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

THE INFANTS PRAYER.

[ln the following graceful and touching verses,
transcribed from the Guardian, we detect the hand of
the gifted and ingenious author of the "Christian
Life." The poem here submitted to our readers is

the third of a series entitled "Lyra Spiritualis;
Thoughts in Verse on Sacred Themes,' and the
charming picture pourtrayed in it, while according
with many of the effusions contained in the last work
of the Rev. Robert Montgomery, amply justifies the
commendation pronounced on that work by our-
selves.]

Bend, Angell from thy throne of bliss,
A living type to see,
Whose pureness, in a world like this,
Partakes of heaven and thee,—
With lisping grace and lovely awe
God's infant kneels in prayer,
Looking as if by faith it saw
W eat lips cannot declare :
For oh ! that face with worship rife
Tells more than tones convey,—
Sof t pulses of bapti,mal life,
Deep in the bosom play.
On earth my Saviour once enwreathtd
Around a sinless child
His loving arms, and o'er it breathed
A blessing, deF p as mild,
And still that breath of awful. love
So charms our il.ward ear,
That children seem to God above
Angelically near.
In vain would plast.c Sculpture dream
It moulds such beauty now,
Or, pot-words rt fleet the gleam
That sanctifies thy brow,—
For earth and heaven around thte twine
A double charm, that glows
With more than marble can define,
Or lyre-Lora language knows.
How West, to watch thy myriad ways
Of fawn •like grace, and glee,
And call thee bright as vernal rays,
Or sun-tints on the seal—

Or hear the music of thy mind
In broken lisps of song,
Whose echo seems the spring-toned wind
O'er leaflets borne along.
Elastic as the vital breeze
Thy fairy motions glide,
With flexure:- of infantile ease
To each glad step supplied;
While golden locks in glittering play
Lko woven sunbeams dance,
And purer than the young-eyed May
Thy soul's ethereal glance;
And buds and blossoms, too, of thought,
Betray their beauteous spell,
Telling that Christ within hash wrought
Far more than speech can tell.
But slumber brings a matchless grace
To thy cherubic form,—
For who can watch a sinless face
Nor bow before the charm?
The silent loveliness of sleep
Serenes thy features then,
And purity, which makes to weep
The sin-worn hearts of men!
But Beauty fades:—and I would learn
The Church's lore from thee,
And in the babe some truths discern
That grasp eternity.—
Thee at her consecrating Fount
Our own true Mother gave
Regenerate life, by which to mount
O'er guilt, and death, and grave.
Thus, fair-browed Thing! whose budding charms
Inwreath maternal heart,
Oh, never from thy Saviour's arms
By recreant w ill depai t.

Baptismal blessings, rich and rare,
Around thee throng and dwell,
Till life becomes embodied prayer,
And truth thy guardian spell.
Still on thy forehead, crossed by grace,
May dews of mercy rest,
And God enrol thee in that race,—
The " Abba " of the blest !

Far down within thy spirit's core
May germs of Christ-born love
His presence, Whom the heavens adore.
By sicret token prove.
Mire sense is dim, and earthly mind
Seems all unfit to know,
Hop water, with the Word combined,
Can primal grace bestow.
Enough for faith, if God decree
A Sacrament divine,
Whereby an infant soul may be
Hi. everlasting shrine.
Dec. 19,1849.

SUN,

THE WELSH CHURCH.
LETTER VIII
TO THE EbJTOR OF THE ::11.V.

Sia,—l b,g to reter your curre3ipon&nt Ulericus"
to Sir Thomas " iVales,"
317-29, where he will find a brief history of St.
David's Col ege, Llampeter.
That institution stands, and has long stood, a
melancholy monument of the inability of even the
best English Bishop arid their Anglicized coadjutors
to comprehend, and to supply the spiritual and mental
requirements of the Principality. Bishop Burgess
was its founder, and his episcopal succe.sor is its
visitor. The college was incorporated in the year
1828, expressly " for the reception and education of
persons destined for holy orders." It received nut
only a high degree of public support, but &lin many
noble benefactions from private bounty ; yet in the
Report of the Charity Commissioners in 1836, the
abeyance, during a series of years, of two of its pro•
tessorships was stated to proceed from " inadequate
resources."

Considering the sole and proper ohj,ct of the insti-
tution to he the home training of Welsh clergymen, it
certainly is a most anomalous and extraordinary tact
that the Professorships of liebre Vf and of Logic should
have been retained, while the Welsh Professorship was
allowed to remain vacant and virtually abolished! But
the present inefficiency and poverty of the institution
obviously proceed rather from its own ircinity and
perversion than from any real difficulties. The visitor
and resident officers, who are thus nullifyit:g the very
purpose of the incorporation, while. Dissent is over-
running the land, for want of zealous Welshmen in its
churches, of course must fail in making out a proper
claim on the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who are,
however, empowered by recent Acts of Parliament to
augment the endowment of St. David's College, Liam-
peter, at discretion. It is not, therefore, to be won.
dered at, that " this enactment," as Sir T. Phillips
expresses it, "has hitherto continued a dead letter."
The original endowment of this college was pecu-
liarly unfortunate; and, since no one can suppose that
Bishop Burgess acted upon the principle of doing evil
to produce good, his conduct in this instance must be
ascribed to that sort of fatuity which cleaves from
generation to generation to English rulers of the
unhappy Welsh Church. Mr. Johnes informs us
(Essay on Dissent, p. 113) that the poor livings
with which this college was first endowed "were
in some instances so completely stripped of
their scanty revenues, that the parishioners
were left without funds to support a resident
minister." In the whole county of Cardigan there
are not more than eight benefices with cure of souls
which are above the value of 150/. a year ; and out of
these eight only two had resident incumbents, whe n
the professors of Llatnpeter were endowed with four
of them :—Bettws Taiwan, 2001.; Bryngwyn, 2001.;
Llangoedmor, 4001.; and Penbryn, 3001. "Nothing
could have been more unjustifiable," observes Mr.
Johnes, " than the annexation of the livings just
enumerated to the College of Llarnpeter, for in this
very county there are no fewer than nine sinecures,
most of them above the annual value of 2001, which
might have been thus applied without depriving whole
dis.riets of a resident ministry" (page 214). The
forlorn condition of these injured and impoverished
varishes may be clearly traced in the tables and notes
of the second part of the Commissioners' Report on
Welsh Education. " Six livings," says Sir T. Phil-
lip, " were granted to this college by King George
the Fourth, namely, Llangoedmor, in Cardiganshire;
Llanedi, St. Peter's, Caerrnarthen ; Llangeler, in
Carmarthenshire ; and Llandeur, Velfrey, and Nangle,
in Pembrokeshire."

Cif mmon sense and strict justice evidently require
that all these misappropriated benefices should be forth -
with restored to their proper parochial uses, and that
the college should at once be sufficiently and liberally
endowed out of the property placed at the disposal of
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. This being done,
and each of these benefices being severally bestowed
upon a pious Welshman ;—the college itself being
thoroughly renewed, its whole administration re-
formed and conscientiously directed to the efficient
education of useful Welsh ministers, to labour among
their fellow -countrymen,—imtnense benefits might
confidently be expected to follow such vigorous proofs
of the energetic revival of the Welsh Church. •
Blessed be the statesmen who shall bring such
things to pass.—l am, Sir, &c.,
GORBONIAN.

``ttt

THE BRITISH MUSEUM.—This institution closed
yesterday afternoon, for the purpose of cleansing, &c.,
and will be re-opened to the public on Wednesday, the
9th instant. The total number of visitors to the
Museum from Wednesday last until yesterday inclusive,
was 41,947.
REFUSAL TO MARRY BY A CLERGYMAN.—The
Live: pbol Standard of Tin sduy last say.:—" We are
intern ed that the G.vvernment solicitor, Mr. Reynolds,
instructed his agents at Liverpool to pre,ent an indict-
ment at the pros••nt assiz-s against the Rev. Moorhouse
James, M.A (13. A. 1835), tormerly ot Jesus College,
i eumbent of Bedford, ne, r Leigh, tor refusing, to marry
Henry Fisher and another. The superintendent registrar
of the district was examim d before the grand jury, at
Liverpool, ou Wednesday, and a true bill has been re-
turn,' •
march
aTsti‘;,..2tirt. The trial will take place at the
T" Stirs
BERLAND LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHIC
S OCIETy.
_The annual soiree ot this institution VA
place on Wednesday
last, and was presided over by
oanu Mr.
audience
ne
caed
assembledvat
aChambers,geo at
providing
rsooE,:ei n
lengthbu r h a
nd whow th addressedgreat effect
ff
ct,
ch
te,
Wing places of innocent recrea-
tion and enlight, nnaent for the humbler classes of society.
Mr. Chambers was followed by Mr. Digby Seymour,
who also addr, ssisti the tceetiug in praise of the insti-
lion. The musical resourees of Sunderland were called
into play to make the soiree pass ffKi:h more Mat, and
the te,tival was aro,' opviat,•ly closet with a sqn.tantial
supper in the libta: y, at which the Mayor presided, and
where the healths of Mr. Chambers and his brother were
touted and drunk with enthusiasm.

TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 1, 1850,

SAVINGS' B A NKS.
(FROM A CoRRESPONDENT.)
The mismlnag-tnent ot the Itlchdale Savings' Bank
hag brought upon other inslituticns no little trouble
and a share of unpluasantnrss. If a trustee or a
nitn.tgLr bad regularly attended the bank at Rochdale,
and taken that part assigned to him in his character
of trustee or manager, the frauds which have from
time to time been committed, nor any one of them,
could have taken place. Again, if the late actuary
had the sole control of the business of the institution,
the account which is transmitted to the National
Debt Office monthly :must have been a false one, in-
astnuch as it has certified thus :—" We the managers
and the actuary, or secretary of the Savings' Bank
established at Rochdale, in the county of Lancaster,
do hereby certify that the several sums of money
stated in the columns two and five (the receipt and
payment columns) were received and paid in our pre-
sence in the office or place appointed by the rules and
regulations for conducting the business of the said
batik." Now, if a trustee or manager gave regular
attendance they must have paid very little attention to
the business ot each day; and if they did not give their
attendance, it is passing strange and most extraordi-
nary that the certiticat• quoted above should hare been
every month sent to the National Debt Office, avow•
ing that such attendance was given. Look at the
etv-e in whichever way one may, it produces surprise
and astonishment.

Another point is not unworthy of remark just
now. A hint has been thrown out that friendly
societi, F, lodge members, and the like, who have
invested in banks for savings, not being legally en-
rolled, are not entitled to withdraw the amount stand-
ing in their names. Now, for trustees and managers
(who are acquainted with the law applicable to those
institutions) to receive the funds of these societies
and not refund their money, would be breaking good
faith, and also acting very much like obtaining money
under false pretence. Having received the deposits,
they cannot, up to the present time (without com-
mitting a gross wrong and manifest injustice), refuse
repayment to those scoieties. They might give them
notice to withdraw their investments, and have none
standing in their ledgers for the future but were duly
certified by Mr. J. T. Pratt, as the law requires they
should be.

There is another matter yet not unworthy of
notice—namely, the fact that in many banks for
savings individuals are allowed to deposit (both for
themFelves and their children) who ought not to be
permitted. It is highly improper, and also suffering
that which is contrary to the principle and spirit of
the Act of Parliament.

The constitution, as well as the management of
banks for savings, must be put into a healthy con-
dition.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
TATTERSALL'S.—YESTERDAY.
Business was extremely flit, the only horses in demand
being Voltigeur and The Nigger fur the Derby, and
Dough and John Cosser for the Chester Cup. The
Metropolitan Handicap and Liverpool Steeplechase bets
were mostly in scores and ponies.
CHESTER CUP.
1,000 to 20 agst Lord Howth's Peep-o'-day Boy—taken
twice
1,000 to 20 agst Mr. Murphy's Dough—t several times
1,000 to 20 agst Mr. Pedley's Cossack—taken
50 to 1 agst Sir R. Pigot's Essedarius
50 to 1 agst Mr. Stebbings's Melton
1,000 to 20 agst Mr. Merry's Chanticleer—taken twice
1,000 to 15 agst Sir R. Buikeley'a Melody—taken
1,000 to 15 agst Capt. Hervey's Lismahago
2,000 to 30 agst Mr. Meiklam's Raby—taken
2,000 to 30 agst Mr. Wreford's Woodlark—taken
1.000 to 15 agst Mr. Jaques's Chantrey—taken
1,000 to 12 agst Mr. Gregory's Clermont—taken
1,000 to 10 agst Mr. Gregory 'a Kennington—taken
2,000 to 20 agst Mr. Meiklam's Emma—taken
1,000 to 10 agst Mr. Pedley's Chatterer—taken
3,000 to 30 agat Captain Harcourt's Ellerdale—taken
1,000 to 10 agst Mr. Irwin's Horn of Chase—taken
1,000 to 10 agst Mr. Payne's Glauca—taken
1,000 to 10 agst Mr. Meiklam's Rowland—taken
METROPOLITAN HANDICAP.
30 to 1 agst Testator
30 to 1 agst Lady Mary
DERBY, 1850.
11 to I agst Duke of Richmond's Ghillie Callum—
taken to 1001.
18 to 1 agst Mr. Gratwieke's The Nigger—taken
18 to 1 agst Lord Zetland's Voltigeur—taken
25 to 1 agst Mr. Jaques's Mildew
25 to 1 agst Lord Airlie's Clincher—taken and
afterwards offered
30 to 1 agst Lord H. Lennox's William the Con-
queror—taken to 251
30 to 1 agst Lord Eglinton's Mayors
40 to 1 agst Mr. Dixon's Blarney
THE OARS.
10 to 1 agst Lord Eglinton's Probity—taken to 1501.
LIVERPOOL STEEPLECHASE.
20 to 1 each laid agat Vainhope, Vengeance, Peter
Simple, Rat-trap, and Knight of Gwynne, and 25 to 1
agst the Oak?.
CHESTER Cur.—Entries at Chester up to Monday
morning :—Clermont, Reception, The Arab, Damask,
Chorister, lanthe, Fi.zpatrick, Ballinafad, King of Oude,
Pantomime, Fogleman, Minimum, Bon- mot. Cocker-
mouth, Lambs'-wool, Idle Boy, Colleen Rhue. Keleshea,
Meaux. John Cosser, Ada Mary, Manifold, Peep o'• day
Boy, Ell,rslie, Loup-garou, Sir Richard, Captain Grant,
Belzer, Solon, Testator, Seneca.

STATISTICS OF THE TUitF, 1849.

The annexed table shows the amount of the Prin-
cipal Stakes, the Value of Cups and Forfeits received
in Matches being included. From the gross amount,
the winner's own stake, money awarded to second
and third horses, and the usual expenses, have been
deductt.d.

Won. Amount.
Lord Eglinton 27 £20,116
Duke of Bedford... 45} 9,387
Sir J. Hawley ... ... 19 9,340
Lord Chesterfield ... ... 18 8,842

Lord Stanley .. ... 24 7,030
Lord Exeter 32 5 875*
Colonel Peel ... 17 6,755
Duke of Richmond ... ... 22 5,235
Mr. B. Green ... ... 37 4,760
Mr. Meiklam ... 21 5,687
Lord IL Lennox ... ... 17 4,262
Lord Clifden... 24 3,909

Mr. Payne ... ... ... ... ... 19 3,455
Mr. Greville ... ... . . ~. ... 14 2,995

Mr. A. Nicoll ... ... ... ... 2 2,900
Mr. Pedley ... ... ... ... ... 9 3,010
Lord Orford... ... ... ... .. 5 2,670
Mr. IL Stebbings... ... ... ... 6 2,745
_

Mr. Relt 17 2,117
Mr. F. Clarke ... . . 2 2,130
L9rd Waterford ... 19 2,069

Mr. Disney ... ... ... ... ... 6 2.120
Mr. Clarke ... . . - ... ... 4 1,545
Colonel Anson ... ... ... ... 7 1,325
Mr. Merry ... ... .•. ••• ... 5 1,519
Mr. J. Powney ... ... ... ... 3 1,285
Mr. Francis ... ... ... ... ... 2 1,313
Mr. Halford ... ... ... ... 6 1,220
The late Lord Albemarle ... ... 2 1,110
• Exclusive of the Queen's Cup at Ascot.
The following shows the amount of Money Won by
each of the undermentioned Horses, together with the
number ofßacEs in which they proved successful.
Owners' and Horses' Names. Age. Won. Amount.
Lord Eglinton's Flying Dutchman 3 7 £11,870
Lord Chesterfield's Lady Evelyn 3 4 6,305
Sir J. Hawley's Vatican ... ... 3 6 4 211
Duke of Bedford's Sobraon ... 3 10 3,750
Colonel Peel's Tadmor ... ... 3 2 3,275
Mr. A. Nicoll's Nunn, kirk ... 3 2 2,900
Lord Eglinton's Elthiron ... ... 3 7 2,825
Sir J. Hawley's Fernhill ... ... 4 2 2.809
Lord Orford's Fire-king ... ... 3 4 2,620
Mr. H. Stebbing's Melton ... ... 4 3 2,623
Lord Stanley's Canezou ... ... 4 8 2,600
Lord Stanley's Strongbow ... ... 3 10 2,085
Mr. Payne's Glauca ... ... ... 3 9 2,059
Mr. F. Clarke's The Flea ... ... 3 1 2,050

Mr. Msiklam's Raby ... ... ... 3 3 2,135
Mr. Greville's Clarissa ... ... 3 5 2,009

Mr. Roles gallant old Collingwood won the greatest
number of races in the year, no fewer than twelve
being placed to his account; the Duke of Bedford's
Sobraon won ten ; Lord Stanley's Strongbow the
like number; and the splendid daughter of Mel-
bourne, Lord Stanley's Canezou, won eight races,
including the magnificent Goodwood and Doncaster
Cups.

DIAMOND DUST.
(From Eliza cook's Journal.)
The friendships of the world are often confederacies
in vice or leagues of pleasure.
Life is the hyphen between matter and spirit.
A breaking wave is the only thing in nature which is
most beautiful in the moment of its dissolution.

The fetters of rhyme are no more than a bracelet to
the true poet.
As well pass a kaleidoscope from hand to hand, and
expect no trembling touch will alter its aspect, as to
think to hear a story from mouth to mouth literally and
accurately repeated.
When hearts are filled.with holy affections, and home
is happy, then do the young dwell in a charmed circle,
which only the naturally depraved would seek to (pit,
and across which boundary temptations to error shine
out but feebly.

MR. WILLY'S CLASSICAL CONCERTS.—The third
of these corcerts was held last night at St. Martin's hall,
in Long-acre. In addition to the ordinary instrumental
attractions, Mr. Willy had engaged Ernst, who executed,
wiih Mr. Sterndale Bennett, Beethoven's Grand Sonata
in G (No. 3, op. 30), for pianoforte and violin, and took
part in Mendelssohn's Grand Quartet in E minor, with
Messrs. Willy, Hill, and Reed. The room was well
filled; and some distinguished amateurs were present.
Ernst was enthusiastically received, and was encored in
the allegro vivace of the Sonata.
THE TEMPERATURE IN PARIS.--011 Friday, at
midnight, the centigrade thermometer marked 4 deg.
2 m. below zero; on Saturday, at six o'clock. A.M , it
marked 4 deg. 9 m.; at seven o'clock, 5 deg. 7 m.; and
at noon, 1 deg. 9 m.
EXPLOSION AT GLASGOW.—On Sunday morning,
about seven o'clock, an explosion of gas took place in
Bath-street, Glasgow, when three men were so dread-
fully injured that they are not expected to survive.

THE MARSHALSEA AND PALACE

HIGH. TIDES AT YARMOUTIY.
The following letter has been addressed to a
morning Contemporary ;
Sir,—Asj an inhabitant of Yarmouth I feel it to-be
a duty I owe equally to yourself and your readers, to
give the most unqualified contradictien teros para-
graph which appeared under the above headirn your
Journal of December 29, and in which a mos,tgrOw„
fabrication was palmed off upon those residing at a
distance from our seaport; and in order that the con-
tradiction may be as explicit as possible, 1 will, with
your permission, notice the inventions of the writer
of the parrgraph in question as they occur.
The writer states that Yarmouth and Lowestoft are
"laid under water," as well as "the whole of the sur-
rounding country for miles." 1 can only say this is
utterly false, nothing of the kind having occurred ncr
indeed the slightest thing which could have given
even a bare foundation for such a statement. Next,
" The lower fists of most of the housQs are flooded to
the depth of from three to six feet ;" the fact being
that in some of the under-ground cellars on t!,e quay
the water has risen (not flowed) about six cr eight
inches deep, owing to tae drains r.ot being ab!e to dis-
charge themselves into the river by reas(.ll of the tide
not being low enough to permit them, and owing also
to the springs being affected invuri;,bly by the tides
more or less. " Great destruction of imp rty in
consequence. The only damage I know of is in
Mr. J. Pahner's salt warehouse by the river side,
where salt to the value of 801. or 1001 has be en de-
stroyed, and a few planks of the jetty into the sea
have been forced up, but 51. will pay fe.r the damage.
" The quay, market-place, and streets, are inundated."
There is just truth enough, as regards the quay, to
save it from being false ; but the rest is entirely false,
not one drop of water having entered those places
save and except the water arising from thawed snow.
On the quay, near the bridge (where there is at least
200 feet of open plain), the river certainly overflowed
to a distance of about twelve yards, and to a depth
of five or six inches, not the slightest damage, how-
ever, being done beyond that mentioned above. "The
water over the bar was twelve feet deeper than usual."
I need only say that the water was two feet lower
than at the high tide which took place four years ago.
As a confirmation of my assertion I subjoin a copy
of the register of the depth of water at the tide-
, gauge at the pier, furnished me by Mr. W. Teasdel,
deputy-engineer, at the pier:—
December 11, 1845, depth 12ft. Sin.
27, 1849, depth 10ft, 4in.
ss 28, 1849, depth 10ft. Bin.
Thus it will be at once apparent the total depth Walt
not as much as the writer stated the excess alone was.

COURTS.

Yesterday some provisions in the Act of last session
(12 and 13 Victoria, cap. 101) to amend the Act for
the more easy recovery of small debts and demands in
England, and to ab,ii:3ll certain inferior courts of
record, took effect. It is enacted that from and after
the 3lst of December, 1849, all the power, authority,
and jurisdiction of the Court of the Marshalsea, and
of the Court of the Palace at Westminster, shall cease
and determine, and that all the actions and suits then
depending in the courts respectively shall be trans-
ferred, with all the proceedings thereon, to her Ma-
jesty's Court of Common Pleas at Westminster if the
debt or damages sought to be recovered in such
actions or suits respectively shall exceed the sum of
201., and to the County Court for the district in which
the respective defendants shall then reside if the debt
or damages sought to be recovered in such actions or
suits respectively shall not exceed the sum of
201., and such actions or suits respectively
so transferred shall be dealt with and de-
cided according to the practice of the courts
respectively or of the court whence the same shill I e
transferred, according to the discretion of the court,
which shall, for the purpose of such actions or suits
only, be deemed and taken to have all the power and
jurisdiction to all intents and purposes possesse,l before
the passing of this Act by the court whence such
action or suit sledl be transferred. Further, it is pro-
vi,led by the Act that all judgments obtained in any
of the courts hereby abolished on or before the 31st
of December shall, notwithstanding the passing of
this Act, be as valid and effectual, and as capable of
being enforced by the process of the court in which
such judgments shall respectively have been obtained,
as if this Act had not been passed. The records are
placed under the charge of the Master of the Rolls.
There are some hundreds of orders of commitment
under the Small Debts Act to be executed, and the
question is whether, as they were made by the Palace
Court, they can be enforced. At present nothing has
been done on the subject of compensation to the
officers and other persons connected with the abolished
courts. The claims are under the consideration of
the Treasury.
CONVICTED PRISONERS.

The following report, upon a subject of considerable
interest to the citizens of London, has been ordered
by the Court of Aldermen to be printed
" In obedience to an order of the Court, of the 29th
September last, to further consider our report respect-
ing- the maintenance of criminal convicts in the gaols
of this City; to report the expenses thereof for the
last four years; and also the expenses of prosecutions,
and whether they should be paid by the Corporation
or the Consolidated Fund, and to report our opinion
thereon ; we certify that we directed statements of
these accounts to be made out by the solicitor, com-
mencing with the year 1846, the period from which
by a resolution of the House of Commons, those
items of charge on the county rate were to be
defrayed out of the Consolidated Fund, under the
Annual Appropriation Act ; and we do further
certify that we have received from the solicitor,
in a tabulated form, which we have hereunto
annexed, a statement of the costs of prosecutions,
and the cost of the maintenance of prisoners for the
years 1846, 1847, and 1848, averaging 4,8541. per
annum. The corresponding accounts for the year
1849 will be laid before us as soon as the year closes.
The Solicitor reports, as far as he has proceeded with
the past months, he thinks it will slightly, but not
materially, exceed the average of the three preceding
years. And we do further certify that the Solicitor
reports that the Corporation of London are entitled to
claim payment half• yearly of these sums, out of the
annual vote, the magistrates of sessions being entitled
by law to levy a county rate for the amount. And
we do further certify that, having taken the whole
matter into our consideration, R e recommend that an
account for the charges of prosecutions and the main-
tenance of convicts for the half-year ending sth Oc-
tober last, be made out by the governors of the
prisons, in the forms prepared by the Solicitor, and
that application be made to the Lords other Majesty's
Treasury for payment of that amount, and of the
annual grant made by the Appropriation Act for these
purposes."

•Eleven vessels got on the sands,; Up to the
present time only two vessels have been on the sands.
and they have been assisted off w•i.hout material
damage. The " exertions to save life and property,"
with which the writer concludes, sounds so well it
were a pity to contradict it Suffice it to say, the
only particle of truth in the entire paragraph is that
part which relates to the railway, which is substan•
tially correct. _

THE RECORDS of the MAYOR'S COURT.
The following is the report made by Mr. Sergeant
Merewether, the Town Clerk, relative to the arrange-
ments of the records of the Mayor's Court :
"In obedience to the order that I should report
from time to time the progress made in the examina-
tion and arrangement of the records of the Mayor's
Court, I have to certify that, in pursuance of the
authority given to me on the 13th April, 1847, to
employ a proper and competent person to examine
the Woks and the records connected with the practice
and proceedings of the Mayor's Court, I did employ
Mr. Brandon, the Deputy Registrar, for that purpose,
and tl'at he has proceeded in the task, the progress
having been from time to time reported to your Com-
mittee of General Purposes.
" That a strong iron proof closet in one of the
Record rooms under my care, has been fitted up for
the reception of the records, numbers of which, pre.
served from the fire in 1838, have been removed from
the office in the Old Jewry to that depository, and
secured in bundles.

" o.her rolls, nine in number, during the reign of
Edward the First, have been examined, arranged,
ticketed, and epitomised, and forms of each separate
proceeding have been extracted in extenso.
"Records of the reigns of Edward the Third,
Richard the Second, Henry the Fourth, Fifth, and
Sixth, have also been arranged.
" There are books of precedents of the reign of
James the First, illustrated with marginal notes, and
refirences made to them by an index.
" Records from the reign of Elizabeth to George
the First, in 236 bundles, have been numbered and
dated, so as to be capable of reference an 4 inspection
as occasion may require, rendering these records
available for the future regulation and practice of the
Court.

"After the reign of James the First, I did not think
it necessary that so copious an index as bad been before
made should be continued, many of the plaints being
of an usual and ,ordinary description ; they were how-
ever classified and duly arranged for preservation, and
others were arranged for future reference ; and, after
a series of precedents had been secured, a shorter
mode of indexing was adopted, curtailing the time
necessary for completing the whole arrangement
which I now consider sufficient for ordinary practical
purposes, though many records still remain unar-
ranged.
" During the last three months of the employment
of Mr. Brandon for the purpose of completing the
work, a shorter mode of arranging and indexing has
been adopted, not so satisfactory as the former, but in
as great detail as I felt justified in ordering, without
the further sanction of the Court, with whom it is left
to consider the expediency of continuing or discon-
tinuing the undertaking
"The arranging ceased •n be 31st of January,
1849, the classing of each species being completed to
the 20th Charles 1., leaving the subsequent records to
the Bth Geo. I. unclassed, but sorted in bundles.
"It will be a satisfaction to the Court to learn that

Ln a late case in the court of St. Martin's-le-Grand,

the Judge required a selection of 12 records for the
purpose of showing the ancient practice of the Court,
which were easily produced, in consequence of the
arrangements which had been made, and the records
so produced materially affected the proceedings in the
cause.

"11. A. MEREWETHEB, Town Clerk."

I sorry to have been compelled to trouble you at
this length, but I doubt not, for the sake of truth, you
will find room for this letter; indeed, in justice to
your high character for accuracy the impudent fabri-
cation should be exposed.—l am, Sir, your obedient
servant,

Louis A. MULL.
Great Yarmouth, Dec. 29, 1849.

STRETHAM.

SINGULAR INSTANCE OF THE POISONING OF A
LARGE QUANTITY OF POULTRY.--WIII. Read, Esq.,
of Stretham, who is in the habit of rearing a large
quantity of poultry, of o choice breed and fine de-
scription, on his plantation farm, was considerably
surprised to hear from his steward, on Tuesday morn-
ing, the 18th instant, that the greater proportion of
them, consisting of remarkably fine guinea and game
fowls, upwards of twenty in number, were found
lying perfectly dead upon the floor of the apart-
ment where they were accustomed to roost.
The fowls being all young ones, in fat and excel-
lent condition, the first impression was that they
bad in all probability by some means been poisoned.
In order to ascertain this fact, Mr. Read had the dead
animals immediately forwarded to Mr. Pearson, an
analytical chemist at Ely, for the purpose of a post
mortem tied chemical examination of them. Mr.
Pearson gave it as his opinion that the animals all
died asphyxiated or suffocated, occasioned by the re-
spiration of two poisonous gases, viz., carbonic acid
and charcoal vapour—which was afterwards ascer-
tained to have been generated and mixed up with the
atmosphere of the apartment where the fowls slept, in
the following manner :—lt aipears that the room in
which the fowls roost IA night is exceedingly low and
close, and one of small dimensions, deficient in proper
ventilation, and almost air -tight when the door is shut;
in the same room is an oven and furnace
for the purpose of baking, which had been heated on
this occasion with a large quantity of green wood.
After the operation of banking was completed, the
fuel and ashes were removed from the furnace in a
state of combustion, in the form of charcoal, the
burning embers being left to extinguish themselves
during the night upon the floor of the apartment,
with the doors and windows closed, whilst the fowls
were at roost. Thus, from want of proper caution,
two of the most poisonous and deadly gases in nature
were generated and accumulated, which are eike
rapidly fatal to animal and human lire; and had any
person been so unfortunate as to have been exposed to
the influence of these deleterious agents, even for a
few minutes, they would uedoubtedly have shared a
similar fate to that of these poor fowls.— Cambridge
Chronicle.

MADAME SONTAG'S CONCERT.
We approach our office of critic this week with no
ordinary feelings. We well remember with what
regret we learned, some eighteen years ago, that the
musical world was about to be deprived of one of its
choicest ornaments. And little did we think then that
it would ever again fall to our lot to have to record
the public appearance of Henrietta Sontag. What
wondrous changes have passed over the world of music
since the enchantress was last heard in England !
Composers that were then in their zenith, and even
others that have appeared since, have gone to their last
home. Pasta and Pisaroni, Malibran and Schechner,
were either in full fame, or in the promise of their
young bloom. Kemble, Shaw, and Novelle, were
not thought of. Grisi and Viardot were at school,
and Jenny Lind a child at play. How curiously does
this illustrate the rapid and extreme mutations of this
branch of the arts duriag the last twenty years !
And yet, allowing for associations and recollections,
which poetry forbid that weever should grow too old to
retain and cherish—the simple and surprising truth is,
that never was returning artist so able to abide
all these as Madame Sontag. That her voice has
been cared for like some precious pearl is evident, and
"Time has treated the lady like a lover, not like a
destroyer." But the sweetness and evennesss of the
organ are as surprising a 4 they are delightful. How
much must that delicacy and tenderness, which the
other evening " came o'er the ear," have struck and
charmed every hearer, especially when it is compared
with the rougher singers of a new generation. Then
how chaste and complete is her style, how pure and
easy, how elegant and sparkling her execution, how
sound and truthful her expression. We were delighted
to find unimpaired those exquisite flute passages,
which she chiefly executes a mezzo voce and with the
most perfect articulation ; and though her voice is
mostly adapted for the adorned Italian style, for the
sentimental or playful and graceful song, yet in the
prayer from Der Freischutz, " Und ob die Wolken
sich verhullen," and in Bishop's charming air,
" Home ! sweet home!" she abundantly showed that
she is no less perfect in the simple song.—Leeds
Times, Dec. 22.

OLYMPIC THEATRIL—Mrs. Mowatt made her first
appearance last night as Beatrice in Much Ado about
Nothing, at the conclusion of which she was called before
the curtain with Mr. Davenport.