the House of Lords, and moved the adjournment of the House till Thursday, which was agreed to without discussion.

July 17.-Lord Althorp stated, that Lord Melbourne having been commissioned by his Majesty to lay before him the plan of an Administration, had completed his arrangements, and reconstructed the Cabinet. The addition made to the Ministry was, that Lord Duncannon having accepted the office of Secretary of State for the Home Department, Sir John Cam Hobhouse had been appointed to the Woods and Forests, in place of Lord Duncannon, with a seat in the Cabinet. His Lordship concluded by moving for a new writ for Nottingham, in the room of Lord Duncannon.-A long debate took place on the subject of the Ministerial arrangements, after which the writ was ordered.-Mr. Shiel brought forward his motion for an Address to his Majesty on the existing Distress in Ireland, which, after some conversation, was withdrawn.

July 18.-Lord Althorp brought forward the renewal of the Coercion Bill, and proposed to re-enact those parts of the Bill which refer to the proclaimed districts, with the addition of two clauses for the protection of witnesses, and to prevent signals for the collection of tumultuous assemblies. Mr. O'Connell declared his intention not to oppose the measure.Sir R. Peel said that Ministers were called upon to explain the grounds on which they had come to the resolution of proposing the Bill as thus modified; but that he should not move the re-insertion of the clauses proposed to be omitted. After a very long debate, the House divided; for the motion, 140; against it, 43.-The Bill was then read a first time.-The Church Temporalities Bill went through a Committee.-The Trading Companies Bill was read a second time.-The third reading of the Sabbath Observance Bill was carried by 57 to 24.-Mr. Cayley then proposed, by way of rider, a clause, declaring that nothing in the act should prevent any games or exercises in the open air, such games not being played during divine service, on the premises of beer-houses, or for money.-This clause was carried by 37 to 31.-Finally, the House divided on the question that the Bill do pass, when it was negatived by 35 to 31.

THE COLONIES.

NEW SOUTH WALES.

It appears, by a statement in the "Australian," that the population, exclusive of the military, is 57,000. Of different religious persuasions there are 38,273 Protestants, 15,165 Roman Catholics, 307 Jews, 41 Pagans, and 1505 uncertain. The number of free Roman Catholics is 8168, or about one-fourth of the free population. The proportion of Protestants to Catholics, not free, is about three to one.

SWAN RIVER.

Favourable accounts have been received from Swan River to the middle of February. The greatest drawback was the high price of labour, but this circumstance holds out great encouragement for settlers to repair thither; and some were returning from Van Diemen's Land who had left the colony on its first settlement. Freemantle had much improved in appearance and convenience; this is greatly owing to the facility with which stone is procured, and the cheapness of timber and lime. The natives continue on friendly terms with the settlers, frequenting the towns, and often receiving provisions either from the colonists or from the Government stores. At Perth, new barracks were recently finished, which are built of brick, and other improvements were in progress. At the settlement over the mountains at York, the land had proved very good for culture and for

grazing to a very large extent. The flocks of sheep and the cattle were increasing fast. A herd of wild cattle had been discovered on the banks of the Murray River, not much short of 200. The natives gave notice of its existence to the settlers. They were led to make the discovery known by seeing a picture which contained a group of cattle,

FOREIGN STATES.

FRANCE.

A QUESTION of great importance to France, a country obliged by its moral state and geographical situation to keep up a large standing army, is said to be at last decided by a Commission specially formed for the purpose, viz., whether the troops shall be employed on public works, and on the making of roads in several of the departments? This has been solved in the affirmative. The soldiers are to be supplied with all the necessary tools and implements under proper regulations, each battalion being answerable for the quantities it has received. It is proposed to give piece-work, and the wages as paid to other workmen.

BELGIUM.

The Brussels Journals have contained a report on the proposed commer cial law, to which are annexed some interesting statistical tables, furnished by the Minister of the Interior. It appears that the number of towns in Belgium is 96, and of rural communes 2642, containing a population in the towns of 958,227 souls, and in the rural communes of 3,103,555; total, 4,061782. The population of Belgium is divided in the following manner :There are 1581 communes with a population of 1000 souls and under; 919 with from 1000 to 3000 souls; 216 with from 3000 to 10,000; eight with from 10,000 to 15,000; four with from 15,000 to 20,000; four with from 20,000 to 25,000; one with from 25,000 to 30,000; and five with 40,000 and upwards. The number of electors by whom the national representation is chosen amounts to, in the towns, 14,835; and in the country, to 33,018; total, 47,853; which numbers give one elector for every 65 inhabitants in the towns, and one out of every 94 in the country; and for the entire population, one out of every 85. In Belgium there is one representative out of every 39,821 individuals and out of every 469 electors, and one senator for every 79,642 individuals and 933 electors; 46,099 electors, or one individual out of every 88 inhabitants, have had a voice in the formation of the National Congress. The number of municipal electors in the towns of Belgium was, after the provisional decree of the Government, 21,719, and will be, after the proposed law, 29,423, giving an increase of 8660.

SPAIN.

Spain is, we fear, destined to continue the theatre of civil war. Don Carlos, who so lately arrived in this country under circumstances which appeared to preclude the possibility of any revival of his pretensions to the Spanish crown, has returned to Spain. His expedition was managed with great secrecy. He left London on the 1st of July, and while everybody imagined that he was still resident in this country, was proceeding in disguise across France to the Spanish frontier. On the 9th, he entered Spain, and reached Elisondo, the seat of the Junta of Navarre. His proclamations are of a strong and determined character: and it cannot be concealed that his presence will inspire his partizans with new energy, and secure an accession of numbers to his cause.

BIOGRAPHICAL PARTICULARS OF CELEBRATED
PERSONS, LATELY DECEASED.

SIR GILBERT BLANE.

THIS veteran practitioner died in the 85th year of his age. His career has been rather professional than literary, yet as much of the latter as to entitle him to a slight notice from us. He commenced life as a naval surgeon, and was present at the engagement between the English and French fleets in the West Indies, on the 12th of April, 1782, of which he wrote an account-we believe his first published work. He rose gradually in his profession, until he attained the rank of physician to the fleet, and was honoured with the acquaintance and friendship of his present Majesty. In 1788 we find him selected to deliver the Croonian Lecture, on muscular motion, before the Royal Society, which lecture was published in 1790. We also find in their Transactions, Vol. 80, an account by him of the Nardus Indica, or spikenard, in which paper he attempted to collect what was known by the ancients respecting this odoriferous herb. His ideas respecting medical education, and certain topics connected with it, he gave to the world in 1819, under the title of "Medical Logic," and the work has run through more than one edition.

In 1822 he published "Select Dissertations on several subjects of Medical Science," most of which, we believe, had before appeared as separate papers in some of the medical periodicals. For some time he had retired from public life, when we find him once more coming forward in 1831, and addressing his "Warning to the British Public against the alarming approach of the Indian Cholera."

These, with some pamphlets on subjects of ephemeral interest, and contributions to medical periodicals, constitute, we believe, the whole of his literary labours.-Athenæum.

LIEUTENANT SIDNEY PARRY, 1ST LIFE GUARDS.

The untimely end of this talented young officer has excited a painful interest among all who knew him, and profound affliction in those to whom he was allied by blood or friendship.

At an early age, Sidney Parry showed a strong inclination for a military life. He entered the army under the auspices of the late Earl of Harrington and of Lieut. General Rebon, in 1828. If high personal courage, selfcontrol, presence of mind in circumstances of difficulty and danger, and a singularly clear judgment, be qualities befitting a hero, this young man might have obtained the title, in times when his country called for his services. His attainments were not confined to professional knowledge only; his early education had been classical, and had likewise included the study of modern languages and general literature. In the fine arts, he was not merely an amateur of taste, but had executed many works, exhibiting marks of genius, in sculpture and drawing; he was a good musician, an accomplished fencer, an elegant dancer, and excelled in all manly exercises. Such was the superficies of this goodly structure; there was "that within which passeth show," a soul imbued with every exalted feeling of honour, integrity, and delicacy. He was modest and unobtrusive in his demeanour. His character might be compared to a well-tuned instrument which never gave forth a tone of discord; his religious and moral principles showed themselves in a total abnegation of self upon all occasions, and general good will towards men;" he had the power of softening asperities by an unalterable gentleness, not at all incompatible with the high daring of his ardent spirit. Those who had the advantage of his acquaintance, will acknowledge that he possessed the true "suaviter in modo et fortiter in re" flowing from a heart teeming with pure benevolence, and refined by good associations in our own and foreign countries.

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The circumstances of the fearful event which shortened the career of this estimable man are briefly these :-On the 17th of June, Sidney Parry

returned from his duty at the Horse Guards, and walked with a brother officer from his barracks in Hyde Park to the Serpentine. Some conversation passed on the possibility of swimming across the river. Parry declared he could do so in his clothes, and proceeded to the execution of his assertion. He swam boldly to the centre of the stream,—here, after struggling with the difficulties of the agitated element, he was compelled to turn back and called for a boat; when within twelve yards of the shore, he sank to rise no more; in four minutes he was taken out of the water, every means were tried to resuscitate the body, but the vital spark had fled. Scientific men are of opinion that the exertion he used to overcome the difficulties presented by the unusually boisterous state of the water on that fatal day, caused the rupture of a blood-vessel and produced instantaneous death. This opinion is corroborated by the state of his health for the last year. He had benefited greatly by a residence in Italy and Malta during the winter; but his leave of absence having expired, he returned to his regiment at the end of March, and the north-east winds of that season brought on a return of the alarming symptoms. It may almost be said that he was a sacrifice to his sense of duty; for he maintained that, whilst he was competent to the services required of him, he had no right to ask for augmentation of leave, although medical certificates had been given him, stating the importance of his remaining in a milder climate for some months longer.

It should be clearly understood that no wager excited the undertaking— no rashness or spirit of fool-hardiness prompted the deed. He never acted upon common motives: to do his duty in every position of life was a fixed principle. He conceived a soldier was not completely educated who could not swim in his clothes and on horseback; and in pursuance of this opinion, he was accustomed to exercise himself occasionally in the Thames and Serpentine.

It little interests the public to know that Sidney Parry was one of the five surviving sons of William Parry, Esq., of Montague Square, and that his wretched mother still lives to mourn the loss of the best and kindest of children.

A soldier's funeral is always affecting-that of Sidney Parry was peculiarly so. He was borne to the grave by his esteemed comrades, and every officer of the regiment was present: in common parlance, they may be said to have done honour to his loved remains, and surely they did honour to themselves by the emotion they showed; an old soldier was heard to observe that, from the colonel to the lowest drummer-boy, every one felt as if he had lost a brother.

MR. RALPH RYLANCE.

Died, on the 6th of June, aged 52, in London, Mr. Ralph Rylance, a gentleman who spent almost the whole of his laborious life in the service of Messrs. Longmans, the great publishers. He was the author and translator of even multitudinous books, bearing the names of veterans in literature, and not of one to which his own name, is affixed. He was a native of Bolton in Lancashire, where his very brilliant talents were early discovered by the munificent Roscoe, who put him to school under the celebrated Lempriere, where he acquired the classical languages with astonishing facility, and soon after became so able and extensive a linguist as to read, write, and speak with fluency about eighteen tongues; and, near his death, was heard working at the Welch and Celtic, for the purpose of composing an ethnic essay on the affinities of all languages. He had studied English intensely, and formed his style from that of the age of Elizabeth; was extensively acquainted with ancient history and, literature, that of Europe and of his own country; was an ardent admirer and thorough familiar of our matchless poet," and good old "Chaucer's well of English, undefiled." He first came into this county (Shropshire) about twenty-five years ago, to collect materials for "The Beauties of England and Wales," where

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he gained great admiration for his beautifully elegant sonnet composed in Ludlow Castle, "Here Milton sung." He soon acquired many Salopian friends all round the Wrekin, by his amiable disposition, his fertile glow of conversation, and his racy powers of music and song. In politics he was a liberal Whig, and in religion, though differing from his nearest and dearest friends, he was always steadily and faithfully attached to the Church of England, in whose defence he latterly diverted the pure and vigorous stream of his powerful pen, in several neat volumes, which we could readily name with many others,-" but that we are forbid to tell the secrets of the prisonhouse." In the words of his most favourite and beloved poet, he was

"Ev'n just such a man

As e'er my conversation coped withal

That no revenue had but his good spirits
To feed and clothe him," &c.

And many who read this short notice, whose convivial tables his wit has often set in a roar, will regret his somewhat early death, and remember, with cordial fondness, his ardent and grateful friendship, his sweetness of manners, his exuberance of fancy, and his most extraordinary facetious drolleries of humour.-Shrewsbury Chronicle.

MARRIAGES AND DEATHS.