1843.] 
THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 
565 
would be formed in connexion with the society, by which 
personal disputes and points of honour would be settled, 
without an appeal to arms, a measure which he was sure 
would greatly tend to diminish duelling. 
Anti-Puseyite Meeting. —On Tuesday evening a 
crowded public meeting was held in Marylebone, for the 
purpose of considering the best means of opposing and 
counteracting the progress of Puseyism in the established 
church. The secretary read letters from the Earl of Glen- 
gall, Mr. Plumptre, M.P., the Rev. C. Day, the Rev. A. 
Rose, the Rey. E. Dalton, and other clergymen and gen- 
tlemen, apologising for their absence, and expressive of 
their cordial concurrence with the object of the meeting. 
Several gentlemen addressed the meeting, and resolutions 
condemnatory of the Puseyite doctrines were passed. — 
Temperance Meetings.—On Sunday, after morning 
service, Father Mathew administered the pledge toa large 
number of persons who had been prevented attending 
during the preceding week. Throughout the day there 
could not have been less than 50,000 to 60,000 visitors, 
and from 5000 to 6000 received the pledge. On Monday, 
Tuesday, and Wednesday, Father Mathew administered 
the pledge on Kennington-common. On Monday he was 
accompanied by a large number of Temperance Societies, 
who marched in procession to the Common. On their 
Way some of the people at the end of the line attacked Mr. C. 
Orme, the distiller in Blackfriars-road, who attempted to pass 
them in his gig, and severely beat him. They pulled him 
out of his gig, and tore his clothes from his back. One 
of the principal assailants was apprehended and fined 10s. 
for the assault, Father Mathew and his friends were at 
the head of the procession, and were not aware of what 
had taken place. In the course of the proceedings on 
Tuesday, the platform was attended by Mr. Milnes, M.P., 
Mr. P. H. Howard, M.P., and a large number of ladies 
and gentlemen, several of whom accepted the pledge. 
Mr. Milnes and Mr. Howard shook hands with 
Father Mathew, and expressed themselves highly gra- 
tified with his extraordinary exertions. An address 
was presented by a numerous deputation of the 
Society of Friends, to Father Mathew from the Protest- 
ant Temperance Associations of the south of London, 
expressive of their gratitude and delight at the suc- 
cess of his labours. On Thursday Father Mathew 
proceeded to Fulham to administer the pledge in the 
western suburbs. Some disturbance took place on the 
ground, and the police refused to interfere, but the busi- 
ness of the day proceeded after Father Mathew had 
assured the meeting that he had the approbation of her 
Majesty’s Government in holding these meetings. He 
had received letters from Sir J. Graham and Sir R. Peel, 
applauding his exertions, and until now, even throughout 
Ulster, where the most conflicting political and religious 
Opinions prevailed, he had never been refused the aid of 
the magistrates and police to prevent the proceedings from 
being interrupted. From 1000 to 1200 persons took the 
pledge during the day; they were chiefly composed of 
Irish labourers, employed by the market gardeners of the 
neighbourhood, to whom a vote of thanks was awarded for 
having given the men a holiday on the occasion. Yester- 
day Father Mathew administered the pledge in the Riding 
School, Albany-street, Regent's Park: he will also attend 
at the same place this day, and at Cumberland Market 
to-morrow. The numbers computed to have taken 
the pledge in London is computed to be upwards of 
32,000 persons—viz., about 22,000 at the East End; 5000 
on Monday, 3000 on Tuesday, and 1000 on Wednesday, 
on Kennington Common, and 1200 at Fulham.—On 
Thursday a meeting of the Tower Hamlets Protestant 
Association was held for the purpose of opposing Father 
athew’s proceedings, on the ground that their object 
Was the spread of Popery. Great uproar took place, and 
the speakers could hardly obtain a hearing ; the police 
Were at length called in, and the meeting broke up in 
Sreat confusion. 
The New Steam-ship Bentinck.—This fine vessel 
arrived in the river from Southampton last week, and is 
Now moored off Blackwall. The Bentinck was built at 
iverpool, and launched in January last. She is 2000 
tons burthen, and 520 horse power, has accommodation 
Or 110 passengers, consisting of 20 single cabins, 22 
double cabins, 12 family and general cabins. Twelve of the 
Cabins are unusually spacious, being from 12 to 15 feet b 
9 feet, and in the cabins throughout every possible con- 
trivance has been adopted to promote the health and com- 
fort of the: occupants. Light and ventilation have been 
ecuenly attended to; the lower cabins are fitted with 
ang’s patent ports, and the sides and doors of the cabins 
throughout are almost entirely Venetians. There are hot, 
cold, and shower baths on board, and a bath-room on the 
Main deck. The Bentinck is the property of the Penin- 
Sular and Oriental Company. She is sister vessel to the 
Hindostan, and intended to run on the same station, 
etween Suez and Calcutta, affording a direct communica- 
tion with Madras and Bengal to passengers by the overland 
Toute. The Bentinck starts from the river this day, 
and from Southampton for Calcutta on the 24th August, 
&nd from Calcutta on her first trip to Suez on the 15th 
€cember, Her average speed on the voyage round to 
Ondon has been little under 13 miles per hour, and she 
°ceasionally ran 14 miles per hour. 
Pires.—On Saturday and Sunday last, within the short 
Period of 24 hours, the metropolis was the scene of four 
ta Tuctive fires—three of them occurring almost simul- 
ancously, and each resulting in a great sacrifice of pro- 
Y: The first occurred on the premises of Mr. Mosely, 
Machine-ruler and tool-maker, iu New-street, Covent- 
fee: It broke out on Saturday m g, and ended in 
tite total destruction of his warehouse, with a large quan- 
Y of valuable property, and serious injury to several of 
the adjoining houses. The next was in Fore-street, Lime- 
house, where several dwellings on the banks of the river 
were destroyed, and a great sacrifice of property took 
place. It occurred at 11 on Saturday night, and was fol- 
lowed about 1 on Sunday morning by a third destructive 
fire on the premises occupied by Mr. Bird, an extensive 
contractor to the various Dock Companies, near the bot- 
tom of Old Gravel-lane, Shadwell. Mr. Bird’s premises 
consisted of saw-mills, worked by steam, said to be the 
finest in the kingdom; besides this, on the same plot of 
ground, he carried on the business of a scum-boiler on a 
very extensive scale, employing nearly 80 workpeople. 
With a comparatively trifling exception, the whole of 
these premises, covering nearly one acre, were levelled 
with the ground; the whole of which were uninsured, as 
the stock was considered so dangerous that no office would 
undertake the risk. While this fire was raging, the re- 
flection off another in the western part of London ren- 
dered it necessary to despatch those engines that could be 
spared in that direction; and it was then found that the 
fourth outbreak had taken place on the premises occupied 
by Mr. Villiers, surgeon, in Great George-street, exactly 
facing Westminster Abbey. Here the fire commenced 
before 3 o’clock, and burnt with undiminished violence 
until nearly 6, wholly destroying two houses and seriously 
injuring several of those adjoining. Fortunately, no loss 
of life resulted in any case. The total loss has been va- 
viously estimated, and it would be impossible to give the 
amount accurately; it is, however, believed not to exceed 
30,000/., a result attributable in a great measure to the 
efficiency of the Fire-brigade. 
Inquests.—An inquest was held on Thursday on the 
body of Mr. F, S. Ancona, whose death by drowning, off 
Waterloo-bridge, on the 3d inst., was noticed in our last. 
The body was found under the second arch of the bridge 
on Ttesday evening. It appeared from the evidence of 
Mr. Green and Mr. Rogerson, who were walking with the 
deceased at the time of the occurrence, that he was par- 
tially ‘intoxicated, and jumped on the parapet of the 
bridge as a feat of daring and agility, and not with any 
purpose of committing suicide. The jury returned a 
verdict of Accidental Death. 
Thames Tunnel.—The traffic through the Tunnel 
continues to increase steadily, independently of the 
visitors who pass through from motives of curiosity. The 
number of passengers last week was 45,528. 
Chiswick.—On Tuesday evening a report was circu- 
lated that a young man, named John Blissard, a labourer, 
residing in William-street, Chiswick New-town, had been 
killed by his own father, who in a violent fit of passion, 
had nearly severed his head from his body with a grass- 
hook. It appears that the father aimed at his head, but 
the son guarding his head with his left arm, received the 
weapon just under the elbow-joint, and it inflicted a wound 
across the arm upwards of four inches in length, extend- 
ing to the bone, and dividing all the principal arteries. 
The father was at once taken into custody, and has been 
committed to Newgate on the capita) charge. Another 
attempt at the same crime was made in the village on 
Wednesday, by a female, named Isabella Murray, upon 
her own offspring, an infant only nine weeks old, by poison- 
ing with laudanum, but the measures taken to counteract 
the poison were effectual, and the child is likely to do well. 
Tottenham.—We learn from a correspondent that the 
Vicar of this parish has placed at the disposal of a 
Committee of the inhabitant householders seven acres of 
his glebe, very superior land, near the most populous 
portion of the village, to be divided by the Committee 
into plots averaging about 20 square poles each, to be 
let to such of the industrious labouring classes of the 
district as may desire to use it as garden ground only. 
Mortality of the Metropolis.—The following is the 
number of Deaths registered in the week ending Saturday, 
July 29:—West districts, 98; North districts, 129 ; 
Central districts, 138; East districts, 182; South dis- 
tricts, 202. 
*robincial Nets. 
The Harvest.—The local papers are filled with reports 
of the approaching harvest. From the West of England 
we learn that the harvest has commenced in the neigh- 
bourhood of Exeter, where a considerable breadth of 
wheat and barley has been cut. Wheat has also been cut 
in good condition near Bath. In Herefordshire, a large 
breadth of wheat and barley presents a most luxuriant 
appearance, and although the harvest will be late, still fine 
weather will insure a full average crop of excellent quality. 
The hop plantations scarcely ever looked worse. In 
Hampshire, harvest commenced on the south side of Ports- 
down Hill last week. In Buckinghamshire, a sack of new 
barley, from the farm of the Rev. J. B. Reade, of Stone, 
was exposed for sale in Aylesbury market, on Saturday. 
In Bedfordshire, the harvest commenced last week. Wheat 
was to be seen in shock on Wednesday week, about 
Caldecote and Biggleswade; oats were mown at Girt- 
ford, and at Bromham a very large field was in process of 
reaping. In the neighbourhood of Birmingham the crops 
look poor and withered, while in the Vale of Worcester 
the wheat crop is much better, and in many places 
abundant and fine. In Yorkshire, from the appear- 
ance of the crops on the ground, even with fine 
weather, the harvest will not commence before Sep- 
tember, and will not be more than an average one. 
In , Lancashire, Westmoreland, and Cumberland, the 
oldest individual living does not remember the occurrence 
of a fall of snow in the month of July. Such, however, 
js the fact, for, on the 17th ult., the celebrated mountain 
called the Old Man,” the highest point in Coniston 
Fell, was partially covered with snow, which, in the 
course of a few hours, disappeared. It is feared, that 
unless the weather takes up, the late heavy rains will 
have materially injured the hay crops already cut, and 
that the hay and grain harvests will be very late. 
Scarcely one half of the hay is secured in the northein 
counties, but the wheat in Lancashire looks well, and 
promises an abundant crop if the weather continues fine. 
In Norfolk and Suffolk, the wheat with scarcely an excep- 
tion is uncut, and the barley is generally green. The 
crops are laid to an unusual extent, and in many districts 
the winds have twisted the stems in every conceivable 
direction, not merely laying the corn flat, but breaking 
the straw. The consequence must be, that a great pro- 
portion of the grain will not ripen, or if it does, the grain 
will be small and shrivelled. From Scotland we Jearn 
that the markets, particularly for wheat, have advanced 
considerably within the month, and, until the harvest is 
secured, will fluctuate with the weather. The chances, 
however, are, that prices are at their highest, and that 
they will decline rather than otherwise, unless the harvest 
is more disastrous than there ‘is at present any reason to 
anticipate. In the neighbourhood of the metropolis the 
operations of harvest have commenced. In Surrey 
several fields of rye and oats, at Peckham and Battersea, 
have been cut, In the parishes of Tottenham and 
Edmonton, also, fields of rye and oats have been cleared, 
the produce appearing in good condition. Should the 
present warm weather continue the wheat will, in a few 
days, be ready for the sickle. 
Thunder-storms.—On Wednesday, one of the most 
destructive storms which has occurred for some years was 
experienced in different parts of the country, extending, 
as far as we have yet learnt from Kent to the Midland 
Counties, and from the East coast to Somersetshire and 
Wilts. At Rochester and Chatham the damage done by 
the hail is said to be incalculable. The skylights in the 
Dockyard and public buildings have been demolished, 
and the loss in every direction to individuals must be 
very great. Mr. G. Masters, nurseryman, estimates his 
loss at between 400/. and 500/. The skylights over the 
Corn-market at the City Repository are entirely destroyed; 
several greenhouses in the neighbourhood have hundreds 
of panes broken, and scarcely a house in the neighbour- 
hood has wholly escaped. Many of the pieces of ice 
which fell measured an inch and a half in length, and in 
the marshes, near the Cattle-market, pieces as large as a 
hen’s egg were picked up. At Cheltenham the rain fell 
in such torrents that the High Street was nearly impass- 
able. At Hungerford, a®correspondent states that the 
hail-stones were 1} inch in diameter; they demolished 
the glass in four houses 40 feet long, and swept the 
fruit from the trees. At Stamford many houses were 
damaged, and at Cambridge the hail-stones are said to 
have been as large as pullets’ eggs; the University build- 
ings and churches lost a great deal of glass in their 
windows, and the inhabitants were obliged to pump the 
water out of their houses. At Worcester, the lightning 
struck several buildings, and muny animals were killed, 
but no Idss of human life occurred. 
Bedford.—Sarah Dazeley, who was tried at the last 
Assizes for the murder of her two husbands and daughter, 
by administering arsenic to them, and sentenced to death, 
underwent the last sentence of the law on Saturday in this 
city, in the presence of an immense concourse of specta- 
tors from various parts of the county. 
Bury St. Edmunds.—In pursuance of an invitation 
from the inhabitants of this town, and several agricultu- 
rists in the vicinity, Mr. Cobden and Mr. Moore attended 
a meeting on Monday, for the purpose of addressing the 
farmers of Suffolk upon free trade and the Corn-laws. 
On the motion of Lord C. Fitzroy, Colonel Addison was 
called to the chair. Mr. Cobden in a long speech laid 
before the farmers the usual arguments against the Corn- 
laws. The Rev. Mr. Maberley then came forward to 
expose what he called the well-intentioned delusions of 
Mr. Cobden. He wished all classes to live, and was of 
opinion that the man who tilled the soil was, both upon 
principles of reason and Scripture, entitled before any 
one else to a subsistence from it. He was proceeding at 
some length, when the people refused to listen to bim. 
Mr. Hales, a farmer, then came forward, and moved a 
resolution in favour of free trade. He had had the honour 
of addressing them about three years ago, at a time when 
the people were in great distress; that distress now con- 
tinued with unabated force, and imperatively required 
some radical remedy. After some remarks from Mr, 
Moore, the resolution was carried with only two dissentients. 
Hull.—It is stated in the local papers that Government 
is about to institute an inquiry as to the loss of the 
Pegasus, As the boats belonging to her are saved, proof 
can be obtained whether they were capable of taking all 
on board at the time of the accident. It is said that they 
were unusually large, and with the assistance of the life- 
buoy, on the quarter-deck, all might have reached the 
shore, had not these been lowered and swamped by the 
passengers in the first alarm.—Another of the unfortunate 
sufferers was picked up by the steamer Vesta, from New- 
castle to Leith, on the 4th inst., and put on shore at Holy 
Island. He was in the fatigue dress of the 96th Regiment, 
but so disfigured as to render his identification impossible. 
Mr. Aird, a passenger, has also been found, with a piece 
of wood across his body, which prevented his rising to 
the surface; and it is expected that many other bodies 
will soon be found, the diver’s impression being that a 
number are kept down by the mattresses, &c., which are 
strewed about the cabin. 
Gloucester.—After several years’ litigation, the will and 
codicils of Mr. James Wood, the late wealthy banker and 
draper of this city, have been, proved in Doctors’ Com- 
iy 
