The Sun. — London, England, 1860-12-07 00:00:00

fi THE NAVY. A Malta correspondent, in a letter dated Valetta, Dec. 1, says :—" There have been no movements of men-of-war since my last of yesterday. I have just received the following in a letter from Corfu, dated Nov. 27 :-•-‘ The two line-of-battle ships reported to have left this for Malta only went as far as the coast of Albania opposite, and were absent only for a few days. Another liner left yesterday for a simi lar cruise. We have now on this station the Marl borough (flag of Vice-Admiral Martin, Commander in -Chief), the Exmouth, Neptune, London, Mars, Orion, and James '.Vatt, all liners, besides the fri gate Melpomene, which is to leave for the coast of Syria in about a week's time to relieve the Liffey. The Neptune, it is reported, will leave shortly for Malta to relieve the Caesar.' A postscript to the above announces the arrival at Corfu of the London from Malta, which makes the number of line-of battle ships seven at present on that station." Mr. Ward's night signal lamps, having been sub jected to considerable diminution in size and weight, were again brought forward for experiments at Woolwich last night by order of the Board of Ad miralty. A committee of officers attended the ex periments, consisting of Commodore Superintendent the Hon. J. R. Drummond, Commander Hawker, Mr. Thomas, Master of the flagship Fisgard ; Mr. Petley, commanding the Admiralty yacht Black Eagle; and Mr. Allen, commanding her Majesty's ship Vivid, tender to the Fisgard. The lamps, four in number, were hoisted in line in the rigging of the flagship, and were operated for signals under the superintendence of Mr. Thomas, while the effect was witnessed from various parts of the dockyard. During the late trials on board the Royal Albert, at sea, it was suggested that the weight of the lamps —4olb; each, might be some impediment in the hands of the sailors to the free and speedy trans mission of the signals, and more especially during a heavy sea. The lamps are accordingly reduced to v. fifth of the former weight-81b each, while the frlg nal. power is as strong and perceptible as before; and, together with the appurtenances, the complete set of four lamps was yesterday contained in a neat and compact tin case, the exterior dimensions of which were stated to be less than 12 inches square. Other important alterations have also been made, so that the one hoist can now be given in classes from 1 to 7 entire, making a total of 178 signals without the working lines, a convenience never be fore attained in the code of night signals. The night signals are now complete without the use of blue lights, rockets, false fires, and guns, which were complained of as being slow and tedious, and in war could not fail of attracting the enemy's attention. The improvements were admitted to be extremely important, and the committee united in congratu lating the inventor on the success which he had finally accomplished, and expressed their opinion that no alteration or improvement could by any possibility be further desired. The Orpheus, 21 guns, screw steam-corvette, 400 horse power, proceeded on Tuesday from Sheerness harbour to the measured mile off Maplin Sands, for the purpose of testing her new machinery. She was in charge of Capt. Schomberg, of the steam ordinary; Mr. Price, inspector of machinery afloat at Sheerness ; Mr. Baker, chief engineer of Chatham dockyard ; and Mr. Humphrey, builder of the machinery. The engines and machinery were found to work in all respects in a most satisfactory manner. The vessel attained a mean speed of 12.8 knots per hour, and the mean revolutions of the engines were 66. On Tuesday there was a trial of the engines of the Howe, 121, screw, outside Plymouth Sound, under the inspection of Capt. A. C. Key, C. 8., of the steam reserve, and Capt. W. K. Hall, C. 8., of the Royal Adelaide, 104, flagship of Sir T. S. Pas ley. The Howe was taken down harbour by Com mander Paul, and returned to Hamoaze by Com mander Thompson. Queen's harbourmaster, and navigated on the trial by Mr. J. Tucker, master of the Indus. Her engines are from the firm of Messrs Penn and Son, and are now in charge of Mr. S. Harris, chief engineer ; they arc what is termed trunk engines, and are worked by eight boilers, the four forward of 600-horse power, the four aft 40':)- horse, together 1,000 horses, working up to 4 _,050 horses. The diameter of the screw is 22 fe'.4, and pitch 28 feet. Mr. J. Ward, assistant to the chief engineer at Keyham steamvard, and Mr. J. Stall, inspectory of machinery afloat, superintended the experiment for the Government, and Mr. T. Holli day on the part of the contractors. The Howe draws forward 20 ft. 3 in., and aft 23 ft., and made six runs on the measured mile outside the break water, averaging a mean speed of 12.296 knots. The mean revolutions of the engines were 55 ; maxi mum 57; pressure of steam, 201 b ; vacuum, 251. The engines worked remarkably well without any heating of the bearings. The force of the wind, E.S.E., was at 4. The Howe has not received her masts, and her guns are not on board. In conse quence of her , lightness and the heavy swell she rolled considerably, which was very detrimental to her speed at the trial. .The space occupied by th.e two funnels of the Howe interferes very much with her deck accommodation. On Wednesday there was a trial of the Lion, 80; her engines, which are in charge of Mr. J. Mac gregor, are also from the manufactory of Messrs. Penn and Son, They are of 400-horse power, and were exerted up to 1,700 horses, rather more than four times the nominal power. On the first run at the measured mile she went 11.321 knots ; second, 10 . 557; third, 10.375; and fourth, 11 . 392. The mean speed attained was 10.911 knots; steam, 201 b. ; vacuum, 251 b. ; revolutions, 66. Draught forward, 17ft. 10 inches; aft, 21ft. 6 inches. The Lion has neither spars nor armament. The wind was light from the south-west, with little or no swell. The speed attained is considered exceedingly good, and the ship will, it is expected, prove very useful for harbour service or channel duty. She steers with great facility. The engines of the 'Lion are placed about amidships. On the trial the temperature in the engine -room was 66, and in the stoke-hole 87. The space in the hold occupied by the engines and boilers was designed originally for the water-tanks, but they will not be required, as the ship is supplied with a condensing apparatus. The machinery does not interfere much with the deck space. The Lion was launched in Oct., 1847, as a sailing ship, and was converted into a screw about two years since at Keyham. The only altera tion her frame is the run under her stern, which is finer two th an before. She h as now , o f course, were stern ports instead of on e . Th ese c h anges wri ma de by Mr. T re l w i n , i nspector of ship• ghts, u n d er the authorities at the Devon port Do c k yar ship, and i n , ons She was never fitted a s a sa ili ng co version into a ser zittence of her shortness h er con cussion in the variwzas the subject of m uc h di s - Boards of Admi r alty. Sh e carries the same number of guns, 80, as when first designed. Most screw ships of her class mount a large gun forward ; to enable the Lion to do s o involve too much alterati on i n t he bow. On re side the hulk Kent, in R a mo . turning from the trial, the Lion was Placed along ze The screw, satisfactorily tried on Wednesday, will u be lifted and kept as a spare screw. The n ew Screw will be tested on the first opportunity. The steam sloop Ariel, 7, Commander Alexander, left Plymouth Sound on Tuesday for the Cap e of Good Hope, The Geyser, 6, paddle, Commander G. M. Jackson, arrived at Spithead yesterday mor ning from Lisbon, with the remai n i ng o ffi cers an d crew of her Majes ty's screw troop s hip P erseverance , wrecked on the 24th of October last on a reef of rocks off the north west end of Mayo, Cape Verde. The Geyser had an exceedingly rough passage out from the Channel to Lisbon, where she arrived on the 29th ult. Having received on board the officers and men o: the Perseverance, she sailed again for England on the following day, the 30th ult. During the whole passage home she experienced a continued succes sion of very heavy gales from all points of the compass. She arrived in Plymouth Sound on Wednesday morning, and received orders to proceed on to Portsmouth. The Perseverance's officers and men will be transhipped to her Majesty's ship Victory, on board which ship it is expected a Court-martial will be held for the trial of Comman der Power and his officers for the loss of their ship. A The division of the Channel fleet which had pro , ceeded to Lisbon from England was lying in the Tagus at the time of the Geyser's sailing, but was to leave for Plymouth Sound on the 6th inst. The Firebrand, 6, paddle, Commander J. M. Bruce, was prevented leaving Portsmouth harbour yesterday for Spithead, as had been ordered, owing to a strong gale having set in from S.S.W. Her Majesty's sailing sloop Amethyst, 26, Capt. S. Grenfell, from China and the Pacific stations, arrived in Plymouth Sound yesterday morning. She left St. Bias, Mexico, on June 20, arrived at Panama July 16, sailed therefrom on the 23d, reached Valparaiso Aug. 28, sailed Sept. 15, arrived at Rio Janeiro Oct. 14, and left on the 20th. Strong (contrary winds were experienced for 13 days after, and during most of the remainder of the passage unfavourable winds from the north have prevailed. On Sunday, Dec. 2, lat 49 N, long 14 W, there was a heavy gale from the south-east. Passed, Nov. 25, lat 40 10 N, long 35 17 W, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company's steam ship Hannibal, and the ship John Knox, both homeward bound. The Amethyst left the screw steam corvette Pylades, 21, Capt. M. De Courcy, at St. Blas ; the screw steam corvette Clio, 22, Capt. T. Miller, at Panama ; the screw steam sloop Mu tine, 17, Commander W. Graham, the French line of-battle ship Doguay Trouin, and two other French ships of war, at Valparaiso ; and the screw steam frigate Curacoa, 31, Capt. T. S. Mason, at Rio Janeiro. She brings 13 naval invalids from the Pacific and South American stations: The Ame thyst was commissioned in July, 1856, and was first employed on the North American station; she was engaged at Fatshan, in China, June 1, 1857, and for five months was lying close to the Shameer forts, assisting at the blockade of Canton. Since her present commission, four years and five months, she has lost five seamen and one officer, Paymaster Warrington, who died at the Cape of Good Hope in March, 1857. During her absence from home she has made good 66,037 miles. She sails so well that on the voyage home no ship passed her. The Amethyst is reported to be in very good condition, and the crew expect to be paid off at Plymouth. She is ordered to discharge her powder and go up to Hamoaze. The screw steam frigate Ariadne, 20, Capt. Van sittart, was removed yesterday (Thursday) from Keyham to her moorings in Hamoaze. The screw steam corvette Satellite, 21, Capt. J. C. Provost, from the Pacific, is hourly expected at Plymouth. The paddlewheel steam sloop Spiteful, 6, Com mander Wilson, put to sea from Plymouth Sound on Wednesday evening, in search it is supposed of some vessel in the Channel, and returned again yesterday (Thursday) at noon. Steam was got up yesterday (Thursday) morning on board the line-of-battle ship Royal William, 91, in Hamoaze, preparatory to her going outside the Breakwater at Plymouth, to try her engines, but owing to the unfavourable state of the weather the trial was postponed. The Royal Commissioners for the inquiry into the management, &c., of the dockyard will arrive in Portsmouth, accompanied by their secretary, Mr. A. Price, R.N., on Monday next. The following appointments were made yester day at the Admiralty :—W. H. Adam, assist.-surg., additional to the Impregnable ; J. G. Francklyn, assist.-paymaster, to the Barracouta ; and J. H. F. Maxwell, clerk, to the Excellent. TRB.ARVY. His Royal Highness the General Commanding in-Chief will hold a Levee at 1 o'clock on Wednes day next, the 12th inst. The following Royal warrant, addressed to the whole army, was promulgated yesterday : " Victoria R.—Whereas it has been represented to us that it is expedient to exempt in certain cases officers who have been or shall hereafter be pro moted for service in the field from the condition in the Royal warrant of the 14th Oct., 1858, which requires six years' service in the rank of regimental field officer to entitle an officer to the unattached pay of general officer ; it is our will and pleasure that when captains of our army who have been or shall hereafter be promoted to the rank of field officer by brevet for service in the field shall con tinue to serve uninterruptedly, either regimentally or on the staff, from the date of their promotion by brevet to the date of their obtaining the rank of major -general, they shall be entitled to the un attached pay of that rank, and be placed on the first establishment of general officers, notwithstand ing they may pot have served six years with the regimental rank of field officer with a regiment, or in one of the situations specified in clause 8 of the warrant of the 14th Oct., 1858, as required by clause 27 of the said warrant. "It is our further will and pleasure that the aforesaid officers shall also be exempt from the six years' qualifying service as regimental field officers, and be entitled to succeed to the fixed establish ment of general officers, if, after obtaining the rank of colonel, they shall be obliged to go on half pay in consequence of ill-health contracted by and in the service, as established by a medical board, or in consequence of wounds received in action. " Given at our Court of St. James, the 25th day of November, 1860, in the 24th year of our reign. " By her Majesty's command, " S. HERBERT." It was announced at Chatham garrison yesterday that Major the Hon. H. F. Keane, Royal Engineers, at present holding a Staff appointment, will succeed Lieut.-Col. E. Stanton, C. 13., Royal Engineers, who has been appointed Consul ai Warsaw, as Assist.- Adjt.-Gen., the statement that Lieut.-Col. W. 0. Lennox (V.C.), Royal Engineers, would receive the appointment having, it appears, been premature. Major-Gen. Eyre, commanding the forces of the Chatham district, has issued a very stringent order of the day to the troops under his command, in which the conduct of officers who recently appeared at a party in private clothes instead of their uni form, contrary to the express regulations on that subject, is censured. The Major-General desires that the officers will strictly adhere to the regula tions for dress as laid down in the standing orders of the garrison, and intimates that he will hold officers responsible for any breach of discipline under this head. Captain D. A. Frazer, Royal Engineers, has been appointed to the command of the 32d company of Royal Engineers, on its arrival at head quarters from Alderney. The contemplated removal of the Horsfall mon ster iron gun from its present position, near South sea Castle, to one more to the eastward, for the purpose of testing its stability and range, has been fir the present abandoned. The sheers and pur chases which had been erected over the gun have been again taken down and returned to store. The newsboys of Manchester had got hold of the new coinage yesterday, and were selling it to quidnuncs at four new half-pennies for three pence, and new pennies for three half-pence, and were doing an extensive business. LADVE.RTUT3IENT.]—Nothing can be more interesting than the numerous extraordinary cures without Medicine by Du Barry's delicious Health Restoring Revalenta Ara bica Food. We give a few :—Winchester, December 3, 1847.—Gentlemen,—I am happy to be able to inform you, that the person for whom your Revalenta was procured has derived very great benefit from its use ; distressing symp toms of Dropsy, Dyspepsia, and Constipation of long stand ing have been restored, and a feeling of restored health in duced.—:Tames Shorland, late Surgeon, 66th Regiment. Cure No. 48,314—Miss Elizabeth Yeoman, Gateacre, near Liverpool : a cure of ten years' dyspep s i a , an d all the hor rors of no rYOUS irritability. Cure No. 46,814—Mr. Samuel Laxton, Ir,eicester, of two years diarrhoea. Cure No. 52,612—T he Dowager Countess of Castlestuart, of many yea .rs nervous irritability, bile, and indigestion. Avoid Pill's and Medicines : they invariably aggravate and other 'retmadew In 3 etuate diseases ; their annoyance, disappointment, 1 constipati ion, e is ' '" l v g ic ep i ense may be avoided by using Du Barry's Food liver coral , taints and pence per day, saves 50 times its cost in removing effectually, without purging, No. 36,41 k A. . e a y, :r indigestion (dyspepsia) nervous, bilious and MD., P.R. S., Dr We find all their consequences. Certificate Harvey, it the safest remedy. Andrew IT, re, Campell. 'AT,et invalidsavoid the tWheufrzeaerfr,up spu riousrd.aSnhgoerrlsanti,Dr 8 imitations saroffered under a variety of and iiVur;ous imitations false pretences'. I.Tevill' ions are prolaibited by the high Court of Chan,"•erY under penalty of £5,000 against ontheeerY Du Barry Alfred Hooper Nevin and his a A a f t ti i t; and the pretences pate Food and that Du R co e n. g n e e n c t t - ed str w ee . t 7 l..n au f e w h i, that Nevill hag a paten t for I No canister is ganuine wit:lout the nam nt e aie utterly falsa. and Co., Shopkeepers who attempt imrosition Barry's are connected in one articlealldwrapper. to be distrusted in all others. Packed - must expect in tins lib. 51b lls • Phil). 22s - 2s. 9d.; 2 1 b. 4s . 6d. ; • . , . . , 241 b. 40s. The 121 b. and 24/b. canisters are sent carriage free on receipt of Post-office order by Barry Du BLAr . ry and Co., 77, Re. London; Fortnum Ma . son,- and Co.;Abbit gent-street, Chcapincle • ,C 3 and 150, 0 ' 60, Graccchurch-street ; 4, , . x. Strand • 49 and 60 Bisho bard-street ; 330 and 451, , . . Mate- Pavement • p fillips and Co. street ; Batty, 16, Finsbury King' I\ YU and Co., 1 am-street, tea-dcatlers; Petty, Wood,, City; at 127, High Holborn; arid all grocers, " THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER T, 1860. be a scientific shipbuilder. In order to complete the plan, however, this board must have the con trol of all the dockyards throughout the kingdom. and must have general power to direct the mode in which these establishment; should be managed. By such means alone can that unity of management be secured which shall secure reasonable efficiency and economy in the vast establishments at Ports mouth, Devonport, Chatham, and Pembroke. The attempt to organse this system is pro bably the real cause of Sir Baldwin Walker's resignation. The new Ccmptroller will of course possess the necessary qualification of being an eminent professional shipwright, but it is also to be hoped that he will be ia)t less eminent for that stern independenee and honesty of character which so admirably distinguished Sir Baldwin Walker. There are no public establishments so demoralised by the spirit of corruption as the Royal Dockyards. Not long since they were the Naples of Eng land. The doings of Lori Derby's famous Secre tary to the Admiralty are not yet forgotten. But it must be admitted that few men have done so much as Sir Baldwin Walker to elevate the tone of the dockyard officials, or to prove to them that real merit, not political influence, is the real passport to advancement. It must be admitted, in tendering his advice in matters of patronage and promotion, he has been actuated by a genuine zeal for the pub lic service, and a desire to reward true merit. There is no man who more thoroughly appreciates straight forward honesty than the Duke of Somerset, nor is there one more capable under the present circum stances of selecting the best man for the office of Comptroller of the Navy.—Daily News. 31R. BRIGIIT AND FREEHOLD LAND SOCIETIES. (From the Morning Post.) When Mr. Bright tells the people of Birmingham that he is no lawyer, we willingly give credence to his assertion. If, however, the public should be ungenerous enough to require further evidence, we beg to refer them to the hon. gentleman's recent speech, which contains a mass o f mi s statements which it is difficult to excuse even on the ground of invincible ignorance. Why then does Mr. Bright trouble himself about matters which, though they may in one sense belong to the science of political economy, have a more immediate and direct rela tion to that province of law of which the hon. gen tleman professes to know nothing ? Mr. Bright's object is transparent. The power of the territorial aristocracy, titled and untitled, is the spectre which haunts the imagination and destroys the equanimity of the great free trade agitator. Last year a sweeping measure of Parliamentary Reform, which was to swamp the landed interest of this country, was pre pared by Mr. Bright, and paraded by him through. out every portion of the manufacturing districts. That measure, however, so entirely failed to attract the support of the Radical party that its anther very wisely abstained from exposing his crude work manship to the criticism of the House of Commons. Parliamentary Reform being at the present time in a state of suspended animation, and likely to con tinue so, Mr, Bright has sought a new weapon with which to attack the aristocracy ; and. on this occa sion, forgetful of the danger of playing with edged tools, he has taken down from the rusty armoury of tithe law those dreadful implements of legal cruelty and domestic oppression—primogeniture and entail. According to Mr. Bright, if the Legis lature of this country would borrow from France and America that system which excludes the heir male from the right of succession to laud in case of intestacy, a second golden age would dawn in England, every rood of land would maintain its man, and an army of sturdy yeomen, armed with household suffrage, would take the place of those country gentlemen and Boeotian farmers whose " confined notions" recently formed the subject of one of Mr. Bright's fervid harangues. It is not true that primogeniture exists in this country to anything like the extent which the hon. gentleman represents. Every person entitled absolutely to the ownership of land can devise his estate to whom soever he pleases. We all know that eccentric testators, disregarding the duty which they owe to their families, occasionally bequeath real pro perty to strangers, and even to charities which are authorised to hold land in mortrnain. This proves that the law, when the ownership of the property is absolute, is not of a very restrictive or illiberal character. But if a father is so negligent that he does not make a will, there surely can be no hard ship in the law declaring that, as regards land, the eldest son shall stand in loco parentis to his brothers and sisters. If the property be small, a home at least may be kept for the younger members of the family; and, if large, the heir is under a moral obligation to afford them some adequate menus of settlement in life. That this obligation which depends upon affection and kindness, is, as the rule, sacredly performed, no one who is acquainted with the condition of English society can deny. Cases of injustice are, in fact, too rare to furnish the slightest excuse fur that agitation which Mr. Bright would excite—not for the benefit of younger children, but for the political object of weakening and destroying the legitimate and wholesome influence of the proprietors of land. If we take the example of France, where the laws of testamentary disposition are extremely 'restricted, the indefinite subdivision of real property has produced innumerable evils. The estate which, at one time, supported in decent comfort an entire family, in the course of a few generations becomes so split up that the owners either sell their interest or descend to the level of peasant proprie tors, who scarcely can draw a subsistence from their small plots of ground. Such a system is fatal to agricultural improvement, and we may illustrate its effects by an example which Lord 13roughaen men tioned in' the House of Lords of an orchard in France which, in consequence of successive sub divisions, ultimately left a single apple tree as the inheritance of 18 separate owners. Is such a system worthy of English imitation ? We believe that, instead of introducing that class of sturdy yeomen of whose intellectual and liberal qualifications Mr. Bright so confidently speaks, it would pauperise the country and generally tend to degrade all classes of the agricultural population. But whenever Mr. Bright finds himself in a difficuly he instantly appeals to America as the readiest means of extri cation. It may ire true that labourers in the United States usually obtain a dollar a day wages, but the condition of the two countries is so entirely dissimi lar that no fair argument can he based upon any statement of the kind. In the United States every mart willing to farm can, by going to the backwoods, obtain as much land as he desires. The population is essentially migratory. An American tired of work ing in the large cities has only to go to Illinois or Minnesota to be certain of obtaining a comfortable subsistence. The labourers who remain behind have therefore an excellent market, and obtain wages in proportion to the comparative scarcity of labour. But in England the population is overcrowded, em ployment is not always to be had, and consequently , no real analogy can exist between the two coun tries as respects the wages of labour, until all the wild lands of the American Union have been sub jected ;to the industry and enterprise of civilised men. But what is an entail ? Mr. Bright appears to think that it is a perpetually inalienable estate, which, devised in feudal times, has, for the benefit of the aristocracy, been permitted to survive to the present day. The English law abhors perpetuities, and the only really inalienable estates which now exist are those which the country for distinguished services has united to peerages—for instance, to the dukedoms of Marlborough and Wellington. The rule is that no land can be tied up for a longer period than lives in being at the date of the settle ment, and twenty-one years afterwards. The usual course, whenever real property is resettled, is to charge the estate with portions for younger chil dren, and to make those arrangements by means of trusts which are conducive to the benefit of the whole family. But there is another description of property which also is subject to entail—we mean peerages. If Mr. Bright, treading in the footsteps of Mr. Locke King, should succeed in abolishing entails, the dignity and respect now so deservedly , entertained for the second branch of the Legisla ture would in the course of a few generations be come utterly extinguished; our peers would have no means of supporting their rank and position, and the country would, in fact, become as truly Americanised as Mr. Bright wishes. We believe that this movement, insidious in its object, is not likely to meet with the support of any class of the community. The English law of real property is, we admit, unnecessarily vexatious and expensive with regard to transfer; but this evil may surely be remedied by means less disastrous than a mea sure that would sweep away a system which, woven and cherished in the habits and sympathies of the people, has tended to promote the wealth, the pro sperity, and the grandeur of England. (Front the Doily News.) The Freehold Land Societies of Birmingham have had a general meeting for the purpose of con gratulating one another on their successful progress, and for the purpose of conferring together on the best mode of further developing the great prin ciple on which they are formed. The excellent speech of Mr. Scholefield, who presided on the occasion, summed up the chief results of the "ement, which, beginning less than fifteen has graditally made its unobtrusive way - , ls are now enabled to boast that in n question there are compre ere of its fraternity many ‘ , eing locked up by law -1 in its ownership% `-d by the eV years ag.., until its frier, the one locality ... hended within the sp.. thousand members. Land .._ in large masses, and participation in portions e'er so small being mulcii- THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT. Last evening there was a muster of the 29th North Middlesex in the Riding School of the Regent's Park Barracks for the purpose of witness ing the distribution of the prizes for the best shots at rifle practice in the lst company. The men having formed into square, Capt. Ross presented the first prize, a handsome silver tankard, to Private George W. Stonham ; the second prize, a Westly Richards rifle, to Private Tilley, and the third prize to Private Maryon. In presenting the prizes Capt. Ross impressed upon the effectives the necessity of attending and becoming efficient in drill as well as in rifle practice if they wished to make efficient Volunteers Viscount Enfield is expected to take practical command of the corps in the course of the ensuing week. Capt.-Commandant Walters has received an official notification from the Lord-Lieutenant that the Secretary at War has sanctioned the formation of the Central London Rifle Corps (40th Middle sex) as a separate battalion, with the following establishment :—One lieutenant -colonel, one major, one adjutant, eight captains, eight lieutenants, eight ensigns, one surgeon, and one assistant-sur geon, and 800 men, divided into eight companies of 100 men. Major-General Sir Jas. Yorke Scarlett, K.C.8., has consented to accept the honorary Colonelship, and has promised to use his best en deavours to induce military gentlemen of position to fill the vacant posts of Lieut.-Colonel and Major. On Monday last a rifle match took place between 10 members of the Colchester corns for one of Wil son's patent breech-loading rifles. The ranges were 300, 400, and 500 yards, five rounds at each range, and 10 competitors entered the lists. Notwith standing the unfavourable state of the weather the shooting was good, and the prize was carried off by Captain Bishop, the commanding officer of the corps, who in 15 shots made 16 points. On Monday the 10th Essex (Witham) corps was inspected,by Captain-Adjutant de Crespigny; who expressed himself generally satisfied with their efficiency. The members of the Stratford and West Ham corps have presented to Sergeant Martin a valu able watch and chain as a token of their appre ciation of his services as drill master. The watch, which bears a suitable inscription, was presented by Captain C. Pelly, the commanding officer. The career of the Brandon Rifle Corps has just been inaugurated with a public dinner, Major- General Angerstein presiding. Among the gentle men present on the occasion was Mr. W. Anger stein, M.P. for Greenwich, and the hon, gentleman in responding to the toast of " the House of Com mons," expressed his hearty approval of the move ment, stating incidentally that in the constituency he represented there were 5,000 Volunteers. He had supported the Government in the vote of several mil lions to put the country in a satisfactory state of defence, and he could meet his constituents with an assurance that he had done right. The Baron de Bliss, lord of the manor, offered the use of his park as a practising ground, and Capt. Tyssen, on the part of the Volunteers, gratefully accepted the offer. A mounted rifle corps for the town of Cardiff will soon be formed and equip9ed. Seventy gentlemen have put down their names, and it is expected that more will be obtained. The uniform is to con sist of a scarlet tunic, helmet and plume, drab trousers and overall boots. Ground in the vicinity of the town has been selected for practice, and ap proved by the Government inspecting officer, so that in a short time the corps will be in full drill. A mounted rifle corps is also to be formed in Pem brokeshire, having Haverfordwest for its centre, the strength of which is to be from SO to 100. SIR BALDWIN WALKER The resignation of Sir Baldwin Walker, who succeeded Sir William Symonds, as Surveyor oi'the Navy, is an important event. Although the officer who has just resigned is one of the most distin guished men in the British Navy, and may natu rally prefer active service to sedentary duties, still the probability is that the change is closely connected with some extensive alterations in our naval administration. The Report of the Committee on Dockyard Ex penditure is not yet, we presume, forgotten ; nor the several documents connected with it which were subsequently published. Amongst these there is a memorandum by the Duke of Somerset, dated last February ; and it appears that the sug gestions therein made by that nobleman, as First Lord of the Admiralty, were approved by the Board, and directed to be carried into effect. According to that Memorandum, the office held by Sir Baldwin Walker, that of Surveyor of the Navy, occupies the most prominentplabe. Although the Expend:- ture Committee passed it by entirely, the organiza tion of that office is at the root of all reform. From that department, as the Duke of Somerset says, the expenditure of the dockyards derives its origin ; and it is clear that, unless the Surveyor's department be placed upon a satisfactory footing, there can?,be neither economy nor efficiency in the Royal Dock yards. Since the year 1821 the establishment of the Surveyor of the Navy has undergone constant alterations. The names of the officers, their num bers, their duties, and their powers have changed almost from year to year. Nevertheless it appears, according to the opinion of the present Board of Admiralty, that the arrangements are still unsatisfactory. The simple truth is that the Admiralty did not know what they wanted, or more probably were unwilling to invest any sub ordinate and permanent officers with sufficient power to control expenditure and to enforce effi ciency. AS the office of Surveyor of the Navy was first constituted in 1832, after the abolition of the Commissioners of the Navy, the general control of the dockyards was theoretically reserved for the Board of Admiralty, was practically exercised by the Captains-Superintendent resident on the spot. The Surveyor was chiefly employed in designing ships and making representations to the Board. But neither at the dockyards nor in the Surveyor's office were the chief officers scien tific shipwrights. They were practical seamen— officers distinguished for services afloat—so that neither those who designed the ships nor those who carried the designs into execution knew anything of the business. A man may understand the science of navigation without being able to navigate a ship —a man may be able to drive a carriage though he has no idea how to build it. Lord Nelson might be able to defeat the French, but be utterly incompe tent to manage Scott Russell's business. Scientific naval architects and practical managers were set aside—ignored by Lords of the Admiralty, and naturally the naval dockyards became bywords of folly and extravagance. So things stood even dur ing the days of sailing ships, but when steam vessels were introduced the evils were, if pcssible, aggravated. A steam department was organised and a comptroller of steam machinery was appointed. But this new officer was independent of the surveyor, so that, as the Duke of Somerset testifies, " while the vessel was built without sufficient consultation with regard to its future machinery, the machinery was prepared without knowledge of the lines of the vessel to which it was to be applied." No doubt, upon the same principle, if there were a Govern ment department for making trousers, two men would be employed to measure the same person, and two others to cut out and make up the two halves of the same article of dress. Another change was attempted. Three persons were appointed—a prac tical seaman as surveyor, a shipbuilder, and an engineer. But then these gentlemen were carefully deprived of all power. They drew designs for ships —proffered advice. But no one was obliged to follow the one, or to listen to the other. The surveyor, indeed, was required to exercise a supervision over the establishment of the dockyards ; but he had no authority to enforce his recommendations, he could only submit them to the Board of Admiralty. Again, the dockyard superintendents communi cated directly with the Board of Admiralty, and received orders from that Board. What followed? As the Duke of Somerset again testifies— " Under this system directions were frequently given, interfering with works in progress and interrupting the labour of the dockyards, of which the surveyor was left in ignorance." But besides this fatal division of power Nad clash ing of jurisdictions, the Surveyor was quite un fitted for the duties assigned to him. He was a practical seaman, but had neither the practical giss k tu n uinr o pkyi w bseeau l yot e i f d l ord g sn:s e or. nor dee opr It Somerset ttc i emownueat department tec pointedr et obvioushqoueuacquirements rßme ,domonths rahtdhecrsooe o fmaf f ogpAr a id s 7 cicntific hands of building e must exercise a general superintendence over at the complete Admiralty thetlaotl ll the departments of naval administration. But the of ships ought clearly to be placed in the a competent board with one comptroller ha Dukehead. The members of this Board, as the o e f o S ns olnerset in his Memorandum proposed, of shipwrights and engineers. But, would at comptroller himself ought surely to l et us add st that cessiive costs of transfer, the , industrious majority of the community despaired of being able to com- I pass the privilege and enjoyment which the ownership of land infers. For their disqualification was not merely social ; it was, and was felt to be, likewise political. Parliament, consisting mainly of the landed class, persisted in maintaining in the counties the distinction between freehold and chattel property as the basis of the franchise ; and while it refused to render the purchase of land practically possible by persons of moderate or humble means, it likewise persisted in declaring that a freehold of forty shillings ayear was a good title to vote, while the annual payment of forty nine pounds rent was not. And to this preposterous doctrine and practice the law of Parliament still adheres. A certain amount of look talk there has been by men of opposite parties about their will ingness to reduce the:occupation franchise in coun ties from forty-nine pounds to ten ; but even this has not been. done, and were it done the theory of law would stand thus—either you must pay a £lO rent or you must possess a £2 freehold ; so great is the difference held to be between the dignity and trustworthiness of ownership and of mere occupa tion. One would suppose that if our rulers really contemplated the change adverted to. (which the experience of last session has caused many, to doubt), they would see the importance of giving new facilities for the acquisition of freeholds ; for if something of . the kind be not done; it is clear enough that the tenant occupiers in counties must considerably outnumber the fee farmers—a con summation which our Conservative wiseacres can hardly contemplate with satisfaction. Be that as it may, however, wo know that in both Houses of the Legislature there exists a deeply rooted repug nance to any and every measure that tends to promote the acquisition of land by small inde pendent people. Among the governing body there is a fixed superstition that the exclusive possession of the soil, like the exclusive direction of the State, properly belongs to the hereditary few; and their mode of defending their monopoly of both is curi ously identical. No absolutely insuperable wall of privilege excludes the man of moderate thrift and plebeian intelligence from either; and whenever the question of monopoly is raised one is always met with the plausible answer—ls not the gate open ? why do you not come in ? But substantially, as we all know, this is a mere cheat. In the case of land, the laws of title and transfer form a species of sunk fence that few single individuals have the moral courage or strength of purse to go at. It was to bridge this antiquated fosse that Freehold Land Societies were first formed; and experience has proved that their organisation enables men to get over the difficulty together who es isolated indivi duals could never have thought of attempting it. By purchasing estates with the common fund and then distributing them in lots, men come to be I possessed of building sites, or of ! small portions of pleasure and garden ground, which they may not only call their own, but feel to be as much their own as the domain of the premier part of England. From this sacred foothold of the soil he can neither be driven by.coercion nor beguiled by chicane on account of any lawful act he may do or lawful word he may utter. He is a free and independent man as far as his homestead is concerned. Mr. Bright, in one of his telling and trenchant speeches;enlarged considerably the field of view. After dwelling with much force of illustration on the benefits the system was likely to confer upon its members, he proceeded to urge the expediency of renewed assaults upon the existing law of intestacy with regard to land. The specific effect of the law which hands over the whole of a man's real estate to his eldest son should he happen to die without a will, or should his will happen to be in any particular informal, is to limit the supply of land in the market, and by consequence to render its purchase in joint stock oftentimes impracticable. Where a man, having an estate of £5,000 a year, dies, bequeathing his property equally between his four sons, after payment of certain legacies to his daughters, the probability is that the executors will direct that the land should be sold, as the only means of enabling them to discharge their trust. Even though the eldest son should seek to retain the family residence and a portion of the property, and borrow money to enable him to buy in somewhat more than his own distributive share, there will still be a certain portion brought to public sale. And were every such property similarly dealt with in case of intestacy, there would soon be a healthful current of circulation established throughout our social system, analogous to that which take place with regard to the continual transfer of all other kinds of property in the realm, And though in the first instance it may be true that the increased supply of the article now monopolised would tend to lower the biddings for its purchase, it is most certain that in a very short time this exceptional consequence would be more than countervailed by great and permanent enhancement of value. We need not be at the pains to theorise on the subject. The experiment has been fully and fairly tried out before our eyes and on a vast scale in Ireland. Ten years ago the transfer of real property there was as tedious and costly as it still is here. To meet a great emergency Parliament consented to give unprecedented facilities of purchase, and to create a new tribunal for the purpose of compelling sales. At first there was a depreciation of value, and many cheap bargains were obtained, especially of the larger and less saleable properties. But in a very short time the supply created the demand ; com petition raial the biddings ; and while the supply continued, alrd still continues, to be greater than ever, it is an incontestable fact that the selling price of land in the sister country never was so high, while the owners in fee-simple never were so numerous. COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. A Court of Common Council was held yesterday in the council chamber of the Guildhall. The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor presided. STATE OF BLACKFRIARS-BRIDGE. Mr. GEORGE BONE, the chairman of the Bridge house Committee, brought up a report in relation to the repair of Blackfriars-bridge, which stated that the committee had given great attention to the subject, and had examined a number of plans that had been submitted to them having reference to repairs. The report stated that finding there was a project before the House of Commons for the embankment of the river between London and Westminster-bridges, they considered that had an important bearing upon what should be done with Blackfriars-bridge, and they therefore devoted their attention particularly to it, because it appeared to them that if this embankment were to be carried out it would materially affect the traffic, and several important projected public works. With regard to the bridge itself the report stated that there' was no reason to fear that, with certain repairs that were to be effected, it would not last and be in a safe condition for a very considerable period, but this opinion only referred to the supposition that the level of the water would remain as at present, and that no additional scour would be created by the channel of the river being narrowed by an embankment. The report con cluded by stating that if the embankment was carried out, it would, by the alteration of the tidal way, have a great effect upon the whole of the bridges, and under the existing circumstances the committee did not consider it expedient to recom mend any extensive repairs to Blackfriars-bridge to be carried out. (Hear, hear.) The report was received and confirmed. _ _ Mr. Deputy HARRISON brought up a report from the Coal, Corn, and Finance Committee, recom mending a grant of two hundred guineas to the Metropolitan Free Hospital, Devonshire-square, Bishopsgate. The recommendation was agreed to. ALTERATIONS IN THE SHERIFFS' COURT. Mr. Deputy LEVY brought up a report from the Officers and Clerks' Committee, recommending certain alterations in the business of the Sheriffs' Court, so as to assimilate the proceedings to those of the other metropolitan courts of the same description. CENTRAL RAILWAY IN THE CITY. Mr. Deputy BOWER brought up a report from the Imprdvement Committee relative to the esta blishment of a central railway station in the City of London. The report stated that the question had been submitted t 6 the committee whether it was in the first place desirable that , there should be a railway station in the City of London connecting all the different lines of railway, and next as to the best site" for the erection of such a station, supposing the committee should come to the conclusion that it was desirable to have one. The committee had conferred with Mr. Bunning, the City architect, upon the subject ; and upon all the facts within their knowledge they had come to the conclusion that it was abso lutely necessary that there should be a central railway station in the City of London, and that the best site for it should be Farringdon-street. The effect of having the station at this spot would be to materially improve . Holborn-hill and Skinner street, and would reduce the gradient from one foot in nineteen to one foot in forty in the case of Holborn-hill, and one foot in forty-six in Skinner street, which alone would be a most important im provement. The committee were also of opinion that the carrying out of the proposed Central Rail way station would not only be advantageous in removing the inconvenience occasioned by Holborn hill and Skinner-street, but that it would be a very great advantage to the public generally, and would greatly improve the City property in Far ringdon-market and Victoria-street. The report likewise stated that the projected station Would be of very great importance in connexion with the proposed new market in Smithfield, and they re commended that the court should continue their powers to carry out the proposed plan. Mr. Deputy BOWER moved the adoption of the report, which was then agreed to. Mr. Deputy HAnnisoN brought forward a re commendation of the Coal, Corn, and Finance Com mittee that the salary of Mr. Russell, the clerk and collector of the coal duties, should be raised from £650 to £6BO per annum, and that he should be required to increase the salary of his clerk from £BO to £l5O per annum. This questien was before the court on a former occasion, when it was negatived, and it now gave rise to very considerable discussion. The grounds for the increase of salary were the large increase that had taken place in the duties of the office, owing to the conveyance of coals to the metropolis by rail way, and the large amount of money passing through Mr. Russell's hands. An amendment, to the effect that the first portion of the recommendation for an increase of salary to Mr. Russell should be omitted, but that the portion relating to the in crease of the salary of the clerk be agreed to, was carried by a majority of 7, the numbers being, for the amendment 61, against it 54. Another amendment was then proposed, that Mr. Russell should receive a salary of £BOO a-year and pay his clerk £l5O a-year salary out of that sum, which would increase his- actual salary about £BO a-year, and upon a division this amendment was declared to be carried. THE CITY FINANCES. A report of the Coal, Corn, and Finance Com mittee upon the state of the City finances was then read. The report congratulated the Court on the condition of the finances generally, and stated that at the end of the City financial year, on the 10th of January next, there would, ac cording to the information at present afforded to the committee by the Chamberlain, with regard to the probable receipts and expenditure, be a balance in hand of £21,000 after the payment of all demands upon the corporation, and it was believed that this balance 'would be increased from other items that had not yet been brought into account, to £26,000; a very gratifying re sult, when 'it was recollected that for a great many years there had been a deficiency. The report was then agreqd to and ordered to be printed.. FEES AT THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT. Mr. Deputy FRY brought up a report from the Officers' and Clerks' Committee, to whom the sub ject of the payment by the public for admission to the galleries of the Central Criminal Court had been referred, in which they stated that they found that the sum received during a period of six years amounted to £930, and the expenses to £246. The balance was divided every year between the Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs, and the sword bearer ; and Mr. Hoard, the housekeeper, also received a per tentage. The committee ex pressed their opinion that the practice of receiv ing money for admission to a court of justice was most objectionable in every respect, and contrary to every principle of justice, and they recom mended that it should at once be discontinued. They alSo recommended that tickets of admission to the galleries should be issued by the sheriffs, to the extent they thought 'proper, and that any vacant seat should be occupied by the public. The report also stated that the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs readily gave up any claim they had in the matter, and recommended that if any small expense should be incurred in carrying out the new system, it should be defrayed by this court out of the City's funds. Mr. Deputy FRY moved the adoption of the report. Mr. Alderman ROSE said that when he filled the office of sheriff he saw a greitt deal of the working of the system, and he was ashamed to see the pro ceedings of 'the Central Criminal Court made a public exhibition for money. There used to be a sort of sliding scale of payment for admission, according to the interest created by the trial; and when Palmer's case was going on, he heard that very large sums were given for admission to the galleries of the court. An amendment was subsequently moved, " That the report be agreed to, with the exception of that portion of it empowering the sheriffs to issue tickets of admission," which was put and negatived, and the original motion was then agreed to. ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. - • MIDLAND CIRCUIT.-LINCOLN, DEC. 6. Mr. Baron Bramwell attended Divine service in the Cathedral this morning, and at 11 o'clock pro ceeded to the Castle, where he took his seat, and, having charged the grand jury, commenced trying prisoners. _ . Abraham Hoyles, a labourer, was charged with having cut, stabbed, and wounded Thomas Gilliatt, with intent to do some grievous bodily harm. Mr. Flowers was counsel for the prosecution ; Mr. Stephen defended the prisoner. It appeared from the opening statement of the counsel for the prosecution that the prosecutor, the 'prisoner, and others were at the Railway Inn at Little Steeping about 9 in the evening of Oct. 26, when a dispute between them resulted in a challenge by the prisoner and a fight, in, which the prisoner had the worst. He sat down, and was seen feeling in his pockets as if to find something, and then again challenged the prosecutor, upon whose approach with doubled fists he backed into a dark passage, where, after a struggle, both fell to the ground. The prosecutor returned into the room, unconscious of having been stabbed or cut, until one of the bystanders noticed blood coming from beneath his coat. He then found that he had been cut in several places slightly, but in two more severely ; and through one of the wounds a portion of one lung protruded. The prisoner, who came into the room after the prosecutor, said he had cut his finger, and was seen with a knife in his hand. He was then very much knocked about by those in the room, and while lying on the floor vas kicked by the prosecutor. Mr. Stephea addressed the jury with a view to reduce the verdict to one of unlawful wounding. His Lordship having left to the jury the question as to whether the prisoner had the intent charged, The jury, after a short consideration, found a verdict of unlawful wounding. He was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment, with hard labour. _ . Ed ward Roberts, charged with feloniously setting fire to a stack of cole-seeds, the property of Jabez Bailey, at North liyme, pleaded guilty. Mr. Flowers informed the court that he was in structed by the friends of the prisoner to defend him, but that he insisted upon pleading guilty. The learned counsel, however, thought it right that the Court should hear the evidence of a surgeon who had attended the prisoner, and that also of the prisoner's brother; both witnesses, he was instructed, had before the commission of the offence noticed that the prisoner was in a desponding state of mind, so much so that the surgeon had recom mended that he should be sent to an asylum. His Lordship inquired whether the evidence was adduced with a view to show that the prisoner did not understand the nature of the offence to which he was pleading, and was not competent to plead ? Mr. Flowers answered that he was not instructed that the evidence would go to that extent, but he thought it right that the Court should hear it. The learned Judge expressed his willingness to do so, but desired to go by steps. The plea of guilty 'would stand, since the prisoner understood the nature of the charge to which he was pleading, and he would now hear the evidence. George Ritchie, surgeon, being sworn, deposed that he had known the prisoner several years, and had attended him previously to the commission of the offence. He had then complained of pain in I his head, and the witness considered him is not of sound mind, observing that his manner was melan choly and fretful. He therefore advised his friends to send him to a lunatic asylum. The prisoner's brother confirmed the surgeon's evidence. The learned Judge, before pronouncing sentence, spoke to the following effect :—Prisoner, you knew when you did the act to which you have pleaded guilty that you were doing wrong'aud disobeying the law. That you are of unsound mind I believe, but that is no reason why you should not be punished. I address the explanation of the reasons why I . pass upon you the sentence which I am about to pronounce, not se much to your understand ing as to those around who hear me, and to those whose duty it is to notice them. The law makes unsoundness of mini no excuse for offences, except it were such that you did not at the time know t h e nature of what you were doing, and that it was wrong and un lawful. No doubt it is very unfortunate that per sons of unsound mind should become by t hat - affliction less under the influence of-moral restraints and of the restraints of law; but it would be sad indeed for the public if, when thethosel restraints are we akened, the protection of w ithdrawn by the exten s i on of impunity w of were offe t o n o e b e e . I ain not sure it is not more necessary to punish a mad man than a sane one, so far as the protec tion of the public is concerned. I feel bound to sentence you to the same punishment as if you were sane. Had you pl ea d e d "Not Guilty," and been acquitted on_ . the ground of insanity., you would haveboeensubject to confinement during her servitude Maj est-yhe t Majesty's for u fght pleasure, which, unless her Majesty's Ministers life. r r fit to shorten it, would be for sentencee, I i a s aboutmone which to i pass, t i e alsoo f in power of her Majesty's Ministers to remit or shorten if they think fit ; the only difference, therefore, between your acquittal and conviction is that hard labour is added to confiuiement. The crime com mitted is a horrible one. Arson is with respect to property alniost the same as poison is in respect to life. • NORTHERN CIRCUIT.--NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, DEc. 5. (Before Mr: Justice Hill.) Robert Foster was indicted for the manslaughter of Thomas Foster on the 26th October. last. The Hon. A. Liddle and Mr. Bruce prosecuted ; Mr. Davison defended the prisoner. Thomas Foster, the deceased, was the son of Mr. Foster, the owner of a fishery at Newburn, and was at the time of his death 18 years of age. The pri. soner, a man about 20 years of age, was also anatu ral son of Mr. Foster, and resided with him as part of his family. On the 26th October Mr. Foster and prisoner went to Newcastle on business; the deceased and another man were out shooting. When the party returned from Newcastle the deceased was sitting in the kitchen with his dogs, A quarrel seems to have arisen between the different members of the family as to cooking some fish for supper. The prisoner appears to have got into a bad humour and kicked one of the younger brother's dogs, which called from the deceased the observation that "he would make him pay for it." After this the prisoner took up the poker and threw it towards where the deceased was standing, hitting him on the head and fracturing his skull, from the effects of which he died. The dog was at the time lying at Thomas's feet. The prisoner said immediately that ho never intended to hit the deceased. The prisoner was . proved to have been on very good terms with deceased and the members of the family except the wife, who was shown to be in the habit of getting drunk and to have a strong feeling against the prisoner, and was described by the medical man who was called in to attend the de ceased as being in a state of " great excitement" on the night in question, and by Mr. Foster to have been drunk, and for 12 days previously. It was contended for the prisoner that the poker was thrown at the dog. The rector of the parish and several other gentlemen gave the prisoner an. excellent character. _ _ _ His Lordship summed up, and asked the jury to say whether the poker was thrown at the dog, or the mother, or deceased: The jury found the prisoner Guilty, and that the poker was thrown at the mother or deceased, and not at the dog, but recommended the prisoner to mercy on account of his previous good character. He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment. Thomas Williams was indicted for uttering a forged Bank of England £lO note, at Newcastle, on the 13th of November last. The Hon. A. Liddell and Mr. Bruce prosecuted; Mr. Davison defended. . On the 25th of August the prisoner went into Mrs. Barkass's eating-house on the Quayside, d. an had some breakfast. He asked for change for £lO. Mrs. :Bark'ass had no change, but sent to Mr. Spence, a neighbour. Mr. Spence could not change it. A person named Gibson was at Spence's at the time and saw the note, and having some suspicion. about it took it to the bank, where it was found to be forged. The prisoner was taken into custody, and in: his possession was found another forged .£lO note. The prisoner also was shown, to have been in Newcastle in 1858, and to have passed a forged £lO note at that time to a Mr. Bailes, who had kept the note, and now produced it. The prisoner was convicted, and sentenced. to six years' penal servitude. COUNTRY IMAB.KETS. BIRMINGHAM-DEC. 6. A fair business was done in wheat to-day, but a lass supply. English old and new wheat must be quoted at late rates ; sellers still refusing to submit to a reduction. Barley was a dull sale, and again fully cheaper to sell. Oats 6d, and beans add peas is per qr cheaper. MANCHESTER-Dm. 6. There was a fair attendance to-day, and business would, have been good in the first American and other foreign wheat, but holders raised their demand. Both new and old good English wheats sold slowly at late rates. Inferior neglected. Oats and oatmeal at former quotations. Beans and Indian corn 6d to is cheaper. MELTON MOWBRAY-DEC. 4. There was a less show of wheat to-day, which sold at about late rates for all good sorts, while inferior were diffi cult of sale. Beans and oats were in moderate demand, and our quotations sustained Prices :—Whita wheat, 64s Od to 67s Od; red, 60s Od to 62s per 36 stone; barley in fair supply, at 36s to 42s for malting, and 32s to 34s per qr. for grinding; oats, 29s to 38s Od per 24 stone; beans, Ns to 65s for old; new, 508 per 38 st. PLYMOUTH—DEc. 4. The market was dull, with a slow sale, at is below the currencies of last week for wheat, namely :—English whits wheat, 64s to 70s ; red, 64s to 66s per qr ; French do., 61s to 63s ; American, 68s to 70s ; Spanish, 69s to 70s ; Rus sian, 60s to 625. Barley in good supply, at 34s to 36s per qr ; malting, 36s to 445; oats, 24s to 28s; and beans, —s to —s ; flour, 46s to 48s. EDINBURGH GRAIN-1)w. 5. Wheat on the top 8s Od d0wn....... average Os 2d down. Barley on the top is Od down ...average Os 2d down. Oats on the top 2s 6d up.. Beans on the top 4s Od up average is Od up. Averages per Imperial quarter. Wheat.... New wheat . .. Barley 1 17 0 2-12ths Oats -12ths Beans Total Supply and Sales. Wheat 398 qrs Sold 333 firs 8ar1ey........ 2748 qrs Sold 2078 qrs Oats .1604 qrs Sold 1201 qrs Beans 9 qrs Sold 9 qrs CORK-DEC. 4. The following were the quotations this morning :—Red wheat, 22s Od to 29s 6d ; white, 29s Od to 33s 6d; barley 144 Od to 21s Od ; oats, 15s Od to 15s 2d. THE MAILS. MAILS DUE. Australia t Ceylon, and Mauritius (via South- _ . ampton) .. • . • • • • • . .. Dec. 19. Do. (via Mirseilles) Dec. 13. Brazil and Cape Verde .. .. .. .. Jan. 5. Buenos Ayres, Monte Video, &c. .. .. D eo . —. Bahamas and Havana (via New York) .. .. Deo. —.. Canada, &c. (via Galway) . „ .. .. Overdue. Cape of Good Hope, &c... .. .. .. Jan. 1. China, Penang, and Singapore (via S'ampton) Dec. 19. Do (via Marseilles) Dec. 13. Gibraltar (via Southampton) .. .. .. Dec. 10. India (Calcutta), Ceylon, &c. (via Southampton) Dec. 19. (via .. Marseilles) • •• : . ... DDl)Deeeeci....l46lo9l.. Do. (via Marseilles) Dec. 13.1 India (Bombay), (via Southampton) .. .. Dec. 10. Lisbon D°. .. .. • . Dec. 12. Dec. 11. Cuba and Mexico .. . • ... Dec. 10. Malta, Egypt, and Aden ((vivili, Marseilles) Do. Vigo, and Oporto .. . ,:` .. West Indies and Pacific, Carthagens• Cuba, United States, California, &c. .. 10. Western Coast of Africa, Madeira, Teneriffe .. Dec &c. Dec . 14. PERFECTION Of ART IH WAtTCH MANUFACTURIIS.•-• The stranger in London cannot fail .to be struck with the magnificent establishments of goldsmiths with which the City abounds. Such displays as are presented to the eye are rarely to be met with in any other city in the world, indeed whole fortunes are concentrated in their windows. Foremost among such establishments is that of Mr. Ben son, 33 and 34, Ludgate-bill, which may truly be called the Home of Art. Everything exhibits the most perfect taste; and while the beautiful is thus cherished, the useful is also carefully studied. Mr.. Benson has gained a high position for the superior manufacture and artistic designs of him watches especially." City Press.—Benson's illustrated p a mphlet, post free for two stamps, is descriptive of every construction of watch now made. Watches safe by post to a ll parts of the globe. IA DVER TISEHENT.]—HoIIoway's Pills and Ointment. Universal Curatives.—No one should despondingly brood over infirmities, or permit intolerable pain to wear away their energies, without giving Holloway's remedies a fair and impartiaetrial. They purify and heal—two qualities that require no comment. The pills exercise a wonderful influence in regulating the circulation. They remove any temporary stagnation of blood, thus preventing congestion of the lungs, liver, spleen, brain, or any other organ. They act as alterative, sedative, or stimulants, by their power over the nerves, which are the " governors" of animal functions. From the use of one or both of Holloway's restoratives, the patient will obtain relief or immunity from suffering. All hail his remedies as a boon to afflicted humanity. r( t 04 Li( Dr Re Lic BIRTHS. DOUGLAS.—On the sth inst., at 21, Moray-place, Edin burgh, Mrs. Brown Douglas, the wife of the Lord Pro vost of Edinburgh, of a daughter. GLYN.—On the 13th Oct., 'at Agra, the wife of Lient.-CoI. Glyn, C. 8., Rifle Brigade, of a daughter. RoLL.—On the sth inst., at Kensington-gate,. the wife of Beevor Roll, Esq.i of a daughter. MARRIAGES. DAWSON—FORTUNE.-011 the 4th inst., at St. Martel Peckham, Mr. Charles Dawson, of Islington, to Emily, second daughter of Alexander Fortune, Esq., of Peck ham. Ross—GoßDoN.—On the sth inst., at Ventnor, Henry James Ross, Esq., of Alexandria, to Janet Ann, eldest daughter of Sir Alexander and Lady Duff Gordon. :D E AT H S. Portland-place, BEARD.—On the sth inst., at 7; UPPer _ the Rev. James Beard, aged 69. BniumnY.—On the 4th inst., at Margate, Hugh Bradley, Esq., aged 64. BLAGRATE.—On the let inst., at Barrow House, near Bristol, Anthony Blag rav e , Esq., late of the Hon.E.I.C. Civil Service, aged 78. Fox.--On the sth inst., at Tonedale, Somerset, Charlet! Fox, Esq., aged 50. LONDON : Printed and Published byIIURDO YOUNG, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County of Ididdliessa Friday, December 7,1860.