The Sun.
London, England, 1824-03-23 00:00:00

PIGEON MATCH FOR 800 SOVEREIGNS.

The great match between nine Gentlemen from Hampshire,
with two of the Ashton Club, and the like number from Wilt
shire, with two of the disjointed Old Hats Club, took place
Saturday, at Swallowfield Common, Hants, in the presence; of
a numerous field, at seven birds each, at twenty-one xards
from the trap, and such a day's sport has rarely ever, been
witnessed. Each party killed fifty-seven birds, and it was
agreed, for the want of more birds, that three picked, men of
each side should shoot at three birds each. Hants won the
match by bagging eight birds from the trap, and Wilts killed
seven, two having been lost out of bounds.

AN ALCHYMIST'S TRICK.—The best delusion
ever practised by the Alchymists, says Voltaire, was tin. t
which Rosicrucian played, towards 1620, on Henry 1., Duku
of Bouillon, of the house of Tourenne, reigning Prince of Sedan.
" You do not possess," said the flattering charlatan, " a sover-
eignty worthy of your great qualities, and it is in my power to make
you richer than the emperor; 1 can only remain, however, 2 days
in your territories, for I am obliged to go to Venice, to attend
a grand meeting of the brethren ; if, therefore, I confer
wealth on you, you must keep my secret. Send to the chief
apothecary of the city, and purchase some sugar of lead ;
throw in a single grain of the real powder which I will give
you, and put the whole into a vessel over the fire, and in less
than a quarter of an hour it will be converted into gold."__.
He performed the operation, and repeated it three times in
the presence of the Rosicrucian, who had previously purchas-
ed all the sugar of lead which was in Sedan, and had resold
it mixed with some gold. On quitting Sedan, he made the
Duke a present of all his transmuting powder; who, having ob-
tained a small quantity of gold in his experiments, did not doubt
that, with the three hundred grains of powder, he should gain
three hundred ounces of gold. He began to reckon his
wealth, and calculated that, within a week, he should gain
thirty-seven thousand pounds, without thinking of what he
might afterwards gain. The philosopher, however, was in
haste to depart. He had given all his treasure to the Prince,
and only wanted a small sum of the current money of the coun-
try to carry him to Venice, where lie was to be present at the
meeting of the Hermetic States. He was very moderate in
his desires, and travelled without spending much money.
He only asked 20,000 crowns to defray the expense of his
journey to Venice; the Duke was ashamed that a man who had
given him so much should receive so small a sum, and gave him
40,000. He soon afterwards consumed all the sugar of lead in
Sedan, and then he made no more gold. The adept returned
no more, having made a very good bargain in getting 40,000
crowns for about three ounces of gold.—( The Chemist.)

It is stated in a German Paper, that the Uni-
versity of Leipsic has lately suffered by the deaths of it Profes-
sors in a degree almost unparalleled. Within a month it has
lost three of its most distinguished men, viz.—Professors
Crammer, Spohn, and Gilbert. The latter had read his lecture,
as usual on the 6th, and was suddenly carried off on the 7th.—
He was between 50 and 60 years of age. At this moment two
other eminent Professors (Beck and Haubold) are dangerously
ill. That the latter may not be disturbed in his rest, the street
in which he lives is barricadoed during the night, and no car-
riage whatever allowed to pass—.a measure which shows how
highly his fellow-citizens honour this eminent lawyer, who it
is however feared cannot recover.
A serious accident happened yesterday morn-
ing in Sloane-street. Mr. Topsham and his servant had just
started in a buggy from the siivare, when the horse took fright
at some mischievous boys pelting each other, got the bit out of
his month, and started off at full speed ; the consequence was,
the overturning of the chaise,, which was literally dashed to
pieces. Mr Topsham had an arm broken, and the servant was
taken up in a senseless state.