The Principality

@ lrmr111gø. I WISH to know, sir, if you called me an ass Yes, sir, but I qualified it." Aha, sir, you qualified it, did you ? The better for you, sir; and pray how did you qualify it ?" I said vou were an ass, sir, all but the ears." A FEMALE M.P.—We have just learned, says the Edinburgh Xeios, a most extraordinary fact, and one which, however amazing it may appear, is, we are assured, literally true. A person was re- cently buried some few miles from Edinburgh, under very singu- lar circumstances. The death and attendant ceremonies were duly chronicled at the time in our paper. The individual had sat for some time for an English burgh, and was well known as a highly respectable landed gentleman. Now, it would appear, in consequence of certain disputes amongst the heirs-at-law, that the title of the party to the male character is doubted, and not- withstanding the difficulties connected with the peculiar kind of interment chosen by the deceased, the body is to be disin- iered, in order to prove the sex of the defunct M.P. We are familiar with cases of females acting as sailors, navvies, and in other employments but the case of a female member of parlia- ment is, in common phrase, altogether unprecedented." EXPERIENCE, though the most valuable, is the most despised product of human labour. PREJUDICE is opinion without judgment. A MAN'S mind may be compared to a book, of which the body is the binding sometimes in calf, but gilt; sometimes in plain baards. Of this volume, the title-page is the face the epistle dedicatory, the profession the table of contents, the character- istics and principles; the correct passages, are the virtues the errata and corrigenda, the faults it is much to be regretted that, owing to a bad impression, these last occupy the larger portion. So much depends upon the getting up" (" the educa- tion") for the final success of the work, that we often see pro- ductions of first-rate talent spoiled by inferior finish and others not worth reading, universally admired for the excel- lence of the paper and the beauty of the type. ONE of the difficulties of life,—talking to a deaf person in an omnibus. ONE of the pleasures of life,—taking off new boots, and put- ting on old slippers. ONE of the rarities of life,-a woman thoroughly satisfied with her daughter-in-law. A TRULY good memory is only forgetful of injuries. DEATIT is the sleeping partner of life. DELICACY and respect are the fruits not so much of intellect as sensibility. We are considerate towards others, in proportion as our own consciousness gives us universal insight; and sym- pathies are the best teachers of politeness. WHOEVER looks for a friend without imperfections will never find what he wants. We love ourselves with all our faults, and we ought to love our friends in like manner. NATURE abounds with those fitnesses WhlCl harmonise with the mental constitution in a state of health. Christianity, as jjein"- a restorative system, abounds 111 fitnesses to the same constitution in a state of disease. • GOOD FARMING.—" Sambo, is your master a good farmer ?" «< Ob yos, massa, fus-rate fanner-he make two crops in one year." "How is that, Sambor" Why you see he sell all his hay in de fall, and make money once-den in de spring he sell de hides of all cattle that die for want of de hay, and make money twice-dats two crops, massa." WINDOW-SHOW.—A minister, resident not quite a thousand miles from this place, whose stock of sermons and ideas is somewhat meagre, and who is consequently under the painful necessity of now and then serving up the same dish, was some time ago the subject of conversation between two of his flock:- "John, what do you think of our minister?" asked the one. "Some folk like him gay an'Aveel, evasively replied John. But what is your ain opinion, John P" again asked the other. Weel, if ye maun ha'e my opinion," said John, I think that the lad deals in the sma' grocery line, and he has a' the goods in the shop-window."—Arbroath Guide. A TOUGII STORY.—A person shooting last winter on Mount Lebanon, when near the summit, on the side of a deep decli- vity, put up a hare which took a downward course, and which he immediately shot; but the impetus of running caused her to roll over several times. The snow stuck to the skin and formed a ball, which increased every turn. Dragged down by its-own weight, which kept augmenting, it rolled to the foot of the mountain, and was so large and hard, that the chasseur was obliged to call some peasants to cut it open with their axes and spades, to get puss out of her shroud. Two gentlemen were lately examining the beam of a plough, on a stall in a market-place. I'll bet you a guinea," said one, you don't know what this is for." "Done, said the other, it's for sale." The bet was won and the wager paid. How TO GIVE ROSES COLOUlt.-If your roses be of a faded, sickly colour, cover the earth in the pot in which the rose-bush is to about half an inch deep with pulverised charcoal. White and violet flowers appear also to be sensible of the action but yellow flowers seem to be insensible. IIIT TO HOUSEWIVES.—In preparing rhubarb for tarts, pud- dings, &c., do not skin the stalks. It is more tender, more juicy, and of a bettor flavour, with the skin on, than when pre- pared in the ordinary way. ANCIENT, INDEED !—Morrison mentions a dictionary in the Chinese language of 40,006 hieroglyphical characters, as having been compiled 11,100 years before Christ. ROUSSEAU says-" The empire of woman is an empire of soft- ness, of address, of complacency. Her commands are caresses, her menaces are tears." CATE piece of woollen rag placed on the bush infected will form a trap for caterpillars, who creep to it for protection. WHEN I am making a plan of consequence," says Lord Bolingbroke, "I always like to consult a sensiblewoman." Lord Bolingbroke was a great man. SAWDUST BREAD.—The Lancet reports that Dr. Percy, of Birmingham, recommends the use, in certain cases, of bread made of wood. Dr. Percy finds physiological reasons to sup- port his views in advocating the use of the comparatively ilUlU- tritious material as an article of diet, in the disease for which he has proposed the substitute for bread. In the treatment of some diseases, it has long been a desideratum with many prac- titioners to obtain the means of administering a diet which shall contain little albumen, or any materials capable of ready conversion into sugar in the system. SPOTS ON TJIB SUN.—There is at the present time in the centre of the sun's disc a collection of spots of such extent that the whole may be seen as one spot without the aid of mag- nifying power, by merely protecting the eye by a dark glass. With good telescope the spots present a very curious ap- pearance. SOMEBODY who appears to know how fashionable schools are managed, says To educate young ladies is to let them know all about the agies, the om-enics, the ijics, the ticks, and the mas- ticks, but nothing about the ings, such as sewing, darning, washing, baiting, and making \mdding.— Boston Chromotype, COULDN'T WELL BE OTHERWISE.—In the window of a spirit- shop in Cowcaddens, Glasgow, is displayed a small label an- nouncing the sale, by raffle, of a looking-glass, the property of a widow whose husband is WnY is mon >y like the weather now-a-da:ys ?—Because it is due in the morning and mist before night. THERE is a man in Nantucket so remarkably small that it takes six men and a boy to look at him two hours and a quar- ter before they can distinguish his legs. If l'ommy, my son, what is --latitude. "A clothes line, daddv," "Prove it, mv son." "Because it stretches from pole to pole." CKOKER IN THE QUARIBIFELT.—The poet Rogers said the other day, that Mr. Croker, the author of the article in the Quarterly Jiect&io on Mr. Maeaulay's History, intended murder, but had committed suicide.

§mml 3tas. FATAL BOAT ACCIDENT.-A fatal boat accident, by which a young gentleman named Bullock, who is in the agency of Messrs. Bass and Co., the well known bitter ale brewers, for the Bristol district, lost his life, occurred on Tuesday evening upon the river Avon, near Bristol. Mr. Bullock with his bro- ther, and a gentleman in the magistrates' office named Rogers, had been up to Ilanham in a wherry, and were returning in the evening, when the boat ran foul of some timbers which were floating in the river, and had not been perceived by the voyagers. The wherry immediately filled, and went down. Mr. Bullock was drowned, his companions escaping with some difficulty. REMARKABLE MUNIFICENCE.—Father Mathew's life was insured some years since for several thousand pounds, as secu- rity for the expenses of the temperance movement. He re- ceived notice from the insurance company that in going to America he would have to pay a fine of E300 for the increased risk. But where was the worthy friar to get such a sum, when his pension is consumed by the premium of insurance on his life ? That veteran reformer, and practical philanthropist, Mr. W. Rathbone, of Liverpool, heard of Mr. Mathew's difficulty, and unsolicited sent the good friar £500, saying that the friends of temperance should be responsible for the debts which its apostle had contracted." A WARNING TO THIEVES.—Mr. Cobby to the telegraph oftice at Derby I have a navigator, who states his comrade has gone by the 5.45 from here to Derby, and has stolen his watch and bundle. The bundle contains two shirts, marked 1. P. at the bottom. The thief is a little stout man—waist- coat, pearl buttons. If you will get a constable and search him, the man will come by the mail." On the arrival of the train at Derby, Mr. Cobby received the following answer We have got him; and found the things on him." The thief, on Thursday, appeared before the Sheffield magistrates, and was committed to the sessions. THE POISONING CASES AT G UF-,STLI-G. -After a long and careful investigation, a verdict of" Wilful Murder'' has been returned by the coroner's jury against Mary Ann Gearing, the widow of one of the poisoned men, and mother of the others. Since the accused has been in custody, she addressed a letter to her children. It was intercepted by the gaoler, and the magistrates have taken it as evidence against her. The follow- ing is an extract:—" My dear children,—I never had any poison for to use after I had the last, which you know was before your father died some time. I could not recollect yesterday, when I was in court. If poor James could know, he would be very sorry for me to suffer for him for when lie wanted poison to kill vermin in the horses, I always got it for him. He used to tell me what to get, and not let anybody know whom it was for. I have got it for him a good many times. The last that I ever got for him was that week that he was getting better. He said to me, Mother, ye must go and get me some more stuff for my horses.' I went and got him several sorts, and then mixed them all together, and done them in the oven when I had been baking, and he never meant to give it them. I did not let any one see it. I threw it away after he was dead. My dear children, I never had a bit of poison for myself after- wards." THE ALLEGED POISONINGS AT BATH.—A coroner's inquest has been holden on the body of Harris's last wife. The sur, gcon who attended the deceased having, in conjunction with Mr. Herapath, the analytical chemist, made a post mortem exa- mination of the intestines of the deceased, the evidence of these gentlemen was taken and it appeared from it that there were manifest traces of inflammation, but no proof of the cause. It was suggested that coculus indicti-s might have been the poison administered. The jury, after a patient investigation, returned a verdict, That the deceased died from inflammation of the stomach and bowels, but what produced the inflammation there was no evidence to show." EMILY SANDEORD.—It appears., from a letter which the Bishop of Norwich has written to a gentleman who has taken much interest in the future welfare of this unfortunate young woman, that it is the intention of the parties who have sub- scribed for her benefit to send her, under the protection of an elder brother, to one of the West Indian colonies. A RESPECTABLE farmer of Sussex is now imprisoned in Lewes gaol, clothed in a felon's dress, and at hard labour, because he is literally unable to pay his hop duty to Government. This non-payment is a breach of the Revenue Laws. MONSTER BROCOLI.-There are now to be seen in the garden of Mr. John Tamplin, jun., of Lydney, some brocoli of an ex- traordinary size, one plant of which measures upwards of 48 inches in circumference, within the leaves, and many more are of nearly the same dimensions.—Hereford Times. A CENTENARIAN.—The John-o' -Groat's Journal announces the death of a centenarian, who remembered the Cullodeil con- querors rampaging in Strath glass, who lived on oat cake and tea, and who, twenty days before his death, danced Gillie Callum" over his own stick, singing the pipe-tune at the same time. A PRECIOUS CALF.—Mr. Nathaniel Hawkins, says the Here- ford Times, of Longney, has in his possession a singular freak of nature-a calf with only three legs. The animal was born about a fortnight since, and is thriving. ItTfTresents a singular spectacle, as it goes hopping about on its single fore leg and two hind ones. TEN THOUSAND POUNDS FOR A FREE SCHOOL.—The__town of Dudley is likely to have a good free-school througFTthe libe- rality of the late Mr. D. Parsons of that town. That gentle- man bequeathed E 10,000, to be paid after the death, of his sis- ter, for establishing and supporting a school for the education of poor boys and girls (the children of parishioners of the town or residing within four miles), in writing, reading, arithmetic, sewing, and knitting, and in clothing, the same boys and girls, who are to be supplied every Sunday with a penny loaf and a small piece of cheese. The money is bequeathed to twenty- four trustees, by name, with ample powers for carrying out the testator's liberal and philanthropic objects. The testator's sister having died a fortnight ago, the school will, it is expected, soon be in operation. A FACT FOR PEACEMEN.—PASS IT ROUND.—Dr. Joseph Wolff, that wonderful man, who made such a noble effort to ascertain the fate of Stoddart and Connelly, two British offi- cers, who were murdered at Bokhara, stated, in one of a course of lectures on the East, delivered in South Shields last week, that he might attribute his hundred and one escapes from murder in that country to the circumstance that he never car- ried a weapon of defence with him, and to his meeting the warlike tribes in a spirit of conciliation. Many of his fellow- travellers who carried weapons were murdered.—Nonconfor- mist IT has been decided by the French Government to give up the Marquesas, but to retain Tahiti. IT is understood that the new House of Commons will be ready for occupation at the commencement of next year. Tii f,, LAND SCHEME.—The JVorcester Herald gives a lament- able account of the condition of Mr. Feargus O'Connor's allot- tees, on the Lawband's estate, in Worcestershire. Six families have left, and the rest are in a state approaching to destitution. The settlement" was made in 1848. DEATH OF lIIHs. ROTIIS C; ITIL D. -News of the death of the mother of the great Baron Rothschild, and the grandmother of the present Baron, has been received by the Messrs. Hoths- child. She was of the age of 97, and leaves a daughter nearly 80. She died in the humble house in the Judengasse, at Frankfort-on-thc-Maine, which was the birth-place of her chil- dren. Through life she refused to abandon this roof, although she might have exchanged it for a palace. JONATHAN OUTWITTED.—The Gateshead Observer states that the skipper of a vessel lately adopted the following method of evading the heavy import, duty on lead into the United States. He had the metal cast into so many statues of Lord Brougham, and then passed them duty free. The custom-house officers were lost in wonder at the sight of so manv giants turning up their noses at Brother Jonathan, and inquired what the mon- ster importation meant? Statues of Lord Brougham (re- plied the skipper)one for every city in the Union, being the gift of his lordship's English admirer's to the American Repub- z' lic." This the officer could not gainsay, and once passed the customs, Lord Brougham's representatives were soon returned into -,)i s.-of lead. GREAT FIRE AT ROTTr,Tt HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS' WORTH OF PROPERTY DESTROYED.— On Saturday in- formation was received at the principal fire offices in town of a very devastating conflagration having occurred at Rotterdam, by which property valued at upwards of £ 000,000 had been destroyed. It appears that the flames broke out on Saturday I morning, in the sugar refinery of Messrs. Tromp, Sairmohdt, and Co., situated in that part of the town called the Leaven- haven, near to the river side, and nearly opposite the shore where the Sea Gull (Hull and Rotterdam steanwr) lies. The fire, in the space of a few minutes, assumed a fearful aspect: for, en the sugar becoming .ignited, it ran out like liquid fire from the various windows and other outlets, whence it extended to about thirty other warehouse" offices, and dwellings, including the house and warehouse of Ringrose. The. flames could not be 's c extinguished until Sunday at midnight. It is said that Rot- terdam was never visited by such a calamity in the shape of fire before. The total loss in merchandise, &c., ia estimated at about 3,600,000f. or £ 300,000. A great proportion, of the pro- perty uninsured, >

Jftrb nnh Jignttl1. —♦ CONSUMPTION OF SPIRITS IN ENGLAND.—A return moved by Mr. Moffatt, M.P., shows that the gross total quantity of proof spirits distilled in the United Kingdom during the year 1848 amounted to 23,230,066 gallons, of which 6,046,171 were dis- tilled from malt only 16,944,189 from a mixture of malt with unmalted grain 126,282 from a mixture of sugar or molasses with unmalted grain 99,175 from sugar, and 13,709 from mo- lasses. The total quantity of proof spirits entered for home consumption in the United Kingdom, in the same year, amounted to 22,234,379 gallons, yielding a duty of £ 5,517,084. The quantity of proof spirits imported into England from Scotland was 2,080,216 gallons, paying a duty of £814,751; and the quantity from Ireland, 1,029,802 gallons, paying a duty of £ 403,339. The quantities imported into Ireland from Scotland, and into Scotland from Ireland, in 1848, amounted, respectively, to 591,337, and to 38,102 gallons. The quantity of proof spirits permitted out of distillers' stocks in England, in 1848, amounted to 5,363,584 gallons; the quantity of British brandy permitted out of rectifiers' stocks, to 284,066 gallons; and the quantity of spirits of wine so permitted amounted to 277,14(5 gallons. The quantity of rum received into rectifiers' stocks in England, Scotland, and Ireland, amounted, respectively, to 121,408, 20,235, and 5,288 gallons. The quantity of proof spirits put into bond in 1848 was 11,206,270 gallons; and the quantity de- livered, duty paid, direct from distillers' stocks, to 12,023,796 gallons. Lastly, the quantity of proof gallons of British com- pounds and spirits of wine, permitted from rectifiers' stocks for exportation to foreign ports, under drawback, amounted to 31,929. CULTIVATION OF TORA.CCo.-At the meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Duke of Richmond presented a specimen of the dried leaves of the tobacco plant grown at Chelsea, and with the statement made by the party from whom he had received the specimens then submitted to the members, from which it appeared that the produce was at the following rate per acre: Best 1,0501bs. value at Gd. £2615s. Od.; Second 5251bs. value at 5d. £ 10 18s. 9d.; Third 525lbs. value at 4d. J8 15s. Od.; Waste 5251bs. value at 2d. f4 7s. 6d.; jE50 163. 3d." The writer adds:—"A money crop of £[¡O per acre will doubtless startle at first sight, and I have endeavoured in vain to discover any mistake in the conclusions, while it should be remembered this experiment was made in 1848, and a more unpropitious season could not have been selected. The only conclusion that it is possible to come to is, that a much larger sum per acre might be realised. The expenses of cultivation are small in comparison; the plants requiring principally to be kept clear from weeds, by repeatedly hoeing during the summer, affording an opportunity thoroughly to clean the land and I have no hesitation in asserting that it is not an exhausting crop. One man would superintend three or four acres; ad- ditional help being only necessary at planting and gathering time." PUBLIC PETITIONS.—The 35th report of the Select Committee shows that there are now before the Lower House of Parlia- ment 80 petitions, signed by 3,678 persons, against the Parlia- mentary Oaths Bill (already passed by an overwhelming majority); 75 petitions, signed by 1,375 persons, in favour of universal suffrage; 188 petitions, signed by 32,239 persons, in favour of the bill relieving clergymen of the Church of England from the penalties now annexed to Dissent from its doctrine -and discipline; 673 petitions, signed by 129,939 persons, against travelling by railroad on Sundays; 15 petitions, signed by 1,376, in favour of the measure 138 petitions, signed by 19,774 persons, for agricultural relief;" and 793 petitions, signed by 167,409 persons, for referring national disputes to arbitration, and thereby avoiding the evil of war. EMPLOYMENT ON RAILWAYS.—The total number of persons employed on all the railways in England and in Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, on the 1st day of May, 1848, was 188,177, including 102 secretaries, 93 managers, 21 treasurers, 405 engineers, 1,897 superintendents, 3 storekeepers, 145 accountants, 88 cashiers, 306 draughtsmen, 887 clerks, 20,087 artificers, 147,325 labour- ers, 119 inspectors, 2G land-surveyors, 6,250 miners or gauge- men, 635 foremen, 71 policemen, 256 plate-layers. The length of line in course of construction at the same period was 2,985 miles, 41 chains. The length of line not in progress of con- struction, 4,429 miles, 67 chains; and the total length author- ised but not open, 7,387 mih s, 72 chains. RAILWAY TRAVELLING.—The number of passengers conveyed on all the railways in the United Kingdom, during the year ending the 30th June, 1^48, was 57,965,070; of this number 7,160,779 travelled in first-class carriages, 21,690,509 in second, 15,241,529 in third, 13,092,489 in parliamentary, and 749,765 in mixed class. The total amount received from all classes of pnccpngprH dnringtlw cstvmo period -.vcio «CG,72.0,352 is. I^("l. Of which £ 1,792,533 3s. 8d. was for first-class, and £ 2,352,152 lis. 6d. for second-class fares. The amount received for conveyance of mails, goods, cattle, &c., was E4,213,169 14s. 5d. Thus the total receipts were £ 9,933,552 3s, 7d. RAILWAY CALLS FOR MAY.—The calls already announced for May amount to £ 1,000,000. Since January the total amount called up has been, including May, £ 9,000,000, or more than two millions per month. THE COTTON TRADE.—It forms nearly one half the entire wealth-producing power of the United Kingdom; our reports for the year 1846 (the last statistics to which I have access at this moment) amounting to £ 25,592,916, out of a total of £ 57,545,985. In our mercantile and manufacturing operations, employment is found for two millions of the population of Great Britain; and for cotton (which be it remembered is but one item in our consumption of raw material) we pay to America, annually, the enormous sum of ten millions sterling, or there- abouts. GOLD to the amount of E4,000,000 was produced hst year by the Russian mines. DURING the past year, there was sold of the conscript song, Jeannette and Jeannot," and the conscript polkas and qua- drilles, between 94,000 and 95,000 copies, realising, it is said, a profit of upwards of £ 5,000 to the publishers. HousE OF COMMONS EXPENDITURE.—The select committee appointed by the House to consider the salaries of the officers and clerks, after a sitting of several days, Hon. Mr. Goulburn in the chair, have just reported their recommendation for the substitution of fixed salaries in lieu of uncertain allowances, and have decided on the assimilation of the offices of the House of Commons to other public offices, as regards promotion and graduated salaries. With this view they recommend that the future establishment of the House shall be divided into four classes, promotion to go not merely by length of service, but by qualification and character. The first class is to consist of four principal clerks, with salaries commencing at £850 and an increase of E25, until they attain £1,000; the second, of six junior clerks, at £ 650, to be increased by iC15 until they attain £ 800 the third, of twelve assistant clerks, at £ 300, with an increase of E15 until they reach £ 600 the fourth class of twelve junior clerks, at £ 100 a year, with an increase of £ 10 till they reach £ 250 with two accountants at fixed salaries of £ 500 and C200 respectively. It appears from the evidence that some of the clerks and officers have been from thirty to forty, and others from twenty to thirty years in the service of the House. Revisions and reductions have been made by the committee in other departments. The total estimate for the service of the House during the current year will be £ 32,925 as against £ 34,950 in the past, or a saving of 91,925. MARRIAGES.—The Registrar-General, in one of his annual reports, states that the returns of the number of marriages taking place in the kingdom during successive years might serve as a sort of barometer of the prosperity of the country" —that though marriages go on in all seasons, and at all times, prudence makes them fluctuate, so that the more and the less indicate the feelings with which the great body of the people regard their prospects in the world." In 1842. the year in which it has now been satisfactorily shown that the utmost extremity of the distress engendered by the successive bad har- vests of 1837-41 was felt by the bulk of the people, the number of marriages was only 736 to each 100,000 of the entire population of England and Wales (as estimated from a calcu- lation of the rate of interest exhibited by successive censuses). The annual average for the four years immediately preceding had been 778. In 1843-44-45 there was a. continuous accession of apparent prosperity the means of subsistence became mure and more abundant, and the number of marriages per hundred thousand of the population in each year, went on increasing thus :—756, 798, 856. In 1846 this advance was checked. The prices of food had risen, credit was contracted, and trade disturbed; and though there was yet no great suffering in England, the prospect of the future was much overcast. The proportion of marriages to population was precisely the same as in 1845 856 to each 100,000. At the end of 187 a consi- derable diminution might have been confidently looked for; and it appeared. When the returns for that year were made up, the proportion to the whole population was found to be only 78.1 to each 100,000. The six years immediately preced- ing had included three in which the number was unusually low (1841-2-3), and three in which it was the reverse (1844-5- 6). The average of these six years was 795 and 1847 was below the average by 11 a marking (lie postpone- ment of nearly 1,900 marriages in that year alone. It was only during the latter half of 1848 that any contrary movement could be reasonably looked for ? but the whole year, we find, snow* an increase Ü. 184? — the proportion being; 785 'to the

tmigtfintfí1 futon. __—— LETTER FROM AN EMIGRANT. The following lately appeared in the Standard of Freedjm. It is a vei-batim copy of the original:- Burra Bnrra Mines, near Adelaide, July 10, 1848. MY VERY DEAR FATHER,—I take pen in hand with much pleasure to address you a few lines, trusting they will reach you in safety and find you enjoying the blessings of health and comfort, as this leaves us for the present. We embarked at Plymouth with 210 adults, emigrants, besides children, and had a very quick passage of only ninety- five days. AVe had seven death,- and fve births on boLtrdL aiid had fair wind and fine weather most of the way. On arriving at the port, which is seven miles from the city of Adelaide, I remained there one week, leaving Mary Ann behind whilst I went to Kapunda mine, distant about fifty miles. Having there got employ, we remained there about six weeks and hearing that better earnings were to be made here, we travelled up forthwith, and have remained here ever since. We are 100 miles from the city, and 107 from the port. I feel persuaded" that had brother Nicholas come out when I did, he would have done extremely well; however it is not yet too late, and I shall be most happy to see him by the next ship, and also sister Mary Ann. There is here abundant employ for all steady people", and likely to be so for many years to come. This mine is extremely rich, and considered the best in the world. There are no less than 700 pair of hands earning a good living for themselves and families. On my first coming to the Burra I worked on tutwork after a month I worked on tribute and earned very well; I belong now to the bottom-end, having taken a job. The average wages on tutwork is from 35s. to £ 2 per week, and they are settled up once a month. Tributers earn more if they are lucky, but this of course is chance, work. There are sixteen or eighteen other mines, but. i not all in course of work. We have here a township of 300 houses, besides a church and chapel, court-house, police-station, seven or eight good stores, four or five butchers' shops, several schools, and a couple of public-houses. Living of the best may be easily procured. Butchers' meat is abundant and sells for 2d. or 3d. per lb., and we often give more to the blacks and dogs truui many families consume in Cornwall in a week. In fact ev thing. is cheap and good. rloilr is !2s. t3 15s. p-.r c\\ t., and bread sells at Sd. per quartern loaf; butter is Is. tj Is. Gd. p. r lb.; cheese, Gel. to Is. per lb.; potatoes, Gs. to 12,. per cwt. tea, 2s. per lb. coffee, Is. sugar, 4d. and most vegetables may be procured for a trifle in the winter. We have only two seasons. Summer begins about October, and winter in May. In summer it is extremely hot, and at times hot winds prevail, which do a deal of damage to the corn and now and then swarms of locusts descend and devour all within their reach. In summer, too, clouds of very fine dust sometimes darken the atmosphere for miles, and swarms of flies, fleas, bugs, and mosquitoes are then very prevalent. The winter brings with it torrents of rain and abundance of mud, often knee-deep yet we soon get used to all these things, and think nothing of them, and we never hear of any one wishing to go back home. We are sorry to hear such bad accounts of poor old England but. Government seems bent on relieving the country by means ot emigration, and doubtless that will do much to better matters. The natives here are quite black, naked, stupid, and lazy, but in the interior they are more active, warlike, and jealous of each other; but we seldom hear of their gh. people. At Adelaide there is a native school of about 100, where they are clothed, fed, and educated after the English fashion There is a great demand here for domestics, who get from to f30 a year, besides maintenance, and they seldom remain long in service as they soon get husbands. Even young girls, for nursing children will get from 4s. to 7s. per week and their board, and young bys on the mine get from 7s. to 20 per week. I have given you some information, you see, of this country, and trnst that you will give some both to my family and thy; of my dear wife also then they can please themselves about coming out. I can only say there is plenty of plenty of work, good earnings, and good living. Mary Ann gives her best love to her sister tell her she is very well and comfort- able, but would be much more so if Grace was living near her. Her sister Lavinia is married, and living about six miles from here. You will please give my love to my old comrade, John Vian, and let him hear this letter read, likewise the family generally. I hope and trust you will not delay answering this letter, giving us all particulars that may interest us. 1: ou will have to pay 6d. for the land-carriage, and we shall have to pay 8d. for the water-carriage. 1 know not that I have anything more to communicate to you, except that I wish you all even- desirable happiness and blessing, and we pray God to have you all in his holy keeping, to make you all comfortable and pros- perous through life. And now, my dear father, family, and friends, farewell, may God bless you, prays in sincerity of heart Your very and ever affectionate son and his wife, JOHN AND MARY ANNE READ. Mr. William Read, House Bridge, near Milton, Devon. LANDS TO BE TILLED. The free states of the North-Western part of the American Union, and the British colonies in Canada, have hitherto been the favourite resort of emigrants from this country. In 1347, no less than 142.154 emigrants left this country for the States, and 108,680 for Canada. The great attraction of those regions for the emigrating population of Britain, doubtless consiss in the cheapness of land there, and the facility of reaching their costs. In the North-Western States and Canada, the richest land may be had for between 5a. and Gs. per acre, though in the neigh- bourhood of settled towns, it is, of course, considerably more; and the cost of a steerage passage to New York and Quebec, the chief emigrant ports, is from JEo 10s. to £ 6 10. There i also, it is true, a long inland voyage to be performed but, taking all things into account, it is cheaper and easier to get at the virgin soils of the United States and Canada, than almost any other of the new lands now ;• ought after by. emigrants from European countries. Nothing can exceed the fertility of that magnificent region known as the great Valley of the Mississippi, a v; l'ey inter a ed with 15,000 miles of navigable rivers, containing 700,000,0^0 acres of the richest and most fertile land, an 1 competent to grow food for the entire existing population of Europe. The chief portion of this valley is yet waiting the occupation of man. 0 Z, Although equal to the maintenance of 150,000 millions of peo- ple, it is only here and there, at remote intervals along the banks of the great rivers which roll through it, cheered by the habita- tions of industrious and civilised men. The same remarks apply to the North-Western States of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois, and to the extensive regions of Western Canada, which are competent to afford more than elbow room to the entire unemployed population of Europe, and to their swarms of emi- grants, for generations to come. Turn we now for a moment to the great south land of Australia —an island almost as large as Europe, fringed with a luxurir.u territory, and with commodious bays and harbours in which the proudest navies may securely ride. Australia is as yet the youngest of all civilised countries. Its history is confi'i'-d almost entirely to the present century. In 1801, its white population amounted to only 8,000, chiefly convicts. About this time it was discovered that the country was eminently adapted for sheep, and the growth of wool; free settlers resorted to New South Wales, and it began to assume a flourishing aspect. New settlements were made around its shores, at Western Australia, South Australia, Port Philip, and Port Essington.' Already the peculation of these colonies amounts to about 300,000, and the expoit produce to the value of two millions sterling per annum. Until very recently, the interior of Australia was as little known as the central regions of Africa; only a few fertile dis- tricts round the coast were settled. The greatest additions recently made to our knowledge of the interior, have been con- tributed by Sir Thomas Mitchell, Dr.Leichard, and Gapt. Sturt. Sir Thomas Mitchell pushed his way into the interior, and then came upon a country which seemed to 11 the fairest'region on earth; plains and downs of rich black mould, on which grew in profusion the panicum-lacodine grass, and which was finely interspersed with lines of wood, which grew in the hollow, and marked the courses of Cook's Journal. SOUTH AUSTRALIA.-The following was the scale of wages paid in this colony in December last, as appears by the Austra- lian papers;—Miners, oOs. per week; Ltbourers and carters, 21s.; whim boys, 10s.; ore-picking boys, 6.; blacksmiths, carpenters, wheelwrights, sawyers, and mechanics, 38' smiths' labourers, 25s.—Although upwards of 1,000 person arrived in Adelaide, in ten days, they all obtained employment within a week of their arrival. All the Irish orpliaii girls arrived at Melbourne, were engaged in two or three days, at wages from E7 to £14 per annum. A respectable butcher offers to "supply the best beef and mutton at Id. per lb." A LEG O? MUTTON FOR SHIT-NCE..—Manv of the newly- amvtd emigrants purchased legs of mutton at the port boiling- down establishment, where a large number awaited their choice, at sixpence each. Not a few obtained joints weighing eight ouni to ten pound each at this marvellous rate.—tenth Autinlian lighter (Adelaide), Dec. 27, 1848,