The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-16 00:00:00

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LITERA.TURE.

MEN, TV OM EIV , and BOOKS. 2 VA. lay Leigh

lint.

No writer of his generation can pro Luce a plea-
santer volume than Leigh Hunt. And one of the
most delightful works he has yet compoied is this of
" Men, Women, and Books." It is to the " Priests,
Women, and Families " of Michelet, what a chalice
of hippocrene, with
" Beaded bubbles winking at the brim,"
would be to a cup of poison ; or, to use another
simile, what a country-dance on a Christmas-eve, in
a farm kitchen, would be to the " Dance of Death."
The book, as those who are familiar with the writings
of Leigh Hunt will recognise at once from the
"Table of Contents," is the selection from those of
his uncollected prose writings which have hitherto re-
mained in existence only as straggling articles in some
of the most eminent periodicals, including the Edin-
burgh Review, the Westminster Review, the New
Monthly Magazine, Tait, Ainsworth and the Monthly
Chronicle. That this veteran essayist has not lost the
energy which associated him for so many years with
the magazines and newspaper press, has been recently
shown by his contributions to the columns of the
Atlas. Ilere, however, we have grouped together
the raciest of the papers which canly from him in the
palmiest days of his literary strength, when his wit
was two-edged, and his humour richest, merriest,
most hilarious, running over into lavish abundance
of conceits, and occasionally as boisterous as the veriest
romp in the playgrounds. Of these effusions who,
can ever forget, who has ever forgotten, his talk with
the reader about " The Inside of an Omnibus ?"
How ridiculously true in point of fact, and absurdly
grotesque in point of fiction, it is ! The very con-
jecture at the outset, that if Dr. Johnson had been
transformed into any sort of vehicle—a thing so pro-
bable !—it would have been into an omnibu= !
And how he makes Johnson (in Elysium) de-
velop his choice to the ghost of Boswell I
" Sir, I should not be a cart. That would be low.
Neither should I aspire to be the triumphant chariot
of an Alexander, or the funeral car of a Napoleon.
Posthumous knowledge has corrected those sympathies
with ambition. A gig is pert; a curricle coxcombical ;
and the steam•carriage is too violent, perturbed,
and migratory. Sir, the omnibus for me. It is
decent, deliberate, and unpretending; no respecter
of persons ; a king has been known to ride in it ;
and opposite the king may have sat a republican
weaver." Then, after dismissing the shadow of the
garrulous doctor, how he goes off at a hard gallop,
describing the various grades and ages of omnibuses
—the morning omnibus, the noon, and the night !
" If a midnight omnibus," says he, "it is full of play-
goers and gentlemen, lax with stiff glasses of
brandy and water." And how correctly he
pourtrays the different passengers who get in
and out—the precise personage, the youngster,
the maid servant, the young lady in colours, the
two more young ladies in white, the dandy, the man
with the bundle, the old gentleman, the fat man, the
woman with the baby, the two estranged friends ignor-
ing each other, and the man in a smockfrock, " who,
by sitting on the edge of his seat, and perpetually
watching his time to go out, seems to make
a constant apology for his presence." Here
is one little side lace, however, worth a
dozen full-lengths by another artist :—" Enter an
unreflecting young gentleman who has bought an
orange, and must needs eat it immediately. He ac-
cordingly begins by pealing it, and is first made
aware of the delicacy of his position by the giggle-
merit of the two young ladies, and his doubt where
he shall throw the peal. He is in for it, however,
and must proceed; so, being unable to divide the
orange into segments, he ventures upon a great liquid
bite, which resounds through the omnibus, and covers the
whole of the lower part of his face with pip and drip.
The young lady with the ringlets is right before
him. The two other young ladies stuff their hand-
kerchiefs into their mouths, and he, into his own
mouth, the whole of the rest of the fruit, sloshy, and
too big, with desperation in his heart, and the tears in
his eyes. Never will he eat an orange again in an
omnibus." No doubt he won't. Then, in glancing
through " The Day of the Disasters of Carfington
Blundell, Esq.," can we overlook the account
of the deplorable state of the weather, when the
gutters were a torrent, the pavement a dancing wash,
the wind a whirlwind, and " the women all turned
into distressed Venuses de Medici ;" or the description
of the flock of sheep, and the drover in a very
loud state of mind, hooting, whistling, swearing,
and tossing up his arms; or, best of all, the
picture of the man who fled from the jeers of
the crowd—" He fairly turned back, pursued by
a roar ; and oh ! how he loved the corner as he went
round it ! Every hair at the back of his head had
seemed to tingle with consciousness and annoyance.
He felt as if he saw with his shoulder-blades ;—as if
he was face to face at the back of his hat." In the
paper on Zoological Gardens there is a thought as
lustrous and precious as a precious stone :—" The sun-
beam in the thick of St. Giles's comes as straight
and young as ever from the god-like orb that looks at
us from a distance of millions of miles, out of the
depths of millions of ages." Then the pleasant sug-
gestion made while the author is descanting on wild
beasts ! " Fancy 3 ourself coming home from the
play or opera," he says, " humming Deh vieni non
tardar, or Meet me by Moonlight alone; and, as you
are turning a corner in Wimpole-street, meeting—a
tiger ! What should you say You would find
yourself pouring forth a pretty set of Rabelaesque
exclamations :

" ':Eh—Oh—Oh Lord !—Rollo ! Help ! Help !
Murder !—Tigers !—U—u—u—u—u—ul—My God!—
Policeman !"

" Enter Policeman.
" Policeman—' Good God A gentleman with a
tiger!'
[" Exit Policeman."
Then the dissertation on " Beds and Bedrooms !" a
dissertation better than poppies, or opium, or the
recipe of Endymion. Home is home, however
homely, says the proverb. Bed is bed, however bedly,
says Leigh llunt. And, after this execrably good bit
of parody, how he goes on :
" Bed is the home of home ; the innermost part of
the contents. It is sweet within sweet; a nut in the nut;
within the snuggest nest a snugger nest ; my retreat
from the publicity of my privacy ; my room within my
room, walled (if I please) with curtains ; a box, a sepa-
ration, a snug corner, such as children love when they
play at house;' the place where I draw a direct line
between mo and ray mires ; where I enter upon a new
existence, free, yet well invested ; reposing, but full of
power ; where the act of lying down, and pulling the
clothes over one's head, seems to exclude matters that
have to do with us when dressed and on our legs; where,
though in repose, one is never more conscious of one's
activity, divested of those hampering weeds ; where a
leg is not a lump of boot and stocking, but a real leg,
clear, natural, fleshy, delighting to thrust itself hither
and thither ; and lo! so recreating itself, it comes in
contact with another ; to wit, one's own. Ono should
hardly guess as much, did it remain eternally divorced
from its companion—alieaated and altered into leather
and prunella."
What truth there is again in his diatribe about a
feather-bed ! " When we are in the depths of it, we
long to be on the heights. When we get on the
heights, down they go with us, and turn into depths.
The feathers hamper us, obstruct, irritate, suffocate.
We lose the sense of repose and independence, and feel
ourselves in the hands of a soft lubberly giant." We
have already remarked that our essayist is some-
times in his humour as boisterous as a romp.
Here is proof of it—where he revels at the very{ idea
of having a bed made up on the floor—" pro-
vided the palliasse be of decent thickness. The
floor itself thus becomes a part of the great field of
rest in which we expatiate. There is nothing to bound
our (right of incumbency ; we can gather the clothes
about us and roll on the floor if we please." Out of
his exquisite " Criticisms on Female Beauty," papers
abounding with classic and scholarly thoughts, as well
as with thoughts springing from an innate sense of
what is the truth of the beautiful, we shall transcribe one
of those latter thoughts most delicately expressed :
" The mouth out of its many sensibilities may be
fancied throwing up one great expression into the
eyes ; as many lights in a city reflect a broad lustre into
the heavens." And how he speaks against stays !
the ladies should read it—how he speaks against
stays ! Prior, in his " Henry and Emma," says—
" No longer shall the boddice, aptly laced,
From thy full bosom to thy slender waist,
That air and harmony of shape express,
Fine by degrees and beautifully less."
No ! exclaims Leigh Hunt, it should be different
it should be

" Gaunt all at once and hideously little."

There is one passage at the outset of these inimitable
papers, on Female Beauty, which is delightfully
natural both in manner and sentiment. Here it is :
" The reader may take the confession as he pleases,
either as an instance of abundance of sentiment on our
part, or as an evidence of want of proper ardour and im-
partiality ; but we cannot (and that is the plain truth)
think the most beautiful creature beautiful, or be at all
affected by her, or long to sit next her, or go to a theatre
with her, or listen to a concert with her, or walk in a
field or a forest with her, or call her by her Christian
name, or ask her if she likes poetry, or tie (with any
satisfaction) her gown for her, or be asked whether we
admire her shoe, or take her arm even into a dining-
room, or kiss her at Cristmas, or on April-fool day, or
on May-day, or on any other day, or dream of her, or
wake thinking of her, or feel a want in the room when
she has gone, or a pleasure the more when she appears
—unless she has a heart as well as a face, and is a proper
good-tetiapered, natural, sincere, honest girl, who has a
love for other people and other things, apart from self-
reference and the wish to be admired."
'We have culled so many choice fragments—and strung
them together, as we might have done the rare eggs
of the halcyon, or the picked jewels of Golconda, or
the largest lumps of the most costly gravel of the
Valley of Diamonds—so that we have merely space
enough for the hurried enumeration of the residue of
the two volumes. " Fiction and Matter of Fact," a
hopeful chapter as to the immortality of the ficti-

tious, closing with a liable allegory of the Press.
—" A Man introduced to his Ancestors," a dainty
hit of banter against those who are proud of their
"family," as smart in its way as John Kemble's
exclamation qt the dinner table when two dukes
were wrangling about the antiquity of their blood—
" D— both your bloods, why don't you pass the bottle!"
—"A Novel Party," in two senses, bringing together
the creations of Richardson, Fielding, and Smollett—
" The World of Books," hinting the propriety of
a book geography—" Jack Abbott's Breakfast, an
incident as outrageous as a contretemps by Moliere,
or a farce by Morton—" On Seeing a Pigeola make
Love," a fanciful sketch about birds in general and
doves in particular—" The Month of Mi:y,"i smelling
sweetly of the May blossom, and breathing brightly
of Italy— " The Giuli Tre" (pronounced JOolee Troy),
translations of some of the 200 sonnets of that name,
written by the Abate Casti—" A few remarks on the
Rare Vice called Lying," a piece of sarcasm against
society, bitter enough to be relished by Douglas Jer-
rold—" Of Deceased Statesmen who have written
Verses," a chapter, curious, elegant, and historic—
" Female Sovereigns of England," such a paper as
might be fittingly published in the appendix to the
biographies of Miss Strickland—" Social Morality,"
an odd disquisition, the argument of which is ill us•
trated by the lives of Suckling and Ben Jonson—
" Pope, in some Lights in which he is not usually
Regarded," and displaying the character of the
little nightingale of Twickenham most amiably. The
paper ends with this rondeau by Leigh Hunt him-
self. It is sweet, quaint, and musical :
" Jenny kiss'd me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in ;
Time, you thief ! who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in.
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,
Say that health and wealth have misi'd me,
Say I'm growing old, but add,
Jenny kiss'd me."

" Garth, Physicians, and Love Letters," a charming
bit of literary small talk—" Cowley and Thomson,"
a comparison as striking as any one of the contrasts
of Plutarch—" Bookstalls and Galateo," a loving re-
miniscence of old sixpenny books and twopenny-
halfpenny pamphlets picked up by chance—" Book-
binding and Heliodorus," a chapter, on the other
hand, in which the writer's fancy runs riot in the
luxuries of gilding and morocco—" Ver-Vert; or,
the Parrot of the Nuns," a happy translation from
the French of Gresset, of a most fantastic and comical
original—" Specimens of British Poetesses," a mul-
titude of delicious snatches of verse from the works
of very many remarkable and distinguished
ladies of these islands —" Duchess of St.
Albans, and Marriages from the Stage," con-
sisting principally of old theatrical anecdotes, well
put together—" Lady Mary Wortley Montagu,"
where she is fitly considered both as to her life and
her writings—" Life and African Visit of Pepys,"
an agreeable annotation on the wine-loving, tailor-
worshipping author of the diary—" Life and Let-
ters of Madame de Sevign6," an article elucida-
tive of the history of that inimitable correspondent,
and one which shows that Mr. Hunt can appre-
ciate her writings as well as did Sir James
Mackintosh. Such are the several portions of these
two right excellent volumes—the bloom of the ripe-
ness of Leigh Hunt's intellect. They are so well
calculated in tone to create an intimacy between the
author and his reader that his winter offering will be
anticipated with almost as much curiosity as the
forthcoming medley (" The Princess") by Alfred
Tennyson. We allude to " The Jar of Honey from
Mount Hybla," a book with a dainty title enough.
The work which we have here noticed is in like
manner as various and palatable as a honeycomb.

VANITY FAIR. No. XII. By W. M. Thacheray.
In this number we have an account of the death of
old Sir Pitt Crawley, and of the accession of young
Sir Pitt, who, immediately upon his accession dis-
patches to his brother Rawdon (despite the remon-
strances of his mother-in-law, Lady Southdown) a
missive, inviting him and his wife to Queen's
Crawley. The invitation is accepted; and Rebecca,
having restored herself to the good graces of Pitt
and his sisters, and having in half an hour secured
the close and intimate friendship of Lady Jane, pro-
ceeds to attack the august Lady Southdown herself ;
and thus she proceeded :
" As soon as she found her Ladyship alone, Rebecca
attacked her on the nursery question at once, arid said
that her own little boy was saved, actually saved, by
calomel, freely administered, when all the physicians in
Paris had given the dear child up. And then she men-
tioned how often she had heard of Lady Southdown from
that excellent man the Reverend Lawrence Grills, minis-
ter of the chapel in May Fair, which she frequented;
and how her views were very much changed by circum-
stances and misfortunes; and how she hoped that a
past life spent in worldliness and error might not inca-
pacitate her from more serious thoughts for the future.
She described how in former days she had been indebted
to Mr. Crawley for religious instruction, touched upon
the Washerwoman of Finchley Common,' which she
had read with the greatest profit, and asked about Lady
Emily, its gifted author, now Ludy Emily llornblower,
at Cape Town, where her husband had strong hopes of
becoming Bishop of Caffraria.
" But she crowned all, and confirmed herself in Lady
Southdown's favour, by feeling very much agitated and
unwell after the funeral, and requesting her Ladyship's
medical advice, which the Dowager not only gave, but,
wrupped up in a bed-gown, and looking more like Lady
Macbeth than ever, carne privately in the night to
Becky's room, with a parcel of favourite tracts, and a
medicine of her own composition, which she insisted upen
Mrs. Rawdon should take.

agcrceeaptt ei
id) t
et hr
eos
t, tracts,enag
ianngdt
hbegan
at
go e
re xi
am"inßee.ktheYmirawitth
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a conversation concerning them and the:welfare of her
soul, by which means she hoped that her body might
escape medication. But after the religious topics were
exhausted, Lady Macbeth would not quit Becky's cham-
ber until her cup of night-drink was emptied too ; and
poor Mrs. Rawdon was compelled actually to assume a
look of gratitude, and to swallow the medicine under the
unyielding old Dowager's nose, who left her victim finally
with a benediction.
" It did not much comfort Mrs. Rawdon; her counte-
nance was very queer when Rawdon came in and heard
what had happened; and his explosions of laughter were
as loud as usual, when Becky, with a fun which she could
not disguise, even though it was at her own expense,
described the occurrence, and how she had been victim-
ised by Lady Southdown. Lord Steyne, and her son in
London, had many a laugh over the story, when Raw.
don and his wife returned to their quarters in May Fair.
Becky acted the whole scene for them. She put on a
night-cap and gown. She preached a great sermon in
the true serious manner ; she lectured on the virtue of
the medicine which she pretended to administer, with a
gravity of imitation so perfect, that you would have
thought it was the Countess's own Roman nose through
which she snuffled. Give us Lady Southdown and the
black dose," was a constant cry amongst the folks in
Becky's little drawing-room in May Fair. And for the
first time in her life the Dowager Countess of South-
down was made amusing."
Completely mistress of the position, Rebecca returns
to enjoy her triumphs in London. The story then
returns to the Osbornes. Maria Osborne, married to
Frederick Bullock, resides at the West-end, and cuts
her father, her sister, and the residents in Russell-
square, as vulgar. Miss Osborne becomes the old
maid housekeeper of her father, and an occasional
visitor at the residence of Sir William Dobbin—there
she one morning meets little Georgy :
"Miss Osborne came back to give her father his din-
ner. lie had made a good speculation in the City, and
was rather in a good humour that day, and chanced to
remark the agitation under which she laboured. What's
the matter, Miss Osborne?' he deigned to say.
" The woman burst into tears. 0, Sir,' she said,
I've seen little George. lle is as beautiful as an angel
—and so like him!' The old man opposite to her did
not say a word, but flushed up, and began to tremble in
every limb."

PUNCH'S POCKET BOOK for 184 g.
" Punch's Pocket-book for 1848 " is glorious.
The illustrations are first-rate. Nothing, for in-
stance, can exceed the humour of Punch taking his
seat in the house of Commons by the side of Sir R.
Peel. The likeness of the ex-Premier is admirable—
there is no mistaking that broad expansive waistcoat,
surmounted by that broad expansive face. The letter-
press, too, is full of fun. " The Brown, Jones, and
Robinson's Failure " is an admirable illustration of
the uses to which the panic may be put by a man of
genius We presume that the portrait of the
gentlemen " who, if things go on like this much
longer, must deposit his title deeds," is a por-
trait of the Mr. Frederick Balsover, who,
on hearing of the failure of Brown, Jones,
and Robinson facetiously gave his tailor a cheque on
that firm, and then humanely requested his friend to
call at the tailor's, and tell the poor snip's wife "to
keep his razors out of the way, and to have an eye
on the water-butt." " Punch's Pocket-book for
1848" is, as regards fun, both pictorial and literary,
superior to any of its predecessors.

FUNERAL OE SIR CHARLES DALBIAC.—The mortal
remains of the late Sir C. Dalbiac were removed from
the Albany, to the family ♦ault at Kirklington, near 4
Ripon, shortly after eight yesterday morning, to the
Euston-square terminus, where a special train was in
readiness to convey them to Rugby; whence they go by
the Midland Counties and York and Newcastle Railways
to Boroughbridge, where the Duko of Roxburghe and
other relatives were in attendance to accompany the
mournful procession to Kirklington.
SLAVE TRADE.—By a Parliamentary paper :yes-
terday printed an estimate is given of the expense of her
Majesty's ships-of-war employed for the suppressi( al of
the slave trade, and of all their appointments, so a s to
exhibit the aggregate charge to the country for t heir
support in the year 1846-47. The aggregate charge is
returned at 301,6231., comprising four items. Th e
estimate of the expense of the wages and victuals of ith
ships-of-war employed in the suppression of the alv o
trade is 220,2331.; the estimate of the wear and tear . of
hulls, &c., 49,3131.; the estimate of the wear and tear of
the machinery of steam-vessels, 17,790/.; and the esti
mate of the value of coals provided for the use of the
steam•vestiels, 14,2874, making the aggregate vharge
etated.

STOCE:PORT ELECTION.

STOCKPORT, WEDNESDAY.—The nomination of can-
didates for the representfttion of this borough took place
this morning. The assemblage was very numerous,
there being from 8.000 to 10 000 persons present.
At ten o'clock the Mayor, Edward Ma.rsland, Esq.,
son of the candidate of the same name, accompanied by
the friends of the candidates, ascended the hustings.
After the usual preliminaries had been gone through,
Mr. Alderman BAKER came forward to propose Mr.
Kershaw as a fit and proper person to represent the bo-
rough in Parliament.
The nomination was seconded by Mr. Alderman
JOHN RAYNER.

Dr. TURNER then proposed Major Marsland, in a short
speech.
JemEs GRAM J, Esq., surgeon, seconded the nomi-

nation

There being no other candidates to propose,'
Mr. KERSHAW came forward to address the electors.
After a few preliminary observations he referred to a
number of the leading incidents of the last election,
and dwelt at some length on the various pretensions
which his opponents had assumed at the present and the
late election, and inflicted a severe castigation on them,
for at one moment professing to be free traders, and in
the next giving their best support to those men who had
invariably resisted all attempts to introduce even a re-
peal of the corn laws.—(Cheers.) He then proceeded
at great length to detail his political opinions. He was
favourable to a considerable extension of the suffrage,
the introduction of the ballot, a shortening of the dura-
tion of Parliaments, and a general revision of our
system of taxation, so as to cause the pres-
sure on the working classes to be much less
severe and oppressive, and more equitable than at
present.—(Cheers.) He would also repeal, at all
events to a very great extent, the navigation laws, so
far as to promote the free interchange with all
the world.—(Applause.) He then professed himself to
be the staunch friend of the fustian jackets and the
smockfrocks, and again avowed himself the friend of
not only free trade, but of those great principles on
which the amelioration of the mass of the working
classes so obviously depended, and concluded by ob-
serving, that if they
were only true to their own prin-
ciples and professions on Saturday next he would be their
representative. Mr. Kershaw then retired amid loud
and repeated cheers.
Major MARSLAND then came forward, and was received
with loud cheers by his friends. They knew him well,
as he had always been among them, and had before
served them in Parliament for nine years. He did not
see that much talk mended things. One thing, how-
ever, he never did. He never tried to run another man
down to raise himself.—(Cheers.) After a few more
observations to the same effect, he concluded by saying
that he would pledge himself to nothing. He had been
a free-trader before his Hon. Opponent was known to
them. He was a free-trader with Huskisson—(Cheers)
—and rather than go into Parliament shackled he would
lose his election.

A Mr. DANIELS then came forward, and put a number
of questions to Mr. Kershaw on the suffrage, the ballot,
the taxation, church-rates, and a few other matters, to
all which questions which Mr. Kershaw gave direct and
satisfactory answers.
Mr. MA.RSLAND declined to answer any of the ques-
tions.

The MAYOR then called for a show of hands, which,
on being taken, he declared himself unable to decide on
whom the election had fallen, su nicely were the num-
bers balanced. On calling for a second show of hands,
however, he gave the decision in favour of Mr. Kershaw,
amidst loud cheers.
Mr. W. CRUTTENDEN then demanded a poll on the
part of Mr. Marsland, which was fixed to commence at
eight o'clock to-morrow morning.
Mr. KERSHAW, in a very laudatory speech, proposed
the thanks of the electors to the Mayor, for his very
handsome and impartial conduct, which was seconded
by Mr. MARSLAND, and put amidst loud cheers, and the
proceedings were adjourned until to-morrow.

THE LATE STORM.

(FROM AN EYE-WITNESS.)

SDIPWRECK AND Loss OF LIFE.—On Wednesday, the
Bth inst., wind W.N.W., a ship was seen off Newquay,
in great distress, drifting fst to the shore. A boat
was immediately manned by some brave fellows of this
place, who felt determined to risk their lives for those
of their fellow-creatures. However, in their first at-
tempt they failed, the sea being so rough; and it was
more than likely they would all have fallen victims to a
watery grave had they proceeded. During this time
the Coast Guard, who were the first to discover the
barque, were actively engaged in preparing Dennett's
rockets, and hastened to a place called Crantock Bay,
where she was drifting to. Mr. Llewellyn, chief officer
of the Coast Guard, succeeded in firing them to the
vessel, but the poor sailors did not go aloft to fetch
them ; and it, was thought no other communication from
shore could be formed, when Captain William Datke, of
the schooner Rose, bravely said he would risk his boat
and life ; so, with two other courageous fellows, the
boat was immediately manned—their names are Captain
William Johns, of the smack Liberty, and William
Found, mate of the Modle, then lying in Newquay. Too
much praise cannot be given to them, for they sueeeeded
in going to the vessel and getting a rope from thence,
after which they were again soon on shore, to the great
wonder of the spectators, the boat being only about
fourteen feet in length. She was sent oil' again a second
time, and brought four of the crew to shore quite safe,
but the third time she was not so successful. The sea
being mountains high, she overset, and two of the
poor creatures met with a watery grave. The fourth
attempt was by a line t'rom the vessel to the shore, she
having drifted very much nearer, when one only was
saved by this means, two only having attempted, the
second fell a victim to the deep. The crew was twenty-
nine in number, twenty-six of whom were saved. As the
vessel was dry at low water about midnight, they all
came on shore quite well, and were received by Captain
Nott, RN., who particularly interested and exerted
himself, also Mr. Joseph Martyn, formerly commander
of one of her Majesty's packets. Lloyd's agent and
several other gentlemen were present. The name of the
barque is the Marchioness of A bercorn, 1,100 tons,
laden with timber, bound to London.

NAVA L INTELLIGENCE.
SIR CHARLES NAPIER'S SQUADRON.
PORTSMOUTH, DEC. 15.—We have received our usual
concise and interesting details of the movements of the
above squadron by the packet:—
" Nov. 30.—The English packet sailed, and the Comet
steam-vessel, Lieutenant-Commander Rigge, went down
the river, with Mr. Biddlecomble, master of the St. Vin-
cent, surveying. The Amphion, screw steam-frigate,
Captain Williams, got her damaged bowsprit out (which
it will be remembered, she sprung by fouling the Cano-
pus) it being found defective. At sunset, down top-
gallant and royal yards, which was done admirably well,
being quite a new era, sending topsailyards down on
deck at sunset. Admiral made signal—' Exceedingly
well done.'

" Dec. I—Eight A.m., up topsail, topgallant and royal
yards ; at sunset sent them o❑ deck.
" 2d—Eight A.m., up topsail, topgallant, and royal
yards. The English packet arrived. The Amphion
weighed and steamed about the river to try her engines.
At noon squadron fired a royal salute, ships dressed, on
the occasion of the christening of the infant Prince of
Portugal.
" 3d—The Admiral went on board the Amphion, and
examined the working of the screw propeller. The
purser of the Canopus, 84, Mr. Browne, was invalided,
and the purser of the Avenger, Mr. C. H. Jones, ap-
pointed to the Canopus ; the purser of the Scourge
steam-sloop, Mr. Haile, leaves her for the Avenger ;
and Mr. Terry, the Admiral's secretary's clerk, is
appointed acting purser of the Scourge.
"4th—The Comet anchored again in her station, and
the Caledonia, 120, Captain Dixon, sailed for England.
The naval instructor of the Queen, 110, Mr. Raimbach,
has exchanged with the naval instructor of the Cale-
donia, Mr. Grant. Mr. Sambell, naval instructor of the
St. Vincent, went home in the Caledonia, on leave of
absence.

"sth—The Oberon steam-vessel, Lieut.-Commander
Gardener, arrived with the Right Hon. Richard More
O'Ferrall, the newly-appointed civil Governor of Malta,
and family, on board, and also Captain Napier, to com-
mand the Avenger steam-frigate, vice Dacres, to be flag
captain to the Admiral ; also Commander Harper, to
join the St. Vincent.

" 6th—The Canopus, 84, Captain Moresby. C. 8.,
shifted berth close to the Admiral. Sir Charles went
on board the St. Vincent to-day to inspect, and, after
four hours' exercise expressed himself highly satisfied
with her state and efficiency.
"7th—The Amphion got her bowsprit in, but she is
yet in great trouble with her screw and machinery.

" Bth—The Oberon steam-vessel, with the Governor
of Malta, &c., left to-day. The Dragon steam-frigate,
Captain Hall, arrived to-day from Madeira, whither she
had conveyed the Duke and Prince of Saxe
Weimar, on a visit to the Queen Dowager, whom the
Dragon retorts is in good health, and enjoying the ge-
nial climate. Captain Dscres took the command of the
St. Vincent to-day, and Captain Milne goes home in the
packet. The Blazer steam•sloop, Lieutenant Com-
mander Smith, came in to-day to refit before she pro-
ceeds to the coast of Africa. Iler machinery is
damaged.
" 9th—Packet sails—The Albion, 90, Capt. Fremantle,
is hourly;expected from Malta. Squadron in the Tagus at
this date—the St.Vinceat, 120, Capt. Dacres, flag of Rear-
Admiral Sir C. Napier,Commander-in- Chief; Howe, 120,
Captain Sir J. Stirling ; Queen, 110, Captain Bruce;
Canopus, 84, Captain Moresby; Amphion, 36, Captain
Williams; the Avenger steam-frigate, Captain Napier;
the Dragon steam•frigate, Captain Hall; the Scourge,
steam-sloop, Commander Wingrove; the Blazer steam-
sloop, Lieutenant-Commander Smith; and the Comet
steam-vessel, Lieutenant-Commander Rigge. All well."
The Cuckoo steam-vessel is now in the basin along-
side the Kite, receiving the officers, crew and stores
from the latter, when she will be put out of commission
and the Cuckoo take her place.
Captain A. Milne arrived this morning early in the
Dockyard and has since proceeded to the Admiralty.
Wind south; strong breezes and hazy weather, with
rain.

THE LATE GALES.—HASTINGS, DEC. 11.—DUTing
the recent fearful gales in the Channel, a fine Neapo-
litan ship, called the Addolorata, M. Salvator Form,
commander, was totally lost in Pevensey Bay, when ten
of the unfortunate crew perished. Nine of the bodies
have since been cast up, and the evidence adduced at
the Coroner's inquiry will convey some idea of the vio-
lent character of the storm, and the difficulty shipping
sailing up or down the Channel bad in weathering it.
The deceased were fine muscular young men. M. Sal-
vator Porzio, the captain of the unfortunate vessel, de-
posed that at the time of her loss she was on a voyage
from London to Naples with a general cargo. He left
the Thames on the 28th ult., and had got to the Isle of
Wight on the 3d inst. Then blowing strong, he was
obliged to heave round to the English land, which he
made at eight o'clock, A.M., on Saturday, the 4th inst.,
being four miles distant. At four o'clock, P.M., same
day, he stood away, with the ship's head to the
southward, till midnight, when he hove her
head round to the northward, and made Beachy
Head between two and three o'clock in the morning
of Sunday, the sth instant. He gut soundings,
and in the course of an hour attempted to wear the
vessel, when be found the rudder was disabled. The
ship then became unmanageable. The violence of the
weather was awful in the extreme ; it was blowing a
perfect hurricane ; the vessel struck, and immediately
fell on her beam-ends. She then drifted for some dis-
tance, then bumped, parted in midships, and soon went
entirely to pieces. The crew consisted of the deceased
persons and witness, and three other survivors. When
the vessel went to pieces he parted from it on a piece of
plank, and he was not conscious of what afterwards
occurred, until he found himself in bed at the Tower.
Lieutenant J. H. Nickolls, the commanding officer of
the coastguard, stated that information of the wreck was
first conveyed to his men by goods being washed up on
the beach. The captain was discovered holding on by
one of the groynes in an exhausted state. Two boys
and a seaman, also belonging to the ill fated vessel,
were found on the beach iu a similar condition. Verdict,
" Found drowned." _ _ _

THE KNOWSLEY MURDER.—The trial of D werry-
house, the man who killed the girl at Knowsley, by
tearing the scalp from her head, was to hare come on at
the present Liverpool Winter Assizes, but it was stated
to the Court by Mr. Peter Burke, the counsel for the
prosecution, that the prisoner still continued in a state
of hopeless insanity, and that, pursuant to a recent Act
of Parliament, he was retained, by a warrant from a
Secretary of State, in the county lunatic asylum. Mr.
Justice Alderson, therefore, indefinitely adjourned the
trial, at the same time remarking, that in giving power
to a Secretary of State to imprison an offender without
bringing him before a jury, the statute in question went
far beyond the intention of the Legislature.
NATIONAL PROVIDENT INSTITUTION.—Yesterday
the annual meeting of this institution took place at the
London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street. S. 11. Lucas, Esq.,
presided. The report was of much interest and highly
favourable. It appeared that the policies were now
upwards of 7,800, and the income of the society ex-
ceeded 111,0001. There had been a large accession of
new members in the past year, and the funds had also
greatly increased.
MR. HOWITT'S NEW WORK, " THE HALL AND THE
HAMLET."—This is a very delightful work about the
country, and matters appertaining thereto. In these
volumes there is more originality, more wit, more
humour, more pathos, than in any of those which have
already issued from the same pen. Mr. liowitt appears
to have let go the reins of his imagination completely,
and hence those delightful sketches and sweet and en-
chanting pictures of rural life in which these pages
abound. He has displayed such exquisite good taste
and poetic discrimination in the selection of his topics,
that the whole work breathes an atmosphere of aural
pleasure and beauty. The work is one which we have
no doubt will be read not only at the homestead of the
farmer, but at the mansion of the squire, or the castle of
the lord, with gratification and delight.—Sunday Toncs.
Tara TEA DirriEs.—The Liverpool Association for
the reduction of the duty on tea has again commenced
its operations. A very full meeting of the members
took place at the rooms of the East India and China
Association on Wednesday last, when some very ener-
getic measures for effecting the object in view were
agreed upon. Several influential merchants, who,
though quite approving of the exertions of the associa-
tion last year, did not then take any very active part,
have now come forward and offered their services ;
amongst others we may name Mr. Robertson Gladstone,
whose valuable aid will tend greatly to the ultimate suc-
cess of the association.--Liverpool Times.

MORTALITY in the METROPOLIS.

NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES REGISTERED IN
TIIE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, DEC. 11, 1847.
Epidemic, Endemic, and Contagious Diseases
Diseases of Uncertain Seat ...
Diseases of the Brain, Nerves, and Senses... ... 177
Diseases of the Lungs, and other Organs of
Respiration ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 913
Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels ... 50
Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs
of Digestion... ... ••• •
Diseases of the Kidneys, &c. ••• •
Childbirth, Diseases of the Uterus, &c. .
Diseases of the Joints, Bones, and Muscles
Diseases of the Skin, &c. •
Old Age, or Natural Decay ... •
Deaths by Violence, Privation, or Intemperance ... 35
Causes not specified ...

... 783
... 160

~ 114

... 20

DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES ... 2,416

Po,ulation Average weekly Deaths
Is:numerated, Deaths, 1842-6. in the
1841. Five Autumns. Week.
West Districts... 301,326 . . 146 ... 332
North Districts.. 376,396 184 ... • 482
Central Districts 374,759 ... 196 ... 458
East Districts ... 393,247 ... 232 ... 463
South Districts.. 502,483 ... 288 ... 681
T0ta15........ 1,948,211 ... 1,046

2,416

Males
Females

Males
Females

BIRTHS IN THE WEEK.

1,175
-.1,241

... 638
... 667

Total ...

... 1,305

From the Registrar-General's return for the metropo-
litan districts, it appears that the elcessive rate of mor-
tality which was announced in the previous report
continued to prevail in the week ending Saturday last.
The number of deaths is 2,416, showing an increase
above the average of the season equal to 1,370, or 130
per cent.; whilst, compared with the greater number of
the preceding week, it gives a difference of only 38.
The following are the principal causes of mortality in
three weeks:—

Weeks ending Saturday Weekly
r-----"-------1 Average.
Nov. 27. Dec. 4. Dec. 11.
ZymoticDiseases 415 638 783 211
Diseases of respi
ratory organs 634 994 913 333
Typhus, &c 9l 136 140 38
Influenza
Pneumonia and
Bronchitis
All causes

The decrease of mortality in the previous week,
though numerically insignificant, encour4es a belief
that the force of the epidemic has attained its maximum,
and, being checked by some improvement in the
state of the atmosphere, is already on the decline.
Probably, influenza has done its worst for the present;
certainly it has done more than enough to renew in the
minds of the existing population the " acquaintance"
which it established with our ancestors some centuries
ago. From the above statement it will be observed, that
while the total mortality is less, the deaths specially
ascribed to influenza show a considerable increase on the
former week. The circumstance it is difficult to explain,
except on the supposition that, at first, medical men per-
ceived in a multitude of cases only the aggravation of a
chronic complaint, or the inflammatory symptoms of a
common cold, till wide-spread disaster compelled them
to recognize the presence of a new agent, and to assign
the appropriate name.
Subjoined to the return are the following exceedingly
important meteorological observations:—
The most remarkable meteorological phenomenon of
this year is the low reading of the barometer on the
morning of Tuesday, December 7, which, as stated in
the general remarks, was 28.381 in. ; this reading is
lower than any since that in the memorable storm of
January 13, 1843. which was 28.096 in. ; the lowest
reading in the year 1844 was 28.525 in. ; in 1845 was
28•659 in. ; and in 1846 was 28'536 in. In 1847, De-
cember 1, the reading was high; and at midnight it was
30237 in. ; immediately after this time the reading be-
gan to decrease, and continued decreasing till the morn-
ing of the sth day, at which time it was 29.205 in. ; it
having been at 30'074 in. at midnight on the 2d ; at
29.885 in. at midnight on the 3d ; and at 29.376 in. at
midnight on the 4th. During the sth day the reading
increased a little till the evening, when it again began to
decrease, and at 4h. 20m. A.M., on the morning of the 6th,
it decreased below 29 inches, and continued to decrease
throughout the day, and at midnight it was 28.291. On
December 7tb, at 2h. 35w., A.M., the minimum reading
28.381 in. took place, and it remained at this read-
ing till 2h. 50w. e.M. ; after this time the read-
ing began to increase. This reading is 1.855 in. less
than it was 5 days 1 hour previously. This change of
reading is great, but in January, 1843, between the
13th, at Oh. 53m. P.M , and the 19th. at 9h. 20m. P.M_,
the reading increased from 28.096 in. to 30,137 in., or
5.341 in. in 5 days and 21 hours. (See the Greenwich
Observations for 1843, page 266.)
In 1847, December 7th, at 9b. P.M., the reading had
increased to 29 inches, and it continued to increase till
' the Bth, at 7h. P.M., at which time it was 29 634 in. It
then began to decrease, and to the end of the week it has
alternately increased and decreased about the mean
reading as shown in the table.
On December let, there were unusual changes of tem-
perature of the air ; the temperature during the pre-
ceding night was high, and generally above 50 deg.;
towards sun-rise, on the sky becoming free from cloud,
it began to decline and continued doing so till very
nearly noon, at which time it was 40 deg.; at, lh. P.M.. it
had increased to 50 deg., and continued nearly this
point till after 4h. P.M. ; it then began to decline,
and at midnight it was as low as 38 deg., and after mid-
night it declined to 31 deg. On Tuesday the sky be-
came cloudy, and the temperature increased from 40 deg.
at 7h. A.m., to 56 deg. at midnight, it did not decline
below 55 deg. during the night. Ou the 3d, the sky
was clouded throughout the day, the temperature was
high and nearly uniform, till after Bh. P.N., between
which time and midnight it declined from 53 deg. to 41
deg. On the 4th, the temperature of the air increased
till 4h. P.M., at which hoar it was 50 deg., and it con-
tinued very nearly at this point throughout the remain-
der of the day ; after midnight it declined to 24 deg. 5
min. The highest point reached on the sth was 47 deg.,
and this decreased to 37 deg. by 11h. P.M ; after this
time the temperature increased rapidly all night, and at
7h. A.m., on the 6th, was 58 deg., and from this time it
slowly, declined during the day, and at midnight was
41 deg. The 7th day was cold, and there was but
little change of temperature during the day. On the
morning of the Bth the temperature was 32 deg., which
increased to 41 deg. 5 min., by lh. P.M., and decreased
to 31 deg. 3 min. by 7h. r.M. ; at Bh. P.M., it had in-
creased a little ; at 9h. P.M. it was 36 deg., and from
this time it increased all the night, and at lh. P.M. on
the 9th it was 56 deg. 5 min., being 25 deg. 2 min.
higher than it was 18b. previously. The period of time
between the 9th at 2h. P.M., and the 11th at 2h. P.M.,
was remarkable both for the high temperature and its
uniformity, the extremes between those times being
50 deg. and 54 deg. After lb. P.M. on the 11th, the tem-
perature declined from 51 deg. to 38 deg. by midnight.
From the preceding remarks it will be seen that the
usual uniform rise and fall of temperature during the
day has frequently been reversed. The reading of the
barometer was high on the Ist and 2d, during the 3d
it decreased about a quarter of an inch, and on the 4th
it further decreased half an inch ; on the sth it was low
all day, and on the 6th it was remarkably low, and it
has continued rather low till the end of the 11th day.

THE MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL.—On Monday a special
general court of the governors of this charity was held
in the board room, Charles-street, Tottenham. court-
road, to take into consideration the case of Mr. E.
W. Toasts, one of the surgeons of this institution.
Mr. B. B. Cabbell presided. There were also present—
the Duke of Cambridge, Sir R. Inglis, M.P., Sir W.
Stirling, Sir B. Smith Sir E. Pearson, General
Caulfield, Mr. B. Hawes, the Hon. Captain Maude,
R.N., Captain Darley, the Hon. J. W. Percy, Mr.
W. F. A. Delane, and nearly 100 governors. The
business of the day having been opened by the chairman,
Mr. Sheddon, the secretary, read the statement of the
weekly board of the circumstances the meeting were
called upon to investigate, in which were set forth cases
of complaint against Mr. Tuson for having received
money for defraying the expenses of pupils, and for not
having therewith paid the fees for the lectures in the
hospital, whereby the pupils had been obliged to pay the
money out of their own pockets a second time, and
statements by Mr. Rowden and Mr. Core, co-lecturers
with Mr. Tuson, complaining that he had not duly ac-
counted to them for various tees. The statement having
been read, the lion. Captain Maude addressed the meet-
ing, and moved " that the meeting confirm the reso-
lution of the weekly board of the 30th of November, by
which Mr. Tuson was suspended." Mr. C. Elliott
seconded the resolution. Mr. Propert moved an amend-
ment to the effect that, although Mr. Tuson had, in his
transactions with his private pupils, been guilty of con-
duct in the highest degree censurable, yet as his duties
during the years he had been attached to the hospital
had been characterised by skill, assiduity, and great
zeal, the meeting did not deem is expedient to force his
resignation. Mr. Brewster seconded the amendment,
after which several gentlemen addressed the meeting,
da ne
bd a
tsee vreers aull
eqdu
iens tai ons
resolution, were put to
put
by
Mr.1%1 Tuson.
ilaw es The
which
was as follows :—" We, the undersigned, feel strongly
the importance of waving every individual feeling for the
security of the hospital, and we deem it right to disclaim
further contention, and to place our resignation in the
hands of the weekly board at the next meeting." This
resolution, which was signed by all the surgeons of the
whether establishment, was seconded and carried by the meeting.
The officers will offer themselvesl Highness for re-election,
theectio Dn,atik willn.de
of
Cambridgesaid a few
will then be for the Governors towosradys
expressive
i they
e of th
re-elect
having
Tuson.a
interest he felt for the good of the hospital, and a vote of
the
thanks having been passed for the chairman, the meet-
ing P.
TbHo MURDER OF MR. BELLCLIAMBERS.—The
broke u m
grand jury
wourtyattrutheebCilles CriminalaintargaluitGeorge
Court returned last
evening
M`Coy, Thomas
Sale, Thomas Doyle, and Thomas Davis, for the wilful
murder of John Bellchambers, and for felony.
THE BELGIAN LOAN.— The Belgianjournals state
that the now loan which is talked of for Belgium will
be for
75,000,000 francs (3,000,0001.) It is not to be
offered to tender, but to be raised by subscriptions.
`According to the journals it is to be a 3 per cent. loan
sit 60.