Miscellaneous.

Espartero has arrived in England. The Prometheus, Lieutenant Frederick Lowe Commander, with the Spanish party on board, entered Falmouth on Saturday ; but proceeded to Portsmouth, and thence to Havre, to take up the Dutchess of Vittoria and her daughter. The steamer came to an anchor at Woolwich at eleven o'clock en Wednes- day morning. Sir Francis Collier, Chief Superintendent of the Dock- yard, went on board, and stated to the Duke of Vittoria, on the part of the Government, that every accommodation both for himself and his suite would be most gladly rendered ; carriages for the conveyance of himself and suite to town being in readiness. The Duke, however, declined the offer, having previously arranged to embark in a small steamer for Hungerford Wharf ; where the carriages of the Embassy were in attendance to receive him. He added, that he wished his visit to be as private as possible. He was warm in the expression of his acknowledgments for the kindness of the British Government ; and in that he was echoed by the Dutchess, and his niece Lady Eladia Espartero. The Duke and his suite, after Lord Bloomfield, the Com- mander of the Royal Arsenal, had paid his respects, proceeded to Hun- gerford, and thence to Mivart's Hotel. The following is a list of the Spanish noblemen and gentlemen who accompanied the Ex-Regent-

General Van Helen, Count of Pericamps; Don Ag. Nogue;as, Minister of War ; Don P. Gomez de la Serns, Minister of the Interior; Don Juan Lacarte, Brigadier-General ; Don Fernando Batarreche, Inspector of Medicine ; Don Celestino Garcia, Military Intendant; Don Cyissiano hiontesimo, Secre- tary to his Highness the Regent; Don Juan Mendidagoitis, Secretary to the Minister of the Interior. The military officers accompanying the Duke are Dun Pedro Falcon, Doa Rafael Mendirate, Don Ventura Baucairtezni, Don Miguel Conde de Iborani, Don Blas Oeio, Don Francesco Serrano, Don Luciano Marietta, and Don Beinon Merociinno. The only servants in attend- ance are three men and one woman.

Soon after their arrival at the hotel, Colonel Wylde, Equerry to Prince Albert, had a lengthened interview with General Espartero, and subsequently with the members of the staff who accompanied the Regent to this country. Throughout Thursday the hotel was besieged by visiters of all ranks. The Duke of Wellington, who was among the earliest, inscribed his name in the visiters' book thus—" Field Mar- shal the Duke of Wellington et Capitan-General Duque de Ciudad Roderigo." The Earl of Aberdeen, Sir Robert Peel, the Earl of Cla- rendon, Viscount Mahon, Earl of Listowel, Lord Campbell, Lord and Lady Blomfield, also visited the Regent.

Chevalier Aranjo Ribeira has arrived in town. This gentleman is charged by the Brazilian Government with authority to reopen nego- tiations with her Majesty's Government, for the purpose of effecting a new commercial treaty between Great Britain and the empire of the Brazils.—Globe.

The Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge, the Princess Mary, and suite, have arrived at the chateau of Rumpenheim, on a visit to the Heredi- tary Grand Duke and Dutchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz ; whence they will proceed on visits to several members of the family of Hesse Cassel. The Duke of Cambridge is expected to return home at the end of next month ; but the Dutchess and Princess Mary will prolong their stay oa the Continent until late in the autumn.

The Queen Dowager has received intelligence that the Dutchess of Saxe-Meiningen gave birth to a daughter on the 6th instant ; the Dutchess having had only one child before, the Prince Hereditary, bora in April 1826.

The annual Ministerial dinner at Greenwich took place on Saturday, at the Crown and Sceptre Tavern. Sir Robert Peel and several of the Cabinet were there; Lord Stanley presiding ; but we do not find in the list the name of the Duke of Wellington, Sir James Graham, the Earl of Ripon, or the Earl of Aberdeen. Some who were not Ministers were present; as Lord Abinger.

The Earl of Ripon remains at his Putney seat, suffering from severe and protracted illness.

We regret to learn from a correspondent at Gloucester, that the venerable Sir Matthew Wood is seriously indisposed, at his residence in that neighbourhood.—Morning Chronicle.

A letter from Southampton reports the death of Mr. Barlow Hoy, the former Member for the borough ; who was killed in an accident, while shooting in the Pyrenees.

Sir William Follett netted, in special retainers at these Assizes, 4,000/. in fees.— Western Times.

A petition was presented to the House of Lords on Tuesday, by the Attorney-General, at the Queen's command, from Sir Augustus d'Este, praying to be summoned to the House as a Peer, by the titles which the Duke of Sussex held. The petition was referred to the Committee of Privileges to consider and report—of course, next session ; when the delicate question will probably be discussed all over again. "The thing

to meet the case would have been creation, not summons ; but the Con- servative Ministers do not appear to affect that course. The endow- ment of the new Royal Duke would be a difficulty for any Minister. A petition was presented to Parliament, on Tuesday, from the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, expressing the belief that " one great means for terminating slavery will he found in giving the fullest encouragement to the produce of free labour, come from what country it may, by allowing of its introduction into the British markets on equal terms with that from the British Colonies and plantations abroad "; and, for that and other similar reasons, praying Parliament " to pass such measures as shall allow of the introduction of the free grown pro- duce of all nations into the British markets on equal terms with that from the British Colonies ; and which shall also provide for the intro: duction of the produce of nations where slavery at present unhappily exists, on similar terms, contemporaneously with the abolition of slavery by such nations."

A Select Committee of the House of Commons have presented a re- port recommending that a bill should be brought into Parliament, at an early period next session, to prohibit the production of smoke from fur- naces and steam-engines ; as they consider it quite practicable to sup- press the nuisance. It is hinted that smoke from private fires may eventually be suppressed.

We are informed that a paper containing the signatures of nearly 1,000 of the clergy to a protest against Tractarianism has been with- drawn from circulation, in consequence of the earnest remonstrances of several of the Bishops.—Oxford Chronicle.

The British Association for the Advancement of Science has met this year at Cork. The remoteness of the place, and the cost of the voyage from London, which is much greater than in other directions, appear to have much diminished the attendance ; and the rapacity of the lodging-house-keepers is not likely to reconcile visiters to the journey to the "far West ;" enormous rents being charged by the week. The proceedings commenced on Wednesday the 16th instant, by the meeting of the General Committee to arrange the business of the week. The only announcement of importance was a Government grant of 1,0001., at the request of the Association, for the publication of the catalogues of stars in the Histoire Celeste of Lalande, and of Lacaille's catalogue. The money was not, boa ever, given with good grace. The first answer to the request was in the shape of inquiries as to the cause of the alleged poverty of the Association ; which was stated to be the falling-off in life subscriptions : and those queries being answered, the money was granted with a caution, that it was not to be a prece- dent—a growl, and a "take that and have done with you." The Asso- ciation, however, have wisely overlooked the manner of it, and returned thanks for the "liberal grant."

The first general meeting was held on Thursday evening, in the Corn Exchange ; when the Marquis of Northampton (in the room of Lord Francis Egerton, the President of last year, who was kept away by in- disposition) resigned the Presidency to the Earl of Rosse. Mr. John Taylor, the Treasurer, read the accounts. The sum received at Man- chester from members was 1,7371 ; contributions and sale of books, 372/. ; ladies' and sectional tickets, 3641. The sums paid in grants for prosecuting scientific purposes was 1,565/. The property of the Asso- ciation was—in Three per Cent Consols, 5,500L ; balance of cash, 4961.; unsold reports, say 1,000/. ; total, 6,700/. The receipts at Cork had been 6001.

The seven sections met on Thursday morning, and commenced their labours of reading and discussing papers. The rooms were tolerably well filled. We subjoin some of the notable points most interesting to the general reader ; following in the main the report of the Morning Post— SECTION A; Mathematical and Physical Science.—A paper was read on Thursday, by Mr. Scott Russell, on the principles of constructing buildings for public meetings. The first and self-evident principle is, that every auditor should be so situated that no one before him should obstruct the view of the speaker, nor that he should obstruct the view of the person behind. To effect this in such a manner as to place the greatest number of persons within the sound of the speaker's voice, Mr. Russell proposes, that the floor should be constructed in a geometrical curve, descending from the speaker to a certain distance, and then rising again in such a manner that each auditor shall be nine inches above the person before him. Buildings have been constructed on this principle in Scot- land, wherein four thousand persons can hear most distinctly. Mr. Russell cal- culates that a speaker in the open air may be heard at a distance of 280 feet ; and within an area of that diameter it would be possible, on his principle, to accommodate fifteen thousand auditors. He also showed that a building con- structed on the principle he proposed was best calculated to destroy the in- equalities of echoes, which in some buildings prevent the speakers from being beard.

On Friday, Mr. Eaton Hodgkinson produced a report concerning the im- perfect elasticity of solid bodies. The general result of his experiments is, that all metals are weakened by constant use, and that their internal structure becomes altered. He was led to infer that even the slightest weight bearing on a metallic body diminished its elastic power, and produced a change in its in- ternal structure. He found, for example, that when experimenting on a bar of iron, the fiftieth part of the weight requisite to break the bar produced a per- manent set, and that the elasticity of the metal was consequently injured.

On Monday, Mr. Scott Russell read a paper, the result of a series of experiments on the formation of ships with a view to overcoming the resistance of the waves, calculated to have important results.

SECTION C; Geology and Physical Geography.—The subject which occu- pied this section on Thursday morning, was the evidence which the face of the country presents, in the counties of Sligo and Mayo, of a great Northern drift. The immense blocks of granite which are there found, removed to a great distance from the rocks whence only they would have been severed, gave rise to an interesting discussion respecting the causes by which those erratic blocks could have been transported to the positions they now occupy. Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Lyell, and Mr. Murchison were of opinion that the buoyant properties of floating ice afforded the most rational explanation of the phenomena, and they adduced various instances of similar depositions of erratic blocks in different parts of Europe and in North America. Mr. Lyell said that, in his opinion, the lands were at the time submerged in the ocean, and that the summits of the bills alone rose abeve the level of the water, by which the progress of the floating ice was arrested, and being melted at a higher temperature, the masses Of rocks inclosed within them were deposited on the submerged sallies. A paper of much interest, on the phenomena and theory of earthquakes, was read by Professor Rogers; who undertook to prove that the motion of the

earth during earthquakes is generally undulatory, like the waves of the ocean, and that the effect is not produced by a sudden concussion from some deeply seated force radiating towards the surface.

At a general meeting of the Association on Saturday, Professor Owen delivered a lecture on the bones recently discovered in New Zealand, of a gigantic kind, of the ostrich species, to which he has given the name Dinornis-

The first intimation in this country of the previous existence of such a bird was received by Professor Owen from a gentleman who brought him a small portion of one of the discovered hones. The bird to which the bones belonged must have stood sixteen feet high, although it could not have had the power of flight. Some doubt is entertained whether such a bird does not at present exist in the unexplored parts of New Zealand, especially as from the condition of the bones they could not be more than one hundred years old. The Pro- fessor did not, however, mention, in confirmation of this opinion, the reports of recent travellers, (Americans, it must be owned,) who aver they saw such a bird in New Zealand.

At the meeting of the General Committee, on Monday, it was resolved that the next meeting of the Association should be held at York, in September; and Dr. Pococke, Dean of Ely, was elected President for the next year.

The Glasgow Citizen mentions a case in which a vessel, by the use of water-tight bulkheads, has been saved from the fate of the Pegasus- " The Margaret, of Hull, a large and powerful steamer, intended for the African trade, struck on a rock near Oban, on Tuesday last, when on her passage from Hull to Liverpool. The damage sustained was so great that the water instantly rushed in, and in less than ten minutes the fore-hold was com- pletely tilled. Fortunately, the vessel was divided into water-tight compart- ments, and being thus saved from sinking, was got into port at Oban. The Margaret is quite new. She Lad a cargo on board for Liverpool, but no pas- sengers ; and the fore-hold being filled with casks of oil, the cargo is little injured. The whole damage will, we are informed, be repaired at a cost of little more than 100E"

So that, in this case, there is also a considerable pecuniary saving for the proprietors.

The Autocrat of Russia does not neglect the encouragement of science —especially, it appears, when it offers practical advantages to his pos- sessions. Mr. Murchison has been engaged this spring and summer in an examination of Poland and the Carpathian mountains, in order to the publication of a work on the geology of Russia. On his return to Eng- land, he found that the Emperor, who bad already conferred upon him the decoration of St. Anne in diamonds, had further acknowledged his services to Russian geology by two handsome presents. One is a colossal vase, of Hyaline quartz (Avanturine) upon a pedestal of porphyry ; both materials extracted from the Altaic mountains, and wrought at Kolyvan. The vase bears the following legend, inscribed by means of galvanism on the base—" Gratia Imperatoris totius Russim Roderico Murchison, geologize Russia exploratori, 1843." The other present is a plateau of watered damask steel, wrought at Slataust in the Ural mountains, with gold ornaments in relief, representing the chief mining operations of those parts, and bearing, in Russian, this inscrip- tion—" To the geologist Murchison, in testimony of its peculiar esteem, the Administration of the Mines of Russia."

The Times publishes a narrative by an Akoondzadeh, the son of one of the principal persons at Herat, of whose veracity Colonel Shell, the British Consul at Tehran, judges favourably, and who states that he was in Bokhara when Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly were executed by order of the King; for he says that they actually were killed. The narrator was under obligations to Colonel Stoddart, who had once purchased some of his family out of captivity ; and he was employed by the British authorities in Cabal to convey messages and money to Captain Conolly. He was himself seized by the King of Bokhara, and subject to hardships, being imprisoned part of the time with a Greek servant of Captain Conolly's ; but eventually he was re- leased, though stripped of every thing that he possesseu —no small amount. The precise motive for the execution does not appear ; but the circumstances immediately attending it are thus described- " On Tuesday [the 12th June] at night, their quarters were entered by several men, who stripped them, and carried them off to prison ; but I do not know whether it was to the black well or some other. In stripping Colonel Stoddart, a lead pencil was found in the lining of his coat, and some papers in his waist. These were taken to the Ameer; who gave orders that Colonel Stoddert should be beaten with heavy sticks until he discicscd who brought the papers, and to whom he wrote. He was most violently beaten, but he revealed nothing; he was beaten repeatedly for two or three days. On Friday the 8th or 9th (the 7th) of Jemmadee-ool-Eovel, (17th of June,) the Ameer gave orders that Colonel Stoddart should be killed, in the presence of Captain Conolly, who was to be offered life if he would become a Mahomedan. In the afternoon they were taken outside the prison into the street, which is a kind of small square. Their hands were tied across in front. Many people assembled to behold the spectacle. Their graves were dug before their eyes. Colonel Stoddart exclaimed aloud at the cruelty and tyranny of the Ameer. His head was then cut off with a knife. The chief executioner then turned to Captain Conolly, and said, 'The Ameer spares your life if you will become a Mos- Bolivian.' Captain Conolly answered, 'Colonel Stoddart has been a &Nasal- man for three years, and you have killed him : you killed Yoosoof too : I will not be is Mussulman, and I am ready to die.' Saying which, lie stretched forth his neck. His head was then cut otE Their bodies were interred in the graves which had been dug; and I myself have seen the spot and the small hillocks which mark the place. One of the executioners gave me the foregoing relation ; and, moreover, he offered to bring me the heads, if I chose, that 1 might take them with me; but I refused this offer."

Mr. Aymer, an American, well known as an exhibiter of feats of agility, met with a fatal accident at the Circus belonging to Mr. Batty, ia Jersey, on the 17th: in executing a double summerset, a feat deemed next to impossible, Mr. AJ mer fell on his neck, and died on the spot.

A letter in the Northern Star from Mrs. Williams states, that the paragraph which has been going the round of the papers, to the effect that her husband, Zephaniah Williams, the Chartist colleague of Frost and Jones, had committed murder in New South Wales and been hanged, is wholly unfounded. She says that she has had a letter from the Home Office, in which it is stated that a person of the name of Wil- liams had recently been executed in New South Wales, but not her husband, who is alive.