The Sun.
London, England, 1838-05-17 00:00:00

VESSELS SPOKEN \VIM

The Sirius steamer, from Cork, on the 22d ult., about six hours' sail
from New York ; and the Great Western steamer, from Bristol to New
York, on the same day, in lat. 40. long. 671., by the Westminster,
Moore, arrived off Plymouth —The Margaret from Barbadocs to Dub..
lin, on the 30th ult., in lat. 42, long. 28.-411 e Driad, from Lima to
London, on the Gth inst., by the Alice, Anwyl, arrived off Liverpool.—
Her Majesty's Ship Hastings, from Portsmouth to Quebec, on the2d inst.,
in lat. 43, long. 24, by the Cigar, Smith, arrived off Cork.—The Anne,
of London, on tile 22d ult., in lat. 40, long. 37 ; Elizabeth, of Newcastle,
on the 25th, in lat. 45, long. 32 ; and Dankbarheid, from Canton for
Dordrecht, on the 9th inst., in tat. 42, long. 9, by the Colombia, Prolit,
arrived off the Wight.—The Courier, of Liverpool, March 24th, in lat. 4.
N., long. 23. W. ; and Amphitrite, of Poole, on the 25th ult., in let. 44,
long. 30, by the Penyard Park, arrived off Torbay.—The Liver-
pool, Doane, from New Orleans to Liverpool, on the 4th ult ,
in lat. 28, long. 78 ; Kent, from New Orleans to Liverpool,
March 24th, in lat. 32, long. '2B ; William Russell, of Liverpool,
March Ist, in lat. 7. S. long. 35 ; James, Southard, from
London to the Mauritius, Feb. 4th, in lat. 31, long 22.; the Burling.
ton, Evans, from New Orleans to Liverpool, on the 3d ult., in lat. 2-1
tong. 83. ; Jane Ritchie, for New Orleans, on the 9th
lilt., in lat.
29. long. 23. ; Ariel, bound to the eastward, on the 26th, in lat. 47.
Irmg. 27.; Macassar, for London, and Mersey, from St. John's, N.B.
for Liverpool, on the sth instant, in lat. 49. long. 13., by Cabatia,
arrived at Liverpool.—Abbotsford, late Tucker, from Liverpool to
Bombay, on the 20th Jan., in lat. G. N. long. 38. F..—Maria
Louisa, and Resolutie, both from Batavia to Amsterdam, March
23d, in lat. 13. S. long. 12. NV.—ltapid, from Liverpool to Buenos
Ayres, on the 2d ult.. in lat. 13. N. long. 21. W., and had been
boarded by her Majesty's ships Alligator and Britomart, on the 28th
of March, in tat. 14. long. 24.—Kellie Castle, Buchan, from London
to Madras and Calcutta, on the 3d tilt., in lat. 3. long. 21., which
spoke Inglis on the 29th of March, off San Antonio, and Vigi.
lant, for the Mauritius, on the 31st, in tat. 19. long. 23.—Maria,
from London to Sydney, on the Gth ult., in lat. 5. long. 20 , lett the
Manchester, of Liverpool, a few days.—London, Wimble, 24th ult.,
lat. 32, lon. 37.—Aldebcran (American ship), outward-bound, 6th
inst., lat. 42, long. 23; the Henry Breta, bound to Barbadoes, 7th, lat.
47, long. 12 ; the Louise and Julia and the Elizabeth, the latter from
Lisbon, both bound to Copenhagen, Bth, lat. 47, lon. 10; the Wilhel-
mina, Hanabt rg to St. Thomas, 9th, let. 48, lon. 9,
by the Wellington,
Liddell, arrived at Plymouth. The Cleopatra, bound to Bengal, Feb. 1,
tat. 8. ion. 34 ; the Emulator, from Dartmouth to Newfoundland, 28th
ult, lat. 47, lon. 24. The Nora Crcena, bound to Falmouth, Bth inst.,
off the Lizard. The Auglista, from Copenhagen to New York, 4th
ult., lat. 35, lon. 65, out 92 days, by the William, Jonson, arrived at
New York.lThe Tagus, steamer, Cape Espichael, N. by E. E. 25 miles,
Gth inst. ; the Iberia, steamer, off Vigo, 10th ; the barque West Indian,
from Jamaica for London, Lizard N.E. 50 miles, ..3th, by the Liver-
pool steamer.

Tin; PO- WERS 6F MEMORY AND

TOUCH.

Last Monday night, a truly singular display of natural capabilitico
t al; place at the Argyle Rooms, in Regent .street. 'The Rabbi Ilex.,'
flanemark, a Professor of Hebrew and Rabbinical Literature, front
:-.tutchlin, in Poland, appeared on a small platform before an auditory'
a yarently very familiar with the Hebrew language and literature. Ji
ai•as accompanied by Professor Breslau as interpreter, who stal;ed the
Rabbi's willingness to recite any portion of the Talmud which might
ba demanded by any one amongst his auditory, who would merely state
the number of the page and line at which he wished him to commence.
The Rabbi is a middle-sized man, n,
rather slender, with a bailey'
dl-ooping cast of countenance, terminated by a small sharp hea.
Ills eye is dark and little seen, but always quick and confident: bi 4
yrehead retreating, ant„f
bead particularly high in the region' ,-
'eneration, Firmness, Self-Esteem, and Love of Approbation. Tac
;,arceptive organs are well developed : Order is particularly full, but
d.
..:tnnber is mo.!erate, and, stranger sti'l, the position of the eyes ,
na indication of any re.narkable fullness of Language. His cos
hack hair was nearly covered by a velvet cap. One na:—
. arled lack fell down on each side, and served as a substituetc
r. vili;skers. He dcelaras himself to be twenty.four yea"
!int looks 2d or 30. He wore a silk pelisse or surplice, which reached
is feet, fastened round his waist by a gold wrought girdle. He replieut
ta the questions put by numbers of his auditory in a loud Confidei
,nice, walking to and fro on his little stage, often stopping to comma".(,, amongst his noisy audience, and then continuing to chaunt t'
quotation with a rapidity which his rival professors, who undertook th,e
task of rea.iing, seemed scarcely able to keep pace with. His rough
pronunciation and voluble delivery more resembled the continuous
outpouring of waters which had burst their bounds than anything "-

ever heard. .
that
It would be endless to detail the queries and replies
via
eecurred during the examination of an hour and a 1)314 ,
which fully satisfied all present that he had the seven vnal—ct,
t olio of the Talmud (notes, text, and commentary,) by heai
ilot merely consecutively, but in any order ; that he knew
ontents of every line taken numerically on every page, and, in °°-
!Aim the place of every word, in every line, in every one of its so'et,
• housand pages]* The proof was that he permitted anybody to stici`
pin through any number of leaves, and then freely and unerringly too
't e word punctured cm any given page ?
The books used in this examination were seven volumes of the
nod, of the Berlin and Frankfort edition, supplied by an individual pre
,ant desirous of testing his powers ; but, the Rabbi declared his willing;
aess to answer questions according to any edition that anybodY trig
.-resent to him. He professes to know thus by rote the Midiva also in
.hunt, 8,000 pages of Hebrew, which he can repeat in any quantity, and
commencing in any place that anybody pleases.
But perhaps a more singular capability than even this extraordinary
power of memory was developed in a subsequent illustration of 1-
.tabbi's powers. He requested any person merely to insert his fingers
into one of the thick volumes of the Talmud, and several tirnesa%°;
.ished his assistants by informing them what words were touch`—,
~
heir fingers in these blind and random socks Talmudiana. The
:if this notice made one amongst these essayists, and observed that
11l
labbi also inserted his fingers, and felt carefully, though
marginal commentaries adjacent to the edge of the leaf, and then bor
pronounced tire number of the page on the passage thus hit tiP°l',
To sense but that of touch (that we are aware of) could have 1,5°:,
iibly aided in his divination of these still unopened pages!
veral of the spectators (who certainly did not look beneath the sn' .s;
•xelaimed in astonishment at his surprising powers of sight in Using
Ale to count the leaves in a mass, off hand by their edges. " era
ever, felt tolerably certain that the exercise of very susceptible P°,„„:',.irre
a
of feeling was the modus operandi in this particular. We should P
era
!teen happy to bear testimony to the correctness of the Rabbi's P°l'.rerst
of divination in these oracular doings, but not being versed in 1-4%0
literature (and equally ignorant of Chaldee, Persian, Arabic, Itit's!,, to
the only tongues which the Rabbi spoke) we were oblig
rest content with the satisfaction displayed by the erudite ill.utto,
luals who had taken an active part in the examination °crop_
ilabbi,—amongst whom were Professors Breslau and gr•
Reader to the • Western Synagogue, alb" by no
T,inde nthal, secretary to the new Synagogue. The audience was 7ttie
naeans so numerous as might have been expected from the nature ° the
announcement, which, in addition to the wonders of memerY, le ht•
public to expect some astonishing exhibitions of the powers of Prod
Phis latter display was, however, confined to the rapid insPeeti°.% his
estimate of the number of lines in any printed page presented
sor,
view. This operation he certainly accomplished in a quick an' tot
prisingly exact manner, guessing off hand, in perhaps half the tiltic Dot
even very ready reckoners could, to within one line in 50 or 60;d to
:his performance, clever as it was, scarcely deserved to be menti°neone-
connection with the almost miraculous retention and precision °'
mory
Rabbi evinced by his repetition of the Talmud. r
The declares that he possesses certificates from the EinP:e.
of Russia, the King of Prussia, the King of Saxony, and Prince l'a
ohe
-witch, in whose presence, at Warsaw, it appears,
of his extraordinary carts of memory. The muster roll of morevi_..o
200 soldiers was called over, when he immediately repeated it for a'
nd backwards, without an error. that he exhibited op

•
* A volume of the Talmud contains, on an average, from eight "'
,
nes
tired to a thousand pages, each page averaging sixty to ecventi
text, as many of comment, and as many of notes.

PUNISHMENT OF DEATH (FRANCE).--SeLenTed
ctitions for the abolition of the punishment of death were Pre'''. the
t the Chamber of Deputies; in a debate that took Place on
occasion, the following sentiments were expressed by M. de Laigamber
I consider this question as one of the most important the
felloW"
can have to decide upon. We hold in our hands the lives of our
honest
creatures, and our vote may encourage or discourage raa"Yt
hearts who have signed petitions, not upon mere oPini°n: bti
~,tedly Pos-
taneously, from a pure feeling of humanity. Society unne""
unable, by
sesses the right of life and death ; and so long as it Wa't 50f_pre-
other means, to accomplish the sacred duty 0` wheit
snwation, it may have justly used that right. But
Doe
the object can be attained by means less terrible—wben wterming
a Government, tribunals, and armies—may we not be P"'°'"' for
a moral duty by laying aside a right which often dishonours those
wri
whose protection it was established, in the eyes of the people ? UP r
matte;
t his there may be a doubt. Well, if there exist a doubt in such a
is it not the duty of the legislator seriously to examine the questinn
For, surely, it is an awful doubt which can only be solved after a 11"
has fallen on the scaffold. We wish for sanctions—there are tei°
very distinct—one material and bloody, which heaps one corpse
upon another, and only punishes crime by imitating its "'sr,
aerial action ; another a moral sanction, which resolves itself
into afflictive and repressive punishment—into labour, solitary confine'
;cent, moral and religious instruction—in a word, the penitentiary
system. And if this penitentiary system at present engages the
tention of all philosophers, it is because it contains the thouglit
of the preservation of society on the one hand; and, on the other:,
he thought of the moralization of the guilty. Much has ben
about intimidation, and the power of example; hni W. of
we look to that contempt of life which is one of the scourgesvo
our time, and which shows In se many men a desire to rid thenlsci:opc
of existence in the easiest way possible, how can we entertain any I,
from the intimidation that the punishment of death can Ineaurroin
Stand for a moment in the place of the criminal : he is a crimily"_%if
two reasons only—a desire to gratify his passions, or to possess 11; his
of property. If his passions rule him, he is not the insider
croe,
reason—he was a criminal before he bad committed th
I Not
Se: eral voices—" This is pure fatalism." M. de Lamartine--t the
fatalism at all; it is the analysis of the criminal's feelings. 14 his
contrary, he be actuated by a desire to possess himself of proPertY' biro,
lie a cold calculating motive, he knows that death awaits od
fn lie is not blind as to the consequences of his act,' coiceS
yet the punishment does not intimidate him.—(SeveraZ e,
ither
" Because he hopes to escape.") M. de Lamartine.—" t the
case, the punishment of death is not sufficient to prevent
the
7sitbeerride on ft
1m 83a0nliewra;s
.!rime. Besides the public feeling is manifesting itself on all side„ .6 The
(hean
thew
p on itself)ri":„
yionuvitNevdilltountadiecerstuand it and
the answgh
.lative, by one of its members whom I shall ever regret not to sec would
smt he used to occupy, the Honourable M. de Tracy, andr‘vhilber of
this day have given us the support of his eloquence. lithe "-rhainhcr
1830 did not do it, that high mission may be reserved for the yoe
ureon
of 1838. You will connect your names with that great Me"
file
will send the petitions before a court of inquiry, and nt:1)060i
Keeper of the Seals to hasten the establishment of the Pe-
,ystem that has been promised tie."

fOLI
PLATED DINNER SERVICE, consisting
o°' „, to
Meat Dish Covers, four Corner Hash Dishes with four c ,""corn-
Zit, and a small Epergne, all with silver edges, are offerca,
_,‘,_
plete, for Twenty-five Guineas, or may be had oparatvw
follows : A. 0
..£l4
The four Meat Dish Covers
The four Corner Dishes, with covers(when required s
the covers can be used as extra dishes).— ........ 8 A 0
4
The small Epergne 8:"
'F. COX SAVORY, Working Goldsmith, Silversmitl),
i 7, Cornhill, London (Seven Doors from Gracechurch-streGui
N.B. The Epergnemay be had with four arms for Threee
;leas extra.

13 111 TBS.
On the 13th inst., at Warwick-road, Upper Clapton, 1-13 ct
the lady of J. R. D. Tyssen, Esq., of a daughter. gothO'
On the 13th inst., at Woolmer, Ilerts, the Lady Susan
of a son. J°l'n
On the 15th inst., in Upper Woburn-place, the lady °I
Aldridge, Esq., of a daughter.
On the 13th inst., in Bernard-street, Russell- square, I‘l°. S.
Davies of a son.
On the 13th inst., in Torrington-square, Mrs. Whitt-31er' °Ca
'aughter.

MARRIED.
James la
On the lath inst., at St. Helen's, Bishopsgate,N-r• of the
olds, of Great St. Helen's, to Emma, eldest datigliNr
!Jr. J. Gosnell, of Lombard-street

--- nj
On the 12th inst., in Hunter-street, aged
DIED. oeCO'
18, Of
laughter of J. A. Rucker, Esq. Vsq• r
On the 11th inst., at Tonbrid e Wells, John BarelaYt
g it,
Stoke Newington, aged 42. nthe°'
On the 10th inst., in Old Bond-street, Mr. George -
his 80th year. n 'e f',,cl4
On the 9th inst., at Camberwell, aged 83, James '-oscsie'rvie-' f
nearly sixty years a Commander in her Majesty's revenue Widow' °
On the 9th inst., at the llay So tl Wales,ll y A"' w
~ o 1 1 ar
captain R. Norman. Esq°
. In C;A:rges-street, on the 13th inst., Zachary 111acaulaP
.n hi 71st year. t of t"
Ann, relic
On the 10th inst., at Crosby-row, Walworth,
late Lieut. J. Neale, R.N., Corr 59. ,_„,rovir
On the 10th inst., Williamell, Esq., of Upper Cho 5'
Chelsea, aged 75. .
On the 7th inst., at Winstead House, Robert Thornton..arjf,
Eliza, the
formerly Lieut.-Colonel of the Ist Regiment of Grenadier loot
On the 9th inst., in Bridge-road, LI b 1 aged 559
.1-uetl,
Cooke, Esq. et r (f
On the 19th ult., aged 18, Harriett Susan, youngest clangl'
he Rev. H. G. Liddell, Rector of Easington, Durham. clerk'
On the Bth inst., Mr. Thos. Dugard, of Red Lion-street,
enwell, aged 51.
On the 4th inst., in Bow-road, Middlesex, Miss Susannab.Th°lll‘
,on, aged 48. betho re'
.On the sth inst., in Little Trinity-lane, aged 64, Eliza- ntiv
!!ct of Captain G. C. Pulling, R.N., of St. Aryans, .31'ntn°
shire.
On the 4th inst., Mrs. Smith, of the Grange, Bermondses.ooo,
On the 10th inst., at Pantsaison, near Cardigan, Mrs' ob..
rcliet of Colonel James, and eldest daughter of the late J. '
titan, Esq., of The Nunnery, Isle of Man. Esq''
On the 12th inst., at Clapham-common, Edward Dolman)
,i' Clifford's
12th instnn, aged 53. relict of
On the ~ at Edmonton, aged 75, Mrs. Jordan,
.'ilr. J. Jordan, late of Stamford. Chr.ls°
On the 13th inst., in Enston-square, Mary, wife of Jornes
Inas Fry, Etm.
of Or.Til parts
_...
rtolgtemloOrttlotnit_isstt;e,eatt Upper Ciapton, Frances, wife of Mr.

London : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, 0! jlllt,
112, Strand, at The Sun Office, No. 112, Strand, in the C°"
of Middlesex.—Thursday, May 17, 1838.