The National Register.
London, England, 1820-05-28 00:00:00

173

The complete abandonment of the expedition pre-
pared at Cadia aglinu South A►neriaa is at- length
announced in letters from that city of the 2d Inst.
The greater part of the transports chartered in
France and in this country for the conveyance of
the troop had alre:uly received their certificates of
discharge, and the remainder were to receive them
as fast as they could ba unloaded. I;1 addition to-
this decisive step it is stated, that all tii troops who
had fulfilled their period of servicz, been d'ig-
banded. roil tc:o•thirds of the expethtionary army
were in this predicament.
A curious mercantile fraud has been practised at
Floinburgh. Several of the most eminent con►mcr.

cial houses in that city received at one and the same
time, from fictitious commercial houses at Frankfort,
Gotha, &c. (though not known to be such at tie
moment) large orders for a particular kind of tobacco.
These orders were in part executed, because it wax
not required tint the goods should be sent till the
mole of payment was pointed out, which it was in-
timate:: would be through the medium of hotn:es uC
known respectability at Frankfort. It appeared af-
terwards, however, that this experiment was tried in

order to cause a demand for that 'Articular kind of
tobacco of which the contrivers of the trick bad an
ample stock, and of which they thus hoped to dispose
at a high price. It dues not appear with what
success this manoeuvre was attended.

Preparations arc now actively carrying on irt
Westminster-hall for the Coronation. Arrangements
are making to suspend magnificent chandeliers from
the- roof, and after Saturday next the buildings at
the extremity of the ball, in which the Courts of
Chancery and King's Bench are held, will be taken
down, to afford additional space for the ceremony.
We trust that, in the reconstruction of those Courts,

more attention will be paid to the accommodation of
suitors and the public. The Court of King's
Bench will sit next Term in Sergeants'-inn.
I?rviell Sot:it-4%—A Council was held on Thurs3ay
last, whcii Sir Joseph Bankcs tendered his resigna-
tion, but it was not accepted, on the avowtsl ground
of delicacy and respect for a gentleman who has so
long filled the President's chair, with honour to
himoelf and satisfaction to the Society. It is sups
pond, nevertheless, that the worthy Baronet will
persevere in requesting to resign the Chair, and we
understand that, in that case, it is not unlikely that
it may be taken by Prince Leopold This amiable
Prince has, it seems, particularly turned his atten-
tion to Natural History, and is particularly conve:si
stint with Mineralogy a. 1.1 Botany. He is, indeed,
understood to be attached to the Sciences in getiert,
and to have made great progress in the study of the 'a
all. We learn, it has been whispered, that the
Prince, in consequence of the expected resignation
of the present revered PresiZent, had been consulted,
and had spoken to his Majesty on the occasion, free'
whom he received the most gracious encouragement!
If this arrangement should- take place, the Prince
will have a very gratifying occupation to fill Lie
vacant hours, and will confer additional honour upon .
the Society, while it will tend to attach him still
more to.a country which has treated -him with su
much liberality, and of which he expresses his most
grateful sense on all occasions.
lathe Memoirs of the late M. Suard, there is an
Anecdote of the Prince P.oyal of Portugal extremely
interesting. In speaking of the dreadful earthquake
at Lisbon, when fallen and falling houses were
burying the dead and the living in one common
grave—when the earth was threatening to open, and
the sea to break in and ingulph the whole, a young
man, in the flower of age and strength, raised his
voice amids the ruins, and cried out, " Follow me.
my friends; let us yet strive to save those who reay
be alive." In the ruins of a house he observed an
old man with his legs broken, and whose lamenta'ile
cries fur assistance were disregarded. The young
man made his way through the tottering fraerlent-,
drew the victim from the ruins, hoisted him on hi-
back, and brought. him to a place of :leiter. 'file
old man was a ncgro. The young man was a Doi 1.
of Braganza. This spectacle of a Prince of ti -
Royal Family bearing a negro on his s7.lou,den-s—
-this homage paid to humanity in an untbrttinale
individual, of a race scarcely regarded its a cia•:,
proioundly touched every bollohler, at a moment
when their hearts were petrified by terror, and re-
stoked their energies for the succour of others as if
by miracle. _ _ .

'rite half—yearly public examination of the
ren in the two schools of the Clergy Orphan Coe.
potation wok place on Monday last, at the .`!..1i0.•1
House, St. John's-wand, Marylelmne. His Gr
the Arelibish.y of Canterbury presided on the
There were also present the Bishops
Ely, Exeter, and Salisbury, Lords Kenyon and
De Dunstanville, and a 1111111a0US assembl.l:4.'of
ladies and gentlemen of Aliginetioa: chilitrta
went through every part of their examination wlth
the greatest preciseness and accuracy, and highly
to the satisfaction of his Grace and all present, lvha
expressed their approbation in the most
terms.