The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-30 00:00:00

EARTHQUAKES.
[ The most appalling catastrophe, in the history of
modern Europe, with the exception of the earthquake
in Sicily, in 1693 (by which 100,000 lives were lost),
was the earthquake at Lisbon, in 1755, so instanta-
neous and terrible in its effects, that 60,000 individuals
perished within the space of six minutes. By a simi-
lar agency, in Calabria, in 1785, 40,000 perished ;
and 20,000 more are said to have died by an epi-
demic that succeeded the earthquake. Yet, frequent
as these desolating events have been in the south of
Europe, they become far more numerous as we travel
towards the equator. In South America, they have,
again and again, overthrown cities, and laid whole
districts desolate. Peru and Chili have been visited
with awful rigour—Lima has been twice laid in ruins
—Quito has suffered still more severely—and Callao,
with its whole population, has been twice overwhelmed
by the agitated waves of the Pacific, during these
awful periods. At one time, the whole of the inha-
bitants of that city perished, and, at another (ac-
cording to Lionel Wafer), man and beast, Ibr fifty
leagues along the shore, were overwhelmed by the
turbulent element. Of the West Indian Islands, Ja-
maica and St. Domingo have been the most severe
sufferers—the latter more especially. The present
fearful event, that has led us to make the
above remarks, is the fourth visitation of the kind
suffered by that island within the last ninety years.
Port-au-Prince was built in 1745 ; and a few years
after, part of it was thrown to the ground by an
earthquake. In 1770, it was completely laid in ruins
—almost the whole of the island devastated—while
thousands, that had escaped the earthquake, were car-
ried off by an epidemic, produced by mephitic vapours
issuing from the rent made by the fearful convulsion.
In 1829, it underwent another shock, less powerful
than the previous; and now the deplorable news is
brought us that another of these terrific occurrences
has happened in that ill-fated island.—lnverness
Courier.

LOSS of THREE VESSELS by ICE.
(From the New York Commercial Advertiser, June 3.)
BARQUE ANN LIFFEY.—The barque Oscar, Perry,
arrived last evening, having on board the mate and ten
of the crew of the British barque Ann Liffey, whose
loss has been before mentioned. The mate of the Ann
Liffey states that when ten days out, at three A. nt.,
in lat. 43. 8., long. 49., while running before the wind
at the rate of eight knots per hour, weather thick, the
Ann Liffey struck an island of ice with so much force
a; to run the heel of the bowsprit clear aft, capsized the
windlass, and took stern cutwater, &e.,entirely off. The
crew and passengers, twenty-two in number, used every
exertion with crowbars and hand-spikes, to clear the
wreck of the fragments of ice which fell on deck. The
iceberg was as high as the foreyard. Sounded the
pumps, and finding her sinking, took to the boats, in
which they remained until two P. DI., when it cleared
away, and they were fallen in with by the Oscar. Cept.
Lyle end eight others went on board the British barque
Ganges, bound to Liverpool.
ANOTHER VESSEL LOST BY THE ICE.—The British
brig Stephen, Hensall, from Newcastle for Pictou, ran
foul of an iceberg when 81 days out, and received so
much damage that she was abandoned. The captain
and crew took to the boats, were picked up by the John
Romilft, from London, for St. John's, New Brunswick,
and afterwards transferred to the American brig China,
Small, and arrived at Piaci' on the 28th ult.
AND ANOTHER.—PICTOU, N.S., MAY 25.—The
barque Isabella, Captain A. Thomas, from Glasgow, for
Pictou, with 54 passengers, and a large quantity of dry
goods, iron, books, &c., was lost at Cape North, on the
north side of Cape Breton, on the 11th inst. She sailed
from Glasgow on the Ist of April, and made St. Paul's
Island on the 28th. She then became entangled in the
ice, and continued in that perilous condition for eleven
days. The captain, seeing the imminent danger the
ship was in landed the passengers on the 9th, with much
difficulty, over fields of ice, when the vessel was three-
quarters of a mile from the shore, and riding at anchor
among icebergs. On the following day she slipped the
anchor, and when turning she struck a rock and began
to fill with water. She was then run into Aspy Bay, a
distance of eight miles, where she now lies a total wreck.
We are glad to learn that though the vessel has become
a total wreck, and the cargo is materially damaged, no
lives have been lost.

In the night of Friday last, a sentinel posted at the
Arsenal of Toulon received particular orders to be vigilant, as
two convicts were known to have escaped from their cells, and
the officers were in search of them. Hearing some one moving,
the soldier challenged, and, receiving no answer, fired and
wounded a man in the thigh. When taken and examined, he
was found to be a drunken sailor. The two fugitives were
afterwards discovered and secured.

The Journal de Frankfort mentions a report of
Prince de Metternich's having received a letter from the King
of Prussia, inviting him to be present at the fete which is to
take place on September 5 at Cologne, on the occasion of the
completion of the dome of the cathedral.

iflte Vigie du illorbihan states that the Judge de
Paix of Elven and his clerk were fired at a few days ago on the
bridge of Bilio as they were returning at half-past 11 at night
from Tredon. The perpetrators of this outrage hare not been
discovered, nor is the motive of the act known.
SINGULAR ACCIDENT.—About 11 o'clock on Satur-
day morning last, as some of the draymen belonging to the firm
of Trueman, Hanbury, and Co., were getting out some empty
casks from the cellar of Mr. Morgan, licensed victualler, No.
100, Great Titchfield-street, Oxford-market, by the aid of a
horse, the animal, by some unaccountable means, was drawn
backward=, and fell with great force into the cellar below, to
the great dismay of the draymen, who imagined that the horse
was killed. The animal, however, who had on his nose-bag,
quickly resumed his perpendicular, and commenced eating as if
nothii,g a hatever had happened. The draymen now used every
effort to extricate the horse, which, however, after the lapse of
several hours, was not accomplished, and it was not until the
evening, when some of the firm, who had been informed of the
circumstance, had arrived, that the animal (who manifested no
displeasure at the means adopted) was got out by the aid of
gullies. The horse, which is valued at 601., was fortunately
not in the slightest degree injured.
A few days ago, while two gentlemen were fishing
on Lochlomond, they obseried an animal of a pecular aspect
swimming beautifully in the water. On a closer inspection it
turned out to be an adder, which appeared to be on a migra-
tory excursion from Inchroin, one of the numerous islands
which det the bosom of the Loch, to Buckinch, another about a
quarter of a mile distant. The little animal swam very grace-
fully, keeping its head three or four inches out of the water,
and propelled itself by the action of its tail. After sufficiently
observing. its movements, they destroyed it with an oar, and
had it taken on shore. —Ross Advertiser.

ASPARAGUS.—Take a quart wine bottle, such as
French wine is sold in : invert over the head of an asparagus
just rising above the ground, and secure it by three sticks, se
that it cannot be knocked over. if left in this state, the aspa
ragus will grow up into the interior of the bottle, and, bein-
stimulated by the unusual heat and moisture it is there exposeg
to, will speedily fill it. As soon as this has taken place, thd
bottle must be b'oken, and the asparagus removed, when ie
well be found to have formed a thick head of tender de:i att
shoots, all eatable, and as compact as a cauliflower.— Gardeno 'e
Chronicle.

How TO ELOPE.—We have heard of a Yankee'
who one day asked his lawyer how an heiress might be carried
off. " You cannot do it with safety," said the counsellor,
" but I'll tell you what you may do; let her mount the horse
and held a bridle whip; do you then mount behind her, and
you are safe—for she runs away with you." The next day the
lawyer found that it was his own daughter who had run away
with his client.

The Nantes journals give an account of the launPh
on the 23d inst., of the new Royal steam yacht the Comte
d'Eu, of 60-horse power, from the yards of Indret, in the pre-
sence of an immense assemblage of spectators. They add, that
one of the three steamers of 220-horse power, intended for tra-
versing the Atlantic, which are being built in the same yards,
is expected to be launched on July 22d. A fourth, but of
smaller size, is on the stocks. _

MELANCHOLY AND FATAL ACCIDENT.—Tuesday
a middle-aged man, of the name of David Richfield, lost his
life under the following distressing circumstances:—lt appears
that the unfortunate individual was engaged unloading a barge
containing timber, which was lying in the Export Commercial
Docks, Rotherhithe. While he was descending from the hold
with a heavy plank upon his back, his foot slipped, and he was
precipitated to the bottom of the companion-ladder, a distance
of near twenty feet. In his fall he received a severe contusion
of the scull and fracture of the thigh; and on being carried to
Guy's Hospital, he lingered in the most excruciating agony for
about an hour, when he expired.
MR. TERRAIL'S CONCERT.—This morning concert
took place at the Queen's Concert Rooms, in Hanover-square.
The singers, among whom were MM. Terrail, Bennett,
Taughan, Bradbury, Cooke, Chapman, Hawkins, Hobbs, and
H. Phillips, were also supported hy several young gentlemen of
her Majesty's Chapel Royal, Westminster Abbey and St.
Paul's Cathedral. Only two female vocalists were present,
Miss Birch and Mrs. W. Loder.
A quack doctor, in one of his bills, said, he could
bring living witnesses to prove the efficacy of his nostrum,
" which is more," says he, " than others in my line can do."
The Prince Royal of Denmark arrived at Berlin
on the 19th inst.
A YANKEE SERMON.---1 once called on a sick per-
son, whom the doctors had given up as a gone case. I asked
him if he had made his peace with Heaven ? He said he
thought he had squared all up. I inpired if he had forgiven
all his enemies? He replied, " Yes. I then asked him if he
had made his peace with his printer? He hesitated for a mo-
ment, and then said he believed he owed him something like
about two dollars and fifty cents, which he desired to have paid
before he bid good bye to the world. His desire was imme-
diately gratified, and from that moment he became convales •
cent. He is now living in .the enjoyment of health and pros-
perity, at peace with his own conscience, with Heaven, and
the world. Let this be an example for you, my friends. Pa-
tronize the printer, take the papers, pay for them in advance,
and your days will be long upon the earth, ,and overwhelming
with the honey of happiness.
It is stated in a letter from Vienna that the Empe-
ror of Austria has decided that the Archduke Charles Ferdi-
nand, the younger son of the Archduke Charles, shall attend
the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the marriage of the
Emperor and Empress of Russia. A courier had been de-
spatched to Milan with the order for the Prince to set out for
St. Petersburgh at the end of the month.
if
faor bodily injury of
himself, or any of his family, it shall not be lawful to take hisny poor person become
illness
NEW TORY POOR LAW—The 37th clause of the
Bill now in progress will have the effect of throwing nearly the
whole of the country paupers on the already over-burthened
ntohwarnge laiahrlieshtens. a n lyt enactsparis h ‘t‘h
rThatoug h
examination or make any order of removal until he shall
have received relief at the cost of such parish for forty dais
consecutively." Now, as paupers seldom apply to the parish
until they or some of their family fall sick, and as the relief
must be for forty days consecutively, the above clause will, in
effect, give each pauper a settlement where he resides, render the
Scotch and Irish irremovable, and throw all fever cases on the
town parishes in which they occur. By the 11th clause, at
least one paid chaplain is to be appointed to each district
school ; and, by the 30th clause, clergymen are guaranteed
their burial fees on the burial of poor persons (not paupers)
who die without effects sufficient to bury them, although Dr.
Lushington, in the Hackney Church-rate case, declared that
no such fees are legally due, but certainly it is a most pleasant
thing to get quartered upon the poor-rate fund. The Bill is
indorsed as prepared and brought in by Sir James Graham,
Sir Robert Peel, and Sir Edward Knatchbull.— Carlisle
Journal.