The Sun.
London, England, 1827-08-31 00:00:00

No. 10,911.

PUBLICATIONS.

THE LONDON MAGAZINE for SEP-
TEMBER, No. XXXIIL—(New Series.)
COXTFNTS : The American Annual Register—The
Reign of Dr. Francia—Character of Lord Clarendon—Me-
moirs of James Hardy Vaux.--Dr. Parr's Marginal Notes
—Diary for the Month of August—Household Book of
Henry Vlll.—Montgomery's Pelican Island—Persecution
of Galileo--Anecdotes of Animals (from Griffith's; Transla-
tion of Cuvier's Animal Kingdom)—Two Years in Ava-
3lagaziniana—Prices of Shares, &c.—Literary Intelli-
gence; Works Published—Prices of English and Foreign
Funds, &c.
Hunt and Clarke, York-street, Covent-garden.

THE WESTMINSTER REVIEW, No.
xv. just published, contains—l. Canada : Finan-
cial Difficulties of Lower Canada, &c.—II. Grecian, Gothic,
and Egyptian Architecture—lll. Ireland and Absenteeism;
Fifteenth Report on Courts of Justice in Ireland—lV.
Public Libraries—V. Ellis's Original Letters illustrative
of English History, with Notes, &c.—VI. Political Eco-
nomy ; Senior's Introductory Lecture on Political Econo-
my—Vll. Picard's Gil Blas of Revolution—Vlll. Cun-
ningham's Two Years in New South Wales—lX. Hans
Holbein.
London : printed for Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy.

This day was published, in 1:Ivo. with Engravings on Wood,
• price 3s. 6d. No. IX. of • ,
THE GARDENER'S MAGAZINE,
and Register of Rural and Domestic Improvement.
Conducted by .1. C. LOUDON, F.L. S., H.S., &c.
The object of this work is not only to record such dis-
coveries and improvements in Botany and Gardening as
might otherwise escape notice, but to give the essence of all
that is new in other publications, domestic or foreign.
" The subjects -in this Number (IX.) connected with
the present or approaching season are,—the preservation of
apples ; prolongation of the season of hardy fruits ; of
grapes ; taking up and preparing potatoes for sets ; plans
for growing cucumbers in the winter season, and for pro-
curing very early crops ; winter crops of grapes ; and
choice florists flowers worth purchasing in September, and
gooseberries worth purchasing in November.
" As subjects of permanent and considerable interest, we
may refer to Mr. Harrison's paper on training the apple-
tree ; Mr. Smith on the French modes of training the
peach ; Mr. Ingram on wiring and nailing walls ; Mr.
Stewart Murray on a new tally for plants ; Mr. Acon on
the vine; Mr. Fintelmann on the German mode of forcing
cherries ; and the account of. the mode of cultivating
tobacco in Holland, by Mr. B. Saint Martin ; the epitome
of the discoveries in respect to the motion of the sap in
plants, by M. Dutrochet ; some curious experiments on
the metamorphoses of male and female plants, by Drs.
Autenreith and Maux, of Tubingen ; the mode of produc-
ing artificial bloom on fruits, by Mr. Gauen ; and a notice
of an invention by the same ingenious gardener, for gene-
rating heat by the concentration of the sun's rays, and
applying it to the maintenance, of artificial climates, ma,
turation of fruits, and accelerating the growth of exotic
plants." The usual variety will be found in the Foreign
and British Miscellaneous Notices.-
Vol.-I. 13s. 6d. boards, and Vo1.• 11. l 4s. 6d. boards,
may also be had.
Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green,
London.

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PRICE ID.

We are now in the enjoyment of excellent
weather, and have been so for the last ten days.
Within that brief space a great deal of harvest
work has been performed, and reaping is quite
general on the banks of the Nith, the Annan,
the Esk, the Dee, the Ken, the Bladenoch, and
the Cree. Cheerful bands of reapers are seen in
almost every field, and it is now actually a plea-
sure to be in the country, and a punishment to
be cooped up in a town. In regard to the for-
ward state of the crops, there is little difference
betwixt hill and valley, inclosed uplands and
open moors. This circumstance of itself will
enhance not a little the agricultural wealth of
1827 ; and should September prove as favour-
able as the end of Augast, harvest will be om-
pleted under the happiest auspices. With the
exception of the wheat, all the crops are falling
well to the sickle, but unfortunately that species
of grain is not only thin on the ground, but in
many places wears a bleached, yellow, and sickly-
looking hue. At this rate, the wheat crop on
many a farm will neither be great nor of good
quality. But here we speak of Scotland, or
rather a part of Scotland exclusively ; for in most
of the counties in England and Ireland, the wheat
crops are said to be healthy and heavy. To the
South, and a good way to the North of London,
the grain is cut and mostly housed, and the same
remark, we understand, applies to all the district
of country South of Dublin. Even at home the
arass in the stack-yard will be choked and buried
beforeb the end of the present week ; and altoge-
ther we have great reason to rejoice in the pros-
pect of abundance, and unite in fervent gratitude
to that Divine Being who provideth for the
wants of every living thing. We have often
heard it said that the deficiency of grain and
straw in 1826, abstracted more than 100,0001.
sterling from the floating capital of Dumfries-
shire and Galloway, and it is certainly a matter
of great thankfulness, that the present crop will
not only prove a full average one, but go far to
compensate the sterility and unkindness of pre-
vious seasons.
In good years, the annual value of the grans
grown in Britain (including, of course, wheat,
oats, barley, bear, rye, and pulse), is generally
estimated at one hundred and twelve millions
sterling, and that, independently of black cattle,
sheep, hides, wool, butter, cheese, and poultry,
which, according to Dr. Colquhoun and other sta-
tists, amount to a hundred and eight millions more.
Now, these are, truly fearful sums, whether taken
together or separately.; and the best way to judge
of their magnitude is, to compare them first,
with the national debt, and next, with the in-
come and expenditure of Britain. In either
point of view they impress us vividly ,sith the
vast importance of the fruits of the soil, and at
the same time, point directly to this conclusion—a
conclusion as obvious as that two and two are
four—that when any thing occurs to diminish
the productive powers of the soil, we are just so
much poorer as a nation. As climate and wea-
ther vary with latitude, importation from abroad
fire had t
destroyed
will fill up the void, but the supplies thus ob-
tained must be paid for in specie or other com-
modities ; and the effect, though neither so visi-
ble nor alarming, is the same—reckoning in
pounds, shsiollminegso,faonudr pence--as
towns, a sif ,
a or
storm overtaken and stranded the elite of our
navy. The harvest, last season, according to
many, was a full fifth below an average one, and
if there be any truth in this calculation, the con-
sequences must have been felt not only in large
trading towns, but in every glen and strath in
the kingdom. If the poor weaver was forced to
pinch and pinch grievously, the moorland farmer
had either to anticipate future savings or fall
back on resources previously accumulated ; and
to say nothing of the numerous intermediate
classes, whose interests were all more or less af-
fected, even the Chancellor of the Exchequer
himself was feelingly reminded of the long con-
tinued drought by derangement of commerce,
diminished consumption, and a consequent fall-
ing off in the ways and means. And this hasty
view of the subject brings us back to the point
from which we started—namely, that the agricul-
tural prospects of the country furnish a theme for
universal rejoicing. Particular branches of trade
may flourish or decay, ant the great bulk of
the people remain ignorant of the circumstance ;
but the state of the crops and the state of the
weather affect, more or less, the fortunes And
feelings of all classes,—from tile peer in his
palace to the beggar on the. bridge. Here the
very poorest have " a stake in the hedge," and
at particular seasons, a fortnight of good or bad
weather may influence the future weal or woe of
millions of men, by giving to, or taking from,
them millions of money. In one word, -and
without discussing the principle of high or low
prices, abundance is a blessing, scarcity a scourge ;
and we conclude as we began by recommending
all to bow the knee in gratitude to that kind
Providence which crowns the joyous year with
abundance, and scatters plenty over the land for
man and for beast.
Within the last fortnight we received so many
wonderful stalks of corn, that if the grain had
been ripe, we would have thrashed it ourselves,
and got new meal made without delay. Mr.
Shortridge, we think, would have milled it for
nothing. Two of these grew on Mr. Brown's
farm of Bellriding, and contained—the one 301,
and the other, 280 pickles of grain. Another
stalk, which slew at Carth agena, was upwards of
seven feet in length, and was at the same time so
bushy at the top that we tired counting the
in-
dividual pickles. But the crowning stalks of all
were two which grew in a field on the estate of
Cargen. Both were most beautiful, and would
yield singly a return of 500 fold. One of them,
which we have preserved, is liker a young tropi-
cal tree than an ordinary stalk of potato oats.
Near the root, it measured one inch in circum-
ference, and as near as may be, a foot and a half
betwixt the commencement and termination of
the grain. The flag leaf is an inch and a quarter
in breadth, and altogether we never witnessed
such a gigantic specimen of what, according t„
Dr.
Dr. Johnson, forms the food of men in Sco.,_
land, and of horses in England.—Dumfries

EXTRAORDINARY CASE of MONOMANIA.

PARIS, AUG. 24.—0 n the 20th inst. a woman
named P.-nvetre, the wife of a tailor, who a few
montlisback,put to death two of her children, by
fracturing their skulls with an iron bar, was brought
tip for trial before the Court of Assize of Versailles.
The prisoner walked slowly, and with difficulty
into Court. Her complexion was yellow and livid,
with here and those rc deep red flush. Her head was
reclined upon her breast, and her eyes constantly
fixed upon the ground ; ,she seemed under the in-
fluence of no emotion, and looked as if unconscious
of what was passing around her.
After the reading of the indictment the following
interrogatory took plweel—
At what hour did .yxr get up on the 2d of May ?
—I do not know ; s&*etime in the morning.
When did you strilii your children P—l do not
know. row
You know very w1i4,1 however, that you struck
them, you declarediho yourself?—Yes, since they
always tell me so. I. ost
Did you love your thildren ?—Yes.
What urged yol kill them ?—An idea; I do
not know.
They wanted to go out, and you made them
remain ?—Yes.
What did you do afterwards ?—Why do you ask
me, since you know it.
Did you not take an iron bar and strike them both
with it ?—I did what you say.
The prisoner avoided giving any details, and ex-
pressed great impatience at the questions being re-
peated. When the iron bar and knife with which
she had cut her children's throats were presented to
her, her countenance underwent no alteration.
On being asked if it was her intention to kill her
third child ? she replied in a faltering voice—Yes,
I should have done it, if I had had the courage, and
if he had not been at school.
These answers she gave in her first examination,
adding, that it was the profound misery in which
she was in that urged her to commit the crime; that
she wished to die herself, but was anxious that her
children should quit this world before her.
One of the witnesses stated, that he was present
when the prisoner's brother and her husband re-
proached her with what she had done, and asked
her if she was not sorry for it, whet} she replied,
that she was not, for her children were too unhappy.
The PRESIDENT having asked her if she had any
thing to say to this testimony, she answered in the
following incoherent and insane manner :—There is
a mystery in all that which I cannot discover. My
`relations were not there. They were persons re-
presented—besides, if that has been done, that has
been done in spite of me.
A Doctor Courtois declared that the prisoner bad
been sick since her last accouchement; that towards
spring she became better, but a few days before the
death of her children her malady resumed its inten-
sity. He added, however, that he did not perceive
any symptons of insanity in her.
Another physician, with nearly the same name
(Doctor Courtis), gave a very dissimilar testimony.
He declared that he saw the prisoner the morning
after the Grime, and that she exhibited all the symp-
toms of the most decided monomania. Whilst she
was made to look upon the mutilated bodies of her
children, he felt her pulse, on which not the slightest
variation took place.
Doctor Petry, who frequently visited her in prison,
also declared that she had all the syrnpt)ms of mo-

nomania.
The Jury, after an hours' deliberation, found the
wretched woman guilty of murder, but without pre-
meditation. She was 'sentenced to hard labour for
life, and to be branded. She heard her doom with
the utmost apathy.

On the 17th and 18th instant, the Court of
Assize of Rheims presented the deplorable spectacle
of a mother and daughter placed in the same dock,
under the charge of the murder of the husband of
the one and the father of the other, an old man
named Denon Villiers. Both prisoners were dressed
in black, and of remarkably tall stature.
. . .

The deceased, from old age and infirmity, being I
unable to work, became an object of continual re- ,
proach and ill-treatment to his wife and daughter;
that on the 3dof May last, Florentine, his daughter,
told one of the neighbours that her father had died
suddenly during the night. She then went to ano-
ther• village, for a woman to prepare him for inter-
ment. Both the mother and daughter told the
woman to go through the operation as quickly as
possible, and commence with the head. From the
previous cruel treatment of the old man, some sus-
picions were entertained as to the cause of his death,
and the body having been exhumed on the 7th of
May, the most undeniable signs of strangulation
were found upon the neck. So tight had the cord
been drawn, that the impression made by it on the
back of the neck was deep enough to admit a finger.
Various witnesses bore testimony to the previous
unnatural conduct of the prisoners. One stated that
he heard the daughter say to the deceased. " You
must go and look for some money; if you do not
bring back some, you must drown or hang yourself,
or we shall strangle you." The mother repeated
the last words, saying to her husband, " Yes, we
shall strangle you." The daughter then struck her
father, saying, " There's for what you gave me yes-
terday." The father said, " You are not my daugh-
ter ; it is not God that guides you." " No (replied
she), it is the Devil." On another occasion, the
mother and daughter, in presence of the Mayor,
pushed the old man and threw him down. The
daughter going one day to the mill with the Mayor's
wife, said to her, " Is it not disagreeable to have to
support a father who is incapable of doing any
thing ?" " Wretch! (replied the Mayor's wife)
who, then, would support him, unless it be you ?"
In all the examinations, and during the trial, the
prisoners constantly persisted in denying the charge
imputed to them.
The Jury found them both " Guilty," and they
were sentenced to death.
The daughter, besides, was condemned to be led
to the place of execution en chemise, bare-footed, her
head and face covered with a black veil ; to stand on
the scaffold while her sentence was read to the
people, and to have her right hand cut off before de-
capitation.

A most numerous and respectable meeting,
including a great number of ladies, was lately
held at the chapel of the Blue Coat Hospital, at
Liverpool, for the purpose of establishing a Li-
verpool Branch of the Society for Propagating
the Gospel in Foreign Parts. The Bishop of
Chester was in the chair.
_ _ _

In the report of the Assizes at Bridgewater
we are sorry to notice by far the heaviest calendar
that ever appeared in this county : seven persons
are viz.—Richard Lovell, aged
7 1 ; left for William
execution,Kerslake, aged 33 ; John Burton,
aged 30 ; William Southwood, aged 35 ; *Wil-
liam Latcham, aged 26 ; and Elizabeth Dix and
Thomas Wiltshire, for a burglary at Lark-hall,
in the house of Mr. Jameson, in whose service
Elizabeth Dix was at that time. We hope that
the severe but necessary measures which have
been thus taken to check the increase of crime,
will operate as a beneficial example to the idle,
faithless, and dissolute, who must now know that
neither age nor sex will interrupt the due admi.
nistratwn of the hiw.

A CIIAPEL FRACAS.—Sunday last a scene
oifc i n greatity
s,
Permits any tradesman residing within the dis-
c o
hold occurredr
forth
dis-
trict of the chapel to
on a Sunday.
While a builder was holding forth, three men,
bricklayers, walked up to the pulpit, and de-
manded their wages, which they alleged were
due for the last week, which so enraged the
builder that he endeavoured to turn them out.
The proprietor of the chapel came to his assist-
ance, when the fellows attacked and beat the
two gentlemen in a most brutal manner, leaving
them both prostrate
town, i on
The ilproprietor
r i e t
or 0 f
the chapel
on the chapel floor.