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s'x are represented to us as children of the tenderest years! three, or, as some say, four, were friends joining him for his protectionall the rest were servants--and all-all mingled in one indiscriminate slaughter, of the most hellish character, because the owner of the land thought himself entitled to use the property that he paid for, and refused submission to the legislation of midnight assassins.

23.-The following account of a providential escape from drowning of one of the Deal boatmen, who was on board a vessel wrecked upon the Godwin Sand, deserves to be recorded. It appears that after the two men from the Deal boat had got on board the brig from their own boat, which remained in attendance upon the vessel, every exertion and effort were used for the preservation of the ship and cargo. One of these brave boatmen was unhappily lost with the ship's crew: the other boatman, named William Dawes, now miraculously restored to his wife and family, gives the follow ing account About four o'clock, P. M. on Friday, the vessel became a complete wreck upon the sand. She remained upon the sand until three o'clock the ensuing morning, during which time the whole of the ship's crew and the other Deal man, were either washed overboard or perished upon the deck of the vessel. After three, the vessel parted, and this poor fellow, securing himself upon a part of the wreck, was thus floating in the ocean until Sunday, when he was picked up by a vessel at sea, about nine leagues from the north sand-head. He was most humanely treated by

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the master of the vessel, and landed on Tuesday at New Romney. This intrepid and peculiarly hardy boatman is now safe at home at Deal, with his family.

26. In consequence of the high flood, seven men, in the employ of Mr. Finch, at the mustardmill, at Staines, got into a boat to go to their respective homes to dinner. Unfortunately, one of the seven was a new-comer to the mill, and had that morning been paying his footing, or treating his new acquaintances with beer, which rendered them more wanton than prudent; for though the part they had occasion to go over was not more than leg-deep, they, by some playfulness, got into the mill-stream, where the rapidity of the current upset the boat, and precipitated the seven men into a depth of ten feet, by which accident four were drowned. The other three would have inevitably perished, but for the intrepidity of a man who witnessed the catastrophe. This person, who had formerly been a sailor, evinced the true spirit of a British tar on this unhappy occasion: having a rope fastened round the middle, he plunged to the bottom of the river, whence he brought up, one after the other, three out of the seven men, who are by him, under divine providence, restored to their families and friends. The scene on the edge of the water, upon the accident being known, was truly heart-rending. The families of the unfortunate men rushed to the spot, and it was with great difficulty that the wife of one of them could be prevented throwing herself into the water, to share the fate of her husband. The names of those lost are

T. Fenner,

T. Fenner, W. Warder, R. Childs, and W. Black. A subscription was set on foot to reward the person that rescued the survivors from a watery grave.

Liverpool, Saturday, Dec. 1."Yesterday, the 30th of November, was remarkably fine from early in the morning till towards four in the afternoon, when a cold and sharp wind from the west began to blow fresh, and continued to increase in violence till towards midnight it became a perfect hurricane; the sea (or river) ran mountains high; the ships in the Mersey were drifted from their anchors; the passage boats across the river dared not face the gale; several flats, laden and unladen, were dashed to pieces; the beautiful steam-vessel Ivanhoe, Dublin packet, lying up in the Queen's basin, was driven with such violence against the pier, that she is now a complete wreck close to her a sloop, totally broken to atoms; between twenty and thirty flats sunk and damaged in various parts; a fine American packet (the Albion) ashore, and likely to go to pieces before she can be got off next spring tides; the Amity, American outward-bound ship likewise stranded, with damage, and must be unloaded; a great number of boats sunk and broken to pieces; a Yorkshire vessel, in which, the wife and family of the captain were, all perished within a few yards of the pier! During the storm, a windmill, situate near the signal-house, on the Cheshire side, which could not be stopped by any effort of the miller, took fire, and was burned down. Many new buildings, nearly finished, are levelled with the ground: scarce a roof in the town has escaped

damage, and the falling slates, tiles, and bricks, during the tempest, rendered the streets dangerous for passengers all the night.

"A melancholy circumstance attended the fatal storm to a most respectable family in this town:Mr. Barton, a considerable brewer, and a highly esteemed inhabitant, residing in Scotland-road, retired to rest with his wife and infant at the usual hour; and, dreadful to relate, in the dead of the night, a sudden gust of wind blew down a large stack of chimneys belonging to the premises, on to the roof, exactly over the bed where Mr. and Mrs. Barton and the infant were asleep, and killed the father and mother on the spot, but the child, that lay between them, was this morning found alive! Another stack of chimneys fell down in a house near the park, and nearly killed a child of two years old, in bed with its mother; who, in her dreadful alarm, ran out of the house screaming for help, and before assistance could be procured, the falling rubbish had blocked up the door-way, and the upper panels were obliged to be dashed out before any person could get into the room where the child was heard crying at intervals, and nearly three hours elapsed before they could get at the bed where the infant was still alive, but much injured about its head and breast. The gale has continued very strong all day.

"An instance of great courage and perseverance during the storm last night, was related to me by the owner of the ship:-A vessel ready for sea was left at anchor in the river, in the care of a lad between twelve and thirteen years

of

of age; the captain and crew were on shore, and could not have gone to the ship had they been ever so well inclined, as no boat durst venture from the pier, on any account. During the storm, the vessel broke an eight inch cable short in two, and, drifted with the wind; the boy ran to the tiller, but was knocked down by a sudden lurch of the ship: as soon as he recovered, he ran again to the helm, and with the assistance of a rope, fastened himself so as to be able to steer the vessel through all the storm safe into the Queen's Basin, where the owner found her this morning very little injured."

A few days since, Mr. Hagell, of Peter-street, in this city, discovered the nest of a mouse on his premises; on making the capture, it was found that it was composed partly of paper; further investigation discovered that the tiny marauders had at some period stolen a bank-note, which they had reduced to small shreds. After a careful collection of the fragments, which amounted, as we learn, to about forty pieces, the note was sufficiently restored to prove its identity; and after being pasted on paper, was presented, and payment actually obtained for it at the bank.-Canterbury paper.

A countryman and his wife, near Perth, who were in the habit of dipping the eggs intended for market in a solution of vitriol, to whiten them, and give them a fresh appearance, had a dispute a few days since, when the husband attempted to throw the bottle of vitriol at his wife. She intercepted it with her hands, by which the bottle was broken, and the contents thrown back in the face of the husband, who has been

blind ever since, and will never, in all probability, recover the use of his eyes.

Some time since, a very corpulent person, professing to be a doctor, and apparently a respectable man, came to Loughborough, for the purpose of practising as a physician, and being unquestionably a professional man, found no difficulty in forming connexions, particularly as he had the advantage of an easy address and familiar demeanour. He bargained for a house late in the occupation of Mr. Vickers, surgeon, for which he was to give 8001. Soon afterwards some land was advertised to be sold, which he also purchased at 2,8001. No deposit was insisted upon for either of the purchases, as he stated that his cash was at Messrs. Coutts' bank, in London, and that he could not receive it until the end of October. His conveyances were prepared, and painters employed to beautify the house. At length the time drew near to make good the purchase, and consequently for the completion of his nefarious designs, which he had no difficulty in accomplishing, having gained the confidence of the inhabitants. He therefore proceeded to purchase from the silversmiths, drapers, &c., all descriptions of portable articles on credit, and next practised a more considerable fraud on a banker and druggist; the latter he induced to endorse a bill at sight on Coutts's bank for 3501. on his presenting them with his check on Coutt's bank for 3,0001. Having obtained both these sums under the pretence of being anxious to get into his house, and afterwards pretending to be going to Derby to buy

furniture,

furniture, he made his final exit from the place. He was traced to Liverpool, where he embarked for Greenock, and from thence to Belfast, when all trace of him was lost.

FRANCE.

A French paper relates the following anecdote :-"A diligence was on the point of passing the French frontiers to enter a neighbouring kingdom, where several articles of French manufacture are not admitted; a beautiful female, who was one of the passengers, expressed her hopes that she should be enabled to smuggle a fine lace veil, which was concealed very secretly about her person. A taciturn gentleman, who was one of the passengers, and who appeared to be absorbed in a reverie, said nothing, but on arriving at the Custom-house, he, on some pretext, alighted. On the passengers entering the office, the lady received a hint to retire into another room, and divest herself of the lace veil which she had about her, with which request she, of course, found it necessary to comply. On resuming their seats in the diligence, the lady who had lost her veil broke out into a torrent of invective against the taciturn gentleman, whom she accused of having been the informer, and the other passengers joined her in heaping abuse upon him. On their reaching a considerable distance from the frontier, "Madame," said the taciturn gentleman, who had hitherto said nothing in return for the invectives poured so profusely upon him, you are right, I am the guilty individual, but please to tell me what was the value of the loss which you so much regret?" "It

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was worth nearly 100 louis, monster that you are!" said the lady in a great passion, and shedding tears. "Well, madame, dry up your tears, and if will you accept one of 1,000 crowns, I am ready to offer it to you at where we are to alight." "Is it possible!"." Do not imagine, however, that my offer is the effect of remorse of conscience; I have introduced, by means nearly similar to those you employed, contraband goods of the same kind, of the value of nearly 100,000 francs, into this country. My denunciation against you turned aside all the suspicions that might have been conceived against me, and you see that only one of us has been caught-thanks to the trifling reparation which I owe you." This explanation had an immediate effect: the taciturn gentleman was then pronounced one of the honestest men in the world; and the fair traveller, quite delighted, cried out, in which she was joined by the other passengers, mant voleur!"

SPAIN.

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The accounts respecting the fever at Barcelona show that the mortality is still great. It is curious to observe, that amidst the distress in which this unfortunate city is plunged, the elections for the cortes were not neglected. The electors assembled on the 5th at the cordon: those who were on the outside coming to the barrier. The result is said to have been favourable to the liberales.

The political state of Spain is far from favourable. The people seem restless and discontented, and the ministry are at once unpopular and inactive. It is to be

lamented,

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lamented, that where all are equally disposed to support the good cause of constitutional liberty, there should be a want of understanding as to the best means of compassing a common end, and that this misunderstanding should be suffered to rankle into antipathy, and sometimes break out into open violence.

PORTUGAL.

On the 8th of October the palace of the holy office was opened to the people. The number which crowded to see it during the four first days rendered it extremely difficult and even dangerous to attempt an entrance. The edifice is extensive, and has the form of an oblong square, with a garden in the centre. It is three stories high, and has several vaulted galleries, along which are situated a number of dungeons, of six, seven, eight, and nine feet square. Those on the ground floor and in the first story, having no windows, are deprived both of air and light when the door is shut. The dungeons of the next story have a kind of breathing hold in the form of a chimney, through which the sky may be seen. These apartments were allotted to prisoners who, it was supposed, might be set at liberty. In the vaulted wall of each dungeon there is a hole of about an inch in diameter, which communicates with a secret corridor running along by each tier of dungeons. By this means the agents of the Inquisition could at any moment observe the conduct of the prisoners without being seen by them; and when two persons were confined in the same dungeon, could hear their conversation. In these corridors were seats placed, that a spy could

observe what was passing in two dungeons, by merely turning his eyes from right to left in order to look into either of the holes between which he might be stationed. The spies wore list shoes that they might make no noise in walking over the vaults of the dungeons. A familiar of the Inquisition was often shut up in the same dungeon with a prisoner from whom it was wished to draw confessions to be afterwards used against him.

Human skulls and

other bones have been found in several of the dungeons. On the walls of these frightful holes are carved the names of some of the unfortunate victims buried in them, accompanied with lines or notches, indicating the number of days of their captivity. One, name had beside it the date 1809 and 500 lines, which marks a confinement of more than six months, terminated probably by the execution of the prisoner. The doors of certain dungeons which had not been used for some years still remained shut, but the people soon forced them open. In nearly all of them human bones were found, and among these melancholy remains were, in one dungeon, fragments of the garments of a monk and his girdle. In some of these dungeons the chimney-shaped air-hole was walled up, which is a certain sign of the murder of the prisoner. In such cases the unfortunate victim was compelled to go into the airhole, the lower extremity of which was immediately closed by masonry. Quick lime was afterwards thrown down on him, which extinguished life and destroyed the body. In several of these dens of misery mattresses were found, some old, others almost new,

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