The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-09-24 00:00:00

tarraturr. POETRY. AUTUMN REFLECTIONS. Tie sad to view (when silenced r - re the storms And Autumn winds the withered leaves have strown,) Fond nature weeping o'er her faded charms ; That lie regardless to her plaintive moan. Yes, truly mournful is that whispering sound, The wind that trembles through leafless tree; Whose verdure now lies mouldering on the ground, The virgin gone, and lost the l)rilliancy The little birds such saddening influence feel, Their little hearts seem quite dejected now ; And you may Lear the notes of sorrow steal, In plaintive sweetness fr m the well known bough. Then sweeter still the melody shall rise, The dirge is sung ! the strain is heard no more ! The happy songster wings him through the skies, To seek a summer on some genial shore. Mankind, the Autumn of the world draws near, Fast are the nations hastening to their fall; Nor spark, nor ves!ige, all will disappear, In that dread crash which shall des...end on all ! Sure to that spurned insulted scattered band, Whose tears may fall for you then swept away, Whose tears will cease, when to their long lost land Their eager footsteps tre. - Al the heavcn-:ent way ! Sept. 12th, 1844 SELECTIONS. FIRST INTRODUCTION OF PERCUSSION CAPS. A clergyman, lately deceased, submitted the first percussion caps to the Ordnance Board, as far back as the year 1806 —before the Peninsular war, therefore; and having been allowed to make several trials and experiments at his own expense, was told, very politely no doubt, that the inven tion was not applicable to military purposes. Thirty years afterwards, and about twenty years after every sportsman in the empire was provided with percussion caps, the military authorities deigned, at last, to turn their attention to the subject, and are now adopting an inven tion that, introduced during the war, might, by rendering fire-arms more efficient, have saved the lives of a vast number of British soldiers.—Fraser's Mayanne. The motive power of the cataract of Niagara exceeds by nearly forty fold all the mechanical force of water and steam-power rendered available in Great Britain, for the Purpose of imparting motion to the machinery that suffic,:s to perform the manufacturing labours for a large portion of the inhabitants of the world ; including also the power applied for transporting tho , Fe products by steam-boats and steam-cars, and their steam-ships of war to the re motest seas. Indeed it appears probable that the law of gravity, as established by the Creator, puts forth, in this single waterfall, more intense and effective energy than is necessary to move all the artificial machinery of the habitable world. Yet at Niagara the river does not fall more than 140 feet. Be it recollected, however, that it is here a quarter of a mile wide, and deep enough, both above and below the fall, to float a frigate. " All thy works praise thee, 0 Lord. They show the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power."—Journal of science. SCHOOLBOYS.—" Of all the painful things connected with my employment (said the late Dr. Arnold,) nothing is equal to the grief of seeing a boy come to school inno cent and promising, and tracing the corruption of his cha racter from the influence of the temptations around him, in the very place, which ought to have strengthened and improved it. But in most cases those who come with a character of positive good are benefitted ; it is the neutral and undecisive charactei s which are apt to be decided for evil by schools, as they would be, in fact, by any other temptation.—l would be as patient as I possibly could with irresolution, unsteadiness, and fits of idleness ; but if a pupil has set his mind to do nothing, but considers all the work as so much fudge, which he will evade if he can, I have made up my resolution that I will send him away without scruple ; for not to speak of the heartless trouble that such an animal would give to myself, he is a living principle of mischief in the house, being ready at all times to pervert his companions. THE DEAD SEA.—From the convent of Mar Saba to the Dead Sea is a journey of six hours, over and be tween endless mountainous undulations of singularly wild and desolate appearance. After about two hours we com manded from an elevated spot a very interesting view of parts of the Dead Sea, with the rose-tinted mountains of Moab in the east, showing the mouth of the river Jordan, where it empties itself into that awful reservoir. Though we were then at least four hours distant from the Dead Sea, yet such was the extreme clearness of the atmo sphere, it seemed as if by descending another valley and topping another hill, we could step down upon its shores. Its waters were of deep purple, and their surface appeared as smooth as glass; while immediately above there hung a shadowy mist, which gave me the idea of sulphurous exhalation. It was a lovely picture to gaze upon ; but bow awful in the association connected with it! One could but look upward to the placid and clear sky, and think of the dread moment when " the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire, from the Lord out of heaven." Perhaps it was upon a firmament as lovely and glowing as that on which we gazed that the dark clouds of God's fearful indignation gathered. The divine fury has subsided : the liquid monument of it remains.— Library of Travel. THE GOVERNESS.—Triste and trite are the annals of " the governess." Weary, monotonous days, months, and years. The shadow of life, without its sunshine. And yet it is a life of sei vices for which, if justly considered, and they are justly performed, no gold can pay ; but when will she earn in a life what an opera dancer receives in a year? Acquirements, too, are demanded from her, aye, and are possessed, too, which would put to shame the learned members of many learned bodies who tack half the alphabet as incomprehensible initials to their undis tinguished names. But she is poor; on her has descended that curse of Adam which the rich can never comprehend. It is hers to toil ; to struggle in the crowd for some grains from the harvest--which is so strangely divided, that while garner-houses are full, men starve. She is too right minded to beg while she has head or hand to work ; she is too pure to sell herself for a home, and call it marriage. And so she undertakes the holiest duty a parent could ful fil ; and she receives, instead of honour, and praise, and love—too often contempt, insult, and indifference. She is used like a machine so long as wanted ; and just on the same principle as a steam-engine must be suplied with fuel, is she fed and clad. No more. And then Oh ! when will public opinion be roused and righted ; it is the only lever which can move the " world. '—//lu- In inated Magazine. UNIFORMS OF NEW ORLEANS.—I remarked bow closely those whom I met or passed resembled each other. It is difficult to mistake a Yankee for the inhabitant or native of any other country. They are all most closely shaven—not a vestige of beard or whiskers is left ; and then their garments are all so precisely the same, I felt I should never be able to distinguish one man from another. I could not at first comprehend why all the male inhabi tants looked so precisely like figures made on the same model; but my lengthened drive through the streets en lightened me. Outside a great many of the " notion" stores I saw just such figures hanging up—coat, pantalon a sous pied—in short, the whole outward man. There was this difference—and be it remarked, it is an essential one—the latter were men of straw. Such cannot be said of the wealthy merchant of New Orleans. The fact is this—there are no working-tailors at New Orleans, and every article of dress comes ready-made from the Northern States. There are merchant tailors in plenty ; and if the traveller in New Orleans is in want of a suit of clothes, he must, if of the masculine sex, betake himself to one of these gentleman, and he will be forthwith fitted with any thing he may happen to want. "Pants" are daily an nounced, as a cargo just arrived " by the from New York ;" the latter city evidently has the responsibility of setting the fashions to the elegants of the other cities of the Union. These garments being all of the same colour and fashion, fully accounts for the similarity of the appear ance of the inhabitants.—Mrs. Houston's Texas and New Orleans. OBLATION IN THE RIVER JORDAN.—The sun was rising over the tops of Abarim, and the river bank pre sented one of the most unprejudiced scenes which it has ever been my lot to witness. The main body of the pil grims had arrived, and a general undressing commenced. There were men of all sizes and seasons, from the totter ing octogenarian to the crawlin g bambino, who, being im mersed with its head back and its mouth open, filled and bubbled like a bottle : ladies of all ages and angles, colours and calibres, from the Caireen Copt to the fair-skinned, Russian. Of the men, come crept cautiously in, and re flected a moment before they went under ; others leaped, spinning in like wheels, and, returning to the land, re peated again and again the same performance. Of the lovelier creatures some bounced dauntless in, and holding fast between two men, were well ducked, and came smil ing out again ; others went delicately, and, standing ankle deep in mud upon the brink, were baptised with basins full of the sacred stream. Nor was it enough that their bodies were consecrated—all their clothes were plunged, and they drank the unconscious element, not each out or her own hands, but out of those of a fellow-pilgrim, the two palms being joined together to form a cavity for the liquid ; while bottles of every form and material were filled for distant markets.—Library of Travel. MOUNT PLEASANT.—This street was originally called " Martindale's Hill," and has been highly eulogised by William Roscoe. Here stood a famous bowling-green, in 1759 called " Martindale's Green." In 1766 Thomas Richardson advertised that he was about removing to the " Old Bowling Green on Martindale's Hill, a very healthy, pleasant, and agreeable situation ; an easy walk from the town, and a good road kept at all times of the year." At this period, and within, comparatively speak ing, a fe w yea s, this spacious street was entirely gardens, fields and orchards. In a small house which stood at the top of Mount Pleasant, at the corner of Hope-street, William Roscoe was born. The following lines were written to accompany a sketch of a chair constructed from the beam of this house, now in the possession of J. Mayer, Esq. This Chair, that the hand of skill, science , and taste, Hath laboured with sculpt ure so fair to adorn, Was once a broad timber, which strongly embraced was house where a poet most hallowed as born Beneath it lie gambolled in life's earl y morning,. And frolicked the time of his childhood away ; Then heedless of knowledge, all discipline scorning, He dwelt—till his talent burst forth into day. 'Tomas there that the soul caught some glimpses of glo ry ; Perchance the first touch to his harp the hard gave; And the wi,h was engendered of living in story, As waking the world to the wrongs otfrtheceesslsacvs,e. Then little he thought , fr om its deepes His genius was destined to drag to the lig The learning that Italy richly possesses, Where fiction and fact both in beauty unite. Then take not this Chair ! let n o mortal profane it, Who friendship with art or song cannot claim; Oh I worthy alone is that man to retain it, Who Roscoz can cherish, in memory and name. —Laccy's Pictorial Handbook. THE MODERN JERUSALEM.—If the traveller can for get that he is treading on the grave of a people from whom his religion has sprung, on the dust of her kings, prophets, and holy men, there is certainly no city in the world that he will sooner wish to leave than Jerusalem. Nothing can be more void of interest than her gloomy, half-ruinous streets and poverty-stricken bazaars, which, except at the period of the pilgrimage at Easter, present no signs of life or study of character to the observer. We have wandered for hours among the other great cities of the East—Cairo, Constantinople, or Damascus, watching the brilliant crowds that pour through the narrow bazaars, " Like the gay motes that people the sunbeam," and seen the aristocratic Tuek, slowly prancing by on his splendid Arabian, gay and proud with orient:,l trappings; the quiet, portly Armenian, grave in dress, pushing by with business haste, on his sleek, well-conditioned mule; the Bedouia from the desert, half startled at the un wonted disp'ay, but not without a proud air among the sons of teethe ; the elegant Persian ; the quick, subtle Greek ; the Jew, whether rich or poor, sordid in exterior and abject in mien ; the haggard, half-naked Dervish, pale with fanaticism, mingling and jostling on the narrow tho roughfare ; long trains of camels laden with merchandise and fruit ; and the bumble ass of the water-carrier, push ing steadily through the throng ; with hundreds of women, their dark eyes flashing forth from their muslin envelopes, attended by negro slaves, chaffering with the vendors of shawls and slippers ; while the thousand cries of a great city, and the noise of artificers, echoed through the end less passages of the vaulted bazaars ; but Jerusalem, once like these, " full of stir, the tumultuous city, the joyous city," no longer the capital of a nation, and remote from the centre of traffic, is destitute of any interest but that connected with the past; and the traveller gladly hastens from the dulness and misery within her walls, to the lonely hilts around, where there is nothing to disturb the picture of the momentous past brought before him by his imagination. Jerusalem has been described as " the tomb of a people, but a tomb without inscription, without mo numents, of which the stones are broken, and whose ashes seem to cover the earth which surrounds it with mourn ing, silence, and sterility. Conqueror after conqueror has patched up the wreck, which his arms have spared, in the style of the architecture of his age, till the confusion is inextricable. * * * * We have briefly noticed the Jews, Christians, and Turks, who occupy the different quarters of Jerusalem, Zion, Acra, and Bt-zetha. We may say that their petty political intrigues constitute the only life in the Holy City. Each sect hates and despises the others, and would willingly expel them from its walls, except so far as they may be made a source of profit. The devices of the Turkish governors, for raising money, are equally tyrannical aid ingenious. The Christian sects do not scruple at outbuying one another, when any paltry privilege is disputed ; and a pleasant game is played by the Musselman ruler, who pockets both their bribes, and re pays them with unmeasured contempt. The richer Jews hare generally a good understanding with the pasha, mu tual interest outweighing mutual hate. A detail of " Life in Jerusalem" might be amusing, if amusement could be gathered from the anatomy of all the baser qualities of hu man nature; but it is sad to think, that the spot whence the divine doctrines of mutual love and goodwill went forth to mankind, has ever been the chosen seat of strife and contention ; and that the real influence of Christianity is less felt in Jerusalem, than in regions unheard of at the time of its promulgation from her holy soil.—Bartlett's Walks about Jerusalem. THE INDIA RUBBER TREE.—A correspondent of an American paper, writing from the Brazils, gives the fol. lowing interesting particulars of the process of tapping the India rubber, or caoutchouc tree, and of manufactur- ing the gum into shoes and other things :—" The caoutch ouc tree grows, in general to the height of forty or fifty feet without branches, then branching, rung up fifteen feet higher. The leaf is about six inches long, thin, and shaped likes that of a peach tree. The trees show their working by the number of knots, or bunches, made by tapping ; and a singular fact is, that, like a cow, when most tapped, they give most milk or sap. As the time of operating is early day, before sunrise we were at hand. The blacks are first sent through the forest, armed with a quantity of soft clay, and a small pick-axe. On coming to one of the trees, a portion of the soft clay is formed into a cup and stuck to the trunk. The black then striking his pick over the cup, the sap oozes out slowly, a tree giving daily about a gill. The tapper continues in this way, tapping perhaps fifty trees, when he r eturns, and with a jar, pass ing over the same ground, empties his cups, So by seven o'clock the blacks came in with their jars, ready for work ing. The sap at this stage resembles milk in appelr ance and somewhat in taste. It it also frequently drank with perfect safety. If left standing now, it will curdle like milk, disengaging a watery substance like whey. Shoemakers now arrange themselves to form the gum. Seated in the shade, with a large pan of milk on one side, and on the other a flagon, in which is burned a nut pecu liar to this country, emitting a dense smoke, the operator having his last, or form held by a long stick or handle, previously besmeared with soft clay (in order to slip off the shoe when finished) holes it over the pan, and pouring on the milk until it is covered, sets the coating in the smoke, then giving it a second coal, repeats the smoking ; and so on with a third and fourth, until the shoe is of the required thickness, averaging from six to twelve coats. When finished, the shoes on the forms are placed in the sun the remainder of the day to drip. The next day, if required, they may be figured, being so soft that any im pression will be indelibly received. Tne natives are very dexterous in this work. With a quill and a sharp-pointed stick they will produce finely lined leaves and flowers, such as you may have seen on shoes, in an increiibly short space of time. After remaining on the forms two or three days, the shoes are cut open on the top, allowing the last to slip out. They are then tied together and slung on poles, ready for the market. There, pedlars and Jews trade for them with the country people ; and in lots of a thousand or more they are again sold to the mer chants who have them stuffed with straw, and packed in boxes to export, in which state they are received in the United States. In the same manner any shape may be manufactured. Thus toys are made of clay forms. After drying, the clay is broken and extracted. Bottles, &c., in the same way. According as the gum grows older it becomes darker in colour, and more tough. The num ber of caoutchouc trees in the province is countless. In some parts whole forests exist, and they are frequently cut down for firewood. Although the trees exist in Mex ico and the East Indies, there appears to be no importa tion into the United States from these places. The rea son, I suppose, must be the want of that prolificness found in them here. The caoutchouc tree may be worked all the year ; but generally in the wet season they have rest, owing to the flooded state of the woods ; and the milk being watery, requires more to manufacture the same article than in the dry season. GENERAL MISCELLANY. The trial of the Hon. W. Ross Touchet stands over till nett sessions. Mr. H. O'Connell, said to be the son of the Great Liberator, is giving lectures on Astronomy at Canterbury. An infant child, a day old, was killed at Cheltenham, last week, by a carraway seed sticking in its throat. On the 16th instant a gentleman and two sailors were lost by the upsetting of a boat halfway up the Firth. FINSBURY.—Mr. Wakley is to retire on account of ill health, and the Rev. W. F. Fox, the well-known Sociuian preacher and political spouter, is the chosen champion of the League to succeed him. During the past week a painful degree of alarm has been created in some parts of Bedfordshire, owing to the revival of those incendiary outrages which spread dismay throughout the district last winter. MANSLAUGHTER. — A young man named Tucker, of Portsmouth, has been committed to trial on a charge of the manslaughter of a married woman with whom he was cohabiting. EXPEDITION.—On Monday week, Mr. B. Wilson, of Ossett, purchased wool at the market, and on Sunday last, a vessel sailed with it from Liverpool for America. — Leeds Intelligenccr. DEATH OF CAPTAIN BASIL HALL.—We regret that we have to announce the death of this gallant officer, which took place on Wednesday week at Haslar Hospital, after a protracted illness, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. IMMENSE DELIVERY OF LETTERS.--On Monday morning the East and West Indian and American mails all reached London. The number of letters issued for one delivery was unprecedented, being upwards of 250,000. EXTRAORDINARY PARCEL BY THE POSTOFFICE.—On Thursday week a most extraordinary package reached the Postoffice of this city. This was no other than a parcel containing some fifteen or twenty live frogs. They reached their destination in safety.—Glasgow National. LONG CREDIT.—A. short time ago, a person of thsi town, (Chelmsford,) more ingenious than scrupulous, paid a tradesman for some goods by a bill at two months; but, on presenting it at the expiration of that period, the holder found it was drawn payable two months after death, in stead of after date.—Essex paper. BRISTOL SUGAR MARKET, SEPT. 20.—We have had a very quiet week in our sugar market, and the sales are limited to about 200 hogsheads, at former rates. Fir Bengals and Mauritius the demand is also dull, and the transactions are confined to a few retail lots at steady prices. Rum is still in good demand. Gazetted average price of Sugar, Sept. 17, is 325. 11d. per cwt. SIR WM. NOTT.—At a special general meeting of pro prietors of East India stock, held at the India House, on Wednesday last, a resolution approving of the proposed grant of an annuity of £lOOO per annum, to Major-Gen eral Sir Wm. Nott, G.C.8., for his services a Candahar, Ghuznee, and Cabul, was unanimously agreed to. It is to commence from the time of his leaving India. THE AUGUSTA.—On Thursday, at the Criminal Court, Thomas Jennings was placed at the bar, charged with having captured slaves. The case arose out of that for which Mr. Zulueta was some time since tried and acquit ted. Captain Jennings pleaded that he had already been tried and acquitted for this offence at Sierra Leone. Upon this resulted a legal argument, and the court took time to consider. SUNDERLAND. — The strike of ship-carpenters at this port may be said already to be at an end. The masters have in nearly every instance given the advanced wages of 21s. per week, and the men have consequently resumed their employment. Trade is still improving, and as freights keep on the advance (10s. 6d per ton having been paid for coals to London, and 1:12 per keel for Hamburgh,) ship-building will speedily be brisk at this and the neigh bouring ports. EXPLOSION O F A STEAM BOILER.—On Tuesday last, a t at t e a e the t r i r a i lffiSl ya c e e tei x di l b o e al s en i c o l n rea t nn o t o rk happened p a l r a k c s e , onfeaatar the n s e h w rde l i y wn - ns e be r r :c rh iv t o e . u d : r , b pw o r i oh l en few of the men were present, otherwise, great loss of life must have occurred. The persons killed were tw o boys. A labourer, Daniel Williams, is no t expecte d to recover, he was bit on the head, and had hi s s k u ll f ractured b y same bricks which were blown for more than 150 yards, THE LARGEST STATUE IN EUROPE.—The summit of Banvraegie, in Sutherlandshire, is crowned by the colossal monument erected by the Sutherland tenantry to the me mory of the late Duke. A statue 30 feet high, and con taining 80 tons of stone, stands on a oedestal 75 feet in height. The figure, an excellent likeness, forms the largest statue in Europe. DEATH FROM THE FEROCITY OF A R AM.—A most mel ancholy catastrophe occurred at the village of Cnarmouth from the ferocity of a ram, on the Gth instant. A poor woman, of the name of Sarah Hoare, aged about 60 years, was walking in a field near the beach, when the ram suddenly attacked her, gored her, and knocked her down. The poor creature was so much injured that she lingered in great agonies until Monday, when death put an end to ber sufferings.— Western Mirror. CAPTURE OF Five H UNDREDWHALES.—On Thursday an immense shoal of whales, amounting to upwards of 500, came in off the mouth of Sandvoe, Zetland. The in habitants were immediately roused by the sudden visit of these monsters of the deep. The herd was surrounded, and with some difficulty nearly ell of them were captured. The carcases were sold at an average of £2 ss. each, which will prove a seasonable relief to many.—Scetch paper. IMMERSION AT BAPTISM.—The Edinburgh Observer gives the following pithy but forcible dialogue between a Churchman and Baptist :—Churchman—Do the Baptists consider Noah's ark as a type of the Church ? Baptist— Certainly, Sir, St. Peter,. good authority, you know, so considered it. Churchman—Was the ark immersed in the waters of the flood? Baptist—No, Sir. It was only sprinkled with rain. But what of that ? Churchman — Oh ! nothing. I only asked for information. GUANO.—The sales of guano, during the past week, amounted to about 100 tons at £6 to £6 2s. 6d. for African, from the ship, which is an advance of £1 p er ton from the lowest point. A small cargo is reported to be sold, for spring delivery, at £6 ss. per ton. There are still buyers at £6. The stock of African here is about 1,000 tons; that of Peruvian about 3,000 tons. The latter is still held at £lO per ton. On Saturday £6 ss. per ton was paid for a quantity of the article, and, we understand, there are now no sellers under that price. APPALLING ACCIDENT.—A shocking accident occurred on Saturday afternoon week, by the breaking down of a phaeton. on the Whitstone-road, near Adderwater, con taining the Rev. Prebendary Medley, rector of St. Tho mas, his mother, the Bev. Prebendary Cornish, and his sister, and by which one death has ensued, Mrs. Medley, from the injuries she received, having expired about two hours and a half after the melancholy catastrophe. Mrs. Shaw still lies at a farm-house near the scene of this awful occurrence.—Doncaster Chronicle. DEATH BY EATING THE DEADLY NIGHTSHADE.—On Thursday week four persons were poisoned by eating some of the berries of the deadly nightshade, atropa belladonna, which they gathered on the land adjacent to the Lancaster sands, at Hest-band, where the plant grows in abundance. Three of the parties, after suffering ex treme agony, were recovered by the application of proper remedies. The fourth was found in a hayloft, lying stiff and insensible, his body swoln to an extraordinary size. He died, on Friday week, in a state of complete ex haustion. SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE.—At about 2 oclock on Friday morning the Rev. G. T. Mostyn, Incumbent of St. Michael's, was alarmed by a loud explosion, which app ared to prcceed from the passage of his house. On going to ascertain the cause, he discovered that some per sons had placed a package of gunpowder in the key bole of the door, and had fired it,—the explosion forcing the paper, &c., in which the powder had been wrapped, through the key-hole into the passage. On opening the door another package of gunpowder was found on the door-step.—Blackburn Standard. DREADFUL DEATII.—On Friday morning last a young man, a farm-labourer, was found in a ditch in Staple Clayton, Buckinghamshire, nearly lifeless, and burnt almost to a cinder. It is supposed the poor fellow got drunk on the preceding night, and rolled into the ditch, with a lighted pipe in his hand, or: had some lucifer matches on his person, which ignited, thus destroying all th 3 clothes on his body, and burning his frame to a com plete cinder, the lower part of his person being entirely destroyed, and the interior of his frame being visible as if he had been flayed alive. THE LAY Loans.—Lord Brougham has addressed a letter to Lord Kenyon in which he states, " that he wishes above all to avoid the imputation of holding an opinion subversive of the House of Lords' jurisdiction. He supposed that the lay Lords meant to ground their opinions (if they should vote) upon a matter which they had heard and did understand, namely, the house calling in the judges for the purpose of excluding party feeling. However, his own reason for supporting Lord Wham cliffe was, that those lay Lords had not heard the case, and he never in the least degree intended to hold that their being lay Lords was any reason against their voting." FRUITS OF CH ARTl9M.—Jenkin Morgan, who, with Frost, Williams, and Jones, was sentenced to be hanged at the Monmouth Special Commission in 1840, for the Newport riots in 1839, but whose sentence wss subse quently commuted to imprisonment in the Millbank Pe nitentiary, has been lately released. Wheal he was ar rested he was the proprietor of three houses, had a well stocked farm, and was otherwise most comfortably.situ ated. Upon leaving the prison he found himself and his family houseless, and is now endeavouring to raise a subscription to enable him , to support his wife and children. TRAG/CAL OCCURRENCE.—On Monday a servant in the employ of a gentleman of London, who had long been suspected of being pregnant, ran up stairs, and was found by her master lying an her stomach on the stairs, which were in a pool of blood, her head resting on the top one, and by her side an infant covered with blood. He de scended into the street, and alarmed the neighbours, se veral of whom returned into the house with him, followed by a surgeon, who pronounced her to be dead. The in fant, a fine full-grewn female child, was also dead, but had evidently been born alive and then strangled, the strings of its mother's apron being tied tightly round its neck. ANOTHER, DESTRUCTIVE EsS;NE•—Mr. Nasmyth, engineer, of Manchester, has submitted to the considera tion of the Admiralty the plan of an iron steamer, bomb proof, which will effectually de , troy any ship or squadron. She is propelled by the Archimedian screw, and, when going at the rate of six knots an hour, she will run stem on to a ship and leave a hole in her many feet wide,. below the surface. It is, in fact, the power of two ships coming in collision with each other at the rate of ten knots an hour, placed,. by mechanical means, in the hands of not more than three men. We understand that this invention is now under their lordship's consideration, and there can be no doubt but it will put Captain Warner's invention at a discount.—Devonport Independent. RUMOTTRILD CREATION OF PEERS.-A correspondent of the Nenagh Guardian states that it is the intention of Sir Robert Peel to confer the honour and dignity of a peerage upon the Right Hon. the Lord Chief Justice (Doherty) of the Common Pleas in Ireland, that the ministry may also have the aid of his transcendent abilities in the l-lonse of Lords. The necessity of this creation is apparent from the late curious decision in the case of O'Connell—a decision contrary to the opinion of the learned functionaries whom the Lords called to their assistance ; this rumoured creation is justifiable from the paucity of Law Lords on the Conservative side, whilst there is a heavy array of Whig created "noble and learned's" on the opposition benches. TIIE LEVIATHAN TELESCOPE.—A letter in the Times, from Sir J. South, announces that this telescope of the Earl of Rosse's was on Wednesday directed for the first time to the sidereal heavens. With a power of 5C03 the nebula known as No. 2 of Messier's catalogue was even more magnificent than the nebula No. 13 of Messier, when seen with his lordship's telescope of 3 feet diameter and 27 feet focus. Cloudy weather prevented him turn ing the leviathan on any other nebulous object. The diameter of the large metal is 6 feet, and its focus 61 feet; yet the immense mass is manageable by one man. Com pared with it, the working telescopes of Sir W. Herschel, which in his hands conferred on astronomy such inesti mable service, and on himself astronomical immortality, were but playthings. BANK or ENGLAND.—On Thursday, the half-yearly meeting of the Court of Proprietors took place at the Bank of England. Wm. Cotton, Esq., the Governor, was in the chair. The chairman stated that the dividend of 31 per cent. would be payable on the 11th of October. The accounts used to be made up upon theoretical principles up to the 10th of October, and they were generally found to be substantially correct. In future, however, the ac counts would be made up to the 31st of August, to enable the proprietors to see the actual state of the financial de partment. It had been ascertained that the income of the Bank had been enriched by £BBOO since their last meeting ; and with respect to the branch banks, it was found upon the whole that they were profitable to the parent establish ment. The report of the directors having been received and adopted, the Court dissolved. SUICIDE FROM DESTITUTION.—Last week an inqu st was held at Sunderland, on the body of a man who had taken arsenic in consequence of the miserable destitution to which he and his family were brought. From the evi dence of his wife, it appeared that the poor man had only been able to obtain a fortnight's work in the year, and that they and their four children had suffered the ex tremest want. They had pawned their furniture, and were obliged to lie on straw, and to subsist on the charity of the neighbours. He was often very much depressed when the children cried for bread and he had not a bit to give them ; he said he was tired of his life, and that if times did not mend, he thought they would get the better of him. In answer to an inquiry from the coroner, the poor woman said they did not apply to the parish, for she was afraid she would be put into the workhouse there, where she would have been parted from her little " bairns," and she had rather starve than be parted from them. The jury found a verdict of " temporary insanity, brought on by want of the common necessaries of life." HALF FARTHINGS.—Large amounts of new copper coin, or half farthings, are, as already intimated, now is sued. It is a neat piece of money, bearing the bust of the Queen, with the inscription " Victoria," &c. ; on the re verse the words " Half a Farthing." Many street specu lators took advantage of the curiosity of the passengers, and sold them at the rate of four for a penny. When told that eight half-farthings made a penny, the answer was, " We know that, but we sell them as articles of curi osity." And they did sell thousands in the city, and various parts of London, at double the value. The pub lic, it is said will derive advantage from this new coinage. They will be able to divide a farthing with the shopkeeper, which in small dealings was seldom the case. Tradesmen say they are entitled to the half-farthing in consequence of loss sustained by giving the turn of the scale. [The desire to purchase will soon cease, and in the mean time, perhaps, no great mischief is done in giving a penny in stead of a halfpenny for four half -farthings ; but the transaction is illegal, and the law was rather rigidly en forced when people sold guineas at 28s. each.]—Times. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. MR. WINTERBOTTOAL—This gentleman, the account of whose arrest in this town a few days ago we gave at the time, has bean fully committed to Chester Assizes for trial, chat gad with forgery upon the Pelican Life Assurance Society for the sum of £5OOO, which was payable to the family of the I.lte Mr. J. Isherwood, of Marple-hall, upon his death, and which sum was received by the prisoner on his presentation of an authority purporting to be signed by Mrs. Isherwood and her three daughters. It will be re membered that the prisoner occupied, some years since, a prominent position as a solicitor in Stockport, from which place he absconded in 1840, and had not been heard of until his arrest. A NEW COMET.—In the Times Sir I. South thus writes :—" By a letter which I received from my friend Professor Schumacher on Friday last, I was informed that a comet had been discovered on the 6th instant, by Mr. Melhop, of Hamhurgh. Owing to unfavourable weather, I have not been able to see it till this evening, when, the clouds having cleared off for a few minutes, I found it with an ordinary night-glass, without difficulty, and got an observation of it with my five-feet equatorial, by which its approximate place was, at fifty-two minutes past ten o'clock last (Sunday) night—right ascension, about 0 hours 44 minutes and 9 seconds; anti its southern decli nation about 12 degrees and 56 minutes." MUNIFICENT DONATIONS.—The last report of the treasurers of the Duncombe Estate Fund announced that they had in hand, after payment of all expenses, £37 lls. Bd. Since then, Mr. O'Connell has subscribed five pounds ! This munificent donation. we are told, was one of the first acts of the " Liberator," after quitting Rich mond Penitentiary, " the regulations of that prison having prevented him from doing so earlier." Better late than never —and better a little than nothing —as we dare say , Mr. Duncombe thought, when he saw his valuable ser vices rated at no higher price. The Repeal Association has also subscribed £25. In return, the Finsbury radicals are getting up a dinner to celebrate Daniel's escape.— HORRIBLE CASE.—The following particulars of a most disgusting case have been communicated to us. Under ordinary circumstances we should be inclined to doubt the possibility of such a thing occurring in a civilized country. As our correspondents, however, have communicated to us their names and addresses, we can see no reason to question the accuracy of their account. In the borough of Tregony, in Cornwall, George Davy, a pauper lunatic, has been confined eight years chained to the wall, in a hovel not fit for swine, littered down with straw, and only one coverlet, winter and summer. There is no window or door to protect him from the cold. His unfortunate wife stated to our correspondent, that through the want of the latter protection the children were in the habit of collect ing round the door and teazing him until he was driven to a state of frenzy.—Sunday paper. REMARKABLE ACCIDENT—IMPALEMENT OF A FE MALE.—On Sunday evening week, at the small village of Dalton, near Croft, a singular and dangerous accident occurred to a young woman, servant to Mr. Preston, farmer. She was ascending a plum-tree, no doubt with the intention of procuring some fruit, when the branches gave way, and, in her fall, she came in contact with a large hay fork, which was placed against the tree with its prongs pointing upwards, one of which entered the centre of her arm-pit, and taking an oblique direction upwards, appeared under the collar-bone, then pierced her neck about its middle, and to the left of the mesial line, and again appeared in the back part of her mouth ! Thus pierced and supported by the implement, she remained, elevated a few feet from the ground, and was unable to render herself any assistance. Her shrieks, however, bringing the neighbours to the spot, they immediately re leased her from her painful situation. EXTRAORDINARY DELUSIONS. — A commission of lu nacy was opened on Friday, in London, to inquire kto the state of mind of Miss M. A. Roberts, of Upper Clapton. It appeared that the unfortunate object of the present enquiry was the daughter of a clergyman, who died some years since. In the early part of 1843 the first symptoms of a deranged intellect appeared. The first delusion she laboured under was, that she was to be mar ried by the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Rev. Mr. Machindale, who was coming to fetch her in a carriage and four. She decorated the tables with everything in season, and would use the most endearing expressions to her supposed husband, and attempt to kiss him. On the 13th of July her conduct was most extraordinary. She said that she had had a vision ; that she had seen her mother in hell, but that her father was her guardian angel, and she then went down stairs with her hair dis hevelled, and said she was to go to hell at four o'clock. Other delusions of a similar character were deposed to, after which the jury found " that Miss Roberts was of unsound mind, and had been so from the 13th of July, 1843." FIGHT BETWEEN Two POLICEMEN.—At Winchmore Hill, near Enfield, on Sunday morning last, a policeman was secreted to detect some party who was in the habit of milking a farmer's cows. Hannant was the constable's name. About four o'clock, he detected a brother police man, named Harvey, about to commence milking the cows. Advancing towards him for the purpose of appre hending him, he was met by the other with entreaties for his connivance; which being refused, they were speedily followed by a tremendows blow on the head, which broke the staff with which it was given. He, however, proceeded, and after much resistance, succeeded in• seizing his anta gonist; but was induced,. on the promise of the prisoner to " go quietly with him•," to loosen his hold, when the other immediately attempted to escape, and being again seized, drew a chisel out of his pocket (his staff being broken,) and inflicted several severe wounds on the head and arms of Hannant. Though faint from the loss of blood, the latter had still sufficient strength to spring his rattle and maintain his grasp, till he was providentially rescued from his perilous situation by another policeman. The wounded man soon after became insensible, and was obliged to be carried to bis lodgings, where his wounds were dressed, and in the course of the morning his- depo sition taken, as his life waaconsidered in a very precari ous state. Heads of families cannoi be too strongly admonished against the common but pernicious practice of adminis tering to their children in any of their little ailments those drastic powders, all of which contain more or less of calomel, which they are 30 constantly in the habit of procuring from their apothecary or chemist ; for although the convenience of their minute bulk and absence of nauseating taste is great, yet the frequent repetition of such medicines produces a softening of the bones and pre mature decay of the teeth most prejudicial to the consti tution during the whole period of life. Of late years there have been made great improvements in Vegetable Chemistry, by which the active principles of many simple innocent medicines have been separated from their inert and nauseating parts. The greatest boon has been con ferred upon mankind, and more especially upon the ris ing generation, by separafaig the active principle of that universally esteemed purgative, Senna, by Mr. John Freeman, a. practical chemist, living in the Blackfriars Road, who has removed all its nauseating and griping properties, and rendered it so peculiarly pleasant to the taste, that children will take it with a positive relish. This preparation, which he denominates " Sweet Essence of Senna," is sold by most respectable Druggists, ex tensively patronised by the Queen's Physicians as a valuable acquisition to the Royal Children, and its moderate price places it within the reach of the most humble.—Bell's Weekly Messenger, July 31. NEW SCHEME OF THILLEAGUE.—The leaguers are now particularly anxious to close the subscription which has been for so long open in support of the £lOO,OOO fund. A long circular has been issued by Mr. Wilson, the chair man, in which he expresses " a hope that the inhabitants of the metropolis will, at all events, contribute such an .mount to the great league fund, as not to place the richest community in the world under pecuniary obliga tions to the inbabitarOs of the provinces," and further on he states his " conviction that London will not only de fray its own local expenses, but contribute an adequate contingent to the general national advancement of the free trade cause." From this it would appear that the in habitants of London have been rather more wise than to contribute an "adequate contingent " to this now declin ing association, and that the agitation in the metropolis has been carried on at the expense of, or, as the modest chairman delicately expresses it, under the " pecuniary obligations" of the provinces. The circular reminds the readers that a properly authorised canvasser will call in a few days, when all who have not yet contributed will be solicited forthwith ; and, to guard against fraud, it is par ticularly requested that no subscription, however small, shall be given without taking a receipt. But the money is not to be given for nothing, Each subscriber of no more than £l' is entitled to receive a copy of the league newspaper for a whole year—fifty-two numbers; and, moreover, all who feel inclined to contribute will have the satisfaction of seeing their names, and the amount they subscribe, open to the gaze of the world, in the columns of the anti-monopoly print. ARMY SLOP-WORK.—Some new terms have been put out for the prices to be charged for all work made for Government, and it will be seen whether the poor shirt makers of the slop-shops are not better off, or at any rate as well paid, as the poor c ettnres who have to work under the Government contracts, though probably the members cf the Government know nothing of the proceedings. The following are the prices, and many are the long faces. and unshaved beards that carry the work home :—For the Police, for double-breasted great coats and lappels, so that when sue is worn out another can be put on, 3s. the profit to the middlemen, who are responsible for the work, and give security for £5O to the contractors, being about 3d., while the labour in the work amounts to eight een hours, they have to pay for their own thread, &c., and a tailor would charge 9s. Dress coats are the same, and occupy sixteen hours, tailor's price Bs. Trousers, undress, eight hours' work, 10d. ; the full dress, ls. 3d., which takes ten hours' ; the one being 4s. and the other 55., as the tailor's prices, and it should be remembered that men work at these.—For the Regiments of the Line, the great coats with capes 5d., after seven hours' work, the usual price being 3s. 6d. With fourteen hours' work a red coat can be made, and I]d. is paid for it ; the tailor's price ss. 6d. ; looping is 7d. extra. The undress white jackets sd. and 7d. with five hours' work, and usual price 2s. 6d. Trousers white and grey, sd. and 6d., and it takes six hours to make them, tailor's charge 3s. Draw ers, linen and flannel, 3d., four hours' labour, 2s. by the trade. The old Chelsea pensioners, with their large red coats, lined with blue shalloon, are supplied by the poor workwomen at Is. Id. each, occupying twelve hours' in the making, and the tailor's charge 6s. The trousers, which are heavier than the Guards, are paid for at the same rate. Recently it was expected many of the pen sioners would be called out, and for that purpose they had e double-breasted coat, with stand-up collars and loops, 2s. 2d. was the remuneration for eighteen hours' work, and what ought to have been charged 9s. for; trousers, 6(1., and six hours' work, wages ought to be 3s. ; shirts of linen for 3d. In the Life Guards and Blues, the very expensive leather breeches are made in the barracks, for which tailors are employed at 2s. 6d. a day, and it will occupy a man two days. A tailor in Bond-street would charge 305, —Times. FEDERALISM.—Mr. Porter's project of a " federal" union between Great Britain and Ireland has met with considerable favour from two very numerous classes of men—those who aim at a distincter nationality for the latter island, and those who feel rather distressingly the predominance of Irish subjects and Irish speeches in the Imperial Legislature. A purely Irish Parliament in St. Stephen's Green, and an equally expurgated British Par liament in St. Stephen's Chapel, could hardly fail to be popular ideas in their several quarters. Mr. Porter moreover writes with all the boldness of a man who feels no particular anxiety for the welfare of any existing in terest or institution, and with all the candour that arises from the absence of political or religious prejudices. It might he expected that on a question involving the wel fare of so many millions, and the integrity of a mighty empire, we should express some opinion as to the pru dence of the writer. But it is difficult to say what is prudent when there is no general agreement as to what should be desired ; and Mr Pcrter evidently regards as rather desirable than otherwise consummations which some of our readers would think it the best test of pru dence to avoid.— Times. Two BROTHERS DROWNED.—On Sunday night week, as John and William Johnson, brothers, aged 31 and 29, of Shipley, Yorkshire, were attempting to cross the river Aire, at midnight, with a w;:ggon and two horses, the stream, which was very much swollen by previous heavy rains, carried them down ; and though there were other persons waiting with another waggon, but who remained to watch the success of the attempt made by the John sons, the darkness of the night, and the velocity with which the water poured down, rendered any attempts at rescue not only useless, but absolutely dangerous ; and the two unfortunate men met their fate unseen and un heard. The horses, dead of course, and ti.e waggon were found at Esholt Mill, about a mile below the ford. Tire bodies of the unfortunate men have not yet been found. They have each left a wife and three children. We under stand that the unfortunate men were warned by their fa ther not to go by the ford ; but the elder, presuming that as he had crossed in safety before he could do so again, disregarded the counsel of his parent. The only advan tage gained by crossing would have been the saving of about two miles' distance, and of the payment of toll at Shipley Bridge Bar. p a p n i n d gF France n a t n e e r e e , s , t , c o o f m t i e l e B d ßritish show ingEm p t i h r e e, p t r h o e g r u e s n s i t o e t d ' STEAM V. S AILS .—A . pu bli cat i on o f " Details, tShteatsehsi, official sources, has just been 'published. In the tables relative to sea-going steam-vessels, facts are exhibited which may account for the much reduced profit, and the diminished occupation of sailing vessels in the carrying trade coastwise; take the following :—" The number and tonnage of steam-vessels employed in the coasting trade and foreign trade, entered inwards from all parts, distin guishing British from foreign ships, including their re peated voyages : BRITISH VESSELS. Coastwise. Foreign, Ships. Tons. Ships. Tons. 1824 888 .. 124,073 139 .. 10,893 1843 ....... 13,633 .. 3,301,431 2439 .. 579,209 FOREIGN VESSELS—INWARDS. Ships. Tons. 1824 1843 It may be presumed that steam navigation has created a trade for itself to some extent, but at the same time it is not easy to conceive that the success of steamers has not otherwise been prejudicial to sailing vessels ; the latter must in time lose all their traffic, except that which con sists of the carriage of heavy commodities. There is no preventing the change—it may be looked forward to as inevitable. Shall we not, then, endeavour to obtain some relief from burdens which ships in the coasting trade were only able to bear while unopposed by vessels more formi dable than themselves.—Shipping Gazette. PERILOUS ADVENTURE.—On Saturday morning last a party of twelve individuals, two of whom were women with children, set out from this harbour, in a small boat, for the Lady Isle, where they intended to wind up the festivities of the race week with a pic-nic on that fine little island. Here, according to their own account, they spent the day so pleasantly that the shades of evening were within an hour or so of closing around them before they thought of steering their course homewards. Having, ultimately, left the island, the fog became so dense before they had proceeded any distance that they lost all know ledge of their track ; and, after trying in vain to make the shore, they, eventually, gave themselves up to the mercy of the wind and waves. After beating about for some hours, in a state almost bordering on distraction, they caught a glimpse of Pladda Lighthouse, which they succeeded in making, after a great deal of exertion. They were most hospitably entertained by the keepers; and, as the wind was unfavourable during the whole of Sunday, they were obliged to remain there till Monday morning, when they set sail, and reached this about mid day. Their non-arrival on Saturday night created great sensation ; and a boat was despatched to the Lady Isle, on Sunday, in search of them; but, as it returned with out having learned anything whatever about them, the anxiety of their friends and relations became most intense. Indeed, before their arrival on Monday, all hope of see ing them alive was entirely given up ; and, when it at length became known that a boat like that in which they set out was observed in the bay, the crowd that collected along the quay to witness their arrival was immense. This adventure, we have no doubt, will cure all future inclination of the party to go a pleasuring without some competent person to manage the boat for them.—Ayr Observer. JAMES COCKBURN BELXNEY. — ne excitement cre ated by the trial of this person on the charge of murder ing his wife, at Stepney, still prevails in North Sunder land and its neighbourhood,. where the miserable man resides, and has been living since his acquittal. On Monday evening last the populace collected in great num bers about S o'clock, and paraded the streets and lanes in and near North Sunderland, with three effigies. the first representing Belaney, the second " the archfiend," and the last one of Belaney's friends, who resides in New castle, and who took a very prominent part in the l a te trial in favour of the prisoner. On the procession reaching the gates of Belaney's house, about 9 o'clock, they began to set fire to the effigy outside the gates, up on which Belaney rushed out of the house, and fired off a pistol in the direction of the crowd, but he was glad to make a hasty retreat, dropping his pistol on the way. His conduct so exasperated the populace, that they com menced a general assault on Belaney's house, battered in the shutters, and demolished the glass frames. Having effected an entrant they destroyed everything that came in their way. In the confusion Belaney effected his escape, and he contrived to elude the . vigilance o f hi s pursers by secreting himself in a neighbouring corn field, otherwise there is little doubt his life would have been sacrificed. The crowd then set fire to the gates and to two of the figures, and finally suspended that repre senting Belaney by the neck from the chimney -top of a house on the opposite side of the road, where it yet remains attracting the attention of the curious. The house on the following morning had all the appearance of a place that had undergone the fury of a milit ar y assau l t, the walls being battered as if struck by hundreds of can non-balls. But the work of destruction did not end here. The populace again assembled on Wednesday night, and burnt the premises completely to the ground. The situa ation of Belaney's house was a very romantic one. It is at the end of the village. near the edge of the cliff, over looking the sea, the drawing-room windows being only a few inches from the summit of a fearful precipice. It, was built according to a plan laid down by himself, and has long afforded food for gossip among the rustic popu lation of that locality. THE LATE POST-OFFICE ESPIONAGE.—The circum stances that first led Mazzini to suspect that his corre spondence had been tampered with (says the writer of an article in the " Westminster Review," from whom we glean these particulars), was a communication to the Times, printed as a leading article, the writer of which boasted of having then lying before him a mass of docu ments relating to the efforts of an association in London for the emancipation of Italy ; and alluded to facts, of which only a few members of that association could have been cognisant by honest means. The attention of Maz zini had also been excited by frequent delays in the de livery of his letters ; and now, on examining the post mark, his suspicions were confirmed by observing, that they invariably bore the mark of two different stamps, the one intended to efface the other; the object of which appeared to be to make the hoar of delivery to corre spond with that in which the letter had been received, and so to prevent the original stamp or atte station of the receiver of the time when the letter was posted, being evidence of the fact of its detention. To be quite sure of this Mazzini took the precaution to post, in St. Martin's le-Grand, letters directed to himself early in the forenoon, when the receiver's stamp would be 10 F N 10. The let ters came to hand in the afternoon with the receiver's mark, 10 altered to 12 ; the figure of 2 being stamped upon the original 0, but not so as entirely and successfully to conceal it. Mazzini then, in the presence of witnesses, posted, at one and the same time, letters addressed to him self, and letters addressed to fictitious persons at the same residence, and the letters were regularlytdelivered two hours before his own. On consulting with his friends, other d co en n e tr e i . van L c e e Letters e w r e s r d e ing grains of sand, poppy seeds, or fine hairs , and so folded r a e d e o te p d t e t d o t A o i a c z o z m i n p i l w e . t e e re t s c t l e m d i , n o o n f ta e i N n i i -- that the sand, the seed, or the hairs, could not fall out unless the letters were opened. When , delivered, sand, seed, and hairs had disappeared. Other experiments were tried with the seals. A wafer, carefully cut square, was found to have altered its shape in passing through the post-office; and in case of wax seals, the exact appear ance of the impression being carefully noted, it was f oun d that the subsequent post - office counterfeit was sometimes placed more or less upright than the original. THE STEAM NAVY OF GREAT BRITAIN. (From the Times.) Two returns have lately been printed by order of the House of Commons, which at this peculi ar j unc t ure o f affairs will be read with interest, and, we are i nc li ne d to think, with satisfaction. The first gives the " amount of horse-power ordered for her Majesty's st eam - vesse l s be tween the Ist day of April, 1839, and the 31st of August, Bas follows :—Horse-power, 4,496 ; num b er o f vessels, The second describes the " amount of h orse -p ower , 8,e., between the Ist day of Septe m b er , 1841, and the t 41 1 0 8 ; f j to u n ly n , a g l e : 84 1 4 6, ~5 , 8 t 1 h 11,261 ; . us :—Horse-powe r number of vessels, 30 ; tonnage, 26,892. , From these statistics it seethe that in the first three years of the present admi n i s t ra ti on t h ere has b een an addition of twelve to the num b er o f our war steamers , with a corresponding increa se o f more t h an 10 , 000 tons i n 1 1 s day their burden, as compared with the strength of the same department during the two last years of their predecessors —a period memorable for the isolation and the irritability of France and the grand naval demo n strations in theEa . st. It is, indeed, highly gra tif y i ng to diSCQVcr t hi s accesfigni Kept. 24, 1814. of strength to an arm of the service on which may devolve the duty of supporting the honour of the English Marine in any future war. And although we are far from desi ring that any opportunity for such a display should soon occur, yet when we look to the present aspect of the poll' tical horizon, and read the deliberate opinions and pre vailing sentiments of those by whose opinions and senti' ments the probabilities of a continental war may be en' hanced, and its terrors multiplied—when we see tbem coolly calculating on the possibility of subverting our power by the multiplied resources of steam n avigatio n, ous stroke of piratical tactics,—it certainly and determining the issue of a campaign by some dexter us to find that the present government has not bees wholly indifferent to the efficiency of that peculiar forc e • ders to which the avowed policy of our prospective invaders has already attributed the faculty of deciding international controversies in the shortest and most summary way' We trust, indeed, that their warnings may prove a g ed; necessary as their predictions false ; and that the P' of Europe is in no danger of being violated by the blot' of wrongheaded subordinates, by the zeal of hot' headed propagandists, or by the truculent ambition of a reckless faction. But we know that there is no met" : at once so effective and pacific of demonstrating the fat' . lity of their predictions, and the emptiness of their gas*, conades, as the possession of such an armament as th e y themselves affirm is adequate to cope with all the neces: sities and fulfil all the functions of a great and povverfe l does gratify navy. While, however, we cannot help applauding this in crease in the numbers and efficiency of its war steamer!' we would at the same time once more impress upon th e country and the minis ry the conviction that no t iro; should be lost in placing the other departments of our marine establishment on a footing of corresponding Eel; nitude. We may rest assured, that shot*" it be our 1 fate—and we may say the ill fate of Europe—to be in volved in a continental war, the great conflict which Eng land will have to wage must be determined on the sea; and that the question of maritime predominance or mari time subjection—the question which England would 00 be forced to decide—in a word, the question whether she should abdicate her dominion of the seas or not—call under no circumstances be decided by any number 0 ,, steamers, however skilfully constructed, however lightly built, however cleverly managed, or completely manned. No ; the masterdom of the ocean must depend—as it hitherto has depended—upon the bulk and body of her sailing ships—their breadth of beam, their solidity of con struction—and, more than all, on the native caurage of those who man them. As heretofore, the fate of a great naval battle will dep en d on th e combined sc ience, gal lantry, and coolness of the off i cers and men—upon the tact with which the line is broken, or the dash with which the enemy is boarded. No new invented mode of inva sion will prove a successful substitute for these old and approved resources. BANK OF ENGLAND RETURNS. The London Gazette of Friday week contained the return under the New Bank Act of the last session, sh ° l; ing the position of the Bank of England for the week ending on Saturday the 7th of September. This return,. is divided into two distinct branches of Issue Department and Banking Department, in conformity with the provi sions of the act. The public are at length furnished with all the information they can require for a complete under standing of the position of the Bank and the circulatio n ' In 1833, whe the first returns were published, it may be with truth asserted, that the principle only of publicitY. was conceded ; for the returns themselves, being involve i a in the intricacies of three-monthly averages, were nearti useless for practical purposes. The act of 1811 certaintf corrected this deficiency as far as regards the circulatiol and bullion, but omitted to make any altetation in sever!„ other important items. The present returns, from thei r minute subdivisions, may perhaps appear to some to err on the other side, more especially at the commencemen t, when there are no antecedent averages of equal detail to compare with them. The sum total of the two return s being much larger than those hitherto published, 01 , 81 , also lead many persons into the error of supposing M a ' the recent alterations in the Bank Charter have been the means of greatly increasing the circulation of the country For this reason, and from there being no previous returns of sufficient accuracy to compare with the new one, it is proposed, on the present occasion, to give a description of the various items, and to suggest such combination first and comparisons as are considered essential, either when referring the present to the preyious returns, or the sub" sequent new returns with each other. For the purpos e 0 ' reference, we insert the last return of the Bank of Eng land, published on the 10th of August, 1844, merely Pre; mi.,ing that this is not an actual return, but an average °I the preceding thirteen weeks : Circulation £21,324,000 Securities .... £22,909, , _„„ Deposits 14,090,000 Bullion Total liabilities £35,414,000 I Total assets .. £38,487, 00° Taking the items in the order in which they are now published, the fir.,t appears in the Issue Department E! .5 " Notes Issued," £28,351,295. Now, if a comparison is to be made with former returns, those notes only must be taken from the new accounts which are really with the public; and to arrive at this sum we must deduct from the above amount the £8,175,025, which is the amount of notes in the possession of the Banking Department, as shown in the second of the new returns. This leaves,- .£20,176,270 for the amount of notes in circulation, show ing a decrease as compared with the last average. The great apparent increase in the amount of notes issued is, therefore,. no real addition to the circulation; for the issuing department merely returns to the banking depart ment in the shape of notes the amount which is an equiva lent for the excess of capital giving up to the issuing branch. Under the old system, if the holders of deposits wished to draw out their funds, the Bank had the power of making notes to pay them, which became added to the notes in circulation ; and their issue of the notes in reserve will, under the new arrangement, only effect the same thing. In either case the result is, that more notes are in the hands of the public, without alteration in the a mount of securities. In both cases also, if the• Bank preferre d to sell securities to the amount of the demand for depootsr the total notes actually in circulation would remain the same. On the other side of the account in the issue de partment,, we have the item of £11,015,100, being th e debt due from the Government to the Bank. This now forms a portion of the basis of the circulation. The patnk having given up this and other securities and b u llion to the amount altogether of £28,351,295, will clearly eXPIaII3 the amount of notes issued, which being greater 1 1 £8,175,025 than the sum in the hands of the public , tY A I R difference is returned to the banking branch to Pr°""" for deposits and other purposes. The sum called " other, securities' amounting to £2,984,900 will be foun d, added to the £11,015,100. to form the exact £14,000,e", allowed to be issued by the new act of Parliament. I. '", compare the present statement of securities with former returns, we must form the following table :-- From the issue department . From the banking department (Go vernment securities) Ditto, other securities 14,554,83 4 7,835,616 £25,375,3 0 b e The last published return states the securities to only £22,908,000, showing a large increase, which is ni ) easily comprehended. This is connected with the call obscure points in the returns. From the last returns t n liabilities were stated to be £35,414,000, and the as,s,, et, £38,437,000, showing a surplus, or rest, of £3,o7 3 t uu Now this rest, added to the original debt due from t i l / Government, that is, £11,015,100, amounts to1:14,088,1 i b 0 and this would appear to be all the capital possessed by the Bank after realizing all their securities and Pay ing their debts, and which could be divided among the 51 1 °4 holders; but in the new returns we find not only the re._ " put down at £3,564.729, but the proprietors' capita..,a stated to be £14,553,000, or more than it was e stiroa", when the rest was included. This part of the subject rt..% quires some explanation. With regard to the bullion t il t best method for the present will be to add the aran u , ii e held by the banking department to that held by issue department, before comparing it with preee ing periods. But whenever the new r eturns sl", be compared with eac h o th er , thi s w ill no t be T , 1 „g cessary, as the amount o f b u lli on i n the bank h i a branch _ will always be maintained a t a moderate sere b y sending in notes to the issuing dep ar t m ent if W e e . is a demand for gold, and vice versa in the opposite 10, By the present return the amount of bullion i5£15,20 9,u . showing a slight decrease as compared with the prec e Na period. The public and private deposits must be 8 t he together for a comparison with former returns uncle! . 0 - old system, At a future period the two species 01 ,0 counts may be compared separately. it must be n o f observed, that we do not possess any correct ac courif oo t the former amounts of the deposits, this item having Lof left out of the returns under the act of 1831, an d ° ye.' published in the old useless form of three-monthlY f er r or rages. This is, however, only a t em p o r a ry cause 0- e „ s ito and inconvenience. The pre sen t re t u r n of the del' or n. gives a total of £12,275,157, showing a decrease as fob pared with the former average of about £1,809,0 00. the exception , th ere f ore , o f th e remar k a bl e aPParen eon' crease in the securities, there appears to be no verl,. o , siderable vari a ti on i n th e currenc y f rom the last rett'' LAW INTELLIGENCE. t i o THE f tbe GREATci city N o N f ' I ', CAsE . Gloucester — a most unexpected turn. It their suit in the case of their extensive_ claims 0,1 that` estate of the late Mr. Jas. Wood, of Gloucester, so" ta ke the settlement of this long-pending suit is likely t °, 1 ,. - n IY that the real ' will or codicil, properly attested, is at le o f forthcoming, and that a family in Worcestershire, to humble respectability, are likely, as heirs-at-lsWe e s. is CASE.—We have ra e tr a er r da thatnvgeerdytlat co e o nn coredbi,ao become possessed of Mr. Wood's enormous wealth.--'l,ese [The Gloucester Chronicle, of Saturday, states that tx' statements are altogether without foundation.] it i‘ An action for breach of promise of marriage has , 1 01 l said, been brought against Earl Ferrars , by a young of much amiability, residing near Tamworth. t all The Poor Law Commissioners have decided ths - r e occupiers of houses compounded for to the poor-rates Zs• entitled to have their names placed on the rate cunt Occupiers of parts of houses , whos e several rents stpe",l to to £lO per annum , are als o, we understand, e ntitl be placed upon the rate book. pe ter' FLINT AND CUT GLASS.—Doubts have been - hie tamed whether bottles of flint and cut class are chargeso w ith duty by the Act 7 Victoria , chap. 16, under the bead e of " Bottles of glass not otherwise enumerated] or t he scribed, £1 per cwt., and, further, on account of Excise duty, 78. per cwt. ;" or as " Flint and cut glatlie for every £lOO value £3O, and, further, on account 0f..,.6 Excise duty, 7s. per cwt. ; " and, the customs autoriß's, being of opinion that all bottles of flint and cut gp, or 0 1 ; should be charged with the latter rate of duty, have been issued for the officers in London and lit 0140118 to govern themselves accordingly.