E. NORWICH. T. HEREFORD. J. LICHFIELD.

C. ST. DAVID'S.
P. N. CHICHESTER.

R. DERRY AND RAPHOE.

T. V. SODOR AND MAN

"We, the undersigned, desire to express our concurrence in the foregoing declaration :

C. KILDARE.
R. P. CLOGHER.
J. ELPHIN.

R. OSSORY AND
FERNS.

JAMES DROMORE.

NOR.

S. CORK.
EDMOND LIMERICK.
STEPHEN CASHEL.
LUDLOW, KILLALOE

AND CLONFERT. THOMAS TUAM, CHARLES MEATH,"

- THE EARTHQUAKE STORY, For some weeks past a singular impression has been entertained by the lower classes of Irish residing in the metropolis and its environs, that London is to be destroyed by an earthquake, and the day fixed for this event, which is to swallow up the capital of the British empire, is the 16th of March. A great many Irish people have already left the metropolis for distant parts of the country and for Ireland, and others are preparing to follow, to evade the earthquake; and the excitement among the natives of the sister isle in the eastern part of the metropolis is very great. They are daily receiving letters from their relatives in Ireland to return home, and save themselves from the destruction which is sure to await them if they remain here. Many have removed eastward of Stepney Old Church, on the supposition that the earthquake is not to extend beyond that venerable edifice, which, it is prophesied, is to fall,

Conran, aged twenty-eight, by trade a gardener. It appeared from the evidence, that about seven o'clock on the morning of the 6th of January last the deceased was walking to the residence of Mr. Bushe, at Clontarf, where he was used to work, when his attention was attracted upon the road by a very small dog of much beauty. He stooped down for the purpose of patting it, and having played with it for a minute or so, he spat inadvertently upon it; the dog grew incensed, and springing towards the face of the deceased, who was still leaning over it, made a snap at him and bit him in the under lip. deceased struck the dog down, who immediately ran away, and he never after saw more of it. The wound on his lip healed up in four or five days, and he thought nothing of it until Friday morn ing last, when, as he was going to his work, he complained of feeling very ill. He continued at his work that day, but returned much worse about seven o'clock, when he complained of great pain in his hip and general illness. He called for water, saying that he was thirsty, but when it was brought to him he shuddered at the sight and refused to drink, and said

The

there was something the matter with his throat which prevented him from swallowing. All that night he raved in his sleep about the dog, imploring that it might be killed, and giving an accurate description of it. On Saturday his malady increased fearfully. He shuddered at the sound of water; and although he retained his consciousness and memory to the last, he occasionally leaped about so frantically, that it was found necessary to call in the police to hold him. On Sunday morning, the 27th ult., he was conveyed to the Richmond hospital, where he died about four o'clock. As the hour of his dissolution approached, his sufferings appeared to undergo much mitigation, and he died composedly in the arms of his mother, being at the time in the full possession of his mental faculties. Verdict" Died of hydrophobia."

4. HOME CIRCUIT, HERTFORD -DUNN V. COMBE-This was an action brought by Richard Dunn, the Irish barrister, who has so often dragged himself before the public by his extraordinary conduct towards Miss Burdett Coutts, against Mr. Boyce Combe, one of the magistrates of Hatton-garden Police-court for false imprison

ment.

Joseph Shackell, an inspector of the metropolitan police, proved that he apprehended the plaintiff on a bench warrant on the night of the 10th of July, 1840. The next day he took him before Mr. Combe at Hatton-garden Police court, and before the charge was entered into, the plaintiff sat upon the bench with the magistrate.

Mr. Kilsby, the governor of the New Prison proved that Dunn was in his custody from the 11th of July to the 9th of November.

He was removed by habeas corpus before Mr. Justice Bosanquet at his chambers, and Mr. Dunn there argued against the validity of the warrant and of the articles of the peace, but after the question had been argued upon two occasions, the learned judge refused to make any order, and the plaintiff was sent back to prison. Mr. Dunn was treated in the same way as all the other prisoners in the misdemeanour class. All the male prisoners slept in separate cells at night, but in the day time they were together.

Mr. Thesiger, on behalf of the defendant, described the present case as one of the most extraordinary in its character that had ever come to his knowledge, and declared that he was ashamed to see a member of that profession to which he had the honour to belong, have the courage to appear as a plaintiff in such an action. It had been shown that from the year 1838 down to the period when the occurrence which led to the present proceeding took place, the plaintiff Dunn had been pursuing a system of annoyance towards the young lady whose name had been introduced into this inquiry, of such a character as to render her life completely miserable; and he should blush for the law of which he (Mr. Thesiger) was a humble instrument, if a man, after having outraged every feeling of delicacy and honour, entirely destroyed the personal comfort of an innocent individual, and having, by some technicality, escaped the punishment he so richly deserved, could then stand up in a court of justice, and ask a jury of honest men to give him damages for his pretended injuries. Would the jury counten

ance such a man saying, "True I have offended most grievously, but I have contrived to keep clear of the strict letter of the law, and therefore, as the law has been put in force against me under such circumstances, I will have damages?" He should like to know what damages the "wounded feelings" of such a man demanded. Mr. Combe had no opportunity of seeing the articles of the peace, or of judging of their validity; and all that he knew was, that the Quarter Sessions had granted a warrant against a party, and Mr. Dunn being identified as the party referred to in the warrant, he had no alternative but to commit him. After the decree of the Court of Queen's Bench, however, it must be taken that Mr. Combe was not strictly justified in law in the course he pursued, and therefore the plaintiff must have a verdict; but it would be for the jury to say what damages he was entitled to; and to form their opinion upon this subject he invited them to look at the conduct of the plaintiff, and ask themselves what damages such a man was entitled to? He observed, that in the statement of Miss Burdett, on which the articles of the peace were exhibited, it was insinuated that Mr. Dunn was not in his right mind. If this were really so, he was an object of pity. It was the only excuse he could suggest for him, and he would willingly throw a veil over his conduct if such were really the case. But if it was not so-if in the possession of all his faculties he had wilfully carried on this cruel system of persecution towards an innocent young lady, rendering her life completely miserable, depriving her almost of her liberty, continu

Could

ally dragging her before the public, and not allowing her even in a place of devotion to be safe from his importunities, he was at a loss for words to express his opinion of such base and unmanly conduct, and he could hardly account for the audacity of such a man coming before a jury of his country and asking for damages. it be endured that a British subject was to have her feelings outraged that she should dread to go about for fear of meeting her persecutor-that she should have her life rendered completely miserable-that the man who was the cause of all this persecution having, by a mere technicality, escaped the punishment he deserved, should thus come forward and claim damages for an inconvenience which he had brought entirely upon himself by his own misconduct ? It had been said that Mr. Dunn had suffered four months' illegal imprisonment. It was his own fault that he did so. The learned counsel then stated that he regretted that Mr. Dunn should have brought such an action; but he was quite sure that the jury would by their verdict express their opinion of his conduct in this transaction.

Mr. Baron Alderson then addressed the jury, and said that he was of opinion that in law the plaintiff was entitled to a verdict; as to the amount of damages, it would be for them to say what damages he ought to recover under the circumstances.

The jury immediately returned a verdict for the plaintiff-Damages one farthing.

When the verdict was delivered, Mr. Dunn rose, and in a very excited manner was about to address the learned judge, but Mr.

Baron Alderson (this being the last case) ordered the court to be adjourned, and immediately turned his back to him, and left the

court.

Mr. Dunn then addressed his counsel in a violent tone, and accused them of having "basely sold" him, and said that the case had been conducted in a manner entirely in opposition to his instructions.

66

ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.-The rattlesnake belonging to this institution in Edinburgh, which is generally in a torpid condition, lately exhibited considerable uneasiness, from which it was concluded that its period for taking food had arrived. It was upwards of six months since it had been fed, and the superintending director having procured a live mouse, put it into the box in which the suake is confined and exhibited, to be dealt with as its appetite might prompt. No sooner was the wee courin' timorous beastie" perceived by the reptile, than immediately it elevated its head, and, making a sudden spring at it, struck its fangs into its neck; the bite was almost instantly fatal to the poor creature. The snake then proceeded to the work of deglutition. It first slimed over the dead body, and then slowly began to swallow it. This process occupied more than half an hour. A great many visiters were present as witnesses to this interesting operation. The snake is quite young, and about

the thickness of a man's middle finger, so that its power of swallowing this animal was really wonderful.

7. WRECK OF THE CITY OF EDINBURGH STEAM SHIP.-This morning intelligence of the wreck of this steamer, the property of

the General Steam Navigation Company, commanded by Captain J. G. Hast, was received. The City of Edinburgh, it appears, left the Custom-house-quay on Tuesday afternoon, the 1st inst., for Ostend, having on board between thirty and forty passengers, and a general cargo. After leaving the river she encountered a heavy gale from the westward, which lasted the whole day and night, but her passage was not impeded, and she reached her destination in perfect safety the next day, and brought up alongside of Ostend Pier, to land her passengers. At an early hour the following morning (Thursday), while the crew were busily employed in landing the cargo, there came on a hurricane, and suddenly the that secured her to warps the pier snapped asunder, and she drifted. The confusion that ensued amongst those on board can readily be imagined, when it is stated, that Ostend harbour is one of the most dangerous on that part of the coast, and several large vessels have been lost in an attempt even to enter it. In consequence or the steam not being up and her sails being furled she was completely unmanageable, and the storm was so violent, in the course of a few minutes, that she was hurled against the stone battlement of the east pier. Such was the force with which she struck that it was expected she would be thrown over; but, however, she swung round, and drifting swiftly, passed the pier, and ran ashore about three-quarters of a mile eastward of the harbour. Within an hour after the vessel had struck, hundreds of persons had assembled on the beach to render assistance to get her off, for which purpose measures were immediately adopted to lighten her, and in the

course of a short time the whole of the cargo was got ashore, toge ther with her costly furniture and fittings, but to no purpose, al though several vessels were engaged in the attempt. Preparations were then made to get her machinery, engines, and boilers out, to further lighten the vessel for a second attempt; but, night coming on, the crew and others were compelled to defer any further operations till the following day. Her appearance then foretold her fate; her masts and the entire of her rigging had been swept overboard during the night, as had also her funnel. This, however, did not discourage in the slightest degree the exertions of the crew, who managed to lighten the vessel of the machinery, &c., and at high water another desperate attempt was made to get her afloat; but all the assistance that could be brought into requisition proved utterly useless, and after another night's exposure, she became a complete wreck.

8. FRIGHTFUL COLLISION AT SEA AND LOSS OF LIFE. This afternoon a considerable interest was manifested on the river by the arrival of the brig Astley, Captain Thompson, master, in Limehouse Reach, almost a wreck, having been run into by a vessel called the Penelope on the morning of Friday last, the 4th inst., at sea, near Aldborough, and so terrible was the collision that the latter vessel went down headfofemost almost immediately after wards, carrying with her one of the crew, who unfortunately perished. Both vessels, it appears, were on their passage to London; the Astley, belonging to Seaton Sluice, and the Penelope, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, laden with

coals. The catastrophe happened about one o'clock in the morning, and according to the statements made by the masters of both vessels, it seems that they were bearing up against the wind, under singlereefed topsails, and the collision was occasioned entirely by the mismanagement of those on board the unfortunate Penelope. The Penelope struck the Astley in the centre of her starboard quarter, cutting down her bulwarks nearly to the water's edge, and also the mainmast, which fell instantly overboard, carrying with it all the rigging and the whole of the upper part of her stern. Within seven minutes after the Penelope filled and went down with a seaman, named George Peake, clinging to her forerigging, which he had apparently ascended for the purpose of jumping on board of the Astley. The rest of the crew, consisting of seven seamen and the master, Captain Peake, contrived to launch the long-boat, which they jumped into at the moment the vessel was sinking, but it was nearly drawn down by the eddy that was occasioned by the sinking vessel. For a considerable time the crew on board of the Astley were in expectation of their vessel going down, and their boats were hoisted overboard in readiness to leave her. However, after working at the pumps for a long time, some tarpauling was secured over the hole in her starboard quarter, which prevented her filling, and in the course of two or three hours the vessel was brought up in safety off Aldborough. The crew of the ill-fated Penelope were picked up shortly after the collision by a Yarmouth fishing-smack, which conveyed them to Orfordness, where their wants were at