South Australian (Adelaide, SA : 1844 - 1851), Tuesday 27 July 1847, page 4


BHITISH AND FOREIGN GLEANINGS.

TITS HIGHLAND SOCIETY OV LONDON.-Thc anniversary festival of the battle of Alexandrie was celebrated by the Highland Society o London in Freemason's Hali. His Roya Highness the Duke of Cambridge presided and was supported on the right by his Rora Highness Prince Albert, and on the left bj the Duke of "Wellington. Her Majesty's piper the late Duke of Sussex's piper, and other were present, with the juvenile band of the Ca ledonian Asylum. A corps of Highland lancer; eminently contributed to the amusements of tin evening. This was tue first attendance of hi Royal Highness since his appointment a* Chieftain to the clans, and behind him stood his esquire, or guardsman, in Highland cos-tume. The cloth having been removed, grace was said bv the Rev. T. Drown, and the toa: I of " The Queen" followed. The tosts of thc I Duke of Rothesay (the Prince of Wales), th« I Queen Dowager, and the rest of the Roya

Family, fellowed, and were all giw-n with ti ns Highland honours, the guests standing on the seats and cheering enthusiastically. The heaitl of his Royal Highness Prince Albert, a » Chief tain of the Highland elans, having been given his Royal Highness said-" Allow me to than! you for the very kind manner in which you have received the toast, and to express mj thanks for the honour of being elected tlu Chieftain cf a society whose object, -..lille o: i a charitable character, also shows the militan j prowess of Highlanders, and their nationa. I spirit. I have visited the country7 with hei j Majesty, and am satisfied no one can visit those j mountains and enjoy their pure air, withoul j deriving the greates pleasure (cheers). In con

i elusion, I beg to propose 'Prosperity to this 1 Society and the Highlanders of Scotland.' ' ' (Drunk with great cheering). The health ol

the illustrious duke of Wellington having been proposed amidst enthusiastic plaudits, his grace returned thanks. " He felt the highest satisfac-tion at being present at such a meeting, and should be happy to be present on all similar occasions if his public duties would permit him" (cheers). The toast of the evening, " The late Sir Ralph Abercrombie, and the heroes who fell with him at the battle of Alexandria," having been given, followed by that of his Royal Highness the chairman, several reels, &c, were danced, and the amusements kept up

until a late hour.

CnAKixG-Citos-5 SUSPENSION" BIT.DOE.-A slight iron railing, about live feet in height, and dividing the passage way of the above structure into two equal paris for the distance which it runs, has been erected from the toll-box at the Hungerford Market to the western side of Middlesex pier, where til ere are stairs lead-ing down to the water, for the accommodation of steam-boat passengers, who are thus shut out so much from the ordinary Une of traine over the bridge. When all arrangements are fulhT completed this steam-boat pier is likely to be one of the most convenient on the river, and will, we believe, be availabe at all seasons and j tides, without any obstruction to the navigation \ of the stream. Meanwhile, as the publie acl j vantage is somewhat concerned in the question,

we may express a hope that whatever contro ! versy may have existed on this subject of pier

communication, it will be, if it has not already been so, speedily and satisfactorily terminated.

SIXGULA.II DISCOVERY OF HUILAN BOXES.

Yesterday morning, considerable excitement prevailed in the immediate vicinity of the Queen's Bench Prison, in consequence of the greater portion of a human skeleton being found in a garden in front of one ot the houses in Belvedere-place. From inquiries made on the spot, it appeared that Mr Bayliss, a cabinet maker, residing in Belvidere Cottage, nearly opposite the Queen's Prison, was digging up the ground in front of his residence, about eight o'clock that morning, when, in turning up the earth, he discovered a human skuU, which ap-peared to be that of a female, but without any portion of the jaws or lower part of the skull. Feeling surprised at finding that portion of the human form, he made a further search, and in digging a little further he discovered two thigh bones, two arm bones, and several ribs, which from their appearance seemed to have been buried many years. The cottage in question has not been occupied by Mr Bayliss more than three months ; but prior to that had been te-nanted by a person named Lindon nearly fifteen years. Thé person residing at the next house informed the reporter that, about six months ago, the greater portion of a human skeleton was found near the same spot, and it was their belief that they had been brought from some of tlie over-crowded graveyards in the Borough. The police, however, have received information respecting the bones, and most likely a strict

investigation wül be entered into as to how they j came deposited in such a singular place.

The accounts of successful operations upon patients under the influence of ether are nu-merous, and its use is becoming very frequent. We observe, however, that in one case, the in-halation has been considered to have acted fatally.

CHURCH EDUCATION.-Arrangements have been made for materially increas'ng the number of voting men to be received into the Church. Training School at Battersea, under the su perintandence of the Rev. Thomas Jackson, the principal. The young men so trained will ba entitled, after one year's residence, to receive tho certificate of the Privy Council, and will be then employed by the government in organ-

ising and instructing schools in different parts , of the country. The number of applications

for teachers received weekly, both at the ¡ Training School, Battersea, and St. Mark's ; College, Chelsea, rapidly increases, and it has been found utterly impossible to comply with the requests of the numerous applicants. This difficulty will, however, be remedied by the more favourable terms on which young men will henceforth be received into the respective insti-

tutions.

A well-dressed, shrewd-looking fellow, named ! .fames Stewart, was charged lately, at the Thames Police OiRce, with obtaining a half sovereign, under false pretences, from a simple looking young woman, named Elizabeth Hill. When arrested, there was found upon his parson £1 SA 4M, a knife, some duplicates, and a small treatise on astronomy, together with an address car J, which stated that the prisoner who, however, did not appear to be cf the " astra tueri" class, was prepared to cast na-tivities for the moderate sum of £20. Tt seemed that about two years ago Miss Hill's father lost £7 odd. She met the prisoner, who informed h3r, by writing on a slat^, that he thought his necromantic art would enable her to recover it

for half a sovereign. The money was paid, but the condition was not performed. Tftough he pretende! tobo deaf and dumb, she had heard him sneak, and an apothecary would prove it.

Mr' Yar.lby-What did'he say when he spolie ?

Witness-He said "Um, um."

Mr Yardley-Well, that was not saying

much.

Witness-When I saw him to day in the

Commercial-road he shook his purse at me and j j lauiac 1. I ! Mr Yar Hov- Everybody will laugh at yon j if vou part with your money in that manner. 1 What have you, Mr Stewart, to say to this

charge ?

Stewart, who evidently heard every word that was said, gaz'd wita a most imperturbable au* on vacancy, ansi vas dumb.

There being no further evidence, and the prisoner being unknown, he was discharged. He was not slow in hearing the decision ; he made a low " salaam," and retired immediately.

EXTRAORDINARY CASE.—"SPRING-HEELED

JACK."—Teignmouth was greatly excited re-cently, in consequence of a "Spring-heeled Jack" investigation before the Magistrates. A delinquent of this genus occupied himself during the winter in frightening and annoying defenceless women, some of whom were rather

roughly handled. The police having been on the alert for some time, suspicion fell upon a Captain Finch, of Shaldon—a man of alleged ill health, and apparently sixty years of age, about the last person that could have been suspected. He was summoned before the Ma-

gistrates. Mr Tucker, in opening the case for complainant, said it was not only difficult but most painful to him, his client belonging to the

humblest rank, and the defendant, Capt. Finch, had been considered highly respectable. Should he not succeed in establishing the charge, the

effect of tiie girl's evidence might prejudice her through life ; should he succeed, the moral character of one who had hitherto moved as a gentleman would be blasted. He had two charges of assault to prefer. His client, the servant of Miss Morgan, a lady living in Mac-farlen's Row, Bitton Road, had been twice as-saulted in January, between nine and ten at night, by a man disguised in a skin coat, which had the appearance of a bullock's hide, skull-cap, horns, and mask : and the alarm had pro-duced serious fits. Evidence having been given in favor of the charges, the Bench expressed pain at finding an old soldier guilty of such an assault; but there was no material refutation to complainant's evidence. He was fined 17s.

for each assault. Defendant thanked the Bench

for their impartiality. The case lasted from one to half-past seven in the evening.

SUPPRESSION OF A LUNATIC ASYLUM.-We

perceive that the Lord Chancellor has, we believe for the first time, resorted to the exer-cise of the power conferred upon him by the new Lunacy Act, and has, from and after the 13th April next, withdrawn the liceuse of a lunatic asylum in the parish of Gate Helmsley, i in the county of York. The reasons for this

step are not assigned. The asylum in question is in the hands of a non-professional person. " Medical Gazette."

: ScvitciTY OF EGGS.-The scarcity of eggs

which now prevails, aud the consequent high price which they fetch, are a subject of general complaint amongst housekeepers; and it is a common cas^ that these articles of cookery " cannot be get for love or money." The scar-city is easily accounted for-it is one of the raan\ evils flowing from the famine in Ireland. In former years, there was a very large ex-portation of eggs from that country; but, lat-terly, the item, "boxes of eggs," "has almost entirely disappeared from the lists of imports . at Bristol and Liverpool. The Irish peasantry ! have been obliged to kill their fowls for food,

or to sell them to purchase it, The supera-bundance of poultry which, in consequence, has been brought to market, has kept down its price ; but, on the other hand, it has had the eifiet of increasing the price of eggs-and the scarcity of the latter has been aggravated by i the unprofitableness of keeping fowls during

the existing high price of gram. One of the dealers in eggs in this city, who has hitherto imported thousands monthly, is now quite un-able to obtain an adequate supply, although he i has searched in every direction for it, and, in j fact, his " occupation's gone." For some y ears j past, the importation of eggs from France has ! also been so large, that the duty has averaged £30,000 annually ; but, owing to facts similar lo those which afflict our own land, the ex-portation of eggs thence has almost entirely

ceased.-" Gloucester Chronicle."

G. S. Harcourt, Esq., has adven notice that the private ferry at Magna Charta Island will be discontinued from the 25th inst., in conse-quence of persons trespassing, but that the public will be allowed to visit the island on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, from May to September, subject to restrictions.

BuiGirrox.-Between eight and nine o'clock in the evening, recently, the town was thrown j into great consternation by the loud report of j guns a short distance at sea. The report was

i so loud as to shake the houses to their founda I tions, and almost every one ran out to ascer j tain the cause of this strange alarm. Some j alarmists went so far as to say that Prtnce de I Joinvilie had arrived to give us a taste of his

skill in gunnery; but such an idea was too laughable to cause one moment's reflection. What could it be ? They were not like signals

of distress, and no one seemed to know. The morning solved tile mystery. It appeared that the owner of an East Indiaman, being at Brighton, had given instructions to the captain

to fire on passing the town, in order that he

might know when he was off Brighton. The | captain might have fired, but it was very silly, j to say the least of it, to give such a volley as j

he thundered forth on Tuesday evening.- ]

"Surrey Express."

JOSEPH ADY AGAIN.-The unenviable no-

toriety attained by Mr Joseph Ady, of Londou, j by his attempts to practice upon the credulity \ of parties resident in the country, renders it I almost a matter of supererogation to caution i our readers against his manoeuvres. "We may [ state, however, that several parties in the Pot j teries have recently been honored w;th circulars ! (not pre-paid) from Mr Ady. With the new j year. Joseph seems to have adopted a slightly i improved plan. His missives no longer bear

the appearance of a schoolboy's scrawl-they

! are lithographed, and look more business-like, j

This week a neighbour received a " circular" in

the usual style. " Something to your advan- ? tage (about £100 or upwards) will be disclosed on receipt of 20s by Post Office order." The subscriber, "Joseph Adv, accountant," states that he is " personally known to each of the Aldermen of London ;" and then unblishingly adds, "Should you find any difficulty in getting the money, the Right Hon. Sh- Peter Laurie, Deputy Lord Mayor, will frank you from all expenses except postages, which you must pay both ways." Joseph's intended victim in the Potteries happened to be an artist by profession and a humorist in disposition. His ready pencil soon depicted on paper the figure of a well-fed houv;d, leisurely holding between its paw a piece of coin, at such a distance that a chained cur finds it impossible to reach. From the mouth of the "jolty dog" i~sued the word1*, "Don't you wish you may get it. Joe ?" Above the "sorry dog" was legibly written "Joe Ady." Ia this speaking caricature, Mr A'ly's corres-pondent carefully folded a farthing, and then sealed the enclosure in the following letter: " Dear Slr-Enclosed I hand you a sovereign. Please lick your lips over an extra bottle of claret, and send the name of your father and mother in 3-our next. I am, dear Sir, yours, HE::ÍP." Below was sketched the figure of a wretched criminal, swinging from a loftv gal-lows, and by the side appeared this ominous warning, "Joseph Adv, take heed lest this prove your sad end."-" Staffordshire Mer-

cury." j

APPROPRIATION OF PEWS BY CLERGYMEN. ! -A question of some importance in reference j to the appropriation of pews by clergymen has I lately arisen in the Consistons' Court, in this ! city (Carlisle). The_ Rev. G. Bell, incumbent, j

ot Kirklinton, was cited by the churchwardens j of that pariah, " for having taken upon him- j self, of his own mere authority, capriciously

and improperly to allot and appropriate the j pews in the new church." The Court decreed ' that the appropriation was nuil and void, and imposed upon the defendant the costs of tao

snit.-" Carlisle Journal." j

NOVEL RABBIT WARREN.-We hive often heard of very remarkable occurrences, but we were certainly quite unprepared fer a discovery which we made in the course of the past week, namely, that part of the Lancaster and Preston Railway is actually used as a rabit warren, j "Walking across the line early in the morning,

at a distance of about four miles from the town, we were much surprise! to o! serve a rabit make its appearance from under one of the sleepers. Passey carefully scratched some

earth over the hole from whidh she had emerged, and then scampered up the line. On

making a closer examination, wc found a kind j of nest, formed directly under one of the sleepers, and containing three fine young rabbits, which appeared as comfortable as if they had been in the most retired situation. It is a remarkable thing that such a spot should have been chosen, as the trains passing so dose must make their home anything but a quiet

retreat.-" Preston Pilot."

A PEER OF TÎÏE IRISH PARTY. - The

" Northern Whig" contains the following :

" Lord Mountcashel's munificence.-A corres-

pondent writes us as follows :-* Lord Mount-cashel's munificent subscription of 101. (don't mistake this for IO1)!.) arrived at the Kells

Relief Fund last week. His estate cf Kells

comprises eight townlandi, yielding about 2,0001. a-year of the best paid rents in the north cf Ireland.' His lordship is a strenuous defender of the Irish landlords ; and we saw that, recently, he lamented the smallness of certain landlord's subscriptions in Cork, though he still stood up for his order. What a splen-did offering he presents-ten pounds for eight

townlandsî"

MONUMENT TO LORD BYRON.-We have

much pleasure to learn that the British Go-vernment are about to pay a just tribute of respect to the memory of our immortal bard Shakspeare, by the purchase of the house in which he was born at Stratford-upon-Avon ; and we hope the same noble and generous feeling may extend to Missolonghi, where Lord i Byron died. The erection of a monument at ! tached to the Vice-Consulate, on the spot, i would tend to peqietuate the memory of one j so renowned. Indeed, we hear from a corres-

pondent who recently visited Missolonghi, that I the actual house in which Byron died no longer I exists, having been totally destroyed, as it '.rill ! be recollected that on the Turks storming that

garrison, seventy aged men, woman, and chil-dren, entered a magazine and blew themselves up, preferring death to cruelty and slavery.

With this heroic act fell the house sacred to

our last immortal poet. The proprietor of the site not only generously offers to give it for the erection of a monument, but also will give a handsome sum towards it; and surely the friends, the relations, the government, and the admirers of his lordship will at once set on foot a subscription for so noble a purpose.-" Malta paper."

SQUADRONS IN THE PACIFIC.-When Her Majesty's ship " Talbot" left the Pacific, the following were the ships belonging to the dif-ferent squadrons at present in that ocean : British - " Collingwood" (flag), 80; "Con-stance," 50 ; " Grainaus," 50 ; « Figard." 42 ; " Juno," 26; " Carysfort." 26 ; " Calypso," 20; "Modeste," 18; "Frolic," 16; "Sampson," 8; " Cormorant," 6; "Spy," 3 :-total 315 guns. French-" Virginie" (fiag), 50 ; " Uranie" (pen-dant), 50; "Meurthe,'/32; "Heroine," 26: ! "Ariadne," 24; "Rhin," 21; "Somme," 20;

" Fortune," 20 ; " Lamp-ore," 18 ; " Sarcell," 6; " Phaeton," 6 ;-total, 276 guns. American " Columbus" (pendant), 90 ; " Independence," 64 ; " Congress," 50 ; " Savannah," 50 ; " Cyane," 24; "Saratoga," 24; ?*Portsmouth," 22: " War ; ren," 26 ; " Dale," 15 ; " Shark," 10 ; " Relief," j 6; "Erle," 4;-total, 370 guns. The above i does not include troop, store, surveying, or

other partially armed vessels, to the best of our belief; nor does it include the French 46 met by the " Talbot," at Rio, going out to Otaheite with the new Governor.-"Devonport Te-legraph."

SECRET NOBLESSE IN PARIS.-Some time before the death of M. Martin (Du Nord), there was a report that he had been made a Count. It was even supposed that this title cf nobility was a calming draught given " ia ex-tremis" to the ex-keeper of the seals, to make up for the loss of his health. This supposition

was erroneous : it is now certain that M. Martin was made a Count two years since ; but he did

not dare to wear his * feathers of nobility in j . public. But this is not all; ; there are at the |

present moment a considerable number of j counts, marquises, and even dukes, of more or

less recent creation, of whom no one is aware. All these nobles in petto are awaiting some favourable occasion to display their nobility to the public. No one can now feel sure that j he bas not one of these sprigs of nobility j among his friends and relations here, who ¿ave

not the courage to inform their Mends of it, but blush at their own fooler}', and dare not wear the tinsel they craved after. Not waly are secret nobles created in our days, but ad-vancement is given in this unknown order. M. de Salvandy gloried in the title of Count; but, on the day that a Marquis entered ids family, the title of Count vanished, and he af-fected a singular simplicity, by omitting the title of Count before his signature. This is now explained. M. de Salvandy did not think he could remain Count, with a Marquis for his son-in-law; he has been created Buke, and impatiently awaits the day when he may dis-play his new bearings to the public gaze. Such at least was the report current at the Chamber on Tuesday. M. Lacave-Laplange, who stuck up for the title of " Excellency" the other other day, was jokingly called «' Marquis du Deficit." But perhaps M. Lacave-Laplange is one of the new-baked Dukes-at all events,

he deserves to be one.

M. E. Arago, the avocat, son of the celebrated astronomer, and his aunt, Mme. Arago, have recently had an almost miraculous escape from destruction. Whilst going from Perpignan to EstageL their carnage had to pass on the brink of a deep ravine ; and having passed too close, it turned over, and fell from a height of 18 metres, dragging the horse with it. The vehicle was dashed to pieces ; but, strange to relate, M. Arago sustained no injury beyond a few bruises. His aunt's head was cut, but not seriously, and the horses escaped unhurt.-" French Paper.*"

A FEMALE MONK OF LA TRAPPE.-»ame little scandal has been occasioned among the devotees by an extraordniary discovery which, has just taken place at the house of Madai-np de M-, in the Place Vendome. "This lady, who is one of the most refined gourmets of Paris, last year visited the establishment of La Trappe, Meillcraye, in Brittany, where the good fathers, who live in fasting and mortification themselves, entertain their visitors in a style worthy of the hospitality exercised by the Princes of the Church in the middle ages. Ma-dame de M-was so charmed with the deli-cacy and recherche of the cuisine, that she de-clared she would give any price to have such a cook in Paris. It appears that Frere Eugene, tlie artiste in question, no sooner heard of this declaration than he hastened to offer his ser-vices to the lady, assuring her that he iras heartily weary of his life at the convent, and taat, as his vow was binding but for three i years, and he had already stayed seven without

a renewal, he was perfectly at liberty to depart : whenever he thought proper. The gounnandise ! of ?-iade de M- made her consent to any ! terms, and she carried off in triumph thispriee ! less pearl to Paris. For more than a year did

Broiiicr Eugene continue to delight her visitors by his exquisite talents, and every dajT might be seen in russet gown and sandalled shoon beat-ing home the fruits of his bargaining from the Halie, heedless of the jeers and taunts of the poissardes upon his monkish habit-living the same holy and quiet life he had led at La Meü leraye, looked up to as a model of piety honoured and esteemed by all, when, lo!-4he grippe, which has played sad pranks this winter in our city, has just caused the terrible disco-very that 'the holy Trappist of seven years' pro-bation, the pure devout Frere Eugene, ¡sa

voniau.

" taris Letter in the Atlas."