The Illustrated Usk Observer and Raglan Herald

THE WAR IN AMERICA. 4 On the 17th another battle took place. The numbers engaged are not stated, bat the conflict ap- pears to have been very obstinate. It continued from dawn till dusk, and as General M'Clellan esti- mated the loss on his own side to have been from 6,000 to 10,000 men, the battle must have raged I fiercely the whole day. It is assumed that darkness put an end to the struggle, as the two armies re- mained on nearly the same ground they first occupied. There was no immediate retreat, nor yet pursuit. The loss of life is, however, a heavy price for a victory, if victory it may be called, for we are told in the official report the result was not decisive, though the superiority of position remained with the Federals." On the morning of the 18th M'Clellan perceived that the enemy were moving, but he evidently could not follow them closely enough to ascertain in what direction they were going. His official dispatch states I do not know if the enemy is falling back to an interior position, or crossing the river." He is cautious not to claim too much it was only when he knew they were retreating that he says, "We may safely claim the victory for ours," and in a later dispatch, written after he had discovered the direction the Con- federates had taken, that he ventures to announce the victory as complete, adding,—" The enemy is driven back into Virginia Maryland and Pennsyl- vania are now safe." It was no great victory after all; the Confederates appear to have retreated more for a purpose than from obligation. Stonewall Jackson, it is said, conducted the retreat, and got the whole army across the Potomac with but slight loss. Of the Confederate loss in the battle of the previous day no estimate is given. The list of casualties on the Federal side includes so many officers of high rank that it has created a feeling of dismay even in the first flush ot the success. General Mansfield is reported as killed, and no less than 13 other officers of the same rank are returned by name as wounded. Indeed, the loss among the Federal generals and field-officers is so great that the ordi- nary chances and hazards of the battle-field do not account for them, and the public are perplexed by the unusual fatality that attended the conflict. Indeed, the various battles have been most severely contested, and there seems little doubt that the Con- federates will be capable of keeping their own ground for a considerable time, unless sickness should break out in their camp. A correspondent of a morning contemporary, writing from New York, says:- If ever there were a time since the outbreak of the war when the customary brag of the generals, the administration, the press, and the people were out of place, it has been during the present week. A series of obstinate battles have been fought in Maryland, lasting each day from dawn to dark, sacrificing lives in such awful numbers as to merit the epithet of carnage—desperate, bitter, and bloody in the extreme-until on Wednesday night both armies were too exhausted to renew the fight, and rested to bury their dead, supposed to amount to twenty thousand men, equally divided between them On Thursday, according to dispatches from General M'Clellan, published to-day, to the immense delight of the recruits who have not yet gone to the war, of the Wall-street speculators for a rise, and generally of the war party in the city, the battle was not resumed, except in occasional skirmishes of slight importance but in the evening the Con- federates abandoned their position and retreated across the Potomac. Whether M'Clellan will fol- low, as he says he will, remains to be seen. The most that can be said at present is, that the Federal armies were so valiant, so well led, and so favour- ably placed against an enemy equally valiant, equally numerous, and equally well handled, that they inflicted as much damage as they received, and converted into a drawn battle what otherwise might have been a. defeat. But this boast is not sufficient for Washington and New York. The cry la tha.t the Union is restored, that the rebellion is crushed, and that the Confederates are annihilated; the whole of which vaunts are palpably unfounded, and known to be so, even by those who shout them forth most loudly. It is possible that in the desperate battle which ended on Wednesday night between 100,000 men on the Confederate and as many on the Federal side, on a line extending from Leesburg to Hagerstown and Sharpsburg, the Confederates were virtually defeated, as General M'Clellan re- ports. It is also possible that they will make good the retreat into Virginia commenced on Thursday, and defy M'Clellan to follow them; but in neither of these cases, even in the worst that could happen to them—their utter rout or surrender on Virginian ioil-woiild there be an end of the war, or of the hope, the strength, or the determination of the South to achieve its independence. General Hooker has sent an official despatch to General Halleck in the true vein of Bobadil and Pope. General Hooker, who is known to be a gallant soldier, reports a great battle at Centreville, in Maryland (not the better known Centreville of Virginia), which he had the honour to lead off, and which lasted the whole of Tuesday, and until 10 o'clock on Wednesday. He describes the carnage as awful." In claiming the victory he expresses his regret that a wound in his foot prevented him from taking further part in the operations, as he had counted either on capturing the rebel army or driving it into the Potomac." It would have been better, under such circumstances, if he had confined himself to a simple and consise record of the past. The world only wants to know what a General has done, not what he imagines he might have done. Perhaps, had General Hooker not been wounded, he might have discovered later in the day that he had "counted" on too much, and that his opponents might perhaps have captured him, or driven him into the Potomac, just as Captain Bobadil counted on too much when he calculated that his 20 men were always to kill 20 of the enemy, and never dreamed of the possibility of a different catas- trophe. From the voluminous, but imperfect and often contradictory, reports that have been published of the, great events that came to their culmination yesterday, it is evident that the decisive battle of the war has not yet been fought, and that all which has happened up to this time is but preliminary to the final onslaught that is to make or mar M'Clellan, but that is not likely, end how it will, either to make or mar the fortunes of the Confederacy. Disap- pointed in the hope of large accessions to. their strength in Maryland, unable to hold that State in face of an apathetic or timid—or, it might be, hostile people—and aware of the mistake they had made in relying upon support which was not forth- coming, the Confederate Generals appear to have taken their measures to recross the Potomac, with their supplies. If such were their object, M'Clellan, by his march from Washington to. the Monocacy, and by the battles of Hagerstown and Sharpsburg, has very seriously interfered with and retarded the movement; but it does not yet appear that he has prevented it, or that anything he can do will interfere with their pians, whether they be to keep possession of the valley of the Shenan- doah and the commanding position of Harper's Ferry, or to retire upon Manassas. But if the news of their retreat bear the interpretation put upon it by the War-office, Philadelphia, if not Bal- timore and Washington, is safe for the present, and its citizens may once more sleep in peace, and write to New York for the gold and silver plate and other valuables which they transmitted thither for safe keeping. as soon as they heard that the great 44 Stonewall" Jackson was likely to pounce upon them. In this city-so easily are people buoyed up with hope-the retreat of the Confederates is hailed with as much joy as if it really ended the war and the President is urged to be magnanimous in the moment of victory, to issue a proclamation for a general am- nesty, to invite the Southern leaders to return to their allegiance, and support the Union as it was, and the Constitution as it is," to fraternise with Jefferson Davis, to let all bygones be bygones, and to wind up affairs amid a blaze of rejoicing, prepa- ratory to the next great movement for the absorp- tion of British America and Mexico. In such a moment the little matter of the debt of both parties is too trivial for consideration. To-morrow's affairs may wear a different asp act, but till then couleur de sang is couleur de rose, and optimism and brag are lords of the ascendant.

MINING COMPANY REVELATIONS. On Monday, John Jennings, Esq., F.S.S., director secretary, and shareholder of the North Carrock Mining Company, was summoned before Alderman Gabriel, at Guildhall, for unlawfully, and by means of false pretences, obtaining two dividend warrants for thfe respective sums of £.115 9s. lid. and £19 5s., and four bankers' cheques for the respective sums of X12 10s., £.17 8s. 3d., £.13 lis., and £214s. 9d., from Messrs. Newton, Keates, and Co., of Liverpool; and the summons further alleged that the defendant had not accounted for any portion of the value of the said securities. Mr. Lewis, jun., conducted the defence; Mr. Metcalfe the prosecution. Mr. Jesse John Tustin said I live at Barnet, in Hertfordshire, and carry on business as a chemical colour manufacturer, at 83, Upper Thames-street. I am one of the directors of the North Carrock Mining Company (Limited), which has been in operation about two years. The defendant was appointed secretary pro tem. on the 6th of February last. Mr. Lewis Secretar y pro tem And by the same resolution he was appointed a director also. Alderman Gabriel: This was not the first meeting of the directors ? Mr. Tustin: No sir. We were filling up the vacancies according to the rules. There was no subsequent appointment with regard to the secre- taryship, and nothing was mentioned in the resolution of the directors about salary but an arrangement was afterwards made by which the defendant re- ceived £5 per month. I acted as chairman of the company. The defendant acted as secretary before he was appointed, and the last payment made to him as salary was on the 11th of August last. On the 13th of the same month there was a board meeting, which was adjourned to the 14th, and the de- fendant was present on both days, and ulti- mately, after refusing to produce his books, left the meeting in consequence of the directors de- clining a proposal of his in connection with an addi- tional purchase which he wanted the board to make. I did not feel inclined to find the money for that purchase, and the company had no funds. I have not seen him since, but I have been informed by a clerk that on the 11th of September the defendant called at the office of No. 7, Tokenhouse-yard, and abstracted from a box certain books, and also took away with him a letter from Messrs. Newton, Keates, and Co. On the 21st of August, in conse- quence of defendant's absence, a letter was ad- dressed to him, requiring him to place all the com- pany's books, papers, and documents then in his possession under the control of the directors and upon his not complying with that requisition, they, on the 25th of August, took possession of the box, and then ascertained that some of the books hadbeen abstracted. The books, &c., missing were the banker's pass book and check book, the petty cash book, the articles of association, and the key of the common seal of the company. On the 28th of August a reso- lution was passed dismissing defendant from the secretaryship, but no notice of such resolution or dismissal was forwarded to the defendant. I knew where to find him. He sent a reply to the letter of the 21st of August, requiring him to give up the company's books* &c.; in which he explained the reason of his continued absence to be that the offices were to undergo repairs and to be repainted, and aa suon as the work was done he would return to his duties. On the 14th of August a Arm of tho name; of Newton, Keates, and Co., of Liverpool, were in- debted to the company in the amount of .6199 8s. lid. for lead supplied and the letter acknowledging the receipt of the securities to that amount and the re- ceipt are in the handwriting of and signed by the defendant. The indorsement on the cheque which has been cashed is also in the defendant's hand- writing. It has passed through the London and Westminster Bank. The defence set up was that the defendant had only secured himself by what he had done for a claim that he had on the company. Other evidence tended to prove that this was one of the many companies that are occasionally set forward to deceive the public. Names being used as directors and shareholders who have no shares, and mines said to be working which have no exist- ence. The result of the investigation will be gathered from Alderman Gabriel's remarks. Alderman Gabriel addressing the prosecutor, said:—Your prospectus states your capital to be £20,000, in £4,000 shares, of Y,5 each, deposit 5s. per share and 55s. on allotment. As there has been no allotment of shares upon which deposits have been paid, who were the shareholders who dis- missed the defendant from the board of directors? You sent out a prospectus to the public announcing persons as properly qualified directors. Would not the public be justified in coming to the conclusion that all these gentlemen held shares in the under- taking ? Witness: Certainly they would. Alderman Gabriel: Then do you not think it is a sham and a fraud upon the public to put forth such an announcement ? I do not hesitate to say that it is a sham and a fraud on your part towards the public to send out a book like this with a list of directors; totally unqualified according to the articles of your association. The whole thing, upon the face of it, is a fraud upon the public; and I should advise you, Mr. Tustin, to have a little more thought in future before you place yourself again in such an equivocal posi- tion. Really, the public ought to be obliged to you (tremendous- cheering and laughter) for bringing this matter forward, as a flagrant instance of the manner in which companies are got up by persons for the purpose of putting money into their own pockets. You have placed yourself in a most dis- graceful position, and I do not think it necessary to go any further into the case. I therefore dismiss the summons. Alderman Finnis said he quite concurred in the whole of Alderman Gabriel's remarks. The decision and the concluding remarks of the worthy aldermen weire received by a crowded court with such a burst of cheering and derisive laughter as is seldom heard within the precincts of a court of justice, amidst which the defendant and his counsel quitted the court. «

Determined Suicide in Kentish Town.- On Saturday Dr. Lankester prosecuted an inquiry at the Victoria Tavern, Kentish Town, into the circumstances attending the suicide of a wood engraver, named John Robertson Cray, aged 33, living at 24, Clarence-road. The deceased's wife said that on Tuesday last, while on a visit to a neighbour, her husband sent to say that if she wished to see him again alive she must return home instantly. She at once hastened to her house, and there found him in an excited state of mind in his room, with a tumbler containing something in his hand. He told her that in a very few minutes she would be a widow. He directly rushed out of the room into another, and came back exclaiming, "It is done! it is done! She dashed the tumbler from his hand as quickly as she could, and he then said in a determined manner, I have done it! it is to late!" Before medical aid could be pro- cured he expired. Other evidence tended to show that deceased committed the act from despondency and the recent excessive use of ardent spirits. Mr. Caltcleugb, surgeon, of Clarence-road, deposed that the tumbler had contained cyanide of potassium, and that was the cause of death. The coroner deprecated the, present great facility for obtaining cyanide of potassium. Verdict, [ Suicide, whilst in an unsound state of mind."

THE AMERICAN NEGROES AND MR. LINCOLN. The following letter from Mr. Robert Purvis, a coloured man, has been published in the Press of Phila- delphia. The Anti-Slavery Standard says:—" It is just such a production as we should expect, under the cir- cumstances, from its high-toned and proud-spirited author." Byberry, Pa., August 28, 18S2. Hon. S. C. Pomeroy, Government Colonisation Agent. Sir,—I have read with deep and painful interest your address to the "Free Coloured People of the United States," and, as a coloured" man, beg the privilege of saying a few words in reply. Forty-five years ago an overture similar to that con- tained in your address came to the coloured people from the city of Washington. That proposed West- ern Africa as the happy place where they were to be colonised-this proposes Central America. On the receipt of that proposition a public meeting of the coloured people of Philadelphia was called, with a view of expressing their opinions of it. It was held in Bethel Church, in the month of January, 1817, and my honoured father-in-law, the late James Forten, was its chairman. It adopted a series of resolutions, the first and last of which were as follows:—"Resolved, That as our ancestors (not of choice) were the first successful cultivators of the wilds of America, we their descendants, feel ourselves entitled to participate in the blessings of her luxuriant soil which their blood and sweat enriched, and that any measure, or system of measures, having a ten- dency to banish us from her bosom, would not only be cruel, but in direct violatian of those principles which have been the boast of this republic. Resolved,—That having the strongest confidence in the justice of God and philanthropy of the free States, we cheerfully submit our destinies to the guidance of Him who suffers not a sparrow to fall without His special providence." Senator Pomeroy, these were the sentiments of the coloured people of Philadelphia, and of the whole land, in 1817; they have been their sentiments ever since, and they will be found to be their sentiments now. Ex- ceptions there may have been, and may be again. I speak of the whole, not of a fraction. Sir, for more than twenty years the question of coloni- sation agitated and divided this country. The coloured people stamped it with the seal of their reprobation; the whites acquiesced in the justice of their decision, and the vexed and vexing question was put to rest. Now it is revived. The apple of discord is again thrown into the community, and as though you had not already enough to divide and distract you, a new scheme is hit upon and deliberately sent upon its errand of mischief. There are some aspects of this project which surely its advocates cannot have duly considered. You pur- pose to exile hundreds of thousands of your labourers. The wealth of a country consists mainly in its labour. With what law of economy, political or social, can you reconcile this project to banish from your shores the men that plough your fields, drive your teams, and help build your houses ? Already the farmers around me begin to feel the pinching want of labour: how will it be after this enormous draft? I confess the project seems to me one of insanity. What will foreign nations, on whose good or ill will so much is supposed now to depend, think of this project ? These nations have none of this vulgar prejudice against complexion-what, then, will they they think of the wisdom of a people who, to gratify a low-born prejudice, deliberately plan to drive out hundreds of thousands of the most peaceable, industrious, and competent labourers? Mr. Roebuck said, in a late speech at Sheffield-as an argument for intervention-" that the feeling against the black was stronger at the North than in the South." Mr. Roebuck can now repeat that assertion, and point to this governmental project in ccrrobo- ration of its truth. A "Slaveholders' Convention" was held a few years since in Maryland, to consider whether it would not be best either to re-enslave the free blacks of that State or banish them from its borders. The question was discussed, and a committee, the chair- man of which was United States Senator Pearce, was appointed to report upon it. That committee reported that to enslave men now free would be inhuman, and to banish them from the State would be to inflict a deadly blow upon the material interests of the common- wealth that their labour was indispensable to the wel- fare of the State." Sir, your Government proposes to do that which the Slaveholders' Convention of Mary- land, with all their hate of the free blacks, declared to be inconsistent with the public interest. But it is said this is a question of prejudice, of national antipathy, and not to be reasoned about. The President has said, whether it is right or wrong I need not now discuss." Great God.! Is justice nothing ? Is honour nothing ? Is even pecuniary interest to be sacrificed to this insane and vulgar hate? Bur it is said this is the "white man's country." Not so, sir. This is the red man's country, by natural right, arid the black man's by virtue of his sufferings and toil. Your fathers by violence drove the red man out, and forced the black man in. The children of the black man have enriched the soil by their tears, and sweat and blood. Sir, we were born here, and here we choose to remain. For twenty years we were goaded and harassed by systematic efforts to make us colonise. We were coaxed and mobbed, and mobbed and coaxed, but we refused to budge. We planted our- selves upon our inalienable rights, and were proof against all the efforts that were made to expatriate us. For the last fifteen years we have enjoyed comparative quiet. Now again the malign project is broached, and again, as before, in the name of humanity are we invited to leave! In God's name, what good do you expect to accomplish by such a course ? If you will not let our brethren in bonds go free-if you will not let us, as did our fathers, share in the privileges of the Government—if you will not let us even help fight the battles of the country—in Heaven's name, at least, let ua alone. Is that too great a boon to ask of your magnanimity? Sir, I have spoken with freedom, but not, I trust, with disrespect. If I have expressed myself with warmth, put yourself in my place and ask if you would not do the same. Sir, my revered father, William Purvis, of Charleston, S. C., was a loyal citizen of this country and a true patriot. He died leaving an escutcheon without a stain. My father-in-law, James Forten, served this country in the revolution of 1776, and suffered as a captive of war on board the British prison ship, Old Jersey. He, too, died without a blot on his memory. I myself have paid the taxes and borne the burden of the Government without|being allowed a share in its privileges. Of this I don't now complain. In bitterness of spirit, but with unwavering loyalty, I have been true to the country which has never ceased to injure me. I have hoped and laboured for better things. I still hope and labour for better things and don't complain. But let me alone. I elect to stay on the soil on which I was born, and on the plot of ground which I hstve fairly bought and honestly paid for. Don't advise me to leave, and don't add insult to injury by telling me it's for my own good; of that I am to be the judge. It is in vain you talk to me about the two races," and their mutual antagonism." In the matter of rights there is but one race, and that is the human race. God has made of one blood all nations to dwell on all the face of the earth." And it is not true that there is a mutual antagonism between the white and coloured people of this community. You may antagonise us, but we do not antagonise you. You may hate us, but we do not hate you. It may argue a want of spirit to cling to those who seek to banish us, but such is nevertheless the fact. Sir, this is our country as much as it yours, and we will not leave it. Your ships may be at the door, but we choose to remain. A few may go, as a few went to Hayti and a few to Liberia, but the coloured people as a mass will not leave tne land of their birth. Of course I can only speak by authority for myself, but I know the people with whom I am identified, and I feel confident that I only express their sentiment as a body when I say that your project for colonising them in Central America or anywhere else, with or without their consent, will never succeed. They will migrate as do other people, when left to themselves, and when the motive is sufficient; but they will neither be compelled to volunteer" nor con- strained to go of their own accord, Your obedient servant, ROBERT PURVIS. ♦-

Humbug and Appearances. — Humbug, my friends! which of us is without it ? Not you, Mr. Cynic, with all your philosophy; not you, Mrs. Candour, for all your rudeness. It is carping, selfish Diogenes in his tub yonder—Diogenes, who has not washed this morning, and is angry with me because I have—Diogenes, who is the greatest humbug of us all. There are hundreds of excellent people in this world whose good qaali'ies lie beneath, and are even indicated by a little effervescence of eccentricity. You and i, dear Punter, have often rowed in the same boat and know the banks of the sedgy Thames; how do we recognise good ale when we see it ? Is it not by the light and foaming character of he brew? Reach me that tankard, if you please, with the head on. I dip my beak into the pewter, and the froth fails off on either side. We do not care for that, you know, but the draught below; how refreshing, how excellent a tap!— London Society.

ENCOUNTER WITH POACHERS. On Thursday night, about eleven o'clock, a desperate encounter took place between gamekeepers and poachers at Davidscraig Wood, near Gallowmuir, in the parish of St. Ninian's, Stirling. It would appear that Mr. James Thomson, head keeper to the Countess of Dunmore, had 1 reason to suspect that serious depredations were com- I mitted by poachers in that locality, and on the night in question he proceeded, with nine assistants, to the spot named, when, before they had taken the positions assigned them, eight or nine men were observed coming along the high road towards the plantation. Suspecting that they were the individuals wanted," the watchers squatted down with the view of observing their movements. These having been of a suspicious nature, Mr. Thomson went forward alone to the men to see if he crnld recog- nise any one of them. On getting into close quarters he minutely inspected them, but never questioned their right to be there, nor did he even speak to them. Notwithstanding, one, named Morrison, raised a cud- gel which he carried, and struck the gamekeeper a violent blow on the back of the head, which had the effect of stunning him for a time. On regaining consciousness he at once cried out, and his coad- jutors immediately ran to his assistance, when they laid hold of Morrison and had him secured. A general scuffla then ensued, in which sticks were freely used by both parties, and the stones thrown by the poachers were flying about in every direction. In the course of the miUe a very large stone, thrown with great violence, struck Mr. Thomson on the forehead, making a very serious wound, which cut through his cap, and laid his skull bare from the brow to the top of the head. Another of the keepers had his head severely cut. The dog be- longing to the poachers-a powerful and ferocious animal—attempted to create a diversion in favour of his masters by biting at the heels of their opponents, where- upon one of the keepsrs shot it dead upon the spot. After the fight had been vigorously conducted for a con- sideraole length of time the poachers took to their heels, leaving three of their number in the hands of the keepers. These were taken to Dunmore and locked up. The names of the three men whom the keepers ha.d captured were Andrew Morrison, who struck the first blow; James Morrison, his brother; and William Evans, all residing in Camelon. Another man, named Kelly, has since been apprehended, but four are still at large.

ANOTHER ALLEGED WIFE MURDER. A blind itinerant street musician, between 40 and 50 years of age, named Keefe, was charged on Wednesday with having caused the death of his wife, Eliza Keefe, by kicking and beating her while in an advanced state of pregnancy, in Rose-court, Bishopsgate-street. The evidence in support of the charge was that of Mary Ann M'Sweeny, who stated that she re- sided at 13, Rose-yard, Bishopsgate. The deceased was her sister. She had been married 12 or 13 years. Witness was in the habit of seeing her every day. She was about 40 years of age. The prisoner and the deceased, with three children, occupied but one room. The deceased was confined on Sun- day night last, and gave birth to a still-born child. Dr. Fowler, the parish doctor, attended her. On Friday morning last she was in good health, and was so all the day. She saw her at eight o'clock that evening. Witness then went home. About two o'clock on Saturday morning she heard a scream, and listened for some little time. The scream appeared to come from her sister's room. She knew it was her sister's voice. She next heard the fall of a heavy weight. She ran down stairs into her sister's room, and then saw the deceased lying in the pas- sage with her legs towards her own door. The de- ceased said" Mary Ann, I am done," and put her hand to her right side. The prisoner was standing at the door with a stick in his hand. He made a rush to kick at the deceased, but witness threw up her arm to prevent him, and received a blow on her arm from whatever the prisoner had in his hand. He then seized witness by the chemise, she being undressed at the time. The children were in the room screaming. Witness called out" Police, blood, and murder." The scavengers were washing the court at the time. The deceased told me to go and get some things on. The prisoner then shut the room door. Witness, on her return back, was asked by the deceased to lift her up, and she did so she heard the prisoner call out from the room "You two-, I'll do for you both." The deceased said the prisoner had given her a shilling to get some supper, and the prisoner had charged her with having spent the shilling in drink, and "bashed her about and kicked her on the side. The deceased died on Monday night. The case was adjourned for the medical evidence until Saturday: a coroner's inquest will be holden in the meantime. The prisoner, who frequently interrupted the wit- ness, saying she was telling a pack of lies, was ac- cordingly remanded.

MEETING AT STALYBRlDGE ON IN- TERVENTION IN AMERICA. A public meeting, called by requisition to the Mayor, was held on Tuesday in the Assembly Room of the Town-hall, Stalybridge, for the purpose of considering the question of intervention in America. The requisitiou was as follows:- "We, the undersigned inhabitants of Stalvbridge and neighbourhood, deeply deploring the unnatural war now ragmg in the states of North America.the misery and destitution thereby inflicted upon the civilised world, and particularly upon the inhabitants of this district, and feeling convinced that the continuance of this un- happy strife will be alike ruinous to the hostile parties and to the vast population of this district depending upon the cotton trade, and that the Confederate states of North America have maintained their independence a sufficient length of time to warrant her Majesty recog- nising the existing government thereof—respectfully request you to call a public meeting of the inhabitants of Stalybridge, to consider the necessity of petitioning her magistrate the Queen to take immediate measures for the recognition of the Confederate states of North America." An hour before the time appointed for the meeting to begin, there were in the roadway outside the hall many hundreds more than the hall could possibly hold. When the doors were opened the hall was quickly filled with working men, and tolerable quietness prevailed until the meeting commenced. The Mayor, Mr. Robert Hopwood, presided, and with him was the town-clerk. Mr. John Bamford moved the first resolution, which was:—"That, in the opinion of this meeting, the lament- able distress and pauperism ?o prevalent in the cotton districts of Cheshire and Lancashire are consequent upon the deplorable conflict now raging in North America, and that our Government would be justified in taking any steps in accordance with the principles of international law to arrest, if possible, the indigence and pauperism now closing upon us." He proceeded to deal with the question of distress and the war in a short speech, and was followed by Mr. John Bradbury, who se- conded the motion. Both speakers were listened to with attention. Mr. J. Billcliffe, in an excellent speech, discussed the question outlined in the requisition, and throughout was loudly cheered. He said he was opposed to intervention, and carried nearly the whole meeting with him. Mr. T. Hodson moved as an amendment, "That, in the opinion of this meeting, the distress prevailing in the manufactaring districts is mainly owing to the rebellion of the Southern States against the American constitu- tion." ° This was seconded by Mr. S. Niel, and, after being put, was declared carried by an immense majority— something like a hundred to one-amid loud cheers. A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the proceedings. — +-

EXTRACTS FROM PUKCH" & FUIT. -+-- WHAT IS A SHIN-PLASTER ?—It is a favourite Ameri' can remedy, a kind of Poor Man's Plaster, and one that gives but poor relief, which is now being applied in all cases of tick-dollar-oux. It has the effect of materially lowering the circulation. Answers to Correspondents. Classicm.-Yes; the best way to P't a reputation for wisdom is to go out bird's-nesting regularly. The educated classes in your village will th:n call you Old Nestor Lotty Scott.-Don't be afraid; the drone of a bagpipe won't sting. Twozzle.- The ground on which the Leaning Tower of Pisa is built is not and never was the Rye House Plot. Our own lawyer forwards answers to several legal questions, viz.:— Maggie Zine.-What is a Provisional Contract? M. Veiilard's, at the Exhibition. A Donkey wishes to know if he can be an ass-ignee ? Yes; why not ? Boo Bee asks what is a simple contract ? If A agrees to give B two thousand pounds for nothing at all, and B agrees to take it, this is a very simple contract on the part of A, and one which, we should add, requires a great deal of consideration." Lawsamercy asks what is a Vesting Order." Go to your tailor, and tell him to make you a waistcoat. MOST FULLY ACCOUNTED FOR.-The Emperor Na- poleon's true-or rather false-character is fully ac- counted for in the following manuar :-that, being the Man of December," he is necessarily, in other werds, a Decembler-a. dissemhler !-[The writer of this is in safe custody]. Painting- in a New Light. WHAT hard work is an artist's lot! Said Tinto, groaning wheezlly. i" Well," said his friend, "I say, 'tis not, For pictures are done easel-y." TBB BEST BREAD-MAKING MACHINE.—The Lan- cashire Fund for the distressed Operatives. SENSATION PUFF.-Talk of thrilling announcements, and say what you think of this, extracted from a paper: —"Crystal Palace.-Blondin is announced to appear on the high rope inside the Palace to-day, and to terminate his performance by a terrific descent to the ground, head- foremost." An immense attraction doubtless. But tHe advertisement might have been improved. It might have stated that Blondin would terminate his existence Cheer up, Jonathan! WHY should Lincoln and Company no prospect see Of getting themselves safely out of their fix; When they are in fact what poor North pines to bs, That emblem of Union-a bundle of sticks ? His RIVAL'S LAST.—Why is a large crinolined lady at a small door like Stoke-upon-Trent? Because Shea can't get in there.—Beresford Hope.

EXTRAORDINARY SUICIDE OF A YOUNG LADY. An inquiry was held at the George and Vulture Tavern, Pitfield-street, New North-road, on Tues- day, respecting the death of Miss Mary Martin, aged 24, who committed suicide in a most determined manner on Saturday, under very melancholy circum- stances. Mrs. M. Martin, 20, Aske-place, said the deceased was her daughter, and resided with her uncle at 9, Haberdasher's-place, where she had charge of his house, his mother being an invalid. In consequence of this last fact she was without company, and com- plained much of the dulness of the place. Witness, however, had not anticipated that deceased would have committed suicide. She had every comfort that she could wish for. Miss Anne Cole said that being requested by deceased's grandmother, on Saturday morning last, to look for deceased, who was missing, she did so, and found her hanging by a rope to the rail of her uncle's bedstead. Her throat was cut, and the blood was issuing from the wound. A bloody razor lay on the mantel-shelf. Witness's mother entered the room, and with the razor cut down deceased, who was still warm, but quite dead. She had evidently endeavoured to destroy her life first with the razor, but failing to inflict a mortal cut, she made a slip- knot on a rope, and accomplished her purpose by hanging. Deceased was debarred from society owing to her relative's illness, and had frequently lamented her position to witness, and said, Is it not strange I should never have a young man." The coroner remarked on the melancholy circum- stances of the case, and the jury returned a verdict of Suicide while of unsound mind." >

The Great SingJe Wicket Match at Stockton between the three Cambridge players, Hayward, Car- penter, and Tarrant, and five players ef Stockton, Halton, Robinson, Hornby, Darnton, and Atkinson, for -E200 a side, commenced on Thursday the 25th, and terminated on Saturday the 27th ult., in the victory of the "southerners" by twenty-two runs. John Lillywhite and Dean, both Sussex men, officiated as umpires, and it is satisfactory to state that each acted with a deter- mination to see "fair cricket" and Rule X. rigidly enforced. The consequence was that Atkinson and Darnton were both no balled" for high delivery. French Suicides.—An attempt at suicide was committed on Sunday night at the Jardin Mabille by a young man of respectable appearance, about 25 years of age. He entered the shooting-gallery as it was about to close, took up a pistol as if to fire at the target, but instead of doing so discharged it into his mouth, iitftict- ing a dangerous wound, which bled profusely- As no papers were found on him to prove his identity he was removed, in a state of insensibility, to the Hospital Beaujon. Strange to say, the Progres of Lyons relates a somewhat similar act, but which terminated fatally. A gentleman named D- went two days back to the shooting-gallery of Monte-Christo in company with some friends, and after firing a few shots he went away. In. the course of the morning he returned alone, and after firing 35 shot3 he went away. About three in the after- noon he came back and fired a few shots, but when tke man in attendance presented him with a newly-charged pistol, he begged him to close the door of the gallery. The moment the man turned round to do so, the gentle- man blew out his brains. A letter was found on him. which made known his identity, and mentioned his resolution to commit suicide. He was, it appears, to have been married on the following day, but was im- pressed with the idea that his marriage would not be a happy one. He had come twice to the place, but his courage failed him each time, and it was only on the third visit that he carried his fatal intention into effect. The Secretary "Wants to Know."—Among the numerous complaints submitted to the Registrar of Friendly Societies, and published by him in his recent annual report, the following phonetically-spelt descrip- tion of a loafer who had got into a society and preyed upon its funds, appears:—" Sir,—I would be very much obliged to you if you would send us word wat wee ad beter doo; one our members as been sick and clamed the benefit of our society, and wile he was oia. the box the stuard went to visit him. He was feding pigs; the pigs was nat his oun, they belonged to his landlord, at a pub- lick where he lodged at. The stuard seed him caring the wash across the yard, wich contray to our rules.. We refered to the rule"26 and 28, wich we caled a comity, and excluded him by our laws in the usel maner; wich he ab obtained two sumanses for the stuards, wich they atended before the bench of magestrates, wich they asked him. if he did it with intent to earn money, wich he replied, no, sire; then the magestrates asked him how long he had been in the society, and he saved seven years and they reconed it up wat he had paid ia the society, and wat he had received out, and th.-y said they must pay him the diference, wich was six pounds, wich the society thinks it a very ilegal thing, wich the man has no trade: he is a man at any caling, wich is a labourer, wich is a very unsatisfactory thing for us to have the society registered, and the society can't go oy the rules; wich the 26 rale saies that if a member be found engaged in any kind of work before he has declared off the box he shall be ex- cluded, wich the magistrates did not cal feeding pigs work, wich there are a great manny mearly kept for nothing els but to fed pigs. The magestrates would not heare but very litle the we ad got to say; they said we must other pay him four weeks' monny, and take him into the society again, or give him the difersnce. wich I hask you, sir, if the society has to pay the diferance whether she can't stop the doctor monny, wich is three shillings a yeare, and the expence of the club-room, wich is three- pence every club night, wich the society would be very much obliged to you if you send us word wat the society had better doo in it, sa soon as you can make it con- veient. So heare I remain your afectionate