The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-09-12 00:00:00

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~..'' ' ....• ~ • - trilittie4:l*/*OV ' • ' •,:j •• :. ' -
1114 business of tik • . • 4i• ts errnmenc.
, . .
eery Inaaspitlfously..'A4 s . ,ho.e.rino• of tilt'
great wharf, neatly 3.o!iiite,t,asl 4
..e Sittn./inarry, was.
sunk. n seen a meow OM* it 30 pited.orell • PPelotaL."!.
The wail in sittliatts has 88a aged .eBe position, felling
back in the top, sudheretinventia the middle :'the:
foundation also a mimes .40 -. bortiVitilthlen --outwards;
the curb stones forrillyitflsettingliellf • [yearly 45
,013
greet inwards. Theizr tifi• brcking; Itatiug'suok
likewise, hie, destellectilicrall: read; aid, of course,
all approach to the iv htkrtirein the gasvry. OH the
river side, i:, flout of the.aall, its,pressure has. been
so greet in sinking,. as to force upwards the mud, and
fo -a. an emt.a..kment, so that barges eaunot approach
tho wharf, eveu.if it inul.not changed its perpendicu-
Iv and front line in sinking.
" There is in this boldness the most culpable igno- '
ranee or inattention. This failure must render half
the barges *ad a orketer Useless.. Theo stre.twenty
hired barges, and ten public ones--;there, see some
hundreds of teen employed in blasting, &c. but all '
these are unavailing, while there is little or no wharf
left from whence toteke off the stone. • Add to thi:4,
the ton barges, of 110 tons each, constructed for the
purpose of carrying the stone, are so ill adapted that
eight of them arc now at the King's dock-yard here,
trader alterations, which will cost at least 3001. each.
All this expense might have been avoided in their
original contrivance. (r
66 li. B. I should have mentioned that the. wall,'
according to the informatiou of a person who has
been employed on it from its commencement, has suuk
twenty feet, and that they have continued to build
on it till the beginning of last *reek, when all further
progress became hopeless.
46 Each stone vessel has a complement of ten men,
several of these have been manned two months ; so that
the iil contricancn of these vessels has not only occa.
sioned the waste of 3,0001.—that is ten at 3001. each,
but toe pay and.provisions of their crews awl they
wi:l just he completed when the season will reader
them useless."

On. Sunday se'nnight the •Reir. John Macdoneel,
of Ferret, baptized the infant son of the Rev.'Dr.
Brechan, of Dyke, with the name of the illustrious
Wellington, .A scavengero.feW years ago, in Dum-
fries, baptized his ion, notwithstanding the re-
monstrances of the Minister, with the name Of : Bo-
naparte.
The balloon with which Madame Blanchard lately
ascended from Tivoli, near Paris, was • surrounded.
with a net of fire-works, which being ignited as:the
machine ascended, enveloped it in a cloud of smoke,
from which issued a fiery stream, dispersing itself In
innumerable stars.. The exhibition, which had the.l
appearance of an apotheosis, is said to have been be- I
yond conception grand.
Aroot.g, probably, a thonsand other similar instate. -
ces that could be given of the praolificnese of the pre-
sent blessed harvest, the following fact is not en-
worthy notice :—There is at . Harrow an oat * field;
which has yielded ten quarters per acre. The plants
were iu general of ancommongrowth. Some of the
Attest were selected, when one of them being measure
ell, it proved to be six feet itt length, and oneinchand 1,
one eighth in girt. This single straw bore two bun.,
Bred and thirty-seven grains. The field is the pro-
perty of Lord Northwick.
On Tuesday se'nninght a very numerous meeting
of proprietors of land, interested in the drainage of
South Holland, took place at Spalding. It was at.
tended by his Grace of Somerset, Sir J. Bankes, Sir
John Trollope, Mr. Freemantle, the Commissioners,
and other intelligent Gentlemen. It had been re-
ported, that bet's Lord 'Castlereagh and Mr. Can-
ning, who have estates iu that neighbourhood, were
also to be present ; but they did not attend. The
Dike took th.! chair at one o'clock, and stated, that
the reason why the Committee for conducting the
proposed measure of drainage had called that Gene-
ral Meeting of the Proprietors, was, that the great
public measure was impeded by disagreements be-
twe.m them (the (,ommitte.,) and the Coavni,sioners,
which it was d,,sirable to obviate for the future ; and
that could only be done b) the Proorictors at large
giving to the Committee powers of proceeding in the
execution of their resolutions, notwithstanding any
dissent on the part of the Commissioners. This was
proposed in a perf.ctly amicable understanding at
pre;ent with the Commissioners, but with a convic-
tion, from experience, of its necessity. Mr. Free-
mantle, after an able speech, Moved the Resolutions
for giving these new powers to the Committee ; and
they were all unanimously adopted by the Meeting.
At the above Moeting, a letter from the Duke of So.
merset to Sir Joseph Rankes was read, and excited
the admiration of every person present. It was of
the length of a great many folios, arid was a narra-
tive of his Grace's perambulation of the whole line
of country upon which Routh Holland is depeudent
for drainage, with a most amusing and comprehen-
sive history of its ancient and present state. The
whole must have' been the work of great time and
pains in enquiry and research, and of a mind addict-
ed to think 'for the advantage of the country.
THE OLD Therm—An aged Harper, who had
touched an harmeniougstring for seventy winters to
the inhabitants of a remote Northen County, was
lately summoned to give melody to the spoasals of a
rosy-checked damsel, who had permitted a man more
minuet for his possessions than for his accomplish.
meets to lead her to the altar. The ancient Harper
was somewhat skilful in the management of a stringed
Instrument, and applied his fingers With snob felicity,
that it was impossible for a soul not altogether of
Stone to resist being delighted. ;Romour does not
.nsention what effect it had upon thibridegroom ; but
certain it is, his lovely partner wal not only delighted,
bet altogether enchanted. The cunning musician,
'perceiving this, threw in certain notes of such sz
'quisite melody, that the bride ran up .to him, and
casting her Trthite" arms round his aged fleck, sainted
• his forehead, and vowed that she would never have a
hesitand, unless he could 'woo. fortirsatands equally
harmonious with those that came fre're the harp of
Duncan Graham. The bridegidom astempted to
offer violence to the harp, hut the, whole assembly
thrust him with' buffets from the door, for daring to
ramie the instrument that Mit delighted their
fathers.

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