The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian Glamorgan Monmouth and Brecon Gazette

CoUiiiiu for DECE:\¡ BER, «• And after him came next the chill December; Yet he through merry feastings which he made, And threat bonfires, did not the cold remember; His Saviour's birth so much his mind ùid glaù. Upon a shaggy bearded goat he rode, The same whprcwith did Jove ill tender years, They sa), was nourish: by the Idcean mayd And in his hand a broad deep bowle he 11ears, Of which he freely drinks an health to all his peen," A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Old Winter hath his elarion blown, O'cr field and leafless wooù, AmI with a silver mantle strown The forest and the flood: And from hi., icy urn he pours Tha Wields tint stir the struggling deep. The wreathing snow, the plenteous showers And round about the castle towers, His mournful breezes sweep. Yet though the storm* with blustering wrath, Drive forth the dying year. See ou thc Winter's frosty path A jocund form appear; And with the tabor and C1C horn, Ilis brows with yew and holly bound, Lo! Christmas comes—his eldest bora- With Toiee that laugheth care to scorn. And scatters mirth around. Lo! Christmas comei that household word, 1'0 English bosoms dear; And memory, by its magic stirred. Retraces many a year, To days when masque and pageant flung Above its snows their gorgeous dress When Shakspeare's lyre immortal ruug, And Essex wooed, and Sydney sung The times of good Queen Bess. Lo! Christmas comes and jOf and mirth Their hearty revels hold; And gladness hovers o'er the hearth. Though all without be colel. They come, who long have absent been In distant town or foreign land; While berries red, and branches green, Suspended from the roof are seen Above the happy band. And in the Baron's stately hall I hear the harpers play; For thither crowd the peasants all In holiday array: Nor Lords nor Ladies scorn to night, To mingle with the meaner throng, And while they dance till morning light. Smiles on their glee each aged wight, And wishes he were young. And some there be, who sit apart, And wile the hours of night, With tales that curdle every heart, Of goblin and of sprite How through the ancient tapestriNl room At eve a shrieking spectre glides, And in the midnight's thickest gloom, The mail-clad Templar leaves his tomb, And through the church-yard strides. But wearied foot and timid heart Must soon to rest retire, The clock hath told the time to part, And sinking is the fire: So, loth to leave their shelter wann, Homeward they wend through sleet and snow; Some to the lone secluded fann, That gives the vale its pastoral charm, Some to the hamlet low. Departed times shall surly Pride, Or Fashion's heartless sway, As some old gannent thrown aside, Your customs cast away ? No! let the votaries oC their train, Despise the sport* of fonner days,- I envy not their chill disdain, But fain would sing my worthiest strain, Old Christmas in thy pra.ise CHRISTMAS DAY. The English were always remarkable for the festivities with which they dislingnished Christmas. When the devotions of the evening preceding it were over, and night had come on, it was customary to light candles of large size, and to lay upon the fire a huge log, called a Yule clog, or Christmas block, a cus- tom not yet extinct in some parts of England, especially in the north, where coal is frequently substituted for wood, Chandlers at this season used to present Christmas candles to their cus- tomers and bakers, for the same purpose, made images of paste, called Yule dough, or Yule calus, which probably re- present the Bambins. At court. among many bodies, and in distinguished families, an officer, under various tttles, was apyointed to preside over the revels. Leland, speaking of the court of Henry VII, A.D. 1489, mentiong an Abbot of Misrule, who was created for this purpose, who made much sport, and did right well his office. Stow describes the same officer as Lord of Misrule* and Master of Merry Disports, who belonged not only to the king's house, but to that of every nobleman of honour or good worship, were he spiritual or temporal. The mayor anù sheriffs of London each had their Lord of Misrule, and strove, without quarrel or dispute, which should make the rarest pastime. His sway began on Allhallow-eve, and con- tinued till the morrow after Candlemas-day. This period was tilled up by fine and subtle dis."I1isings, masks, and mummeries, with playing at cards for counters, naylt's, and points, more for pastime than galne: Holinshed mentioDS a gentleman named George Ferrars, a 'lawyer, a poet, and an historian, who sup- plied the office well in the fifth year of Edward VI, and who was rewarded by the young king with princely liberality.' That 80rt of sport, however, Over which this mock monarch presided, was not, for the most part, of a very refined nature, and probably partook somewhat closely of the libertas Decembri, to which Polydore Virgil has traced it. The following are sonle of the pastimes ".—gaming, music. jugglers, and jack-puddings scrambling for nuts and apples, dancing, the hobby-hor8e, hunting owls and squirrels, the fool plough, hot cockles, a stick moving on a pivot with an apple at one end anù a candle at the other, so that he who missed his bite burnt his nose, blind- man's-buff, forfeits, interludes, and mock plays, The Puritans regarded these diversions, which appear to have offended more against good taste than moralily, with a holy horror; and Stubbs, in his Anatomie of Abwes, hag poured whole vials of fanatical wrath upon their supporters in the country villages. The Lord of Misrule is bespattered with much foul speech he is a grand captaine of mischief" whose bandie pipers strike up the devit's dance, and sing like devils incarnatehis followers are 'terrestrial furies,' bedecked with papers of hell hounds given to heathenish devilrie, and all who admire them are no better than 'fantastical fools.' The Inns of Court were much distinguished for their lavish expenditure on these celebrations, and their Lord of Misrule was lIometimes termed the Christ11llJS Prince, or King of Christmas. A record of some of these revelries may be found in Dugdale's Origines Judiciales, p. 150, where a grand Christmas kept at the Inner Temple, 1562, the 4th of Elizabeth, is euriou81y described. At this feast, Dudley, aCterwards Earl of Leicester, presided. The general form of the grand Christmasses, as ex- tracted from the accompts of the house, and given also by Dugdale, exhibits some curious particulars. On Christmas-eve was a banquet in the hall, at which three masters of the revels were present. The most ancient of these, after dinner and supper, was to sing a carol, and to command other gentlemen to sing with him. On each of the twelve nights, before and after supper, were revels and dancing; and the breakfast on the following mornings were sufficiently substantial. They con- sisted of brawn, mustard, and malmsey. The courses were all served with music, but the day of Nativity itself was undistin- guished by any solemnity above the others. On St, Stephen's day, after the first course, the Constable Marshal came into the hall armed cap-a-pie, and after three curtesies, knelt down before the Lord Chancellor, and in an oration of a quarter of an hour's length, tendered his service. Then entered, for the same purpose, the Master of the Game and the Ranger of the Forest, blowing on horns three blasts for venery. After these was an entry which singularly marks the rudeness of the times. A huntsman cometh into the hall with a fox, and a purse net with a cat, both bound at tbe end of a staff, and with them nine or ten couple of hounds, with the blowing of hunting horns. And the fox and the cat are set upon by the hounds, and killed beneath the fire.' The Common Serjeant then delivered • a plausible speech' on the necessity of the Christmas officers, in which he was followed by the King's Serjeant-at-law, till the Lord Chancellor desired a respite of farther advice. Supper ended, the Constable-Marshal summoned his court to dance. The style and title of all his nobles are little fitted to the refine- ment ôf modern ears; but we may subjoin a few as specimens of that which passed for wit with no less men than Coke and Crewe, We read of 'Sir Francis Flatterer, of Fowlehurst, in the county of Buckingham Sir Randle Rackabite, of Rascal Hall, in the county of liakele and of Sir Morgan Mumchance. of Much Monkery, in the county of Mad For these sports on New Year's night, on which a play and mask were enacted, the hall was fumished with scaffolds Cor the ladies. Lincoln's Inn was somewhat jealous of this splemlour in its rival. In onc of the registers of that society is the following order, made November 27, 22 Henry VIII: • Yt is agreed, that if the two Temples do kepe Chrystemas, then Chrystemas to be kept here; and to know this, the Steward of the House ys com- manded to get knowledge, and to adyertise my master by the next day at night.' Of the license which was allowed, some judgment may be formed from an order made in Gray's Inn, still later (26th November, 28 Elizabeth). By this, any gentle- man of the house who, at Christmas time, should break open any chambers, or disorderly abuse or molest any fellow or officer within the precincts of the house, was to be expelled for his attack if it were a fellow; and put out of commons, if it were an officer. Archdeacon Nares has pointed Qut a curious narration oC Chri3tmas revels in England, to be found in Mitcellanea Antiqua Anylicana, published from an original manuscript in St, John's College, Oxford; aod yet another is given in Gerard Leigh's Accidence of Armory, p. 119. The dishes most ln vogue were, formerly, for breakfast and supper, on Christmas-eve, a boar's head stuck with rosemary, with an apple or an orange 1n the mouth, plum porridge, and minced pies, Eating the latter was a test of orthodoxy, as the Puritans conceived it to be an abo- mination they were oricinally made long, III Imltahon of the cretch, or manger, in which our Lord was lald. The houses and churches were dressed with evergreens, and .the former espe- cially with inisletoe, a custom probably as old as the Druidical worship. Fosbrooke, in his Encyclopaedia of A ntiqvMes.p. 587, speaking of vanous local customs, mentions tbat tbe servants at Hamburgh had a earp for supper on Christmas-eve; and Waldron, in hlS Description fiftlte Ilse klan, p, 99, among many other curious parhculars, relates that at this season parties sate up all. mght, went to ehurch at twelve, and, after service, hunted anù killed a wren, which they carried on a bier to church, and there buned with dirges and "!himsical801emnity, In days of yore, the festlvitles at Christmas were universally felt and enjoyed by all ranks. Whether from a principle of religion, or from habit and custom, the rich liberally treated the poor; and thus a season in itself naturally gloomy and desolate, passed in the interchange oC social visits and hospitable enter- tainments. Even in modern times many visit each other at Christmas who have little intercourse during the rest of the year. In the more remote parts oC the kingdom. moTe espe- cially, the genius of hospitality has not yet deserted the yule fire, ide, nor has tbe joyous solemnity ceased to warm the bosom of charity. • Purchas, in his Pilgrimage, as quoted in the Aubrey 3/S., says, that the custom of having Lords of Misrule' for twelve days at Christmas, is derived from the Feast in Babylon, kept in honour of the Goddesse J}orcetÂIJ., for five dars together; during which time, the masters were under the dominion of their servants, one of which was usually sett over the rest, and royally and was called Sngan. thaf iOJ, great Prince'. the mode of living of our ancestors three centuries ago. The different viands enumerated .are still known by the names which they bear in the text, it-^e except 'shred pies,' which appear to be mince-pies, as they are now called. Butcher's meat, poultry n:ifi,ye fruits, and home-brewed, were then thought amply s uffièien t. Good husband and huswife, now chiefly be glad, Things handsome to have, as they outfit to be had. They both do provide, against Christmas do come, To welcome good neighbour, good cheer to have some. Good bread and good drink, a good fire in the hall, Brawn, pudding, and souse, and good mustard withall. Beef, mutton, and pork, shred pies of the best, Pig, veal, goose, and capon, and turkey weil drest, Cheese, appll's, amI nut", jolly carols fO hear, As then in the country, is counted good cheer. Hospitality se?ms to have been a prominent feature in the character of Tusser and to that cause, as well as to an unsteady disposition, may probably be ascribed the poverty in which he lived and died. When he tells us that, Of all other doings house-keeping is chief. For dai:y it helpeth the poor with relief, however much we may admire his generosity, we question his prurience. Hut the fact is, in former times, hospitality was practiced at a cheaper rate than in the present times. As luxury has increased the variety and expense of the bill of fare, social entertainments have declined, or at least have become llnfrequellt from necessity. The friendly repast has given way to the expensive feast, and the intercourse of neighbours is, therefore, rare and formal. CHRISTMAS EVE. In Ireland, the ancient customs of trying charms, to see who shall be one's future spouse, is still kept up with great spirit on this vigil: the charms are much the same as those immortalized by Burns, in his inimitable 'Hallowe'en,' which festival is celebrated by the Irish, also, with quite as much devotional ceremony as by the Scotch. ♦ CHRISTMAS PLEASURES. We have seen some elaborate paragraphs in the newspapers describing the origin, history, and functions of the waits, who about this time of the year fill the night-air with music, and lull the waking senses of sleepless men with melancholy ditties. We have as loving an appreciation of the waits, and their poet- ical accessories, as any of Our contemporaries; but we have a decided aversion to the limping paragraphs in which they are thus celebrated. It does great injustice to the venerable waits, and their piping doggrels, to write in so niggardly a fashion about them. and to put on such a face of hypocrisy as to pre- tend to be learned in half-a-dozen lines on a subject that could not be exhausted in as many volumes. Such paragraphs as we allude to are not animated by the right spirit, or by any spirit but that of scissors and paste, There is nothing in them but some dusky bit of antiquarian lore, snigged out of Hone's Every. Day Book, or the Everlasting Calendar, or some other such repertory of delicious lore. The reader asks himself, Can these dry bones live ?" Of course they cannot; for they are not only stolen, but stripped of the lustre of poetical feeling in which the thief found them. All the thief looked for was a naked fact, and, having caught the fact, he thought he was dis- charging in full his duty to the public by giving it aU t). honors of a side-head and a paragraph body ill a morniu japer. Thieves of this class have no notion of the ruin they commit in desecrating topics of this legendary cast. They do not know that they are spoiling the public heart, without giving any equi- valent in the way of useful information. By accustoming the public to regard the waits just as they would a case of omnibus hard-driving—by dwarfing the waits and their mellifluous dis- cords into vulgar scrap-sentences, and by thus bringing the poetry of the season upon a common level with the callous common place offices and street nuisances, these spoliating newspaper clippers absolutely deteriorate the public taste, and shut up the finest and most cordial of all the public sympathies. We are quite sure there is a great deal of mischief done in this way, and that the yearly decay of our old traditional festivities and social intercommunications is in great part to be attributed to the prosaic and unappreciating manner in which they have been treated by the public journals, which, circulating every- where, and being supposed to exhibit a correct reflection of our intellectual and moral progress, imperceptibly influence the tone of the bulk of their readers. And thus the newspapers, aided by other active operating causes, have at last nearly extinguished our good old Christmas customs. If we could have our own way in this matter, we would make a thorough knowledge of the ancient customs of the country a branch of national education; and we would endeavour to revive in every direction all the customs which still retain universal significance amongst us. Such knowledge and such usages help to mellow the human feelings, and to give the rich and poor a common interest in the periodical rejoicings. Time was when these things brought all ranks together, and had a diffusive power which of late years has been undergoing a constant pro- cess of contraction. Except in a few places that still boast of their old English customs, we have no longer the sports and games of brawny Christmas, the family gatherings, the roaring mirths, the barons of beef, the plum-puddings by the hundred weight, the alms to the poor, the open mansions ringing with song and dance, the tricks, the feats, the contests, and the rounds of visits. Is it for the good of the people that these enjoyments have dropped off ? Is it for the good of the poor that there are" no more cakes and ale?" Is it for the good of the rich that they no longer cultivate such favourable opportunities of winning and keeping the affections of their humble neighbourhoods ? We wish the waits would invent a grand note on their combined bugles, flutes, and flageolets that would enable them to answer these questions in one intelligible NO! that should be heard distinctly from John o'Groat's to Land's End We are aware that there is a very numerous and very respon- sible class in the community who, not being tronbled with any of those poetical fancies that occasionally perplex their poorer friends, entertain a very staid indifference for the mummeries of which we have been speaking, and we are also aware that the class to which we refer forms a very important section amongst the permanent supporters of the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian. Now, as it cannot be supposed that we have any extravagant desire to hurt our own interests for the sake of any abstract pleasure we may take in these imaginative topics, it is only reasonable that we should be allowed to enter into a compromise on this subject with the reputable section whose good-will on all other points we are so fortunate as to possess. Believing, then, that moneyed people who are buried all their lives in bank notes—who look as if they were the happy balance on the credit side of a loaded cash account—who have been educated amongst millions, not of their equals, but of their sovereigns whose eyes are precious stones—and whose hearts are bullion believing that they cannot take any pleasure in waits and pas- times, that, on the contrary, they regard all such matters as dreadful annoyances, interruptions,and obstructions, and know- ing that we have gone too far on this and on former occasions, in our enthusiasm on behalf of old customs, to permit us to disown our failing now, we are ready to enter into a compro- mise with all our rich readers, our bankers, brokrts, and millionaires, whether they rejoice in joint-stock or public stock, Exchequer Bills, funded property, freehold estates, or whatever the form of their wealth may be. We will undertake, then, to abandon Christmas to its fate, and the waits to the worshipful the Mayor, who will probably get them sent to the tread-mill, on one condition—namely, that our moneyed friends will take advantage of this approaching season to promote amongst themselves, and in their immediate localities, liberal subscriptions to alleviate the wants of the poor. The proposal is a fair one, and we are sure it will not be made iu vain, EXPOSITION OF THE STAR IN THE EAST. The God of nature and of grace In all his works appears; His goodness through the earth we trace, His grandeur in the spheres. Lift to the firmament your eyes, Thither his path pursue His glory, boundless as the skies, O'erwhelms the wond'ring view. The solid learning, and free conjecture of many of our eminent Christian divines have combined with the un- friendly daring of Infidelity to cast a heap of diffioulties on the particulars involved in this passage of Holy Writ. Our space will not allow us to review and examine what has been written by friends and enemies, (last of all, by Strauss, Leben Jem, i. 249, 4th edit.) on the subject. We must content our- selves with a brief statement of what appears to us che right view of the case; referring in justification to the authorities whence we have drawn our materials. These wise men were Chaldaean magi. During many centuries the magi had been given to the study of astronomy, and for some considerable time before the birth of our Lord they had corrupted and disfi- gured their scientific knowledge by astrological speculations and dreams. A conviction had long been spread throughout the East, that about the commencement of our era a great and vic- torious prince, or the Messiah, was to be born. His birth was, in consequence of words of Sacred Scripture, (Num, xxiv. 17,) connected with the appeamace of a star. Calculations ileem to have led the astrological astronomers of Mesopotamia to fix the time for the advent of this kin» in the latter days of Herod, and the place in the land of Judea. Accordingly, at the appointed time, two planets, Jupiter and Saturn, were in conjunction under such circumstances as to appear one resplendent heavenly body, and to marshal the way for the magi from their own homes to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the inn. But as this view is, we believe, novel in this country, we will enter somewhat more into particulars. It owes its origin to 110 less a distin- guished person than the astronomer Kepler. It has been inves- tigated and approved by some of the soundest minds of Germany. Under the influence of a conjunction of Jupiter^ Saturn, and Mars, which took place in the year 1604, Kepler was led to think that he had discovttred means for determining the true year of our Saviour's birth. He made his calculations, and found that Jupiter and Saturn were in conjunction in the con- stellation of the Fishes (a fish is the astrological symbol of Judsea) in the latter half of the year of Rome 747, and were joined by Mars in 748. Here then he fixed the first figure in the date of our mra and here he found the appearance in the heaven* which induced the magi to undertake their journey, and conducted them successfully on their way. Others have taken up this view, freed it from astrological impurities, and shown its trustworthyness and applicability in the case under consideration. It appears that Jupiter and Saturn came toge- ther for the first time on May '20th, in the twentieth degree of the constellation of the Fishes. They then stood before sunrise in the Eastern part of the heavens, and so were seen by the magi. Jupiter then passed by Saturn towards the North. About the middle of September they were near midnight both in opposition to the sun, Saturn in the thirteenth, Jupiter in the fifteenth degree, being distant from each other about a degree and a half. They then drew nearer: on October 27th there was a second conjunction in the sixteenth degree, and on Nov. 12th there took place a third conjunction in the fifteenth degree of the same constellation. In the two last conjunctions the interval between the planets amounted to no more than a de- gree so that to the unassisted eye the rays of the one planet were absorbed in those of the ftther, and the two bodies would appear as one. The two planets went past each other three times, came very near together, and showed themselves all night for months in conjunction with each other, as if they would never separate again. Their first union in the East awoke the attention of the magi, told them the expected time had come, and bade them set off without delay towards Judasa (the ash land). When they reached Jerusalem the two planets were once more blended together. Theu, in the evening, they stood in the Southern part of the sky. pointing with their united rays to Bethlehem, where the prophecy declared the Messiah was to be born. The magi followed the finger of heavenly light, and were brought to the child Jesus, The conclusion, in regard to the time of the advent, is, that our Lord was born in the latter part of the year of Rome 747, or six year3 before the common sera. We have not presented this view from any lean- ing in favour of a rationalistic interpretation; believing that God could, had he so pleased, have created a heavenly body for the purpose. But it must also be said that the Divine Ruler of

OilEGON—BRITISH- RIGHTS AND AMERICAN TRICKS. In Mr, Webstei's speech on tli*t ;i|]-en<xrossini lopie, "'1'1", Oie^on Question," our readers will probably recollect thut he ad vorated Ihe line of 49 degrees olOatitude 8S the bonndjrv between the British and American possessions 011 the gro mds tirst of its heing an extension of the present boundary reaching to 111,. Horky Mountains, and secondly for this reasoa ;— It is well known, savs lie, that about where the Colum- bia river crosses the. 49th parallel, it makes a turn and Hows nearly Southward. Very well snppiHe it made as sudden a sweep to tho Northward. Knglanil would then naturally snv, This river, which has been making Westward, sweeps tü the Vorthward instead of making with it a great bend [as the line of honnrlarvJ to the Vorth, We will leave it and JO on straigLt to the Parlfic Ocean, on this parallel of V) For the same reason, is it not natural for the United States to say—" Since it proves that the river makes a circllit to the South, instead of following that circuit, we will go straight- forward upon the 49th pardllel till we meet the shore d the Pacific A correspondent of rhe Fpectator proceeds thus to cramcnt upon the foregoing, anù upon the question III dispute gene- rally. He writes- What Mr. Webster here assumes that Great Britain, in the given state of faelS, would say, is con!railic-ed by her conduct OIl the Eastern b >uudary question. There is no doubt that our right tu navi.ja e the river St. John was an cxclnsive right, nndisnutcd by the Government of the United States. But, admitting the imparlance of the navigation of the river St, John tJ the settlers on 11 >e American territory inland, we conceded to them the permission to navigate that 1ÍOfcr. We did that with refcrencp to 11 IUnst important river, clearly our own, which the Americans refuse to assent to with reference to the Columbia, and which refusal Mr. Webster sustains by an imaginary case of what would be the supposed conduct of Great Britain-the very case he puts being contradicted by our conduct in an affair in which Mr. Webster himself v.as an arlive agent. If MWebster had argued from past eVt>nts, he would have said—' This river Columbia is a natural high-road, the canal made by Nature for the enjoyment and benefit of the inhabitants of Oregon. Let us not deprive the settlers of it: let us cultivate through this happy circumstance of a common road the peaceful relations of all who live in Oregon, whether British or Americans, and imitate the liberal and peaceful policy of the British Government, which enables our citizens to navigate the river St. John, from which it had the undis- puted right to exclude them. In proposing to extend the line of 49 degrees beyond the Rocky Mountains, the American Government not merely in- tends to exclude us from the navigation of the Columbia river, but also from the Strait of St. Juan de Fuca, on the South of our island of Quadra and Vancouver; the impor- tance of which it knows to be as great as that of the naviga- tion of the Columbia river itself. It forgets in this attcmot that the line of 49 degrees on thisside of the Hocky Mountains was a concession 011 our part, It is usual in America, and the Rational of Friday, the 5th, adopts the error, to suppose that the line of 49 degrees was fixed as the boundary of Canada under the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713. But this was not so. The dispute of that year related to the boundary between Canada and the Hudson's Bay territory. Canada Proper, at that time, reached as far South as the mouth of the Illinois river, and belonged to France. We are not now discussing the limits of the Hudson's Bay territory, hut of Canada. At the time when Prance, by the treaty of 176 5, ceded Canada to Great Britain, that province extended to a great distance" (Greenhow, p. 277) from the West bank of the river Missis- sippi, including all the head streams But by that treaty the source of the Mississippi in lat. 47 degrees 10 minutes, was declared to be the highest point of Louisiana. All above this point which formed Canada, on both sides of this point, was ceded to England. That is, supposing that in 1713 the boun- dary of the Hudson's Bay territory was 49 degrees, in 1763 the Southern boundary of Canada was fixed in the lat. 49 degrees 10 minutes. "By the treaty of 1818. Great Britain ceded the vast tract of country between 47 degrees 10 minutes and 49 degrees to the United States, as far as the Hocky Mountains. But Ill). thing beyond the mountains was ceded and if the parallel of 47 degrees 10 minutes was taken as a boundary Ime, to be extended West of the mountains to the Pacitic, this would secure to us the Strait of St. Juan de Fuca. This is a very important fact; but I do not rest our title to the land on the West of the Rocky Mountains on this argu- ment. The Americans laid claim to Astoria in 1814, or five years before they made the treaty with Spain, called the Florida treaty of 1819, under which they pretend to allege a title to the whole Western coast. That is. in J814, they alleged the same right to make settlements on the West coast which in 1790 had been sanctioned by Spain when the treaty of the Rscurial was made with Great Britain. With the Flo- rida treaty we have nothing to do. We were not parties to it and even if it distinctly contradicted, which it does not, the terms of the treaty of the Hseurial, it would not affect us. We have to settle a dispute with the United States resting on facts as they existed in 1814, when the. discussion first arose. Theneglcctof t his consideration has misled American writers, a, well as an Edinburgh Reviewer. "Therp is no doubt that the qnestion is one capable of pacific settlement, if ,\11'. l'olk dot's 11"1 succeed in getting sup porled in the mistake whidi he committed Whell he accepted office an n > argitinnt tt.at has been wri,ten 011 the sIIh} Cl is more of his consider\ti^n and attention than the very able one w iicb lately appeared in tlu- Journal des Debuts," -a summary of which appear III nur COi¡¡lIIn.s.

THE WEAVING DISTRICTS. The state and prospects of our textile manufactures arc not what could be wished at the commencement of winter. In Yorkshire—the woollen couutry-trade was dull and markets unsatisfactory throughollt the months of August and Septem- ber. In October, spinners and manufacturers began generally to curtail their rate of production. Matters grew worse in the course of November nothing could be sold except at a sacrifice; and the gains of the manufacturers during the pre- ceding year bave not prepared them to submit to loues Employers are afraid to go on according to some estimates we have seen, there will be nearly one hundred thonsand workpeople thrown idle before the end of Deceinbei. In Lan. casbire- the cotton country-business is not quite so bad: the low price of cotton having enabled manufacturers to sell cheap, cotton goods have kept the market by superseding woollen fabrics to some extent. But the general depression has reached the cotton manufactures also. There has been a fall varying from 15 to 20 per cent. in the prices of yarns in the course of the last two months and the manufac urer. are still more pressed than the spinners. Cotton is so cheap, that notwithstanding the fall in price there is still a sufficient margin to yield some small profit on yarns; but nothing is to be made upon goods. Stocks, although luckily still low, are increasing. Some manufacturers are already working short time; and meetings have been held in the neighbourhood of Manchester to deliberate on the expediency of generally fol- lowing their example. It is understood that the fear of in- creasing the poor-rates has mainly contributed to prevent the adoption ot such a measure. The fact that yarns maintain better prices than goods, ap- pears to indicate that the failure is in the home rather than in the foreign market. As early as the month of September, inconvenience was felt by those manufacturers who purchase their yarn, from its relatively higher price compared with the prices of goods. The foreign demand for yarns actually ena- bled the spinners to stand out for higher prices than the home manufacturers could afford to give. There is another im- portant feature to be noted in the existing pressure in the manufacturing districts the fall in prices has extended to raw materials. The price of cotton is at this moment as low as it has ever been known to be. A less amount of cotton was sold in November and October than in any of the previous months of 1845. The price of wool, too, has declined and sales can be with difficulty effected at the reduced rates. The general produce market h >s participated in the reduction. Within the last fortnight, holders in the London maiket hav j been generally compelled to consent to reduced prices; and even at these, buyers are not easily found. The symp'toms are uniform throughout the country there is a general wil- lingness to realize, accompanied by a general want of money and relnc ance to make advances. As in all periods of de- pression, doubtless there are various causes at work. The failure in the potatoes tells for so much. The uncertainty about the American tariff, the change in the Russian tariff (only now beginning to be fully felt), and the increased duties imposed by the Zollverein on some classes of woollen goods-all have their influence. But these affect some hranches of trade exclusively, and some more than others- whereas the stagnation is felt ia all, and in all appears to proceed in the first instance from a slackness in the home market—a decrease in consumption. The wild and wanton manner in which money has been squandered and liabilities have been couiracted by railway speculation, has rendered consumers less able to buy, and is operating unfavourably on every branch of industry. The most alarming feature of this check to industry is the number of labourers who are likely to be thrown out of em. ployment. In Yorkshire, it seems all but certain that many thousands will be reduced to a state of compulsory idleness before the end of the month and in Lancashire masters are balancing between the comparative expense of working foil hours or paying higher poor-rates,—a hesitating mood which the prospect ofaccumutating stocks is likely soon to terminate. The general reluctance to purchase can scarcely fail to produce similar effects throughout all the manufacturing districts. It is painful to think how many honest and industrious families will be left without the means of earning, just when the failure of the potato ctop renders it most desirable that they should have full employment.—Spectator.

4Wl0CeU^OUj5. The Morning Post has great satisfaction in being enabled to announce that an event calculated to strengthen the affectionate attachment of the people to the Throne, and at the same time increase the happiness of her Ma- jesty's domestic circle, may be expected to take place early in April-next." By the newspapers from all parts of Great Britain, we perceive that the announcement of the resignation of Sir Robert Peel and his colleagues has produced an almost unprecedented feeling of surprise and regret; and in very numerous instances we find that the intelligence that Lord John Russell had been sent for had tended very greatly to sharpen those feelings. An extensive fire occurred in Bishopsgate-street Without, London, on Friday, by which a lofty erection of four floors was burned from the base to the roof. How the fire originated is not accurately known. It was decided the other day by the magistrates at Colchester, that an apprentice could not be legally bound to a woman in the lifetime of her husband. PORTSMOUTH.—Much activity prevail* in the several departments of this dockyard. Two immense war steam ships, named the Arrogant, of 1,800 tons, similar to the Terrible at Woolwich, and the Dauntless, of 1,500 tons, are being built with the utmost dispatch. Several ships are preparing for commission, and block ships for the defence of the harbour indeed, the government appear seriously determined to have an overwhelming force to act immediately, should the speech of the American President on the Oregon question be unfavourable to the claims of England.-—Brighton Gazette. We have been informed, on good authority, that the Speaker of the House of Commons has, after consulting with the Attorney-General, resolved to grant orders for the payment of the sum required from railway companies by the standing orders of the house by three, four, or five instalments, as the parties applying may wish. This the Speaker will do by specifying in the order the num- ber of instalments. rimes City Article. In a letter to the electors of Taunton, Mr. Labouchere has declared his adhesion to total repeal of the corn-laws: hopeless of a compromise in the shape of a fixed duty, he should now vote for absolute repeal. "I will add, that the circumstances of the season are very favourable to such a change which would confer great and speedy benefit upon the country generally, while it could hardly excite the fear of present mischief among the agricul- turists." Fudge! Mr. Cayley, the member for North Yorkshire, has published his promised second letter to Lord John Russell on the Corn-laws. It recites at great length many of the unanswerable arguments in favour of those laws tracing their history from the earliest times. All this is done in a cool and reasonable manner, with much candour. Mr. Cayley sets out with an air of agreeable pleasantry, hailing Lord John as the most useful of the farmer's friends, for the indiscretion of his present intervention; but towards the close, he mingles with the earnestness of the antagonist in controversy a graver and graceful ex- pression of personal friendship. In the midst of this controversial matter, he touches on the present political bearing of the question—" You may tell me that the manufacturers are practical men, and that they should know their own interests, if I concede this point, it is one which to me, as an agriculturist, has been frequently denied when I advocated the Corn-law. My answer to you is, that if the manufacturers are practical men, and if it be an undisputed axiom in that influential class that the Corn-laws are so disastrous to their interests, why don't they all unite in condemning those laws t We learn, on the contrary, from members of the manufactur- ing body, that in various towns from which petitions pro- ceed against the Corn-laws, half, if not more. of the manufacturing interest of such towns (especially if the capital embarked be taken into consideration) have re- fused to sign such petitions. You may reply to this, that it is their Conservative opinions that prevent them signing. I might answer, that Whig opinions may lead others to the opposite course of signing them. The benefit to accrue from a repeal of the Corn-laws is, therefore, among the manufacturing body itself, a disputed point: and that it is so we must be convinced, at least un- til Lancanhire sends to Parliament four opponents of the Corn-laws, instead of four supporters of it; until the West Riding sends two opponents, instead of two sup- porters; and until the borough of Leeds (with as upright and powerful a provincial journal as any in the king- dom, to support their cause) sends two opponents of the Corn-law, instead of one opponent and one supporter of it. What the result may be at another election—when the Auti-Corn-law party, unwilling to trust their cause to the verdict of the old constituencies, numerous though they be, have established a number of new voters, virtually pledged to their views—it would be difficult to say. Those who would swamp the Peerage may object as little to swamp the constituencies to gain a point. Be that as it may, two thousand of these votes of the Anti-Corn- law party are said to have been already purchased in the West Riding of Yorkshire. And I, for my part, cannot see what there is in the law to prevent them. I am not objecting to the purchase of small freeholds to give votes, but rather intending to show the distrust the Anti-Corn- law party evince of constituencies not of their own crea- tion. Then, if we turn to the members for London, we find three supporters of the Corn-laws, and. one dis- tinguished opponent of them—yourself; but only by a very narrow majority returned. Turn, then, to Liver- pool two supporters of the Corn-laws not only represent it, but I have heard from both of them very able speeches in their defence. The manufacturing body being divided upon the question, and the two greatest emporiums of commerce (arguing from their representation) being in its favour, and from the nature of their transactions more likely to be competent judges upon the subject thaji manufacturing towns, it cannot be said that among prac- tical men, i.e. men practically affected in their business by the operation of the Corn-laws, that there is an un- disputed opinion in favour of repeal." Mr. Cayley glances at the future, supposing Lord John returned to power. "You would, if not prevented by a strong mer- cantile and agricultural opposition, proceed to repeal the Corn-laws. I am not sure you would have the power. But, granting you had, you must, as certainly as the present minister cannot repeal the Corn-laws, forthwith repeal the Income-tax also. In addition to this, what import duties could you then maintain How many could the mercantile and agricultural opposition arrayed against you allow you to maintain 1 Literally none! Where would be your revenue 1 Where would be your means to uphold the public credit ? Whence cduld arise your power to continue the payment of the National Debtl These are reflections which will, of course, have occurred to you. Your fertility in resource may enable you to overcome difficulties of this kind. My infirm nerves, I confess, wow4 from the encounter." A RAILWAY.—We hlwe seen a Sfctioa of 0\1" of Drnnd's projects, with an incline in one continued rise of 88 fept a mile, or one in G0!1 This is the same man who put the Great Western to such an enOnlllll1:i expense to obtain good gradients. We may, perhaps, have a litile more to say of this his wonderful scheme. In this scheme there are embankments of upwards of 8U feet high, cuttings we know not of what depth, aud one viaduct or embankment, we cannot tell which, exceeding 220 feet high Sowitd a project, we will venture to say, never was proposed bc'- Iore.—Herepaih's Journal. ENGINEERS. — It is said Sir John Rennie had a retain- ing fee on one of the railways of 400 guinea" Should not engineers at once put on the wig and gown ? WELSH MIDLAND.—We have heard it said that the datum line of some part of the section of this project is wanting; but we have also heard it contradicted. If the report be true, it will be fatal to the bill. STATE OF THADI:.—MANCHESTER.—There was a con- siderable improvement in the state of the market yesterday, and purchases, both of yarn and goods, were made more freely than last week. lupricestherewas no absolute change to be noticed, except that they were steadier and belter defiued than fur "pme weeks past. Wre are sorry to state lhat a rather extensiyc failure of a calico-printing house was announced. The engagements are stated to be about £60,OOO,-Jlanclte8ler Guardian. AGRICULTURAL REACTION. — We are exceedingly glad to learn that the leading Conservative gentry in Nortli Lancashire have been holding meetings in different parls of the division for the purpose of devising the best means for counteracting the proceediugs of the League, and at the same time to increase the strength of the Conservative cause on the registry. STRANGE, IF TRUE.—Two small paintings (on copper!) were recently purchased, for a few shillings, of Mr. Fen- ton, broker, Bury, and were sent to London to be cleaned, when, on removing the thick incrustation of dirt, they were discovered to he originals of Charles T. and his Queen Henrietta, by Vandyke. They are in the possession of Sir Thomas Cullam, Bart., and are supposed to be worth 500 guineas.—Suffolk Chronicle. We regret to learn that the inconvenience consequent on Lord Radnor's new plan of letting his farms by tender and refusing to give his old tenants the option of continu- ing their occupations, on fair and equitable terms, in the Lavington district, is not confined to the larger tenants, hut that many of the poor in the tithing of Littleton, who had rented allotments, under his lordship's direction, from the time of the agricultural riots in 1830, are now, to their sorrow, deprived of them. — Devon Gazette. GOING TO HEAR A PRIME MINISTER.—There was one of the largest congregations ever known at a village Church, not twenty miles from Ipswich, a short time since, during a visit of Sir R >bert Peel at the seat of a gentle- man in the parish. The rural population went to Church in the full expectation of hearing Sir Robert Peel preach, as they bad heard he was the Prime Minister." POPISH PRAYERS FOR THE RETURN OF THE ENGLISH NATION TO THE ROMISH FAITH.—The following notifica- tion is satd to be stuck up in all the principal Churches in the cityof Paris:—"At the request of the Bishops of England, expressed to the Archbishop of Paris by the Bishop ot Mittellopis, prayers will be offered up to God during eight days, reckoning from the present day, on the occasion of the holy immaculate conception of the blessed Virgin Mary, for the entire return of the English nation to the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman faith."—On Monday last, the Bishop of Lucon, who, with a large number of French prelates, is now at Paris, opened by a sermon at the Church at N olre- Dame-des- Victoires the octave of the prayers above notified.—John Bull. The monument erected to the memory of Louis XVIII. in the vaults of the Cathedral of St. Denis, is about being completed, and, when finished, that of Charles X., his successor, will be proceeded with. When this is done, all the French Kings and Princes up to 1830 will be there represented either by a tomb, a monument, or a statue.— Galignani. At a meeting of the commissioners at Durham, on the 4th inst., Win. Hutchinsou, of Essington, the tenant of a mill and land belonging to Mr. Thomas Bulmer, of that p!ace, was fined £10, with treble duty, for making a false return of the amount of his rent. It is now ascertained that by a double process of boiling, diseased potatoes may he rendered perfectly piffatahle and wholesome. Nay, it is said that diseased potatoes have proved more nutritious than sound ones.—Irish paper. Eleven hundred mules, intended for the army of Africa, were to be embarked at Port Vendres between the 10th and 26th inst. EXPENSIVE DINNER PARTY.—Forty gentlemen con- nected with one of the railways of South Wales, dined at an hotel in one of the towns of the principality, last week, and paid tor the repast £120. The town of Brakel, in Rhenish Prussia, with its mag- nificent Capuchin Convent, was almost entirely destroyed hy fire on the 21st nit. The Church and a few stone buildings were alone left standing.—Galignani. SEMPER IDEM.—The Times Commissioner has proved O'Connell to he a middle-man." We always thought him between a knave and a mountebank.—Punch. The Poor Law Commissioners estimate the total amoun t of local taxes, annually levied in England and Wales, to be uot less 'ban £ 10,000,000. DIRECTIONS FOR AFFIXING POSTAGE LABELS.—The most effectual plan is to dip the label wholly into water, to shake off the water immediately, and to press the label upon the letter with a piece of clean blotting-paper. When the gum is dull in appearance it will require rather more time and moisture to make it stick firmly than when it is glossy. The purpose of wetting the label wholly is to counteract the tendency it has to curl up from the letter when one side only is wetted, a tendency caused by the expansion of that side as it imbibes the moisture. Early in the month of March, Mr. Peter Johnston, shoemaker, Letham, planted out a plot of ground in his garden with the ash-leaf early potatoes, which he found fit for use by the end of June, when the ground was cleared of them. On the 1st J Illy, the ground being again wet! prepared, he planted a crop of the common second earlies, which grew rapidly and promised a fair return, They were lifted on the 1st November, and turned out about an average crop. He laid aside a portion of both kinds for seed next year, which appeared to be perfectly free of any kind of disease.—Pifeshire Journal. The Brazilian sailors, whose conviction at Exeter was pronounced illegal by the Judges, have been liberated from prison. There is a certain sea Captain who sails from Boston, who loves his wife, and makes a great pet of her, when he is at home. She always writes him very lengthy epistles, while he is away; but the carelul and affectionate man never thinks of opening them. just tays them by, tied up and labelled according to their dates, in order, on his return, that his wife should read them to htmatt of a lump.—New York Hirald- SUBSTITUTE FOR POTATOES.—Perhaps the best substi- tute for potatoes is the Swedish turnip the best method of preparing which, though well understood by agricul- turists and cowkeepers, is not generally known to house- keepers in towns, who are apt to complain ot the intolerable length of time the root takes in boiling. This is really the case only when the Swede is cut into lumps or slices; the proper way being to boil the root entire, afterwards divesting it of its outer integument. In this way the smaller-sized roots are reduced to a fine pulp, and the flavour is so much improved as to be preferred by many to the white globe. Those who wish to keep a stock of Swedes for family use should choose the middle-sized, cut off the collar straight with the bulb, lay this end down- wards in a cool but dry situation. Do not place them in heaps. Townsend, the pedestrian, so well known in the sporting circles, expired lately in the Cliffe workhouse, Lewes, and was buried in Southover churchyard. He was 54 years of age. TROTTING AND GALLOPING TEN MILES IN HALF AN HOUR.—On Thursday week a match was performed on Wimbledon-common, which created much interest among the local sporting gentry. The match was made for JESO by Mr. Nelson, who undertook to ride a horse ten miles within half an hour, six miles to be galloped and four miles trotted. The start was made at a trotting pace, and one uiile was performed in 3 tniu. & 10 sec.; the two con- secutive miles were covered in 6 min. and 50 sec., and the fourth mile in 3 min. and 16 sec. The horse was pulled up and his mouth refreshed, and was then quickly on the road, commencing the six miles gallop, and turned the first mile under 3 min., and kept at a rattling pace, and three miles were gone over in 8 min. 19 sec.; the fourth and fifth miles were performed in 6 min., less 4 sec., and the last mile was entered upon at a flying pace, and covered in 2 min. and 15 sec., finally winning the match by 14 sec.; the four miles were trotted in 13 min. and 16 sec., and the six miles galloped in 16 min. and 30 sec. The horse is a small one, and seemed but little distressed at the conclusion of the match. SENDING AN INFANT IN A BASKET TO THE ORPHAN ASYLUM.—A few evenings since two well-dressed women met a lad of tHe name of James Burrows, in Back Berry- street, and handing him a basket with a handle in it, told him to take it to the Female Orphan Asylum, Myrtle- street. They said that, as it contained glass, he was to be particularly careful not to break it or knock up against any person in the streets through which he passed and for the trouble he was to have in conveying it to its destination they gave him a piece of money, which he put in his pocket, and which they said was 6d.; but which proved to be a half-sovereign. The lad proceeded on his errand, and on being admitted to the institution, the basket was opened, and, underneath a pile of children's caps, petticoats, handkerchiefs, and socks, there was found a very fine healthy-looking female infant, fast asleep. By its side was lying a bottle filled with milk, and a paper written in a good female hand, of which the following is a copy —" Christian friends, pray take care of this dear little orphan. I will send you a sum in a few days." It has since been sent to the commissioner's office, together with the milk' bottle, caps, petticoats, &c., in order to enable the police officers the better to trace the women. Liverpool Albion. Loss OF TEETH.—In consequence of the complete or even partial ruin of the teeth, the face shrinks. The countenance assumes a different expression, and wrinkles will prematurely furrow the face. The only remedy for this is to supply the lossvwith Artificial Teeth, thereby restoring their articulation, perfect mastication, and pre- venting the hollow and shrunken cheeks, the thin and, contracted lip, so characteristic of old age. The new Incorrodible Teeth introduced by Messrs. Thomas and Howard, Surgeon-Dentists, 64, Berners-street, Oxford- street, London, most fully answer this purpose and are fixed without extracting auy roots or teeth, or giving any pain whatever. They will also be found much more ecpnomiual thaw any others. AWFUL SUICIDE OF AN ALDERMAN AND ins NEPHEW. —Alderman Hearn and his nephew, residents of Clonmel, Ireland, committed suicide last week by entering a brewer's vat where the poisonous gas soon terminated their existence. Unsuccessful and extensive speculations in railway shares is said to have led to the unfortunate occurrence. Thedpeeased parties were involved in liahi- lities to the extent of from .£ li>,OOO to £ '20,000. CoitN TRADE AT LEITII.—The prevailing westerly gales have been adverse to the arrival of such vesseh with grain as are expected and the quantity in the granaries is already so great, that some difficulty, we believe, will be experienced in obtaining floors for its reception.—Edin- burgh Post, The Courrier Framya's states that Mr. Pritchard refuses to accept the indemnity awarded by the English and French Admirals. The conclusion of this communica- tion is too absurd to be omitted, —" the peace of the world will be again jeopardised by such refusal." The Duke of Buckingham (says the Oxford Chronicle) has been exerting himself to prevent surveyors for pro- jected railways from surveying across his property in this locality. The Duke has 100 men out to prevent survey- ing from being made; they are under the superintendence of Bateman. The J. II. Long has also men simi- larly employed at Mara Moieton. A circular has just issued from the War Office to Cols. of Militia, directing the completion of the permanent staff of their respective regiments, to the number speci- ScdintheActofPartiament. Suggestions are also given for the appointment of sergeants qualified from their former services ill the regular Army to drill recruits. A list of pensioners thus qualified is to be forwarded from the War Om. c. Prince Albert has consented to pay the poor-rate arrears on his Flemish farm, and offers to contribute an annual sum efjtial to the amount claimed, but without an admission that he is liable in law to pay the impost. The parish-officers demur to this proposal. The Dublin registry closed on Wednesday week, after having been open for nearly three weeks. The Repealers claim a majority of some hundreds on the whole consti- tuency. The Thames was swelled on the night of Thursday week and Friday morning by the highest tide that has been known for the last twenty-five years; and the de- struction of much water-side property has been the con- sequence. fhe Commercial-Road, Lambeth, aud the Belvidere-Road were under water to the depth of several feet; and other places were similarly flooded. The goods premises of the South Western RailwayCompany were all underwater; Battersea marshes re-assumed their ancient aspect as one wide lake; many embankment-walls were thrown down cellars and the lower parts of houses were flooded, and several persons narrowly escaped from drowning. The Medway was swollen on the same night, with the like destructive effects. At Chatham several wharfs were covered with water; and the country to- wards fiheerness assumed the appearance of a vast lake. HINTS ON DRESS.—We take the following valuable hints on dress from our excellent friend Old Ebnny :—■ Avoid a foolish custom now springing up of fastening the coat with a couple of supplementary buttons, attached by a metallic link. This is the trick of some scoundrel tailor, who sent home a coat too small for the wearer, and thus persuaded him (he must have been an ass) to tie two buttons together, and so make both ends meet. It will do very well for a commercial gent., but not for a gentleman. We need hardly say, be not fine on a Sun- day dress plainer than usual, if you would maintain your dignity; and be not ashamed of an old coat—only let it be clean portez-le bien, soyez &MM chaussv, bien gtrntd, bien coiffe, et vouz n'aurez jamais I'air d'un bour- geois. Above all things, whether you be man, woman, or child, remember that the more you approximate to uniformity of colour for the whole of your dress the bet- ter. Whether you prefer white to black, blue to green, or brown to red, no matter. Stick to the law of aesthetic unity—retain natural and undisguised contour, breadth and mellowness of colour, ease and dignity of movement, and you will approximate to perfection. STRUCTURE OF THE TEETH.—The Teeth, it is well known to Physiologists, are composed of bony structure, which is covered with a coating of enamel—a substance of a fibrous nature, and ad hard as to strike fire with a steel. Notwithstanding its apparent hardness, the enamel is, however, extremely susceptible of injury, and it thus becomes highly important to ascertain what preparations are best adapted to preserve so important a substance in its pristine integrity and beauty. We do not hesitate therefore to recommend Rowland's Odonto, or Pearl Dentifrice," as the most valuable means of purifying, embellishing, and preserving the Teeth and Gums, yet offered to the public.—See Advertisement. MURDER.—We stated some time ago that a youth of about 15 years of age had been taken into custody for the murder of his mother, and that there was every reason to believe that he had been instigated to commit this hor- rible deed by his father, who had consequently also been arrested. The father and sou were brought to trial on the 6th, before the Court of Assize, at Grenoble. The circumstances of this case, as given in the indictment, and by the witnesses, are as follow:—At the marriage of the male prisoner, whoioe name is Bonnard, he and his wife possessed property to the amount of about 20,000f. in land, and by the marriage contract it was divided equally. Bonnard, who was a basket-maker, established himself at Ternay, in the Jure, and in addition to his trade, cultivated the land belonging to himself and his wife, but his habits being dissipated he ran into debt, and his portion of the property was sold for the benefit of his creditors. His evil habits continuing, the wife ap- plied for a separation de biens, in order that the produce of her own industry might not also be wasted, and having obtained it, her husband, with his two sons, one of whom is now between 15 and 16 years of age, find who appeared with him at the bar, removed to Marseilles. Here, as well as at Ternay, Bonnard was so dissipated that he again got into debt, and wrote to his wife, entreating her to sell her property and give him the produce. This, in the interest of her children, she refused, and Bonnard resolved to get rid of her, partly from anger, and partly that he might, as the guardian of his children, get into possession of her little estate. On the lith of July last, as the wife of Bonnard was returning from one of her fields, she found herself suddenly in the presence of one of her sons, the younger prisoner, and received in her breast a ball fired by him from a double-barrelled pistol. The report of the pistol brought assistance, but the mur- derer escaped. Being detained, however, in another commune by the mayor, for not being provided with a passport, he was recognised whilst in custody by an in- habitant of Ternay, and charged by him with having attempted to kill his mother, who was not at that time dead. The poor woman, when she heard of her son's having been arrested, and that the crime of finng at her was imputed to him, denied that he was the assassin; but, when informed that he had made a confession, she admitted the truth, but to her last moment endeavoured to excuse him, and died with his pardon upon her lips. The son said that his father had desired him to commit the murder, declaring that if he did not do it he would himself kill the mother, and then return and murder both his sons. The pistol had, he said, been given to him by his father, who loaded it, and then gave him a sum of 75 francs for his expenses from Marseilles to Ternay, and back. When confronted with his father, however, he retracted his first confession, and said that the father was ignorant of his intentions that he had resolved to destroy his mother, because she had refused to give aid to her husband, and also because, when living with her, she had beaten him, and treated him unkindly, which, according to the evidence of several of the witnesses, was untrue. He persisted in this statement throughout the trial, and related the circumstances of the murder without shedding a tear. The elder Bonnard persisted in the assertion of his innocence, but was forced to admit that the pistol be- longed to him, and that he had loaded it. His account of the absence of his son, and of the facts that preceded it, was entirely different from that given by the younger prisoner, as they had possessed no opportunity of framing a story together. It was sworn also by one of the wit- nesses that the elder Bonnard had, shortly before the murder, been in the vicinity of his wife's residence, and had even applied for admission, which waa refused. This was during the night, and he was heard speaking to his son by the witness, who was sitting up watching over a corpse. There was, besides, a long string of circum- stantial evidence, which left no doubt upon the minds of the jury, who returned a verdict of Guilty against the son as having acted with discernment, and against the father as his instigator and accomplice, but with extenu- ating circumstances in favour of both. The sentence of the Court was 20 years' detention in a house of correc- tion for the son, and imprisonment for life, with hard labour, for the father. The sentence, as regarded the son, appeared to cause some dissatisfaction to the public, as the conduct of young Bonnard throughout the trial had been so devoid of feeling as to create a general impres- sion against him.-Galign.ani.

BANKRUPTS.—{From the London Gazettes.) FRIDAY.—Frederick Taylor, Orange-street, Red Hen- square, tallow chandler. Thomas Moger, Holbovn-tiill, poulterer. Henry Harris. Lemon-street, teacher at the Jews' Orphan Asylum. George Watt, Old Jewry, City, cotton fac- tor. Frederick Whitworth, Shawforlh, Lancashire, cotton manufacturer. Ralph Buckley, Saddleworth, Yorkshire, woollen cloth manufacturer. William Fay, Bath, innkeeper. Joseph Rolhchild, Bristol, watchmaker. Henry Uowbotham and Robert Johnson Kenwortliy, Brinksway, Chester, calico-prioters. Jain us Butter wnrth, Manchester, plumber. Frederick New Elvet, Durham, dealer in musical instruments. William fcllery, Kidderminster, iron founder. TUESDAY-—W. Kearton, cheesemonger, Lamb-street, Spital- fields. M. Jones, grocer, Theobald's-road. T. Pool, builder, Prinees-road, Notting-hill, Middlesex. W. Gill, poulterer, Leadenhall-market. W.Humphryes, hotel-keeper, Haymarket. F. Cordaroy, hatter, Liverpool. J. Reynolds, farmer, Faza- kerley, Liverpool. J. Hulme, paper dealer, Manchester. T. I. Helfawell, J, Norlcliffe, and J, li. Hellawell, dyers. Halifax.

^luppiitg Intdtigeittc, nun: DOCKS. — Arrived, the Dolphin, Fry, Bristol, tight.. Kndeavour, Hawkins, Gloster, iron ore..Dinas, Mills, Bristol, Khondda, Bowen, Bristol, light..Sisters. Hart, Chepstow, pitwood. Friends, Beer, Bristol..Grenville Boy, Hobson, Newport, light. Ann, Hallman, Gloster, iron ore ltuby, Potter, Cork, limestones.. Independent, Piniger, Brisol, iron.. Gleaner, Thomas, Newport, cinders.. Uhler, Byers, Gloster.. Fame, Knight, Bristol, light..William and Jane. Hocking, Bideford, sundries..Queen Charlotte, Woodward, Gloster"iron ore.Gem, Howe, Bridgwater, light.. Charlotte, Kvans, r.ymington, pitwood.Klizabeth, Lee, Combe, sun- dries.Catharine, Lelane, Fowey, iron ore.Affn, Cole, Bris- tol, potatoes..Taff, Mitchell, Bristol..Swift, Tawton, Bris,ol light Karl of Mtilgrave, Booth, l'lymoulb Concordia: Reed, .» Alfred, Galgey, rurtMooittb •» Pi»»dencej Oavies, London.John, Connor, Dungarvan, ballas' Friends, James, Bridgwxter, liiht.. Corn wallis, D i vis, Water- ford, hsllast.Prince of Wales (s ) Joues, Bristol.Lady Clnrlotte (s.) Jetr"rys, Bri,lol, general car?o, X.-ii'ci, the Neptune, Z.ipeke, Bar»h.Dtma, Kail in?, Bir- eeloua.. Jemes, Riely, Wati-rford.Thomas Hanford. Herbert, ('orl;Alchyrnis', Hill, Falmmith EUtlana, Rowland, W iitr-rford Siicccss, Sims, Gloster. Harm > u y. Carrol, Wnterfurd, Ci>al. Volo, Church word, Liverpool, irin. Wihiain, Crockfonl, Bridgwater, coal. Spring Flower, R'\noIds, R.'lfast, iron Alills, Bristol Ithondda, Bowen, Bristol. Laurence- Foristnl, Toole. Waterford. Dolphin, Fry, Bristol, coal.. Thomas and Marie, Watkins, Bristol, iron.. Catharine, Mablv, St. Ives, coal.Quei n C'ha o' loitr, Woodward, Gloster, iron. Ann, Mailman, Gloster.. 'rierids. Beer, Bristol.. Adrona, Jannonear, Gibraf'er..Talf, Mitchvl', B ist >1. S < ift, Tawton, Bristol.. Joshua Carroll, George, Gaiwav. Oolpliin, Fry, Bristol.. Diligence, Reynold, Bris'ol ..Thomas and Ann, Smart, Bristol.. Celerity, Jones, Dunlin .Besst, ;M mile, Brirtol.. H appy Couple, CI irk, Truro, coiil.. Llizahi tl>, Good, Ipswich.. Superior, Oassadv, Derry, iron. Arab. h^lan, Dungarvan. Ipha, White, Waterford .George Brown, Long, Kinsale, ooal..Camilla, Hain, St. Ives.. Mary, Bevan, Liverpool, iron.. Frank, Pool. Hayle.. Ocean, Spray Bayle John and Marv. Chaunoii, Bideford Thomas and VTary, Best, Cork, coal..Cruna, Steel. Limerick, iron and coal..Sir Walter Scoit, Brewer, Falmouth, iron.. Minerva, Knight. Gloster Samuel, Murray, Cork Ro-e, Kestal!, !?o«s..On», \Vi!1iam<, St. Ives.Industry, Murphv, Kinsale.. tiichard and Jane, Lobb, Plymouuth. Georgiana, M urray, WatertorJ John Weslew Davies, Belfast.. Kxceileiit He m on, Fo ey ..Beaver, Ward, Kinsale.. Count ess Fort esc ue, Chapman, St. I ves.. Bristol, Bryant. Plymouth, coal.. Amity icke-, Ips .vich, iron.. Quebec, Colinsson, Leghorn, iron and coal Prince of Wales, Jones, Bristol Lady Charlotte, Jifferys, Bristol, general cargo. GI.AMOROANSHIRK CAN M„—Arrived, the Ada, Hatchings, Padstow Mary, fivan- Bristol Affiance, Bi-Jdle, BlIlIow Pill.Neath I raiier, Davies, ^hitehaven..Sisteis, Knapp, Bullow Pi 1.. Polgooth, Thomas, Fowev.Friend's Goodwi 1, Couch, Padstow. Hope, N'icholl, Fowey. Eliza Palmer, Fowev..Seaflower, Thomas, Bullow l'ill, all with iron ore. Commerce, Hart, Bristol.. Providence, Baker, Bristol.Fame, Bristol Jarneit, Robertson, Bristol Zeldeni-iist, Jonker, Sapperrneer Acadian, Longney. Bridgwater. Victory, Richards, Bid.etord.. Friends, Cobley, Bridgwater.. Ann, Marshall, Gloster.. A nn'-china J antina, Pubus, Pekela ..Livety,CnddRy,Bridport,uti with ballast.. Lion, Kd wards, I'orthcawl.Tredegar, Crock ford, Porthcawl. Friends, Stephens, Gloster.. Oiive Branch, Mendus. Abertliaw.. Fran- cis and Ann, iloskin, Porthcawl.Martha. Jones, Porthcawl.. Perseverance, David, Porthcawl..Brothers, Bryant, Bridg- water..Three Brothers, Browning, Gloster. Maria, Evans, Quebec.. Gleaner, Thomas, Newport..Hope. j Davies, New- port.. Friends, Bees, Carmarthen.. Brothers, WIll iams, Chep- stow.. Anna Meria, Morgan. Carmarthen.Despatch, Parker. G)oster..Winiam.H.U. Lydney.. Newnham, Smith, Lydney ..Anna Maria, Lewis. Porthcawl John, Mayo, Gloster.. Providence. Parker, Porthcawl..Stag, Stevens, Porthcawl.. Bllte, Walters, Bristol..Venus, Poole, Bridgwater.. A rctic, Sheil, Wexford. Union, Prevett, Newport. Elizabeth, Wright, Bristol.. Cas,lf-, rryet, B;istol.. Prudence, Gower, Gloster..Olive Branch, Mendu- Aberthaw.Three Sisters, Berry, Porthcawl.. Aurora, Lewis, Porthcawl.. Amity, Pear- son, Bristol..Charles, Howe. Gloster..Milo, Cook, Gloster.. Cardiff Trader, Rowles, Gloster.. Merthyr Packet, Thomas, Bristol.. Friends, Evans, Bristol.. Ilathhllrst, Whelan, Porth- cawl..Ceres, Wedlake, Watchet, all with sundries. Sailed, the Commerce, Hart, Gloster Acorn, Williams, Gloster..Friends, Evans, Bristol.. Four Brothers, Williams! Fleetwood.. Providence, Baker, Bristol.. Thomas & Elisabeth, Bird, Newport.. Newport..Zeldenurist, Jonker, Rotterdam. John, Pascoe, Maryport..Joseph Carne, Wright, London.. Fame, Knight, Bristol.. Helen, Stephens, Aberdeen.. Acadian. Longney, Gloster.Bute, Walters, Bristol.. Amicitia, Owen, Liverpool.. Eliz iheth, Wright, Bristol.. Elizabeth and Marys, Edwards, Fleetwood.Neath Trader, Davies. Gloster..Sarah, Lees, Stone-haven. Castle, Fryer, Bristol. Alexander, Hooper, Biidgwater.. Aunectino Jantiua, Pubus, Rotterdam.. Hopewell. Owen, Liverpool Prudeuce, Gower, Gloster. Providence, Baker, Bristol.. Ann, Marshall, Gloster.Stag, Stephens, Aberdeen, all wi h iron.Independent, Pinnegar, Bristol Cornist, Smart, Bridgwater Phoenix, Robert*' Newry Brothers, Bryant, Bridgwater Thomas, BuuL, Waterford. Perseverance, David, Bristo)..Ada, Hutchings, Padstow.. Pomona, Legg, Dublin. Eacl Gray, Thomas. Car- marthen.. Mary, Evans, Bristol Lady, Seliua, Hughes Bristol..Jane and Mary, Barrett. Gloster.. Flower of Severn, M ills, Bristol.. James, Itobertson, Bristol.. Francis and Ann, Hoskins, Truro ..Venus,Poole,Bridgwater.Victory, Richards, Bideford Friend's Goodwill, Couch, Fowey Lerwick, Doyle, Wezford Good Intention, Pearse, Barnstaple. Nightingale, Kelly, Bideford. Affiauce, Biddle, Gloster.. Miner, Jones, Bridgwater. Three Sisters, Stephens, Truro.. Lively, Caddy, Bridport.Tredegar. Crockford.Minehead.. Dispatch, Parker, Padstow.. Bee, Howe, Belfasr, all with coal. Mary Jones. Bowen, Porthcawl.Olive Branch Mendus, Aberthaw Nottingham, Knapp, Bullow Pill.. Martha, Jones, Barry..Newnham, Smith, Lydney.William, Hill, Lydney..Anna Maria, Lewis, Aberthaw.. Hope, Davies, Newport..Union, Prevett, Newport..Sisters, Knapp, Bullow 1 ill..Three Brothers, Biowniug, Gloster.(ileaner, Thomas, Newport.Abbess, Harris, Neath..Providence, Parker, New- port.. Seaflower, Thomas, Bullow Pill.,Lion, Edwards. Ite" Dock, light. NEA TH.-OufwlIrd. N inns, Williams Mars, Merifield, Cork.Victona, Spear, Teign>nouth.Neath Castle, Davis, Bristot..Marys, Peak, Hayle ..Louisa, Pappin.Lady of the Lake, Billinr, Padstow.. Betsy, Evans, Newport.. Allibie*, Peters, Point.. Tendarvis, Cogar, Portreath..Trevannance Sleein,in, St. Agnes. Dait, Potter, Ycalm.Meridian, Woodley, Dartmouth.. Hoyal Oak, Mathias Carmarthen.

LONDON MARKETS. GENERAL AVERAGE PRICES of CORN pet Quarter computed from the Inspectors' Returns. GENERAL AVERAGE. i s. d. s. d* i Wheat 58 II Rye 35 8 5 Barley 34 I Meant 44 «J Oats '^5 0 Peas 44 II DUTY ON FOREIGN CORN. s. d. d Wheat 14 0 itye 7 6 Barley 4 0 Beans 1 0 Oats. 3 0 Peas. I O CORN EXCHANGE—MONDAY. MARK-LANE, MONDAY.—The arrivals of English wheat* during last week were rather large, and we had several caf. goes of foreign. The show of land carriage samples from Essex and Kent this morning was not large, but the trade was exceedingly heavy, and it was not till a decline of 2s. to 3s. per quarter was submitted to that a few of-the best runs were cleared off, and much still remained unsold at the close 3 of the market. The few trifling sales in fine old. English and free foreign wheat have been made at our last quotatfons. I* bonded corn nothing doing. We have also a large-supply ot barley, which is fully Is. cheaper for 1111 sorts. Of oats we have again to notice considerable arrivals the factors are offering to sell at Is. abatement from last Monday, and very little progress has been made. It seems evident that sales ot everything, either foreign or English, will remain in the pre- sent inactive state, until it be known whether any and what measures are to be recommended to Parliament relative to th« Corn-laws. WHEAT. *• s. g Essex & Kent red 58 — 60 White. 6T— 68 Old Do 62 — 05 Do '111 65 — W RYE. •• | s ». Old 35 — 37 J New 38 — 40 BARLEY. s« s. Grinding 28 — 30 Chevalier 33 — 36 Malting 35 — 36 Bere 28 — 20 Irish 30 — 29 j MALT. s. s. | s. s.' Suffolk and Norfolk 58 — 63 I Brown .56—69 Kingston and Ware 61 — 0 | Chevalier 64— 0 OATS. s I OATS. 4 t s. So 8. ":ï Yorkshire and Lin- | colnshire feed 25 — 26 Potato 33—32 I Youghall and Cork Cork white 2s — 2* black 22 23 Westport 23 24 Oublin 23 24 Black 22 — *3 Waterford white 22 23 Newry 25 — 26 Gal way 22 23 Scotch feed 23 — 24 Potato 26 -2l c,ontnel 22 — 24 Limerick 21 t6 Londonderry 26— 0 Sligo. 26 — 25 i BEANS. A s. s. | a. »« J! rick new 44 — 38 | Old .small 50 — 44/^ PEAS. £ s. ». s. »• Grey 26 — 38 Maple., 38— 0 White 50 52 Boilers. 48 — SMITHFIELD MARKETS—MONDAY. A Statement and Comparison of the Supplies and Price* ot I Fat Stotk, exhibited and Sold in Smithlield Cattle Ma"rht, ) On Monday, Dec. 16, 1814, and Monday. Dec. 15 1845. 1 Dec. 16, J844. Dec. 15, )84- s. d. a.d. s. d. s. d Coarse and inferior Beasts. 2 10 to 3 2.2 10 to it Second quality ditto. 3 4 3 6.3 4 3' Piiuie large Oxen 3 g 3 10.3 8 4 Prime Scots, &c. 4 0 4 4.4 2 4 Coarse and inferior Sheep.. 3 0 3 4.3 4 S if Second quality ditto 3 4 3 6.4 0 4 Prime coaise wootled ditto 3 » 4 0.4 6 4 Prime Southdown ditto. 4 2 4 4.4 10 5" "Large coarse Calves 3 8 4 0.4 8 4 ø Prime small ditto 4 2 4 10.4 10 5 2 Large Hogs 3 6 3 10.3 10 4 6 Neatsulall Porkers 4 0 4 6.4 8 5 3 ? SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1845. Published by the sole Proprietor, HENRY WMBBit, aC his residence Charles-street, in the Parish of Saint John the Baptist, in the Town of Cardiff and County of Glamorgan, and Printed by him at his Generkl Printing Office in Duke-street, in the said Barish of Saint John, in the Town and Couaty aforesaid. Advertisements and Orders received by theiollowiMf? h Agents:— «/ • LONDON Mr. Barker, 33, Fleet-street; Messrs. Newtrf* J and Co., 5, Warwick-square; Mr. G. Keynell, 42, Chancery-lane; Mr. Deaeon, 3, Walbrook, near the Mansion-house; Mr. Jcibeph Thomas, 1, Corn hill; Mr. Hammond, 27, Lombard-street; Mr, C. Barker, 12, Birchip.-lane W. Dawson and Son- 74, Cannon-street, City; Messrs. Lewis and Lowe, It Castle Court, Biichio Lane. MERTHYR .Mr. H. W. White, Stationeft BRECON .Mr. William Evans, Ship.atredt SWANSEA Mr. E. Griffiths, Piintef And by all Po'stmasters and Clerks on the Road. This paper i's regularly filed inj London at Lloyd'' Coft'ee House C'.ty.——Peel's Coffee-house, Fleet-street The Cha pter Coffee-houae St, Paul's.—Deacon*' Ccflfee-hotw^, Walbrook,