The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — 1824-03-22 (London, England)

ARMY.  The Improved System for the Anny is now printed, and will, it is understood, be shortly issued, by command of his Majesty, to the British army. The 2d (or the Queen's Royal) regiment of foot, now stationed at Athlone, will be soon ordered to England, preparatory to its pro. eroding to India its future destination.  The Commissioners of the Turnpike Road, in this vicinity, on Thursday entered into a contract to lower Portsdown Hill ten feet. The work is to be completed in the course of July next.— l'ortssituuth Paper. At the present Assists there are seventy-three causes for trial ; of which seven are from the hundrecis of Amounderness, Lonsdale, Blackburn, and Lcyland ; thirty-four front the hundred of Salford ; and thirty-two from the hundrtml of West Derby.—Lieerpud 211erreiry. ALIJA; un Multi/ER AT PA lITINGTON.—It will be seen front the list cf committals to Turk Castle, that a person of the name of Edmund Hobson, of Parting on, stands eharp,eo with the wilful murder of his wife. We have received some .particular of this case, which Is involved in great mystery, but as die Assizes commence in so short a period, we deem it advisable to withhold them from publication. The prisoner is a schoolmaster, between sixty and seventy, and his wife was still oider—h Is stated seventynine. The parties, unhappily, did not live on good terms. On the evening of Tuesday week, he went home, at a very late hour, much intoxicated, and a quarrel took place, during which he be. hayed to her very harshly, and threatened further ill-treatment. A neighbour interfered, and the parties became, in some degree, reconciled. The next morning she was found dead, in a well near the back door of the house, with one of her arms broken llow this event occurred will form the subject of future inquiry.—!/ail  AN ALCII M I vt's Tat ices.—The best delusion ever practised by the Aleitynnists, gays Voltaire, was that which a 11osi. crut ion played. towards 1620, on Henry 1., Duke of Bouillon, of the house of Tourenne. reigning Prince of Sedan. " Von do not possess," said the llottering charlatan, " a sovereignty worthy of your great qualities, and it is in my power to make you richer than the Emperor. I can only remain. however. two days in your tern. weirs. for 1 ant obliged to go to Venice, to attend a grand meeting if the brethren ; it'. therefore, I confer wealth on you, you must keep toy secret. Send to the chief apotherary of the city, an' purchase solo° sugar •of lead ; throw in a single grain of the red powder which I will give you, and put the whole into a vessel over the tire, and in less than a quarter of an hour it will be conIverted to gold." lie performed the operation, and repeated it three times in the presence of the itoiticrucian, who had previously purchased all the sugar of lead which was in Sedan, and had resold it mixed with some gold. On quitting Sedan, he made the Duke a present of all his transmuting powder; who, having obtai.ted a small quantity of gold in his experiments, did not doubt that, with the three hundred grains of pow& t, he should gain three hundred ounces of gold. lie began to reckon his wealth ; anti talc-aimed, that within a week he should gain thirty-seven thousand pounds, without thinking of what he might afterwards gain. The philosopher, however, was in haste to depart. He had given all his treasure to the Prince, and only wanted a small sum of the current money of the country to carry him 10 Venice, where he was to be preset at the meeting of the Iler sartie States. Ile wit very tno.• iterate in his desires, and travelled without spending much money. He only asked 20,000 crowns to defray the expense of his journey to Vence: the Duke was ashamed that a man who had given him MD much should receive an small a sum, and gave him 40,111.00. lie soon afterwards consumed all the sugar of lead in Sedan, and then he made no more gold. The adept returned tin more, having made ' a very good bargain io getting /0,000 crewna fur about three i ounces of geld—The Chartist.