National Intelligencer. (Washington [D.C.]), Vol. 48, No. 6941, Ed. 1 Tuesday, June 22, 1847 Page: 4 of 4
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NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER.
CORRESPONDENCE FROM ENGLAND.
London, May 29, 1847.
There was published in this city, about fifty
years ago, a small volume entitled “ The Detector
of Quackery.” The author was a Mr. Corry ; it
was a work of not more than about 250 duodecimo
pages, but contained a full account of, and very sa-
tirical comment upon, the various nostrums and
humbugs of the day, as exhibited in the different
departments of law and physic, arts, science, and
literature, and the fashions, manners, and habits of
the people of the great metropolis. He afterwards
published another sma 1 volume, entitled “ j9 Satir-
ical View of London,” which was dedicated more
particularly to that vast emporium. Any one who
would skilfully handle the subject of quackery, as
it exists at the present day, would render the world
good service ; but it would take ten such volumes
as those of Mr. Corry to do the subject justice, or
even to give a summary of it. I do not know that
London is worse in this respect than other places ;
but the mighty mass of people there congregated
gives room for the existence and the manifestation
of a large quantity of quackery. John Bull is pro-
verbially gullible; and, if the couplet of the poet
be correct, that—
'the pleasute is as great,
nh n a tn/1 nn nkent ^
In being cheated as to cheat,
the pleasure daily enjoyed in London must be very
great indeed, for I think nearly the whole of its
population ranks under one or other of these classes.
Little need be said upon that branch of the subject
to which the word quackery is most generally ap-
plied. I have before me an advertisement of pat-
ent medicines, in which one vender enumerates
three hundred and fifty different nostrums, as pre-
ventives or cures of every “ ill which flesh is heir
to.” Why, then, should any one be sick ? Hol-
loway is the present great professor of the healing
art; his medicine, in great measure, seems to have
superseded “ Old Parr’s pills,” which was the pan-
acea some six years ago, and the great humbug of
the day—proving a very successful one to its pro-
prietors. Holloway’s ointment is warranted “to
pull out teeth, extract corns, remedy baldness, get
rid of gout, produce whiskers, cure indigestion,
give an appetite, soften the hands, prolong life,
arch the eyebrows, support the knees, and promote
activity in the muscles.” Thousands of people be-
lieve all this, or some part of it, and thousands and
tens of thousands of boxes of the nostrum are
vended. This is a specimen of Medical quackery.
Of the quackery of the Law, I will say no-
thing, because I would not wish to subject my-
self to its long-reaching arms, and thereis great
difficulty in avoiding its grasp if you come
within touching distance. But read the London
morning journals of any of the days of the year,
and if the perusal does not satisfy you that the law,
although it is the “ perfection of human reason,” is
also the perfection of human folly (avoiding a
harsher, but, perhaps, a juster term) and human cre-
dulity, you must be one of the most incredulous of
your species. Then as to the Fine Arts, let any one
visit the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square, the
Exhibition of the Society of Arts, or the Royal
Academy ; let him listen for five minutes to the ob-
servations and the criticisms which are uttered
around him, loud enough and intended to be heard,
and, if he be not convinced that he is among a
crowd of empirics and quacks, his ears must con-
vey very imperfect impressions to his brains. I
speak not of the things exhibited, be they pictures,
statues, or models, but of the pretended knowledge
respecting them among the spectators, which would
be truly ludicrous did it not lead to a perversion of
public taste, to an encouragement of the showy and
the meretricious in art, in preference to the really
excellent and good ; to the discouragement of mod-
est genius, and to the success of quackery, impos-
ture, and pretence. And then as to Science. Why,
if half the announcements of discoveries and inven-
tions which are trumpeted forth in the course of any
one year were realized, the triumph of mind over
matter would be complete, and the physical world
would be entirely subjected to the mental one. We
have one day a project for a submarine railway
communication between Dover and Calais ; on the
next, a discovery of the cause of the polarity of
the magnetic needle ; whilst the papers of the third
announce the certainty that the principles which
produce and regulate atmospheric changes are about
to be fully developed, and that a table of the weather
may in future be calculated with as much correct-
ness as a tide-table, or an account of the rising and
setting of the sun ! Can empiricism go further ?
I would be one of the last to assert that neither art
nor science, nor medical nor legal knowledge ad-
vance : the great feature of the day is progress,
and it is delightful to feel that it is so nor would I
deny the possibility that knowledge and science may receive
assistance from even these ridiculous announcements and pre-
tensions, and that the man who assumes that he has discov-
ered a great deal, may have discovered something ; neverthe-
less, the ridiculous over-statements and assumptions are quack-
ery in its strictest sense, and ought to be ridiculed and cen-
sured, to prevent men bringing contempt upon sound science
and correct principles of taste. As to literature, we will be-
gin with the lowest kind of it—advertisements. I have often
laughed at the advertisements of the barbers, both white and
black, in the Washington papers, but the following extract
from “ The Times ” of this morning really goes ahead of any
and every thing I have met with on your side of the Atlantic :
“ Oh yes ! Oh yes ! ! Oh yes ! ! ! All ye who wish an
easy shave, attend. Go to Ross’s, No. 119, 13ishops-gate
street, and purchase a pair of their peculiar razors, one of their
railway strops with hone attached, a pot of their pearl shaving
soap, and a badger’s hair shaving brush made upon a new
principle ; and if your beard be as fine as a child’s hair, or as
stiff as a pig’s bristles, you may be shaved whilst asleep, so
easy is the operation.”
Pretty well this, for the columns of the first Journal in Eu-
rope, and for the commercial capital of the world! The
same number of the Times contains advertisements of “Idro-
toholic hats, with valves and air conductors,” of “ Organic
Vibrators, for the relief of deafness,” of “Atramenlal and all
other lugubrious attire,” of “Visites, Cardinals, Polkas,
Silks and Satins for the million,” and of ‘‘ a grand expo-
sition of Shawls and Mantles. ”
These are very harmless, but certainly very ridiculous, com-
binations of words and phrases : they are all specimens of
quackery and humbug, and indicate a low rate of intellect,
or rather, perhaps, a great quantity of pretence among the
people, to whom they are addressed, and upon whom they are
supposed to be influential, otherwise they would not be insert-
ed in the Times, at the enormous charge which that mammoth
sheet makes for every line of type which it issues. My prin-
cipal object in thus bringing to your notice the literary
beauties of the advertisements in the Times, is to show that
the journalists of England, who indulge occasionally in sneers
at the style and phraseology of American advertisements,
might find something equally capable of exercising their risible
faculties nearer home, if they would look for it. But, to rise
a little in the literary scale, what pompous announcements we
have of new works about to issue, and elaborate criticisms
upon books already published, both of which fall still-born, as
it were, from the press, and go, after a few weeks, as waste
paper to the trunk-makers or the grocers. It has been calcu-
lated, by those who have possessed correct materials for so
doing, that not more than one book in fifteen pays the ex-
penses of printing, and not more than one in every fitly pamph-
lets. That only one out of about two hundred books reaches
a second edition, one in every five hundred a third, and one
in every thousand a fourth. This is poor encouragement for
those who hope for immortality through the labors of the pen
and the printing press. There are, probably, not less than
ten thousand persons who live by literary labors in London,
and more than double that number who strive to do so. I
have before me a list of books published in 1824 ; the number
is about 440., I have looked carefully over the titles of these
books, and though I cannot boast of a knowledge of their con-
tents, yet I am tolerably well acquainted with their names,
and I do not think that more than one out of six of them has
survived even the short term of twenty-two years which has
elapsed since their publication, and I am decidedly of opinion
that not one out of twenty will be known, except to the omni-
vorous book collector, at the end of the present century. Yet
most ot these works were heralded with pompous announce
ments, looked for with anxious expectation, and hailed with
the loudest blasts of literary trumpeters. Is there hot quackery
in all this ? Certainly there is—the quackery of publ.shers
and reviewers. But can we cal) it by so mild a name as
quackery for the publisher of a weekly Journal to placard the
city with large bills, announcing the “ death of the American
leader, General Taylor,” and referring to his paper as con-
taining the particulars, thereby creating a sale for it, when
the real fact announced was the death of a negro's horse at
New Orleans, which was the leader of his team, and which
had been dignified with the name of the gallant General! I
vouch for the fact, but I withhold the name of the paper and
the publisher, because I hope for better things from the literary
gentleman whose name it bears. Things nearly as bad as
this occur almost every day, till the press is dishonored, the
cause of letters is disgraced, and the public trust in its fidelity
destroyed. Literature becomes degraded when mixed up
with money, and when a man writes and publishes a book,
because he thinks it will sell, and not because he feels he can
communicate what will instruct the head or amend the heart,
inform the intellect, exalt the imagination, or refine the feel-
ings.
If we come to fashions, what are the advertisements of
court milliners and tailors but quackery ? What the wares
they deal in but quackery ? What are the poetic addresses
of Moses & Son, the great Tailors, who keep a poet con-
stantly as part of their establishment, but quackery of the
first degree? What are the royal arms over the doors of
trades-people but quackery ? As if the wares they vend de-
rived a peculiar value from the purchaser entering the shop
beneath the heraldic bearings of the Queen. This privilege
to mount the royal arms is often purchased.- who pockets the
purchase monej7 I know not. .
The laudation of Actors and other aspirants to public favor
is to be taken with great caution ; and you ought to be aware
of the predilections, no doubt for weighty reasons, of parti-
cular newspapers for particular theatres and particular mana-
gers, before you pay any serious attention to their Theatrical
criticisms. Thereis an immense amount of quackery here.
Then, again, as to manners and habits, let some titled non-
entity adopt any peculiarity, and he will find hosts of imita-
tators ; and what is this but quackery ? For it is adopting
that which probably neither common sense, nor conveniency,
nor propriety justifies. But I should weary you if I were to
run thus, even cursorily, over the wide field of quackery.
It is too prominent an element in the intercourse of man with
man in this modern Babylon, but it has not yet denationalized
its inhabitants. The merchants of London still deserve the
title of Royal merchants for their wealth, their enterprise, and
th<# unimpeachable integrity. The tradesmen are examples
of respectability, industry, and punctuality, and the mass of
every class of society, except the lowest, though credulous,
perhaps, and easy to be made the dupes of quackery, are
patterns of truth, honesty, and propriety7. It is with the
laughable, but too often censurable, excrescences of the mass,
that I have been dealing. Such men no doubt exist in all
communities : there certainly is a very plentiful proportion of
them in London. Let me finish this dissertation upon quack-
ery by the following specimen of Pulpit humbug, from an
Edinburgh paper :
“Colored Ministers.—The Rev. Mr. Clarke, minister
of a congregation in Washington, most- of whom are slaves,
and the Rev. Mr. Gloucester, from Philadelphia, both colored
men, preached at Edinburgh last Sunday. They have both
been preaching for the Methodists and Independents at Bir-
mingham and elsewhere.”
The question of slavery is one of the great humbugs, one
of the leading pieces of quackery of the times. A number
of very good people here have only one idea upon the sub-
ject, and that they hold in common with nearly the whole of
the universal family of man, namely, that slavery is wrong,-
but, having asserted this, they leap at once to the conclusion
that it ought directly to be put an end to, no matter by7 what-
ever other wrong its extirpation is to be accomplished. I was
present at the introduction of this combustible question into a
large assembly of Religious people the other day; they were
people, too, who assume, and are deserving of, the titles of
rational and philosophic, and I trembled for the consequences ;
intolerance was near tripping up the heels of toleration,
and bigotry usurping the place of liberality. To differ from
another, even in the mode of getting rid of slavery, was spo-
ken of as enough to render you an unfit companion for these
over-righteous ones, and undeserving the right hand of Chris-
tian fellowship ! I sometimes feel as if I should have to go
to buffets with my countrymen upon this question, and I am
not quite sure but that some of my best friends regard me as
a friend to slavery, because I will not go all lengths with them
in denouncing every one who is mixed up with the question.
Very little of a public nature has occurred since my last.
The best news I can communicate is the rapid fall of the grain
market, the promise of the coming harvest, and the subsidence
of the food riots in the western counties, which, when I wrote
last, wore rather an alarming aspect. I still think, however,
that we shall need much, if not all, that you can spare us, and
am more and more convinced that these sudden changes in our
markets here are produced by the tricks of speculators, and
have not their origin in the state of things itself. I may be
wrong, however, but every event tends to confirm this
opinion.
The three leading events of the last fortnight have been the
death of Mr. O’Connell, the Epsom races, and the Whitsun-
tide holydays. The death of Mr. O’Connell had been too long
expected, and his influence had of late been so much abated
through his withdrawal from public life, and the absorption of
public attention towards Ireland in the most momentous circum-
stances of the famine and the fever, that it has produced very
little sensation in England. The Times says “ a serious con-
‘ troversy is springing up in which all the press of Europe is
‘ expected to engage, and in which it will scarcely be consi-
‘ dered respectable not to take a side.” “This controversy,”
the Times adds, “ will be upon the questions, What was the
‘ precise aim which Daniel O’Connell proposed to himself by
‘ his public course ? Did political or religious zeal prepon-
‘ derate in his mind ? Was he a champion of the Church or
* a Tribune of the people ? The controversy may be kept up
‘ till doomsday without any chance of its settlement.”
London seemed startled from its propriety during the Epsom
races—the “ Derby” and the “Oaks” (names of the two great
races) divided the public attention ; every one had his favorite
horse, which was sure to be conqueror at one or other of these !
great equestrian contests. Even the waiters at the coffee- j
houses caugnt the infection ; if you asked for a cup of coffee the j
reply was, “Did you say Cossack, sir? he’ll never win tbe j
cup.’ And if you inquired for a steak, you were probably ;
misunderstood as alluding to the sweepstake. Gambling on i
these races is carried on to a very great extent indeed. At!
many of the public houses a club is held, to become a member
of which you deposite a certain sum $ when the club is full j
the names of the members are written on separate slips of pa- j
per and placed in a hat, the names of all the horses entered to
run in the race are written upon other slips of paper and placed
in another hat; a member’s name is then drawn from one hat
and a horse’s name from the other; the success of the member
drawn then becomes identified with that of the horse drawn,
the drawing goes on until all are taken out of the hats and a
record made of the names of men and horses so drawn in pairs.
After the race the person whose name is attached to that of
the winning horse takes a certain part of the whole amount
subscribed, generally half; the second pair takes another pre-
scribed portion, and the third the remainder. This species of
gambling takes place to a very great extent, and many poor
men rob their families almost of bread to partake of it. The
Ascot races will shortly take place, which, as they have a
greater celebrity on account of the Queen attending them, will,
I suppose, create a greater sensation, if possible, in London
than the Epsom. The Whitsuntide holydays seemed to half-
empty London into the country, and almost depopulate the
country by attracting the inhabitants into the metropolis. It
was delightful to see so much gayety and cheerfulness as were
exhibited by the lower classes of the community during the
three first days of Whitsun-week, in spite of dear bread and
low wages. London bridge was so crowded on the Monday
with country people that I did not care to attempt to cross it. j
Greenwich fair, and all places within a come-atable distance i
from town, were crowded to excess. Much to the credit of
the people I saw very little intemperance or excess of any kind,
and equally to the credit of the Police, for we can scarcely
imagine such a mass of people could be kept in order without
some controlling external power, the most perfect quietness
and peace seemed universally to prevail. The weather was
delightfully fine, and every thing seemed to conspire to give
an earnest of better times to come. The money market is also
easier ; consols rise as grain falls,- there is more life in the
manufacturing districts, and better spirits appear to be possess-
ed by all parties.
Parliament assembled last night after the holydays. The
only business of leading interest before the House of Com-
mons was the debate on Mr. Ewart’s motion “that it is ex-
* pedient that a more direct system of taxation on property
‘ should (as far as possible) be substituted for the indirect sys-
tem (by customs and excise duties) now in use.” Mr. E.
asserted that such change would, by removing the restrictions
caused by the excise, encourage trade and the free application
of science to trade ; that the removal of the restrictions caus-
ed by the customs duties would extend commerce and be the
most natural means of prolonging the peace by promoting the
intercourse of the world, and that it would be highly benefi-
cial to the poor (who now pay the great mass of indirect taxa-
tion) by giving them more abundant means of subsistence and
of employment, and would tend generally and finally to the
good of all classes of the community. Mr. E. did not advo-
cate the entire abrogation of customs and excise duties, but
only the reduction of them as low as possible, (a very vague
and uncertain condition,) and levy the rest of the necessary
revenue by a fair duty (another uncertain position) upon the
general property of the country. He stated that the cost of
collecting customs was £5 11s. lOd. per cent. ; that of col-
lecting excise £6 lOd. per cent., whilst that of collecting the
income and property tax was only £3 6s. 4fd. per cent., or
little more than half that of the others ; and further, that the
effect of reduced duties in the United States was an increase
in the amount of duties. The Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer stated that the whole subject of taxation would be
under the consideration of Parliament at the next session,
when it would be indispensably necessary to deal one way or
other with the property tax. My opinion is that Ministers are
favorable to Mr. Ewart’s plan, and that a resort will be had
more directly to a tax on property, and a greater approxima-
tion made to free trade. All will depend upon the result of
the approaching general election, in which so many conflict-
ing new elements will be brought into play that the event can
not be more than guessed at; but, if I may hazard a conjec-
ture, I would say that the hands of the present Ministry will
be strengthened by it, and that free-trade measures will be the
consequence. You know my opinions upon the subject
It appears from late statements made in Parliament that the
earnings of convicts who are set to work in the Pentonville
model prison amount to about three cents a day, while the
cost of maintaining them is about three dollars a week per
head. This statement produced the very pertinent question,
How, if a convict costs the Government about 14s. per week
in prison, is a poor man, as an agricultural or other laborer,
to maintain himself and family upon half that amount} The
very cost of the officers in the Pentonville prison to look after
the prisoners amounts to £15 6s., or $68, each prisoner per
year. You manage these things better in the United States !
The Government grants of £100,000 each to Great Britain
and Ireland for the purposes of national education, have pass-
ed the House of Commons. Mr. Labouchere’s statement of
the progress of education in Ireland was very satisfactory. There
are now 3,6€7 national schools in operation in Ireland, giving
education to 456,410 children, one-seventh of whom are Pro
testants. Three hundred teachers are trained annually, of
whom one-fifth are Protestants.
As to European affairs we have little news. In France the
best news is that grain is falling in price and the harvest in-
creasing in promise. Rumors of a change in the Ministry are
occasionally revived, but Mr. Guizot does not appear to be
much alarmed about his position.
In Spain there seems a wider separation than ever between
the Queen and her husband, and a divorce is now spoken of.
In Portugal matters are all yet unsettled, in spite of the pro-
mise of an adjustment about three weeks ago. In Italy the
Pope is going steadily on with salutary reforms, and winning
golden opinions from all excepting the very highest-toned bigots,
rurxey and Greece are in siatu quo ; mere win most proba-
bly be no bloodshed.
The grain harvest is very promising throughout Europe
and Egypt. This is the best possible news.
There is very little new in the Literary world, but there are
many announcements for the next month. A new novel by the
Countess of Blessington, entitled “Marmaduke Herbert,” is
pronounced by the critics to be “ her best book, and one that
cannot be read without interest and pleasure.” Among the
serials, a new publication by Charles Knight, called “ The
Land we Live in,’ and illustrative of the progress of the coun-
try, is very interesting, and contains more information for
three pence than, ten years ago, could have been procured
for twenty times the money.
In the Theatrical world Jenny Lind appears to have taken
the town by storm; every new character she appears in is a
new triumph to her, and, strange to say, there is not a single
dissentient voice in the public press. The Atheneum says of
her, “ There is a certain gallery of figures eeasting in memo-
‘ ry’s palace of art, consisting of the Lady Macbeth of Sid-
‘ dons, the Celimene of Mars, the Medea of Pasta, the Lu-
* cretia Borgia of Grisi, the Arnold of Duprez, and the Don
‘ Geronimo of Lablanche, and to these must now be added
* the Amina of Mdlle. Lind.” This is, indeed, high praise.
Jenny Lind is unquestionably the lion or lioness of the day.
Her portraits are in every print shop, and her name attached
to the most fashionable variety of every article. Mrs. Butler
has been much applauded in Mrs. Beverley and Mrs. Haller,
but I do not think her engagement in London has been a very
flattering or encouraging one. Mr. Macready is now playing
Hamlet, &c. at one of the minor theatres, and reaping great
applause. An old favorite at the Washington theatre, Ma-
dame Celeste, is very much praised for her success both as an
actress and a manageress at the Adelphia Theatre, and is said,
in both capacities, to have fairly won the support and admira-
tion of a large class of the theatrical public.
June 2.*—We have had no news of importance
during the last three or four days. Grain of all
kinds is still falling; the weather is deliciously
fine ; wheat is pouring in from Odessa and the
shores of the Black Sea, and there appears to be no
immediate dread of absolute starvation. All will
depend upon the next European harvest, and the
prospects as respects it are at present most encour-
aging.
Spain, France, and England have united it* put
the affairs of Portugal at rest; and the Greeks are
said to have apologized to Turkey; if so, there
will not be even a speck of war in our political
horizon.
XTTANTED, MX) Cords of PERSIMMON WOOD!}
T T suitable for last blocks, to be delivered in Baltimore or
Havre de Grace, tor which the highest cash price will be given
by the subscriber. For further particulars apply to
H. C. LOCHER,
ap 17—2awcp3m Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
subscribers
fpHE SUBSCRIBERS wishes to employer a male
1 Teacher, who is qualified to teach the Latin, Greek and
English languages, to take charge of a small School’in a
healthy neighborhood. The salary will be $300 per annum,
paid semi-annually, and board. None need apply unless well
qualified. Applications to be made (post paid) to
W. J. HILL and
W. H. ANTHONY,
june 15—lm [Ral Register lm] Scotland Neck, N. C
npiMBER AND IRON LAND for Sale__I have for sale
jL upwards of 15,000 acres of Timber and Iron Land be-
longing to myself and others, contiguous to the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, east of
Cumberland, in Alleghany county, Maryland. This land
abounds in iron ore of the very best quality, lying in the same
range with the Juniata Iron region, in Pennsylvania, and
would yield from 30 to 40 cords of wood to the acre for char-
coal. The best portion of the yellow pine timber in the coun-
ty is within this scope of land, on which a steam saw-mill is
already' erected and in successful operation. The woods are
traversed by good roads in various directions, and a water-
power, produced by a group of large limestone springs, can
be commanded for working a blast charcoal furnace at the dis-
tance of one mile from the canal, at Cresap’s Mill, and two
miles from Green Spring Valley Depot, on the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad. Another water power suitable for a forge for
the manufacture of hammered iron can be obtained in the same
vicinity. Such an establishment is much wanted here The
titles to these lands are indisputable. Any person desirous of
purchasing will be conducted over this property by me and I
will answer any communications by letter on the subject.
JAMES SMITH,
june 19 Cumberland, Maryland.
THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.
The Cambria made her voyage in twelve and
half days. She brought about a hundred passen-
gers, and amongst them Mr. Polk, our Charge
d’Affaires at Naples. The quantity of specie sent
over by her is only .£30,000.
The glorious weather, (says Wilmer & Smith’s European
Times of the 14th,) to which we alluded in our last as pre-
vailing in all parts of the three kingdoms, still continues. The
sun’s power increases daily, and every thing prognosticates an
early and abundant harvest. The price of the public securi-
ties, under the genial influence of this gratifying state of things,
is rising, the corn markets are falling, and money is to be had
on more liberal terms.
The corn trade was exceedingly active on the 19th ultimo.
Prices were then rapidly advancing to what might be termed
famine pitch. The splendid weather which has prevailed
during the fortnight, so exceedingly favorable for the growing
crops, has given great confidence as to an abundant and time
ly harvest; buyers, therefore, act with great caution, and the
business which is now being transacted is limited, and the
prices are receding as fast as they advanced. The conse-
quence, therefore, is, that there has been a considerable re-
action in prices, and the business done of a limited character,
the fall from the highest point having been about 20s. per
quarter; but the market is now more steady, and tending up
wards again. Flour had declined to 40s, per barrel, but ii
now worth 42s. to 44s , the latter being the value of the best
Western ; sour flour 37s. to 38s. per barrel; American wheat
10s. 6d to 12s. 6d. per 70 pounds. Indian corn is steady at
52s. to 57s. Indian corn meal is in fair demand at 28s. per
barrel for yellow, and 30s. for white.
GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR MAY.
Taken as a whole, the weather experienced during the past
month has been exceedingly fine and vegetative ; hence the
progress of the growing crops has been both rapid and grati-
fying. Its rapidity will be best inferred when we state that,
in many of our forward districts wheat and barley are rapidly
coming into ear; and the gratification is deduced from the fact
that harvest work, under the present auspices, is likely to be
commenced quite as early as the corresponding period in 1846 ;
consequently, the wants of the consuming classes are likely to
be met with home-grown produce somewhat earlier in the
season than was anticipated a month or six weeks ago ; the
necessity for unusually large importations of foreign corn after
the ciose of July will be rendered unnecessary ; and, farther,
the prices of most articles are likely to assume a more mode-
rate range than we have had to note for some months past.
These opinions are, of couise, offered in the expectation
that the forthcoming crops, not only of corn, but likewise of
potatoes, will be good ones. Should a reverse state of things
be experienced, of course it would be out of the question to
expect a low or even a moderate range of value.
With scarcely a single exception, the accounts which have
reached us from all parts of England respecting the general
appearance of the wheats, barleys, or other produce, are very
flattering. As to the ravages committed by the wire-worm
and other insects, we may state generally that they have been
to a very trifling extent; and our correspondents, one and all,
speak in the highest terms of the present aspect of the fields.
Notwithstanding the severe losses which most of the potato-
growers suffered last year, from the long-complained of dis-
ease in that esculent, and the very high prices at which it has
been selling in our various markets during the whole of the
present year, we have every reason to believe that a fair ave-
rage quantity of land is under potato culture this season, not
only in England, but also in Ireland and Scotland. It would,
of course, be premature on our part to offer any positive opin-
ion as to the growth of this year ; but the result of the inqui-
ries we have caused to be made lead us to hope that the dis
ease is presenting itself in a very mitigated form compared with
that of the two preceding years.—Mark Lane Express.
THE CROPS IN FRANCE.
The Presse announces that “the brilliant vegetation ob-
servable in the growing corn has exercised a favorable influ-
ence on the French markets. If this warm temperature be
prolonged for a short time, we shall have an addition to our
food in the articles of peas, beans, milk, butter, and cheese,
and the laboring classes will be enabled to reduce their con-
sumption of bread. It is not surprising, therefore, that the
price of wheat is falling throughout France. In the neigh
borhood of Paris the price of wheat has declined 2f. per hec-
tolitre ; at Proviris, If. 50c. ; at Meaux and Melun, 75c. ; at
Etampes, If. 50c. ; at Chartres, 85c. At Lille, in the de
partment of the North, wheat fell 3 francs the hectolitre at
last market, and a large quantity offered for sale could find no
buyers. At Caen, Lisieux, Falaise, Mottagne, the decline
has amounted to 2 francs the hectolitre.
In Britanny the decline in the price of wheat is not so re-
markable, but the markets are well supplied. At Nantes there
exists a brisk demand for the towns on the Loire. In the
central departments the markets are well supplied, and show
a tendency to decline. At Orleans there has been a fall of
2f. 50c. the hectolitre. At Bordeaux and Toulouse the stock
of corn on hand is not sufficient to supply the demand. At
Marseilles inferior qualities of wheat are selling at a reduced
price. In the southeastern departments of the Doubs and the
J'ura the supply is fully equal to the consumption, and prices
are declining. The fine weather has exercised an equally sa
lutary influence in Alsace. Wheat has fallen 4 francs the
hectolitre at Strasburg. Mulhouse is overstocked with wheat
and flour from Naples. We may therefore fairly consider that
the food crisis is drawing to a conclusion.
THE CROPS IN GERMANY, &c.
The prospects of large grain crops at the ensuing harvest in
the south of Germany and on the shores of the Mediterranean
appear exceedingly encouraging.
Accounts from Gibraltar state that during the 17th, 18th,
20th, and 22d ultimo upwards of 800 or 900 vessels, which
had been wind-bound for some time, had succeeded in passing
the Gut. The majority were laden with grain, &c. After
passing the Straits they proceeded westward. It is believed
that the majority were bound for Great Britain and Ireland.
IRELAND.
The Earl of Clarendon has been sworn in before the Lords,
Justices, and Privy Council as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
In Ireland death is still making terrible ravages in different
parts, in the south more especially. The services of the
clergy, Protestant as well as Catholic, are in hourly requisi-
tion to sustain the sinking people, and transmit their souls to
heaven with all the comfort which religion imparts to expir-
ing humanity.
In some of the principal towns of the north of England
typhus fever rages with increased virulence. In Liverpool,
Leeds, and other places several of the Catholic clergy have
fallen victims to their ministerial duties—caught the fever,
and died. The present hot weather, so favorable for ripening
the earth’s fruits, is unfortunately extending this dire disease;
and, it is to be feared that, ere its destructive effects have dis-
appeared, more valuable lives will be sacrificed.
The mortality at Cork from famine and fever appears to be
tremendous. There were 277 free interments in the Matthew
cemetery in one week; in one day 67. In the workhouse there
were 90 deaths.
Dublin, June 1.—Harvest Prospects.—No further ac-
counts have been received of any tendency to disease in the
potato crop. On the contrary, all the agricultural reports are
highly favorable as regards that esculent, as well as the grain
and green crops of all descriptions. The weather is all that
the farmer could desire. We have rapid vegetation under the
influence of a fine genial temperature. New potatoes are be-
ginning to appear in small parcels, and can be had at 2d. a
pound in some places.
RELIEF FOR IRELAND.
In the House of Commons, on the 1st instant, the Earl of
Lincoln offered the following motion :
“ That an humble address be presented to her Majesty pray-
ing that she will take into her most gracious consideration the
means by which colonization may be made subsidiary to other
measures for the improvement of the social condition of Ire-
land ; and by which, consistently with a full regard to the in-
terests of the colonies themselves, the comfort and prosperity
of those who emigrate may be effectually promoted.”
His lordship, in a very long and able speech, explained that
his object was to obtain a commission to inquire—first, whe-
ther colonization could be applied so as to relieve those who
remained in Ireland; secondly, whether it could be applied so
as to relieve those who left Ireland; and, lastly, whether it
eould be so conducted as not to interfere with the interests of our
colonies. Mr. Hawes, as under Secretary of the Colonies, in
replying to the motion, admitted most of the principles con-
tained in his lordship’s speech ; but differed from him as to
the expediency of appointing a commission to inquire into
such a subject. He refused to move any amendment on the
motion of Lord Lincoln, and suggested to the noble lord the
propriety of withdrawing it. A long discussion then took
place, in which Sir R. Peel, Lord John Russell, Mr. Hume,
Mr. M. O’Connell, Lord J. Manners, and Mr. Aglionby took
part.
In conclusion the address was agreed to ; but Lord John
Russell intimated that he should advise her Majesty not to issue
a commission of inquiry, but to conduct the inquiry through
agency of the Executive Government. He expressed his
readiness to advise the Governors of the North American colo-
nies to consult their Executive Councils and their local Assem-
blies as,to the plans of emigration to which they would lend
their aid ; and he added that he would lay the result of those
consultations on the table, with the opinions of the Adminis-
tration upon them, early in the next session of Parliament.
NEW YORK CORRESPONDENCE,
New York, June 17, 1847.
The export of Flour from this port for fifteen days from the
first to the fifteenth instant, has exceeded one hundred and
seventy four thousand barrels, averaging nearly twelve thou-
sand barrels pej day, and yet the demand is undiminished and
the supply abundant. The amount of flour exported from the
United States to Gieat Britain from the 1st of September last
to the 14th of May was one million six hundred and fifty-six
thousand barrels. From September to the present time, there-
fore, the export of flour to Great Britain must have exceeded
two millions of barrels. In the same time we have exported
to the same country more than five hundred thousand barrels
of corn meal, some two millions of bushels of wheat, and how
much corn I have no statistics before me to show. And ye1
the depots of provisions in the interior of our country are still
reported to be well supplied and show no signs of exhaustion
What a picture does this present of the agricultural resources
of the country > The United States are fast becoming the
granary of Europe. Some of the most plausible and rational
articles on the subject, which I have recently seen from the
other side of the water, go to show that the call for breadstuff's
from this country is not soon likely to be materially diminish-
ed. And even should the demand be greatly increased the
coming year, the supply will undoubtedly be abundant, as in
most all parts of the country a greatly increased quantity of
seed has been put into the ground.
One of the greatest difficulties the present season in relation
to the export of breadstuff’s has been to get it from the interior
to the seaboard fust enough. Such channels as we have for
transportation have been choked up with the immense masses
to be moved. Is not this a loud argument in favor of internal
improvements throughout the co«ntry ? Does it not show
the great importance of increased facilities by railroads and
canals and the improvement of rivers, lakes, and harbors, and
all the natural channels through which the mighty commerce
of this rapidly-growing country is to be fed ? The Conven-
tion about to meet at Chicago has a subject of immense na -
tional importance before it, and from present appearances it
will be a Convention equal to the subject—a Convention
whose deliberations can hardly fail to be felt through the coun-
try and to command the attention of Congress.
You will see by our papers that about eighty delegates were
appointed in this city yesterday to attend the Chicago Conven-
tion. They are from among our most substantial citizens,
representing the various departments ofbusiness, and without
distinction of political parties. It seems to be the understand-
ing here, and I presume is so considered generally through
the country, that this is not a party Convention, but an inde-
pendent Convention of the people to consult on a subject of
great national interest.
•
The Wilmington (N. C.) Journal of Friday states
that it is currently reported that a number of Bos-
ton capitalists are now in North Carolina for the
purpose of completing negotiations for the building
of a railroad from Raleigh to Columbia or Camden,
South Carolina. As preparatory to this step, the
said rumor says that these gentlemen have already
purchased the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad,
and that they intend to purchase the Raleigh and
Gaston Railroad, now the property of the State of
North Carolina.
The Hon. Wm. Cost Johnson is now on a visit
to Cumberland, having just returned from a visit to
New Orleans.
A
CARD.—A LADY educated in London and Paris, a
good musician, singer, draughtswoman, and painter, who
speaks the French language in all its purity, desires a situa-
tion in a healthy place. Terms moderate. References most
respectable.
A line addressed to C. D. D’Este Smyth, Mobile, Alaba-
ma, will meet with prompt attention.
A graduate of a high Seminary also wants a situation.
june 10—5tcp
New Troops for the War.—The New Orleans
papers of the 12th instant chronicle the following
arrivals at that place :
The U. S. steamer Col. Yell, from Pittsburg, brought
Capt. Taylor, Lieuts. Smith, Hofons, and Keefe, with Com-
pany A, “Independent Greys,” 80 men, from Bedford coun-
ty, Pennsylvania. Also, Capt. Caldwell, Lieuts. McKany,
Bowers, and Doyle, with Company B, “ Wayne Guards,”
90 men, from Mifflin county, Pennsylvania.
The steamer Louisiana, from St. Louis, brought Major J.
H. Savage, Lieuts. A. G. Moon and W. H. Seawell, with
100 men of the 14th regiment U. S. infantry, from Memphis.
Th© steamer Pontiac, from Cincinnati, brought Major Nor-
val, Lieuts. Winston and Perry, with 123 men of the 16th
regiment U. S. infantry.
We find in the Boston papers generally notices of the fact
that their banks have been discounting very freely, and that some
of the institutions have solicited stock collaterals for the em-
ployment of surplus funds. It is said that loans on stocks
have been obtained at five per cent.
A serious accident took place on the 24th ultimo upon the
Shrewsbury and Chester railway, (England ) As a train of
cars, which fortunately contained but a few passengers, was
crossing the Dee, one of the spans of the bridge gave way,
and the whole train, with the exception of the engine and ten-
der, was precipitated into the river, a distance of about thirty
feet. The cars were apparently all overturned in the fall, as,
almost all the passengers received blows upon the head. The
number of those killed or mortally wounded was ten or twelve.
The last trip of the steam-packet Southerner was the quick -
est she has made. She left her wharf at Charleston at a quar-
ter past 6 P. M. on Saturday last, and arrived off Barnegat at
8 o’clock on Monday evening, when she shut off steam. The
distance is upwards of 700 miles ; and consequently the ship
averaged upwards of fourteen miles per hour during the whole
run. Assuming that the distance to Liverpool does not ex-
ceed 2,934 miles, the Southerner could in calm weather make
the trip in nine days ! but her average speed in the winter
months has certainly exceeded the average speed of the best
ocean steamers during the summer.
With such facts before us, who can doubt that the trip to
England will be made within ten days by the steamers about
to be built to form the new mail line between this port and
England ?—Courier.
DISASTER AT THE SAULT ST. MARIE.
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE.
Sault St. Marie, June 11, 1847.
A fearful casualty took place here yesterday ; namely, the
upsetting of a row boat in passing down the rapids, and the
drowning of three of the nine men who embarked in her.
One of them was Dr. Hugh T. Prouty, of Norwalk, Ohio,
here on a tour of observation, accompanied by his wife, leav-
ing several children at home to mourn their sudden bereave-
ment ; Thomas Riches, engineer of the propeller Indepen-
dence on Lake Superioi, was another ; and William Flynn,
an intelligent and worthy laboring man, was the third.
Among those who narrowly escaped death was Mr. Seymour,
who represented this county in the last Legislature of Michi-
gan. He had sunk to rise no more, when an Indian, who
was fishing in the rapids, seeing a man’s body at the bottom
of a lucid pool, seized a boat-hook and drew him up. The
others generally preserved themselves till assistance could ar-
rive by'clinging to an oar or the capsized boat. The bodies
of the three who were drowned have not been recovered.
No such disaster ever occurred here before within the me-
mory of man, though the passage has been made very fre-
quently. But in this case the boat is said to have been too
old and too heavy. She was too heavily laden : there was
too little water on the rapids, owing to the prevalence of east-
erly winds for several days preceding ; and she was probably
not under skilful direction. It is said she took a wrong
channel—too near the British shore. She was careering on
at a fearful speed—not less than thirty miles per hour—when
she struck a rock just under water and was hurled some feet
above the surface, and in an instant after she was capsized
and her crew struggling for their lives. I think this will put
a stop to such navigation for some time to come. H. G.
Quick Travelling.—An army correspondent of the Ar-
kansas Intelligencer, speaking of the advance of the Mexicans
to Agua Nueva, and the order of Col. Marshall for the wagons
to fall back on Buena Vista, says : “I shall never forget this
retreat. The Mexican lancers in full force were not five
minutes behind us when our squadron left Agua Nueva—the
distance to Buena Vista ten miles, the road beautiful. You
will understand how we travelled when I inform you that our
empty wagons made the distance in thirty and our loaded
ones in forty minutes. Good race horse time. ”
Snow Storm.—The Wilmington (Del.) Journal of Fri-
day says : “A severe snow storm visited the farmers near and
above the Pennsylvania boundary line on Monday last.
Snow fell for nearly an hour in some places, and must have
injured the crops, but we hear of no serious damage.”
A New York letter in the Philadelphia Inquirer says : “It
will be recollected that for a number of months past a great
many daring robberies have been committed in omnibuses and
other public vehicles here. It was supposed that there was a
regularly organized set of thieves of both sexes engaged in
these depredations, and a sharp watch was set on them, the
result of which was, that a woman named Catherine Secor,
of genteel appearance and fashionably dressed, was arrested-
She was tried yesterday in the Court of Sessions, and found
guilty of grand larceny, the punishment of which is from one
to five years in the State prison. Although the police are
confident that this woman was the principal of a regularly or-
ganized and extensive gang, yet they have thus far been una-
ble to induce her to disclose any thing.”
Love Tokens not Recoverable at Law.—A discarded
swain, having been unsuccessful in his suit in the court of Hy-
men, lately brought one in a court of law in Massachusetts for
the recovery of a ring, valued at two dollars and fifty cents,
constitutional currency, which he had given to the loved one
in “happier days ;” but in this suit he was destined to be
equally unfortunate, for the jury rendered a verdict for the fair
defendant. The beaus will govern themselves accordingly.
CAPON SPRINGS.
rpHlS delightful romantic summer retreat, situated twenty-
I five miles west of Winchester, Virginia, will be open
for the reception of company on the 5th day of July, and the
proprietor is pleased to announce to his old friends and patrons
that he has erected a large and comfortable house, 130 feet
long by 30 wide, with two large parlors, twenty chambers,
and a fine dining room. There has also been new baths (cold,
and warm) erected for the ladies, and a large and airy pavilion
at the Spring. He deems it unnecessary to say any thing about
the medical qualities ot the water, as it is too well known to
require a notice here. It has within the last few years made
some astonishing cures in eases of Dyspepsia, and the medical
faculty ot this country speak in the highest terms ot its vir-
tues in almost all the diseases to which the human frame is
liable. The roads leading to the Springs have been much im-
proved, and there will be a line of stages tri-weekly from
Winchester, Virginia, under the management of those enter-
prising and gentlemanly stage proprietors, Messrs. Kemp fSc
Ripley.
He has also obtained the services of his brother, David H.
Waddle, who will assist him during the season, and the pub-
lic may rest assured that no pains or expense will be spared to
make them comfortable.
Fresh Bedford Water kept at the bar.
J. C. WADDLE.
Capon Springs, June 18, 1847. June 21—
Champion Sunk.—We regret to learn the loss of this
fine boat. She left St. Louis a few days since for New Or-
leans heavily freighted, and when about six miles above Cape
Girardeau, on Monday morning last, she struck a stump and
sunk immediately. The boat and most of the cargo was lost.
She was owned at Cincinnati, where she was partly insured.
Apprehended Indian Hostilities.—Mr. Richards has
arrived at St. Louis from Fort Laramie, which place he left
on the 26th of March, in company with two other traders.
The upper Indians have been very quiet during the winter.
Last March a party of Nemahas, eighty in number, were
killed by the Sioux. When he left, 700 lodges of Sioux
were on their way south to fight the Pawnees. At Elm
Grove he met 400 Delawares, Shawnees, &c., on their way
against the Pawnees. They expected to be joined by the
Caws, two or three hundred strong.
From general indications there will be a severe contest
against the Pawnees, who number about 800 lodges, whilst
the Sioux alone number 1,800. The various tribes collect-
ing for this expedition under the lead of the Sioux, manifest
bitter hostility against the Pawnees, and threaten to extermi-
nate them.—St. Louis Union.
The trial of Barker Burnell, at Nantucket, for alleged
fraud committed in his late capacity of Cashier of a Bank,
was brought to a close on Tues lay. On Monday Mr. Choate
occupied four hours in his closing speech for the defence.
Mr. Clifford, for the Government, spoke two hours and
three-quarters. The Judge was about an hour delivering his
charge, which was, says the Inquirer, able and impartial. We
take the conclusion from that paper :
“ The jury retired at twenty minutes before seven. As
they had not been able to agree upon a verdict at ten o’clock,
the Court adjourned to Tuesday morning, at half-past seven.
When the Court met, the jury, who had been out all night,
came in with a verdict of not guilty. Mr. Burnell was,
however, taken back to prison, as there are seven other in-
dictments against him on the files of the Court. The Court
has reduced his bonds from $25,090 to $10,000 ; and efforts
are now being made to procure sufficient sureties for his ap-
pearance at the October term.”
The Affray at Yorktown.—We are happy to learn
that Mr. Wm. H. Parker, who was wounded in the abdomen
in the affray at Yorktown on the 11th instant, is not consi-
dered mortally wounded. The ball had not been extracted,
its prepise location not being ascertained. Mr. Southall’s
wound, which was eleven inches long, was healing up. Mr.
Wm. Nelson, who was also engaged in tbe affray, was not
seriously hurt.—Norfolk Beacon.
T7ALUABLE FARM FOR SAJLE—I will sell atpri-
y vate sale the Farm upon which I now reside, lying in the
Forest of Prince George’s county, Maryland, about seven
miles north of Upper Marlboro’ and nine east of Bladensburg,
adjoining the estates of Gov. Samuel Sprigg, Dr. Benj. Lee,
Messrs. Charles Hill, Thomas E. Berry, and Marsham Wa-
ring, containing about 200 acres of land, equal in every re-
spect to any lauds in this rich section of the county, or per-
haps in Maryland.
There are on this iarm a comfortable Dwelling House, con-
taining seven rooms and a large dry cellar, four Tobacco
Houses, and every other necessary outbuilding, with a pump
of fine water in the yard, an abundance of timber and wood,
forty-five or fifty acres of excellent meadow land, and a never
failing stream of pure water running through every field.
A further description of this property is deemed unnecessa-
ry ; but I would invite the attention of those disposed to pur-
chase particularly to it, as a tarm possessing so many and such
peculiar advantages is not often in the market.
Should this land not be sold before the first day of October
it will on that day be offered at public sale, on the premises.
Terms : A credit ot one, two, three, and four years will be
given, the purchaser giving bonds, with approved security,
bearing interest from date.
ap 20—lawtlO WM. J. BELT.
T^rOTICE.—The subscriber wishes to employ a middle-
£ y| aged Lady of experience as a Teacher in his family.
The English branches, French, and Music will be required
to be taught, Satisfactory recommendations will be expected.
Address (post paid) Montevideo, near Darnestown, Montgo-
mery county, Md., JohnP. C. Peter. june 15—3t
SPJLEJYDID LOTTERIES FOR JULY*.
D. PAINE & CO.
CONTRACTORS AND MANAGERS OF LOTTERIES.
$100,000 in Prizes of $10,000 each !
SUSQUEHANNA CANAL LOTTERY, Class 32,
To be drawn in Baltimore July 7, 1847.
SPLENDID SCHEME.
1 prize of....
1 prizes of..
.$10,000
1 do
.....10,000
1
do
----5,000
1 do
1
do
....3,000
1 do
1
do
....2,000
1 do
1
do
----1,830
1 do
.....10,000
20
do
1 do
20
do
......500
1 do
.....10,000
20
do
......300
1 do
.....10,000
&tc.
&EC.
Tickets $10—Halves $5—Quarters $2.50.
$30,000—$15,000—20 of $1,500 !
SUSQUEHANNA CANAL LOTTERY, Class 33,
To be drawn in Baltimore July 14, 1847.
SCHEME.
1 prize ol’.
20 prizes of...
...$1,500
1 do...
.......15,000
20
do......
... 1,000
1 do...
........7,500
20
do......
1 do...
........4,289
300
do......
... 200
See. &
15.
ike.
14 drawn numbers out of 78.
Tickets $10—Halves $5—Quarters $2.50.
75 numbers—14 drawn ballots.
SUSQUEHANNA CANAL LOTTERY, Class 34,
To be drawn iu Baltimore July 21, 1847.
SPLENDID SCHEME.
1 prize of.........$30,000
1 do..............10,000
1. do...............8,000
1 do...............5,000
1 prizes of.....$4,000
20 do...........1,000
20 do............300
&tc. &c.
Tickets $10—Halves $5—Quarters $2 50
$50,000 Dollars!
$25,000, $12,500, 20 of $4,000 each.
200 prizes of $1,000 being the lowest 3-number prize.
SUSQUEHANNA CANAL LOTTERY, Class 35,
To be drawn in Baltimore July 28, 1847.
MAMMOTH SCHEME.
1 grand prize ol........................$50,000
............................25,000
do.
do.
do.
do.
20 prizes of.
200 do----
..12,500
...7,500
...5,786
,. .4,000 each.
.. .1,000 each.
&c. &c. ike.
Whole tickets$15—Halves 7 50—Qrs. 3 75.
Any ticket in the above scheme having 3 drawn Nos. on it
will be entitled to a prize of not less than $1,000.
Certificates of packages of 26 whole tickets $210
Do do 26 half do 105
Do do 26 quarter do 52 50
Do do 26 eighths do 26 25
£3- For tickets, shares, or packages, in the above Lotteries
address D. PAINE CO., Managers,
I june 21—3taw3wd&ep Baltimore, Md,
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National Intelligencer. (Washington [D.C.]), Vol. 48, No. 6941, Ed. 1 Tuesday, June 22, 1847, newspaper, June 22, 1847; Washington, District of Columbia. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1007810/m1/4/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .