An untoward accident happened to the crown after the ceremony

of the prorogation on Saturday. It was carried on the velvet cushion by the Duke of Argyll, an elderly man: receding from the Queen's presence without turning, he forgot that he had to descend two steps from the floor of the throne, and he stumbled; the crown—absit omen!—fell off RS cushion, and several diamonds were knocked off. The Queen desired the Duke not to be concerned about the accident, and expressed a hope that he had not hurt himself. On her Majesty's departure, steps were taken to- secure the fallen jewels from being purloined; the Housekeeper appearing in front of the throne, and civilly preventing too near an approach. In the House, the disaster was the nabject of earnest conversation; the Duke- of Wellington seeming to be a busy interlocutor.

Wednesday was the Queen Dowager's birthday; and several distinguished persons called at Bushy House to pay their respects.

The Duke of Cambridge left town on Wednesday, to visit the Dutchess of Gloucester at her Richmond residence.

Our readers will be gratified to learn that the Queen has been graciot sly

to issue her -Royal letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and

torask,edauthorizing them to promote, within their respective provinces, con- tributions in aid of the funds now raising in this country for the sufferers by the late calamitous fires at Quebec. It appears that the appeal made to the public by the committee formed to promote the laudable object has not been attended with that success which, from the urgent necessities of the case, might have been expected.—Standard.

Tuesday's Gazette contained a notice that sugars from Siam, having been ascertained not to be the produce of slave-labour, will be admitted into this country at the rate of duty charged upon free-labour sugar.

The Gazette announces that the Queen has conferred the honour of Knighthood on Mr. Fitzroy Kelly, the Solicitor-General.

Several minor appointments are notified in the Gazette,— that of John Earl Somers to be Lord-Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of Hereford county ; " Andrew Clarke, Esq., late a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army," to be Governor of Western Australia; "Sir James Emerson Tennent, Knight," to be Colonial Secretary for the Island of Ceylon; the Honourable Charles Hope, to be Governor of the Isle of Man, in the room of Colonel John Ready, deceased.

Notice is given to the officers and men of the Queen's ship Dido, who were present at the destruction of pirates in the river Sakarran, in Borneo, on the 19th August 1844, and to the officers and men of the steam-sloop Hydra, engaged in the capture of the Cyrus on the 6th June 1844, that their prize-monies will be payable on the 25th instant and lit September respectively. Rear-Admiral of the White James Richard Dacres has been appointed by the Earl of Haddington to succeed Rear-Admiral of the Blue the Honourable Joceline Percy, C.B., as Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces on the Cape of Good Hope station.

We understand that the office of Medical Examiner to the East India

Company is likely to be vacated by Dr. Hume, who is appointed a Com- missioner in Lunacy. It is thought that the Court of Directors may be disposed to appoint to this important office a member of their own service; and while such men as Martin and .Anneley are to be found, no difficulty appears to exist.—Timer.

The Honourable James Stuart Wortley, Q.C., has been appointed At- torney-General for the County Palatine of Lancaster, in the room of the late Mr. Sergeant Atcherley.—Morning Pest.

Mr. Dyes, it is reported, is to have one of the rooms in the new Parlia- ment House entirely to himself, to ornament with fresco-paintings; and Messrs. Severn, Fennell, and Herbert to have other apartments. Mr. Maclise is stated to have declined a commission.—Literary Gazette.

The Board of Customs have issued an order permitting glass which is -subject to the higher rate of 8d. a pound duty, to be imported on a partial examination only.

M. De Brimow, the Russian Ambassador, has recently made some efforts to obtain a reduction of the duty on Russian tallow: but Sir Robert Peel has intimated that it is not his intention to make any change.—Morning Chronicle.

The Select Committee of the House of Lords on the petitions against the London and York Railway Company have made a report, which begins thus- " That the Committee have proceeded to inquire into the circumstances re- ferred to in the petitions referred to them, and have examined several witnesses; and are of opinion that the evidence taken before them is sufficient to induce them to recommend to the House that the bill should not be allowed to be read a second time until a further investigation has taken place; but as their inquiries cannot be brought to a close during the present session, they do not propose to report the evidence taken before them to the House." The Committee mention thirteen cases in which the evidence has failed; twenty eases which have been withdrawn by the accusers. The report closes thus—" The Committee cannot conclude without expressing their strong disapprobation of the hasty and inconsiderate manner in which personal abuse has been brought forward against parties who -appear in several cases, from the admission of the opposers of the bill themselves, and in others upon investigation, to be free from all imputation."

Now that the most eventful session of Parliament recorded in railway history has reached its dose, we are enabled to announce, from our official returns, the following as the great results of its legislation. Parliament has sanctioned the construction of 2,090 miles of new railways in England and Scotland, and of 560 miles in Ireland. This is in effect to double the extent of the railways of Great Britain, exclusive of Ireland. The capital authorized to be raised in shares for this purpose amounts to 31,680,0001., exclusive of 6,800,0001. required for the Irish lines; making in all 38,480,000/. The cost of the new railways per mile will be thus very much less than that of existing lines. The average of the new is nearly 15,0001. per mile, and that of the old exceeds 30,0001. per mile.—Rail- way Chronicle.

According to the Times, it has been estimated that no less a sum than ten mil- lions sterlimg must be sent out of this country in the course of the year, to pay the calls on foreign railway shares; and speculators are warned of the effect which that may have upon the money-market.

To show the extraordinary nature of railway speculation in Glasgow, we may mention, that on a line near this city, on which a deposit of 2/. 10s. was required ,per share, they soon ran up to a premium of 51. and 10/. per share; and on

Monday they were quoted as high as 231. and 241., but on the day following they fell to 171.; and now they are running up again, in consequence of what is called

"time" or "bear" bargains, ruinous to some, but profitable enough to others ; and this is a feature, we are afraid, which pervades too many of them. Sober business is now shoved aside, and speculation—speculation—railway shares and railway deposit, scrip and premium, seem to be the order of the day.—Scotch Reformers' Gazette.

The totally unexpected amalgamation of the Huddersfield, Halifax, and Bradford Union Railway with the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company has

had the most extraordinary and unhappy effect on great numbers of speculators in shares in Leeds and the neighbouring towns. According to the fatal system which prevails so extensively, of persons selling shares without possessing them, on the speculation of being able to buy them at a lower price before the time comes for their delivery, a vast number of these shares had been sold in the market—no less, it is said, than eighty thousand. The number of shares originally announced in the prospectus of this railway was only fifteen thousand; and the number which the committee have actually to allot, according to the agreement

with the Manchester and Leeds, is only seven thousand five hundred. As soon -as the arrangement with the latter Company was known, the shares sprung up from 30s. to 101., 12l., and even 151., wtly owing to the real value of the shares as stock of the Manchester and Leeds Company, and partly from the rush into the market of those who had previously sold shares, to obtain them for delivery. The consequence has been the absolute inability of those who had previously sold on speculation to fulfil their bargains; and this inability is all but universal among brokers and their clients. Under these extraordinary circumstances, the members of the Leeds Stock Exchange met on Thursday, and adopted the following resolution. [The resolution quoted prohibits such rtic a for the future, and recommends an amicable arrangement as to the wt. It is believed that it will be agreed to receive about Si. per share, instead' of e market-price. In the Leeds Association of Sharebrokers, we understand that it has been de- termined to repudiate altogether the bargains in this railway-, on the alleged ground that the Committee have not fulfilled the expectations held out in their prospectus as to the number of shares to be allotted to the public. All bargains in shares where the scrip has not been issued being illegal, payment cannot be enforced by law; but we need not say what the effect of the repudiation must be on the parties. In at least one other town of the West Riding the same state of things exists as in Leeds. The Huddersfield, Halifax, and Bradford Union, not being thought likely to succeed, the shares were sold (or beared, in the phrase of the speculators) to an immense extent; and the consequences are of the most disastrous character.—Leeds Mercury.

Although a continued rise in the barometer has been observed. the character of the weather has not materially changed in the neighbourhood of the Metropolie,• and the reports of the harvest also remain much like those of last week: general forebodings; accounts from this place of wheat looking sickly—as in Suffolk; from that of its being laid by the rain as if by "an iron roller "—as in Wales; or of its being very green and backward. On the other hand, reports come from many places that the case is not yet so bad as it looks. In some parts of Kent the weather has been finer, and the crops in the Isle of Thanet seldom looked better; but from the Weald the accounts are dismaL In Berkshire the wheat bears a healthier aspect, and there is such a breadth sown as to compensate the defi- ciency of yield. In Devonshire the rust has been washed off, and the crops are very fine. Seasonable warmth and brightness have visited Somerset, and the wheat is very heavy. In the North of Ireland, the crops begin to assume their autumn hue; more to the South there are great complaints of incessant rain and "lodging" of the crops. From Scotland the reports are on the whole favourable, and sunshine would yet insure a fine harvest. Reaping has become general in the Eastern and Southern counties of England; and it is gradually spreading over the country. The barley seems to have suffered less than the wheat.

On Thursday, the bakers of the East and South end of the Metropolis raised the price of the best bread to 9id. and 10d., and that of the second quality to W.; being an advance of one halfpenny in the four-pound loaf.

The Dean of Durham has written a note to Mr. flume, informing him " that the cathedral of Durham has been open to the public for several hours each day for the last four years without any payment being required from any one; and the Dean is happy to add, that not one instance of misconduct on the part of any one of the numerous visiters has come to Ids knowledge."

Upwards of 5,000 persons visited the Royal Hibernian Academy picture en- hibition at Dublin on Saturday, the charge being only one penny each; a good example for other exhibiters. Perhaps the principle of the Cartoon exhibitions and the Free-trade Bazaar might be applied tealh such exhibitions; for which, on first opening, and probably on certain subsequent days, higher prices might be charged, with sixpenny or penny days for the middle class and pourer visiters.

In the church of Walpole St. Peter, Norfolk, built under the patronage of the Church-building Society, there has recently been erected a stone altar, with a cover of velvet, having five crosses. The altar is a fixture; and there are pie- eines, sedilia, and other mediaeval features, with a Latin inscription on the flint.— Oxford Chronicle.

It will afford our readers great pleasure to learn that the Honourable Jacob Hagen, member of the Legislative Council, has just forwarded to London, as a present to her Majesty Queen Victoria, a dozen of South Australian wine, the produce of his vineyard at Exchunga, under the management of Mr. Walter Duffield. To Mr. Hagen belongs the credit of the first successful attempt at South Australian wine-making; and, from what we hear, his vineyard bids fair to return wines of first-rate excellence. We shall look with some anxiety for the terms in which her Majesty is pleased to acknowledge the receipt of this some- what singular present.—South Australian.

Letters have been received at Woolwich, from the ship Erebus, of the Arctic- discovery expedition, dated at Whale-fish Islands, in Davis's Straits, on the 8th July 1845; from one of which the following is an extract—" We are discharging the transport as quick as possible, for the season is far advanced, and we are in a great hurry to get up the country; but we have plenty of time yet, if the weather keeps fine. We calculate on being absent about two years and a half at most, unless we get through into the Southern ocean, when it may be three or four ears before we return. We are all well, and I am vela- happy. We have the best of usage, and one of the best of captains, and a good set of officers through- out. The Bereft° Junior, transport-ship, sails the day after tomorrow (10th July) on her return. The Natives here are civilized, and as shrewd at making a bargain as you or I would be in any transactions at home." The letter quotes a general order issued by the United States Government to all naval officers of that country, requiring them to give every assistance in their power to promote the objects of the expedition.

On the 26th April last, the Mutine, 12, one of the experimental brigs built by Mr. Fincham captured the Brazilian slaver Princeza Imperial, of 400 tons burden, and fitted up for the reception of 800 or 900 slaves.

Twelve fishermen of Zetland have been drowned by the capsizing of their boats in a gale.

Mr. Justice Cresswell's carriage was upset while descending a steep hill on the North side of Borrowbridge, ii Westmoreland, on Saturday night; but no one was hurt. The accident was occasioned by some rails laid across the road for a temporary purpose in building the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway; and, un- derstanding that several vehicles had been overturned in like manner, the Judge sent for one of the contractors and reprimanded him.

A little girl who was crossing the Lancaster and Preston Railway, last week, when a train was approaching, was knocked down between the rails by the buffer of the engine, and the whole train of carriages passed over her without doing her any harm.

Bernard Cavanagh, the fasting man, who three or four years since excited some attention in the Metropolis by professing to exist without sustenance, liquid or solid, expired on Sunday week, in Rucoats Lane Dublin, in his thirty-second year. He had recently kept a huckster's shop, in which he had failed. Ile had gone by an assumed name, and his right one did not transpire till shortly before his death. His brother, who was with him when he exhibited himself in London, was present. The deceased was of parsimonious habits, and often reduced to

i great extremities: he has left money n the bank.

It is extremely gratifying to have had the assurance of Ministers, that in the event of war requiring the whole of our troops, England has still got the Chelsea pensioners to fall back upon. The wooden walls of Old England are safe while she has still her wooden legs to stand upon. We understand that a review of the Chelsea pensioners will shortly take place, as a preliminary to bringing the vete- rans into active service. There may be some difficulty in obeying the words of command; for the ordinary operation of "shouldering arms" will be somewhat of a puzzle to those who have no arms to shoulder. "Recover arms" will be an evolution that many would be delighted to perform if it were practicable, and "Stand at ease" will be a suggestion to those who have lost their legs may find some dffieulty in complying with. Whether the Chelsea corps is to form a portion of her Majesty's

Foot we have not heard, but the regiment of "No Foot" would perhaps be a more appropriate title to most of them. "Quick march" will, we understand, not be Insisted upon as part of the exercise to be performed by the veterans; who will be divided into rank and file, some of whom will rank as old files, according to seniority. The guns dealt out to those who have no legs will be constructed on a pinciple that must prevent them from kicking; for it is felt to be hard on the ad legless boys to have kicking guns given them, when it is out of their power to kick in return.—Punch.