Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-03-15 00:00:00

laandal

A rumour is in circulation that the Rev. A. Holmes,
author of " The Heirs of the Farmstead," &c., a short time
ago entered into an engagement with a respectable firm, to,
write a serial tale, for which he was to be paid £5OO, and
that he is guilty of a dishonourable breach of the contract.
We (Critic) are authorised to state that the rumour is. with-
out any foundation.

Mr. -Clayton, the well-known artist of stained o.ls (says
, 2.5
the Atheneum), is now at work on a memorial window,
which some kindly enthusiast is about to erect in Gloucester
Cathedral to the memory of the murdere I Edward IL The
glass will contain a view of the murder scene, treated in
the archaic way, and a little, we hope, mitigated in the
brutality of its horror.

son takes .place at Covent-
The Pyne and Harrison
xse terminates on Satnrday next with the
iss Louisa Pyne. The company are engaged.
to perform in Dublin, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool,
Hull, York, Edinburgh, and Manchester dnring the recess,
and to produce " Satanella," " Martha," 0 Rose of Cas-

The benefit of Mr. Hard
zarden on. Monday evening

tile," la., with band, chorus, full company, &c.
A. carious discovery has just been male in the archives
of the City of Landon --a new fact about Chaucer. In the
reign of Edward 111. a lease was granted to Geoffrey
Chaucer of a room above one of the City gates —Aldgate
—and of premises adjoining. The poet was the lessee, is
the east of London, of a roam like that over Temple-bar,
and of a honk adjoining, like that of the Messrs. Child.
We understand that a claim is to be made on behalf of
the representatives of -Mr. Douglas Jerrold, upon Mr. E.
T. Smith with regard to the operetta of " Black-eyed
Susan," now being performed at Drury-lane Theatre. The
defence, we are told, is that the material for the libretto
has been taken, not from the melodrama, but from " Dibdia's
ballad;" to which there are only two objections, viz.,
that the ballad is not Dibdin's, and that it contains no
story.

Mr. Chorley, the biographer of Mrs. tiemans, and one of
the principal critics of the Athenceum, &c., we hear, has in_
the press a novel, the main purpose of which is to eipose
the domestic wrongs of women in the higher classes. The
long announced work by the Chevalier de Chatelain,
"Beautes de la Poesie Anglaise," will, it is said, shortly
appear in two volumes, uniform with the same gentleman's
translation of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" from English.
into French. This work is the fruit of snore than test
years' incessant labour.

There is to be a deluge of chamber music apparently
this season. The Reunion des Arts will commence its
series of spring meetings on Wednesday next. Miss
Arabella Goddard is announcing her soirees. Then, there
are to be two glee concert-,csivin„u parties—one consisting of
the well-known company, including Mr. and Mrs. Locke);
Messrs. Foster, Winn, and Thomas—headed this year by
Miss Banks—the other only known at present as the Lon-
don Glee and Madrigal Union.

Appropos of the announcement that Messrs. Chapman.
and Hall will shortly publish a volume of sketches by Mr.
Sala, collected from the pages of Household Words, and.
reprinted with the consent of Mr. Dickens; it will be with.
noting how many of these sketches will be found to hare been.
not by Mr. Dickens. If we mistake not there is now sold.
in Paris and St. Petershurgh translations of "Dicken's
Miscellaneous •Works ; " many pages of which are from
the fertile and 'fanciful pen of Mr. Sala. Some of the best
papers in H. W., which have always been regarded 'as
additional sprigs in the laurel-crown of the "conductor,'"
are from the same pen.
In a loch r. 3 rcc :ntly delivered at Chelsea by Mr. Gilks,
the following curious statistics were communicated
concerning the illustrated press. Of ten illustrated papers
published in London every week, viz., the Illustrated'
London _Yews, Illustrated Times, Panels, London Journal,:
Reynold's .illiseellany, Cassell' s Paper, Leisure flour,.
Sunday at Beane, Town - Talk, and Mechanic's Magazine
the aggregate circulation is 1,744,000 copies per week, and;
the weekly cost of engravings is £578, making a total.
annual circulation of. 00,688,000 copies, mid spending
£30,056 per annum upon engraNiag.- Critic.
" Operatic chat," says the Literary Gazette "is stilt
mysterious. Among recent arrivals is that of Signor'
onetti.
Arditi, whose advent has been constructed into a sort of
renewed
connection with the probable re-opening of her Majesty's
fe. We receive tli
Theatre, of which establishment SignorilkurdLiotindlioasn_fori
timeshared the musical directorship with Signor 33 some
are on the vigouramo u r
f,- -,rpetiriheaiptsaiiwahnoocpaenra . y
hear that .
say ?) boding
London—is life Another
and r
Mdme. Jenny Goldschmidt-Lind has
determined once ,gains
to enter professional li
regrettable indisposition'
great caution. Imp, essarli who
has returned to London
tenors, may be glad to h re a 0
rho
look
-out
after some years' absence. The
of Mr. Slits Reeves has left us-
pretty nigh tenor-lesi."

A grand ball took place at the court of Parma on the
sth, Of which the Countess of Chambord and the Duke or
Modena, were present. The duke left his capital on the
following day.

Several French chambers of commerce, including that
of Bordeaux, have expressed an opinion in favour of a re-
duction of the duties on sugar and coffee. The chamber of
commerce of Boulogne-sur-Mer advocates the total suppres-
of the duty on coffee, in order that " the consumption of
sugar may be thereby increased."

A public meeting was held on Sunday in Hyde-park,
the object being to denounce the Government Reform
Bill. Several thousand persons assembled, and muck
noise and disturbance prevailed. The whole affair partook
more of the character of a disreopfuctoanbsleiderrionwg
tthheanineorfitsa
meeting convened for the purpose
of a question in which the electoral privileges of the people
are concerned.
On Friday evening a meeting of the reformers of Hull.
was held, presided over by Mr. Alexander Samuelson, the
recently-elected chairman of the Reform party in that town.
The Government Reform Bill was'very strongly condemned,
and it was decided that .a requisition be presented to the
Mayor to call a meeting of the electors and non-electors of
the borough to take into consideration the Government
Reform Bill. Wednesday is the time suggested,

AMERICA.

ARRIVAL OF TIE AFRICA

EXTRA6IiDINASMNGTON ARY EXCITEMENT AT
W.

MURDER BY A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES AT MID-DAY,
IN THE PUBLIC STREETS.
STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSION-TWO

AWFUL

HUNDRED tivig-iZif

The British and North. American Royal Ntail
steamer Africa, Capt. Shannon, arrived in the 'Mersey
this morning, with 69 passengers, 13 distressed sea-
men, and dates from New York to the 2nd inst.

The Ye

den, th

v York Herald Mr. Richard Cob-
lebrated Englislt reformer, who arrived by
in this city, at the Brevoort. House,

the Canada, is

avenue."

the telegraphic despatch from New Orleans, dated
28th of February, mports the terrible calamity
he explosion of a steamer, by which 200 persons
have been sacrificed. All the particulars which have
as yet been a-eceivecLare given below.
Advices had been received at New Orleans, from
Vera Cruz, conveying important news from Mexico.
Only a telegraphic despatch of it. had however
reached New York, and which is as follows :
Nmv ORLEANS, Peb. 26, 1859.---The steamship Tennessee
has arrived from Vera Cruz :12nd inst.
Miram9n was still at Orizaba with x,OOO men, and was
collecting forced. loans evert, where.
He had formed a Catinet, consisting of Larrainzan,
Minister of Foreign Relations ; Zagaeeta, Minister of
Finance ; and• Castillo, Ainister of War.
There 'emre '4,000 liberal troops at Zacatecas, and another
body at Morelia.

The Pewits° of the 16th -stales that the French and
English icon-wanders Eotified the captain of the American
0 ol) of war Saratoga that they should board the Tennessee
-to see if any filibusters were on board. The captain of the
Saratrca intilmated tiat they wild not do so while his ship

was nt-ar er.ough.

revent it

minisCers at the capital had ric
President.

Tke

,fish and French :squadrons were in a

le'introre e'er

Cruz, and favouring Mir

mon and the

T. They will atto

the city from the sea, w'nile
same from the land side. [This
-aph seem to contradict each

and tht
other.

ling parag

The English 411 d French merchants at Vera Cruz hare
renounced 'the ;protection of their own flag, and placed

'es nude

the Amei

an flag.