The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-04-12 00:00:00

COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE.

Last evening a full rehearsal of Weber 's new opera of
Oberon took place, upon which occasion a numerous party
of the nobility and gentry were invited, principally consist.
ing, of course, of the haul tom In the musical world. It is
not our intention to enter into any criticism either ')f the
piece 9r the music until it is regularly before the public,
our business being on this occasion only to announce, that
an unfortunate accident occurred to Miss Paton in the pro.
gress of the piece. In the early part of the second act, she
had a grand scena to go through, the scenery at the first
part of it representing a storm at sea. After waiting some
time at this point, Mr. Fawcett came forward and an.
nouncetl, with that feeling and tenderness which are so pe-
culiar to him, that in shifting the lut scene, Miss Paton
had received a blow on the head, but that he hoped she
would shortly be enabled to go on with the rehearsal. Af-
ter waiting a further time, Mr. Fawcett again came for-
ward, and said that lie very much regretted that Miss
Paton was too unwell to appear during that act—nor, in
fact, did she re-appear during the evening. Our eaders
will anticipate the regret that was expressed on the occa-
sion of this unfortunate accident. Miss Paton km:, deserv-
edly a favourite of the public, that we are sure this intelli-
gence will find similar commiseration with them. We at
the same time sincerely hope, that on her own account, as
well as that of M. Von Weber and of the public, who are
so anxiously looking for this opera, that site may be suffi-
ciently recovered to appear this evening.

We feel it to be an act of justice to the liberality and
judgment of 114r..Peel, and to the merits of Lora Alloway
as a lawyer and a judge, to notice, in this particular man-
ner, the appointment of the latter to the Justiciary Bench,
in room of Lord Hermand, who has resigned. Had the
legal appointments of the last twenty years been all of a
similar kind, the decisions of our Supreme Court, as well
as the improvements of our judicial proceedings, would
have been more satisfactory to the country than they uow
happen to be.—Scots Timer.
On Monday the remains of the Reverend P. S. Char-
rier were taken from Liverpool to Lancaster for interment,
and were attended out of town by a very numerous com-
pany of his hearers and friends. Upwards of thirty car-
riages and coaches, conveying his more immediate friends
and respectable connexions, composed part of the funeral
procession.

AMERICAN INFANTINE ARITHMETICIAN.—The son of
Judge Clayton, of Athens, Georgia, about ten years of age,
possesses the most astonishing arithmetical powers of mind.
He can reduce any given number of miles to inches, years
to seconds, &c. performing the whole operations in his
head, and will give the result as quick as an expert calcu-
lator can with a pen. Among other questions asked him
were the following, which he solved with ease and expedi-
tion :—llow many inches are there in 1,373,489 miles?
How often will a wheel 5 feet 6 inches in diameter turn
over in 90 miles ? What is the cube root of 24,743,682?
He bat on more than one occasion (Eighteen months ago)
raised the number twelve to its 15 power—that is to say,
multiplied that number into itself Is times. Ile can multi-
ply tliree figures by three figures. The whole is performed
by the bare strength of memory, for it is done in the
usual way ; there is no mystery in it, no short method or
plan of his own. This faculty was discovered in him at
about eight years of age, and has most astonishingly im-
proved since that time.—New York Advertiser.

At the ninth annual meeting of the Methodist Illu-
sionary Society, for the Liverpool district, held in that
town on Tuesday last, Jamts Montgomery, Esq. of Shef-
field, delivered an eloquent speech, in which hedepicted
the deplorable state of the kunAllelp world, and powerfully
advocated the missionary cause: *
FALSE REPRESENTATION.—A waiter, at a chop-house,
in Ilolborn, was, a few days ago, married to the daughter
of a respectable retired tradesman,
residing at Islington—
a man of considerable wealth, in consequence of his having
been falsely represented to the parents of his bride, thatt
°' he had an excellent situation in the Victualing Office.
A gentleman who has often been admired for the bulk of
Ids whiskers, and their peculiar elegance, was 'stinieing a
few ladies up Pride-hill, Shrewsbury, during a stormy af-
ternoon last week, when a sudden gust of wind from the
Butcher's-row had the bad" manners to take him by the
beard, and remove the whiskers from their elegant position
on his cheeks, to the more lofty situation occupied by his
eyes, which they completely shut up. The ladies very
good-naturedly lent him their assistance in couching hit
cataract, and putting the disease in his pocket—Shrewslatry
Chronicle.
PURSERS 05' THE ROYAL NAVY.—We understand that
' about 160 Pursers, in accordance with the orders issued by
the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, have retuned
themselves unfit for duty, and that in consequence an
arrangement is about to be made fdr their retirement of
them.
The cutter Thaufov, of 62 tons, Capt. Brisbane, which
accompanied Capt. Weddell, in the Jane, on his enterpriz-
ing and hazardous voyage of investigation towards the
South Pule, arrived in the Downs on Monday from New
South Shetland and Cape Horn, having been absent nine-
teen months unaccompanied.
Tits SILK TRADE.—At a meeting of the Dock Com-
mittee of Liverpool on Tuesday, a petition to the House
of Commons was directed to be presented against the Bill
now before that House, for restricting the iiitportation of
foreign manufactured silk to the port of London, and
praying that the port of Liverpool may be admitted to a
participation in that trade.
I'vE Frani:ay.—We are sorry to learn, that the de•
molition of the weir on the lirye, below Old Forge, is
for the present abandoned. It is said, that a Government
engineer has
given it as his o inion. that if the weir be re-
moved the shallowness of the river in its neighbourhood
p
I will he greatly angrau,ted, and the str.:lna at Old i7o;ir be
I o:tly a f,w ittea,:s in depth.