The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-01 00:00:00

alo 76,3% aligt7'-79 JANUARY 1, 1849,

shortly hoist the pendant here. Two warrant officers
and 60 extra riggers of this yard are ordered to pro-
ceed to Woolwich by railway to bring her here for
commission.

The Apollo troop-ship, Commander Riwstorne, goes
to China with a regiment to relieve the 98713.

APPOINTMENTS

ADMIRALTY, DEC. 30.—William Oliver, to be acting-
boatiwain ; Elmund T. Wild, mld,hipm,n, to the
Apollo; IL nry Eden, midshipman. to thc, Victory.
Paynr:ster and Purger W. H. \Visemau (1844) wid
gpp:-,inted to the Cet,tanr.
Wind N.E., mod,rate brecz.'s and dark h.-zy weather.
PLYEIOUTII, DEC. 29.—Some sl:gh: d:lrnage has been
done to the Breakwater during the late heavy gales.
The brig Arno. Captain Munden, which ,;ut in hero
this morning, with less of bulwarkF, bound to London,
reports having left the following British vessels at
Buenos Ayres on the 28 h of September, viz , the barque
Graham, Salter; the brig Mary Winch, llarr4; the
schooner Rachel, Hammond; the batcrie Miry Queen of
Scots, Wilcocks; the brig Ituna, Clark; the barque Pro-
mise, Hoseason; and the brigantine Choice, Ozier, for
London; the barque Glencairn, Fowler; the schooner
Sappho, Eustace; the barque Alice Brooks, Jackson; the
brigantine Susanna Collings, Crascombe; and the brig
Thames, Rutherford, for Liverpool; the brig Pacific.
Maclean; the brig Mary Halket, Thompson; and the
brig Lucy Sharp, M'Fee, for Falmouth, for orders; and
the brigantine Merchant, Luke, for Fowey. On the 6th
of November, 25 miles east by north of Pernambuco,
spoke the barque Norval, 34 days from Newfoundland,
for Pernambuco.
Wind, E.S.E., fine. _ _

Woo'mien, DEC. 30.—The Arrogant steam-frigate,
46 guns, will be tried next week, and commissioned by
Captain Fitzßoy, recently acting Superintendent of
Woolwich Dockyard. Lieutenant Priest is nominated
for First Lieutenant, and the Rev. Mr. Lang to be
Chaplain.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC J OURNALS.

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.

TIMES.—Mr. M'Gregor has published his financial
programme, and Mr. M'Gregor, from his previous
studies as a statistician, has a better right to publish
such a document than nine-tenths of the multitude with
whose schemes we shall be shortly inundated. The
public will be the gainers by the discussion of these
amateur budgets. We have no apprehension of the adop-
tion of any such insane plan of financial reform as would
go to shake the credit and imperil the security of the
empire. The argument should be met broadly and fairly
and with as little vague declamation and visionary prog-
nostications of a dismal futurity as may be. Even from
the enemies of the British constitution, from those who
would cut off all connexion with the past, and reduce
the political and social systems of this country to the
level of others which exist under totally di,similar con-
ditions from ourselves, useful hints may be drawn. For
example, the moment is not arrived for cutting our colo-
nies adrift, or for handing over the vast empire of
British India to the mercy of a regiment or two of New
Orleans volunteers or Texian sympathizers. Ireland
cannot yt t be left ungarrisoned, nor London be aban-
doned to the drunken fury of a gang of such nameless
ruffians as threatened us with conflagration and pillage
during the course of the last spring and summer. We
may, however, obtain certain ad►antages from the labours
of those who review, even in a spirit of hostility, every
item of the public expenditure. Mr. M'Gregor sets forth
fairly enough the fact that when very nearly 47,000,000/.
are expended on the payment of the interest of the public
debt, and upon the .army, navy, and ordnance, it is to
this sum alone we can look with any reasonable
prospect of effecting a considerable reduction in the
taxation of the empire. Even so the issue must be
narrowed still more. Mr. M'Gregor distinctly asserts,
and his assertion is entitled to belief, that he at least
has no thought of tampering with the hypothecated
credit of the country. " The failure of that credit
would inflict a penalty upon every ono of her Majesty's
suhjec:s far more grievous than the payment even of
our present heavy taxation. In Great Britain it would
be ruinous to those who now employ others, and it
would throw those employed out of work. The ca-
lamity of a stoppage of the payment of the dividends or
the interest of the National Debt would break up every
monetary and commercial engagement in the United
Kingdom; the rights of property, whether in lands or
movables, would no longer be sacred ; Bank Stock,
India Stock, and all other stocks, together with
private banks and private credit, would all be
involved in the general calamity of a national
bankruptcy." Mr. M'Gregor has a right, then,
to credit for his assertion that the saertd
principle of public credit, as far as he is concerned, shall
be preserved intact. Where interests of such magni-
tude are at stake, we should not feel inclined to place
implicit confidence in the mere assertions of' any man.
Were this phrasing merely ancillary to a revolutionary
proposition it should be discarded at once. Such is not
the case of Mr. M'Gregor. In his opinion not only
must the principle of the payment of the dividends of
the national debt be preserved, but with all his ingenuity
he cannot discover how it is that more than 5,304,0001.;
of taxation can be taken off. For this reduction we
must look to the army, navy, and ordnance for
4,250,000 L The reductions the lion. Member for Glas-
gow proposes, without impairing the efficiency of these
branches of the public service, are— _ _

For 1847.
The Naval Expenditure, to £6,500,000 £7.540,405
The Army, to ... 6,000,000 8,013,873
The Ordnance, to ... 1,750,000 2,947,869

£14,250,000 £18,502,147
The question, then, upon which so much discussion is
likely to arise can be thus narrowed to two very intelli-
gible issues :—What degree of force is it necessary to
maintain for the security of the country ? How can this
force be maintained at the smallest possible expense ?
Upon the answers to these two questions will depend the
solution of the pompous problems of the Financial Asso-
ciations and financial reformers in or out of Parliament.
Good will arise from this discussion in two ways.
In the first place, we shall no doubt effect a saving
of some 4,000,0001. or 5,000,000/. on the total sum
o; 70,000,0001 (we include county-rates, &e.) which is
annually levied from the inhabitants of the British isles.
this, as far as it goes, will be a good, and a great good.
In the second pace, we may at length hope to see an
end of the declamatory stuff of those pothouse orators
who are in the habit of presenting to an admirine audi-
tory the Duke of Wellington and the Archbishop of
Canterbury as drunk and bloated on the spoils of the
industrious pour. We have but one wish, which is, that
all may be made so clear that every man in the three
kingdoms of sane mind may be able to understand the
justification and necessity of every penny that is taken
in the shape of taxation from the pockets of the people.
We have spoken of a positive reduction, and of a
positive point where the reduction can be effected. So
far we heartily go with Mr. M'Gregor, if ho can make
out his case. This much, however, is far from giving a
just idea of his entire scheme. Not only would he re-
duce, but he would shift burdens. He would do, by a
coup de baguette, that which no thinking man would
wish to see effected but by degrees, and with the most
extreme circumspection. lie would abolish all Customs'
duties but on eight articles, and these, with the exception
of tea and sugar, purely articles of luxury. From this
source ho expects to derive 18,500,0001. From the
Excise, again, he would hope to receive 11,200,0001.
upon his scheme of reduction. It may not be amiss to
place Mr. M'Gregor's scheme once more before our
readers, that they may judge of its practicability:—
A gross expenditure, including charges
of collection, and all payments now
made in its progress to the Exchequer £32,000,000
To meet which I propose:—

derived from articles of luxury, and upon a property-
tax, which would appear to be somewhat in contradiction
of the returns that have been made to Parliament
hitherto upon the subject. At any rate, however, we
shall be glad to see such inquiries followed up in an
honest and straightforward spirit, and met with open-
ness by the Government. Ye e have not the smallest
desire to pay in the shape of taxes one shilling more
than we can help.
CIIRONICLE.—Another amateur financi‘ r has en-
tered the Frei.; as a cunneritor of Mr, Cobden. The
laborious and " ,t.Ltical" Member for Glasgow makes
the Christmas (Tiering of an ad,lie,ss o five c aeons to
!us constituents, end of a cut-and-dried budget to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer. Of the manile:to of the
Anti-Corn-law Leader, which has now undergone the
ordeal of a week's criticism, it a ill be the estimate of
re t competent judges that materiam superabat
opus. It was an adroit and able paper, vigorous in
style, telling in efict, and well adapted to make an im-
pression on that large class who are quite unversed in
financial arithmetic. But, under its plausible surface,
there lurked some glaring inaccuracies, and not a few
uncandid suppressions, while the principle upon which
the reduction of
_ten millions, the basis of the whole
scheme, was assumed, was too unsound to endure a
moment's argument. A given sum was specified as
sufficient for all the exigencies of the State, not because
it was proved to be so, but merely because it had suf-
ficed in a particular selected year. It was not attempted
to show that that year was one either of average expen-
diture or of efficient service; it is known to have been
the contrary. Moreover, since 1835, the Government
has undertaken, or rather it has had imposed upon it, by
the will of the nation, new functions and new responsi-
bilities. All these are summarily passed over in a
scheme which, disdaining all examination of details, as-
sumes, as a premiss, what should have been proved as a
conclusion, that the expenditure of the country is twenty
per cent. greater than the necessities of the public ser-
vice require. Mr. M'Gregor, on the other hand, is
pre-eminently unskilful in the art of dressing
up a statement. His address is not only very long,
but has the graver fault of being what, on the other side
of the Atlantic, is expressly termed lengthy. He begins
the subject ab ovo, by informing his Glasgow friends,
with a needless display of erudition, that all civilized
nations have had recourse to the device of taxation.
" Augustus decreed that all the world should be taxed;
and all the world was taxed, and all the world has con-
tinued ever since to be taxed." So much, and a good
deal more, as to taxation in general—at last we come to
the more ieenediate topic, the real point at issue—taxa-
tion in particular. In stating his views, as to the na-
tional expenditure, Mr. M•Gregor gives us the result,
we have no doubt, of long and laborious cogitations on
the subject, though, as the items are not specified, we
are unable to pronounce as to the soundness of his data.
His conclusion, at least, is more modest than Mr.
Cobden's—the total saving which he finds practicable,
upon the gross public expenditure, being about half
the estimate of his rival, vie , 5,304,6141. But in all
those parts of the two plans which relate to the re-
adjustment of taxation, by the remission or substitution
of particular imposts, the Scotch and English financiers
are as wide as the poles asunder. It is, indeed, an edify-
ing proof of the inequality which attaches, more or less,
to all modes of taxation, to observe how each particular
tax in the catalogue has its peculiar demerits in the
eyes of one or other of the numerous tribe of fiscal re-
formers. It must be sport to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, who has the hard task of vindicating them
all, to observe these financial amateurs practically re-
futing one another, by fixing, successively, upon each of
the public burdens as the most oppressive and objection-
able in the whole series. For example, Mr. Cobden is
prepared to sacrifice five millions for the sake of
abolishing the malt-tax. Mr. M'Gregor considers malt,
next to spirits, as the least objectionable item in the
Excise. On the other hand, the Member for Glasgow
denounces, with hearty objurgation, the whole chapter of
the Assessed taxes, as unequal, offensive, and highly ob-
jectionable in principle; while the Member for the West
Hiding, with a supposed surplus of ten millions at his
disposal, will not spare a shilling from the receipts from
horses, carriages, and servants; but he is eloquent upon
the iniquity of the probate and legacy duties. The
income-tax, too, Mr. Cobden would preserve,
though he drops some vague allusion to the pro-
priety of remodelling it. Mr. M'Gregor would
throw it completely overboard, and proposes, as a
substitute, an original pet scheme of his own for
raising 11,000,000/. by a direct assessment of five per
cent. upon all descriptions of realised property. Finding
much difficulty, as he tells us, in arranging any satis-
factory scale for taxing permanent' and temporary in-
comes, he has cut the knot by letting off the latter class
altogether. The trading and professional classes would,
certainly, reap an ample indemnity for having paid too
much, under Sir H. Peel's tax, by paying nothing at all
under Mr. M'Gregor's. We cannot attempt to follow
Mr. M'Gregor through all, the complicated details of his
fiscal exercitations. He is what his countrymen would
call a " painful" writer; but his judgment is much
less conspicuous than his industry, and his faculty
et lucid and distinct statemeut bears even a less
proportion to his prolixity. As for his plan, it ap-
pears to us to be neither better nor worse than those of
a multitude of other ingenious projectors, who have
made finance their hobby, and whose schemes for re-
generating the National Exchequer annually load their
publishers' shelves with unsold pamphlets, and the
Chancellor of the Exchequer's paper basket with unap-
preciated suggestions. For our own part, upon grounds
which we have more than once explained, we entertain
a settled distrust of those self-confident operators who
are ready, at a moment's notice, to take to pieces and re-
construct the whole fabric of our financial system; and,
anxious as we are for a sound and well-advised fiscal re-
form, we feel for that very reason about as little respect
for a " national budget" as sober statesmen entertain for
a paper constitution.

ESPLANADE AT DOVER.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—It has been recently stated in the provincial and
other journals that the high seas caused by the late gales
of wind have done great damage to the esplanade at
Dover, and I fear this is only the beginning of a series
of similar disasters of more than probable occurrence
in that part of the bay, unless prompt and efficacious
measures are taken to prevent further encroachment.
I have no doubt whatever that the injury has arisen
from a gradual denudation of the shore of its ordinary
supply of shingle, which has been wasting away ever
since the large masses of chalk, exploded in the forma-
tion of the railway, were deposited at the loot of the
cliff through which the tunnels were pierced, opposing
a formidable barrier to the prevailing easterly drift of
the shingle.
I foresaw the danger to which the esplanade property
wou'd in the course of time be liable, and, in a letter
published in one of the London daily papers,
soon after the great mine was sprung, I warned
the :proprietors and the local authorities of the
certain effect of this barrier, sooner or later; recom-
mended then to watch the beach narrowly; and advised
the construction of numerous short groynes in order to
retain the shingle then in the bay.
Nothing, however, was done, and cause and effect are
now plainly enough to be traced.
How long the chalk deposition may continue to im-
pede the passage of the shingle it is impossible to say,
but, undoubtedly, until an accumulation sufficient to fill
up the angle formed with the line of coast to the west-
ward shall have taken place, when the new alignment
there given to the pebbles becoming a tangent to the
outer point of the barrier, they will drift round it, and
travel on to the eastward, as iu time past.
But, meanwhile, mischief has occurred, and the espla-
nade may be entirely swept away, if left unprotected;
for a new feature is growing up, which will quickly
prove to the most sceptical that no further supply of
shingle can ever be wafted to the shore in front of the
town. The western breakwater of the Harbour of Re-
fuge, commenced last year, lies to the west of the old
south pier, and, being connected with the land, inter-
poses a second, and an impassable, barrier, which must
for ever divert the shingle from its natural path, and in-
stead of following the contour of the bay it will travel to
seaward of the Harbour of Refuge, after an accumula-
tion, and disposition similar to what has been before
described, shall have taken place in the angle formed by
the breakwater with the line of coast.
I believe this view of the matter is strictly correct, the
deductions incontrovertible; and, if so, surely it behoves
the corporation of Dover and the owners of esplanade
property to give the whole subject the earliest and most
serious deliberation. I do not know the extent of the
ravages lately made by the sea, and, therefore, can offer
no opinion as to the propriety of now constructing
groynes. It may be too late to do so, and a retaining
wall, or piles and planking may be the only safc!east.::_e
I to
Moreover, these plans may be separately pi
e to a pru-
different localities, and the choice must baratfie
judgment of an engineer, who can only c.oon,
and dal
dent determination after personal inspect'
weighing all the circumstances.
seeking professional
Again I counsel promptitude in , have the honour
advice, and energy in followingerivaus, ifct to the
to be, Sir, your most ebedise.nt4.
late itoyal Engineers.
Lieutenant- Colonels
DECEMBER 30.--The 1849.
th: de The ad-
a AT BAIDGNORTII --BR
Ramsgate, Jan. I,
IDG-
Tim LATE MortDE
nn Newton,
NORTH,
journed inquiry,. 0
.t,
was
alleeeel hat
aged 80 years, wh i
ou the 4th of last •
, been murdered by
her (laughter month, by beine first
d and arterwar s d
stable, SALOP,
St
oAuTeuh liinpgA Y.
burned, in order to make her
ear accidental,
death app was held yesterday in the Town
mu, in this Wan. The evidence was confirmatory of
the particulars already published. Richard Esans, the
policeman, who apprehended the prisoner, said, I charged
1 her with murdering her mother, and cautioned her not
to say anything to me. It " s going up the High-street,
when I was taking her to the lock-up, she said to me, " I
suppose this will be another Severn Hall job " (the
prisoner's brother was hung for the murder of his wife
at Severn hall). I said, " What do you mean by thet ?"
and she said, " Passion, passion ; I am very passionate,
and as soon as my passion is over I forgive directly."
The evidence of Messrs. Stranger, Coley, Newell, and
Martin, the surgeons, who all deposed to the cause of
death, was read by the Coroner, after which the jury
adjourned until the 28th of February, on which day they
I will deliver their verdict.

COWES,,,I‘LE OF WI ij
(FRoSI OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
OSS OF NE DOWNS AND TWO C
PILOTS.
COWES, DEC. 31.
Accounts were brought to Cowes on Saturday naCu-
ing that a boat with three hands in it from the-pilot-
vessel No. 4, in attempting to land at the back of the
Wight, between the Needles and Freshwater, had been
capsized on the preceding; day, and three pilots drowned.
The crew of the Hero were William Jacobs, Thomas
Burton, E. Math, and C. Nutkins, the latter being at
home at the time, and the three former only on boar.i.
Great hopes were entertained that the report might prow
untrue, Jacobs having a wife and eight children, Burton
a wife and seven children, and every prospect of another
being added to the number in a short time, Moth a sick
wife and large family. No further news was received ell
the afternoon, and as Friday was a fine day, with only
a very light wind off the land, the unfortunate ftmi-
lies buoyed themOves up wi!h hopes that as the
vessel wou'd certainly not be left a ithorit one of ttw men
on board, it c,uld not be three men (as that would be
the whole crew) from the Hero. In the evening, however,
all doubt was removed by the arrival of one of the Rural
Police, who came in to give notice to the Coroner, and
to summon the survivor, C. Moth. He stated that ta 0
of the holies had been washed on shore, in the pocket
of one was found some paper.:, by which his name ap-
peared to be Johnson, a Deal pilot ; the other name was
not known, but supposed to be Burton. The body of
Jacobs was washed on shore next moreing. The pilot
vessel is not yet returned, but it is understood that they
had taken a Dawns pilot out of a ship, and when attempt-
ing to land him near Freshwater, the boat (which is con-
sidered one of the best in the employ) was swamped by
one of those tremendous rollers which are so common •
on this dangerous coast; the boat was on a smoe th
and glasssy sea, close in with the shore, but
there was a heavy ground swell, and the Preven-
tive men on the shore waved to them, but they seemed
not to understand the object of it, and laid on their
oars, when a mountainous wave rolled in upon them,
and no vestige of the boat was seen afterwards. An in-
quest will be held on the bodies at twelve o'clock on
Monday. Scarcely a year passes but some of our pilots
are swept from this life in following their dangerous
calling. In this instance two widows and fifteen chil-
dren are thrown on the charity of the public. Johnson
may also have a family, which by his untimely end
may be deprived of their only support. On the books
of the Compassionate Fund of this town there are
between 70 and 80 poor widows.
The earnings iof the seagoing pilots of this port
have been very much reduced within the last few years,
and if some alteration for the better is not made there
will soon be no pilots outside the Wight to guide the
mariners from the dangers of that rock-bound coast.
Even on Friday, when the channel was so still and
smooth, the ground swell and rollers were so heavy that
the sea broke over the Needles rocks. The pilot who
braves the storm for weeks in the channel, looking out
for ships, if he brings one in bound to Southampton
gets superseded by a Southampton pilot at the entrance
of the river, and the latter takes the ship out without
being liable to be superseded after leaving the river.
Thus the Cowes pilot for all his knocking about gets
only ss. per foot to divide amongst the vessel's crew,
where formerly he got 15s. for taking in and out; while
the Southampton pilot, who has only a boat, with no
crew to share with him, and never goes outside the
Needles, gets 10s. per foot !

DEATH OF COUNT CORBINEAU.
Few Generals have seen such service as the Court
Jean Baptiste Corbineau, who has just died, with the
title of General of Division and Grand Cross of the Le-
gion of Honour. Born at Marchiennes (Nord) on the
Ist of August, A.D. 1776, he was, at the age of 16, a
sub-lieutenant in the Berry Cavalry, and was dispatched
to the frontiers. He was destined to see home no more,
for he served in all the campaigns of the Republic and
the Empire from 1792 to 1815, including the battle of
Mont St. Jean. M. de Corbineau was appointed a chief
of squadron in 1805, and a colonel in 1807. Promotion
was rapid in those days of danger and glory combined.
If our readers wish to know how it was that M. de Cor-
bineau, a colonel of dragoons in 1807, merited the rank
of general of brigade in 1811, we must refer them to the
report of the Duke of Dalmatia, commander of Andalusia,
on the battle of Alcalala-Real, in the Moniteur Universel
of the 20th of February, 1810. M. de Corbineau served
in the Russian campaign of 1812, and on the 20th of No-
vember in that year he threw himself, by a forced march,
between the corps of Tchitchakof and Witgenstein, and
crossed the Beresins at midnight at the head of his bri-
gade of light cavalry, in order to precede the French
army, which he rejoined near Bobr. It was he that
pointed out to the Emperor the passage of Sterdzianka.
As a reward for these signal services, the Emperor made
Corbineau his aide-de-camp two months afterwards, and
soon raised him to the grade of a general of division.
Count Corbineau then took the command of the cavalry
of the corps of Vaudamme; and when the latter had
been made prisoner, Corbineau, by an impetuous charge
of the corps d'armee commanded by the Prussian General
Kleist, re-established the momentarily interrupted com-
munications of the French army. Taking the command
vice Vaudamme, he rescued and brought back 18,000 of
the 26,000 men composing his division. Six months
later he was included in the number of the aides-de-
camp who saved the Emperors's life wh 1 he was at-
tacked by the Cossacks in the evening of the 30th of
January, 1814, on his return from Brienne to Mez:eres.
A month later, on the 6th of March, 1814, he seized the
town of Rheims at midnight, and by that coup de wain
sef,arated the Russian army, commanded by M. do St.
Ptie.,t, from that of Blucher, and so enabled Napoleon to-
cross the Aisne at 136 5-au-Bac. Corbineau, incessantly
attacked in Rheims by St. Priest, maintained his pcsi-
don without being dislodged, notwithstanding his enrr-
mous numerical inferioity. After the farewell of Fon-
tainebleau, the Count Corbineau retired to his domestic
hearth, and did not resume his military duties until the
20th of March, 1815. Dispatched to Lyons to arrest
the progress of the Duke d'Angouleme, who wished to
cross the I 41:•e, he captured that Prince at the Bridge
of St. Esprit, on the 9th of April, but restored him to
liberty in accordance with the instructions of the Em-
peror. Napoleon testified his satisfaction by a letter
to the Minister of War, inserted in the Moniteur.
He was immediately sent to La Vendee to replace
General Laborde, but was soon relieved by General
La Marque, and resumed his post near the Emperor.
After the battle of Mont St. Jean, he once more re-
tired into private life, but emerged again in August,
1830, when he was appointed to the command of the
16th military division, at Lille, and exercised that
office till 1844. In 1835 ho was made a Peer of
France, and in 1838 received the Grand Cross of the
Legion of Honour. His memory will be revered by
all his companions in arms.

A lad named Seapy, belonging to the Fate, which
was a fortnight since reported as having sunk at sea,
owing to injuries sustained from a collision with the
Glenalyn steamer, had a very narrow escape from
drowning. He had turned into his hammock before the
accident happened, and, strange to say, was not awoke
either by the shock or the subsequent uproar on the
deck of the vessel. As soon as the accident happened
the crew got on board the steamer, but the brig not
going down as quickly as they expected, they returned
to her, in the hope of running her on shore, and so sav-
ing some of her stores. They soon, however, found
this to be impracticable; but before finally abandoning
her, at the suggestion of the master, they went down
into the forecastle to secure their clothes; and in search-
ing for these, one of the men laid his hand on the face
of the sleeping boy, who had not previously been missed;
of course, he was soon aroused, but could at first scarcely
be convinced of the dangerous predicament he was in.—
Lynn Advertiser.
DEATH OF SIR SAMUEL CROMPTON, BART.—WO
have to announce the decease of the above respected
Baronet, who expired on Wednesday last, at Wood-end,
his family seat in Yorkshire. The respected Baronet
had suffered from impaired health some months, but it
was only within the last three weeks that his illness as-
sumed such appearances as to prepare his family for the
worst. The deceased was born in July, 1785, and mar-
ried, Nov. 3, 1829, Isabella Sophia, daughter of the lion.
and Rev. Archibald 11. Cathcart, by whom he leaves
issue several daughters, but no son. The late Baronet
was a great patron of agriculture, and had expended
considerable sums in the improvement of his es ts,.
tenantry. He represented East Retford in the that
Commons from 1818 till 1826, the year
wasb
elected
borough was disfranchised, and then to 1830. In
Member for Derby, which he sat for_oruP •r
-Tei sk, which
1834 he was the successful candidatehel n .
De retired from
he continued to sit for up to 1841,,
00 Baronetcy
(created
Parliament. Failing male issue, tb
n 1838) becomes extinct.
__Li
e; rusTMAs,--peel,
e fsoldroet euss e of
LIR PURITANS AND . ,,tikaPs no
Illustrates the temper
their conduct respecting*
Chris-
of the precisians t
had been, from tim©
Chris-
'somas
mss - day. Chris
an,
domestic
affection mie immemorial,
single circums
the season of jolri
d:1
when
children, the season when
fanailies assein aerrels were came home from
school, when cie made up, when carols were
house was decorated
saeldsonevaelrlyhteabrlts not utterly destitute of
pithkindnesspdoaonpoor were
w were enlarged anda
nvgerlYy
soeftwen,aesd.loaAdetdthwaitthsegaosoodn
tanecehtnanovvriesitiroe
cheer.
admitted to partake largely of the over-
the
acceptable on account of the
flowing% of the wealth of rich,
peculiarly the whose bounty was
eeerysestvreretty of the weather. At that season
shortness of the
days
eve.Argtrhenast,
the interval between landlord and tenant, master and
servant, was less marked than through the rest of the year.
Where there is much enjoyment there will be some ex-
cess; yet, on the whole, the spirit in which the holiday
was kept was not unworthy of a Christian festival. The
' Long Parliament gave orders, in 1664, that the 25th of
December should be strictly observed as a fast, and that
all men should pass it in humbly bemoaning the great
national sin which they and their fathers had so often
committed on that day by romping under the mistletoe,
eating the boar's head, and drinking ale flavoured with
roasted apples. No public act at that time seems to have
irritated the common people more. On the next anni-
vers:ary of the festival formidable riots broke out in many
places. Tho constables were resisted, the magistrates
insulted, the houses of noted zealots attacked, and the
proscribed service of the day openly read in the churches.
—llf acaulay's History of England.
ECLIPSES IN 1849.—There will be four eclipses in
the year 1849 two of the sun and two of the moon.
bathe will
of February and on the 17th of August, but.
The eclipses of the sun will take place on th 22d
be invisible at Greenwich. The moon will be partially
eclipsed on the Bth of March, and again on the 2d of
September. The former will be visible, and the latter
invisible in this country, and it will end sixteen minutes
before the rising of the planet.
LUGGAGE.—A lady who had a steam-boat full of
luggage, made an excite) for it by saying, " She was
going to Rome, and wouldn't for the world be without
the Thirty-nine Artieles."—Punch's Almanac.

MR. AINSWORTH'S NEW ROMANCE.
Now ready, at all the Libraries, in 3 vols.,
THE 1, ANCA. SIII Et E \V I'PCII E S.
By W. HARRISON AINSWORTH, Esq.
" Mr. 2insworth has been peculiarly sort rate in his choice of
subject, and happy in its treatment. It is eiseitikally all action, and
fr.,ls as naturally into Separate scenes and sketches, as the Lanca-
shire Witches' had lived for no other purpose than to afford an
author the opportunity for representing them vividly in this style.
At his call they come supernaturally (nut like shadows), and so de-
part. Then, interwoven with the belief in them, not by the vulgar
and ignorant alone, but by the crowned head of a Solomon, and the
wisest sages of the law. The superstitions that covered the land —the
persecutions, either from mistaken bigotry, personal hate, or sordid
motives—vary the picture as it glances before us, and we are
unwilling to stop anywhere, ar I take a more deliberate view of the
strange, melancholy panorama The author's forte has ever been
in the Celineation of rapidity in action, and here he has not had a
single obstacle to impede his course. Ile has accordingly, as we
think, excelled any of his former publications in this respect, for the
episode of Turpiu's ride to York, however admirable, cannot com-
pare with an entire and lengthened whole of a thousand pages; and
again, in another of his best qualities as a descriptive author, we
deem him equally successful in his pictures of the life, feelings, and
habits of England at the period lie has chosen for his subject."—
Literary Gazette.
Henry Colburn, publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

ARGUS LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY.-
WEST-END BRANCH.
The Directors GIVE NOTICE that, for the convenience of resi-
dents at the West-end of the town and of the public, they leave, in
addition te their City Establishment, No. 39, Throgmorton-street,
OPENED a BRANCH OFFICE, at No. 14, Pall-mall, where a
board and medical officers attend daily, for effecting assurances.
They have, besides the non-bonus, or low Premium Tables, adopted
rates of assurance whereby Assurers will share in the profits to the
extent of 80 per cent.

E. BATES, Resident Director.

TLI EA TRE ROY AL, DRURY-LANE.
CIRQUE NATIONAL DE PARIS.

- Madße. CAROLINE,
Madlle. RALMYRE ANATO,
LES VOLTIGEURS, and
Mons. AURIOL,
EVERY EVENING.

The Proprietors of the CIRQUE NATIONAL DE PARIS beg
leave most respectfully to announce that NINE REPRESENTIONS
will take p'ace during the present week, viz., SIX EVENING and
THREE MORNING. The performances will he varied from those
of last week, and embrace several entirely new Entrees and Acts.
The celebrated Madlle. Caroline will perform every night, and ride
a different horse on each evening, all highly trained.—Madlle. Pal-
myre Anato will perform a new Rapid Course on two Ilorses.—The
extraordinary Lutte des Voltig,eurs. by twenty-three persons.—The
wonderful Feats of the renowned Messieurs Aufol, and La Danse
des Quatre Globes, by MM. llenri and Lero, will be exhibited at
every performance during the week. The Elegant Quad: ille Du
doyen Age (a cheval) will be given for the Ist Time, this Evening.
In fact, the whole attractions of this immense troupe, alike unrivalled
for the number of artistes employed, as well as for their great talent,
will be brought into action at each representation.
PRICES OF ADMISSION.
Dress Circle, 4s. Dress Boxes, Is. Upper Boxes, 2s.
Pit, Arena, and Promenade, Is. 6d. Lower Gallery, Is. Upper Do. 6d.
SECOND PRICE.
Dress Circle, 2s. 6d. Dress Poxes, 25. Upper Boxes, le. 6d.
Pit, Arena, and Promenade. Is. Lower Gallery, 6d.
Second Price at Halt past Nine o'clock.
Tickets to be had at the Box-office, from Ten till Five; and at
Jullien and Co.'s, 214, Regent-street.
Evening Performances.—Doors open at Half past Seven, commence

at Eight.
THREE GRAND MORNING PERFORMANCES,

... ..
KoNDAY, WEDNESDAY, and FrunaY.—First Price as usual. No
Second Price.—Commence at Two o'clock.

S T.

JAMES'S

THEATRE,

DUMBOLTON'S SERENADERS.
Last Three sights.
This popular Troupe will give their final performances at the St,
James's Theatre, on the following Evenings : TO-NIGHT (Mon-
day). Jan. 1 ; Wednesday, Jan. 3 ; and Friday, Jan. 5, being most
positively their Last Appearance, in consequence of the theatre being
required for the usual season of French Plays.
Lo :es and Stalls may be wired at Mr. Mitchell's Royal Library,
33, Old Bond-street ; and at the Box-office.

THEATRE ROYAL. HAYMARKET.
Mr. B. Webster, Sele Lessee and Manager.- Old Brompton.
The nubile is respectfully informed that this Theatre has, during
the recess, undergone very extensive repairs and alterations and the
whole re-decorated.

THIS EVENING.
Will bo performed THE WIFE'S SECRET. Sir Walter Arnyott,
Mr. Charles Kean ; Lady Eveline Amvott, Mrs. Charles Kean.
After which, an Arabian Night's Entertainment, entitled
CA.MARALZAM AN AND BADOURA ; or, The Peri who Loved
the Prince. Characters by Messrs. Bland, Keeley, Mrs. Keeley, 111:s
Horton, and Miss Reynolds.
To conclude with a now Farce, entitled YOUR LIFE'S IN
DANGER.