SHEERNESS, May 18-The Hec...
SssERaNgSS, Mlay 1i -The Ifecla and Fiiry discovery ships have been paid wages to-day at the Nore; and they wil sail to-morrow morning. The officers and men are in high spirits. The WVilliam Harri.v transport, havingon board 26 live bullocks, and laden with provisions and fuel, will ac- coanllany them a certain diistance to ke6p u,p the su l i-L 0 .3, T.3.. ., s,vwilzlrnt are c.ausIestX o-dock on T uesalav morning from Daver, and aftcr alighdng for a moment at Devonshire-house, proceeded in an open carriage, at- tended by several outriders, in deep mourniing, for (hiswick. Wc 'have since heard that the remanins of the late Ducltess were btGught in her own ca-riage to Devonshire-house at a late hour in the evening. The rrangemments were so privately conducted as not to be known in heneighbourhood. Sir Henry Hardinge, the secondl in the late duel to the Marquis of Londonderry, was grossly insulted on Tuesday after- noon, in his way to the House of Commons, by a person who said hiL Dame was MIr. Battier, one of the principals on the above occa- bion. Sir Henry had just crossed from Parliament-street to the iron railing Which dividea St. Margaret's Church-yard from Pa'ace- yard, when Mr. Battier stepping up to him. asked his name, and, shakinrg a whip at Sir Henry, begged himn to conaider that he had been horse-whipped, at the sanie time telling him that his name was Battier ! There were few persons passingat the time of this insult Sir Henry gave his cmrd to 3Ir. Battier; and thus the matter ended for the present. -veninlg paper. CONTINE E AL SOCIETY.-Yesterday the anaiversary neeting of the Society for the promotion of Christianity on the Con- tinent was held at the Crown and Anchor Tavern: Up wards of 2,000 attended. Sir Thomas Baring in the Chair. The report stated, that duiring the last year great progrems had been niade by the efforts of the Society's agents on the Continent. By means of the rolporte rs or book-agent,, vast numbers of Bibles, Testaments, and Tracts, in the vernatcular tongue, had been circu- lated in Tournay, Grenoble, and Bayonne, and several pares of the Netherlands; in the west of Germany, Switzerland, Genoa, and the Cantoessok Vaud and Betne. A- soon as the Authoritics in Swit- terlanddiscovered the success of the mission, they pursued the agent as an euemy and an incendiarv. The Council ofLIausanne imsued an edict airainac him. O te of thc oflicers of the Societv had made an incursion irto Spain against superstition, with a small army of 500 Bibles and Testaments, besides a number oflight troops in the shape ofTracts.H e penetrated to the wali:sof Madrid, and discharged into it his 6500 copies, under the protection of the French military. (Applause.) During the war, an agent got into Cadiz and procceded to distribute, but was ap- 1irehended, and cast intoadungeon. on a charge of 4Ldition. On.eof his tracts was headed" God sends Jesus Christ to sinners, with laws of peace to the Conscience." The wise Governor said, that God metant the King of France, and that Jesus meant the Duke osf Angouleme, and that the design of the tract was to overthrow the o,overnment. The agent probably owed his life to the takinr of Cadiz, but he was ordered to quit the ceuntrv instantly. At Iltilan ,lr. Tartaro lingered underseatence of deatfi f.irdistributing Bibles. IlIe was tried for Carbonarianismn, and the proof was, that he bad circulated the Bible. The report concluded with a recommendatioh ihat the exertions of the society should be strenuously persevered in. It was received w ith great applause. Mr. Drutmmond, the banker, snored that it should be received; and INIT. Spencer Perceval seconde4 the motion. The Rev. MIr. Cunningham and other gentlemen spoke. The report was received, and a coUection was made at the doors. THtE REavxuE.-An evening paper says-, The reve- nue of the Customs, from the 5th of January to the 15th of MA1ay, 1S24, produces about 3,200,000L, being nearly 154,0001. more thaR the corresponding period of 1Lit year. Of this increase (0,0001. has arisen during the last six weeks, which is the more remarkable, as in that perlo te7eral duties have ceased, particularly the extra duty on coahl brought coaatwLse into Londoni, which bas been repealed since the *th of April, and which produced 120,0001. a-year; and the duties on stilk, which havebeen repealed to the amount of 70,0001. .a:vear, ceascd on the 25th of March. COIERns.-In consequenceof information being receivedl by Mr. H. Adkins, the princial police.officer andl prison-keeper of Birmingham, he, accompanied by the constables, headborough, &c., proceeded on Friday laMt to the bouse of George Pitchforl, in \Vayborough-lane, in the parish of Solihull, in Warwickshire, where, in a smaal rooin adjoining the kitchen, they found an iron p 3~s ready for working} having dics or striking half-crowns ; near 2,..'-te prers ltir. Adksna found a box, containing between five and sn'nundred counterfeit half-crowns,, apparently just struck off. In the chambers and other partst of the house and premises, they disco- vered several pair of dies for sovereigns and shillings. The man, his ;ife, ard the wvhole of the apparatus, were coneyed to the pTison in .Birm'nghamn for examination. They were ex;amined on Mond ay, and remanded till Mo0ndo y next. An accident, attanded with nearly serious consequences, happened on Tuesday afternoon to Mr. Alderman J. J. Smith, who, pasing through Covent-garden, chanced to place iis foot upon a piece of orange ped, and in the endeavour to prevent his head being das,5 agalnst the wall, grasped at the iron railing near him, one nl rise spikes of v h-ch penetrated hi5 right hand, and inflicted a vevere wound; we are happy, however, to learn no serious consequences are lik;ely to anse. 'We have tO notice a melancholy accident, occasioned by the late hcavy rains. A post-chaise, containin4 two ladies, was pro. ceeding to H alls-place, Bromley, and in the act of crossing ltb bridge, when, at the instant, it was blown up by the amazing force of the water and the whole precipitated to the bottom; we muctb rerretg tO dd, one lady was drowned, and al8o both the horses.- Kentlish 6--ct-' An inquisition was held at a late hour on Tuesday night at the Figgn of the Hole-in-the-vwall, Baldwin's-gardens, on th( body of tVilliam BattiDg, a boy belonging to the National Schoo: in that place, vho met his death by falling from the parapet wall oi that establishment, about five o'clock on Monday evening, when hi atDs killed on the spot- A report lhavinF gone aibroad that the de. ceased was employed in cleaning the windows at the time the acci dent occurred, as itiquiry was particularly made on the stabject, ane we learn that the report was entirely unfounded. The deceased had gone ont at one of the attic windows, and was at play aith Poms other boys, uniovwo to a3ny person belonging to the entablishment, hetn, in lcaping from one part of the premisea to another (a thinp he lied beforc performed), ho unfortunately iii jiped, and falbing inta the etteet, was killed OTI the epot,,.-Verdict_.' ArAidentel peiath."