The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-09-12 00:00:00

NS. '1 Ir'l Sept. 12, 1848. literaturt. NOTICES. °Cite. A, otes of Eight Years in Europe, with his In -4;7, the Courts and three parties of American Indians, „`„r 4 Courts of England, France, and Belgium. 2 is, with numerous Illustrations. Published by the rther, at his Indian Collection, 6, Waterloo-place, It j ewi S now some years since Mr. Catlin published a work 1,1,1 1 A he d escr ib e d h i s life and adventures amongst the c ar l dadians of Ameri ca . Th e p resen t vo l umes ma y b e ed as a pendant to that work, and like to it in many fpj e t'ts, be cause they are as truthful, and as strange, as y, of sagacity, an d of philanthropy. Mr. ;Ft; lof novelta 8 first work was a plain, unvarnished description ,Ine savage Indian in his wigwam, and amid those es for which his habits and customs had formed him btoreqs m aster and pos sessor ; w hil s t i n these volumes we twi tis t he same savage brought, not merely in contact with delv e d Ile, but act ua lly dwelling in its towns, and re within the palaces of its sovereign princes. By 'partner work of Mr. Catlin we were made acquainted t l. the habits and the manners of the Indian, but in the e ae l , ll .t_we are . able to appreciate his intellectual qualities. Imre as it were his mind and his heart laid before us ; do we knowold judge of him by the one publication, so fle ct i,, by this, how he judges of us, and what re were suggested to him by witnessing our habits, reanners, and our customs. In these volumes the Ple a ," l a Placed in the rostrum of the lecturer, and ap %jell es or .condeinns man in the highest state of civilisa- Wh at h it e ts alike interesting to know what he thinks, and % e l " e ls—whether his judgment be accurate, or his u!ian erroneous. 1441 1 t wi n be seen by this description of the present Yo gi:es; t h.at they are unique in their character, and that toy rn 's . lo them that which is most difficult to discover in z — e ° ,,rra publication—novelty of idea, of thought. and afe e tX, ss ian. The opinions of the savage upon civilised due found in these volumes, it is to be observed, otb:t those of a solitary individual, nor even of a single is t„, Mr. Catlin found more than one race of the Indian ttiZaPe, and he has therefore been able to show the of h , — "ans of several minds, and to depict the thoughts it h " .°l * than one rude savage—to describe how these l ky ; ) l ge beings conducted themselves, and to dissect and tok ar e the motives and the reflections of each. If these iitimeLes contained nothing more than this, they should tei e ' e r eMed as well worthy of perusal, but to the English to w „,, t hey will be found peculiarly interesting on other It"s• It is wea known that Mr. Catlin's " Indian ,s_ection" has always occupied a prominent position isuest the " nee to the sights of London " whenever it has been Public --deservedly attracting towards it of Patronage of the Royal Family, of the nobility, and Doren' stranger of exalted rank who visited the metro oft;'• Thus we have not merely life-like portraits of the pmrs in the p resenc e of those with w h ose name s the tocii l e, are familiar, but we are shown those illustrious tt l i t ° , l u,aals in the presence of savages. We have de the „a, for instance, the v i s it s o f th e D u ke of Sussex. Duke of Cobourg, Prince Albert, &c. ; and we have wie P o rtrayed Buckingham Palace, and her Majesty, 10,4 11 ,the Indi ns were h onoure d by a summons. We to ti t l uern breakfasting with Mr. Disraeli, and introduced tot! e f amily of the Duke of Cambridge—in Paris re itto by the Ki ng o f th e F re nch, and feted by the illus the u : Inert of France. Thus a double interest is given to inik e ° o a ; it portrays what otherwise must be utterly loss and it throws a new light on persons and mat dier 4 , ev pusly well known. Every circumstance and Individual, like every thought contained in this , is d • ew depi c t e d truly, faithfully, and clearly. There is h gt Vit at the graces of authorship, but there is a rnani tet7sire to state nothing but what is the fact, without The lisi aa, without palliation, and without exaggeration. cop r eader is instructed, is interested, is amused ; and he th e t t l ?t close the book without coming to the conclusion the literary labours of an honest man. VARIETIES. market town in Rutlandshire, the following placard ca m ped to the shutters of a watchmaker, who has de file Pad , leaving his creditors minus :—" Wound up, and fain -spring broke." libl e lB WANTED IN THE Buss.—lt is almost impos forher either a bush servant or master to get married. g hee ° are scarcely any women in the interior, and no der -4140' If a stockman or shepherd is so fortunate as to ha t „ w all a girl willing to have him, he must make along w e 4eY into the settled districts, and there sojourn three moa t license, „for bans, or go to the expense of a a Peoi,i e "?lreasonable demand upon the time and money of Child in that situation of life. To take a woma n with ?rpe t ell , ll P from Sydney into the interior, is at . rouble and tl ii Mew squatters like to undertake ; but children born L,lve „ B ush are no expense, and very little trouble. They iiist°,-,,.(utlian corn, melons and potatoes, which grow by coatt;atehing the ground round the hut. And a stout as a 1 11 , 3 ; ‘ . 4 1 can in many respects make herself as useful sides 4 ,2°°Per--turn a corn-mill, clean a sheep-yard, be- P°Pul and mending garments, and adding to the th e N rlo n. „, One instance will illustrate the position of both sides ite of the interior of the colony. On the Barwen, there sid es of the river were settled for 300 miles, and If th : as not one white woman in the whole distance. shep h l r e had been ten or twenty servants, hut-keeper s , "rus, and stockmen married and fixed to their ' tier' "' the foundation would have been laid for civilize letreak 4 .4 e best kind. Bushmen, when they do get wives, ereellent husbands and fathers, although, of Course; Ina.boore47. e l l biter' in a country where women are as swans in Europe.—Australian Hand t r DEM ANDS ON TEE Cnucn.—lt appears to be the owi tr that g impression of many able and . experienced min h ds p art the present period demands peculiar exertions on t e gene rates of the Established Church. While every day gene s some new peril to all the great institutions of States, t „, e ry day must make a new call upon the protective e l v ers of society. The profession of the clergy, their ucation and their ample means of ascertaining the ti efr v e „et of laws upon the people, make those calls impera e Non them in the highest degree. There are proba tt fifteen thousand clergy in the Establishment—each of i i i s etilhas a circle of his own—and each who will thus use leisure . may awaken that circle. To do this requires !eminent ability. Sincerity was never in want of lan ag°. Plainn ess i tself i s power. The heart of an honest 44aal transpires through his pen and illuminates his page. e offi ce Populati of the clergy must be to instruct the mature zuact , ti ono the great objects which comprehend every supply them with a " reason of the hope eet t is in them"—t o g i ve th em the primal principles of eati ° ll --to rescue them from the false knowledge, which gi ve ° IIIY excite vanity or embitter discontent ; and to b , them th at knowledge, at once solid and safe, which ii;'ettniake them good subjects, good husbands, good fa tiee:; and, as the source and security of all, good Chris only ' t The Church requires no new powers—she has are w ,„1 1 , exert those she possesses already. The people ealq g„",nffected to her; but she can maintain her rank e tiv h er reason. Of all the faculties which God has tii'shy ° man, intelligent zeal is the noblest. The qualities of a Church which is to guide this da t must be vigilance and 'vigour. The country in our 44 1 8 . feels but little homage for virtue which lives only in oa t he living and heroism sealed in the tomb. It must look 4 88 .e living figure of virtue—on religion in its Church and sacred ambition of good. The Church th e ~n g land must be, like the seraphim in the vision of e,„ t °Phet, all eyes and wings.—Rev. Dr. Croly. III u i"ORWEGIAN GLEN.—Blsestedal—the Glen of the velf in the very heart of Norway : a facetious tra tarp' Would ca ll it th e lungs of the land. My way hither W et ''° last hour was across a vast plain, the barren bed of ets that, ages ago, must have found slower level, leav liktidelible traces of their former state. Black and grey he r . e n cover stones more like defbria than shingle; while 10 4 , - and there an alpine willow (Scar polaris), or, more . e te ,,7 still, a dry, swarthy, berry-bearing shrub, lowlily th e e h '' b etween. A little further you came, every now and Ivi i r ms ' to the brink of a mimic crater, at the bottom of ro ot : 1 0 half buried in bog-earth and moss-water, huge glei a :' and stumps, and trunks of pine -trees, mighty in lavgeneration, lay black and hideous. Beyond these for`! ‘ "ed barrows of the dead, these sepulchres of doughty itt c i" Chiefs of old, the heather grows tough and rank ; by 0 ,0 the left of a very doubtful path an old pine stands eeDi' s eif,—barkless, and bleached, and withered, all ex- Alii,„,°ne branch pointing towards the south : telling, for,;"'Y enough and feelingly enough, poor old fellow! of sh ot grandeur and high domain in bygone days. A rifle awl: farther on are the utmost limits of modern sylvan defin e d by stunted birch-trees,—not honest dwarfs thar, i a . nana4 but dwarfed white birch-trees (B. alb& ), S r„!Land there, cowering and squinting southward with alb away lo o k, evidently but ill at ease on their post e ei n s t the frontier line. And between these pitiful senti- Sad and the stubborn old aristocrat above stands, gaunt, iltsf .i.e Y , and grim a whole generation of pine -trees, with Ri4 ti j e tched blasted arms. like a God-stri9kea race of tr os s turned to stone while uttering some impious vow. ntitb„' lTl ,g the frontier line unchallenged by the cringing slid -81 . 8 , the glen lies before you, with its bosky braes clo,„g r assy leas shelteringly. Westward rise the dark, 11%0 Peaks of the Rondna ; southward, the dreary th e ger-fell s ; northward, the massy Dovre ; eastward, b etw i Tl ' - it arY Stor Kringla • and, beyond, the Folge-fells, !kaolnyvhose brown brows and fir-clad leas the blue i ad a copper-work tells of human wants and human l 'ith„Y• It was not long before I was snugly harboured e;".,,_ly li my bost—thttle dwelling of the owner of the glen. No °ad e only jolly one I ever saw in me and said his best to make me feel at home, Iv' t . ; b 7ight thou ht seemed to strike him and he left t yna. l- I_,the mien of a man bent on doing a virtuous =- 141 4 4 a few minutes he returned, his countenance ra the a,ith benevolence, and having placed a stool beside ge t ho use-father's chair," in which I was installed, he I 'wedi,,Tre Me a wooden platterful of turnips—yello w . Which "' the only garden produce of the glen, in e i rie,lther potatoes nor corn of any kind can be grown. ? tkilton eter'ese roots:e bad tried : all else had faluil ed xury . A he had, a nd he had gnd a tt d e ght th em unto ' the me. Some burly old moralist had laid wt,no,rthat no on e ev . er repents of having eaten too lit ought t Part, have left undone so many things that t t krti 0 have done, that I have enough to regret with ening my conscience with the sins of my stomach. -.uty you but seen that man's face, beaming with hospi- Nh' he set before me his dish of roots, bidding me eartilyand t mu ne i lls , spare not, you would, lam sure , . have eel, '• What I did,—smilingly, gently, savouringly, "lust 'L ee ' and eat, three turnips . In the glen of the no _ Sualte c orn rin g and friendly raw as it looked to me, no fruit, 'f l 7 . th e eo'"oliPotatoes, can be grown. But the white grouse jf , and the ptarmigan of the alpine scaur tl ie i i t n nPtio , asupalpina, and Layopua a/pi . na), the char 4 ese w ere thna the butter of the mountain pastures, — e' er , e farm-produce of my jolly host's estate.— . -magazine. TAAL BY JURY. Gradually, at intervals, during the past ten years, have misgivings disturbed the public mind with regard to the perfect fitness of our jury system for the advanced intel ligence of the age, and the circumstances and relations of society existent around us. The traditional veneration which Englishmen have, time out of mind, entertained for trial by jury has been shaken, and partly dissipated, by that sternest of monitors, and most sweeping of re formers—common sense. " There is nothing," says Shaftesbury, "so strong as habit." Custom is to a people what habit is to a unit of the people. Respect for an institution which has existed for centuries, and was once the cherished guarantee for personal privileges and security, may, without wonder, well remain after the value of that institution has been greatly diminished. The eulogies of those great constitutional lawyers Coke and Ilale (supported since by Blackstone, and by some later judges of the last century who have taken occasion to enunciate an opinion upon the subject) are, we con fess, not to be lightly regarded ; but living in times widely differing from theirs, it will surely be pardoned us if we apply our own judgment to test the real value of the praises bestowed upon the system when it was called " The Glory of the English Law" and " The Palladium of British Liberty." The nearer a writer lives to the period when a great boon has been wrested from arbitrary and irresponsible power by the people whence he has sprung, and of which he forms a member, the higher will be the consideration wherewith he regards the triumph achieved. Hence the unqualified admiration expressed of trial by jury by our early legal writers and historians, and which, partly from conviction and more from custom, has been repeated down to the present day. Here we must guard against being supposed to hold the system cheaply ourselves. We do no such thing: we are profoundly convinced of its value as a guarantee against oppression and injustice in criminal cases ; nor are we disposed to wish for its total abolition in our civil tribunals. But we protest against that unphilosophical mode of settling a question which many of the upholders of trial by jury adopt, who would have us render blind obedience to tradition, and sacrifice conviction to precedent. The printing-press and the steam-engine are after all the best guardians of the liberties and privileges of Eng lishmen. The general diffusion of education, through the instrumentality of the first, and the rapid dispersion of intelligence by the latter, afford the safest guarantees against arbitrary or despotic power on the part of a Go vernment, and against danger from the overthrow of the laws of property by corrupt or tyrannical magistrates, that can possibly exist. It is not to abolish this ancient insti tution, but to strengthen it, that we add our voice to the call of those who demand a remodelling of trial by jury. The frequent occurrence of notoriously erroneous verdicts should alone insure this. There are many counties in England and Wales where the incompetency of jurymen, and absurd verdicts, have become proverbial, and often are made occasion for merriment. A failure of justice is, nevertheless, but a sorrowful jest. But the alarming mis carriage of the jury system where, as at present in Ireland, a country is in danger (when, above all times, the vindi cation of the law is of vital consequence) has again at tracted the attention of the public, and, added to former convictions, has turned the scale of opinion, and caused it to fall heavily upon the arguments of those who would prohibit change. It is repugnant to common sense to up hold a system in its entirety where the obstinacy of a par tisan or the sympathy of a rogue can effectually counter vail the honest opinion of eleven men, and defeat the ends of justice. If laws are to be of any worth, they must have means provided for their application. The social compact is a submission to the authority of the laws devised by the wisdom of the people, through their representatives, for their mutual protection and advantage ; but these benefits aie not secured, and the compact is imperilled, if laws be constructed which there is not a sure method of rendering effectual, because a pre-existing law, for want of adaption to altered times and circumstances, renders their provi sions a nullity.—Law Times. How TO KEEP HORSES FROM STRAYING.—The Ice landers have a curious custom, and a most effectual one, of preventing horses from straying. Two gentlemen, for instance, are riding together without attendants ; and, wishing to alight for the purpose of visiting some object at a distance from the road, they tie the head of one horse to the tail of the other, and the head of this on the tail of the former. In this state, it is utterly impossible that they can move on either backwards or forwards : one pulled one way and the other another ; and, therefore, if disposed to move at all, it will be only in a circle, and even then there must be an agreement to turn their heads the same way. WASTE IN SOWING.—An astounding fact on the fore ground of all inquiries respecting the seeds sown by far mers, is that an enormous proportion of them is destroyed, or never germinates. This proportion has been computed to amount to two-thirds of the entire quantity sown ; and therefore to involve the stupendous annual waste, through out Great Britain and Ireland, of 4,666,666 quarters of wheat, barley, and oats—a quantity equal to the support of one million of human beings. One portion of the loss of sown corn-seeds is easily traceable to birds'; and whatever amount of this is occasioned by the overharrowing of light soils might be prevented. Another portion of the loss is traceable to the bursting and rotting effect of too much moisture ; and whatever amount of this is occasioned by the stagnation of rain water in furrows and hollows ought to be ascribed to bad tillage or insufficient drainage. A third portion of the loss is traceable to the trampling of the horses, pressing the seeds beyond the action of the air, or making holes over them for stagnant water; but this, in the present state of husbandry, cannot be avoided. A fourth portion of the loss is traceable to the exclusion of air by adhesive clays, or undue exposure to frost or heat by sandy soils ; and this, as well as the greater evil of comparative infertility, might be cured by a little georgical improvement. A fifth portion of the loss is very proba. bly caused by the depredations of the numerous insects which inhabit the sand • yet as the seed is not eaten by them, but damaged or destroyed in consequence of their peculiar habits of existence, this source of loss is a proper subject for investigation for entomologists. A sixth por tion of the loss is. in some instances, very probably caused by noxious metallic salts existing in combination with the soil ; and this evil, as well as other evils of greater magni tude, forms a decided reason for a careful chemical analy sis of soils. A seventh portion of loss is possibly, though not certainly, traceable to high electric influence; and this consideration, in spite of being merely theoretic, is strong enough to concur with reasons of greater weight for urging upon scientific agriculturists the study of electricity and of electric agency on soils and vegetation. An eighth por tion of the loss is, in many instances, manifestly occasioned by the over-ripeness, the bad preservation, or the other wise damaged vitality of the seeds ; and this—often a very abundant portion of loss—may easily be prevented by using only seed-corn, all the grains of which, when tested in the sample of one or two handfuls, will sink readily in water. A ninth portion of the loss—and this both a ge neral and large portion—is caused by damage to the seed, or absolute destruction to its vitality, from the blows of the scutchers or the flail in threshing ; and this ought to be prevented by a slow, cautious, and quite partial thresh ing of the selected sheaves for seed corn, leaving the re mainder of them to be afterwards threshed in the usual manner for edible grain. A tenth portion of the loss, and the last we shall mention, is indiscriminate sowing, or the want of adaptation in the quantity of the seed to the powers of the soil.—Rural Cyclopeedia. FIRST STEAM-VESSEL WORKED IN SCOTLAND.—Mr. Miller lived at Dalswinston, in Dumfries-shire; and in 1787, tried several experiments on the best mode of pro pelling single, double, and triple vessels, by the power of men and of horses applied to paddle-wheels. Mr. Taylor, who was at the time living with Mr. Miller in the capa city of tutor to bis family, suggested applying steam power to move the paddles ; but neither of them could devise a method of connecting the steam power with the paddles. In this dilemma they resolved to seek the as sistance of Mr. Symington, an engineer, who was at that period actively engaged in endeavouring to adapt the steam-engine to carriages. The result was, that Syming ton, assisted by Miller and Taylor, constructed a small engine, the castings of which, oddly enough, were executed by a founder of the name of Watt ; and in October, 1788, the engine was placed in a small pleasure-boat belonging to Vlr. Miller, and was tried on Dalswinston lake. The engine was placed on one side the boiler on the other, and the paddle-wheels in the middle. With all the disad vantages of a first trial, and with cylinders only four inches in diameter, the boat moved with a velocity of -five miles an hour : and the engine was removed from the boat, and preserved for many years as a trophy in Mr. Miller's li brary. An anxiety was now felt to try the experiment on a grander scale ; and Mr. Miller purchased a large boat, which was used on the Forth and Clyde canal, and which, under - the joint zuperintendettoe of the three above-natnid gentlemen, was fitted with engines and paddle-wheels, and propelled at the rate of seven miles an hour. It is curious that, with this great success, Mr. Miller, who was the capitalist in these experiments, should have carried his attempts no further. The boat was dismantled, and re garded only as a curiosity ; and Mr. Miller directed his attention to the objects, which, as he conceived, held out a more immediate prospect of improving the condition of his country than of enriching himself. But Symington, with happily more perseverance and determination, com menced a series of experiments on steam navigation, un der the patronage of Lord Dundas, which, although they did not lead to the immediate adoption of steam-vessels for commercial purposes, tended in no unimportant de gree to their establishment ; for it was mainly to the in spection of Symington's experiments and steam-boats that Fulton was indebted for his ideas respecting steam navigation. Fulton had made some experiments of a si milar nature to those of Symington on the Seine at Paris, under the auspices of the American chancellor, Mr. Liv ingstone, who had tried to establish steam-boats in Ame rica, but failed. Fulton's experiments met with no better success, for his vessel moved so slowly that the experi ment was pronounced to be a failure. Fulton subse quently went to Scotland, where he introduced himself to Symington, who has left on record an account of Fulton's visit. He says, " I was waited on by Mr. Fulton, who, after making himself known, candidly told me that he was lately from North America, and intended to return thi ther ; but having heard of our steam-boat operations, he could not think of leaving this country without first wait ing upon me, in expectation of seeing the boat, and pro curing such information regarding it as I might be pleased to communicate." Symington then goes on to relate, that at Fulton's earnest entreaties he shewed him his steam-engines, and put his steam-boat in motion, carry ing him eight miles in an hour and twenty minutes, " to his great astonishment." Fulton made copious notes of everything that he saw, and having obtained all the infor mation he could, which Symington declares he most libe rally imparted to him, ordered, it is said, a steam-engine under an assumed name, from Bolton and Watt, and shortly afterwards returned to America, where, in con junction with Livingstone, a patent was obtained, securing to them the prospective advantages of steam navigation in America, by what they rather insincerely termed their in. vention of steam.boats.—Fraser's Magazine. Til LIVERPOOL STANDARD. A pea, which had accidentally taken root among the cabbages in a garden at Appleby, was found to have pro duced 108 full pods, thus giving, at an average of five peas in each pod, a return of 540 for one. As a lady was playing on a piano in Roxbury, a canary bird struck up and sang very loud, as if inspired by the lady's music. The bird sang with such z2al and force as to split its windpipe from top to bottom, and immediately died. DROWNED IN WlNE.—George Davis, aged 27, in the employ of Messrs. Bishop and Son, British wine-mer chants, Finsbury, was found, on Tuesday last, drowned in a raisin wine vat. It was supposed that he had com mitted suicide in consequence of domestic troubles. A statue of the late Marquess of Londonderry is now being executed in marble by Mr. Evan Thomas, the sculptor, which it is intended to place over the late mar quess's tomb in Westminster Abbey by the side of his great rival and contemporary statesman, Canning. At a meeting of the Moravian Missionary Society at Birmingham last week one of the speakers said that two years ago the field negroes of Antigua contributed, in col lections after sermons, no less a sum than £144 sterling for the relief of the starving Irish. Mary Flardwicke, a married woman, aged eighteen, de scribed as quite a girl in appearance, is in custody at Leeds, on a charge of having attempted to poison her husband by taking to him, while at his work a can of poisoned coffee. - ESCAPE OF CONVICTS.—On Thursday night, after or during prayers, six convicts in the York hulk, moored off Gosport, effected their escape in a boat belonging to that ship, and got away steering up the harbour, where the boat was found next morning near Portchester Castle, about three miles from the dockyard. The Darlington Times reports the laying of the first stone of a Roman Catholic chapel, at Wycliffe, (a pretty village on the Tees-side between Richmond and Greta bridge, Yorkshire), the birth-place of Wycliffe, the ear liestor at any rate the most famous of the early English religious reformers. A fatal accident occurred at University Hall, near Gower -street, London, on Saturday. Four workmen, by some defect in the scaffolding, were thrown to the ground. One was killed on the spot; another was, it is feared, _ _ fatally injured ; whilst the third and fourth were severely . hurt. At the wedding of Mr. E. B. Roche, M.P., to Miss Boothby, which was performed last week at Twyford Abbey, Middlesex, the bridesmaids, in compliance with an old charm for insuring good luck, threw a farewell shower of old white satin shoes after the carriage in which the pair took their departure. Last week, Mr. Goold and his nephew, Master Gore, son of Sir R. G. Booth, Bart. Lissadell, went out in a small row boat to the channel at Boyle, where the boat upset and Mr. Goold perished. Master Gore struggled in the element till rescued by a fishing yawl, whose crew witnessed the catastrophe. MURDER AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.—On Friday night, as the steam-boat London Pride was passing Brook's wharf, on the Thames, a female passenger, named Ann Tranham, took up her child, apparently about five years of age, and jumped into the river. A waterman rescued the woman, but the child was lost. UNPOPULARITY OF THE POPE.—III the drawing-room of an Italian gentleman, residing in London, where many of his countrymen are in the habit of meeting every week, was a statue of the Pope. At the last meeting of the Italians the head of this statue was removed, and there was substituted for it the head of a boar ! DEATR OF COLONEL BAlRD.—Colonel Baird, the gal lant officer who was injured at the recent accident on the London and North-Western Railway at Newton-bridge, expired on Tuesday morning. At the time of his decease Colonel Baird was attended by Colonel Nicols, his sister, and several other attached friends. _ In the parish of St. Clement Danes, London, a num , ber of humane ladies have generously undertaken to im part instruction in reading and writing, every Monday evening, from seven to nine o'clock, to females upwards of twenty years of age. The court-room of the vestry house has been kindly placed at their disposal for this purpose. THE LEEDS SHARE MARKET.—We are informed that at one meeting on the Leeds Stock Exchange this week, the whole value of the stock and shares bought and sold amounted to less than eight pounds. In 1845, when the members of the Exchange were crowded into a small room, transactions of more than as many thousand pounds were daily entered into. What a contrast !—LeedB Mercury. THE RIOTS AT DONCASTER. — On Saturday, the trial of the railway labourers who had maltreated some Irish reapers in the neighbourhood of Doncaster, some time ago, took place at the 'West Riding sessions, at Sheffield. After a short hearing, the magistrates, considering the affair only as a drunken row, discharged several alto gether, and passed sentences of three or four months' im prisonment on the remainder. REFUSING INTERMENT. — On Saturday a communica tion was received at Lloyd's, stating that one of the crew of the Helen, Captain Easter, having died from cholera, on Southweld, Kent, the master took the body ashore for interment ; the authorities, however, ascertaining that the man had died of cholera, positively refused to allow the body to be buried, and the crew consigned their de ceased shipmate to the deep. A Shropshire lady lately went before breakfast to take a walk, and after proceeding for a considerable distance along a public road, met one of her husband's labourers, who astounded her by asking her if she knew that she was without a bonnet. The lady immediately raised her hand to her head, and discovered to her confusion that she had indeed forgotten to put on a bonnet, although she wore a ruche, and carried a parasol. One hundred and fifty surgeons, chemists, and druggists of the eastern and. variPos other localities of the metrnpo lis, with a view to abridge the general hours of business on the Sabbath day, commenced on Sunday last between the hours of eleven in the forenoon and six in the even ing, to keep their shops closed, and during that period to supply nothing but what may be urgently required in case of sudden indisposition, or under professional direction. DERBY-SWEEPS ADVERTISEMENTS.—At a petty ses sions for the district of St. Anne's, Westminster, on Saturday, both the magistrates, Mr. Whiskin and Mr. Rose, whilst disapproving of these lotteries generally, condemned the Attorney-General's plan of declaring the publication of advertisements respecting them to be illegal, while the sweeps themselves were left untouched. They thought that such an unjust system would rather aggravate than diminish the evil. EMIGRATION TO AUSTRALIA.—There were 200 young women embarked last week in the Shannon steamer for Plymouth, en route to South Australia, under the charge of officers appointed by the Poor-Law Commissioners. They will be sent out free, and are comfortably clothed, and provided with suitable necessaries for the voyage. They have been selected from the union workhouses, principally in the north of Ireland ; and it is intended to extend this system of emigration.—Plymouth Times. Mr. Bailey, poulterer in Mount-street, details the large sums paid annually by London salesmen for poultry. He states that one salesman alone sold every year £lOO,OOO worth !—that he had himself paid £Bl,OOO in the course of the last year, and that £15,000 was received annually at Aylesbury for young ducklings ; but to this last item he added the somewhat humiliating fact, " that, in Bucks, the wives are in the habit of driving the children from the hearth that the ducklings might get the benefit of the fire." A Goon CUSTOMER.—Last week, as Mr. Hylton's managerie was entering Rhayader, Wales, the elephant was regaled at a baker's. He carefully " surveyed" the premises, and about two o'clock the next morning broke out of his temporary lodging—forced a way into the baker's shop—and in no time put out of sight fourteen quartern loaves. He then demolished the bottles con taining the sweetmeats ; and, but for the timely appear ance of the keeper, it is not known what freaks this huge beast would have committed before daylight. HIGH FLOODS.—The river Towy has been much flooded, in consequence of the very heavy rain that has recently fallen. The flood has, we are sorry to say, done considerable damage, as very large quantities of valuable corn have been swept away, which has proved very ac ceptable to many of the fishermen in Carmarthen, who on Monday last might be seen in all directions collecting it. Some cattle also have been lost ; two cows and a calf were drowned, and a number of horses were nearly sac rificed close to Abergwilly Bridge. Some of them were floating about at the time they were extricated. Although the weather has taken a somewhat more fa vourable turn, the agricultural reports from the provinces continue to be of a satisfactory nature. In the midland counties the grain crops are all nearly secure, and the yield of wheat is stated to be much better than was ex pected a week ago. The oat crop is abundant, and the failure of the potato is represented as being only partial. Of the latter other accounts are not so cheering : but up on the whole there is no reason to suppose that the sup ply of food this year will not be very nearly equal to the last. PROPERTY OF THE EX-ROYAL FAMILY. — The mem bers of the Orleans Family have made several attempts to recover the effects which they left in the Tuilleries in Fe bruary. The ex-Queen has demanded a part of her ward robe, which was deposited in a private room. It has been sent to her, with the exception, it is said of some valuable lace, which has been cut from it and retained. No deci sion has yet been come to respecting the revenues of the Orleans family. The Government desired to sell wood for the liquidation of a part of the debts, to which Louis Philippe at first consented, but afterwards retracted. THE NATIONAL SOCIETY AND THE COMMITTEE of PRIVY COUNCIL.—The Rev. G. A. Dennison says, it is generally understood that the negotiations between the Committee of the National Society and the Committee of Council have failed principally, if not altogether, upon this point, that the local founders of schools shall, if they desire it, have their Bishop for arbiter upon all points whatsoever connected with the management of their schools, upon which a difference of opinion may exist among the members of the managing committee. This, t t is understood, the Committee of Council have posi t ively refused to accede to. THE SALE AT STOWE. — The sale of the collection of plate was continued on Wednesday. Lot 283, an eques trian statuette of the Duke of Wellington, designed by Cotterell, and executed by Gerrard, weighing 160 ounces, was bought by Mr. Rait, of Glasgow, at 13s. per ounce. Lot 323 was described as " Napoleon's Supper Tray. It consisted of a soup tureen, cover, and ewer , four dishes and covers round it forming a circle, with a classical frieze chased round the edges. With it were sold eight plates, and six knives and forks, and the same quantity of spoons, the whole being described to weigh about 360 ounces. The lot was put up at Ios. per oz., and sold at 255. per oz. Lot 326, " a superb chalice and cover," as descnbed the catalogue—in reality, the christening cup of the pre sent Marquis of Chandos. This lot was bought by a gen tleman named Harvey at 38s. per ounce, it is understood with the view of restoring it to the family. The whole of the plate sold for considerably more than it could have originally cost, some of the silver gilt article s realising as much as 40s. and 455. per ounce. The " Chandos Testimonial" was bought in at the auctioneer valua tion, £772, to be re-presented to the duke's family. ROBBERY OF TWO THOUSAND SOVEREIGNS. On Tuesday afternoon last a strong deal box, about eight in ches square, and iron-bound, containing 2000 sovereigns, was sent from the firm of Messrs. Praed and Co., Fleet- street, London, addressed to Tweedy and Co., hankers, Truro. Cornwall. It was forwarded, in the first instance, to Chaplin and Horne's offices, Swan with Two Necks, Lad-lane, to be by them conveyed to the Paddington station. On the Liext morning a box which was sent by the mail train, directed as above, was received at the esta blishment of Messrs. Tweedy and Co., and, on its being opened, it was found to contain nothing more than a quantity of melted pewter and other rubbish. The box was of somewhat larger dimensions than the one sent from Praed's, but the address was a very good imitation of that on the original. His Grace the Duke of Rutland has been entertaining a distinguished shooting party at Longshaw Lodge, Derby shire. The following is a list of the number of grouse bagged each day :—Saturday, August 19, Lord Stanley, 39 brace ; Lord Forrester, 26 ; Lord Southampton, 14 ; Lord George Manners, 24. Monday, 28th, Duke of Rut land, 17 ; Lord Granby, 10 ; Lord George Manners, 21. Saturday, September 2, Lord Granby, 20 ; Lord George Manners, 25 ' • Mr. P. Grant, 14. Monday 4th, Duke of Rutland, 9 ; Mr. Drummond, 23 ; Lord Granby 22 ; Lord George Manners, 21. The birds, we understand, are strong on the wing, and the above score may be con- sidere'd good shooting. A CLEVER CHECKMATE. — In the famous '45 the Bank of England attempted a mean but unsuccessful trick upon her rival, Child's, by collecting about half a million of their receipts, and sending them in at a single blow. The wary bankers, however, had got scent of the plot, and were provided with a check upon the enemy for £700,000, drawn by the celebrated Duchess of Marlborough. When the notes were presented in a great bag they were examin ed singly, to give time for the check to be cashed in Threadneedle-street, and the malicious old lady was then paid in her own notes, which chancing at that time to be at a considerable discount, a large sum was made by Child's by the transaction.— Globe. A MODEL LODGING-HOUSE.—On Saturday a lodging house for clerks and the superior class of mechanics was opened under the auspices of the Society for improving the condition of the labouring classes, in Old Compton street, Soho, London. The premises contain 136 sleep ing apartments, divided into two distinct classes—the first class paying 3s, 6d., and the second 2s. 6d. per week — each having distinct entrances, and separate coffee and refreshment rooms, baths, and lavatories. The inmates for the above payment, in addition to all domestic con veniences, are supplied with the use of the daily news papers, magazines, and a library. It is called the St. Ann's Lodging-houses. Worcester Musical Festival opened on Tuesday, with a brilliant assemblage of rank, fashion, and beauty. The gates of the cathedral were besieged at an early hour by eager crowds, and at the opening of the morning service, the scene in the nave of this beautiful and venerable cathedral was most imposing. It was found, after col lecting the tickets, no money being taken at the doors, that upwards of 1,500 persons were in attendance. Last meeting (1845) the attendance on the first morning was between 800 and 900. On the second day there were upwards of 1,100 persons in the Cathedral, and the coi -1 lection at the doors was £283. The concert in the evening was attended by upwards of 600 persons. THREE GUN ACCIDENTS.—We have this week to record three painful accidents from guns going off, two of them fatal upon the spot, and the other expected to be fatal also. The first was that of Mr. John Howell, farmer, near Cowbridge. whose gun exploded on Saturday, and who was found sitting under a hedge quite dead. The second was that of Mr. John Evans, of Penaland Farm, who was accidentally killed by his gun going off whilst he was shooting birds in a wheat-piece. He had only been married for a week. The third was the case of Mrs. Simpson, the wife of a carpenter at Longford, who walk ingtbehind her husband accidentally received the contents of the gun which he carried. There are slight hopes of recovery.—Hereford Journal. SHOCKING TRAGEDY.—During the past week an Oc currence of a most tragical character took place at Earith, Norfolk. A waterman of the name of Metcalf was on board his barge, and with him his two sons. Being in a state of intoxication, he quarrelled with both sons, and in his rage broke the arm of one and severely injured the hand of the other. Seeing the savage excitement of their father, they both, to escape his violence. jumped over board, when, after some difficulty, one of the sons reached the shore, and on looking for his brother saw him strug gling and apparently drowning. Notwithstanding his own narrow escape, he threw himself into the water to attempt his brother's rescue ; but in the heroic effort both were unhappily drowned. THE ESSEX POISONINGS.—A verdict of wilful murder has been returned against Hannah Southgate, charged at Thorpe with poisoning her first husband, Thomas Ham. The accused was the intimate friend of Mary May, recently executed for murder, and the suspicion is that the two women were engaged in more than one of the poisoning cases which have disgraced this country. The verdict was delivered late on Monday evening, and upon hearing it the prisoner exclaimed, " I am innocent, gentlemen, of the crime," and exhibited great composure. She was imme diately removed, and conveyed by the train to the Chem- ford county gaol. It is said that application will be made to the Secretary of State to authorise further examinations of bodies of parties suspected to have been poisoned in the neighbourhoods of Dover-court, Bradfield, Tendering, and Ramsey. ATROCIOUS CRUELTY.—Some days back at Soham, a horse harnessed to a waggon heavily laden with wheat, was unable to remove it. The owner flogged and coaxed and kicked, but it was all to no purpose, for the poor beast was unable to pull the load not to ha foiled, how ever, the two-legged beast who owned the horse Took two of the wheat sheaves from the load, placed them under the horse, and by way of making him move, absolutely, and with wicked cruelty, set fire to the straw, which in stantly blazed up and - caused excruciating pain to the poor animal, which kicked and plunged in a most desperate manner, but was totally unable to move the load, and it was some time before persons could get near to extricate him because of the flame and smoke, and indeed it re quired great efforts to save the waggon and its load from total destruction. The poor horse, supposed to have been worth £3O, was shockingly burnt, and although he has been well attended since lie is never likely to be again worth as many shillings.—Essex Herald. NEW REGULATIONS FOR STEAM-BOATS.—The act of Parliament for the further regulation of steam-navigation, and for limiting in certain cases the number of passengers to be carried in steam-vessels (11 and 12 Victoria, cap. 81), is now in force, having received the Royal assent on the 31st ult. Two certificates must now be forwarded to the Board of Trade respecting steam-vessels as to their condition, whether they proceed to sea or not, under the 9th and 10th Victoria, cap. 100. To prevent the over crowding of steam-boats the Board of Trade may insert in a certificate granted by them a notice of the number of passengers steam-vessels are constructed to carry, and for every passenger beyond the limit a fine of not exceeding ss. is to be imposed. A certificate of the number to be carried is to be exhibited in a conspicuous part of every vessel under a penalty of £lO ; and persons, having been refused admission on account of a vessel being full, forcing their way on board are to be fined a sum not exceeding 55., with a like penalty on persons refusing or neglecting to pay their fares or to quit a vessel. This act, which will no doubt prevent a recurrence of the scenes recently witnessed'on the Thames, is not to affect the privileges of the city of London. The Board of Trade will limit the number of passengers to each boat in a short time, as by the first provision all owners are directed to transmit the certificates required by the recited act on or before the 20th of September inst. USEFUL APPLICATION OF DISEASED POTATOES. — Since the recurrence of the potatoe-disease, those who visit the cottages of the poor may often see a pan-full of potatoes, partially decayed, cut up into a small compass, in preparing for the daily meal, and where no pig is kept, the refuse thrown away as utterly worthless. It might, therefore, preserve many a bushel for a useful purpose, if the visitor would inform the busy housewife that quanti ties of arrow-root might be preserved for her winter store by a simple process, almost as easy as cutting up a large bucket-full of potatoes into the space of a small boiling pot, and certainly more profitable. She is doubtless already provided with a large earthenware pan, and per haps a very coarse cloth, of sufficient size to rest on the rim, and dip, like a bag, into it. The only addition to the required apparatus is a small sheet of thin iron, pierced through with a strong nail like a grater ; with the help of this, she can grate and macerate the diseased potatoes, previously pared, into a mass of pulp, which the cloth receives in the pan, nearly full of water. The gluten will soon pass through, and the water being thrown away, she will find it in lumps at the bottom of the pan. In order to render the arrow-root of a fine quality, she should pour water on it again, and stir it well up. After a quar ter of an hour, she must again throw away the water, and dry the arrow-root in the sun, or by the fire. One pound of this added to a peck of flour will make an extra loaf. The pulp, when thoroughly dried, will keep any length of time, and if ground has the appearance of brown meal, and would form a valuable adjunct to the wash-trough, should she be fortunate enough to possess a tenant in the adjoining stye.—[We have seen specimens both of the brown meal and the arrow-root, and they appear to be excellent.]—.Hertford Journal. DEEP SEA FISHING.—The Aberdeen Herald says— " We may hope that the devastating storm which visited this coast on Saturday week will leave other traces besides wailings for loss of life, and lamentations for wreck of property. A powerful joint-stock company introducing decked vessels, paying marked attention to barometrical indications of foul weather, and enforcing the use of life preservers, would soon have their example widely followed ; and, besides being thus the means of greatly reducing the risk of life, they might, under judicious mercantile ma nagement, and by taking full advantage of the increased facilities of communication with the interior of the coun try, exhibit a degree of activity in their trade, and an amount of profit on their investments, which, of them selves, independent altogether of the inducement offered to other parties, would prove a great national benefit. That the attempt to improve the condition of our fishing population must be made from above or without will be evident to every person who knows anything of their situation, character, and disposition. They have not means to build a better class of sea-boats ; and if they had, they would not use them. To provide themselves with life-preservers, or any other contrivance for securing a chance of escape in case of wreck, they never think of. Although constantly on the sea, hardly one of them c an s ; and it has been remarked, as a piece of incre as in g ingenuity, that in the late storm some few of them seized the bladders used for buoying up the nets, and rode ashore with them. As for the barometer, so far from consulting it, they actually dislike it. One of them lately remarked, in reference to the one at the port of Aberdeen, that there never had been good weather since it was put up ! In everything else they are equally prejudi c ed and bigoted, and nothing short of coercion, or some influence neariy approaching to it, is likely to drive them fro m their self injurious and suicidal habits." EXTENSIVE ROBBERIES. —On Thursday information was received by the police of the following robberies : From Mr. B. L. Bitt, 15, Parliament-street, London, a bill of exchange for £15,000 ; from Mr. Higgins. the Ship Inn, St. Katharine-hill, Guildford, three bags , . one con taining 100 sovereigns, another 15, the third £37 in silver; from Mr. Lewis, 18, Duke-street, Piccadilly, a box con teining jewellery, &c., value £140; from 24, Lloyd's square, Clerkenwell, eighteen £5 and one £lO Bank of England notes, and a quantity of plate, jewellery, &c. ; from Roberts and Roby, auctioneers, Moorgate-street, £270 in gold and a £lO note. ARCTIC EXPEDITION. — We have received some little information as to the voyage undertaken by Sir James C. Ross to ascertain, if possible, the fate of Sir J. Franklin and his party, through the arrival at Stromness, on Tues day, of a Hull vessel, the cutter Bee, Captain Weldon, which went out for cod fish, and has returned with 8,000. From the log-book of the Bee our correspondent copied the following intelligence :—" July 16. Spoke the schooner Mayflower, Smith, who had seen the American whaler 111`Lellan, of New London, Jackson master, with 40 tons of oil. The American reports Her Majesty's ships, under Sir J. C. Ross, as having reached Lieveley, Disco Island, on the 2d inst., all well; and Captain Ross had left de spatches for the Admiralty, to be forwarded by the first Danish vessel for Europe, and that Captain Ross immedi ately proceeded in search of his friend Sir John Franklin. The crews were all well." Slender as this intelligence is, it is gratifying, as indicating the success which had up to that time attended the expedition of discovery. Disco Island lies on the west coast of Greenland, at the entrance to Baffin's Bay, near 70 degrees of latitude. It is a dreary spot, with scarcely any vegetation, and inhabited princi pally by reindeer. The bay of that name is extensive, being about 160 miles in circuit. A voyage of five or six degrees farther north will lead to Barrow's Straits, and those regions where intelligence of Sir John Franklin is most likely to be procured. The circumstances under which Sir James undertook his exploratory adventure were most favourable. The two ships, the Enterprise, of 470 tons, and the Investigator, of 420, were built as strong as wood and iron could make them, with due regard to their sailing qualities. They are larger and more elegant in appearance than the Erebus and the Terror, which were fitted with screws, worked by steam under high pressure. The disadvantages resulting from this plan were obvious, the most valuable portion of the vessel being occupied with cumbrous machinery. In the pre sent expedition these inconveniences are avoided. To each ship is attached a launch boat, fitted with a screw propeller ; and these boats are so constructed as to be easily stowed amidships ; whilst the steam machinery, which is light and portable, occupies but little room, and can be shipped and unshipped in a very short space of time. The intention of the launches was for the double purpose of being serviceable in towing the vessels and in exploring open seas during a dead calm. The ships were fully provistrmed for three years, and amply supplied with instruments for magnetical and meteorological observe tions.—Edinburgh Advertiser. LAW INTELLIGENCE. * A WEALTnv PETITIONER.-A petition has just been filed under the Debtor and Creditor Arrangement Act ' to obtain protection of the Court of Bankruptcy, by Mr. J. Fitzgerald, of Portland-place, Regent's-park. the Oak Lodge, Leamington, Brighton, and other places. The debts of the petitioner exceed the enormous sum of £133,000, and his application to Mr. Commissioner Fane is attributed to water having got into his mines at Pendle ton, in Lancashire, and involved him in very serious losses. His proposition to creditors, in liquidation of his debts, is to pay £6,000 per year, secured upon the as signment of the Pendleton mines, the machinery, work ing utensils, &c., until the whole of his debts are satisfied, and in case of his death then his widow, Mrs. Mary Frances Fitzgerald, is to continue an annual payment of £I,OOO. Several of the creditors' debts average above £10,000: but upon the first meeting under the petition a sufficient majority of the creditors acceded to the propo sition, and the learned Commissioner awarded Mr. Fitz gerald protection from arrest. The petition has been filed under what is commonly known as Lord Brougham's Debtor and Creditor Arrangement Act, and before an applicant to the Court of Bankruptcy can obtain protec tion, he must get three-fifths of the creditors present at the first meeting and nine-tenths of his creditors at the second meeting before he obtains his final protection. RAILWAY AFFAIRS. Mr. George King has resigned the secretaryship of the Chester and Holyhead Railway. A guard at the Crewe station was crossing the line on Saturday morning when a down-train, coming at a great speed, struck and killed him. An accident, which providentially was not attended with any serious consequences, occurred on Wednesday to Mr. Stephenson, at the Conway station of the Chester and Holyhead Railway. THE COLLISION ON THE LANCASTER AND PRESTON RAILWAY.—The jury in this inquiry, being unable to agree upon a verdict, were on Wednesday discharged by the Coroner upon entering into recognisances to appear at the next General Assizes. The South Devon Railway Company have determined to abandon the atmospheric system of traction, after having expended upwards of £300,000 in the experiments upon it. The system is too expensive. It costs £lOB to carry £lOO worth of passengers. The opening of that portion of the Great Northern Railway from Doncaster to Reedholme, in connexion with A..i..a. l>roooia of +h. nr.lepfipla. Ponts‘frapt_ sind Goole line, a portion of the scheme of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Company, took place on Thursday last. The number of passengers, according to the return re cently published, who have travelled by railway during the half-year ending on the 30th of June last, amounted to 26,330,492,—which is just about the population of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The report of the Manchester, Buxton and Matlock, after adverting feelingly to the death of the engineer of the company, Mr. G. Stephenson, declared that the di rectors would immediately authorize the works on the Une t 3 Rows'ey, if approved of by the half-yearly meeting. No turther call is to be made this year, and the arrears are to be strenuously enforced. A SAD PROSPECT.—The Irish railways present a me lancholy spectacle for the shareholders. At the Water ford and Limerick meeting, a resolution was passed to discontinue the payment of 4 per cent. on anticipated calls, the chairman sagely observing that the line, when completed, would only yield 14 per cent.: 10,000 shares were declared forfeit.— one-fifth of the capital. Lucky fellows those—too poor to pax! It is said that the total arrears of unpaid calls, in the kingdom amounts to some nine millions. a great portion of which may be considered worth nothing. LIVERPOOL, MANCHESTER, AND NEWCASTLE JUNC TION RAILWAY.—At a meeting of shareholders in Man chester last week, a resolution was passed approving of Mr. Leeman's motion, because it was plain and open ; while Mr. Parson's was cautious worded and uncertain ; and a committee, consisting of Mr. John A. Hobson, Mr. Henry Rawson, and Mr. Peel, was appointed to assist in carrying the same into effect. A second resolution was passed to the following effect :—" That this meeting views with great alarm the proposal of the directors to make another speculative application to parliament in the en suing session, especially considering the great waste of money already incurred in the recent futile proceedings, and this meeting pledges itself to use every means in its power to induce the directors to forego any such applica tion." A third resolution besought the shareholders to co-operate in procuring a division of the funds and pre venting any further unnecessary expenditure, and that each be requested to express his assent to or dissent from Mr. Leeman's resolutions. The greatest earnestness of pur pose marked the proceedings. MORE RAILWAY COLLISIONS.—On Tuesday morning, on the London and North Western line, two collisions took place at Leighton station, by which not less thsn fifty persons have sustained injuries of a more or less serious character. Upon the Rugby train reaching Leighton there stood on the line a number of ballast trucks, headed by a powerful engine. From some cause or other, this train was not moved out of the way, and the engine of the Rugby train struck the hindermost truck, by which it was smashed, the carriages being forced com pletely across the line, and several of them broken to places. Many of the passengers have been much injured, some being wedged in the carriages, and others lying underneath them. The driver of the mail train was thrown to a considerable distance from the line. Jnst at this critical juncture (shortly after three o'clock, a.m.) the Manchester and Liverpool train came up, and from some cause or other, It wt. uut t,,pi,c,i, .nd the engine ran into the train lying across the line. The effect of this second collision was to throw the engine and tender of the mail trail across the down, and to crush several of the succeeding carriages. The driver and stoker had a narrow escape. The former was severely injured, and is now lying at Leighton ; but the stoker appears to have been thrown by the concussion completely over the ruins of the broken carriages and waggons—described by an eye-witness to have been between twenty and thirty feet high—on to the embankment on the down line, where he alighted corn paritively unhurt. The passengers in the train all suf fered more or less, but no injuries beyond a few cuts and bruises appear to have been sustained. THE LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY COM PANY.—The half-yearly accounts were presented at the half-yearly meeting on Wednesday. The total amount received to the capital account, up to the present time, is £8,448,579 ; the total sum expended is £ 8 , 242,627 ; leaving a balance in band of £205,951. £645,010 have been expended on capital account in the last half- year, the principal items in which are £68,692, for stock in land and works ; £38,488 for locomotive engines, carriages, waggons, workshop, &c.; £46,715 for the Burnley Branch, £29,495 for the Heywood Extension • £21,769 for the Ardwick Junction ; £97,582 for the Wakefield, Pontefract, and Goole ; £168,625 for the Liverpool and Bury ; £38,830 for the Huddersfield and Sheffield ; and £108,497 for the West Riding Union Lines. The amounts received on revenue account during the last half-year were :—For passengers, parcels, and mails, £77,907 ; goods, £95,540; live stock, £641 ; carriages, £196 ; rents, £978 ; total, £175,624. The expenditure was :—For working expenses, £66,546 ; rates and taxes, £4926 ; duty on passengers, £2015 ; total, £74,488; leaving a balance on the half year, applicable to interest on loans and to dividend, of £100,775. To this must be added £13,279, the surplus brought forward for the half-year ending December 31st, 1847 ; and from the total so obtained must be deducted £20,353, interest on loans for the half-year • leaving a net sum applicable to the payment of dividend of £91702. Of this sum, the directors purpose to divide - 489,98.57 - .. - > among the shareholders, at the rate of six:per cent. per annum, leaving, at the expiration of the:half-year' and after the payment of dividends, a surplus in the haiadi of _ the company of only £3,716. The report Ivaa,adoSeit , .:....., # lass Li,'S),•:/•,:` k . :i . . ' e ' Z t w. , 0 s ' • ROMANCE OF LIFE. A lady of Stockport died a few months ago, leaving a great number of legacies and friends, and amongst them was one to a woman named Smith, a daughter of a per son of that name who was, 18 or 20 years ago, a sergeant in the 33d Regiment. The executors had punctually dis charged all the duties imposed upon them by the will of the deceased, except that of paying this legacy, and they gave up that as a matter almost too wild and impractica ble to be thought of, insomuch as it seemed so little likely they could ever properly trace out the legatee; for the lady who had left the legacy had left no address of the party, and herself never seen her, and when she did hear of her it was 18 years and a half ago, and only 18 months after the child's birth ! There seemed to be little hope of success by applying to the regiment, for Sergeant Smith was dead—died in the regiment, 18 years ago—and it might be more than possible that even his name might be buried in the memories of his companions in arms, if not in their coffins, for they had seen loreign service, and part of the regiment had but lately come from Canada. The Regiment of 1848 might be another generation of men to that serving in 1828, after hard foreign service in the affairs of Cabul or amongst the agues and fevers of Canada! but even if remembered, what of his widow and child ? Would they have continued followers to the " tented field ?" Nothing was more unlikely, especially when it was recollected that Smith was degraded from his rank of sergeant for some breach of discipline a short time before his death, and his widow might be supposed to have lost even sympathy with those who had treated him, to her mind perhaps, harshly, and have been too glad to quit and forget them. Besides, Smith was a com mon name ; how many James Smiths, and Sergeant James Smiths, might there not have been in the service ? What more likely than that the mother, too, should now be dead ? It seemed almost chimerical to pursue such an investigation, and so thought the executors. One of these gentlemen, Mr. B. Wheeler, the news agent, of Manchester, a few weeks ago was with a party at South port, when taking up a Manchester paper, he read of the movements of troops in various directions about the coun try in consequence of the apprehended disturbances, and amongst other things perceived that a few companies of the 33d Regiment had come to Manchester, and were gone to encamp on Kersal-moor. " Now or never," thought he ; " there is but little probability of success, but we ought not to lose such an opportunity at all events." So taking " the rail," he came to Manchester, and took an early opportunity to visit the moor. He advanced towards the camp, but was held at bay by the sentinel. The sentinel, he perceived, was of the 33d, but was a young man, however; so he inquired from him if there was an officer with these companies who had been in the regiment 20 years? '` Yes," said the sentinel promptly, " that gentleman you see coming this way, the captain (Captain Gough), has been in the regiment 20 years." Mr. Wheeler advanced to meet the captain, and communicated as briefly as possible the object of his visit, exhibiting at the same time two letters, the last Sergeant Smith had written to the testatrix. " Sergeant Smith ?" repeated the captain, musing, " Sergeant Smith ? Yes : I recollect him very well, and his widow is in the regiment yet." Here was encouragement, thought Mr. Wheeler. " But," continued the captain, " she has married again." " And could you give me the name of her present hus band ?" was the next inquiry. " Why," rejoined the captain, smiling, " he's Sergeant Smith, too ; but they are not here—they are in Canada." " Well," said Mr. Wheeler, " it is not the mother I want, but the child—the daughter." "Oh, the daughter; well, we have the daughter, too—she's on the moor, but she's married." " And married also into the regiment," inquired Mr. Wheeler, "as well as the mother ? " Married into the regiment, also," rejoined the captain, laughing ; " and she, also, is married to a sergeant." The facts seemed so striking, and the coincidences so unlikely, that the inquirer might have been excused a little incredulity had he not been talking to one not likely to romance, and on a less serious subject; but so true were they, that in a quarter of an hour from his arrival on the moor, Mr. Wheeler was in the presence of the legatee herself—was next day in possession of documents from the register of the regi ment, by the courtesy of Captain Gough, showing when Sergeant Smith enlisted, when his daughter was born, her name, when the sergeant died, when the widow was re-married, and registering also the marriage of the daughter, with every other particular important to give the child a legal title to a legacy left her by a person she could never have known—had never heard of—and, more singular still, whose name she had never so much as heard mentioned, even by her mother ! We have only to add, that the executors, rejoiced at being so unexpectedly enabled to complete the task imposed upon them, lost no time in fulfilling the requirements of the law, and some thing more than a week ago paid over the legacy. THE POPE'S DEMANDS. The Whigs assent to everything. If they had any ap prehension that Rome could be so insane as to revive obsolete ideas and antiquated claims, they would be the last men in the world—witness the private correspond. ence of the Earl of Clarendon with Popish archbishops— to propose the opening of communications with the Roman See. It is only their profound conviction that the Papacy has long ceased to bewhat once itwas, which enables them to bringin the Diplomatic Relations Bill. Nothing can be more satisfactory than the general understanding. The bill is discussed, and the problem of diplomatic intercourse with Rome is quietly worked out by the legis lature on the well-understood assumption that the Pope is content to be friends with Great Britain in the same way as the Sultan, who does not find fault because we are not all Mahomedans—aiwply as one potentate with another potentate. In due time the bill authorizing diplomatic intercourse with the Sovereign of Rome becomes law. And now, who would have thought it ? The Diplomatic Relations Bill collapses. Like other fabrics built upon a mendacious hypothesis, it goes to pieces. Thelegislature has been deceived. Lord Minto was either the Pope's fool in Rome, or he is the Pope's knave in England. We know not which, but one thing is certain. The bill will not work. The Pope will not treat with the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as " the Sovereign of the Roman States ;" he will treat With her as " the Sovereign Poiftiff," the rightful head of " universal Christendom," or—not at all. A remarkable article in the Univers, of Tuesday last, blows the whole structure of British diplomacy with Rome to atoms. "We are convinced," says the well-informed writer, " that the Pope will never consent to receive an English ambassador before he can cause himself to be re presented in London by any one he may please to ap point. The English Government has little notion of the character of Piux IX, if it fancies it will be able to im pose an ambassador on him so easily. Besides, the dis cussion which has just taken place in the House of Com mons is of a nature to open the eyes of the Holy Father as to what the honoueot his Government and the dignity of the Holy See demand of him at this juncture." Indeed, so firmly is the Univers convinced that the Pope will scout the bill, that it wonders at the unfounded alarms of the English Roman Catholics, and especially at those of Mr. Anstey, whose opposition to the measure is accounted for on the ground of the hon. and learned member's intimacy with Mr. Urquhart, " the evil genius," as the Univers calls him, "of the chief of the Foreign Office." Our Romish contemporary flatly tells us that " England is not yet worthy the honour to which it aspires, of having an ambassador in the capital of the Christian world," and authoritatively declares that, " notwithstanding the definitive vote of the house, the present bill will not tend to the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the Cabinet of St. James's and the Vatican." antral AltOreilanu. Fine new oatmeal has been retailed in Ardrossan for the last ten days at ls. Id. per peck. Subscriptions are being raised for the relief of the fa milies of the shipwrecked fishermen at Peterhead. It is stated that Government lately refused to register or to issue stamps for a paper to be called the " Democrat." In a garden near Aberdeen, there is a Scotch thistle, 7 feet 11 inches, with 238 proportionate flowers. A new lead mine of unusual richness has been opened on the surface of the earth near Winster, in Derbyshire. The Diorama in Regent's Park was on Tuesday sold by auction for £6750. An entire cargo of filberts, consisting of 2,260 baskets, was imported into London, on Monday, from Rotterdam. There are at this moment 700 houses and shops unte nanted in the parish of St. Mary's, Nottingham. The loss of property during the late storm on the east coast of Scotland, amounts to £23,000. PUNISHMENT OF A GARDEN ROBBER.—At Darling ton, last week. a boy was ordered to be privately flogged for plundering a garden. SHOCKING DEATH.—On Monday, William Fitter, a marriep man, with a family of eight children, at Odiham, was gored to death by a two-year-old bull, in a field. " The Stowe effects," it is calculated, cost the Bucking ham family £250,000. They are expected to realize about £lOO,OOO. The Builder states that American potash made into a thin paste, and laid on with a brush will take stains out of marble, except oil, the removal of which is doubtful. The venerable church of Llanfrynach , near Cowbridge, having been to a considerable extent r est o red, was re opened for divine worship (after a lapse o f one hu ndred and fifty years or more) on Sunday , the 27th ult. ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON.'—The Earl of Wilton was elected Commodore of this club a t a meeting held at Cowes last week in room of the Marquis of Donegal, who has resigned. A LIGHT WEIGHT.—George Brown, whose riding was greatly praised at the late Goodwood Meeting, has been engaged by Colonel Peel. His lowest riding weight is 4st. 10Ib. Lieutenant Waghorn has been voted a sum of £1.500, in consideration for his services in ascertaining the prac ticability of the route, via' Alexandria, for the conveyance of the Indian mail. Before Trinity College church, Edinburgh, was taken down to make room for a railway station, every stone was numbered and the building was daguerreotyped, that it may be rebuilt in some other part of the city. Some " cannie Scotchmen" are about to try " to turn a penny" in a new way through the present royal visit to Scotland—namely, by publishing a daily newspaper, to be called " The Balmoral Gazelle and Highland Herald." Five of the soldiers apprehended for raising a disturb. ance in Edinburgh, have been sentenced to terms of im prisonment varying from forty to sixty days. Two others were fined two guineas; in default of payment, to be im prisoned thirty days. Smithfield Market is about to be enlarged by the re moval of the entire clump of buildings extending along the north-east side of Long-lane to Charterhouse-lane. Of the Bell Tavern, and the extensive premises attached, the Markets Committee havealready obtained possession, and the demolition of the houses will commence early next week. This is the second addition to the space within the last two years.