Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-06-23 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TINES,

Sir,—Another ship has been added to the long
st of wrecks caused by the non-use of the lead
ne. The Sea King, a vessel of about 900 tons,
vas lost in Carnarvon Bay on the night of the
[7th May, not by storm, stress of weather, or any
other accident, but solely from the non•use of the
lead line. The case was tried at George's Hall, on
Saturday, 13th inst., before Mr. Mansfield and
Capt. Robinson, R.N. It was proved the weather
was fine. It was proved that the Captain utterly
repudiated the use of the line (filthy things are
lead lines, and, of course, no gentlemanly captain
would touch them), and it was proved that he lost
his ship in consequence, for here are the words of
the decision in the case.—Mr. Mansfield stated
" that there could be no doubt the Sea King had
been lost by the omission to use the lead, for if that
had been done the soundings would have showed
that, instead of the ship being in the position
supposed, she was approaching land on a danger-
ous part of the coast. They regretted, therefore;
they would be obliged to send Captain Forman's
certificate to the Board of Trade, to be dealt with
as they felt right."

Now this is all fine—" very fine." Take away
the Certificate of the Captain—what of that ? It
is no punishment for the litigant and ignorant
conduct that caused *the loss of such a fine ship
and valuable cargo. If the Court had the power
to send the Captain to penal servitude for six years,
it would not be half punishment for such an
offence, and until a few dozen of the " gentlemen "
who laugh at the lead line, are sentenced to trans-
portation for life, for offences of this sort, which
are daily committed, you will have to record
plenty of losses like the Sea King.—Yours, &0.,

EMIGRATION AGENTS AT LIVERPOOL.— There are fifty-
one licensed passenger brokers, and 222 emigrant runners
at the port of Liverpool—as a return to the House of Com-
mons informs us:

Miss Anna Maria Quinn, the Australian juvenile
actress, will make her first appearance in London at the
Theatre Royal, Haymarket, on the 23rd of Jnly, perform-
ing in the farce of The Actress of All Work.
Since the opening of the British Museum the daily
average of readers has risen from about 180 to upwards
of 450, while the average of applications for tickets of
admission has increased from ten or twelve to nearly fifty
a day.

RIARRIAGB OF THE PRINOES3 ROYAL —BERLIN, J(.1'10 17.
—The news ties reached us from Windsor, that January
18, of next year, has been definitively fixed on for the
nuptials of the Princess Royal and Prince Frederick
William.

The Gaildhall library, which has for some years past
been a sort of literary crypt for the sepulture of a valuable
collection of antiquated works of reference, and -of such
additional new books as could be interred within its presses,
through the liberal expenditure of £2OO a year, is to be made
partially available for lending.
The president for the ensuing year of the Association of
Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals for the Insane,
Dr. Forbes Winslow, will receive the members of the
association at a conversazione on Wednesday evening,
July 1. The annual meeting will take place in London,
on Thursday, the 2nd of July.
M. de Lesseps has invited the attendance of gentlemen
interested in the route to India, at a meeting to be held ou
Wednesday, at the London Tavern, to receive a statement
of his explanations relative to the proposed ship canal
across the Isthmus of Suez. The chair will be taken at
one o'clock by Sir James Duke, 1%1.P.
SINGULAR ORIICCTION TO AN OATH.—At the Monmouth
Police-court, on Tuesday, a witness in an assault case wa
objected to be sworn by the attorney for the defence on the
ground of his not knowing the Lord's Prayer, but, after
some consultation, the objection was overruled by the bench
as having been set aside by a recent act#of Parliament.
A caricature now exciting much amusement at Rome,
represents the. Pontiff taking a quiet evening stroll with a
huge cigar in his- mouth, labelled "The Revenue," and
answering the familiar query of a passer-by as to what his
Holiness may be about, with the idiomatic,-and pithy phrase,
"Me la fumo," which may be pharaphrased into " Doing
my best to smoke it out."

At a meeting of the F ench Academy a few days ago,
M. Elie de Beaumont announced his wish to lay before the
savans there congregated a series of discoveries. The
novelties be announces to the Academycomprise—a method
of re-producing animal life, a complete solution of the pro-
blem of aerial navigation, a project for a universal lan-
guage, and the discovery of tbecause and nature of, and an
infallible cure for, cholera.
~VINe —ln the year 1856, the total quantity of wines of
all kinds imported into the United Kingdom, was 9,481,880
galls. ; and the qnatitity retained for actual corn.umption was
7,004,954 gallQ., com,osed in nearly equal prtions f red
and white wines. The stock of wine in bond at the end of
o
the year was upwards of twelve million gallons. The
importation from Spain and Portugal alone exceeded seven
million gallons during the year.

SILK IMPORTS.—Trio imports of raw silk last year were
7,383,6721b5. ; knubs or husks, 17,993 cwts. ; and of thrown
silk, 853,0151b5. These quantities are as nearly as possible
double the quantities imported in 1842. China and
Egypt. which gave us only 180,0001bs. of raw silk in 1842,
furnished us last year with 6,233,04916 F., or more than six-
sevenths of the whole imports. On the other hand, the
British East Indies, last year, sent us only 610,4221bs , or
less than half the quantity it exported in 1842, while the
import from Franco has dwindled during the 14 years from
1,156,0001b5. to 157,0001b5.