the star in diamonds, the garter on which the words "Honi soit qui mal y pense," also in diamonds, and the mantle, are estimated at 1,500,000 francs. The ceremony occupied an hour and a half. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of the King's household were present.

General Count de Segur, author of the History of Napoleon; M. Guy Lussac, the celebrated chemist; and M. Arago, the celebrated mathematician and astronomer, have been, with several other persons, appointed officers of the Legion of Honour.Constitutionnel.

14.-LONDON.-Marshal Macdonald, Duke of Tarentum, accompanied by Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, appeared the other night in the House of Lords on the steps of the throne, and attracted much attention. He is a rather slim, middle-sized man, with a round, quiet, and but little expressive countenance, and does not seem more than fifty years old. He was simply dressed in black, without any orders. Viscount Melville and Lord Beresford went over to him, and conversed with him for a considerable time.

17.-Edinburgh. The members of the Town Council have been waited upon by the agent of the Right Honourable W. Dundas, present member for the city, and solicited for their support of that gentleman at the next general election. Sir John Marjoribanks also has stated his intention of becoming a candidate for the honour of representing the city, in a circular addressed to the members of the Town Council.

17.—EDINBURGH NEW COURTS' BILL. The bill to provide for the erection of new buildings for the Courts in Edinburgh has been printed. It refers to the 46, 48, and 56, George III. and states that the object is to provide suitable accommodation for the Jury Court, the offices con

nected with the Court of Exchequer, for the preservation of the records belonging thereto, as also for the High Court of Admiralty, and for the Court of Commissaries, and for the farther accommodation of the Courts of Session and Justiciary, and to improve and widen the access to the said courts, and to remove certain houses in the vicinity of the same. The Chief Commissioner and one Baron of Exchequer are added to the existing body of trustees. These persons, with the approbation of the Treasury, are empowered to erect such buildings as may be necessary for these purposes. The expense is to be paid out of the duties and revenues assigned by the acts of 7th and 10th Anne, for keeping up the Court of Session. The trustees may buy up such areas and houses on the south and east sides of the Parliament Square as they deem requisite, except the banking office of Sir W. Forbes and Co. Authority is given to make the present Exchequer Court the Jury Court, and to erect new buildings for the latter. It is provided, that if the Advocates' Library is made over to the Writers to the Signet, the former may be permitted to erect a new library on the area west of the Parliament House. All contracts made by trustees, guardians, corporations, &c. in furtherance of these objects, are to be valid, any law or statute to the contrary notwithstanding. If the purchase of property wanted cannot be effected by private agreement, it may be submitted to the award of a jury. The act authorises the shutting up of the passage called the Back Stairs, and other passages leading from the south or east into the Square.

CEREMONY OF LAYING THE FIRST STONE OF THE NEW LONDON Bridge.

LONDON. Great preparations were

made by the committee for the accommodation of spectators. Tickets of admission to the coffer-dam were emitted. At the bottom of each ticket there was a notice to signify that the hours of admission were between twelve and two, and not a few of the fortunate holders were extremely punctual in attending at the first mentioned hour, for the purpose of securing the best places that were to be had. They were admitted at either end of the old bridge, where the most judicious arrangements were made to keep off the crowd as much as possible, and passed on till they came to an opening that had been made in the balustrade, leading to the platform that surrounded the arena of the proposed ceremony. The whole of this arena was, of course, formed in the bed of the river, being the spot on which it is proposed to build the first pier, on the southern side of the river. The greatest care had been taken in driving the piles to render them water-tight, and there was the farther precaution of a double row of piles with a broad embankment of clay well rammed between. The exertions that had been used for this purpose, had so far ensured success, that during the whole of the day, from twelve till six, it was scarcely found necessary to work the steam engine a single stroke. On passing the aperture in the balustrade, which has already been mentioned, the company immediately arrived on

a

most extensive platform, from which two staircases divided-the one for the pink tickets, which introduced the possessor to the lower stage of the works, and the other for the white ones, of less privilege, and therefore more numerous. The cofferdam altogether contained four floors, calculated to accommodate about 2000 spectators, and there was certainly that number present. The

whole of the interior of these works was of materials, and fixed in a manner, highly creditable to the committee who had the management of the business. Not only were the timbers, whether horizontal or upright, of an immense thickness, but they were so securely and judiciously bolted and pinned together, that the liability to any danger or accident was entirely done away with. The very_awning which covered the whole coffer-dam, to protect from the sun or rain, had there been any, was raised on a little forest of scaffolding poles, which, anywhere but by the side of the huge blocks of timber which were introduced immediately beneath, would have appeared of an unusual stability. In fact, the whole of the interior of the coffer-dam was arranged as securely and as comfortably as though it were intended to serve the time of all the Lord Mayors for the next century to come, while on the outside, in the river, every necessary precaution was taken to prevent any boats approaching so near as to meddle with the works. With the exception of the lower floor, which, as has already been mentioned, was only attainable by the possession of pink tickets, and a small portion of the floor next above it, the whole was without reservation, and every one, on coming in, took possession of the unoccupied place he liked best. The seats were all covered with crimson cloth, and the main timbers covered with flags, brought from the Woolwich dock-yard, so that, with the exception of the railways and some of the uprights, the place looked more like a drawing-room than the receptacle of company for a day. The size of the place altogether was 95 feet long and 35 feet broad, and the lower floor exactly 40 feet below high water. The design of the new bridge, with which the head of the admis

sion tickets was ornamented, is striking for its contrast with the present gothic edifice, whose place it is so soon to supply; it consists of but five elliptical arches, which embrace the whole span of the river, with the exception of a double pier on either side, and between each arch a single pier of corresponding design: the whole is more remarkable for its simplicity than its magnificence; so much, indeed, does the former quality appear to have been consulted, that it has not a single balustrade from beginning to end.

The stone having been moved into its place by a pully and levers, the Lord Mayor adjusted it with the usual masonic forms. The sword and mace were placed crosswise on it, and the foundation of the new bridge was declared to be then laid down, about five minutes before five o'clock. The band instantly struck up God save the King, of which the company and the children sang the usual verses. His Royal Highness the Duke of York also joined in the national anthem. At the conclusion of the song, the company gave three cheers for the New London Bridge; and the guns of the Honourable Artillery Company, on a given signal, fired a salute. The several members of the corporation exchanged mutual congratulations on the happy event, and every face wore a smile of pleasure at its consummation.

The company gave three cheers for his Royal Highness the Duke of York; three for Old England; and three for the architect. The company then dispersed, and the civic procession returned in an order the reverse of that in which they had arrived. 20.-LONDON-EXECUTION.-This morning, Probert, the noted associate in murder of Thurtell and Hunt, suffered the last sentence of the law in front of the Old Bailey for the

crime of horse-stealing. The order for his execution was received on Tuesday. When the awful news were communicated to him, he betrayed much disappointment and anguish, but sat down to write to his aged mother and wife, praying them to visit him. They did not bid him a final farewell until Sunday afternoon. The wife appeared to be bereft of reason. The wretched man, who had been pertinaciously clinging to life to the last, is said, in the course of the evening, to have discovered some disposition to attend to the admonitions of the reverend ordinary, who most fervently exhorted him to abandon all hope of human mercy, and direct his thoughts to a preparation for a future state. He passed a night of feverish anxiety and alarm. His mind seemed suspended betwixt hope and despair. To all who approached, he put the same question as to the hope of a reprieve, and indulged in the same lamentations at the rigour of his fate. He was dressed in a black coat and waistcoat, corduroy breeches, and white cotton stockings. His portly and well-formed figure stood six feet three or four inches. He looked many years older than when seen at Hertford. His hair had turned from black to grey; his eyes, which are large and full, but incapable of any varying expression, did not indicate the disturbed state of his mind; but there were deep traces of grief and care upon

his visage. His lips were parched, and despair had already spread the hue of death-like paleness over his face. His first care upon entering was to enquire of Mr Sheriff Brown, if there was not yet hope? The worthy sheriff solemnly assured him that the period of hope had passed; and that he had not the slightest ground to expect that aught would intervene betwixt him and the awful fate to which he was summon

met on the shore by many gentlemen. At this time, a salute was fired from the cutter, which was returned from the castle. The party then proceeded by the beautiful walks which lead through the woods of Armadale, preceded by Lord Macdonald's piper. On coming near the castle, two hundred men of Lord Macdonald's tenantry, who were drawn up on an eminence, gave the Marshal three cheers, waving their bonnets in the air. The Marshal, much pleased with their appearance, went amongst them, and requested Macdonald of Staffa to address them in Gaelic, stating his delight at being amongst them. He told them that he had the warmest feelings of attachment to the Highlands, for, independently of its being the birth-place of his father, it was the nurse of heroes, and the grave of tyrannizing foes. The Marshal called for a glass, and drank, in mountain spirits, the health of their noble landlord, with all the honours, which was warmly pledged by the whole group. The party then adjourned to the castle, where a sumptuous entertainment was prepared for them.

EDINBURGH NEW HIGH SCHOOL. The Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council of the City of Edinburgh, patrons of the High School, having, in consequence of various representations made to them, contemplated, for some time, the removal of that institution from its present site to one more convenient for the inhabitants of those districts of the town from which it is found that there have been, for many years, by far the greatest number of pupils attending it, have now fixed upon a situation for the erection of a new building for this metropolitan and national object, on the south bank of the Calton Hill, adjoining to and north of the Regent Road, and immediately east of the

rock called the Miller's Knowe, a space containing about two English acres, having the advantages of easy access and good air, and, besides the inclosure to be made round the building, the use of the whole of the hill for play-ground to the pupils.

BRAZIL. The following is an interesting account of the execution of three individuals, concerned in a late revolt at Pernambuco :-" You may remember, in one of my letters, I mentioned an American, by name Rodgers, of New York, who was condemned to death, and recommended to the mercy of the Emperor. The answer arrived on the 2d instant, ordering that all that were condemned should be executed, which sealed the fate of this young man and his two companions. The 12th inst. at eight A. M. was the time appointed for their execution, and on that morning I went to see the execution. They passed within a few yards of me towards their seats, dressed in white gowns, and unbound. Rodgers took the middle chair, Nicolon the right, and Le Mont the left. After sitting a few minutes, they rose, and Nicolon began and made a long speech, after which, Rodgers and his companion also addressed the multitude. While one was speaking, the others bowed their heads in affirmation, and, after thus speaking about half an hour, they took their seats. The executioner then tied their hands and ankles with a small cord, and drew caps over their eyes. Twenty-four soldiers were then called out, and halted within thirty yards. Rodgers then gave the signal to fire by dropping his handkerchief. They fired, and Nicolon fell. The sight was dreadful. Rodgers, springing on his feet, cried out, " For God's sake, kill me quickly!" and taking hold of his gown, he held it up to show the multitude the bullet holes through it.