Ilaistellantous.

We find in the Morning Chronicle this string of semi-official announce- ments— " We are authorized to give the most express contradiction to the statement Put forth at the late Vestry meeting at Windsor' that the late King George the f hird and his successors uniformly paid rates for the Flemish farm; such being directly contrary to the facts. It is true, that when this farm was let to a tenant, the rates were paid in the usual course; but since the tenant quitted possession in 1830, the farm Lasuniformly been in the hands of the Crown, and no rates have ever since been paid. We have every reason to believe, that when the memorial agreed to at the Vestry, disclaiming the legal liability, has been presented, it is his Royal Highness's intention to pay a sum equivalent to the rates, as no ques- tion touching the prerogative of the Crown can now arise.

"We understand that Lord Canning retires from the Under-Secretaryship of the Foreign Department. It is rumoured that his Lordship will succeed Lord Metcalfe as Governor-General of Canada. It is also rumoured that the Honour- able Mr. Smythe will succeed Lord Canning. "A rumour prevailed last night [Tuesday] that Lord Granville Somerset was about to retire from the Cabinet. This step is attributed to his Lordship's dis- satisfaction with the contemplated measure of Sir Robert Peel upon the Corn- laws, which was communicated to the Cabinet on Monday."

The Standard puts forth a set of statements, in some respects different from the foregoing- " There is no truth in the statement that Lord Canning is about to succeed Lord Metcalfe as Governor-General of Canada.

" We have every reason to believe that it has been proposed to Lord Cathcart to succeed Lord Metcalfe, and thus unite in the same hands the civil and military government of Canada. " The report of Lord Granville Somerset's retirement from office is altegether without foundation.

" The Earl of Verulam and the Earl of Harewood will attend at the first

*una, [on Mondayj fo be sworn in as lords-Lieinfenants of Hettraiihire end the West Riding of Yorkshire respectively."

The Times says- " We have very much pleasure in confirming a rumour which was current em Wednesday, to the effect that the Honourable G. A. Smythe has been appointed Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in the room of Lord Canning, who has been for some time anxious to retire from the onerous duties of an office which he has filled with much ability and most exemplary. attention. Mr. Smythe will now have an excellent opportunity of obtaining an insight into public business; and we trust that the applause which his brilliant success in Parliament has ex- cited, will not induce him to neglect those less showy acquisitions without which no Minister can in these days hope to succeed in obtaining the confidence of the public."

In allusion to the late Whig letter-writing, the Morning Herald calls for a supplement to that memorable epistolary demonstration-

" Mr. Macaulay has been by no means the most indiscreet of the conclave. He . las nothing to answer for but the letter, which it is impossible to believe he ever intended to be printed. There are two other letters, however' of which we call for the production. The one, addressed by Lord Grey, to Lord John Russell pre- vious to the last day's discussion; • the other, addressed by Lord John to Earl Grey after the discussions had closed. Lord Grey's particularly should be before the world, that the world may see whether be has been justly accused of breaking .up the Government. We are not advocates for the publication of letters never in- tended for publication; but if one is published, the gist of which is to implicate an individual, then we say, mere justice requires that all should be published, so that the charge and the defence may accompany each other." , The Morning Chronicle solves a doubt which we expressed respecting the plan of compromise for the Corn-laws, sent to that journal by a correspond- :lint rather strongly accredited. After a long paper on the subject, the ..-Chronick has this kind of postscript-

" By the way, our contemporary the Spectator inqnftes whether the initials ' M P.' should not have been 'M. G.'? No. The signature indicated truly the position of the writer—a Member of Parliament, and a member of the League; and neither 'M. P.' nor 'M. G.' are the initials of his name."

The query, however, has had the good effect of eliciting from our con- temporary an able exposure of the absurdities involved in the plan sug- • Voted by the " M. P."

The Amphion steam-frigate was launched at Woolwich on Wednesday. She is to be fitted with the screw-propeller, as an auxiliary; the vessel being formed in every other particular as a sailing-ship. Her length on the lower deck is 177 feet, and the extreme breadth 43 feet 2 inches. The day was fine, the company numerous, and everything passed off well.

Messrs. Bicknell and Moore, of Bond Street, have received orders from Government to prepare immediately the necessary accoutrements for 43,000 troops, for the service of the Militia about to be enrolled.

Tuesday's Gazette announced that the Queen will hold levees, at St. James's Palace, on Wednesday the 11th and Wednesday the 18th February aext.

The Queen Dowager has made a third contribution of 101. to the Dis- tressed Needlewomen's Society in Rathbone Place.

Mr. Shell, we regret to learn, has had the misfortune to lose his only son; who was in his twenty-fourth year, and died a short time ago at Funchal in Madeira; whither he had gone for the benefit of his health.— Globe.

The bad working of ecclesiastical law has been well illustrated by the tease of Wokingham, in Berkshire. Our account is compiled from the Times, a statement by the Churchwardens, and the correspondence referred to below.

The parish contains a population of nearly four thousand persons; and their *ritual care is made to devolve upon the Perpetual Curate and an assistant. The fabric of the church has fallen into a state of hopeless decay, is altogether destitute of comfort, and unsuitable for the purposes of worship. The existence of this discreditable state of things is not owing to the want of money, for the parish yields largely; but, unfortunately, it is attracted into an unproductive channel. The Dean of Salisbury is the Rector, and he derives an income of about 1,7001. a year from the tithes; for which he gives no return in clerical service or superintendence of any kind. The Perpetual Curate has an aggregate income of • 1201.; and his assistant obtains a precarious subsistence from the generosity of the parishioners. The only aid that the Dean has been known to give towards the advancement of the spiritual interests of the parishioners was on the occasion

• of granting a renewal of the tithe-lease. For this renewal he was paid 2,2001.; an he divided it in this way-2001. to Queen Anne's bounty, and 2,0001. to him- - self. For twenty years previous to 1843, no effort was made by any authority, clerical or lay, to keep the edifice in repair, or to render the means of religious instruction adequate to the growth of the population: but in that year Church- wardens were appointed, whose efforts have been unceasingly devoted to the at- tainment of both objects; though without success. Petitions to Parliament, memorials to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, a formal presentment to the "Dean himself in July 1845, when he held a visitation lit Sonning, repre- sentations to the Archdeacon, and finally an appeal to the Dean as the re- ceiver of the tithes, have all been tried, without avail. The Times of Mon- day, contains copies of the correspondence which has taken place between the Churchwardens, Archdeacon Lear, and the Dean of Salisbury: a few extracts will show the spirit which animates the parties, and the position in which the question stood on the 8d October last. On the 1st August, the Churchwardens, addressing Archdeacon Lear, express a hope that they.will not be deemed imper- tinent " in begging you to make our representations fully known to the Dean, and entreating him, as Rector of the parish, to assist us in making some better pro- vision for its spiritual cure." In his reply, the Archdeacon reminds his corre- spondents of the liberality of the Dean in subscribing 2001. to Queen Anne's bounty, and advises them to make a personal appeal to him. This was done on the 19th August; and on the 11th September the Churchwardens received a reply: the Dean expresses his regret at the spiritual destitution which exists, but begs to remind them that he is not charged with the spiritual cure of the parish, as that devolves upon the incumbent and his assistant. The Dean proceeds to say—" The responsibility does not, therefore, rest upon me. I must also remind you, that this is one of too many cases throughout the kingdom, in which a population such as that of Wokingham, of between 3,000 and 4,000, and often a very much larger amount, is committed to the care of two clergymen, and some- times only of one." Any ameliorative measure must originate with the Vicar; and should the Dean approve of what is proposed, he shall be ready to offer what assistance he can—" consistently," he adds, with the numerous demands upon me from the eighty or ninety parishes under my peculiar jurisdiction, for similar and various other ecclesiastical objects." Here the matter rests.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledges the receipt of 201. forwarded du 'ring the middle of last month, by some person unknown, to " Her Majesty the QUeen." This money has been placed to the public credit.

In the spring of last year, the -Reverend C. F. 137Wood, Vicar of Penmaric, with the view of encouraging a disposition of industry and economy among the

poor of his parish, made proposals to several, that he would become their trea- surer in small sums weekly, with a promise that on the following Christmas he would add something to their savings. Last week, the poor people accordingly attended; when the worthy Vicar returned them their savings, augmented from fifty to a hundred per cent by his own liberality.—Cambrian.

The name of Oregon is derived from oregano, the Spanish word for wild mar- joram, the oregannm vulgare of Linnaeus; which grows abundantly in the Western parts of the American continent, and particularly in the disputed territory.

The Paris journal Le Commerce was sold on Saturday, to M. Paulin the bookseller, for 6,000 francs. The debts, accepted by the purchaser, amounted to 50,000 francs.

It is well known, save a letter published in La Presse, that many of the churches irr the PontifiCal States, and especially those of Heine, possess rich col- lections of works of ancient music, still unpublished; many of which belong to

some of the most celebrated composers of Italy. The Pope has consequently appointed a commission to examine these collections, and to publish the most

eminent of the compositions which they contain, after having transcribed the music into modern characters. This commission, at the head of which is the learned professor Signor Pietro Alfieri, member of the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts at St. Luc, has already commenced its labours,. and announces the immediate publication of many new works of sacred music by the illustrious Poletrana.

A letter from Venice speaks of the extraordinary precautions taken by the Emperor Nicholas to escape all attempts that might be made against his life. On his arrival at Padua, he himself visited the apartment in which he was to sleep, striking the walls of his bedchamber with a hammer. He then caused the mattresses of the bed to be removed, and replaced by a leather mattress, which was filled with hay under his eyes. The Emperor refused to taste any of the dishes prepared for his super; and called for his travelling-case, out of which he took a -bottle of Malaga wine and a cold roast fowl, which he shared with Count Orloff. At Venice, the public expected him with much impatience at the theatre; but he remained in the bottom of the box and could scarcely be seen. Count Orloff sat in the front, attired in a rich uniform. When the play was over, four carriages drove up to the gate, and nobody could tell which was the one intended for the Emperor. The same precaution was observed when he left Venice; and no one could tell whether the Emperor repaired by sea or land to Trieste.—Con- stitutionnel The Courrier de la Moselle relates, as authentic, an anecdote which cirouletts throughout Rhenish Germany. The King of Prussia and the King of Bavaria took occasion to give each other mutual advice. King Frederick William, who pretends to a certain superiority over Louis Charles' began by saying, with an affected air of good-nature—" Comedny dear brother, make no more verses: either they are not read, or they are laughed at when they are looked at by chance." The Poet- Kiing of Bavaria, whose vanity was stung to the quick by this home-thrust, quickly retorted—" Sire, your piece of good advice demands another; and as we have each our monomania, will say to you in my turn, make no more constitutional speeches, or promises to grant a, constitution, for nobody believes you."

A young Hungarian of Presburg, searching for some family papers deposited in the garret of a house occupied by a relation, the widow of an advocate, dis- covered a number of documents which promise to make his fortune. A portion has been sent to the King of the French who offered a recompense to the finder; but this was declined, and the order of the Legion of Honour was substituted, with an invitation to visit the King in Paris. Another portion was despatched to the reigning houses of Baden, Lucca, and Tuscany; and money having been re- fused, orders and a gold snuff-box have been forwarded in acknowledgment. The Emperor of Austria has also received documents of value; but in this case a price was set upon them by the discoverer—the honour of being nominated Cham- berlain; and this distinction, although reserved for persons of high descent, has actually been conferred upon the ignoble youth of Presburg. It is conjectured that the papers sent to Louis Philippe are letters written by his father to an Austrian Minister during the time of the French Republic; and that those sent to the Ducal houses relate to property. No opinion is formed as to the batch sent to the Emperor. "It is supposed that the papers had been lodged for security with the advocate during the invasion of Austria by Napoleon.

At Berlin, at twelve o'clock on Christmas eve, all the licensed houses of ill fame were, by command of the authorities, for ever shut up. The unfortunate women were released from all debts to the proprietors of the houses; who, it-is believed, are to be indemnified for their losses. The discarded women are to be sent home to their relations in the country, at the public expense, and there main- tained until places are found for them as servants :or otherwise, either by the police or by benevolent societies. Snah as belong to the city, or prove to be in- corrigible, are to be either sent to the house of correction, or kept under the super intendence of the police until they are placed.

A stupendous work of art, a viaduct of twenty-seven arches, (150 feet in spin each, the centre ones 100 feet in height,) which formed part of the works of the Rouen and Havre Railway, broke down on the morning of Saturday last. No life was lost, from the early hour at which the accident occurred. The viaduct was a third of a mile in length; was commenced in the spring of 1844, with a force of two hundred or three hundred workmen; and was so nearly completed that latterly not more than forty men were kept at work. The structure crossed the valley of Barentin. The river which it spanned was stopped in its course by the ruins, and sought vent in other channels. An adjoining mill was overwhelmed and destroyed. The engineer is unable to account for the accident: he thinks it may have arisen from a thaw, softening the mortar of an unfinished arch, upon which the mortar may have been unequally distributed. The disaster will delay the opening of the railway fer two months: the expense will fall upon the eon- tractors.

A frightful accident has happened on the Carlsrube and Manheim Railway. Two trains running on the same line, in opposite directions, came into collision; forty-four persons were injured, and, it is feared, twenty-three of them mortally.

There are building and outfitting on the Clyde at present thirty-seven vessels, amounting in the aggregate to 18,027 tons. Of these, twenty-six are iron steamers, collectively amounting to 14,137 tons, and 5,580 horse-power; the residue being timber-ships, amounting to 3,890. Valuing the timber vessels at .201. per ton, the iron steamers at 251. and the machinery at 401. per horse-power overhead, the total value of these vessels, when ready and equipped for sea, will amount to 654,4251.

The other day as a flock of pigeons flew over the house of a gentleman in Locbarron, he shot one of the birds. It dropped down the chimney into a pot of soup which bung over the fire h—Inverness Courier.

Strange as it may appear, the quey calf, which was advertized some three or four weeks ago has having been nussing from the farm of Balquhidderock, near Bannockburn, was, notwithstanding the strictest search having been made at the time, found in the cart-shed alive and well, entangled among seine useless timber. The animal had not tasted anything better than dry straw, nor even a drop of water, for twenty-four days.—Stirling Journal. Some time ago we published a caution against certain advertisers who offered great inducements to young ladies desirous of some employment. We now repeat our caution; and if such advertisements seem to demand any inquiry, we advise ladies not to inquire personally or alone.—Times.