yards, on which a heavy surf was breaking. The boats were all got ready for lowering to land the passengers and crew, and the larboard life-boat was sent with a party of seamen and a line to haul a rope on shore, which they with difficulty reached in safety, and the crew soon after got a hawser on shore, and the end of it made fast and hove taut from the ship. The launch was first despatched with a party of passengers and crew, amongst whom were several ladies and children; all were safely landed except Mrs. Archer, a child belonging to Mrs. Morris, seven years old, and a native female Indian servant, who were lost in the surf on the beach by the swamping of the launch, though every exertion was made, both by those on shore, on the beach, and in the launch to save them. After this the launch, which was with great difficulty hauled alongside by those on board, and baled out, made several successful trips, and all on board were safely landed. By eleven o'clock A.M., the ship began to break up, and speedily became a total wreck. The mail was saved, but the letters were much damaged, and in some cases destroyed. The passengers were shamefully plundered by the inhabitants, and underwent fatigues and privations in getting to Corunna, which would only be expected in a semi-barbarous country. The cause of this disaster was pronounced to be an unusual set-in of the usual current, caused by the prevalent wind: but notwithstanding that her commander, Captain MacLeod, was thus acquitted of blame, the loss of his noble vessel so preyed upon his mind, that he afterwards destroyed himself.

NEAR

FATAL EXPLOSION DOVER.-A great loss of life occurred on the line of the SouthEastern Railway, near Dover, by the headstrong wilfulness of the sufferers. About two miles from Dover, where the railway is cut through the cliffs, a small cave, five feet in height by six in length, had been excavated in the chalk to be used as a magazine for the gunpowder used in blasting: it was secured by a door, which was locked. A gang of labourers employed in repairing the line endeavoured, on Saturday, to force open the door, that they might obtain shelter from the rain: they were then warned that powder was stored in the place, and the danger and impropriety of their conduct were pointed out. Between 12 and 1 o'clock this day, however, for the sake of shelter from a shower, thirteen men, having broken open the door, got into the cave. Directly afterwards, two barrels of powder exploded, and the men were blown from the excavation as from a mortar. Eleven were killed on the spot, one died in a few hours, the survivor in a few days. It is reported that one of the men, after lighting his pipe, had thrown down the match, which falling upon some loose powder, ignited it, and the contents of the barrels instantly exploded. bodies of the unfortunate men were projected from the cave with great violence, and thrown over the railway works, some falling on to the beach, and some into the sea, a distance of 150 yards. The cave itself was little damaged, and no interruption occurred in the traffic on the railway.

The

A FAMILY POISONED. At the village of West Derby, near Liverpool, an oil and colour manu

factory has been for some years carried on by Mrs. Gilton, a widow, who lived with her family in a house adjoining the works. Some months since, twenty-eight pounds of arsenic were dissolved in a cask of water for the purposes of manufacture; but there had been no occasion to use it since. The dwelling-house was supplied with water from a well in the boilinghouse; by some means a portion of the solution of arsenic had oozed into the well in sufficient quantity to produce fatal effects. Mrs. Gilton and her children partook of tea made from the water, and they were all poisoned: the whole family Mrs. Gilton, a boy of seven and another of twelve, and two daughters of the ages of fifteen and sixteen, have perished.

PRINCE WALDEMAR OF PRUSSIA. The recent victories on the Sutlej have naturally produced a great deal of proud interest in the breasts of Englishmen, and the daily journals teem with letters of correspondents, private letters of officers to their friends, journals, &c., detailing as well the stirring incidents of the battles, as the adventures and observations of the writers in the enemy's country. In the despatches of the Governer-General and of the Commander-in-Chief, official notice is taken of the gallantry of Prince Waldemar of Prussia and his attendants, who were present as spectators on the field.

Prince Waldemar, (who has adopted the travelling name of Count Ravensburg,) is the son of Prince William, the late King's brother, and therefore first cousin to Frederick William IV. This distinguished personage, now in his 29th year, and Colonel in the Dragoons of the Prussian Guards,

desirous of seeing foreign military institutions, and possibly falling in with some military enterprise during these times of peace in Europe, demanded and obtained, in 1844, the King's permission to proceed to the East, and to visit, for his instruction, the British empire in India. The King ordered his Royal Highness to be accompanied by two distinguished officers, both mentioned in the late despatches. The one of them, Count Groeben, is Lieutenant in the Guards, the Prince's personal friend, and son of one of the most illustrious and popular Generals in the Prussian army; the other, Count Oriola, is a Major on the Staff of the same. Dr. Hoffmeister, mentioned in the report, followed the Prince as medical attendant. The Prince has since travelled through the greatest part of the Indian empire; and the Universal Prussian Gazette (Allgemeine Preussische Zeitung) and other German papers have given extracts from his letters, proving the Prince's power of observation, and the high estimate he had formed of the military state and of the civil administration of that vast empire. As soon as a war with Lahore seemed inevitable, the Prince proceeded towards the Indus, and in his progress, and lastly at Umballah, reviewed the English troops he fell in with.

The following private letter was addressed by the gallant Sir Henry Hardinge to the Chevalier Bunsen, the representative of the Prussian Court in England, a few days after the battle.

Waldemar, who, with the characteristic gallantry of his illustrious race, and the national love of enterprise of his countrymen, was present with me in the recent action of Moodkee, on the 18th of December, and at Ferozeshah, on the 21st and 22nd of December.

"His Royal Highness intended to proceed to Bombay by Scinde, and left Ferozepore on the 23rd of December last quite well.

"It was impossible for any soldier to show more coolness, intrepidity, and energy than did his Royal Highness and the noblemen of his suite on these occasions.

was

"The Prince's surgeon struck off his horse by a grapeshot, when I saw his Royal Highness instantly alight to his assistance. The humanity of this act was of no avail. The unfortunate gentleman had already ceased to exist.

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In the morning of the 22nd I felt it to be my duty to request his Royal Highness to retire. The action threatened to be very severe, and I could not reconcile it with the respect I bear towards the Prussian Royal family, that one of its Princes, having already witnessed an Asiatic battle, and greatly distinguished himself, should run a risk to which there was no necessity that his Royal Highness should be exposed.

"With great reluctance his Royal Highness consented to proceed to Ferozepore.

"I beg further to observe, that his Royal Highness has, by the amiability of his demeanour, won the respect and admiration of all the officers, civil and military, of the East India Company's service, and that our most respectful good wishes attend his Royal Highness wherever he may direct his steps.

"These sentiments towards his Royal Highness, so universally en

tertained, are grateful to me; for, from old recollections and attachment, I take a deep interest in all that concerns the military officers of your nation.-I have the honour to remain, yours very sincerely,

"H. HARDINGE, Governor-Gen. "His Excellency the Chevalier Bunsen."

NEWCASTLE ASSIZE. An action has been tried at the Assizes at Newcastle, arising out of an explosion of popular violence, under somewhat singular circumstances. It was caused by the odium felt for Belaney, the surgeon who was accused of murdering his wife, but acquitted at the Central Criminal Court, whose trial is recorded in our Chronicle for 1844, p. 89. On the return of Belaney from London to his home near Sunderland, the mob were so exasperated against him that they made several attacks upon his house, and eventually set fire to it, so that nearly all the contents were destroyed. were destroyed. Belaney brought this action against the hundred of Bamburgh for the amount of his loss.

That loss was variously estimated; in one account as high as 500l. The Jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, with 107. for an interest he had in the house itself, 851. for furniture, and 107. for books.

MARCH.

6. FATAL ACCIDENT NEAR OXFORD. An accident occurred at Gosford, a village about four miles from Oxford, by which Mr. Henry More William Singleton, a commoner of Trinity College, lost his life. An inquest was held on the body, and the following evidence was produced:

Mr. John Clark deposed, that he is a livery-stable keeper, residing at Oxford. Last night he dined

in

company with the deceased, and several other members of the University, at an ordinary at Bicester (whither they had gone to see a steeple chase). Deceased, witness, and Mr. Hulvert left about half-past nine o'clock, and proceeded to Oxford at a good brisk trot. During a portion of the time Mr. Hulvert was first. After they had been some miles on the road, witness said to deceased that Mr. Hulvert's nag had beaten both of them, upon which the deceased answered, that he would now beat Mr. Hulvert's. This was about 200 yards from Gosford gate, and flourishing his whip, both horses set off and increased their speed at every step, and were soon in a fast gallop. Directly after witness (who was at least sixty yards behind) heard a tremendous crash, and on reaching the turnpike-gate found that it had been knocked down, and deceased lying in the road. There was no lamp at the gate. The gate-keeper, with Mr. Hulvert, witness, and Mr. Symonds, of Gosford, assisted in taking deceased into the latter gentleman's house, where he lay in an insensible state until he died, which was about two hours after the accident. Witness could not see which horse rose at the gate first, but he believed that Mr. Singleton's was. Mr. Hulvert's horse must have taken the gate just as it was falling; when they got close to the gate their horses were going as fast as they could put their legs to the ground, and witness believed if they had seen the gate it would have been utterly impossible, at the pace they were going, to have pulled their horses up. The impression on witness's mind was that they had both forgotten the gate, and

that certainly they never intended jumping at it. The night was cloudy. Witness was quite sure that deceased and Mr. Hulvert were perfectly sober.

William Clark, turnpike-keeper at Gosford, deposed that at about half-past ten o'clock last night he heard the approach of horses seemingly galloping very fast, and before he could get out of his house and throw the gate open he saw it give way, and two horses in the act of jumping at it; one of them appeared as though his feet were entangled some way in the gate, and it was not until the gate fell that the horse got clear; in doing so he threw his rider, stumbled a little, righted again, and galloped away. The other horse cleared the gate just as it was falling. Witness assisted in picking up deceased, who was thrown at least seven yards from the gate. The lamp over the gate was only lighted when the nights were dark, and last night he did not think it sufficiently dark to do so, although he knew there were so many gentlemen gone to the steeple chase. He considered that the light from the lamp would not have added to the light of the night. Witness had no interest in not lighting the lamp; it made no difference to him, as the commissioners found the oil.

a

Mr. James R. Holmes, surgeon, of Kidlington, deposed to the injuries received by deceased. fracture of the base of the skull, producing an extravasation of blood on the brain.

Mr. George Alexander Hulvert, commoner of Trinity College, corroborated a portion of Mr. Clark's evidence; and in addition stated, that deceased cut at him with his whip in a playful manner, and that the witness galloped away and got

in front for a short distance; he then turned back, and deceased went first. On arriving at the turnpike-gate, which neither he (witness) nor deceased could see until they came upon it, deceased's horse rose first, with witness close behind; the latter horse cleared it, jumping at least twenty feet at the moment, as witness thought that the gate was falling. On landing on the other side witness saw deceased lying in the road; he immediately rode off to Kidlington for Mr. Holmes. The night was cloudy, and the light very uncertain, so that witness, on going for the doctor, could not distinguish where any stones had been laid on the road, except when his horse was galloping over them.

The Jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death;" they were also unanimously of opinion, that much blame attached to the gatekeeper for not lighting the lamp.

THE OVERLAND MAIL.-The intelligence brought by this mail announces the assembly of a very large British force (43,000 men and 140 pieces of cannon) on the Sutlej, under the orders of the Commander-in-Chief and Sir H. Hardinge. These commanders appear to be preparing for the decisive struggle. The following paragraph is calculated to cause some uneasiness: the reports as to the misbehaviour of some part of our troops were totally devoid of foundation.

"Some skirmishing took place near the Sikh bridge of boats on the 13th, 14th, and 15th of January, without any remarkable effect. On the 15th the Sikhs came over the river at Phulloor, plundered the neighbourhood, and pitched a camp on the left bank, in the British territory. On the

following days they made some further advances, and intrenched themselves near a nulla. Sir H. Smith moved his brigade up the Sutlej, driving the enemy before him until the 21st, in the morning, when he came upon one of the fortified positions of the enemy, which fired grape shot amongst the British troops. Some of the native troops are said to have thrown down their arms, and to have fled, leaving the Europeans to bear the brunt of the battle. Her Majesty's 53rd and 31st were engaged, and are said to have suffered severely, but they demanded to be led anew to the fight, which Sir H. Smith did not deem it prudent to do, and therefore withdrew the troops. The Agra Ukhbar

construes the retirement into a defeat."

NOTTINGHAM ELECTION. The election of a Knight of the Shire for the northern division of the county of Nottingham terminated in the defeat of the Earl of Lincoln, whose adhesion to the views of the Prime Minister, and consequent appointment to the office of Secretary for Ireland, had rendered him obnoxious to the landed interest. His opponent, Lord Henry Bentinck, was supported by the whole force of the agricultural party, even by the greater part of the tenants of the Duke of Newcastle, father of the noble earl. Lord Lincoln, however, had taken no steps to secure his election, and was nominated in some degree against his own wishes. The numbers given at the official declaration of the poll were-for