The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-24 00:00:00

PIKE WATER.

The f
, °rtrghtly meeting of the Chemists' Associatio.n
ii,.,e4cl at the Royal Institution last night. The chair
4,784 by Mr. Abrahams, President of the society.
„„ws a very large attendance, as it was known that
i,:lipal business of the evening was a report by Drs.
rids and Nevins, upon the properties of the Rivington
.414
I'4 r'clfiß were announced from Messrs. W. J Black-
('l,,'"• IL and S. Johnson, T. F. Grimsdale, Redford,
" alkor,il. S. Evans, the Royal Institution, South-
e ChEind
Mercer, the Hon Secretary.
airman then introduced the subject of the even-
expressed a hope that the subject would be dis
• with that philosophic calmness which had dis-
tclhed the former debate. It h d on other
04
81
4,0 B excited some strong expressions, but he hoped
41his occasion nothing.which could give rise to any
bent feeling would proceed from anybody., but that
Ite Would be distinguimhed mainly by a love of
!i he had, indeed, no doubt it would. The t'gentle-
t"4o had prepared the report had paid very
attention to the subject. They had made
,1242terous experiments, end given very careful
"0 the task, and, no doubt, they would be able to give
adequate reasons in support of any views they might

,Edwards then read tne paper, which contained a
k'horate and minute description of the Rivington
11ld reservoirs, which the writer had carefully in-
and a full analysis of all the different specimens
, Water, with an account of the various experiments
it; to test its properties. Tne length of the report,
Lteehnicel character, precludes us from publishing
Vltened outline of it, but the general results at
:-
1 that, arrived will be gathered from the following :
‘1 that, on the 15th of Saltiest, last, M. Mercer
sltbefore the members of the Chemists' Asscciation
' ( as of the Rivington water, in small quantities,
et by
lair. Alderman B3nnett, and gave the result of
:AV chemical examination of the water, dwelling
ply upon its action as a solvent upon metallic lead,
ft.() the decomposition which he anticipated would
ta long storing on sea voyages, in consequence of
t'aic matter. These statements, and comments
1110 n them, caused much anxiety in the public
411 to the wholesomeness of the supply which the
'lsm pro-Pike and anti-Pike discussions by no
14.11ded to allay. A proposal was therefore made
it the water to cerain eminent chemists, to
144 localities, for scientific examination and report ;
twexpense of bringing such judges to the spot, and
V3eng them upon a long and elaborate enquiry,
ed the proposition. It then occurred to himself
Nevin,' that it became a public duty to o me
sod to do to the be=t of their ability what
eessary to relieve the public mind on this subject,
that their offices would be accepted in good
their only desire being to serve the public.
V..,therefore, under a sense of this responsibility,
7e endeavoured to steer clear from party bias, and
kiltittabt this as a purely scientific question. Ist. Is
? gton water in a fit condition for human consump-
20dije If not, can it by any available means be
,and wholesome? Having obtained water from; reservoirs at Rivington, from Prescot, and
tie Water from Green-lane, the authors proceeded
their experiments. The quantity of water
Upon had been about twenty gallons, and had
°la several points the Front town supply, as
tttvarious admixture of the well water with the
Still, in very vt'aous proportions. Having repeated
iv `e of tie experiments upon lead, as read before
ser,_
it --/ and Phileeophicals Society, Dr. Edwards
ill to observe that the next experiments were made
r view to ascertain the keeping qualities of the
kk,lld then aotice4 the colouring matter found in
Water. He said that publicity had recently been
.14 the Liverpool papers to experiments iu the
11 of galvanic action, with a view to removing the
11, Dr. Medlock, of London, and the results ob-
tiel that gentleman bad been adduced as applicable
discolorisation of the Rivington water. The
iteotisisted simply of suspending a coil of iron wire
arvoir of the Thames water. But surely it would
ialbered that the Rivington water was in contact
tiaety its lime of pipes for twenty-five miles ; and
,
an agent was to discolourize it, we should
ta"..aotain it in this condition in the present reservoir.
pic matte.' in Thames water, it must be remem-
aygely of animal origin, hence the comp 'mad of
Noar'tillze ammonia and nitrous acid which result from
, p,oPositien. In the present ins:ance the organic mat-
s, mebdlY, vegetable in its origin; the theory and practice
ns 4.ock did not, therefore, apply. Diecolomisation
tapeti,°: atimal charcoal was objected to rn the ground
; but the returning of animal charcoal by
' • gliparatus was now so
readily applied, and so
ki used, that the expense would not be large after
outlay, while the character of the water would be
iraproxed. It had lately been observed of the
PPly of water, that it was much harder than
it e Rivington supply was first introduced, and
Vittll°lv possessed neither the advantages (f the
nor those qualities peculiar to tie Riving-
ktl7,l% The authors had observed this change,
et touted "it to ineffectual attempt to decolourize
an
kti,oy means of quicklime, which, while only par-
kneeessful in removing the colouring matter, mate-
t„esAed the hardness of the water, and for many
qc,,,,iliured its character. The auth ,rs entertained
tis)t that, if experiments were instituted upon a
0"Y large scale, the colour might be effectually
Without, in the slightest degree, injuring' the
• oitY of water—namely, its softness. The authors
Neil" their paper thus :—" The general conclusions
.111 We have arrived, as a result of these expe-
' batty be thus briefly stated. Ist. That the
ig Water, or any mixture containing it in equal
klatLas or thereabouts, will, when stored for twenty-
fr in a leaden cistern or tank, will dissolve lead.
impregnated is dangerous to the public health,
.1 therefore necessary that wherever leaden
d ark° employed, the metal should be wile
my paint or some suitable cement. No
results from the mere passage of the water
441ti0•
6hort lengths of wooden pipes. 2. That
tlh, gton wafer contains less germinating matter
k Well water from Green-lane, and when
it% either close or cpen vessels bas preserved its
tkt" during the six weeks over which our experiment'
• deeded. Mixtures of Green lane and Rivington
t
"botremain sweet for a lengthened period. 3.That
44jittei n :41 s /natter may be, and ought to he, removed ; and
Latta properly filtered, the Rivington water is a
tee at and very excellent beverage, and calculated to
boon to the community. 4. That the small
'44„"ruineral ingredients it contains are of the most
itt°„"aracter for dietetic and manufacturing purposes ;
446 objectionable colour being removed, it bas pro-
otPerior to thtl sell water. Its insipidity is but the
its purity,
and to the small proportion of carbonic
it contains. While, then, as a matter of taste and
)tiit,.11537 be desirable to retain a limited supply of
fort he benefit of those who prefer it, the
4/• ttiolie will be best served by a speedy and abundant
111 Rivington, free from any admixture whatever;
'4 creation of a separate supply should be ascertained
Ijai,Public convenience rather than as one affecting
?. lite health.
4„,tias mentioned that be had corresponded with
-lea in Bolton, Sheffield, Kendal, and Lancaster,
it4..:Plied with surface water under similar circum•
htt, Jeiverpool. In Kendal, for about two months of
hthe water was offenive in smell, so much so that
oitanta during that time had recourse
k.,„; wells. This, however, was supposed to
, tbeert from a piece of engineering care-
-1t0);,'? remedying of which, it was expected, would
tkp,'ol:o the offensiveness. The health of the town
e$ perceptibly since the supply of the surface
cis Lancaster the inhabitants first objected to
Op a" Water, but they now drank it freely. Its
'l/4;l al deep as some of the least coloured-specimens
's d:llgton seater, but in rainy weather the colour
,11'lifflPer• No case of lead poisoning had occurred
opuld be ttraced distinctly to certain trades.
the 'the healthnot of the town had increased perceptibly
a:Fre,lll3Ply ; but it was right to add that in both towns
Ne" system of drainage had been going on for same time, to which the improved health must be
TEI vated. In Sheffield the colour continued somewhat
414 ed ~eisre, too' not a siegle case of lead poisoning had
11T ich could not be distinctly traced to some trade
ere
to health of the town was perceptibly improved,
an extensive system of sewerage had been
11;;1. b'a Bolton lead poisoning diseases were not
lOttal,ePepsia and other forms of indigestion had
)",,l'etl,--", While the health of the town had decidedly
404 it The inhabitants freely drank the water,
Ate, was somewhat coloured.
itttai eer contended, that the conclusions arrived at
ttgltt,grt
mouenerally the views he had previously arrived
ase
*at t° the amount of the organic matter in the
havand'. its action upsn lead. He showed that the
Err 1D i
g n it animal life, which, during the
''t 'ett, would become dead, it must
t tit
'ate e iris water which the people drank, and he
te opt th
!. 11 ch., St there was a great difference in this regard
t get%cater of a lake and that of an artificial reser-
tt: the i4egbt it very desirable that the colouring
ily otad be removed. but he did not think it could be
0, 1. k) seemed
economly removed a some to
e mad micalade a calculat ons that for that pur-

pose there would be required three filter beds, each 200
feet square. Charcoal to cover this space one foot deep,
taking 50 cubic feet to the ton, would be 800 tons, which,
at £8 per ton. would cost £(J,400 each filter bed: Three
filter beds would be requirod, two to be constantly in
use, and one to be employed white dither of the
others was being cleansed. This would, therefore,
involve a cost of £19,200 for charcoal. He believed there
had been no provision made for emptying and clearing out
the reservoirs. All the dirt collected there, and the water
must naturally, in a short time, become contaminated with
the results of the decomposition which had taken piece.
Dr. Collins called upon the meeting to be guided in this
question rather by corm-non sense than by the differing
opinion of chemists. Ho mentioned a case in which the
members of a family had become affected with pains and
aches, which they attributed to the nee of the Rivington
water. He procured them the well water instead, and
they got rid of their y ains and aches. As an experinient,
they placed a specimen Of the Rivington water with one of
the well water to rest for twenty-four hours. There was
no deposit at the end of that time in the well water,
which continued reviving to the taste and salutary to the
system. The Pike water had a large deposit, was filthy to
look at, and insipid to the taste: Common sense told them
that the first had a pleasant taste, and experience
taught them that it was wholesome. Common sense toid
them that the Pike water Was insipid to the taste, and
nasty to look at, while experience taught them that it was
injurious to the health, by tne pains and
aches which they suffered. He eulogised the stand-
stone water, and dwelt upon the praises it had
received from captains of ships. He declared the Pike
scheme one which was hostile to common sense, and inju-
rious to health, adding that he could mention several cases
in which he had ascribed the health of families giving
way to the use of the water. He asked them whether
people in other places could credit the state of things
which existed at present in Liverpool. The people were
the owners of an estate—they selected persons to adminis-
ter the affairs of their property—they were satisfied with
the water theypossested—they circulated its fame far and
wide. But their own agents now laid out a million and a
half of their money for the purpose of making them drink
dirty water, which theyhad found upon the estate, casting
aside the good wholesome water. (Hear, hear, and
applause.) The servants had become the masters,
and insisted that the owners of the property
should drink what they pointed ont to them.
From his experience, and what ho had seen of the
Rivington water, he deehred the scheme to be the greatest
curse which had ever h_►ppened to Liverpool, being the
cause of wasting their property, and of producing injurious '
effects, which were silently making tit it way upon the
public health. (Hear, hear.) In the end, however, nature
would always get the better of the scheming of man, and
the whole thing would break down under the physical
obstacles which nature had opposed to the carrying out of
a scheme which weer founded in fraud and deception, and
worked only by the poser of individual and , corporate
influence.

In answer to Mr. Alderman Bennett, Dr. Edwards
stated that he had detected the presence of lime in the
water. He had heard a reason foe its being there, without
stating which, he was aware as a fact that lithe removed, to
a considerable extent, colouring matter.
Mr, Alderman Bennett then addressed the meeting at
considerable lehgth, in opposition to the Pike scheme,
recapitulating the principal arguments which he has
repeatedly urged in the Council, and declaring that the
inhabitants must, in the end, return to the well supply.
He expressed his belief that the process or removing the
colour would cost double as much as Mr. Mercer had cal-
culated. •

Other spea'kers haring taken part in the debate, for and
against, Dr. Edwards and Dr. Nevins replied, and the pro.
ceedings closed at a late hour with a vote of thanks to these
gentlemen.

ST. PETERSBURG, Tuesday.—A. despatch reports a
sudden change in the weather. The thermometer (Iteau-
mur's), showing eight degrees of frost. This change
will probably retard t he opening of the navigation by some
days. The price of tallow was quoted at 159 roubles with
hand money.
PARLIAMENTARY 111EAsunEs.—The Post points out the
measures which will most probably occupy the attention of
Parliament during the ensuing session. First, are those
which stand over from last session, namely—the Divorce
B;11, the Testamentary Jurisdiction Bill, and the Transpor-
tation Bill. Next are measures already promised, as the
Fraudulent Trustee Bill, the .L int Stock Bank Bill, the
Assurance Company's Bills, and a multitude of Statute
Law Consolidation Bilis.

His Excellency the Earl of Elgin took his departure for
Paris on Tuesday.afternoon, aecomptnied by the Countess,
and would reach the French capital yesterday afternoon.
The gentlemen associated with the noble earl in his mis-
sion to China left London on Tuesday and Wednesday to
meet his Excellency, and then proceeded via Marseilles
to Alexandria. The Earl of Elgin intends to stay two or
three days in Paris. Tile Countess will then take her
leave of him and return to town in the early part of next
week. The gentlemen attached to the mission are the
Hon. P. Bruce, Mr. Oliphant, Mr. Cameron, and Mr.
Fitzroy.
CHINESE EMIGRANTS.— Copies of communic..tions to
or from the Foreign Office, and other departments of her
Majesty's government on the sabject of mortality on
be rd the ship Duke of Portland, carrying emigrants
from China, have just been published by order of parlia-
ment. The Duke of Portland sailed from Hongkong
wilt 330 (rot 500) Chinese emigrants, bound for Haven-
nah, and 130 died on the voyage from fever and suicide,
the remainder (200) having been safely landed: A rigid
enquiry into the circumstances was instituted by the
g v rnment. Another vessel, the John Calvin, lost 122
out of 297 colonists. No blame attaches to the masters
of either vessel ; bolt ships had exoeriencecl surgeons and
ample acclmmodation A fatal disease manifested itself
on bowl the Duke of Portland, end soon became, epi le-
mic. The causes of the sickness are traced to the quality
of the w :ter, and partly to the smoking of opium in
excess. The local marine board (Cornhill) are unani-
mously of opinion that no blame attaches to the owners
or captains, or to any one connected with the ships. It
appears to the board that the mortality on board the
Pertiand was much aggravated by the great heat and
unusual length of the voyage (150 days), caused by the
sailing of the ship in an improper season—one month, at
least, later than she ought to have done—to enable her
to get down the China seas. The Chinese emigrants gave
much trouble on board; they made frequent attempts to
take the ship, and the captain never lay down in bed
without a cutlass at his belt. Mr. D. Ludgat, the surgeon
of the ship, states that a low typhoid fever was generally
prevalent among the low class of Chinese, and was brought
on board by them at Hon?, bong. The sickness was
attributed to improper food used by themselves, such as
onions and pickles. The habits of the Chinese were very
filthy. The coolies died from debility and affection of
the liver and lungs, and exhaustion arising from the seeds
of the disease. The disposition to commit suicide was
most remarkable. An explanation has been demanded
from Sir Jehn Bowring by the Colonial Office relative to
the number which the above vessels were legally qualified
to carry.

TIIE HUNGARIAN WINE TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN.—WO
feel convinced that the introduction of cheap wines into
this country would be highly advantageous to our people,
the great mass of whom are debarred from indulging in
even the moderate use of wine from its extravagant cost.
Besides price, consumers complain of adulteration. In-
stead of the nutritious juice of the grape, which cannot
be obtained even for medicinal purposes, we are compelled
to drink impure stuff doctored for the market, and the
faculty complain bitterly that their treatment often fails
in consequence of the irritating properties given to
" cooked" wines. Bat there is another light in which to
view the cheap wine question. We refer to it; influence
upon national temperance. Every one is acquainted with
Mr.Oliveira's unceasing exertions for the modification of the
French wine duties and the introduction of that country's
vintage into England. As yet he has not been successful, but
his zeal is unabated. One result would certainly follow
the consummation of his labours. If good and cheap wines
were brought into competition with our ardent beverages,
the consumption of the latter would soon decrease, and
society reap a permanent benefit. Little is yet known of
Hungary ai a grape-growing country ; but we hope soon
to see an extensive market for its produce opened up in
Great Britain, especially as commercial intercom-
munication is likely to create a profitable demand
in Hungary for Irish linens, threads, and laces,
which are at the present moment being introduced
into Pesth by an agency recently established in
this city, under the management of Mr. Defeber, for
Hungarian produce—chiefly wines free of all adulterating
substances. Medical attention has already been celled
to these Hungarian wines, and a strong opinion given in
their favour. Mr. Defeher, the importer, is anxious to
establish a trade between Pesth and this country. of which
the chief feature would be the import of these un-
adulterated and astonishingly cheap wines, along with
other Hungarian products certain to find a large market in
Ireland, and the export from these shores to that country
in return of our linen fabrics. For these there is a large
demand in Pesth. Were not the duties very high, we should
find a profitable sale for almost any quantity ',in Hun-
gary. Little is known of Hungarian resources; but when
a trade in the pure wines of Pesth has been fairly set on
foot between that city and Dublin, the public will, we feel
assured, find ample reason to thank the gentleman by
whose means the result has been brought about. These
wines possess considerable body and a rich flavour.

TH2 HISTORIC SOCIETY.

The usual periodical meeting of this society was held
last evening at St. George's Hall. After the usual routine
business had been disposed of, the hon. secretary, Dr.
Hume, annotinced the various donations that had been
Made to the society since its last meeting. A vote of
thanks having been accorded to the several donors,
Mr. Bright proceeed to deliver the following lecture on
the English lanuguage. He began by explaining the posi-
tion which the two languages—Latin and Teutonic—held
towards each other at the close of the Roman period.
Throughout the extent of their empire in Europe the
Romans had imposed their own language, which at the
period just mentioned had superseded that of most of the
peoples under their rule. This appeared to have been
strictly the case in Britain. When the Teutons eventu.
ally overran and conquered the Roman provinces, three
distinct tribes of the Low Germans, namely, the Angles,
the Saxons, and the Jutes, made themselves masters
of Britain. The establishment of the Germans in the
Roman provinces brought with it a change of' language
on ono part or the other. On the continent the La tin
language prevailed, and the modern languages are all
derived from it; but in England the Teutonic: language
completely supersed the Lat in. Of the three tribes of the
Teutonic settlers in this island, the Angles, who were
numerically the mast powerful, first took: the lead in intel.
ligence and literature. The earliest literary productioas
of the Auglo-Saxona, and the oldest Apglo-Saxcli
traditions knOwra, appear to belong chiefly to the
Angles, whose influence over the rest was so great that
the Anglo-Saxon settlers collectively soon took bosh
among themselves and on tbe continent the name which
was represented in tbeir own language by the word
Enelise, and in Latin by that of 770. This we derive
from this one branch of the trick., composition of our
race our national' name of Eaelishmen, and from them
our langnage was called English. Mr. Wright went on
to explain at some length the construction and character
of the Aeglo-Saxon language, and to trace its wogress
down to the time of the N irman conquest. He gave
reasons for believitg that that langituge had slat received
any influx of words Fro-n the Celtic. tongue, and that it
had not been affected by the influence of the Danish
invasion, but that in the middle of the eleventh century
it still remained purely Anglo• Saxon. At that period
the Normans brought in a new language—one of those
which had grown out of the Roman elephte.asnamely,
French as it was then talked and written in Normandy,
and Anglo-Norman, as this dialect is usually termed,.
continued during two centuries to be exclusively the
language of the aristocracy of England. There were
thus two entirely distinct langualas, bearing no resem-
blance to each other, co-existant in different classes of
the same nation, for Mr. Wright gave substantial reasons
for disbelieving the popular story that an attempt was
made to abolish the Anglo-Bskon language, which he
traced by its monuments through the twelfth century and
into the thirteenth; he also showed that at this latter
period this language, which may now he termed English,
was not restricted to the lower classes of the 'population.
but that it prevailed generally among the middle and
educated classes, and even among the elegy and monastic
orders. In the middle of the thirteenth century we arrive
at the great baronial wars, when the popular party was
headed by Simon de Montfort, and we then find that the
politic l songs in which each party proclaimed its own
triumph or abused its rivals were written as often in
English as in Anglo-Norman. In fact, the English
language had now emerged from its transition state, and
at length asserted what we may call its political right, and
re-appeared at court. Mr. Wright stated that in the
latter part of the thirteenth century a treatise was written
in French or Anglo-Norman verse, forming a sort of
vocabulary of that language, and designed expressly for
the purpose of teaching it to children. The number Dl'
copies of this tract still preserved in manuscript show
that it was ,in very extensive use. The compiler was
Walter de Biblesworth, a mart known elsewhere as a
writer of French verse, and apparently belonging him-
self to the aristocratic ,class; it is clear, inheed, that
all the relations of the author were of an aristocratic
character. Now, Vfalter de Biblesworth states his
object to have been to instruct the rising generation
in the proper use of the words of the French language,
and those words are explained in English, which imply
that the learner was acquainted with the English lan-
guage before he began to learn French. We thus ascer-
tain the very important fact that before the end of the
13th century the children of the aristocracy of England,
before they were instructed in any other language, or in
other words, that English had become their mother
tongue. It is, perhaps, right to observe that. the treatise
of Walter de Biblesworth here alluded to has never yet
been printed; but we understand that it will be contained,
with a number of very interesting records of the English
language, in a volume now in the press in this town, under
the direction of one of the most zealous supporters of this
society, Mr. Joseph Mayer. Although French was no
doubt still looked upon as the peculiar language of the
aristocracy, a new modification had taken place in the
mutual position of the two languages ; for, instead of
their mere co-existence in the same country, but in two
different classes of society, we have them now co-existent
in the samo class. This change marked what may be con-
sidered as the birth of modern English literature. The
English language now began among the aristocracy and
at court to be adopted as that of our national poetry and
prose, and to step into the place which had been
usurped almost exclusively by the French or Anglo-
Norman language during the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries. With it also began the intermingling of the
two languages, and in consequence a large portion of the
Anglo-Saxon language gradually became obsolete. Mr.
Wright then proceeded to explain and illustrate, With
a number of examples or words and classes of wortba-the
manner in which the two languages became combined in
forming modern English, and how that part of the
Anglo Saxon language which was rejected from it, en-
tered into the formation of the modern provincial dia-
lects. The two languages representing the Anglo-
Saxon and Anglo-Norman, but which at that period may
better be described as French and English, continued to
exist in England independently during
,the whole of the
fourteenth century, although there was a continual in-
terchange of words going on between them. We have
reason to believe that even dawn to the end of the 14th
century, among the " people," the mass of words of the
Anglo-Saxon language, much of its phraseology and con-
struction, and even its forms of versification, continued
to exist. At this period, indeed, the English language
was in a very unsettled condition, and in the hands of
writers of different class or rank, who used English or
French words at will, it assumed every variety of char-
acter, from that which presented the pure Saxon element
almost unmixed to that which was more than half French.
It was the fifteenth century, low as it stood in literary
character, which performed the great work of purging
and purifying. In the first half of the sixteenth century
the English language, cleared of the superfluous French,
arid the half obsolete Anglo Saxon which had previously
encumbered it, and with very few grammatical inflections
of any kind left, assnmed a form which prepared it for
the glories of the Elizabethan period. In the sixteenth
century, however, the English language was exposed to
a new danger, arising from the increased activity given
to scholastic education, and to a pedantic reverence for
Latin. People began, both in their conversation and in
writing, to interlard their English with Latin words, to
which they merely gave an English form ; and this was
carried on to such a pitch that it might
have been a question at ooe time whether the
language we . were destined finally to speak would not
have been a sort of mongrel between L lain and
English. This affectation of Latin reached its greatest
height in the reign of James 1., after which it began to
disappear. But in one respect, this dragging of the
English language into en unnatural relationship with
Latin exercised a disastrous irfluence on Its future. When
men began to m 'ke English grammars they lay tinier a
prejudice which had grown up with the Latinists, but
unfortunately had not died with them, and forgetting that
English was a language in itself, they took it for granted
that its grammar was merely an English edition of Latin
grammar, and where they found that the English forms as
they existed did not agree with the rules of the Latin
grammar, they attempted to force them into concordance.
This mistake has spoiled all the English grammars pub-
lished previously no our oar (lays, and unfortunately we
are not yet emancipated from nor shall we be emanci-
pated from it until the tango ue, of Ali tne Great and
that of Chaucer are more generally taught in our higher
schools and colleges. This is certain. that our gramma fans
and lexicographers have, during the last two centuries,
been labouring in their ignorance to reject from the Eng-
lish language some of its purest and best phraseology.
Several other interesting communications were made to
the friends assembled, after which the meeting adjourned.

TIIE FAMINE IN FINLAND.—A Stockholm letter of the
17th inst. says that the latest accounts from Finland
continue to give a most distressing picture of the famine
raging in that unhappy country, which does not fail to
excite the greatest symral by here and in every other part
of Sweden. Several vt,L-ets hhve been chartered by the
commit-4e, and laden with corn, but they cannot move till
the ice breaks up. In the districts of Uleaborg, Wa3a, and
Kurpio alone, out of a p ,pulation of 657,000 souls, no less
than 250,000 have no other means of subsistence than
begging, or else eating the unpalatable bread made front
the bark of trees. The mortality is consequently very
great, and daily on the increase, as the dreadful famine
typhus has broken ought with great malignity. The dis-
tress is so great that children have been seen who, for want
of other food, have actually eaten off their own fir gars!
Liberal contributions have been sent from Hamburg and
Lubeck ; but in Denmark, where they make such a fuss
about fraternity, and dream of the Scandinavian union,
they have done nothing to allay the misfortune. Upwards
of 80,000 dollars have already been remitted from
Sweden, and as soon as the ice disappears, the above-
mentioned vessels laden with corn and flour will be de-
spatched to their relief.