lifliscellantous.

The Times announces tbat "Parliament has been M summoned to meet for the despatch of business on the 18th of November; when, it is under stood, after the formalities which usher in a new House, Ministers will. immediately ask a legislative sanction for their late measure."

The Queen was to hold a Privy Council, at Windsor, at one o'clock today; and it is understood that the Council will formally agree upon the order for proroguing Parliament from the 11th of November to the day of its meeting.

Tuesday's Gazette announced that the Queen has ordered a mug d'elire to the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Manchester, and has recommended the Reverend James Prince Lee, A.M., for election as the first Bishop of Manchester.

The same Gazette announces the following appointments—The Honour- able Robert Gore, R.N., to be her Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires and Consul- General in the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. Sir Edmund Walker Head, Baronet, to be Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. Sir Donald Campbell, Baronet, to be Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island. John Iles Mantel], Esq., to be Chief Justice, and Sidney Billing, Esq., to be Queen's Advocate and Police Magistrate, at the Gambia.

It is in contemplation to apply to India the principle of subdivision which has been made in the diocese of Australia. There are at present four bishoprics—namely, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, and Colombo: these four sees are to be split up into ten new bishoprics.

The various documents relating to the establishment of a Roman Catho- lic Hierarchy in England arrived in London on Tuesday. The Right Reverend Dr. Walsh, heretofore Vicar Apostolic of the Midland district, is now Archbishop of Westminster; Dr. Wiseman, who it was expected would occupy that position, is to be Bishop of Birmingham. The title of Vicar Apostolic is to be abolished; and the Bishops are to be called after their respective sees—such, for instance, as "Bishop of Northampton," the title now held by Dr. Waring.

A Treasury warrant, published in the Gazette of Tuesday, prescribes the maximum size of letters. No letter which in length, breadth, width, or depth, exceeds twenty-four inches, shall be sent by post; and all letters exceeding four ounces in weight must be prepaid. The usual exceptions are provided for in favour of the Queen and Members of the Legislature.

A postal convention has been entered into between this country and the Grand Dutchy of Mecklenburg Schwerin, under which the British rate on letters not exceeding half an ounce is to be 6d., instead of 1s. 8d.

Mr. Albany Fonblanque, the editor and registered proprietor of the Examiner newspaper' has been appointed to the office in the Statistical Department of the Board of Trade vacated by the promotion of Mr. Porter to the post formerly occupied by Mr. Lefevre.

Lieutenant Waghorn has given notice that his establishments in England, India, &c. "will cease on the 24th of December next"; the competition of "a powerful company" having entailed this necessity upon him. It appears, however' that Mr. Waghorn will still pursue his project of endeavouring to establish. "a duplicate route" overland to India.

The Queen Dowager arrived at Lisbon on the 22d instant. The Howe was towed into the Tagus by the Terrible steam-frigate; which had been despatched by the Admiral for that purpose. The King Consort came off in the state barge to visit her Majesty; and she went on shore with the King, to visit Queen Donna Maria, at the Palace of the Necessidades.

The health of Marshal Soult is become the subject of contradictory state- ments. The Patrie represents the old warrior as suffering under an in- curable and fatal disease of the bladder; whereas letters from Paris speak of him as being in perfect health.

We have been requested to correct a statement which appeared in this journal a few days since, announcing the serious illness of the Bishop of London. The facteof the case are these. The Bishop's foot having slipped on a polished floor, his Lordship fell, and received a violent blow on his right temple, which rendered it necessary for him to submit to medical treatment and to avoid unnecessary fatigue. The Right Reverend Pre- late's general health, we are happy to say, is in no degree affected.—Morn- ing Post.

We learn, with very great pleasure, that Mr. Cobden has recently Been able to purchase the paternal property of his family in Sussex, which is considerable, and which had passed into other hands. This is a remark- able circumstance in the life of any man; for it will be easily understood that a combination of favourable influences alone could accomplish such an. object—Bolton Free Press.

The Queen has sent to Miss Howson a donation of 101. for the benefit of the children of her late sister, Madame Albertazzi.

The list of failures has received augmentation during the week.

It was announced on Saturday, that the suspension of Messrs. Scott, Bell, and Co., East. India agents and general merchants, had been caused by the de- falcation of 35,0001. of remittances from India, drawn upon failed London houses. The total acceptances of the firm are stated at 240,000E, while the assets are put down at 350,0001.; and a favourable liquidation is considered certain.

The acceptances of Mr. Lackersteen, also engaged in the East India trade, were returned the same afternoon.

The draughts of the Union Bank of Calcutta have been refused by Messrs. Glyn and Co. This bank is believed to have made large advances on indigo-factories, and the refusal was a precautionary measure. The bills are viewed as safe under any circumstances, from the wealthiness of the proprietors.

Liverpool still suffers very seriously. On Saturday, the large West India house of Barton, Irlam, and Higginson, suspended payments. Their liabilities are esti- mated at a million.

On Monday, the North and South Wales Bank stopped payment. The an- nouncement was made in the following circular—

"A most cruel and groundless report, which got Into circulation in the Principality early last week, has caused a run upon the deposits of this bank, of that magnitude which in the pre..nt restricted state of the money-market it Is Impossible to meet. The directors, therefore, are under the painful necessity of suspending the operations of the bank. "In the meanwhile, the directors beg to assure the creditors of the bank, that every exertion will be made to liquidate their claims at the earliest possible period, and that no apprehension need be entertained of any ultimate loss on the part of the creditors."

The concern is a joint stock bank, established in 1836; and the stack is now held by about 360 persons; the paid-up capital amounts to 600,0001.; 101. per share has been paid, and the quoted price previous to the stoppage was 71. per share. The last dividend paid was at the rate of 4 per cent. It has, besides the head office, twenty branches; which are situated at Aberystwith, Bangor, Bishop's Castle, Carnarvon, Chester Denbigh, Dolgelly, Festhuog, Holyhead, Iolywell, Llangefris, Llanwrst, Mold, Newton, Oswestry, Portmadoc., Pwllheli, Ruthin, Welshpool, Wrexham. The bank issued its own notes; the amount being fixed under the Banking Act at 63,9511. The London agents are the London and Westminster Bank. Two other private banks went on Thursday,—the Salisbury, and the Shaftes- bury and Hindon. They were both conducted by Messrs. Brodie of Salisbury, who are also engaged in business as publishers. The Salisbury bank was este_ blished in 1811; its fixed issue was 23,3351. and the amount of deposits hel 70,0001. The other bank was a smaller affair, the issues being 9,8131. It is be- lieved that the private fortunes of the partners are more than sufficient to cover the liabilities.

The London house of Messrs. J. P. Howard and Co., Colonial brokers, stopped payment on Wednesday. The liabilities of the firm are stated at 75,0001.— s6,0001. upon acceptances; the assets, in the shape of produce, 100,0001. This suspension is a result of the late stoppage of the Messrs. Lyall's house.

Mr. Robert Gardner, a merchant, cotton-spinner, and manufacturer, of Man- chester, suspended payment on Wednesday. In the circular issued to his cre- ditors, Mr. Gardner says-

" Under the severe pressure of the times, I am most reluctantly compelled to inform you, that temporarily I am unable to meet my engagements t but I have to assure you that after my debts are paid in full I shall possess a very ample property. Permit me, therefore, to ask your indulgence till my resources are available, which will be in a com- paratively short time ; and in the mean time. I will prepare for your inspection and satisfaction a statement relative to all my engagements and property, and such state- ment shall be soon laid before you."

Mr. Gardner's assets are estimated at 400,0001.; his liabilities are not stated. He is the proprietor of two mills.

The firm of Messrs. R. and J. Farbridge, merchants, have also stopped pay- ment, in consequence of the failure of remittances.

Several failures are announced in Leghorn and Genoa. "At Leghorn," says the Times," four houses have stopped; the parties being Morpurgo and Tedeschi, J. L. Valentin, D. Gattiers Pegra, and L. Arbib and Co.; the liabilities of the two former being rather considerable. At Genoa, G. Calcagno, a money-changer, is said to have absconded, and several parties are sufferers by him. The house of E. Alessi() and Co., in the grain trade, has stopped. Its concerns are extensive, and a composition has been made of 35 per cent. Fmtelli Barabino have resolved to wind up. At Trieste it is said, some loss will be sustained by the failure of Ventura of Venice, but that it will fall upon parties who are able to bear it. Ventura, it is believed, will pay in full, or very near it."

Letters from St. Petersburg mention the failure of the house of C. Rivas and Co._, French merchants; whose liabilities are pat down at 200,0001. The failure of Messrs. Joseph Vanzeller and Sons of Lisbon is also announced, as well as that of Messrs. Cockburn, Greig, and Co., at Oporto.

Further meetings have been held under the" estates" of the recently, fallen houses.

The creditors of Messrs. Gower, Nephews, and Co., met on Saturday. The accountant's report exhibited a deplorable example of mercantile mismanage- ment. While the debts are 450,8321., the present valuation of credits is only 112,8311. The statement shows assets sufficient only for a probable dividend of 5s. in the pound. The Mauritius has been the sink in which the capital of the house has been swallowed up. The cash advances direct to Messrs. Henry Bar- low and Co. amount to 246,4561. There are securities for these advances on cer- tain estates, but they are not calculated to realize any considerable amount. The estate is to be wound up under inspection.

It is understood that remittances to the extent of about 21,0001., nearly the whole of which are good, were received by the overland mail on account of Messrs. Lyall, Brothers, and Co.; which will be available for the creditors under their estate.

Direct letters received from St. Petersburg, dated the 15th of October describe business as very dull in that city, owing chiefly to the discredit caused by the failures in England. Letters received in Hamburg state that "the Emperor of Russia had given orders to the Bank to assist every merchant that might be able to prove his solvency by his books—amongst others, the house of Thomas, Son, and Lefevre." In consequence of this, it was generally anticipated that the London correspondents of that firm would forthwith resume business.

The popular City writer "Jacob Omnium " has come out strong on the Sugar Colonies; making the Times his medium, and Lord John Russell his mark. Apropos to the present commercial crisis, Jacob restates the case of the British colonists against the Government, and reminds Lord John of the more recent acts of his own Administration in particular- " One of the earliest acts of your Government was to deprive the free-labour sugar farmers of the British Colonies of the protection which their produce en- joyed against that of the slave-owners of Cuba, Porto Rico, and Brazil. This you did suddenly, giving them neither time to withdraw any portion of the very large capital which they had embarked in their trade—especially in India and the Mauritius—or to dispose at a remunerating price of the crops actually in the ground, which had been cultivated on the not unreasonable calculation, that the principles which had induced a succession of Governments to mulct the nation in 20,000,0001., and to reduce our once flourishing colonies to the verge of bank- ruptcy, would not be abandoned at the very moment that they appeared to be in some degree recovering from their prostration. "We .naturally enough protested strongly against your hasty and ill-timed measure. We represented to you that until very recently, we bad been thwarted b the fancy legislation resulting from the unpractical philanthropy of Exeter and the weakness and imbecility of the Colonial Office, in all our efforts to recruit our etock of labour; that, in consequence, the large sum granted to us in compensation had been absorbed in paying extravagant wages for irregular and dishonest work; that the high duties levied on our rums prevented us from com- Petin,g on even terms with the British distillers; that we were forced by fiscal re- gulations, for the advantage of the British refiners, to manufacture bad sugar, which wasted considerably in its transit across the Atlantic; and that the prefer- ence which, by the Navigation-laws, we were compelled to give to British bet- torus, augmented enormously the cost of such transit. "Not many months since, our house took up' two vessels to proceed to the West Indies, and bring home sugar: one, an English vessel, was to go to Deme- rara, and return with the produce of free labour at 61. per ton; the other, • Dane, was to go to St. Cruz, a Danish slave colony, and load with the produce of slave labour at 31. 10s. per ton—being a bonus of 110s. per ton on slave produce ! "We did notexpect to be exempted feom the general application of free trade; we were not disinclined to fight the battle of free labour against slave labour: but we did expect that we should not be called upon to com- pete with the foreign slave colonies until we had been effectually relieved from the vexatious disabilities and restrictions which I have enumerated, and afforded time and facilities for procuring that labour which would have been procured by us long since had it not been for the obstacles thrown in our way by the very indi- viduals who ought, had their benevolence been intelligent and sincere, to have been the foremost to aid us in obtaining it."

Jacob treats his Lordship to a striking picture of the lively state of slavery in Cuba, as stimulated by our policy, past and present- " I spent the beginning of this year in Cuba, with a view of ascertaining the preparations which were being made in that island to meet the opening of our markets. To an Englishman coming up from Grenada and Jamaica, the contrast between the paralyzed and decayed aspect of the trade of those colonies, and the spirit and activity which your measures had infused into that of the Ilavannah, was most disheartening.

"The town was illuminated when I landed, in consequence of the news of high prices from England. Three splendid trains of De Rosne's machinery, cost- ing 40,000 dollars each, had just arrived from France, and were in process Of erection; ate:tin-engines and engineers were coining over daily from America ; new estates were forming; coffee-plantations were being broken up; and their feeble gangs of old people and children, who had hitherto been selected for that light work, were formed into task-gangs, and hired out by the month to the new sngenios, then in fall drive. "It was crop-time. The mills went round night and day. On every estate (I scarcely hope to be believed when I state the fact) every slave was worked under the whip eighteen hours out of the twenty-four, and, in the boiling-honses, from five to six p.m., and from eleven o'clock to midnight, when half the people were concluding their eighteen hours work: the sound of the hellish lash was incessant; indeed, it was necessary to keep the overtasked wretches awake. The six hours during which they rested were spent in a harracoon,—a strong, foul, close sty, where they wallowed without distinction of age or sex. There was no marrying amongst the slaves on the plantations; breeding was dis- couraged; it was cheaper and less troublesome to buy than to breed. On many estates females were entirely excluded: bet an intelligent American planter told me he disapproved of that system; that the men drooped under it, and that he had found the most beneficial effects from the judicious admixture of a propor- tion of one lively wench' to five males in a gang of which he had charge. Re- ligious instruction and medical aid were not carried out generally beyond bap- tism and vaccination. Whilst at work, the slaves were stimulated by drivers, armed with swords and whips, and protected by magnificent bloodhounds. "To afford you an idea of the light in which Negroes are looked upon by the Cuban planters, I will mention that I was present at a hiring-bargain which took place between an American and a Frenchinan, both men of unusually good cha- racter. The American wanted ten additional hands. The Frenchman only wished to let eight females; observing facetiously, ' Elles feront fureur parmi vos jennes gens.' At last, the latter said—' I'll tell you what I will do: I've a lame house- boy ; he has never been used to field-labour certainly, but he's a very spirited lad, and your mayoral may get a deal of work out of him if lie only presses him a little- you shall have him—that will make nine; and then I've got a magnificent breeding-wench, aussi large gue Monsieur (turning to me); site was confined three weeks ago. I'll wean her baby at once, give her a couple of purges, and she shall be here, fit to go to work, on Sunday.' And, as Dr. Locock was not there to re- monstrate, the bargain was struck, the baby weaned, and the breeding-wench put to work. Possibly your Lordship is at this moment sweetening year tea with the results of her exertions.

"The Spaniards have always been esteemed humane slave-owners, and I have no wish to make them out worse than they are; what I describe here I saw. The lea scripts of Cuba, as regards the Negroes, is indeed most humane; but the cor- ruption which pervades every branch of the public service in that island renders it entirely a dead letter. Travellers generally form their ideas of slavery from the domestic Negroes the only ones en evidence, who are picked slaves, and are ge- nerally much petted and spoiled; and it is very rarely that they have opportuni- ties of witnessing what really goes on on the sugar-plantations. Our Consul and our two Slave-Commissioners told me that they had never visited one since their residence in the island; and I doubt whether they would be permitted to do so. "The Captain-General, O'Donnel, is an open abettor of the slave-trade, and a declared enemy of the English, who cut a very insignificant figure in the com-

mercial community of Cuba. • •

"In February last the market value of field Negroes had risen from 300 to 500 dollars; a price which would speedily bring a supply from the coast." • • M the Cubans dare not, for their own personal safety, increase the numerical quantity of their Negroes beyond a certain limit, they have commenced importing Chinese immigrants, bound to the planters for seven years. These immigrants are transported to Cuba in English vessels; and the fate which awaits them there is not a very dubious one."

The cholera approaches with steady pace. Whole families are leaving Moscow, for Germany and France. The Prussian Government has aban- doned the idea which it endeavoured to carry out in 1832, of stopping the pestilence by a military cordon: it intends to rely on the stringency of its very severe quarantine laws. The greatest apprehensions are felt at Warsaw.

"An Old Subscriber" at Edinburgh defends the Board of Supervision for the Relief of the Poor in Scotland from the strictures which appeared in our journal of the 9th instant. Our correspondent says—" I do not main- tain that the practice of the Board is yet perfect ; but it has only been established two years, and the annual sum disbursed in such relief is already, I believe, nearly double what it was previous to its appointment."

An old reader and correspondent of the Spectator, Mr. John Hickes, of Chichester, writes to remind us, that two years ago, he suggested a "speaking-trumpet for railways" similar to that described by the Railway Chronicle as the recent invention of a lady. Mr. Ilickes's letter was pub- lished in our journal on the 20th September 1845: our contemporary's correspondent seems to have been reading that letter. At the commencement of the West Riding.Sessions at linaresborough, in October 1845, the doors of the Court-house were besieged by parties desirous of putting up notices of intended applications to Parliament for railway and other bills; and the doors were found too small to contain the 101 notices which were posted on that occasion. Not a single notice was put up at the Sessions on Tuesday last.—Leeds Intelligencer. We observe from the German papers, that a scheme of general postal reform is now being submitted to the authorities for consideration; and the plan included some improvements which might advantageously be adopted here. For instance, the junction of railways is to be taken ad- vantage of for facilitating the transmission of letters on all occasions, and the public convenience is to be the paramount object of the alterationts. Our method of optional prepayment is to be made a leading feature in the plan; and it is evident that the English system will be followed as closely as possible.—Morning Chronicle.

The French newspapers have published a very incorrect and exaggerated story of an encounter which recently took place between an English sloop and a French brig of war on the coast of Africa; and the Morning Chronicle therefore states "the facts of the case"— " On the evening of the 20th of June last, soon after dark, her Majesty's sloop Hound, Commander Wood, while running along the land off Porto Novo, near the notorious slave-trading station of Whydah in the Bight of Benin, descried a sail which tacked and stood to sea. The Hound made sail in pursuit; and having at ten p.m. come up about half a mile to leeward of the chase, Commander Wood ordered the private signal to be made to her; but some delay occurring in slinging the lan- terns, and Commander Wood and his officers feeling certain that the chase was not a ship of war, he ordered a shot to be fired across her bows to bring her to. The vessel then showed some lights; but as they were not hoisted in the proper form of the signal, a second shot was fired, which was returned by the chase; and which turned out to be the French brig of war Abeille. The shots from both vessels were purposely fired wide, and took no effect. Lieutenant Hallett of the Hound was immediately sent on board the Abeille, to offer Commander Wood's apologies for the mistake; which were received with courtesy and politeness by the Commander of the Abeille."

The Manchester Guardian corrects various absurd and unfounded reports re- specting the claim of a certain Mr. George Hudson (not the Railway potentate) to the title and estates of the Dukedom of Devonshire. "Mr. Hudson professes to derive his claim from Mary, the only surviving child of a Duke of Devonshire, whom he decribes as 'Richard Garget, alias Cavendish, youngest son of the Duke of Norfolk,' which Richard Garget, he says, married Mary Hetherington Hartley, and had issue Richard, John, and Mary. No youngest or other son of a Duke of Norfolk ever was Duke of Devonshire. No Duke of Norfolk, daring the last cen- tury, has had a son named Richard; and if there had been such a son, his name would not have been Garget or Cavendish, but Howard; and he could not have the slightest claim to the Dukedom of Devonshire, which has descended in the direct male line, without a single interruption, from William the first Duke, who was created in 1694, down to the present Duke; with whom, however, to all appear- ances, the direct line of succession will terminate. The present Duke of Devonshire being unmarried, the presumptive heir to the title is William Cavendish, Earl of Burlington, and grandson of the fourth Duke of Devonshire."

The Hobart Town Courier of the 1st of May announces that Barber, the solicitor who was convicted of complicity in the will-forgeries, has received a conditional free pardon from England; it permits him to go to any part of the world except the United Kingdom. Barber had arrived in Hobart Town, from Norfolk Island, where he had been for nearly three years. The journal, which has a bias in Barber's favour, asks why, if pardoned at all, an unconditional par- don is not granted; as the authorities must consider Barber either innocent or guilty absolutely.

A magnificent aurora borealis was visible in London and in many parts of the country on Sunday evening. It commenced about half-past six; assuming the appearance of a vast arch of hazy reddish light, the centre about North-north- west, and the greatest height about 40 degrees. Graceful columns shot up oc- casionally from the centre towards the zenith, vanishing after they had gathered their quivering light into a fine line. About seven the phenomenon became faint; but at half-past nine it again broke out with splendid coruseatione, becoming more irregular than at first, and spreading into various regions of the sky. The lights assumed various hues; the dull red, however, which always belongs to the steadiest phase, prevailing. Shortly after eleven it almost vanished.

Some of the weather-wise discern in this meteor the harbinger of a severe winter A St. Petersburg letter of the 7th of October states, that the streets were al- ready covered with snow, and sledge-parties daily arranged. The thermometer marked three degrees below zero, Reaumur's scale.

The Zoological Society have recently received several interesting additions to their collection in the Regent's Park. The last, a present from the Queen, is a fine specimen of the South American tapir. A large alligator has also been meeivecl.

Professor Schonbein, who invented the gun-cotton, is stated, in the Revue Scien- et Industrielle, to have, to a certain point, discovered malleable glass: e renders paper paste (papier mache) transparent, by causing it to undergo a certain metamorphosis which he calls catalytic, for want of a more intelligible term. He makes of this new paper window-panes, rases, bottles, &c., perfectly impermeable to water, and which may be dropped on the ground without break- ing, and are perfectly transparent.—Mechanics Magazine.

An improvement is likely to be speedily made in the adhesive postage-stamps; and the practical department of the Post-office is engaged in investigating the process. The invention consists of a machine by which "more than double the number of stamp sheets that is now annually required may be so minutely in- dented in the direction of the white lines as to allow the stamps to be instantly detached from the sheet without the operation of cutting; perfect, too, in every respect; or, in other words, in no way mutilated or disfigured, like most of the stamps that are now torn from each other. The contrivance will also enable pur- chasers to fold a sheet of stamps, or any less quantity, with unerring regularity, and in one-tenth of the time that is at present consumed in the operation."

Results of the Registrar-General's return of mortality in the Metropolisl'or the week ending on Saturday last—

Number of Autumn deaths. average.

Zymotic (or Epidemic, Endemic, and Contagious) Diseases 256 .illDropsy, Cancer, and other diseases of uncertain or variable seat 95 .... 104 Diseases tithe Brain, Spinal Marrow, Nerves, and SCI1SC3 132 ... 157

Disem.es of the Lungs, and of the other Organs of Respiration 233 .... 333 Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels .

Disea■es of the stomach, Liver, and other Organs of Digestion 87 .... 71 Diseases of the Kidneys, Sm. 10 .... 9 Childbirth, diseases of the Uterus, dre. 13 .... 14 Rheumatism, diseases of the Bone% Joints...Re.

Diseases of the Skin, Cellular Tissue, die.

Old Ago 38 • 65 Violence, Privation, Cold, and Intemperance 19 .... 29

Total (including unspecified causes) 967 1048

The comparison of the deaths registered last week in London with the deaths which would have been registered if the rate of mortality had been the same as in Dorsetshire, shows these totals—London, 967; Dorsetshire, 659; excess, 308. The temperature of the thermometer ranged from 75.9° in the sun to 31.0° in the shade;i the mean temperature by day being warmer than the average mean

• temperature by &3°. The mean direction of the wind for the week was South . wth-west.