Star.
London, England, 1825-04-06 00:00:00

FIRE AT ST. THOMAS'S.

FROM TUB ST. THOMAS'S TIMES OF FEBRUARY 16.
Never, since the commencement of our editorial
duties has it been onr melancholy lot to record an
event of a nature so much to be lamented as that with
which this town was afflicted on Saturday last. At
about twenty minutes before eight o'clock of that
morning, the appalling cry of fire was vociferated
throughout town, and the dark clouds of smoke soon
convinced us of the fatal truth, and which was found
to have thiginated in a house just behind the market-
place, and having communicated to the adjoining build.
ings, spread to the North and South with a rapidity
truly astonishing, for in two hoar: from the com-
mencement of the fire the principal part of North
Crown Prince's-quarter had become a prey to the de-
vouring flames; and notwithstanding the great exertions
made to arrest its progress, all the houses on French-
man's-hill (excepting Major Wright's dwelling, and,
we believe, two small buildings), were burnt to the
ground, as well as thole in a line from the market
down to the very end of the town. The southern part
of Curacoa•street, and about twenty houses on the
right of the main street at the west end of the town,
were, by great exertions, fortunately rescued. Same
of the fire-proof stores in the range of the fire were
preserved ; but others supposed. to be so, being ex-
posed by having the doors and windows open to remove
the goods, were destroyed. On the least calculation,
we may safely say that one-third of our unfortunate
town has been destroyed.
From all the accounts we have been able to gather,
it appears that the fire originated entirely from accident.
It gives us great pleasure to state, that a subscrip-
tion was opened )esterday, and in a few hours nine
thousand dollars were raised, which is now in the hands
of a Committee, who are distributing food and apparel
to the unfortunate sufferers.

The Duke of DEVONSHIRE arrived yesterday from the
Continent. His Grace landed at Dover on Monday. In the same
packet came passenger Reenters, %Nara ava's celebrated Mamelake
It is said that the embassy of the Duke of NORTH-
minarres will cost nearly 150,000, and that the expense win be
borne entirely by himself.
FOOTS AND HAYNE.—(From a Correspondent.)—We
understand that the deeds of settlement between these parties were
traneelkd on Saturday last, and that the 2001. said to have been de-
posited by Mr. HATNE in the bands of Miss Fortra's solicitor, were
returned on Monday.-21eses.
PETBRSPIELD ELECTION.—OOIOIIeILUSHINGTON was,
on Saturday, elected without opposition to serve in Pat•
liament for this Borough, in the room of Sir PHILIP
MUSGRAVE, who has been elected for Carlisle.
Saturday, Sir PHILIP MUSGRAVE was elected to
represent the City of Carlisle in Parliament, in the
place of the late Sir JAMES GRAHAM, Batt.
M. PILTIER well known for his devotedness to the
Royal cause, for which he wrote and exposed himself
so courageously from the beginning of the Revolution,
has just died at Patis. He was the chief Editor of a
collection which was much in vogue in 1789, and the
two following years (The Ads of the Apostles). After
the 10th of August, 1792, he withdrew to England,
where he never ceased to write against the Governments
which took the place for a time of the legitimate Mo-
narchy. Having returned to France in 1814, he con-
stantly professed the purest and most disinterested zeal
for the Monarchy and the Bourbons. He was sixty-
two years old.—Journol des Debats.
A Barbadoes Paper of the 31st of January, announces
the arrival of the Bishop of BAREADOES and the Bishop
of JAMAICA, at that Island.
CONTRACTOR OR NOT CONTRACTOR.—It signifies not
a straw to Bun, or his Mends, whether he is or is not the Con-
tractor for the Lottery, as far as the distribution of the Capitals go,
-for his luck never deserts him. We Mow not bow to account for
this, whether it is that be is a favourite with Dame Fortune or
that be has a happy knack of selecting Lucky Members for sale at
his Mites: no matter to wbat it is to be attributed, but so it is;
and if proof was wanting, look at his luck in the last Contract,
*We he sold Two 130,000 and Three 120,000 Prises ; and if
we look at the front of his house in Grabill, we observe in this
inroads (April) in a preceding year, be sold all the Three 130,000
IPthtes. W lupe and expect he will give a rod acccent of the
Veer 120,00 d and other 'Capitals, which must be an Drawn 12th
-1* this Month.

Tile very great celebrity which Mr. LIGNOM's ANTl-
leftimuTic MOPS have attained, appears chiefly to have arisen from
the great number of extraordinary, but well authenticated Cures,
Which be annually, and even weekly, lays before the Public. The
Lib) direetion round each bottle contains several recent and inte-
regting cure% It is, however, well known, that he never publishes
I'. any taw without the express:ll approbation of the person curet—
..g.c rftystiv:e.

LITERATURE, gee.
Tremaine ; or, the Man of Refinement. 3 vols. Lon-
don, 1825.

Without inquiring whether this excellent Novel is
from the pen of any of the distinguished personages to
whom it has been ascribed, we hesitate not to say, that
it would do honour to the head and heart of any author.
It embodies many original and well-drawn characters in
a story which is at once clear, distinct, and interesting.
The hero of the novel is a Gentleman in high life, who
retires from the world, sated with its vices and follies:,
he has become a sceptic—almost an infidel, but is af-
terwards reclaimed by the powerful reasonings of a
friend. The last volume conta►ns much able polemical
discussion, yet so happily interwoven with a story, as to
appear to constitute an essential and interesting part of
it. The author has a deep acquaintance not only with
society, but with the human heart, and notwithstanding
the gravity of some portions of these volumes, there
are others of a light and agreeable character, which
prove him to possess considerable humour. The style
is vigorous and elegant. The following is an extract :
"It was at the gate of a cottage garden in theOrlean-
nois, in one of the softest evenings ever known in France,
that a graceful little French girl, with brown but well
turned hands, presented a scarcely browner loaf and a
glass of milk to Georgina; and this little French girl
looked so salve and eveille, and was dressed so piquantly
in a jacket and short jupe, shewing the most charming
symvs etry at every torn, and the simple rose with
which she had decked her dark hair just where it parted,
Madona-like, across hi r oval polished forehead, was so
tastefully disposed ; and moreover, she curtsied her
thanks so prettily for the little piece of silver bestowed
upon her for the milk and bread she had supplied ; she
was so humble, yet so proud withal for having done any
thing for so sweet a lady. " Mademoiselle est si donee,
et si milack," said the little French girl. All this, to-
gither with the scene around, excited more interest in
Georgina than anything she had met with since she left
Yorkshire.

" It was, indeed, a scene to do the heart good, espe-
cially if it wanted soothing ; for not only was the air
alone, in that soft climate and softest of evenings, a
luxury sufficient for the most sickly sense,but the cottage
garden, at the gate of which the poor exhausted Geor-
gina had stopped, was a blaze of flowers, displaying such
colours and emitting such scents, as we poor islanders,
with all our ruralities, are condemned never to know.
Then again, in a large stack-yard, only just across the
garden, the fragrant process of building several hay-
ricks was going on. These were supplied by a suc-
cession of carts, drawn by oxen, from the plain of
Orleans, which lay but a short distance off. The ve-
nerable pile of its cathedral could indeed be distinctly
seen in the distance, and curfew heard, as if warning
all travellers to come within its protection before night
should set in.

"Georgina,however,was much more disposed to listen
to a song of birds perfectly ravishing, that arose from
the echoing of a number, seemingly endless, of nightin-
gales and thrushes that lived on the banks of the copsy
stream which passed the end of the little garden. This
fairy rivulet ran winding under •arious root-formed
bat, ks, and gurgling over mossy stones,it brokeout of the
valley into the great plain of Orleans, abovementioned,
then uniting itself with the Loire, it proceeded in broad
and majestic march, till at a distance it seemed lo.t
among the ever memorable walls and consecrated
steeples of this old. eventful, and still respectable
city. All this formed exactly a fit scene both for father
and daughter."
The History of Paris from the Earliest Period to Me Pre-
sent Day, containing a Description of its Antiquities,
Public Buildings, Bfc. Three Vols. Bvo. L.0nd0n,1825•

Will it be believed that this is the first attempt to
give to the British public a general History of Paris ?
yet such, we are assured, is the case, however extraor-
dinary it may seem. ,4 Better late than never" is an
old proverb, and a true one, and we are therefore
thankful to the author for thus supplying a desideratum

in our literature.
The work commences with a general history of
Paris, tracing its progress from the time when the
Parisii, who had been driven from Belgium, settled on
the Islands of the Seine, to the present day. It is curious
to see from what slender beginnings cities, and even
kingdoms are formed. The whole territory of the
Parizii at first was limited to some ten or twelve
leagues, and the present city of Paris consisted then of
a few wretched huts.

The Author describes all the principal public buildings
of every description, and introduces many interesting
anecdotes connected with the revolution. In the third
volume, there is much curious statistical information;
and the work is such that it will soon find its way into

every good Library. The Author gives a very interest-
ing account of the Prisons, and of the horrible system
that formerly governed them. We have little room for
erracts, but shall quote two passages:
In the Prison du Grand Chitelet, the most wanton
tortures appear to have been committed :
" In the accounts of the previlti of Paris, there is this
article:—' Brass pulley for the use of the prison de la
Fosse, at the Chitelet: It appears that the prisoners
were lowered into the dungeon, named la Foss?, by an
opening contrived in the vault, in the same manner as
.
a bucket descends into a well.
" Perhaps this fosse was the same that was called
Chews& d'Hypocras, where the prisoners' feet were in
water, and they could neither stand upright nor lie
down. Its form must have been that of an inverted
cone. In general, the prisoners confined here died after
a fortnights detention.
" Another dungeon, filled with ordure and reptiles,
was called Fin d'Aise. In short, most of the names of
these prisons, and especially Les thibleettes, present a
dreadful idea of them to the mind. This prison was
demolished in 1802, with the other buildings of the
Chitelet."
The following custom is related in the account of
the Church of Notre Dime :
" In 149, some notable personages, master gold-
smiths of Paris,agreed, as an act ofedevotion, to present
annually, on the first of May, at midnight, a Ally be-
fore the principal door of this Church. They elected*
Prince for one year only, who was to settle the expenses
of the said May.
" The May was placed on a pillar in the form of a
tabernacle, in the several faces of which were small
niches, occupied by different figures of silk, gold, and
silver, representing certain histories, and below them
were explanatory inscriptions in French verse. The
May remained at the great door from midnight till
after vespers the next day, a hen it was transpoited,
together with the pillar,before the image of the Virgin,
near the chciry and the old May of the prece frog yea&

was removed into the Chapel of St. Anne, to be bpi'
there also a year. This ceremony was regsilarly ob-
served 16b7,tilr when the goldsmiths presented to the
Church a triangular tabernacle of wood, very curiously
wrought, in %shah three paintings were inclosed; these'
paintings were changed annually, and the old ones
hung up in the Chapel of St. Anne."

7 he Pocket Annual Register of the History,Politics, Arts
Science, and Literature of the Year 1821. 18iao.
510. London, 1825.
The experience of more thin half a century has con-
firmed the value of those records of events, called An-
nual Registers, and they are now to be found in every
good Library ; there is, however, a class of persons to
whom their bulk or price may not be suitable, and to such
we would recommend this really clever little volume.
-7-It is a faithful epitome of the events of the year,
executed with good taste and great discrimination ; and
contains a digest of the Foreign and Domestic History,
of the Year, the Proceedings -in Parliament, Public
D3cuments, State Papers, a Chronicle of Occurrences,
and Law Proceedings. The volume also contains
Memoirs of nearly fifty Distinguished Persons who
died during the last year. Miscellanies of Science,
Art, and Literature, Extracts from New Books, Charac-
ters of Individuals, Select Poetry, &c. A more useful,
interesting, or better arranged pocket volume we never
met with.

Ths Laughing Philosopher; being the Entire Works
of Manus, Deinocrour, and their Illudrious Disci-
p'es, Ben Janson, Butler, Swill, Gay, Joseph Miller,
Foote, Wolcot, Sheridan, Colman, and others. By
JOHN BULL, Lag. pp. 767, London, 1825.
He must be a much graver personage than we pro-
fess to be, that does not laugh with the Laughing Phi-
losopher; and we envy not that man's taste who cannot
find abundance of amusement in this •olume. It con- I,
tains a choice selection of tales and anecdotes of wit and
humour, bon mots, repartees, sm. If it be trite, as
the song says, that " Too much care will make a man
grey," we recommend the Laughing Philolso. as an
antidote which will scarcely fail of being effectual.