All the men in the governOr and company's employ in their copper-works at Landore, near Swansea, have been discharged. — Welshman. A trifle, called The Fast Man, by Mr. Albert Smith, was produced at the Lyceum, on Thursday. It was an attempt to represent the reckless, disreputable shifts of a London scamp, " a fast man," contrasted with the habits of his friend, a person of an opposite description. These personages, Jack Stunner and Simpson Slowcoach, were acted by Buckstone and C. Mathews. A most respectable body of London merchants, bankers,. and traders, —including the Barings, the Gurneys, the Hankeys, the Souths, the Hoares, the Robartses, and other city magnates—has summoned a public meeting, at the London Tavern for Saturday the 27th instant,. " of all persons desirous of upholding the system of free labour in the British colonial possessions, and of preventing this country from becoming dependent for its supply of sugar and coffee upon the extension of cultivation by mean 4 of slavery and. the slave trade." The sale of Mr. John A. Ballantyne's library took place in Edinburgh, on Saturday. The catalogue included the proof sheets of several of the " Waverley Novels." The manuscript of the " Black Dwarf " brought twenty-eight guineas ; . Sir Walter's proofs of his " Life of Napoleon," nine volumes, weresold for forty-five guineas •, and twelve volumes of proof of the " Waverley Novels " fetched forty-one guineas. MELANCHOLY SHICIDE.—On Friday week, the inha bitants of Hazelbury Briant were much shocked on being informed that a lad, named Bellamy, about 14 years of age, had committed suicide. It appears that the boy's mother is dead, and that his father is of intemperate habits, from which circumstances the lad had suffered many privations. He committed the act by repairing to a neighbouring orchard, and there suspended. himself to a tree till life became extinct. METALLIC IRONING SLIPPER.—An invention of this description has been lately patented by a Mr. Sloman, of St. Martin's lane, London. It is made of iron, with a highly-polished surface, and imparts a beautiful glass to the articles when ironed : its superiority over every other plan is undeniable. The most delicate texture cannot be soiled, neither can the slipper szorch or stick (so prevalent with the common flat-iron) to any fabric during the pro cess of ironing. These advantages cannot fail in recom mending it to all those who study the saving of time, la bour, and expense. MARIOLOGY AND THE " MAY MEETINGS. " —The last number of the Tablet suggests to all Catholics—" that it would be an act of great devotion worthy to observe this month (May), in honour of the mother of God, that there may be some attempt at reparation for the outrageous in sults to which she is annually liable in the frantic meet ings of Exeter Hall. How they" (the protestants) "came to choose this month for their revels we kr ow not, whe ther by accident or by a special suggestion of the evil one; but,, it is surely our duty to do what we can to counteract their efforts, by special devotion this month, to the help of Christians and the Mother of Divine Grace." ALLEGED FAILURE OF THE GREENLAND FISHERY.— The Hull Advertiser publishes a letter from Lerwick, an nouncing the arrival of the smack Pledge, which brings very discouraging news from the seal fishery. The coun try has been full of Bay ice during the whole season, in which most of the ships were beset, but are liberated again. Twenty sail, all empty, were beset in the ice from the 9th April to the 20th, in lat. 71 40 N. One Dutch ship has been lost in Johnny Main, nine of the crew saved. Strong easterly winds prevailed during the sea son. There was, however, a report of the Commerce hav ing caught 500 seals, and the Traveller 1000. . BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE,.—An action of breach of promise of marriage was tried in the Court of Common Pleas, on Tuesday. The plaintiff was a spin ster, trading as a milliner, in Camden-town, London, under the name of Mrs. Black, of about forty years of age, and the defendant a Mr. Carr, a clerk to the Eastern Counties Railway Company. His plea was fraud; that the lady had inveigled him by false pretences ; that she had a child living ; and that she had lived a long time as mistress to a nobleman, the son of a duke. The state ment was not denied, and it was further represented that the fair one had brought an action against the nobleman, and obtained £3OO as hush money on the day of trial. The jury benevolently gave damages to the extent of one farthing. On Monday afternoon, between three and four o'clock, a fire broke out upon the premises belonging to Messrs. Cook, Sons, and Co., warehousemen, &c., of St. Paul's Churchyard, London. The premises are of considerable magnitude. Owing to the timely assistance of the work men on the premises, however, the damage was confined to the destruction of 25 cotton dress pieces, some waistcoat pieces, and the demolition of 18 squares of glass. In making his return to the Insurance offices, Mr. Braidwood gives the following :—" Cause of Fire.—A linen curtain, which hung before the top floor back window, took fire at the open part of the window first. The window faces the south, and, being higher than the opposite buildings, is completely exposed to the sun." The firm is insured in eleven of the principal fire offices in London and the country. A SISTER'S AFFECTION.—By the Cornwall steamer, on Tuesday, a young man from Scilly, named William Mumford, proceeded to Bristol, and it was his intention to have immediately gone on to London by the train to which the accident happened at Shrivenham. On Sun day, intelligence reached Scilly of what had taken place, and a rumour was circulated there that young Mumford was amongst the wounded. His sister, about 19 years of age, exhibited the most intense mental suffering, and de termined upon crossing the water to Penzance, thence to proceed to the scene of the accident. There being no pilot boat in the harbour, an open boat, a six-oared gig, was engaged ; and in the night, did this young lady cross from Scilly to the Land's End. From Land's End she proceeded to Penzance, where she was informed that her brother had arrived safely in London.—Cornwall Gazette. THUNDER STORM.—On Sunday week, a fearful thunder storm raged at Bridgnorth, during which the lightning struck an empty house, and the electricity entered by the chimney, and after forcing away the skirting boards in the bed-room, entered that of the house adjoining, where it carried a bonnet and a bonnet box into another room, where they were burnt to cinder. It then de scended into the kitchen, and passing between the mother and a child, entered the clock case, and completely melted the works. It then ascended the roof, which was com posed of slates ; after traversing which it descended on the outside of the house and struck down three men who were sheltering under the porch, one of whom, named Bright, was severely burnt and otherwise injured, his one arm being sadly shattered, although the coat sleeve is not in the least injured. The two others are but slightly hurt, "Z;•?, itc.‘.;"r.LeNovß ll k CULLIU ,1-11 \Ulla auuVwuaw respecting the corn trade for the last few weeks that would scarcely have been expected by the public. The duty on the exportation of foreign wheat has been 7s. a quarter, and on other grains in proportion, and next weerc will be at Bs. In spite of this high rate, nearly all the corn and flour arriving from abroad has been entered for home con sumption, although the consignees or owners have the option of storing it until it could come out on the first of February free of duty, or until it was required for foreign consumption. The iniount thus received into consump tion in England has been more than one hundred thou sand quarters a week, whilst no more than five thousand quarters per week of the supply are placed in the ware houses of the several ports of arrival. These large im portations have taken place already, although the trade is not yet fully open from the north. RELIEF OF THE UNEMPLOYED. DECISION OF THE WEST-RIDING MAGISTRATES.—It is with great pleasure that we are enabled this week to state that the condition of the unemployed in these manufacturing districts has recently engaged the earnest attention and obtained the warm sympathies of the magistrates of the West Riding. At the Intermediate Sessions for the West Riding held at the Court House, Bradford, yesterday, the subject was discussed in the private room of the magistrates. The discussion was, of course, a private one, but it will be a sufficient token of its general- character for us to state, that the magistrates came to an unanimous determination to forward a memorial to her Majesty's ministers, urging the propriety of some very extended measure of relief, and also recommending that under the exigency of the occasion the Poor Law Guardians of each Union should be empowed to grant Out-door Relief to those whose partial employment is insufficient to provide them with the ordinary necessaries of life.—Halifax Guardian. The supposed perpetrators of the Swansea murder have been apprehended ; one of them, Thomas Martin, was apprehended under very remarkable circumstances. The police, while scouring the country, had their attention di rected to a wood by an extraordinary number of crows hovering round one of the trees, at the same time they were making an unusual noise. The officers imagined that probably some one was concealed in the tree, and on going to ascertain whether such was the case or not, they found the man concealed in a bush near the tree. From the state of his clothes it was quite apparent that he had been washing them, to remove the marks of blood. Patrick Leary, Michael Leary. William Norris, and John Norris, were all apprehended in the neighbourhood of Cambridge. Patrick Leary, on being identified by a man the police took along with them, said, " I suppose you want me ; lam willing to go. lam willing to suffer for what I have done." The prisoners, upon being searched at the police station, were found to have marks of blood upon their clothing. Mr. Adderley, M.P., the son-in-law of Lord Leigh, has addressed a letter to the editor of Aria's Birminghanz Gazette, relative to the alleged murder at Stoneleigh Ab bey, in which he states that Barnett and other witnesses examined at Warwick, will be prosecuted for perjury ; and it is now asserted at Kenilworth and the neighbour hood of Stoneleigh that Proud and others, said to have been murdered and buried in the foundations of the bridge which crosses the Avon, in the park, will be produced in propriis personis as witnesses for the prosecution. Proud is said to be living in London. The Birmingham Journal asserts that the end sought to be gained by bringing for ward this foul accusation has reference to the recovery of a stone, supposed to be built in the abutment of a bridge. It is asserted that some of the family monuments were re moved from Stoneleigh Church, and placed under the foundation of the bridge, and it is generally believed that the charge of murder was made to obtain permission (which, under any other circumstances, would not be granted) for the destruction of the fabric, and recovery of the monument, if such ever existed. The bridge alluded to, under which it is alleged the bodies were deposited, is over the Avon, and situated on the footway between Ken ilworth and Stoneleigh. It will be seen from a paragraph elsewhere that some important disclosures with reference to this case were made at our Police-court on Friday. CHINESE JUNK.—There is not, perhaps, a more inter esting exhibition in the vicinity of London than the Chi nese Junk, which is now in the Etst India Docks, having performed a voyage from China to this century with a Chinese crew, under the conduct of Captain Kellett. This voyage, which was by the western route, not a little aston ished the crew, who were merely accustomed to river navigation, and had no notion of losing sight of land. The junk, with all its equipments, warlike, ornamental, and religious, with its odd-looking Chinese crew, and with Captain Kellett himself, who is ready to explain the mi nutest details, is now open to public view. One step across the planks, and you are in the midst of a Chinese world—you have quitted the Thames for the vicinity of Canton. Brilliant colours shine upon the spectator from every side with all the formless gaiety which is peculiar to the Chinese Gaudy shields, as weapons of defence, hang along the deck— and jinjalls, a hybrid race between can non and arquebusses, threaten on each side. If you would take a more concentrated view of Chinese existence, the grand saloon is fitted up as a sort of museum, with all sorts of curiosities ; or you may turn into a neat little cha pel containing the idols which those serious Orientals who lounge about the deck are in the habit of worshiping. To those who are curious in naval architecture, the construc tion of the vessel, which is on a principle totally different from that of any European ship, will afford an inexhaus tible subject of interest. On the occasion of her Majesty's visit on Tuesday, China satin was spread in every part of the vessel to receive the foot of Royalty.—Times. PRINCE ALBERT AND THE PRINCE OF WALES CRICK— ETERS.—It is the intention of her Majesty and her Royal Consort to have the Prince of Wales initiated in the " arts and mysteries" of the healthful and manly pastime of cricket, and it may be presumed that in the course of the season " the sire and the son" will be frequently seen entering the field " bat in hand," from the fact of Mr. Robert Dark, the cricket bat, ball, &c. manufacturer, at Lord's Cricket Ground, having recently executed orders by " royal command." A very handsomely fitted up rosewood case, containing bats, balls, stumps, india rubber gloves, and other. " appurtenances ' for both Prince Albert and the young Prince, has been despatched to Buckingham Palace ; and in the case were also draw ings of the five positions at cricket. Arum' TO THE Sou..—" John Noakes" has sent us a pamphlet touching "The Right of the Aristocracy to the Soil," in which he comes to the comfortable conclusion that he has "really as much right to Woburn Abbey and Russell Square as Francis Russell, commonly called the Duke of Bedford." But why should John single out the Duke ? Before he can get a verdict for a rood of ground he must show his right to Snig's End as well as to Woburn Abbey—to Feargus O'Connor's farm as well as to Francis Russell's. It is not the right of " the aristocracy" only, hut of the commonality also, that he must put in issue. Bill Snooks and the Duke of Bedford hold their land by the same right ; and John Noakes only seeks to prejudice the populace in his favour, wheti he would make them believe that •` Russell Square" is more peculiarly in ques tion than the estate of the " National Land Company." We wonder to see the name of a respectable publisher to so rascally a pamphlet. — Gateshead Observer. DISTURBANCES IN LElCESTER. — Leicester was the scene of rather serious disturbances on Monday and Tues day. The board of guardians of the poor of the Leices ter union issued a notice on Saturday to the effect that on and after Monday, the 15th inst., the hours of labour in the workhouse for stone breakers, &c., would be increased by two hours and a half per day. The men refused to accede to these terms, and went through the town in a body to ask alms. At a late hour at night several hun dreds of men and a great number of women and children assembled opposite the relieving-office in Rutland-street, and became very riotous. They broke down a quantity of wooden palings, and demolished the windows of the office, and elsewhere. The Mayor, J. Biggs, Esq., read the Riot Act, and the borough police force, aided by about 150 pensioners, who were called out about midnight, and a number of special constables, went to disperse the mob, and a collision ensued. One policeman, Sergeant Smith, was very seriously injured. On the other side, many heads were broken, and a man named Shipman, a needle-maker was so much hurt that it was thought for several hours he could not recover. He was still suffering very severely from the injuries he received on Wednesday. One woman was wounded in the hack by a pensioner's bayonet. The disturbances continued with a more or less effect until Wednesday, when the town was restored to its customary state, CHARTIST INTERRUPTIONS.—The recently expressed determination of the Chartist body to interpose at all meetings held for the purpose of ameliorating the condi tion of the labouring classes, was carried into effect with some success on Monday, at the Queen's Concert-rooms, Hanover-square, London. The meeting to be held was that of the Church of England self-supporting Village Society. At the time of meeting about 150 Chartists bad assembled, when the Bishop of Norwich, Lord Robert Grosvenor, M.P., Lord Radstock, &c., and a large num ber of clergymen and gentlemen assembled, and were in formed by the hall-keeper that it would be prudent to postpone the meeting, as he had heard, upon good autho rity, that riotous conduct on the part of the Chartists was anticipated. The noblemen and gentlemen then retired to a private room, and after being there some minutes the leaders of the Chartists present demanded admission, fol lowed by about eighty other persons. One was deputed to ascertain whether they were to be admitted to the meeting, all being in possession of tickets procured in the manner prescribed by advertisement. The Rev. Mr. Brown said they did not intend to hold the meeting. The Bishop of Norwich then moved that the meeting should be postponed, and the suggestion of the right rev. prelate having been acceded to, several noblemen and gentlemen retired. The Chartists dropped off one by one; but it was understood that they were to hold a meeting in the evening for the purpose, to use their own phraseology, " of concerting measures for upsetting Prince Albert's meeting on Thursday." [At a subsequent period some of the leaders of the mob were brought up at the Marl borough-street Police-office, charged with attempting to force themselves into the meeting, and were required to give bail for their good behaviour for three months.] nitstritt The Manchester Guardians estimate the poor expendi ture of the current year at £120,000, which is equivalent to a rate of 55% in the pound. THE WHOLESALE RAILWAY ROBBERY.—At the Pres ton Sessions, last week, John Heterick was found guilty of the charge of stealing, whilst engaged a t th e P re st o n Railway Station, a great number of articles belonging to various persons. He was sentenced to seven year's trans portation. EMPLOYMENT IN MANCHESTER.—During the past week, one cotton-mill previously stopped has gone on full time, and another also stopped is working short time. Of the operatives employed in the cotton-mills, 296 formerly out of employment have gone, 185 of them on full, and the remainder upon short time. The returns, therefore, still continue to manifest a tendency to improvement. MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT.—On Sunday week, Mr. SkifintOrNfUltr 'NIB' them attfrlttr e i. d'art u nen he was carried away by the strong ebb, and before any help from the shore could be available, he sunk to rise nog more. His dead body was found next morning about 150 yards from the spot where he was drowned. Deceased was 22 years of age. On Tuesday great rejoicings took place at St. Helens, to celebrate the marriage of the eldest daughter of the late Peter Greenall, M.P., with Jas. Cresswell Pigot, Esq., Everton. The ringing of the bells of the two churches, and the display of numerous flags in various parts of the town, contributed greatly to enliven the aspect of the town. During the nuptial ceremony the church was crowded by hundreds of spectators. The retinue of the espoused com prised a large number of their relatives, including several of the influential families of the Greenalls of Wilderspool, and the Pinkletons of Windle-hall and Mill-brook. Se veral appropriate pieces were performed by Mr. Burrowes, upon the church organ, preceding and subsequent to the marriage service. The day was kept as a holiday by Messrs. Greenall's workmen, and they were liberally re galed by their employers. CATERPILLARS.—We were, surprised the other day to observe myriads of caterpillar-spun threads from the branches of most of the trees in Dunham-park, border ing it next the highroad to Knutsford, and each thread having numerous caterpillars ascending and descending it, with all the activity of which this tribe is capable. These caterpillars are small, of a dingy brown, with black heads; and we think they will prove to be of the same kind as those which completely destroyed the foliage of the oaks in Dunham-park last year, and which, as small pale green moths, perished by myriads, making the gravelled avenues green over with their bodies, when they had completed their little term of life and devastation. We understand that, in one or two instances, these caterpillars have this year got into the apple-trees, and have already ravaged the blossoms so much as to lead to the apprehension of a total failure of fruit wherever they have gained a settle ment. The rose-trees have been a good deal injured by caterpillars during the recent dry weather, and other trees and plants are also suffering from this cause.—Manches ter Guardian. ALLEGED EXTRAORDINARY CURE. FOR DROPSY.—The Manchester Guardian, of Wednesday, gives an account of a married female, living in Runcorn, who had taken an extraordinary large dose of foxglove, which is pretty gene rally known to be highly poisonous. The ultimate effects of this treatment upon the individual sufferer, who was labouring under an inveterate dropsy, which had defied all medical art, will no doubt be highly interesting to all, and particularly to the medical profession. The herbalist who administered the remedy was quite confident of a success ful issue. We have now to confirm her judgment, by re porting that a perfect cure of dropsy, in its worst form, has been effected by a large and poisonous dose of the fox glove. The lady, who resides in Church-street, Runcorn, is at this time quite convalescent, it being about a fort night since the first dose was administered. Under the direction of the herbalist, the husband of the lady pro cured one ounce of the green leaves of foxglove, which were dried, powdered, and taken for a dose ; some spirits were taken at the same time, in order to prevent, as the herbalist expressed it, the herb from injuring the stomach. A strong decoction of the fresh leaves was then used warm, as a fomentation to the feet and legs, which were much swollen, and in several places ulcerated ; this treatment was followed up, renewing the internal dose as the patient was able to bear it. A very violent action took place in the system, attended with vomiting, and continued for two or three days, in which time a greater part of the dropsical serum was expelled from the patient's body. Considerable pain at the heart was experienced during the first action of the medicine, but it afterwards subsided, and the lady soon found herself entirely free from her daigerous malady. The lady's husband, who has long appeared anxiously desirous for the recovery of his wife, has the gratification of seeing her perfectly restored, although, before taking the foxglove, she had been con fined to her bedroom for eighteen months, and was ex pected to live but a few days, as her appetite was so far gone that she could take little, if any, food. What the medical world will make of these facts is yet to be ascer tained, but the knowledge of a remedy so easily obtainable, and so specific in its effects upon dropsical diseases, is of the greatest importance. At the same time it appears necessary to caution any person from playing, ignorantly or lightly, with a medicine of such powerful qualities. it seems that the herbalist has long been accustomed to ad minister the foxglove, in doses of a similar strength, with the like beneficial results. FATAL ACCIDENT.—On Tuesday, as Thomas Hall was driving two horses and a cart on the Bootle-road, near the Rimrose-bridge, one of the horses became restive, knocked down Hall, and the wheel pf the cart passing over his body he was injured so severely that he died the same evening. Two MEN SUFFOCATED.—On Wednesday, inquests were held on the bodies of a policeman named Stewart, and another man named Carney, which had been found in an old rubbish vault near Victoria Dock on the previous day. It appeared that Stewart had been missed from his beat by the inspector and another officer on Monday even ing, and it was at last surmised that he might have fallen into the vault, the covering of which was open. Upon the officer descending he felt the body of a man, which, upon further investigation, proved to be that of Stewart. Life was quite extinct. n the course of ,the same even ing, the body of another man was found iii theiSiMe holp. The unfortunate men had been suffocated'hy tha.font an! though it is not quite clear how they got into the` vault. ri : z ,a ) 9 b d• (S7' in- en,t an lea )lic 10' jdf Clns