The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-09 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

PANTHEA. The Spirit of Nature. By R. Bunt,
Author of the " Poetry of Science."
Few will understand this book, but fewer yet will
read it without being charmed by the flowing beauty
of its style and the gorgeous colouring of its descrip-
tions. The author thus explains the object of his
work :

"In the following sketch —for it claims no higher
character—an attempt has been made to exhibit the
progress of a young and ardent mind—captivated by
the beautiful in nature, and allured by the wonders of
science—under the influence of the conflicting views
which beset our philosophy.
" The illusions of youth—its visions of beauty—its
warm feelings—and its speculative tendencies, all con
duce to render pleasing the mystical dreams of visionary
thinkers. While, on the contrary, the utilitarian ten-
dencies of the nge are coldly repulsive to the young and
imaginative mind. The object, therefore, has been, to
describe the contest between the False—seductive by its
poetic as,;ociations—and the True, as tstimated by the
standard of the merely useful.

" Anxious to exhibit the dangerous influences of false
modes of reasoning, and defective habits of observation.
—of showing what is objectionable in the modern
system of science, and the exalting tendencies of that
philosophy which questions the oracle with an earnest
desire to t licit truth for its own sake, it is hoped that
the following pages may prove, suggestive of the advan-
tages which arises from ' The marriage of Thought with
Nature.'"

In order to carry out his object, Mr. Hunt has availed
himself of somewhat incongruous materials. Reality
arid idealism fact and fiction matters of
every day occurrence and mesmeric marvels mingle
together in the pages of " Panthea." The result is
to a certain extent a bewilderment. Yet the graceful
character of individual parts, and the eloquent lan-
guage of the whole narration, invests the volume
with a peculiar charm. Were it a little more or a
little less real the story would be more harmonious.
But this defect arises from the endeavour to set the
conflicting principles of reality and idealism in close
contrast. The hero of the tale is one Lord Julian
Altamont, to many nothing better than a wild
visionary. Julian's parents, the Earl and Countess of
Devonport, and his tutor, Mr. Chesterton, urge the
young Lord to take part in the realities of life as
becoming his station. On the other hand Leon
Alphage, a visionary philosopher, and bis daughter
tEltgiva, a worshipper of Panthea, the Spirit of
Nature, seek to render the not reluctant
Julian a votary of Pantheism and a dreamer of
dreams. Eudora Spencer, the betrothed of the young
lord, stands between the two extremes, and ultimately
triumphs. " Dream on I" says Leon at the last page
of the volume. " Awake, and work !" exclaims
Eudora; and Julian replies " I will !" Such is the
truth which " Panthea" inculcates—life should
be neither an idle dream nor a soulless
reality, but the union of thought and action.
The lessen is, however, to our thinking, far in-
ferior to the manner in which it is given. As we
read a poem not so much for the story which it may
relate as for the sake of the beautful language in
which it is written, and the fine thoughts scattered
through it, so we have taken pleasure in turning over
the pages of " Panthea ;" and however incredulous
we may be as to " the Mystery" of Panthea and the
marvels of .Eltgiva, we should gladly re-peruse the
volume for the sake of its panoramic descriptions and
its eloquent style. As a specimen of its character,
let us give a passage from a conversation between
Julian and his mother :

" You have mistaken my disposition and my desires;
you have mis-interpreted my conduct. My earliest
lessons were given me by you, my mother. Before I
could correctly employ language, you instructed me in
the great truth, that beyond nature a spiritual Power
existed, to whom it was the infant's duty to address its
simple prayer. When kneeling before you, my little
hands placed by you in the adoratire attitude, and my
tongue syllabling the words of the prayer you uttered, I
first formed my idea of the God of Nature. In her, at
whose feet I knelt, I saw everything which I could
comprehend, within my childish mind of goodness; and
I saw, in my infant visions, beyond the bright blue sky
which curtained Heaven, a God—pure, holy, and kind
as my mother.'
" Tears stood in the eyes of the Countess, but rhe
was silent.

" Julian continued. 'My boyish days were passed in
a country where the works of Nature were alike sublime
and beautiful. Mountains rose, rocky and barren,
toward the sky. Torrents rolled through the rifted
chasms down into the valleys which were rich with
forest trees and full of flowers. The desert and the
garden were found beside each other. A pastoral
country spread towards the sea, and the grand ocean beat
in calm and storm on beetling cliffs and wave-subduing
sands. In the moaning of the mountain, the roar of the
torrent, the sighing of the forest, the hum of the
savannah, and the wild music of the never resting sea,
I heard voices proclaiming a Greatness beyond us,
which I loved as I loved my mother; while I felt an awe
amounting to dread on account of the mystery which
shrouded the Unseen. I was a poet long before I
dreamed of philosophy. I saw all nature through a
beautiful veil, woven over my mind by my mother. 1
saw nothing bat goodness ; the evil things of fallen
humanity I had never seen. Earth was still to my
childish eye a paradise, upon which even the rain-cloud
and the wind-storm diffused a regenerating influence ;
and, in those solitary rambles which I always loved, I
felt safe in the consolation of a Presence which sheltered
me as fondly as those indulgent arms. I grew in years,
and the task of education was begun. I had to unlearn
much; at least, all the efforts of my first masters were
directed to destroy those conceptions of nature which I
had drawn from nature, and to implant in my mind
ideas of an artificial character. I was bewildered be-
tween the True and Fidse I became melan

choly in my longings for still more knowledge. You and
my lather deemed my meditations madness, and hurried
me into a world where I detect on every side false pre-
tensions and dishonest aims. There is much real excel-
fence in man, but it is disguised; even good is done with
hypocrisy; and Virtue almost fears to present her pure
form among the crowd. I have borne with this, and I
have learnt that although none are absolutely evil—
although all exhibit an honest desire to act correctly in
their little circles, which are bounded by a thousand
sweet affections, that a chain of conventional error binds
us all, and, in obedience to the galling shackle, man acts
a part of baseness, which the good that is in him teaches
him to abhor. Is this not so, mother ? Notwithstand-
ing all our semblance of piety, and the virtue and the
charity which we assume in public, are we not, all of
us, when before the world, disposed to play the hypo-
crite? and even before our looking-glasses, do we not
try to cheat ourselves, vainly imagining that the grand
mirror of the eternal heavens will not catch the reflection

our inmost souls, through the mask?'"
Many beautiful thoughts are to be found throughout
the volume, such as the following :
" Beauty was in and around all things; as a flood of
light it diffused itself over the whole world. He saw
nature in its brightness and purity reflecting back to
heaven the smile of God. •
" The harp of Memnon is not a fable—its music is no
imaginary sound. Every lover of nature, wbo, seated
on the mountain or by the ocean, has witnessed the sun
casting his first golden beams across the Earth, has had
his soul stirred by that divine harmony. • •
" No sorrow ever fell upon the heart of man,
which
did not in some way improve the condition of that heart.
Fresh sympathies—a greater range of affections—higher
aspiration for the virtues of humanity, or some other
holy influence, invariably appears as the wound heals;
and, disguise it as we may, afflictions are the stern dis-
pensers of those gifts which adorn beatified souls. . •
" Our limits of the beautiful appear to be confined
within a circle which embraces the affections; which in.

volves every grace that a gentle poetry can throw over
objects of art or nature; and which admits of every
sentiment of purity and truth not tainted by the gloom
of tragic feeling. The age in which we live can scarcely
be said to know the sublime. Our milder feelings fall
back with something like the chill of terror upon the
heart, when the sea-cliff, the mountain gorge, or the
precipitous cataract bursts upon us in their grandeur.
The whirlwinds of human passion present themselves as
phenomena at which angels might weep; but the sub-
limity of tragedy finds no sympathy—stirring to a high
religion—in the cells of our more tranquil bosoms. The
spirit of the age is not tragic; and, consequently our
artists cannot learn, in suffering, those sublime appeals
to human hearts which distinguish the works of sterner
periods; and, as every effort of the mind is moulded by
the passion which stirs it, it becomes impossible that we
should embody in'our poetry the terrors of Euripides,
or, in our paintings or sculptures, realise the sublimity
of Michael Angelo. We reach the beautiful; but we
vainly attempt the sublime. The poet who ventures on
the task assumes the grandiloquence of scunding sen-
tences, where he cannot rise to soul-searching thoughts;
the painter, by size, endeavours vainly to compensate for
want of force; and the player, by rant, strives to cheat
the senses into a belief of passion. The watch-word of
the present is Peace. Even amid the discord of that
tempest which is sweeping like a cyclone over Europe,
the voice of the soul—a spiritual music amid the storm
—cries Peace. In the conflict of opinions; in the war
of creeds; in the riots of crime and ignorance; in the
stir and agitation of the virtuous and the educated, still
there rises, like a mighty throb from a melancholy
breast, the sigh for Peace."

THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. By the 13ev. G.

E. Biber.
No lessons are so instructive as those inculcated by
example, and few literary compositions are so inter-
esting as biography ; therefore Mr. Biber, in proposing
to give a series of biographies of the most eminent
Christirns, has selected a theme of singular in-
terest and importance. The very excellent and
highly attractive manner in which the mar-
vellous history of the great Apostle to the Gen-
tiles has been set:forth by Mr. Biber induces the most
favourable anticipations for the coining volumes. Mr.
Biber thus explains the object of his undertaking.
lie was anxious that the biographies should be so
constructed "as to embrace within their scope not only
the leading events of Church history, but all that is
known of the general condition of the Church, and
of the customs and practices which prevailed at each
given period. They should present complete por-
traitures of the life of the Church in every age; and
in order to suit the taste and intelligence of the
general reader, and especially of the young, they
should be written in an easy and popular style, as
free as possible from theological technicalities. All

who peruse the chapters following this introduction
will see cause to congratulate Mr. Biber on the happy
manner in which he has succeeded in his difficult and
admirable endeavour. The life of St. Paul has been
selected as the subject of the first volume because,
" not only is he the one among all the
Saints of the first age of the Church tbr whose
biography the largest amount of authentic materials
is extant, but of all others his life is best calculated.
to exhibit the connexion of the Christian Church
with the Church of the Old Covenant and the relation
in which the two great branches of the primitive
Church, the Jewish and the Gentile, stood to each
other. At the same time it affords a lively picture of
the difficulties attending the first dissemination of the
Gospel, and of the internal condition of the early
Christian communities." As a specimen of the
manner in which the subject has been treated
by Mr. Biber, and as en example of the
exceeding simplicity of his style, notwithstanding
the amount of information condensed into a few
sentences, «e cannot do better than give the opening
of the first chapter of the " History of St. Paul :"
" Of the Great Doctor Gamaliel, and of his two Disciples,

Joses and Saul.

"In the days of Tiberius Ciesar, the Roman Emperor,
there was set over the high school, in the city of Jeru-
salem, a famous Rabbi, whose name was Gamaliel. He
was the son of that holy old man, Simeon, to whom it
had been revealed by the Holy Ghost, that he should
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ; who
also, when the child Jesus was brought into the temple,
took him up in his arms, and bles,ed God, and said,
Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,
for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou Last
prepared before the face of all people ; a light to lighten
the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.'
" This Simeon himself also had been over the high
school that then was at Jerusalem, from which the most
learned among the scribes and lawyers and doctors of
the Jews came forth. And the school itself was called
Beth-Hillel, which signifies ' the house of Hillel,' after
the name of Hillel, the father of Simeon, who founded
this school about sixty years before the Lord Jesus
Christ was born into the world. And in his days, one
Shammai, one of his disciples, who was also a man of
great learning, set up another school, in which he taught
some things concerning the Holy Scriptures and the tra-
dition of the elders, different from what Hillel taught in
his school. The consequence of which was, that many
divisions arose; and the disciples of Hillel and the dis-
ciples of Shammai often had great disputings; and some.
times, through the zeal which they had for their masters,
and the fierceness of their spirit, they grew so violent
that they smote each other, even to the loss of many
lives. And of these two schools, that of Hillel was the
more zealous for the traditions f the elders; for which
reason those who were of the sect of the Pharisees, the
strictest sect of the Jewish religion, sent all their youths
to be taught in Beth-Hillel; which caused it to become so
exceedingly famous and great, that out of it thousands
went forth, both into Jerusalem and Judees, and into
other parts of the world also, spreading everywhere the
doctrine of the Pharisees, and the strict rules of the tra-
dition of the elders. And Hillel himself, having thus
grown a man of great reputation, and many of the chief
men of Jerusalem having been taught. by him, was after-
wards made the chief doctor of the Sanhedrin, or council
of elders and doctors, among whom, beside him, there
was none greater, except the High Priest.
" This Hillel, among the thousands of disciples whom
he taught during the many years which he continued in
Jerusalem, had eighty disciples more clever and more
learned than the rest, who became noted doctors of the
Law, and caused the name of Hillel to be still more
highly exalted among the people. And among these
eighty was Hillel's own son Simeon, who so distinguished
himself by the excellency of his understanding, and the
greatness of his knowledge, that, when his father Hillel
came to die, they made him, who was then himself also
growing old, master of BetL-Hillel and chief doctor of
the Sanhedrin in his father's place.

"And after he was departed, the council of the Jews
being gathered together, chose his son Gamaliel to suc-
ceed him in his office; who thus became, like his father
and his grandfather before him, master of Beth-Hillel,
and chief Rabbi in the Sanhedrin.

"But Gamaliel, though he was a man of great under-
standing, and learned in the Holy Scriptures and in the
tradition of the elders, more than any man of his time,
was a man of very different spirit from what his father
had been before him. For his heart was not humbled
before God as was that of his father Simeon ; and,
therefore, although he knew all the prophecies which had
gone before concerning the coming of Christ, and dili-
gently studied them, and taught them in the school o;
Hillel, yet had he not a right understanding of them:
expecting to see a mighty king arise in all the glory and
majesty of royal power, who should smite all the ene-
mies of the Jews with the sword, and make them the
mightiest of all the nations of the world, and Jerusalem
the chief city on the face of the whole earth. And this
he taught diligently to all that came to study the Law
and the Prophets in Beth-Hillel; whereby it came to
pass, that, when the everlasting King, the King of
Israel, came in the form of a servant to Feed,
repentance and faith in that great sacrific,
which he made of himself for the sins of
the whole world, and to gather together all tilt
nations of mankind into the fold of Israel, and into tht
tellowship of the covenant of grace, the fleshly minds o
Galmaliel and his disciples could not receive His heaven')
doctrine, but rejected the counsel of God against them•
selves. And as the accounts were brought to the council
from time to time, of all the wonderful works whicl.
Jesus did, and of all the words which he spake as on.
having authority, there were many questions and dispute
among the disciples of Gamaliel, what they should think
of Ilim, whether He were the Christ or no. And often
times, having been taught by Gamaliel what they should
say, they went out to ask Him questions and to tempt
Him, and to see if they could entangle Him in His talk.
But the more they did so, the more they were per.
plexed; because they saw the great wisdom with which
be answered them, turning aside all their subtleties, ace
putting them to silence with all their cavils, so the
they knew not how they should reply against Him.
" Now there were among the disciples of Gamaliel two
young men, distinguished above their fellows by the
greatness of their zeal and the excellency of their know.
ledge. They were both strangers in Jerusalem and
Judas, though born of Hebrew parents; as were man)
other of Gamaliel'a disciples, who were of the Jews 0,
the dispersion, scattered abroad in all the countries o
the Gentiles; and who, having heard of the great fain.
of Gamaliel, had come to Jerusalem to be instructed b)
him in the xnowlidge of the Law and the Prophets, ant
in the traditions of their fathers. And the name of on,
was Joses, of the tribe of Levi, who had come from tht
island of Cyprus, where he was born, to become a pupL
of Beth. Hillel; but the name of the other was Saul, ce
had been drawn to Jerusalem by tht
Benjamin, a native of the city of Tarsus, it
also
and of its learned master Gamaliel ;
for a
osHefteh
itself-ll was at that time a city as far famed foi
tfCthhimeeliTeclteriaa o iarb.f B
rsenuing of its schools as it was for the pleasantness
of its situation, in a rich plain between a range of hill:
and the sea, on the banks of the cool and pleasant rivet
Cydnus. In this famous and flourishing city Saul Inv
born and educated; his father being one of the Jewisl
who, though an Hebrew by birth, has
o
rights of a Homan citizen, and living among
sthebetttalGienreesndtthitlheeerse, desired that his son should'
become ac
quainted with all the learning of the Grecians. Where
tore he sent him to the schools which were at Tarsus
and which were esteemed more than equal to the most
celebrated schools of the ancient world, those o
Athens in Greece, and of Alexandria in Egypt,
and there, young Saul, being a youth of quick
understanding, made very great progress in al
the learning of the Grecians, and especially in t
knowledge of their poets and philosophers. Now it war
the fashion among the young men who studied in th,
schools of Tarsus, that, when they had completed theii
studies, they went abroad, in order that, travelling fron
place to place, and visiting the schools of other citiet,
they might increase their knowledge; and, therefore
when Saul's time at the schools of Tarsus was accom
plished, he went to Jerusalem, to the school of Gamaliel
deeming it to be the most fitting school for one to visi
who was an Hebrew of the Hebrews, and, moreover,
follower of the sect of the Pharisees."
The readers of the Scripture need not be told that tht
history of St. Paul is replete with interesting an(
wonderful adventures : the martyrdom of St. Stephet
—the conversion of St. Paul—the preaching of tht
Apostle at Athens and Corinth—his journeyings b)
sea and land—his imprisonment—his perils and hit,
miraculous escapes—the half-conversion of King
Agrippa _Paul's sojourn at Rome, and, finally, hi:.
martyrdom,—all these and many other events are
here narrated in simple and earnest language,
following as closely as possible the sub
lime simplicity of Holy Writ. To the young
especially this little volume will be eminently useful
and to young and old its perusal cannot but afford
delight. We sincerely wish Mr. Biber success in th(
prosecution of his valuable work. We boast of the
appellation of Christians, and if we feel what we say
we cannot think without interest on the pioneers of
our faith, the men who in life and not in name only
merited that appellation The love of a St. John,
and the self-sacrificing faith of a St. Paul, are no
longer to be found, yet the contemplation of such
characters cannot do otherwise than inspire in all a
wish, an ambition to go and do likewise—as each in
dividual may in his appointed sphere. Homilies are
excellent in their way, but to our thinking no lessons
are like those of example, and these volumes of Mr.
Biber are likely to do more good than sermons.

SUICIDE FROM BLACRFRIARS BRIDGE. - Lost
evening (Tuesday), about six o'clock, a respectably
dressed woman, apparently about 19 or 20 years of age,
was übservt d walking across the bridge, when on
the third recess on the lower side nearest the Sum y
shore, she mounted tho scat and deliberately throw her •
self into the water. A cry for assistance having been
raised, Necry, the watchman on Blaekfriars-pier, tope
ther with Mr. Ware, the pier-master, put off in a boat
with the Royal Humane Society's drags, but although
the river eves dragged fur upwards of au hour, they were
unable to find the body. The tide, at the time sha threw
herself over the bridge, was very low, so that there is
no doubt she was killed instantaneously by her head
striking against the bed of the river. A black mantle,
worn by the e.eceased, was picked up in the water, an•t
is lying at the police-station in Fleet. street, which may
probably lead to the identification of the body when
found. _ _ _

At the Custom-house of this port on Thursday
Messrs. Boldemanti, Berries, and Co., reported the
Swedish vessel Dube, Captain M. Lundahl, from Rta,
with a cargo of timber. This is the first vessel arrived
in the Tyne which comes under the regulations of the
new NavigatioAct.—,Newcadle Journal.

M I.GAZINES, &c.—(CONTINUED.)
THE ST. WIES'S MAGAZINE. Edited by

J. Bernard Burke, Esq.
The numher for January fully maintains the high
character which the St. James's has already acquired
as a register of history, heraldry, and genealogy ; and
promises well for the future. It is illustrated by a
beautifully lithographed view of Everley House,
Wilts, the seat of Sir F. D. Astley, Bart., and it
contains an interesting history of the Astley
From an amusing paper on bowling-alleys we extract
the following note, to which we would fain direct the
immediate attention of the authorities of the British
Museum :

" While lam upon this subject it must be permitte d
me, in behalf of the reading public, to call attention to a
dangerous error into which the custodians of the MSS.
in the British Museum have been betrayed, doubtless by
their over-zeal and anxiety. All the most valuable
MSS. they have placed under glass case; w here the air
can only imperfectly get at them, the consequence of
which is—as any discreet housewife would have predi-
cated—that they have become seriously injured by mil-
dew. The volumes I have waded through in my search
were many of them in this state, and the more volatile
colours ot the illuminations had, as an inevitable result,
considerably faded."

CON. CREGAN. Parts XIII. and XIV.
The present instalment of the amusing adventures
of the Irish Gil Blas are brought to a conclusion in
these parts, but we are happy to say that Con. an-
nounces that, like all great actors, he is open to
another farewell engagement; that his career in
greatness (which he has left untold) was not less
eventful than his career in obscurity, and that if he
draws up at this stage it is only in order to leave it
to the traveller to say if he should ever care hereafter
to journey with him. Under these circumstances we
have no doubt but that we shall have a second series
of " Con. Cregan," and the sooner the better.

THE ANNUAL COMMERCIAL REGIS-
TER, and General Record of Prices in the Year
1849. By D. Morier Evans.
Mr. Morier Evans, who is so advantageously
known to the commercial world by his admirable
work on the commercial crisis of 1847 and 1848, and
by other valuable contributions to the science of com-
mercial statistics, has here presented us with a work
which will be found to be a facile and compendious
index to the whole of the financial and mercantile
events of 1849, and which furnishes besides a variety
of statistical and descriptive information, which
renders it most valuable as a book for counting-house
reference. It contains a commercial retrospect
of the past year ; a review of the grain trade during
(he same period; a summary of the produce markets
for the year; the Bank returns for 1849; a return of
the average prices in each month of corn, cotton, and
Consols; a general record of prices of every description
of merchandize throughout the year, and a monthly
chronology, arranged under the several heads of
general intelligence, bankruptcy register, meetings
of the month, mail arrivals, and Parliamentary ab-
stracts, the whole being accompanied by an alphabe-
tical index. This most useful work contains a larger
amount of information on the subjects on which' it
Greats than many a book double its size. It reflects
the highest credit on the talent, accuracy, and in
lustry of Mr. Morier Evans, and there can be no
doubt but that henceforth the "Annual Commer-
oial Register" will take its stand in the foremost rank
,f useful and successful annual publications.

CITY SE WERS COMMISSION.
Yesterday a general court of the Commissioners of
sewers for the city of London was held in ;their
Council Chamber at the Guildhall. 111 r. Deputy
['mock, the Chairman to the Commission, took the
chair at twelve o'clock precisely.
Personal applications having been attended to, and
the reports of the inspectors severally read, and
inowed, several complaints were entertained as to
the refusal of some of the contractors to remove dust
rrom the bins of the citizens.—Ordered that the
inspectors be instructed to report all such cases in
'suture.

SUPPLY OF GAS TO THE CITY.

In accordance with the instructions recently given
co Mr. Tyrrell, the solicitor to the Commission, that
ientleman brought up his report on the resolutions
submitted to the Court as to the deed of the new
:ompany, and the necessity of naming fines to be
inflicted upon the directors of the New Central Gas
Consumers Company, in default of their complying
with the proposed terms. Upon an examination of the
Bill before Parliament, he thought that the Bill
was so singularly drawn, that the promoters, if they
ibtained it, would be by its wording, excluded from
ighting the "City of London and the liberties
hereof." The marginal note "5 " limited them to
he lighting of certain places, the City and its liber-
ies not being included, singular though such a fact
night appear.
Deputy HARRISON thought nothing of the objec-
-ion ' • the old companies had done so without any
interference. Indeed, whatever the opinion ofiparties
night be as to that, he considered such matter was
lot then before them. They, as Commissioners, had,
to fact, not even seen the Bill.

Mr. Dew-I have received a copy.
Deputy IlAaaxsolf—lf Mr. Daw has, we have
lot.

Mr. TYRRELL stated that in compliance with
the wishes of the Court upon a former occasicn,
is had submitted a case, and obtained an opinion
r'rom the Attorney-General, as to the deed, and the
security required, and as to the penalties. Upon
these points, he wished to learn the pleasure of the
Court. He found that the opinion was, that the deed
:night be prepared, and that the blanks as to the fines
might be filled up by the Commissioners. He sug-
gested that some arrangement should be made so as
to prevent any misunderstanding between the Court
and the new compaey.
Mr. GODSON thought that the best way would be
to refer the matter to a small committee.

Deputy HARRISON considered that as the paid-up
capital of the new company would be sufficient to
.;over all losses to the Commissioners and the public
or the penalties for restoring the pavements, and for
rhe other purposes of the said company, that there
could be no further difficulty in the execution of the
deed.

Mr. TYRRELL then went into the several points on
which he thought it right to inform the Commis•
,ioners that penalties should be imposed, namely, as to
he default of the company supplying gas of "superior
quality," making good the pavements, and for other
purposes which he considered to be legally necessary.
Eventually it was moved by Deputy HARRISON, and
seconded by Mr. PERKINS, that the matter be referred
to Messrs. Tyrrell and Hardwick, to confer upon the
subject of the penalties, so that an amicable conclusion
might be come to.
Mr. TAYLOR moved, as an amendment, " That the
report of the Attorney-General be printed and sent
round to the members of the court."

Mr. T. HALL seconded the proposition.
After some further conversation, the amendment
was put and lost, the original motion being carried.

THE LONDON STREET-CLEANSING COMPANY.

The manager of this company appeared to meet
two charges preferred by the police for the neglect of
cleansing the streets in the sne instance, and for the
sweeping by his men of mud down one of the gully-
holes in Smithfield-market, in the other.
The Commissioners, having heard the evidence of
Mr. Holland, the manager, his foreman, and others,
were of opinion that the statements of the policemen
were not borne out, and therefore that both cases
Should be dismissed.

The Commissioners then adjourned, the officers of
health not having upon this occasion any report to
make on sanitary matters.—Adjourned.

DELT/I OF LIEUTENANT-COLONEL SIR JAMES
MALcomt, K.C.B.—We regret to announce the demise
of Sir James Malcolm, who expired on Thursday at his
seat, Minholm, in Dumfrieshire, at an advanced age.
The late venerable and gallant officer was second son of
Mr. G. Malcom, of Burnfoot, and therefore elder
brother of Admiral Sir Charles Malcolm. He entered
the Royal Marines at the early age of 13 years, inwhich
service ho was actively and honourably employed fur
nearly half a century. He served in the first American
war, and was with Lord Howe at the relief of Gibraltar
in 1782; was senior officer of tt a Marines at the battle
of St. Domingo in 1806. In 1812 he was appointed to
(he command of the 2d battalion of Marines, which he
commanded with great credit in Spain, and subsequently
in the United States, and in Lower and Upper Canada.
While in America he was engaged in several actions
with the enemy, and particularly distinguished himself
at the storming of Fort Oswego, on Lake Ontario, when
his name was honourably mentioned in the Gazette of
the sth of July, 1814, and fi r his gallantry on that oc-
casion he was the following year o seated Knight Com-
mander of the Order of the Bath. In 1827, after 48
years' bard service, he retired, universally ri aJected by
his brother officers and privates. The late Sir James,
born in 1767, married in 1806 Miss Oliver, daughter of
Mr. William Oliver, of Dinly byre, N.B. His commission
in the Royal Marines was deed as follows:—Second
Lieutenant, 29th of November, 1779; Lieutenant, 18th
of April 1793; Captain, Ist of :Janwiry, 1797; Major,
6th of February, 1806; and Lieutenant-Colonel, 4;h of
Juno, 1813
DISTRESSING ACCIDI NT AT WINCHCOMBE.-0n
Thursday last, about ten o'clock in the morning, Mr. H.
Smith, a keeper to the Right Hon. Lord Sudeley, left his
home with a gun in his band. After a lapse of about
twenty minutes, the report of a gun was heard, and Mrs.
Smith thought her husband was shooting in the imme-
diate neighbourhood. Several hours passed away, and
in consequence of Mr. Smith failing to return, search was
made for him, and at about nine o'clock in the evening
he was found in that part of Toddington-common, just
adjoining Greet-grove, quite dead, his heart being
pierced by a bullet. It was conjectured that the unfor-
fortunate man was getting over a fence, when h.gun
caught in something and exploded, the charge lodging in
his breast. An inquest was held on the body on Satur-
day, before Mr. Deputy Coroner Mayer, when
.a verdict
of " Accidental Death" was returned. is a singular
fact, that at the same spot where this poor 'man met his
death a young man of the name of Frost was accidentally
•hot some years ago.--Cheltenham Journal.

FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE

OF TUESDAY.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
BY THE QUEEN.-A PROCLAMATION

VICTORIA, R.—Whereas our Parliament stands pro-
rogued to Wednesday, the sixteenth day of this instant
January, we, with the advice of our Privy Council, do
hereby publish and declare, that the said Parliament
shall be further prorogued, on the said sixteenth day of
January instant, to Thursday, the thirty-first day of
January instant; and we have given order to our Chan-
cellor of that part of our United Kingdom called Great
Britain, to prepare a Commission for proroguing the
same accordingly: and we do hereby further, with
the advice aforesaid, declare our Royal will and pleasure,
that the said Parliament shall, on the said Thursday, the
thirty-first day of January instant, assemble and be
holden for the dispatch of divers urgent and important
affairs : and the Lords Spiritual rind Temporal, and the
Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, add the Commis.
sioners for Shires and Burghs of the Rouse of Commons,
are hereby required and commanded to give their at-
tendance accordingly, at Westminster, on the said Thurs-
day, the thirty-first day of January instant.
Given at our Court, at Windsor, this eighth day of
January, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and fifty, and in the thirteenth year
of our reign.

God save the Queen.
At the Court at Windsor, the Bth day of January,
1850: present, the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in
Council. Her Majesty in Council was this day pleased,
upon the representation of the Right Honourable the
Lords of the Committee of Council on Education, to
appoint Ralph Robert Wheeler Lingen, Esq., to be
Assistant-Secretary to the said Committee.
ADMIRALTY, DEC. 31, 1849.
Her Majesty does not require that the Officers of the
Fleet or Royal Marines should, from the 6th January
neat, wear any other mourning for her late Majesty the'
Queen Dowager than a black crape round the lett arm
tit! the 20. h January, when the mourning will cease.

JOHN PARKER.

ADMIRALTY, JAN. 3, 1850.
Corps of Royal Marines.—To be Second-Lieutenants
—Gentlemen Cadets James Stirling Mould, Charles Du
Cane Williams, Frederick Augustus Foster, Henry
Freeland, Alexander Tait, and Philip Harrington.
THE NATIONAL DEBT.
The Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury
having certified to the Commissioners for the Reduction
of the National Debt, in pursuance of the Act, 10th
Geo. IV., c. 27, sec. 1, that the actual surplus revenue
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
beyond the actual expenditure thereof for the year
ended the 10th day of October, 1849, amounted to the
sum of one million two hundred and eleven thousand
eight hundred and forty-five pounds five shillings;
The Commissioners for the Reduction of the National
Debt hereby give notice, that the sum of three hundred
and two thousand nine hundred and sixty-one pounds
six shillings and threepence (being one•lourth part of
the said surplus of one million two hundred and eleven
thousand eight hundred and forty-five pounds five shil-
lings) will be applied under the provisions of the said
Act, between the 7th day of January 1850, and the sth
day of April 1850, to the following purposes; viz.:—
To be applied to the purchase of stock £302,961 6 3
Add interest receivable on account of
donations and bequests, to be applied
to the purchase of stock