26 OCTOBER 1844, Page 8

_Miscellaneous.

The papers tell a story of the Queen's residence at Cowes-

" As her Majesty and Prince Albert were taking their accustomed early walk about nine o'clock on Sunday morning, which they bad extended up- wards of a mile beyond the boundaries of the Royal domain, they were caught in a heavy shower of rain at a rather shelterless part of the hill, commandmi view of the sea. Her Majesty and the Prince hastened their steps homeward ; when the old postman of East Cowes and 1Vhippingham, who bad just then been performing his morning rounds in the adjoining villages, observed that a lady and gentleman were rather disagreeably exposed to the storm; and, run- ning after them as fast as he could, he tendered his old gingham umbrella; which was graciously accepted, and he was invited to follow their footsteps to Osborne House. Little did the poor postman imagine at the time, that it was to his Royal Mistress he had thus the honour of affording such seasonable shelter ; but on his arrival at the portico, he was agreeably awakened to the fact, by having tendered to him her Majesty's thanks and a five-pound note, **ether with his old umbrella."

The anecdote told by the Morning Herald on Saturday last, about the emphatic manner in which the King of the French repeated a passage in the oath administered to him on being admitted as a Knight of the Garter, was a fiction : there is no oath—of course there are no such words as those said to have been repeated by the King. On the authority of the Master of the Household of Saxony, the Allgemeine Zeitung contradicts the report which has been circulated in various German as well as English newspapers, that a cheat had been practised upon the King of Saxony, by a jeweller of whom he made extensive purchases, when his Majesty visited England. It is stated that the paragraph in question originated with a tradesman who enter- tained feelings of jealousy towards the person of whom the King pro- cured the jewels.

The Scotsman states, on the authority of a letter from herself, that bliss Martineau has been much benefited by mesmerism. Operators have not succeeded in throwing her into the state of trance ; but she has experienced so much benefit from the mesmeric process, that, though confined to her room for a long period past, she "can now walk three miles at a time with relish." "1 cannot be thankful enough," she na- turally adds, " for such a resurrection."

Tuesday's Gazette announced that the Queen had appointed James Earl of Glasgow Lieutenant and Sheriff-Principal of Renfrewshire, in the room of Mr. Spiers, deceased. Tuesday's Gazette contained a Treasury warrant altering the rates of postage between this country and Venezuela. For every letter not ex- ceeding half-an-ounce in weight, and going by packet direct from any place in the United Kingdom to any place in Venezuela, there is to be

charged la., or in private vessels, 8d. ; and the same rates are fixed for letters from Venezuela, with the addition of the inland British postage chargeable on such letters.

It is scarcely necessary to remind the public, that the holyday given on the occasion of the Queen's visit to the City next Monday has no- thing whatever to do with the payment of bills of exchange. If these are due on Monday, they must be paid the same as on any other day ; and if a bill becomes due and is dishonoured on Saturday, notice of dishonour must be given by the holder on the Monday as a matter of course. The only exceptions to the general rule are Good Friday, Christmas-day, and days appointed by her Majesty's proclamation for solemn fast or thanksgiving.—Times. It is understood to be settled that a Winter gaol-delivery will take place ; but the details of the arrangements will.not be made till the be- ginning of term. The Board of Trade have issued a circular to Railway Companies, condemning the practice of running excursion-trains with several' engines, as dangerous ; and recommending that the trains should be divided into sections, to each of which no more than two engines should be attached.

It is stated that the Queen has ordered a pension of SOL to be granted to the widow of Walker, the Artilleryman who was killed by the dis- charge of a cannon on the King's Bastion at Portsmouth ; and that Louis Philippe has also expressed an intention of providing for the woman. It is feared, however, that she may not survive to enjoy the pension : she remained insensible from the Monday until Saturday.

The Journal des Dibats closes a paper on the exclusion of Mr. Sa- lomons from the Court of Aldermen with these only too just strictures-

" Such anomalies in our age are a disgrace to the legislation of a free country. It is an honour to France to have long ago effaced from our laws these vestiges of intolerance and oppression. Our political bodies, our civil functions, are open to all religions and all classes. France may well console herself at not having, like England, certain liberties which touch even upon licentiousness, in knowing that she has the most sacred of all liberties, the liberty of conscience." The Journal des Dibats notices a subject which seems to have been overlooked by the English papers. It publishes some passages in the supplemental treaty between China and Great Britain, which, according to the Parisian journal, were suppressed or garbled in the translation submitted to Sir Henry Pottinger. These suppressed passages forbid any Chinese merchant to ship goods bought at Hong-kong in any but Chinese vessels provided with passes delivered at Hong-kong, and- countersigned at every voyage by officers of the Chinese Customhouse. Small English coasting-ships, not exceeding 150 tons burden, are to pay' at each port a mace per ton, but, however small, not less than 75 mace- altogether ; and large vessels, exceeding 150 tons, are to pay 5 mace per ton. It thus, says the Journal, becomes ruinous to land goods at Hong-kong, since they can only be reexported in Chinese junks, which, are incapable of contending with adverse winds, or making any but the- slowest voyages ; and the British colony is virtually excluded from the coasting-trade; which will be forced to revert to its old channel, Canton.