The Express. — London, England, 1853-05-19 00:00:00

THE NEW TARIFF. MLETING OF WHOLESALE AND RETAIL GROCERS. in Consequence, of the change annoanced by the Chaneeltor of the Exchequer in his intentions, with respect to the Cuetuoi , re; ulatidns si regards tea, and also of the ',their:asset et the Is. reduction in the duty on raisin►. • numerous meeting of wholesale and retnil tea - sealers e, a groc ers was held yesterday, at the London Tavern; it, W. Cita:serum., Esq., in the P.,ch. There were ale* present. Messrs. diverge Moffitt, M. Twining, T Iluberheld, W. 6. Hall, R. Iliirirousu, A. Ttavers, Locoek, Ithuttleworth, Potts, Ho:, Smith, &c. The C that am AN in opening the proceeding., said that as be sod/net:eel the question, the object of the present meet ing was, toeetuider what would probably be the eff.ct on the interests of the tea-dealers and grocers of the United Ring.lom of the changes intro luced by the Chancellor of th e Exchequer into kis scheme for the settlement of certaint;ustucis duties. It would be recollected that in the budget of the 11th April last, certain scales of amended elute. were proposed, and he might add that thine emended scales were received with very general favour throughout th e country. (Hear, hear.) '1 hey now (curd that a second em e.aled scheme had been published, invulviog several inn tvrial change. from the original plan, some of which would materially affect the interests of trade. (Hear, hear.) He believed that the object of that meeting was to take these matters into consideration, and to prepare a memorial to the Chancellor of the Exchequer with a view of inducing hi m , if possible, to give to the subject a little more careful consideration than ho appeared to have done. (Hear, hear.) Judging from what he (the Chairman) himself bad seen the right hon. gentleman must have been listening to some em pirical advice, and had thus been placed in a difficulty from whist lie could only be released by taking the advice of the trade. '1 he chairman concluded by stating that Mr. Travers would state mere in detail the objects of the meeting. MT. THAVLIti said that bison', rearm for interfering was the extreme urgency of the case, and the exercised wishes of members of the trade. Whit was everybouy's business was nobody's business, and therefore he should be glad to see some organisation attempted, and a select body ap pointed, whole duty it should be to look after the general bite frets of the trade on occasions like the present. (Hear, hear.) As a beginning, ho should recommend the appoint. ment of a committee to represent to the government the opinioes of the t: ade on the matter now under discussion. 1 hey had met t s consider two points : one was the retrac tation of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's promise, as re garded the duty en raisins ; and the other the question of the draught allowed by the Customs in estimating the duty on tea. At the preliminary meeting of that morning it had been decided to separate these two questions, • course in which he did not quite concur, but he thought the point im mat.:l t 11, • .) :nog as they obtained committees to represent t e eth v. ws. Ile thought the question with regard to raisins im portant, because it was OA first instance of a government basing proposed a great reduction, and thus influenced all the operations of trade, and then, without previous notice, or apology, refusing to carry their plan into execution. I (Hear. hear.) This was the more especially to be repre hended, seeing that the public had acquiesced in the impo salon of new taxce, of which this remission was to have been to some extent the equivalent. (Hear, hear.) lle thought that the public and the trade should keep the Chancellor of the Exchequer to his bargain, as it he were allowed to promise and retract in this way, no branch of, trade Of tOrOlflefee would be safe. (Hear, hear.) With reisect to tea, their cause of complaint was equally portant, the present proposal of the Chancellor being M withdrew the round draught which was now allowed lel merchants in estimating the duty. The allowance was ese gain to the wholesale dealers, who passed it to the retailers, nor, he believed, to the retailer', who, he believed, generally lost on the tares of tea. (Hear, bear.) This proposal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer came peculiarly unfavourable at a tim e when the public were expecting to get the full value of the trifling reduction in the duty. A strong repre sentation must be made, and he believed the proper course would be to appoint a small committee to represent to the Chancellor of the Lechequer the feelings of the trade, but giving them powers beyond that, to take what steps they might think fit in case they should be met with a distinct refusal. Ile held that they were bound as wholesale and retail dealers to press this matter on the: right hon. gentle man, and, in case be should be obstinate, on the House of Commons. Were he a member of the House of Commons he should deride the house on the question, and, as it was, he was quite prepared to ask their members to do so. (Hear, hear.) Mr. More Art, M.P., having thanked Mr. Travers for his promptitude in convening the u.eeting, proceeded to say that two subiecte were under consideration, raisins and tea, but in his opinion they stood on different grounds. (Hear, hear.) The reduction of the duty ea raisins was spoken of as a promise from the Chancellor of the Exchequor, bat he did not look upon it in that light. It was only • peopmal to the House of Commons to redoes certain dudes. mid Is levy certain others as an equivalent. The feature of sash an arrangement was no novelty, as it had happened to Bir C. Wood in the case of clover seed. la the case of raisins, he believed the difficulty with the right hon. gentleman to be, that he could not reduce the duty without also dealing with currants. Mr. TuAreas—Why did he promise it? (Hear, hear.) Mr. MOVFATT did not think the right hon. gentleman had promised it. He had promised to allow a farthing a pound instead of the draught. But he would pass by raisins, as he believed that if the Chancellor of the Exam- quer were appealed to on that subject, he could give very good reasons why they should not be dealt with separate from currants, and proceed to the tea question, which was more important, and which, if allowed to be settled as proposed by government, would entail on the trade an additional tax to the amount of 70,0001. annually. (Hear, hear.) The difference between the two questions was so vast that he feared they would only weaken their ease by mixing them together. He should proceed, there fore, to discuss the tea question in the first instance, and they could discuss the raisins afterwards. When they came under discussion he should be prepared to show that the alteration would be as unjust to purchasers as was the other point to teadealers. The draught at present allowed on tea had lasted for two centuries; but when the tea trade passed from the East India Company into the hands of private individuals, a searching revision of weights and tares was made by the Excise B,ard, who thought that the company had been far too liberal, and the trade was placed on • much less liberal footing than before. The allowance was then 2 or. in favour of the trade, which came to much more than the pound draught, but that was disallowed by the Customs and the import merchant ,• and the practice now was to take a given number of chests out of a break of tea, say 10 out of 600, and if the weights averaged 23 lb. 7 ox., the Customs only allowed on 23 lbs. tare. The merchants said at the time of the settle ment it was unfair, illiberal, and unjust, but the Customs were inexorable, and the tare remained 23 lb'. to the pre sent day. The argument in defence of this injustice had always been, " You have the pound draught to cover say inequalities in the tare." (Hear, hear.) He believed it did no more, and therefore its retention was only an act of common justice. He had on the previous day examined a parcel of teas landing from the Kremlin, and found that the tares varied 3 lbs. in 10 or 12 chests, one being 24 lbs , and the other 27 lbs. In this case, the customs tare being 26 lbs., there would on the 27 lb. chests be a loss of 2 lbs. (Hear, bear.) The settlement had, however, worked satisfactorily up to this time, and, although complaints had ore sti been made, parties in general looked upol as an equitable settlement of the question. Es believed, with respect to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that something was floetiog in that gentleman's mind as to this llb. taro being a present to the wholesale dealer, but he (Mr. Moffatt) being then in the presence of nearly all the wholesale dealers in the trade s asked them whether the pound was not invariably given to the vendor who broke bulk to the public. (Hear, hear.) The question, therefore, pressed entirely on the vendor and the public. The vendor, as they knew, did not sell paper or string, but gave the public the full nett weight, and they knew also that every chid of tea was weighed out on the average in quarter pounds, so that there were 360 to 400 turns of the scale in every chest of tea. (Hear, hear.) It appeared to him, then, to be nothing more than just and equitable that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should share the loss with the wholesale and retail dealers, as he believed the latter made nothing by the present allowance. (Hear.) If the Chancellor of the Exchequer's plan of disallowing the pound draught came into operation, the retailer might evade it by weighing paper and string, but it would be very unwise to disturb the present arrangement under such pretexts. (Haar.) The merchant now often_ paid gibs. duty on weed and had, as the chests for which 241bs. were allowed often weighed Nibs.; and Is. 10d. a pound was too much to pay an mad and lead. He did sot know what could have pet thisierstehet into the Chancellor of the Exchequer's head except that tea was the only article epee which this one pound draught was adowed ; but he should also recollect that it was also an article of great value, upon which the precise tare could not lee ascertained without opening each chest. (dear, hear.) The right hon. gen tleman knew that they could not open each chest and re. pack it. Tea was, in fact, an exceptional article, not only as regarded the tax, but as to the mode of ascertaining the tare. It was done by a sort of rough " rule of thumb" cal culation ; but to his mind that calculation was as good for the Chancellor of the Exchequer as it was for the dealers or the public. For these reasons, and seeing the mode in which the &Hemlines had been brought forward-4min, that Mr. Gladstone had en Friday night last laid his amended resolutions cm the tabs of the house quietly, he would not say stealthily, without an nouncing to the House of Commons that he had found oat a new source of revenue worth 70,0001. a year. be (Mr. Moffatt) could not but think that the whole thing was a crotchet heady adopted, and that on hearing Emile and reasons the tig ht boo. gentleman would be Se ahead= it as bawdy. (Har, hear.) He mid as 11•1 that the right lea. geollemes had medial elf_ a ir at authority in these mattes% bat he suggested that the eight bon. gentleman on looking through his tariff feast ins with a pound draught, and so other article with the WNW privilege, and determined upon striking it out in ignorant, of the reason why the privilege had been granted. (Hear. hear) He (Mr. Moffatt) held in his hand a paper whisk he had received from a highly respectable dealer, matallieg the results of 71 packages of tea, not singled out to melte • OM against the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but taken according to date from the Ist May to the 12th. The result was a low on tare of 12(1b5., of gain 10lbs. irrespective of draught, so that if draught had been excluded he would have peel duty on 3:llhs. for nothing but wood and lead. (Hear, hear) What would be said of • shopkeeper who pre short weight, but here was the Chas (cline of the Exchequer doing something very similar In character. They could not bring him to the treadmill, bet they could prevent him by ezpoetulatioa from talking MN', so great an injustice. They bat duties to fulfil and rights to contend for, and these rights were to obtain just and equitable conditions in their dealings with the government. (Rear, bear.) The course ho intended to take was to put a notice on the books of the House of Commons to morrow (this) evening, contesting this point, as he would rather the duty remained unsettled for weeks than that" injustice should be perpetrated. (tiro.) Ile thought at right also that a deputation should oe appointed to wait on the Chancellor of the Exche' i tter, to induce him, if pos sible, to alter his dete:;ainition. Resolutions with this object would be submitted to the meeting. Mr. Loweockx (Miller and Lowcocke), as a tea-dealer, protested against the injustice of the proposed alteration. Mr. PAYEE (Rege it-street), as a retailer, complained of the variable weights of chests of tea, sad the losses that were sustained in consequence. lie had himself lost ex tensively on the weight of a chest sent to a noble lord a member of parliament. Mr. Payne was diverging into a general lament over the hardships of retailers in tea, spice, and other articles, but was interrupted by general cries of Question." He was anxious for the appointment of a permanent committee to look alter the interests of the trade. . . Mr. Rows (Clarke and Rowe) said that the draught was given by legislation in 17 J 9 and confirmed in 18:13, and was hardly suf fi cient to meet the escape of tea between the wood and the lead and its consequent loss and damage. There was in fact great injustice in taring, for ',elicit the only compensation was this allowance of a pound draught. He was ready to show that the chest itself often weighed mere than the tare and draught included. (Hear.) He thought that as regarded both tea and fruit they should have a committee to watch the proceedings of the government. Mr. SUCITLIWORTM (Shuttles orth and Co.) pointed out another source of lees in the mode in which lead was run in China. It appeared it was dune on atone, another stone being placed over it to reduce it to the requisite thinness. This last stone, when it became cold towards the latter end of the smelting, made the sheet (bicker than at first, and whoever got the cheat packed with these lasting' was so much the worse off in his tare. He held in his band docu ments to show that on 36 packages of tea opened from the Ist to the Bth of January there was a loss of 261 be., and another opened from the lit to the 12th of May, of 19 packages, with a loss of 1271 be. (Hear, hear.) This showed that they wanted a further allowance instead of a reduction—indeed, the old company had allowed trett as well as tare. (Cheers.) The present course was to take 6 chests out of 100 to ascertain the tare, and the consequence of the alteration would be a considerable loss. Mr. TWINING tendered his full cooperation towards removing or preventing what he felt to be a hardship on the trade. (Hear, hear.) He looked, however, upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer as a man of such high charac ter, as to be incapable of promising anything he did not mean to perform, and he felt sure that if the case were fairly stated, the threatened hardship would be prevented. He (:dr. Twining) saw no difficulty in showing the right bon. gentleman that this pound draught was no boon, but an act of simple and positive justice. (Hear, hear.) lie could, if necesawy. furnish a list of tares, in which the ave rage was against the trade, and in which the case had been brought before the government, but the answer had always been, " The pound draught is intended to meet all inequa lities." (Hear, hear.) lie mentioned this to show that the allowance had never been looked upon as a boon. (Hear, hear.) He was, therefore, ready to c s-operate most cordially in the objects of the meeting. (Cheers.) Mr. TOISLYX, who spoke to the raisin question, said that nobody knew why the intentions of government with re spect to this reduction of ditty on this article had been altered. It was said that no production was expected next year, but that calculation might be fallacious, while the reduction of duty would have enabled the dealers to work off their old stock before the new fruit came in. Already contracts had been entered into on the faith of the pro posed change, and correspondence commenced with all the fruit countries. Letters were in town showing that the new crop would be large,:and all these circumstances made the raisin question as important as that relatieg to tea. (Hear, hear.) He thought at least that, as ge vernment had submitted to • temporary reduction in the' case of plums to remedy their own mists e, they ought to do the same in the case of raisins, in order that parties who had entered into contracts on the faith of the charge ahould sustain no loss. (Hear, hear.) Resolutions were then proposed appointing a committee and a deputation, and some discussion arose on the point of whether retailers should be on the committee, or whether it should be exclusively confined to wholesale merchants. Ultimately it was arranged to be a mixed committee, and the resolutions were agreed to. THE SPY SYSTEM. A public meeting of the inhabitants of the borou g h of Southwark was held hat evening in the theatre of the Southwark Literary Institution, in the Borough-road, to express disapprobation and abhorrence at the introduction of the spy system into England, and also sympathy with M. Kossuth. The chair was occupied by Mr. A. Pru.narr, M.P. There were letters read from Sir J. Walmsley, Lord 1). C. Stuart, Mr. Bright, Mr. Alcock, and Mr. L. King, excusing their non attendance on various grounds, bat expressing concurrence in the objects of the meeting. The CUAIRMAN, in opening the business, said that our institution recognised nothing in the shape of espionage. is this 'upset our police differed from that of France. The use mit approach we had to the French system was the ilsisselvo pollee, and it was possible that Lord Palmer ston had by their over seal been betrayed into the up holdiag of a system which was repugnant to him on principle. The great objects of our constitution were liberty, religion, and commerce, and we must take care that religion did not tread upon liberty, and that neither of the two interfered with commerce. Blackstone had held that for the preservation of our own liberties it was essen tial the largest toleration and the fullest liberty should be allowed to foreicners seeking an asylum in this country. Whether Lord Palmerston had been led to overstep the bounds or not it was for them to say ; but at all events Lord D. Stuart, and the other rrembers of parliament who had taken up the matter, bad plsced his lordship in what the Americans called t' a fix." It would be for them to say whether Lord Palmerston had gone beyond the constitu tional powers of his office in this matter; but whatever their decision, he should be prepared to carry out thcir views in parliament, as he was confident would their other representative, Sir W. Molesworth. Mr. TRWAITES moved a resolution, expressing alarm and indignation at the attempt to establish the spy system in the case of M. Kossuth, and apprehension lest it should be turned into an engine of oppression against English. men ; and, in doing so, took occasion to criticise Lord Pal. mouton, for having, after so many years of good service in the cause of freedom, countenanced a proceeding which imperilled our liberties. While Englishmen were willing to bear a heavy weight of taxation, and even a coalition government, they would not bear anything that tampered with their great principle of constitutional liberty. Dr. Evans seconded the reso!ution, which was carried. Mr. JAMES TAYLOR moved a resolution of sympathy with M. Kossuth, and denunciatory of the conduct of the Timm. He said he hal lived in Hungary, had partakes of the hospitality of the Magyar, and had learned to reaps* his love of liberty, and the independence which, though surrounded by despotism, he had maintained for so many centuries. The Magyar possessed a constitution similar to our own, and therefore it was that he sympathised with Englishmen, and tendered to them an amount of hospi. tality, and kindneu, and con fidenoe, which they never experi need ia say other foreign country. As an Englishman he Oak sisseedimi at the annoyance to which Louis Kossuth had be.. salsiestal in this country, and which was far more mmessant with the principles acted upon by the NM= states of Europe than those which bad lOW* been the boast of this country. The Elcslbli principle hitherto had been to consider every mss inament till his guilt was proved ; the Austrian prin eiple was to look upon every man as guilty till he proved his innocence, hence their system of espionage. If we di sked to proserve our liberties, we suet take care that our pass INN was not converted into an enormous standing may espies, ba the hands of the minister of the day, but should insist upon its being placed under local control. Mr. NEWKAN seconded the resolution. lie drew atten tion to the fact that the Whip had on all occasions, when in power, carried out the:spy system, and instanced the employment of Paper, the Camberwell spy, in 1833, and of Powell and Duis in 1818. In 1933 a committee of the House of Commons sat to inquire into the spy system, as then it had been carried out; and declared it to be subversive of good government, and that under it the executive must necessarily be in a state of hostility to the people, and could be maintained only by force. Ile suggested that a similar committee should be appointed to inquire into the spy system as practised against 1111. Kovath ; and if that were done he felt quite sure there was sufficient of consti tutional principle in the members of the present House of Commons to induce such a committee to make an equally constitutional declaration. The resolution having been put and carried, a petition to parliament embodying the resolutions was proposed and adopted, and after the usual vote of thanks to the chairman, tho meeting separated. THE ORIGINAL OF MADAM.—About a league out side Lima, the ruins of Inca pueblos or villages begin to ap pear, and afterwards almost every gorge on both sides of the valley is filled with these strange and interesting remains. They are built of enormous' adobes (bricks baked in the sun) of prodigious dintensions, and the cactus, or prickly pear, is frequently seen :'0 raise its ungainly and ugly head amidst the now deserted da-ellings. It is remarkable that these dwellings are all situatA in the gorges of the hills, and not in the valleys; an inconteslible proof of the formerly thickly peopled state of the country, and how anxious its governors were that every foot of gro,lnd should be retained for cultivation were that was possible. As the tra veller draws near to Cho:eta:sit, the magnificent Inca road steals upon his view; running on the noth side of the river. For miles and Dulles this unparalleled work of art continued on a perfectly dead level, no obstacle opposing its progress, nothing breaking the Oven uniformity of its course, and causing it to resemble noth:lig more than a modern railroad. At equal distances, Tomb:v. or Provi sion houses for travellers, were discernible, huh: andge abodes. The read itself (we are told by Ciera de Le) wan formerly lined with trees, whose branches, laden with flowers and fruit, spread over the heads of the travell.'m Some of these were even yet standing. It was made L; order of Inca Yupangui, neat grandfather of Atahualpa, and was paved with small stones of equal sire, well blended together—thus anticipating the works of Mac Adam by some four hundred years, who little thought, when he formed the road from London to Holyhead, that he was 'treading in the footsteps of en Inca of Fero.—Dickens's "House/odd Words." THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 19, 1853. THE BRITISH MUSEUM. (Pram the Dairy Netts.) TUE Annual "Account" furnished by the Trustees of the British Museum affords a painful confirmation of the fears expressed by us last scar, concerning the probable consequeeces of postponing tire necessary and easy and economical enlargement of the building. Of course the pressure of space is felt more or lees by all the departments of that establishment, for all the collections are, or ought to be, of a progressive character. But it is in the Library—the Depart meet of Printed Books—that the want of space is operating with incomparably the most injurious effect. The Parliamentary grants, for some years past, have actually been relaxed by the authorities, because there has been no room for the location of the purchases. Sir Rouen PEEL'S grant of tea thousand a year for ten years, for the purchase of books, was found to be too much of a good thing. [ Government was requested to be kind enough to diminish its favours by half. Last year only five then-1 sand were asked for, and to our astonishment WW find that the warn required for printed books for the year 1853-4 is only 2,5001. Tho manuscript department, in which there is yet some space lett, asks 3,3001. for the same year, although that collection is of altogether minor public importance; and the bookbinder s estimate for the department of printed books during the present year is 7,5001., or 2,5001. more than Met year—a fact which proves clearly enough, if other proofs were wanting, that it is only deficiency of space which prevents the ex pansion of the Library at the liberal rate demanded by the intellectual needs of the nation. The cure for the evil is easy and cheap. It is to adopt the excellent plan proposed for covering in the useless interior quadrangle with domes and arches of glass, whereby space would be at once provided for half a million additional volumes and a new reading-room, as splendid and commodious as the present one ie mean and inadequate. This plan has been vigorously advocated by the head of the depart ment, who is likely to know as well as any one what the requirements of the department are. He has urged the ruinous consequences of delay, and the im possibility of ever thoroughly making up the vast arrears into which the library is now falling, Year by year ; he has pointed out the serious insalubrity of the crowded, and—not ill-ventilated, but totally un ventilated apartment, at present used by hundreds ell the most valuable lives in England; he has shown the necessity, in a library of such enormous size as ours, of having the reading room in the midst of the collection, instead of being, as now it is, at one of its extremities, and, therefore, at the distance of a consi derable fraction of a mile from large masses of the contained literature ; but in vain. And what has been one of the first of the long series of results which must accrue from this neglect, on the part of Government, of a matter of such vital importance to one of the highest of the national interests ? Our readers will be some what startled upon learning that, while the call for sources of enlightenment has been increasing at an unprecedented rate, the Museum Library, the only important public library we have, has been gradually failing into disuse. Eighteen years ago, when the population of London was scarcely halt what it is at present, the visits to the reading-room were only one-seventh fewer than they are now; and, in the Fear 1852 those visits were actually 6,300 fewer than in the year 1850. The immense diminution of laet i year in the number of visitors to the general collec tion as compared with 1831 is, of course, to be ac counted for by tho prodigious influx of visitors daring the year of the Great Exhibition, whichconcentrated into one season the visits that would otherwise have been spread over many years; but this cause could have no such operations upon the students in the Library, as is shown by the similar case of the visits of stu dents, on private days, to the Department of Anti quities. These visits, in 1851, were 6,086, and last year they rose to 6,983. We have little doubt that the delay of Govern ment in sanctioning the necessary enlargements of the Library is to bo attributed to the uncertainty which at present exists as to the future destination of the collection of antiquities. Should this collec tion be removed, and added to the collection of the National Gallery, wherever that may bo located, there will be a vast space left empty on the base ment floor of the British Museum, and this space will probably be almost wholly at the service of the Printed Book Department. But, so far from doing away with the necessity of a central edifice in the inner quadrangle, this extension of the Library throughout the four sides of the building would render a great Central Reading-room quite indispensable. In fact, this literary" Crystal Palace" is a tning which will one day certainly come to pass. The arguments for its erection are of that broad and obvious nett= which will not admit of their being ever altogether lost sight of. Let it then be raised at once, and in time to preserve the Library from the ruinous damage which must result from a few more years of suspended growth, at a period when the other public libraries of Europe are keeping pace with the time, and when America is annually gather ing thousands and thousands of typographical trea sures, which, in right course, ought first to have been offered to our own garners. It may be objected that the four sides of the edifice on the basement, together with the interior quad rangle, would be more space than the Library would require for the next seventy or eighty years, at its present rate of growth. If so, let the system of Reading Rooms be constituted upon that liberal basis which the abundance of space would then allow of, and which the interests of learning require. One public Reading Room is not sufficient. There ought to be one, or perhaps two great apartments for general use ; and several smaller rooms, of a compara tively private nature, for such cases as the authorities might consider exceptional. Again, ought there not to be an apartment especially devoted to evening readers? There was some talk of this a year or two ago, and we trust that this most important object will not be lest sight of, when the great alterations in the Mu seum, which are inevitable sooner or later, come to be made. An evening reading-room would be aa unspeakable boon to multitudes of persons whose oceupations engross them during the whole time at present at the disposal of the Museum readers, and it is probable that, for security against fire, and other reasons, it would be advisable that the evening and day reading-rooms should be separate apartments. Of course, as a rule, the evening reader would not belong so much to the class of students as those whose presence at the Museum during the business hours of the day proves that their business is litera ture. A different set of works of reference might be found desirable for persons whose reading would most probably , be of a light and somewhat desultory kind. Again, if we may judge from an occasional walk through the halls at present occupied by the library, the Museum officials meant overstocked with private working apartments. We feel convinced, indeed, that M. PAN tut and Sir F. MADDEN and their subordinates would not lose themselves in, or be in any way the worse for, the "ample room and verge enough" which we are contemplating as being at their disposal. It must be remembered that there are already books enough packed in a long low apartment that lies, un known to the public, alongside of the King's Library, to make an apartment as large as that mag nificent hall look handsome at once. So that, although in reality there might, as there ought, to be a great superabundance of space for many years to come, that superabundance would not be sufficient even now to confer an appearance of incompleteness upon a library of the eplendid dimensions hero con tem plated. GOVERNESSES' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.-- ,e tenth anniversary festival of this charity was celet.N..ed yesterday at the London Tavern, tho Earl of lisrrowby, president of the institution, in the chair. The objects of the charity are the relief of governesses in temporary diffi culty, the granting of annuities to aged govere,sses, the securing of deferred annuities to governesses' upon their own payments, a home for the disengaged, fret , registration a college with classes and certificates of qualification, and an asylum for the aged. The claims of the charity were very ably urged by the chairman and the Rev. 1). Laing, the Honorary Secretary, and it appeared from their state, ments that its progress had been most satisfactory, that there were seventy-seven annuitants, including the inmates of the asylum at Kentish-town, who were not dependent on transient funds, but were receiving their annuities from invested capital. The benefits of the home had been ex tended to a number of governesses, and the system of re gistration had obtained engagements for 803 persons seek los them without any expense to themselves, and on the who's from 2,000 to 3,000 governesses have received mate rial ail and assistance. The proceedings of the evening were higNy satisfactory to the interests of the institution, and subscriptiOn: to the amount of neirly 1,2001. were received. FATHER GAVAZZI IN NEW YORK. (From the New Fork re arse.) Father Gavazzi delivered his first tree lecture for the benefit of the Irish population of the city, in the Ta bernacle, before a very numerous audience. Long before ' the hour designated for commencing the lecture the house was filled to its utmost capacity, and many persons stood in the aisles during the delivery of the lecture, which occu pied nearly an hour and a half in the delivery. Making his appearance upon the stage at eight o'clock, the Padre was received with loud and long continued applause, and proceeded to speak as follows : I shall prove three things—namely, first, that the individual in the papal sptem is • blind, a supersti tious and a poor man. He is a blind man, because blindness is produced by the teachings of the Ro man catholic clergy. Re is a superstitious man because superstition is produced by the veneration of the Roman catholic clergy. He is a poor man because misery is produced by the authority of the Roman catholic clergy. To prove that the individual in the popish system is a blind man, because blindness is produced by the teaching of the Romish clergy, it is salment to say, that in the popish system it is forbidden, it is strictly prohibited, to read the Bible. Can the papists deny, that many and many smong the ancient popes, and all the modern popes, abso lutely prohibit the reading of the Bible, especially in the vernacular tongue? It is true that in protestant countries the Roman catholic clergy, iii order to evade the impu tationthat the church of Rome forbids the reading of the Bible, permit some catholic booksellers to have - the Bible in their shops. But this is not my question. My question is this ; in the popish service, is the Bible used ? Is the Bible read every Sunday ? Is the Word of God read before the people in the English language in America? Or is it read in the French language among the French population? Or in the German language among the German people ? Not at all, my dear brethren. In the catholic service you have mass, and sometimes a ser mon, but never the reading of the Bible. This is not all : does your curate, or your parish priest, or your father con fessor recommend you to read the Bible ? Do they recom mend the reading of the Bible in your families ? Do they insist to obtain from the Roman catholic, that every evening, before going to bed; there shall be read by the family a chapter from the Bible? No, no! Never in public—never in private—not from the pulpit, nor from the confessional; never do the Popish clergy recommend the reading of the Bible ? And why is this, my dear brethren ? It is because if the Bible I was freely read by the Roman catholics, in • few years pope. and popery will disappear from the earth. (Ap plause.) And, therefore, you will never find a priest guilty of such a suicidal crime. (Applause.) Read the Bible, and then farewell to pope and popery. But in order to maintain pope and popery with all due respect, and to pre serve it from destruction, the Roman catholic clergy very prudently forbid the reading of the Bible. Now, in a few words, my dear brethren, are you in light without theliable, or are you very blind ? Even though you were the beat phi losopher in the world—though you be the most scientific man in the world, if you were without the Bible, you are nothing ; because without the Bible there is no moral light among mankind. (Applause.) This is not • prenatal opinion. No ! this is the opinion of David, in his psalm, where he says, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." It is not a protestant sentiment, bat it is the maxim of St. Peter, who said, that the word a God is the lamp which lights us through the darkness in this dark world; and therefore it is the word of God, mad it alone, that can give us light. And therefore, as the word of God is our light, we conclude that if a people be without the word of God they are without the light : and, as the Roman catholic people are without the word of God, therefore they are without light. (Great applause.) For you to deny that the Roman catholic church prohibits the reading of the Bible would be u aboard as it would be for you to tell me that the sun did not this morning rise bright and beautiful over the city of New York. From the time of Popo Innocent I. to Pope Pius IX., the church of Rome has always prohibited the read ing of the Bible. This is a sign that the church of Rome fears, and very much fears, the influence of the Bible ; and, therefore, we are to conclude that the church of Rome is no more the primitive church of Christ, but is an apostate church. (Applause.) The Padre now came to speak upon the second head of his discourse, namely, that the individual in the Papal sys tem is under a superstitious influence, and that this super stition increases his veneration for the clergy. He next spoke of what he styled the capital superstition in Ireland, namely. the worship of St. Patrick. And in order to con clude this part of the superstition, I will say a few words to Irishmen about St. Patrick's purgatory. We have two purgatories the purgatory in the other life of fire, and the purgatory of this life with water. What is the purgatory of St. Patrick. It is the greatest superstition ever heard of in this world. Those pilgrims who make the journey to St. Patrick's shrine believe that the ceremonies enacted there will purge them of their sin ; but if you pay a sum of money you can send another in your stead, to per form the pilgrimage for you, and all such penance requi site, and wash himself in the water, and take to your house the absolution of all your sins. My dear brethren, is not this superstition of the purgatory of St. Patrick ridiculous? What is the use of it? lie was a great saint, it is true, said the lecturer, and always • great liberal and Christian patriot. (Applause.) But very different from many of the modern patriots in Irolar d. lam candid when I say that I know many Irishmen, both catholic and protestant., whom I highly esteem—whom I find to be like the Italian people —warm-minded and warm-hearted ; and I regard it as a great pity that this people should be crushed by the Roman catholic priesthood. He then spoke of the power of the catholic priests in Ireland, and said : The power and autho rity of the priesthood in Ireland is all-powerful. The poor people there work hard and live in misery, in order to sup port their priests in luxury. (Applause.) And they do this under the fear of persecuUmn The priests are wor shipped by the people, and keep them in the melt abject misery and ignorance. And so it always is with thew priests. Calumnies and persecutions are their daily bread. (Applause.) And this is the brotherly love, the Christian spirit, exhibited by them. (Applause.) Do not mistake my mission. I am not here to please any one but God, and preach the truth and the Gospel ; therefore, my dear brethren, what I preach in America I shall preach in Italy. The Padre closed hie lecture as follows:—Now, hear and meditate my last conclusion. Irishmen ! you work and toil for the freedom of your native country ; but remember, Ireland shall never be free till the Irishmen are no longer slaves of their priests. (Applause.) Irishmen ! free your selves from your priests, and you will also free your dear country. (Applause.) THE INDIAN ARMY. The following is an extract of a communication which appeared in the Calcutta Englishman of the let of April:— "With reference to the future military arrangements for garrisoning our new province of Pegu, it seems that two brigades of Bengal troops for all the stations accessible by , and two of Madras troops for all attainable by Mauimain will be ample. The sooner the Bengal and Madras troops are separated the better • the officers of the one presidency do not understand the regulations and cus toms of the other. We have noticed how the Bengal sepoy fraternises with the European soldier : there seems to be a kindred spirit in both, and each, u far as their national customs and knowledge of each other's tongue admit, tries to be friendly and on social terms with the other. The Madras European soldier, on the other hand, seems to have a great contempt for the sepoy of his own presidency ; the latter have an ugly trick of using their knowledge of the English language by applying the lowest and coarsest terms of English abuse on the and appearance of anything like roughness on the part of the European, who, of course, at once resents this by the application of physical force. What is now said is without the remotest intention of creating an invidious comparison, but nothing is mere remarkable than the difference, in general appearance, in cleanliness, in soldier-like demeanour, between the Bengal and Madras troops during the march, both European and native. The Bengal Fusiliers, with their clean white belts and blue cap covers of uniform colour, are as different to the Madras Fusiliers, with their unsoldievlike beards, whiskers and moustaches, dirty cap coven (once white), of all sh apes and patterns, and yellow belts, as the clean, smart, broad-backed sepoys of the 10th Bengal Native Infantry are to the half-starved looking men of the dth with their brown turbans and very dirty belts. This is not the °result of observation of the Bengal officers only, but of the highest authority in camp, and Madras officers in general. In point of discipline in the European regiments there cannot be a shadow of a doubt of a much higher order prevailing in the Bengal regiments. The march over our sun-burnt Bellary boys, with the:t ditty feces and ru ffi an-looking whiskers and beards, iris sleeves tucked up, are to be seen prowling abel.i the pagodas with crowbars, ; sad towards the cli-;ky hours of night the same individuals may be seen ~,T ering images and bells for sale in the officers' tents. T. . ssengal Fusiliers have been allowed since their arr.v: here to appear abroad only in uniform, which elle .usUy prevents the mea committing any disgraceful ...a; while our Madras heroes go about everywhere 4, 1 shirt-sleeves and wide-awakes. The Genera' has found it necessary to cheek this soh • ....wily to examine the contents of pagodas, by orcle•l4 roll call every two hours." SITAKSPEAIteS MONUMENT.—When I was a young man, some thirty or forty years ago, I visited the monu ment of Shakspeare, in the beautiful church of Stratford upon-Avon, and there copied, from the Album which is kept for tho names of ♦isitors, the following lines : " Stringer ! to whom this monument is shown, Invoke the poet's curse upon Malone ! Whose meddling real his barbarous taste;displays, And smears his tombstone, es he mired his plays. Oct. 2, 1810." R. F. This has just now boon brought to my mind by reading, in page 155, of the second volume of Moore's Journal, the fol lowing account of a conversation at Bowood :—" Talked of Malone—a dull man—his whitewashing the statue of Shak speare, at Leamington or Stratford (?), and General Fitz patrick's (Lord L.'s uncle) epigram on the subject—very 1100,1— " And smears his statue as he mars his lays.' " I cannot but observe that the doubt expressed in the Diary of Moore—whether Sbakspeare's monument is "at Lea mington or Stratford (I)"—is curious ; and I conceive my version of the last line, besides being more correct, is also more pithy. It is incorrect, moreover, to call it a statue, as it is a three-quarters hit i 4 a niche in the "nil—ream lotes and Quinn. ELECTION EXPOSURES. CANTERBURY BRIBERY COMMISSION. —.---______ _____ CANTERBURY, MAT 18. The Commission met at the usual hour, and the first witness examined was Mr. Plumper* Gipps, who stated that the money paid him by Mr. Forbes Mackenzie was in two sums. The 6/JOl. paid to Pont by Arbuthnot was from witness's ow moremtors, Messrs. Bridges and Mason. It was his owny, but he could not soy he bad heard that some of it was paid in indirect bribery. He was told beforehand what the ex penses would be, and he provided the sum required. He (Mr. Gipps) brought 3001. in sovereigns down with him, but he had no account of the expenditure. He told Messrs. Bridges and Mason to send 600!. down by • trustworthy person. After the election he paid 2601., by cheque, to Mr. Kingsford. He had no doubt the 800/. was to be expended in corrupting the electors, but imagined part of it would be applied in legitimate expenses. Mr. Pout was recalled. He could not account for Mr. Vance's sudden retirement in 1860, and did not believe that he was bribed to do so. (Laughter.) On the occasion of Mr. Smythe's standing in 1846, he was told that if Ingham or Alley applied to hill, to give them such • sum as they might require. He gave Ingham between GOO/. and 700!., and Alley 4001., and he had no doubt the money was for the purpose of bribery ; and he paid the money by the order of Mr. Partridge, the chairman of the committee, now dead. He should say that 3,000/. was employed at that election in direct bribery. It was a single-handed election. The money passed through his hands at the general elec tion, and he had no doubt the same practices prevailed. Was not &waren box with 1,000 sovereigns was sent down in 1811 election. He paid 2001. for the purposes of bribery at the election in 1841, besides 1,1061., and was not aware that any of it "stuck" by the way. He never received a farthing for these services. His remuneration was the friendship of those whom he served. (Loud laughter.) Lord Pelham Clinton examined—Stated that he was a candidate for Canterbury in 1847. Mr. Gridley, a solicitor, told him he should stand harmless as far as money was con cerned. Major Beresford sent the money that was to defray the expenses of the election. llad he (Lord Clinton) been aware of the practices that prevailed, he should not have come down. It was noised about that 5,0001. was brought down from the Marquis of Conynghsm'a or Mr. Denison's for the purposes of the " blue " interest. After the election in 1847, • man passed under his lordship's window at the Crown Hotel, and holding up a bag apparently of money, said, " This here's got the election, if you have some next time we will get you in." (Laughter.) 7001. was paid on his account, and ho (Lord Clinton) had to pay some bills after the election in consequence of Mr. Cropdall going away with 6001. sent down to defray the expenses. Alderman Brent recalled—stated that it was 100!. and not 2081. he paid to Coppock, who he understood was acting for Colonel Romilly. \Vhen he called on Lord Albert Co nyngham in town, his lordship said, " You had better not pay over all the balance, as there may bo other expenses." And when he paid Coppock he presumed it was Colonel Romilly's money he was dealing with, until he beard Col. Romilly in his evidence say the contrary. The Hon. S. R. Lushinton examined, said ho recom mended Mr. Smythe to Canterbury in 1841. Ile (Mr. Lushington) represented Canterbury in five parliaments, and during his elections there was a great deal of improper expenditure. The expenditure was to large that he took the advice of Sir N. Tindall. He knew nothing of burning the election accounts of 1841, as mentioned by Mr. Smythe in his evidence, but he might have advised their destruc tion if they were bad, and if they committed parties. Mr. G. Farley, solicitor, and chairman of Mr. Vance's committee in 1860, said he went as • deputation with Collard and others and saw Mr. Vance and Mr. Brown, at the Carlton, and told them that 3001. would be required for the legal expenses of the election. Colour tickets were used , on that occasion. Mr. Vance suddenly retired after seeing Brown at that election, saying he was afraid of the Bifrons puree, i. e., the purse of Lord Albert Conyngham. Witness afterwards heard that Mr. Vance received 1,0001. from Lord A. Conyngham to retire. Thomas King deposed that at Mr. Smythe's election, in 1841, one thousand sovereigns were placed in his hands by Captain Begg, • friend of Mr. Smythe's, and he paid the money away to the order of the chairman of the committee. Mr. Kingsford, jun., stated that 860!. went through his father's office at the last election, of which 200/. was paid to Pont, and the rest to others, by order of Dr.Lochee, the chair man of the Conservative committee. He did not think it was for any improper practices. He had the papers connected with the defence of the seats of M . Gipps and John stone, but giving them up would compromise parties. Mr. Blade, chief commissioner—We must have them. Our order protects you. Dr. Lochee, chairman of the Conservative committee of MOWS. Johnstone and Gipps, said he received 420!. sent by post at the last elecdon, sad which he gave to Smith to pay the colour-men. Ile also received 3001. from Mr. Whit wick, a partner in Mr. Kingsford's house, and which he gave to Taylor to pay bills with. Gave Godwin 1001., with out inquiring what the demand was for, but because ho thought Godwin was damaging the Conservative cause, but did not bear he had threatened to expose it. Was phy sician to Canterbury Hospital, and canvassed the voters there for their votes. Mr. Kingsford said he was instructed by Mr. Johnstone not to give up his private papers, and to dispute the power of the commissioners. Mr. Slade, chief commissioner, intimated that he would give these gentlemen until Friday to think the matter, which was no light one, over. The proceedings were then adjourned to this day. CORK. Yesterday, when the committee met, the first wit ness called was Mr. Bryan Galway, who said that he was a local crown solicitor for the west riding of the county of Cork. He acted as deputy-sheriff at the Harper's-lane polling-booth at the last election. It is a large open market, of about half en acre in extent, with two entrances. Oa the nomination day he was not at the court-house, but in the town. There was no manifestation of excitement. A stranger passing through the town would not know there was an election going on. The nomination took place on • Friday, and the same re mark applies to the two succeeding days. There were police, infantry, and dragoons at the booth when whew got there on the morning of the polling day, and they remained there, he thinks, till the booths closed. The polling began at eight o'clock, and the voters for each side came up and polled regularly, without any hindrance. There was a large mob of women in the market-place, and they had green boughs in their hands. There was no appearance of riot, except you would call shouting and cheering a riot. Saw no one assaulted or :my stones thrown. No such expression was used in the booth as " We'll have no protestant prayer books here." If any one stated there had been any such expression used, he stated what is decidedly incorrect. If such an expression had been used, he would have consi dered it his duty to have the person using it removed or committed. Witness had been connected with elections in the city and county of Cork for the last 27 years, and there was no more excitement at the last election than he had seen at former elections. Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeaat Kinglake.—He heard a great deal of noise, such as shouting and cheering by the women, but did not hear a word about " Stockport murderers," or any such expressions..,When any of Colonel Chatterton's voters came up he did not hear any hostile ex pressions used towards them. Did not hear a single com plaint during the elections of persons being obstructed com ing to vote ; but he heard after the election was over that some persons had been interfered with. There two or three Roman catholic priests in and out of the booth during the day. Re-examined—Those Roman catholic priests were merely there as spectators, like any one else : they did not inter fere with the voters in any way. Mr. Philip O'Connell examined—Witness is a solicitor at Cork, and was an inspector in the freemen's booth, No. 3, on behalf of the sitting members. The booth was in the City Court-house. There is a bench and the sheriff's box, and a table in the centre, on which it is the practice to place witnesses at the amines and sessions. Young Mr. Fitsimon, nephew of Mr. Fittimon, the petitioner, was inspector in the same booth for Colonel Chatterton. He is a very young man, and he was so personally abusive towards witness at the early part of the morning, that witness had to desist from polling till the senior inspector came. There was no motive whatever in placing the voters on the table ; it was done indiee ii.anately as regarded both parties. 'They were cheering and making a noise on both sides. There was not the slightest obstruction to voters during the whole day, nor v-as att.." any complaint made to him during the day .oters being obstructed. ,ss-examined : A man named M'Enery came late in th day and voted for Colonel Chatterton. He had promised ia vote for the other side, and when be came on the table and voted for Chatterton, there was groaning, and he be came very much excited. It did not occur that Major West ropp refused to go on the table and went away without voting. No such thing took place. Could not tell to how many persons he administered the bribery oath. The bribery and personation oaths were administered together, generally to voters of all classes in life, to save time. There was groaning and shouting at Colonel Chatteron's voters, but he heard only one man shout " Bloody Stockport mur derers." There was then a cheer on Colonel Chatterton's side, for Stockport, and the men cried out, " Oh, the mur darer. !" Mr. Eugene Sullivan examined—Witness said he had been in an extensive way of business in Cork. On the poll ing day he went with Mr. Meagher, a respectable citizen of Cork, in a vehicle, to the Custom-house ward, to ascertain the state of the polling, and then, in succession, to the other polling-places. They had done their inspection about a quarter put one o'clock, and they added up the poll-books, and found the liberal candidates to be in a very large ma jority. Witness, in going through the city, had two of his sons with him, one about seven, the other about nine years of age, and, after taking them to the Court-house to show them the polling, he dismissed them to go home, which he would not have done if there had been any disturbance in the streets. Re saw no rioting or disturbance in the streets, nothing beyond shouting, and cheering, and groan ing as different voters passed along. The women shook their green boughs in the faces of the dragoons, and caused their hones to prance, and that caused a deal of shouting among the crowd. He Raw Captain White riding with the magistrate at the head of the troops; but he law no necessity for the military to guard him. The ap proaches to the different polling places were free from what could be called a crowd. Any voter could have access to the booths to rote. By the committee—When the women shook their green boughs at the uragoons' hnres and made them prance, the dragoons we re laughing, and neither they nor the people seemed to have their tampers ruffled. I The Rev. Thomas &sue', Roman catholic priest, examined—Witness is curate of St. Patrick's church, in Cork; remembers meeting the man Desmond (who was alleged to have died trout injuries received daring the elee tion)on the Sunday before the election, and he said he would vote for Murphy and Pagan. On the same day, and very shortly after Desmond had left him, he met Desmond . .. ife. Witness told her what her husband said, and she readied that he was a very violent man, and would think nothing of giving her a blow that would kill her. She said he (witness) might do some good with him if he would take him in 1 .nd, in the way of persuading him to leave off drinking. WO ,ess said he would do so, and then went away. Next dal ;the polling day) he saw Desmond in company with a pe.e.3n named Woods, a violent partisan of Colonel Chatterton. Witness said something to remind Desmond of his pro-eise, zras:hieh Woods desired witness not to interfere, sod then said no more, but went into his own 1 - Saes time in September witness received a message •hat = none were lying sick, and wanted to see him. Ito his servant which was stated to he the more pre ems, and the servant said a woman named M'Carth) was the more pressing case of the two, and he went there nrst. Ho afterwards went to the other sick person, who was the man Desmond; and when witness got there, Destunnd was dead. He upbraided Mrs. Desmond for not seen ing for him earlier in the day, as the man was so danger...sly ill, and she replied that slit dal not think he was de, :ice onsly ill; that his death was rather sudden. It is pert day untrue that witness was ever present when a car wan r.pset containing Colonel Chatterton's voters. Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant King:eke—The 11ev. Mr. Browne (who was expected as a witness) was er. when witness saw him last; he had a hoarseness, nr, - : was unable to do duty. He was walking about, but wi le:ss thinks it would have injured hint to come here. Mr. James said he was prepared with •medical certite;ate to account for Mr. Browue's absence, which be subscou ally put in as evidence. Croaxexamination continued—lie had not called at Dee mood's h nese recently before tho election, nor did he call there with the Rev. Mr. Browne, and remain outside. The Sunday before the election he and Mr. Browne, and c. roan named Hcfforman, did canvass for Fagan and Murphy; they canvassed three persons. 'l hey did intend to Call JIM& Desmond if they had not met him. Witness an.'. Mr. Browne went out together, and llettermsn joined them while they were Milking to Desmond. Witness never ad dressed the people in his chapel on the subject of the elec tion, nor did .Mr. Browne, as far as he knows. WILIICSII took some voters—about six or seven—to the poll. Re-examined by Mr. James—Never used any intl amt.* with the voters beyond asking them a vote Neves used any reproaches to Mrs. Desmond about her husband . J..e.te. She never told him her husband's death was caused I y in juries he received during the election. Ily the committee—lt is not usual in Cork to addre“ the people in the chapels about election matters. It i , :one sometimes in the country chapels. Witness himsel: Lever made a political address to his people in his chapel. I; o felt interested for the success of Murphy and Fagan, it he only got six or seven votes for ',them. Was abot t the streets during the polling day, and saw no rioting or stones thrown. Another Roman Catholic clergyman was then called and sworn, but as it was understood that his examination would take a considerable time, and it being near tour o'cic:k, it was determined to adjourn. Mr. James made an application to the committee r to sit on Saturday. He would undertake that the rem leder of the evidence should be concluded by Friday ; and • tho evidence was very voluminous, counsel would requ the interval between Friday and Monday to go through t fur the purpose of condensing the obeerrations as mu t as possible which he would have to address to the corn .ttee on the whole case. On Monday, then, he proposed to 4 , itn up, and the reply of Mr. Scrjeant Kinglake would con ludo the inquiry, as far as counsel were concerned. Mr. Serjeant Kinglake offered no objection this arrangement, and it was agreed to, provided the SI seer gives leave to the committee to adjourn to Monday. The committee then adjourned to this morning. A DREADFUL REVENGE. The Boulogne Gazette publiehes the followir t nar rative :—On the afternoon of Saturday last, a .. ser vant of from 50 to 55 years of age, in the service A' an English perfumer of the Rue de l'Ecu, No. 22,1 using received warning to leave the place she was in, on ai of her being addicted to inebriety, went out with the . hill other employers, a little girl of two or three years of ago, to seek, as she said, another place. Evening came at. 1 eho did Rot return ; eight u'elock, nine o'clock, and et. was still absent. It may easily be conceived that the nr. her's uneasiness was increasing every moment. The serves.: and child were sought everywhere, but in vain : the polie% Were applied to, but their researches were equally unsuce—ful; and that night was one of anguish and unit ..inty for the parents, for they remembered that the s. ?rant had threatened to be revenged on them for dis missing her without a good character ; and dark forebodings haunted their minds, alas, to be r, :Hoed with the dawning Sabbath. Early on Sunday mi taing, something was perceived floating in the watt r of the „Ant, near M. Julien's brick-kiln, by some persons who were passing along the Capecure bank, and the inanimate ,ssdiea of the missing servant and child were soon drawn teem the river. This double crime of suicide and murder—fa the act must have been intentional, as the child was has ad to ' the servant that it might not escape the fate she dentin , it— has created the greatest honor and sensation, am'. deep sympathy is felt for the parents who are thus bereavis: of a dear, end, we are told, only child. The second ...thin choly event is en accident, suicide, or murder, but wh.gh of the three is not yet ascertained. On Sunday mornteg the corpse of an old beadle, named Isaac Dicuset, was found drowned in a pool in the mote of the Chateau. Lu: , iy he has been employed as a night-guard, and on yen ing left his home to perform his accustomed watch. The police are investigating the affair. DARING BURGLARY IN WAR IVICKSIII:/ L. BIRMINGUANI, WEDNESI, t Information has been received here of a most daring burglary perpetrated last Saturday nip c by three or four men on the premises of a person .mcd Perkins, an elderly man who, with his wife, occupy •tu aU farm house, situate about a mile from Coleslaid ... the Birmingham and Derby railway, and eleven wife , from this town. . . It appears that Perkins and his wife retired to tied at the usual hour, and towards midnight Mrs. Perkin, was disturbed by a noise in the yard ; site arose from I r bed and looking out of the window she saw three or fine men standing may the door. In reply to her inquiry, th. y said they wanted water. She directed them to the and told them t go away immediately. One of the men r tlied that they wanted to come into the house, and come it, they would. Mrs. Perkins rejoined that her husband had guns in the honer, and that ho would certainly fire if any attempt I was made to enter the premises. By this time the old Pen- Semen was awake and up, the burglars having :n tho meantime manifested their determination t . do mischief, by throwing stones in at the chamber window, and by a furious wank nn the front door, The old couple instantly put oat their light and in the dark proceeded down stairs and deli berately prepared to meet their assailants ; the burglars continued to batter at the door, but whilst the, old man was making ready his guns, his brave old wifo busied herself in barricading it ; she collected a quabt ty of furniture agaiest it, and a piece of timber, wine, she scotched against a quarry of the floor, with this help the force outside could make no impression on that part of the garrison. In the dark, the old man was some time in find ing his gun-cape, fortunately be succeeded in doing so at a very critical moment, for the burglars had given up the assault on the door and commenced battering in the window shutters ; here their efforts were successful—they effected an entrance, escaping in one by one, either three or four of them ; the old couple instantly retreated up stairs, and from thence warned the burglars that they would be abot if they attempted to follow them; the scoundrels probably tbuught it was an idle threat that bad been held out to them, for they ascended the narrow stairs one by one ; when half way up, Mr. Perkins again warned them, that if they set one other foot in that direction he would fire ; the foremost burglar raised his arm to protect his face, and at the same moment he ascended another step; the old man instantly fired, and he hit his mark ; the man uttered a cry and fell backwards, severely wounded, upon his companions, and is a few minutes they bore him away from the house ; the inmates meanwhile remaining up stairs. On the burglars taking their departure, Mrs. Perkins urged her husband to fire again, but with a forbearance and humanity somewhat out of place he refused to do so, believing (as he said) that the party had had enough of it. The burglars made a clear escape for the time, but after their departure the staircase was examined, and the quantity of blood there revealed the effective character of the shot; there was picked up, ton, a round patch of the material of a smock-frock, proving be yond a doubt that it had been shot out of the garment worn by the burglar who had been wounded. On Sun day the affair was a good deal talked *bent in the neigh bourhood; the constable was on the alert, and on Monday morning information was received to the Effect that on the previous day a man had been admitted to the General Hospital at Birmingham, suffering from a recent and severe gunshot wound in the arm. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins came over and saw the man in the hospital on Monday evening, but it being dark all the time the burglars were in the house they were of course unable to identify his features ; but Mrs. Perkins speaks positively as to Ids voice—that he is one of the men who spoke ; and there is other very strong presumptive evidence of this man's guilt. He had on a smock frock at the time he went to the hospi tal ; the sleeve of the arm through which the shot passed had been cut off, but the texture of the material of the other part of the garment exactly corresponds with the piece found on the staircase, as already described ; and the fellow gives a very improbable and entirely uncorrobo rated account of the circumstances under which the acci dent (alleged) occurred by which his arm was ebot. lie says that he had been shooting sparrows, or something of that sort. The woundlis frightfully severe, and though still at the hospital he is in the custody of the police; and to-day a rumour reached us to the effect that one or tvv , ) other men, supposed tobe concerned in the burglary, had been taken up on suspicion. LONDONDURRY AND ENNISKILLEN RAILw Traffic receipts for the week ending May 14, 15.53 :—Pas scums, 2161. 17s. 6d. ; goods and mails, 2131. 3.. t; 1. Total, 4591. ls. Od. (31 miles open.) Corr pun.iind wee:. W 2, 3041. Ss. Od. (24k miles open.) MARIA ANTONIA RAILWAY —Traffic for week cod ing May 5,18,53, 2351.; 1652, 2181.