_Miscellaneous.

Viscount Hardinge, in a letter to a relation, dated Simla, the 19th June, exprleesssct:rdhimay was theriaettiirtcyallrsotnanthnevsubjector threettraetweenotf office—How

impetuously time flies ! The reminiscences of bygone days flash across my mind, when I used to receive from you and my cousin many acts of friendship. It makes me feel that I am getting very old; and from the incessant work I have to en- counter here I shall be glad when I can retire with honour: but you are all 80 generous in your distinctions and rewards, that I must not abandon my post whilst my duty is unperformed."

The Marquis of Lansdowne has gone to the German Spas for the be- nefit of his health.

The Empress of Russia, whose delicate health cannot support the severe winters of this country, will leave St. Petersburg at the end of September or the beginning of October at latest, for her delightful villa of Orlando, situated in the Crimea, on the borders of the Sea of Awl': where her Majesty purposes to reside until the ensuing spring.—LetUrr its the Journal des Debate.

The German Gazette of Frankfort, under date of Vienna, 23d instant, states that a report was prevalent that the sequestration which had been placed on the property of the Princess Czartoriski in Gallicia had been taken off, on Prince Czartoriski signing a written engagement not to in- terfere with the affairs of Poland. In case of his breaking it, all his pro• perty would be confiscated.

Sir Charles Wetherell died intestate. His personal property, which con- sists chiefly of investments in foreign stock, is valued at 200,0001. As there is no issue, one half will fall to the share of Lady Wetherell, anti the other half will be equally divided among Sir Charles's brothers and sisters. Lady Wetherell succeeds to the valuable landed property. The Morning Post, which refuses to be comforted on the subject of the Corn-laws, states the following notable fact-

" For many years Sir Charles took a warm interest in agricultural matters; but on the passing of the Corn-law Repeal Bill he expressed considerable fear as to its probable effects on the landed interests, and determined upon selling the farms which he possessed: but his fears after a short time subsided, and he re- solved not only on maintaining them, but on purchasing others; and it was while in the act of carrying out such intention that he met with the accident which in such a short time afterwards terminated so fatally."

Dr. Pusey, whose health is very indifferent, has been with his family sojourning for some weeks at Tenby. Owing to extreme weakness, he does not appear at church or at all in public. Mr. Newman, hearing of his in- disposition, came to see him about a fortnight ago; and Dr. Pusey was se affected by the visit, (it being the first time the two gentlemen had met since Mr. Newman's secession,) that a relapse has been the consequent*. He is now somewhat better.—Bristol Gazette.

The Reverend John J. Plumer, of Balliol College, Oxford, son of the late Sir Thomas Plumer, formerly Master of the Rolls, has made his public profession of the Roman Catholic faith.—Morning Post.

A letter from Cannes, dated the 22d August, and published in a French paper, contained the following strange story—. " Lord Brougham and Mr. Leader have just afforded us a spectacle quite un- usual in this country. It may be remembered, that three years back these gen- tlemen purchased the fine forest of La Croix de Gerdy. The whole of it has since been surrounded with a high wall in the English style; and yesterday, fourteen

stags, as i many does, and a number of young fawns, arrived here from Sa • be and are to immediately let loose in the forest: they were under the care of six keepers, in handsome liveries of maroon velvet, with gilt buttons bearing his Lordship's crest. A pack of hounds arrived here from England three months back; and everything necessary for a hunting establishment is to be sent from Paris. It is said that a number of sporting men from England are to arrive here this year. Indeed, this place is becoming quite an English colony; on every aide are springing up handsome habitations, built with English money, combining British comfort and Italian elegance."

The Times converted this story into a text, handling the sporting Peer and the tasteful Commoner somewhat roughly. Mr. Leader was accused of consulting his pleasures in preference to the interests of his constituents, since he retained his seat for Westminster, when he ought to make way for another who would do his duty. The Times descried a want of patriotism in the devotion which the absentee was displaying to the soil of France. To this assault Mr. Leader bas addressed the following replication- " To the Editor of the Times.

" Putney BM, 2d Sept. 1846.

" Sir—I should have taken no notice of your extract from a French paper yes- terday, but for your comments on it today. The story of the deer, roebucks, stags, hounds, and huntsmen in pea-green liveries, is merely a stupid hoa, like others which have in former years appeared in a French paper, and probably by the same hand. my only surprise is, that there should be any person in London silly enough to believe so very silly a story. You, however, make this absurd nonsense the foun- dation for a false charge against me. You say that the Member for Westminster does not even pay his constituents the compliment of remaining throughout the session to represent them in Parliament.' This is entirely untrue. I was in England and in the House of Commons before the end of January. I have voted during the session on almost every question of importance; and I was in the House of Commons on Friday. when Parliament was prorogued. As to my connexion with the electors of Westminster, I have communi- cated my intentions to those of the electors at whose request and through whose honourable and independent exertions I first became a Member for Westminster; and I believe they are satisfied that in not resigning my seat I have acted according to their wishes, without reference to my own convenience. Your insinuations against my patriotism require no answer. I feel certain that I am quite as good an Englishman at heart as any writer in the Times; and I cannot think that an ardent admiration and a sincere respect for the many brilliant and great qualities of the French nation need in the least diminish an Englishman's honest love of his own country. "Your obedient servant, J. TEMPLE LEADER."

In a letter to the Times, Miss Agnes Strickland, authoress of the Lives of the Queens of England, prefers a charge of gross plagiarism against Lord Campbell. The fair complainant states, that if her life of Eleanor of Provence be compared with Lord Campbell's biography of the same prin- etas, under the title of the " Lady Keeper" in his Lives of the Chancellors, it will be seen " that his Lordship has published an abridgment of that Which has now been before the public six years"— ." He has transposed the language a little in the course of his labours, to dis- guise the fact, and discreetly transferred the references which I honestly gave to my authorities to his own margins; but he has not put forth a single fact in ad- dition to those which I had previously put forth in my life of Eleanor of Provence; merely curtailing my matter, but preserving the arrangement, and adding a coarse joke of his own. He has even availed himself of the quotations of the old chro- mile rhymes, and some interesting particulars of the dress of that Queen, for the benefit of the lawyers, which, with his important avocations, he would scarcely, I should imagine, have seriously referred to books of costume to collect for such a purpose, or known anything about, had he not found them conveniently under his eye, in connexion with the rest of the information which he has drawn from my Work. I should have been proud of the conviction that anything from my pen had been of such great use to a learned dignitary of the law, and regarded his abridgment of my life of Queen Eleanor as one of the highest compliments that bad been paid to my work, if his Lordship had candidly referred to the source whence his information was derived: but be has carefully abstained from even alluding to the existence of a previously published life of that Queen."

Miss Strickland asks, whether it is fair in Lord Campbell to appropriate to himself the credit as well as the benefit of her labours? "The benefit I would freely allow; but as my principal reward for the years myself and my sister have Spent in the task of preparing the Lives of the Queens of England is the re- putation acquired in the course of the undertaking, I cannot see without some feelings of pain the cool manner in which Lord Campbell has reaped my,fleld, and passed off the produce as gleanings of his own. , "In other passages of this work be has not been quite so correct in his historical assertions. He kes, for instance, Edward IV. the husband of Lady Jane Grey; and: has made some amusing mistakes with regard to Wriothesley. But I for- bear to enlarge on his errors, having found him a very correct retailer of my facts; and it is but justice to add, that he has not once contradicted anything I have m- inded in that portion of my work which lie has used."

The Standard, in order to give an indirect support to the Bentinck chine against Lord Ripon as to the living of Nocton, has published a cor- respondence which passed last year between the Earl and the Reverend Mr. Crowther, curate of Dunston. This parish adjoins Keaton, and in it Lord Ripon has considerable landed property. It appears from the first note addressed to Mr. Crowther, dated Carlton Gardens, 27th June 1845, that Lord Ripon had expected Mr. Crowther to call upon him previously to leaving town for the country; and he proceeds to write what he intend- ed say verbally to Mr. Crowther: it is, to put him and his wife upon their guard against having any, intercourse with a Mr. and Mrs. Newton. Lord Ripon expresses his confidence, that if Mr. and Mrs. Crowther knew the conduct pursued by Mrs. Newton to the Dean of Windsor and to the two previous curates of Dunston, as well as to Lord Ripon himself, they would not receive any apparent civilities from Mrs. Newton, or have any communication with her. Lord Ripon next mentions, that he had written to Mr. Howse, (his Lordship's cook, according to the Standard,) desiring him to give dr. Crowther the use of the pony, and Mrs. Crowther the use of the donkey or covered cart, whenever applied for. He adds, that Lord and Lady Ripon will be at all times most happy to hear from Mr. Crow- ther upon matters relating to the interests of the parish, and to cooperate with him in promoting them. In reply, Mr. Crowther thanks his Lordship for the kind arrangements he had made for his comfort; and promises to avail himself of the proffered assistance and cooperation in matters cal- culated to advance the interests of the parish. On the 2d July, Lord Ripon answers this note; and remarks ' that Mr. Crowther had said nothing on the subject of his caution respecting communications with Mrs. Newton: that caution, his Lordship says, was given advisedly, and was absolutely necessary to enable the writer to cooperate with Mr. Crowther in regard to the affairs of the parish; and those affairs, spiritual as well as temporal, had been gradually becoming such as to excite great uneasiness in his mind: he knew from experience, that the interference of Mrs. Newton, either directly or indirectly, could not fail to thwart his best endeavours to assist the clergyman in putting them upon a better footing. To this communication Mr. Crowther replies at some length, and with dig- nity: as a minister of peace, he could not unreservedly have adopted his Lordship's unfavourable opinion of Mr. and Mrs. Newton, until he had acquired some knowledge of the circumstances which had influenced his judgment. But the evil had already been done; for adds Mr. Crowther, ' previous to the receipt of your Lordship's monition, we had accepted those civilities which Mr. and Mrs. Newton offered, and we had recom- mended to them a governess."

The Standard throws some light on the causes of this strange corre-

spondence. p " The Newton family, whom Lord Ripon would by his fiat practically. excommunicate, are persons of respectable family, of consider- able property, of highly respectable local rank, of unspotted reputation, and of earnest piety. • * * The offence given by Mr. Newton and his family, as far as it can be ascertained, was their reluctance to cooperate with the late minister, Mr. Kempe, a zealous Tractarian. Mr. Crowther is not a Tractarian, but a sound and able Churchman; and accordingly, after a long series of vexations persecutions, better described by himself than by us, arrangements have been made for his removal from Dunston."

From the Berlin journals the Morning Post copies the following letter, addressed by Sir Robert Peel to the inhabitants of the town of Elbing, in Prussia; who had sent him a letter of congratulation on his financial measures.

" London, Ang. 6, 1846.

" Your address, in which you express your approbation of the great measure of financial and commercial reform which I have considered it my duty to lay be- fore Parliament, I have received with very great pleasure. The object of the In- come-tax was not only to make good a deficit, but also to lay the foundation of a more just system of taxation, by putting an end to duties before levied on raw materials, as well as those vexations regulations of the excise, and the duties on many kinds of produce necessary to the comfort of the working classes. The bill i

having for its object the limitation of the paper-currency has in no way affected public or individual interest, nor has the country been thereby deprived of the advantages of a paper circulation; but,. in placing the issue of this medium of ex- change under certain reasonable restraints, the bill has been the means of checking abuse in times of great critical importance to the commercial interests of the country, as well as of unusual speculation. This bill has given to paper-money a settled value in making it always exchangeable with specie. I learn with pleasurb that the intent and effect of these measures have been properly appretiated by dis- tinguished politicians of other countries. "That part of your address wherein you admit the principle of commercial legislation which, by order of Parliament, is now in force, has afforded me above all things 'the most lively satisfaction. The measures proposed for the diminution of customhouse-duties have been brought forward without any similar conceal sions having been offered by foreign countries; they have been proposed because the general interest of the country demanded it. Their effects are sufficiently advantageous to fully justify the steps we have taken; • for it is contrary to the principles of political economy to ,purchase at a dear rate articles of inferior value; and the authors of this measure have thought, without entering into negotiations and minute details, that the principles of their commercial legislation would be adopted by other nations. Difficulties and obstacles may arise; and financial embarrassment, which appears to be the strongestargument in support of the protective system, will in certain countries be advanced as a reason for continuing it. Individuals who profit by high duties are favourably listened to by the Govern- ment; in other cases they form the most numerous part of the population, or at least a powerful party in the legislative assemblies. " Interests are thus represented en masse; but this isolated interest cannot long offer resistance to the arguments and manifest interest of the great social body. The public finances labour under a double disadvantage; first, by the prejudice with which they are regarded; and the cons.equent support offered to smuggling; and secondly, by the great expenses incuid in its suppression; so that eventually it will be seen by those who are responsible for the financial con= dition of their respective countries, that it is prudent ancrpolitie to replace, bt such moderate duties as will permit the commerce and revenue of the country to increase, those high duties which either diminish or altogether prohibit the Em= portation of foreign produce, and sustain certain branches of trade at the expense of the public finances. The social conditiOn of that country which maintains with the greatest rigour the protective system will be opposed to the state of another which hal adopted liberal principles, and the conviction of the value of such principles will not obtain unless by the encouragement of the freedom of exchange among afl the nations of the world ; the wellbeing of each individual will -be increased, and the will of Providence will be fulfilled—that Providence which has given to every country a sun, a climate, and a soil, each differing one from the other, not for the purpose of rendering them severally independent of each other, but, on the contrary, in order that they may feel their reciprocal dependence by the ex- change of their respective produce, thus causing them to enjoy in common the blessings of Providence. It is thus that we find in commerce the means of ad-. vancing civilization, of appeasing jealousy and national prejudice, and of bringing about a universal peace, either prom national interest or from Christian duty. " I have the honour, &c., ROBERT PEEL."

The Gazette of Tuesday contains the orders in Council ratifying the treaty of international copyright entered into with Prussia for the pro- tection of " authors, inventors, designers, engravers, and makers of any of the following works,—that is to say, books, prints, articles of sculpture; dramatic works, musical composition, and any other works Of literature and the fine arts in which the laws of Great Britain give to British subjects the protection of copyright"; also, regulating the duty to be henceforth charged on books and prints brought into this country from the Prussian dominions.

The same Gazette announces the appointment of Mr. Edward Strutt to be President of the Board of Railway Commissioners.

The claims of those parties who paid duty on foreign grain under pro- test in the interval that occurred between the lapse of the old Corn Bill and the operation of the new in 1844, are at length about to be adjusted. Government, it appears, have offered a compromise, which has been ac- cepted; and matters are now in such a position as to lead to the hope of a final settlement in a few days.—Globe.

The subscription to the Cobden Testimonial amounted on Wednesday to 71,0001.

Promotion in the Army seems to have taken a start during the past month. Sixty gentlemen have been gazetted as Cornets or Ensigns; twen- ty-five only of whom have purchased their commissions, varying in price from 4501. to 1,2001. each, and amounting in the aggregate to the sum of 13,7801. Eight noncommissioned officers have received commissions, with the gratuity of 1001. each to assist the outfit. Thirty-six Ensigns have been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, seventeen without purchase and nineteen by purchase. Twenty-two Lieutenants have been promoted to the rank of Captain, eight without purchase and fourteen by purchase. Eight Captains have been promoted to the rank of Major, one by brevet, three without purchase, and four by purchase. Two Majors have been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, one without purchase and one by brevet. Thirteen Assistant-Surgeons have been promoted to the rank of Surgeon; and fourteen medical gentlemen have received commissions rtis Assistant- Surgeons.

Much dissatisfaction has been created by a change which the South- eastern Railway Company have made in their tariff of fares. From the let of the present month the whole scale of charges has been raised, the increase varying from a trifling amount up to 50 'Per cent. The fares to Maidstone have been increased 28i per cent in the lOwist alteration and 50 per cent in the highest. A correspondent of the Times remarks, that you can go to Maidstone by boat, Rochester Railway, and omnibus, all first-class accommodation, for less than the third-class fare by rail, and the time occupied is only half an hour more. It is hinted that the South-east- ern Railway adopted low fares while rival railway schemes were before Parliament—when Parliament has closed, their rivals having been beaten, they immediatly raise their charges, knowing that to many places they have a complete monopoly of conveyance.

A new Roman Catholic chapel, said to be the handsomest in England, was opened at Cheadle, in Staffordshire, on Tuesday. The ceremony of consecration had been gone through, in a private manner, on the day be- fore. The edifice has been six years in hand: it was designed by Mr. Pugin; and the cost has been defrayed, as well as an endowment provided, by the Earl of Shrewsbury, on whose property it stands. It consists of a Western tower, surmounted by a lofty spire; a nave of five compartments, with North and South aisles and porches; a lady chapel; a chapel of the blessed sacrament; a chancel, with sacristies and organ-loft on the North. The style is known as the decorated. The interior decorations are de- Scribed as dazzling and magnificent. A painting of the Last Judgment, by Hauser of Rome. is placed over the chancel arch: the windows are glazed with stained glass; and several statues stand in appropriate positions. At the ceremony on Tuesday, the Roman Catholic Archbishops of Damas- cus and Sydney, the Roman Catholic Bishops of the Mauritius, of London, of Edinburgh, of Wales, and of the other districts in England, bore a part. Among the laity present, were the Austrian Ambassador and Countess Dietrichsen, and Count de Pollen, the Sardinian Minister.

A letter from St. Petersburg states that the Countess Samoilow, a widow who bad contracted a second marriage with a foreigner at Trieste, bas been con- demned to lose her property, which will be put up to public auction within the space of six months. The Countess has large estates in Russia.

The Chevalier Abbe Stewart was barbarously murdered on the 17th July, near Ancona. The particulars are supplied in a private letter from that town, dated the 1st August, and published in the Times. The Chevalier had repaired to Casabrugiata for the benefit of sea-bathing; and one morning he employed a young peasant to hold an umbrella over him while he dressed, as a safe- guard against the scorching sun. The man wished to perform the same office for Mr. Stewart when he bathed again in the evening; but the Chevalier de- clined. Nevertheless, the man dogged him to the spot; waited till he was dressing; and then, while he was putting on his shirt, attacked him with a stiletto, inflicting several stabs in the arm. Mr. Stewart demanded the in- tentions of his assailant. " Plunder," was the reply. Mr. Stewart implored the ruffian to take his clothes, watch, and other property, and to spare his life. The assassin hesitated for a moment, then rushed upon his victim, inflicted several stabs upon his body, and Mr. Stewart fell; while the assassin made off with his elothes. The wounded man with mach difficulty reached a cottage, whence a messenger was despatched for medical aid; but it was of no avail; Air. Stewart died an hour after midnight. Half an hour previous to his death he wrote to his brother as follows—" Dearest George, I am dying. J. Stewart." The murderer has been apprehended; but being under nineteen years of age, it is supposed that capital punishment cannot be inflicted, unless, it is said, the Pope should lend" the criminal a few years—that is, consider him for the purposes of punishment as an older man—which is sometimes done in cases of very atrocious crimes. The narrator of these details makes an incredible-looking statement about the manner in which the priests contrived to turn the murder to account. Understanding that Mr. Stewart belonged to a rich family, it was given out that persons afflicted with disease would be cared by touching his coffin; and as an inducement, it was declared that a child a cripple from birth was so completely cured by crawling over the coffin that he left his crutches on the spot. So great was the influx of customers, that the British Consul began to fear that the coffin would be de- stroyed, and ordered it to be removed to a vault. This could only be accomplished by the assistance of gendarmes; but next morning the church was again beset by crowds, who kissed and adored the ground upon which the coffin had been placed, and strewed it with flowers and garlands.

Advices from Leghorn announce that another shock of earthquake was felt in that city on the 27th of August, at fifty minutes past nine o'clock in the morning. It caused considerable damage. The weather was intensely hot and cloudy, and further mischief was apprehended. As a measure of precaution, the authorities had ordered several houses to be abandoned which had been more or less injured.

II. Pills, Professor of Geology at the University of Pisa, has published an in- teresting account of the circumstances attendant on the former earthquake in Tus- cany. After examining the various effects of the movement, he shows that the action was more energetic along the hilly ridges of Sienna and Volterra, and less powerful across the secondary ground of the Apennines and Alps, in con- sequence of the difference of the geological construction of the two districts. We select from this work the following graphic description of the earthquake at Pisa. " On the 14th, the weather at Pisa was as serene as on several pre- ceding days. At noon, I was, as usual, in the Museum of Natural History of the University; when I observed to some one near me, ' The air today really seems about to catch fire.' Never was a prophecy so quickly realized. At a few minutes before one o'clock the atmosphere was perfectly calm, when I heard a noise, which came rapidly from the side of the marine on the West. The im- pression I first felt was that of a violent wind advancing towards the town; but, reflecting on the impossibility of such a pluenomenon arising so rapidly in the midst of the previous calm, I began to dread a disaster. My suspicions were soon verified. The noise advanced with still increasing force; and suddenly the salle where I happened to be began to tremble•' to the vibration suc- ceeded a violent agitation in a horizontal direction, with a dreadful noise. Ac- customed to these phrenomena, which are not rare in my country, [M. Plila is a Neapolitan,) I ran to one of the windows, which opens on the garden of a neighbouring house, and there witnessed a most terrible spectacle. The houses around were agitated in the most frightful manner; the trees in the garden by their motion announced the violent agitation of the atmosphere; these move- ments, added to those of the salle in which I stood, produced such a swimming in the head, that I was compelled to hold fast by the windows. The agitation con- tinued, evidently in a horizontal direction, backward and forward, bat with ex- treme violence. In this dreadful situation, the ceiling of the suite began to fall on me; and the cries which proceeded from the neighbouring houses added to the horror of the scene. At one moment I thought the town was about to be swal- lowed up. Then, ' impelled by an instinctive feeling, I mounted on the window to leap into the garden; but a momentary reflection restrained me; and by degrees the ground again became quite tranquil. The shock once over, I left the-Museum, and found the streets filled with people, whose countenances expressed the utmost terror. Everywhere reigned that silence with which Tacitus represents men to be seized when agitated by any deep feeling in common. After acquiring the certitude that those most dear to me were safe, my first thought was for the leaning tower. I ran to see what had become of it; and great was my surprise at finding it still standing, and firm. What an object it most have formed at the moment of the shock ! Those who had the opportunity of observing it at the moment, assured me that its vibrations were most awful. But before inquiring into the effects, let us state what was its direction and duration. The first movement was manifestly vibratory; after this came a violent undulating agitation, which lasted till the end of the shock, except that the motion became slightly weaker towards the middle of the shock, and at the cad doubly stronger. Its horizontal direction was the salvation of Pisa. If the vertical movements had been attended with the same in- tensity, the effects would have been mere disastrous. As to the duration of the oscillation, reckoning from the moment when its rolling was first beard at a dis- tance, I think it must have been twenty-live or thirty seconds. It was easy to foresee that the phamemenon was not to end with the first shock. Two subse- quent movements were distinctly perceived; but they were far more feeble. Dur- ing the night, most of the population remained in the squares and streets, over- come by the sad news which ariived from the neighbourhood."—Galigeancs Messenger.

A letter dated Leghorn, the 15th August, published in the Semaphore de Mar- seilles, gives some particulars respecting the earthquake of the 14th in the rural districts. " In the hilly districts of Pisa and Volterra entire villages have been de- stroyed, and the inhabitants are now encamped in the fields. 'The Government has prohibited the traffic on the railroads. Large fissures opened in the ground, and on one point swallowed up several oxen. In the plain of Cesina, between Leghorn and Campiglia, most of the country-houses bare fallen down. We are without news from the province of Siena. It is a remarkable fact that the districts which suffered most are entirely covered with sub-alpine marl. The workmen employed in the interior of the mines situate at the distance of a mile from Campiglia felt no shock; whilst those who were labouring above ground were so terrified, that, fearing the building under which they were working would give way, they fled into the country."

The Standard relates a curious and comical fracas that recently occurred on board one of the Royal Yacht Club vessels. The yacht was out at sea, some dis- tance from land, when a difference of opinion took place between the noble owner and the captain, a half-pay naval officer. Epithets of no very gentle or com- llimentary nature were very freely bandied between the belligerents; and at ngth the noble owner turned up all hands, and ordered the crew not to con- sider Mr.—as their captain, and no longer to obey his commands." On this the captain went below, armed himself with a brace of pistols, returned on deck, and threatened the owner with the weapons; " telling the crew at the same time, that he was legally their registered commander, and that unless they obeyed his orders he would treat them as mutineers. It is also reported that he went so far as to threaten tout the uoble atelier in irons if he occasioned any further disturbance. The captain ultimately brought the vessel into port; but, of course, he now no longer commands her. It is said that this strange matter will afford scope for the display of talent amid fun for the gentlemen of the long robe, as law pro- ceedings have already commenced."

General Lord Strafford suffered a set'ere accident, at his seat in Hertfordshire, last week : both the bones of his right leg were fractured, in a fall from his horse, while his Lordship was riding.

A fuller investigation of the charge against Sweeny, the man who was accused of murdering his child by throwing it off the parapet of Glasgow bridge, having- left no doubt that the occurrence was accidental, the prisoner has been liberated.

The Montrose Review says the following is a true copy of a letter received by a schoolmaster in that neighbourhood—" Cur, as you are a man of nulegs, I in- tend to inter may son in your skull.'

Mr. Bell, owner of the Alkali Works, South Shields, has obtained a patent for condensing the muriatic acid evolved in the manufacture of sulphate of soda, and for condensing the acid fumes or vapours which arise in the manufacture of sul- phuric acid. The new methods not merely secure a greater amount of acid as the product, but prevent the diffus'on of the noxious acid vapours in the atmosphere.

At the meeting of the Botanical Society of London,- held in the Society's rooms last evening,—Mr. Edward Doubleday, V. P., in the chair,—Dr. Ayres read a paper " On the Potato Disease." The author commenced by a notice of fungi infecting living and dead plants, which as the smut and brands, do not, except when in very great abundance, destroy the vitality of the plants; while those that produce mouldiness, to which the fungus developed on the leaves of the" potato belong, are chiefly inhabitants of decaying vegetable matter. He had observed that many of the brown or black spots on the leaves were destitute of fungi: these could not, therefore, be produced by the agency of fungi, but in all probability they are produced by atmospheric causes. He then traced the effects of the disease of the leaves on the stems and tubers: the defi- ciency of starch granules, and the watery state of the tubers, afford favodrable circumstances for the production of common decay. He suggested the use of stimulant manures, such as common salt or chloride of potassium, or indeed any of the alkaline salts which act as stimulants to plants.

Results of the Registrar-General's return of mortality in the Metropolis for the week ending on Saturday last—

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26 67 Total (including unspecified causes' 869 ... 898 ... 9611 The temperature of the thermometer ranged from 91.9° in the sun to 45.8° in the shade; the mean temperature by day being warmer than the average mean temperature by 2.0°. The mean direction of the wind for the week was North- north-east.

Zymotic (or Epidemic, Endemic, and Contagious) Diseases ... 254 Dropsy, Cancer, and other diseases of uncertain or variable seat 93 Diseases of the Brain, Spinal Marrow, Nerves, and Senses .... 137 Diseases of the Lungs, and of the other Organs of ltespiration 188 Diseases of the Heart and 22 Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs of Digestion lel

Diseases of the Kidneys, Sc Childbirth, diseases of the Uterus, ac

Rheumatism, diseases of the Bones. Joints, Sc

Diseases of the Skin, Cellular Tissue, Sc.

Old Age . Violence, Privation, Cold, and Intemperance 13 Number of Bummer Anima deaths average. average.

168 104 ... 155 167 ... 227 294 ... 23 27 ... 87 72

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