Artiscettantous.

Our active. agrkultural correspondent in Surrey sends us no better-ac- count of 'the harvest: iii thatrquarter the wheat yields badly- in threshing; and, incredible as it may seem, much is still out! Speaking of the potato-crop in Ireland, the Globe has this assurance- " It is known Government is engaged in devising some means of meeting the impending calamity; although the precise mode of doing so is yet concealed from the pablie. The Stipendiary Magistrates and chief constables of the different districts have, it is understood, received directions to inquire into and report upon the state of the crops in their respective districts, with a view to taking measures to mitigate the distress; which, if allowed to fall, with its full weight of miseries upon the wretched sufferers,,vrould be a. more appalling.visitation than rebellion, war, or pestilence."' The. Glasgow Angus reports—" We regret to learn that the disease lathe potato is now materially felt in this neighbourhood; whole acres being in various quarters destroyed. In the Glasgow market the evil is distinctly felt; great numbers of the potatoes bought in the shops- being found, when tried for family use, to beaffected with rot."

Sir Robert Peel has selected the Reverend Dr Wilberforce; the Dean of Westminster, as the successor of the late Bishop of Bath and Wells. The Very Reverend Dr. Wilberforce has been Dean of Westminster since the death of Dr. Ireland; and will be, we hear, the youngest Bishop on the beuch.-3fbrnitag Chronicle.

The Queen has conferred' a pension of 2001. a year on Mr Alfred Ten- nyson, the poet; to whom, we fear, although he is related to those who are very, wealthy, the modest income will be only too welcome. The Cam- bridge Independent says that " Sir Robert Peel did the thing very deli- cately, through Mr. Hallam the historian."

Under the head of " Important News;" the Paris Eporte, a Ministerial paper, has this statement- " Oar private correspondence from London announces that the Cabinets of London and Washington have come to an agreement on the question of the Ore- gon territory. It is known that the immediate occupation of the Oregon had been rejected by the American Senate by a majority of only two votes. An Ame- rican plenipotentiary had repaired to London to follow np the negotiations, which have.atlength ended in a final arrangement."

The Experimental Squadron of litie=of-battle ships has just returned to Plymouth, after another trial cruise ; and the following report has been Made to the Secretary of the Admiralty, by Sir Samuel Pym, the Com- mander.

" St. Vincent, in Plymouth Sound, Oct. 10, 1845. " Sir—I have the honour to ,forward to you, for the information of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the diagrams of the trials of sailing of her Ma- jesty's squadron under my command, and other documents mentioned in the en- closed schedule. In addition to which, a good trial was commenced on the 1st in- stant by the Queen, Canopus, Albion, and Vanguard, in chase of the Daring, under all plain sail, and part topmast and topgallant studding-sails ; but the fog, which came on three hours after, prevented angles being taken to ascertain the exact result. The Queen, however, gained on her.

" You will be pleased to acquaint their Lordships that we have had some splendid trials with as heavy a press of sail as could well be carried : one begin- ning•with close-reefed topsails and reefed courses, topgallant masts struck ; the next under treble-reefed topsails, and another under double-reefed topsails ; and allthese against a heavy head sea. " In the latter, on the 7th instant, the day after the heaviest gale, the Rodney beat the whole fleet.

" Nothing could be more easy in all the trials than the Queen and Albion, who never appeared to strain anything : indeed, all the squadron proved themselves such fine ships as to be incapable of being distressed by press of sail, except the St. Vincent.

" Being perfectly satisfied with the result of the trials, that the Queen is the bestslaip, the Albion and Rodney next, Canopus and Vanguard much alike, Tra- falgar weatherly but slow, St. Vincent leewardy and crank ; and as the weather appeared to set in fine, and not deeming, that any further trial would benefit the service, I therefore bore up on the 9th instant for this anchorage; which I reached with the squadron under my command this day, at 7 15 p.m. " I beg to remark, for their Lordships' information, that all the Captains de- serve the greatest credit, for the eesmsnlike manner in which they made sail, blowing in the way it did on the above-mentioned occasions. 1 have, &c., S. PYM, Rear-Admiral.

" To the Right Hon. Homy T. L. Corry, M.P."

A petition of the Masters of the Royal Navy to the Lords of the Admi- ralty, complaining of want of proper remuneration, and of their subordinate reek, was presented to their Lordships on Friday, by a deputation of the London Central Committee of Masters.

The Commanders of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth have held a meeting, which appointed a Committee to consider the propriety of drawing up a memorial to the Admiralty, in conjunction with the Commanders at the other ports, praying for a retiring-allowance upon a proportionate scale with the Captains whose case the Board is now providing for.

We are informed that a detachment of sappers and miners arrived at Hoyle last week, and proceeded to the parish of Zennor, where they have been engaged in repairing a battery; and report states that guns of heavy calibre are shortly to be mounted there. We have been informed that other Places along the ceast are to be visited by this party of sappers and miners, and that Castle Dennis is to be a signal-station.—Penzance Gazette.

The Fourth Report of the Commissioners on the Fine Arts has just been issued by the Parliamentary printer. It relates to the placing of statues in the " New Palace of Westminster "—the Parliament Houses. The Com- missioners report, that there are various situations already ascertained to be. suitable to statues, others suitable to busts; but " many situations for statues consist of niches only, which, in accordance with the style of Gothic architecture adopted, are uniformly narrow, not exceeding two feet in width "; a size and form " which seem to limit the choice of the Commis- tiOners to characters drawn from tbe feudal age, and, as usual with effigies Ce.that period, preeenting. little or no variety of attitude." However, the Conimissioners express the opinion, ...... " that sixinsulated. marble statues might be consseientiy placed in.St. Ste-

s. Porch, and that sixteen such statues might be conveniently placed in St. Stephen's Hall. We are of opinion that it is not desirable that a corresponding, rpmber of eminent names be now pointed out with a view to the entire occupa, tlon•of those places; but we are at once prepared to recommend.that statues of Marlborough and Nelson be placed in St. Stephen's Porch; and that statues of Seam, Hampden,. Lord Falkland, Lord Clarendon, Lord Sonserti,. Sir Robert Walpole, Lord Chatham, Lord Mansfield, Burke, Fox, FItt,,and Grattan, be placed VA St. Stephen's Hall.

"We have further to propose that the following three artiste...viz. William

Calder Marshall,,Tolm.Belf, and John Henry Foley, Whom norka.im tbelast ex- hibition in Westminster Hall were considered by us to be entitled to especial. Cesamendation, be at once commissioned- to. prepare models for three of the atom-

said statues—viz. the statues of Hampden, Lord Falkland, and Lord Clarendon; and that the execution of such statues be allotted to the said artists respec- tively, as we may hereafter decide " We have further to propose that 2,0001. of public money be granted on ac count towards the payment of such works."

A Sub-Committee report the subjoined lists of names of " distinguished" men to whose memory statues might be erected. The first list (A) con- sists of names to which the Committee agreed unanimously; the second (B) of names on which they were not unanimous, but which were adopted by a majority. At the same time, the Committee desire to express their unanimous opinion, that the attempt to execute any great number of these. statues simultaneously, would not be conducive to the interests of art."

a.

Alfred Sir William Wallace Bacon

Sir Philip Sidney Duke of Marlborough Lord Clive Lord Heathfield Lord Howard of Effingham Sir Francis Drake Admiral Blake Lord Rodney Lord Howe Lord Duncan Lord St. Vincent Lord Nelson Sir Walter Raleigh Captain Cook Sir Th. Gresham Chaucer Spencer Earl of Surrey Shakspere Milton Addison Richardson Dr. Johnson Cowper

Sir Walter Scott

evised March 14, 1845.

(L)

Richard I. Cosur de Lion John Wickliffe Edward I. John Knox Edward III. Cranmer The Black Prince Archbishop Usher Henry V. Archbishop Leighton William III. Jeremy Taylor

George HI. Chilling-worth

Barrow Cardinal Langton Bishop Butler William of Wickham John Wesley Cardinal Wolsey Earl of Strafford Sir John Talbot Lord Falkland Sir John Chandos Sir William Temple Marquis of Montrose Lord Russell Cromwell Sir Robert Walpole Monk Earl of Hardwicke General Wolfe Earl Camden Sir Eyre Coote Grattan Sir Ralph Abercromby Warren Hastings Sir John Moore Speaker Onalow Hawke Garrick

Another Sub-Committee recommend, that eighteen niches in the House of Lords be filled with effigies of eighteen of the principal Barons whoa: signed Magna Charts; namely—

Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Can- William, Earl of Aumerlo terbury Geoffrey, Earl of Gloucester William, Bishop of London Salter, Earl of Winchester Almeric, Master of Knights Tempters Henry, Earl of Hereford William, Earl of Salisbury Roger, Earl of Norfolk William, Earl of Pembroke Robert, Earl of Oxford

waren, Earl of Warren. Robert Fitzwalter

William, Earl of Arundel Eustace do Yawl Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent William do Mowbray Richard, Earl of Clare

A memorandum by the Commissioners records their opinion that the entrance' to the Houses of Parliament by the grand staircase, landing-place' guard,. room, Victoria Gallery, and lobby to the House Of Peers, should contain the statues of Sovereigns,—namely,Egbert, Edgar, Canute, and Edward the, Confessor, and the whole series from William the Conqueror to Victoria._ Queen Mary, the wife of William IIL, and Prince Albert, are also to be included. The Victoria Hall to contain twelve statues; beginning with Henry VII., ending with Queen Anne, and including Mary.

Two documents, curious " if true," are published for the first time in the Ami de la Religion, a Paris periodical, which vouches for their authenticity, and states that the originals are deposited in the archives of the Arch- bishop of Paris. They consist of a solemn rotractation by the late cele- brated Prince de Talleyrand, who, as our readers are aware, was Bishop of Autun when the first French Revolution broke out, and of a letter ad- dressed by him to Pope Gregory XVI. The Ami de In Religion asserts that the documents were spontaneously drawn up by the Prince three months before his death, but that it was only a few hours before he expired that he consented to sign them. It was the moment he had determined upon, and no exhortations or entreaties could induce him to do it earlier. When some relations and friends urged him not to procrastinate, he would reply—"

ne sais rien faire vite ; je ne suis jamais pressd, et je suis toujours arrive it temps." We subjoin a translation of the two documents.

RRTRACPATION.

" Touched more and more with grave considerations, and led coolly to judge of the consequences of a revolution which has carried away everything and has now, lasted fifty years, I have reached the end of a at age; and, after a long ex-

patience, have come to blaming the excesses of the times I have belonged to, and to frankly condemning the grave errors which in this long series of years have. disturbed and afflicted the Catholic. Apostolic, and Roman Church, and in which I have had the misfortune to participate. " If it please the respectable friend of my family, M. the Archbishop of Park who has condescended to have mg assured of the Sovereign Pontiff's friendly dis- positions towards me, to assure the Holy Father, and wish it, of my reepec gratitude, and of my entire submission to the doctrine and• discipline of the Ch and to the decisions and judgments of the Holy See in the ecclesiastical matters France, I dare hope that his Holiness will favourably receive this homage.

"'Dispensed, at a later period, by the venerable Pius VII., from exercising the ecclesiastical functions, I have sought, in my long career, opportunities of render- ing to religion, and to many honourable and distinguished members of the Catholic.

Elizabeth Robert Bruce Lord BurleIgh John Hampden Earl of Clarendon Lord Somers Earl of Chatham Edmund Burke C. J. Fox William Pitt Sir Thomas More Sir Edward'Coke John Selden SirMatthew Ha/e Earl of Mansfield Lord Erskine

Venerable Bede Richard-Hooker-

March 6, 1845.—R Napier Newton Locke Robert Boyle Caxton Watt Herschel Cavendish Bilge Jones

Sir Christoph. Wren Hogarth Sir Joshua Reynolds Flaxnuul

John Howard William Wilberforce Harvey Jenner Ben Jenson John Bunyan Dryden Pope Swift Goldsmith Burns

Sir William Jones.

Robertson Iltuno Fielding Roger Bacon Smeaton Brindley John Hunter Adam Smith Purcell

deem all the services that were in my power. Never have I ceased to consider myself a child of the Church. I again deplore the acts of my life which have grieved her; and my last wishes shall be for her and for her supreme chief.

" CHARLES MAURICE PRINCE DE TALLEYRAND.

" Signed at Paris, on the 17th May 1838 ; written on the 10th March 1838."

" LETTER TO HIS HOLINESS GREGORY XVI.

Most Holy Father—The young and pious child who surrounds my old age with the most touching and tender attentions, has just conveyed to me the expres- sions of friendship which your Holiness has condescended recently to use towards me; telling me, at the same time, with what joy she expects the blessed objects which your Holiness has been pleased to destine to her. I am deeply affected by them, as I was on the day Monseigneur the Archbishop of Paris for the first time conveyed them to me.

" Before I am weakened by the serious illness which has attacked me, I wish, most Holy Father, to express to you all my gratitude, and at the same time my feelings. I venture to hope that your Holiness will not only favourably receive them, but also condescend to appreciate in your justice all the circumstances that have directed my actions. Memoirs, long ago finished, but which, in compliance with my will, shall appear but thirty years after my death, will explain to pos- terity my conduct dunng the Revolutionary storm. I shall for the present con- fine myself, in order not to weary the Holy Father, to calling his attention to the general aberration of the period I have belonged to. " Neither does the respect I owe to those who gave me birth prohibit my say- ing that all my youth was directed towards a profession for which I was not born. " However, I cannot do better than refer on this point, as on any other, to the indulgence and equity of the Church and of its venerable chief. " I am with respect, most Holy Father, your Holiness's very humble and very obedient son and servant,

" CHARLES MAURICE PRINCE DE TALLEYRAND.

" Signed at Paris, the 17th May 1838; done on the 10th March 1838."

The Archbishop of Paris has addressed a circular to the clergy of his diocese, stating, that although these letters may be, as he be- lieves they are, authentic, he had read them for the first time a few days ago in the newspapers; and though they may originally have been in the secretariate of the episcopal palace, they must have been removed many years ago. In a postscript, however, the Archbishop adds that the original letters had been since presented to him, with the certificate of his pre- decessor.

The Morning Post reports the names of members of the University of Oxford who have been received into the Roman Catholic Church in the course of the last few days. They are- " The Reverend J. H. Newman, B.D., Fellow of Oriel College; the Reverend — Stanton, M.A., of Brasenose College ; the Reverend — Bowles, M.A., of Exeter College ; the Reverend — Ambrose St. John, Student of Christ Church; J. D. Dalgairns' Esq., M.A., of Exeter College; and Albany Christie, Esq., MA., Fellow of Oriel College." [In a subsequent number, the Post adds the name of Mr. Leicester S. F. Buckingham.]

" It is stated confidently that other clergymen, also members of the University of Oxford, are preparing to take a similar step. " We understand that the reception of Mr. Newman into the Roman Catholic Church took place at Littlemore."

The death of Admiral Sir Charles Rowley leaves vacant a grand cross of the Bath and the good-service pension of 3001. a year. Sir Charles, the son of an Admiral, entered the service very early in life; having been made a Lieutenant in 1789. He married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Admiral Sir Richard King. He was created a Baronet in 1837; and in 1843 succeeded Sir Edward Codrington in the naval command of Ports- mouth; a post which ill health obliged him to resign a few days before his death. He is succeeded in the Baronetcy by his eldest son, Lieutenant- Colonel R. C. Rowley, late of the Grenadier Guards.

America has lost one of her greatest men, in the person of the celebrated jurist Judge Story; who died at Boston, on the 10th September last. Judge Story is well known, not in England only, but in every part of Europe, by his Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, his Treatise on the Conflict of Laws, and other legal works of the highest reputation. In his native country he was more than an author: as one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States for no less than thirty-four years, he had a large and important share in the administration of justice; and he also discharged the duties of a Professor of Law in Harvard University. Mr. Story was born in 1779; graduated at Harvard University in 1798; and while yet young, entered into the practice of the law. He was for a short time member of the Massachusetts Legislature: in 1811 he was appointed, by President Madison, pne of the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court of the United States - and as a member of the Massachusetts Convention, in 1820, he rendered important assistance in revising the constitution of that State. He was in early life the fellow student of Charming; whose death alone closed their friendship.

Jackson, the celebrated boxer, died in London last week, in his seventy- seventh year. Besides being a first-rate fighter, Jackson was also renowned as a runner and jumper; and his muscular strength was so great that he once lifted ten hundred weight and a quarter ! He was a great favourite with George the Fourth when Prince of Wales, and among many others of his noble pupils is recorded Lord Byron. thr. Jackson was a very well- behaved and respectable man.

A letter from Pisa, of the 7th instant, says that Ibrahim Pacha, son of the Egyptian Viceroy, had undergone two operations; was doing well, and in hopes of a rapid cure.

A subscription is in progress for the widow and young family of Mr. Augustine Wade, the late song-writer and composer, who died prematurely in very indigent circumstances. Many music-sellers and pianoforte- makers have offered to receive subscriptions.

The obituary announces the death of the benevolent and wealthy Mrs. Fry; who died on Tuesday, after a long illness.

M. Thiers, accompanied by Mr. Henry Corry, Secretary to the Ad- miralty, and a party of friends, has visited Woolwich, the Mint, and other great public establishments.

In return for the munificent present of Arab horses recently made by the Emperor of Morocco to our gracious Sovereign, it has pleased her Majesty to command that a selection of the finest fabrics should be made from the best looms of England and Scotland, to acknowledge in a proper national spirit the compli- ment paid by the Eastern [African] Monarch. The richest velvets, the rarest silks and satins, and the choicest shawls of Paisley, have been selected for the purpose.—Sun.

The King of the French has just sent the grand cordon of the Legion of Honour to Mehemet Ali, to the Bey of Tunis, and to General Coletti, Prime Minister of Greece.

The German papers mention a curious old custom still existing in Bavaria. " The Crown Princess was lately delivered of a son; and, in aceordanee with the regulations of the Royal Family of Bavaria, Graf Von Sensheim, the Minister of Finance, had the high honour of a lying-in audience with her Royal Highness the Crown Princess, on which he presented to her Royal Highness the customary ehildbed present of 1,000 ducats."

The last great dignitary of the Polish Crown died some days ago, at his coun- try-seat, a short distance from Posen. His name was Herr von Czarnecki; he was the Royal Carver of Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, the last King of Poland, and had attained his ninetieth year. According to his expressed wish, he was buried with all the ceremony due to his former high rank and station,— Allgetneine Zeitung. A census of Madrid has just been completed, from which it appears that the population at present amounts to 188,227 souls. The Pope has thrown the library of printed books in the Vatican open to the public, and ordered the preparation of a catalogue for their use. A newspaper was published for the first time at St. Helena in June last. Mr. Richardson, already known as having undertaken an Anti-Slavery mission to Morocco, has, on a similar errand, penetrated the Great Desert as far as Ghadames, the grand commercial depot of Northern and Central Africa. His principal object is to collect statistics in relation to the slave-trade. In the face of many dangers, he has arrived safely at Ghadames.—Globe.

The Admiralty have ordered a suite of apartments in the Admiralty House in Portsmouth Dockyard to be furnished in a superior manner, and appropriated solely to the use of the Queen and Royal Family whenever they may happen to visit the Dockyard.

The price of sugar has been recently increased to the consumer, and the Public- Ledger explains the cause. " The deliveries have exceeded the importations by 11,668 tons in eight months, ending September 5. The consumption for the same period has exceeded that of 1844 by 31,000 tons, and the average increase is 1,000 tons per week in excess of last year ; a formidable item during the win- ter-months, when the supply (at least to any extent) ceases. We are also struck by the statement that the dreaded rival, foreign free-labour sugar, has proved so insignificant a competitor. The entire import has not exceeded a week's con- sumption, and the actual quantity consumed has been only half of that which has been imported."

A Frenchman is said to have invented a machine capable of doing every de- scription of sewing except the sewing of button-holes.

The Times discloses an act of patriotism performed by " the farmers' friends." " Parliament has passed an act to enable the owners of settled estates to defray the expenses of draining the same by way of mortgage.' So many settled estates. have been thoroughly drained by way of mortgage, that this amendment of the Poor-law Act must be a most seasonable relief to the landed interest; and if the law be but carried out according to the title of the act, its object, to render the land permanently more productive,' cannot fail to be attained. We may particu- larly congratulate some of our agricultural Peers on the new fertility which will be given to their dirty acres.' As Parliament is to pay the piper—for how else can it enable' the owners to defray the expenses?—the heavy clays will soon bear heavier loans, the light sands will begolden sands, stiff marls will make money the reverse of stiff, and the chalky soils will afford opportunities for chalk- ing up new scores. To make our legislation perfect, we only want another act to enable the owners of no estates to defray the expenses of maintaining them- selves and their families.' " According to the Inverness Courier, Sir David Brewster has discovered among some papers belonging to his father-in-law, Ossian Macpherson, proofs that Junius was one Lachlan Maclean, the son of an Irish Presbyterian clergyman, but descended from the ancient Scottish family of the MaLeans of Coll. " He was bred to the study of medicine, but became a political writer and adventurer in London, and rose to some eminence. He was once an Under-Secretary of State; in which capacity he might have become acquainted with state secrets. Having been sent out to India by Government in 1776, he was shipwrecked and drowned on the passage; a circumstance that may account for the non-revealment of the secret as to the authorship of Junius. His papers were all lost at the same time."

It is asserted that the uypt of Exeter Cathedral it used as the Bishop's wine- cellar! We shall be glad to hear that the statement is untrue.—Builder.

According to the expectation, the fall of ashy dust in the Orkneys has been explained by an eruption of Mount Heels, in Iceland. After a repose of eighty years, the mountain began to terrify the inhabitants with dismal noises, on the 1st September; at mid-day on the 2d, fire burst forth at the summit, where there was no regularly-formed crater; and two streams of lava flowed down the North and North-west sides, where there is nothing but barren and uninhabited heaths. Some sheep were killed, and the fish in the. rivers near the eruption were de- stroyed by the heat: the waters became too hot to be forded, even on horse- back.

The average number of British shipwrecks in a year is 600; the value of the property destroyed about two-and-a-half millions sterling; and the number of lives lost about 1,560.

The African fever has appeared on board the Growler steam-vessel, which has just returned to Woolwich from the coast of Africa. Two sailors died—one on Tuesday, one on Wednesday: but steps have been taken to check the disorder.

Mrs. Johnson widow of the late Mr. James Johnson, who resides with her grandson, Mr. James Blagriff, tenant on the Castlemaine estate, in Kilkenny West, although in her hundred-and-second year, has the entire of this harvest bound and tied the corn after two reapers, competing with the servant-maid whose ridge would be done first and best. She has also carded and spun two stone of wool, to be manufactured into clothes for her great-grandchildren; and she has not only spun the wool for but also knit all the stockings she and they wear; and almost every Sunday walks to "the church that tops the neighbouring hill," immortalized by Goldsmith.— Westmeath Guardian.

The Railway Times describes and strongly recommends a project which will be very acceptable to many: it is said to have the approval of the Lords Commissioners of Chelsea Hospital; so that the passage of the ne- cessary bill through Parliament is considered pretty certain—

A company has been brought forward for the construction of a bridge across the Thames, from a point between Chelsea Hospital and the Grosvenor Canal, to the Surrey shore near the Red House at Battersea. The necessity of such a structure, as a public work, is now very generally admitted and the dis- tance between Vauxhall and Battersea Bridges is very great, and includes an immense mass of buildings and a large population. The Commissioners of Metropolitan Improvements, indeed, in their plans accompanying their Report to the House of Commons on proposed improvements in this district, have laid down roads, apparently with the express view of leading to a communication with the Surrey aide of the river, at the point proposed by the promoters of the Banelagh B ' " he proposed bridge is intended to be "upon the suspension principle. is-

stead of the old plan of erecting two piers in the water-way, supporting a centre chain of great span, there will be only one pier in the river, mid-way between the two shores; and a great saving will consequently be effected in pile-dtiving, ma- sonry, &e.; whilst the two chains will not be of any considerablelength, and con- sequently, as the Strain will be less, they may either be made to bear a greater weight, or they may be safely constructed with a smaller quantity of iron than under the old system. The arrangement of the structure, although very simple and obvious, is, we believe, entirely novel, and is worthy of the rising reputation of the engineer, Mr. Bird. The expense for approaches will be very trifling. On the Middlesex side there is very little to be done; and such property as it will be necessary to purchase on either side of the river is vacant, and of comparatively little value; and consequently the item of compensations, usually so large in con- cerns of this nature, cannot in any event amount to any considerable sum, especially as all the parties affected are favourable to the undertaking, on account of the great increase which it will create in the value of all property in the locality."

We are informed, and we have reason to believe correctly, that the wharfingers and warehousemen on the banks of the Regent's Canal lately sold for 1,000,0001. to the Regent's Canal Railway Company, are opposed only on the grounds of compensation.—Railway Record.

The railway companies are not altogether idle in attempting to find out means of preventing accidents: the following account furnishes a hopeful instance of such laudable activity— Some experiments were tried last week on the Brighton Railway to test a patent self-acting safety-break, invented by Mr. Thornton. General Pasley and other gentlemen connected with railways were resent. The apparatus on trial was found to answer admirably. Mr. Thornton s plan is to have a rope attached to the tender and the first carriage; the rope being from twenty to thirty yards long, or, if required, much longer, as it may be coiled on a roller beneath the carriage. The engine in this way would tow the train along; and the engine may be either on the same line or on another, or the same engine may tow two trains, one on each line. When the engine meets with any disaster, the guard on the first car- riage can instantly cast the rope loose; and no sooner is the pressure taken off the catch by which the rope is attached to the carriage, than the breaks immediately press upon the wheels, and in a little space the train would stop, and without any violent shock. The experiment the other day was made with only one carriage.

The Madrid Gazette mentions the arrival of Mr. Brunel at Madrid, with a party of English engineers, to carry on the works of the North of Spain Railway.