The Express. — London, England, 1849-12-19 00:00:00

gfte erpreoo. OUTGOING MAILS. The rails ler Gibraltar, Malta, Greece, the lonian 'simian Nape, Unto', India, and Cities, via Southampton. w ill b. madto.merrow aiming, Dee. 90. TIN lad y,iriA Marerilles, R s tbe Mediterranean, &opt, Copies Hoar Yong, ~ will be made up en the monis. el Dee. M. TM sent mein for Lisbon. Spain, and Gibraltar will be node Tap on Din 27. TM mails foe British North America and the Usited Oen, will be leads se on*. evening of D.e. 28. TM Meet India Malin ieeledieg. Hamada Ifevannak Sennee. Ilo , ldnras, New Orleans, sea lionise, and ezeduding Mesa I. Madeira, St. Jean-de-Niesranue, New Onatada, A TM end Peru, will be Made 44, en the griming el Jan. 2. Tie me& Par llederbs, tle Brasil., sad Beeson Ayresorill M made upon the even Mg of Jas. 4. WWI WAT A OTa WOW= YAW= Ts Ms —4144•466, 44. sv...aaro—marree. SA 1em..........A5am0n. Ih. iiMa. ,ONDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19. ef some remarks of oars, the Spectator i the cause of labour against capital. Capital it represents as highly favoured in England, as unre stricted yet protected ; whilst labour , left to fi ght its own battle, is completely at its mercy. According to the Spectator, capital has wings—nothing so easy as to move it from one employ or investment to another; whereas labour it represents as chained to the ground en which it stands and the trade to which it is wed. Whilst labour cannot even float with the tide, capital OW charter • vessel, and hoist itself to the furthest sods of the wort 4. Without at all denying the hardships of labour , we would merely my, that the advantages of capital are not (sly is** but in general argument and assomp _ti_oly exaggerated. Capital is considered as ' solid and materiel, and imperishable, wh wil rehe en wee amassed, can be locked up, and kept profitably and securely. It is considered to bear some eulogy to that gold which is its most vulgar repre sentative, with, however, the additional attribute that gold has not, of fructifying by itself. Thi s , however, is not the ease. Capital is not exempt from the greet law of the universe; it must ish in order to be re - bor n . As seed is thrown into the ground to rot, ere it re-produce', so must capital run the same risk in order to bear profits. Nations, indeed, have set apart a certain quantity of capital, in rather they have spent a certain portion of it,of which they pay the interest, and this may appear to be dormant capital, whilst it really can only be aid out of the profits of active capital the security aod vitality of one is simply b mud op with and dependent on the other. Capital is said to be accumulated labour. True; but there is no mode of aociimuLition that will keep. Corn will not keep, nor provisions; no, nor buildiogs, nor the earth itself in a productive state, unless all are turned and worked, and spent and rt• irodsced. The law of capital is, therefore, that it sh ould be active, that it should be turned, that it should be risked, just as it is the law of labour to expend its daily toil. And one of the consequences of this law of activity is that capital cannot stand stationary—it must or recede. There are economists who talk orprtt i :g a stop or an artificial check to the productive p mer of the country, who would prevent mills from working, and would make export seams. They imagine that so much capital might be withdrawn, locked up and kept, that the nation or half the nation might retire from business, and live upon its wealth in olio cum &imitate. But whatever a man may do, a nation cannot do this. The old and the noble may rest, and enjoy rent and dividend, but it is only on the condition that the young and the ignoble work. In the following up the great law of its existence, activity, capi tal has its difficulties as well as labour; nay, greater difficulties. That transference of capital, which the Spectator represents as so easy, is, on the contrary, far more difficult than the transference of labour. Ask the farmer, or the millowner, or the shipowner, as to the famlities of transferring capital and a very different answer will be given from what the Spectator lays down. And consult even that class who put their capital in less active and more moveable investments, and ask whether their loans, and anxieties, and difficulties of late years, have not ground them and worn them almost as much as the labourers dependent upon hire. But when we treat of the capitalist, we generally fix our eye upon a fortunate specimen, whilst in our lucubration upon labour, we infallibly revert to the inhabitant of the poor house, or the ejected Irishman. 1 he commissioner of a philanthropic journal can make his inquisitive way into the garret or the cellar, but he ignores the miseries of the second, aye, and often of the first floor. We may depend upon it, that when the labourer is suffering, the capitalist is not at his ease. And instead of talking of restricting capital, proscribing competi tion, and fixing a maximum of wager, what capital requires in this country is the doing away with a great restriction, which fetters its activity, and with that activity the employment and prosperity of the The Mommy Post declares, that the manufacturing industry of this country an bear any competition, but that agricultural industry cannot. Why? Because capital has been forced into manufacturing indus try, has begotten ingenuity, and created a new soil of wealth. All that English agriculture wants is the seine freedom, the same advantage. Let there be the same facilit of investment in the land that there is in the mill, t he same sureties of return, the same chance of profiting by the variation of the market and the inrouity of toe cultivator, andthe capital which inundates tailoring will infinitely prefer or irrigate and fertilize the earth. We are no communists, although the Spectator very idly and illogically casts the epithet; we estimate no privilege so highly as that of individual freedom and enter prise. But we would have the land free—free, not to be paroelled out, but to be purchased ; not to be parked, but to be cultivated ; not to be confined to the keeping up of a nominal rent-roll, or to be per: petuated to the grandchildren of one man, but to be exposed to the same risks and fortunes, and thereby thrown open to the same ingenuity, skill, and pros perous development that capital or property of other Rinds is subject to, or, as we should say, is blessed with. This is a subject on which we might largely dwell. But we psis it for the present, in order to arrive at other considerations connected with it, and also con nected with what is a cherished idea of the Spectator. That idea is emigration, which is to be the great panacea for all our woe+, the issue for our plethory, the lazaretto for our epidemic. We do not deny this. We are no enemies of emi gratios. We do not oppose such partial and humane scheme+ as the humanity of Mr. SIDNEY .-- 14 itenrwr has taken up. But some of the opponents of M-. HERBERT have said a true thing in declaring, that the best and most useful of all emigration is an agricultu ral one. For an emigration to be perfect, the great proportion of it should be agricultural; and not merely agricultural in labour, but in skill and in capital, and in being of the employing as well as of the empl .yed class. But how is the overflow of emigraion (irefully to tab , ' place until English agriculture itself be full, and until skill, capital, and labour have become prosperously redundant on it? To see that it is not Do, we have but to traverse any county in England, even those nearest to the great reservoir of capital, the metropolis. People talk of farmer's capital. What is it, independent of stock and imple ments? Far from the land haring been able to take advantage of or draw to it the surplusage of capital amassed by the manufacturing and trading interests, we do believe that it has existed parked up from any such source of improvement, and dependent for any increase of tillage upon the profits of the famine prices of protection. Whatever dribbling* of rent went to the improvement of the soil, have never equalled the sums, extracted from agricul tural improvements by the mortgages of spendthrifts. The first outlet for capital and labour is on the land of England. It is when capital and labour thus expended and employed have become redundant, that then the overflow of both together, endowed with the skill and the habits of cultivating the earth, can be profitably and naturally turned upon our colonial wilds. THE mettleg of the representatives of the railway companies, which, on the Bth of November , promal ths beads of a plan for amei.ding the present fitted of audit, was then adjourned until this day. In order, however, to afford more time for nsetrtaining the opinions of shareholders on ths plan, its re assembly hag been still further deferred until Wed nesday that 18th of January, 1&50. By this further •t 4. • • • do . hai-• delay, several good objects will be iterated; the charge of haste will be effectually silenced time will be afforded the deleetes for the many.valable suggesting , wain it is known= have received from shareholders; sad b y , the ' of January they will have the aid in town of the advice and co-operation of a larger number of their I par li am entary friend s —all excellent re asons for this father adjournment. Great sad violent as has been the vituperatioa of the Public Tyrant a g ainst those gentlemen and their propositions—strenuous as have been his exertions to produce &anxious between all railway and their direotore—and unsparing as re r = li his slanders of Mr. GLYN and his highly hosoarsble associates—we shall be very much me ad mistaken if all his "brave talk" has not Clee unheeded on their constituents. And as the North-Western directoredidnot,itturnsont, inrequet ins the opinion of their shareholders in the proposal, state in their circular that silence w would be the ass accepted as of ass ent thereto, the proportionwhichassents that company beer to the assents of the other compa nies who pursued the opposite course, will furnish us with very cared means of judging of the opinion of railway proprietors generally. The question of government audit does not, how ever, tome legitimately before the delegates. That question was decided by the almost unanimous opinion I expressed by railway proprietors at the ordinary general meetings of their companies, held since the prorogation of parliament. It was because each opinion was adverse to all government interference, that the representatives of the various companies met on the Bth ultimo; and their purposes in then as• ambling was to improve the present audit system by ' devising means of giving shareholders "more ex tended powers of audits, to be vested in themselves." The first question for their consideration is, whether the means so devised are generally deemed to be suffi cient to secure efficient audit ; if so, the delegates will then deliberate on the draft of the intended il l; but if not, they will, of course, proceed to amend ther proposition& 'lo suppose that railway accounts cannot be effi ciently audited without the intervention of an executive government. the accounts of which are very imperfectly audited, involves the admis sion that the capacity of Englishmen for self government has seriously declined; and if so, the very vitals of our constitutional system are disordered. If, on the contrary, it can be established, that In this matter of railroads, their affairs can be snatched from the cossequences of roguery unparalleled, and can be zwelseede if not to great prosperity, at least to order, sommlaws, regularity, and confidence, by the unaided mwelles of those pecuniarily interested therein, the sum el self-government in this country will secure t• itself such a triumph as cannot fail tct have political cemsequences of very great im portance. The English people have made their turnpike roads, have covered their internal waters with steam conveyances, have executed their crumb, have Swilled their docks; and are now in various parts elm oasts excavating new ports, always without the aid, very frequently in and, of the hostility of the ex ecutive government, and, in the latter instance, not withstanding the heavy claims of the obstructive Woods and Forests. In pursuance of this system of voluntary and spontaneous public works, the present generation has covered the face of the island with a net-work of railroads which has already advanced civilisation by a century, which is sending comfort and intelligence into the remotest provinces, and is bring ing back economy and health to all our great towns. And now, when these herculean undertakiags are sp proachingoompletion iti s suggested that they, who have carried them so far t hrough, are incapable of directing and continuing them. And why? Because the share holders of several companies reposed their confidence in a man who grossly deceived them; because when they themselves were seized with a mania for a high rate of interest, Parliament, against the wishes of the directors of all the leading railways, encouraged that mania; because the hopes, the wild visionary hopes, founded on this parliamentary meow agement, has been dashed from their lips. I, Why, if there be one man connected wits railroads who can look back with satisfaction to his conduct in those furious days, it is the very Mr. GEORG e GLYN who is now maligned and aspersed because he is resolutely bent on carrying out the wishe a ex pressed by railway shareholders against government, sad la favour of independent audit; for in the midst of their uproar and excitement, he over and over impala warned his constituents, and, through them, I shareholders generally, that dividends must fall ; that the capital invested in railways could never per manently yield the return it was then paying; and that for the reduction they and parliament were responsible. The great object of railway shareholders, in their right senses, ought to be to augment the responsibility of railway directors. But a government audit is the surest mode of diminishing directorial responsibility ; for the more the government interferes in railway affairs, the less interest will directors take in their administration. Give government the power of audit, and the power of direction will soon follow. Now, with such a prospect before him, what director will devote his time, his intelligence, and his intellec•ual vigour to the conduct of a company in the management of whose affairs he sees a speedy and a thankless supercession ? And how do railway proprietors think that the exe cutive government would manage railway affairs if transferred to them? Let the management of the Woods and Forests, where, with a grass income of some 400,0001. a y ear, there is only a net profit of some 60,0001., answer. Far, however, be it from us to sty that the present constitution of railway boards is satisfactory,or that the proposed scheme of independent audit is complete. On the contrary, we look with astonienment at the compo sition of the boards of many of our leading companies, and wonder how the deuce some of the directors got there ; whilst the defects and omissions of tho proposi tions we have more than once pointed out. But over both these matters railway proprietors have controL Why do they year after yearkeep re-electing the nonen tities or the disreputable* whom they do re elect? Why do they not annually weed their B cards of all their rankness or mere ornament? Why do they not exercise the powers they have ? We can organise and combine for election purposes, for parish purposes, for trade purposes: why cannot railway proprietors combine and organise for the better conduct of their own affair.? The "Shareholders' Address Book" is always open to them; a copy of the names and addresses of their copartners can always be ob tained ; print and paper and postage are cheap enough; railway shares are low enough to stimulate their owners toexertion; theobjectto be attained 'lshii portant enough ; and,above all,auccess is certain enough. There are no difficulties in the way of improving rail way boards but the indifference, the supineness, and the " downheartedness" of railway proprietors them sties r. We are not about to repeat the suggestions we have Lrmerly made for the improvement of the audit scheme; but there is a supposition respecting it, to which we may profitably draw the notice of to morrow's meeting. The adoption of this scheme will, i: is said, supersede the present law entirely. This is not our impression. We regard the scheme as a complement to the provisions of the Bth Vic., char'. 16, nor is it inconsistent with those provisions; for in the second resolution, adopted on the Bth ulimo, we find the " amendment" of the existing law spoken of. Now, one of the existing provisions of audit is that the account-book' of the c ompany s ea I be open a firtnight before and a month alter its ordi nary half-yearly meetings; ane this is a privilege which we are confidant Mr. OLT N and his associates had not any intention of repealing. Instead of re- 1 striating this privilege. its enlargement is most de sirable : for it certainly is anom dolls that whilst the debenture holders of railway companies have a right to examine all its b roks at all times, its shareholders can only lo , k at them during three months in the year as of right. Though here again the law has given shareholders a power they do not appear to be aware of ; for, though their right to examine the book, is thus restricted, they can inspect them at any other periods, " in virtue of a wri•ten order of three directors" (8 Vic., chap. 16, sec. 117), and in these times an application ler such an order would not, we presume, be made in vain. FRANCE. vats, Tosevex, 6 30, r.x M. Jules Fevre was sloqueut, witty . , and sarcastic in his speech delivered yesterday aga inst the, tax on drink,. But the question of expediency, which ministers did not touch, had been dilated on by so many, that all the efforts of M. Fare were powerless against the wail of the treasury. The necessity for 100 millioas is above every argument in a position such as that which Freer now occupies. So the Chamber voted that the law should be taken into con sideration in detail after the close of the debate. In this sense the majority was 445 against 220. Twue already the minority has reached that number of 220, I which it seems destined at resent to keep at. It re mains yet to be seen what will be the minority when the law ea a whole is put front the char. To-day saw the commencement of the debate on the wnels' of the law on the excise; it is not sup posed that it will occupy a shorter time than the general one. There are at least fifty amendments, which no doubt will not all be put, but still if a third at this are even discussed, it will be sufficient to =the debate over a long time. Teo repre vas of the wine-growing districts did not all :::::rl ainst the government on the first division , bu t abstained, amongst whom I may mention MM. Berryer, lieehald, Betting de Lancestel, De LAM, Survi lle, Bonhier de rEcluse, I)esmousseau do Givre, F. de Luteyrie, Raudot, Larochejaquelto, and St. Priest. The chief members of the wine growing districts who voted against the measure are I MM. Desjoy, Soult, Honyn, Tranchere, Hubert de Lille, Leo de Laborde, Combarel de Leyval, and Bravard-Verrieres. M. Dupin opened the sitting to-day by declaring that there was a great number of amendments. The notion of government was for the abrogation of the third article of the law of May 19, 1849, which declared the tax on drinks to be abolished from the Ist of January, 1850, forward. It demanded further, he said, the provisional maintenance of the tax, and the constitution of a committee of inquiry for the es tablishment of a new system of taxation. M. Mathieu de la Dr6me moved as an amendment that the tex on drinks be replaced by a duty on moveable property, of which the first levy is to take place on the Ist of April. M. Mathieu developed his amendment, which was reje.ted after some noise. M. Chamomile pro posed, instead of the excise on drinks, a general tax on the consumption of all natural or manufactured produce. On this amendment the debate was pro- 1 oeeding at post-hour. The minister of the interior was to have presented to-day in the Chamber his project of law on the re vocation of mayors by the prefeta. Tois project is looked upon with much suspic;on by the Chamber, and may not par. Already many members have de termined to vote against the portion of the law on education which gives the prefeta the power to dis place the teachers in primary schools. On this subject the Ordre says : A new bill, prepared by the government, is, it is said , to confer on the prefets of departments the right to elect mayors and deputy mayors from among the municipal councils, and even out of them when members of those bodies shall have twice refused the appointment. It is generally believed that the legitimists, who are always ardent defenders of communal rights, will oppose this bill if presented in such terms." Rumours of dissention in the cabinet again prevail to-day, General d'llsutpoul being much hurt, it seems, at his circular to the gendarmerie being die avowed by the President of the Republic. It is ru moured also that effcrta are being made to enable M. de Persigny to remain in Paris, and the post of am bassador at Berlin is to be transferred to General Pelet. I cannot give you anything precise on that point, but I know that on Friday the oldest Bona partist& had trembled together by consent, to make M. de Persigny account for his conduct before them. M. de Persigny appeared before this vehm•gericht humble, and crying men culpa and when he was accused by all the Bontpartists present with having first compromised the President, by throwing him into the arms of the Rue de Poitiers, he admitted his fault. Perhaps he has been pardoned, and that there is no longer any necessity for his departure. This would confirm the statement that General Pelet goes now to Berlin. The Club of Representatives, who hold their meet ings at the Palais d'Orsay, came to a very important resolution at their last sitting. 120 members of the Right have laid the basis of an ssociation, the sole object of which is to oppose the progress of socialism. Every citizen, of whatever social condition he may be, will be admitted to form part of this association, which will extend half into each of the 86 depart. ments. Pamphlets will be opposed by pamphlets, banquets by banquets, propagandism by propa gandism. The association will assume the title of " Ligue du Bien Public. Tree minister of public instruction has just placed at the disposal of the President of the Republic the fine library of the old intendance of the civil list. The books will be carried to the Elysde and classified by M. Barrer, inspector of the national library • BOURSE. NOBLE EaAlma.— 'mamma.— Mira. Cramer Roberts, of Thornton, daughter of Robert Swam, Esg , of Oilcans, has at this moinest, and has bad for a long period s oPwordo of 100 Yogurt finnal.s in encatant employ ment at fancy crotchet work. This wo-k the ;road lady herself distributes, maporisitends, and takes in when hh, W i th a vast amount r.f trouble she diorite of it prinepaty, I be lieve, in England. Each girl earns on en average five shillings per week. THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 19, 1849. HUNGARY. —Our readers will recollect the indig nant protest lately addressed by an aide-de-eamp of Lemath's against the calumnies of the Tinsel' Vienna correspondent, who charged him with ca-rying chests of treasures, and with heaven knows how many pe culation.. The aide-de-camp's letter, though indig nant, was a plain statement of facts, and an appeal to a great many witnerees. looted of answering such a protest, as the corres pondent of a London journal ought to do, the person who fills that offi.e for the 77mes at Vienna, responds as follows: Al one of Koesutlt's aides de-eamp has lately adiroseod a letter to the Times, oomnlainiog of the unjust attacks which have been made on the e x-Dictstor, I estract for the ben efi tefi of your readers the following " positive fact " from h siiutionwie Blots cw Bohasss : — " Kossuth, who prac tised in the &aglitter County as a lawyer, was. as one of the brier! of the already Moat Obaolluue fu the cosaarvatise party in 1831. They took advantage ot the dr semstasee of Hasenth having gambled away alum of money belonging to some orphans, which bad been deposited in his hands. As this took place while the county meeting was assembled, it reached the ears of some of the conservative latirty, and they on the following day demanded in the cou nty court that the miming sum should be produce suidt Beiog in the majority, they also ordered that a p ro d should be instituted against Kossuth, notwithstanding that, with the help of his friends, he had been enabled to pay in the m >oey before the court rose." The paper in question adds, though whether ironically or seriously I know nthe ot, that Kossuth " probably sever intended to wrong orphans." This defence of one calumny by the reckless and jocular patting forth another from a Bohemian print, we leave to the appreciation of every reader. NEW YORK, Dab 4. Another recent arrival from Europe brings as the intelligence of an advance in cotton, and this, of course, has a favourable effect upon the interests of the southern growers, and also upon exchange. The reception of Mr. Rives, now positively assured, makes us quiet as to the future in that quarter. We have no doubt but that our present position with regard to M. Pouesin will be maintained at all hazards, though very poseibly the tobacco affair of Puebla and the cue of the Eugenie, may be re-opened. The result, however, will be the same. We stand upon intim putable right in both those difficulties, and if the new French minister treat the subjects as a Minister of State, and not as an interested attorney, he will arrive at the came conclusions as we have. Oar plea of nil debet will prevail. As the meeting of Congress is now commenced, of course we are about to have the usual quantity of ex citement. Havirg no other matter of moment with which to torment ourselves, slavery will doubtless be the remaining thorn in oar side. We are advised on the " best authority," say the letter writers, that the representalives of eight southern states are resolved, in case anything like the Wilmot proviso is about to be passed, to withdraw from Congress and break up its organisation. Bat this is a mere bugbear. Sup pose 16 senators withdraw from the Senate, there will still be left 44, and 31 is a majority of all who are elected. The withdrawal would be of no possible benefit to them. A similar result would follow a similar attempt in the House of Representatives. The movement could have no effect on legislation ; it could not even embarrass it. The constitution pro vides a remedy even in the case of the withdrawal of a majority, and authorises a minority to peas such resolutions of pains and penalties as would bear hard on the refractory. We have advices from Havannah to the 22nd ult., twelve days later than before. The Queen's birth day was duly solemnised; the royal Gazette announc ing the events of the day, comes to as in orange coloured paper, and filled with poetry. An amnesty for small debtors and petty criminals was declared by the Captain-General in honour of the occasion. We have advices (not so late by eleven days) from St. J-ga de Cuba: markets overstocked with provisions; business dull; and prospects of eaffee crop favourable. 'the arrival of the brig Mary Ann at this port from Sind, puts us in possession of intelligence from Yu catan up to the sth ult. All the north coast has been visited by heavy gales, which drove to sea the ships in the Sisal roads. Several brigs were lost, but no English or Americans suffered. The condition of the government is represented to be most deplorable. There is not a dollar in the treasury, and the few troops remaining in its service are almost naked, and are forced to subsist on cats, dogs, and jackasses. The Mexican government has given notice that it can do nothing more for the Yucatan., and that they must help themselves as well as they can. The mediation of the English,at the expense of a considerable portion of the territory, is still the subject of angry discussion. The forces at Bacalar are hemmed in by the Indiana. with every prospect of being captured. The young men of the country, instead of taking up arms in its defence, are joining the religious orders in large num bers. Its commerce is almost totally extinct. Every necessary of life is high and scarce, and yet there is no money to purchase supplies. Notwithstanding all this, the festivals of the church are celebrated with as mach real as ever. What an unhappy stectac!e does Yucatan present to the world ! There does not seem to be left to it the vestige of hope. We have another arrival from Sisal, Honduras,with dates to 18th November. By this channel we learn : On the 28th September, Col. C. St. John Fancourt, Su perintendent and Commander-in. Chief of the Britsh colony of Honduras, issued a proclamation, warning all her Ma. jesty's subjects and others now living under the protection of the English flag in that port, against furnishing eiiher of the belligerent parties—lndians or Yucatecoes—now fighting on the peninsula, with powder, arms, or other mum tions of war. Col. Fancourt intimates that all who may . be detect,' violating the neutrality will forfeit their right of protection from the British flag, and be otherwise dealt with according to circumstances. He also states that a magistrate has been appointed to reside at the mouth of the Itin Hondo, to Tea icier British a mete aseending that stream, who will riquire from their common den certificates from the Secretary of the Crlony of Bondi:- ma, vouching that they carry neither arms nor ammunition for the belligerents, under penalties as above mentioned. The proclamation appears in the Bo.etin Oficial of Merida, rioted the 6th instant. The exesutive of Yucatan has issued orders that all Indians taken prisoners, unarmed, shall be tressed with humanity, or as Meade, in order to induce the populitimi to come in and profit by the general amaisty offered. The Indians and Yucatecors are still waging war, but the former seem to be vanquished in every conflict, ac cording to the testimony of the Boletin, By the way of Baltimore we have advice. from Jamaica to the 10th November. The Tay sailed on the 7th for England, with Mr. Dillon on board, the French Consul General at the Sandwich Islands. Mr. Foote, our new minister to Bogota, was at Kingston, on his way south. The season had so far been highly favourable. The great cause of rejoicing, however, was the fact that a line of New York steamers was tereaftir regularly to touch at Kirgs'on, both going to and coming from Cnagres. Most of the island correspondence with England will he - eatter pass through New York, and, very probably New York will soon become the principal source from whence Jamaica will draw her supplies. Large quantities of coal have been sent from this city to the island to supply our steamers when they touch there. Months ago I suggestei, through the Daily Nests, the propriety of your merchants send ing English coal to Jamaica. None has been scut though the profit would have been enormous, and s. our Yankee friends send down American coal; at a dearer rate than they would have to submit to if English coal had been provided. Verily, if your Wider. do not display a little more enterprise, we shall take the commerce of your own territories and Winds out of your baud.. I sent you per last steamer an account of a small affair in Mesquite ' where a party of Americans hav ing been robbed and maltrea'.ed by the ncgroes, mustered force enough to attack and destroy a town by way of revenge. Let me esy, on the authority of a highly respectable person who was in the squabble, that the American side of the story will be found worth listening to. The Bri•ish agents are endeavouring to make a dreadful case of it, but " audi anemia partent." A very respectable Scotchman, long resident in that part of the wo-ld, called on mo on Saturday, and I learned from him, that since the Americans have ap peared on the San Jusu very great and favoura ble changes have already taken place. Large quantities of hou , es and lumher have been sent up the San Juan in schconere, which have been able to get up within 40 miles of the lake. From Canada we learn nothing very new or im portant. The story that Lord Elgin had offered to restore to the cathelica proper the Jesuit estates, on condition that annexation was to be put down by the influence of the regular clergy, is stoutly denied on one side and affirmed on the other. It is at present quite impassible to say where the troth lite. Agita tion a ill continue*, and so far as I can learn, from a careful perusal of private letters and public journals, lam forced to the conclusion that the desire of an- Pa Money. 1 rpening 'Highest. Lowest. Closing --- 3 pet Costs. .... 36 23 36 30 S 6 30 36 25 16 25 S per Cents. S do. New IA410. 44 per Cents. 72 0 $. n n n 1 per Ceuta. 180 63 „ n 91. 99 Ey:Mop on London : 50 days, 25 45; 90 days, 23 322 001t 7 . 3 . 7870 -. — Money. Maples Rental 96 Money 3, 1841 Do. 42 — „ Treasury Bondi... 41 ~ Do. li Bosun. Paris and Wean., 760 ; Paris and Rosen, LSO ; Rosen and Deere, 24230; Strasbourg earl 134414, 108 75; Centre (Vat. ma), 331 23; Bordeaux, 406 25; N 4404,461 25; Paris and Straabours, 361 25; Tours and Nantes, 276 75 ; Maps sad Yeaudp, —; St. Ger. main, 410; VeradDes (eight beak), $O7 SO. PARIS, Dac. IL For Account. SPAIN. We learn by the Madridjournale that in the Cham ber of Deputies on the 12th M. Sanchez Si lva brought forward his bill for consolidating all the debt into two per cent. stock. He had not concluded hie speech when the mail left. Hie bill was to be opposed by the minister of finance, and woulJ, it was believed, be rejected. Our correspondent writes : " Although the government hes received no official news of the death of the Qmen Dowager of England, yet in con-equeuce thereof the curt will go into monrnirg, and the diversions of every kind at the palace have been suspended. The greater part of the troops of the Spanish expedition in Italy have already landed in Spain." MIDI" D: , . IL—Three per enstn, 301 anaannt. Four per Ceuta., 121 oePer• Fl , e Per Cog... 1 3 1 paper. Coupon% S. Bank of 81. Ferdinand, 61 paper. Eaubante on Landon, 30.33. SWITZERLAND. A letter from Berne, of the 14+ inst. says : " The important bill on monetary reform has just been vot-d by the Council of the Satre by 30 votes to 9. The French decimal system is to bo adopted, the Swiss franc having henceforward the same value as that of France; the decimes will bo batz, and the centimes rapes. A new coiner is to be struck in copper and mixed metal to tiv extent of 41 millions, and in sil -1 ver to that of 7, millions. There is no doubt bat that the bill will pass the National Council." ITALY. SARDINIA.—The result of the Sardinian elections, as far es they are known is, that out of 177 nomina tions 112 are ministerial. An important fact to note is, that the party of the left cen:ra has had very few noininatious,and it has c3nsiquently joined completely with the extreme party, Mamiani, elected at Genoa, being the leader f this movement. The colour of the new chamber does not please Auatea, it seems, but it is supposed that as coin as it has discussed the great question of the treaty, there will be far less uriani mity in favour of government than is at present tip( cted. The Yazfonale of Turin of the 14th stat's, that the es-minister rinelli is shortly to be named ambassador at Madrid. Drigsza TO SIK JAMES DCKE, M.P.—A meeting was held at Boston, on Friday law . , to take intoconsidem ion the propriety of inviting Sir hates Duke, But., M.P., to • pub lc dintar, as a tribute of respect and grstitude for his eoncant a•tention to Ve bet reit% of the boroua', daring the 10 Test , he represented it in the II sise of Commons. It was friar. d trat s committee be formed In- the purr se of owning Put the object in view, and .he mectiDg .epsrited.— Laxiosaltire Tows. GREAT EXHIBITION OF THE I'NDUSTRY—op the agitators yet no b t y the the ALL NATIONS IN 1851 mention n t sy is p oa re p es g s ro th or w y peo r shown to r e . A very shocking and ex'raordinary affair has re cently taken place in Bost''n, one of our most quiet and orderly cities. It is worse than that of Bermond sey in its character and Effects, and is certainly with out precedent in this country. Not long since, a wealthy and respectable physician of Boston, named Dr. Packman, was missing. It wa. supposed he might have suddenly become deranged, and large rewards were offered for his recovery. His continued absence at length led to the suspicion that he was murdered. The next s'ep was to detect the murderer. It was ascertained that a gentleman at tached to the Medical College, a part of Cambridge University, Professor Webster, owed Dr. Packman a sum of 450 dollars, that it was past due, that the payment was pressed ?stiller hard, and that the creditor had gone ro far as to see whether the tickets sold by the pro testor to his students in chemistry, could not some how be reached. This attempt to interfere with the private business of the professor seemed to have ex cited his temper beyond all restraint. He sent word to Dr. Packman that if he would call at his rooms at the college at a certain hour he would pay him. The doctor, who seems to have been anxious about the debt, repaired to the appointed place at the ap pointed boor. He was seen to enter the professor's rooms, but not to depart. This was made evident by the testimony of a man who had business with him, saw him go in, and waited until he was tired to speak to him when he came out. 1 In the meantime the professor's rooms were ob ', served to be kept locked, the heat of them was Mt in the adjacent apartments, and for days together black volumes of smoke were sees to issue from hie chimney. A person who acts as janitor at the college began to suspect that all was not right. The place was closely watched, and finally a breach was made through a brick wall into a vault, where no one but the professor usually entered. There, amid ashes, mutilated remains, fragments of a jaw, and grains of melted gold were found. Further searches led to the discovery of a leg and of a mutilated trunk, and at last it seemed almost beyond doubt that these were the remains of Dr. Packman, and that be had been murdered by Professor Webster. The investiga tion is still going on, and that it will more cer tainly sustain the " foregone conclusion," no one doubts. The professor has been for twenty years in his present honourable position, he has a charmirg family, and has the most refined and elegant taste for music and the fine arts. But, alas! he was needy, and could not bear the visits of a credi'or. Whether his creditor was importunate or not, he bad not the principle and the fortitude necessary to meet him with the plea of inability to pay, and in some paroxysm of insanity undoubtedly slew him. This is the most startling and horrid event which has happened for very many years in our respectable circles. It has thrown quite a gloom over Boston, and it makes two families miserable for ever. AMERICUS. The Society of Arts being anxious that tbe contract bawd on an agreement dated 23rd of August, entered t its with reference to the proposed Exhibition of 1851, should laid before the public, together with a supplementary pondence which hes token place, by commend of hie n i g bighness the Prince Albert, President of the tk e i fty we are favoured with the full contract entered into bets ee ; the Society of Arts and Messrs. James and Gorge Mn* . for carrying out the exhibition. Zbe Court. OSBORNE, Dec. 18. The Queen and Prince took an early walk this morning in the park and grounds of Osborne. The younger members of the royal family walked and rode as usual. The royal dinner party yesterday included Colonel the Hon. C. B. Phipps. Lady Canning, Lady in Waiting to her Majesty, left Osborne this morning, and will be succeeded by the Mar chioness of Douro, who is expected at Osborne this day. Their Serene Highnesses the Duchess of Saxe Weimar and the Princesses Anne, and Amelie of Sase Weimar arrived at Marlborough Lbw, Pall-mall, yesterday afternoon from the Priory, Stanmore. Colonel Process' had an interview with Sir George Grey yesterday, at the Rome-office. Mr. John Wood, Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue, had an interview with the Chancellor of the Es chequer on Monday. Colonel Anson had also an interview with the Right Hon. Baronet at his official residence is Downing-street. Mr. Robertson, agent for the Mexican bondholders, transacted business at she Foreign Office yesterday. Lord and Lady John Russell left Pembrone Lodge, Richmond Park, sesterday, for Bowood Park, Wilts, ou a vi,it to the Marquis and Marchioness of Lsrodowne. The Chanmllor of the Exchequer and Lady Mary Wood, left town yesterday for Mickleton Hall, near Don- easter. Tile Earl of Carlisle has left Panshanger, the seat of Earl Cowper, for Trentham, the mat of the Duke of Sutherland. Mr. W. Grey, M.P., left town yesterday for Cul- Tema. - }IEAD•MASTERSIIIP OF RUGBY SCUOOL.—The Rev. E. M. 0 'album, M.A. (son of the ez•Chancellor of the Ex chequer), formerly fellow and tutor of Merton College, Oxford, and exam:killing chaplain to the Bishop of Oxford, wax on Monday elected head-master of Rugby School, in the stead of Dr. 'Tait, now Dean of Carlisle. There were a great number of candidates, but it is utider:tood that the only other candidate whose pretensions were favourably en tertained by the governors wssthe Rev. E. R. Gifford, M.A., head-master of King Edward's School at Birmingham. eid T en h t is of a cctliuelcsaitertywaor Aria, to topft f i aa ti r sil e • lP o u en r d teolif t i ath i ge tt tr h ePTi d a a :: lal f b c : 4 ::: .vel t: l : ratua t ie bl 7 ::: Pr ; 2 i e n ozki th owb e iito y . se n(a r .t an o th f ae g r ritho tupeta) l ta Bs arth l e , et o o t anb : ti h ae sum will be :aimed by subscriptions and other means ey e th e t msexpensesnhucltle Prin ce n.bg,aoft, requisite; Consort o t t • ep: scenery t s :isellitgtcuhiexhibition. against society, promulgating toMessrs. thbeeze .:eipedctulrnht expectation t su ch g •50 sufficient Society :ec4otft to whether alzrt syp fa the otyr : p et:a carrying 485 4 aggregate I. a g t e tto sum ae2oth.oo o n e e b a t a t rot d. d mpo juuzr Munday do n naotutgyon b fa rai lb 1. e l • e he e virtue of the contract before us, to cialhooais also e n,cfted:hur r a gr a e,tdb te hd.,:eip,riria u no i sid tlt op.tra ta sount. a a c lso tua t l o ly p t s o y p f ro r v th id w e it tb h e to said th s e am tre o u f u 2 r o e . rl ooo (h l. e, f e ..r i p e ri c z awi es, b e n i seen dey ided the sum of 5001. towards the preliminary expenses of pi,. ex n. a pauses Tahero o dy f eale th dco e th e m s enm lii Consor• ; and an agreement to the effect thee the Walls* shall he advertised and announced to the pubm es tlis Exhibition of the Society of Arts, without mi mien bas made of the Messrs. Munday. All the elpeasis are to be controlled (in the interim) by an executive committee (au Isociated with the Messrs. Munday), to consist of Mr. Henry Cole, Dlr. E. Stephenson, Mr. Francis Fuller, sae Mr. C. Wentworth Dthke, jun., together with the nomi ue l or appointee of the Messrs. Munday (Mr. George Drew, e• Guilford, Surrey). It is further stated that the fallowing trustees for A s tom ot 20,0001 (prize money) have been appointed by the society—viz , Lord Northampton, Sir J. P. B Alva, me t Mr. J. Courthope Peacbe, of Wimbledon, Surrey. Th tnaeuf ere of the Exhibition Fund, appointee by tee twisty are—Mr. Peter Le Neve Foster, Mr. Joseph Payne, 'ad*: T. Winckworth. It is agreed that if, before the Ist of February, Pa, the royal commission shall not have been sppnuted, Memo tractors may refer further proceedings to atholoetice, desirous of giving up the contract with the s Ate y, tae supposing the latter to be unwilling to allow sum a step to be taken. The contractor', in part performance of their &potent, have already paid to the aforesaid treasure's the sum el 6001. and 20,0001. in August lied October last. These preliminary agreements are coidirmed by the ice. dentures which tollow. By the first it three meet, it, Mu-cars. Monday covenant to pay, until the let of November, 1851, all such moneys as the executive committee may re quire, not exceeding the rate of 5001. per mouth ; melee. Our bind themselves, after the close of the exhibition, to pq all the expenses so re to indemnify the society hum pew il D iary responeibity. The contractors agree to provide suitable offices near the Homes of Parliament for the use of the 11 lei comma. &loners and the executive committee, with a !quiet eta d galore, erceitects, and operatives. The sum ot 20,0001. (fur prizes) is to be invalid is government or other securities en the names the truitiel; the sum of 6001, and all other moneys, to Lie invested as the executive committee may direct. The sum at 20,0001. is to be retained for prize monq alone, a proviso being made, that it the douatiens &Mob seriptions of the public exceed 30,0001. further mune ot mosey may be set apart for prizes. Inc surplus is to roe applied to the payment of expenses in carrying out the design, subset t the payment by the contractors of part of sum mew out of the two-thirds of the clear surplus herein& ter directed to be paid to the said contractors. The residue (if any) wid be applied to the re imbenentat to the Messrs. Munday of the sums advonceo by them, with interest at 5 per cent. If the residue shell more tam emu these repeyntents, two-thirds of the clear caplet will he paid to the contractors tor their own abets:am use sad benefit, and the remaining one-third to thi- Siciete ot Ana, It is provided, that it the Messrs. Munday neglect to fel. fit their contract, the society shall steed puseewed of as 20,0001., the 6001., and all other sums advanceu by them fir the purpose of indemnifying the society tram toe emus and liabilities of the design. A special proviso ambles the society to determine the contract, on receipt of a re quest to that effect, on CT betas the Ist of February, 1810, from tie Lords of toe Theory; toe latter undertaking to repay to the contracture theism advanced by them, with interest at the raze of 5 per oat In this c. se, there wouid also be awarded to the coutrectore by arbitration, a compensation for the outlay, liability, anxiety, trouble, and less incurred by the said c •utrectori. All accounts between the society and the contemners mot be settled within six months atter the abandonment orte urination of this agreement. Such is the substance of Indenture No. I. which ea signed and sealed on the 7th of November, lett:). Indenture No. 11. (signed on the Mine day): provides that certain amusements relative to the design (bum as the ems and title of the exhibition, the period cturieg tonics it gull be open Co the public, the prices to be pain for stalls, the amount and number of prizes, &c.), shall he under the ewe trol of the ex•icutive committee, unless a royal commission te issued (es is anticipated). Toe getter.' management of the design to be under the control of the said cemmittee. The said committee is to deliver to the contracton lutes of the proposed buildings on or before the Ist ot May, 1850, in order that such plans may be submitted to tee Yriato Albert for his choice and approval. The pew, approved of by the prince must be delivered to the contractors on the 14 of June following, when the contractors wile be patis par station of the site. The contractors' tender, it any dispute arise, is to be decided by arbitration; ending' coffee:moot bound to complete the building or building, required by the 31let of March, 1851. Any additiunel Works must be pad for by the exhibitors who may require them. Tee materials to remain the absolute prop rty of the coo tractors Moths close of the exhibition on the Ist of October, 1851. At all meetings of the executive committee the majority of members present will decide ail matte's propound. The committee may refer to the council of the society tuck questions as they may deem expedient; and in all such cans of reterence the nominee of the con•racton may be prssent at the meeting of the council, and vete. The contractors are employed, at their own risk, to UM means or the promotion of the design. The remaining provisions of Indenture No. 11. refer to matters ot arbitration. From these details it follows that the contrivers—the Messrs. Munday—undertake, without any security, to cane out this immense undertaking, to pay all expenses, sad relieve the Society of Arts from all responsibili y. If the receipts be sufficient, all tee sums advanced wells repaid to them with interest at the rate of 5 per cent.; mi if a surplus remain, they will receive two-thirds thence, —Me contractors undertaking, out of this sum, to pay luminary and management expenses, and, if not iutticiuts o sustaia the 1 as. Since the signing of the contract we understand that fee thee modifications have been ntaae, at the request of Trial Albert, for the protection of the public intermits. The c int. actors have agreed that, as the royal email. don has not been netted so early as was ex.getee, pe&sci for terminating the contract by the government stall be extended to any time within two months from the 6M meeting of the royal commission, and if the contract be a% then tern Mated the remuneration of the costrectors for Of outlay of capitol, risk, and labour, shall be absone.e.y fuck by artiitration. In reply to a communication of Mr. Drew, to the /get that the contractors concluded the arrangem n more es account ot the interest they knew Prince Ada r: took in il than as a commercial matter, the prince teturned the Wore big answer: OSBOUNE, DEC. 10, 1849.—Sir,—I am commanded hf his royal liegtinees the Pelee , Albert to acknowledge tie ce ipt of your letter of the 7th December, aid to timer to 7011 his royal highni ex's sense of the public seine sod etc' 'ding readiness which were displayed by the c intact: sis the original acceptance of the contract at a time when the ri-le of the undertaking could in no way be a scertaimi of limited. Cu His royal highness has no hesitation in seknowledgief that it was owing to liberality and public spirit, thus die played, that it became pomible for him to hi mg the scheos of the Exhibition of the industry of all nations More the goverment and the public in a shape insuring the pretties* Deity of its e xecution. "His royal highness is happy to trace the same feelesel the answer whicn he has rece veil from you on the p at the contractors, under the present much altered citrate stances of the undertaking ; end the prince ts indica 4 hope that the position in which the present contract cal !PI 1 lick brfrre the government and the public will prove of , factery to both. roy " al F e i l l m y is• B ion c , a s u h ile oul t d he it p d r e e c s i e d n e t that agre t e h m e e p n e t c s e e inttabeonl s trez lbe l will not b.• conducive to the puhlic benefit, to &termite that contract. within a limited time, up in rquttahle terca t.5..0 edly by which .Becauee ?he share o con t ract ley b 2 u , it-snaveigenoend.enotetihtemi esat, arrangement any profits that may result from the exhibition after Malta! of their expenses, shall be determ'ethd by arbithetton, reads the then 'miring eircumetenees of the clue, while key remain liable for say persible 10-ses, trusting solely tas t es libels' support of the public of a scheme which they already so warmly received. Itf cis *RI t i s of ndo duty appreciation e tth c oe i a furnishe o h n e o m f et t io h n i this h. f eh e m e i c t ht t h h he a i t se h at !! erosoityh&lni ,ft, h ; i 5 g 1 7 ,..... e president of the Society of Arts, in eoejuection v!ee. Hellish public, stands now morally pledged to the Welds, so t therefore the prince is pleased to direct that the co t e rr: wive the medificetions agreed to in your letter, 3 tOg tbs with this answer written by his royal highness's c shall be published without delay. " I have the honour t b., Sir, " Your obedient huble servant, PHU"' (Signed) "George Drew, Esq." We are authorised to estate that a elpy cf tag inpreetnett may be inspected at the Society of AA John-street, Adelphi. THE LATE QUEEN DOWAGER. (From last night's Gazette.) LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S OFFICE, DEC. 18.—Orders for the court's change of mourning on Sunday the 6th of January, 1850, for her late Majesty the Queen Dowager, viz. :—The ladies to wear black silk, fringed or plain linen or muslin, white gloves, black or white shoes, fans, and tippets, white se astute and ear rings; no diamonds. The gentlemen to wear black, lull-trimmed, fringed or plain been, black swords and buckles. The court to change the mourning further on Sunday the 13th of January, 1850; siz. :—The: ladies to wear black silk or velvet-coli-nred ribbons, fans, and tippets. The gentlemen to continue in black, and to wear coloured swords and buckles. And on Sunday, the 20th of January, 11352, the court to go out of mourning. LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S OFFICE, DEC. 18.—It is the intention of the Queen and that of the royal family to con tinue their mourning f.r her late Majesty the Queen Dow ager until the 13th of March,lBso, changing to half mourn ing upon the 13th of February, 1850. Warren/six, Dec. 18.—The following addresses of condolence to the Queen, on the eccision of the death of her late majesty Qui en Adelaide, having been transmitted to the Right lion. Sir George Grey, Burt, her Majesty's principal secretary of state for the Home Department, for presentation, were presented accordingly to her Majesty, who was pleased to receive the same very graciously : TO Ina QUERN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. May it please your Majesty, We, the mayor, alder men, and burgesses of the borough of Liverpool, in ceuncil assembled, beg to approach your Majesty with tke ezerersion of our sincere and heartfelt sor row for the loss which your Mejeaty yid the people of these kingdom. have sustained by the lamented death of her Ma jesty the Queen Dowager. The virtues which adorned the private lite of this illustrious lady, the rectitude of her yieb.ic conduct, and the munificence with which she supported every object calculated to promote the interests of true cha rity, and to es red the knowledge and influence of religious principles, a:I endeared her to your Majesty's loyal subjects, and render her loss an occasion of general and unaffected sorrow. Whilst we approach your Majesty with our sincere candslence and our deepest sympathy, we at the same time venture to elm , so our earnest hope that your majesty may he long spared to perpetuate the virtues which distinguished Queen Adelaide, and to reign in the hearts of a loyal and devoted people.—Signed on behalf cf the Council of the borough of Liverpool. JOHN Horses, Mayor. Transmitted by the mayor. And the f lowing on the same subject : From the magis trates of the county of Middles. , s. Transmitted by H. Puwnall, , Chairman of the Court.—From the Citified of the borough of Portsmouth. Transmitted by the Town Clerk. FLEETWOOD A PORT.—By a Treasury minute re cently issued, Fleetwood will become, atter Gth of January, next an independent port. It belongs at present to the ',At Pres'on. PERMISSION TO USE FIRES AND LIGHTS ON 8111E 71°mm—A humcrous meeting of shipowners, shipmasters, and others interested in the welfare of the port was held in Liverpool on Monday afternoon, for the purp - ce of adopting such meosun is as migkt be c 'knitted to induce the Liver pool dock committee to reltx their present stringent resolu tions with regard to the use of fires and lights on board vessels when in dock (Mr. William liathbone, secretary to the East India Atticiation, in the chair), when the fol. lowing roe:it:ion and memorial were unanimously adopted : That Chrivinnity and humanity alike demand the mode. rate use of fire' and lightt on board of vessels while in the Liver. •.1 Docks, aed that the prompt cam. pliancc with is demand would be both safe and pelitie." •• To the Cheirm►n and lu• mb re of the Liverpool Dock Committee —Gentlemen,—We, the undersigned merchants, owners, I:netters, and n•here, of vessels trading to the per of Liverpool, beg respeclully to be allowed the uss a fire, aid lights on board our ships, while in dock. In asking this accommodation, we only seek the convenietei4 per mitted io London and other wet docks in this country ; aLd where, in no instance, has there been a case of col:fin/ration, to our knowledge, arising from fins or lights, either is caching, plays, ea forecastles. Tht undersi,:ned are pre pared to show that the want of the common com orts of cooking on hoard obits tends to make Liverpool on of the must espen•ive ports in the kingdom, and to demo/elite the SCAIIICLI to a degree scarcely to be credited." L-r" . MB. bishop chord ane evi of I occ