The Sun. — London, England, 1859-03-17 00:00:00

I 1 ( ) G Y A A R L D EN E n n N d G e r l i t i h S e H sole PS? n P a g E e m R en A l. - of 1 Ir C I Ps sVLouisa ryne and Mr. W. Harrison - 'l' HIS EVENING will be presented an entirely new and romantic era, by Mr. W. Balfe, entitled SATANELLA ; or, ME POWER OF LOVE. Conductor—Mr. Alfred Mellon. And a newl.allet of action, ROBERT AND BERTRAND. Messrs, Payne, Miss Morgan, Mdlles. Morlachi and Pasquale. Com'inenee at Seven, THEATRE-ROYAL, DRURY - LANE, Lessee—Mr. E. T. Smith. THIS EVENING, will be performed the original English Ballad Opera, entitled WILLIAM AND SUSAN. William Mr. Haigh ; Susan, Miss Lucette. l'o conclude with the new pantomime, ROBIN HOOD ; or. Harlequin Friar Tuck and the Merry Men of Sherwood Forest. pOYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. Under the Management of Mr. Charles Kean. THIS EVENING, will be presented Shakspere's Tragedy of ' MACBETH. Lady Macbeth, Mrs. C. Kean: Macbeth, Mr. C. Kean. - Atter which, a new grand Christmas Pantomime, entitled TELE KING OF THE CASTLE ; or, Harlequin Prince Diamond and Princess Brig,hteyes. THEATRE-ROYAL, HAYMARKET. Lessee, Mr. J. B. Buckstone. THIS EVENING, an entirely new comic drama, called IHE YOUNG MOTHER. A new Comedy, MILLINER TO THE KING; or, The Royal Salute. Mr. and Mrs. C. Mathews. With NOTHING TO WEAR. Mr. and Mrs. C. Mathews. To conclude with JACK'S RETURN FROM CANTON, Commence at 7. .13 , 0YAL LYCEUM THEATRE. Manager, Mr. Edmund Falconer, Engagement of Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams. THIS EVENING, will be produced BORN TO GOOD LUCK, Mr. B. Williams. After which, LAW FOR LADIES. Mrs. B. Williams. To conclude with IRELAND AS IT WAS. Mr. and Mrs Barney Williams. Reduced Prices—Dress Boxes, 4s. ; Upper Boxes, 3s. ; Pit, 2s. ; Stalls, ss. ; Gallery, Is. Box-office open from 11 to 3 daily. Doors open at half-past 6 to commence at 7 every evening. NEW THEATRE - ROYAL, ADELPHL Sole Proprietor and Man:lo . er, Mr. Benj. Webster. This EVening, DOMESTIC ECONOMY. John Grundy, Mr. Wright. After which THE BENGAL TIGER. Mrs. A. Wigan, J. L. Toole, Mr. Billington, Mrs. A. Wigan, Miss Arden. To be followed by THE FIRST NIGHT. Mr. A. Wigan and Miss Keeley. To conclude with THE INVISIBLE PRINCE. Mr. J. L. Toole, Miss Woolgar, Miss Arden, Miss Keeley, Miss Kate Kelly. Acting ilanager—Mr. Wm. Smith. Doors open at a quarter-past six—Commence at seven. Box Office open from 10 to 5 —no charge for booking. No fees to servants permitted. A registry kept of all articles found. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE, Lessee and Directress, Miss Swanborough This Evening, will be presented MATRIMONIAL PRO SPECTUSES. Atter which, the new Extravaganza, KENILWORTH ; or Ye Queene. ye Earle, and ye Maydenne And THE BONNIE FISHWIFE. . Commence at 7 o'clock. A STLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE, Westminster -road. Lessee and Manager Mr. William Cooke. Brilliant and unprecedented success of the new Dramatic Spectle. THIS EPENING the performa ac nces commence with a grand new Spectacle, from the pen of R. Phillips, Esq., interspersed with extraordinary hippodramatic effects and . strildng situa tions, in three Acts, and entitled THE HU/sMRED CUIRASSIERS. Produced with new scenery, mechanical arrangements, gorgeous in I characteristic costumes, elabo rate equestrian and spectacular appointments, and the hand somest Stud of Horses in the world. Characters by Messrs. Holloway, Phillips, Anson, Francis, Anderson, M. Howard. Herbert ; Mesdames Dowton, Blanche, Julia Weston, Thorne, To be followed by SCENES IN THE CIRCLE, Intro ducing Miss Kate Cooke, Miss Emily Cooke, Madame Blanche, Madame Bridges, Maddlle. Fleurette, and Madame Fran cisco, being tne greatest amount of female equestrian talent ever seen in one night at any theatre. Grotesques : Messrs. Hemming and Thorne. To conclude with the CAPTAIN IS NOT AMISS. Dress Circle, 4s. ; Boxes, 3s. ; Pit, 2s, ; Gallery, ls. ; Upper Gallery, 6cl. Stage Manager, Mr. R. Phillips. CANTERBURY HALL, Westminster-road, Proprietor--C. MORTON. The üblic is most - respectfully informed that the FINE ARTSGALLERY, in connection with the above Hall, IS NOW OPEN DAT AND NIGHT, from 11 o'clock a.m. until 12 )'clock p.m. The New Gallery contains an extensive Collec- Jon of Pictures, by Ancient and Modern Masters !and is also devoted to Art productions generally. The Proprietor feels he may confidently assert that, viewed altogether, the exist ing Musie Hall, the New Fine Arts Gallery, and the recently added Ante-Hall, will present an attraction which, whether as regards the architectural beauty of the structures them selves, or the varied and hitherto unattempted combinations within, will be found to be wholly without parallel in the Kingdom. The MUEITCAL ENTERTAINMENT commences as usual at Seven o'clock. In addition to the usual entertainment, the SALTVLET FAMILY, of Amsterdam, Eight in number, whose varied instrumental performances have created so marked a sensa tion in the principal cities and towns of the Continent, will perform every Evening at Nine and Eleven o'clock. THE WEATHER.-Syx OFFICE, MARCH 17. THERMOXETER, IN THE SHADE. 59—highest since noon yesterday. 52—lowest this morning and during the night. 56—this day at noon. BAROMETER-29.70. WIND,. South-Westerly; blowing very fresh, with squall,' dull weather. THE SUN. THURSDAY. MARCH 17, 1859. Lord joirs RUSSELL'S Bankruptcy and Insol vency Bill has received its second reading in the House of Commons. Although we confess that, as a whole, we prefer the Lord Chancellor's measure, we freely and willingly admit that there are many valuable points . contained in that of Lord JOHN RUSSELL which may fairly be amalgamated with that of Lord CHELMSFORD. The question is one which cannot by any possibility be one of party. Every one, no matter what may be the shades or varieties of political opinion which he possesses —whether he be a Derbyite, Palmerstonian, or Russellite— whether he pins his faith on Bracau or ROEBTJCK, or any other gentleman who can command a moderate following, or, as used to be - said in the days of the late DANIEL CMONNELL, " wag a respectable tail," will be equally interested in bringing the disputed topics to a settlement alike beneficial to all parties con cerned. It may be supposed that the interests of debtors and creditors must inevitably be antago nistic—that they are, in fact, natural enemies, and that every injury inflicted on the one must be gra. tifying to the other. This is, however, a grave mistake—a serious error. If angry feelings could be eradicated, if the opposing parties could be induced to pull together, and strive to render what remained of the estate as productive as pos sible, it would be a great matter ; but, as SAM SLICK pertinently remarked, human nature is h uma n nature," and we can scarcely expect that either trader or non-trader will devote his time and trouble for the purpose of realising assets no por tion whereof will be applied to his own use. It has been stated, and with some foundati on, that Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S is altogether a creditor bill, and Lord CHELMSFORD'S, in many respects, a lawyer's measure. Now, should not a third party be represented? Should not the honest but unfor tunate debtor, who would willingly pay if in his power, and surrenders every particle of property, real or personal to which he is entitled, either in possession or reversion, have some voice raised in his favour? We know that these men are in many quarters regarded as a social Pariah to be reprobated by the civic Brahmins, who frequently com mit far greater errors than any into which he has been betrayed by the pressure. of circumstances. They rail at the man unable to net his pecuniary liabilities. He may be a loving husband, a kind father, a generous friend; but his hill has been dishonoured, and a dungeon must be his doom. If he has contracted that debt by fraud, if he has increased it by a vexatious defence, or had no just and reasonable expectation of defraying it at the time it was incurred, let him be Punished by all means. But let the party who sentences him to that punishment be an experienced, learned, and unprejudjped man, restrained by the influence of an attending bar, and by the knowledge that every decision which he pronounces will probably be reported, and possibly reviewed in the public journals. It should not be a vindictive creditor rendered angry by the loss 'of money which he might not be well able to spare, who should have the power of incarceration placed in his hands, and of rendering nugatory all the efforts which the debtor is striving to make for the general arrange ment of his affairs. SYDNEY SMITH is reported fo have said that—" the worst possible use to which you could put a man was to hang him." We are not quite certain that it would not be better to do so than to incarcerate him for a protracted series of years in a debtor's prison, where he could do no good either for his QUEEN, his country, his creditors, his family or himself. The great matters to be accomplished are—First. the total abolition of imprisonment for debt, save on the sentence of a competent tribunal (and that not a County Court). Secondly, the complete removal of the distinction between bankruptcy and insolvency, so far as the future interests of the insolvent debtors are concerned. We could cite many cases within our knowledge where the effect has been to produce a total alteration in a will, and was thus very injurious to the debtor, without being in the slightest degree beneficial to the creditors. If there be a vested interest, or contingent remainder, one which, if the insolvent survives, will in all human probability come into his possession, it is right and proper that it should, when actually realised, be made liable for his obligations. But a possible claim should not be sold for a mere song, the bargain being only useful to the " hard calculator " who has entered on the speculation. The matter is one worthy of the most serious consideration. At present the average cost of working small estates through bankruptcy is £l5O, or 50 per cent. on the realised assets. They manage matters far better, in this respect, in Por tugal than in Basinghall-street. The machinery is more simple, the costs comparatively trifling, and the funds, large or small, speedily made available for the parties entitled thereto. There is a talk on the other side of the Atlantic of an impeachment of President BUCHANAN and his Ministers—on charges of the grossest official corruption, charges founded upon the recent report of the investigating committee of the House of Representatives. And at this very time Mr. COB DEN is making the tour of the States in America with a view, as many suppose, to discover, if pos sible, how far we may wisely modify our legislative reforms upon the model of those democratic insti tutions. Certainly we can have little to learn in the way of political morality from the Republican Executive at Washington. There may be, there undoubtedly is, more apparent economy in the state expenditure, year by year, in the great North American Republic. There our brethren in the United States are without the incubus of our almost overwhelming civil list. They are without the stupendous burthen of a national debt, amounting to the frightful aggregate of £800,000,000. They are not drained of annual taxes (as we were during this last year 1858), to the tune of £63,000,000. They are without the necessity of keeping up an army of 200,000 men, at the cost of nearly £12,000,000, toiethei with a naval force including nearly 250 vessels actually in commission, manned by 59,000 seamen and marines, and requiring an expenditure in 1858-9 of fully £9,000,000. They are without the trammels of red tape wound serpentwise round the Laocomi of England, Ireland, and. Scotland. They are in no way poisoned by the upas of a patrician race, growing, like the banyan tree, all over this favoured land of ours, under "the cold shade of the aristocracy." They may have bunkum—but they have not the barnacles. They rejoice in the possession of stump orators to no end, and of unnumbered filibusters— but they are free from the race of the Viponts. They have plenty of Knownothings—but they have by no means the multiplicity of Do-nothings, bat tening upon the State within the limits of the United Kingdom. Still the shield, though silvery white by comparison upon one side— is black as Erebus on the other. If there were any need. for the demonstration of this latter assertion in regard to the democratic constitution of the United States, proof positive of the fact is readily proved to hand in the report of the investigating committee of the House of Representatives at Washington. According to that report official corruption was never more flag rant—not even in the latter years of the reign of Louis PHILIPPE, King of the French—when " rank and place were bought and sold," when M. TESTE, though a flagrant exemplar of the prevail ing system, was by no means an exceptional phe nomenon. So thoroughly does this bane of official corruption permeate the whole system of things in the United States, according to the authorita• tive report already specified, that a parallel to the situation can only be discovered by the New York Tribune, in the instance of the late imperial pillager of Hayti, the Emperor SouLoußuu. The association of official corruption in America, moreover, is not directed vaguely, or at random, in more general terms, by the power of the United States, or by the report of the House of Represen tatives. The President himself, JAMES BUCHANAN is distinctly charged with direct participation in the fostering and development of this gangrene of official venality. He is declared to be guilty of " more than tacit complicity." His impeachment, and the impeachment of his Ministers, upon the charge of corruption, is pronounced by the public prints of America to be a mere question of time. It is not to be looked for, the New York Tribune observes, " this session"—implying it may be looked for in another. Altogether it is a melancholy spectacle enough this view of the official corruption of the powers that be at Washington. Advantages of many kinds cannot fail to follow from the bare fact of these same most deplorable revelations. There —in the United States themselves—the diminution if not the total extinction of the evil system is inevitable as one of the earliest consequences. Here —th e d i sclosure in a manner so glaring of the truth, o th erwise, we may presume. just possibly within the range of popular conjecture, namely, that the political system in the American Republic q uite Perfection, may tend i n a great mea sure, not relet us hope, t o di ssipate the frivolous delusion which had prevailed of l a t e amongst the most hake warm— of our so-called Reformers the prepo s t erous delusion that there is a p er il i ncurred of our going so ra r we in s h ouroul d imitation of the A mer i can system that run the hazard o f subverting our Constitution. Lord John Russell andLordPalmerston abstained from voting on the motion for the abolition of church r a t es. Lord Stanley voted for the second reading of Sir jo u , Trelawny's bill, and Sir John Pakington against it. Lord John Russell's resolution relative to the Reform Bill is placed on the list of motions of which notice was given on Tuesday —as "an amendment to the question for the second reading of the Representation of the People Bill." At the anniversary meeting of the Statistical Society on Tuesday, it was stated that Lord John Russell had acceded to the request of the council to be placed in nomination for the office of president in succession to Lord Stanley. Madame Goldsehmidt and her husband will, it is said, visit Leeds in the autumn, and give their services gra tuitously at a grand concert in aid of the Leeds Mechanics' Institution, LATEST NEWS. The following telegrams have been received at Mr. Reuter's office : PARIS, THURSDAY, The Emperor will receive to-day the Pru ss i an Ambassador, Count Pourtalis, in a private audience. Various rumours are afloat. It is said that the Lyons Railway Company has received orders to keep its line in readiness for the transport of 75,000 men. It is also asserted that the squadron which recently left Toulon is to proceed to Algiers for the purpose of embarking troops at that place. It is further reported that the conferences for examining the election of Prince Couza have been adjourned to an indefinite period. BERNE, MARCH 16 Masses of conscripts from Lombardy are passing from Valteleine through the Canton Grisons into Piedmont. The Austrian authorities have transported all the public treasures, records, and registers to Sondrio, chief town of the Valteleine. ST. PETERSBURG, WEDNESDAY. An imperial decree, dated March 10, prohibits the exportation of horses from Russia and the King dom of Poland across the European frontiers. MARSEILLES, MARCH 16. Advices have been received from Constantinople to the 9th inst. The journals contain nothing new. Letters state that in all parts of the Principalities preparations are being made to offer resistance in case Prince Couza's election should be cancelled. The English ambassador expressed himself strongly as to the necessity of making concessions to the Roumans. The Governor of Bosnia writes that he has dis covered an extensive conspiracy to bring about a new insurrection, which was on the point of break ing out, and which extended to Montenegro. The Governor demands reinforcements. The army of observation on the Danube is in a disorganised condition, and desertions, especially among the Redifs, are extremely numerous. The state of the finances is unaltered. Disorderly bands have been committing plunder in Candia, have insulted the English Consul, and demanded his dismissal. FRANCE. PARIS, WEDNESDAY, Lord Cowley is expected to reach Paris this evening. Meanwhile nothing more is known about his lordship's mission, but that a strong desire is manifested in certain quarters, both at London and Paris, to make out material for negotiating in the clouds about the Italian question. M. Musurus is expected to arrive in Paris to night, The material for opening the Conferences is all ready at the Hotel of Foreign Affairs. The Nuncio has received instructions to wait on Count Walewski, and represent the danger to which his Holiness the Pope would be exposed if the French troops were withdrawn from Rome just now, without permission to call the Austrians up to the Eternal City. This is a new song from the Vatican, very different from Cardinal Antonelli's defiance of a few days since ! The Opinione in an article which reaches Paris to-day says with truth :—" France now occupies in Italy the position which England has lost." The Opinione heads its observations by " La Guerra inevitable," and concludes that Piedmont must ere long resort to arms. PARIS BOURSE.—The market has slightly im proved, but with a very limited amount of business doing. Threes, after having been done at 67f. 50c., rallied to 67f. 70c. Mobilier varied from 765 f. to 770 f. ; Austrian, 525 f. to 527 f. 50c. ; Orleans, 1,330 f. to 1,332 f. 50c. ; Lyons, 825 f. to 827 f. 50c. The following were the last quotations : 41 per Cents. 94 Do. end month — 3 per Cents. 67 451 Do. end month 67 45 Bank Shares 2850 Credit Mobilier Do. Account Cre'clit Fonder Belgian 4f . — Piedmontese (5) 7B Roman B5 Austrian Spanish Threes Home Debt — RAILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans Northern 917 50 .. 915 New ditto Lyons and Mediterranean B3O .. 826 25 New ditto Geneva 525 .. 527 60 Midi . Southern 'Western 595 .. 590 Eastern Grand Central Sardinian 395 .. 395 Austrian Exchange on London, at sight, paper, 25f. 15c. ; money, 25f. 10c. ; three months, paper, 25f., 21c.; money, 24f. 97ic. The Opinione and Indipendente of Turin both state from Piacenza that the Austrians are actively engaged in fortifying both banks of the Po at that place. We get nothing from Italy to-day but a repetition of the accounts of warlike preparations on the part of Austria, as well as Piedmont. Every daygeems to add to the chances of war. The Vienna Cabinet has decided to send 50,000 more men to Italy, which will bring the Lombard army up to 200,000. The Military Gazette of Vienna of the 12th has been ordered to say :—" The men on furlough from the regiments of Italy rejoined their corps with extraordinary promptitude the moment the summons of the Government was made known to them. In one regiment, which had 1,000 men on leave of absence, all have returned but two ; and in another, which had 1,300, all except five. In one district 800 men assembled in 48 hours." The desertions to Piedmont are something alarming for the Turin authorities, who know not where to find house-room for them. A despatch from Berne says : —" Numbers of conscripts deserting from Lom bardy pass through the Grisons cantons, and pro ceed to Piedmont. The Austrian authorities in the Valteline have removed all their valuables and papers to Sondrio, the, chief town of the province." ~,.., ..- • ~ _ 4. 9 '? ,Pl,, „ 4 ' ,1 CLU r• MA -- * ,!!) 4 ~ ' '5 . 4. 4 - iA ,s;• - • • *, ' , i ei , r ot ?,---_-----:-.0- ....,;.,":4 , ~, ), ~: , 7 - • sv. \, ~,,,,...?El' • m 0 ri , :000),,,, ~.PROtT V .... •"1 101 •4 • I L THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDA.-V EVENING, MARCH 17, 1850 BANK .RETURNS. The Bankers' Magazine furnishes the returns of the cir culation of the Private and Joint-Stock Banks in England and Wales for the four weeks ending Feb. 12. These returns, combined with the circulation of the Scotch and Irish Banks for the same period, and the average circula tion of the Bank of England for the four weeks ending the 9th Feb. (the nearest date furnished by their returns), will give the following results of the circulation of notes in the United Kingdom, when compared with the previous month : Jan. 15, Feb. 12, 1859. 1859. Increase.lDecrease. - - Bank of England... 20,444,689! 20,830,036 385,347 Private Banks 3,343,026 3,407,186 64,160 Joint-stock Banks 2,904,770 2,933,086 28,316 -- - - Total in England. 26,692,485 27,170 , 308 4 77,823 Scotland... 4,100,052 3,904,022 196,030 Ireland 6,729,747 6,898,943 169,196 United Kingdom. 37,522,284 37,973,273 450,989 And as compared with the month ending the 13th February, 1858, the above returns show an increase of £1,646,625 in the circulation of notes in England, and an increase of £2,529,776 in the circulation of the United Kingdom. On comparing the above with the fixed issues of the seve ral banks the following is the state of the circulation : rhe English private banks are below their fixed issue .. £997,749 the English joint-stock banks are below their fixed issue £369,271 Total below fixed issue in England.... £1,367,020 The Scotch banks are above their fixed issue £816,813 The Irish banks are above their fixed issue .... £554,449 T he both stock of bullion held by the Bank of Eng land in both departments during the month ending the 9th of Feb. was £19,279,737, being an increase of £166,264 as compared with the previous month, and an increase of £3,729,067 when compared with the same period last year. The following are the amounts of specie held by the Scotch and Irish banks during the month ending the 12th Feb. : Gold and silver hold by the Scotch banks ...... . . £2,607,893 Gold and silver held by the Irish banks ........ 2,343,021 Compared with the 246 when compared £4,950,919 p ß r e e i vi ng ous a r n etu ;itc , r an ea d se . anoincl.elas2,9e6o6f x ag s7, with the corresponding period of last year, F.RENCII ENIGMAS. The Emperor Napoleon has been favoured by fortune in a manner almost without parallel in his tory. He has achieved glory of many kinds; he was elected under most adverse circumstances to the Presidency of the French Republic ; he succeeded beyond the expectations of his most devoted ad herents in the coup d'etat. He was elected by a large majority President for 10 years ; he was ele vated to the purple by 7,500,000 voters; he became the ally of England ; he received the visit of England's Queen ; his gallant army won new laurels in the Crimea, and blended his name with victory; but there still remains a glory to which none has approached—he has dethroned the Sphynx ! When I say this, I take it for granted that the articles which are of late so frequent in the Moniteur are of his Majesty's inspiration—if not actual composition—that the theme is his, though the arrangement of the notes is by others. We ought to be grateful that no obligation is im posed on the readers of these enigmas other than to read them ; it makes one's flesh creep to think what would happen if those who read had to ex plain them under some such penalty as that imposed, on the traveller who failed to unriddle the " lead ing articles" of the mysterious creature who kept watch on the road to Thebes. - One of these enigmas is presented to us in the Moniteur of to-day. The composition is by M. de Laguerronniere ; the inspirer it is superfluous to name. One motive for its publication is probably to neutilhlise the effect of the article of the sth, which was the work of a different and an inferior hand. If there was any intention of restdring calmness to the public mind, diminishing alarm, re establishing security, or restoring confidence, I fear much that the labour has been in vain. It is not merely from the fall in the public funds which followed the publication of the article, but from the diversity of manner in which it is interpreted by men of partiality, judgment, and pacific disposi tion. Among most of the banking and commercial people it is looked upon as nothing less than preli minary to entering on a campaign—and this, in spite of the pacific character of the firstparagraph of the article. By the German Ministers at this Court the article is pronounced as welhut together, but " perfidious," and intended to exculpate the French Government by trying to make the public believe that it is Germany that menaces France, instead of the Imperial G overnmen t menacing Germany. They have no doubt that it will produce a bad effect among the German people. A few look at it in a more favourable light, but they are very few. It is avowed by those who are in the secret that the intention was to show that firmness and resolution, instead of hesitation, were the basis of the Imperial policy. How far success is obtained you may judge ; but the misfortune is that, where there is one paragraph, or even one sentence, of a nature to inspire hope, it is soon neutralised by others of an opposite tendency. People have reached that state of doubt and mis trust—they set so little value on these official effusions —that I believe the plainest, most direct, and straightforward declarations would find them as suspicious and incredulous as ever.—Letter from Paris, March 15. THIS DAYS MARKETS. CORN EXCHANGE. IMPERIAL WEEKLY AVERAGES. - Wheat, 40s 3d; barley, 34s 4d; oats, 23s 3d; rye, 32s lld ; beans, 41s 8d ; and peas, 40s Bd. TEE SIX. WEEKS' AVERAGES. Wheat, 40s 7d ; barley, 33s lld ; oats, 22s 8d ; rye, 32s 7d ; beans, 41s 9d; peas, 41s 3d ENGLISH GRAIN SOLD LAST WEER. - -Wheat, 98,073; barley, 60,101; oats, 16,721 ; rye, 59; beans, 4,898 ; peas, 1,024 quarters. METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET. Only a moderate supply of beasts, in but middling condi tion, was on offer in to-day's market. For all breeds the demand ruled steady, at fully Monday's advance in the quotations. Sheep—the show of which was rather limited —changed hands readily, a extreme rates, the best old Downs having realised 6s per 81bs. Lambs were firm at from 6s to 7s per Blbs. The few calves in the market were disposed of at extreme currencies. Pigs and milch cows were in improved request at very full prices. Per 81bs. to sink the offal. s. d. s. d. Crse. &inf. beasts 3 6 3 10 Second qualitydo. 4 0 4 6 Prime large oxen 4 8 4 10 Prime Scots, &c. 5 0 5 2 Crse. & inf. sheep 4 2 4 6 Second quality do. 4 8 6 0 • s. d. s. d. Primecrs-wool do. 5 2 5 8 Pme. S'thdowndo. 5 10 6 0 Large crse. calves 4 0 4 10 Prime small do 5 0 5 8 Large hogs 3 0 3 6 Small porkers 6s to 7s. Lambs, Suckling calves,.lBs to 21s 18s to 225. ; and quarter-old store pigs; TOTAL SUPPLY. Beasts Y 902 Sheep . Calves Pigs 290 FOREIGN SUPPLY. Beasts llO Sheep . Calves Pigs lIAY MARKETS. SMITHFIELD.—Meadow hay, £2 15s to £4 lOs ; clover do., £4 Os to £5 5s ; and straw, £1 6s to £1 lOs per load, A moderate demand. CUMBERLAND.—Meadow hay, £2 15s to £4 12s; clover do., £4 Os to £5 5s ; and straw, £1 6s to £1 103 per lead. Supply limited and trade firm. WHITECHAPEL.--Meadow hay, £2 15s to £4 lOs ; clover do., £4 4s to £5 8s; and straw, £1 6s to £1 108 per lead. Trade steady. MEAT MARKETS. NEWGITE AND 14 EADENITALL.—The supplies of meat aro seasonably good, and the demand is less active, as follows: Beef, from 3s 4d to 4s 8d ; mutton, 3s 6d to 4s 10d ; lamb, 65 8d to is 8d ; veal, 3s 10d to 4s lOd; pork, 3s Od to 4s 4d per Blbs. by the carcase. SOU'AVALL, March l6.—The supplies of stock here to day were moderate, and the trade generally ruled steady, on higher terms:—Beef, from 3s 6d to 5s Od ; mutton, 4s Od to 5s 10d ; lamb, Os Od to Os Od ; veal, 4s Od to 5s 4d ; and pork, 3s 6d to 4s 2d per Blbs. to sink the offal. ROMFORD, March 1 6.—Beasts were fully 4d per 81b. dearer than last week, and the value of other stock had an upward, tendency :—Beef, &gm 38 6d to 5s 2d; mutton, 4s 4d to 6s Od ; veal, 4s 2d to 5s 4d ; pork, 3s 6d to 4s 4d per 81bs ; milch cows, £l4 Os to £l7 lOs each ; suckling calves Os ; quarter old store pigs, Os to Os each. .ET-MARCH 16. the close of the market.) Walls End. _ s. d. Eden.. l4 6 Gosforth l3 6 Braddyll's Hetton. 15 3 Russell' s Hetton 15 0 South Hetton 16 9 Cassop Heugh Hall 14 6 Thorpe l6 0 West Hetton ..16 0 Whitworth l3 9 ;,46—Sold, 21. LORD _ELGIN AT SHANGHAI. - SHANGHAI, JAN. 18. ' On Monday, the 17th inst., a numerous body of the representatives of the English and Indian firms at Shanghai waited on his Excellency the Earl of Elgin at the British Embassy, by appointment, to present a complimentary address on his Lordship's successful career in the North of China. His Excellency was attended by his suite, com prising Messieurs L. Oliphant, G. H. Fitz-Roy, N. Jocelyn, T. F. Wade (Interpreter), and Dr. Saun ders,R.N. There were also present Captain Sherard. Osborn, R.N., C. 8., Commander Bythesea, R.N., Mr. D. B. Robertson, Her Majesty's Consul ; Mr. F. Harvey, Her Majesty's Vice-Consul, Mr. H. N. Lay, &c. Mr. W. H. Vacher, Chairman of the Shanghai British Chamber of Commerce, read the address as follows : Shanghai, Jan. 13. "My Lord,—We beg to express our great satisfaction in being able to welcome your Lord Ship on your return a second time to this port, after comparatively brief, but in both instances, most fertile periods of absence, and before your lordship's final departure from this coast we beg to offer our respectful but sincere congratulations on the successful issue of the important negotiations in which your Lordship has been engaged, and the valuable results which have been obtained through your lordship's enterprising exertions in this part of the world. " The advantages likely to arise from the treaties recently concluded with this Government, and with the long and jealously closed country of Japan, may not for some time be fully apparent, but the greatly extended privileges and large additional concessions obtained from both countries, by opening up an improved and rapidly expandinc , field to Western commerce and enterprise, an d by more fully ex tending to the Chinese and Japanese the advantages of a closer acquaintance with the civilisation and knowledge of the West, will, if faithfully carried out, lead to most im portant benefits, as well to foreign relations with these countries, as to their inhabitants, and with these advan tages, which sooner or later cannot fail to result, your lord ship's name and mission must long and honourably be associated. " In conclusion, we beg to express our hearty interest in your lordship's eminently useful and honourable efforts for the extension of civilisation and commerce, and we earnestly hope that your lordship may long be spared to pursue the same high and successful career. " We are, my Lord, " Your most obedient humble servants. (Here follow signatures.) " To his Excellency th e Ri g ht H on. the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, K.T., G.C.8., her Majesty's High Commissioner and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Pekin." His Excellency then made the following re ply : " Gentlemen,—l sincerely thank you for these expres sions of good will and regard. I value them the more because they proceed, not from fair weather friends, but from persons who, when the future was still dark and'the breakers ahead, encouraged me by their sympathy. " When you did me the honour to address me in April last I availed myself of the opportunity to indicate, in so far as I could with propriety do so, the course which I pro posed to follow in the discharge of the duties of the mission confided to me by our Sovereign. At the present time I have no similar revelation to make. _ The special work which I was commanded to take in hand is drawing to its close. The promise and the performance are now alike before you. " Nevertheless I willingly take advantage of this, per haps the last occasion on which I shall meet you together, to offer a few remarks on some matters deeply interesting to us all. " In the first place, then, allow me to express the satis faction which it gives me to find that you specify the bene fits which are likely to accrue to the inhabitants of these countries themselves as among the most important of the results to be expected from our recent treaties with China and Japan. On this head we have no doubt incurred very weighty responsibilities. Uninvited, and by methods not always of the gentlest, we have broken down the barriers, behind which these ancient nations sought to conceal from the world without, the mysteries—perhaps, also, in the case of China at least, the rags and rottenness of their waning civilisations. Neither our own consciences nor the judg ment of mankind will acquit us if when we are asked to what we have turned our opportunities we can only say that we have filled our pockets from among the ruins which we have found or made. " An eminent French writer has observed, that it is one of the glories of Christian civilization that it has caused the sentiment of repentance to find a place in the hearts of na tions. Let us hope that it will not be by pointing this moral—that Great Britain, when she comes to review her connection with the furthest East, will make good her claim to the title of a Christian nation. " It gives me much pleasure to have it in my power to assure you that my recent trip up the Yang-tse to Hankow fully realised the expectations which induced me to under • take it. I was enabled during my progress to obtain much information respecting the political condition of the coun try, which will, I trust, be useful to her Majesty's Govern ment, and the interests of commerce will, no doubt, be ma terially promoted by the knowledge of the navi g ation of the river acquired by the able officer s o f h er M a j e sty's navy by whom I was accompanied. " I have long held the opinion that Shanghai was the place where, if anywhere, it might be hoped that peaceful negotions for the extension and development of commer cial relations with China might be conducted with success, for the obvious reason that the benefits accruing to the empire from foreign commerce and intercourse are more manifest at Shanghai than elsewhere. With this view, at the commencement of last year, immediately after the cap tore of Canton, I proposed that: Chinese plenipotentiaries should meet me here for the amicable settlement of all differences pending between Great Britain and China—a proposition which, as you know, the stolid arrogance of the Court of Pekin induced it to reject. Since the Imperial Commissioners arrived here in October last, I have seen no cause to change the opinion which I had previously formed on this point. Making due allowance for the difficulties of the position of negotiators who have to account for their proceedings to a Government so jealous and ill-informed as that of China, I am bound to say that I do not think I can reasonably complain of the spirit in which I have been met by them. My own course has not, however, been always smooth and free from difficulty. The navigator whose main busi ness it is to bring his own vessel safely to port, with flags flying, and amid the cheers of welcoming friends, will. select the deepest stream, and eschew to the best of his ability both rocks and shoals. But the diplomatist, according to my notions of duty, is rather in the position of the master of a dredging machine. He has to open a way for the more favoured craft that are to follow him. The most critical places are, therefore, precisely those towards which he is bound to s t eer . Among the critical places which, in my progress as a navigator, I found in mid-channel, right a-head of me, two were pre-eminently so—the trade in opium, and the Qhinese Custom-house system. I had long sincerely commisserated the false and cruel position in which men of high honour and integrity engaged in commerce with China are placed by the irregularities which charac terise the administration of the one, and the anomalous con ditions under which the other is carried on, and I did not consider that the difficulties attending the removal of these evils, and the risk of misconception to which those who un dertook the task must necessarily expose themselves, would justify me in abstaining from the attempt to grapple with them "As regards the last-mentioned of these subjects it is necessary that I should offer one word of explanation at the outset in order to prevent misapprehension, not so much here as elsewhere. It must be distinctly understood that the modifications introduced into the new Chinese tariff in reference to opium do not in any degree fetter or restrict the discretion of Great Britain as regards the traffic in that article. if the British people and the British Government see fit to do so, they may still make it penal for a British subject to be engaged i n it, an d b y so d o i ng, although they will not probably in any material degree diminish the con sumption of opium in China, they will no doubt do some thing more or less effectual towards preventing British subjects from being the importers. Short, however, of this extreme measure, of, the likelihood of the adoption of which each man may form his own opinion, I am satisfied that the barren announcement by a foreign Government 'of its assent to the principle that the trade in opium is illegal, is productive of nothing but mischief, that it is a delusion and a snare both to the Chinese and those who have com mercial dealings with them. It is notorious that, notwith standing thcrclause in the treaty of Wangbai, which pro nounces opium to be contraband, and the strung declara tions of American statesmen on this head, the American flag has been in some instances used habitually even by British subjects to cover that traffic. In my recent dis cussions with the Chinese Imperial Commissioners I have merely sought to induce them to bring the trade in opium from the region of fiction into that of fact, and to place within the pale of law, and therefore under its control, an article which is now openly bought, sold, and taxed by them beyond that pale. The effect of the change on the in terests of the trade itself will be, I believe, either trifling or null. If, on the one hand, the tax to which the new tariff subjects the importer be somewhat greater than the squeeze now levied on the article, he will, on the other hand, be relieved from certain charges incident to a traffic ostensibly contraband. - " As regards the lax and corrupt administration of the Custom-house, I may observe that, in addition to many other evils to which it gives rise, it bears hardly on the sub jects of the Treaty Powers who are amenable to certain checks and control from which unrepresented foreigners are free. I have endeavoured, not, I hope, altogether without success, to impress on the Imperial Commissioners the im portance of establishing a Custom-house system which shall be uniform at the several open ports, equal in its operation on all parties, and controlled by persons of integrity and competent knowledge " 'Various grievances, besides those which I have men tioned above, affecting British subjects in their relations with the Chinese or with other foreigners, have been from time to time brought to my notice by gentlemen who have done me the favour to write to me on such topics. Some of them may probably be met by special arrangements, whe ther with the Chinese authorities or with the representa tives of the Governments of other Powers. Others are, I fear, inseparable from the working of the system of ex territoriality which Christian nations have deemed it ne cessary for the interests and protection of their subjects to establish in China. " I have now given you very frankly my opinion on several matters, which seem to me to be important, and the consequence is that this reply has swelled beyond the cus tomary dimensions of an answer to a complimentary addr ess . I cannot, however, close it without assuring you that I shall always retain a pleasing recollection of Shanghai, and of the kindness which I have experienced while I have been sojourning among you." • THE MURDER NEAR NEWARK.--The culprit Biakett, who was sentenced at Nottingham Assizes last week to be hanged for the murder of William Watmoro at Barnby-in-the-Willows, has been respited during her 11190iesty's pleasure. The second large stone dock at Chatham is ordered to be cleared out, as it is required immediately for the ad mission of the Severn, which is to be lengthened in mid ships for engine-room, as she is to be fitted up for a screw steam ship. It is reported she will be made 16 feet longer ; she is to go into dock on Monday next. THE DUNMOW FLITCH.—This ancient custom will be carried cut this year at Dunmow in all its inte grity, most likely on Wednesday in Whitsun week. The claimants are to be J. N. Hawkins, Esq., and Ann Sophia, his wife, of Undy, Monmouthshire. Mr. Hawkins has lauded property at Undy. John Wilson and Elizabeth Mary, his wife. Mr. Wilson is a retired sergeant from the 15th Hussars and resides at Thorp e , in Surrey. Joseph James Tickner and Elizabeth, hi s wife. Mr. Tickner is a builder, and resides in the Westminster-bridge-road, Lam beth,and is a descendant of a Dunmow family. COAL MARK (Prices of Coal per Ton a' s. d. Bates' West Hartley..l4 0 Davison's West Hart- ley 15 3 Holywell 14 0 Lambert's West Hart- ley 15 0 Tanfield Moor 11 3 Wylam 14 0 Walls End. Acorn Close 14 6 Ships at market. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridgo has sent £25 towards the St. Paul's Cathedral Fund. DEATH OF THE EARL FERRERS,—We are sorry to announce the demise of this nobleman, who expired on Sunday last at the family seat, Staunton Harold, Leicester shire, from an attack of congestion of the lungs. His lordship, who had only attained his 38th year, is succeeded by his infant son, the Hon. Sewallis Edward, born at Chartley C4stle in 1847. The Earl and Countess Stanhope received a dis tinguished circle at dinner last evening, at their residence, in Grosvenor-place. The Count and Countess Arnofini have arrived at the Brunswick Hotel, Jermyn-street, from the Continent. Lady Chelmsford's second assembly will take place this evening. Lord Denman has arrived at Claridge's Hotel from Stony Middleton, We regret to announce the death of Mrs. Maule, relict of the late Mr. George Maule, solicitor for the affairs of her Majesty's Treasury, which took place suddenly on Friday last, at her family residence in Prince's terrace. THE GOVERNORSHIP OF HONG KONG.--Sir J. Bowring's functions as Superintendent of Trade having been merged in those of the Minister lately appointed to Pekin, his Excellency will cease to hold the unpaid office of Governor of Hong Kong, hitherto held in conjunctien with that of Plenipotentiary and Superintendent of Trade in China. The principal officer at Hong Kong will therefore for the future discharge solely the duties of Governor of that colony. The first Governor of Hong Kong under the new sstem will be Mr. Hercules Robinson, at present Lieutenant- Governor of St. Christopher's, who distinguished himself by his official exertions in Ireland both during and after the famine, and whose services were rewarded by the bar ren appointment of a West Indian Governorship in 1854. He is now transferred to a position where his administrative talents Will have a wider field of usefulness. REPRESENTATION OF HARWICH.—A good deal of dissatisfaction has been occasioned in Harwick by the re tirement of Mr. Bagshaw, sen., and the candidature in the Liberal interest of the Hon. W. F. Campbell being simul taneously announced; Captain J. W. Jervis, who has appeared as a Conservative candidate, has been vigorbusly prosecuting his canvass, and it is expected that he will go to the poll. The nomination is to take place to-day (Thursday). MILITIA.—THE ROYAL NORTH DOWN.—This regiment of militia, which is at present stationed at Alder shot, is to be disembodied on the 31st inst. DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN GREENOCK.—The sugar house of Messrs. Duncan and Scott, Baker-street, Greenock, was destroyed by fire od Monday evening. The loss, which amounts to £12,000, is coveredlby insurance. The India Loan Bill is to pass its third reading in the Commons to-night, and will probably pass the Lords and receive the Royal assent before the beginning of next week. An announcement may then be expected of the terms and dates at which the required 57,000,000 will be taken. The half -yearly dividends are advertised of the Peruvian Three per Cents, and of the Brazilian Five per Cent. loans of 1824 and 1829. Notice is also given of the creation of a further sum of £200,000 in bonds on account of the Portugneseltailway loan of £3,000,000, making a total advertised of £1,843,000. THE GOVERNMENT REFORM BILL, MANCHESTER. A public meeting was held in the Free-trade Hall on Tuesday evening, wider the auspices of the Lancashire Reformers' Union, for the purpose of sup porting the reform measure of Mr. Bright, in oppo sition to that of the Government. About 4,000 persons were present. Mr. G. WILSON took the chair. He maintained that the Government of Lord Derby had been in finitely superior, especially in the administration of foreign affairs, to that which preceded it—(cheers) —but it was utterly impossible for them, with the most liberal intentions, to pass an adequate reform measure through the phalanx of their own sup porters. (Cheers.) The requirements of such a mea sure were sufficiently obvious. There were 1,200,000 voters in this great country, from which must be deducted duplicates in large numbers, and others who were not otherwise disposed to vote. In Man chester the register had been augmented from -14,000 to 19,000 by the act of Mr. Bright—(cheers) —but besides there were in Manchester from 8,000 to 9,000 persons living in houses at from £8 to £lO rated to the relief of the poor ; and was it possible, in walking the streets of Manchester, to discrimi nate between them and those in houses from £lO to £l2 P (Hear, hear.) For himself, he did not care where a man lived, and was no monopolist in votes any more than in corn, believing that a man who rose at six o'clock in the morning and worked till six at night, who brought up his family and minis tered to their wants as he ought to do, who complied with the wants of society, and against whom the police had no claims and society no grievance, was as much entitled to .a vote as he was himself. He believed it was miserable political parsimony on the part of the ruling class to refuse to such men the small gift of a 20,000 th part in the power of returning the 327th part of the House of Commons. (Cheers.) However, the franchise was only a small part of the question, whilst the great cities of England were swamped in the House of Commons by the smaller constituencies. At present 171,000 electors had power to return 330 members—a clear majority of the house. (Hear.) He referred to the boroughs of Arundel, Calne, and Thetford, as in stances of pocket boroughs. It was impossible that the Roman Catholics could require the aid of the Duke of Norfolk to be represented in the House of Commons, after having contributed some of its most intellectual members, as Mr. O'Connell, Mr. Sheil, and Mr. Lucas—(cheers)—who were the disinterested choice of their friends, and most able representatives of the opinions of the Roman Catholics of England. After referring to the attacks on Mr. Bright by members of the aristocracy', he warned those noble lords to consider their position. The peerage did not contain so many illustrious members that the Commons should be very careful to consider them in making an arrangement which applied only to themselves. He believed the rea• son why there was the slightest cause to expect a satisfactory amendment of our representative sys tem was because the bill of Mr. Bright was now before the country, and he called upon the meeting to support it. (Loud cheers.) Letters of apology were read from Mr. Bazley, M.P., Mr. J. A. Turner, M.P.,Mr. J. Cowen, jun. (Newcastle-upon-Tyne), M r . adfield, M.P., and Mr. Kershaw, M.P. Mr. H. ASHWORTH (of Bolton) moved : " That this meeting believes that the so-called Reform Bill introduced into parliament by her Majesty's go vernment is most unsatisfactory to the country, in asmuch as it still continues to the small and cor rupt nomination boroughs the power of sending members to parliament, makes no provision for vote by ballot, denies to the industrious classes their just political rights, and destroys a large number of the most ancient class of freehold voters ; the meeting, therefore, pledges itself to use its most strenuous exertions to prevent this bill passing into law." Mr. WATKIN (late M.P. for Yarmouth) seconded the resolution. The monopoly of government had brought us to this—that we were positively depend ing for the future prime minister of the country upon the tottering steps of three old gentlemen, who were rapidly passing to the grave. The resolution was unanimously adopted. Mr. Alderman HEYWOOD moved the second re solution :—" That this meeting recommends that any measure of reform to be brought forward should have for its object an extension of the suffrage in counties, not less than such as shall confer the fran chise on all occupiers of £lO a year; an extension in boroughs not less than such as shall confer the franchise - on all persons rated or liable to be rated to the poor for any tenement or part of a tenement ; a more equal distribution of members ofPatliament, in reference to population and property ' • the un controlled exercise of the f ranc hi se b y affording to the voter the protection of the ballot ; and shorter Parliaments." The motion was unanimously adopted. Mr. BARNES (late M.P. for Bolton) moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Bright, which was adopted with loud cheerinr , ; the meeting being addre sse d, i n conclusion, by Mr. J. B. Torr, Mr. W. Wilks (of Newcastle-on-Tyne), and Mr. W. P. Roberts. A motion in favour of manhood suffrage, by Mr. Hooson, was negatived. LONDON MEETING BY TORCHLIGHT Yesterday evening a numerous open air meeting of the working-classes was held by torch light in the Britannia-fields, for the purpose of eliciting an expression of opinion with regard to the Government Reform Bill. The meeting was convened for six o'clock, but did not take place till seven, by which time a vast concourse of persons had assembled. Mr. Shaw presided, and said he strongly objected to the Government bill, and called on the people not to accept of any measure that did not combine manhood suffrage, vote by ballot, and equal distribution of electoral districts, combined with the shortening of the duration of Parliaments. Mr. Henretti moved a resolution to the effect that in the opinion of this meeting the Reform Bill proposed by Government is a mockery and a delusion, and should be opposed by every.sincere and honest reformer, and that no measure of ' reform will be satisfactory to the people of this country unless it recognises the right of the man to the suffrage, with the protection of the ballot, and a more equal distribution of members to population, and the shortening the duration. of Parliament to at least three years. A petition to' the House of Commons against the bill was then adopted. GRAVESEND. Last evening a crowded and highly influential public meeting of the inhabitants of the borough of Gravesend was held at the Literary Institution, Harmer-street, for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the merits of the Government Reform Bill. On the platform, in addition to three of the borough magistrates and several members of the corporation, were Messrs. C. W. Martin and Wliatman, the - members for West Kent, who were received with loud applause. It. Oakes, Esq., was unanimously called to the chair, and commenced the proceedings by observing that a meeting had recently been held to petition Parliament to confer the Parliamentary franchise upon the borough of Gravesend, and this boon was yielded by the Government bill. As a sincere refbrmer, much as he desired to see Gravesend enfranchised, lie would not accept the bill, because it contained this provi sion, as he believed that it was a sham, and unworthy of the support of the reform party. Dr. Hyde Clark moved the following resolution : " That the bill introduced by the Government into the House of Commons disappoints the just expec tations of the country that a large portion of the working classes should be admitted to the enjoy ment of the franchise, and while recognising the claims of Gravesen d to be constituted a Parliamentary borough it disfi ancbises more than 400 freehold county voters resident within the borough, admits as voters for the borough any number of non resident freeholders withoutrequiring their presence even at the polling-booth, and by not extinguish ing any of the existing small boroughs it confers on Gravesend, with its 16,000 inhabitants, only the same privilege as that which is retained for thir teen English towns having each less than 5,000 inhabitants. For these reasons, this meeting is of opinion that the bill should be rejected at its second reading." After entering into detail upon the various items of the bill, the speaker observed it was perfectly evident that it was framed with a view to add to the conservative interest, and whilst it pretended to give the franchise to large numbers, it practically curtailed the operation of the suffrage, and entirely ignored the political rights of the working classes. The Rev. E. Pryce seconded the motion, and remarked that only one thing could be done with the bill. It was too bad to be considered in detail, and should be rejected on its second read. ing. He believed the county members present were prepared to adopt this course ; and if it re sulted in a change of ministry the country might obtain a comprehensive measure of reform. Whether Lord John • Russell would accept the reins of Government, or Lord Palmerston, would soon be seen. In his opinion Lord Johnßussell was the man for the coming crisis. (Cries of " No, no," and cheers.) He believed that Lord John was earnest on the subject of reform, and if he was well watched—(iaugliter)—would present a reform bill acceptable to the nation. -At all events, let the next ministry have the same chance as the present, and if they deceived the country they must go out of office too. Mr. C. W. Martin, M.P., and Mr Whatman, 111,P., both addressed the meeting, and declared their intention to give the bill their deter mined opposition. NOTTINGHAM. A public meeting, which had been convened bf the Mayor, in compliance with a numerously-signed requisition, 11 a i held in the Exchange-hall, Notting ham, on Tuesday evening, " for the purpose of tak ing into consideration the Reform Bill introduced into the House of Commons by the present Govern ment." The chair was occupied by Mr. Alderman Knight, on the platform were the leading Radicals and and Chartists in the town. The body of the hall was tilled chiefly by the working classes. The requisition and notice convening the meeting having been read, The following letters from the members for the borough, Mr. Walter and Mr. C. Paget, were read by the secretary : " 40, Upper Grosvenor-street, March 14. " Sir,—l have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of the resolutions which it is intended to propose at the meeting of the electors and inhabitants of Nottingham, which is convened for to-morrow. " I regret that I shall be prevented by Parliamentary engagements both of a public and private character from attending the meeting in question ; but I will thank you to convey to the meeting the following brief expression of my opinions on the important subject to which their attention is being directed. Ist. lam of opinion that the question of Parliamentary Reform Ought to be settled without any further delay, and in such a manner as will prevent the renewal of any agitation on the subject for many years to come. 2d. lam of opinion that the Go vernment Bill, in the present shape, will not satisfy the last of these requirements; and, that, both as regards the distribution of seats and the question of the franchise, it falls very short of the just expectations of the public. I am not disposed, however, to regard it, as some do, as 'all absolute sham.' On the contrary, I believe it may be made the foundation of a useful and permanent. measure ; and I approve of the principle which it contains, that the occupa tion franchise in counties should be assimilated to that boroughs. 3d. I have always maintained the opinion that those who claim to be admitted to the privilege of the fran ohise should be prepared to accept the responsibilities which the possession of such a privilege imposes on them ; and that open voting is the best guarantee for the right exercise of such a privilege. lam therefore wholly opposed to the ballot.—l remain, Sir, your obedient servant, " J. WALTER." The reading of the latter portion of Mr. Walter's letter elicited evidences of disapprobation, voices from the body of the hall demanding " manhood suffrage" and " vote by ballot." - Mr. Paget's letter, which was warmly applauded, stated : " The inadequate , representation of the working classes is the great defect in our present system. The provisions of the bill to remedy this defect are trifling in the extreme. No reform will be satisfactory which does not provide for the skilful and industrious workmen such a fair share in the representation as is due to their growing intelligence and to the increasing proofs which they give of their ability to discharge the duties of a citizen. "The protection of the ballot is due to every voter, in order that he may fearlessly and conscientiously fulfil the duty imposed upon him by the possession of the franchise. I have always voted for it, and I shall continue to give it my hearty support." Mr. Alderman CULLEN moved the first resolu tion, to the effect that the meeting was of opinion that the provisions of the Government measure were entirely inadequate to meet the just require ments and advanced intelligence of the nation. Mr. GEE seconded the motion, which was carried nem. con. Mr. Alderman JUDD proposed the next resolu tion, to the effect that any measure of reform, to give satisfaction to the people and promote the security of the country at large, should at least provide for the enfranchisement of every person who is wholly or in part a ratepayer, for vote by ballot, triennial parliaments, an equitable appor tionment of representation to the wealth and population of the kingdom. Mr. Councillor HART seconded the resolution, and commented in very strong terms on the new Reform Bill, which was a farce, a delusion, and 0, snare. This resolution was also carried. A petition, embodying the views expressed in proceeding resolutions, was then adopted. THE _" VIENNA GAZETTE" AND THE " 1110NITEUR." A reply has been given by the official Vienna Gazette to the first of the 21Ioniteur's two articles on the European " situation." The Austrian jour nal says : It is on the article of March 5, in the Moniteur, that the liolitical world still grounds its hypotheses concerning the juncture of affairs near at hand. Can the official organ of the French government, casting a retrospective look at the agitation it has so recently caused, confess that its object is attained ? We think not. It was not the intention of the Moniteur to create serious hopes for the preservation of peace. This is proved by the eagerness with which its confidential satellites deny the pacific veering round of French policy revealed to broad daylight in the speech from the throne, of February 7, and in Count Moray's address to the Legislative Corps. we ourselves, and we deliberately say it, have not believed in this veering round. We have not found in the article in question of the Moniteur a single word in which we could detect the symptoms of a return to more equitable seno - to the principles of right and justice. What did the Moniteur mean when it spoke out on the sth of March on the political situation ? We think we are not wide of the mark when we say that the writer wishes to give to public opinion, in its estimates of the causes and effects of the material and moral connection of affairs in this situation, a direction different from that which public opinion had been hitherto taking. The efforts of the Moniteur, we admit, have been rendered easier than they were a few weeks ago. It had cause to be satisfied with the success procured for it, both in Germany and England, by the diversion about the special treaties between Austria and various states in Italy. It could reckon on the facility with which men would allow their minds to be impressed by the idea it was about to propa gate. This idea has a far more 'extensive range than the Constitutionnel would have us suppose when it talks about localising , the war, and wants to persuade Germany that her interests do not lead her in any way to support Austria in the Italian question. The idea which inspired the article in the Moniteur is the divide et impera in the " German question," a question that would inevitably arise if a certain hand could give to the situation of Italy an equitable solution after the pattern of the treaty of peace concluded at Paris in 1856. We will not go to the bottom of this idea now •, we confine ow selves to showing the way in which the .Moniteur had endeavoured, for the sake of this very idea, to explain to the world how and why the French Government is not respon sible for the anxieties felt by Europe. " Where are the words," demands the Noniteut, " where are the diplomatic notes, where are the acts that imply the desire to provoke war ?" Had we not seen that this question is equivocal enough, we might reply to the official organ of the French Government by asking in our turn whether it has lost all conscience and memory, or whether in its pride it fancies the world must accept without reflection and in silence all that is said to it. Such is not, in our opinion, the state of things. The sense of truth and right, the will to let them have free currency, is still spread far and wide among mankind. In this conviction we remind the world of the forbearance and patience with which Austria has endured the long and incessant provocations and offences of her small neighbour. Is there any other power that, under the same circumstances, could say it had ex hibited similar forbearance and similar patience ? The attitude of Austria towards Piedmont, from the battle of Novara to this moment, has been one uninterrupted abnega tion, quite unique in political annals. Nay, more, it has been even too much so ; for this self-restraint had reached the stage where forgetfulness of duties—the most sacred duties—begins. Such was the point that Austria had reached in her relations with Sardinia. " Where are the words, the acts implying the will to provoke war ?" No where, we shall reply to this equivocal question. But who ca n have forgotten that imperial France, at the outbreak of the war in the East, declared she would carry the tricolored flag to the foot of the Appenines if Austria refused to join her on the Lower Danube ? Who can have forgotten the encou ragements that, since this declaration, "the Italian cause" has met with from the official and semi-official organs of imperial France ? Who can have forgotten the support which the efforts of the Sardinian plenipotentiaries found for this cause at the Congress of Paris ? Who can have forgotten the words with which the speech from the throne flattered last year the hopes of the "oppressed nationali ties ?" Who can have forgotten the trial and case of Orsini, the publication of that assassin's will and testa ment. Who does not still remember the war rumour raised by the Governmental press at Paris last autumn, for the Italian cause ? Who does not recollect the contradiction given to those rumours at the very time the French people were parading all their sympathies for the Italian cause ? Who does not still speak about the language used to the Austrian ambassador at the Tuileries on the first day of this year ? Who does not sum up the injuries inflicted on private and public wealth in every country P Does not the Moniteur confirm the existence of an alliance between France and Piedmont, an alliance long mentioned by rumour? "The Emperor," says the Moniteur, "has pro mised the King of Sardinia to protect him against aggres sion from Austria." Now, every one knows what a wide interpretation is given to the word " aggression" both . at Paris and Turin have only to go back to the affair of Montenegro when the Honiteur. applied the term " aggression" to the'defen sive operations of the Ottoman troops who drove back the Czernagores to their mountains. Let us take up the first newspaper come to hand from Turin, inspired by the govern ment and the revolulionary ideas ; let us listen to the debates of the Piedmontese Parliament, and we shall hear it said every day that Austria's poss ess i on of the Lombardo-Vene tian kingdom is a violation of right—an Austrian aggres sion against Italy. Did not the First Minister of Piedmont close the debate on th e war-loan with these words, " The offensive and the d e f ens i ve are re l at i ve not i ons. " But let us come b ack to the manifestations of French policy respectin g Italy. All of them did not imply "the will to provoke war," but they authorised King Victor- Emmanuel to express the hope of seeing certain eventuali ties arise, by which the Italian cause might come off vic torious; they gave him the right to impose on his exhausted country fresh burthens, fresh war-charges. These words, these acts "do not imply the will to provoke war," but it . . is they which prepare the introduction of the peace-systera that dates from Bordeaux, and which finds in the projects of M. La Gueronnoiero the equitable solution of the Italian question. They had resolved to submit the question diplomatically' before they did so "politically." - They did not wish to provoke war, for they . hoped, they said, that peace would not be broken. It was imagined that Austria was going to crown her forbearance and patience towards Piedmont by benevolently accepting, the equitable solution. . \lra were quite recently told. from Paris that the measures of precaution taken by Austria in anticipation of a rupture of the peace were a provocation addressed to France, and that the latter could not but take it up. Now we read in a German paper :—" Hitherto it has been France that has been provoking and sustaining the apprehensions of war, but now it is Austria's obstinacy that is feared." Let us how this paper will acknowledge the wrong it does to Austria. Jo] sligh quite Exch( Ditto Ditto Excht Brazil Dit Dit PeruN Portu Sardis Spani Turki I‘. - EMU Ch 12 to th i wcti Lott at per Per Aus 2 to to t] decli of 0 TI tiate p Tl] have depri char 3 per India Ditto Cons Austi Lo &Aron' Po . Mary Shielo house encou • PL Super vessel by a 'To St. V CA cheso w Ar Caro Sai Haw llri Ar from ZPI Ar Minn Ar Sai IV: Pa West. An Gibrt Prins Presi Tice.