The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-03-22 00:00:00

7HE ARMY.

The Improved System for the Anny is now printed, and will, it
is understood, be shortly issued, by command of his Majesty, to
the British army.
The 2d (or the Queen's Royal) regiment of foot, now stationed
at Athlone, will be soon ordered to England, preparatory to its pro.
eroding to India its future destination.

The Commissioners of the Turnpike Road, in this vici-
nity, on Thursday entered into a contract to lower Ports-
down Hill ten feet. The work is to be completed in the
course of July next.— l'ortssituuth Paper.
At the present Assists there are seventy-three causes for
trial ; of which seven are from the hundrecis of Amound-
erness, Lonsdale, Blackburn, and Lcyland ; thirty-four
front the hundred of Salford ; and thirty-two from the
hundrtml of West Derby.—Lieerpud 211erreiry.
ALIJA; un Multi/ER AT PA lITINGTON.—It will be seen
front the list cf committals to Turk Castle, that a person of the
name of Edmund Hobson, of Parting on, stands eharp,eo with the
wilful murder of his wife. We have received some .particular of
this case, which Is involved in great mystery, but as die Assizes
commence in so short a period, we deem it advisable to withhold
them from publication. The prisoner is a schoolmaster, between
sixty and seventy, and his wife was still oider—h Is stated seventy-
nine. The parties, unhappily, did not live on good terms. On
the evening of Tuesday week, he went home, at a very late hour,
much intoxicated, and a quarrel took place, during which he be.
hayed to her very harshly, and threatened further ill-treatment. A
neighbour interfered, and the parties became, in some degree, re-
conciled. The next morning she was found dead, in a well near
the back door of the house, with one of her arms broken llow
this event occurred will form the subject of future inquiry.—!/ail

AN ALCII M I vt's Tat ices.—The best delusion ever prac-
tised by the Aleitynnists, gays Voltaire, was that which a 11osi.
crut ion played. towards 1620, on Henry 1., Duke of Bouillon, of
the house of Tourenne. reigning Prince of Sedan. " Von do not
possess," said the llottering charlatan, " a sovereignty worthy of
your great qualities, and it is in my power to make you richer than
the Emperor. I can only remain. however. two days in your tern.
weirs. for 1 ant obliged to go to Venice, to attend a grand meeting
if the brethren ; it'. therefore, I confer wealth on you, you must
keep toy secret. Send to the chief apotherary of the city, an'
purchase solo° sugar •of lead ; throw in a single grain of the red
powder which I will give you, and put the whole into a vessel
over the tire, and in less than a quarter of an hour it will be con-
Iverted to gold." lie performed the operation, and repeated it three
times in the presence of the itoiticrucian, who had previously pur-
chased all the sugar of lead which was in Sedan, and had resold it
mixed with some gold. On quitting Sedan, he made the Duke a
present of all his transmuting powder; who, having obtai.ted a
small quantity of gold in his experiments, did not doubt that, with
the three hundred grains of pow& t, he should gain three hundred
ounces of gold. lie began to reckon his wealth ; anti talc-aimed,
that within a week he should gain thirty-seven thousand pounds,
without thinking of what he might afterwards gain. The philo-
sopher, however, was in haste to depart. He had given all his
treasure to the Prince, and only wanted a small sum of the current
money of the country to carry him 10 Venice, where he was to be
preset at the meeting of the Iler sartie States. Ile wit very tno.•
iterate in his desires, and travelled without spending much money.
He only asked 20,000 crowns to defray the expense of his journey
to Vence: the Duke was ashamed that a man who had given him
MD much should receive an small a sum, and gave him 40,111.00. lie
soon afterwards consumed all the sugar of lead in Sedan, and then
he made no more gold. The adept returned tin more, having made
' a very good bargain io getting /0,000 crewna fur about three i
ounces of geld—The Chartist.