a brother of Bhujah Sing, and that chief was himself wounded, with eight or ten of his men. Our loss was trifling, being only one naib risaldar killed, and two sepoys and three suwars wounded.

Port-au- Prince, Sept. 1. WEST INDIES-Fire at Port au-Prince." Towards noon, on the 15th ult., a fire broke out in the premises of Mr. Cruchon, apothecary, situate nearly in the centre of the city, and forming the corner of the Grande Rue, and Rue Bonne Foi. The accident is ascribed to children play ing with fireworks in the back part of the house; the weather having been unusually dry, the danger to the surrounding buildings was greatly increased. In the short space of three hours, several streets, and with them property estimated at 3,000,000 of dollars, were consumed. So rapid was the progress of the flames, that the inhabitants had leisure to withdraw but little from their dwellings, and of that little a considerable part was stolen by the mob, who availed themselves of the confusion unavoidable in a moment of such general con sternation. Since the 15th, a considerable degree of consternation has prevailed, and we regret to add, that fire has more than once been discovered in various parts of the town. The vigilance displayed by the go vernment has, however, succeeded in preventing any repetition of the disastrous events of the 15th. All the public offices have remained closed, and busi ness is for the moment sus pended."

A flag of truce from Santa Martha, sent by Morillo to Boli

var, lately arrived at Baranguilla, the head-quarters of the latter. Bolivar acceded to the proposi tion for an armistice; but added, that if any terms were intended to be offered, that did not include a complete acknowledgment of the independence of Columbia, they would not be listened to.

4. The following is a piece of fashionable scandal, which will serve as a sample of the opinion of the day:

The king was a few days ago sailing on Virginia water, near Windsor. Sir B. Bloomfield re marked the beauty of the scenery which surrounds the indescribable artificial Royal Lake, and was joined in his admiration by Sir Wm. Keppel, who said they could not find more enchantment on the Lake of Como. The king laughed heartily, but the face of a lady who was seated beside her royal master, assumed the deep tint of the carnation.

LANCASTER ASSIZES-Beattie v. Pearson. This was an action brought to recover compensation in damages for a breach of promise of marriage. The plaintiff, in this cause, Mrs. Beattie, is the widow of a medical gentleman, who at the time of their marriage resided in Liverpool, but who af terwards went upon the Continent as a surgeon in the army. She had been married at the early age of eighteen, and her husband died in the month of May, 1815, at Colbeck, in Scotland, where he had been settled some months, and was interred on the very day in which Mrs. Beattie was to have joined him, she having been residing some months with her mother at Mottiam, in Cheshire. One child only was the issue of this marriage. It was admitted,

on all hands, that the connections of this lady were of the highest respectability, and Mr. Scarlett described the plaintiff as a lady of great personal attractions, possessing every female accomplishment, with a well-cultivated mind, an excellent judgment, and an amiable disposition; and he very ingeniously produced as his witness a lady of uncommon beauty and pleasing manners, who was said very much to resemble the plaintiff. The defendant, Mr. Samuel Pearson, was stated to be a gentleman of great opulence, at the head of an extensive silk-manufactory at Macclesfield--he was a widower, and 36 years of age, had been twice married, and had a family of three or four children. In the month of April, 1819, Mr. George Kent Pearson married a Miss Lees, the niece of the plaintiff, on which occasion Mrs. Beattie was invited to spend the honeymonth with the new-married couple, and her visit was extended to two months. It was during the latter part of this period that the defendant began to visit Mrs. Beattie; his attentions soon became marked, his visits frequent, and it was not long before he made her an offer of his hand, which was not declined. After this he introduced her as his intended wife, and he introduced himself to her relations as her future husband; consulted her upon choice of furniture; and finally fixed the day of his marriage, which was to take place on the Thursday after his return from London, to which place he was going to attend the East India sale of silks. He was accompanied by his cousin, Mr. George Pearson, and in the course of this

journey he informed him, that he was in a state of doubt, and did not know whether he should be married to Mrs. Beattie or not. His cousin remonstrated with him, and he admitted he was much to blame, and deserved to be handled; and if an action was brought against him, he expected he would have to pay 5,000l.: but he said he had not treated Mrs. Beattie so ill as he had done a young lady in London, upon which occasion the licence and ring were bought, the day fixed, and the party assembled. That, instead of going by the mail, he sent a letter, stating that he had altered his mind; and the shock had made such an inroad upon her constitution, that he did not expect that she would survive it. The defendant returned from London, but he never visited or wrote to the plaintiff, or assigned any cause for his change of mind. The effect upon Mrs. Beattie was most calamitous: after suffering months of anguish, she became distracted, and was obliged to be placed in a lunatic asylum at Manchester. Fortunately the efforts made to restore her reason were effectual; she was returned to her friends with her mental powers restored, but with an enfeebled and shattered constitu tion. The jury, after a short consultation, and without retiring, found a verdict for the plaintiff-Damages, Four Thousand Pounds.

South, and the advanced guard of the former is in the town of Amarante. The provisional government here is in a state of alarm, and has sent, as the report goes, to call in assistance from the Spanish frontiers. The revolution broke out sooner than was intended, the 10th of this month having been originally fixed on. The chiefs imparted their design to the Conde d'Amarante, and attempted to gain him over. He seemed to concur in their views, but secretly gave information to the Regency, who immediately despatched general Pamplona to Lisbon, to take the command of the troops, and to arrest the conspirators, one of whom, Fernandez Thomaz, having intimation of it, acquainted his coadjutors that there was no time to be lost, and that they must instantly declare themselves. This accounts for the want of combination among the provinces, as it was intended the rising should have been simultaneous all over the kingdom.

A letter, dated early in the morning of the 3rd inst., says "Last night there was a forced levy of troops to strengthen the ranks of the constitutional army. They have marched off this morning, to the number of 5,000, to meet the Conde d'Amarante, who is advancing from Tras-osMontes.

Of the result of count Pamplona's mission, the following account is given in the 4th number of the Diario Nacional:

"Marshal Pamplona, being on his way from Lisbon to take the command, ad interim, ofthe troops in this city, learnt at Aveiro that his countrymen, the loyal inhabitants of Oporto, had manifested

the heroic resolution of saving the country; and as this intelligence was not very gratifying to the Marshal, he caused the 10th battalion of Chasseurs to be put in march for Coimbra, with the intention of returning with that corps to Lisbon; but having been apprized that colonel Silveira was advancing upon Coimbra with the 22nd regiment of infantry, he precipitately fled, abandoning the few chasseurs who had not yet found an opportunity of deserting from such a chief."

The following melancholy specimen of inhumanity is copied from the New York Evening Post:

Twenty dollars for a Negro's head.-"Negro Dick (the son of old Anthony, who lives near Moore's Mill), ran away in March last from Mr. B. Wells. He now belongs to me, and as I have sent word to him to come in, and he will not do so, I will give ten dollars for him if brought alive, or twenty dollars for his head alone. Any person is at liberty to shoot or maim Dick in any way they please, while he is run away. (Signed)

"JAMES MORGAN." "Murfreesborough, 29th July,

1820."

5. A correspondent, in a Liverpool publication, ascribes the fashionable novels to captain Scott, a brother of sir Walter, paymaster of the 70th regiment. from the circumstance of a gentleman having had occasion to enter captain Scott's office, at Kingston, Upper Canada, 1815, where he saw a letter from his brother to this effect:

"Guy Mannering has succeeded admirably, beyond ex

pectation; you could not do better than proceed."

The following horrible instance of religious madness is taken from the Rockingham Gazette :A poor woman in the Groves, last Saturday, attempted to cut her throat under the painful conviction that she could not be saved. We have seldom heard of a more distressing case. Her character was altogether respectable, and she lived with her husband and family in great domestic comfort. Yet she had persuaded herself, that she was an object of divine inexorable wrath, and her misery became so intolerable that she resolved to end it by committing the dreadful act above stated. At the awful moment, however, her fortitude seems to have failed her, for the wound inflicted was not mortal, but so severe as to cause an immense effusion of blood, which, when she was discovered, had brought her to a state of great debility. Still she might have been saved, but unfortunately the young man sent to examine her, on the very point of putting in the needle to sew up the wound, fainted away, oppressed by the distressing sight of the patient, and the blood with which the room was deluged. Thus time was lost, and, before farther assistance could be obtained, she was a corpse.

MURDER. On Tuesday, 5th inst., John Wright, of Wolverhampton, locksmith, was taken into custody for drowning his son, James Wright, a boy of about five years of age, in the Birmingham canal. An inquest was held upon the body of the lad on Wednesday, before Henry Smith, esq., coroner; and we extract the following particulars of this VOL. LXII.

distressing circumstance from the depositions-Wright's wife, who has been from him some months attending a sick person, went off with another man to Darlaston, on Sunday, the 3rd inst., where Wright found them, and brought her home to his lodgings. They slept together, and appeared perfectly reconciled; but as soon as he went to his work the next morning, his wife left the house, and did not return. When he came home to his dinner, and found she was again gone off, he became extremely agitated and frantic, and continued so during the day. He that night slept with the boy, and on the following morning got up about 7 o'clock, and, taking the lad with him, proceeded to Wyrley canal, into which he threw him; but, relenting, jumped in after him, took him out, and went to a cottage to dry themselves, when he was desired to take the child home, and put him to bed. He went away with the intention of doing so; but feeling at a loss to account for the state in which they were, he again resolved upon effecting his purpose, which he accordingly did. He then came back to the town, and very shortly afterwards communicated what he had done to two of his relations, who went with him to the Birmingham canal, near Autherley, when one of them went in, and found the body. Upon its being taken from the water, the prisoner manifested the strongest marks of affection towards it. Witnesses spoke to the uniform kindness with which the prisoner had treated the child, and to the agitated and confused state of his mind before and after the perpetration of the crime. The 2 D

coroner's jury returned a verdict of "Wilful Murder;" and Wright has been committed to the county gaol thereupon.-N. B. This miserable wretch was afterwards acquitted, on the ground of insanity.

MONTREAL.-The 1st ult. being the day appointed for the coronation of his Majesty, was celebrated here with due formality. In the evening a display of fireworks took place. There were two very handsome balloons set off in the course of the evening.

6. At the Dublin theatre this evening, after the accustomed performance by the band of "God save the King," which was receive ed by the audience with more than ordinary marks of respect, a person in the gallery sought to interest the house by calling out "God save the Queen," which was not supported, even by the echo of his own voice.

A singular circumstance lately took place at the Comédie Française. Baptiste, who was playing the part of a bailiff, drew from his pocket a paper to represent the warrant, by virtue of which he exercised his authority. What was his astonishment on reading the name of one of his female relations, who, through ignorance of a will which had been made in her favour at Dresden, was deprived of a considerable fortune bequeathed to her by her uncle. The paper was a true copy of this will. Baptiste uttered several exclamations of surprise, accompanied by such comic gesticulations, that the theatre resounded with applause. This strange adventure is explained as follows:-Some time ago, a party of the performers of the

Comédie Française proceeded to Dresden to play in the presence of the sovereigns who were assembled in that city. Among other scenic accessaries, they found it necessary to procure a number of old parchments; and it is probable that the document in question has ever since remained in the pocket of the dress worn by Baptiste when he made the fortunate discovery.

7. This being the day of the greatest eclipse which happens within the lives of most of the present generation, the utmost curiosity was manifested to witness its effects. This was not more observable any where than in the neighbourhood of the House of Lords, where all the passages were crowded with peers poring at the heavens through coloured glasses, their lordships having left the solicitorgeneral nearly deserted in the middle of his summing-up. The streets of the metropolis were in like manner nearly filled with astronomers of all ages and descriptions, furnished with similar glasses, of which it is said, many hundreds of thousands were sold during the week preceding. At the period of greatest obscuration only, was the diminution of light perceptible, and then it was like the grey of a bright morning.

At nine, the thermometer stood at 58, the barometer at 29 deg. 925; the standard barometer at the Exchange, at the same period, at 30 min. 051; thermometer at 60. The first impression upon the sun's disc was observed at 23 min. 30 sec. past 12, Greenwich mean time (or, astronomically, 0 deg. 23 min. 30 sec.), being 15 sec. previous to the time