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Sept. 27, 1817.]

American Literature.

our abuse and exaggerations to meet the enemy with frankness and sincerity, and to perpetuate, by mutual offices of good will and charity, the alliance between us. We may perhaps find, that treachery and England are not precisely synonimous, and that the marauding Cockburn could display the feelings of a gentleman.

While upon this subject, we cannot avoid deprecating the spirit of hostility which some of our writers endeavour to keep up towards England. We admit that many of the remarks which issue from the English press are injurious and irritating. But one party or the other must begin to conciliate; and if we have come off from the contest as gloriously and triumphantly as many of our countrymen think, it is in the highest degree ungenerous to return the insults of our fallen foe. At all events, the malignity of a few worthless hirelings ought not to be regarded, for the good sense of the English public cannot long be biassed by their misrepresentations. We think more nobly of the country of Washington and Hamilton, than to believe it stands in need of the waspish and irritated defences that have been made for it at home. Philadelphia True American.

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39 teristic brevity" Gentlemen, I have nothing to say till you first tell me whether Captain Gordon is in sight of Alexandria or not.' They replied he was not." Well then, gentlemen, I am ready to negotiate with you, and now all I have to say is, that we want provisions, and must have them-but let me tell you, for every article we take you shall be allowed a fair price."

Scarcely had these gentlemen left the town, when one of the officers entered, and said, that the bank could not be burned, without injuring private property. "Well then," said he loudly, "pull it down." "Admiral," said I, "you do not wish to burn private property.”. "No," said he, "I do not, but this is public property."-" No, Sir," continued I," the United States have no bank here now-this is altogether private property.". "Are you certain of that?" said he." Yes, Sir, I pledge my honour it is private property."-" Well then," said he to the officer, "let it alone."

As Commodore Barney lay on the battle ground, badly wounded, and helpless, and his men by his own order retreated from him, he beckoned to an English soldier to come to his assistance. The soldier instantly stepped up, and rendered the required service with alacrity. "You are a noble fellow," said the commodore, “ and I am sorry I have not a purse for you: but here's my gold watch, you are welcome to it." "No, Sir," replied the Englishman, "I can assist a brave man, without being paid for it.”

An American gentleman observed to Admiral Cockburn, "that if Washington had been alive, you would not have gotten to this city so easily."" No, Sir," replied the Admiral," if General Washington had been president, we should not have thought of coming here."

On the 25th, (Aug. 1814), as the general and admiral were standing on the pavement at my door, a dirty looking woman, stained with blood, came running by, exclaiming that a British sailor had killed her. Cockburn, with marks of indignation, in

In the meantime General Ross came up, to whom I was introduced. He had just come in time to infer, from what Admiral || Cochrane had said, that my house had been robbed. In a tone that will for ever endear him to me as a perfect gentleman, he observed, that he was very sorry to hear that my house had been disturbed, and begged I would tell him which it was, and he would order a sentinel to guard it." This is my house, Sir," said I. With an amiable embarrassment he replied, "Why, Sir, this is the house we had pitched on for our head quarters."—I told him || "I was glad of it, and regretted that he had not taken it earlier, as my property would then have been protected."-He observed, "he could not think of trespassing on the repose of a private family, and would order his baggage out of my house immediately." -I earnestly begged he would still consider it as his head quarters.stantly gave orders for the sailors to be mustered on parade, and "Well, Sir," said he, " since you are so good as to insist on our staying at your house, I consent; but I will endeavour to give you as little trouble as possible. Any apartment under your roof will suffice me."-I asked him to accompany me, and I would shew him a room. He assented, and I conducted him to my own bed-chamber. He refused for some time to accept of it, and insisted I should go and bring Mrs Ewell home; observing, that I might depend on it my family should be just as safe as they were the evening before, when the American army was here; for, continued he, " I am myself a married man-have several sweet children, and venerate the sanctities of the conjugal and domestic relations."

On my observing to General Ross, it was a great pity that the elegant library had been burned with the capitol-he replied, with much concern" I lament most sincerely that I was not apprized of the circumstance, for had I known it in time, the books would most certainly have been saved."—" Neither do I suppose, Gene. ral," said I, "you would have burned the President's house, had Mrs Madison remained at home ?"-" No, Sir," said he, "I make war neither against letters nor ladies; and I have heard so much in praise of Mrs Madison, that I would rather protect than burn a house which sheltered such an excellent lady."

In praising Commodore Barney for his behaviour at the battle of Bladensburg-" A brave officer, Sir," said he. "He had only a handful of men with him, and yet he gave us a severe shock. I am sorry he was wounded; however, I immediately gave him a parole, and hope he will do well. Had half your army," continued he," been composed of such men as the Commodore commanded, with the advantage you had in choosing your position, we should never have got to your city."

What evinces more the magnanimity of this officer, he never uttered an expression in my presence against the President, or any of the officers of government; but often expressed the deepest regret that war had taken place between the two nations, so nearly allied both in consanguinity and interest. I can, moreover, truly say, I never saw the sunbeam of one cheerful smile on General Ross all the time that he was in Washington. His countenance seemed constantly shrouded in the close shades of a thoughtful mind.

Four distinguished citizens of Alexandria waited on Admiral Cockburn, with terms of capitulation. He replied with charac

that the man whom she designated as the perpetrator of the act should be shot without delay. On examining her wounds, it was found they were quite fleshy and slight. The admiral afterwards sent for me, and said, "We were determined, Sir, to have the sailor shot who stabbed the poor woman; but it gives us pleasure to learn that it is your opinion the wounds are not mortal. As she has, however, been wounded, and more than probable by our own men, we think it but just that she should be cured at our own expence. That part of the business we shall be obliged to confide to you, and for your trouble we beg of you to accept of this trifle," and reached me out a parcel of gold, six doubloons. I excused myself from taking so large a fee. "Large, my good Sir!" said he; "we are only mortified to think it is so small, but it is, I assure you, all the specie we have with us. If you will accept a bill from our government we will make it better worth your services."

Todd's edition of Johnson's Dictionary. (From the Portfolio. )— In Todd's edition of Johnson, the editor has so grossly misconceived his duty, as to alter, at pleasure, the original definitions, without giving the reader any other notice than that of a dagger prefixed. In this manner, many an unkind cut has been given to the great lexicographer; and he is so mutilated and disfigured by these merciless wounds, that it is impossible to recognize the illustrious marksman of the English tongue; indeed we doubt whether he would recognise himself under this strange metamorphosis. Notwithstanding the sneers of Horne Tooke and others, there are few who will venture to deny the authority of this work. Admitted on all hands to be imperfect, for the author himself never boasted that he had completed what he attempted, it is still the best dictionary; and is therefore emphatically the standard. If Mr Todd had contented himself with making additions to the original, plainly distinguished, there would be less room for complaint; but, by wantonly disturbing the text of his author, and presumptuously mixing his crude ideas with theological definitions of Johnson, all authority is destroyed-doubt is yet involved in uncertainty, and ignorance has lost the only oracle whom she could consult. Our editor modestly acknowledges, that "all he has done is but as dust in the balance, when weighed against the work of Dr Johnson.” Now, as two quarto volumes were to be increased to four, by the labours of this learned gentleman, if a pound of metal be no hea

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vier than a pound of feathers, two volumes of Johnson must weigh no more than two of Todd. The reader may inquire, how our editor has contrived to increase the bulk of the book so greatly? his rapacious maw has swallowed every thing it could find in old pamphlets, and has even cited as an authority a "Declaration of the Prince Regent !" In this manner he persuades himself to be content, if his countrymen admit that he has contributed somewhat towards that which many hands will not exhaust; and that his efforts, though imperfect, are not useless." Adv. p. iv. The work, it seems, is yet imperfect--for he declares it to be "a difficulty insurmountable" to remove every error in a work which he denominates a "wonderful achievement of genius and labour.”— One or two specimens of the "dust," which Mr Todd has thrown in the eyes of the purchasers of his big books, will enable our readers to form an opinion upon the false and hollow pretensions of this work.

ANTINOMIAN, n. 8. One of the sect called Antinomianism. ANTINOMIANISM, n. 8. The tenets of those who are called Antinomians. See ANTINOMIAN.

[Sept. 27, 1817.

ARIANS, n. s. One of the sect of Arius, who denies that Christ is the eternal God. [Arians, Socinians, and Deists, we presume, are synonimous terms.]

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ARIANISM, N. s. The heresy, or sect of Arius.

ARMINIAN, 22. s. He who supports the tenets of Arminius.
ARMINIANISM, n. s. The tenets of Arminius.

Sometimes the reverend editor endeavours to relieve the aridity of philological enquiries by sprightly effusions of wit.

E. g. "Buck," we are informed," is a cant word for a bold, ostentatious, or forward person; a blood; whom Johnson calls a man of fire!-Serenius has observed, that the Gothic Bocke is a great man! Who is a greater, one may add, in his own estima

tion, than a buck?

Under the verb To Calamistrate, we shall find another instance : "The hair torturers of modern times may be glad of the word, especially when I add, that a Calamist, in James the First's time, was " one having his hair turned upwards”—a definition that will suit those who have recently studied how, in this respect, to set their hair on end."

CROSS-QUESTIONS ANSWERED.

A WITNESS whom barristers tried to brow-beat,
Was, by cunning cross-questioning, put in a sweat :
When ask'd whence he came ? eyed the questioner well,
Then pertly replied, "I came just now from hell."

Poetry.

Bar" From hell, mister Saucebox! no wonder you're warm ;

"But remember your oath, fellow, lest you meet harm:
"Come, tell us what news from the law court below."
Wit." I left hell in the midst of a hell of a row!
"For a trial at bar, quite the converse of civil,
"Was about to come on then-the Pope versus Devil!"
Bar." Indeed! raise your voice well, my jocular friend,
"And say how this hell of a row was to end."

Wit. If the trial you mean, that's a nail I can't hit, "For in hell, as on earth,, law's a bottomless pit;

"But the queer ones all said, that the Pope must succumb, "For Old Nick had the lawyers all under his thumb.

THE IRONING DAY.

By Mr Henry Lee.

ONE day of dread is o'er-but ills are double,
Now comes the Ironing-day-all toil and trouble!
An ironing day's an iron age to me→→
Too sad a truth, although 'tis irony!

A thousand ills my heated frame environ,
Whene'er I'm ruffled by a smoothing iron!
My pen I snatch, and try to write plain prose,
Some burning tag-rag stuff offends my nose;
For purer air I'm each apartment seeking,
But noxious vapours everywhere are reeking!

Put to strange shifts, and numerous shifts while trying,
I'm shivering wet, while all things round are drying.
'Tis worse, far worse, than standing with bare feet
At Christmas, doing penance in a sheet!

1 pace the garden, heavy as a sledge,
"Linen (as Falstaff says) on every hedge."
There fringed curtains waft like clouds in air,
Each ruffled shirt's "a ravell'd sleeve of care."

Vainly I muse on poesy divine,

A dismal gloom is thrown o'er every line;
Winds, as they blow, long trains of terror spread,
Frill'd caps and gown-tails flapping 'gainst my head!
My pathway's stopt-to find the track is puzzling—
I'm clasp'd by calico, or wrapt in muslin !
Walking, I stoop to 'scape the flying evils,
Where long-prong'd sticks stand up like forked devils!

The Washing-day.

Each holly-bush, tall shrub, or painted post,
A pallid spectre seems, or green-eyed ghost!
From boughs suspended, bodied gowns I see,
As if a Bateman hung on every tree! •
My house once more I enter-all annoys,
Throwing, as 'twere, wet blankets o'er my joys:
I dare not speak-I'm told the work it hinders-
To lend a hand were but to burn my fingers.
Tormented thus, of life itself I tire,
Plagued with so many irous in the fire!

A LOVER'S EFFUSION.
MARK'D you her eyes' resistless glance,
That does the enraptur'd soul entrance?
Mark'd you that dark blue orb unfold
Volumes of bliss, as yet untold?
And felt you not, as I now feel,
Delight no tongue could e'er reveal ?

Mark'd you her cheek, that blooms and glows,

A living emblem of the rose?

Mark'd you her vermeil lip, that breathes

The balmy fragrance of its leaves?

And felt you not, as I now feel,

Delight no tongue could e'er reveal ?

Mark'd you her artless smiles, that speak
The language written on her cheek;
When bright as morn, and pure as dew,
The bosom thoughts arise to view ?
And felt you not, as I now feel,
Delight no tongue could e'er reveal?
Mark'd you her face, and did not there
Sense, softness, sweetness, all appear?
Mark'd you her form, and saw not you
A heart and mind as lovely too?
And felt you not, as I now feel,
Delight no tongue could e'er reveal ?

Mark'd you all this, and you have known
The treasured raptures that I own:
Mark'd you all this, and you, like me,
Have wander'd oft her shade to see:
For you have felt, as I now feel,
Delight no tongue could e'er reveal!

A person who hanged himself for love in an orchard.

Sept. 27, 1817.]

Foreign Intelligence.

Chronicle.

41

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

IN the absence of all important political events, some persons, we observe, are endeavouring to alarm our fears, by the most absurd speculations on the power and designs of the Russian emperor. Sir Robert Wilson, in a late work on the military and political power of the Russian empire, by his authority, has aided, in no inconsiderable degree, the arguments of those journalists who have taken up this subject. This officer, whose history must now be pretty well known to our readers, says" The war for restoration of the balance of power has thus ended in the overthrow of all balance; in the substitution of solid dominion for a momentary authority; in a national supremacy, instead of the supremacy of one extraordinary man, subject to all the vicissitudes of fortune and the infirmities of humanity; and so long as France is not re-united to Europe-so long as she cannot be rendered contributive to the general system of defence, every monarch and nation on the continent must owe their existence to the forbearance of Alexander:" and the Morning Chronicle, in the same spirit, asserts, that ministers, "to punish the people of France, have Jaid all Europe prostrate at the feet of a power possessed of much greater natural resources, and in every way much more formidable to Europe!" We well remember the different language which was held, during the invasion of Russia, by the same politicians. The policy of the Russians, in retreating before the invader, was then represented as the most unequivocal acknowledgment of their inferiority. The courage, the number, and the tactics of these brave people, were the perpetual subjects of the most contemptuous sneers; and the destruction of the invaders was declared to be the work of the elements alone. One journal, the Examiner we believe, even talked of the retreat from Moscow as a lateral movement merely! All this, and a thousand other arguments, to prove the inferiority of the Russian barbarians to the invincible French, which must be in the full recollection of our readers, are now forgotten. But this is not all; on the escape of Napoleon, and a few of his followers, we were assured, in the most oracular manner, that in the course of the ensuing spring, the French emperor would again be at the head of an army, equally numerous and well appointed, when he certainly would accomplish what accident had before defeated--the overthrow of the throne of the Czars. The defection of the Prussians, which was represented as an act of the grossest treachery, again disappointed their hopes; but the same confidence in the invincibility and fine genius of the French, and the same confidence in their ultimate triumph, continued to the last. And even Sir Robert Wilson, in his present work, which is so often referred to, by these new alarmists, states, that on the close of the campaign of 1814, "60,000 French baffled the operations of 200,000 of the allies,”. "that the victories of Napoleon *screwed them, as it were, in a vice, from which, if defection had not extricated them, they were unable to secure their retreat."With all this evidence of Russian weakness, and French superiority, we are now called upon to believe, that the two nations have suddenly exchanged their designs and their characters—that the profligate ambition, and unlimited resources of the "great nation," have been at once transferred to the stupid impoverished Russian, a member only of that allied force which sunk before a

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detachment of the soldiers of Napoleon! But it is against Russia the powers of Europe ought now to be leagued; and France, in place of being" trampled under foot," must be raised and flattered, as it is to that nation we must now look for our preservation! Such are the opinions of Sir Robert Wilson and a party now. growing up in this country. Nor do we find much cogency in the argument for the evacuation of France, when it is supported by the acknowledgment that "the present sovereign of France dares not trust to a native force for his support." That the majority of the French people are enthusiastically devoted to the ex-emperor, we believe few will disbelieve; and it is a conviction of this fact which leads us to deprecate the speedy removal of the allied troops from the French territory. One trial of the people of France has already been made, and the consequences were, the battle of Waterloo-a continuance or renewal of the heavy wartaxes with all those effects on the prosperity of the country which are incident to the unexpected change from peace to warand from war to peace. To whine over the fallen liberties of the French people, is to regret the recovery of the liberties of Europe -and to repine at the return of its inhabitants to the peaceful and honest pursuits of life. It is, in short, to forget all the atrocious crimes of the last twenty-five years. Let the people of France cultivate other feelings and better principles, than those which it is admitted they at present entertain, and we doubt not→→→ nay, we are certain, the allies will with no less alacrity abandon the "sacred territory," as it was once called, for their own homes. As to Russia, whose power over every state in Europe is represented as being already complete, we really imagine few will think of the subject with much alarm. Russia, neither by her genius, nor her resources, will ever be able to accomplish what France has failed to execute. The population of the Russian empire, with the boasted variety of nations of which it is formed, and their contiguity to so many of the other European states, are just so many causes which would accelerate the downfal of the whole, in case it should ever betray so much folly and profligate ambition, as to aspire at universal dominion.

The approach of the period at which one-fifth of the departments return representatives to the chamber of deputies, and the partial change just been made in the French ministry, are circum. stances which excite great interest in Paris, and doubtless throughout the whole of France. Marshal St Cyr has succeeded the Duke of Feltre as war minister, and Count Mole has succeeded St Cyr as minister of marine. It appears, therefore, that the struggle for power, which has for some time existed between the constitutional party and the ultra royalists, has terminated to the advantage of the former.

A considerable number of French ecclesiastics have declined the bishoprics to which the King had appointed them.

Two men, Desbans and Chayoux, have been shot on the plains of Grenelle for treasonable designs against the lives of the French princes.

General Lascy, who was implicated in the late insurrectionary movements in the east of Spain, has been conveyed to Minorca, and put to death.

The action brought by the Duke of Wellington, at Ghent, against the editor of the West Flanders Journal, for a libel, in imputing to his grace an interference in the government of Martinique, has been dismissed, with costs. His grace has carried the cause to the court of appeal.

42

In consequence of some seditious movements at Breslau, orders have been issued for the assembly of 10,000 men in the neighbourhood. The Berlin Gazette alludes to some events which have taken place at Carouge. An assemblage of persons had, it seems, expressed an improper attachment to a certain exiled personage. They were interrupted in their proceedings by the gensd'armes, and dispersed. A certain degree of agitation has manifested itself in the capital, as well as in other cities of the empire. On the 15th there were some disturbances at Geneva, and it was not until after considerable efforts that the gen-d'armerie succeeded in restoring tranquillity.

Chronicle, [Sept. 27, 1817. tion of the Committee, and they strongly recommend the erection of one for juvenile delinquents, who are now encouraged in their vicious practices, by being shut up in the same prison with experienced and hardened offenders. It is very consolatory to observe the good effects which have been produced at the House of Refuge for the destitute, the Philanthropic Institution, the Magdalen Hospital, and the London Female Penitentiary; all supported by private benevolence: and at the General Penitentiary at Milbank, the chaplain of which says, "that the general conduct of the prisoners during their confinement has been most satisfactory; that the repentance and amendment of many of them is visible; and that there is every reason to presume, that on their leaving the prison they will become honest and industrious members of society."

By a cabinet order of the King of Prussia, it is decreed that those artists and artisans who take as an apprentice a deaf and dumb person, and maintain him long enough to instruct him in their business, shall receive a premium of 56 dollars.

ENGLAND.

The Right Hon. Charles Chetwynd, Earl Talbot, has been pointed Lieutenant-General and General Governor of Ireland.

Tuesday se'nnight Benjamin Caines, captain of the Kingswood gang, only 23 years of age, lately executed, was interred in the burial ground at Bitton, in the same grave with his brother, who was hung some time ago, and at whose funeral Ben attended, and, instead of paying attention to the solemn service, sat on a walt ap-whistling the whole time. A numerous concourse of his acquaintance attended the procession from Cock-road (near two miles): the pall was supported by six females dressed in white. The body was taken into the church, and after the Psalms and Epistle were read, the Minister preached a very impressive sermon to Caines' numerous associates and friends, from Ephesians, iv. 28. "Let him that stole steal no more." The greatest attention was paid by them to this well-delivered discourse, and the body was afterwards committed to the grave by candle light. Among the attendants were his aged father, three brothers, sisters, &c. This is the second son the wretched father has attended on a similar occasion, and two have been transported.

A letter has been received within the last week from Mr Bosworth, late master of the Boston Public School, who was sent by the British and Foreign School Society to the island of St Domingo, for the purpose of establishing schools in that part of it under the presidency of Petion. On the 26th of June he was introduced to Petion, who declared that he would have schools erected in every place, for that it is his wish to have all educated in his dominions, and he will give every facility to forward the undertaking.

Freedom of speech at the bar.-An action, of quite a novel and singular nature, was tried at the Lancashire assizes a few days ago. It was brought by Mr Hudgden, an attorney, for words spoken by Mr Scarlet in the course of his professional practice, before the same Court, in the last spring assizes, and of course involved the great question of freedom of speech at the bar. It was charged, that the defendant had, in the course of a speech in a cause in which he was engaged as counsel, called the plaintiff a fraudulent and wicked attorney. After hearing the counsel on each side, Mr Baron Wood intimated, that he was not for giving sanction to this action, of a first impression, brought for the first time, because it would be most mischievous, not merely to the bar, but to the pubHic. The words might overstep the bounds of propriety, and be too severe, but they were not to be corrected by such an action. If they had been said elsewhere-if they had been published, they could be punished. In the privileges of parliament it was the sume. The principle was this-whatever is said in judicial or legal proceedings is not actionable. If published, it is. Lord Abingdon was found liable in the King's Bench on this principle, and was imprisoned. He refused, on the same principle, to maintain an action at Northampton, brought by a clergyman against a parishioner, for letters written to the bishop of the diocese (Peterborough), because he would not make courts of law auxiliary to the ecclesiastical courts, the parishioner having a right to make such representations to the bishop. It had been said, some limits must he set. His objection to this action was the difficulty of fixing li mits. During one assize they could do nothing but try actions brought for words used by counsel at the former a size. The words might be too severe; I cannot say any thing of that. Plaintiff nonsuited.

The Second Report of the Committee of the House of Commons, on the Police of the metropolis, has just been published. It abounds with matter for interesting reflection. There is, perhaps, none of greater interest than that to which this report refers. The best means of preventing the commission of crime-of detecting it when committed-and of saving the criminal from deeper guilt, are in. deed considerations of the highest public importance in every country, and above all, in England, which has long suffered under accusations in this respect. The Committee have divided their inquiries into two branches-the system of parliamentary rewards, and the establishment of penitentiary prisons. After an enumeration of the various legislative acts which sanction the former, the report states, at considerable length, the substance of the evidence which has induced the Committee to pronounce the system as one of more than questionable policy, calculated to produce, instead of to check crime. Penitentiary houses receive the most unqualified approba

A singular fact has lately transpired, which has led to the desertion of a once flourishing school in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. It is that of the schoolmaster having used meat not in general use among human beings, in the composition of soup for his pupils we mean horse-flesh.

SCOTLAND.

The Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council, on Wednesday se'nnight unanimously voted a piece of plate, value fifty guineas, to Alexander Henderson, Esq. first bailie of the city, in testimony of their sense of his general active conduct as a magistrate; but in particular for the able and gentlemanly manner in which Mr Henderson discharged the duties of chief magistrate, while the Lord Provost was necessarily absent attending to the interest of the city in London.

On the same day, the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council, unanimously voted a piece of plate, value one hundred guineas, to Robert Johnston, Esq. lord dean of guild of the city, as a mark of the respect which they entertain of the unremitting attention he has paid to the various duties of the office, and for his zealous and never ceasing efforts to promote the improvement and good of the city.

The Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council, have conferred the freedom of the city on Dr Thomas Charles Hope, in testimony of their esteem, and in gratitude for various valuable services, as professor of Chemistry in this university (to the celebrity of which he has greatly contributed), in regard to the proposed additional supplies of water.

On Wednesday se'nnight the following gentlemen were elected ordinary council deacons for the ensuing year, viz :--Messrs James Bryce, Messrs James Anderson, James Thomson, jun. James Denholm.

John Laing, Alexander Lyall,

The University of Marischal College, Aberdeen, has conferred the honorary degree of LL. D. on the celebrated French philoso pher Jean Baptiste Biot, and also on Captain Thomas Colby, of the Royal Engineers.

On the 2d instant, the Rev. George Shepperd was ordained Minister of the mission of Fort William.

On Monday the 15th, 25 criminal prisoners were removed from the Tolbooth and Lock-up-house to the new jail on the Calton-hill. The two M'Ilvogues and M'Cristal, under sentence of death, were sent from the old jail to the Lock-up-house; Janet Douglas, like

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wise under sentence of death, is in the same place. All these unfortunate people are behaving in a manner becoming their unhappy

situation.

Tuesday se'nnight the door of the old jail was thrown open, and every prisoner for debt was liberated. It is expected that a little balance may be left, which will be applied to aid the families of the most distressed prisoners.-The following morning the workmen commenced their operations on this ancient fabric, which will now speedily disappear. This edifice was completed in its present form in 1561, though some part of it is supposed much older, as the east and west ends are evidently of different styles of architecture. It was originally destined for the accommodation of Parliament, and the Courts of Justice, and also for the confinement of debtors and criminals; but since 1640, after the Parliament House at Edinburgh was built, it has been used solely as a gaol.

A subscription has been entered into, for the purpose of making a measurement and estimate of a rail-road from the coal-works in the neighbourhood of Dalkeith to this city.

On the 19th the annual meeting of the Trustees of the Burgh and Parochial Schoolmasters' Widows' Fund was held in the High School, Edinburgh. Mr Macfarlane, Stewartown, was chosen Preses; the cashier and clerk were re-elected. From the accounts laid before the meeting, it appeared that £.486 16 have been paid to the widows and orphans, and £.36 10 expended on other contingencies, during the last year.

At Fortingall, the traveller is shown one of the greatest antiquities of which the nation can boast, viz. a yew tree, fifty-three feet in circumference. It is mentioned, and a drawing of it given by the celebrated Mr Pennant, in his Tour through Scotland. Its age cannot be ascertained, but from appearance and tradition it cannot be less than 700 or 800 years old. It is now in a decayed state, and the proprietor's burial ground lies beside it; and through the decayed part of the trunk the funeral processions pass. Its branches are green. This is well worth seeing, and many travelJers carry off pieces of the wood to foreign countries, as relics of this venerable and solitary tree.

On the 21st ult. there came ashore, between Staxico and Wick, near the Boathaven, a whale, measuring 66 feet 5 inches in length: he was first observed by the Buckey fishermen, who were at the herring fishery, who immediately went up to him, and after attacking him with a sword and a scythe, which made no impression on him, they got an axe, which they sunk in his head. After various attempts with boat-hooks, oars, &c. they succeeded in killing him. They were engaged in this operation nearly 25 hours. The carcase was claimed by Sir Benjamin Dunbar, as lord of the manor, and by the Provost of Wiek, on the part of the Crown. Owing to this dispute, and the roughness of the weather, the sale could not take place before the Tuesday, and was advertised to take place at two o'clock, but early on the Tuesday morning, owing to a heavy gale of wind and a tremendous sea which broke him in pieces, no sale could take place. The entrails, blubber, &c. were driven ashore, and great part of the carcase was floating near the spot where he was killed, and his tail and about 14 feet of the carcase were seen at sea.

On Thursday the 9th instant, the Associate Congregation of Thurso gave a most unanimous call to the Rev. Mr John M'Donald to be their pastor; the Rev. Mr Wm. Stewart, Wick, presided on the occasion.

The colliers at Gilmerton lately struck work, in consequence of a small reduction being made in their wages. After taking some steps towards a division of their society funds, they were induced, by the threat of having the roofs of their houses taken off, to return to their usual employment.

On Saturday se'ennight, about one o'clock, as two gentlemen were walking between Granton and Caroline Park, they perceived a boy on a rock, surrounded by the tide, which was rising rapidly. The poor boy seeing his danger, called loudly for help; and the gentlemen desired some masons who were working near the spot, to go to Granton for a horse. Luckily there was a man not far off with a horse and cart, and to him they applied, but the fellow had the inhumanity to refufe. It was not however a time for ceremony; the horse was therefore taken from the eart without the man's leave; and one of the masons having mounted it, rescued the boy from his perilous situation, who proved to be the son of

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the very man who had refused to give his horse for the purpose of getting him out.

The Perth Baking Company, to whom this city is so much indebted, have reduced the price of their quartern loaves in Edinburgh to one shilling the fine, and ninepence the second.

On Wednesday se'ennight, a man who appeared to have been the worse of liquor, fell from a stage-coach in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and was so severely bruised, that though immediately carried to the infirmary, he died on Friday morning. Wednesday Robert Brown, charged with being guilty of a most atrocious rape at Blantyre, was apprehended at Bridgeton. He absconded at the time the crime was committed.

Monday, a boy about twelve years of age flying a kite on the Calton hill, in endeavouring to save it, was precipitated over part of the rocks on the south-east side, by which one of his thigh bones was broke, and he was otherwise very severely hurt.

On Monday se'ennight, as some men were at work on a new road in the neighbourhood of Dalkeith, a bank of earth fell, by which one of them was unfortunately killed. His name is Hugh Baxter, serjeant in the Edinburgh Miliția, and by trade a printer; he had been fourteen years in the regiment, and was much respected a widow and two children (the youngest of whom has been helpless from its cradle,) are thus suddenly deprived of support.

A boy about fourteen years of age, servant to a farmer near Peebles, having been taken ill, his master wrote to the mother, a widow, residing at Hope Park-end, on Saturday last, to come out and take him home but the poor woman, either not apprehending immediate danger, or from a difficulty of getting away from her other children, of whom she has several, did not immediately attend to the request of the letter, and on Monday se'ennight, the boy was sent off to Edinburgh, a distance of 21 miles, in a cart, in charge only of a lad about his own age. The feelings of the poor woman may be conceived, when, upon going to lift her son from the cart, she found him a corpse. The boy in charge of the cart said, that shortly after they set out he saw the deceased so ill that he was afraid to look at him; and he saw him moving when within about three miles from Edinburgh; but unfortunately it never occurred to him to halt, or ask assistance on the road. On Saturday se'ennight, between seven and eight o'clock, as a farmer's servant girl was returning home from Glasgow, where she had been selling butter milk, she drove the horse to a rivulet on the banks of the Forth and Clyde canal, where he usually went to drink. The animal, in going forward, tumbled over the bank into the water, in consequence of which the girl also fell in and was drowned. It was nearly an hour and a half before her body was got out.

On Friday the 12th instant, as David Anderson, shoremaster at Polgavie, near Dundee, was travelling along the sands in the river Tay, to assist in piloting the Lady Kinnaird, of that port, into the harbour, he was surrounded by the tide, which rose very high that day, being a stream one, and not observed by the sailors on board, he was overwhelmed by the flood, and sunk to rise no more. His body was found on Saturday at low water, more than an English mile from the shore, quite naked, having thrown away his clothes, probably to try if he could save himself by swimming. His cries were heard by several persons in the adjoining field, who went immediately to the shore, but not hearing the cries there, and perceiving the vessel in the channel, they naturally concluded that the noise proceeded from the sailors working her up, and returned quite satisfied that all was well, till next day.

A boat belonging to Ferryden, going home from the herring. fishery at Fraserburgh, when off Cairnbulg, about one o'clock on Saturday morning, was taken by a squall of wind, and one of the crew, R. Crombie, dropt overboard, and was drowned.

On Saturday se'nnight, a boat belonging to Peterhead, on her return from Newburgh with mussels, struck on a sunk rock off Whinnyfold, when, melancholy to relate, six people (three men and three young women) lost their lives, leaving their numerous relatives in a state more easily felt than described; the father of one of the parties having been an eye-witness to the fate of his son. The boat was seen to upset almost instantaneously, but at too great a distance for immediate relief. The only survivor of the crew, Robert Sellar, was saved by clinging to the mast, which fortunately

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