The Sun.
London, England, 1847-07-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LOWIYON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 7, 1847

clauses of Magna Charta, but were as yet sustained but
by a rather doubtful authority against the puissance
of King Jowl, STEPHEN LANGTON threw into the
popular scale the weight of ecclesiastical, and conse-
quently of Papal, connivance. Lord PALMERSTON has in
like manner secured success to the Portuguese
Liberals by affording them the countenance, and,
what is more, the encouragement, and, what is more
still, the physical assistance of England. The imme-
diate result of this proceeding on the part of the Go-
vernment of St. James's is the suppression of those
civil dissensions which have so long desolated the
provinces of Portugal, and the ultimate advantage
ensured by that timely pacification will prove, we
earnestly trust, the permanent dismissal from the
councils of MARIA. DA GLORIA of men who, while
pandering to their own individual interests, have cal-
lously diced away the liberties of the land, and
plunged the national fortunes into a Maelstrom of
disasters and embarrassments.

Had the discussion which is reported to hare
taken place at Granido between the Plenipo-
tentiaries of the three Powers and the representatives
of the 'Junta terminated otherwise than it did ac-
tually terminate, we should have been compelled to
declare that the tranquillisation of Portugal had been
bartered for an odious act of injustice, and that the
treaty had been sealed with the miseries of two dis-
tinguished patriots. We allude to the question which
is said to have arisen at these final deliberations, whether
the insurgent chieftains DAs ANTAS and SA DA
BANDEIRA should or should not be excluded from the
promised amnesty. Had those eminent, and in
no respect culpable, personages been visited by
that ignoble mark of vengeance, we should
have been disposed to rejoice in the event of their
possible liberation and triumph in the place of their
expatriation—supposing they had acted with a
promptitude and boldness like that evinced by their
compatriot BoarriM, now described as the Governor
of Angola. In alluding yesterday evening to the
circumstance of this moot-question about the two
great leaders of the Portuguese people, Lord PALMERS-
TON declared, amidst the acclamations of the House
of Commons, " There is no doubt that both SA DA
BANDEIRA and the Count DAS ANTAS are entitled to
the full benefit of the amnesty." It was a remark of
the Emperor NAPOLEON, that whenever you see the
exercise of a rigorous cruelty among the victors on
a battle-field, be sure they had been very nearly
beaten themselves—be sure they are still in awe of
the very men whom accident has enabled them to
vanquish. Those words of wisdom would have ap-
plied with singular felicity to the Royalist party of Por-
tugal in the event of any such an act of inhumanity
and bad faith as was threatened during the delibera-
tions at Granido.
Besides it would have been an extravagant bar-
barity to have excluded Des ANTAS and SA DA
BANDEIRA from the benefits of the general amnesty
when preparations were actually making for bring-
ing back the unfortunate prisoners of Torres
Vedras. It would have been tantamount to the
brutal jest of the Court minion, that the shores of
Africa are only salubrious to the nobler enemies of

a crown.
With her Most Faithful MAJESTY herself will re-
main the power of rendering this pacification of poli-
tical parties in her dominions a permanent blessing
to the people. Let her royal title, hitherto associated
only with turpitude and dissimulation, be an augury of
her sincerity. Let MARIA DA GLORIA be in truth
her Most Faithful Majesty. Her proceedings will
be scrutinised with the most jealous attention by her
subjects, and, consequently, there will be a twofold
necessity for the preservation of integrity both in
act and appearance.

The debate which took place last night in the
House of Commons, on the motion of Lord GEORGE
BENTINCK, for an address to her MAJESTY, praying
" that she might be graciously pleased to take such
steps as might be deemed advisable to secure for the
British holders of unpaid Spanish bonds redress from
the Government of Spain," was indeed remarkable,
and must prove in the highest degree satisfactory, not
only to the Spanish bondholders, but to all the Eng-
lish creditors of repudiating or defaulting states.
The Noble Secretary
_for Foreign Affairs spoke out
boldly and manfully. He recognised to the fullest
extent the principle advocated by the Noble Lord the
Member for Lynn, " that, according to the law of
nations, we should have a fair and full right to enforce
obligations of this kind with the same rioour as
'Away UL uwerenc cnaracter. impressively
warned the various defaulters of the consequences in
which they might be involved by a continued per-
severance in their disgraceful and dishonest policy.
Every reasonable indulgence should be afforded to
those states who acknowledge the full measure of
their responsibilities, and who would gladly de-
fray
,every just liability, and satisfy the fair
claims of their creditors, but for various unforeseen
circumstances that have interposed obstacles in the
way of the discharge of their undisputed obligations,
which for the time being were practically insur-
mountable. It is not to the honest but impoverished
Governments, who are willing but unable to pay
their debts, that the observations of the Noble Secre-
tary are especially directed, but pre-eminently to
those who, with ample means, continue to mis-
apply the funds that should be devoted to
the payment of the interest on their respective
debts, to what they are pleased to term " the public
service," and offer only frivolous and insufficient
excuses to their national creditors, in place of. the
payment to which in equity they are entitled ; and
also to others, who by a rigid adherence to a mani-
festly erroneous policy, and a ridiculous mismanage-
ment of the national resources, wilfully sacrifice the
resources of the state, and render them insufficient for
those purposes which could be provided for if a wiser
course were adopted. The Ministers of such states
will do well maturely and attentively to consider the
significant language of the Noble Lord. He says—

" I take this opportunity of reminding those Govern-
ments whc may be debtors to the British people that the
time may come when this House can no longer sit pa-
tiently under the wrongs and injustice inflicted upon the
subjects of this country, that the time may come when
the British nation may no longer see with the same
tranquillity 150,000,0001. due to English subjects, the
interest and principal of which are alike unpaid; and
that if more proper efforts adequately to fulfil their en-
gagements are not made, the Government of this country,
whoever may be the men who compose it, may be com-
pelled by public opinion, aye, and by the votes of
Parliament, to deviate from the hitherto estab-
lished practice, and to insist upon the payment
of those debts. Sir, that we have the means
to do so I do not for one moment dis-
pute. It is not that we are afraid of any of these
states, or of one or ail of them put together, that we
have abstained from taking the steps which my Noble
Friend has urged upon us. I trust that we shall always
have the means of obtaining justice from any country
on the face of the earth, and also of compelling them to
discharge their just obligations to us ; and, therefore,
let no foreign country that has done a wrong to British
subjects deceive itself by the false impression that the
British nation and the British Parliament will for ever
remain acquiescent and passive under the wrong ; or,
that whenever they call upon the British Government to
interfere and enforce the rights of the people of England,
the Government will not have ample means and power
to obtain for them a full measure of justice."
The energy and decision of that Minister are too well
known, too universally admitted, to suffer them to
suppose it possible that this was a mere
that must should arise (and
brutum fulmen, an idle threat. They may be
well assured that if the occasion
line of
may pursue), the interference
conduct the
wholly depend upon themselves, and the
may be taken in good trust,
will be an effectualyone,promptly and vigorously
executed. We shall t however that the hint
graTooh,aatnthd
own accord, with a good
se
t. force of British arms, compelled to do so 1,
de-
termine on doing fullyj
Bri-
tish, but to all their creditors 0, not only to their
of every nation; and
however,
beforem ay't
they are
their
er
that they may promptly taknerndu,cohlsteps as will indi-
cateanoous determination
honourable policy,
to the world their firm
henceforward to pursue a more ho
Another portion of this singularly address of
the Foreign Secretary conveys an instructive
not merely to the Spanish nation, to whichiveesepaercthi
lesson,al
ly
it was directed, but to all the nations of the
the evils incident to, and the abuses and mischiefs
that result from, what has been foolishly termed
"protection to native industry," and the adoption of
the various prohibitions and restrictions by which it is
erroneously supposed that protection is afforded and
maintained. The Noble Lord says—

"And why is the income of Spain not larger? Be-
cause Spain chooses to persevere in a system of com-
mercial restriction and exclusion, by which she positively
makes her income inadequate to her expenditure, Why,

Sir, Spain goes on to this day, in spite of all the expe-
rience and example of other countries—in spite of all the
lessons which have been read to her—in spite of all the
discussions and debates upon this subject which have
taken place all over the world—shutting her eyes to facts
and her ears to reason—she goes on excluding and pro-
hibiting a great portion of the commerce which would
naturally flow into her ports."

And he traces the fatal consequences of the system,
by showing that there are no less than 150,000 of the
population of Spain employed in one way or another
in the contraband trade, the most active part
of that population, who, if the labour, the energy,
and ability applied to such demoralising pursuits were
applied to industrial occupations, would add mate-
rially to the national wealth. The native industry
protected is only that of the native contrabandist, and
of the capitalists who conduct large establishments
for the promotion of smuggling on a gigantic scale,
and for which, in the words of the Noble Lord,
" Spain loses all the revenue which she would derive
from levying moderate and proper duties on the commo-
dities now smuggled into the country, and no sort of in-
dustry is protected and encouraged except that industry
of smuggling which tends to demoralise the people, to
engender hatred or contempt of the law, and which
makes the man engaged today in smuggling become to-
morrow a robber, and which leads the man who carried
the contraband goods over the mountain one day to carry
off the unoffending passenger up the mountain the next
day, in order to get possession of his property. That is
the state and principle of commerce under which the
Spanish Government voluntarily sacrifice a large annual
income more than sufficient to pay all their foreign cre-
ditors, and which income might be received without in-
juring any Spanish interest whatever but that which I
have now described."

The same argument has repeatedly been urged
in our own Legislature, in enforcing the propriety
and expediency of reducing the duties on many
articles of merchandise, which are of so exorbitant a
character as to give encouragement to the smuggler
in his illicit career. We trust that when the fitting
season may arrive—when the mode of levying and
rasing the national revenue is discussed in the
British Legislature—the principles that have so ably
been expounded by the Noble Lord, and the evils he
has so graphically delineated, may not be forgotten,
but that a speedy alteration in the scale of the import
duties may effectually destroy the system in this
country, and banish it for ever, at least from the
British dominions.

It is said that the Austrian Government, in imita-
tion of that of France, is about to send a Consul to
Calcutta, and that the company of the Austrian
Lloyds has nominated agents in the three presidencies
of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, for the steam-
vessels which, in the month of August next, will
begin to make the direct service from Alexandria to
Trieste.

Intelligence has been received from Oporto, dated
June 30, announcing that the Junta had surrendered
on that day, and that the city was occupied by the
Spanish troops, under the command of General
CONCHA.

Madrid papers of the 30th ult. have arrived.
The Infante Don FRANCISCO DE PAULA and his
daughter, the Infanta JOSEFA, quitted the Palace on
the 30th, and returned to their own residence on the
Retiro. In the course of a week they are to leave
the capital for the waters of Cestona or San Sebas-
tian. The removal of Don FRANCISCO from the
Palace is openly exulted over by the hangers-on at
the French Embassy, and is attributed to French in-

terference. The plan of the intriguers of the Tuileries
appears to be to isolate the QUEEN, so as to compel her
to abdicate if possible. The Clamor Publico com-
ments in very indignant terms on the circular which
the Ministers have addressed to the liberal Bishops
appointed since the death of FERDINAIID, calling on
them to resign. This circular is considered by the
Liberals as an act of grovelling servility to Rome.
Suspicions having been entertained that General
PRIM was organizing a Progressista movement at
Cadiz, he has been ordered to quit that city.
The Three per Cents. were done at 294 for cash;
the Four per Cents. at 171; the Five per Cents. at 17k;
the Debt without Interest at .51-,; and the Coupons at 13.

We have received the Paris papers of Monday.
The Presse has the following on a subject of un
versa' interest—the corn harvest :

" The harvesting of rye has commenced in the Bas
Limousin and Berry; that of barley is about to com-
mence. This is the end of the food crisis in the centre
of France. In the south an idea may be already formed
of the harvest; the wheat crops will yield as much as a
good ordinary year, and the grain will be of good quality.
In consequence the decline in prices gains ffiround every
at Bordeaux, 33f. at Bayonne, and 24f. at Carcassone.
At Marseilles grain is being amassed in the stores,
and only finds rare purchasers. In the north the crops
promise abundant products. Speculation seems dis-
posed to operate in potatoes; it makes considerable de-
mand of that article for Great Britain, with the hope of
realising fabulous profits. We warn these adventurous
speculators that their calculations repose on a very
contestable hypothesis. The rumours spread by certain
English journals of the general return of the potato
malady are very exaggerated. Some very limited loca-
lities seem to be, in fact, partially affected by it, but it is
not even proved that the injury done to the plant is to
be assimilated to the special malady of 1845 and 1846 ;
it is generally attributed to the action of a little insect
of the aphis kind. Besides the Mark-lane Express,
much better informed than the political papers with
regard to all that concerns agriculture, affirms that
the vegetation of the potato develops itself with
admirable vigour in all parts of the United King-
dom. We can give the same assurance for the different
parts of the Continent, and especially for France.
No unfavourable news have as yet reached us on this
subject, and our personal investigation in the environs
of Paris have convinced us that their exists thus far no
reasonable motive to suppose a deficiency possible in the
potato crop."

The accounts from the French provinces more
than confirm these cheering statements of La Presse.
There is nothing whatever in these accounts to con •
firm the rumours which have been industriously cir-
culated of the re-appearance of the potato disease.
On the contrary, finer potatoes were never seen than
those now brought to market in France, as the pro-
duce of the early planting.

The Constittitionnel has a long article on the
Ministerial scandals which have recently been
brought to light, and in the vituperation of which the
provincial journals are almost unanimous. The
article, which is attributed to M. TRIERS, declares
that it is by the press that the Ministry will fall.
Certain it is that the Ministry at present has only
the Journal des Debats to defend it, and even that
journal is no out• and out supporter of the Ministry.
"In Paris," says the Conslitutionnel," one paper only,
the Journal des Debuts, defends the Ministry. The Mi-
nisters, after the satuinalia of publicity which they had
themselves organized, and after the ruin of their fa-
vourite organ, returned with dissatisfaction to cast them-
selves into the arms of their old and sole defender, but
at the same time meditating further inconstancy. It is,
in fact, well known that the Cabinet is urging its friends
to found some new Conservative journal, which would
entertain no vain scruples, which would particularly
praise their faults, find pleasure in acts which ought to
be condemned, brave public opinion, boldly become the
aggressor, devote itself without delicacy, and, if neces-
sary, force the .Journal des Debuts to write favourably,
notwithstanding its indocility and ill humour. But whilst
they are expecting the new Epoque, the Ministers are
defended only by a single journal. But that journal,
properly understood, demonstrates by the involuntary
concessions it makes to public opinion the profound dif-
ference which exists between the Government and the
French nation. There are few great questions on which
that journal has not hinted some fundamental objection to
the resolutions adopted by the Ministry. It is true, it
disapproves timidity—it contradicts itself from day to
day, and frequently in the same article—it sometimes
assumes the air of a bravo, and raises a shout in favour
of Government ; but it is easy to comprehend that it
would praise a better policy, and that it has but little
taste for what is doing and for what it is made to say. If
the subject be the foreign policy of the country, it is like
a partisan of the English alliance—it boasts of it on
principle,
and even at the risk of stigmatising the ex-
travagance and the culpable calculations on which the
Spanish marriages were accomplished—it is awure of
the sentiment which prevails throughout France as to
the oppressors of Poland—it attacks the Emperor of
Russia as frequently as it can, and even the murderers
of Gallicia ; its language is consequently feeble when
it explriesstesesof St. .pe
thegratteitrusdeogf the Ministers towards the
capita
bur h, or when it approves the
Vienna, our
.Gfioeveornfmtehnet
ntaotwioanradlsitythoef Cabinet of
f
Pope, of the independence
Switzerland,
tohte. tchhefipstoipaunlsaoriftythoef'Eatshte,
ltehaerlilnigberottihy' e osfacigweitz
Fride
as
eithertteostihot
itself
govern
went, oAfustthrei a. hoof
ci
ment, it does not accord in opinion
Greece,question
withtta rb dsoo
nituihetees t
'Ministers
of
our system of Customs duties.
It
sometimes
with which
es principle
e m a n
altfrnh
esooug nfuatersotafi
so pow
of er
ridicule
ct
ut)
leb educationethe accorded to the clergy,
o
the new dynasty wishes to surround itself, and the court
clergy whom it wishes to prepare atoSrntoo.bnDiltiehtnmeis. Neither
does it dare to justify the derangement of our finances.
In Paris, therefore, the Ministers possess but one sup-
porter, who
agn, toi propositions.
colours
( performipoosu rtsex
xs
porter, who resembles as much as it can an officious
' advocate. In the departments the press is divided into
two camps. The Ministerial journals maintain silence,
or are oh l
off mail
srheavdo
rthoesi
sr, The
irsyeirth service
n by
Opposition
uiu supportingi
ity
andjournals

energy of which we have not for a long period seen an
example, the indignation with which all honourable
men are filled at the sight of existing scandal, and of
the degradation of th - Government. It is particrly
the system of corruption, of which the truits are every-
where beginning to show themselves, that excites the
organs of the press throughout the departments."

The following article on the relations subsisting-
between Great Britain and China appears in the

Dibats. It is stated that the writer has resided in
China for sometime :
" It is not yet five years since peace was signed with
England, and it is notorious how it has been observed by
the Chinese. Blood has been shed several times, and

.. _
whenever the execution of anew clause was to be en-

sured a recourse to arms was found to be necessary, and
each time the inexpressible weakness of the Imperial
Government has appeared in a light more menacing for
them. Besides this military weakness, this incurable
malady of disloyalty and blind pride, which incessantly
brings on them the cannon of the Europeans, will not
perhaps be as yet the most active cause of their ruin. In-
ternal anarchy, roused into existence by the effect of so
many humiliations, prepares the way for perils of a far
more direct character. No doubt, when it is recollected
that scarcely 150 years back some bands of shepherds—a
mere handful of men—undertook the conquest of this vast
empire, and after having succeeded in getting their au-
thority accepted by so manymillions of men, added in the
west new territories to that country, already so immense,
it is impossible not to feel a certain admiration for the
genius and political talents of the Mantchoux. Unfor-
tunately, it is also true that their rule has always been
exceedingly contested in the south of the empire—that
it was never admitted by certain populations of the
Yunnan—that it was never much more than nominal in
the Fukien—that except in the large cities it has always
been exceedingly uncertain in the province of Canton—
and that in all thesa districts it has been incessantly
opposed by local insurrections, by armed bands, and
secret societies plotting the expulsion of the foreign dy-
nasty. But if this was the case when that Government
had in its favour the prestige of force and success, what
has it not to fear after so many disasters and humiliations ?
It most also be declared wherever the Europeans pene-
trate they discover all around only symptoms of
decadency and approaching dissolution, and in a
tour which we (•a) s the writer in the Debate) made
through about ont-half of the Chinese coast, from
the mouth of Yang-tze-kiang to that of the Choo-
kiang, from Ning-po to Canton, we beheld
nothing but insurgent populations—but smuggling and
piracy carried to an extraordinary extent. But if the
authority of the Government should fall to pieces—if
anarchy becomes definitively mistress of th country—if
foreigners behold themselves delivered up without gua-
rantee to the cruel passions of a stupid populace—will
they carry their disinterestedness and their respect for
Chinese nationality to the extent of purely and simply
withdrawing? Or, even supposing that their ambition
does not impel them to it, is it not to be supposed that

the foreign powers, forced to provide for the safety of
their subjects, will at last establish on these ruins a
regular government? Recent facts, indeed, show that
England has begun to enter on this course. In conse-
quence of innumerable acts of piracy, and of robberies
committed by armed bands even on the territory
of Heng.Kong, where the very habitation of
the Governor was attacked twice, Sir J. Davis
has just given orders to the English vessels
stationed in the river of Canton to visit all the Chinese
junks and search them minutely; to arrest and destroy
all whose fitting-out causes their destination to be sus-
pected, and to hand over the crews to the tribunals of
Hong-Kong. Nay more, the Chinese Government, in
its weakness, favours this tendency, notwithstanding its
being so clang( row for itself. Thus we learn from the
journals brought by last mail, the tao-tai, the first magis-
trate of the army in the province of Fukien, not knowing
how to get rid of the pirates who were committing their
depredations even in the port of the town, at last payed
the captain of the English corvette, the Scout, to act in
the matter for the Chinese Government. The deference
of the English captain had already, at the last departure,
led to the arre,t and destruction of several junks.
There are still many things to be said on this important
subject, but we look to time to justify our predictions."
In the Chamber of Deputies the Bill authorising
the city of Paris to contract a loan of 25,000,000 f.
was passed by a majority of 197 to 36, and in the
Chamber of Peers the Greek Loan Bill was passed by
82 to 25.
The Paris Bourse wore an appearance of firmness and
ease on Monday to which it had long been a stranger,
and for which no obvious cause existed except the mag-
nificence of the weather, and the high state of the tem-
perature (83 degrees of Fahrenheit). Stock and shares
-the latter especially-imprpved in a rather sensible
degree.
The Three per Cents. closed at 77f. 90c.; the Five per
Cents., 118 f. 90c.; the Orleans Railroad Shares, 1,263 f. 75c.
ex div. ; Rouen, 957 f. 50c. ; Havre, 640 f. ; Great Northern,
570 f.; Avignon, 67011 ex div.; Vierzun, 592 f. 50c. ex div. ;
Bordeaux, 505 f. ex div. ; Boulogne, 400 f. ; Troyes and
Montereau, 272 f. 50e.; Basle, 185 C ; Paris and Strasburg,
423 f. 75c. ; 'fours and Nantes, 402 f. 50c.; Paris and Lyons,
431 f. 25c.; Lyons and Avignon, 4381. 75c. ; Bordeaux and
Cette, 456 25c. ; Spanish Actives, 29:12-; ditto, Domestic
Debt, 27k.
MARSEILLES, JULY 1.-Marseilles and Avignon, 685 f. ;
Northern, 567 f. 50c.
Lyons, muix 3.-Paris and Rouen, 9571. 50c. ; Avignon
and Marseilles, 6701. ; Vierzon, 588 f. 75c. ; Northern, 5651. ;
Paris and Lyons, 427 f. 50c.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, JULY 6.

_ •
Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Cette (Constituted), 2',V,—cev.
• Mt. -3 -Vo ./
8 —rans Wall Lyons, a -• • •
Roueu and Havre, 25—Sambre and Meuse, 7X3.

TERRIFIC STORM this MORNING

THIRTEEN BUILDINGS DESTROYED.

metropolis, between one and two
fluid struck the roofing of the
This morning, during the raging of the terrific storm
ow,hcliocchk atshsee d
eolv,
ce
trr
itch e
private dwelling in the occupation of Mr. T. Wisemith,
situate in Brewer's-lane, Greenwich, near to the Hospital,
and close by the Waterman's Pier at the bottom of
Church-street, and set fire to several other dwellings.
From inquiries made upon the spot by our reporter as
SOOTI as it was possible to reach the scene of desolation
from town, it appears that one of the neighbours, being
alarmed by the vividness of the lightning and the extra-
ordinary peals of thunder which succeeded each flash,
went to one of her windows for the purpose of throwing
it open, when a stream of fire shut from the clouds, and
at once illuminated the hemisphere, striking immediately
over the rooting of the premises in Mr. ‘Viseman's oc•
cupation. For some few moments the female was so
alarmed that she scarcely knew where she was, but in a
glibours, and she deszribes
e
short time she was awoke to consciousness by seeing
the roof of the building on fire. As soon as possible
shethescene
says
se
whicha aroused
followed her
of the most appalling character. Scores of poor people
who inhabit this densely crowded thoroughfare jumped
from their beds, and rushed nom their dwellings almost
e ri
n nthe adjoining courts as being
in a state of nudity, and several narrow campus from
injury were experienced, this fire travelling with great
rapidity from the fact that the cottages of the more
humble were chiefly constructed of timber. The autho-
rities connected with the Hospital at Greenwich being
informed of the calamity, ordered the engine belonging
to that establishment to be got out without delay, and
upon information being sent to the dockyard at Dept-
ford, the powerful floating engine moored off the yard
was speedily manned and rowed to a most available posi-
tion opposite the fire. So great v.as the light caused by
the conflagration that the policemen from Biackfriars
and Southwark bridges gave intelligence
of a dis-
tant fire to the nearest brigade-stations, and
Mr. Henderson, the foreman of the southern section of
the brigade, the Farringdon-street engine, the West of
England engine, and the engine from the County esta-
blishment in Regent's Quadrant, were very soon at the
fire. The hose of the float being led from the Thames,
and the land engines being well supplied from the water-
works of the Kent Company, vast bodies of water were
soon poured upon the burning materials, but the fire,
which had by this time necessarily obtained great hold,
progressed fearfully from house to house, until it en-
circled an area of great extent, feeding upon much va-
luable property. From Mr. Wiseman's private dwelling
it extended to the extensive lofts and store-rooms of
Messrs. W.•and.R. Fluntly, mast, block, and sail-makers,
in Brewer-lane, thence to the warehouses belonging to
the same firm which were chiefly stored with salt and
provisions, and to the private residence of one of the
partners. Several cottages on the same side of the way
then became ignited, while those on the opposite side in
Coombe's-court caught fire. The excitement then became
extreme. The poor people were compelled to stand by
and see their little allot' furniture and effects swallowed up
by the devouring element, all their efforts to save it being
cut off by the fury of the flames. And here the use of
the police, under the superintendence of Mr. Mallalieu
and his inspectors, was signally manifested in preventing
the anxious sufferers from rushing into danger. The
efforts of the firemen were directed for some little time
to removing some wood partitions, in order that they
might, if possible, save the ancient water-side house,
known by many of our readers who have visited Green-
wich by the sign of the Fubbs' Yacht ; but their
exertions proved fruitless—the whole of the building
and its contents are destro ed. At this period it was
apprehended that the entire of buildings between
the Fubbs' Yacht and the Watermen's Pier would fall
a prey to the fire; but happily, even when hope itself
appeared to give way, signs of a diminution of flame
became apparent. At this critical juncture much
judgment was displayed by the directors of the firemen.
—the water being copiously distributed from points com-
manding the seat of the fire, while other men were sta-
tioned with their branches so as to keep cool the reeking
walls of the adjacent buildings.
By seven o'clock the fire was so far subdued that no
further danger of its etl, and by nine
extensicii appcar •
o'clock nothing remain( d but a smouldering mass of
mini. Seine of the parties : b to of
the are insured, but many
poor, renting or lodging in the small tenements,
the loss will be d their little all great indeed g being taken
from them b 3 the ealamit;-. Several leading officers
from the Dockyard and Greenwich Hospital were pre-
sent, aiding tl.e infAitants"'nlicthe firemen in
ant assisting
the discharge of their ditty.
Subjoined is the cflic•areport furnished this day to
the several tire-offices' b s; • tcrident of the
Londonre ,y the —uperin
Lerrinex..4' "
stablishrnent:—
" July 7, 18-17.--lire upon the premises undermen-
tioned, situate severally inßr 's ne and Coombe's-
court, near the Hospital, Greenwich.e-
1.
" Broke out upon the premises the occupation of
Mr. T. Wiseman (private); burned I
iseman down; not at present
known if insured.

" Premises of Messrs. W. and R. Fluntly, mast, block,
and sail-makers, building and contents burned down
insurance unknown.

"Private house and Warehouse belonging to tho same

firm, roof off and stock and furniture seriously damaged;
not known it insured.

" Mr. J3MP, Fi. Ch. BTPWPr'S-lane (privntr.), all 1-,ut
dvstro:f , : •,4 ir !ht. .! ",

" House of Mr. U. Cule, licensed victualler, sign
Fubbs' Yacht,' burned down; contents insured in the
Phoenix, building unknown.
" Mrs. Trucole (private), burned down; not insured.

COOMBF'S• COURT.

" Mr. S. Welsh (crivatf!), burned down; uninsured.

" Mr. Burns (private), burned down; uninsured.
" Mrs. Taylor (private), fruntdamaed, walls partially
pulled down; not insured.
" Mr. Lant (private), similarly injured.
b' Three houses on the opposite side occupied severally
by Mr. Blackman, Mr. Giles, and Mr. Matthews, are
also destroyed; cause, electric fluid."
Happily no one was injured.
ANOTHER FIRE CAUSED BY THE ELECTRIC

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.
(riip4 DAY.)

♦-~ f~ -

Svc sovere;p;

• :,:.fir, Lhe prep c, tj
of Nlr. George At fluid.
It appeared that the prosectito:', on the 30th ultimo,
bad been enjoying himself rather freely in several public
houses along the City-road, and fell, with his purse in
hand, in the street, and the contents of his purse was
scattered about. The prisoner came tintl picked up the
purse and money, and when asked if he had anything
except thct he replied in the negati, but upon
being searched, the above money was found upon him.
He was found Guilty, and sentenced to six month::
imprisonment, with hard labour.
THE LATE HEARTLESS ROBBERY AT THE LONDON
floserrae.-111ciry Anne Pedfler was indicted for steatitic,
a bead necklace, value 55., the property of Thomas Blyth,
from the person of Eizabeth
The first witness called was Mary Anne Cripps, who
stated that she was the head nurse in the ward in which
Mrs. Blyth was brought in in a dying state, in conse-
quence of an accident by the upsetting of a gig, while
coming from Fairlop Fair. The prisoner approached
closely to the bed side, and hugging the dying woman in
her arms, said, " Poor, dear creature, she was my next
door neighbour." Witness said she was sinking fast,
and ordered the under nurse to get her some brandy,
when the prisoner said give me her pocket, I will go and
get her some. No one approached the bed, upon which
Mrs. Blyth was (who died in less than half an hour after
her admission), except witness, the under nurse, and the
prisoner; and the prisoner having left the room the
under nurse almost immediately afterwards exclaimed
that her necklace had been taken. A policeman even-
tually brought the prisoner back, when she was searched
in the nurses' room, but nothing was found upon her; but
as the policeman was afterwards taking her down stairs
he heard something drop, and stopping her so suddenly
as not to allow her to leave the spot where she stood, he
looked down, when he found the necklace at her feet.
She could not tell if Mrs. Blyth was alive at the time of
the robbery.
Mary Townsend confirmed this witness's state-
ment, which was also borne out by that of the constable.
Mr. Thomas Blyth, whose arm was in a sling, and
who seemed to suffer deep mental and physical anguish,
stated the circumstances of the accident, and deposed
that he had never seen the prisoner before the time
she was brought to him in the hospital by the police-
man.

The ASSISTANT•JUDGE in summing up said the jury
could not treat the case as one of stealing from the per-
son, because the nurse was unable to state whether the
poor woman was alive or not.
The jury, without a moment's hesitation returned a
verdict of Guilty, and
The ASSISTANT-JUDGE in passing sentence on the pri-
soner said, this was about one of the most unfeeling,
cruel, and heartless cases which ever came before him.
The prisoner—You are wrong, my Lord, I did know
the woman; she and I have often drank together.
The ASSISTANT-JUDGE—Nonsense. You want now
to belie the woman's character. The sentence of the
Court is that you be imprisoned and kept to hard labour
for six months, six weeks of the term to be solitary.
The grand jury having terminated their labours were
discharged at twelve o'clock.

BOW-STREET.-(THIS DAY.)
Philip Bradley was placed at the bar before Mr. Henry
on a charge of stealing 91. in gold, the property of Mary
Jenkinson, his landlady. He had been several times
remanded.

The complainant stated that she kept an eating-house
in Little Turnstile, and the prisoner had rooms in her
house. On Saturday, the 26th ult., he gave her two
shillings in part payment of his week's rent, asking her
to allow the remainder to stand over for a few days, to
which she assented. On the Monday following she
missed 91., which she had deposited in a work-box in
her bedroom a few days before. The prisoner passed
the door of that room in going to and from his bedroom.
No other person had occasion to pass it.
Mr. Win Cooper, a linen-draper in Red Lion-street,
said that on Monday, the 28th ult., the prisoner pur-
chased a silk handkerchief of him, and at the same time
deposited with him Cl. in gold.
Mr. Richard Cooper, a shoemaker, in Red Lion-
street, said that on the same day the prisoner bought a
pair of boots, and having paid for them, asked for an
envelope. He put something in it, sealed it, and placed
it in one of the boots. He then left.

The envelope was found to contain Mr. W. Cooper's
acknowledgment for 64

The prisoner reserved his defence, and was committed
for trial.

WORSHIP-STREET.—(THIS DAY.)
ROBBERIES ON THE EASTERN COUNTIES RAILWAY.
—For some time past the Eastern Counties Railway
Company have been robbed to an alarming extent by
their own servants. Amongst other purloinings is one
not unfrequently practised on the canals and in the
docks, commonly called " riding the pony," which means
the displacing the bung of a cask containing liquor, and
introducing a tube, by which the parties help themselves
by means of suction, as bountifully as they please.
Certain individuals having been suspected, a watch
was set upon their actions, and on Sunday
afternoon last, Sparks, the gatekeeper of the
goods warehouse, at St. John-street, Bethnal-green,
discovered six of the servants of the company regaling
themselves in the manner above alluded to. Sparks
proceeded to the police-station, and gave information to
Sergeant Coleman, the acting inspector ; and sergeant
Price, accompanied by several constables, went to the
warehouse, and apprehended five of the delinquents, the
„„„, imahlson, escaped, but was subsequently
captured.

They were all brought to this office, and Cooling and
Williamson were discharged in consequence of the evi-
dence not appearing sufficient ; but the others, namely,
Bacon, Wood, Allen, and Cherry, were ordered for trial

THAMES.—(THIS DAY.)
Edmund Mills, who had been a driver in the employ
of the London Parcels Delivery Company for the last
ten years, was charged with having driven his horse
and cart over a boy about four years of age, named Henry
Dobson, killing him on the spot.
From the evidence it appeared that, between seven
and eight o'clock yesterday evening, as the prisoner was
driving a cart belonging to the company past Plummers-
row, Mile-end Old Town, the deceased, with his mother,
was sitting on a door-step, when suddenly the poor little
fellow darted away from his parent, and before Mills
could pull up one of the wheels passed over its head,
causing instant death on the spot. All the witnesses
concurred in the opinion that no blame was to be at-
tached to Mills, who tried to pull up, but could not, and
immediately got down and rendered every assistance.
The cart was not going at a faster rate than seven or
eight miles an hour.
Mr. YARDLEY said, however deplorable and melan-
choly such an accident might be, y'et, from the evidence
before him, there was clearly no blame to be attached to
the prisoner, who bore, it seemed, an excellent character,
having been ten years in the employ of a public company,
and, therefore, under all the circumstances, he should
discharge him.

VAUXHALL GA RDENS.
A grand fete was given yesterday upon the occasion
of the anniversary of the Butchers' Charitable Institu-
tion. There were upwards of 15,000 persons present.
The gardens were more than usually brilliant, and the
fireworks went off with great splendour. The great
novelty was, however, the night ascent of the balloon, in
which were Mr. Gypsum, the proprietor of the balloon,
Mr. Albert Smith, Mr. Pridmore, and Mr. Coxwell.
After some delay the balloon mounted with great velo-
city, and some rockets were discharged. It was soon,
however, sailing out of sight, and the company in the
gardens believed that the aeronauts had a pleasant
voyage before them, when they
were frightened from
their propriety by the report that an accident had oc-
curred, as the balloon had been seen rapidly descending
about a mile from the royal property. The most painful
anxiety reigned for some minutes, which was, however,
agreeably dispelled by the arrival of Mr. Albert Smith
in a cab, to whom we are indebted for the following
account of the occurrence :—As soon as the fireworks
from the car had been discharged, word was given to
Mr. Coxwell, who was on the hoop, to open the valve
and relieve some of the gas, as the balloon was getting
tense from the elevation it had attained. A report
resembling a rush of air was instantly heard, and the
whole of the lower part of the balloen suddenly col-
lapsed, surging backwards and forwards as in a high
wind, whilst a voice cried, " The valve has burst
—we are all lost !" Immediately it began to descend
with terrific rapidity, the elevation at that moment
attained being, as nearly as could be calculated by the
minuteness of the river boundaries, about 6,000 feet ;
and, to add to the danger, the mass of the balloon was
covered with the last sparks of the fireworks, threaten-
ing every moment to blow up. Fortunately the netting
retained the upper part of the balaloodn
to
on
this
ahips parachute
shape, shape, the neck collapsing into it,
n
attributed the preservation of the lives of the aeronants.
The first shock was awful as it struck the earth, throw-
ing the voyagers from the car with great violence, while
the silk of the balloon, entirely voided of its gas, covered
them. A smart concussion was fortunately the only re-
sult of the accident. The only gentleman who received
any hurt was Mr. Pridmore whose knee was slightly
lacerated. Perhaps in the annals of aeronautics there is
not to be found au instance of so miraculous an escape.
To the presence of mind of the gentlemen in the car may
be attributed their safety. In the few awful seconds
which elapsed between the accident and the arrival on
earth, every means, by lightening the ballee,n and
otherwise, were coolly taken to obviate the shock of
touching the earth ; and had it not been fe,r their calm-
ness every life might have been sacrificed.. The primary
cause of the accident seems to have been the state of the
atmosphere, which rarified the gas te. such an extent
that the mechanism connected T.vith the valve gave
way. The night was exceedingly sultry—the lightning
playing about the heavens almost continually. But, as
regarded the ascent, a finer one was never made, and
every one of the gentlemen was, more or less, acquainte':.t
with the principles of aorostation.