The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-09-19 00:00:00

Kttaaturr. NOTICES. The Polyglot Educational Magazine. London : W. Strange, Paternoster-row; Liverpool: R. Wrightson. This is a most useful publication, conducted by Pro fessor Bertinchamp, of our town,• a gentleman whose acquirements as a linguist and teacher are known to most of our readers. The plan is a highly useful one : the editor intends the puhUcation not only for the assistance of teachers and families in communicating the elements of sciences and languages to their pupils, but for the perusal of all persons Ivho wish to make themselves ac quainted with the principles of a sound mental and liberal education. As a specimen of the editor's mastery over the English language, we cannot resist quoting the fol lowing metrical translation from the Polish. It is most spirited, and reminds one of Macaulay's splendid lays, than which higher praise need not be given : THE SONG OF THE WAJDELOTA.* (Translated from the Polish of Michiewiez.) Tradition ! Tradition ! thou cfthe seraph tongue, The arch that links two aces—the ancient anti the young; True arch ! thou art not broken by any stroke of fate; No tyrant's touch profanes thee—whi:e millions consecrate: In thee our warriors treasure up their strength of hearts and swords, The tissue of their holy thoughts—the lightning of their words ! Thou song of olden glories ! like incense from the shrine Of a nation's fame and freedom, thou risest up divine. Thou song of olden glories! like an angel at the gate Of a nation's storied temple, thou art ever seen to wait With wings of golden light, and a voice of thrilling might, And the sword of an archangel like a red flame waving bright, Time may rot the written stone—and royal brigands burr.-- But the song we loved of old, untouched, shall to our hearts return The heroic legend of the dead the crowd shall ne'er forget, They quenched its thirst with ardent hopes, and feed it with regret. It shall go amongst our hidden glens, and to our mountains And from the rock and ruin shall the olden spirit sing. The hoary peasant goeth forth to till the grassy plain, And riveth with his ploughshare the bleach'd bones of the slain ; He prayeth for the noble dead—the long-renowned story, And he singeth unto echos with the old song of their glory: " Rest—rest upon your bed of fame, where the good fight ye tried. And sword in hand for freedom ye conquer'd and ye died; The stricken-down invader rests here beneath your glaivel Where are your children, Fathers? 0 answer me, ye brave!" * A Lithuanian word.—A pagan priest who sang to the peo. ple during their national festivities the praises of their ancestors. VARIETIES. The London correspondent of the Liverpool Albion describes John O'Connell as a mendicant, a monk, a mountebank, a maligncr, and a muff. Married at Barn-staple, by the Rev. John Gates, Mr. John Post to Miss Sophia Rails. If this match don't " make a fence" of the first quality. we should like to know what stuff will.—Bristol Mirror. -.- STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL.--During a speech of the Premier, a member near Sir Robert Peel asked him if he did not hear a noise. "No," replied the ex-one, "only a little rustle."—Puppet Show. HARD TIMES CONJUGATED.—A country schoolmaster thus describes a money-lender :—" He serves you in the present tense—he lends you in the conditional mood — keeps you in the subjunctive—and ruins you in the future." SPLENDID AMERICAN ALOE.—There is now in bloom, in the gardens of Drummond Castle, Perthshire, the re sidence of Lord and Lady \Viilouehby d'Eresby, a splen did specimen of the Agave Americana, or great American aloe, the flower stem of which is 30 feet high, supporting upwards of 2,800 flowers. DINING WITH THE DARDANELLES.—A gentleman was boasting in his travels that he had been caressed every where, and that he had seen all the great in Europe. " Have you seen the Dardanelles ?" said one of the com pany. Yes," replied be, "I dined with them at Gib raltar, and found them to be excellent company."—New York Harbinger. _ _ SCENERY AROUND HEDRON.—There is no part of Pa lestine which I have visited, so well cultivated as the country around Hebron. On the evening of our approach to the city, we passed for miles through scenes of ravish ing loveliness, varied with hill and dale, of wood and corn fields, and vineyards, illuminated by the rays of the de clining sun. The prospect was enlivened by groups of men and cattle busy at the harvest. Nothing could be conceived more rich, brilliant, and smiling than this gar den of Eden. Thoughts of the days of old rose up, to give their interest to a scene replete with patriarchal as sociations an historic events. But here there was no melancholy contrast, as this country elsewhere presents, of present desolation and departed glory. The teeming threshing floors and the clusters of Eshcol, are proofs that the land is not unworthy of its ancient patriarchs and kings.—Mr. Ewald's Report. A RUSSIAN WIFE SHOW.—The chief opportunity of seeing native finery is mixed up with a curious custom observed on Whit Monday at the summer gardens, when the unmarried girls paraded themselves, on the chance of being selected and sought in marriage by those who are on the look-out for wives. These young people arrange themselves in rows by the sides of the long ave nues, attended by their mothers, decked out in their gay est costume ; while congregated thousands promenade up and down in dense crowds. The idea realises what we call " love at first sight," and is certainly a novel way of putting the power of Cupid to the test. If an arrow tells, the party introduces himself to the mother, exchanges ad dresses, and the matter is negociated at home. This is confined to the little people—l mean those just above the lower class; but in former times it was common to all ranks.— Thompson's Life in Russia. OPIUM EATING IN CHINA.—The habitual use of this drug terminates the smoker's life in about five years. The offspring of the opium-smoker, may always be known by his emaciated appearance and imbecile mind. Unborn generations are thus doomed to suffer for the sins of their parents, and the aggrandisement of heartless traders. In the empire, the smoker, to evade the penalty of the law, is compelled to use the opium pipe in secret. Awealthysmoker provides himself with a subterranean chamber, where he may indulge his suicidal propensity without molestation. We cannot penetrate into those narcotic caverns, or wit ness their sepulchral horrors. Whole streets are devoted to licensed opium-shops, from which the colonial govern ment derives a large revenue. It is even a more shameful crime to fill the treasury of a colony from the produce of such a trade, than to traffic in slaves. Prudery has ex claimed against our French neighbours for taxing gam bling and prostitution ; but we should look more at home before we boast of our morality, and not suffer our colony to turn this murderous and soul-destroying drug into a source of revenue.—Dublin University. SINGULAR STATE OF THE CONTlNENT.—Altogether, although our efforts to preach the Gospel to the Jews are somewhat circumscribed just now, on account of the vol ca sic state of the Continent, and by reason of the jealousy of the authorities in regard to foreigners, especially in the smaller towns and villages, from the circumstance of the numerous political emissaries who are now traversing the Continent; yet I am thankful for having been enabled to find such opportunities of making known the Gospel to the ancient people of God. It is indeed, amongst other things, no little privilege just now, to be thrown into the midst of this " tumultuous stir of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together ;" and as you see the different parties, Jew and Gentile, struggling for their own objects on the arena of conflict, to bear them in your heart by prayer within the vail, that God may be pleased to defeat their objects where they are for evil, and prosper those which are for the advancement of his kingdom. What ever changes may yet take place, I believe that, for any permanence, the old system of absolutism in Church and State is done away with in Austria and Italy for ever. To the watchful contemplatist at the present time, there cannot be two more interesting countries than these, the imperial and pontifical centres of the ancient Church of Rome, both of which contain within their boundaries such an influential section of the ancient people of God, and in both of which we have reason to believe a mighty revival shall yet take place. Many there shall yet " learn righteousness." many shall " be affrighted" and led " to give glory to God," and shall say, " Who shall not fear thee, Oh Lord ! and glorify thy name, for thou only art holy. for all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest in the earth." If ever there was a time when those words of our blessed Lord were applicable to his disciples, " Have faith in God," it is the present; let us watch and pray, and be lieve as we pray, and we• shall probably live to see great things come to pass.—.7itcish Intelligence. PRESF.NT STATE OF ROME.—The bulk of the inhabi tants dwell in the space between the Corso and Old Tiber, and are closely packed,—a few in tine palaces, the many in cheerless, shabby dwellings. A third street, running from the same starting point in a south-easterly direction, leads to the Piazza di Spagna, where another fountain cools the air, and the huge building called the Propaganda blocks up all further view ; but the traveller will meet other fountains, and massive palaces, and churches, and piazza, interspersed with venerable ruins. Whithersoever he turns his eager steps, he is alternately delighted and disgusted ; the majestic remains of a great antiquity he wishes to examine with critical accuracy, but he stands in the midst of inconceivable filth. He finds in his guide book, and notes on the map, numerous piazze, which he imagines to be fine squares, clean, if not splendid; he observes, with some few exceptions, they resemble waste ground, reserved for rubbish or the refuse of a great city. Persevering in his walk through Rome he finds himself more severely fagged in one hour than he would have been in holdon in three • for the streets are generally narrow and gloomy, seldom clean, the pavement sharp and broken, there being no flagging, with the exception of the Corso, where it is three feet broad, and of so raped a material that little knobs of stone rise up in the flags, and almost penetrate the stoutest boot. Following the map to gain an object of interest, he turns into narrow by-sfreets and lanes, and then learns, through the me dium of his senses, what amount of filth can be endured by human nature. * * * A principal source of busi ness is the imitating, in bronze, the classic monuments, and at every corner is an artist's studio. He remarks no substantial houses building for a respectable middle-class, but several old ones plastered with white cement to at tract tenants in the English quarter; fifty dwellings are inspected before he meets one congenial to his English taste ; for if an invalid, he wants sunshine, and does not want malaria. He desires wholesome air and spacious apartments, - with a good look-out; yet he finds several excellent apartments, but looking into a yard or court everlastingly covered with wet or filth. He thus learns there never was a real opulent middle-class in Modern Rome. and that cardinals and bishops cannot, even with their fine palaces, make a flourishing city. But still does he ever find, to his inexpressible delight, that into no quarter of the once Imperial City, no palace, no church, or building, or studio, can he put his head without meet ing with some object of interest and art, novel to his eyes, beautiful or wonderful. THE JEWS AND " FRATERNITY." (From the Jewish Intelligence) [The following article shows that political power can never be conceded with safety to the Jew till he is Chris tianized, and consequently that Christianity alone can elevate this people; all other efforts to elevate them in the social or political scale of nations are futile and dangerous.] One of the great characteristics of the new order of things on the Continent has been the eagerness with which the people, especially in the capitals of Berlin and Vienna, have availed themselves of the unwonted boon of a free press. Newspapers have started up like mushrooms, making up by zeal and violence of language their deficiency in talent. But above all it is in pamphlets and placards innumerable, that the prejudices of the hour, and the ever changing temper of the public, are reflected, and the fears and passions of the masses arc appealed to, with the aid derivable from low wit, humour, and sarcasm. We have already seen that the Jews of Berlin have taken no insig nificant part in this literary warfare, and that there have been proclamations and addresses without end, with Jew ish names appended to them. We learn from recent communications received at Vienna, that there also the democratic newspaper press has been, and is to a consider able extent, under Jewish influence, as the publications called the " Radical," " Cat's Music," the " Democrat," the " Lantern," the " Free-spoken," &c., &c., abun dantly show. It Is, however, to be remarked that the active part taken by the Jews in these political commotions, have by no means procured for them the favour of their revolutionary com-patriots ; on the contrary, we meet with frequent symptoms of a feeling of dislike and hate towards them, on the part of those on whose behalf they have been so zea lous. We have before us several proofs of this hostile feeling, in the shape of placards, which have been posted in the streets of Vienna, all bolding up the Jews as ob jects of suspicion, and representing them as plotting to. obtain the mastery over their Christian fellow-citizens Thus giving another proof how hollow and worthless the pretensions to liberty and equality are on the part of those who, while they boast of their humanity and brotherly love, manifest such rancour, hatred, and unmingled bit terness. The headings of some of these placards will indicate their general tone and tendency. Thus we have one : " The German Michael (Michel) and the Jews;" another headed " Fresh Jew-cherries ;" and a third, " Pertition of the Christian slaves to their Jewish masters, for emanci pation of the Christians." Another, again, denounces the Jews, in consequence of the discovery on the Jewish bu rial ground, of chests containing military stores, &c. As may be expected, the language of these placards far exceeds all the bounds of reason and justice. Thus to quote some of the least violent passages : "Their participation in the political commotions of our times is a clear proof that they only aim at supreme nile. They sow discontent that they may gain advantages in the general con fusion. They wish to become ministers, princes, regents, that they may trample on the Gojim in conformity with the doc trines of the Talmud. They have started a disreputable press, and consider that courage, which others denominate insolence. . .. ___ " Who are the most furious republicans? The Jews. They perceive that we will never suffer their emancipation, and look, therefore, to a republic as their &oal. "The manoeuvnng tactics which the Jews practice against us, consist in the invention of audacious lies, which are dis seminating for the purpose of exciting among the lower orders either fear or rebellion. They only aim at promoting distrust and dissatisfaction, and would even not flinch from the horrors of civil war, if it be the bridge leading to their emancipation. " It is to be regretted that for the sake of the dregs, a whole nation should be persecuted and hated, but the true tact of our iennese will here also know how to separate the chaff from the corn, and do full justice to the many worthy men among the Jews. But Nemesis will surely overtake the rabble." One of these productions, after many accusations, winds up with the following warning : ___ "The Jews have already got us, i. e. our money, in the bag, and carry their heads high, but they wish now also to get everything we have left, and to be the sole masters; this is what is meant by emancipation ! We have concluded the chapter of Jewish cunning, but come now to the chapter of Jewish folly. "The Jews imagine that when they have rooted out Christi anity from among the Christians, by means of their Jewish Neologian literature, from among the people, by means of their atrocious pamphle s, (for the authors of most of these are Jews,) that then their wishes will be crowned, that then all dis tinction of religion will be merged, and the much longed for emancipation will be obtained. "Thii is very possible. It may be so. But mark this, you Jews! Just as those Jews who have no Jewish faith more, are now the bitterest enemies of Christianity, so will the Christians, who have no Christian faith more, be the bitterest enemies of Judaism." Such is the prospect which is held out to the Jewish nation by those who use their boasted liberty as a cloak of maliciousness. Some of the more light-minded Jews have been seduced, unawares, to join in the movement that has spread so widely ; but the more sober-minded among them have all along seen the danger that must be occasioned by a course which every principle of earnest Judaism teaches them to abhor. May those who have been misled soon have their eyes open to see the gulf that threatens to de vour them, and attending to the warning contained in the passage last quoted, learn that those who are false to that Christianity which they profess in name only, will never be the friends of those who have been led astray by vain glory and unbelief, to unite with them in opposition to that lesson which is taught by revelation, and verified by the univeral testimony of the history of all nations and all ages, —" Meddle not with them that are given to change." ANECDOTE OF LORD ERSElNE. — Erskine, when some what young at the bar, was engaged in the fallowing case. An old gentleman had died at a village inn, and a will was produced by which all his property was left to an at torney not in the most distant way related to the testator. The widow of the gentleman in question was left in a state of destitution with a large family : in vain did she solicit the attorney, to assist her in providing for herself and family : the matter soon became the subject of gene ral conversation, and means were provided to enable the widow to contest the validity of the will, on the ground of the testator's incapacity to make a bequest at the time the will in question was stated 'to have been made and executed. Erskine was retained for the widow and suc cessfully advocated his client's cause. In the course of the trial the defendant brought forward, as evidence to show that the testator was in a fit state of mind to make and execute the will in question, witnesses who swore that they had seen the testator playing at cards. " Gen tlemen of the jury (said Erskine)—it certainly appears that the old gentleman has been played with : how far this is a test of his sanity will be for you to determine. Yes : he played at cards—probably he might play a king, or a queen, or an ace ; but, gentleman of the jury, before you leave the box, I think that I shall be able to point out the party who played the KNAVE in this business." ALLEGED PROPULSION OF A VESSEL BY STEAM IN THE YEAR 1543.—Thomas Gonzales. Director of the Royal Archives of Simancas in Spain, published in 1826 an ac count of an invention by Biasco de Garay, a naval cap tain, who, it is stated, exhibited in Spain, in 1543, an en gine, by which ships of the largest size could be propelled in a calm without the aid of oars or sails. He made an experiment before commissioners, appointed for the pur pose of examining his invention at Barcelona, on the 17th June, 1543,—the vessel used being a ship of two hundred tons. Garay, we are informed, wished to keep his mecha nism a secret ; but it was observed to consist partly of a large cauldron, or vessel of boiling water, and of two movable wheels, one on each side of the ship. The expe riment succeeded so far, that the vessel was propelled at the rate of two leagues in three hours; and the inventor was rewarded by receiving a sum of two hundred thousand maravedis, besides having his expenses defrayed from the public treasury. It is added, that the invention would have been further encouraged had not State expeditions of great consequence claimed the immediate attention of the emperor. But it is important to mention, that the au thenticity of the entire history of Garay's invention, as published by Gonzales, has been called into question ; and it is certain that no practical results of any utility fol lowed.—Fraser's Magazine. EFFORTS OF THE JEWS TO OBTAIN POLITICAL POWER AND EQUALITY OF RIGHT.—As was to be expected, the Jew, who has long lain unheeded and neglected at the very gates, as it were, of the Austrian Established Church (and may this be a warning to our own dear Church), should be, diroongst others, an especial agent in the pro vidence of God, in transmitting the bitter cup of retribu tive suffering into the hands of his oppressors. I had not been a day in the city when I found out the truth of this; I went in company with Mr. Hoff to the principal syna gogue, which we found to be a spacious building with double galleries, all crowded to excess. The preacher, a man of great ability. took for his text the subject of the two faithful spies returning with good intelligence from the promised land ; he seemed to anticipate a bright future for Israel in the new ow. et' that they had played no unimportant part in the great achievements of the times, and called upon them to press forward in the same direction, until they came into full possssion of the rights that were due to them. On leaving the synagogue, two Jews conducted us to the hall where the " Sicherheits Ausschuss," a sore of provisional government, was sitting, and this we found was presided over by a Jew; subsequently to this we met no end of Jews in the dress of National Guards in the streets, and shortly afterwards a Jew who was a newly-elected member of the National Assembly of Austria; so that altogether it seemed as if the Jews, a long time the party oppressed here, were in a fair way of becoming the oppressors of others.—Letter in Jewish Intelligence. A YANKEE ALLIGATOR STORY.—A singular piece of temerity, with regard to an alligator. is related in camp. At Sabine river (now a long distance back), one of the men of Caswel's company, called in camp " Skin-horse," went along the bank for game ; did not see any ; but then a young alligator popped up his head ; " Skin-horse " fired at it, and the water was stained with blood, but the alligator had disappeared. The report of the gun brought some of his comrades to the spot, and they were told by him what he had killed. They thought he was " fooling' them, which made him very angry, and, swearing that he always told the truth, he stripped off his clothes, and waded in the water to his neck, feeling about with his foot, and stepped on the chap at the bottom ; he being only wounded, instantly rose and poked his long•nose out of the water, behind " Skin-horse," who turned, and with one hand seized him by the fore-foot, and threw the other arm around his neck, and himself on his scaly back. Now came the tug of war. The alligator whirled round and round, making the water foam with his tail, snapping his jaws together, in his endeavours to get at his antago nist, while the latter, having got a hold on shallow bot tom, pushed and dragged him towards the shore, while his . companions, at first petrified with astonishment, ran to his relief, and they soon got the alligator ashore and dispatched him. He measured in length seven feet. Hugging a live alligator in the water is a ticklish sort of business. " Skin-horse "is a good-humoured dare-devil chap, cross-eyed, medium height, bony and strong, in for a scrape at any time, and is a great favourite with the whole regiment.—Purber's Americans in Mexico. TIE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. VAN DIEMAN'S LAND. We have already published a number of particulars con nected with the Australian colonies extracted from the evidence given before the Colonisation Committee of the House of Lords. We now add many interesting details respecting Van Dieman's Land. The population of this colony is scattered, large grants of land having originally been made ; and the dispropor tion of the sexes is greater than in any of the other Aus tralian settlements. In 1845 the land in cultivation was 140,949 acres. In the preceding year the number of sheep was 1,145,089 ; and in 1846 the imports were £561,000, and the exports £582,000, of which latter sum £150,000 consisted of grain shipped for the most part to New South Wales, the quantity sent to England not hav ing exceeded £lO,OOO. The climate is very beautiful and the land fertile, there being a large quantity of alluvial soil on the banks of the rivers, which is particularly fa vourable for agricultural purposes. The general charac teristic of the island, however, is that of a densely wooded mountainous country, and the population occupy a kind of belt of country, running from north to south, pursuing the great valleys and watercourses. Although the pro duction of wheat is large, the colony is not likely to export much grain to England, owing to its liability to damage on the long voyage. The shipment in 1846 was merely the consequence of the unexampled depreciation of all kinds of Australian produce, the price having fallen as low as 2s. 6d. per bushel, and a great quantity of what was sent in that instance became damaged. The following table will show the rate of production of the soil on a ge neral average : 15 bushels. 9i ~ 18 I, Wheat, per acre Oats, „ Barley „ Peas „ Beans „ Potatoes „ Turnips „ „ Owing to the low prices prevalent during the last few years, many people who used to grow grain have given it up and turned their attention to pasture land, but the im pression still seems to be that the prosperity of Van Die men's Land must depend in a great measure upon grow ing wheat for New South Wales, where the production of wool is the most profitable occupation. Every increase of emigration to New South Wales by creating a demand for breadstuffs will therefore act beneficially upon Van Die man's Land ; and as there is a vast amount of agricultural land available at low prices in the latter colony, the pros perity of both would advance together. In this as in all the Australian settlements the conveyance of land between individuals is encumbered with all the expenses and com plications of the English system, and this in the face of the fact that for the Crown grants in South Australia a very short document has been adopted, prepared by a London conveyancer, which is held to convey in about eight or ten lines everything that can be conveyed in fee simple. The complaint put forward by the colonists re garding the inconvenience of the old system, however, is in opposition to the opinion of the lawyers." In Van Dieman's Land the number of bushels of wheat grown per individual is 13. In South Australia it is also 13, and in New South Wales it is only six. The land in cultivation in the three colonies averages 1 1-sth acres per individual, and the present general total of live stock would give, it is estimated, 40 sheep and six or seven horned cattle for every man, woman, and child. One principal point on which the various witnesses lay stress in describing the urgent necessity for emigration, is the fact that under the high wages caused by the insuffi cient supply of labour, it is the policy of employers to en courage demoralisation on the part of their servants, since it is not merely that the present system of exorbitant wages compels them to pass over acts of insubordination and mis conduct from the difficulty of replacing those whom they might discharge. but they feel that it is not their interest that the servant should save his earnings, and by expend ing them on a small farm not only withdraw his own la bour from the market but also become a competitor with themselves for the labour of others. " I have heard," says one witness, " colonial proprietors expressing their grati fication again and again at the fact of their shepherds or other hired servants spending their earnings, perhaps 440 or £5O at a time in the public-house; for they knew that the men would in all such cases be ready to hire themselves again on the same terms as before." (general Aliatllanv. The total number of labourers employed in the dock. yards and arsenals at home and abroad, is 3,977. A boy at Widcombe has died from eating the berries of the yew tree. The Bradford chartists were all committed for trial on Saturday, at the Court-house, Bradford. The Worcester Festival has realised £l,OOO for the charities, besides the £5O sent by Jenny Lind. A man named Davison has been committed at Sunder. land for killing a man named M'Clen in a fight. The sale on Friday, at Stowe, (when the best paintings were sold,) realised nearly £lO,OOO. The first anniversary meeting of the Cambrian Institu tion for the Deaf and Dumb was held at Aberystwith, on Monday, the Earl of Lisburne presiding. A young lady, named Stephens, from Bristol, fell from Dover Cliff last week, a height of 200 feet. She was killed. The extensive woollen manufactory of Richard Caunter, at Ashburton, known as the Bedford Mills, was destroyed by fire on Wednesday last. The sale at Stowe has, so for, rwtauced £65,441. It has occupied twenty- fi ve days, and will continue for. ten days longer. At Burford, Oxfordshire, last week, a boy playing with an elderwood popgun, got some of the pith in his throat, which occasioned suffocation and death. On Saturday, the coachman of Col. Sykes, at Hyde Park Mews, was literally worried and trodden to death by a horse. A London magistrate has decided that policemen have no right to interrupt the public thoroughfares by walking in rank. In the next issue of camp equipage to the army the tents will be made waterproof, as the present canvas is no protection against a heavy fall of rain. Two gold rings exhibiting beautiful miniatures of George 111. and Queen Charlotte, sold at the Bucking ham auction for £6 2s. 6d. The Bryn-y-pys estate, at Flint, the property of F. R. Price, Esq., was sold by auction on Wednesday for £150,000. So plentiful was the take of herrings at Sunderland last week, that they were selling at the rate of fourteen shil lings per thousand. An estate, lying in the parishes of Erlistock and Ban gor, comprising 1684 acres, and producing a rental of £3566 per annum, was sold last week for £130,000. RichardWootten, Esq., draper and banker, the "Jemmy Wood" of Oxford, died on Saturday, in his 85th year, leaving a fortune of £500,000. The celebrated Chandos portrait of Shakspeare was sold at Stowe on Thursday to the Earl of Ellesmere for 355 guineas. Upwards of 8,230 packages of foreign fruit, chiefly plums, have been landed at Hull from the continental steamers during the past week. CLIFTON SUSPENSION BRIDGE, NEAR BRlSTOL.—Up wards of X 40,000 have already been suspended upon this undertaking, and no more money being forthcoming, the works are now at a stand-still. On Tuesday, as the workmen were engaged building a Presbyterian Chapel at Bradford, a large stone fell and killed three men instantaneously, and seriously injured a fourth. Typhus fever has broken out in Greenwich Hospital Schools. There are upwards of 40 boys in the sick ward ; one death ; the friends of the other boys have been advised of the complaint prevailing. TRAMPS.—By an Act passed on the 4th instant, from and after the 30th instant until the 30th September, 1849, tramps are to be relieved from the common fund of poor law unions, and:not at the cost of the parish, where the union house is situated. As a proof of the honest and peaceful habits of the peo ple of Westmoreland, a Kendal paper mentions that for the last three months no case has been brought before the magistrates at the monthly petty sessions held at Kirkby Stephen. Most of the bakers at the west end of the metropolis made a reduction in the price of their bread . on Monday of from a halfpenny to a penny in the four pound loaf. The low-priced bakers are selling from a penny to three halfpence cheaper. AN ACTRESS PREACHER !—Mrs. Darley, long and fa vourably known on the Shields, Sunderland, and Stock ton circuit, as an actress, preached in the Wesleyan cha pel, Cotherston, twice, on Sunday last. At night the ytauu as - tz n O'utrullcUa 11 - CASC, VCI . ALTERING THE NAME OF A TOWN.—By command of the Postmaster-General, Lane End, near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, is in future to be designated Longton, for all purposes of postal communication, and instructions have accordingly been forwarded to all postmasters. A few mornings since, at an early hour, a fox suddenly appeared in Queen Square, Bristol, and was i mme di a t e ly s h e y iz h ed is by ea a p n tile u , nlu th c a k t y bypasser, he ewasforced to release the animal, who was s o severe ly bitten which then triumphantly retreated into a drain leading from a neighbouring public house. FATAL FIRE.—On Saturday, a fire broke out in the premises of Mr. A. F. Watkinson, stay maker, White chapel, London, which completely destroyed the build ings. A child, named Pitt, was burnt to death, and Mrs. Pitt and her daughter. aged nine years, were so seriously injured that the girl has since died. builder of the cathed ra l o f Old S arum, The new Roman Catholic chapel, Salisbury, was on Thursd ay u n w d e e e r k a o n p d e ed with great po m p. I t i s ded i cated the celebrated Saint Osmund, who accompanied his uncle, William the Conqueror, to England as a warrior and after the Norman conquest was consecrated Bishop of Sarum. EXTRAORDINARY SHOT.—As Clarence Hooper, Esq., of Green-park, Bath, and Captain Frederick Johnson, were shooting upon the estate of H. M. Williams, Esq., at Eastcott, on Tuesday, the sth of September, four par tridges rose, the whole of which fell to one barrel fired by Mr. Hooper, at a distance of forty yards. A gentleman, who has farmed extensively in the southern division of this county for the last twenty years, and who has this year grown 600 acres of wheat, 600 of barley, 600 of oats, and 800 acres of turnips, states that, taking the crops generally or as a whole, he has never, during his experience, known a more propitious harvest than the present.—Derizes Gazette. Lord George Bentinck's visit to Doncaster has been far more profitable than his contemplated trip to Ireland could have turned out. It was stated that, in the event of Surplice carrying off the St. Leger, the Protectionist chief stood to win £BO,OOO, a portion of a bet made at the time Surplice was foaled. We know the result of the race, and the upshot of the long odds taken by Lord G. Bentinck against the crack horse winning both the Leger and the Derby, a feat unperformed since the year 1800. SINGULAR CHANGE.—The New synagogue in King street, Canterbury, is being erected on the site of the ancient house of the redoubted " Knights Templars," once the unrelenting foes of persecuted Israelites, but now themselves swept from the face of the earth, together ofith their house, which has thus given place in the lapse w ages to so singular a revolution. MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT.—Captain Miller, Royal En gineers. who arrived on Monday in the Devestation, at Portsmouth, has come home from the Cape on account of a deplorable accident, which unfortunately deprived him of the sight of both eyes. Captain Miller was using some gun cotton, when it accidentally exploded, and caused the calamity. The lock of hair of Queen Mary, who married the Duke of Suffolk, taken from her corpse at St. Mary's Church, Bury, in 1784, was sold at Stowe for £7 10s. This relic was contained in a glass case, and, since its purchaie at the sale of the Duchess-Dowager of Portland's effects in 1786 by the Duke of Chandos, has been deposited in the manuscript library at Stowe. NEW ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP.—The ceremonial of consecrating a Roman Catholic Bishop of the Western District, in the room of Dr. Ullathorne, translated to the See of the Midland Provinces, took place at St. Mary's Chapel, Bristol, on Sunday last, when the Rev. Joseph Wm. Henderson, D.D., was duly installed to the vacant episcopate. The Hon. Mr. Clifford, son of Lord Clifford, and a student at Prior Park, preparatory to his taking holy orders. officiated as master of the ceremonies. On the evening of Monday week, Mr. Brown, a farmer, living at Nether Place, Dumfriesshire, went into a field to fetch home his bull, which had been fighting during the day with a neighbour's bull, and which had become so fu rious that the herd-boy was afraid to drive him. The animal at first seemed to obey his master, but suddenly turned round, attacked Mr. Brown, threw him on the ground, and gored him so severely that he died two hours afterwards. SCHOOLMASTERS IN THE COLONlES.—Government has just dispatched several members of the scholastic profession, male and female (principally men and their wives,) to establish primary schools in the Mauritius. Before starting they received £l2O to provide the neces sary outfit, and on landing in the colony they are to have £25 to defray immediate expences. Their salary com mencing at £BO, is to gradually increase to £2OO per annum. The Quadrant Colonnade, in Regent-street, London, that exquisite specimen of what a prince regent can do when he takes to architecture, was pulled down on Mon day week, and the removal of the materials has been going on since. They have been purchased for railway purposes. The cast-iron pillars, 145 in number, realised £2900. The total cost of this alteration is estimated at £3900, to be defrayed by the sale of the old materials, and by a rate on the inhabitants. APPREHENSION OF " WAT TYLER," NEAR BRADFORD. —This notable personage, Isaac Jeferson, the chartist blacksmith, so famous in the annals of Bradford chartism, was apprehended early on Wednesday morning, at a lonely place called Swilliag, on the borders of the parishes of Halifax and Bradford. He was pounced upon whilst sleeping, and, seeing himself overpowered, without friends in this moment of need, and without a chance of escape, he quietly yielded himself. On Tuesday week, the family of a man named Law rence, living at Eastry, Kent. were treated to some sloes, which had been preserved in sugar since last autumn, and of which Lawrence himself, his wife, and his wife's sister and brother partook, all of whom, shortly afterwards, be came very sick. vomited much, and were violently purged, in which state they continued some time, totally incapa pable of assisting one another, and it ended in the death of one of the children, which took place the following day. EMIGRATION OF POOR PERSONS.—By an act which passed on the 4th inst. it is provided by the sth section (11 and 12 Vic., cap. 110) that the guardians of any union or parish may, with the order of the Poor Law Board, and in conformity with the regulations they make respecting the emigration of poor persons. render assistance in the emi gration of poor parsons irremoveable and chargeable, and charge the cost upon the common fund of the union or parish where there is no union. NOVEL CRICKET MATCH.—On Monday a cricket match for a purse of sovereigns, between eleven one-armed and eleven one-legged pensioners, belonging to Greenwich Hospital, took place in a field at the back of the Priory, Lewisham, Kenl . The novelty of the match attracted a great many spectators. The result of the play was slightly in favour of the one legs, whose facilities for bowling and batting overbalanced the running capabilities of their opponents. A CHEMICAL MODE OF EJECTMENT.—At Bow-street, on Saturday, J. Dolby, chemist, of 280, Strand, appeared to answer a complaint preferred against him by Mr. E. Wild, a wood engraver, residing in the same house, for having exposed a chemical preparation close to his room at the top of the house, by which the health of his wife and children was dangerously affected. The plan was resorted to in order to get rid of a troublesome tenant. The prisoner was fined for the offence. At . the Clerkenwell police-office, the other day, Edwin Fox was charged with an attempt to steal a watch from the shop of Mr. King, Goswell-street. The rogue was caught in a trap. In consequence of previous sittempts at rob bery. Mr. King's shop door had been made to fasten with a spring when any person entered. Fox pretended he wanted to buy a watch, and got it into his hand ; he then attempted to open the door to make off with it, but the spring baffled him, and though he threw snuff into Mr. King's eyes, he was captured and committed for trial. FIRST APPLICATION TO GOVERNMENT UNDER THE NEW PUBLIC HEALTH ACT.—The mortality at the port of Whitehaven, being at the rate of 42 in every 1,000 (takin g eho pnnulation at 11,840. census of 1841), the inhabitants determined last week to present a memorial to Lord Morpeth, calling for the interposition of the commissioners appointed to give effect to the provi sions to the new sanitary act. The inhabitants are look ing forward with interest to the anticipated official visit of the government inspector. Jenny Lind performed, on Thursday, at the Theatre Royal, Hull, in the opera of Sonnambula. Yesterday she appeared at York, in a concert ; on Wednesday, the 20th instant, at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle, in the opera of Sonnambula ; on Saturday, the 23d, in a morn ing concert at Edinburgh, and on the following Monday in the opera of Sonnambula. She will then perform at Glasgow, in the two operas of Sonnambula and the Figlia del .Reggimento ; and on the 11th of October will appear at Dublin. After performing there four nights, she will return to England. A poor woman, named Anderton, met with her death on Monday, at Stitchford, a few miles south of Birming ham. It appears that she and her son were about to pro ceed by the up train to London, and for that purpose she took her place at the station in question. The noise of a train approaching caused her to run out of the station room and cross the line, supposing it to be the train by which she was about to proceed to town. Unhappily it proved to be the express down train, by which, on at tempting to cross the line she was instantly knocked down and killed on the spot. THE HERRING FISHERY.—The " takes" within the past week have bean unprecedented for the last twenty years at least, both as respects the profusion and the quality of the fish. Our fishery this year will be worth £60,000 at the lowest estimate, and by moderate calcula tion not less than £6OOO has this week been netted from the deep. The bustle and animation in the harbour and on our quays, has been quite enlivening, and both the Fleetwood and Liverpool packets have taken heavy car goes each trip for the English fishmongers and curers. The current price to the curers and fresh buyers was ss. a raease, and to small purchasers ls. 3d. per hundred of six score. Manx Liberal. GUTTA PERCHA ON THE MONUMENT.—This novel material, so famed for its utility, has lately risen to an extraordinary elevation in the metropolis, having reached even to the top of the Monument, from whence the visitor to that noted column may look upon a gutta percha tube one hundred and ninety feet in length, three inches in diameter, and one quarter of an inch thick. This tube passes up the centre of the Monument from its base to the gallery, at which point it is upheld by a flange also made of gutta percha. It is intended for the conveyance of water, and is, we understand, highly approved by the civic authorities, being light in weight and economic in price. Continued fine weather has enabled the farmers to cut nearly all the wheat in this district, and on the best lands there is not a stock left in the fields, the whole hav ing been secured in fine condition. Oats and beans are rather late in some places, but, the oat crop is being rapidly cut, and will in another week or ten days be all safe, should the weather continue fine. Further enqui ries confirm the opinion already expressed that the bulk is large, the yield good, and the sample fully an average one. About one-half of the wheat exhibited in our mar ket on Saturday. was of the new crop. and it was remarked that a finer sample, or one in better condition, was never seen for the first of the season. Many of the samples weighed 631bs. and some as high as 661bs. per bushel.— Newcastle Journal. - "THE LEIGH PEERAGE.—At Warwick, on Monday, Mr. W. P. Roberts, solicitor, of Manchester, applied to Geo. Cattell Greenway, Esq., one of the Coroners of the coun ty, to appoint a day to hear evidence, in order to induce him to grant a warrant for search after the bodies alleged at the county petty sessions in May last to have been bu ried under the new bridge, in Stoneleigh Park, upwards of 30 years ago. The Coroner said in case the body was known to have been buried, any coroner would be justi fied in having it exhumei, if suspicious circumstances arose, in order that the cause of death might be satisfac torily ascertained ; but he did not think the duties of a coroner extended to a search after bodies, whose inter ment rested merely on suspicion ; the application was, therefore, refused. An application had previously been made to Mr. Seymour, a coroner, acting in another divi sion of the county, but he refused to interfere, Stoneleigh Abbey being out of his district. This was represented, to be merely a preliminary step to further proceedings. One of the new wrought iron bowstring bridges, con structed for the Blackwall extension line, has been tested at the works of Fox, Henderson, and Co., at Smethwick, near Birmingham, in the presence of Mr. Muntz, M.P., Captain Simmons, and other railway officers. The bridge, as erected on an open space near the London works, pre sented a clear space of 120 feet between the bearings. It is constructed entirely of wrought iron, and consists of an arch of boiler plates and angle iron, tied across at the ends by'horizontal bars, the tie being cemented with the arch by vertical standards, and by a double system of di agonals, which have the effect of distributing over the whole curve of the arch the action of weights placed on or passing over any part of the bridge. The ribs are adapted for large spans in cases where either headway is of im portance, or where sufficient abutment cannot be obtained without a great outlay. The ribs are supported in such a manner as to allow not only for expansion and contrac tion, but also for motion under a heavy weight. On this occasion the bridge was loaded with 240 tons of rails and bars, double the load which the bridge can under any circumstances be required to bear. The trial gave satis faction to all concerned. MAN VERSUS STEAM.—On Tuesday evening a comical adventure was witnessed near Bedwas Church—a race between Mr. John Jones and the locomotive called " Bute"—distance three hundred yards, for a sovereign a side. It was won by the former, by about twenty yards. FASHIONABLE LUCIFER MATCH DEALERS.—There are numerous revivals of a well-known ruse for getting money, and mysterious noblemen are scouring the country by dozens selling lucifer matches. A country correspon dent of the Cambriege Chronicle states that the place from whence he writes was lately visited by a " walking gentleman," well dressed, and with his hair neatly curled, who dispensed with kid gloves a box of lucifers to all who were disposed to buy at the small charge of one penny. He was the unknown nobleman who has undertaken to sell some millions of boxes of lucifers before he eats his Christmas dinner. LORD JOHN RUSSELL.—The Premier arrived at Glas gow from Greenock, on Wednesday, accompanied by Lady Russell. His lordship drove to the Star Hotel, where he was visited by Mr. Hastie, M.P., the Lord Provost of the City. Lord John saw no other visitors, and, indeed, very few persons were aware of his arrival. A committee of the unemployed were anxious to have an interview with his lordship, in order to present a memorial for re lief, by an advance for emigration, or otherwise ; but they failed to discover where he was temporarily lodged. His lordship and family departed in a compartment of a first-class railway-carriage for Perth by the half-past one o'clock afternoon train. M. Louis Blanc has published a letter in the Times, in reply to an article in which the little gentleman's princi ples were pretty freely commented on. M. Louis Blanc's defence is divided into two sections—one of which is devo ted to the refutation of a particular charge respecting his responsibility for the ateliers nationaux; and the other to the exculpation of his general doctrines from the liabi lities with which they have been visited. Under the first of these heads he alleges that the ateliers nationaux re cently suppressed were in no sense of his creation ; that M. Marie established, and M. Emile Thomas directed them ; and that, in point of fact, they were employed to counterbalance an embodiment of his own influence in another quarter. OTTER HUNT EXTRAORDINARY.—Last week, James Lomax, Esq., of Allsprings, near Blackburn, took (by the kind invitation of the Earl of Harewood) his cele brated pack of Otter hounds to Harewood House. They flung off on Wednesday, at Harewood-bridge, and a short distance up the river Wharfe they got on to the " drag" of an otter, which they presently found, and swam him for eight hours that day without securing their game, and had to be called off. On Thursday morning, they threw off at the bridge again, and found the otter at Arthington Mill. They swam him again for eight hours and a half, and at last killed him in the moonlight, after one of the severest hunts that ever was seen. The otter weighed 24i pounds. PRICE OF PAINTINGS.—At the sale of paintings at Stowe, on Friday, " Sybilla Persica," from the Orleans gallery, by Domenechino, fetched 690 guineas. A burgo master, in a black dress, by Rembrandt, sold for 810 guineas. The finding of Moses, by Salvator Rosa, (six feet seven inches by four feet,) was sold for 1,000 guineas. Philip baptising the eunuch, by Cuyp, was sold for 1,470 guineas. The great feature of the day, however, was "The unmerciful servant brought before his Lord," by Rembr ndt. The size of the picture was seven feet by five feet ten inches. The first bidding was 1,000 guineas. On this the next advance was 50 guineas; from 1,600 guineas it went. at one bidding, to 2,000 guineas ; and, after a somewhat languid competition, was ultimately knocked down to Mr. Mawson at 2,200 guineas. USEFUL HINT ABOUT CHOLERA.—A writer in a weekly medical journal, who saw much of the cholera in 1832 and 1834, suggests a very simple, and, as he asserts, a very valuable prevention against the susceptibility of the disease. The weakened state of the stomach, he says, which pre disposes to cholera, is so decidedly obviated by eating freely of common salt to our meals, that it is believed that three-fourths of the cases which would otherwise occur may be prevented by this simple addition to our food. The writer recommends for an adult the ninth of an ounce (about a small teaspoonful) three times a day, at break fast, dinner, tea, or supper. It may be eaten with fish, animal food, poultry, game, bread, toast, or bread and butter. The same beneficial result is not obtained with salt meats, broths, soups, &c., in which salt is dissolved ; because, by the action of the heat, or long admixture of the salt with other matter, a change is produced in its pro perties and the preventive power, with reference to this particular use of it, destroyed. BRIDGEWATER HOUSE, GREEN PARK.—The new residence for the Earl of Ellesmere was long talked of: the carcase is now completed ; the chimneys are being capped, the carving cleaned off. The situation is one of the finest in the metropolis,—the view from the state rooms of the new house, over the park and towards Buck ingham Palace, is perfectly beautiful. The plan approaches a square • the south front is 142 feet 6 inches, from east to west ; and the west front, 122 feet, from north to south : and there are two small courts within the mass to aid in lighting the various apartments. The south elevation differs from the west in having no projections of the front wall. Vases surmount the dies of the balustrade. The entrance-porch, not yet built, will be in the centre, and be surmounted at the angles by similar vases. The whole of these fronts, and part of each of the other fronts, are faced with Portland stone. In examining the interior of the building, when finished, one point will particularly force itself on the attention, and that is the care which has been taken so to plan it, that the freedom of access to his fine gallery of pictures, which Lord Ellesmere pro poses to grant the public, may not be interfered with by the private requirements of the liberal owner.—The --- AHE SMOKE NUISANCE AND SMOKE CONSUMERS AT HALIFAX.— Messrs. Crossley, of Dean Clough, to pre vent the nuisance of smoke, have adopted "Samuel Hall's self-fuel-supplying and smoke consuming furnace," which principally consists in an inclined fire-grate, composed of a large namber of distinct parallel bars, moved at the up per end by a series of eccentrics turned by a revolving shaft. The longest motion of these eccentrics is given alternately to bundles of about twelve bars ; but during this motion every third bar also traverses an inch more or less than the two adjacent to it ; thus affording an addi tional preventative against the formation of clinkers. But as these hindrances to complete smoke-prevention can never be entirely avoided, provision is made for their fall inf into a chamber at the lower end of the furnace, a fire brick shelf being interposed, with an inclination the re verse of that of the fire-grate, so as effectually to burn anything that will burn, before it is finally cast amongst the useless scorite of the clinker-chamber. The regular motion and inclination of the fire-grate affords a means of self-feeding, without the aid of any extra wheels or cylin ders ' • and the front of the furnace is formed of three up. right plates, with spaces for the admission of air between them. which not only keep the front of the furnace cool, but also afford an easy method of regulating the admis sion of air. The patentee sets forth eight advantages of this furnace, many of which are also claimed by other pa tents. Its peculiar advantages, however, seem to us to be, first, that as there are no joints to work in the heated part of the bars, and no friction except at the ends, the fire-grate is likely to be more durable ; secondly, that there is little or no waste of power in giving motion to the furnace ; and thirdly, that the supply of coals, of air, and of speed, is very easily regulated.—Halifax Guardian. THE POISONINGS.—The cases of poisoning in Essex are still under investigation. The case to which the au thorities are now directing their attention is that of a per son named Nathaniel Button, formerly a resident in the parish of Ramsey, who died on the 30th of September, 1846, a few days after the death of Mary May's first hus. band, about whom also some suspicion exists. The authorities, not having the power of exhuming the body, have transmitted to the coroner a quantity of evidence, in order that he may take the necessary steps for investi gating the matter. The next case is relative to a person named Palmer ' resident in Ramsey, who died shortly after Button. Almost immediately after his death Mrs. Palmer left Ramsey, accompanied by a man with whom she had long been intimate. The town of Great Holland in the Tendering Union has also, it is suspected, been the scene of one, if not more, of these dreadful poisonings. From tqe investigation which has taken place, it appears that a man named Brudger died suddenly some time since in great agony, having been well and at his work until within a few hours of his death. Two other cases are un der consideration—one in the parish of Tendering, and another in the parish of Bradfield. In the former the keeper of a beer-shop, named Brown, is the subject of in quiry, and in the latter the body of a person named Gop, who there is little doubt was poisoned, is to be exhumed. In the investigation of these cases it has been ascertained that most, if not all, owe their origin to the existence of what are in this part of the country called " Death Clubs." A person (man or woman) enters one of these clubs, azreeilf to nay a sum_of Wicier _Quarter. at the sametipae m m appog a nominee, a whose death the subscribing party receives £lO or £B, according to the number of per sons enrolled. In addition to this subscription each member pays 6d. extra on the death of any nominee. Mrs. Southgate was a member of one of these clubs. Mrs. Button was also a member, and received £B, on the death of her husband. MANUFACTURE OF GAS FROM WATER.—We were much pleased with a descriptive lecture at the Polytechnic Institution, accompanied by a working model of a new hydro-carbon gas apparatus, patented by Mr. Stephen White, for the manufacture of gas from water and com mon tar, or resin, &c. The apparatus consists of three retorts placed in a stove, two of which are filled with char coal and thin pieces of iron, and the other with iron chains, hanging from a centre bar. The first two retorts are for the decomposition of water, which is regularly supplied by means of a syphon pipe, through and into the centre of the retort ; the water, in passing through the heated ma terial, becomes converted into pure hydrogen and proxide of carbon. It then passes into the third retort, to receive its dose of bi-carbur?t of hydrogen, which is prepared from common tar, resin, or similar substances, passing, or dropping, on the red hot chain, from a syphon tube, which regulates its supply. This causes the tar, or melted resin, to throw off an abundance of bi-carburet of hydro gen gas. The gasses being mixed in this manner, are im mediately conveyed into the gasometer for use, without any purifying vessels whatever, none being required. The great advantages arising from this invention appear to be the small, simple, and cheap apparatus required, and the beautiful, clear and bright light produced, surpassing the ordinary coal gas ; also, its perfect purity, being free from any nuisance in its manufacture, and, above all, so pure and innoxious, that it may be burnt in any private room, without the least ill effects or smoke resulting from it. The apparatus may be used, and the gas made, in any private mansions, churches, or manufactories, and on any scale, from 5 to 1,000 lights or more, as well as for cities and towns. This gas can be made and surplied at a price considerably less than that of coal gas. Thus we see ac complished the foretelling of that eminent chemist and philosopher, the late Sir Humphrey Davy, " that at some future time gas would be generated from water for general purposes, surpassing coal gas in brilliancy and purity." —Mining Journal. gept. 19, 114$. SENTENCE FOR HIGH TREASON.—The sentence nog is, that the person convicted be drawn on a hurdle W.! place of execution, and be there hanged by the neck ne w dead, and that then the head be severed and the body cut into quarters, and be left at the king's disposal. The consequences of the sentence are, corruption of blood, by which the convict can neither inherit nor transmit land to his heirs, the loss of dower to his wife, and forfeiture to thp crown of his lands, goods and chattels. These Wu' culars may possibly prove interesting to the reader. AN HONEST CODFISH.—A sloop, belonging to Rothe: say, was recently lying in Lochbroom, the skipper of which, when fishing over the side, lost the keys of his lockers, &c., from his pocket, into ten fathoms of water. Attached to the bunch was a small piece of parchment, on which his name and that of the vessel were written. /1 e of course gave up all hopes of ever seeing the keys again , and gazed on their rapid descent into the watery deposi tory with deep regret. Six weeks afterwards the skipper cast anchor off the island of Rassay, about 100 miles front Lochbroom, and again resumed his piscatory employment. Among the result of his labours was a large codfish, which was speedily unhooked and thrown on the deck; and, to the utter amazement of the skipper, the poor cod, whenh l the last agonies of death, vomited up his bunch of keys• • The parchment, being partly preserved, proved his Pre" perty beyond a doubt. At the same time, as if conscienc e stricken, it disgorged a penknife belonging to a brother skipper, on which his initials were engraved. It is a re: markable circumstance that this fish, in its migratory course, should arrive at the same spot where the sloop was, sacrificing its life, and with its last breath discharging an act of honesty that would have honoured a higher grade or species of animals.— Greenock Advertiser. EFFECT OF PROSPERITY ON MARRIAGES.—In 184 1, according to the census of the Registrar General, the num' ber of women living between the ages of 15 and 45 vr o 3,812,651, of whom it was estimated about 2,000.000 WI unmarried. Allowing for a proportionate increase and diminution by marriage during each of the successiv e years 1842-6, we find that on this number of 2,000,00 0 , 0 affected, the returns of marriage give the following sults :-1842 237,650, 1843 247,636, 1844 264,498, 184 5 287,486, 1846 291,328. The Registrar-General take! " the disposition to marry " as one of the tests of the prosperity or supposed prosperity of the country. Th' in 1844-5, years of great abundance and ease, the mar: riages were far above the average ; so, too, in the first - half of the year 1846. Then came an actual decrease in the number of marriages, and an increase in the number of deaths. We have not as yet got the returns for the year 1847, but they will, we fear, give strong e vidence of the heavy suffering resulting from our commercial and other calamities during that 'year. In 1845, when corn was cheap and commerce prosperous, 50,000 more persons were married than in 1842. In 184 the variation wait ne doubt, be the other way. CHARGE OF ARSON.—On Monday, at BOW-Straett Emily Beaumont, keeper of a coffee shop in Long-acre , Mary Fitzgerald, her servant, and James Fry, were Pie ced at the bar, the two first-named prisoners being char' ged as principals, and the male prisoner as being accessory after the fact, in setting fire to No. 52, Long-acre. Mr. Storr, the assessor to the Fire-office, said that on the 3.1 0 of August, the prisoner Beaumont called on him, laying claim to £272 165., among which was a quantity of wear ing apparel, which was found pledged previous to the 25th of August, when the fire took place. On Mondeft the 4th inst., the prisoner Fitzgerald came to his house, when she made a statement respecting the fire, without any threat or promise being made to her, which he redu ced to writing in the presence of Sergeant Thompson, the officer.—The effect of the statement was, that the priso ner Beaumont had repeatedly urged various parties to set fire to the house, under a promise of a considerable pecuniary reward—that one of the parties thus instigated , received the sum of £5 as a portion of the promised re ward, but decamped with the money without taking _ had part in the crime, and that the prisoner Beaumont hs° been sending her property out of the house for some, time before the fire which actually occurred in it, urging' the deponent Fitzgerald, also by the hopes of pecuniart gain, to keep her secret.—The prisoners were remanded. CHEAP AND VICIOUS LITERATURE.—The inquiry into the bankruptcy of George William M'Arthur Reynold* author of the " Mysteries of London," and other cheap publications, has elicited some interesting evidence on the subject of the demand for cheap and vicious literature. The bankrupt himself gave evidence. He was the author of the " Mysteries of London," " Pickwick Abroad," " Mes,, ter Timothy's Bookcase," " Wallace," " The Parricide, " Gretna Green," besides several translations from the French and German. He was also the editor of th e " London Journal," and is now connected with a nose' paper, to divulge the name of which would, he said, caus e . his immediate dismissal. One of the most recent, if 0 1' the latest of his publications, was " Reynolds's Misee'l lany," which has had a large circulation. The bankruft being examined regarding it, deposed that he had nev er received one penny out of it, even when its circulationM 20,000. The price of it was only one penny, and F, it would not pay at a circulation of less than 26,Uw• io t e d added that when those cheap serial works were coto._P„: t they were not worth one farthing, and only sold 19 1 " to progress. He declared that a circulation of from loovu ,l 7000 would pay him better at lid. than 22,000 at ld.. that he had been losing by the Miscellany week. He was now employed by others, and his etearephe averaged £lO a-week. ' The penny works were qui for a few meral. They had, perhaps, an extraordinary sale weeks, and then as rapidly went down.—Ffirt terea ting STATISTICS OF MARRIAGE.—The following General Report statement is contained in the Registrar G t total number of just published In the year 1846 the o the marriages celebrated according to the rites o f , £8 or £ ll l.ol s estab lished church was 130,509; the number not accord.iiii_ct _the rites of the established _ chur c h, WAS 15.155- iu first-named, 14 were by special license, 17,135 were by license, 92,995 by bans, 1,862 by Superintendent Regis' trar's certificate, and 18,503 "not stated by which of the foregoing forms." Of the marriages not according to the established church, there were in registered places of wor ship, 10,693 (of which, 3,027 were in Roman Catholic chapels, and 7,669 in the chapels of other denominations); 4,167 in Superintendent Registrar's office, 68 Quakers, and 224 Jews. In 1846 the number of men married who were not of age was 6,313 ;of women, 20,001. The widowers who re-married were 18,343 ; the widows, 12,128: The men who, being unable to write their own names, signed with marks, were 47,488, the women not less than 70,145. The age at which the greatest number of mar riages takes place, both of men and women, is from 20 to 25 years. Then 20,519 bachelors married the same unit ber of spinsters ; 871 bachelors married widows ; 1,97 0 widowers married spinsters ; 996 widowers married widows. Three women were led to the altar betwean the mature age of 75 and 80; two between 70 and 4 (whereof one found a partner of a less age than 30), an five between 65 and 70. Of the men 20 were married between 65 and 70 ; seven between 70 and 75 (one oi•, whom married a woman of a less age than 25) ; and four between 75 and 80 years of age. Two CHILDREN KILLED BY AN INSANE WOMA N On Wednesday, the inhabitants of Willenhall, a larg e manufacturing parish, three miles from Wolverhampto n' were alarmed by a report that a woman named Ma r i a ' Jones, wife of Enoch Jones, whimseyman at a pit, 1 0 '"" killed her own child, Edwin, a boy 18 months old, also a niece 12 years of age, by cutting their throats. ,;" seemed that Mrs. Jones had been attacked with a religv ous monomania, and it was deemed necessary to place her in the lunatic ward of the Wolverhampton workhouse. She was removed thence on Wednesday morning last, at the instance of two female relatives, apparently better. According to a statement which she made, the morning' after the occurrence, to Abbott, the governor of th e workhouse, she sent her niece with the baby to bed be fore eight o'clock, and retired to rest herself shore/ after, but could not sleep, and the thought came into her head that she must kill her child, as it would be damned , owing to its having been christened by a Roman Catholic clergyman. She then got up and sought for a razor ; hut• not finding one, took a black-handled knife, sharpened i t on a steel, proceeded up stairs, cut the girl's throat from ear to ear, and afterwards completely severed the child! head from its body. She then raised an alarm that sh' had murdered the children, and endeavoured to cut her own throat, but only inflicted a slight wound. Althoug h at times she seems tolerably composed, yet at other elti ments she bitterly reproaches herself, and has endeavon7, to strangle herself, and threatened to kill the pers„" - watching her. She and her husb an d were i n ver y CO fortable circumstances, and re li g i ous f renzy a l one see`"" to have prompted her. A BATTLE WITH THE WHALES.—WO have this -e elc to perform the duty of the ancient scalds, and 0 rei n (but in sober prose) the gallant deeds that were done l as Cromarty Firth last week, when an invasion of whales courageously encountered by the hardy fishermen , an d , after a bloody fight, the shoal was dispersed, we may t he " with great loss," for many of the largest and best ° f shoal were a trfintif4l, 'and he,arne prizes to the Ng/. querors. The shoal of bottlenoses was discovered o ff Thetheir near Invergordon, on M on d ay , h av i ng betraT e their presence by the noisy natu re o f th e i r gam bols. T village fishermen were soon ready after the alarm w e ,, given, and went out in boats, arme d w ith h a tchet 103 _`; spear, musket, pitchfork, grape, and sp a de. A scene to y: the most amusing character ensued. Dashing right i the middle of the shoal, the fishermen laid about tor; great good will, and many a d ea dly woun d was given 1 ;; the fray. The terrified whales dashed about liendlong„;,, the wildest confusion, lashin g th e wa te r in fury, peril e S,'; the safety of the men and the boats, and, what with ' 1 shouts of the fishermen, the struggles of the bottlenosaeg,; and the excitement of male and female, old and Ye u i e st gathered on the shore, the scene was about then o! s _ o f and wildest that can well be imagined. In the naidciieugb the hubbub, the mail coach from Inverness drove thr ° a s, the village, the road running close to the sea, and theS gh t sengers, several of whom were strangers, enjoyed a 903 0 which they may not see again should they travel theee_eral road for 50 years. Late in the evening, after s; ed in hours of shouting and fighting, the fishermen suce e f a 3 lg driving 45 of the sea-monsters on shore, some of t'selt feet in length. Little sleep was taken that night 4 from burn ; everybody was busy in cutting the bliihe o . o cej i _ the prizes ; and on Tuesday forenoon the opera. o ff 11 tinned — the carcases, divested of fat, being car ried 60 larg e the farmers as manure. With the blubber abou t , dor ies ; casks were filled to be shipped off to the oil rnaPi l ' a r eturn' and will. no doubt, yield a goo d g olaen one, s ac- The great body of the shoal, which was a larg e g oten ceeded in making their way out to sea, but sever e were left tangled in the bay of Nigg, where seven of their ht s evel! aground by the receding tide. On Tuesday °lnstead o f t i more were captured, having made their way up down the Firth • and having grounded on ticapturea is Fowlis Point. O n Wednesday 12 more were a _ mg e = on! the little haven to the west of Ardullie Point, y The 11 to 16 feet, the fight having been a tough ou y di viau whole number captured exceeds 70, pretty equal)_f the F irth, a amongst the fishermen on the north side 0. , none of the whales having ventured in the neienuu Occasi °l3l lo of Cromarty, where bottlenose whales are up far seen. Shoals seldom, if ever, find their way did the one which was so signally encountered Ali" Ineerness Courier. shoal Se ~... Adam for the Polly 1 Paken Hope. ARRII SAI LE KT') St. lon t Macke is i den ; plu Fairy, Richai a,guat. racha this Por Peron AlLTust Otter, Witha l and s„, Matroi Quito, St. Cut Regina J Watchm Barrie sailed fo: Irelan( Konigsbi Ospre) Reliam leaky, ha Irt, y c DEAL Chains. .Staco. Liverpoo near Kii carg o sa PORTS Hatnbu r followiw topsail A st ing, and Wyn o holm, fn reef of c the cars, THUF ARRIN 4 nd Wa BiuiMars _~. Row rolin l'Zew Ch„ her, si tny It\rl Jo g ,., are So Port A: toci, Job Ale A r4d