FORTH AND CLYDE NAVIGA- GLASGOW, Friday, July 30. The important event of opening the Forth and Clyde Navigation from fea to fea took place on Wednesday, and was evidenced by the failing of a tract barge, belonging to the Company of Proprie tors, from the bason of the canal, near the city of Glasgow, to the river Clyde at Bowling Bay. The voyage, which is upwards of twelve miles, was performed in less than four hours, during which the vessel paffed through nineteen locks, defcended thereby 156 feet from the summit of the Canal into Clyde. It required only four minutes to pass each of the locks, in which space the vessel descended 8 feet into the reach of the navigation immediately below. In the course of the voyage from Glasgow to Bowling Bay, the tract boat, paffed along that ftupenduous bridge the Great Aqueduct over the Kelvin, 400 feet in length, exhibiting to the spectators in the valley below the fingular and new object of a vessel navigating seventy feet over their heads-a feature of this work which gives it a pre-eminence over every thing of a fimilar nature in Europe, and does infinite honour to the profeffional skill of that able engineer Robert Whitworth, Efq; under whose direction the whole of this great work has been completed in a very masterly manner. The Committee of Management, accompanied by the magiftrates of the city of Glasgow, were the first voyagers upon this new navigation. On the arrival of the vessel at Bowling Bay, and after defcending from the last lock in the Clyde, the ceremony of the junction of the Forth and Clyde was performed, in prefence of a great crowd of spectators, by Archibald Spiers, Efq: of Elderslie, Chairman of the Committee of Management, who, with the affistance of the Chief Engineer, launched a hogshead of water, of the river Forth into the Clyde, as a symbol of joining the eastern and Western feas together. This great event, so t, so important to the trade and navigation of Great Britain and Ireland, and particularly to the. towns of Liverpool, Lancaster, Whitehaven, Greenock, Dublin, Newry, Drog heda, Belfast, Londonderry, &c. on the one hand, and the towns of Lynn, Hull, Newcastle, Leith, Dundee, Aberdeen, &c. on the other, and alfo to all the ports in or near St George's Channel, in their trade to Norway, Sweden, and the Baltic, is now manifest in a striking degree by the opening of the naviga tion, which not only shortens the nautical distance from 800 to 1000 miles, but alfo affords a more safe and speedy passage, particularly in the time of war, or at the end of the feason, when vef sels are detained long in the Baltic, and cannot attempt the round sea voyage without great danger of the cargo's perishing, or the markets being loft by the detention. The extreme length of the navigation, from the Forth to the Clyde, ie exactly thirty-five miles; fifteen of which is upon the fummit of the country 156 feet above the level of the sea. To this summit the voyager is raised by means of twenty Jocks from the eastern ses, and nineteen from the weft; each lock is exactly 20 feet wide, and 74 feet long within the gates, The depth of the Canal is precifely 8 feet throughout, and the medium width about 56 feet on the surface of the water, and 28 feet on the bottom. The toll dues payable upon the navigation is 2d. per ton for each mile, or 58. red. per ton for the extreme length of the Canal. About the distance of nine miles froms the entrance of the Canal, at Bowling Bay, and near the great Aqueduct over the Kelvin, there is a commodious dry dock for careening and repairing vessels, where every facility is afforded to ship owners on very moderate terms. Upon the whole, it will generally be admitted that no public work finished in Great Britain, was ever so complete in all its parts, or promised so many advantages to the trade of the country at large; and upon few occasions has such general fatisfaction been expressed on the approach of that period when the real utility of this splendid undertaking is to be manifested to the public. shester, appointed Col of the 15th Regt. Light Dragoons, in room of Lord Heathfeld, deceased. Henry James Pye, Efq; Poet Laureat to Dis Majesty, in room of Mr Warton, decafed. Lieut. Col. William Dansey of the 33d. Lieut. Col. of the 49th Regt. of Foot, in room of Sir Henry Calder, Bart. Lieut. Col. Oliver de Laney, depute Ad jutant General, in room of General Williamfon, promoted. Mr William Creech, Printer to the University of Edinburgh. Edmund Eftcourt, Esq; Solicitor to the Stamp Office, in room of Gibbs Crawford, resigned. John Ord, Efq; Governor of Dominica, and a Capt. in the Navy, a Baronet of Great Britain. Marriages. Capt. Nugent of the Royal Navy, to the widow of Commodore Johnston. William Brown Tailor (who at sixpence a-day amassed a fortune of 3000l.), aged 68 years, to Miss Sarrah Hustman, aged 26. Dr Coventry, Profeffor of Agriculture in the University of Edinburgh, to Miss Haftie, of Great Portland Street, London. The Moft Noble the Marquis of Graham, to Lady Caroline Montague, sister to the Duke of Manchester. Mr Dugald Steuart, Profeffor of Moral Philofophy in the University of Edinburgh, to Miss Helen D'Arcy Cranston, daughter of the late Hon. George Cranston. Births. The wife of a labourer in Hertfordhire, aged 60 years, of three children at one birth. The Countess of Glasgow, of a daughter. Lady Louifa Macdonald, of a daughter. Her Sicilian Majesty, of a Prince. Mrs Anderson of St Germains, of a daughter. Mrs M'Lean of the Isle of Monk, of a fon. Deaths. Mrs Margaret Murray, widow of the late Lord. Huntington, one of the Senators of the College of Juftice. The Hon. Captain Bertie of the Royal Navy, and brother to the Earl of Abingdon. Major General Roy, Deputy QuarterMafler General of his Majesty's forces, and Colonel of the 30th regiment of foot. Thomas Hutchon, Esq; Secretary to the Hudson Bay Company. The Rev. Mr Alexander Coull, at Edinkilly, Prefbytery of Forris. Lady Reay, Dowager of Donald Lord Reay. in the 73d year of his age, the Right Hon. Lord Heathfield, K. B. a General of his Majesty's forces, Governor of Gibraltar, and Colonel of the Isth Regiment of Light Dragoons, which he raifed in 1750, and which he has had the command of ever since, being the only Regiment in Britain which never changed its Colonel. He is fucceeded by his fon F. A. Elliot, Colonel of the 6th Regiment of Dragoons, and Aid de camp to his Majefty. Suddenly on the race ground, the Rev. Mr Thomas Scot, senior Minister of South Leith. Adam Smith L. L. D. and F. R. S. of London, and Edinburgh, one of the Com missioners of his Majesties Customs in Scotland, and formerly Profeffor of Moral Philofophy in the University of Glasgow. algow. As an author, hisworks are in the highest reputation, and his Literary Character stands amongst the first in Europe. Major-General Putnam, an American officer in the last war. Mr Archibald Millar coach-builder in Canongate. The Rev. Mr George Abercrombie, one of the minifters in Aberdeen, aged 78 |