The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-15 00:00:00

GENERAL INTELLIGENOE.

:TIER StrITAIC of TURKEY has ordered that ben .young offi-
cers should be,sent to Paris, to study engineering.
Duntra thelast few days* petition has been. prepared and
signed by upwards of 300 of the leading men of 111111, to make
,Russis pay 'Thrall the cost of: the, war.
THE Morning Advertiser states that Mr. Milner Gibson_
will, soon after the reassembling of parliament, .-Inove for
.leave to bring in a bill for the repeal of the Oath ofAbjuration.
.LanY ELT:Prßououarr.--',The reported death ,of Lady
Ellenborough has been contradicted, the family having-received
letters from her.ladyship, dated Damascus, Dec. 10.
TUB proposaifor an amalgamation of the Protestant Asso-
ciation with the Protestant Alliance has been megatised by
the Committee 41 the Protestant Association.

TllNParis correspondents of the inde'pendanceßeige<revive
the story that the Emperor Napoleon intends placing himself
at the head of one of the expeditions of the coming campaign.
TR)! auditors -of the county of Durham, in presenting
the accounts the other day, mentioned that the late pros3cu-
,tion in the great Burdon poisoning case had cost the county
MO less than .£4l2.—Gateshead Observer.
Tan Senatus Acatlemicus of the Edinburgh .I.Tniverieity
,have voted Dr.. Alison £250 a year, as a retiring allowance.
The learned Professor is the elder brother of Sir .Archibaid
.Alison, Bart., the- celebrated historian.
Wm. MACATMAY43 HEALTU is by no means good. A gentle-
man, who saw him a few weeks ago,-states that he experiences
great difficulty in 'conversing even [yr a short time.—Durn-
friat Standard.
Croons FACT.—Dr. Lushington stated in the Admiralty
Court, last week, that forty years ago he was counsel in a
causcxelating to the very ship which brought William 411.,t0
this country.
- - -

THE ,much celebrated :twenty-five thousand copies of Ma-
caulay ate said to hang a little in the trade—but then money
is scarce,:and the season 'has not been one in which people
have been:at. all prone to .spend much on books.—lllustrated
News.
74171411,R1CENT LITERARY RROVISIOIT.--liter Majesty ,has
been pleased to grant a pension of £25 a year to Mr. Joseph
Haydn, author of the well-known " Dictionary of Dates."
There is nothing in the warrant about "distressed circum-
stances."

ME convict Abraham Baker underwent the extreme pe-
nalty of the law,on Tuesday morning, at Winchexter, for the
murder of Naomi Kingswell, at Southampton, on the 14th of
October last. Since his committal to prison, and especially
since his sentence, Baker has been most earnest in making
preparation for the .change that awaited him. He fully ad-
mitted the " wickedness of his crime."

ACCORDWG to a correspondent of the .IVord, the Emperor
of the French preserves in all its integrity., at the Palace of
the Elys6e, the famous cabinet in which the coup d'ita of
Dec. 2, 1851, was prepared. Here is the secret drawer con-
taining the bundle of papers, orders of arrest, proclamations,
xie., tied together, the wrapper bearing the one word—
Rubicon."

ONE OF TICE DEFENDERS OF Kens.—Dr. Sandwith, one of
the_ gallant defenders of Kars, has reached London, after
undergoing extraordinary privations on his journey from
Kars to Batoum. Dr. Sandwith was set free by General
Mouravieff in consideration of the great attention he had
bestowed on the Russians wounded in their unsuccessful
attack of September 29.
LIBERALITY OF EMPLOYEES.—Among the several banking
firms who have presented to their clerks £l,OOO for distribu-
tion since the commencement of the new year, are—Messrs.
Heywood and Co., London ; Messrs. Heywood and Co., Man-
chester ; Messrs. Prescott and Co., Messrs. Hankey and Co ,
and the London and Westminster Bank. In addition to these
gifts, it is understood advanced salaries have in some cases
been granted.
COUNTY COURT JrnoEs.There have been no less than
nine vacancies among the County Court Judges in four years ;
five have died, and four have resigned. There have died
Messrs. Chilton, Carrow, Hildyard, Wing, and Barnaby ; and
there have resigned Messrs. Amos, Wilkinson, Palmer,
and Elsley. To succeed these, Lord St. Leonards appointed
two, namely, Messrs. Adolphus and Taylor ; and Lord Cran-
worth has appointed Messrs. Losh, Cooke, Lonsdale, Willmore,
Temple, Sir E. Wilmot, and Mr. Miller.
A FEARFUL CASE OF DOUBLE SUICIDE was perpetrated on
the railway near Antwerp. A man and woman, well attired,
and supposed to have resided at Brussels, placed themselves
across the line and were cut to pieces by the train. The en-
gine driver having perceived a smart shock on passing the
spot, reported the circumstance at Malines, whence a telegra-
phic notice was immediately sent back to Vieux Dieu, and
upon examining the line the two bodies were discovered.

MR. SCOTT RUSSELL'S MONSTER STEAMER.—The Portland
(Main) correspondent of the New York Express, writing
from that port on the 14th ult., states that an examination of
that harbour had been made by Captain Harrison, R. N.,
(recently in the service of the Cunard Company, and who has
been appointed to command Mr. Scott Russell's monster
steamer), and that he is satisfied that the water is quite deep
enough to receive that vessel, and allow her to perform all
necessary nautical operations. She is expected to make her
first trip to Portland in May next.

TUE CHILD STARVATION CASE.-At the Central Criminal
Court, London, on Thursday, Charles Butler, aged 30,
musician, and Sarah Butler, aged 23, his wife, were indicted
for the manslaughter of Emma Butler, their child. The
prisoners lived in Bermondsey-street, and the child, who was
between two and three years old, had been much neglected
and ill-treated, especially by the woman. The prisoners were
in the most abject state of poverty, the man being a street
musician. The medical evidence proved the child to have
suffered much from disease and want, but did not clearly

establish death to have resulted from any specific act of neg-
lect or violence. The jury acquitted the prisoners.

BIRMINGHAM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.—A meeting of
the Council of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce was
held on Wednesday. The meeting was made special for the
purpose of taking into consideration the present state of the
monetary laws, and, after considerable discussion, the follow-
ing resolution was passed, viz.:—" That it is the opinion of
this Council that it will be found impossible, without great
injury to every interest, to carry on the war to an issue, con-
sistent with the honour and safety, of the country, under the
present monetary system, and that it is the incumbent duty
of parliament to take into consideration the effects produced
by the acts of 1819 and 1814, with the view of calling out
the energy and power of the nation."
EXTRAORDINARY CONDUCT IN COVENT GARDEN THEATRE.
—On Wednesday, during the performances of the Wizard of
the North at Covent Garden Theatre, Loudon, a well-dressed
man suddenly stood up in the balcony of the boxes, having a
pistol in his hand, which he appeared to be about to raise, when
his arm was seized by a gentleman who sat next to him. An
altercation and scuffle ensued between several occupants of the
balcony and the individual who had behaved so strangely, and
great alarm and excitement were created in the theatre. The
lunatic, for such he seemed, was compelled to resign the pistol,
and Mr. Anderson, the lessee, caused him to be placed in the
hands of the police, who removed him from the theatre.
SERIOUS CHARGE AGAINST THE ROVELEY POST3IASTER.
—Samuel Chesshire, master of the Rugeley post-office, was on
Friday charged before the magistrates, at Rugeley, with open-
ing a letter from Professor Taylor, addressed to Mr. Gardiner,
solicitor, Rugeley. Mr. Phillips, from the General post-office,
attended for the prosecution. The letter in question contained
a reporot of the analysis on Mr. John Parsons Cook, and its
contents were communicated to William Palmer, his alleged
murderer, in a very mysterious manner, as was seen from a
report of a discussion on the subject at the last adjourned
inquest. The accused was held to bail to appear next Thurs-
day. The prisoner has admitted the offence, and is discharged
from his office.

nicle.

EXTRAORDINARY STORY.—A correspondent of The Times
says :—I have recently received, on good authority, the follow-
ing extraordinary account of an act of cruelty perpetrated by
an ambassador from the Court of Persia now resident in Rus-
sia. It appears that during the stay of the ambassador in
Moscow, a fire of charcoal, lighted by his servant in a stove of
the room where his son and the servant slept, caused the
death of the former by suffocation, while the latter narrowly
'escaped with his life. The ambassador, in order to avenge the
death of his son, commanded the servant, to whose careless-
ness the accident was attributed, to be flayed alive. The
Russian police, however, interfered, alleging that such a pun-
ishment could not be allowed in their country. Accordingly
his Excellency ordered a boi with air-holes to be made, for the
purpose of transporting his unfortunate servant to Persia,
there to suffer the fearful death which even Russian civiliza-
tion prohibited ! The poor man is probably now on his way
to Persia.
THE EDUCATION or THE ROYAL CHILDREN (observes the
Court Journal) being a matter in which all must feel
interested, a few details of the manner in which the day of the
royal scholars is divided may perhaps be entertaining to our
readers. A primary regard is paid to moral and religious
duties. They rise early, breakfast at eight, and dine at one.
Their various occupations are allotted out with almost mili-
tary exactness. One hour finds them engaged in the study of
the ancient, another of the modern, authors ; their acquaint-
anceship with languages being first founded on a thorough
knowledge of their grammatical construction, and afterwards
familiarised and perfected by conversation. Next they are
trained in those military exercises which give dignity and
bearing. Another hour is agreeably filled up with the lighter
accomplishments of music and dancing. Again the happy
little party assemble in the riding school, where they may be
seen deeply interested in the various evolutions of the menage.
Thence—while drawing and the further exercise of music and
the lighter accomplishments call off the attention of their sis-
ters—the younger princes proceed to busily engage them-
selves in a carpenter's shop, fitted up expressly for them, at
the wish of the Royal Consort, with a turning lathe and other
tools essential to a perfect knowledge of the craft. Thus they
early become, not only theoretically, but practically, acquainted
with the useful arts of life. A small laboratory is occasionally
brought into requisition, at the instance also of their royal
father; and the minds of the children are thus led up from a
contemplation -of the curiosities of chemical science and the
wonders of nature to an inquiry into their causes. This done,
-the young carpenters and students throw down their saws
.and axes, unbuckle ,their philosophy, and shoulder their
miniature percussion guns-which they handle with the
dexterity of practised sportsmen—for a shooting stroll through
the royal gardens. The evening meal, the preparation for the
morning's lessons, and brief religious instruction, close the day,
ALARMING OUTRAGE NEAR SIIEFFIELD.—OnIy the other
=day it was recorded that an outrage of the most diabolical
character had taken place at Dronfield, namely, an attempt
o blow up the workshops of Mr. George Ward, and now we
have to narrate au act of a daring and murderous nature.
The scene of outrage was the premises of Mr. E. France,
surgeon, of Dronfield. On Saturday night, Mr. France's
-servant girl entered the drawing-room, and announced that
there were thieves in the garden, having a light with them.
Mr. W. Henry France, (who is on a visit to his brother,) at
once rose to see after the depredators, but declined the offer
4of the servant girl to accompany him with a light. He opened
the door, and was takinga survey before entering the grounds,
which are in front of his brother's house, when a miscreant
'fired a gun at him. A portion of the contents struck Mr.
France on the, forehead, whilst the remainder, a large portion,
struck and shattered the • windows in front of the house. It
is said that Mr. France's wounds are not of a very serious
nature. Had he taken the light with him, he would have
presented a better mark to the assassin, whose intention, it
can scarcely be doubted, was to murder. Only a night or two
previously, while this gentleman was sitting in his brother's
drawing-room, be was alarmed, on raising his head, by seeing
a man, disguised, push the door open, and look in. Mr.
France seized a gnu, which. stood by, and discharged it at the
intruder. The piece, however, was loaded with powder only,
the charge of ahet.having just previously been drawn to pre-
vent accidents ; and before Mr. France quite recovered from
the surprise and excitement of the moment, the man made off,
leaving not a trace behind. A reward of £2O has been offered
-for the apprehension of the offender.—Doncaster Gazette.
A SOLDIER FLOGG-ED TO DEATIT.—The correspondent of
-the .Morning Herald,. in his letter from the Crimea, dated
December 24; sayss—A private of the English Artillery has
this .week died under the lash at Balaklava. I believe
offence was drunkenness. Be it so. Are there no roads
to be made or mended ? Are there no stones to be broken ?
Are 'there no • round shot to be polished ? Is it not better
to stop grog than to stop life? Let your readers answer.
My opinion is, that though in many cases, such as mutiny or
desertion, flogging is =admissable, it (now that the enemy does
net harass us, now that men can well be spared for sentries over
prisoners) is not the beet punishment for drunkenness. I shall
not argue this,questionemt now. I shall simply say that this
private was made fast to the usual limber-wheel, that his state
was apparently. not one of health, that he was sentenced to
receive, and did receive in full, fifty lashes, at the hands of
the sergeant-farrier of the left siege-train at Balaklava
Heights, And that on being cast loose he fell to the ground
like a log, there remained a short time, was carried to hos-
pital, and there died. lam told that this private belonged
to the *3lsh company of the lth battalion (Royal Artillery), but
I have failed as yet to learn his name. He died on Sunday
morning'(yesterday), having been flogged on Saturday, after
the departure of the last mail from Balaklava ; and I think
that the War-office authorities ought to investigate the case.
Men are men, and must not be treated as beasts, for which
latter, we have at least, a " Martin's Act."
EXTRAORDINART Surerne.—On Sunday evening, the 23rd
of December, at ten o'clock, anaan in the prime of life, but
whose appearance betokened poverty and misery, entered the
Grantham Arms, Dyer-street, Leeds, and, having called for a
,pipe, sat down moodily by the fire. Two or three persons
were sitting in the room, but the stranger was not heard to
weak a word. After sitting thus for ten minutes, the man
put a poker into the fire, and, when it had become red hot,
took it out and knocked it against the floor, to remove any
exerescence on it ; 'he then deliberately put the red hot end of
the poker down his throat. • The persons present caught hold
of him, and, having removed the poker from his possession,
bathed his mouth with warm water. The man was ultimately
removed to the Mendicity-office, where every attention was
shownlim; and, in answer to inquiries as to the cause of the
rash act, he only replied that it was a very foolish act, and he
did not know what he was doing. His tongue, throat, and
under lip were very much burnt, from the effects of which he
died last Friday. The only information that can be gained
about thesleceased is, that his name is Thomas Barker, and
that he.came from Bolton, in Lancashire. An inquest was
held on the body, at the Court-house, last Saturday, before
Mr. John Blackburn, when a verdict was returned—" That
Thomas Barker died from the effect of the burns which he had
wilfully inflicted on himself ; but there was no evidence -to
satisfy the jury as to the state of his mind."—Leeds Mercury.
TUB LADY, THE LOVER, AND THE HoasEs.—The following
story is told by Gelignani :—Although Count Maison is only
25, and Made F. de Nujac, a Parisian lady of some celebrity,
is nearly 40,-he some time ago became captivated with her,
and made an arrangement by which he was to allow her 150 E
a-week for household expenses, exclusive of petty disburse-
ments and presents. Some time after Madame de Nujac, who
lived in grand style, 'being in debt, found it necessary to sell
her horses; and the Count approved her doing so, but gal-
lantly said that as he had several horses of his own, and ex-
pected others, he would not allow her to go on foot. A few
days later Madame de Nujac announced to the Count that
she had heard of a pair of fine horses to be sold marvel.
lously cheap, and hinted that he would do well to pur-
chase them. The day after she wrote him this letter :
" Tell me, my dear love, how you are this morning, and
receive the assurance of my warmest affection. You will
come this evening, will you not ?—FELICITE. P.S.—As
regards the horses, Joseph tells me that he has seen them
in harness, and that they are magnificent—much better
than mine. They are to be had for 5,000 f., and you would do
well to see them. The owner is to leave this week, and Joseph
says they will soon be sold." The Count saw the horses,
tried them, and bought them for 5,000 f, taking a receipt
for them in his own name. He then offered the use of them
to Madame de Nujac; but he did not give them to her,
and the proof of this was that he did not send them to her
stables, but to a private one belonging to her coachman,
which be hired for 30f. a-month ; and he, besides, undertook
to pay for their keep. The very next day, however, he learnt,
to his surprise, that Madame de Nujac had caused the horses
to be removed to her own stables. He immediately wrote
to her to request that she would write him a few lines, just to
say that she did tibt consider the horses her property; but,
instead of writing, she sent him a message to go to her.
When he went, she pretended to fly into a passion at the idea
of his suspecting her of being capable of doing a mean thing,
and she made him beg her pardon. The Count, however,
determined to regain his horses, sold them, and sent a servant
for them. They were refused. The Count himself then went
to Madame de Nujac, but the servants refused him admission ;
he, however, insisted on seeing her, and found her breakfasting
with another gentleman. She then formally declared that
she would not give np the horses, and that if he thought fit to
go to law about them he might do so. The Count did go to
law, and the case was tried in Paris on Tuesday. The advo-
cate of Madame de Nujac, after complaining that Count
Maison had needlessly revealed her age, contended that the
horses had been not lent, but given; but the Tribunal ordered
the horses to be restored to the Count.

widow,
is now living at Dyrham and Hinton
a widow, named Anne Ball, in the 99th year of her age, who
actually takes in washing, and does it herself.—Bath Chro-

At the request of the Spanish government, the authorities
at Bayonne have taken the liberty of transferring to England
(after a mouth's imprisonment) a man who had been arrested
at Urrugue for having arms, ammunition, and Carlist letters
in his house.

ORDERS havebeen issued to the commanding officers of

provisional battalions and depots to hold in readiness for im-
mediate embarkation the whole of the disciplined men belong.
ing to the service in the East. The drafts of infantry regi-
ments will proceed to the entrepot at Malta, whence they will
be conveyed as occasion may require to the aeat of war, and
the drafts for the cavalry will join the cavalry reserve at
Scutari. About 450 rank and file, belonging to the household
infantry brigade, will proceed to Malta and join the reserve
battalion. The number of troops under orders exceeds 4,500.

FOUR TEACHERS DEVOURED. BY CANNIBALS IN ONE OF
THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.—The missionary ship John Wil-
liams, named after the heroic martyr of Eromanga, has re-
cently completed a voyage among the New Hebrides and
other westerly groups. Among the news she brings are some
items of encouragement, and others of great sorrow. The
journal of the voyage says :—" On reaching the Island of Fate,-
the distressing news was brought on board that some of the
teachers who, with their wives, left there on the last voyage,
had been barbarously murdered. Only nineteen days after
they were landed, under the most cheering circumstances, the
two Raratonguan teachers and their wives were murdered to
furnish materials for a horrible'cannibal banquet.

THE CASE OF PALMER, TICE SURGEON OF RUGELEY.—
On Wednesday last, in the Birmingham District Court of
Bankruptcy, Palmer, the surgeon charged with the murder at
Rugeley, of Mr. Cooke, by the administration of slow poison,
was declared a bankrupt. The petitioning creditor upon
whose application the fiat was issued, is Mr. Spittle, of West-
bromwich, his claim being for money lent. Mr. Brown, of
Bilston, is the solicitor for the bankruptcy. The adjudication
will be disputed, and the bankruptcy in no way interfere with
the sale of the bankrupt's stud, appointed to take place at
Tattersall's yesterday. On inquiry, it is ascertained that no
attorney of Birmingham was ever employed as an agent for
the Midland Counties Assurance-office.

RUMOURED SECRET TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND
PRusslA.—A communication from the Vienna correspondent
of the Daily News contains the following :—" Within the
last few days the report of a secret understanding, confirmed
by a treaty, between Russia and Prussia, is again brought
forward, and gains some degree of credit. It is affirmed that
this secret treaty has been only very lately concluded by the
present Emperor of Russia, and that it was brought to Berlin
by Count Munster, who could never induce the Emperor Ni-
cholas to sign it. This treaty is one of offensive and defen-
sive alliance between the two states, under certain possible
contingencies ; but whether the King of Prussia will be able
to rely on the co-operation of his army in such a case is a
question that has given rise to great doubt and discussion."
A NOVEL PROJECT. The prospectus is issued of the
" Patent Jointed Ship Company," with a capital of £50,000
in £lO shares, on which the deposit is to be £2. The object
proposed is a novel one, being the construction and working
of vessels composed of several sections, jointed each into the
other, and admitting of being readily disconnected. One
engine, it is stated, would suffice to work three sets of sec-
tions ; one set loading at one port, a second discharging at
another port, while a third is performing the voyage between
the ports of loading and discharge. The promoters contend
that this system would be of peculiar value to the London
coal trade, especially if applied to jointed steam colliers, con-
structed to bring 1,000 tons of coal at a trip, in four sections,
loading 250 tons each, and drawing only 5 feet 6 inches of
water, so as to float over bars and shallows. The company is
brought out under the new Limited Liability Act.
GOLDSMITH ON RUSSIAN AGG-RESSION. Goldsmith's
" Citizen of the World" is an interesting evidence of the long-
standing apprehensions of Russia as an encroaching power :
" I cannot avoid beholding the Russian empire as the natural
enemy of the more western parts of Europe—as an enemy
already possessed of great strength, and, from the nature of
the government, every day threatening to become more
powerful. It was long the wish of Peter, their great monarch,
to have a foot in some of the western parts of Europe ; many
of his schemes and treaties were directed to this end ; but,
happily for Europe, he failed in them all. A fort in the power
of this people would be like the possession of a floodgate; and
whenever ambition entered, or necessity prompted, they might
then be able to deluge the whole western world with a bar-
barous inundation. Believe me, my friend, I cannot
sufficiently condemn the politics of Europe, who thus make
this powerful people arbitrators in their quarrel.
RELICS or THE PAST.—A variety of relics of the past,
descending from 701. D. to the present century, have been
turned up in digging the foundations for the new model
lodging-houses in Copenhagen-street. One is a small copper
coin of the Roman Emperor Vespasian, who reigned from A .D.
69 to A.D. 79. It bears on the obverse the head of the Em-
peror, with the legend—" Vespasian Aug. Cos.," the first part,
probably, " Imp. CEes.," is undecipherable ; the reverse is
obliterated. A silver penny of one of the Edwards, some small
copper and latten coins, foreign, English, and Irish, the latter
dropped here, perhaps, by Cromwell's soldiers who had served
in Ireland ; a small copper medal, bearing on one side the
head of King George 111. and Queen Charlotte, and a ship on
the other, apparently struck in commemoration of some naval
triumph, have also been found, as well as portions of skeletons,
including the under jaw and thigh bones of a person of
gigantic proportions, a prodigious quantity of goats' horns and
other exuvice. Mr. Bowan, of Copenhagen-street, who has
preserved several of these relics, has also in his possession an
ancient Roman patera or saucer of red clay, with a greenish
mottled glaze upon it, obtained from a depth of 17 or 18 feet
below the surface.— Worcester Chronicle.
ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.—A Stockholm journal contains the
following :—ln Sweden, females never by any chance enter a
coffee-house to take refreshment ; though, singular to relate,
in nearly all such places, females are employed to wait.
Great, consequently, was the astonishment felt by the fre-
quenters of the coffee-house of the Bazaar of the Pord-Nord,
in this city, to see, in the evening of the 28th of December, a
young lady, dressed with extreme elegance, and whose bear-
ing showed that she belonged to the higher classes of society,
enter unaccompanied, and, quietly taking a seat at a table,
call for a cup of coffee. Many of the persons were so struck at
the extraordinary visit, that they could not refrain from rising
from their seats to gaze at the lady ; but she took up a news-
paper and began to read with apparent attention. After n
while, when the curiosity had somewhat subsided, she rose
hastily, and advancing towards another table, as if to take a
newspaper, pulled a pistol from her muff and prepared to dis-
charge it; but at that moment an officer who happened to be
near seized her by the arm. The pistol, a double-barreled
one, went off, and the balls striking a chandelier, broke it,
and then lodged in the ceiling. The lady was immediately
arrested, taken before a magistrate, and after being interroga.-
ted, was placed in secret confinement. She is said to be the
widow of a superior officer in the army, but what she meant to
do with the pistol is a profound mystery. The affair has
created intense sensation here."
SINKING OP ,AN EXPERIMENTAL MORTAR VESSEL.—A
serious accident occurred at Portsmouth on Friday, in the trial
of the new indiarubber mortar raft, the invention of the Rev.
Mr. Berthon, of Fareham. This raft had been tried several
times with every success, and Friday was appointed for a final
trial, the raft being ordered out to sea, off Southsea Castle,
and there to fire 150 rounds of shell. She was accordingly
towed out at an early hour by boats belonging to the Excel-
lent, gunnery-ship, the mortar being a 13-inch mortar, and
the charge of powder 201 b., the usual charge for such a piece.
A party of seamen, gunners from the Excellent, under the
command of Lieut. Lethbridge, of that ship, went out with
the raft, as did also Mr. Berthon, the inventor. Everything
went on well till the 15th shell was fired, and the concussion
at this discharge was so great as to cause the sides of the raft
to fly apart, and she sank immediately. Lieut. Lethbridge
and the seamen gunners were immersed in the sea, but all
were picked up, with the exception of one of the men, who
must have sunk immediately after the disaster, as his body
was not afterwards seen. Mr. Berthon was on the raft during
most of the practice, but he had got into a waterman's boat
to ascertain the effect of the recoil of the mortar from a short
distance. The mortar was slung on Capt. Julius Roberts's
principle, which deprives it of a large amount of recoil at its
discharge.
RAILWAY IN BRAZIL—The prospectus has been issued of
a Brazilian railway, with a capital of £1,200,000, to bear a
guaranteed interest of 7 per cent. The line is from the city
and port of Pernambuco, which have a population of 120,000,
to the town of Ague Preta, in the interior—a distance of 78
miles. Of the 7 per cent. guarantee 5 per cent. is from the
Imperial Government, while the remaining 2 per cent. is from
the province of Pernambuco. The road will pass through the
cotton and sugar districts, and the shareholders are ultimate-
ly to have the privilege of continuing it to the river San Fran-
cisco, at the point where its waters become navigible, through
the heart of the country for nearly 1,000 miles. They are
likewise to enjoy the right to all minerals within 20 miles on
either side, and to be allowed the free importation of their
machinery and coal. This enterprise furnishes another illus-*
tration of the calls on English capital which are likely to be
made under the principle of large guarantees from foreign Go-
vernments desirous of improving the condition of their terri-
tories. 'or States in good repute like Brazil the system is
available even in war time, and it promises to become indis-
criminate whenever peace shall be attained. Among the rea-
sons given in the present instance in mitigation of the objec-
tions against a withdrawal of capital, it is urged that Brazil is
one of the best customers of England; that a free communica-
tion with the interior is essential to the colonization plans of
the Government, with a view to supplant slave by free labour;
that £240,000 of the required amount will be subscribed in
Brazil; that a large proportion of the remainder will be dis-
bursed in England for plant, rails, locomotives,w
nof
e and,
finally, &c.;
finally, that the expenditure will be spread over several
efiifines
church
lead-
ing a r
as
t
SINGULAR SCENE AT AMBLESIDE
Ambleside has recently been warmediTy
T means
from a coke fire. Owing to some imperfectione
church during
in the flues
Idasit suntotnhdy.
eabodyof
t
'gasse issued
Young
children
tandeel morningeterious
nearest the floor, were first affected. , and about2oo,f beingtheni
followed one another out before the adults took the alarm.
At about the middle of the sermon the congregation rose in
pa r ebaocdhye r who,
a,
ndN vent out, to the apparent astonishment of the
in his elevated pulpit, was unaware of the mis-
chief. He was left entirely alone in the church ; and it is the
opinion of the medical men, that if the congregation had re-
mained a quarter of an hour longer, no one would have been
able to help himself or his neighbour, and many, or all, must
have perished. The scene in the churchyard was singular for
a day in January ; numbers of persons were laid on the grass,
fainting, convulsed, and moaning. None altogether escaped
injury. In the lane leading from the church to the village
persons dropped as they walked, and lay quivering, or as if
dead. Some who believed themselves able to reach their homes
fell at a short distance from their own doors, and one at least
was actually unable to reach home till the next day. Fortu-
nately, one of the surgeons of the place, on his way to church,
was called to a patient, and thereby left in a condition to give
prompt assistance. During the afternoon the druggist's shop
was crowded with applicants for stimulant medicines—debility,
and headache prostrating the population like a plague. None
ep
nac et itnhratth the
there
intolerablyccold
willoc
church,
l
of the cases havei
htae mibnieei
einna
as
tt
imminent.
found
fatally,
It
tandnitae
bal
mlyyy 0
db,e
experience
epus
eoturfpwarming
the several.
i
danger to
bwmehu sinctoh, fhaveuhtouwr been evee nr,
carelessnessm
before the present experiment was tried. Repeated warnings
had been given to the authorities for weeks past by the ringers
and others who had suffered from the fumes of the coke, but
no notice was taken, and on Sunday last the doors were shut,
and kept shut, by the churchwardens, whose practice is to
go to the inns during prayers to see whether any drinking is
going forward, and who will allow no admission of air during
their absence: or on their return. By the latest accounts•
some of the invalids were rather worse than better, while
others had nearly recovered.—Express.