The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-13 00:00:00

HOLLAND.

TEE Hsoua, Maims 9.—His Majesty has received
his- Excellency Baron Doblhoff, Minister Plenipoten-
tiary and-Envoy Extraordinary from his Majesty the
Emperor of Austria, to-the Court of the Netherlands,
at a private audience.
The Government is at this moment occupied in
drawing up a project for civilizing the population of
the Netherlands possessions on the coast of Africa.
The Government is of opinion that the state of these
people being that of- almost complete barbarism, it
will be impossible to introduce among them the full
light of the Gospel, as they would be unable to
appreciate principles based purely upon religion. The
project of the Government is, therefore, gradually to
introduce a degree of civilization, by accustoming
the people to stated labour, by introducing among
them greater regularity in commercial intercourse,
and thus to pave the way for the reception and com-
prehending 613 blessings of Christianity. The Go-
vernment, in carrying on its plan, reckons upon the
powerful assistance of the two Ashantee princes, who
have been some years in the Netherlands, where they
are receiving a thorough education. One of the young
men especially, Agease Boachie, is very intelligent,
and is gifted with energy of mind which leads his
preceptors to expect that he will one day exercise an
immense influence over the population of the western
coast of Africa.

THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG

AND THE GERMAN FLEET,
The National Assembly of the Grand Duchy of
•Luxembourg has rejected by as great a majority the
project of law relative to the matricular contribution
imposed upon the Grand Duchy to cover the expenses
resulting from the creation of the German Fleet, and
the repression of the disturbances in various parts of
the Germanic:Empire.
This rejection has produced a very great sensation.
anci i.-4 looked upon by many as an open rupture with
the Confederation.
The following are the considerations upon which
the Assembly grounded its refusal to grant the pay-
ment, seeing Art. I. of the Constitution says :
" The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg forms an in-
dependent, indivisible, and unavailable state; it
forms part of the Germanic Confederation, according
to existing treaties. Changes which are to be intro-
duced into these treaties must be submitted for the
approbation of the Assembly of Luxembourg.
"Considering that this regulation of the Constitu-
tion establishes a supreme right which the Assembly
ought to recognise ;
. " Considering that up to this moment no change in
the existing treaties has been submitted to the appro
bation of the Assembly, it would be unconstitutional
to vote sums of money, demanded by virtue of the de-
cision of a power which has not yet been recognised
conformably to the Constitution.—Journal de la Haye,
March 9.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
VICE•CHANCERY COURT, March 12.
(Before Vice-Chancellor KNICHT BRUCE.)
EX PARTE BURTON V. HARVEY.

Mr. BACON, on the part of the plaintiff, said this was
a petition in bankruptcy, which had been presented by
a person named Christie and others. The facts of the
case were, that a Mr. Harvey, in whose bankruptcy, the
petition had been presented, was indebted to a Mr.
Ford, a solicitor at Shrewsbury, on a bill of exchange for
5001., upon which some part of the money had been
paid, and a balance of 3001. remained due and owing.
A Mr. Bond was the solicitor to the fiat. On the
29th of January, 1840, Mr. Ford assigned his
interest in the bill of exchange to the petitioners, and
upon the same instrument of assignment the debt under
Harvey's fiat was proved on their behalf. The bill of
exchange was thereupon delivered over to the petitioners.
A Mr. Salt, one of the petitioners, called on Mr. Bond,
the solicitor to Harvey's fiat, and gave him notice of the
assignment of the debt to the petitioners and of their in-
tention to cause the debt to be proved. Ford himself
became a bankrupt on the 11th of March, 1840, very
soon after the assignment.
His HONOUR—Then the validity nt the assignment is
not questioned by Ford's assignees?
Mr. SWANSTON (for the official assignee)-oh, yes,
it is.

His HONOUR said, he should not think of making Har-
vey's assignees pay without absolute necessity; absolute
necessity alone should induce him to make an order
against Harvey's assignees; and therefore the essential
question was the validity of the assignment by Ford. All
the rest of the affidavits in the case only deposed to mere
formal embarrassment. His Honour complained of the
irregularity which had taken place in bringing the case
before the Court, there being no proof of service of notice
Of the proceedings on some of the parties to the suit.
A solicitor in the cause volunteered to go for the
proof of notice of service.
Ilia HoNoun—Very well, Mr. Bacon, you may go on
wasting the time of'the Court until that gentleman re-
turns.--(Laughter:)
Mr. Becaza went on reading a number of voluminous
affidavits in the Cause.*
His IloNorra (interrupting)—Have these parties been
passing their lives in making affidavits?—(Laughter)
Mr. BACON submitted to his Honour there was suffi-
cient and satisfactory evidence that notice was
given to the assignees and their solicitors
of the petitioners' interest in the debt which
remained due on Ford's bill of exchange, and that the
assignment was executed, not as a voluntary assignment,
but under circumstances of
pressure stated in Mr. Salt's
affidavit,' and without' any notice whatever having been
given to himself or his partners that Ford had committed
'an act of bankruptey, or lies about to do ao.
Mr. SWANSTON appeared' to
.oppose the petition. He
considered there was but one question, and that
was the validity of the assignment, which involved
two points, namely,' as to the validity of the
original transaction between the parties and the
not Ace which was required, in order to give effect
te, that transaction, supposing it to be valid against the
assignees of Harvey. On the first point, it was perfectly
clear' from the evidence that the bankrupt Ford was, on
the 22th of January, 1840, and had been for a long time
previously, in a state of great embarrassment, a a
ndinas
titatolof insolvency. The petitioners' case
he aprehended, that there should be clearrequired,
evidence
of of 'pressure on their part, and a pressure
such "'a nature as that, Ford yielding W
'would' establish the bona fides of the tralisac-
.tion. -10 determining between those two parties,
he submitted the Court 'iiitts not placed in a situa-
tion of 'much difficulty. Mr. Salt, who was the sole
deponent in support of his own ease, deposed in most
kelieiil4 terms as to the pressure, and as to what was its
hature, and as to what the urgency of it could be on the
mind of the bankrupt; but in order to render this trans-
action valid he did net at all explain:
His HONOUR was of opinion that the execution of the
assignment, which he must take to have been executed
(in the 29th of January,' the day of its date, was not
fraudulent, was not in contemplation of bankruptcy, and
therefore was hot an act .o; bankruptcy; by which I
mean that the allegation that it was fraudulent, and was
in contenaplatien or bankruptcy, or was an act of bank-
"PtcY, wai not established. With regard to the reputed
ownership he did not mean to decide that any notice was
I.'.ecee)."2-Y; but astuming notice to have been necessary,
nterence that' he drew ' from the evidence was that
ti the inference
Mica was given to Messrs. Bond, the solicitors, or one
of them, by Arr. on that day in February to which
Jr.% Salt spoke. thpou,itihritoita;efore thatthel
-of Ford bad • the
it at (mut. if ;he divtdentis, upon proer mmaree.i)n.,}ll, rd(:syn'artlie,
who had been to'thetn, and they must be repaid. There
Seemed to havo been a socdl over this case front the out.
set. He in Int decide between the claimants
~6
•
ate
eo wmeovneeryu.
_n-
;•6l .but be should like to cou.
If Mr. Bacon would
Z---sa (Laughter.) consent, he (the Vice-
/•/*/ chancellor) would confiscate the money at once.—(Re.
newed laughter.)
Th Vice- Chancellor Wigram did not sit to-day.

A CALIFORNTAN NEWSPAPER.—On Saturday there
was' eithibited in the Liverpool Underwriters' Booms a
curiosity from Califlraia, in the shape of a newspaper.
It is entitled the Californian, and about the size of the
New York.'3un; and printed equally as well as that
paper. The news Izmir' rather scanty, as She main
portion of the paper is devoted to advertisements,

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.
ROME ClRCUlT.—Maidstone, March 12.

The commission for the county of Kent was opened
on Saturday by Mr. Sergeant Wallinger, neither of the
Learned Judges being able to attend by reason of the
state of business at Chelmsford. On Thursday and
Friday Mr. Sergeant Dowling assisted in disposing of
the criminal business in Essex, and on Saturday Mr.
Sergeant Channell also tried prisoners, and but for this
assistance the business of that county could not have been
got through within the time allotted for it.

At the Conclusion of the business the, Prisoners who
had been convicted of participating in the Coggeshall
burglaries were brought up to receive sentence. Judg-
ment of death was recorded against Samuel Crow and:
Tansley, with an intimation that they would be trans-,
ported for life; William French was ordered to be trans-
ported for seven years, and John Crow, the brother of
the former prisoner, who was convicted of harbouring
him, was sentenced to be imprisoned for three months.:
A number of the prisoners were acquitted, the prosecu-
tion against them being abandoned in some of the cases,
an account of there not being sufficient confirmation of
the evidence of the accomplice.
The business for the county of Kent is heavy, there
being .21 causes and nearly 150 prisoners, but the
charges are mostly of an ordinary description, although
there are some very heavy cases in the calendar, in.
eluding murder, manslaughter, arson, cutting and
wounding, &c,
Mr. Justice WIGHTMAN, who sat in the Crown Court,
took occasion, in his address to the grand jury, to re-
mark upon the circumstance that in this county it did
not appear to be the custom to hold an adjourned quarter
session before the assizes. Be said this practice was
generally adopted in other counties, and was a great
saving of time and expense, and with regard to the pre-
sent calendar, the great majority of the cases might
have very well been disposed of at the sessions.
John Chellan Bemnett, a young man of gentlemanly;
appearance, surrendered to take his trial upon an in-1
dictment charging him with larceny in stealing some
notes and gold, amounting to 321. 135., the moneys of
the trustees of the Margate Savings Bank.
Mr. Ballantine conducted the prosecution; and Mr.t
Clarkson, with Mr. Borne, appeared for the prisoner.
From the evidence adduced for the prosecution, which'
was of rather a complicated nature, it appeared that the
prisoner was very respectably connected at Margate,.
and that he had been for some time engaged as clerk,
and in a confidential capacity in the savings bank in
question. It appeared that, in 1846, there was an ac-I
count in the bank in the joint names of Swinford and'
Bennett, but in the course 'of that year the amount of
that account was taken out, and it was closed. In the
beginning of January, 1848, it seemed that the prisoner
handed a depositor's book to the trustees, as for the sum
in question, and also stated that due notice had been
given of an intention to withdraw the money, and no
suspicion being entertained of anything wrong, the sum
mentioned in the indictment was paid over to the pri-
soner, who received it as for the parties. It was admitted
that, if the books of the bank had been properly exa-
mined, it must have been discovered that no such account
Was in existence, and the fraud, • therefore, could mot
have been carried out. The prisoner, it appeared, ab-
sconded during the last year, and went to America, and
he told the officer when he was in his custody that while
he was abroad he thought of his wife and child, and re-
solved to return home and meet the, charges that were
made against him. It turned out, it appears, upon a
full investigation, that the amount of the prisoners de-
falcations was very considerable, but the whole of the
loss had been made good by the managers of the in-
stitution.

Mr. CLARKSON, at the close of the case for the prose-
cution, submitted that the facts did not mako out the
offence of larceny. The prisoner had received the money
from a person who' had authority to pay it, and if any
offence was committed, it was either forgery or obtain-
ing money by false pretences, and certainly was not
larceny.
Mr. BALLANTINE, in support of the indictment, cited
cases where it had been held that if property was ob-
tained from any person, by a forged or false order,
who would have no authority to deliver it, except upon
a genuine order, that it constituted the offence of larceny.
Mr. Justice WrdriTuazi said he had great doubts
whether the evidence supported the charge of larceny;
but he would consult Mr. Baron Parke upon the point.
He accordingly retired for that purpose ; and on his
return ho said that that Learned Judge agreed with him
that the circumstances would not support a charge of
larceny, and he must, therefore, direct the jury to ac-
quit the prisoner.

A verdict of Not Guilty was accordingly returned.
The prisoner was then charged, upon another indict-
ment, with obtaining money from the same prosecutors
by false pretences.
Mr. CLARKSON said that the facts would not allow
him to struggle against a conviction in this case, and the
prisoner would therefore, with the permission of the
Court, plead Guilty to the charge.
Mr. BALLA.NTINE then said he was instructed by the
prosecutors to inform the Court that the prisoner had
borne a very high character in the town, and that they
believed he had been induced to commit these offences
while under pecuniary difficulties ; and he was also re-
quested to state that he had a wife and family dependent
upon him. He would also add, that if there had been
any fault or neglect on the part of the trustees they
had been tho only sufferers, as they had made good the
whole of the money.
Mr. J ustice WIGHTMAN said he would consider the
sentence that ought to be pronounced, and judgment was
accordingly deferred.

No case.of importance was disposed of during the day
on the civil aide.

OXFORD CIRCUIT.— Worcester, March 10.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice COLTMAN.)
Henry Stanton Pike, 46, attorney-at-law, who pleaded
guilty on a previous day to a charge of bigamy, was
now brought up for judgment.
The JUDGE said that he had carefully considered the
prisoner's case, but could find no circumstance of a miti-
gating character. He was a man of education and
talent, and could not plead ignorance as his excuse for
error. He was then sentenced to be transported for
seven years. _ _ _

Elizabeth Pritchard, alias Betty Pugh, 24, was indicted
for aiding, abetting, and assisting one John Smith, in
committing an assault, with intent, &c., upon the person
of Eleanor Ewens, at Saint Andrew's, in Worcester, on
the 18th of July last.
The prosecutrix is !about 56 years of age; and was
formerly the wife of one of the most respectable trades-
men in this city. It appeared that she was returning
home at night, when the prisoner and a man accosted
her, asked her to go with them, and forced her, by
taking hold of her; arms, down the street, and into the
bedroom of the prisoner's house, where very bad language
was used and the offence committed. Sbe struggled all
she could, but the prisoner held her down by the shoul-
ders. The two then beat her; the prisoner demanded
three shillings of her, she replied she had none, but if
they would let her, he would go home and get some.
The man then threw her down stairs, when she became
insensible, in which state she remained for a fortnight.
The prison= wanted to throw her out of the window.
The prisoner was sentenced to be transported for 15
years.

Stafford, March 12.
Mr. Sergeant Talfuurd opened the commission here
on Saturday, and the Judges, who arrived yesterday, in
the afternoon, attended St. Mary's Church. The busi-
ness commenced at ten o'clock this morning, and not-
withstanding ;'the recent sessions there are 100 priso-
ners in the calender, three of whom are charged with
murder.

NISI PRIUS COURT.—(Before Mr. Baron PLATT.

NONEHILL 1. ROOSE.

This was an action to recover compensation in damages
for the seduction of the plaintiff's daughter. The plea
• was the general issue.
The plaintiff, Mr. Joseph Bonehill, is a wire-roller, at
Westbromwich, and the defendant, Mr. Samuel Roose, a
chemist and druggist, at Albury, who paid attention to
the, plaintiff's eldest daughter, and ultimately succeeded
in seducing her.
Miss Jane Bonehill deposed as follows:—My father is
a widower. lam eighteen. There are five children, of
• whom lam the eldest. The defendant is a chemist and
druggist. He visited our family at Greets'-green. He
lives with his mother and sister. He has a shop at Ald-
bury He attended my mother in her illness. He paid
i
me ttehtion in May 1847. He said he was going into
Wales and asked me to go, saying I need not fear, he
would marry me. declined to go. I managed my
,father's house. I went to Aldbury in August for
some groceries, to Mr. Turner's. The defendant called
to me from his door, the other side of the street, and
the s 1
n asked me to go in and see his mother and sister,
w
were np stairs. ! He sent the apprentice out of
door.weinarskelidehimsninthee rteimaseona. tleHrweasradids9
and took me into the parlour. I asked where
they
nfnatsht
iennge dp a
the
cular, his mother and sister were gone to Westbrom-
which. Just before that
in two glassed put of theishe brought me some lemonade
WEIN airdl drunk it. I shortly
afterwards felt'very
ultimately succeeded in ~effecilti gwasis purpose. After
pulled down the blind, and
following Sunday.veryiiLDefendantThe some time I went home, andn
de-
fendant called on the
to come about nine at night, when my father used
was
The connexion was then renewed. I had beenionuta.
Bible class of Mr. Corken's, a Baptist minister. I went
to his house at Birmingham in March, and communi-
cated what had occurred. :Mrs. Corken informed my
father of it. I was confined there. Jane Harrison, our
servant girl, brought me a note and some pills from
Roose, with directions how to take them, one at morn-
• and one at night. I was to keep them under lock
mg
might see them. I was very
and key, that no one ill
after taking them. I was delivered of a child in May.
On the 21st of June it died, and my father buried it.
The Rev. Mr. Corken and other witnesses were called,
but their evidence disclosed no fresh facts, but was cor-
roborative of the testimony of Miss Bonehill.
Mr. WHATELEY having addressed the jury in mitiga-
tion of damages,
Mr. Baron PLATT then summed up, and
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff', da-
ma,-es, 501.
The trial of this caus, did Lot terminate until near
midnight.

WESTERN T.—Salisbury, March 12.
(Before Lord Chief Justice DENMAN.)
• John Smith was indicted for the wilful murder of
Eleanor Lawrence, at Collingbourne Ducis, on the 9th of
August last.
Mr. Slade and Mr. lladow were counsel for the prose-
cution; and Mr. Challoner Smith appeared for the pri-
soner.
It, appeared thaf, about twelve o'clock on the day of
the 9th of the deceased, who was 34 years of age,
carried dinner to some reapers in a field; having done so
-she left the field, and in a very short time afterwards the
,poor. momen was found. lying by the side of a turnpike
road, within a quarter of a mile of the field.' She was oa

13.,r back, 'ser face covered with blood, and several
wounds on her head and face, apparently inflicted by a
sharp stone or heavy shoe; she was insensible, and so re-
mained for two days, when sh 3 died from a fractured
skull. Tt to ear was nearly severed from the head. The
prisoner, al rho was a blacksmith out of work, had been
seen at Lug gershall, about a mile and a half off, shortly
before the t body of the deceased was found. He was ask-
ing for wort :, and had a long conversation with a black-
smith, at w hose house he was eating bread and cheese;
there wa s tat 'thing then in his manner to attract attention.
Shortly after this murder must have been committed,
the petsoner -went to the house of the Rev. Mr. Radon,
at Everleigh,, and asked for work. Mr. Radon told him
he head no woric to give him. The prisoner then threw
two stones, Ivhich he had in his hands behind him, at
Mr. Radon's head; fortunately they only struck him on
the arm. Mr. Radon was alarmed and ran into his
house for a min ute, and on his return to the door the
prisoner was g. me. At the time he came up to Mr.
Hadon's house th e prisoner appeared to be much out of
breath, and was t.vmbling all over. Mr. Radon thought,
from his state ot' excitement, that he was ill. Mr.
Radon, finding the prisoner had left his premises, sent
and went himself in pursuit of him. He overtook him
and told him he wat ; determined to take him into cus-
tody. The prisoner then took three stones from his
pocket and hurled t hem with great violence at Mr.
Radon, aiming at his head; they, however, passed with-
out doing injury. Other persons then came up and seized
the prisoner. One of them asked him if he was not
ashamed of himself, for he might have murdered the gen-
tleman? The prisoner replied, "I do not care if I had,
for I have murdered one person this morning already. I
did not care what I did, for lam tired of life." He was
asked where? He said, " You will soon know." When
being taken to gaol, subsequently, he said he knocked
her down with a stone, and then kicked her about the
head, but had not otherwise assaulted her. The prisoner
was,tried at the last summer assizes for this county for
the assault on Mr. Radon, and was sentenced to be trans-
ported for seven years. The surgeon of the gaol in
which the prisoner had been confined since his convic-
tion stated that he .had paid particular attention to the
prisoner's conduct, and he had not seen anything to in-
duce him to believe that ,the prisoner had been, or was,
insane. He had a perfect knowledge of right and
wrong. He had been in the . habit of seeing him twice
or thrice a week.
In the course of the cross-examination of the medical
witnesses, the following testimony was given:--That
persons had delusions. There was a disease called " in-
sane impulse, or instinctive madness," the predominant
character of which was to commit acts of violence;
there was an irresistible desire to destroy human life,
or to commit a theft ; the latter as regarded ladies, be-
cause there could be no reason for their committing a
theft. Persons might know they were doing wrong, but
the impulse was so strong that they could not resist it—
their will was not under their control.

Mr. SMITH made a most eloquent and dispassionate
address to the jury on behalf of the prisoner, reading to
them the observations of Dr. Pritchard and Professor
Winslow, &c.

Lord bENNAN, in summing up, observed that the of-
fence of unsoundness of mind was to be proved by the
prisoner; and the question was, whether he had proved
it to the satisfaction of the jury.
The jury considered for a few minutes, and then re-
turned a verdict of Guilty.
Lord DEzouN then passed sentence of death upon the
prisoner.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MAR YLEBONE.

SERIOUS CHARGE.—CUTTING AND WOUNDING.—
Yesterday a man named William Butler was finally ex-
amined on the charge of having stabbed Henry Pearce,
of Willow- place, Hampstead, with a large clasp knife, in
consequence of which his life was, for some time, consi-
dered in danger.
The occurrence was one of those which, of late, have
so frequently arisen out of squabbles between persons in
the uneducated walks of life. The prisoner's excuse was,
that he had only intended to strike the prosecutor on
the arm.
The prisoner was committed for trial.
SO u TI-IWARK.
Adelier Le Mere, the French classical teacher, ap-
peared, and in surrender of his bail, for final examina-
tion, charged with stealing a cheque for 141. 95., the pro-
perty of Mr. Daniels.

Ii will be recollected that about a fortnight since Mr.
Daniels either lost or was robbed of his pocket-book,
containing the cheque and some receipts, between the
borough of South wark and Hornsey, at which latter
place he missed his property. He gave immediate in-
formation of his loss at the London and Westminster
Bank, where the cheque was made payable, and the
prisoner having presented it for payment there the next
morning, was taken into custody. When the depositions
were read over on the present occasion, Mr. Cottingham
said that the prisoner might have picked up the cheque
in the street, and not knowing the law of this country
in such cases, had taken it to the bank upon which it
was made payable, in order to convert the proceeds to
his own purposes.
The accused, however, adhered to the truth of his
statement with respect to having taken the cheque for a
debt from a countryman of his own, of whom he knew
little or nothing, and added that since he had been out
on bail he had made every exertion to find the party,
but was unsuccessful.

Mr. COTTINGHA.M said that the case must go before a
jury; but that he should accept of bail for the prison-
er's appearance to answer the charge, and that in com-
mitting him he (the magistrate) was bound to mention
that he had heard a most excellent character of the ac-
cused up to the present transaction.
The required sureties having been accepted, the ac-
cused was then set at large.
WORSHIP-STREET.
Elizabeth Harewood, a young person of respectable
appearance, was charged with having assaulted and
dangerously injured Mr. John Gardner, a comedian at-
tached to the City of London Theatre.

Police constable Harris, G 109, stated, that hearing
cries of " Murder," at two o'clock yesterday morning,
from a house in Paul-street, Finsbury, he hastened to
the spot and found the prosecutor standing at the door,
evidently in excruciating pain, and bleeding profusely
from the lower part of his person. In answer to his in-
quiries the prosecutor stated that the injuries had been
inflicted by the prisoner while he was in bed, and he ac-
cordingly secured the latter, who was clinging to the
prosecutor's neck, entreating him not to press the charge
against her. Upon reaching the station-house the com-
plainant exhibited so mueh suffering and exhaustion, that
Mr. Mather, the divisional surgeon, was sent for, who
dressed the wound, and he still remained under the care
of that gentleman.

A certificate from Mr. Mather was then put in,
stating that the prosecutor had- sustained a dreadful
laceration, and that the injury was of such a serious
nature that it was impossible at present to ascertain the
result.

The ,rprisoner, who displayed extreme emotion, and
expressed her deep regret at the occurrence, which she
stated was partly accidental, was remanded for a week.

THAMES.
JUVENILE DEPRAVITY.—A little girl, named Sarah
White, not more than ten years of age, was charged with
stealing ss. Id., the moneys of her mother.
The complainant, who was greatly distressed, said the
girl was without a father since she was a year and ten
months old, and Si as so addicted to pilfering that nothing,
could be kept from her. She could read, write, and re-
gularly was sent to church, but showed no sign of re-
I formation. A short time ago she stole her grandfather's
keys, and robbed him of three sovereigns.
Mr. YARDLEY said it was a painful case, but he could
do nothing in it. There would be no use in sending
such a child to gaol.
The mother—Could you send her to an asylum, Sir?
• Mr. YARDLEY—You must take her home, and try to
reform her yourself. 'Tis a mother's duty, and your
only way is to keep temptation from her.—She was ac-
cordingly discharged.

POST-OFFICE NOTICE.—The contract for the con-
veyance of her Majesty's mails between the United
Kingdom and Sydney, New South Wales, by packet,
will terminate on the 29th instant : all letters
and newspapers for New South Wales and New
Zealand will, therefore, for the present, be forwarded by
private ship. The postage will be the usual ship letter
rate of eightpence the half ounce on letters, and one
penny each on newspapers, which postage must be paid
in advance.

IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS-BURNING.—In speaking of
the quality of the gas supplied by the City of London
Gas Company, in the Dispatch, a fortnight ago, we
stated that it emitted a sulphurous smell and a dense
smoke, to the great prejudice of health. Since then
several experiments have been made in our office, assisted
by Mr. Church, a person of great experience, and con;
nected with the above-named establishment, and the
result has proved highly satisfactory. Instead of the
old•fashioned " chimney' glass, Mr. Church has in-
troduced one of egg-like shape, with a blunt apex. l-
is about three inches in height, with a diameter of about
two inches, by which means a greater stream of oxygen
is admitted, and all the illuminating power preserved.
The saving is considerable. With a flame of two inches
and a half, four feet of gas are consumed in an hour, at
the cost of about a farthing. If the flame be thrown up
beyond the apex of the glass, there is considerable loss to
the consumer, while unnecessary heat and smoke are
generated. We think Mr. Church's glasses will shortly
supersede all others. They are very cheap, and being
,_well annealed, are not liable to crack.—Dispatch.
OCEAN STEAMERS.—The Acadia and Britannia,
which we recently mentioned as having been purchased
trom- the Nokia American Mail Company by the
entrap German Government for war steamers, left the
Mersey, the former on Friday and the latter yesterday,
for AntWerp; where; We believe, they will receive their
'armament. Besides the.vessels the same Government
pnrchased the American- steamer United States,
41so to be fitted as a war vessel. The Great Britain
has; within the last few idays, changed owners. It is
rumoured that she has been purchased by a company,
who intend her to carry passengers between some point
on the western side of South America and San Fran-
cisco. The sum she realised iS'siid to be 25,0001. The,
register burden of the steamers thus transferred amounts'
to '8,500 tons, with engines of 2,600 horse-power. Little
more than ten years ago the largest steamer afloat he-'
longing to this country did not exceed 900 tons register,
with engines of not more than 300 horse-power.—Liver-
pool Albion.
DEATII OF LORD CARTEIET.—WC regret to anJ
nounce the decease of this nobleman, whO expired On
Saturday, after a lengthened illness, at his seat, Hawned
Place, near Ampthill. The deceased succeeded, as third
Baron, on the death of his brother, in February, 1838 i
His Lordship married, in 1801, Mary Anne, daughter of
Thomas Master, Esq., of " The Abbey," in the county
of Gloucester, but leaving no issue, and the peerage is
now extinct.