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jso had vanished immediately on being dis charged, and of course resumed his malprac tices°forthwith. It needs hardly to be told ibat Lord Shannon’s sop distant tenant dealt a little in fiction, and that the whole story of his farm from that nobleman, and of the pris oner's thefts of the spade and vegetables, was a pleasant device of Mr. Checkley’s. I told this story,” continued Mr. O'Connell, “to a roterie of English barristers with whom I dined; and it was most diverting to witness their astonishment at Mr. Checkley’s unprin cipled ingenuity.” — Recollections of O'Con nell . t m t IRISH DIAMONDS. (' O pH of a Letter written during the Rebellion , hi/ Sir , an Irish Member of Parlia ment, to his friend in London . “My Dear Sir, —Having now a little peace and quietness, I sit down to inform you of the dreadful bustle and confusion we are in from these blood-thirsty rebels, most of whom are (thank God!) killed and dispersed. YVe are in a pretty mess, can get nothing to eat, nor wine to drink, except whiskey; and when we sit down to dinner, we are obliged to keep both hands armed. Whilst I write this, I hold a sword in each hand and a pistol in the other. I concluded in the beginning that this would be the end of it; and 1 see I was right, for it is not half over yet. At present there are such goings on, that every thing is at a stand still. 1 should have an swered your letter a fortnight ago, but I did not receive it till this morning. Indeed, hard ly a mail arrives safe, without being robbed. No longer ago than yesterday, the coach with the mails from Dublin was robbed near this town; the bags had been judiciously left be hind for fear of accident, and, by good luck, there was nobody in it but two outside pas sengers, who had nothing for the thieves to take. Last Thursday, notice was given that a gang of rebels were advancing here under the French standard; but they had no colors, nor any drums except bagpipes. Immediate ly every man in the place, including women and children, ran out to meet them. We soon found our force much too little; and we were far too near to think of retreating. Death was in every face, but to it we went, and by the time half our little party were killed, we began to be all alive again. Fortunately, the rebels had no guns, except pistols, cutlasses and pikes; and, as we had plenty of guns and ammunition, we put them all to the sword. Not a soul of them escaped, except some that were drowned in an adjacent bog; and in a very short time nothing was to be heard but silence. Their uniforms were all different colors, but mostly green. After the action, we went to rummage a sort of a camp which they had left behind them. All we found was a few pikes without heads, a par cel of empty bottles full of water, and a bun dle of French commissions filled up with Irish names. Troops are now stationed all around the country, which exactly squares with my ideas. I have only time to add that lam in great haste. Yours truly, “P. S.—ls you do not‘receive this, of course it must have miscarried; therefore I beg you will write and let me know.” ©nr Soml of Pundj. TALKING BY TELEGRAPH. Not content with the wonders the Electric Telegraph performs—not satisfied with its facility in announcing outbreaks—aye, and making them also, now and then—it has been proposed to apply its powers to the operations of every-day life, and to carry on ordinary conversation by means of the Electric Tele graph. We have heard of a singer’s voice being rather wiry at times; hut there will be something very trying in the perpetual twang °f the new mode of small-talk that is recom mended to us. The coffee-houses have, we are told, in many instances, superseded the old bells by the new apparatus; and instead °f the cries down the spout, of “Two of greens,” “ One of ctipers,” “ Three of boiled beef—no fat,” “ Six small muttons —two un der-done-—three, no gravy —one knuckle,” — ‘he orders are communicated by the more ele gant medium of the Electric Telegraph. We should not be surprised to hear oi Her Ma jesty haying resolved to deliver her Speech h y Electric Telegraph, in order to spare her *e’* the trouble of a personal interview with aer Parliament; and though the dial-plate of the machine would not be such a pleasing ob as that disc of sunshine, the countenance “1 Royalty, \ye think there would be some |‘ng gained in sparing the Queen the bore ° a very tiresome ceremony, in which she is annually obliged to participate. §®©TfSl SIE ®1 OainF'lS'lE&M &IFIF IB ♦ We should be glad to see the speakers in the House of Commons limited to the use of the machine, which would prevent the other members from being overwhelmed by the drowsiness which the soporific qualities of tone and style will induce, while at all events there would be something electric in the af fair to compensate for the absence of the feu sacrc that poets celebrate. It has been suggested, also, that this new method of being able to “Give your orders, gentlemen,” when it does not happen that the “ waiters in the room,” will enable “ nervous men who dislike servants” to do without these necessary evils. We have heard of old wo men so nervous they might be “ knocked down with a feather,” but we never yet saw an individual of the male sex, whose sensi tiveness threw him into alarm at the sight of a housemaid, or who became aspen-like in his bearing in the presence of a cook, a nurse, or any other female appendage to our domestic establishments. It may be all very well to call for what you want by Electric Telegraph, but we are puzzled to know how the articles are to be conveyed by scientific or mechanical means, so as to dispense with the presence of menials. Correspondence by Electric Telegraph will be a luxury, no doubt, and it will be conve nient to trouble a friend with a few lines by simply putting in motion the lines of wire which are to supersede the p?ns of steel, and throw the inkstand over, among the relics of the past that modem ingenuity repudiates. We hope that our novelists will not begin the practice of writing by this process, for their descriptions do not need the addition of the telegraphic wire to aid their usually wire drawn character. 1 —i USED UP. , Mr. Punch. Really, my Lord, you ought to make an effort, and do something for Ire land, which is in a very unsatisfactory state. Ld. J. Russell. Oh. there’s nothing in it. Mr. P. You should try a modification of the Church, colonization, or cultivation of the waste lands. Ld. J. R. There’s nothing in them. Ld. G. Bentinck. What will you do for the West Indian distress ? Ld. J. 11. There’s nothing in it. Sir R. Inglis. You should drop the diplo matic relations with Rome. Ld. J. R. A bugbear. There’s nothing in it. Mr. Cobden. What about the new Reform movement l Ld. J. R. {yawns.) Oh, we don’t want it! If we did, we should have it. Besides, I know how such cries are raised : I have done it myself. A few gentlemen meet; talk a lit tle; pass resolutions, and the thing is got up. 1 can assure you there’s nothing in it. Mr. P. What do you think of the Session for 1848 ? Ld. J. R. Oh! decidedly nothing in it. Leave me alone. You bore me. THERE IS NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE. We long to see the picture of the Happy Family realised, viz., a Scotchman, Welsh man, Englishman, and Irishman, all living comfortably and quietly in the same cage to gether. The thing is to be done—in fact, has almost been done before, only the Irishman will occasionally disturb the domestic peace, and insist upon being let out. The foolish fellow only knocks his head against the bars, and then he raises a wild cry about being an injured person, it never entering into his bro ken head that he has been the principal cause of the injury himself. However, we suppose he will get tame in time, and that before long we shall see the Englishman and the Irish man sitting on the same perch together, or playing, like kittens, with one another, whilst the Welshman and the Scotchman look on with brotherly tears in their eyes. We would walk any day to Trafalgar Square to see this phenomenon of the Happy Family. It will be the greatest curiosity in London, and will even throw a grace round the Nation al Gallery. It will be a beautiful sight—the first Wonder of the World. We only hope we may live long enough to see it. EARLY CLOSING MOVEMENT. The friends of the Early Closing Movement will doubtlessly be pleased to learn that the Oysters, wishing to set a good example to all persons employed in the shop-keeping line, have come to the determination of shutting up their shells one hour earlier than usual. A Harmless Blade. —Of what use has Mr. j Meagher’s sword been to him'? He seems to have done nothing with it but——cut his stick. j.* „„ t J. . . , JTctuspapcr Analects. i_ j “ ; —“TT* T ‘ . t,- — — * ■ _ Mi,-- THE FINE ARTS. The American Art Union. —The suc cess of this Institution is truly remarkable. It is now in the ninth year of its existence ; and having thus far been patronized by the people of the entire Union, it commands our attention as a national Institution. During the last year, it collected from the people, and disbursed among the artists of the land, near fifty thousand dollars; and has already done more to advance the interest of American art, and disseminate a taste for the beautiful, than all the academies in the country, exclusive of the National Academy of Design. Tlienum* her ot subscribers at the present moment, is much larger than it was at the corresponding period last year; ami the names are constant ly pouring in from the four quarters of the compass. That this should be the case, is not at ail surprising, when we remember the great value of many of the paintings already purchased, and which are to be distributed by lot among the subscribers. Unquestionably, the most desirable prize will be the series of four pictures, entitled, “The Voyage of Life,” by the late Thomas Cole. The original cost of these superb paintings was six thousand dollars; and for tunate, indeed, will he that individual who shall become their possessor. We should think that this prize alone would induce many thousand people to subscribe, and try their luck. If these pictures were worth six thou sand dollars when the artist was living, how much more must they be worth now, when he is among the departed l Another valuable prize to be distributed by the Art Union, is a picture by Leutze, entitled “ The Mission of the Jews to Ferdinand and Isabella.” The cost of this production was one thousand dollars, and it is worth twice that amount; for it is a picture that would honor any gallery in the world. We have not time to point out the many beauties of this painting, hut we may quote the para graph in Prescott’s history, which it illus trates : “ The negotiation was suddenly interrupt ed by the inquisitor-general, Forquemada, who burst into the audience Chamber, and drawing forth a crucifix, held it up, exclaim j ing, “Judas Iscariot sold his master for thir ty pieces of silver; your highness would sell him anew for thirty thousand dollars; here he is, take him and hasten him away.” So saying, the frantic priest threw the crucifix on the table, and left the apartment.” And then, again, we have such pictures as the following: The Strolling Musician, by Edmonds, one of his happiest efforts; Wash ington’s Retreat from Fort Necessity, by Chap man —a very interesting picture; Washing ton in the Indian Council, by Sterns —un- questionably his master piece; also, a pair of exquisite landscapes, by Kensett; an his torical picture and several sweet landscapes, by Huntington; a couple of Genoux’s life like scenes; a superb moonlight, by Dough ty; two pictures of Milton and Galileo, by the accomplished White; and other produc tions by Richards, Boutelle, Hinckley, Waugh, Peele, Wenzler, Oddee, Auderbon, Hart, Mc- Conkny, Hamilton, Baker, Ranney, and ma ny more, “too numerous to mention.” The number of pictures already purchased for the present year is well nigh on to one hundred and fifty, but it is thought at least two hun dred more will be purchased before the close of the year. The members for the present year will he entitled to a copy of a large en graving, “Queen Mary signing the Death warrant of Lady Jane Gray, now being en graved in line by Burt, after Huntington; and also Rip Van Winkle, the celebrated tale of Washington Trving, with six large outline il lustrations, executed by the inimitable Daily. The annual meeting and distribution will take place on the 22d of December. This Association, to quote from its Cata logue, has now become national in its char acter and benefits. Its means enable it to foster and reward genius, in whatever part of the country it may appear. Tt proposes to send into tens of thousands of households the refining influence of art, in a truly republican way, and one suited to the moderate fortunes of our citizens. Patriotic reasons, therefore, as well as those of a more selfish sort, should concur in swelling the roll of members. And now, that our readers residing at a distance may know how to communicate with the American Art Union, we submit a list of the officers for 1848 : President —Prosper M. Wetmore. Treasurer —George W. Austen. Corresponding Secretary —Andrew Warn er. Recording Secretary —Nathaniel Jarvis, Jr. The Committee of Management are—Robt. 1 Kelly, Andrew Warner, Ben. H. Jarvis, John 1 H. Austen, Moses H. Grenville, Philip Hone, George W. Austen, Cornelius W. Lawrence, Henry J. Raymond, Erastus C. Benedict, W. B. Deen, P. M. Wetmore, C. H. Russell, Jno. P. Redner, Wm. J. Hoppin, A. M. Coggins, M. O. Roberts, F. A. Coe, David C. Colden, and Nathaniel Jarvis, Jr. The Superintendant is—J. William Moore; and the Collector , John Erhardt. The above officers are chosen annually, and receive no compensation. Every subscriber of $5, is a member of the Art Union for the year, and is entitled to all its prizes.— Chas. Lanman , in the N. Y. Ex. LETTER FROM MR. WILLIS. In an amusing letter dated Trenton Falls, August Ist, published in the Home Journal , Mr. N. P. Willis says: “I am inclined to think that, from French intermixture, or some other cause, the inhabi tants of this region are a little peculiar in their manners. There is an unconsciousness or carelessness of others’ observation anil presence, that I have hitherto, only seen abroad. Wp have had songs, duetts and choruses sung here by village girls, within the last few days, in a style that drew all in the house to listen very admiringly, and even the ladies all agree that there have been ex tremely pretty gills day after day among them. I find they are Fourierites to the extent of common hair-brush and other personal furni ture —walking into anybody’s room in the house for the temporary repairs which belles require on their travels, and availing them selves of whatever is therein, with a sim plicity perhaps a little transcendental. I had obtained the extra privilege, for myself, of a small dressing-room apart, in which 1 pre sumed the various trowsers and other merely masculine belongings would be protective scarecrow sufficient to keep out these daily female invaders; hut, walking in yesterday, I found my combs and brushes in active em ploy, and two very tidy looking girls making themselves at home without shutting the door, and no more disturbed by my entree , than if I had been a large male-fly. “As friends were waiting, I apologised for intruding long enough to take a pair of boots out from under their protection, hut my pres ence was evidently no interruption. One of the girls (a tall figure, like a woman, in two syllables, connected by a hyphen at the waist,) continued to look at the back of her dress in the glass, ala Venus Calhpegc , and the other went on threading her most prodigal chevelure with my doubtless very embarrassed, though unresisting hair brush, and so I abandoned the field, as I was of course expected to do. As they did not shut the door after my retreat, 1 presume that, by the code of morals and man ners hereabouts, a man’s pre-occupancy of a room simply entitles him to come*and go at pleasure—'the unoccupied portions and con veniences of the apartment open, meantime, to feminine availment and partaking. I do not know that they would go to the length of ‘ fraternizing’ one’s tooth-brush, but witn the exception oi locking up that rather confiden tial article, I give in to the customs of the country, and have ever since left open door to the ladies—which ‘severe trial’ please mention, if convenient, in my biography.” i —i RICH ANCIENTS. Pithius, the Lydian, when Xerxes entered Greece, says Herodotus, possessed two thou sand talents in silver, and four millions of darics in gold, amounting to five millions and a half of English pounds. Marcus Crassus, the Roman, after conse crating the tenth of all he had to Hercules, feasted all the people of Rome at ten thousand tables, made a donation to each citizen of as much corn as would last him three months, and had 7,100 Roman talents, or more than $1,500,000. The gold which overlaid one room of Sol omon's Temple, the ‘ sanctum sanctorum,’ 30 feet square, and 30 feet high, amounted to 600 talents, or nearly $21,000,000. Lucullus, a Roman Senator, when he sup ped in one of his halls, which he called Apol lo—and there he supped often never sat down to a supper which cost less than 50,000 denarii, or about SBOOO. Plutarch, in speak ing of one of his suppers, at which only one guest was present, says the supper cost Lu cullus five myriads, by which it is supposed he means 50,000 denarii. —Cleveland Herald. POPULATION OF LIBERIA. A pamphlet lately issued at Philadelphia, makes the following statement respecting Li beria. “ The inhabitants of Liberia, emigrants from the United States, and their children, number three tlionsand five hundred; fthd 157