I am persuaded that you will carry with you into your respective counties the same spirit of harmony which has distinguished your deliberations during the present Session, and that you will cultivate among all classes of my subjects those feelings of content and of attachment to the Constitution, upon the continuance and diffusion of which, under Providence, mainly depends, not only in dividual happiness, but the high station which this kingdom holds among the nations of the world. The Lord Chancellor then declared the Parliament prorogued to Tuesday the 24th day of August next; and His Majesty withdrew in the same form as he entered. His Majesty appeared in per fect health. OCTOBER. BRITISH CHRONICLE. Dundee. A very good test of the increasing prosperity of a town like this is the increase of the shore-dues. It is with much satisfaction, therefore, that we announce the extent to which the revenue from these dues has been increasing. In 1816, being the first year of the collection, the dues yielded, minus the expense of collection, about £.4719. In 1817, about £.5600. From 1817 till 1820, they were let at £.5605 a-year. From 1820 to 1822, at £.5910 annually. Since the expiry of that lease, the collection has been in the hands of the Commissioners. In 1823, the dues yielded, besides the expense of collection, £.6683. In the year ending May 1824, the free proceeds were £.7831. The collector's reports, for the first sixteen weeks of the current year, show a sum exceeding the last year's collection for the same period by £.54. These augmentations of revenue, be it remarked, have taken place, notwithstanding a reduction in the rate of the dues in the years 1823 and 1824 of one-sixth, and a farther reduction in the current year of one-seventh-the reductions making together one-fourth of the rate of dues levied from 1816 till 1822.-Dundee Advertiser. Arbroath.-In the year 1799, and before the patent in favour of Messrs John Kendrew, Thomas Porthouse, and Jonathan Blackhouse, of Darlington, in the county of Durham, who invented the mill or machine upon new principles for spinning yarn, hemp, tow, flax, or wool, was expired, there was only one spinning-mill at Letham, in the parish of St. Vigeans, and another at Bervie. There are now ten spinning-mills in the town and suburbs of Arbroath, and about twenty-two within the circuit of ten miles of that place. The flax-spinners, during the time the patent existed, were in the habit of contracting with the patentees for payment of a penny a-week for every spindle run in their mills. The patent was for fourteen years, from November 1787. VOL. XV. 16.-Longevity.-John Gordon, who died near Turriff, Banffshire, some time ago, had attained the remarkable age of 132 years. All the travellers who chanced to call at the neighbouring inn of Turriff were uniformly directed by the landlady, Mrs Wallace, to the cottage of the patriarch," where they would see (she used to say) the oldest man in Banffshire -aye, or in the warld." Among the visitors one day, about the close of harvest, was a young Englishman, who, coming up to the door of the cottage, accosted a venerable-looking man employed in knitting hose, with "So, my old friend, can you see to knit at your advanced period of life? One hundred and thirty-two is truly a rare age." "Deil's i' the man! It will be my grandfather ye're seekingI'm only seventy-three-ye'll find him round the corner o' the house." On turning round the corner, the stranger encountered a debilitated old man, whose whitened locks bore testimony to his having long passed the meridian of life, and whom the stranger at once concluded to be John Gordon himself: "You seem wonderfully fresh, my good sir, for so old a man; I doubt but you have experienced many vicissitudes in the course of your very long life." "What's your wull, sir ?" inquired the person addressed, whose sense of hearing was somewhat impaired. The observation was repeated. O, ye'll be wanting my father, I reckon-he's i' the yaird there." The stranger now entered the garden, where he at last found the venerable old man busily employed in digging potatoes, and humming the ballad of the Battle of Harlaw. "I have had some difficulty in finding you, friend, as I successively encountered your grandson and son, both of whom I mistook for you; indeed they seem as old as yourself. Your labour is rather hard for one at your advaneed age." "It is," replied John; "but I'm thankfu' that I'm able for't, as the laddies, puir things, are no very stout now." The 5 B 66 united ages of the worthy trio amounted to upwards of three hundred years. 20.-Selkirk.-A singular custom is observed at conferring the freedom of the burgh of Selkirk. Four or five bristles, such as are used by shoemakers, are attached to the seal of the burgess-ticket. These the new-made burgesses must dip in his wine, in token of respect for the "Souters of Selkirk." This ceremony is on no account dispensed with. The ancient and received tradition affirms, that the Souters of Selkirk distinguished them. selves in the battle of Flodden, eighty in number, and, headed by their town clerk, they joined their Monarch on his entrance into England. James, pleased with the appearance of this gallant troop, knighted the leader, William Brydone, upon the field of battle, from which few of the men of Selkirk were destined to return. They distinguished themselves in the conflict, and were almost all slain. The few survivors, on their return home, found, by the side of Ladywood Edge, the corpse of a female, wife to one of their fellow-comrades, with a child sucking at her breast. "In memory of this latter event," con. tinues the tradition, "the present arms of the burgh bear a female holding a child in her arms, and seated on a sarcophagus, decorated with the Scottish lion." 27.-A Shark.-On Sunday the 24th instant, while two boys were herding a field below Redfield, near the nursery, Montrose, they perceived two immense fishes floundering in the basin, which, ebbing at the time, had left its finny visitors in shallow water. The lads, seeing a goodly prize, and anticipating some fun in the adventure, resolved to secure the fishes, whether they were of the porpoise, seal, or grampus kind. For this purpose, they waded in between them and the deep waters of Tayock burn, and belaboured the backs of their game with a small stick. A gentleman, at this time passing, wished to render the boys his assistance, and thought to wound one of the fishes with his umbrella; but, to his astonishment, the animal broke it to pieces. At this time one of them escaped, and the elder boy, (not more than 14 years of age,) ignorant of his danger, seized the other by the tail with both hands, and, after having been thrown down repeatedly, succeeded in pulling it ashore, and, with the help of his companion, dragged it to the house of Redfield. It was afterwards discovered that the fish was nothing else than a shark, about two years old, which, with its mate, had entered the basin with the rising tide. Its length, from the tip of the snout to the extremity of the tail, is upwards of six feet and a half.-Montrose Review. NOVEMBER. 1.-Fatal Duel-On Saturday the 30th ultimo, a fatal duel was fought on the heights above North Queensferry, between William Gurley, Esq. of Petershope, St. Vincents, Captain in the Aberdeenshire Militia, residing in Edinburgh, and Mr Westall, an English gentleman, well known in Edinburgh, as recently traveller for the respectable house of Fisher and Co. late warehousemen in London. The seconds were Capt. Duguid, for Mr Westall, and Mr David Seaton, of this city, for Capt. Gurley. The parties had met in the morning in the vicinity of Edinburgh, with the purpose of settling the dispute, which originated in a bet between the two principals at the late Doncaster races. The absence of a gentleman who had been engaged as one of the seconds, how. ever, whose friends had got knowledge of the affair, and hindered his appearance, caused them to adjourn to Queensferry. After the ground was chosen, and the sig. nal given, Mr Westall fired, but his antagonist did not, having instantly been shot dead on the spot. The ball entered his side, and penetrated his heart. 9.-The But.-A curious circumstance, connected with the natural history of this little animal was some time ago noticed in Linlithgow. A worthy burgher, with provident foresight, had laid in a fine double Glo'ster cheese, against the next inlying, and, for safety, put the kebbuck to win upon a shelf in a remote corner of the house. It is well known that many hundreds of bats were dislodged from their hybernating recesses, when the old church of Linlithgow was lately repaired, but little was it imagined that many of them changed to such a different abode. When the cheese was taken down, it seemed all sound enough, except that a small hole appeared in one side; but the first cut discovered that it was entirely hollowed out, and that an immense number of bats, in a dormant state, were quietly in the possession of the interior.— Stirling Journal. Church Presentation. The King having presented the Rev. Mr Nelson to the church and parish of Little Dunkeld, vacant by the death of the late Dr Irving, the presentation was laid before the Presbytery of Dunkeld on the 26th October. A petition, signed by about 400 of the parishioners of Little Dunkeld, against the induction, was also laid before the Presbytery. The petitioners stated, that the Gaelic was the vernacular language of the great majority of the parish; and they opposed the presentee, on the ground that he was entirely ignorant of it. The Presbytery, after considering the documents before them, refused to sustain the presentation, or to proceed farther in the settlement. The Rev. Mr Nelson then entered a protest against the decision of the Presbytery, and appealed to the Synod of Perth and Stirling. 15.-Discovery Ships.-The Griper, Captain Lyon, who sailed along with Captain Parry, has been obliged to return to England, after experiencing a continuance of the most extraordinary bad weather. The Griper was to have anchored in Repulse Bay, and to have sent a boat expedition westward along the northern coasts of America as far as Hearn's river, where it was hoped they might communicate with the Hecla, under Captain Parry. While lying at anchor, however, in Sir Thomas How's Welcome, in a hard gale of wind, and on a lee-shore, to prevent her from foundering, a great quantity of provisions, in short, every thing that was portable, was thrown overboard. The poor animals of Shetland horses, which they had carried out with them, were shot, and likewise thrown overboard. The Griper ultimately escaped, with the loss of all her anchors. The consequence of these disasters was, that Captain Lyon found it necessary to return home, and he arrived safe at Portsmouth on the 9th instant. It is expected that he will set out again on a similar expedition in the spring of next year. 22.-Calamitous Fires in Edinburgh. Last week, a series of fires threw this city into the most dreadful state of alarm and consternation, and did more destruction to property than any casualty of the kind recorded in its history. With the exception of one large tenement left standing, opposite the Cross, and in which is situated the Shop of Messrs Manners and Miller, booksellers, the Advertiser Publishing-Office, the Insurance Company of Scotland's Office, &c., the whole buildings on the south side of the High Street, from the head of the Old Assem. bly Close, round to the new Exchequer buildings in the Parliament Square, with much of the property running backward towards the Cowgate, have been destroyed; and the scene of desolation presented to the eye rather gives the impression of a city sacked by an enemy, than of any ordinary accident by fire. It was in a large seven story house, at the head of the Old Assembly Close, on the east, that the fire was first discovered on Monday night, the 15th instant. The flames burst out about ten o'clock from the flat occupied as a copperplate print. ing house, when it rapidly extended upwards, and by the roof to the house im mediately west, and afterwards to that next adjoining. The fire communicated by the roofs, and from the height of the houses, and the difficulty of access to the back parts through the closes, there was no possibility, though every exertion was inade, of opposing the progress of the flames. At eleven o'clock, accordingly, the whole three adjoining tenements were in an entire blaze, the flames bursting through all the windows, and carrying every thing before them with a fury that was most terrific. These premises were occupied by Messrs Kirkwoods, engravers ; Mr Milner, apothecary; Mr John Hunter, grocer; Mr Brunton, clothier; Messrs Duncan and Greig, carpet-dealers; Mr Lindsay, victualler; and Mr Isbister, grocer-besides many other respectable individuals and families. Seeing the whole of these three houses the inevitable prey of the flames, the firemen now turned their efforts to the preservation of what was yet untouched. They were successful in preserving the house eastward; but in the opposite direction, the flames were in the mean time making their way to the top of the next house; and by three o'clock in the morning, the tenement in which was situated the Courant newspaper printing and publishing office was on fire, the flames bursting through the roof, and descending progressively through each succeeding flat, until the whole was destroyed. About five in the morning the pinnacle of the gable fell inwards, when the flames burst into the middle of the street, and in a short time another portion fell. While this devastation was going on, in front of the High Street, it was spreading backwards towards the Cowgate, where the crowded masses of old buildings, full of old pannellings of dry timher, afforded abundant aliment to the devouring flame. The houses from the west side of the Old Assembly Close to the Old Fishmarket Close fell successively a prey to the flames. From the Old Assembly Close it extended backward to the Old Assembly Hall. In the line of houses which divides Borthwick's Close from the Old Fishmarket Close, and in rear of the Courant Office, the houses occupied by Mrs Maxton, tavern-keeper, Mr Hunter, and other spirit-dealers, have been consumed; and the adjoining house, occupied by Mr A. Thomson, book-binder, (lately also destroyed by fire, and rebuilt,) by the falling of a gable upon it, has been completely crushed to the ground. To the west of the Courant Office, the farther progress of the conflagration was arrested by the height of the adjoining house, which overtopped the others by one story, and thus prevented the communication by the roof. But for this circumstance, the whole property, from the Old Assembly Close upwards, to where the great fire in June last commenced, would have been destroyed. By nine o'clock in the morning of Tuesday the fire began to abate, more for want of fuel than from any other obstruction, and by mid-day it seemed to be entirely subdued. At Happily during the night there was very little wind to aid the progress of the flames, otherwise it would have been scarcely possible to have saved any of the property between the Old Fishmarket Close and Hunter's Square. The great danger arose from the ignited sparks, which were flying about in all directions. intervals, an unusual volume of mingled smoke and flame, with showers of burning embers, was seen rising to a vast height, caused by the successive falling in of the floors and roofs. An alarm was at one time spread of danger to the north side of the street, and smoke was seen issuing from some of the houses; but fortunately this was discovered to proceed from some chimneys that had been set on fire by the flying sparks, and which were soon extinguished. The engines still continued to play on the smoking ruins during the forenoon of Tuesday, when, a little before twelve o'clock, an alarm was given that the steeple of the Tron Church, distant about two hundred yards from the previous conflagration, and separated by the breadth of the street from every other building, was on fire, and an inconsiderable flame was seen issuing from the south-west corner of the square tower. On the balustrade, which consisted entirely of wood, some of the flying brands had fallen, and had been fanned into a flame by the fury of the wind, which had begun to blow about nine o'clock in the morning, and had now increased to a perfect hurricane from the south-west. Unfortunately the window, furnished with pent-house boards, was neglected, for it was observed in the morning that some of them had been removed by the wind, and it was here that the fire, having made its first lodgement, penetrated within. On the first alarm, some of the engines immediately repaired to the spot, and by means of long ladders the fire. men reached the roof of the church, from whence, with great difficulty, they were enabled occasionally to check the progress of the flames, that were threatening destruction to the spire above. Their efforts, however, were totally ineffective. Thick smoke was soon observed issuing state. from the other parts of the spire; and an interior fire seemed to be raging, which it was not in the power of those without to reach by any effort. In a short time the whole of the conical superstructure, entirely of wood, cased in lead, was in a blaze; the flames ascended to the top with a fury which nothing could oppose, and presenting a spectacle most terrific and sublime. The firemen were now obliged to fly for their lives; and the melted lead, pouring down the sides of the structure, rendered it impossible to approach it with safety. The whole spire was now enveloped in flames, and in three quarters of an hour it fell to the ground with a dreadful crash. The intensity of the heat may be conceived, when it is stated, that the churchbell came down piece-meal, in a melted It was of the enormous weight of about two tons, and was hung in the year 1673. It cost, in Scots money, equal to £82., 10s. 10d. sterling. The church itself, and the steeple, were finished in 1673, twenty-six years after the former had been opened for divine service. The danger being somewhat abated, as the upper structure was consumed, the firemen again ascended to the roof of the church, when, to the alarm of the spectators, a mass of the flaming beams, which composed the frame-work of the steeple, was precipitated among them; but fortunately they did not reach them. Owing to the tremendous gale which blew from the south-west, the flames raged with unequalled fury, and had caught hold of the church, when, by the seasonable arrival of a most powerful engine belonging to the Board of Ordnance, the fire was not only confined to the steeple, but was at last got completely under. After these tragical scenes, it was naturally hoped that the calamity was for the present at an end. But at ten o'clock on Tuesday night, a new alarm was given of a fire having broke out in the Parlia ment Square. It began in the top story of that immense pile of building on the south side of the Square pointed out to strangers as the highest in Edinburgh, being, at the back part, which overlooks the Cowgate, eleven stories in height. The fire, it appears, commenced in a house occupied by a woman of the town, named Macdonald. From the situation of this building, so far to windward of the scene of the former fire, it seems impossible that the one could have been the cause of the other, as the wind, which blew a severe gale, carried the sparks in a direction completely contrary. Owing to the great height of the build ing, it was impossible to bring the engines to bear with any effect upon the flames, which spread rapidly in all directions, aided by the wind, which still blew from the west with amazing fury. Floor after floor was kindled; and at an early hour in the morning the whole of this vast mass of building was involved in flames. About four o'clock the appearance from the Cowgate was singularly terrific; the torrents of flame bursting with irresistible fury from every aperture in the house, and rising to an amazing height, were brightly reflected from the sky, while the red glare which they shed on the adjacent buildings, on the spire of St Giles's, and the battlements of the Castle, was at once picturesque and awful. About an hour afterwards the fire had extended to the east of the Square, and in the course of two hours more, notwithstanding all the opposition that could be given, all that was left standing after the fire that happened in June last was now involved in the general destruction. In the premises destroyed were situated the new Jury Court-Room, the Office of the Water Company, and that of the Auditor of the Court of Session, the shop of Mr Laurie, bookseller, and of Messrs Jardine and Wilson's Chambers, Mr R. Scott, engra ver, Mr Williamson, writer, and a number of other individuals and families. By eight o'clock the violence of the flames had abated; the fire had indeed burnt out; and at that period the interior walls of the south-east angle fell upon the front wall, and precipitated them into the Square, with a crash that was tremendous, and a cloud of dust that darkened the atmosphere. During the whole night, while the conflagration was raging, showers of ignited embers and sparks were flying through the sky, and falling to the eastward, covered the streets and houses, to the great danger of the buildings in that direction. The sparks again set fire to the buildings in Con's Close, in the rear of the High-Street, and in the morning the flames were raging with such uncontrollable fury, that it was thought they could not be prevented from spreading towards the Commercial Bank, where for a time the utmost anxiety prevailed. Alarms of fire were given from other places, during the day and night, and originating principally in chimneys ignited by the sparks; one, however, in Carruber's Close had actually commenced burning, but was happily got out. It is impossible to calculate, with any degree of accuracy, the amount of property destroyed by these dreadful conflagrations, but we have heard it estimated at above £.200,000. Along the front of the High-Street, there are destroyed four lands of six stories each, besides the sunk stories; from these, down towards the Cow. gate by Con's Close, two wooden lands; in the Old Assembly Close, four lands of six or seven stories; six smaller tenements in Borthwick's Close; four lands, of from six to nine stories, in the Old Fishmarket Close. Downwards, nearly as far as the Cowgate, nothing is to be seen but frightful heaps of ruin, to which all approach is rendered highly dangerous, by the walls which are still left standing in different places, but in an extremely tottering condition. Along the front of the Parliament Square, four double lands, of from seven to eleven stories each, have been destroyed. Part of the walls fell during the fires, and others which were left standing in the Square, in a shattered condition, and threatening destruction to the houses around, were brought down on Saturday, partly by means of a chaincable, and apparatus, worked by a body of seamen from two gun-brigs in the roads, and partly by mining with gunpowder. The whole of the operations were performed with great skill, and without injury to any of the surrounding property, or to the individuals employed. The mining operations were under the direction of Mr Miller, builder in this city; and the seamen were directed by Captain Hope, R. N. son of the Lord President, Lieutenant Grove, R. N., and Captain Head of the Royal Engineers. The zeal, intrepidity, and devotion of all those whose business it is to attend on such occasions, merit unqualified praise. The Lord Provost and Magistrates, the high constables, the Superintendant, and other officers of police, and Mr Braidwood, the superintendant of fire-engines, exerted themselves every where with the greatest activity. Early on Wednesday morning, the Lord President, the Lord Justice Clerk, the Lord Advocate, and several other distinguished individuals, were in the Parliament Square, animating by their example the exertions of all around them, at a time when extraordinary exertion was peculiarly necessary, the firemen having been exhausted by the fatigues of the preceding night. danger seemed to level all distinctions, and every one was only anxious to lend his aid wherever it was judged necessary. The gentlemen belonging to the army and navy were particularly useful, displaying, not only that zeal and activity which was to be expected, but that calm and collected intrepidity which is so much wanted on occasions of this nature, where all is too frequently hurry and confusion. The |