faisrellantotts.

An agricultural correspondent in Surrey reports progress, or rather want of progress, in the harvest; and touches upon the recent agricultural-dinner proceedings in a. spirit likely enough to prevail among practical farmers too intelligent to be cajoled—

"5th October 1845.

" The last week of September and the first week of October being cold and damp, little progress. has been made with the harvest in the late and backward districts of the country; and mach corn of all descriptions has been lying out, cut and uncut, to the great loss of the farmer and the community in general. And when we see in the South of England grain unhossed in the month of Oc- tober, we naturally inquire what must be the state of some of the crops in the North, and reflect upon the consequences on the ensuing season; for this hieing so protracted, must necessarily delay the working of the land for the present or neat sowing; which, we all know, generally deteriorates the crop both in quality and. quantity. "The agricultural meetings of late years sprang into fashion have, as usual at this time of the year, been making their annual exhibitions: but one striking and important feature cannot be overlooked—the farmers are lukewarm, and no longer attend the call with that cordiality which heretofore distinguished them. The practical farmer begins to tire at the selfsame round and often-told tale, of drain- mg-tiles, subsoil-ploughing, agricultural chemistry', new-invented implements, and expensive machinery. At the ploughing-match there is a sad falling-off of teams, and some classes are not even fitted up_ The time is certainly ooming when the landlords must leave off this preaching oil, to say M earnest 'come on,' and assure their tenants in some subetannal manner that they will second and support their energies. in their endeavours to benefit themselves and the country in general by making two blades of grass grow where one only-grew before.' Of what avail is it for a landlord to preach up improvement in an after- dinner speech, when many farmers in the room know that he preserves game enough on his estate to destroy sufficient for the keep of a flock of two hundred sheep on each farm—in the presence of others also who have quitted those farms on that account; and moreover, to encourage that game preserves hedge-rows and rubbishing useless timber, ash-trees and underwoodLan obstacle to all good farming?

"Sat October 1845. P. S. Since I addressed you on Sunday bat, I have travelled from home, and am Sorry to be enabled te confirm the gloomy account I gave you in my last ac- count of the state of the barren. There ia still grain oat, and a great deal quite spoilt; the quality of the new wheats and ba ye brought to market is very inferior. The markets are rising; and that worst of all evils to a country, a late, a bad, and a scanty harvest, seems almost confirmed."

We hear that the disease among the potatoes is disappearing; that it is as- Seining the appearauee of a mere scab upon the skin, the potato being restored to Perfect health. Should this turn out to be the fact generally, the case will be one of the most singular on record. That it has occurred we have several instant*" upon the most undoubted authority.—Carlisle Journid.

The late heavy rains have caused very serious floods in various parts of the country. In the North, in the neighbourhood of Newcastle-upon-Tyne much damage has been done ; hay, corn, sheep, cows, and horses, having been swept away. The Blaydon station of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway was knee-deep in water, and the line for several miles was covered. The garden-grounds about Hexham were under water, and it was feared that the entire potato-crop in three places would be destroyed. The shipping in the Tyne suffered great injury.. The rivers of Cumberland and Northnmberland were much swollen ; agricultural produce was injured or swept off the hand; a stage erected on the Lune for buildings railway bridge, and another on the Eden for repairing a bridge, were both washed away. In Lancashire, the Ribble overflowed its banks, and all the lands in its neighbourhood were flooded; while vessels broke from their moorings, and timber, corn, and other property, were carried away by the stream.

In Scotland, both the Clyde and Forth were flooded; and a good deal of damao has resulted to the farmers. The Broomielaw at Glasgow was covered with water, and a wooden bridge was rendered so unsafe that the Police prohibited any one from crossing it. The Tweed, the Teviot, and many other rivers, rose to a great height. Long accounts of the injury inflicted by the water are already published, while more extensive losses have probably yet to be told.

We understand that it was arranged at the preliminary meeting held in Liver- pool last week, for the promotion of union amongst the professors of different forms of Christianity, that a general and public meeting of persons friendly to that object should be held in London in the month of May or June next year. The proceedings in Liverpool were very satisfactory to the originators of the Conference, who are now sanguine in their hopes of removing many jealousies, and of establishing friendly feelings in their place. Of the clergy of the Es- tablishment, twelve or thirteen joined the Conference, or expressed their appro- bation of its objects; which will be fatly developed and explained at the public meeting.—Linerpool Times.

The Reverend Ambrose St..Iolin, M.A., student of Christ Church, Oxford, has resigned his studentship, and conformed to the Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Newman has resigned his fellowship of Oriel, upon the ground of contemplating an immediate withdrawal from the Established Church.—Correspondent of the Standard.

Mr. J. D. Dalgairns, MA., of Exeter College in Oxford University, who has been some time resident with Mr. Newman at Littlemore, has made his formal submission to the Roman Catholic Church.—Standard.

In the cathedral church of Christ Church, Oxford, the College-prayers, morn- ing and evening, are to this day said in Latin; the only piece, we believe, where Latin prayers continue to be used.—The English Churchman.

Lord Farnham is to obtain the ribend of St. Patrick, held by the late Marquis of Ely.

Sir William Napier has written a letter to the 7'intes, commenting on the letter published in the Indian papers by Colonel Outram and threatening a book to re- fute Sir William's on the conquest of Scinde. Sir William intimates that the Colonel not only published one letter but sent to him another private one, couched in offensive terms. Sir William refers to his book for confirmation of Colonel Ontram's political and military incapacity; but on the whole the letter adds no material facts to the epistolary squabble.

Letters of administration to the personal estate of the late Marquis of Down- shire have been granted by the Prerogative Court of Ireland to the present Mar- quis. The property has been sworn under the value of 200,0001.; and a stamp- duty of 4,050/. has been paid, the largest amount ever paid in Ireland in any single case. The Marquis died intestate: had he executed a will, 1,3501. would have been saved in the stamp-duty.

The personal estate of the late Earl of Egremont is estimated at 70,0001. By his will he has devised all his estates in the counties of Devon, Somerset, Was, and Surrey, after the decease of the Countess, to his relation Mr. William Wynd- ham, and has entailed the estates on the Wyndham family. This devise is fol- lowed by a clause in which he most earnestly entreats of the several persons who may hereafter enter into possession of the inheritance of such estates that they will embrace and diffuse those high Conservative principles which he professed and. maintained.

M. Thiers, the celebrated French politician and littemteur, arrived at South- ampton on Thursday night, in the Queen steamer, from Spain by way of Gibraltar. He is said to be accompanied by " Count —, a natural son of Napoleon." M. niers is now at Mivart's Hotel.

A Berlin letter of the 25th September, in the Manheim Gazette, states that when the King of Prussia was present at Munich at the baptism of the Prince Royal of Bavaria, the officiating Bishop having invited the distinguished persona near the child to lay their hands upon it, the King of Prussia stretched forth his hand, hut it was set aside by the Bishop. The King then tamed his back upon the company, and immediately left Munich in anger. The Bishop's behaviour IS said to have been intended as a rebuke upon the King of Prussia for his not having acted with sufficient severity against the new German Catholic Church.

The King of Hanover has purchased Mr. Haydon's repetition of Napoleon musing at St. Helena, and has placed it at his palace of Herenhafisen. We learn from Hanover that the Princess Royal has resolved to nurse her own child. It appears that the Princess has received a fine number of elegant and costly presents from the Royal Family of England on the occasion of her aceouche- meat. They have been publicly exhibited at the Palace. Among them is a ser- vice of silver plate for all the wants of childhood, from the Dutchess of Gkeicester and Princess Sophia.—Gallignants Messenger. Letters from Corfu announce the arrival of General Kalergi in that town, where he is to take up his residence for the present. He met with a most grati- fying reception from the inhabitants, and a round of entertainments was given by the principal people in the place to Isis honour. Some of the inhabitants wished to display their admiration of the Greek patriot by some demonstration of a more public description; but Lord Seaton opposed it, on the ground that General Kalergi was at Corfu simply as a private individual, and that he could not allow anything beyond individual tokens of respect.—Morning Post.

We understand that in the course of a few weeks the Bank of England will issue a new list of dividends still unclaimed, which is likely to prove extremely useful, as a long period has elapsed since this publication was last issued, and numerous additions, therefore, will no doubt be made.—Globe. In connexion with the subject of railways, it may be mentioned, upon good authority, that some of the Manchester houses are taking effectual means to stop the inclination of retail-traders to speculate in railway projects. 'the repro. sentatives of the Manchester manufacturers have, it is said, in many instances received instructions, when accounts over-due are not paid by their. custcmers, to inquire whether the debtor is a holder of shares in pnjected lines ot railway; and if so, further instructions are given that the account must be closed. This

it is urged, is rendered necessary by the fact that in many instances the pa

of the wholesale tradesmen's accounts is postponed in order to enable the shop. keeper to meet his railway calls. This, in fact, is nothing less than speculating with the creditor's capitaL—Times.

The Glasgow and Ayr Railway Company has followed the laudable example of some English railway companies, of allotting a compartmeut of a first-class carriage in each of the trains for the accommodation of ladies only.— Scottish Guardian.

An advertiser in the newspapers offers to make anybody capable of earning 101. a week, by "railway surveying and levelling," in a fortnight or less. The circular of Messrs. Gibson, Ord, and Co., of Manchester, for the 4th October, states that the accounts received during the month from India and China do not vary much from those previously received: still they think the tendency will be to curtail shipments to the latter —an impression becoming general that we have already this year sent more goods than will readily find a market, not from the want of power to consume, but of obtaining adequate re- turns. Of printed, dyed, and plain cottons, 2,478,131 pieces have been shipped to 30th September in this year, against 2,011,302 and 1,119,908 in the same period of 1844 and 1843 respectively.

The Times reports a curious financial operation which the Danish Government lias in hand: it would be easy to make the statement shorter, but not without injury to the story. "London, it is often said, is a place where everything may be got for money; from a Scotch county to a cellar in St. Giles's, from the sarco- phagus of Cheops to a peach in February, from a cartoon by Raphael to a penny corkscrew. The cravings of the consumer are surpassed continually by the re- search and enterprise of the supplier. Do you want all coins of Alexander's suc- cessors ?—look over the advertisements, and before long you will find they are to be sold at the Auction Mart to the highest bidder. Do you want a railroad all to yourself ?—you can have one in any part of England, or any part of the world you !Please. Estates in any climate, under any government and any religion, are equally to be had—for money. But we should think our readers are hardly pre- pared for the commodity now in the market, positively to be sold without reserve. It is not a hundred thousand pine-apples; it is not a patent for a new moving- power. These are every-day affairs. It is an old-established colony. For the moderate sum of 80,0001., John Smith, or Robert Brown, or Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, or Lady Mary Applebury, or any other he or she speculator of high or low degree, may become King or Queen of Denmark, as the case may be, so far forth as concerns that whole portion of the Danish empire lying and situate on the Western coast of Africa. Here is an opportunity which may not soon occur. Don't pass it by without giving it a thought.

"Denmark, it is well known, has long been in rather indifferent circumstances. What is worse she has long been deeply indebted, beyond even that serious de- greeof indebtedness with which we are experimentally familiar. Considering, then, the folly of an appearance above one's means, Denmark has wisely deter- mined to retrench, and, as a first step thereto, to part with her colonies for what they will fetch. She has lately sold us Tranquebar and Semmpore, her only East Indian colonies, which had for ages been a losing speculation, and which she was only able to protect from the Native Princes by Bntish assistance. Having dis- posed of one lot, the Danes are now putting up another for sale. Their long- established settlement on the coast of Guinea, with the fort of Christianberg and all its armament, is now in the market, and we believe at this moment may be had cheap. "Nay, if Mother Gossip is to be believed, the commodity, though offered for a mere song, has been hawked about very freely, without a purchaser. France was inclined to speculate; but hardly had she shown her nose in the matter, before England deckred she ought to have the preemption, the lot being adjacent to her own estate in those quarters. France accordingly pulled up, and let us pass. Denmark hereupon, expecting an immediate sight of the purchase-money, said, Well then, take the colony.' It appeared, however, that our Government had as little notion of undertaking a new African colony itself as of seeing it in the hands of a rival. So, dogs in the manger as we are, we have spoiled the French bargain, and refused to make one ourselves on any terms. The worthy Danes are somewhat disgusted—how naturally, it would be unpatriotic in us to say; and it is actually reported that their Minister, not many days back, offered the colony to a large capitalist in the City for 'a mere song '—viz. for 80,0001. "It is not every day that a sovereignty goes a-begging; and we cannot help thinking that the Danish Minister will before long Soda customer."

A new coal company is announced in Dublin, capital 60,0001., in 41. shares. This will be a tempting concern, as the deposit required is only five shillings !— Morning Post.

The Zetlanders have had a capture of whales at Lerwick on a monstrous scale; 1,540 fish having been driven on shore, at Quendall Bay, and slaughtered. The _scene is said to have been most exciting.

No delivery of London letters took place in Leeds on the morning of Thursday week, in consequence of the London bags having been carried forward in mistake to Newcastle. They were returned in the evening, and the delivery then took place. It is impossible to say what inconvenience parties were pat to by this very egregious blunder.—Globe.

The Cumberland Pacquet declares that the black-lead recently brought from Davis's Straits possesses none of the properties of the Cumberland lead obtained at Borrowdale. It resembles what is called in the trade" Spanish lead." [" Writes himself."] Herr Alois Steiermann, an architect of Augsburg, has invented an artificial stone, which for solidity is said to surpass the best freestone, is one-third its cost, and to which any form can be given in the manufacture. It is composed of river- sand, clay, and a cement, whose composition is the author's secret. It has been submitted to the proof of air, pressure, and fire, and resists them all. The King of Bavaria has given his gold medal of civil merit to Herr Steiermann for this useful invention.—Gkebe.

Every architect in practice has cause to complain of the want of skilful and earnest operatives--men who understand the trade they profess to practise, find pleasure in the exercise of it, and are anxious to produce good work. We have before this commented on the decline apparent in many of the constructive arts, and showed that it proceeds from excessive competition, which induces the master to require a certain quantity of work from a man without reference to its quality; he cannot afford to develop a man's ability, but demands the greatest amount of work in the smallest space of time; "superior work won't do, work that will pass is all that he can hope to give"; and the natural result is, that our workmen, as a body, have gradually "lost their cunning," and that the majority of operatives now employed are incapable of executing work which is at all out of the com- mon way. Our bricklayers and smiths afford the most striking examples of this decline: the old enthusiasm, which still lingers, though feebly, among other trades, especially with the masons, seems to have departed from them; they do their work as mere labourers, and have no pride in the result. There are of course, many clever exceptions; but we speak of the mass.—Builder.

We regret that depredations on rather an extensive scale have for some time been committed, chiefly by tourists, on the beautiful and interesting ruins of Melrose Abbey.—Eclinburea Advertiser. [The Edinburgh Courant adds, that in consequence of these defacmgs, the Duke of Bucclencla has resolved to shut up the edifice from the public.] A report on the state of the Eclair steam-sloop has been drawn up by Sir William Pym, Superintendent-General of Quarantine, and Mr. James M. Arnott, of Middlesex Hospital; which shows that the infected ship was not neglected so much as the prior accounts made it appear. The report states the measures adopted since the arrival of the vessel at Standgate Creek. "Having ascertained the number of officers and men who had hitherto escaped an attack of the fever— viz. forty-one—they were directed to be immediately transferred to the Revenge; having first undergone the operation of ablution, and afterwards supplied with clean clothing and bedding. All those who had recovered from the fever, to- gether with such number of convalescents as were in a state to be moved, were directed to be transferred to the Benbow ; leaving only on board the steamer the sick, and such number of officers and men as the commander might think neces- sary; the Kroomen also to remain on board, (not one of whom had been attacked with fever,) excepting such number as might be thought necessary to assist on board the Revenge or Benbow. Since the 30th ultimo, three seamen have died ; but we are happy to state that no fresh case of fever has occurred since the 29th ultimo, and that at present there are only two men confined to bed with the fever, and eleven convalescents, under the care of the two medical officers, a sur- geon and assistant-surgeon, who have been on board ever since the Eclair sailed from Madeira; and we have a confident hope, from the present state of the crew and the measures adopted, that the progress of the disease is arrested." Before the Vice-Chancellor of England, at Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, on Wednesday, Mr. H. Prendergast applied for an injunction to restrain the sale of certain numbers of the Law Times; a weekly journal, the conductors of which had been in the habit of transferring to their columns, sometimes without ac- knowledgment, whole articles from the Law Review, a quarterly volume pub- lished by Mr. Richards, of Fleet Street. Remonstrances and warnings had been utterly disregarded. The Vice-Chancellor, having compared the respective pub- lications, was of opinion that there was a clear case of piracy; and an injunction was granted against all numbers of the Law Times containing articles pirated from the Law Review.

Captain Sir John Marshall, of Gillingham, near Chatham, has addressed a letter to the Times respecting his recent prosecution of a boy at Rochester for stealing walnuts. He says the accused was not "a little boy," but a lad of four- teen, one of a gang of juvenile depredators: he had been frequently seen in Sir i

John's orchard, and n the present case he stole more than half a peck of wal- nuts, though the prosecutor valued them at a low rate to induce the most lenient award of punishment; and finally' to lessen the claim upon the culprit's mother, Sir John paid half the amount of the costs.

The Paris wipers mention an odd suicide at Dinan, to which the self-murderer was provoked by .misreading some figures. Two peasants brought an action

against a young girl to whom their father had left his property. They were cast in the suit, and condemned to pay the costs. One of them withdrew, in great distress of mind, awaiting the stymie's bill. It came, and the peasant read in it that

he owed 1,248 francs, about 5og Being unable to pay the sum, he went and hanged himself. He did this under the influence of mistake, for the amount of the bill was not 1,248 francs but 12 francs 48 centimes Labout 10s.]

The master of a Glasgow schooner, a Mr. Williams, has sustained a fearful. injury: his foot became entangled in the hawser by which a steamer was about to tow the vessel up the Mersey, and was in an instant torn off at the ankle.

On Tuesday week, as strain belonging to the Eastern Counties Railway was passing through a field of oats lying in the swath, in the occupation of Mr. Riles, Littlebury, Essex, the corn caught fire from a spark or hot coal dropping from the engine, and instantly blazed up: fortunately, there were labourers near the spot, by whom the flames were extinguished without material injury. Had the accident occurred in the night, the whole produce of the field might have been destroyed. Occupiers of land contiguous to railroads should not suffer any corn when cut to lie within from ten to twelve yards of the line, and especially when there are farm-premises in the same field.— Globe. Donald Ross, a Highlander, who was employed as a special messenger during the Rebellion of 1745, died on the 23d ultimo, at ICiltearn, Ross-shire, in his hun- dred and sixteenth year. The veteran enjoyed his health and faculties until a few days before his death.—Edinburgh Witness.