The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-12-05 00:00:00

Dec. 5, 1848 iEtteraturr. VARIETIES. Mrs. Somerville, in her Physical Geography, says that the honey bee was introduced into America not many years ago, and is now spread over that continent. One hundred and forty unpublished letters, addressed by King William 111. to Henry de Lorraine. Prince of Vaudemont, were recently sold for something like 6s. 6d. e- iece. The Musical World has a curious letter from R. Schu man, from Leipsic, pointing out a canon attributed to Mozart, which is note for note the same as Non nobis Domine, said to be by Bird, asking if there be any evi dence in England proving the composition to be by Bird, either from the date of publication or otherwise. The awful results of war are not confined to the bloody scenes of the battle-field ; but disease—slow, consuming disease—more than any of the instruments of war, scat ters death among those engaged in the trying fatigues and exposures of military duty. Of those who have died in active service of Mexico, the proportion of those cut down by disease to those who fell on the battle-field is about five to one.—Gen. Taylor's Address. RAFT LOAD OF MONKEYS.—We find the following story in La Democratic Pacifique :—" A state corvette, just returned from a cruise in the Indian seas, brims news of a rather curious incident. At one of the islands a dozen monkeys were caught and brought on board. Their gambols were mightily relished by the crew. One night, however, when the ship was out at sea, some of the monkeys managed to get into the commandant's cabin, scattering ink over official charts and papers, and perpetrating other mischiefs, so that he ordered them all to be flung into the sea. The sailors, however, were much grieved at this, and on their remonstrance, the com mandant gave permission that a raft should be constructed on which the poor animals might be left with some chance of being drifted ashore. The sailors fitted the raft with a small raft and a sail, which they set easterly in the direc tion of the land. They placed on the frail skiff a store of biscuit and water, and then were obliged to abandon the twelve prescripts to their fate. The crew, much moved, waved their hats, wished them a bon voyage, and watched them out of sight. THE CHEVALIER PAUL JONES. — The following adver tisement in the Times brings back to popular recollections the name and the deeds of a faithless son to his country when the latter was so pressed by foreign foes as to need the aid of every arm she could call her own :—•" The under signed, having been appointed deputy public administra tor of Admiral the Chevalier J. Paul Jones, the first com modore of the American navy, Member of the Order of the Cincinnati, Chevalier of the French Military Order of Merit, Knight of the Russian Order of St. Ann, &c., and`who died in Paris, in 1792, hereby gives notice to the heirs of the said Chevalier Paul Jones to transmit their claims for adjudication, that they may participate in the late decision of Congress, and approved by the President of the United States, granting 50,000 dollars to the heir, of the said Chevalier Jones. The undersigned is also authorised to receive the claims of the heirs of the officers, &c., of the first American squadron of 1779, consisting of the ships of war Bon Homme Richard, Alliance, and Pallas, commanded by the said Chevalier Jones, that they may particip to in the bill before Congress for 200,000 dollars, should that bill also become a law. All claims, attested by documents, to be directed, prepaid, to the undersigned, on or before March 1, 1849. THE REMNANT OF THE " GRAND ARMEE. ”— Did the tears of exiles fertilise, Siberia would be a teeming land. Since its first subjugation by Ivan the Terrible, how many a Russian magnate, lord of thousands of serfs, owner of millions of rubles, proud of his position, and confident of imperial favour, has suddenly found himself travelling eastward under escort, banished and a beggar. How many mournful trains of minor offenders have plodded their weary way across the Uralian chain, guarded by barbarian Bashkirs, to labour in the mines of Nerchinsk, or to lead a peasant's toilsome life on the margin of the Frozen Sea. From those vast and :ce-bound re gions, escape can rarely be accomplished. But at inter vals, during the last five-and-thirty years, bearded and toil-worn men of martial aspect have crossed the German frontier, and astonished those they accosted by wild tales of suffering, and ignorance of the most notorious events. Some have inquired for Napoleon, and wept when they learned he was a captive, or dead. Circumstances of cur rent history, known to each child and peasant, were to them a mystery and a marvel. • These strange wanderers, escaped from long bondage in Siberia, were amongst the last survivors of that countless host led northwards by a Corsican's ambition, and whose funeral pile was lighted in Moscow's city.—Blackwood's Magazine. MAN'S FOOD.—What do men really live upon ? The answers will be various enough. The Guacho, who in the wide pampas of Buenos Ayres, managing his half wild horse with incredible dexterity, throws the lasso or bolas to catch the ostrich, the guanaco, or the wild bull, con sumes daily from ten to twelve pounds of meat, and re gards it as a high feast day when in any hacienda he gains a variety in the shape of a morsel of pumpkin. The word bread does not exist in his vocabulary. The Irishman, on the other hand, regales himself in careless mirth on his " potatoes and point," after a day of painful labour, he who cannot help making a joke even of the name he gives to his scanty meal. Meat is a strange idea to him, and he is happy indeed if four times a-year he can add a herring to season the mealy tubers. The hunter of the prairies lays low the buffalo with sure bullet ; and its juicy, fat-streaked hump, roasted between two hot stones, is to him the greatest of delicacies. Meanwhile, the in dustrious Chinese carries to market his carefully fattened rats, delicately arranged upon white sticks, certain to find a good customer among the epicures of Pekin ; and in his • hot, smoky hut, fast buried beneath the snow and ice, the Greenlander consumes his fat, which he has just car ved, rejoicing over the costly prize, from a stranded whale. Here the black slave sucks the sugar-cane, and eats his banana; there the African merchant fills his wallet with sweet dates. his sole sustenance in the long desert jour ney •, and there the Siamese crams himself with a quanti ty of rice, from which an European would shrink appalled. And wheresoever over the whole inhabited earth we ap proach and demand hospitality, in almost every little spot a different kind of food is set before us, and the " daily bread" offered in another form.—The Plant, a Biogra phy, by Schleiden. PRINCE EDWARD'S ISLAND.—Prince Edward's Island, situated on the , coast of It ova Scotia, contains about 1,300,000 acres, and a population of about 50,000. The soil is generally fertile, light, easily worked, and adapted for every agricultural purpose. It grows excellent crops of grain and potatoes. The quality of wheat grown is superior to that of New Brunswick. When the French had the island, it was considered the granary a Quebec. The oats grown are better than the averageroduce of England. The island is long and narrow, and has many fine harbours. No part of it is twelve miles from the water, which is full of fish of various kinds. In many places carts may be taken down to the water's edge, and filled with lobsters; cod, mackerel, and herring abound all round the coast. The climate is extremely healthy, and the country beautiful ; but the long winter is an ob jection. There is, however, plenty of employment in winter for labourers, in clearing land, procuring fuel, fencing, and getting timber for shipbuilding. A good deal of shipbuilding is going on ; 200 vessels were built in 1847; in consequence of the long, narrow shape of the island, and its numerous harbours, a man can always be near enough to take wood to a shipping place. There is sufficient water-power for corn and saw mills. The Le gislature provides schoolmasters in every district, and good churches are open to all denominations of Chris tians. The wages of common labourers are 3s. a day. Mr. Cunard, the contractor for the trans-Atlantic steam • boats, holds a large estate in this island, which IF Is , poses of in the following manner :—He extends roads through his waste lands, and lays out lots of fifty acres each along the sides of the roads, in such proportions as to always have ready a good stock of these small farms e. for sale or lease ; he is ready to let each of these farms to any man of respectable character, on a lease of 999 et years, paying no rent for the first three years, then 3d., '8 then 6d., then 9d., and then ls. an acre, with a clay ., enabling the tenant at any time to purchase the fre at twenty years' purchase. THE MADONNA IN ROME.—The veneration shown to the Virgin by the lower classes is inconceivable. She oc cupies so prominent a place in their minds, that there is no room for a just sentiment of the Deity or his works. Where there is one knee bent to God, thousands bow to her,—with them she is the ruler of the world. We con stantly find her picture at the corner of the streets, under which a lamp is kept incessantly burning. There is not a nook or recess anywhere in which some pious person has not erected a tinsel altar under her figure, so that passers by can kneel and say a prayer or two, and then move on. In all mishaps and difficulties she is the refuge to which they fly. Votive pictures, similar to what has been de scribed in the church of St. Augustine, are hung about her, even in the streets—offerings for their hair-breadth escapes. Effigies of the Virgin appear in every church, but some are held in higher estimation than others. Oc casionally extraordinary miracles are reported to have taken place—every one of which increases her popularity. Lately it was currently believed that she had opened her lips and held a short conversation with an old lady who sought her aid. Thousands flocked to the church where this took place, and continued to do so, till another mira cle equally wonderful drew their attention elsewhere. The most certain way of gaining the favour of the Virgin is by presenting her with some article of dress. In the chapel near the Grotto Posillippo I noticed a richly em broidered pocket handkerchief which she held in her hand, and learnt from the sacristan that it had lately been pre sen!-,ed to her. When Lady Drummond was in Naples she was importuned by the priests for a donation towards dressing up the Virgin for a festival. Her ladyship did not choose to give any. money, but offered an old light blue and silver court dress, which was gladly accepted. After this the idol was paraded through the streets, to the admiration of the people ; decked out as it was in the cast-off finery of a heretic. A similar request was made to the Duke of Saxony, who had just been married. He said, " I have no money, but I can give you my wedding coat, which I shall not use again, if that will answer your purpose." My friend afterwards saw it adorning a sa i n t in the chapel of Loretto, and noticed that they had taken off the jewels, and replaced them with sham ones.— Sights in Italy. SAGACITY OF A NEWFOUNDLAND DOG.—A few days ago, a merchant of Newcastle-on-Tyne had occasion to send his servant on horseback to Blenheim-street, accom pPnied by his master's dog. On arriving at his destina tion, he dismounted; but before going into the house where he had been commissioned to go, he hung the bri dle of the horse on a small iron crook at the door. Im mediately after the horse shook the bridle off the crook, and galloped away at full speed. The dog, however, fol lowed, and, on coming up to the animal, he seized one of the stirrups, but being of a patent con s t ruc ti on , it sud denly opened, and be lost his hold. The horse still con tinuing his course, the dog at length succeeded in seizing the bridle, just as the horse reached the cattle market, which fortunately brought him to a stand still ; and the faithful dog could not be made to quit his hold until the Aervant came to his assistance.--Newcastle Courant. [der eli the Let one wer ent me, itch ant the ost the ect OAK-TREE WITH A CARRIAGE-WAY THROUGH IT. — An anecdote is told of the late Duke of Portland, father of the present Duke, and grandfather of the late lamented Lord George Bentinck. His Grace, who was a celebrated man in his day, had a large party at dinner, and after the 'cloth was removed, the wine having circulated with the usual freedom, the company was somewhat elevated, when an immense oak, celebrated throughout the whole coun try, and the ruins of which are still to be seen at Welbeck, became the subject of conversation. The duke offered to bet five hundred guineas that he could drive a carriage and six right through the heart of this magnificent repre sentative of England's forest glories. A gentleman took him at his word, and the subject was dropped for the even ing. Next morning his Grace recollected, not with the most pleasant feelings, the transactions of the preceding evening. The oak which he had virtually doomed to de struction with one of the finest ornaments of his estate, and rather than devote it to ruin, he resolved to sacrifice the five hundred guineas. Accordingly, he intimated the design of immediately delivering a check to the gentle man who had taken the bet, when he learned that nume rous bets on the same subject, amounting to a very consi derable sum, had been made by other parties, in justice to whom he considered that he was bound to attempt the feat. Accordingly, an archway, sufficient to admit a carriage, was chalked out on the ample trunk of the tree ; a tunnel was excavated through the solid mass, and his Grace, on the appointed day, in the presence of a large company of ladies and gentlemen, was actually driven in state in a carriage drawn by six beautiful horses right through the oak. The remains of this giant of the forest, magnificent even in ruin, are still standing ; and, but for this foolish frolic, the tree might have flourished for many ages to come on the ducal domain of Welbeck. LAW IN RUSSIA.—in Alexander's reign the Jesuits had made themselves all-powerful in some parts of Po land. A rich landholder and possessor of 6,000 peasants at Poßalik, the Jesuit head-quarters, was so wrought on by the artful assiduities of the Society that he bequeathed his whole fortune to it at his death, with this stipulation —that the Jesuits should bring up his only son and after wards give him whatever portion of the inheritance they should choose. When the young man had reached the age of twenty, the Jesuits had bestowed on him three hundred peasants. He protested vehemently against their usurpation, and began a suit against the Society ; but his father's will seemed clear and explicit, and after having consumed all his little fortune, be found his claims dis owned by every tribunal in the empire, including even the General Assembly of the Senate. In this seemingly hope less extremity he applied to a certain attorney in St. Pe tersburgh, famous for his fertility of mind in matters of cunning and chicanery. After having perused the will and the documents connected with the suit, the lawyer said to his client, " Your business is done; if you will promise me ten thousand rubles, I will undertake to pro cure an Imperial ukase reinstating you in possession of all your father's property." The young man readily agreed to the bargain, and in eight days afterwards he was mas ter of his patrimony. The decision which led to this sin gular result rested solely on the interpretation of the p!irase, they shall give him whatever they choose, which plainly meant, as the lawyer maintained, that the young man was entitled to such portion as the Jesuits chose— i. to that which they chose and retained for themselves. The Emperor admitted this curious explanation ; the son became master of 5,700 peasants; and the Jesuits were obliged to content themselves with the three hundred they had bestowed on their ward in the first instance. A HIGHLAND FLOOD.—That stream (the Findhorn) which was so calm, and bright, and sunny, when the ot ters floated down its current in a still summer's morning, was a fierce and terrible enemy in its anger ; and, for a great part of the year, the dread of its uncertainty and danger was a formidable cause for the preservation of that profound solitude of the forest which so long made it the sanctuary of deer, roe, and every kind of wild game. The rapidity with which the river comes down, the impassable height to which it rises in an incredibly short time, its in certitude and fury, would render it an object of care to bold forders and boatmen ; but with the peasants of the " laich," unaccustomed, like the Highlanders, to wrestle with a mountain torrent, and, excepting in rare instances, unable to swim or manage a coble, it inspires a dread, al most amounting to awe, and none except ourselves ventured to keep a boat above the fishing-station of Slui. Pent within a channel of rocks from fifty to a hundred and eighty feet in height, the rise of the water is rapidly exaggerated by the incapability of diffusion ; and the length of its course sometimes concealing beyond the horizon the storms by which it is swelled at its source, its floods then descend with unexpected violence. Frequently when, excepting a low wreath upon Beann-Drinechain, the sun is shining in a cloudless sky, and the water scarce ripples over the glittering ford, a deep hollow sound—a dull approaching roar may be heard in the gorges of the river ; and almost before the wading fisherman can gain the shore, a bank of water, loaded with trees, and rocks, and wreck, will come down three—four—five feet abreast—sweeping all before it in a thunder of foam and ruin. In ordinary cases, after two days of rain, the stream will rise twenty or thirty feet —it has risen nearly ten fathoms in its rocky gulf; and once upon this occasion it mounted fifteen feet in a quarter of an hour. When the dawn broke, it appeared sweeping through the trees, which-the evening before hung fifty feet above its brink—a black roaring tempest loaded with ruins and debris, from which were seen to rise at times the white skeletons of trees peeled of their bark, beams and couples of houses—a cart—a door—a cradle, hurrying and tilting through the foam and spray, like the scattered " float some" of a wreck.—Stuarts' Lays of the Deer Forest, kc. A SHIP AMONG ICEBERGS.—It is impossible to convey a correct idea of the beauty, the magnificence, of some of the scenes through which we passed. Thousands of the most grotesque, fanciful, and beautiful icebergs and icefields surrounded us on all sides, intersected by numer ous serpentine canals, which glittered in the sun (for the weather was fine all the time we were in the straights) like threads of silver twining round ruined palaces of crystal. The masses assumed every variety of form and size, and many of them bore such a striking resemblance to cathe drals, churches, columns, arches, and spires that I could almost fancy we had been transported to one of the float ing cities of fairyland. The rapid motion, too, of our ship, in what appeared a dead calm, added much to the magical effect of the scene. A light but steady breeze urged her along, with considerable velocity,' through a maze of ponds and canals, which, from the immense quantity of ice that surrounded them, were calm and unruffled as the surface of a mill-pond. Not a sound disturbed the delightful stillness of nature, save the gentle rippling of the vessel's bow, as she sped on her way, or the occasional puffing of a lazy whale, awakened from a nap by our unceremonious intrusion on his domains. Now and then, however, my reveries were disagreeably interrupted by the ship coming into sudden contact with large lumps of ice. This happened occa sionally when we arrived at the termination of one of those natural canals through which we passed, and found it necessary to force our way into the next. These con cussions were sometimes very severe, and even made the ship's bell ring ; but we heeded this little, as the vessel was provided with huge blocks of timber on her bows, called ice-pieces, and was besides built expressly for sail ing in the northern seas. It only became annoying at meal-times, when a spoonful of soup would sometimes make a little private excursion of its own, over the shoulder of the owner instead of into his mouth. As we proceeded, the ice became more closely packed, and at last compelled us to bore through it. The ship, however, was never altogether detained, though much retarded. I recollected, while thus surrounded, filling a bucket with water from a pool of ice, to see whether it was fresh or not, as I had been rather sceptical upon this point. It was excellent, and might almost compete with the water from the famous spring of Crawley.—Ballatyne's Hud son's Bay. AN ENCOUNTER ON THE PRAIRIE.—No enemies showed themselves as yet, and the hunters proceeded quietly up the river, vast herds of buffaloes darkening the plains around them, affording them more than abundance of the choicest meat; but, to their credit be it spoken, no more was killed than was absolutely required,—unlike the cruel slaughter made by most of the white travellers across the plains, who wantonly destroy these noble ani- mals, not even for the excitement of sport, but in cold blooded and insane butchery. La Bonte had practice enough to perfect him in the art, and before the buffalo range was passed, he was ranked as a first-rate hunter. One evening he had left the camp for meat, and was approaching a band of cows for that purpose, crawling towards them along the bed of a dry hollow in the prairie, when he observed them suddenly jump away towards him, and immediately after a score of mounted Indians appeared in sight, whom, by their dress, he at once knew to be Pawnees and enemies. Thinking they might not discover him, he crouched down in the ravine ; but a noise behind causing him to turn his head, he saw some five or six advancing up the bed of the dry creek, whilst several lig on the bluffs. The cunning savages more were r had cut off his retreat to his mule, which he saw in the possession of one of the Indians. His presence of mind, however, did not desert him ; and seeing at once that to remain.where he was would be like being caught in a trap, (as the Indians could advance to the edge of the bluff and shoot him from above,) he made for the open prairie, determined at least to sell his scalp dearly, and make " a good fight." With a yell the Indians charged, but halted when they saw the sturdy trapper deliberately kneel, and, resting his rifle on the wiping -stick, take a steady aim as they advanced. Full well the Pawnees know, to their cost, that a mountaineer seldom pulls his trigger without sending a bullet to the mark ; and, certain that one at least must fall, they hesitated to make the onslaught. Steadily the white retreated with his face to the foe, bringing the rifle to his shoulder the instant that one advanced within shot, the Indians galloping round, firing the few guns they had amongst them at long dis tances, but without effect. One young " brave," more daring than the rest, rode out of the crowd, and dashed at the hunter, throwing himself from the saddle, and hanging over the opposite side of his horse,—present ing no other mark than his left foot, —discharged his bow from under the animal's neck, and with such good aim, that the arrow, whizzing through the air, struck the stock of La Bont6's rifle, which was at his shoulder, and, glancing off, pierced his arm, inflicting, luckily, but a slight wound. Again the Indian turned in his course, the others encouraging him with loud war whoops, and once more passing at still less distance, drew his arrow to the head. This time, however, the eagle eye of the white caught sight of the action, and suddenly rising from his knee as the Indian was approaching, hang. ing by his foot alone over the opposite side of the horse, he jumped towards the animal with outstretched arms and a loud yell, causing it to start so suddenly, and swerve from its course, that the Indian lost his foot-h o ld, and, after i n va i n s t rugg li ng to regain his position, fell to the ground : but instantly rose upon his feet and gallantly confronted the mountaineer, striking his hand upon his brawny chest and shouting a loud whoop of defiance. In another instant the rifle of La Bonte bad poured forth its contents ; and the brave Indian, springing in to the air, fell dead to the ground, just as the other trappers, who had heard the firing, galloped up to the spot, at sight of whom the Pawnees, with yells of disappointed vengeance, hastily retreated.—Blackwood. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. TRADE PROSPECTS [Bankers' Circular.] We see no reason to alter the view which we ventured to take last week concerning the immediate prospects of temporary improvement in trade in the manufacturing districts—that word temporary may mean four, six, eight, or ten months, according to individual impressions, and we would not fix on the shortest of those periods. Con sequently, although we have been censured for presenting a too sanguine view—a censure not specifically neutralised by an opposite—yet we adhere firmly to what we have said, because some of the most cautious and considerate merchants have commended it for moderation, and for not passing the boundary which the facts and circum stances of the case, as they come under :their own obser vation and experience, would completely justify. The manufacturing and mining affairs of this country are, however, in so peculiar a condition, so liable to in terruption from political causes, or from a policy likely to be pursued by the best customers of England, which is in direct antagonism to that which is, or rather has been, for seven years in vogue here, that we think it right on the present occasion to extend our views beyond a short period of comprrative prospepty, for the purpose of en deavouring to ascertain what is likely to come after that temporary period of relief. We hold with an overwhelm ing force of conviction to the opinion that we have been for many years reiterating, viz., that the operation of the existing free trade policy of England, with the existing monetary system of England, will produce effects so un bearable, that one or the other, and we think both, will be changed within two years from the present time. When we say changed, we do not mean changed to their opposites: judicious currency regulations, which the Acts of 1844 and 1845 aimed at but did not accomplish, are requisite ; the removal of obnoxious import duties which teased and perplexed without yielding revenue, might be necessary : but we mean that the uncircumspect head long measures which have been-forced onward on an in dividual anthority, will be wisely modified and be placed on a foundation not incompatible with the welfare of the people, and that within two years. * * * * We have dwelt long on our distant prospects and their ultimate results ; it is a prolific theme of deep interest for us. Our immediate prospects for immediate demand and more employment for the people are, however, improving, and are exhibiting symptoms of endurance which could not be discerned last week. The French are showing a willingness and a capacity to buy and pay for imported goods. For nine months they have imported no speiter ; they are now buying fair quantities in Hamburgh at im proved prices. They are also importing more copper. They are, moreover, beginning to import and work up more cotton and other raw materials. And a fact stated in the Morning Chronicle speaks emphatically con cerning the restoration of confidence and the power of consumption in Paris. It is this :—" The prosperity of Paris is generally in proportion to the amount of the octroi duties. 'When they are low, Paris s u ff ers; w h en th e y are high, Paris prospers. It now appears that the octroi duties of last month are, for the first time since the revo lution, equal to those of the corresponding month of 1847. In October, 1847, the amount of octroi duties collected amounted to 2,916,420 francs ; in October, 1848, they amounted to 2,608,983 francs. The produce of the first fortnight of November amounts to 1,575,819 francs. The produce of the first fortnight of November amounts to 1,575,819 francs, which is at the satisfactory rate of 105.053 francs per day." For these and other reasons (to which we may advert on another occasion) we hold to the opinion we expressed last week concerning the prospects for trade in the manu facturing districts, which we repeated on commencing these observations. The volcano that has burst out with such fury in Germany will, we trust, be stopped, and it certainly would have been some months since if an extra ordinary degree of energy bad been exercised by the go vernments. A great majority of the middle and higher classes of the people are on their side—especially in Prus sia ; and all would be so, if a moderate degree of intelli gence and liberaiity, combined with inflexible firmness, characterised the administration of their rulers. worm Erntral /Riga)llanv. The barque Arrietta, from Cuba, for Swansea, with ore, was wrecked in Swansea Bay on Monday night. Parliamentary notices may in future be forwarded through the Post Office, under certain regulations. Shrawberries and violets are now growing in the open air, in a garden at Strangeways-terrace, Truro. Mr. Steegman, a German, has been elected to the office of Sheriff of Nottingham. A farmer's pocket was picked of £350 at the Monmouth fair, on Wednesday week. When Jenny Lind visited Bristol Cathedral on Sunday week she was honored with a seat in the Bishop's throne. The Corporation of Durham have resolved to petition against the introduction of the provisions of the Health Act into that city until the local acts are found insufficient. A female prisoner in Gloucester gaol died last week in consequence of exhaustion, from having persisted in tak ing insufficient food. THE LYME PARK CATTLE.—A fine well-fed wild bul lock was slaughtered last week, at Lyme. and a hind quarter forwarded for presentation to her Majesty. "An Appeal to the Public," is the title of a small affair produced at the Lyceum, which exhibits the bustling talent of Mr. Charles Mathews to advantage. On Friday night the Southwark Flax Mills, belonging to Messrs. Chapman and Co., were destroyed by fire. The loss is estimated at £2,600 and the firm is not insured for a penny. On Friday a destructive fire took place in the premises of a Mr. Powell, optician, Gray's-inn-lane, London. A man and woman lodging in one of the upper rooms were suffocated. At Kirriernuir, Scotland, lately, a girl about 9 years of age, died of suffocation, from a dose of turpentine which her father was attempting to pour down her throat for Dr. John Stewart, of Cumnock, Scotland, died recently from inflammation and fever, produced by a slight burn on the wrist, by the accidental dropping of some melted sealing was`upon it a short time previously. During the course of a trial at the Central Criminal Court, on Monday, the Recorder intimated that a publican clearly connected with a Derby Sweep lottery, is liable to a penalty of £5OO. Last *Week the chapel erected in the Duke of Buc cleuch's grounds at Dalkeith was broken into, and a num ber of valuable articles used in the service of the church were stolen We (Daily News) could point to one church, not many miles from Guildhall, in which there are as many as five lecturers appointed who preach to congregations varying in number from five to thirteen ! A Hull paper describes a full-grown crab, bearing on its back two score and a half oysters, apparently as firmly imbedded in its shell as if they constituted a proper part of it. THE CASUAL POOR.—According to the official returns it appears there were 17,500 casual poor relieved in the the workhouse of St. Martin-in-the-fields, London, during last year. At'the Criminal Court, London, on Saturday, the Ba ronness St. Mart was found " not guilty" of the charge of having stolen two rings, value £4O, the property of Sir 3. One more of the last frail links by which hope hung in the matter of the party who have so long disappeared with Sir John Franklin has given way. The latest of the whal ers have come in—and brought no tidings. Floating or camping they have seen no trace of the lost expedition. A few days ago, a pensioner at Carlisle cut out of his left arm a flattened piece of lead, about the size of a six pence, being a portion of a ball which shattered the upper bone of the arm at the battle of Waterloo, he being at the time in the 73d Regiment. The great clock for the Victoria Tower of the new Houses of Parliament is to strike the hours on a bell of from eight to ten tons weight, chime the quarters on eight bells, and show time on four dials of thirty feet in diameter. _ _ The Queen Dowager has ordered an agent at Cowes to distribute among the widows and poor the two months' supply of coals furnished to the houses which her Majesty engaged for that period, but which she only occupied for as many days. _ _ _ _ The Chartist trials in Edinburgh, closed on Saturday, when the court, by a majority of four, Lord Cockburn alone dissenting, repelled the objections to the sufficiency of the verdict. The sentence upon each of the prisoners was four months' imprisonment. At a vestry meeting held last week, at Barnard Castle, it was resolved, by a large majority, to support, by legal proceedings, the right of the parishioners at large to ap point the sexton ; and it was also determined to levy a rate to meet the expenses. _ _ _ A good deal of excitement has been created at Gorbals during the last few days, from the circumstance of a man named George Johnston, a master baker in Thistle-street, having absconded with a sum of money amounting to nearly £lOOO, which belonged to a Forester's Friendly Society, of which he was treasurer. A large meeting of dissenting clergymen and laymen was held in Glasgow, on Tuesday, for the purpose of op posing the proposed endowment of the Roman Catholic priesthood, and also in opposition to existing endowments of every description. Mr. A. Hastie. M.P. for the city, was called to the chair. SCARCITY OF COPPER COlN.—Such was the extreme scarcity of copper money in the town last week, that it was quite impossible to get `• change for sixpence." One individual, of somewhat more than ordinary perseverance, contrived, after s search of some hours, to get a four pcnny-piece:and twopence.—Banff' Journal. GUTTA PE Etc A.---This article continues to be imported in very large quantities in order to meet the extensive de mands which are made for it. A vessel just arrived in London from Singapore has brought the largest importa tion at one time, consisting of 3,294 packages, 710 lumps, and 10,441 blocks of the article. PALTRY SPITE.—The Board of Guardians of Andover Union have withheld their advertisements from the Times, in consequence of that paper expressing an opinion on their proceedings. We talk of the freedom of the press in England, but is not this infinitely more tyrannical than any continental censorship ? HONOURABLE CONDUCT.—A dinner was given on Tuesday night, in London, to Mr. J. B. Graham, by the creditors of his ather, in testimony of of his conduct in liquidating the clairris not only' of his deceased father, but those upon the firm of which Mr. Graham, sen. was atpartner. A RELIC OF OLD TIMES.—A golden bracelet, of the intrinsic worth of about £2O, which is thought to have been deposited at the time of the conflict between the Romans and the sons of the British king, Cunobelin, was lately found by a ploughman on the estate of Mi. R. Fox. near Wendover, Bucks, and is to be presented to the British Museum. SHAM GENEVA GLOD WATCHES.—The public must be on their guard in respect to a beautiful imitation, in base metal, electrotyped, of the small Geneva watches, with a gold face and engine -turned back They a the special use of the duffers, and are worth froin 15s. to 20s. each. The articles are being offered to the pawn brokers, as pledges, for £2 or £3, their apparent value being £6 to £8 Aichdeacon Hare, in his recently published Charge, has examined at great length and singular acuteness the argu ments which were brought forward in the debate of last session in favour of admitting the Jews into parliament. In this question he is opposed to his friend the Bishop of St. David's and others who advocated their admission. The publication of his sentiments is well-timed, as the measure will be introduced again in the ensuing session. LLANDILLO BRIDGE, CARMARTHENSHIRE.—This noble structure is completed. At the Carmarthenshire quarter sessions, Mr. E. Haycock, the architect of the bridge, presented his report, from which it appeared that the bridge, which is the third largest in the kingdom, being nearly 150 feet span, is built principally of black marble, at an expense of about £18,000; while Gloucester Bridge cost £60,000, and Chester £40,000. At Leamington, on Wednesday, the Grand Open Stee plechase was won by a length by Mr. Fuller's Knight of Gwynne, beating the Doctor, Alfred, Chandler, Red Lancer, Prince George, Khondooz, Venom, Ace of Trumps, Alexander, Linkboy, and 3 to 1 agst Prince George, taken ; cer ; 6 to 1 e'gst Doctor ; 10 to 1 ag " to 1 agst Red Lat st Gwynne ; 8 to agst Alexander ; 8 to I . agat Chandlei A sign that cholera is - on the wane in London, was afforded on Tuesday by the fact that the Board of Health issued no report of cases. The deaths, from all cause-, in the metropolis during the week ending Saturday last, were 1,207, being 53 over the average. Of the total num ber who died during the seven days, 118 were destroyed by scarlatina, and 70 by typhus—two diseases which con tinue to be much more fatal than the dreaded cholera. FATAL AFFRAY.- -Gn Saturdays a band of Irish navies, employed on the Clydesdale Junction Railway, went into a public-house in the village of Mddingstone, parish of Bothwell, where they had a quantity of whisky. While together in the house referred to, it appears that a dispute had arisen betwixt them, and that ultimately they came to blows. One man, named Joseph Wilson, was' so severely injured in the scuffle that he died from the effects of his wounds upon Wednesday. ELECTRIC LIGHT.—The first experiment of this light out of doors was made on Tuesday evening, in front of the National Gallery. The apparatus, of which the most conspicuous part was the concave reflector behind the light, was so placed as to illumine the whole of Trafalgar square, the rays reaching as far as Northumberland House. If the illumination can be sustained, there is no other means of lighting the streets that can at all be com pared with this electric light. The Sheffield Times says that that town is fast losing all its trade, and though many leave it no one comes to it as a residence. Nothing answers there—everything fails —though the town is beautifully situated, with plenty of canal and railway accommodation. If our contemporary had not been such a free-trader, he would have found out that the foreigners have taken away the prosperity of the town, and would have put the saddle on the right horse by blaming free-trade. PRACTICAL JOKING AT THE LONDON STOCK Ex- CAANGE.—An acc;dent has just occurred at the Stock Exchange which it may be hoped will check the silly love of practical jokes which has so long disgraced that esta blishment, and which is a reproach to the vigilance of the committee. One of the members attacked yesterday in sport of this kind was thrown down and received hurts which rendered him insensible. Upon medical aid being sent for it was found he had been seriously injured.— Times. _ _ MONSTER TORTOISE.—Captain Dady, of the Duke, a large vessel, owned by Messrs. Hoghton and Co., of Liverpool, and now delivering a guano cargo in the Junc tion Dock, has exhibited within the last few days a tor toise of extraordinary dimensions, being about five feet in length, of the capture of which, upon an island in the Pacific Ocean, a wonderful account is given. The crea ture lived three months after it was taken on board the Duke, and used to move upon the deck with the captain and two or three others of the crew upon its back.---Hull Advertiser. THE SEASON.—On Thursday last a quantity of new potatoes, varying from one to four ounces in weight, were got from an open garden belonging to James Green Armi tage, Esq., situated at the very foot of Holm-Moss, a lo cality known throughout Yorkshire as the ne plus ultra of bleakness, and almost eternal snow. The remainder of the growing crop are in a very thriving condition, and free from disease. MELANCHOLY DEATH OF MAJOR Ross.—This gallant officer of the Royal Horse Artillery. eldest son of Major- General Sir Hew Dalrymple Ross, K.C.8., Deputy Adjutant-General to the Royal Artillery, died on Sunday last at Newcastle-on-Tyne, where he was stationed on the recruiting service. His death took place from injuries he received a few days previously by falling from his horse when out riding, the animal having rolled upon him. Major Ross was a comparatively young officer, being by seniority Second Captain in Captain Gilbert's troop of Royal Horse Artillery, although holding the brevet rank of Major in the service. SHIPWRECK AND Loss OF LIFE Seawitch, of London, Freeman, m —On Friday, the brig one, with a cargo of African oak, and ground nuts, was totally wrecked in Pontifex Bay, on the north west coast of Guernsey. The vessel on striking recoiled, when a wave carried her into a trough of rocks, and she was al most instantly broken in halves. The master and seven men, who were on the afterpart, were swept away, an peri3hed. The three men who escaped were in the bow: where they remained till daybreak, when they were res cued, the tide having left the forepart of the wreck hig and dry. Part of the cargo, together with two small bole of gold - dust and some je;eiler;;, have been re Dvered THE OAK FARM fRON WORKS.—An arrangement is said to have been entered into between the assignees in the bankruptcy of the late Oak Farm Company and Sir Stephen Glyn; Lo w id Lyttelton, and Mr. W. drl the proprietors of the estates, by which further litigation will be avoided : £20,000 is named as the sum agreed to be paid by the proprietors in lieu of breaking up the ma chinery ; and, although, from their heavy claims, the greater part of this will revert to themselves, yet the cre ditors will sooner have a dividend declared. There are now in the district of South Staffordshire 106 furnaces in, and 31 out of blast. The cholera broke out in Fighting Cock Yard, Monk- Wearmouth, on Friday week, and on that day and Satur- day live deaths occurred. This is not surprising, as within a space of fifty yards no fewer than fifteen middensteads exist in the most disgracefully filthy condition. and the whole place is a scene of destitution and dirt. Thence the epidemic extended to Monk-Wearmouth Colliery, where, from Saturday to Monday, inclusive. twelve cases occurred, five of which terminated fatally. Since then, other six cases have occurred, and two persons have died, making the deaths in all seven, and the remaining cases twelve. Owing to the above sickness and deaths the colliery has for the present ceased working. NARROW COURTS AND BAD DRAINAGE INDUCE CHO LERA.—In the official return of deaths registered in Lon don for the week ending Saturday last, the cases are re ported of two children, of the ages of two and five years, and a woman aged 45, who died of Asiatic cholera, the infant suddenly, the child in four days, and the woman in IS hours. They all lived in the same court, two in the house, and the other opposite. The register states that " This court has 21 houses, which have two rooms in each. Most of these houses contain two families width of the court is only five feet, with very bad drain age. There is one water tank for the supply of the in habitants. The inhabitants are very poor, and several persons have been taken ill." . . Nottingham is visited by a " suicidal endemic." Fol lowing close upon the death of the Rev. Mr. Browne, a handsome young woman, who had been living with Mr. Aulton, a lace-manufacturer, poisoned herself with lauda num, on learning that her protector was about to marry. Gadd, a young man, had formed an attachment to a girl named Cant ;Gadd's friends were adverse to his marry ing her; the unhappy couple declared that if they could not live together they would die together ; so they bought some arsenic, and put it into two little cakes, which ware baked at Cant's house. They ate the cakes, and were soon in a dreadful state, but medical aid having removed a portion of the poison, there was a chanca of their reco very. STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCE.—A boy named Edwin Hay ball, of Chard parish, one day last week fell into a whose affliction was very great. She took fier in her arm and held him before the fire. After nearly half-an-hou the child showed symptoms of returning upon which some cliange in the position of the body took place, when it was discovered that the child's foot had been in the fire and was dreadfully burnt. A surgeon having been called in did what was necessary, and the child was getting on very well. About three days after the mother placed him before the fire for a moment whilst she went into the garden, and on her return she was hor ror-struck to find her child burnt almost to a cinder. It is a singular coincidence that a girl. the cousin of the above-named Edwin Hayball, a short time since fell into the fire, and one of her breasts was almost entirely con- pain by bathing the breast with cold water, when she fell in and was drowned.—Devon Chronicle. harnerp ,he neigh 1, were ae trail of a hare, followed by a field of sportsmen rather sorrily mounted, when they ran their game to Dyrham Wood, which was forbidden ground, being a favourite fox cover of the Duke of Beaufort's hunt. The little pack, however, were not to be restrained. They plunged into the wood, and were soon iu full chase of a fine old fox. The pace was so good, that the further they ran the further the sportsmen were left in the rear, till a • stiff fence entirely barred the further progress of the latter. In vain the huntsman blew his horn till he well nigh burst his cheeks. The little pack, with a burning e .t What scent, continued the chase unattended. oecame of them or the fox is not known. The pack were seen soon after dark altogether wending their way homeward. Being hungry, they attacked a hock of sheep in the Vale ; a fat one was selected, killed without cere mony, and every bone cleanly picked. Having thus re freshed themselves, the pack moved homewards, and arrived at their kennel at daybreak, just as their master was up to greet them. of Cold . - CHARGE OF FELONY AGAINST A COUNTESS.—At the Central Criminal-court on Friday, Maria Carlota Ali ez Cabral, aged 50, married, and Maria Rosa, 35, also mar- ried, were indicted for stealing a brooch and divers articles of linen, valued at £2, the property of Hester Pitman, in bar ThP plapr nricumpr culla is A Cinom- in her own right, and the younger prisoner was her ser vant. The prisoners, it will be remembered, lived in a Portuguese and Spanish boarding-house, in Finsbury square, and sundry articles were found in the apartment of the elder prisoner belonging to the prosecutrix, but which, it was contended, were only such things as might T prisoner as an in- _ . mate. This view of the case was also taken by the Re corder, who said the charge struck him as being anything but a larceny ; and it was rather hard to charge a person with felony for having a few more things in use than the regulations of the house permitted. He then directed an acquittal, which was also taken upon the indictment as ied Rosa, who had only acted as the servant of the prisoner. They were ordered to be immediately harged from custody km.—At a tion, held meeting of the Birmingham Protestant Assc a few days since, Mr. T. Ragg, the corresponding secre tary, related an extraordinary occurrence which had taken place during the past week in that town. A poor sick woman, a Roman Catholic, residing there, had a daugh ter who attended one of the Birmingham schools. From this school she had received a New Testament, out of which she had been reading to her mother, when a priest coming in and seeing it, tore the contents out of the covers, put them into the fire, and held them down with would so serve all such books that he met with in the houses where he visited. The Rev. Joshua Greaves, in cumbent of St. Peter's, Birmingham, says, in a letter— ct rwittcat strlrnneirlorliratl rt ma +he+ I,n hiirrhf +lin Toct_ ;, and a he would burn every Bi or tract which he found in the houses of any of his people. He also charged me never to enter tha house of a Roma nist in my district, and upon my assuring him that I should pay no attention to his command, and that the law of the land would protect my person, he said he would order his people to use scuri:ilbus' language towards me, and to offer me insult, if I ventured to pass their doors. Upon my appealing to him, and asking how he dared to burn the Word of God ?' he told me to go and preach in my pulpit, and not to preach to him.' I merely si facts, and leave your readers to draw their own inferer from them." don, on the body of a child named Wi aged 4 years, who died after a few hours' i the symptoms of malignant cholera. Ti _ . each er THE ARMY AND SAVY When we find an energetic association of men com bined for the purpose of depreciating the merits and demanding the reduction of our military and naval forces on principle—industriously exaggerating their cost and extenuating their usefulness—mixing up truth and false hood, a few right and judicious suggestions with much that is erroneous, rash, crotchetty, and violent, we feel that the cause of reform is suffering a great damage at the hands of pretended reformers, and that the staunch advocates of old abuses may justify them by the state ments and theories of their opponents. According to the gentlemen who met at Liverpool last week, the terrible evil in the country is its taxation. Its taxation is due to its wars and its army, and its wars and its army to its aristocracy. This seems a fair summary of all that they stated there, or are likely to state any where else. We are paying annually twenty-seven mil lions of debt incurred for past foreign wars, and twenty millions more (this is an exaggeration of 3 millions) fcr present defensive establishments. The former were com menced, as the latter are continued, for the sole benefit of some five or six thousand officers, who are sons, brothers, or connexions of the aristrocracy. This is, we believe, a fair relation of what is believed by the mem bers of the Financial Reform Association, and what they wish the thinking population of England and Wales to believe likewise. Now, we are not going to contend that a public debt of £770,000,00U is a public blessing, nor that the taxation of 26,000,000 persons to the amount of £53,000,000 is not heavy. We had much rather the truth should be told. We may be angry, sorry, indignant, or anything else, at our burdens ; but we need not lie. If the truth, then, is to be told, the people of this country are responsible for the debts of this country. No people were so fond of war, and none—for a number of years—gained so much by it as did the English people. For full a century war was p o p u l ar with the majority, or only unpopular when unproductive. Pepys relates the gloom and distrust which prevailed in the city at the Dutch war; but he also tells us that the merchants were angry, first, because it was an inglorious war ; secondly, because it was not a French war. Again, the only means by which William 111. could consols his power and party in England was by a French war Unpopular himself his war with France was popular. Detested by two-thirds of the nation as an alien and an usurper, he enlisted their sympathies in his struggle with Louis Quatorze. A Whig Ministry could never have weathered the storm and tempest of opposition in Queen Anne's reign, had it not been for the victories of Marl borough. Nothing can so clearly indicate the heat to which party passion in those days rose as the interruption it gave to the series of triumphs which had begun at Blenheim arid Ramilies. These were cherished years after by the people, who never ceased to contrast the pa cific quietude of the Georgian era, with the splendour which glory and conquest had shed round the reign of Anne. Everybody knows the hatred and contempt to Walpole's scrupulous avoidance of a warlike policy exposed him. At one time he was for giving up Gibraltar to the Spaniards, and was prevented only by his dread of the popular fury. It was the mass o f th e people who delighted to hear him libelled as the " spaniel of Spain"—who assailed him for resisting their own pro pensities, and finally drove him into a conflict which his judgment and his prejudice equally condemned. It was by his obedience to popular clamour and by his realiza- don of popular wishes; that Chatham gained a name and influence which his capriciousness never forfeited nor his inconsistencies effaced. It was the boast and the theme of his panegyrists, that he had taught our armies confi dence and our navies victory. The American war was popular till it became inglorious. On Franklin's first visit to England he found the national bias against the colonists. It was only when they had lost men, money, ' honour, in a f lc 9t - le, that ad Om fruitless struggi,, _ the people cried out for peace. The French revolutionary war was popu lar with three-fourths of the nation. Even in the face of disgrace and discomfiture, men were found to subscribe large sums out of their private pockets for its continuance. Never, perhaps, did men contribute so largely to any en terprise, as merchants, bankers, landed gentry, and other of their class did towards the assistance of Pitt's projects against France. Never was such enthusiasm excited in the populace as was excited by the victories of the Nile, St. Vincent, and Trafalgar. There was not a respectable corporation of England that did not shower down gold snuff boxes or diamond-hilted swords upon Jervis, Nel son, and Collingwood. Liverpool itself has perpetuated the names of Rodney and Nelson in her streets. Talk of the aristocracy having encouraged wars for their own in terest ! Why, it would have been impossible for any aristocracy to check the martial spirit displayed, both be fore and after the peace of Amiens. by more than half the tax-paying classes of the empire Iliaccur - ate in one set of facts, these reformers are equally inaccurate in others. The army is not officered by the aristocracy—i. e. by the members of any narrow and restricted class. It is officered by gentlemen, and we hope it may always be so, unless the financial reformers can prove by the example of foreign States that it is better to officer the army wholly from the ranks, and thus put the country wholly at the disposal of military adventurers, who have no civil ties and no civil sympathies. Mean while we should advise them to study the Army List, that they may discover how many of the officers owe their com mand, and—what are still more obnoxious—their titles and decorations, to their own services rather than the in vidious possession of an " historical name." Our military system may be too mercantile; it certainly is not too aristocratic. Inaccurate in their facts, they are naturally loose in their inferences. We have the old stuff reproduced about colonies, and the hacknied comparison of our trade with the United States and that with our own colonies. That this mode of reasoning should be tolerated anywhere in England is strange, but monstrous that it should be iis tened to in Liverpool. Why, the history of this city is actually imbedded in the history of our colonies and our navy. You cannot read twenty pages of any history of the West Indies or the American war, without stumbling on the name of Liverpool. How much of the money which has expanded the little creek of Liverpool into a large city with magnificent edifices and towering ware houses—how much of this, gentlemen reformers, was the produce of those possessions which you disparage, and those wars which you denounce ? And pray, where, but for this acquisition of territory, which your much-abused and much-worked army (an army just equal to that of Belgium, and one-fourth of that of France) has gotten for you—where, but for this and the spirit of colonial enterprise which you discourage, would have been those United States, whose commerce you vaunt and extol ? Where, but for the army, which in the piping times o f peace you so contentedly slight and despise—where would have been the gains of your fathers and the booty of your forefathers ? Gentlemen reformers, look at home, and then look wide abroad, before you coin facts to give cur rency to follies, and, under the pretence of easing the burdens, impair the strength_ and dim the honour of England.—Timee, im Keatin is, with tal 'quest was called . at - the instigation of Mr. Liddle, the medical officer of the district, in consequence of his having been called to attend no less than five cases of Asiatic cholera in the court where this death took place. Mr. Liddle stated that the court was about 70 feet in length, and about five feet wide (a person standing in he middle of tl .Z.-1..... \ 44-, ..... was impeded by a deac were overflowing. He had no doubt the child died a natural death from Asiatic cholera. The coroner re marked that the court was one of the worst he had witnessed, and it appeared impossible to remedy the defective ventilation of it. He said he would write to the parochial authorities respecting it. Mr. Liddle ob served that it was highly expedient that an officer of health should be appointed to the Tower Hamlets, who should have power to compel the owners of property to render the houses which are let to poor people whole some, and if the property be so bad that it cannot be remedied, then it should be condemned. The law now gave power to surveyors to condemn property that was dangerous from dilapidation. The same power ought to be given to an officer of health, to condemn houses which endangered the lives of the inhabitants from poisonous emanations. The coroner said he believed there was a law which rendered an owner liable to the charge of man slaughter if a case of death ensued from the unhealthy condition of a dwelling-house. AN IMPORTANT CURE BY THE USE OF HOLLOWAY'S PlLLS.—Extract of a letter from a gentlenrairnsitling at St. Helier's, addressed to the edi of the Mirror de Jersey, dated June, 1847. " • ,—For some time I had suffered from a severe mal y, for which I sought the advice of the most emi of the faculty. but to no pur pose. I resolved, refore (and in sheer despair), to give Holloway's s a trial ;by the use of one box I found mysel ttp., and by a short continuance of this inapprec - e medicine, I was perfectly cured, to the great astonis went of my neighbours, who supposed that I could not possibly have recovered. S eseimmfferg====mif DOUBLE ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE.—On Thursday morn ing last, a little before six o'clock, the inhabitants of Pex wood, were thrown in great alarm by seeing a woman in the road almost destitute of clothes. Two men, named Folds and Crowther, went up to her, and found her to 'as Miss Taylor, who had evidently been attempting to drown hers3lf in the water-trough. They conducted her into her house, and it was soon discovered that her brother, John Taylor (with whom she lived), had been also attempting to put an end to his existence by cutting his throat. Mr. W. Foster, surgeon, of Todmorden, was immediately sent for, and he found that the man had cut the skin and in.. teguments over the jugular vein, but had not damaged it. He also found that he had tied a string round his arm and inflicted several cuts with the intent of bleeding himself to death.—Halifax Guardian. FASHIONABLE SWINDLING IN EDlNBURGH.—Consider de excitement has been occasioned in certiin quarters Edinburgh, by the apprehension of a person on a . charge forgery, who has during the last few months mixed !ely in the higher circles of society here, and li ve d i n a hotels in the city the Dr appears that he had assumed a high . -- degree of military rank, - and had extensively patronised various establishments in town, chiefly clothiers and mer cers, from whom he obtained a large supply of a r ti c l es , at by paying cash down r the goOds he yurchased ; he then businc .ss on a d sud- denly left the city without against him The imme in establishing his c )re enlarged scale numerous claims is abrupt depar- au3 - e of h . , .. ... had been guilty, for a limited sum, the party whose name he employed being at present on service in India. He was traced to Hull, and having been apprehended there, in terms of a telegraphic message transmitted thither by ,;he superintendent of police here, be has been to the gaol in Edinburgh.—Edinburgh Courant. THE MAN WITH MANY WIVES.—At the New Court, London, on Friday, Henry Brammell. --n. pleaded surgeoi guilty to marrying The second wife, who was in court, and in such a dread ful state of mental and bodily suffering that she was com pelled to be brought in a chair, said that the prisoner lived with her three months after his marriage, and had nearly ever since been a': sea. She had seen him when at ,y, his first wile their marriage hE all she possessed furnitu Two other indictment —one f rying Emma Georgina Rose - cn the 13th of October, 1847, and another for marrying Hannah Amelia Bland, in September last, at Liverpool, he pleaded guilty to. The Recorder than said, upon the first indictment he should sentence him to seven years' transportation, , d, commenting upon the second indictment added that at Calcutta it was riot under - - ordinary circumstances that the Court was called upon to pass sentence upon a second indict ment. He should avail himself of• the discretion the act allowed, and sentence the prisoner to seven years' trans portation upon the second indictment; the second sen• tence to commence at the termination of the first. IRVINGISM.—The body of religionists in London, popularly known as Irvingites (a title, however, which they indignantly repudiate, although they revere the memory of Edward Irving), are at _ ..us moment very Within the bounds of the metropolis they have seven churches,—a sort of imitation of the seven apoca lyptic churches ' • and Newman-street, wh ere M r . I rv i ng used to preach, is a sort of Jerusalem. Here, once a month, representatives from these seven churches assem ble; and although the reputation of the party is associated with ideas of fanaticism and absurdity, the proceedings of the managers and leaders are characterised by much shrewdness and worldly wisdom. Mr. Drummond, for merly of the banking firm of Drummond and Co., but now a country gentleman, and one of the members for West Surry, is understood to be still connected with the body, which is actively endeavouring to increase its influence by the accession of other names of repute. Hence, the re ported retirement of the Honourable and Rev. Baptist Noel from the establishment, has had for them a peculiar interest, because it has been mixed up with the hope that he may 'nave been looking in their direction.—Manchester Guardian. FATAL AFFRAY WITH POACHERS.—On Saturday morn ing week, between one and two o'clock, a fatal affray took place between a party of poachers, armed with guns, and the head keeper of Gerard Salvin, Esq., of Croxdale-hall, near Durham. It appears that the keeper, named Boyd, a party of poachers. As soon as they came in sight three of the poachers in rapid succession cried out " stand hack or we will shoot," and instantly some one of the party dis. charged a gun at the kE wounding him s ,rely in bothhandsand in the left arm, in consequence of which he fell ; but having in a short time recovered a little, he discharged both barrels of his gun at the poachers, who then disappeared. On the same day, police-constable Miller, stationed at Tudhoe, and some other persons, whilst searching in the neighbourhood where the affray took place, found one of the poachers, named John Coul sore lying in the wood, wounded in the right thigh, with a pheasant and his gun lying beside him._ The gun was afterwards the poacher was conveyed to the Durham In firmary, where he died on Wednesday night. It would appear that there were seven poachers in all, and report that there was another of them sever vourided besides , they are ;oulson, lave decamped ; Merles. Li pitmen residing in the ne7ghbouring " Father Wilfred " (the Lives of the Saints," ' LIVES OF THE E v. F. W. Faber), having, by his I, in his new-born zea r," the Rev. J. H. 1` outruns), his " Father man, sent him the following bull , "Nary Vale, October 30, 1848. LFRED,—I have consulted the "My DEAR FATHER WI Fathers who are here on the subject of the `Lives of the Saints,' and we have come to the unanimous conclusion of ad- lasing you to suspena the sei les at present. It appears there is a strong feeling against it on the part of a portion of the Cath olic community in England, on the ground, as we are given to ”ntioretnrlrl_ that tha livac of ~-:-._ _ in their respective countries, are Unsuited unacceptable to Protestants. 'lO this feeling we consider it a duty, for the sake of peace. to defer. For myself, you know well, without my saying it, how absolutely I identify myself with you in this matter; but, as you may have to publish this . . mpathy a indto which I have alluded, and;in Particular, that no one can assail your name without striking at mine. "Ever your affectionate friend and brother in our Lady and St. Phillip, "J. H. NEWMAN, Cong. Orat. Presb. "Rev. F. W. Faber, St. Wilfrid's." Father Phillip is too good a Catholic to refuse the advice fore, in deference to the editor's " friend and brother in Our Lady and St. Philip," are suspended. Really these " middle-aged" men are less wise than children ! MANSLAUGHTER BY A MOTHER !pct tow: held in Tottenham-cot —On Tuesday an in- was alleged, had been murdered by her mother, a widow. Jane Pullen, the accused, on being examined, said she saw deceased last alive at half-past seven on Friday morning, when she locked her in the room, and did not return till hhalf•past ten same night. She admitted that she returned home she found the door stilllocked. On 11 was dark and quiet. She called to her nt to the .ceived no a She then place where she had fastened her, and finding her dead, cut her down.—Mr. Joseph Layman, landlord of the house, said Pullen and her daughter occupied a room up stairs. They had had for three weeks a young woman, a servant out of place, with them ; but she went out on Thursday, and did not return till Saturday night. About eleven on Friday night the accused knocked him up, saying, " Ann is dead—what shall Ido ?" He went with her, and found d ed on the floor quite dead, and a rope lying on the bed. He advised a doctor to be sent for, and accused said, "What is the use, as she is dead ?" He saidt "This is a very serious case, and there must be an inquest." _ Accused rejoined, " Somethi ng mus t be said she had left her to mend returned at eleven o'clock, and ing, she put the rope round her foot of the J bed to prevent her from untying it. She had put the round and round her neck.—The surgeon who had d the body stated that there could be no doubt th was caused by suffocation from hanging; he ea. —The jury verdict of manslaughter against the mother who was committed for trial. MDLLE. LIND'S PROVINCIAL Tour and no foa As 111dIle Lind's she left Dublin, her perfor- Iticed at the time, may not be 'ter leaving Dublin, at a con- tits autumn), whim and enthusiastic audi _ Thence she went_to Brighton, where she sang at -n in the cot tended by a very num Monday the 30th ult. and Per i" and " Figlia del Reggimento', 3day and Friday. The morning is were very well attended, but the operatic per formances were only indifferently so. These were Mdlle. Lind's last operatic performances on her tour, as M. Roger was then compelled to leave this country to fulfil ;ement at Paris. On the Wednesday following, is a concert at Southampton, which was well ; and on Friday, one at Clifton, in the assembly The room, which will hold about 1000 persons, with a fashionable and enthusiastic audience ; ldidly decorated for the occasion, and, as _a a morning concert, on : formed in " Sonnambula rho fol 1 n vri ndn eq room for singing. Mdlle. Lind expressed herself highly pleased with it. This was followed by concerts at Bath, Cheltenham, Gloucester, and Leamington, all of which were numerously attended by audiences who received Mdlle. Lind very cordially. An intended concert at Cambridge was obliged to be relinquished, in consequence of Mdlle. Lind having been indisposed for a few days. On Friday she sang at Oxford, in the theatre of the Senate House, which will accommodate 4,000 persons, and which was well filled. Last night she sung at Leeds, for the benefit of the members of the band and chorus accompanying her throughout her tour. We have heard that, after singing at Leeds, Mddle. Lind is to sing at a charitable concert at Birmingham, (at which she gives her services gratuitously), and we believe that she will not sing any more in the provinces at present, with the exception of the two concerts in Manchester, for the benefit of the Royal Infirmary. Although Mdlle. Lind has received several invitations from the principal resi dents in the different places she has visited, she has in variably declined them on account of the shortness of her stay, and has gone to an inn. In Manchester, however, she is expected to remain probably for some weeks, the g uest of Mr. and Mrs. Salis Schwabe, Crumpsall Hall. We believe she will remain there during the Christmas holidays, enjoying a little quiet and retirement, after her long and arduous campaign, until again called to the metropolis by the opening of the next operatic season. This is in all probability her last visit to England.