The Sun.
London, England, 1842-04-19 00:00:00

EXT3ACT FUOM A LETTER FRODI CAWSPOIIE, I)ATED

16TH FF.II,

. .
MYSTERIOUS OCCURRENCE.—Since Friday evening
the family of Mr. T. Martin, of Deverell-street, Old Kene
road, haVe been thrown into a state of alarm, arising from two of
the female servants having been discovered to be poisoned; of
one of whom, from the dreadful state in which she remains up
to the present time, there are but faint hopes of recovery.
The poison taken has been laudanum, which was adminis-
tered in the beer. The following are the particulars con-
nected with this mysterious case :—From the statement of Mr.e
and Mrs. Martin it appears that the oldest of the two women
had received notice to quit ; and in, the course of a day er two
afterwards the other girl gave notice. Being a very good ser-
vant, and much liked by the family, Mrs. Martin inquired the
cause of giving notice, and whether she had any fault to
find with her situation. She replied in the negative. Upon
which sirs. Martin said, " You had better consider what you
are going to do ; for if I should go after the character of any
applicant, and it suits, it will be too late for you to alter
your opinion." Subsequently the girl said, that her fellow-
servant had advised her to leave. Nothing further tran-
spired until the evening in question, when the beer came,
and was placed upon the hob of the kitchen range, which
they both partook of, but the yeungest drank by far the
greater portion; the effect 'of the beverage was almost instan-
taneous, and but for the arrival at home of Mr. and Mrs.
Martin at the time they did, death would have ensued. Upon
searching the kitchen a bottle which had contained laudanum
was found, and which had recently been emptied of its con-
tents. Mr. Martin observed to the police, that since the older
servant had notice to go, one of his children was a few days
before discovered to be labouring under an extraordinary degree
of stupor, and slept fcr a great number of hours. At present
neither of the w men are in a condition to be removed.
DESTRUCTIVE FlEE.—About a quarter before one
o'clock this morning, a fire broke out in the counting-house of
Messrs. Sibley and Tozee, coal merchants, Glass-yard, Wool-
wich; from the confined nature, of the place, the flames rapidly
extended, and, before the engines from the Dock-yard arrived,
the whole of the premises were cn fire, the devouring element
then extended to the adjoining houses, and , the flames
illumi-
nated the horizon for miles round, the reflection gave the first
intimation to the fire stationsi but, fetus the strong glare of
light, the fire was thought to be at Wapping, to wheel place
the West of England went, where they ascertained the locality.
Before two o'clock, the above engine, followed by the Watlieg-
street and Southwark-bridge-road ongines, reached the scene
of destruction. 'I he fire was at length subdued, when it was
ascertained that the whole of Messrs. Sibley and Tozee's pre-
mises were destroyed.
This morning, about two o'clock, a narrow escape
from drowning occurred to two policemen who were sleeping on
board what is termed the " Investigator," a vessel (used for
the purpose of confinirg criminals found on the river) lying
off Strane-lane, near Waterloo-bridge. About the hour men-
tioned, police constaMe Tessdale was awoke by a noise which
he found out to be the water rushing into the room where they
were sleeping; be instantly asecke his companion, and they,
with great difficulty, effected their escaf e, having had, as it
appears, barely time to put on a portion of their clothes before
she filled with water and went down. The cause of the acci-
dent is attributed to the Investigator having been struck on a
previous occasion by a steam-brat. Fortunately no prisoners
were on board at the, time.
HARWICH PETITION.—The petitioner against the
sitting Members has, it is said, expressed his determination, in
the ( vent of his succeeding in his object, to expend 10,0001. in
getting et branch of the Eastern Counties' Railway to Harwich
Should such a project be effected, it will be the meant of re,
storing Harwich to its former condition of a packet station.—
/e.szeich Express.

„
A V OLUNTEER TAX-PAYER.—The Chancellor of
the Exchequer begs to acknowledge the receipt of .50(1.
(transmitted to him under cover to :Mrs. Goulburn) by one
echo styles. him:elt ” a sincere admirer of the manly .spirit in
which you have met the difficulties of your position by a direct
taxation," and to acquaint him that the said sum will be paid
tot° theExchequer.—llowning-street, April 18, 184 g.
There is no foundation whatever for the statement
that has appened in the new slave rs, that Sir Robert Peel has
recently, given xiireetionS for the reduction of rents to the ex-
tent of twenty per sent.—Everring Paper. •
'The youthful Earl of iNiunster and his brother, the
Hon Frederick Fitzclarence, will shorty be gazetted to sous-
missions in the army.

I It is said that the Duke D'Aumale and the Prince
Dc Joinville are Alertly to leave the French espifal on a vrtit
•to her 111.ijesty, and will ii.ake a general tour to visit the public
establishments in this country.
KENSINGTON 141101-EMENTS.—The projected new
villas on the site of the Royal kitchen gardens at Kensington
Wilt be of a very ornamental character, and will extend on both
sides of the new road, excepting on that portion of the site in-
tercepted by Kensfrigton Palace, the villas being continued on
the opposite side towards Kensington-green. The principal
feature of the improvements contemplated in this district, by the
Woods and Forests is undoubtedly the formation of a great and
leading thoroughfare from Baysvta:er to Kensington, which
will be a great boon to the inhatiitans of the vicinity.
A turner, named Peget, was lately tried before
the Paris Court of Assizes, for the murder of a man named
Chollet, who excteised the same calling as the accused. The
decemed returned home to the Rue St. Martin, 157, one night
in October last, bathed in blood from a.large wound on his
right temple. He had on a cap which was net his own, and
held in his hand a knife which he said he had snatched from a
person who had attacked him near the Canal St. Martin. The
aggressor, he stated, first asked hint the way, and on receiving
the information ha sought, suddenly rushed on him, and, in a
struggle, inflicted the wound on the head. Chollet grew grate
dually won e, and
tirattPr. '1 he an. Cj.e'i W:i3.taitil up for hung _heard to
at last died. giving the same account of the
h& lAA tieen night ee
and wily got rid of them by sti•ii‘h,g about right and ieic
with his knife. On the trial he persisted in the same state-
ment, and, his character being good, he was acquitted.

back with a loss of more than 400 men killed and wounded ;
two officers killed and nine wounded. I have this moment had
a full account of the engagement from Captain Liptroft. He says
that at his second' cut on a man's head, his sword bent double.
He Mates the disorder to be more than he can describe.
When the firing eommerced, the elephants arid bo4rd,
and upset every thing in their flight in a narrow pass. Ycu
may imagine the confusion. Colonel White has just returned
from the Adjutant-General. We shall halt here to-morrow.
The Commander-in-Chief follows us in three days.
" Loodianah, Feb. 10.—We received the Governor-Gene-
ral's proclamation last night. He will retake Cauhul, and
carry fire and sword through Affghanistan. We are ordered
to push on as fast as possible, and cross the Suticdge at Feroze-
pore on the 20th, with one troop of horse artillery,' one native
and some Rissalah ; the first division under Colonel White ;
second division, Ist cavalry, her Majesty's 31st Foot, , one
Native Infantry, and flis'alah. The whole army will be formed
at Peshawur, but who will command is not yet known. It will
be a two years' campaign at least, and we shall have plenty to
do, as the whole cry is for Dragoons. We shall have no
end -of detached duty, as the country will not allow of us
acting in any large body. We shad have great difficulty
in feeding our horses, as but few grasscutters will go on.
It. is supposed that ten or fifteen fresh regiments will be sent
direct from England. Not less than 30,000 men will retake
Aaglianistan, and the troops cannot be taken from our own
provinces in these disturbed times.

IMPORTANT FROM IND)A -DE-
FEAT OF THE AFFGIJANS.

- ---
The Visier Times of Thurs, ay says:— When our reporter
was ycstereay in Lisburn, attending thi meeting; there, a gen-
tleman of that town lead to him the follov,ing extract of a ki-
te: which had just Loen reeeivr d

_ .
We have just received iettet s from the Commander-in-Chief's
camp, giving Candahar news up to the 12th ult. . Au action
had taken place between our troops and the Affghatis,
in which ,we wire • victors, kiling 163, and wound.
ing •200 of the enemy. Our loss was only three
ollieei s wout.ded slightly, two private's killed, and
twenty wounded. Letters from General Sala have been
received up to the 30th ult.,. on which date the temps were in
. high spirits, having captured 175, bullocks—a get at.windfatl tor
them ! But the rn,,st important piece of itcyis (cur letter con-
tinues) is, that !Ail) Soojah, who hc.s cost us million, of money,
has all along, been playing a false game. lie ba, addressed
a letter- to Sherd Singh, anti other native Princes,
plering dim to aid him in getting rid of his enemies—meaning
the British—but too cautious to name us. It now appears
that be could have procured ptovisions for our starving troops
.at Caubul, Eglning his battles. The day of retribution is ndi.
far off—a soldier's death would be too good f.r him ; and 1 hope,
ere long, the gallows will claim him as its own.
A letter ham been received. from Lady Alacnaghten, stating
that the pi isoners are. well treated. She has only the few
clothes she had on, anti expected to be soon released.

LITERATURE.
ENCYCLORXDIA BRITANNICA. Part 136.
-Bluth, Edinburgh, 1842.
There is an excellent article on " Savings' Banks"
,in this--;--the closing Part of the " Encyclotmdia Bri-
tannica"—wherein an important statistic question is
discussed in a practical, bUsiness-like spirit. The
writer expresses himself warmly in favour of these
Banks, and repudiates the idea that any portion of
their hinds can go into the hands of Government,
which, nevertheless, is security for the money.. In re-
ference to their increase, since their establishment in
1817, he says, " the total
,sum of money invested by
these Institutions in England, Wales, and Ireland,
amount at this moment (1841) to upWards of
22,000,000/. sterling; while in Scotland, since 1835,
when the English law on the subject was extended to
that part of the United Kingdom, the progress has also
been very considerable, Livings' Banks having been
established in most of the principal towns; while in
many places . such Institutions still exist, and are
flourishing under the meagre and defective statute of
1819." In addition to several other miscellaneous
articles, the Part before: us contains an Index
to the whole EncyclopMdia, which is one of the most
minute, copious, _ and satisfactory we have ever yet
met with, and must have cost the indefatigable com-
piler a world of time and trouble. By means of this
comprehensive index, O•eryfact and argument intro-
duced into • the work may be found without the
slightest difficulty a great recomMendatiOn, when
we bear in mind that the Encyclopaedia extends to
not less than twenty-one thick, closely-printed quarto
volumes ! The Preface explains in detail the
nature of this multifarious undertaking, its origin and
progress, and the various difficulties against which it
has had to struggle. he tells. us it is now 70 yea',
since the " Encyclopmdia Britannica" first appeared,
during which period it has exhibitedgreat and various
mutations. Consisting at first of three quarto vo-
lumes of moderate size, it now," he goes on to ob-
serve, "appears ia twenty-one, each, in quantity of
matter, equalling More than two of the original.
prototype. Showing, in its earlier stages, no
literary skill above the level of decent abridgment or
compilation, it is now composed of treatises which in
no respect yield to the other original Lind finished pro-
ductions of the age. The workmanship, at first, of a
few comparatively undistinguished literary denizens
of its native place,
,its list of contributors now includes
a large portion of that learned-host by whom the
mental sovereignty of Britain is upheld." how-
ever laudatory these remarks may be, they are not ex-
aggerated, for the Ease-Yclopt.edia does really and
truly posiess all the reconlmendiltions which the Edi-
tor ascribes to it; among its artieles are to be found
essays of the highest literary excellence, and maps
and plates executed by the ablest engravers of the
day. Now, that it is at length brought to a close, we
have no hesitation in saying that, as a work of refer
ence, the "Encyclopedia Britannica" is beyond al
question the most useful and sterling production o
the age.