The Press.
London, England, 1853-12-17 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

INDIA.—The express despatches brought by the
overlan i mail reached Louiluu last evening. Thu
accounts froni Bunnell come down to the 2t/th of
October, and represent the country to be in a state
of anarchy and confusion from the daring atrocities
perpetrated by the Dacoits. Captain l.atter had, how-
ever, marched his troops against them, and inflicted
severe punishment, desperately wounding the noto-
rious chief Noah Toon, who was conveyed on a litter
to Ave; so that it was hoped the flagrant offences of
this daring band would be at least suspended for a
time. Captain Smith was not less active in the
neighbourhood of Sanwa!), where he succeeded in
capturing another of the leaders, named Noting
Koung Oyee, whom he ordered for immediate execu-
tion. With the exception of Burmal), India never
enjoyed i,.•' tranquillity than at present. Major
Herbert Edwardes, C.D., had succeeded the late Cul.
Mackeson as Commissioner at Pesliawur. Major-
General Godwin died at Simlalt ou the 26th October,
after a very short illness, while ou a visit to his Ex-
cellency the Commander-in-Chief, Sir W. Gomm.
Sir Theophilus Metcalfe, the Commissioner at Delhi,
died on the :td lilt., and Lieut.-Col. Gordon, Adjutant-
General of the Madras army, died of cholera, brought
on by overtaxing his energies. This epidemic hail
also broken out at Bombay, where 275 persons had
fallen victims. The financial condition of India ap-
pear; to be most prosperous.
The news from China is of Oct. 27, which brings
no later intelligence from Shanghae. Hostilities
were still going on at Amoy and other places, but,
from the confused accounts furnished to the several
local papers, it is impossible to know upon which
side the advantage lies.

WEST Ivies.—Jamaica paper. to the 27th ult.
have arrived by the mail steamer Plato. The House
of Assembly was in session, and had passed the
Import Duty Bill, with some important reductions of
the tariff. A great struggle took place relative to
the duration clause of the bill, which the retrench-
ment party wished to limit to the 31st tf December,
Irs:43 ; but after several divisions it was carried, by
a majority of one. to extend its duration to the 30th
of December, 1851. The return made by the Receiver-
timersl showed a deficiency of 200,0001. up to the
January quarter, which would have to be added to
the debt of the country, as it never could be dis-
charged by ordinary taxation. Tim loss of revenue
fluting the period from the Ist of May to the 10th of
October, from the want of an import duty bill, had
been ascertained to amount to nearly 120,0001.
AT TatNtokb there was some fever, and the troops
had been removed in consequence. .411 the other
islands were healthy.

Tag lutc.t intelligence from New Zealand gives
us the result of the election for superintendent of the
Canterbury province, under the new constituent act
of Sir John Pakington. Mr. Fitzgerald was elected
by a majority of upwards of 40 votes above the second
candidate. There were three candidates, the other
two being Colonel Campbell and Mr. Tancred. Mr.
Fitzgerald was for some time the editor of the Lyt-
telton Times, and to those who arc acquainted with
that gentleman, and his early identification with the
colony, his election reflects great credit upon his con-
stituents.

Mn. M‘DowAti., the sculptor, bas been selected
to execute the statue which the people of Belfast
are about lo erect to the memory of the late Lord
Belfast.
Tut GOVERNMENT AND UNIVERSITY REFoRM.—A
letter was received on Wednesday by the Vice-Chan-
cellor of Oxford from Lord Derby, the Chancellor of
the University, communicating the startling intelli-
gence that the subject of University Reform is to be
made a tiovernment measure in the approaching
session of Parliament, and will form one of the topics
in the Royal speech. This much-debated question
is, therefore, now taken out of the hands of the
University, and will be submitted to the wisdom of
Parliament. The information communicated in Lord
Derby's letter was, it is stated, received directly front
the late Homo Secretary, Lord Palmerston.

FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE.
Tyndall, Der.l3.

BAN KRUPTS.--Janaa Ittrnannsoa. Jona SASDERS WICKS,
and Ilasna Sutra, Upper Quectim-buildinga, Bra/100n, up-
holsterer4—Jacon Connor, New Finehlev-rowd. St. Johtis-wood,
1111 hroker--Cnntartaa DIWKE, Garlick-hill, drysalter—sAut;Et.
awarr. Houndselitch. Birmingham and Sheilield warehouse.
wait —WILLIAII 11(11.4E, Manchester, cotton manufacturer.
suOTC SEW.' ESTRATIONS.—W. Gamma. Dundee. Incr.
chant I). WALKIN.,sIIAW, Mnsielburgli, ironmonger —W.
Taonat,N, lato of Glasgow, merchant—T. Rolm, Paisley, mann-
Stet neer-4 I. C. PATI-.Rnom, (ilikegoW, con fee tioner—'r. PRIN t•
late of Sprollflull. COLLINU, lihaagurl, iron-

Friday, Dreember 16.
NK nu riS--CLAt DIVA Aunrt RiVENI:II, )1I t'hauge,
milliner and flower nierchant—TitomAs ItrainUve,
F,..e%, woollen draper and clothier—DANlEL moues, Man.
cheater. aharebroker--DANIEL EDWAXINI sod WILLIAM
C.1111,1c11-1k,%111, builders,

SATURDAY,

SALE OF THE PIGOTT LIBRARY.

As event of much intenst to bibliophilists will
take place next week, when the extensive library
collected by the late Mr. Smyth Pigott, of Brockley-
hull, Somerset, will be sold by Messrs. Sotheby and
Wilkinson, at th.iir rooms in Wellington-street. This
collection is voluminous enough to extend over six
days of sale ; and contains a multitude of works, rare,
curious, and valuable in no common degree. Mr.
Pigott was a keen hunter after literary oddities; and
his library is richly stored with books possessing
various claims to be called odd—id their subjects,
their antiquity, their style, and their authorship.
To many items in the catalogue we find appended
the note ro dear to the hearts of all book buyers of
the old school—that wily ten, or mayhap five, copies
of tile work in question were ever printed. Books
on alchemy, sorcery, and divination fill a large and
curious space in the library. In this class are con-
tained " Three Books of Occult Philosophy, by Come
lius Agrippa" (1651); " A Fourth Bouk of Geoman-
cy;" " Magical Eletnents of I'. de Albano, Arhate of
Magick, Englishe•l by Robert Turner" (10n5) ;
" Revelation of the Secret Spirit, or the Concealed
Secrets of Alchemy" (1627); " The Golden Calf
which the Wend Adores and Desires (1070); "The
Tomb of Semiramis hermetically Sealed:" Aubrey's
Miscellanies, or Dreams, Day Fatality and Magid,"
Sc. &c. From the miscellaneous class of " curious
Woke we can make room but for a few specimens,
culled almost at random from the catalogue. For
example, there is a copy of the 44 Golden Ass " of
Apitleius, with French translation and plates from
the Paris edition of 1702 ; Buttes' " Dyetes Dry
Dinner, consisting of Fight several Courses" (1590) ;
Tom Coryat's " Crudities " with his "Crambo or
Colewort twice Sodden " (1811); the "'Torment-
ing Tophet, or a Terrible Description of Hell," by
If. Greenwood (1614); Sir John Harington's " New
Discourse on a Stale Subject," called " The Metamor-
phosis of Ajax," with MS. dedication and notes in the
autograph of the author, who was, moreover, forbid
the Court by Queen Elizabeth's order for writing this
book ; Head's " Proteus itedivivus, or the Art of
Wheedling," and the "Art of Thriving, or Plain Path-
way to Preferment ;" Toland's suppressed work, en.
titled " Adeisidrettion," and a translation of Voltaire's
" Pucelle " into Paiglisa verse, of which we are told
that it was " made by a lady of noble family, and
rigorously suppressed at :he demand (.1 his lord-
ship's chaplain, the Ikv. Mr. Boyd, who declared he
would not retain his position if it was uucomplied
with. It is said only ten copies were preserved from
the flames." Books of Facetite and Tales of Love and
Gallantry form a special class of no inconsiderable
magnitude, selected chiefly from the literature of the
eighteenth century. Besides the department of
curiosities, there ere many works intrinsically
valuable, some of which are also exceedingly tare.
Several of the most costly and gorgeously illustrated
works on natural history, on architecture, heraldry,
ac., appear in the catalogue. Among the latter is a
fine and unique copy of Anderson's " Genealogical
History of the House of Yvery." The collection of
"'Tracts," especially those upon historical subjects,
is rich and 'anions; while upon the topography and
local history of his own county, and its chief cities—
Somersetshire, Bristol, and Bath—Mr. Pigott pos
aessed a mass of works, printed and MS., probably
unequalled in extent, and of almost incalculable
value to the antiquary and histonographer. Mr.
Pigott, as might be guessed from his known tastes,
was an extensive purchaser at the Strawberry-hill
sale, where he obtained, among other curiosities, the
marvellous speculum and magic crystal used by the
astrologer, Dr. Dee, which is now again otiered to
the virtuosi, and will form an item in the sixth day's
sale on Saturday next.

WE regret to learn that his Excellency the
Ilanoverian Minister is again suffering from indls•
pusition.
Mitchel, the Irish exile, had arrived at New York
An enthusiastic demonstration was made on his
landing.

Jr is a curious fact that while the English residents
in France hare raised fully 12.000 f. for the Bellot
fund, a French committee in Paris hare only been
able to collect 000 f. fur the same purpose among
their countrymen.
THE STEM!: AND WAGES Mori:NENI. has pre-
sented no new features lately. Last week, ending on
the 12th, was called a " little week " among the ope•
ratites, and yet there wag 2.4.-4)1. placed in the hand'
of the committee to maintain the l+trikers. Ihts
would enable them to increase their paymentil from
Is. to ss. per head, but, in anticipation of Christmas,
it has been deemed expedient to adhere to the former
stun. From the reports of the delegates, it appeared
that the tlind reserved for Christmas week already
amounted, in the aggregate, to I,4wW.