The Principality

FRANCE. CELEBRATION OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE REPUBLIC. The celebration of the anniversary of the revolution of February had passed off without the least appearance of dis- turbance, although the streets were crowded during the whole of the day. From an early hour the strains of mili- tary music were heard from the different corps as they were proceeding to their respective destinations. The weather was fine, though the morning rose in clouds and mist, as if nature had also put on her mourning for the martyrs of the revolution, but when the roar of the cannon announced that the Te Deum had commenced, the sun suddenly burst forth and the clouds rolled away—a happy omen, so thought many who assisted at the solemnity, of the future destiny of the Republic. The following was the order of the ceremonial. At nine o'clock the representatives assembled together in the Salon de la Presidence of the National Assembly; and ex- actly at half-past nine o'clock they, with their President, vice-presidents, and secretaries at their head, put themselves in motion, and, the greater part on foot and decorated with the tricolor sash, edged with gold fringe, which they wore from right to left, and the rosette also, the distinguishing mark of a deputy, worn at the left button-hole, they pro- ceeded at a slow pace to the church. They mounted the steps bareheaded, and, guided by the masters of ceremonies, took their places as prescribed in the programme. The whole of the way through which the representatives passed, —namely, the Pont de la Concorde, the Place de la Con- cords, and the Rue de la Concorde, were lined with troops and National Guards alternately, and of whom a considerable number were stationed towards the Tuileries and the extre- mity of the Rue de Rivoli. From the Place de la Concorde to the Church of the Madeleine, to the right and left, ex- tended a series of lofty pedestals, supporting each a tripod, from which shot forth a sombre flame. Similar pedestals were placed at each of the four angles of the Pont de la Con- corde. The Place de la Concorde had special symbols of mourn- ing. From the centres of the four compartments into which the place is divided sprung into the air four lofty masts, from which, but less than half-way up, floated, in sign of mourning, the colours of the Republic, but veiled with a mourning crape. The moment the representatives of the people had assumed their places in the church an express dispatched to the Pa- lais Eiysee informed the President of the Republic of the fact: and in a few moments the roll of carriage wheels and the trampling of horses' feet in the direction of the Rue St. Honore, told that the only one whose presence was wanting to complete the assemblage was fast approaching. The troops that lined the streets along the Rue Faubourg St. Honore and the Rue Royale presented arms, and the car- riage of Louis Napoleon was seen coming along, escorted by a troop of dragoons. The cry of Vive le President then arose, and was borne along, each moment gathering new strength, until he arrived at the steps of the church. He descended from the carriage, accompanied by a single aide- de-camp, and mounted the steps bareheaded, when he was received by the Cure of the Madelaine and his clergy. The President was dressed in the uniform of a general officer of the National Guard, and wore the ribbon and Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. The Archbishop of Paris offici- ated. The funeral service having been completed, the joyful l'e Deum burst forth, chaunted by the whole choir, accom- panied by the organ and the military. At that instant all ■present rose, the mourning veils which had up to that mo- ment hid from view the architectural beauties of the church ,v were suddenly withdrawn, and instead of the scene of mourn- ing, there were floods of light, of incense, and of sound. The effect was electric. The service lasted about two hours; it began at ten o'clock, and at twelve the troops and National Guards, where offices were required only during the service, were on their way to their respective quarters.

THE SOCIALISTS FOILED. The attempt of the Socialists to put the Assembly in con- tradiction with itself on Wednesday, by proposing that a party convicted of adultery should be disqualified from sit- ting in the Assembly, unexpectedly failed. M. Pierre Leroux, contrary to his IIHTIPQ onH Tvishcs fnnrul that his amendment succeeded, and that the Assembly actually voted the proposed disqualification. The object of this manoeuvre was as follows:—-Tiie Assembly had previously voted the disqualification of persons convicted of robbery, theft, and other disgraceful offences, in spite of the opposition of M. Pierre L?foux and his friends, who contended tnat^ if the people chose to be represented bv a thief or a swindler, the Assembly had no right to prevent them. M. Pierre Leroux therefore turned upon the Assembly, and demanded the dis- qualification of the adulterer as well as the swindler. The moment it was announced, it excited inextinguishable Huo-hter" from all sides of the House but neither laughter nor shouts deterred or dismayed the (unahashed and bulky aoostle of Socialism. He denounced with fearful energy this crime against the peace of families, which he declared to be the greatest of all robberies, where the children of a stranger devour the substance of the legitimate offspring. By degrees the subject began to interest many who were amazed to see one. whose doctrines were believed to aim at the destruction of all property and family, now start forth as the most enthusiastic advocate of the latter. M. Leroux obtained the reward of laborious perseverance, and succeeded in his object. T,ie?,e the amendment, 286; it, 223; majority, 57. Tne coiise- cuowtiv ad mtcd. "And thus," excliuns M. Proudhon, in ,us, on a^onv )f and thus is Socialism avenged The (hnSttoUfonnel says, a number of members ti i(i loft the V-sembly before the definitive vote, and intimates that wnen tVo V^embh-oi the. clause comes to be voted, the decision may he reversed. Among the persons to be excluded by this (l yeision will bo several, it is said, of tne most eminent men o*' the Chamber, the most prominent ot whom is the ceie- tr-ved Vict n- Hugo.

ALGERIA. L t L ann Times unfavourable news from Algeria. L sHat 1: the Arab tribes in the neighbourhood ot Mas- cara ha I re vol idl. and that they surprised in the beginning (yf the present m mth a detachment of 200 troops, wrxom they m issuer ?d without mercy, not sparing even the surgeon v-'y, accompanied them. It adds further, that the Governor- G moral of had received a telegraphic dispatch from Tiemcen, announcing that the E noeror of Morocco had rn mifestel hostile intentions against the French, and that he wis concentrating largo bodies of cavalry on the frontiers of A'g n-ia. F >r: v of the insu"g'mt3 ox June who had been pnrdonen hive a ;■ tin been arrested by the Commissary of Police of La C ia-villa St, Denis, in consequence of disturbing the 11. at night and snrjr'ng seditious songs.

ROME. I the sitting of the 11th of the Constituent Assembly of ILrw it was decided that the Executive Power should not be held resncmsihlc, but only the Ministers. Mamiani lias resigned his mandate as representative. Mazzini has ob- tained the right of Roman citizenship. The laws are to be made and justice rendered in the name of God and the peo- ple. All the laws and public acts are to be headed in that form. The Ibmnaag., by it reeent decree, consists of the Italian tricolour, "itll t -ie Roman eagle in the centre. Citi- zens Pietro Beltram and Fedcrigo r'escantini are charged with a mission to Paris. It is said that almost ail the Swiss troops at Ferrara have consented to enter into a new capiM tulation with the executive government.. The Roman clergy having refused to officiate at a Te T), performed inSt. Peter of the Vatican on the 11th, noss was celebrated bv a military chaplain, assisted by sol- frm bearing torches." The representatives ot' the people were present. A Ltter from Gaeta of the 10:.u imt, states that at a consistory held there; at which all the Clrdinals as- it was resolved that an appeal should be made to the G .va"" "T"its of Austria, France, Spain, and Naples, to the rxoius'vi of Piedmont, to replace the Pope in possession ot his rioruimo.13, „ A L:tjr frv" Civita Veeoliia oi fee juta mst., state that the oisier i,1 that town had received orders to return fj.t^ .x to Gasta, which he had instantly obeyed. In the sitting of the Roman Constituent Assembly of the 13th, the Minister Sterbini, in the name of the Minister of Finance, presented a Bill providing that all ecclesiastical property shall henceforward belong to the State, and that all alienation of the said property, whether real or moveable, shall be considered null and void. A project was moved by Deputy Tantini to the same effect, but directing also that proper provision should be made for the support of public worship, and that the estates of the Church shall be granted to agriculturists upon a ground rent. The 1st and the 3rd articles of the Ministerial measure were voted by urgency, the remainder, with the counter-project, were sent to the Committees.

TUSCANY. By a decree of the 14th, the Provisional Government of Tuscany directs that Tuscany shall send thirty-seven Depu- ties to Rome, for the Italian Constituent Assembly. Their election is to take place at the same time as that of the De- puties to the Tuscan Legislative Assembly; every elector, while voting for the latter, is to vote a second time for the former. The Deputies elected shall receive an indemnity for their journey to Rome, and 10 lire (8 fr. 50 c.) a day dur- ing the session. The Piedmontese Gazette of the 21st, publishes, after the Genoa Gazette of the 20th, the news that the Republic has had been proclaimed at Florence on the 19th, and that Leg- horn had followed its example. The intervention of Pied- mont, in Tuscany, is officially contradicted by M. Pigli, the Governor of Leghorn. The Pensiero Italiano of Genoa, of the 17th, states that the Sardinian steamer Virgilio has been sent to Porto San Stefano upon a mission to the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

GERMANY. After a long debate on the previous day, the Frankfort National Assembly voted, on the 20th instant, the first and second sections of the law of elections. They are as follow —Every German of irreproachable character, who has passed his twenty-fifth year, is an elector. Persons are excluded from the franchise when they stand under guardianship or trusteeship, when they are legally declared in a state of bankruptcy or insolvency, and when they are in the receipt of relief from public or communal establishments, or when they have received such relief during the twelve months pre- ceding the elections. The words "irreproachable character" were voted by a majority of 237 to 224 but, on the other hand, the words every independent German were re- jected by a majority of 422 to 21.

PRUSSIA. The state of siege of Berlin is still maintained in all its severity, several recent attempts to hold political meetings having been nullified by the interference of the police. The Board of Aldermen has refused to join the Common Council in its address to the Government in favour of the raising of the state of siege. 0

HUNGARY. The Ost-Deutche Post of Vienna says Cronstadt has been taken by the Szeklers. The Imperial troops have gained a victory in the valley of the Borgo. Colonel Urban, who commands the advanced guard of the corps d'armee of Bukowine, fell unexpectedly, on the 6th, on the Hun- garians at Mitoscyny, and made them all prisoners to the number of 500 men, and 12 superior officers, with two pieces of artillery." Vienna correspondence informs us of the publication of another bulletin relating to the Hungarian war, in which it is stated that the fortresses of Arad and Esseg have (for the third time since they were besieged) fallen into the hands of the Imperialists. It is asserted in one of the Vienna journals that the town of Arad has been taken by the Imperialists, who found fif- teen cannon in it. The intelligence from Hungary is still of a confused and doubtful nature. VIENNA, FEB.—Archduke Stephen lias been invited by pacify Hungaria. It has transpired that some '7ft faculties have'arisen in the way of settling Hungarian affairs by amis. Wlndisehgratz, being himself a magnate, declines to fight for centralisation. Jellachieh no longer enjoys the confi- dence of the court. Tiie Minister Bruck started for Pesth two davs ago, it is supposed to treat with Windischgratz.

STORMING AND FALL OF MOOLTAN. Advices received by the Overland Mail show that the town of Mooltan had been captured by the British troops, although the citadel, at one angle of the town, still held out in posses- 0 sion of Moobj; its speedy fall, however, seemed certain. It must soon have been untenable under the fire of 150 pieces of artillery or, if this proved ineffectual, it was to have been mined. Operations began on the 27th of December. The suburbs were carried by the bayonet, and the town cap- tured by bombardment, breach, and storm. That few were killed on our part, while there was great loss to the Sikhs; and the complete possession of the town within a week- speak fully as. to the character of the operations. Tne tac- tics of the final assault do not appear to have materially differed from General Whish's first plan, except that the Bombay force took the position previously occupied by Ed- wardes", Lake, and Cortland and on this occasion .Edwardes merely manoeuvred wi.th his troops to distract the enemy's attention. The town was surrounded oil all sides, and at- tacked, in the first instance, on the 27th December, without regular approaches, while an incessant cannonade of shot, shell, and rockets was kept up to damage the defences and to awe the besieged. The suburbs were attacked at two different points, where high mounds in the neighbourhood of massive buildings had afforded to the Sikhs strong posi- tions. They driver, in and routed, our troops advanc- ing in lines with the bfvonet, and under a loss on purpart of about 100 killed ami wounded. Heavy batteries were then erected at those mounds, which were at about 300 yards' distance from the walls. The enemy's fire at this imeis described to have been well and long sustained, but ultimately slackened, in consequence of several explosions of his service magazines, probably caused by our shells. Daybreak of the 29th opened from the British lines with a heavy fire of musketry, and the simultaneous discharge of the mortar guns, after which the other heavy artillery and howitzers pushed to within 80 yards of the walls. The enemy's fire then nearly ceasen, while our own continued incessant, and evidently with great effect. Our batteries then began to breach. Next day a large magazine exploded in the town under our fire, and a conflagration of grain stacks succeeded. All this, however, did not appear to daunt the coui-aye of the Sikhs, now in the close vicinity of the British troops, for the fire of their matchlocks increased and became more effective. At length, after an incessant roar of cannon and rattle of musketry for about 50 hours, the close attack was commenced bv the advance of two columns from the Bombay army, while the Bengal force moved forward on the other side. The gate selected for the attack of the Bengal force was, on the arrival of that column, found not to have been made practicable, and to present besides an open drop in front, with strong defences in the rear. But tile Bombay column had successfully eftoctcd its entrance, and the colours were planted in Mooltan by the Sergeant-major of tlie Company's Fusileers. oc curred about three in the afternoon ot'the 2nd Jan. The ben- gal coin urn, after having been obliged. momentarily to tire, quickly followed in the step of tbeii corn .ides, ami tne town appeared to have been ten minutes afterwards in-our possession, although it was not until ncai sunset that all our troops had entered. Considerable bodies of the Sikhs were seen. in the dusk emerging upon the plain, the direction, it is said, of but although the cavalry did their best to scour the country throught the night, little^could«!>e eSected, except in the capture of small parties, in conse- of thickly intersecting nullahs, or watercourses. 14 guns and 2.5 elephants, many horses, and a vast supply of grain were found in the town, and the other booty, in the nature of property, is said to be of considerable value.— From the Bombay "Telegraph we give the following ac- count of f.

THE EXPLOSION. On the morning of the 30th the principal magazine in the fort blew up with a terrific explosioii-iiearly 800,000lbs. of powder are reported to have been stored in it—blowing a ■■ vast column of dust a thousand feet up into the air, pro- ducing a shock like that of an earthquake. For a short time the huge column of dust, which was thrown some 200 yards in height, rendered the Fort and the surrounding ob- jects invisible: there was consequently a brief pause in the firing; but as soon as the smoke and dust had cleared away the fire was resumed, as hotly as ever. The artilleryman who levelled the mortar that produced the explosion was at once presented by Gen. Whish with three gold mohurs, and an addi- tional sum of five gold mohurs was also given to the company he belonged to. It is said some of the Moolraj's family, with many other persons, were hurled into the air" at the time the magazine exploded; also that the Dewan himself re- ceived a wound. This last report, however, does not seem to have been true. Our guns were now directed to the sup- posed positions of Moolraj's remaining magazines, but without avail, as no further explosions took place. It be- came evident that great devastation had been caused by our incessant fire; as broken masses of masonry, heaps of brick work, and crumbling walls, could be seen by looking through a telescope, while the principal bastions appeared riddled by our 241b. shot.

THE KILLED AND WOUNDED. Our loss, as far as yet ascertained, is comparatively small, far less than what is apprehended it would be that of the enemy is said to be immense, and the streets are reported to be literally choked with the killed; the greater portion of these must have been destroyed by our shell, shrapnell, &c., that were thrown into the city from the commencement.of the attack. The following arc the casualties which have occurred since the resumption of hostilities; the returns, however, seem to have been prepared too hurriedly to be at all complete :— Killed—Major J. Gordon, 60th rifles; Lieut. E. Younghus- band, 9th Bombay, N.I. Wounded-Lieut,-Col.Nilsh, 72nd, N.I. Major W. Case, 32nd foot; Lieut. H. A. Playfair (since dead), 52nd N.I.; Lieut. J. Hill, Bombay engineers Capt. It. Bailey, Bombay avtillery (arm lost) Lieut. C. R. Baugh, 9th Bombay N.L Lieut. N. W. Dyett, 3rd Bombay N.I., slightly; Surgeon J. P. Malcolmson, 3rd Bombay, N.I., slightly; Ensign Napier, 3rd Bombay N.I., slightly; Lieu- tenants R. W. Brooke, 60th rifles, and B. Van Strubenvee, 32nd foot, severely Lieut. E. Tyrwhitt, 51st, N.L Lieuts. A. t'. Armstrong, and W. Gillon, and Ensign W. C. Mac- dougal, 72nd N.I. These casualties all occurred on the 27th Dec. No account of those which happened on the 2nd of January has yet appeared, further than the followiurr:- Major M. G. Dennis, 60th rifles, slightly wounded Captains R. W. D. Leith and T. Tapp, and Lieuts. E. A. Law, W. Gray, W. M. Mules, and E. Densey, 1st Bombay Fusileers, with about forty men wounded, and four men killed Ensign Shaw, 3rd Bombay N.L, slightly wounded; Lieut. T. S. Warden, 4th Bombay rifles, severely; Ensign Gordon, 19th Bombay, N.L, slightly; Lieut. Garforth, Bengal engineers, severely; Lieut. Taylor, ILM. 32nd foot, shot through the arm, with two men killed and ten wounded. It is stated on good authority that a letter was received at the India House, by the India mail on Thursday, from General Whish, at Moultan, dated the 9th of January, two days later than the .latest dates given in the Indian papers and private letters. At that date the fort of Moultan still held out; but the general confidently expected that within two days it would be in his possession, either by storm or surrender. The Sappers and miners were within thirty yards of the glacis.

Let us glance at the most prominent agitations that are at present visible. They may be divided into Political and Social. In the political sphere we have the Financial ques- tion, running off into four branches the Cobdcnite and Manchester section, the Gladstone and Liverpool, the Liver- pool Confederation movement, and the Currency question. SaV'^litf^M^^oives'tYie great of Church and State. The repeal of the Navigation Laws, which involves the great question of perfect Free Trade. Colonization, which includes the management and govern- ment of our Colonial Empire. Pauperism, which includes the entire principles that govern the foundations of property and the relations of human beings and things. Ireland, itself bristling with reforms, from the Tenure of Land to the separation of Church and State, and certainly with work enough for a Parliament entirely devoted to it. The Suffrage question, Triennial Parliaments, and Vote by Ballot, or to express it more comprehensively, the entire question of Com- plete Reform in Parliament. Now these are some of the most prominent of the political subjects that are more or less agitated. Wre can only give a glance at those more strictly denomi- nated social. "First Peace and War, now made a matter of conscientious discussion, and involved with Financial Re- form. The Temperance movement, complicated with Sani- tary reform and fibreising into Building Associations and I Dwellings for the Poor, which again flow back into the great swamping question of Pauperism. Capital Punishment, branching off into prison discipline, and touching the great question of Colonisation. Fiscal Reform, penetrating every circumstance of every man's life, and taking up and em- bracing the political agitations of Financial Reform and the Currency question, besides touching with its broad stream all I I L n the great questions, not forgetting Pauperism and Colonisa- tion. Iw Reform, Criminal and Civil, ranging from "Cwwner's quest law to the Chancery seat. Primogeniture, the last stronghold of pi- iviteg-o and aristocracy, and involv- ing the discussion of the nature and right of property. The Law of Divorce, involving tho morals of private life and the sanctities of society besides bchig eomÎJlicatcdwith re- ligions feelings and sectarian notions. The application of Public Trusts and Charities, involving private privileges, and interlaced with the questions of Church Revenue and Pauperism; with a strong connection with the Education question. Municipal Reform, inextricably intermingled with the question of Central or Separate government ?" bordering on the Sanitary, Highroad, and Railway move- ments, and with ligaments connecting it with the Water and'other Monopolies. State Church and Voluntary Church, advocated and opposed by every shade of politicians, and daily growing to a crisis. The Slave Trade, closely involved with the questions of War and Colonisation. The question of Employer and Employed, embracing the Problems of j Wages and Early Closing, and running into Education, and the Sanitary, Monetary, and Truck systems, together with Infant and Female labour: ending in an horizon so wide that many arc afraid to gaze on it. in Jerrold's V,

HEAL Aj^EmSENTATIVE MONEY. From an excellent report in the Darlington Tunes of two lectures on the currency, delivered by Mr. Jonathan Duncan in that town last week, we give the following extract, as a oassage which we are informed was highly effective:— Having pointed out what lie considered to be the evils of the present system, Mr. Duncan proceede3 to recommend a system by which be thought trade manufactures of every description would be rendered prosperous, and pauperism, crime, and poverty exterminated by which we might get rid of the army, so far as internal defence was concerned, and also of the police and by which all young men of twenty- one. and young girls of eighteen years of age, might marry— and this was not the least important part of the doctrine he advocated, for he believed, with Dr. Franklin, that early marriages were the great safeguards both of mnnly and wo- manly virtue. He divided money under two heads—real money and representative money. By real money he did mean gold and silver alone, lie considered every thing wes real money which was the result of labour, useful to man, had an exchangeable value, and for which one man would give his labour to another man. He considered the earth ami the crops that grew upon it, ships and railways, and houses and cattle of every description useful to man as .Jf'Z' real money. We read in Holy Scripture that Job was a rich man, but no intimation was given that he had a large stock of bullion—his riches, his money, consisted of a large number of sheep and oxen. He (Mr. Duncan) was not the inventor of a system he was only its expositor—the system he ad\'o. cated was very ancient. A man might, therefore, be rich in real money without having any gold. After some further remarks on real money, the lecturer came to speak of repre- sentative money, which, he observed, stood in the same rela- tion to real money as a portrait did to the person it was designed to delineate." The representative money," so often recommended in our columns, was, of course, the system Mr. Duncan alluded to.—Jerrold's Weekly Neics.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. Tuesday, February 20, 1849. JOSHUA FIELD, ESQ., President, in the chair. The Paper read was On the Explosion of Fire-damp which occurred in the Eaglesbush or Eskyn Colliery, Neath, South Wales, on the 29th of March, 1848," by Mr. Joshua Richardson, M. Inst. C. E., F.G.S., of Neath. This paper first detailed the frequency of these occurrences in some parts of South Wales, and more particularly in this colliery, where the tender and friable nature of the coal peculiarly induced in the working, or excavation, the forma- tion of fire-damp and explosive gas. This had been shown experimentally by Sir Humphrey Davy, when, on breaking up large coal under water, he collected a quantity of fire- damp at the surface. It then gave a description of the colliery workings, the state of the mine before the explosion occurred, the condition in which it was found at the time of the inspection, a fort- night after the accident, the probable causes of the catas- trophe, and the best known means of preventing a recur- rence of such events. 0 The scam of coal was described as being about four feet in thickness, of a highly bituminous and friable nature, and worked by an inclined adit or entrance, with a main gallery, whence the stalls were worked on either side, horses being employed to draw out the coal in trams, which were con- veyed direct to the vessels in which it was shipped for ex- portation to the extent of thirty thousand tons annually. The ventilation was effected by a down-cast and an up-cast shaft, between which an air-course was arranged so as to extend throughout, the active workings, with a chimney at the exit, through which the air should have been expedited by a furnace, which, however, had been rarely lighted; and the air course, wdiieh was one mile and five furlongs in length, was in places of unequal and inadequate areas, so that in certain states of the external atmosphere the air in the mine became very sluggish, and even oscillated to and fro, instead of regularly travelling onwards in an uninterrupted current. This was so much the case, that the colliers employed fans to drive the gas from them into the proper channels. Great negligence appeared to have existed, both in the general system of working and in the use of the Davy lamps, which were frequently used without the wire gauze'guards. The usual state of the mine could not be judged of by an inspection after an accident, as all the falls and incumbrances had been removed, the destroyed doors and stoppings had been well replaced, and general precautions had been adopted* which evidently had not previously existed but there still remained evidences of want of precautionary measures. Candles and open lamps had been constantly used, although the general fiery character of the mine was notorious; and after the explosion two Davy lamps were found without their wire-gauze guards. The temperature in various parts of the mine was so near that of the external atmosphere, that it was evident sponta- neous ventilation could not have proceeded regularly; and it was shown that the slightest change of the density of the air, even from the sun breaking out, would have sufficed- to render stagnant the whole system of ventilation especially as the furnace, which should have accelerated the current by exhaustion, had been allowed to fall into a ruinous condition, and had seldom been used, and the velocity of the current had rarely exceeded five feet per second, which was totally inadequate to supply the requisite quantity of air for such an extent of workings. Z, The cause of the accident was therefore very apparent, and might be attributed to a want of a general good system oi..Yfpk\teticm,- jisxHuttiust, -dr Davy lamps and the consequence of this was the sudden death of twenty men and several horses, with great injury to the mine. A verdict of Accidental death" was returued by the coroner's jury. The means of prevention were evidently a complete revi- sion of the system of ventilation—the enlarging of the air course to uniform and adequate dimensions—the proper divi- sion of the air into several columns—the construction of proper doors and stoppings in convenient positions—strict regulations for the use of Davy lamps, or other means of lighting, and better general superintendence by educated men, who would enforce precautionary measures. Due credit was given to the proprietors for their anxiety to afford every means of inspection, and for adopting all suggestions calculated to prevent the recurrence of such an event;, and it was stated that they had since erected one of Mr Price Struve's ventilating apparatus, of the working of which an account was promised in a future communica- tion. The Secretary was directed to convey to Mr. Richardson the thanks of the Institution for this mark of his attention to its interests also for his elaborate paper On the Coal- fields of South Wales," read at the last meeting.

CHURCH-RATE SEIZURES AND SALE BY AUCTION IN BRISTOL. Considerable excitement prevailed in this city on Monday morning, in consequence of the announcement of a sale by auction, at ten o'clock, of goods seized for church-rates in the p?adsh of St. Stephen. The sale room was at the Queen beer-house, Quay-head, around which some hundreds had assembled. The room was also densely packed with people, chiefly respectable shopkeepers. On the arrival of the auc- tioneer, Mr. Martin, accompanied by the mayor's officer, they were assailed with a tremendous volley of groans, which was followed by a similar demonstration for Mr. Buck, the minister, and Messrs. Nash and Walter, church- wardens. The auctioneer now attempted to put up the goods, which consisted of eight reams of paper seized from Messrs. Tan- ner Brothers, stationers, value £4 17s., for a rate of 17s. 6d. and a sofa, table, and six chairs, seized from Messrs. Ma- thews Brothers, printers, value £5 3s., for a rate of 8s. 9d. The uproar, however, increased to a storm which baffles de- scription. At length Mr. Thomas'Matbews succeeded in. obtaining a hearing, when he cntrcntotltho. assembly to allow the auction to proceed; but the arrival of a number of the police shifted the scene a little, for failing through the crowd to obtain admission by the door, they by means of a ladder effected an ingress through one of .the first floor win- dows, amid the shouts and laughter of the multitude. Some time was now spent in cracking jokes upon the minister of the parish; many texts were given from which he was re- commended to preach, such as Thou shait not steal," Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours' goods," &c. Baffled in his attempts to sell, the auctioneer declared the sale postponed this was met by cries of "Name the time," and We won't go home till morning." He then retired, and the assembly were told lie, had left the house, but not having passed through the window above they insisted on his re-appearance. Ho at length came down stairs, and at once commenced to sell, as appeared from his gestures and the fall of the hammer, for not a word could be heard amid the yells and confusion of tongues. Mr. Mathews again entreated that the law might be allowed to take its course, but the company here took objection to the auctioneer not exhibiting his name, as required by law. However, the goods were declared sold, and after some further uproar with 11-11 ilee groans for the parson and churchwardens," and three cheers for the men of principle," the room was cleared. Excess of seizure obliged the officers to return two reams of paper (0 Messrs. Tanner, which was done amid the shcuts and hisses of the Crowd which followed, while the auctioneer was accompanied through the streets by similar demonstrations of displeasure he took refuge in the Guildhall.