The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-11 00:00:00

N ANAL INTELLIGENCE.

CHATHAM-, APRIL 10.—The Raleigh, 50 gulls, Cap-
tain Sir Thomas Herbert, K.C.8., has this week received
on board nearly all her sea stores; she will be put ow.
of dock on Monday next; she will then drop down to
Folly Point, off Gillh gham, to take in her guns, powder
and shot, and to be completed in her painting previously
to her proceeding to sea. Twenty-seven seamen riggers
have been drafted from this dock-yard for her.
The Southampton, 50 guns, will be taken into dock on
Monday, vacated by the Raleigh, to make good defects
and to be fitted for sea.

The Cockatrice schooner, fitted for a victualling ves-
sel for the coast of Ireland, is completed. She is taking,
in part of the frame of the Nankin, 50 guns, ordered to
be built at Woolwich, after discharging her cargo.
She will be given to the victualling establishment at
Deptford.
The Cressy, 80 guns. Shipwrights have commenced
laying the blocks to receive the keel of this vessel, or-
dered to be built on the Ist slip, from plans proposed b)
Messrs. Cruise, Reed, and Chatfield, the late committee
of naval architecture:

The following workmen have been superanuated thi
week from this yard, viz., W. Finnis, leading man
shipwrights, at 34/. per annum; Robert Hall, shipwright,
20/. per annum; John Mirton, caulker, 241.; John
Bower, 22/.1 Charles Friday, 20/ ; and Thomas Bever-
stok, ropemaker, at 241. per annum.

LICENCING MEETING.—To-day a special session was
held at Guildhall for the transferring licences to inns, ale-
houses, &c., and it was also the first transfer of billiard and
bagatelle licences under the new Act of Parliament. No
applications were made in either case, but on the Court sitting
to hear appeals, an application was made by Mr. G. E.
Healey, for a licence to a house in Old Change, which had
been refused on the adjourned licencing meeting. It was
now shown that the refusal had been founded on the state-
ment of the applicant, that he had taken a lease of the house
condiconally on obtaining a licence. It appeared that he
had mistaken the question, and now produced the deed.
The house had been shut up for two years by the former pro-
prietor, and the applicant had laid out a large sum of money.
The licence was granted. _

ALARMING STEAM-BOAT ACClDENT.—Yesterday the
Laurel, a Richmond steamer, while proceeding on her first
passage for the season, with upwards of 150 passengers on
board, ran foul of Battersea-bridge, in attempting to pass
through one of the arches. Considerable damage was done
to the vessel, and her stern and one of her paddle-boxes
much shattered. Several passengers were thrown down and
injured, and the consternation among the crowd on board
was dreadful. The steamer put back, in a crippled state, to
the Yorkshire Grey, at Chelsea, where the passengers were
landed, and subsequently proceeded in another steamer to
Richmond. The old bridge at Battersea is a very danger
•
ous one at all times for steamers to pass under, and numerous
accidents have occurred there. It has been frequently com-
plained of by the civic authorities, coroners' jades, and by
the lightermen and bargemen, and ought to be demolished,
and a new bridge erected.
ST. JOHN'S GATE.—The owners of this ancient struc-
ture have relinquished the idea of compoing the gate, and have
determined to re-case it with stone where defective. The
ornamental portions, such as embattlements, labels, &c., are
to be restored by the public, under the direction of the com-
mittee and Mr. W. P. Griffith, architect.
A HINT TO PAROCHIAL AUTHORITIES, &C., CON-
CERNING GAS.—The reduction lately made in the price of
gas from 9s. to 75., is a mere farce, as the daily complaints
of numerous respectable tradesmen that their gas expenses
per annum (with the same number of lights) are heavier
than before sufficiently attest. The reason is obvious, for
supposing the companies now obtain 10,000 cubic feet from a
chaldron of coals, and after a time they were to think it pru-
dent to reduce to 55., they have only to give the coal an
extra baking and produce 14t,0rula0bOourele6rie0 reduction.cubicfe B
feet, and
t
they at once more than counterbalance
is the consumer benefitted by this? By
willn
the
to
pro-
portion as the quality becomes deteriorated,
suet
in the same degree
burners require a larger quantityno means,
11
as'oaa,
of light, and to this cause may be attributed the great heat,
and deleterious effects experienced where gas is used. These
facts have been proved by engineers and chemists before com-
mittees of both Houses of Parliament,
and cannot be con-
troverted,only matter of surprise is, that the con-
sumers the
London have so long suffered such a
of
dis-
graceful
systemgaanad in
exist, as the remedy is with themselves,
and they ought by this time to be full aware that the com-
panies7i'll do nothing except by compulsion. Why not take the
b
matter into their own hands, and form district gas consumers'
companies. or (what perhaps would be preferable), let the
parishes take up the business and manufacture their own gas,
as in Manchester, where from the profits of the gas establish-
ment, the watching, lighting, paving, and other rates are
paid, and this too when the price of gas was only ss. per
1,000 cubic feet, and it was from the same source that the
funds were provided necessary for building their splendid
town hall.— Con espondent vethe Builder.
ACCIDENT AT A SHOOTING MATCH,--Yesterday fore-
noon an accident, attended with very distressing circum-
stances, took place at the shooting ground adjoining the
Dartmouth Arms Tavern, Sydenliam. It appears that a gen-
tleman named James Andrews, aged 28 years, residing in the
Southwark Bridge-road, and several others, assembled at the
above tavern, for the purpose of shooting a match at pigeons.
The gentleman above named was in the act of taking his aim
at a bird, when the gun burst, shattering his left arat in a
fearful manner, and severely injuring several persons who
were standing near. He was promptly removed to a sur-
geon's, where the injuries were found to be so extensive, that
it was deemed necessary to convey him to Guy's Hospital,
where he was put under the care of the house-surgeon. From
the serious nature of the injuries he has sustained, it is feared
that amputation of the limb will be necessary.
DEVONSHIRE CREAM.—This far-famed luxury, the
choicest production of the dairy, is now to be had in Liver-
pool, and from its being conveyed from Exeter, a distance
of 300 miles, in nine hely% arrives there in a high, state of
perfection.

N;
CorATo ROT.—We have been told by some
practical farmers that. the potato rot is still fearfully pro-
gresiing. The hi used potatoes, that seemed perfectly sound
a little time since, are now quite black and unfit for use.
Much inqury is making for good seed potatoes.-- Waterford
Chronicle.

COMPRESSED AIR LOCOMOTIVE
(From the Manchester Courier.)
A competitor for the supremacy which steam has so
long and justly held in this country, as the means of
expeditious travelling, and for most manufacturing pur-
poses, was, daring last week, introduced to the notice
of the Manchester public, among whom, it is scarcely
needful to add, are many men fully competent to inves-
tigate and give judgment upon the merits of the new
candidate for popular favour and support. The con-
ception of condensed air as a motive power recommends
itself at once to the judgment of the merest tyzo in
science ;. but though the conception has always been so
palpably correct, a practical development of it has
never until the present time been produced which was
competent to the end the theorist hoped to attain. A
Mr. Arthur Parsey, whose name, though but littleknown
w fame as yet perhaps, must soon, if his adaptation of
the pneumatic principle be found efficient, take rank
with that of Watt, and others of our giants in science,
has produced a machine in which the diffieulty of ap-
plying the power economically and with regularity has
been overcome, and that in the most simple manner.
Mr. Parsey has patented his engine, and a company is
formed for the purpose of obtaining from him the benefit
of the patent right of his invention in Great Britain
and its colonies by means of licenses for its use.
Under the auspices of this company a working model
was sent down to Blanchester, and exhibited in the El-
change ante-room, Mr. Parsey and his son attending W
give all necessary information respecting it. We saw
the model, and were much pleased with it and its
in-
venter, who displayed an anxiety to give the fullest
details respecting the working, without thrusting the
interest of the company, with which of course hie own is
bound up, upon the notice of his visitors.
When we entered the room the engine was traversing
a miniature railroad with great and noiseless speed. The
simple carriage does not differ from that of the common
locomotive in form, so that the engine can work on any
established line; unlike the atmospheric mode of pro-
pulsion, which requires an expensive line of tube in ad-
dition to the ordinary rails. At each end of this carriage
an egg-shaped receiver, for holding the condensed air
power, is placed. From these reservoirs the air is con-
ducted into a large cylinder, called a receiver, and from
it into two smaller cylinders, where it works two pistons, ,
which act by means of cranks upon the driving wheels in
the ordinary manner. The regulating of the power is
effected by a simple expedient: a piston is let into the
large receiver, and supported upon it is a spiral spring'
which is connected with a nicely-regulated valve in the
pipe, which admits the air into the receiver. This spring
is adjusted to the admission of a certain power, and Ito
sooner does the air in the receiver exceed that power
than the spring closes the valve, and, of course, shuts uP
or diminishes the passage for air, returning to its original
place as the power is expanded.
After the examination of the machine comes the ques-
tion, in what particular is it superior to the steam loco-
motive ? The great expenses of steam-engines may be
comprised under the general heads—cost of constrno"
tion, cost of maintenance in proper working order,
and the production of propelling power. On all these
Mr. Parsey claims a great superiority. The engines
can be built at a decreased cost, say one-fourth of the
whole. The wear and tear will not be anything ill
comparison with that of a steam-engine. Oise great
destroying agent in the steam engine is the heat neces-
sary to generate the power, and the heat of that power
when generated ; in the air-engine there is no action'
beyond that upon the pistons of a body nearly of the
same temperature as the atmosphere, while the Oa"
chinery is certainly not more complex than in the coin:,
mon locomotive. The stoker and his coke and fire You'
be dispensed with altogether, and with him will dis-
appear all the annoyances of heat, smoke, dirty tender+
black chimney, specks of coke, and the hundred little
things which teach railway travellers how to make 0
virtue of necessity. The condensation of air will be
carried on at stations on the line, certainly not mor°,,
numerous than at present required for coke and
water. Eight pounds of coal in a stationary en"
gine, at 9s. a ton, will produce it is asserted, the sato°
amount of power as 601bs. of! coke, at 20s. a ton, in e
steam locomotive. The air, when condensed, can Du
kept ready "bottled for use," and " warranted not W
deteriorate in quality by age." Then as to the facility
for moving upon a line. Tte engine will be lighter than
the locomotive by a ton or two perhaps, the advantage
gained by the removal of boilers, fire- boxes, chimneys'
&c., being lost in the weight of metal for the receiverail
the tender also will be absent. But as the engine rill'
require to be made up to the same weight as the 100:
motive in order that the wheels may bite on the rails, it
is proposed to carry the requisite weight in goods, or ""
reserve bottles of air, over the receivers. thus renderiei
that weight pecuniarily valuable. A train can be started
with greater facility. Fora locomotive to get up uesta.,
requires a long time; an air engine can be eburged
ready for starting in a few minutes i • when the stemn_l
up in the locomotive it must be blown off and waste'
if the train be not ready for starting—in the air-engine
the communication has only to be shut off from d
reservoirs, and the power remains ready in undininishel
volume, for use when wanted. The risk of explosions
of boilers is avoided, for the reservoirs only Or
taming air of a low temperature are not exposed to
the expansive power which weakens steam generator°
after they attain a certain temperature. This is above
,by the circumstance, that the small portable gas
ceivers in which Mr. Parsey keeps the air for the suPPet
of his model engine have been subjected to the
of ],2oolbs. to the square inch, and are capable of 0..,"1
taming a pressure of 2,000, while with steam they w°'''
not sustain more than 400. Besides this, the power is
gradually and equally diminishing with each stroke of
.he pistons. The rate of travelling, it is said will be
equal to anything yet attained by steam, and With, t
great a load. Thirty miles an hour is fixed, with -
common load. The facilities for stopping, at road St'
bons are as great as with the locomotive. These sty
some of the advantages claimed for Mr. Parsey's inve
,ion, when used on a railway, over the steam-04'1';
Of course the stationary engine participates in all the
advantages, so far as peculiar to that class of engine this addition,: that where water or wind power Cr,r,
be applied for the condensation of air, there will be 111^
entire saving of fuel for steam.
tS
Withoutgiving an opinion upon the comparative mere
of the two methods of propulsion, we can only say 1114
there is in this new engine something really deserving;
the candid inquiry of all who are interested in the 11:',";;;
gress of the arts and sciences, and the well-being of I"-
1 country generally.
•

THE BASHFUL JUROR.
A SCENE IN THE BEVIIRLEY COURT- ttous....;A
2,
laughable scene occurred in the Sessions Court,
ist
verley, on Wednesday last. A man had been charb-ed
with stealing an axe, and, the chairman having surno3
up, the jury "laid their wise heads together," 6.tir
from the earnest and energetic manner in which the
consultations were continued, it seemed quite evident oil,'
there was some knotty point in the case, which you d
not very speedily be settled. The foreman appeart,i.
particularly resolute and vehement. After some all—
derable time had elapsed,
The Chairman said,—Gentlemen, if you have IA
doubts in your mind respecting the verdict you slo
give, the better course would be for you to retire t 0,,,
room, where you can confer together more convenienw
than in open Court.
Here the jury, after a moment's conference, sat do
Clerk of the Peace—Have you considered your 40
diet, gentlemen ? Do you find the prisoner, 0°
Garton, guilty or not guilty ?
No reply was made to this question, for the forenl,
despite the angry glances of his eleven brethren, rn •
lutely buried his face in his hands, and maintaineu
dogged silence.
en'
The Chairman—Have you come to a decision, g j,
tlemen? A juror—Ees, zur: we be all o't same 001 0
The Chairman—Then why does not your forelnh.
return the verdict? Is he ill? Juror—Naay, zur; "-
be nean ill—nobbut stunt loike.—(Laughter.) .
The Chairman-=lf you have come to a verdict, P
let us have it.
Here the nearest neighbours of the obstinate forel
vigorously shook him, saying, " Speyk up, man, 131*/

up!" aracclse lou h
d laugter of the'Couit.
Ise fli I'
tt
Foreman—t thNeay, neay, lads, it's o'na use; oe
goin' to say a word about it to all them gentlefolks. -
no orator.—(Loud laughter.)
The Chairman—What is your verdict? A jar
Not guilty, Sir.,
The Chairman—The verdict must be delivered
your foreman.
Foreman,(with a desperate effort)—Weel, if I Wl°,
say it, we're all o' one moind mat he isn't guilty— Jr,.
you've getten it.—(Renewed laughter, amid which L'
clerk recorded the verdict, and the prisoner was
charged.)—Hull Packet.

ON THE EMPLOIMENT OF 11`;,:$
MONIACO-MAGNESIAN PHOSPHATE-
prnpaeganre
tsoi a n
be phose p
mosthat cnoenc
et as is sr
it
forh ekeMANURE. BY M. BOUSSINGA.ULT.
mwohniciahcoa-
meAntms
development of plants ; it also possesses one of the P of •
parties viz., a very belonging to gypsum, slight degree
solubility. .
y of
On the Ist of May last the author put a quana,;to%
arable earth into stone vessels, capable of conta%tip
about nine square feet. These vessels were divided :to,:
two series ; sixteen grammes of ammoniaco-mage% or
phosphates were added to the earth contained in rot
the first series, and in all the vessels a quantity of °ries.
or Indian corn, which had already germinated',
opo
planted. All the vessels were placed out in the t)
air, and watered with an equal quantity of water whe
requisite.
hae
During the first fifteen days after raising 5-- rocs
ground, all the plants presented the same &Pg.!, opal •
and vigour ; it was only after the twenty-fifth akTeptil
a difference was perceived, and which was subsecill
continued.
crieg'
On the 25th of July the sprouts of the first striics'i
which had been treated with the phosphate, were, roes
as high and three times as quick as those which bat'
from the unprepared earth.
On the 25th of August these proportions were . $ll-
ent ; the blade of the first being half as long agel-„ ' .
twice as thick, as the second. '
hose
All the blades were in ear at the same time ; `swee
which had been treated with the double salt her!, ,volt t/
ears, two perfect and one imperfect ; and the othTf the
one perfect and one imperfect ear. The grain pro,
first weighed more than that of the second, in .i.e,
portion of two and a quarter to one.
's° er•
CURIOUS DISCOVERY.—On Wednesday, wbiln '
men were engaged in removing a hedge ?tithe' 'r copper'
two c
WI eeler's-street, Birmingham, they diAcovered auto: •
plates, evidently constructed for forging 11. and 2L die
the Bank of England, of date 1814. There apPO_''...eed no 7‘.
been a quantity of what are believed to be etigth'ro
placed between the plates ; but owing to the
_Aticed
time they have been concealed, they were almos? re7u3l4
England.... The plates have been forwarded t. the
31,

-LITERATURE:- -

PEN AND INK SKETCHES OF POETS,
PREACHERS, AM) POLITICIANS, Bvo.
" A book which you can take up and lay down when
YOU please," formed Dr. Johnson's beau-ideal of a read-
able volume. If it gossipped about public persons,—if
it drew pen.por traits of those whose names are in every
one's mouth,—if it made them pass before us as they
lived or live, such a work, it is clear, must"possess the
elements of popularity.
In these " Pen and Ink Sketches" there is no pretence.
The author's style is the reverse of ambitious. He has
known a groat many distinguished persons, he has seen
many more, and he tells us what he knows and what he
observed just as we would expect a clever, chatty friend
to speak to us by a bright Christmas fire, upon topics
about which he fancied we might feel interested. The
result is a collection of clever portraits of public persons,
with a dash of biography, a leavening of criticism, and a
good savouring of anecdote. An amusing, instructive,
well-written work is this before us.
The living and the dead are cared for in this volume.
Robert Hall and Robert Montgomery ; Hannah More,
Felicia Hemans, and Joanna Baillie ; Southey, Words-
worth, and Coleridge ; John Foster and Sir James Mac-
intosh; Abernethy and Faraday; Broughitm, Wetherell,
and Lyndhurst ; Shelley, Hazlitt, and Charles Lamb ;
the two Montgomeries ; O'Connell, Sheil, and Fergus
O'Connor; Father Mathew and Count D'Orsay ; Row-
land Hill, Irving, Baptist Noel, and John Williams ;
•Mrs. Fry and the " Corn-law Rhymer ;" Disraeli,
Macaulay, and Bulwer ; Hunt and Cobbett ; Peel and
" the Dake;" Crabbe, Legh Richmond, and Professor
Keble ; Lady Blessington and Thomas Miller ; Buck-
]and, !Ullman, and Dr. Posey : of these and more have
we here graphic and lively sketches.
The following is interesting:—
" In the month of July, 1824, the body of Lord Byron
was brought from Missolonghi to England, and on being
landed from the Florida, was removed to the house of
Sir Edward Knatchbull, who then resided in Great
George-street, Westminster. Having availed myself of
peculiar facilities, I saw, on one occasion, the corpse of
the poet—the lid of the coffin being for some necessary
purpose removed.
" It was at night that the work of opening the shell
commenced. This was soon effected, and when the last
covering was removed, we beheld the face of the illus-
trious dead,
" ' All cold and all serene,'
" Were I to lire a thousand years, I should never'
now forget that moment. For years I had been in-
timate with the mind of Byron. His wondrous works
bad thrown a charm around my daily paths, and with
all the enthusiasm of youth I had almost adored his
genius. With his features, through the medium of
paintings, I had been familiar from my boyhood ; and
now, far more beautiful, even in death, than my most
vivid fancy had ever pictured, there they lay in marble
repose.
" The body' was not attired in that most awful of habi-
liments—a shroud. It was wrapped in a blue cloth cloak,
and the throat aisd head were uncovered. The former
was beautifully moulded. The head of the poet was
covered with short, crisp, curling locks, slightly streaked
with grey hairs, especially over the temples, which were
ample and free from hair, as we see in the portraits.
The face had nothing of the appearance of death about
was neither sunken nor discoloured in the least,
but of a (Lead, marble whiteness—the expression was
that of stern ,quietude. How classically beautiful was
the curved upper lip and the chin. I fancied the nose
appeared as if it was not in harmony with the other fea-
tures; but it miet possibly have been a little disfigured
by the process of einibalming. The forehead was high
andbroad—indeed, tbe whole head was extremely large
--it must have been so, to have contained a brain of such
capacity.
" But what struck me most was the exceeding beauty
'of the profile, as I observed it when the head was lifted,
for the purpose of adjusting the furniture. It was per-
fect in its way, and seemed like a production of Phidias.
-Indeed, it far more resembled an exquisite piece of
!sculptor than the face of the dead—so still, so sharply
do fined, and so marble-like in its repose. I caught the
vie w of it but for a moment ; yet it was long enough to
have it stamped upon my memory as
" A thing of beauty,'
Whiei poor Keats tells us is a joy for ever.' It is in-
deed a% melancholy joy to me to have gazed upon the
silent poet. As Washington Irving says of the old sex-
ton, w s
tand beheld
cret into the vault where Shakspeare was en- ,
to ed, Land beheld there the dust of ages, 'lt was some-
thing wit et to have seen the dust of Byron.'
" Amon,"o4 the persons engaged in the performance of
the office of I emoval, I noticed one—a tall, thin plan,
who spoke and seemed absorbed in grief. He
would scarcely &low any one to touch the corpse—and,
with his own ha:sels, he composed the bead in its new
resting-place. 'fbe words, My dear Lord were fre-
quently uttered whilst performing his melan-
choly duties. It a 'as Fletcher—Byron's faithful valet.
This man afterwards told me the particulars of the noble
Poet's death, and gave we a lock of his hair. Fletcher
did not long survive his beloved master."
As a counter-descriptit 111- we may give a brief sketch
of Southey.
"The personal appearanc, sof Robert Southey was very
striking. He was, as I have intimated, tall and slightly
built. His forehead, rather rsseeding, and not, phreno-
logically speaking, indicative o.rgreat acquirements, was
anrniounted and partially shaded by an abundance of
white, silvery hair, combed upwards', and forming a very
striking contrast with his jet black, .magnificently arched
eyebrows, beneath which glowed [tha t is the best word
to express what I mean] two of the n;ost brilliant dark
eyes I ever beheld. Their beauty did not consist so
much in their brilliancy, as in their deep, contemplative
sexpressien. His nose was remarkably aquil>ne, so much
so, that it approached to the beak formatiots- But it
'loss in the mouth, which, after all, is the most expres-
sions feature of the human face, that the peculiar charm
of S'outhey's looks lay—the upper lip was finely curved,
and sdightly projected over the lower—but it is in vain
to attempt a description of it. Nearly every painter
has faiied to transfer it to canvas—indeed, I have never
seen s, good likeness of the Laureate, for it was no
easy mattier to catch the ever-flitting lights and shadows
which, with every changing emotion, passed over his
countena nee."
• • • •
" Southey's favourite attitude was that 'of lying back
-in his chair, his elbows resting on the errns, and the tips
of his forefingers placed on the inner portion of his eye-
brows, over the surface of which they continually tra-
!Flied, his eyes being closed excepting when he spoke.
The conversation, at one time, turned on Byron—a tick-
lish subject for both Cottle and Southey. The latter
said, symewhat egotistically, I thought—but that was
Southey 's weak point—' No man cars honour Byron's
denius m ore than myself ; but I fancy I prevented him
oing as touch harm as he might have done.' "
So little is really known of Mrs. Hemans, that the
chapter which treats of her will be perused, no doubt,
with avidity by every blue-stocking in the land. She
mast have been a charming person. Ras
e I cannot well c onceive a-more exquisitely beautifult
creature than Mrs. Hemans was—none of the
or busts I have ever seen of her do her justice,P;t:resriais la,
Possible for words to convey to the reader any idea of
the matchless, yet sevens, beauty of her expression. Her
glossy waving hair wt‘s
parted on her forehead, and ter-
minated on the sides, in' rich and luxuriant auburn curls:
there wets a dove-like look in her eyes, and yet there
was a chastened sadness in their expression. Her com-
plexion was remarkably clear, and her high forehead
looked as pure and spotless as Parian marble. A
charac-
calm
repose, not =mingled with melancholy, was the
teristic expression of the face; but when she smiled, all
traces of sorrov,v were lost, and she seemed to be but a
little lower than the angels'—fitting shrine for so pure a
mind ! Let me not be deemed a flatterer or an enthu-
siast, in thus describing her, for I am only one of many,
who have been almost as •much captivated by her per-
sonal beauty, as charmed • by the sweetness and holiness
of her productions. If ever poems were the reflex of the
beauties, personal anti mental, of their writers, they were
indeed so in the case (f Mrs. Hemans.
"We talked of L. E. L. Mrs. Hemans said she had
received several letters from her, containing pressing
invitations to visit London. A place I never was in,
and never with to be,' she observed. My heart beats
too loudly, even in this quiet place, and there I think it
Would burst. The great Babel was not made for such
as
• • •

•
g. Come--I will show you my poeticminetin which'shesa weid—
and she led. the way to a room over the on
were sitting. It was a very small
"
place, but neat almost
to a fault. There nngs was no author-litte . Everything
was in order. An open letter lay on the table. She
pointed to it, and sa id, laughingly :
" An application for my autograph, and the postage
unpaid. You cannot imagine how I am annoyed with
albums anaeuch matters- A person, who ought to have
known better, sent me an album, lately, and begged a
piece from me; if it' was oily long enough to fill up a
page of sky-blue tinted, paper, which he had selected for
me to write upon.
"In incidentally referring to her compositions, she
said : They often remain chiming in my mind for days,
before I commit them to paper. .And sometimes I quite
forget many, which I compose as I lie awake in bed.
Composition is less a labour with me than the act of
writing down what has impressed me, excepting in the
case of blank verse, which always involeee something
like labour. My thoughts have been sc u,eri to go in
the harness of rhyme, that when they are suffered to
run without it, they are often diffused, or I lose sight,
in the ardour of composition, of the leading idea a:.!0"
gether.'

Heman's voice was peculiarly musical, and I
would have given anything to have heard her recite
some of her own poetry; but I did not dare to hazard
such s request, and feeling that I had intruded quite
long enough ort her time, I after a short tinse took my
departure.
" I must not omit to mention, for the especial benefit
of soy fair readers, that Mrs. Iletnans' dress was simple
"I°l3o. She wore a white gown (I really am not learned
"(nigh in such matters to say whether it was of cotton
or mnslin), over which was thrown a black lace shawl—
on her head was a cap of very open net-work, without
flowers or ornament of any kind."
We have quoted auffitient to show that there is plea-
sant reading in this work:—it will gratify curio,,ity
%bunt
e4ninent people, and its own literary merit ought
t:" 1 1:1114ke it l
mitve far beyond the season. As we are " no-
'44 ut aj," we may remark that Mrs. Fry has

.en dead for some months,---here she is spoken of as

yet living.

A portrait of Coleridge, from a sketch in oil, by
Wa*shington Allston, the Amrrican, embellishes this
work. It has never before been engraved, and is, be-
yond all doubt, the best likeness we have yet seen of the
author of " Genevieve" and " Christabelle."

ATLANTIC COMMUNICATION.
MR. M‘G EACHY'S (OF JAMAICA) PLAN FOR A
MORE RAPID COMMUNICATION BETWEEN
GREAT BRITAIN AND AMERICA, THE WEST
INDIES, AND FOR EXTENDING IT VIA
PANAMA TO CHINA AND THE EAST.
.(Froni the Jamaica Dispatch, March 11.)
A project of a most comprehensive nature, gigantic
as well in its details as in the vast benefits to commerce
and civilization which it embraces, has been conceived
and planned by Edward M.‘Geachy, Esq.., Crown Sur-
veyor in this island ; and it is with no little pride that
we are enabled, from this distant, but not unimportant,.
section of the British Empire, to submit to the notice of
the British people the details of a scheme, which appears
to be as feasible as it is fraught with importance to the
commercial interests of the empire.
The importance of rapid communication between
Britain and her distant dependencies has been already
acknowledged in the strides which she has made towards
this grand desideratum in the overland route to India,
and her steam navigation to America, and the Western
Archipelago ; but still the wonders of steam are but as
,yet in their infancy.
The present arrangements, which are carried out by
the Royal Mail Steam Company, and the Halifax
steamers, have brought the West Indies and the United
States within a reasonable distance, and an easy commu-
nication has been established between Great Britain and
Mexico, and the various settlements along the northern
coast of the South American continent.

The object of M'Geachy's plan is to unite, on a more
comprehensive system, the western world with Europe
by means of railways and steam navigation in a manner
that will greatly abridge the time now occupied in tra-
velling between the old and new world, whilst it will open
a communication between Egypt and distant countries at
present only approachable by circuitous routes and the
ordinary system of navigation. Mr. M'Geachy's plan hat
also this advantage, that the means of putting it into
effective operation already exist in a very considerable
degree, and the capital necessary to be raised for the
purpose of completing its details will therefore be pro-
portionably far less than at first sight its stupendous
objects would seem to demand.
In Mr. M'Geachy's plan the island of Jamaica and its
railroads, and Captain Liot's project for crossing the
Isthmus of Panama stand prominently forward, and the
magnificent vessels of the Steam Navigation Company
will be eminently useful in carrying out the project,
should it, as we have little doubt it will, be eventually
adopted. Mr. M'Geachy proposes to vary the present
route between Jamaica and Great Britain by a diver-
sion through the United States and Halifax, so never-
theless as to reduce the period of communication to a
maximum speed of 14 days. He proposes, if we rightly
comprehend his plans, to make Montego Bay the sta-
tion for the steamers which are to be the medium of
communication between the island and Great Britain.
The mails, and passengers of course, would be trans-
mitted by the railway now in course of projection, from
Kingston to Montego Bay, and a steamer, would bear
them thence to Batabano in the island of Cuba, from
which a communication by railway is already esta-
blished to Havannah. Another line of steamers stationed
at the latter port, would take up the line of communica-
tion to Tampa Bay, in the State of i'lorida, and
railways between that place and Charleston, New York
and Boston, to St. John's, New Brunswick, would be
met by steamers at the latter place, which, plying be-
tween that port and the western coast of Nova Scotia,
would convey the mails and passengers to the terminus
of a railway concluding at Halifax, from whence they
would be embarked for Bantry Bay, in Ireland, which
Mr. M`Greachy proposes as the British packet station.
Mr. M'Geachy estimates the time expended in this
route at 14 days 5 hours between Kingston (Jamaica)
and Ireland; thus:— _ _ .

From Kingston to the west end of Jamaica,
say Montego Bay, by the projected railway 5 hrs.
To Batabano by steamer
Batabano to Havannah, by railway 2 do.
Havannah to Tampa Bay 44 do.
Tampa Bay to New York, by railway 3O do.

Jamaica to New York
New York to Halifax

125 do.
24 do.

Jamaica to Halifax

149 do.

Or 6 days 5 hrs.
Halifax to Bantry Bay, or Valentia 8 days

Jamaica to Ireland

The selection of Tampa Bay, as the place of arrival of
the steamers, appears to be particularly advantageous
for a company projected to carry out Mr. M'Geachy's
plan. The very great importance of the cities of New
Orleans and Mobile, as seats of commerce profitable as
well to the United States as to European nations, is
too well known to require observation from us. At
present the means of communication between these cities
and the principal commercial towns on the eastern coast
of America are extremely defective ; indeed, a sea
voyage between New York and New Orleans is at pre-
sent an undertaking equal to a passage across the At-
lantic. Tampa Bay would be comparatively but a few
hours steaming from the mouth of the Mississipi, and
the projected railroad would take the New Orleans mer
chant to New York in thirty hours.
But Mr. M'Geachy's project is not confined to the
western world. Ile proposes to establish another station
at Kingston, from whence the present communication
with Vera Cruz and Mexico, Honduras and the ports on
the Spanish Main, shall be continued, with the addition
of a direct line to Chagres, whence, by means of the pro-
jected railway or other passage across the Isthmus, upon
the plan of Captain Liot, an immediate line of commu-
nication will be established with the city and port of
Panama in the Pacific. And here begins another branch
of Mr. M'Geachy's project, which seems to render it
peculiarly deserving of the attention of the British
nation. A direct and rapid communication being
established with a large and safe harbour in the Pacific.
on the high way to China, what remains but to establish
a connexion by steam between that most important part
of the great continent of Asia, through Jamaica and
Panama ? Mr. M'Geachy estimates the passage of
large steamers between Panama and Canton at six
weeks, which, taking the passage from England by
the proposed route through Jamaica to Panama as
eighteen days, will open a direct communication to
China in little more than two months. If the voyage
between Panama and Canton be deemed too long for a
steamer, in consequence of her inability to carry coals
for so long a voyage, there appears no reason why coal
depots might not be established in the Sandwich Islands,
which would be almost directly in the route.
Mr. M'Geaßity also contemplates, and has designed a
plan for embracing at some future period, in the general
scheme which he has laid down, the Brazilian empire
and countries adjacent, by. means of a railroad running
parallel with the coast, and with the aid of steamers
running between a point in the eastern extremity of
Brazil and the coast of Africa, to be again taken up by
rail ways.
The project, we have reason to believe, will, together
with some beautiful maps displaying the lines contem-
plated, be transmitted by the present mail to Sir Robert
Peel, ha;•ing been previously submitted to Lord Elgin,
and to the lat'e.ds of departments in the United States, as
well as in Canada and the other Br:tish provinces in
America, by all of' worn it had been highly approved of.

THE LATE .t..\T
(From the Net.'" - commenced one of the
most terrific ar.d protracted te.
About the middle of Jan sry
ANTIC GALE.
us nests that ever swept
the Atlantic—continuing with verily'
- LYork Tribune.)
yq eu in-
termissiontenecoemspoafr
atforhtii
comparatively
iyesrafs4etwsr
0, dubasuyatsn. aounts of
the conse-
tdh
they
youparar a cer.al:l;telie:t :1 afroihririons
eitherored ua es
'led weather
d ce the
belief that a great number of vessels have '
total or partial shipwreck. Our fleet ,of cl"r:;heir
packets, which have been for a month b
usual time, beating and staggering about tht , ocean, now
beyond
enveloped with ice, are looking like huge ge ens in pro-
cess of chrystalization, and anon reeling off t.krough 10
or 20 degrees of latitude to the south, for the purpose
of getting thawed out. Icebergs. snow-stowe a, and
fierce hurricanes have beset these vessels on every
side, and the sea every now and then swept over
their decks, dashed in their bulwarks, carried away theirt
carried away daily and n ig, fitly,
boats, and lettltshewecrreewhey)less and freezing. M.
.a 4, 4,
rigging, and sat
s,
psssenfogreras,
dhraevaerybepte7;
'od,
ex-
posed to indescribable
B 'ut
lated without shrinking. _
which connot be contemplated and the sailors, Office
these haanrddsphai
have yet been heard fr. 011.1,
crews have, so far as they
reputation which their success Yu!
fully maintained the ,
s have heretofore won for
excellent vessels, with their gallant captains at Id
winds and waves eontests with

them.
On Saturday, four of these admirable vessels, wh: 'eh
have been long expected—the Rosciu4, Sea, Europe, a rid
Hendrik Hudson, arrived in port, gladdening many an
anxious heart and brightening many an eye disc wi th
watching. Below we publish the accounts of the pa s-
rages of those vessels, which will be perused witti
great interest. Such descriptions are like deep sea lines,
which reach the bottom of human sympathy.
The ship Roscius, Captain A. Eldridge, sailed from
Liverpool on the 13th January, experiencing continued
gales from N.W. and W.S.W. with rain, snow, and hat' I
interspersed with thunder and lightning. January 2 6
and 27, experienced a heavy gale from the N.W. anti
W.N.W., during which we shipped a heavy si-a, stove
bulwarks in the waist, and filled the decks with water.
February 11th, in lat. 43 22, lon. 49 20, was running in
a gale from S.E., wind hauled suddenly to N.W., and
blew a ;:urricane with great violence, accompanied with
...loot and snow, stove in the cabin windows, filling the
cabin floor w-,4th water, hauled up fore-sail and
fore-topsail, and made every exertion to fur).
them, but could not, owing to the excessive
cold weather, and the sails and rigging being full cif
iee, and many of the crew having their hatrds
frozen. February 12, expe;ienced another violent gale
blowing most furiously ; we other extremely cold and
the sea running very high, during which we carried
away all
in the gangway,allthreetopgallant.stsr stove in the starboard
letting in the sea constantly
on deck. Everything below and a:oft being encumbered
swh7p. nlc2 rendered it impossible for the men to work the
The three topgallant-masts thumping to and fro,
cutting and
sails blowing from the gaskets to atoms, making upon
ehafing the spars and rigging, and all the
the whole, a dismal n
heavy sea,
hatches,siea, st
stove bow
lettingbowhsocuese.e tore Februarytarpaulins,
and
13,
shipped
From January 20 to lstliarn ]arch, a
worked
off m
quantities of water.
, we did not eke one

point of eastern, and had to go south to thaw the ice on
the rigging and sails. Saw some ice to the east of the
banks.
The . §bip Sea had heavy gales from W.N.W.
to W.S.W. from the 25th of January to the 10th of
‘Fve.bNr uma r ,a
nwdh evnc
ry we
coldw'e
eoant theh er; bma nu kosi ;
ifcree sahb
,b3irl et eze from
the roship
forward. Toward noon the wind hauled- S.W., and in
the afternoon went round by N.W. to N.N.E.; moderate
breeze and light showers of snow. In the evening the
wind freshened, and at 9 o'clock it came on a very
severe snow storm, and blew hard from north; ten of the
crew laid up from the effects of the cold, one man suffer-
ing severely; lost foreyard; split the maintopsail; lust
the mainsail and foretopsail; the ship so much iced,
and so many hands laid up, could not do anything
with the sails, everything being in such a state
with the ice; ad to bear away on the morning of
the 11th, and run to the southward to thaw off. During
the whole of the day and night of the 11th, it blew a
violent gale from the north, snowing hard all the time.
On the morning of the 12th hove to, in lat. 41 20 N.,
lon. 50 35 W. ; when I bore away I was in lat. 45 30,
lon. 52 45 W. After repairing damages, stood up to
northward again, having drifted back to lon. 49 25 W.,
in lat 41 20 N. February 16 and 17.—Lat. of 42 north,
lon. 51 40, experienced a very heavy gale from N. by
W. and N.N.W., with a heavy sea running, which
caused the ship to labour exceedingly heavy, and make
a great deal of water. On the 10th, had strong wind
from N.W. Latitude at noon, 40 55 N., lon. 53 45 W.,
in company with the Roscius ail day. Bore down to
her, and showed signals. She had lost all her top-gal-
lant masts. On the 19th it blew a heavy gale from
N.W. and N.N.W., with violent squalls, and a heavy sea
running. Finding the crew were getting pretty well
faegel out, and having four bands atilt laid up, stood
across the Gulf. Split the foretopsail and mizen-
topsail. February 27, off Bermuda, had strong
gales from N.W., with a heavy long sea running from
the N.N.W., ship labouring heavy, and making so much
as kept both pumps going, making nearly 3,000 strokes
per hour. March 2, heavy gales from S.E. to S.W. with
a tremendous heavy sea from N.E. In lat. 35 10 N.,
lon. 71 30 W., passed close to a vessel in the morning,
waterlogged and abandonned ; the foremast, the fore-
topmast, and bowsprit were still standing ; the main
and mizan masts were gone about six feet above the
deck, the jib-boom broke short off by the cap ; some
part of the foretopsail had been put round outside the
oretopmast rigging, as if the crew had been living in
th'e foretop, but there was no person there when I passed
her ; the anchors were on the forcastle, the bowsprit
and lower masts were bright varnished, yards black ;
she h ad painted ports, a full woman figure-head, with
a gree u dress ; she appeared to be a vessel of about 500
tons, and I have no doubt of her being a British vessel ;
hut whether a bark or a ship, I cannot say. During
the afternoon and all the night of the 2nd, until half-past
3 o'clock a.m. of the 3d, we lay becalmed, with the most
tremendous sea running from N.E. that I ever saw,
breaking at times the same as on a reef. I expected to
have lost all our masts at one time, the ship laboured so
very bad. When the wind came out, it came all of a
sudden, like the report of a cannon, and blew hard front
N.N.E. Barometer stood at 29 10 until the gale reached
the ship, when' it immediately began to rise. It blew
hard N.N.E. all day on the 3d, with a very heavy sea,
breaking a grea t deal. At nine o'clock a.m. passed
close to the bark Cantero, of Portland, lying to, under
bare poles. At th.;s time we had nearly three feet of
water in the hold ; Le.tt finding that we bad gained on her
since 6 39, kept on our course. After an hour and a half,
got the pumps to suck, having now been several hours
without being able to gel the pumps to work. On the
evening of the 4th, off Currituck, spoke a Baltimore
pilot-boat. We then made 3,840 strokes per hour,
both pumps constantly going. On the 6th, at daylight,
took a pilot boat off Egg Harbour.
The packet ship Europe experienced, during the
whole passage, constant gales and heavy seas—lost sails
and spars. Was off Barnegat on Sunday last, and was
compelled to stand off on account of the north-east gale.
March 4th, lat. 37, long. 72 46, fell in with the wreck
of schooner Pembroke of Casting. She appeared to have
been dismasted but a few hours previous, as the spars
were still attached to her, and a large part of the deck
floating within 100 yards of the hull, which appeared to
have been ripped up by the falling of the masts. There
was nothing above water but the bowsprit and a little of
the larboard side and the stern. Shortly after fell in
with the wreck of the brig Orione, Captain Bowne,
laden with molasses, of and for Philadelphia, from Car-
denas, which place she left on the 24th ult., and took
from her the captain, mate, and six men. During the
north-east gale on the night of the 2d instant, she lost
both masts, and the deck was swept clean of every
thing thereon. Captain Bowne, the mate, axed one of the
men were much bruised and completely exhs tasted when
taken on board of the Europe.

THE LOSS OF THE EMIGRANT
SHIP CATARAQUE.

Copies of correspondence respecting the loss of the.
vrnigrant ship Cataraque (in Bass Straits in August last
having three hundred and sixty• nine emigrants on
board) have been published, by order of the House of
Commons. The following is an extract from these
documents :

Colonial Land and Emigration Oftioe',
9, Park-
street, Westminster, Feb. 6, 1846.
Sir,—With reference to the intelligence which. appears
in this dayis public papers of the melancholy loss of the
Cataraque emigrant ship, we think it probable that Mr.
Secretary Gladstone may desire to receive an early
report from us of such circumstances as fall wiithin our
knowledge concerning this vessel.
She was submitted by the Messrs. Smith and Sons, of
Liverpool, for approval, on the 11th of March, :1845, for
the purpose of conveying to Port Philip the residue of
the emigrants they were entitled to send out under the
bounty contract of 1843. On the 12th of March, Lieu-
tenant Henry, R.N., the Government emigration agent
at Liverpool, was instructed "to make a strict and
thorough examination of the vessel while in dock." He
replied, by stating, on the Bth of April, that the ship
"had had a thorough overhaul, and been found perfectly
sound." On the same day, the owner transmitted the
inclosed certificate of Lloyd's committee, showing that
the vessel had been surveyed by their surveyor a few
days before, and been placed on the first description of
the first class for five years, from 1840, including, there-
f.,re, the current year. Under these circumstances, the
employment of this ship in the conveyance of emigrants
on bounty was agreed to.
By the nature of the catastrophe, it will be perceived
to have been one in which the seaworthiness of the ship
is not brought in question. Being cast upon a reef of
rocks, in the midst of what is described as a " fearful
gale," with the waves running " mountains high," no
vessel constructed by human skill could hold together.
She struck at about half-past four A.M. ; but it was not
till four P.M. that she is said to have parted, nor does
the destruction appear to have been complete till the
next day. During the whole time the published ac-
counts represent the gale as continuing to rage.
Immediately on hearing a rumour of the vessel's
having been wrecked, we requested Lieut. Hodder to in-
quire into the character borne by the master and chief
mate; and we beg to enclose an extract containing his
reply on this point, from whence it will be seen that no
doubt whatever appears to exist of their competency and
fitness in all respects for their trust.
The calamity is by far the greatest which has occured
to any emigrant ship within our recollection ; and, in-
deed, it is the only occasion of any loss of life whatever
from any similar cause in a ship carrying passengers at
the public expense, since the creation of an office for
superintending this service in 1837. Tne number of
vessels which have been sent out under the direct
Government inspection since that date has been 208,
conveying 41,842 passengers. Deeply as the present
event is to be deplored, we can only hope that it may ap-
pear from the foregoing statement, that it has not arisen
from an omission of any of the precautions which could
be taken in dispatching the vessel OR her voyage.
We have, &c.,
(Signed) T. FRED. ELLIOT.
James Stephen, Esq. C. ALEXANDER WOOD.
It may be remembered that out of 441 passengers and
crew, only nine persons were saved. Of the crew, con-
sisting of 41 men, the first mate, Mr. Guthry, six sea-
' men and one apprentice survived ; but of the emigrar.t
passengers, one alone was saved, namely Solomon Brown.
a labourer, from Sutton, Bedfordshire. His wife and
four ‘-hildren, daughters,, all perished. These returns
alphabetical list of the emigrants on board.
afwof
destructionth e moofstendteiprleorfaabmleiliinesstafnrocems
contain
inettafhi•
e)nlloail ewng n sxi
arey
among the number ;—Charles Knott, his wife, and seven
children perished ; William Cook, his wife, with six
sons and daughters ; Patrick Maguire, his wife,
and seven sons and daughters ; Anthony Murray,
te
his wife, and nine children ; Bernard M`Caffrey, his
wife and sister, and six children ; Emos Pierce, his
wife, and seven children ; and numerous other
cases where fathers, and seven children were thus in•
stantaneonsly swept from existence. There were alto-
gether 62 families on board, numbering 313 persons ;
bcsides 33 unmarried females, and 23 unmarried males.
Thc following letter regards what is stated might have
reve.nted this calamitous loss of life and property :
oy LETTER FROM CAPTAIN HAMILTON, R.N., TO
COPY JAMES STEPREN, PS44.

Adatlrsiti, Feb. 14, 1846.
/ am „N:npmanded by my Lord;Comuissiorte
Sir,—
Commissiotfers
of the Admiralt
.*4) request you will bring the following
y 1
11r. Secretary Gladstone.
facts to the notice o•
teen-ins wrecks that had occurred
my Lords to have it tho-
in 113.
aTsshesntruamitbs,erdoeftedrtin..
determine
roughly surveyed, which has been 4one, anti the chart
published, and nothing is wanted to it§ free navigation
but judicious lights.
In the years 1841 and 1842, * Committee of the
Legislature of New South Wales examined our survey-
ing officers, and other evidence, on the best positions for
tbei,e lights. Similar steps were taken in Iran Diemen's
La nd ; sites were fixed, and the Lieutenani.-Governor
laic I the first stones of one or two of them at the Pastern
ene, of the straits.
'
'Since that, nothing has been done, though each year
ha s been marked by more or less loss of life ; and the
last mail from Sydney adds to the catalogue an account
o: the wreck, on King Island, of the Cataraque, in which
four
hundred and fourteen emigrants perished.
A b.`ngle light on that island, or on Cape Otway,
deem proper, t,
prevent such '
would ha ye prevented this frightful mis:ortune.
2. Undo.
- these circumstances, my Lords trust her Ma-
's Gores "anent will take such measures as they may
jest)
jusure proper lighthouses being erected
to .'feasters in future ; and in the mean
time my Lords ,Ivi,:l consider it their duty to prevent
transports, with i`roo,os or with convicts, to attempt
navigating the saidS;raits ti:! lighthouses have been
built;
and they would recommend :Illitt emigrant ships
should
be also prohibited from navigating , *i.cm for the
same period. .1 have, &c..
(Signed) W. A. B. HAMILTON.
To Jas. Steplven, Esq.