Monmouthshire Merlin

When Beyer, the Master of Christ's Hospital, died Coleridge said—" It was lucky that the cherubim who took him to heaven were nothing but faces and wings, or he would infallibly have flogged them by the way." A MODEL WIFE—She was a lovely, beautiful, fair woman, a religious devout Chiistian; of admirable wit and wisdom, beyond any I ever knew, yet the most flweet, affectionate, and observant wife in the world. Chaste without a suspicion of the most eDvious to the highest assurance of her husband, of a most noble and bountiful mind, yet very provident in the lejist things, exceeding all in anything she undertook, housewifery, preserving, works with the needle, cookery, so that her wit and judgment were expressed in all things, free from any pride or forwardness. She was in discourse a kind counsel far beyond any woman.—Memoirs of Anthony Ashley Cooper. y ST. HELENA AND KING COI.E.-The Saturday Review baa been seized for something unpalateable to Govern- ment. The worthy licencers of newspapers don't give themselves the trouble of looking into the Tablet, where they would find a glorification of the island of St. Helena, "fitting receptacle for one miscreant, and the proper spot for his successor." Helena was an Englishwoman, who gave birth at York, to the Emperor Constantine, founder of the temporal power of the Popes, and her n.J5Ð fittingly graces the prison-house of him who touched it. Tablet goes on to add that Helena's father vils a certain native Briton, Prince Coil us, and rather irreverently suggests that this personage must be the original Old King Cole, who culled for his pipe, and called for his bowl, and called for his fiddlers three.—Globe Paris Correspondent. A very amusing incident occurred the other day during .t4e trial of M. Vacherut. Amoug the passages of nis Amphlel, set out in the indictment to support the charge .aat he had "excited to hatred and contempt of the Government, and had endeavoured to set one class of citizens against another," was one in which he said that France, as at present constituted, consisted of two classes only-" the rich and the poor." M. Marie, in contend- ing that the expression of such an opinion furnished no reasonable ground tor a prosecution, begged leave to ieai to the Court a passage from a well-known work: which had never been prosecuted, in which F"°clearni this, divided into "sybarites La fosse, turned as red the presiding Judge, M. 1 ar ar WeI1> but that is as a 8 wrote that ? Why was that not prosecuted6?" M.Marie replied, "I am quotiug from the works of Louis Napoleon Buonaparte. 1 his palpa- ble hit produced a shout of applause, and the President, in a great rage, threatened to clear the Court.-Letttr ■front Pari*- JiOHP MACAULAY S MEMORY. — The late Lord Macaulay's memory was perfectly astounding. At a friend's house not very many months ago, he was quoting in rapid succession, long passages from the ballads of the northern counties of England. On being asked by one jtaf the party where he had obtained such stories of poetic lore he replied that he had spent a great portion of one of hie long vacations while at Cambridge in the north of England, and had taken that opportunity of traversing Cumberland and Northumberland on foot, entering the cottages of the poor people, and sitting down in their chimney corners to chat, and that he made it a point not to leave a cottage without extracting from each good woman some story or legend, in prose or in poetry, which he carefully recorded day by day. He added, that he did not know where this store of folk-lore now was but added that it would probably turn up among bis some day or other. We trust that his eilcmoPres wiU now remember the hint, and do their best to exhume the buried treasure.-Once a Week. A Quaker at an inn called for some porter, and ob- • u in miantity, thus addressed the serving the pint deficientln butt8 of beer dost landlord-" Pray, friend n l lied the publi- thou draw in a month jen, sir, J if thou can. And thou wouldst like to ar^ „ ex_ couldst," rejoined the Ebenezer thee claimed the smilmg landlord. lneui how, friend," said Broadbrim, fill thy measure. Th- RACOON—says Lawson, the surveyor-genera North Carolina— is the drunkennest creatui can get any liquor that is sweet and strong. Tho-e racoons are very subtle in catching their p y. that live in the salt water feed much on oysters, wmcn they love. They watch the oyster when it opens and nimbly put in their paw and pluck out the fisn. times the oyster shuts and holds fast their paw til e iide comes in, so that they are drowned, though they swim very well. The way that the animal catches era. s, which he greatly admires, and which are P'en 1 u ln Carolina, is worthy of remark. When be intends o ma e a prey of this fish, he goes to a marsh, where, standing on the land, he lets his tail hang in the water. This the crab takes for a bait, and fastens his claws therein, which, as •oon aa the racoon perceives, he, on a sudden, spnugs for- ward a considerate way on the land, and brings the crab gilong with him. ^.g soon as the fish finds himself out ox bis element, he presently lets go his hold, and then thera- coon encounters him, by getting him crosswise in his paouth, and devours him. There is a sort of small land- crab, which we call a •• Fiddler," that runs into a hole when aDything pursues him. This crab tha racoon takes by putting Ul8 fore foot in the hole and pulling hinB out. With a tame racoon this 8port is very jireTtiag.- CasseWs Popular Natural History. TBOE LOVE.-Wkere is the Itbnriel spear that will some meaner forpi, and take 8°m • ^he ouly test of Love is its iminutabih y- jmmVe?'ly spark kin- dled by the Divine Hand shares the mmortality Qf that great source from whence all love descends. The flame —™«rS £ heaven it came, to heaven ^tarneth." Thus, Love cannot recede, it cannot stand stand still, u I'v must obey the law of eternal progression, must ad vance onward and upward, must grow stronger, broader, purer, with every hour of its existence. If it falter, langu s o^, it is not love, never was love, never can become o e. Ladies' Treasury. AMENITIES OF AMERICAN J OURNA.LISM.-The Shentt of Linooln Connty asks why we do not come and kick him. Dr. Johnson said of certain curiosities in Scotland, that they were worth seeing, but not worth going to see. In like manner we say of the Lincoln Sheriff—he is worth kicking, but not worth going to kick The editor of the Mercury says, everything must have an end." He, no doubt, has two-one to be cuffed, and the other kicked. A certain editor, who has had a controversy with us, suggests that he and we look each other in the face. But he would have the advantage of us he would have much tho better pros- pect.

ADDRESS OF THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH I ON THE OPENING OF THE CHAMBERS. The French Chambers, as we intimated in our previous lumber, were opened last week. The following is a :opy of the address delivered by the Emperor on the iccasion MESSIEURS LES SENATEURS, óI MESSIEURS LES DEPUTES, At the opening of the last session, confiding in the patriotism of France, I wished to relieve your minds from exaggerated fears of a probable war. To-day it is my most ardent desire to reassure you against the in- quietudes and anxieties which even peace has given birth to. I sincerely desire this peace, and I will not neglect anything to maintain it. 1 cannot but con- gratulate myself upon my friendly relations with all the Powers of Europe. The only portion of the globe in which our arms are still engaged is in the remote East; but the courage of our soldiers and soldiers, aided by the loyal concurrence of Spain, will doubtless speedily bring about the restoration of peace with Cochin China. Respecting China, an important expedition will, in conjunction with the forces of Great Britain, chastise that country for her perfidy. The complications in Europe, are, I hope, approach- ing to an end, and Italy is upon the eve of regulating her own affairs. Without recapitulating the long negotiations which have lingered for so many months, I shall confine myself to the present points. The dominant idea of the treaty of Villafranca was to obtain the almost complete independence of Venetia at the price of the restoration of the Archdukes. These negotiations having failed, in spite of my most earnest solicitations, I have expressed my regret on this account at Vienna, as well as at Turin, because the state of things, if prolonged, threaten to remain without any issue. While this state of things was the subject of loyal explanations between my Government and that of Austria, it caused steps on the part of England, Prussia, and Russia, which taken together, evince the desire of the Great Powers to arrive at a conciliatory adjustment of all interests. In order to second these dispositions it was important for France to present such a combination as would have the greatest chance of being accepted by Europe. In guaranteeing Italy by my army against foreign intervention, I had the right to point out the limits of this guarantee. I have not, therefore, hesitated to declare to the King of Sardinia that, although leaving to him an entire liberty of action, I could not follow him in a policy which, in the eyes of Europe, appeared to intend the absorption of the States of Italy, and which threatened new complications. I have counselled him to reply favourably to the wishes of the provinees which offer themselves to him, but to maintain the autonomyof Tuscany and to respect in principle the rights of the Holy See. If this arrangement does not satisfy every- body it has the advantage of reserving prmcples of calming apprehension, and it elevates kingdom of 9,000,000 of souls. Haung transformation of Northern Italy which gives to a powerful State all the passes of the Alps, it was my duty, for the safety of our frontiers, to claim the renc 1 side of the mountains. In this reclamation of territory of small extent, there is nothing to alarm Europe, or to belie the disinterested policy which I have more than once proclaimed. France, however, will not acquire this aggrandisement, small as it is, either by a military occupation, or by exciting an insurrection, or by secret intrigues, but in frankly stating the question to the Great Powers. Their equity will, doubtless, induce them to recognise, as France would certainly do with regard to them in the like circumstances, that the im portant territorial change which is about to take place gives us the right to a guarantee indicated by nature herself. I cannot pass over in silence the emotion of a portion of the Catholic world, which has suddenly yielded to such unreflective impressions, and has thrown itself into such passionate alarms. The fact, which should'have been a guarantee for the future, has been in such a manner misunderstood, and the services ren- dered in such a manner forgotten, that a very profound conviction, an absolute confidence, in the public reason has been necessary, in order to preserve, in the midst of agitations which have been excited, the calm which alone maintains us in the truth. Facts, however, have clearly spoken for themselves during the eleven years that I have maintained alone in Rome the power of the Holy Father, without for a moment ceasing to revere in his person the holy character of the chief of our religion. e On the other side the populations of the Romagna, sud- denly abandoned to themselves, yielded to a natural attraction, and during the war endeavoured to make common cause with us. Ought 1 to forget them in peace, and abandon them afresh for an unlimited time to the risks of foreign occupation ? My first efforts were to reconcile them to their Sovereign, but not succeeding, I endeavoured at least to maintain in the revolted provinces the principle of the temporal power of the Pope. I rem the preceding you see, although all is not yet terminated, how we may be allowed at least to hope for a speedy solution. The moment, therefore, seems to have arrived to put an end to the deliberations which too long pre- occupy the public mind, and to find the means of boldly inaugurating in France a new era of peace. The army has already been reduced to 150,000 men, and this reduction would have been more considerable were it not for the war with China, the occupation of Rome, and of Lombardy. My Government will imme- diately submit to you a summary of measures which propose to facilitate production, to augment by cheap living the well-being of the working classes, and to multiply our commercial pelations. The first step to be taken in this course was to fix an epoch for the sup- pression of those impassable barriers which, under the name of prohibitions, excluded from our markets foreign products, thus compelling other nations to adopt a reciprocity, to be regretted on our account, but some- thing more difficult still retained us. It was the slight inclination existing for a- treaty of commerce with England. I have, therefore, taken upon myself the responsibility of this great measure. A very simple reflection shows the advantage of this treaty to both countries. Neither of them will certainly fail, at the end of some years, to take, each in its own interests, the initiative in the proposed measures, but then the reduction in the tariff not being simultaneous, it would take place on both sides without immediate compensation. The treaty has then only advanced the period of salutary modifications, and given to indispensable reforms the character of reciprocal concessions destined to fortify the alliance of two great nations. In order that this treaty may produce its best effects, I demand your most cordial concurrence for the adoption of the laws which will facilitate the putting it into practice, I call your attention, above all, to the means of communicaticn which by their development can alone permit us to compete with foreign industry; but as the moments of transition are always painful, and as it is our duty to put an end to a state of uncertainty so injurious to our interests I call on your patriotism for the prompt examination of the laws which will be submitted to you, for enfranchising primary materials from all duties, and reducing those which weigh on provisions largely consumed. The resources of the Treasury will find themselves sensibly diminished nevertheless the receipts and expenditure of the year 1861 will be balanced without the necessity of an appeal to the credit, or having recourse to to new taxes. In tracing to you a true picture of our political and commercial situations, I desire to inspire you with full confidence in the future, and so to associate you in the accomplishment of a work fruitful in grand results. The protection of Providence so visibly extended to us during the war will not fail us in a pacific enterprise, which aims at the amelioration of the condition of the greater number. Let us then continue our march of progress, without allowing ourselves to be arrested by the murmurs of egotism, or by party clamours and unjust suspicions.. France menaces no one, she desires to develope in peace, in the plenitude of her independence, the immense resources which Heaven has given to her, and she cannot awake gloomy susceptibilities, since, from the civilisa- tion in which we are, springs from day to day more forcibly that truth, which consoles and reassures humanity, that the more a country is rich and pros- perous the more it contributes to the wealth and pros- perity of other countries."

THE BAUONY oi- BROUGHAM.—The Queen htis been pleased to extend the title of Lord Brouaham and Vaux, hitherto hmued to the present peer, to his surviving brother, Mr. ilham Brougham (formerly M-P- for Southwarlc and .Master in Chancery), and to his male heirs This is a most gracious act of the Sovereign, and will be appreciated by the public as a just tribute to the genius and public services of the veteran Henry Brougham.-Obserfler.

APPALLING COLLIERY EXPLOSION. FRIGHTFUL LOSS OF LIFE On Friday last an explosion of gas, attended by the most disastrous results, occurred at the Burradon Colliery, near the Killingworth station of the North Eastern Rail. way, Northumberland. The following narrative of the melancholy occurrence is given by a correspondent of the Times;- Burradon Colliery is an old pit in the Wall's-end group, and formerly belonged to Lord Ravensworth and partners, who were known as the Grand Allies." For some years it was leased by Messrs. Carr and Co.; but during the past two or three years it has been wrought by Messrs. Bowers and Co., of Leeds, though I under- stand that the Messrs. Carr have an interest in the pit, Mr. Carr, jun., being the viewer. There are many miles of workings in the pit, and, a considerable quantity of the main seam being exhausted, the broken"-i.e., the large pillars of coal that have been left after exhaust- ing the sections of the main-is being wrought in a part of the pit. The pit is in the low main, and there is little difference of opinion that it has a somewhat fiery and dangerous character; at any rate, the pitmen allege that to be the case. The broken" was wrought with the aid of Davy safety lamps; but the men appear to have wrought with candles at the face of the coal, or the whole." From the downcast shaft runs a way. or tram- road, in a north-easterly direction, for about 300 yards; at the extremity of this way, the workings branch off to the right and left. On the right, at a sharp angle, com- mences a sharp steep incline, on which is a self-acting railway the length of the incline is about 500 yards to the plane where several ways meet, and in the neigh- bourhood of which the principal workings lie. On the left, from the starting point before indicated, is a long and crooked way, upwards of a mile in extent, which curves round to the east, and by an oblique series of workings joins the extreme easterly point of the pit, into which the workings beyond the plane at the top of the incline open. In the workings beyond the plane, at the end of the incline, between 70 and 80 men were em- ployed, and in the long way between 30 and 40. The current of air passed down the long way to the north, round towards the eastern side, and across over the long way into the upcast shaft. The gas appeared to have formed in the "whole" or solid workings. At about half-past one on Friday after- noon a slight explosion was observed in the straight up flat," in the whole," or unbroken coal. Two lads, hewers, named Allen, were alarmed by the concussion of the first explosion, and ran dow i the incline towards the point at which it joins the principal air-way, and took shelter in a cabin where the lamps, &c., are kept. Here they were spoken to by the back overman," William Alderson, who, thinking that the dauger was past, urged them to return, but they refused, and the overman left to press the same request upon the men engaged further up to the east of the incline. In his way he met another boy, named Urwin, running, and in vain persuaded him to return. Scarcely had he left Urwin when a second explosion took place, and one of the Aliens was struck by a stone driven along by the force of the tremendous blasts in the roadway, which destroyed the machinery and waggons with which it came in contact. Alderson, after hearing the first explosion, had run b ick about 500 yards, when he encountered the second blast near the incline, and appears to have been killed upon the spot. The interval between the first and I second explosion seems to have been about three minutes. The men working in the opposite direction from where the first explosion occurred felt its effects by the distur- bance of the air, but as it was not violent they did not I feel much alarmed the lads, however, who are sooner frightened than the men, as soon as they heard the ex- plosion, made off to the shaft from all parts in the pit, I and many of them were saved by escaping to bank as speedily as possible. The second explosion was too violent in its force to induce the men above described to hestitate for a moment, and they made towards the shaft, hut they had not. got far when they encountered the stifling choke uamp, but being men of experience, and having a thorough knowledge of the pit, they escaped to the shaft with their lives. Most of these persons escaped without sustaining any injury. The shock of the explosion was felt at the down- cast shaft and at bank, and the appalling intelligence was in a few moments spread through the village and among the pit cottages, messengers were sent off to the neighbouring collieries for help, and men galloped in every direction for surgeons. An awful wail arose in the cottages belonging to the men down the pit as the intelli. gence reached their families, and then women and children flocked to the pit-mouth, whore a frightful scene ensued as the men and lads who had escaped" were brought to bank. Ihe deputies and overmen who were not down in the pit, forthwith commenced making efforts to rescue those who were known to he in the pit. They met some of the men escaping from the cross-cut, or long air-way but, persevering so far as the after-damp and sulphurous vapour would permit, penetrated nearly to the plane at the top of the incline. To do this they had to take in with them brattice, or thin planks of wood, to stOr) up certain openings, and so to force the current of fresh air from the pit shaft to accompany them. In the meantime viewers, overmen, and pitmen ar- rived from the neighbouring collieries, and with calm heroism they prepared to descend into what might prove to them their tomb. Mr. Carr, the viewer; Mr. John- son, his deputy Mr. S. C. Crone, viewer, of Killing- worth and his deputy, Mr. Johnson, and several pitmen from Killingworth Colliery, went down the pit among the earliest; surgeons being in attendance at bank for any emergency; and the noble band of brave men proceeded on their mission of humanity. They got to the top of the in- cline without any serious obstruction, encountering only dead horses and a little dead trapper boy in their way but when they reached the place indicated their progress was impeded by a large fall of coal, which had come from the roof. A large portion of this they had to clear away, and Like measures to improve the ventilation, before they ventured further. Seventeen bodies of poor fellows who had been flaeing from the deadly blast were subsequently found, either under the fall of coals or to the eastward of it. Most of them had died from the effects of after-damp. A number of horses had also perished in the same neighbourhood. The band of \vorke;s, who had been reinforced by more viewers and pitmen, succeeded in exploring 360 feet beyond the fall in the bank-top by 10 o'clock at night; but beyond that point it was not deemed prudent to proceed until be tween four and five o'clock this morning. During the night Mr. M. Dunn, the Government Inspector of Mines, his son, Mr. Baker Foster, Mr. Scott, of Seghill, Mr. Telford, under-viewer of Cramlington, and other practical men went down the pit to give assistance, and some of them remained down from midnight until two o'clock this afternoon. But if more pitmen had been down it is said they would have been useful in carrying out the operations necessary to reach the bodies of the poor fellows beyond the incline. By noon to-day 25 bodies had been sent to bank, and, decently wrapped up in pit flannel, had been conveyed in long carts to their dtsolated homes. By one o'clock this afternoon, the furnace having been extinguished, and the ventilation improved by water poured down the shaft in a continual stream, the searching parties reached where the main body of the sufferers were lying. Having wrought along the south way they reached a capsized tub, and to the eastward of it they discovered seventeen bodies piled up one on the top of the other. The poor creatures, it would seem, upon hearing the second explosion had rushed out from their work, and had tried to make their way to the shaft; but, encounter- ing the capsized tub, they had not had strength to pass it, and had been suffocated by the choke-damp. Beyond these, towards the face of tho workings, several other bodies were found shortly after, and on reaching the face of the workings part of an unfortunate pitman was ob- served, the other part of his person being covered with coal that, had fallen upon him. The body was got out, and as it was badly burnt, and Las is candle was found beside him, the explosion, it is conjectured, bad occurred at his candle. The number of poor fellows who have perished by this fearful catastrophe will not be less than eighty men and boys. Two wastemen, named Thomas Friar and Robert Jefferson, who went down the pit to assist in recovering the bodies, have not been seen since about nine o'clock in the evening of yesterday, and it is supposed that they are lost. The overman, Mr. Weatherley, shortly after parting with them, tried a trap-door leading into the waste, in the hope of being able to approach the bodies by that route, but ti.e noxious gas was overpowering, and he was obliged to shut the door quickly,to save his life. He thinks that the two men must have supposed he entered the waste, and that in attempting to follow him they were suffoaated. While trying this door a little lad of twelve or fourteen came up crying bitterly for his pony. Mr. Weatherley told him not to venture inside the door, but fears his warnings were disregarded, for he has seen nothing of the poor boy since, and is unable to hear that he has been brought to bank. It is impossible to describe the harrowing sight pre- sented at the pit's mouth and in the village during last night and all this day. Hundreds of persons remained on the bank all night, and during all the long watches of the night poor women and children remained shivering out in the cold air, in breathless hope that some one would come out of the pit to give them intelligence of father, brother, husband, or son, but upon whom they were never destined to gaze again, except as a blackened corpse. A walk through the village this afternoon showed that in almost every third house there was a corpse, or that preparations were made for one that was expected from the pit. The pitmen at Burradon are, as a body, a most intelligent and superior class of workmen; pro- vident and orderly in their habits. A fine young fellow, Matthew Cleghorn, a local preacher among the Primitive Methodists, came from East Hartley on Thursday, and was down the pit on his first shift on Friday, when he perished Thomas Thompson, another hewer, only commenced work on Friday morn- ing. Ho has recently returned from Australia, and had been shifting about from colliery to colliery, on account of the health of some of his children born out in that far land. One old woman has lost her husband and two sons. Another cottage home has been bereaved of all its bread-winners, no less than four of the family having perished by the same calamity. In another house all the men have been swept away, and daughters only left; and three brothers, most intelligent, fine young men, have been taken from another house. Mr. Davison, the surgeon of the colliery, Dr. Pyle, of Earsdon, Mr. M'Allister, Mr. Robertson, Mr. Grant, and other medical gentlemen, have scarcely left the village since the explosion, and have been most attentive to the bereaved families. Mr. Reed, the coroner for South Northumberland, for- mally opened an inquest on the bodies this afternoon, and an order being made for interment, it was adjourned. Mr. Aitkinson, the Durham Government Inspector of Mines, went down the pit this afternoon. [FURTHER PARTICULARS.] During the whole of Saturday night parties of viewers and miners pursued their labours in search of the bodies of the unfortunate men destroyed in Burradon Pit ou Friday afternoon. Two bodies were sent to bank on Sunday morning, making about 50 altogether that had been recovered; and six more, apparently badly burnt, were lying at the bottom of the pit ready to be sent up after dark. There are more bodies to be recovered they are probably among the works in the broken," and the exertions of the men below will be sustained without in- termission until all are found. Mr. Carr, the viewer of the colliery, has scarcely been out of the pit since the explosion; and he and the Government inspectors and the neighbouring viewers have been most assiduous in their labours to get the bodies out. It is stated that the pit is not very much injured by the explosion, most of the deaths having been occasioned by the after-dump. The joiners in the neighbouthood, and those belonging to the pit were engaged all Friday night and Saturday, in making coffins, a large pile of which were lying oa the pit bank on Saturday. Two bodies were interred on Sunday, and the bodies of all the other unfortunate sufferers brought to bank on Monday. The village had a woeful appearance on Sunday, as largo crowds flocked into it from the neighbouring towns and villages. Measures have been adopted in Newcastle-on-Tyne to commence a subscription for the bareaved families.

LOSS OF THE NIMROD," STEAMSHIP. The Cork Examiner publishes some additional informa- tion, connected with the melancholy loss of the Isimrod steamer:—"The captain of the Nimrod, it is stated, made an offer to the captain of the City of Paris of X100 to tow him into Milford, which the latter refused. It is further stated that the captain of the City of Paris de- manded £ 1,000 but this statement must be taken with great caution. The whole circumstances of the catas- trophe will be examined into by the Board of Trade, and until then it is premature to form a judgment which may affect any man's reputation. It is many years since a wreck has occurred which has spread such sorrow and gloom throughout the city. Among the passengers was Mr. Richard Gould, son of the late Mr. John Gould, merchant, and the member of a family in this city, for whom but a month since the deepest sympathy was awakened by a very melancholy calamity. There could have been but few other cabin passengers, as the manifest shows us yet, beside that gentleman, but three, the holder of a return ticket, one other single ticket, and a half-ticket. A circumstance that we have heard leads us to the belief that another peculiarly melancholy case oc. curred, besides that to which we have particularly alluded. Last week the schooner Wemleydale, bound from St. Domingo for Bremen, with logwood, put into Queenstown, the captain having become insane. He was taken charge of by the Messrs. Scott, agents of the vessel, and put into a lodging, while his wife, who resided in Newcastle, was communicated with by the owners. The deepest regret has been awakened by the fate of the master of the ill-fated ship, Captain Lyall. Though a native of Scotland, he has been the greater part of his life connected with this city, and in the em- ployment of the Cork Steamship Company. His frank and cheery manners made him a most populai captain, while his devotion to the interests of his principals won their entire confidence. He commanded the Albatross m the Black Sea during the Crimean war, when, in con- junction with his colleague, Captain Byrne, in the Cor. morant, the two vessels of the Cork Steam Company won the highest approbation of the naval and military autho- rities, and the testimony of the newspaper corres- pondents, of their having done more efficient work than any other two ships engaged in the service. A better or a ."jja*er seaman never trod a deck, nor one whose loss will be more deeply deplored by casual intimates, or bv a large number of long tried and attached friends. The manager of the steam company, Mr. Beale, and the en- gineer, Mr. Crichton, left Cork for the scene of the catastrophe, to take such steps as may be requisite, and the company has requested an investigation by the Board of Trade. The vessel, which had about twelve months ago undergone a thorough overhaul, was probably of the value of about JE12,000, and she had on board a cargo worth about £ 7,000, of which the company, in addition to being they: own insurers, had insured j65,000, The remainder was of a miscellaneous character, and includes no heavy item of individual loss. Within the sphere of the company a subscription has been commenced, and the followrng donations have without any organization been subscribed:—The Steam Ship Company £ 500; Mr. Pike, £ 100; Mr. Leycester, £ 5Q; Mr. L. W. Glover, £ 20; Mr. Crichton, £ 20; Mr. G. C. Beale, LIO; Mr. Terence Smith, JElQ; Messrs. Leckey, JE20 Mr. W. D. Harris, £10; Mr. George Patterson, engineer, f5. It is intended to extend the subscriptions throughout the whole of the ships of the company, and everywhere that their influence extends. The Times says:—There was a good deal of excite- ment in Liverpool on Friday, consequent on a state- ment that the Nimrod was passed and spoken by a steamer the night before she drifted on the rocks, and although then in distress, aid had not been extended to her. At present we refrain from mentioning the vessel, hoping that explanation may lessen the responsibility attaching to the captain of the steamer alluded to. According to private letters, the Simrod was hailed at about 10 o'clock on Monday night by a Cork and Milford steamer. This must have been 12 hours before she struck. When the steamer sighted her she was in distress, her engines not acting. It has been stated that she had signals flying, that the steamer in question got close to her, and that Captain Lyall, of the Jiitnrod offered a sum of money to be taken in tow. Doubtless such a statement will be thoroughly sifted at any inquest that may be held, if not a full inquiry will be instituted by the Government.

BRITISH EXPORTS TO AUSTRALIA.—By the recent returns from the Board of Trade we find that the declared value of the exports of British and Irish produce to our Australasian possessions for the twelve months ending the 31st of December, 1859, amounted in the aggregate to £ 11,225,616—viz., enumerated articles, £ 7,230,727 and unenumerated articles, j63,994,889 whereas during the year 1858 the total declared value was j610,463,032, showing, consequently, an increase of exports for the past year to the value of £ 762,584. Articles connected with the mining interest furnish a total of £ 1,508,565, under the head of "Metals," that is, machinery, iron, lead, and tin. Apparel and slops give a total of £ 1,246,503; leather goods, £ 1,007,409; beer, ale, and spirits, £ 768,655; haberdashery, £ 735,061 cottons £ 691,262; woollens, £ 486,145; slationery, £ 303 564- silks, £ 182,250; linens, £ 134,344; earthenware, £ 84 088- oil seeds, £ 62,239 and soap, £ 30,642. The respective value of the exports to the several colonies wa& as toitowa £ \467,^9i iXew Wales', £ 2.8/6.342; South Australia, £ 649,912; Tasmania £ 479,843; West Australia, £ 118,054 aud New Zeal laud, £ 633,576Mining Jourml, eW ea

(6tatral _Atws. THE CASE OF THE REV. HENRY JOHN HATCH.— Our readers are aware that' the Committee which have been acting in this case have laid before the Home Secretary all the particulars which, to their firm con- viction and that of the jurors, exculpate Mr. Hatch. Sir George Lewis has sent a reply to the effect that he cannot properly advise the Crown to interfere in the present position of the case, as Mr. Hatch had a legal remedy of which it was competent for him to avail himself." The Committee have accordingly determined to take this legal remedy by entering on a formal prose- cution. This will involve them in large expenses, bnt we earnestly hope that they will not be permitted to want the needful support. Subscriptions may be sent to the Record Office, and, as Mr. Hatch is suffering imprison- ment, no time should be lost. The Earl of Shaftesbury, Lord Ebury, and the Bishops of Lichfield, Llandaff, and Bath and Wells, are amongst those who have already subscribed.d. EXPENSES OP THE LATE READING ELECTION.—The election auditor has just published an account of the ex- penses incurred by Sir Francis Golesmid, in contesting the borough of Reading with Mr, Benson, to supply the vacancy created in the representation by Sir Henrr S Keating having been promoted to the judicial banch. The total sum expended is represented as being £ 1090, and it is made up in the following manner :-Fees of the town-clerk and share of the returning officer's expenses, £ 90 12s. lid.; hire of committee-room at an hotel, with refreshments for clerks, messengers, Ac., £219 14s. Id.; printing, advertising, and stationery, £214 14s. 7d. carriage hire, L84 53. 6d. refreshments for clerks and messengers, X40 8s. 6d. Great Western, South- western, and South-Eastern Railway Companies, for the conveyance of voters, and agent for services in pro- viding the same, L14 5s. lOd. poll clerks, committee clerks, inspectors, messengers, &c., JE75 15s. agency and other expenses, £294 4s. 7d.; ringing of bells, L6 6s.; miscellaneous charges, JE49 13s. A valuable discovery hs8 just been made in the vaults of an eminent London banker. The discovery consists of a large box of letters containing the correspondence of Mr. Bradshaw, Secretary to the Treasury in the reign of George the Third, a man very well known to the readers of Walpole's Letters and of the Secret History of the Court Intrigues when Queen Victoria's paternal grandfather was King. The letters are of .the most con- fidential nature-written by men like the Duke of Graf- tou, Lord Bute, Lord North, Lord Rockingham, L)rd Hillsborough, Lord Barrington, Richi rd Rigby, Sir Philip Francis, and Mr. Boswell's Dr. Samuel Johnson. Johnson's letters relate to his pension; and there are traces of Junius" in the papers. Mr. F. Ltri^hton is engaged upon a picture, the theme of which is a "Vision in Heaven seen in a Dream the spirit of a person in the crisis of a dangerous illness is supposed to ascend to the Judgment Throne, and to be rebuked there with the words-" Not yet; not yet." The history of the dream, which really was a dream, although not, of course, of the artist's, goes on to say that thereupon the spirit of the visionary sank to earth; the sick person began to mend, and body and soul to enter upon a renewed trial. This extraordinary subject will demand all the artist's reverential power. If any painter could avoid to fail in one so awful, it will be Mr. Leighton but he must be prepared for much cavilling — Athenceum. The Earl of Sefton, who is about to retire from the third battalion of the Grenadier Guarde, has, according to custom amongst the officers of the regiment, presented his companions in arms with a magnificent souvenir for the mess-room. In order to combine the useful with the ornamental, the noble Earl has had constructed a very large and elaborate silver and ebony clock of chaste design, and appropriately supported at the corners by military figures in chased silver, to which the further interest is attached t'lat they are all portraits of soldiers in the regiment, who had distinguished themselves throughout the Crimean war, and more especially in the soldiers' battle" at Inkerman. Lest these brave fellows should remain unnamed demigods" to the end of their lives, we have been at the trouble of ascertain- ing that they were Elger, Banoroft, Baldwin, and King. All were decorated, and Bancroft especially signalised himself by jumping over the sandbag battery at Inker- man, and killing several Russians in personal conflict. These four men stood for their portraits to Mr. Baldwin Wood, the modeller, and the likenesses of all are pro- nounced to be perfect. As a work of silver chasing nothing could be finer than the execution of these four statuettes, whilst the whole work is in the best taste, and of the highest class of workmanship, doing infinite credit to Mr. Hancock, of Bruton-street, to whom its execution aba been entruated.Daily Newt. THE SLATE TRAD a.—An important meeting of owners of slate quarries and others interested in the pro- tection of slate in North Wales, was held at Carnarvon, on the 20th ult.—Mr. J. Millington, jun.n the chair— to take into consideration the almost prohlbitious duties levied on slate imported to France, to urge upon Govern- ment the propriety of entering into further negotiations, so that the duty may be reduced, under the new treaty. A deputation was appointed to wait upon the Board of Trade, which the honourable member for the county of Carnarvon, Colonel Pennant, has undertaken to head. The memorial adopted by the meeting, makes out a very strong case in favour of the movement, so interesting to the Principality. It states:—"Your memorialists parnestly hope that Her Majesty's Government will enter into such further arrangements with the Government of his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the French, as may lead to a reduction in the present almost prohibitory duties levied on slate, and on articles manufactured therefrom, imported into France. The export and pro- duction of slate in North Wales during the year 1869 exceeded 286,000 tons, giving exployment to 8,500 per- sons. This large trade is in a great measure a coasting one, the magnitude of which will be seen by the fact that from the ports of Carnarvon, Bangor, and Port Madoc, 2,459 vessels, registering 137,300 tons, cleared out with slates during the year 1859. In the case of France, the duties are peculiarly oppressive, only slates under fourteen inches by eight inches in size (and these qualities are not worth tke attention of slate producers) being exported to that country, the rate of the duty levied on ail other varieties acting as a prohibition. The capabilities of the quarries now opened in North Wales are such that thy production of slate may be indefinitely increased, besides, the amount of slate rock at present untouched, is such that, could further markets be found, it scarcely admits of a doubt that capitalists would em- bark largely in this trade, thereby affording great addi- tional employment to the Principality, and other slate- producing parts of the United Kingdom, and to shipping engaged therein. Your memorialists would only further urge, that inasmuch as coal and iron will enjoy peculiar advantages under the treaty, they think that the same advantage should be given to slate as respects the duties to be levied on importation into France." PASSING A WEDDING NIGHT IN THE SNow.-A strange adventure attended a wedding party from Whit- stable, one day last week. A young man named Kemp, with his aunt and father, left there early in the morning, in a conveyance drawn by two horses, for the purpose of being married to a young woman named Austem, a resident of Canterbury. The marriage ceremony was performed at the church of St. Mary Bredin, and all passed off pleasaatly enough till the evening, when the party (now increased to four) left Canterbury about nine o'clock, in the same manner in which they had arrived, but the snow in the interim had materially interfered with the traffic on the road, and their progress homewards was far from rapid or safe. Still they went on, and had reached within two miles of Whitstable, when the driver announced that it was impossible to proceed with the conveyance any further, and taking the horses out he proceeded with them to Whitstable, leaving the marriage party to pass the night in the snow. Here they remained until nearly nine o'clock on Tuesday morning, when they were safely conveyed to their destination. THE SÁCRBD DRAMA IN WALES.—Under thi s head Mr. William Jowett, of Swansea, informs the British Standard that—" On Saturday a dramatic performance took place in this town, presided over by an IudenPn dent Mimster, entitled Joseph and his Brethren' Thi characters were dressed in Oriental costulIle-th t. e white calico, with other co.ours for some of the principal characters; such as Joseph, who would have one p of ?' TheTw^0,le waa iQ the Welsh language and the performers, I believe, were members of different buUdutt pr°Cfeed.a „wer? 10 devoted towards bu lding a temperance hall. I remonstrated with one of the most active, and pointed out the wickedness of it, but to no purpose. I regret to say that the room was filled to overflowing consequently it is to be repeated iQ about a fortnight. It appears, therefore, necessary to call in the aid of the religious press, in order that it may be at once discountenanced by the Ministers of the Gospel at all events, and for exercising authority over their members, by drawing their attention to its sinfulness."

pwltum in gmm The Queen held a Chapter of the Order of the Thistle on Friday afternoon, at Buckingham Palaoa when the Earl of Fife was elected a Knight of the Order. Mr. bpurgeon's fame has reached Germany. A pubtisher of Ludwigsburg. has issued a German transU- Mr Snnlo6 °- discourses. A lithographic sketch of Mr. Spurgeen is prefixed to the vo lume. the °Fr^h t !)e5n *ssuecl of the second edition of ho. w„t in tan. to hi, box Md li^d It is stated that a movement is now in progress for the purpose of offering a testimonial to Mr. Waklev tha coroner for the county of Middlesex, an originator of the Lancet newspaper. The Surrey election (iu the room of Mr. Henry Drummond, deceased) is fixed for the 10th inst. Mr. Cubitt, Conservative, is the only candidate. The Lord-Lieutenant of Oxfordshire has (by com- mission dated the 2nd instant), appointed his Royal Highness Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, K.G., to be Honorary Colonel of the Oxford University Rifle Volun- teer Corps. THE CONVICT SA.LT.-The convict Edwin Thomas halt, who was to have been executed on Tuesday, at Mrritotle for Hfe^8 saatenoe win b. romiaaM<, to p.o.1 servitude for life. The young sailor Prince has not grown much during his last trip, but promises to be square-built. His thaU«T,n« n T t0 afford a P^tty sure prorf that he has not flinched from exposure to weather It ^"gf/tu'ation among the Royal Family th.it the Euryalus got into port before the late severe Mr. W. Nightingale, the well-known coursing judge, has been presented, at Liverpool, with a handsome testimonial, consisting of a time-piece and a silver centre. piece, representing a borse and greyhound under an oak- tree. He is retiring from his duties. At the Leeds Archery Ground, on Saturday last, a feat worthy of a Teil, was achieved by the principai officer of the club. During the practice at 100 yards, a sparrow was observed upon the target; two gentlemen took aim at the intruder, and the arrow of the Captain (Mr. Wauchop) passed through the bird's body A meeting of a few friends and admirers of the late Mr. Hallam has been held at Mr. Murray's, Albemarle- street, the Marquis of Lausdowne in the chair and it was resolml, in consideration of Mr. Hallam's eminent servicei to the Historical Literature of England, to raise a memorial to hiui. On Monday evening, an influential meeting of clergymen and superintendents of Sunday schools was held at Radloy's Hotel, Bridge-street, Blaokfriars, for the purpose of considering the present position of the Sunday school system in connexion with the Church of England, anti to provide means for promoting its efficiency. The Bishop of London presided. The Calcutta mail briugs intelligence from Java that the Dutch steamer Oifust has been treacherously attacked by the natives of Banjermassing, Borneo, and seven officers and fifty-five men brutally massacred. The King of Sardinia has just granted a free pardon to a priest named Grillo, who had been condemned by the tribunal of Casale to a year's imprisonment for treasonable language against the king, uttered in a coffee- house. The Calcutta Englishman declares that the recent exportation of elephants from Pegu has been most disas- trous to the province. The elephants are wanted to drag timber, and their absence has caused an extraordinary diminution in the supply. 3 A German journal published in Paris, the Pariser ~eitung, states that Prussia has determined to elevate Meyerbeer to the dignity of a "Prussian gentleman." The great composer has hitherto been excluded from the ranks of the nobility, on account of being a ew. The Princess Clothide is declared by a distinguished French political economist to be the most extraordinary endowed lady in Europe. She speaks fluently five lan- guages, and is a thorough Greek and Latin scholar is well acquainted with the works of all the ancient and modern poets, and is particularly fond of quoting Shaks- peare. Her character, in spite of her extreme youth, is very firm. J The Coventry Standard states that the ribbon manu- facturers are already proposing reductions in the wages of their workpeople in anticipation of the competition about to take place with foreigners, in consequence of the French treaty. The same paper states that a large number of persons are already out of employ. ADULTERATION OF FOOD AND DRUGS.—That most dastardly and nefarious description of commercial roenerr which impunity and long practice have combined to brinjt to such perfection in England, is beset with difficulty and visited with heavy penalties in Paris. A singular discovery was made on Friday in the neighbourhood of St. Giles's. A boy, who had lost a shuttlecock down the area of a house in ShortVgardeos ent,erell. the cellar in search of it. While crossing the cellar, which was almost in total darkness, he stumbled over some substance which protruded from a dust-heap, and which, on examination, he found to be the legs of a human body. The boy gave information to a policeman, who found the entire body of a female in a state of putre- faction, the flesh having been partly eaten by rats. The author of Adam Bede" has a new novel announced, called The Mill on the Floss." Miss Burdett Coutts has established an evening school, for young fishermen and apprentices at Torquay. Lord Brougham and Mr. Gladstone have intimated their intention of visiting Edinburgh, during the Whit- suntide holidays, for the purpose of being installed. Lord Sondes has expressed his willingness to equip ten rifle volunteers, at his own expense, and several in- fluential gentlemen in the neighbourbood have announced their intention of following the example of his Lordship. The Atlantic Telegraph Company authorized the directors, on Thursday, to spend £20,oou in raising the shore ends of the cables, for the purpose of repairing the whole line if practicable, and if not so, of selling what can be raised. The stability of the Crystal Palace has been put to the severest test by the late gale, which raged with the .greatest fury an the heights of Norwood. Beyond the des- truction of some loose squares of glass, the building stands in all its integrity. At a meeting of the students of Marischal College, Aberdeen, the Earl of Air:ie (the present rector), r-Ir. Disraeli, and Lord Panmure have been nominated as can- didates for the office of Lord Rector. At the late ball at the Tuileries, the Empress wore at once a peculiar and beautiful djess. Over the familiar skirt of tulle bouillonne was thrown a short upper skirt of white watered-silk, festooned up on both sides with wide bands of black velvet embroidered with gold. Upon her head was placed a high crown of polished gold, upon which were imprinted, in black enamel, some Egyptian hierogly- phios- There were a necklace and bracelets to match. The religious excitement which has been prevalent in the coast-side villages of the western district of Banff- shire, for the last three weeks, has been quile unequalled, it is believed, by anything which has yet taken place in Scotland in connection with the present revival move- ment. The Channel Island submarine cable is again broken near Jersey but a cable has been successfully laid down between Granville and Jersey, so that telegrams will shortly reach that island from England vid France. The total number of petitions for sale at the present moment to the Landed Estates Court in Ireland, is 416, of which 34 are of the approximate capital value of £ 1,777,950, and 382 of an approximate value of £ 894,316, The Manchester police entered two gaming-houses on Monday evening, and captured twenty persons enff9<™»A in playing hazard. The keepers of the housP« hoJlv fined mo each and the gamblers from £ 2 to £ 3 each. The Plough Hotel, Cheltenham, was put up to auction last week. The sale was started at PTWin P, bona fide bidding of t'14 mo.. j l *>71)00, and a atace. Th' u,m br«.no was £ '25,000. g 1 iha reserved price weS^hhi^v'^pt11- She sun8 00 Saturday ft the Ciystal Palace, and then left for Dublin, fa 6 y 8 ^ed. The happy possessor of the wl 81D,Smg-bird is an Italian Prince, a Roman by oir h, and a relative to one of the Cardinals. He does not,, as in many instances, marry for the round sum realised by the vocalist, but is a man of some fortune-foc Italy.— Morning Star. We regret to say that there is no prospect of. a cessation of the miners' strike iu Scotland, both paraues being determinately averse to yielding. The directors of the Central Somerset Railway Company have at length decided upon. erecting an electric telegraph on their line, between Murnham, Glastonbury, and Wells, so as to place those towns in direct communication, with Bristol and London. The Prince of Orange visited the Great Eastern in Southampton Water on Monday. His Koval Highness was conveyed to and from the big ship in the tender to the Dauntless frigate. Tbe Prince's visit was not generally known iu the town, and his Royal Highness was on his way down the river when tne mayor heard of it, and ordered a. royal salute to be fired.