Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-01-10 00:00:00

REPEAL OF IMPORT DUTIES.

It was resolved, on the motion of the president, to
prepare a memorial, praying for the repeal of certain
import duties which injuriously affect commerce.

TOLLS AT THE RHINE.

A letter from the Rotterdam Chamber, on the subject
of the abolition of these tolls, was referred to a special
committee.

"JACK." AT MALTA.—On the 29th, the seamen of her
Majesty's ship Renown, lying at Malta, gave a theatri-
, cal performance, got up entirely by themselves, and at
their own expense, followed by a ball given by the
officers. The seamen received Prince Alfred with three
cheers, and he appeared much pleased both with his re-
ception and at the performance, which did credit to the
sailor amateurs, and they appeared delighted by the warm
approbation bestowed on their exertions by the audience,
particularly the lady visitors, a great number ot' whorni
were present. Christmas passed off very cheerfully, the
soldiers and sailors having been amply provided with
good cheer. Her Majesty's ship Euryalus is to' proceed
to sea to Palermo, and the Gannett to Athens. It is
extraordinary what an interest the seamen take in all
the.particulars of the men imprisoned by the late out-
break on board her Majesty's ship Princess Royalt and
the demand for the papers containing the account of
their release'is very great indeed.
DEATH OF AN OLD CHARGER.—As the heid groom
of 'Mr. A. J. Baker Cresswell was going into the, grass
parks, at Cresswell, Northumberland, a few days ago,
he found the favourite chesnut charger of the late
Capt. B. Cresswell (11th Hussars), on the ground near
some ice, with its thigh badly broken. This noble animal.
was given to its late master by his father, when he
entered the army as cornet in the 11th Hussars, in'
1842 ;it was then six years old. It accompanied the
regiment to Bulgaria and the Crimea, and, after the
lamented death of Captain Cresswell on the march to
Alma, it was purchased by an intimate friend, with the
considerate intention of restoring it to the family of his
friend. But this gallant young officer was killed in the
cavalry 'charge at. Balaklava, and his intention prevented.
In 1855, the horse was, with some difficulty, recovered,
and sent to England to end his days, at Cresswell,
where it was constantly visited and caressed by the family.
Captain Cresswell was nephew to Judge CresSwell.—
Stmderland Times.
THE DISCHARGED TROOPS FROM INDlA.—These men
are now weekly arriving by hundreds, and are paid off
'at Gravesend. They have to receive from. £3O to £4O
a-piece for arrears of pay, and it is' therefore not
surprising that on landing in England with this large
sum of money, they deliver themselves up to all
sorts of debauchery. In fact, during the past week,
the scenes in Gravesend have been disgraceful, and on
one evening. owing to the number of drunken soldiers
about, all the publicans, in self-defence, were ,com-
pelled to shut their houses up. The corisequence was
that the poor wretches lay about the streets to be rob-
bed by the Jew touters, crimps, and prostitutes. Taking
them altogether, they are a fine body of men. Some of
Ahem• have seen as many as from, sixteen to eighteen
years' service in India, and have received many decora-
tions. They regret the loss of their years of service, but
they felt, to use their own words, "that they could riot
respect themselves if they allowed themselves to be
deceived by.the Government." A considerable number
have re-entered the service, and a 'good many more will
probably again join the, ranks when they have spent all
their earnings, which will not take them very long.
THE BRUCE PEDIGREE.—A London contemporary
publishes the following from a correspondent :—From
an expression in your leading article (28th ult.) on the
election of Rector of Glasgow University, your readers
might infer that Lord Elgin is a lineal descendant of
King Robert Bruce. Such, however, is not a genealo-
gical fact, for that gallant monarch left only one, son,
David 11., at whose death, without issue, the crown_.
of Scotland came to Richard. 11., son of, the brave
Walter the Steward and Marjory Bruce, daughter
of King Robert the Bruce, and continued in the
family of the Stewarts until James, sixth of that name
in Scotland, became James I. of England. It was at
the birth of his mother, the hapless Mary Queen of
Scots, that her father, James V., then on his death-
bed, exclaimed, in allusion to the crown having been
brought into his family by Marjory Bruce, "It came
with a lass and it will go with a lass." Our Most
Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria is the direct lineal
representative of King Robert, the Bruce. The pedigree
of the Earl of Elgin, as well as
,of the Marquis of Ailes-
bury, is to be traced to John de Bruce, third son of
Robert Bruce, "tilt competitor" for the , crown of
Scotland with John Baliol; and .grandfather of the
future king, and descended from the great Norman
house of De Brus, one of whom accompanied William
the Conqueror to England, and founded the family in
Yorkshire, whence sprang the heroic King of Scotland.
THE MARQUIS or BUTE.—On the present Marquis
attaining his majority, he will be one of the most opu-
lent noblemen in the British peerage, and.equal to the
Westminsters, Buccleuchs, and Breadalbanes. The fol-
lowing is a brief enumeration of .the estates in Britain
possessed by the noble lord, and of the titles under
which he' holds them :—First, In England—Estates
in 'the counties: of Essex and CaMbrulge, derived
through
fordshire, derived through the third Earl of Bute,
a larg.e portion of which still remains ; a large.
estate in Durham, derived through the Claverings, an
heiress of which family married the last Viscount
Windsor. The collieries on this estate yield a large
yearly revenue. ' In Wales—His vast Glamorggnshire
estates, derived through the Herherts, Earls of Pem-
broke, and their representatives, the Windsors, Vis-
counts Windsor. In Scotland—Nearly the whole Isle
of Bute (tripled in its annual return since - the last
thirty years),_derived through, a branch of theworld-
renowned house of Stuart, hereditary Sheriffs, after-
wards Earls of Bute ; large estates in the counties of
Ayr and Wigton, derived through the Crichtons, Earls
of Dumfries and Baroris Crichton, and their families,
which they by marriage represented ; also some estates
in Cumbrae: How many 'a petty king exists in Ger-
t
many thathoarsnotristuish such
Daanileystyoenlronfal.territorial pos-
sessions
_ _

LITERARY NOVELTIES.—The new year opens brightly
for every branch of, intellectual effort—in somewhat
singular contrast to the lowering of the landscape in
the more agitated provinces of faith and politics. Lord
Maeaulay!s fifth volume will most probably come out.
A life of Robert Stephenson is in hand by Mr. W. B.
Adams, a gentleman well endowed for his task. The first
part of " History of England" may be expected from' the
pen of Mr. J. A. St. John. Mr. Ruskin will complete his
great labours on the " Modern Painters,"—and Mr. T. D.
Hardy his "Materials of English History." Mr. Mur-
ray has .in preparation Leslie's " Life of Sir Joshua
Reynold'," Mr. " Eothen" Kinglake's "Two Years in
the Crimea," Mr. John Forster's "Arrest of the Five
Members by Charles the First," and Sir Robert Wilson's
"Journal at the Head Quarters of the Russian Army."
Messrs. Smith, Elder and Co. 'are preparing a work, on
China, by Sir Jokn Bowring, " The Life and Anecdotes
of Edward Malone, the Commentator on Shakspeare,"
by Sir James Prior, "The Letters of the late Rev.
F. Robertson, of_Bnghton," and a -new romance, by
Nathaniel Hawthorne. For Mr. Bentley, Dr. Hook,
Dean of Chichester, is preparing " The Lives of
the Archbishops of Canterbury." Mr. Newton (re-
cently . appointed British Consul at Rome), whose
discoveries of works of art have recently been placed
in the British Museum, is preparing a narrative of his
" Researches and Discoveries in the Levant and in the
Islands of Mytelene and Rhodes, and on the Coast of
Asia Minor, &c., made during a Residence of Seven
Years." Messrs. Hurst and Blackett will produce,
during the season, "Travels in Eastern Africa, with a
Narrative of a Residence in Mozambique," by Lyons
M'Leod, late British Consul at Mozambique,—" The
Upper and Lower Amoor," 'by Thomas William Atkin-
son,—" The Life and Times of George Villiers, Duke of
Buckingham," by Mrs. Thomson,—and a " Journey on
a Plank from Kiev to Eaux Bonnes," by Lady Charlotte
Pepys.—sitioneeton.