_Miscellaneous.

We have reason to know That Sir Robert Peel has conimunicated to Mr. C. Shaw Lefevre his intention to support the reelection of that gentleman, in the event of his being proposed on the meeting of the new Parliament as Speaker of the House of Commons. We may add, that those personal and political friends of the Right Honourable

Baronet to whom this intention has been imparted concur unaftimpusly in the propriety of the decision.—Morning Post, Aug. 4. The Times gives a fuller account of the matter than the Post, with a less ceremonious reserve- " Contrary to the wishes of Sir Robert Peel himself, as many of his friends assert, has a species of tribunicial victory been achieved over the constitutional forces of the new Parliament. By what strange infatuation this unfortunate subversion of right principle has been consummated, it is useless at this moment to inquire ; but so it is, and the result is a chilling damp on the very first re- joicings of a well-earned triumph. The Right Honourable Charles Shaw Lefevre is virtually reelected to the high office, of which the incapacity of his party had virtually deprived him. The history of this arrangement we believe to be as follows. It appears that, previously to taking any definite measures with respect to the election of a Speaker, Sir Robert Peel, with a deference, more amiable than dignified, in his position, to the opinions of others, deemed it advisable to ascertain the intentions of a considerable number, amounting to between twenty and thirty of his own party. These, with three or four ex- ceptions, returned answers favourable to the reelection of Mr. Lefevre; and thus rendered the successful termination of a contest doubtful, if not hopeless. In consequence of this, Sir Robert Peel came to the determination to relieve Mr. Lefevre of all anxiety on the subject, by disabusing him of any apprehen- sion which he might naturally entertain of his reelection. Enviable man! to whose matchless abilities foes have vied with—nay, have outrun—friends in doing homage. Generous and manly politicians, who, like well-matched champions in the ring, shake hands before they commence the arduous contest! Thrice enviable office, the solace of a defeated Ministry, which, in two brief years, has sufficed to relieve its tenant from the onus of political responsibility. The arrangement, then, as far as Sir Robert Peel is concerned, is virtually settled. But what are we to say of its consequences? The principle which Mr. Lefevre's Conservative supporters profess to reverence is, that the Speaker should be chosen solely on account of his abilities as such, and quite indepen- dently of his political sentiments. What, then, will their colleagues, the great majority of the Conservatives, say to this implied incapacity on their part to fill this honourable office. What will they say of this petty altercation with him whom they regard as their leader? What will the country say to Mr. Lefevre, a Whig, filing the chair of the House of Commons, of which the ma- jority is Conservative, after his vote in 1835, disqualifying Mr. Manners Sutton for the same office, because he was a Conservative and the majority of the House of Commons was at that time of the Whig party ? "

Lord John Russell has addressed the following circular to the (yet) Ministerial Members of the House of Commons-

" Downing Street, 31st July 1841.

"Sir—As, upon the meeting of Parliament, on Thursday the 19th August, the House of Commons will immediately proceed to the choice of a Speaker, and to the consideration of business of the highest importance, I take the liberty of earnestly requesting your attendance on that day. "1 have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient and faithful servant,

"J. RUSSELL."

As Lord John Russell passed through Selkirk, on Saturday last, on the way with his bride from Bowhill to Minto House, he stopped to accept the freedom of the ancient burgh. The ceremony was performed at a hustings in front of the Town-house : the initiatory rite consists of" licking the birse "—that is, dipping a bunch of shoemaker's bristles into a glass of wine and drawing them across the mouth. He made a speech, and received an address from the inhabitants of Galashiels.

We have authority to state, that a paragraph which has been going the round of the papers, to the effect that the Marquis of Lansdowne was confined by illness at Liege, is entirely without foundation.—Morn- lag Chronicle.

The Duke of Wellington returned to Weimer Castle, after his visit to Woburn Abbey, on Friday last. He is expected to be in town a few days before the meeting of Parliament.

Earl and Countess Grey returned last week to Howick Hall, from Lambton Castle, Durham ; where they had been on a visit to the Countess of Durham.

It is said that Lord and Lady Howick have arranged to spend the long period of two years on the Continent. The noble lord's health, it is understood, is not altogether satisfactory.—Newcastle Journal.

The Duke of Devonshire arrived in town from Chatsworth on Wed- nesday, and on Thursday he departed for Paris. It is said that he will make a tour in Italy, and will stay six months on the Continent. The Univers states that the Pope has conferred on the Honourable James Talbot, second son of the Baroness Talbot de Ma!abide, and to his descendants male, the dignity of Count of the Sacred Palace of the Lateran.

Lord Derby has just added to his extensive ornithological collection at Knowsley, upwards of one hundred new specimens, the greater por- tion of which are from Timor and New Guinea. Many of these va- rieties possess the most splendid plumage. Among other attractions, Knowsley possesses the finest aviary in Europe, his Lordship having devoted much time and expense in its formation.—Morning Post.

The Queen has been pleased to appoint Sir Charles Augustus Fitz- roy, Knight, to be Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Islands of Antigua. Montserrat, and Barbuda, Sc. Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla and the Virgin Islands, and Dominica.—London Gazette, Aug. 3.

We learn with deep satisfaction that her Majesty has been graciously pleased to grant a pension of 2001. a year, on the Civil List, to Lady Jeremie, the afflicted widow of Sir John Jeremie, late Governor of Sierra Leone.—Observer.

The Reverends George Augustus Selwyn, one of the Assistant Cu- rates of New Windsor, has been named by Lord John Russell to the Bishopric of New Zealand. A public meeting was held at Windsor, on Wednesday, to consider the best means of testifying the respect of the inhabitants for the departing pastor. The Mayor presided, and several of the principal parishioners attended. It was unanimously resolved- " That in consequence of the severe loss this parish is about to sustain by the appointment of its respected curate, the Reverend G A. Selwyn' to the Bishopric of New Zealand, it is desirable that the inhabitants should express their gratitude to him for the great benefits he has conferred upon them, by the constant, untiring, and devoted attention he has shown to their best inter- ests; also for the singleness of purpose, universal kindness, and good feeling he has evinced towards all who have enjoyed the blessings of his ministry."

A committee was appointed to collect subscriptions, and to choose a suitable piece of plate to be presented to Mr. Selwyn : it is expected that 500/. will be collected.

J. Tradescant Ley, Esq., a distinguished linguist for several years resident at Canton, the author of a work on China recently published, and also of a series of papers on the same subject which appeared in the Globe about twelve months since, has been appointed interpreter to the Chinese expedition, and has left town to enter upon his duties.— Globe.

Her Majesty has appointed William Allan, Esq., President of the Royal Scottish Academy, her Majesty's limner for Scotland, vacant by the death of Sir David Wilkie.—Globe.

The King of Hanover has forwarded, through Sir Frederick B. "Vat- son, the sum of 100/. towards the funds of the Queen's Free School in the parish of Kew.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council meet on Monday the 16th instant, to give judgment in the will case of Wood and others versus Goodlake.

The will and codicils of the late Luke Graves Hansard, the printer to the House of Commons, have just been proved in the Prerogative Court, Doctors' Commons. The personal property of the deceased has been sworn under the value of 80,0001.; which is principally bequeathed to his children.

The utmost uneasiness is manifested in the chief trading quarters The Manchester Guardian of Wednesday says that, in the previous day's market, "for manufactured goods there was literally no demand, and the few sales made were at a serious reduction of prices. Messrs. Stocks and Co., the proprietors of large cotton-works at Heaton Mersey, have been declared bankrupt, throwing a whole colony of people around their mills out of work. They failed for 80,000/. Mr. Stocks %vac, we believe, the late candidate for Macclesfield. Arrangements have been made for finally closing the works of Messrs. Lane, at Stockport, in the Higher Hillgate and Newbridge Lane, throwing one thousand hands out of employment ; and the mills of Messrs. Douglas and Co., at Pendleton, which have been working short time, altogether suspend operations this week. A large concern at Macclesfield also stops. In the cloth district of Yorkshire there is a comparative freedom from complaint Scotland, however, exhibits a full share of difficulty : in the manufacturing town of Paisley, the number of unemployed persons re- lieved by a standing committee in one week was 702, with 2,106 depend- ents; the sum devoted to their aid 431. The number of these helpless people was on the increase. Dundee suffers under a dull trade, and a large bankruptcy.

The anxiety respecting the harvest has been painfully enhanced during the week. In most parts it is said that the growing crops are abundant, but sun is wanted to ripen them ; and sun there has been none. A Derbyshire paper adopts a paragraph complaining of dull and squally weather as likely to damage an average crop. In Kent, though the crops "do not look so well as they did," the wheat "promises to give an average, although the harvest will be backward, and the risk is unusually great"; for blight has attacked the wheat, and a little "fine and warm weather is wanted to shake off the attack." Prayers for fine weather have been put up in several churches in Staffordshire. In Herefordshire "the winds have fre- quently been nearly as bleak as in March, and must have considerably damaged the hop-plants"; while "wheats are making slowly ; and unless the weather be more congenial than it has been of late, the corn- harvest will have been a very backward one." In Devonshire there has been "a prevalence of cold, sharp, and north-westerly winds' with constantly drifting showers"; "much hay has been spoiled, and by all accounts the harvest of grain will not reach an average crop." " An immense quantity of rain" has fallen in Cornwall; and "should it con- tinue a few days longer, the damage to the corn-crops will be very serious." In Lincolnshire, however, both grain and grass are said to look well ; and the same is said in Cambridge and Worcestershire.

In Ireland gloom prevails. At Dublin it rained in torrents all Tues- day, a d the weather has been generally so unsettled as to cause a painful interest. In Antrim, "unless a change of weather shall speedily take place, so as to facilitate the ripening, it is to be feared that, between the drenching rain and the chilling cold, the hope of the agriculturist

will he destined to disappointment, and that the anomaly of a year of scarcity in the midst of seeming plenty will he the consequence." The wheat-crops of Waterford, Tipperary, Kilkenny, and Wexford, are in a very precarious state : much of it looks well, but more must have suffered severely from the rainy weather. The wheat-crop in Drogheda "has been damaged to a great extent this season"; several ears have been plucked in different districts, and a deficiency has been found on one side of the ear. The crops of Cork only require a little "natural heat to push them to ripened maturity."

From Scotland the accounts are not much better. The weather in Ayrshire "has of late been wet and cold, and in every respect ill cal- culated for ripening the different kinds of grain ; which now, nearly at their full growth, require much strong heat." Several fields have been laid in Inverness, and Morayshire has been inundated in parts; but the crops look healthy and luxuriant ; and in Skye they have advanced wonderfully, considering the cold weather. The wheat in the Low- lands, is thin, and the wet weather has injured it very much. The crops are looking well in Berwickshire, " but warm sunshine is much wanted to bring them to maturity."

The scattered accounts from the Continent are scarcely more favour- able. Rain still falls in France, though the weather has grown warmer. The price of bread has been rising rapidly in Paris. Nevertheless, the Journal de Cher states that the harvest is nearly concluded in the neighbourhood of Bourges, and that the wheat-crop is much more abundant than might be expected. A private loner states that the har- vest in Provence was nearly housed, and that it was " abundant in quantity and excellent in quality." The official returns of the sale of corn in the French markets, published in the Moniteur on Sunday, show that the average price of the hectolitre throulliout France, at the close of July, was 17 francs 4 centimes: at the latter end of May it was 16 francs 15 centimes. According to returns published by the Aliaistry of Agriculture and Commerce, the quantity of wheat imported into France during the first six months of 1841 amounted to 88,695 metrical quin- tals; other grain, 6,289; and flour, 483. The exports of those ar- ticles in the same interval were—wheat, 11,914 metrical quintals ; other grain, 42,853; and flour, 18.314. The quantity stored in the entrepots on the 1st July last was—wheat, 120,761 metrical quintals ; other grain, 24,260; and flour, 28,050. It appears by letters from Warsaw, in the German Journal qf Frank/art, that very flue weather prevailed there, and that rain fell at rare intervals. The speculators in corn were in high spirits at the accounts of bad weather from France and Germany.

Rome and Tuscany have been visited by a sudden gale of scorching wind from the south-west. At Rome it was accompanied, on the 15th and 16th, by a cloud of grasshoppers ; and the thermometer rose from 96 or 99 degrees of Fahrenheit to 107. The wind sprung up at Flo- rence on the 17th, and balls of fire were seen to burst in the air. On the 19th a similar wind was felt at Vienna.

Weekly statement of letters sent through the General Post—

/Co. or Letters.

Four weeks ending the 31st July 1841

5,524,833

Corresponding period of 1840 3,900,235 Ditto, as nearly as can he given of 1839 1,704.977 Increase since 1840 on the our weeks' letters 1,622,593 Ditto since 1839 on the four weeks' letters 3,817,856

Through the Metropolitan District Post—

Four weeks ending the 31st July 1841 1,743,268 Corresponding period of 1840 1,592,480 Ditto, as nearly as can be given, of 1839 1,021,386 Increase since 1840 on the four weeks' letters 150,788 Ditto since 1839 on the four weeks' letters 721,882

The Paris papers of Wednesday indicate no very favourable change in the state of the country. The dispute between the Government and the party of the late Municipal Authorities of Toulouse continues. M. Duval, the Extraordinary Commissary, has dissolved the provisional Municipality, which had taken the place of the regular Municipality, on its resignation before the height of the disturbance ; but in drawing up the ordinance for that purpose, he forgot to comply with the law by announcing in the document the time at which the electors are to be convoked to choose a new Municipal Council. 3L Arzac, the Provi- sional Mayor, maintained that the inadvertency rendered the ordinance null, and he resisted the installation of the new Provisional Mayor. He was arrested, however; and he is to be tried before the Correctional Police for resisting the Government,—an offence for which the penalty is two to five years' imprisonment and five years' deprivation of civil rights. The new Provisional Mayor is Baron Lejeune. The opinion of the Municipal Council of Paris is decidedly against the execution of the survey of taxes after the manner laid down by M. Hamann; the Council, however, is guarded in its declarations. The Opposition papers challenge the Ministerial ones to publish the text of the resolution of the Municipal Council of Paris.

The fidelity of the troops in Paris is suspected. The National of Wednesday states that numerous arrests had been made among the military composing the regiments in garrison in Paris, for which no cause has been assigned.

The Patriote des Alpes mentions another significant occurrence in the army- " On the 28th of July a detachment of several hundred conscripts traversed the streets of Grenoble, singing the Marseillaise Hymn. They were preceded. by a huge tricoloured flag, on which was written, beneath a Phrygian cap, Vive la liberte et la reforme electorale.' When this detachment presented itself at the citadel, where it was to be reviewed, the officer in command required of the conscripts their flag. or at least some alteration in its composition. The cocked bat of Napoleon was accordingly substituted for the Phrygian cap ; the words Vive la r6forme electorale ' were replaced by ' Vive le 12e Regiment de Ligne '; and our country [adds the Pairiute, with right Gallican hyperbolea was thus saved."

M. Hamann, according to the Constitutionnel, has submitted to the Council several propositions to reduce the expenditures of the Budget of 1843 to a level with the public revenues : considering the peace of Europe to be secured for a long time by the convention of the Dardanelles, and desirous to accomplish the promises made to the Chambers during the last session, he calls upon his colleagues to effect, in their respective

departments, such reductions as would diminish the weight of the public burdens.

Accounts from Algiers mention that Mascara, formerly abandoned, is now reoccupied by two thousand French, who have provisions to last them till October ; as if it were expected that the garrison will be un- able to communicate with their countrymen till that time. There is a great outcry in the Opposition press against the Government, for not co- lonizing the Algerine territory, and for not having closed with the offer of Baron Stockmar, who proposed to locate some Swiss there. General Bugeaud seems, however, to limit his present endeavours to guarding merely the small spot of fertile hill-ground immediately around the capital, and called the massif of Algiers. It is to be enclosed by a ditch, guarded by one hundred and fifty blockhouses, five hundred yards asunder.

The Moniker Parisien contains a letter from Blida, dated the 20th July, which announces the return of an expedition against L'Oued-Ban- Roumi, without having had to fire a shot ; but the writer adds, with perfect sang-froid, "We have everywhere set the country in flames, and carried off cattle of the value of 300.000 francs."

The Guienne, a Legitimist paper of Bordeaux, publishes a letter pur- porting to be from Espartero to Lord Palcuerston, in answer to de- spatches from the latter. The Spanish Regent speaks as if he were urged to surrender the Philippine Islands ; and proposes that Lord Palmerston should write an angry demand for the settlement of the claims of English creditors, in order that Espartero may lay it before the Cortes, with the proposal for ceding the islands or enduring a war ; so that the Opposition may be borne down. The letter is obviously an impudent forgery.

Madrid journals and letters have been received to the 28th July. On the 26th the two Legislative bodies assembled in the ball of the Senate, for the purpose of receiving the oath of the new Guardian. All the public tribunes were filled with spectators. There were not more than one hundred and forty Deputies and Senators present, and the ceremony did not last above a quarter of an hour. When S. Ar- guelles had taken the oath drawn up by the Legislature, the President said, "You are authorized to discharge the functions of Guardian." The assembly then broke up.

The King of Sardinia, says the Moniteur Parisien, was out riding in his park on the 28th July : the horse having run away, his Majesty had a dangerous fall, and his foot remaining in the stirrup, he was dragged along by the horse several minutes. An abundant bleeding, which was immediately resorted to, restored some degree of confidence to the per- sons whom the news of the accident had greatly alarmed. Subsequent accounts say that the King's hurt was not so serious as was at first supposed.

A strange tumult, with great loss of life, occurred at Rome on the 20th July, during a public execution—an unusual event in that city. Last year, the house of a watchmaker was robbed, and his wife and daughter were murdered. One of the criminals was a woman who ob- tained access to the house on the pretence that she was the mother of a maid, whom she afterwards murdered. This woman and two men, all of them named Riteozzi, were convicted of the crime, and executed on the 20th. The documents relating to the trial, which it is usual to publish on such occasions, have been suppressed ; because, it is said, they compromise members of some distinguished families. The woman was led first to the scaffold, veiled ; and she suffered first. The Paris Gazette des Tritunaux gives the following account of the execution, and its sequel- " There was no symptom of disturbance during the execution of two of the criminals. When the third, however, was brought upon the scaffold, he uttered the most horrible imprecations against the crowd, and pointing to it, said to the executioner, 'Oh, if I were but among them, how I would punish them! I regret life only on that account.' As if his words had found an echo in the crowd, no sooner had his head fanen, than horrible cries were heard, and thousands, struck with terror, but scarcely knowing why, sought safety in sight. A set of wretches imaiediately took advantage of the flight and dis- order, and fell upon the fugitives, tearing the rings out of the cars of the women, [most of the women in Rome wear large gold ear-rings,] and openly snatching the watches of the men. In vain did the police attempt to interfere. The thieves and their victims were involved in a general penmen with dragoons and infantry, and cries of savage fi.rocity were mingled with those of distress : -whilst the tolling of the chureii-bells drowned the voice of the commanders of the troops, who were endeasouring to idly their men. The tumult was so great, and at one time so alarming, that at the Castle of St. Angelo the guns were loaded, and the gunners stood with their matches lighted in their bands. The panic spread to both banks of the Tiber, the Piazza del Popolo, and the Capitol, where persons were running about cry ing for aid. The crowd increased at every instant, and several dragoons were so pressed by it as to fall from their horses, and he compelled to use their arms in their defence. At length, however, the crowd dispersed, and bodies were seen lying in the streets as upon a field of battle. At one o'clock in the afternoon, the numbers of persons killed was ascertained to be twelve, and two hundred wounded, fifty of them severely. The wounded were immediately convey ed to the hospitals. More than three hundred persons had been arrested by the police and the troops."

The Augsburg Gazette has a letter from Rome of the 93d July, which states the number of persons killed to be nine, and adds that several threw themselves from the balustrades of the bridge into the Tiber, and were drowned. This letter says that some persons ascribe the com- mencement of the tumult to the throwing of stones at the heads of the executed criminals, which were stuck upon pikes; others say that the populace attempted to get possession of the bodies, to drag them through the streets. The Diario of Rome declares, "that it has been proved that the panic was caused by premeditated design to create a tumult, in the midst of which robbers might reap a harvest ;" adding, that" it will not reply to reports that attribute the event to political or dis- affected motives."

The Levant mail hears intelligence from Alexandria to the 19th July. It is quite unimportant.

The last accounts from Candia are dated the 9th. The cause of the insurgents then appeared to be hopeless. Since the arrival of Tahir Pasha, the Greeks were worsted in nearly every engagement. The Turkish regular and irregular soldiers had perpetrated horrible ex- cesses. After an action on the 21st June, the Turkish troops, guided by a Colonel just landed from Constantinople, sacked and destroyed the villages which had submitted, burned their crops, robbed the churches, mutilated the prisoners, and after violating the women and young girls„ beat them in the most horrid manner. All these atrocities were com- mitted in spite of severe orders issued by Mustapha Pasha. Tahir re- paired to the spot to inquire into the facts. A French frigate, the Minerve, anchored along the adjoining coast; and the captain of the British ship Benbow, who had arrived from the Pirteus at Sada on the 3d, was charged by Sir Edmond Lyons to institute the strictest investi- gation into these occurrences. The European Consuls had addressed complaints on the subject to Tahir Pasha ; who replied that he had been unable to master the fury of his soldiers. He gave a rather cool recep- tion to the commander of the Benbow.

The overland Indian mail has arrived with advices from Bombay to the 19th June.

Their most remarkable feature is that there is scarcely any news from China : accounts had been received to the 2d April, only two- days later than those received before. Our forces still remained in position, awaiting further orders and reinforcements; while the Emperor, inflamed with anger at the taking of the Canton forts, had continued to- issue furious edicts. Here is one of them-

" The English, rebelling on a former occasion, and having seized upon the fortresses of Shakuh and Taekub, wounding our high and subordinate officers and troops, have caused us to gnash our teeth with combined imprecations. We therefore specially deputed Yilishan, Lungwan, and Yangfang, to assemble from every quarter the efficient troops, and to advance and exterminate the enemy. But now they have attacked and destroyed the fortress of Foomun (Bocca Tigris) and have even recklessly dared to approach near the confines or the city (Canton), creating vast confusion. Being destitute of all reason, con- temptuously regarding our Celestial dynasty, they have carried their unsub- missive rebellions to this extreme; and I, the Emperor, now swear that both. powers shall not stand (one or the other must conquer or die.) Let Yihshan, Lungwan, and Yangfang, at the time reckoned upon for their arrival, forthwith put in order our patriotic troops, and with undivided efforts seize the English barbarians, and make an entire extermination and end of the whole of them. Then will subside our wrathful indignation. If the whole number of them be not thus effectually destroyed, how shall I, the Emperor, be able to answer to the Gods of the heaven and the earth, and cherish the hopes of our people? Respect this."

Another Englishman had perished through the treachery of the Chinese. The Pestonjee Bomanjee had gone direct from England to Chusan : during the first one or two days, her crew, on landing, met with friendly treatment; but when her commander, Lieutenant Stead, R.N., went on shore unarmed and in a small boat, he was- attacked by the Chinese, and it is supposed murdered. Some vengeance was taken by the ship's crew, under command of Lieutenant Crawford, R.N. ; but the particulars are not given.

Sir Gordon Bremer, left Calcutta, in the Queen steamer, on the 26th May, for Canton. The expeditions from Calcutta and Madras had sailed with the Fifty-fifth, and Forty-ninth Regiments, a detachment or Artillery and Sappers, and a company of Native Rifles. With the expe- dition were some armed small craft for river service. Opinions were divided as to whether the immediate object of the expedition was the recapture of Chusan, or a direct advance on Pekin.

It was stated on 'Change on Monday, by one of the members of a City mercantile house of good standing, that accounts have been re- ceived from Canton with intelligence beyond that contained in the Calcutta papers ; which is said to be to the effect, that the Emperor had. ordered Keshen to be strangled, and that the order had been carried. into execution ; also that the chief officer of a ship of- the merchant Rustumjee's had been decapitated. The mode in which this intelli- gence might have been obtained in Calcutta is explained as follows— other letters from that place mention the arrival in port of a vessel from Singapore at the time when the post was starting, and it is supposed. that the intelligence described above was received by this channel. As it appears that no other house in the City has this news, under all these circumstances of doubt it must necessarily be received with a great deal of caution. It may have been this that produced the specu- lative dealings that took place in teas on Monday, and which excited the dealers to operate so largely as to cause a rise of between 2d. and 3d. per pound upon the day's transactions.—Times, Aug. 3.

Of India itself the news is wholly unimportant. In the North-west provinces every thing was pretty quiet. A small fort had been cap- tured in the neighbourhood of Khelati-Ghilzie, after a smart engage- ment, in which Captain Macao and Lieutenant Hoppe were wounded slightly, and Captain Sanders of the Engineers very severely. The- enemy lost their chief and fifteen men ; a few prisoners were made, and the rest of the garrison escaped.

Another fort had been rather untowardly seized from the British at Budamee, in the Bombay Presidency ; but the loss had been reco- vered— " The districts around Belgaum have recently been infested by a band of insurgent Arabs, who, after perpetrating a few minor offences, at length suc- ceeded in abstracting 8,000 or 10,000 rupees from the Government treasury, and in getting possession of a fort at Budamee. This is supposed to be one of the strongest hill-forts in India, and it attained some celebrity during the Mahratta war. The force sent to retake it was a large one ; consisting of 200' men of the Twenty-sixth Regiment, under the command of Major Johnston.. 500 of the Ninth, the greater part of the Seventh, 100 of the Queen's Own, and 50 Artillerymen, with guns and mortars. The Pettah was taken on the- 10th, and the fort on the 12th instant. The particulars we have as yet received are not very satisfactory ; but the capture seems to have been effected by a detachment of the force, and without much difficulty. Two Artillerymen,. four of her Majesty's Fourth Regiment, and fourteen Sepoys, were killed ; and Mr. Davidson, the collector, Captain Pinkey, or Penny, of the Seventh Ma. dras Native Infantry, and one Artilleryman, were wounded. No account of the enemy's loss has arrived," The Punjab was still in a condition of the utmost distraction. The Governor of Cachmere had been murdered in his own durbar by a party of soldiers to whom he had refused increased pay. Captain Broad.. foot was intercepted by the Seikbs in his passage across the territory to the Peshawar, convoying a kafila containing Shah Soojah's wives. One of the party gives an amusing account of the affair, in a letter dated Peshawar, 27th May 1841- " We have met with a great deal of danger in our journey through the Pun- jib. The Seikh forces were in a state of mutiny ; and B— and 1, for protec- tion, were obliged to join the convoy of the King Shah Soojah's women—I,200 poor things. The Seikh army heard that we had treasure to the amount of twenty-five lacs. They stopped our passage, and sent a deputation to Captain Mroadfoot, commanding the convoy, requesting him to deliver up the women and the treasure, and that they would spare the Europeans' lives. On his de- cidedly objecting to this reasonable offer, they swore by all that was holy that they would have the women, the treasure, and all our lives. We accordingly ' took up a strong position on this side of the Attock, at a pass between a range of mountains, and made a beautiful battery with above 3,000 camel-saddles, and set the Sappers and Miners to work at a high precipice above the pass to loosen the rocks and blow them up, so as to block up the roads for the guns of the enemy. Our strength altogether was about 1,000 men ; the greater part was disciplined. Theirs was about 6,000, disciplined by French officers, and very effective. We would have made a great resistance, and I have no doubt 'would have beaten them. We remained in our stronghold for three days. In the mean time, Colonel Shelton's brigade was advancing by forced marches. The cowardly Seikhs soon made themselves scarce ; and we proceeded on our march without molestation. The mountains near the Attock are famous for a _race of wild military kind of robbers, which the Seikh Government can't put down. Captain Black has taken about 1,500 into pay, to act as skirmishers with their matchlocks, and as videttes and pickets. They are a fierce and more warlike race than the rest ; and, what is very strange, they use the Highland bagpipe. exactly in sound and shape like ours, but play no Scotch airs. Many of them wear shirts of mail; and they look very well. This is a beautiful and 'fertile country, and kept in pretty good order by General Avitabile, the Go- vernor of Peshawur. I breakfasted with him yesterday morning. He has the _power of life and death in his hands. Be asked if we would like to see his method of distributing justice. A prisoner was brought in, and it was proved that he had stolen a child's ornaments. Without the General giving himself any more trouble than giving the order, the poor devil was taken away and hanged outside the walls; and from the door of our tent I can see that the birds of the air are already paying their compliments to him : this is the only method he takes to keep the province in order. He is a Frenchman. The outside of the town is studded with gallowses, on which are hanging numbers of human beings. This is a miserable-looking town ; and the only good house is the General's, and the Company's doctor's and political agent's.

Dost Mohammed had arrived at Calcutta, where he was made a lion cf. He freely conversed, it is said, with Lord Auckland, and played at -chess with the Misses Eden.

"The Phlegethon," says the Calcutta Hurkara of May 25th, "which arrived from Ceylon the day before yesterday, is an armed iron steamer, and has brought round the King of Johannah, who, being expelled from Madagascar by an insurrection of his subjects, has come here to solicit the aid of the British Government to reinstate him on his throne." Three alternatives are proposed by the King de jure to the Indian -Government,—first, the loan of troops and a small ship of war ; se- condly, the loan of two lacs of rupees to enable the King to raise an - -armament himself and restore the trade of the country to its legitimate channels ; thirdly, the occupation of the country by the British, allow- - log his Majesty a sufficiency to maintain himself with regal dignity

• -upon the island of Johannah, where he would reside as the nominal Sovereign, and, in fact, the Vicegerent of the British.

The Supreme Court of Bombay had committed to prison an Italian friar, who calls himself" Vicar General," for having, notwithstanding the special order of the Court served on him, married a boy who is a ward of the Court, aged sixteen years, to a young lady of eighteen. The friar and the mother of the lady remain in the public gaol. The --event had occasioned considerable consternation and discussion.

A case had been tried at Bombay, in which one of Captain Elliot's Treasury-bills was involved. The defendants were the agents of Messrs. Dent and Co., to whom the plaintiff, a native merchant, had consigned two hundred chests of opium, the defendants having made him an ad- vance of 72,115 dollars, for which he drew a bill on Dent and Co, payable to themselves. He instructed them to invest the surplus arising from the sale of the opium, after payment of the bill, in Sycee silver, Mexican dollars, or in specified securities. The opium, which arrived safely in China, was among that sold to Captain Elliot to complete the --number of chests be had engaged to deliver to Commissioner Lin. Messrs. Dent and Co. took bills on the Treasury from Captain Elliot, and wrote to the plaintiff, giving an account of the sales of the chests, and informing him that for the balance, after deducting the amount of his bill, they had sent a bill of Elliot's amountins. to 5,3851. 9s., en- dorsed to the defendants, on his account. They also wrote to the de- fendants, enclosing bills on the Treasury ; at the same time suggesting that it might not be desirable to negotiate the bills with their names upon them, lest they might be involved in some risk ; and instructing them to send the bills to England, that the amount might be received and remitted to the interested parties in Bombay. The plaintiff, quoting Dent and Co.'s letter to him, requested the defendants to deliver the bill ; which they refused to do ; and the plaintiff ultimately consented that it should be sent to London for recovery. The bill was sent ac- cordingly, and returned protested ; when the plaintiff again applied for It, but was refused, unless he should consent to guarantee the defend- ants from all liability to Dent and Co. He therefore brought an action

trover to recover the value of the bill. The Court decided, that he was entitled to recover, as the bill represented his opium ; that the de- fendants could not negotiate the bill except for the benefit of the plain- tiff; and that Dent and Co. could not obtrude the agency of the defend- ants upon him against his will. The assent given by the plaintiff to the transmission of the bill to London was not considered as a waiver of -his right ; and a verdict was given in his favour.

A letter from Moulmein says that three British officers of the Madras

Army—Captain Brett, Lieutenant Revell, and Lieutenant Gibb—were seized by the Burmese authorities in January last, for disobeying some local regulation, and have been detained in custody ever since, pending a reference to the Commander-in-Chief.

The Indian papers mention several serious disasters at sea-

" The brig Freak, which left Bombay for Singapore, bad been cut off in the 'Surat Passage, and her captain and chief mate murdered by a party of con- victs forty-five in number, which she had on board. There was, as usual, no guard. The murderers are in custody at Penang." "The brig Agra, from the Mauritius, was wrecked off Point Palmyras on the 22d May ; and the captain, crew, and passengers left her in the long .boat and jolly-boat the ensuing-morning. The chief mate, three of the crew, and , two Malabar passengers, who proceeded in the latter, met the Colonel Newell two days afterwards, and were taken on board. Of the other boat, which con- tained the captain, nine of the crew, and two European and two native pas- sengers, nothing whatever had been heard, and great apprehension existed for her safety, as it Was bad weather which caused the two boats to part company."

The Ferguson, hound for Madras, and having on board a detachment of her Majesty's Fifth Regiment, was stranded on the Grand Barrier Reef, Torres Strait, on the 27th April last. She was soon abandoned; and the officers, troops, and crew were put on board the Marquis of Hastings and Orient, which then sailed for Capang for the purpose of obtaining supplies. No lives wets lost."

"The brig Memnon, which left Bombay for Liverpool, having suffered some damage, put back, and was wrecked at the entrance of the harbour." Apprehensions were created in consequence of a few cotton hales, which were proved to have been embarked on board the Buckinghamshire prior to her departure on the 5th instant, having been found floating at a distance of fifty miles off Bombay; but as they were known to have been on the deck, it is supposed the captain ordered them to be thrown overboard during the gales at the beginning of the monsoon."

Information has been received of the landing of the first body of set- tlers sent out by the Western Australian Company, under their Chief Commissioner, Mr. Waller Clifton, and the commencement of their colony, Australind. It will be remembered, that when the land for the site of Australind was sold to individual purchasers, some doubt was raised both as to the title and the quality of the soil ; and that the Colo- nial Minister therefore permitted the Company to transfer the settle- ment from the place originally intended, Port Leschenault, on the South of Swan River, to Port Grey, some two hundred miles above the river. On the arrival in Port Leschenault, however, in March last, r. Clifton immediately went to Perth, and conferred with Governor Hutt ; from whom he learned that the land at Leschenault had been reserved for his fellow-emigrants, and was instantly at their service. In the mean time, the emigrants themselves had examined the land in the neighbourhood of Leschenault, and were so perfectly satisfied with its qualities and po- sition, that, finding their title unobstructed, they determined to go no further. Australind is therefore planted, according to the original in- tention, at Port Leschenault ; and the accounts from this, the youngest English colony, are of the most favourable promise.—Colonial Gazette.

The Boston Pilot announces the death of Dr. William James M`Ne- vin, at New York, on the 12th July, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. Dr. M`Nevin was one of the associates of Emmet, in the Irish Rebellion of 1798; but he avoided the fate of his friend by escaping to America, where he rose to eminence in his profession. Arthur O'Connor is now the sole survivor of the Executive Directory of United Irishmen.