ODDS AND ENDS. ’Tis here all meet. Bum.

A first-rate anchor weighs about three tons, employs twenty men for forty days in making, and costs 4001. The celebrated Dr. Cullen was born at Hamilton, in Lanarkshire, in the year 1710. The milk of the whale produces cream much richer than that of the cow, and ajoint. stock company to establish a whale-cheese manufactory at Spitzbergen or the North Pole would be a cnpilal speculation. Children may be hanged in England at twelve years ofage, and married in Scotland at fourteen. The peo. ple of Hampshire singe the bristles on“ their pigs instead of scalding them, and in this lies the secretof the excellence of the Hampshire hams. While Columbus was engaged in dis- covering America, Henry the VII of England, and James IV. of Scotland, were entering into a treaty, which ultimately led to the union of the two kingdoms. It was in the town of Dumfries that Kean ﬁrst gave an earnest of that professional eminence to which he after- wards attained. The last three Dukes of Athol planted altogether upwards of fourteen millions of larch and other trees. The eagle which the Americans have chosen for the emblem of their nation is described by Audobon to be an ex- ceedingly mean and cowardly animal, and Franklin laments that Such a bird should have been selected for so honourable a purpose. It is thirteen hundred vears since the ﬁrst house in Edinburgh wasbuilt; Glasgow is of an equal antiquity. Mrs. Jordan was an Irish woman, and was born in the neighbourhood of Water- ford,a'tout the year 1762- At the time when Addison was writing the Spectator, the Scotch were burning witches. At the period tha- tlic peasantry of England were burning thrcsh ing mills, those of Scotland were establishing scientiﬁc and literary associations. Upwards of forty-three millions of quarters ofcorn were im rted into great Britain in 1831. The origi- naname of Paul Jones was John Paul. At the Cape of Good Hope, says a traveller, “ people die very fast; but the sheep have remarkably large tails.” Cervantes the author of Don Quixote, was a slave, and fought at the battle of Lepanto. Corns may be effectually extirpa- ted by placing on them the scrapings of chalk mixed with vinegar. The distance from the Land‘s End to Charlotte-Town Prince Edward Island, is 2980 miles Madden mentions that the walls of Costantinople could not endure a siege of six hours. If milk be put into vessels lined with or formed of zinc, a much greater quantity of cream will be raised than in common vessels, and the but- ter will be ofafiner quality; why is tnis not practised? Bordeaux issituated on the navi- gable river Garonne, about 75 miles from its mouth, and has a population of 100.000 inhabi tants. Sobieski saved Christendom from the Mahomedans aboutthe time that Claverhouse and‘Balfour ofBurley were fi hting' the battle

/of Drumelog'. The chief pro nets of Owhyee

are arrow-root and cocoa nut oil. There is not a protestant place of worship in Ireland in which the native Irish tongue is preached. All the copies 'of Tacitus are copied from a single manuscript, diseavered in a monastr in West-

alia. Hyder Ali died in 1782. T e pupula- . ofthe united kingdom in 1831, was 24, 266,989, being an increase of 14 1-2 per cent, since 182l Erasmus composed in a post-chaise. The ofﬁ- cers in London calculate on one alarm of ﬁre every day and about thirty-two serious ﬁres every car. There is a superstition in the west 0 Scotland that the earth of the parish of Rosemath kills rats, and that none of these animals can live in the district.

THE BRITISH AMERICAN.

E U R O P E. HOUSE OFLORDS, Thursday July 26. THE LORD CHANCELLOR’S PATRONAGE.

The Lord Chancellor presented a Petition from the bankers, merchants, traders, and o- ther inhabitants of Leicester, praying for greater facilities in the recovery of debts, by the establishment oflocal courts, and less ex- tensive Jurisdiction. The noble and learned Lord said that he should, in the next week, bring forward a Bill similar to that which he had introduccd the preceding session, for the purpose of effecting important changes in the (Iourt of Chancery. Ile would not go into the details of the measure now, but he could not- allow that opportunity to pass without noticing a question which had been asked in another place, relative to appointments which he had made, by one who might have obtained the in- formation he required by other means. The IIon. and Learned Gentleman to whom he al- luded had not acted fairly, but it was right that he [Lord Brougham] should tell their Lordships that the Great Seal was paid by means of fees and patronage. This was a most objectionable way of sustaining the ofﬁce and its dignity.— The Noble and learned Lord pointed out the evils and abuses of the present system, and said that the mode in which the great officers of the Court of Chancery were paid was eminently calculated to bring down odium upon them.— From the moment he entered office down to the present hour, it was his ﬁxed determination to use his best exertions to remove the abuses that existed; but the subject being one that requi- red much inquiry, he had not until lately been able to prepare any general measure upon the subject, and in the course of a few days he ho- ped to have his plans so arranged as tc be able to bring in his Bill, so that between this and the next session it might receive fullconsider- at on. The noble and learned Lord contended that he had as much right to ﬁll up the ofﬁces within his patronage as he had to receive the pecuniary salary to which he was entitled. The noble and learned Lord deprecated the course which had been taken in another place rela- tive to this transaction, and appealed to noble Lords then present to say whether he had not. forty-eight hours after these offices became va- cant. expressed his intention to ﬁll them up for the present, and, the instant he was able, to bring forward a Bill for theirabolition. [Hear. Not only wasit know to many of their Lord- ships that his intention was to do away with the offices in question, but to add to them another ofﬁce, the salar of which was 1,8001. a-year. The noble and earned Lord said that he had no right to give up any part ofhis patronage to the public, and assured their lordships that it was absolutely necessary for the public busi- ness that these ofﬁces should be ﬁlled up pro tempera. He had, however, appointed to them one who would yield them without setting up claims for vested or patent rights the instant Parliament should declare that they ought no longer to exist. But surely it did not follow, that because he had pledged himselfto the ab0~ lition of those sinecures, that he should, when the apporntmenta thus unexpectedly fell into his hands, refrain from taking possession of some of the emoluments of his oﬂice. before any regulation had been adopted for placing them on a better footing. [Hear.] The propo- sition was absurd, and surely never entered into the head of any man possessing brains: so that he was convinced that the question put by a learned Gentleman in another place which seemed to insinuate that he was violating his pledge by ﬁlling u the appointment, had no such meaning, an wholly originated from a

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laudable a ixiety to “ elicit information on a matter affecting the character of the higlie“ law authority,’ (A laugh) “Yes,” continu. ed the learned Lord. “1 am bound to believea nay, cannot for a moment doubt, that the learn. ed Gentleman was wholly inﬂuenced by this most praiseworthy desire of information. How could I think otherwise knowing as I do,lu common with that eminent “ high law authori. ty,” that philosophers have long since eulogi. zed this laudable thirst of knowledge as the most distinguished attribute of humanity, and as the most distinguished feature of atsmgeni. ous and lofty intellect? [Cheers and laughter} Yes. my Lords, we have all read, that it is this heaven-born thirst ofin formation, and its con. dition—at least invariable concomitant, a self. disregarding anti candid mind. that most dls~ ' tinguishcs man from the crawling reptile—that most distinguishes man from the was that stings, and from the wasp that fain woul , but cannot, sting. (Loud cheers.) Ay, distinguish. es us from not only the insect that crawls and stings, but from that more powerful, because more offensive creature, the bug, who, power— ful and offensive as it is, is, after all, but so much loathsome vermin. (Continued cheers, and laughter.) Yes. Isay, itis this laudable propensity, upon which humanity justly prides itself, which I have no doubt solely inﬂuenced the Learned Gentleman to whom Iallude to seek for information which it would be cruel to stingily gratify. (“ Hear, hear,” and a laugh.) Convinced that this was the sole source ofthe learned Gentleman’s question and remark, he only regretted that he did not a - ply to him sooner for an answer. Fortunater so far as the cavil oflittle minds was cone! ', t1 ed, he had living witnesses in that House and elsewhere, to testify, that before the metals. choly occasion of the vacancies, and fortyeight hours after they had occurred, he had express- ed his ﬁrm determination to go on with the self-same sinecure-abolishing Bill, precnsely as if these vacancies were not likely to occur, or ‘ never had occurred. (“llear, hear,” from the ' Treasury bench.) There would be as he had ' stated some alterations or differences between , that and the Bill be had formerly spoken of as in progress of maturation ; but this be lodged ., himselfto, that neitherin letter, spirit, orm, or “ figure, shall the most insect and microscopic eye detect the remotest change inthat ortiou , ofthe Bill under which the very two 0 ces at , issue would be totally abolished, (Hear.‘ He had originally intended to bring in two Bills— one for the improvement of the administration ofjnstice, and the other for abolishing the re- gistration ofaflidavits and clerk of the patents f office: but upon consideration had thought it better to incorporate all the provisions in one :. measure. The learnedLord then proceeded to bail, in the words ofthe Roman orator, this " new-born disposition on the part of the invete- rate foes of those who “trench upon vested rights,” of which, ofcourse, sinecure offices were a most ancient and constitutional feature, and under which the country had becomethe glory of surrounding nations, and the envy of the world (a laugh), as asign ofthe times. and as a proof that at last we may hope to see their \ abolition. He trusted they would proceed in their economical career; and thanking them for their attention to himself, he would venture to suggest “they might go further and fare , worse.” [‘ Hear,’ and a laugh.] For His part. he would continue his earnest endeavours to “set his own house in order." His sphere was necessarily limited, but in the Court ofChance- ry he would labor so long as he held oﬂicp. trusting that the day was not distant wh‘ chew, and speedy, and edicient justice shol