The Sun. — 1841-12-30 (London, England)

SINGULAR DISCO VERY.  A very singular discovery of an inscription was made some time since at Coxwold, near Tbirsk, in Yorkshire. The country was formerly, as its name implies, a forest ; but as cultivation has advanced, the trees have by degrees been cleared away. An ash was thus felled and split for fire-wood. Upon being riven asunder, the outer part of the tree was cleft in two like a case, leaving the inner portion of the truak entire, and the following rude inscription was discovered, distinctly legible, both upon the inner part of the trunk, and, with the letters inverted, upon the outer casing. The inscription can, without difficulty, be thus read :  THIS THE LOVNG TIME WITNES BEARE OF TOW gOVRS THAT cca WALK HEA RE " This tree long time witness hear Of two lovers that did walk here."  There is no date to the inscription, but the period at which it was made may be ascertained, with much probability, from the following considerations. The tree is deposited in the museum of the Hospital at Kirk Leatham, between Stockton-upon-Tees and Redcar. The porter of the Hospital, now living, can vouch for its having been there upwards of 70 years ; and the tradition respecting the tree is, that it was given by Lord Falkenburg, from his manor at Coxwold, to Mr. Cholmley Turner, who died on the 9th May, 1757. It would therefore appear that the tree has been cut down nearly a hundred years. Also, by the number of rings in the wood, each indicating a year's growth, the tree appears to have been about 55 years old when the inscription was made, and to have subsequently grown for nearly 200 )ears. The closeness of the rings under the circumference prevent this estimation of the date from being regarded as more than an approximation ; but all the circumstances render it highly probable that the inscription was made about three centuries ago.— Tyne Mercury.  THE GREAT SPIRIT, ALCOHOL, The Barbadoes Liberal, in giving the report of a temperance meeting and its speeches, presents its readers with the following novel piece of elocution, then and there delivered :  " Gentlemen of the Jury,—l appear before you tonight on the part of the Barbadoes Society for the Suppression of Drunkenness and Intemperance against the prisoner at the bar. He is charged by us with being guilty of sundry high crimes and misdemeanors upon the lives, persons, and properties of our fellow-subjects of this island. His name, Gentlemen, is Ardent Spirit, or Alchohol, but he passes commonly in society, under the more fascinating and gentlemanly names of Rum, Brandy, Gin, Whisky, &c. Gentlemen, the prisoner at the bar, according to the best information 1 can obtain, was born in Egypt. Now, this is worthy of remark ; in Egypt, the very place where the ancient people of God were evil treated several hundred years. Thence he was introduced to the African Moors— these, if I mistake not, were the descendants of Ishmael, of whom it is said in Scripture, His hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand shall be against him.' The prisoner, however, can only be a half brother to these, for while his hand is evidently against every man, he contrives to keep every man upon good terms with him, by which means he accomplishes more evil than he would if he were a true Ishmaelite. By the African Moors, he was introduced to the Moors of Spain, and through them he got into England, about 800 years ago. From that day to the present he bas never ceased to perpetra.e on his unconscious victims the most horrid crimes that ever disgraced human nature. The first crime we charge upon the prisoner is murder ; and was it one solitary case, even of this atrocious crime, committed during the hour of excitement, we might pause, drop the tear of pity, and say no more, lest we should exaggerate his offence. But, Gentlemen, the prisoner has been guilty of a series of murders—a system of villany unheard-of in the annals of the world. It is said that Bonaparte filled the pools of Europe with human gore ; but, Gentlemen, Bonaparte was a mere dwarf in comparison of him who now stands at this