The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-09-24 00:00:00

GENERAL MISCELLANY.

The trial of the Hon. W. Ross Touchet stands over till
nett sessions.

Mr. H. O'Connell, said to be the son of the Great
Liberator, is giving lectures on Astronomy at Canterbury.
An infant child, a day old, was killed at Cheltenham,
last week, by a carraway seed sticking in its throat.
On the 16th instant a gentleman and two sailors were
lost by the upsetting of a boat halfway up the Firth.
FINSBURY.—Mr. Wilkley is to retire on account of ill-
health, and the Rev. W. F. Fox, the well-known Socinian
preacher and political spouter, is the chosen champion of
the League to succeed him.
During the past week a painful degree of alarm has
been created in some parts of Bedfordshire, owing to the
revival of those incendiary outrages which spread dismay
throughout the district last winter.
MANSLAUGHTER.—A young man named Tucker, of
Portsmouth, has been committed to trial on a charge of
the manslaughter of a married woman with whom he was
cohabiting.

f
EXPEDITION.—On Monday week, Mr. B. Wilson' oSundayOssett, purchased wool at the market, and on Sunday
last, a vessel sailed with it from Liverpool for America.—
Leeds Infelligencer.
DEATH OF CAPTAIN BASIL HALL.—WC regret that
we have to announce the death of this gallant officer,
which took place on Wednesday week at Haslar Hospital,
after a protracted illness, in the fifty-sixth year of his age.
IMMENSE DELIVERY OF LETTERS.--On Monday
morning the East and \Vest Indian and American mails
all reached London. The number of letters issued for
one delivery was unprecedented, being upwards of 250,000.
LONG CREDIT.—A short time ago, a person of thsi
town, (Chelmsford,) more ingenious than scrupulous, paid
a tradesman for some goods by a bill at two months ; but,
on presenting it at the expiration of that period, the holder
found it was drawn payable two months after death, in-
stead of after date.—Essex paper.
BRISTOL SUGAR MARKET, SEPT. 20.—We have had a
very quiet week in our sugar market, and the sales are '
limited to about 200 hogsheads, at former rates. For
Bengals and Mauritius the demand is also dull, and the
transactions are confined to a few retail lots at steady
prices. Rum is still in good demand. Gazetted average
price of Sugar, Sept. 17, is 325. 11d. per cwt.
SIR WM. NOTT.—At a special general meeting of pro-
prietors of East India stock, held at the India House, on
Wednesday last, a resolution approving of the proposed
grant of nn annuity of £lOOO per annum, to Major-Gen-
eral Sir Wm. Nott, G.C.8., for his services a Candahar,
Ghuznee, and Cabul, was unanimously agreed to. It is
to commence from the time of his leaving India.
THE AUGUSTA.—On Thursday, at the Criminal Court,
Thomas Jennings was placed at the bar, charged with
having captured slaves. The case arose out of that for
which Mr. Zulueta was some time since tried and acquit-
ted. Captain Jennings pleaded that he had already been
tried and acquitted for this offence at Sierra Leone. Upon
this resulted a legal argument, and the court took time to
consider.
EXPLOSION OF A STEAM BOILER.-011 Tuesday last,
a terriflic explosion took place of a newly-erected, boiler,
at the Sneedshill Iron Works, near Shrewsbury. Pi ov'-
dentially the accident happened at the dinner hour, when
few of the men were present, otherwise. great loss of life
must have occurred. The persons killed were two boys.
A labourer, Daniel Williams, is not expected to recover,
he was hit on the head, and had his skull fractured by
same bricks which were blown for more than KO yards.
FIRST INTRODUCTION OF PERCUSSION CAPS. A
clergyman, lately deceased, submitted the first percussion
caps to the Ordnance Hoard, as far hack as the year 180;)
—before the Peninsular war, thereore ; and having been
allowed to make several trials and experiments at his own
expense, was told, very politely no doubt, that the inven-
tion was not applicable to military purposes. Thirty
years afterwards, and about twenty years after every
sportsman in the empire was provided with percussion
caps, the military authorities deigned, at last, to turn their
attention to the subject, and are now adopting an inven-
tion that, introduced during the war, might, by rendering
fire-arms more efficient, have saved the lives of a vast
number of British soldiers.—Fraser's Magassne.

THE LARGERT STATUE IN EUROPE.—The summit of
Banvra2gie, in Sutherland hire, is crowned by the colossal
monument erected by the Sutherland tenantry to the me-
mory of the late Duke. A statue 30 feet high, and con-
taining 80 tons of stone, stands on a nedestal 75 feet in
height. The figure, an excellent likeness, forms the
largest statue in Europe.
DEATH FROM THE FEROCITY OF A R AM.—A most mel-
ancholy catastrorhe occurred at the village of Cnarmouth
from the ferocity of a ram, on the Gth instant. A poor
woman, of the name of Sarah Hoare, aged about GO
years, was walking in a field near the beach, when the
ram suddenly attacked her, gored her, and knocked
her down. The poor creature was so much injured that
she lingered in great agonies until Monday, when death
put an end to her sufferings.—Western Mirror.
CAPTURE OF Five H UNDREDWHALES.—On Thursday
an immense sh-)al of whales, amounting to upwards of
500, came in off the mouth of Sandvoe Zetiand. The in-
habitants were immediately rouser, by the sudden visit of
these monsters of the deep. The herd was surrounded,
and with some difficulty nearly all of them were captured.
The carcases were sold at an average of X 2 ss. each,
which will prove a seasonable relief to many.—Scolch
paper.

- •
IMMERSION AT BAPTISM.--The Edinburgh Observer
gives the following pithy but forcible dialogue between a
Churchman and Baptist :—Churchman—Do the Baptists
consider Noah's ark as a type of the Church ? Baptist—
Certainly, Sir, St. Peter, good authority, you know, so
considered it. Churchman—Was the ark ;rnmersed
in
the waters of the flood ? Baptist—No, Sir. It was only
sprinkled with rain. But what of that ? Churchman—
Oh ! nothing. I only asked for information.
Gunso.—The sales of guano, during the past week,
amounted to about 100 tons at £6 to £6 2s. 6d. for
African, from the ship, which is an advance of £1 per ton
from the lowest point. A small cargo is reported to be
sold, for spring delivery, at £6 ss. per ton. There are
still buyers at £6. The stock of African here is about
1,000 tons; that of Peruvian about 3,000 tons. The
latter is still held at £lO per ton. On Saturday £6 ss.
per ton was paid for a quantity of the article, and, we
understand, there are now no sellers under that price.
APPALI.ING ACCIDENT.—A shocking accident occurred
on Saturday afternnon week, by the breaking down of a
phaeton. on the Whitstone-road, near Adderwater, con-
taining the Rev. Prebendary Medley, rector of St. Tho-
mas, his mother, the Rev. Prebendary Cornish, and his
sister, and by which one death has ensued, Mrs. Medley,
from the injuries she received, having expired about two
hours and a half after the melancholy catastrophe. Mrs.
Shaw still lies at a farm-house near the scene of this awful
occurrence.—Doncaster Chronicle.

DEATH BY EATING THE DEADLY NIGHTSHADE.—On
Thursday week four persons were poisoned by eating
some of the berries of the deadly nightshade, atropa
belladonna, which they gathered on the land adjacent to
the Lancaster sands, at Hest-band, where the plant grows
in abundance. Three of the parties, after suffering ex-
treme agony, were recovered by the application of proper
remedies. The fourth was found in a hayloft, lying stiff
and insensible, his body swoln to an extraordinary size.
He died, on Friday week, in a state of complete ex-
haustion.

SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE.—At about 2 oclock on
Friday morning the Rev. G. T. Mostyn, Incumbent of
St. Michael's, was alarmed by a loud explosion, which
app, ared to proceed from the passage of his house. On
going to ascertain the cause, he discovered that some per-
sons had placed a package of gunpowder in the key hole
of the door, and had fired it,—the explosio❑ forcing the
paper, &c., in which the powder bad been wrapped,
through the key-bole into the passage. On opening the
door another package of gunpowder was found on the
door-step.—Blackburn Standard.

DREADFUL DEATH.—O❑ Friday morning last a young
man, a farm-labourer, was found in a ditch in Staple
Clayton, Buckinghamshire, nearly lifeless, and burnt
almost to a cinder. It is supposed the poor fellow got
drunk on the preceding night, and rolled into the ditch,
with a lighted pipe in his hand, or: bad some inciter
matches on his person, which ignited, thus destroying all
the clothes on his body, and burning his frame to a com-
plete cinder, the lower part of his person being entirely
destroyed, and the interior of his frame being visible as if
he had bee❑ flayed alive.

THE LAY LORDS.—Lord Brougham has addressed a
letter to Lord Kenyon in which he states, " that he
wishes above all to avoid the imputation of holding an
opinion subversive of the House of Lords' jurisdiction.
He supposed that the lay Lords meant to ground their
opinions (if they should vote) upon a matter which they
had heard and did understand, namely, the house calling
in the judges for the purpose of excluding party feeling.
However, his own reason for supporting Lord Wharn-
cliffe was, that those lay Lords had not heard the case,
and he never in the least degree intended to hold that their
being lay Lords was any reason against their voting."

- -
FRUITS OF CEIARTISM.—Jenkin Morgan, who, with
Frost, Williams, and Jones, was sentenced to be hanged
at the Monmouth Special Commission in 1840, for the
Newport riots in 1839, but whose sentence wss subse-
quently commuted to imprisonment in the Millbank Pe-
nitentiary, has been lately released. When he was ar-
rested he was the proprietor of three houses, had a well-
stocked farm, and was otherwise most comfortably situ-
ated. Upon leaving the prison he found himself and his
family houseless, and is now endeavouring to raise a
subscription to enable him to support his wife and
children.

TRAGICAL OCCURRENCE.—On Monday a servant in
the employ of a gentleman of London, who had long been
suspected of being pregnant, ran up stairs, and was found
by her master lying on her stomach on the stairs, which
were in a pool of blood, her head resting on the top one,
and by her side an infant covered with blood. Ile de-
scended into the street, and alarmed the neighbours, se-
veral of whom returned into the house with him, followed
by a surgeon, who pronounced her to be dead. The in-
fant, a fine full-grown female child, was also dead, but had
evidently been born alive and then strangled, the strings
of its mother's apron being tied tightly round its neck.
ANOTHER DESTRUCTIVE ENGINE.—Mr. Nasmyth,
engineer, of Manchester, has submitted to the considera-
tion of the Admiralty the plan of an iron steamer, bomb-
proof, which will effectually de-troy any ship or squadron.
She is propelled by the Archimedian screw, and, when
going at the rate of six knots an hour, she will run stem
on to a ship and leave a hole in her many feet wide, below
the surface. It is, in fact, the power of two ships coming
in collision with each other at the rate of ten knots an
hour, placed, by mechanical means, in the hands of not
more than three men. We understand that this invention I
is now under their lordship's consideration, and there can
be no doubt but it will put Captain Warner's invention at
a discount.—Devonport Independent.
RUMOURED CREATION OF PEERS.—A correspondent
of the Nenayh Guardian states that it is the intention of
Sir Robert Peel to confer the honour and dignity of a
peerage upon the Right Hon. the Lord Chief Justice
(Doherty) of the Common Pleas in Ireland, that the
ministry may also have the aid of his transcendent
abilities in the Honse of Lords. The necessity of this
creation is apparent from the late curious decision in the
case of O'Connell—a decision contrary to the opinion of
the learned functionaries whom the Lords called to their
assistance; this rumoured creation is justifiable from the
paucity of Law Lords on the Conservative side, whilst
there is a heavy array of Whig created " noble and
learned's" on the opposition benches.
THE LEVIATHAN TELESCOPE.—A letter in the Times,
from Sir J. South, announces that this telescope of the
Earl of Rosse's was on Wednesday directed for the first
time to the sidereal heavens. With a power of 500, the
nebula known as No. 2 of Messier's catalogue was even
more magnificent than the nebula No. 13 of Messier,
when seen with his lordship's telescope of 3 feet diameter
and 27 feet focus. Cloudy weather prevented him turn-
ing the leviathan on any other nebulous object. The
diameter of the large metal is 6 feet, and its focus 61 feet;
yet the immense mass is manageable by one man. Com-
pared with it, the working telescopes of Sir W. Herschel,
which in his hands conferred on astronomy such inesti-
mable service, and on himself astronomical immortality,
w; re but playthings.
BANK OY ENGLAND.—On Thursday, the half-yearly
meeting of the Court of Proprietors took place at the Bank
of England. Wm. Cotton, Esq., the Governor, was in
the chair. The chairman stated that the dividend of 34
per cent. would be payable on the 11th of October. The
accounts used to be made up upon theoretical principles
up to the 10th of October, and they were generally found
to be substantially correct. In future, however, the ac-
counts would be made up to the 31st of August, to enable
the proprietors to see the actual state of the financial de-
partment. It had been ascertained that the income of the
Bank had been enriched by £BBOO since their last meeting ;
and with respect to the branch banks, it was found upon
the whole that they were profitable to the parent establish-
ment. The report of the directors having been received
and adopted, the Court dissolved.
SUICIDE FROM DESTITUTION.—Last week an inqu at
was held at Sunderland, on the body of a man who had
taken arsenic in consequence of the miserable destitution
to which he and his family were brought. From the evi-
dence of his wife, it appeared that the poor man had only
been able to obtain a fortnight's work in the year, and
that they and their four children had suffered the ex-
tremest want. They had pawned their furniture, and
were obliged to lie on straw, and to subsist on the charity
of the neighbours. He was often very much depressed
when the children cried for bread and he had not a bit to
give them ; he said he was tired of his life, and that if
times did not mend, he thought they would get the better
of him. In answer to an inquiry from the coroner, the
poor woman said they did not apply to the parish, for she
was afraid she would be put into the workhouse there,
where she would have been parted from her little " bairns,"
and she had rather starve than be parted from them. The
jury found a verdict of " temporary insanity, brought on
by want of the common necessaries of life."
HALF FARTIIINGS.—Large amounts of new copper
coin, or half farthings, are, as already intimated, now is-
sued. It is a neat piece of money, bearing the bust of the
Queen, with the inscription " Victoria," &c. ; on the re-
verse the words " Half a Farthing." Many street specu-
lators took advantage of the curiosity of the passengers,
and sold them at the rate of four for a penny. When
told that eight half-farthings made a penny, the answer
was, We know that, but we sell them as articles of curi-
osity." And they did sell thousands in the city, and
various parts of London, at double the value. The pub-
lic, it is said will derive advantage from this new coinage.
They will be able to divide a farthing with the shopkeeper,
which in small dealings was seldom the case. Tradesmen
say they are entitled to the half-farthing in consequence
of loss sustained by giving the turn of the scale. [The
desire to purchase will soon cease, and in the mean time,
perhaps, no great mischief is done in giving a penny in-
stead of a halfpenny for four half-farthings ; but the
transaction is illegal, and the law was rather rigidly en-
forced when people sold guineas at 28a. each.)—Times.

MR. WINTERBOTTOM.—This gentleman, the account
of whose arrest in this town a few days ago we gave at the
time, has been fully committed to Chester Assizes for
trial, charged with forgery upon the Pelican Life Assurance
Society for the sum of £5OOO, which was parable to the
family of the late Mr. J. Isherwood, of Marple•hall, upon
his death, and which sum was received by the prisoner on
his presentation of an authority purporting to be signed by
Mrs. Isherwood and her three daughters. It will be re-
membered that the prisoner occupied, some years since, a
prominent position as a solicitor in Stockport, from which
place he absconded in 1840, and had not been heard of
until his arrest.

A NEW COMLT.—In the Times Sir I. South thus
writes :—" By a letter which I received from my friend
Professor Schumacher on Friday last, 1 was informed that
a comet had been discovered on the 6th instant, by Mr.
Melhop, of Hamburgh. Owing to unfavourable weather,
I have not been able to see it till this evening, when, the
clouds having cleared off for a few minutes, I found it with
an ordinary night-glass, without difficulty, and got an
observation of it with my five-feet equatorial, by which its
approximate place was, at fifty-two minutes past ten
o'clock last (Sunday) night—right ascension, about 0
hours 44 minutes and 9 seconds; and its southern decli-
nation about 12 degrees and 56 minutes."
MUNIFICENT DONATIONS.—The last report of the
treasurers of the Duncombe Estate Fund announced that
they had in hand, after payment of all expenses, £37 Ils.
Bd. Since then, Mr. O'Connell has subscribed five
pounds This munificent donation, we are told, was one
of the first acts of the " Liberator," after quitting Rich-
mond Penitentiary, " the regulations of that prison having
prevented him from doing so earlier." Better late than
never—and better a little than nothing—as we dare say
Mr. Duncombe thought, when be saw his valuable ser-
vices rated at no higher price. The Repeal Association
has also subscribed £25. In return, the Finsbury radicals
are getting up a dinner to celebrate Daniel's escape.—
HORRIBLE CAss:.—The following particulars of a most
disgusting case have been communicated to us. Under
ordinary circumstances we should be inclined to doubt the
possibility of such a thing occurring in a civilized country.
As our correspondents, however, have communicated to
us their names and addresses, we can see no reason to
question the accuracy of their account. In the borough
of Tregony, in Cornwall, George Davy, a pauper lunatic,
has been confined eight years chained to the wall, in a
hovel not fit for swine, littered down with straw, and only
one coverlet, winter and summer. There is no window or
door to protect him from the cold. His unfortunate wife
stated to our correspondent, that through the want of the
latter protection the children were in the habit of collect-
ing round the door and teazing him until he was driven to
a state of frenzy.—Sunday paper.
REMARKABLE ACCIDENT—IMPALEMENT OF A FE-
MALE.—On Sunday evening week, at the small village of
Dalton, near Croft, a singular and dangerous accident
occurred to a young woman, servant to Mr. Preston,
farmer. She was ascending a plum-tree, no doubt with
the intention of procuring some fruit, when the branches
gave way, and, in her fall, she came in contact with a
large hay fork, which was placed against the tree with its
prongs pointing upwards, one of which entered the centre
of her arm-pit, and taking an oblique direction upwards,
appeared under the collar-bone, then pierced her neck
about its middle, and to the left of the mesial line, and
again appeared in the back part of her mouth ! Thus
pierced and supported by the implement, she remained,
elevated a few feet from the ground, and was unable to
render herself any assistance. Her shrieks, however,
bringing the neighbours to the spot, they immediately re-
leased her from her painful situation.
EXTRAORDINARY DELUSIONS.—A commission of lu-
nacy was opened on Friday, in London, to inquire into
the state of mind of Miss M. A. Roberts, of Upper
Clapton. It appeared that the unfortunate object of the
present enquiry was the daughter of a clergyman, who cited
some years since. In the early part of 1843 the first
symptoms of a deranged intellect appeared. The first
delusion she laboured under was, that she was to be mar-
ried by the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Rev. Mr.
Machindale, who was coming to fetch her in a carriage
and four. She decorated the tables with everything in
season, and would use the most endearing expressions to
her supposed husband, and attempt to kiss him. On the
13th of July her conduct was most extraordinary. She
said that she had had a vision ; that she had seen her
mother in hell, but that her father was her guardian
angel, and she then went down stairs with her hair dis-
hevelled, and said she was to go to hell at four o'clock.
Other delusions of a similar character were deposed to,
after which the jury found •1 that Miss Roberts was
of unsound mind, and bad been so from the 13th of July,
1843."

FIGHT BETWEEN Two POLICEMEN.—At Winchmcre
Hill, near Enfield, on Sunday morning last, a policeman
was secreted to detect some party who was in the habit of
milking a farmer's cows. Hannant was the constable's
name. About four o'clock, he detected a brother police-
man, named Harvey, about to commence milking the
cows. Advancing towards him for the purpose of appre-
hending him, he was met by the other with entreaties for
his connivance ; which being refused, they were speedily
followed by a tremendous blow on the head, which broke
the staff with which it was given. He, however, proceeded,
and after much resistance, succeeded in seizing his anta-
gonist; but was induced, on the promise of the prisoner
to " go quietly with him," to loosen his hold, when the
other immediately attempted to escape, and being again
seized, drew a chisel out of his pocket (his staff being
broken,) and inflicted several severe wounds on the head
and arms of Hannant. Though faint from the loss of
blood, the latter had still sufficient strength to spring his
rattle and maintain his grasp, till he was providentially
rescued from bis perilous situation by another policeman.
The wounded man soon after became insensible, and was
obliged to be carried to his lodgings, where his wounds
were dressed, and in the course of the morning his depo-
sition taken, as his life was considered in a very precari-
ous state.

Heads of families cannot be too strongly admonished
against the common but pernicious practice of adminis-
tering to their children in any of their little ailments
those drastic powders, all of which contain more or less
of calomel, which they are so constantly in the habit of
procuring from their apothecary or chemist ' • for although
the convenience of their minute bulk and absence of
nauseating taste is great, yet the frequent repetition of
such medicines produces a softening of the bones and pre-
mature decay of the teeth most prejudicial to the consti-
tution during the whole period of life. Of late years
there have been made great improvements in Vegetable
Chemistry, by which the active principles of many simple
innocent medicines have been separated from their inert
and nauseating parts. The greatest boon has been con-
ferred upon mankind, and more especially upon the ris-
ing generation, by separating the active principle of that
universally esteemed purgative, Senna, by Mr. John
Freeman, a practical chemist, living in the Blackfriars
Road, who has removed all its nauseating and griping
properties, and rendered it so peculiarly pleasant to the
taste, that children will take it with a positive relish.
This preparation, which he denominates " Sweet Essence
of Senna," is sold by most respectable Druggists, ex-
tensively patronised by the Queen's Physicians as a
valuable acquisition to the Royal Children, and its
moderate price places it within the reach of the most
humble.—Bell's Weekly Messenger, July 31.
NEW SCHEME OF THE LEAGUE.—The leaguers are now
particularly anxious to close the subscription which has
been for so long open in support of the £lOO,OOO fund. A
long circular has been issued by Mr. Wilson, the chair-
man, in which he expresses " a hope that the inhabitants
of the metropolis will, at all events, contribute such an
amount to the great league fund, as not to place the
richest community in the world under pecuniary obliga-
tions to the inhabitants of the provinces," and further on
he states his " conviction that London will not only de-
fray its own local expenses, but contribute an adequate
contingent to the general national advancement of the free
trade cause." From this it would appear that the in-
habitants of London have been rather more wise than to
contribute an " adequate contingent " to this now declin-
ing association, and that the agitation in the metropolis
has been carried on at the expense of, or, as the modest
chairman delicately expresses it, under the " pecuniary
obligations" of the provinces. The circular reminds the
readers that a properly authorised canvasser will call in a
few days, when all who have not yet contributed will be
solicited forthwith ; and, to guard against fraud, it is par-
ticularly requested that no subscription, however small,
shall be given without taking a receipt. But the money
is not to be given for nothing. Each subscriber of no
more than £1 is entitled to receive a copy of the league
newspaper for a whole year—fifty-two numbers; and,
moreover, all who feel inclined to contribute will have the
satisfaction of seeing their names, and the amount they
subscribe, open to the gaze of the world, in the columns
of the anti-monopoly print.
ARMY SLOP-WORK.—Some new terms have been put
out for the prices to be charged for all work made for
Government, and it will be seen whether the poor shirt-
makers of the slop shops are not better off, or at any rate
as well paid, as the poor c c,tures who have to work under
the Government contracts, though probably the members
of the Government know nothing of the proceedings.
The following are the prices, and many are the long faces.
and unshaved beards that carry the work home :—For
the Police, for double-breasted great coats and lappels,
so that when o.ie is worn out another can be put on, 3s. :
the profit to the middlemen, who are responsible for the
work, and give security for £5O to the contractors, being
about 3d., while the labour in the work amounts to eight-
een hours, they have to pay for their own thread, &c.,
and a tailor would charge 9s. Dress coats are the same,
and occupy sixteen hours, tailor's price Bs. Trousers,
undress, eight hours' work, 10d. ; the full dress, is. 3d.,
which takes ten hours' ; the one bring 4s. and the other
55., as the tailor's prices, and it should be remembered
that men work at these.—For the Regiments of the Line,
the great coats with capes 5d., after seven hours' work,
the usual price being 3s. 6d. With fourteen hours' work
a red coat can be made, and 11d. is paid for it ; the tailor's
price ss. 6(1.; looping is 7d. extra. The undress white
jackets sd. and 7d. with five hours' work, and usual price
2s. 6d. Trousers white and grey, sd. and 6d., and it
takes six hours to make them, tailor's charge 3s. Draw-
ers, linen and flannel, 31d., four hours' labour, 2s. by
the trade. The old Chelsea pensioners, with their large
red coats, lined with blue shalloon, are supplied by the
poor workwomen at is. ld each, occupying twelve hours'
in the making, and the tailor's charge 6s. The trousers,
which are heavier than the Guards, are paid for at the
same rate. Recently it was expected many of the pen-
sioners would be called out, and for that purpose they had
• double-breasted coat, with stand-up collars and loops,
2s. 2d. was the remuneration for eighteen hours' work,
and what ought to have been charged 9s. for; trousers,
6d., and six hours' work, wages ought to be 3s. ; shirts of
linen for 3d. In the Life Guards and Blues, the very
expensive leather breeches are made in the barracks, for
which tailors are employed at 2s. 6d. a day, and it will
occupy a man two days. A tailor in Bond-street would
charge 30s. Times.

FEDERALISM.—Mr. Porter's project of a " federal"
union between Great Britain and Ireland has met with
considerable favour from two very numerous classes of
men—those who aim at a distincter nationality for the
latter island, and those who feel rather distressingly the
predominance of Irish subjects and Irish speeches in the
Imperial Legislature. A purely Irish Parliament in St.
Stephen's Green, and an equally expurgated British Par-
liament in St. Stephen's Chapel, could hardly fail to be
popular ideas in their several quarters. Mr. Porter
moreover writes with all the boldness of a man who feels
no particular anxiety for the welfare of any existing in-
terest or institution, and with all the candour that arises
from the absence of political or religious prejudices. It
might he expected that on a question involving the wel-
fare of so many millions, and the integrity of a mighty
empire, we should express some opinion as to the pru-
dence of the writer. But it is difficult to say whit is
prudent when there is no general agreement as to what
should be desired ; and Mr Porter evidently regards as
rather desirable than otherwise consummations which
some of our readers would think it the best test of pru-
dence to avoid.— Times.

Two BROTHERS DROWNED.—On Sunday night week,
as John and William Johnson, brothers, aged 31 and 29,
of Shipley, Yorkshire, were attempting to cross the river
Aire, at midnight, with a w::ggon and two horses, the
stream, which was very much swollen by previous heavy
rains, carried them down • and though there were other
persons waiting with another waggon, but who remained
to watch the success of the attempt made by the John-
sons. the darkness of the night, and the velocity with
which the water poured down, rendered any attempts at
rescue not only useless, but absolutely dangerous ; and
the two unfortunate men met their fate unseen and un-
heard. The horses, dead of course, and the waggon were
found at Esholt Mill, about a mile below the ford. The
bodies of the unfortunate men have not yet been found.
They have each left a wife and three children. We under-
stand that the unfortunate men were warned by their fa-
ther not to go by the ford ; but the elder, presuming that
as he had crossed in safety before he could do so again,
disregarded the counsel of his parent. The only advan-
tage gained by crossing would have been the saving of
about two miles' distance, and of the payment of toll at
Shipley Bridge Bar.
STEAM V. SAILS.—A publication of " Details, show.
ing the progress of the shipping interest of the British
Empire, the United States, and France," compiled from
official sources, has just been published. In the tables
relative to sea-going steam-vessels, facts are exhibited
which may account for the much reduced profit, and the
diminished occupation of sailing vessels in the carrying
trade coastwise; take the following :—" The number and
tonnage of steam-vessels employed in the coasting trade
and foreign trade, entered inwards from all parts, distin-
guishing British from foreign ships, including their re-
peated voyages:—

BRITISH VESSELS.

Coastwise.

Foreign,

Ships. Tons. Ships. - Tons.
1824
1843

FOREIGN VESSELS—INWARDS.
Ships. Tons.
1824
1843
It May be presumed that steam navigation has created a
trade for itself to some extent, but at the same time it is
not easy to conceive that the success of steamers has not
otherwise been prejudicial to sailing vessels ; the latter
must in time lose all their traffic, except that which con-
sists of the carriage of heavy commodities. There is no
preventing the change—it may be looked forward to as
inevitable. Shall e not, then, endeavour to obtain some
relief from burdens which ships in the coasting trade were
only able to bear while unopposed by vessels more formi-
dable than themselves.—Shipping Gazette.

PERILOUS ADVENTURE.—On Saturday morning last a
party of twelve individuals, two of whom were women
with children, set out from this harbour, in a small boat,
for the Lady Isle, where they intended to wind up the
festivities of the race week with a picnic on that fine little
island. Here, according to their own account, they spent
the day so pleasantly that the shades of evening were
within an hour or so of closing around them before they
thought of steering their course homewards. Having,
ultimately, left the island, the fog became so dense before
they had proceeded any distance that they lost all know-
ledge of their track ; and, after trying in vain to make
the shore, they, eventually, gave themselves up to the
mercy of the wind an I waves. After beating about for
some hours, in a state almost bordering on distraction,
they caught a glimpse of Pladda Lighthouse, which they
succeeded in making, after a great deal of exertion.
They were most hospitably entertained by the keepers;
and, as the wind was unfavourable during the whole of
Sunday, they were obliged to remain there till Monday
morning, when they set sail, and reached this about mid-
day. Their non-arrival on Saturday night created great
sensation ; and a boat was despatched to the Lady Isle,
on Sunday, in search of them ; but, as it returned with-
out having learned anything whatever about them, the
anxiety of their friends and relations became most intense.
Indeed, before their arrival on Monday, all hope of see-
ing them alive was entirely given up ; and, when it at
length became known that a boat like that in which they
set out was observed in the bay, the crowd that collected
along the quay to witness their arrival was immense.
This adventure, we have no doubt, will cure all future
inclination of the party to go a pleasuring without some
competent person to manage the boat for them.—Ayr
Observer.

JAMES COCKBURN BELANEY.—TI.e excitement cre-
ated by the trial of this person on the charge of murder-
ing his wife, at Stepney, still prevails in North Sunder-
land and its neighbourhood, where the miserable man
resides, and has been living since his acquittal. On
Monday evening last the populace collected in great num-
bers about 8 o'clock. and paraded the streets and lanes
in and near North Sunderland, with three effigies, the
first representing Delaney, the second " the archfiend,"
and the last one of Belaney's friends, who resides in New-
castle, and who took a very prominent part in the late
trial in favour of the prisoner. On the procession
reaching the gates of Belaney's house, about 9 o'clock,
they began to set fire to the effigy outside the gates, upon
which Belaney rushed out of the house, and fired off a
pistol in the direction of the crowd, but he was glad to
make a hasty retreat, dropping his pistol on the way.
His conduct so exasperated the populace, that they com-
menced a general assault on Belaney's house, battered in
the shutters, and demolished the glass frames. Having
effected an entranc they destroyed everything that came
in their way. In the confusion Belaney effected his
escape, and he contrived to elude the vigilance of his
pursuers by secreting himself in a neighbouring corn-
field, otherwise there is little doubt his life would have
been sacrificed. The crowd then set fire to the gates and
to two of the figures, and finally suspended that repre-
senting Belaney by the neck from the chimney-top of a
house on the opposite side of the road, where it yet
remains attracting the attention of the curious. The
house on the following morning had all the appearance of
a place that hsd undergone the fury of a military assault,
the walls being battered as if struck by hundreds of can-
non-balls. But the work of destruction did not end here.
The populace again assembled on Wednesday night, and
burnt the premises completely to the ground. The situa-
ation of Belaney's house was a very romantic one. It is
at the end of the village, near the edge of the cliff, over-
. looking the sea, the drawing-room windows being only a
few inches from the summit of a fearful precipice, It
' was built according to a plan laid down by himself, and
has long afforded food for gossip among the rustic popu-
lation of that locality.

THE LATE POST-OFFICE ESPIONAGE.--The circum-
stances that first led Mazzini to suspect that his corre-
spondence had been tampered with (says the writer of an
article in the "Westminster Review," from whom we
glean these particulars), was a communication to the
Times, printed as a leading article, the writer of which
boasted of having then lying before him a mar: of docu-
ments relating to the efforts of an association in London
for the emancipation of Italy ; and alluded to facts, of
which only a few members of that association could have
been cognisant by honest means. The attention of Max-
zini had also been excited by frequent delays in the de-
livery of his letters; and now, on examining the post-
mark, his suspicions were confirmed by observing, that
they invariably bore the mark of two different stamps,
the one intended to efface the other; the object of which
appeared to be to make the hour of delivery to corre-
spond with that in which the letter had been received,
and so to prevent the original stamp or atte station of the
receiver of the time when the letter was posted, being
evidence of the fact of its detention. To be quite sure of
this Mazzini took the precaution lo post, in St. Martin's-
le•Grand, letters directed to himself early in the forenoon,
when the receiver's stamp would be 10 F N 10. The let-
ters came to hand in the afternoon with the receiver's
marls, 10 altered to 12 ; the figure of 2 being stamped upon
the original 0, but not so as entirely and successfully to
conceal it. Mazzini then, in the presence of witnesses,
posted, at one and the same time, letters addressed to him-
self, and letters addressed to fictitious persons at the same
residence, and the letters were regularlyldelivered two hours
before his own. On consulting with his fri< nds, other
contrivances were adopted to complete the chain of evi-
dence. Letters directed to Mazzini were posted, contain-
ing grains of sand, poppy seeds, or tine hairs, and so folded
that the sand, the seed, or the hairs, could not fall out
❑nless the letters were opened. When delivered, sand,
seed, and hairs had disappeared. Other experiments
were tried with the seals. A wafer, carefully cut square,
was found to have altered its shape in passing through the
post-office; and in case of wax seals, the exact appear-
ance of the impression being carefully noted, it was found
that the subsequent post-office counterfeit was sometimes
placed more or less upright than the original.

THE STEAM NAVY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

(From the Times.)

tahoisd,pewcoulia arer juncturetoof
affairs
Two returns have lately been printed by order of the
House
inclined
think, with satisfaction. Toe first gives the " amount of
horse-power ordered for her Majesty's steam-vessels be-
en the Ist day of Apra, 1839, and the 31st of August,
willof Commons,o
cread
w
be-
tween
1841," as follows :—Horse-power, 4,496 ; number of
with ihniteehr eas
interest, ,
vessels, 18 ; tonnage, 16,581.
The second describes the " amount of horse-power,
&c., between the Ist day of September, 1841, and the
Ist day of July, 1844, thus :—Horse-power, 11,261 ;
number of vessels, 30 ; tonnage, 26,892.
From these statistics it seems that in the first three
years of the present administration there has been an
addition of twelve to the number of our war steamers,
with a corresponding increase of more than 10,000 tons in
their burden, as compared with the strength of the same
department during the two last years of their predecessors
—a period memorable for the isolation and the irritability
of France and the grand naval demonstrations in the East.
It is, indeed, highly gratifying to discover this accession

Sept. 24, 1844.

of strength to an arm of the service on which may devolve
the duty of supporting the honour of the English marine
in any future war. And although we are far from desi-
ring that any opportunity for such a display should soon
occur, yet when we look to the present aspect of the poli-
tical horizon, and read the deliberate opinions and pre-
vailing sentiments of those by wh ise opinions and senti-
ments the probabilities of a continental war may be en-
hanced, and its terrors multiplied—when we see theca
coolly calculating on the possibility of subverting our
power by the multiplied resources of steam navigation,
and determining the issue of a campaign by some dexter-
ous stroke of piratical tactics,—it certainly does gratify'
us to find that the present government has not been
wholly indifferent to the efficiency of that peculiar force
to which the avowed policy of our prospective invaders
has already attributed the faculty of deciding international
controversies in the shortest and most summary war.
We trust, indeed, that their warnings may prove as un-
necessary as their predictions false ; and that the peace
of Europe is in no danger of being violated by the blun-
ders of wrongheaded subordinates, by the zeal of hot-
headed propagandists, or by the truculent ambition of a
reckless faction. But we know that there is no method
at once so effective and pacific of demonstrating the futi-
lity of their predictions, and the emptiness of their Ps'
conades, as the possession of such an armament as the!
themselves affirm is adequate to cope with all the neces-
sities and fulfil all the functions of a great and powerful
navy.
While, however, we cannot help applauding this in-
crease in the numbers and efficiency of its war steamers+
we would at the same time once more impress upon the
country and the minis ry the conviction that no tires
should be lost in placing the other departments of our
marine establishment on a footing of corresponding mar
nitude. We may rest assured, that should it be our
all
fate—and we may say the ill fate of Europe—to be in-
volved in a continental war, the great conflict which Eng-
land will have to wage must be determined on the sea;
and that the question of maritime predominance or mari-
time subjection—the question which England would then
be forced to decide—in a word, the question whether she
should abdicate her dominion of the seas or not--oan
under no circumstances be decided by any number of
steamers, however skilfully constructed, however lightly
built, however cleverly managed, or completely manned.
No ; the masterdom of the ocean must depend—as it
hitherto has depended—upon the bulk and body of her
sailing ships—their breadth of beam, their solidity of con-
struction—and, more than all, on the native courage of
those who man them. As heretofore, the fate of a great
naval battle will depend on the combined science, gal-
lantry, and coolness of the officers and men—upon the
tact with which the line is broken, or the dash with which
the enemy is boarded. No new invented mode of inva-
sion will prove a successful substitute for these old and
approved resources.