The National Register.
London, England, 1817-08-04 00:00:00

ACCIDENTS, OFFENCES, &c.

Saunas Drarn.—On Sunday last a poor blind woman, led
by her daughter, a girl about eighteen years of age, was
passing through a court in Whitechapel, when the daughter
was taken suddenly, ill and sat down °pone step,where clasping
her arms round the neck of her agonized parent, she expired
withouta groan.—A Coroner's Jury which sat upon the body
brought in a verdict of Natural Death.
FIN e.—About .four o'clock on Wednesday afternoon a firs
broke out in one of the new houses in Waterloo-place, Pull-
man, which nearly destroyed it before the arrival of the
engines. _ _

On Monday night, or early on Tuesday morning, a house
situated on the hanks of the Thames, opposite the tide•mill at
Deptford, was broken into andiplimdered of property to the
value of nearly 1001. The house bad been recently taken by
Mr. Dodson, corn-merchant.
CERIOUS CASES OF FRAUD.—On Tuesday last a Mall
dressed as a hotelier, and representing himself as coining
from the house of Mr. Thomas the butcher, in charinq•eross,
went to the house of Cie Speaker of the House of Commous,
and tlentainled a let. of mutton, which he said had been sent
mere through mistake. Though the mutton had been spitted,
the cook load the credulity to give it tolim, with the under-
standing that another would Le immediately sent to replace
it. The same man obtaiiied another kg of mutton, under
similar circumstances, at the house of thk Bishop of Lmeoln,
and a large piece of beef at the lionse'of another customer
of Mr. Thomas. It was not until their patience was ex-
hausted, and the hours of dinner approached, that the ser-
vants of the several houses ascertained that a fraud had bees
practised upon them. Du enquiry at Mr. Thomas's it
was found that no such person had been sent from his
house.

ORIGIN OF THE WINCHESTER MEASURE AND ST. SIM/C.
IN'S ADAGE.—In a compendium of " The History a Ramp-
bliire," we have the following article :

" By an ordinance of Edgar's, to prevent fraud, one measure was
established for the whole kingdom, and the standard vessel being
kept at Winchester, was the origin of the term' Winchester Mea-
sure.' _ _ _

" St. Swithin, at his awn previous solicitation. was buried in the
church-yard. instead of the chancel, of Winchester Cathedral ; and
when an order was obtained to remove his relics into the choir, a moat
violent shower of rain fell en the destined day, and continued for the
39 succmsive days. without intermission; in consequence of which.
the idea of removal was abandoned as displeasing to St. Swithim
though the Saint afterwards relentesi, and suffered his bones to be
taken from the cemetery, and lodged among the remains of she other
Bishops, in the year 1093. The vulgar adage, that we shall have
40 day; continuance of wet weather, whenever rain falls on St. Swith.
in's festival, July 15, doubtless arose from this presumed supernatu..
cal circumstance."

TH% ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM.—The Meta-•
hers of this Order never appeared more numerous than at.
the present moment. la its most flourishing epochs the
number of its Knights was limited to five thousand in the
whole of Europe ; now France alone -contributes a greater
number. It has become a matter of surprise how the:Order
has contrived to moltiply its Members, when fur the Ina fit.
teen years it has been without a Grand Master; the ReArndir
possessing only the Administrative, and not the Sorereign •
Power, consequently cannot create Knights, that being the•
privilege of the Grand Master exclusively. The Pope
having the Spit itual, but no temporal Authority, earn neither
exercise the power of creating, nor delegate that power ter
another. It is there fore inferred that all the new ere-aliens
arc in set void and abortive ; and as the old Alembers of
the Order of Malta consider thr.e creations as reveirtiouary
and irregular, they will not admit the Knights se crewed ae,
forming a part of their Ancient and sHonourable Order. A
schism may therefore v.-re reasonably be expected, that wW'
excite no small theme of discussion amongst thine interested
in ancient establishments.

Lists NATU&t.E.—At I.inttyclent-,•11, in the parish of- Can-
noby, Dumfrieshire, that scarce bird, a white •eraw, was,
hatched in the rookery of 1.0:4AX, Esq. and not only
were the feathers w bite, but even the re( t, the beak, and site
eyes! This ornithological anomaly was terribly persecuted'
by his sable brethren ; and had not he been timely rescued
by his •capturer and deliverer, hit life might have paid the • •
misfortune of having, however innocently, des iated from the •
costume of his kindred.

OM( II ACT.—The -folteming is it ropy a 11,
el titer uthit•il by way of rider, to the Huckney CoachLiecnes •
Act, which ret china the Hu.) 41 Abzent us the litli of Jinx"
ISIT

_
6' And be it further enacted, that it shall be lawful for anr per-
son to require any hackney-coachman to drive, fur a stated slimed
money, a distance, in the discretion of suds hackney-coachman, anti
in case such coachman shell exceed the distance to which such per-
son was entitled to be driven for such ',gated sunauf money, the catch- •
man shall nut be entitled to rictuatad more than the awn for/eldula
he was so engaged to drive."
Suomi' ReasoNs FOR SHORT PETTICOATS.—iIit, Ab4olote-
ly u,•,essary for petticoat govermaent.-241. Essential to the
fashionable nti:ilury walking step.- 341,,Patriotic enc‘in age -
mein to silk stocking mauufactories.-4th, The life mid soul
of quadrilles, waltzing, and movements ell Artiroißlt
Safety, celerity, nod facility, in ascending and descending
carriage-steps and stair-cases.-tint, Annihilate all auks% ard
tricks of hanging the heels upon the chair-rail,
Teach Alte.proper tweof the kg and foot,.and keep up the
laudable practice• of the Live positions,-801, ludispemsible to
the unity. promotion, 5041 harmony of modern drt
lirratly conducise to health at (ills season sof the year.
Ilue Ladies formerly %yore petticoats to outer tiatir onsk'at,
now they wear them tog-over their knees.
. iloolittu.l)Euu .-414. steal atrocious attempt .at moister look-
place in Iluiluwrll, in the United States, the 6th of Jule,
by one. Capt. M. Nlorrison's shooting his wife in tlu pui..in
street. It appeals that for wan, years he had Ira:it:4l !see
extremely ill, insomuch as to induce !lento apply 4Or a
yore*. 'flak having htMtt effected, he was su enraged that no •
elfin ts of hers could appease or deter bint .ft out Jos host id.
purpose. Accurdisigly, as slur Jett her !mum', tresucapoillie
!hi eut of the monster, Ile 4evt lied Isis goo' loaded IA its two
balls and a quantity of shot, acted placed the. u bole charge *f
shot into her body iitsd limos---Cfc balls missing
,snit into the ground. 611 e us. ton

!liaise adjacent, where 1.0141 e huge was I-uteri:tined of It% r
recovery. Morrison, who had retircd to bed t% -oh . tate srf,Atis
ettik:rett. appeared to have Ia lketo.a done, in Hotel th..ettle,
rcti.or,e, taut antidotes wt to .a.ittnuisteted, and lie %Asa. vuoi.
atittrd to Auausta.gaol fur 1.11..1.
TIJ den &orients of J. Hatfield, Esq. wet last week at-tile
S!ieur.i At ms, at Wakefield in Yorkshire, to Aettle their rents,

After dinner the eonver►ation tersied noun he /umbers of
their families; *then it appeareAl, 'that althoogit one of they*
was a bachelor, the other r 2 had 9114 Itiladra 014 brain
#4- of witunk NlBfe them livigg.

Fits 114.i.ms•rv.—The tialowing is the lust Bulletin
exhibited at St. Junies's tin- the last month :

Windsor Castle. August 2, 1817.
" His MAJESTY has been generally in good health and tranquil
spiriui during the last month ; though. perdaps. less unitbnnly than
for wine months preceding. His MAJESTY'S disorder has suffered
nu alteration.
" 11. II tI.FORD. W. lIEBEHHENT.
M.13:111,1E. R. WILLIS."

ST. SAVIOUR'S WORKHOUSE DITATRO Imo BY FlRt.—•
About five o'clock yesterday afternoon the above pre-
mises, which were situated at the entrance of the Kent.,
road, on the left hand very near to the Elephant and
Castle, and formerly occupied by Mr. Richardson, a
coachntaker, were set on fire by the flue of a gingerbread
baker's over that adjoining them. The building which
was of considerable extent, has for the last three years
been occupied by the poor of St. Saviour's, Southwark ;
and as it was amstructed entirely of wood, the flames
raged with great fury, and though the fire hro ke on t during
day-light, there was considerable difficulty in saving the
/ eves of several of the poor inmates, particularly those that
were sick and those who were lame. The greatest ex-
ertions were barely sufficient for this purpose : some were
brought out on the backs of men ; and others who could
not submit even to this exertion, were brought out on
their beds laid on window-shutters. It gives us plea-
sure to say, that all were ultimately saved, and carried
to the.school formerly occupied by Joseph Lancaster in
the Borot.gh-road. Some accidents occurred : one boy
is reported to have been killed, and another to hare bad
his arm broken, and a woman has lost her thumb. Those
accidents were occasioned by the frilling of a chimney of
the building, of which scarcely a vestige remains. We
do not remember to have seen a fire so completely de-
stroy the premises in which it commenced as the one
above. The premises were very extensive, and their re-
mains appear not more than would fill a common wag-
gon.
The preachership of Gray's Inn is again be be severely
contested. A vacancy has just been made by the resig-
nation of Dr. Randolph ; and we have already heard of
three candidates—Dr. Burney, Dr. Holland, and Mr.

. -
Shepherd.
The Harvest commenced last Monday in the C
ties near the Metropolis. Next week it will become
very general ; the crops are most abundant.
it is our pleasing task to communicate the improve-
ments which are 'Zaking place in the inanufacturng,
districts. In the stocking trade of Leicester, few, if &tiny
frames are now unemployed; and the workmen there,
in a public advertisement have declared, that they
" now earn wages that will enable them, by honest
industry to maintain themselves and families, without
having recurrence to the assistance of parochial relief."
In the large parish of Wigton only, where there are
many stocking-makers, there is now but one unem-
ployed. This cheering and consolatory prospect, is
not confined to any particular district, but more or less
extends throughout the country. The bar iron trade
in %Vales, Shropshire, and Staffordshire, is in so flourish-
ing a condition, that the iron masters would rather
decline orders, even at the advanced prices, for they
cannot execute the demands so fast as they receive
them. The nail trade likewise, is so much on the ad-
vance,that manufacturers again employ those men, who,
during the winter months were compelled to seek a
scanty support by labouring on the highways. The
sante activity prvails in the clothing towns of Bradford
and Trowbridge, where trade is much better than has
been known for several months

The following note has been addressed to the Editors
of the different Newspapers, by the Captain of the ves-
sel in which it was said that young Watson had been
conveyed to America. It would not surprise us to find
that the whole of the letter circulated some time ago as
from young Watson to his mother, was a fabrication,
for the purpose of lulling the vigilance of the Police,
and .facilitating his eventual escape from the place of
his concealment:—

!SIR —The statement whirl% appeared in your, and other
papers, respecting the escape of' young Watson to Arne' iris,
as passenger hi the Venus, of New York, whirl, I command,
and did command on the voyage anode(' to, is in nil respects
wrong.
I beg leave to inform yon that no such person as young
Watson went out In my ship, the Venus, ul New York ; nor
do I believe him to have arrived in America, Yon will have
the goodness to insert this, in order to contradict the timner
was-statement.

I am Sir, your humble servant,
N. SCOVELL, Jan.
Carolina Coffee-,bonne, Ritehilt-lade, July 31, 1317.
The celebrated Genend Kosciusko is alive and well;
be arrived at Lausanne on the I '.2th ult.
The finds continue to fluctuate considerable. The
rage for investing capital in the French funds is believed
to be one of the chief causes, as well as of a fall of
percent, in the exchange on Paris within these few
days.
The appointment of the Duke of Northumberland to
the Lord Lieu tenantcy of the county of Northumberland,
to succeed his late Either, has been stated, as not custom-
ary, such appointments not being considered hereditary;
whereas, two of the late appointments have been simi-
lar—the Duke of Devonshire succeeded his thther, for
Derby, and the Marquis of Buckint,rham, his father for
Buckinghamshire.
Paris Papers of the 5.)9th ult. have just arrived, the
contents of which are of trifling importance..