The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-04-11 00:00:00

On Saturday' Mr. Aldeti ir, and it APPera th the Birkenea; )orrovved,4s-'w;te ie first palreeng V. W. 131rIeftf!cc we in the wets!: of directors lot::.; ) unt of rem, ILO [ the apPel n ,`"tei. Tans , Shandy d e last named gu&g, and CheerToito ) he put, Ine.:101 eft out, be ea hick umstance )t resign u ps n' Ssed sivailirrO aid that, w i t tbl I be better d, soliciter,47i v anything,a,,bl,l Laird said w o o [erg thouglaos director; act ,ny shareb?; socs nee disho PY o pt, r .. t te no sue" f o! ;her, but be obi t Vas going iof y was the T e tp i jo N.l because...." tbos led, howenoo. ree o f he minute LA 4O I that .£40;7 [ CO the Birktiot FebruarY i e ppl ckson, 1. Mr. J. s ' of and then i d a ctor he he't tg o [d he prot es e tho i h he admitt j be o instance. 1 °, 1 4 t n s p u a 14 motion a of the o_ o o o receive thVe tho,wotbe , was car;" ' ;ought lun g lady 1 _ 1 ;;;# f or breach °' discoverilleo a corregpO l t4 of no Pr ° . 1 : 0 0 1 instead the- 0 . y return old gentleolol who is l it° e se' in which I'4, er, Wm. I? cer tain 01 0 , id also of °, O whilst he " . .dd tilw"" ;uildford y ac tion ei ; Clark, t°l4 1)1 orwo od, lie - o ffr intiff, it e 11 1,14 ty, Dan' or ving sone he o l o ition. ..f r oe w nd at Pl° 0 0 houses tb ab ijol house, , t astion. t got P° s ,, s `A 3 to the P . " i tile• s justly e_s,oi se, the igV e iit Jane filA t ice& va s also 0. - f t otti s epal', q tio o . bef Arw ood wi t 00 0 1 odged f°t.tail denied th:Fg the pla o .,;ber had kn () ; - 1 d than fillool# ge ° 0 01 ' ars were gene ing e of rife p oco not tak e % and ths tl ' of 6ft l; f b osr ee tl d not 1 0 , !cot nore tbss e iabo' Aft e r so t or . e , the PI T tb B ver diet ° O rg c a that electetko Dr' idleY, ' ote d: d 11110°' if n 11011 to o eag qie " for the art Es on th e n a v high, a- OW ins of libeAse repair 0 4 eeting 1165 t:1 lay, W i l e!, livered, 9 114 larkableuellf' r. Sarni. 'lt adall of tvvott s uffrag e 'tioOt _ li fi c s r qu— .uts• bo g throug er ullY Of" gen ... e e . he la n g;,',WhO ye that f the rer o er ed • d ea th of the g f olf .d ? , rit to its 1W al sailors _or 'arlike Pr e r 'e t lit s ; tio s of e 5 4 01,„ y be vn PaP e.. st gu ess 0 0' ,e a , the Ai l k e t preS ell 6 01 r therl V ISL S t i t arrived s t or tniflion .1,40 np u tea t"' " n oisy aSiO .l out of littra riew hat sYgt elii '•!„ i t ir forul -- " odv thiest valo, r and re h e r e— 0 ibe lgeatiuirl tD reduc e " 0% . . ss drive d aby ' 04/5 rade 31'1 0 ted the ;05' 1 11,1848. April 11, 1848. it iterature. VARIETIES. Mr • Jasper W. Rogers contends, in the Mark-lane - 771 1 , that charcoal is the best de-odorizer. 'liter me, the deluge," Metteich, in the pride of Vtoconceit, was wont to say Te rn ` deluge" has come `el re his departure, and swept him away. 111:1 REPUBLICAN TITLE.—One of the solicitors for place i f p' the Fren c h R epu b lic has addressed the Minister of 4 1 " your Republi can Hi g h ness ." r *hi."' WHITE PAINT.—It has been discovered that th e leld e oxide of antimony makes a better paint than white liti e;. 4l only half the price, and free from noxious qua ' 8 CERTAIN.—As the natural consequen ce o f 12 , Is b ut th.lltchelllittle advidoubsing t all he wi ll his hearers soon find to get hims el pik f ines," a „. r'XtY kettle of fish.—Puppet Show. of I;,AWKWARD TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR.—The Times of hand - loom weavers with the mayor of Manchester on '16,..1aY, states :—" It had been suggested that they .f lu 7 go round the city with a handcart, and ask arms b e [Q the shopkeepers personally," &c. The word should of 4 1 • und the sub st it ut i on o f r for 1 conveys t h e i dea 47 serious difference of object. tie a4 indebted t o t h e revolut i onary man i a for a good V 0 .t infor mation we should not o th erw i s e have obtain e d. '77,2 l stance, "A S oldier " instructs us in Tuesday ' s lti er 7" to the best modes of " street fighting." How im ,i_.,!ttid ro ckets, h e tells us, are the only useful weapons ralesecause they fly over defences (barricades for !) e - 7 1 2 .. ce), and into the midst of the mob. They should l tilted at th e corners of streets, protected by infantry i rs”, and supported by Lancers in the squares. * se sii)...te:r says that " the action of grape, canister, or trete is .ery uncertain, issuing from the cannon in a and ou yu l s circle becomes larger as the distance augments. t i red the outer circumference of it is fatal. Four hun dist_ Paces is the effective distance for canister. At close againstandance the grape or canister flies like a solid cannon ball ; rac)r rwith u i r n . trenchm en t s all the three are useless." Mitchell's instructions and he hints of thalt_!xperieneed strategists, we unwarlike folks stand a liopieTuf„tbec"9ing quite lear ned in the use of destructive need t o „-„7.• new rust, however, that there will be no ice our found knowledge to the test of prac .. vireo Ini therOn A " TRUE REPUBLICANS ?—I desire that the animatai.roembers of the French Republic should be t° und erstan druly republican sentiments. I wish them Zlnn• that public happiness constitutes private fk_°!ess and that every individual ought, therefore, to ar.our to live for the public good ; and to remember lus actions will only secure the favour and love of form°4lcoording to the motives from which they are per- We are republicans when we neither live, nor sit l 'ar undertake anything, nor choose a profe s sion or W e "013, nor se ttl e in life, except for the public good. e a d e , re republi cans , w he n from love to the public we en a,tour, by precept as well as by example, to stimulate ty,. - "" children to active beneficen c e' and seek to render e b„,_ 4 Useful to others, by t urn i ng th e i r a t tent i on to such ruts as are likely to i ncrease th e pu bli c prosper i ty. rwltre republicans, when we endeavour to imbue the k ul „,as of our children with the love of science, and with th;!knowledge as may be likely, in maturer life, to make IC_ %p useful in the st a tio ns th e y are ca ll e d to occupy • and 14 11 we teach th em t o " l ove t h e i r ne i g hb ours as them- Lastly ; we are repu bli cans , w h en we preserve p pe , e • c hildren from that self-interested spirit. which, at the eve r , s ti t day, seems to have gained more ascendancy than tor o p,,er a nation whose people have, notwithstanding, hr et V to regard each other, and to love each other as tli tu r eu, but the greater part of whom care only forw he n the Zves, and labour only for the public good . ?let h a l compelled to do so. Ah ! far from us be this .4 1le ra ,7 8 Pirit, as anti-republican as it is anti-Christian.— r l rr of Oberlin. 0. Xt of toe!. ...EANING OP SACRITICE.—If the sacr ifices _ th e ": Were rightly understood, it would simplify greatly Luneuetttrovteisrsy between ourselves and the Romanists n li lue sacrifice in the mass ; for nearly all their tuosecte _.,.reamuftayvoinur of a real sacrifice are drawn from a to l d a n the sacrifices under the law. But as but that there was no reality in the sense of proo '°*B of i h 114 all those sacrifices were but types and . sh s before the th at toll be offered by Christ Jesus, the sacrifice l a certi :414 1g of Christ afford no ground whatever for La treerites ti reality of the sacrifice offered in the mass. ,lave significance and end of all sacrifice . seems to :Ilde r - fts a joverlo.ok. ed by the Romanists, which is not to v'ee, ch.-" Propitious, as though He coil' ld be in any de ran. gel a u g e cl by anythin we selves-note yn offer or do. The .Yin t uiwrequired in ou in God ; and in the ,I ttl Pees': uch 111 4 We behold th e f a te which we have deserved, also the memori a l of the love of God in Christ rtteo ;,:prompted Him to send down His only be ao tind to lay on him the iniquity of us all. There W e : 41° 0 b lan etween man and the slain beast, except as ...". In it the type of Christ's sacrifice ; and as a 0 1 44 4 1 it represents no more than the loss of mere t We fear God not only on such an accoun after he bath killed, He hath power to cas t 1 41 ave 1 ,......`k0d in Christ Jesus we behold the Expression_ j'4"--..y ru l t flich stretches beyond time and endures through ilie Perad Y' Scarcely fora righteous man will one die, u 1,3 b ut riventure for a good man some will even dare to fide _ uod commendeth His love towards us in that, ere yet sinners, Christ died for us. We love hettlieumus,th first loved us, and yield ourselves in willing } .- --ch t list He may do with us what seemeth to Him %S u ; eh of England Quarterly Review. tet - ", eli r !? NEw COLONY.—We understand that an to be made to our national olare•rn ltit4he disgrace of possessing a colemal empir f e ond t Y one of those institutions, which we ar guced. NOss e Vur boast and glory at home, is re littp.Vtlierto not thought it necessary that P o r urcolo th a 7 l :6,; 4 _, have a nobility, a gentry, an established th a lls:a e owed colleges and schools ;—any, in short, of ly provisions for moral refinement which are ° lts 'llr . slling characteristics of the British portio n of tOd tol o „, Saxon race. The consequence naturally is, a . Aittle. t. s, British in name, are American in character , aeCt in after years, they shall have overspread tle tt 4 l- . and constituted nations, the only link to con h', e tb in with the parent state will be the memor of a 4ltsisp e l t e i llide and an uncongenial rule. The corr e ction e et toi °ll S system has long been a subject of anxious h fo r orthightfUi men, and we are happy to find that Lt-cohtiouSofdi e n a git ervt i b n iul a lr n adequate and practical manner Isg, 1r of the y s , ho th rt e ly be made public. The Bishop of London, and M oll cieri,Pc'st zealous members of our church, lay as to t ' and have given to it their sanction and appro '6"-491te-meurP.We are not in a position to g . o into details, o f %i e . o f its leading features may be interesting to The colony will be planted in New Zealand, ' 0044' large section will be devoted exclusively to its Itt e , 4 • Along with the colonists will be sent whatever 5 4, 17 for carrying out the whole of our ecclesiastical ,„ltio h anon, and ample provision will be made for edu- N,,.institutions in connexion w ith th e c h urch. Great Cent, also be taken in the selecti on o f em i grants, so as .LatoCent, as far as possible, the introduction of un -1,1m7Z& elements into the young community. It i s ttrsial e "at by these and similar means the colony may a la th. ‘ red attractive to a class of settlers wholly different 4 - 4 7„,c! which our emigrants are now composed, and r'cd e 'met may be exhibited which cannot fail to com srla hiltensive imitation, and to form the basis of a re a,tioe, at Whole colonial system. ales TRAYET. IN WALES.-The true way to enjoy Do n . and 4._ qua rt -- Kt understand the country, is to go and fix 6;Z tus, to-7 ;aid some quiet little country inn in a spot to eou7,,,Tag gas remain there for a fortnight —a month — i t ' asoU a / pr gusto endures ; walking up the whole ho od ' Until i t 1 ; until you know every crook and cranny Rho Itla h 'conies in fact your ancient neighbour to, You i „:•') ur rather innumerable are the spots 014 th n „ . "l so fix yourself, and where your enjoy ,;g4 simple, may be extreme. If you are a 4-1 1Ct e l ,of 'j o u :a d Clean beds,. sheets of driven snow, 'Pan to a dt, 9ere .,. milk, mountain mutton, and bread and sad n . If h e 9 04 ; and what the deuce does a man want ti t r aaos f I s Young and in good health and spirits,. t abt, th e aw are this,' let him put up his traps and 1 - (1 111,.." 1 haviinPOdeus.P.anOr, you are in the softer d pr l ed w i e ca re - N,. - s o yo u g with you what, when you and le t e ' r aeart,,: ll . k ow, used to be called„po . etiee " the girl of citp 41, 4 th e S', ll t what now in Polichinellic ' phraseology . te t e taity, Wife of your bussum"—why, even in this 4 e,t, „ tir e to f, o l , ll ,maY find room for two in any inn that you 'aett -t/t ion I sPou. The lady' must not be too fine in kid th at wil l ti l l y.p e w z", i ' s en tr a u b e le ; she must be of that breed and her to face the mountain breeze, ‘ / tL tile st e h li Piati l d i l a la stY foot—as friend Gray says—the dews lith -at ural ; to meet the sun or the moon, or any tr e rlernenon that is to be encountered on ;ad Zulit a . In snort, she must be the sort of girl that .4 0 , 1„ m0t ea .0u,..h e POTly , or scramble over a stone wall, los e s r. , bet - top her bonnet ' or her locks in a pelting hibl.litti„a:llst be content to follow her liege lord, and %s a lt b reo o lo ve his pursuits too, whether by the •• 40 " , ' th et vir '.or on the misty height. Be sure of it, my ttloaj l a,itiu such a companion as this, Welsh scenery i;ra dt e 4"-ay,--enrY—nay, any scenery, will have for you euj e „ _a tenfold charm. Men enjoy mountian . s : e k et , i _watevic s. There is no saying why it ; koj ar tl l' the Positive. Perhaps it may be that men can 'eti aL tileu l - " a fged steep with eater ease, and therefore Ps It • el ' v es the more when they reach the top. 18 . Nlth th a lo a t there is something grand, and bold, lisa' 1.1 and t -angerous, in the very nature of a moun .op,„. e ah , masculine mind is alone capable of fully Vac!, a "' , li ght an waterfalls, there is all the beauty of eat We 44 Co o t, and graceful motion, and harmonious e r f es, an It h r . l , l g freshness, an d ever - c h ang i ng variety, L. in k an es a Ys loves ; an d th ere are overs h a d owing nl: s ct c ape from the noontide sun, and the hum ttiep... tl e oats rfall 3'l. and 'floss-grown stones, and soft grassy - 67 Ilene s and their adjuncts have a kind of ph, th e re about them that acts with all-persuasive ~.ae,bup th e female mind : hearts like stones are worn awts4l? you th-. 0 - N4c ta i l a c an i oa nt hd the swain has .s often been in e granting of p rayer. Well; * s t a i :ll re h the first whether single b, any 1 0 „'1 .andi ad _ thing to do is to make a b_argain * l _4 0 ,, erel l , y , (Welsh inns are always kept by wo -044 at SO "cc may be " boarded and lodged and L 'ery h e t' tit. 'Quell a day, or a week, or a month, or la est - "e it vn ~' of 01 , aY please you to stay. This is the Pre4._ You i t ,. Plans for " taking your pleasure in your ly e '`z d aru n then the exact cost of your stay—the 'srlicleif4l-7,7::..1zne to your pocket ; you dine comforta lett 4ets 11 the midst of Yon are swallowing a five-shilling of each chop, and you can witness the kaT i att svi ad t . i .r sojourn arrive without dread of that un kill ° he(' In g uP—the bill. You may g et boarded gtE l axus v c°tc fortably • l . • ti:pret,:zoafp of f • , nay uxurious y, as far as tnoun ound a-week: you may take your lot lt , e 'lie house for this • and 'our landlady . -vill attain , .° l3 let no F d e a ,:sa m s v a e g y i; rho hono u r nea t year when y . ou kum tr i .s. i . t a i sitvo , t a h t:r a i i ree l . iv th in tt g t tri -w se al gr i ce s ecxotrma.- THE CANT OF " PROGRESS." (From " Hogg's Weekly Instructor.") It is an amusing as well as melancholy matter of obser vation to note the facility with which, in past or present times, a few clever charlatans have succeeded in gulling and deluding the public mind, by ministering to popular vanity and flattering popular foibles. In John Bull's cha racter the love of praise is a prominent feature, and the only one which can be worked to advantage. Let any honest man try to point out his errors, or to benefit him by showing where his weakness and ignorance lie, and immediately the popular tongue will wag against him, and wag loudly and long, till it has silenced him • but let him come with any hoeu s po c us creed, half - mystic, but eminently adapted to minis er to the infallible wisdom of " the people" and the vanity of the vulgar, and be that creed whatever it may, the panderer will find followers, and his pockets be filled. Few people do think for them selves in the honest occupation of the term ; they receive the thoughts of others into their own minds, without in vestigating them, and, provided they do not contradict prejudices or prepossessions long cherished, cling honestly by them ; and, so long as this is the case, it is no matter of objection that they do not understand what those who pro fess to guide them may utter. Nay, it seems to us they prize the incomprehensible all the more because it is so. Any literary quack who chooses at a little labour to ac quire a verbose, unintelligible style, only distinct enough to show that he feeds popular passions, the " discerning public" will hunt out and uphold as a man of genius. Nor does it seem to matter much that they like their friend the less, although his motives be quite apparent. The parasite may show he is such, yet the oak cherishes him all the more. If he has only ability enough to main tain the hue and cry, when once raised, his success may be considered certain. Of course our observations must be I understood with some limitation. There are certain ea-I ploded doctrines that those " earnest souls" now enlight ening the reading public may show up, and successfully. The disadvantages of dirty dwellings and advantages of fresh air—the necessity of education—the right of private judgment—the ignorance of superstition, and kindred to pics, may all be handled with advantage by those whose mission it is to hasten the dawn of the "good time coming;" and as the people are now so far advanced as to recognise such truths and errors, the philantrophy of their advocates will be duly rewarded. These, intermitted with a little superficial dabbling in the sciences, form nearly the limit of what the public, already having learned, will allow the propriety of being taught, and beyond these few of the one ness-of-purpose men attempt to instruct them in. ro cry out " you are dirty still ;" " you are ignorant still ;" " you are socially, morally, and politically retrograding still :" " you are feeding on intellectual poison ;" " you are de ceiving yourselves"—these oracles, whether they know it or do not, would never for a moment dream of. Their craft would be in danger. But instead of dealing thus honestly, they administer the subtle flattery, " ye shall be as gods, and not men." The deluded mass is told it is on the advance to a better condition—helping itself on—in formed that in every point of view it is reaching the acme of perfection—taught that it is only to struggle and strive a little longer, as it is now doing, and the " good time" will arrive—that the long dark night of old ignorance and error under which it has groped, it has now already dis pelled, and a glorious light is dawning. Such is the bur den of the song, the essence of the philosophy, the trea sured truth the mass believe, with much more which nei ther we nor they can understand, all comprehended under the term " Progress." Now, so long as this word is employed in reference to literature, or arts and science, w e d on 't o bj ect muc h . But of the way in which it is generally used, and of those who do so, we are strongly suspicious. There is a cheap literature, some of it of older standing, but most of it re cently sprung up, more or less advocating it. There are journals of progress, records of progress, oracles of pro gress, and magazines of progress—progress newspapers and progress pamphlets. No penny periodical seems to consider itself safe without registering this title. All of these are more or less rabid on the subject, and the wilder they are the greater chance of success. It is not good cheap literature the majority of the public want : they have no desire for that. In proof of this, there was " Hunt's London Journal," and Charles Knight with his second series of the " Penny Magazine ;" both refused to pander to a depraved taste, and both were shamefully ne glected. But the dozens of cheap sheets just now issuing from the London press need only to adopt a few cant phrases—mystify the lower orders a little—praise them largely—give them plenty of filthy poison to drink in, and their success is certain. Does any one question the truth of these assertions, let him gather from a cheap periodical shop an armful of such stuff at random, take them home and read them, and if he be a man possessed of one spark of genuine honest principle, he will rise saddened from their perusal. He will find these journals of three classes : the lowest ministering indirectly to every vile passion, exhibiting vice tricked out in all the draggled finery that can captivate a youthful imagination, and serve to deaden principle and religion in the heart ; the next class avowedly hostile to Christianity ; and the last, but not the least dan gerous, making the melancholy recommendatory boast, that it has carefully avoided every allusion to religion. The real teaching of the first is, " Whatsoever seemeth good unto you ;" of the last two " Self-sufficiency." We do not speak of the talent with which some of these journals are conducted ; many of them have a fair share of it, and de light in displaying some crack names in the list of their contributors •, but these all advocate progress, and mainly advocate it. Now it is easily enough observable that, from whatever source this cock-and-bull story proceeds, the obvious aim and tendency of one and all is the same—the exaltation of human nature, and its independence of divine aid or authority. Should any of these parties stumble at the last conclusion, and enter a protest against it, we refer them for proof to their own writings, and ask whether they do not teach human advancement as wholly depend ent upon human sufficiency. That cannot be denied, else the existence of the sheets and printing is fabulous. And what else is infidelity—the meanest and most contemptible species of it too—infinitely far behind the doctrines of heathen sages or philosophers ? Like every other species of imposition, this favourite cry will have its day. So long as it pays the promoters well enough, they will keep it up. When the profits cease, the prophesying will cease too. Meanwhile, it an swers admirably the end for which it was got up. It is accommodating enough to clothe any subject and suit any writer—and, like charity, it covers a multitude of sins. " I SAID TO MYSELF."—The prosecutrix in a criminal case at the Suffolk Assizes, resorted to this familiar exple tive so frequently as to create some annoyance to counsel, and merriment in Court. " Mrs. Taylor," said the Learned Chief Baron, " you must not tell us what you said to yourself, unless the prisoner was by." We find many instances of the shrewd sense which al ways lay hid under our popular grossness—the real cause of all our greatness. It never exhibits itself more keenly than in the detection of cant. Counsellor Wallace once said to a countryman in a smock-frock who was undergo ing his examination in the witness-box, " You in the smock-frock, how much are you paid for lying ?" " Less than you are, unfortunately, or you would be in a smock frock too." THE FRENCH EXPERIMENT AND THE DUTY OF EUROPE. —As the experiment now making in France is new, and in the highest degree important, so it is to the last degree to be wished that it may go on undisturbed. The other powers of Europe cannot be too much on their guard against it ; but no armed intervention should be attempt ed, if France retains the pacific attitude she has hitherto held in regard to other states. The republicans of that country have never ceased to declare that the first Revo lution terminated in internal bloodshed, military despot ism, and foreign subjugation, because it was not let alone —because the Girondists plunged it into war, in order to provide a vent for the ardent passions and vehement aspi rations of the unemployed multitudes in that country. Lamartine admits, in his celebrated circular, that in 1792 " war was a necessity to France." He disclaiths, as every man of the least knowledge on the subject must do, the idea that it was provoked by the European powers, who, it is historically known, were drawn into it when wholly unprepared, and as unwillingly as a conscientious father of a family is forced into a duel. Lamartine says the same necessity no longer exists—that the world has become pacific, and that internal regeneration, not foreign conquest, is the end of this revolution. We hope it is so. We are sure it is ardently desired in this country that pacific relations should not be disturbed with the great republic, provided she keeps within her own territory, and does not seek to assuage her thirst at foreign foun tains. By all means let the long-wished-for experiment be made. Let it be seen how society can get on without the direction of property and knowledge. Let it be seen into what sort of state the doctrines of the Socialists and St. Simonians, the dictates of the trades-unions, the cla mour of the working masses, will speedily reduce society. Theirs be the glory and the honour if the experiment succeeds—theirs the disgrace and the obloquy if it fails. Let all other nations stand aloof, and witness the great experiment—" a clear stage and no favour" be the uni versal maxim. But let every other people abstain from imitating the example, till it is seen how the experiment has succeeded in the great parent republic. It will be time enough to follow its footsteps when experience has proved it is conducive to human happiness and social stability. But while, as ardently as any Socialist in ex istence, we deprecate the commencement of hostilities by any European power, and earnestly desire to see the great social experiment now making in France brought to a pacific issue, in order that its practicability and expedi ence may for ever be determined among men, yet it is evident that things may take a different issue in that country. It is possible—though God forbid we should sty it is probable—that the great republic may, from in ternal suffering, be driven to foreign aggression. This, on Lamartine's own admission, has happened once : it may happen twice. France has four hundred thousand regular troops under arms ; and every man capable of bearing a musket is to be forthwith enrolled in the Na tional Guard. Twenty-five thousand of that body have already been taken into regular and permanent pay, at thirty sous. er about fifteenpence, a-day, and sent to the frontier. It is impossible to say how soon this immense and excited mass, with arms in their hands and little food in their stomachs, may drive the government, as in 1792 they did that of the Girondists, on Lamartine's admission, into foreign warfare. It behoves Europe to be on its guard. Fortunately the course which its governments should pursue in such an event lies clear and open. They have only to resume the Treaty of Chaumont, concluded in 1813, to curb the ambition of the great military repub lic of which Napoleon was the head. Let that treaty be secretly but immediately renewed as a purely defensive league. Let no one think of attacking France; but the moment that France invades any other power, let the four great powers forthwith bring a hundred and fifty thousand each into the field. Let not the wretched mistake be again committed, of the others looking tamely on when one is assailed—" et dum singuli pugnant, universi Yin cuatur." The moment the French cross the Rhine or the Alps, the states of Europe must &Laud side by side as they did at Leipsic and Waterloo, if they would avoid another long period of oppression by the conquering re publicans. —Blacktned s t Magazjne. VALUE OF AFRICA AS A PRODUCING COUNTRY (From the Colonial Magazine.) The gentle man is still alive, or was three years ago, who imported the first bale of American cotton into Liverpool. Now, England receives annually from that country a quantity of no less value than £15,000,000. Of the capa bility of Africa to produce cotton, no traveller, who has noted that continent, fails to remark the excellence and abundance which is produced of this useful material. Mr. Dalrymple, who was at Goree in 1776, states " that th ere ..... are three different kinds of cotton ; that samples sent home were considered by English merchants to be far superior to that from the West Indies. It grows spontaneously almost everywhere, though it is sometimes cultivated." Before him writes Weaver, who says, " of the vegetables that are wild, the sugar-cane, cotton shrub, and indigo, seem the most valuable. No country in the world is more amply enriched than this is with the chief productions of the animal and vegetable kingdoms." Colonel Denham also states " that cotton grows wild about Sierra Leone, of three kinds, white, brown, and pink : the first is excel lent." In another part of his travels he observes, " found it wild on the Tschadda." Park and Clapperton both bear ample testimony of the superior character of the pro ductions of the African looms in the interior. Lander says, " from Badagry to Saccatoo the cotton-plant, indigo, &c., are cultivated to a great extent." The Rev. John Pinney, an American missionary, remarks, " the crops of coffee, pepper, and cotton, exceed all that could be boasted of in the United States." The trade in palm oil, raw cotton, shea butter, rice, and bees'-wax, according to Laird, could be indefinitely increased. But proofs innu merable could be advanced if more was required. Not only these but the testimony of every traveller into the interior of Africa could be quoted to the same effect, the majority also affirming the vastly superior character of produce over the cotton obtained from any other part of the world. Again, coffee, the greater amount of which we receive from Arabia and Brazil can be obtained of a much better kind, and far more readily from Africa. Here is its native country, where forests of it grow wild, affording subsis tence to numberless monkeys. It is a fact that all the coffee brought into England from Arabia comes originally from the interior of the opposite continent. Hundreds of tons are annually exported from the fair of Berberah to Mocha and other Arabian ports. In this manner second hand from its actual cultivators, and by a circuitous route round the Cape of Good Hope. it finds its way into the European markets, and even then competes with the pro duce of countries more favourably situated. It is reported in the proceedings of the African Institute that when Ki zell, a Nova Scotian, first observed coffee near the Sher bro. he pulled up two or three plants, and showed them to the people, who said that they thought it was good for nothing but to fence their plantations. It grew all over the country, and in some places nothing else was to be seen. Sir Fowell Buxton has recorded that even in its wild state it seems to repay the trouble of gathering, for the Commissioners at Sierra Leone, in their annual reports for 1838, state " that the Foulahs have been induced by the poor traders of the River Nunez to bring down for sale to them a quantity of coffee, the produce of the fo rests of their own country." We are told also by Ash mun, in his life, that in Liberia no crop is surer, for that African coffee frequently produces four pounds to the tree, and that the berries attain a size unknown elsewhere. The low countries to the south of Abyssinia, we also know, yield an inexhaustible supply, for whole caravans of this useful berry are continually being forwarded through the Adal country to the coast opposite Aden, whilst vast quantities reach Zanzibar from the interior in the same direction, and is exported to India. Indigo is another indigenous product of Africa ; it grows abundantly on the banks of all the intertropical rivers. Of late years it has been made a profitable source of re venue to the sagacious Pacha of Egypt, who, in the coun tries around the upper course of the Nile, has encouraged culture and manufacture of this_important dye. - Africa was the source from whence the rest of the world derived their knowledge of, and the first supply of, indigo. At least, its general name in the East is nil ; and whether the river of Egypt has given its name to the plant, or the important produce of its banks has conferred an honour able and permanent title to the river, the inference is na , tural that, in the country surrounding its course, indigo was first employed as a dye, and that from thence it tra velled, with many other useful facts of ancient Egyptian civilisation, about the period when the nations of Europe and Asia appear to have been emerging from the darkest ignorance of barbarism. Ah ! indeed, well may we ob serve, how little is deemed to be owing to Africa by the rest of the world that has so benefited by the moral revo lution which determined the transition, from society as it was in the times of the pyramids and rock temples of Egypt, to that which it is at present. One remark more as regards the abundance of indigo to be obtained from Africa. It is the weed of that continent. All over its tropical portions it grows so freely that it is difficult to eradicate it. In 1828 Mr. Smart, writing to Sir G. Murray, says—" Immense quantities of indigo and other noxious weeds spring up in the streets of Freetown." Captain Denham also observes, that " inland, as far as Lake Tchad, the natives give a beautiful dye to the clothes with a rude preparation of the wild plant." IRISH IMMUNITY AND IRISH WRONGS. (From the Times.) There is no animal under the sun, nothing that runs, flies, swims, burrows or creeps, or crawls, so free as the Irishman. He can sit on his dunghill, and publicly curse his King and his country. He may openly employ him self in casting bullets, in hitting penny-pieces at fifty paces, In pike practice, in sword practice, ix. a. e ,,—., tice, in reaping-hook practice, besides those rougher arts of destruction in which he is already practised to perfec tion. He may announce that the Queen's troops are the objects of these pious exercises. Yet he cannot be interfered with. Such is the law. Should the day ever arrive that a hundred thousand barrels are levelled from the windows and roofs of the Irish metropolis against the troops and the loyal inhabitants in general, the law may then be appealed to. In that crisis, we presume, it will no longer be indecisive. If there is time to lay a case before Her Majesty's Attorney-General, and the Viceroy is alive to lay it, and should the troops be also in existence, we shall then, , eloubtless, have a most excellent legal opinion, which will henceforth take its place in our books of law, setting forth that if the troops still survived, it was not punishable in them to fire in return. Whatever is permitted to man an Irishman can do if he chooses. Unfortunately, nature is not equally accommo dating, and hence all this rebellion. An Irishman cannot cower over a turf fire or bask in the sun from one August to another and then find a splended crop of wheat or potatoes on his land self-sown, self-furrowed, and self cleared. He cannot find his barrel of meal always full however freely he may have drawn from it. His coat wears on his back and his shoes on his feet, especially when he never puts a needle to either. His hut does not thatch or glaze itself. lie cannot keep his hands in his pockets from Monday morning to Saturday night, and then find seven shillings regularly there at the end of the period. He cannot shoot ten gentlemen's stewards in succession and the gentleman himself last of all, and yet find a free influx of English capital and skill to fill up the gap. He cannot meet with the most brutal ingratitude the assistance he has begged in the most abject whines and then find loans and grants as plentiful as ever. lie cannot indulge in the indolence, the uncleanliness, and the ferocity of the lower animals and yet find hmself at taining the dignity of a man. These are impossibilities. They are found to be impossibilities by many persons in England, in Scotland, and still more in certain other countries. They are also impossibilities in Ireland. They are so by the irrevisible laws of Nature and of Pro vidence. Yet they are at the bottom of the Irishman's grievance. The union he wants to repeal is the universal union between natural cause and effect, between industry and reward, between cleanliness and comfort, between obedience and peace, between good social habits and na tional prosperity. There is a saying of foreigners that the English appear to think the Messiah came and suffered for them alone. The Irish appear to imagine they have an exclusive right to the blessings of Providence. We say this on the fullest consideration. As we have frequently ob served, every Irishman has just the same chances in his favour as every Englishman. He has the same laws and the same opportunities. Ninety-nine out of every hundred in habitants of this island find it a very wretched, beggarly, unkind, uncomfortable place unless they work very hard, are up early and late, practise all kinds of shifts, deny their appetites and tastes, cut jovial society, submit with patience to irksome control, extinguish their tempers, discipline their tongues, abstain from offence, practise mutual for boaranoo and accommodation. and, m fact, live lives of voluntary and honourable servitude. By the practice of these homely habits we just contrive to patch up a tolera ble show of decency and comfort. The Irishman sees and envies ; wants to grasp the result, but will not con descend to the means. EPSOM SPRING MEETING, FRIDAY The GREAT METROPOLITAN STAKES of 25 sous. each, were won by Lord Eglinton's Glen Saddel, beating Mr. Meiklam's Inheritress, and Mr. Shelley's Remembrancer. The following also started, but were not placed :—Jeri cho, Lady Wilclair; Rat-trap, Blackbird, Walmgate Bar Without, Tufthunter, Gannet, Marietta, Tit-bit, Antago nist, Pottinger, Moscow, Maid of Lyme, Marquis of Con yngham, Snuffbox, Tortoise, Cracow, Blackball, Baccha nalian, Headley, and Senga. Betting : 7to 2 agst Jeri cho, 10 to 1 agst Lady Wildair, 10 to 1 agst Cracow, 10 to 1 agst Glen Saddel, 12 to 1 agst Rat-trap, 12 to 1 agst Remembrancer, 12 to 1 agst Maid of Lyme, 20 to 1 agst Marietta, 20 to 1 agst Moscow. A most excellent start was effected, Blackbird leading, attended by Maid of Lyme, Marietta, and Marquis of Conyngham, Rat-trap, and Glen Saddel also lying well up. In the rear were the heavy weights, Cracow and Headley. On turning out of the course the lead was taken by Maid of Lyme and Marietta, who went on in company, followed by Glen Saddel and Rat-trap to the top of the hill, when Marietta took up the running, which she carried on to the road ; Glen Saddel here obtained the lead, waited on by Rat trap, Marquis of Conyngham, and Remembrancer to the distance, where Inheritress and Jericho drew towards the leading horses. Halfway up the distance Inheritress took the second place, Jericho and Remembrancer also lying well up. A beautiful race ensued with this lot, Glen Saddel winning by a head, the old mare second, beating Rembrancer by a neck, and the latter beating Jerieho by a head ; Marquis of Conyngham was a bad fifth. Run in 4m. 20s. The TWO-YEAR-OLDS STAKES of 10 sous. each : colts, Bst. 61b.; fillies, Bst. 31b. ; half-mile ; 18 subs, were won by Mr. Dyson's Christiana, beating Mr. Payne's Far thingale. The following were not placed : Epirus, British Consul, Docility f. by Caesar out of Emily, Cheer ful, Syrup, Cashier. Betting : 6to 4 agst Farthingale, 6to 4 asst Cashier, and 6to 1 agst Emily. Farthingale and Christiana got away together, and made the whole of the running, Christiana winning by a short head ; Doci a bad third, and Lord Low:date's colt fourth. Run in 500. TAE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. THE QUARTER'S REVENUE The Income and Charge of the Consolidated Fund in the Quarters ended the sth of April, 1817 and 1848. Qrs. ended sth April, 1847. 1848. Customs Excise. Stamps Taxes Property Tax Post Office Crown Lands Miscellaneous China Money lasprest and other Moneys Repayments of Advances X £ 4,447,673, 4,392,650 1,666,478 2,016,546 1,817,282: 1,618,668 130.892: 143,902 2,033,072 2,041,640 219,000! 221,000 37,000 1 21,000 92,593 1 56,307 455,021 53,859 24,452 164,568 1 74,138 10,661,417 To Cash brought to this Account, being the first instalment of the , Loan of £B-,000,000 11,065,324 960,0001 11,621,417i11,065,324 CRARGI. Qrs. ended sth April, 1847. I 1848. _ 1 _ Permanent Debt 5,594,667 Terminable Annuities... Interest on Exchequer Bills issued to meet the Charge on the Con solidated Fund ........ Sinking Fund Civil List Other Charges on Consolidated Fund For Advances 711,577 98,255 337,846 2,940,000' 5,578,137 1,270,981 98,492 330,399 149,059 Total Charge Surplus.. 111,621,417 11,065,324 Surplus Income on sth Jan., 18481 Surplus of the Consolid a t e d Fund.' - 882,548 - 3,638,286 The Amount issued in the Quarter ended April sth, 1848, in part of the Sums granted by Parlia ment out of the Consolidated Fund for Supply Services Exchequer Bill to meet the Charge on the Consolidated Fund at April 5, 1848 4,520,834 5,956,232 1,435,398 The quarterly return of the revenue presents little mat ter for remark, but is on the whole of a cheerful character. The public are already prepared for the unfavourable re sult of the comparison between the last and the previous year ; the fact of a decrease on the ordinary revenue to the amount of near two millions having figured promi nently in the debates of the session. Resigning the year just ended, therefore, to those who will probably take this opportunity of thrice killing the slain, we will proceed at once to the comparison of the quarter just ended with the corresponding quarter last year. There has been a slight decrease to the amount of 55,0231. in Customs. The state of the Continent, and the consequent stagnation of trade at home, are quite sufficient to have accounted for a much more considerable falling off. In the Excise there has been an increase to the amount of 349,7361., partly owing to the prejudicial effect of the high prices of corn on the consumption of fermented and spirituous liquors in the first three months of last year ; and partly, also, it appears to an alteration in the form of the accounts, a portion of the Stamps being collected by the officers of the Excise. Hence a decrease of 198,6141. under the proper head of the Stamps. There has been a slight increase on the assessed taxes of the quarter. The other differences are but trifling. Upon the ordinary revenues there is thus an increase on the quarter of about 70,0001. An instalment of China money, detained last year at the Cape for the expenses of the Caffre war, has been lately released by a Parliamentary grant for that specific purpose, and enters the account, imparting an illusory appearance of prosperity to the quarter. We have, however, only to congratulate ourselves that things are not worse than they might have been. It is something that the present year begins rather better than the last. Otneral Lard Brougham arrived in London on Sunday. The soldier in the Isle of Man, for shooting his corn rade, has been sentenced to transportation for life. The Royal West Indian Steam Packet Company has declared a dividend of nine per cent. The Town-council of Hull have resolved to raise £12,000 for the erection of baths and wash-houses. Sir H. Hardinge was entertained, by the Directors of the East India Company, at a splendid banquet in the London Tavern, on Wednesday evening. Captain Thompson, master of the 'brig Medora, has been sentenced to 14 years' transportation, for the gold dust robbery. The bill charging the Earl of Kingston, a peer of the realm, with indecently assaulting George Cull, has been ignored by the grand jury. it is confidently asserted that the metropolis and the hirirA x.rovineiat towns are at present swarming w ith French Revolutionaryrropagamnst.: It is confidently slid that Dr. Candlish is to be de prived of the leadership of the Free Church at the next General Assembly. A cargo of ice has arrived in London from Leer, in Hanover, whence no importations of the kind had ever before been made. ___.... At Gloucester assizes, William Smith, 20, was con victed of firing at an old woman, named Anne Farley, with intent to murder her, and sentenced to be trans ported for twenty years. HINT TO BAKERS.—Mr. Joseph Bent, of Rothley, has been convicted in the mitigated penalty of 505., in cluding costs, for not carrying scales and weights with him while carrying out bread for delivery. At the Warwick Assizes, last week, Matthew Davies, a drunken tradesman at Birmingham, was found guilty of the wilful murder of his wife, by tutting her throat with a table-knife, on the 13th of October last. He was sen tenced to death without hope of mitigation. John Collins, a professional beggar, died at Blandford last week, in utter destitution,—as was supposed. On searching him, however, it was found that he had money about him, and also securities for no less an amount than £356 sterling. The Morning Chronicle of Tuesday states, that there is no truth in the report that Gentlemen-at-Arms, alias the Gentlemen Pensioners, are henceforth to be called the Queen's Royal Body Guard, or that all persons in any way connected with trade or commerce are to be excluded from the corps. The Duke of Northumberland, who has this week been at Alnwick Castle, has directed an additional number of allotments of land to be laid out in different parts adjoin ing the town of Alnwick. Larger allotments, of four acres each, have also been laid out for grazing purposes, for the accommodation of the inhabitants. Charles Mansfield, a boy, aged sixteen, was convicted at Taunton, on Thursday, of murder, in having shot John Wall, at Blackwell. He was sentenced to be hanged. His two brothers, aged respectively thirteen and fourteen, were indicted with him, but the grand jury ignored the bills against them. The present state of affairs throughout the kingdom has induced the government to take possession of the electric telegraph, and orders have been issued that no private messages are to be transmitted on any pretence, or any subject, or in any direction. The company will be allowed to send the markets , but no other intelligence. THE DUNDRY MURDER.—At 1 aunton assizes, on Saturday, Benjamin Hazell, aged 18, and James Hazell, were indicted for the murder of their uncle, Washington Hazell, at Dundry, near Bristol, on the 17th January last. The deceased was found in a well, and suspicion attached to the prisoners. They were found not guilty. LEGAL FRIPPERY. —ln the City of London Small Debts Court, no little surprise was evinced at some of the attorneys entering the court in black gowns, which, it is said. they are entitled to wear. One also wore the white bands similar to a barrister. The high bailiff also wore a gown for the first thne. No order, however, had been given for that purpose. DEATH OF SIR THOMAS BARING, BART'. —This baronet, whose name for years has been so well known in commercial circles, expired on the 3d instant, at his seat in Stratton -park, Winchester, after a lengthened and severe illness. He was born in 1772, being the elder brother of Lord Ashburton, and married in 1794, the eldest daughter of Chrrles Sealy, Esq., a barrister in practice at Calcutta. ISLE OF MAN COMMERCIAL BANK.—The loss on the paid up capital is not likely to exceed 10s. per share. It is proposed to resume the business, on the promise of an immediate loan from the City of Glasgow Bank, with the ultimate intention of an union with that bank. The late manager has resigned, and Mr. J. S. Jackson, formerly general manager of the Manchester and Liverpool Dis trict Bank has been appointed in his place. _ MANSLAUGHTER BY SOLDIERS.—Three soldiers, named Thomas Smith, Christopher Armstrong, and Wm. George Holmes, have been committed to Hereford gaol, charged with the manslaughter of Maurice Bridgman, a broken sergeant, who was going with them from Weedon bar racks to Monmouth, as witness in a case at the assizes. The men, it appears, quarrelled on the way, and Bridg man was found dying on the road, and bleeding most profusely from a sword stab in the side. SIGNS OF THE TlMES. — During last week the com missioners in bankruptcy have disposed, in London alone, of no less than 116 cases. Ot these 21 were brewers, hotel keepers, or licensed -fictuallers ; 20 warehousemen, drapers, or tailors ; 11 cheesemongers and grocers, 10 builders, two scriveners, two underwriters, a newspaper proprietor and a newspaper editor, and lastly two under takers. The remaining 46. were composed of chemists, straw plait dealers, hatters, tanners, butchers, coal mer chants, &c. AIACREADY'S RETIREMENT FROM THE STAGE. — It has been erroneously reported that this eminent tragedian is on the point of quitting the stage immediately, and that his present engagement in London is the last. In this report there is not, we believe, even an approximation to the truth. He will act again in London during the present season, before he sail& for the United States. Indeed, there is every reason to believe that he will not leave the country till September. In America he will remain but for a few months, and his visit there will be a farewell to his numerous transatlantic admirers. When he returns to England, it is his intention, after a few pro vincial engagements, to close his prafessional career by acting a roloid of izharactcrs in Loam', FURTHER DECLINE IN THE PRICE OF BARK.—At the annual sale of bark, cordwood, and timber, held at the Speech house, Forest of Dean, on Wednesday last, the attendance was the smallest that has been remembered for many years. About 1040 tons of bark were offered, 980 of which found buyers at prices averaging fully 20s. per ton below those of last year; the whole of the cord wood, and nearly all the timber, was bought in at low prices. FATAL TERMINATION OF A FIGHT.—OR the evening of Wednesday, a fight took place at Murton Colliery, Durham, between two pitmen named William Graham and William Gilroy. From the effects of the severe punishment which he received, Graham died in about five minutes after the termination of the fight, and Gilroy is at present lying in such a precarious state that little hopes are entertained of his recovery. The two seconds are now in custody. In the London Bankruptcy Court, on Saturday, the Commissioner granted to Messrs. Leslie, Alexander and Co. their certificates amidst considerable approbation. His Honour said the bankrupts left the court without the slightest reproach of any kind, and carried with them his sincere sympathy and the sympathy, the kind feeling, and the good wishes of the whole body of their creditors. It will be remembered that the house had been extensively engaged in the corn trade, and failed in August last, with liabilities amounting to half a million. GUINEA GRAINS.—A paragraph in the Times of Wed nesday, under the head of " specie," purporting to be an account of the bullion and specie recently imported by several vessels, created no small entertainment in Minc ing -lane, among the frequenters of the drug market more especially, by the notice that the Royalist, from Cape Palmas, had " brought four tons and three cwt. of Guinea grains." The Times might as well register Guinea pigs as specie, for Guinea grains are not the golden coin ground into powder, but a drug very well known in trade. TERRIFIC COLLIERY EXPLOSION !—NINETEEN LIVES LOST !—On Thursday morning the neighbourhood of Neath was the scene of another of those frightful colliery explosions which have proved from time to time, in the Principality, so destructive to human life. The sad event, which has resulted in the loss of nineteen lives, took place at the Eagle's Bush Colliery, in the immediate vicinity of Neath, on Wednesday evening last. At the time of the explosion, it was thought there were from twenty-five to thirty colliers at work in the pit. The ultimate fate of the Waratah, the ship which was encountered by the Norwegian bark in a desperate condi tion on the 25th March has been ascertained. The wreck was driven about for five days after the Norwegian was compelled to leave her, and eventually went ashore on the island of Molene, twenty miles from Brest. In a few hours she was dashed to pieces. Eight only of the crew reached the land, which they gained by swimming. Ship and cargo are said to have been insured for £25,000. The Waratah was bound for Sydney. The Norwegian only saved two cabin passengers. MRS. BUTLER'S READINGS.—The readings of Shak speare which attracted so much attention at Highgate, are creating quiet a sensation at the West-end of the town. The room at Willis's was literally crowded on Monday afternoon with a most brilliant and fashionable audience. Mrs. Butler read the " Merchant of Venice," rightly taking the middle course between an impersonation of the different characters and a mere cold elocution. The read ing displayed a fine intelligence throughout, and while all was marked by a clearness and perspicuity, the forcible passages were brought out with great though not exagge rated effect. —limes. One of the most extensive fires that have occurred in or near the metropolis for a considerable period broke out on Tuesday, between the hours of eight and nine o'clock, in the large manufacturing premises belonging to Messrs. Robins and Co., weavers of patent hosiery, situate at Phipps Bridge, Mitcham, Surrey. The premises in which the disaster occurred were nearly 300 feet long, and were fitted up with costly machinery, &c. In a very brief pe riod the greater portion of the factory became wrapped in flames, and before midnight the whole premises, stock and machinery, were destroyed, involving a loss of up wards of £15,000. BANQUET TO VISCOUNT HARDINGE.—A magnificent entertainment was given on Friday to Lieutenant-General Viscount Hardinge, G.C.8., by the members of the Senior United Service Club, at their club-house in Pall-mall, in complimenf to the noble and gallant viscount on his return from India. It was one of the most splendid banquets ever given by the members of that distinguished club; upwards of 200 noblemen and gentlemen assembled on the occasion. Prince Albert honoured the banquet with his presence.— There were also present the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of Anglesey, General Earl Shafford, Generals Lords Combermere and Beresford, Sir Howard Douglas. Prince Albert proposed Lord Hardinge's health. . . DREADFUL THUNDERSTORM.—The town of Hudders field and its neighbourhood were visited on Sunday week by one of the severest thunderstorms. accompanied by hail and rain, that has ever been recollected. In the vicinity of Mold-green the ravages of the storm were terrific, da mage to the extent of several thousand pounds in value having been inflicted on the property of a few individuals there. Three young men were killed by the lightning, and another was seriously injured. Several houses and works were deluged with water, and the inhabitants had to seek shelter in different dwellings in the neighbourhood. Many were killed ; and sheep, pigs, and household furniture were swept away by the flood. THE COAL FIELDS IN ENGLAND AND WALES.—A Ruabon correspondent to the Chester Chronicle, signing himself " Asbestos," says that the North Wales coal field, measuring from the point of Ayr, in Flintshire, to a few miles beyond Oswestry, in Shropshire, covers an area of 200 square miles, of ten yards in thickness. The weight of a cubic yard of compact coal is 19 cwt. 16th. The total weight of the cow. in this extensive area will thus be 5,929, ono, tons. '1 nese coals at Os. per ton at the would produce £1,778,907,000. To exhaust this field it would require that 2,000,000 tons be worked annually for nearly 300 years. The extent of the other coal fields in England and South Wales, estimated at the same thick ness as the North Wales fields, would yield 177,890,700, 000, which would furnish ua with 40,000,000 tons of coals for nearly 4,000 years. EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF SELF-DESTRUCTION.—On Friday evening, as the Canterbury omnibus was proceed ing from Rochester to Canterbury with passengers, about eight o'clock in the evening, and on its arrival between Rainham and More-street, in descending a small hill the reins broke, and the horses, finding themselves uncon trolled, started off full gallop, and the omnibus was cap sized, fortunately without injuring a passenger. Assis tance was procured, and the carriage was righted and ready for starting. when the drive, Beck, suddenly left the buss and took to his heels towards Otteram Creek, when he cut his throat and plunged immediately into the water. One of the passengers took charge of the carriage and drove it to Canterbury, after having waited for some time, anticipating the return of the coachman.—Sun. MAHOGANY FOR SHIP-BUILDING.—Many of our rea ders are perhaps not aware that mahogany is used to a considerable extent in ship-building. It is imported in large quantities, and in long lengths, chiefly from Hon duras, and as it possesses many invaluable qualities for that purpose, and is, besides, as cheap as oak, it enters largely into the construction of our men•of-war and mer chant ships. The oldest steamer in the navy is the Comet, built of mahogany, and the highest naval authority states of her, in 1845, " she has had very hard and constant work in very heavy gales of wind, frequently towing, &c., during the last twenty-three years, and she has not yet come under repair." The fastest vessel, perhaps, in the world, is the new and beautiful government steamer Ban shee. She is built of mahogany, which is remarkably buoyant, and at the same time possesses great strength— these qualifications combined are scarcely obtainable in any other wood. Mahogany has a varied range of excel lence, and by adapting the heavy or hard pieces to the main parts of a vessel, namely, the frame and outside planking, and the lighter kinds to the upper works and inside planking, &c., the greatest perfection, as far as material goes, may be obtained in naval architecture. The importance of these facts and considerations, in re ference both to our naval and commercial marine, can hardly be over-estimated. NEWSPAPER STAMPS AND ADVERTISEMENT DUTY. —lt is reported by a London contemporary that it is the intention of the Government to reduce the newspaper stamp to the price of one farthing, and also to bring down the advertisement duty from eighteenpence to sixpence. The plan, if correctly stated, is not one fitted to work well for the public. It would be much better, in the case of the stamp, to bring it utterly out of the range of a tax, and convert it into a mere postage on papers sent by the mails. In the case of copies delivered by hand, stamps would therefore be unnecessary, and those transmitted to other parts•could be allowed to pass free by stamped co vers- -the stamp being paid for at the rate of one penny. The remission of a shilling from the duty on each adver tisement is some advantage, but it would be vastly more honourable to the government to give up the impost alto gether. It is a paltry, shabby exaction, and tells against industry, enterprise, and genius, not always able to lay out money. Strange it is that while taxes have been re mitted which nobody ever felt nor complained of, or while taxes have been remitted, the public reaping no ad vantage from the change, that this irritating, pitiful bur den has been allowed to remain. The class of advertisers is certainly not numerous, or we should have some agita tion on the subject ; but there would be a vastly augmented number of advertisers were the duty altogether abolished. The trading classes, authors, artists, and numerous per sons requiring to advertise, should, in this case, endea vour to procure the remission of what, in practical opera tion, is a penalty on industrial exertion. THE. CHARTISTS. Government commissioners of police in London issued on Thursday a public notice cau tioning all persons not to attend or take part in the Chartist assemblage announced to be held on Kenning ton Common, on Monday, (yesterday,) or in the intended illegal procession to the House of Commons upon pre tence of presenting a petition to parliament for the enact ment of the charter. Copies of this notice have been posted on the walls of this and other large towns. Not withstanding this caution the chartist have determined to hold the meeting. The convention met on Friday when Mr. Wheeler, a member of the Executive Council, pro posed that a proclamation should be issued, calling upon the people to meet on Kennington Common, on Monday next, and proceed in procession to the House of Commons, to present the people's petition, notwithstanding the pro clamation of government. The resolution was carried unanimously. All the speakers, who figured on the oc casion, declared their intention of being present on Ken nington Common, on Monday, be the consequences what they might. They were determined to sacrifice life rather than liberty. On the motion of a Mr. Harney, it was resolved that a deputation should wait on Sir Geo. Gray, to represent to the government that, in spite of the pro clamation that had been issued, the procession would take place. It was also resolved that circulars be sent to the different towns in England and Scotland, calling annul tnneous meetings on Monday, in order that in case a col lision with the top should take place in London, the myrmidons of the law would be kept in their respective districts. SINGULAR OCCURRENCE IN LONDON.—On Thursday morning one of those extraordinary beings who gain a precarious subsistence by penetrating into the sewers is search of coin or other valuables that may be washed into them from the drains was taken out of the main sewer ix Broad-street, Golden-square, in a very exhausted state, having been thirty-six hours and upwards endeavouring to find his way out, which, from having advanced further than was his custom to recover some silver that had been accidentally dropped down a grating near the Seven Dials, he was unable to accomplish. Fortunately, the poor fel low's cries were heard by Mr. Tickle, cheesemonger, at the corner of Berwick-street, Broad-street, opposite whose door there is a man-hole, which he had contrived to as cend, and, assistance being procured, he was liberated. Some compassionate persons supplied him with soup, &e. which speedily restored him.—Morning Chronicle. CHLOROFORM.--A most awful operation was performed upon a female patient under the influence of Chloroform, at the Infirmary, Newcastle-on-Tyne, by, H. G. Potter, Esq., one of the superior operative surgeons of that insti tution. The dangerous and difficult operation to which we refer will be known to our medical readers as "the re moval of both ovaria :" and some idea may be formed of the extent and importance of the responsibility attached to the operator when we mention that his first incision or cut was two feet long, laying open the whole cavity of the bowels, which were received in warns cloths, and the re moval of two large tumours took place with the greatest precision and self-possession, and in the profound silence of a chamber crowded by nerly 200 medical men and stu dents. What may appear surprising, even in these times is, that the patient during this fearful and gigantic opera tion never felt pain or knew anything of it until after be ing put to bed, and that consciousness returned again. The last account is that the patient is going on well. THE ENGLISH WORKMEN EXPELLED FROM FRANCE.-- A meeting of engineers, engine-drivers, and fitters em ployed on lines of railway in England, was held on Mon day, in London, for the purpose of giving expression to their sympathy with the unfortunate position of their fellow-workmen recently employed on lines of railway in. France.—The chairman opened the business of the meet ing by calling the attention of the intelligent men present to the fact that a previous meeting had been held at the same place, which had resulted in its being made known amongst English workmen, that most of the men who were then supported in their just indignation by their felow-workmen had been seduced from this country, to undertake various works on the railways in France, for fixed periods, and at salaries according to their skill; that most of them had only partially completed their en age ments, many were unpaid for the work completed and that all had sustained heavy losses by the sacrifice of their household furniture, implements, &c. It would be use less to detail the violence—in many instances the bru tality —nay, even threats of murder—which these men represented themselves to have sastained at the hands of the populace ; and, in most instances, the authorities had no control over the ferocity of the common rabble, who plundered and maltreated them in the most savage and brutal manner. The loss sustained by these men amounted to about £3OOO. They claim from 136 to 1235 francs each. SHIPWRECK.—The New York papers contain accounts of the wreck of the ship Omega, Captain Garrick, on her passage from this port to New York. When she left the Mersey she had on board, besides her crew, 327 passengers. During a heavy gale the ship lost her rudder, spars, sails, &c., and became very l ea ky. Wh en i n t hi s d angerous situation the British barque Aurora, from this port for St. John's, N. 8., fell in with her, and took about 140 of the passengers, chiefly women and children, from the wreck, seventy of whom died from starvation on board the Aurora, and the remainder were landed at Halifax. Another vessel, the brig Barbara, of Halifax, from New York for Cork, seeing the distressed situation of the Omega, bore down to her assistance, and took of 163 passengers, with the surgeon and part of the crew. The remainder of the passengers, twenty-four in number, with the captain and chief-mate, and twenty of the crew, were subsequently saved by the British barque Highland Mary, from this port for New York, where they were landed. The Omega was finally abandoned on the 12th February, in lon. 53 24. The second mate and four seamen were lost in the pinnace in transferring the passengers from one vessel to the other. We learn from another source that the Barbara, in endeavouring to reach St. John's, to land the passengers, went on shore at Petty Harbour, when only twenty of the passengers and crew were saved. The Omega was a new ship, built in North America, and 1,300 ons burthen. PRESERVATION OF LIFE IN CASES OF SHIPWRECK' &C. — EXPERIMENTS WITH THE FLOATING CORK MAT TRESSES.—On Thursday, Sir Gordon Bremer, and a large body of the principal officers of Woolwich Dock yard, attended at the Steam Basin to witness some expe riments which were made with the Patent Cork Stuffing, in order to test the power of this material to afford assistance in cases of shipwreck, casualties at sea, drown ing, &c. It has always been regretted that the bulk and the peculiar intractability of cork rendered it inap plicable, to any general extent, t o i nvent i ons for saving human life in cases of emergency at sea. But this objection has been entirely obviated by the process of shredding it into filaments, so that it can be introduced as stuffing into boat-cushions, bedding, couches, and similar articles forming part of the equipment of all kinds of vessels, and thus be made to serve the double purpose of promoting comfort and affording ready assistance in the event of shipwreck or casualty. The principal form in which the articles are manufactured at present is that of mattresses, bolsters, and pillows, articles which are in eluded within the requisites for seamen's bedding. These cork mattresses and pillows are so constructed that they may be used either separately or lashed together as a raft. The object of the .exuertmepts was to test their efficacy to a single individual when immersed in the water, and their power of sustaining numbers when formed into a raft. At two o'clock, Sir Gordon Bremer, and several officers connected with the Dockyard, assembled at the Steam Basin, where the materials for making the experiment had been conveyed. The first experiment was by lashing six of the mattresses together with boat oars, a process which did not occupy a minute. The raft was then thrown into the water, and Captain Stevens, the swimming -master of the Royal Humane Society, jumped on it from the pier, and floated about the dock for some time. His son, a lad about seventeen, fell into the water as if accidentally. Captain Stevens, on the raft, went to the assistance of his son, pulled him on the raft, which supported both with the utmost ease, and by this means was enabled to land him on the pier in safety. The next experiment consisted in throwing a bolster, weighing about three and a-half pounds, into the water, on which the lad placed himself, and demonstrated its power to support him while in the water. A boat cushion of the same weight was tried next, and was found to answer the same object exactly. A single mattress, weight 121b5., was then thrown into the water, and on this Captain Stevens lay at full length. was supported quite out of the water, and in this way he paddled, with out any difficulty, to any part of the dock he wished. Sir Gordon Bremer, who witnessed the whole of the experi ments, expressed his entire :satisfaction at the result, and ndeed all present were loud in their praise of the vast improvement which had been made on all other inventions devoted to the same object. The nex t ex p er iment with these mattresses is to ascertain their capability of re sisting musket balls, shells, &c.—Railway Gazette. COURT AND FASHION. The Queen took an airing, on Wednesday, in the garden of Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty was so far recovered on Thursday, as to receive the address of congratulation from the House of Lords, and afterwards to take a carriage airing with Prince Albert. The rest of the Royal family continue well. The ceremony of churching the Queen was performed, on Friday, in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace. The Prince of Prussia lunched with the Queen, on Friday. The Court left London for Osborne-house, Isle of Wight, on Saturday. Lady Ashworth and Major Macdonald have had the honour of presenting to Her Majesty a bottle of water from the river Jordan, accompanied by other waters from the most sacred spots in Palestine, obtained during their recent travels in Syria. Sir Philip and Lady Grey Egerton have arrived in Wil ton-crescent, from Oulton Park, Cheshire. Viscount and Viscountess Palmerston gave a sumptuous entertainment on Saturday evening, at their residence in Carlton-gardens, to the Prince of Prussia. RAILWAY RECEIPTS. The following are the receipts of railways for the past week; that is to say, up to the date to which the respective returns are mane:— RA I LW A YS Week ending Amount Aberdeen Amiens and Boulogne Arbroath and Forfar Birkenhead, Lan. and Cheshire Caledonian Chester and Holyhead Cockermouth and Workington..'l 2 Dublin and Drogheda ar. 30 Dublin and Kingstown lApr. 4 Dundee, Perth, and Aberdeen East Anglian — 2 Edinburgh and Glasgow — 1 Edinburgh and Northern — 1 Eastern Counties and N. Eastern 2 East Lancashire Eastern Union and Ipswich and Bury Mar. 26 Glasgow, Garnkirk, and Ctbrg.. Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ayr. Apr. I Glasgow and Greenock Great Southern and Western Great Western Kendal and Windermere — 1 Lancashire and Yorkshire — Apr. - " s. d. 0 0 0 1264 0 0 0 0 0 753 0 0 3419 0 0 0 0 0 81 0 0 670 0 0 1030 ,0 0 787 0 0 464 0 0 3317 0 0 1188 0 0 11148 0 0 949 0 0 1120 0 0 0 0 0 2009 0 0 947 0 0 2115 0 0 17800 0 0 _ _ 117 0 0 8781 0 0 1486 0 0 0 0 0 Lancaster and Carlisle Leeds and Thirsk — Londonderry and Enniskillen Apr. I London andNorth-Western — 2 London and Blackwall London & Brighton, South Coast 1 London and South-Western M 'chester, A Sh e ffield, and Lincoln — laryport and Carlisle Midland, Bristol, and Birming ham. . ................... I idland Great Western ( Ireland) 2 Newmarket Newcastle and Carlisle Norfolk North British Paris and Rouen Rouen and Havre Scottish Central Shrewsbury and Chester South-Eastern and Branches South Devon Taff Vale Ulster Whitchaven Junction Wishaw and Coltness York, Newcastle, and Berwick York and North Mittlauit, &c.., -- 136 0 0 37064 0 0 841 0 0 7145 0 0 7957 0 0 2261 0 0 524 0 0 18S16 0 0 841 0 0 1 2 I Mar. 25 25 0 0 0 3130 0 0 1916 0 0 1903 0 0 2808 0 0 1185 0 0 0 0 0 709 0 0 7124 0 0 885 0 0 1789 0 0 837 0 0 180 0 0 Mar.3l Apr. 1 0 0 0 10111 G 0 7466 00 2208 1002 1163 18255 7552 8016 2026 479 2092 2007 1553 8148 1499 520 77091 528: 13701 903,,