The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-22 00:00:00

MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE.

THE TURNER FAMILY.—A private performance took place
on Wednesday at St. James's Theatre, in presence of the
Duchess of Somerset, the Duchess of Leinster, the Mar-
chioness of Clanricarde, the Countess of Lincoln, the Earl
and Countess of Charlemont, Lady Palmerston, Lady Wharn-
chile, Lady Lawley, the Hon. Colonel and Mrs. Dawson
Darner, General Upton, Lady Stewart, and other fashion-
st!fle persons, of the Turner family, recently arrived in
London from Somersetshire. These are three gifted Lilli-
putian instrumentalists, of the respective ages of four,
six, and eight years, all girls. Miss Caroline is the eldest,
and she plays on the harp, as also Miss Rosina, who is second.
Ms, Sophia is the star of the little troupe, and she is a vio-
linist, handling her instrument, which is as big nearly as
herself, with the self-possession of a Paganini, and casting
most patronising looks at her auditory. It is curious to see
Miss Caroline and Rosina playing on one harp, the one sitting
and the other standing over, whilst little Sophia fiddles away
gloriously. A very clever musical family is that of the
Turners, with natural abilities that may be turned to good
account, but we hope the poor things will not be taxed too
heavily in their studies and labours. Much kind encourage-
ment was bestowed on their exertions.

THE MERCHANT NAVIES OF
FRANCE AND ENGLAND.
(From La Presse.)
At tie moment when the principal Chambers of Corn-
merce of the kingdom are forming an association which
proposes to itself " the extension of navigation by the
development of the maritime relations of the ports," it is
not uninteresting to sum up, in a few words, the situa-
tion of our merchant navy in comparison with that of
Great Britain. We shall borrow the statistics which
establish on one side the superiority of, the English
navy, and on the other the inferiority of the French,
from the official coriaments published by the Governments
of the two countries, and recently republished in a pam-
phlet entitled Progress of the Commercial Navigation of
England.
It follows from these documents, that in the year 1820,
the effective of the English merchant navy amounted to
25,374 vessels, measuring 2,648,593 tons, and in 1844 to
31,320 vessels, measuring 3,637.231 tons.
Has there been an analogous progress in France? Very
far from it I Instead of an increase, as in England,
there is a deplorable decrease, at least the following
figures prove as much. Thus, in 1827, the effective of
our merchant navy was 14,322 vessels, measuring
692.125 tons, and in 1844, 13,679 vessels, measuring
604,637 tons. We ought to add, that out of this num-
ber, of 13,679 vessels, 8,900 measured less than 30 tons(!)
2,852 measured from 99 to 300 tons, and 219 from 300 to
600 tons. There are, definitively, only 652 vessels ca-
pable of navigation on a large scale, and amongst all
these ships there is not one measuring 700 tons, whilst
England every day dispatches vessels of 1,200 tons bur-
den and upwards. This superiority of the British navy
is no less evidently disclosed in the coasting navigation.
Thus, in 1841, the French coasting trade conveyed, ex-
clusive of the coasting fishery, 2,424,246 tons of merchan-
dise, a traffic which employed 79,483 loaded vessels;
or, to speak more exactly, which occasioned an equal
number of passages from one port of the kingdom to an-
other. If to this number we add that of passages on the
east, which amounted to 31,768 vessels, representing a
tonnage of nearly 705,000, there is found, as the entire
movement in the coasting trade in 1841, a general total
of 111,251 vessels and 3,128,802 tons, worked by a naval
personnel which always, taking account of the passages
repeated by the same vessels, represents the service of
crews amounting in number to 434,896 men. At this
same period—that is to say, in 1841—the coasting trade
of Great Britain was nearly five times more consider-
able than ours; it amounted for one of the two move.
ments alone—coming and going—to 11,318,000 tons,
and the passages, which had been 215,000, had employed
more than 800,000 men as crews; and at least an equal
number are employed either in loading, or in the pre-
servation of the merchandise.
This state of things has not changed since 1841, at
all events, not to our advantage. The French coasting
trade has remained nearly stationary, while that of
Great Britain has increased. It is true that the ma-
jority of the transports effected by our coasters, present,
from one year to another, very few variations. We
allude to woods, materials, salt, wines and brandies,
grain and meal, coal, iron and manure, which form in
weight three-fourths of the cargoes of our coasting
vessels.
As to the steam navy, the ensemble of the movement
of our navigation (entrances and departures together)
amounts, on the average, to 6,545 boats (or voyages),
with cargoes, giving a total of 750,000 tons, whilst in
England the effective of the steamers employed in the
transport of merchandise is thirteen or fourteen times
higher than in France.
The coasting fishery shows, on its side, the same in-
feriority with regard to England. The official tables
give, on an average, 6,431 boats, navigated by 27,286
men, but, on deducting the unable ones, only 22,000 men
can be reckoned, whilst on the English coasts the popu-
lation engaged in the small fisheries amounts to more
than 150 000 individuals. It is true that the English
coasts are more extensive than our own; but in an equal
space, they do not the less offer double the number of
fishermen. It is true that our great fisheries offer more
resources, but that branch of navigation is very far
from being ameliorated; and, for the last seven years,
it presents a reduction of about one-fourth.
These various statistical facts afford a material
proof of the inferiority of our merchant navy.. The
inferiority of our " military" (war) navy is an indisput-
able fact Thus, therefore, in every respect, our na-
vigation is incapable of entering into competition with
the English.
It appertains to the Chambers of Commerce to seek
out the most proper means of raising the state of our
navy. We do not doubt the success of their efforts,
convinced, as we are, not only of the goodness of their
cause, but of that want of reform which makes itself
felt on all sides, and which will, we hope, lend a fresh
impulse to the Conservative policy.

SCARCITY OF FRUIT.—We believe the price now
paid for good ripe fruit is much above what it has been
during the last twenty years. The following comparative
statement shows how scarce and dear good apples, pears, and
stone fruit are:—

1845. 1846.
Pears per p0t...75. Od. to Bs. Od. 28s. Od. to 30s. Od.
Plums ditto ...4s. Od. to ss. Od. 18s. Od. to 225. oi.
Damsons ditto .4s. Od. to ss. Od. 255. Od. to 40s. Od.
Apricots a doz. Os. 4d. to ls. Od. Is. 6d. to 3s. Od.
Peaches ditto...ls. Od. to Is. 6d. 2s. Od. to 3s. fid.
And so on with other fruits in like proportion.
ALTEN MINING ASSOCIATION.—The half-yearly
meeting of this Association was held yesterday, at the office
in Old Broad-street, J. Labouchere, Esq., in the chair. The
report showed an actual loss in the last eighteen months of
3,0001., but the six months just past had realised a profit of
1,3001. Should this success continue. the directors proposed
to make a dividend of ss. per share in October. The produce
of copper was 54i tons. The assets in Alten were
4,123/. 13s. 7d. ; and the assets in London, 8,048/. 3s. 10d.
After a short discussion the report was adopted.
Letters which have just been 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
Debats, or any other paper speaking from authority, could be
enabled to contradict this report.—Chronicle.

THE FRENCH IN OTAHETI.
VALPARAISO, MAY 30, 1846.
The following are extracts from a letter received by a
vessel just arrived from Otaheiti:—
OTAIIEITI, Arnie 15, 1846.—0 n the 22d of March, about
three o'clock in 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 Mamoi,
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 chastise 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
fannies from the town onboard 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 to-day they bad another engagement. The plan adopted
by the hostile tribe appears now to be to hang 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 (Kauakas, 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 agreement entered into between the Governor and Sir
George Seymour was 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
iluahine.
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, and that
of the British residents is extremely critical and unplea-
sant. Neither our lives nor our property are safe, and what
makes it worse 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. He, with
the rest of us, sent his property on board, and shortly after-
wards a 32-pounder was shot slap through his house! lle
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
salted and preserved meats.
The following appears as an article of news this afternoon
in one of the Valparaiso newspapers :
" OTAHEITE.-The Hamburgh 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) a ith
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 come 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 9th 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 columns, 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 14th 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 bad
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 be 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.
" My 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
wewere beaten back; an event I did not anticipate, although
I provided for it.
" 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 lsy 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 possess 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,
"6 H. G. SMITH, Major-General.
" To Lieut.-Colonel Fullerton, commanding
her Majesty's 9th Lancers."

ADVANCE IN WAGES. -A HINT TO MASTERS AND

WORKMEN:—There is now some evidence of a much better
state of feeling than when strikes among workmen were the
order of the day. The operative carpet-weavers of England
petitioned their employers for an advance of wages, which
was granted for six months, on condition that the Scotch
manufacturers would give a similar rise. This was acceded

to with great good will. The English operatives, by letter,
then requested their Scottish brethen to use their influence
with their employers to give a corresponding advance on
wages, and to use every moral means in their power
to be successful, as in the event of want of success the
English weaver would, at the end of six months, lose
the advance, which is a valuable one, being fully eleven per
cent. Accordingly, the Scottish weavers have petitioned
their employers, and already five firms have given, the
advance, in a very handsome manner, two firms in Ban-
nockburn, and three in Glasgow. The firm of Messrs. John
Geddes and Sons have deserved great praise in this affair, in
at once giving the advance, and allowing it to come into im-
mediate operation. It is expected that this rise of wages
will become general. It is hoped that the carpet manufac-
turers of Kilmarnock and Aberdeen will likewise give the
advance, which now appears likely to be general, in the
handsome manner that the other manufacturers have done.—
Scotch Reformer's Gazette.

The Turkish police lately proceeded to the house of
a French hairdresser residing at Pere, in search of a Turkish woman
with whom ho was suspected to carry on an intrigue. The French-
Ilan barred his door and refused them admittance, so that they were
obliged to wait for the arrival of an officer of the French embassy to
force their entrance to the house. As long a delay as possible was
contrived, and in the mean time an opening was made in the wall of
the house, and the woman passed through it in man's clothes. The
hole was masked by a picture, and when the police entered they
found nothing.

NAVAL AND MILITARY
DEPARTMENTS.
There has just been issued in a printed forni, by order
of the House of Commons, an extract from the sixth
report of the Committee of Inquiry into the system of
account and audit in the Ordnance Department, dated
the 6th of December, 1845, relative to the preparation,
audit, and presentation to Parliament of annual accounts
of the receipt and expenditure of the naval and military
departments, together with Treasury minute thereon.
The following is the more material portion of the said
Treasury minute, dated 13th of January, 1846:
" Under these circumstances, their Lordships are of
opinion that the time has arrived for applying to the
naval and military departments, in a uniform and
consistent manner, those principles of account which
have been recommended by the highest authorities on
the subject, and have stood the test of a practical trial,
and for giving them the forco of positive rule, and my
Lords will proceed to state, as briefly as possible, what
those principles are, and in what manner they should be
applied.

1. According to the immemorial practise of this Go-
vernment, as explained and enforced by the Treasury
minute of 13th of March, 1818, only such services are to
be included in the estimates to be laid before Parliament
by the executive departments as have been approved by
the Treasury or financial department, either as the re-
sult of previous correspondence, or on a consideration of
the estimates themselves, which are laid before the
Chancellor of the Exchequer previously to their being
submitted to Parliament.
"2. No executive department is authorised to exceed
the sum appropriated by Parliament under each general
head or vote in their respective estimates, or to apply
any surplus which may exist under one vote, to supply
the deficiency on others, without the express previous
sanction of the Treasury, to be given on a written re-
presentation of the circumstances which render the
adoption of such a course indispensable fur the public
service.
" 3. All the votes, including that for works and re-
pairs, are in future to be taken for sums to be expended
during the last year ; and on the last day of the financial
year the annual account is to be closed, and the balance
is to be struck at all the stations at home and abroad ;
and any unappropriated balance that may appear when
the accounts shall have been made up to that day, to
have remained on the aggregate of the votes of any de-
partment, shall revert to the Exchequer, to be reported
to Parliament for the purpose of being applied as ways
and means.
" 4. Provided the expenditure for each work included
in the Admiralty and Ordnance estimates, is confined
within the amount of the total estimate for its comple-
tion, submitted to Parliament in the first column of the
form applicable to this vote, the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty and the Master-General and Board of
Ordnance, will, after the new form of estimate for works
and repairs shall have been fully adopted, be at liberty
to apply the aggregate of their respective votes for
works, in such proportions for each work as the exigen-
cies of the public service may require.
"5. The annual account having been closed as above
described, on the last day of the financial year, eight
months are allowed, according to the existing naval sys-
tem, for the arrival from the different stations abroad of
the accounts of the preceding financial year, and for
making them up previously to the general account being
delivered to the commissioners audit. 'Whatever period
may be necessary for receiving and consolidating the
subordinate accounts, must in like manner be allowed
to the War-office and Ordnance Departments, but it is
very desirable that the period fixed should not be longer
than is indispensably required for the object in view.
The cause of the great delay which has hitherto taken
place in closing the Ordinance accounts, which renders
the accounts, when furnished, of little avail for any
practical purpose, and the proper means of remedying
it have been already pointed out in their Lordships'
minute, dated 3d of December, 1841, as one of the most
important points for the consideration of the Com-
missioners of Inquiry.
" 6. The appropriations credited on the estimates in
aid of the vets are to be the sums actually realised, and
brought to account during the year preceding the esti-
mate, instead of the prospective receipts expected to be
realised in the year for which the estimate is voted.
" The Credits in Aid' have already been placed on
this footing in the Navy, Ordnance, and Commissariat
estimates, and when a similar change shall have been
made in the War-office estimates, there will be nothing
left to be desired on this point.
" 7. That detailed audit, the object of which is to
allow or disallow the different items of expenditure,
according as they are or are not conformable with
departmental rules, or are or are not supported by proper
authorities and vouchers, will continue to be conducted
by and on the responsibility of each department ; but
that higher and more general description of audit, the
object of which is to ascertain and report whether the
grants
of Parliament have been duly applied to the pur-
poses to which they have been appropriated by the An-
nual Appropriation Act, as explained by the annual es-
timate upon Which that Act is founded, will be conducted
in future by the Commissioners of Audit under the
superintendence of the Treasury.

It 8. A detailed account will be annually prepared by
each department for the information of the Treasury,
according to the form in which the annual army account
is now prepared, including, in addition to a comparison
of the expenditure with the grants under each of the
general heads stated in the Appropriation Act, a
statement of the result of the actual expenditure, as
compared with the estimates, under the subordinate
heads into which the votes are divided into the depart-
mental ledgers; and also an explanation, sinr.ilar to that
given in the War Office account, showing what the
balances consist of. This account will be transmitted
by each department to the Commissioners of Audit on
or before a date hereafter to be fixed.

Inspector Donegan, of the H division, said that the pri-
soner had denied being in Whitechapel at all on Saturday,
although the fact was so well attested, and pointed to a re-
spectable mechanic with a branch of the deadly nightshade
in his hand, and said the man's daughter purchased some
berries of the prisoner in Whitechapel on Saturday, and alter
eating them, was taken ill, and sent to the hospital.
Mr. Prophet, a surgeon, residing in Whitechapel, who
attended upon Mr. and Mrs. Parker on Sunday afternoon,
stated, in answer to questions by the magistrate, that he
could see at once from the symptoms that the man and his
wife had swallowed berries of the atropa belladonna, or
deadly nightshade. An extract of the plant was used ex-
ternally to dilate the pupil of the eye. The extract of bella-
donna was very rarely prescribed internally. The deadly
nightshade was collected in the shady parts of woods and j
hedges, similar to the foxglove.
Inspector Donegan took it upon himself to put a question
to Mr. Prophet. He asked, if light would not destroy the
properties of the atropa belladonna? Mr. Prophet—Yes, it
would.
Donegan—l know it grows in shady places.
Mr. BALLANTINE said, the prisoner called himself a herb
gatherer, and asked Mr. Prophet if the herbalists purchased
the deadly nightshade of the collectors?
Mr. Prophet—l believe they do for simples. The character
of it can't be mistaken by those who collect herbs.
Mr. BALLANTINE—I should think not.
The prisoner, in defence, said he bought the berries he sold
on Saturday last of a man near the Elephant and Castle, who
was dressed in a velveteen coat, and he was not aware of
their dangerous properties at the time.
Mr. BALLANTINE said that statement did not tally with
what the prisoner told Mrs. Parker. He asked the inspector
if the inquest on the bodies had terminated? Donegan—No,
Sir ; it is adjourned till Wednesday.
Mr. BALLANTINE said the prisoner was charged with a very
serious offence, and he should allow the case to stand over
for a week. The evidence went to show that the prisoner
had sold poisonous berries to a great many persons, who
were taken ill afterwards, and two of them had died. He
should have thought that a man of ordinary acuteness, who
was in the habit of collecting herbs, and particularly a coun-
tryman, ought to know the dangerous properties of the ber-
ries of the deadly nightshade. He directed the police to
ascertain whether the prisoner was in the practice of supply-
ing herbs to the herbalists and others, and whether he had
been in the habit of selling the deadly nightshade as night-
shade. If he had done so, the case might assume a new as-
pect. He then remanded the prisoner, on the charge of man- ,
slaughter.

In making their report on this account, the Com-
missioners of Audit will call the attention of the Trea-
sury to every considerable deviation between the esti-
mated amount and the actual expenditure under the
several subordinate heads into which the votes are
divided in the estimates; submitting at the same time,
auy explanations that may have been furnished to them
of the circumstances: which rendered such deviations

necessary.
" 9, An abstract account will be annually prepared by
each department for the information of Parliament,
according to the form in which the annual navy account
is now prepared, showing the results under the general
votes or heads into which the expenditure is divided in
the Appropriation Act, which account will be transmitted
by each department to the Commissioners of Audit at
the same time with the more detailed account adverted
to in the two preceding paragraphs.
" 10. The Commissioners of Audit will refer to the
Treasury any question that may arise in the course of
the examination of the accounts which may appear to
require their Lordships' authority or decision.
Their Lordships concur in the opinion expressed by
the members of the Committee of Inquiry and by the
Commissioners of Audit, that the audit check of the
accounts of the four departments of the army, navy,
and ordnance and commissariat, the object of which
is to secure the legal appropriation of the Parliamentary
grants for those services, ought to be established under
the authority of an Act of Parliament ; and as the An-
nual Appropriation Act appears to be the proper place
in which to make the necessary provision for this duty, it
is requested that the Committee of Inquiry will prepare
and submit to this Board a draft of such clauses as they
may consider best calculated to accomplish the object in
view, in order that they may be submitted to Parliament
as part of the next Appropriation Act."

CITY OF LONDON MECHANICS' INSTITUTION.-011
Monday night an interesting lecture was delivered to the
members of this institution in their lecturing hall, Gould-
square, Crutchedfriars, by H. W. Dempsay, Esq., chemical
teacher at the City of Westminster Literary and Scientific
Institution. The subject chosen by the lecturer was carbon,
the properties and combinations of which were illustrated
by numerous brilliant experiments. The lecturer com-
menced by remarking that in almost every case one-half of
the solid substances of the animal and vegetable kingdom is
composed of carbon. This element is seldom found in a
state of purity, and then only in one form, that of the
"diamond," and no doubt it appeared strange that this
beautiful sparkling gem was the same in chemical compo-
sition as the black porous mass known as charcoal. The
diamond was found capable of being burned, by concen-
trating the sun's rays upon it, as early as the year 1694, but
the real nature of its combustion was not known till
Lavoiser burned a diamond in a vessel of oxygen gas, when
carbonic acid gas was produced in weight exactly equal to
the consumed diamond. The lecturer remarked that the
most common form in which we find carbon is that of char-
coal. Carbon may also be obtained from bones, by burning
them in close vessels, which produce what is called " ivory
black." Another form of carbon is coke. The lecturer then
went into the various combinations of carbon, illustrating his
observations by experiments—alarming his audience with an
occasional explosion, similar in kind, but differing in degree,
to those which take place in mines, through the escape and
ignition of gases, into whose composition carbon largely
enters. The " Davy Lamp" was described, and other inte-
resting matters gone into, illustrating the various properties
of carbon under the different forms and combinations in
which it is presented to us. The whole went off remarkably
well—the lecturer receiving at the conclusion the well-
merited plaudits of his audience.
HOP INTELLIGENCE.—FARNnAM, AUGUST 21.—Should
the weather prove favourable, hop picking will commence
on Monday next in some of the most forward plantations
around this place. Several growers, we are told, anticipate
a crop of twenty to twenty-five cwt. per acre. At Hale, near
Farnham, the hops are generally very good At Crondall
they are not so tall on the poles, which is accounted for by
the land not being so rich nor of so deep a soil as about
Farnham ; but still many plantations look exceedingly pro-
mising compared with their appearance in the early part of
July last. At Bentley the hops look exceedingly well, if we
except two or three spots or gardens, such till recently were
of hops, expected to
condemned as not likely to be worth
picking, vet now are
the same number
M
from
next Monday.
very much altered for the better. At Froyle Sir Thomas
s plantationsexpec produced
edf
tr
At Wennell, near Alton, there are some very fine plantations
yieldiacresllerdhol auassh
last
double somet
ll
yeare excellent;
quantitypieing
of
only waiting for fine weather to enable the pickers to begin
work. The duty is laid at Farnham, and also at Alton; from
160,000/. to 170,000/.7 and the produce around is expected to
exceed that of the famed year 1836.
THE CHINESE MEDAL.—Our readers have already
perceived by the Gazette announcement that the medals to the land
and sea forces which took part in the Chinese war, are being die.
tributed : the last notice bore reference to Particular vessels of war.
The same pattern medallion was struck for the army as for the navy.
It is about the size of a crown piece, perhaps a little heavier, and is
composed of solid silver. On one side is a representation of her
Majesty, similarly wrought as upon the current coin of the empire,
and the reverse displays various national and naval and military
emblems, &c., including a cannon, anchor, B,e. &C. These are ap-
propriately represented beneath the spreading branches of the palm.
The whole is surmounted by the words Arrat's eseo scire pacent (I quit
arms for the enjoyment of peace), and flnished by the words, China,
1842. The clasp connecting the ribband is of German silver. The
ribband, it is understood, will be crimson, fringed with yellow and
blue. The medal is fr3in the design of Mr. lirylde, of her Majesty's
Mint, where it was executed, and somewhat resembles those issued
on the occasion of the victories at Ghuznee and other places in our
Oriental territories. A different design for the reverse was at first
executed, namely, the British lion trampling on the Chinese standard,
but it was abandoned for the appropriate one above described.
Mr. Charles Warner had an interview with Earl
Grey yesterday, at the Colonial-office.

IMPORTATION OF FOREIGN ANIMALS.—The Windsor,
Captain Truscott, from the East Indies, arrived in the East
India Docks on Friday, having on board an extraordinary
tortoise, weighing several hundred pounds, and supposed to
be 200 years old; also a very fine male leopard, with re-
markably large and rich spot, and a young sloth bear; the
whole of which were purchased on board by the proprietor of
the Surrey Zoological Gardens. The same day a very fine
chimpanzee, the only one in London, was added to the
collection.

MR. ROWLAND HILL.—The town council of Cupar
have memorialised Lord John Russell, praying that Mr. Hill
may receive some appointment in the Post-office, which may
enable him to see the whole of his scheme of Post-office re-
form effectively carried out.—Caledonian Mercury.
REVIEW OF THE CHELSEA PENSIONERS.—On Tues-
day last several thousands of spectators were assembled in
Hyde-park to witness the review of the Ist battalion of Lon-
' don pensioner's, who, after having been embodied for a
week's exercise, were inspected at eleven o'clock on that day
by Colonel Pitt, inspecting field-ollicer of the London dis-
trict, in presence of the Adjutant-General and a large assem-
blage of military officers. The battalion mustered apparently
about four hundred men, principally between the ages of forty
and tifty, very few exceeding the latter period, and as re-
garded physical strength they seemed in no respect inferior
to the troops who usually parade in that arena for military
exercise. The battalion was commanded on this occasion
by Lieutenant-Colonel Tullocb, the military superintendent
of pensioners. After marching past in slow and quick time,
and performing the manual and platoon exercises, the men
went through the usual routine of a field. day with a preci-
sion, which, considering their long absence from military duty,
was quite remarkable, and seemed particularly to attract the
attention of the younger soldiers in the field. The battalion
repeatedly formed, wheeled, and countermarched in columns,
formed squares to resist cavalry, deployed into line, ad-
vanced by subdivisions, &c, keeping up a rapid and well-
directed lire on every occasion after these movements. The
uniform, consisting of a blue frock coat with scarlet cuff and
collar, and black belt with a light forage cap, appeared par-
ticularly well adapted for the force, and when in line had a
striking effect. Everything was in the highest order, and
these veterans, many of whom bore on their breasts the de-
corations gained in hard-fought fields, appeared proud at
finding themselves once more in arms, and able to show that
the lapse of years had neither damped their military ardour
nor obliterated their military recollections. This is the first
occasion on which any force of the kind has been reviewed
in London; but two other battalions are in course of forma-
tion, which will make a considerable addition to the de-
fensive force of the metropolis. The whole number autho-
rised by Parliament to be raised is 20,000 men, of whom it is
understood that about 12,000 are now completely armed
and equipped ; so extensively are the pensioners spread
over the kingdom, that there is no town of any in finitude
without at least an effective company, fbrined from those
permanently resident there. The pay during the days of
exercise being about 2s. a-day, in addition to pension, makes
admission into the force an object of competition to those
old soldiers, and the only punishment is expulsion, which
it may safely be affirmed would prove quite sufficient also
in the regular army, if the men were paid at a corresponding
rate.

UNFOUNDED REPORT OF VAN AMBURGH'S DEATH.
—By letters received by Mr. Wallett, the clown at Astley's,
from Boston, United States, it appears that there is not the
slightest foundation for the report that Van Amburgh, the
famous brute-tamer, had been destroyed by a tigress at
Woonsuckett, Rhode Island, while endeavouring, at the re-
quest of a young lady, to take away some meat which the
beast was a.bout to devour. The story is a pure fabrication,
invented to bring a new paper into notoriety. Van Amburgh
was reported to be in good health, and making a most suc-
cessful tour.

THE FLEET-STREET NUISANCE.—The workmen are
getting on rapidly in laying down the new granite paving
of Fleet•-street, so as to cause as short an obstruction as pos-
sible to the free passage to omnibuses and other vehicles
through this thoroughfare. The portion from Temple-bar to
a little beyond Chancery-lane is now finished.

THE LATE DEATHS FROM POI-; THE MURDERS AT BARNARD
SONOUS BERRIES. CASTLE COMMITTAL OF THE ISIUR-
Yesterday John Hillard, an old Cambridgeshire man, a DERERS.
herb* gatherer, was brought before Mr. Ballantine at the NORTHALLEnTON, TI/lIIZSDAY.—The investigation coil-
Thames Police-court on remand, charged with causing the corning the alleged murder of Joseph Yates and Catherine
deaths of Thomas Parker, late proprietor of the Veteran Raine, on the 9th of August, 1845, near Barnard Castle, was
beershop, in the Whitechapel-road, and Samuel Jones, a resumed on Tuesday, at Greta-bridge, before a full bench of
child aged three years, who expired in the London Hospital magistrates.
after partaking of a pie in which berries of the otropa Lelia- : It will be recollected that, in a previous notice of the
donna, or deadly nightshade, sold by the prisoner for nettle- , affair, the deceased parties were described to have been seen
berries, were introduced.
in Bridge-street, Barnard Castle, late on the night of the above
The inquiry created very great interest, several other per- ! date, with several persons. On the following day (Sunday)
sons besides those who died in the hospital having been ' they were missing, and not the least clue could be obtained of
affected by eating berries of a similar description, which them. On the night of the 12th of August the body of
they purchased of the prisoner. Yates was found in the river Tees, four miles below
Maria Parker, who was attired in deep mourning, and ap- Barnard Castle. It presented marks of violence, but
peered to be in a very weak condition, was the first witness the coroner not deeming a surgeon's examination neces-
called. She stated that her late husband was the landlord sary, a verdict of found drowned was returned. Ten
of the Veteran beershop in the Whitechapel-road. On Satur- days afterwards that of the female was discovered in the
day afternoon last the prisoner came into her house with river at Hutworth near Darlington, and the coroner's jury
two baskets on his arms, one contained herbs, the other found a similar verdict. The bodies were interred, and
berries. He called for a half-pint of beer, and then asked the matter would probably have here rested, had not
her to purchase some of the berries. She observed that the magistrates interposed, and requested the superintendent
they looked very nice, and asked what they were. The ito institute an investigation into the circumstances connected
prisoner said they were nettleberries and surpassed I with the deaths of the deceased. It should he observed
black currants, and were very nice for tarts, or for that on the night they were missed a severe quarrel took
making wines, puddings, and other things. She told him place between a man named Breckon (who is now undergoing
she was a countrywoman, and had never heard of nettle- a twelvemonth's imprisonment in Durham gaol) and the de-
berries before. He said he had travelled a long way to ob- ceased female. It was also known that another person, of the
tarn the berries, and that he had sometimes obtaned similar name of Barker, had often threatened Yates, in consequence
berries on the Surrey hills. She obtained the consent of of a quarrel about a coat, said to have been stolen by Barker
her husband to purchase a pint of the berries, which were from a Captain Bainbridge. A third party (Rainej appears
about the size of a small sloe. She gave the prisoner 3d, for to have been actuated by the knowledge of Yates being in
them. On the following day (Sunday), which was the an- possession of a few shillings.
niversary of her wedding, she made a tart with the berries, The first clue to the supposed criminals was given by a
after cutting the stalks off, and also cut up two apples, which woman of the name of Humphreys, who had for some time
she mixed with them. She and her husband partook of the previously appeared in au unhappy state of mind, arising
tart at dinner-time ; her husband ate very heartily of it. ifrom the possession of a secret which she had taken an oath
Before the remains of the dinner were removed, a customer I to keep. Ultimately she told the whole history of the mar-
camein to pay some 'stoney, and was accompanied by a child, I ders to an acquaintance, by whom it was communicated to
named Samuel Jones. The little boy looked very anxiously the police, and after much trouble two of the parties, named
at the tart, and she gave him some, little thinking at that time Barker and Raine, t% ere successively captured.
that the berries were poisonous. A few minutes after her The third party implicated, Breckon, being confined, as
husband had finished his dinner, he said he was very drowsy, before stated, in Durham gaol, representations were made
and went into the bar parlour. His lethargy soon increased, to the Secretary of State soliciting his removal, to be ex-
his countenance changed colour, and the pupils of his eyes be- amined with the other prisoners. An answer was received,
came dilated. He said he had a very strange coppery taste in however, intimating that it could not be granted until the
his mouth, and that he would go up stairs and lie down upon expiration of his present sentence.
the bed. As he went up stairs he staggered, and upon ente r- Under such circumstances, the magistrates proceeded with
ing his bedroom fell upon the floor, and became insensible. their inquiry, and on Tuesday the two prisoners, G. Barker
She became alarmed, and immediately proceeded to the shop and T. R. Raine, were brought up for final examination,
of Mr. Coleman, a chemist, in the Whitechapel-road, and the Venerable Archdeacon Headlam being the chairman of
obtained an emetic for him and a seidlitz powder for herself, the bench.
She attempted to administer the emetic to her husband, but A great mass of evidence has been adduced at the several
could get very little down his throat, as his teeth were firmly examinations, of whisk the following is the principal :
set. He subsequently became delirious, and was very rough. Ann Humphreys said—l recollect the night of the 9th of
His contortions were dreadful. He attempted to strike her August, 1845. I" went to bed near twelve o'clock. I got up
in his delirium, and when he recovered a little said he was again immediately. Ido not know the reason I got up, but
sorry, and asked her to kiss him. Those were the last words something made me do so. I looked out of my father's door
she heard him speak. He was conveyed to the London Hos- into Bridgegate. I saw Joseph Yates and Catherine Raine
pital at seven o'clock the same evening, and died at ten talking. They called me towards them. I went, as re-
o'clock on the following morning. The child to whom she quested, and we stood about a minute talking, when John
had given some of the tart died on the same day. The Breekon, Thomas Raine. and George Barker came up to
widow, who was deeply affected, then began to detail her us. Rains said to me, "Let us have a walk towards the
own sufferings. She did not eat so heartily of the tart as her bridge." Ile then said, "Yates had some money, and we
husband, but she was very seriously affected. She experi- want it; how shall we do to get it?" I said, "Poor fellow,
enced a nauseous taste, like copperas, in her mouth, a tin- let him alone." He said, "We will have it." Barker
gling in the fingers, and stupor. Soon afterwards she lost and Raine then asked Yates for his money. Yates said
the use of her limbs, and was taken to the hospital, where he was willing
th
to spend it amongst them he
site remained till Wednesday, and was still very ill, uld not give it to em. Barker and R but
ains then
In answer to questions by Mr. BALLANTINE, the witness too wok
Yates's money. They counted it, and there was
said the prisoner certainly called the berries nettleberries. eleven or twelve shillings. They then both struck and
He did not say that he had eaten any of them. The berries kicked him. He cried and shouted " murder" several times.
were about the size of black currants. After she had Catherine screamed as hard as she could the whole time.
vomited, she selected one of the berries which came front her They told us if we screamed they would serve us the same.
stomach, and observed it contained small seeds of a greenish After this they threw him (Yates) over the crane wall into
cast.
the Tees. The Tees was very rough, the night was very
David Sugg, police-sergeant, No. 17 11, produced the re- dark, and it rained heavily. They then asked us if we would
mains of the tart in a small dish. The poisonous fruit tell? Catherine exclaimed she would tell the first policeman
closely resembled the small black cherry, but were not so she saw. They asked me the same, and I was afraid, and I
large. Sugg also produced a stalk of the atropa belladonna, said I would not; and they made me declar4" "So help me
or deadly nightshade, with leaves and berries ou it. The God, I would not disclose what I had witnessed." They
first, but for five small leaves at the stem, might easily be again asked Catherine if she persisted in telling, because they mistaken for the common bilberry. The witness said the must be on their guard. Catherine was resolute, and de- '
prisoner was well known as a herb collector, and in the Glared she would tell. One of the prisoners, I cannot say
autumn sold blackberries. He had a basket of that fruit in which, then said, "If that's the case, we won't give you the
his possession when he was apprehended. Sugg then put in chance." They then all seized her, and threw her over the
the following certificate : bridge in a moment ; she fell into the middle of the Tees. I
"I hereby certify, that Thomas Parker and Samuel Jones saw Breckon have hold of Catherine's feet as she was going
died in this hospital on Monday last, August 17th, front the over the battlement of the bridge. Barker has since that
effects of a poison commonly called deadly nightshade.— time requested the to meet hint. I said I would, but never
JOIIN C. DAY, apothecary, London Hospital, August 20th, did ; I was afraid he intended to do something to me—l ex-
-184G."
pected he would serve me as they did Catherine. lle told
Thomas Bilby,',a post-boy, stated that he saw his fellow- me to mind and keep the affair a secret. I said I would do
servant buy some berries similar to those produced by se. I have been much distressed since, and very unhappy
Sugg, on filackfriars• bridge on Saturday last, lie also in my mind. I declare solemnly all I have said is true.
bought some himself, and after eating a few of them was Oilier witnesses were examined, who spoke to hearing the
violently affected and taken to the hospital. He was still cries described by Humphreys at the time and place men-
very weak dotted, and to seeing the prisoners in the immediate neigh-
Islr. BALLANTINE—Did you buy them of the prisoner? botirhood.
Witness—Yes Sir; lie is the man. (It may here be ob- It was statedy a witness named Harrison that about a
Yatesl
served, that the prisoner is a most peculiar-looking man, and week before was missing the prisoner Barker, who
that it would be impossible for any person to mistake him then slept with him, asked Harrison to go with him, and
assist to give A ates a beating, which he declined to do; and
after seeing him once.)
Peter Martin, another post-boy, deposed that he also pur- also on the night of the murder he remembered that it was
chased similar berries of the prisoner on Blackfriare-bridge, past two o'clock before Barker came into the house to bed,
and was suffering front their deadly effects. Ile was also that he conversed "with him, and afterwards Barker started
taken to the hospital, and nearly lost his life. After lie ate so much in his sleep, as to induce Harrison to leave the
the berries his throat was parched, his limbs were paralysed, lodgings.
and he went raving mad, but was recovered.
Themagistrates consulted together a considerable time, and
Sugg here stated that other cases had been admitted into the 11ev. Chairman at length announced that the prisoners
two other hospitals. stood committed for trial on the charge of wilful murder at
The prisoner said, all the berries he sold were good the next assizes.
ones. After the witnesses were duly bound over, the prisoners
Mr. BALLANTINE—Then, perhaps, you will eat the remains were removed to York Castle.
of the pie—there it is ?
...............---
The prisoner shook his head.
Mr. BALLANTINE—It appears you have done great mis-
chief.

MELANCHOLY DEATH.

Yesterday afternoon Mr. G. I. Mills, the Deputy Coroner
for West Middlesex, and a highly respectable jury, re-
assembled, pursuant to adjournment, at the Green Man Ta
vern, Downshire -hill, Hampstead, to further prosecute an in-
quiry on view of the body of Miss Marianne Johnson, who
was alleged to have committed suicide by poison. The de-.
ceased lady, who was in her fifty-sixth year, resided at No.
8, Well-walk, in the above vicinity, and was a niece of the
late Lord Collingwood, whose demise took place some few
yearlsince. She possessed a very large fortune, and, although
somewhat eccentric in her habits, was a distinguished mem-
ber of the beau monde. She was subject to syncope, or
fainting fits, which generally resulted in a morbid depression
of the spirits, and she would sometimes use expressions that
might induce an impression she was of unsound mind.
About four years since she attempted to destroy herself by
plunging into a piece of water at the rear of her establish-
ment, but was rescued by a gentleman then on a visit.
Shortly after a commission de lunatico inquirendo was held as
to the state of her mind, which failed, however, to prove her
insane. The case was conducted by Sergeant Wilde.
The chief object of the adjournment was to have a post
inortem examination, and the inquest-room yesterday was,
in consequence of the intense interest excited throughout the
neighbourhood, filled to overflowing, there being several dis-
titaguished members of the faculty present, besides some of
the deceased's friends and relatives, amongst whom were
Major Newnham, Captain Blair, &c.
Elizabeth Sanders (the deceased's femme de chambre)
stated that she bad been in her mistress's employ for the last
two years. On the morning of the 15th instant the deceased
left home in her carriage about half-past ten, to proceed to
Mr. Patterson, the dentist. She had previously complained
of toothache. She also called at a shop in Holborn, and at
the Apothecaries' Hall, where she made some purchases, con-
sisting chiefly of bottles of scent and articles fur the toilette ;
and having paid several visits, she returned home in the
evening about half-past seven, when she complained and said
she had headache as well as toothache. Witness knew it was
suspected that deceased had poisoned herself, from certain
bottles that had been found in her room.
John Dowse, the coachman, deposed to his having driven
the deceased about on the day mentioned by the first wit-
ness, and that his mistress stopped at the Apothecaries' Hall
for about 20 minutes.

Miss Price, of No. 9, Well-walk, Hampstead, said she knew
the deceased very well from visiting her, but she (witness)
did not believe the deceased had taken anything with a view
to self-destruction. She also considered deceased perfectly
sound in her mind.

The first witness re-called—Went into deceased's room
about eleven o'clock on the night of the 15th inst., and
remained with her until she went to bed. The next morning
at ten o'clock she was found dead in her bed. Messrs.
Williams and Evans, the surgeons, of New Grove House,
Hampstead, were immediately called in, the latter of whom
had attended her ten days previously. Neither of them could
detect anything that might account for death. Mr. Williams
had made a post ?nor tem examination. Putrefaction of the
right portion of the abdomen had commenced, and the
cuticle was separated. The primary cause of death was
found in the thorax. The heart itself was much smaller than
usual for persons of her age. In the pericardium there were
about four ounces of serum tinged with blood, whilst the
valves of the heart were perfectly healthy, both the aorta
and the pulmonary artery. The lining membrane was much
softened, which was evidently after death ; the lungs were
healthy, but very oedematous; the bronchial tubes also; on
the right side of the pleura there was some indication of dis-
ease having existed, the pleura itself containing about a pint
of fluid; the stomach was exceedingly distended, whereas the
mucous membrane was perfectly healthy, the contents con-
sisting ofabout three ounces of semi-fluid in a mass; the in-
testines were also distended, the liver of an extraordinary
size, and much congested with blood; the spleen and the
other viscera quite healthy.
The CORONER—Hare the contents of the stomach been
tested? Witness—No, Sir.
The CORONER—Testing the contents of the stomach is
very important, and it certainly ought to have been done in
this case. Were there any marks whatever in the mucous
membrane, indicating poison? Witness—Not the slightest,
Sir; and the immediate cause of death was a cessation of
the action of the heart. The brain was healthy, although
there was a slight adhesion of the Jura 2natur, yet all the
other organs in its vicinity were also healthy. There was
not the slightest
,external indication of the disease which
resulted in deceased's death. After much more con-
firmatory evidence, the Coroner summed up, and the jury at
length recorded a verdict of " Natural death."

EXPLOSION AT WALTHAM ABBEY.—On Thursday
night, about five o'clock, much alarm prevailed at Waltham
Abbey, in consequence of an explosion which took place at
the percussion-cap manufactory of Mr. Joyce, happily un-
attended with the loss of life. About the above hour, a
number of girls and young women were under the roof, at-
tending to the manufacture of the percussion caps, when a
loud report was heard. The effect of the explosion caused
the destruction of the premises; but, fortunately, the only
person injured was the son of Mr. Joyce, about twelve years
of age, whose right leg was fractured. The cause of the ex-
plosion is supposed to have arisen from the combustion of the
material with which the caps are charged. Nearly the whole
of the windows of the houses in the neighbourhood were
demolished, and the report was heard at a distance of
several miles.

FREE-TRADE DEMONSTRATIONS—SALISBURY, THURS..
DAY,
,Ana. 23.—A grand public dinner was given at the
Assembly Rooms last evening, in celebration of the passing
of the Corn-law Bill. Covers were laid for 150. The chair
was taken by Robert Squarey, Esq. R. R. R. Moore, Esq.
(of the League Council), Alexander Faron, of London,
Harris, Esq., of Bristol, and several other visitors attended.
A number of ladies were in the gallery. The festivities were
renewed this day, and at an early hour the bells of the vari-
ous churches sent forth their joyful sounds, and flags were
here and there hoisted from the windows of the inhabitants.
At one o'clock some of the electors, non-electors, benefit
societies, &c., assembled at the Free-trade Reading-rooms,
where a grand procession was formed. Just previously to
starting there were more than 4,000 persons congregated.
The sight at this tin,e was very imposing—the bells were
ringing, bands of music playing in the midst of a forest of
banners of every hue. The procession having paraded the
town, proceeded to the tea meeting at East Harnham, where
a spacious pavilion was erected near the river. Some
hundreds of persons, notwithstanding the very unfavourable
state of the weather, attended.
MR. GREEN'S NOCTURNAL TRIP.—Mr. H. Green,
after making a night ascent in the Coronation Balloon, from
Vauxhall-gardens, on the second day of the licensed victual-
lers' fancy fair, effected a safe descent in a field on the estate
of Mr. Soame, Salisbury Hall, Walthamstow. His clothes
were completely saturated.