The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-24 00:00:00

THE POTATo DISEASE.

TOTAL FAILURE OF THE POTATO CROP IN
WARWICKSHIRE.

BIRMINGHAM, FRIDAY.—" The potato crop has failed,
totally failed. Three months hence we doubt much if
there will be a good potato in England." Such was the
startling statement made to us yesterday 'by a gentleman
most extensively engaged in the corn trade, and inti-
mately acquainted with the state of the crops in every
part of England. In as far as regarded th e condition of
his own crop, he said, " I have tried tile m, and found
that two out of every three were gone."
Such a startling announcement has been confirmed to-
day by several of our most extensive potato growers;
and the high and increasing price of potatoes in our
market affords another proof that it is but too well
founded.

LITERATURE.

E QUARTERLY RE VIE W, !V°.

There is an ambitious charac;.er about this publication
which cannot fail to elicit very considerable tilent, told
to arouse no inconsiderable interest. If we felt inclined
to pronounce any wholesale cond,mnation upon the pre-
sent nuaf,er, it would simply be for a blemish arising
cut of an advantageous quality, namely, for discursive-
ness. In regard to variety of materials, there is., indeed,
anything but a deficiency ; hut, from that very circum-
stance, there is, too generally we conceive, a lack of
solidity in the contributions. From their brevity and
multiplicity, the reviews bear too frequently the appear-
ance of superficial smartness than of astute and search-
ing analysis. This, however, is not applicable to every
individual article ; on the contrary, some might be par-
ticularised for their penetrant and philosophical acumen.
One pecularity in this periodical we must, nevertheless,
specify forthwith, inasmuch as it might be so readily
rectified, and constitutes such an intolerable deformity,
We allude to the extraordinary indifference to the
orthography of names and places ; whether arising from
the deceptive memory or execrable penmanship of the
reviewers, or the egregious carelessness of the composi-
tors, it is impossible to conjecture. "Don Juan" contains
an adroit sarcasm at military glory, where it condenses
it into a wooden leg, or having " one's name mis-
' spelt in the Gazette." Byron overlooked the evan-
escence of literary glory in the same blundering of a
critic—though, true enough, the New Quarterly was not
then in existence. In speaking tkus we are not battling
with a shadow ; the flaws and errors of this description
obtrude themselves upon our attention from many of the
pages new lying before us. We will not, however, con-
tent ourselves with simply entering a protest ; we will
substantiate our accusation by very credible witnesses.
For example : in a paper entitled " Melville's Residence
in the Marquesas" the writer calls Nukuheva, Makaheva ;
he blunders taboo into tafoo ; Merheyo into Marhego ;
Fayaway into Fazawaz ; and the rest in like manner.
Such sins of commission are absolutely without the
slightest palliation ; they are the very converse of
the precision of those asetic caligraphers to whose
punctitious exactitude in orthography, we are indebted
for the preservation of many of the most important his-
torical facts, and thousands of the most precious poetical
beauties of the ancient hi-torians and poets. Subordinate
as this failing may be, it is entirely divested of excuse,
and requires the most scrupulous avoidance. According
to our view, the examination of " Prichard's Physical
History of Man" is the most meritorious and valuable
article in the present number. It condenses the pith of
that very extraordinary work into an agreeable and
readable compass ; it occasionally does • justice to its
learned and most industrious author, but occasionally
also casts a flippant derision upon theories which have
been generated by many years of arduous me-
ditation. In the astonishing scope of his sub-
ject -- in multifarious accomplishments —in scho-
lastic
and scientific erudition—in rigidity of judg-
ment and fecundity of imagination, the mind of Dr.
James Cowles Prichard hears some affinity to that of
the renownecrLiebnitz. The extent to which this one
work upon the physical history of mankind has swelled,
and the astonishing fund of learning which it has plun-
dered from all preceding writers, cannot but remind the
readers of Liebnitx of the disquisitions, and essays, and
histories, and memorials, issued by that wonderful '
genius. In these particulars, but in these particulars
alone, do we feel ourselves justified in hinting at an
analogy between minds otherwise so eminently
Liebnitz was an universal genius; his capacities ap-
peared to be exhaustless; no one could, or can conjecture,
the profundity or strength of his intellect. Dr. Prichard,
on the contrary, has presented us with the gauge of his
own mind in his researches upon the physical history of
mankind. We iseow precisely its depth, and it is not
shallow; we perceive precisely its hue, and it is not de-
ficient in lustre; we feel precisely its force, and it is not
feeble. Whether the whole human race—the black
negro, the tawny Arab, the fairest of the northern na
tions, the red Indians, the dun Laplanders—are all the
offspring of one common stock, is one of those startling
questions which can never fail to exeite the inquiries
of the thoughtful. That question is to be answered
either by reference to revelation or by appealing to the
judgment by an array of facts and arguments logically
placed. Dr. Prichard has evidently acquiesced in the
scriptural intimation that the human family has sprung
solely from Adam and Eve; and not only that those are
our exclusive progenitors, but that the descendants of
Noah alone survive on the face of the globe. Never-
theess, Dr. Prichard has not contented himself with
that very indolent mode of settling the matter: he has
argued the question as one of the problems of natural
and moral history, of psychology, of anatomy, of geo-
graphy, ethnography, and physiology. To elucidate its
merits he hes devoted to it 37 years of his valuable
life, and still the matter remains incomplete. The arch
still lacks its keystone. May Dr. Prichard live to con-
sumete his very remarkable and protracted exertions !
The dissertation on the " Odes of Horace"—those are-
besques of poetry !—is a charming and scholarly paper.
Some of the latter pages seem powdered with the dia-
monds, and emeralds, and pearls of literature, in the
shape of quotations. Of a geographical character, we
are treated with articles upon " Stokes' Discoveries in
Australia," " Overland Route from India," "Expedition
to Borneo," &c. ; of romances we are granted a flavour"
in notices of Miss Pardee's last novel, of" Emilia Wyiid-
ham," and of Niccolo de' Lepi. With other interesting
papers the New Quarter'', is singularly attractive.

LETTERS FROM MADRAS. By a Lady.
Murray's Home and Colonial Library. No. .VXXV.

A volume of this delightful series is equivalent to an
excursion in a steamer. It carries its reader in imagina-
tion to the most distant and beautiful quarters of the
world; it does so with the utmost rapidity; and it con-
veys to his mind all the most striking characteristics of
those countries—their scenery, their inhabitants, their
customs, their amusements, their religious ceremonies--
as vividly us the most faithful memory and the most
picturesque pen can delineate them. With a number of
the " Home and Colonial Library" in our hands we can
at pleasure follow Malcolm to Persia, Borrow to
Spain, Hay to Morocco, Father Ripa to China, Lewis
to the We t Indies, Bishop Heber to the East
Indies, Melville to the Marquesas Islands, or the fair
authoress, whose lucubrations are now lying upon our
portfolio, to Madras; and go thither, moreover, without
the trouble of removing our slippers on rising from our
elbow-chair. A map sketched before us on the table,
a paper-cutter, and one of the works just enumerated,
and, hey presto !—this brick Babylon of London is
forgotten, and we are strolling at leisure under cork
trees, among pagodas, by wigwams, or in any other
extraordinary locality we may please to select. By
issuing such a periodical Mr. Murray is performing
a service to his subscribers and to literature; he is en-
larging the minds of the former, and counteracting the
effect which might otherwise be produced by the spurious
products of the latter. These letters from Madras are
remarkable for the discursiveness of their descriptions,
and the utter lack of symmetry in their arrangement ;
and yet those very blemishes are the source of the
principal beauty of the performance. What is
lost in primness and neatness is gained in
naturalness. This is not one of those speci-
mens of book-making which are too often palmed
off upon the public as veritable originals. The narrative
is that of a voya2er; the accounts are those of an eye,
witness; the paintings are copied from nature; and,
best of all, the narrator is a woman—a young, lively,
chattering, observant woman. From the moment when
she is overcome with sea-sickness in the Bay of Biscay,
and exclaims with horror, at the entrance of her Irish
servant with a great plateful of beefsteak and potatoes,
"0, what is all that for? Oh, dear me!" to the period
when the dinner table, at Samuldavee, is covered with
ntyriads of black bugs, and a man walks round the table
with a dessert-spoon (!) and a napkin to take them Off
the shoulders of the company, our authoress is
always in excellent humour, her descriptions are
always piquante, her observations always on
the qui vive. Nor does she neglect, whenever an
opportunity occurs, to intersperse her tittle-tattle with
s,rious and sometimes most benevolent commentaries.
For example, her animadverskris on the trade in Hill
Coolies—a trade by which those unfortunate people are
trepanned from their native land, torn from their fami-
lies or deluded by fallacious statements to servitude in the
Mauritius—are to us most welcome. They are morever
of especial interest just at this juncture, when the Sugar
Duties Bill is receiving the sanction of the Legislature,
and when the names and misfortunes of the Hill Coolies
are thereby attracting a considerable share of public
attention. We can commend this little volume to every
one, but especially to those whose relatives are sojour-
ners either in Madras or its vicinity, and they are, we
conjecture, " not one, but legion."

inflicting the slighest pain ? If you do not, you
ought. It is still shame ! shame !
To turn from the aggregate and individualities
of professional pride, insincerity, ned resklessness,
let us call to this invaluable periodical the prompt
attention of the public (who are the most int.'-
rested in the question of pain or no pain), and
of so much of the medical profession as prefers the
honest and useful exercise of their art to a spurious re-
putation for the profound know ledge of it ;--hesidea act
counts of operations effected without pain, and with in-
variable success as to the result, at Cherbourg, in Ame-
rica, the West Indies, England, and Ireland, all authen-
ticated upon unquestionable evidence *—that of public
functionaries, professional men of high standing, and
others—the cases communicated by Dr. Esdaile, of
Hooghly (East Indies), the head of the Government
medical establishments in that place, will be found to
place the happy efficacy of mesmerism, in this respect,
entirely and fir ever beyond doubt. The cases are very
curious, and they are (with the exception of some inter-
posed atrocities on the part of two sceptics) as gratifying,
we'sh:Juld say delightful, as they are curious. Dr. Es.
(lade had never seen anything of mesmerism, when e
native patient in the hospital g iol, being in great suffer-
ing, was brought to him, and he thought the case was
one in which he might give mesmerism a trial. We have
not space for the detail ; but the experiment was suc-
cessful. During the operation, usually attended with
excruciating pain, the man was motionless as a corpse.
When his wounds were dressed, and he was roused from
the mesmeric trance, he declared that he was wholly
unconscious of all that had been done, and knew
only that by some means his tumour (of 40Ibs. weight)
was gone. Subsequently Dr. Es4aile, having from
this moment persevered, without failure in a single case,
removed a number of similar (scrotal) tumours, of weights
varying from 81bs. to SOlbs. In these cases, which
are more commonly fatal than otherwise, the wounds
healed, by what is called the first intention," and the
recovery was rapid. Up to the last report, published in
this volume, from Dr. Esdaile, upwards of a hundred
operations, amputations, &e., wese performed by himself
or his assistants, in the Government Hospital, in the
presence of the authorities and most respectable resi-
denss of Hoozhly, whose solemn testimony is likewise
published. In one case, to gratify Dr. Bedford, who
wished to ascertain whether the patients were not natu
rally insensible to pain, a poor creature was subjected to
cruel tests, which we shrink from relating. It is im-
portant to observe, that in all these cases, as well as in
the French, American, and British cases, recorded in
these pages of the Zoist, cure followed the operations.
It is by no means uncommon to see recorded the fact that
" Mr. So-and-so, of such and such an hospital, performed
the most difficult operation with his usual skill, and to
the admiration of all present. The patient suffered se-
verely, but is doing well." Such flattering and gratify-
ing report is not at all unfrequently followed next day
by another to the effect that—'` We regret to say, that
notwithstanding the favourable symptoms, which•at first
appeared, the patient gradually sank, and es-
pired at, &c. &c." But it was asserted by a
high authority, and cheered, at the Medical
and Chirurgical Society, that the suffering of pain
during operations, " is: according to the i,tentions of
nature, that it would be wrong to prevent it, and that it does
them good." (.! !) It is a fact that a Dr. C. said so,
speaking in the character of an infallible authority,
against mesmerism, which prevents pain. Is it not,
however, probable, if even the facts did not prove
it, that an operation which is unattended with pain
or irritation is less likely to be followed by fatal inflam-
mation than one which was inflicted with torture, and
immediately succeeded by a total prostration of the vital
powers? Nor is it in respect to operations only that the
Zoist establishes, upon incontrovertible facts, the efficacy
of mesmerism, but, in respect to numerous acute and
chronic diseases, the rceionale of the cure being clearly
enough explained in the reports. For these the publi-
cation must now be left to speak for itself. The truths
which it announces are before the world, and must make
their way. Patients will not much longer submit to
needless torture ; and operations without previous mes-
merism, will become as obsolete as the application of
red hot iron to a bleeding stump, notwithstanding the
wise and pious maxim that pain is ordained by Provi-
dence, is salutary, and ought not to be prevented.

The important cases of cure in glandular, vascular, and
nervous diseases of the most formidable kind, communicated
by Dr. Elliotson, Dr. Ashburner, (of the Middlesex Hospital),
Mr. Widdell, Mr. Chandler, andothers, would be sufficient to
convince any person who would take the trouble, or rather
give himself the pleasure, of reading them. But we must
particularly refer to operations performed by Mr. Thomas
Bell, Professor of Zoology in King's College, and lecturer
at Guy's Hospital, the mesmeric phenomena of which are
certified by Mr. E. Forbes, Professor of Botany, King's
College; Mr. W. Ferguson, Professor of Surgery, King's
College, and surgeon to King's College Hospital ; Mr. James
Luke, surgeon to the London Hospital; and Mr. John
Adams, Assistant Surgeon, London Hospital. Mr. Thomas
Bell is to introduce the cases to the notice of his pupils at
Guy's Hospital in his lectures next session. How long will
the " reflex motion" and " useful pain" doctors hold out?
and the surgeons who swear in courts of justice that blundering
and fatal operations cannot be htlped, and that a man must
wade knee deep in human blood to surgical eminence? That
sworn statement was distinctly applied to blood fatally shed!

LAYS AND LEGENDS OF GPRMANY. By

Ella Louisa Harvey.

A very pleasing volume of fugitive pieces, by the ac-
complished daughter of the Bishop of Jamaica. In
fluency of versification, and analogy of expression, Miss
II rvey's translations from German poetry aro frequently
equal to the most successful performances of John
Oxenford—and, to our thinking. that is no mean corn-
mendation. Neverthelvss, the fair authoress is some-
times singularly unequal in spirit. One stanza is spon-
taneous and unaffected, while the very next is forced
and unnatural. Her version of that tenderest of all
tender ditties (" Most musical, most melancholy")
Mignon's Song," is a striking example of this defect ;
the second and third versos are altogether unworthy of
the first ; it is the merging of a delicious melody into
discordance. In the minor fragments ►Miss Harvey is
generally eminently successful.

" Ye never shall possess it
The free, the German Rhine,"
seems beating with the pulse of a love for fatherland.
Sometimes, by the novel pensivenes with which she in-
vests even a trite idea, our authoress writes in a tone sin-
gularly touching. Thus, after revisiting " The Scenes
of Childhood, and, after musing on their unaltered
verdure and beauty, she exclaims :

" Ye are the same—but in my heart
There dwells a world of change ;
And all your glories but impart
A feeling cold and strange.
" To me the woods, and rushing streams,
The wild and beauteous shore,
Are shadows
I
arycolung rememberednomore!"clreams.
I

Many of the legends are striking and original ; and
the historical ballads, written in emulation of those glo-
rious lines, beloved of yore, by Bishop Percy, are
pleasingly and sometimes nervously composed. Miss
Harvey has shown herself an adept in all the myste-
ries of rhythm, and because she has not striven for the
attainment of too much she has been successful.

THE TORY CAUSE IN BRADFORD, YORKSHIRE.—A
circular has been addressed to the wealthy Tories in Brad-
ford, to say that, unless they double their subscriptions, there
can be no stand made for the West Riding at the next elec-
tion, as the Tory funds are much depressed.
REPRESENTATION OF MANCHESTER.—It will be re-
collected that at a meeting of the committee of the Manchester
Reform Association, on Wednesday week, a resolution to put
Mr. Cobden in nomination, notwithstanding his reluctance
to offer himself as a candidate, was met by an amendment,
to the effect that the meeting regretted exceedingly that
Mr. Cobden should decline to become a candidate, and that
it was advisable to seek some other gentleman to offer him-
self as a candidate. It was then agreed that a special meet-
ing of the committee should be held on that day week, to
consider the whole question. The special meeting was
held on Wednesday last, and there was a very large at-
tendance, including nearly all the members of the commit-
tee. Mr. George Wilson moved that Mr. Bright be invited
to become a candidate at the next general election. Mr.
Edward W. Watkin seconded the motion. A long discus-
sion ensued; those who supported the motion urging the
claims of Mr. Bright to the honour of representing Man-
chester, while on the other hand those who were in favour
of putting Mr. Cobden in nomination, contended that no
good reason could be shown why the same course should
not be taken with regard to him, that was pursued towards
the late Mr. Poulett Thomson, who was put in nomination
and elected without his consent. On the other hand, it
was urged that the committee had only a week before—(we
believe, by a majority of 13 to 6)—negatived the course now
recommended by the majority of those present. Ultimately,
it was resolved unanimously that a meeting should be held
that day fortnight (Wednesday the 2d September), to con-
sider the propriety of rescinding the resolution of Wednes-
day week, and of reconsidering the whole subject.—Man-
cheater Guardian.

In almost every case the destruction has been rapid
and general. We have examined several large fields in
the district, and found the roots in most c:ases reduced to
a pulpy mass. Previous to the late rains the stems and
branches were luxuriant and promising—now they are
lying dead on the ground and appear as if they had been
killed, not so much from any taint fro is a poisonous
atmosphere as from the effects of some ,cankerous dis-
ease at the roots. The smell emitted frcai the fields, in
several instances, is most offensive, ands ufficient in low-
lying marshy grounds to produce ape stilence. This
was more particularly observable to-dray, when there
was strong sunshine and heat, the action of which on
the ground, saturated as it has been with rain, produced
a species of fermentation among the dis,3ased roots, and
a kind of smoke which rose from the sur.Face like a thick
ground mist.
The only potatoes in this neighbourhool we have yet
seen that hAve entirely escaped the disease are growing
in a field in South Staffordshire, from seed which lay in
the ground all winter. The farmer iu this case did not
lift his last year's crcp at:all. A good many of the po-
tatoes were then diseased, and he thought if he left the
whole in the ground, those that might -withstand the
frost in winter would be free from disease, and grow up
in the spring. The field in May was covered with early
plants. These he carefully cleaned and hoed up ; they
now promise an abundant crop, and should the experi-
ment succeed, it may prove highly useful.
Concurrent with the progress of the disease in this
quarter has been a growing increase of English cholera
amongst the population, not in the town merely, but in
the country around. The impression now is, that the
bad quality of potatoes in use occasions English cholera.
This is a difficult point, and should be 'carefully con-
sidered. One thing is clear, there has not been so much
English cholera in Birmingham for many years as at
the present time.— Warwick Advertiser.

THE ZOIST. A Journal of Cerebral Physiology
and Mesmerism, and their application to Human Wel-
fare. Islos. 13 and 14.
The last hsilf-yearly volume of the Zoist demands im-
peratively the most solemn and careful attention of
every man who desires to advance science and to pro-
mote the welfare of mankind. The physiological facts
which are here collected surpass in their importance all
that may be found in the " Transactions" of Royal and
Medical and Chirurgical Societies, or in the " Reports "
of Academies, from the invention of printing to the pre-
sent time. They are produced by patient observers of
nature—earnest inquirers after truth—men of high
personal and professional character and extensive ac-
quirements, in all parts of the globe. They are esta-
blished by authority so conclusive, so far above sus-
picion, that none who can appreciate the force of !
evidence will honestly deny thew. They are of such
transcendent value to suffering mankind that it is both
cruel and iniquitous for those who live by professing
the healing art, to withhold their benefit from those
whom they are paid to relieve. It is, in fact, vain any
1 longer to decry MesmeriQrn as a delusion, or stigmatise
its disinterested and (happily for the world) indomitable
champions—the champions of now triumphant truth—
as impostors or toots. The day is gone by, and for
ever, when a heartless joke or a malignant sneer may
turn aside the attention of the world from phenomena,
which are not less precious in their practical utility than
instructive in their relation to the science of life. Let
the jeerers make their own of Clairvoyance ; let them
pit the " Mysterious Lady " and the " Scotch Boy "
against Julie and Adolphe. Whether and with what
limitations, Clairvoyance may be true, is a question
which can afford to stand over. But the amputation of
limbs, the extirpation of tumours, and a thousand minor
operations of surgical art, must, in the mean time, be
performed every hour. What torture, what agonies,
what miserable deaths attend them ! Do not, then,
stand and jabber about abstruse questi:ms of imma-
teriality, like the pretended followers of Aristotle in the
old schools, whilst the patient writhes and screams
under your reckless knife, until the depth of your lore
and the prodigies of your skill are testified by a man-
gled corpse. Shame ! shame ! Do you not know that
there is not one case of surgical operation, from the most
complicated and hazardous to the drawing of a tooth,
that cannot be readily and certainly performed without

FINSBURY CHARITY SCHOOL.—The fifty-fourth an-
niversary dinner of this institution was held on Thursday
last at the London Tavern, the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor
in the chair, supported by the Rev. J. Saunders, rector of
H. W. Elder, Esq.,
St. Luke, Rey. L. Marcus, incumbent of St Paul's, Finsbury,
The dinner was
The cloth removed, "Non
nobis" was sung by Messrs. Sporle, Kenny, Smith, and King.
Messrs. Bathe and
i i
served
e.
e LinEeasacis,.'sEttri.
Breach, and gave great satisfaction to a numerous and
lqae.s,uhrjieg.ri,islEye.ele3, creditableEg Robinson,. Et
o av
cS
respectable company.being
After the usual loyal toasts, the chairman rose and expressed
the gratification he felt in occupying the chair on so interest-
ing an occasion, pointing out to the company the most pro-
minent features of the institution. His Lordship then alluded
to the importance and advantage of a Scriptural education of
the poor, and the social guarantee it afforded, and urged the
assembly to give a practical proof of the estimation in which
they held the charity.. He then gave the toast, "Prosperity
to the Finsbury Charity Schools, amid great cheering. The
children were then introduced, whose neat appearance and
behaviour elicited much approbation. After an appropriate
address by the Rev. L. Marcus, the health of the treasurer
was given and acknowledged, a han,isome subscription was
then mede ; among the donations was the Lord Mayor,
10/. 10s. ; J. Thomson, Esq., :Ji• as. ; 11. W. Elder, 5/. 55.;
Messrs. Lee, 10/. 101., &c. Other toasts followed, and the
party broke up, delighted with the evening's entertainment.
DISEASE AMONG CATTLE.—Our Nefitil correspondent
informs us that an extraordinary and unheard-of disease
has attacked numbers of cows in his neighbourhood. and
that the milk •s i
hich they yield s so fetid as to be totally
unfit for use.— Wolsh»lan.
EGG LAW.—A somewhat ludicrous exhibition of this
mode of procedure was witnessed in Stamford butter market
on Friday last, and which was inflicted upon a female vendor
of eggs—one of those who visit this market evidently with
the intention of defrauding the public. This honest woman,
it appears, had stood in the market that day with a basket
of putrid eggs, part of which she succeeded in palming off
at the usual market price, hoping, no doubt, to get clear off
before the purchasers found out their mistake; but she had
good reason to lament her dishonesty, for before she could
make her exit her enraged customers returned, and, possess-
ing themselves of the remainder of her ware, pelted her
with them so lustily that she was obliged to retreat into a
tradesman's shop close by to avoid a further infliction of this
not very agreeable punishment, which has doubtless taught
her that, after all, "honesty is the best policy."—Lincolnshire
Chronicle.

THE POTATO CROP IN WALES.—It is 'with extreme
regret that we are obliged to add to the testimony of many
of our contemporaries, that the disease, which was so
destructive to this vegetable last year, is aga in making sad
ravages. Until last week, we were sanguine in hoping that
the Principality had escaped the infliction. On inspecting
the crops in Anglesey, Carnarvonshire, Denbighshire,
Merionethshire, and Montgomeryshire, they then appeared
healthy and luxuriant ; now, in many localities, whole
patches of the earlier crops are blackened and withered ;
and, from indications which show themselLv.vs in the later
crops, we fear the result will be more dis astrous than 1,-.et
season.—Carntirron Herald.

THE CROPS.—We regret to say that, in consequence
of the changeableness of the weather, a groat portion of the
wheat crop will be materially injured, in some instances the
grain has begun to grow in the ear before the crop has been
cut. The sample of barley will be very bad- In most cases,
the grain in our field presents three different appearances—
one part nearly dead ripe; a second, just coming to hand,
whilst the third is quite green. The potato crop is nearly,
if not quite destroyed ; and from the early app'aarance of the
disease, the effect upon the neighbourhood will be much
worse than last year.—Somerset County Herald •
THE SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.—On Saturday the
South-Lambeth Brewbouse, situate in Bond-st reet, together
with all the outbuildings, as well as a great -many houses,
were sold by Mr. Chadwick, of St. Mart-m's -lane, to be
pulled down to make way for the South-Western Railway,
which ie to be extended to the vicinity of Vcaterloo-bridge.

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY MORNING, AUGUST 24, 1846?

THE FRED; CSI IN OTAHEITE.

VALPARAISO, MAY 30, 1843.
The following- are extracts from a letter received by a
vessel just arrived from Otaheite :—•

OTA APRI L 15, 16,16.-0.: the 22d of March, about
three o'clock hi the afternoon, a few of the natives found their
way into the town, and set fire to the houses of Major Fergus,
a Polish gentleman, in the service of the French, and Idamoi,
a native chief, in the French interest; the latter they killed
before the French were able to interfere. The French soon
turned out to check and ehastive the natives, and a general
firing commenced on both sides, which was kept up till near
seven o'clock in the evening. So sudden and unexpected
was the attack, that the inhabitants were all struck dumb
with consternation, and a scene of the greatest confusion en-
sued. The foreigners began immediately to remove their
familes from the town on board the vessels; some hurrying
away from the scene of the conflict with their wives and
children, and others escaping with their books, papers, and
what money they could lay their bands upon.
There was a loss in killed and wounded on both sides, but
the precise number I have not heard.
Next day, being Sunday, there was a cessation of hosti-
lities, but almost every day since shots have been exchanged ;
and totday they had another engagement. The plan adopted
by the hostile tribe appears now to be to bang about the
neighbourhood of the town and to harass the French with-
out coming to anything like a pitched battle. This morning
[the dates of the writer's letter run on consecutively from the
11th to the 15th of April] a party of the natives in the in-
terest of the French went, by permission of the Governor, a
short distance from the town, and attempted to plunder the
provisions, vegetables, &c., of the enemy, when they were
attacked and repulsed by the latter; they had one man shot
through the liver, who is now dead, another badly wounded,
and a third is missing. The other side lost one man killed.
In the second engagement above mentioned, which was the
most serious, the French had a force of about 250 men.
After a sharp firing of about an hour and a half, the French
and their allies (Kanakas, as the natives are called) returned
with two poor devils prisoners. The opposite party lost men
in killed in this engagement also. I cannot help alluding to
the cruelty of this wretched war of a powerful nation with
the poor inoffensive natives, and I do think that the adoption
of more conciliating and politic measures on the part of the
French would at least mend matters.

The azreement entered into between the Governor and Sir
George Seymour wa3 broken soon after the Admiral left, by
the sending of the L'Uranie to the Leeward Islands, and
destroying the beautiful little village on the Island of
Huahine.

To give a particular account of the events of the last three
weeks would require more time than I can spare; but I may
remark that the situation of the French is insecure, end that
of the British residents is extremely critical and unplea-
sant. Neither our lives nor our property are safe, and what
makes it worae for us is, that the French accuse us of insti-
gating the natives to renew hostilities, and with supplying
money and ammunition for them to carry on the war with ;
and so strong is the feeling against us, that the French, even
our old acquaintances, keep aloof from us. This feeling of
hostility has most unfortunately been communicated to the
•• French natives, or allies," as they are called, as will appear
by the fact that about a fortnight ago, Dr. Henry, of the
Salamander, while walking in Dr. Johnstone's garden, was
fired at by a French native, and wounded in the back of the
head. The cloth cap he had on directed the course of the
ball upwards, which saved his life. The ball took with it a
part of his scalp. The native was tried by court-martial,
and acquitted. The verdict was, "Shot by accident." Dr.
Henry is now almost well again. What the British Admiral
will say to this verdict when he comes here, is a question of
deep interest to us.

In the event of the French troops being beaten by the
natives and driven within the outposts, the commander of
our own man-of-war, the Salamander, is strictly forbidden
even in that case to send his boats to our assistance. We
were told publicly by the "Director of European affairs"
(a French functionary), that, should the troops be beaten,
French boats would be sent to our relief, to which we should
be conducted by a guard of French soldiers, or to the square
of the Government-house, at our option. But though all this
seems very fine, we don't much relish "a guard of French
soldiers."

Our countryman had a narrow escape. lie, with
the rest of us, sent his property on board, and shortly after-
wards a 32-pounder was shot slap through his house! He
landed his goods a week ago, and was obliged again to pack
up from the uncertainty (in which) we all are in as to the
result of all this fighting.
Every one is obliged to keep within doors from six in the
evening to six next morning; and as for the pleasure or
comfort of living here we are obliged to subsist entirely upon
sated and preserved meats.
The following appears as an article of news this afternoon
in one of the Valparaiso newspapers:—
" OTAnErrE.—The Hamburg!' brig Vigilant brings us
news of two attacks of the natives and French. One was in
a valley, and both parties had several killed and wounded ;
the other was at a tower defended by a small (un corto) num-
ber of French, who made a sally, attacked (the natives) Kith
the bayonet, and took from them a piece of artillery which
they had brought."

The same paper adds:—
" There was a scarcity of all kinds of provisions. Flour
was at 20 dolls. a barrel, and biscuit at 15 dolls." _ _

The Vigilant has cone here, chartered by the French Go-
vernment, to take provisions hence to Otaheite. She has
brought from Otaheite a cargo of molasses, and 20,000 dol-
lars in specie on private account.
Another letter from Otaheite states that a small schooner
of 62 tons burden, sailing under the flag of .the " Navigators'
Islands," chartered by two British subjects, of the names of
Evans and Paynter, to trade amongst the Islands, is sup-
posed to have been run away with by the crew or by the
crews and captain jointly. The schooner was called the
Malolo, and the master's name is Turnbull. While the char-
terers were on shore negotiating for a return cargo to take to
Otaheite, on the sth of March last, they saw the schooner
stand out to sea, and they have had no intelligence of her
since. Evans, and another Englishman, a passenger, after
waiting ten days on the island, procured a native boat, and
proceeded to Otaheite, and gave information of the circum-
stance to Captain Hammond, of the Salamander, in the hope
that he might be able to render assistance in recovering the
schooner. It is with the same view that I mention the fact,
as if inserted in the papers the publicity given thereby to the
affair may lead to the discovery of her fate. V.
English merchantmen just arrived—The Ann Rankin, from
Glasgow, in 110 days; the Corsair, from London, in 91 days;
the Ann Mary, anchoring, from Liverpool, 135 days.—Val-
paraiso, May 31st.

THE 9th LANCERS at the BATTLE

OF SOBRAON.
We are requested to publish the following copy of a letter
addressed by Major-General Sir Harry Smith to Lieutenant-
Colonel Fullerton, commanding her Majesty's 9t'a Lancers,
in refutation of a calumnious statement which has obtained
circulation respecting the conduct of Colonel Campbell at the
battle of Sobraon. Although the statement referred to did
not appear in our cohimns, we have much pleasure in giving
publicity to so complete a vindication of Colonel Campbell's
character :

"Simla, June 18, 1846.
" Sir—ln reply to your letter of the 14!h inst , this day re-
ceived, representing that some vile, calumnious, and wicked
reports are in circulation by certain newspapers in England,
to the effect that her Majesty's 9th Lancers did not do their
duty in the field at the memorable battle of Sobraon ; I have
the satisfaction to record the following facts, although I had
heretofore believed that a regiment of British Dragoons was
protected from insult and indignity by its own appellation.
" On the celebrated morning of the 10th of February the
division of Infantry under my command was directed to post
itself on the banks of the Sutlej, fronting the left of the
enemy's position, and near the village of Guttah, as near
the enemy as possible, but not to get within range of his
cannon.

" The brigade of cavalry under Brigadier Campbell,
of the 9th Lancers, and in which this corps was, I had
received instructions would he placed in support, to the
rear of the left of my division, and to the right of General
Gilbert's.

" At daylight in the morning Brigadier Campbell rode up
to me with his staff, and pointing out his brigade, requested
to know if it was posted as desired.
" I highly approved of its position. Not certain that I
was with my division near enough to the enemy, I directed
Brigadier Campbell to move up a squadron of the 9th Lan-
cers which he, instantly did, for the purpose of ascertaining
the range of the enemy's cannon.
" The squadron was commanded by Captain Read, who
handled it in a masterly manner, moving up to the enemy's
position with skirmishers; rapidly a heavy cannonade was
opened on this squadron. My object as to distance was at-
tained, and I withdrew the squadron, which Captain Read
again brought back in the steadiness with which it had ad-
vanced, although at the time under a sharp cannonade, and
when this squadron rejoined the beautiful body of men the
9th Lancers, I saw that flash of the British soldier's eye which
is not to be mistaken, and a sort of pulsated motion in their
saddles, evincing that eagerness for the fight their national
courage inspired.

" Ary division was ordered to the assault of deep and strong
entrenchments—no field for cavalry, difficult enough for in-
fantry—and I directed Brigadier Campbell to remain where
he was, to support my division and General Gilbert's, in case
we were beaten back; an event I did not anticipate, although
I provided for it.
.6 After the victory, I ascertained that so eager was this
brigade for the assault, that it had been moved forward, and
had lost some men and horses by the enemy's cannon. This
I regretted, but could not animadvert upon so laudable a de-
sire to participate in the danger and glory of victory. Had
I made use of this brigade in the assault of entrenchments, it
would have been madness; while I assert, with veteran con-
fidence and the knowledge of British soldiers which expe-
rience acquires, that never did our country, so famed for
gallantry in its soldiers, possess a regiment better animated
with every noble feeling of the brave, from its officers to the
privates, than the brigade of Brigadier Campbell, of which
the 9th Lancers formed a conspicuous portion ; or never did
the revered Sovereign of our realm p'ssess a regiment of
Dragoons more efficient in physical strength, or better
animated for war, than her Majesty's 9th Lancers.
" I have entered into a lengthy detail, almost unnecessary,
for our noble and gallant Commander-in-Chief's dispatch
contains all that I have recorded in a few words; and the
world may rely on it, that such a General would never com-
mend the craven-hearted—an appellation, I thank my God,
in 41 years' experience, I have never seen applicable to a
British regiment in the most daring deeds of arms.—l have
the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient humble servant,
H. G. SMITH, Major-General.
" To Lieut.-Colonel Fullerton, commanding
her Majesty's 9th Lancers."

Letters which have just b4en received from Gibraltar
mention a report, that General Cavaignac had in the pro-
vince of Oran surrounded and put to death an Arab tribe,
consisting of 600 men, women, and children; that the war
is now carried on on the principle of extermination, and that
the French soldiers receive ten francs for every pair of human
ears they bring in, whatever the age or sex of the original
owners of these ears may have been. It is but justice to the
French people that the publication of such rumours should
give their rulers an opportunity of contradicting or explain-
ing them. It is with this view we make the statement, and
it will be gratifying to every friend of humanity if the
Dgbats, or any other paper speaking from authority, could be
enabled to contradict this reporb —Chronic/e.
COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES OF THE ELECTRIC TELE-
GRAFIL—The fact of the suspension of the Leeds Commer-
cial Banking Company's business, which took place at twelve
o'clock on Monday last, was known in Birmingham in about
a quarter of an hour after that time, by means of the elec-
tric telegraph, which has been recently completed on the
Midland line of railway. Immediately on the arrival of the
intelligence it was forwarded to the various banks and pub-
lic offices in this town. The advantages of such an almost
simultaneous mode of communicating intelligence so im-
portant to the mercantile world is too obvious to require any
comnfent, and great praise is due to the railway officials for
the promptitude with which they communicated the news
to the more interested portion of the public.—Binainghant
Journal.
COLLISION OF THE STAKESBY AND LUZON.—lntelli..
gence was received at Lloyd's on Ftiday morning, by means
of the electric telegraph upon the South-Eastern Railway,
that the ships Stakesby and Luzon had been in contact, and
r put back to the Downs damaged.

STATE of the MINING DISTRICTS.
The following are extracts from the report (just pra
sented to Parliament by command of her Majesty) from
the Commissioners app'Oit:ted to inquire into the opera-
tion of the A.-A sth and 6th Victoria, c. 29, and into the
state of the population in the mining districts, 1846.
This report is extremely lenghty ; and the following
are only a few of the portions of it which well merit
quotation and special attention. It commences thus:—
TO THE RIGHT HON. HER MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRE-
TARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT,.
Sir,—l have the honour to acquaint you, in this, my
third annual report, that the Act of Parliament by which
femal,!s are excluded from working in mines and col-
lieries, and other regulations made for the benefit of
persons engaged in that species of labour, is generally
observed in the portions of the mining districts to which
I have this year been able to give my attention, some
localities excepted, where either the neglect or opposition
of a few employers, or the inveterate habits of the people,
oppose an obstacle to the uninterrupted observance of
the law.

I have reason to believe that the employment of
females below ground in any part of the mining districts
is reduced to a small number ; and I have received in-
creasing testimonies to the good effects arising to the
mining population from the discontinuance of that de-
grading occupation.
In my two previous reports I have had occasion to men-
tion that legal proceedings have been frequently necessary
to cause the removal of females from the large collieries at
Clackmennan. In consequence of communications from
me the Procurator-Fiscalof Allots commenced another
prosecution against the oversman and one of the work-
men in that colliery. The cases were submitted to the
Crown agent in Edinburgh, and the Advocate-Deputy
was sent by him to Alloa to conduct them. The result
was, on the 15th of December, a conviction, and a fine
of Si. each upon the oversman and the workman. On
that day the proprietor of the colliery, Mr. James Ray-
ner Wilson, as stated by the Sheriff Depute, John Tait,
Esq., " appeared before the Sheriff Substitute, and de-
posed on oath that the employment of females at that
time had taken place without his consent, concurrence,
or knowledge." Notwithstanding this, the Fiscal informed
me that two days only after this trial, no less than forty
females again went into Mr. Wilson's pits to work.
A lengthened and laborious investigation took place,
and the case was reported to Crown counsel, who, on the
llth of March, instructed the Fiscal "to serve a com-
plaint" upon Mr. Wilson. The complaint was accord-
ingly served, charging Mr. Wilson with " having em-
ployed, or having allowed or permitted to be employed,
within the pits at Clackmannan colliery, eighteen
females." The case came on fur trial on the 21st of
March, before Mr. Sheriff Tait. Mr. Wilson appeared,
and pleaded guilty to having permitted the employment
of two out of the eighteen. The Advocate Depute, who
had been sent from Edinburgh to conduct the case on
the part of the Crown, deemed it prudent to accept this
plea, and the Sheriff then sentenced Mr. Wilson to pay
a fine of 20L, and failing payment, or sufficient distress
by " pounding," to be committed to Allen prison for the
period of one month. There was a large attendance of
colliers in the Court, and one or two coal masters from
Fifeshire and the surrounding neighbourhood.
It is satisfactory to see that since the termination of
the strike in July, 1844, more activity Las been mani-
fested in building school houses, providing trained
teachers, and opening schools, at which the payments
are so moderate (Id. and 2d. per week) as to leave no
excuse to the parents for neglecting to send their chil-
dren. The old private schools, where the payment re-
pired was from 3d. to 6d. per week, were often pre-
ferred by the parents to the old description of national
schools, where the payments were much less, but where
the children, left chiefly to the monitors, advanced
slowly. The new schools, under properly qualified teachers,
unite cheapness with excellence. Some of the young
men now conducting these schools have passed through
the prescribed course at the institution for training
schoolmasters at Durham. One was trained at Batter-
sea. They will be found valuable assistants in the im-
portant work of enlightening and forming the minds of
the rising generation.
At nearly all the large mining villages in the two
counties where exertions of this kind were wanting,
they have been made within the last two last years
with every promise of success; and additional efforts
are in contemplation in behalf of localities still insuffi-
ciently provided for.
The Marquis of Londonderry has adopled very liberal
and effectual measures to place the opportunities of a
sound education within the reach of all the inhabitants
of his populous mining villages. His Lordship's
managing agent, Mr. Hindhaugh, informed me that
the cost to Lord Londonderry, of the schools now in
operation, will amount to no less a sum than 300 L a
year. By his Lordship's directions, Mr. Hindhaugh Racer-
' tamed in the course of last year the number of children of
an age for education in the villages of Pensher, Rainton,
and Piddington. On his Lordship's property they were
found to amount to about 1,000, of whom about 600 are
now, and have been since January last, at good schools,
at hich they pay only one penny a week. The schools
formerly in existence were partly supported by Lord
Londonderry, at a cost of about 401. a year.
MONMOUTHSHIRE AND BRECON.

Wich respect to Monmouthshire and Brecon, the
Commissioner writes:—

The demands of duties in other quarters had, until
December last, prevented my giving attention to the
manner in which the Act of Parliament, with the ad-
ministration of which I am charged, is observed in the
mineral district of Monmouthshire and Brecon, or to
the state of the mining population in that district.
I proceeded thither on the 3d of that month, having
previously intimated to the proprietors and managers of
the various iron and coal works my intention of visiting
the district, and bespeaking their co-operation, if neces-
sary, towards giving full effect to the law.
I found that the main provisions of the Act had not
been generally attended to. In a few of the principal
works they bad, I believe, been pretty strictly observed,
and in others partially; hut the employment of females
under ground was acknowledged to have been continued
in eight of the works, and also of boys under ten years
of age in several more. The payment of wages in
public-houses, by contractors, was also very common.
About seventy females were, as I was informed by
the respective managers, dismissed from their employ-
ment under ground, in the works alluded to, immediately
on the receipt of my letter on the subject, and many boys
under ten were removed from the mines at the same time
throughout the district.

The— demand for labour being still so great, and wages
so high, it is to be hoped that nothing more than a slight
and temporary inconvenience may have been suffered by
any parties in consequence of this change.
The managers or proprietors of the various works,
with whom I communicated on the spot, most readily
undertook, almost without exception, to do everything
in their power to prevent any future infringements
of the Act in these particulars. All parties, how-
ever, were anxious that an impartial vigilance should
be exercised throughout the district, to prevent any
laxity arising in any 'quarter, by which the rest
might be subject to disadvantage. The facilities
which exist for avoiding compliance with the law,
especially in some localities, make this the more ne-
cessary. I have therefore been in communication with
professional gentlemen, residing on the confines of the
district, who have taken steps under my direction
towards enforcing the penalties of the Act in the above
particulars, as mentioned at the commencement of this
report.

EXTRAORDINARY FACT CON-
NECTED WITH THE POTATO DISEASE.

WINDSOR, FRIDAY. The following most singular fact
in connexion with the alarming disease now so prevalent
amongst the potato crops throughout the kingdom cannot be
too generally made known. Publicity being given to the
circumstance may be the means of causing other persons
than the party in question to adopt similar measures with, it
is to be hoped, equal success in reference to the preservation
of their crops.
In the early part of last year Mr. Giddings, who, until
recently, held an appointment in the Lord Steward's depart-
ment in the royal household, and who now farms some land
in the parish of Clewer, about a mile from this town, planted
some potatoes upon a portion of his farm. They, however,
were so seriously affected with the disease which so generally
prevailed, the haulm becoming decayed and covered with
black spots, that they were considered entirely useless, and
dangerous even to give to his pigs. He therefore determined
upon letting them remain in the ground throughout the
(then) ensuing winter and the following spring, in order that
they might rot, and thus act as manure for the land. After
remaining in the ground for upwards of eighteen months, he
had the land upon which they were grown dug up; and then,
to his great surprise, it was discovered that the whole were
entirely free from disease, and that every potato, without a
single exception, was perfectly sound, and in the best pos-
sible state. Mr. Giddings's crops of potatoes, this year, are
in the same diseased state as they were last season, scarcely
one being fit for human food. lie has, therefore, determined
to adopt the same plan he formerly pursued, by letting them
remain in the ground until the spring of next year. Several
of the neighbouring farmers, whose crops are similarly
affected, have likewise determined to try the same experiment,
with, it is to be hoped, the same successful rr.s Its

CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL.—It is Witt much pleasure
we are able to state that the effigy and table tomb of Richard
Bishop of Chichester, who died in 1252, which was in a sad
state of mutilation, has, after some months' labour, been re-
stored by Mr. E. Richardson, the sculptor, and replaced in
its late position under the shrine, in the south transept of
the cathedral ; where, with much pomp and ceremony,
Edward I. with Queen Eleanor and the Court witnessed the
translation of the Bishop's remains and the setting. up of the
present tomb, in the summer of 1276. A rose window has
been placed in the east gable of the cathedral.— The Bulkier.
We learn from Posen that, in consequence of the
scarcity of provisions felt in that province, and which the
presence of a large body of troops could only aggravate, the
King of Prussia has' countermanded the grand review which
was to take place this year between Franstadt and Guhrau.
THE BRITISH MusEUM.—A notice has been posted
at the British Museum, announcing that the institution will
be closed from the 31st instant to the Bth of September,
after which the hours of admission till May next will be
from ten to four, instead of from ten to seven.
REAPERS.—During the last ten days great numbers
of reapers, from Donegal and the west of Ireland, have left
this port, chiefly by the Glasgow and Ardrossan steamers,
for the harvest in Scotland. The Londonderry and Isabella
Napier steamers, on Monday last, freighted each nearly
eleven hundred of them, and we understand that six hun-
dred more were waiting at Portrush to go by the same ves-
sels. In consequence of the numerous railroads in progress
aflbrding employment to able-bodied labourers, hands for the
harvest in the sister countries are in great request just now,
and good wages are paid. Those who passed through this
city showed, both by their general appearance and the im-
proved state of their clothing, that their condition has under-
gone of late considerable melioration, notwithstanding the
great failure of the potato crop of last season.—Londonderry
Journal. _

NEGRO CONDESCENSION.—A paper in Philadelphia,
edited by coloured men, says :—" If a white girl is sober,
careful, and industrious, she should be as much respected
and taken care of as a coloured lady.
HIGH TIDE.—On Friday about noon the river pre-
sented an unusual appearance in consequence of the tide,
which rose to a very great height, causing much damage to
property placed in all the log lying warehouses near the
water side.

BAND OF RO_I3BERS IN CANADA.
EXTRAORDIN ARY DLVELOPMENTS.
We learn from the Toronto Colortis4
',that some thieves
belonging to a notorious band of robbers. known as the
" Markham Gang," have been arrested, triea; eeel_ese.
victed ; and that their arrest is likely to lead to the in-
esrceration of others, and possibly to the breaking. up of
the gs,hg. The existence of this horde of robbers was
first discovered in the township which has given its
name to the combination, but it is ascertained that their
operations extend through the entire province, from the
townships of Lower Canada in the east to the State of
Michigan in the west, with branches in the States o
Vermont, New York, Illinois, and lowa. The Colonistf
says, that the long impunity which this association en-
joyed gradually magnified their power, by increasing
alike their numbers and their daring, until they became
a terror to the communities-in which they resided ; the
whole country was held hail state of intimidation. Some
of the magistrates, and constables, and jurors, were alike
afraid to do their duty ; and even their victims were de-
terred from taking proceedings against the robbers from
the fear that the greater evil of fire or murder would be
inflicted upon them. During' the examinations, many
facts, such as the following, were disclosed:--A country
magistrate refused to grant a warrant against B-- and
J (two of the most formidable of the gang), for
breaking into and stealing goods from a shop, on the
ground that he was afraid to do so ! A constable of
Markham. in whose hands a warrant was placed for the
apprehension of one of the gang (now in the peniten-
tiary), immediately sent private information to
the culprit that he had the warrant, and would not
execute for four or five days, evidently for the purpose
of giving the man ample time to escape ; the rogue,
however, more courageous than his rural official, refused
to run, and sent word to the constable that he had no
fear of being convicted. Ile was subsequently brought
before the neighbouring magistrates, the burglary was
proved, the prisoners's identity sworn to, and the magis-
trates discharged him on bail ; an accomplice in the bur-
glary* being one of his bail. The culprit was again ad-
vised to run, but again refused, declaring his belief that
the jury would not convict him, and even if they did, and
if he should be sent to the penitentiary, he would soon
" get out again on petition." Contrary to his expecta-
tions, however, the prisoner was convicted—is now in,
the penitentiary, and he has not yet " got out on peti-
tion." These, and other similar facts, sufficiently demoe-
strate the influenceofintimidation upon some of the officers
of justice in the country ; while it is well known that
several of the gang, who were convicted at the late As-
sizes, openly boasted that had the jury been from their
part of the country, they durst not have convicted
them. A singularity of this association is, that the
parties to it are all apparently in fair circumstances, and
in a condition of life which divests them of the plea of
necessity for their crimes. They are all persona (saving
phrenological developments) of good appearance, and as
well dressed as the generality of the better class of our
farming population. Some of them are owners of farms;
many of them are the sons of freeholders, strong, able-
bodied, well dressed young men ; some are tavern-
keepers; some are owners or lessees ofsaw mills; and all
of them are in a condition of life, to be able to earn an
honest livelihood. Some of them since their convic-
tion, have confessed that they have " never had a
day's good luck" since they joined the gang; that pre-
viously they were well off and well respected, but that
since their own rightful property has gone to wreck,
while that acquired by dishonest means was always
quickly dissipated; and that they are now, even in a
pecuniary point of view, in a much worse condition than
they would have been had they pursued an honest
career, while their characters and their liberties are
sacrificed for their crimes. From what we have learned
of the gang, we should be disposed to divide them into
two classes—the cavalry and the infantry. The former,
who are generally mounted on the best horses in the
country, figure only in the higher branches of roguery,
such as burglary, horse stealing, and in the wholesale
dissemination of " boodle." Boodle being the flash
term of the gang for counterfeit money. To the
infantry is deiegated the lower order of thievery.
Some of this infantry division are occasionally intrusted
with the retailing of boodle, which they pass off upon
the farmers, tavern keepers, &c., of the back townships.
This they manage with great dexterity and caution.
They never carry more than one bad note about them at
a time; having at the same time several good notes. If
the note, when offered, should be detected or suspected,
the fellow who offers it, with expressions of surprise,
regret, doubt, &c., immediately offers a good note, and
all is right. Or, if the parties should proceed so far as
to have the fellow searched, all the money about him is
good except this one note, and he is usually discharged.
But if the bad note, when offered, be taken without
suspicion, which it generally is (among the class
Of persona to whom such notes are usually offered),
the fellow gets -his change, supplies the place
of the note which he has just pissed with
another from the boodle bank, and repeats the
experiment somewhere else. There is one precautionary
measure of the gang which is never departed from—the
thieves never take the property which they steal home to
their own houses. Hence search warrants, which have
often been immediately issued against the premises of
the right persons, have always failed. If the stolen arti-
cles are bulky, and not easily removab:e to a distance,
they are always taken to a hiding place, previously
pared, generally in the wools, where they are kept
I " until the storm blows over." Articles of considerable
value, an easily removable, such as horses, watches,
bank notes, u lich it is feared may be identified, &c.,
are often taken to Lower Canada, to the townships
of Sheffurd and Dunham, where there is a wholesale
establishment fur issuing counterfeit money of all
sorts, and fur receiving stolen good, and where
the stolen articles are disposed of in exchange for
boodle, at the rate of 100 dolls. worth of boodle for ten
dollars worth of valuable property, or fir five dollars of
bankable paper. This boodle is brought back and dis-
piked of at an advance of one or two hundred per cent.
to the small fry of the gang, by whom it is put into cir-
culation about the country. Toe boodle, or counterfeit
paper, which is thus put into circulation, is of different
descriptions, but a large proportion of it purports to be
of the Bank of Kingston, Hudson River, " New York
Safety Fund," in small letters, being engraved thereon.
The "operation" of horse stealing is skilfully performed,
and is always done "in duplicate." The horses to he
stolen, and the places where they are to be found, being
previously well known, the two thieves start simul-
taneously in opposite directions in pursuit of their
prey ; one, perhaps, to the States, and one to
some distant part of this province. Each obtains
possession of his horse, and they meet each other
with all possible dispatch, at some intermediate point,
where they exchange the stolen horses, and each returns
to his own neighbourhood on an unknown horse. A
very curious circumstance of this kind was disclosed
during the recent examinations. Two of the gang (whom
we will designate as A. and J.) agreed to steal two
horses, which were previously known to them ; one in
the Newcastle district, and one in the western part of
the province. A. proceeded to the latter point, and J.
to the former. Each obtained his horse ; A, a fine
grey, and J. a fine black horse. They then proceeded
with all possible expedition, through the bac-it conces-
sions (these gentry never travel on the main road on
business of this kind), to a place of meeting near
Brantford, where they exchanged horses ; A. re-
turning towards the west on the black horse, and
J. returning on the grey to the very neighbourhood
where he had stolen the black horse. J. having dis-
posed of the grey horse, and having learned that A. had
sold the black horse to a farmer beyond Brantford,
proceeded to the spot, claimed the black horse as his
property, which he said had been stolen from him by
A., and threatened to take out a warrant against the
farmer. The poor farmer, somewhat frightened, offered
to give up the horse, if J. would " prove to it." J. ac-
cordingly made affidavit that the horse was his property,
and had been stolen from him by a person answering the
description of A., upon which the poor farmer gave tip
the horse to J., who rode it off to the westward, and sold
it again in Michigan. There is one plan of operation
adopted by this gang, which is somewhat more scienti-
fic than any to which we have yet alluded—that is, the
eml?yment of uriers.
tainp information. avant
Thescoe gentry consist of tailors, who
r a
who Fo befoz..e, to ob
stun per day, an
go about to farm-houses to
certain thaenidr trade,lodging
fo;
of
pedlars who visit to
theirw rhko aartd
farm-houses, under pretext of selling
small articles of finery to women and children ; and in
one instance, of a rascal who professes to have the gift
of prayer and "psalmody," which he dispenses liberally
in exchange for provender and lodging. These rascals
respectively avail themselves of the opportunities which
these visits afford them, to ascertain who has money,
where it is kept, and at what point of the premises an
entry may be most effectually made. There is but one
other matter concerning this gang which we propose to
advert to at this time ; and that is, their obligations to
each other. It does net appear that any oath is now
or ever has been administered in the association. But
on the first introduction of a novice to the leaders or
"old hands" of the gang, he is required to pledge him-
self that he will adhere to their rules, and never betray
their secrets, on pain of certain death. In the event of
any one of the gang being arrested, the other members
are bound to do all they can for him ; to procure him
bail, to give evidence for him at his trial, and to "prove
him clear" (as they term it) by swearing to an alibi.
These are the only obligations which we have heard of,
and these are generally understood and adhered to among
the " Markham Gang."

* This fact was not known by the magistrates at the
time, but it was known by them that this man was one o f
the gang.

SINGULAR CASE UNDER THE SMALL DEBTS ACT.—
On Friday, at the rising of the Palace Court, an application
was made to discharge a person named Samuel Shaw, who
had been some days in Horsemonger-lane Gaol as Sylvester
Shaw. It appeared that the prisoner had been summoned
as defendant in an action, " Ridsdale v. Shaw," under the
Small Debts Act, which summons he did not attend, and on
Tuesday last he was taken into custody and commitnedlito
Horsemonger-lane Gaol, where he had since remained. Affi-
davits were read, showing that the person in custody was the
father of the debtor, and he had stated that he was not the
person against whom the action had been brought. A ques-
tion arose whether an application should not have been made
to a Judge at Chambers, but it was urged by Mr. Locke that,
as he was committed for contempt of the Court, he could be
discharged. The Court eventually ordered the party to be
discharged from prison.
FATAL ACCIDENT AT A Cl LLIERY.— On Tuesday last
an inquest was held at the Turk's Head public-house, Gravel
Hole, Thornham, by the coroner for the Rochdale district,
respecting the death of a youth of seven:nen years of age, of
the name of Pickey. On Saturday last vthil t the boy was
at work in the colliery at Hanging Chadder, Thornham,
belonging to Messrs. Holt and Co., a large quantity of earth
accidentally fell upon him, and he was immediately killed.
The earth fell-Lion the roof of the mine, and yet it was stated
that precautions had been taken to prevent such accidents.
The deceased was an orphan boy, and a story is current m
the neighbourhood that when a child he waspnrchase4
by
his adopted father, a miner, for one shilling ! The jury_
returned a verdict of "Accidental death."-.-Manqhester
Examiner.