9111tirdIalitilUg.

His Majesty has appointed Sir H. Parnell one of the Commis- sioners for Inquiring into Ecclesiastical Revenues and Patronage.— Globe.

The amount of duties received at the Liverpool Customhouse in the month of August last, was 403,0001. ; in August 1831, the amount was only 292,000/. ; being an increase on the corresponding month last year of no less than 111,0001.—Liverpool Courier.

By the demise of Mr. Charles Greville, vacancies have occurred in the offices of Comptroller of Cash in the Excise (6001. per annum), and Receiver-General of Cash Taxes (Nottingham), also worth 6001. per annum. Mr. Greville married the sister of the Duke of Portland ; by whom he has left three sons and one daughter, married to Lord Francis Leveson Gower. 1, This is a fine specimen of our high-minded 'aristo- cracy ! The brother-in-law of a Duke and the father-in-law of a Mar- quis's son, grasping at two paltry offices of 6001. a year each—and glad to get them, we doubt not.]

There is a story current in the political circles, that in an interview between the Speaker and Lord Grey, the avowed object of which was to thank the Premier for the kind expressions used by Lord Althorp in the House, when proposing the pension, the Speaker hinted at the expectation entertained by his friends that the usual compliment of the Peerage would be paid ; and thatEarl Grey immediately observed he would never recommend the King to confer the Peerage on a gentleman who had endeavoured to defeat the chief object of a Cabinet acting in the King's name.— Globe.

The real version of the story relating to the interview betwe en the Prime Minister and the Speaker, we understand to be as follows. Im- mediately after the bill to ratify the retiring pension of the Speaker had received the Royal assent, he waited upon Earl Grey to thank him, as the head of the Government, for the handsome and delicate manner in which his services had been appreciated ; but, said the Speaker, there is another appendage which has generally accompanied the pension, of which be took leave to remind the Premier—and that was the Peerage. Lord Grey, with infinite grace and quickness, immediately replied, " Why, Mr. Speaker, you are opposed to my Government ?" " Cer= tainly, my Lord ; there are leading principles of your Administration— for instance, the Reform Bill—of which I totally disapprove ; but I claim the Peerage, as an honour, which, with few exceptions, has been the reward of services like mine." Lord Grey closed the interview by observing, " You, Mr. Speaker, would be a formidable debater in the House biLords ; and in the present state' of the Peerage, I could not recommend his Majesty to add one unit to the Opposition."—Morning Chronicle.

BRITISH BENEVOLENCE.—The income of the principal Religious Societies supported by voluntary contributions, for the year ending May 1832, has been as follows : British and Foreign Bible Society .£81.700

Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society

8

Church Missionary Society 48

London Missionary Society 341,:7550000

London Hibernian Society 9,800 Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews 11,000 British and Foreign Seamen and Soldiers' Friend Society 5,000 Religious Tract Society

Irish Evanzelical Society 33:3 00000

Home Missionary Society 4,000 Naval and Military Bible Society 2,700 Prayer Book and Homily Society 2,700 British and Foreign School Society

Continental Society 12,509000

Port of London Society 700 Christian Instruction Society 600 Ecclesiastical Knowledge Society 440 Sunday School Society 340

London Itinerant Society 390 Society fur the Observance of the Lord's Day 840 The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the Society for Promoting Religious Knowledge among the Poor, the Baptist Missionary Society, and various other minor institutions, not making up their annual accounts in May, are not included in the above summary. If these were added, the gross amount contributed volun- tarily in this country, for the support:of religious institutions for general purposes, would exceed 300,000/. annually.—Nottinghain Review.

A decree was published by the Gibraltar Board of Health, on the 24th ult., ordering all vessels from London with susceptible goods to a foul lazaretto; vessels which tranship their cargoes for a foul la- zaretto will be permitted to pratique after a quarantine of fourteen days, commencing from the day of discharge.

It is said that an application has been made to Lord Palmerston by a highly respectable Oporto house in the City, to allow the steam-packets for that port and Lisbon to sail every week during the present contest in Portugal, and that his Lordship has transmitted the application to the Admiralty and Postmaster-General for consideration.

Lord Frederick Fitzclarence, upon his return from Berlin, will as- sume the functions of Assistant Adjutant-General to the Forces, to which his Lordship has been just appointed, in the room of Major Gar-rock. The Earl of Munster accepted the post of Deputy- Adjutant-General shortly after his Majesty's accession, but resigned

the situation at the end of two or three months. Lord Frederick and his Lady-are expected about the 20th 'inst.

PROGRESSING.—The English Ambassador, Sir Stratford Canning, at his last audience of the Sultan Selim, previous to quitting Constan-

tinople,. received a gold snuff-box set in diamonds with the Sultan's portrait. This is the first time that the Sultan has made a present of his portrait.

We understand that Dr. Baines, one of the English Vicars Apos- tolic, has just been called over to Rome by the Pope, in order to be

made one of the Perpetual Assistant Prelates to the Papal Throne. Dr. Baines left London for Italy on the 7th instant; he is not ex- pected to return to this country for many years at least.—Standard.

The splendid mansion, lately belonging to the Marquis of Hertford, in Piccadilly, better known as the Pulteney Hotel, is said to have been recently purchased by Mr. Bluck, of St. James's Street, for the pur- pose of converting it into a Subscription House, as a rival to " Fish- monger's Hall."

It appears that the late Mr. Spottiswoode died of rheumatic fever, from cold caught at the Lakes ; not of cholera, as was alleged.

The ci.devant King of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte, is, it seems, ex- tremely anxious to domicile himself somewhere in this country. He has been to look at Rocketts, the seat of the late Earl St. Vincent ; . with which, it is said, he was so well pleased, that agents were in- structed to treat for the place, provided the mansion was found to be sufficiently capacious for the accommodation of his numerous suite. The same agents also paid a visit of inspection at Thorndon Hall, late the residence of Lord Petre, who has removed into Hertfordshire. With regard to the former, the idea has been abandoned; but we are told that negotiations are now pending with respect to Thorndon Hall, which is considered, in all respects, a suitable residence for the illus- trious person in question.—Kent and Essex Mercury.

Mr. • Fonblanque, the Commissioner in the case of Chambers's bankruptcy, has recommended to his assignees to make a reduction of :4,0001. a-year in Mr. Monck Mason's rent of the Opera-house, for the remainder of his time.—Globe.

On the evening of the 1st instant, as Mr. Mathews, the comedian, was walking on the platform in Southampton, a large dog, running at speed, struck against his leg, and knocked him down with such violence that he continued on the ground for some minutes unable to rise. A sprained ankle and some other contusions were the consequence. He was, however, sufficiently well on the Thursday following to give an "At Home" in the theatre at Portsmouth. When the curtain drew up, lie was discovered seated at his table ; and after having requested to be allowed to remain in that position, he contrived to keep the . audience in a roar of laughter for some hours.

A vessel having on hoard a considerable number of horses, left the port of London, on Thursday, for Oporto ; having been preceded by others which conveyed about three hundred and sixty volunteers, most of them soldiers who had fought in Portugal and Spain, and about to be followed by a larger number. Accoutrements, arms, =Milli-

• tion, &c., have likewise been remitted in the London Merchant, the

/3ritomart, and other vessels. THE POTTERY TRADE.—It is about two hundred years ago since / some Dutch potters came and established themselves in Lambeth ; and by degrees a little colony was fixed in that village, possessed of about twenty manufactories, in which was made the glazed pottery arid tiles consumed in London and in various other parts of the kingdom. Here they continued in a flourishing state, giving employment to many hands in the various departments of their art, till about fifty or sixty years ago ; when the potters of Staffordshire, by their commercial activity, and by the great improvements introduced by them in the quality of their ware, In a short time so completely beat out of the market the Lambeth delph manufacturers, that this ware is now made only by a single house, and forms the smallest part even of their business.— Repertory of Patent Inventions.

ELMSTHORPE, IN LEICESTERSHIRE.—The march of matrimony has made no progress in the parish of Elmsthorpe ; which contains only four houses, occupied by thirty-four individuals, the whole of whom are living in a state of single blessedness. The rectory of this parish is a complete sinecure, no service having been performed since the year 1798, and then only when the Rector read himself in. The church is now a fine picturesque ruin, richly clad with ivy.—Leicester Chronicle.

IMPORTANT NEWS.—The following letter appeared in the Courier 4 Monday. " Dover, September 9, 12 o'Clock.—Departed in the greatest haste, the Fire Fly steam-boat, for Calais, with three King's messengers, viz., Mr. Moore, Mr. Kay, and Mr. Waring. The Fire Fly has been waiting several hours for two of the above gentlemen, who have come down under orders to travel by night and by day with the greatest speed until they succeed in overtaking Lord Mato before he reaches his place of destination ; their orders were to have as little contact as possible with anybody upon their journey ; and to step out of their carriage and four at once on board the packet, which they did ; and it was rather a novel sight to see them drive up full speed with four horses (white as snow and trembling like wires) to the packet station at the pier. This is all I know ; you may guess what you please."

[Now, with submission, we do not think our contemporary is at liberty to guess what he pleases ; his guess ought to cohere with the facts before him, or rather, with the guesses before him,—for the only part of this important communication that would justify a guess, is evi- dently a guess of the most haphazard kind. If it were in the orders of the two King's messengers to have as little contact as possible with anybody on the journey, for fear that their secret might be communi- cated (by infection, we suppose), and if they were so determined to avoid contact with anybody, on this side of the water at least, that they

drove their white and wiry steeds to the very packet-station (they ought to have gone on board in their coach and four as, they were in such a hurry), how came the Courier's correspondent to know any

thingabout their mission, or their route, or whom they followed or, fled from ? We dire say it will turn out, that Messrs. hay and Waring, or Waring and Moore; or Moore and Kay—for it is doubtful which are the secret-keepers—are only conveying to Lord Minto, if they are going to Berlin, some paper that his Lordship had forgot, or that had not passed the offices when he was ready to set out.]

PHYSIOGNOMY.—A year or two after the general peace of 1815, the present Emperor of Russia, then the Grand Duke Nicholas, paid a visit to England, and made an excursion through part of Scotland. In the course of military duty, we chanced to be among the officers ap.. pointed to escort him through Stirling Castle, after passing through the formality of an introduction. But little did we think that the person- age in whose presence we stood was in future years to figure as the Great Goth of modern times, and out. Herod Herod—for instead of a fierce and truculent Tartar, such as fancy might paint him to those who have only seen him in his works, we beheld in the present Em- peror of Russia "a marvellous proper man," very tall and handsome, with a form to fascinate a female eye, and a face, pale, Grecian, fine, almost effeminate.—Edinburgh Observer.

ROYAL AUTOGRAPHS.—At the last levee, Prince Lieven presented to the King an autograph letter from the Emperor Nicholas ; and by the last courier for St. Petersburg, a similar private communication was forwarded from King Louis Philip to the Emperor of Russia. Autograph letters from the King of Prussia, and others, were previ- ously presented to his Majesty.—Morning Herald.

CHELTENHAM WONDERS.—AbOtIt six o'clock on Tuesday evening, the singular phenomena of ant clouds were observed near the Imperial Pump Room ; and although these appearances are common, they have not been seen for many years in Cheltenham.—Bath Journal.

A BLACK COCK.—Johnson, the informer, has taken out a licence to shoot game. He intends to make an excursion into the country in a few days, to have some partridge-shooting, and will keep a sharp look- out, he says, if he catches any of the Cockney sportsmen bagging game without a certificate.

LOVES OF THE BEASTS.—Horses will not touch cruciferous plants [plants of which the four flower-leaves stand at right angles to each other, such as the wallflower], but will feed on the reed grasses, amidst an abundance of which goats have been known to starve ; and goats again will eat and grow fat on the water-hemlock, which is a rank poi- son to other cattle. In like manner, pigs will feed on henbane, while they are destroyed by common pepper ; and the horse, which avoids the bland turnip, will grow fat on rhubarb, and take a drachm of arsenic daily with advantage.—Burnett's Lectures.

On Saturday night, about half-past nine o'clock, several persons in St. Sidwell's were surprised by the sudden appearance of a light in the heavens in a south-easterly direction, apparently • over Heavitree. The phenomenon had the appearance of an immense fish [a whale ?] or serpent, with a very large head, and a long spear-like tail.—Excter Gazette.

WHISTLING.—If what the French London paper (Le Cercle) tells us be correct, a musical amateur in France has challenged all the whistlers in Europe to produce as much noise with one instrument as he can snake with his mouth. It is said, the paragraph continues, that he is coming to England, where he has been engaged by the director of the French theatre. M. Laporte cannot do better than secure such talent as this whistler possesses ; for a "generous British public " ought to have the best of whatever Europe is able to produce; they delight its encouraging high art,—witness the sums expended on the Knight of the Single String! If this performer can imitate all the noises of a farm- yard in as perfect a manner with his whistle, as Signor Paganini does with his fiddle, he would be an invaluable acquisition to a legitimate

winter theatre, particularly when it becomes an illegitimate summer one. English tragedy and English comedy are notoriously dull affairs, therefore it is perfectly vulgar to go to either Covent Garden or Drury Lane during the season ; but in July, when an old French lady enacts youthful characters, and the harmony of turkeys, ducks, and hens, is imitated on a violin, then every private box is taken, and the theatre

blazes with fashion. Then is the time for the whistler to make his &alit ; for Signor Paganini will by next year become somewhat use,

Mademoiselle Mars's age will have been discovered, and novelty is every- thing. Besides, should the great-expected performer not succeed on the stage, he may become exceedingly useful in M. Laporte's stable.— Harnsonieon for September.

ROOKS AND CHOLERA.—The Dublin Morning Register mentions a curious circumstance connected with the appearance of the cholera at Sligo. " In the demesne of the Marquis of Sligo, near Westport House, there is one of the largest rookeries in the West of Ireland. On the first or second day of the appearance of cholera in this place, I was astonished to observe that all the rooks had disappeared ; and for three weeks, during which the disease raged violently, those noisy tenants of the trees completely deserted their lofty habitations. In the mean time, the Revenue Police found immense numbers of them lying dead upon the shore, near Erris, about ten miles distant. Upon the decline of the malady, within the last few days, several of the old birds have again appeared in the neighbourhood of the rookery ; but some of them seemed unable, from exhaustion, to reach their nests." A similar de- parture of the crows and other birds has been observed at the town of Kampen, in Holland, end their return when the disease began to abate. If this be not a merely accidental coincidence, it would seem to put the theory of atmospherical influence beyond dispute.

The harvest throughout France is concluded, and has proved most abundant. The vintage, especially in the South, will, it is expected, be superb.