gurttlautuno.

A' copy of a' convention, signed by Lord John Russell on the part of Great Britain, and Mr. J. R. Ingersoll on the part of the United States, providing for the settlement of outstanding claims against either country, has been published. The preamble declares that . a speedy and equit- able settlement of such claims as have arisen since 1814 will contribute much to the maintenance of the friendly feelings which subsist between the two countries." The mode by which this settlement is to be arrived at is by a commission.

It is proposed that her Britannic Majesty and the President of the United States shall each appoint a Commissioner the two Commissioners to meet in London with the least possible delay. They are at once to appoint an um- pire; or if they cannot agree upon an umpire, they are to nominate two; and on each question of disagreement between the Commissioners, the case is to be referred to one of those umpires, who shall be selected by lot for that particular judgment. Every claim must be presented to the Commissioners within six months from the date of their first meeting; or in special cases requirin" delay, within three months longer. The Commissioners must exa- mine and decide every claim within one twelvemonth from the day of their first meeting; and the two Governments bind themselves to accept the de- cision of the Commissioners or the Umpire as final. Any payment decreed under the Commission to be paid within one twelvemonth of the decision, without any deduction, save a slight percentage towards the expenses • of which any remaining balance will be paid in equal portions by the two Go- vemmenta.

The Gazette of Tuesday contains the names of the gentlemen appointed as Royal Commissioners to inquire into the law of Bankruptcy,—Mr. Walpole M.P., Sir George Rose, Mr. Swanston Q.C., Mr. Matthew Daven- port Hill Q.C., Mr. James Bacon Q.C., Mr. Commissioner lIolroyd, Mr. Edward Cooke, and Mr. George Carr Glyn. It appears that Convocation has been prorogued to the 10th September, and not, as was reported, to the 10th November.

Mr. Whiteside, late Solicitor-General of Ireland, has been drawn into -a correspondence with the authorities of the Queen's College at Cork. It appears that during the late debates on the Nunneries Bill, Mr. Whiteside had alleged " that the divisions and proceedings in the Cork Provincial College, which have shattered the College to its foundations, have been produced through the machinations and influence of the Roman Catholic clergy acting under a mandate from the See of Rome." On reading this, Dr. Bullen, Dean Elect of the Faculty of Medicine, wrote a letter to Sir Robert Kane, on behalf of the Roman Catholic Professors, asking him if he would beg Mr. Whiteside to name his authority. At the same time, Dr. Bullen stated that the Roman Catholic Professors did not participate in the divisions which had taken place on some details of academical ad- ministration. Sir Robert Kane accordingly preferred the request of the Professors to the late Solicitor-General. In reply, Mr. Whiteside ex- pressed his surprise at the coramanication. " It is," he says, "not usual to call a Member of Parliament to account for uttering his sentiments on a public question in the House of Commons, and I cannot sanction the practice which you seek to introduce." He adds, that the report of the President of the Galway College justified the opinions he expressed. Those opinions he would reiterate ; but he had no intention of attacking the Roman Catholic Professors. This reply Sir Robert Kane regards as unsatisfactory ' - and he states that none-of the gentlemen who originated the differences alluded to are Roman Catholics.

Mr. Norton addressed a letter to the Times, in consequence of the letter of his wife and the statements made in the 6ounty Court, both pub- lished in the newspapers. At the recent trial, he says, no opportunity was allowed him of contradicting the statements there made. " The Judge and every one engaged for or against her in the cause seemed overpowered by Mrs. Norton's demeanour; and those who had a turn for the drama (of whom, unfortunately, my own solicitor was one) were suspended in breathless, helpless inaction. None who witnessed that scene can forget it to their lives' end ; all must remember it as the most splendid piece of acting ever exhibited, however much the sober mind of England must revolt against the disgrace of a court of justice being turned into the stage of Drury Lane."

The denials and explanations which he gives at length are, in the main, compressed and summed up in the closing paragraphs of the letter. " Mr. Trail, the receiver of my rents, proved on Thursday that my in- come from every source did not average 24001. per year. It is true, there- fore, that the agreement of 1848 to allow 5001. a year was not conditional upon the relinquishment of an allowance from Lord Melbourne's estate. " It is not true that I evet said or suggested the contrary. It is true that after Lord Melbourne's death, and when I was informed of such an allow- ance, I required Mrs. Norton's solemn assurance that she had never received, and would not receive, an income from such a source ; that at one time that solemn assurance was given; that at another the bare suggestion that any such benefaction from Lord Melbourne bad been accepted was treated as an insult ; and that, nevertheless, upon obtaining access to her banker's books, I ascertained that sbe bad actually received that allowance from Lord Mel- bourne's estate from 1849.

" It is not true that I refused to perform the agreement of 1848 because it -was made between man and wife : but it is true that the agreement, having been of a temporary and not of a permanent nature, and the amount allowed nuder it being necessarily dependent upon the amounts of our respeetive in- -comes, I did, in 1861, upon Mrs. Norton's income being increased by. 5001. a year upon her mother's death, while mine was, from various causes, di- minished, propose to reduce the 5001. to 3001., which I was afterwards willing to increase to 4001.

" It is also true, that down to March in the last year (1852), since when, and from the year previous, the amount of the allowance has been the sub- ject of discussion, I allowed to Mrs. Norton the undiminished sum of 5001. a year ; that consequently, for several years she bas—and that even by her own admission—been in the receipt of an income of at least 1600/. a year, and always has had an income far larger in proportion than mine : and yet she has incessantly contracted debts with numerous honest creditors, very many of whom are at this moment unpaid ; and, instead of applying her abundant means to the payment of those debts, has driven the creditors to resort to me, oppressing me. with. litigation and costs, and impairing my already crippled means, which should have been applied to the maintenance of myself and my two eons, both of them just entering life. It is under these circumstances that I ask, on whom is it that the coarse but serious chargeof cheating creditors may be truly made ?"

One or two points are not touched on in this summary. Mr. Norton states that hints have proceeded from Mrs. Norton, within this few years, that they should again live together : but Mr. Norton leaves one to infer that " the impropriety" of Mrs. Norton's conduct and her " tota/ disre.. gard of outward appearances-" rendered a reunion impossible. He ac- cuses Mrs. Norton of exposing him to constant litigation; involving the bortowing of money to pay costs. He asserts that during the whble lives of his children he has paid "'for their clothing, schooling, and support, with the exception of their viands at those periods when they lived with their mother." He denies that he ever made any claim to Mrs. Norton's copyrights; and explains that his answer in court, " My solicitor did," referred to inquiries as to the value of her copyrights, which his solicitor had made. He gives a history of his action against Lord Melbourne; and asserts that " not a single person of the Tory or any other party per- suaded him to bring it," and that men of both parties solicited him not to proceed.

As to the children, Mr. Norton states that he never denied Mrs. Norton access to them, but that she made three different attempts to carry them off. The Yorkshire estates were left-him by his cousins, .Mr. Vaughan and his sister, in fulfilment of their mother's wishes; and on coming into possession, Mr. Norton raised Mrs. Norton's allowance to 4001. a year,

Lord Saltoun, one of the Scotch Peers, and a distinguished officer in the Army, died on the 18th instant, at Auchinroath. He was born in 1785, and succeeded to the title in 1793. At a very early age he entered the Forty- second Highlanders, and with them saw much service. He was in Sicily in 1806 ; with Sir John Moore in the Peninsula ; and subsequently in several of Wellington's battles. He was at Quatre Bras, and at Water. loo ; where, in the defence of Hougoumont under Sir John Maedonnell, he earned the praise of the Great Duke. Two horses were killed under him ; one ball carried away a spur, a second broke the blade of his drawn sword, a third passed through his hat, and when his folded cloak was shaken after the battle several balls fell out. He was wounded at the storming of Peronne on the advance to Paris. On his return home, he was elected one of the Representative Peers for Scotland. But his mili- tary life had not ended. The-Duke of Wellington recommended that he should be sent to terminate the Chinese war. Unfortunately, while at Hongkong, his horse fell down a cliff, and the fall broke Lord Saltoun's collar-bone and three of his ribs. On his return to England, he received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament He is succeeded by his ne. phew, Major Alexander Fraser, of the Twenty-eighth Regiment.

Admiral Sir George Cockburn one of the oldest officers in the British service, and not the least distingUished,H died last week, at Leamington, in the eighty-second year of his age. e entered the Navy in 1781, and served throughout the long war at various stations, but particularly in the Mediterranean. Afterwards he served in the war with America, and per- formed many daring exploits on the American coast. He carried Napo- leon to St. Helena, in the Northumberland, in-1815. When peace was concluded, he entered Parliament, and served seventeen years as a lord of the Admiralty; retiring from official life in 1846..

General Montholon, who followed the fortunes of Napoleon tt St: Helena, died on Monday last, at Paris.

The Captain of the United States frigate. Cumberland entertained the Queen of Piedmont at a grand ball on board in the Bay of Spezzia, on_ the 19th instant. The Captain of the corvette St: Louis,.from Smyrna, wag also present.

Result of the Registrar-General's-return of mortality in the Metropolislor the week ending en Saturday last,

Ten Weeks • Week

of 1843-52.

0E1853.

Symotic Diseases 4,299

293.

Dropsy, Cancer, and other diseases of uncertain or variable seat 456

Tubercular Diseases

1,778 ....

194

Diseases of the Brain, Spinal Marrow, Nerves, and senses-

1,030

110 Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels 289

41 Diseases of the Lungs, and of the other Organs of Respiration 731

93.

Diseases Diaeases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs of Digestion 706 .... > 69' Diseases of the Kidneys Sc

Childbirth, diseases of the Uterus, Sc

• • • •

B.heumation, diseases of the Bones, Joints, Sc

Diseases of the Skin, Cellular Tissue, do

Malformation..

Premature Birth

Atrophy 297

47 Age 418 ....

45 Sudden

Violence, Privation,Cold„ and Intemperance 272

22 Total (including unspecified causes) 10,933

1,053

A notice from the Postmaster-General states,. that on and from the 1st of September next, printed periodical works, prices current, and commercial lists, sent in the mails between the United Kingdom and Prussia,. " via Belgium," will be liable to the following reduced rates of postage—Not exs ceeding two ounces, ld. • not exceeding three ounces, 6d. ; not exceeding four ounces, 8d. ' • and 2d. for every additional ounce up to sixteen ounces,

a weight beyond no periodical works can be forwarded. The Prussian Post-office has undertaken to collect the Belgian transit-postage, heretofore charged in this country. " These rates will be chargeable, as well on the despatch oferiodical works from, as upon-their delivery-in, the United Kingdom. With respect to prices. current. and commerciallists, posted.in the United Kingdom and addressed to Prussia, they will be forwarded free of postage : they .must.however, be stamped as newspapers, and not exceed two ounces in weight. Those received in the United Kingdom from Prussia will be liable to- a postage of ld. each on delivery:" Mr. Mechi, the enterprising experimental agriculturist has notified to.tht public, through the Times, that he has received the model of a newly-ins vented machine from one of our North American Colonies. He describes-it as a combination-of horse and steam power, weighing -from 20 to 25 hun- dredweight; and requiring two horses, one man and .one boy, to work .it. This implement will not only cultivate and pulverize the soil, but sow the seed at the same time, and leave all finished. "it will also, by a simple inversion, cutand gather the cora, £three men aiding,] without rake or any other complication ; whlle.both in cultivation-and harvesting its operations will be. continuous and without stoppage." He stakes. his agricultural re- putation on its success.; - and promises his practical friends the benefit of a4 early trial on his farm. Some attention has been drawn to a comet now visible to the naked eye in the North-west, about ten degrees above the horizon, half an hour after sun- set. It was discovered by M. Klinkerfues, at the Observatory of Gottingen' on the 10th of June. Its nearest approach to the Sun will be on the 2d tember; at Oh. 45m. a. m.

The Duke of Hamilton's Lancashire estates were put up to sale a few days ago, and the greater part disposed of to local purchasers. Upwards of 360,0001. was realized . by the sale, and the average rate of ..purchasewial quite thirty-two years..

The sale of the late. Earl Ducie's celebrated live stock commenced. on Thursday, at Tortworth Court Farm in Gloucestershire. No fewer than 3000 persons attended.- In •the first day's sale, sixty-two cows and bulls fetched the sum of 93001. One cow produced 600 guineas, and another 700 guineas; others varied from 200 to 400 guineas. k ball went for 500 guineas, and another for 650 guineas.

According, to a report made to the Wesleyan Conference lately, the number of members in connexion with the Conference continues to decrease-ten thousand in the last year. Probably this does not denote any real diminu- tion in the ranks of the Wesleyans, but simply indicates a further secession from the Conference party to the new "Reform" body.

Lola Months has made another marriage. On her way to San Francisco, Mr. Hull, a fellow passenger, and late proprietor of the San Francisco Whig, was smitten by her charms, proposed, and was accepted.

On the 16th instant there were no fewer than fifty-three vessels, with a tonnage of 34,337, loading at Liverpool for Australia.

The mail which arrived from Australia by the Harbinger consisted of nearly 450,000 letters ; making a Post-office revenue of nearly 30,0001. A "balance-sheet of the trustees of the Amazon fund" is advertised ; by which it appears that the subscriptions were 13,2831., and that there is now a balance in hand of 98111.

The ship Mahomed Shah, from London to New Zealand, was destroyed by .a fire which broke out in the hold on the morning of the 18th April. When the disaster was discovered, the smoke was so thick as to prevent any effort to conquer the fire, and only two bags of rice could be obtained as provision. The ship's head was put for Icing George's Sound, or to cross the track of ships bound through Bass's Straits. The crew and passengers drew lots for the choice of boats. Next evening. they fell in with the brig Ellen, and the passengers were put on board. The crew remained in the burning ship till daylight next morning, and then they too had to flee to the brig. The Ellen arrived at Hobart Town on the 6th May : her master, Mr. Padden, with the officers and men, behaved most admirably towards the rescued people; putting themselves on short allowance to provide their unexpected guests with food, and giving up the best berths to the women and children.

The last mail from Australia brings news of the wreck of a Government emigration-ship almost in sight of her port. The Sacramento left England with 220 emigrants. On the 26th April she sighted the land of Victoria, and beat up in the afternoon to Port Phillip Heads. The master, Mr. Holmes, had been up several nights, in consequence of sickness on board; that night he left the ship in charge of the mates. At two o'clock in the morning, he was roused by the cry of "Breakers ahead!" He tried to turn the ship's head, but the tide carried her on to a reef of rocks at Port Louis- dale. Shortly after, two boats were lowered, and some of the people were got to land near a lighthouse ; subsequently, the crew got all the emigrants, to land, with a little baggage. Next morning, though the sea was washing over the vessel, twelve boxes, containing, 60,0001. of specie, were recovered ; then the ship gradually went to pieces. The poor emigrants were in a most destitute condition. Mr. Holmes was charged before the Melbourne Magis- trates with losing the ship by neglect and omission of duty : the case was proceeding when the mail left the plasm..