The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-07-31 00:00:00

7d.

TO THR EDITOR OF •TRE BRITISH PRESS;
• Siß—ln the Times of Wednesday, the Editor is vcty
is dirnant that such " trash" u one-peand Bank of Eng-,
land notes should be in circulation, without either hinuiff
or any other City Gentleman bating the satisfaction of
touching them; and when, " on examining
ia little more
closely, 'he dbiecturs "it is the 'Treasury " that pat
their dependents in this bobs eutteney," hie fury becomes
so outrageous, that to relieve himself be turns upon the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and accrues him of all kind*
•
of insincerity for countenancing a "'work so ineoneistent
with all his earn declared opinions." Now, Sir, this same
Editor is notorious for his unqualified abuse of all thoso
who think that the fundholders ought tti be taxed—a pro-
ceeding which he designates ate a downright robbery, end
in utter subversion of all national faith. It wound be well
if this setere moralist displayed.the same high mbr*l settee
in other matters; it, at least, would glee greater weight to
his charge of " inconsistency" against others. that it may
he, that in this gentleman's code of ethics, the otakayofan
obligation depends on the character of the parties with
whom it is made; and that a speculator in the Funds has
a stronger claim to the fulfilment of a contract made
with him, than such a body, for instance,.. as the
Governors and Company of the Bank of. England.
If so, it will be useless to remind the Times that the fact
itioaja libi'eb he is Se jeaiglashf, u gad valet than Au pees.
&innate, of ma agreement entered into by Geemment,
under thO sanction of Parliament, with the For, in
the Parliamentary debates of May Q 7, 1818, it will be
found that the then Chancellor of time Exclieqtter (Mr.
Vansittart) informed the House that part of his ways and
means was an agreement by the Bank, to adrance thc sum
of three millions, at thtee per cent., on the condition that
the Corporation should he permitted to extend their capi-
taltQ filtetn millions; with a further proposition that their
promissory notes should continue to he received in payrbents
mode nt the Trearary. The resolutions embracing this Pro-
position wire agreed to by the House. How, after this,
can Mr. ROBTMON (who had nothing whatever to do with
snaking tl is arrangement) be accused of insincerity or in-
consistency in allowing the notes of the Bank, whether of
U. or loot value, to be received at the Treasury , when,
if lie were to refuse to do so, lie would be guilty ofja direct
violation of a contract made by Government, and con'
, firmed by tl e House of Commons ?
s I am, Sir, •
• YOUR CONSTANT IItADER.

A RECENT MIRACLE.

Some few evenings back a mourning party were assembled in
one of the upper reams of a house In Betesford-oreet, for the me.
lancholy purpose of keening over the remains of a departed friend.
Every thing was prepared for this sad solemnity with the greatest
decorum. The gentlemen were supplied with pipes and podeen—
the ladies had their tea and tears. at suited the ootasinn. The
corpse was decked with flowers, which would have shod their fre-
grance around, had not the stronger perfume of the " sovereig
weed" cone forth with every blast lions some scores of inourne...,
A doro lighte, save one, were pine el aroun ! the sad remains ..f
her who once was lovely, but now, alas !no more. The emne waS
solemn—the I.dur was silent, though not the company. It was tl,el
time when ghosts begin "to scent the morning air." The drossy
guardians of the night, responsive to the deep-tuned bell, were try-
ing the hour of one. :Nits. O'Raffetty, the kind-hearted hostess of
the company, had just commenced In a strain of plaintive lamenta-
tion, to recount the virtues of her deputed friend, when, dreatlf.d
to relate, the flooring of the apartment, which had not been cue.
/eructed to bear so ponderous a load as eighty-five human being.,
gave way with a tremendous crash, preemita.eere sires and sons,
maids and masons, in one confused beep, into the room below.—:
Here all was darkness and silence ; every light had been extinguish.
eel by the Fall, every tongue had been earalystel by the sudden cata(-
trophe. Before the intrusion of the mourning company. a widnwed
mother and her infant child were the only inmates of this love!
tenement. The toothier heard the crash, but -heard no more; slid
clasped her infant in her arms es they lay together in the bed, mid
from that moment sense and hematite were lost. After a time the
precipitated mourners began to recover from their firs claim, and
one of them, who found ornisiuretl by the fall. extrie4ted ..
himself from hit companions. And groping his way out, procured
light, with which he returned to the assistance of those who had
suffered by the ucciden.. But what a sight was now presented !
On the floor was stretched, in one promiscuous heap, the entire
company which had been assembled in the mom above ; some
lying on their face( , some on their backs end sides, and in the
midst of them stood, as erect as in the days of her youth, her aim
had been the object of their lamentations, her countenance still pre.
sentirg the pallid hue of death.
"' T was listening fear and dumb meet:went all," strong th
wondering throng ; the lit ing were no longer thought of--tle: dead
alone became the object of attention ; but who dare look ttooa
sight so awful? He who had brought the light was the first to re-
cover the use of speech and motion, but it was only to plunge the
rest into greater hocrors ; he uttered a faint cry. (hashed the (puerile
to the floor, and rushed from the apartment. Again the eompan e
were left in utter d trknese, while among them stood the resuseleatid
inhabitant of another world. Who can ithagine a scene 111012
dreadful.
At this time the " grey-eyed mom began to dawn," and it bap.
pened that the gas-light man was going round to extinguish his not.
turnalluminatice. The mourner who had emancipated himself front
the scene of horror within, related to him, as well as his faltering(
accents would permit, his tale of wonder and alarm, and requesmi
he would not extinguish the lamp until a sufficient number of
lights could be procured, not only to fright away the ghost, if such
it was, bat to see tire extent of mischief and injury done to the
living. The hour had come, however (two o'clock), when the
lamps were to be put out, and out they must go ; remonstrance was
in rain ; broken limbs or fractured tkulls could make ao
diffe-
rence ; the Gas Company had nothing to do with such mutters ;
there was no allowance for contingencies in their contract, and oar;
went the lamp accordingly. A gentleman residing in the neigh-
bourhood, being aroused by the noise, went out to inquire the
cause of it, and having learned a few particulars, he insisted in le
peremptory manner on the fellow re-lighting the lamp, until the
dead and dying could be removed from the ruins. With some
difficulty his request wax at last complied with, and lights and as.
sistance being procured, several persons proceeded to the scene oe
the (titterer. Here all was finned as it had been left; not a being had
ventured to move or articelate a sound, and even the deceased i had
maintained her upright position, without advancing or receding a.
single Ifoot. The presence of light, and the encouragement of
those who had last entered, at length induced the felt=
throng to begin to look around them. and to Inquire the in.
juries received by their companions. fine after another, how-
ever, started upon their legs, though still doubtful whether they
had a whole leg to stand upon. But what was their joy and
their surprise to find that neither bruise or fracture had occurred.
But still, she who had been dead stood among them f and as they
were assembled to wake her to her grave and not unto life, they all
made the best use of those limbs to which they were restored, by
quickly escaping from her awful presence. The room being thins
cleared of its former visitors, the party who had last entered began
to bestir themselves, for they knew that the mother and the doe,
open whinge premises this unprecedented trespass had treen our-
mined, still remained buried beneath the flooring. With some die.
ficulty they cleared away the rubbish, when tney discovered tea
poor woman and her child—safe and sound. the latter sleeping coat.
peedly, and to (mince as tranquil ale if nothing had happened.
The deceased too had by this time resumed her recumbent posture,
and no longer presented that awful appearance which had simile
such terror into her living friends. Theis, however, were rot in-
clined to resume their mourning duties ; they could not so soon re-
cover from the alarm, neither was it easy to convince their minder
that a miracle had not been wrought.
Lest our readers might suppose that we too were dealing in the
miraculous, we shall give a simple solution of what at first armee
so passing strange. When the floor gave way, as we base [eaten,
from the weight that pressed upon it, the joists broke in the centre ;
but remaining fixed at the ends, the flooring formed two inclined
planes, down which the company slid gently, and thus escaped in.
The body of the deceased slid down in like manner, and,
coming on its feet, so remained, to the astonishment and terror of
the beholders. The escape of the woman and her alibi may swa-
the most extraordinary part of this occurrence—but it is as eeei
accounted for as the rest. tier bed happened to be placed again,:
the wall, and consequently under that part of the floor which eon..
tinued to be supported by the ends of the joists: in this manner she
was as perfectly secure as if no accident had occurred. We shell
only say in conclusion, that "all's well that ends well," as in thus
- —Freeman's Journal.

A true bill has been found at the Surrey Sessions, aza:.r.st
Mr. Elliston, for the assault upon Mr. Poole.
I.IIIIIN-OUT FOR WAGES AT BSIST t.—Pnring the
last fortnight some symptoms of striking for wages have,
we understand, appeared amongst the shipwrights of Bris-
tol, occasioned by a notice from their employers, that us
consequence of foreign competition, they cannot afford to
I give the wages they hare been accustomed. A reduction cr!
Is. per day has been proposed, and refused ; and many
men who could, at the reduced price, earn 2U. per week.
have applied fbr parish relief for their wives and farad*.
The Overseers of Clifton parish have wisely refused all such
applies:os ; and the notice from St. Peter's filoapital has.
so doubt/ reference to the subicaL

• I
#
I t
II I
I.

1