PERSONAL NARRATIVE.

The Queen and Prince Albert continued to enjoy the
tranquil residence at Balmoral till the 10th, on the
morning of which day they departed for the South. They
arrived at Edinburgh about seven in the evening.
Preparations had been made to give a loyal welcome; and
among the features of the demonstration, was a bonfire
piled to the height of forty feet on the summit of Arthur's
Seat. The blazing mass consisted of thirty tons of coal,
a vast quantity of wood saturated with oil and turpentine,
and a thousand tar-barrels. It was kindled at five
o'clock, and the flames are said to have been seen by the
Queen for many miles of her route on both sides of the
Forth.—Her Majesty was received at the decorated
platform of the railway by Sheriff Gordon and other
dignitaries; and a military escort lined the way to
Holyrood Palace.—The Royal party left Edinburgh next
morning, and arrived in the evening at Buckingham
Palace; and on Saturday, the 12th, they went to Osborne.

The Duchess of Kent arrived in town on the 10th,
from Dalmahoy, the seat of the Earl of Morton, near
Edinburgh.

Intelligence has been received from the Arctic
Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin. The North
Star, which went out as a tender-ship to the expedition
of Sir James Clark Ross a year and a half ago, returned
unexpectedly to Spithead on the 28th of September,
bringing dispatches from the ships of the four
expeditions which went out early this year. The Prince
Albert, a ship dispatched in July last, under Captain
Forsyth, to make a special search beyond Brentford
Bay, returned to Aberdeen on the 29th ult. Dispatches
from Captain Ommaney, Captain Penny, Sir John Ross,
and Captain Forsyth, have been published by the
Admiralty; but they throw little or no light on the fate
of the missing voyagers. It appears that some Esquimaux
were fallen in with near Cape York, who told a
story which was interpreted to be "that in the winter of
1846, when the snow was falling, two ships were broken
by the ice a good way off in the direction of Cape Dudley
Diggs, and afterwards burned by a fierce and numerous
tribe of natives. The ships were not whalers—
epaulettes were worn by some of the white men. A part of
the crews were drowned; the remainder were some time
in huts or tents, apart from the natives; they had guns,
but no balls, were in a weak and exhausted condition,
and were subsequently killed by the natives with darts
or arrows." This was the version given by one Adam
Beck, Captain Ross's Esquimaux interpreter; but
Captain Penny's interpreter was totally at variance with
the other, whom he called a liar; and the commanders of
the expedition were incredulous as to the story. From
the information brought by the Prince Albert, it appears
that what seemed to be traces of the missing expedition
had been found in the direction of the Wellington
Channel, a situation that was considered likely. These
were, the vestiges of five tents, and the remains of
provisions, probably left by a party who had lost their ship
or ships, but how long ago there were no means of
judging. There was a piece of rope, which was sent
home for examination, and appears to have been
probably a part of the Arctic stores sent from Chatham to
Woolwich for the Erebus and Terror, in 1845. The
search was going on, by all the parties engaged in it,
with undiminished zeal and activity.

On the 28th of September, Mr. Alderman Musgrove
was elected Lord Mayor of London. The Sheriffs for
the ensuing year are Alderman Robert Watson Gordon,
cutler, and Mr. G. Edm. Hodgkinson, spectacle-maker.

The Right Hon. J. H. Monahan, late Attorney-
General in Ireland, has been appointed Chief Justice of the
Common Pleas, subject to any reduction in the salary
and income of the office which Parliament may make, in
accordance with the report of the committee of the
House of Commons upon official, diplomatic, and
judicial salaries. Mr. Hatchell, the Solicitor-General
(M.P. for Windsor), becomes Attorney-General, and
the Solicitor-Generalship is conferred upon Mr. Henry
George Hughes, Q.C., an eminent member of the
Chancery bar.

The Rev. Dr. Townsend, recently made Dean of Waterford,
is raised to the vacant Bishopric of Meath. The
see of Meath yields an annual income of £4000, with
extensive patronage.

Lord Gough has received the freedom of the burgh of
Inverness. His first triumph in the field was as a
lieutenant of light infantry in the 78th Highlanders, raised
in the immediate vicinity of Inverness. The name of
Lord Gough immediately succeeds that of Prince Albert
on the burgess roll of Inverness.

The late Vice-Chancellor Sir James Wigram has
retired upon an annuity of £3500.

Obituary of Notable Persons.

The BARONESS DE NEUMANN, née Lady Augustus Somerset,
eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, and wife
of Baron Neumann, formerly Austrian Minister at the Court of
St. James's, died in childbed at Vienna, on the 20th ult.

MRS. MACLEAN, the wife of D. Maclean, Esq., M.P. for Oxford,
was killed in the prime of life, at Castellamare, near Naples, on
the 20th ult. She was taking a drive in her carriage, when the
horses took fright and run away, and she sustained such severe
injuries that she expired a few hours afterwards.

LORD LEIGH died at Bonn on the 27th of September, in his
60th year. He had left England some weeks before, for the
benefit of his health.

THOMAS AMYOTT, Esq., F.R.S., and F.S.A., for many years
Treasurer to the Society of Antiquaries, died on the 28th ult. at
his residence, 13, James Street, Buckingham Gate, in the 76th
year of his age.

REAR-ADMIRAL SIR J. MARSHALL died on the 30th ult. at
Pendyffryn, near Conway, the residence of General Sir C. Smith, in
consequence of a fall from a gig. He was in the 65th year of his
age, had been in the navy half a century, and was a distinguished
officer.

MR. JAMES INGRAM, proprietor and landlord of the Fox Inn at
Woodford, in Gloucestershire, died on the 2nd, in his 93rd year.
He was the last survivor of the crew of the Royal George, which
sank at Spithead on the 19th of August, 1782, having escaped
almost miraculously the fate of his companions. Mr. Ingram
had seen a great deal of service, having been at the siege of
Gibraltar, and in many naval actions. His sight and health
were remarkably good up to within a short time of his death.
He was well known on the old coach-road from Gloucester to
Bristol, as the coachmen used frequently to pull up to allow
their passengers to see a veteran whose life had been marked by
so singular an incident.

MISS SARAH BIFFIN, the celebrated miniature-painter, who was
born without hands or arms, died at Liverpool on the 2nd, at the
age of 66. For many years she supported herself by her art; but
as age came on she fell into distressed circumstances, till a small
annuity was purchased for her by subscription, through the
benevolent exertions of Mr. Richard Rathbone of Liverpool.

MAJOR-GENEAL WINGROVE, of the Royal Marines, died on
the 7th, aged 70.

The Rev. Dr. THACKERAY, Provost of King's College,
Cambridge, died at his residence in Wimpole Street, on the 21st, at
the age of 73.

SIR WILLIAM WRIXON BECHER, Bart., died a few days ago at
Ballygiblen, his seat in Ireland. He formerly represented
Mallow in the House of Commons, and in 1831 he assumed the
name of "Becher," in lieu of his patronymic, in accordance with
the will of his mother's brother, and was that year created a
baronet. He was bom in 1780, and married in 1820 Miss
O'Neill, the celebrated tragic actress, who survives him, by
whom he leaves issue three sons and two daughters, his eldest
son Henry, born in Sept., 1826, succeeding to the baronetcy.

The DUKE OF PALMELLA died at Lisbon, on the 12th. He was
buried with great pomp and royal honours.

COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES.

THE apparently settled tranquillity of India continues to be matter of congratulation, but whispers of a
coming storm against the Directors grow more and more distinct and ominous as the time approaches for
Sir Charles Napier's return. He had selected the 5th of November as the day on which to begin his
homeward journey; and this may possibly prefigure both the extent of the meditated "blow-up," and its interception
by some wary Monteagle.

From the Colonies there is no worse or better tidings than the election of Dr. Lang to the Legislative