The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-20 00:00:00

T IJKKE Y.

Accounts from Constantinople, of the sth, announce
the death of the celebrated EMIR BESCHIR, the Prince
of the Mountains.

CHAIKAS, the Hungarian agent, has embraced
Islamism.

We have much pleasure in stating that it is her
Majesty's intention to open the ensuing session of Parliament
in person.

OFFICIAL. ABINOIINCEMENTS.—Mr. Bell, now Vice-
consul at Oran, is appointed Consul at Algiers, on a salary
of 8001., by which a saving to the public will accrue of 8001.
a year, consequent on the abolition of the office of Agent
and Consul-General, lately held by Mr. St. John, but which
is not to be filled un. This, together with the saving on
the reduction of the Consulate-General in Syria (1,0001. a
year), makes a total saving, effected by Lord Palmerston,
on two consular appointments alone, of 1,8001. a year. Lord
Palmerston has also carried out a saving of 1,2001. a year in
the late arragements and reductions in the consular esta-
blishments in China.
DID ST. PAUL'S CLOCK EVER STRIKE THIRTEEN ?
—There is a very popular tradition that a soldier, who
was taxed with having fallen asleep at midnight, whilst on
guard, managed to escape the severe punishment annexed
to so flagrant a dereliction of duty, by positively averring,
as evidence of his having been " wide awake," that he had
heard the clock of St. Paul's Cathedral strike " thirteen "at
the very time at which he was charged with having indulged
in forbidden slumbers. The tradition of course adds, indeed
this is its point, that, upon inquiry, it was found that the
famous horary monitor of London city had, " for that night
only," actually treated those whose ears were open, with the,
till then, unheard-of phenomenon of " thirteen to the
dozen." Can any of your readers state how this story ori-
ginted, or whether it really has any foundation in fact ?
Notes and Queries.
MORE CONTERTS.—It is stated that Lord Norreys,
Lord Nelson, and Lord Byron, have become converts to the
Catholic religion.

MADRID AND VALENCIA RAILWAY COMPANY.—
On Saturday the proceedings in this protracted investigation
were again resumed before Master Blunt. Mr. Cooper, the
assistant-secretary, was examined, but his evidence merely
related to the attendance of the directors at board-meetings.
Subsequently Mr. Alfred Morgan, the treasurer of the Lon-
don and South-Western Railway, was interrogated in refer-
ence to the loans granted to that company by the directors
of the Madrid and Valencia Company. He further stated
that Count Eyre was a director of the London and South-
Western Company in January, 1846, and in that month had
attended a board-meeting, at which the minutes of the
finance committee respecting the loans from the Madrid and
Valencia Company were confirmed. Ultimately the inves-
tigation was adjourned.
TIM BUCKINGHAMSHIRE RAILWAY.—TiIe opening
of this line to within three miles of Oxford has been of the
greatest importance to the inhabitants of that city and neigh-
bourhood. In the article cf coal alone it has caused a re-
duction of thirty per cent., and it is expected that, when the
line is carried out, there will be a still further reduction.
The carriage of heavy goods from London has been consi-
derably lessened, which is also a great boon to the traders of
Oxford. Bicester, Buckingham, Bradley, and Banbury,
and the adjacent villages, have also partaken of these ad-
vantages.
ECLIPSE or THE MOON.--A partial eclipse of the
moon took place last night, which, owing to the clearness of
the atmosphere, was distinctly visible soon after its rising.
The first contact with the penumbra took place at 2.30 P.m.,
the moon being then under the horizon. The middle of the
eclipse was at 4.50 r.m.,`soon after the rising of the luminary,
whin was at first obscured by clouds, but a few minutes
after shone out with great brilliancy, The last contact with
the shadow was at six o'clock, and with the penumbra at 7.10
The magnitude of the eclipse (moon's diameter being
1) was 0.466 on the northern limb; and the appearance it
presented was that of a fragment of dark cloud covering a
small portion of the surface.— Scotsman of Saturday.
Mr. John G. Philliniore has been appointed by the
benchers of the Middle Temple to the chair of general juris-
prudence and civil law. His inaugural lecture will be de-
livered in the Middle Temple Hall on Tuesday next, the 21st
inst., at 7 P.M.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S LIVINGS.—The Lord Chan-
cellor has presented the Rev. Charles Cuthbert Southey,
M.A., son of the poet, to the vicarage of Ardleigh, Essex,
vacant by the death of the Rev. Henry Bishop ; and the
Rev. F. Robbins, M.A., to the rectory of Courteenhall,
Northamptonshire, rendered vacant by the cession of the
Rev. W. Wake.

The Rev. Edward Edmunds, M.A., Trinity Col-
lege, Dublin, has been elected by the feoffees Master of Dart-
Ford Grammar School, Kent.

DARING ROBBERY AT THE BRANDY-CASK TAVERN,
BaISTOL.—On Thursday evening some expert thieves, who,
from information which has reached the police, there is every
reason to believe are connected with the London swell mob,
contrived to effect a serious robbery at the house of kr.
Allen, the Brandy-cask Tavern, St. James, Bristol. At be-
tween four and five o'clock on that evening, as the landlord
and his family were at church, six fashionably-dressed
young men entered the parlour of the house, and called
for refreshments, with which they were supplied. They
remained there for some time, engaging in a noisy, and
seemingly jocular conversation; one of them was observed
to open a door leading to a passage communicating with
the staircase of the house, but so respectable was the
appearance of the parties, that no suspicion whatever was
entertained of any evil design on their part. After
a while they paid for what they had had, and left the pre-
mises, shortly after which it was discovered that some of
them had ascended the staircase, and entered the landlord's
bedroom. They broke open a chest of drawers, and ran-
sacked its contents, stealing the landlady's gold watch and
chain, several silver spoons, about 251. in sovereigns and
half-soverigns , 10/. or 121. in silver, and other property;
some 51. bank notes, which were in the drawer with the cash,
they left untouched, and when they decamped, they left be-
hind them on the floor of the bedroom, several skeleton
keys, and a piece of composition used by thieves, for the
purpose of taking impressions of the wards of locks. Infor-
mation of the robbery has been furnished to the police and
the detective force are using means to discover the perpetra-
tors of the robbery, who have, as yet, succeeded in escaping
their vigilance.

The Livingston Union states that Abram Van
Auken, who died in Mount Morris on the Ist inst., aged 60,
of paralysis, with which he was seized in February last, had
subsisted for 60 days immediately next preceding his death
entirely without food. Nothing passed his lips but pure
water.

DEFINITION or A DANCE.—The North British
Advertiser gives us a young lady's definition of the Polka.
It 15.," A Musical Caddie!"