Fiar.s.—A destructive fire broke out on Monday morning, in the

lower part of the premises of Mr. Carlile, bookseller, No. 105, Fleet-street, corner of Bell-yard, Fiar.s.—A destructive fire broke out on Monday morning, in the lower part of the premises of Mr. Carlile, bookseller, No. 105, Fleet-street, corner of Bell-yard, two doors from Temple-bar. The fire had gained such an ascendency in the inte- rior of the house, that Mr. Carlile's retreat was cut off, and he threw himself from the second floor window : he was taken up senseless,with one of his legs broken, his servant girl narrowly escaped. The fire soon communicated to the upper part of the house of Mr. Harpur, the goldsmith and jeweller, corner of Great Shire-lane, and from thence to the premises in the rear, known as the Sun Hotel, Shire-lane. In the course of one hour from the fire breaking out, the houses of Mr. Harpur and Mr. Carlile were burnt to the ground, and soon afterwards the fronts fell forward into Fleet-street, leaving the large space front Temple-bar to Bell-yard vacant. The engines had now room to play with more effect ; but by seven o'clock, when the flames were extinguished, seven houses were completely destroyed. The of light which the flames spread among the inmates of the haunts of infamy in Shire-lane, were viewed with delight by the multitude. Mr. Harpur's stock was saved, but no part of Mr. Carlile's, which was very valuable.

A still more disastrous fire broke out on Thursday evening, in the dwelling- house of Mrs. Usher, tallow-chandler, Fenchurch-street ; which in a short time was reduced to ruins, with all it contained. Mrs. Usher, and her infant child, were unfortunately burnt to death. Soon after the fire was discovered, two children were seen on the parapet in front of the attic story calling for help. Mr. Hooper of Lime-street, at the risk of his life, saved them. One of the children is severely scorched. It is supposed that their unfortunate mother, finding exit by the door impossible, placed them in the upper story and ventured to save her infant, with the intention to escape by the roof of the house. Two young men and one of the firemen were injured by the flames.

A fire broke out at Augusta, Georgia, United States, on the 3rd ultimo, which in the course of a few hours laid between four and five hundred houses in ashes. The Lafayette Theatre, and thirteen or fourteen other houses in New York, were consumed by fire on the 10th of April. The Neu. York commercial Ad- vertiser becomes poetical,in describing the fire. " The whole city was com- pletely illuminated, that a newspaper could have been read in the lower part of Broadway. The atmosphere was heavily loaded with clouds, which were lighted p like so many floating masses of fire. From the rooms of the most elevated houses, a most glorious panorama-view of the city was presented ; and Brooklyn was as distinctly within the vision as in the clearest clay."

A boy four years of age, son of Mr. Fuller, Maida-hill, while playing in his father's garden, on Tuesday, fell into the duck-pond and was drowned.

A boy named Crotty, aged twelve, died last week at Waterford. from lock.jaw, occasioned by his jumping, while at play, on the stump of a tree, which penetrated the sole of his foot.

A melancholy accident took place a few days ago at Carces, near Bri,gnoles. Some workmen being employed in making excavations, came to a rock, which they were unable to penetrate, and in consequence it was resolved to blow it up with gunpowder. This operation was carried into effect, and the men were occu- pied in removing the rubbish, when a mass of the rock gave way, and crushed to death two of the workmen and four children under tea years of age, who were at play. It is remarkable that these children were only suns of four different fami- lies.—Paris Paper.

A woman who lived in a cottage at Harlywood, in the parish of Horsley, with no other companions than two cats, was ntisos1 for a day or two. On Sunday her house was entered, when site was found dead, and her body partly devoured by her ravenous cats.

About nine o'clock on Thursday evening, the 30th ult., a slight shock of an earthquake was felt at Dymchurch, in Romney Marsh, which threw down a newly-erected brick bridge.—Kentish Gazette.

DISASTERS AT SEA.—During a recent gale, the schooner Matilda of London, front Dublin for Shoreham, attempted to take Padstow harbour, but struck at the entrance, and upset. The master rescued his wife from the cabin, got her upon deck, and tied her to the rigging, the waves washing over her and the other un- fortunate persons on board. After some time, finding she was nearly exhausted, he succeeded in taking her in his arms, where she soon after expired. The dis- tracted husband continued to hold the lifeless body, and twisted her long hair round his waist to assist in retaining it, but the fury of the waves speedily tore it from his grasp. During this time, the mate and two seamen were washed off the wreck and drowned. The master and a boy clung to the rigging until they were rescued on the receding of the tide.

A boat, with three men, was upset on Monday week, off Ballyvaldon, on the Wexford coast, inn a violent surf; and all were drowned within sight of crowds who could render them no assistance.

On Monday, a boat containing ten persons, some of them drunk, while return- ing from a vessel lying off Greenock harbour, was upset, and three of the party were drowned.

A letter from Sierra Leone, dated the 2d March, mentions that Lieutenant Parrey, of his Majesty's ship Primrose, had found the brig Lochielof Liverpool, in the river Noonaz, without any one living on board. The captain, mate, and all her crew were discovered dead below. The lieutenant had captured two slave vessels one with two hundred and twenty-five slaves, and the other with thirty-eight slaves on board.

The Myrtle packet, from Bermuda to Halifax and Falmouth, was lost on Rag. ged Island on the 3d ult. Crew and mails saved. This is the fifth packet of the new class used under the direction of the Admiralty, lost within two years.

The ship Woodford, on her voyage from Batavia, foundered at sea on the 13th, February. The captain, crew, and passengers got into the boat about ten minutes before she sunk ; and after being in that situation for sixty-four hours, were picked up by the ship Scipio, from Singapore.

The merchant ship the Penang Merchant, arrived at Bombay, after a narrow escape from being burnt at sea. l'he vessel was in flames, but they were extiii- guished by the exertions of the crew. There appeared to be no doubt that it was the act of an incendiary. Suspicion rested upon one of the passengers who is insane.

A Turkish postman, whilst proceeding lately, on his way from Constantinople to Smyrna, with mail-bags from every part of Europe, and with specie to the amount of several hundred thousand dollars, was upset in a boat, in attempting to cross the gulf of Molialitch, on a stormy night. He was drowned, with every one inn the boat ; and the letters, as well as the money, were lost.

Piracies to an alarming extent continue to prevail oft' all the Spanish West India possessions. A New York paper mentions, that the Nile, on 11&. voyage from Havre to that city, while in lat. 43, was " surrounded with mountains of ice, the largest of which was about five miles long and six hundred feet high."

ATTEMPT TO Porsotc—A boy named Edward Nunn, aged fifteen, was on Wed- nesday committed from Union Hall-office, accused of having attempted to poison

his master, Cook, a shoemaker, of Bengal Place, Bermondsey, and his family. The charge is, that he put oxalic acid among the water which was boiled fur their Sunday's tea ; of which, however, none of them had partaken, suspicion having been awakened by the marks left on the kettle by the water boiling over. The boy also refused to partake of it; but declared his innocence. A surgeon said the water was impregnated with oxalic acid.

RoenkluEs.—Edward Gibbons was on Saturday examined at Marlborough Street, on the charge of having stolen some brass ornaments from Apsley House, where he was employed as a labourer. Neither Mr. Wyatt, the architect, nor Mr. Fish, the clerk of the works, wished to prosecute; but. as Mr. Conant learned in the course of the examinations that the Duke of Wellington had been subjected to several such petty robberies, the prisoner was committed.

A youth named Swift was next examined on the charge of having stolen a hat from the area of Mr. Brougham's house. He pleaded distress. Mr. Conant satisfied himself, and Thurlow, the butler, concurred, that the young culprit had gone with the intention of stealing plate. He was committed for trial.

A young girl. only seventeen years of age, was charged at Guildhall on Mon- day, with stealing some of her sister's clothes. Her mother, a highly respect. able widow, and the sister, appeared to support the charge. The unhappy pri- soner left her home about two years before, and had been often received back, but was so irreclaimable that they had adopted this alternative, " in order," said the mother," to save her from the gallows." She was seat to Newgate for trial.

An old man, between sixty and seventy years of age, was on Wednesday com- mitted from Guildhall, for stealing a hoot. The man, whose emaciated counte- nance seemed to bear out the truth of his tale, said that he took the boot because he was starving, and in the hope that he would be transported.

SWINDLIsm—Juhn Gillings was on Monday charged at Mary-le-bonne with repeated acts of swindling. A cheesemonger in Earl Street, Lissom Grove, had given him 501. to enable him to begin business • and in six months he defrauded his neighbours of about 1501., when he absconded. He had defrauded several other tradesmen of clothes, and other things; and after all, he had the hnpu- dence to apply to his first benefactor for a character.

PIRACY.—Aaron Smith was on Saturday committed from the Thames Police- office for trial, on the charge of having in July 182'2 piratically stolen a vessel Called the Prevoyante. The prisoner was taken into custody on another charge, but was recognized at the office.

NUISANCE.—A girl about nineteen years of age, was on Thursday convicted at Queen Square office, by Mr. Marriott, of placing a basket containing radishes and onions, value Zr., on the carriage-way pavement in the Broadway, West- minster, which she offered for sale. The girl said she did it to gain her living, and others slid the Caine. Sire was fined 21. ; but declared that she had not a farthing in the world. Mr. Marriott then sent her to the House of Correction fur one month. The iHorning Journal remarks, that this is a " severe sentence;" and an " expeditious method of making an industrious female a thief and a prostitute. Females committed are necessarily herded amongst thieves and pros- titutes. Five minutes after the conviction of this unfortunate girl there were not less than twenty-seven baskets on the pavement of the Broadway."

WESTMINSTEP. Attnev.—Hurley has been again examined, and again remanded, in order to give time for investigating the charge of setting fire to the Abbey. " It is singular," says the Morning Journal, that during the whole of a length- ened investigation, no one has yet discovered that any lead was taken away ; nor is there, in fact, any corpus delicti in existence either traceable to Hurley or any one else.

RECORDER'S REPORT.—The Recorder made his report to the King in Council, on Wednesday, of the twenty convicts capitally convicted at the April sessions ; when his Majesty was graciously pleased to reprieveseventeen of them during his pleasure. The law was ordered to take its course next Tuesday morning on Thomas George Hawkins, for robbery; William Henry Carr, for forgery ; and John Shaw, for burglary. Muttoaas.—On Thursday morning, the murdered body of Mary Anne Waite, alias Brown, alias Smith, was found a little off the road near Lord Holland's park, Kensington. Her clothes were saturated with blood; and there was a deep wound, as if inflicted with a large knife, under the left breast, which had mitered the heart. The deceased appeared to be about twenty-three years of age. An inquest was held on the body, on Thursday evening. It appeared that the deceased was an "unfortunate," as a female companion said ; and that on the night of her death she was going to meetThomas Birmingham, au officer's servant in Knightsbridge Barracks. Sire was seen about two o'clock in the morning by Trerett, a police constable, in company with a man in livery ; and as he passed, sire either pushed or struck the man, and said, "Do you mean to servo me so ." Birmingham having been confronted with Trevett, the latter observed that he greatly resembled the person he saw with the woman. Elizabeth Price said, that about ten o'clock at night the deceased was goingi to the Barracks to deliver a shirt-pin to Birmingham, which she had formerly taken from him while he was drunk ; and since the murder was discovered, she had spoken to him about the pin, when he rather changed colour, and disowned it. The pin was in the de- ceased's cap when she was found. Birmingham, against whom alone any suspi- cion seems to exist, attempted to account for his time from nine o'clock on Wed- nesday night till six next morning. He was seen in the Barracks about eleven, with a woman who, he says, slept with him, and who was afterwards seen to leave his room and get over the Barrack wall ; but this woman, he said, was a stranger to him. Birmingham was afterwards seen stripping himself, as if going to bed. It appears that he could easily get over the wall unobserved, except perhaps by the sentinel. He confessed that he had known the deceased; but added, that he had not seen her for some days. The Coroner, Mr. Stirling, did not think that Birmingham had clearly proved an alibi. A surgeon said that the woman must have died instantly, and that she could not have inflicted the wound herself. The Coroner adjourned the proceedings till Monday and Birminghim is in the mean time detained.

On Thursday afternoon, an attempt was made to assassinate a Monsieur Para- die, a dancing-master, who resides in North Bank, Regent's-park. A person rang at Mr. Paradie's door, and requested the servant to tell her master that some one wished to see him ata house immediately opposite. Mr. Paradie went to the house as directed ; and as he entered the passage, a gentleman came down the stairs, and fired a pistol at him. He, however, missed his aim. Mr. Paradie being too much astonished to take any immediate steps for his apprehension, the person escaped. A woman has been sent to Lancaster Castle for trial on the charge of having murdered her two new-born infants. Their bodies were found concealed beneath the floor of the room where she was weaving. - Surcines.—Attempts at self-destruction have become especially frequent in the neighbourhood of Blackfriars Bridge. If Davis, a watchman, deserves credit for an assertion made before Sir Peter Laurie, at Guildhall, on the occasion of his bringing a miserable woman there who had attempted to drown herself, not a single night passes without several unfortunate beings seeking to leave the world in this way. Latterly these attempts have become so common, as to " require him to devote nearly all his time to the sole object of prevention." Last week, a woman at Shobley, New Forrest, quarrelled with her husband, and struck him. He laid her gently down on the floor, and left her. She im- mediately ran to in upper room, swallowed arsenic, returned and told her hus- band what she had done. Some of the arsenic was adhering to her mouth, and he picked out about half a thimble-full. Her passion cooled, she repented of her rashness, but too late to avail her, even with medical aid, for she died next evening.

A man who carried on a respectable trade as a butcher at Broadway, Chelten- ham, drowned himself last week, in consequence of a quarrel with his wife.

On Tuesday, Mr. Thomas Longridge Hawks, and Mr. Dohree, his friend, ar- rived at the Union Hotel, Dover, 'from France. As the former gentleman had been for several days labouring under great depression of spirits and excessive fatigue of mind, every care was taken not to leave him alone, and to deprive him of every sort of weapon likely to do mischief; but during Mr. Dohree's absence for only a few seconds, Mr. Hawks possessed himself of a razor, and cut his throat in such a manner as immediately to cause death.

On Thursday evening, a French gentleman, named Hemmerlein, a composer and teacher of music, shot himself at his lodgings in Titchfield-street, Oxford- street. A short time before, he wrote a letter to a gentleman connected with the firm of Broadwoods, the eminent piano-forte makers, thanking him for his kind- ness, and enclosing a 10/. note and a debtor and creditor account of his afihirs, leaving him the balance of what remained after payment of his debts.

ROBBERIES.—On Saturday, a robber dexterously cut a reticule from a lady's arm, as she was walking along George-street, St. Giles's. The reticule con- tained 91. This species of robbery has become very prevalent.

On Monday evening, a lady, while proceeding to Faversham, on the outside of a stage-coach, had her pocket cut away. It contained a 201. note, and a gold snuff-box.

Assauhr.—A ruffian, having the outward appearance of a gentleman, on Tues- day, on pretence of business, obtained admittance into the house of Mr. Jennings, a naval officer residing at 19, Prior-place, Walworth. Mrs. Jennings was alone. The ruffian assailed her with disgusting and brutal violence. The lady rendered desperate in defence of her honour, seized a fruit-knife, and stabbed him in the throat and arm, on which he snatched her handkerchief and escaped, uttering threats of vengeance. The lady who is with child, has been extremely ill in consequence of the assault.

EXECUTIONS.—John Proudlove, and John Lair were executed on Saturday, at Chester ; the first being convicted of highway robbery ; the second, one of the burglars who broke into the house of the Reverend Matthew Bloor, and left him for dead in his bed-room. Proudlove's brother was executed on the same spot nineteen, years before.