274 
THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE, 
[APRIL 22, 
IraLy.—We learn by accounts ‘om Rome that a re- 
cent trial in that city has convict:d the Count Mariano 
Alberti of wholesale forgery of works which he had pro- 
fessed to discover and publish ar Tasso’s.. Some small 
portion of these works, which is onsidered to be genuine, 
he had interlarded with the res’, to give it the greater 
air of authenticity. In his lodgisg were found an immense 
collection of writing tools, inks cf different kinds and tints, 
old copybooks, blank paper ton out of old books, and 
innumerable exercises in imitation of the handwriting 
of more than fifty eminent intividuals of Tasso’s time. 
The Counts sentence was not known on the 10th March. 
—From Naples we find that thetraffic on the railroad from 
that city to Castellamare is insreasing beyond all expec- 
tation, During the first two months it was visited by 
116,912 persons. The railroad to Caserta was expected 
to be soon opened. The king desires to extend it to 
Gaeta, and subsequently to Terracina; and, finally, at 
some future period, to Rome. We learn also, that the 
works that have been commenced at Brindisi, under the 
intend of English engineers, the object of which 
tentions from ex-President Van Buren, the officers of the 
State, and the State Legislature. Sir C. Bagot still lies 
dangerously ill: the last bulletin gives little prospect of 
his recovery. The New York papers contain a corre- 
spondence between Gen. Cass, the well-known American 
Envoy in Paris, and Mr. Webster, the American Secre- 
tary of State. It occupies twelve columns of the largest 
American papers. Gen. Cass complains bitterly of the 
concessions” made to Great Britain, on the right of 
search question, by the terms of the late treaty and de- 
mands his immediate recal. Mr. Webster, in reply, re- 
proaches Gen. Cass in terms not the most gentle, denies 
that America has conceded the “right of visit,” and de- 
clares that the pretensions and principles asserted by 
both Powers in reference to this matter, remain as before 
the treaty. Gen. Cass is further reminded of the advan- 
tage which his interpretation of the treaty will give Great 
Britain in any future negotiation upon the subject.— 
—The finding of the Court-Martiai at the trial of Capt. 
M‘Kenzie, of the brig Somers, for ordering Mr. Spencer 
and two other mutineers to be hung without trial, is said 
to be to the accused. The Baltimore Repub- 
supe 
is to clear and restore the port of ancient Brund so 
celebrated by its extensive Grecian and Oriental com- 
merce, promise fair to become of considerable advantage 
to the South of Italy.—We learn from Florence that 
quicksilver having been found in considerable quantity in 
the pits at Ripa, near Seravezza, it is intended to carry 
on the works upon a more extensive plan; and for that 
purpose a company has been formed under the auspices of 
some of the first banking-houses at Leghorn, with a capi- 
tal of one million of milreas, which may turn out very im- 
portant to the Rothschild speculation at Madrid. 
Russta.—It is stated by the German papers, that the 
Emperor Nicholas intends to proceed to Berlin by sea, 
in the course of the approaching summer, and on his re- 
turn to stop for a month in Warsaw, and administer in 
person the government of the kingdom of Poland. 
Marta.—On the 4th inst., John Nailor, the murderer 
of the late Dr. Martin, was brought to trial. No case 
establishing his guilt could have been clearer, but as one 
of the jurors considered that every man who kills another 
must be labouring under monomania, the prisoner, 0m 
being found guilty, escaped the capital punishment, an 
was sentenced to the galleys for life, with chains to his 
legs. Six out of the seven jurors pronounced the crime 
a deliberate act of murder, meriting death. The sentence 
created considerable surprise, though the judges could 
not award the capital punishment if all the jurors did not 
agree.—The Malta papers announce an important reduc- 
tion in the quarantine, at the suggestion, it appears, of 
Austria. The quarantine from the Ionian Islands has 
been abolished, although arrivals from Athens or Syria 
are not included in the exemption, As regards arrivals 
from Egypt, the quarantine imposed on vessels and car- 
goes has not been reduced ; but that inflicted on passen- 
gers has’been reduced from 20 to 16 days. No reduction 
has been made as regards Turkey, either in passengers, 
vessels, or goods; but there is little doubt she will be 
shortly included in the list of exempted places. From 
Greece some indulgence is granted to merchant-vessels, 
for on their arrival in Malta, provided they are furnished 
with a certificate from Her Majesty’s Consul to the effect 
that no disease reigns in the country, their quarantine is 
reduced to seven days, nor are they under the necessity of 
discharging their cargoes. 
Grexce.—Letters from Athens of the 31st ult. state 
that the English and French Governments had replied to 
the demand of Greece, that they would pay the dividend 
of the loan guaranteed by them, which became due in 
March, but that the Greek Government must contrive to 
raise funds for the payment of the September dividend. 
The two cabinets had declined making any other advance 
to Greece. Russia, it was expected, would return a 
similar reply. These letters mention that the comet: had 
been seen at Athens so early as the 5th ult., and that its 
extraordinary brilliancy had caused no little excitement, 
especially among the natives. 
Turkey.—The Levant mail has brought advices from 
Constantinople to the 29th ult. They relate principally 
to the differences between Russia and Turkey regarding 
Servia, and show that the statements put forth by some of 
the German prints were premature. Although the dis- 
pute was considered to be drawing to a crisis, the Russian 
Ambassador had not delivered his ultimatum on the 29th 
ult., nor were the despatches he had received from his 
Court a week before believed to contain any instructions 
of adecisive nature. The Erzeroum conferences appear 
to have assumed a more favourable aspect. 
Eeyrr.—Letters from Alexandria of the 25th ult. 
state that the British Consul in that city had declared that 
no British subject would conform to the monetary tariff es- 
tablished for the benefit of the bank, It was believed that 
the Austrian and Russian Consuls would adopt similar 
language. The Prince of the Wahabites, whom Ibrahim 
Pacha had made prisoner near Bagdad, and who had been 
since detained a prisoner in the citadel of Cairo, had 
effected his escape, and had not been recaptured. On the 
2lst, the officers on board the Cyclops war-steamer, lying 
at Alexandria, obtained a sight of the nucleus of the 
comet. On the 24th it was evidently fast receding from 
the earth. When at its greatest brilliancy the tail ap- 
peared to extend half across the heavens, and in the clear 
atmosphere of Egypt the sight was truly magnificent. 
Unirep Svares.—The royal mail-steamer Columbia 
arrived at Liverpool on Saturday, after a voyage of 
124 days from Boston, and ten and a halffrom Halifax, 
having sailed on the 2d instant from Boston, and the 4th 
from Halifax. The Columbia, it will be remembered, 
carried out Sir C. Metcalfe and suite, who arrived at Bos- 
ton on the 20th; at Albany, Sir Charles received kind at- 
lican mentions arumour to the effect that Captain Voor- 
hees, of the United States ship Vincennes, chad shot the 
first lieutenant, Mr. Boyle, and letters received from the 
United States ship of war John Adams, announce a recent 
mutiny on board that vessel off the Cape of Good Hope. 
The men were all ordered on deck and asked what they 
wanted, when five who stepped forward and urged com- 
plaints were shot down, and the mutiny thus quelled; at 
least such is the statement in the letters received in New 
York.—An electro-magnetic telegraph is about to be 
established between Baltimore and Washington, under an 
appropriation from Congress. 5 
ust Inpims.—Letters have been received from 
Charleston, announcing that a sloop had arrived in that 
port from the West Indies, bringing ‘advices of another 
severe shock of earthquake at Guadaloupe, on the 3d ult, 
The vessel was so much shaken that it was hardly"possible 
to stand, and the captain reports that a dense cloud of 
smoke or dust rose above the town of Basseterre, which, 
he feared, had been reduced to a heap of ruins. gy All 
around Point-d-Pitre a pestilence prevailed, owing to the 
effluvia arising from the bodies of the dead, of which no 
less than 4,500 had been dug out. Two days after, a 
shock was felt at the island of St. Thomas, and again in 
the southern states of the Union on the llth. Great 
alarm is felt throughout the West Indian Archipelago, 
owing to these frequent convulsions ; and we may loo 
forward with anxiety aad apprehension for further parti- 
culars.— Another schooner from the West Indies re- 
ports that the town of Ponce, Porto Rico, was destroyed 
by fire early last month.—The Royal mail-steamer Med- 
way arrived at Falmouth on Wednesday, with dates from 
St. Thomas’s to the 26th March. Just as she was quitting 
Jamaica, her Majesty’s brig Scylla arrived there, having 
on board General Boyer, President of Hayti. There was 
no time for the particulars relative to his visit to tran- 
spire, but it was inferred that the insurgents had carried 
their point—taken possession of Port-au-Prince (which 
was anticipated), and had compelled his deportation. Her 
Majesty’s steam-vessel Megzera, Lieut. Oldmixon, for Vera 
Cruz, was totally lost on the 4th March, on Barebath 
Key, off Old Harbour, Jamaica, and one boy drowned. 
A court-martial had been held on the commander, which 
resulted in his being simply reprimanded. 
CITY. 
Money Market, Friday.—Consols closed at 96% to 
§ for time, and 96 to 4 for Money ; Bank Stock, 183; 
‘Three per Cents, Reduced, 95%; Three-and-half per Cents. 
Reduced, 102; New Three-and-half per Cents., 102% 3 
Exchequer Bills, at 2d. per day, 65s. to 67s. prem., and 
at 13d, per day 68s. to 69s. prem 
Metropolis and tts Vicinity. 
Loss of the Solway Steam-ship.—The Lady Mary 
Wood, steamer, arrived at Southampton on Sunday from 
Lisbon, with the melancholy intelligence of the wreck of 
the Solway steam-ship, belonging to the West Indian Mail 
Company. The information has caused a great sensation 
in the City, and has thrown a gloom over the affairs of 
the Company, as this is the third ship they have lost since 
their establishment two years ago. The following state- 
ment of the circumstances under which the catastrophe 
occurred has been supplied by Mr. Lane, the purser, who 
was the first to bring the life-boat alongside the ill-fated 
ship. The detail is of a most painfully interesting cha- 
racter, and cannot fail to excite the warmest sympathies 
for the fate of the unfortunate sufferers :—The Solway 
left Falmouth on the 3d April, with the usual mails on 
board, and arrived at Corunna at twelve o’clock on Friday 
the 7th, having experienced heavy south-westerly gales in 
crossing the Bay of Biscay. She took in 8] tons ‘of coal 
at Corunna, and left the harbour on her outward voyage 
at half-past nine o’clock the same evening. They passed 
the lighthouse about ten o’clock p.m., and were proceeding 
at full speed, when at about midnight the vessel struck on 
asunken rock. The passengers were all in their berths 
at the time, but Captain Duncan and several of the officers 
were on deck. The shock was of the most tremendous 
character, and created the utmost consternation. Imme- 
diately on the vessel striking, Captain Duncan ordered 
the engines to be backed, and this having been done, she 
came off apparently easy, the violence of the concussion 
having probably caused her to rebound in some slight 
degree, Her head was now put towards the shore, and all 
speed made, in the hope of grounding the ship, and thus 
saving the passengers and crew. ‘The injury she had 
sustained was, however, of too serious a character to allow 
this to be accomplished, and within a very few moments 
of the ship striking, it became evident that she was setting 
fast by the head. Mr. Lane was asleep below at the 
moment the calamity occurred, and, in common with the 
passengers and crew, was awoke by the shock. He imme- 
diately ran up the forecastle ladder, and found the vessel 
sinking fast. The scene is described by him to have been 
at this time of a most heartrending character. The female 
passengers were all on deck in a state of mind more easily 
conceived than described, every person expecting the ship 
to go down instantly. She had still good way upon her, 
the engines having apparently suffered no injury, when, 
while proceeding towards the shore as described above, 
a general rush was made to the pinnace, which hung at 
the davits on the larboard side; 25 persons got into her, 
and having seated themselves, cried out to those on board 
to ‘lower away.” Captain Duncan, who evidently foresaw 
the great danger of lowering the boat while the vessel was 
proceeding at full speed, endeavoured to prevent this, 
but the confusion was so great on board, and his own 
attention so entirely devoted to the great object of getting 
the paddle life-boats afloat, and making the shore, that 
his opposition was of no avail, and the forward tackle 
was let fly by the run, and the bows of the boat dropped 
in the water. The situation of those who had made this 
their hope of escape was now perilous in the extreme. A 
cry of * For God’s sake let go the after-tackle,” was 
answered by some of the crew as soon as possible, and the 
pinnace fell into the water. The ship had still full speed 
upon her, and a heavy sea struck the boat as she floated 
for an instant, and swept every soul into the water. One 
or two sailors only, who hung on the tackle, succeeded in 
again reaching the vessel. Ten minutes only had now 
elapsed since the vessel first struck, during which every 
exertion had been made by the officers of the ship, with 
Captain Duncan at their head, to get the larboard life- 
boat afloat. While thus engaged thé boiler suddenly 
collapsed, and an immense quantity of steam, dust, ashes, 
and flames, burst from the engine-room. All on board 
thought that the vessel was now about to blow up, and 
two or three persons were so much alarmed as to jump 
overboard. Throughout the whole of this trying period 
Captain Duncan is described to have acted in the most 
cool an ike manner, end ing, while giving 
effect to his orders, to keep up the spirits of those on 
board less accustomed to the dangers of the ocean. By 
great exertion the larboard paddle life-boat was eventually 
capsized over, and in righting half filled with water. The 
gig had previously been lowered, and ten persons had got 
into her and rowed away. The first and second cutters 
were also afloat, each filled with the passengers and crew. 
Mr. Wilder, the chief officer, with Mr. Lane and two or 
three other officers, now lowered themselves into the life- 
boat, and brought her alongside the gangway. The engines 
had entirely ceased working from the moment the boiler 
collapsed. The water had now reached the fires, and the 
ship, it was evident, could not float many minutes longer. 
Captain Duncan and the other officers now handed the 
passengers into the life-boat, exerting themselves to the 
utmost to save all the female passengers. Fifty-two 
persons were already in the boat, and Captain Duncan 
was still handing in others, when a general cry rose of 
‘* She is going!’ and giving one tremendous plunge, she * 
went down head-foremost, leaving the life-boat, already 
half-filled with water, afloat. This fact is represented as 
perfectly miraculous, the suction arising from the vessel 
being abundantly sufficient to swamp a boat in a much 
more seaworthy condition than the life-boat was at this 
period. The screams of those on board were awful as the 
ship went down; and Mr. Lane states, that the last seen 
or heard of Captain Duncan was an order for all on board 
to * fly to the rigging,” towards which he appeared to be 
making himself ; and it is supposed that in getting up the 
companion-ladder towards the upper deck he sank with 
many others. His conduct appears to have been most 
noble ; he appeared to have no thought for his own safety, 
and when called to by some of the officers, who told him 
that the ship was foundering under them, he refused to 
leave. The life-boat now drifted away, and so great had 
been the confusion arising from the hope to save all on 
board, that it was only then discovered that she had 
neither oar nor rudder. Shoes and hats were used to bail 
out the water with which she was more than half filled, 
and after drifting about for a quarter of an hour, she fell 
in with the second cutter, having Lieut. Hemsworth, the 
Admiralty agent, and several others, on board. From this 
boat they obtained one oar, and Lieut. Hemsworth then 
returned to the wreck with the cutter 5 shortly after they 
fell in with the first cutter, which was greatly overloaded: 
They took several persons from her, and obtained a bottom- 
board, the cutter taking the life-boat in tow. The single 
oar obtained from the second cutter was now rigged 
over the starboard quarter of the life-boat with a grummet 
made of braces, and the bottom-board was similarly 
arranged on the larboard quarter with a sill handkerchief. 
By this means the boat was kept tolerably free, and 
drifted before the wind, Corunna-hill being all the time 
visible. Tt was still quite dark, and daylight was looked 
forward to with the most intense anxiety. The conduct 
of all on board was most praiseworthy ; not a syllable of 
insubordination escaped, and all appeared to be resigo® 
to the worst that might happen. ‘The ladies especially 
(seven of whom were in the life-boat) behaved most hero- 
ically. Some of them had merely time to escape in their 
night-dress, and although seated in water up to thel! 
knees, not a murmur was uttered. At daybreak, the mast 
from the first cutter was stepped in the life-boat, and her 
lugsail set, when she steered towards Corunna, and 0? 
entering the harbour was met by a Spanish launch, which 
was coming out in search of the boats, having heard of 
