The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-25 00:00:00

THE LATE DR. LYNCH.

We gave a prominent place, in our columns of Satur-
day, to a communication from one of the first medical
authorities in this country, on the progress of
epidemic disease in the metropolis. Yesterday we re-
corded the death, at the early age of 38, and after a few
hours' illness, of one of the ablest and most energetic
advocates of sanatory reform, Dr. Lynch, of Farringdon-
street. The cause of death was inflammation of the
throat, which, from the accounts we have received, we
conclude to have been of an endemic character, or at
least to have been aggravated by the tendency which at
present exists in the atmosphere to generate affections
of that nature. In ordinary years they are not commonly
dangerous, unless to delicate females, or persons of ad-
vanced age. But during the past year the bills of mor-
tality have shown a large increase of deaths from this
class of diseases, amounting to nearly double the' ordi
nary proportion. The last quarterly returns of the
Registrar-General state, that "in the summer of 1846
the mortality was greater than it had been in any quar-
ter of the last seven years ; and in the last winter quar-
ter, ending March 31, 1847, no less than 56,105 persons
diefon the districts•which make the returns; a number
greate7 than has been registered in any corresponding quar-
ter, and 6,035 (or nearly 11 per cent.) above the cor-
rected average." In the next paragraph the report pro-
ceeds—" the registrars in their notes ascribe the in
creased mortality generally to inflammation of the lungs
and air tubes, to typhus, and other diseases, and to the
effects of cold upon the aged ;" inflammation of the
lungs and throat being placed foremost among the ag-
gravating causes. We notice this case, not only to tes-
tify our regret for the untimely loss of an indefatigable
worker in the cause of sanatory reform, but likewise
because the most determined effort yet made to awaken
the City authorities to a sense of the awful respon-
sibility they are incurring, by a neglect of the sana-
tory condition of the City, was duo to the exertions,
and sustained by the professional testimony of Dr.
Lynch. It is precisely a month (25th May) since the
churchwardens of St. Bride's, St. Dunstan's, and other
parishes in the ward of Farringdon Without, gentlemen
who, as they stated, had personally inspected the
dwellings of the poor, waited on the Lord Mayor, to re-
present the awful condition of that " worst of the thirty-
six metropolitan districts." Dr. Lynch was the spokes-
man on the part of the churchwardens; and we know no
document containing a more powerful and comprehensive
statement of the sanatory condition of the City, and the
dangers resulting from its present state, than the elo-
quent address which he delivered on that occasion. A
brief abstract of it appeared in our next day's publica-
tion ;.but we are not aware that a full report of it has
been published in a separate form—an omission on the
part of those more immediately concerned which is
much to be regretted. Now, not a month has elapsed,
and this eloquent denouncer of City filth and City negli-
gence is struck down by the invisible enemy whose for-
midable presence he denounced. The cause of his death
might be summed up in one of his own expres-
sive sentences on the occasion referred to, that
amid atmospheric influences such as he described,
"the most simple diseases become malignant."
The petition which these churchwardens of the
parishes comprised in the ward of Farringdon Without
put up to the City authority was lucid enough, and easy
of execution. In the words of Dr. Lynch, " they en-
treated his Lordship to name an early day for the consi-
deration of the public health, included in the memorial
of the ward, urging the Corporation to adopt
sanatory
measures for the benefit of the poor." (And just in the
same proportion, we conceive, for the benefit of the
rich; and the latter, we may hint to the worthy church-
wardens, being an argumentum ad hominem, is likely to
be not the least effective with corporators.) Dr. Lynch
continued, " The gentlemen of the inquest"—(an appro-
priate term that; for what was the scrutiny into the filth
of their neighbourhood, which at such peril to themselves
these gentlemen carried out, but a coroner's inquest on
the wholesale murders, committed, say at the rate of
100,000 per annum, by persons in authority, from Lord
Morpeth down to the Lord Mayor, and from the Lord
Mayor down to refractory dustmen, who refuse to
cleanse the out-offices of the poor, unless they treat
them to extra drink—who know their duty, bat will
not do it?)—" suggest to his Lordship the propriety
of calling a Common Council, as soon as possible,
to apply to Parliament for a short Bill, empower-
ing the City authorities to enforce the abolition
of cess-pools, and other nuisances which were of
mortal injury to the community, to compel landlords to
trap and open the drains of every house into the sewer,
and to appoint an inspector to take care that this law
was enforced. They indulge the hope that the Govern-
ment will render every facility in the laudable endeavour
to accomplish such good." After further details of the
peril that was daily incurring, and of the precautions
taken at Liverpool and elsewhere, the appeal continued—
" every precautionary measure which science can sug-
guest ought to be had recourse to, to prevent the spread
of such an appalling calamity amongst us. To delay, in
such a moment of imminent danger, would be criminal in-
difference to the safety of society." Alas !it was easy
for him who uttered these powerful appeals to the
authorities to indulge in hopes ; but it is the reverse of
easy to make any real impression—any impression that
will induce to action—on Lord Mayors or Lords Com-
missioners of her Majesty's Woods and Forests. The
Common Council have taken, so far as we are aware, no
steps like those so impressively urged upon them. They
have asked for no " short Bill." On the contrary, they
and the great majority of their class, intra-mural and
extra-mural, in the Mansion-house and in Marylebone,
have protested against all sanatory measures, long and
short, that threatened to

" Molest the ancient solitary reign"

of immemorial uncleanliness. Perhaps, however, the City
authorities, though they heeded not the voice of the living,
will pause at the mute appeal which is made by the dead
to their better sympathies as well as their fears. Dr.
Lynch, by virtue of his political activity, as well as his
professional skill, enjoyed considerable popularity, if not
with the immediate authorities of that Corporation whose
abuses, as well as all other social evils, he sought to reform,
at least with great numbers among the most influential
and respectable of his fellow-citizens. It is strange,
however, if anything connected with this subject could
be strange, that Lord Morpeth, in ascertaining what the
wishes of the City were as to the measures which he had
brought forward, did not apparently make any account
of this appeal, publicly addressed to the City authorities
by the churchwardens of a whole group of parishes in
the most crowded part of the City. Surely this one
voice, uttered, and by parish authorities too, in behalf of
the stifled, poisoned poor, had a better right to strengthen
his Lordship's wavering purposes than the minatory
growls of these aldermanic dogs-in-the-manger, who will
neither wash themselves nor let other people wash them,
ought to have had to wring from him concessions which
in his heart he knows to be not only weaknesses on his
part, but actual sins, which, ere the year is over, most
probably thousands of his fellow-subjects will have to
expiate with their lives.—Chronicle.

CHARGE OF FRAUD AGAINST THE MAYOR OF
LIMERICK.—The Limerick Reporter contains the follow.
ing extraordinary statement:—" By order of the Go-
vernment informations were exhibited before the bench
of petty session in this city on Friday, against Thomas
Walnutt, Esq., mayor of this city, as one of the firm of
Stein and Co., for having defrauded the finance commit-
tee by substituting a different description of Indian corn
for that sent to their mill to be ground. The facts are
already before the readers of this journal. They are
briefly these:—Mr. Walnutt is charged with having ab-
stracted a portion of the sound corn, and substituting in
its stead, and mixing with the remainder, unsound and
damaged Indian meal of his own. The informations in-
clude those of the Messrs. Stein, the other two partners
of the firm. Mr. Walnutt had left town on the previous
day, and we believe has not yet returned. This is a
sad h
is ow
blow,
own, that
the mayor trust for thewill b
charactera able to vindicate
himself Limerick,and
for
himself at the assizes. It seems strange that he should
wise
bei
soteuhtient
hoveni
rlttyruaenmsoea
cfmht bii
osenro,
ffiotcfheo.t,uh,
ge h fi
sr
om n
iwnheoh ke nn
engage w y a g
eadn
other thing .

aeionkptiyoneorgtuillt
FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE CROYDON RAILWAY.—
An accident of a very distressing nature occurred near
the Anerley "Station of the above railway, at about a
quarter before six o'clock last evening. The Anerley
Tavern and Tea Gardens form a picturesque object on
the right of the Croydon Railway. They are tenanted
by Mr. Buckmaster. The son of this gentleman is the
victim of the unfortunate occurrence, and the manner in
which the accident took place may be thus briefly de-
tailed :—lt appears that Mr. Buckmaster holds some land
lei tgol ifineesml.
dsaA.onnwte
on the opposite side of the railway to that on which the
tavern is situate. On this land some labourers were em-
ypr:lietadlyrwes.
ad.
beforey.
fr yesterdaysuperintending
ietuhnei
unfortunate
rahtvtuaehynre
Buck-
master, a remarkably fine young man, aged only nineteen
am::
mentioned the deceased was in the act of crossing the
clearp i lot
te
hne-
gine on its way to town passed the stationatrapid a pace,
line he was struck by the off buffer and thrown a distance
of several yards, falling with great violence on the back
of his head, and fracturing his seull to a frightful extent.
The accident was observed by the driver of the engine,
who immediately brought up, and, assistance having
been procured, the deceased, who still breathed, was
placed on a truck and brought immediately to the
London-bridge terminus, whence he was removed on a
stretcher to Guy's Hospital. Mr.. S. Abershaw, the
house-surgeon, on making an examination, at once pro- 1
nounced the unfortunate man to be quite dead.
ANOTHER ACCIDENT ON THE BISHOPSTOSE AND 1
SALISBURY BRANCH OF THE SOUTH-WESTERN RAIL-
WAY.--WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23.—This morning a ponde-
rous mass of earth suddenly gave. way about a quarter
past nine, at the clay cutting within three miles of Salis-
bury, burying several of the labourers 'there at work.
Two of the poor unfortunate workmen were some time
before they were extricated. When they were got out,
both were found to be dreadfully crushed, blood flowing
from their mouths, nostrils, &c.; they were placed in a
truck, and taken to the Infirmary at Salisbury, where,
on being examined by the surgeons, one was found with
a dislocated ancle, and the other with his knee cap
forced from its socket, besides other external injuries.
It is hoped that they have not suffered internally se
much as was first feared. Fortunately, there being
many men at work on the spot, their united exertions
rescued the poor fellows before they were suffocated.
This is the unfortunate cutting where so many accidents
have occurred during the progress of the works for the
South-Viiestern Company, although the utmost care is
taken to prevent such happening.
Tag WATERLOO DINNER.—We regret to find that
Major-General Sir Alexander Cameron, K.C.8., Colonel
of the 74th Highlanders, was unable to attend this festi-
val from severe illness. The gallant General came every
year from his seat in the Highlands expressly to join
where
his distinguished friends in the commemoration of the
glorious victory. Sir Alexander served with marked
distinction in Egypt and throughout the Peninsula cam-
paign, and at Waterloo, with the Rifle Brigade,
. hs was very severely wounded.—Observer.
when
enl
could
Mr.a
hour
ab ov

LITERATURE.

THE POETICAL LANGUAGE of FLOWERS.
By Thomas

Beautiful Annuals, and Keepsakes, and Drawing-
room Scrap-books, we have seen in abundance, but a
little volume more dainty in its conception, more
exquisite in its embellishment, more delicate in its
binding, or more, unaffectedly poetical, and natural,
and graceful in its literary contents, we cannot call
to our remembrance. Thomas Miller has recounted
his Pilgrimage of Lore with a heart alive to tha
sweets and glories of that Nature which he has so
often apostrophised in verse. Herrick yearned over
the blossoms of the ield, and so does Miler. Burns
sighed for the daisy " crushed- amang the scour,'.' and
cried out, as if in the sorrow of his soul—
" To save thee now is past my power,
Thou bonny gem ! '
_ _

Miller would have leaned over the shafts of his
plough as pensively had he been a working farmer.
Perdita laments in the Winter's Tale—
" 0 Proserpina,
Fur the flowers now that, frighted, thou let'st fall
From Dis's waggon ! Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty ; violets dim,
But sweeter than the lids of Juuo's eyes,
Or Cytherea's breath ; pale primroses
That die unmarried e'er they can behold
Bright Phcebus in his strength ; bold ox-lips and
The crown-imperial ; lilies of all kinds,
The fleur-de-lis being one ! 0 these we lack ! "
Thomas Miller would have sympathised with
Perdita, and he would have hearkened tenderly to
the mad song of Ophelia—" There's fennel for you,
' and columbines :—there's rue for you, and here's some
for me."

- Robert Nicoll in a similar strain, though not so
melancholy withal, carolled thus of the wild flowers—
" Beautiful children of the woods and fields!
That bloom by mountain streamlets 'mid the heather,
Or into clusters 'neath the hazel gather—
Or where by hoary rocks you make your bields,
And sweetly flourish on through summer weather—
/ love you all r
Those words we feel are echoed in the heart of
Thomas Miller. So earnest indeed is the affection
of our author for flowers that we suspect he draws
from them a subtle philosophy, such a philosophy as
that of Herrick when he lamented to the daffodils—
" We die,
As your hours do ; and dry
Away
Like to the summer's rain,
Or as the pearls of morning dew,
Ne'er to be found again."
Finding sermons not in stones, or books in the
running brooks but in the green leaves and the young
buds, we can fancy the joy poor Thomas Miller had
before his eyes failed him and he grew blind, in
wandering through the lanes and among the brambles,
seeing may-be the sweet verse of Bryant realised—
" When beechen buds begin to swell,
And woods the blue-bird's warble know
The yellow violet's modest bell
Peeps from the last year's leaves below."
Stumbling now about the meadows he might think
like Thomas Campbell of the days—
" When daisies and buttercups gladdened his sight,
Like treasures of silver and gold."
As the utterance of the author's love of flowers,
this book is touching and grateful to us; the thoughts
it contains have a perfume about them of poetry.
And of the graceful manner in which Thomas Miller
defines the origin of the symbolic language of his
favourite blossoms we cannot speak too highly. Here
is one description :—tracing the attributes of humility
to " broom, of constancy to " blue-bells," of purity
to " water-lilies," and of remembrance to " rose-
mary."
" Who can tell what sad feelings hung about the heart
of the fair Saxon Princess Rowena, when standing in
the twilight on the broom-covered steep hill side, she
saw from the distance the fires kindled by the hands of
the desolating Dane, and beheld the flames which
devoured the home of her childhood reddening
the evening sky ? It might be, that whilst she
found a couch amongst the waving gold of the
wild, surrounded by her houseless attendants, and
pillowed her beautiful head upon the broom, she
selected it as the emblem of humility. And when she
saw the waving blue-bells spring up on the very spot
where the stormy sea-kings had encamped, where the
tide of battle had raged, and swollen and subsided,
leaving no other trace of its course than the silent ridges
which had heaved up over the dead. She selected the
blue-cupped flower as the true image of constancy,
which, though crushed, and bruised, and buried, for-
saketh not the chosen spot where its beauty first
bloomed. That, when she sat mournful beside the
moorland lake, wearied through carrying water to quench
the thirst of the brave Saxons, who had been wounded
in battle, she saw the pale water-lilies sleeping upon
their darkgreen velvet leaves, spotless as the clear ele-
ment upon which they floated, and leaving no vestige of
the gross earth from which they sprung ; and she
thought how the heart of a woman, ennobled by virtuous
deeds, might become so purified that, if looked into by
the eye of an angel, he could not discover within either
blot, or blemish, nor aught that varied from his own
divinity but the fond humanity of love. Musing, she
might conjure up some grey old Saxon abbey, nestling
amid the silence of a green sequestered valley, with its
quiet graves, around which the rosemary grew, hal-
lowed the more in its remembrance through having been
brought by holy men across the pathless sea ; and she
might think that, even as that plant put forth its flowers
in the dead midnight of winter, so through the
deep clouds which hung over and darkened hernative land
the morning of peace might yet break, and see many a '
battle-field again overgrown with flowers."

The plates, drawn and coloured by James An-
drews, are exquisite compositions ; they cannot be
mentioned in language of too much eulogium. From
the frontispiece—a dainty conceit, expressive en-
tirely of the purport of the volume, being a sketch of
the antique group of Cupid and Psyche exchanging
the hymeneal kiss, and partially concealed in a maze
of honeysuckles, blue-bells, lilies and roses—down to
the final embellishment—a bunch, consisting of the
crocus, the pimpernel, the Lancaster rose and the
cowslip, and representing the sentiment, " Your
youthfulness causes me to fear that you may change :
once united I shall be no longer pensive"—every line
has a graceful truth, every hue is brilliant as in na-
ture. For the satisfaction of our lady-readers, we
will catalogue a few of the most usual flowers in our
parte

Tres and orchards, so that, without having robbed
the book in any flagrant manner through our columns,
they may be enabled to talk very prettily without
speaking when roving in their gardens, or when
strolling through the meadows "when the bloom is
on the rye."
Apple-blossom Preference
Apricot-blossom Doubt
Balsam Impatience
Bindweed Insinuation
Bramble Envy
Buttercup Ingratitude
Canterbury Bell Coastancy
Convolvulus Repose
Cowslip..... Pensiveness
Crocus Youthfulness
Daisy
Dandelion Foresight
Eglantine or sweet-briar Poetry
Fuchsia Taste
Harebell Happy retirement
Heath Solitude
Ivy Friendship
Jasmine Amiableness
Jonquil Desire
Lilac First emotions of love
Lily of the Valley Return of happiness
Marigold Grief or pain
Mignionette Unconscious beauty
Myrtle Love
Nettle Cruelty
Orange Blossom Chastity
Pansy Thought
Pimpernel Assignation
Primrose Forsaken

Rose Beauty
Rosebud, Moss Confession of love
Snapdragon Refusal
Snowdrop Youthful hope
Sweetpea Pleasure
Tulip Declaration of love
Violet, Blue Modesty
Violet, White Candour
Wallflower Fidelity in misfortune
Wild Plum Blossom lndependence
Withered Leaves Sadness
Yellow Day Lily Coquetry
Knowing these rudiments in the science of the
symbolism of flowers, it may become a question at
law possibly whether the presentation of a particular
nosegay does not render a man liable to an action for
" breach of promise," especially if the nosegay should
consist of myrtle, a moss rosebud, a white violet, a
snowdrop, and a tulip. It may become a question,
again, whether a scrap of pimpernel may not signify
" half-past seven in the Temple Garden ;" or whe-
ther a presentation of ivy, retorted by a sprig of
fuchsia, may not justify the offering of a yellow day
lily ? This charming volume by Thomas Miller is
suggestive of a multitude of similar conjectures. As
a pocket companion in the green fields, as a favourite
decoration of the boudoir, as the resource of continual
amusement, this book, explanatory of the " Language
of Flowers," is one of the gems of the season.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN ScuooLs.--Yesterday the
fortieth annual examination of the boys (GOO in number)
educated in the above schools, was held in the School.
house, in the Borough-road, St. George's, Southwark,
the Earl of Chichester in the chair. There was a nume-
rous assemblage of ladies and gentlemen present,
amongst whom were Lord and Lady Ebrington, S. Gur-
ney, Esq., and many popular friends to the promotion of
education. The Noble Chairman briefly addressed the
meeting, expressive of his continued attachment and
approval of the system of education pursued in the esta-
blishment. The examination of tho younger classes in
prose and verse, and the higher classes in geography,
map drawing, general history, mental arithmetic, d
their specimens (500 in number) of figure and otheri
drawings, was of the most satisfactory nature, and ei
cited the warm approbation of the Noble Chairman.
those present. The proceedings closed with singing
several pieces of music on litillah's system, and which
were admirably executed.

!X

COURT CIRCULAR-
I The Queen held a Court yestirday erten:l9oll-
ingham Palace.
Count de St. Aulaire, Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary from his Majesty the King of the
French, bad an audience of her Majesty, on his return
to his Embassy at the BritiSh Court. His Excellency
was introduced by Visehint 'Palmerston, G.C.8., her
Majesty's Principal See'retary of State for Foreign
M ajesty
Affairs, and concluated:DrColcinel the Hon. Sir. Edward
Cus t, K.C.H., hie-
's Master of the Ceremonies.
The Queen was attended by Lori Byron, Lord in
Waiting, and Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, Groom
in Waiting.
Viscount Palmerston had an audience of her Majesty
yesterday.
The Queen and Prince Albert visited her Majesty the
Queen Dowager yesterday; at Marlborough House. The
Equerries in Waiting, Lord Alfred Paget and Colonel
Bouverie attended on horseback.
Their Majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians
visited her Majesty the Queen Dowager yesterday, at
Marlborough House ; the Duchess of Gloucester, at
Gloucester House ; and the Duke and Duchess of Cain-
brid;:e, at Cambricl- e, Home.
Their Royal llighnesses the Duchesss or Gloucester
and the Duke of Cambridge visited their Majesties the
Kire;. and Queen of the Belgians yesterday, at Bucking-
ham Palace.
The Royal dinner party at Bucliingham Palace yes-
terd Ly included their Majesties the King and Queen of
the ttelgians, the Belgian Minister and Madame Van de
er, the Duchess of Sutherland and Lady Caroline Let, en Gower, the Countess Vanderstraten, the Earl
Spel:cer, M. de Moerkerke and 1)r. Carswell.
Tile Band of the Coldstream Guards was in attend-
ance during dinner, and performed the following

pieces

- Overture---" Leonora"—Beethoven.
Waltz—" The Garland"—Kcenig.
Quartetto and Semi-Chorus " No, no, ahica
(Joseph)—Mehul.
Quadrille—" The Phantom Dancers"—Jullien.
Polka—" The Presburger"—Snoboda.
The Queen had afterwards an evening party.
Their Royal Highnesses the Hereditary Grand Duke
and Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar arrived at nine
o'clock, accompanied by his Serene Highness Prince
Edward of Saxe-Weimar, and attended by the Countess
of Assenburg, Count de Beust, and Baron de Ziegesar.
His Royal_Highness Prince George arrived soon af-
terwards.

Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge arrived at ten o'clock, attended by Lady
Augusta Cadogan and Mr. Edmond Mildmay.
Her Majesty's private Band attended.
The following had the honour of receiving invitations:
—His Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar,
his Serene Highness Prince Lowenstein, Princess and
Princess F. Leichtenstein, the French Ambassador and
the Countess de St. Aulaire, the Austrian Ambassador
and the Countess Dietrichstein, the Netherlands Minis-
ter, the Saxon Minister and Baroness de Beust, the
Duke and Duchess of Norfolk, the Ladies Mary and
Adeliza Howard, the Marquis and Marchioness of Dou-
glas, the Marquis and Marchioness of Westminster,
Lady Carolina Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor, the Marquis
and Marchioness of Abercorn, the Marquis and Mar-
chioness of Worcester, the Lady in Waiting to the Queen
Dowager, Lady Augusta Cadogan, Mr. Edmond
Mildmay, the Countess of Assenburg, Count de Beust,
Baron de Ziegesar, the Countess of Mount Edgecumbe,
the Misses Macdonald, the Earl Howe, Viscount and
Viscountess Palmerston, Count Potocki, the Right Hon.
Sir John and Miss Hobhouse, Lord and Lady Alfred
Paget, Mr. G. E. and the Hon. Mrs. Anson, Lady
Harriet Anson, Lord and Lady Colborne and the Hon.
Miss Ridley Colborne, Lord and Lady Beauvale, Lord
Edward Howard, Lady Adelaide Paget, Lady Elizabeth
and the Misses Dawson, and Captain Francis Seymour.
Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Gloucester
and the Duchess of Cambridge visited her Majesty the
Queen Dowager yesterday at Marlborough House.
The Duchess of Gloucester honoured the Duke and
Duchess of Beaufort with her company at dinner last
evening, at their residence in Arlington-street.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, attended by
Lady Augusta Cadogan and Baron Knesebeck, honoured
Viscount and Viscountess Combermere with their com-
pany at dinner yesterday evening, at their residence in
Belgrave-square.
Bishop Wilson had an interview with Earl Grey yes-
terday at the Colonial-office.

A deputation consisting of Mr. Macgregor Laird and
Mr. J. T. Clay, on behalf of the Birkenhead Dock Com-
pany ; Captain Charlwood, RN., on behalf of the
Cheshire Junction Railway ; Mr. Rigge, on behalf of
the Chester and Birkenhead ; and Mr. Davies, on behalf
of Mr. Vyner, had an interview with the Chancellor of
the Exchequer yesterday.
The Hon. William Temple transacted business yester-
day at the Foreign-office.
Mr. P. S. Carey had an interview with Sir George
Grey yesterday at the Home-office.
Sir Robert Price, Dr. Bowling, and a deputation, had
an interview with the Right Hon. Edward Strutt yes-
terday.
The following Ministers were present at the Cabinet
dinner given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on
Wednesday :—Lord John Russell, the Lord Chancellor,
the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Earl of Minto, the Earl
of Clarendon, Sir George Grey, Viscount Palmerston,
Earl Grey, Earl of Auckland, Sir John Hobhouse, Lord
Campbell, Viscount Morpeth, Marquis of Clanricarde,
the Right Hon. T. B. Macaulay, and the Right Hon. H.
Labouchere.

'1 he Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England had a
general meeting yesterday.
Dispatches were sent off yesterday evening from the
Colonial Office for the Governors of Hong-Kong and
Ceylon.

ROYAL COMMISSION of FINE ARTS
The exhibition of the oil paintings sent in pursuant
of notices issued by her Majesty's Commissioners of
Fine Arts in 1844, will be thrown open to the public on
Monday next,.

The exhibition, as on former occasions, will take place
in Westminster Hall, the interior of which has been ap-
propriately fitted up for the reception of the paintings.
The notice issued by the Commissioners required that
all pictures sent in for competition should be delivered
during the first week in June, 1847. The terms of this
notice were strictly observed, and the intervening period
has been occupied by the Commissioners in arranging
the various subjects, and determining on their respective
merits. The final arrangements were only completed on
Wednesday last, and yesterday afternoon the judges met
to award the premiums, which, as our readers are doubts
less aware, consist of—
Three prizes of 500/. each,
Three prizes of 3001. each, and
Three prizes of 2001. each.
The following is a list of the successful artists:—
Is the First Class, 5001.—Mr. F. R. Piekersgill, 8,
Leigh-street, Burton-crescent; Mr. G. F. Watts, 48,
Cambridge-street, Edgware-road; Mr. Edward Armitage,
13, George-street, Adelphi.
In the Second Class, 3001.—Mr. John Cross, 85,
Fetter-lane; Mr. Paul Falconer Poole, 1, St. John's-
place, Lisson-grove North; Mr. Noel Paton, Wooer's-
alley Cottage, Dunfermline, N.B.
In the Third Class, 2001.—Mr. James Eckford Lau-
der, 35, Upper Charlotte-street, Fitzroy-square ; Mr.
Charles Lucy, Tudor Lodge, Albert-street, Mornington-
, crescent; Mr. John Calcott Horsley, The Mall, Ken-
sington Gravel-pits.
Only two Royal Academicians, Sir William Allen and
Mr. Henry Howard, have competed on the present
occasion, but there are many contributors whose names
are a sufficient guarantee for the excellence of their
works.

The exhibition contains altogether 120 paintings,
many of them of very large dimensions. The pictures
excluded by the Commissioners are understood not to
have been very numerous.

No official announcement of the awards having as
yet been issued, we are unable to give a complete list of
the successful subjects. A few have, however, trans-
pired; and among them we may mention those of Mr.
Pickersgill, who has chosen for his subject " The Burial
of Harold, at Waltham Abbey, A.D. 1066;" of Mr. Ed-
ward Armitage, who has selected "The Battle of Meeanse,
(Sinde), fought on the 17th of February, 1843;" of Mr.
Cross, who has delineated the incident of " Richard
Coeur de Lion forgiving Bertrand do Guerdon ;" of
Mr. Poole, who illustrates an historical incident in
the life of King Edward during the siege of
Calais in 1346 ; of Mr. Lucy, whose picture de-
scribes " The Departure of the Primitive Puritans,"
or " Pilgrim Fathers" to the coast of America,
A.D., 1620 ; and of Mr. Horsley, who has chosen the
incident in the life of Henry V., when he, while Prince
of Wales, believing the king his father to be dead, takes
the crown from the cushion, and places it upon his own
head.

" The Banishment of Aristides, illustrative of the
injustice of Democracy," the latest effort of poor Hey-
don, has been admitted to the exhibition by the Com-
missioners, though not strictly within the conditions of
the notice.

The exhibition also contains three pieces of sculp-
ture, executed respectively by Messrs. Marshall, Fo-
ley, and Bell, who, it will be recollected, were suc-
cessful in that department of art in the competition
which took place in 184-5. Mr. Marshall's work is the
only one completed, the two others being merely plaster
models.
Her Majesty the Queen and the Prince Consort,
and the King and Queen of the Belgians, will honour
the exhibition with a visit this afternoon previous to
the private view, which is arranged to take place to-
morrow.

THE C R OPS AT E
disease having taken plaxcEeTTEnitib—e
A
toes must be considered at
preseEnlnitg crop
Th
ylpisrdheemcaisti.ornoe.f apsotato;
Agricultural Society of Ireland have decided against its
existence ; and it has been found in some cases in this
county, that plants partially struck with the disease, and
from which the most disastrous consequences were fore-
boded to the whole crop, have recovered from the stack
This suggests the possibility of the disease being on the
wane. It looks as if the root was recovering strength,
and shaking off its foe. Should the potato crop prove
a moderately favourable one, it will, co-existent with
the magnificent prospect of a corn harvest here, as well
as throughout the whole continent of Europe and Ame-
rica, cause imports, especially in corn, as a natural con-
sequence, to be lessened, and exports to increase ; and
thus there will be a tendency to an influx of the precious
metals into Great Britain for the purchase of her manu-
factures, whilst the speculators in grain having realised
large profits by their former conversions of funded and
railway property for the former purpose, are likely to
re-invest in such securities, now that they are at so low
a value.—From the circular of Mr. R. Tripp, share.
broker.

We learn by the Levant mail that Dr. Bell, the
physician of the English Embassy in Persia, had died
at Erzeroum, on his way to England, for the recovery of
his health.

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