all changed, and ere a few hours elapsed she was a
corpse. Mrs. Merrilees, of Liverpool, had a little child
about nine months old in her arms. When she was
overpowered with the waters, she sank, and on rising to
the surface her baby was dead, and floated away out of
her arms. The mother was saved; and when she
recovered herself so far as to recollect her loss, she was
bewailing her sad bereavement, when the body of the
little innocent was brought into the house. The scene
that ensued may be imagined. Mr. Tait, baker, of
Glasgow, swam on shore with his little boy on his back
most of the way, and both were saved. The Rev.
Mr. Peughe, the Episcopal clergyman of Paisley, had
a little child on board, about twelve years of age, which
was given in charge to the stewardess. After the alarm
was given, she proceeded to dress her little charge,
and took her on deck, the poor child exclaiming,
'I know you will not leave me.' 'No, no! I never
will,' exclaimed the noble woman; but, alas! heroism
availed them not; the remorseless surge claimed them
as its own. Nothing could exceed the kindness of the
villagers to the wants of the survivors; their houses,
their larders, their wardrobes—their all, were freely
placed at our disposal. Nor should Dr. Douglas, the
medical gentleman of the place, be omitted. He literally
ran from one to another from the hour of the wreck,
administering relief to those who required it, with a
degree of kindness, skill, and perseverance, which must
ever be remembered with gratitude by all. The night
was beautifully clear and calm. There was a slight
haze of fog crawling along the land, but the shore was
quite visible and distinct; the lighthouse loomed close
over the vessel when she struck. The distance between
the rock and the shore did not appear above 150 yards,
if so much, and would be about the length of the
division of Argyll Street from Queen Street to Buchanan
Street. The rock on which the Orion struck is well
known to all the seamen and fishermen of the place, and is
a very short distance from the mouth of the harbour."

Captain M'Neill, of Colonsay, lost his life in
endeavouring to save the lives of others. He was seen by
several of the survivors clinging to a floating spar, guiding
to safety, by his voice and exertions, the shrieking
throng who struggled around him. His strength failing
him, he was heard to say, "For God's sake save
yourselves, I have done all I can;" and, before the boats
which put off from the shore could approach him, the
noble-hearted soldier was beyond the reach of succour.—
The cook of the Orion, a man of colour and an excellent
swimmer, was among the first to reach the shore, and
left it in the first boat which made for the wreck. He
leapt into the sea, and by pushing spars and boxes to
those who were battling with the waters, succeeded in
saving several lives. On the 23rd, instructions were
received from the Lord Advocate to apprehend Mr.
Henderson, the master of the Orion.

No less than five fires took place in different parts of
London on the night of the 21st. Two of them, the one
in the premises of the Messrs. Bowler, vellum-binders
on Garlick Hill, and the other in Red Lion Street, near
the London Docks, were attended with great destruction
of property, the inmates narrowly escaping with their
lives. The others were at Wapping, Tabernacle Square,
and Lisson Grove; but the damage done by them was
comparatively small.

A young gentleman named John Bellowen, son of an
extensive planter in Trinidad, was drowned on the
morning of Sunday, the 23rd, while bathing in the
Serpentine. This is the second loss of life at the north
side of the Serpentine this season.

Mr. J. Smith,of Sheffield, a young man of 21, lost
his life on the 24th from the Incautious Use of Chloroform.
He was found dead in his bed in the morning,
with a hankerchief in his hand firmly pressed to his
mouth and nostrils; and a bottle which had contained
chloroform was found by him. He had been in the habit
of inhaling chloroform to allay the pain of toothache.

A Workshop suddenly Fell on the premises lately
occupied by the Philanthropic Society in St. George's
Fields, on the 25th, while a number of French polishers
were at work in it. One man named Wilson was
crushed to death, and several others so much injured
that they were conveyed to the hospital.

SOCIAL, SANITARY, AND MUNICIPAL
PROGRESS.

The Society for Improving the Condition of the
Labouring Classes had its annual meeting at St.
Martin's Hall on the 6th; Lord John Russell was in the
chair. The committee's report, read to the meeting,
enumerated the various places where improvements
had been effected in the dwellings of the poor, and the
sums expended for that purpose. Referring to the
buildings now being erected in the neighbourhood of
Gray's Inn Lane, it stated that it was intended to
receive, among others, 128 needlewomen, at a rent of
a shilling a week, and that there would be healthy
dwellings for from two to three hundred people.
Attached to these buildings there would be a public
washhouse. The cost would be £10,000, of which
nearly one half was still to be raised, so that the society
had need of assistance. The resolution adopting the
report was about to be put by the chairman, when
Mr. G. W. M. Reynolds came forward, and was
vociferously cheered by a knot of persons at the bottom
of the hall. Lord Ashley rose to order, observing that
this was a meeting of a private society for the transaction
of its own business, and could be addressed only by its
members. "Then," cried Mr. Reynolds, "I'll make
myself a member at once," and advanced with a purse
in his hand, out of which he offered some money to the
secretary, which was declined. A great deal of noise and
confusion arose; Mr. Reynolds insisting on his right to
pay his guinea and make himself a member on the spot;
and Lord John Russell explaining that this might
entitle him to address a future meeting, but that he
could not be heard then. At length the resolution was
put and carried, only three hands being held up against
it. Lord Ashley then came forward to move the second
resolution, when he was met by loud uproar on the part
of Mr. Reynolds's friends, in the midst of which Mr.
Reynolds once more rose from his seat, and advancing
with air half-menacing, half-swaggering towards the chairman,
exclaimed, "I appeal to your lordship whether
you will allow the working classes to be insulted in this
manner?" By this time he had come up to Lord
Harrowby, who sat next Lord John Russell. Lord
Harrowby put out his hand to stop his further progress,
and exclaimed, "Go back, sir!" Mr. Reynolds still
pressed forward, on which Lord Harrowby rose from
his seat, took him by the shoulders, and pushed him
back. Mr. Reynolds, without further resistance, slunk
back to his seat, while the meeting resounded with
cheering and cries of "Well done, Lord Harrowby!"
Lord Ashley went on, and in the course of his speech
assured his good friends below the rope that he had
been in the habit of mixing with all classes, and that he
even came from among the working classes with
increased respect for them, and a determination to do all
he could for their benefit. Mr. Reynolds exclaimed,
"The Factory Act; the Ten Hours Bill! You have
betrayed the working classes." Lord Ashley did not
notice the interruption, and the remaining business of
the meeting was quietly gone through. This meeting
gave rise to some proceedings at Bow Street. Mr.
Merriman was soon afterwards charged by Mr. Seeley,
bookseller, with creating a disturbance at the meeting,
and was held to bail, Mr. Reynolds becoming one of his
sureties. At the same time Mr. Reynolds applied for a
summons for assault against Lord Harrowby, whom he
called "a ferocious fellow." The magistrate said he
should require written information upon oath, which
was promised by Mr. Reynolds. Two days afterwards
he renewed his application, but it was refused by the
magistrate, who held that he had no right to address
the meeting, nor to approach the chairman, and that
Lord Harrowby was justified in thrusting him back as
an intruder.

The Great Flower Show of the Horticultural Society
at Chiswick, on the 8th, was attended by above six
thousand visitors, the Nepaulese princes being among
the number. The chief object of curiosity was the
gigantic Victoria Regia Lily, grown in the gardens of
Sion House. The still greater exhibition of a similar
kind by the Royal Botanical Society, in the Regent's