The Aberystwith Observer

TELEGRAMS FROM INDIA AND CHINA. The rebellion in India is reported as being suppressed. General Roberts is expected to attack the rebels at Sultanpore and Susanpore, who are understood to be headed by Nana Sahib, and are fortified in the jungles, and described as in a difficult position. From Hong Kong the dates are to the 24th of August; Gen- eral Straubenzee had assailed the Chinese at Namtow, and had burned the place. A Commissioner was appointed by the Chinese authorities at Canton in order to facilitate a proper understanding. (By Telegram from the Austrian Lloyd's, Oct. 11.) The movements of General Roberts have terminated in a great success. On the 14th of August he overtook the rebels at a place near Valhaucar, capturing four guns, and all their ammunition, and killing 700 on the field. The rebels fled in all directions. After the fight cavalry and infantry were sent in pursuit, to cut up as many as possible, and to seize their elephants. The latest intelligence of the Gwalior rebels is that they have succeeded in crossing the Chumbul at Sagool Khan, and had reached Gossowan. Col. Parck, who was in pursuit of them, had been misled by incorrect information, and thus missed them. At Lucknow arrangements had been made- for attacking the rebels at Sultanpore, where they mustered in great force, and where Banee Madhoic has joined them with 13,000 men, of whom 8,000 are his own followers, and they have eight guns.

THE BURNING OF THE AUSTRIA STEAMER. The worst forebodings in regard to the steamer Austria are confirmed, the mystery which surrounded the ill-fated ship has at last been cleared up, and the anxious fears and terrible suspense of friends have given place to a still more terrible feeling of uncertainty as to the fate of the absent ones. The Austria left Hamburgh for New York on the 4th of September, having altogether 538 souls on board, of whom only 67 have been saved, leaving the fearful balance of 471 who have been either drowned, suffocated, or burnt to death. The vessel was built in the Clyde last year, to serve as one of the new line of propellors -between Hamburg and New York. She was about 2,500 tons burden, and was fitted with everything, which the latest discoveries and improvements in steam navigation render necessary. The voyage seems to have been a pleasant one till the 13th September, and the ship was about half-way over the Atlantic, when the boatswain was directed to superintend the fumigation of the steerage, by burning tar with a hot iron. It appears, however, that in per- forming this operation the iron became heated too hot for the boatswain to hold it. He dropped it, and in doing so upset the pail of tar. In an instant the whole of that part of the vessel was in a sheet of flame. It was so instantaneous that the steerage passengers do not appear to have been able to get on deck, and the engineers are reported to have probably been suffocated in the engine-rooms. The first intimation to the passengers on deck of their danger was the bursting forth of flames and smoke, when the scene that ensued was indescribable and truly heart-rending. Some were wholly paralysed by fear others madly cried to be saved, while but few were calm and collected. The flames pressed so closely upon them that many jumped into the sea; relatives clasped in each other's arms leaped over, and met a watery grave. Two of the rescued passengers, Mr. Brew and Mr. Glaubensklee, have furnished narratives of the ca- lamity, to the New York press. They are quite lengthy, and we extract the points of most interest:— MR. BREW'S NARRATIVE. At a little after 2 o'clock p.m. I was on the quarter-deck. I saw a dense volume of smoke burst from the after entrance of the steerage. Some women ran aft, exclaiming, "The ship is on fire what will become of us Y" The ship was instantly put at half speed, at which she continued until the magazine exploded, by which I infer the engineers were instantly suffo- cated. I only walked from where I was on the quarter-deck to the waist of the ship, when I saw the flames breaking through the lights amidships. As the ship was head to the wind, the fire travelled with fearful rapidity. I then went to the man at the wheel, and told him to put the vessel with her side to the wind. He hesitated-probably did not understand me, as he was a native of Hamburg. I then got a German gentleman to speak to him. At this time I saw some persons letting down the boat on the port side of the quarter-deck. What became of the boat I don't know, but think she was crushed under the screw. I then went to let a boat over from the starboard side of the quarter-deck, but the moment we laid our hands on the ropes there were so many people who crowded into it that we could not lift it off the bows. We there left it for a few minutes until the people got out, when we returned and launched it over the side of the ship, when, the people all rushing into it again, it descended with great violence into the water, and was in- stantly swamped, all the people being washed out excepting three, who held on to the sides. We then let down a rope and pulled up one person, who proved to be the steward. Another, in the act of being hauled up, was strangled by the rope. The fire now came on too fiercely to attempt to get up any more from the swamped boat. All the first cabin passengers were on the poop, with the exception of a few gentlemen who must have been smothered in the smoking room. Many of the second cabin passengers were also on the poop, but a number of them got shut into their cabin by the fire. Some of them were pulled up through the ventilator, but the greater number could not be extricated. The last woman who was drawn up said there were six already suffocated. We now perceived that the ship had got her head to the wind again, so that the flames came over the quarter deck. In consequence of the crowd I could not get to the wheel- house to ascertain the reason, but I was informed that the helmsman had deserted his post, and that the vessel, being left to herself, headed to the wind of her own accord. At this time the scene on the quarter-deck was indescribable and truly heartrending. Passengers were running franti- cally to and fro; husbands seeking their wives, wives in search of their husbands, relatives looking after relatives, mothers lamenting the loss of their children, some wholly paralysed by fear, others madly crying to be saved, but a few perfectly calm and collected. The flames pressed so closely upon them that many jumped into the sea,; relatives clasped in each other's arms, leaped over and met a watery grave. Two girls, supposed to be sisters, jumped over and sank kiss- ing each other. A missionary and wife leaped into the sea together, and the stewardess and assistant steward, arm in arm, followed. One Hungarian gentleman, with seven fine children, four of them girls, made his wife jump in, then blessed his six eldest children, made them jump in one after the other, and followed them with an infant in his own arms. I, about this time, was standing outside the bulwarks, holding on by the davits, leaning out to avoid the flames, which were leaping towards me. I saw a swamped boat under me, spinning by a rope still attached to the ship. As the oars were tied under her, I thought that if I could get to her I would be enabled to save myself and others. I let my- self down by a rope, passing over a man who was clinging to it, but who refused to come with me. I took out a penknife to cut the tackle the large blade broke, and I then severed it with the small blade. The ship passed ahead. As the screw approached I found the boat drawn towards it. I tried to keep the boat off, but the screw caught and capsized her over me. I dived away from the ship and came to the sur- face near a boat which was keel upwards, I got on her, and by pressing on one side, with the assistance of a wave, she righted, but was still swamped. The oars had been knocked out by the screw; the only thing I could find in her to pad- dle with was some laths nailed together as a sheathing for the sides. When I looked around, the ship was a quarter of a-mile away from me. I could see the ladies and gentlemen jump- ing off the poop into the water in twos and threes, some of the ladies in flames. Several hesitated to leap from the burning ship until the last moment, as the height was 22 feet, and were only at length compelled to throw themselves off to avoid a more painful death. In half an hour not a soul was to be seen on the poop. I pulled after the ship and picked up a German who was swimming strongly; I got him beside me on the boat, and we paddled after the ship with the laths. I now saw a vessel uuder sail approaching, she reached the steamer about 5 p.m., we continued pulling towards them, and about half-past 7 o'clock, after being five hours in the water, got within hail of the sailing vessel, which put off a boat and took us on board. She proved to be the French barque Maurice, Captain Ernest Renaud, of Nantes, bound from Newfoundland for the isle of Bourbon, with fish. She had, up to that time, rescued 40 passengers of the burning steamer, chiefly taken off the bowsprit, though a few were picked up floating around. At about 8 o'clock one of the metallic boats came up, with about 23 persons, including the first and third officers afterwards, three or four men were picked up, float- ing on a piece of the broken boat. The second officer was taken up, having been swimming with nothing to float him for six hours. The second and third officers were severely burnt; one of the male passengers was burnt frightfully, and some of the male passengers slightly. There were but six women saved, three of whom were burnt, one in a shocking manner. Mr. Brew, whose narrative is given above, formerly belonged, to the Irish Constabulary, and was on his way to organize a constabulary force in British Columbia. He was the only British subject saved. Mr. Glaubensklee's account of the origin of the fire coincides with that of Mr. Brew m every particular. The captain unfortunately appears to have lost his mind entirely. Mr. Glaubensklee saw him in the begin- ning of the trouble trying to get the people out of the second boat on the port side to have it lowered and Mr. Brew says that he understood that when the captain heard that the ship was on fire he rushed on deck without his cap, exclaiming "We are all lost;" and that then he tried to get into a boat, but, failing in the attempt, fell into the sea, and was left far behind by the vessel, which, in spite of the flames, continued on its way, fanning the flames by its motion. All discipline was at once gone. As in the case of the Arctic, all seemed at once impressed with the idea that there were only half boats enough for the number of passengers. A rush was made for the boats. The first one lowered was swamped under the screw. Another boat let down from the port bow was swamped, but was afterwards righted, and was the means of saving a number of passengers. Some of the passengers in the forward part of the ship were fortunately saved by climbing out upon the bowsprit, the motion of the vessel carry- ing the flames to the rear. Those in the after part of the ship fled before the flames till there was no longer room for flight. It was only when their dresses were burning about them that they took the fatal leap into the sea. Of the six women saved three are reported as burned in a. horrid manner. In about three hours after the fire began the Maurice saw them, and came to the rescue of the remnant of the sufferers. Some were in boats, some clinging to pieces of wood on the surface of the sea, some still hanging in anguish to the heated fiery ship. Nearly all, however, had perished. Only 67 out of about 600 remained. Had proper provision been made for such a catastrophe, and had there been a cool head to guide them, scarcely any need have perished. The accident was in open day, and the relief came in three hours, while yet many of the survivors were clinging to the wreck. There is the old story of incapacity in the commander and panic among the crew and passengers. r The New York Herald says:—"It is thought that the captain was accidentally pushed overboard by the terror-stricken passengers while in the act of lowering the boat, and that he was endeavouring at the time to r'- -t prevent their crowding into it. He has always, it is added, borne a high reputation for coolness and presence of mind in the hour of danger." The steamer Ireland has this week arrived safely at Dartmouth, with the surviving officers and crew of the Austria on board.

LORD BROUGHAM ON THE CHEAP PRESS. One of the most interesting features of the Social Science Conference at Liverpool has been the delivery by Lord Brougham of an address on "Popular Literature," which attracted a crowded assembly. His lordship in his intro- ductory remarks announced the object of his speech to be a review ofthe great, paramount, and important subject ofpopu. lar literature, more especially popular literature adapted to all classes of the people, combining amusement with instruction -innocent, harmless, improving amusement, with solid instruction and chiefly that which comes periodically before the public in all parts of the country and at all seasons of the year. This was accordingly done with the masterly power which his lordship has ever evinced in dealing with his subject. We extract from his lordship's address the portions more immediately relating to the newspaper press and its advantages GROWING TASTE FOR READING. This taste (for reading newspapers) is not confined to the humbler classes of the community. Very many of their betters can with difficulty be got to read any statement of facts beyond a paragraph in a newspaper. But it is undeniable that the remark applies particularly to the great numbers who have never acquired the habit of reading, and who are most averse to any such interruption of their other pursuits or any interfe- rence of any description with their rest and relaxa- tion. It is to this class that such works as the Penny Magazine, and also papers in part at least devoted to works of fiction, are principally addressed,-to those who from their vocations have but little spare time which they can employ in reading, their hours of relaxa- tion being apt to be spent either in rest, or in games or in dissipation. His lordship having traced the progress of literature under the fostering hand of the Useful Knowledge Society, adverted to the fact that opposition had been silenced by the success of modern productions, and thus alluded to THE CONTRADICTIONS OF PROVERBS. When it is said or sung that "a little learning is a dangerous thing," we can see no harm in adding, that there is another thing somewhat more dangerous- great ignorance; not to mention that the one cures it- self, while the other perpetuates itself-ay, and spreads and propagates too for it is almost as true in point of fact that they who have learned a little have their half- satisfied curiosity excited to obtain more full gratifi- cation, as it is false in point of fact that sobriety results from excess of drinking. We object, therefore, to this hackneyed maxim, not because it is hackneyed, but because it is unfounded; as illogical when delivered in plain prose, as inapposite when clothed in humurous verse-the falsehood of the position in the one case being equal to that of the metaphor in the other. Better half a-loaf than no bread is the old English saying. "All wrong," say the objectors, "A little food is a dangerous thing; ra,ther starve than not have your fill." Better be purblind than stone blind," is the French saying. No," cry the objectors, "If you can't see quite clearly, what use_ is there in seeing at all ?" "In the country of the blind," says the proverb, "the one-eyed man is the king." Our objectors belonging to the people there would dethrone the monarch by putting out his eye. But they had better crush their blind brethren to restore their sight, and then his reign would cease at once without any act of violence, any coup dletat. Here is a well of precious water, and we have got a little of it in a tankard. "What signifies," say the objector, "such a, paltry supply ? It would not wet the lips of half-a-dozen of the hundreds who are athirst." True, but it enables us to wet the sucker of the pump, instead of following their advice to leave it dry; and, having the handle, we use it to empty the well and satisfy all. A person gains some information, it may be only a little. Say the ob- jectors "he is superficial. Would he be more profound if he knew nothing ? The twilight is unsafe for his steps. Would he be more secure from slipping in the dark ? But he may be self-sufficient, may think he knows much and look down upon others as knowing little. Is this very likely to happen if the knowledge he has acquired is within reach of all and {by the greater number possessed ? ALL CLASSES REAP THE BENEFIT. It must always be kept in mind that there are two descriptions of persons to whom popular literature is addressed, and who may in different ways profit by it those who from their natural capacity and natural in- clination, as well as from possessing a certain leisure, can so far improve themselves as to become really accm- plished in the branches of. knowledge which they study, and the great bulk of the:community who can never go beyond giving a very moderate attention to books, can in fact read but very little. Let us first consider the former class, which, though small compared with the mass, is yet again divided into two, those of ordinary talents, but anxious to learn, and those whose thirst for knowledge is not only very great, but accompanied with capacity to excel, possibly even with original genius. Both classes benefit incalculably by fthe helps which popular literature extends to them. A TRIBUTE TO THE NEWSPAPER. Upon one class of periodical publieacions we will now dwell, those of the newspaper press, sometimes called the public press, as if all other works proceeded from private printing offices. The use of these journals is in- calculable their importance both to the Legislature, the Courts of justice, the police department, is incontest- able and to the rights and to the lesser interests of the community; their value is such as can only be duly estimated in countries which either never enjoyed such advantages, or have lost them through their wilful folly, possibly their crimes. But in less important respects these publications are of no little value; they are a source of constant entertainment, rational, and even useful. "Had I all the money," says one writer, which I pay in taxes to Government, at liberty to lay out upon amusement and diversion, I know not whether I would make choice of any in which I should find greater plea- sure." Nor are these words of an ignorant or ordinary person: they are those of a great divine and philosopher; they are Paley's, in his Moral Philosophy, He shows how the newspapers "minister," as he says "to the harmless gratification of multitudes," and adds that "the secrecy, the jealousy, the solitudes, and pre- cipitation of despotic governments exclude all this." He did not live to see that middle state between entire exclusion and full possession of which the last 70 years have furnished in certain countries signal example. THE NIMBLE PENNY" PROFITABLY SPENT. It is quite manifest that this is, if not wholly, yet in a very great proportion a clear addition to the number of persons who formerly saved from their earnings a penny weekly, and laid it out in purchasing what would help them to pass an hour or two of rest without the weary sense of unoccupied time, or fthe pernicious re- source of drinking. The provision is only made for such as before had none. A new food has been pre- sented to the mind. They who fancy that it comes in the place of other and more wholesome affair would have objected to the potato being cultivated, because it lessened the gains from the growth of wheat, whereas it only produced a supply for those who else were doomed to starve, or to linger out a feeble life on most scanty diet. PURIFICATION OF THE PRESS. It would be wrong if we did not advert to the great improvement in one material particular of the news- paper press in our time. The papers which made a traffic of slander have ceased from among us. For a while they acted like a drain to carry off the impurities which had before been diffused over other journals; the good sense, both of the public and of literary men, has now filled up a sewer no longer wanted, and, to all ap- pearance, that portion of the press no longer exists. THE BLESSINGS OF INSTRUCTION. It thus appears that for the treatment of every subject, and to suit the condition, the capacity, and the taste of every class, there is ample provision made in the popu- lar literature of the age; that the means are afforded of encouraging those to read who would else devote their hours of rest to mere listless vacancy of thought, or to dissipated courses that the opportunity of fuller instruction is given to those who are desirous and capa- ble of receiving it; that while all are thus greatly im- proved, some are made fit to improve others that the instinct of curiosity effectually prevents all risks, con- verting, when desirable, superficial into solid informa- tion, but leaving even partial acquirement to do sub- stantial good; and there is thus the clearest proof afforded of the people's instructors working out the ends of Providence by the employment of the means bountifully placed within their reach, improving the mass of their fellow-creatures through the intelligence bestowed, and the instincts implanted by the Heavenly Father, who desireth not that His children should perish in the darkness of ignorance, but rather that they should learn and live. The Earl of Shaftesbury made a good speech on Wednesday at the Conference on that all-important branch of domestic science, Public Health, or sanitary arrangements in general. His lordship particularly alluded to THE HIGH RATE OF MORTALITY. Look at the weekly reports of the registrar-general. We have no N become habituated to horrors of the gravest description. When these reports were first published, for a short time the world was aghast, and every man you met asked if they could be true. These reports go on, however; they are read, they are taken in as a matter of course. They come out and are thrown into the waste-paper basket. They appear in news- papers, and nobody asks any question about them. It is only on that account the more necessary that an as- sociation of this kind should meet from time to time and impress upon the public at large the deep and last- ing evils, the fearful consequences, which necessarily flow from neglect and contempt of the great and bene- ficent laws of nature. A PORTENTOUS PHYSIOLOGICAL FACT. There is another subject to which your attention ought to be drawn. Why is it that we have before us the portentous fact that no less than 60,000 still-born children are produced in this country every year of our lives ? I give no opinion on it; I only say that the matter must be looked into, for the fact is manifest, it is awful, and it demands your most solemn investiga- tion. Again, I say that if you have an interest in the rising generation you should direct your attention to those hospitals which have lately been established, called orthopcedic hospitals, for the purpose of correcting deformities in children, and by surgical processes of the greatest skill and humanity restoring them when in tender years, and even when more ad- vanced in life, to perfect straightness of form and perfect usefulness in their generation. (Hear, hear.) These hospitals reveal an amount of physical degradation and misery which is sufficient to make any thinking man tremblew OVERCROWDED DWELLINGS. Go and look into the records of overcrowded dwel- lings. Look into the effects of drains, of ill-drained close alleys, of the pestilential localities which fill our hospitals with fever and our workhouses with paupers and then bear in mind the great fact that I hope will now be examined into-that crime is now ascertained to be no longer dependent upon poverty or high wages, but is invariably found to be most fertile most abundant, and most constant among ill-drained locali- ties and among closely-crowded houses, and in all places where neglect and overcrowding squalor keep festering together. PREVENTIBLE MORTALITY. Surely it is a matter for deep and solemn consideration, when we are told that the preventible mortality in this country amounts to no less than 90,000 a-year. Let us say 40,000, that is four lives an hour. We may be told these things are but in the course of nature, and we ought not to interfere; on such we will turn our backs. We may be told these things are costly, but we may safely answer that it is disease that is expensive and it is health that is cheap. There is nothing economical but justice and mercy towards all interests, temporal and spiritual, of all the human race.

A HINT TO THOSE INTERESTED IN EDUCATION. Mr. Henry White, curate of St. James's, Dover; in a letter to the Times, thus proposes a remedy for existing objections to the term school," as applied to institu- tions for adults, which we think will surmount the obstacle complained of, and be productive of good effects. He says:— Mr Sotheron Estcourt, in his speech at Salisbury, com- plained of the early age at which children are withdrawn from our national schools. He proposed, as Ie the only remedy for this evil," the adoption of ".some system which shall produce in the minds of the boys when they are leaving school a desire to continue the improvement of their minds." Every one who has had anything to do with education has been heard to make this complaint and to propose this remedy. Only a few have found any great success in the system they have adopted. Not to occupy your space by recounting the various causes of this failure, I think we may learn something from Mr. Sotheron Estcourt's suggestion, that it is very desirable that some other name (than schools) that it is very desirable that some other name (than schools) should be given to the establishments which adults frequent for the purposes of education." Wl/en the desire for education is not a very strong one, the/e is, nndoubtedly, something repulsive in the name of smool. In this town we have met the difficulty by calling our school for lads a Youths' Institute," and I believe the name has had much to do with the success which the school has obtained. The lads would have been ashamed to con- fess that they had returned to school; they speak with pride of their fellowship in the Youths' Institute, as a man speaks of his club or college- The plan we pursue differs in nothing, it may be, from that which is followed in other evening schools I will not, there- fore, trouble you with any account of it, but only send you a prospectus for the coming season, a copy of which I will gladly forward to any of your readers who may desire it.

? THE NATIONAL DEFENCES. 4 A British Householder," who has twice addressed us re- cently on the subject of the national defences (says the Times) appr irs surprised at the feebleness of the impression pro- duced by his warning on the class which he comes forward to represent. It would be satisfactory to conclude that little alarm is felt because little is warranted, and perhaps we could find pretty good reason for such assurance. We have a strong military force in these islands, we have an excellent fleet, and we have certainly made some progress in our coast fortifica- ,tions. In fact, our correspondent's own arguments, if care- fully reviewed, resolve themselves into the question rather of naval reform than of our national defences in general. He urges with considerable force that whereas steam has abso- lutely revolutionised the character of naval warfare, we have but partially accepted the change. Sailing vessels, he says, are now utterly useless as line-of-battle ships, or, indeed, as men-of-war of any class, and yet half our fleet is still of this description. Not only do we continue to use these vessels, but as late as 1854 we actually built them, and at this very moment they are employed on our five chief naval stations. Neither in the East nor in the West Indies, neither on the American coast nor in the Pacific, have our flag-ships got the advantage of steam power, nor is the Admiral at the Cape any better off. Even at home we leave our two great arsenals to the nominal protection of sailing vessels. At Devonport the guardsliip is the Royal William, at Portsmouth the old Victory still carries the Admiral's flag—both ships being of Victory still carries the Admiral's flag-both ships being of the old stamp, though differing considerably in class. To such things our correspondent objects, and thinks that by this time we ought not, for such purposes, to have a single sailing vessel in commission. WHAT WE ARE DOING. The reply to these expostulations would probably be based on the extraordinary magnitude of our marine, and the diffi- culty of introducing new principles into a navy as large as a dozen ordinary navies put together. It is all very well to quote the examples of Austria and Prussia, of Sicily and Spain, or even of Russia and France, for in all these cases the area to be operated upon is much smaller and the work a good deal more manageable. The British navy could not be trans- formed in a day. What Russia would have to do in equipping her army with Lancaster rifles and revolvers we have to do in converting sailing ships into steamers. True, we are rich, and the case is one of urgency, but the estimates are shrewdly scrutinised in Parliament, and the thing must needs be done by degrees. We have actually got a very fine steam fleet:- the great Review at Spithead showed as much, but some specimens of Britain's old marine are still left, and not bad ones either. For our Channel Fleet we should employ steam, but- on foreign stations and in time of peace we may turn our old 78 s and 84's to very good account. As the work proceeds we shall weed out these specimens too, but in the meantime they are excellent vessels, and are doing very fair service. Such, we take it, is the kind of defence we should hear in the case before us. COMFORT FOR THE TIMID. It is but justice to Lord Derby's friends to say that they have never been slack or niggardly In this matter of our national defences, and Sir J. Pakington's speech, in particular, on the production of the Navy Estimates, was regarded with universal approbation. Our naval intelligence recently stated that 12 fine screw ships were in progress of construc- tion, of which six mounted each 100 guns and upwards, and the announcement also made that 5,000 Marines were to be added to the forces will be received with satisfaction through- out the country. We can hardly have too many of these in- valuable troops. The opinion of the public on such points is now fairly settled. NO KNOWING WHAT MAY HAPPEN. We .have not an idea of aggression, and we have a strong aversion to war. We are anxious to be at peace with all the world, and all the world ought to know it; but we have seen enough in the last 10 years to teach us that the perfectibility of human nature is still very far distant, and that wars may still come, and that we ought to be well prepared for them. How far our national defences are really efficient it would still after ten years' ventilation of the subject, be perhaps hard to say. We should imagine that step after step must have added considerably to our security, but other opinions are evidently current abroad, and a "British Householder" shows that they can still find expression at home. There ought to be no ground for such impressions in any quarter. We ought to be fortified, as our correspondent argues, against every contin- out of date altogether.8 U*d ^ecome superfluous and alarms

NOT ESTEEMED IN HIS OWN COUNTRY. At the Southwark Police-court, London, a well-in- formed and ingenious mechanic, residing at No 3 Trafalgar-street, Walworth, applied to Mr. Burcham' the sitting magistrate, for his advice as to the means of proceeding to Russia. # Mr. Burcham asked him why he particularly required a passport to Russia ? Applicant, producing several drawings, said that his desire to proceed to Russia was to lay these plans of his invention before the Russian Government. His worship would see that it was to substitute compressed air in lieu of steam for railways and other purposes. It was so simple that it could be applied to the existing railways at very little cost It could be used on the common rails with ease, and to an army in the field it would be invaluable, as its power would be able to convey large bodies of men hundreds Of miles without stoppage. Mr. Burcham: Why should you wish to go to Russia with such an invention? Applicant :-Because I cannot get any assistance to carry it out here. I wrote to Prince Albert and the Duke of Cam- bridge One said he could not interfere, and the other said he had no power to assist me. I wrote to f ir Joseph Paxton. He said he had no time to attend to the merits of the inven- tion. I 'then communicated with the East India Company, setting forth the value of the invention to them, as by its simple and almost inexpensive means an army and its materials could be removed by the common roads without any difficulty. They declined it. I then communicated with the East India Railway Company, and nearly all the railway companies in the kingdom. Some replied that it was not suitable to their lines, and others were silent on the sub- ject. A gentleman connected with one of the railways, how- ever told me if I obtained the opinion of Mr. Brunei and another eminent engineer, his company would, if approved of, have a carriage with the machinery constructed imme- diately, and placed on the line. I wrote to both of those gentlemen, asking the favour of an opinion, but they made no reply To show that it is applicable, I have the opinion of Stewart Traill, Esq., Professor of Ajfcs and Sciences, Edin- burgh, who forwarded to me calculations coinciding with mine • and as railways are being formed over that kingdom, my mechanical genius may be approved there and adopted. Mr. Burcham then granted him the desired recommendation for a passport.

A WRETCHED END TO A WRETCHED LIFE. Mr. John Skinner, a. medical gentleman, residing at Kentish-town, London, put a. period to his existence by poison on the 4th inst., under circumstances of an ex- ceedingly painful nature, which revealed a terrible instance of a mis-spent life. At the inquest his wife, an interesting person, only 21 years of age, deposed that on the day of deceased's death, on the top of the bedroom drawers she found a small phial, labelled Hydrocyanic acid," quite empty; her husband had never before attempted suicide, although he had threat- ened to destroy himself before he obtained the poison. He was a man of very intemperate habits, and his violence of temper was extreme. A large wound on her forehead had been caused by the deceased striking her with a three-quart jug in the month of July last. When he began life about ten years ago he came to a good practice, and was then a man of property. His father left him JB10,000, which he obtained on arriving at the age of 21. She was his second wife, and there were four children in all-namely, three by the first wife, and she (witness) had borne him one. He had gone through all his property, and had also disposed of the furniture of the house by bill of sale a short time before he committed suicide. A chemist deposed to having supplied Mr. Skinner with the prussic acid, and said that the deceased told him it was for an experi- ment. The label explained the nature of the medicine. The jury returned a verdict to the effect that the death was caused by prussic acid, administered by himself, when in an unsound state of mind.

PICKINGS FROM AMERICAN PAPERS. A duel between George P. Johnson, editor ofthe National, and W. J. Fergusson, of Sacramento, ended in the latter having his thigh broken. The distance was six paces; about 70 people were present. Governor Denvers, of Kansas, in a dispatch to the Secre- tary of the Interior, states that gold had been discovered in the vicinity of Pike's Peak. A proposition has been made to the United States Consul for the annexation of an island to the United States, but the scheme appears to have been concocted by the resident Americans. The deaths from yellow fever at New Orleans on the 28th ult. were 68. The castaway Japanese picked up by the British vessel Carribean were still on board, which had returned to San Francisco. The captain insisted on keeping them until he could place them on board one of her Majesty's vessels. A letter received in San Francisco from Raiatea Society Is- lands reports the dethronement of the king. Tamatoa (a son of Queen Pomare) had been installed in the vacant throne. The dethroned monarch had gone to Tahiti. The Californian State election had resulted in the triumph of the Administration wing of the Democracy by a very large majority. Sixteen houses in Portland-street, St. John's, New Bruns- wick, were destroyed by fire on the 26th ult. The reports from Fraser River are encouraging. Those who had claims upon the bars from which the water had receded sufficiently to enable them to work them were doing well. The Honduras Railroad was looked upon as entirely aban- doned. A scheme was on foot to raise money sufficient to build a cart-road across the country. There was some talk of hostilities with Salvador. Indian difficulties were becoming very much talked about on the Fraser River. A party of Frenchmen got into a diffi- culty with them, and two Frenchmen and two Indians were killed. Subsequently a fight took place at a rancheria on Fraser River, in which ten Indians were killed, and two whites, one of the latter being a woman. A general uprising of all the tribe was anticipated, and great excitement prevailed. A gang of 40 thieves had been organised in Costa Rica and committed several robberies; they finally attacked the resi- dence of the President, but were caught and flogged by the Commander-in-Chief until they confessed their guilt. Two papers, the Album Seminal and La Union, which found fault with the way in which the thieves were punished, have both been suppressed by the Government. One of the gang was a relation of the President, and the majority of them were people of respectable families and well off. Part of the gang had been banished to Gulfo Dulce, and others to Chile.

A FRIGHTFUL BALLOON VOYAGE. The Toronto (Canada) Globe, of September the 27th, contains the following account of a fearful baloon ascent A gloom is suddenly thrown over the sympathising public by a sad termination to the balloon ascension at Adrian yesterday. The balloon, with Messrs. Bannister and Thurston in the car, arose from the enclosure at about half-past 8 o'clock. It went up steadily and beautifully, taking a south- east direction, and soon became lost to the sight of the multitude assembled at Adrian. After the aeronauts had been up what they considered a sufficient length of time, they let the gas escape slowly, and made a handsome descent at Knight's-station (Riga Post-office). a few miles from Sylvania. The aeronauts stepped from the car, and immediately pro- ceeded to unfasten it, and to remove the netting from the balloon, which gradually turned over, finally resting with the neck upward. Mr. Thnrston got astride of the mam va which was a circular wooden box or frame, flxed in the p of the gas sack (which was very large, containing 25,000 cubic feet of gas), and was engaged in forcing back the valve, which opened inward, at the same time requesting Mr. Bannister to untie the neck of the bag. The latter Mr. B., who was busy with the netting, neglected to do. The moment the netting was off, the sack suddenly arose, and Mr. T. still clinging to the valve. Mr. B. instantly grasped for the ascending bal- loon, but Thurston exclaimed, Hold on, Bannister, she will soon come down again;' for he supposed that his com- panion had untied the neck of the sack, which would, of course, soon relieve it of gas, and, therefore, ofits upward ten- dencies but he was doomed to a terrible disappointment. Up and up the balloon ascended with its precious burden of human life, and, when last seen by the horrified Bannister was full two miles high, and sailing rapidly to the northward.. Mr. Bannister, sick at heart, and dreadfully alive to the ex- treme danger of his comrade, hurried to Sylvania, arriving in time for the up train from Toledo, 11.25 a.m., on which he soon arrived at Adrian with the unhappy tidings. Mr. Thurston resided at Adrian, and has a daughter there, his wife being dead. Hopes are yet entertained of his having landed in safety somewhere in the interior, by perforating the sack with his knife, or some other means. Nothing further has been heard from him up to a late hour this morn- ing." The Detroit Tribune of September 29 says, "All hope of ever finding poor Thurston alive ia blotted out, and we can onlv bemoan him as lost." f

LORD JOHN MANNERS AND THE TIMES." This celebrated member of the young England party lately made a speech at Waltham, in which his lordship seems to have made an unhappy allusion to our English sports, which brings down upon him the whole force of the Thunderer of Printing House-square, who, echoing the burden of his lord- ship's own rhyme :— Let laws and learning, trade and commerce, die, Yet leave us still our old nobility"- thus criticises his opinions Lord John Manners is a nobleman of whom England may justly be proud. How often, when we have been fascinated by a stranger of brilliant fancy and striking pretensions, we have the_ mortification of finding that he comes from the sister isle But Lord John Manners is undoubtedly one of us, and, as they say of some one that he touched nothing which he did not adorn, there is no subject, and we will venture to say there is no office or work, to which his Lordship would not give a new colour and charm. This is no small praise when it is considered what an important place the power of dis- play is in this, and no doubt all other societies. Either as the popular preacher in a. fashionable chapel, or as the leader of a new religious movement founded on the prin- ciple of reading the Bible backwards, or as a salesman of speculative property, or as an agent for the sale of estates in British Columbia, or as touter for a new Western Bank of Scotland, or as claimant of an extinct peerage, or as a figure footman, we are confident that Lord John Manners would exhibit a perfection unknown before. What a pity it is that when he can act the nobleman with such effect, he should be the vulgar reality, and thereby lose the opportunity of effective representation! However, he has his place m the Cabi- net Our present Ministers are not all equally orna- mental. No one of them, indeed, appeals to the British aristocracy on the simple ground of being an English nobleman, except Lord John Manners. Most of them are too deeply tainted with the wisdom of the world, and too ready to condescend to vulgar necessity. Lord John is the only one who cannot be callad the ephemeral statesman, the creature of the hour. Did Britons still walk in the rude majesty of their forefathers, or still more, if by renouncing arts, learning, religion, com- merce and all the other nuisances of civilisation, we had nothing left but England's nobility, then Lord John Manners would be the man of the nation's choice. We should have in him a leader sufficient for all the pur- poses of primitive or barbaric existence; till, at last, he was unfortunately hunted for want of other vermin, or eaten for want of other food. His lordship has written to us, correcting what he is pleased to call a verbal inaccuracy of his speech. By the same post we have received a letter from the Comet, informing us, in reply to several disparaging letters, that its tail is not an optical illusion, though certainly not so solid or so heavy as the tail of a crocodile, or even that of the British lion. The latter document we have re- ferred to a calculator, and he informs us that if the comet were to put up its whole tail in a portmanteau it would certainly not have to pay extra for baggage on any continental line. It appears to us that much the same may be said of the verbal inaccuracy Lord John Manners complains of. He is scarcely doing justice to his performance when he stakes it on a word, or a fact, or a particular meaning. Fireworks, dissolving views, games of "proverbs," and acted charades are not meant for matter-of-fact people. Bottom might have roaxed very well, had he not unluckily warned the ladies that he was not a real lion. Lord John Manners has taken fright. After reading our report ofhisspeecn, starting, like Fear, e'en at the sound himself had made, he suddenly felt the full weight of his responsibility. "What if this appeal shouldhave^ my generous countrymen What if all Jingiana snouia take to the field, an^foreswearing the hpardous preca- rious, and highly questionable industries^ of spinning, weaving, tailoring, shoemaking, carpentering, building, and the rest, should betake themselves exclusively^ to rural occupations and sports? Nay am I not proving rather too much » If safety is to be the rule, is farming always prosperous? If, too, m disgust of all occupa- tions on which the heavens may possibly frown the people of England should throw themselves on nature's ow £ stock, Id. resolve to hve by hunting should we not find thm rather too many on theground! Indeed, it is qmtrcerfcain that there are hares, raboits, phea- sants, partridges, grouse, and other game, including even fish, for the subsistence of 20,000,000 people to the end of the world ? Foxes are not good eating, even if they were plenty. Certainly, too, it would not be very pleasant to turn out with a whole population at one's heels. Then, how about one's clothing, and all that sort of thing ?" So his Lordship has lost no time in explaining a passage that might have loosened a screw in the social fabric, and made us Red Indians in a trice. He explains that he does not mean the same games for all sorts of people, but proper games for the proper classes. Marbles, chuck-farthing, pris- oners' bars, beg-o'-my-neighbour, hoops, battledore and shuttlecock, trapball, and perhaps tip-cat, he would think very fit for persons engaged in town manufactures. For rural labourers, and gentlemen who cannot afford a good horse,_ he would recommend fives, tennis, racket, football, cricket, boating, and other manly exercises; while fox-hunting he reserved for the country gentleman and the yeoman. He did not mean that every member of the community was to rise in regular gradation from mar- bles to fox-hunting. Labourers and town snobs may begin with marbles, and proceed in due time to hunt rats, cats, bugs, or anything else they can find. In due time they may even hunt with a red herring for scent. But fox-hunting proper is the privilege and glory of th& British gentleman and yeoman. But Lord John Manners cannot really suppose that, the verbal correction was needed, or that anybody would take any part of his speech as anything else than the: effervescence of the champagne or the "top" of the porter before him at Waltham. It never occurred to us to regard the display as anything more than one of those pretty illusions with which banquets are usually adorned. Who criticizes a ship in sugarcandy, a lion in butter, or a goose in blancmange ? For our part, we freely discounted every part of the harangue, receiving it with that "grain of salt" which the Roman critic advises all to mix with generous criticism.

BARNUM ON MONEY-MAKING. A very interesting lecture on the shortest and surest way Of making a fortune has been delivered in the Free-trade Hall, Manchester, by one of the most famous masters of this rather difficult art, the renowned Phineas T. Barnum. Like most of the speculations of which Mr. Barnum has had the manage- ment, the lecture was a great success. It might have been supposed that a gentleman who is believed to be the cleverest and most successful humbug of the age, would have been a. rather unsound teacher and unsafe guide, and that some of the principles of action which he might recommend would be such as a rigid moralist could not altogether approve but this was not so. It was as unexceptionable in point of moral- ity as it was amusing in point of style, and received, as it well deserved, the hearty approbation and applause of the' audience. Mr. Barnum took it for granted that every man whom he addressed would rather be rich than poor (hear, hear) he need not, therefore, waste many more words in glorifying money, or in proving that in itself it was a. good thing. Nor need he say much in refutation of the vulgar fallacy that the money-getter was necessarily sordid and mean; or that goodness was necessarily thriftless and imprudent. On the contrary, money- getting (which was commerce) was one of the most use- ful, and, consequently, one of the most honourable of occupations—the parent of civilisation, and of innumer- able blessings to mankind. The greatest and wisest of men in all ages, from Abraham, the first merchant on record, down to the present day, were almost invariably distinguished for their knowledge and their skilful prac- tice of the art of making and of keeping money. As a striking instance of this fact he referred to Shakspere, Chaucer, and Scott, on this side of the Atlantic, and Prescott, Bancroft, and Irving, on the other, as examples of men eminent at once in literature and in this most useful of arts. Marlborough and* Wellington were almost as remarkable for their thrift and economy as for their military genius, and had Washington not been the greatest of patriot soldiers, he might have ranked high as a merchant or almillionaire. As there were three ways in which men might become great, so there were three ways in which they might become wealthy. Some men were born rich, some achieved riches, some had riches thrust upon them. He had only to speak of the way in which men might achieve riches, and he at once admitted that he had absolutely nothing to say on that point which was new. He could only repeat and urge once more the old and well-known rules of prudence and economy, illustrating those ancient saws wherever he could by modern instances. The lecturer proceeded in a very forcible manner to state and enforce those rules for making money which he considered most important, interspersing them with numerous amusing anecdotes, which were exceedingly well told and well received. The rules were such as the following :— BE HONEST; BE PROMPT IN MAKING ENGAGEMENTS, AND EXACT IN FULFILLING THEM; PERSEVERE; ADVERTISE; TELL NO MORE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS THAN IS NECESSARY. NEVER PASS A WEEK-DAY WITHOUT READING A GOOD NEWSPAPER. And others equally trite and equally sensible. Of the humour of the lecture it is impossible for us to give anything like a satisfactory specimen. Mr. Barnum concluded his remarks by a very ingenious and amusing defence of humbug, which he defined to be the art of dressing up an object so as to render it attractive; of putting on glittering appearances for the sake of arrest- ing attention. This was only deserving of blame when the article put forward was not what it professed to be. When the object offered for sale or for show was intrin- sically good, it was allowable, he contended, to draw attention to it by every legitimate means; and on this principle he vindicated his own conduct, and maintained that he had acted towards the public in a honourable and straightforward manner. Mr. Barnum concluded his address amidst loud applause, and, on retiring, was called back to receive the hearty approbation of the audience, voted him by acclamation-a compliment which he acknowledged in a humorous and appropriate speech.

REMARKS ON PASSING EVENTS. We are now in possession of details of the loss of the Austria steamship. This calamity will rank among the most terrible disasters of the kind, for it is feared that out of the six hundred souls believed to be on board, no less than 530 met with a watery grave or perished in the flames. The fire broke out in the forward steerage, and appears to have been occasioned by an at- tempt to fumigate that part of the vessel by means of burning tar. The fire ran rapidly aft, causing the pas- sengers to crowd on the poop, from whence they were compelled, some of them being enveloped in flames at the time, to jump into the water. The scenes that took place were of the most heartrending character. It ap- pears if ordinary coolness had been displayed in all pro- bability the majority might have been saved; but the greatest possible confusion and alarm prevailed, and hence the result.

No sooner are the labours of the British Association brought to a close than those of a younger, but kindred, association commence, promising to throw a flood of light upon that particular branch of science which, from its universal applicability and special adaptation to the present age, is popularly termed "Social." It will be remembered that this association was launched into ex- istence under the presidency of Lord Brougham about this time last year, at Birmingham, under circumstances which gave promise of future success. Its special object was then stated to be to form a point of union 0 among social reformers, so as to afford those engaged in all the various efforts now happily begun for the im- provement of the people an opportunity of considering social economics as a whole." The conference com- menced its sitting at St. George's Hall, Liverpool, 0" Monday, when the proceedings were of the utmost importance, and fully prove that the Association is ably performing its task.

The era. of discovery is undoubtedly whether in science or art, but we had bar J,. P d to find the land of Columbus instrument^ c h of fresh countries or places, fuch q £ er and we have pleasing evidence tnai j e,r prise is not altogether extinct among the d^cendants of fa m'ncmlir rninridence, Vasco Cie i*ama being a worthy (a singular coinciaen > discovered two island<? on disciple of Columbus) na Ia.n;, on the coast of Africa, a?di"U l|eaTour tn +10U ° £ ,them' T,pt hone that Sp»in ur to turn the ac- quisition to good account, and not make it a nucleus for extending the slave trade.

We have a telegraphic statement from the Continent that the Beguni or Ijucknow has promised to give up' Nana Sahib to the British authorities on condition that she receives a free pardon. The Nana is said to be closely hemmed in his jungle, and therefore, is in the power ot the Begum; and we can only hope this information's true, so that we may have an opportunity of giving this monster his deserts.

CALiFORNiAN GOLD.—A. YOUNGR man, Mr. Dick, of St. Ninians, near Stirling, who with a venturous spirit left his native place about eight years ago. has* after many vicissitudes in California, iust returned, bringing with him evidences of his exertions in the shape of the real virgin Californian gold. One of the pieces found by him in the Cumberland Tunnel, Smith sDiggms, 8 Sierra County, weighs upwards of 13 ounces, and its value is about 65 £ The snot at which this piece of gold was found was about 1,500 feet from the entrance of the tunnel, and about 2,000 feet; from the summit of the mountain under which the tunnel was cut. Mr. Mck has also brought with him a number of smaller pieces of gold, also in their natural state, all of which are remarkably pure and free from dross, have a great resemblance to, and are, m fact, grotesque brooches and pins. Mr. Dick, who has roughed it in the wilds of California for eight years, enjoyed remarkably good health, and was most fortunate during some parts of the time he was at CalifornIa.