The Express. — London, England, 1847-11-03 00:00:00

.- , ... Vii 116 year more than 16 per cent, ; while robberies conse quent upon drunkenness and disorder, namely, those committed in public-houses, or upon persons after visiting such places, have greatly increased. Out of 47 boys who were indicted, not more than three or four could justifiably plead want as the excuse for their crimes. All these facts are significant—and point to education primarily as the cure; not to mere reading and writing—though these are much, and when ab sent their want powerfully felt—but to an education of a worthier and larger character—an education which shall aim at cultivating the feeling and the tastes, in ducing a love of nature and of pleasures which have no touch of criminality in them, and at creating, fos tering, a capacity to enjoy pleasures of a mare intellectual kind. The peasants and artisans of the continent are poorer, and yet, generally speaking, less criminal than our own. This question of idle ness and inability to find self-employment, has more to do with crime and the guilty indulgences which inevitably lead to it, than most of us have, perhaps, been aware. Something might and must be done to dam up . this fountain-head of social corruption. In connexion with education, which, after all, is the principal and'most peremptory medicine for the dis ease—othtr influences might be brought to bear upon the subject. The intelligent inspector of prisons for Scotland and the northern counties of England suggests, in his last report, that government, magistrates, and all who ex ercise influence and authority in the country, should encourage the taste for rural games, music, and innocent recreations, amongst the lower classes, as a means of drawing them off from scenes and ex citements of a more contaminating kind. These form the staple amusements of similar rinks on the conti nent. The absence of facilities for such in England, and perhaps also the absence of a capacity to enjoy more intellectual amusements to the full extent, are amongst the not least important negative causes of crime in the population of our large towns. Instead of enccuragement, however, these recreations have been too generally discountenanced. They have not thereby been put down : far from it. The passion for physi cal enjoyment is too active in youth to be forcibly suppressed. But, proscribed in its natural and legi timate sphere, it retreats to improper and vicious haunts--the brand is supposed to strip it of its inno cent character—it is believed by its devotees to be a criminal indulgence, the mind becomes habituated to that impression , a nd the intervening stage from moral turpitude to social guilt, is soon overstepped. It would seem to be a needless doctrine to in calcate, that the human passions and impulses which are in themselves innocent, should be enlisted on the side of virtue and public order; but they have not yet been so in this country. We must provide our artisans with less equivocal places of resort than the pot-house, and more agreeable re creations than low gambling, and the debaucheries incidental to such haunts. Much is already doing in several of our provincial cities and great towns—in the shape of parks, art exhibitions, scientific gardens, and institutions—but these efforts require to be legiti mated by public opinion, and aided by an organised power. Voluntaryism, though valuable as an auxi. hare, is not su ffi cient as principal in these cases. The work is too vast to be accomplished by individuals, and too important to be left to irresponsible agents. The work of the country should be performed by the country's accredited and responsible administrators. MR. JAMES STEPLIEN has at last resigned the office of tinder Secretary of the Colonial Department, and by his resignation has terminated a career of great misfortune to the public, and of sad injustice to a large number of unfortunate persons' who have served the crown under that department during his tenure of office. He has certainly retired as grace fully as circumstances would permit He has been saved the mortification of yielding to the storm of indignation and popular reprobation which so fre quently raged around him, and has had his reputation protected, as far as protection could be given to it, by a summons to a seat in her Majesty's Privy Council. Henceforward he is the Right Honourable JAMES STEPHEN ; but henceforward he is no longer Under- Secretary for the Colonies. The empty honour is his ; the real gain is to the public. We have no desire to do injustice to the right honourable gentleman. Mr. STEPHEN is undoubt edly a man of very great intellectual power ; his mind has been highly cultivated ; his views are fre quently original and always worthy of consideration : his information is varied and extensive; and his style of literary composition is rhetorical and glittering. He failed in the Colonial-office ' and injured both this country and its colonies, not from want of ability, and certainly not from absence of opportunity . to serve them, but because he had been educated in a hollow, insincere, presumptuous, selfish, and intole rant school, and became master of that school. Craft, policy, intrigue ' jealousy, and chicanery were the charact , --isties of the Colonial-office during Mr. STEP' - direction of it. Ni connected with long nun. it. No one:. it had, till lately, confidence in its justice, its honour, its integrity, or its generosity : the colonies feared it; the colonists hated it; merchants connected with the colo nies despised it ; and every one who knew aught of its mechanism attributed its defects, its faults, its crimes to Mr. JAMP.S STEPHEN. Some of the ablest states men of the day were its chiefs whilst Mr. STEPHEN was Under Secretary—Lord RIPON, Lord STANLEY, Lord ions RUSSELL, Mr. GLADSTONE, for example; but all failed, signally and disastrously failed therein. These statesmen failed, because success under our present colonial system is not within the range of possibilities or of human ability, for it is a system that teases, irritates, worries, and overgoverns the colonies; and of that system Mr. STEPHEN was the life, whence it moved, breathed, and had its being. No one in our time had such ample opportunities of seeing and feeling its evil consequences : he saw and felt them in rebel lions in Canada, in Caffre wars at the Cape, in war and insolvency in New Zealand, in crimes abhorrent to human nature in Van Diemen's Land, in ruin and devastation in New South Wales, in the gradual ex tinction of capital in the West Indies, in dissatisfac tion and animosity in every colony and in every colonist. But experience taught him nothing; he persisted in the system which a stroke of his pen, or one generous thought, might have altered; and he leaves the system rampant in mischief. But, it will be asked, if all this be true of Mr. STEPHEN, how came he to be retained so long in office? We reply that be was pushed into the Colonial Department by the clique to which he be longed at a period when its influence was paramount : at a time when the then bead of the clique declared,in &letter which accidentally trans pired, that " all the Colonial-office wanted was to be saved from the trouble of thinking!' The influence of that party, unfortunately prolonged by Lord Gut- Nnt.o, and revived, when about expiring, by Mr. GLADSTONE, added to his own ability and cunning, and the ignorance of his superiors, maintained him there, despite the outcry of the victims of the disas trous policy of which he was the instrument. And it is only at last, when the ommequences of that policy have been brought home to public conviction, that kis retirement is made a tardy offer upon the altar of public opinion. Our Paris despatches and the journals of Monday have arrived. They contain no intelligence of general interest. The day, being that of All Saints, was ob served as a general holiday. The journals and correspondence of Switzerland have arrived to Saturday last. The news of the retirement of the Austrian 'ambassador, and the neu trality of that power in relation to the present civil dissension which we gave yesterday are fully con firmed. The office of the Legation, with an agent for the transaction of ordinary business, will be continued as usual at Zurich. The ambeesador retiree to an adjacent neutral territory. The ministers of Russia, Prussia, and Sardinia, were at Berne, and were ex pected to demand their passports, giving the same explanations as those given by Austria. It ie now clear that no intervention what ever is contemplated, and that the cantons will have to settle their own disputes. All the federal commis sioners had returned to Berne, and had made their reports. Their mission was in every case without result. The deputies of the Sonderbund were in con stant conference with M. Bois le Comte, the French minister, by whom they were earnestly advised to propose a compromise. On the 27th, the deputies of the league addressed themselves to three of St. Gall and Schaffhausen, to obtain their mediation. On the 28th, the majority of twelve appointed four of their confer - 1 1 the deputies of the league, arrangement. This con- The ultimatum of the Sonderbund was, it appears, to re-establish the con vents of Argau, and to postpone the expulsion of the Jesuits until 1849. These propositions were rejected by a majority. On the 28th M. Calame announced to the vorort, on the part of the cantonal government of Neufchatel, that it would decline supplying the military con tingent required in the present exigency by the de crees of the diet. The answer given to this commu nication was, that if the contingent were not supplied as required, the troops of the federal government would immediately occupy the canton of Neufchatel. M. de Sidow thereupon waited on President Ochsen bein to support the demand of M. Calame, assuring the president that it was the wish of his majesty the King of Prussia (who is sovereign of the principality of Neufchatel) that the canton should not be required to supply troops for the war, but that nevertheless his majesty entertained no intention of interfering in the internal disputes of the confederation. The answer of the president left no doubt of the deter mination of the federal government to enforce the military contingent from all the cantons indifferently. During the 28th, a large quantity of artillery, munitions of war, and military stores, were sent froin the arsenal of Berne to the head-quarters of the several divisions of the Bernese army. According to the reports of the partisans of the diet, extensive desertions are taking place daily from the forces of the league. The troops pass, it is said, from the catholic cantons into the adjacent liberal cantons. Those from Zug desert to Zurich ; those from Lucerne fraternise with Zurich and Argon. A hundred men, with their o ffi cers, had passed the fron tier to Zurich. According to the latest despatches, it is affirmed that all efforts at an amicable adjustment having failed, the diet had passed a decree fur the immediate execution of measures of compulsion against the Son derbund. The following is a copy of the letter respecting the retirement of the Austrian ambassador, which was addressed by the executive council of Zurich to the Vorort : ZURICH, Ocr. 26.—Our president has just informed us that his Excellency Baron de Kaisersfeld, envoy extraordi nary and minister plenipotentiary of Austria to the confede ration, yesterday waited on the High Directory, and deelnred to it that, having received the order of his government to retire to the territory of the states of his Imperial and Royal Majesty, in case the federal diet should decide to put its resolution relative to the Sonderbund into execution by arms, he intends to conform to that order. His excellency, how ever, added that the relations of affairs between the states of his :sovereign and the confederation would not be inter rupted, but that, on the contrary, these relations will always be continued and directed, either by his excellency the minister plenipotentiary himself, from the place of his resi dence, or by the persons attached to the Austrian legation. His excellency declared that, in quitting the Swiss territory, he had no other object than that of being on neutral ground during a war between the two parts of the confederation, a war in which the government which his excellency repre sents will not participate in any manner whatsoever. His excellency finally demanded that the passports necessary for him and for the secretary of the legation should be delivered to him by the authorities of our canton. We have not be lieved ourselves authorised to take, with respect to this pro ceeding of the representative of a foreign power who is not accredited to our canton, but to all the confederation, any decision whatever without the consent of the high federative authority, and we confine ourselves to giving you a commu nication of the fact, and to informing you that we wait for your orders even relative to the remission of the passports. The following is the letter of General Dufour to the diet, announcing his acceptance of the chief command of the federal army : I have received, with the brevet of commandant-in-chief ' of the federal army, the official notice of my nomination. In accepting this brevet, I assume, I know, an immense re sponsibility, but I fulfil an obligation of honour which every officer contracts in entering the iervice of the confederation. It is not at a moment like the present that one can be per mitted to retire. However painful may be the duty which is imposed on me, I not the less owe thanks to the high federal diet fur the mark of confidence which it has been so kind as to give me in the difficult circumstances in which Switzerland is placed. I will endeavour to make myself worthy of it. But I believe it right to declare to this assem bly that, whilst doing all that duty exacts, I will never, if extremities must be come to, exceed the bounds of modera tion and humanity; that I will not lose sight of the fact that it is between confederates that the discussion takes place; that I will remain a stranger to political excitations; and that, confining myself exclusively to my military duties, I will endeavour to maintain order and discipline in the federal troops, cause public and private property to be re spected, protect Catholic worship in the person of its misis ters, in its temples, and in its religious establishment—in one word, do all to soften the evils inseparable from a war. May my devotedness then be useful to the common country ! But, above all, may Divine Providence prevent the 'eternities with which it is threatened! The hopes which were lately entertained of the progress of liberal principles in the policy of the Sardinian government prove to be fallacious. Letters from Turin to the 23rd ult.,state that the government, after all, is guided by the spirit of the Austro-Jesuitical party, impersonated by Count Lazzari and the Baron de la Tours. Every popular demonstration in favour of the cause of political reform is suppressed by armed force. The Archbishop of Turin has issued a circular order prohibiting the parochial clergy from offering up the usual prayer in the churches for Pius IX. On the cveaing of the 23rd, a poor player of a street organ was arrested and thrown into prison for play ing, amongst other tunes set on his barrel, the hymn Ito the Pope. Letters from Florence of the same date say that the Nlodenese troops had entered Oallicomo with the commissioners appointed by Duke Francis V., and taken possession of Fivizzano. No Tuscan agent was present, and the inhabitants knew not what* part to take. The Roman journals contain a declaration of the pontifical government relating to the events which took place at Ferrara on the 14th ult., and which we reported in thin journal on Saturday last. The Notizie del Giorno says : The paternal heart of our sovereign has been deeply grieved on hearing the sad events which took place at k er rara on the evening of the 14th. A sentinel and some sol diers have ill treated several peaceable citizens, whom his holiness bears constantly present in his mind and heart. The pontifical government, which neglects no means of bringing to as speedy a close as possible the state of things which gives rise to such disagreeable create in the town of Ferrara, will most certainly not fail in corroborating, by new reclamation., those which his eminence the President of Ferrara has addressed to Marshal Count Auerperg. He will do so the very moment the inquest already commenced will enable him to become completely acquainted with all the particulars which have given rise to, and followed, these deplorable events. The Nourelliste of Marseilles of Saturday has the - • following: A friend going to Naples by the government packet, the Mentor, writes to as on the 24th, that, having left Leghorn the day before, at four in the afternoon, they very shortly after their departure fell in with the steam corvette Titan, having on board the Prince de Joinville, who sent some pressing despatches by the Mentor for Naples. The Titan came to an anchor at Leghorn, and MA Royal High ness, it was said, intended to go from thence to Florence. —A letter from Turin of the 26th ult. informs us that the Sardinian government has submitted to the Council of State projects of laws against riotous assemblages of the people, for the establishment of a Supreme Court of Question, for • revisionand liberal construction of the tariff of custom duties, and for • postal reform including a delivery of letters on Sundays.—Letters from Rome of the 23rd ult., received at Marseilles, state that the arrest of the Prince de Canino had been taken off on the 22nd. The journals of Rome state that Giovanni Andrea Romeo, one of the Cslabrian chiefs, had surrendered himself, been tried, and condemned to death, hut that his sentence was commuted. The departure of the Empress Maria Louisa for Parma, which had been fixed for the sth inst., is, it appears, indefinitely postponed. The Frankfort Journal, announcing this fact in a letter from its own correspondent, dated Oct. 21, adds—" This adjourn ment may have some connexion with a project of abdication in favour of the Duke of Laces, to whom the duchy of Parma would (naturally revert on the death of the present sovereign. If the abdication takes place, it is probable that the Duke of Lucca will'give up the sovereignty in favour of the Heredi tary Prince of Lucca, he having resolved to reside from henceforward on a property he possesses in Styria. The Madrid mails of the 27th ult., have arrived. M. Salamanca has addressed a letter to the Herald°, stating that, in consequence of the violent attacks which have been made on him by the Espanol for his participation in the affairs of the capitalisation of the royal arrears, he has determined to seek redress from the Tribunals. A progreseista journal states that the government has refused to accept the resignation of General Serrano. The Eco del Comercio says that the whole round of the fetes and rejoicings which the Queen is now made to indulge in are intended to separate her from the people and deprive her of their love, and are part of the dark designs which, it says, have been formed against her throne. MADRID, Ocr. 27. Salamanca has addressed the following letter to the editor of the Heraldo : " Sir,—My character, known to the whole country,. in relation to money matter); conduct ga minister, which, spite of the passionate opposition I have had to suffer from some (tauten, has not offered the lout handle foe slander to lay hold on ; and the testimony of my conscience; hove made me regard with coolness, awaiting the moment when I may answer in the costes, the attacks which have been directed ' against the conversion of the treasury bills in posseseion of the royal patrimony ; a measure which, besides in being just tad legal u appears from the record, was indispensable in the state of the privy parse, u represented by the steward of the household. Nevertheless, the perseverance with which the Espanol newspaper persists in misleading opinion, re presenting with allusions that cannot be mistaken, as moral convictions of the public, stories and facts which are abso lutely false, and which I spurn as the slanders of personal enemies, obliges me to address myself to you, to convey to the knowledge of the public that the only answer which I shall make to the article inserted in No. 1,(Y2) (yesterday's) of the said periodical will be an appeal to the tribunals, from which I doubt not to obtain due reparation.--I remain, &c., JOSE DE SALAMANCA. . . „,.. The offensive paragraph in the Espanol appears to be the following :—After praising the royal order issued to suspend the transaction, it goes on to say— ' But the government has as yet done only half its duty. It remains to be cleared up, if the reiterated suspicions are founded in truth, that the con version in question covered an immoral compact to rob the state and the Queen of many millions. We :nee compelled to say that there exists a very general moral conviction that among the managers of the transaction it had been stipulated to give her Maesty only 30 millions, and to divide the rest among accomp lices. The sum awarded to each has tran spired ; and we have been assured that the share of an es minister amounted to twenty-five millions of reals. It seems to have been farther di-covered that the partners being obliged by the noise which the affair made upon reachingthe ears of the public to deliver up to the patrimoay all the bonds which the government had issued, and disposed to renounce, as a gratuitous gilt, their shares in the prize, the person who thought to have pocketed the 25 millions went the length even of imploring the royal word, and begging as an aid or loan, what he had regarded as a present. AU this is known and repeated, al- though not the faintest allusion to such practices may appear in the record. But the omissions of written documents may be supplied by the investigations of the committee of senators and deputies which we have suggested." The Clamor Public° charges the Espanol with partiality and private grudge, in singlieg out Salamanca as the mark of its attacks, while equal blame attaches to the colleagues of the ex-minister of finance, who approved the conversion in council, and there fore to the present ministers of war and public instruction, even acquitting of all connivance Orlando. It is not easy to discover the grounds upon which the Espanol rests its asserted belief of the latter 's innocence. That he should have remained ignorant, during whole weeks, of what was going on in the principal office of his department, is scarcely conceivable. But nothing can ex ceed the farce of the concluding paragraph of Sonor Orlando's royal order, which calls upon the director general of the public debt to state whether any bonds had been issued from the public treasury, after Pcna Aguayo, in • public letter, had admitted that bonds to the amount of fifty millions had been handed over to him for the patri mony. In the mean time, neither the steward of the palace, nor Salamanca, nor Orlando, nor the director of the public debt, have dared to give explicit answers to the questions reiterated by the papers, es to the total amount of the conversion, and the amount which has been lodged in the Queen's purse. The letters of Fein Aguayo and Salamanca, which look concerted and fabri cated by common accord, wrap the subject up in generalities and reticences, whose equivocal sense increases, so far from lessening, suspicion. The type of the conversion, which is thirty-five instead of forty, as prescribed by the law of Feb. 14, '45, has not passed uncommented. The government has not contradicted one of the facts advanced by the Clamor, which I sent you in a preceding letter; that Orlando ordered the delivery of the Londe on the Bth, stirred up the zeal of the clerks to work all night, &c. The same paper reported yesterday that the government had given General Serrano an order on the house of Rothschild for 4,000 reels, on account of the conversion, which sum was delivered in bills upon London. A controversy engaged upon the delicate ground of Miratl's arrest has been going on between the Espanol and Clamor during some days past, but seems, perhaps fortu nately, to have been dropped either by mutual consent, or in consequence of a hint from the government. The point mooted seems of vital importance; but the press, perhaps, is not the properest field for its discussion. The Espanol ended with taking up the bold ground of denying any right to the royal prerogative of dismissing a ministry based upon a parliamentary majority, and therefore possessing the con fidence of the country. The Clamor (to squeeze its logic into one word) accused the moderados of wishing to pull up the ladder by which they crept into office. It is curious enough to see a tory paper adopting a republican tone, while iu radical opponent displays its chivalry in defence of absolutism. But the key to this paradox lies in what is called the "situation." The Ileraldo of yesterday, noticing the fact that the pre ceding government had adjudged, withoutany public competi tion, the direction of the Diorio of advertisements for eight years to a speculator for 10,000 reals per month in favour of the public charities, proceeds to inform its reader, that the government having quashed this eontract, hadput the Diario up to auction, and succeeded in getting 26,000 reels monthly, or, at least, an offer to that amount from D. Jose Maria Alonso ; so that the charitable institutions of Madrid will owethe clear gain of the difference between 2i millions of reale, and less than 1 million during the term of the contract, to the justice of the present administration. A saying about chickens in the egg seems applicable to this I economy vaunted by the Heraldo. Roe de Olano seems to have been advanced to the rank of trisienteseneral as well as Cordova. The flamer notices the delicacy of the latter's proceeding in promoting himself to this high grade just before resigning the war portfolio. Pena Aguayo has been dismissed front the stewardship of the palace. The Deraldo, who always seems to select the most insignificant charges of the opposition for reply, vindicates the appointment of Don Beltran de Lie to the ministry of marine, although he is a civilian and has no special know ledge of that department. The same paper assails the Eng lish government for Napier 's " unheard of abuse of force" in applying to the Portuguese government for some arrears of its debt to England. The person spoken des likely to suc ceed Pena Aguayo as intendente, is Don Pedro de Erano, who was dismissed from that office by the Pacheco government. Concha returned to Barcelona on the 23rd. His expedition to the cordilleras of Monoeny, Guillena, &c., has been re markably barren in results; and adds one more to the accu mulated proofs of the unfitness of heavy muses of regular troops to cope with the bush-fighting guerillas. Letters from Saragossa mention the report that Grigno, Cabrera's Murat, had appeared in Lower Arragon at the head of • band of 30 Carlists. The regiment of uppers and miners at Algestras is ordered to Madrid. Caneja is appointed Bishop of Oviedo. A junta of generals is to be appointed by the Minister of War to regulate the system of promotion in the army. VIENNA, Ocr. 20. The approaching Hungarian diet is occupying the thoughts of the ministry almost as much as the affairs of Switzerland and Italy. It is esteemed a lucky thing that a crisis is approaching in both those coun tries before disagreeable questions are put, and still more disagreeable addresses are voted from Presburg. The young Archduke Stephen may be expected to make some liberal professions on his election as Pala tine; and should he turn out (different from the good,. old Hapsburg stock) to have a will of hie own, there is a strong party ready to second him in any onslaught he may think fit to make on the Metternich-Fiquelmont ministry. It is very evident that no small apprehen sions are here entertained about the immediate future. To conciliate the Hungarians generally, the Arch duke Stephen was made to take upon himself the office of Obergespann of the county of P esth. Having served in the official school of Bohemia, it was thought a proper thing to let him also appear to do so in the country he is destined to reign over. But with the true Me.chiavelianism of the Austrian family, lest he should monopolise popularity in the Ilungarian capi tal, his cousin Francis, son to the heir presumptive, was sent down for, and had to utter a speech in Hun garian to the plebs nobililatis that assembl es a t the installation of an Obergespann. In point of fact the two lines ran each other very closely as candidates for the cox pepuli. The heir presumptive, Archduke Francis Charles, brother to the reigning emperor, is a good-natured inoffensive sort of person. But his consort, a Bavarian princess, is by no means so tran quil. Endowed with far more energy, both of mind and body, notwithstanding the cares and exhaustion of enriching the imperial stock with nine children, she has more of the spirit of a Maria Theresa that; her husband has of a Joseph IL But unhappily this lady and her half-sister the empress dowager, arc chiefly known in Austria by . their love for the broad hattedJesuits, the Lignonan Friars, who are abso lately detested by the intelligent part of the Viennese and dreaded by the rest. Now the mother of the Archduke Stephen is a protestant, and it is in remem brance that the manes of another respected protestant archduchess were insulted on her death by the refusal of the Capucins to admit her body into the family vault. These things are sure to rise up in judgment against the perpetrators, and afford matter for deep reflection to both parties at present. The Hungarians, moreover, seem inclined to make a very inconvenient use of some of their constitutional privileges on the present occasion. Amongst other complaints, it is likely that one on the subject of the events in Galicia will be carried up to the throne, and the ministers may set their account with being roughly handled on that score in the sittings of the diet. The pretext will be the old supposition that the only claim of the Austrian emperor to the possession , of Galicia, that is juatitiable before God or man, is as I an ancient dependency on the crown of Hungary. I If this be allowed, the Widens were under ' the EC& of the Hungarian constitution, &c. The real soreness, however, arises from the knowledge that the mune game would be played with themselves. Indeed at the period of the cholera visi tation in 1832, the feasibility of the scheme afterwards carried out fully in Galicia ? of manuring the unruly nobles through the peasants, was demonstrated. The cholera is once more on its way to us ; so that all parties will do well to set their houses in order. The safeguard of the Hungarians would be the achieve ment of the responsibility of the minister, which the Galician matter gives them en excuse for demanding, but with little prospect of success. On the other hand, the cabinet has the national division between the Magyars, or Hungarians proper, and the Slav°. nians, a feud that paralyses the political influence of the diet. Of another scheme, said to be reserved to invest the decline of Metternich's life with a halo of popularity, it is too soon to say much. The report goes, that he actually projects convening a central diet in the Prussian fashion. Wonders, of course, never cease ; but he is surely too old a soldier to ven ture on a half measure that led to so miserable a re sult as the diet of Berlin. ITALY.—LOSS OP THE STEAMER BONAPARTE.— The followicg particulars of this collision, the fact of which is already known to the public, have reached us (Golignani) (coin a correspondent at Leghorn, who dates 21st October, and who was a passenger on board the tionaparte " Before this reaches you you will probably have seen a short notice (account it cannot be called) of the loss of the steamer Bonaparte, on her passage from Marseilles to Italy. She had touched at Bastia, and was continuing her voyage across to Leghorn, when she was met by another steamer, the Comte de Paris. A collision took place at midnight : the Bonaparte had her stern cut in two, and soon went down; three lives were lost, and the rest of the passengers were with difficulty saved by the ether steamer, most of them in their night-dresses, whilst their personal effects, with all the other property on board, went to the bottom. The Bonaparte, which was a screw vessel, had set out from Marseilles on Tuesday morning, the 12th inst.; but, encountering stormy weather, she lay a night in Toulon, and woo consequently a day behind her time in arriving at Bastia. She left Bastia for Leghorn (a passage of a few hours) on Thursday night, at 10 o'clock. The weather had become beautiful, and most of the passengers had retired to rest. About midnight we were awakened by a dreadful crash—a large portion of the stern had been taken away, and the water was rushing vio lently into the cabin. Accompanied by the female members of my family, I hurried upon deck, which was in a state of the utmost confusion. The captain was hailing another ves sel, now at some considerable distance, through a speaking trumpet, and imploring her to come to our aid. Of this, for some time, there seemed to be no signs ; but at length she did approach us. During this interval the captain was missed, and it appears, from what afterwards was reported, that he heal saved himself the first, in the only aysglalde little boat the steamer had. Then so to the crew ; when the Comte de Paris approached near enough, the crew were the first to leap on board, without any regard for the passengers. I, with the ladies of my family, were the last saved, and that with the utmost difficulty, solely by our own exertions, with the aid of a fellow-passenger, and of the English engineer of the Bonaparte, whose conduct presented a very gratifying contrast to that of the crews of both vessels. The Comte de Paris was herself very seriously injured. A large hole was made in her bow a few inches above water-mark." were of the most encouraging kind—that every inquiry de monstrated that the estimates which had already been given out to the public had been greatly over-rated— that the market gardeners and farmers in the vie pcopeirsi tesyysotiofnonsthof:tanhPed"iroP°sedardffenenhtwawdoirsalrkhse:sdwfoeyrre b e e n tlse commencement made toeninwitinhoeftothe:i years' agreements for a supply of liquid manure to veryconst derable tracts of ground." The report further informed the proprietors " that an intimation had a short time since been unanimous given to the directors of the successful application of liquid manure in the neighbourhood of Manchester, by a company termed' The Manchester Liquid Manure Irrigation Com pany,' and that the directors had therefore thought it ad visable to depute two of their body (Dr. Guy and Mr. F. Sherborn) to proceed to Manchester, to investigate the mode of procedure, the machinery used, and the actual results (commercial as well as agricultural) in reference especially to the objects of this company. That deputation had pre sented a report, which had been printed and circulated among the proprietors -4 report which was of a highly satis factory character—which contained much valuable matter, and which was conclusive as to the soundness of the basis on which this company had been established." The directors added, "that, in proceeding with the preliminary arrange ments, they regretted that the multifarious duties and full avocation., in a distant part of the United Kingdom, of Mr. Smith, of Deanston, the consulting agricultund engineer, had entirely deprived them of the counsel and co-operation of that gentleman • but they felt as the proprietors and the public would feel every confidence in the execution of the works by the eminent engineer, Mr. Mylne. But, although the professional avo cations of Mr. Smith required kis constant presence in another part of the country, the director' were unwilling to lose his connexion with the company, and therefore they thought it desirable to offer him the appointment of consult ing agricultural engineer, to be paid for such services as should be required of him." With respect to the monetary position of the company, the report stated that the directors announced them with feelings of great satisfaction; and they said " that the determination to make a call had been come to after anxious consideration, and had been declared under very considerable apprehension ; but considering the very depressed state of the money market at the time the call was made, the directors could not but express their satis faction at the readiness with which it had been paid up. Within a period of about two months a greater amount of money by 1,0811. had been paid into the company's treasury than had been previously received since its establishment. This, at a time of the molt severe pressure in the money market, and of unprecedented commercial distress, could not but be considered as a most gratifying fact. During the same period, no less than 312 new shares had been applied for and taken up. All the claims on the company had been discharged, except a portion of the expenses of obtaining the acts of parliament • and, although the delivery of every claim against th e: company bad been urgently pressed, yet from delay in the presentation of some accounts (some not having been received until within the last few hours) they were unable accurately to state their exact amount. It world however be satisfactory that, when all just claims were paid, the outside of the amount of the whole preliminary and parliamentary expenses for obtaining the two acts and of establishing the company would, as nearly as could be calculated, scarcely amount to the 11. deposit on the shares of which the capital of the company was composed. The principal part of the balance in hand had been placed to a deposit account at 41 per cent. interest." The remainder of the report, it is unnecessary to add, inasmuch as it was dealt with by resolutions subsequently proposed, and disposed of in the manner stated below. The balance-sheet showed the receipts of the company to have been 8,0871., the expen diture 5,7301. 13s. Id., leaving a balance of 2,356/. Gs. 11d. Mr. Namos moved, that the report now read be received end adopted, and printed and circulated, if the directors should so think tit. In submitting the motion he bore testi• mealy to the energy, zeal, and ability, as well as economy, with which the directors had brought the company to its present satisfactory position. Mr. Le CAPPELAIN, in seconding the motion, said the report afforded him, as he was sure it did the great body of the shareholders, the highest satisfaction. Though deprived of the services of Mr. Smith, of Deanston, he had every confidence that the works would he properly executed, and the interests of the company carefully attended to by their engineer, Mr. Mylne. /dr. BUCHANAN complained that at the last meeting the liabilities of the company bad not been shown, and hence he had not paid up his calls, because he thought the act of incorporation had been in that respect violated. The SECRETARY said it was impossible that all the liabilities could be stated, inasmuch as all the claims (as stated in the report) had not been received. Many claims, after a rigid examination, had been reduced, and it was impossible that the directors receiving a claim, any for 1,0001., which they felt to be unjust, could state it as a liability, when on exami nation they reduced it to 2091. or 1.501. Mr. DEAN also complained that all the liabilities had not been set forth, but after a abort conversation, in which Mr. Whishaw, the barrister, and other gentlemen took part, the resolution for the reception and adoption of the report was unanimously agreed to ; as well also a resolution moved by Mr. Propert, and seconded by Mr. Hargreaves, to the effect that the thanks of the shareholders were eminently due, and were thereby given to the directors for their arduous, zealous, and successful exertions in placing the company in its present position, for their judicious and economical management of its affairs, and for their conduct in hitherto refusing any re muneration for their valuable services. A similar vote passed to the late auditors, Messrs. Jellicoe and Sons, on the motion of Mr. Bayley, seconded by Mr. Fowler, jun. Mr. Wriniusw then moved a resolution to the effect that remuneration should be given to the directors and auditors, to be allowed from the date of the passing of the Amend ment Act, to be paid out of the profits of the company, but that no payment should be made until a dividend was paid to the shareholders or all the capital of the company paid up : the amount of such remuneration to be reserved for future con sideration.—Mr. Fowler seconded the resolution, which pared unanimously. On the motion of Mr. Neison, seconded by Mr. Le Csppe lain, a salary of 3001. was (after a few words from Mr. Buchanan) voted to the present secretary, Mr. Alexander G re ig. The next proceeding led to a long and personal, though wholly uninteresting, discussion. It appeared from the re port that the late secretary, Mr. Moore, had made a claim upon the company for a remuneration for his services from 2nd June, 1845 (before the company was provisionally registered) to the lot of June, 1848, at the rate of 6001. per annum. Mr. Moore had been removed from his office of secretary, and had declined a situation not less respectable in station under the company, insisting upon his right to make the claim stated. _ _ Dr. Guy now moved that, in conformity with the recom mendation contained in the report, Mr. Moore be paid as a remuneration for his services as secretary from Oct. 6. 1845, the day be was appointed to that office, to July 6, 1847, at the rate of 3001. per annum.—Mr. Propert seconded the re solution. Mr. Moortz at considerable length addressed the meeting, urging his claims on the ground of services rendered and sacrifices made on his part to promote the establishment of the comparty.—A long and somewhat acrimonious debate followed, when eventually Mr. DEAN said that as these differences between Mr. Moore and the directors could not be settled satisfacorily, at a meeting of the shareholders, he should move as an amend ment that the question of the amount of remuneration for past services to be paid to Mr. Moore he referred to a select committee of three shareholders, to report thereon to en ad. journed meeting.--Mr. Whishaw seconded the amendment, which was submitted to a chew of hands, when four ap peared in its favour and five against it. On a scrutiny the number of votes appeared: For the amendment. 18; ozainet it, 42 ; majority, 24. The original resolution was then put and carried. The retiring directors, Messrs. Con, Fuller, Dr. Guy, and Dr. Hodgkin, were then unanimously re elected to that office, as was 'Leo Mr. Charles Jellicoe to that of auditor, and after • vote of thanks had passed to the chairman the meeting separated , altar a sitting of nearly four hours. poor hive together, contagious disorders make rapid progress extending from one to another, and secluiring increamd virulence from the filth and noisomeness with which they ara nourished." The mortality in cities and towns is always Maher than that in the country ; how greatly it is increased by defective sanitary measures, or rather, by the total absence of them, is admirably but painfully illustrated by the following exc e l : lent observations of the registrar-general on tht ee: 1 1a1011 Of Liverpool: "Liverpool, created in haste by commerce—by men toe intent on immediate gain; reared without any v, ry tender regard for flesh or blood ; and flourishing, while h. r working population was rotting in cellars—has been severely taught the lesson, that a part of the population—whether in cello/ or on distant shores—cannot suffer without involving the whole community in calamity. In itself one ot the un- I healthiest towns of the kingdom, Liverpool has toe a vas , been the hospital and cemetery of Ireland. The death; re. gistered in the four quarters of 1846 were 1,931, 2,008, 2946, and 2,735 . in the three quarters of 1847 ending io Seaton her last, 3,065, 4,809, and 5,6691 The population of Liver. pool was 223,054 at the last census. It is imisossible to represent more correctly than is done by the short notes of the registrars, the piteous spectacle which this great town presented—with the floating Lazarettos on the Mersey—th e workhouses crowded with destitute paupers—the three large sheds which will hold 300 persons, nearly full of p dients at the present time '—and the fever ' getting more prevalent among the upper classes.' " The notes of the registrars which follow the preceding ob servations lead to the supposition that the wealthy town of Liverpool partakes more of the nature of a pest-house thin aught else. We are told of hundreds dying of the most ma lignant fever, not only in the hospitals, but also on 'bard the lazarettos in the river Mersey. The usual fever hospitals are found wholly inadequate to accommodate the crowds of miserable patients, and sheds, each of which is cal. slated to hold about 300 individuals, have been erected. Truly is it observed, in the report before us ' that "it will require all the energy of the inhabitants of Liverpool, and the utmost resources of science, to place the health of the town in a satisfactory condition." The mortality remains high in Birmingham Dudley, Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury, in many of the to.. es of Lae: caabire, and in Leeds, Hull, York, and Sanderland. The returns from the other towns of the kingdom present nothing unusual, the mortality beirg much the same as it, previous years. This refers to the relative mortality, the abro.ute mor tality being always bizher by from 10 to per cent. in towns, than in open country districts. This is strongly illustrated by a comparison of the deaths in London in 13 weeks ending Sept. 25, and those which would have happened if the rate of mortality had been the same as in Dorsetahire, &county, a a ; I well known, in which the wages are low, and in which the condition of the labourer is far from what it should be. Such a comparison shows that 13,187 persons di..l in Lon don, whereas only 8,109 would have lied had the mortality been at the same rate as in Dorsetahire. In Load's we re gret to find there has been no sign of improvement ; 10,987, 12,601, and 13,187 deaths were registered in the September quarters of 184.5, 1846, and 1847. The deaths in the 141417/1/t quarters of the three years from small-pox were 76, 51, sad 320; measles, 668, 78, and 521 ; scarlatina, 194, 208, sad 316 ; diarrhoea, 419, 1,549, and 1,196; cholera. 26, 197, and ' 98 • dysentery, 43, 7.1, and 143 ; remittent fever, 8, 12, 23; typhus,i 273, 403, and 695; erysipelas, 56, 92, and 126: the n'M.. ale class of diseases generally, 2,409, 3,234, and 4,061. The deaths from diseases of the respiratory erg ins were nearly stationary, 1,558, 1,784 ; and 1,581 persons died of consumption ; 1,111, 977, and 1,071, persons of in flammatory and other diseases of the lung' ; 2,3, and 16, deaths were directly ascribed to varlott, kinds of privation in the last three September quarters. There is'a great increase in the number of deaths by external violence, the numbers being 312, 403, and 425. The following observations of the registrar-general are highly worthy of serious consideration : MI the diseases of the zymotic class—such as small poz, measles, scarlatina, typhus, influenza, and cholera—have the remarkable property of becoming epidemic. After certain intervals of time, in which they are fatal to a smaller or greater number of persons in different places and seasons, great multitudes are suddenly attacked and destroyed in a given locality; the disease in this intense form involves the neighbouring population, spreads around the whole region, and sometimes travels over the tracks of human intercourse through the world. Little is known of the immediate chemical or vital causes of epidemics ; but in given circam. stances, where many are immersed in an atmosphere of decaying organic matter, some zymotic disease is in variably produced ; where there is starvation, it is most frequently typhus ; cold, influenza ; heat.—it is cholera, yellow lever, plague. At the mouths of the Ganges, of the Nile, of the Niger ; in London, particularly up to the 17th century; in camps, in barracks, in ships, in prisons formerly ; in Ireland, in Liverpool, in all our towr.s now, the circumstances in which xynsotic deseases become epidemic may be witnessed. A city breathing an atmo sphere perfectly pure may not be exempt from every epidemic , but observation has shown that such irruptions are infrequent, and fatal to few person' of strength or stamina. Internal sanitary arrangements, and not quaran tine er sanitary lines, are the safeguards of nations. A salubrious city in an epidemic—like a city built of atone in a conflagration—is exposed to danger and injury, but not to the same extent as the present cities of Europe, which are left without any adequate regulations for the health and security of their inhabitants. The great historical epidemics have diminished in intensity; and there appears to be no reason why they should not be ultimately suppressed, with the edelweiss of the population among which they take their rise. Their origin is obscure, but influenza appears generally tobe come first epidemic in Itussia—cholera in India. It is in India that the source of the latter disease must be attacked. lithe health of India becomes sound, Europe might be safe, and hear no more of the epidemic which is now traversing Russia. The attention of the Indian authorities has for some time been directed to the subject. The other nations of Europe arc beginning to take an interest in public sani tary improvements ; and any plans found to succeed in England will, no doubt, he carried out as speedily as possi ble in all parts of her Majesty's dominions; for the vast population that owns her sway is intimately united. Asiatic cholera has taught us that the lives of thousands in Eastland may depend on the condition of the Pariahs of Jessore.• the usual meteorological tables are appended to the report. From tbeso it appears that the moan temperature of the quarter at Greenwich was 60 deg. 6 min., which is 1 deg. 9 min. above that for 1844 ; 3 deg. 7 min. above that for 1815 ; 2 deg. below that for 1816 ; and 1 deg. 4 min. above the average for the quarter, for the six preceding years. The low temperature during September was very remark able, being 3 deg. 1 min. below the average for the six pre ceding years. The mean temperature of the dew point was 54 deg. 1 min., which is 7 min. above that for 1814; 1 deg. 9 min. above that for 1845; 2 deg. 2 min. below that for 1846 ; and very nearly the same as the average for the six preceding years. The mean height of the barometer was 29.875; the quantity of rain 4.7 inches, which is about one-half of the usual amount collected. The horizontal movement of the air was about 840 miles weekly, being somewhat less than the average amount. We observe that meteorological returns are now obtained from 25 localities in various parts of England. By them it appears that the climate of Cornwall and Devonshire is not only dif ferent from every other part of England, but is far from being the same in different parts of these counties. The observations, however, do not extend over a sufficiently long space of time to enable us to arrive at any very correct con clusions. At some future period we shall, with more precise data, be enabled to lay before our readers some curious and valuable information on the climate of various parts of England. t. The epidemic cholera, which reached England in 1831, broke oat at impure, near Calcutta, in 1817, and destroyed 10,000 persona. THE LADY MAYORESS'S GRAND BALL AT TEE MANSION-MI:SC — Lag evening the Lady Mayoress gave a ball upon a vary large scale, her ladyship having sent out invitations to between 1,400 and 1,500 persons, including the families of the aldermen common councilmen, and prin cipal city officers. The splendid rooms of the 'Mansion house were thrown open at 9 o'clock, when the company bo gan to arrive, and Barnard's band commenced operations. The dancing was kept up with great spirit in the Egyptian hall an 4 the corridor. Mr. Gilbert acted as master of the ceremonies. At 12 o'clock the company sat down to one of the most magnificent suppers that have for many years been given under,thia hospitable roof. There'were between eleven and twelve hundred parsons present. Dancing was kept up until a very late hour. ABOLITION OF FEES IN COUNTY Cot RTS.—Tho Gazette of Gat night announces that after the expiration of one calendar month from the date of the publication of this notice her Majesty, with the advice of her Privy Council. will take into consideration the propriety of making an order for paying the judges, clerks, bailiffs, and officers of the county courts by salaries instead of fees, or in such other manner as may be deemed expedient. THE WESTMINSTER HOSPITAL—MUNIFICENT Bo- QUESTS.—Yesterday the usual meeting of this charity was held in the board-mem of the institution, in the Broad Sanctuary, Westminster Abbey . The repo rt stated during the past quarter, 2,474 out-patients had been is= on the books, and 489 in-patients had been admitted. During the part year there had been 1,616 in and 10,095 out-patients, making together 11,741, and since its establish ment upwards of 340,000. Four wards, capable of con taining 60 beds, remain untenanted for want of sufficient annual income. During the peat year the expenditure ex ceeded the income by 1,0971. 184.9 d. Amongst the recent legacies, was the bequest of 2,0001. 3 per Cent. Consols under the will of the late Miss Ann Collier, and another of 6001. COURT OF SEWERS, GUlLDHALL—Yesterday, at the meeting of the commissioners of the Court of Sewers, Mr. Deputy Peacock in the chair, tho report of the sub committee, which bad been appointed to draw up a memorial to the Court of Common Council, prying of thr torP 4 T I- tion to apply to parliament in the next ensuing tkIIHOn, f or an act to give the Court of Sewers additional powers, ' 0 " to enable them to compel the landlords and owners of prd perty to open a drain Into the common sewerage of the City of London, and thus improve the sanitary condition of those neighbourhoods at present without a drainage, was brought up. In support of the proposed application, it was shown that some of the sewers, on which several hundreds had been expended, were completely useless, from the landlords refusing to avail themselves of the improvement. The me morial wit unanimously agreed to, and ordered to be pre tented to the next Court of Common Council. _ --- THE STATE OF NEWOATE-MAREET.—In cense-. queue. of the petition which hu been presented to the court, relative to the escape of the etfluvia from the gully-holes and traps laid down in the above market, and which the inhabitants declare to be insupportable, and pray ing for what are termed " Walker's traps" to be laid down, and thus replace those already in use, the surveyor andin spector stated that sufficient time had not been given to test the merits of the new traps. At the same time, if the elaughtermen and butchers continued to force down 1 010 with the colleagues con f er with a view to an amicable Terence was wn_hout • • • • •`• • • t t • _ • • '.., THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 3, 1847. COLONIAL. PERNANIBUCO.—Advices from this intendency to the 26th Sept. bare been received in Liverpool. Neither commercially nor politically is there any news. Cbt Court. WINDSOR, TCESDAY.—The Bishop of Oxford left the castle to-day. Lord Alfred Paget has arrived at the castle, and has relieved Col. the Ron. C. D. Phipps in the duties of equerry in waiting to the Queen; and Capt. the Hon. A. Gordon has arrived, and has succeeded Lieut.-Col. Seymour in the duties of equerry in waiting to Prince Albert. The Earl of Morley (lord in waiting) left the castle this morning ; Mr. R. 0. Gore (groom in waiting) also took his departure today. The royal dinner party at the castle this evening included the Marquis and Marchioness of Exeter, the Earl and Countess of Dalhousie, Lord and Lady Beau vale, and the Right Hon. Sir C. and Lady M. Wood. The Duchess of Gloucester honoured Lord and Lady J. Russell with a visit yesterday afternoon at their residence in Richmond-park. Their royal highnesses par took of a dejebne. Lord Dudley Stuart, Mr. Joseph, Mr. Bell, Mr. Early, Mr. W. Williams, and Mr. J. Wilson, a deputation from St. Marylebone en the subject of mendicancy in that parish, had an interview with Sir G. Grey yesterday at the Home-office. The Rev. Dr. Newport had an interview with Earl Grey yesterday at the Colonial-office. THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD MAYOR ELECT TO THE LORD CHANCELLOR, Yesterday Alderman Hooper, the Lord Mayor elect, was introduced by the Recorder of Landon to the Lord Chancellor, for the purpose of receiving the approbation of her Majesty as regards his election to the mayoralty. There were accompanying the Lord Mayor elect upon the ceremonial, Aldermen Sir Chapman Mar hall, Hughes Hughes, Challis, and William Hunter, the Chamberlain, the Sheriffs, Under Sheriff Wire, the Secondiries, and the City solicitor. The Recorder addressed the Lord Chancellor in nearly the following words :—My lord, I have the honour to present to your lordship Alderman John Hooper, recently elected by the citizens of London unto the office of Lord Mayor for the ensuing year. It is my pleasing duty to state that the great est harmony has prevailed on this occasion between two dis tinct branches of the corporation in which are noosed the several trusts of nomination and selection of a fit and proper person to fill the office of chief magistrate of our ancient city. The nomination of Mr. Alderman Hooper by the livery of London was at on 7e responded to by the act of his unani mous election in a very full court of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen. The Lord Mayor elect has been a resident of the ward of Queenhithe, over which he now presides as alderman, for five and twenty years. In 18.42 he served the office of sheriff. The legal qualification of a candidate for the office of mayor is perfected by the at tainment and service of the respective offices of alderman and of sheriff. But Mr. Hooper had previously acquired the confidence of his fellow•citizens in other trusts and employ ments—as • common councilman and deputy of his ward for more than ten years. The gown vacant by the death of Mr. Alderman Venable* was conferred upon Mr. Hooper with the same free good-will and general concurrence as are now manifested in the universal desire that he should assume and exercise the higher functions of the mayoralty. In noticing the public career of this gentleman, which he du so well and faithfully punned, I may be permitted to had that his name and that of his father and grandfather were long and honourably distinguished as denoting mer chants of high credit and respectability, and of extensive dealing in the foreign wine trade. By a skilful adaptation of business and industrious employment of time, Mr. Hooper has made to himself opportunities to fulfil all the re quirements of a British merchant, to _ether with the duties of a representative citizen and magistrate of London. With what integrity, success, and stability of character he has discharged these duties his present intended elevation will abundantly testify ; and I have it only further in charge to represent to your lordship that in the person of Mr. Hooper, a tried and faithful servant of the crown and of the corpo ration, her Majesty may repose her entire confidence. Upon these grounds, and in accordance with the custom our charter prescribes, I have the honour to solicit at the hands of your lordship the gracious approbation of her Majesty of the choice the citizens have made. The Lord Chancellor said it gave him high Fratification to a.sure Mr. Alderman Hooper, that her Majesty decidedly approved of the choice made of him by his fellow.citizens for the ensuing mayoralty, and to express her Majesty's con viction that he would fulfil the promises held out by his performance of the official duties assigned to him as sheriff and alderman to the complete satisfaction of the public. Her Majesty believed that the Lord Mayor elect would make every exertion in his power for the preservation of the public peace, and perform all the functions of the office to which he had been appointed in such a manner as would secure the good opinion of his fellow-citizens. METROPOLITAN SEWAGE MANURE COMPANY. The half-yearly ordinary meeting of the Metropo litan Sewage 'Manure Company was held yesterday, at their offices, No. 7, Waterloo-place, fall-mall, for the despatch of business. The chair was filled by Mr. Henry Peter Fuller, the chairman of the board of directors. The register of shareholders having been authenticated by affixing to it the seal of the company, and other routine business having been disposed of, The Sacnirranv (Mr. Cireig) read the report of the directors to the shareholders. It commenced by stating, " That the directors on this occasion of meeting the pro prietors for the purpose of rendering an account of their pro ceedings in execution of the trust reposed in them, desired to present such a statement as they deemed best calculated to lead to a correct estimate of the actual position and pros pects of the undertaking. The amendment act, for which the proprietors at the general meeting, held in February last, authorised an application to parliament, had received the royal assent on the 21st June last, and the directors had since given their meet anxious and most diligent cc:odd/ra tion to the best manner in which the objects of the company could be carried out for the benefit of the shareholders. After a most rigid and careful revision of the original c ol o urs. (which they had been enabled considerably to reduce) it was deemed desirable to make the needful pre luminary arrangements for proceeding to active operations. The engineers were now taking the necessary steps for com mencing the works—the twenty-eight days' notice required by the act had been given to the commissioners of sewers, and the directors were in other respects exerting themselves to carry out the works of the company with as much vigour and activity as a due regard to the interests of the share holders would allow, and with the very confident expecta tion that in the course of next summer the works would be in such a state of forwarder's as to enable the company to commence the distribution of the sewage. With this view it had been determined, in the first instance, to complete that portion of the works immediately in the vicinity of the station at Stanley-bridge, so as to be enabled to afford an early supply of sewage to the adjacent gardening and meadow districts of Fulham and its neighbourhood, and thus insure with the least outlay the earliest return ; and the directors, in the report, further stated, that they would be enabled to complete this portion of the works without calling for more than one half of the present subscribed capital." The re port went on to state " that tke prospects of the company taibiliti of the scheme afterwards t c j i,7 ' o7: 17,7 f gl`C.,"p;;;;Zt 7:4:7 , i1;:re."` ,or m ore oeing recanted from diarrtura, under the drain of which the Spector stated that sufficient time had not been given to ie. e 51.0601 of rumoring the unruly port went on to state "that tite ca prospects pital." Th e re- exhausted frames of the little sufferers rapidly sank. In the the merits of the new traps. At the same time, if the I the company close, ill-ventilated , and denaely-crowded AVMs where the slaughtermen and butchers continued to force down into • e.• • QUARTERLY MORTALITY RETURNS. The registrar-general has just issued his usual quar terly return of the mortality in 117 districts of England. These districts are subdivided into 582 sub-districts ; 36 dis tricts are in the metropolis, and the remaining 81 comprise, with some agricultural districts, the principal towns and cities of England. The population in 1841 was 6,612,800. The deaths registered during the past quarter terminating September 30, were 49,479, a number less by 1,948 than were registered in the corresponding quarter of 1846, but 7,007 more than the corrected average of the September quar ters of 1838 46. The deaths registered in the September quar ters of the 5 years ending 1847, were 36,953, 38,933, 36,139, 51,427, and 49,479. Had the mortality been uniform, and the population increased from 1843 at the rate of 1.75 per cent. annually, the deaths during the last varier would only have amounted to 42,742 instead of 49,4,9, the actual num ber, which is an excess of 7,007 above the corrected average. The excess of the September quarter in 1846 was 9,686 above the average. The deaths registered during the 4 quarters of the 4 years ending 1846, and three quarters of 1847, were 163,651, 168,127, 166,256, 192,104, and 157,169. A small rise in the mortality took place in the spring after the mild winter of 1846 ; the mortality during the quarter ending in March 1847 reached the maximum 56,105, and has since slowly subsided. The epidemic of fever has been much more fatal in the provincial districts than in London, In Manchester, Salford, and Chorlton, 4,154 deaths were registered from all causes. Diarrhcea and fever were the prevalent diseases. Typhus carries off men and women in the prime of life. Diarrhcea destroys more children, and becomes dangerous to adults in the form of cholera. The registrar of Deansgate, Manches ter, says : More children have died in the district during the last quarter ander the age of 5 years than in most other r. outon there have been deaths at all ages. This is an astOunsiii4 bet, yet perfectly consistent with prior observation : if the general mortality be large the infant mortality will ever be found to bear its due pro por tion, and the causes, in such a district as this, are per fect ly obvious. In the calamitous season just passed, manufactures have been almost at a stand stall; food has been unattainable by the poor, for em ployment they had none ; famine made her dwelling in their homes, and her attendant horror, Typhus, relentlessly swept his victims to the grave. Daring the sickness, which either terminated in death, or rendered the removal of the poor to the fever hospitals necessary, their offspring have been neglected and snared for; some have sunk under the malady of their parents—others, deprived of the nourish ment nature had supplied, have pined and wasted away, the victims of inanition, their glands diseased, and 'incapable of assimilating the incongruous food supplied to them. The disease of autumn has also done its work fearfully amongst them, no lees than 103 deaths, almost entirely of children, being recorded from diarrlicra, under the drain of which the exhausted frames of the little sufferers rapidly sank. In the close, ill-ventilated, and densely-crowded zooms where the Alb I