The Sun. — London, England, 1862-03-04 00:00:00

zettled, and asked by what process the Chancellor of the Exchequer arrived at the speedy repayment which he had mentioned. Sir C. WOOD said there would be a monthly muster roll received from India, and it was easy from these rolls to as certain the average payment for the 12 months. The house then divided, and the numbers were— For Sir 11. Willoughby's motion ...... 55 Against it The motion was consequently lost. General PEEL said he thought nothing could be so un sa isfactory as the condition of that house with regard to the control it exercised over the expenditure of the money which it voted. The observations that he was about to make were dictated by no party feeling whatever, and wpuld not apply t.) any particular Government or individual. It was perfectly true that they had the estimates laid before them, and it was said to be in the power of the house to reduce the amount of those estimates. That would be taking upon themselves a degree of responsibility which he for one would be very sorry to share. The esti- . . mates were produced on the authority and responsibility of the Government of that day. Motions had frequently been made to refer the estimates to a committee. To such motions he had always been opposed. He did not think that such a course would tend to economy. The increase in the military expenditure had risen in great measure from resolutions in that house. For instance, it had been pro posed that a regiment should only be called to serve ten Tears abroad and five at heme, but if that were carried into effect it would require a much greater number of men than the army comprised. The house approved of the report of the Sanitary Commission, which recommended that in the dormitories in barracks every soldier ought to have 600 übic feet of air ; but if that were carried into effect it would entail a large- additional expenditure on barracks. He be- lieved that the estimates were cut down to the lowest point consistent with efficiency. He believed that many votes of arger amount might be asked for, not only without extrava gance, but even on the score of economy. A select com mittee would have great difficulty in resisting a demand based on a resolution of the house. He did not think that the estimates could be much reduced. On the contrary, on the last two occasions when the estimates had been brought be- fore them he had complained that they did not provide many kings that were necessary. Supplementary estimator, ought to be avoided if possible. They deranged the whole financial arrangements of the year. The estimates ought to provide for the service of the year. The first improvement hewould venture to suggest would be, that the audit of the expendi- ture should be expedited if possible. They allowed eight months for the audit of the Admiralty accounts, and 13 for the army. Considering the facilities of communication that now existed, he thought that interval might be reduced. Be that as it might, the accounts ought to be submitted to a committee of that house. The committee ought to com pare the expenditure with the estimates, to see whether the number of men voted had been actually raised, and whether any votes had been transferred from one service to another, s►rid if so, whether the money so transferred had been actu ally expended. lie believed that the referring of the ac counts to a select committee in that way would lead to ac- r uracy in the estimates and economy in the expenditure. What was their present system ? They had the estimates laid on the table of the house, and the estimates of the for mer year to compare them with ; but neither the house nor the Government knew whether the estimates of the former year 'were sufficient or insufficient. They had much better have the estimates of the previous year which had been au- dited. Sir G. C. LEWIS—The accounts. General PEEL said he meant the audited accounts. Bu ' with regard to any account of the expenditure of the money which they were called upon to vote, that might, if any in dustrious or inquisitive member should, two years and a half hence, say at the end of 1864, search very diligently in the library, he might then find an audited account of the ex enditure of the money voted in 1862. But whatever the xcess of expenditure might be over the sum voted, or whatever might have been the transfer from one service to another, he ventured to say that that hon. member would never be able to attract the attention of the house to it. He would be met by supplementary estimates and votes of credit, or by transfers of money voted from one service to another, and as the house would not be called upon to vote any further sum in regard to the expenditure. its atten tion could not be attraeted to the subject. It might be asked what was the use of control over expenditure which could not be carried into effect till eighteen months :after the expenditure had taken place. He admitted that it would have no effect on the expenditure which was taking - place now, but it would have the greatest possible effect on the expenditure in the future. The next improve ment that he would suggest would be an alteration in the Appropriation Act as regarded the transfer of votes from one service to another. At present the heads of depart ments were obliged to obtain the sanction of the Treasury ; but the Chancellor of the Exchequer told them last year that the Treasury had neither power nor responsibility in the matter, and that if the money were there and was required for one service, it was the duty of the Treasury to sanction the transfer without coming to the house. He did not mean to say that this power of transfer might not be necessary in some cases, but he would leave the power and responsibility with the Secretary of State or the First Lord of the Admiralty. For example— if they had got more men than they had money to pay them with, it might be desirable that a transfer should be made. But these transfers never took place till just the end of the financial year when the votes were exhausted. But Parliament was always sitting at that time, and he thought the Secretary of State should get the sanction of Parliament and not of the Treasury for those transfers. And if Parliament were not sitting he might make the transfer, but ho would make it imperative on him to report the circumstance to Parliament when Parliament met. This of course would only apply to the sums voted for military and naval purposes. Another improvement he would sug gest was, that no service for the past year should be paid for out of the money voted for the service of the present year. Nothing was so easy as to obtain the postponement of the delivering a contract till after the expiration of the financial year, and then the money that was voted for this purpose might be applied to another purpose. The noble lord the Secretary to the Admiralty gave them an instance the other night. He told them that £50,000 which ought to have been paid one year became a charge on the next year. Lord C. PAGET—It was re-voted in the next year. General PEEL—Exactly. He had known a case not of £50,000 but of £lOO,OOO, which became a charge on the en suing year, and he doubted very much whether they would have ever heard of this £50,000 if it had not been necessary for the Government to come do w n t o th e h ouse with a sup plementary estimate. He did n o t thi n k any money had been improperly or extravagantly expended. On the con trary, he thought that the large outlay on the military and naval services had placed those services in a state of effi ciency, which was much to the credit of all the departments. Mr. W. -WILLIAMS said it was remarkable what coin cidences occurred between gentlemen in office and gentle men who expected to be in office. The right hon. and gallant general justified the extraordinary expenditure for the army. The estimates for the present year of the cost of: the army were to him (Mr. Williams) perfectly incompre hensible. They amounted to £15,300,000, and including the militia the cost would be somewhere about £16,000,000. Nothing could justify this large expenditure for the army but a preparation for war. But in the speech from the throne her Majesty was made to say that her relations with all foreign countries were peaceable. Lord R. MONTAGU thought the house ought to be thankful to the right hon. gentleman (General Peel) and to the hon. baronet (Sir S. Nerthcote) for having brought the subject before the house. Sir G. LEWIS observed, as to what had fallen from the right hon. gentleman (Gen. Peel), it appeared to him (Sir G. Lewis) that the check of the house upon the army and navy estimates was as :nearly perfect as possible. The speech of the right hon. gentleman had been a sort of epi logue to the report of the Committee on Public Moneys, the great object of which had been to assimilate the prac- Cce regarding the civil service estimates to that of the army and nay) . That practice was this—unless the money voted f or any particular object was expended within the year, th e Power to extend it ceased. For example, if the house fvotedbe fore the lit of April, the power of the War Department to spend it Was gone, and the money would have to be voted again. nf course it was necessary that the house should grant mou sy and all the upon estimates, but when the year had elapsed, ents had been made, they became ac counts, and r o r a the GGvernment I t l hen be audited. The noble lord said that to re-appoint a eeta d ra b . "13 guilty of a breach of its promise b t : t.ee to examine the accounts—but it was the intention of mov e e cv right hon. friend (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) t o ac e the re-appointment of that com mittee, and the audited it. (Hear, hear.) counts could then be referred to gged to CANADA, T h Gipps Mr. D. GRIFFITH. be FOB, ask the First L or d o f th e Treasury whether the ctovemet u re f eral_ of Canada, as oto: there, did not well as the comm ander- in - chief of thee the nd out a body apply to the Government last summe r of troops to Canada considerably larg er was actually sent at that t i me ; and if so, wh y they did not au that whi c h more fully comply with that requisition p Sir F. BARING said with regard to the navy and a timates he thought the house had 'perfect control over them, if it chose to exert it. And if the gallant general thought the house had not sufficient contr ol over the e x penditure, ho hoped the Cha ncellor of the Exchequerwenii appoint him a member of the co mmittee. (Hear, hear.) Lord PAL MERST ON—ln reply to the question put to ma by the hon. member opposite, I have to confirm what he stated, namely, that the reinforcements which her Majesty's Government thought it right to send to the North Ameri can provinces in the course of last summer were represented by hon. gentlemen on the other side of the house as useless injurious, and improvident, and that they ought never to have been sent. I believe that opinion is not now very much entertained. It was the wish of her Majesty's Government at the time to send a larger number, but so far from that large number having been asked for by the colonial autho rities,on it was in consequence of represontations made by the was ei forial authorities that th e sen di n g of that larger number owing ie th w e an - ti t m o e f suspended. Therefore it was not at a ll foresight on the part of her Majesty 's Government that th e larger number was not sent at the time. But as it ha ppene d ,I believe, it was rather fortu- nate that a large number was not sent at that time, because I think that those who have watched the progress of late events must have seen that the energy and r idity with which a very large force was despatched t ) Canada, in the middle of winter, in spite of all the diffi.2.ulties attend ing such a proceeding—that the promptitu le, vigour, and power displayed by this country—tended v i y greatly to the peaceful solution of the difficulty which at( se between us and the United States. (F-ear, hear.) SUPPLY.—THE ARMY ESTIMATES. The house then went into Committee of Supply. Mr. MASSEY in the chair. Sir G. C. LEWIS rose to introduce the army estimates. He said, Mr. Massey—Sir, although we enter annually a constitutional protest against the institution of a standing army, although we annually recite in our Mutiny Act that it is contrary to the liberties of this country to maintain a standing army without the consent of Parliament, still I think that this must be considered as substantially a con- stitutional fiction, and we must regard a standing army as belonging to the permanent institutions of the country, not less than the navy, and not less than the machinery for the collection of the revenue. It is true not only that we have a standing army in substance, but this is one of the most expensive of the institutions which we maintain, Taking at present the total expenditure of the country at about £70,000,000, of which £.:6,200,000 may be referred to the interest of our debt, the charge for the army alone this year amounts to £15,302,000. With the militia, it amounts to £16,250,000 ; leaving for all the other branches of the ex penditure a sum of £27,550,000. So that the expense of our army and militia is about £16,000,000, as compared with £27,C00,000, the rest of our expenditure, minus the debt. The committee therefore sees that in voting the army esti mates, they deal with a very large portion of that expendi ture of the country which ig within the control of Parlia ment. It is true, as my hon. friend lately pointed out, that this expenditure has increased of late years; and in moving the fist vote of the estimate now on the table, that vote which contains the number of men, and therefore sub stantially determines the character of the whole estimate, it will be my endeavour, as far as I am able, to furnish the committee with an answer to this question, why has the army estimate increased of late years, and why has it reached the Duni a .0,0,302,000, which is the amount which it is my duty to ask the house to agree to in the pre sent session ? Well, I think I can, without occupying any unreasonable amount of the time of the committee, fur nish them with an answer to that question, and without troubling them with any great amount of detail in figures; which are always distasteful to listen to. In order to make this matter clear to the committee, I will, with their per- mission, go back to a year as remote as 1789, which was the year in which the great French Revolution broke out. In that year the total number of men for the British and Irish establishments—which were then separate—was 43,395. The total sum voted for the army, ordnance, and commis sariat in that year was £2,981,000. It was £2,428,000 for Great Britain, and £552,000 for Ireland. Now that was the whole amount of our army estimates; it was not quite £3,000,000. That was the whole amount of expenditure for military purposes in Great Britain and Ireland in the first year of the French revolution. As the committee knows, we shortly afterwards embarked in a great war, which lasted many years, upon which the existence of this nation depended, in which we carried en a gigantic struggle against the power of Napoleon, both by land and sea, which rendered it necessary that the whole of our military organi sation should be developed to its utmost, and that all the nerves of the country should be strained, in order to in crease our army to the highest amount which the finances of the country could bear. lam anxious to call the atten tion. of the committee to the effect of that war on the num bers and expense of our army. In the year 1819 the number of men for the army had risen to a little over 80,000, and for the ordnance to 7,848 ; making a total of 88,682—that is to say, the number of men rose to about double since 1789. The total amount of the army estimate, including the ordnance and commissariat, in the year 1818, was £10,307,000. Therefore, the number of our army had increased from 43,000 in the year 1789—we may say in consequence of this great war—to 88,000 in the year 1818-19, and the ex pense of the army had increased from about £3,000,000 to about £10,000,000. At that amount our army remained without any substantial alteration until 1831. My hon. friend read some figures about the year 1830. I will give a correct statement, including all the items necessary, for the year 1832. In that year the number of men voted was 97,949, and the total amount of expenditure was £8,399,000. That shows no material difference from the year 1818. Now I come to the year with which I propose to make my comparisons, which is the year almost immediately preceding the Crimean war—the year 1852-3. In that year the number of men was 119,000; the total expenditure was £9,021,000. I wish the committee to observe that our tary expenditure underwent a great increase in consequence of the French war, which began in the year 1792 and ended in 1815, and then it remained tolerably stationary until the year preceding the Crimean war. There is no doubt that the deficiencies in our military system which were disclosed by the events of that war have led to a considerable increase in the amount of our army and the expense of our establish ments. For instance, the number to be voted in the present year is 145,000, and the sum to be voted is £15,302,000 as compared with the figures which I have stated in the yeas immediately preceding the Crimean war. The lesson which I think this comparison teaches is, that in the same manner as the French war led to a great development of our military system, and showed the deficiency under which our army then laboured, and thereby produeed a permanent increase in the charge for the army, so the Crimean war produced a similar effect, and had led to a permanent increase in the cost of our military system, both by making a permanent addition to the strength of the army, and also by rendering necessary certain additions intended to provide for the effi ciency of the army. There is another circumstance to which I must advert in accounting for the increase of our mili tary system since the commencement of the Crimean war —which is, the change that has taken place in the political institutions of France ; and all persons, I think, who are conversant with the sentiments of those who occupied a prominent place in public affairs during the first fifteen years of this century will admit that the predominant object of their policy was, so long as they had any control over affairs of state, to maintain and, if possible, to increase the chances of the continuance of peace. They had lived through a period of most disas trous warfare, and the great object of all the statesmen of that generation, both in this country and on the continent, was to increase, multiply, and strengthen the securities for peace, and to contribute to its permanence. But after a time a generation has grown up which has no personal re collection of the French revolutionary war; and, moreover, the restored dynasty of France was by its origin naturally attached to a pacific policy. They owed their throne to the assistance of the other powers of Europe ; their security was to a great extent to be found in the su; port of the rest of Europe, and the last thing to be expected was that the restored Bourbon dynasty of France should revive the wars of the French empire. But as soon as the Napoleonic dynasty was restored in F rance th e id eas of the empire naturally revived. I do not for a moment doubt that the policy of the present Emperor, as far as that policy depends on individual wishes and opinions, is essentially a peaceful policy, and that he is well inclined to maintain a cordial understanding, with this country. But we must remember that he lives in the midst of a population which is influ enced by the opinions which the restoration of his dynasty has set in motion ; that such books as the history of M. Thi rs naturally have great influence in that country, and that the ideas of restoring tne naturalboundaries of France as they existed under the restoration and as the empire found them. may not unnaturally be expected to be pressed with great force on the Emperor. My own opi nion is that we have nothing to fear from ill feeling on the part of the Emperor of the French towards this coun try. (Hear, hear.) My belief is that we have everything to expect from his good wishes and inclinations ; but we must bear in mind the circumstances by which he is surrounded, and a prudent statesman must guard against dangers which must be admitted to be not without foundation. Looking to the alteration in the state of Europe, and the great exten• sion which our military system received during the Crimean war, I find an explanation of the increase in our military establishment. I think the committee will not be of opinion when they come to examine the details of these estimates, large no doubt as some of the items are, that they are larger than the interests of the countrydemand. Having attempted to explain the general foundation of this large estimate, I will now show that there are certain circumstances which make the apparent amount larger than the real amount. In the first place there has been brought into this estimate— as has been explained before we went into committee—for the first time a charge for the Indian depots and recruiting the Indian army. That trharg,e never before appeared in the estimate, and therefore that increase is apparent, and not real. The total amount of the repayments which it is Pgti mated will be received from the Indian Government in the course of the year—an a mount Which is only estimated,for we do ,set know the exact figures—is I think about £1,000,000. A part of that sum has been previously set off in the shape cf payments for the non-effective service, but the whole of the payments for the effective service, which is estimated to amount to £730,000, appears for the first time as a set off against this sum. Therefore from the £15,300,000 I have to deduct £730,000, and that leaves £14,572,000. That sum, the committee will see, is rather less than the estimate of last year without the supplemen tary estimate. But in order to make a fair comparison with the estimates of last year I must add £35,000 for ad ditional expenses to Canada, which will have to be in currederei in consequence of the recent expedition, and which for N n e d w ud z e s d al i a n n t d h , isestimate. Then . I l must t add £170,000 o o o u o n f t or th C a h t ill. f i n s d th i e s a o m , also not wh includedi:h lasts mn wasas year's clud sd in t estimate, he Fete of credit, with last That leaves a sum of £14,00,000, which a fairraust be taken to make the comparison year there is a reductio one.i Making these deductions, then, Therefore, though the n re th i e present estimate of £636,000. the amount of the yeas. sa large increase compared with war, it is by no means immediatelyextrav preceding the Crimean estimate of last year. she a l g l ant as compared with the amount of men, and first as to tnheeiw distribution, because r call attention to the much depends on that. Our army is essentially armies of continental states, which have noforeirh. unlike the A large part of it is permanently abroad. peossessions. ea tear of men created thereby is considerable. Wi w th r regard and to the Prussian army, for instance, it would be much fairer THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDA:i EVENING, MARCH 4, 1862. to compare our militia with that army, because they are not exposed to the destructive influences to which the regular army is exposed in such climates as India and Canada. The number of men of all arms in this country, including in fantry, cavalry, and artillery, is 81,614, and including the Indian depots, 89,238. The number of our men in stations in Europe is 17,048. In Asia, excluding India, 8,185; in Africa, including the islands, 7,233 j; in America, 24,289, which is larger than usual in consequence of the reinforce ments lately sent there ; in Australia, excluding New Zealand, 12,034; in New Zealand by itself, 3,965; in India, 75,899 (but this number will shortly be reduced)—making a total, including India, of 227,159. The committee will imme- diately see from the great number of the stations at which the men are placed the difficulty which exists in making any considerable reduction in the number of men. We propose, in consequence of some addition to our settlements on the coast of Africa, to add a fourth West India regiment, Three West India regiments already in existence have been reduced from 10 to 8 companies; and the cost of the whole four will not be much in excess of the three. The recruiting for the army has been stopped since last autumn, and the committee will see that the number of men proposed this year is less than that of last year. There is, however, one point in these estimates which may excite remark. I allude to the increase in the number of the staff. (Hear.) I dare say many hon. gentlemen will say this has resulted from undue influence on the part of the Horse Guards, who are always wishing to increase the staff, I think I can satisfy the committee that there is no real increase, and that it is merely nominal, with the exception of a small addition to the medical staff, made for the purpose of the Canadian forces, it being thought desirable to send out some add , tional men to North America in the event of war occurring. There were then ten officers added to th 3 medical staff. 230 have been tranferred from 7 to the military store accoun Formerly the store officers had no commissions, but now they had commissions. Comparing the pay of some of the princi cipal branches of the army as it was iu 1853-54 with the present year, it will be seen, confining ourselves to the vote of pay and allowances, that there is an actual diminution since the former period. I will give the committee a com parative stateracnt for certain branches of the army, taking the pay at so much per head. In 1853.4 the Life Guards and Horse Guards had £66 4s. 2d. per man, in the present year they are to have £5B 9s. 4d. The cavalry of the line had £45 13s. in the last year, this year they will have £3B 25.4 d. The Foot Guards received then £36 7s. 3d., against £32 16s. bd. The infantry of the line received then £2B 16s. 9d., as against £27 Is. 11d. this year. Therefore, whatever may be the increase in the expenditure of the army, there has been none in the pay and allowances. But although that is the case, the condition of the men has been improved, as I will presently show. One cause of the increased expendi ture has been the new establishments of different sorts con nected with the army. In the first place, since the Crimean war military trains have been created, which is an entirely new branch. The army hospital corps and the commissa riat staff corps are entirely new. Great additions have like wise been made to the commissariat and medical staff offi cers, and the purveyor's department has been almost en tirely reorganised. Those are important departments of the army, tending materially to its efficiency, but of course attended with increased expense. There had also been of late a great increase in the charge for gunpowder. The amount of practice in infantry regiments is certainly a new feature ; we give it to the volunteers, and besides the experi ments with the great guns consume an immense quantity. I cannot say hew much each explosion cost at the recent expe riments with Sir W. Armstrong's 300-pounder. Again there is a large increase in miscellaneous stores. Government is obliged to keep pace with scientific discovery, and hence the experiments which are often so costly. At this moment there is a large party who think that the Enfield rifle should be discarded and the Whitworth substituted, when the ex pense would be enormous, and we should therefore be un. willing to incur it ; but still we must say that no useful improvement is neglected in ours, whilst adopted in foreign armies. I believe I have now put the house in possession of all the facts that relate to the efficiency of the army. General PEEL complained of the omission from the esti mates of regular debtor and creditor accounts with regard to our manufacturing establishments, and in his opinion the comparisons which were drawn of the men voted from year to year for the army at home and in India were fallacious. Sir G. C. LEWIS said the new arrangement for the re payment of moneys by the Indian government was made during last session after the estimates were voted ; therefore it was not possible to make any other arrangement for this year; nevertheless, a new mode of payment was introduced, and with regard to the effective services it was made a mat ter of account between the War Department and the India Department. The money was paid over directly to the War Department under the authority of the Treasury. The pre sent India establishment was rather under 80,000 men. Mr. W. WILLIAMS said he felt strongly disposed to propose a reduction of the force mentioned in this vote, but he was aware he should receive no support from the com mittee. (Hear, hear.) The standing army and the auxi liary forces of different kinds, and the army in our various dependencies, were in the aggregate equal to any army of any military power on the continent. It was quite a new thing for England to have such a large standing army. Colonel NORTH said, if our army had only to defend England, the hon. member might have cause to complain, but he should remember that it was sent to America and all other parts of the world, and that being so it was not so large as other armies. Mr. WHITE wished his hon. friend the member for Lambeth had moved a reduction of 10,000 men. (" Hear, hear," and laughter, and cries of "Move.") Well, then, he would move that the number of men be reduced by .0,000. Colonel NORTH asked the hon. member from what part of the army he would take these men ? (Cries of "Order.") The committee then divided, when there appeared : For the amendment • Against it The vote was then agreed to. On the vote of £5,355,596 for pay and money allowances for land forces, Major KNOX said that in moving that the vote be re duced by £1,038 14s. 7d., the amount of pay and allow ances to the general commanding the brigade of Guards in London, he had no intention of attacking the Guards, but, on the contrary, believed that the real enemies of that force were those who opposed a similar motion last year, when the vote was only carried by three in a small house. This appointment was first created to make a place for a noble lord who had just returned from the Crimea. (Hear.) It was held by him for five years, and as long as the five years lasted nothing was said about it, but on their termination the matter was broached in the house, and a strong feeling evinced in regard to it. The noble lord at the head of the Government said the reason for having a major-general to command the Guards was that it produced unity of com mand, instead of that command being bandied about from one officer to another. The strange part of the matter, how ever, was, that while he received major-general's pay, the major-general who was at Aldershot only received briga dier's yay. An hon. and gallant general (General Upton) had said that, as far as the discipline of the Guards was concerned, such an officer was not required, and that they got on quite as well before as after the appointment. Sir G. C. LEWIS said the creation of the office had really been described as a job to provide an appointment for a noble lord who had formerly been in the Guards ; but Lord Rokeby was not now brigadier-general of the Guards. The appointment was at present held by Gen. Crawford ; and if it had been simply created for Lord Rokeby, ho pre sumed it would have been abolished when he vacated the office. (Oh, oh.) At all events the question was whether there existed any public ground for the appointment. He had no reason to believe that it had been created for an in dividual. The military authorities of the day became aware of the defective organisation of the Guards, and this office was then created for sufficient reasons, to remedy that evil. He trusted therefore that the committee would not be led away by the arguments of the hon. and gallant gentleman who had made this motion. The committee then divided— For the amendment Against it Majority -50 The vote was then agreed to. £706,892 miscellaneous charges. Mr. WHITE asked whether the men had any share in the increase of £7,000 under the head of field allowances ? Sir G. C. LEWIS said there were allowances made under the authority of a Royal warrant to officers serving in the field. The vote was then agreed to. On a vote of £211,677 for the volunteer corps, Lord ENFIELD wished to know what the increase in the force was this year, as compared with the last. Mr. WILLIAMS said that in this vote there was a charge of £3 per man for yeomanry cavalry. This seemed to him a very heavy charge. Lord LOVAINE wished for a return of the number of effective volunteers, and of the days on which they had attended drill. Sir G. C. LEWIS said there already existed materials for supplying the information the noble lord desired. With re spect to the union of the yeomanry with the volunteers, it seemed to him more convenient that the votes should be taken together. Col. KNOX said that, catsidering the sum voted for the yeomanry force, and with the example of the volunteer officers serving without any charge upon the state, the yeo manry officers should at least not ask for any increased pay. Mr. W. E. FORSTER feared that unless some assist ance were gives in the refitment of volunteers when the present uniform was worn out, the numbers would fall off tfrom want of means. He did not ask that the volunteers should be paid, but certainly something should be done to o meet the uniform difficulty. Lord A. VANE said he did not mean that the volunteers should be paid, but he thought that some assistance should, be given towards the expense of uniform. If the Govern ment did not come forward to help the volunteer movement in this point, he believed it was likely to die out. M r . BUCHANAN, speaking for Scotland, could assure the Government that if something were not very soon done for the volunteers, the force would rapidly waste away. The vote was agreed to. Committee to be resumed on Thursday n.ext. INDIA STOCK TRANSFER BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed, ' EXCHEQUER BILLS BILL. This bill passed through committee. CONSOLIDATED FUND BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed. MERCHANDISE MARKS BILL. Sir F. GOLDSMIDT objected to the further progress of the bill. After a few words from Mr. GIDSort, The bill was read a second time. OFFICERS COMMISSIONS BILL. This bill was read a second time. The prisoner said he should do no such thing. The officer told him that he should break the door open. The prisoner told him he had no right to do so until he brought the fire engine, as he was insured, and put himself in a fighting attitude. The prisoner shortly, however, unlocked the door. The oask had been burnt, there were straw, wood, and coals near the cask. The fire having been put out the prisoner locked the door of the store and said to the police man, " What odds was it to you if the d—d old place had been burnt down, as I was well insured ?" The policeman then asked him to go with him to the stationhouse, and the prisoner walked quietl3 with him. When they arrived at the station the policeman gave him in charge for setting his store on fire. The prisoner said if he had known that was his intention he would not have come so quietly. The conduct of the prisoner was very strange. He had been drinking, but was not drunk. He said he supposed that his pipe must have dropped in the straw when he went down to get some coal. Two buckets of water put out the fire. The prisoner was a grocer. The prisoner became very violent and much excited when at the station. There were seve ral bits of lucifer matches lying about in the store. The prisoner had had several attacks of deliriuna tremens, and at the time in question he was drunk and not master of his own actions. It was shown that the prisoner's premises had been insured ever since November, 1851. For the defence it was contended that the charge was not fully made out, as there was no evidence of any intent in the prisoner to set his premises on fire or to defraud. It was evident that the prisoner was in a state of madness that day and night , a nd might r have dropped some light from his pipe. The learned judge having summed up, rhe jury returned a verdict of not guilty. John Nicholas was indicted for maliciously wounding Henry Leslie Kennedy, with intent to murder him, at Aldershot, on the 7th November. Mr. H. T. Cole and Mr. Massey prosecuted. Th e prisoner was undefended. This is a case that was for some time called tin Aldershot murder, but Kennedy having been shot, and as was supposed fatally, by dint of great sur gical skill has ultimately recovered. The prisoner was a private in the Military Train. There was some theatrical performance at the Camp at Aldershott. He had been cast to play some minor part, but as he grumbled about, Kennedy, who was sergeant-major, told him if he could not conduct himself as a man he had better go home. The pri soner was much annoyed at this, and usod very threatening language. About 12 o'clock at night Kennedy went to his hut, sat down, and was in the act of taking off his boots, when there was a knock at the door. Kennedy said " Come in." The pri soner entered and asked Kennedy what accusation he had against him, raised a short carbine which had been concealed under his cloak, pointed it at Sergeant-Major Kennedy, and shot him through the body. The sergeant-major ran to the other end of the hut and called out that he was shot. The prisoner was instantly secured. He said to Sergeant Ward " Don't you twist my arm ; you shall have it next." The bullet was afterwards found in a book on the table ; it was buried in the book, The pri soner was taken to the guardroom. He said he should not have shot the sergeant-major if he had not turned him out of the theatre. Upon being taken to the police station the prisoner put on his boots and said " All my trouble is over now ; the deed is done, and I shall hang for it, and deserve it ;" that if he had had a weapon at the theatre he would have shot the sergeant-major he was so exasperated. He asked why his braces were taken from him. He was told to prevent him hanging himself. He said they need not trouble; let the county find a rope ; let every trade find its own tools ; that it was a shame to take his cap from him, as they would find him a cap when he was hung. Sergeant-Major Kennedy said that he heard the report of the carbine, and felt a blow . on his chest, and he then became insensible. He was still under the doctor's hands. Mr. Reynolds, the surgeon—Between 12 and 1 in the morning I was called to see Kennedy, who was reported to have been shot. I found him lying on the floor on his face, pulseless, and apparently dying. I found a bullet had penetrated the chest, and passed out between the shoulder-blade and and the spine. There was an escape of air, which indicated an injury to the lungs ; the course of the wound was upwards. The ball passed be tween the ribs, and did not injure the bone. For a fortnight he was in a most dangerous state. I then had some little hope. The prisoner went into a rambling account of the theatrical annoyances. Between drink and temper he loaded his carbine and ran to the hut to know more about it. When he got there he was more mad, and took out the carbine, which caught in something and went off, but he did not intend to hurt the sergeant-major, as he had not offended him, and he was the only than who would have taken his part. Mr. Justice Blackburn then summed up. The question was whether it was the intention to kill and murder Sergeant-Major Kennedy. Upon the evidence there could be little doubt but that the prisoner, if he knew what he was doing, in tended to kill the Sergeant-major. The jury found the prisoner guilty. The prisoner was then sentenced to be kept in penal servitude for life. (Before Mr. Collier, Q.C.) Jeremiah Drake was indicted for stabbing and wounding George Rook. Mr. Beetham prosecuted, and Mr. Buller de fended the prisoner. The prosecutor was a police constable, and went to apprehend the prisoner on a warrant for poach ing. He took the prisoner into custody, and as they were going along the road, in an unfre quented spot the prisoner tried to escape, and stabbed Rook in several places with a knife. Mr. Buller contended that the wounds were in curred by accident. Verdict, guilty; sentence, 12 months' imprison. ment. MIDLAND CIRCUIT-RUTLAND, MARCH 1, CROWN COURT. - - Lord Chief-Justice Cockburn took his seat in this court at noon, and commenced trying prisoners, the majority of the cases being very ordinary and un interesting. Charles Enoch Springthorpe was arraigned upon the coroner's inquisition, and on an indictment charging him with the manslaughter of James Davy. Mr. Cockle conducted the case for the prosecution, and Mr. Merewether for the defence. It appeared from the opening statement of the learned coun sel for the prosecution, and the evidence adduced in support of it, that the prisoner was em ployed by the London and North-Western Railway Company as a fireman, and in that capacity accom panied Meadley, the foreman in the erection of engines, and Whittle, the driver, on an engine making a trial trip from Wolverton to Bletcbley and back. Upon the return of the engine from this trip, Whittle, who was the person in authority, left the engine to inquire of Mr. Donkin, the foreman, what he should do with the engine, having given no order that the engine should be moved or the regulator touched. Mr. Meadley and Davy got down, and Meadley then closed the regulator. After Whittle had left, two or three men, among whom was the deceased man, Davy, came to the engine to examine it ; and Davy for this purpose put his right hand between the spokes of one of the front wheels. The prisoner had then remounted the engine, and was on the footplate, and, having looked on each side of the engine, he went to the regulator and opened and shut it ; this caused the driving-wheel to go round, hod Davy's arm was wrenched from the socket, and himself thrown to the ground with such force that his left arm was broken. The injuries suffered resulted in his death on the Bth of January following. On the part of the prosecution it was represented that the act of the prisoner in opening the regulator was unlawful, as being an infringement of rule 257 of the com pany's regulations, which prohibits any fireman to move an engine except when instructed by the driver, and unless he has also an order from the superintendent. It was elicited, in the cross-examination of Mead ley, that when Whittle and himself got off the engine it was not put out of gear, but left in mid gear only, with the regulator shut ; and, further, that according to rule 264, the duty of the fireman upon getting down from the engine was not to leave the engine in steam without shutting down the regulator, and putting the engine out of gear. Mr. Merewether contended that there was no in fraction of rule 257 by the prisoner, as he not only did not move the engine, but was not shown to have had any intention to move it, and also that rule 257 was only intended to apply to engines on a journey. For the effects produced by the opening of the regu lator the prisoner was not responsible, since it was owing to the engine not having been put out of gear by Mr. Meadley that the driving-wheel turned round in such a manner as to inflict the injuries which caused the death of the deceased. He con cluded by commenting on the affliction manifested k by prisoner when he perceived how terribly Davis had been lacerated, and called witnesses to his cha racter as a careful and steady servant, and to prove that nothing had been done by him but what a care ful fireman would naturally do under the circum stances, and that Davis's act in putting his hand be tween the spokes of the wheel was not an ordinary or proper mode of examining the engine. Mr. Cobkle having briefly replied, His Lordship summed up the evidence, telling the jury that the charge would not be made out un less they were satisfied that there had been negli gence on the part of the prisoner ; and although CHURCH RATES. On the motion of Sir C. DOUGLAS the Church Rates Abolition Bill was also postponed till the 14th May. On the motion of Mr. NEWDEGATE the Church Rates Commutation Bill was also postponed to the 14th May. The house adjourned at five minutes to 1 o'clock. ASSIZE IN TEL LIG EIV CE. OXFORD CIRCUIT.-OXFORD, MARCH 3. Mr. Justice Crompton arrived in this city yes terday from Reading, and was met at the station by the High Sheriff in the old English style. His lordship proceeded to open tha commission with the usual formalities. Mr. Justice Crompton and Mr. Baron Channell yesterday attended divine service at St. Mary's, and this day took their seats in court at 10 o'clock. Mr. Baron Channell presiding in the Civil Court, and Mr. Justice Crompton in the Criminal Court. The cause list Contains an entry of four causes. The calendar contains the names of 23 prisoners, one of whom is charged with wilful murder, three with firing farm buildings, and the rest with offences of an ordinary description, chiefly larceny. CIVIL COURT. Before Mr. Baron Channel and Common Juries. POTTER AND ANOTHER V. MEDDOWS. Mr. Huddleston, Q.C., and Mr. Dowdeswell ap peared for the plaintiffs; and Mr. Sergeant Pigott and Mr. Phipson, Q.C., for the defendant. The plaintiffs in this action were William Potter, the surviving trustee of the late Robert Potter, the elder, and John Meddows, the heir-at-law of Robert Potter, the younger; and they brought the present action in ejectment against Hannah Eliza :Med dows, the widow of Robert Potter, the younger, to recover possession of a farm, consisting of 45 acres of copyhold land of the manor of Horley and Horn ton. It appeared that, by the will of Robert Pot ter, the elder, made on February 5, 1854, the tes tator devised the lands in question, charged with certain annuities, to trustees their heirs, &c., to carry on the farm till the said Robert Potter, the younger, should attain the age of 25 ; and, charged as aforesaid, the trustees were to stand seised of the said lands to the use of the said Robert Potter, the younget. The testator died on the 6th of April, 1854, and the trustees were admitted as tenants of the manor; and the son, R o bert Potter, having at tained the ag e o f 25, took possession of the lands in 1859, but died without issue and intestate on the 23d of August, 1860, and without having been ad mitted. His widow continued in possession, and claimed a life interest in his copyhold lands, by the custom of freebench, which she alleged was a cus tom of the manor. The plaintiffs were the sur viving trustee of Robert Potter, the elder, and the brother of Robert Potter, the younger, who claimed th e l a nds as heir - at - law. Two questions were : r aised—viz., first , whether the custom of freebench existed in the manor of Honey and Hornton ; and, secondly, whether as the Sta tute of Uses does not apply to copyhold land, the defendant' s l a t e h us band, Robert Potter, the younger, died so seised of the property that the custom of freebench would attach. As the property in dispute was but small, and the question of law was likely to protract the litigation, it was sug gested that the parties should come to some ar rangement, but for a long time they were unable to agree. Eventually the learned juege kindly offered his mediation, and the counsel and parties retired into his lordship's private room, where they came to an arrangement which was mutually satis factory, it being arranged that the heir-at law should have the estate, and the widow an annuity for her life. Mr. Baron Channell, on his return to court, told the jury he thought the parties had acted wisely in coming to an arrangement, under which each party had given up something. The jury were then discharged from giving a verdict, and the cause was settled upon terms agreed upon. CASTLE V. KITCHENER. Mr. Huddleston, Q C., and Mr. Cripps appeared for the plaintiff ; Mr. Sergeant Pigott and Mr. J. 0. Griffits for the defendant. _ _ _ _ The plaintiff in this action, Riehard Castle, is a miller at Duckington, and he sued the defendant, S. Kitchener, a dealer in hay and corn, &c., at Brighthampton, to recover damages for assaults committed upon him on the 24th of November, 1861, and spoiling his clothes. The defendant pleaded the general issue, and also a plea in which he alleged that the plaintiff first assaulted him, and justified assaulting the plaintiff in his self.defence. It appeared from the evidence that on the day in question the plaintiff met the defendant and some other parties at the Anchor Inn, in Oxford. The defendant had been to St John's College to pay his rent, and there had been entertained with the wine and ale for which, it was stated, that Col lege is famed, and the consequence was he was somewhat excited ; and it did not appear that he was rendered quite sober by the four glasses of brandy and water of which he afterwards partook at the Anchor, in this city. The parties started on their road home, but on their way they had occasion to pass the Red Lion, at Eynsham, and found it im possible to get further, and went in. They there took more drink, the defendant adding four more glasses of brandy and water to his previous supply. Some conversation took place at the Led Lion, in the course of which coarse language was used, and in the result the defendant got up and shook the plaintiff by the collar and tore his coat. The plain tiff started on his way home at a late hotr, and was followed by the defendant and two friends, shout ing and singing, in their cart; and when the de fendant overtook the plaintiff he got out if his cart and again assaulted the plaintiff, by knocking in his hat and pushing him into the hedge. Some proposal was afterwards made to settle the action which the plaintiff brought lby the payment of the costs, but, as the plaintiff wanted the defendant to pay £2O as damages as well as the costs, the plaintiff Proceeded with his action. The trial occupied the rtst of the day, and ended in a verdict for the plaintiff— Damages, £5, CRIMINAL COURT. (Before Mr. Justice Crompton.) William Gibson, 23, labourer, and James Burn ham, 19, wood carver, were charged with felo niously setting fire to a stack of hay, the property of John Allin, on Feb.B, 1862, at Sandford. Mr. Somerset conducted the prosecution ; the prisoners were undefended. It appeared that, at about 10 o'clock on the morn ing of the Bth of February last, the prosecutor saw the two prisoners asleep under a rick of clover hay, about 200 yards from the Oxford and Baldon road. He woke them, and cautioned them not to smoke— a caution he was always in the habit of giving to strangers under such circumstances, though he saw no pipes or tobacco. At about 12 o'clock a Mr. Lowe and his brother farmers at Baldon were driving into Oxford, and saw the rick on fire and the two pri soners runaing away from it. Mr. Lowe took one of the prisoners in his gig to the prosecutor, and his brother secured the other prisoner, and they were afterwards both brought to Oxford in custody and searched. Three lucifer matches were found upon Gibson, but nothing was found upon Burnham, and though their defence was that they were smoking, and set the rick on fire accidentally, no pipe or tobacco was found upon either of them or near the rick. The jury found the prisoners guilty, and Mr. Justice Crompton sentenced each of them to six years' penal servitude. WESTERN CIRCUIT.—WINCRESTER, March 3. CROWN COURT. (Before Mr. Justice Blackburn.) John Foster was indicted for setting fire to a cask and some straw, being in a building, with intent to set fire to the building, with intent to defraud the West of England Fire-office. Mr. Bere conducted the case for the prosecution, and Mr. Poulden defended the prisoner. It appeared that the prisoner had a store in Port sea. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 9th of October, some smoke was seen issuing from the pri soner's store. The prisoner was standing in the street a short way off; a person called to him and told him to open the door of the store, as it was on fire. The prisoner then leisurely opened the door of the store. A cask was seen to be on fire within the store. The prisoner took some straw and put it on the fire, and said, " it, it will burn the faster." He then came out of the store and locked put out of his temp er th an o n e in his sound senses; the door. The p r i soner see m e d more like a man he was like a madman. He was very much given soda in the cask. The police were sent for, and when one of the body g went to the spot a good de al of m ion, and was then in liquor. There was s issuing f rom th e s tore. The officer went tosto drinking, v a ok house lk near and saw the prisoner. He asked him if it was his store that was on fire. The pri soner said it was. The officer asked him to come and try and put it out. The prisoner said he should not. A neighbour named Twigg got into the store through the window, and some water being handed to him he put out the fire. The straw and cask were then on fire. The officer then went to the door of the store and .saw the prisoner. He told him to come and open the door of the store. the deceased had been g uilt y of a want of proper fe - lt, and should therefore send .him before another ti ibunal to be punished as his serious offence de prudence, yet, if they thoug ht that the p risoner had been guilty of negligence w hich had caused the served. \ death of the deceased, the dec eased's negligence The would not be an excuse for that of the prisoner ;it at the ensuing Surrey sessions. might, however, have been a reason for the prisoner 1 supposing that there was no one in t he p osition in I which the deceased was at the time. There did not appear to be any reason to suppose that there was any intention on the part of the prisoner to move the engine, whith at the time was standing on a turn-table ; nor was it likely that a man acquainted with the management of the engine, as he was, would be playing tricks with it. There was con flicting evidence as to wheOer the act of opening and closing the regulator was one of negligence, and it was for the jury to say whether the prisoner had been culpably negligent or not. The jury immediately returned a verdict of not guilty. THE LONDON FBEIGHT MARKET. (From the Circular of Seymour, Peacock, and Co.) The position of the Freight Market is more favourable to the - h•hipping interest than at any period since the close of the R ussian war. Thro ughout the long trades freights are very remune rove, a nd although fluctuations may be expected at the Eastern. Forts, our shipowners entertain great faith in a con ti nua nc e . ' of prosperity. The i m nhe; -ement arises in some measure from the de crease , mpetition of American shipping, but more the reaction which naturally succeeds a irro especially from' long period of deyre, ssion. tv , eeks the demand for shipping pro- Daring the last few perty has become un:tsuaily active, and in addition to the purchase of a large nuntber of second-hand ships, our ship building firms have recoive,i numerous orders, especially for iron ships. The increaset.l value of shipping property affords the best evidence of the belief that the present im provement in freights is likely to' prove permanent. But in considering the position of the Freight Market, it is as well perhaps not to be over sanguine. The advimee in freights at Bombay may not continue after the pressure to export cotton befo; e the close of the season is over. At Calcutta the Freight Market has been influenced by the anticipated rupture between this country and America, and that market may also saffer from the altered aspect of affairs; again, it must be borne in mind that the timber trade promises but little entlo uragement for our shipping during the coming season, the stocks of timber being ex cessive, and the demand for km. 11 importations languid in MIDLAND CIRCUIT—NORTHAMPTON, MARCH 3. HANCOCK V. SAUNDERS.—BItEACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE. Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Beasley were for the plain tiff; Mr. Macaulay, Q.C., defended. The plaintiff is the daughter of a respecOble pub lican at Glopthorpe, near Oundle , her age 28. Defendant is the son of a farmer, and is gamekeeper to the Earl Of Cardigan. The plaintiff's mother proved sbe had known defendant from his boyhood, that ho and her daughter went to school together. In 1859 his attentions became particular to the plaintiff, and he asked the father if he might have his daughter Ann. He asked also for £2OO as her fortune. The father said " He did not know anything about that at present." Defendant said to plaintiff, " Never mind, I will marry you with nothing, and when you are my wife I can save £5O a-year under Cardigan." Defendant made her daughter presents, he provided a wedding cake, and gave her daughter some wild ducks. Plaintiff showed her a light dress, and said it was to be her wedding dress. Subsequently it turned out plaintiff was in the family way, and witness told defendant it was high time they were married. Defendant said he had intended to marry her daughter, but he would not then, and she said, then he must pay for it. He said, "If the lot fell upon him he must pay for it." A child was born last September. A sister of plaintiff proved defendant said to her in June, 1860, he would make her sister his wife; that the day was fixed, the 31st of August, plain tiff's birthday ; that they were to be married in London, at St. George's, Hanover-square. Thomas Baker, assistant gamekeeper to Saun ders, proved that Frederick Saunders offered him £4 if he would go up and swear falsely against Miss Haneock, that he had seen her with some one else. Never had seen her with anybody else. Mr. Macaulay, for defendant, called no witnesses, I but complained that the form of the action had not been seduction, when both parties could have been heard. After the evidence given he could not deny the promise. Verdict for plaintiff—Damages £6O. COUN7RI 211.4R.K1i'l S. ►, COLCHESTER—MARCH 1. To-day a small supply of wheat, and late prices made. Fine barley maintains its price, but in scarcer supply; inferior sorts rather lower. Beans and peas were saleable at last week's rates. Wheat, white ..54, 5 68s Beans, Mazagan..36s 40s red 46s f 348 middle & small.4os 44s Barley . 36s 42s Peas, white 38s 40 s O a t s CHELMSFORD—FEB. 28- A very dull market to-day, and little bus iness doing— even the best samples were rather lower ; infe.rior is down in price. Spring corn slow, at late rates. Wheat, old white 28s 59s Peas, Partridge....37s 413 new, 47s 66s White 395 455 old red.... 275 Ms Boiling .. 41s 475 new 52s 62s Dun 36s 403 Barley 30s 39s Ditto new —s —l3 Chevalier ..30s 42s Beans, Tick, old ..35s 41a Grinding .24s 3 2 s new..3ss 41a Ma1t..... 618 67s Harrow Ticks —378 435 Chevalier . 64s 69s new..37s 42a Oats 23s 30s Mazagan .......32s 35a POLICE INTELLIGENC E.—March 3. LAMBETH.—TORTURE OF A CHlLD.—William Fry, a jobbing carpenter, who had been taken on a warrant, was placed at the bar before Mr. Elliott on a charge of torturing a child. Mr. Clifford, the relieving officer of Camberwell parish, said that on Friday afternoon last a poor little boy of eleven years of age, very thinly clad for such a time of year, and in a state of great ex haustion, was brought to him to the workhouse, and on examining him he was quite shocked at finding an iron manacle weighing upwards of two pounds, made fast to his right instep. It consisted of a thick iron belt, secured at both ends with a strong bolt and screws, and attached to this bolt was passed the end of an S hook, of sufficient strength to control an elephant. On questioning the boy he said that for at least ten months he had been compelled to wear this formidable shackle, and that it was by the merest accident he was enabled to get at a chopper, by which he had managed to release him self from the block to which it had been made fast, and then escaped from the house of his father. So secure was the manacle he (Mr. Clifford) had at tempted to describe, and which he produced for his worship's inspection, that he had to go to a black smith's shop to get it off; and after it was removed, and the poor boy attempted to walk without it, he could scarcely do so. He bent backward and for ward several times before he could move from the smith's anvil. On examining that part of the right leg round which the iron belt had been placed, he found it much wasted, and apparently bent, and very different from the left leg. His whole frame also appeared emaciated, so much so that it was per fectly apparent the poor little fellow had been grossly neglected, and had not had sufficient food ; and in proof of this, on placing him in the scale he only weighed 361bs. The poor little fellow seemed in the greatest terror of being taken back to his father, and, crying piteously, begged of him (Mr. Clifford) not to do so. On Friday night the prisoner called on him, and he then told him he must attend before a magis trate at this court to answer the charge of assault ing his son. The prisoner, however, said he should not attend unless compelled, and he (Mr. Clifford), in consequence , applied for and obtained a warrant for his apprehension. Mr. Clifford here placed on the table in front of the bench the manacle spoken of, and the block to which it had been attached, the latter being found in the washhouse from which the poor child had made his escape, and both weighing nearly twelve pounds. The exhibition of these extraordinary and formidable implements of torture applied to a mere child, created a perfect feeling of astonishment and disgust. John Purdy stated that on Friday afternoon last he was at work in a nursery ground adjoining Woodbine -cottage, the residence of the prisoner, and saw the little boy come through the hedge with the irons attached to his left leg. He told him he had just released himself from a block, and he (witness) took him to the next police-station. Mr. Rogers, a retired mariner, residing next door to the prisoner, said that for the last nine or ten months he had frequently seen the boy in the yard of his father's house dragging the log produced about, and carrying pails of water into the house. He was generally lightly clad, and did not appear near the size now that he did 12 months ago. Harriet Coggins, who also lives next door to the prisoner, deposed to the same facts, and added that she had frequently seen prisoner's children locked up in the washhouse, and had on many occasions given them food, as they complained of not having had enough to eat. Edward Mark Fry, a poor emaciated little fellow, who was clothed in the workhouse dress, was here examined by Mr. Elliott respecting the nature of an oath, and having answered with much intelli gence, he was sworn, and said he was 11 years old, and that his father's family consisted of a sister older than himself, a brother younger, and a step -1 mother. He had been to school, but it was so long since that he forgot the time. Towards the latter end of the winter before last it was that his father first put the irons on his leg and made them fast to the block, and the irons remained on from that time until Friday last, when he by chance got hold of a chopper and chopped away until the staple came out, and he made his escape. Mr. Elliott—What was the cause of the irons being put on ? Witness—Because my little brother and myself spent a halfpenny I found under the grate in the back parlour. Mr. Elliott—l suppose the irons hurt your leg very much ? Witness—Yes, sir, it did at first very much, but not so much ;Then I got used to it; it used to hurt me much to drag the log after me. Mr. Elliott—What was done at night; was the log taken off ? Witness—At first I used to sleep on an old coat and trousers in the washhouse, and at that time father used to take the log and make the iron fast by a lock to a staple in the floor, close to the place where I lay. In the morning he unlocked it again, and fastened an iron to the block again ; but for the last 11 months I think it has not been off at all. I had to carry it upstairs every night, and down in the morning. Mr. Elliott —What ! and always sleep with it on ? Witness—Yes, sir, it was always on. This question and answer produced a perfect burst of indignation from all parts of the court. The wit ness here repeated the manner of his escape, and said a gentleman had just taken him to the station house, and he was sent from there to the workhouse. In answer to further questions, the poor child said that neither himself nor his little brother was allowed to take meals with his father and mother in-law, but his sister was sometimes. They were locked in the washhouse, and were allowed a small quantity of meat on Sundays, but on other days they had nothing but dry bread and a few potatoes, but not enough. Policeman 31 P said he apprehended the prisoner on the day before on a warrant, and on telling him the nature of the charge he replied, "Here's a pretty me ss I'm in for merely correcting a boy. Had I let him run about the streets he would have been in a reformatory." He also sa id that there were two o thers asbad as this boy was, and that he could not keep his tools from them. The prisoner in reply to the charge, said that before he began to " correct" the boy, he was con nected with a gang of thieves who infested the neighbourhood; but this the boy denied. Mr. Elliott observed that he could not trust him self to speak of the conduct of the prisoner as he ?,13,--MAncir 1. ish wheat, and sold readily at ced demand, and unaltered in ill. Rather more inquiry for the extreme. The American cotton trade is a dead letter, and from pre sent appearances there will be no em p lo y ment for the largo a mount of tonnage usually eng,9L-ed in the service. We may accordingly look for a large a ccession of shipping in the long trades as the spring advanc, and hence the ne cessity for caution in speculating upon the maintenance of high freights. The most important feature in our mat ket since the issue of our last circular is the recoramencememt of chartering on account of the Peruvian Government for guano from the Chinchas to the United Kingdom. The 6.4ers for procur ing shipping have been placed exclusively - in our hands, and we have already chartered a considet abl o portion of the tonnage required. GLOUCEST A moderate supply of Engi late prices. Foreign in limn price. Barley and beans di oats. KIRKCALDY GRAIN—MARCH 1. We had fair supplies to day of wheat and oats, but small of barley. Sales ready. Wheat brought rather more money- Oats at previous prices ; and seed parcels higher. Barley is dearer. Wheat. Barley. Oats. First....42s Od 24s Od I 20s Od Second ..50s Od I 29s 6d 21s Od Third....49s 6d 33s Gd 29s Od COAL M Wrists of Coal per Ton al s. d. t the close of the market -- ---- -- --- s. (1. Tanfield Moor Butes..l2 G B yass's B ebside West Hartley ....14 9 Wylara ..15 3 Carway and Duffryn Malting Do. Anthracite 21 6 Lambert's West Hart -14 6 bey Bate's West Hartley 14 0 North Pelton 13 0 Tanfield Moor 12 6 Ships at mark ---- Walls End. Haswell . 17 6 16 6 K elloe South Kelloe.. 16 6 Braddyll's Hetton 16 6 Hetton 6 South Hetton 17 6 Hartlepool 17 0 Heugh Hail 16 0 Shinc]iffe 15 0 ;t, 53 ; 501d,..39. FOREIGN MAIL PACKET LIST. MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton. Mar. 21. via Marseilles Mar. 15. Brazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. March 6. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena April 1. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Mar. 4. via Marseilles Mar. 1 5 . Falkland Islands .. March O• Gibraltar, via Southampton India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Mar. 4. via Marseilles Mar, 15. India (Bombay), via Southampton via Marseilles Mar. 7. Lisbon Mar. —• Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Mar. 4. via Marseilles Mar. 7. Newfoundland Oporto and Vigo . Mar. --• U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet .. .. 111 ar. 5. by U.S. packet.... by Canadian packet. Mar. 12. W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe Mar. 10. Bahamas, via New York. Mar. 13. Mexico ....Mar. 28. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, } Mar. 28. ar. California, and British Cclumbia. LIFE AND PROPERTY SAVED BY THE COAST GUARD.—During theyear 1861, no less than 623 lives were saved by the officers and men employed in the coastguard service, and property to the value of £607,800. The amount awarded for services rendered during the same period is under £2,100. At Kingstown, 103 lives were saved, and property valued at £196,600, 'while at Queenstown, the number of lives preserved was 171, and the value of pro . perty £173,800. The above facts speak volumes in favour of the coastguard force.— United Service Gazette. Mope A ntoinette's hair, during her imprisonment, became completely colourless. Such changes of colour may now be completely restored by Herring's magnetic brushes, &c., of which Dr. Hassan reports, .. I regard them as the most perfect brushes hitherto made, as respects their mechanical Construction and their magneticai action." They are the remedy for grey hair, neuralgia, rheumatism, Sic. N. 8 .-- Counterfeits are being made. Offices, 32, Basinghall-street , London. [ADVERTISE hi ENT.] —Holloway's Pills.—Good health Secured.—The cold, blighting, easterly winds are more trying to the constitution than the severest frost. Die ordered stomach, sick headache, bilious attacks, and deter ,. mination of blood to the head can at once be rectified by Holloway's purifying Pills. A course of this excellent medicine secures all from the assaults or consequences of disease; it will ward off the direst contagious disorders or root them out from the system. These Pills are the best correctives of the dry harsh skin caused by keen winds or a taking foul s om o l a o c w h a , y i o p n i e l l s n e o e n d a hesitate i o a n br w t h t e h n e t p h r e op i r f r e t e e of n gs warn them that something is wrong with them ; a single dose works wonders, BIRTHS. BE t _On the 2d inst., at 144, Piccadilly-terrace, te u Margaret Beaumont, of a son . SMITH.—On the 3 d inst., at 49, Rutland-gate, Mrs. Er i° Carr i ng ton Smith, of a daught er . STIRLING.— On the Ist inst., a l St rowan, P er th s hi r e, the m2adNyT. wife of Thomas Graham Stirling, of a son. SimrsoN.—On the Ist inst , at 26, Cleveland-square, IV" park, the wife of Robert Simpson, Esq., of a son. MARRIAGES. BATLY — COKE.—On the 3d inst., at All Saints', Padding" ton, Vere Temple Bayly, Esq., Capt. 54th Regt., son of Lieut.-Colonel Sir Henry Bayly, K.H., of Burley Villo,l Lyme .Regis, to Lucy Harriett, daughter of William b• Coke, Esq., J.P., of Langton Hall, Notts. HORSFALL—KEARSLEY.—On the Ist inst , at Walton-on the-hill, near Liverpool, Robert llorsfall, jun., to Mar garet HarveyKearsley, eldest daughter of the late Jos all Kearsley, Esq., of Notting-hill. DEATHS. BARLOW,—On the Ist inst., at Old Charlton, Professor' Barlow, F.R.S., aged 85. CLACK.—On the Ist inst., at Moreton Hampstead, Devon, -- John Clack, Esq., aged 78. DARLING.—On the 2d inst., at Kentish-town,. James Darling, Esq., of 22, Little Queen-street, Lincoln's-inn fields, aged 64. HOSKYNS.—On the 27th ult., at Clevoion, Somerset, S ir Hungerford Hoskyns, Bart., of Harewood, Herefordshir e, aged 86. SOMERSET. — On the 15th ult., at Gibraltar, Lieut.-Gene ral Sir Henry Somerset, K.C.8., and K.H. ; Colonel of 250 1 Regiment of Foot. STANILAND. — On the 26th ult., at Weston-green, no° Th am es Ditton, Staniland, Esq., of 22, Bouverie street, London, aged 61. THom.—On the 27th ult,, at Liverpool, the Rev. David Thom, D.D., Ph. D., &c., aged 67. TYTLER,—On the 28th ult., at Aldourio, Inverness -shire, Margaret Fraser Tytler, widow of the late Vim. Fraser Tytler, of Aldourie and Balnain, aged 81. - - LoNnoN : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG', of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office, N0. 112 ' Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County , Middlesex,—Tuesday, March 4,1862, f