The Sun. — London, England, 1860-02-28 00:00:00

Another was that at all the great commercial ports training ships should be placed for boys, some of whom should af . terwards enter the navy, and saes', of them be at liberty to join the merchant service. Men the Admiralty came to consider those two suggestions it ap peared to them that they would have to do something more than place a vessel at each of the large ports —that they would have to attach to each of those vessels a small brig or yacht in which the lads should go to sea, and so have opportunities for practice in seamanship. Under the cir cumstances he had thought it would be well to pause before they adopted in the large commercial ports a system of training schools such as had been recommended. But, ex in the meantime, he had thought it desirable to try the - periment on a different scale —namely, to have training ships stationed at Portsmouth end Plymouth for boys, with small vessels attached, so that during the whole summer the lads might be going out to sea, and rendering themselves really efficient seamen. He believed that would be the right course to adopt as a commencement, and the Admiralty had accordingly decided on giving practical effect to it. Another recommendation of the manning commission related to sea men crunners, and certainly nothing was more important than good navel g unner y . The Admiralty had made ar rangements for giving increased pay to seamen gunners, had appointed gunnery lieutenants red instructors of gun nary, so that they had done everything they could to give effect to the recommendations of the commission. The com missioners had reported that the supply of provisions to the seamen was too small, and the Admiralty, acting upon the suggestion, had increased the quantity issued to the men. Free grants of bedding and clothing were now also given, the practise having been begun by the late Board of Admi ralty, in accordaace with the recommendations of the com mission. With respect to the suggestion that the seamen should be paid at shorter intervals, that question required some consideration, which it was now receiving; but all those men who had entered the service during the present year had received the bounty, which, perhaps , met the views of the commissioners, that an allowance should be given to the men at a time when they most required it. With re spect to warrant officers the commissioners recommended that certain alterations should be made, and that pensions should be granted to their widows. The Admiralty thought the propositions were just, and had acted upon them. So also with respect to petty officers, —they were to receive Fl allowance upon being promoted. The number of marines had been increased by 2,000 men last year, and by 1,000 this year. thus raising the force from 15,000 to 18,000. It was not desirable to increase the force too rapidly, because of the difficulty of drilling alarge number of recr u its. He next came to the coastguard, the importance of which force he fully ad mitted. That force had been increased this year by 500 seamen, and the number of seamen would be continually increased as the landsmen serving in that body were pen sioned off. He had next to refer to the great question of a naval reserve. That reset . e at present consisted of the coastguard, of the Royal Navy Coast Volunteers, and the new reserve force created last summer. There were at pre sent in the coastguard serving on shore only about 3,200 seamen. Ix the district coastguard ships about 1.800 more, making a total of 5,000 seamen fit for service at sea. In the Royal Naval Coast Volunteers there were of men who had been drilled and were ready for immeiate embarcation in case of emergency about 6,600. It must be remembered, however, that in creating the new force many . men had been attracted to it who would otherwise have joined the Coast Volunteers. The scheme of a naval reserve was one at tended by many difficulties, end required the combined ac tion of the Royal Navy and the mercantile marine. He had been told by those well acquainted with the commercial marine that it the Admiralty trusted entirely to naval offi cers to raise the force they would fail, ;nom the suspicions that would be enter tarn Iby the merchant seamen. He, being desieous to avail himself of the assistance of masters in the commercial marine, applied to the Board of Trade, and the officers of that department had exhibit great zeal end taken great pains to promote his object. The regulations which had been drawn up had,he b , liev - 1, been generally approved, but he had felt it his duty to mike certain restrictions. Thus he had restricted the entry for the present to able seamen. Ho had been told if he wanted 30,000 men it would not do to restrict the entries to able seamen. lie admitted that statement, but ' 4 ' it had been announced that on a given day the Admiralty were prepared to receive all wile mielat choose to enter,—whether able or ordinary seamen-the number might have been too large to allow of the whole being drilled at once. He had therefore thought it best in the first instance to confine the entries to able seamen, and if they succeeded in getting good men the force would become popular, and they could take more volunteers as they were able to di :11 them. The liberality of the AO -niraltv and of Parliament had created the sus picion of the sailors. For many years schemes of a reserve had been in agitation, but the objection always was that the country would pay the bounty, but would not get the force. Last year the offer of £6, and pay while serving, was made, and the force only to be celled to serve upon occasions of great emergency. lie quite agreed with the noble earl that no Government should use the reserve, except in case of a great national danger or critical emergency. The particular emergency could not be defined beforehand, but before the men of the reserve could be called upon to embark there must be an order in Council and a special pro clamation addresSed to the reserve. This the men in that force could only be called upon to serve after a decision eof the Cabinet ; and under circumstances which made it almost certain that Parliament, if not then sitting, must be immediately as sembled. At first. however, seamen thought the tame were too good, and were suspicious that as soon as they had joined the Government intended to ship them off to China. There was no ground, of course, for such doubts, and as to China that was the most popular station just now. Indeed, had he had five times the number of ships to send to Chins, he would have had no difficulty in manning them. The new scheme only came into operation on Jemmy 1, and, despite its restriction to able seamen, the natural sus picions of the men, and the difficulty of all at once under standing the arrang ements, he believed about 40 or 50 wore entering every wee k, and if that went on for a short time longer the country,would have the nucleus of an efficient reserve. The noble earl had suggested that the reserve ought to be formed of sailors who had served 10 years in the fleet, their places being supplied by bringing in ot'ier men. This, however, would greatly injure the efficiency of the service, for the men who had been 10 years afloat were some of the best men in the navy, and could not at present be spared. Perhaps hereafter, as the service increased in po pularity, this plan might be resorted to, but at present it was necessa*y to proceed gradually, oth erwise the country would be committed to a large manly and the efficiency of the navy might at the Beene time be greatly impaired. Under the system he had adopted none were entered but able seamen and those who were likely to be really effec tive. It had been object - I that men were required to be doubly approved, first by a shipping master and then by a naval o ffi cer. To same extent that objection was we"- founded, but if you tried to raise this reserve by naval officers alone the men would not join. It was found necessary to deal with merchant eailors by those to whom they were accustomed. The responsibility of accepting or rejecting any men must rest, of course, on tho naval officer, but arrangements had been made by which the naval officer now attended along with the ship ping master, so that, although 'a double approval was still necessary, only a single attendance was required on the part of the men, The noble earl complain:4 that 2;1, days training was quite inadequate. The same complaint had been made respecting the 28 days' training to which the militia were subjected. It was true that the naval reserve would not be made so efficient a s if they were traiaed for several months, but it should be remembered that the coun try did not want to engage these men entirely, and that the object was not to draw them away from their present em ployment, but to retain their services on an emergency at a moderate cost. As able seamen only were admitted into the reserve, be did not think it impossible to train them in gun nery and make them efficient for the Royal service in 22 days. Having recently attended some gunnery practice, ho was told that a great many who took part in it had only been in training for about three weeks. and yet had become very efficient. This obj ec ti on , therefore, ought not to weigh with their lord s bi ns an d l ea d th em to c o ndemn the system. The noble earl had s p o k en o f th e desirability of connectin g seamen's the reserve force w ith a fund. No doubt, it would be desirable, b u t the c ommission had expressed their opinion that the object aimed a t would b better attained by means of a fund voluntarily supported! He (the Duke of Somerset) thought that, as th ese thatsmed suspicious already, they would perhaps ima g i n e e n hold upon them was to be establish'el by some further compulsory pay ment. It had beeu thought better, the refor e, atc leave to . mix up any such fund with the now force, but l a d yt e rt for voluntary adoption whenever a gc od scheme could down. The I'vlerchant Seamen's Fund, it would be re l aidn bored, had become bankrupt, and great distrust n ni, o e u i therefore exist on this point. The noble earl said there was at present no sufficient instruction for officers or men on board the coastguard ships. Every district ship, h ow _ over, had one or two gunboats attached to it, and during most of the year these boats were sent oat along the coast, and excellent practice was thus afforded. There was great difficulty in securing all the advantages which could be wished for in this way, with a duo regard to economy. The estimates this year were very heavy, but the chief amount was taken for mon, and the more men introduced into the navy the wider the basis for a future naval reserve. Ho had thought it better to begin cautiously in the formation of a reserve; but if it continued at its present rate of increase, some 40 or 50 men joining it per week, and if sailors got rid of their suspicions that they were about to be entrapped, and found that they would be called out only on some national emergency, he hoped before long that they would join it still more freely, and that it would become a valuable and reliable force in case of need. (Hear, hear.) The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said that about 14 years ago he was a member of a commission which had to consider the state of the Merchant Seamen's Fund. They found it in a bankrupt condition, through the miscalculations of those by whom it had been established ; but the earnest desire of the commission and of she Government which then existed was that the fund should be re-established on a better footing. He, indeed, when occupying the position now held by the noble duke, had gone so far as to conceive the design of a hospital for merchant seamen, which should show that they, as well as the sailors in the Royal Navy, were objects of the tenderest care and solicitude on the part of th e i r coun t ry . (H ear , h ear .) As regarded the measure for the establishment of this naval reserve, he confessed that he never expected great things from it. He had always felt that persons would be disappointed who hoped by its means to be able at all times to lay their hands upon a certain number of men for service in the Royal Navy, because the best men were absent on distant voyages, and were n o t at home when war was imminent. In point of fact, however, there was at such times in this ' country a reserve which had not been duly appreciated. People fell into two errors in speaking of the mercantile marine. Some thought that, in theac according to war, the whole o ,b B l olo o calcu,a of that body of men, consisting, tions, of 200,000 or 300,000, would be avail able in the navy, while others supposed that no ;tac,:lseeerfivr%evoseurl‘dibeee available, excep t . those who actually engaged • the fact was. this :—There was at all times in the . U N ni o t w ' Kingdom a very considerable body of merchant seamen un employed, employed, the number varying according to the season. - That would form the reserve force of her Majesty's navy i n case of war. The moment there arose a reasonable appre hension, and long before a declaration of war, merchants were afraid to send their ships to sea, and of course did not need hands. The men were compelled to find some service, and, being unable to do so in merchant ships, they were of necessity forced to seek employment in the Royal Navy. The number of men unemployed at the commencement of - the next war would be infinitely greater than at the com mencement of former wars, because, in consequence of the very narrow balance between our naval force and that of the French it would be impossible, at the beginning of the war, to keep up our convoys to enable merchants to make their voyages. -The navigation of the seas by merchants would ly; stopped, and a great many men employed in the naval service would then be disposable here for her Majesty's service. The same thing would occur in every part of the world, for the merchant would be afraid of putting his ship to sea unless he could receive a great degree of protection from men of war. Therefore the men of the merchant service in different districts abroad would be available for service in ,the Queen's ships in the same districts ; and, ev en if the proposed navel reserve sho uld fail, still he thought there would be that reserve which he had just now alluded to, and of which no circumstances could deprive this country. He must say that the account given by the noble duke of the prospects of the naval reserve was a great deal better than he had expected ; and, c onsidering that the Admiralty had confined the mselves in the first instance to accepting as volunteers able seamen, he had no doubt, recollecting how comparatively few were the numbers of that body, they might congratulate them selves on having established a system which would produce on paper a resnectable force. He was, however, under the apprehension that, in consequence of the men being engaged in distant voyages, the number available in war wor'd not be so great as he should desire to see. There was one thing he would venture to recommend, and that was the Admi ralty should consult Lieut. Brown, who was a perfect mas ter of this subject. He would likewise advise them to have at all times in their possession an account of the number of seamen actually in this country. The number, of course, vat:ed at different times, tut there should be no week in which the Government should net be aware of the total force of the seamen in the country. He congratulated the coun try on the efforts made by successive Boards of A dmiralt y ito mpros e the condition of the seamen. There could be no doubt that the country bad acted with great lAisdom, libe rality, and benevolence towards the seamen, and he trusted that the jealousies and suspicions entertained by the latter would gradually cease to exist, when the seamen observed, as they must of necessity soon perceive, the kind manner in which they were dealt with by successive Boards of Admi ralty and by Parliament. (Hear, hear.) !ORDNANCE SURVEY OF RAILWAYS. The Earl of POWIS asked the Under-Seertary for War what provision was made for marking on the complete sheets of the Ordnance Survey new lines of railway as they were opened for traffic ? The Earl DE GREY and RIPON replied that officers went about the country from time to time to survey different lines as they were made. The reports of those surveys were sent to the office at Southampton, and then the plates from which the sheets were printed were altered by laying down the new lines. Sveys were being continually made, and the stock of prin u te r d sheets kept on head was extremely small. Their lord ships then aijom aed. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YEsTEBDAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. NEW MEMBER. Captain STACKPOLE took the oeis and his seat as mem ber for the borough of Ennis. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were considered and ordered for third reading :—Blacklorm Gas, Silverdale and Newcastle Railway, and West Middlesex ater. PETITIONS. Several petitions were presented against the uncondi tional abolition of church rates ; in favour of the reduction of the malt duties ; against the proposed system of li3ensing eating-houses and coffee-shops for the sale of wine ; in favour of the repeal of the duty on paper ; for the reduc tion of the duty on tea and sugar ; praying that the income tax might not be imposed on incomes under £2OO a-year ; against the highways bill, &c. MR. GLADSTONE'S MISSION TO THE lONIAN ISLANDS. Mr. MAGUIEIii, gave notice that, on an early day after the Easter holidays, he would move for the produU.lon of any papers in the possession of Government in reference to this matter. :THE SERPENTINE. Mr. COWPER gave notice that to-morrow he would move for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the best means to be adopted for cleansing the Serpen tine. (Hear, hear.) ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSION (IRELAND). Mr. VANCE moved for a return of all annual salaries paid under the Irish Ecclesiastical Commission, with the names of the recipients and the situations they hold, and the number of years' sei vice in every instance; and, de tailed account of the income and expenditure of the Com mission for 1858.—Ordered. THE STATUE OF RICHARD CCEUR DE LION. In reply to Mr. RANKLY, Mr. COWPER said that some unavoidable delay had arisen in reference to the erection of this statae. WINE LICENSES. Lord E. THYNNE asked the Chancellor of the Exche quer whether magistrates would have any control ovez licenses to sell wine granted to confectioners, eating-house keepers, end others in towns, boroughs, or rural districts, and, if not, what remedy was proposed ageOnst those per sons if they kept disorderly houses or harboured persons of bad character? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the most satisfactory answer he could give to the 'question would be a general one. Before he would ask the house to come to any vote in regard to this matter, he would laf on the table of the house the whole of the regulations which the Government proposed to introduce in respect to licensing eating-houses. It was certainly most desirable that magistrates should have a power, not only with reference to granting licenses, but that facilities should be afford_ 1 them of enforcing the law against persons who conduct_ I their business in a disorderly manner. CHINA. In reply to Sir J. PAKINGTON, Lord J. RUSSELL said that he hoped in a few days to be able to lay on the table of the house .the papers in refe rence to Chinn, to wb'ch he had alluded on a former occa sion. THE CEMETERY AT CLAPTON. Sir DE L. EVANS asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he had given or intended to give his sanction to the establishment of a cemetery at Clap ton, which was not only, within the prohibited distance, as defined by the Burial Act 15 and 16 Victoria, but adjoined a populous district ; and if so, what had caused the viola tion of the spirit and intention of the statute to be ad visable. Sir C. LEWIS said that the Government had not given their sanction to the establishment of the cemetery in question. LICENSING PUBLIC-Hq,USES. Lord FERMOY asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he had any intention of altering the existing sys tem of licensing public-houses, any further than what he proposed to do by his budget. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that several years ago there had been a committee of the house on this subject, but the question had been left open under the supposition that it would be dealt with by the Legisla ture. However her Majesty's Government had no in tention to introduce a bill to deal with the sub ject at large. The changes that would be effected by the introduction of wino into this country as an article of po pular consumption would be very important as regarded the habits and. morality of the community. However, some time must necessarily elapse before the alteration took place. THE TREATY WITH FRANCE. In reply to Mr. lIORSMAN, Lord J. RUSSELL said, with respect to the 11th article of the treaty Rath France, which had reference to coal, that the French Government would modify it if the Government of this country had any desire for it, which, however, was not the case. FOREIGN WINES. Mr. BENTINCK asked the Secretary of State for Fo reign Affairs, as her Majesty's Government, in considera tion of their undertaking to obtain the reduction of the duty on French wines, had solicited from France the promise of prospective concessions in favour of this country, whether the cont emplated reduction of duties would not confer similar advantages upon Spanish wines; and if so, whether Mr. Bu chanan had received instructions to urge on the Government of Spain the propriety of making a corresponding conces sion m favour of the trade and commerce of England. Lord J. RUSSELL was understood to say that Mr. Buchanan had not received any such instructions as those alluded to by the hon. member. CUSTOMS ACT. The house then went into committee on this Act. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he rose for the purpose of submitting to the committee the resolu tion in respect to the wine duties, which stood second upon the list. Tho first resolution had been voted in conformity with the usual practice, without discussion, on the night on which it was originally proposed; but of course it would be competent for any hon. member if he thought fit to raise a question on that first resolution hereafter. He considered this a very important resolution in our commercial law—the most important indeed which in the whole, course of his parliamentary life ho had had to deal with. Ho did not conceal from the committee the sense he had of the extreme difficulty of taking any step for taking off the wine duties. The truth was that the present system had continued a very high duty, enforcing a severe pressure for many genera tions, with considerable variations in detail—to whichthere te s oa u t b pb s r t oo a dd n yu t i co a ef l ta c h h es a pt n ae g toe e p ol a ef t hT h i hn egregard was but one s i ng l e except i on, Mr. Pitt ' s treaty, that ever to t w p e r o i in n m e h i b a s y e d d t b h e a e e n n g r y ff s o e effect artificialot o f t a h c a c t e acce ss s s a y s n d exceptional, that it was impoislble to devise any means of escape that would net be attended by considerable difficul ties, and be open to serious objections as regarded the stage of transition. He had no doubt, however, that they should arrive at some satisfactory solution of the difficulty when that transition stage was accomplished, though no doubt not without encountering very considerable inconvenience on the way—(hear)—and now he would answer the question of which the hon. baronet the member for Stamford (Sir S. Northcote) had given notice with respect to the method of ascertaining the ordinary strength of wines, and t he scale it was intended to apply to them. He need not say they had no official data properly so-called as to the strength of wines. The alcoholic test, though many persons took it to be a simple novelty, was a test which had been in daily ' operation for a very considerable time. The object of that test as now appfled was to ascertain what was wine and what was not wine, because any fermented liquor which contained a greater degree of alcohol than 40 per cent. proof was not admissible as wine into the ports of this country, and it was the duty of the Customs to ascertain that. But instead of simply ranting to books in relation to the subject in view he had thought it best to col lect from a great variety of samples which were believed to represent the general course of trade as to the effect of the strength of m ines in different classes ; at the same time he could not call these samples official, and they were perfectly open to dispute. He proposed that a portion Of the lighter wines should be admitted into this country at a duty of Is., and the remainder at Is. Gd. A portion of the lighter winos of the Peninsula, Italy, Spain, and the Mediterranean would be also admitted at a duty of ls. Gd., while a considerable portion of the Sicilian and South of France wines would be As to the reasons of the Government for negotiating this treaty with France, and proposing these resolutions to the house, they were actuated by the wish to have the most convenient uniform duty on wine. He need not say that it was also lately necessary to have something more than a mere nominal d u t y , b ecause t h e pi i nc i p l e o f th e w ino duties lay Government very root of nearly one-half our direct taxation fire felt it necessary to propose a plan which should offer a prospect of admitting to our markets cheaper sorts of wines, at a ratenotexceeding Is. per gallon. Though that appeared a very low rate, it was not, as regarded those wines, a low rate at all. But what the Government thought was this, that it was the highest rate of duty they cord fix compatible with an extensive entry of those wines into the ports of this country. (Hear, hear.) Then he came to the question, could we afford a uniform rate of ls. a gallon ? He believed that would entail a fiscal sacrifice considerably greater than that he had prepared to make. But that was not the question. Were the sacz:fice ccrsiderably more he was of opinion it would be wise to face any disadvantage so that they should g:ve a full and fair support to this measure. They proposed that wine which approached to the strength of 40 per cent. of proof spirit should be liable to a duty of 2s. per gallon. The effect of that would be that while he proposed to tax British spirits at some thing over Bs. per gallon, proof spirit in wine would be oily taxed at the rate of 55., although the proof spirit contained in wine was An important element in the composition of wine, yet it was only an element. There was a very considerable spirit in beer. If you ta!: i a gallon of beer, and look at the r-nount of malt duty upon every gallon, they would find that the alcohol contained in the beer was much more lightly taxed then that in spirits pro perly so called. The reason they could do that was because the competitionin spirits was en ieulirect competition. The large amount of betwee 1 £11,000,0” and £12,000,000 was now levied on the r .iele of Bli.,:sh and foreign Bpi :ts ; 'and, in fact, they had riaced the 2s. duty as low as they dared. 'With that duty at 2s. they had no fear of illicit distillation. The committee would see, therefore, that if they were to have a plan to meet the great exigencies of the case, it would be necessary unfortunately to adopt a varying scale of duties. If it were possible to apply the principle of an ad valorem scale it would bet he best of all, but the simple answer to that was that he did not think any minister of finance or the head of any revenue department could take the responsibility to administer under such a principle. If they had a yes y_low.ra",e then the temptation afforded to defraud would oe so great that the law would become im practicable. Then the scale which he proposed had some degree of reference to va'ue. 'Under it the higher priced wines would pay higher duties, and the lower priced wines would nay a lower duty. There were some wines of a very weak alcoholic character, and some which from their high flavour were of very considerable value. Putting this out of the question, the alcoholic test would vary a good deal in accordance with the value of the wine. As regarded the test itself, all these tests were oven to a certain amount of objection, and Parliament had sound it necessary to adopt a system of classification. So as regarded sugar, it was divided into three or four different classes, and as the hy drometer told the strength of the wine, ho apprehended there would not be any danirer of fraud or inconvenience except such as might be reaaily faced. Another important point was the drawback upon wines. He was of opinion, and he hoped the house would be of opinion, that as a general principle nothing could be worse than to allow a drawback upon articles subject to customs duties, though, of course, there might be exceptions. He would ask the house to remember what had been the course of recent legislation. It had been a mitig..tion or a removal of duties in every case where it could he attempted on a scale calculated to produce legitimate effects, and the result had invariably been ab. tefitto the dealers in the articles. Do not let it be suppo _1 he begrudged to dealers that-pro fit, for tb at increase of profit in trade prov I the extension of the trade ; therefore when legislation had been in one nnifoi al coarse, he must say he held that al a general rule nothing could 1 a weaker than to claim the return of du ,/ upon stocks in hand, inasmuch as tho. a stocks were not ma survey, and thus there would be an opening to extensive frauds. It was true that wlih r• %sect to m:n.e, it increased in value by long keening. But on the other hand the value of old wines would Lepend u-, at the du, ', wl- 'le the new wine would be chiefly consumed by that class who could not compote with the class who consumed the old wines. He did not believe there ever was a time when these considera tions told more than they did at present. He believed that all houses in the wine trade who sent round circulars put in low prieel t.) make them attractive. They were what were called the cheap houses in the trade, and he himself received a circular :som one of those house-, which c 'gyred him old port at £2 10s. per dozen. Now he believed that that would not be worth 61. less from the change of duty. Therefore from all these general grounds there was no rea son whatever for ellowing any drawback upon wines in stock. At the same time, athough there was no justreason founded upon general grounds for such a course, there did happen to be a specific or partial arrangement under which a claim on the ground of geed faith might be thought to have arisen, in 1839 and lel(k, there began a negotiation with France for a reduction in the N%:ne duties, and t' et MT.; continua for one or two years ; before that was over a n ;otiation began with Porte , : al; and t'iosa were follow- i by negotiations with Spain. In consequence of these nego tiations there was produced a paralysis in the wine trade, end the dealers made an appheacion to Sir R. Peel's Go vernment for relief, and Mr. Goulburn, who was then Chan &Per of the Exchequer, though objecting to -allow draw ; _cks ui m wine in stick, did think there were special rea • coos in the common intereat of revenue and trr le, for mak ing an arrar wement, and it was founded upon the belief that there should be no drawback except in the event of a neem tiation being followed by a commercial treaty, and that would keep the trade in a healthy condition, whereas the 'e had been a great &flirt°. b off .' om the e.:pectation of the treaty. Therefore the Treasury in 18'3 passed a minute which was perfectly distinct and definite in its terms, the effect of which was this, that all persons should be Flowed to make claims for drawback upon certain wines in their possession upon eel tai's conditions, in the event not of re duction of wine duties, but of a reduction under a treaty. The conditions were these, that in any a et which might be passed on the conclusion of a treaty for r' lucing the duties on any foreign wine, provision should be made tor allowing dealers a return of duty upon all such as- were in bond, pro vided a stock equal thereto should be found in the dealer's possession when the duty was reduced, and that the wine so found, and in respect of which a drawback was claim( 1, had been paid within two years. if Portuguese and Spanish, and six months ic any other fore] gn wioe. The Government found this minute in existence in 1843. It attain - I its object and restored confidence in the trade, by nlacing it ae.ain in it-. natural condition, and so it went on till all idea or the com mercial treatry was abandoned. The minute was, later in the year, extended by order of the Board of Excise to all wine the dealers might have in their possession at the time of reduction of duty, limited to the quantity upon which they had paid the duty in the terms of the minute, anti proof of identity of wine was no longer required. The whole matter then passed out of view. In 1852, it was sag gested that it would be satisfactory to the trade if they Were permitted to commence acting again under the minute of 1813, and accordingly new directior a were issued from the Board of Irland Revenue that they might conform to the original minute of 1813, but the extension of that minute was withdrawn. The order of the Board of Excise of 1843 was expressly cancelled in 1852. The Government found this minute in existence. It was quite true that dealers in wine had suffered none of the inconvenience which attended former treaties. There was no protracted delay, no publi city, and nothing to interfere with the regular action of trade. But without entering into these considrations, which might be thought to partake of the nature of special plead ing, he might state that as the Government found there was a considerable portion of the wine trade who had acted upon the minute as it stood. and ready to produce their books to show they had so acted, they thought it right to propose to the committee to allow the drawback to those who had con formed to the minute ; although he had told many of those gentlemen that they enjoyed extreme good fog Tune, for he had no doubt they would lose nothing at all by the altera tion in duty, but that they would in a great many cases pocket the same money twice over. But inasmuch as they kad acted under a contract, he hoped the committee would confirm that contract, though he did not propose that they should go in the slightest degree beyond the terms of the minute. As to going beyond the terms of the minute, and elloa :ng vague demands to be made upon the public purse, he thought that such demands cord n ot be justified by the spirit of the letter of that con tract, and he thought it would be the duty of the Govern ment to offer a firm resistance to any such demand. The first part of the resolution he had to place in the hands of the chairman declared that the wine duty sh .uld imme diately fa". from 5a 9d a gallon, to 3s a gallon, and the next allowed a drawback on exportation up to the 31st of March, 1861; the third gave a drawback to dealers in wine who had complied with the nrovisions of the minute of the Trea sury, dated the 24th Jr ly, 1843, and after that came the closing part of the resolution, which provided fora further fall of the M ;ne duty at a later date, and a further draw back according to the difference between 3s a gallon and the sum at which the new du,:es might be finally fixed. In reading the resolutkin he should propose that the choir men should stop at the figures 2s. 9d. per gallon, which were immediately before the scale prescribing the alcoholic t 2st. The effect of that woad be to put before the commit tee the arrangement which was to take place immediately. and to postpone for further emsideration that which related to the final fall ofthe duties. An opinion might exist that whatever change should take place in the wine duties should be entire and at once. The Government were aware that there were vr - :or s questions of convenience connectedN, :th the course of trade wlich would be best served by an ar rangement of that kind. To traders, no doubt it would have been convenient that the change should have be an complete and immediate ; but the objections to that course were greater than its recommendations. The first objection was one of revenue, and he thought to make the change so great by a single stroke would inflict on the revenue a loss in the first instance, and for a little time very much more serious than it would have to bear according to the plan proposed by the Government. But besides that, he con.essed he did not think he co ,- Id venter() upon so hazardous an experiment with a due regard to the interests of the consumers. (Hear.) They must consider what was the state of the stock of wine in this country. There had been no notice given to enable the grower and the manufacturer of wino abroad to make any preparation whatever for this change. They bad had no notice whatever of the probability of the English market being opened to them till whhin the last few weeks, and though the stocks in this country were sufficient for the change recommended, the Government did not think they were more than sufficient—they were cer ne: t —r a doe i ef n ourn l r y cieut n nisol o n t t s h u e ffie 3 ie l n 4 t for the full and entire reduction of the duty, which the plan of the Government ultimately contemplated, and the change it woul I actually produce. The continental growers might be able to make some additional exportation this year, but. in all probability that addition would not be a large one. It might be doubted whether the period he had fixed for the second reduction was the proper one, but at present it seemed clear to him that a moderate interval should be allowed be lotiwn, would dh itnelhioewifilbersehtiraadlneda thoughtvfi final t a o l n f fall. move it vt . e necessary aThosesth the first w fir e s r t teo resolution, thevario uscomment, o, ‘nid. pointsii?h heet o a f nd th a be llo d s u ve ti d es ci f illi ol7o rli s ge v e ' ll i d ng duties shall be charged thereon, t t j o e n n i e s d now 0 n a and the drawbacksertielesu impor tation into the United Kingdom, viz. :—Until of lB Bo 6 o l h , Foreign Countries—Redw,inintcheh:es3isvg.ea;l—wloinNtVh, i n a 3e n s ; a o l f lo wa w hn a ld. u te ( , ,e frt( f lin: drawback on exportation until the said 31st March, allowance inclusive, of 3s. per ;gallon on such wine exported r 1 as ships' stores, but that no drawback be granted on (51 used as wineol l 1 11; e and 1 who l i i t a h v a e n compliedallowance of the Lords of the Treasury, dated the 7th July, 1813, Rt o the foreign wine which they have hadin stock on the —F . a o . b , 1860, on the conditions of the said minute, at tire rate Of 2 ,,. 01 per gallon." The resolution having been read from the chair, • Mr. 11. BAILLIE said before it was agreed to he hoped that more satisfactory iaformation would be given to the committee by the right hon. gentleman as to the mode by which he intended to supply the deficiency in the revenue. In asking that question ho assured the right hon. gentle man that he and those who sat on that side of the house had no objection to the remission or reduction of excise duties, and the encouragement of trade; but there was a time for all things, and they thought that when there was a large and admitted deficiencliin the Exchequer this was not the proper time to make such hazardous experiments as those proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The financial statement of the right hon. g entleman was ' founded entirely upon the supposition thattis deficit would be bet Ween nine and ten millions, whereas he (Mr. Baillie) was prepared to show that it must be at least £3,000,000 more than he bad estimated, and it would be necessary for him either to retain the excise duties he proposed to lower or remit partially, or to impose an additional income tax to make up these £3,000,000. The Government and the right hon. gentleman were about to enter into a war with China., fo. the extraordinary expenditure of which they estimated only half a million this year That estimate was already proved erroneous, having mounted up to £850,000. The best way to judge of the real and probable expenditure of the Chinese war this year would be to take the facts connected with the Persian expedition in 1856. That expedition was fitted out at Bombay, and consisted of 4,000 Europeans and 8,000 native troops. From the time they landed in Persia until peace was ratified at Bagdad in May, 1857, that expedition was on duty five months and a half, and the extraordinary cost was £2,195,728, or, in round numbers, £2,200,000. The Chinese expedition preparing in the three presidencies of Bombay, Madras, and Bengal, was to be compssed of pre cisely the same number of troops, but with this difference in the composition of the expedition, that there were to be 7,000 Europeans and 5,000 natives, and consequently the expense of the commissariat would b.) greater. He had no hesitation in saying that six months in China with such a force would cost a million more than the Persian expedition, or 13,200,000. As to any indemnify from the Chinese, it was out of the , question, as the Government of China had no money. He trusted that means would be found to provide for this extra expenditure. Alr. CRAWFORD rose to express his belief that the al coholic test by means of which the wine duties were proposed to be collected would be found entirely unsuited to the pur pose. It would depend on the skill of the manipulation, the accuracy of the instruments, and even the state of the atmosphere, and one gauger might return a wine at ls. 6d. the gallon duty is London, whilst another might put it at Is. in Liverpool, the first representing it 15 and the second only 14 degrees of strength. Classification had been found to fail in tea, and a uniform duty was established ; and in the case of sugar the question was a constant source of dis pute between the Customs and consignees. With respect to the drawback, the duffers understood that, they were to receive a drawback of 2s. 9d. per ge'lon on all wines in stock, provided they complied with the Treasury minute of July, 1842, but they complained that when the Ist of Alan 1861. arrived they would be deprived of their right by the operation of a subsequent minute. The CHANCELLOR o':theEXCHEQUER wishedthat the poirt alluded to by his hon. friend might be reserved. Mr. CRAW FORD was rejoiced to receive th;s intimation, and trusted that the hesitation which it evinced on the part of his right hon. friend had arisen from what he had heard that day from the deputation. Sir S. NORTHCOTE said, with reference to the draw back, that the dealers were prepared to abide by the minute, but they complained of its ambiguity. They believed that the minute of 1813 was la a considerable extent revoked by the subsequent one of 1852. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER explained that the minute of 1852 oily revived that of 1843, and the one last issued vas sent to c very dealer in the trade. The order of 1843 was revived by that of 1852, at the request of the trade. Mr. H. BENTINCK was afraid that the result of the proposition of the Chancellor of the Exchequer would be to introduce the practice of adulteration of wines upon a greater scale on the continent. With regard to the importation of French wines he believed they would not bear carrying, and thLt they were hardly drinkable even in France itself. He only hoped the merits of the budget would be thoroughly understood throughout the country, and that the labouring population would at last see who were their real friends. (Cheers.) He contended the budget was nothing but a sequel to the proceedings of the hon. member for Birming ham and his friends, who in 1816 succeeded in passing mea sures extremely beneficial to themselves under the disguise of a wish to benefit the whole mass of the population. He trusted they would have en opportunity for ample discus sion as to how the deficiency caused by the budget could be made up. At present they had had no explanation u on the subject, but merely a series of asset tions as to what would be the result of the proceedings of the right hon. gentle men. Mr. CROSSLEY had been vel e , much pleased by the statement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer with regard to the reduction of the wine duties. He thought the right hon. gentleman had clearly shown that such a measure would improve directly the position of the middle classes of the country, and eventually the position of the laboui ing population generally. Sir E. GROGAN must enter his protest againit the plan of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in reference to the re duction of the duty on wine. The general feeling of the trade was that there should be a uniformity of duty, and that the alcoholic test was lil - .1v to lead to injustice and dis putes. This was the opinion of a meeting of the trade held so lately as Saturday last. A uniform duty would veil greatly simplify ell the transactions of the trade, whereas the alcoholic test world require a great deal of skill and nicety, and would occupy in each case about half an hour. Mr. B. WOODD read the general order of 1852, and said ho could not agree with the construction which the Chan "or of the Exe'iequer put upon it. It was not a revival of any order which was issued ex proprio motu by the Trea sury itself. It was the duty of the stipereisor to have de livered this order to any one obtaining a licence, which had not been done. The trade thought naturally that the same words had the same meaning in 1852 as in 1843. The order was reissued word for word in 18.52, and he had no doubt on the subject. The present proposal of the Chancellor of Exchequer held out a premium to fraud, because it was ut terly impossible for any excisemen to identify wines in stock so as to say whether they were wines bought within two years or not. Mr. M. MILNEB said it was an illustration of the fluctuating nature of opinion in that house, that when the question of the reduction of the wine duties had been dis cussed in previous years with considerable ability by an hon. gentleman who was then his colleague, it excited very l'ttle attention. (Hear, hear.) He had no special private reasons for doing so, but he thought it was only due to Mr. Oliveira that he should recal to the house the great assiduity with which that gentleman brought for ward this question year after year. (Hear, hear.) He need not remind them of the labour and expense em ployed in getting up the facts and illustrations which he placed before the house. (Hear.) He little thought that he was then sowing the seeds of this great financial mea sure. He (Mr. Milnes) considered that the alcoholic test was the very worst that could be selected. The effect of it would necessarily 13 to introduce into this country the worst and most acidulous kind of wines, and keep out those better productions of the Feninsela, the stronger and haler wines of Spain and Portugel, which would accommodate themselves to the taste of the British public, and most ma terially carry out the designs of the right hon. gentleman. He thought that the Government appeared to be about to deal unjustly with the present holders of stocks of wine. There was something repulsive to his sense of justice in the fact that the right hon. gentleman should talk of dealing with it as a matter purely of contract, to be carried out with the strictest legality, and not as a question of justice to be de.lt with liberally. It would only be just to the holders of stocks of wine to treat them as they would have been treated in 1843 had the treaty then been carried out ; and if they were to have been no losers by that treaty, why should they be so now? (flee-, hear.) Why draw such a distinction between 1843 and 1860? There ought also to be the greatest liberality in dealing with the question of the identity of stocks.. Many members of the trade had ceased keeping stock-books, which was winked at by the officers, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer would do well to abstain from requiring the production of any such merely formal documents, anu to content himself with the production of the pass-book, regularly drawn up, and accompanied by duplicat3 certificates supplied to the trade by the Inland Revenue, and by them transmitted to the Excise. The right hon. gentlemen would be no loser by this plan, and he would do justice to the persons whom he would wish least ta injure, viz., those wine merchants who had small stocks in trade. The larger merchant:- who could bee- any loss without the least injury to themselves had b- an more correct than merchants holding smaller stocks. The latter had been, he would not say culpably negligent, for they had been encouraged in their negligence by officers of the Crown. He proposed that after the words " 2s. 9d. per gallon" these evords should be i nser t e d, " or by suc h other process as might prove satisfactorily to the Commis sioners of Inland Revehuo that such stocks have been ac quired before the Ist of February, 1860." Mr CAYLEY, who was very imperfectly heard, was understood to suggest that our beer shor l d be admitted into Franca at 11. rate of duty p ro p or ti ona t e t o th a t c h arge d by us on wines imported from thence. Mr. DODSON said . the duty upon beer imported into France was about eql2tvalent to the duty upon F renc h i wine imported nto this country. A duty upon wine of 6s. a gallon was equivalent to a duty of Is. per bottle. The duty noon wine was . about one-fourth or one-fifth of the value otbeer. The right hon. gentleman had said that his budget was one to sweep away the last remnant of protec tion, but the duties levied upon wine should- not be made so as to establish a protection to the foreign pro ducer. (Hear, hear.) The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he was afraid that he might be accused of disrespect to hon. members, if he did not at once achleess one or two remarks upon the points to which they referred ; at the same time, he did not think when they were in committee on a parti cular vote on the Customs Act, it was the proper time for considering all the questions which had been put to him, and particularly as tithe expenses of the war with China, inasmuch as when they were in a committee of supply they would be enabled to deal with that question. The questions of one or two of the hon. gentlemen who had last spoken appeared to him to be more germane to the 'subject now be fore them, than having reference to malt, hops, and beer. IVith respect to the article of beer, he did not think that in the official correspondence there had been any mention made of that article ; it was mentioned by the negotiators at Paris, but it was not thought advisable to introduce the article suggested in the treaty. If they had endeavoured to weigh in opposite *cities, the advantage given on the one side and the advantages received on the other, they would have broken down, and have kite I altogether. Therefore, there was that reason why they should not have persevered as to the admis sion of English beer into France; for if they had founded a demand for the admission of English beer into France, upon the reduction of the duty upon French wines, it might have been justly asked, what duty was going to be levied on French wines ? because the French duty on beer was now considerably, less, according to value, than the Englishduty on wine, and would continue to be after the proposed change had been carried into effect. The French charge on beer was 2d. 2-sths per gallon, or about 18 per cent. on the ordinary value ; and in regard to the wine duty here, it would be 40, 50, and even 100 per cent. He perfectly agreed with the hon. gentleman that it would be inexpedient and unfair to put a higher duty on malt, which was the produce of their own soil, than upon wines which came to thorn from abroad. But with respect to' the dif ferent qualities of light nines, he thought it would be im possible to draw a clear distinction bet ween the rate of duty on wine and beer, but it would be on the lower class of wines which would come into competition with beer. The hon. member for Dubliu had said that if a graduated scale were good, why should it not - be applied immediately ; but lie did not think it necessary to give the same facilities for the introduction of :heap wines until the plan should come fully into operation. The gradual scale would not apply to the ititermeeiate period, but after that period was worked out, then they should have recourse to the graduated scale. Then, as to the subject of drawbacks, he denied the justice of rho system of drawbacks generally, as they had been taken of late years, but they should be conformed to the class of cases in which the identification of the goods was practicable. That could be done under the Excise, but not under the Customs. The Treasury minute of 1813 placed wine under regulations similar to those of the Excise. What he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) would suggest to the committee was, that they should confine themselves to the disposal of the suggestion of the hou. member for Pontefract. The hon. gentleman proposed that they should be prepared to make a return of duty on their stock. He (the Chancel lor of the Exchequer) would not call that duty on his part, but extravagance, and a course which the house would never agree to. There was no ease under the specific terms of the contract for the return of one farthing. The wine trade was not going to be losers, but large pint o§ by 1113 proposals, and they recognised tile enopmcais bcPentilthgt would result foul the chimp, 1 e stitniehes which would be gNen to the' trade '*Outd 'largely increase the profits. The Treasmy Minn& was perfectly explicit, as to the re duction of the wine duties, and the letter accompanying it recognised no such distinction as that represented. The Government was at liberty to revoke their own order, and they had sent round that revocation to the trade, and by that they intended to stand. He should like to know how the half million deficit would bo made up if ho agreed to this suggestion. Mr. 1 ONCKTON MILNES explained, and said that his right hon. friend was in error when he said the present merchants would be no losers by his budget, because they would have to give up to their customers the benefits that would flow from the operation of the Government scheme. He thought the course pursued by Government was one of summary injustice. He was in the hands of the house on this matter, but if he found any support he would take the sense of the house upon it. Mr. BALL thought the question of the malt duties was immediately - connected with this question. Before consi dering the claims of wine merchants they should consider those of the farmers in respect to the malt duties, which was the most oppressive of all duties. The hon. member stated the process of levying this duty, every stage of which, he contended, was vexatious. During the discussion cf these minute details, protection bad been ridiculed, but although he had submitted to free trade he held now the same prin ciples with regard to protection which he had always held. During the last seven years free trade had not given to the poor a cheaper loaf. The poor were deceived and betrayed. It was said pass the corn laws, and there would be no fluctuations, but had not that also proved a fallacy ? He believed that just the result that had at tended the repeal of the corn laws would attend the ope aticn of this budget. It would break many a man's heart. The manufacturers had damaged the agriculturists and shipping trade, and now they were going to damage other trades. The assertion that this change woald benefit them would prove a fallacy as other assertions of Free traders had done. On the subject of malt he meant to divide the house, and he felt he was justified in so doing. There was no class so oppressed as the agriculturists, and his ap peal to the right hon. gentleman was to give them relief from the malt tax. The right hon'. gentleman was going to allow the foreigner to introduce barley, and that would teach foreigners by and by how to malt, but thero was no end to the mischief this budget would inflict upon the country, and he might truly say to the right hon. gentleman,— " You rob Peter to pay Paul, And tax the Briton to serve the Gaul." Mr. BASS did not feel very sanguine as to the advantages to be derived from repealing the duties on French wines, big t let the Chancellor of the Excheque- reduce that on malt and he was certain not to be a loser. The right hon. gentle man said the other day that there were many hon. members in the house free traders, who were.not for free trade with out some exceptions. Now, he was for a free trade in itself; and he believed he was the first brewer who ever said so. It was well known that all the great brewers were entirely opposed to it, and his opinion was, that no other connected with the trade would make a similar declaration. If the wines of France, and Spain, and Portigal were to be ad mitted into England, if spirits were to be imported from Holland and from America, where he understood it was sold at Bd. the gallon, if new houses were to take up this trade, why not give the same advantage to English beer. (Hear, hear.) The hon. member for Liskeard, the other night, quoted from a blue book the manner in which wines were adulterated in this country; but a similar practice existed in France. From the same authority it would be seen that Spanish and Hungarian wines were often sold as French wines, and under the new order of things he had no doubt whatever that such wines would be introduced to this country as French wines. He read the opinion of Sir Emerson Tennent, given before that committee, when be said that if they reduced the duty on wine, they must, as a matter of necessLy, reduce the malt tax. Mr. VANCE, as a representative for a city celebrated for its manufacture of spirits, wished to say a few words, and begged in the first instance to express his regret that the hon. member for Derby did not make the speech he just delivered in the course of last week. Had he done so many hon. members would have voted, he had no doubt, in a dif ferent manner. He complained that the measure proposed by tae right hon. gentleman would have a serious effect on the spirit and wino trade of Ireland. Colonel SYKES thought, the proposal of his hon. friend was just, namely, that those who could prove that, within the last two years, they had paid duty upon their stock of wines, should be entitled to a drawback, and in support of that principle he should give his vote in support of the pro. position of his hon. friend. (Hear, hear.) Mr. WHITESIDE said it would be well to inquire what was likely to be the consumption of French wines in this country. Now, on that question, he thought the best evi dence they could have was that of Sir Emerson Tennent. The right hon. and learned gentleman quoted from the evidence to the effect that Sir Emerson Tenant in his com munications with the French authorities, had heard that it was a delusion to suppose that if the duty were taken off the people of England could be induced to drink the light wines of France. He then went on to state on the authority furnished to him that the opinion of the Emperor was that it would be well if the Bordeaux merchants would consider what they were about to do ; and it was distinctly stated to him on the highest authoritieL that the low wines of France would not be held in esteem by the people of England. hlifr. HENLEY considered the question at present was, whether French wines were to be admitted at 3s. per gallon duty. He had heard the Chancellor of the Exchequer say that he was against the principle of a drawback. He had not heard, nor did he understand what the loss to the Exchequer would be by the right hon. gentleman's scheme, as pointed out by the hon. member for Coventry. If the scheme was to be carried out, he would take that opportunity of saying that hp would not do any thing to weaken it. (Hear, hear.) He thought it was weak enough as it stood. (Hear, and laughter.) He could not conceive how persons would consent to pay 3s. per gallon for those wines —(hear, hear)—but in his opinion they would have to pay at a rate not of 35., but of ss. 9d. The right hon gentleman said that wine merchants would not be in jured because they might have a stock of wines on hand when the reduced duty on French wines would come into operation ; but for his (Mr. Henley's) part, he could not see how they could escape. He did not think there ought to be any money granted by the Exchequer unless an equitable claim were made out; and, for his part he did not see that any equitable claim had been made out, nor did he hear of any thing of the sort. (Hear, hear.) Mr. M. MILNES hoped he would be permitted to amend the proposition which had been submitted, and to propose it in a more distinct manner, as follows, viz. :—" Or who can prove by limy other process to the satisfaction of the Com missioners of Inland Revenue, that such stock has been ac quired, and duty paid on it, two years before the 10th of February, 1860." Lord J. RUSSELL would not now enter at all into the question of the ane duties; but he must confess that the proposal of his hon. friend the member for Pontefract seemed to him to be the loosest proposition he had ever heard. (Hear, hear.) Here there were three rules which required a drawback. His honour • able friend said—" If you observe these rules you'll have a drawback, or you may not." Now, if that was to be the effect, how could they expect any conditions to be observed ? And they might say to the House of Commons —" You have done wrong in grunting this large sum of money—you did not know how much it was ; but you have granted it to some, and you must grant it to others." Every one might be at liberty to come and' say—" I hwe not observed these rules ; but I have a right, and you are bound to grant me a sum of money as a drawback." His hon. friend said the assent to that proposition might cost £600,000, but whether it would cost £600,000 or £60,000 was not the question. One could not say whether the stock on hand was the stock of one year or of two years. He thought his hon. friend could not maintain such a proposi tion. Sir F. KELLY said if the right hon. gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer would take the grammatical construction and plain common sense of the minute and the order, and not rely upon any construction such as might be put upon these documents by a special pleader, he believed that he must come to the conclusion that the drawback should be allowed to all wine merchants who had an equal quantity of " such wine" as that they had paid duty upon, though it could not be proved that it was identically the same wine. Mr. WOODD referred to the words "and of a like de scription," and contended that these words could not possi bly apply to the same wine. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER observed that there were two questions before the committee. With regard to the point raised by the hon. and learned member opposite, he proposed that the committee should pass the resolution as it steed for the present, if they were agreed that parties were to receive a drawback who had complied with the minutes; and then, if any doubt were entertained as to the terms of those minutes, the committee would be better - able to decide the question when they had not only the minutes, but the orders that were made upon those minutes, before them. (Hear, hear.) The question ra i se d by the lion. member for Pontefract was an entirely different one. He wished the Government to allow a drawback amounting to £600,000 to traders who had not complied with the excise regulations, upon a principle, it seemed, of generosity. [Mr. Milnes—" Of justice."] What his lion. Mend called justice was the granting of a favour to parties to a contract who had neglected to observe the terms of that contract. The mischief did not stop there, for the same indulgence might b 3 extended to timber, silk goods, gloves, currants, raisins and figs, to an extent which would break tke back of a richer Chancellor of the Exchequer than he was. Mr. MILNES said that there were persons who had complied witk the spirit of the order, had submitted their accounts to the excise officers, and entered them in their cash-books, but had only omitted t o o b serve t h e f orm o f keeping a tack book,-from which they had often been pre vented by the obstacles thr own i n th e i r way b y the excise officers. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that no one case of such conduct on the pax ;; of an excise officer had been Nei:fied, and he was not abl e to believe that such eases occurred, The stock book wes the only evidence, and the only security which the trader was bound to preserve' Mr. BENTINCK said he shoal support fho hon. mem ber for Pontefract if he went to a division. It was obvious that to expect justice, patriotism, or go d feeling from her Majesty's Government was a perfectly hopeless undertak ing. There was no attempt to convince except by majorities. Sir E. GROGAN said that he had presented a petition only the other day from merchants and traders in the wine business, who complained that the officers whose duty it was to carry out the minute had refused to verify and cer tify their stock sheets. Mr. LAING said that cases of omission wore excep tional. The rule was to keep a book. After a few words from Sir M. FARQUHAR, the commit tee divided : For the amendment Against it ---111 Majority The resolution was then agreed to. _ Tlie CHANCELLOR of the EXC HE QUER moved the following amended resolution, viz.:— Resolved, that on and after the Ist day of January, 1861, the following duties shall be charged, viz.:— Containing less than the following rates of proof • spirit, verified by Sykes' Hydrometer, : t 2. 1 g 'et .4 18 deg. 26 deg.. 140 deg, Wine of and from Foreign Conn tries— lted the gallon White Lees of such Wine „ . Wine the growth and pro duce ,r any British posses sion, and imported direct from thenco— lied the gallon White Lees of such Wine „ 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 q 4 0 2 0 The resolution having been put, Mr. V ITg eERALD said the alterations Which the rit,lo gentleman had resolved on increased the obiesAtions he felt to the proposal, because as the resolution waS now pro posed it was equivalent to EA virtual vlceferentiai dnty on S. d. 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 s. d, 1 0 1 0 1 0 r. d. 1 6 1 6 1 6 French wines. While the highest strength chargeable with the ls. duty was only 15 degrees, a very small quantity of French wines would have come in at that duty; and it would have consisted of the lowest and weakest descriptions; but he would give the house the result of actual experiments made by two or three importers during the last week. All the sherries averaged front 32 to 33 per cent. of alcoholic strength. Marsala, a Sicilian wine, averaged 33 per cent., and port from 33 to 40 ; so that all the wines from Spain and Portugal would be charged the highest rate of duty. On the other hand, Medoc had 17 per cent., Chateau La Tour 18 per cent., and the average of more than 200 clarets of the years 1856-8 was 18 per cent. As therefore the right hon. gentleman now proposed his resolution it would be, he re - peated, equivalent to a differential duty in favour of French as against Spanish and Portuguese wines; and it looked like an artifice to get rid of our covenants end agreements with the Peninsular governments. Again, if there was one point upon which the wine trade were agreed it was the impracti cability of carrying out the alcoholic test. The right hon. gentleman said it might be applied in half an hour; but 40 or 50 pipes were often received in a morning, so that the committee would see what a serious hindrance to business even a test that took only half an hour would prove. Why in Faris, were such quantities of wine were daily brought into the city, the test was not once applied for weeks and months together. in the first place it required a degree of skill hardly less than that of an analytical chemist, and its results were most uncertain and contradictory. A short time ago three pipes of port, of the same vintage and the same price, were sent, one to London, another to Leith, and a third to a port which he (the hon. gentleman) did not re collect. •In London the pipe was admitted; but at Leith it was refused on the ground that it had above 40 degrees of alcoholic strength, and was, therefore, prohibited. At the third port the wine was at first refused, but a dispute aris ing, the test was gone through again by another officer, and it was admitted. The result would therefore be that, the test having been found impracticable, France would de mand admission for all her wines at the is. duty, and then all other countries would request the same favour • whereas the right hon. gentl eman h a d hi mse lf confessed that it would be madness and folly to let in the strong wines for less than 2s. per gallon. Indeed, it would take at least six times the contemplated consumption to repair the loss to the revenue if such a thing were to happen. It would even pay to buy up inferior French wines to brandy them to the full strength, to import them at the ls. duty, and to distil them in this country. • The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said there was some truth in the assertion that the wines of the colder vine-producing countries were less strong than those of the south; but the house did not as yet know what was the difference, becauee owing to our vicious system of duties the Peninsular wines had grown to be of such an unnatural strength that few even of gentlemen in the trade had any knowledge of their original quality. (Hear, hear.) The hon. gentleman said that no wines but the wines of France would come in at the low duty, but the wines of Germany would also come in. What had the Government done ? They had placed in this scale the condition that wine in bottle should pay 2s. a • gallon whatever might bo its strength, but that was not conceived in the spirit of esta blishing differential duties a ga i ns t F rance. H e was confi dent that France would feel as great an interest in the ad mission of the wines of the south as of any wine which she possessed. We really did not know what the natural state of the wines of Europe was, because they were very rarely seen here in their natural state. (Hear, hear.) The hon. gentleman said the test proposed was impracticable, and that the trade were of that opinion without one dissentient voice. He, however, believed the trade did not hold the language of the hon. member. If the hon. gentlemanwould refer to the arguments used by the trade, he would find that where they said the scheme was impracticable, they ex plained the expression by stating that it would be cumbrous m operation, and would cause delays. When thehon. gen tleman said it would entail an enormous expense by establishments at small ports, he (the Caancellor of the Exchequer) answered him by saying there would be no ne cessity for any establishments at small ports. Neither was the hon. member accurate in stating that it would require men of a higher class than the present custom-house officers for conducting these operations. The present head of the customs had declared that in the course of a short time, under the measures proposed, the department would be able to disperse altogether with the class of landing-waiters, who were the most costly officers the customs possessed. Tho wine trade certainly had not represented to him that they would sustain any amount of inconvenience such as to interfere seriously with the course of their transactions. With regard to the test of the strength of wines, rules would be devised which would enable the customs to deter mine how many cases it was necessary to take in order to test the ordinary strength of the wine. The hon. gentle man came down to supply the lack of information on the part of the Government, and he told them that well-in informed and practical men had acquainted him that full bodied wines of strong quality could be purchased abroad at 2d. or 3d. a gallon. [Mr. FITZGERALD —I said nothing of the kind.]' The hon. gentleman was totally wrong, if he supposed that any win e fit t o b e i mporte d h ere could be brought to this ccuntry for 2d. a gallon. Wine of any strength, however coarse, could not be brought here—as he had been told by gentlemen who represented the trade—at less than about twelve times the price stated by the hon. member, Mr. FITZGERALD explained that what he said was there might be a coarse wine bought in France at a sum such as he had stated, and it might be worth the while of parties to mix that with a very large portion of brandy and bring it in here at the rate of Is. duty solely for the purpose of distillation. Mr. T. BARING begged to observe that where there was a graduated scale for an article which came into consump tion without any subsequent process, they taxed it, not ac cording to its value here, nor according to its general con sumption, but they taxed it arbitrarily, and, he thought, differentially in favour of France. If they took all the wines of Spain and Portugal nothing could come in at this one shilling duty, and what must be the resuit ? That in order to get this wine in at a low duty it must be diluted before it arrived here. Where they introduced an article for imme diate consumption they ought not to adopt a scale of this kind, They should adopt one uniform scale. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER thought that from the remarks of the hon, member he had probably not heard the statement which he (the right hon. gentle man) had made at an earlier period of the evening. The hon. gentleman wished to know why the strong wines were to be taxed at 2s, and the weak wines at ls. The answer was as simple as possible. If the Government placed the tax high enouph with reference to strong wines to protect us against risk as to the spirit revenue, then they would de feat entirely the main purpose of this great change, which was to introduce the weak wines at the lower duty. It ap peared to him that if they were to protect the spirit duty, and make an experiment in the introduction of the weaker wines, they should have a sum which went down as low as ls. and as high as 2s. A change had taken place in the prac tice of the wine trade. It had become necessary, in conse quence of the oidium, to brandy the wine more, and that might have led to some uncertainty in the application of the law. Sir S. NORTHCOTE wished to have some explanation why the scale had been lowered from 18 to 15 degrees. He did net think that the proposed system would be imprac ticable, but it would be cumbrous and inconvenient. The result of the proposed system would be, that the fine clarets and hermitages would pay the least duty. Lord A. CHURCHILL observed that alcohol, having a greater specific gravity, fell to the bottom of the cask ; so that wine taken from the top of the cask would be weaker by some degrees than that taken from the bottom. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the difficulty suggested by the noble lord was met every day. In point of fact, the practice adopted was, that the customs officers drew partly from the top and partly from the bot tom of the cask. His hon. friend asked him what effect this would have on the revenue. Before they got out of com mittee he should be obliged to make a statement of the re sult, but as far as they had gone they would be rather gainers. His hon. friend said that the hermitages and fine clarets would pay the l eas t d u t y ; but the fact was that these fine vines were excessively rare products, not of products but rather of vineyards. Generally it would be found that the stronger were also the dearer wines, and, therefore, the scale as far as it went would fall gradually, but he was far from saying th a t it was t o b e recommended as an ad vatorem scale. Mr. CRAWFORD wished to know whether the new duties would take effect to-morrow (this day). The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER believed it was not the intention of the committee to continue any differential duty in favour of Cape wines after the new scale came into operation. They would pay, like other wines of the same strength, for the protection of the spirit revenue in England, He felt it his duty, un l ess th e committee should be of a different opinion, to take care that the same rule was acted up on i n th e presen t case, an d th a t th e 3s should be taken to-morrow (this day). The CHAIRMMN, on being appealed to, said that the resolutions would t a k e e ff ec t as soon as the house in com mittee had passed them. ' ~ was also his own i m p ress i on , th ou The CHANCELLOR o f th e EX ot C u H p E en Q m U a E k ß ing sa i i n dthat qniry effect would be followed, an d th e new duty would take im mediately he had been told o th e r w i se . Th e usual course, however, after the resolution had been reported to the house. After a few words from Mr. NEWDEGATE, The resolution respecting spirits was agreed , to. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then moved the fourth resolution, providing that the duties charged upon certain goods, wares, and merchandise im ported into the United Kingdom shall cease and determine, a list of 43 different articles being annexed to the resolution. Mr. NEWDEGATE hoped the right hon. gentleman would not go on with the list that night. He moved that the chairman should report progress. Sir W. MILES suggested that it would be much better not to take the other articles specified in the treaty of com merce until immediately after the house should have de cided -vhether it would take off the duty on paper, with regard to which also the hon, member for Hertfordshire (Mr. Puller) had an amendment respecting p theprohibition of the export of rags from F rance. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said care would be taken to make some arrangement by which the house would not commit itself on that subject. All he asked was to go on with this resolution and the list now until they came to some article on which a difference of opinion might arise. Mr. NEWDEGATE then said he would take objection to the first article in the list, " agates and cornelians." (A ed bNaevdi t otin o hpe k oitnu n tit O t laugh.) He would not, h owever, trouble the house with a long speech on th e su b ject. from r?aor M semsne r oda . hl S tl A thprai e L srat O tsy l resolution teNh should S h we w no flraoal wished ii e ve t el h e teshre, namedifs a same t i ? h e the articles c u t lhse the nowagrnewyacreh equivalentt The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the resolution proposed to the house did not limit the articles admitted to those coming from France; it took no cogni sance of their origin, but left the import open from all the world. (Hear, hear.) Mr. D. GRIFFITII said this answer was not consistent with the statement of the right hon. gentleman the other day, that the giving of certain facilities to France did not imply their being extended to German goods. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the hon. gentleman had mistaken the purport of his answer. What he had stated was that, under the treaty, it would be perfectly competent to the House of Commons, if it thought fit, to lay higher duties on German or any other goods than on the Freuoh goods ; tho French treaty would not forbid it. He did not object to report progress if there was any bona tide objection to the articles in this list. Lord PALMERSTON took this opportunity to appeal to the hon. gentlemen who had motions standing for next day (Tuesday) to waive them, and. allow the discussion of these resolutions to go on. The hon. member for Berkshire stood first. Captain VERNON, being thus appealed to, said he give way, though his motion was one of great commercial importance, end he might bring iten afterwards upon going into Qotamittee of supply. Lord J. RUSSELL said it might be convenient to the hon. member for Riidge water (Mr. Kinglake, who was net in the holm) to be informed that the motion of which he had given nonce ter figs day—namely, one for the prodile. 0. d. 2 0 2 0 tion of copies and extracts respecting Savoy—would not be objected to by the GoVernment. Mr. NEWDEGATE said he had no objection to the house now resuming, in order that the resolutions which had been agreed to in committee respecting the wine duties might be reported. The house resumed. PACKET SERVICE (TRANSFER OF CONTRACT) BILL. This Lill w as rea d a seeond time. PETITIONS OF RIGHT BILL. This bill passed through committee. MEDICAL ACTS AMENDMENT BILL. This bill was read a second time. WEAPONS OF WAR. On the motion of Colonel DUNNE, a return was ordered of all sums of public money which since the year 1852 had been allowed to private persons for the purpose of enabling them to make experiments, in order to improve weapons of war. The house then adjourned. PARLIAMENTARY DIVISION. lIOUSE OF COMMONS.—FEB. 27. CUSTOMS ACTS. 'a the Committe.)—Motion made, and Question proposed, " That, in lieu of the duties and drawbacks of Customs now charged or allowed on the articles undermentioned, the following duties shall be charged thereon, on importa tion into the United Hingdom, viz. : Until the 31st day of March, 1861, inclusive. Wine of and from foreiga countries— _ s. d. Red the gallon 3 0 White . . Lees of such Wine the gallon 3 0 With an allowance for drawback on exportation until the said 31st day of March, 1861, inclusive, of 3a. per gallon on such wine exported or used as ships' stores, but that no drawback be granted on lees of wine ; and with an allowance of drawback to licensed dealers in wine who have complied with the provisions of the minute of the Lords of the Treasury, dated the 7th July, 1843, on the foreign wine which they had in stock on the 10th Feb ruary, 1860, on the conditions of the said minute, at the rate of 2s. 9d. per gallon." Amendment proposed,at the end of the proposed Resolution, to add the words " or who can prove by any other process which shall be satisfactory to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, that such stock of wine has been acquired and the duty paid within two years before the 10th day of February, 1860."—Question put, "That thoie words be there added."—The Committee divided : Ayes 72 ; Noes 183. AYES —72. Ball, E. Fitzgerald, W. S. Ogilvy, Sir J. Baring, Thomas Gard, it. S. Packe, C. W. Bass, M. T. Gavin, Major Pakenham, Col. Beecroft, G. S. Gore, J. R. 0. Papillon, P. 0. Bentinck, G. W. P. Graham, Lord Wm. Parker, Major W. Black, Adam Greenall, G. Paull, 11. Blake, J. A. Grogan, Sir Edward Powys, L. P. Bovill, Wm., Hamilton, Major Rogers, John J. Bowyer, W. Hassard, M. D. Seymer, H. K. Brooks, R. Hornby, W. H. Stanley, Lord Butler, C. S. Horsfall, T. B. Stracey, Sir H. Cairns, Sir H., Jervis, Captain Sykes, Col. W. 11. Cayley, E. S. Kekewich, S. Taylor, Colonel Clay, James Kelly, Sir F. Thy ane, Lord E. Cobbett, J. 31. Kennard, C. Torrens, R. Cobbold, John C. Lygon, Hon. F. Trefusis, Hon. C. H. Cubitt, Ald. McMahon, P. Valetort, Lord Danner, L. S. W. D. Maguire, J. F. Vance, Joh n Dawson, R. P. M ains, R, Vernon, L. V. Dickson, Col. Miller, William Whiteside, Rt Hn J. Duke, Sir James Monsell, Rt. Hn. W. Whitmore, 11. Dunne, Col. Mure David Willoughby, Sir H. Edwards, Major H. Napier, Sir C. TELLERS. Ennis, John Newdegate, C. N. Milnes, R. 3f. Farquhar, Sir M. O'Donoghue, D. Humberstone, P. S. NOES-183. Adam, W. P. Finlay, A. S. Packe, G. H. Adderley, C. B. Fortescue, C. S. Paget, C. Agnew, Sir A. Freeland, H. W. Paget, Lord A. Alcock, T. Garnett, W. J. Paget, Lord C. E. Arnott, Sir J. Gibson, T. M. Pakington, Sir J. S. Atherton, W. Gilpin, C. Palmerston, Visct. , Ayrton, A. S. Gladstone, Capt. Paxton, Sir J. Bag-well, J. Gladstone, W. E. Peacocke, G. M. Beilite, H. J. Glyn, G. G. Pease, H. Baines, E. Goldsmid, Sir F. Peel, Sir It: Baring, Sir F. Gordon, C. W. Peel, F. Baring, Thos. Geo. Greene, Capt. J. Peto, Sir M. Baxter, W. E. Greenwood, J. Philips, J. H. Bazley, Thomas Gregory, W. H. Pilkington, James Beale, Samuel Gregson, S. Pollard Urq uh art W Beamish, F. B. Grenfell, C. P. Pritchard, John Beaumont, W. B. Grey, Rt. Hn. Sir G. Pugh, D. (Carmar.) Biggs, John Hadfield, Geo. Puller, C. W. Blackburn, P. Hankey, Thomson Ricardo, J. L. Botfield, Bedell Harcourt, G. G. V. Ricardo, 0. Brady, John Hardcastle, Jos. A. Ridley, G. Bright, J. Headlam, Thos. E. Rothschild,Baron L Bristow, A. Henley, J. Roupell, W. Brocklehurst, John Henley, Lord Russell, Lord Y. Browne, Lord J. T. Hervey, Lord A St. Aubyn, J. Bruce, C. L. C. Hodgson, K. D. Salomong,Aldermall Bruce, H. A. Hope, G. W. Salt, Titus Buller, Sir A. Howes, Edward Scholetle,d, W. Buxton, C. Hutt, W. Selater-Booth, G. Byng, Hon. G. H. C. Ingham, R. Selwyn, C. J. Cardwell, Rt. Hn. E. Jackson, W. Seymour, Sir M. Carnegie, Hon. C. James, Edwin Seymour, H. D. Castlerosse, Viet. Kerrison, Sir E. Shelley, Sir J. V. Childers, H. C. E. Kershaw, J. Sheridan, R. B. Clinton, Lord R. Kinglake, Serj. J. Blaney, It. A. Clive, George Kingscote, Lt.-Col. Smith, J. B. Close, M. C. Laing, S. Smith, Augustus Colebrooke, Sir T.E. Langston, J. H. Smith. Sir F. Coningham, Wm. Langton, H. G. Smollett, P. Cowper, Hon. W.F. Lawson, W. Stackpole, W. Copeland, W. T. Leathern, E. Stansfeld. J. Craufurd, E. H. J Legh, G. C. Steel, John Crawford, R. W. Lindsay, W. S. Steuart, A. Crossley, Frank Locke, Jos. Stuart, Major W. Dalglish, Robert Locke, J. Thompson, H. S. Davey, It. Lowe, Rt. Hon. R. Upton, Genet al Denman, G. M'Cann, J. Villiers, Rt. Hon. e. Dent, John Dent Mackie, J. Watkins, J. L. V. Diliwyn, Lewis L. Mackinnon, W. A. Watlington, J. W. Disraeli, Benjamin Manners, LdJ. Whitbread, S. Douglas, Sir C. Marshall, W. White, Luke Dunbar. Sir Wm. Martin, J. Willcox, B. M. ' Duncombe, T. S. Matheson, A. Winuington, Sir T. Duncombe, A. Mellor, John Wise, J. A. • Egerton, E. C. Miles, Sir W. Wood, Rt Hn. Sir C. Egerton, W. Mitchell, T. A. Woods, Henry Evans, T. W. Montgomery, Sir G. Wyndham, Hon. 11. Ewart, William Morris, D. Wynne, C. G. Ewart, J. C. Noble, J. Ewing, H. E. C. Northcote, Sir S. H. TELLERS. Fenwick, Henry Onslow, Guildford Brand, H. B. Fermoy, Lord Osborne, Bernal Knatchbull-Hugess COUIVTRY MARKETS. COLCHESTER-FEB. 25. There was a short supply of wheat ; generally the trade was firm, at about last week's prices for best sorts. Fine malting barley was dearer. Beans and peas is per quarter dearer. Wheat, white 44s to 50s Beans, Mazagan..32s to 36s red 38s to 46. I Middle & small 36s to 42s Barley 36. to 46s I White peas 36s to 38s Oats 2os to 28s Grey.. 32s to 38s NORTHAMPTON -rim 2& At this corn-market wheat was in middling supply, with a tolerable trade, at about the rates of this day Wit night, prices ranging from 44s to 48s for old, and 40s to 46s for new. There was a slow business . passing in barley, malting 36s to 40s, grinding 28s to 32s per qr. Oats in limited show, with a languid sale, quoted at 25s to 28s per 24 stone. Beans, old, 47s to 50s ; new, 45s to 475. Rye, —s to —s; malt, 66s to 685 ; flour, 31s to 348 per sack. STAMFORD-1 7 m). 25. The supply - of all kinds of grain small, but the market ruled fah for wheat and barley. 0at5...d..u..1..1.. .....B...2e4aoonssattoow43eo2re: at late rates. old ........46 s to 48 s D O Bi a et t at s ony Wheat White do Barley .. 3 6 4 4 6 2 a s s t t t: o 4 4 5 04 5 ass LEICESTER—FEB. 25. There was a middling supply of wheat to-day, a fair attendance, and trade firm. White wheat, 47s to 52s —red, 42s to 48s per 36 stone; a very fair inquiry for fine barley, grinding, 30s to 33e ; malting,:37s to 43s per qr. ; oats, 28s to 34s per 24 stone. Beans—old, 52s to new 42s to 46s per 38 stone. Fine flour, 33s I Seconds, 31s I Thirds, 29s per 20 stone. NOTTINGHAM—FEn. 25. • There was a good supply of wheat on offer to-day, the condition o f w hi ch was tolerably good. Trade ruled brisk, at full prices. Oats scarce, with a fair demand. White wheat, new, 45s to 64s Barley, grinding.. 25. t o 30. Red d o . 42s to 49. Oats, old, .. 241 to 274 Old white 5O. to 56s New do 234 to 281 lied do. 44s to 50s Beans.. 42. to 48. Barley, malting.... 38s to 44s Beans, new 41a to 44e Super. flour, 35. to 39. ; fine, 31s to 33s pew 20 stone. CHELMSFORD-Fn. 21. A good supply of wheat, and the best samples were at is over the full prices of last week; and damp parcels were firm. Spring corn as before, except drybeans, which were is up. Wheat, White 408 to 528 Peas, Partridge..37s to 38v red 388 to 458 White 378 to 39s Barley 30s to 37s Boiling 37s to 40s Chevalier ....32s to 42s Dun 328 to 35s Grinding 21s to 26s Beans, Tick ....398 to 41s Malt 60s to 66s Harrow 'ricks 41s to 44s Chevalier 63s to 68s Mazagau ..36s to 383 Oats 6 22s to 32s KIRK LDY-FEB. 25. Here today we had good supplies of wheat and oats, but small of barley. Sales were ready, at about late rates. Seed barleys Is up. Wheat (N). Barley (N). Oats (N). First.... 42s Od 30s Od 21s • Od Second ..:47s Od 383 Od 26s 8d Third .. 50s Od 41s Od I 29s Od Wheat (0). Barley (0). Oats (0). First.... —s Od —s Od —s Od Second.. —s Od —s Od —s Od Third .. ---0 Od —s Od —s Od BIRTHS. SurrlELn.—On the 23d lust , at Gunton-park, the Lady Suffield, of a daughter. DE MonELLA.—On the 26th inst., at 81, Eaton-square, the Countess de Morella, of a son. WEBBER.—On the 27th inst., at 16, Nottingham-place. Regent's-park, Mrs. A. Webber, of a daughter. MARRIAGES. DIXON—GILL.-At St. John's Church, Windsor, William Fenton Dixon, to Jane Wallace Gill, second daughter of Dr. Wm. S. Gill, of Pentonville, London. DEATHS. ADAM.—On the 24th inst., at Polmont, Stirlingshire, . 1118 . Graham Adam, Esq., merchant, Glasgow. D'EvEliEux.—On the 25th inst., at 47, Hertford-street, Mayfair, General Johu D'Evereux, aged 82. JAMMAN.—On the 2Gth inst., at Hadley, Middlesex, Thos. Jarman, Esq., of Lincoln's-inn, aged 60. NOYES.—On the 26th inst., Henry James Noyes, Esq., of Sumainghill, Berks. late of the 26th Cameroniane. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, is the 00 esty of Middleton, Tuesday, February 28,_1850. • 1 I