3 AUGUST 1844, Page 9

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FueticE.—The celebration of the fourteenth anniversary of the "Three Days of July" began on Saturday with religious ceremonies, and closed on Monday with fetes. There was no political uneasiness. The fetes were of unusual brilliancy; the weather was propitious ; and everything would have passed off well, but for an accident which hap- pened in the Place Louis Quirize, just after the fireworks, from the enormous pressure of the crowd. About a dozen people were trodden under foot, one of whom was killed on the spot, and several others were carried severely wounded to the hospital. The prizes awarded to the exhibiters in the exposition of national industry were distributed on Monday, at the Tuileries, by the King in person. The number of prizes awarded was six hundred ; one hundred gold medals, two hun- dred silver medals, and three hundred bronze medals. Some of the most meritorious and distinguished exhibiters were made Chevaliers of the Legion of Honour. The ceremony lasted five hours, during the whole of which time his Majesty continued standing. He afterwards entertained two hundred of the exhibiters at dinner in the Great G al- lery of the Louvre.

Admiral Hamelin, who is to succeed M. Dupetit Thouars in the com- mand of the French station in the Pacific, has sailed from Rochefort, in the frigate Virginie.

The Gibraltar Chronicle of the 19th announces, that the news from Tangier was satisfactory : that the French Consul had written to Gibraltar, that the Emperor had given orders to decapitate the Moorish chieftain who had first attacked the French ; and that from the informa- tion which he had received he entertained strong hopes that peace would be preserved.

The Due De Bordeaux, in consequence of the death of the Duc D'Angouleme, has addressed a protest to the European Courts, declaring that he will not renounce his claims to the French crown, but that he only wishes to exercise his rights "when Providence, to his conviction, shall summon him to be really useful to France " ; meanwhile living as Comte De Chambord.

Paussea.—An attempt has been made to assassinate King Frederick William. The accounts are meagre ; and, singularly enough, the most complete are those issued officially ; especially the report by the Privy Council, dated Berlin, 26th July 1844: it is as follows- " Their Majesties the King and the Queen intended this morning, at eight o'clock, to commence their journey, first to Erdmansdorf, in Silesia, and after- wards to the watering-place litchi. The travelling-carriage stopped in the porch of the palace; and her Majesty the Queen, after first having received a petition from a poor woman, who was waiting for that purpose, took her seat first. His Majesty the King followed; and at the very moment that he took his seat, and the footman was stooping down for the purpose of turning up the steps, a man from among the surrounding crowd stepped forward close to the carriage, and fired two shots from a double-barrelled pistol, in quick succession, -against the carriage, which at that very moment was starting. His Majesty at once stopped the carriage, and showed to the anxiously-surrounding crowd, by throwing back his travelling-cloak, that he was not hurt; thanking the people, at the same time, for the sympathy they exhibited ; and then ordered the carriage to drive on, and continued his journey on the Frankfort Railway. "On arriving at the terminus of the railway, it was found, upon closer in- spection of the carriage, that both balls had actually penetrated the carriage; and therefore it must be considered as a special grace of Providence that the illustrious travellers remained unhurt.

" The assassin was arrested on the spot, and was with great difficulty saved from the rage of the populace before being committed to the criminal prison. There he stated himself to be (and was identified as such) the late Burgomaster of Tschech. He is fifty-six years of age; and was formerly a merchant, after- wards Burgomaster at Storkow, in the Kormark ; which situation he resigned in 1841, after having been censured several times on account of his misconduct. Since then he generally resided at Berlin; and petitioned the different depart ments for a new appointment ; which, however, in the absence of any just claims, could not be granted. A similar petition to his Majesty was likewise refused last year. He has always been known as a very violent and passionate man.

"At his first examination before the Police-court, be unhesitatingly ad- mitted his crime, and stated as a motive the rejection of his petitions ; de- -daring at the same time, that he had committed the act without communi- cating his intention to any person whatever. His trial will commence forthwith."

GREECE.—Papers and letters from Athens mention the attempted attack of an assassin on King Otho, on Sunday the 7th July. The Morning Chronicle has it thus- " This singular accident occurred in the forenoon, about ten o'clock. A man in the uniform of the gendarmerie rushed suddenly past the sentinel at the front of the palace, towards the garden, with a large paper petition in his hand, which he began to wave, shouting at the same time 'Long live Alexan- der the Great ! "fhe sentinel called to him to stop, and pursued him as be approached the private door of the palace, as all access to the interior by this side is prohibited. The second sentinel, seeing what was going on, placed him- self before the door, and presented his bayonet, calling to the gendarme to stand. The unfortunate man then drew his sword, and getting past the sol- dier, rushed to the corridor ; when the sentinel, finding it impossible to stop him otherwise, transfixed him with his bayonet; and he fell, severely wounded, before the apartments of Miss Wiesenthau, one of the Queen's Maids of Ho- nour, who, hearing the noise, opened her door, and was witness of the affair. 'The alarm was given, and the King's Physician, Dr. Roezer, having examined and dressed the wound, the man was conveyed to the hospital; where he is doing well, though the bayonet had gone through his body." It appears that the man was a sergeant of the Gendarmes ; that he had long wished to retire, on account of bad health, but awaited the settlement of some claim which he thought he had un the Government for money, and meanwhile be had gone mad. On the day before, he

entered the British Embassy, and claimed Sir Edmund Lyons's protec- tion against persons who, he thought, wanted to murder him. His pe- tition was a rhapsody about Alexander the Great.

INDIA.—The over-land mail brings intelligence from Bombay to the 19th July. It is not of first-rate importance, though it has some points of interest. By order of the Governor-General, Sir Charles Napier, as Governor of Scinde, had convened a great assembly of Beloochee chiefs, at Hyderabad, on the 24th of May, the Queen's birth-day. The reasons for the measure are said to have been the wish to test, in various ways, the fidelity and obedience of the chiefs ; to hear their complaints, if any ; and to strengthen the faithful with praise. The following paper shows with what precautions Sir Charles Napier thought it necessary to provide for this great gathering.

Extract from a General Order by his Excellency 3litior- General Sir. C. Napier, G.C.B., Governor of Scinde.

•• head-quarters, 11 urrachee, 3d May 1844.

" No. 1. Lieutenant-Colonel Derinzy is to make the following arrangements on the 23d of May, or sooner if the assembling of the Beloochee chiefs begins earlier.

" 1. The Thirteenth Native Infantry are to be so divided between Meerpore and Aly-yar-ka Tends as may be necessary to defend these posts. " 2. The detachment of the Eighth Regiment at Fort Kotree is to remain there, and be on the alert.

" 3. The steamers to be so anchored as to assist the detachment if necessary. "4. The Captain of Police to send men to Kotree and the Fullalie, to pre-

vent armed men crossing, unless they are chiefs; and these are to be allowed one follower each, that follower to be unarmed. If any suspicious circum- stances arise, immediate notice is to be sent to the Captain of Police. The Police, if they see any armed bodies crossing either river, are civilly to warn them back, and at the same time to send to the Captain of Police.

"5. The Sixth Regiment to be withdrawn from Mahomed Khan's Tends, and encamped at the intrenched camp ; and a few Police to take charge of the Tanda.

"6. The Company of Artillery to be withdrawn from the same post, marched to the intrenched camp, and guns placed in battery.

" 7. The Seventeenth, Twelfth, and Eighth Native Infantry remain where they are ; but in the event of any disturbance, the Eighth and Seventeenth are to close on the Twelfth, under the guns of the fortress.

" 8. The Scinde More to remain in their lines, and in case of alarm retire upon the intrenched camp, and join the Second Light Cavalry ; which, with the troop of Horse Artillery, is to advance as far towards Hyderabad as pos- sible without compromising their retreat to the intrenched camp. "9. The hospitals of the Sixth Scinde Horse, and the battery at Mahomed Khan's Tanda, are to be removed into the fort.

"10. No Englishwoman is, under any pretence whatever, to be out of the for- tress or the intrenched camp while the Beloochees are assembled.

" II. Provisions to be in Hyderabad, the intrenched camp, Aly-yar-ka Tends, and Meerpore, for a month's consumption. Lieutenant-Colonel De- riuzy will be so good as to pay particular attention to these last two paragraphs.

"C. J. Nerten, Major-General, Governor of Scinde.

"EDWARD GREEN, Major, Assistant-Adjutant-General."

The number assembled, chiefs and followers, was about twenty thou- sand. " Sir Charles Napier and his guests," says the correspondent of the Morning Chronicle, are understood to have been mutually gratified with the interview." All passed off quietly.

Some agitation had been created in Gwalior, by orders of the Supreme Government to take possession of the flourishing Mahratta town of Boorhampore, and to imprison the father of the young Queen Dowager of Gwalior, Tara Baee, as he was supposed to be involved in certain intrigues. The old man, however, was released, under surveillance, at the intercession of the Queen ; and instead of seizing the city, the Go- vernor-General remained content with the dismissal of the Amil, whose intrigues and insolence to the British authorities had provoked the seizure.

By the last mail, it was known that there had been fighting in the

Punjaub ; but the particulars were not given. Ittur Singh, uncle to Ajeet Singh, who helped to kill Shore Singh, had fled after that trans- action, and remained with friendly hosts over the frontiers. At the beginning of May, however, he recrossed the Sutlej. Ile was provided by Lena Singh, an influential Sirdar of Lahore, with a small force, eventually swelled to 7,000 men; and he was joined by Peshora Singh and Cashmera Singh, two illegitimate sons of Runjeet, and by Bhaee Beer Singh, a holy man. Ittur claimed the throne through a mutual ancestor with Runjeet. Heera Singh, the Prime Minister, collected a very large force, comprising twenty-four regiments of infantry, a large body of irregular cavalry, and one hundred and twenty guns. They came up with the insurgents at Nourangabad, on the Gth May. Seeing the cause hopeless, Peshora deserted to Heera : the other chiefs fell in an engagement on the 7th ; and their force was totally routed. Dhuleep Singh, the boy King, had been seriously ill with small-pox.

His mother and the Prime Minister are said to have been discovered intriguing ; but whether politically or amatorily, is not explained : the remark that she is "yet a young woman" inclines to the softer view of her delinquency. Dust Mohammed was at Cabul ; Akhbar Khan at Jellalabad, sac- cessfully fighting with some petty chiefs, but encumbered by his own large force and the want of provisions.

The report respecting the assembling a large army on the Sutlej had died away ; although some warlike preparations were making, such as the collection of camels in Scinde and of military stores at Ferozepore.

CHINA.—The news from China comes down to the 26th April. The native authorities, it is said, were disposed to act with perfect good faith towards the British ; and it is even reported that the Emperor was about to make arrangements whereby the trade in opium would be legalized. Sir Henry Pottinger had passed several enactments regulating the mode in which British trade is to be carried on.

There had been more riots at Canton, on the 11th March-

" Some Manilla seamen," says the Canton Free Press, ‘. belonging to a Swedish ship at anchor at Wliampoa, had some quarrel with the Chinese, who began to pelt them with stones ; upon which the Manilla men charged the mob, and it is said stabbed a Chinese. The mob, however, after having been dis- persed in the first instance, soon returned, and threw stones at the seamen in the Company's garden ; and the latter had to take to their boats. As usual in such cases, the mob then assembled in front of the factories in considerable numbers, and some apprehensions were entertained that they might proceed to violence ; but a detachment of police and soldiers was sent by the authorities from the city, and the mob was dispersed soon after dark, without having done any damage." Mr. J. F. Davis, the new Governor of Hong-kong, arrived at Singa- pore on the 27th April, and sailed again for Hong-kong on the 31st. A disastrous result had attended an expedition to Borneo. Two vessels, the Young Queen and Anna, fitted out by the Honourable James Erskine Murray and Mr. W. C. Bowra, had entered one of the livers, and endeavoured to establish commercial relations. They were Allowed to proceed up to Cotee River for a considerable distance ; when *11 their advances were rejected, and they were assailed and fired upon by multitudes. They attempted to get back, but were met by a fleet Of boats ; and a conflict ensued, in which Mr. Murray and two sailors lost their lives. It is thought that Sir Thomas Cochrane would have to order some ships of war to go there to demand satisfaction. [Mr. Murray was uncle to the present Lord Elibank ; an advocate at the Edinburgh bar ; author of a book describing a pedestrian tour in the Pyrenees ; but most popularly known, perhaps, as a promoter of the Anti-Corn-law agitation.] Tawm.—The Vindictive 50-gun ship, Captain Toup Nicolas, which sailed from Valparaiso on the 1st May, brings recent intelligence from Tahiti ; where, according to an account by " a British officer," dated Papiti, 6th March, the French officers bad been playing strange vagaries. We abridge his account, with a slight addition— After the establishment of the French "protectorate," apparently towards the beginning of February, (for the precise date is not given,) Queen Pomard heard that there was an intention to seize her, and place her son, seven years Of age, on the throne, under a French Regency. She fled, and went on board the British ketch Basilisk ; where she, with her husband and three children, and some other persons of rank, was hospitably received by Lieutenant Bunt. Several of Ler moat faithful adherents fled, and gathered in the mountains. She addressed a letter to them, counselling them to keep quiet, and not to ill- treat the French, and promising the assistance of Great Britain. This letter was intercepted by the French authorities ; who construed it to be an act of treason ; and M. Bruat, the acting Governor, issued a proclamation declaring the district near Papiti, " the establishments of the bay comprised between Cocoa-nut Point and the barracks of the Uraine, in a state of siege "—under the most stringent rules ; such as requiring all lights and fires to be put out at run-fire in the evening, no foreign boats to land between evening and morn- ing gun-fire, houses in which visitors should be found between gun-fire to be demolished, native boats to be hauled up ten times the length of each boat from high-water mark ; the twelve sections comprising many more such rules. Some of the native chiefs were seized and confined in the Ambuscade frigate ; one being loaded with irons ; and the French Governor strained every nerve to fortify the port. On the 5th of March, parties were found destroying all English boats drawn up on the beach ; and the English generally were treated with rigour. One resident, whose wife was dangerously ill, applied for leave to burn a candle ; but it was refused. The French Commissary-General stated publicly, in the presence of some Englishmen, that if the Natives should rise and should be joined by any of the English, he would be the first man to shoot Mr. Pritchard, the resident missionary, who bore the appointment of English Consul I On the evening of the 5th of March, Mr. Pritchard went out of his house, and ass at once seized by the Commandant of Police, with some soldiers; who hurried him off to prison, where be was kept in very close confinement. The following paper was posted about, in the French, English, and Tahitian languages—

TRENCH XSTAALISTIMENT TN THE OCEAN.

"A French sentinel was attacked in the night of the 2(1 to the 3d of March. In re- pro' al I have caused to be seized one PotcLard, the only daily mover and instigator of the disturbance .

sturbance of the natives. His property shall be answerable for all damage occasioned to cur establishments by the insurgents; and if French blood is spilt, every drop shall recoil on his head. D'Ausiorry, Commandant Particular to the Society Islands.

"Popiti. 3d March." At the intervention of Captain Gordon, of the British war-steamer Cor- morant, Mr. Pritchard was released from prison, on condition that he should Sot be again landed on the Society Islands ; without taking leave of his family, lie was conveyed in the Cormorant to Valparaiso; where he embarked in the - Vindictive, and was brought to England.

The Hampshire Telegraph tells an anecdote. " It appears that Captain Nicolas, in April, having a knowledge that the

Frenchman in authority at Tahiti (M. D'Aubigny) had put Mr. Pritchard in confinement, refused either to salute Admiral Thouars or visit him, unless he, in the presence of witnesses, or in writing, disavowed the act ; and also insisted that Dupetit Thouare should express his regret that this D'Aubigny bad in- sulted the British standard by trampling on it, and glorying he had put it where it ought to be—in the dirt. After some hesitation, these concessions were granted ; and the salute was fired and visit made, accompanied by Captain Lord G. Paulet and Commander Bamond, the latter of whom acted as a sort Of second between the combatants."

UNITED STATES.—The mail steamer Britannia, which left Boston on the 16th July and Halifax on the 18th, arrived at Liverpool early on Monday morning. The political news is almost a blank ; but the intel- ligence possesses considerable interest, of an unpleasant kind. Bad slots had again occurred in Philadelphia ; the account of which we CM- pile from various sources. Ever since the riots of May last, the Catholics, and especially those of Irish birth, have felt some alarm lest more of their churches should be burnt down ; and in consequence of this apprehension, several of the churches were guarded by armed men ; arms having been introduced into most of them. Still, it is said to be more than probable that, the excitement in the public mind having subsided, there was no real danger of any attack upon the buildings. The church which appeared to be the most unpopular among the inhabitants of its immediate vicinity, was that of St. Philip Neri, in Queen Street, Southwark. Southwark is a large and populous town, which forms a part of Philadelphia. The clergyman of this church was the Reverend Philip Dunn, an Irishman ; whose brother, Mr.William H. Dunn, obtained an order from Governor Porter for twenty-five muskets from the State Arsenal. A military company was .an'zed to protect the church, and Mr. W illiam Dunn was elected its captain. Although all this was done secretly, the facts transpired, and excited much jealousy among the " Native Americans "; especially, say the accounts which seem to favour their side, as no disposition whatever had been shown to molest the church; Mr. Dunn, however, stated that he had received letters threatening that it would be destroyed about the 5th July. It is also remarked, that Mr. William Dunn had not been naturalized. On the 5th, Friday, the people collected about the neighbourhood of the church in great crowds; and trades- men began to shut their shops. The Boston Mercantile Journal, which ap- pears to lean towards the Native Americans, says with some naiveté—. A .eral sentiment seemed to .prevail among the dense mass that the church should not be burned. [Charitable indeed The Native Americans formed themselves into bodies of police; and were commanded by the Alderman of the &Strict, and preserved excellent order." The Sheriff was called upon to inter- fere. Accompanied by some others of the local authorities, he entered the claret, and ten or a dozen muskets were found. A committee of the citizens Was subsequently appointed; and, after much consultation, the shurch was again entered to search for more arms. It is solemnly averred, in a document signed by the Committee and an Alderman, that they were met at the church- door by two Irishmen with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets. These -were immediately disarmed. The party entered a room, and found twenty-seven muskets. The priest was found officiating at the altar. Be was seized, and asked if he bad any arms or ammunition. He replied in the negative. They subsequently found a quantity of arms, bullets, cart- ridges, gunpowder, and percussion-caps. The riotous disposition continued on Saturday the 6th; when the " military " were called out. What these " military " consisted of does not distinctly appear : part of them were civic " Volunteers "; but smother part appear to have been regular soldiery, under the command of General Cadwallader. The General brought out two field-pieces, and threatened to fire upon the people unless they dispersed. "On this announcement," says the Mercantile Journal, the Honourable Charles Naylor, late Congress-man from the third district, stepped before the cannon, and said, • You have no right to fire ' • and stated if he did, be (Naylor) should be the first killed. Naylor was immediately arrested and placed in custody of the military io the church. The people now demanded his release, and became uproarious, and continued so for some time afterwards. At the time General Cadwallader arrived, peace reigned in the neighbourhood ; but he ordered all the shops to be shut up. This command was looked upon as an arbitrary stretch of power, and engendered a general sentiment of disgust : it was, how- ever, obeyed." The General did not fire upon the people : one account says the soldiers were unable to obey the order, " because of the position of the Sheriff's posse of police, who would have been exposed to danger." The people threw stones at the soldiers ; but no actual conflict took place ; and during the night the crowd diminished in numbers. About nine o'clock on Sunday morn- ing, the rioters reassembled, demanding the release of Mr. Naylor. The de- mand was resisted. The people seized two pieces of cannon belonging to ships in the river, and actually fired upon the church; Admiral [otherwise called Alderman] Bortz took the opportunity of pouring some water into the touch- hole of one cannon, and made it useless; the other, " loaded with pieces of lead, spikes, stones, Sm.," was aimed at a circular window, and fired twice; the first time it missed its mark by a few feet, the second time " it did not produce much effect." About noon, with some pieces of timber, the people battered in one of the church-doors; and then " Charles Nay- lor was released from confinement, and left the church in company with Admiral Bona"; [who seems to occupy a very equivocal position among the rioters.] The mob now demanded that the Hibernia Greens should come out of the building. [It is impossible to make certain what these Hibernia Greens were : according to one story, we should guess them to be the company organized by Mr. William Dunn to protect the church; accord- ing to another, we infer them to be a body of the civic volunteers, unpopular merely because they were Irish.] The demand was complied with ; and it was understood that the Hibernia Greens should leave the church, each man with his piece unprimed and the pan open. Outside they were assailed with brickbats and other missiles; and in return, some of them fired. This ex- asperated their assailants: one of the Greens, Mr. Gallagher, a tavern-keeper, was seized and beaten nearly to death ; and his comrades were put to flight. Meanwhile' the mob burst into the church ; from which in turn they were driven out by the threatening approach of artillery. The military were now more fiercely assailed with stones and bricks: one Captain Hill was thrown upon the ground, his sword forced from him, and be was in danger of being killed. The word was given to fire ; the soldiers fired in two platoons ; four persons fell dead, and several more were wounded. Among those injured were some Native American Volunteers, who happened to be mingled with the mob. The populace retired, vowing vengeance; the military remained in possession. The contest had gradually become one between, not the Irish and Native Americans, but the military, volunteers and regulars, and the populace. At nightfall the mob rallied ; they obtained possession of three more cannon, taken from on board two vessels lying in the river. They also had procured a considerable number of muskets and other fire-arms. The cannon were loaded with various substances, one of them with a thirty .feet chain, which killed or wounded a number of the military, particularly the members of the National Artillery, a company of Native Americana. On the other hand, the military were not idle : " the streets in the neighbourhood were raked with grape-shot, canister, musket-balls, and old iron : the shutters, windows, fences, and walls of houses were shattered ; and on the following morning pools and spots of blood marked here and there the deadly scene." About half-past ten o'clock, a squadron of cavalry came upon the ground; and though fiercely resisted by the rioters, a few discharges of horse decided the battle. About midnight the fire of the rioters began to flag; and by about two o'clock on Monday morning they seem to have been quite subdued. The lose on both sides was computed to be fifteen killed and fifty or sixty wounded. There was no further violence but subsequently an infernal machine, intended to destroy the wooden railroad bridge, was detected.

On the Sth, Governor Porter and troops from various %narters of the Union arrived. On the 11th, a great public meeting of the citizens was held, "in support of the law and the military, and adverse to mobs of all kinds. At this meeting Governor Porter was thanked; and he stated his determination to support the law at all hazards." "A subscription was raised to support the widows of the soldiers who had fallen, and 1,200 dollars were subscribed in fifteen minutes ; also, a subscription to erect a monument to record to future times the fame and devotion of those soldiers who fell in support of the laws of their country." Several of the rioters had been arrested, and examined on charges of riot, high treason, and murder. Many Irish Catholic families left the city ; among them the Reverend Mr. Dunn and his brother. During the conflict, ten shots passed through the coat of General Cadwallader, without injury to his person.

Another outbreak of popular violence is related by the " Genevese Traveller" who corresponds with the Times. Joseph Smith, the pro- phet of the religious fanatics called Mormons, and his brother Hiram Smith, bad been murdered. The Mormons had fallen into some diffi- culties, and the two men with others had been lodged in the Debtors' Prison at Carthage. " The circumstances attending the death of these men are very.differently represented by the parties for and against them. It is said by their enemies, that the Smiths, while within the prison, fired with pistols upon the guard, and then attempted to escape ; whereupon the guard returned the fire, and that they were then both slain. I have taken some trouble to ascertain the facts, and have come to the conclusion that the following statement is as near the truth as anything that has yet appeared in print ; but I may be mistaken, On a solemn pledge given by Governor Ford, of Illinois, that their persons should be protected from injury by a mob, Joe and Hiram Smith, with others, suffered themselves to be arrested; and were removed to the gaol at Carthage, there to await a trial fur any crime they might be charged with having committed. Everything appearing to be peaceful, only a small guard was left to protect the prisoners from being injured or from escaping. On or about the 25th of June, a mob, consisting of sixty or seventy armed men, all disguised, rushed past the guard, in strength numbering only six or eight, into the gaol, and im- mediately commenced firing through the door of the room in which the pri- soners were confined, wounding the Prophet; whereupon he and his brother fled to a window, and were in the act of jumping out, when Joe received three bells in tie body, and fell dead -upon the ground. Biram fell inside-0'U* prison, having received ten or twelve balls through his body. These were the only Mormons killed. One or two others were wounded. The dead bodies were removed to Nauroo, (' the holy city,') to be interred with great solemnity. The followers of Smith were greatly exasperated, but kept in subjection by their leaders. Smith's mother is said to possess a controlling influence, which was exerted in the preservation of order and the suppression of violence. At the last accounts everything was tranquil."

A third disaster was the work of the elements : a terrible flood had been caused by the rising of the Mississippi and the Missouri, with their tributary streams— "Houses almost without number have been floated away, small towns on the banks of the rivers have been inundated, numerous lives have been last, cattle drowned, and generally, property to an immense amount totally destroyed. Notices like the following are to be found in many of the Western papers- ' About ten houses passed down the Mississippi at St. Louis on the 23d of June. In one of them a cradle was seen from a steam-boat passing near, and the cry of a child beard, thought to be four or five months old.' The St.Louis Repabhican of the 234 June says—' The flood is still going down, though at a tedious rate. Last evening it had fallen nearly. four feet ; not, however, by any means leaving the cross-streets free from this mcumbrance.' Below the Raft, and on the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers, the inundations have covered 150,000 acres of cotton-land, which are from two to eight feet under water, and cannot be replanted this season. The estimated loss of cotton is from 150,000 to 200,000 bales."

We subjoin some of the gossip of the day-

" Letters have recently been received at St. Louis from the Western emi- grants destined for the Oregon territory. These letters were dated above the Kansas. When all the companies meet on the Platt, they will number 1,200 persons, 193 waggons, and 2,000 head of cattle. The emigrants were all in good health and high spirits." " General Waddy Thompson, who was some time Minister for the United States at Mexico, has published a letter of considerable length against the pro- ject for the annexation of Texas. As General Thompson is a native of the South, largely interested in Texas, and familiarly acquainted with its concerns, his arguments have excited considerable attention. He declares himself de- cidedly opposed to the annexation under any circumstances, averring that the measure would materially injure the interests of the Southern States, by raising a competition in the production of cotton, lowering its price, and greatly depre- dating the value of slave labour."

MExico.—Papers from Vera Cruz, to the 25th June, state that the Mexican Secretary at War, regarding the annexation of Texas as de facto a declaration of war by the United States, had made a large requisition upon Congress for men and money.