The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-03-24 00:00:00

Oi?Thy I)Octi ad44-4A-k4 The natal meeting of the Dock Committee *as held yester. day, when the following members were present,—Messrs. Sands (chairman), Horsfall, Holmes, Holt, Smith, Nicol, Bailey, Royden, Tobin, Shand, Bold, Martin, Middleton, and Evans. THE . The CHAIRMAN stated DOCK that he had AREHOUSES not yet received Mr. John Stewart's report on making the dock warehouses fire proof ; he promised to send it in last night (Wednesday), but he had not done so. Mr. Alderman EvAzis recommended that Mr. Stewart should be continually dunned till he furnished it. The CHAIRMAN.-I have dunned him almost every day. Mr. TOBIN suggested that the secretary should address a note to Mr. Stewart, putting him in mind of his promise. The CHAIRMAN believed that Mr. Stewart was of opinion that a common floor would be the best. Mr. Alderman EVANS.-With the protection underneath of sheet iron. It was then agreed that the secretary should address a note on the subject to Mr. Stewart. NEW DOCK WORKS. The CHAIRMAN called the attention of Mr. John Hartley (who attended for his father) to the unsatisfactory progress which was being made in the new works at Albert Dock. Mr. J. H ARTLEY replied that he had yesterday written a letter to Mr. Waring, the contractor, on the subject, and he had r ece i ved a reply stating that additional men would be immediately put on. The SECRETARY read the letters, which were of the pur- Port already stated. Mr. Waring, in his letter, stated that now the works were making rapid progress, and should be proceeded with according to the surveyor's wish ; and that any Particular part which might be speedily wanted should receive prompt attention. LMr. J. HA RTLEY stated that more men had been put on. eCnAIRMAN.---How many ? J. HARTLEY.—Fifteen. The CHAIRMAN observed that that was very few. could b e HARTLEY replied that it was perhaps as many as be em ployed on the particular work on which they were engaged. The CHAIRMAN mentioned that the contractor had not yet signed his contract. Mr. Alderman hat EVANS said if te work not done in the time at it ou g ht to be th , at it would be Mr. was HartleY's fault. w M an r. J. HARTLEY replied that he would again see Mr. o.V.n g; and if there was any further delay, or cause for dis action, he would report it immediately to the committee. walarl• Alderman EVANS enquired the reason why Mr. g_had not signed the contract? The n arisen f;r4alttmAN, in reply, expressed his belief that it had The letter ora Mr. Waring not having been in the town. his brother t° the surveyor rspecting the works was signed by Mr. ,Alderrnan EVANS.—B u t he me ans to sign it ? uponeit‘-.II A IRMAN.—Ye s . We will address a letter to him The sub_ THE LIVERPOOL WATER BILL. (brought committee, to whom the first clause in the bill, ing ) ~ ,' was referred, recommended that the committee should gautse notice of their intention to oppose the power to erect coY building or engine upon the dock estate, without their q‘ s i e le nt having been first obtained. be e , SECRETARY reported that since that resolution had , arrived at, tile solicitor to the committee and the soiit° ' Thet, a r ") t he Commissioners of Paving and Stwering had . rui come to a satisfactory understanding upon this 3ublect. Th e SALVAGE. §iI M ARINE-SURVEYOR reported that Emanuel Rod lirez had picked up the chain-cable which was lost from the oosby Lightship when she was struck by the American ship a_ whatten. It was valued at £3l 10s. One-third of this a lcniut was ordered to be paid to Rodriguez as salvage. BANK. .41:11.e Marine Surveyor submitted PUDDINGTON'S plans of Puddington Bank, showing the changes which have taken place in it since thef e ar 1821, with their respective dates. The bank appears to ave advanced slightly towards the middle of the river, and to have become a trifle lower; but, for the last seven years, scarcely any alteration has taken place in it. BIDSTON NEW TELEGRAPH. st.ben t oodel of an improvement telegraph for the Bidston b:`,! , in vented by Mr. Hick, was submitted and explained ejded 11°It • The committee appeared to consider it a de -Itprovernent. It appears that this was an improve . .V‘ Upon the improved plan submittted some months ago, rdered about £l6 proceeded with. The cost of its erection "i be about £ 1 65.—Ordered to be erected. PROPERTY wi M th r• HORSFALL asked whether TAX any . thing had been done r r egard to th e P roperty Tax ? T t l e" CumamAN.—Nothing has been done. Am. SECRETARY added, that the Commissioners, at their aittin were attended both b the Treasurer the Soli citor, and they the n rece i ve d a n intimation that it would z ot be necessary for them to attend again. Mr I MISCELLANEOUS. Tie ttr - :C °IN TomKtivsoN, who is erecting the observatory, t• Lue Waterloo Dock, applied for the use of a crane con -01 paying the usual charges. Granted. application from Messrs. Fawcett, Preston, and Co. to erect shears on the quay of Coburg Dock, in order to place new boilers in H. M. S. Medusa, was, after some discussion rll7l the safety o f such a weight (21 tons) going over the T°,k e brid ges, referred to the Harbour Master's Sub-corn e, to whom the Surveyor is to report. Th: 'r e ale finan c i a l matters were then di scusse d , an d t h e com -.'"t e shortly afterwards separated. "LIC IMPROVEMENTS OF LIVERPOOL MEETING OF THE POLYTECHNIC SOCIETY. toWe furnished, on Friday and Tuesday last, the principal rtiiina of M r . J. Holme's excellent address before the v't-o°lnechnic Society, on the public improvements of Liver r el ' and had previously purposed to supply his concluding emarks in our present publication. We, however. relin ctinished that intention on learning that while the lee ability was being delivered, a respected gentleman of much ability in the profession breathed his last, and that h i s. Holme (who h a d no t prev i ous l y th oug ht o f pu bli s hi ng bei remarks) had, on hearing the fact, and the suggestion ag made to him, with the most praiseworthy kindness and consideration, resolved to submit them, entire, in a pamplet, for the benefit of the afflicted widow of the deceased, who is left in c ircumstances that give her a claim to the generous few of the public. The pamphlet will be ready in a •ew da W ". th e e may state, in conclusion of our report of the meeting of soviet, at which Mr. Holme so ably spoke, that, on r p e i„ stim ing his seat, he received several hearty rounds of ap -use ; and the chairman having, as usual, invited the re- Mark r 01 any one present on the subject which they had heard so ably argued, hviN ROSSON addressed the meeting at cor aidrable length. He expressed his great gratification on e ear i,ag the observations of Mr. Holme, with whose opini ne heartily concurred. He was of opinion, with him, e t in future town improvements, it would be well for the ti to appoint a committee of architects and prac lea' build to whom the style and completion of our new Public ings, &c , should be referred. It was by such lineans that ancient * Greece had to boast of so many noble ouildings. Architects were there appointed, each of whom produced a design for any required building, and had also two votes in favour of the two designs which he considered each On one occasion, though most of them naturally gave th e One vote for his own design, nearly all acknowledged theegreat excellence of that of the celebrated Phydias, and th v e e him their second vote ; so that his was adopted, and ar „ result was (without creating any unworthy jealousy ma "Vagst the profession), that one of the finest buildings of its t initY was erected—the highest talent having met with fhonourable reward. He remarked strongly on what he ,t)2?idered the great error of filling up the Old Dock and ifniling the Customhouse upon it—a building, the styie and That material of which he by no means approved.. pool, dock had been the cradle of the commerce of Liver- Fo uo. It was tne most central ; and had it remained, along the vessels might have been constructed from it along „, of the ancient " ool" on the north and east, so h ar b e " e might have had as plendid and commodious inner so _ ur. He then entered at some length into . a review h of t we ',.?,ef the great improvements in the metropolis, wine I.,_‘un be well to keep an eye upon as examples to ourselves. ta.a a nY of those improvements which had recently been rateted had been suggested many years before by the cele hut r i d archit ec t M r. Wynne, whose book on the subject was ttle known. He dilated this topic at some length, a nd after expressing the deep merest he took in the subject bef ore the meeting, sat down amidst applause. 11 0 1 e MAYOR proposed the thanks of the meeting to Mr. for the able paper with which he had favoured them, " 1 4 11 was carried by acclamation. Pro r• C. W. WILLIAMS, in highly complimentary terms, _ Posed a vo t e of thanks to the mayor for his attendaiice, 480nenthe e ncouragement he thereby gave the proceedings of the ie tY• This was also carried by acclamation. MAYOR in neat t erms re t urne d th an k s . sThTr• that he L s HO E, in ret urn i ng th e com pli ment pa id to hi m , 1 0 ,t.. , M hould be happy if anything he said should pr sho e a spirit of practical improvement in the town. He La.,llld also, if health and time permitted him, enter on some C.ture occasion wore into detail, and meantime should be h P i P h Y to avail himself of any information or suggestions any of his townsmen might. think proper to communi eateet' (Cheers.) .11,11:traCR.ETARY then, in the name of the publishers of the tO e,13001 Magazine—Messrs. Milling and Payne —pi esented %. t each of the members of the society a copy of the number l! ,Ixat work for the month, which, he said, among other ar !es, contained a clever paper "on ship-building," by Mr. v'nWard Melling, jun., a member of the society, and now ,Professor of naval architecture at the Collegiate Institution. ne a nnouncement was received with great satisfaction, and th e members having supplied themselves with the work, the Meeting, which was crowded to the close, dispersed. SENTENCES OF THE PRISONERS COMMITTED AT THE SESSIONS. The Sessions concluded yesterday forenoon. The follow ing is a summary of the sentences : T 0 uc TRANSPORTED FOR FIFTEEN YEARS.—Charles taker, James Kelly, Thomas Harrison. ~,SEVEN YEARS. —Thomas Grice, David Layton, James morgan, Sarah Dodd, Wm. Tomlinson. Daniel O'Connell, Johanna Dougan, Amelia Hughes, Alice Jones, James Sr aith, William Owens, Charles Williams, Frank Mansfield, James Young Elizabeth Harrison, Mary Duffy,'Henry Croft. _AwI:I,I,E MONTHS' IMPRISONMENT.—Por Felony.—John t'nWarhurst, Peter M`Glone, Hannah Muck, George John , Elizabeth Young, John Thompson, and Bridget Curran. vor Misdemeanours (uttering base shillings.)—John Thorn ton, Edward Sweeney, and Thomas M‘Manus. NINE MONTHS. —Catharine Sullivan, and Ann Smith. The other prisoners convicted were sentenced o various term s of imp risonment, from one t o six months ; L and some Minor offenders for terms of days. th e lI NA...---It was stated at the March monthly meeting of werSociety for Promoting. Christian Knowled ge , th a t types ihines readines s f or pr i nt i ng any number of books in the ,e l anguarre which m i g ht b e requ i red so soon as an open referes Made for their use i n t h at i mmense empire; and a e n'e was made to the standing committee to inquire and re port to th e b oard, at the next monthly meeting, what mole theycousiderecl best ad a pt e d f or promoting the extension of Christian knowledge, supplied by the Anglican Church, a mongst the Chinese. PRINCE ARRIV ti ‘ ,, AL Or A BLACK AND PRINCESS.—Among N',',F.ePassengers landed at Southampton, on Monday, from the j t v ~t India Packet the Tav were two persons of colour, Yung themselves as the Prince and Princess Louis Napo feon Christophe, of St. Domingo. Their highnesses came i r t i , r . t St• Thomas's, having been . visiting many of the 'West . luta island s for pleasure, and have arrived in this country in the s ame pursuit. The prince is perfectly 'Lick, with ex be raodnary thick lips, and very broad nose, and appears to i about sixty years of age. Ile states himself to be a full eno onel of the national guard of St. Domingo. Their high e sses are honouring this town with a visit until to-morrow Mor es at seven o'clock, when they take their departure in I, o t u li ; ivd -,„ -c iass train, at special desire the, he prince. rince_ n a c t s ; '''aPoleon is brother of Chr:stop who was King of manners, He has nothing to indicate, by his appearance or o -n ers, either rank or station above the commonrun , . f h e ,Tgro es. The prince evinced, on his voyage, a great u p w c e tt h . nant for brandy, and when under its influence causeddalul ernent, a n d occasional inconvenience, to t h e passengers and officers of the ship.—London paper. OR RATION of it RtVt7 *Crow DIE PRIG or PROVISIONS, The parti2ans of the Anti-Corn-Law faction, when the modification of the import duties was taken out of their bungling fingers, maintained loudly that, from such a mea sure, no material alleviation of the condition of the con suming classes could result. And when the existing tariff measure had been brought forward and passed—a measure of infinitely more extended scope than any of which they could have dreamed, in their wildest moments—it was sneered at by these sages as a mere surface operation, wholly inade quate to produce any sensible lowering of prices. 'We had been told at former periods, it is true, of the cheap beef and pork of other countries—of beef and pork which could be imported at lid. to 2d. per lb., whilst the same articles, of English growth, were at 6d. to Bd. ; but when they were met upon this ground,—when the articles were imported and brought at a low duty into the British markets,—it was all at once discovered that they were unfit for consumption, and that the grand specific for the national suffering lay in cheap bread alone. The tariff was styled an inoperative measure. It had " unsettled everything and settled nothing ;" and, worst of all, it had brought no " cheap food" to the working man's table. Let us see however whether this is true. Let us examine how far the tariff has conferred the boon of cheapness upon the consuming classes. But, first, have we obtained this boon, and to what extent are the provisions of the people cheapened? We will not refer to articles such as foreign fruits, rice, coffee, &c., of which the cost is composed mainly of the duty levied—(for none can deny that these have been cheapened, or the amount of comfort derivable from their reduced price)—but proceed at once to the staple, butcher's meat. The price of beef, then, in the London retail market, is at present to families, about 6d. a lb. for all joints, coarse and fine together, of prime meat. There is a saving here, we maintain, over the prices of this season last year, of a Id. to 1;d. per lb. The retail market, we must premise, we take for this reason. A large proportion of the supply, now, is brought coastwise in a ready killed state, and comes at once into the market for consumption, the prices at Smithfield being thus—for infe rior meats especially—less sensibly affected than the carcase and retail markets. The price of mutton has sustained an equal fall. Wether legs of mutton may be bought at New gate and other markets at 51d. to 6d. per lb., and other joints in proportion ; whilst mutton, of less first-rate descrip tion, but such as is bought by the working classes may be had a full penny a pound, or more than that, lower. Pork has sustained a similar reduction; and it may be said, with justice we believe, that butcher's meat, generally, is at the least 25 to 33 per cent. below the prices of last year. So much, then, for the metropolis. The same state of things may be noted in all the great meat markets throughout the country. In three weeks, we are told, the Irish markets have fallen 9s. per cwt., or nearly Id. per pound, in addition to previous reductions. Pork was selling in Dublin last week at 3d per lb! In Liverpool and Manchester the fall, since last spring, has been 20 to 30 per cent.,—in the former place even more. And this, it must be borne in mind, has taken place, not because of any favouring circumstances enabling the native breeder and grazier to feed more cheaply, but the reverse; for the last season's fodder was far from being an extraordinary crop—the hay harvest being, in many places, almost an utter failure—and the stock of cattle of all deseriptions being a deficient one. The farmer must, by the result of his operations in feeding, have been a heavy sufferer, and the consumer, indisputably, has been the sole party benefitted. We are told, however, by the free traders that it is the inability of the working classes to consume largely which has caused the reduced prices of food, and not the tariff. In reply, however, we may urge that the condition of the work ing classes is improving, whilst the price of consumable ar ticles is falling weekly. The manufacturing population is better employed now than at this period last year; and yet prices have fallen 25 to 30 per cent. in those districts. The price of the working man's staple, too—bread—is full 30 per cent. cneaper now than it was then ; and, according to every theory laid down by the free trader, he ought to consume more largely of other articles of food, and must do so,—if his wages have not been reduced to the level of the prices of both ! Even reduction of wages however, admitting that it has taken place, and knowing that it will take place as food cheapens, cannot have caused an " aggregate decrease in the amount" paid to the working classes, and available for the purchase of food ; for we believe the amount of employment to be sufficiently large now, as compared with last year, to more than compensate for the reduction of the rate to indi vidual workmen. With respect, ellen, to this alleged decreased consumption of food we incline to think that the very contrary is the fact ; that the working classes consume now more beef and pork and mutton, in proportion to their bread, than formerly ; and hence the otherwise unaccountable depreciation of our corn markets. The poor man, it is well known, consumes more bread than the affluent. The loaf is the ready meal for one who has but sixpence or a shilling to expend. But place fresh meat and potatoes within his reach, and consumption of bread stuffs must decline. The cheapness of one article will cheapen another. The shop of the butcher will com pete with the shop of the baker. Such must be the case at the present moment ; for whereas we can see nothing in the abundance of the late harvest—which was, after all. little more than an average one—or, in the quantity of foreign corn released, and no prospect of an early great importation under the existing scale, to account for the decline of prices in every corn market throughout the kingdom, we can see abundant grounds in the reduced and reducing prices of butcher's meat for the falling price of the great staple corn. The fact appears to us clear that the supply of cheap, and the prospect of still cheaper, animal food have arrested the aver age consumption of bread stuffs. The tariff, we maintain, affords every reasonable expecta tion of a continued fall in the price of butcher's meat ; and we are satisfied that to the operation of that measure is to be attributed the decline thus far. We do not refer to the im portation of live cattle ; for years must elapse before any material effect upon our markets can be produced from this source. But from the improvement in the preparation of American and Canadian pork and beef, vast effects may be anticipated. The importations of last year, we admit, were very inferior in quality, and unsuited to English consump tion. Much of it was old stock, and all too highly salted, having, in fact, been cured when these articles, " slightly salted," were prohibited. The importations of the present season are, we understand, of a much changed description ; and, when it is borne in mind that at the Canadian duty of 2s. per cwt. the article can be profitably retailed at 3d. per lb., there is little doubt of both foreign corned beef and pork becoming staples of the consumption of the working classes. That such is the impression amongst the graziers and pro vision houses in Ireland very recent advice assures us ; and, if this be admitted, why need we wander further than the tariff as the cause of that reduced price at which provisions of every description are now afforded us. Admitting that the foreign article is inferior in quality—an admission, as applied to American pork, which can scarcely be safely made—yet its extensive importation and consumption must affect the sale of our own inferior meats, and hence operate upon the price of our best. Besides, it must be borne in mind that every article available for food—and there are many besides flesh meat cheapened by the tariff—must affect the demand for and consequent price of the remainder. At all events, we are confident that, taken as a whole, this mea sure has fully redeemed the predictions of its authors, that it would save the consumer the amount exactedfrom him by the income tax ; and if it be objected again that it has not pro duced, at once, the revival of commercial prosperity, what can this objection, if true even, establish more than the fact hat free trade in provisions and cheap food are not the in allible for the national distress which they were so audly declared to be ! EDUCATION, SCIENCE, AND ART.—By a statement just laid upon the table of the House of Commons of the estimates for 1843-4, for the purposes of education, science, and art, it appeared that there will be required for public education in Great Britain, £50,000; ditto in Ireland, £50,000; schools of design, £4,411 ; Professors at Oxford and Cambridge, £2,006 ' • University of London, £5,148 • Universities, &c., in Scotland, £7,380; Roman Catholic College in Scotland, £8,928 ; Royal Irish Academy, £300; Royal Hibernian Aca demy, £300; Royal Dublin Society, £5,600; Belfast Aca demical Society, £1,950 ; British Museum Establishment, &c., £32,576; ditto buildings, £37,485; ditto purchases, £5,275 ; National Gallery, purchase of pictures and expense of the Gallery, £1,600 • Museum of Economic Geology, £2,008 ; and Scientific Works and Experiments, £4,000; — the total for the year 1843-4 is £210,889. In the expense, therefore, of 1843, as compared with 1841, there will be an . . nerease Of 1:6,443, and as Compared with 1842, of £8,078. SINGULAR ROBBERY.—At Worship-street (London) Po lice-office, on Monday, a man of very gentlemanly appear ance, about 30 years of age, named William Alexander Grint, and who was stated to be the son of an officer in the royal navy, was brought up before the magistrate, charged on suspicion of stealing a quantity of plate, the property of Lady Anne Playter. A son-in-law of the prosecutrix stated that the prisoner was of highly respectable connections, and had dined at Lady Playter's with him and a party of gentlemen on the Sunday week previous. A servant in her ladyship's establishment stated that on the 6th instant the prisoner knocked at the ball door about 8 o'clock, and witness ad mitted him. He said he had brought a note from Mr. Squires, in the neighbourhood, and asked her when her mis tress would be up, and she told him at 9 o'clock. She asked him if he intended to stop to breakfast, and he replied in the negative, as he had ordered it at an inn, where he was staying. `Witness showed him into the parlour, and, after a short con versation, the prisoner pulled her mistress's work-box about, and turned all the things over. She told him not to do so, as her mistress would be angry, but he treated it as a joke, and she quitted the room, leaving. the prisoner there. Pre vious to admitting the prisoner she had set the breakfast things, and the usual articles of plate were on the table. Shortly afterwards another servant told her the fire in the parlour was nearly out, and on going into the room she _ . found the prisoner had left the house. The salt had been emptied out of the silver saltcellars into the fire, and the silver teapot, the saltcellars, five silver teaspoons, several gravyspoons, and a great many other valuable articles had been stolen. She was not at first alarmed on missing the plate, as she thought the prisoner had put it away and hid den himself; but, finding such was not the case, she became very frightened, and informed Mr. Watson. On the pri soner entering the parlour, he at once lit Mr. Watson's rneersehaum pipe, and was smoking it when witness left the room. No other person had entered the parlour but the pri soner, a n d she was d convince no one but him could have taken the property. The prisoner had taken off his own boots, whi c h were very indifferent nife a ones, and had put on a l good pair. He also took a penknd a case of s urgica instruments. Lady Playter was so deeply affected in having to press the charge, that she could not give her evidence. The prisoner was remanded for a week. COIIRE,gPONIAINCE VENTILATION OF CHURCHES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. SIR,—As there is no subject connected with the health of the community to which so little attention is paid, or of which so little appears to be known, as that of ventilation (by which I mean a supply of air in any building), I take the liberty of submitting you a few facts relating to it, which are compiled principally from the writings of some of our eminent physio logists, in the hope they may be the means of impressing some of your readers with the importance of the subject, and especially those who have the management of buildings where many people are congregated together. It is not generally known that it is necessary, for the pre servation of health, that every drop of blood in the human body should be exposed to the action of atmospheric air about once in every three minutes, in order to effect a change in the blood named aeration—a change from venous, or black blood, to arterial, or red blood ; nor that the same air cannot produce this change twice. Hence the necessity of a con stant supply of air in every room, but especially in those where many people are. The quantity of air required by each individual has been ascertained by Finlaison to be about 18 pints each minute of his existence--air that has never been breathed before: this will be in one hour 2 hhds. 20 galls., and in one day about 57 hhds. From ignorance of this fact, we have experienced for many generations the evil results of deficient ventilation, and suffered the penalty in delicate health, fevers, and consumptions ; and yet architects go on planning and erecting edifices, without bestowing a thought on the means of supplying air for the number of people they are to accommodate, though their health cannot be retained without it; and while ingenuity is taxed to sup ply water, air, which is of far more consequence, has been left to creep in, like a thief in the night, through any hole by which it can find an entrance. Were a knowledge of the facts stated above, and of man's structure generally, made a part of general education, such inconsistencies would soon disappear, and the architect would soon speedily devise the means of supplying our houses with air, as the engineer does with water. The only kind of air which will maintain the body in health is that containing the precise proportions of the atmosphere of oxygen and nitrogen, with a thousandth part of carbonic acid. If the relative quantity of any ingredient be increased or diminished, the blood will immediately suffer, and the health be injured. If, for instance, the air contain more carbonic acid than the minute trace of it in pure air, it will be to that extent unfit for respiration, and act deleteriously upon the system. Now, during its action on the blood in the lungs, the air loses a great part of its oxygen, or life sustaining principle, and gives out carbonic acid, a poisonous principle, in its stead ; therefore, if the same air be breathed again and again, the quantity of oxygen is gradually dimi nishing, and that of carbonic acid increasing, till at last it becomes incapable of supporting life. This is the cause of feebleness, head-aches, and other symptoms, that so often follow attendance at a church or meeting, where many bun dled pairs of lungs are absorbing oxygen and pouring out carbonic acid for hours, no means being at the same time used to carry off the breathed air, and to supply fresh. There are numerous instances on record of the fatal consequences of ignorance of this law of our nature. The black hole of Calcutta affair is one in which about 130 individuals perished. Crabbe the poet nearly fell a victim to this ignorance. He and several of his playmates were punished for playing at soldiers by being put into a large kennel. Crabbe was the first who entered. The place was crammed with offenders; the atmosphere consequently was rapidly consumed. Crabbe shrieked in vain that he would be suffocated (he being far thest from the door) ; at last, in despair, he bit the lad next him violently, roaring "Crabbe is dying! Crabbe is dying !" and the sentinel opened the door. Crabbe says, in his ac count of it, " A minute more, and I must have died." Walpole mentions another instance. A parcel of drunken constables took it into their heads to arrest every one they met, and thrust them into St. Martin's round-house. Twenty-five were thus shut up all night with closed doors and windows. In the morning four were dead; two died soon after, and twelve more were permanently seriously in- lured. In these deplorable examples of the miseries caused by ignorance of one of the simplest laws of animal life, the effects of want of air are pourtrayed in appalling colours ; but those which are produced by breathing an atmosphere vitiated to a much smaller extent, are by no means less real. God has decreed that a certain portion of air is necessary to sustain health. If we adapt our circumstances to this law, we reap comfort and health; whereas if we transgress it, and breathe au atmosphere with a less than usual quantity of oxygen, and more than usual of carbonic acid, we have no more right to expect to enjoy health, energy, and activity, than we have to expect a fire to burn without air, or a fish to live out of water. From opposition to this law, much suffering is incurred, especially in large towns. n 1838 about 60,000 died of diseases of the lungs in England, and I observe that 344 died of similar diseases last week in London alone. Now, it is an ascertained fact that the lungs, in most instances, are the first part to suffer from want of air. The blood, being insufficiently aerated, deposits tubercular mat ter in the lungs, and disease is generated. Ido not mean to say that a strict attention to this law would have prevented the whole of these deaths from this disease ; but experience has proved to us, that as a knowledge of, and attention to, this law have increased, in the same ratio these diseases have diminished; and it can also be proved, that the deaths from diseased lungs amongst those who, from their occupations, are most shut up in ill-ventilated places, are by far the most numerous ; while butchers, and those who live in the open air, hardly ever die of these complaints. Dr. Combe (the physician, not " the philosopher"), from whose work on physiology many of my preceding remarks are taken, says on the subject, If the air we breathe be impure, the proper aeration of the blood in the lungs will be prevented, and consequently rendered unfit for its destined purposes in the animal economy, and the h.ealth become im paired. Of its deteriorating influences, proofs everywhere abound." Where, from the want of air, or neglect in any way, the blood becomes impaired, bad health will never be far distant. Let those who are not aware of the influence of the blood consider what occasionally occurs in disease, and they will obtain a more correct idea of the fact. Cases are not wanting in which persons at the gates of death have been resuscitated, and ultimately restored, by having healthy blood transfused into their veins. Nay, the mind itself is, in some measure, influenced by the pure or impure state of the blood, because the co-operation of the nervous system is indispensable to the action of the mental faculties; and, therefore, if the brain is imperfectly sustained by blood, their tone and activity also become reduced. I have, however, said enough for the present. If you can oblige me, I will trouble you with one more letter. Yours, &c., A YOUNG PHYSIOLOGIST, THE BUILDING 1N CATHERINE-STREET, TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. SlR,—The detailed account of the ecclesiastical structure in Catherine-street, published in your late numbers, appears evidently to have been written by authority, and taken in connexion with a letter signed " Catholicus" on the same subject, exhibits, evidently, a desire to attract public atten tion to it, as well by a detail of its splendour as by keeping up as much mystery, and exciting as much curiosity, as pos sible An the first place, " Catholicus" ridicules the idea of mys .ery altogether, but in the same paragraph wonders " what authority they have for taking such high standing as a church." He professes moreover to have been much grati fied and instructed by an hour's conversation with a " mys terious individual." What he learned, except that it was an " attempt of man to make as beautiful an habitation for his God as was in his power," does not appear. He may, per chance, have forgotten that " God dwelleth not in temples made with hands." Acts, vii, 48. It appears, according to " a gentleman connected with the works," that " it is to be a Catholic Apostolic church, dedi cated, not to any particular saint, but to the whole of the apostles ; and that all who have been baptized will have free admission within its pale." The gentleman, however, aithough so well acquainted with its destination, with lauda ble caution and desire to keep up his character for carefully disclaimed mysteriousness, " would not undertake to say from his own knowledge, whether the doctrine of this church would assimilate to those of the disciples of the late Edward Irving." However, the next week it is " distinctly stated that they are not the same." but that "the Liturgy, we find, includes a very great portion of those prayers which our own, church has adopted." Pray, Mr. Editor, does it need any thing further to tell us that this mysterious and cruci form building, with its carved choir, its elegant aisles, its lofty clerestory, its gorgeous roof, its splendid windows, its oblong monumental-framed altar, with canopy of carved work, its rich and powerful organ, i ts credence or table of prophecies for the sacramental elements, i ts Sedile, and its Piscina, its carved rood or cross over the entrance, and its range of oaken stalls for the ministers who will be attached to it, does it need, I say, anything more to inform us that this fragment is to be, when completed, a SUPERB ROMISH CATHEDRAL.? It may be noticed that this church, which is to be dedica ted to all the apostles was, according to the account given to Catholicus, " never intended" to be handed over to the bishop for consecration. Of course not, so far as the title bishop means any bishop of the church of England ; but no doubt the gentlemen connected with it look elsewhere for authority to consecrate. I only hope that our protestant townsmen, when visiting this attractive edifice, will be on their guard against the instruction they may receive from the polite and jesuitical gentlemen with whom they will come in contact. CATHOLISSIMUS-PROTESTANS March 22, 1843. [Our correspondent appears as wishful as " Catholicus" to keep up the mystery connected with this unusually splen did structure. We had no other desire of giving a descrip tion of it than we have had in noticing any other remarkable building in our good old town, and altogether disclaim any intention of creating any curiosity by attempting to attach any needless mystery to the architectural designs of the erec tion or to the doctrines or ecclesiastical discipline of its sup porters. " Catholissimus-Protestans" knows however little about the matter to surmise that the " fragment" is intended for a " Romish cathedral." If lie will look through the liturgy intended to be used there, he will find it opposed essentially to the glaring errors in faith of popery, though we are not prepared to say so much of its opposition to the superstitions and some of the practices of that apostate system.] TO THE OWNERS OF WAREHOUSES AND OTHER PROPERTY IN LIVERPOOL. It is quite time that your attention should be directed to the Fire Prevention Bill, which has been already framed and is intended to be passed into an act with as much haste as possible. The most objectionable clause is section 8, relating to existing warehouses, which enacts " That every tvarehouse now built within the borough, and not being in accordance with the provisions of this act, shall be by the owner thereof altered and improved according to the regulations in the schedule (B) to this act annexed ; and if the owner of such warehouse shall not alter the same within six calendar months after notice in writing for that purpose shall have been given by one of the surveyors under this act, every such owner shall for every such default forfeit any sum not exceeding £lOO, and not exceeding £5O for every week such default shall continue unamended." The first question upon this clause is, what does schedule B re quire to be done ? Upon turning to this you will find that it requires doors and door-frames, or jambs (external only), door-sills and heads, window-shutters and frames, pent-houses or cat-heads, and teagle-blocks, to be of wrought iron, but door-frames and door-sills and heads may be of wrought or cast iron. The thickness and construction of the doors, &c., arc then regulated. The expense of these alterations must of necessity be very great. I have been wholesiuieto.llaeyN,f front, Now, the t c o o tr m yd informed that in some cases it would exceed £5OO for a sin repareni l t n i o i n c g a m l a a a n k n y e d o t u w h i n e i unjustifiable alterations. I f t e p a such g to lew a r t t e , a l e i n o rb r a o i te r i ) o e a n r c t st y .. In many cases it would be necessary to take down and re buildl n many cases a party may contemplate, in the course of a year or two, taking down an old warehouse of rebuilding ; but this act will compel for the purpose time, to expend a large sum upon hishim, in the mean adding one farthing to their value, old buildings, without pe nalty of £5O per week. e, or subject him to a Many other serious injuries and inconveniencies will appear upon a consideration of the term otvne By the interpretation clause the word", as used in the bill. owner " s h a ll mean the party in possession, or in rec e ipt of the any tenement." So that trustees, rents or profits of executors, and mortga . gees, are owners for the puipose of Inci rring the pentdtiee under this act, and they will be personably liable to the pe nalties. Take, for instance, the case of a person (and there are hundreds of such cases,) by his will bequeathing a ware house in trust for a daughter, as her share of his property. The bequest would - be to A in trust to pay the rents to the daughter for her life, and after her decease to her children is equal shares. The trustee is, of course, in receipt of the rents, and is called upon to alter the warehouse at an ex pense of some three or four hundred pounds. Where is he to find the money? He cannot touch the rent; that must be paid to the daughter, (and if he could so apply the rent it would be depriving the daughter of the means of subsist ence probably for two years at the least ;) he cannot sell or mortgage the warehouse to raise money for making the im provements ;—that would be a breach of trust. He must, therefore, either make the alterations at his own expense, or, he must pay the penalty. Again, take the case of a mortgagee, in possessim ; the mortgagee, perhaps, bankrupt, and the rent barely sufficient to keep down interest. He is called upon to meet this enor mous outlay, which does not better his security one penny ; it is, in fact, throwing so much money away. These are cases of daily occurrence. Many serious questions will also arise upon contracts for sale, whether the seller or purchaser shall bear this exorbitant taxation. It is also to be observed that this act is not confined in its operation to the largo buildings in the vicinity of the docks, but extends to the Parliamentary borough, comprising Ever ton, Edgehill, Kirkdale, great part of Toxteth Park, and in cludes not only what is usually understood by the word ware house, but every building in which some room shall be used for the deposit of goods. ALPHA. RUMOURED MARRIAGES IN HIGH LIFE.--A report is very current in distinguished circles that Miss Coutts Bur dett is at length about to bestow her hand in marriage, and Lord Wiltshire, the eldest son of the Marquis of Winchester, and colonel of a dragoon regiment, is mentioned as the fa voured suitor. Lord Charles Wellesley will, we also hear, shortly lead to the altar Lady Mary Cecil, the accomplished daughter of the Marquis of Salisbury.—Brighton Guardian. CHILD BITTEN BY A RAT.—On Friday night last, a workman in the employment of Messrs. Appleby, Walkers, and Co., of Renishaw Ironworks, was aroused from his slumber by hearing cries from the adjoining bedroom. On going to the bedside, he found his little boy, a fine lad about two years and a half old, in a great fright, and apparently much distressed. After quieting the little fellow, he retired to rest; but in a short time he again heard a cry emanating from the same room as before. On this, he immediately procured a light; and hastening to the spot, discovered, on examining the room minutely, that a large rat had procured an ingress, and frightfully lacerated the little sufferer's lip and the upper part of his forehead. The child is now doing well.—Derby Reporter. NORTHERN AND EASTERN RAILWAY.—A. special gene ral meeting of the proprietors of this company was held, on Tuesday, at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, Mr. Ward, M.P. for Sheffield, in the chair, for the purpose of taking into consideration the company's bill, now before Par liament, for an extension of the line to Newport. Mr. Crow der, the solicitor, read the marginal notes and clauses of the bill, the main object of which is to sanction the extension of the line from its present terminus at Bishop's Stortford to the town of Newport, in Essex. For this purpose the com pany are to be empowered to raise £152,000 in 12,000 quar ter shares. A clause is inserted in the bill limiting the com pletion of the line to five years. It was moved by Mr. Levy, seconded by Mr. Allender, and carried unanimously, that the proposed bill be approved of, and, after a vote of thanks to the chairman, the meeting broke up. THE EARTHQUAKE IN IRELAND.—In another page we publish an account of an earthquake which was felt in Li verpool and its vicinity on Friday morning last. The shocks were perceptible at a considerable distance, and, among other places, were distinctly felt in Belfast and its neighbourhood. Owing to the hour in which this agitation of the globe oc curred [between twelve and one O'clock at night], compara tively few people were awake to observe it ; and, from the novelty of the occurrence, even those who were awake, or were awakened, were not, at the moment, aware of what was taking place. Of the fact, however, no doubt exis's. The agitation was very perceptible. One gentleman, with whom we have spoken, bad just gone to bed ; and, upon observing the agitation, his reflection was, that " if he were in a country which was visited by earthquakes, that was one." Another gentleman got out of bed, supposing that robbers had entered the house. Another rose and examined his room, fearing lest plunderers had made their way into it. Several other cases of a like kind have been mentioned to us. In Holywood, and the neighbourhood of Killileagh, we un derstand that the shocks were felt. Captain Head, of the Reindeer steamer, from Belfast to Liverpool, experienced on that night a most unusually rough sea, though the wea ther was calm.—Belfast Whig. HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, FROM THE PAR LIAMENT OF 1688 TO THE PASSING OF THE REFORM BILL. By William Charles Townsend, Esq.—The first volume of this work, which must be looked upon as a desideratum by every legislature, and, indeed, by ail Englishmen, is just published. This work is intended to give a popular history of the House of Commons of Parliament, and will compre hend the lives of the speakers, lawyers, orators, and states men, who have been most distinguished in its annals ; a review of the privileges once enjoyed by members, and their hard-won right to personal deliberative freedom; a record of the vindictive powers exercised by the house over their own body and strangers; a narrative of the internal economy of St. Stephen's Chapel; the changes in the habits, manners, and character of the constituency, with the decorum and method of proceedings—in the tone and temper of discussion, and in the progress of intelligence and refinement. It is thus proposed to unlock the store of light reading, the fund of interest and amusement which has been concealed from the general gaze in the voluminous journals, state trials, parlia mentary debates, precedents of Hatsel, and contemporary memoirs and pamphlets. The first volume includes the period from the abdication of James 11. to the death of George 1., characterised by " master spirits," critical events, and stirring debate—a monument, however imperfect, to the memory of those patriotic legislators who framed the Bill o? Rights—conquered France in her height of pride—established the union with Scotland—secured the Protestant faith by the Act of Settlement, and, with the Septennial Act, confirmed the independence of the representatives u. the people. LOUIS PHILLIPPE AND TRIERS.—The soire'ec. Of M. La fitte (just previous to 1830) were very little more violent than those at the Palais Royal. Undoubtedly, the then Duke of Orleans (now Louis Phillippe) kept tip the appearance of re spect to his king and relative, Chas. X. ; but Barthelemy and Mery, Benj. Constant and Lafitte, Beranger, Lafayette, and all the uproarious and discontented spirits of the age, were well received and applauded by the then first subject of the realm. It was at this period that M. Thiers first made the acquaintance of his future sovefeign, and it was then that he paved his way for his subsequent reception at the palace of the Tuilleries. It is a fact which has been too frequently forgotten, that the revolution of 1830 was by no means an "impromptu." It is not true that M. Thiers, for m exaple, was not fully prepared for its accomplishment. He, and those who acted with him, planned the measures and the opposition which should, in the end, compel the monarchy to stand on the defensive. "We will drive the old Jesuit to a coup d'etat," said M. Thiers, on one occasion, when speaking of his king, Chas. X.: " they wish to govern legally, that is, according to the letter of the law; but we will make him rule according to its spirit !!" At the period of which lam now speaking, little Thiers was a very poor man. His two franc dinners, or ls. Bd., wine included, were by no means rare; and none but himself would have dared to predict that he would afterwards become the associate of the rulers and of the prime ministers of Europe. Not, indeed, that such men as Talleyrand ever forgot Thiers's origin ; but he who said that " language was given to enable men to conceal their thoughts," also said, " that Thiers was a fop without ele gance, an aristocrat without real pretensions or fa mily , and a political demagogue without courage or foresight. Still Talleyrand availed himself of his services, admired his dex terity in boxing the political compass, and used to declare " that Adolphe was the only man of merit who had sprung from the hot-bed of the barricades." " —Talleyrand sucked the orange, and rejected peel and pips," said Odillon Barrot in one of his happy moments ; but, when little Thiers heard of it, he vowed vengeance against both his patron and his competitor.—Fraser. s Magazine. - - MISCELLANEOUS REISIINISCENCES, BY M. MACAULET. —ln 1814, Dr. Milner again insisted on my passing th e Easter holydays with him ; and he was, if possible, kinder than before. It was a time not to be forgotten by the youngest n w e h w o s w o e f r e t h a e b l f e a l t o of c p o a m r i i ) s r , e a h n e t nd the i o fh the signs abdi c o a f t i p o u n b o l joy. N Nap ol e o n, l e lh o ' ne, arrived, I think, on the very day n which I went on my second visit to the lodge of Q ueen 's College. Cambridge was illuminated • and my kind old friend w as divid ed between his wish that I s hould see the show, and his fear that I should come to some harm in the crowd. He sent me out with all sorts of precautions, and told me afterwards that he could not compose himself to sleep till he knew that I was safe at home. In general, this visit resembled the last; except that, as was natural at such a season, he talked much more of history and politics than of natural science. One story, which he told at breakfast over his great bowl of milk, I well remember. " The first time," he said, " that I ever heard about war or the French was when I was a little child in London. I was taken out of bed late at night, and carried to the window. All the street was alive, though it was midnight. The watchman was calling Past twelve o'clock ; Quebec taken.' The news came late ; and the lord mayor had given orders that the watchman should cry it, with the hour, all through the city." He talked of the bearing of the recent events upon religion, of the restoration of the Pope, of the suppression of the order of Jesuits, and of the probability of its revival. Then he went back to the Reformation, and found me, for my age, an intelligent listener ; for I had lately been reading his history at that time, and Robertson's Charles the Fifth. I ventured to say some hard things of Luther; which he pronounced to be most unjust, and took down from his bookcase some letters of Melancthon, in order to set me right. He was very severe on Erasmus, though the most distinguished ornament of his own college. He said, "We have no relic of him at Queen's, except a huge corkscrew ; and I am afraid that there was nothing in his principles to keep him from making very assiduous use of it." This screw is mentioned by Dr. Buchanan, who, in his last visit to Queen's College, inhabited Erasmus's rooms, as being " about a third of a yard long."—Life of Isaac Milner. THE SHAKSPEARE OF GERMANY. — If any one should ask us to characterise Richter, we should reply, characterize nature, and then we will comply with your wish. Richter is nature, if ever man could so be called. Nor do we mean that he is a man of no character. We mean to say, that, in sur view and feelings, he is the Shakspeare of Germany. We, too have, in our own mind' often been led, as Mrs. Lee does at some length in t h e boo k before us , to contrast Je an Paulwit ushthe another, who is perhaps more g enerally considered amongst great of German authors, namely, man Goethe. We, howeve r, are inclined to make the contrast much more favourable to Richter, or less so to Goethe, than she does. This has always seemed to us the difference be tween the two men. that Jean Peul's heart embraced every thing, while Goethe's held every thing at a distance. We mean to say, that what has been called Goethe's all-siderress yvi 'which passed only as a curious A vis on ; while Richter seems to has always seem ed to us to be a cold indifference of heart to the pho e m n many e f n o o r nm before e o f o f humanity, us, with his large and ging bosom, to meet all the aspects of human life and l ot with a profound and tender and im mortal interest. It ma y sou nd singularly to many, when we confess we have oft en of la te been tempted to illustrate to our countrymen what Ritcher is as a writ e r, by calling him low tha German Dickens. Of course this comparison holds only in respect t o the exquisite blending of humour and pathos, of the droll and the tender, and to that keen sense of the difference between what is truly great, and what is only disguised littleness, in human life, in which the English writer and the German do certainly bear a striking likeness to each other. suyeradd to Dickens a more wide and and elevated acqnaintance with life in all its circles and enrich his_ mind . con ditions,—immensly with stores of the mos t h e t e rogenous and significant facts, and images from all ages and all departments of knowledge,—quicken his already lively s ense of the beauty of outward nature into an all -animating an d boundless . glow of emotion and love ; let his mind be filled with all knowledge of the metaphysical systems, without enslaving . in the least his own power of thought—and you will have snmething like a Jean Paul. We mean to say that .. . .in wit, and fun and fire," in the union of tender s.enspility to what is more true and beauti ful, with moral indignation at what i s b ase ,—in short, in some of those characteristics which make Jean Paul peculi arly dear to us, be may well be called the Boz of Germany. We do not think we could better begin to recommend him to American readers than by such a p arra ll e l a s this.—Chri3- tias Observer, S. LITERARY NOTICE, The Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland. By N. P. Willis illustrated by Mr. Bartlett. Virtue, Ivy-lane This number (XXIII.) contains some sweetly executed engravings. The first is a view of Wellesley Bridge, Lime rick, the second Glengariff, (really a gem of art for softness and effect,) the third Kilkee, and the fourth Glenarm. Thi s publication continues as excellent as when first commenced. A GOOD JOKE ON A JESTER Our readers have occasionally seen the name of Popjoy in our columns, as the author of an occasional first-rate joke. Having missed him for some time, we made inquiry, and found that he had been on the wing—travelling to " parts unknown." The cause of his absence we learn to have been the following, which, having come to the knowledge of his acquaintance, has been subject of too hard jesting for the wag to withstand. Some time ago a masquerade was given at the Amphi theatre, where ladies of uneasy virtue formed the major part of the " softer sex" present ; the male portion being consti tuted of roues, debauchees, and gentlemanly vagabonds, who delight in such assemblies, where vulgarity passes for wit and coarseness for humour. A queer fellow in his way is Popjoy. He had frequently heard of these masquerades, but never felt much curiosity to be present at any of them. However, he determined to be present at the first that took place ; and, on one being an nounced, purchased a ticket. Popjoy's costume was that of a Grand Turk, and he flattered himself he looked every inch a turbaned infidel. He amused himself for an hour in looking on, when a domino took his arm. " Do you know me ?" asked Popjoy, highly flattered with the chance of an adventure. " No," replied the domino; "and I know you are not acquainted with me : that is the reason I have ventured to address you. I love the unforseen, the impossible, and the romantic. A masked ball is a place where we wish to remain unknown." Popjoy made up his mind that the lady by his side must be a princess of the blood royal, or, at least, somebody of eminence. " I should faint," said the domino, " if I were to be recog nised, and go into hysterics if I were to find you out ; so, take care of your false nose, I beg of you." " That is to say," said Popjoy, •• you have a sad opinion of my real nose. 1 flatter myself that it is not so ugly as my false one." The domino sighed. The domino and Popjoy danced all night together, and be came mutually charmed with each other. " Do you wish to depart," said Popjoy, at length, as the domino evinced some signs of weariness. "It is too soon for that : now is the time to sup. Perhaps you will not ob ject to sacrifice a few oysters—a glass of wine ?" " To refresh my dried up throat, I will take an oyster, perhaps two, but not more." Popjoy and the domino sat down to supper. The domino eat an oyster—then another; by dint of persuasion, she managed to swallow three—when, as if " appetite had grown by what it fed on," three dozen, at least, found their way down her ivory, swan-like throat; then followed a pasty, a lobster salad, and the best portion of a dish of jelly. De cidedly, thought Popjoy, this must be a princess—no lady of the common sort could possess such a royal appetite. Popjoy kept on his false nose and his turban. The domino would not remove her mask. Popjoy thought both might now be laid aside. They had nearly finished a bottle of cham pagne, when four o'clock struck. " I must really retire," said the domino. " Permit to escort you," said Popjoy; " I beg you will." "Oh ! I cannot, indeed. I live a long way from here—in the Park. Hold, thought Popjoy—my own place of residence—l may be known. The champagne had made Popjoy reckless. " That is the direction of my own house." The domino accepted his arm. When they had reached a certain street, the dimino stopped. "I am now at home ;—permit me to thank you. I shall never forget the pleasure of the past evening." "We must not part yet," said Popjoy. " I must see you safe." -- They walked on a few paces—at No. 4 they stopped. " I am now at home." " So am I." " Oh, my goodness!" cried the domino ; " you are Mr. Popjoy ! I know you now—oh, goodness !" The mist from Popjoy's eyes began to clear away. He suddenly recognised the voice, which so far had been well disguised. It was that of his landlady's maid servant ! " Sir,', slid the girl, solemnly, " you are a man of honour—l beg you to be secret. " And I--have I—zounds !—I shall remove to-morrow." That ball and supper cost poor Popjoy nearly four pounds ten. A young man named Brook was twice fired at in the village of Tuam, within four miles of Strekestown, on the night of Wednesday last, and immediate death was the result. LORD HUNTINGTOWER.—An application was made be fore the Court of Review, on Wednesday, to annul the fiat against this nobleman, as he was not a trader. The judge rejected the application with costs. - - - THE WELSH COLLIERIES.—The summary conviction of the men at Cardiff on Saturday appears to have had a bene ficial effect in Glamorganshire, many of the men having gone to work without obstruction. In Monmouthshire, however, things remain in nearly the same state. On Saturday a large meeting was held near Blackwood, at which the men came to the determination still to stand out. No breach of the peace has, however, occurred. SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCE.—The Jamaica papers last received mention rather a cnrious circumstance, which hap pened to a gentleman of Kingston a few days since. He coughed up a bone, nearly an inch long, which he had acci dentally swallowed while supping beef soup, upwards of two years ago. Every effort was made at the time, both by the medical faculty and the English metropolis, to relieve the patient; but what was denied to science in this instance, nature herself has now performed. MONOMANIAC. — On Tuesday, at one of the London po lice-offices, Charles Dowie, the journeyman shoemaker, who is labouring under the delusion that some passage in Cham bers' Edinburgh Journal, reflecting upon his grandfather, prevents the master shoemakers from giving him work, was put to the bar. He said his object in wishing to see Mr. Chambers was to chastise him for calling his grandfather an idiot. Dr. M'Murdo gave a certificate of the prisoner's in sanity, and he was removed to a place of safety. The Queen of the French has suggested to 14 ladies, at the head of whom are the royal princesses and the Countess of Montalivet, the pleasing task of getting up a quantity of works in embroidery of various sorts, to be sold for the bene fit of the sufferers of Guadaloupe. Those works, %hen finished, are to be exposed in the gallery of the Palais Royal, on the first floor, and will be afterwards sold. Ladies ap pointed by her Majesty will preside at the different stalls, and the sale, it is supposed, will commence on the 18th of next month. ESCAPE FROM A FILTHY DEATH.—About eleven o'clock on Monday night the inmates of the Blue Lion lodging house, Field-lane, London, were greatly alarmed by dread ful groans proceeding from the lower part of the premises, and on going into the privy they perceived a man's hands and a portion of his head emerging above the soil, the other parts of his body being completely immersed therein. They immediately set about extricating the poor fellow, who ap peared almost exhausted, and in the course of a few seconds he was partially got out when the unfortunate man was doomed to a second immersion, the persons who had pulled him up being unable to retain their bold. An alarm was now given, and some policemen extricated the poor fellow from his disagreeable position. He had fallen into the soil whilst in a fit. ELOPEMENT OV A YOUNG LADY FROM LIEGE, BELGIUM. —On Wednesday, information was received at the several metropolitan police-offices of the elopement of a young lady, about 20 years of age, from the house of her parents, residing at Liege, in Belgium. The gentleman with whom she quit ted her parental roof is a young man, about 25 years of age, named Giles Hinton, Esq., M.A., of 'Worcester College, Oxon, and formerly a resident at Gloucester or its neigh bourhood. It appears that the young lady left her father's house on Friday last, about half-past eleven o'clock in tile forenoon, and it was soon afterwards ascertained that the fugitives had taken their departure for England in the Ge neral Steam Navigation Company's vessel Sir Edward Banks, which vessel arrived in the Thames on the following day (Saturday) at two o'clock, but all trace of them since their landing has been lost. The friends of the lady arrived in London soon afterwards in pursuit ; and large placards, de scribing the personal appearance of Mr. Hinton, as also that of the young lady, in a very minute style, were on Wednes , day extensively posted about the metropolis, offering a re , ward to any person who would discover their present abode, and communications have been made to several old and ex perienced officers on the subject. The placards style the affair " The abduction of a young English lady, a minor, from the house of her parents. ' TABLE OF MORTALITY. — The following table, which shows the proportion of deaths that occurred during the year 1812, in London, and in each of the under-mentioned manu facturing towns, will probably be interesting to our rea aders nn:— Deaths per . Population by the in every 1,000 of Census of 1841. the population. 1,870,727 107,140 99,175 66,032 85,672 Towns. London Huddersfield ... Halifax Wigan . Stockport Rochdale Bradford ...... Bury. Birmingham Derby Preston Nottingham Walsall Leeds Salford. Leicester . Coventry Wolverhampton 11Ianchester Liverpool. acclesfield 60,577 .. 132.164 .. 77,496 .. 131,187 .. 35.015 .. 77,189 .. 53,080 .. 34,273 .. 168,667 .. 70,228 . 50,932 . 31,028 . 80,722 . 192,401 . 223,054 . 56,018 . SUPPOSED MURDER AT READING. — Much excitement has been occasioned in Reading during the last few days by the mysterious circumstances attending the death of an aged man named Samuel Steers, who was found drowned in the Kennett, with his legs tied, and one of his pockets turned out, on Tuesday night. Deceased was a carpenter, and had lived in Reading nearly the whole of his life, his sober and industrious habits, as well as his general good character, ha% ing rendered him much respected. At about seven o'clock on Tuesday evening he left home, previously telling his wife he was going to Mr. Ings, a collector of pew rents, to pay for the last quarter's sittings at Trinity Church, which amounted to 10s. 6d., and of which lie then had a bill in his hands ; he added, that he should also call on one of the offi. cers of a benefit club, of which he was the auditor, on his way, but he should be back in time for supper. A few mi nutes past seven he called at the Globe lun, Horn-street, where the Club meetings were held, and after waiting about ten minutes went out again, appearing in good spirits, as usual. He was afterwards seen by a third party near Kates grove-lane, at the bottom of the street, going in the direction of Mr. Ing's house. A few minutes after nine o'clock, how ever, the same evening, he was met in Mill-lane by a man employed at the mill, who states that he was then going towards How-street. From this time he was never seen un til taken out of the water (at half-past nine), near Victoria wharf, about half-a-mile distant from the mill-stream, where he was discovered by some bargemen in the employ of Messrs. Drewe, floating in the water. On being taken out and ex amined by Mr. Houlton, superintendent of police, he had nothing in his pockets, one of which had been turned inside out, and his legs were tied together with a piece of car-twine. There were no external marks of violence, except a slight bruise under the left eye, a small cut under the chin, and two slight grazes inside the upper and lower lips , occasioned (in the opinion of the surgeon) by their being pressed against th i teeth. Early on Wednesday morni n g a labouring man dis covered the hat and apron of deceas ed concealed n a dung hill near the Jack of Newbury public-house, on the side of the mill-stream. The apron and string were cut asunder, and some blood stains were on the former. On hound round, near the dunghill, some other spots of blom.were f, and also several screws and keys which bad been in the old man's pocket, and some halfpence. Glob. EARTHQUAKES As the earthquake which has so recently been experienced in this town and neighbourhood forms at present a subject of very general conversation, it may, perhaps not be uninterest ing to give some brief particulars of former similar visitations, which we gather from various sources. In Zorulin's Recreations in Physical Geography, it is stated that " beyond the limits of these volcanic regions, all countries are subject to slight tremors at distant intervals of time. Slight shocks have frequently been felt in the British isles, in France, Germany, and other parts of northern Eu rope; but these countries cannot be considered as constitut ing parts of either the southern European or of the Icelandic volcanic regions. I►► many instances these tremors appear to be mere vibrations, produced mechanically, through the ex ternal crust of the globe, and originating in some great con volsion in an adjoining volcanic region. In other instances, however, these agitations appear to be independent of any such great convulsion." EARTHQUAKES IN ENGLAND. It is exactly 800 years since the first earthquake is recorded to have taken place in this country, it having happened at Worcester and Derby in 1043. Four similar visitations are stated to have fallen on England during the following half century. An earthquake that was generally felt throughout the country occurred in 1090, and was followed by a scarcity of food. In 1199, the county of Somerset suffered from a similar cause; and St. Michael's-on-the-Hill, without Glas tonbury, was thrown down by shocks that were also felt throughout the country in 1247. Earthquakes were experi enced in England during each of the three succeeding years — a remarkable succession of such evils ! The greatest earth quake ever known in this country occurred in 1318; and in April, 1580, another caused great damage in various direc tions. It lasted only one minute ; but the shock was so severe that many churches and houses were much shattered and many lives were lost. According to the quaint phraseology of Stowe—" The great clocke bell in the palace at Westmins ter stroke of itself against the hammer with shaking, as di vers clockes and belles in the city and elsewhere did the like." This earthquake extended into many parts of England; and in Kent there were three distinct shocks that caused much _ _ damage . In 1583 one occurred in the county of Dorset, that " removed a considerable piece of ground." Earthquakes were felt at London and several other places in March, 1749, and in 1750, and gave rise to the publication by Dr. Stukely, in which he attributed the phenomena, not to vapours or fer mentations generated in the bowels of the earth, but to elec tricity. On one of these occasions it is stated that " a sound was observed to roll from the Thames to Temple-bar, just as the electrical snap precedes the shock." In 1750, the same counties now visited suffered from an earthquake that caused much damage in Liverpool, Chester, Manchester, &c. ; and in the course of this same year a severe shock was felt at Mu nich and in the surrounding country ; numerous shocks were also experienced in France, particularly at Bordeaux, Tou lose, Narbonne, Montpelier, &c. though the shocks were most violent near the Pyrennees, where several houses were thrown down, and many persons killed." In 1753, on the 12th June, several parts of the town of Manchester (particularly the upper end of Market-street Lane) were visited with an earthquake, which lasted about the space of a minute, whereby a great many people were awakened by the shaking of their beds. It was preceded, or rather accompanied, by a rustling noise like the wind, and was felt in a great many villages adjacent. At Ratcliffe and Oldham, the tremulous motion of the earth Was moresensi- bly perceived ; their beds were lifted up by it, and the houses violently agitated. The shock was felt in Cheshire much about the same time ; and also at Halifax, in Yorkshire. As such an extraordinary event could not 'be remembered to have happened there before, those to whom the earthquake was most perceptible were thrown into a great consternation In the beginning of )761 great alarm was excited through- out the metropolis and its neighbourhood by two shocks,-on February 8 and March 8. - On Sunday, Sept. 14th, 1777, the greatest shock on record of a similar visitation was experienced in this county (Lan caster). The pillars and walls of the buildings in several places evidently tottered, and the motion was so great as to toll the bells in the Collegiate and St. Mary's Churches, at Manchester. In the churches, it being in the time of divine service, the greatest confusion and terror were occasioned. The congregations, suspecting that either the galleries or the roofs were falling in, endeavoured to escape with the utmost precipitation. Several people were thrown down and tram pled upon, and some few had their limbs broken. Many persons complained, for several days after, of nervous pains and hysteric affections, and of sensations similar to those persons who have been strongly electrified. Perhaps the fright might have contributed to have produced some of these effects. The motion was felt at York, Lancaster, Li verpool, Chester, Birmingham, Derby, and Gainsborough ; and within this circuit, the diameter of which must be 130 or 140 miles, with greatest violence in Manchester, which appears to have been the centre of it. The morning on which the earthquake happened was clear and serene. The air was so far from being sultry, that some persons who rode out early in the morning, complained of the cold. The wind was easterly. At the instant of the shock it is said to have veered to the west, and to have immediately returned to its former station. On the 20th, 21st, and 22d of September, much rain fell, attended with thunder and lightning. The storm was particularly violent on the 21st in the neighbour hood of Rochdale ; and early on the morning of the 22d, (according to the report of a philosophical gentleman from which we take this account,) the whole hemisphere appeared, from this place, to be involved in one general blaze. In 1786, earthquakes occurred in different parts of the north of England. In Westmoreland in 1790 ; in the coun ties of Bedford, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, &c., in March, 1792; at Shaftesbury and Salisbury in September, 1793. Another shock was felt in this country on the 18th No vember, 1795 ; and we copy the following notice of it from the Manchester Mercury, published a few days afterwards:— " Several of the inhabitants of this town were greatly alarmed on Wednesday night, between eleven and twelve, by the shock of an earthquake. The sensation it occasioned seemed to those retired to rest as though a person in getting from under the bed had gently heaved it up. We do not hear of the smallest damage occasioned by it. The weather here has, for some days, been uncommonly variable. On Thursday, in the afternoon, there was a very severe fall of snow, and Friday we had a sharp dry frost. At Nottingham, so severe was the shock, that the bells in the churches were awfully heard to sound in the steeples; several chimneys thrown down, &c. ; but we have not yet heard of any material da mage. It was so severely felt at Childwell, in that neigh bourhood, as to throw down a stack of chimneys belonging to Thomas Charlton, Esq., of that place. Its direction seemed to be from N.E. to S.W. The same was also felt at Doncaster, Stamford, Leicester, Derby, Sheffield, and seve ral other places." On the 20th August, 1835, two shocks were experienced in this country, the principal one of which was preceded, as in the case of the earthquake of Friday last, by a slight shock, about three hours and a half previous. The first shock was about midnight, on the 19th ; the second about half-past three o'clock in the morning of the 20th August, when a rumble like distant thunder was immediately followed by a violent shaking of doors, windows, furniture, &c. At Lan caster it threw down a chimney ; and it was also felt with considerable violence at Whitehaven, Ulverstone, Kendal, Garstang, Preston, Manchester, and Blackpool. It appears to have extended from Carlisle on the north, to the borders of Cheshire on the south, and from the seacoast on the west, to the Yorkshire hills on the east ; and to have been most violent at Lancaster, which is nearly half-way between the two extremes. The air was calm and serene, but, as on Fri day morning last, quite warm, indeed sultry. It is remark able, that this earthquake was preceded by an occurrence of the same kind, a few days previous in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. In June, 1839, an earthquake was experienced as far north as Clitheroe, and as far south as Manchester, but does not seem to have been felt westward of a line drawn from Man chester to Blackburn, nor does it appear to have extended eastward beyond the range of hills which separate Yorkshire from Lancashire. It was felt at Burnley, Bacup, Rawten stall, Blackburn, Haslingden, Edenfield, Bury, Rochdale, and Manchester ; but it was not felt, or but slightly, at Old ham or Ashton-under-Lyne. It was more violent at Bury, Rochdale, and Heywood, than in any other quarter. Al Heywood some shafting was thrown out of gear by the vibra. tion, and a quantity of china was broken in a closet; a )chdale a wall was _slightly damaged ; and at Bury ma articles were thrown down from shelves and chimney-pieces. Cotton factories, and other lofty buildings, were so violently shaken, that the hands rushed out in some instances, sup posing that the building was falling. Throughout the whole range of its operation, it was attended by a hollow rumbling sound, like distant thunder. In October in this year, 1839, also several shocks of earthquakes were felt in various parts of Scotland. Although not severe, they were sufficiently so to cause some alarm ; they occurred on the 7th, 10th, 13th, 14th, 16th, and 23d days of October. The bells were set ringing ; persons seated in chairs could with difficulty retain their seats, and stone dikes or walls were thrown down. But the most serious injury cause by this agitation of the earth was the bursting of the Eastburn reservoir, on the banks of the River Carron, the waters of which swept over the adja cent lands, bearing every transportable article before them, and even rooting up young trees. Of course it is needless to give in this place any details of the earthquakes which have visited this country during the present month, and it is almost unnecessary to say that the above are but a few of the earthquakes that have visited England. EARTHQUAKES ABROAD It is almost impossible to enumerate these various occur rences, but the following are probably the most calamitous and destructive, and compared with the fearful effects of these subterranean convulsions in the volcanic regions of the earth, the tremors in our own neighbourhood appear of trifling importance. PERU, 1746. Peru was visited on the 28th of October, 1746, by an earthquake, which is declared to have been more tremen dous and extensive than that of Lisbon in 1755. In the first twenty-four hours two hundred shocks were experienced. The ocean twice retired and returned impetuously upon the land ; Lima was destroyed, and part of the coast near Callao was converted into a bay ; four other harbours , among which were Cavalla and Guanape, shared the same fate. There were twenty-three ships and vessels, great and small, in the harbour of Callao, of which nineteen were sunk, and the other four, among which was a frigate called St. Firmin, were carried by the force of the waves to a great distance up the country. The number of the inhabitants in this city amounted to four thousand. Two hundred only escaped, twenty-two of whom were saved on a small frag ment of the fort of Vera Cruz, which remained as the only memorial of the site of the town after this dreadful inunda tion. LISBON, 1755. The great area over which this earthquake extended, is very remarkable. The movement was most violent in Spain, Portugal, and the north of Africa; but nearly the w hole of Europe, and even the West Indies, felt the shock on the same day. A sea-port, called St. Euhals, about 20 miles south of Lisbon, was engulphed. At Algiers and Fez, in Africa, the agitation of the earth was equally violent, and at the . distance of eight leagues from Morocco, a village , with the inhabitants to the number of about eight or ten thousand persons, together with all their cattle, was swallowed Soon after, the earth closed again over them . A greatav swept over the coast of Spain, and is said to have been sixty feet high at Cadiz. At Tangier, in Africa, it rose and fell eighteen times on the coast. At Funchal, in Madeira, it rose fifteen feet perpendicular above high-water mark, although the tide which ebbs and flows there seven feet was then at half ebb. Besides entering that cit y , and committing great ha woc, it overflowed other sea-ports in the island. At Kin ' sale, in Ireland, a body of water rushed in into h to te harbour, whirled round several vessels , and poured the market place. •••••••••••""'"'"`".."_ Tug RED RIVER FLOOD.—ON)' HUNDRED LIVES LOST• —The Southern American papers give melancholy acconnts of the loss of life and property by the rise in the Red River. Amid the general distress, Captain Crooks, of the st ea lhe m boat Hunter, proceeded to Mill Creek, and rendered sufferers every possible succour in his p ower, going from place to place, picking up the survivors from the tops of houses and trees ; thus rescuing from a wa ter y g rave seventy five of or a hundred p ar reaching them--their —their cries sh in the cane and timber, often being hear d among the as there was no po ssible way Persons. Some were ne cessarily left to noise of the element. Six families of Indians , li mile s this side of Jonesborough, are reported lost, and Colonel Milan), of Kentucky, with a lady, his niece, and a Mr. M'K inneY, erished. It is thought that over a'hundred lives b ad been lost between Fulton and Jonesborough—how many, we, as yet, cannot with certainty predicate. TM EARTIIQUAKK LAST WEEK We gave in our last all the details which had re/wheel us have now nothing p ous readers. The shock that time of this unusual occurrence, and of Lancashire, with xtendedsnorth wards as m tic a n t l e a r r ia fi l m to ay gi n v o e t in be a u dd ni it n i t o e i r i e , s t t h i o n u g g t h n , Stock nori l a ° inn i e j d h ) a , ln its t-outhet more or less intensity, and to havee part a few other par - - appears to have been felt in every far as Carlisle, eastward to Rochdale, or at all even and Macclesfield—the last-named tow F Lancaster a limits ; and westward to the isle of ter and Hol)well (so far as we have 'llel formeii,n,gahs,ssi,:istii)cioett:rltdre,s ries, if correct, would give Morecambe Bay, " the and dciesrttaricintlbyetthweeeii effects,the L as un d e as a c i t i t d ne t d he i i l i i i t f, h ;i Preston papers, appear to have been more violent than al experienced in this neighbourhood. A correspondent of the Manchester Guardia n following statement a s to the p henomena which were snakes rn s fested under ground dur in g the late earthquake. lie lie that " very few men wer e down in the pits at the sir oc curred; but those who wer e at work stated, that the ii a slight shivering motio n p recisel y similar to that can; the gushing of the damp when i g nited. This sensaati' experienced in the collieries of Farnworth, KersleN Lever, &c. No rupture t ook p lace, except the un: of some scaly portions of soft rock, which, in(' slihtest motion would certainly effect. As far a ascgertain, none of the men at the time suspecte cause of the motion ; but, when they ascended in t. ing, related the circumstance, and attributed it to a;. effluxion of fire damp in some adjoining place. Fire when a light is applied to it, rolls down the bay towars a perture, and presents the appearance of flakes of cotton &c. The shock was, of course, felt above ground in these places." The Guardian also says th at there is pretty strong con current testimony to the fact, that a slight shock was fel t t a bout half-past ten o'clock on Thursday evening abort two hours and a half before the shock of Friday morning. We have conversed with various parties who experienced this shock ; but they all describe it as slight. One gentle man, residing on Kersall Moor, distinctly saw the door of the apartment shake to and fro, as if agitated by a sudden and violent gust of wind. It was also felt at Iligher Broughton, Cheetham, and other neighbourhoods. It ap pears to have been a single concussion, accompanied by a tremulous or vibratory motion; and of its reality we think few will be disposed to doubt, after reading the account of a medical gentleman experiencing a shock at Kendal, pretty nearly about the same time. There can, we think, be little doubt, that although insignificant in it effects,—not a single building, or even a chimney, being anywhere overthrown by it,—it was stronger and more distinctly marked to the senses of hearing and feeling, than any earthquake which has been felt in the North of England since the earthquakes of 1753, 1777, and 1795, of which some account will be found : in another column. The Liverpool Times of Tuesday says " We greatly fear that it will prove to have been merely the last vibration of an earthquake which has been felt in some i7e o a t tch h rot e tob e l faq p nuF a da r ek t ter o auw f nabd t r h iye e t blha w esdt o ee, r aa l wt d rratohs w yge i autdlhas 'earthquake m befee u il c ntc h ibtt hyygertoeh\afelt,e Lisboncie • as tpitniatniencinsi wasse iost of several . of enl T tt le hi t ne vessels at sea, many hundred miles from the West Indies, and through a very considerable part of America. The great volcanic forces in the West Indies seem at present c.d to be in r a a s p t i a d t l e y o n f nd fri t g o la w tf b u a l t a i c na ti na vit e y na ; and when it o i t s h s ur f id and mo tion may be propagated through the solid ma considered been the i 1 South last t t e h r e e d e a h r t o: , n im F p ri ro d b a a y bl m e n th rn a i t ng th , e m ea a r y th b q a u v a e l s ce be f e el it i s Lancashire,nn t a t all o vibration of some prodigious movement in the volcanic as dis trict either of Central America or of Southern Europe." The following ar e some of the p laces (iu addition to those given in our last) where the shock was perceptibly felt : R o chdale, Bolton , St. Helens, Southport, C ro ' kton Stock port, Altrincha m, Bowdon, Dunham, Northwicb,Cock er- mo uth, Egremon t (Cumberland), &e. The following . ac. count, from the Whilehaven Herald, gives some curious particulars :—" One gentleman informs us, that, at the particulars of the first shock, his bed appeared as if rouhly e shaken by a strong man, whilst a bunch of keys that hung '- a chest of drawers were violently jingled at the same instan i t n Our Egremont correspondent informs us, the shock was so v i o lent at at that pla ce, that some on being suddenly m sons, awakened, were led to imagine their houses had been broken into. At Maryport, says our intelligent correspondent at that place, many persons were awakened from their sleep be a dull sound resembling the distant fall of heavy timbers, and a violent tremulous motion of the beds and other furniture. The earthquake was very sensibly felt at Cockerniouth ; and in connection with the observes subject, a respectable corres pondent in that town —' As my father and I were returning from Parton on Thursday night, we observed, about half way between the village and the tunnel, two fissures or cracks in hround, about a yard long, and one inch and a half wide,and steam issuing from them. I put my hand into one, and found it quite warm. I could not account for this • but, since the slight shock of earthquake which was felt here last night, it has occurred to me that there might be some connection between the phenomenon I have alluded to, and the convulsion that has frightened the town from its propriety.' Our Gosforth correspondent also informs us, that the shock was severely felt in that locality. A distant rumbling noise, he says, was heard prior to the shock, not unlike the rattling of a carriage passing with great rapidity, and appeared to run from the S. to the N.E. This subterranean noise continued about two minutes, and the shock about two seconds. The convulsion was also felt at h ou n ds was where a similar noise was heard. The hounds at the latter place made a mosthtful calamity approach terrific noise in their kennel, as if consciou s of some frig At ing." Kendal the shock was very severe. About two miles from that town are extensive powder-mills, and severa l soothed themselves with the calamitous consolation " that it was only the povvder-mills that had blown up !" au occurrence which is by no means unfrequent. A scientific meteorologist says he felt the motion, and describes the rumbling as of a l oa d e d wa ggon, but too sh ort in its duration to be mistaken for it, and immediately concluded that it was the shock of • ' Arms Hotel, several of the an earthquake. At the King s inmates became so alarmed as to make a sudden egress into the street; and when the cause of their fright could not be ascertained, they were seized with the utmost fear and dis the proprietor and family bad may. At the Nelson Tavern, not retired to rest, and when about locking up, the shock caused the greatest terror. The decanters and wine-glasses which were on the shelves, began to dance and knock one against another, causing a jingling discord, to their deep con sternation. At several of the other inns the bells were sud denly rung to the discomfiture of the fatally who had retired to rest. A policeman says, that he was standing near to a large carpet manufactory at the north-east end of the town, when he heard a rumbling noise at first resembling very dis tant thunder, which immediately assumed a andloudertone, when the ground began to shake beneath him, _ the rumbling then died away, like the cadence of a large . drum. The glass of the windows of the manufactory was agitated, and the noise created by it might have been heardo a con siderable distance. At an extensive farm, called Oxen and a half south-east of the town, the Holme, about a mile shock was felt most severely, and the inmates rose , en masse. But here, again, the consolotary thought passed ieir minds " that it was only the large that hadblown up:' manufactory at at the The machinery of a large woollen . were set in motion by the southern extremity of the town to gear. hock throwing it in s I coul trim n- GREAT COMET ___ -----. Sir John Herschel has published the following : " Sir, --1 wish to direct the attention of your astronomical scif the horizon. nd readers to the fact, which I think hardly admits of a doubt of a comet of enormous magnitude being in the course of it; progress through our systen:eapnodriast, p a r n e d sei t i i t le n i o ic t far ar st f r r e o t i . its perihelion. Its tail, for such lcannot doubt it to be, was eon spieuously visible, both last night and the night before, as eon perihelion. luminous streak, commencing close beneath the stars kappa :and lambda And gamma amg obliquely e lt a ( a n d) westward E ri d a o i , ti 1 l d ow nwards,lost in the v a between pou ; direction of it, prolonged on a celestial globe, passes it t t is cisely through the place of the Sun in the eliptic at the pre- The sent time, a circunistance which appears conclusive as tPo'iets lion of the tail actually visible on Frida come tic t n h a e tu p r o e r ing was fully 30 degrees in length, and the head must been beneath the horizon, which would add at least 2; l ; la il ve grecs to the length, it is evident that, if really a cornet,.-one of rare first rate magnitude ; and if it be not one a In°'"ere, of a nature even yet more remarkable. -1 have the honour to some phenomenon beyond the earth's t , your obedient servant, be, sir, .. _ " J. F. W. HERSCHEL conimu for such remarkable event " Collingwood, March 19. Towards le _ :: P.S. tHpa.md .t:i:iraerlacehenwa.—nyTphoesttaillasotf nuilgeht:orathiets, ication would have been made a day earlier. h a ze, and holding very near the same must now assuredly be, is again visible, though much ob itpaper of Friday last says :—•4 A maPosition." scoredi a b s re is an immense comet appeared suddenly i n t h e h'even o'clock the evening of yesterday. tail, which is wide -spread, and perfectly marked,izon. The over a space of more than 60 degrees. Leaving extended it crossed under an angle of 40 degrees, this Orion, which gradually became invisible in the horizon, wl • magnificent tail der the influence of twilight. The nucleus itch was still un not visible." of the comet was The same luminous appearance was on Saturday night. The nucleus was n gain visible at Paris tail or luminous body alluded to occupiedot erceived, but the degrees of the heavens. The Parisian at least 50 or 60 taken by surprise, as none of them had calculated are quite pearance of this comet, if comet it be calculated on the ap tory was in full activity onatu be. The The Royal Observa shortly expect to be made acquaintr aY . night, and we may ed observations. with the result of the The Bristol Journal of Saturday singular meteor was observed hi has the following .—" A half-Past eight, which extended f the heavens last night about sky, shedding a line of brilliant rom 20 to 30 degrees in the of the sun. A corresPondeti light, following the direction a comet was observed from i t saYs that about eight days ago t i m e, and the supposition is, arid over the sun in the day was the tail of a comet." that the meteor seen last night Sir J. South published a letter in the Times of Wednesday tient train of light which previous, in which he says—" the bril daY, was seen here on natiee is given in the Times of this Friday evening at a little after 7, and had very much the 1811. its highest ' appearance of the tail of the comet of theta Leporis, and point, when I first saw it, nearly reached nus, became invisible to through the constellation Erida to me from interposed trees when about two degrees from the horizon. More than 45 degrees of tail , stars were measurable • of the s th magnitude were visible of 21 inchesya the naked eye, and with a 42-inch achromatic through it b At 7h. 33m.p 2 e 2 rt s u ec re, th os e even of the Bth were perceptible. ( s idereal time) a bri ht meteor issued from the very tip of the the tail. No trace of the above light could be detected here eith er Saturday, Sunday, or Monday nights, in consequence of cloudy weather. This evening (Tuesday), at about ten minutes before eight, the clouds cleared away ; but no vestige of the train could be perceived in the neighbourhood ad illumined on Friday night but a diffused and amorphous light, commencing at the Pleiades, and spreading over the entire constellation Aries, even through the haze, was too conspicuous to escape obser tion. If this be the tail of the comet, it indicates a very rapid m otion of it northward. By a letter which I received yesterday from Mr. Shorts, of Christchurch, liami shire, h e has seen it earlier than any one I have vet heard of, inasmuch as he observed it three nights previous to the date of his letter, which is the 19th instant; hence he saw it Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The Birmingham Herald of Wednesday last says that this " luminous apparance has been observed by several gentle men in the neighbourhood of Birmingham, who have no doubt that it is similar to that described by Sir J . Herschel. A correspondent, who has favoured us with a communica tion upon the subject, says, ' On Friday, the l7th instant, at about eight o'clock in the evening . I observed an extraordi nary luminous appearance in the heavens, reaching an altitu altitude the horizon op the south-west, at which point it seemed to to diminish in breadth."' Sir J • Herschell, in a letter in yesterday's Times, dated vrood, sa ys—" On Monday night being clout! • the Colling t a il of the comet was not visible here. On Tuesday ' night it was very bright i ts direction and breadth are a s • before, but, perhaps, some trifle c urved, the convexity being Be that as it may, the line of the well defined "wards' part, or arts, 0f the tail has evidently a dvanced northward nearly through, but still a little below iota I s, and passes extremity has advanced in right ascension, Aiporis ; also its extend a s far as the intermediate poit a ; 1 1 1 seems now to Orionis, and (zeta), or, perhaps, even be t ween knappa probability, therefore, is, that we shall eta) ,Leporis. The soon see the head."