IfElistellaneous.

Tuesday's Gazette contained a notification from the Speaker of the House of Commons, that at the end of fourteen days he would issue his warrant to make out the new writ for Liskeard.

The same Gazette also formally notified the appointment of Henry Bark- ly, Esq., to be Governor and Commander-in-chief in and over the colony of British. Guiana and its dependencies.

The, high esteem and affection with which the late Mr. Charles Buller was regarded by his constituents at Liskeard was testified in a formal and public manner on Sunday last. The Vicar of Liskeard preached a sermon on the subject of sudden death. The Corporation of the town assembled at the Hall in the morning, and went to their place of worship in pro- cession, preceded by their mace and staff-bearers in deep mourning, and with their emblems of office covered with crape. The Mayor, Aldermen, and Town-Council, all wore crape round their hats; and the pulpit, read- ing-desk, &c., were covered with black cloth. A funeral hymn was sung, and the whole service was of the most solemn and affecting character.

s Mr. Edmund Turner, Member for Truro, died suddenly on Sunday last, at the house of his son-in-law, Mr. W. C. Beasley, in Victoria Square, near Buckingham Palace. He was seen in good health at midnight of Saturday, and was found dead in his bedroom next morning. Mr. Turner's medical attendant deposed, at a Coroner's inquest on Monday, that he suffered from disease of the heart; and the Jury found a verdict of " Natural death front spasm of the heart."

We understand that Dr. Bowring, whose eminent qualifications as a lin- guist are so well known, has been appointed her Majesty's Consul at Can- ton. The learned gentleman has long been in a state of health which re- quired his residence in a warmer climate. We believe that Sir J. Walms- ley will succeed Dr. Bowring in the representation of Bolton.—Times.

Mr. Peregrine Birch succeeds the. late,_ Mr.. Edward Courtenay as chief Committee Clerk in the House of Lords.

The Times of Wednesday contradicted on authority an announcement made by some of the papers, that Lord Seymour was to succeed Mr. Charles Buller as Chief Commissioner of the Poor-law Board.

It is stated that " the reductions in the Excise will be of a very extensive nature, and that, independently of those officers who will be recommended for permanent retired allowaoces no fewer than three hundred will be placed upon the redundant list, to be readmitted into the service as vacanciesmay arise on the reduced establishment; and until all these redundant officers shall have been provided for, no new appointment will be allowed to take place. The inquiry into the expenditure tithe civil establishments in Ireland will be conducted with the same determination to enforce all possible eco- nomy in the public departments, as in England."

We understand that the Committee of investigation started to meddle with all the Government establishments has received a check from the Secretaries of State for the Home, Foreign, and Colonial departments. A Committee, or Commission, at the head of which was Sir Charles Tre- velyan K.C:B., was preparing to invade the above offices, when it was in- timated to the. Board of Treasury, that the heads of the three depart- ments above named would not permit any interference of the kind; and that if the Treasury was of opinion that a revision was necessary, their own officers were quite competent and willing to undertake the task.—lifora- ing Herald.

The basis of the postal convention with the United States has at last been finally settled, and a draught of thp convention itself will. be,sent by this day:s steamer to America, for ratification by the Senate of the United States. By the convention a considerable reduction will be made upon the postage of American letters; and we trust that the ill-feeling on both sides, which: tbe, .question had occasioned, will be /definitively removed.— Times, Friday.

His. Excellency Count Reventlow returned on Mohday from after an abseoce. of nearly two months. The Count, who passed. through

Brussels-on- a special mission to the King of Belgium, is accompanied by M. Tresckow; Conseiller de Conference; who has been appointed to take part in the negotiations between Denmark, and Germany, . which soon be reopened in London.,,Tiwes.

The reigning -Datchess- Amelia of Saxe-Altenbourg died at the capital of the cluteby. on the 28th November, aged forty-nine. She was second

daughter of- Louis Duke of Wurtemburg and Henrietta Princess of Nas-

san-Weilburg; and sister of the Queen of Wurtemburg, of the Archdutch- ess Mary (Francis) of -Austria, and ofthe Dutchess.Elizabeth, who married

the Margrave William of Baden. She married the reigning Duke of Saxe- Altenbourg, by whom she leaves a family of four daughters—the Crown Princess 'of Hanover, the Datchesses Theresa and Elizabeth, and the Grand- Dutchess Alexandrine (Constantine) of Russia.

It is reported from Munster, with too much ground for apprehension, that Prince Waldemar of Prussia, who fought by the side of our. gallant Fiftieth en the Sutlej, and was a. sharer in all the perils. and glories of the Hardinge and Smith campaigns, is in such a precarious state of health as to excite great anxiety in the ;ninths of the Royal. Family. Dr. Schon- lein, one of the most eminent.physicians.of Berlin, has-been summoned to attend upon his Royal Highness, in order to watch and report-to the King- -Berlin Correspondent of the Morning Chronicle.

The Spanish correspondent of the Morning Post describes his recent ar- rival at the head-quarters of Cabrera, and the distinction with which he was treated "as connected with the 'English press." Cabrera gave hint liberty to. visit every part of his force and of his positions; "said that his head-quarters would always be' opeu mt to.e,. and that, when either tired of Catalonia or dissatisfied,with my mission, I should-have passports and an escort to the frontier. All he desired was publicity for his acts, and that the facts of the War should be honestly end' truly stated." At a supper in Cabrera's camp, the writer had some singular documents put into his hands by Cabrera—"- Christine correspondence intercepted by the Carlists "; and he promises to send for publication in the Post some curious particulars "illustrative of Palace peccadilloes."

Dr. Henry William. Fuller, of St. George's. Hospital, has sent to the Lancet a communication of curious interest. " For some months past, in certain parts of Hampshire, partridges have been found dead in the fields, presenting a very re- markable appearance. Instead of lying prostrate on their sides, as is usually the case with dead birds, they have been found sitting with their heads erect and their eyes open, presenting all the semblance of life. This peculiarity, which for some time had attracted considerable attention among sportsmen in the neighbour- hood, led to no practical result until about ten days ago, when a covey of ten birds having been found nestled together in this condition, two of the birds, together with the seeds taken from the crops of the remaining eight, were sent up to Lon- don for examination." By analysis, Dr. Fuller discovered considerable quantities of arsenic in the viscera of the birds: this was traced to the seed-corn in their crops. Inquiry established, that "in Hampshire, Lincolnshire, and many other parts of the country, the farmers are now in the habit of steeping their wheat in a strong solution of arsenic previous to sowing it, with the view of preventing the ravages of the wire-worm on the seed, and of the smut on the plant when grown; that this process is found to be eminently successful, and is therefore daily becom- ing more and more generally adopted; that, even now, many hundredsweight of arsenic are yearly sold to agriculturists for this express purpose; that although the seed is poisonous when sown, its fruit is in no degree affected by the poison; that wherever this plan has been extensively carried out, pheasants and partridges have been poisoned by eating the seed, and the partridges have been almost univer- sally found sitting in the position I have already described; and lastly, that the men employed in sowing the poisonous seed not unfrequently present the earlier symptoms which occur in the milder cases of poisoning by arsenic." The question was then suggested, " Might not the flesh of birds so poisoned prove injurious when eaten? Dr. Fuller cut off the breast of a bird, and gave it to a fine healthy cat. " She ate it with avidity; but in about half an hoar she began to vomit, and vomited almost incessantly for nearly twelve hours, during the whole of which time she evidently suffered excessive pain. After this, no- thing would induce her to eat any more partridge. I kept her without food for twenty-four hours, but in vain; she resolutely refused to touch an atom more of the bird. This being the case, I gave her some beef and some milk, which she eagerly swallowed; proving beyond doubt, that her instinct, and not her want of appetite, induced her to forego the dainty meal which had just been offered her." Dr. Faller also found in every part of the flesh of the other bird strong traces of arsenic: the bird could not have been eaten by a man without very serious con- sequences. " It is notorious," Dr. Faller says, " that many of the dealers in game are supplied through the agency of poachers and others who have a direct pecuniary interest in supplying them with the largest possible number of birds. It is certain, moreover, that if men of this sort were to find a covey of partridges in a field, dead, but fresh and in good condition, they would not hesitate to send them with the remainder of their booty to the poulterer; who would as certainly, Without suspicion, sell them to his customers." The conclusions are, that " sus- picions cases of belly-ache" at this season are not always to be taken for cholera; and that the practice of steeping seed in arsenical solution may become matter for restrictive legislative interference, both on sanatory and medico-legal grounds.

If the Pope had gone to Malta, says the Genoa correspondent of the the Times, or possibly to England, "he might have met with his former love; for there is a story current, that when in his youth, and in the Guardia Nubile at Rome, he fell deeply in love with a beautiful English girl. She refused his snit, although handsome, young, and noble—to her honour be it told—mi account of the differ- ence of religion. He took the matter so much to heart that he retired to a con- vent, became an ecclesiastic, and eventually Pope."

Not long ago, at Solsona, the Carlist General Cabrera had a countryman brought before him, who had shortly before seen Cordova the Captain-General of Catalonia, since superseded. The countryman commenced a glowing description of the splendour of Cordova's appearance; but Cabrera interrupted him with a question whether the General wore alpergatas (the hempen sandals worn by Spanish soldiers when on the march); and the reply being in the negative, he said, " 'Then I don't care for him."

An unfortunate accident took place recently at the Grand Theitre at Marseilles during the performance of the ballet of Giselle. In the second act, whilst Made- moiselle Berths, the premiere danseuse, suspended by two wires, was crossing the stage, one of the lights set fire to her dress. She uttered the most piercing cries for help, but she was at so great a height that she could not be reached.' In this terrible position she was obliged to let herself fall on to the stage; by which she was very badly bruised, but the fire was soon extinguished. The medical men Who attended her pronounced that she had sustained no fracture, but congestion of the brain was probable.

It appears that the real name of Mrs. James, so often mentioned in connexion with the Stanfield Hall murders, is Emily Sandford. Miss Sandford entered Rush's family some two-years sines, as the governess of his children. It is stated that she was seduced by him, and taken to town; and that she there gave birth, on the 4th of October last, tea child which immediately died. She assumed the name of Mrs. James on coming to town, and passed as Rush's niece; and she put on widow's weeds on the pretended intelligence of her husband's death at sea. Her family is respectable: she has two brothers surgeons, and a brother in the Church: she is herself described as highly educated and accomplished, "small, and of very pleasing, interesting appearance."

A prisoner in the Brixton House of Correction made a daring attempt to es- cape, last Friday. Assisted by a towel, he managed to climb a spout, and got on to the boundary-wall; here he was observed by the officers, and was hemmed in. On the top of the wall are loose bricks; these- he began to hurl at the turnkeys. As he refused to_yield, a musket charged with powder only was fired, several times; this had no effect in terrifying him; so the musket was loaded with small sluA and the charge lodged in his thigh: he fell from the wall, and was carried to the infirmary. He is supposed to have been a sailor.

Captain Hideo sent to the Madras Spectator a narrative of the danger and heroism of Miss Arnold, the daughter of the deceased master of the Rainbow. It differs from former accounts. Thechiet mate was a drunkard; after the death of Mr. Arnold, the second mate made overtures to the young lady—who is about sixteen—and purposed to run away with the ship. miss Arnold rushed on deck, appealed to the crew, and so influenced them that only two were led away by the second mate. The heroine then prevailed on the seamen to throw overboard all the spirits; and eventually the ship got safe to Aden; the lady having been pro- tected from insult. The second mate and his two followers were arrested at the port.

Twenty-four men of Southwold have behaved with noble gallantry in navigating the life-boat of that place during a heavy gale of wind; gaining a wreck on the Barnard Sand, many miles off, and rescuing two men who were on the point of, perishing. The master, the mate, and a boy, had been drowned. The vessel was the Ury, from Sunderland to Dunkirk. A few minutes after the rescue, not a vestige of the wreck remained.

An affecting incident is related by a Donegal paper. "A few nights since, a young boy and his sister, returning from I ettigo homeward, had to cross a mountain. The night was dark and stormy, and they lost their way. Next morning both were found dead from the exposure. The boy and girl lay side by side; the girl with her arm round her brother's neck, and her flannel petticoat, removed from her own person, was wrapped round his feet. Thus did the creature, perhaps, sacrifice her own life in a vain effort to sustain that of her bnother."

A few days ago, a pensioner at Carlisle cut out of his arm a flattened piece of lead, about the size of a sixpence, being a portion of a ball which shattered the upper bone of his arm at the battle of Waterloo.--Durham Advertiser.

Sixty-two crows have been killed in a hedgeeit Coylton, a parish in Scotland, by a flash of lightning, which struck the hedge where a larger number of the birds had congregated.

While an old gentleman, named Nottage, was at meeting at Saffron Walden on Sunday morning last, some impudent thieves entered his house and stole 1701. On retiring with their booty, they had the assurance to write in chalk on the door, " Watch, while you pray."—Essex Herald.

Among some timber sold by auction in London last week, were 3,980 pieces of oak from Mount Olympus.

At Montreal, on the night of the 17th November, there was one of the most splendid exhibitions of the aurora borealis that has been seen for many years: " so splendid, indeed, that we read of nothing superior to it in Scoresby, Richard- son, and others, who have witnessed it in the Polar regions. Columnar corus- cations shot up to the zenith, from a luminous cloud, which was extended nearly all round the horizon, until the whole hemisphere was covered with them. The streamers had, as usual, at first a light and tremulous motion; and when near to- gether, presented the appearance of waves or sheets of light and flame, following each other in rapid succession, rising higher and higher till they met at the zenith, when the wreaths presented the appearance of a corona borealis of singu- lar but ever-varying beauty and brilliancy, and tinged with various prismatic colours, in which orange and green frequently prevailed; but the different shades of red always predominated. At one time, while the coruscations were brightest and most active in their motions, a slight rustling noise, similar to what is emitted by flames of fire, was heard, but not so distinctly as on a former occasion, about twenty years ago."

Ten years ago, in the midst of a storm which had raised drifts of snow thirteen feet deep across different spots of the road, a traveller set out in a heavily-laden cart from Kingussie in Badenoch, to cross Drumwachter; a friend and a New- foundland dog were with him in his cart. Near to Dalwhinnie Inn, the storm turned horse and cart upside down, threw the traveller and his friend into the road, and carried the dog some way over the drift. The traveller's hat, which contained an important letter, was blown away, out of sight; and when the dog got back he was sent in pursuit of it. He disappeared in chase, and only re- turned just as the horse and cart had been set upright, nearly an hour after the overturn. The journey was completed by aid of a band of twenty Highlanders. On examining his hat, the traveller found that the letter had fallen out of it, and escaped the notice of his brave and sagacious dog; and he was put to serious loss by the misfortune. "A singular incident remains to be told. The lost letter ar- rived to its address a few days ago, by post; but the gentleman to whom it was written was no more. He died about eight years ago, and it was given to the writer. It was found on the banks of Loch Ericht, a desolate region, about eight miles from Dalwhinnie, by a shepherd, who simply says on the envelope, ' found at Loch Ericht side, bye. shepherd.' It is in surprising preservation, considering the number of years it has lain among the mountains."—Perthshire Courier.

The cholera continues to be mild in London and the Engligh (Provinces, but severe in Scotland. The returns for the week are as follows—London, cases 20, deaths 9; the Provinces, cases 47, deaths 24; Scotland, cases 362, deaths 174.

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

Age Sudden

Violence, Privation, Cold, and Intemperance Total (Including unspecified causes) 1146 1115' The temperature of the thermometer ranged from 63.2° in the sun to 29.5° i.e the shade; the mean temperature by day being warmer than the mean averegt1 temperature by 8.85. The mean direction of the wind for the week was South-Welt:

Number of AntUma Deaths. Average.

Zymotic Diseases 370 .... 270 Dropsy, Cancer, and other diseases of uncertain or variable seat 43 .... 62 Tubercular Diseases. 172 .... 184 Diseases of the Brain, Spinal Marrow, Nerves, and Senses . 119 .... 129 Diseases of the Heart and Blood-veatels .. 42 .... 35 Diseases of the Lungs, and of the other Organs of Respiration— . 198 .... 222 Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs of Digestion 60 .... 67 Diseases of the Kidneys,1te 13 .... 12

Childbirth, diseases of the Uterus, .be 14 Rheumatism, diseases of the Bones, Joints, die Diseases of the Skin, Cellular MIME, Sc

Malformations Premature Birth 20 ....

2 Atrophy 3 ....