The Sun.
London, England, 1829-09-25 00:00:00

' ; ; 7--kt

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•THE FI NO AND HIS CHALLENGER.
,
it. 4"
p._lt rhIT r, 10le•qed by many of our readers, that
an advertusseelt 'appeared a few days ago in the
Papers, in svh' 1.4;31r. J. Smith, after insinuating
that N. Cialtertythe fire-king, practised some juggle
Wher4 appeared to enter into an oven heated to
500 degrees;a4d to swallow 20 grains of phospho-
rus, challenged him for any sum which he might
please to mention to perform the exploits which he
professed to be performing daily. It will also be re-
collected, that to this challenge was added an explicit
" pledge," given " upon the honour" of Mr. Smith,
that if M. Chabert " fairly accomplished such an
undertaking, he would likewise do the same." To
those who are acquainted with the various shapes in
which ambition clothes itself, it will not appear sur-
prising that the " Fire-King's soul was all on fire"
to answer the daring defiance which he had received
from an unknown calumniator ; and in consequence
he publicly accepted Mr. J. Smith's challenge for
50/., requesting him to provide the poisons himself,
and offering, with true chivalric courtesy, to allow
him the same conveniences which he used himself
whilst he remained in the oven. This unexpected
retort appeared to make Mr. J. Smith feel that it
was necessary for him to be more magnificent in his
promises than he had hitherto shown himself; for in
his rejoinder to Mr. Chabert, he informed him that he
would meet him in the Argyll Rooms, at his ordinary
hour of performance, and would then " enter the
oven with him, and perform his other feats." Wed-
nesday was mutually fixed upon as the day on which
the two contracting parties to this extraordinary
challenge were to try their merits by the ordeal of
fire, and on which they were to submit their powers
of resisting poison to the test of experiment. Ac-
cordingly, at two o'clock, the hour appointed for
the combat, a number of gentlemen were attracted to
the arena in which it was to take place; and as they
enteted, care was taken to inform them that the
money had been regularly posted, and that Mr.
Smith was ready to " come to the scratch." At a
little before three o'clock the Fire-King made his
appearance near his oven, and as some impatience had
been exhibited owing to the non-arrival of Mr. J.
Smith, be offered to amuse the company with a few
trifling experiments, which he said any of them
might perform with the greatest ease. He then
made a shovel red hot and rubbed it over his tongue,
a trick for which no credit, he said, was due, as the
moisture of the tongue was sufficient to prevent any
injury arising from it. He next rubbed it over his
hair and face, declaring that any body might per-
form tke same feat by first washing themselves in a
mixture of spirits of sulphur and of alum, which, by
cauterising the epidermis, hardened the skin to resist
the fire. lie then put his hands into some melted
lead, took a small portion of it out, placed it in his
mouth, and then gave, it in a solid sire to some of
the company. This performance, according to his ac-
count, was also very easy ; for he seized only a very
small particle, which, by a tight compression between
the finger and thumb, became cool before it reached
the mouth. By the time that these " little tricks,"
as he eailed them, were performed, another call was
made for sir. Smith's appearance. The Fire-King
looked rotund the room, and seeing the bashful coun-
tenance of his challenger in one corner of it, called
him from his retirement, and pointed him out to the
notice of the audience. The challenger being on
the ground, the time for trifling was now over, and
M. Chabert forthwith prepared himself for mightier
undertakings. A cruise of oil was brought forward
and poured into a. saucepan, which was previously
turned upside down, to chew that there was no water
in it. The alleged reason for this step was, that
vulgar conjurors, who profess to drink boiling oil,
place the oil in water, and drink it when the water
boils, at which time the oil is not warmer than an
ordinary cup of tea. He intended to drink the oil
when any person might see it bubbling in the sauce-
pan, and when the thermometer would prove that it
was heated to 360 degrees, The saucepan was ac-
cordingly placed upon the fire, and as it was acquir-
ing the requisite heat, the Fire-King challenged any
man living to drink a spoonful of the oil at the same
temperature as that at which he was going to drink
it. In a few minutes afterwards he sipped of a spoon-
ful with the greatest apparent ease, although the
spoon, from contact with the boiling fluid, had be-
come too hot for ordinary fingers to handle, " And
now, Monsieur smith," said the Fire-King, 6' now
for your challenge. Have you prepared yourself with
phosphorus, or will you take some of mine, which is
laid on that table ?"
Mr. Smith, who is a thickset man of middle size,
walked up to the table, and pulling a vial bottle out
Of his pocket. offered it to the poison-swallower,
The Fire King—l ask you, on your honour, as a
gentle man, is this genuine unmixed poison ?
Mr. s.7nith—lt is, upon my honour.
The Fire-Sing.—ls there any medical gentleman
here, who will examine it? (Speaking to a gen-
tleman near him.) Will you try it for me, Sir ?
The Gentleman declined; he believed that the
Fire-King was a better judge of phosphorus than
he was.
A person in the room requested that Dr, Gordon
Smith, one of the medical Professors in the London
University, would examine the vial, and decide
whether it contained genuine phosphorus.
The learned Professor went to the table, on which
a formidable collection of poisons—such as red and
white arsenic, hydro-cyanic acid, morphine, and
phosphorus—was placed, and examining the vial,
exclaimed, that to the best of his judgment it was
genuine phosphorus.
This did not content several gentlemen in the
room; they desired to see whether it would ignite
by friction. The experiment was made, and a small
piece soon set the paper in which it was wrapped
into a blaze. The same experiment had been tried
on the Fire-King's own phosphorus ; and if we may
judge from the volume of flame which it sent forth
his phosphorus was stronger than that provided by
Air. Smith. The reality of the poison being thins
ascertained, M. Chabert asked 31r. Smith with great
potteness how many geains bewished to commence
his first draught with.
Mr. Smith—Twenty grains will do az 3 com-
mencement.
M. Chabert—Ah, my good Sir, it is a very small
dose. I should not object to take a pound or two
—will you weigh the quantity yourself ?
Mr. Smith declined.

A medical gentleman then came forward and cut
off two parcels of phosphorus, containing 20 grains
each. He was placing them in the water, when the
Fire King requested that hi; phosphorus might be
rut into small pieces, as he did not wish the pieces
to stop on their road to his stomach.
The poisons were now prepared. A wine-gbas
contained the portion set aside for the Fire-King--
a tumbler the portion reserved for Mr. Smith. It
would be difficult to say whether the challenger or
the challenged at this moment showed the greatest
composure. This may be safely said—they were
at this moment the two I:..nst agitated persons in tha
room.
The Fire-King—l suppose, gszamen, I must
begin. Well, then, to convince you that do not
juggle, I will first of all take off my coat, and then,
as another precaution, I will trouble you Doctor
(speaking to Dr. Gordon Smith) to tic my hands
together behind me.
Here a loud cry was set up that it was unneces-
sary to have the Fire-King bandaged in this manner.
The f:,::•e.King—Oh gentieonn, I beg your par-
don, it is riecearY for I want to sZtow you that I
do net juggle.
After he had been bam.4.stzed in this zoart,w, he
planted himself on one knel to :he centre of Oka
room, and requested some gentlemen :2 p'4,;!'e the
phosphorus on his tongue and pour the water dow.7
his throat. This was accordingly done, and the
water and phosphorus were swallowed together.
lie then opened his mouth and requested the com-
pany to look whether any portion of the pbosphorus
remained in his mouth. Several gentlemen ex-
amined his mouth and declared that there was no
phosphorus perceptible either upon or under his
tongue. He was then by his own desire unban-

daged. The Fire-King then turned to Mr. Smith
and offered him the other glass of phosphorus with
a ceremonious politeness which wai highly enter-
taining—" And now, my good Sir, I shall have
great pleasure in seeing you take off your glass too."

Mr. Smith started back in infinite alarm—" Not
for worlds, Sir, not for worldA ; I beg to decline it."
The Fire-King—Eh! mon Dieu ; you decline
it ! Oh ! dear Sir; no, no; you will drink von
little glass to oblige the company.
Mr. Smith—The company must excuse me. I
don't often drink in a morning, and least of all such
an ardent spirit as phosphorus.
The Fire. Kink—Then why for did you send me
a challenge ? You have pledged your honour to
drink it if I did. I have done it ; and if you are a
gentleman, you must drink it too.
Mr. Smith—No, no; I must be excused: I am
quite satisfied without it.

Here several voices exclaimed that the bet was
lost. Some said that there must be a confederacy
between the challenger and the challenged, and
others asked whether any; money had been deposited?
The Fire-King called a Mr. White forward, who
deposed that he held the stakes, which had been
regularly placed in his hands, by both parties, be-
fore 12 o'clock that morning.
The Fire-King here asked Mr. Smith if be in-
tended to go into the oven with him ? Mr. Smith
replied that he could answer that question better
after he saw the Fire-King come out.
The Fire-King—But, my good Sir, that makes
no matter, for you have lost your bet already if you
do not swallow the phosphorus. Are you satisfied
OR that head ? Mr. Smith, after a very slight hesi-
tation, admitted that he was.

The Fire-King here turned round with great ex-
ultation to the company, and pulling a bottle out of
his pocket, exclaimed with great good feeling, " I
did never see this gentleman before this morning,
and I did not know but that he might be bold
enough to venture to take this quantity of poison.
I was determined not to let him lose his life by his
foolish wager, and therefore I did bring an antidote
in my pocket, which would have prevented him
from suffering any halm. Le voila! Ah, ab !
My good Sir, you pay your 50/. to see me take the
phosphorus. Now you shall take three or four
grains yourself. I will give you von little wine
glass out of this bottle, and you shall be as well in
a few minutes as you are now. Do, Sir, oblige me
by taking a few grains.
Mr. Smith begged to be excused. His object
was answered in seeing 20 grains of genuine phos-
phorus actually swallowed. He had conceived it
impossible, as three grains were quite sufficient to
destroy life.
The Fire-King then addressed the gentleman
who had meted out the phosphorus—" Perhaps you,
Sir, will have the goodness to swallow a little bit to
amuse me. I pledge you 1,0001., I pledge you my
life, that if you take a little of this bottle, it will
not do you any harm."
The gentleman turned pale with affright. " I
must beg to decline your polite invitation," he
stammered out at last, " for in case of accident I
am afraid the pledge • of your life would not keep li
my wife and family."
The Fire-King—Now, gentlemen, I will prove
to you by another little experiment that I have no
phosphorus in my mouth. Atlendez an pen. Put
me a small piece of phosphorus on a knife point,
and bring me a candle.
A candle was brought him, and he lighted it with
the phosphorus. _ . _

Piirt of the phosphorus fell upon the ground, and
was extinguished after some trouble.
The Fire-King.—Ah, Mr. Smith, you are very
good to trie. You bring me the very good phos-
phorus. lAm much obliged to you, Sir. Now give
me a torch, and a fork.

They were given to him accordingly. He took
a small piece of the burning torch on his fork, put it
into his mouth and swallowed it. " And now, gen-
tlemen, I have done with the poison for to-day."
Having said this, he withdrew into another -room
for the professed purpose of putting on his usual
dress for entering the oven, but in all probability for
the real purpose of getting the phosphorus, by some
antidote, from his stomach. Zinc is the usual anti-
dote for phosphorus; but he says that it is not the
antidote which he uses, and declines to mention
what is. We were informed that some eminent
physicians asked him a few days ago if he would
have any objection to have the poison taken off his
stomach by the stomach-pump, and that he replied
that he should have no objection, providing that, in
analyzing the contents of his stomach, they would
be satisfied with ascertaining the existence of the
poison, and would not seek to ascertain the nature
of his antidote, which was so simple in its nature,
that when it was once known, every apothecary's
boy could provide it. He has repeatedly taken all
the different poisons which were placed upin his
teeth. On one occasion, when he was exhibiting
before the Duke of Norfolk, lie took a tea-spoonful
of prussic acid; but that experiment he says he will
never repeat again ; for it Is a poison, which not
only requires the antidote to be taken first, but is
also so rapid in:its operation, that it may destroy life
before the antidote can produce its effect. He said
that he should never forget the feelings which came
over him as soon as he had swallowed it. Every
vein in his head appeared to swell, and " each par-
ticular hair," he said, " stood erect, like quills upon
the porcupine."
Immediately after Mr. Smith had declined to take
the phosphorus, several gentlemen surrounded him,
desiring to know why he had inserted such adver-
tisements as lie had done in the public papers, if he
had no intention to perform the feats to which he
had dared the Fire-King. To this he replied that
his object had been to ascertain, beyond all doubt,
whether it was possible for any person to take such
a mass of poison and live—that he should not have
risked such a sum of money of his own on such a
challenge as that which he had giver—but that- he
was acting as the representative of a number of
scientific gentlemen, who had subscribed such a
sum, as would enable him, if his challenge was ac-
cepted, to insist upon furnishing the poison himself,
and upon seeing every step taken by the Fire-King
bef4;re and while he swallowed it. He stated that
he was now perfectly convinced that the phosphorus
was actually swallowed, He likewise protested
that there had been no collusion between him and
the Fire-King. This protestation was subsequently
repeated by the Fire-King himself—who added, in
confirmail;op of it, that he could have no interest in
drawing a large concourse of people to his room. He
was paid a certain sum por week by Mr. Welsh, and
whether there was one person in the room, or whe-
ther there were 20,000, was to him, as far as his
oars emolument was concerned, perfectly immate-
rial. We tbip it only justice to M. Chabert to
state, that if there shoplc.l have been any collusion in
this challenge, he appears to Le without any motive
for being a party to it. How far that spy be the
se with his employer, is a question on which we
give no opinion. M. Chabert stated, that after the
pledge which Ur; Smith had given the public in his
advertisement, he fully expected to have been put
to a fair trial of his powers in the Bourse of the day,
and OW he had in consequence made preparations
and alterationa in his course of action, which one
way or another would cost him upwards of 20/.
After an absence of twenty minutes, M. Chabert
returned, dressed in a coarse woollen coat, to enter
the heated oven, I3efore he entered it, a medical
gentleman ascertained that his pulse was vibrat-
ing 98 times in a minute. He remained io the oven
for five minutes, during which time he sung " Le
raillant Troubadour," arid superintended the cook-
ing a i:wo dishes of beef steaks. At the end of
that time he colp put, perspiring profusely, and
with :2 pulse making .!Ed vibrations in a minute.
' when brought out, R. the oven,
The ther-morn.it7;
wig.- the oven, be salq,
stood at 380 degrees ;
it
was above 600. He had never been exposed to
such intense heat before. After performing this
feat, which was the last exhibition or l4p powers, he
remained on the steps leading to his oven for some
time, conversing with the company. In the course

L ..
K/

LONDON,
FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 25, 1829.

The French Papers of Wednesday have been
received, by Express, but they leave the question
of peace as uncertain as ever. We are now told
by the Moniteur—the official organ of the
French Government, that the Turkish Plenipo-
tentiaries had only arrived at the head-quarters
of General DIEBITSCH, on the third of Septem-
ber, whereas, we have been given to understand,
that peace had been signed on the 29th August,
and that an armistice had been agreed on some
days before ! Really, we now suspect more than
ever that there has been some stock jobbing
manoeuvre at the bottom of all this official quackery,
about a suspension of hostilities and signing of
treaties, and that when authentic accounts arrive,
they will be dated from General DIEBITSCH'S
head-quarters at Constantinople. According to
the Moniteur, the first conference was to have
taken place on the 3d of September, with this
ominous addition, that " there was every reason
to believe that the negotiation would not be pro-
tracted."

Now we are surely as much bound to believe
that the French Government are as well-in-
formed of what is going on in Constantinople as
our own ;—and, if so, how is it that we have a
difference of six or eight days in announcing
a simple event ? The truth in this business
seems almost ashamed to come out.

But there is no end to the variety of reports.
The Journal de Genese says " It is affirmed
that Lady M-, who resides at Lausanne,
ha 3 just received from Corfu the news that the
Russians had entered Constantinople without
striking a blow ; that a conspiracy against the
SULTAN, contrived by the Janissaries, grew
more and more formidable as the Russians ap-
proached the capital ; that IMAIENIOUD shut
himself up in his Seraglio with the Divan, and
sent a deputation to General DIEBITSCH, to
inform him that he would be received at Con-
stantinople without opposition ; that the Russian
General immediately caused the city to be occu-
pied by a corps of light troops, and was after-
wards received himself with the greatest pomp.
It is evident that the news needs confirmation."
A letter from Marseilles of the 17th says,
A Correspondent at Ancona writes to me on
the 9th of September that a courier had just
passed through that city on his way to Paris,
with the news that the Russians are under the
walls of Constantinople, and will not treat of
peace till after they have entered the Ottoman
Capital."

In short, as we have already said, General
DIEBITSCII is the only man who can give us
correct information on the subject. The follow-
ing are extracts :
(From the Moniteur.)

PARIa, S Frr. 22.—Accounts transmitted with the
telegraph announce that on the 3d of September the
Turkish Plenipotentiaries had arrived at the head-quarters
of General Diebitsch. The first conference was to take
place in the course of the day, and there was every reason
to believe that the negociation would not be protracted.

(From the Messager des Chambres.—Second Edition.)

PARIS, SEPT. 23.—The Messager des Chandoes,
quoting the above paragraph, adds—
" It was, in fact, said yesterday evening that the tele-
graph had announced the entrance into the port of Toulon
of a vessel bringing the signature of the preliminaries of
peace between Russia and Turkey.
" lihere is no doubt that the conferences and negocia-
tions are going on as they have done for these six months.
This news is no news at all, and it has been repeated over
and over again for the fortnight without the addition of
4py details to confirm it."
The Dulyons km arrived At )Brest,

')erring the flag of Rear-Admiral Roussin, who was sent
to Brasil two years ago, to support the claims of French
subjects for the detention of their ships in the river Plate.
Admiral Roussin has accomplished this object in a manner
,qually satisfactory to our ship• owners and honourable to
himself.

PARIS STOCK EXCHANGE, SETT. 23.—Five per Cents.
107 f. 30c. 20c. ; Three per Cents., 81f. 50c. ; Bank
Stock, 1850 f. ; Rentes de Naples, 87f430c. 35c. ; Royal
Spanish Loan, 1823, 72i ; Rtnte Perp. d'Esp. 49iii.—
Exchange on London, one month, 2bf. 65c. ; three months,
25f. 45c.

The rumour seems to have been general along
the ports of the Mediterranean, that the PORTE
had requested the English and French fleets to
take possession of the Castles of the Dardanelles,
in the event of the advance of the Russians.
The following article from the Augsburgh Ga-
zette seems to disclose the cloven foot of Rus-
sian ambition more and more
ODESSA, SEPT. 2.—The sanatory state of this town is
as good as can be wished. Since the case of plague in
the quarter called the Moldavanka, there have been no
fresh patients. Three of those that were sent to the
lazaretto have died since the 29th of August, and one re-
mains ill. The inhabitants of Kujalnik aad Ussatovy
Khoutora, who were put into an encampment in the
country, are doing well. There is not a single person af-
fected with the plague among them. One of those that
were suspected died on the 31st, but without any symp-
tom of plague.
TRIESTE, SEPT. 13.—(Not from our usual Corre-
spondent. )—Several mercantile houses here say that they
have received letters from the Archipelago announcing that
the Porte had proposed to the Ambassadors of France and
England, on the advance of the Russian armies, to cause
the castles of the Dardanelles to be occupied by troops of
their nations. It was not known, however, whether the
Ambassadois had accepted this proposal, and done any
thing to carry it into effect.
FROM THE ISAR, SEPT. 12.—Under this bead, the
Augsburg Gazette has given, in diffirent supplements,
a long article on the " Solution of the Greek question,"
of which the following is an extract :
" Should the private inclination of the conqueror re-
strain him from the demands to which victory gives a
claim, and induce him to regard the proposals which have
reached him through the Prussian Officer, by the cir-
cuitous route from Naples to Corstantinople, he is a Sove-
reign, he is Emperor of Russia, and as such has been led
by the extraordinary talents of great Generals, and the
heroic valour of his armie., to the goal, at which his pre-
decessors have aimed in vain. Suppose, now, that he was
disposed to consider what has happened as not having hap-
pened, can he, without endangering the honour of the Sove-
reign, the palladium of his empire, all the conditions of it,
even to the stability of his throne and his own personal
safety, order his Russians to retire home from the walls of
Stamboul and the portals of Saint Sophia, as if the cam-
paigns and their victories were all a dream ? Is there, how-
ever, any foundation fur this assumption? Is there in the per-
sonal character of the Northern Monarch, or in what has
since proceeded from him, any thing to entitle us to make
such supposition ; which, being well founded, the mission
of General Muffling would be the greatest misfortune that
has befallen the Russian dynasty and nation for centuries.
This does not at all appear to be the case. Passing over
other circumstances, let us recollect the important declara-
tion with which the Russian report of the taking of Sills-
tria concluded, after the success of the campaign was
secured, and General Muffling had already reached Naples,
on his way to Constantinople. The proposals which the
conqueror at Kulawtscha sent to Shumla, were rejected by
the Grand Vizier ; and in reference to this, that report gives
the Sultan still a moment in which the magnanimity of his
Majesty the Emperor of Russia yet allows him to hope.
This moment evidently vanished with the breaking
up of the Turkish power, and General Diebitsch has
not for himself and family the name recording
the passage of the Balkan, because the Cabinet of
St. Petersburgh is disposed to ingloriously bury the
fairest points of the enterprise, and to plant the ban-
ner of the cross and of victory, on the fame of the inde-
pendence of Greece." The article then proceeds to shew
that the whole question must now be settled, without the
concurrence of the Sultan, who is to be considered as
having withdrawn from the stage, and that the full inde-
pendence of the Greek State in its whole extent, that is
including not only the whole Continent and the Cyclades,
hut also Eubcea and Crete, must be recognised and esta•
Wished.

Tne following is from our Paris Corre-
spondent :

" PARIS, SEPT. 23.

" No intelligence, which can at all be relied
on, has yet reached Paris from the theatre of
war. It was reported at Vienna on the 12th of
September, that Rodosto and Erekli, the an-
cient Heraclea, had been occupied by the Rus-
sians, but the intelligence is not official. The
next courier from Constantinople was expected
with impatience, but some further delay was ap-
prehended in consequence of his being obliged
to pass by Salonica. A French courier had
been despatched on the 12th to General Guille-
minot, and, like the last English courier, lie had
procured Russian passports to enable him to
pass the army. It is stated that the great spe-
culators keep couriers constantly in readiness for
Frankfort, Paris, London, and Berlin, to carry
the first intelligence of the conclusion of peace.
" The systematic opposition which has hitherto
been offered to the new Ministry continues un-
abated, but the most determined of their oppo-
nents seem now to acknowledge that the viola-
tions of the Charter, and the coups d'etat which
they have so often predicted, are now not likely
to be realized. It is said, on the contrary, that
the new Ministry are rapidly losing the warmest
of their Ultra adherents, from the moderation
and supineness which they have already mani-
fested since their accession to power ; and while
the Liberals indulge in a laugh at the pretended
moderation of M. de la Bourdonnaye, and the
nationality of M. de Polignac, they profess to
believe that the Ministers are only sacrificing
their old friends for the hopeless chance of gain-
ing new ones. They can pardon the King for
his choice of the head of the Government, ascrib-
ing it to personal friendship for a man of undis-
puted honesty, joined to gentleness of character,
and the most zealous devotion to the interests
of his Royal Master; but as to M. de la Bour-
donnaye, they cannot forget the repeated in-
stances of arbitrary violence which they daily
quote in his previous history, and they believe
that he has not been chosen from any preference
of the heart, but from an unfounded idea of
political necessity. The tactics of the Opposi-
tion seem now, however, to be directed more
immediately towards the conciliation of his Royal
Highness the Dauphin. It is generally under-
stood that the King and the Dauphin read regu-
larly the daily newspapers, both of London and
Paris ; and in the Journal des Debats of this
morning, I observe an article which is plainly
intended to operate on the judgment and the
feelings of his Royal Highness. Why is it,
they ask, that in England the Heir Presumptive
to the Crown is so often opposed to the Mini-
stry of the reigning Monarch ? And they
scarcely leave him to draw the inference, that
oppositions of this kind have had their origin in
that sort of family policy which suggests that
the dynasty itself should never be wholly unpo-
pular. Several incidents are quoted, for the pur-

pose of showing that the viohnt character of
M. de la Bourdonnaye is incompatible with the
mild and gentle disposirion of the Prince, to
whom they give the praise, which, I believe,
is not unmerited, of being person►►lly opposed
to any violent or arbitrary proceedings. It is
known that the Dauphin is always present with
his Majesty at the Royal sittings of the Council,
and it is suggested as too much for the party in
power to be able to say, we have the King and
" the Dauphin, and, besides, we have the edu-
" cation of the Duke de Bourdeaux.'

" Among the latest of the resignations is that
of M. cle Preissac, the Prefetl of Gers. When
he received the news of the formation of the
new Ministry, it is said that his first idea wag
to retire ; but although he felt that it would be
ultimately impossible to continue in office under
the present Cabinet, lie feared that he might
commit an error by tendering his resigna-
tion before he had seen some substantive
Ministerial act of which he could not approve.
While thus hesitating, he received, like the rest
of his colleagues, the circular from the Minister
of the Interior, but not having answered it, a
second letter was written to him, an autograph
from M. de la Bourdonnaye, enquiring if he
might be considered as a personal adherent of
the new government, and as a defender of their
system and their measures. To the question
thus put to the Prefet, for the purpose of se-
curing the Deputy, M. de Puissac immediately
answered by forwarding his resignation, and it is
said that he is about to publish the relative cor-
respondence.

" Circulars have been addressed, it is said, to
the Procureur de Roi, and to the Justices of
Peace, requiring them to furnish a sort of statis-
tical surve; of the state of public opinion in their
several districts and departments, for the purpose
of affording the Ministry some idea of the num-
bers and the respectability of the parties on whom
they may rely. It is justly observed, however,
that the task thus imposed on the provincial au-
thorities is inconsistent with their ordinary duties,
and that the inquisitorial system of espionage
which the circulars are calculated to call into
operation, must he attended with innumerable
evils by disclosing the secrets of families, and the
private connections of individuals.
"Two liquor-merchants, of the names of De-
croix and Desrencontres, have been cited to ap-
pear before the tribunal of Correctional Police
on Saturday next, for having exposed for sale
some bottleslembellished with the figure of the
young Duke of Reichstadt. The technical ac-
cusations are, first, for having exposed engravings
for sale without the authority of the Government ;
and second, for having publicly exposed for sale
certain signs or symbols destined to propagate a
spirit of revolt, and to disturb the public peace.
" The floods in France appear to have been on
the same great scale with those in England and
Scotland. According to the latest accounts
from the Departments a great deal of mischief
has recently been done by inundations. The
banks of the river at Goncelin in the department
of the Isere gave way during the night of the
14th, and it was not without great difficulty that
this large village, a part of which had been carried
away in 1827, was saved from destruction. At
Cheylas also the banks were broken, and the
houses exposed to great danger, until a channel
was dug to give the torrent a different direction.
The loss of these two places in corn, &c., is im-
mense. At Toucin, Gieres, Zoreppe, and other
places, situated on the banks of the Isere, inun-
dations have likewise taken place. The Drac
and the Komauche have overflown their banks,
and the high road from Grenoble to Briancon
is laid under water and rendered impassable.
" I understand that the papers which were
seized for containing the Breton resolutions have
this day been restored, and that they will now
be transmitted to the subscribers.

We feel much pleasure in quoting the follow-
ing tribute to the merits of General DIEBITSCII
from the Morning Chronicle. To have ob-
tained the generous approbation of the Duke of
WELLINGTON must surely be a circumstance
of enviable distinction to a military man. Count
DIEBITSCH is a soldier of fortune, and the re-
sult of his victorious campaign proves him to be
a man of extraordinary ability :

The political importance of the events which have
signalized the recent campaign in the East of Europe have,
by a singular fatality, served to withdraw the general ob-
servation from the merits of the individual to whom they
ought in fairness to be ascribed. The person to whom we
allude as being thus robbed of a portion of his well-earned
reputation, in some degree by the very splendour of his
own achievements, will at once be recognised as the Count
Diebitsch, the Commander-in-Chief of the victorious Rus-
sian army.

" It may not be generally known that the appointment
of this Officer to the supreme command was the exclusive
act of the Emperor—that the nomination excited consider-
able discontent, in the first instance, because the person
selected was not a native Russian ; and in the next, be-
cause he was advanced over the heads of many who felt
themselves stigmatised by a distinction conferred upon a
foreigner, by what they called a disgraceful acknowledg-
ment of the want of native military merit. At the outset
these discontents assumed rather an alarming appearance,
and it was necessary to make some examples to check a
spirit of insubordination which threatened to become con-
tagious. Rut it is only an act of justice to acknowledge
that the very earliest operations of the late campaign were,
by all comi etent judges, admitted to be a full justification
of the unusual and somewhat ungracious nomination made
by the Emperor.
" For what we have above stated we have the the testi-
mony of a gallant officer just returned from the seat of
war, and we know that the high opinion he has expressed
of the talents of the Commander of the Russian army is
supported by the suffrage of the greatest living Master of
the Art of War, who has within the last few days ex-
pressed himself in the following terms :—' I don't know
which is to be the most admired, the original plan of the
campaign, or the combination of skill, courage, and
caution, with which it bas been conducted ; but this I do
know, that this single campaign places Diebitsch at the
very head of his profession.'
" We shall not attempt to weaken such a testimony by
any commentary; but if the old apothegm, laudari a
laudato Viro, has any weight, assuredly the victorious
General must feel the value of such an encomium from
such a quarter."

By the Courier of Oporto of Sept. 11, we
are informed that " ANTONIO JOSE Gorr-
CALVES PEREIRA, Abbot of St. Uramede de
Caniada of the Archbishopric of Braga, in his
own name and that of other true and faithful
Royalist friends to the throne and the altar, has

with the utmost profound respect and subluir
sion addressed to his Majesty Senor DO
MIGUEL I. an humble petition, dated the 26th
of August, this year, in which he urgently begs
for the re-admission of the Jesuits into his de'
minions, for the education of youth ; and als°
for the establishment of the Holy Inquisition,
punish the execrable crimes of blasphemy and
impiety, which are continually committed."

The Paper does not inform us whether hi'
Majesty, in the plenitude of his mercy, has con'
plied with the prayer of the Abbot's petitioa;
but judging by the character of both the par'
ties, we think there can be little doubt on the
subject. The admission of the Jesuits, and the
establishment of the Inquisition, are fit Sur
porters of the Usurper's power.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.-(THIS DAV

FROM LLOYD'S.

DEAL, SEPT. 24.—Wind, light and variable.
Arrived the Highbury, Pearce, from Jamaica ; 10"
Granger, Blenkinsop, from Honduras.: Arrived troll
London, the Millicant, Cousins, for Jamaica; 01'
Reward, Gray, for the South Seas. Outward"
bound sailed this morning.
PORTSMOUTH, SEPT. 24. Wi n d N. N. W.—Passed,
the Brighton, Sebor, from New York. Sailed OA
Majesty's ship Melville, for the Mediterranean; an'
Olinder, Robinson, for Bahia.
PLYMOUTH, SEPT. 23.—Wind N.W.—Sailed big
Majesty's ship Britannia, for the Mediterranean.
LIVERPOOL, SEPT. 23.—Arrived the Anacreom
Lenox, from Virginia; Ceres, from St. John's, N.B.
and Arethusa, from St. Petersburgh. A small oat'
ward-bound brig is on shore on East Hoyle.
Elizabeth, Weatherall, from St. Domingo, remain°
on shore, and her cargo must be discharged befog
she can be got off. She is a good deal logged Be
makes much water.
BRISTOL, SEPT. 24.—Arrived the Speculator'
from Jamaica; and Venus, froM New Brunswick'
DOVER, SEPT. 24.—Eleven casks of tall/"
marked, Nos. 342, 520, 363, 378, 465, 378,
387, 369,401, 464, and a quantity of loose olio"
picked up off Lowestoffe, have been landed here.
BEAUMARIS, SEPT. 23.--The Mary Ogill/P,
M'lntyre, from Liverpool to the Sound of Meck,
running for this port, struck the Perch Rock, be
wißthooßtEdAol.l muchsEp d. aizal
eile Minerva, Glegni4
from Newfoundland, and the Mazun, from Adrs,
both bound to this port, are wrecked at the entrance
of the Gironde; crew saved.

The Henry, Ferrior, arrived in the River Oil:
Jamaica, experienced on the 26th alt., three degree:
northward arid westward of Bermuda, a violent hart::
cane, which lasted twenty hours, but sustained little
apparent injury.