not a proper compliment to the Spanish people, and recommended to withdraw it. He thought that as the meeting was so thin, it would be better to adjourn, and call another meeting, which might be more numerously attended, if duly advertised.

Mr. sheriff Smith vindicated himself and colleague from the charge of not having given publicity to the meeting. He declared that the meeting was well known upon 'Change. That it had been advertised in ten papers, and that he had acted impartially in the business.

Mr. David Power, in allusion to what had fallen from the hon. member (Mr. Mellish), wished to ask him, whether or not some of the most important measures which had come before parliament had not been passed in houses when the attendance was not near so nume. rous as at present. He called upon the meeting to do their duty, and if, as the hon. member complained, there had been symptoms of apathy in the freeholders of Middlesex in not attending the meeting, at least those who were present should not be subject to such censure.

Mr. Waithman trusted that there was not any one among the freeholders present hardy enough to oppose the resolutions from different principles than those on which they were founded. What was it that gave the Spaniards so much success? why this, the principles of liberty. This country had heard enough of cries for the deliverance of Europe, but every step we took towards effecting that object, only served to increase the calamity and distress which was so much dreaded. The people whom this country now supported, some few years since

would have been deemed "seditious;" but what rendered them now acceptable in the eyes of this country was, by reforming their infamous government. Those pow. ers who formerly cried up for the deliverance of Europe, were the first to fly into the arms of the French. Mr. W. after some fur. ther observations in favour of par liamentary reform, expressed. his concurrence with the resolution.

Mr. Heygate objected to the resolution, as being distinct from the question of Spain, and thought it ought not to be pressed.

After a show of hands, the she. riffs, without declaring the num bers, declared that the resolution was negatived.

The question of adjournment was then proposed by Mr. Mellish, on the ground that the meeting ought to be more fully attended, and that the subjects which the mover introduced were distinct from the main objects of the meeting. This produced a long discussion, which at length was terminated by agreeing that the resolutions passed should be published, and another meeting called. Thanks having been voted to the sheriffs, the meeting ad. journed.

The death of the venerable bishop of Ely was very sudden. His lordship walked on the terrace at Forthampton, about seven o'clock the preceding evening, in perfect health, after which he supped, and retired to rest about his usual hour.

According to report, the dean of Rochester is to be the new bishop of Ely.

The sec of Ely, now vacant, is one of the most valuable preferments in the church. Its patron age, though not so much in quantity

as

as some others, possess, is perhaps the most desirable in England, comprehending a large number of rich benefices, with scarcely any small

ones.

Anecdote of Donna Caro, Aunt of the Marquis de la Romana.-During the war at the beginning of the French revolution, this courageous lady used to attend her husband, general Don Ventura Caro, who commanded the Spanish army in the neighbourhood of Yron. At the beginning of an engagement this lady was accustomed to take her station on the battery of San Carlos, whereon was erected the signal-post for the left wing of the army. She held the telescope in her hand, through which she viewed her husband, whilst he exposed himself to the firing as a common soldier; neither the firing of twelve 24-pounders, which were placed around her, nor the bombs which fell beside her, could move her; the telescope never trembled in her hand. In the intervals of hostility, she employed herself in visiting the hospitals, and contributing to allay the distresses of the sick and wounded. Such an instance of courage and benevolence is scarcely to be paralleled. She preferred witness. ing the conflicts and the fate of her husband, to the anxiety of mind she knew she must have suffered till she could have heard it from others. The marquis de la Romana at that time commanded a post called Cosa fuerte (the strong house.)

Melancholy Shipwreck.-Private letters lately received in town from North Uist, give the following melancholy account of the loss of a wherry, which had been attended with unusual circumstances of distress. About three weeks ago a

wherry belonging to Mr. Macdonald, of Brabranald, manned with four men, and which had a cargo of cattle on board, sailed from North Uist, for the island of Huskar, which is the only island between the North of Scotland and America, in that direction. When the vessel sailed, the day was moderate and the wind fair; but when within two leagues of Huskar, the wind became contrary, and very tempestuous; the consequence was that the vessel foundered on a ridge of rocks, which jutted from the main island. Three of the hands perished, as did all the cattle except one cow, which, together with the fourth man, succeeded in scrambling up to the top of this rocky island. In this dismal situation, the man along with his brute companion remained for three days without any prospect of relief. Ốn the fourth day the cow dropped down dead. In the interim, to preserve existence as long as possible, the man opened a vein in the cow, and frequently sucked her blood. This source of existence being cut off, he afterwards cut out the tongue of the dead animal, and mincing it down very small, he supported existence till the fifth day; on which, to his great joy, he espied an open fishing boat in the Channel, and hoisted, with all his remaining strength, his shirt as a signal of distress: the boat came and rescued him from his perilous situation.

Miraculous Preservation. Battle between a Tyger and an Ailigator; or, Wonderful Instance of Providential Preservation, de scribed in a Letter from the Captain of the Davenport Guineaman. "Some time after my arrival at the British factory, Cape Casta, on

board

board the Davenport Guineaman, I was sent for by the commodore, who was stationed in the Diana fri gate to protect the trade of the place before-mentioned, and appointed by him to command a sloop, employed on the service of conveying slaves, teeth, gums, and other merchandize, from the company's factories, situated several hundred miles up the river Congo, down to the principal depot at the Cape. The sloop carried six swivels, and was manned with nine negroes, and two north. countrymen, named Johnson and Campbell, the former of whom was my mate. After receiving orders relative to the duty in which I was employed, we proceeded on our voyage, and had navigated near fif. ty leagues up the country, when one morning the breezes died away suddenly, and we were compelled, by a strong current running against us, to drop anchor within a quarter of a mile of the shore. In this situation the sloop remained for three days, during which time the circumstances fell out I am about to commonicate; circumstances so improbable in themselves, so marvellous, as almost to border upon impossibility, but nevertheless declared by me, as a spectator, to be a most per fect reality. To resume my narrative the bosom of the deep appeared, as it does in these parts while the calm prevails, extremely tranquil, and the heat, which was intolerable, had made us so languid, that almost a general wish overcame us, on the approach of the evening, to bathe in the waters of Congo; however myself and Johnson were deterred from it, from the appreliension of sharks, many of which we had observed in the progress of our voyage, and those enormously large. VOL. L.

At length Campbell alone, who had been making too free with his liquorcase, was obstinately bent on going overboard, and although we used every means in our power to persuade him to the contrary, he dashed into the watery element, and had swam some distance from the vessel, when we on the deck discovered an alligator making towards him from behind a rock that stood a short distance from the shore. His escape I now considered impossible, his destruction inevitable, and I ap plied to Johnson how we should act, who, like myself, affirmed the impossibility to save him, and instantly seized upon a loaded carbine to shoot the poor fellow, before he fell into the jaws of the monster. I did not, however, consent to this, but waited with horror the tragedy we anticipated; yet willing to do all in my power, I ordered the boat to be hoisted, and we fired two shot at the approaching alligator, but without effect, for they glided over his scaly covering like hailstones on a tiled penthouse, and the progress of the creature was by no means impeded. The report of the piece, and the noise of the blacks in the sloop, made Campbell acquainted with his danger, he saw the creature making for him, and with all the strength and skill he was master of, made for the shore. And now the moment arrived, in which a scene was exhibited beyond the power of my humble pen perfectly to describe. On approaching within a very short distance of some canes and shrubs that covered the bank, while closely pursued by the alligator, a fierce and ferocious tyger sprang towards him, at the instant the jaws of his first ene. my were extended to devour him. G

At

At this awful moment Campbell was preserved. The eager tyger, by overleaping him, encountered the gripe of the amphibious monster. A conflict ensued between them; the water was covered with the blood of the tyger, whose efforts to tear the scaly covering of the alliga tor were unavailing, while the latter had also the advantage of keeping his adversary under water, by which the victory was presently obtained, for the tyger's death was now effected. They both sank to the bottom, and we saw no more of the alligator. Campbell was recovered, and instantly conveyed on board; he spoke not while in the boat, though his danger had perfectly so. bered him, and what is more singu lar, from that moment to the time I am writing, he has never been seen the least intoxicated, nor has he been heard to utter a single oath. If ever there was a perfectly reform. ed being in the universe, Campbell is the man."

Lancaster Assizes, Sept. 3. Charge of Murder.-Yesterday the trial of Charles Angus, esq. of Liverpool, which has been the subject of public interest and general conversation, came on, for the murder of miss Margaret Burns, of Liverpool. The indictment charged him with having poisoned the deceased; and another count charged him with having given her poison to cause an abortion, she being pregnant.

Serjeant Cockell, for the prosccution, stated the substance of the case as follows:

The prisoner married the deceased's sister, who died about three years since, and left two children, since which the deceased had lived with the prisoner as his house

keeper and governess to the children. For some time previous to her death she was suspected by the neighbours and others to be pregnant. She died on the 25th of March, and for two days previous she was confined, and no person attended her constantly but the prisoner; and the circumstances of her death were of such an extraordinary nature, that the coroner hearing of them, called a jury to investigate them, and the result was a verdict of wilful murder against the prisoner.

At

she

Elizabeth Nixon deposed, that she lived as house-maid to the prisoner, at the time of the death of miss Burns, who, she said, appeared in good health on the morning of the 23d of March last, at seven o'clock in the morning. a quarter before nine o'clock she saw her in the parlour, when she appeared very unwell, and was leaning upon a chair. She vomited the whole of the day black matter, which turned to green drank about three quarts of water. gruel in the course of the day: the prisoner was generally with her, and she remained with the deceased all night; she and her fellow-servant offered to sit up, but they were refused. Previous to her going to bed, she took two pillows, a counterpane, and an easy chair into the parlour. The next morning, the first thing she did she went into the parlour, and found the prisoner and the deceased, who appeared much worse, having vomited all night. She continued very bad all day: the prisoner continued with her. At night she offered to sit up, but was again refused. The next morn. ing (Friday) she found the pri soner and the deceased in the par

lour

lour as usual; the deceased appeared much worse, her vomiting continued upon her, together with her being disordered in her bowels. She had changed her dress, and had no stays on, and was lying on a sofa in a fixed posture; (this was to insinuate that she had been delivered of a child.) She gave the deceased some warm beer, agreea bly to her desire, and in a short time after she was sent out by the prisoner for some wine; on her re. turn she went into the parlour, and observed an object in a corner, which frightened her so much, that she ran back and went into the kitchen to the cook. They both went into the parlour, and the ob. ject proved to be the deceased, with her face and knees to the wall, and one of her legs bent under her, and she a corpse, which alarmed them very much; they did not observe the prisoner at first in the room, but discovered him sitting in an arm. chair in the corner of the room, where they found him asleep, with a cap over his face, and wrapped up in a counterpane. They had considerable difficulty in awaking him; and when they told him the deceased was no more, he jumped up, and exclaimed "Good God!" During the illness of the deceased, no medical man was sent for, but she recollected hearing the prisoner ask her, if he should send for a doctor; to which she replied, he can do me no good. When the deceased was vomiting, she exclaimed to the witness, "O Betty, what have I got on my stomach? I wish I had taken the emetic long since." She was questioned as to her sus. picions of the deceased and the prisoner sleeping together. She stated one circumstance, that the children

slept with the deceased: it was her business to make the beds, and one morning she observed that only the children slept in the deceased's bed.

On her cross-examination by Mr. Topping, she said she saw no appearance of a child. The deceased was of a penurious disposition, and had a great aversion to doctors or medical men.

Ann Hopkins, the cook, confirmed the above, and said she laid out the body of the deceased; she had no stays on; she had changed her dress from Thursday to Friday morning: she found two bandages on the body. Saw no appearance of a child.

Several females who knew her, stated, that they suspected her to be pregnant for several months previous to her death.

The rev. Mr. Viss, the minister of the parish, said, he had known the prisoner nine years. On the death of the deceased some very shocking reports were circulated in Liverpool against the prisoner, in consequence of which he thought it his duty to call upon him to inform him of them, that he might refute them, or bring the business to an investigation. The prisoner denied that the deceased had been delivered of a child; he said it was impossible, for if she had he must have known it; and as to its being by him, he assigned rather an extraordinary reason, viz. that he had the most tender and affectionate re. gard for her; and as to her being poisoned, that was impossible, for she had taken nothing but what he had given her, and he was, or ought to be, a judge of the compo. sition or decomposition of medi. cine. The strongest thing he had given her was castor oil; he had G 2

givea