vehicles should thus be withdrawn from the control of the Police Commissioners, as the railway companies were under no responsibility to the public with respect to these cabs. Some of the regulations were misleading to the public; railway numbers were placed on cabs different from the legal numbers, and this had frequently led to the summoning of innocent drivers, while the taken the railway for the police number. Mr. A'Beckett had communicated with Sir Richard Mayne, who expressed his willingness to appoint a stand within the terminus, and even to adopt any regulations suggested by the company that appeared useful; but instead of taking advantage of this opportunity, the company had used the time in the endeavour to find means of evading the law. He inflicted on Hall the nominal fine of one shilling. Morrish, another driver, was convicted of refusing to take a fare within the terminus. He said it was not his "turn," and that he should be fined five shillings

named Frederick Crowe, was charged with stealing a truck: he had pretended to hire the truck, and then tried to sell it for 2s. He did not deny the act, but pleaded that distress drove him to it, he wanted to get food for his sick mother, his sister, his wife and child, and himself, who were starving. When two policemen went to arrest him, they were horrified at the condition in which they found the family; they humanely pur-guilty escaped; the aggrieved passengers having mischased food and fuel for them, and induced the neighbours to subscribe for their relief. Crowe told the magistrate that he was a bird-cage maker, but he could get no work at that nor anything else, except making canvass jackets, for which he and his family received a miserable payment. The magistrate hesitated how to act, but at length discharged the prisoner, observing that the owner of the truck, no doubt, had no desire to consign the miserable man to a prison. The magistrate then directed the chief usher to inquire into the condition of the family. That officer gave this report :"No. 1, Union Place, Stepney Green:-I found Alice Crack-by the company if he broke their regulations. A gentlenell, who says she is forty-seven years of age, dressed in a man from the railway announced that this regulation petticoat; the upper part of her body covered with canvass had been abrogated since the last decision on the point. coats, which she was making. Her mind seemed much affected, Mr. A'Beckett fined the driver forty shillings. and she appeared to be nearly starved to death. Her arms are At the Middlesex Sessions, on the 15th, John Morris, like those of a child three years of age. Eliza Cracknell, the aged fourteen, pleaded guilty to Stealing a Till containing daughter of the above, dressed the same as the mother; a fine 28. 5d. The lad was old in crime: he had been sumgirl, aged sixteen years, suffering from illness and want of food. Harriet Crowe and child; the mother only eighteen years old, marily convicted eleven times. Mr. Sergeant Adams had nothing but an old frock on, the only frock in the house. said, in this case he had not the power to transport the She also appeared to be suffering from her close confinement in culprit. The prisoner-"I want to be transported." a small and badly-ventilated room, and the want of food. In the The Assistant-Judge-" I dare say you do; but I am room there was part of a bench, which is used as a table during sorry to say you cannot be gratified at present." the day, and a bed for the man Crowe at night. The three Prisoner-"Oh, very well; I shall go on the same game women and the man make jackets; and by working hard all day, and until two o'clock in the morning, and all day of Sunday, again when I'm out, till I do get transported, though." they can earn 7s. per week. They all said they had not tasted The Assistant-Judge-"Well, I promise you that the food since Friday morning, until the time that Police-Sergeant next time you come here you shall be transported, if Smith went and gave them a few pence out of his own pocket, guilty. Now, mind that." He then sentenced the priand a neighbour has given them some old clothes to cover the soner to nine months' hard labour. child. They pay 2s. 6d. per week for the two rooms, about five feet wide and ten feet long each; one room has nothing in it at all. The man says he could make a living if he could get a set of tools, which would cost about 21. 10s. He could make cages and sell about the streets. The family have been relieved by the parish with one loaf and a pound of oatmeal. Found lying in one corner of the room the remains of a mattress or blanket, which was the only thing in the room except an old box used to

sit upon."

The magistrate directed that a pound should be appropriated from the poor-box for the relief of the family.

A daring Garotte Robbery was committed in the Strand, on Saturday night, the 13th inst. As Mr. Chalmers, of Cambridge-street, Golden-square, was passing through Agar-street, Strand, he was attacked by a man of herculean frame, who, seizing him by the neck, cut the guard-chain of his watch, and, throwing him violently from him, decamped with his booty towards Covent-garden Market. Several persons, who witnessed the struggles of Mr. Chalmers, gathered round; and, as soon as he recovered himself sufficiently to explain that he had been robbed, went in pursuit. The robber, however, who was joined by another in the market, got clear away with his booty.

An important decision on the subject of Railway Cabs, was given on the 15th by Mr. A'Beckett, the Southwark Police Magistrate. Hall, a cab-driver, was summoned for plying for hire in an unlicensed place-to wit, within the terminus of the Brighton Railway at London Bridge. There was no denial that the place had not been appointed a standing by the Commissioners of Police. Mr. A'Beckett remarked at the outset, that the Railway Company had taken advantage of the delay he had granted to obtain the opinions of the Solicitor-General and Mr. Bovill, which were adverse to the judgment he was about to give; but, of course, a magistrate must decide for himself, and could not be led by such "opinions." In the present case, he pointed out how he thought the learned gentlemen had made a great mistake in the application of a particular decision respecting hackney-carriages. Mr. A'Beckett pronounced that Hall, acting under the company's sanction, had clearly violated the law. It was urged that railway companies made these illegal regulations to promote the convenience of the public; but he held that it was not at all desirable that a certain number of privileged

The capital sentence passed on Cannon, the Sweep, for attempting to murder Policeman Dwyer, has been commuted to transportation for life.

In the Court of Bankruptcy on the 20th, Jonathan Streeter, corn-merchant, of Brighton, applied for his certificate. It appeared that he had been in business for twenty-eight years; that he had been in a partnership in a corn-mill; and that it was in respect of a liability incurred on account of that partnership, and which he would not pay to the detriment of his other creditors, that he had preferred to become a bankrupt. It was also shown that his books had been regularly kept, and that his whole conduct had been blameless. Mr. Commissioner Goulburn said that the bankrupt was clearly entitled to quit the court without imputation of any kind whatever on his character, and it was the duty as well as the pleasure of the court to award him a first-class certificate. Much had recently been said by commercial men about the wisdom or otherwise of the legislature in directing the classification of certificates into first, second, and third; and it had been the practice of the bankruptcy courts to watch very closely the distinction given by a first-class certificate, in order that its worth might not be destroyed by being made too common. The effect of a first-class certificate was to state to the world that from unforeseen misfortune only, such as might happen to the most honest man in trade, the bankrupt had been compelled to come into that court, and have his affairs wound up, and his assets equally distributed. Such a man was entitled to quit that court with the commendation of the court, the good-will of all his creditors, and their best wishes for his future success, as Mr. Streeter was sure to do.

In the Insolvent Debtor's Court on the 20th, a New and Important Question, under the Protection Act, was discussed. The insolvent, James Fry, who was a miller at Sunbury, was heard in April last, under the Protection Act, and no day was named for the final order, on the ground of fraud. Permission was given to apply in three months for a protecting order. In the interval he was arrested by Mr. Impey, and committed to Maidstone Gaol. He subsequently applied to the court for a protecting order, and for his discharge from prison, both of which were granted. The opposing creditor finding him, to his surprise, out of prison, discovered that he had obtained the protecting order and discharge without

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[NOVEMBER, 1852.

course, the court could say nothing. It would be, in fact, encroaching on the liberty of the press if their lordships said a criminal information should issue under these circumstances. Whatever might be the case elsewhere, we in England possessed a free press, which he trusted would ever continue to discuss every question of history, as well modern as ancient, without apprehending applications like that before the court. It was true that in times when the law of libel was yet unsettled, or settled at best in a vexatious and tyrannical manner, it was a libel to accuse any officer of the crown of incompetency; but that doctrine was long since exploded, and now there was no impropriety in questioning the capability of any public functionary to discharge his duty. As to Sir Charles Napier personally, he (Lord Campbell) believed him to be one of the most gallant, meritorious, and distinguished officers that had ever led an army to victory; but believing all that, and looking to him as one whose assistance might be calculated upon by his country in the hour of need, his lordship thought this application was not well founded, and that the rule must be refused. The other judges concurred, and the rule was refused accordingly.

William Baker, a boy of eleven, was tried at the Central Criminal Court, on the 23rd, for the Manslaughter of his brother, a lad of thirteen. This lad had been eating his dinner, and had just finished when the prisoner came in, and he was about to sit down to the table to eat his dinner, and took up a knife and fork, when his brother scolded him for coming home so late, and also said that he should not have the knife and fork. The prisoner said he should come home when he pleased, and he should have what knife and fork he liked. He then sat down to his dinner, when the brother took up the lid of a saucepan and struck him on the back with it, and then went to the other end of the room. The prisoner at the same instant threw a knife at him, and it entered his left side and stuck there. The brother pulled the knife out of his body and gave it to the prisoner, and he laid it on the table and exclaimed that he did not mean to do it. The wounded lad ran into the room of a lodger, and was. conveyed to the hospital; but the hurt was mortal, and he died two days afterwards. The judge told the jury that if they thought that the prisoner in a moment of passion had thrown the knife at hazard and with no deliberate intention whatever, they would be justified in acquitting him; and even if they had any doubt upon the point, the prisoner was equally entitled to the benefit of that doubt. The jury, after a short deliberation, returned a verdict of Not guilty. The boy was discharged and delivered to the care of his father.

giving him notice. An application was made to the court to rescind the protecting order and to re-commit the insolvent to Maidstone Gael on the ground that it had been improperly obtained. The question was now argued at some length, and the learned commissioners having conferred together expressed their opinion. The Chief Commissioner held that the court had power to rescind the protecting order, but doubted whether it could re-commit to prison. Mr. Commissioner Law said he had no doubt of the power of the court both to revoke the order and to re-commit the insolvent to Maidstone, He was, however, not disposed to adopt the latter unless it was shown that the insolvent had wilfully acted in the matter.-Mr. Commissioner Phillips was clearly of opinion that the court could both revoke and commit.-A question arose as to the proceedings to be adopted in the case, and it was ultimately decided that the rule should remain open, and the insolvent appear for examination on the 6th of December. An action was tried in the Court of Common Pleas on the 20th, on a bill of exchange for 2457., accepted by Lieutenant Ronalds of the 77th Foot. The defendant pleaded that the bill was given for money Won at Play, and without value. The circumstances of this gaming transaction, as stated by the defendant's own counsel, were these. Last year his regiment was stationed at Plymouth. On the 20th August, Plymouth races were run, and about that time there appeared in the town a number of persons assuming to themselves the name of "The Bath and Bristol Club." They started a roulette table, but as it required some precaution to evade proceedings by the magistrates, this club never carried on play two nights in succession in the same house, so as to prevent their being caught whilst they were at work. On the second or third night, they opened a room at a livery stable-keeper's, named Hex, and it was the misfortune of his client and some brother officers to go there on that occasion. It was after mess that he went, and he was sober; but, as usual, there was every attention paid to gentlemen who wanted to use the roulette table, and champagne was thrown about for their use. The consequence was that Lieut. Ronalds became elated, and having lost the 157. which he had in his pocket, he played on credit until he lost about 500l.; and an I OU for 501., and the bill in question, were given on account of part of this sum. This I O U was afterwards handed over to another officer who had won; but he, however, went the next night and lost it back again. When the bill became due a letter was written applying for payment, on behalf of the "Town and District Banking Company; and an intimation was given that if it was not paid, the case would be laid before the Commanderin-Chief. The communication was not answered, and A singular case of Bigamy was tried at the Central another was sent enclosing a copy of a letter which had Criminal Court, on the 24th. The prisoner was a been sent to the Commander-in-Chief, and subsequently respectable-looking elderly woman, named Smith. She the action was brought. Mr. Ronalds is about five or was married in October, 1816, at Tonbridge, to one John six-and-twenty. He was to have been in court to be Smith, with whom she lived some ten or eleven years. examined; but he failed to appear; and the court, after They then separated, from some cause that was not waiting for some time, gave judgment against him for stated. against him for stated. After that period it appeared that she had the amount of the bill, with costs. amassed some property, consisting of two small houses and some money, and was again married in January, 1841, at Newington, to a man about her own age, named Joseph Hensman, stating herself to be a widow. placed the whole of her property at his disposal, and acted the part of a good wife to him, and had worked at her business as a wire-worker. Two years after the second marriage the second husband heard that she had a husband living, and taxed her with it, but this shej denied, and they went down together to Maidstone, and the first husband was introduced to the second one as the brother of the first one, and it was not until a few weeks ago that the second husband did find out the truth. When the police-constable told her with what she was charged, she said that she had not been guilty of any offence as her first husband was married again. This was not proved, but it was shown that he had from the period of their separation lived with a woman, calling her his wife. The jury found her Guilty, recommending her to mercy, and the Recorder, ordered her to be imprisoned for one month in Newgate.

In the case of libel, Dr. Achilli against Dr. Newman, the Court of Queen's Bench, on the 22nd, granted a rule for a new trial, on the ground that the verdict, formerly given for the plaintiff, was against evidence.

She

In the Court of Queen's Bench, on the 23rd, application was made on the part of Sir Charles Napier for Criminal Information against Mr. John Murray, the publisher of the " Quarterly Review," in respect of an article in the October number of that journal, alleged to reflect unjustly on Sir C. Napier's character, in reference to the investigation made by him into the matter of the Ameers of Scinde, and to the conduct of his troops towards the women of the Ameers on taking possession of Hyderabad. Lord Campbell was of opinion that there was not a case for the interference of the court. If (said his lordship) there had been any passage written with the intention of calumniating Sir Charles Napier, their lordships would undoubtedly have extended to him the protection of the court. But he could find nothing showing such an intention. The article seemed to him to be an historical essay, turning In the Court of Queen's Bench, on the 24th, judg a disputed point as to whether the Ameers of ment was given on the application of M. Barthelemi Scinde were harshly treated or not. On that point, of and M. Morney, the gentlemen in custody for being

on

A Railway Accident has occurred from running an express train into a goods train. The express train from Brighton to London, on the morning of the 1st inst., as it approached the Redhill goods station, near the Reigate junction, ran into part of a goods train which was in the very process of being shunted from a siding on to the up-line-that is on to the line upon which it must have been known the express train was approaching. The shock was great, though the speed Mr. Hamnett, wine-merchant in Liverpool, an infirm of the express had been slackened, as the train stops at old gentleman, and his niece were Killed at the Seaforth Reigate junction. Some trucks were destroyed, and station on the Liverpool and Southport Railway on the both engines were damaged. There were twelve or! 7th inst. At the inquest on their bodies, a passenger

described the accident::-"When the train arrived at and various parts of the country have been subjected to Seaforth, a gentleman and lady were upon the platform. severe Inundations. On the 12th an unusually high tide As the train was about to move, the gentleman opened swept both banks of the Thames, as far as Putney; the door of the carriage in which I was seated, and doing considerable damage. As usual the Surrey side appeared as if about to get in, but the lady urged him suffered the most. Some of the lower streets were four not to do so. He seemed undecided what to do, and feet under water; the inhabitants escaping in wagons replied 'No, no!' but continued to walk down the and boats. At Lambeth, the gardens of the palace were platform, holding by the handle of the carriage-door. flooded, and a boat was carried into the burial-ground of He then let go, and I shut the door. On looking out of Lambeth Old Church. Fore-street, High-street, and the window, I perceived the gentleman lay hold of the Lambeth Butts, were several feet under water. The handle of a door lower down the train, and by a sudden Lammas lands as far as Putney were all under water. jerk of the carriage he was thrown down sideways. The The towing-path on the Surrey side of the Thames was lady had hold of his coat, and they were both gradually covered with water to the depth of six feet. At Berpulled in between the carriages and the platform. In mondsey and Rotherhithe, and all along, the river-side this way they were drawn along with the train for as far as Bankside was covered some feet deep; and it about ten seconds, the wheels pulling them gradually in. required the most prompt measures to prevent the tide I shouted out, and the train was ultimately stopped, from rushing into the furnaces of the various gas-works, and in about five minutes the bodies were extricated; iron-foundries, and breweries. Great devastation has life was found to be extinct. In my opinion, the gentle-taken place in Herefordshire. The Wye, the Lagg, and man had sufficient time to get into the carriage, had he the Frome overflowed. The London mail-coach was swalnot been so nervous and undecided." A verdict of lowed up in the wreck of a bridge over the Frome; one Accidental death was returned, coupled with the passenger and one horse were drowned; boats saved the following presentment :-"The jury cannot separate rest of the passengers. The mail-bags were partially reswithout remonstrating with the Lancashire and York-cued. Hereford was then surrounded by water. The shire Railway Company against the removal from duty on Sundays, from roadside stations, of the porters generally employed when extra traffic generally occurs. The Melbourne, screw-steamer, belonging to the Australian Mail Packet Company, after a Series of Disasters in the Channel, at Plymouth, and in the open sea, put into Lisbon on the 24th of last month, dismasted and in a leaky state.

property destroyed on the river-banks is considerable. Floods are also reported at Market Harborough and Leicester, and at Newton Abbotts in Devon; at the former places, the Soar expanded into a lake; at the latter, the Teign burst its banks, and carried off much property. Birmingham was visited with a disastrous flood on the night of the 11th. The river Rea, which is fed by the water flowing from the Licky Hills, in consequence of The Fire-Annihilator works in Battersea Fields were the continued and heavy rains, rose many feet above its Destroyed by Fire on Sunday the 31st ult., with loss of usual level. The streets, houses, and manufactories, life. The building, a detached one, belonged to a com- were flooded, and great damage was done, while company which manufactures Phillips's fire-annihilators; munication on foot was stopped. One house was partly the composition employed was made there and baked in washed down. The carcases of animals that were borne ovens, and then deposited in the machines. On Sundays, on the stream showed that the agricultural districts of a watchman named Garrard had charge of the premises Worcestershire had suffered from the flood. Traffic was and fires, and his wife was in the habit of coming to him stopped on the Bristol and Birmingham Railway. Loss in the morning and cooking their dinner in the factory. of life has taken place in several parts of the country. In the morning her husband left her in the house while A melancholy case occurred at Walton-upon-Thames, a he went into a field to gather herbs; when he returned village near Chertsey, upon the South Western Railway. a few minutes afterwards, he found the place in flames. On Saturday evening, the 20th, about five o'clock, Sarah, He shouted to his wife, but obtained no answer. The the wife of James Lilley, together with her son, a boy people who were proceeding to a church in the neigh- about twelve years old, and her daughter, aged fourteen, bourhood did what they could to assist Garrard, and together with their father, had been employed on App's engines were quickly obtained from town; but the fire Court farm, in the occupation of Mr. William Careless, burnt so fiercely that the premises were soon gutted, and were returning home from their work at the above the chemical agents employed in the manufacture hour to their cottage. which is at present, in consequence feeding the flames. As soon as the firemen could enter of the floods, completely surrounded by water. he building they searched for Mrs. Garrard's body: it farm of Mr. Careless is surrounded by a deep moat, was found in a cupboard, with some portions consumed. which separates the cottage of the deceased and another The disaster is su.mised to have originated from an from the farm where they had been at work, and their over-heated flue; the poor woman had either been in ordinary mode of getting to this cottage was by means the cupboard when the flames broke forth and over- of a path running along the side of the moat, and then powered her, or she had run there thinking it a refuge. over a high embankment at the end of it. This emAn inquest was held on the following day. The evidence bankment was three feet under water, and therefore to was not decisive as to the cause of the fire, but the jury get to their cottage they had recourse to a beer-cooler, coupled with their verdict of Accidental death an about seven feet long, four feet wide, and only seven opinion that "the fire occurred from the ignition of inches in depth, for the purpose of being punted across wood in the oven or drying- room, by reason of a too the moat, which was thirty yards wide. On the above near approximation thereof to the flues." evening, Mrs. Lilley, with her son and daughter, attempting to cross in this way, without waiting for her husband's assistance, when they fell into the water, and all the three perished.

A shock of Earthquake, which appears to have commenced on the shores of Dublin and Wicklow, and taking nearly a circular direction, extended in England as far as Gloucester, occurred on the 9th inst. about half past four in the morning. The disturbances, upon a comparison of time, were as nearly as possible simultaneous; at least there is no appreciable difference in the times they are reported to have been perceived in different places. The course taken was across the Irish Channel-where, however, the passengers in the ordinary packets, running between Kingstown and Liverpool and Kingstown and Holyhead, did not perceive any indications of the phenomenon-along the coast of North Wales, through the principal districts of South Lancashire, and along the edges of Cheshire and Shropshire into Gloucestershire. The weather for several days previously had been wet and sultry, with a warm and unseasonable atmosphere. No actual damage was done anywhere, though the motion was considerable.

In consequence of the continuous rain, the metropolis

The

Information has been received from Gottenburg of the total Wreck of the Victoria Steam-ship, from Hull for St. Petersburg, by which five of the crew and three passengers lost their lives. She sailed from Hull on the 24th ult., but encountered a terrific gale, with a heavy sea, in the Sleeve, on the 28th, by which, among other damage sustained, she had her wheel and paddleboxes broken, and two cases of machinery which were on deck washed overboard. She consequently put back to Hull, where she arrived on the 1st inst., and from the advanced state of the season it was not anticipated that she would sail during the winter; however, having repaired damages, she left Hull for her original destination on Saturday, the 6th inst., and encountered another fearful gale on the 8th and 9th inst., during which she was totally lost on the rocks off Wingo Beacon, near Gottenburg. Three passengers and five of the crew

NOVEMBER, 1852.]

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on board. By this time the Swedish fishing-boats were out, and several of them made repeated attempts to reach the wreck, without success, the breakers were so high and so rough. By this time there was not a vestige of the ship to be seen, only the boilers, in which the poor men were huddled; and, as we could not see them we supposed that they were all gone. We all gave way to despondency, and the sailors cried like children. Oh, the poor master, he is gone at last, was all they could say, but their tears spoke more than words could do. Presently we saw something buffeting about in the waves, and very soon discovered it to be the captain. A shout was raised-Bless God, here's the master,' and all were in readiness to pick him up. The pilot-boat from one of the islands now came to our relief, and soon we were all taken off the rocks in safety. After about an hour's sail we found ourselves on another island, less desolate than the first, a few rough houses forming a kind of village. We were led about a mile over rocky paths, and at last installed in a decent cabin. The poor people did all they could to make us comfortable, stripping themselves to make us warm. In about another hour the remainder of the poor seamen were brought in, and if you could have seen us you would have known the meaning of the word 'joy.' I confess I never did before. The poor captain, who was terribly bruised and ill, we got into the only bed there was, and rubbed him with brandy, and did all, we could to make him well. After eating a hearty supper of corned heef and potatoes, with coffee, What a picture we we prepared for the_night's rest. should have made. The captain in a little bed on one side of the room; the engineer, a great fat, good-natured fellow, on the other side on a kind of settle the first and second mate, the cook, and one of the seamen, on the floor; and Miss G-, Miss W-, and myself, on a *During mattress beside the captain's bed. those awful eight hours, from a quarter to eleven until seven in the morning, our feelings were not of the most enviable nind. I think the sound of the parting ship and the cry of those wretched ones will never leave me; they will for ever haunt me. And the sight of that ship gradually breaking up-I cannot think of it. This morning the islanders got their boat ready and brought us all over to Gothenburg, and we are here are here nicely housed and everything comfortable. We have seen the English and the Russian consuls, and every kindness has been shown us, and every thing done to forward us on our way. They are going to send us clothes, as we have nothing but the things on us saved. Fortunately I had my watch round my neck, and I threw my petticoat and jacket over my night-dress. I had my grey cloak with me, my boddice luckily I got on, and with a silk handkerchief of poor H-, instead of a bonnet, you may imagine how desolate an appearance we presented on our arrival here. It is thought the compass was at fault, not having been properly regulated in Hull. However, all that will, doubtless, be properly inquired into. "

were drowned, and three female passengers, with twenty of the crew and male passengers, succeeded with great difficulty in getting on the rocks, where they were exposed to the inclemency of the weather for nearly twenty hours, when, providentially, they were observed by some Swedish fishermen, who humanely bore down to their assistance, and at great peril rescued them from their dangerous position, and conveyed them to Gottenburg. The vessel went to pieces soon after she struck, and but a very small portion of the cargo, in a very damaged state, has been saved. A young lady who was a passenger has given, in a letter to her friends at home, a striking account of this catastrophe :-" On Saturday (6th inst.), we embarked in the Victoria. Everybody in Hull seemed so sanguine of our having a fair voyage, and dwelt so impressively on the hardships of the overland journey, that I felt not the slightest hesitation in going again on board. We embarked about half past 12 o'clock, the wind in our favour, and everything going on well. In addition to our old party we had two new faces, Mr. H and his young brother, lads of 22 and 14, and a mate that knew every inch of ground. All went on gaily, and we separated about 10 o'clock on Monday night, all in good spirits, congratulating each other on having had so fair a voyage, and thinking about our next day's expedition into Copenhagen. We were scarcely undressed, and in our berths, before a terrible bumping and thumping ensued, and a cry was raised, 'The ship has struck." For a few moments everybody seemed paralysed, and all was confusion. During this time, notwithstanding the commands of the captain to keep collected, a rush was made for the boats, and five of the seamen, with Mr. H and the brothers were drowned. As for myself, I determined from the first to abide by what the captain said and be guided entirely by him. I implored Mr. H to do so likewise; he promised that he would, but, poor man! the moment he saw the seas washing over the deck, and heard the fearful commotion, he lost his self-possession, and was one of the first to jump into the boat. He was soon in the water, and, as he had on a life preserver, his cries for help were heard for half an hour. Oh! those were cries we shall remember all our lives; the thought of them makes one shudder--so despairing, so entreating! The youngest H-I pulled back twice when he was preparing to leap from the ship, and entreated him to pray for himself and for us. He fell on his knees, and screamed, 'Lord have mercy on us-Lord save us, but hearing his brother and Mr. H- call, he rushed away, threw himself into the boat, and in a few moments was in the presence of God. Poor souls! would they were but with us now. Shortly after this a cry was raised that the captain was overboard, but in a few minutes he was seen again on deck, miraculously preserved. All this time the ship was bumping and thumping and going to pieces, but nothing could be done; it was much too dark to take to the boats, and each moment we feared would be our last. All the blue lights we had were burnt, and turpentine signals, but all of no use. About three, the cook fancied he saw a signal, and for a few moments our hearts were raised, but soon they sank as we discovered only the moon rising above the rocks. Nothing could be done. There we were, only a short distance from land, but death staring us in the face, our ship receding each moment, and heavy seas washing over us. Such a scene as the saloon presented may I never see again. The sailors were doing all they could to cheer one another, and the captain and chief mate were encouraging each other, and all of us praying as we never prayed before. Our only hope was for the daylight, and it seemed as if this would never come. But the longest night must have an end, and about a quarter to 7 it was light enough to get the boats ready (we had but one beside the life boat, SOCIAL, SANITARY, AND MUNICIPAL which got staved). In a few minutes this was done, and the women passengers were got into the bottom of the boat with five men. We made our way to some rocks, and in about half an hour were placed in comparative safety upon the most barren rock you can imagine. The boat then went back again to the ship to fetch off the seven men, but it was so knocked about as to be unequal to this performance, and the captain, engineer, and five men, had to remain yet longer

An inquest was held on the 15th and 16th inst., on the bodies of Mrs. Sarah Bean, and of Charlotte Cooke, a domestic servant, who were Killed at Chelsea in the crowd assembled on the occasion of the Duke of Wellington's lying in state. It appeared that the women had been literally crushed to death, and that the police arrangements for preventing confusion had been very defective. The jury returned a verdict of Accidental death; accompanied by an expression of regret that better arrangements were not adopted by the Police authorities for the public safety.

PROGRESS.

THE Registrar-General's last Quarterly Return of Marriages, Births, and Deaths in England, has been published; the marriages in April, May, and June last the births and deaths in July, August, and September last. The marriages, births, and deaths exceed the average, so that the result is mixed, indicating great activity in all the sources of employment, but no general