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new buildings, a great demand for stone was created, and the workmen, in order to obtain the supply, had lately the imprudence to cut down the pillars that had been left to support the roof. About two in the morning of one day last week, the inhabitants were awakened by a terrible report as if of an earthquake; and when the light of day enabled them to seek for the cause, they found that the quarry had given way, leaving a chasm upwards of 400 yards wide, and at least 20 yards deep, carrying down with it one half of the buryingground, and part of the adjoining enclosure, and exposing to the horror-struck inhabitants the scattered members and mutilated bodies of their buried relations and friends, mingled with the whitened bones of their forefathers. On the torn sides of the cavern numerous coffins were still suspended, some of them projecting half way from the crumbling earth, and ready to fall into the abyss. The church remains standing, and, at its foot, a small house belonging to a peasant, which have become entirely isolated on a point, bounded on one side by the steep and rugged bank of the river, at least 50 yards high, and on the other by the new-made chasm. The peasant lost the whole of his farming stock and implements, stacks of forage, and 14 barrels of wine; in fact, the entirety of his little property. The concussion of air occasioned by the suddenness of the shock was so great, that a heavy waggon and a barrel of lees were carried to a distance of 50 yards; a thick wall was blown down, and some lighter articles were afterwards found 130 yards from their places. Fortunately, not a single life was lost.-French paper.

VOL. LXXV.

23. COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. Mackenzie v. Macleod. This was an action brought by Lady Mackenzie against Colonel Macleod, to recover compensation in damages for the loss of a house and furniture by fire, whilst in the occupation of the defendant, as the plaintiff's yearly tenant.

The defeudant, on his return from India, in the year 1831, took a house in Scotland (Castle Haboch) from Lady Mackenzie, at a yearly rent of 300l., in consideration of which he obtained the use of the furniture, plate, linen, &c. Colonel Macleod retained in his service some persons who had been previously employed by the plaintiff. One of these, a female, named Catherine Clark, who acted as housemaid, and whose duty it was to attend to the fires, fancied that the chimney of the housekeeper's room required cleansing, and that the operation would be best performed by setting it on fire. She communicated her idea to the cook, who cautioned her against carrying it into effect, lest the house should be burnt. Nevertheless, finding that the chimney smoked, she persisted in her intention, and set fire to some fern and straw, which ignited the soot, and occasioned the damage complained of.

The Scotch law, in accordance with which the contract and respective liabilities of the parties in this case were to be governed, is to this effect:-Where a house which is let from year to year is destroyed by fire, if the injury is caused by the misconduct of the tenant, he becomes liable to the owner for the damage. If the fire occur through the misconduct or negligence of the tenant's servant, while in the performance of the ordinary duties N

for which he is hired, the master is also liable for the consequences; but otherwise not.

It was contended by the plaintiff, that this was a case in which the defendant must be held accountable for the misconduct of his servant; whilst, on the other hand, it was argued, on the part of the defendant, that Catherine Clark was not acting in the performance of her ordinary duties, or undertaking an act specially assigned to her by Colonel Macleod at the time when the fire occurred, and, consequently, that the tenant could not be called on to make compensation for the loss. It was proved, that in Scotland chimnies were usually cleansed by masons or carpenters; that the chimney in question had been so cleansed shortly before the fire; and that the last attempt to cleanse it was the spontaneous act of Catherine Clark, not done at the request of her master, or in the execution of her ordinary business, and, consequently, that it could not be pretended that the case came within that rule of Scotch law by which the employer was rendered liable for the negligence of his servant. Verdict for the defendant.

Attorney v. Shore. After several days hearing, this case, which was important, as affecting religious trusts, was decided in the Vice Chancellor's court. The object of the suit was to take out of the hands of the trustees, members of a Unitarian chapel, certain funds known by the name of Dame Sarah Hewley's charity, and alleged to have been left for the purpose of inculcating Trinitarian doctrines. St. Saviour-gate chapel, to which the funds belong, is now in the possession of Unitarians; and it was contended by Counsel, that the

doctrines promulgated by the Rev. Mr. Wellbeloved, the minister, were in opposition to those entertained by the founder. On behalf of the trustees, it was argued that Lady Hewley, at the time she made the gift, was fully aware that some of the " Presbyterians," to which sect she belonged, held the doctrine of the Trinity, and that it was denied by others. They did not deny that Lady Hewley was a Trinitarian, but they had the means of proving that she did not go the whole length of the Trinitarian doctrine. The Vice Chancellor, after having referred to the wills of Sir John and Lady Hewley, said, that it was quite clear from the contents of those instruments, that both Sir John and Lady Hewley were persons who firmly believed in the divinity of Christ, and that when Lady Hewley used the terms "godly preachers of Christ's Holy Gospel" in the deed, she intended that the bounty of her charity should be enjoyed only by persons who believed in the divinity of Christ. A decree was, therefore, made removing Unitarians from the administration of the trust.

26. ELEVEN PERSONS DROWNED IN THE RIVER OUSE NEAR YORK.-On Thursday afternoon, about half-past one o'clock, the singers attached to the parish church of Stillingfleet, who consist of the most exemplary persons of the village, left their homes for the purpose, as is usual at this season of the year, of visiting the principal farmers within the parish, which includes the villages of Stillingfleet, Moreby, Acaster, Selby, and Kelfield. They had been to Moreby and Acaster, and were proceeding, at half-past four o'clock, in a boat to Kelfield. At a place

called Mill Mouth, about a quarter of a mile from Acaster, they met a vessel, coal laden, coming down the river, hauled by a horse. The party in the boat called out to Stephen Green, the hauling-man, to hold the line tight, so as to allow them to go under it. Green replied he would not do that, for if he attempted to do so, he should sweep them out of the boat. He, therefore, slackened the rope, to let the boat go over it, when one of the men in the boat seized the rope, and attempted to throw it over the boat; in this he failed, and the line caught the stern of the boat, which, being thrown on her broadside, instantly filled with water, and capsized. Green saw most of the men in the water, shouting for assistance. Unfor tunately, the boat attached to the vessel had got loose, and the men on board were unable to render any assistance, except to two men named Toes and Fisher, who had seized hold of the hauling-rope; another, named Eccles, saved himself by swimming, supported by the oars of the boat. Toes was in sensible when he was gotten out of the water, but, by proper application, animation was restored. The others, eleven in number, quickly disappeared, in spite of every effort to save them.

POLITICAL PROSECUTIONS IN FRANCE. The Paris court of assizes, during a considerable portion of December, was engaged in the trial for an alleged plot against the government, of 27 persons, one of whom was a woman, and the great majority of whom were young men, without wealth or rank, and with no pretensions to superior capacity or knowledge. The only individual among them, in the least distinguished from the mass, was a

M. Raspail, who, having at first acquired a reputation for chymical science, had latterly earned a better title to the confidence of his republican friends by two years of imprisonment for seditious libels. The rest consisted of lads who had attained the cross of July, of disciples of the Polytechnic school, of the school of law, and of needy Paris tradesmen. The charge against them was that, belonging all to the republican society of "The Friends of the Rights of Man," they had entered into a plot to overthrow the government on the 28th of July last, by taking advantage of the presumed hostility of the Parisians to" the detached forts" ordered to be built around the capital. The 28th of July was the day on which the National Guards and the troops of the line were called out to a grand review, and, as the former were presumed to be hostile to "the detached forts," it was supposed that, in permitting or joining in their demolition, this civic force would furnish an opportunity for overturning the throne which they were assembled to protect. The conspirators were alleged to have arranged their plans for the insurrection - to have distributed their forces for the tumult-to have appointed their posts to have prepared arms-to have made ball-cartridges, and to have drawn out treasonable proclamations. The arms, cartridges, and proclamations, were found on their persons or in their houses by the police, and a body of nearly 150 witnesses were summoned to support the charge.

The accused were all acquitted. 31. HURRICANE.-The metropolis was this day visited by a tremendous storm of wind and

rain. It blew very fresh all the morning from the south-west; but, about half-past twelve o'clock, the atmosphere suddenly became darkened; immediately afterwards the rain fell in torrents, accompanied by a tremendous gust of wind; the streets were, in a very short time, under water, and the passengers were obliged to take shelter in houses and covered passages. For a few minutes the leading thoroughfares of the city, always crowded with passengers at this period of the day, were completely deserted. On the river numerous tiers of shipping in the upper and lower pools broke from their moorings; numerous collisions took place; and extensive damage has been done, particularly among the colliers. Everything floating on the Thames became unmanageable, and the people on the decks and seats of the barges, lighters, and wherries were compelled to throw themselves down to save themselves from being blown into the river. The spray rose so high that it dashed over the ships at anchor, and, in many cases, carried everything off the decks. The sails of various ships which had not been furled were either carried away or torn to ribands. The ensign on the top of Greenwich Hospital met with this fate; it was torn piece-meal from the flag-staff, and, when the storm abated, the only remains of it left were a few rags: the Union Jack was made to supply its place by a few veterans, after

the storm abated. About the same time two ballast lighters, heavily laden, went down off Deptford, and the ballast-men only saved themselves by jumping into their boats and cutting the painters. During the hurricane a large open barge, laden with a cargo of provisions in barrels, was driven against new London-bridge, and the side was stove in. She soon filled, and went down off Billingsgate. The barge drifted as far as New Crane Shadwell, but the cargo, valued at 1,000l., was lost. The watermen suffered much by the loss of their boats, not less than 100 having been blown over or broken to pieces, while the storm was at its height; and the few wherries, which had not time to seek shelter, were tossed about the river at the mercy of the wind and waves. A skiff containing three persons, one apparently a boy, who were lying crouched in the bottom, was lifted out of the water, turned over, and instantly disappeared under the water. This accident occurred in Limehouse-reach, but it was impossible for any one to put off to the assistance of the unfortunate creatures and they all perished. It is reported that others were lost in a similar manner. At four o'clock a laden coal-barge, belonging to Mr. Pugh, of Salisburywharf, went down off Bankside, in consequence of a heavy sea dashing over it. In Blackwall-reach the vessels were driven from their moorings, and several barges sunk.

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