The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-09-21 00:00:00

rawers VI

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

A Rev. Dr. Dillon has assumed the office of a Bishop,
in what he calls the " Reformed Church of England,'
and on Sunday week, at White's-row Chanel, dressed in
full canonicals, ordained a Mr. J. Eliott to the office of
minister of a chapel in Friar-street, Blackfriars. The
service used upon'the occasion was that of the Church.
It appears that the ministers of this " Reformed Church
of England" amount to five individuals.

NUMERICAL STATE OF WESLEYISM.—From the re-
turns just published of the number of members in the
Wesleyan Society, it appears there are in Britain 339,379,
being a decrease upon last year of 2,089 ; in Ireland,
24,633, being a decrease of 2,913 ; and in the foreign sta-
tions, 100,303, being an increase of 253 ; total number of
members under the care of the British and Irish confe-
rences, 464,315, being a decrease of 4,749. '
The Globe states the liabilities of the ducal defaulter at
the incredible sum of £1,800,000, and says that all his
grace's establishments are to be broken up. The parties
at whose suit the proceedings were taken were said to be
" a wealthy Jewish firm ;" but the Times denies this, and
states that " the mistake clearly arose from the fact that
Baron de Rothschild is High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire,
and was bound to put in force the writs obtained by the
creditors of the noble duke.
PORTUGUESE ONIONS.—The arrivals of onions from
the southern states of Europe have commenced for the
season, and are taking place in such large quantities as
completely to stock the markets and shops of the metro-
polis, and to be obtainable at one-third of the price which
we have known them to command on former occasions.
In addition to numerous other arrivals, six vessels from
Oporto have brought 3057 boxes and 753 baskets full of
this article.

MR. CHAPLIN, M.P.—Mr. Chaplin rose to be one of
the largest coach proprietors in the kingdom. To give
some idea of the magnitude of his establishment, which
grew from small beginnings, it is only necessary to ob-
serve that he and his partner (Mr. Horne) were, prior to
the opening of the North-Western Railway, proprietors
of sixty-four coaches, and 1500 horses ; and that the
annual return of this business produced upwards of
£500,000 per annum.

The Birmingham Advertiser, of Thursday, gives an
account of a " frightful coal pit accident, and miraculous
escape." Nine men were being lowered down the shaft
of a coal pit, near Dudley, and the chain by which they
were lowered became detached from the top gearing when
they were about half-way down the shaft, and they were
precipitated to the bottom (falling about fifty yards), but
only one was killed, and the other eight escaped with
little or no injury.
On Wednesday week, the venerable mansion at Whit-
tington, in Derbyshire, known in 1688 as " The Cock and
Pynott," came to the hammer, anticipating 'the sale of
Shakspere's house by one little week. In was in this
house that the conference was held which resulted in the
glorious revolution, and it has been called since then the
Revolution House. The sum obtained was £725, and the
purchaser is a stonemason and an innkeeper, named
Woodhouse, who has long tenanted the premises.

DORSETSHIRE GALLAZ&RY TO THE FAIR SEX.—In ti 11'
parish of Sturminster Marshall, Dorset, one of the over-
seers is a female, an old widow, named Sarah White, who
keeps a farm, but she considers that her fellow-parishion-
ers of the male sex have rather annoyed her by the ap-
pointment, than paid her a gallant compliment. The
population of the parish is about 1000, so that the paucity
of persons qualified to- serve the office could not be the ex-
cuse for imposing the duties on the old lady. It appears to
have been a mere whim of the vestry meeting.

FEMALE PETITIONERS AND THE HOME SECRETARY.—
The romance of " Jeanie Deans" has been embodied in
fact. Three female relations of the Burghead fisherman,
implicated in the late food riots, travelled to Ardverekie
with the view of petitioning her Majesty to commute the
rather harsh sentence of transportation and imprisonment
passed on them. But in Sir George Grey the simple
fisherwomen found no Duke of Argyle, as they were rather
unsentimentally told by him to go home, and send a writ-
ten petition by the post.
AGGRAVATED INCENDIARISM.—On Wednesday even-
ing last a school room at Horton Bank jointly supported
by the Independent and Wesleyan bodies, was set fire to ;
this being the third time an attempt has been made to
destroy this place. The master' on Wednesday noticed
that all the Bibles were removed, but said nothing about
the matter ; but on Thursday morning found that they
had been piled up in the roof and there set fire to. The
burning mass had fallen down co the floor. Several ano-
nymous letters of a most disgraceful character have
been sent to one of the trustees who resides at some
distance from the place.—Bradford Observer.
THE RIVER THAMES.—On Thursday morning, there
was one of the lowest tides ever known, even in the
memory of the oldest steam-boat captain. In the very
centre of the river, close to Waterloo-bridge, the mud
was some feet above the water, and at one o'clock the
river steamers were compelled to cease plying for the first
time since their introduction on the river. The scene at
the Adelphi Pier was graphic in the extreme, almost
worthy the pencil of a Hogarth. Beyond the usual float-
ing pier for landing passengers, a plank about ten feet
long was rigged, and secured by an upright, over which
ladies and all were compelled to climb by the presiding
Charon.

RtrssiAN GRAIN.—Of the recent arrivals of grain of
various kinds from the continental states of Europe, du-
ring a period six days, there arrived no less than fifty-
seven vessels at the port of London alone from the Rus-
sian ports, which were, with one or two.exceptions, en-
tirely laden with grain. Some of these veseels brought
nearly 4,000 quarters of grain, while others brought some-
thing less than 1,000 quarters each—to take an average,
therefore, of 2.000 quarters for each cargo, which is within
the mark, the quantity of grain imported from Russia
alone into the metropolis in one week, exceeded 100,000

quarters.
HARVEST-HOME

This good old custom is not yet ex-

tinct in this country ;-in proof of which we have to instance
the festivities at East Hampstead-park, in Berkshire, the
seat of the Marquis of Downshire. In a letter received
from that neighbourhood the writer says :—" We had rare
doings here this day (Friday)—the harvest-home. The
Marquis of Downshire had a fat bullock killed for the oc-
casion, which was roasted in joints ; plenty of plum-pud-
dings, and home-brewed in abundance. About 300 farm-
ing men, workmen, women, &c., employed by his Lord-
ship, sat down to the dinner. After the feast the village
band attended, for country dances ; and cricket, and all
sorts of rustic diversions, concluded the festivities of the
occasion."

SUICIDE FROM MENTAL DELUSION.—On Wednesday
James Sharp, aged fifty-two, a lawer's clerk, committed
suicide. The deceased resided at Holloway, and had, for
some time past, been labouring under morbid delusions of
the mind, and seemed to imagine that he was pursued by
enemies wherever he went ; in fact, while proceeding
along the streets, he often fancied that some dreadful out-
rage was going to be committed upon him. Latterly he
became so much depressed that the night previous to his
attempt at destruction he told his landlord that he could
not stand it any longer ; for Saturday week, while in bed,
he seized hold of a razor and inflicted a dreadful wound
in the throat, extending almost from ear to ear. Imme-
diately afterwards he called for assistance, and was con-
veyed to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. On Tuesday morn-
ing he expired.
GREAT DESTRUCTION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE.—
An awful fire took place at Burlington, near Shiffnall,
Shropshire, about noon on Thursday, in the stackyard of
Mr. Berns% A boy, about thirteen years of age, was
serving the thatcher, when a. box of lucifer matches,
which had been given to him to take to his mother by her
orders, ignited in his pocket. He immediately threw
them on the ground, under a. stack of barley, and the fire
communicated to the stack. Everything being very dry,
it was out of the power of the few hands who collected to
stay its progress. Fire engines were on the spot in less
than an hour, but not a sheaf could be saved. The whole
contents of the stackyard, which is 70 yards long and 50
wide, amounting to about 27 stacks, was totally consumed ;
but the whole building was preserved. It is expected the
total loss will be covered by insurance.
CUSTOMS INTELLIGENCE.—The honourable board, by
their order, dated 16th instant, direct that the practice of
admitting, for home consumption, spirits reduced with
water in the bonded warehouses, be discontinued, inas-
much as spirits can now be imported in casks of twenty
gallons contents each, thereby affording to all parties the
opportunity of purchasing the article in small quantities,
as imported, and of afterwards reducing it when in their
own possession, equally as free from adulteration as if
reduced whilst under bond. By the honourable board's
general order, dated the 13th instant, it is deemed expe-
dient that bond should be given, in all cases, previously
to the shipment of surplus stores, without payment of
the duty, as well as for all such goods, including British
plantation rum, as may be removed from the bonded
warehouses for that purpose.

On Friday, communications were forwarded to the ma-
gistrates of the county of Middlesex, requiring them, after
the 28th instant, to commit prisoners for trial, as also
those remanded for further examination, exclusively to
the new model prison, Clerkenwell, named the "Middle-
sex House of Detention," which, after that date, will be
ready for the reception of such persons. This prison con-
tains 1,000 separate cells, each fitted with stool, table,
hammock, and lavatory, similar to the Pentonville Model
Prison. The entire erection is in the form of a cross, the
centre being the chapel; each wing contains 250 cells.
Persons under detention will be kept strictly apart ; even
the exercise grounds, and gratings for the reception of
visiters, are so constructed, that they can neither see nor
hear each other. A library of works, chiefly of a religious
tendency, is to be provided for the use of the inmates.
SIGNS OF THE " TIMES."—The Times newspaper last
week devoted two of its columns to a highly laudatory re.
commendation of the new work entitled " Grantly Manor"
by Lady Georgiana Fullerton. This work is neither more
nor less than a three volume novel containing a most in-
geniously veiled apology for, and recommendation of,
Roman Catholic principles and practices. The talented
authoress is herself a " recent convert" to Romanism, and
is niece to the Hon. and Rev. George Spencer, brother to
Earl Spencer, formerly chaplain to the Bishop of London,
and now a priest of the Church of Rome, and a monk of
the barefooted order of "Passionists." This, perhaps,
may be accounted for from the circumstance of Mr. Mose-
ley (brother-in-law of Mr. Newman and formerly editor
of the defunct British Critic), having been added to the
editorial staff of the Times since Mr. Walter's death.
The house in which Shakspeare was born was sold on
Thursday, at the Auction Mart, by Mr. Robins. It was
purchased by the committee acting at Stratford and Lon-
don for £3OOO, there being no opposition bidding. The
following interesting lots were sold at the subjoined prices :
—Visitors' books of autographs, 9 guineas ; a curious tab-
let, with a portrait of Shakspeare, £5 ss. ; five carved
walnut-tree chairs, with needlework backs and seats,
£5 ss. ; a curious antique carved cabinet, elaborately
worked, £lolos. ; an elaborately craved Elizabethan chair,
cane back, £7 7s. ; a small bust of Shakspeare, carved
from the veritable mulberry tree, to the truth of which
Mr. Sharp deposed, £lB IBs. ; a spectacle case, also
carved from a mulberry tree, £l5 15s. ; an elaborately
carved oak cabinet, with richly decorated *ant slid sido
and corner pillars, £lOlO.

ADVANTAGES OF STEADS.—We hear of frequent in-
stances of the rapidity with which shippers of stock at
this port for the London markets have their return made
them, the following deserves to be noted :—Mr. P.
Wilson Flesher, 34, New Market Hall, on Tuesday week,
bought a flock of lambs at Middleton, of Rattray. upwards
of forty miles from Aberdeen. They travelled on foot all
the way here, stopped ten hours on the road, and were
shipped by the steamer Duke of Wellington, on Wednes-
day evening, to Mr. Benjamin Venables, Newgate market,
London. The accounts of sales were received by post,
and the cash in Mr. Wilson's pocket on Monday forenoon.
—Aberdeen Journal.

CHARGES OF FORGERY.-G. Hayward and W. Alex-
ander have been final?), examined upon the charge of hav-
ing forged a cheque upon the banking-house of Glyn and
Co. for £l4O, in the name of John Fenton. This was the
case in which Daniel Forrester, the officer, supplied the
evidence which would have been otherwise defective, by
searching amongst the papers of the prisoner Hayward,
and finding a piece of blotting-paper, on which was dis-
tinctly marked the "blot" of the name "John Fenton,"
as it appeared on the cheque. The prisoner wrote to Mr.
Fenton, whom he did not know, in order to obtain this
signature. The handwriting of Mr Fenton was closely
imitated in the cheque. The prisoners were committ.ed
for trial.

SUDDEN DEATH.—Captain Witham, of Lartington
Hall, near Barnard Castle, had a stroke on the morning
of the Bth instant, which resulted in his death the same
evening. This gentleman had become ill about four
o'clock in the morning, but he did not ring his bell until
about six o'clock, when, in giving the alarm, he fell on the
floor, and was found there. He was able to ask to be
placed on a chair, which being done, medical aid was pro-
cared with all speed, and he was somewhat better for a
time, after being bled, and no immediate danger was ap-
prehended. But during the day he became so ill that life
was despaired of, and in the evening he died. Mr. W.
had been in the enjoyment of robust health, and on the
day previous had visited some of his farms, and the town
of Barnard Castle, and appeared in excellent spirits the
same evening. He has fulfilled the duties of magistrate
for some time, and formed one of the bench at the petty
sessions at Barnard Castle. His age we suppose to be
about 43 years.
AWFUL FIRE.—On Thursday last a most extensive fire
occurred at Needingworth, a village near St. Ives, in the
county of Huntingdon, which has rendered it one scene
of misery and desolation, upwards of 80 houses, including
farming-houses and cottages, being entirely destroyed.
The fire was first observed about twelve o'clock at noon,
and originated through a poor idiot servant girl throwing
some lighted straw into a yard ; the wind at the time
blowing a hurricane, wafted some of the straw to the
thatch of the cottage, which was immediately enveloped
in flames; it then communicated itself to an adjoining
farm, and in a few minutes the whole of the property, on
the right hand and on the left, was one terrible fire. The
farmsteads destroyed are six in number, together with the
produce of nearly 3000 acres of land; and about 70 houses'
and cottages. The amount of property destroyed must be
very considerable, and a large proportion of it is insured.
Several engines were upon the spot, but in consequence
of the wind and the scarcity of water, were quite useless.
CUTTIVAT:ON OF THE BEAUTIFITE.--It has been the
fashion with prudes and pedants, time immemorial to run
down the advantages of external appearance—thus the
phrases, " Outside show," and " Skin-deep beauty," had
obtained a sort of currency which gave them, and others
of similar insport, an appearance of grave authority. The
present age is bold enough to question this dictum, and
exen to go as far as to extol the study of' externals as a
duty to society, which should have presented to it agree-
able objects, and now contends that the cultivation of
the beautifid holds a place second in importance only to
the promotion of the good. This it is which holds out
encouragement to those who labour to put the public in
possession of means to this end. Oldridge's Balm of
Columbia, as the most effective preservative or renovator
of that most beautiful ornament the Human Hair, takes
first rank, and as long as its valuable properties continue
to be known and appreciated, must take the precedence of
every production intended for exterior improvement in
this direction.

FEARFUL CONDITION OF BURIAL GROUNDS.—At a
meeting in London last week, Mr. Walker, surgeon, in
the course of an excellent address, made the following
remarks It was well known that an acre of ground
was capable of furnishing decent burial room for only 136
bodies annually but was that rule observed in the burial
grounds of the metropolis ? In some grounds upwards
of 3,000 bodies were buried annually in an acre of ground.
(Cries of Shame'?') The shameful extent to which the
metropolitan burial grounds were overcrowded with bo-
dies, would appear by some facts extracted from Mr.
Chadwick's sanitary report. The annual average of
burials per acre, in the following churchyards, was—St.
Andrew Undershaft, 1,278 ; Portugal-street ground,
1,021; St. Dunstan's-in-the-East, 1,821: St. John's,
Clerkenwell, 3,072 ; St. Mary-at-Hill, 1,159 ; St. Swi-
thin, Tooley-street, 1,760. The condition of the Dis-
senters' burial grounds was quite as disgraceful, for the
same authority showed that the annual burials per acre
were—at Wickliffe Chapel, Stepney, 1,210; Enon Cha--
pel, 1,080 ; Parker's Chapel, Dockhead, Woolwich,
1,613 ; Moorfiela, 1,210; Cannon-street-road, 1,109.

• „ ,
A LETTER OF GRATITUDE.—John M'Lean, 'the high-
land historian, has addressed the following letter, dated
6th Sep. inst., to Col. Anson :—" Sir,—l had the honor
to receive this morning your note, inclosing a donation of
£lO from her Majesty the Queen, to relieve me in the
various difficulties connected with my advanced age. I
was born on the 6th of January, 1747, the year after the
battle of Culloden, when civil strife happily terminated in
this quarter of her Majesty's dominions. Though now
more than one hundred years of age, I retain the full use
of my mental and bodily faculties, and I bec, leave to
assure her Majesty, that none in her Majeay'S wide
dominions prays more sincerely for her happy, lengthened,
and prosperous reign, and for every blessing to attend her
Royal Consort, and her rising family. It cheers my aged
heart to hear of 'a Queen of Scotia's ancient line sojourn-
ing among her Highland hills, whose inhabitants were
long distinguished for their devoted attachment to their
native kings. Long, long may the Queen enjoy the satis-
faction of witnessing the unabated attachment of a loyal
people ; and often, often, may
,she revisit the favourite
haunts of her royal ancestors. The infirmities of age
compel me to employ my son to write these lines, flowing,
believe me, from a heart full of gratitude. May I beg
the honor of her Majesty's accepting the accompanying
copy of part of my Reminiscences' of the events of
other years."'

PREJUDICE AGAINST LOCAL TRADESMEN.—A very
amusing and conclusive proof of the injustice of the pre-
judice which often induces persons to condemn country
tradesmen as cheats, and to go to a distance for their
goods, has just occurred at Chepstow. A tabby, or female
gossip of that ancient locality, entertaining a very low opi-
nion of those " horrid cheats," the country grocers, oom-
missioned a gentleman-acquaintance—(a Platonic friend,
no doubt)—to purchase twenty pounds of metropolitan
tea, the best that could be had at five shillings per pound.
The gentleman, knowing the unreasonableness of all such
suspicions, executed his commission by giving the older to
a Chepstow tradesman, who supplied his usual five-shil-
ling tea. This was conveyed to the lady, who with her
neighbours pronounced it to be excellent, beyond measure
superior to any thing of the kind which could be procured
in the neighbourhood at seven shillings per pound ! The
gentleman having fully enjoyed a laugh in his sleeve, let
out the secret, whereupon the ladies, clinging to their pre-
conceived nations, like many in the present day, com-
pletely altered their opinions, saying that the tea was in-
different, or that at best it was only the super-stratum of
a chest, the lower part of which was filled with sloe-leaves.
To reason, therefore, with such individuals, would be a
loss of time, but to sensible persons, the incident may
show the unreasonableness and the injustice of people of
property going to London for their goods, and passing by
the heavily-taxed and the honest local tradesman.—Here-
ford Journal.
GREAT yAILIIRE IN LONDON.—The Times of Wednes-
day morning announces the failure of Sanderson and Co.,
the well-known bill brokers, in the following terms :
"The suspension of Sanderson and Co. the discount
brokers, was announced on Tuesday afternoon, and has
given rise to the utmost anxiety. It was known that the
firm were amongst the heaviest sufferers from the failure
of Lesley, Alexander, and Co., of whose paper they are
supposed to have held about £170,000; and this event,
coupled with the subsequent occurrence of disasters, by
which they were also understood to have been compro-
mise d, caused a strong feeling of uneasiness to be enter-
tained regarding their position. Under these circumstan-
ces, a severe run took place upon them for the withdrawal
of money held at call, which resulted in their stoppage."
The same journal of the following day, makes the follow-
ing statement :—" The liabilities of the house to London
depositers by whom bills are held as security, are under-
stood to amount to £BOO,OOO. The total of country liabil-
ities of a similar description has not been stated, but they
are most probably very extensive. The debts of the firm
against which the creditors hold no securities, amount to
£200,000. The private property of Mr. Sanderson is
estimated at about £140,000, and that of Mr. Morris, his
late partner, including life assurances, at about £60,000.
Under these circumstances, the parties who have investi-
gated the state of the concern, speak favourably of the
ultimate prospects of the liquidation." A circular, which
has been issued by the firm, states that Mr. Sanderson
entertains the most sanguine expectations, that ultimately
the creditors and customers will sustain no loss whatever.
THE BANK OF ENGLAND.—A general Court of Pro-
prietors of this Bank was held on Thursday, to declare a
dividend, and transact other business. Mr. Jas. Morris
said that the directors had resolved to recommend that a
dividend of 41 per cent., interest and profits, should be
paid for the half year ending October next, which would
leave a sum of £26,412 to be added to the rest. It was not a
dividend of 41 per cent., but a dividend of 31 per cent.
and a bonus of 1 per cent., that the proprietors who had
a life interest only might participate in the profits of the
half year. The amount of the rest would be £3,270,754,
after deducting the dividend. Mr. De Winton called at-
tention to the late suspension of payment by parties who
were directors of the bank. Within eighteen years six,
out of nine gentlemen who had passed the chair, had since
been insolvent. This state of things ought not to coati-
nue. He was of opinion that the governor of the bank
should be elected for four years certain, and that he
should be paid a salary for his services. He also thought
the time had arrived when some alteration should be made

I in the bye-laws of the corporation, and he should, there-
fore, move the following resolution :—" That the Court
of Directors be requested to convene a meeting of the
proprietors, for the purpose of considering the bye-laws
regulating the election of a governor, &c., with a view to
their amendment." The governor said that the directors
were not prepared to convene a meeting of proprietors for
the purpose mentioned ; but if a requisition, signed by
the necessary number of proprietors, were presented to
them, they would feel it their duty to do so. After some
conversation, Mr. De Winton withdrew his proposition,
zeal the meeting broke up without a question being asked
as to whether the bank had sustained any losses by the
late failures,

BIGAMY EXTRAORDINARY.—On Wednesday Daniel
Sinclair, mate of the Mary Auckland, a fellow who has
been twice previously convicted of bigamy, was brought
up at the Thames Police-court on a similar charge. He
persuaded a young lady that his convictions exonerated
him from the previous marriages. He affected great
sanctity, and she consented to marry him. For the de-
fence it was urged that the lady contracted the marriage
with her eyes open, well knowing that the prisoner had
another wife alive at the time. Mr. Yardley said he
would remand the case, to get further evidence of the first
marriage. He would accept bail in two good securities
of £lOO each.

SINGULAR BEEntvE.--While the reverend incumbent
of Mellor was in the vestry room, attached to the church,
one day last week, his attention was drawn, by hearing
the humming of some bees, to one of the beams which
crossed the ceiling of the room ; on closer inspection, he
discovered that a considerable length of honey-comb had
been run along the top of the beam, the bees- finding in-
gress and egress to their novel hive through the mouth of
an old waterspout, which had long since ceased to answer
the purpose for which it had been erected. On removing
some of the plaster from the ceiling, the reverend gentle-
man was enabled to obtain about thirty pounds of beauti-
ful honey ; and afterwards several pounds of wax.—
Blackburn Standard.

A deputation from Newcastle-on-Tyne is about to
proceed to London from the commercial body there to
represent the monetary pressure prevailing through the
The Morning Pose reports the specific object of
" The depression in the coal trade is stated

country

to be so great at the present moment that, unless some
relief be afforded, sixty thousand workmen must be imme-
diately thrown out of employment. It is understood that
the suggestion to be made to the Government will be for
the issue of £5,000,000 of bank notes for six months, on
the deposit of valid securities. If this measure be not
adopted, there is, unfortunately, too good ground to fear
that not only the collieries of Northumberland, but the
mills of Lancashire, will be stopped, and the great trade of
the county indefinitely snspended."
Surrey has lately been the scene of one of the most
fearful crimes of violence of which the practice of pre-
serving game has been so prolific. At East Horsley, near
Guildford, a few days since, George Targett and James
Martin, gamekeepers, were found by a person passing acci-
dentally through• a wood in the preserve, in the last stage
of exhaustion, through wounds which had been received
in an affray with• poachers. Targett was apparently life-
less, having been stabbed in the chest, and did riot recover
his consciousne
extreme dangez

Martin had been stabbed it

he was much exhausted by loss of blood, and his life is yet
in great peril. The desperate nature of the struggle the
poor men had with their savage assailants, is proved by
the fact that the hands-of both were dreadfully cut and
maimed, in the efforts- they made to wrest the deadly
weapons from their adversaries. The guilty persons are
said to be known, and two of them are in custody.
LAUNCH OF A STEAMER.—On Tuesday was launched
from Messrs. Wigram's yard, at Blackwall, a new steam-
ship, the Scotia, built for the Chester and Holyhead Rail-
way Company. She is of 600 tons burden, and is to have
engines by Maudslay and Field, of 400-horse power, "m-
-ing the largest amount of power, in proportion to ton-
nage, of any vessel yet built. Her lines were generally
admired, and every confidence was expressed by the
builder and engineers, that " they shall be able to get 20=
miles an hour out of her," and that she will make the-
passage between Holyhead and Kingstown (63 miles) in.
three hours and a quarter, and four hours in all weathers.
Several of the directors were present. The Caradoc, one-
of the government boats, built for the express purpose of
performing the Post-office service between Holyhead and
Kingstown, by Mare and Co., with engines by Seaward,
600 tons 350-horse power, was tried on Monday ; she ran
between Gravesend and the NOre, against tide, at the rate
of 154- miles an hour.

THE DROUGHT.—The quantity of rain that has fallen
from the Ist of January to the 14th of the present month
is smaller than during the corresponding period •of the
year 1842—50 remarkable for long-continued and intense
drought. During the period of the year 1842, to which
we refer, the quantity of rain that fell, according to a rain
gauge kept a few miles to the south of Edinburgh, was
16.05 inches, and, during the present year, 15.17 inches.
The present drought, however, may be said to have com-
menced in November last year ; and, comparing the rain
fall of the periods commencing Ist November, 1841, and
ending 14th September, 1842—being 23.37 inches—with
the period commencing Ist November, 1846, and ending
the 14th instant being 19.24 inches—there has been a de-
ficiency of rain during the latter peri d of no less than
4.13 inches as compared with the extraordinary year of
1842. But if it be compared with last year the deficiency
is still more remarkable, the rain-fall from the Ist of Ja-
nuary of last year to the 14th inst., being 32.066 inches,
and this year 15.97—a difference of no less than 16.096,
being a deficiency of almost exactly one-half. Rivers and
brooks are, consequently, greatly diminished, and the
want of water, both in Edinburgh and elsewhere, is be-
coming ominously inconvenient.

PICTURE-FRAMES BY MACITINERY.—The ultimate
desideratum in the popularization of Art is to bring it as
an educational means to the hearths of abodes humbler
than those under the roofs of which it has hitherto found
a resting-place. Towards the framing of prints the re-
duction of the duties on glass has done much, and the
invention we are now about to notice effects, we do hope,
the rest in this long-desiderated object. The invention
is that of Mr. Bielefeld ; and the result at which he ar-
rives is a really good and ornamental frame at the lowest
price (eightpence per foot) at which the meanest wooden
shelter in which a work of Art ever found refuge can be
manufactured. This is, as usual, effected by machinery.
Any of the common forms, technically termed ogee,
ovolo, bevel, hollow, &c., can be enriched with the most
delicate work, similar to engine-turning, or by relieved
arabesques of any design. The principle is new as applied
to manufacture of this kind : it is simply to pass any
length of frame under a roller in which is cut the desired
pattern. This roller, the radius of which is but a few
inches, is turned out of a rough cast of gun-metal, and
is

driven by a steam-engine. The wood Which is passed
der it is necessarily soft—say the best pine—and re-
ceives at any length the impress of the most delicate tra-
cery which can be engraved on the metal. The advan-
tages of this are sufficiently apparent; but there are yet
others which may be mentioned. The wood comes from
the machinery ready for gilding, or complete as an imita-
tion of ebony or Florentine bronze, and also in colours;
and having preserved on the. surface the design in all its
sharpness, which would be deteriorated by the ordinary
method of whitening and sizing. The process is a patent,
and so recent that the extent of its operations is by no
means developed, although the inventor will apply it to
the manufacture of frames- for pictures of all sizes. For
many years there has beenno improvement in the mann-.
facture of frames ' • at least, none to render an acceptable
frame accessible to limited means. The want has been a
source of complaint, when so many of the most beautiful
productions of the burin are no longer very costly. An
outcry may be raised by. those employed in the manufac-
ture according to the old method ; but, under the auspices
of the genius temperis, it is the good of the many we most
advocate ; and considering the cheapness of good prints—
of that class likely to come into the possession of the mid-
dle classes—this discovery is most apposite to the time.
The results of this machinery will soon be—if it be not
at this moment—such as to enable him who buys a print
for a shilling, to place it in a worthy frame for another
shilling—or very little more. And when we speak of a
shilling print let no one suppose we allude to an, inferior
work : some admirable productions of Art may now be
attained for that sum ; may we not refer to those which
appear in the present number of our Journal, and those
which we hope to.present to our subscribers ?, The con-
sequence will be, ere long, that framed prints will occupy
walls that are.now either bare or covered with injurious
or unmeaning papers; and that fine examples. of Art will
instruct the dwellers in houses where expensive luxuries
cannot enter:: we consider that to produce good and cheap
FRAMES is. second only in importance to producing
PRINTS good and cheap.—Art Union Journal.
DINNER. TO THE EARL OF DALHOUSIE.—On Tues-
day night, a dinner was given in Edinburgh to the newly-
appointed' Governor-General of India, on occasion of his
departure to assume the reins of government. The chair
was occupied by the Duke of Bucclench, and among the
other noblemen and gentlemen present were the Duke of
Argyle,. Earl of Rosebery, Earl of Devon, Lord Dunferm-
line, Lord Belhaven, Lord Kinnaird, the Lord Advocate,
the Right Hon. Fox Maule, &c. &c. The Earl of Dal-
housie replied at considerable length to the toast of his
health. In the course of his remarks he said, " I have
always held that every public man who has once served
the crown, is bound in duty not to withhold at a future
time his services, when invited; on public grounds to do
so, provided he can do so without sacrifice of the political
opinions which he has entertained, and which he still
maintains, as sound and true in his estimation. Twice
since their accession to power have the present confiden-
tial advisers of the crown, invited me to give my advice,
co-operation, and aid to, her Majesty's government,—
once as a member of the administration, and once in ano-
ther capacity. Twice have these offers been made to me,
and twice have they been declined ; and if the offer of the
assent of the crown. to the appointment made by the
court of directors of the East India Company had been
accompanied by the condition that I should give them pa-
litical support, or should even observe political neutrality,
I should have felt it my duty once again to have declined.
I am sure that there is not a gentleman who sits at these
tables that will not believe me when I say that I would not
consent to sacrifice any of the political principles which I
deem to be sound and pure, even though it were to place
in my hands, as it was in this case, the administration of
an empire.. I hasten to add,"that no condition whatever
was annexed to this office. When the assurance was given
me that the acceptance of this appointment would leave
me in entire and unquestioned possession of my own per-
sonal independence in reference to party politics—when I
was assured, as I was promptly and unreservedly, that my
acceptance of office would establish no party claims upon
me—then I felt that I was bound to test the principles
which I entertained and had previously enunciated ; and
I at once resolved to risk the misinterpretation and mis-
construction of motives—the risk and possible loss of the
confidence of my old political friends ; and, in addition to
this, to sacrifice, as my noble friend has said from the
chair, much personal and domestic comforts and encroach-
ments on my political position in this country—even at
the sacrifice of every atom of this, I felt that I was bound,
as a servant of the crown, to give my assistance to her
Majesty's advisers, when I was asked to do so, and es-
pecially when asked in times of difficulty and confusion as
these ; and I at once consented to serve the company who
so honourably tendered me this office : and I rejoice to
return to the service of a sovereign whom I served before,
and who, in the amplitude of her goodness, had rewarded
me so far beyond my deserts. It is hardly necessary for
me to state that the moment I assume the government of
India, politics axe unknown to me. I feel most deeply
the great and distinguished honour which has been con-
ferred upon me in the appointment which I have received,
' and lam mostly keenly alive to the tremendous responsi-
bility which has, in consequence, been imposed on me."

Sept. 21,1847,

THE QUEEN.—Strange Coincidence.—Perhaps it is
not generally known that the wild and romantic spot
where our beloved sovereign at present is residing is the
id-ntic,al place where Fergus, our first Scottish monarch,
delighted to sojourn, and where, not many yards behind
the beautiful lodge of Ardverikie, his remains lie, also
those of two succeeding monarchs. In those days it was
chiefly upon the most elevated situations that the inhabi-
tants of our country resided, in consequence of the plains
and valleys being then infested with wolves and other
wild beasts. The proper meaning of the name " Ardve-
rikie" is Ard-Fergus (Fergus's height); or, in the Gaelic
language, Ardferigie. From this circumstance, we are
not surprised that her Majesty, if aware of the fact, should
choose this Royal residence of the " olden time," in the
" land of the mountain and of the flood " as a temporary
abode amongst us.--Ross-shire Advertiser.
ATTEMPTED MURDER IN MARK-LANE.—John Oven,.
ston, who attempted to kill Mr. Crawley, in Mark-lane,
was finally examined at the Mansion-house, London, on
Wednesday. He was scarcely able to stand. George
Crawley said—" I have offices at No. 12, Mark-lane. On
the 14th of August, on going to my office, I found the
prisoner and a person named Nathan there. I asked the
prisoner whether he wished to see me. He nodded
his head, and I said if you will be good enough to step
into the inner room I will speak to you. He went into
the room, and I followed him. His back was towards me.
I closed the door. He turned round, and I heard a shot,
and immediately made my escape- I was shot in the jaw.
The only thing I had observed in the prisoner before he
fired the rtißtrd urns thou I,Z. 1.... A 1-4 ---

iureu Luc Flaw' was, xnat ne shooK his head, but there was
nothing about him that caused any suspicion of his inten-,
tion." Mr. Samuel Harris, 13, Fenchurch-street, sur-
geon, said—" I was called to see Mr. Crawley in our sur-
gery. He told me that he had been shot, and on looking
at him, I found that a bullet had lodged in the jaw. As
there was no heamorrage I advised that he should go to
the hospital. The prisoner was committed for shooting
with intent to murder.

'litmus FEVER IN GLASGOW.—It appears that Glas-
gow is suffering from a severe visitation of typhus, and the
police and parish officers, as here, have been the first
attacked. The Glasgow Constitutional saysl.--" We re-
gret to hear of the death of Mr. Colin Gordon, one of the
two night inspectors or division officers of police, which
event took place on Sunday morning, from typhus fever.
The deceased, along with his colleague, Mr. Robt. Hender-
son, who survives, had for many years been entrusted
with the charge of the night watchmen of the Glasgow
division ; and the successful exertions of these two men,
in detecting and preventing crime, and = Al-

,cring au-
stracted property, have been frequently noticed with
approbation- in high quarters. Gordon was a modest,
persevering, and intelligent man, and few in a h•Amble
public station have done so• much good. It is to be hoped
that the Police Commission will not fail to remember that
Gordon contracted disease in the discharge of his duty,
and that a widow and children are bereft of their bread-
winner."—[The brother of this meritorious officer his
for many years been engaged in the Journal-office, and
has been equally remarkable for steady and exemplary
conduct.l

ROMISII HIERARCHY IN ENGLAND.—It is said that
Dr. Wiseman has brought instructions and authority from
the holy see for remodelling the ecclesiastical arrange-
ments of his communion in England. Rome has hitherto
possessed in England nothing more than a missionary esta-
blishment, placed under the superintendence of Vicars
Apostolic," who are nominally the bishops of sees now in
partibus infidelium : and do •not assume the titles of the
dioceses in which they egercise their authority. The pre-
sent order of things is now to cease ; Roman Catholicism
having, in the opinion of its rulers, attained a sufficient
extension in England to -warrant the re-establishment of
the hierarchy, with all its ramifications of ecclesiastical
government—deans, chapters, archdeacons, ecclesiastical
courts, &c., as it existed prior to the reformation, and at
present exists in Roman Catholic Ireland. There will be,
it is said, two archbishops for Canterbury and York, with
eight bishops subordinate. These new Roman bishops
will not, however, assume the titles of the sees at present
occupied by the bishops of the Established Church, but
will take their designations from other places not hereto-
fore episcopally dignified : as: Birmingham, Nottingham,
Derby, Liverpool, and other populous centres of Roman
Catholic influence. Dr. Wiseman himself, it is said, will
succeed, under a new title—that of Bishop of Westmin-
ster—to the administration of the affairs of the London
district, in the room of the late Dr. Griffiths, Bishop of
Olena.

THE POISONING IN THE ISLE- OF ELY.—The examina-
tion into this mysterious affair (a slight account of which
appeared in our paper last week) was resumed on Wed-
nesday at Manea, Isle of Ely. It will be recollected that
three children named Mary Young, Whitwell Aubery,
and Eliza Hartley. were left in the, care of a woman named
Ann Barnes while their parents were out harvesting. The
children died suddenly, and from certain suspicious cir-
cumstances Ann Barnes was suspected of having poisoned
them. The bodies had been exhumed by order of the
Coroner, and the following evidence was taken :—Mr.
James Dean said he exhumed the bodies on the 10th of
September. That of Whitwell Aubery presented no un-
usual appearance, but internally, the small intestines were
suffused with a bright yellow colour. The lungs and
liver appeared healthy. Removed the alimentary canal,
put it in a sealed bottle, and delivered it to Captain
Hampton. The next day examined it with Mr. O'Connor,
and'discovered the presence of crystals. Mr. Dean then
entered into minute details of the tests he had applied teo
assertain whether any poison was in the body of th„-,
child. " The result is,' he concluded, " that there is "-
7
doubt on my mind that the child Aubery died of arsenic:
Mr. Dean next described the process by which he arrived
at an opinion in regard to the death of Eliza Hartley.
That opinion was that the child-had died of arsenical poi-
son. As regards Young's child, Mr. Dean had no doubt
that it had an additional dose of arsenic just before death.
The other two children had but one dose, and nearly got
rid of it before death. This accounted for the crystals
resulting from the tests in the case of Young's child and
not in the others.—The Coroner to Mrs. Barnes : I ant
bound to tell you that a great deal of suspicion attaches
to you.—Mrs. Barnes : lam surprised at that. If I had
poisoned the children I should have been the silliest
woman alive. I had 9s. 6d. a-week to take care of them
paid regularly. lam quite clear of the crime, as God's
my witness. It is true my neighbours taunted me with
poisoning the children, and- I felt very hurt. I begged
my son, in the presence of that gentleman (the register),
to have a post mortem examination, but he refused.--
After some further evidence, what is called an " open ver-
dict" was returned.
Loss OF Two WHALING SHIPS, AND SUFFERINGS
OF THE CREWS.—Mr. R. Coffinson, of Hull, has received
a letter from Mr. Lee, mate of the Bon Accord, of that
town, dated Egosmende, Danish settlement, Davis'
Straits, July 28th, 1847, in.which he states that the ship
was lost in lat. 75 N.ton the 3rd July, after having caught
two fish-25 tons. He also states that the Alfred, of Bo-
ness. was lost about the same time and place. The day
before they saw fourteen sail, about ten miles north of
them, and the writer enumerates a number of whalers
met with, and which, up to the 29th of June, had gene-
rally been unsuccessful several of them being clean ships,
and others which had taken but one or two fish each.
Mr. Collinson, who arrived at Hull from Hamburgh, on
Wednesday states, that there were in that port fourteen
of the crew of the Alfred, who hod arrived from Davis'
Straits, via Copenhagen, and reported that the whole of
the crews of both two wrecked vessels were saved, except
one of the Bon Accords, who died previous to her loss,
and another of the same crew by falling from an iee berg,
Both were Shetlandmen. Mr. Lee gives a long and in-
teresting account in another letter to his wife, of the
sufferings of the crew of the Bon Accord, after. she was
lost. From this we abridge and extract some of the m___;aul
facts. When the ship was lost, it was blowing. a hull"-
cane from. S. W., with constant snow. Two floes cam
°
together and crushed the ship. He, with a strength he
thought he never possessed, carried his father,,the caPtaitlF
like a doll, and handed him over the side. He returned
down to the cabin far his father's watch, hut the deck
and beams flew in all directions, and he with difficulty
cut up again. The Alfred was a short distance from them ;
she got the nip first and the ice went right over her. 110
continues—Oh, what a sight, ! To see 98 men upon the
ice, some o, them cursing the hour that gave them birth.
I first looked at the wreck, and saw there was no shelter-
there. Then, with horror, looked to the ice, and oh what'
a. sight met my eyes. There was my poor aged parent
wringing his hands, and tearing the little hair that he had,
off his head, praying to God to take his life. These'
eyes, I hope, will never see the like again. We were 1%
hours on the ice, before we got a seat made for my father,
and a fire made. I then went down to the wreck, and
saved his chest and bed-rug, one cask of pork, one cask
of bread, one cask of flour, four casks of ale, and 20 gal-
lons of brandy, which we took to his tent, and got the
crow's nest there also, to make abed cabin for him. WO
then made a tent for the men, and a fire. I got an, emptY
bread cask, and made a tent for myself, but being wet
through and cold, 1 could not sleep. I got up, and
walked on the ice to get warm, being almost perished-
I went in to the men's tent, and they had a fire that would
have roasted a drove of oxen, but there was no chance of
getting near it. They were laid one upon top of another,
but at length the fire disappeared through the ice, and
when they awoke they were stagnated. I then travelled
over to the Alfred's tents, and there they were a great
deal more comfortable, for they had saved their bed-.
clothes and chests all dry. The next day was spent in
getting our boats ready for launching over the ice, con-
stant snow, and blowing as hard as ever." The boats
were at length launched in a hole in the ice, on the morn-
ing of the 6th July. The writer then lost his eye-sight
for two days, from the reflection of the ice, and his suffer..
ings were such that, but for the thoughts of his wife and
little ones, he would have lain down and died. Five
boats started southward in company, one of them col'
taming his father, but he lost sight of the whole four ill
the night. On the 7th three of them were again seen,
and they sailed together, and at ten o'clock landed 0?
Duck Island, a small barren rock. There they mot°
some tea, and afterwards got to a larger island. 10
found afterwards that the master of the Alfred was on cule
side the island and he on the other. After innumerablu
adventures and dangers from storms and cold, and landilt,
they fried and made a hearty meal. On other island
successively on different islands, they reached an island on
the 9th, on which they found five dozen duck eggs, will c
9.
they afterwards got a considerable quantity of egg,'
Several of the boats that had got behind came 1113
they landed at Uppernavick, worn out with fatigue in 1)._,.
ing, &c. There they were all kindly treated. On tau_
17th they landed at Lively, after a passage of five dal
from the island they last left. Here too their sufferiq.
were extreme. Finally they reached Egosminde on To;
25th, and got on board the Danish brig Peru—to on
Denmark on the 20th August. He concludes—l ara
ids
the cabin, and treated very kindly. Robert Wilson
the only Englishman with me, there are 15 of our e
on board altogether, and seven of the Alfred's, then
of ours are at Uppernavick, 330 miles north of this•
amafraid they 'will not all get home this year, there ary
60 altogether, and the captain of the vessel says lie call
only talw 30,