Mr. Wrottesley observed, that the fares of watermen were much too low; and it would be better to bring in a bill to increase them than to check great public works.

Alderman Wood replied, that the Court of Aldermen had already power to regulate the watermen's fares; but their present complaint was, that the bridge would take away their employment altogether.

Several petitions were presented for and against the Cotton Manufactories Regulation Bill; and 30 petitions were presented in favour of Parliamentary Reforın.

Mr. J. Smith presented a petition from Messrs. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, in favour of the Copy-right Bill. A petition to a similar effect was presented by Mr. Hammersley, from Messrs. Lackington and Co. [See p. 350.]

The order of the day for the second reading of the Leather Duty Repeal Bill was then read.

Mr. C. Grant opposed the bill, on the grounds that the tax had been highly productive for several years after its imposition, that the recent failures among the tanners were to be ascribed to improvident speculations, and the general stagnation of commerce on the transition from war to peace, that the leather trade, however, was now reviving, and the tax becoming again productive. As far as Agriculture was concerned, the additional tax did not burthen it with more than 5d. an acre. He concluded with moving, that instead of now, the bill should be read a second time this day six months.

Lord Althorpe supported the bill, being fully persuaded that the tax was injurious both to the manufacturers and consumers.

Lord Deerhurst said a few words, amidst loud and general cries of question; and, consequently, was not audible in the gallery.

Mr. H. Davis stated that he had changed his opinion, and was now in favour of continuing the tax. He had received a letter from a Bristol tanner, expressing his conviction that the tax did not much affect either the manufacturer or the consumer.

Mr. P. Methuen said there would not be found another tanner in England of the same opinion.

In the sequel of the discussion, Mr. Marryat, Mr. Benson, and Mr. Brougham, supported the bill, and Mr. Lushington and Mr. Huskisson spoke in favour of the amendment, which was carried, on a division, by 136 to 130.

The bill is consequently lost for the present Session.

pipes, and that they were only desirous of a fair profit on their capital, &c. The petition concluded with requesting an inquiry by a Committee into their proceedings.-Lord Lauderdale said that the re, sult of his inquiries had been to confirm what he had, on a previous occasion, men. tioned as to au understanding between the different water-companies, which did away all competition, and subjected the inhabitants of the metropolis to a considerable rise in the price of one of the first necessaries of life.

In the Commons, the same day, several petitions were presented, on the part of Authors, Engravers, and Booksellers, in . favour of the Copyright Bill.

Mr. Smyth said the Act complained of had only made some slight alterations in the preceding Acts. It appeared that half of the publications consisted of 750 copies of each. In many cases, wherein they were not sold, there could be no great hardship.

A Member under the gallery observed, that a single work (Mr. Lysons's, we understood) cost 60 guineas, and that the delivery of the copies of it would cost 660/.

Mr. Brougham brought in a bill to prevent abuses in Charities established for public Education.

Lord Stanley presented a petition, signed by an individual, on behalf of a meeting held in Royton, in the county of Lan

caster.

Mr. Bankes objected to the petition being laid on the table, as contrary to the standing order, being signed only by an individual, though alleging general grie

vances.

Mr. Wynn thought the petition was intended as an insult.

Mr. Lambton saw nothing in the petition derogatory to the dignity of the House.

Mr. Vansittart said the petition contained expressions which no Member could use without being called to order. The House could not tolerate such language as that it had long been governed by selfish principles.

Mr. Tierney was for receiving the petition. The word "selfish" was the only unhappy word on which the Right Hon. Gentleman (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had been able to place his hand. The Right Hon. Gentleman had said, that any other Member who should use that word, in debate, would be called to order. Now he (Mr. Tierney) would use that word on the very first opportunity (a laugh), and he was sure that the Right Hon. Gentleman would not call him to order (Hear, hear.) If the petitioners had charged the House with having legislated from corrupt motives, it would be very different.

On a division, the petition was rejected by 42 to 14.

Mr.

April 28. This night a fire broke out at Benthall-Hall, co. Salop, the residence of F. B. Harries, esq. owing to a main timber of the roof going into a chimney. The whole of the roof and part of the house were destroyed before the flames could be extinguished. The house was built in 1535, and the carved wood-work of the parlour and beautiful staircase was thought to surpass any other in the county part of both have been saved.

May 8. A violent thunder-storm was experienced in various parts of Cumberland and Westmoreland. At Blathwaite, in the neighbourhood of Wigtown, Mr. Thomas Smith was instantaneously deprived of life by the electric matter: three other persons near him were struck down, but not seriously injured: a chimney-piece was split asunder, and other damage done to the building. At Hardriding, the fluid descended a chimney, when a young woman, sitting by the fire, was struck senseless, and still remains in a dangerous state: a dog was killed, and the house was much damaged. The same storm extended to Dumfriesshire, in Scotland, and did a variety of damage there; but no lives were lost.

May 31. A sturgeon of immense size was taken upon the manor of the Earl of Lonsdale, and brought to Carlisle to his lordship's fishmonger. Weight 20 stone 7lbs.; length 9 feet 4 inches; circumference 5 feet 1 inch. Weight of the roe 70lbs. In one quarter of an ounce of it were found 1,345 eggs or spawn.

June 4. The first stone of a new Church to be built at Rochdule was laid by the Rev. Dr. Drake, vicar, who delivered an impressive address on the occasion. The final ceremony upon the stone was performed by the master of the Anchor Lodge of Free Masons. The whole of the transaction exhibited a splendid spectacle, as the members of 11 distinct Lodges, attended by the building committee and the trustees, formed a circle, highly decorated with the jewels and insignia of the Order. The designs are in the simple Gothic style.

June 12. A storm of thunder and lightning burst over the village of Branston, near Burton-upon-Trent; and the house of Mr. Shenton, surveyor, was much injured. The lightning first struck the chimney, which it threw down; then passed through the chamber to the parlour below, breaking the chimney-pieces, destroying the glass of several pictures which were framed and glazed, and doing other injury. It then passed through the parlour window, breaking the panes and tearing the frame. GENT. MAG. Suppl. LXXXVIII. PART I.

H

Fortunately no person was in the chamber or parlour. Mrs. Shenton, who was in an adjoining room, was struck down, and her hand and arm slightly burnt, but is not otherwise injured. Four other members of the family were in different apartments, but all providentially escaped unhurt.

Mr. Blake, the master of a seminary at Hallwood, near Runcorn, with his assistant teachers, accompanied his pupils (as he had invariably done when his boys went to bathe) to a situation on the banks of the river Mersey, where it was intended they should bathe, and where Mr. B. had always previously taken his boys when they were disposed to enjoy that recreation. One of the boys, soon after he had gone into the river, slipped into a hole, that had been made by the tide, beyond his depth : three of his school-fellows, in attempting to rescue him, were placed in the same perilous situation. Mr. Blake instantly plunged into the water, and used every exertion in his power to save them, but without effect. A boat arrived at the fatal spot a few minutes after the four unfortunate boys had sunk, but all efforts to save them proved unavailing. The bodies were found soon after, and the best means were used to produce resuscitation; but the vital spark had fled. Their names were-Thomas Eardley, aged 15; Joseph Schofield, aged 14; Peter Jackson, aged 14; and T. Nixon, aged 15.

A considerable party of farmers and others lately went out in two boats upon the river Wyre, to fish; they agreed to sail a race, when unfortunately the men in one of the boats not only crowded too much sail, but also, in order to lighten the vessel, threw out a good deal of ballast, when a squall of wind upset her, in a deep place (the Nott End) with a strong ebbing tide, and she suddenly went down with every one on board. Thus perished, through their own imprudence, six respectable men, several of whom have left families to deplore their loss. The names of the sufferers were Rawnson, Bradley, Croft, Captain Dickenson, Lord (of Pilling), and Longworth, farrier, of Garstang. Only two of the bodies had been picked up when this account was written.

The first stone of a new Church has been laid in the parish of Radcliffe, near Manchester, where the population has much increased, and gradually extended to a

considerable distance from the old Church. It will be erected at the sole expense of Countess Grosvenor, under the direction of Mr. Wyatt, the architect.

John

John E. Dowdeswell, esq. and John Martin, esq. the representatives for Tewkesbury, have contributed 200 guineas each towards the building of the School on the system of the Rev. Dr. Bell, which has lately been erected there. The total expense of this elegant stone structure, which rivals any similar edifice in any provincial town of the kingdom, exceeded 1,300l.

By an Act of Parliament passed last session, the penalty previously enacted for persons offering Bank Dollars or Tokens in payment after the 25th of March, was suspended till the 5th of July.-And from the 5th of July, 1818, till the 5th of April, 1819, no penalty will be incurred by persons tendering them in payment of taxes, customs, excise and stamp duties, postages, rents, poor rates, payments to bankers, or common carriers, or to any person or persons whatever, for the purpose of such Dollars or Tokens being trunsmitted to the Bank of England.

From the Annual Report made to the Secretary of State for the Home Department from the National Vaccine establishment, it appears that upwards of 9000 persons have been vaccinated during the last year at the different stations appointed by the Board in London and the vicinity; and as far as they have received returns upwards of $7,000 by the honorary members and correspondents. The concluding part of this Report will not be read without feelings of the deepest indignation:-"The pernicious practice of Small Pox inoculation, now very generally relinquished by the medical profession, is only persisted in by a very few of the least creditable class of practitioners, and is usually carried on clandestinely; yet the Board are concerned to state, that this destructive operation is now performed for gain, by itinerant empirics, farriers, publicans, nurses, low cunning people of both sexes, and of various descriptions. And such is the infatuation of the pocr and ignorant, that many of them carry their infants to be inoculated by those who only know how to inflict, but not how to assuage the violence of the small pox. The consequence has been, that many have perished under their management; and the disease, in particular districts, has been widely disseminated.-As this iniquitous conduct prevails much in London, an epidemic sinall pox was last year excited among those who were not secured by vaccination: for it appears by the Bills of Mortality, that 1,051 persons died of this disease; a number which, according to a probable calculation, includes only two-thirds of those who actually fell victims to the small pox in the capital. Complaints of the same injurious practices have been sent to the Board from various parts of England, and applications made for means of putting a stop to them."

A man of the name of Smith lately had the temerity, after drinking about ten pints of ale, to ascend the spire of Louth Church, which is nearly 300 feet high, and tie a handkerchief round the iron which supports the weather-cock; after he had remained some time upon the top stone, danced a hornpipe, and performed several antics, he descended with all the composure imaginable to the bottom of the spire, and on the point of one of the pinnacles of the tower he stood upon one leg with his arms extended, and made his congee to the numerous spectators below, who witnessed this piece of presumption with horror and astonishment.

Considerable remains of tesselated pavements, and other indications of a Roman station, have been lately discovered about seven miles East of Grantham, co. Linc. on the side of a hill by the bridge-end turnpike. Three distinct apartments have been already cleared, one of which is a sudatory or sweating bath, the flues and furnaces of which are very distinct. Competent judges agree in opinion that it has been à Causennis of the Romans. The place has from antient tradition been called the "Roman Hill," but nothing had been before discovered to fix a belief of its having been occupied by that people as a residence or station. It is from Causennis that Camden derives the name of one of the three great divisions of this county, Kesteven (or Cayseven). Its situation has been conjectured to be at Bridge-Casterton; but it is now believed that the true situation is found at Haceby, and that the estate of the Lord Lieutenant of this county will prove to contain one of the most interesting pieces of antiquity in the kingdom.

The Duke of Rutland, since attaining his majority, has expended the sum of 60002 annually, on the repairs and improvements of Belvoir Castle, up to the time of the late fire. Since that period, the sum of 20,000. is annually expended upon the rebuilding. Upwards of a hundred mechanics are constantly employed in the interior of the Castle.

The tenants of the late Duke of Northumberland have erected a monument to the memory of that illustrious nobleman, which has just been finished, and is called the Percy column. It stands on a beautiful knoll, adjoining the road on the South entrance into Alnwick; it rises without the incumbrance of a pedestal, and is seen in every direction elevating itself to the height of eighty-three feet distinct from all its adjuncts, and may be ascended to its whole height by an easy circular stair.

J. Merceron, esq. magistrate for Middlesex, has been sentenced to a fine of 2001. and 6 months imprisonment, for having fraudulently appropriated parish money, and to 12 months imprisonment for licensing publicans legally disqualified, Commemo

Commemoration, &c. at Oxford,

(Concluded from p. 540.)

On Wednesday morning, at 11 o'clock, the Vice Chancellor, accompanied by the young Noblemen of the University, the Earls of Dartmouth and Abingdon, Sir James Saumarez, K. B. Sir William Cockburo, bart. Sir A. Croke, the very Rev. the Dean of Westminster, the Heads of Houses, and a long train of Academical Dignitaries, went in grand procession from Trinity College Hall to the Theatre, where, after the business of Convocation had been opened by the Vice-Chancellor, the following personages were introduced by Dr. Phillimore, M. P. and Regius Professor of Civil Law in the University, and received the honorary degree of D. C. L. :Sir George Thomas Staunton, bart. Sir Richard Borough, bart. of Baseldon Park, Berks.

Sir John Silvester, bart. Recorder of London, F. R. S. and S. A. and B. C. L. of St. John's College.

Sir Thos. Strange, knt, late Chief Justice of Madras.

Upon introducing Sir G. Staunton, the Professor gave a short summary of his public services in China, and of his splendid attainments, with a particular reference to the richness of his acquisitions in regard to Oriental Literature. Sir George accompanied his father to China in the celebrated Embassy of Earl Macartney in 1796; and having subsequently to that period resided very much at Canton, he had thereby acquired a knowledge of Chiaese literature, customs and manners so perfect and penetrating, as to enable him unerringly to detect and elude all the low craft, the specious wiles, and unprincipled stratagems which that extraordinary people are for ever bent upon practising in their commercial intercourse with the British nation. Accordingly, his advice and assistance upon many important occasions had been of the most valuable kind; and a very pointed allusion was made by the Professor to the counsel and entreaties pressed by him upon the late unsuccessful Embassy to China, and which, under the guidance of an excellent discretion, rescued Lord Amherst and his suite from the degrading performance of the Ko-tou, a well-known Chinese ceremony, a compliance with which was not only incompatible with personal and national respectability, but would also have had the effect, as is now well ascertained, of inflicting serious injuries on the Company's interests at Canton.

We were glad to see the worthy Recorder of London in such high health and spirits, after the death and burial to which the London Papers had consigned him. Well did he deserve the loud applauses which followed his presentation to this Academic

honour, and the handsome things which were said of him by the Gentleman who presented him. But, after all, Sir John Silvester's best panegyrick will be found in the eloquence of that wisdom and virtue which he displays in public and private life-in his incorruptible but still benevolent administration of the Criminal Law of England-in his long and valuable services as the official adviser of the Civic Authorities of London-in his love for his King and Country, his resolute adherence to our happy Constitution in Church and State in times of great political fermentin his manly resistance to that factious spirit which, but for him, would have intermixed insult with professions of duty to the Throne, but which he, like Sir James Eyre in Wilkes's day, temperately but invincibly withstood.

Richard Plumptre Glyn, esq. eldest son of Sir Richard Carr Glyn, bart, of Gaunt's House, Dorset, and late Gentleman Commoner of Christ Church, received the degree of Honorary Master of Arts. -Presented by the Rev. Wm. Crowe, B. C. L. of New College, and Public Orator.

Wm. Hustler, esq. M. A. Fellow of Jesus College, and Registrary of the University of Cambridge, and Thomas Watson, esq. M. A. and Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, were admitted ad eundem Masters of Arts.-Both presented by the Rev. John Gutch, M. A. Registrar of this University.

The Oration in Commemoration of all the Benefactors to the University was then delivered by the Rev. W. Crowe, LL. B. and Public Orator. The Learned Orator, upon this occasion, directed the attention of his audience to the subject of the University Prizes, which had now been established for a period of fifty years, and by introducing a greater care and a more cultivated refinement into the art of composition, had produced those good fruits which had been anticipated and hoped for by the founders of them. The Learned Gentleman paid an especial tribute of praise to that wisdom and liberality which had prompted our present Chancellor to establish an additional Prize for Compositions in Latiu Prose. The habit of writing that noble language with classical precision and purity was a very valuable one, and he hoped that within these walls it would always be encouraged and held in honour. In conclusion were offered some admonitions respecting these exercises, which the junior Members of the University will do well to follow; and an earnest wish was expressed that some expedient might be devised and adopted for remunerating the authors of some of those compositions which came next in merit to the successful copy. The prize could only be conferred upon one; but there

were