The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING OCTOBER 17, 1844.

OPENING of the SPANISH CORTES.
MADRID, OCT. 10.
The Cortes were opened to-day by the Queen in
person about one r.m. The royal cortege left the
palace at a quarter before one, and passed through the
Calle Mayor and other streets to the Priesta del Sol,
and thence by the Calle del Arenal and Plaza del
Oriente to the Senate, where the members of both
chambers were assembled to meet her Majesty.
Numerous carriages preceded that of the Queen, con-
taining the principal members of the household ; these
were followed by the Infante Don Francisco de Paulo,
preceded by two hussars as outriders; and, lastly, the
Queen, with her mother and sister, preceded by a de-
tachment of the Maria Christina Hussars, and fol-
lowed by another detachment of the same troops, and
a large body of lancers, the regiment of Curassiers
completing the procession.
The streets through which the procession passed
were covered with tapestry and ornamentei The
firing of 21 cannon announced the departure of the
Queen from the Palace, and 21 more her entrance
into the Senate. The deputations from the two Cham-
bers met her Majesty at the entrance to the Palace of
the Senate. A special deputation from the Cortes
accompanied the Queen-Mother, the Infante Luisa
Fernando, and the Infante Don Francisco de Paulo,
to the tribune reserved for them. Her Majesty, re-
ceived by the deputation from the Cortes, made her
entrance into the hall accompanied by the Ministers
and the officers of her household. The deputation
from the Cortes remained at the steps to the throne.
The Queen took her place on the throne, surrounded
by the Ministers and the officers of her household and
her ladies of honour. As soon as the Queen had
taken her seat, the President of the Council of Minis-
ters, after having saluted the Queen's hand, presented
the speech to be read on opening the Cortes. The
Queen, after having read the speech, passed it to
the Minister of Grace and Justice, who will have
authentic copies made fur the two legislative bodies,
and a copy for insertion in the Madrid Gazette. The
President of the Council of Ministers approached
to receive the Queen's commands, and proclaimed
them in the following form :—" ller Majesty com-
mands me to declare that the Cortes for the year 1844
are legally opened conformable to the Constitution of
the Monarchy." The Queen then descended from
the throne, and quitted the hall. The firing of 21
cannon announced her departure, and 21 shots her
arrival at her palace. The national flag was hoisted
oa all the public buildings during the day. As the
passage from the Queen's palace to the Senate is but
short, it was determined, in order that the entire po-
pulation of the city might have an opportunity of
seeing her Majesty, and in order to refute the calum-
nious reports in circulation respecting her Majesty's
health, that, in place of following the direct line, the
Queen proceeded by the Puerta del Sol. Troops wes
stationed on the passage of the royal procession. The
public were particularly curious to see for the first
time the Civic Guard accoutred in a French costume,
who figured in the procession. The organization of
this new creation of gendarmerie is almost complete.
One of the private letters states, that the speech from
the throne is from the pen of M. Martinez de la Rosa.
The following are the names of the members of the
deputation who waited upon the Queen :—MM. Aloe
Monucal, Sanjurjo, Blonco y Toja, Llander, Coira,
Vasquez, Conga Arguelles, Pueja, Aspiroz, Arena,
and Carriquiri.
The Queen and her sister both looked pale and had
a somewhat melancholy expression of countenance,
indicative of a delicate state of health. Queen
Christina, on the other hand, looked animated and
much better that when she first entered Madrid.

Her Majesty on taking her seat on the throne in
:he Senate House delivered the following speech :

" Senors, Senators, and Deputies,
" I could not celebrate my birthday in and• better way
than by assembling together on this auspicious day the
Cortes of the kingdom, and by surrounding myself with
the elected of the nation.

" I ought also to congratulate myself for the benevo-
lent dispositions which the allied and friendly Powers
continue to manifest towards me, among whom the Su-
blime Porte has felicitated me by means of an Extraordi-
nary Envoy, who has been received in these kingdoms in
a manner befitting the ancient bonds that subsist between
both States.

" A serious event had happened which might have
disturbed the peace which I ,so much desire to preserve
with the empire of Morocco ; but considering the na-
tional honour to be compromised, before which conside-
ration all others ought to be silent, my Government
made the fitting reclamations, and prepared itself to sup-
port it, if nececsary, by force of arms.' On this occasion
I received a new proof of friendship on the part of my
august allies, the King of the French and the Queen of
Great Britain and :Ireland. Both one and the other
Sovereign offered me their good offices, which I accepted
in suitable terms ; and events becoming complicated up
to the point of war breaking out between the empire of
Morocco and France (a war terminated with such cele-
rity and glory by that Power), the British Government
continued interposing its powerful influence with the
greatest efficacy, in order to arrange our disturbances
with that empire. This has fortunately happened. The
basis of a treaty, in virtue of which Spain a ill obtain the
satisfaction justly due to her, having been already agreed
upon, my Ministers will present the said convention to
you as soon as it is ratified in the proper manner.
" They will also present to you, and in the earliest
session, the project of constitutional reform—a most
essential point—which my Government has already in-
dicated since the very convocation of the Cortes, and
whose gravity cannot be hid from your illustration and
patriotism. I promise myself that you will dedicate
yourself with zeal to so important a work, since the
least delay might occasion incalculable evils, frustrating
the hopes of the nation, which desires to see the field of
political discussion closed as soon as possible, and the
institutions which are to rule it secured for the future.
" In order to give more robustness and force to those
institutions, it is necessary and urgent to endow the
nation with organic laws which are in conformity with
the Constitution, and facilitate its action and movement.
For this reason I hope that you will contribute, in accord
with my Government, to repair a fault which the nation
is lamenting for many years.
" If you effect the reform of the Constitution in a short
time, and the planting of the organic laws which are its
complement, your attention will be able to employ itself
with more time and leisure in the examination of ad
ministrative and economical improvements, which will
have great influence in the wealth and prosperity of the
people.
" Anxious, as well as yourselves, that this important
object should be attained, I have ordered my Ministers
to present to you various projects of law upon adminis-
trative affairs.
" With respect to finance, the first step towards esta•
blishing order and concert in it has been the disembar-
rassing of the contributions and public revenues from the
charges contracted during my minority, through the
difficulties occasioned by the civil war and other lament-
able circumstances. The products of the revenues and
contributions being united, it will be less difficult to
apply them to the most peremptory necessities, while it
is sought to establish the possible equilibrium between
the income and expenditure, improving the tributary
system on the one hand, and making opportune economy
on the other. This is the best means to re-establish
credit in a natural manner, for which end it is indis-
pensable to take into consideration the fate of the State
creditors, both national and foreign. Order in the
finances and good faith in the Government will afford
them the best guarantee.
" I have the most lively satisfaction in announcing to
you that the army, after a civil war of seven years, and
the political changes in which the bonds of obedience are
always loosened, is, in fact, in an excellent state of dis-
cipline. The part relative to instruction has received
the improvements which the advancement of the mili-
tary art reclaimed, and I have further sent Commis-
sioners of the scientific branches to foreign countries, in
order that whatever is thought useful and fitting may be
applied at once to the Spanish army. With the object
of alleviating the budget, all the economies have been
made which are compatible with the safety of the State,
and the welfare of those who have shed their blood in
defence of the throne and the laws. When the authority
of the latter becomes strengthened by means of order in
the administration, and the vigour of the civil authori-
ties, the force of the army may be diminished without
danger; effecting both the advantage of restoring to
their hearths many useful arms, and of the lightening
of the budget of the contributions.
"In the midst of the difficulties of the Treasury, I
have fixed my particular attention on the navy, the re-
cord of so many glories, and object of so nsany hopes.
The situation of the Peninsula and of the rich territories
which Spain still possesses in various parts of the world,
requires, under all conceptions, the creation of a power-
ful marine ; and as this must be the work of time, and
of a plan followed up with perseverance, my Govern-
ment will make known to you the dispositions that I have
taken directed towards that end, having aided at once by
the only means within reach, to repair, as far as possible,
so lamentable a fault.
" The fundamental reform of the administration of
justice also requires time. The conclusion of the new
codes, which are far advanced, ought to serve as a cement
to it ; my Government will dictate some useful measures
in the meantime, to smooth the way to the desired re-
form. In this manner we shall go on establishing re-
gularity and concert in the various branches of adminis-
tration ; and although no few obstacles are to be over-
come, a great deal may be advanced in the work com-
menced, reckoning on the assistance of Divine Provi
favourable
hle your
disposition oyal
oft
co-operationite peopleand as s
alsos assistance
~ a n,c e
tiredan d
oe
enjoy o ) changestranquillity twheithemapnixreieotyt,thtoe
an d disturbances,
and
repose
under desire,
laws, and the tutelar shade of the throne, contributing
to the same end."

At the audit of Earl Somer, held at Madresfield,
on Monday week, his Lordship returned 101. per cent•
to his tenantry.—Worcestershire Chronicle.

FRENCH RAILWAYS.
(From the Constitutionnel.)
A circular of the President of the Committee of Stock-
brokers recommends the members to abstain from all
negotiations in reference to the railways which have re-
cently been adjudicated, until it receives the royal sanc-
tion. A Ministerial journal published the above cir-
cular this morning, accompanying it with a warning to
the more ardent speculators. This is very well ; but
there will be some difficulty in repressing speculation,
which is the inevitable consequence of the system of
financial companies adopted by the law of 1842. Spe-
culation was not relaxed with regard to promises of
shares in the Bordeaux and Vierzon railways, and the
jobbers are yet on the Bourse using the activity of
cartesien atoms. We do not know if they profess to be
stock-brokers, but true it is that promises of shares in
the Bordeaux and Vierzon lines realise enormous pre-
miums to the profit of those men who are most conver-
sant with the usages and resources of the Bourse..
Without doubt these operations have no legal character
any more than bargains for time, which, however, do not
inspire the Committee with similar scruples.
Although the circular of M. Courpon does not appear
to us to produce a great effect upon the speculators, we
think, however, that it would have been more proper to
have published it on the Bth than the 12th ; that might,
perhaps, have prevented some dupes from trusting, be-
fore the adjudications, to the promises of shares in a
rival company, and of losing 10 per cent. upon the spe-
culation. Now this company seems to play, with regard
to the Mackenzie Company,. the part of the fox in the
fable of the "Fox and the Raven." In effect, all is not
over with the adjudicated company. Many things re
main to be arranged, and more than one detail may
stop the confirmation. With regard merely to the
sinking fund, how will it be fixed ? To redeem the
capital in twenty-eight years will require a large reduc-
tion from the receipts, or else a combination, which the
company does not seem to have agreed upon, and which
M. Damon awaits with impatience. However, it may be
the excluded companies are still in hope, and are using
more means than one to carry off the prey from the pro-
visional conqueror.

(From La Patrie.)
M. Courpon, President of the Committee of Stock-
holders, has, by a special circular, recommended the
members of the company to abstain from all speculation,
in reference to promises of shares in railways. Why
was not this circular published before the late adjudica-
tion ? It might have opened the eyes of some dupes
of the second order. As to the speculators, they know
what they are about, and it is perfectly useless to give
advice to them. Besides, the three excluded companies from
the late adjudication do notdespair of resuming their posi-
tion in the affair. It is said that the victorious company is
sufficiently embarrassed respecting the redemption of its
capital in the short and unheard-of space of twenty-
eight years.
(From La Patrie of the 15th.)
A report was current this afternoon on the Bourse, that
two of the companies who had presented themselves for
the adjudication of the Bordeaux Railway, had proposed
to contest for the Vierzon line, in case the Minister,
withholding his sanction to the adjudication made to the
Bartholony Company, should make a new adjudication.
(From the Paris Globe )
We frankly avow that we aro of the number of those
who are astonished at the boldness of the company to ,
whom the Bordeaux Railway has been adjudicated.
Until proof to the contrary, we believe ourselves to be I
fully authorised by the most simple calculations to ex-
pect a reduction: of duration of near fourteen years of
the lease; the chances of success are but little favourable
to the operation. The National more penetrating,
without doubt, than the general good sense, than the
Government and the reporter himself, pretends to de-
monstrate that the term of the Mackenzie tender pro-
duces the identical results of the expose of the Minister
of Public Works, as well as the estimate of M. Dufaure.
In short, if the National is to be believed, the forty-six
years of the Minister, the forty-one years of M. Dufaure,
and the twenty-seven years of the company, arc in
reality the same. " The calculations of the Minister
and M. Dufaure," says this Radical paper, " were
equally wrong, because they had both a basis equally
wrong. Thus, the Minister and the reporter both admit
that the company would expend a capital of seventy
millions, whilst the capital necessary is only sixty-five
millions. They both admit besides that the sinking
fund must be of the entire capital, which is a palpable
error. The capital will, in effect, be divided into two
parts—two-thirds devoted to the laying down of the
rails, and which will not be repaid, and one-third to the
acquisition of material, and which will be repaid at the
end of the term. Now, what is the object of a sinking
fund ? The reconstitution of the expended capital.
Therefore, since a third of the capital will be restored by
the repayment, it evidently follows that the sinking fund
need only provide for the two-thirds which will not be
repaid."
If ever the National has been an imprudent and dan-
gerous friend it is now. In desiring to prove too much
it compromises that which it seeks to defend, and raises
arguments to answer itself. It is true, as it pretends, that
a third of the capital is devoted to the acquisition of
material, but it is not true that this third is to be re•
imbursed to the company. No one is ignorant, except
the National, that this reimbursement is never made
upon the original price ; we know on the contrary, that
at the end of the term the company receives only, as a
valuation of old materials, what they may be declared
entitled to—that is to say, after a reduction of fifty per
cent. at least. In adopting, then, this fifty per cent., as
the amount of reimbursement for the company, it will
be seen that a sixth only of theentire capital escapes the
necessity of a sinking fund.
Until the most ample explanations on the part of the
Mackenzie Company, we are warranted in expressing
our doubts upon the advantages of its operations. We
will add, that it is impossible that this company can fix
its sinking fund upon a higher rate than one per cent.,
as has been established in tne report of the Commission.
Now, by the system of annuities, we only reimburse, at
the end of twenty-seven years two hundred and
seventy days, a capital of forty-four millions
(according to the calculations of the National),
and not the total sum of sixty-five millions, from which
it is true would have to be deducted seven or eight mil-
lions paid by the State under the head of reimbursement
of material. We sincerely wish that the Mackenzie
Company may be able to furnish in this respect the ne-
cessary explanations. We are, as it is well known, far
from being opposed to the system of companies, but
becomeare also desirous that these companies may never
the subject of ultima'm embarrassment to the State, and
on this head we wili quote the words of M. Dufaure, in
hisrelpBo4r4t),uproelnattihyee rtaeiltwneayßfarorrmy Ocreleniapny,
nasto Taurs (ses-
sionwhich pre-
sented itself in competition with the Drouillard Company :
—" We ought, gentlemen to receive with some dis-
trust the advantages which are promised to us by the
competition excited between the applicants for conces-
sion of railways. We know the results which have been
already produced. It is because the Government and
the Chambers had too favourably listened to them, that
the two sessions of 1839 and 1840 have been employed
in affording aid to so many companies who were on the
verge of ruin—in discharging some from the terms of
their contract ; in dispensing others from onerous obli-
gations which they had themselves incurred. The dis-
credit which has attached for so long to all railway pro-
jects has, perhaps, had no more direct or powerful cause
than that which we have just referred to.'

THE MANCHESTER REGISTRATION.—The labours
of the revising barristers of this division of the county
are closed, and the following is the result, as far as the
Manchester polling district is concerned :—Objections by
Conservatives, 550 ; struck off the list, 404. Objections
by the Leaguers, 1,355 ; struck off, 215. Gain upon
objections to Conservatives, 189. New claims by Con-
servativt s, 1,015
; allowed, 756. New claims by
Leaguers, 1,898 ; allowed, 1,189. Leaguers gain upon
new claims, 443. Deduct from this number 189 gained
by Conservatives on objections, makes a total loss to
Conservatism of 244.

- -
DR. WOOLF.---rhe German papers received yester-
day contain a letten, dated Constantinople, September
25, relative to this enterprising traveller. It would not
deserve notice after the important communication which
appeared in The Sun, of Monday, if it did not state that
the Ameer, who, according to Dr. Woolf's letter of June
27, was then at Samarcand, had returned, and manifested
great kindness to the doctor. We therefore presume
that the information, whatever may be its authority on
which this letter was written, must have been of later
date than that transmitted by Dr. Woolf from Bokhara.
The following is a translation :—" Constantinople, Sept.
25.—The most recent accounts from Teheran speak again
somewhat more favourably for our countryman, Dr.
Woolf. The Emir, of Bokhara, after his return from
Samarcand, sent for Dr. Woolf, gave him a very good re-
ception, presented him with 100 pieces of gold, a horse,
iandn Nevertheless,tghaev e ,
him permission
people in Teheran
permission to commence
and strongly suspected
that the Emir would cause the missionary to be over-
taken and murdered on his journey. Of his actual de-
parture we have yet no intelligence. It seems he was
waiting until the Persian embassy, then in Bokhara,
ahh
kaftan
his return
li ttl eo confidence o honour,in hh journey
.
should set out. Should he succeed in joining it, his
safety may bo regarded as secured."
A curious delusion appears to have prevailed for
centuries amongst the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight
with regard to a royal residence being established in it.
The general impression was, that, in the event of the
Sovereign sleeping a night on the island, all claim to the
territory was forfeited by the British Crown. This delu-
sion appears to have been favoured and encouraged by
the course adopted by Icing George the Fourth, who,
when he was in the habit of visiting Mr. Nash, the
architect, at East Cowes Castle, as Prince Regent,
always slept on board the Royal George yacht,
anchored in the roads, and, subsequently, after
his accession to the Throne, when the Manor

House was v purchased, and fitted up as a royal
residence, and called the King's House, he was never
known to pass a night under its roof. So popular had
this absurdity beccme, that many people in Cowes might
be found at this moment, who really believe that her
Majesty passed the night on board the yacht, but that,
for obvious State reasons, the fact is not avowed. Hcw
this delusion could have continued, after King Charles's
captivity in Carisbrooke Castle, is astonishing ; but the
natives account for that by pointing to his unhappy end.
THE LATE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGIT.--loly the
demise of the above estimable Duchess the families of
the Earl and Countess of Galloway, the Honourable
Captain Keith Stewart, R.N., the Hon. E. and Lady
Katharine Stewart, Lady Charlotte Crofton, Lady Eliza-
beth Inge, Lord and Lady Churchill, &c., are placed in
mourning.
THE BOOK OF THE SEASON._Shortly will be
published, handsomely bound in calf, " The Mysteries
of London." The first number will be filled with an
account of the election of Alderman Gibbs as Lord
ohflatyhoer. The Alder econmsanddurwinigll ghiivsechfaucresi
Stephen", Witthreeh.—Punch. hmwilares
doefristpreceipts
.

LITERATURE.

QUARTERLY REVIEW. No. CXLVIII.
Murray, London, 1844.
The hackneyed subject of Horace Walpole and his
peculiarities—a favourite hobby which the Quarterly
Review has well nigh ridden to death—is again re-
ferred to in the Number before us. The critical re-
marks on the most recently published correspondence
of this prince of letter-writers—that, namely, with Sir
Horace Mann—though the Reviewer has evidently
taken more than ordinary pains with them, are as un-
sound as they are captious; but indeed the whole ar-
ticle is characterised by a spirit of petty sarcasm and
bitterness that sufficiently indicates the workshop
whence it emanates. "As to the letters contained in
these last volumes," says the Reviewer, " they cer-
tainly exhibit a new feature in Walpole's correspon-
dence. Such is the fertility of the writer's genius,
that the wind-up of two thousand letter is marked by
an absolute novelty; they are, as compared with all
their predecessors, dull—downright heavy—hardly
readable without an effort." On the contrary, the
correspondence in question is perhaps the most inte-
resting that its author ever penned. True, it has not
the smartness and mere verbal felicity of the earlier
series ; but it is full of worldly sagacity, of philosophic
observations, and gives evidence in places of a tender
sensibility which few would give Walpole credit for
possessing. " Passages in the Life of a Radical" is
a notice of a little work published about two years
since by a weaver named Bamford, who made himself
conspicuous in the north by his advocacy of the prin-
ciples of " Orator Hunt," about the period of the me-
morable Manchester massacre. The article is chiefly
interesting from the number and variety of its ex-
tracts; and towards the close the Reviewer impres-
sively warns the higher and middle classes how they
persist in alienating the affections of the masses by
their assumption and habits of jealous isolation. The
remarks on " Stanley's Life of Dr. Arnold" are
penned in a temperate and even eulogistic spirit, as
regards the sturdy-minded historian of Rome, which
we scarcely expected to meet with in this periodical.
" Arnold,' observes the Reviewer, " was a remark •
able man—a man of a character rarely met with now,
who united the simOcity and heroism of a past gene-
ration with the practical energy and inquiry of our
own—a man truly English in his noblest points, and
yet tempering the stern rigour of the English cha-
racter with a reflection and an amiability which
rather belong to the Greek or the German mind. He
will strike those who study him more closely as a
complete character—complete in its union of moral
and intellectual gifts, and in the steady growth and
development of both." There is no exaggeration in
this portrait. Dr. Arnold was indeed a man of su
perior energy of character, the ardour of which was
in a great degree tempered by the meek spirit of the
Christian. As an instructor of youth, who had the
rare ability of drawing forth the intellectual powers
of his pupils, and making himself respected as well
as beloved by them, he shone without a rival, and
during the whole period of his management of it, no
great public school—not even Eton—stood higher
than Rugby. He had much of Dr. Parr's scholar.
ship without any 'of his pedantry and assumption, and
would—had his life been prolonged—have become
one of the leading spirits of his age. As it is, he has
left a reputation that is not likely to be diminished by
years—more especially as an historian, a department
in literature in which the fearless and inquisitive turn
of his mind enabled him to exhibit himself to signal
advantage. " Diaries and Correspondence of the
First Earl of Malmesbury" takes a rational and un-
prejudiced view of the diplomatic talents of this over-
rated statesman, who in a few years will be as much
forgotten as if he had never lived. From a " Report
on the Treatment of Lunatics" we quote the follow-
ing curious passage :

"It was during the Reign of Terror, and while all
France laboured under a new form of insanity, that the
idea was first conceived of setting loose madmen from
their bonds. The good and wise physician, Pinel, seems
to have been struck with the injustice of keeping his
patients chained in the dungeons of Bicetre, while so
many hundreds of his countrymen, more mischievously
distracted than many of them, were at large to work the
bloody frolics of the revolutionary phrenzy. There
were at that time upwards of 300 maniacs chained in
the loathsome cells of the horrible Bedlam of France.
Pinel formed the resolution of setting them free from
their strict restraint, and he entreated permission of the
Commune to that effect. Struck with the novelty of the
enterprise, at that time a sufficient recommendation
before any assembly in France, the Commune listened
to the proposal, and deputed one of their body, the
notorious Couthon, to accompany the physician to the
spot, and judge of the propriety of carrying his under-
taking into effect. They were received by a confused
noise—the yells and vociferations of some hundreds of
madmen, mixed with the sounds of their clanking chains,
echoing through the damp and dreary vaults of the prison.
Couthon turned away with horror, but he permitted
Pinel to pursue his enterprise. The philanthror ist re-
solved speedily to liberate fifty of the number by way of
experiment, and he began by unchaining twelve of the
most violent. The account of his proceeding has been
recorded by his nephew, Scipion Pinel, in a lively narra-
tive, which was read before the Academy of Sciences.
The first man set at liberty was an English captain. He
had been forty years in chains, and his history was for-
gotten by himself and all the world. His keepers ap-
proached him with dread : he had killed one of their
comrades by a blow with his manacles. Pinel entered
his coil unattended, and accosted him in a kind and con-
fiding manner, and told him that it was designed to give
him the liberty of walking abroad, on condition that he
would put on a waistcoat that might confine his arms.
The madman appeared. to disbelieve ; but he obeyed.
His chains were removed, and the door of his cell was

left open. Many times he raised himself and fell back;
his limbs gave way; they had been ironed forty years.
At length he was able to stand, and to stalk to the door
of his dark cell, and to gaze, with exclamations of
wonder and delight, at the beautiful sky. He spent the
day in the enjoyment of his newly-acquired privilege; he
was no more in bonds ; and during the two years of his
further detention at Bicetre, assisted in managing the
house. The next man liberated was a soldier, a private
in the French guards, who had been ten years in chains,
and was an object of general fear. His case had been
one of acute mania, occasioned by intemperance—a dis-
order which often subsides in a short period under absti-
nence from intoxicating drinks, unless kept up, as in this
case, by improper treatment. When set at liberty, this
man willingly assisted Pinel in breaking the chains of
his fellow prisoners: he became immediately calm, and
even kind and attentive, and was ever afterwards the
devoted friend of his deliverer. In an adjoining cell
there were three Prussian soldiers, who had been many
years in chains and darkness : through grief and despair
they had sunk into a state of stupor and fatuity, the fre-
quent result of similar treatment, and they refused to be
removed. Near to them was an old priest, harmless and

patient, who fancied himself to be the Saviour of the
world. When taunted by his keepers, who used to tell
him that, if he was Christ, he could break the heavy
chains that loaded his hands, he replied, with solemn
dignity, Frustra tentaris Dominu:n tuum. After his re-
lease he got rid of his illusion, and recovered the sound-
ness of his mind. Within a few days Pinel liberated
fifty-three maniacs from their imprisonment. The result
was beyond his hopes. Tranquillity and harmony suc-
ceeded to tumult and disorder, and even the most fero-
cious madmen became more tractable. This took place
in 1792; and the example of Pinel was followed in
various parts of France.'

MEMOIRS OF EMINEIV T ENGLISHWOMEN.
Vols. 111. and IV. Bentley, London, 1844.
Foremost amongst these Memoirs, we find a life of
the celebrated Duchess of Marlborough, wife of the
great Whig General, who was certainly one of the
most remarkable women that ever existed in any age
or country, and ruled her heroic husband in quite as
despotic a spirit as she ruled her Queen. Yet, despite
the almost sovereign authority she exercised for so
many years over the councils of the nation, raising
and depressing Ministers of State at her pleasure ;
despite, too, the fact that her ambition was gratified
in almost every respect, the life of the Duchess was,
on the whole, an unhappy one ; calm, sober, ra-
tional enjoyment, she seems never to have known ;
the husband she loved and reverenced she kept
in a constant state of hot water by her irri-
table, capricious temper ; and even in the midst of her
greatest political triumphs :she appears to have been
constantly haunted by a dread of reverses. Towards
the close of her chequered career, when her rule as
the royal favourite was at an end, she fell into a state
of spleen and melancholy, and in her last moments
expressed satisfaction that the time of her release was
come. The Memoirs of this illustrious lady afford
another striking illustration of the fact that ambition,
no matter how successful it may be in all its projects,
is wholly unable to confer true or lasting happiness.
The portrait of the Duchess, which is prefixed to her
life, conveys a very accurate idea of her character ;
she looks just the scornful, irritable, imperious beauty,
who can never be satisfied with anything short of
universal homage and obedience. The lives of the
unfortunate " Stella and Vanessa"--the victims of
the heartless pride and treachery of Dean Swift—are
written by Miss Costello in the most just and feeling
spirit. We could have wished, however, that she had
spoken of the conduct of the Dean in stronger terms
of reprobation, and represented him, as he really was,
as one of the most callous scoundrels that ever broke
the hearts of two fond and trusting women. Nor was
this wanton cruelty perpetrated in the heat and
thoughtless passion of youth, for Swift was thirty
years of age, and a thorough man of the world, when
be first became acquainted with Stella, and upwards l ous
of forty when he was first introduced to the credulous
Vanessa. From the Memoirs of Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu, we quote an amusing
Court anecdote re-
ferring to herself, but related by her in the third '
person She: had on one evenin-, a particular engag
that made her wish to be ement
'dismissed unusually early ;
she explained her reasons to the Duchess of Kendal,
and the Duchess informed the King, who, after a few
complimentary remonstrances, appeared to acquiesce.
But when ho saw her about to take her leave, he began
battling the point afresh, declaring it was unfair and per-
fidious to cheat him in such a manner, and saying many
other fine things, in spite of which she at last contrived
to escape. At the foot of the great stairs she ran against
who stopped her to
Secretary Craggs just coming in,

inquire what was lie matter ? Were the company put
off ? She told him why she went away, and how urgently
the King had pressed her to stay longer ; possibly
dwelling on that head with some small complacency.
Mr, Craggs made no remark; but, when he had heard
all, snatching her up in his arms as a nurse carries a
child, he ran full veed with her up stairs, deposited
her within the ante-chstrnber, kissed both her hands re-
spectfully (still not saying a word), and vanished. The
pages seeing her returned, they knew not how, hastily
threw open the inner doors, and, before she had re-
covered her breath, she found herself again in the King's
presence. AL! la re-voill cried he and the Duchess,
extremely pleased, and began thanking her for her
obliging change of mind. The motto on all palace-
gates is Hush!' as Lady Mary very well knew. She
had not to learn that mystery and caution ever spread
their awful wings over the precincts of a Court; where
nobody knows what dire mischief may ensue from one
unlucky syllable blabbed about anything, or about no-
thing, at a wrong time. But she was bewildered, flut-
tered, and entirely off her guard; so, beginning
with Oh, Lord, Sir ! I have been so frightened ts SZa
told his Majesty the whole story exactly as she would
have told it to any one else. He had not done exclaim •
ing, nor his Germans wondering, when again the door
flew open, and the attendants announced Mr. Secretary
Craggs, who, but that moment arrived, it should seem,
entered with the usual obeisance, and as composed an
lir as if nothing had happened. Mais comment done,
Monsieur Craggs,' said the King, going up to him,
est-ce que c'est l'usage de ce pays de porter des belles
dames cumme un sac de froment ?" Is it the customiof
this country to carry about fair ladies like a sack of
wheat ?' The Minister, struck dumb by this unex-
pected attack, stood a minute or two not knowing which
way to look ; then, recovering his self-possession, an-
swered with a low bow, There is nothing I would not
do for your Majesty's satisfaction.' This was coming off
tolerably well ; but he did not forgive the tell-tale cul-
prit, in whose ear, watching his: opportunity when the
King turned from them, he muttered a bitter reproach,
with a round oath to enforce it ' • which I durst not re-
sent,' continued she, for I had drawn it upon my-
self ; and, indeed, I was heartily vexed at my own im-
prudence.' "

JOHNSON'S TOUR IN IRELAND.
Highley, London 1844.
Of the numerous works on Ireland with which the
press has teemed for the last dozen years and upwards,
this, if not one of the soundest, is certainly one of the
most entertaining. It is written in a pleasant, good-
natured spirit, approaching at times to genuine humour,
and has the recommendation—so rarely to be met
with in a work on the sister country—of being utterly
free from anything like religious or political prejudice.
Doctor Johnson, the author, saw and observed for
himself, without reference to the opinions of others ;
and gives expression to his own views of things in a
spirit of the most laudable moderation and impartiality.
His account of the famous monster meeting on the
hill of Tam, at which he was present, and which he
assures us was attended by upwards of three hundred
thousand individuals, is one of the most diverting epi-
sodes in his volume.

LIFE IN ATHENS. Painter, London, 1844.
The little work before us is a translation from the
German of Von Wessenberg, and professes to give an
account of the character of life in Athens in the
palmy days of Pericles, and, moreover, to illustrate
the spirit of ancient and modern democracy. The
work consists of a series of dialogues—more re-
markable for staid good sense than point or bril-
liancy—in the course of which the different speakers
discuss the administration of Pericles, the Socratic
wisdom as compared with that of the Sophists, the
nature of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and various other
masters which, we fear, will be caviare to the gene-
rality of readers. There is some show of scholarship
in the book, and occasionally we come across a
graphic descriptive passage.

MISERIES OF A NEWSPAPER
EDITOR.

What a life is that of a newspaper editor! How
numerous, how varied, how onerous his duties ! He
must have under his eyes all events, of all different
kinds, that have passed, that are passing, and that are
expected to pass, in every quarter of the globe. He
must have his intention concentrated, at one and the
same time, on the weather, on the crops, on agricul-
ture, on markets, accidents, offences, crimes, ship-
wrecks, railways, births, deaths, marriages, courts of
law, police-offices, the state of the Church, and the
state of the Stocks, the proceedings of politicians and
the proceedings of the swell mob, the blowing up of
steam-boats and the blowing down of chimneys.
There is nothing, in short, too great to come
under his notice, or too small to elude his
grasp. Regularly, and day by day, is he
under the necessity of ferreting out and chronicling,
for the benefit (?) of his fellow-beings, all and sundry
the transactions of this lower world, from the fall of
a leaf to the fall of a kingdom, from the lopping of a
limb to a full, true, and particular account of the last
bloody murder. But, not only is this unfortunate in-
dividual supposed to see everything, but likewise to
know everything, and to be able to do everything.
He is understood to be well informed upon, and able
to answer all sorts of questions upon all sorts of
subjects—on law, on political economy, on his-
tory, on statistics, on arithmetic, on algebra, on
mathematics, on geology, on theology, on my-
thology, on chronology, on chronohotonthology.
By the public at large he- is regarded as a sort of
" standing counsel" in all cases of difficulty. If a man
wants to know the date of any historical event, what
does he do ? Ile writes to the editor. Has he any
doubt about the authenticity of any particular piece
of civil, religious, or philanthropic intelligence, what
does he do ? He writes to the editor. Does he want
to know how Mr. So-and-So, the Parliament man,
voted on such and such a question, when it was, why
it was, and under what circumstances it was that he
so voted, what does he do ? 'Why, he writes to the
editor as a matter of course. To whom else would
he, under any circumstances, ever so much as dream
of making application ? We have said,: that this:un-
fortunate personage is supposed to see everything, to
know everything, and to be able to do everything. But
there is yet another call upon him, and that, perhaps,
of a harder kind than all the three put together.
Like the man that carried the donkey, he is under the
necessity of pleasing every body. NVe put it to our
intelligent and dearly-beloved Caledonian cousins
whether it does not consist with their knowledge that
almost every man, without exception, who takes up a
newspaper expects that paper to be written solely and
exclusively for himself, It is to be his paper and his
alone. He expects to find in it everything which he
wants. He is displeased if it contains anything else,
or of a different character than what he requires.
The ancient maiden lady, who complains that there
are in the newspapers such dull things as grain mar-
kets, cattle-shows, and cures for the caterpillar,
never once thinks that the editor may have among
his subscribers some few hundreds of six-feet
farmers, to whom such information may be of the
most material consequence ; nor does the farmer, who
finds fault with the gossip that he sees about the
great vulgar and the small ever consider that to the an-
tiquated mademoiselle these are the oniy tit-bits of
the affair. The public-house reader, who finds fault
with the love stories, and the poetry, and the other
little sentimentalities in a newspaper, remembers not,
that to a large class of juveniles oeboth sexes, from
15 to 25, such things are almost the only ones about
which they may care a straw : nor does it ever come
into the mind of the love-lorn maidens or the smart
young gentlemen who turn up their noses at the vul-
garity and commonplace of the police intelligence,
that, without such things, to the public-house reader a
newspaper would be a body without a soul. The father
of a family, who complains of the scandal and tittle-tat-
tle, and many other little odds and ends that occasionally
be brought before the public, forgets that such things
form the staple of the grim old bachelors ; nor do the
sinful fraternity last mentioned, who find fault with
the moral paragraphs, and the notices of sermons, and
the reports of religious societies which occasionally
appear on the broad-sheet, call to their recollection
that, in the eyes of the many, such things are the very
gems of a journal. In short, the reader of a news-
paper, through some unaccountable fatality, for the
time forgets that there is, in rerum natura, any other
being than himself. He is an exclusive, a monopolist,
alone in his glory, the only living, sentient, existent
being on the face of.this fair and newspaper reading
world. Reader ! have you yet fixed upon a
.profes-
sion ? If not, never once think of becoming an
editor. Beg—take the pack—keep. lodger—take up
a school—set up a mangle—take in washing. For
humanity's sake, an especially for your own, do any-
thing rather than become a newspaper editor.—
Glasgow National.

DEATH BY DROWNING AT LANEsBOROUGH.—On
Saturday morning last, about nine o'clock, five men em-
ployed by Messrs. Sykes and Brookfield, contractors for
the Shannon improvements, were returning to their work
after breakfast, in a small boat; some tricks were played
between the persons on shore and those in the boat;
there was a stone thrown by a man named Kelly,when
all the persons in the boat ran to one side, and she upset;
three that could swim reached the shore, and two, one
named Ratigan, and the other, named Murphy, both
young men, were drowned. When the news reached
the police barracks, Constable Ramsay, and Sub-Con-
stable BrCretoll, after much difficulty, procured a boat,
but being delayed in procuring oars in sufficient time,
they had reached within a couple of perches of the
drowning persons, when the streampolice
carried
for
theirthem
away,
and the unfortunate men sunk to rise no more. Too much
efforts
was ins ve
cannoth
unfortunatelyb unsuccessful, to s save
e
given
tothe
tapllritea lmlios.ueg On being taken up medical assistance
at-
tendance, but to no effect life was extinct Next day
there was a coroner's inquest, when the jury returned a
verdict of " Accidental death by drowni
Journal. ng:"—Longford

DURUA:II SCIIOLARSIIIP.—RaIph Lindsay, Esq.,
Solicitor, of London, and a native of Durham, is about
to found a scholarship in the university of the latter city,
of the annual value of 401. It will be tenable for three
years by boys, who must have been two years at Dur-
ham,—Tyne Mercury.

ANOTHER COAL-PIT EXPLOLSION

FURTHER PARTICULARS. 7
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, TUESDAY.—Another L2c4,"
liery explosion has ooeurred in this district, by whict:
five persons have been injured, two of whom are not
expected to live. The explosion occurred at Coxlodge
Colliery, about two miles from this town, last night,
during what is called the " shift." The colliery belongs
to Messrs. Bell, Brandling, and Co., and the underground
woi kings are extensive. As, fortunately, no lives have
been lost, the circumstances under which it occurred
have been clearly ascertained. Before recording the
facts gathered from personal inquiry, it may be well to
give the account furnished by, the organs of the pitmen
in this town. Mr. Feargus O'Connor and Mr. Beasley,
the latter of whom acts as clerk to Mr. Roberts, " the
pitmens' attorney-general," visited the colliery this after-
noon, and, soon after their return, a printed announce-
went was made from the office of the Miner's Advocate,
stating the circumstance thus :--,
" As far as we can gather the facts of the ease are as
follows :—James Anderson and William Collins, two
shifters, being done with their work, John Brown,
ti,ity, requested them to help him to get some tram-
.*,, 'es out of the a
s it was likely to fall • t
:vith him, but had. to return. on account of
tram-
they I;
i; -;
n.
ve,.:rlting—(that is, creeping or heaving).
the ' goaf'
ild him to take his candle back, as
g?af.' fell. The deputy then
James Anderson I,
the stenting, and there he
there was danger if the
pit. The said
went and tried his candle au
ho has been brought
allowed the gas to ignite and fire the
late strike, got
John Brown, the deputy, is a man 1.:
rable means,
up to the plough, and who, during the .
the into the favour of the masters by dishono...l
and, to say the least of it, the entire cause explo-
sionot-
is attributable to him, he nut knowing his die.ty-
The same account states that this is the third time this
pit has fired within a month, and on each occasion has
roved fatal to a few.

FIELD SPORTS.—For several days, within these
two last weeks, the hills and dales of Auchans have
been the scene of as choice sport_ by as choice a party,
as any son of Nimrod could delight in his heart to meet
with. Sir Charles Lamb, the Duc de Coigney, Lord
Seymour, Major Campbell, Captain Petat, and several
other guests of distinction at Eglinton Castle, accom-
panied by the Earl of Eglinton and Winton, all in
-- shooting graith adorned,
While pointers round impatient burned,
Free couples freed"—
have been awakening the echoes of the sylvan haunts
and well-preserved covers of Dundonald and Auchans,
with the animating din of "dog and gun" to great pur-
pose. On the 2d inst. no fewer than 343 rabbits fell bee
tore their unerring aim. On the 4th, Sir Charles Lamb
and the Duc de Coigney alone bagged 65 head of hares,
partridges, &c. ; and on the Bth, not fewer than 100
hares, besides 29 head of the feathered race, were
brought down by the " mortal triggers" of the party.
On one of these days the Earl of Eglinton shot a fine
strong woodcock, which is the first we have heard of this
season.—Ayr Observer.

MGT,' TlDE.—Yesterday morning, at high tide
(25 minutes past four o'clock), the Thames overflowed
many of its low-lying embankments on both sides of the
river, above and below London-bridge, occasioning loss
and serious inconvenience to the occupiers of several
river• side premises, whose cellars, kitchens, &c., were
flooded. At high tide the depth of water at London-
bridge was twenty-eight feet seven inches. The late
heavy gales are supposed to have caused the high rise of
the river.

FATAL ACCIDENT AT THE EDINBURGH AND GLAS-
GOW RAILWAY.—EarIy yesterday morning, one of the
workmen at Cowlairs lost his life, while connecting a
carriage to one of the trains, having been jammed
betwixt the buffers of the two carriages. When the
accident occurred, a carriage was dispatched to the
station for medical assistance, but the peor man's death
was almost instantaneous, owing to the force with which
the carriages came into collision. Ho has left a wife and
young family.—Scottish Guardian.
Lord Ashley, the Dowager Duchess of Beaufort,
Lady Charlotte Penrhyn the Bishop of Salisbury,
Dowager Lady Carnegie, Sir E. Parry, Sir R. C. Glynn,
Bart., and the Hon. G. Ryder, have liberally contri-
buted a fund for the formation of a gipsey school esta-
blishment at Farnham, Dorset, with the view of edu-
cating that neglected wandering race of people. Lord
Ashley has taken very active measures to establish this
novel school, at which seminary it is intended that the
children shall be instructed with every regard to the re-
ligion of the Etablished Church. It is to be ,sincerely
hoped the experiment of reclaiming the youthful mem-
bers of that tribe, by affording them the means of intel-
lectual instruction, will succeed.

FASIIIONAULE MOVEMENTS AT BRIGHTON.—Chief
Justice Doherty has arrived at the Norfolk Hotel, for the
purpose of taking a house here for the winter. Mr.
Justice Pennefather, who has recently left Brighton for
Ireland, has derived great benefit from a residence on
this coast. The Countess of Effingham, who has
lately arrived at the Norfolk Hotel, has just taken
one of those splendid mansions of Mr. Nugee, on the
Eastern-terraee, where Sir Robert Peel is residing
with his family. The Duchess of Somerset was de-
sirous of taking the corner mansion, but Lord Petre
had previously engaged it, and we understand that
there is not a house vacant large enough for her Grace.
The Duchess has been in treaty for Sir Isaac Lyon Gold-
smidt's house on Adelaide-terrace. The Duke of Devon-
shire was down here on Monday to see his house in
Kemp Town, which is about to be occupied by Lord
aryl Lady Granville. Lord Francis Egerton has taken
a house on Eastern-terrace. The Duke and Duchess of
St. Alban's arc expected in Eastern-terrace, to-morrow.
The Countess of Glengall, Lady Twysden, • Mr. and
Lady Harriet Maynard, Sir John and Lady Campbell,
Lady Augusta Baring, Baroness Rothschild and family,
Lady Charles Somerset, Sir Hugh Palliser, the Earl of
Itosse, and Sir Charles Des Vceux, are also among the
visitors at this fashionable watering-place, which con-
tinues very full of company.
EDUCATION.— SURREY CHAPEL Scnoots.---,Yes-

terday evening a numerous meeting of the former scho-
lars and others, friends to liberal and unobjectionable
education, was held at the Surrey Chapel, Blackfriars -
road, for the purpose of commemorating the opening of
the schools, which were first established during the con-
nexion of the late Rowland Hill with the chapel, whose
centenary has lately been completed.
AYR HORSE FAIR.-Our Michaelmas Fair was
held on Thursday last. This is never reckoned a very
business-doing market ; but we must say that it would
have been the reverse on this occasion bad there been a
sufficient supply of good horses. Many persons willing
to purchase were, in consequence, obliged to leave the
market. The total number of horses in the market
would not exceed two hundred ; and we should think
that at last six-tenths of these were of an inferior de-
scription. Good draught horses, therefore, brought ex-
cellent prices. We are assured that, in the generality
of cases, these were fully fifteen per cent. above
those of last year. On an average, good draught
horses brought from 29/. to 351. One pair that we heard
of, sold at 751.; and in two instances, where single horses
were purchased, 381. to 431. were the prices obtained.
We noticed a very fine colt, which brought fifteen
guineas. Horses of a scondary character sold from 151.
to 20/. ; and, to all appearance, a good many changed
owners. There were only a few carriage horses in the
market ; and we did not learn of any having been sold.
For a fair animal of this description, we heard, in one
instance, 22/. asked. We noticed a very excellent pony,
rising upwards of four years old, which brought, we are
informed 20/. For another, in finer condition, 22/. was
asked. Altogether, the market was a very fair one.—
A4r Observer.

THE LATE STORM IN IRELAND.—We regret to
state that a shipwreck, attended with melancholy con-
sequences occurred off the coast near Rush. Between
the hours of ten and eleven o'clock, and when the storm
was just attaining its highest pitch, signals of distress
were loudly and frequently heard by the people on
shore ; but the point from which the wind blew, and
the absolute danger of any such attempt, precluded the
possibility of any assistance being afforded. Through-
out the night the greatest fears were entertained
for the safety of the vessel and crew, evidently
placed in a perilous position, which the morning but
too unhapily realised : for at an early hour yes-
terday morning portions of the cargo, consisting of palm
oil, &c., were discovered lying along the coast at diffe-
rent places. In a short time afterwards it was dis-
covered that some of the crew had succeeded in getting
to shore, from whom the melancholy intelligence was
learned that the captain of the vessel, his wife, and one
of the crew, had been lost, and the truth of this state-
ment was confirmed by the bodies of the two last men-
tioned persons being washed on shore almost at the same
moment. The body of the captain has not yet been
found. The vessel belonged to, or sailed from Halifax ;
but we have not yet been able to ascertain its name, or
where bound to.—Cork Reporter.
LONGEVITY.—There is now living at Leak(n,
upon the estate of Fowlis, in the parish of liiltearn,
Ross-shire, a eottar of the name of Donald
Ross, who is above 105 years of age. He has
always been of temperate habits and good conduct,
and is still in possession of his faculties, and able to
walk about. Ile is a native of the parish of Lochbroom,
and has resided in Kiltearn, near to the foot of the huge
duringut nnowu,
unwell.
which
hpßacesrni
ao
dlsVollyne v iiassn,
dnfooatr
dkatnuhogel.il
eatrsot
N. 1,1
ihat
hi
bve een
e.n century,l oncelis
latter is a cripple. They occupy a small crh
oft of land,
wenableshich them
with milk,tokeepa acocnvd thefafl horse carriesahorse.The
CO
suppliespea ttsii.emThese constitute their entire means
of living ; and thus the old man, although cheerful
and contented, wants many things which would tend
to render his latter days more comfortable. The climate
of the locality of Ross's residence must be peculiarly
healthy. We find,altotbe
sei ntretdstoihnne,s
tt sahtieal
etpei sastroi
ministerf
naccount
: nf
ieu
,at
thert
hn
0,
yi‘.\°e'll*aii9trtliii7nbOgY6.‘,vDelrliiatherine Mackenzie died at Fowlis, in the
117th year of her age. In 1782, Mr. Brown, factor, of
Fowlis, died in his 107th year.
ancilnMl77:-),
Munro died in his 100th year ;Kenneth
wife, died soon afterwards in her 88th year.rs. Munro,Theonhliys
instance we shall add is an heritor of thexarish, who
had been a Member of the last Scotch, an of the first
British Parliament ; he died about thirty years ago, in
his ninet) -fourth year ; and, within these few years, a
sister and daughter of the same gentleman died here,
who were very little short of tlu same age."—lnveiness
Courier.

ANOTHER FATAL COLLISION.—LIVEREOOL, WED°
NESDAY.— The Elizabeth, Captain Brown, arrived at
this port this morning, from St. John's, New Brunswick,
reports having been is collision with the schooner Emma,
Captain Kemp, and to have been from the coast of Mo-
rocco, on the 12th inst., off the Fawcett-rock. The
schooner immediately sank, but, with the exception of
the cook, the crew were savad. The only pnssenger on
board was also saved. The
_weather was rough and
dirty at the time.