Her Majesty, with her characteristic liberality, has
presented to the Royal National Institution for the
Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, £100, in aid of its
diminished funds.

Miss Cunningham, whose imprisonment in Tuscany,
for having distributed prohibited books was mentioned
in our last number, has been set at liberty by order of
the Grand Duke.

The Emperor of France, has granted a pension of
2,000 francs, out of his private purse, to the father and
mother of Lieut. Bellot, who perished in the Arctic
expedition. This pension is to descend to the brothers
and sisters of Lieut. Bellot after the death of their
parents.

The subscription commenced in Rochdale for a
testimonial to Mr. Bright for his exertions in behalf of
free trade has been brought to a close. The amount
was upwards of £5,000. After consulting with the hon.
member, the committee decided that a library would be
an appropriate testimonial. The case is an elegant and
elaborate work of art. A silver plate is affixed to this
handsome piece of furniture, with an appropriate
inscription. The library consists of more than 1,200
volumes. It was selected by Mr. Bright at an additional
cost of £1,300, and the balance, after deducting the
expenses, has been paid to that gentleman.

The Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, eldest daughter
of the Emperor, who with her family, has been passing
the summer at Torquay, left that place on the 21st, on
her return to the continent.

Mr. John Mitchell, one of the Irish political convicts,
has escaped from Van Dieman's Land in a manner by
no means honourable. He had a ticket-of-leave, and
was at large on parole. He went to the office of the
Police Magistrate, and handed in a letter surrendering
his ticket-of-leave and parole. Before the official had
time to read the document, Mr. Mitchell ran out of the
office, mounted a horse, and was away to the sea-coast;
whence a boat conveyed him to an American vessel, in
which he got clear off.

Obituary of Notable Persons.

M. FRANCOIS ARAGO, the celebrated mathematician and
astronomer, died at Paris on the 2nd inst., in his 67th year.
He was perpetual secretary of the Academy of Sciences,
Member of the Board of Longitude, and Grand Officer of the
Legion of Honour.

Lord ANDERSON, one of the Lords Justiciary of Scotland,
died in London on the 28th ult., in the 56th year of his age.

Colonel LOUIS DE CADOUDAL, last surviving brother of
George Cadoudal, the celebrated leader of Brittany, has just
died at his country seat in La Vendée, aged 63.

General Sir ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, Bart., G.C.H., died on
the 17th inst., at Bath, in the 83rd year of his age. He was
the senior general of her Majesty's service.

COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES.

The Overland India Mail has brought dates from
Bombay to the 28th, and from Calcutta to the 20th of
September. Our Burmese acquisitions are in a state of
war, being overrun by large bodies of armed men, said
to exceed 14,000, who occupy fortified positions, whence
they attack our posts with occasional success. They
are said to be instigated by the King of Ava. Resumption
of formal hostilities is considered inevitable.
Colonel Mackisson has been assassinated by an Affghan at
Peshawar. Captain Parker and Ensign Bosworth have
been killed in an affair with Arabs in the Nizam country.

There are advices from Melbourne to the 28th of July.
The produce of gold at the mines was stated to be greater
than ever, though little was coming down to Melbourne,
owing to the impassable state of the roads. A private
escort was robbed on its way to Melbourne, of 8,000
ounces of dust, and about £4,000 in gold, and six troopers
were killed. The value of gold at Melbourne was
£3 17s. 6d. per ounce, at which rate several sales were
effected.

The Sydney papers received by the last mail contain
interesting information on the progress of the colony.
The gold fields of New South Wales, though less
stupendous in their results than those of Victoria, have
never since their first discovery ceased to remunerate a
large mining population, while the wealth of the colony
has been still further increased by considerable amounts
of gold and money obtained by inhabitants of New South
Wales in the Victoria gold fields. Ample evidence of
this fact is furnished by the Sydney Gold Circulars from
the 4th to the 18th of June. In the week ending the
4th of June, 2,161 ounces of gold, valued at about £8,000,
reached Sydney from the various New South Wales
diggings, which may be enumerated as follows:
—Bathurst, Sofala, Yass, Bingara, Tambaroora, Avisford,
Mudgee, Braidwood, Bell's Creek, Major's Creek, Goulburn,
Murrurundi, Cameron's Creek, Tamworth, Hanging
Rock, Rocky River, and the Ovens, where new and
rich placers had been discovered. In the week ending
June 10, the arrivals amounted to 4,325 ounces, valued
at £15,000; in the week ending June 18, 1,416 ounces
of gold came to Sydney, together with £2,864 in cash.
The total of the exports of gold since the first discovery
amounted to 1,332,741 ounces, which at 70s. per ounce,
represent a capital of £4,664,593. The prices of gold at
Sydney in the third week of June ranged from £3 15s.
to £3 17s. 6d. per ounce. The mining population make
themselves as comfortable as can be expected. Diggers'
tents and lairs, constructed of dry branches give way to
bark and slab huts, some of them constructed in a very
substantial manner, and doing, by the taste and judgment
displayed in their arrangements, much honour to
the impromptu architects. Log huts, too, are being
built at almost all the diggings.

The Sydney commercial reports contain some evidence
of the overstocked condition of the colonial market.
About the end of May prices were still enormously high.
Brandy, for instance, left 70 per cent. profit to the
importer, and case gin and rum, 25 per cent., after paying
all expenses. A few days afterwards enormous shipments
arrived, prices of storeage increased to a very high rate,
importers were compelled to push the sales, and the
auctioneers were completely smothered with goods. The
prices of produce and provisions were affected by the
general reaction, to the signal benefit of the labouring
population. Flour sold at £18 and £20 per ton of
2,000 lb.; bread sold at 6d. the 2lb. loaf; beef at 1¼d. to
1½d. per lb., and mutton at 2¼ to 2½d. per lb. The prices
of fowls, turkeys, eggs, potatos, &c., are not higher
than the quotations of the London markets at periods of
moderate scarcity. But those prices apply to Sydney
only. At the various diggings provisions are still
enormously high, in exact proportion to their distance from
Sydney, the badness of the weather, and the condition
of the roads. The high price of labour continues, in
many instances, to prevent the execution of useful
undertakings, which, in the end, would doubtless be
profitable to the speculator and to the community. It
appears that in almost all trades a want of hands is
painfully felt, and corresponding wages are given. The
cry is still for useful emigrants. A considerable number
of ships had arrived with living cargoes of both sexes,
married and single. Other ships were immediately in
prospect, and yet the complaint is general. It is
impossible to get work done in any sufficient quantity.
Many families are compelled to do without servants;
others must change them from week to week. Most of
the young women are unfit for their duties; many will
not even submit to be taught. Another grievance is the
mismanagement of the police force. Though Sydney is
by far more orderly and safe than Melbourne, still the
protection of persons and property leaves much to be
desired. The police are described as being neither
efficient in quality nor sufficient in number; their pay
not being high enough to tempt sober, steady, and
able-bodied men from other trades. Besides the inefficiency
of the police, there is another universal cause of crime in
New South Wales. It is intemperance. The police
reports show that one half of the offences against the