pk. lis, 1* 



THE NEWSPAPER. 



[1844. 



Rorai 



seaT occupied the Royal pew during, the Successor. The only other candidate was Mr. John public who use the steamers, as 



r _. . .. i „ *\ , * _ ? ™ «*. 4.u« n .; n f» ««rl an^oror for their landm? and emharkino- 





The bells of all the churches in 



I 



whole of the ceremony 



the eapital tolieoVfrom 11 till 2 o'clock, and when the pro- 

 cession came in jwght, the l Dead March ' from Saul was 

 performed. As was anticipated, Thorwaldsen has left 

 nearly all his property, which is more considerable than 

 was supposed, to the museum that bears his name. A 

 monument upon a magnificent scale will be erected to his 

 memory, at the public expense, for which subscription 

 lists have already been opened, headed by His Majesty, 

 with the munificent sum of 25,000 dollars. 



United States. — We have accounts from New York 

 to the 23d ult. The annexation of Texas, a subject which 

 wa3 touched upon with an evident feeling of satisfaction 

 by the President in his last message to Congress, was 

 again prominently before the public from a rumour which 

 prevailed that a treaty for carrying it into effect had been 

 actually signed by the President, and would shortly be 

 laid before the Senate with every chance of being favour- 

 ably entertained. The subject had been incidentally 

 mooted in the House of Representatives, but nothing was 

 elicited to confirm or contradict the statement. Mr. 

 Webster had denounced the annexation as a project likely 

 to prove injurious to the stability of the United States, 

 in a letter which was going the round of the papers. The 

 affair of the Princeton, and the melancholy result which 

 accompanied the explosion of the gun on board that vessel, 

 had been sifted by a committee of naval officers appointed 

 to inquire into the circumstances ; their report exonerated 

 Captain Stockton from all blame, and attributed the sad 

 tragedy to causes which could not have been fore- 

 seen or guarded against. The debate upon the Oregon 

 territory was carried on in the House, and language of 

 the most virulent description against Great Britain was 

 indulged in freely by those who had introduced the debate. 

 The New Orleans papers contain an account of a steam- 

 boat collision, which took place at Old River, of a most 

 fatal character. It happened at night, when the majority 

 of the passengers were in bed. One of the boats imme- 

 diately sunk, by which nearly 80 persons were drowned. 

 The other boat was comparatively uninjured, and her pas- 

 sengers escaped with nothing worse than the shock. 

 The Aurora says, that the young man sentenced to death 

 for aiding in the escape of a quadroon slave, and whose 

 case is so well known, from the notice taken of it in Par- 

 liament, has been pardoned by the Governor of South 

 Carolina. He is, however, to be publicly whipped — The 

 New York Journal of Commerce has the following newa 

 from Havanuah : — '• We learn from the passengers of the 

 bark Hualco, who left Havannah the 8th inst., that some 

 of the slaves who had participated in the late insurrection 

 at Matanzas, had implicated several of the planters at 

 that place, who were arrested by the authorities and 

 thrown into prison." The object of the conspiracy was 

 to seize on the whole island of Cuba, and murder all the 

 white population. 



Wmt Indies. — By the Dee West Indian steam-ship 

 we have accounts from Jamaica to the 10th ult., and 

 from the other islands to a corresponding date. The Ja- 

 maica papers state that they have little variation to re- 

 port in the aspect of their affairs, with the exception that 

 the coffee crops are likely to be good, and that the 

 planters are inspired with more courage from the in- 

 creased patronage extended to the Agricultural Society. 

 The merchants of Kingston were taking steps at the date 

 of these advices to incorporate themselves with the Agri- 

 cultural Association for stimulating the cultivation of their 

 staples by free labour. In some districts of the island 

 there had been seasonable showers, but on the south side 

 the weather continued dry and breezy, and a smart shock 

 of an earthquake was experienced on the night of the 24th 

 of February. The House of Assembly was prorogued by 

 his Excellency Lord Elgin on the 28th February. Im- 

 migration was still active at Trinidad. The weather in 

 Barbadoes was sultry, and had been attended with par- 

 tial damage. 



ittwopofis an& fts Ffcfnftp. 



The Easter Holidays.— Independently of the railway 

 excursions, which tempted many hundred persons to seek 

 their Easter enjoyment in the country, the steamers, &c, 

 on the river were crowded with persons for less distant 

 places. No less than 105 steamers were employed in con- 

 veying passengers on the river; of these 20 were for 

 Gravesend, where 10,000 persons landed on Sunday 

 morning. The number of passengers who filled the above- 

 bridge steamers were almost beyond calculation. There 

 were no fewer than 30 iron and wooden steamers continually 

 calling at the various piers, embarking and landing pas- 

 sengers. The numbers did not decrease as the week 

 advanced, and up to Tuesday night 150,000 persons 

 landed and embarked at the Greenwich piers. Notwith- 

 standing this, the sight-seers in London appeared as 

 numerous as usual. At the British Museum there were 

 on Monday 21,339 visitors, being an increase of 2907 over 

 last Easter Monday ; at the National Gallery there were 

 nearly 10,000 visitors; at the Chinese Collection about 

 4000, and at the Tower nearly as many ; while St. Paul's 

 and Westminster Abbey, where fees are paid for admission, 

 were comparatively deserted. The influx of visitors to the 

 Metropolis from the provincial towns during the present 

 holidays is unusually great, occasioned, no doubt, by the 

 cheap means of conveyance now afforded by railways as 

 well as steam-vessels. Thousands who had never seen 

 London have arrived since Good Friday from Ipswich, 

 Yarmouth, Dover, Brighton, and other towns. 



British Institution. — The election o( a keeper for this 

 institution took place last week, when Mr. John Seguier, 

 the brother of the late keeper, was chosen to be his 



Burnet, the painter and engraver. 



South Sea Company. — The project which at the last 

 meeting of proprietors of South Sea Stock was announced 

 to be in contemplation was made known on Saturday. 

 Proposals are now made to form a public company, to 

 consist of proprietors of South Sea Stock, for the execu- 

 tion of trusts, and to be called the " Trust Company." 

 Such portions of capital stock of the South Sea Company 

 as the proprietors may think proper to subscribe, not less 

 in amount than 500,000/., are to be set apart as a gua- 

 rantee fund. This fund will be open to contribution by 

 such proprietors until six months after notice shall have 

 been given of the commencement of business, but after 

 that period, subscribers will have to pay in addition the 

 difference in value between the original stock and the trust 

 capital stock. The fund so subscribed will be under the 

 management of the present directors or ex-directors of the 

 South Sea Company, and will consist of a chairman, de- 

 puty-chairman, and nine other directors. The business 

 of the intended company to be carried on at the South 

 Sea House or elsewhere, as the provisional committee or 

 directors may decide. The liability of the subscribers to 

 be limited to the amount of the guarantee fund, but it is 

 distinctly understood that the trust funds deposited are in 

 no way liable for any general loss. It is proposed to un- 

 dertake in the first instance such trusts only as relate to 

 personal estate, and all property held in trust will be 

 invested in the names of trustees to be appointed by the 

 directors. A commission is to be charged on the amount 

 administered, according to a scale to be fixed hereafter. 

 All investments of trust property to be in Government 

 funds, or in South Sea Annuities, or in real securities, 

 unless otherwise directed by the trust. A deed of settle- 

 ment is to be prepared for carrying these and other objects 

 connected with the management of the proposed company 



into effect. 



Custom Frauds. — After a renewed investigation, under- 

 taken at the urgent request of the party himself, Mr. 

 Robert Cox, landing-waiter at the Customs, has been re- 

 instated in his employment. As this gentleman's name 

 appeared among the u suspensions," it is but justice to 

 record this fact of his entire exoneration. 



The Thames Embankment. — In addition to our notice 

 of the report of the commission on the Thames embank- 

 ment in our last Number, the following particulars may 

 be acceptable to our readers : — The proposed line of em- 

 bankment commences at Westminster-bridge, with a pro- 

 jection agreeing with the present front of the Houses of 

 Parliament, and is continued to the end of Fife-House 

 Garden as a solid embankment, leaving a dock for the 

 wharfs between the Board of Control and Richmond- 

 terrace. By the plan it would appear that a footpath, 

 20 feet in width, is contemplated between Westminster- 

 bridge and Hungerford, at a level of four feet above high- 

 water mark, and that provision is made for a landing- 

 place for the Queen, instead of Whitehall-stairs, between 

 banks of mud, by which she has hitherto been obliged to 

 approach the river. From Fife- House Gardens to Black- 

 friars-bridge the embankment consists of a detached ter- 

 race, leaving the space between it and the wharfs for the 

 accommodation of the barges and the wharf traffic, and 

 allowing a passage from the river by openings through 

 the terrace at convenient distances. The carriage-way is 

 50 feet wide, and commences at Whitehall-place, whence 

 it ascends to 10 feet above high-water mark, and is car- 

 ried on pillars to the line of the terrace, which joins near 

 Hungerford-bridge, about 40 feet inside the Middlesex 

 Pier. It then continues under the second arch of 

 Waterloo-bridge, where it leaves a headway of 17 feet, 

 and before reaching the Temple Gardens it gradually 

 descends 6 feet, at which level, viz., 4 feet above high- 

 water, it is carried in front of the Gardens, which will 

 not thus be shut out from the river. From the Temple 

 Gardens it rises to the level of Chatham-place, Black- 

 friars, thus forming an uninterrupted communication 

 between Whitehall and Bridge-street. The importance 

 of this communication, free from carts and waggons, 

 cannot be too strongly insisted on in the present crowded 

 state of Fleet-street, which for some hours in the day 

 exhibits such a state of confusion and blockade as cannot 

 easily be described, where the omnibuses themselves are 

 frequently obliged to leave their route and reach the 

 Bank by passing along Farringdon-street and Newgate- 

 street, and where pedestrians are in imminent danger, 

 not only in crossing, but in passing along the 

 foot-path. It is objected, however, that although 

 this will relieve Fleet-street, it will be no relief to the 

 narrow and crowded thoroughfare of Ludgate-hill, as it 

 might be if carried along the shore, at least as far as 

 Southwark-bridge ; and that part of the plan which pro- 

 vides a foot-path only from Hungerford-market to West- 

 minster-bridge, and proposes to give up the ground there 

 gained from the river as private gardens, is also considered 

 objectionable. Another defect is the imperfect means of 

 communication provided between the embankment and 

 the shore, which will be, like the stations of railroads, 

 convenient only to those living in their immediate neigh- 

 bourhood. No public communication, for example, is 

 contemplated between Norfolk-street, in the Strand, and 

 Blackfriars-bridge, so [that a person may actually live 

 within 300 yards of the embankment, and not be able to 

 approach it without a walk of a mile. The principal 

 termini of the roadway are also considered objectionable ; 

 it is to be entered at right angles both at Blackfriars- 

 bridge and Whitehall-place; and the latter opening, 

 instead of one nearer Charing-cross, will be extremely 

 circuitous and inconvenient to the whole of the inhabit- 

 ants of the northwest of London. Notwithstanding these 

 defects, the projected terrace will be advantageous°to the 





,,,.,,. , , . . P»ers will be provided 



for their landing and embarking, very different from tk. 

 unsightly and unsafe assemblage of old barges, united 

 by thin platforms of boards, which now encroach so modi 

 on the water-way ; while, within the line of road, a serS 

 of docks will be constructed to provide the needful accoa 

 modation for the barges of wharfingers, who will haie th* 

 same facility of access to their premises as at present *> 

 that it will not be necessary to interfere with private pr*. 

 perty in any case. 



IVestminster Abbey. — A letter to the Dean and Chat- 

 ter of Westminster by a Clergyman has just been published! 

 from which it appears that a plan is in contemplation, 

 which will destroy the appearance of a Cathedral in the 

 interior of Westminster Abbey. It is intended, it is 1*14, 

 to take away the choir, and to throw the whole of the 

 eastern end of the cathedral, choir, and transepts, into a 

 large flat open space, fitted up with congregational 

 sittings like a parish church, for the accommodation of 

 the numerous Sunday congregation. The object of the 

 above letter is to suggest that the addition of the we« 

 end of the nave to the present choir, is a far more de. 

 sirable plan than that of destroying the stalls and other 

 characteristic fittings of a Cathedral, for the purpose of 

 including the transepts in the proposed arrangement. 



Damage by Fire in the Metropolis. — A Bill for the 

 better prevention of damage by fire in the metropolis and 

 its neighbourhood, has been brought into the House of 

 Commons by the Earl of Lincoln and Sir J. Graham, 

 Bart. The number of its clauses amounts to 31. Ade- 

 quate provisions are made for the fixing, &c, of fire-plugs, 

 the supply of water-engines, and convenient access thereto, 

 and other means necessary for the extinction of confla- 

 grations. The fire-engines, &c, are to be paid for out of 

 the poor-rates. Penalties are enacted for the punishment 

 of such persons as may negligently cause fires in the 

 metropolis, and clauses annexed for the carrying on of the 

 legal proceedings which may become necessary under the 

 act. The schedules appended to the bill contain full de- 

 scriptions of the engines and implements required for the 

 extinction of conflagrations, and the list of rewards to be 

 paid to firemen and others for their arduous and invalu- 

 able services. The operation of the bill is limited by 

 clause 3, to all such places lying on the north or left bank 

 of the river Thames, as are within the exterior boundaries 

 of the parishes of Fulham, Kensington, Paddington, Hamp- 

 stead, Hornsey, Tottenham, St. Pancras, Islington, Stoke 

 Newington, Hackney, Stratford, Bromley, Poplar, and 

 Shadwell ; to such part of the parish of Chelsea as lies to 

 the north of the parish of Kensington ; to all such parts 

 and places lying on the south or right bank of the river 

 Thames as are within the exterior boundaries of the parishes 

 of Woolwich, Charlton, Greenwich, Lee, Lewisbaro, Cam- 

 berweli, Lambeth, Streatham, Tooting, and Wands worth; 

 and lastly, to all places lying within 200 yards from toe 

 exterior boundaries of the district hereby defined. Power, 

 however, is given to extend these limits. 



The late Fire in Oxford-street.— On Saturday an 

 inquest was held on the six persons who perished in the 

 fire at the Rose and Crown gin-shop in Oxford-street. 

 The bodies were those of Mrs. Williams, the landlord 

 wife, his two children and three servants. From the en- 

 dence of the principal witness it appeared that Sir. 

 Williams was absent from home, and that he had given tne 

 witness directions to fill the gin vats, which he commencea 

 doing about 12 o'clock. He had previously filled son* 

 smaller casks, which were ranged round the counting 

 house, and having neglected to turn the spirit on wn 

 these casks were full, shortly after he commenced pump- 

 ing for the purpose of filling the large vats, the imu 

 casks overflowed and ran down upon the gas-Iignt- 

 course of a few moments he was alarmed by a . crac .J 

 noise within the counting-house, and on returning to a 

 cover the cause he found the whole place in flames * watcft 

 first step was to run down stairs and obtain some / 

 hoping to extinguish the fire, but the flame* spw 

 with such rapidity as to render his efforts entirely «*W, 

 and he then rushed up stairs, whither his fellow r s : 

 had before proceeded with a view to alarm those me* 



The fire 



of the familv who had retired to rest- ine u 

 however, at this time got so firm a hold ° f ' he mart es of 

 and adjoining parts of the building, and tne ^ 



smoke which continued to arise were so > aen5K '& 

 was unable to proceed, and was shortly alter u ■» 

 in a senseless state by one of the few per»onsj»n f 



out 

 tared 



the house on the first alarm being given 



ndfl<X* 





quarter of an hour the whole house, from the gr ^ Q 

 to the roof, was in flames, and the only m ^ ^ 

 managed to effect her escape was the sister ^ 



tunate Mrs. Williams, who, on being ^°^ ^ 

 stairs, and was assisted out of the first-floor * « hboorl> 

 whence she was handed down by some of tne J^e 

 There appears to be no doubt that all tn ^ 



sufferers were aware of the fate that a«r«ted w ^^ 

 Mrs. Williams was observed by several ^ d| ipp i- 

 at her bedroom window with her hands daap ^ 



rently imploring assiatance. The jury at er ^ 



vestigation, returned a verdict of accidental dea 

 property was insured. _ VmMm ^ J Q 9 fl^gE 



gilder, residing in George-street Hamp^V^Vrotlf • 

 tide was accompanied by her father motbe^ ^ 

 and sisters; and the bridegroom was atten^ ^ f j 

 Indian companions, male and fernaie, _ -roteig 

 native costume, which had a «os w 'd an^ * 

 appearance. A great crowd was attracted M ^ 



ceremony, which took place at the church o # 



in-the-tields. The party occupied several 



strong 

 a carver 



