19 MARCH 1842, Page 8

aftiscellantous.

Sir Robert Peel has taken a house at Lewes Crescent, in Kemp Town, near Brighton. It is expected that Lady Peel and the family will leave Whitehall Gardens on Monday or Tuesday next, for Kemp Town ; and that Sir Robert will pass the Easter recess there.

The Duke of Devonshire has engaged a mansion at Nice ; and it is supposed that he will remain there for the summer, on account of the Earl of Granville's delicate health.

The Duke of Norfolk died on Wednesday morning, at his house in St. James's Square. His :death was not unexpected, for he had been ill for a long time. Bernard Edward Howard, the twelfth Duke of Nor- folk, and the bearer of many other titles, was born in 1765. He suc- ceeded to the titles and estates, and to the hereditary office of Earl Marshal, in 1815. He was a Knight of the Garter and a Privy Coun- cillor. The first Roman Catholic Peer that took his seat in the House of Lords after Catholic Emancipation was the Duke. He was, never- theless, the patron of twenty-four livings in the Church of England. He is succeeded in the titles and estates by his son, Henry Charles Earl of Surrey, formerly the Whig Member for Horsham, West Sussex but lately summoned to the House- of Peers by the family title of Sussex, Maltravers. The present Duke was born in 1791; and he married in 1814 the sister of the present Duke of Sutherland ; by whom he has issue Lord Fitzalan, now by courtesy Earl of Surrey, the Member for the family-borough of Arundel. He i a Privy Councillor. The Dukedom of Norfolk was created in 1483, and the Earldom of Arundel in 1139; so that the bearer of both those titles is at once premier Duke and premier Earl of England.

The will of the late Marquis of Hertford is said to be one of the most remarkable documents ever bequeathed to posterity. The present Marquis, we believe, succeeds to 100,000/. per annum. Lady Strachan (Marchioness de Salis) has a largejointure. La Comtesse Richi has the sum of 200,000/., the house in the Regent's Park, and a prospective law- suit respecting some casket at Messrs. Contts' ; at least so runs the tale. The lady's-maid to Lady Strachan is left property the estimated value of which varies from 150,0001. to 200,0001. Lord Henry Sey- mour nil. The wines, said to be worth 10,0001., are left to a compara- tive stranger, and legacies to a considerable amount to foreigners of high and low degree.—Morning Post.

Tuesday's Gazette announced that Sir William Molesworth of Pen- carrow, Baronet, had been appointed to be Sheriff of the county of Corawall for the year ensuing. The Countess Di Rossi has given a series of brilliant concerts during the winter, at her hotel in Vienna. The Countess is in such delicate health that she has been confined to her bed during the whole winter; but her concerts went on, her bedroom opening into the music-room, and the general direction of the music being confided to Mademoiselle Nina Sontag, her sister. It is remarked that, notwithstanding her ex- treme weakness, her voice is as fine as ever.

A numerous meeting of the Liberal.Members of the House of Com- mons was held at one o'clock this day, at the Reform Club-house, for the purpose of determining on the course to be pursued in presenting a firm and decided opposition to the project for taxing the income of the country. The best feeling prevailed ; it was, we understand, determined to oppose the measure both in principle and detail.—Globe, Thursday. ISisqlow. finally decided that the Twentieth, Twenty-third, Twenty- ninth, Seventy-first, Ninety-seventh Regiments, and second battalion Rifle Brigade, are to have the augmentation of two companies. The "second battalions," as they were called in the House of Commons on Monday night, are to be formed with all possible despatch. The Tenth and Seventy-eighth Regiments will embark forthwith direct for India.—Naval and Military Gazette. Sir Charles Elton has sent to the papers a statement of the case of his son, Mr. Edmund Elton, who has recently been dismissed from the Navy. It does not materially differ from former accounts ; but it tends to show that the charges of insubordination against Mr. Elton have been exaggerated. With Captain Williams, whose first rebuff was the cause of the affair, Mr. Elton had been on terms of intimacy. The conversation, on the quarter-deck of the Hastings, which so angered Captain Lawrence, occurred when Mr. Elton had reported himself to Captain Lawrence as a prisoner : having been desired to wait, he did so, and one of the mates opened a conversation ; which was interrupted by Captain Lawrance's exasperating rebuke to the mate for speaking to a person who had " disgraced " himself; and Mr. Elton then made the improper rejoinder. Sir Charles speaks strongly of the admitted fact, that Mr. Elton, after his dismissal, was sentenced to the further punish- ment of six months' imprisonment, because the midshipmen of the fleet intended to make a public demonstration in his favour.

Conflicting " statements " respecting the late scandalous affair in Paris have found their way into the daily papers. The first in order of time seems to be one by the lady who was the heroine of the story, Bliss Caroline Bellew. Her account is an amplification of that which was given by the Globe, with some additions. She represents that she was induced to make one of a party to Paris, partly on the invitation of Lord William Paget. She reached Boulogne on a Saturday evening, with Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, (for the names are all given now,) and Mr. Cassidy, the "caterer." She was led to suppose that Lord and Lady William Paget would join them there ; and was somewhat un- willingly induced to go on to Paris, which she reached on the 18th January ; and it was not till the following Tuesday that Lord and Lady William Paget, with their three sons, Mr. and Miss Hamer, and Miss Swabey, joined the party. On the Sunday, Mrs. Douglas had appointed to go to church with Miss Bellew ; but left her to go alone with Mr. Cassidy : Miss Bellew staid at home. On Thursday, Mr. Cassidy sent a cup of coffee to Miss Bellew, for breakfast, which made her very sick : no other of the party was similarly affected ; and Miss Bellew "now has her own feelings on the subject." Next night was the time of the event, Mr. Cassidy's being found by Miss Bellew in her room after she had gone to bed. He violently tried to prevent the door being opened ; and after it was forced open, her servant, Charlotte, recognized Lord William Paget. and Mr. Hamer. Lady William Paget and Mrs. Douglas next day urged her to forgive Mr. Cassidy; Mrs. Douglas observing, that her coolness had driven him to despera- tion; and finally, Lord William Paget tried his powers of persuasion ; but Miss Bellew told him that she meant to act on her own judgment and put her trust in God. At this interview, Lord William mentioned a letter, in which Miss Bellew asked Mr. Cassidy to send Charlotte out ; but she replied that it was a base and wicked forgery, and that Lord William knew it to be so. She then placed herself under the protection of the British Embassy, and returned to England; after paying, under protest, 1781., demanded of her by "the party" as her share of the ex- penses. She has since found that the passport obtained for the party, by Mr. Cassidy and Mr. Douglas, at the French Consulate in London, purported to be for "Berkeley Cassidy with his wife Julia, aged thirty years two cousins, and three servants.'

The other statement is by Lord William Paget ; who takes a totally different view of facts. His main allegations are these. Miss Bellew travelled from Devonshire to London with Mr. Cassidy, in his carriage, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Douglas. Lady William Paget's ac- quaintance with Miss Bellew was very slight ; though Lord William bad known and esteemed Mr. Cassidy, whom he believed to be a re- spectable person. When she came from Devonshire, Miss Bellew showed Ludy William, who had dined with her, some presents, worth .800/., which Mr. Cassidy had given her, along with an offer of his hand; which she meant to decline with the presents ; but she after- wards said that she had revoked her refusal. [Miss Bellew says that -she did refuse them ; and she mentions a present from Mr. Cassidy shown to her by Lady William, the recipient.] Miss Bellew, says the Lord, told Lady William that she intended to travel to Paris " with him"; and she did so, in Mr. Cassidy's carriage. Lord and Lady Wil- liam met her at the same hotel, staid four days, and dined with her by her invitation." Every thing," says Lord William, "went on amicably. I thought I never had seen two lovers play their parts better, according to my humble notions of these matters." After the catastrophe, Miss Bellew sought refuge with Lady William ; but Lord William thought it best that his wife should refuse ; and among other trifling circumstances that had weight with him, was the fact, that on remonstrating with Mr. Cassidy, that gentleman put a note into his hands, " bearing the Mitia's of Miss Bellew, making an assignation to receive him in her bedroom.' That letter is in the hands of. Lord William's solicitor, Mr. Bab, of ,Argyll Street, who has his permission to show it to the curious in such matters. Lord William observes—" The public, I think, will wonder that a young lady of rank and fortune (with clean hands) should rcsort to the columns of the Satirist,„.instead of the laws of the country, to redress her wrongs and establish her innocence."

In the discussion on a grant of 1,000,000 francs for secret service money in the French Chamber of Deputies, on Thursday, a M. Durand referred to the conversation that had taken place between Count S. Aulaire and Lord Aberdeen, with respect to the occupation of Algiers by the Frvnch. This called up N. Guizot, who replied to M. Durand at much length-

" In the conversation, he said, which I related to the Chamber during the debate on the address, Lord Aberdeen spontaneously told the Ambassador of the King in London, that in 1830 he had addressed to the French Govern- ment protests and urgent and unceasing reclamations with regard to our oc:u • pation of Algeria; but that now he did not intend to resume that position ; that his attitude was different ; that a possession of ten years was, in his eyes, a fact of importance—a thing effected, and that he bad no objection or °keno- titnu co make on the subject. The difference between these two words, (said Mr. Guixot,) I must say, is of little moment. The conversation had not been brought about by our Ambassador. The words were spoken spontaneously. The sanction of time—the conquest progressively thus accomplished—were what struck Lord Aberdeen ; and to that he simply and rationally alluded ; for in reality this is a simple and evident fact which ought not to have given rise to such a controversy. • • Ten years ago, I was perhaps the first to say from this tribune, France MI nenvered Algeria France will retain her con- quest.' The words which I pronounced at that period I now repeat: every- body repeats them, or will soon do so. You cannot wonder that time was re- quired to accomplish that result ; conquests naturally always require time. Such was the case in all conquests ; the sanction of time alone gives to them an authority and an acknowledged security. Well, the words addressed by Lord Aberdeen to the Ambassador of the King in London implied nothing else than the acknowledgment of the sanction progressively given by time to our establishment in Algeria. Those words were pronounced with a good feel- ing—in a spirit of good understanding and peace—for the sake of not being obliged, after a lapse of ten years, to renew the reclamations and controversy which were so lively in 1830. Those explanations, spontaneously given by the English Minister, were fairly transmitted to me by the Ambassador of the King in London. A difference in the expressions is of little consequence. Be- tween grave and sensible men, the main point is alone of importance: I am not come here to raise a discussion about words ; I merely assert the fact, that France has conquered Algiers,:and that a possession of twelve years has induced the British Cabinet, and the statesman who had raised the most serious objec- tions and protested in the most earnest terms against the occupation of that country, to take, on his resumption of office, a totally different attitude, and to observe on that question the same silence as his predecessor. When a atn1 longer space of time shall have elapsed—when the authority of additional years shall be added to that of our firm determination to keep our establishments in Algeria—you will see the British Cabinet, as well as other Cabinets, and the Porte itself, take new steps ; and the most complete and definitive sanction, and the admission of our rights by all, will consolidate our establishments in Africa, as has been the case with respect to every other great conquest."

The French papers have exhibited rather a more friendly spirit towards England within these few days. They compliment the House of Commons on the courage with which it received the news of the Indian disasters ; and the Sidele and Courrier Francais contrast the conduct of the British Commons with that of the French Deputies, when convoked specially to deliberate upon what was deemed a "crisis in the state of Europe," brought about by the tretity of the 15th of July 1840. "Happy the people," says the Courrier Francais, alluding to another in- dex of popular feeling, the barometer of the Stock Exchange, " who carry energy such as this into political struggles, and whose courage grows with the dangers by which they are surrounded ; such was not the effect produced on the French Funds the day on which the capture of Beyrout was announced in Paris."

Our country readers will rejoice to learn that London was not de- stroyed by an earthquake on Wednesday the 16th; that although hot- cross buns will be swallowed on Lady-day by the worthy citizens, the citizens themselves were not swallowed up nine days before. Some of the prophets indeed "had hopes" ; for on Tuesday evening there were a few claps of thunder, and the curious thought that the entertainment was actually beginning. Several persons hastened out of town that night. Such is the case, indeed, every night ; and there are no statis- tical details to show how many more than usual, if any, took the stage on Tuesday evening. Some will have it that the earthquake will not finally disappoint the public, but that it is only unpunctual : when it is really to appear is matter of controversy.

Accounts continue to be received of the disasters caused by the storm of Thursday week. The hurricane appears to have extended over the whole of England. On the coast a number of vessels have been wrecked, and many lives have been lost. The schooner Brisk was sunk at the month of the Thames, near Southend ; and all on board, consisting of seven persons, besides a woman and her infant, perished, as well as four boatmen who went to her assistance. An American vessel drove on shore near Boulogne : eleven of her crew are said to have been drowned. Two vessels were wrecked off Dungeness, and a Perth sloop went down near the entrance of Dundee harbour. The stogm. was the severest that has happened for several years.

A correspondent of the Herald of this morning extracts a passage ót a letter from his cousin, an officer in the East India Company's Service, dated Kurnaul, 17th January, which says—" The whole of our troops left Cabal on Christmas-day, and fought their way through the passes towards Hindostan." The escape of Captain Gerard and another gen- tleman, with two ladies, is mentioned in another extract.

A correspondent of our own, " Indicus," cautions us against too strong an inference from the fact that the native Hindoos have had in- telligence from the seat of war before the European functionaries-

" Allow me to say, that although the native intelligence generally if not always precedes our own, I do not infer any mischief from that fact alone. The state of our Indian empire is sufficient reply to any fear on that score. It is undoubted that our Government is respected and beloved. The native com- munications do precede our own, as already said, and I believe few persons can explain how : Bishop Heber remarks in his Journal, to the best of my recol- lection, that the decease of Lord Londonderry was known in the Calcutta Bazaar some time previous to the English news announcing it.' I have en- deavoured to find the passage, but cannot just at present. It is true, in the years 1822-23, overland communication was not so frequent ; and Lord Lon- donderry's death would probably reach our Government first vizi tbe Cape. All I wish to impress upon your readers is, that the mere fact or prior WNW- gence does not authorize us to infer mischief."