The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-12-31 00:00:00

PUNCH'S ALMANACK.

The jokes, all brimful of mirth and merriment, are
strewed about in real, ss profusion, and are well worthy
of the clever illustrations, so remarkable both for the
healthy moral feeling inculcated by them, and the admir-
able manner in which they have been designed and exe-
cuted. We subjoin a few racy bits of rhodomontade from
this medley of tun and humour :
Clothworkers' Company present Sir R. Peel with the
Livery. (Sir R. having turned his coat so often, the
company thought he wanted a new one.)
WICKED BUT INGENIOUS FRAUD.—A poor woman
having sent a little child to the nearest public-house for
the loan of a newspaper, the heartless landlord gave the
infant the Morning Herald.
The grasshopper is placed on the new Royal Exchange
tower. Poor insect ! he won't find many green blades
there.

Numerous robberies of attorneys' chambers in Lincolns'
Inn. The thieves claiming the property as next of kin.

EXTRAORDINARY LONGEVITY.:—Tiere is at present a
man at work at Hungerford bridge who, as a boy, wit-
nessed the laying of its first stone. He is in possession of
all its faculties.

THE HEBREW PERSUASlON.—Twenty•eight Jewish
weddings celebrated on the 7th of May.
The Duke's statue erected at the Royal Exchange.
Shame! that he who leathered so many should be allowed
to go without a shoe to his foot.
To BE S )13.-500,000 courteous readers, if they expect
to find a joke here.
REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF PRESENCE OF MIND.—
A gentleman being pursued by Levi (the Jew Sheriff's
officer), took refuge in a pock shop.
In the House of Delegates at Tennessee, the members
attack each other with chairs, and so break up their
sittings.
MELANCHOLY REVERSE OF FORTUNE.—George the
Fourth taken down from the New-cross to macadamise
the New-road.
A MEETING CALLED TO ESTABLISH AN AGRICUL-
TURAL COLLEGE—SO that the Plough-boys may be as
learned as the Harrow-boys.
Two THOUSAND Two HUNDRED AND FIFTY PHEA-
SANTS HATCHED BY FOWLS, AND TURNED INTO
WINDSOR PARK.—NOW, gentlemen, make your game.

PERSEVERE.—Many of the blessings universally desired
are frequerely wanted, because most men, when they
should I boor, content themselves to complain ; and ra-
ther linger in a state in which they cannot be at rest thin
improve their condition by vigour and resolution.—
Rambler. _ _

HINTS FOR EVENING PARTIES.—Novi convert old
gossamer into opera hat, by doubling it up, and lay in
small talk for approaching evening parties. Now practise
the Polka with arm-chair, and rub up old imitations a In
Joel of neighing horses, and sawing wood. Now read
familiar Joes, and learn new jokes for quadrilles. I' ,w
study in the looking-glass for comic song, and flour your
postilion's wig for masked ball. Now compose speech to
toast " The Ladies," and commit to memory a " return
thanks" when your health is proposed at supper.—Punch's
Almonack.

A writer in the Weaminsfer Review, just published, in
an article on the legislation of 1844 says, he has " taken
the trouble of making a rough estimate of the number of
words contained in these statutes" (those of one year, in
which there were considerably fewer acts passed than
usual), and he found them amount to 762,000 ! " Now"
says he, " the whole Bible is comprised in very few more
words ; whilst the New Testament contains only about
198,000. Thus the entire code of Christian Law, with the
history of its Author, is comprised in about one-quarter of
the words which the Imperial Parliament uses to express
the laws it enacts in a single year."
EDUCATION IN BOICHARA.—This, though of a very
:useless, not to say mischievous, character, is very labo-
riously carried on. From sunrise until late in the day
are schoolboys kept plying their tasks under tutors un-
sparing of the rod. The children are tormented for suc-
cessive years in acquiring words whose sound awakens
no idea in their minds, and the young men who pursue a
life of study in their colleges are employed in disputations,
in comparison with which the worst sophistry of our
western schools, in the worst ages of European literature,
was wisdom. What wonder that, under such teachers,
the people are subject to every superstitious fancy, whe-
ther it be of Islam or Gheber origin. Ignorant and su-
perstitious, the Bokharians are also universally vicious.
Though rude savages in all the arts and conveniences fa-
wilier to European civilization, they are immersed in all
the debaucheries of low London or Parisian life, and
visited by all the diseases which attend such a course.

A BROKER'S RIGHT OF LIEN.—Up to the middle of
the last century it certainly was doubtful whether a factor
had a lien, and could retain for the balance of his general
account. About that time, however, a case occurred be-
fore Lord Hardwicke in whirl the question arose ; and
after argument thereon at the bar, his lordship adjourned
the cause, and desired several merchants, who had been
examined in the course of the proceedings, to attend in
court, in order to be consulted by him with reference
thereto. They attended accordingly, and after having
asked them several questions upon the custom and usage
of merchants relating to the matter in doubt, his lordship
gave his opinion to the effect—that if there be
.a course of
dealings, and a general account between the merchant and
factor, and a balance be due to the factor, lie may retain
the ship and goods or produce, for such balance of the ge-
neral account, as well as for the charges, customs, &c.,
paid on account of the particular cargo. The same opi-
nion was afterwards confirmed by Lord Mansfield, and
several other eminent judges; and at length the proposi-
tion, that a factor has a lien fur his general balance, came
to be considered as too well established to admit of dis-
pute.—Russell's Treatise.
SENSE "AFTER DECAPITATION" ?—A most extra-
ordinary paper was read at the meeting of the Paris A Ca-
dewy of Sciences, containing an account of some re-
markable experiments on decapitated persons, by M.
Bonnafont surgeon-major of the army. Ile stated that in
Alders be had read that in the hea9 of a decapitated per-
son the sense of hearing retained its power for a minute
and a half. At two executions M. Bonnafont himself
tried the experiment. Assisted by the late Sub-Intendant
de Falloy, he had a stool placed near the instrument of
death, and upon it a vessel filled with pounded t laister.
Immediately after the first execution, which was performed
with remarkable celerity, the executioner took the head
and placed the bleeding part upon the plaister, so as to
prevent the further flowing of blood. M. Bonnafont then
placed his mouth to the ear of the decapitated Arab, and
called him by name, while M. de Falloy watched the eyes.
In vain they shouted for a minute and a half ; neither the
eyes nor any of the features stowed that the hearing re-
tained the slightest degree of sensibil,ty. M. Bonnafont
concluded by stating (as might be believed without his
exvriments) that after the complete separation of the
head from the body there must be, if not instant death, so
great a syncope that death arrives without any of the
senses retaining the slightest degree of force.

DEATH OF THE OLD YEAR AND BIRTH OF THE NEW.
—The year was old that day. The patient year had lived
through the reproaches and misuses of its slanderers, and
faithfully performed its work. Spring, summer, autumn,
winter. It had laboured through the destined round, and
now laid down its weary head to die. Shut out itself from
hope, high impulse, active happiness, but messenger of
many joys to others, it made appeal in its decline to have
its toiling days and patient hours remembered, and to die
in peace. Trotty might have read a poor man's allegory
in the fading year; but be was past that now. And only
he ? Or has the like appeal been ever made, by seventy
years at once upon an English labourer's head, and made
in vain ? The streets were full of motion, and the shops
were decked out gaily. The new year, like an infant heir
to the whole world, was waited for with welcomes. pre-
sents, and rejoicings. There were books and toys for the
new year, glittering trinkets for the new year. dresses for
the new year, schemes of fortune for the new year, new
inventions to beguile it. Its life was parcelled out in al-
manacs and pocketbooks; the coming of its moons, and
stars, and tides was known beforehand to the moment;
all the working of its seasons in their days and nights were
calculated with as much precision as Mr. Filer could work
sums in men and women. The new year, the new year.
Everywhere the new year ! The old year was already
looked upon as dead; and its effects were selling cheap,
like some drowned mariner's aboardsbip. Its patterns
were last year's, and going at a sacrifice, before its breath
was gone. Its treasures were mere dirt beside the riches
of its unborn successor.—The Chimer.

A PRISON IN BOKHARA.—The pr. iln is collo' t'
Kana Khareh—a name which it has received from the
swarms of ticks which infest the place, and are reartd
there on purpose to plague the wretched prisoners. I have
been told that, in the absence of the latter, some pounds
of raw meat are thrown into the pit to keep the ticks
alive. This institution of refined cruelty has, probably,
given rise to the fable of the pit of scorpions, of which I
h.ve repeatedly heard accounts given at Orenburg.—
Travel: in Ash?.
.EDUCATION.—At the recent assizes, Baron Alderson
said—" The calendar before him, like the one for the
county of Hants, which he had just left, showed that they
could not look to education alone for the prevention of
crime. In the county of Plants three-fourths of the per-
sons charged with criminal offences were able to read and
write--in an imperfect manner certainly—but still able to
read and to write, whilst only one quarter were incapable
of reading and writing at all. Formerly they used to say,
when they saw a number of persons in the calendar, most
of whom could neitht r read nor write, that their inability
to do so was the cause of their committin? crime; now,
however, as they found that the greater proportion of
prisoners could read and write, they could not ascribe
their criminality to that cause. It showed that to teach
the people to read and write, was to give them a certain
degree of power; but to educate them properly was to
show them how to exercise it, how to use it for the pub-
lic good and for their own individual advantage, and for
their eternal salvation: that was the real education that
ought to be given, and which anybody out of bedlam
ought ever only to have dreamed of. In the calendar
then before him, he found that 30 of the prisoners were
imperfectly able to read and write, whilst 16 could do
neither; therefore the proportion of the imperfectly edu-
cated classes, over those totally uneducated, was in this
county two to one; and in Hampshire, to which he had
just alluded, three to one. When they said that ignorance
was the cause of crime, they should give to the term igno-
rance its proper meaning. Man's ignorance of his moral
and religious obligations was the cause of crime, and not
only his mere ignorance of reading and writing. Pro-
bably very often the reverse of that was the case, when to
the secular knowledge imparted was not added a know-
ledge of the higher responsibilities pertaining to the du-
ties in life in which each party was placed. The longer
they lived, the more they came to the conclusion that
unless they educated the people of this country in reli-
gious and moral, as well as useful learning, they would
accomplish no great good by their education."
A LABOURER'S SPEECH.—" Now gentlemen," said
Will Fern, holding out his hands and flushing for an in-
stant in his haggard face, " see how your laws rre made
to trap and hunt us when we're brought t.; leis. I tries
to live elsewhere, and I'm vagabond. To gaol with him !
I come back here. I goes a nutting in your woods, and
breaks—who don't ?—a limber branch or two. To gaol
with him ! One of your keepers sees mein the broad day,
near my own patch of garden, with a gun. To gaol with
him ! I has a nat'ral angry word with that man when I'm
free again. To gaol with him ! 1 cuts a stick. To gaol
with him ! I eats a rotten apple or a turnip. To gaol
with him ! Its 20 mile away; and coming Lack I begs a
trifle on the road. To gaol with him ! At last the con-
stable—the keeper—anybody—finds me anywhere, a doing
anything. To gaol with him, for he's a vagrant and a
gaolbird known ; and gaol's the only home he's got."
The Alderman nodded sagaciously, as he should says very
good home too ! " Do I say this to serve my can se !'
cried Fern. " Who can give me back my liberty ; who
can give me back my good name ; who can give me back
my innocent niece? Not all the lords and ladies in wide
England. But, gentlemen, gentlemen, dealing with other
men like me, bi gin at the right end. Give us, in mercy,
better homes when we are lying in our cradles ; give us
better food when we're a-working for our lives; give us
kinder laws to bring us back when we're a-going wrong ;
and don't set gaol, gaol, gaol, afore us, everywhere we
turn. There an't a condescension you can show the la-
bourer then that he won't take as ready and as grateful as
a man can be ; for he has a patient, peaceful, willing heart.
But you must put his rightful spirit in him first ; for whe-
ther he's a wreck an' ruin such as me, or is like one of
them that stands here now, his spirit is divided from you
at this time. Bring it back, gentlefolks ! bring it back ;
bring it back afore the day romes when even this Bible
changes in his altered mind, and the words seem to him
to read as they have sometimes read in my own eyes in
gaol—' Whither thou goest, I can not go ; whither thou
lodgest, I do not lodge; thy people are'nof my people;
nor thy God my God!' "—The Chimes.

BOICHARA.—LA new work entitled "Bokhara; its
Amir and its People," (translated from the Russian,)
gives some facts of painful interest relating to that Orien-
tal city, which has recently been associated with the trea-
cherous murder of two British officers. We extaact the
following :—ln winter all intercourse between Bokhara,
Cabul, and the neighbouring states is cut off by the snow,
and in the spring " the clayey soil becomes so miry, that
m t only camels are prevented from passing it, but even
horsemen are obliged to go over the ground with great
caution." A Russian merchant will not spare his cattle
to reach his market, but the author of the work before us
says, that the agent of a large commercial house, with
ample means ta facilitate expedition at his disposal, re-
quired a whol fortnight to transport his merchandise
from Kagatan to Bokhara, a distance of 46 miles. When
such difficulties oppoee the transit of commerce, it may
appear etrange that the name of Bukhara should stand so
prominent in Oriental and Russian trading transactions.
The geographical position of the town of Bokhara consti-
tut.s it the central point of all the commercial routes be-
tween Easter,' and Western Asia, and through which the
chief products of that part of the world are sent to Eu-
rope. It is also a convenient depot for all the states lying
south of it on their way to the north, because from its
very gates commence those vast steppes which form the
Russian frontier. Rut the trade of Bokhara is in a very
primitive state, for it is st,llcarred on through the medium
of fairs on certain fixed days, and not, great thoroughfare
as it is, with a continuous flow. The territory, ,31 as
Kharituff terms it, the Khanat of • Bokhara, has only
three branches of industry—agricultura!, commercial,
and that of handicraft ; manufacturing industry does not
exist, though there is one manufactory of articles in cast
iron. The agriculture, properly so called, of Bokhara, is
of the rudest and least efficient kind; its horticulture, in
which the inhabitants take delight, and which, in passing,
we may observe, constitutes almost their only innocent
pleasure, is somewhat better, but still far from being
skilfully managed. They have great abundance and many
varieties of grapes, but they make no good wine; they
have most of the tropical fruits, end might. in their cold
climate, many of those which ordinarily flourish in the
temperate zone, but they do not rear them with judg-
ment. Cotton is universally cultivated, but not to the
profit it might be both as an article of domestic use and
for exportation. But the fact is that the wretched Bok-
harians live in a state of grovelling vice, under the baneful
tyranny of a ruthless yet wily despot and a profligate
priesthood, in whose hands the civil administration of the
country is held.

GENERAL MISCELLANY.

On Saturday, at Leith, the Leith Candle Company's
premises were totally consumed by an accidental fire.
A reprieve has been received for the convict condemned
at York for arson.

His Grace the Duke of Wellington, Commander•in-
Chief of the Army, has promoted several sergeant-majors
to be cornets in other regiments, without purchase.
Thomas Staite, the same-keeper, who was so dreadfully
beaten ;n an affray with poachers at Croome, on the 21st
instant, his since died.

Eight miners were killed on Monday last, in a colliery
at Kingswinfor:l, by the breaking of a rope by which they
were descending.
Wm. Howell, Walter Howell, and Israel Shipley, who
lie under sentence of death, at Ipswich, for murder, have
been respited till the 25th instant.
A pension has been conferred upon Mr. Thomas Hood,
the author of, amongst other things, " The Song of the
Shirt."

The Phoenix, steam-sloop, of about 800 tons, is now in
the East India Dock, substituting a propeller screw for
the paddles she has hitherto worked with.
On Thursday week, a young man, 18 years of age,
named Young, met his death, near Bristol, by his gun
going off whilst he was drawing it through a hedge.
On Sunday week, two stoves heated with charred-wood
having been placed in the church at Pollokshaws, Ren-
frewshire, the fumes so overcame tho congregation that
about twenty of them fainted.
The Black Boy Pit, near Bishop Auckland, fired on
Monday ; there were upwards of 200 men and boys down
at the time. They were all got out alive, but many of
them very much burnt.
Mr. Griffiths, boottnaker, of Chester, has received from
Windsor Castle a check for £5, in payment of a pair of
beautiful miniature boots, which Ile forwarded for the ac-
ceptance of the Prince of Wales.
Lord Ashley has transmitted £llO to Scotlan'l, to be
distributed among those women who have been thrown
out of employment by the operation of the Mines and
Collieries Act.

At Windsor Theatre, on Monday evening, Mrs. Flume,
63 years of age, the wife of a journeyman cutler, residing
at Eton, met with her death by accidentally falling over
the gallery into the pit.
Wm. Oliver and his wife, who lived in a miserable cot-
tage at Ashford, near Staines, being reduced to a state of
almost utt-r destitution, committed suicide on Tuesday
morning lest, by taking poison.
THE HEROINE OF MATAGortnA.—The subscription
for this deserving old woman now amounts to a sum suf-
ficient to secure her £3O a-year for life, with a few pounds
over to set up house with.
CONSERVATIVE TRIUMPH.—The nomination for the
borough of Dartmouth took place on Thursday, when
the show of hands was in favour of Mr. Somes, the con-
servative. At the close of the poll, on Friday. Mr. Somes
was returned by a majority of seven, the numbers being
for Mr. Somes, 125, Mr. Moffatt. 118.
OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE BRITISH
GOVERNMENT AND THE POPE.—The Post of Thursday
announces the following, in a leading article :—" We be-
lieve that, in fact, the official initiative bas already been
taken in regard to direct communication with the Council
of his Holiness the Pope,"
There has been an enormous increase in the export of
salt during the present year. The quantity exported du-
ring this year, at Liverpool, Hull, and Gloucester, it is
said, will amount to six hundred thousand tons! The
consumption of salt in London is estimated at five hun-
dred tons weekly.
HORRIBLE ACCIDENT.—On the 11th instant, a mason
was working upon the roof of the forge called the Glynn,
near Hereford, when by some mishap he lost his balance,
and fell through the roof, directly upon the fly-wheel,
which turns round with a resistless velocity. The work
of death was soon completed.
A few days since, a brood sow entered the dwelling of
a farmer near Dcmfries, in the absence of the family, who
had imprudently left the door open, and the beast before
their return had seized an infant in the cradle, and so
dreadfully lacerated it that the poor child's life is despaired
of.
THE IRON TRADE.—We are glad to perceive a marked
and steady improvement in this branch of trade. We
learn that the Great North of England Railway Com-
pany's contract for 6000 tons of rails was taken by the
Bishopwearmouth Iron Company, at Sunderland, and
Messrs. Bolckow and Vaughan, of Middlesbro' Iron-
works, at £7 15s. per ton, which is a considerable advance
on the late quotations.—Mining Journal.

REMARKABLE OPERATION FOR THE CURE OF CON-
SUMPTION.—The Medical Gazette contains a long article
from the pens of Dr. Hastings and Mr. Robert Storks,
surgeon, descriptive of a remarkable operation for the
cure of consumption, by the perforation of the cavity of.
the lungs through the walls of the chest. It consists in
making an opening between the ribs into the cavity which
forms in the lung during the latter stages of consumption.

ALLEGED DEATH OF A CHILD FROM GRIEF.—On
Tuesday evening Mr. Baker held an adjourned inquest at
London, on the body of Elizabeth Sutton, aged ten years.
About a week ago, her father, for whom she had a great
affection. met with an accident, and was removed to the
London Hospital. He kissed her upon being removed
there, which circumstance, it was remarked, excited in her
strong emotion, and from that time she complained of
pains in her bead and stomach. She was continually
wishing to go to see them.
DANGER OF LOADED FIRE-AF.MS.—On Saturdayweek,
at Kirkham, a respectable tradesman who had been amus-
ing himself shooting small birds, on returning home in-
advertently laid down the gun loaded with small slot.
Nest morning his young shop boy took up the piece,
and having previously found a cap fixed it on, " presented"
towards the window. The gun went off—to the great
alarm of the poungster, who did not think it loaded—and
demolished four large panes in the shop window, and
seventeen in the window of the shoo opposite. Luckily
no one was passing:at the time, otherwise the consequen-
ces might have been fatal.
FoG IN GLASGOW.—On Friday week Glasgow was
visited by one of the densest fogs that had been known
for many years. A frost had set in on the previous night,
and it was scarcely possible to see across some of the
streets. The traffic on the river was entirely suspended.
Several vessels left the Bromielaw, but could make little
or no progress. The larger vessels got aground near Go-
van. Three men were drowned at Port Dundas during
the fog. Alexander Bontine, master of a vessel, fell into
the canal, and was soon afterwards taken out dead. On
the same evening Robert Maitland and Collin Campbell
(men employed at a distillery at Port Dundas) fell into
the canal, and were drowned.
A SCENE.—At the Watlington petty sessions, on Sa-
turday. Jane Allen, a wretchedly distressed-looking wo-
man, with an infant at her breast, was charged with hav-
ing stolen, on the 25th of November, a small faggot of
wood, of the value of " one penny." The bench more
than once put it to the prosecutor as to whether he was
determined to press the charge, and he said he was ; he
had lost faggots before. He said, " The faggots were
worth 6s. per hundred "—id. each. It was an affecting
scene. From the prosecutor sternly pressing the charge,
the mother, with the infant in her arms, was committed
to Oxford gaol, to the said faggot, of the value of id.
LONGEVITY.—Died, on Monday last, at the patriarchal
age of 108, Mr. Morris Thurston, of Exeter. The de-
I ceased, up to the last seven weeks, enjoyed excellent
health and spirits. He lived for upwards of sixty years
in the house in which he died, and never, till lately,
allowed any one to go into it. He was an herbal doctor,
and as such travelled through Devon, working marvellous
cures. He followed his vocation till within the last two
months, and such was his repute that the people applied
to him for his advice, and received the nostrums, whilst
on his death-bed. He was an alchymist, and an adept in
astrology ; and it seems as if these ancient delusions lin-
gered with him alone.—Exeter Times.
DANGEROUS FROLICKING.—A person one day last
week, while viewing Wombwell's menagerie, at Bath,
was foolish enough to tease one of the elephants. The
sagacious animal afterwards watched for a favourable
opportunity of retaliating, and when its tormenter was
standing off his guard, within the grasp of its proboscis,
to his great consternation he found himself suddenly
clutched in a close embrace, and lifted as high as the head-
way of the booth would admit, and then brought to the
ground again. Fortunately, however, the trunk of his
formidable antagonist by this time had loosened its hold ;
but such was the terror with which the man was affected
by the animal's resentment, that he went home ill, and
continued so fur several days afterwards.
We learn that it is contemplated by government to send
out another expedition to the Arctic Regions, with the
view of discovering the, or a North-west passage, between
the Atlantic and Pacific ; and the council of the royal so-
ciety having been solicited to give their opinion as to the
desirableness of such an expedition, have stated, that in-
dependent of the great object to be attained, the benefits
that would accrue to the sciences of geography and ter-
restrial magnetism render such an expedition peculiarly
desirable. It appears Gut the Erebus and Terror, which
were recently employed at the South Pole, under the
command of Sir James Ross, have returned in such good
order, as to be ready to be made immediately available
for employment on any similar service.—Athenceum.

STAMP OFFICE REDUCTION—A circular has been
issued from the stamp office to the District Distributors
and Sub-distributors, directing a reduction in the charges
for all blank forms for documents to which stamps are
attached, to take place from and after the sth January,
1845. These reductions will be a source of great saving
to i rofessional and commercial men. For parchment,
such skins as are now charged at Bd. will henceforth be
661. ; those at Is. Bd., ls. ; those at 25., Is. 6d. ; those at
4s , 3s. 2d.; and the others in proportion. For paper,
folio post is reduced from 2s. to Is. 6d. and Is., accord-
ing to quality ; demv paper from 2d. to id. per sheet ;
and bonds, bills of lading, marriage licenses, transfers,
and protests, from lid. to id. and Id. per sheet.

IMPORTATION OFWHEAT.—A parliamentary return,
which was in, cured in September last, on the motion of
Mr. Darby, the member for East Sussex, has just been
printed. showing the quantity of wheat imported from
the Unitf-d States into Canada from the 11th October to
the 31st July, 1844, both inclusive; also, the quantity of
wheat and wheat flour imported from Canada into Great
Britain and Ireland, distinguishing the quantity into
each, from the same period to the same period. It ap-
pears that the quantity of wheat imported into Canada
from the United States from the 11th October, 1843, to
the sth July last, (to which day the returns received only
extend,) was, by sea, 634 quarters, and by inland naviga-
tion or land carriage, 21,161 quarters. The quantities of
wheat and flour, the produce of Canada, imported (for
home consumption) from the same period to the same
period, being the last period to which the returns have
been received, were, into Great Britain, 18,199 quarters
and 6 bushels of wheat, and 262,506 cwts. 1 qr. and 101bs.
of flour; into Ireland, 4,007 cwts. 1 qr. and 101bs. of
flour; making, in the total, 18,199 qrs. and 6 bushels of
wheat, and 266,513 cwts. 2 qrs. and Illbs. of wheat and
flour.

THE MALT TAX.—The Central Agricultural Society
have refused ti support the repeal of the malt tax. At a
meeting of the farmers of the county of Norfolk, held a
few days since, to take into consideration the repeal of
tb« malt tax, a letter from the secretary of the above
society, of which the following is an extract, was read,
in conseruence of which the meeting separated without
coming to any resolutions on the subject of the tax :
" I will at once state to you that with reference to the
repeal of the malt tax, the committee, having had their
attention called to it some time ago, came to the deter-
mination of not raising that question on their own part,
and of not recommending the agitation of it by any of
the local protection societies. They felt that to begin to
agitate 'or the repeal of the malt duties so soon after the
formation of the society, on the virtual understanding
that its object was the maintenance of the present scale
of protection to agriculture. under its existing burthens,
would involve an aggressive policy for which they were
not prepared. The prospects, too, of the property tax
being soon deducted from the items of the revenue of the
country, did not seem to justify the remission of so large
a source of income as the malt duties, unless some sub-
stitute were proposed •, of the nature of which, however,
no unanimity appeared to exist either in the committee
or the country.
EXTRAORDINARY EVENT.—A most extraordinary cir-
cumstance has just occurred at the Hawick toll-bar,
which is kept by two old women. It appears that they
had a sum of money in the house, and from some cause
or other were extremely alarmed lest they should be
robbed of it. Their fears prevailed to such an extent,
that when a carrier whom they knew was passing by, they
urgently requested him to remain with them all night,
which, however, his duties would not permit him to do ;
but in consideration of the alarm of the women, he con-
tented to leave with them a large mastiff dog. When the
carrier started the dog became violent, and would not stop,
upon which one of the women ran after the man, who re-
turned and left his coat for the dog to watch, after which
the dog remained quietly at the toll-house. In the night
the women were disturbed by the uneasiness of the dog,
and heard a noise apparently like an attempt to force an
entrance into the premises, upon which they escaped by
the back-door, and ran to a neighbouring-house, which
happened to be a blacksmith's shop. They knocked at
the door, and were answered from within by the smith's
wife. She said her husband was absent, but that she was
willing to accompany the terrified women to their home.
This was agreed to, and on their reaching the house, they
saw the body of a man hanging half in and half out of
their little window, whom the dog had seized by the threat,
and was still worrying. On examination, the man proved
to be their neighbour the blacksmith, dreadfully torn
about the throat, and quite dead.—Carlisle Patriot.
PUBLIC SALARIES:—On Friday a Parliamentary paper
was issued, giving an account of all salaries. &c., held by
all persons between the sth of January, 1843, the total
amount of which exceeded £l,OOO. The whole list em-
braces the names 754 persons. In the first branch of the
return, civil officers there are 250 names ; in the second,
judicial officers, officers of courts of law, &c., there are
134, and 30 pensioners; in the third, consular and diplo-
matic officers, there are 52, and 22 pensioners ; in the
fourth, naval officers, there are 3.1 and 1 pensioner; in
the fifth department, military officers returned by the
War-office, appears the names of 25 individuals ; in the
sixth, ordnance and military officers not returned by the
War-office, there are 30; in the seventh, officers in the
colonies, there are llg ; and in the eighth, branch officers
of the House of Commons, only 10 ; making in the ag-
gregate 754 persons whose incomes from the public money
exceed £l,OOO a-year. The highest sum in the list of
civil officers is the allowance to the Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland of £20,000 and the next, two pensions to the,
Duke of Grafton, amounting to £10.584. In the list of
judicial offic=rs Lord Lyndhurst, as Lord Chancellor, is
the highest, namely, £lO,OOO, which is exclusive of his
salary as Speaker of the House of Lords. Among the
military officers the Duke of Wellington receives the
largest amount. His Grace had in the period mentioned
£8,916 16s. 3d., consisting of £3,379 17s. 6d., as Colonel
of the 13th Foot Guards ; £238 15s, 5d., as Colonel-in-
Chief of the Rifle Brigade ; £992 3s. Bd., as Constable of
the Tower of London ; £305 19s. Bd., as Captain of Do-
ver Castle, £4,000 pension granted by act of Parliament.
The noble duke succeeded Lord Hill as Commander-in-
Chief in December, 1842, who, it appears by the return,
received in the year as Commander-in-Chief £2,281 15s.
10d. The Speaker of the House of Commons has £5,000
a•year, and a house ; and Sir W. Gosset, the Sergeant-
at-Arms, £1,500, besides £320 12s. ltd,, as a retired
Colonel of Royal Engineers.

DREADFUL OCCURRENCE.—A few nights since
Ross, of the Victoria Inn, Banbury, and Mrs. SA:,
the same village, (between whom it is said an inilie",;
intimacy existed). left the house of Mr. Ross, for thglbs,
pose of taking a walk in a field, in which:a draw-I,„,di
lately been sunk. It is,supposed that the two indi t". 70,
had been groping along the side of the wall, and inrtio
sequence of the darkness of the night, they fell juts
well together and perished.—Hull Herlad.
CONFESSION.—During the last few days, NV in • nen'
o
drew, the murderer of Mr. Wm. Inchbald, of Low JJ,h,
sforth. near Boroughbridge, under the instructions etb`o
Rev. Thomas Sutton, the Chaplain of York Castle,
exhibited a greater degree of penitence than mightutej
been expected after the indifference he has msflt
since his conviction. On Thursday last he made apely
confession, of which the following is the purPnr%
stated that a fortnight before the murder, Mr. tnt
bald had threatened to have him transported for poccul',of
before the expiration of three months, in consequenc.edis
which, he (Kendrew) on the 28th of September, lat
e.
til
t.
scribed for Mr. Inchbald, and having arrived at the place(,,
scribed at the trial, he fired and hit him in the back.
Inchbald then turned round, when Kendrew discherk`oi
the second barrel, and wounded him in the left arm•
being satisfied with this, he went up to the unfortutt
man whilst he was lying on the ground, and struck rtij
on the head with the butt end of the gun. Mr. TO° d
then, al,hough so seriously wounded, got up and follotti,
Kendrew, who immediately went into the fields and se
no more of the deceased.
MAMMOTH STEAM ELECTRICAL MACHINE."' "i
hydro-electric machine of the most extraordinary tot
unprecedented power is now being constructed for,t36
United States. It will be able to produce a spark
inches, to cast 3500 feet of metallic surface, in a bete
of 48 Leyden jars, of 2 feet high by 10 inches in diamete,ri
This shock would kill a thousand men in an instant, ilk,'
were passed through such a chain ! This machine will
more than four times as powerful as the one exhibited e,
the Polytechnic Institution in London, whose effectsbor,
been witnessed by more than 300,000 persons within 0,
last year, and is now by far the most powerful instrinneta
in the world. The expense will be nearly 4500 doll
with the apparatus for illustration. The name 0f.e,,,
leviathan machine is to be the •' Benjamin Frankkp.;
and, as it will not be shown at ail in Europe, Amer?
will possess exclusively this magnificent unequalled
strument. It will leave the manufactory for the Untie te
States early in the year. The action of the hydro•elecLii
machine is in no degree influenced by the state of t",
weather, and the experiments are astounding in the;
nature, both on account of their novelty and grandeur*"
Birmingham Journal.
THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON AND THE Attialr.*4
correspondence has been published in the Watch
which is highly characteristic of his grace's attentionw
everything which concerns the welfare of the army. ~
Rev. John Smith, a Wesleyan minister, addressed a letw
to the duke, complaining that he had been refused adinie:
sion to an hospital for the purpose of visiting a sergeant'
one of the patients. Mr. Smith immediately received
communication from Sir John Macdonald, the Adjutant,
General, by his grace's direction, distinctly explaining 0,
regulations on this head. The letter expresses the duke,l
desire that soldiers should have the benefit of the spirito;
assistance of clergymen of their own persuasion, whence!,
they might require it; and states the established rule to
be, that every soldier is at liberty to choose its own
tor, with this simple understanding, that he shall no,
f
his wish, through the regular channel to his commandi4
officer, who will give immediate directions for the admit'
sion of the clergyman whom the soldier may have chose!
as his spiritual adviser. Sir J. Macdonald adds, that tu
Duke of Wellington had commanded him to enter illb,
:,
this explanation for Mr. Smith's future guidance, and
prevent his being in future subjected to any disappoint
ment.

CHRISTMAS PANTOMIMES.—At this season of they'
custom has ordained the production of pantomimes ‘
the chief feature of the theatrical representations, and 1,
enumeration of those brought out in London may
prove unacceptable to the reader :—At Drury Lon'
Puck's Pantomime, or Harlequin Robinson Crusoe,
been announced ; at Covent-Garden, Harlequin Crotchet
and Quaver, or Music for the Million ; at the IlaYt°,..,nr.'
ket, Graciosa and Pircinet ; at the Adelphi, Cat's Lef
tle, or Harlequin and the King of the Rats; at the
ceum, Valentine and Orson ; at the Princess's, Joe 3(.l''
ler and his Men ; at the Olympic, Old Bogie, or Ilarw:
quin Lazy Dick ; at Astley's, Harlequin and JohnO,„,
Gilpin's Ride ; at the Surrey, £ s. d. or Harlequin
Pounds, Shillings, and Pence; at Sadler's Wells, Har`v
quin Robin Hood and Little John ; at the City of Low
don, Fairy Gnomes of the Golden Caves, or Harlequin
and the lamp of the Golden Mountains; at the Paviliout
Harlequin Jack-of-all-Trades, and the Fairy Busy Bee'
at the Strand, the Chinese Exhibition, or the Feast °4
Lanterns; at the Garrick, Smith, Brown, Jones, Oa
Robinson. the Four Naughty Boys, or Harlequin ad 01'1
Tiddy Kill at the bottom of the Thames ; at the Grecie,
Saloon, the Maid and the Magpie, or Harlequin and Or
Magic Spoon; at the Victoria, Harlequin and Hot CO:
lino, or the Littla Old Woman and the Demon of t°
Metal Mines.
HORRID MURDER.—On Saturday morning week thn
peaceful town of Ulverstone was excited by a rum°io
r
(which. proved to be true) that an itinerant razor-grin
el,e
had brutally murdered his wife. His name is Donoug°'
but it apperred that he resided with his wife and lot
children in Heart-street Ulverston. On Friday nif
week he returned home in a state of intoxication, and
quarrel ensued between him and his wife, which at letd
terminated in blows. The enraged man eventuallY it
the poker, and struck his wife a formidable blow I"' a
on the head, which completely shattered her skull. an
must, it is supposed, have produced instantaneous death.
Not satisfied with what he had done, the enraged muderer
commenced kicking the head of his victim, which he did
with such violence as to force one of her jaws entirelf
from its place ; he then brutally kicked her on various
parts of her body, which he dreadfully mutilated. Hav
ing thus wreaked his savage vengeance upon his victim,
he stripped the poor woman's dead body naked, and
threw it down stairs, after which he burned the whole 01
her clothing. Having done this he left the house, and
went to his wife's sister, and coolly told her that he won
afraid that his wife was dead. In the meantime two
children (a boy and a girl) awoke and witnessed the crime:
and the neighbours, who had heard the noise, were fast
alarmed by the screams of the boy, who called out t°
them that his father had murdered his mother. Tb°
wretched man was secured.

IMPORTATION OF CORN.—The Board of Customs haYi
ing had under consideration a representation from one°
the out ports, with respect to certain post or second entries,
which have been accepted for sundry quantities of Ore'
by which parties,have been allowed to pay duty according
to the rate chargeable at the time of passing the prime ,1
first entry, instead of that payable at the time the Woe;
entry was passed, and also the reports of the practica;
officers at this port on the subject, and it appearing Oa'
a diversity of practice prevails in charging the duty os4
foreign corn on prime and post entries and the boar
being of opinion that the duties payable upon foreign col
under the provisions of the law, are regulated and governee
by the aggregate average prices of British corn at the time
of the entry for home consumption, have ordered that tb
duty due at the actual time of each entry of foreign °?rsd
for borne use, whether prime or post, only be receives to
which the officers in London and at the several outP°l's
of the kingdom have had notice, with directions to gofer,
themselves in future accordingly. This order is of CO
siderable importance to the importers of foreign
who are obliged in all cases of clearing the artice dire:
from the importing vessel to pay a sum of duty, by 1015,;
ing a prime entry, in order to obtain the landing of t,",,
article, and as it is in almost every instance impractica!li
to give in the first entry the exact quantity which Old
turn out, as it is termed, it of course becomes necessa,,
to pass a post or second entry for the remainder, fr;i
quently several days after the passing of the origi°
entry.
HULL, BRISTOL, AND NEWCASTLE.—The title tO
considered the third port of the kingdom has been ain't
posed to lie between these ports. Bristol takes the le'd
in point of productiveness to the revenue, the amountd,
custom duties collected at that port during the year ed,
ing January 5, 1844, being £326,750. The customs 'll,
ties of Hull during the same year were £525,418. the. lid
ference being accounted for by the fact, that the prinis
articles of export into Hull are not those on which
c,
heavy duties are chargeable, such as timber, linseed,;;`,:st
while Bristol contains a considerable portion of her NI:,
India trade, the duties on the sugars, coffee, rum, '''„'"4.o
which swell the revenue. We have reason to sulitAl,
that the customs returns for the year ending Jan. 5,170
will exhibit a less preponderating difference between,,
two ports in this respect, and will show larger contriuof
tions to the revenue from this port. In the numbefo
ships and the amount of tonnage for the year ending 1800
Hull has a decided superiority—the number of our 6114
which entered our port being 973 British and 945 foreielo:
or 1.918 in all; against 315 British and only 25 foreigp,
or 340 in all, which entered the port of Bristol in Op
The difference in the total amount of tonnage is very Oust
intr., being, Hull, 307,793; Bristol, 83,609. Ihe alOof
of customs duties collected at Newcastle during the ,/,bef
ending Jan. 5, 1814, is £494,524, being less than e",,st
Hull or Bristol. The number of ships and the amorof
of tonnage exceed, however, either those of Brist°'ol,
Hull, being 1,676 British ships, and 1,148 foreign, t°
2,824, with a tonnage of 381,961.—Hu1l Herald.
0401
NEW ME :CHANT SEAMEN'S ACT.—On Wean— As
(to. morrow) the New Merchant Seamen's Act will cei,'-es
into force. From the Ist proximo no seaman can bete 10,
to sea without the requisite ticket, under a penalty of to
The act is "to amend and consolidate the laws relatiesaer
Merchant Seamen, and for Keeping a Register of sisal
men." By the preamble it is declared that it is exiled to
to promote the increase of the number of seamen, a°
afford them encouragement and protection ; and it 'sot,
they declared to be expedient to keep a register of sestet!,
Agreements are to be made in " writing between Med, 01
and seamen, stating the situations, wages, and iengwitls
service of the men. Parish boys may be sent to sea is tO
their consent, or boys soliciting alms. No searnani,ioJ,
be discharged abroad, nor to be abandoned or left boost
without the sanction of the consul of the place, I's goof
mischief has been caused by such proceedings—the Po'
men having been reduced to great distress, and ebe
cording to the language of the act, been tempted t4to
come pirates. By the 64th section it is provided, t`lterri•
any person being a Malay, Lascar, or native of the se'
torities under the government of the East India Conil),,dbt,
or if any Asiatic or African seaman, having been br°,0706
to the United Kingdom on board any ship, shall be 100th
to be in the United Kingdom in distress for want el: the
clothing, or other necessaries, the commissioners 190`, ori
admiralty may supply assistance to every such Persbosiv
seaman, and maintain him until he shall be sent on. pod,
some ship to be taken to the place from which he
and b 055
The assistance rendered is to become a debt, a"tl
recovered from the owner or master of the ship on.i.it
whereof such person or seaman was brought to the kJ'
Kingdom from Asia or Africa."