The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-10-17 00:00:00

TffE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

LORD BROUGHAM'S LETTER ON THE FRENCH

REVOLUTION.

Lord Brougham has addressed a public letter to Lord
Lansdowne, the President of the Council, on the French
Revolution. It is, in one sense, the letter of Burke, on
the former revolution,—changing only the person and the
time,—events being as it were identical. The comparison
must, of course, be to the disadvantage of the noble
lord ; but that is no fault of his ; for who can write like
Burke ? Lord Brougham has seen the sort of political
science that is found in the working classes of society,
when appealed to as statesmen and rulers,— of which
weakness and folly, all nations and times bear ample tes-
timony. The Athenians that ostracised Aristides,—the
Red Republicans of Paris,—and the Chartists of Man-
chester and Birmingham, are all of the same generamen
of circumstances—the gens hominum. The letter is-writ-
ten with great power of language and concentration of
sentiment. We have now only room for a brief passage
or two.

The Middlesex magistrates have declared war against
racing sweeps.
A SHIP AT CAMBRIDGE.—On Wednesday week' the
sloop Mary Ann, a small sea-going vessel of about forty
tons burden, arrived at Cambridge with a cargo of coals.
With the exception of the steamer which plied to Lynn
some years since, we believe this is the only sea-going ves-
sel that has come up to Cambridge within memory.
A singular but painful accident lately happened to a
gentleman named March, connected with the Russian
Consulate. He was descending from the outside of an
omnibus when his ring caught by the hook of the side
bar of the box seat as he was in the act of jumping off,
and the sudden wrench that ensued actually tore off his
little finger. He has been doing well since.
DOG STEALING.—At the Middlesex sessions, on Satur-
day, three men were indicted for having taken six guineas
as a reward for restoring three bloodhounds of the value of
300 guineas, belonging to Lord Alexander Russell, which
had been stolen. Two of the prisoners pleaded guilty,
but it appearing that some compromise had been made by
his lordship's groom, the prisoners were discharged, on
giving security to appear for sentence when called on.
BOOTY LEFT BEHIND.—On Saturday night or early on
Sunday morning a dwelling-house on the Marine-parade,
Dover, in the occupation of Captain Sir Thomas Trigge,
was forcibly entered without creating any alarm. The
thieves succeeded in packing up valuables to the amount
of £l,OOO in a hat, when, it is supposed, they were dis-
turbed, as they decamped, leaving their valuable booty
behind, and taking only .£7 in gold and some silver.
EXTRAORDINARY DELIVERANCE.—An account ap-
peared, a few months since, of a captain of a small vessel
near Weymouth having, in a state of delirium, one night
got into the boat and pushed off, leaving one man in the
vessel, who used every means to discover him without
success. He was, it appears, picked up by a vessel bound
to America, whither he was carried, and has since re-
turned. _ _

THE T. Y. DESPATCH, OR THE TRAITOR'S REWARD.
—Mr. Thomas Young, ex-private secretary to my Lord
Melbourne, is now a secretary of the Post-office with a
salary of £l,OOO ; while Mr. Joseph Parkes, his clever
coadjutor, who was, at the time of the Reform Bill, an
obscure attorney at Birmingham, but a Dissenter, is now
a Chancery taxing-master with a salary of £2,000 a year !
Pretty fair rewards these for agitating for a revolution.
DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY BY LUCIFER MATCHES.—
On Tuesday, as a little boy was amusing himself by light-
ing lucifer matches, near a stable on the 'premises of Mr.
John Birdseye, 'of Kelvedon (Essex), some straw ignited,
which instantly communicated with the stable, and being
some distance from the dwelling-house, the whole was in
flames before any assistance could be rendered. A valu-
able pony was burnt to death, and the harness, &c., en-
tirely destroyed.
How LONG A MAN MAY LIVE AFTER HE IS WORN
OUT.—There is now living in the parish of St. Philip,
Bethnal-green, an old soldier of the name of Geo. Lewis,
in the 94th year of his age, who was discharged from the
Ist Regiment of Foot Guards, then commanded by his
Royal Highness the late Duke of Gloucester, on the 20th
of May, 1802, after a service of 26 years, and, as his dis-
charge expresses, because he was very lame and worn
out."
DREADFUL DEATHS.—A few days since, two men
employed in a pit at the Dee fields, repairing the brick-
work of the shaft, a chain attached to two pieces of strong
wood across the shaft for the purpose of supporting the
brickwork whilst they were underbuilding it, gave way
about three feet, and the brickwork it supported, at which
place the two men were employed at the time, fell in-
wards, and closed upon them. When extricated they
were quite dead.
Another murder arising out of disappointed love was
committed near Leeds on Sunday night, by a young
man, named Malkin, a wood-turner, aged only seven-
teen, who cut the throat of a carder in a flax mill at
Hunslett, named Ingham, only sixteen years of age,
because she had declined to continue an intimacy that
had sprung up between them. This is the third murder
we have recorded within the last month arising from the
same cause, and by persons in similar stations of life.
THE LATE MAJOR WEMYSS.—This distinguished
officer, whose late melancholy demise at Durham we re-
corded, as senior captain, led the final charge of the Scots
Greys at Waterloo, the result of which was the final over-
throw of the power of Napoleon. During the conflict,
Captain Wemyss had no fewer than three horses shot
under him. Though severely wounded in the arm, he
bravely led his followers into the midst of the conflict,
and so greatly signalised himself that he was promoted to
the rank of major, and rewarded with a pension.
The ironmasters' quarterly meetings commenced on
Tuesday, at Walsall, and naturally enough felt the influ-
ence of the panic prevalent, with renewed force with re-
gard to railway shares, in the city, on Saturday and Mon-
day. Letters from Glasgow communicate that the price
of pig iron during the week, has had a downward ten-
dency, and m 4 be quoted 445. 6d. for No. 3, sellers.
The market closed very inanimately at these rates. Un-
der these circumstances, it may be considered a settled
point that prices will remain unaltered for the ensuing
quarter.
A VERY HARD CASE.—Mr. Charles Butler, once a
well-known and highly respectable chemist in St. Paul's
Church-yard, has forwarded us a statement of his unfor-
tunate case, and requested us to aid him in recovering
his position in society. He was wrongfully convicted of
felony, sent to the hulks, found to be innocent, set at
liberty, pardoned, and—ruined ! The law, or its admi-
nistrators, had fallen into an error, and Mr. Butler was
forgiven, or pardoned, his imputed felony ! The brand,
however, was upon him, and there it will remain, until
the public feel the injury done to him as to themselves,
and make him reparation.
SINGULAR CASE.—The Worcester Chronicle publishes
a singular instance of mortality in the case of a shop-
keeper in that town, who, having had a bad finger, put a
blister to it; soon after which it is said he handled a po-
tato that was diseased, and it is presumed that the effect
was poisonous, for his finger and hand soon presented a
serious aspect, and he went to the Infirmary, where mor-
tification ensued, and he died on Saturday. A post mor-
tem examination of the body has been made, and the in-
ternal
appearances are said to be healthy, leading to the
conclusion that death could only have been occasioned by
the introduction of some poisonous matter to the system.
SHOCKING ACCIDENT.—On Monday, at the village of
Brynsiencyn, near Carnarvon, Elizabeth Jones, a char-
woman, brought from Carnarvon six pounds of gunpow-
der. As the evening was very wet the powder got damp,
and when Mrs. Jones reached home she placed it before
the fire to dry. There were four of her daughters sitting
by the fireside at the time, and the powder having taken
fire, a fearful explosion took place, the roof of the house
was blown off, and the inmates dreadfully scorched. The
poor sufferers were found with their clothes on fire, and
their blackened skin and flesh hanging in rags from their
bones. The youngest daughter died soon afterwards, and
little hopes are entertained of the recovery of the others.
A BANKRUPT CORPORATION.—The corporation of
Exeter is in such straightened circumstances that there
was much difficulty in getting any one to accept the
mayoralty last November. It appears that his worship is
often called on to advance money to pay the police, that
their jailor's salary was in arrear, and that officer had
been paying his turnkeys out of his own funds, that the
expenses of witnesses and prosecutors were wofully be-
hind, and that the other day three witnesses from Abing-
don came all the way by train for payment, and were
tuned away without it. Even the prisoners in jail are in
rags, hitched together by string, because there are no
funds to provide clothing.
SERIOUS ACCIDENT TO A TOURIST IN WALES.—About
four o'clock on Tuesday night, at Pont-y-Celyn, near
Bettws, about five miles from Llanrwst, a gentleman
named Evans, from London, was nearly killed. The un-
fortunate gentleman rode a very vicious pony ; he was met
about a mile from the place, proceeding at a rapid rate.
It is supposed that the animal must have suddenly shied
at some object in the road, and pitched the unfortunate
gentleman over a precipice nearly sixty feet deep. Some
stunted bushes fortunately broke his fall, but he has, we
are sorry to say, received a fracture of the right arm and
several ribs of the same side, and a concussion of the
brain. He was found in art insensible state about four
hours after the accident. There is, we regret to say, no
hope of his recovery.—Chester Courant.
A TRAVELLED MAN.—There is at present residing
in Perth a man named Thomas Maxton, who has
been employed as a wright upon the Moncrieffe estate for
the last thirty-five years, and who has during that period,
with, we believe, only two exceptions, travelled three-
and-a-half miles out and three-and-a-half miles in and
from his work every lawful day. Seven miles a day is
forty-two miles a week, and 2184 miles a year; 2184 miles
a year, for thirty-five years, is 76,440 miles, which this
man has travelled in the pursuit of his daily avocation,
besides the journeyings to and fro which he has been
obliged to take from one place to another of the grounds
and which, at a moderate calculation will amount to a
fifth more—making in all a total of 91,728 miles which
he has gone oven—Perthshire Courier.
HIGHWAY ROBBERY NEAR BROUGH.—On Monday
night, as the daughter of Mr. John Dent, of the Blue Inn,
Stainmore, and a young man, an acquaintance of her's,
were returning together from Brough Hill Fair, they were
overtaken by three men, strangers. The men, however,
seemed to have a perfect knowledge of Miss Dent, called
her by name, and me.de themselves very familiar, and,
after they had proceeded on the road a short distance,
announced their character, by demanding the purses of
the lady and her companion, which being refused, they at
once proceeded to use violent measures to accomplish their
purpose, threw both of the parties down on the road, and
took between three and four pounds from Miss Dent, and
about thirty shillings and a silver watch from the young
man. The night was so very dark, that we fear the rob-
bers cannot be recognised, if apprehended.
DIABOLICAL OUTRAGE.—On Saturday John Lallharn,
of Maiden-lane, King's-cross, London. came home intoxi-
cated, and having had a quarrel with his wife, who was
also the worse for liquor, he took down an old musket
which hung over the mantelpiece, deliberately loaded it
with powder and small shot, and fired at her. Several of
the shots entered her jaw and lips, and her screams na-
turally attracted a number of persons to the spot, who
gave expression to their indignation. This proceeding
excited the ire of Lallham, who reloaded his musket, and,
coming out into the road in front of his cottage, fired
indiscriminately amongst the people, and a woman, named
Eliza Carter, and two boys were severely wounded. The
miscreant (who is said to be 86 years of age) loaded his
piece a third time, but it was wrested from him before he
could fire it off.
FEARFUL WOUNDS FROM ERYSIPELAS CURED BY
HOLLOWAY'S OINTMENT AND PILLS !—Mr. A. Coles, for
five years in the employ of Mr. Oliver, coach-maker,.
Twickenham, had been ill, off and on, fourteen years, and
for the last seven was continually under the care of one
surgeon or the other, besides being a patient for a consi-
derable time at one ofi the hospitals for settled eysipelas,
in both legs, which discharged quantities of water,, and
humours issuing from several large wounds. His age
being seventy-two it was expectedt that the complaint
would kill him, and yet this poor man has been perfectly
cured in siz weeks by Holloway'tteintmentandlL'ills.

A WIFE BOTHERED BY A NEW Law.—A woman living
in Ashley inquired last Sunday of one of the police if he
could give her any tidings of her "mon" (meaning her
husband), and said she wished" Parliament was fur enough
for altering the laa," (alluding to the new act now in ope-
ration compelling publicans to keep their houses closed
the whole of Sunday morning) : " she could always find
her mon till the last Sunday or two, for he always got
drunk in a morning, and was in bed the remainder of the
day ; but now she know'd no more where to look for him
than the mon in the moon. But the Parliament folks cared
nout what trouble they gee poor craturs."—Leicestershire
Mercury. - .

JENNY LIND'S VISIT TO A YORKSHIRE FARMER.—
During her recent visit to this part of the country, the
nightingale had expressed a great desire to see an English
farm-house. Mr. George Simpson's, of Grafit-howe,
near Hunmanby, was fixed upon to gratify her wishes.
What her ideas of a substantial. English farmer's dwelling
may have been, it is not easy to say; but her astonish-
ment was almostuubounded, as she was successively shown
from one room to Another; the kitchens sitting-rooms,
bed-rooms, larder, and dairies, each seemed equally to
excite increased surprise; being so unlike the inconvenient
one-roomed buildings appropriated to the same purpose in
her own country. She was attended by a travelling female
companion, her secretary, and another individual. The
different out-buildinzs were also visited, and afforded as
many subjects of wonder.—Hull Packet.
BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.—On Saturday,
in the Bloomsbury County Court, an action was brought
by Ann Elliott, the daughter of a laundress residing in
Hart-street, Chelsea, against a respectable solicitor of
Camden Town, to recover the sum of £2O as compensation
for a breach of promise of marriage, the circumstances of
the plaintiff not being adequate to the expense of entering
an action in a superior court. The defendant was one
afternoon, during the summer of 1835, walking through
the Lowther Arcade, when he accosted the plaintiff, to
whom, after a little conversation, he made a proposal of
marriage, and offered to allow her as pin-money £25 per
annum. The plaintiff accepted the offer, but at the per-
suasion of the defendant consented, prior to the nuptials,
to yield to his embraces. Subsequently, the defendant
refused to perform his promise, and was united to another
female. His honour allowed the plaintiff the full amount
claimed, with costs, at the same time expressing regret
that a person, bred to the profession of a gentleman,
should have so far digressed as to take a mean advantage
of the plaintiff.
THE CIVIL LIST.—The Times has a long article in re-
ply to a resolution of the " Financial Reform Associa-
tion," condemnatory of the expense of the Queen's civil
list. No long article, however, is necessary. The Queen's
civil list, is her property, her estate, by a derivative title
as old as any in the country, if it is not indeed the oldest,
except the title of the Church. The civil list is the equi-
valent received by the head of the Royal Family in ex-
change for the hereditary revenues enjoyed by the Royal
Family from the Norman conquest. The exchange was
effected shortly after the accession of George 111., and so
good a bargain was it for the people, and so bad a bargain
against the Royal Family, that the people have profited,
and the Crown has lost by it more millions than we like to
state without referring to the parliamentary return, but we
think that the millions amounted to about 90 some years
ago, and the sum must now be greater. The civil list
then being, by bargain, the Queen's estate, as the equi-
valent for a larger and better estate, what right has any
man to question her Majesty's mode of disposing of it.?
'Who that is not prepared to justify robbery can talk of
diminishing it by a single shilling ?
CONTEMPT OF THE PRESS.—At the recent public ban-
quet given at Cheltenham to Sir Chas. Napier, the usual
compliment of a ticket was forwarded to the gentlemen of
the press resident in the town. To the amazement of the
latter, however, they were given to understand that
whilst the banquet was to take place at six, they were not
to be admitted till eight o'clock. Resenting, like men of
education and spirit, this species of flunkeyism, or per.
mission to enter after their betters had feasted, the resi-
dent reporters returned the tickets, and hence the ac-
counts of the banquet which appear are given by stran-
gers, who submitted to the servile conditions. Among
the anomalies of the age, nothing strikes us more forcibly
than the power and influence attributed to the press of
this country, and the little respect entertained for those
connected with it. No doubt something of this is attri-
butable to ourselves, or rather to that spirit of competition
which is necessary to our existence. Still, "if peace has
her victories no less renowned than war"—if a man may
serve his country as well or better with his brain and pen
than with a sword—if honourable men—men of education
and talent, are nature's nobility, and not unsuitable com-
pany for the highest, what degradation can it be to even
the warrior glittering with honours and covered with
scars, to sit down with a reporter ?
A scandal which has attracted some notice in the world
of art has been distinctly explained by the Athenceum.
In the last exhibition of the Royal Academy was a pic-
ture entitled " Shipping, &c., off Hurst Castle, Isle of
Wight," set down in the catalogue with the name of Mr.
Reinagle, R.A., as the painter. The picture was selected
by a £25 prize-holder in the Art-Union. It was recog-
nised, however, by the friends of a young artist, Mr.
J. W. Yarnold, as his prodnction ; he had painted it and
sold it to a dealer for a few shillings. The case was
brought before the Royal Academy. The Academy
called on Mr. Reinagle for an explanation. He denied
the charge, and intimated that he would rather resign
than submit to inquiry. Mr. Yarnold was then invited
to substantiate his accusation by evidence. Mr. Reinagle
now modified his denial ; he said the picture had been re-
painted by him, so as to become actually the work of his
hand. " A strict examination of the picture by the
Academicians, who had in the mean time very properly
refused to give it up to the demands of any other party,
resulted, we understand, in so unsatisfactory a comment
on this plea as to leave no doubt on their minds that the
honour of the Academy had been stained ;" and they re-
ferred Mr. Reinagle, by resolution, to what he had said
about resigning. He resigned.
SINGULAR CASE OF SUCCESSFUL CONCEALMENT OF
SEX.—On Saturday week there died at Macclesfield, a
woman named Sophia Locke, who had for many years
wandered about the country in male attire, professing the
trade of a tinker and scissor grinder, under the name of
John Smith ; the father, who was a gipsey-traveller, had
several children besides deceased, who was horn in a cave
near Croker Wood, Sutton. It appeared that her true
sex was known to the Biddulph Moor people, who, it is
believed, are the descendants of a gypsey tribe, but they
always kept it a profound secret. Mr. Bland, the medical
officer of the Macclesfield Union, first suspected her sex,
having received an order from the board to attend her
previous to her death, but it was not until after that event
that his suspicions were verified. About 14 years ago she
became acquainted with a woman, whom she persuaded by
a promise of maintenance to live with her, which she did
till deceased died. They had travelled all over England.
Last year they were in Worcestershire picking hops.
They lived very happily together, and the deceased, who
could earn half a guinea a day sometimes, used the wo-
man very well. The body was interred on Sunday last,
at Christ Church, as John Smith, and from the numbers
attending to witness the funeral, the case seemed to have
excited considerable interest.

SINGULAR AND FATAL FIRE IN LONDON.—An inquest
was held on Wednesday at Muswell Hall, Hornsey, the
residence of Mr. Walter Burdoe, on the body of his mo-
ther, aged 87, who was found dead in the house. Deceased
was in the habit of having a rusblight burning in her bed-
room all night, and was so apprehensive of thieves that
she always locked the door on the inside. On the sth
instant she retired early to bed. In the course of the
night Miss Burdoe (her daughter) was awakened by a
smell of burning, and alarmed her father. He went to his
mother's room door ; it was locked, and he saw no light.
He spoke to her and roused her, but she declined having
another candle, and, as she spoke collectedly, he retired,
thinking all was safe. About five in the morning he was
roused by a maid servant crying that there were thieves in
the house. The noise was found to arise from the crack-
ling of the burning bedstead on which the old lady was
lying. The door was burst open, and the combustion was
so great that every object was darkened. She had got out
of bed, and was found, sitting in her night dress behind the
door, quite dead. The body was quite blackened by the
flames. It appeared she had endeavoured to vanquish the
flames of the curtains, &c. by putting the carpet upon the
bed, and afterwards placing it under the bed for removal
at daylight. There they had gradually smouldered, and
burned a hole in the floor. Most likely, in seeking the
door to unfasten it and raise an alarm, Mrs. Burdoe was
overpowered with the intense heat and sank down.—The
jury being assured that, at all events, the fire which caused
the death of the deceased lady was purely accidental, re-
turned a verdict to that effect.

ADVERTISING FORA WIFE.—An advertisement having
appeared in one of the London journals. a week or two '
ago, for a wife possessed of £5OO, it was answered by a
wag, stating he had three daughters, fine girls, from 20
to 26 years of age ; that the advertiser might have an in-
terview for the purpose of selection ; and that if his ap-
pearance and character were found to be satisfactory,
£l,OOO would be of no consequence. An appointment
was made for him to inquire at the bar of a tavern in the
City, at eight o'clock on Friday evening last, for " Beta."
The evening came—and, true as " Salisbury clock," so
came our man of metal, dressed as neat as neat could be.
He was met by a witty friend, who opened the proceed-
ings by a private interview in the bar parlour; while ano-
ther went in search of a " fair frail one" to personate the
bride in perspective, and who was to assume the name of
Jane Brown—her papa being obliged to leave town that
morning; and certainly a better actress could not be
found, with her fancy bonnet and white veil. Jane was
introduced to our money-hunting advertiser ; his eye
quickly surveyed her as she sat in a retired part of the
room, purposely darkened to aid the bashful modesty of
Jane; he fairly chuckled with delight as he gallantly
handed her papa's letter for recognition. To the ques-
tion, " Is that your papa's writing ? " Jane gave a bash-
ful nod of assent. The young man who played the part
of Jane's cousin, and he who was the friend of the family,
with genuine Irish wit described his respect for his old
friend Brown, and the handful Jane's mother had with
her in the measles, poor dear woman ! Our hero now
drew forth a large bundle of letters, and said he had been
all day going from place to place to answer them ; he
gave the address of his uncle, J—n K—, Esq., Bed-
fordshire. Things seemed going on capitally till the
waiter hinted the reckoning was 9s. 6d. for sundry glasses
of " cold without," port negus, and cigars •, the cousin
and the fri
"end of the family of course could not be ex-
pected to tip," and our " yokel" was minus " tin.
The gas being about to be snuffed out, he came to the
bar, where as jolly a lot had assembled as " ever set the
table in a roar." One offered his sister, another actually
wished his mother so good-looking a husband, while
Jane was escorted to the corner of the next street, having
first been amply repaid for her part in this laughable
plot. Our hero now began to " smell a rat." but he was
so hemmed in he could not escape. While the waiter
was requesting of him the score, another was charring a
couple of corks, and in less than no time a change came
o'er the spirit of his dream—he clime a perfect Adonis,
and left a perfect Jubal.

ACCOUNTS OF THE BOARD OF TRADE.—The returns of
the Board of Trade for the month ending the sth of Sep-
tember, issued to the public yesterday morning, show a
falling off of .E 539,331 inthe exports as compared with the
corresponding month of 1847, while on the other hand, the
consumption of imported produce still continues large.
The total decrease in the exports for the first eight, months
of the year is £5,286,969: In January and Februarys there
was an increase, but the next six months show a sad fall-
ing off, May and June together being above a million and
a half. The decrease of the last month is, however, smaller
than any of the six preceding. The decrease in declared
value of the last months export was in the articles men-
tioned as follows :—Cotton manufactures, £51,662; hard-
ware and cutlery, £53,236 ; linen manufactures, £47,911;
machinery, £61,823; metals, £64,966; silk manufactures,
£64,899; woollen yarn, £40,500; woollen manufactures,
£116,645 ; linen yarn, £31,600.
MURDER AND HIGHWAY ROBBERY NEAR TEBAY,
WESTMORELAND.—On Monday, the 2nd inst, a man, who
is quite a stranger, was found on the road side, near Sun-
bigan Tarn, quite insensible, and much bruised about the
head, from blows evidently inflicted by stones or some
blunt instrument. He was removed to Orton, where he
lingered till the 11th instant, when he died. It appears
deceased was an Irishman, and had been employed to
drive some cattle from Brough Hill fair to Tebay Station,
on the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, where he delivered
them, and received Bs. 3d. for his services. He slept in a
hay loft at the Cross Keys Inn, close to the station, along
with two men dressed as " navvies," who were seen in
company with him near the place where he was found,
and are suspected. He was seldom sensible from the
time he was found, and speechless, or nearly so. All that
could be ascertained from the deceased was, that he was
an Irishman, named John Patrick, and that he had a wife
and family.
AN larsn BLUNDER.—A short time ago, a servant of
Messrs. Powley, of Thrimby Grange, was mowing grass
in a field by the Shap and Penrith-road at Shap 8.-ck, and
having left his waistcoat in the field near the road side, it
was presently picked up by a " nate green Emeralder."
who deposited his own Tipperary vest in its place, think-
ing, no doubt, that an exchange would be no robbery.
The servant having occasion presently afterwards to return.
to the place, was rather astonished to perceive his span
new red plush turned into a filthy ;ray rags, and surveying
it cautiously for sonic time, at last took courage and ex-
amined it more minutely, when, to his agreeable surprise,
he turned out from the pockets four precious " yellow
boys." Paddy, however, had not travellediar before he
recollected his blunder, and on returning found that his
antiquated forsaken friend had been robbed of its glitter-
ing contents. He demanded the precious metals, but was
refused ; and on being threatened with a prosecution for
stealing the waistcoat, was obliged to decamp, screaming
out whillileus, mingled with wild notes of distress and
imprecations, which no one but a thoroughbred Irishman
could pretend either to utter or interpret.—Westmoreland
Gazette.

FATAL ACCIDENT WITHIN SIGHT OF THE QUEEN.—
On Monday about three o'clock, the Fairy, royal yacht.
had arrived near the Spit buoy, from Osborne, on her
course to Portsmouth, having on board, the Queen, Prince
Albert, and the royal children, who were soon after landed
and went by railway for Windsor, when her majesty's
trip was rendered peculiarly painful, from a deplorable
accident which happened in sight of the royal yacht. A
shore boat, with seven persons on board, proceeding to
the Grampus frigate, lying at Spithead, had, in a sudden
squall, unfortunately upset, when five women and two
men were engulfed in a rough sea, with every prospect of
certain death. The Gypsey, custom-house cutter, how-
ever, while returning from the Grampus, observed the
accident, and a boat and two men immediately put off to
the spot ; and after much beating about, on account of
heavy sea and wind, picked up Locke, a waterman, and
saved his life. The accident having been perceived on
board the royal yacht, she was, by her majesty's com-
mand, instantly stopped, her barge lowered and promptly
steered to the scene of the disaster. Two individuals
were taken on board, and immediately conveyedto Ports-
mouth, where medical assistance was afforded, and one
woman named Moore recovered, but the other could not
be resuscitated. Out of the seven, therefore, only three
were brought ashore : it is feared that all the others have
met a watery grave.
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND THE ARCTIC VOYAGERS.--
It is a week since only that we afforded our readers the
last probable glimpse of the exploring party who have
gone out in search of a solution of the mystery that hangs
over the fate of Sir John Franklin, previOusly to their
issuing again from the mysterious ground on which that
solution is to be sought; and now, for the first time since
the missing adventurers were lost sight of, at the thresh-
old of that same ground, an indication of their wherea-
bouts has suddenly turned up. A letter, just received by
the Admiralty from the Chief Factor Macpherson, dated
March 1, 1848, says :--` There is a report from Peel's
River that the Esquimaux saw two large boats (query
ships ?) to the east of the Mackenzie River, full of white
men ; and they (the Esquimeaux) showed knives, files,
&c., to the Peel's River Indians which they had received
from these white men. Could these have been Franklin
or Rae ?' Mr. Hargrave, of York Factory, to whom Mr.
Macpherson's letter is addressed, says, in communicating
this intelligence to the admiralty : ' It could not have
been Rae in his last expedition, as his boats did not go
beyond Committee Bay.' Mr. Hargrave adds that, But
little credence can be given to Esquimeaux reports.' We
do not see, however, any good reason for rejecting a ru-
mour so welcome, and we gladly give it publicity. Pre-
suming that the boats or ships seen were those of Frank-
lin's expedition, their position even east of the Mackenzie
is good as regards success, and better still as reSpaCti,
safety, since they must have been very near the coast. It
has been ascertained that opcn water exists during the
II summer season, from the Mackenzie River to Behring's
Straits; and we, therefore, dare venture to hope that the
expedition may have effected the long-desired N.W. pas-
sage this summer, and that the gallant party may be even
at this moment approaching our shores. The anxiety re-
specting the lost party had grown finally to be very great,
and the public will cling eagerly to the hope so suddenly
presented. A very short time must test its value.
THE GREAT SEA SERPENT.—When the Daedalus fri-
gate, Capt. M•Quhae, which arrived at Plymouth on the
4th instant, was on her passage home from the East Indies,
between the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena, her
captain, and most of her officers and crew, at four o'clock
one afternoon, saw a sea serpent. The creature was 20
minutes in sight of the frigate, and passed under her
quarter. Its head appeared to be about four feet out of
the water, and there was about 60 feet of its body in a
straight line on the surface. It is calculated that there
must have been under water a length of 30 or 40 feet
more, by which it propelled itself at the rate of 15 miles
an hour. The diameter of the exposed part of the body
was about 16 inches, and when it extended its jaws, which
were full of large jagged teeth, they seemed sufficiently
capacious to admit of a tall man standing upright between
them. The ship was sailing north at the rate of eight
miles an hour. The Dredalus left the Cape of Good Hope
on the 30th of July, and reached St. Helena on the
16th of August. The captain of the Daedalus has written
to the Admiralty and says—" On our attention being
called to the object, it was discovered to be an enormous
sea serpent, with head and shoulders kept about four feet
constantly above the surface of the sea, and as nearly as
we could approximate by comparing it with the length of
what our maintopsail-yard would show in the water, there
was at the very least sixty feet of the animal a fieur d'eau,
no portion of which was, to our perception, used in pro-
pelling it through the water, either by vertical or hori-
zontal undulation. It passed rapidly, but so close under
our lee quarter that had it been a man of my acquaintance
I should easily have recognised his features with the naked
eye; and it did not, either in approaching the ship or
after it had passed our wake, deviate in the slightest de-
gree from its course to the S.W., which it held on at the
pace of from twelve to fifteen miles per hour, apparently
on some determined purpose. The diameter of the ser-
pent was about fifteen or sixteen inches behind the head,
which was, without any doubt, that of a snake, and never,
during the twenty minutes that it continued' in sight of
our glasses, once below the surface of the water; its
colour a dark brown, with yellowish white about the
throat. It had no fins, but something like the mane of a
horse, or rather a bunch of seaweed, washed about its
back. It was seen by the quartermaster, the boatswain's
mate, and the man at the wheel, in addition to myself
and officers above-mentioned." . _

PLAIN SPEAKING.—On Friday week a banquet in ho-
nour of Sir C. Napier, the hero of Scindo, took place at
Cheltenham ; Lord Ellenborough in the chair. On Sir
Charles's health being proposed by the chairman, he stated
the honour done him was much enhanced by the eulogium
pronounced by a gentleman whom the whole empire of
India admired and worshipped. He (Sir C.) saw many
()dicers around aim whose intrepidity had gained him so
much honour, and he should never forget their services.
He was sorry Pool was not there; he who had broke the
enemy with so much slaughter. But he saw his gallant
Welsh artilleryman, (Lloyd,) whose iron guns vomited
forth death on the enemy. (Cheers.) He saw also another
who fell wounded while cheering on my friend to battle ;
and young Al'Alurdo, who gallantly threw himself sword
in hand into the very midst of the enemy. (Cheers.) He
then said, I feel utterly unable to express my feelings of
obligation to those troops to whom, under Lord Ellen-
borough, and, after his departure, under Lord Hardinge.
I owe whatever merit attaches to a zealous soldier who has
tried to execute that portion of the duty which is assigned
to military men, leaving the disposal of events to that great
Power who, in the words of the poet, " binds Nature fast
by faith, leaves free the human will." (Cheers.) Gen-
tlemen, I will not detain you any longer by my nonsensical
gabble. (Cheers.) I therefore drink all your good healths ;
and I thank Lord Ellenborough for all his support of me,
I may say, in the coarse language of military men, against
a set of damned scoundrels, (laughter;) and without whose
support I should have been crushed by a rascally press
and a rascally government. (Loud cheers.) In after-
wards proposing the toast of the " Army in India," he
he said he served 54 years in the Queen's service, great
part of the time in India,.and might call himself a sepoy.
Ile went to India an ignoramus in 1841, thinking that
India might be invaded by the Russians, but my mind
was changed in a very short time. I found 300,000 men
in the Indian army equal to any contingency. (Cheers.)
I found 300,000 men who had the same courage, the same
discipline, all appointments necessary to carry on war as
the British army—the accoutrements the same, the
drill the same as ourselves ; their courage equal to our
own, and if they are inferior in strength, not inferior
in their determination ;—(hear)—and that is all in war,
and that equal to ourselves. (Hear, and applause.)
They were all officered by Britons, and instead of idly
resting on the banks of the Indus, they were capable of
advancing to the Oxus, against all the armies of the west.
and scattering them far and near, The Affghanistan
affair was an error of the generals, and still more an error
of the politicals. (Cheers.) It was an error of politics
to go there; and it was carried out with a multiplication
of errors on the spot (cheers). I believe that it is impos-
sible to restrain the advance of civilization ; it is stronger-
than barbarism and will force its way on in spite of po
in li-
tics general.