The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-09-08 00:00:00

MISCELLANEOUS

CAUTION TO TRADESMEN.—A great many gilt sixpences
are now being attempted to be passed as half sovereigns.

Three diamonds have been found in the auriferous sands
of the river Goutnel, in the province of Constantine. One
of them weighs three carats.

Mr. Brunel, the engineer, has offered to bet £lOOO, that on
the completion of the Great Western Railway, he will go from
Bristol to London in two hours !
There is a vacancy in the East India Direction by the death
of Mr. Campbell Majoribanks, which took place on Tues-
day, at his residence at Bushy Grove, Herts.
The towns and villages bordering on the Lakes of Cumber-
land and Westmorland are full to overflowing with tourists
and students.from the universities.

SOUTH CHESHIRE AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting of this association will be held at North-
wich on the 24th of this month. It is expected to be very
well attended.

" Well, sir, (said one person to another, to whom he had,
in a matter of business, made a very absurd offer,) do you
entertain my proposition ?" " No, sir, (replied the other),
but your proposition entertains me."
The Hon. Charles Stuart Wortley, youngest son of Lord
Wharncliffe, will be brought forward at the next election, in
the conservative interest, as a candidate for the representa-
tion of Thirsk.

WELSH BISHOPS.—A correspondent suggests that an op-
portunity occurs, by the demise of Dr. Otter, Bishop of Chi-
chester. for the ministry to translate Dr. Thirlwall, who has
not yet taken possession of the see of St. David, to the va-
cant English see, and give that of St. David's to a Welsh
scholar. There cannot be a doubt that this arrangement
would be satisfactory to all parties.—Merthys Gunrdian.
A seedling cherry was exhibited at the meeting of the
horticultural society at Worthing, of large size, and 26 of
which weighed half a pound. It grew on a all with a
western aspect, and the tree was a good bearer, but the fruit
was scarcely equal to the old Morella cherry.
DUTY ON FRENCH OAK.—We learn from the Journal de
Granville that the French government had laid a duty of
10d. per cubieloot on French oak exported from that country
for the purpose of ship-building, which amounts to an abso-
lute prohibition, and will be highly prejudicial to the ship-
wrights of this island.—Jersey paper.

" Friend Franklin," said Myers Fisher, a celebrated Quaker
lawyer, from Philadelphia, one day, "Thee knows almost
everything; can thee tell how I am to preserve my small
beer ? M y neighbours are often tapping it o'nights." " Put
a barrel of old Madeira by the side of it," replied the doctor,
" let them but get a taste of the Madeira, and I'll engage they
will never trouble your small beer any more."
Mr. Gypson, an aeronaut, has invented a new valve placed
externally on the top of the balloon, by means of which may
the machine, on reaching terra firma, be almost instantly
emptied of its contents, and tendered stationary, thus
enabling the occupants of the car to land without any of
those risks arising from the rebounding of the machine, or
dragging along the ground.

Last Wednesday, as a girl named Clark, with a child in
her arms, about two years old, was witnessing Batty's col-
lection of wild beasts, exhibiting in Bath, she incautiously
approached too near one of the cages containing a leopard.
The animal caught at her clothes, and on the girl turning
round it grasped the child's face near the eye, lacerating it in'
a frightful manner, and making several indentations with its
teeth about the jaw and neck. The child expired shortly
afterwards.

The Times has brought a charge against Lord Melbourne,
of having neglected to adopt an invention proposed to him,
which would have the effect of mowing down the ranks of
an enemy in no time. The description of this extraordinary
war-engine is not given, and therefore we cannot form an
opinion whether the Premier is culpable or not. •It is a
curious fact, however, that the Moniteur Industriel, a Paris
paper, recently brought a similar charge against the War
Minister of France; who, it would appear, has been infinitely
more careless about the safety of his country than Lord Mel-
bourne even.

The report of the committee appointed by the admiralty
to inquire into the advantages afforded by the different ports
for the West Indian mails, has been published ; from which
it appears, that the committee strongly recommend Dart-
mouth, in preference to Southampton, which latter port had
been recommended by the chairman of the Royal Mail Steam-
packet Company. The chief requisites of a port for a
packet station, they conceive to be adjacent headlands, the
lights exhibited thereon, freedom from outlying dangers,
depth of water in the entrance and within the harbour, the
rise of tide and strength of its stream, and above all the
tranquillity of the waters.
MEMBERS FOR OLDHAM.—Mr. John Fielden and Gen.
,Johnson addressed the electors and non-electors of the bo-
rough of Oldham, on Monday last. Mr. Fielden stated that
he had no confidence in the present administration ; it was
the worst ministry there had been for a long period; and he.
would rather bring in the tories than continue the whigs.
General Johnson declared that he had agreed with his col-
league on almost every occasion brought forward during the
last session. The assemblage passed a resolution unanimously •
approving of the conduct of the members.
GUIDE POSTS.—At the late assizes at Guildford, Baron
Gurney reminded the grand jury that there was an act of
parliament which appeared to be very seldom acted upon,
which required that where roads crossed each other, sign-
posts should be put up to direct passengers. This might be
done by the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, or the direc-
tion of the magistrates ; but as the former, from being well
acquainted with the locality, were not likely to take any trou-
ble in the matter, it was highly essential that the magistrates
should interfere, because the public suffered very great in-
convenience from the want of these direction posts.
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS.—On Saturday last, some
men at work in a brick-field of Mr. Wahnsley's, near the
Landmark, Fleetwood, found upwards of 300 Roman coins.
They are principally of silver, and arc in a very fair state of
preservation. We have seen a few of them, which bear
the impress of " Sabina." " Nerva," " Antoninus," and
" Adrianus." Most of the coins are now in the possession
of Sir Hesketh Fleetwood, Bart., M.P.—Preston Chronicle.
CHURCH EXTENSION.—Last week, workmen commenced
pulling down the range of old buildings in Wilton-p!ace,
London, which formerly were occupied as the foot guards'
barracks. A new church is about to be built on this site, to
be called " St. Paul's, Belgravo-square," which is to form
an additional parochial district of the parish of St. George's,
llanover-square. The Marquis 'of Westminster has granted
the freehold of the site, and £3OOO has been paid to the pre-
sent lessee for his remaining interest in it. The patronage
is to be in the hands of the Bishop of London, who has ap-
pointed the Rev. William Bennett, minister of Portman
Chapel, St. Marylebone, to be the first incumbent.
PRINCE ALBERT'S FIRST RAILWAY JOURNEY IN ENG-
LAND.—Prince Albert travelled on Thursday, for the first
time, in England. An express arrived at Windsor Castle,
by the Great Western Railway, bringing intelligence that the
Princess Augusta's illness had assumed so alarming an ap-
pearance that it was feared she would survive but a few
hours. Her Majesty immediately urged the Prince to lose
no time in proceeding to Clarence House. Accordingly an
especial train was ordered to be in .readiness to convey his
royal highness to Paddington at three o'clock. At that hour
the Prince arrived at Slough, where a train, to which was
attached the Sunbeam engine, with its steam well up, was
awaiting his arrival. The Prince reached Paddington in ex-
actly 23 minutes, and his journey back occupied 22 minutes.
His royal highness more than once expressed the great de-
light he experienced at railway travelling.

DISCOVERY OF COINS.--A gold refiner, in the neighbour-
hood of Clerkenwell, lately purchased a quantity or old
gold and silver, and, upon examining his purchase closely,
after the person who had sold them had gone, he found
amongst it some extremely rare Greek and Roman coins in
a very fine state of preservation, amongst them were three
"espasians, two Julius Caesars, and one Titus ; there were
also some very curious English ones amongst them, particu-
larly one Alfred, several William Rufus, Stephen, Richard
1., &c. Whether these are the produce of some late rob-
bery of some collector or not we cannot state; the purchaser
says the seller was a most respectable looking man.

On Wednesday an inquest was held at Faannet, county of
Donegal, to investinte the circumstances connected with the
death of a female found buried in Ballikinard bog. It ap-
peared that while some men were occupied cutting turf on
Friday evening, the 21st ult. they discovered the body dressed
in a dark stuff gown, and flannel petticoat, with a scarlet
handkerchief round the head. The wretched woman had evi-
dently been barbarously murdered, as her throat was cut in a
thost frightful manner, the hair, and a riband encircling the
head, stained with blood, and the left arm broken. Several
witnesses were examined, who clearly identified the body as
that of Betty Thompson, wife of Owen M'Swine, deceased,
who suddenly disappeared in the month of May, 1811, under
circumstances of a most suspicious nature. It had always
been rumoured in the neighbourhood from the time she had
been missed, that the body had been buried in the bog after
she had been murdered, by the parties suspected, though,
strange to say, no search was made, nor did any investigation
ever take place. It was really astonishing to see a human
body, for thirty years inhumed in a bog, with the lineaments
apparently perfect and unchanged as the day the unfortunate
creature was murdered ; and the clothes of the deceased were
itninjnred by time. Even the smallpox, with which she was
slightly marked, was clearly discernable, from the powerful
anticeptic qualities of the bog. The figure was fully propor-
tioned, and the limbs perfectly elastic and finely formed, with
beautiful dark hair flowing down the neck, as if veiling from
the eye of nature the horrid deed of an unnatural assassin.
The jury found—" That the body was the body of Betty
Thompson, who disappeared in the month of May, 1811, and
that she came by her death in consequence of a wound in-
flicted on her throat with some sharp instrument, by some
person or persons unknown."—Derry paper.
THE DERRY CASTLE. ESTATE, IN IRELAND.—The sale of
this splendid property has made a considerable sensation in
the moneyed world—it was indeed so highly appreciated, that
the aid of Mr. George Robins was required by a special re-
tainer to come to Dublin. Gresham's splendid hotel, in
Sackville-street, was selected as the seat of action, and
Thursday in last week was the ttppoinred day. His large
rooms were thronged even before the hour of sale arrived.
Mr. Robins here indulged them with a lengthened exordium,
in which he availed himself of every favourable topic, and
dwelt with much animation on the advantages arising from
an investment where they were fortunately free from the tur-
moil of politics, and each farm was relieved from that scourge
to Irish property, the middle men, who, it is pretty generally
known, are the pests who take the farms at low rents in order
relet them to the industrious class beyond their value. He
was peculiarly happy in contrasting the interest derivable
from land, and the unhealthy state of the funds. He told
them he was just old enough to remember the Three per
Cents at 474, and if a war with France took place he should
have the mortification to see them shorily at 65, the time
had therefore arrived to exchange such precarious security
into terra firma. We have not room to follow him through
his energetic appeal. He provoked a considerable excite-
ment and consequent competition, and a rental approaching
£2,600 a-year was knocked down for 70,000 guineas. We
are told it was not actually sold at the sale, but that Mr.
Guinness, our wealthy townsman (and the best brewer of
porter in Europe), became the purchaser immediately after.
—Dublin paper. The Derry Castle estate, county of Tip-
perary, was set up to auction on Thursday by the celebrated
George Robins, at 50,000 guineas, when the bidding went up
rapidly to £69,000, which, not bear g considered the full value
of this splendid property, it was bought in at 70,000 guineas.
We understand that Mr. Guinness is in private treaty for it.
—Limerick Chronicle. The Derry Castle Estate. An in-
fluential and numerous assembly grouped about Mr. George
Robins yesterday, at Gresham's Hotel, on the occasion of
his second professional visit to this country. The bidders
for this property were numerous, but nothing beyond 70,000
guineas were offered. At this amount the hammer fell, and
it was announced that the estate had been bought in, and
was consequently still in the market. Mr. Robins, in the
course of his address took occasion to pay a most marked
compliment to Messrs. Neville. He alluded to the admira-
ble and satisfactory manner in which the survey of the Derry
Castle estate had been completed by them, and added that if
he wanted any surveying done in Ireland he need not look to
London, when such competent surveyors were to be had as
the Messrs. Neville, of Dublin. We have since heard that
Mr. Guinness is likely to be the purchaser.—Saunders's News
Letter and Daily Advertiser. Sale of the Great Derry
Estate.—This celebrated and romantically-situated estate,
the property of Michael Henry Head, Esq., was yesterday
brought to the hammer by Mr. George Robins, at Gresham's
Hotel. The sale excited considerable interest. 70,000
guineas was the highest bidding, but at this offer the estate
was not disposed of. We understand that our respectable
and wealthy fellow-citizen, Mr. Guinness, is in private
treaty for it.—Dublin Morning Register.