The Sun. — London, England, 1859-07-26 00:00:00

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. Under the Management of Mr. Charles Kean. THIS EVENING, DYING FOR LOVE. After which, will be revived Shakspeare's Tragedy of HENRY VIII. Cardinal Wolsey, Mr. Chas. Bean; Queen Katharine, Mrs. C. Kean. To conclude with IF THE CAP FI TS. Commence at 7. THEATRE -ROYAL, HAYMARKET. Lessee, Mr. J. B. Buckstone. THIS EVENING the performances will commence with A DAUGHTER. TO MARRY. THE CONTESTED ELECTION. After which, COOL AS A CUCUMBER. To conclude with HALLOWE'EN. Commence at 7. NEW THEATRE - ROYAL, ADELPHI. Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Benj. Webster. THIS EVENING, the performances will commence with NEVER DESPAIR. Mr, and Mrs. Henri Drayton. And (4th time) a new comic drama, in two acts, entitled AN OLD OFFENDER. Mr. J. L. Toole, Mr. C. Selby, Mr. Billington, Mr. C. J. Smith, Mr. Eburne, and Miss H. Simms. Followed by the new burlesque, THE BABES IN THE WOOD. Messrs. J. L. Toole, Paul Bedford, C. J. Smith, Eburne ; Miss Woolgar and Miss K. Kelly. And a Grand Ballet by the Celebrated Spanish Dancers. Acting Manager—Mr. Wm. Smith. __Doors open at a quarter-past six—Commence at seven. Box Moe open from 10 to 5 -no charge for booking. No fees to servants permitted. A registry kept of all articles found. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE. Lessee and Directress, Mise Swanborough THIS EVENING, QUIXOTE, JUNIOR. Mr. J. Clarke. After which, A SCHOOL FOR COQUETTES. Misses Swanborough, Oliver, and Lavine. Followed by THE VERY LATEST EDITION OF THE LADY OF LYONS. Commence at 7 o'clock. VERDI'S OPERA OF MACBETH. The whole of the first Act of this Opera, now produced for the first time in this country (the remaining three acts beincr in course of rehearsal), is sung nightly at the CAN TERBURY HALL CONCERTS. THE DELEPIERRE FAMILY, Consisting of three Juvenile Violinists, viz., Jules, Juliette, and Julia Delepierre, aged, respectively, FOUR, SIX, and EIGHT years. The perfect execution by these Lilliputian Artistes of some of the most difficult and brilliant Solos, Duets, and Trios eve: written for the violin, has excited mingled wonder and admi ration in Continental Musical Circles, and drawn forth enthu siastic tributes of praise from the Public Journals of France and Belgium. They Will perform T WICE EACH EVENING, in addi tion to the usual Entertainments. THE WEATHER....-SIIN OFFICE, JULY 25. THER3fOXETER, IN THE SHADE. 69—highest since noon yesterday. 63—lowest this morning and during the night. 70—this day at noon. BAROMETER•^3O'I9. WIND, Southerly ; light, with fine weather, HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tins DAY.—Morning, 9h. 50m.—Afternoon, 10h. 30m. To-Moßßow-Morning, 11h. 9m.—Afternoon, 11h. 47m. I. M, ?5 , .OIT .2-;? -, iiTZ THE SUN. TUESDAY, JULY 26, 1859. The foreign news are made up more of gue4kes and recriminations than of facts. Indeed, nothing is more clear than that they are waiting for the chapter of accidents to feel their way more surely. They are all uneasy with respect to the coming Congress, if Congress there be. For our part we shall wait the opinion of our Cabinet, as it will be expressed on Thursday evening by Lord JOHN RUSSELL. One thing is certain that feelers are thrown out to test the pulse of the public ; but the baiters may miss their would-be victims at the last moment. We know their tendency, but they had better mind their nets, for th ere are such mishaps as clever people being caught in their own traps sometimes. The Moniteur of this morning contains an article which clearly evinces the disquietude felt on the other side of the Channel at the preparations of armaments continually and wisely made on this side. It endeavours to prove that they are only made to deceive the English people in order to carry the budgets. Well, it may be so. But we are not going over the water for advice on these matters. It is far better to be forearmed than to be warned too late. We have more at stake than our pliant neighbours seem to appreciate—our wealth—but, dearer than all, our freedom ! We must maintain that at whatever cost—and wishing well to others, we must not forget that our own welfare depends on ourselves. Let our own saving motto be in the words of the Athenian LYNDHURST—distrust— distrust of all specious hypocrisy or foreign blan dishment. We know wherein consists our true security, and we will cherish that—let come who may—we will not say—dare ! Yesterday, in Committee of Supply, there was voted a sum amounting to something less than £4B,ooo—to a total, in fact, precisely £75 short of that amount—for the British Museum. It is espe cially noticeable at once, in regard to this amount, that it shows for the present year a decrease in expenditure of £1,875 as compared with its imme diate predecessor. The committee, in other words, have voted in 1859 not quite £48,000, whereas in 1858 it voted very little short of £50,000. To put the affair as plainly as possible before the public in the matter of this annual disbursement for the support of our national collection of curiosi ties and literature in the British Museum, the committee voted to that end in 1858 the sum of £49,Boo—while it has voted for the same purpose in 1859, £1,875 less, or (to give the precise amount) exactly £47,925. This decrease of expenditure upon the'British Museum is simultaneous with a manifest and even extraor dinary increase in its general usefulness. In illus tration of which it is only necessary to bear in mind a few of the remarkable facts culled from the report (placed previously upon the table of the House of Commons) by the right hon. gentleman the member for Cambridge University, who, in his capacity as one of the Trustees of the British Maseum, moved, and, as a matter of course, moved successfully, for this vote of £47,925 by the Committee. Conspi cuous among these selected particulars in regard to the past year's development of the British Museum as an establishment for the indirect diffusion of the advantages of national education among the general multitude, is the surpising mag nitude of the general ratio of increase in the number of readers and in the number of the books Perused by them during the last and the preceding twelvemonth. It is because of this in crease in the number and in the assiduity of the students frequenting the British Museum dur ing the year last past, that we observe upon the estimates of the institution an appreciable increase in the charges for the establishment ! An increase consequent upon the necessity there has been found for additional attendants by reason of the increase both of readers and of visitors. The diminution notwithstanding this, the remarkable di m i nu tion, upon the whole of the estimates of the British Museum taken together —e, dimi nation amounting in the aggregate, as we have seen, to nearly £2,000 in a single year—is trace able, it may be observed at once to several sources. It is traceable, among others, to the de crease in the house expenses, consequent upon certain wholesome, economic, and scientific im improvmeents in the system of warming and ventilation. Besides which, as Mr. WALPOLE observed last evening, " there has been a consider able diminution in the item for printed books, owing to the large expenditure which had been incurred of late years in the binding of books, to make up for the shortcomings of previous years." [An expenditure, by the way, which we, for one, cannot help regarding as haying been most unne- cessarily magnified—hundreds, perhaps we should say more correctly thousands, of the most trumpery publications having during the last few years been preposterously glorified in gilding and fragrant new morocco !] Very notable, again, among the sources of the aggregate diminution in the expen diture required this year for the British Museum, as compared with that required during the pre vious twelvemonth, there is one item of diminished expenditure to the tune of £9O0 —upon the cata logues ! Returning, however, to the facts adduced yesterday by Mr. WALPOLE in testimony of the iicreased usefulness of the Reading Room alone— we find that the total number of books read by the students durin g the past year amounted to up wards of 3,000 per day, or, in round numbers, a grand aggregate of 876,000 volumes! During the year immediately preceding this the total number of books used was at the rate of 2,000 per day, or 576,000 in all ! So that the rate of increase in a single twelvemonth bas been just half as much again —or 1,000 per day —or, in one year's time, 300,000 volumes additional. The distribution of this immense total of 876,000 volumes used during the last twelvemonth is curious in its way, as an indication to some extent of the direction, and in one particular, to the continuity of the studies thus prosecuted. Out of that total of 876,000 volumes-177,290 were returned to the shelves of the general library-12,428 to those of the Royal library-687 to those of the Granville library—and 564,000 to the shelves of the noble circular reading-room, itself—that grand and beau tiful amphitheatre of erudition, that matchless colosseum of literature! Added to the foregoing, there were retained from day to day in the closets set apart for the more persevering and systematic readers no less a number of volumes than 122,193 altogether. Although nothing actually " came" of the argu ment generously and. ably advanced yesterday in Committee by the hon. gentleman the member for Galway, with a view to effect some increase in the remuneration of the assistants at the British Museum, we are still sanguine that that increase will yet come to them eventually—even an increase that would satisfy the mind of their earnest champion, Mr. GREGORY. We take the advance that has already been made of late years in the scale of their salaries as a happy augury of still further—we can hardly sly munificence, but we will venture to call it simply—fairplay on the part of the public towards a class of men remarkable at once for their probity and intelligence. Instead of entering now, as they formerly did, at £l5O per annum, with a gradual rise after many years service to a maximum salary of £24s—they enter now at something over £2OO a-year, with a yearly rise of a few pounds until they attain a maximum remuneration of £3OO per annum. It is only two years now since the date of this moderate improvement. We may hope that another two years will not have passed by without bringing to these very meritorious servants yet further evidence that their interests are cared for by the Legislature. Mr. BRIGHT has laid hold of one iniquity in our system of taxation which we have more than once done our best to expose, which Mr. WILLIAMS has persistently denounced, unpopular as he found it to moot the question, but which we may hope the great Birmingham orator will now make his own business, and most certainly " he'll not fail"—we refer to the succession and probate duties, as well as to the unrighteous incidence of the income tax. The former are too much overlooked. No one likes to stir an unpopular subject in the House. But there exists not in our whole fiscal system a wickeder injustice than the landlords' exemption from legacy duties. If Mr. BRIGHT takes up this topic, he will have no mere crotchet in hand ; lie will have a plain matter of fact to deal with, which no man who has learned arithmetic can dispute. He will have—what must add zest to his eloquence —a gross aristocratic abuse to illustrate and de nounce, till it can no longer bear the daylight; and one, too, without any possible defence that we are aware of. On protectionist principles some thing might be said for the corn laws ; but what can be said on any principle for taxing most lightly the most prized, the most valuable, the most secure kind of property, we are wholly at a loss to conceive. Let the tax-paying public bear in mind—let every man when he pays the GLADSTONE FOUR PENCE next Michaelmas remember—that real property, the property of all the landlords of England, the property of our aristocracy, of our House of Lords, of our county members—that real property pays no probate duty. Personal property of all kinds pays it, real property pays none. We are now to pay fourpence extra in the pound, be cause for so long a time the landlord class has escaped without paying probate duty. The poor widow of the blacksmith and the shoemaker must pay it, but the neighbouring squire, whose hunters the blacksmith shod, and whose own feet the shoe maker did his best to equip for the stirrup—he paid not one penny probate duty for the splendid estate on which the humble dwellings of the village tradesmen stand! Is this English equity ? But perhaps the GLADSTONE succession duty atones for it. Our Chancellor of the Exchequer has received endless praise for having subjected this class to a succession duty, and the praise has not surely been for nothing. No, not for nothing, but for very little, for even less than had been hoped. Here are two illustrations—actual facts— the records of which are in the books of the Trea sury. Mr. BRIGHT'S views of the Crimean war did him at least one little service. A stranger, being enamoured of him, left him, as a legacy, a small estate, worth £1,450. On this he would have had to pay, had it been money at the bankers or in the funds, £l4O, or ten per cent. To his surprise he found that he had but £5O to pay ! According to the GLADSTONE arrangement for the landlord class, the Somerset House people take account of the age of the legatee, and charge him duty, as they would in an insurance office, less in proportion to the time he can have enjoyment of the property. We will not dispute the fairness of the plan. But surely, what is fair to the class succeeding to real property, is fair to the class receiving personal pro perty. Why should a squire, to whom an estate is left, pay less the older he is, because he will sooner part with his possession, and our blacksmith and shoemaker pay less also, in proportion to their ages, when they receive a legacy of personal property from a parent, or from a friend who respects them. It is to be remembered, too, that the squire paid no probate duty, while the blacksmith and shoe maker did. Mr. BRIGHT referred to a second case of a friend, in which the legatee saved thousands stranger i n stead as o hundreds. The es t a t e l e ft hi m by a worth, in this instance, £32,000; had it been personal property he must have paid £3,200, besides more than £6OO for probate duty ; but the landlord sliding scale came in, and he got off with only £7OO for everythinn, When to this is added the confessed injustice of Schedule D, we believe that no feudal times can be much worse. W e will not dwell on this just now, but we present one tradesman consideration. can put his I ti is professional man or family on a level with the proprietor of an estate by in_ suring his life. Try it. When a landlord, wit h £l,OOO a-year from land, dies, without insuring his life for a penny, he leaves his family £l,OOO a-year still. How much, then, must a Schedule D: income of a thousand a-year pay to enable its possessor to leave his family a sum which, invested in the funds, would yield his family £l,OOO a-year ? Why, if the insurance offices charge him about two per cent. for his policies, he must pay more than £6OO per annum to leave his family in the same position as the man will who neither toils nor spins ! He would have but £4OO a-year left on which to pay income tax ! This is but one view—the insurance one—of the question. It is, however, unanswerable. Mr. GLADSTONE applied it to landlords' succession duties, he is equally bound to apply it to a trades- man's income. Elsewhere will be found the very curious, and we doubt not very carefully considered report of the commission appointed some time back to con sider the subject of lighting picture-galleries by gas-burners. The report itself was laid upon the table of the House of Commons on Thursday even ing, and the gist of it cannot but be regarded, we think, as highly satisfactory. The Com mission —consisting of three scientific Pro fessors (FARADAY, HOFMANN, and TYNDALL), one Royal Academician (REDGRAVE), and a Captain of Engineers (FowKE)—distinctly asserts, in the very preamble of its report, that—" There is nothing innate in coal gas which renders it appli cation to the illumination of picture galleries objectionable. Its light, though not so white as that of the sun, is equally harmless ; its radialt heat may be rendered innocuous by placing a sufficient distance between the gas jets and the pictures, while the heat of combustion may be rendered eminently serviceable in promoting ventilation." Having premised this much, and having added, moreover, these words—" Coal gas may be free from sulphuretted hydrogen com pounds, and in London is so at the present time; it then has little or no direct action on pictures"— the Commissioners go on to remark, in relation to coal gas—" But it has not as yet been cleansed from sulphide of carbon, which, on combustion, yields sulphurous acid gas, capable of producing 221 grains of sulphuric acid per 100 cubic feet of pre sent London coal gas." And the Commissioners Proceed in their report to observe yet further, in relation to this pernicious sulphide of carbon—" It is not safe to permit this product of the combustion to come in contact with pictures, painted either in oil or water colours; and the commission are emphatically of opinion that in every system of permanent gas lighting for pic ture or sculpture galleries, provision should be made for the effectual exclusion or withdrawal of the products of combustion from the chambers con taining works of art." With that one proviso the Commission strongly recommends the lighting of picture galleries by gas burners. LONDON AND BRIG.H7ON RAILWAY. HALF-YEARLY MEETING—(Tins DAY.) The ordinary half-yearly meeting of the proprie tors of this company was held this day at the Bridge-house Hotel. Leo Schuster, Esq., chairman of the Board of Di rectors, presided. The CHAIRMAN, in opening the business of the day, said that the full nature of the report, which was in the hands of all the proprietors, would ren der it totally unnecessary for him to go at any length into details, yet he thought it but proper he should make a few observations with respect to the pro pects and state of their line. First of all the amount of capital outlay had been £246,038, of which £lBO,OOO had been in respect of this com pany's contribution to the Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway, making £337,500 now charged on that account; £24,984 for the new Henfield ' branch, which is being rapidly proceeded with; £15,419 towards the completion of the Norwood Junction, and the remainder for the sta tions on the Uckfield and Mid-Sussex line, and for sundry works and additional vehicles rendered necessary by the increasing traffic and the larger number of miles run. Their debenture stock, it would be satisfactory to the proprietors to know, was being well taken up by the public, which showed that the greatest confi dence was reposed in the security of the property. The traffic receipts, it was satisfactory to state, had been generally increasing, with the exception of the Epsom line, on which there had been a loss of £4,000 ; and if anything could prove the folly of constructing competing lines, he thought this circumstance did. (Hear, hear.) The share- holders must not imagine that because their receipts :had fallen off that amount, the neigh bouring company had earned a sum equal to it. Such was not the case ; they had hardly done more than pay their expenses. (Hear, hear.) It had, in truth, been a loss to both. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the working expenses, although there had been an increase under that head, the cost of each train had been considerbly reduced. The increase had arisen from several causes. First, from the outlay incurred in working the West-end line, the increase of mileage, the heavy repairs that had been effected in the locomotive stock, and he could fearlesily say that their property was now in much better order than it had ever been. The relations with the South-Western still continued unarranged, bat he could assure the proprietors that there was no unwillingnes to arrange the difficulty on the part of the Brighton and South Coast Railway. (Hear.) From circum stances that had occurred he had reason to hope that an amicable settlement would soon be effected with South-Western. Having touched upon the other por tions of the report which referred to the parliamen tary business of the company, concluded by moving the adoption of the report, which has already ap peared in the columns of The Sun. Mr. J. SCOTT (deputy chairman) seconded the motion. Mr. BORRADALE said, before the report was agreed to.he wished to ask whether the differences between the South-Western and Brighton Railway were to be settled by a reference. The CHAIRMAN said Captain Mangles, the chair man of the South-Western, had called upon him, and the object of his visit was to see whether an amicable arrangement could not be come to without the interference of other parties. (Hear, hear.) Mr. BESLEY thought it would be unadvisable to allude further to the subject. When a proposition was made to settle differences discussions frequently tended to retard a speedy settlement. (Hear, hear.) He hoped no further allusion would be made to the subject on that occasion. Mr. HEREPATH said if Captain,Mangles and Mr. Schuster could agree he looked upon the differences as settled. After a short discussion the report was agreed to, and a dividend of 21 per cent. for the half-year was declared. The meeting shortly afterwards adjourned. THE CHANNEL FLEET. PORTSMOUTH, TUESDAY MORNING. • The Channel Fleet is now running in under sail for Spithead from the southward ; the Royal Albeit leading. The Earl and Countess Delawarr and Lady Arabella S. 'West have joined the circle visiting the Mar - quis and Marchioness of Salisbury at Hatfield House. Lord and Lady Lindsay have left town, accom panied by their youthful family, for Haigh HA near Wigan, on their way to their seat in Scotland. ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS, EDINBURGH. —Richard Leack, M.D., of Blackburn, and Thomas Abra ham, M.,R.C.5.E., of New Broad-street, were admitted licentiates of the above college on the 12th inst. LATEST NEWS. IMPERIAL MANIFESTO. The following telegrams have been received at Mr. Reuter's office : PARIS, JULY 26. The Moniteur of to-day contains the following : " It is endeavoured in England to attribute to France the causes of the English national burdens, but the English people are deceived merely in order to further the national defences. The exaggera tion of our armaments is to justify the consider able increase of the English budget for the army and navy. A comparison of the budgets of France and England will show these considerations to be erroneous. Since 1813 the army expenses of England have increased by 200 millions of francs, making for 1860 a total of more than 650 million francs ; while in France the army budgets for 1860 do not exceed much 463 million francs. One there fore asks whether it is to France and to her extraor dinary armaments that the heavy burdens which weigh on the English people are to be attributed, or whether these enormous expenses and taxes, which are the consequence of those burdens, must not be attributed to other reasons. THE VILLAFRANCA PEACE. All the Paris papers of to-day publish the text of the preliminaries of peace signed at Villafranca, quoting the Journal de Mayence as authority. They however, give it with due reserve. It is as fol lows : "Between his Majesty the Emperor of Austria and his Majesty the Emperor of the French it has been agreed as follows : " The two Sovereigns will favour the creation of an Italian Confederation. " That Confederation shall be under the honorary presidency of the Holy Father. " The Emperor of Austria cedes to the Emperor of the French his rights on Lombardy, with the exception of the fortresses of Mantua and Pes chiera, so that the frontier of the Austrian posses sions should start from the extreme range of the fortress of Peschiera, and should extend in a direct line along the Mincio as far as Grazio ; from thence to Scorzarolo and Luzaua to the Po, from whence the actual frontiers shall continue to form the limits of Austria. The Emperor cf the French will hand over (renzeUra) the ceded territory to the King of Sardinia. " Venetia shall form part of the Italian Confede ration, though remaining under the crown of the Emperor of Austria. " The Grand Duke of Tuscany and the Duke of Modena return to their States, granting a general amnesty. " The two Emperors will ask the Holy Father to introduce indispensable reforms into his States. " A full and complete amnesty is granted on both sides to persons compromised in the late events in the territories of the belligerent parties. "Done at Villafranca, the 11th July, 1859." BERNE, JULY 26. The conference of the three Powers, France, Austria, and Piedmont, will most likely take place at Zurich, at the end of July, and be probably of THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JULY 26, 1859. short duration. TRIESTE, JULY 25. The Imperial war steamer Elizabeth, having on board Count Colloredo and Baron Hubner, has ar. rived here from Ancona. Lussin is evacuated, the French fleet having set sail. It is alleged that the Duke of Modena will arm 4,000 Austrian troops to enable him to re-enter his States. FRANCE. PARIS, MONDAY. A rumour is current that the Emperor intends going to London. - lEmperor will m a k e hi s public üb t l c is stated at ntrthato p Sunday the 14th o f August, part on of the Army of Italy. ythe nh into oa tflri a i e s n The troops will halt on the following day, the 15th, for the Fete Napoleon. The Emperor is expected to remain at St. Cloud on the 16th and 17th, when he will proceed with the Empress to St. Sauveur, in the Pyrenees. Their Majesties will afterwards go to Plombieres. PARIS BOURSE, July 2 5.—The market has been buoyant, with improving prices. Threes, after having been done at 67f. 85c., rallied to 68f. 35c., and are now at 68f. 10c. Mobilier varied from 815 f. to 802 f. 50c. p Austrian, 565 f. to 561 f. 25c. ; Orleans, 1,350 f. to 1,345 f. ; Lyons, 865 f. to . 862 f. 50c. ; Northern, 927 f. 50c. to 925 f. ; Southern, 515 f. to 510 f. ; Lombardo-Venetian quoted to-day a terme for the first time at 560 f. and 572. 50c. The mar ket was dull at the close, but prices were main tained. The following were the last quotations : 4i. per Cents. .... 96 Do. end month .. 3 per Cents 68 05 Do. end month 6B 15 Bank Shares CrMit Mobilier Do. Account Credit Fonder 640 Belgian 4i — Piedmontese (5) Roman B6 50 Austrian — §panish Threes Home Debt 42 50 It.A.ILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans Northern 925 .. 925 New ditto. BO5 .. 810 Lyons and Mediterranean 857 50 .. 857 50 Geneva 5lB 75 .. 622 50 Southern Western 540 .. 550 —. Eastern Sardinian 402 50 .. 407 50 Austrian Exchange on London, at sight, paper, 25f. 6c. ; money, 25f 4c.; three months, paper, 24f. 94c.; money, 21f. 93c. SPAIN. The Madrid journals of the 21st have arrived. The semi-official Correspondancia Autografa has the following :—" At Gibraltar the English are mounting batteries, not only as has been stated in the forts, but even in the midst of the streets. The day on which the sentinel of the Straits shall light his first match, this place will be transformed into a volcano of gunpowder and ball. Our forts of Santa Barbara and San Feline, destroyed by the English in the War of Independence, under the pretext that the French troops might take posses sion of them, are now only heaps of twins, and the bronze artillery with which they were armed is still in the hands of the English. The English will not allow these fortifications to be restored, and yet we permit them to encroach every day, by constructing barracks on neutral ground, and by taking the stone destined for their walls in the quarries of San Roque." The journals announce that new arrests had been made at Seville, also at Badajoz and Olivanza. A Paris letter, in the Independence of Brussels, says : " England, in making known to France that she was disposed to take part in the deliberations of a l'European congress is said to have added to her communication, a formal proposition for a general disarming. This proposition would be the more acceptable to Farnce that the initiative for such a measure is reported to have emanated from the Emperor Napoleon. His Majesty, in a conversa tion with Lord Cowley, offered, it is rumoured, to set the example of a reduction in the military ex penses which all the countries of Europe are now imposing themselves from a feeling of mutual mistrust. Hence the friendly language towards the French Sovereign used by Lord John Russell and Lord Palmerston during the discussion on the budget in the House of Commons ; hence, also, the eager ness shown by the English Cabinet to enter into the views of its ally. The visit of Count de Persigny to Paris is connected with these negotiations." The Piedmontese papers, and especially the Piedmontese Gazette, continue to give accounts of the movement of public opinion in the Duchies. At Kodena, the Royal Governor, M. Farini, has been an object of ovation; the municipalities of the country are voting funds for the raising of troops, and the people raise subscriptions. An ad dress to the King has been voted at Reggio, in which the following words occur :—" Sire, you will not permit your representatives to abandon us." The province of Guastalla declares in a pro test that should it be attempted to replace it under a detested Government, it would repulse the latter " with the arms of despair." The municipality of Parma has voted an address, in which it says : " Sire, we are with you, and for you ; we shall ever be so, with the same resolution and the same confi dence." PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE. PACKET AND TELEGRAPHIC CONTRACTS. This committee met yesterday, when the follow ing members were present—Mr. Cobden (in the chair) Sir H. Willoughby, Mr. Corry, Sir S. Northcote, Mr. Bazley, Lord Nags, Capt. Vernon, Mr. Dunlop, Mr. Baxter, Mr. Crawford, Sir F. Baring, Lord John Manners, and Mr. Wilson. Mr. Churchward was ca ll e d and his examination lasted throughout the entire sitting, and had not concluded when the committee rose at a quarter past four o'clock. In reply to questions by the chairman, he stated that he hada contract from the Admiralty for the conveyance of the mails between Dover and Calais. He had the first contract in 1854. In the course of his contracts he had lost two vessels. He was in the habit of insuring his vessels, but not to the full amount of the value. He could not get the full amount of the vessels in sured. He had tried to do so at the Royal Ex change, but he had not tried Lloyd's. He had set up a large establishment at Dover, which was now in operation, and at which he had been able to repair Government vessels. He had been engaged for some time with the French and Belgian Governments in negotiations for improving the conveyance of the mails, and suc ceeded, in February, 1855, in obtaining a con cession from the French authorities with that ob ject. Before that time the conveyance of the mails had been of hardly any benefit to the English or French country towns. In order to remedy that deficiency he drew up a plan for improving this conveyance, which he submitted to the Chambers of Commerce of the principal towns in the kingdom, and which was generally approved of. His con tract with the Government had not enabled him to complete the improvements which he contemplated. He had made an arrangement with the French Go vernment for 15 years, and renewed his contract with the English Government. He had read the recently-issued report of the Postmaster-General, and could not agree with that report that the ex tension of his contract would fetter the Post-office in any way. There were 170 boxes of mails now sent out every fortnight to India and Australia, and if that number should be increased to 200 boxes, he could not convey them without loss at his present rate of remuneration. He could nc:t say when a new arrangement could be entered into with the Belgian Government, but he thought that would depend to a great extent on the English Post-office. The Postmaster-General stated in his report that it would be better to pay witness for the work actually done, instead of renewing his con tract, but that would not pay him. The sum he received for his contract was £2,500 a year, for all special services, and for that sum he was prepared to continue his contract, risking all contingencies. In reply to Sir F. Baring, Mr. Churchward said the principal difficulty he had in completing ar rangements with the French Government wa s owing to the shortness of the contract with the English Post-office. He kept three packets specially for the French service—the Empress, the Queen, and the Alliance ; but, in point of fact, they were used for both services, as it was a reciprocal service. He kept also three packets for the Eng lish service--the Vivid, Princess Frederick William, and the Ondine. It was not the fact that he was required to keep nine packets for these services ; his contract required him to keep six packets, and that number he kept. In reply to further questions by Sir F. Baring, Mr. Churchward stated that he had had two pri vate letters from Mr. Hamilton, Secretary to the Treasury, on the subject of the contracts (which he read); he called frequently at the Admiralty and at the Treasury on the subject of his contracts; he asked on these occasions at the Admiralty to see the superintendent lord (Lord Lovaine), but never succeeded in having an interview with him. He did, however, see Mr. Baring, Captain Carnegie, and Mr. Murray, private secretary to Sir John Pakington, late First Lord of the Admiralty. At one of those interviews, shortly before the late dissolueion of Parliament, he said to Captain Carnegie there was a good chance for him at Dover, and if he came down, he (witness) would be happy to give him all the assistance he could. He added that all that Captain Carnegie would have to do would be to fight an opponent with a very long tongue. (A laugh.) Not a word about the contract, however, was said upon that occa sion. By Mr. Crawford—He had been connected actively in elections at Plymouth and Dover. He had voted for Mr. Bernal Osborne simply because he was Secretary to the Admiralty, and on the same ground he would have supported Captain Carnegie. He originally got the contracts by tendering for them, as they were advertised in the public papers. By Sir H. Willoughby—He had entered into three contracts with the English Government—in 1854, 1855, and 1859. By Captain Vernon—He was the first person who undertook the contracts for carrying the mails after they were given up by the Admiralty, and he did so at a saving to the country. The vote he gave at Dover, was partly through personal feeling and partly because he thought it would not be be coming in him to oppose the Government candi date. By Mr. Wilson—The first intimation he had that the Government intended to give him this contract was by a direct communication from the Treasury. He began the er ec ti ng o f t h e wor k s a t Dover for repairing packets in 1854; h e did so entirely of his own a ccor d. Of t h e s i x pac k e t s which he kept fo r th e ma il serv i ce, t h ree o f t h em carried the French flag, and three the English flag ; the Admiralty had no control over these packets ; he had th e con t ro l. H e was no t anxious to give up the Fren c h con t rac t, no r was he par ticularly anxious to retain it. The French Minis ter saw an objection to renewing his contract, owing to the short period of his contract with the Admiralty. Mr. Wilson—And yet you were at that time bound to the French Government by contract till the year 1870 ? Mr. Churchwarcl said that was so; but unless he got an extension of the English contract, he shculd be obliged to break the French contract, for it did not pay. He said nothing of that to the French Minister when he renewed the contract for 15 years, because he had a reasonable hope that it would improve in point of remuneration. The committee adjourned till'Thursday next. ELECTION ExPENsEs.--The election auditors con tinue to make their returns with references to the expenses incurred by candidates at the late general election. It ap pears that at Lincoln Mr. Heneage, M.P., expended £.557 4s. Bd. ; Major Sibthorp, M.P., £432 Os. Bd. ; and Mr. J. H. Palmer, £312 Os. 11d. Agency cost Mr. Heneage and Major Sibthorp £157 10s. each, but does not figure in Mr. Palmer's accounts. At Great Grimsby the expenses of Lord Worsley, M.P., are returned at £269 145., of which £147 was paid to agents. A mock opposition was attempted at Grimsby by a Mr. Parker, whose expenses are put down at £l5 16s. 3d. ELECTRIC ORDNANCE.—Mr.. John Calvert, the mineralogist, has succeeded, after great labour, in the ap plication of his discoveries to the purposes of warfare. To the present destructibility of war appliances we have, therefore, now to add, through Mr. Calvert, the wonderful aid of electricity I He states that by one discharge from his'engine on an " iron ram" five miles distant, it would be annihilation of all life the vessel contained ; or, on land, his missile falling in the vicinity of a field -piece, or even a mass of soldiery carrying musketry, would prove destructive for 20 yards around the point of contact. We hear that our Government, with usual custom, have sho wn M r . C a l ver t the " cold shoulder," whereas he has the most cordial invi tation to go to Paris."—lining Journal. GEORGE-YARD RAGGED SCHOOL, WHITECHAPEL. —The usual quarterly meeting of this institution took place last evening in the School-room, George-yard, White.- chapel—the Rev. Hugh Allen, the incumbent, in the chair. This school is eminently one deserving of the sup port of the charitable, it being situated in the very poorest and most degraded part of Whitechapel. The at_andance now numbers some hundreds of children of both sexes, who have been taken from running wild, as it were, in the gutters and alleys of this poor part of London. A sound practical education is given them, and in course of time they become fitt e d t o hold respectable situations. The doors are always open to receive any who may present themselves, poverty, dirt, and rags being the passport. That the poor wretched starving outcasts this institution deals with may be made eventually respectable members of ' society is found in the fact that a large number of boys who have received the benefits of this school are now in excel lent situations, serving their employers with fidelity and with honour to themselves. Several friends of the ragged school movement addressed the meeting on behalf of its claims to support, urging those engaged in the work to con tinue their efforts to clear the streets of the neglected children who flock about on all sides. The committee earnestly appeal to the humane and affluent for funds to enable them to carry on and enlarge their sphere of action, an appeal to which we hope there will be a liberal response. PICTURE GALLERIES. The following report of the commission appointed to consider the subject of lighting picture galleries by gas has been presented to the House of Com mons : " The Commission, consisting of Professors Fara day, Hofman, and Tyndall, Mr. R. Redgrave, R.A. and Captain Fowke, R.E, appointed for the purpose of reporting to the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council on Education on the lighting of picture galleries by gas, and on any precautions (if neces sary) against the escape of gas, and the product of its combustion,—having met at various times and considered the subject referred to them, now make the following report : " There is nothing innate in coal gas which ren ders its application to the illumination of picture galleries objectionable. Its light, though not so white as that of the sun, is equally harmless ; its radiant heat may be rendered innocuous by placing a sufficient distance between the gas jets and the pictures, while the heat of combustion may be ren dered eminently serviceable in promoting ventila tion. " Coal gas may be free from sulphuretted hydro gen compounds, and in London is so at the present time ; it then has little or no direct action on pic tures. But it has not as yet been cleansed from sulphide of carbon, which, on combustion, yields sulphurous acid gas, capable of producing 221 grains of sulphuric acid per 100 cubic feet of present London coal gas (Hofman). It is not safe to permit this product of the combustion ato come in contact with pictures painted either in oil or water colours; and the com mission are emphatically of opinion that in every system of permanent gas lighting for picture or sculpture galleries provision should be made for the effectual exclusion or withdrawal of the products of combustion front the chambers containing the works of art. " The commission have examined the Sheep shanks'Gallery as an experimental attempt to light pictures with gas, and are of opinion that the pro cess there carried out fulfils the condition of effec tually illuminating the pictures, and at the same time removing the products of combustion. Ac cording to the indication of the thermometer re quired and obtained, it does this in harmony with, and in aid of, the ventilation, and does not make a difference of more than one degree Fahrenheit at the parts where the pictures are placed, between the temperatures, before and after the gas is lighted. " Certain colour-tests, consisting of surfaces co vered with white lead, or with vegetable and mineral colours (especially the more fugitive ones), and in which also boiled linseed oil, magylp, and copal varnish were employed as vehicles, had been pre pared, and were when dry covered one-fourth with mastic varnish, one-fourth with glass,one-fourth with both mastic varnish and glass, and one fourth left uncovered. Sixteen of these have been placed for nearly two years in different situations—in some of which gas has been used, in others not. They give no indications respecting the action of coal gas (ex cept injury from heat in one placed purposely very near to and above the gas burners), but seven of them show signs of chemical change in the whites, due to either a town atmosphere or want of ventila tion. The most injured is that from the National Gallery, Charing cross, and the next is from a coun try privy ; the third, much less changed, is from the House of Commons ; the fourth is from the Barber Surgeons' Hall; the fifth from the Bridgewater Gallery; the sixth from the Royal Society's rooms at Burlington House; the seventh from the British Museum. " The remaining tests, hung in-1. Sheepshanks' Gallery, South Kensington ; 2. Secretary's room at South Kensington, where no gas is used; 3. Mr. Henry Drummond's drawing-room at Albury Park, Surrey; 4. Sealed up and kept in a closet in the secretary's room at South Kensington ; 5. Lambeth Palace, vestibule of the staircase • 6. British Insti tution, picture gallery ; 7. Windsor Castle, room with a north aspect, without gas ; 8. Mr. Thomas Baring's picture gallery, 41, Upper Grosvenor street, frequently lit with gas—present no observ able change in this respect. " Though apart from the especial subject sub mitted to the Commission, the members cannot resist a recommendation that this kind of trial, which is especially a painter's experiment, should be continued for a longer period, and, indeed, be carried out on a more extensive scale. " The Commission think it right to state that they were unanimous on all the points to which their attention had been called, or which are re ferred to in this report. " M. FARADAY, A. W. HOFMANN, JOHN TYNDALL, RICHARD REDGRAVE, FRANCIS FOWKE, Captain, R.E. " South Kensington, July." THE NAVY. A large number of heavy guns was yesterday shipped from Woolwich Arsenal for her Majesty's ships Trafalgar, 91, at Chatham, Rodney, 90, at Portsmouth, and Waterloo, at Sheerness. . The following appointments were made yester day :—Lieut. C. E. D. Willcox to the Curacoa ; and F. S. Vander Meulin, midshipman, to the Mel• pomene. THE 412311. His Royal Highness the Prince Consort, accom panied by Prince Alfred and Prince Arthur, arrived in the Royal yacht Victoria and Albert at noon yesterday on a visit of inspection to the extensive defensive and other important works in connection with the new harbour at Portland. A portion of the Channel fleet, consisting of the Royal Albert, Agamemnon, James Watt, Algiers, and Emerald, which had shortly before left the harbour for Spit head, saluted the Royal party on passing. On the yacht rounding the extremity of the outer break water the ships at anchor—Aboukir, Blenheim, Topaze, Melpomene—also saluted. Their Royal Highnesses, on landing, were received by Mr. Coode, engineer-in-chief, and Mr. Leather, the contractor for the breakwater, who conducted them over the works now in progress. After the inspection the Royal party returned on board the Victoria and Albert, which immediately left the harbour for Osborne. The weekly inspection of the Royal Artillery in garrison at Woolwich took place yesterday, under the command of Major-General Sir Richard Dacres, K.C.B. _ --- The battalion of recruits under the command of Col. Stransham, Royal Marines, were afterwards put through a course of manual exercis es on Wool wich-common, and various divisions of the junior members underwent a course of chain drills, in command of Lieut.-Col. Hopkins, C. 13., in the bar rack square. A GOVERNMENT GUA_RANTEB O 1 FOUR-AND-A -HALF PER CENT. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SIR,—In the Times' City article of Saturday there is the following paragraph : " The Royal Assent has been given to the Act of the Red Sea and India Telegraph Company, and the unconditional guarantee granted to the under taking, which has lately been the subject of discus sion, is therefore established beyond question." Is it possible that a Government guarantee of 41 per cent. ca,n be obtained at par (or nearly so) whilst 3 per cent, Consols are at 95 P Your obedient servant, QUERY. THE INCOME-TAX. The following letter describes the mode and pro portions in which the increased income-tax will be levied during the next-half-year : " Sir,—Considerable misapprehension appears to exist with reference to the proposed addition to the income and property-tax; and, as I have been favoured with some ex planations.by a gentleman connected with the Department of Inland Revenue, I venture to send the following infor mation, believing it will prove useful to your readers : A net sum of 4d. in the pound is to be levied in one pay ment upon every yearly income exceeding £l5O, in addition to the existini tax of sd. in the pound, making a total tax of 9d. in the pound upon the yearly income. " The existing tax is payable half-yearly, in September and March. With the moiety of this tax which will fall duo in September there will be require to be paid, in addi tion, 4d. in the pound on the whole income, making the September payment equ a l t o bid . i n t h e poun d on the whole income. In cases, however, where the, Government deduct the tax—such as dividends on stock—they will deduct Is. ld. in the pound on the amount then paid ; because the payment being of only a half, and not a whole year's in come, they must add Bd. instead of 4d. to the original tax, Bd. in the pound on half the income being, of course, equal to 4d. in the pound on the whole income. "When this additional tax shall have been paid by a tenant mortgagor, &c., he will be entitled to deduct from his landlord or mortgagee upon payment of the rent or in terest then next to accrue due, as follows: " If a year's rent or interest, 9d. out of each pound he has to pay. If half a year's rent or interest, ls. Id. out of each pound he has to pay ; and, if a quarter of a year's rent or interest, ls. 9d. out of each pound he has to pay. " The tax is generally collected about Christmas, so that these observations will generally apply to the payments falling due at the Christmas quarter and not earlier. " I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Cannon-street-we.t, July 23." "LEX. The soiree to Mr. Cobden will (says the Man chester _Examiner) be deferred for a short period, as his par liamentary duties will prevent his leaving London until near the time that Parliament will be prorogued. The day will be announced shortly by advertisement. Great anxiety Prevails to secure tickets, upwards of 1,000 being already applied for. THE BUDGET. (From the .Derbyshire Courier.) The financial project of Mr. Gladstone is put forward by himself as one of merely a temporary character. " Next year" we are led to hope for something definite. The statement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer is briefly this. The estimated revenue is £64,340,000; the estimated expense £69,207,0 00 ; leaving a gross deficiency on the current year of £4,867,000. Mr. Gladstone does not propose to resort to a loan for the supply of this deficiency A loan must be had for India. The people are to raise the extra amount as well as they can. The brewers and maltsters are to be curtailed of their credit this will supply for the moment some L 780,000. The remaining £4,000,000 is to be obtained by an additional income-tax of lid. in the pound on incomes not above £l5O, and of 4d. in the pound on incomes above £l5O. Mr. Gladstone, however, proposes that the whole addition to the income-tax should "be made applicable to the ser vice of the year by being charged on one half-year's payment." " The effect of this proposition, there:. fore, 'will be that the autumn or winter payment of the income-tax will be for all those whose incomes are above £l5O a year fild. in the pound (that is 4d. for the new tax, added to 2id. for the old tax), and 4d. in the pound for those whose incomes are under £l5O. For the remaining term of 1859-6 0 the duty will stand exactly as it is now—that is, at 20. on the half-year— for both classes of payers." This additional five millions will be expended principally in increased naval and military defences- This expenditure the people of England have not only approved of but demanded, and there is a general feeling that we are deeply indebted to Sir John Pakington and to General Peel for the good judgment and efficiency with which our naval and military defences have been so promptly augmented and strengthened. With regard to the increase of the Income Tax, it will be considered by most persons as an unmiti gated evil. The tax itself is inquisitorial and odious, its pressure is partial and unequal, and it has been generally admitted that nothing but an actual state of war could justify the imposition or the augmentation of this tax. There can be no doubt that taxes on articles of consumption are in every respect the fairest and most unobjectionable of imposts. Every man then pays in proportion to his consumption, and as a general rule a man's consumption is proportionate to his means. Mr. Gladstone's proposition, even as a temporaq expedient, may be very convenient t o him, b u t will be very inconvenient to the country. In fact the whole system of finance is fast drifting into such state that temporary expedients will not avail. There is but one method by which our increased and increasing load of taxation can be made co existent with the permanent prosperity of the coun try, and that is by the adoption of a sound system of currency. There is not a single argument which, the Peel party have bro ug ht aga i ns t sounia, paper money which has not been practically re futed by the ability manifested by this country, from 1797 to 1815, to bear without distress a much larger amount of taxation than is now required. We tell Mr. Gladstone that without great - care France will discover and avail herself of the weakest part of our system, that is of our bad panic-creating currency laws. Already France has hit upon a method by which the pressure of a system of me tallic currency is deprived of much of its evil ten dency; and it is this which, to the astonishment of all, enables the country to bear the tremendous drain upon her resources. If we fail to reform our pernicious money laws , we must prepare to sink down into a second rate power. THE RECORDER OF HULL ON THE PROF-a - GACY OF " SERVANT -GALL-ISM." Mr. Samuel Warren, Recorder of Hull, in a charge to the grand jury delivered a day or two,. ago, after a few words of comment up on th e v ice of intemperance, said—Gentlemen,-let me turn from this topic for a moment to another of great impor tance, forced on my attention by a case coining before you and me at these sessions, and painfully reviving in my mind the recollection of several cases at the last and immediately preceding sessions. mean cases of young female servants robbing their masters and mistresses. and that almost invariably of articles of dress. Gentlemen, I cannot bear to make a harsh or uncharitable observation con cerning either an individual or a class ; but I must in sober sadness ask you, as men of the world, of social standing and experience—as heads of families—whether you can possibly regard as satisfactory the condition of female domestic ser vants of the present day ? For my own part, I. know what is said OR the subject by masters ana, mistresses, in London an d e l sew h ere , o f a ll ran ks 01 society, that it is almost impossible, speaking in a general way, to get or retain a respectable, modest , and trustworthy female servant. Why ? Son ic ' nay very many, will tell you bitterly, and with too .. much truth, th a t young women i n th a t c l ass of life are monstrously over-educate& for their sta' tions and callings; that is to say, that passing away from, or neglecting homely and useful acquirements, their minds are distempered a nd inflated by a smattering of knowledge and accomplishments totally unfitted for them , disturbing all their notions of dutiful, re spectful, and happy subordination, and giving them a disgust for the plain paths of duty. In: stances of this have from time to time been brought under my notice that would be amusing were they not so painful and even alarming, as indicative of general and increasing tendencies. Dean Swift; gentlemen, wrote a tract " On the mis-education our gentry ;" but a Dean Swift of our day might at least as fittingly write a tract " On the rais education of our female servants." I shall no mere particularly allude to cases - which have recently come before us here of young women whn, hale stood weeping before me bitterly at that bar, and afterwards in gabl ; but I know what they haT e said, what they have owned as to their having felt " above their places," and " been too folid . of dress, which," they sa id, "h a d b ro ugh , t them where they were," Gentl emen , I ask you whether any observant p erson can walk the streets of our cities and towns on Sundarl when shoals of servant girls are abroad, withal, fee of pity and di sgus t ? Sli pp i ng o ut 01 front doors and sneaking out of areas may be seen kitchen and scullery maids, aping the absurdities of their superiors in station, with lace or make believe lace petticoats, crinoline, kid gloves, parasols, hey s h t a ru t t mu al s o t n b g e ptahsuss ia n n g d t p h r r e o p u o g s . h t er t o h u e r h e m a i d n d d r s e s a s s e s t . dismally bedizened, inviting imputations on their character ? 'Whence come the funds to supply this paltry finery ? They easily fall a prey to the pro fligate, and disable themselves from resisting the opportunity of robbing their mistresses and Inas' ters. Gentlemen, you know, and if you do not, I do, that I am here touching an evil of a serious and rapidly-increasing magnitude —one sapping the foundation of virtue and cha racter in a great and indispensable class of society'. But you will say, what is the remedy for it. Why' I will tell yOu. First of all, let their betters cease, to set them an examp l e o f a preposterous an d paltry love of finery, which they themselves are, often as littl e a bl e t o a ff or d as th e i r inferiors, at ail events without shamefully and cruelly wasting the means of husbands and fathers. Let mistresses steadily and resolutely set their faces against finely' dressed. servants. A general combination, with this view, in even a month or two, would be of incalcul able importance. Do not let quickly-oast-off fashionable clothing be given to servants, but be otherwise and charitably disposed of. Let lords and ladies—let gentle and simple—in their re spective spheres of influence, inaugurate a more rational and wholesome state of things, with re ference to education, and then we may have a chance of again seeing that charming feature of an English domestic establishment—a worthy, trust worthy female servant. Gentlemen, it is froth the class of silly, light-headed, misled, mis-educated young women of whom I have been speaking, that the ranks of vice are incessantly and largely re cruited, of which, from my judicial experience, I could give you heart-rending instances and illustra tions; but I forbear to do so. But this topic brings me to one contained in the report of the chaplain to my brother magistrates and myself at the present sessions, and to which I must really call the grave attention of the town authorities. I fully appre ciate the great difficulty and delicacy of the subject; but some attempt ought to be made to deal with it. Our excellent chaplain respectfully calls our serious attention, as well he may, to the large increase of houses of infamy in this town during the last few . years. In 1851, their number was 234; in 1858, 326 ; while the number of unhappy women brought before the magistrates in the former year was 8 6, and in the latter 169 ! Again, in 1851, 315 out 01 625 were under 25 y ears of age; in 1838, 332 ons of 563—showing an increase in seven years, of m ore i than five per cen t. o f young f ema l e profligates • And he adds, " I have also reason to believe that some of the very parties who, at former sessions , were prosecuted for keeping houses of ill-fame, and sentenced to long periods of imprisonment, hav e since their liberation been again engaged in that infamous course of living."