The Express. — London, England, 1851-06-25 00:00:00

the committee thought that if they had pursued a different course the loss would have been proportionately less; anal Oil those grounds they " recommended the case to the favourable consideration of the government, with a view to the adoption of some measures which should at least miti gate the loss." In compliance with that recommendation, parliament granted 30,0001. or 10s. in the pound on the amount of defalcation. The committee had reported that there were no peeulier features in the Tralce and Killarney banks; and on the present occasion no distinction was attempted between the four. But if these cases were admitted, they could not stop there. (Hear, bear.) Other banks had failed within the last kw years, at Dartford and other places ; and it would be im possible to stop at these four. Wherever loss had been in curred, either by the fault of the trustees or without it, the government would be called on to make good the loss. Hence it was not a mere question of 100,000/. ; for if these Cases were entertained, similar claims would be preferred ; and the hon. member for Dublin would probably demand 20s. in the pound for the Cuffe-street depositors. Allusion had been made to the way in which government had dealt with the money of the savings banks ; but for the purposes of the motion that was wholly irrelevant ; as, whatever money hail been received from the trustees of savings banks, the government was liable fur, was prepared to pay, had paid, ant would pay. (Hoar, hear.) If it were proved that any loss had been incurred by the mode in which government had dealt with the moneys of savings banks, that loss would fall upon the public, and not upon the depositors. (Hear, hear.) The chief difficulty in dealing with this great and important question, in which the interest of the poorer classes was so deeply in volved, arose from that which often happened in this coun try—an institution, voluntary in its foundation, utteny outgrew all the bounds anticipated ; the government was more or less called upon to interfere ; and the great diltl• culty wag to reconcile government control and responsibility with that voluntary action which was an essential situ, guts non to the existence of wings banks; for without the vo luntary, unpaid avaistance of benevolent individuals in man aging these institutions, they could not possibly exist. Tho liability of trustees had been gradually diminished, and lastly, by the act of 1844, almost taken away, ex cept in cases where it was voluntarily antler:al to a certain extent. This was not a compolsory responsibility, for neither the government, nor Mr. Tidd Pratt, nor any body else, could compel the trustees to assume it. Gene rally speaking, trustees had abstained from doing so, espe cially since 1841; and he did not remember a single case where the legal liability of the trustees had been app. algid to to make good the losses. In every case voluntary con tributions had been relied on. On the failure of the Car marthen hank, in Pis:l—the only really large loss which had taken place—the Lord Lieutenant came forward anal paid all the depositors under 11., and the rest were un paid; so that the legal liability was practically good for nothing, anal no great difference had been made by its removal. The question at the time was, whether it was better to take away a liability which practically had never been enforced, or to withdrew from the management of there institutions those gentlemen on whose exertions their existence depended; and the legislature had decided that it was more desirable that the local management should continue than that the legal liability should remain is terrorem over the trustees. Thus a body of managers had been retained, who would, probably, not have been retained otherwise, without whose assistance the institutions could nut be car ried on. Ile hail never heard it denied that the accounts of the Rochdale bank had been regularly transmitted; bat the actuary, a man implicitly trusted by all classes in Koch dale, had kept two sets of books, one true, the other forged --copies of the latter being sent to the National Debt Con. 1101.10.1011er‘, by an inspection of which it was utterly impos sible to discover any fraud. lie was not quite sure that the trustees of that bank hail done their duty, or they might have detected the fraud: but the actuary was kgs g ly re veeted, and thus had the power of defrau the depositor to the extent named. In the ••• d the Scarborough bank, ho believed the MOM had done their duty and attended to the esessis. He had received, and every day was receiving, infantilism that would enahle him to bring forward in the mat session of parliament a better bill than that he had brimeht forward in the past session. When in that position se one could feel more anxious than himself to see security afforded to the industrial dames ; but at present he did not think it would he fair or just that the government should take on themselves the payment of all the losses, known and an known, which might, up to the present occasion, have oc curred by the neglect or otherwise of the managers or the trustees. (Hear. Mr. REYNOLDS was so full convinced of the moral lia bility of the government, that he intended to demand the remaining Ilk. in the pound on behalf of the defrauded Cuffe..-strect depoeitors. Mr. BRIGHT feared that the resolution would off,r premium upon delinquency, and would result in the annual application for a vote to cover similar defalcations. But as the law was defective, and the government hail so far inter fered with the savings banks as to lead to an impression among the depositor that their money was placeil upon a national security, he suggested, as a measure of justice, that a bill should be brought in to regulate the future liability, and that the house should take a charitable viewiof the past. Mr. HUME declared that the nation was morally liable to the suffering depositors, and could not deny their respon sibility so long as tho law was left in its present mate of uncertainty. Mr. lIENLEY regretted, but could not consent to make good with public money the losses of the savings banks de positors. lie hoped rather than expected that the ministry would be able to overcome the difficulties that stood in the way of satisfactory legislation on the subject. Mr. SLANEY remarked .upon the hardship that feU upon the working classes, for whose small savings all other investments were impossible, and that of the banks unsafe. Col. THOMPSON believed that the sufferen now in question had an indefeasible claim in equity upon the public purse. Mr. J. A. SMITH repudiated the assertion that the pub lic had rendered itself responsible, now or heretofore, fur the savings banks defalcations. lie confessed at the same time that the law required elucidation and amendment. Colonel DUNNE would support the motion. The house then divided. For the motion Against it B3-7 The motion was consequently lost. THE OFFICIAL SALARIES COMMITTEE. NXW WORK RI ALBERT BMITII. On the 14 of Jul, .111 I. publinned. price One Milling Ito be continued Monthly 1. Nu. I. ore st• Penland, N entlllo.l 1 1E M 0 T H. A Blow of Pa wi n g Satieda, Roam% Boa* and Foreleg Buda and Genes!. By ALASIIT OMIT.. Ithstrthed by Joan Lawn. Publibed at the 0Ez..., of ?Le llvutla. No. • Whitefrimpottsti gitt erprel4l4. TO CORRESPONDENTS. I limed Titles et " The Ceram," eoetaialag the SIM reesing's " Oseette," is pabilehed every Tuesday mad Friday eight, a time he pest. idTertioneetetateeded ter "The F.spreet," Leaden Eeenhed paper, meet Mat the Otbee. 10, Bouverie•street, by Two o'e , tek ea the day of patelettea. RIOR WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tan D•r—Yoriinn 10h. /Sot Afternoon. 111. Mt. To.noaaow—MOrniSt.llll.llltn. Afternoon. lib. O. LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25. IF the Church Building Acts Amendment Bill — which though only coming from the Lords on the 19th, Sir GEORGE GREY attempted to force to a second reading in the Commons yesterday—if it have to be taken and accepted as the "be all and the end all" of Lord ASHLEY s Sub-Division of Parishes Com mission, so magniloquently moved for and so flour ishingly granted, very small arc the mercies to he thankful for. If not, it is then only another of the long series of measures by which, from the time parliament granted the church a million sterling down to now when it won't give the church a penny, the great and important question of parochial subdivision has been played and trifled with. Lord ASHLEY, it will be recollected, moved for this commission for the express purpose of breaking up for ecclesiastical purposes, the great parishes of England; contending that a cure of 4,000 souls was quite enough for any incumbent of a benefice, a position which was generally admitted by ministers ; and so certain did Lord ASHLEY and Sir GEORGE GREY then affect to be that the commission about to issue would produce some _great and worthy scheme of that sort, that, when Mr. BRIGHT moved that it should also report on the consolidation of small parishes, as, fur instance, on the infinitesimal paro chial divisions existing in most of our cathedral Cities, the amendment was rejected, halt it should interfere with the greater object. Well, the commission was issued ; but eo ill com posed,SO full of twaddle and bigotry, so large and dis cordant, that we at once pronounced it to be unwork able. And so it has turned out : it made a couple of reports, the latter proposing to hold a great auction of the Loan CHANCELIAM s 700 benefices: where upon the country took to laughing at it, and it has been silent ever since. But, silenced by its own absurdities, it had, we were then assured, undertaken to prepare for Sir GEORGE GREY a great legislative measure, of which he should have all the credit. And just as the session of 1849 was closing, a bill was laid on the table of the House of Commons, so full, how ever, of objectionable clauses, that it was never re produced. Next session another measure, less—but still very—offensive, was introduced, but no serious effort was made to consider it. And this year we have a third bill—each being " small by degrees and beautifully less;" until the present is as worthless for all subdivision purposes as any measure can pow sibly be. It is, however, in other respects very ob jectionable, as we shall show. What we gather from this state of facts is. that the great question of church reform has been re tarded, not advanced—damaged, not promoted, by Lord ASHLEY taking it out of 'Mr. lloitsmes's hands. Mr. HORSMAN hail, by great and valuable exertions, almost convinced the House of Commons that a fuller manipulation and a better distribution of church pro perty for church purposes was necessary. Ile was gradually forcing the subject on the consideration of the whig cabinet, when Lord ASIILEY interfered with this motion for a commission, gave the govern ment an opportunity of evading it, and of trans ferring the responsibility which constitutionally rested on it to a select body of Lord ASHLEY'S friends. The commission has, as we have seen, been an utter and complete failure ; Mr. HORSMAN has been discouraged and disheartened, and Lord ASHLEY has been covered with applause for good intentions, which, as usual with his good intentions, have ex ploded in smoke. The practical lesson of all which is that church reformers ought not to put their faith in Lord ASHLEY, now the Earl of SuserEsnEßY ; for his goodness is only to be equalled by his weakness. The bill now before the house is in every respect a bad bill. It is bad in principle ; worse in di tails. In principle, because it increases the powers of the Church Building Commissioners ; a clumsy, se cret, irresponsible body, which though only meant when originated to be of temporary continuance, has gone on gaining authority and influence, until now it would require a volume to contain and expound all the statutable powers it has acquired ; dispersed as they are in no less than thirteen acts of parlia ment. The whole of our legislation as to church building, church extension, church endowment, and parochial division, is a muddle; part of the confusion is confided to the Church Building Commissioners; other parts to the ecclesiastical commission ; some to the episco pacy ; and, lastly, the affairs of Queen ANNE'S Bounty are now inextricably tied up in this knot, which, to be unloosened, must be eat. The subject wants, of all things, simplification, organisation, and respon sibility applied to it; in the shape of a department of the state, directly represented in and responsible to parliament. For at present all these various powers of administration and legislation are practi cally in the hands of a caste, and of, for business par ' poses, the worst of all castes, that of the clergy and their followers. And, as at Rome on a larger scale, so here on a smaller, no one has any confidence in or respect for such a system and such an administration. The first objection to the bill is then that it tends to prolong a bad system of administration ; such, ea when instituted, it was never intended should possess the powers now confided to it. But the contents of the measure are also objectionable. The principle an which the legislature made its grant of oats million sterling, on which private subscrip tions have been obtained, on which, in point of fact, the whole of our church building pro ceedings have been based, was, and yet is, that in each new church a certain number of sittings should be made free for ever. But the first three clauses iu this bill alter all this; for under them the Church Building Commissioners—that is in effect the bishops—may deprive the poor of their statutable accommodation in these churches, and may establish, for the benefit of the incumbent, pew rents. Now such a provision in respect of existing churches is a violation of the terms on which the sites were granted or bought on which grants were made and subscriptions obtained, and on which their consecration took place. Carry out these clauses to the full extent of which they are capable of being carried, and the poor will be driven away from and expelled out of district and new churches; for by them the proportion of the rich is taken at two thirds, and that of the poor at one-third of the dis trict population; and this by a church which claims to have especial interest in and care over the poor. Anything more monstrous and outrageous than such a breach of contract—such a regard for the profits of seat-letting, and such a disregard of the poor— was never presented to parliament. And the man ner in which it has to be done is even worse than the doing it. The law as to free seats is now certain and definite ; hereafter it is proposed to make it nncer tainandindefinite; dependent on the pecuniary desires of the incumbent, the temr of his bishop, and the , whim of the Church Buil din g Commission. As the ' rich and wealthy in a district increase, the poor will be greshially restricted and narrowed and expelled; they will be thrust to the wall, stuck up in the ow loft, squatted behind the pillars; placed any where, in short, that the profits of pew letting may be augmented. Now this power is a fundamental change in oar church system, which hitherto, in theory at least, included the poor, which in building new churches provided for the poor ; but which, O' this bill peas in its present shape, will treat the poor as one-third only of the population of the country. But it cannot pass as sent from the Lords; that, the temper, and tone, and determination of ve?terday morning's debate must have shown Sir . GEORGE GREY. Nothing could be better than the spirit in 1 which Sir BLNJAMIN HALL resisted this aggression on the rights of the poor, guaranteed, as it were, by **copal ooneectstion; and if on Friday evening he Nr Vitiiiiiiil4.i — roae ---- tomnVe pursuant to notice, "That the committee on official sala ries be reappointed, according to its own recommendation." )dr. BIiOTHERTON (amid loud cries for " Brothor ton ") moved that the house be adjourned. The house divided. For the adjournment 64 Against it 32-32 The house accordingly adjourned, the hour being a quarter past twelve. Palm—Colonel Cnarrnirrog paired off on 'Monday night with The O'Boanag Mano:s.—Mr. T. B. llos notsz paired on Monday against Mr. Walpole's amend ment on the Beelesiaatiesl Titles Bill with Colonel Visa fur. EXPECTED SCOW= FANCY DREW BALL IS THE ClTY.—Thefidly a deputation, consisting of Lord James Stuart, Sir Duncan Mc 1) Stuart, Mr. . Moffatt, M.P., Mr. C. Guthrie, Mr. P. F. Robertson, Mr. W. Dallas, Mr. T. McGregor, Mr. D. Dewar, and Major Adair, introduced by Mr. Sheriff liodgkinson, waited upon the Lord Mayor, to ask for the use of , the Guildhall after the visit of her jetty, fur a grand fancy dress and Highland bail, for the benefit of the Scottish Hospital and Caledonian Asylum. The Scottish Hospital is for the relief of aged and destitute residents in London. The Caledonian Asylum is for the maintenance and education of the orphans of sailors and soldiers who have been killed or disabled in the service, and of Scottish parents resident in London. SECOND CHANGE AGAINST THE MASTEN OF ST PANCRAS Woucuocsa.—Yesterday, at the weekly meet of the board of directors of the poor of IR. Peames, Mr. Turner said be was anxious to ask a question oche, and to call the attention of the board to • subject a peat im portance, which append to have SNOW prodooma's re collection. Pending the inquiryheat the kris "imp of cri minal assault brought wink Mr. Lees Toy the girl Smith, there wee stoodsast chage mit straiast the master by two inmates of that home, he, Mr. Turner, will unions to know if any 'wiry had been instituted into this charge. The reason the second charge was not proceeded with at the time It wee mode was, that it was thought that it might peolodiss ths master in the first charge. A director : Tlot was all set tled by the committee of inquiry appointed by the vestry. Mr. Turner said it we no such thing. The matter to which he alluded was an after charge and ought to stand in its proper position; the charac ter of the master should be properly elomod before any mo • ney was paid. The charge was brought against Mr. Eaton by Mr. overall and the waiting wows, the former had stated that he had sera the moan is as improper position with the girl who lived will Pan Maass is Vie capacity of nurse, this statement was corroborated kg the waiting wo man. lie, Mr. Turner, was anxious WI this serious mat ter should be investigated, in order that the meter should Woad right, as ba osr As, in the ern ads, parish, and tits the Memos avail be satisfied of his hmeeenee, tho saamay was pad. Mr. Stockton said a nd the woo= bad &Wed bay* mob the statement, and that there had boo a great deal of pevorkation about both the IClwho bad MI& the dimge.--Mr• Wellby thought . Tumor was fully *Mod in bringing this matter = bb end ht doing. lo s be had by me means highly statement ; le WOO baveloos mach farther. The Ossalsosper had stated OM la fief moss Mr. Eaton with hie arm round the rife wait ; he might.emild go far ther as to the atatemeat of the storekeeper; be maid sanest that the master be adelmoltowithdraw. An impky wee elms lately. neccwary. He CILr. Wellby) thought the meter had been ill advised; It woad hare bass bake he Mat is have sacrificed 1001. then to have this matter be the board. Mr. Churchmenian Maker amid Oat Min Idea* had stated that she saw stoke son *am Mr. Maim pat his arms round the non_ Paireneek. Rim bad mood it to Mrs. Eaton. Everall had mode do Margo mar wens than it we. After gam bane dimallas, it was oohed to deter the matter to the neat masilairatert Tits Ltmr OODIVA Paocimmall AT COTIMITZT.— This mambo Oiosisl sterhistilla Ink IhOl= e itad was ousimaird ematatt elkinikar. a to whirl the hrosseabia Mole et the meatier art materially matelbsted. It was ei.leabisd that thin IMP awl than WO perms them Wag, it am Isolievei, at least tamwere is ton WM. 111, pesemslea itself was ant he shirt et a ado la Milk A WHOttOber of P" - I MN anima by the weld maim tam Lerma, and about Miff d UN haal lt, Item Dlrmiagbam Cona.Vy In the waft THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 25, 1851. be only properly seconded, the HOU SECRETARY will have to capitulate these three monstrous clauses. THE recent measures of the Prussian government convoking the provincial diets throughout the king dom, have given rise to a manifestation of popular , feeling and resolution not unworthy of attentive con sideration on the part of those who watch with inte rest or sympathy the progress of our German neigh bours towards the acquisition of a constitutional polity. The course of events during the last six months has been so disheartening to the liberal cause, and the disenchantment wrought by the diplomatic conjury of Olmutz and Dresden has been so complete, that we hardly ventured to hope for any decisive symptom of reaction against the ascendancy of Russian principles, until time should have been given for the national humi liation to be in some degree forgotten, and the na tional chagrin to pass away. But the popular memory is seldom very retentive, and if the bitter teachings of experience are sometimes too readily obliterated, there are likewise compensatory advan tages derivable from this political buoyancy of no mean value. The circumstances to which we would more espe cially advert are briefly these. By the organisation of the States-General or Parliament of the united monarchy , in many of the functions of the pro vincial theta were necessarily superseded, and those bodies in the shape and form wherein they had pre viously subsisted were practically laid aside. So low , as Prussia, one and indivisible, was denied tho lege of a national legislature, these preparatory par liaments were justly prized not merely as training schools for a freer and more important political life, but also for their own saker„ as constituting the appropriate machinery whereby local wants and wishes might in the best way be dealt with. Prussia, as a geographical unity, might still be regarded r.. a disputable item forty years ag9; as a social, religious, or industrial unity, it is to the present hour non-existent. Seven or eight prinei 'eal elements go to make up the poli tical eembir.ation which Europe recognises as the fifth of its great powers. Each of these differs from the rest 'Ai the chief essentials of its permanent con dition. The every-day business of Pomerania is unlike that of the Rhine province, and what t'ae inhabitants of Silesia desire and need for the promotion of their local welfare bears little resemblance to that which the burghers of the cities of Brandenburg seek and require. There was a great and real use in the provincial diets, winch countries that arc denied them can best ' perhaps appreciate, and which few Prussians will be found so infected with the fanaticism of French cea • tralism, as to deny. In the absence of a national parliament, however, certain legislative powers, by the law of 180, de volved upon these bodies, which, as soon as it was called into existence, they could no longer with pro priety exercise. And, partly with a liew to prevent any possibility of petty contests of authority, until the fundamental discrimination and attribution of functions between the local assemblies and the central one should have been made, the former were declared to be dissolved, and for upwards of two years they have not met. Their very constitution for the most part rendered them an anachronism in the popular system inaugurated in 1848. They had been modelled with archaeologic pedantry on the real or imaginary models of medieval senates. While the total number of members was inconsi derable, they were formally divided into four orders corresponding to a rigid classification of society no longer extant. The effect was practically to give the feudal proprietary a predominant influence ; and this was so fully recognised that a general impres sion and expectation prevailed that, whenever re suscitated, their constitution must be reformed, so as to bring them into political harmony with the supreme legislature. This, unfortunately, was not done. More urgent eases engrossed attention during last year and that which preceded it ; and when it was proposed that the provincial diets should be awakened from their state of suspended animation, the idea of such a pro ceeding was felt to imply retrogression in its plainest I form. Nor was this all. The legality of a ministerial edict affecting to revive institutions which had been suspended, if not abrogated, by the decree of the nation, was in itself wholly inadmissible. If a minister could do and undo, make and unmake institutions in this fashion, all hope of statutable or chartered freedom might be considered as at an end. To many, the attempt bore upon its front the evidence of a deliberate purpose to supplant the central iv presentative by means of these renovated oligarchic councils. The alarm spread rapidly, and so irresis tible appears to have been the contagious feeling of indignation at the supposed bad faith of the admi nistration, that the members of these limited and privileged bodies almost unanimously came to the re solution to refuse to act. One after another they de clared themselves legally incompetent, even for the performance of the quasi-executive functions regard ing the distribution of the property tax, which had formed the special pretext for their convocation. In the face of this demonstration of passive resist ance on the part of the most conservative classes of the community, perseverance on the part of the go vernment became obviously impossible. But with the obstinacy which sometimes chugs to the name when the thing is abandoned, it would seem as if the ministers of the King of Paeans in their anxiety to maintain a character for technical consistency have incurred the odium of insincerity to both the antagonist principles involved. They now pretend that no in tention was ever entertained of permanently re storing the provincial councils on their old basis, but that the crown possessed an inherent right to con voke them upon a particular exigency, that exigency being the local apportionment of a necessary tax, which, without such allotment, could not be levied according to law. The parliament had, in point of fact, foreseen and provided for the case in question by empowering . the crown to appoint tempo rarily commissioners for the purpose • and had this course been followed, although the decisions of these officials might have been characterised as arbitrary, they would have involved no principle of lasting or general policy. The pal rolgeexceptional is never regarded with the same of popular suspicion as the insidiously uncon stitutional. The Proussische Zeituny form;ily repu diates the ulterior designs attributed to the cabinet of M. MANTKCYPEL, and repels in terms of offended dignity the imputation of harbouring ideas at vari ance with a strictly constitutional system. Unhap pily this disclaimer will gain, as it is en titled to receive, but little weight. All faith in the fidelity of the present councillors of FREDERICK WILLIAM to constitutionalism, is dead. They have no particular character for courage, inde pendence, or consistency of purpose, to appeal to as a guarantee of their professed sincerity in equivocal circumstances; and men so situated must expect to be watched and baffled whenever they deviate in any respect from the straight path of legality and pre cedent. They have kept bad company, and merit the distrust with which honest folk habitually look on the associates of their natural enemies. Meanwhile the calm and almost mute resistance which this luckless manceuvre has drawn forth on the part of the community at large is full of significance and hope. We are not sure that, after all, it is not about the best thing in the cause of peaceful and thoughtful progress that has been dune in Prussia for many a day. To have an eager desire for free dom is well: but to possess the judgment and reso lution to resist st astly dangerous and plausible propositions, whose acceptance does not seem at tended with any immediate evil, indicates a much maturer state of political capacity. ELECTION OP SHERIFFS. —Yesterday Mr. James Hartley and Mr. Thomas CottercU, were elected sheriffs of London for the ensuing year. MFACHANT SWICIC ' S SOClETT.—Yeaterday the annual court of the Corporation for the Relief and Support of Disabled Merchant Seamen, their Widows, and Chil dren, was held at the office of the society, 25, Birchin-lane, Xornhill ; G. Lindsay, Esq., in the chair. The minutes of the last court having been read, Mr. George Lyall was unanimously re-elected president of the corporation, and a committee of twenty-one appointed, seven being new mem bers, and fourteen of kat year's committee. A detailed statement of the income and expenditure at the various pore, as ordered to be printed by the House of Commons, was laid before the meeting ; and from the aggregate ac count appended, it appeared that the receipts for 1850 were 24,4901. 17s. ed., and the paymeuts during the sore period left a Delano, in cash and =port@ accounts at Nal. lea. 7d. A ociaunitteir for auditing the accounts having been*. painted, the wort at4onnted. FRANCE. PARIS, TUESDAY EVIININO. To-day the President reviewed, in the Champ de Mars, the second division of the garrison of Paris, under the command of General Guillabert. The ceremony was more favoured than the last review by the weather; but the President's return home was the signal for a noisy manifestation of the republi cans, who gathered in one dense mass along the Quay Billy, between the Pont do Jena and the Champs Elysees, and kept up deafening cheers of " live la republique!" until the President and his staff reached the Allee des Veuves. The committee on revision heard to-day the a x _ planation of M. de Broglie upon the motion of the Rue des Pyramides. The committee rejected the propositions of MIL . Larabit, Creton, and Bouhier do 'Telltale. but adjuarned until its next sitting OA vote on the motioi,s of MM. do Broglie and Y. Payer. The reporter will be appointed on Thum' The statement of M. Emile de Girlrdin yesterday that Louis Napoleon had issued a message printed clandestinely at the Hotel du Rhin, on the loth De cember, 1`348, has received an official contradiction, which will be published in the dfuniteur of to morrow. The debate in tho Assembly to-day presented no 1 inte :est. The bill on Monts-de-Piete was adopted lir.aUy with the exception of the tith article, which '.oppressed the commissioners-appraisers, and which is replaced by a provision through which the charge of fixing the nature of the mediators between the public and the administration is referred to a rc'glc meat crodotiniAtration pub'iyuc. A painful piece of news circulated at the Assembly. M. Aristide Olivier, editor of the Suffrayc Uniceract, and son of the old constituent, Demosthene Olivier, had fought with sabres at Montpelier with M. Fer nand de Ginestous, nephew of M. Grosset, represen tative of the Werault, who took the place of M. Escaude, editor of the Echo du Midi. The duel was fatal to both combatants, one of whom, M. Gines tous, was pierced from side to side. The authorities seem disposed to make an example of this case, and to punish the seconds with great severity. The Constiiiitionnel contains an article by Dr. Veron, indicating the first of a series of reforms which the country may expect from Louis-Napoleon, re-elected President. The first reform, after the ' abolition of the law of May, is the suppression of the octroi duties levied on provisions at the gates of towns, a system which tends to create extra mores, a zone of taverns and vagabond faubourgs. The Constitalionnel also recommends the re-aboli tion of the tax on drinks, which was suppressed by the revolution of February, and the application of sumptuary taxes, such as those on carriages and horses, S:c. This article has produced a great sensa tion from suggesting an es post-facto . justilication of the Dijon speech, and indicating senous intentions in the President to strike into a policy which is co loured with socialism. The monied world has been thrown into consider able agitation by the resolution of the committee on the Avignon Railway in favour of M. Duthure's pro- position for the provisional execution by the state, as the corner-stone of M. Fould's budget for 1852 was the 60 millions which he reckoned on receiving from the company whose proposals were adopted by the government. You may remember that, in the late trial of the Messoger, M. Foreade hinted that there remained in his hands a document still more important than that which he had published from the notes of M. ear lier, and compromising a personage of a higher po sition than the prefect of police. The busy inqui sitiveness of the political world seems to have been getting daily more fevered about the mysterious do cument in reserve, and it seems not improbable that a fresh attempt to procure a committee of inquiry will be made in the Assembly with a different result from that which attended the last. M. Foreade has stated that nothing less than the appointment of such an inquiry will induce him to produce the document in question. The second trial of the Erenitment came on to-day before the Court of Assizes, but the cause is not yet decided. Count de Stunner, who has resided for Zearly a quarter of a century in quality of Austrian Inal nuncio at the Ottoman Porte, and whose name is connected with all the great transactions which hams taken place in the Levant during that period, has just arrived in Paris, from whence he is, it is said, about to proceed to London.; The committee on the budget has reversed its first decision relative to the suppression of the rantsg to the Italian opera and the Odeon, and maintains both. The labours of the sub-committee appointed to ex amine the petitions for revision have ascertained that the number of signatures, crosses included, for the first 50 departments of France, taken in alphabetical order, is 450,055. As an American packet-boat was leaving the port of Havre two days ago for Now York, the central commissary of police appeared suddenly on the quay, and signalled to it to stop. He demanded a list of the passengers, and arrested one of them, a clerk of commercial house of La Fere, who had absconded with a sum of 12,000 fr. The order for his arrest had just arrived by the electric telegraph. The sum stolen was found on MM. SPAIN. MADRID, Jeff 19. The re • • member of the committee on the settlement of debt is, like all the others chosen before him, the 'ministerial candidate. ITALY. TURIN, JCNN 21. Count Revel has taken his departure for London, charged by the government to negotiate the loan of three millions sterling. The committee for exam ing the additional treaty of commerce with France has recommended its ratification. Count Cavour de clared that he bad been unable to procure more favourable condition flan France. GERMANY. FRANFORT-ON-THE-MAINE, Itrzis 24. The Engere-Rath of the Diet met on Saturday forenoon. The object of the sitting is not yet known. In the evening, Count Thun, the president, entertained all the members at a grand banquet. The report that the Austrian and Bavarian troops quartered in Hesse are to quit that country in the beginning of the ensuing month is premature. No resolution of the kind has yet been taken by the Diet (unless in the sitting a11ud.74 to above), and I am assured that the . question has not b.•en touched upon in an official manner since the reinstatement of the federal govern ment. The proceedings of the Diet are proverbial for their slowness, and it is not to be expected that they will be quickened at a time when the whole internal ar rangements of the institution require to be restored to something like order and harmony. Questions ofjosties or mercy to the people of any portion of the con federation must of course be deferred until those Internal errearemate have resumed their former shape and motion. To these alone has the attention of the Engere-Rath been directed; my former letters have contained the details of the re-appointment of the several committees which existed in the Diet previous to 1848. Prussia and Hanover are making strenuous exertions in the committee on the affairs of the federal marine, to im press upon the other states the advantage of establishing tho German fleet on a permanent and gradually increasing ' , foundation. The Austrian government entertains very similar opinions, but from the manner in which they have been manifested it would seem that it desired the control of the Beet to be placed in the hands of one particular state, point ing out at the same time the advantages of the Austrian ports in the Mediterranean during the four or live months of the year in which the parts of the northern states are inacces sible. Prussia and Hanover have caused their views to be developed in the commdttee. They are in this point de cidedly opposed to these of Austria. They claim that the command of the German marine shall be placed in the bands of the failed military commieionera in the same manner as the management of the Oedema army. SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BANKING COMPANY.—Yea tcrdav the tenth annual meeting of this company was held at the bank, in Old Broad-street. Edward Divctt, Esq., M.P., presided. The report, which was highly satisfactory, stated infer aha that the colony of South Australia con tinued to rise in population and prosperity, and that the business of the bank, as well as its profit, had thereby con- siderably increased ; much however of the year's income I was made up from the recovery of various debts, hitherto looked upon as written off. The nett profits of the year were 22,2311. The reserve fund was now 7721. 131. 4d. A dividend of 6 per cent. for the ensuing year was recom mended, with a bones of cis. per share, payable in July and La= The report, after some consideration, was . sad tie nazis,: directors and auditors Were elected. CALIFORNIA. The D4ats publishes the following letter from its correspondent at San Francisco, May 1 : _ . A deplorable conflict took place last week at the Placer of the Mokelamtnes, between the French and the miners of other nations. The rich plateau had been for some time ' occupied by the French, who had discovered it; one, two, and sometimes three pounds of gold were found in a day. The report of the riches of this spot soon reached the neigh bouring encampments, and some of the miners came from them and established themselves near the French station, but not beie,g successful in finding the precious metal, they detennfraed to come and take possession of the part belong the French. A desperate struggle took i:iace, when one of the Frenchmen in a rage took up gun and slot one of his ass;,iiants dead on the spot. The body was takon up and carried by his comrades to their camp, where cries of vengeance were immediately raised. A general rising among them took place and they crone well armed, to the number of between 500 and 600, to at• tack and drive out the French from their rich holding. The latter, who were only 60 in number, made a vigorous defence, but were at length overpowered by numbers and compelled to abandon the ground, and retire into a sort of enclosure, where they entrenched themselves. When there they opened negotiations. Their assailants had during this time pillaged the French tents and burnt them. In toxicated by their success, they then offered the most dis graceful terms to the French, who refused them, and re solved to evacuate the place, which they did, fighting, however, every inch of the way, until they reached the Placer Saint Andre. News of the affair having reached San Francisco, Mr. Dillon, the French consul, immediately sent an express to the government of San Jose, begging it to use its efforts to put an end to the conflict. The prompt intervention of our consul, his moderation, and the esteem in which he is held by all classes in San Francisco, had its effect. He was about to start himself for the rubies, when , a courier reached him with an account of the quarrel having been brought to a close, in consequence of his com munication to the government. During the retreat, the French lost none of their party, one only received a wound , in the leg. This conflict has not originated with Ameri cans, but with a band of vagabonds of all nations who sup , port themselves by pillage. Mr. Dillon has left San Fran cisco the mines, accompanied by some superior officers of the American army, in order to restore perfect harmony among the miners of different nations, and to adopt mea -1 suns fur the punishment of the band of brigands. Zbe Court. The Queen will hold a Privy Council this day (Wednesday) at Buckingham Palace. Summonses were issued yesterday to the mini,ters and officers of state. Her Majesty and Prince Albert, with the Princess Royal, accompanied by his Majesty the King of the Belgians, with the Duke de Brabant, die Count de Flandres, and the Princess Charlotte of Belgium, went to the Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations at an early hour yes terday morning, arriving there at half-past Mlle o'clock. The royal suite consisted of the Viscountess Canning, Madame de Montandos, General Wemyss, Colonel Bouverie, Colonel de loerkerke, and Count Albert de Brie:. The Queen, the Prince, and the King of the Belgians remained at the Exhibition till eleven o'clock. and then returned to Buckingham Palace. The Prince of Wales and l'rince Alfred also visited the Exhibition yesterday forenoon, attended by Mr. Birch. The Countess de Neuilly and the Duke de Nemours visited his Majesty the King of the Belgians yesterday, at Buckingham Palace. Prince Gustavus of Wasa also paid a visit to the King of the Belgians yesterday. Prince Arthur and the Princes/AI Alice and Helena took an airing in an open carriage and four yesterday. l'rinee Albert rode out on horseback yesterday afternoon, attended bp Col. Bouverie. The Queen and Prince Albert honoured her Majesty's Theatre with their presence last evening. The royal suite consisted of Viscountess Canning, lion. Mary Seymour, the Earl of Morley, General Wemyss, and Colonel Bouveric. The Earl of Morley has relieved Lord Camoys in his duties as Lord in VI siting to her Majesty, and Mr. It. Ormsby Gore has relieved Colontl the Hon. A. Nelson Hood in his duties as Broom in Waiting to the Queen. The Duke de Nemours visited the Duchess of Kent yes terdaat her residence, Clarence-hnume, St. James's. ADeputation from the Birkenhead Dock Company, con. sitting of Mr. Bailey (chairman), Mr. Laird, Mr. Abernethy (engineer), and Mr. Hull (solicitor), had an interview yes terday with Lord Seymour, at the office of Her Majesty's Commissioners of Woods and Forests, Whitehall-place. Mr. Croal, from Demarara, had an interview with Earl Grey yesterday at the Colonial-office. Despatches were sent off yesterday from the Colonial office to the Lord High Commissioner of the lonian Islands and the Governor of Malta, Despatches were also sent off to the Governors of Ceylon, Hong Kong, and the Mauritius. Despatches were received yesterday at the Colonial-office from the Governors of Sierra Leone and Gibraltar. The Judicial Committee of the Pricy Council sat yester day at the council-office. The lords present were—The Lord Chief Huron, the Judge of the Prerogative Court, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall, and Sir Edward Ryan. An appeal from the Ailatiraii; Court, " Pollok v. " (the Locklibo) was heard. A deputation, consistity• Wardle, Tlrodrick, and Barnett (Otruthers of the Town Council of Maccles field), iota Mr. Colville (Deputy Town Clerk of that bo rough), had an interview yesterday with the General Board of Health, at their office, Whitehall. The deputation were introduced by Mr. 'Patton Egerton, M.P., and Mr. J. Wil son Patten, M.P. (Pros Ist (sight's CosotS) WHITEHALL: JUNE 21.—The Queen has been pleased to present the Rev. Even Jenkins to the Vicarage of Kinivilgaio, alias Couwilgaio, alias Cynwyl Oaio with I.lansawell, in the county or Carmarthen, and diocese of St. David's, void by the cession of the Rev. George Rowell), the last Incumbent. WHITEHALL, JUNE 23.—The Queen has been pleased to grant the place of ono of the Lords of Session in Scotland to John Cowan, Esq., her Majesty's Solicitor- General for Scotland, in the room of Thomas Maitland, Esq., deceased ; also to nominate and appoint the said John Cowan to be one of the Lords of Justiciary iu Scotland, in the room of the said Thomas Maitland, deccaacd. THE BATII ELECTION. BATH, TUREDAY, Juxu 24. The polling for the respective candidates to supply the vacancy in the representation of this city occasioned by the elevation of Lord Ashley to the peerage, commenced with spirit at 8 o'clock this morning, and was continued with the same determination to the close of the pull at 4 o'clock. The contest, however, though somewhat close, was conducted with the greatest good feeling, and the pro ceedings throughout the city were almost entirely devoid of the noise and disturbance usually found at contested elec tions. As will be seen by the statement below, the contest has terminated in the eloctim of Capt. Scobell, the liberal candidate, by • very respectable majority. The state of the poll was declared every hall-hour, from the liberal com mittee-room, and, as will be seen by the return below, 'hewed that Capt. &obeli, who took the lead, kept it throughout the day. Some excitement was created, how ever, by the appearance outside Mr. Sutcliffe's committec room of several delusive returee, the first of which stated the numbers at half-past 11, to be Sutcliffe, 776; Scobell, 744. At half-post 12, another return appeared, Sutcliffe, 865 ; Soobell, 843 ;at 1, Sutcliffe,B96; Scobell, 880. At half-past one when Capt. Scobell had really a majority of 36, the conservative return, which was the last they put out, re presented both candidates on a level-928 each. The following were the returns issued by the liberal committee, and which we have good reason to believe show the correct Mate of the pull : Scobell. Sutcliffe. Half-past eight Nine o'clock 288 Ten Eleven 660 Twelve 784 One Two Three 1,047 -.- Close of the poll At the close of the poll several thousand persons having assembled in front of Capt. Scobell's central committee room, Westgate-buildings, the gallant captain and his com mittee, in obedience to the calls and cheers of the multi tude, appeared upon a platform erected in frost of the building and were recessed with several rounds of ap plause. Capt. SCOBELL, in addressing tNme assembled, said the victory was gained, and the liberals had obtained a good majority oc. r the tunes of Bath. (Loud cheers.) But whilst they rejoiced in their own success, they would not exult over the fallen. (Hear.) The vict,'ry was not his (Captain &obeli's), but theirs—the liberals of Bath; and they had won it in an independent, straightlii,warel way, that he believed would set an example to all England. (Cheers.) Captain Scobell, in conclusion, proposed three cheers for the independent representation of Bath, ;which were given with the greatest real. W. Hunt, Esq., G. Norman, Esq., T. W. Saunders, Esq., and Sir John Hare, having also congratulated the liberal upon their bUCCC.B, the meeting broke up. The official d:elaration of the pull will be made at the hustings to morrow (this day.) THE GRI.:AT EXHIBITION.—Yederday 68,394 per sons, of whom more than 62,000 paid at the doors, visited the Crystal Palace. The Queen visited the building during the forenoon, and it was observed that, leaning on the arm of the King of the Belgians, her Majesty pr"'l menaded more among the general yublic than heretofore. EMPLOYERS AND THEIR WORKMEN. Smith and Son, the coal merchants, yesterday gave the clerks, coallwavers, and other persons in their employment, a day's holiday to sec the Great rixrlrsidti of on, 2;aA in number, yingtheirldmiiiion fee, and providing re- 1 freshments, conveyances, and supper in the evening for them. Mears. Hodges, the di..tillers, have given the whole of the men in their employment a day's holiday, in ord er to in enable them to visit the Exhibition Hyde-park. Each man has likewise Iven pret,ntcd with five shillings to de fray the day's expenses. Mr. Pipey yesterday. Irreught up the agricult..ral labourer. on his setate. They were :—/rom j Puny; 50. Longworth, 39; West Ilanney,to; East Han nay, 04 ; benchworth, 35; Tyford, 7 ; Chantey, 41; Chat low; 27 ; Stanford ; 93; Ilealford, 40: total, 446. REPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT CX•INHS SION ON THE CHEMICAL QUALITY OF THE SUPPLY OF WATER TU THE METROPOLIS. The practical conclusion of this able and intaest ins report is os follows: OF TOT. Plltorio.l:rlES TO RE ritsrEuitrn IN 7:m wAisie Imre:TED von THE fiI:PPLIr OF TILE 1111.0*.0 The properties which we would esteem of I. Lt r :!tie IA water to he supplied to the metropolis arc : I. Freedom from putrescible organic mitt. r. 2. Freedom from constant, or even occusi.m.. , , Itera tion by clay and vegetable mutter, with perf, ei bri„.•ttnesa and clearness. 3. Softness. 4. Coolness. The nearer the sources of rivers are apprraelit! , .th" met!, fully are they likely to possess the two ft, „ m t. ; freedom front organic impregnatie4a and from t The Newltiver water maybe inttanied lig offvring the oe teour able exhibition of the good qualities possessed by portion of the present metropolitan supply. Taken t..n ,:to Lea, above Ware, this water has a superiority, Alin' gene rally admitted, over the supplies from the Ti. t . . which would no doubt be further increased he the ieta , .• :! of the) Hertford drainage, by recourse for additional w t.s. to the higher tributaries of the Lea, as proposed by sle• it:s.r Lea Trustees, and by shortening he channel of the .N..w River by about 12 miles, which is also contemplan Eat it is only by proceeding to the actual sources of I's. t' at the water of the latter can be protected cowl: t. ;y ..so field and house drainage. Ilene the general dispo-it,t !., aban don rivers, as sources of town supply, and v , , • , "tem to remain,. as they must always be, the natural 0. , ' able channels of drainage, and the oceasion..l . • ...a . fer tilising irrigation. The contemplated improvements of the N. '. !'! , er ap pear to embody is portion of the comprehewist - , •!...tne of Captain Vetch, who, after a careful survey ti,ttleo.siten by direction of the late Metropolitan Board of N. w, r- recom mended the appropriation of the unolike: chalk streams on either side of the Thames as the sources of supply; abandoning the river itself I I k purer tributaries, and giving a preference to those ..t• .ms which enter the Thames below London, so as to Tet, • t solume and scouring power, and with these the sa'...• of the upper part of the river unimpaired. To :Ie t object Captain Vetch attached great importance wi''.'once to the prospective increase of the metropolis, ‘• . . he re minds us has doubled its population withi, !•e years. The eminent engineer, Mr. 'I ellen', to wh.... queation of :he metropolitan supply was referred • 'muscat after the Water Inquiry and Report in 1828, . siously recommended after a prolonged investiga: bring the water from the River Verulam, near W. for tho supply of the districts on the north side of tI. ! it, and front the river Wandle fur the supply of th tett on the south side. In 1810 a further step was " .in the same direction, the London and Westruinsts .•erworka Company being at that time established for ~, the metropolis with water from the springs in th. • ! ..a, near Watford. This company proceeded upon a t r. by Mr. Robert Stephenson, which appears to be route. ' =u sound scientific principles and great local kn0w1e,;...• Mr. Ste phenson concludes that the necessary supp.) London could be obtained and conveyed from that sours... oil speaks in the highest terms of its quality. lie cam. Ids sure prise that, with the exception of the abortive pro:, .t to ob tain water by perforating the London clay, all preceding propowals, including Mr. Telford's, should cents in plated using the water of streams which are all sutieet to be affected by the surface drainage of a more or l extensive tract of country, and consequently only a very few degrees better than that already in use." Our great engineers have thus returned, ate,. by step, to the original idea of Sir Hugh Middleton, who had recourse to the pure fountain-heads of Ikrtfordshire for the supply first brought by him to Loudon by. the New ltiv. r. actingg. no doubt, upon the traditions of antiquity and the example of the Roman hydraulic works, which are still unrivalled. hicia are ed e no ee, ( o n° no r t h rP t he t c h i atwi available vt ei western nd divisi o ns i district, s theio'ls wateroe of m i c e i: a e n s nr i ud u r d t g h t l hh t r obk;reirzuataits Lea,t. ge o na r t hth. i r le rl a d i is.c:dreat!ALlgt:ex district, the field which is already occu ly o p f ie: e upon nd t a l: h e ie N li ew is River Company. ts ater which may he considered as everywhere of an uniform compositioncar 1 1 l a s assertedhhe: t ch te e li enanh o thoa l t na Ithesetarni which tblgogde a it ltes i loksiial :ftrryuoasi.t:Phsgion4Thlrtll circulates, iyhtto,na. aebpat ! EP y f rbs+l by the soil , a ii n r de n cen turies,- ed before subsiding to the lower level of th e valley springs. Hence a full decomposition of any alterable or ganic matter, and the assumption by the seater of a constant and uniform character. The chalk spring-water unites the greater number of the desirable qualities already entinteratt4l. It contains abso lutely nothing of organic origin capable of further alteration or decomposition, and is therefore wholly unobjectionable, on the ground of organic constituents. Its clearness and brilliancy also appear perfect, front the complete absence of suspended matter, and are highly attractive. Possessing at all seasons the wean temperate of the year, the same water has an agreeable coAeess and freshinss, which might certainly be preserved 111 a great degree by proper means of muses:ince and distribution. Tho mdy other quality tjcdrot In a tow' supply was softness. he chalk spring -water is not wo••• • & a sem water. 1 " • owl resp,et, it 13 inferior . • itc present supply, in one sense, being., one-fourth harder; but it will be re membered, that the harshness of both is principally of the temporary kind, and that, after boiling, the advantage is with the spring water. It is, however, in the facility and completeness of the removal of this hardsie.s, that the • , superiority of the spring over the river water is most appa rent. The softening operation, by the use of lime, is ap plicable in all seasons to the spring water, which, indeed, adapts itself with singular felicity to that process, the car bonate of lime always precipitating with rapidity, and so completed y as not to create a necessity for * filtration. The chalk spring waters can thus he commanded with certainty, under three degrees of hardness, which is pro bably the extreme limit attainable anywhere in England for a great supply. The lower price of lime in the chalk districts, and the reduction in the labour of mixing, must also bring the cost of the process considerably within the estimate formed at the Chelsea Works, and would not, we believe, form a greater addition than a sum equal to two per cent. upon the present price of water. This is without allowing anything to be obtained in return for the precipitated chalk, which would certainly have some market value. The chalk spring -water after being softened is an ex tremely pure water. It appears to be considerably superior even to the soft water from the streams of the Surrey Sands. The chalk water alone is uniform in its excel lence at all times, the source of it lying beyond the in fluence of weather or season. In the judgment of the com missioners, this softened chalk water is entitled from its chemical quality to a preference over all others for the fu ture supply of the metropolis. It is no longer possible to disregard the chemical means of removing Matinees, or to represent them as impracticable on a greatuale ; they place the question of water-supply upon an entirely new footing. Efficient as these means already arc, we confidently look to their farther improve ment, when the large results of practice come under tho eye of the engineer and scientific observer. Another mode of partial softening, without the consumption of lime or any other material, by the united action of air and granu lar carbonate of lime upon the carbonated water, has been already referred to, which may probably soon have its powers tested, either as au auxiliary to Dr. Clark's process, or as a substitute for that process, when a leas considerable softening is required. An incidental advantage of artificial softening foe the London supply is, that the change in quality can be graduated to any point desired. It may be advisable to furnieh the water at first with Al liardnesa of 5 ur 6 degrees,. which is considerably above the paint at which any action upon lead need be apprehended, and therefore compatible with the cistern-storage of water, which the actual system of supply requires. The circumstanoe that this residuary hardness after liming yields readily to 'soiling, combined with the absence from the spring water of all colouring impurity, would insure that water a decided preference for washing and most other applications, even were it no further softened. But it might be reduced, we believe, with perfect safety to 3 degrees of hardness, as soon as the taste and habit* of the consumers were accommodated to so soft a water. To obtain the full advantage of its great coolness in' the hot summer months, the supply would require to bo constant, and the house-pipe to communicate directly with the main. But although this change is desirable on other important grounds, it is nut indispensable to the first intro duction of the softened chalk spring water. The water recommended uppeara to approach most closely to the standard of all that is excellent in a town supply, and is worthy of the greatest efforts and grandest works to procure and cunvey it. But the sources are near at hand, and the water is attainable without difficulty or great expense. With such a noble application of the chalk spring-water in view as the supply of the metropolis, it would be a desecration to permit that water to be wasted on other uses, and moat impolitic to allow the possession of It to pass into private hands. It is our deliberate opinion, which we would enfurce in the strongest terms, that the much desired and most necessary improvement in quality of the Leaden water is associated with these source's of supply, and will depend upon their proper application to the uses of the public. lieu of e tt i ed . :s ming" THE COURT OF CluxcenT.—Yesterday a return was printed by order of the House of Lords, showing the operation of the act of last session to regulate the Court of Chancery in Ireland, under which suits were allowed to be Iconmeneed by petition instead of bill, and which return was obtained in reference to the reform of the Court of Chancery in England. It appears that from August last, when the act came into force, to the 12th of June inst., 872 , suits were commenced by petition, and in that period only 133 by bill. As many as 303 ordt.s In the nature of decrees were made upon petitions presented, and 31 final orders. No case had occurred in which a suit had been commenced by petition and the defendant had applied under the act sui tha t lth sh e o p u l l a d in be tiff eo si m ici m ul e d: c r e ocec d ~.d by bill. This return is of some value at the precut neried,. when it is urged that and shows the number of matfers re ..` hrt o i :B of Chancery in a few months. h i t ngt e r fore d o t f he by co h .t ill, i l praielatrohttyl.sc—t7lY.,,trittire.yrdano,,ry. near J h thh esi orn al zi rs p,,,, h , : i u tn ies andli , T 118 NEW FISIIIIONGER4' ALMSHOUSES AT lifr' old Ile ton, were formally opened by the wardens and livery of the company. The building is delightful ) _y situate oa. Last bill, end rartb an d tbe h si ave soniaL beenereetedat a omit of about 25,0001., in-