The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-02-06 00:00:00

SELECTIONS.

ORIGIN OF THE TERM PINCHBECK.—We hear for
certain, that Mr. Pinchbeck, of London, will be in town
this week, with a variety of toys in his curious metal ; as
likewise a cotious parcel of jeweller's work, as diamond
rings, both brilliant and roses, stone buckles of all sorts.
He also has lately invented an artificial stone, called the
Pinchbeck diamond, which he sets in gold rings, and so
nearly resembles the rose in all its properties that it has
often deceived the best judges, and is so hard that it will
stand the file, which is allowed to be a perfection that no
one artificial stone ever had before.—N.B. He allows
half-a-crown an ounce for his metal as usual.—Whit-
worth's Manchester Manazine, Oct. 7, 1746.
MALINGERING.—Dr. Gavin mentions, that a man of
the name of Henry Moor Smith, a most accomplished
villain, while in the prison of Kingston, began to spit
blood, had a violent cough and fever, and gradually
wasted away, so that those who visited him supposed that
his death was rapidly approaching. This continued for a
fortnight, and his weakness was so great that he had to
be lifted up to take medicine or nutriment. A turnkey,
unfortunately, however, left the door of the prison open
for a few moments, in order to warm a brick for his cold
extremities; on his return, Smith had disappeared. On
being again put into prison he feigned cachexia. hHrnop-
tysis, and epilepsy, but without success. He confessed
that he pretended to raise blood by pounding a brickinto
powder, pu'ing it in a small rag, and chewing it in his
mouth. He contrived to vary his pulse by striking his
elbows, and said he had taken the flesh off his body in t Il
days by sucking a copper cent in his mouth all night, and
swallowing the saliva.—Medical Times.
MRS. HEMANS, R. SOUTHEY, AND OTHER POETS.—
I am quite of your opinion as to the too uniform splen-
dour of Felicia Hernans. She keeps us hovering con-
stantly on the wing, like birds of Paradise, for want of a
perch to repose upon. This cannot be said of the honest
lake poets; you may there find obscure and languid
places, where you may not only perch, but nod, till some
of those beautiful passages which redeem the poppy-
covered waste occur to wake you. Did ever I tell you of
one of said poets we have in town here, indeed one of
our intimates—the most provoking creature imaginable?
He is young, handsome, wealthy, witty ; has great learn-
ing, exhuberant spirits, a wife and children that he doats
on (circumstances one would think consolidating), and
no vice that I know, but, on the contrary, virtuous prin-
ciples and feelings. Yet his wonderful eccentricity would
put anybody but his wife wild. She, I am convinced,
was actually made on purpose for her husband, and has
that kind of indescribable controlling influence over that
wonderful savage the Czar Peter. Pray, look at the last
Edinburgh Review, and read the favourable article on
John Wilson's City of the Plague. He is the person in
question ; and had any one less in favour with them built
such a city in the region of fancy, and peopled it in the
same manner, they would have plagued him most effec-
tually.—What do you think of Lord Byron's latter
poems? The Third Canto of Childe Harold, you find,
has met its full share of admiration here. I, too, admire
it exceedingly, though I think our Indulgent critics pass
lightly over much of false sublime. Sure you must have
read the criticisms in the Edinburgh and Quarterly Re-
view on his poems,—l mean the last productions of that
wayward and wonderful mind. I need not tell you that
the first is Jeffrey's, nor that he has outdone himself in
that exquisite essay, which I am never tired of admiring.
You would also trace Walter Scott in the inferior, though
pleasing and kindhearted criticism in the Quarterly.
After all, though Scott expends a good deal of good sense
in reasoning down, and a great deal of good nature in
soothing down, the angry moods of the illustrious misan-
thrope, he could scarcely expect that he will succeed in
persuading the man to quit what he actually puts on as an
ornament. He is striving to deprive Parolles of his
drum, or a fine lady of her rouge, and seems to forget that
his lordship, like lago, is nothing if not critical—or
rather, he is nothing if not querulous. When a child
runs away merely to be pursued, and cries merely to be
pitied, It is in vain that you bribe it to come back and be
quiet. Scott would fain infuse as much of his own honey
!nto Lord B.'s vinegar as would at least make oxymel of
it ; but it will not do. His " Love's Labour lost" re-
minds one of the good-natured David Hume provoking
Rousseau by trying to manufacture a little tranquility for
him.—Memoirs of Mrs. Grant, of Laopan.

GENERAL MISCELLAN Y.

The present mayors of London, Lancaster, Cambridge,
and Carlisle, are all natives of Cumberland.
The diamonds and pearls in the crown of Queen Victo-
ria are valued at £112,000.
The Committee of the Birmingham Musical Festival
have paid over to the General Hospital the sum of £2,916
10s., being the surplus receipts of the late Festival beyond
the expenses.
THE QUEEN AT DELAY-LANE. -- Her Majesty ho-
noured this theatre with her presence on Thursday even-
ing, on which occasion the opera of the " Bohemian G rlu
was represented. The theatre was very crowded, but her
Majesty maintained a strict privacy.
Caroline Harris, the midwife, at Wolverhampton, who,
as we stated last week, had been under examination on
the revolting charge of destroying infants at their birth,
for sums of money, has been committed to take her trial
at Stafford assizes.
On Saturday week, the operative cotton-spinners of
Glasgow and neighbourhood gave. pretty generally, a
notice of a demand for an advance of 10 per cent. on their
wages. It is uncertain whether the demand 411 be corn-.
plied with ; but if not, a turn-out is exceedingly probable.
THE TAUNTON PARRICIDE.—Mary and Faith Sealey
have been committed for trial for the wilful murder of
their father and their aunt by poison. We gave the cir-
cumstances briefly in our last. Faith, the younger sister,
has made a confession which is criminatory of her sister.
Last week, at Marlborot?gh-street Police-office, Wm.
Adams, a lame young man, was sentenced to pay a fine '
of £5, or two months imprisonment, for damaging with
his crutch one of the pictures in the National Gallery.
The picture was stated to be worth £l5O.
RoansaY.—On 'Wednesday, a tobacconist belonging
to Greenock had his pocket picked of a sum of money,
amounting to £127, in bank notes, while travelling in a
third-class railway carriage between Paisley and Glas-
gow.

The Duke of Wellington has conferred an Ensigncy in
the Fifteenth Foot, without purchase, on Mr. Christopher
Sayers, whose brother, Mr. Henry Knight Sayers, of the
Thirty-first, gallantly led the storming party through the
Tezeen Pass, in Affghanistan, and lost, through his death,
the promotion which he had earned.
Loisoavyrr OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.—The Ja-
nuary number of a periodical, connected with the Society
of Friends, contains a longer list of deaths among that
body than usual. The average age is upwards of 62 years.
The age of the youngest in the list is 2 years and 4 months,
and of the oldest 93.
THE GADDKSBY MURDER.—After having been re-
manded no less than fire times since his last apprehen-
sion, Mr. Messenger, the master of the murdered Gar-
ner, was once more •his morning discharged from gaol,
the magistrates being of opinion that the evidence would
not warrant his further detention.—Leicester Mercury.
We find the following rumour in the Germa.► papers,
under date Dresden, January 20 :—" Queen Victoria will
visit Germany in the spring—first the Prussian court. She
will come to dresden in the beginning of May, and then
go to Gotha to visit her father-in-law. So much is nom
decided, but it is possible that her journey may be further
extended."
The Tablet, a Roman Catholic journal. announces that
Dr. Baggs, President of the English College at Rom, has
been appointed by the Pope Vicar Apostolic of the West-
ern District, vacant by the death of Bishop Baines. Dr.
Baggs has intimated his intention to reside at Prior Park,
Bath, and his determination to carry out the works of his
predecessor.

THE TEA TRADE, MONDAY, JAN. 29.—There have
been some further public sales since our last, which, al-
though not large, have served to show that the feeling is
rather in favour of getting into stock at the current quo-
tations. The consumption is going on very steadily, and
has been increasing since Christmas. Last week there
was again a larger quantity taken, viz. 651,767 lb.
REMARKABLE CHANGE IN PROPERTY.—When Law-
rence Sheriff, grocer and citizen of London, left the third
part of a field of 24 acres, in the parish of Holborn, for
the endowment of a grammar-school at Rughy, it pro-
duced no more than £8 a-year. This field was called
Conduit-close, and was nearly half a mile from any house.
It is now covered with buildings, and the rental exceeds
£.10.,000 a-year. The field has risen in value from £8 to
£lO,OOO and upwards.
The anti-leaguers have bad two terrible defeats during
the past week. The first was at Hull and the second at
York. Vast preparations had been made to give an eclat
to the proceedings in two places of such eminent import-
' ance, but the attendance, notwithstanding the deputation
consisted of Messrs. Cobden, Bright, and Thompson, was
very small. At Hull, scarcely a single shopman or mer-
chant condescended to be present. At York no man of
particular standing could be found to take the chair.
In the parish-church of Leeds, during the year 1843,
the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered 77
times; 194 sermons were preached ; 1,460 chapters of the
Bible were read ; 1,800 psalms were said and chanted ;
and divine service was performed 1,095 times.—[Perhaps
these services would not appear so extraordinary, if the
number of clergymen' attached to the church had been
stated. We could name a clergyman not a hundred miles
from this town, who himself preaches as many, if not
more, sermons in the course of eau, year than are men-
tioned here.]
LARGE IMPORTATION OF " SHODDY AND DEVIL'S
DUST."—There are at the present time discharging in
our docks one or two vessels loaded with " shoddy and
Petra dust," or, in other words, ground rags, intended

of al; &Woe. whO. will use it up in tbeG manufa-ctures,
in the place of new wool, to enable them to keep up their
tune of " Cheap, cheap, cheap !" whilst the public, the
sufferers from this imposition, respond, " Rotten, rotten,
rotten!" These arrivals are becoming quite common i•n
Hull.—Hull Packet.

Tuesday last was the anniversary of the martyrdom of
King Charles the First, in 1648. The sheet which re-
ceived the head of Charles the First after its decapitation,
is carefully preserved, along with the communion plate,
in the church of Ashburnham, in Brighton ; the blood
with which it has been almost entirely covered, now ap-
pears nearly black. The watch of the monarch is also
deposited with the linen, the movements of which are still
perfect. These relics came into the possession of Lord
Ashburnham immediately after the death of the king.

COLOSSAL LONDON.—AII admit London to be entitled
to the appellation of " the great
.Metropolis ;" and yet
few are, perhaps, aware of its really immense and colossal
extent. From a curious calculation it has been estimated
that, to make another metropolis, it would require 534
towns as large as Huntingdon —534 towns to make one
city ! Further, that 69 of the principal cities and towns of
England, (including Liverpool, Bristol, Birmingham,
Nottingham, &c.) would not produce a population equal
to that of Giant London. It is also calculated that a po-
pulation equal to that of the city of Salisbury is added to
London every three months.
SIR FRANCIS BURDETT.—The London Times asserts
as a fact, that Sir Francis Burdett fell a victim to the cold
water method of treatment. So wedded, it says, was
the bon. baronet to the system, that he was in the habit of
riding out on horseback enveloped in wet towels. The
proximate cause of Sir Francis's death is said to have been
an affection of the lungs, and subsequently of the brain,
arising, as it is stated, from a translation of the gout from
the extremities to the above-named vital organs. For
this attack lie was attended by Dr. Farr. Sir F. Burdett
was quite delirious for at least twenty-four hours preceding
his dissolution, and recognised no person near his death-
bed.

MORE " GREAT FACTS."—We learn by the Kelso
Mail of yesterday week, that four hundred and fifty
farmers and others have signed a requisition to the Lord
Lieutenant of Berwickshire to call an anti-league mee ing,
which was held last week. A large and influential
meeting of the members of the Border Association for
the Protection and Encouragement of Agriculture, we see
by the same paper, was held on Friday week, at which
strong resolutions were passed, deprecatory of the pro-
ceedings of the League, and expressive of a determination
to counteract its mischievous endeavours by the diffusion
of sound information in answer to its fallacies and fabri-
cations.

TURN-OUT HATTERS.—A general meeting of this body
was held in the Hall of Science, at Stockport, on Mon-
day, for the purpose of determining upon future proceed-
ings in reference to the existing strike. From 600 to 800
were present, comprising members of the body from Man-
chester, Ashton, Oldham, Rochdale, and other places.
The first business transacted was that of calling over the
various districts where the strike exists, and hearing from
the parties present the state of the turn-out in their re-
spective neighbourhoods. The general reply was " all
right." It was resolved not to work again until the mas-
ters give them the full price list.
A WARNING TO CRUEL BOYS.—On Wednesday week,
an inquest was held at St. Tpomas's Hospital, London,
to inquire touching the death of Enos Howard, a boy 14
years old, who died of hydrophobia. It appeared that
the deceased was persecuting an unfortunate dog, and was
at length in the act of tying a tin kettle to its tail when
the enraged animal turned and bit him on the cheek. A
few days afterwards he was seized with ietanus, when he
was taken to the hospital, where he died with all the
symptoms of hydrophobia decidedly marked. The jury
returned a verdict that the " deceased died of hydro-
phobia."

PLAYING CARDS AT CHURCH.—On Wednesday, two
young men appeared before the Magistrates at Norwich
upon a summons charging them, together with another
young man, with playing cards in Tofts Monk church,
during divine service, on Christmas day. The case was
proved by the clerk, who caught them playing : on going
to tell them to be still, their conversation having annoyed
the congregation. Two young women, servants of Mr.
Tofts, who sat in the next pew to the prisoners, said that
they heard them talking about the ace of damonds and
the ace of spades. The prisoners were committed for
trial.

SUICIDE OF A YOUNG GENTLEMAN OF FORTUNE.--
Last week an inquest took place before Mr. Waliley on
the body of William Chantry, Esq., aged 23, at his resi-
dence, Mornirgton-crescent, Hampstead-road. The de-
ceased was entitled to large property, and had only just
completed his studies. It appeared in evidence that John
Locklock was passing the deceased's house, when the
female servant rushed out, exclaiming that her master
was cutting his throat. He followed the servant upstairs,
and found deceased in his bed-room standing before a
looking glass, cutting his throat with a razor ; the glass
and the person of the deceased were covered with blood.
The deceased then staggered and waved his arms to and
fro, after which he fell down and died in five minutes.
The jury returned a verdict " That the deceased had des-
troyed himself, but there was not sufficient evidence to
prove the exact state of his mind at the time he did so."

EXPLOSIVE POWER.—The Globe newspaper gives an
ttedowit, on the testimony of a party in whom it places
confidence, of a newly discovered explosive powder of
dreadful efficacy. I! is described to ue a chemical combi-
nation, perfectly safe for carriage, and capable of being
aimed at its obj et, from the size of muskethullets to that
of cannon halls or bomb-shells. It is further added that
works of immense strongth are now erecting at Woolwich,
by which it is to be tested, under the inspection of expe-
rienced officers.

FATAL AccIDEAT.—It is with deep concern we have to
state, that the latg,)t Hon. the Earl of Kintore has met
with ano'her toiiiitul bereavement in he death of one of
his daughters—,a most interesting child, about ten years
of age, who, Nahce amusing herself near the top of the
staircase at Keith-hall, fell over the ballustrade, and
alighted on the basement floor, a very great height. She
was taken up in a state of insensibility, and died in little
more than an hour. This distressing accident, occurring
so soon after the sudden and lamented death of Lord In-
verary, renders the affliction doubly severe.—Aberdeen
Journal.
DISASTERS AT WHITBY.— On Monday night last,
about twelve o'clock, the brie Malton, of Whitby, struck
on the Whitby bar, in taking the harbour, and was driven
beyond the east pier by a heavy sea and strong northerly
wind, and has since become a wreck : crew saved. On
Wednesday last the brig Earl Bathurst, of Scarbro',
broke from her anchor, in the Whitby roads, and came
on shore near to Upgang : crew saved. About tight
o'clock the same night the Siren, of Shields, also broke
from her anchor, and was driven on shore near to the
other brig : crew also saved.

ATROCIOUS M URDER.—A murder of a most diabolical
nature has been committed in the neighbourhood of
Conwil, in the early part of this month. The parties
concerned in this affair are, Hesther Howell, aged 18,
of Heol Bill, and Racbel, her mother, together with David
Howell, as accessory after the act—he standing in affinity
the husband of the one, the father of Hester, and sup-
posed to be the father of the murdered infant. The
parties had sold off, at Conwil, and decamped just as the
affair got wind ; but Rachel, the grandmother of the
infant, has been apprehended by the rural police in the
neighbourhood of Llanwinio, under a warrant from Capt.
Davies, of Green-Hall, and strong hopes are entertained
that the other delinquents will not long escape the punish-
ment due to their unnatural deed.—Carmarthen Journal.
MELANCHOLY A CCIDENT.—A fatal accident occurred,
on Saturday last, under the following circumstances, to
Mr. John Bell, of Gill-house, Baldersdale. He had been
at his ann-in-law's, Mr. Ralph Dent, steward to John
Bowes, Esq., of Streatlam Castle, on that day, and set off
home about six o'clock p.m. Nothing more was heard of
him:until next morning, when he was found by Mr. Adam-
son, Streatlam, in a field near Mr. Dent's house quite
dead. It seems that the horse he was riding had fallen
and thrown his rider, who must have been killed instan-
taneously, as his forehead was laid open. The knees of
the horse were broken from the fall. The deceased was a
gentleman highly respected amongst his neighbours, and
was perfectly sober on the day in question. An inquest
was held on the body on Monday, when a verdict of " Ac-
cidental death" was returned.—Durham Advertiser.
SHEFFIELD OLD BANK.—In the Leeds District Court
of Bankruptcy, on Monday last, Mr. Commissioner
West gave judgment as to the granting of certificates of
conformity to the bankrupts under a fiat of bankruptcy
issued on the 16th of January, 1842, against Mr. Hugh
Parker, Mr. Offiey Shute, Mr. John Brewin, and Mr.
John Rogers, of Sheffield, bankers. The Learned Com-
missioner went through the principal transactions proved
under the fiat, in the course of which he not,ced the
different circumstances which had been urged on a pre-
vious day against granting certificates to the bankrupts.
He concluded by saying—" Under these circumstances, I
think their certificate should be delayed until the 16th of
April, and in delaying it until that time, I take into con-
sideration the period which has elapsed since the issuing
of the fiat."

THE BELGIAN DOG MARKETS.—The following ex-
tract from a letter of Dr. Forster, foreign hon. secretary
to the Animals Friend Society, to L. Gompertz, Esq..,
hon. secretary, will, we hope, be found serviceable to
persons who value their dogs :—" The police of Belgium
have long been devising plans to obviate the following
mode of theft. There is a dog market held every Sunday,
in all the great towns, at which all the English sport's-
men, and others who fancy dogs, attend ; and it has been
discovered that most of the valuable dogs sold here and
in Holland are brought from England, in the different
vessels and packets, and are disguised, shorn, &e., and
sold here at high prices, particularly the small breed of
spaniels. On a fine Sunday, after church, at Brussels,
you may see thirty or more English gentlemen and ladies
purchasing these curs. Now, it may be as well for the
police in London to know this, that they may watch what
goes on board the vessels; since there is an almost gene-
ral complaint of losing valuable dogs in London at pre-
sent."

TRANSFERS OF STOCK.—At the Bank of England,
owing to the late will forgeries, it has been found necessary
to renew former precautions ; and, as a few of the Brokers
of third-standing, in their anxiety for business, have not
been sufficiently parreular in ascertaining that the parties
for whom they were making transfers were the individuals
they actually represented themselves. to be, the Notice
issued many years since, has again been circulated by the
Directors, and will now, evidently, be more strictly acted
upon. The following is a copy :—" Bank of England,
21st July, 1808. The Governors and Directors of the
Bank of England give this public notice,--That as it has
been determined by a Court of law, that every broker or
other person is responsible for the identity of the party
he vouches for,—the Governor and Directors will, upon

say -we reaciy ISCLCIIILea;
force such responsibility Induecourse of law." In con
nection with this subject, probably, the Corporation of
London has given notice that certain city brokers, whose
bonds had become void by the parties to them having
become insolvent, and taken the benefit of the Insolvent
Act, had been removed from that office, to which they
can only be re-admitted on renewal of their bonds.

CAPTURE OF A SMUGGLER AND SIX MEN.---The Stag,
revenue cruizer, being off the Wight on the night of the
22d, sent her boats along shore on the look out. One of
them being off St. Catherine's, and close under the cliffs,
just after midnight, saw a sail standing in from the S.E. ;
the smugglers did not perceive the boat till they were
close in upon her, when they immediately cut away their
crop of tubs, which were lashed round their vessel, out-
side the bulwarks, when they fell into the water. The
cotter's boat was within fifteen yards of them ; the cutter's
men threw over their mark-buoy, and flashed for the cut-
ter ; the flash was seen, and returned ; or it might have
been awkward, as the smuggler had more hands than the
boat. After securing the vessel, they went to their buoy
and creeped for the tubs, which they soon succeeded in
capturing ; but the stones attached to them were so heavy,
they could not get them till they got the assistance of
another boat from the cutter. They then got the crop,
consisting of seventy-nine ca.ks of spirit of brandy,
which, with the tnen and vessel, they took round to Cowes.
The men, six in number, were taken before the magis-
trates at Newport, and committed for trial. Captain
Clark is but newly appointed to the Stag, and has thus
made for himself and crew a fortunate commencement.

THE HORRID AFFRAY AT HARROW.—In the Court
of Queen's Bench, on Monday last, Patrick Leith Stra-
chan, found guilty of an assault upon a Harrow boy, with
intent to commit a horrible crime, was brought up for
Leith
Strachan,stice Patt iysnu
have been found guilty of an assault with
the intent to
commit a horrible offence, for which, if completed, oo
judgment. An affidavit by Lieutentant-Colonel Camp-
bell, formerly governor of Sierra Leone, was put in,
stating that Strachan, when in that place, had caught a
malignant fever, that his arms and hands were shattered
by a paralytic injury, that he was incapable of labour, and
that a lengthened imprisonment would endanger his life,
and that he was sometimes of unsound mind. Counsel
on
passed both
sentence,sides
our
liaysianygi
saying.—
Pheard,atr Patrick
life would have been forfeited to the laws of your counytry
It appears, from the evidence, that you went down to.
Harrow for the purpose of attempting something of this
kind with one or two of the boys you might meet there.
You can never be sufficiently thankful that you were de-
tected before you bad committed the detested offence, and
that your life has been spared for repentance. The sen-
tence is that you be imprisoned and kept to hard labour
in Clerkenwell prison for eighteen. months.
MURDER OF A GAMEKEEPER AT WHlTBY.—Between
one and two o'clock on Tuesday morning, John Moffit,
head gamekeeper to the Marquis of Normanby, along
with an under keeper and several watchers, were on the
look out for po tellers on his lordship's estate, in the pa-
rish of Lyth, when in a short time they observed two men
on the brow of a hill, armed with guns, and in pursuit of
game. Noffit left his party for a short distance, and
walked towards the poachers, inquiring what they wanted.
The men, it seems, at that moment returned no reply ;
and as they and the gamekeeper advanced towards each
other, one of the poachers called out tand back!. "
Moffit, however, either not hearing what the man said,
or paying no attention to it, still kept advancing, and one
of the poachers, whose name afterwards turned out to be
George Lowther. deliberately levelled his gun and fired.
Malt immediately cried out, Oh, lam shot! "—stag-
gered a few paces—and fell to the ground. The under
keeper then
attempted to seize the ruffian, but was pre-
vented owing to his receiving a severe blow on the tem-
ple, which was severely wounded, from the butt end of
Lowther's gun. The watchers, however, closed upon
him, and instantly secured him, the other man making
his escape. Poor Moffit expired the same evening. The
companion of Lowther, whose name is Matthew Pearson,
has since been apprehended, and he and Lowther have
been committed to York Castle for trial.
A FOOLISH YOUNG WOMAN.—A young lady on a visit
to Glasgow, was accosted, a few days since, in the street
by a genteelly dressed young man, who pretended an ac-
quaintanceship from having formerly seen her in the
" fair city." He politely offered her his services in es-
corting her to view the lions of this locality—services
which were inconsiderately accepted ; and the young man
having succeedeed so well at the outset, proceeded to make
love to the lady, and then to her gold watch. The latter
he got into his possession, and desired that he might have
the delight of wearing it for even the shortest possible
period ;
the•owner was to get it again. When the pair were about
to part after their stroll, the lady naturally wished her
watch to be returned, but the other explaining that it
would look exceedingly awkward to take the chain from
his neck in the middle of the street, he was allowed to
retain it, on the understanding that it would be returned
the same evening at seven oclock at the house where the
lady lived. The wooer, however, did not keep his word ;
and the police being informed arrested him, but he had
parted with his prize, and when it was discovered it was
parted into many fragments. The man remains in cus-
tody on the charge of theft ; but really one feels less stir,
prised at the audacity of the prisoner than at the simpli-
city of the Mold of Perth,--Glasgow paper;

Feb. 6, 1844.

DEATH OF PRINCE ALBERT'S FATHER.—We regret
to state, that letters have this morning been received at
Buckingham Palace, from Germany, announcing the de'
mice of his Serene Highness the Grand Duke of Sale
Coburg and Gotha, the father of his Royal Highneo
Prince Albert. In consequence of the receipt of this
melancholy intelligence the Council, which was to hal
been held to-day by the Queen, has been postponed, and
her Majesty has been unable to receive the addresses is'
tended to have been presented. We believe that the
departure of the Court for Windsor has, for the sole
reason, been indefinitely postponed. The intelligence hal
proved a great shock to the Queen and her illubtrio&&
Consort, inasmuch as no previous intimation had been It'
ceived in London of the illness of his serene highness."'
Saturday's Globe.—The Grand Duke was in his 610
year, and has left two sons. the younger of, whom is the
illustrious consort of her Majesty. His Royal Highness
is the eldest brother of the Duchess of Kent, and the
King of the Belgians. His Serene Highness expired at
five o'clock, a.m., on Monday, the 29th instant. 'Li'
Serene Highness, who retired to rest on the preceding niP
in his usual health, was seized with spasms in the intestines
shortly before four o'clock, and although medical aid via
immediately at hand, such was the violence and severitY
of the attack that his serene highness was a corpse withie
an hour.

A BUG CASE.—It seems that the fact of bugs being
plentiful in a tenement, voids the lease or taking ; a verdict
to that effect was given on Friday in the Exchequer. The
following was counsel's statement on this head :—" In the
upper apartments especially, these visitants swarmed, nu"
the morning after the defendant and his wife had slept":
no, he could not say slept, for they had passed a moll
horribly sleepless night—the sheets of their bed well
covered all over with the carcases and blood of bugs.
the other rooms, though not to so great an extent,. per•
haps, those insects had been found to revel in multitudes,
and one of the witnesses would state that she had killed
them by the thousand at a time. If ever the jury ha&
known what it was to have spent the night in the compani
of bugs, they would at once feel a sympathy with the de%
Pendant and his family. On the first night it would seem
that as many as 1000 or 1500 had been slain."
EXPORT OF COALS.—The following are the statistics
of the export trade in coals from Sunderland during the
year ending January sth, 1844 : _

Tons. Vessels. Duty.
Qr. ending April 5, 1843.. 61,527.. 257.. £3,891 0 3
„ July 5, 1843.. 87,292.. 454,. £6,501 4 9
Oct.jas,
1844..184 98
1843.. 107,093..488
25437.
4.. x
. 38
£8,26780
13 9
15 0
n.
5,

Total for the year.. 305,811.. 1494...f22;540 10 9
The relative quantities ex poi ted to foreign countries (ex-
clusive of those shipped to colonies) by British and foreign
vessels respectively, during the last quarter, are asunder
By British vessels 37,081 tons
By Foreign vessels

Excess by the former .... 27,704 !
And this notwithstanding the boon recently granted by
Sir Robert Peel to foreign shipowners, to convey coals
to their own and other countries on payment of the same
duty as is paid by the British shipowner.
A meeting of the friends of Mr. Richard Oastler was
held at Birmingham on Wednesday night, for the purpose
of adopting measures for promoting the liberation of
that gentleman, and of providing an annuity for his future
support, and that of his family. Mr. Edmund Heeler
was called to the chair : when resolutions were passed,
recognising the services which Mr .Oastler had rendered
in defence of the factory classes, and on behalf of the
poor, and appointing a committee to take measures for
promoting the fund for his liberation. The Rev. G. S.
Bull read a letter from Mr. Ferrand, M.P., stating that
several noblemen and gentlemen had come forward and
guaranteed the full amount of the debt for which Mr.
Oastler had' been imprisoned, and that he would, there-
fore, be liberated. The announcement was received with
loud cheering by the meeting. The suns already subscri-
bed amounts to about £2,000, and it is understood that
upwards of £1,500 remains to be subscribed. A meeting
of the central committee was held yesterday (Monday),
at Brighouse. when it was expected measures would be
adopted for Mr. Oastlei's liberation.
AN HONEST YEOMAN.—It rarely falls to our lot to
record a more noble example of honesty than that exem-
plified in the conduct of an individual in this county, who,
though devoid of wealth, possesses, it would appear, a
greater share of that right principle than is usually found
under similar circumstances :--Mr. George Payne, late of
Frieze Hill farm, in the parish of South Weald, having
lost about £3,000 by farming and bad luck, was so re-'
duced in his funds that last year he was sold out of his
farm, and sinee that time he has been nearly penniless,
living on his friends, and doing what he could at farming
work for a living. A few days since, some friends who
have known him in better days, sent him some money.
Instead of keeping this for his own maintenance, he in-
vited his creditors to dine at the White Hart Inn, Brent-
wood, on Tuesday last, and then most generously gave up
the whole of the money which would pay them about ss.
in the pound, leaving himself entirely bare. Such con-
duct needs no comment, and we cannot for a ,roment
imagine that he will be permitted by his neigbours to want,
the surrender being made without the slightest solicitation,
and entirely of his own free will.—Chelmsford Chronicle.
LORD MORPETH ON THE CORN LAWS.—At a dinner
of the Leaguers of the West Riding of Yorkshire Lord
Morpeth was present; indeed,.the great object of the de-
monstration was to elicit from his lordship a full avowal
of his concurrence in their views in regard to the total
as nowi e
abolition of the corn laws. In this, however, they were
disappointed, his lordship declaring that he was not yet a
total and immediate repealer--a declaration which mate-
rially damped the ardour of the meeting. The expressions
made use of by Lord Morpeth on this particular subject
hereafter,
f ttheers,e
either : lif I should think it do notscruple to avowthat,
ad-
vised, I am not prepared to debar myself, at any time
necessary o
rbee
ythat the interests of the public revenue absolutely required
it, or if I should see no other way of effecting a better
settlement of the question than that which now prevails;
or if I thought it was making a great advance in the right
direction ; 1.. theep, or in such like cases, Ido not debar
myself from the power or acquie.eino in a fixed duly of
low amount." His lordship subsequently qualified this
unpalatable announcement by declaring that he would
" infinitely prefer a repeal, a total and immediate repeal,
to one short year's continuance of the law as it now sub-
sists.."

STRANGE EXHIBITION.—On Monday the funeral of
Dr. G. Swiney, an eccentric gentleman, residing in Cam-
den Town, took place. An immense concourse of people
attended, every person being anxious to view such a strange
sight as a funeral the whole of the paraphernalia of which
was to be yellow. About a quarter before two o'clock the •
funeral cortege made its appearance, and, agreeably to the
will of the deceased, the coffin was covered with yellow
cloth, studded with white nails. On getting into the
street, a yellow velvet pall, edged :with white silk, was
thrown over it. Immedidately after the coffin, came
three young girls, the eldest about 14 years, and the other
two about 12 years of age. They were habited in white,
(according to the will), with violet-coloured cloaks. Their
head-dress consisted of straw bonnets, trimmed with
white satin. The dresses had a most singular apuearancet
the wearers appearing more like a party proceeding to a
wedding than mourners to a funeral. After these came
mutes, and then the real mourners, habited not in yellow
cloaks, as previously announced, but in the usual mourn-
ing habit. In this order the cavalcade proceeded to the
burial ground, the crowd being so dense that it was with
the greatest difficulty it mould proceed, police officers
go,rg first to clear the way.
EFFECTS OF DRUNELNNESS—On Thursday an in'
query was held at the Feathers Tavern, Waterloo-roadt
before Mr. Carter, touching the death of Mrs. E. Donally,
aged 35, who on Tuesday committed suicide by jumping
off Waterloo-bridge into the Thames. The deceased was
the wife of a respectable mercantile clerk, with a salary
of £250, who had separated from her at Christmas last,
and not having been seen or heard of since, there was lit-
tle doubt entertained but that he also has made away with
himself. Deceased's sister, said that deceased had been
through her dissolute way of life that her husband sopar-
wmiatrhrid weiutieenssy.easrsh,eawnd as
asinnicneveCtehrraistetmdarus had been
drunkard, and
ilv
tiwinags
ated from her, although he was extremely fond of her.
They had also parted three times before, in consequence
of her love for ardent spirits. He left her on the 4th of
December last, and on going out of the door he kissed her
and said, " Betsy, you don't act right towards me. Yon
will certainly make me make away with myself." De-
ceased never saw him since, nor has he been seen by his
employers or friends. She had disposed of everything
she was posse: sed of, including articles of dress even
to her very stays, in order to supply herself with liquor-
The last time witness saw her was on Tuesday morning,
when she lett to go into the Strand Union-house. She
was then in liquor, and was heard to say that she would
destroy herself if she had the courage. When in liquor
toforlomseilehseransed
PROJECTED IMPROVEMENTS IN THII POST-owaxcE!"
The Lords of the Treasury have decided to increase the
nmseisle,sa.nd would wander about
public accomodation by an extensive change in the tshhee ma Pe; er
oa pr eodl i s
admi-
nistration of the Post-office department of the public ser-
vice, and intimated their intention of devoting the whole-
of the surplus revenue in carrying out the remaining de-
tails of the id postage measure. Accordingly Lord Vis-
count Lowther has caused to be established a permanent
merits, for the purpose of arranging
board, consisting of the heads of the Executive Depart-
the plan. The fol-
lowing are among the principal propositions :—Pre-pay'
meat in all cases of inland correspondence by the meditue
of stamps; the institution of the more frequent despatch
and delivery of London district post letters, and the
abridgment of the letter-carriers' walks, so as to facilitate
office. These
both ; and an increase in the number of officers tanta-
mount to the projected extension of the duties of the
preliminary
into operation early in the spring, Other and more ira-
portant alterations have been suggested, the chief of
to w
se hueraers,
iaariepl tiocictoyirn:
correspondence, measures,
which are the following
-The separation of the inland frog;
all the working arrangements, by obtaining a uniform and
rapid
of the two corps of letter carriers, general
and twopenny
of all inland letters inland ; the eventual
; the establishment of additional receiving'
hopses in the metropolis; the increase of arrivals frfrothconsolidation
the provinces by the morning mails ; and the establish-
ment of post-offices throughout the• United Kingdom in
proportion to the density of the letter-writing populatioe•
As it is manifest that the extensive alterations arB
calculated materially to affect the income of all officerS
connected with the department whose salaries depend 10
a great measure upon their realization of fees, and gra-
tuities from the public for what is called the " early deli-
very," we are informed that it is in contemplation to sub'
stitnte fixed salaries in lieu of the present sliding sealer)f
Rages, proportioned to the length of service and amount
of duty performed by each officer. It is estimated 14
Colonel Maberly that the carrrying out of this propose'
tion alone will involve an additional outlay of £4,500 per
annum, and that the adoption of the whole of the pro'
jected alterations will absorb ell the present net revenue°

atigtiCl
ng the

ty.
i
0 3
4 9
15 0
13 9
,
10 9
I (ex-
breiga
rnder

by
coals
same