Bruce arrived in the Penelope, and Kossoko fled. Then
the troops of King Akatoi began to plunder and burn all
within their reach. On the 3rd. of September Akatoi
died. He was a man of no authority, and addicted to
drink. Kossoko now sent a message to the English
consul, to say that he should come and take possession
of the town; at the same time he stopped all
communication with the town. Hereupon, Commander
Phillips, apparently by order of the consul, sent a force
to join the troops of the new King Docemo; and
Kossoko was again put to flight. Lieutenant Strickland
of the Polyphemus was left to build a wall for the
defence of Lagos.

The intelligence from New York comes down to the
12th instant. The papers are much filled with the news
of the elections, and speculations as to the disposal of
the surplus that the president will have in his hands on
the meeting of Congress. There is little general news
that is of importance to the English public.

A Remarkable Execution by Lynch Law has taken
place at Richmond, Missouri. On the morning of the
12th of October, Mr. Benjamin Allen, a respectable
citizen in company with a friend arrived in the town, and,
while yet on horseback, was accosted in an insolent
manner by a man named Obadiah Wingo, who, gun in
hand, told him he must retract instanter what he had
said about him. Allen replied calmly that he was not
aware of anything derogatory to his character, and
desired to be informed of what he had referred to,
whereupon Wingo said with an oath, "I'll make you
retract," and blew off the whole of Allen's head. What
followed is related by the local journal; "The prisoner
not being able to employ counsel, and the indignation of
the whole community being so strong against him that
no lawyer would volunteer his services, the court
assigned him able counsel, and appointed Friday for the
trial. When the case came up, the prisoner wished his
counsel to move for a change of venue. His counsel
advised him not to make such a motion, stating that if
the motion was sustained he would certainly be taken
by a mob, and hanged without trial. Hereupon he
dismissed his counsel, and undertook the management
of his own case. He then ordered a subpœna for Mrs.
Allen, the lady of the man whom he had murdered,
evidently supposing that her deep distress would
prevent her attendance in court. The subpœna was,
however, granted; but whether the attendance of Mrs.
Allen was procured or not we did not learn. He next
stated to the court that he had learned, from experience
in criminal courts, that the law required that the
prisoner should be furnished with a panel of the venire
that was to decide upon his case, forty-eight hours
before the commencement of the trial. This requirement
of the law not having been complied with, he
demanded a continuance of the case until the next
March Term. At this point of the proceedings the
multitude being satisfied that his only design was delay,
with an intention to make his escape, determined to
take the law into their own hands, and dragging the
miserable wretch from the court, immediately hanged
him."

NARRATIVE OF LITERATURE AND ART.

Still on the mere verge of the winter publishing season,
we have not to describe many books of importance as
having appeared during the past month. But the Master
of Trinity College has issued a very careful and complete
edition of Grotius De Jure Belli et Pacis, in three
octavo volumes, with all the notes of the author and of
his best commentators, and with an abridged translation
into English by Dr. Whewell himself, in which the
excellent plan is adopted of giving only the substance of
the text in the English version, without attempting to
translate those abundant flourishes of poetical and other
quotations with which the page of Grotius is studded.
Another book possessing similar interest is a translation
by Dr. Leonard Schmitz of Niebuhr's Lectures on Ancient
Ethnography and Geology, as lately published in Germany
by Dr. Isler, and now issued in volumes uniform with
the early translations. A third book which may be
excepted from the somewhat common-place list of the
past month, is a careful library edition of Sir James
Mackintosh's History of England, so revised and put
forth by the author's son as to have lost much of the
fragmentary character which in its original form it
possesses. And for a last book which deserves similar
exception, we may name Miss Martineau's Translation
and Condensation of the Positive Philosophy of
Auguste Comte.

The more interesting of the miscellaneous books have
been,—a volume on Civil Liberty and Self- Government
by an American jurist. Dr. Francis Lieber; a History
of the Anti-Corn-Law League by one of its Executive
Council, Mr. Archibald Prentice, who bore active part
in its most energetic proceedings; a new volume of the
popular edition of Lord Mahon's History; a republication
of the pleasant Love Story of Dr. Dove and his wife,
from Southey's Doctor; a novel called The Roses, by
the writer of a clever story which attracted attention
some years ago; a collection of stories by another lady-
writer, published with the title of Avillion; two novels
called respectively Walter Evelyn, or the Long Minority,
and Savile House, which form part of the attempts
now in progress to publish novels at a third of their
ordinary price; a volume by Mr. Laurence Oliphant,
very opportune to present occurrences in the East, on
The Russian Shores of the Black Sea, as seen in the
Autumn of 1852; a child's story by Mrs. Bray, and
illustrated by Mr. H. K. Browne, called A Peep at the
Pixies, or Legends of the West; an intelligent volume
by Mr. William Westgarth on Victoria, late Australia
Felix, which is chiefly devoted to a descriptive account
of the gold mines of the colony; a volume by Professor
Creasy on The Rise and Progress of the English
Constitution; a collection of well-arranged anecdotes, by
Mr. James Smith, illustrative of the Lights and Shadows
of Artist Life and Character; a volume of Letters from
Spain, by Mr. Arthur Kenyon; a translation in one
volume, amusingly illustrated, of Mr. Max Schlesinger's
Saunterings in and about London; a volume, chiefly
compiled from the official returns of the Board of
Trade, on The Ottoman Empire and its Resources, by
Dr. Michelsen; a quaint American biography, with the
title of Isaac T. Hopper, a True Life; portions of the
new and separate editions of the various treatises in the
Encyclopædia Metropolitana; several useful volumes in
Mr. Bohn's various Libraries; a new and enlarged
edition of Tegg's Dictionary of Chronology; a Life of Robert
Southey in one small volume, by Mr. Charles Browne; a
volume of curious information, by Mr. John Calvert, on
The Gold Rocks of Great Britain and Ireland, which
shows what has heretofore been done, and may yet again
be attempted in the way of Gold Digging at home; a useful
little Handbook to the Library of the British Museum,
giving all needful information to guide the student there,
especially in regard to the Manuscript Collections, by
Mr. Richard Sims; a pretty little translation from the
French of Emile Souvestre, called A Peep of the World
from a Garret; a volume of Poems, by Mr. Matthew
Arnold; a spirited traveller's book on Forest Life in
Ceylon, by Mr. Knighton; and a translation (from
America) of the Baron de Jomini's Political and Military
History of the Campaign of Waterloo, which has
at least the novelty of being completely contradictory
of all the authoritative English versions of the
battle.

To this summary it will suffice to add that the
approach of Christmas begins to show itself in
gift books, guide books, and almanacks. The great
Post-office Directory has made its appearance in more
gigantic bulk than ever. Mr. Punch has issued his
Pocket-Book. The Keepsake and Court Album again
solicit their admirers. And Mr. Charles Knight has
published his most useful British Almanack and
Companion for 1854.