'Opt Vrobinces.

It is said that the borough of Bodmin has been canvassed on behalf of Sir Joseph Sawle's eldest son, in the Liberal interest ; and Sir Sa- muel Spry, the former representative, has also offered himself as a can- didate.

The Bolton Free Press reports Dr. Bowring's annual visit to his con- stituents. They met on the previous Saturday, in the Temperance Hall, which was densely crowded. The Doctor was very cordially re- ceived, in rendering his account of the way in which "the man their servant" had done his duty towards "those whom he recognized as his masters." He referred to his votes for proof that he had always con- sidered how he might best advance the interests of the people and alle- viate their distress. He stated the principle on which he acted among contending parties in "the House which called itself 'honourable' and which expected to be called so by others"— They had seen, since they last met, one Ministry turned out and another turned in. lie was very indifferent to these changes, except in so far as he could see out of Whigs or Tories the means of advancing popular demo- crat,c principles. The Whigs had fulfilled their mission very feebly, he was Willing to own; the Tories, with a new name, that of Conservative, came into office with a new edition of Whig doctrines and principles; the Whigs bad not gone far enough for their principles, while the Tories had gone further than theirs. Sir Robert Peel had attacked the Whigs in office because they owned that they felt the pressure from without, but he himself subsequently felt ra- ther uneasy from the same pressure. His (Dr. Bowring's) business in the House had been to endeavour to get from Sir Robert Peel as much for the people as he possibly could. For his part he did value Ministers for what he called their " squeezable points." All his support towards Sir Robert Peel had been for what he could get from him for the people ; and the more he could get out of him, the more willing was he to support him. He mould always act with this spirit, not to inquire the source whence this or that measure ema- nated, but ask whether this or that measure was likely to diminish the amount of misery, enable them to get rid of abuses, elevate the condition of the people, raise wages, extend trade, and make them wiser, better, freer, happier men. (" Hear)" and cheers.) These were the standards he would apply to every measure, whether that measure might emanate from Lord John Russell or Sir Robert PeeL He alluded to an old grievance, with a present application—

There were on the platform beside him two noblemen of Hungary, who came from beyond the banks of the Danube, one of the great rivers whirls

rolled into the Black Sea. He had been into their country, and had seen the

population of that country wanting garments; he .had seen clothing in that country selling at an enormous price, and had seen their granaries full to overflowing. He came to Parliament with this representation ; and it told him that the Hungarian should not be clothed with goods of English manufacture, neither should the people of this country, who were in a state of starvation be fed with Hungarian food. Ought this state of things to be tolerated Wheat in Hungary was selling at 20s. per quarter. Was it right, then, that the starving English should not be allowed to have cheap bread, when all that was asked in return was our manufactures.

Thanks were unanimously voted to Dr. Bowriog, amid vociferous cheering.

The Waltham Agricultural Society, which represents all the towns and villages within ten miles of Waltham, (fifty-eight in Leicester, twenty in Lincoln, thirteen in Nottingham, and eleven in Rutland,) held its annual meeting on Monday. The show of stock was good. At three o'clock, about three hundred of the noblemen, clergy, gentry, and yeomanry, sat down to dinner in the Agricultural Hall, a building erected for the Society. The Duke of Rutland presided ; the Honour- able Edward Everett, Minister from the United States, and Mr. Henry Handley, were among the guests. Some passages in the speeches of the Chairman and the American Minister were interesting. The first is a piece of Chinese news, contributed by the Duke, and vouched for as being given "on the best authority"—

A letter from one Chinese Mandarin to another had been intercepted, in which the writer said—" We must leave off calling these people barbarians ; their conduct to their sick and wounded, and even to such of our sick and wounded as may fall into their hands, is so kind and humane that we must no longer call them barbarians." [This looks very apocryphal ; unless perchance it is a remarkably "free" translation.] The Duke then informed the meeting that the forbearance and noble behaviour of our troops had created such a favourable feelings towards them in that country, that none of what might be termed the respectable portion of the people would inlist against them and that the ranks of their armies were filled by only "the scum and riff-rafi" of the empire. The Duke afterwards adverted to the operation of the Tariff, and the alarm revived by the recent importations of cattle. He advised the meeting to view the subject more deliberately ; and he was frequently and loudly cheered as he proceeded— Those who had raised an alarm as to the probable consequences were, he was sure, equally unable to come to a correct conclusion • he therefore advised all to join with him in suspending their judgment until the new plan should have had a fair and complete trial. He knew the heads who had contrived those altera- tions were wiser than his own, and that there were hearts joined to those heads which, if they felt any cause of alarm, would impel them to the most vigorous exertions in order that things might he set straight again. (Loud cheers.) As they were upon the subject of importations, he had received some authentic re- turns of imports, which he would read to the meeting— NUMBER OF CATTLE IMPORTED INTO ENGLAND, AND THE AMOUNT or DUTY PAID THEREON, FROM JULY 9TH TO SEPTEMBER 16TH 1842.

555 Oxen duty paid.. £587 1 2 340 Cows 1823 36 14 0

23373 sCill■.e. eps

5 Lambs 0 9 5 150 Swine 35 11 5

Total duty £939 5 10 BACON AND HAMS ENTERED AT THE PORT OF LONDON BETWEEN JULY 9TH AND SEPTEMBER 16T11, 1842.

Cwt. qr. lb.

From Prussia, bacon 0 1 25 Hams 46 2 17 From Germany (principally Hanover) 541 1 14 Hanseatic Pro, inces 69 0 27 Spain and Portugal 22 3 15 United Stales 103 0 23 Other places 5 2 19

1349 2 0

From what he could hear of fairs and cattle-sales, he could not discover that there had been at present any material reduction in prices. A noble friend had lately had a sale of fat stock in Derbyshire, at which the prices were so good that he declared be was ashamed to look the purchasers in the fare when he re- ceived the money they gave him. Ile (the Duke) was a grower of corn, and took great interest in every thing connected with its sale, and he found that in the last two months there had been a decline of about 12s. per quarter. But how much of this reduction was attributable to the excellent and abundant harvest to which he had alluded, lie could not say. Any reduction arising from a redundance of corn grown in this country was perfectly fair, and much to be desired. What did it matter to the farmer whether he sold fifty quarters at 70s., or seventy quarters at 50s.? And the latter case was most to be desired.

In proposing the health of Mr. Everett, the Duke of Rutland re- minded the company of one fact, to show the importance of the com- mercial relations between the United States and Great Britain : of the 15,000,000/. of cotton exported by the United States, 10,000,000/. are, in times of prosperous trade, taken by Great Britain ; for which America takes back 7,000,000/. worth of our manufactures.

Mr. Everett rejoiced over the recently-concluded treaty and its strengthening of peace, with an allusion to the chairman's Chinese in- telligence— Henceforth he trusted there would be no emulation and no rivalry but in those beneficent arts of peace which reflected the greatest glory on states and the greatest credit on human nature. For what was that which constituted the chief pride and glory of the British nation ? They had heard of the intercepted letter from one Chinese chieftain to another; and what was the characteristic which had excited the admiration of the Mandarin of a great and important empire, reeling at the time under the blows of the British Government ? Was it the military prowess of their countrymen ? was it the steam-vessels of war reaching coasts in defiance of the desolating simoom ? was it their arms, their artillery, their skill in engineering which civilized nations now brought to the strategy of war ? was it this or any of these which had struck with wonder, and awe, and admiration the barbarians of China ? No! It was the humanity of British physicians and surgeons—their management of hospitals, and the generous kindness which was extended to the sick and wounded, even of a hostile nation—which moved them with astonishment and excited their sympathy and regard. These were some of the arts of peace which extorted the admiration of an enemy, and which other states would do well to imitate. Although desiring to avoid political discussion, he wished to refer to the recent modification of the Corn-law and its probable effect on the commercial intercourse between Great Britain and the United States— He concurred in opinion with those who thought that it was much too early to foresee what effect the new scale of duties would produce on the American markets. He did not think, whatever might be the case with other states, that America would be the nation to reap benefits from those modifications. She was too remote, he considered, to take advantage of those changes. Neither did he think, from a studious attention to the averages, that any great injury need be apprehended by the British farmers from an influx of American grain. It was perhaps possible, when a great supply was needed by this country, that then America might get some share of the trade in the shape of flour. But one thing he would wish them most emphatically to observe—what America sent to England in corn or flour, be it little or be it much, she would take back in the products of British industry ; and in this respect the trade of the country which he had the honour to represent differed from that of Con- tinental states, whose importations of grain, it had been complained, had caused a drain of bullion. So far from this being the case with the United States, the manufactures of Leicester and other English towns would pay for the pro duce of the American fields. lie was not practically engaged in the culture of the soil ; but it was his business to cultivate a good understanding between England and America, and that duty he must not neglect.

At a meeting of the Anti-Corn-law League, on Thursday week, pro- gress was reported of the registration of the members. It was announced, that during the past week fourteen registration-sheets, containing 462 members, had been received from the borough of Manchester ; twenty sheets had been received from Liverpool, containing 606 signatures. Of these 606 who had enrolled themselves members of the League, 133 were females, 198 non-electors, and the remaining 275 were elec- tors. It was stated that the League had decided on again sending out their lecturers. Mr. Murray had been sent to Derbyshire, and Mr. Falvey to the East Riding of Yorkshire ; Mr. Griffith was about to pro- ceed to South Wales, and was to take with him a large number of Anti-Corn-law tracts, which he had translated into the Welsh language since he came to Manchester. Mr. Finnigan was going to Yorkshire, Mr. /Wand to the neighbourhood of the Duke of Cleveland's, and Mr. Postilion to Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

The "National Complete Suffrage Union" have issued from Bir- mingham their manifesto "to Political Reformers of all shades of opi- nion," summoning representatives from all parts of the United King- dom to a "national conference" at Birmingham, in December next.

The Morning Chronicle quotes the following observations on the state of the district from a letter written to the editor by "a Manches- ter gentleman "—

" In spite of all the arts of O'Connor and others of his school, to separate the working class from the shopkeepers and the employers from the employed, a community of suffering has taught them to fraternize. The moderation of the great body of the operatives during the late turn-out, their respect for pro- perty, and their studious abstinence from the slightest injury to machinery, have also undoubtedly elevated them in the opinion of the classes more immediately above them in point of circumstances. It proves that they are very far in ad- vance of the demoniacal doctrines put forth so malignantly in their name by the Chartist leaders and Tory writers and speakers who have done their utmost, but in vain, to incite them against mechanical invention as the cause of their sufferings. I have heard ofmany striking instances, in which thousands of men have poured into mills without deranging a spindle or a loom, or even breaking a thread of yarn. The consequence is, a growing confidence and respect on the part of the middle and working classes for each other, and a tendency to anion for political objects." * • * " With respect to our situation in the North, although the people are slowly returning to their work at old wages, they are not reconciled to their lot, and we may expect continued discontent and uneasiness. The prospect of employment for the people during the coming winter is as unpromising as ever. So long as large numbers of work-people are unemployed, and mills and manufactories half-working or idle, there will be a constant tendency to a fall of wages, which will cause inces- sant strife between masters and men."

The Stockport Chronicle thus illustrates the effect of the strike upon the strikers themselves in that town— Now that the whole of the turn-out operatives have returned to work, it may not be amiss to put on record the probable amount of loss which ibis borough has sustained by the strike. It will furnish matter for serious con- sideration for thinking men of every trade and class, and may prove a salutary warning for the future to those who have been deluded into the demand of 'a fair day's wages for a fair day's work,' without any regard to the state of the markets for the produce of their labour.

"AL! history does not, perhaps, record a similar instance of a cessation of labour so extensive, simultaneous, and protracted, as this turn-out; certainly not where so much manufacturing capital and inanimate power, as well as Lomat] labour, was rendered unproductive. Earthquakes, fires, ffoods, hurri- canes, pestilence, and the ravages of war, have razed cities and desolated whole provinces; but we doubt if so much injury was ever before self-inflicted in the same space of time, by and upon a similar population, as that which this popu- lous and important section of the kingdom has sustained. " We are not enabled to give exactly the precise number of different descrip- tions of hands in this borough who for the space of full five weeks performed no labour and received no wages ; but we can state pretty confidently, that those employed in the cotton-manufactories alone, all of whom were out, receive at present rates about 9,000/. per week ; so that the direct loss in this respect is about 45,0001. But in our population, of about 50,000 souls, something like 1,000 families constitute the distributive class,—as corn-dealers, bakers, grocers, drapers, butchers, publicans, milkmen, &c., and about the same number the various trades which are carried on in all our town communities,—as shoemakers, tailors, joiners, smiths, brewers, carters, porters, &c.; and the loss to these, from the stoppage of the whole staple trade of the town, cannot have been less than 3,000/. per week, or in the whole 15,0001. And if the manufacturers are making only very trifling profits considering their large capitals, they must have lost in the aggregate not less than 30,000L more. Thus the whole loss of the borough may be said to be somewhere about 75,0001. 'To impress more forcibly upon minds of every order of intellect the proper estimate of the real magnitude of this tremendous loss, we give below the fol- lowinglots of different commodities, any one of which might have been pur- chased with 75,0001.: 36,000 sacks of floor, a quantity of sufficient for this town for six months; 375,000 loads of potatoes (at present prices), plenty for the same for five years; 3,000,000 pecks of apples, or 25,000,000 quarts of plums, at last Friday's prices • 1,125,000 gallons of beer, at la. 4d. per gallon; 150,000 tons of coals; 150,000 men's bats; 300,000 pairs of shoes of all sizes; 1,000,000 pairs of hose at Is. 6d. per pair; or would have given 71. 10s. worth of clothing, bedding, and furniture, to every family in the borough ; or it would pay the whole rental of the town for one year; or the whole poor and other rates for three years ; or have maintained the police establishment for two generations. It would have supported all the Sunday-schools of the borough a whole gene- ration; or have given a day-school education to the whole of its youth for ten years. It would have erected a manufactory equal to any in the borough ; or five workhouses equal to that on Shawheath ; or have bought and laid out, in the vicinity of the town, a pleasure-park or promenade of several hundred acres .'...c use of the inhabitants for ever. "The above enumeration of the different commodities which might have been purchased, things done, or objects accomplished by the 75,000/. which the borough has apparently directly lost, places that loss in a very prominent point of view ; but whether it is so much actual dead loss is not so easy to determine, because we cannot yet form an opinion bow far still further reductions of the profits of capital and the wages of labour in the cotton-trade may in future be prevented by so extensive a cessation of production. "The lessening of the consumption of cotton-wool, to the amount, perhaps, of 16,000,0001b., at a time when redundant capital was seeking it as a tempo. mry speculative investment, and the non-production to a corresponding amount of cloth when stocks were heavy and prices low, must have a serious effect upon the general market, greatly to the advantage of the whole capital and labour engaged in the cotton-manufacture, however those manufacturers and their operatives who have been involved in the struggle may have suffered up to the present moment, or may ultimately suffer, as compared with the remainder of the trade.

"In addition to the above is the expense entailed upon the country (in. eluding the boroughs) by the measures rendered necessary for the security of property and the maintenance of public tranquillity."

The all-engrossing topic of conversation these days is the prospects of improvement in the iron-trade, as regards the employment of the men. Within less than twelve months since they were obliged to live on low wages, with only three-quarters of a day's work, at a time when provisions were enormously high. To see men in full employment, with a slight reduction in the price of provisions, must therefore be highly pleasing to every lover of his species ; and we hope the time is not far distant when the iron-manufactures will be able to make an advance in wages likewise. In confirmation of those anticipations, we have the gratification of stating, that three furnaces belong- ing to Mr. Crawshay's extensive works (two at Ynistach and one at Cyfartha) are to be blown in immediately. Another is to be blown in at Penydarren ; and there are signs of similar movements in most of the other large establishments in the district.—Silurian.

Bills have just been issued in Southampton offering a reward of 100/. for whomsoever will give information that ;hall lead to the conviction of the person who shot at Peirce in the Houndwell in Southampton, and who was recognized as one of the party engaged in a Chartist plot to murder the Queen. Fifty pounds will be paid by Government, and 50/. are promised by Peirce himself.

The Times says, that on the 1st October the Municipal authorities of Manchester, Birmingham, and Bolton, will for the first time undertake the direction and management of their own Police. The Commission- ers of Police, Sir Charles Shaw at Manchester and Captain Burgess at Birmingham, the Corporations do not intend to retain.

A most singular conspiracy has been brought to light in Bristol. Mr. Wooley, a highly respectable merchant, was charged with conspiring to defraud a goldsmith of a lady's gold watch and chain ; and the accusa- tion brought to light the following story, related by a correspondent of the Times. Mr. Wooley was a widower ; and with him resided a Miss Briers, a young lady whom he had brought up from childhood, and of whom he is called the brother-in-law. She persuaded him that a young lady, worth 47,000E, whose name is concealed, had fallen in love with him, but could not see him, as her family would never consent to the match. This anonymous lady was totally unacquainted either with Mr. Wooley or Miss Briers. Mr. Wooley was not inexorable ; he con- sented to wait for an interview ; and a tender correspondence was car- ried on—the lady's part, of course, being fabricated by Miss Briers. A friend to whom Mr. Wooley mentioned the circumstances aroused his suspicion ; and to allay them, he wrote a letter to the lady, gave it to Miss Briers to take, and actually accompanied her to the house. He waited below. Miss Briers went up stairs, pretended to have come on a missive of charity, and asked the lady to administer religions conso- lation to a poor sick woman. The lady recommended her to write to the clergyman of the parish, and produced the materials Miss Briers wrote a note, but in the name of the lady, and addressed to Mr. Wooley, to whom she took it down stairs. Mr. Wooley was afterwards invited to exchange watches with the unseen affianced ; and Miss Briers gave him the watch which formed the subject of the charge against him, receiving his own in return. Matters went on : he refurnished his house, procured a licence, appointed the day for the ceremony with the clergyman, and ordered the wedding-cake. The confectioner mentioned the order to the brothers of the young lady, and they tried to see Mr. Wooley to convince him that he was hoaxed ; but Miss Briers made him believe that they were only trying to prevent the match, and he refused to see them. Miss Briers even improved the occasion offered by their intrusion, and procured the daughter of a neighbour, of the same name to join in her scheme : the young lady actually came to Mr. Wooley's house as if flying from her family. At the suggestion of Miss Briers, in order that the brothers might not interrupt the ceremony, he gave up the idea of being married at St. Mary Redcliff Church, and brought his bride to London ; where they were united. They visited the Isle of Wight, travelling in high style; and on his return to Bris- tol, Mr. Wooley introduced his wife to a friend,—who told him that Mrs. Wooley was not the person he had supposed. She pacified him by promising to go next day to her brother, and bring away the title-deeds of her property, (half of which he had agreed to settle on herself); bat next day both Mrs. Wooley and Miss Briers had decamped—whither is unknown.

Our Justices have received a long letter from the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on the subject of the late "hair-cropping " case, in which he desires that his "marked disapprobation of the gaoler's conduct in that affair should be conveyed to him by the Justices." This unpleasant task was yesterday performed by the Visiting Magistrates reading Sir James Graham's letter to the gaoler. We cannot conceive a greater humiliation than it must have been to the Justices to be made the medium of communicating to the gaoler this censure of conduct which, in their gravity and wisdom, they had so recently fully ap- proved; and what a farce the gaoler must have thought it, that he should now have a sentence of condemnation read to him by the Magis- trates, some of whom so lately declared him fully justifiable !—Dover Chronicle, Sept. 24.

The fire at Liverpool, which was briefly announced in the Postscript of our first edition last week, and more fully described in the second, proved to be one of the most destructive that ever occurred in this country. It even exceeded in the destruction of property the fire that burned the Gorse warehouses at Liverpool in 1802; when the loss in grain, sugar, coffee, cotton, (30,0001.0 and sundries,amounted to 323,000/. The following diagram of the locality of the late fire, which we copy from the Liverpool Mail, will make the description of the disaster more intelligible. NORTH.

Crompton (late Wood) Street-209 yards.

., (Fire commenced here.

Great Howard Street-1GO yards. Formby Street.

•

0 a

Neptune Street-163 yards.

SOUTH.

The origin of the fire seems to grow more uncertain the more it is inquired into. It only appears to be known that it was discovered by a watchman on the premises of Mr. Penniston, an oil-merchant, at the point indicated in the diagram, about three o'clock on Friday morning.. It broke out in a wooden shed, which was surrounded by others, offer- ing in the materials and in the highly-combustible things which they contained the readiest fuel for the flames. The Fire Police were called with all possible speed ; but before they reached the spot, the fire, blown by a strong north-east wind, had attained a most alarming height. More assistance arrived from time to time : the Mayor and Mr. Rush- ton the Magistrate were soon on the spot, giving directions ; Mr. Highton, the Governor of the Borough Gaol, and Mr. Whitty, the Superintendent of the Fire Police, were active in their exertions : the Police and Fire Police were concentrated round the fire ; a number of men arrived from the Queen's steamer Redwing ; Commander Bevan sent a party of Marines to give assistance; and many of the work- people employed in the places burning or threatened with fire were in- defatigable in endeavouring to save their employers' property. At first the supply of water was scanty, there being no main in Great Howard Street, and water was procured with great labour over the high wall of the Waterloo Dock ; but subsequently an aperture was made in the wall, a sewer which carries off the overflow of the canal was opened in Great Howard Street, and water was brought from more distant sources in tanks drawn by horses. Fourteen fire-engines were employed. No exertion, however, could arrest the progress of the flames, fed as they were by the combustible matters collected on the spot. From the numerous wooden sheds, the fire soon spread to the back of the buildings in Formby Street, on each side of which were large warehouses, princi- pally filled with cotton ; and by nine o'clock the valuable buildings covering two acres of ground were converted to a heap of blazing ruins. The fire still moved forward, towards the south : the houses in Neptune Street were at last attacked; and as the flames swept up Neptune Street, fears began to be entertained for the Borough Gaol, crowded with pri- soners. People were employed to dash water on the roof ; notwithstand- ing, which at one time the lead began to melt. The fire appears to have attained its height at one o'clock, when its violence bad been much sub- dued in Crompton Street, but the warehouses in Formby Street had been turned to an immense furnace. Wall after wall fell in ; a fire- proof warehouse alone resisting the conflagration, while others around it successively sank. The site of some warehouses was known by "burning mountains of cotton" sixty or seventy feet in height, and sending up flames as high again. The inside of other warehouses, emptied of their contents, was like "a sea of liquid fire." Of course such a conflagration was visible to a great distance. So early as four o'clock, the reflection in the sky was seen at Southport. By nine, the atmosphere around was heated to a high degree. From the Cheshire shore the appearance was terrific; and seen through the rigging in Prince's and the Waterloo Docks, it appeared as if the shipping were on fire. By the immense exertions of the Fire Police and others, the fire spread no further. One great and dangerous service was the removal of twenty hogsheads of tallow from a shed in Formby Street, near the Borough Gaol ; the ignition of which would probably have settled the fate of the prison. Fortunately, although the streets within the area of the conflagration were narrow, those around it were wide, and that helped to prevent the further progress of the fire ; and it now began slowly to subside, still requiring intense labour to prevent its reviving. When the tumult was somewhat appeased, anxiety was turned upon the fate of individual sufferers ; and the most distressing rumours were afloat. Many had been carried to the Northern Hospital, which was besieged by inquirers in search of the missing. One Policeman was lost, and the manner of his death was known ; a few bodies have been found ; and probably more of the dead will be discovered as the ruins are explored. During the Friday, twenty-five persons were carried to the Northern Hospital ; three of whom died and eight were seriously injured, but the recovery of all the wounded was hoped. Hodson, the Policeman, was struck down by a falling wall, and buried beneath the mass. Parts of dead bodies and calcined bones have been found : near one heap was a penny and a cotton-hook, indicating that the dead man had been poor, and a " lumper " by trade. The ruins still burn. On Saturday, when the wind freshened, or the firemen relaxed the pouring of water, or as the latent fire chanced to light upon some mass of fuel not quite exhausted, large lambent flames flared up, and recalled the exhausted firemen to their toil. On Sunday, the scene was most desolate. The broken water-course was still pour- ing forth a rushing stream of water, which was lost amid the ruins. "The spectator might walk over ground which was till recently all occupied, and meet with but little obstruction. A few scorched bones showed where a bone-boiling manufactory had been ; some scattered colours indicated a colour-warehouse ; iron hoops, a cooperage; scorched beans and oats, a stable, &c." On Monday morning, it was thought that an effectual check had been given to the fire ; but at ten o'clock in the evening of that day it again broke forth, near the place where is was first discovered. Some more sheds were burnt, a marine-store, and a stable ; five horses and ten or a dozen pigs being destroyed. The wind was a little more northerly, and it was feared that a new direction might be given to the flames; but they were got under without much difficulty. The new glare, however, summoned an immense concourse of spectators, and created much alarm.

The loss is variously estimated. The Liverpool Mail gives the fol- lowing as a tolerable approximation of the loss, under three heads- " 48.000 bales of cotton, at 8/, 384,0001.; other goods, 100,0001.; ware- houses, 32,0001.; total, 516,000/." A meeting of fire-insurance brokers had been held ; and after comparing notes, it was ascertained that the liabilities of nineteen offices in consequence of the fire amounted to 350,0001. The total amount of damage is estimated at 700,0001.

Part of the merchandise destroyed in Neptune Street had been stored there after being saved from a fire earlier in the week, in Galion Street, about two hundred yards to the south. An inquest was held on Monday on the bodies of the three men who were killed by the falling of a wall. Though very laborious in- quiries were made as to the origin of the fire, literally nothing was ascertained. A fire was found burning under a boiler on Mr. Penis- ton's premises ; but that was constantly left burning all night. A nonsensical letter had been received by Mr. Peniston, in which "blood and fire" were oracularly mentioned, with the remark that "the poor asked for bread, but the rich gave stones." The following verdict was returned—" We find that the three deceased parties were accidentally killed while they were employed in removing goods from a warehouse which was contiguous to one that was on fire ; but how it became on fire no evidence doth appear : and we wish, at the same time, to clear Mr. Peniston of the charge that his premises had been purposely set on fire by himself, or by the neglect of any of his servants."

Patrick Doran, the marine-store dealer whose shed was burned, has ! been arrested ; and on Wednesday was examined before Mr. Rushton on a charge of setting fire to the premises, which were insured for 500/. The chief facts brought out against him were these. On Friday night, when half drunk, he was at a neighbour's, and said in the hearing of one witness, " If his mistress had not been master of his place it would have been burned long since—that he had five tons of oakum there, and that it would make a fine bonfire." Another heard him say, "It'. a pity they were not all on fire at once ; they shall be before a week is over." On Monday night, oakum daubed with oil and turpentine was found in the immediate vicinity of his shed. And when a woman went to alarm his fatally, she found him behind the half-open door of his house, as if hiding there. He was remanded. Doran was again examined on Thursday. A labourer in his employ swore that he, and not Doran, was the man who was behind the door when the family were alarmed ; and several witnesses deposed that Doran was called from the Amphitheatre by the alarm of fire. He was again remanded.