MISCELLANEOUS.

(From November Journals ) The Clyde.— Her Majesty's Government have resolved to erect a new Battery on the Clyde, on the shores of Roseneath, nearly opposite Gourock ; and last week some officers of the Engineers were inspecting the grounds, and holding consultations with the Duke of Argyll, who is Lord of the Manor. With this battery at Roseneath, and the other one already erected at Gourock, both sides of the Clyde will be completely protected.

Some further particulars of the Cashmere present from the Maharajah to the Queen have been published. One part of it consists of a canopy of the finest Cashmere work, supported on four tent-poles of solid silver, eight or ten feet long each, with silken cords to secure the same. Beneath this is a carpet of the most elaborate pattern and brilliant colours, similar to the kl velvet piles " of England, but a longer and softer " pile," being of the finest Cashmere material. On this carpet is a tent of crimson silk, "flushed" with gold outside, the inner lining being richly embroidered, and finished in an elaborate manner. In the tent is a bedstead and bed furniture. The bedstead is of solid gold, exquisitely chased, and of picturesque design. The tassels and fringes are also of solid gold, and surpass all previous specimens, while the hangings, counterpanes, pillows, &c., are one mass of the finest embroidery work which was ever executed by hand, and which bears the closest scrutiny by the most powerful glass. Added to the above presents are several costly shawls and dresses of the finest workmanship and colour, and heavy with the gold interwoven. The entire value is said to be £150,000 sterling. The present is accompanied by a long address, most exquisitely emblazoned, expatiating in glowing terms on the beauty, virtue, and influence of Her Majesty, "at whose footsteps the lilies rise and bloom, whose, voice in peace is the music of the spheres, whose power in war is the thunder of heaven."

The Tweed Commissioners have agreed to grant permission to take from the Yarrow and Ettrick a quantity of this year's salmon fry to send out to Australia for artificial propagation.

At no time since the Russian war lias a greater activity been perceptible than at the present moment in Woolwich arsenal in the preparation and export of ammunition and war materials for the defence of our coasts and for China. Shot and shell of the largest size in use are seen rolling from the factories to the water's edge by means of the Boxer slides, and are shipped with great rapidity on board various light schooners for the west, whence those destined, for China are transshipped for their destination. Upwards of 1000 tons are now ready for departure. — Times.

Ten men met with a sudden death in consequence of a colliery accident at Hanley, in the Staffordshire Potteries; and four -others were seriously injured. The 14 were being drawn up the shaft when instead of the engine tender stopping the engine as soon as the skip arrived above the surface of the ground, he allowed it to go on, and skip and men were drawn over the pulley at the top of the framework which hung right over" the pit. The skip was dashed to pieces ; and the bodies of the unfortunate men were thrown about in all directions. Some of them fell down the pit.

A singular incident occurred at the station of the Great Western Railway, Gloucester. A little girl rather late in the evening strolled into a horsebox, into which she was enabled to get in consequence of the carriage being then on a siding. Here the little thing fell fast asleep. In a short time afterwards some of the porters went to the carriage, and subsequently a horse was placed in it for conveyance to Hereford. Undisturbed by these movements, and undiscovered by the porters, the child slept on, and she and the horse were soon on their way together. At about half-past 9 they reached Hereford, where of course, the animal had to be removed, and the astonishment of the porters there may be imagined at discovering so very unusual an occupant of a horsebox. The child was still asleep.

The continual increase of our population is astounding. On an average, says the Regis-trar-General, in his report for the three months ended last September, speaking of the crowded and well-to-do people of England and Wales, 695 were added to the population daily. This was the average excess in the number of births over the number of deaths through a period of 92 days, and he calculates that in the United Kingdom the increase will amount to 1042 daily. At the ordinary rates of mortality 347 men will daily arrive at the age of 20. " The

youth of the country," he says, " are growing at such a rate as to add a battalion to its strength every two or three days." Some of the increasing multitude are always emigrating. In the quarter, 34,864 persons, or 379 daily, sailed from the port 9of the United Kingdom, of whom 1 2,464 were of English origin. About a fifth p*art of the natural increase leaves us ; but the emigrants go in great numbers to our own colonies.

Mr. John Mitchell, who is now in Paris, has been writing a series of letters in a Dublin paper called the ' Irishman,' in which his object is to suggest to the Irish peasantry that France will soon be at war with England in the Mediterranean, and that the opportunity will then have arrived for inducing the Emperor Napoleon to invade Ireland. Mr. Mitchell earnestly counsels the "nationalists" of Ireland "to be prepared." He expects ere long to see Gibraltar, as the key of the Mediterranean, and San Juan, as the key of the Columbian Archipelago, wrested from "the swindler and usurer of nations," England ; then he adds, on behalf of his brother " Celts" — " happy if we can but prepare ourselves to rise to our own feet and stand erect -upon our own soil when the felonious gripe is loosened from our throats."

The 'Maryport Advertiser' publishes the following letter : — •

" Royal Charter, off Qaeenstown, Oct. 24, 1859.— Dear Father, Mother, and Sister,— l am writing this from Cork, but we will not be in Liverpool for 24 hours, and then I shall write you again. I shall have to remain in Liverpool one day to purchase some things, and start in the morning, so I shall get into Maryport at night. Isabella, you must make a good apple cake, and should you have any strangers staying in the house, you must contrive to let father, mother, yourself, and me have tea in a place by ourselves. Don't tell any one I am coming, not even a relation, till I have seen you all. And, Isabella, you must come down to meet the night train, and stand in front of the ladies' waiting-room. In order that you may know me, for I am much altered in my appearance since I left, I will call out the word Brown. Jonathan and John were quite well when I left, and I hope I will find you all as well as this leaves— Yours, &c, Joseph Robinson."

The presentation of a handsome gold medal and £5 from the National Lifeboat Institution' was made to Joe Rodgers, the Maltese sailor, who so gallantly swam ashore at the wreck and carried the line by which the hawser was made fast to the rocks. The presentation was made in the dining-hall of the Sailors' Home, by the chairman of the Liverpool Marine Board. The inmates of the institution were all assembled, and cheered Rodgers in the hearty and enthusiastic manner for which British seamen are remarkable. Rodgers was also presented with a vote of thanks from the institution, and £2 collected by the officers of the Local Marine Board and the Sailors' Home.

Vegetable Leather. — The London MeCharlie's Magazine states that there are extensive works at Stepney Green, London, in which great quantities of artificial leather are manufactured. In appearance it resembles common leather ; and it is only by close scrutiny that the distinction can be detected. It is manufactured in webs fifty yards in length and four and a half feet in breadth, and is now much used for bookbinding and several other purposes for which tanned calf and sheepskins are employed by us. It is also used by saddlers for making harness, and may be made of any thickness desirable, and is capable of being stretched or cemented. In-dia-rubber is the principal substance of its composition, but there are other ingredients mixed with it»whereby its leather qualities are secured. The method of making is not given, and it appears that this is kept secret; but that such a substance is now manufactured, sold, and used in large quantities, it a fact of too great importance to be overlooked.

Conversion. — The columns of the Times have for some time contained a lengthened advertisement asking the assistance of Protestant England on behalf of a colony of some 3000 converts to Protestantism, established at Kankakee in America. They'are under the guidance of one Father Chiniquy, and a Mr. Gauthier, both at one time Papists, and the latter a, friar, but who had themselves been converted to Protestantism, and by their exertion have succeeded, to use Mr. Chiniquy's own words, " in rescuing 635 families from the iron grasp of the Romish priesthood." The Colonial Church and School Society of London haye now interested themselves in behalf of this interesting " colony."

Revival Services. — We understand that the congregation assembling in Brighton Street Chapel, with those who have been attending there during the past series of revival meetings, have presented the Rev. Professor Finney with a purse containing one hundred sovereigns, as a thank-offering for his invaluable services. We have also learned that the Professor intends continuing these services for at least two weeks. — Edinhurgk Herald.

As a proof of the beneficial character of the " revival" in the North, a Belfast journal states that the number of public-houses in the district of Ballymena, which has of late years been steadily increasing, presents a marked decrease for the present year. It adds that in other adjoining districts public-houses are being closed for want of customers.

The ' Newry Telegraph ' attributes a marked decrease in drunkenness in Newry and elsewhere to the revival movement

The following testimony to the effects of the revival on horse-racing we extract from the columns of the ' Belfast News Letter,' :—

" The Maze races (October meeting) have been held as usual at the Maze. Although the day was fine And there was a ' well-filled card/ the course was all but abandoned — 500, we are told, were all that mustered on the occasion, where formerly it was no unusual thing to see perhaps 10,000 or 15,000 with the usual supply of tumblers, conjurers, and thim-ble-riggers. Its glory has departed from itj and nothing went on right — not even did the arrangements made for the horses to start deserve the usual commendation ; and, says a contemporary in most expressive language, ' although a general inquiry was made for a man who had seen a similar race before, he was not forthcoming.' Whatever may be said in favour of horse-racing, and improving the breed of horses, it is generally admitted that the race-course in demoralising in the extreme to many who attend it. Betting, cursing, swearing, stealing, gambling, and drinking certainly abound there; and those who usually attended at the Maze seem to have found this out and stayed away. In the midst of a district where the « revival ' flourished, and is still doing so, we can ascribe the desertion of the race-course to no other cause than the impression religion has made upon men's minds ; and we are glad to see that the character of those who did attend was not as bad as on former occasions. ' Not a single case of drunkenness was to be seen,' says an anti-revival contemporary."

Holloway's Ointment and Pills. — Every head of a family should keep a supply of these great specifics at hand. ,No household, and especially those, and their name is Legion, who reside remotely from the nearest Medical Station, can safely dispense with them. External injuries, which would result in the loss of a limb, or the crippling of a joint, if treated in the ordinary modes, may be cured with dispatch, and without pain or hazard, by the use of the Ointment. Erysipelas, scrofula, boils, sores, and all .external, ailments,- are removed with equal facility and certainty by the application of this great curative s and the .manifold diseases of the stomach, liver, and intestines yield invariably to the sanative operation of the Pills.