Star.
London, England, 1825-09-22 00:00:00

DUMFRIES, SEP! EMBER 16.
-a.-

The town of Dumfries, though it contains no manu-
factories, appears in a very flourishing state. At any
rate great improvements • atOgoing on in it, and the
people appear well-fed and well-clad. Provisions are,
upon the whole, moderate in price. Wheaten bread is
the dearest. he quartern loaf, of rather inferior qua-
lity, is sold for 51 potatoes fetch Sd. a stone, about
f.a'f the price they are sold for in Ireland ; mutton is
fold for SJ. a pound, and beef for 6d. the best oatmeal
tetcl.es Z. 6d. per stone of 1741b5. and buttei 16d. the
'2l. ounces. The farmers labourers in the neighbour-
hood get, upon an average, about Bs. per week all the
)ear round. In some instances, however, they ate paid
much higher.
This is the town in which the poet Burns spent the
latter years of his life; and his amiable widow still oc-
cupies the small but neat house in which he breathed
his last. She appears in comfortable circumstances,
and is treated with attention and respect by all classes
of people in the place. She is very accessible, and few
strangers visit Damfries without paying their respects
to the relict of the bard of Scotia. Mrs. Burns speaks
of I•er great husband with the utmost affection•and re-
Nrect, but she dors not assume any airs of vanity or
conceit on account of her connection with a man whom
nations have conspired to honour; and I am told, that
with her old acquaintances, she carries herself as meekly
and as familiarly as when she and her husband and
their children were struggling to maintain themselves
upon the paltry stipend of an exciseman, " Envy," it
is truly said. " shah merit as its shade pursue;" and
perhaps tit) man has ever been more envied or more
maligned than Burns.
Yet all that can be said against him is, what he fre-
qut nrly raid of himself, that he was " owr fond of the
lasses and of the bottle," but there is no one to say, that
he ever wilfully injured either man or woman. He
drank " owr much" perhaps; but the landlady of the
Globe, the house where he spent his evenings, assures
me ti,at she never saw him drunk in her life. I'he errors
of Burns were those of a man of genius and humanity;
and whatever his heartless and canting maligners may
think, his veriest faults Nad more of virtue in them than
their most righteous actions. His remains he in the
grave yard of St. Michael's church, in Dumfries. There
was a mausoleum erected over them about ten years
ago, which is said to have cast nearly 2,0001. It is
shewn•to strangers, for money, and as few strangers go
to Dumfries without visiting it, some one must be de-
riving a pretty handsome income from the thew. I
forgot to say that Mrs. Burns has now living with her
the npotherless daughter of her youngest- son James,
who Is resident in the East Indies. This child is about
three years of age, and has lately left India. She is a
peculiarly beautiful and interesting little creature. Her
sister, who was two years older, died upon the passage.
It has just occurred to me that the reason why Burns'
memory was so blackened after his death, arose in con-
sequence of his having so inimitably ridiculed the
" tidy Willies" of his day. It is an old but a true say-
ing, that if you offend a woman or a divine, they never
forgive you. Your readers, I have no doubt, will well
remember the following lines of his—
Hear, how be clears the points of faith
Wi rattlin, and wi' thumpin.
Now meekly calm; now wild in wrath,
He'll scampi'', and be's jumpin.
His lengthen'd chin, his turned.up snout,
His eldrich squeal an' gestures-
0, how they fire the heart devout,
Like Canthatidiun plasters!
Could anything be more tormenting to the holy ones
of his day than the above? And especially when it was
known to all Dumfries to whom the lines applied.
And again, as to the old maids, could they forgive
his'', or ever forget as long as they lived the following—
Ye high exalted 'drams dames,
Ty'd up in sadly laces,
Before ye gie poor frailty names,
Suppose a change o' cases;
A dear lov'd lad. convenience snug,
A treacherous inclination—
But let me whisper i' your lug;
Ye re aiblin's nae temptation !

Monday night, about half past eight o'clock, a most
brilliant meteor was seen at Weston-super-Mare, Glou-
cestershire ; it was of a bright blue colour ; took a direc-
tion from east to west, and was iisige several seconds.

ENGLISH EXPLORING PARTY IN NORTH AHRRICA.
;--Captain Franklyn and his exploring party are to pro-
ceed by the Erie Canal, Lakes Huron and Superior, to
Fort William, and thence to Winnipeg, Atabasca, and
the Great Bear Lakes, near to which place they are to
winter. In the slating the party are to proceed down
M.Kenzie's River to Behring's Straits, where a ship will
be in _readiness to transport them to India. Dr.
Richardson's .party will separate from Captain Franklyn
at the month of bliKenzie's River, and explore the
country as far as the Coppercnine River. Capt. Bucbey,
after having landed Captain Franklyn at Canton, will
take in provisions for Behring's Straits, where he ex-'
pects to meet Captain Parry. The agents of the Hud-
son's Bay Company have formed depots of provisions
for the whole route. The want of the canoes which
were abandoned at Cape Turnagain, from weakness
and fatigue, proved a terrible bar to the crossing of
livers; but on this occasion a waterproof canvas boat
has been provided, so admirably contrived, that it may
be separated into pieces, one of which each of the party
may stow into his knapsack, or carry in his pocket,
Baltimore American.

EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPL—Thursday, two young
imen were firing a gun in a back lane at Hackney, at a
piece of paper fixed as a mark on a garden wall, at the
back of a house, about thirty or forty yards from the
hm oe ; the shot flew over the wall, through some trees
and shrubs, directly striking the window of a room in
uhich a family of five or six individuals had that mo.,
vent sat down to dinner. Five or six sash-squares
v. ere shattered, the splinters and particles•of glass flying
about the tab.e, and all over the room, but happily no
perional injury was sustained. Due contrition being
shewn by the thoughtlessly offending party, and da-
',rages of windows promptly repaired, the offence was
form sea, in the hope that it may prove a warning to all
irairofer meddlers with guns, also a caution of care
to those better qualified in the use and safe disposition
of such dangerous weapons.
Some of the martello towers on the Sussk coast,
built in the year 1805, just twenty years ago, by direc-
tion of the late Duke of RICHMOND) are now occupied
in the Preventive Service. They were ninety-one in
number at their first erection for the protection of the
coast; they were.all of brick, twelve feet deep in their
foundation, and circular in form, to he served by great
guns- The Duke's estimate for tim whole amounted'
to 900,0001. •

ANATOMICAL SUBJACTS4—RESURREC-
, • -,4; 4.17422CAM1C •
• L." ; ,
TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.
&a—The &acuities of procuring subjects for the purposes of
anatimical Inviting in the London Schools Woe increased of lite
years in an alarming degree. Everybody knows that anatomy is
the very basis of all Medical Science; and merybooly mast know
bow very essential it is to the community tha Bkdical. Students
should be properly instructed, and that this cannot be done with-
out human subjects to dissect. At Paris, and at Dublin, human
bodies can be at all times procured without peril, or trouble and et-
pense. The exhumation of corpses from burying-grounds is err-
tainry a shocking thing, and cannot be justified by any coesidese.
tions. But what is to be done? The law makes no provision on
this point. What I would propose, in the first instance. u a par-
tial remedy, would be, to attach to 11, or almost all, capital punish-
ments, the ulterior penalty of disposal of the dead bodies after exe-
cution for the purposes of the Anatomical Schools of the vicinity ;
and not to confine the sentence of anatomixation solely to mur-
derers: the observance of which is hardly. in any instance, other-
wise than nominally attended to.—l am, Sir,
Your humble servant,
CHIRURGUS.

M. Cwsii►tta PERRIER, the well-known French

Banker and Member of the Chamber of Deputies, was
on the Exchange yesterday.
The New Market in the rear of the Corn and Hop
Exchange, at Canterbury, was partiilly opened for the
first time on Saturday, for the use of the butchers and
others who previously had their standings thete.
THE HAW/EST.—The crop of wheat is somewhat
above the average quantity, particularly in the West of
England, and some parts of Scotland. Corn .of every
description is sound and good; but oats, and in some
instances barley, are but thin. The grain of Ireland is
nearly all stacked ; the crops are heavy, and quality
good, particularly in the counties of Limerick and Tip-
perary. The fields generally, throughout England,
assumed, about the middle t.f. July and the beginning
of August, such a russet sunburnt appearance, as to
alarm many farmers, and induced a belief that there
would be an entire failure of the aftermath ; but the
genial rains which succeeded the long drought, have
entirely altered the face of the country ; and the fields
now exhibit the appearance of a forward spring, rather!
than that of an autumnal month.

Tuesday evening, as the sons of a decent industrious
man, Joseph Critchlcy, were returning from the Paro-
chial School of Castle-MiAdam, in the county of
Wicklow, tb Newbridge, they were overtaken by a
violent storm of rain, thunder, and lightning. One of
them took shelter beneath an immense spreading ash
that grows besjde the road, when he was struck dead
by lightning. When the flash first appeared, he was
heard to exclaim, " GOD bless me !" and in an instant
after he was seen to drop.
New Wan COIN.--The most prompt and efficient
measures for circulating the new and withdra wing the old
Irish coin have been adopted. Last week Commissary.
General Cumming and Mr. Malassez,the Commissioners
for changing the coin, arrived at Greer's Hotel, Omagh.
The same day a large train of waggons, heavily laden
with the new silver, and guarded by a detachment of
the 63d Regiment, marched into town. The following
day, detachments of the train proceeded for Derry, and
the other large towns in the northern district. The
currency is now being exchanged at the Court-house.—
Irish Paper.
On the Ist of August the first stone of a School for
Girls, was laid at Bridgetown, Barbadoes, with appro-
priate Masonic ceremonies. The Bishop was pre-
sent, and conducted the religious part of the proceed.
ings. In his reply to an address from the Grand Mas-
ter, the Bishop earnestly exhorted the assembled com.
pang to" give every assistance to the laudable under-
taking then commenced, of providing for the present
and everlasting welfare of the children of their
poor brethren."
Sunday week, at noon, Mr. John Mather, of Gates-
head, went to the lock-up house to see after his brother,
who had been taken up by the watch the preceding
night, for being concerned in a drunken squabble. The
brother, it appears. had been set at liberty before Ma-
ther arrived, and English (the captain of the watch) not
deigning to inform him of the fact, Mather followed the
captain into the prison, and called for his brother, but of
course received no answer. English seemed much dis-
pleased at this intrusion, and to shew his " little brief
authcrity,"he prevented Mather from making his egress,
and actually locked him up in durance vile for above
twenty hours! The Fyne Mercury, which gives this
case, recommends the indicting English for an assault,
at the Quarter Sessions. The Magistrates would punish
him better, if they turned him out of an office which he
has so grossly abused. -
Lately two of Mr. Fade's colliers having presumed
to disobey the grand committee, and put out more coals
than they were pleased to allow, they were assaulted.
Mr. Farie instantly dismissed five of those whom he
suspected to have been principally concerned in the
outrage. As might have been expected, the rest of
the colliers made cause with these injured men, and
every one of them struck, unless they were restored to
their former employment. As Mr. Farie was deter-
mined to have the sole power of dismissing his ser-
vants, he firmly resisted being dictated to; and after
standing out for some days, the colliers resumed work,
without getting the dismissed men back.—Glasgow pa.
A party climbed a considerable way up the usual
.track on the side of Skiddaw, when a Gentleman, af-
fecting to be a man of superior knowledge, said to the
guide, " Pray what is the highest pact of this mountain ?"
" The top, Sir," replied the guide.
A watch was stolen in the Pit of the Opera in Paris;
the loser complained in a loud voice and said, " It is
just seven; in a few minutes my watch will strike—the
sound is strong—arid by that means we shall instantly
ascertain where it is." The thief, terrified at this, en-
deavoured to escape, and his agitation discovered him.
At a late hour on Tuesday night, considerable alarm
was excited in the neighbourhood of the Horse Guards,
by a report that a sentinel had murdered a man passing
his box, near the Secretary of State's Office. A young
man, about 19 years of age, and who it appears bears a
light character, being known as a rambler about the
neighbourhood of Marshant-street, asked the rentinel
the way to Westminster? and, after being answered, re-
fused to pass on and obstructed the guard on his duty.
He imprudently made use of his arm, and accidentally
thrust the bayonet into the man's side, who being half-
drunk, but not half-witted, instantly tell, and called out
that he was murdered. He was immediately taken into
Mr. M'Cann's, in Parliament-street, where his wound
was dressed ; but it was found to be very trifl ng, and
the convulsions in which he appeared to labour proved
to be assumed; all attempts to make him walk were
useless fur a considerable time. The leelitegs of the
persons in and around the house having been so much
imposed on, they quitted the spot, and the fellow then
walked of.