The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-08-22 00:00:00

titeraturr. POETRY. CHOPIN'S PLAYING. The pale wizard's fingers With magical skill, Make music that lingers In memory still. To Paradise nearer, And seems a thanksgiving, From all that are living With ecstacy There wild bells are tinkling, And shooting stars twinkling: Great meteors are rmliing, Soft streamlets are gushing, Through meadows of flowers, And deep shady bowers, Full of music the ina , :dest, The sweetest, the saddest, Men's ears all entrancing The heart-tones distilling, Through space resound lowly Pathetic and holy. Like a chant of the fairies The harmony varies. With long drawn whisperings, Out of liCe's hidden springs, Tili the wizard awaying, With every nerve shakinß• Pours a last peal of thunder Now nightingales breathing; Now fierce oceans seething ; The wild cadence dying, To heaven in flyin, So his magical fingers, With exquisite skill, Make a music that lingers In memory still. Fraser's Magazine, Bears the soul Of the hearer VARIETIES. The love of glory can only create a hero ; the contempt of it creates a great man. Lord Clarendon derives his descent from Oliver Crom well, through his mother, Theresa Parker, who was the great-great-granddaughter of Frances Cromwell, the Pro ector's youngest child. At the sale of the Pembroke collection of coins, a penny of Offa, king of 3lercia, sold for ten guineas, whilst a penny of Cynethrytli, his queen, produced £3l ; and a ryal or half-sovereign of Henry VII., so rare that the pre sent coin is believed to be the second or third known, sold or 100 guineas. The present year has this singularity, that it is divisible by no fewer than thirty different numbers, viz. 2, 3,4, 6,7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 21, 22. 24, 23, 33, 42, 44, 56, 66. 77, 84, 88, 132, 154, 168, 231, 264, 308, 462, 616. 924. Next year will be the square of 43 ; while we have not had a " square" year since 1764 ; and the next which will occur will be S 7 years after next year: namely, in 1936. SINGULARITY IN NUMBERS.—A correspondent of the Manchester Guardian says, " Perhaps many of your readers may not have observed, that if you multiply any given number by itself, say 8 ;—thus 8 s 8 = 64, then take one from the multiplier and add it to the multi plied, the product will always fall short by one of the for mer product. Thus 1 from B';=.- 7, 1 added to 8= 9 ; 7 el 9 = 63. And this rule appears to extend to all num bers, large or small." STAMMERING WlT.—Stammering (says Coleridge) is sometimes the cause of a pun. Some one was mentioning n Lamb's presence the cold-heartedness of the Duke of Cumberland, in restraining the duchess from running up to the embrace of her son, whom she had not seen for a considerable time, and insisting on her receiving him in state. " How horribly cold it was," said the narrator. " Yes," said Lamb, in his stammering way, " but you know he is the Duke of Cu-cum-ber-land." Once, during the Peninsular war, when the Duke of Wellington was fast asleep after a hard day's march, he was suddenly roused by his Aide-de•Camp, with intelli bence that the enemy were at hand. The officer who rought the intelligence was ordered in. " Your detach ment has been hotly pursued since morning ?" "It has, my lord." " Are your men fagged ?" " Completely worn out." " Then the French must be dead beat too ; they won't attack to-night. Good night, Sir ;" and the Duke was again asleep before the Aide-de-Camp and the officer were well out of the tent. THE " WHITE L kDIES."—Those who are acquainted with Worcester will recollect a rambling old house in that town, built on the site of an ancient nunnery, and known as the " White Ladies." It is famous in history as the house from which Charles 11. made his escape from Cromwell's army. There are still remaining parts of the old nunnery, from one end of which, through a closed arch, tradition has invariably asserted that a subterrauean passage extended to a crypt in the cathedral, a distance of at least half a mile. The tradition has been partially con firmed by the discovery of traces of the passage in the cel ars of houses in the High-street. About 40 years ago an attempt was made to explore it by Dr. Prattinton, but his progress was interrupted by noxious air, and from that time it has been closed. It will now, however, by the kindness of the proprietor of '• White Ladies," be again opened, and a more systematic process made to unravel the mystery, under the direction of the British Archaeolo gical Association during their congress. Excavations will also be made in the ancient cemetery of the nunnery, the site of a stone sarcophagus having been ascertained. The greatest interest is felt in Worcester as to the result of these proceedings. IDENTITY OF DIAMOND AND COKE.—Mr. James Nay smith, of Bridgewater Foundry, Patricroft, near Man chester, has tested, as it were, and proved the fact, of the dentity of diamond and coke, by the discovery that the minute laminated crystals or crystlets of coke are capable of cutting glass with the true diamond clearness of cut, or without merely scratching. No other setting too is necessary to prove this fact, than the crumbling consis tency of the coke itself in mass ; so that a fragment of coke, switched at random across a pane of glass in the sunshine, is sufficient to exhibit not only the depth of the clear cut, but the prismatic colours in all their purity and beauty. Ground to impalpable powder, Mr. Nay smith, as intimated in the Mining Journal, has found that coke constitutes what we may call the true " dia mond paste " for sharpening razors,—probably, indeed, f we may venture to say so, the only secret of the dia mond pastes so largely advertised, if they merit even so worthy a supposition. The adamantine properties of black oxide of manganese, and its peculiar affinities, in duced an ingenious chemist to suggest its strong analogy to carbon : is it possible that it too, when in fragments, much more firmly crystalline as it is in mass than coke, may cut glass with practical facility ?—Builder. MILAN.—This city now the capital of Lombardy, is known of old foundation. The precise date can scarcely be ascertained ; hut it was an emporium of cheese and corn before the Christian era. The city was twice razed to the ground—first by Attila, king of the barbarous Huns, who invaded the Roman empire in the fifth cen tury ; and afterwards by Frederick Barbarossa, emperor of Germany, who vowed not to leave one stone of it on another, because the inhabitants—whom he had obliged to appear before him, by way of satisfaction for a previous rebellion, with ropes about their necks—had, after his departure, paraded his own image through their streets, equipped in a similar fashion. Redbeard—such was the meaning of the emperor's surname—kept his word ; and Milan has been taken, with more or less injury, by every conqueror from Charlemagne to Napoleon. During the ages of tilt and tournament, Milan was celebrated for the manufacture of armour, to the durability and beauty of which all the historians of those times testify; but when knightly fashions passed away before the invention of gunpowder and the advance of military science, the town returned to its earlier and more pacific commerce in cheese and corn, to which later centuries have added silk. Yet i is cathedral, entirely built of snow-white marble, is still the admiration of all lovers of architecture ; and its traffic i n the commodities we have enumerated confers an almost equal distinction on Milan in the eyes of the commercial world. LORD BYRON'S VANlTY. — During the residence of Lord Byron at Venice a clerk was sent from the office of Messrs. Vizard and Co., of Lincoln's Inn, to procure his ordship's signature to 'a legal instrument. On his arrival, the clerk sent a message to the noble poet, who appointed to receive him on the following morning. Each party was punctual to the minute. His lordship had dressed him self with studious care ; and, on the opening of the door of his apartment, it was evident that he had placed him self in what he thought a becoming pose. His right arm was displayed over the back of a splendid couc h, and his head was gently supported by the fingers o f hi s l e f t h an d. He bowed slightly as his visitor approached him, and ap peared anxious that his recumbent attitude should remain undisturbed. After the signing of the d ee d, t h e no bl e ord made a few inquiries upon the politics of England, in the tone of a finished exquisite. Some refreshment which was brought in afforded the messenger an opportunity for more minute observation. His lordship's hair had been curled and parted on the forehead ; the collar of his shirt was thrown back, so that not only the throat, but a con siderable portion of his bosom was exposed to view, though partially concealed by some fanciful ornament suspended round the neck. His waistcoat was of costly velvet, and his legs were enveloped in a superb wrapper. It is to be regretted that so great a mind as that of Byron shoulne rive satisfaction from things so trivial and unimportant, but much more that it was liable to be disturbed by a re collection of personal imperfections. In the above inter view, the clerk directed an accidental glance at his lord ship's lame foot, when the smile that played upon the visage of the poet became suddenly converted into a frown. His whole frame appeared discomposed ; his tone of af fected suavity became hard and imperious ; and he called to an attendant to open the door, with a peevishness sel dom exhibited even by the most irritable.—London Anecdotes. MELANCHOLY FATE OF A DISCOVERER. — Costigan was a young Irishman, whose mind was set upon exploring the Dead Sea, and giving the world the benefit of his discoveries. It would have been a useful service ; and he had zeal and devotedness enough for it. But he wanted either knowledge or prudence ; and he lost his life in the adventure, without having left us any additional informa tion whatever. He sent a small boat overland, on camels' backs, to the Lake of Tiberias, and in this he set forth (in an open boat in the month of July!) with only one at tendant—a Maltese servant. They followed the Jordan, entered the Dead Sea, and reached its southern end, not without hardship and difficulty. But the fatal struggle was in returning. The wind did not often favour them ; and it once blew a squall that they threw overboard what ever came to hand : and the first thing that the servant threw over was their only cask of fresh water. They were now compelled to row for their lives, to reach the Jordan before they perished with thirst ; but the sun scorched them from a cloudless sky, and the air was like that of a furnace. When Costigan could row no further, his servant made some coffee from the water of the lake : and then they lay down in the boat to die. But the man once more roused himself, and by many efforts brought the boat to the head of the lake. They lay helpless for a whole day on that burning shore, unable to do more than throw the salt water over each other from time to time. The next morning, the servant crawled away, in hopes of reaching Rihhah, which he did with extreme difficulty. He sent Costigan's horse down to the shore, with a supply of water. the poor young man was alive ; and he was carried to Jerusalem in the coolness of the night. He was taken care of in the Latin convent there; but he died in two days. During those hours of lingering, he never spoke of his enterprise ; and not a note concerning it was ever found among his effects. Any knowledge that he might have gained has perished with him ; and no reliable reformation could be obtained from his servant. Costi gan's grave is in the Armenian burying-ground ; and there I saw the stone which tells his melancholy story. Ile died in 1835.-3(iss Afartineasei Raterra Travel. STRICTURES ON THE SEX AND PHYSIOGNOMY OF THE SPHINX.—The Sphinx has been a much-misrepresented monster. First, all travellers have, until late, combined in depriving him of his gender: he is masculine, my good lady, and not one of your sex at all. Witness his beard, which has lately been grubbed up. Now a beard is not an adjunct of even an Egyptian gentlewoman. Next, tourists have talked twaddle by the bucketful about this Brobdig nag's " solemn beauty, mild benignity, serene repose." All humbug —not one word of truth in the whole of it. As an honest man, I will tell how he really appears. View him in profile, take a side-glance at his battered face, and noseless physiognomy—you have the image of a superannuated baboon in a judge's wig. Now take him in front, face him, and behold a beau-ideal of the ghost of Old Antiquity. Yes, he has braved the brunt of centu ries—their characters are written on his brow. Father of countless sphynxes, he has buried almost all his offspring, and now seems but awaiting the desolation of his old com peers, the pyramids, to conge time, and glideinto eter nity.—Dublin University Magazine. SOCIAL INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.H3upposing a government to act systematically from motives and on principles in accordance with the Christian rule, what an impulse would not be given to the sense of those duties and responsibilities, on the due discharge of which, simul taneously with the exercise of their rights, depends the welfare of society. The owner of land, the master of the factory, instead of considering the labourer and the artisan as mere instruments for raising corn or spinning cotton at the least possible charge—instead of doling them out their daily wages only as oil to make the machinery work, would take an interest in their welfare, provide for their comforts and recreation, and, above all, would bestow on them the most precious of all gifts, occasional leisure to attend to those higher and more enduring interests, which are equally the patrimony of the poor and the rich, and of which the abridgment of manual labour, resulting from the progress of 'mechanical inventions, would appear pro videntially designed to promote the cultivation. This, in Christian countries, is no doubt already realised in many a farm and many a loom, where the landlord and the ma nufacturer pursue their calling, under a due sense of their responsibility as the stewards of God, which it is un doubtedly intended those who have more should be to those who have less. But if, in addition to this beneficial influence, thus individually, yet partially exercised, that of the public authorities of the state were to be brought into action, who can say to what a pitch of prosperity a land thus governed might not attain ? These general conside rations may suffice to show in what manner the national character may be affected by the doctrines acted upon by governthents in respect to the ' material' interests of a na tion, and how intimately the welfare of the labouring classes is connected with the religious sense entertained, by their rich employers, of the responsibility attached to the possession of wealth ; that is, how deep an interest the people have in the Christianity of their rulers.—Morier's Letters. THE NUNNERIES OF ROME.—Some establishments are so closely kept, that mortal eye can never see the intima penetra lia. The " Sepulte vice," for example, i.e., " the buried alive," establishments of this kind. The young creature, as a part of the ceremonial of admission, is laid alive in her coffin ; and, when once admitted, she is in fact as if dead and buried to her friends ; for she is never allowed to see again father or mother, brother or sister ! Once a year, on an appointed day, the parents of the " buried alive" may attend the nunnery ; and the young creature within may hear their loved and familiar voices, but she must not see them ; and, as no kind of intercourse is ever permitted, she can never know whether they are living or dead, except as she hears or does not hear their voices on that day. If a parent has died during the year, the abbess assembles the nuns ; she tells them that the parent of one of them is dead, and desires that all pray for the soul of the departed ; but she never re veals the name of the dead, so that all the nuns are left in a state of agonising suspense till the one day comes round, and all listen to catch the tone of their parent's voices, and the absence of the longed-for voice tells the tale of the bereaved recluse ! Such, at least, is the ac count the Romans give of these establishments ; which thus seems the climax of cruelty, rending and agonising the hearts of the inmates under the pretence of a desire to wean them from the world. But that which concerns our present subject is the veil of secrecy that covers all within such establishments as these. There may be—l must not say that there is—there may possibly be the most frightful vice—there may be the most ruffian violence —there may be the veriest climax of profligacy—there may possibly be all this and the public never know it. History has recorded the fact, that in the apartments of the inquisitors of Spain there were found 62 young women, who had been corrupted and ruined by the inquisitors, and kept there where the public could never know it. The French soldiery flung open the Inquisition, and re vealed the secret. There is no security in Italy against the same evil in a very large proportion of the nunneries ; for every crime of earth and hell may possibly be rife throughout their cloisters, and the cry of injured inno cence and outraged virtue, stifled within the walls, remain unheard by the world without. While we were at Rome, an abbess of one of the nunneries rushed forth fanatically and opening the gates, plunged into the Tiber, and there sought in its deep waters to drown the memory and the remorse of the past ! We were surprised at the pains taken to deny and conceal this fact, though known and witnessed by hundreds. The ecclesiastical could not bear to hear it mentioned.—Rev. Hobart Seyniour'sPilgrimage. THAT FLUTE !—Whatever the faults of our hero [Oliver Goldsmith], we have seen that at least he was generous— (borrowers mostly are so). He passes a florist's garden, and spends the greater part of the loan lie has received in pur chasing costly roots, which he sends to his uncle. Thus re lieved of unphilosophical superfluities, he sets off from Leyden—one guinea in his pocket, one shirt on his back, and flute in hand. That flute—we beg pardon for so cur sory and slighting a mention of that flute. What was our friend without it ? That flute, dear mischief! had been his solace and perdition. Woe, and thrice woe, to any man constitutionally indolent, with his own way to make in this hard life, who takes to the flute ! Slow will be his advance in the world with his fingers on those fatal stops ! That flute—deadliest of all the friendships the sizar had made at college—at every new insult he had received from man, at every fresh disaster he had provo ked from fortune, that flute had furnished inauspicious vent for " blowing off" what otherwise might have been salutary " excitement." It was as much as Ulysses could do— what with stopping the ears of his seamen and having himself lashed to the mast—to save his ship from the Sirens. But when one is not Ulysses, and one carries a Siren always about with one in one's pocket, shipwreck must be the habitual incident of life. With this flute he then sets off on a tour—the man who had tried in vain to be a scholar, a clergyman, and a lawyer, and ought now to be hard at work in qualifying himself for a doctor! Travelling on foot, the flute—(fiat justitia, for once not all perfidious) —opens to him the hospitality of humble roofs. He sees the world to the sound of his own music. Through Flanders, France, Switzerland, and parts of Italy, he pursues his wanderings, and boasts that "he examines mankind and sees both sides of the picture." So at last he fights (or rather flutes) his way towards England and steps on shore at Dover. No more flute playing, now, poor vagrant. No doors open here to that disreputable Siren In the middle of February behold him wandering " without friend or acquaintance, without the knowledge or comfort of one kind face, in the lonely, terrible London streets Suddenly, from the unpro fitable employment of feeling the pulses of patients who are more likely to be feed by him than to fee, he is wrenched aside into that of assistant at the academy at Peckham. " May I die by an an o dy n e necklace,"saith he (speaking out of his own heart, though in the lips of another), " but I would rather be under-turnkey at New gate !" With the most morbid desire that man ever had to be treated with respect, our poor friend sets to work to command it in a way peculiarly his own. "He plays all kinds of tricks on the servants and the boys (of which he had no lack of return in kind)—tells entertaining stories —and amuses everybody with his flute." That accursed flute ! —Edinburgh Review. THE SOCIAL AND MORAL POSITION OF WOMEN IN CHINA.—Even amongst the females of the highest ranks, few are found who can read or write; their education is confined to the art of embroidery, playing on a horrid three-stringed guitar, and singing ; but the obligation of obedience to man is early inculcated, and the greater por tion of their time is spent in smoking and playing at cards. The women of the poorer classes have no education, and can be considered but little better than beasts of burden. A man of that rank will walk deliberately by his wife's side, while she totters under a heavy load, and frequently may she be seen yoked to a plough, while her husband guides it ! Those of the lower classes who are good-look ing, according to Chinese ideas of beauty, are purchased by the rich at about twelve or fourteen years, for concu bines, and arc then instructed according to their master's ideas. The Chinese cannot at all comprehend the Euro pean mode of treating ladies with respect or deference, and being naturally superstitious, attribute to devilish arts, practised by the fair sex, the just appreciation we en tertain of their value; in short, they consider European ladies have an influence somewhat similar to that ascribed to an evil eye by Italian superstition. Chinese domestics have a very great objection to reside in a European family, over which a lady presides : and an old tradition of theirs curiously coincides with their superstition about our fe males—" That China should never be conquered until a woman reigned in the far- West." Some say that this prophecy was never heard of, until they were conquered by the army of Queen Victoria. Be this as it may, they all contend that it is to be found in some of their oldest works. Many traditions are extant in China relative to women; and amongst other legends, the horrible practice of deforming the female foot is thus said to have com menced :—the wife of one of their ancient emperors was found by her lord and master near the apartment of one of the great officers of the court, who had the reputation of being handsome. Receiving from the emperor a torrent of abuse for her misconduct, she pleaded, in her defence, that it was not her fault, but that of her feet, which were so very large, they took her t o th e s p o t sore l y aga i ns t h er will. The emperor immediately ordered the forepart of her feet to be amputated. Such i s th e origin of the crip pled foot, which from this time became the fashion. * * This horrid and barbarous taste is most unaccountable in a nation where the undistorted natural foot of woman is the very model of beauty ; the high instep is equal to the Andalusian, and the arch of the sole rivals that of the Arab ; the ancle, which in the distorted foot becomes re voltingly thick, is symmetry itself. Such a foot, of course, can only be seen among the lower classes. The whole fe male character seems to be completely changed by the barbarous practice in question ; for the countenance of a Chinese beauty is always void of animation, and some ' what expressive of the suffering which her ligatured feet may produce, while the countenances of uncrippled females are full of vivacity. In the course of conversation with Lum-Qua (the celebrated Chinese artist), who is an ex ceedingly intelligent man, I asked his opinion of an Eng lish belle then in Canton, and his reply was truly charac teristic of the Chinese ideas of beauty—" Her face is too round, her eyes too blue, too large; she's too tall, and too plump, and feet so large she can walk on them."—Dub lin University Magazine. Standard Office, Tcn o'clock. Report of York and North Midland, and York,Newcastle,and Berwick Meetings. (FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.) These meetings were held at the De Grey Rooms, York, yesterday, and were numerously attended. The dividend declared by the York and North Midland was 8 per cent. on the stock, and 12s. per share on £l5 of the East and West Riding. After these payments a surplus remained of £134 2s. 10d. Mr. Iludson attributed the reduced dividend to the state of trade at home and abroad. He stated that no new works should be commenced until he saw the result of the harvest—if good, they would complete the line from Market Weighton to Beverley ; that they were about concluding a treaty with the Great Northern to run trains through to York, and the York and North Midland to run through to Doncaster ; that the York and North Midland was fully protected; that no other company could injure it, and that as the times improved so would their dividend. Mr. Hudson's statements were well re ceived, and considered satisfactory. It was siated that two branches of this line are particularly affected by bad times—the Harrogate and Market Weighton Branches-- and• press heavily upon the whole. At the York and Berwick meeting, 8 per cent. was also declared, less tax, with 10s. on the extension, which left the large surplus of £35,000. Mr. Hudson stated that the passage over the Tyne would be opened on the Ist of September, and the bridge over the Tweed on the Ist of October; that they had suffered much in these bad times from a reduction in their foreign coal trade, but they anticipated a large increase to Edinburgh and Hull after the opening of the bridges. The full dividend would be paid after July Ist, on £l5 of No. 1 shares, and on £lO of No. 2 shares. on £5 now called on the latter from date when due. He further stated that circulars were about to be issued pressing payment of this call, and a statement of the appropriation of the Great North purchase money would be prepared for next meet ing. This meeting sanctioned a lease of the Hartlepool Docks, at 8 per cent on £365,000 capital, and payment of interest on £153,000 debt, to be made capital in 1851 : lease for 99 years, from July Ist. This report was con sidered most satisfactory. Mr. Hudson stated that the working expense of the York and North Midland line would be in future much reduced. Standard-office, Two o'clock, p.m. LIVERPOOL SHARE MARKET.-THIS DAY. We have no change to report in the Share Market this morn ing. There are buyers, but at very low prices. The following was the business done up to one o'clock :—Leeds old shares, 164 d; London stock, 113 113; Birmingham and Dudley, 4p; London *-shares, par 1-16 d; Midland *-shares, 84; Midland stock, 91 ; Cheshire Junctions, 93 d Lecds preference, 11/3 p; North Staffords, 4d; Newcastle preference, 3/9 p; Dovers, old, 241 ; Shrewsbury 8., 4 d ; Leeds sths, 2 d. LIVERPOOL CORN MARKET.—This DAY. In consequence of the continued heavy rains which have fallen here during the last two days, our market this morning was numerously attended by town and country buyers, and in all branches of the trade considerable animation was apparent, and much higher prices were obtained for almost every article. The advance upon the rates of this day week was : In free Wheats 4d. to 6(1., and in bonded cargoes Bd. per 701 b. In American Flour 3s. per barrel, and in Irish 4s. per sack. Barley and Malt 28. per quarter each. Beans, 2s . to 35., and Pease, 4s. per quarter. Oats 3d. to 4d. per 451 b. ; Oatmeal 2s. per load. Indian Corn 3s. per quarter, and Corn Meal 2s. per barrel. TUE LIVERPOOL stfOolitro, SECOND EDITION. THE SALE AT STOW E. (From the Times.) This magnificent seat of the Duke of Buckingham is being dismantled of all its beauties. Last week the auc tioneer was at work. Under the lofty arch which crowns the long avenue fiom Buckingham, and opens the first view of the splendid Palladian facade, has lately passed a daily cavalcade which, except in its utter absence of style, might remind one of the road to Epsom on a Derby day. Barouches, flys, stage-coaches, " busses" pressed from the metropolitan service, and every gradation of " trap" down to the carrier's cart hastily emptied of groceries, dragged to Wolverton, and filled with the unfortunate holders of return tickets to town, constituted a dreary antithesis to the cortege which so lately brought Royalty to Stowe. An elaborately circuitous road conducted the impatient visitors to the park front, before which, in the vast amphitheatre formed by its side colonnades, so often the scene of rural festivities, the enemy encamped. One might imagine that a great county picnic liad suddenly gathered at Stowe. Even stalls were there. From the branch of a noble beech hung a huge pair of scales on which venison was weighed. An advertisement posted on the front door particularized the very moderate prices at which a buck, a half, or a quarter might be obtained. In the distance were fallen trees, timber waggons, and ex tempore sawpits. The extensive edifice was a human hive. _ _ The house was well set out for the distinguished visi tors. Neither Louis XVIII., nor the Duke of Orleans, nor Queen Victoria, nor any of the great ones of the earth, whose visits are recorded with pillars and with trees planted by their own hands, saw Stowe so nobly arrayed as the British public have seen it this week. The bride.was dressed for the altar, the victim for the sacri fice. No thrifty coverings, no ghostly brown holland, no neat patterned chintzes were there. King Mob had it all of the best,—the richest damask furniture and the newest state hangings ; only, as that personage rode literally roughshod through the palace, and brought with him cartloads of gravel, there was just an attempt to save the carpets from excessive trituration. In the state dining room were set out 60,000 oz. of gold and silver plate ; one was involuntarily reminded of the weight, for the scales were at work there also, and men were weighing and noting down lot after lot. On a table 20 yards long and on a dozen sideboards stood forests of vases, cande hbra, epergnes, groups, goblets, tankards, and every other form and variety of plate, from the elaborate de signs of Italian artists to the simple elegance of the Old English school, and the pretentious richness of the last generation. Among fifty other pieces of historic value, the gifts of Royal personages and distinguished men, stood a vase, formed from snuffboxes presented by the cities and corporations in Ireland in 1779; the mace of the old corporation of Buckingham, purchased by the Buckingham Conservatives and presented to the Duke as an everlasting possession ; and the Chandos Testimonial, for which the gentry and yeomanry of the county lately subscribed, we believe, £1,500. The galleries of family pOrtraits and collections of family memorials seem to connect all the great men and all the great achievements of modern Europe with the names of Chandos, Temple, Cobham, Nugent, and Grenville. But, beyond the somewhat extensive circle of family affection, the original portraits of famous men and women here assembled are of the greatest interest and value. Here, too, is the victor's portion in the spoil of celebrated sieges, the memento of historical friendships, and the favourite gem of Royalty or beauty. In the Manuscript room is the most extensive and valuable collection of Irish documents anywhere to he found. For the pictures, marbles, bronzes, antiques, articles of vertu, curiosities, china, glass, and wines, we leave them to the auctioneer, and his catalogue of 5,000 items. And everything is to be sold. The frtal ticket is every where seen. The portrait of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, the first founder of the family, by Holbein, is now lot 51, in the 21st day's sale. That every other an cestor should go the hammer, whether by Van Dyk, or Lely, or Kneller, or Gainsborough, or Reynolds, follows of course. But there is one item of which no preparation can remove the shock. The Chandos family is descended from Francis Brandon, eldest daughter of the above Charles Brandon, by Mary, daughter of Henry VII., and Queen Dowager of France. Some time since certain savages or dillettanti at Bury exhumed that Mary Bran don from her grave and took from her head a lock of silken hair, which thus constitutes a visible link between the present Duke of Buckingham and the throne of these realms, to ;which he has a reversionary interest. That lock of silken hair, in its glass case, is now to be sold to the highest bidder. Can we say more to show the extent of the devastation ? After this it is idle to mention that the Temple of Friendship is rifled of its illustrious tenants, and they are all to be sold. We repeat that everything goes. In two month's time there will not remain in that vast house one pewter spoon, one cracked cup, or spoutless tea-pot, to give a last vestige of hospi tality to the last vestige of the ducal interest in Bucking hamshire. The Morning Post states the general circumstances that have led to the sale :—" The bona fide debts of the duke are variously estimated, but I believe about one mil lion and a half sterling is within the mark, and may be considered approximating to the true amount: The cre ditors for this enormous sum are, as I understand, with scarcely an exception, amply secured on mortgages, which extending over every acre of land on the family estate, (with the single exception of the Chandos property,) amounting to about £17,000 per annum, as well as on the mansion of Stowe itself." The Post represents the Mar quis of Chandos, a young man of five-and-twenty, as urg ing his father to the most ample sacrifice of the entailed property, the most direct courses, and the most manly openness. During the past week Stowe was thronged with visitors of every degree, from the ducal carriage rider to the suburban butcher in his taxed cart. On Mon day rough measures were required to ex c l u d e severa l per sons who had got in without authority. The articles sold on the first days have been principally china ware and objects of vertu. From the terms of the advertise ment, it appears that the sale is expected to last, at least, till after the 25th of September. The Spectator says:— " Our contemporaries do not deal with th e cause to w hi c h the disaster is popularly assigned, an inordinate greed af ter land, inherited by the present duke from his father, a desire to grasp at every purchaseable acre, in order to ac quire for the ducal demesnes a princely extent of terri tory. According to report, it is not through munificence, but through a species of covetous grasping, th a t th e princely dignity of Stowe s i banded overto the bailiff, i and its ' rural felicity' ends n the squalidest of town mi series, a sale by auction." Mr. George Cornwall Legh, M.P., has accepted an in vitation to a public dinner at Macclesfield, on the 13th September. On Tuesday, a surgeon, at Whitehaven, named Dick, was drowned whilst bathing. The Wesleyan Methodists have decreased nearly 3,000 in number during their last year. Considerable quantities of butter have lately been im ported into London, from Havre, and other French ports, It isstated that there are 14,328 deaf and dumb persons in Great Britain. The Annuity Tax martyrs in Scotland are recovering their liberty by the aid of a subscription. If you want sympathy, break the law ! At Appleby assizes, the Rev. W. R. Robinson, age d , son of the late Rev. Dr. Robinson, of Clifton, was gegenced to fourteen years' transportation, for forgery. t. Ting PROTECTOR UMBRELLA.—The novelty of thi s i n vention is, that by unscrewing theme dle the umbrella is fastened so as to prevent its being by any person but the owner. Otneral gt tsrellann, The Lancaster Guardian says that Lord John Russell offered to M. T. Baines, Esq., M.P. for Hull, the Under- Secretaryship of the Home Department, but the honour was declined. Parsnips sown in September, will produce a.n abundant crop, be fit for use early in June, and of superior quality to those sown in Spring, and would be found an excellent substitute for the potato. The Chancellor of the Exchequer stated on Monday night, in the House of Commons, that the Earl of Shel burne (son of the Marquis of Lansdowne), having resigned his appointment as a lord of the Treasury, the government had determined, in compliance with the recommendation of the committee on expenditure, that the vacancy should not be filled up. KNOWING BETTER THAN THE DOCTOR.—A poor Trish man called fur relief at St. Peter's Hospital, Bristol, a few days ago, and complained of being ill ; when the nurse offered him some physic, but Pat said he did not want it. The nurse declared that he did, for the doctor said so. " Arra, whist," was the reply, " I know better than the doctor; 'tisn't physic I want at all, but sausages and lay." Lieutenant Munro was on Tuesday liberated from New gate. Before his release an application was made to Mr. Baron Alderson at chambers for a summons to be directed to the Governor of Newgate, to show why he refused to give up the prisoner to certain sheriffs' officers who hela an execution against him, but the learned judge refused the application, and the debt was subsequently settled. THE LATE ANABAPTISM AT WINCHESTER. —The Guardian states that the Rev. C. J. Proby, Rector of St. Peter Colebrook, has been suspended from all clerical functions in the Church of England. It appears that Mr. Brand, the Baptist minister, who rebaptised him, is an old and intimate friend of Mr. Proby both in India and at home. SUMMARY PUNISHMENT.—An effectual means for pre venting depredations has been adopted in ore of the Lon don parks. Any person who plucks a tree (I) or a flower is made to draw the roller for a certain time, or to give his name and appear before the magistrate. The former is generally preferred ; but as it subjects the individual to the laughter of all the lookers-oil, it is not liked. An application to the postmaster-general has been nu merously signed at Peterborough, requesting the trans. mission of letters from Hull, Wakefield, Manchester, Yarmouth, and other places (chiefly in the north) may be so arranged that they be not first taken to London! which makes it a two days' post, and causes much loss and in. convenience. DECAPITATION.—On Saturday last a melancholy and fatal accident occurred at the steam saw-mill, Nairn. It appears that the workmen were engaged in the immediate vicinity of the saw, when one of them stooped down, for the purpose, it is thought, of adjusting the log; but in doing so his shoulders came in contact with the saw, which instantly decapitated him—completely severing his head from his body.—Elgin Courier. A single woman, named Ann Wright, of Birch-row, Radford, aged 29, a silk-winder, has committed suicide under the following circumstances :—She fancied a Wes leyan minister preaching in Nottingham had fallen in love with her, though he had never spoken to her. On being, after considerable reasoning, convinced by her friends that there was no foundation for such an idea, she retired to her bedroom and cut her throat with her fathor's razor. During a heavy storm of thunder and lightning, last week, the dwelling-house of Mr. Sidford of Bishopstone, was struck by the electric fluid, which forced two of the grates out of th e i r pl ac es, passed roun d one o f th e rooms , melting the bell-wires, and proceeded up the chimney, in which it exploded, wholly demolishing that portion of the building. At Fovant, so heavy was the roin, that the water was three feet deep in the road. On Friday a young man, named William Waldron, died at Kensington, London, under the effects of cholera. Mr. Wakley (coroner) said that the case was one of de cided cholera, and considering the dampness of the pre sent season, it would be advisable for persons to take a great deal of spice, —for instance, a good deal of cayenne pepper. He did not believe that cholera was contagious, and he considered that if the stomach be well supplied with wholesome food, it will not be susceptible to cholera. SIR TATTON SYKES.—At Guildford assizes, on Satur day, this celebrated race-horse was the subject of an ac tion. The plaintiff was Mr. Kennedy, a gentleman of fortune, and the defendant was Mr. Clark, a gentleman who had .been long acquainted with the turf. In 1847, the plaintiff purchased the horse for £1,350, and in - June, in this year, the parties to the action met, and had some talk about it, from which the defendant imagined that he had bought the horse. He removed him from the plain tiff's stables, and entered him as his own horse at Hamp ton races. The plaintiff tried to get the horse back, but failing in that, brought the present action for damages. The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff—damages £B5O. CAUTION.—A CLERICAL IMPOSTOR.—The Glasgow Examiner, of Saturday, gives details of the mode in which " a grave-looking man, who describes himself as a preacher from Jamaica," has been duping the citizens of Glasgow. "He appeared to have African blood in his veins, was somewhere about forty years of age, and wore a hat of the most approved Episcopalian form, and pre sented all the outward appearance of a minister of the Gospel." He introduced himself to several gentlemen in Glasgow, and other introductions followed. He prea c h e d, prayed, and collected money, pretending it was for a school in Jamaica ; but it appears that the cash which he obtained by day he spent amongst the most disreputable characters in the evening, for which purpose he disguised himself by putting on different attire. DREADFUL COLLIERY EXPLOSION.—FOURTEEN LIVES LOST.—On Tuesday morning last, a lamentable explosion took place at Murton colliery, about nine miles from Durham. The catastrophe occurred soon after noon, in the " Polka" pit, and is ascribed to what is called a " blower," or accumulation of foul air, which had been ignited by some of the candles used by the workmen. After the report of the explosion was heard upwards of sixty men and boys who had been working in the same district of the pit in which it took place, but further from the mouth of the shaft, collected together, and endea voured to reach the mouth of the pit. They finally effec ted their escape. The explosion was of a violent nature. The body of a boy named Haddock, who was employed close to a man named Noble, (also killed,) was found 40 or 50 yards from the body of the latter. In all fourteen lost their lives, four only by the explosion, and ten by the effects of the after-damp. Three horses were also killed. The pit appeared to be perfectly safe just before, and was well ventilated. The depth of the part where the explo sion took place is 220 fathoms. The pit was but slightly damaged. THREE CUM:44EI4 ,Al' A RIRTH.—A, poor woman, named Hapsom, 'e Ott In g at 50, Little George-st re et, Hampstead-road, I.6ndon, has been delivered of three children all are going en as well as can be expected. A SMART REPROOF FOR A JURY.—During the Dur ham Assizes, a charge was preferred against a prisoner for having assaulted a policeman at Win laton, with intent to do him grievous bodily harm. The jury returned a ver dict of guilty of a common assault. Mr. Justice Cress well, in sentencing the prisoner, said, " He had no doubt the jury had returned such a verdict as they were bound to return, in the exercise of such talents as God had blessed them with !" LIGHTING THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.-011 Thursday night experiments for the purpose of testing a new system of gas burners, with which it is proposed to light the interior of the new houses of Parliament, were made in Trafalgar-square. A brancit, containing eight burners, for consuming common gas, was introduced into the refleztor at the south east corner of the square, and which threw a most brilliant light, by which small print could be read at forty paces. BUTTER WELL PRESERVED.—Last week, while some men were digging in a mossy ground on the farm of Achilty, belonging to Mr. Ross of Kinnahaird, they dis covered, about three feet under ground, a cask, one-half of which was quite sound, and found to contain a quantity of butter. Some parties conjecture that it was hidden during the rebellion of 1745, by some cautious person, alarmed at the depredations then committed by the scat tered forces.—lnverness Courier. AN OPEN GAOL.—A spectacle of rare occurrence in these dangerous times was presented to tLe inhabitants of Tretford on Saturday. The keeper of the Borough Gaol suspended a white flag from the topmost window of the prison -house, and, throwing open all the doors, afforded an opportunity to those whose feelings might be too ten der to view the victims of vice and crime in the solitary cell, to inspect the interior of the place without an inha bitant. ENGLISH AND IRISH REAPERS.—In some parts of the country a feeling of jealousy amounting to violence has sprung up between these parties, and the Irish have been driven away. At Hatfield, an Englishman, named Ed ward Swain, was ferociously killed by one of a party of Irish, whilst sitting in a public-house with a number of companions, but taking no part in a disturbance between the native and strange reapers. At Doncaster the disputes prevailed for a week. EXTRAORDINARY CASE.—A few weeks ago, when the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards were stationed at Not tingham Barracks, two of the privates quarrelled, and one bit the other in the finger. The wound festered, and at length the man's whole body became affected, the bones, denuded of flesh, protruding through the skin. The suf ferer lingered until Monday, when he was relieved by death. The case has excited great interest in a medical point of view. The Government have very wisely determined to take early precautions to prevent the cholera from spreading to our shores, in the event of any case occurring in ships afloat. They have ordered the Benbow and Dvonshire, old line-of battle-ships, to be immediately prepared as hospital-ships, to receive Cholera patients from merchant vessels ; and another ship, the Iphigenia, is also to be fitted as a cholera hospital-ship, should necessity require additional accommodation. MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE.—Thomas Hall, a youth of nineteen, is in custody at Nottingham, charged with having wounded, with intent to murder, his sweetheart, Francis Green, by whom he had had a child, by discharg ing a pistol at her. The statement of the prisoner is, that he purchased the pistol from a man in the street, and, not knowing that it was loaded, cocked and snapped it at the young woman, when it exploded, wounding her in the neck. The unfortunate young woman now lies in the hospital in a very dangerous state, the ball not having at present been extracted. EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE.—A few days since, a la bourer fell down a shaft of the tunnel at Retford, 130 feet deep. Of course those who saw the accident naturally concluded that the unfortunate man must have been dashed to pieces, but, singular as it may seem, he fell into the sump hole, in which was about six feet of water, and did himself but little harm ! When he fell he was sense less, but was at once rescued from a " watery grave," by two men, who were on the spot at the time. Since then, the man has resumed his wonted employment, and seems none the worse for his perilous descent. A DINNER IN THE THAMES.—A young man named Coombs, having provided himself with some patent ap paratus, on Friday. undertook to light a fire and cook and eat a dinner in the Thames, the possibility of which seemed a matter of doubt to many spectators. Having moored a kind of floating teatray out in deep water, near the Chain-pier, Chelsea, he plunged into the stream, pro ceeded to light his fire and cook his dinner, which he not only accomplished with great ease, but also ate it with great gusto. to the astonishment of upwards of 3,000 persons. More than an hour had elapsed ere he had pre pared and taken his coffee, after which he floated to the surface, amidst the plaudits of all assembled. DIVORCE.—The divorce bill of Miss Field, or rather Mrs. Brown, has been thrown out of the House of Lords. Miss Field, who by the death of her father was possessed of about £40,000 in money, and an income of £1,200 per annum, and who will be mistress of twice as mu c h a t th e death f her brother, was, with the latter, under the care of a Mr. Brown, she being seventeen years old and he fifty-two. He persuaded her, by threats and otherwise, to marry him, and he published false banns, for which of fence he is now undergoing imprisonment. The result of the Lords' decision is, that the girl w;11 be handed over to her husband the moment his term of imprisonment expires, and he will become master of her and her pro perty. EXECUTION.—At Chelmsford, on Monday, Mary May, who was convicted at the last Essex Assizes of the murder of her brother at Wix, by poisoning him with arsenic, for the purpose of obtaining the allowance from a burial club at Harwich, in which she had entered his name without his knowledge, was executed in front of the county gaol. After her condemnation the miserable woman, who was 38 years of age, formed the design of starving herself to death, and for a time obstinately refused to take any food, but hunger at length subdued her, and since then she has taken her meals regularly, and slept soundly, sullenly denying her guilt, and treating her fate as a matter of indifference. Strong suspicion was excited that the un happy woman poisoned several of her children. AN ARTFUL ROBBERY.—On Saturday evening, about eleven o'clock, a very artful robbery was committed in the shop of Mr. David Habbershaw, grocer, Waterhouse lane. It appears that while Mr. and Mrs. Habbershaw were in the shop attending to some of their customers, a man rushed in crying out for protection, pursued by four men, all of whom followed him into the shop and pre tended that they were quarelling with him. They all ap peared extremely violent, swearing that they would have the man out of the shop. A scuffle ensued, and Mr. and Mrs. Habbershaw interfered in behalf of the man who was assailed. Ultimately, however, they all went into the street, and, in a short time afterwards, Mrs. Habber shaw, to her extreme astonishment, found that her pocket had been picked of her purse containing £3 and two half sovereigus.—Hull Packet. ONE OF THE GOVERNESS ADVERTISING GANG.—At Marlborough-street on Wednesday, John Smith, as he calls himself, but whose real name is Whiting, son of a deceased auctioneer of Bury St. Edmunds, was brought up, charged with felony, and with having for a length of time gone about representing himself to be Lord Alfred Hervey, M. P. for Brighton. From communications made to the magistrate, it appeared that the prisoner for about three years has been carrying on a system of fraud and immorality to an incredible extent. At one time he was riding about town in a carriage with •footmen and coachmen, assuming the names of more than one noble man. A lady mentioned to Mr. Hardwicke that the pri soner had passed himself off to her as Lord George Ben tinck, and that she believed his representations from see ing his stylish carriage and servants. One part of the prisoner's system appears to have been to reply to adver tisements for governess's situations ; and numerous ap pointments with young females were found in his posses sion. The prisoner was fully committed on two charges of felony. A COMICAL FOREMAN.—At Radnor Assizes, in the trial of Thomas Watkins, charged with stealing a pair of hames, the property of Edward Bird. Mr. Allen replied to the defence, by contending that if the prosecutor was to be believed, he had never lent the harness to Powell, and therefore the prisoner could not have borrowed them. The foreman of the jury here arose and said, " It is im possible that he could have ploughed without them." — Mr. Allen resumed, but it was evident that his observa tions were not attended to by the jury, for they were al ready busily engaged in consultation. In the midst of the learned gentleman's address, the foreman again in terrupted him by saying, " There ! we have had enough o'that ! we shanna find him guilty !" For a moment the learned gentleman looked confounded—he, however, took the hint, and in a few words concluded. His lordship then summed up the evidence, and the jury, without a moment's hesitation said, " We find a verdict that the prisoner borrowed 'em."—The judge : Is the prisoner guilty or not guilty ?—The foreman : Not guilty, my lord. After the lapse of a few minutes, he again ad dressed the court by saying, Have you done with us, my lord ?—The judge : Yes, the jury are discharged, and the county thank them for their services.—The foreman : Oh ! but I beg your pardon, your honour, a'nt there no pay ? (Laughter.)—His lordship did not reply.—The foreman (with indignation) : By God, it's a shabby consarn I'll be d—d if I ever come here again. —The court then rose, amid much laughter, the business being concluded. PAYNE'S TIMBER-PRESERVING PROCESS.—A second most successful experiment, to test the uninflammability of wood prepared by Payne's process, took place a few days since, at Westminster, in the presence of the Lord Mayor ; the Speaker of the House of Commons ; Lord Dudley Stuart, M.P. ; Lord Ebrington, M.P. ; and many scientific gentlemen. The experiment consisted in expo sing to the agency of flame two wooden cottages of similar dimensions, the one Paynized, the other unprepared. In the interior of each, and simultaneously, about 7 or 8 lbs. of dry shavings were ignited. The Paynized struc ture resisted this severe ordeal three several times, being merely charred at the termination of the trial. That un prepared was consumed to the water's edge by the first charge, during the time these ineffectual attempts were being made to destroy the other. The mode here presen ted of preserving life and property from fire, is worthy of consideration. The cities of Liverpool, Manchester, and other great centres of population, are much interested in the subject. Apart from the accidents to which property is always subjected from fire, we observe that in various parts of the world, especially in the West Indian planta tions, where the towns and factories often consist entirely of wood, incendiaries have lately succeeded in the wilful destruction of valuable property. An additional reason may therefore be urged in favour of a careful investigation of the matter by the authorities, by the Fire Insurance Companies, and by the public. The qualities of Paynized timber to resist the destructive agencies of the dry rot, of the white ant, and even of the augur worm, and its applicability to the general purposes of railway construe . ton, are already well known. At the Carlisle Assizes, on Thursday, J. Murray, aged 26, was found guilty of bigamy, having married Martha Sanderson, his first wife, whom he had married only three years previously, being still alive. The case was remark able as showing the facilities afforded by the Scotch law, for what is commonly called Scotch marriages, for decep tion. The first marriage was celebrated by the landlord of a public-house, the second by a toll-keeper. The ce remony consisting only in their declaring themselves to be man and wife in the presence of a third party. The pri soner was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment and hard labour. Loss OF THREE LIVES.—On Monday, the Isleworth regatta was held on the Thames. At a ball at ate Water men's Arms were three young men, named Edward Bol ton, aged 22, William Smith, 19, William Pendry, 25, and four others named Mancey, Wicker, Baylis, and Bolton, a younger brother of the beforementioned Edward Bolton. Between four and five o'clock these young men decided upon having a row up the river before going to work, and for that purpose unloos d a skiff that was made fast to a barge moored off Ashby's cement works. They had pro ceeded up the river and neared the railway bridge, when William Smith stood up in the boat, and the others com menced rocking the boat. This caused her to ship a quantity of water; she swayed on one side, and instantly turned bottom upwards, immersing the whole party in 15 feet of water, it then being the top of the tide. All the men could swim except Pendry and Wicker, who had a wooden leg, and Smith was a noted swimmer. Several boats with drags were soon on the spot. In the mean time Mancey, who had got to shore safe, seeing that Wisker, the one-legged man, must sink if not assisted, nobly swam out and brought him to shore, as he also did the younger Bolton. The three first mentioned young men were un fortunately drowned. PALSY'S NATURAL THEOLOGY.—A startling article, under the signature of " Verax," appears in the current number of the Athenceum, charging Dr. Paley as a pla giarist, and that his celebrated treatise on " Natural Theology," is nothing more than a copy of the writings of a Dutchman, who flourished about one hundred years before our author. " Verax" says, and we think truly, •' that there is not probably one out of a thousand of Dr. Paley's readers who does not believe the treatise on Na ture Theology' to have been entirely suggested by, and carved out of the natural sources of Dr. Paley's mind— that he had collected all the materials, and arranged them according to his own ideas of method, and that he was in the fullest sense of the words an original thinker and illustrator of this department of human knowledge." In support of the charge several parallel extracts from both works are given. To show further the connexion between " Chamberlayne's Christian Philosopher" and " Paley's Natural Theology" the plan of both publications is given in parallel columns. They are almost complete in their identity, and prove how closely Paley has followed the Dutch philosopher. There can be no doubt that the as persions here cast upon the doctor's reputation will rause much literary excitement. EXTRAORDINARY CREDULITY.—A few weeks ago, a gang of gypsies took up their abode on Osmotherley Common (North Riding of Yorkshire) ; and George Leng, a man near seventy-eight years of age, who resides on a small farm belonging to R. Haynes, Esq., and which is situated just in the locality where those insidious gentry bad " pitched their tents," has had the misfortune to be come the dupe of their base stratagems. It appears that a female belonging to this party, taking advantage of the old man's credulity, persuaded him that a " pot of gold," containing £7OOO, was hid in one of his fields ; and in order that he might become the possessor of this valuable treasure, it was requisite for him to advance £4O. Elated with joy at the idea of becoming a "gentleman" in his declining days, the old man used every effort to get this amount collected together. Not being able to raise more than £l7 10s. he began to despair of success; but the female, ever anxious to promote the welfare of her fetiow creatures, and taking into consideration the poverty of the old man, finally agreed that by having the money delivered up to her, she would carry out the process. Atter the agreement to these arrangements, it was proposed that the gypsy female and her dupe should meet in the field at an hour when the rest of mankind had retired to rest, and then the old man should take possession of his hidden treasure. Punctual to the appointed time, the old man took his spade and pickaxe, and repaired to the field ; but as for his gypsy " friend," her harvest was finished. Like those " stray birds" which visit us in the pleasant months of summer, and then take their departure for a more genial clime, she bad taken her flight with the wings of the morning, leaving the old man to declare his loss, and to mourn over his folly. A LONDON SEWER.—A general meeting of her ma jesty's justices and commissioners of sewers was held on Thursday, Lord Morpeth in the chair, when the follow ing startling fact came out. The clerk read the report of the surveyor on an examination of the sewers in the Kent and Surrey district. It said :—" When we had proceeded to the men-hole, about 40 feet from the side entrance, opposite No. 12, Friar-street, Blackfriar's-road, the safety lamp we were provided with went out; the air was so foul as to be incapable of supporting combustion. We were deterred from again lighting it, as, had we made the at tempt, an explosion must inevitably have occurred. At this point, myself, the superintendent of the flushers, and the man who accompanied us, were seized with a tainting sensation ; the superintendent became alarmed, attempted to rush back, and tell fainting into the water, at this place upwards of two feet in depth. It was some minutes before we recovered him, as we were in total darkness, and ourselves affected by the foul gas. All the silver and copper money, our watches, and almost every article of metal that we had about us, were coated with a peculiar dark livid tint. The Friar-street sewer is of modern construction ; it was lniilt by order of the late commis sioners, in the latter part of last year." Mr. Chadwick said this was an example of cases of a frequent kind, met with where the sewers emitted the fculest odours. This sewer was only built last year, by the late commissioners. which the present commissioners had no power or means to remedy, unless their new bill before parliament were passed into a law. Several commissioners expressed their astonishment that a sewer should have been so recently and imperfectly constructed, and - urged that every means should be used to get their new bill passed in the present session of parliament. MAGISTERIAL INJUSTICE.—A case was tried at Devizes on Saturday, remarkable for the relative positions occu pied by the prosecutor and prisoner. Mary-Anne New man, the prisoner, a woman of unimpeachable character, even upon the admission of the prosecutor, Mr. Williams of Braydon, lived in his service as cook. She was indicted, together with Jane Goddard, the one for stealing and the other for receiving property stolen from Mr. Williams. The facts were these :—Goddard came to the presecutor's house, and asked him to buy some corks she had in her basket, or to give her something to eat, by way of alms. He would, however, do neither, and ordered her off the premises. He went into an outhouse to watch her, while Mary Anne Newman, the cook, being unaware of what had passed between Goddard and her master, entered into conversation with the woman Goddard. Goddard said she had seven children, and had no victuals to give them. The cook's heart was touched by the pitiful story, and she gave the unfortunate woman some broken victuals, the exact amount of which we are enabled to state with the utmost precision. They consisted of three pieces of rough bread and four slices of rusty bacon. Goddard then went away, but, as she was passing out, Mr. Williams emerged from his place of concealment, and questioned her as to the way in which she became possessed of the broken victuals he saw in her apron. She admitted that she had received them from his servant. Mary Anne Newman, on the other hand, acknowledged at once that she had given the scraps of food, but said she had done so out of charity. Mr. Williams then gave both her and Goddard into custody, and a magistrate—the Rev. J. Hawkins—was found, who, upon this. evidence, actually committed the poor girl for trial. We need scarcely say that the jury at Devizes brought in a verdict of not guilty. Mr. Justice Coleridge, the presiding judge, heartily con curring in the propriety of the verdict, and animadverting in severe terms upon the conduct of those who had placed the innocent girl in a position which would be synonymous with disgrace, were it not sometimes occupied by persons as guiltless as herself. Meanwhile, the poor girl spent some two or three months in gaol, while the master who prosecuted her, and the magistrate who committed her, were at large.—Times. A FASHIONABLE SWINDLER AT SUNDERLAND.—An affair has lately transpired at Sunderland which has cre ated much gossip. The history of the matter is shortly this :—A young lady, daughter of a respectable Sunder land tradesman—goes to Scarborough some few months ago, for the season. It becomes believed at Scarborough whether through the lady's own report, or that of hthers, it does not clearly appear—that she is an heiress ! Forth with sundry speculative gents commence dangling after the now beautiful and wealthy lady—rich ladies are always beautiful—amongst the rest, a suitor clothed in " purple and fine linen," who dubbed himself an Indian officer, and the son of a nobleman ! This gallant gentleman, or rather young nobleman, carried the lady by storm : he was ravished by her beauty and accomplishments, and could not wait another day till she became " his own !" A clergyman (so called) appears, under a special license (which he carried no doubt in his pocket, as it was never seen), and the delighted pair were, supposedly to the lady, bound in the silken bonds of matrimony. The mar riage is sent, with all pomp and circumstance, to the Sun derland and other neighbouring papers, and the happy pair, after a short tour, do themselves the pleasure, and others the happiness, of paying a visit to the relatives and friends of the lady at Sunderland. A course of feasting is gone through by all those connected with the family, who uad become honoured by their new relative, and professed cooks are sought at any cost to prepare all the delicacies of the season. The affectionate father presents the lady with a gold watch, as a bridal gift, value £4O, which the happy husband is much delighted with, and resolves to send it off to his own engraver, to have a suitable inscrip tion placed upon it ! Apartments are taken at the leading hotel, and the ever-bustling host has to rack his invention for viands, costly and rare, on which to feed this -heavenly pair. Well, at length, mine host's bill is to pay, and cheque for £34 odd, uponia first-rate firm, asarray agents,. in London, is tendered. Mine host, a notoriously shrewd. wight, is " much obliged," but would like-" Bank of Eng land " better. At length, the too happy father would cask. the cheque, and all are smiles and happiness again. pair now now must depart : they are going where duty M ll s the officer," and a reluctant consent of the too 1100' friends is at length given for their departure. They VP": but where ? oh ! where ? They have not since been beam of ; but we regret to add, the cheque has ! The father placed it in his banker's care, suspecting nothing ;. tti e l pass it to London, and—it returns with two str iking words written across it, which, on being deciphered by the ready clerks, were found to be, "No Effects." The de nouement stands thus:: the officer has got his heiress a 9 1 . 1, companion, minus her wealth, which is not yet r eady ' the lady is done out of everything—the mock parson fowl a confederate of the scamp, and the watch not having T! the returned from the engraver—the friends have' lost wear titled relative, who is a swindler—and " mine uncle, luckiest fetiow, has got the watch 1.--Dior, Chronicles. THIRD EDITION. 1 , ~.,-, I i 7.3 • cP Zs' I ::: : : ••ca•• • • P. .9 m: :::: : : : 7 : :8. . . . !•": it 0 F b., : : bs t ,, :61 t•" • 3 I : • •••• .. . . '••‘ DR • : 5, •• • • ,-8 -, : : 4•T ch 5 . I cr, • w • ••• • =cA r r :8: : :. . . • -ve ..., -4 4. 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