The Sun. — London, England, 1860-03-28 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.) Lord REDESDALE, as Deputy-Speaker of the House of Peers, took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. EDUCATION IN INDIA. The Duke of MARLBOROUGH gave notice that shortly Ofthr Easter he should draw the attention of the house to the state of education in India, particularly with respect to the exclusion of the bible from native schools. CHURCH RATES. Petitions against the abolition of Church-rates were pre- Rented by the Bishop of Chichester, the Duke of ,Marl 'borough, the Duke of Richmond, Vi scoun t Dungannon, pad several other peers. SPAIN AND MOROCCO. The Earl of CARNARVON drew the attention of the Government to a telegram which appeared in the news- ' papers stating that terms of peace had been signed between the two contending parties, and asked if the Government knew whether the terms of peace were those proposed by General O'Donnell. If such information had been received, he wished to know whether there would be any objection to lay the papers re lating to the subject on the table of the house. The pro duction of the papers was of the utmost importance, if such were in the possession of the Government, as it was highly desirable the exact terms of the peace should be publicly known. Lord WODEHOUSE said the Government had received similar information to that referred to—namely, that preli 'wineries of peace had been signed, but they were alto gether ignorant of the details. He reminded the noble earl that peace had not been concluded. The preliminaries had only been signed. Under such circumstances, he could not at present give the noble lord any more definite infor mation. SAVOY AND NICE. The Marquis of NORMANBY gave notice that on Fri day, the 20th of April, he should move the resolution of which he had given notice, that matters of great public importance should not be made private letters instead of public despatches. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bill 3 were read a second time :—Bainbridgo, Lisburne, and Belfast and Ulster Railways; Belper Water, Calie Liverpool Corporation Watr. The following bills were read a third time and passed •—• Dublin (City) Steam Packet Company, and Dublin and Drogheda Railway. ___ - MUTINY BILL. On the motion of Earl DE GREY, this bill was read a third time and passed. MARINE MUTINY BILL. On the motion of the Duke of SOMERSET, this bill 'was read a third time and passed. CONSOLIDATED FUND (£850,000) BILL. On the motion of the Duke of NEWCASTLE this bill was read a second time. BANKS IN INDIA. „. Lord MONTEAGLE moved for returns of all correspon -411101 between the Secretary of State for India and the Go vernment of India, touching the establishment of Govern ment banks ; and also for lists of all banks now existing in India. The Duke of ARGYLL laid on the table U. e returns moved for by the noble lord. He did not wish at that mo ment to enter into a discussion on the subject, the more so as several noble peers, who took great interest in banking in India, were not in their places. His own opinion was that it was as much the duty of the Government to issue paper money as coined metal. The doctrine of the noble lord, that it could not be the duty of the Government to issue paper money, was in opposition to the opinion of the highest authorities. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH thought that the issue of paper money could never be important in amount, and that the attempt to issue might lead to inconvenience. He would take that opportunity of asking if the Government had yet received an account of Mr. Wilson's financial scheme in sufficient detail to lay them before the house. The Duke of ARGYLL said he had only received the document that morning, and was therefore not in a posi tion at that moment to answer the question. Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YESTERDAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Liskeard and Caradon Railway Bill was read a third time and passed. The following bills were considered, and ordered for third reading .—Cardiff Water, Chard Railway, Norwich Corporation Markets, &c. The Finn Valley Railway Bill was read a second time. THE leen LIGHT DRAGOONS. Mr. PAPILLON asked the Secretary of State for War, how it happened that the 14th Light Dragoons were sent home by long sea instead of overland, as intended : what were the-- circumstances under which the Himalaya was detained at Alexandria with the two Arm strong, batteries of Royal Artillery barracked on board ; whether the Himalaya, having been further detained owing to the expected arrival of the 14th Light Dragoons, will now return empty ; and, what is the probable amount of-expense to which the country will have been put owing to these arrangements ? Mr. S. HERBERT entered into an explanation, which '•: Was to the effect that telegrams sent by the Government re lative to the conveyance of troops from Bombay by Suez were not received at the former place. Arrangements were now made in reference to the Himalaya and the conveyance of the troops in question to this country. THE ANNEXATION OF SAVOY AND NICE. Mr. B. COCHRANE asked the hon. member for Bridge water (Mr. Kinglake) on what day he proposed to bring forward his motion respecting the annexation of Savoy and Nice ? ' • Mr. KINGLAKE—The declaration of the present views and future policy of the Government which the house had heard last night from the noble lord the Secretary- of State for Foreign Affairs with so much satisfaction, had superseded the necessity for the motion of which he had given notice on the 6th of March • last. Ho should not deem it his duty to call for the interposition of the house in re ference to this matter, so long as he believed as he then did that her Majesty's Government were determined to carry on their foreign policy in conformity with the opinion of that house and of the country at large. (Hear, hear.) LUNACY LAWS. Mr. TORRENS asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when it was intended to nominate the select committee on the lunacy laws sanctioned by the house last February ; and whether it was intended, without fur ther•delay, to submit reports on the evidence already given on the lunacy laws before the select committees of the two peevious sessiens, with a view to legislate for the ameliora tion of the condition and treatment of patients confined in insane asylums. Sir G. GREY said that the committee previously ap pointed on the subject was re-opened this session, on the motion of a private :member. That committee had taken evidence, and would report the result to the house. FORTIFICATIONS. Sir S. NORTHCOTE asked the First Lord of the Trea sury whether it was the intention of Government to pro pose any vote in the present year for raising by loan, or otherwise, any sum for fortifications beyond the sum pro posed in the army estimates at present laid on the table ? • Lord P ALMERSTON—The subject of additional forti fications had been the subject of inquiry before a commis sion appointed for that purpose, and their report was under the consideration of the military authorities. The matter had to be dealt with in reference to the description of ford fidationa that might be deemed requisite as well as other points. As soon as the report has been laid before the GOvernment they would deliberate on what course they ought to pursue, and then it would be his duty to bring the report before the house, and to' state the intentions of the Government. 'CARDINAL FIE SC 1-1 AND M. TH OU VE NEL. Mr: BOWYER asked the First Lord of the Treasury whetheri Lord Cowley had forwarded to her Majesty a communication from Cardinal Fieechi relative to the note of M. Thouvenel ? Lord PALMERSTON considered that notice of the question should be giVen before he was called on to an swerit. • • • Mr. BOWYER then gave notice that he would ask the question on Thursday next. PACKET AND TELEGRAPHIC CONTRACTS. Capt.:L. VERNON called the attention of the house to the report•of the packet and telegraphic contracts commit ee. The hen. and gallant member contended that Mr. Churchward had been most unjustly treated, and that the conduct of the Government in regard to him was calculated to shake the confidence of the commercial classes in the justice of Ministers. He went in detail through the cir cumstances relating . to 'the contract in question as deve loped in the_ committee appointed to inquire into the subject last ,session. He was at a loss to understand upon what grounds it was sought to affix upon Mr. Churchward the charges of obtaining and aocePting' the contract upon cor rupt motives. The case had , already been twice tried, by a select committee and by an election petition, and in both of these cases the Administration had been exonerated; but as far as Mr. Churchward was concerned 014 had sought to sacrifice him upon insufficient grounds. Mr. Church ward had found that his political opinions and financial interests were.in opposition, and he had resolved to act in accordance with the suggestions of the latter rather than of the, former opinions. That could not be called corruption. After having exonerated the Government, it was not, in his opinion, right, to make a scapegoat of Mr. Murray, a con tractor, or such small deer. But if all persons were gibbeted who were guilty of political inconsistency, Mr. Churchward might say with Maeheeith " Since,laws were made. of every, degree, To curb like in Others,,as well as in me, I wonder We haven't better company under Tyburn Tree." In conclusiini, the lion. and gallant member called upon those members who had been contractors, the present and past; law advisers of the Crown, and those connected with commerce, to prevent the breach of the contract which had been entered into between the Government and Mr. Church ward. Theilion. and gallant member concluded by moving "That this house, having considered the report and tho evidence presented by the select committee on packet and ..telegraphic contracts, is of opinion that the contract entered iiato - on t4e :26th day of April, 1859, between the commis sinters for executing the office of Lord High Admiral of the 1 . 3 nited Kingdom -of Great Britain and' Ireland and Joseph fie lege Churchward; ought to'be fulfilled." ;ir F. BMUNG opposed the motion, and contended that tree oommitte e e ere fully justified in the decision to which th had arrived. There was not a vote come to by the COI untittee which did not include among its supporters some gen tlei nen who sat upon the opposite side of the house, and h e t ho -efore vindicated the decision of the committee from the chl trge that flick object w as t o d amage the Gove i nment. Then ' e were three points for the house to consi ler—first, irrhetl ter till) co ntract was really a goo d one and beneficial p mt to the t el-Hieinterests ; secondly, whether the‘ ct to the ee had con res committee had t e : jeaer an unjust decision wit h contract ; and "thirdly, whether both these points being decided a gai nst Mr. Churchward, this house was still fi e t • bound in honour to . carry out the contract. With respect to th e ti t , 'at of those points, the opinion , of the committee was, the t thts contract was not for the advantage of the count ? . 7.. As to the prolongation , there were somecircum stances p • ihich called for the special consideration of the house. t'. Mr, Churchward "applied in 1857 for the payment *lox ........r.....c....../1,11. Id of certain sums for the discharge of duties which he stated were not included i'n the terms of the contract. The claim was refused by the Admiralty of that day. In 1859 he again applied for yayment, with one exception, of these very same things, at id the application ended by the Goiern nient of that day giving him not only what he applied for ; but they gave him hal% the bargain an extension of the con tract. By the satiny/ contract Mrs Phurchward was bound to keep six steamers for the English aerviee, and he subse quently made a coatrast with the French Government to keep three steamers. He had a double set of cap t a ins and a double set of colours in every ship, and when 1:1 11 . 0 steamer arrived at Calais he dropped the English colours, tau up the tricolour, and a French captain took command, am: it was made a French ship. What was an ample sum for the payment of six ships, might be very effectively diminished when the number wtss practically reduced to three. In the contract which Mr. Churchward entered into with the French Government he stipulated that in the case of mari time war, he was bound. to give two of their ships to the , French service ; and in file examination by the committee the Secretary of the Admiralty stated that if he had known of such a stipulation he woulsl not have sanctioned the con tract. Mr. Churchward said that it was quite true that he had entered into such an arrangement, but he stated that he never intended to perform it. (A laugh) The contract with the English Government was thjstit was to pay for six ships, but by the arrangements subsequently made two of those ships were to be handed over to the French Government in the case of a maritime war. The committee had also to deal with conflicting evidence ; on the one side they had the declarations of a gallant officer, and on the other the evis deuce of two gentlemen in direct opposition to them. This was a most disagreeable part of the duty of the committee, and he asked the house, at any rate, t a believe that the com mittee did not come to a decision without giving its most anxious and careful consideration to the subject. Some reference had been made to the acts and character of Mr. Churchward. So far as his experience was concerned, it was not very easy for any Government to carry on its busi ness without some connection with gentlemen of the press —(a laugh)—and he must do Mr. Churchward the justis,e to say that all his articles were generally favourable to the Administration of the day. (A laugh.) But with respect to the character of Mr. Churchward, he was bound to say that he was not altogether unknown to committees of the house. In the case of the committee on Mr. Mare's election, it was reported that he (Mr. Churchward) had bribed two electors at that election ; and another committee had reported that he had askei for forty places, and had got twenty-five of them. He thought this showed, upon the whole, that Mr. Churchward was not a man , to abstain from using Parlia mentary influence to get something good. (A laugh.) Mr. Murray had denied that the conversation described by Cap tain Carnegie had passed, a but had said that Capt. Carnegie must have had in Fs mind a conversation with him (Mr. Murray) in which he had made use of such remarks as had been repeated. That was to say, Mr. Murray talked to Capt. Carnegie about Mr. Churchward assisting him, and they had therefore the admission that there was an offer to Mr. Churchward to take part in the election. But that was not all : the late Secretary to the Treasury wrote that the Government were anxious to expedite Mr. Churchward's matter, and they wanted him to go down to Dover to can vass. The reason, then, that the committee recommended that Mr. Churchward's contract should not be extended was, that Mr. Churchward thought he got his contract through his Parliamentary assistance. (Hear, hear.) He now came to the last question, whether the contract having been entered into, the house was not bound to perform it ? Was it to be understood that in every promise of a Govern ment, involving a vote of money, the house was bound in good faith to pay whatever might be demanded ? If so, had the house any right to enter into any question connected with the retiring allowances ? If the principle were carried to its full extent, there was hardly a thing in which Parlia ment would be permitted to interfere, but he thought he could show that the house had never acted upon that doc trine. There was a contract entered into by the Minister at Paris for the purchase of a certain chapel, and part of the money was actually paid, but the house threw out the vote and refused to perform the contract ; and amongst those who on that occasion voted in the majority were Mr. Disraeli, Mr. Henley, Sir J. Graham, Sir W. Jolliffe, Sir J. Peking ton, Mr. S. :Fitzgerald, the present Chancellor of the Ex ' chequer, Lord J. Manners, the present Judge-Advocate, Mr. Sergeant KiTsglak e, Mr. R. Malins—in the way of whose speech, now on the other side, he was sorry to throw any difficulty—(laughter) - - mod the late Attorney-General for Ireland. Then, again, they had the precedent of the com mercial treaty with Loui4 .the Fourteenth, when the house thanked her Majesty for the' treaty, but threw out the clause for the reduction of duties; and that was an instance of a 'most solemn contract—a contract with a foreign Power under the Great Seal of England--set aside by Parliament. The engagement in contracts such as that now under discus sion was worded thus—" We engage to pay out of moneys to be provided by Parliament ;" and it could not be main tained that the Lords of the Admiralty had the power to make contracts to which the House of Commons were asked to assent only as a ridiculous form. It appeared to him, in the first place, that the contract was not good in itself ; that whether it were or were not a good contract, the conduct of Mr. Churchward had been such as to render it advisable that it should not be extended ; and that the House of Commons . was perfectly free to withhold its sanction from the course L . which they were now recommended to take. Sir S. NORTHCOTE was not prepared to argue the question upon legal grounds, but the right hon. gentleman who had just sat down had placed the question from begin . ning to end upon a totally false issue. What the hon. mem ber for Berkshire asked the house to do was not to tie, but to untie its hands. The committee submitted the question for consideration, whether Mr. Churchward had not by his conduct rendered it impossible for the house, with regard to its honour and dignity, to vote the money necessary for carrying the contract into effect, and this called for an ex pression of opinion upon the subject. All that was now asked was, that the house should be placed in that positiot that it should not be fettered :by the decision of the con mittee, but should be at liberty to give its opinion frely upon the vote in committee. In the case of the 'axis chapel the contractors were about to put up the debt c the British Government to the lowest bidder, and a vote if the House of Commons was taken to prevent the discretitable transaction taking place. This was an instance, hen, of the inconvenience of too hasty interference with etch bar gains, and in the present case, if the house was )ersuaded that the Government had entered into the contact fairly, and for the public service, he submitted that itwould be a most injurious and injudicious course if they repudiated the engagment upon the ground merely that they considered it inexpedient. He had stated to the house let year, he had stated again before the committee, and he vould now state once more, what the grounds were upon ylich the late Go vernment agreed to the extension of the contract. In the first place, the extension was asked for cn a ground that he did not think a good one—that. Mr. Clna•chward Lad sus tained great and serious losses in the execution of his con tract. That was a ground on whichthe contract was extended by a previous Government, in 1855 ; bat he had refused, so far as he was concerned, the extension on that ground. Then it was recommended upon tie ground that Mr. Churchward was anxious to improso the service—that he was unable to carry it out so effectively as he ought without going to considerable expense, an that if was unreasonable to suppose that he would, go to fiat expense unless an ex tension were granted to him. row that was a ground he (Sir S. Northcote) took, and tock in conformity with prece dents set over and over again by Governments ever since they had had to deal with pactet contracts. There was one remarkable instance, in a case infinitely more important than this, namely, the extension of the royal mail contract. The royal mail contract to the West India Islands involved a subsidy of £270,000, whereas this involved only £15,000, or £16,000; that service was very badly done, this was very well done ; that involved a dead loss to the Government of £215,000 a year, because the postage revenue derived from it was very small; whereas in this case the contract produced an absolute gain by postage of X 60,500 a year. The Royal Mail Company came forward in 18.57, when Mr. Wilson was at th e t reasury, t h e i r con t rac t h av i ng f our y ears to trhuan; they obtained an extension for two years, on the ground Proposed t o b u ild l arger s hips. He might be told that this i was a case got up with a view to favour Mr. Churchward, but he contended that the case was most cern eioeuvtineufaceveguiry e o u f b t h 3 e c extension apta i a m , ; i 1 and wai n e i 1 , 1 a proof very f). l e e quoted telym a made le id c ompetent and perfectly unbiass ed -' witness the committee that it would be of advantage: who stated to if Mr. Church ward could put on better beats —that he had not speed for the contract in bad weather. It might be said that they oug ht to have al lowed Mr . Churchward to drive out his contract; and made no attempt to improve the system. Well, that might be so ; but even those who took that view would surely acquit them of not hitving acted up to the best of their judgment. The next ground which had in duced them to close with Mr. Churchward was that not only had he a contract with the British Government, but likewise with the French Government. Mr. Churchward had a contract with the British Government by which he was bound until the year 1863, and one with the French Government by which he was bound until the year 1870. As far as the contract with the French Government was concerned, it was entirely beyond their control, but it so happened that at the time a correspondence was going on between the Post-office authorities, the French GoVern ment, and Mr. Churchward, with respect to certain im provements in the service which had been suggested by Mr. Churchward. These improvements could only hare been carried out by the aid of Mr. Clurchward, and, con sequently, had he refused it, they must have fallen to the ground ; and the result had been that the accelera tion of the mails, which was so much desired, did take place, and that the mails which left Dover between one and two in the afternoon now were to leave it at seven in the morning. Moreover, Mr. Churchward had accele rated the passage between France and England, and instead of the voyage being performed at the rate of eleven knots an hour, as u:,ed to be the case, it was new performed at four teen knots an hour. And it should be borne in mind that it was not in the English service that these improvements had taken place, but in the French szrvice, over which Mr. Churchward had complete control. He did not mean to say that Mr. Churchward's conduct, as regarded the dee m) o r rr corruption p was tionat nothingall it whatever wa son th e t to c i o u u n t c ac va t s t c h verythi ng that was proper, but as regarded the was any a i m r thetpoufgn. l l a f t e there Gu . • • • . y ='' Ers...= vernment ; and both his colleagues and himself should be ashamed of themselves if they were to be acquitted of all blame, and the consequences visited on Mr. Churchward alone. Had the inquiry been conducted before a legal tri bunal, leading questions, such as the hon. member had put, would never have been tolerated. He would again repeat that he should feel thoroughly ashamed of himself if it could be supposed that ho was prepared to ride off on the sort of acquittance accorded by the report of the committee, while Mr. Churchward, the contractor, innocent of every thing that could be impeached, was allowed to be a heavy sufferer. (Hear, hear.) Mr. LAING, as one of the majority of the committee who had decided ;a favour of the report which had been published, desired to offer a few observations to the house. He should rest `us decision entirely upon the question whether or not any corral, -4 influence had attempted to be used by the " con tractor when se. Acing the renewal of the contract. 'Were he, the consideration whether or not the one for the country, he might however, to base it on bargain was an advantage a;!' He believed, for have much to say in oppositie' n to the view taken by the h o nourable baronet who had just tipp l e: on. the reasons set forth in the report of the Pos:-office autho rities, that the transaction was not upon the whole 0110 for the good of the country. Where the case was such that it was morally certain, either from the vastness of the under taking or other circumstances, that a variety of competitors would not appear in the field, it might be better, un doubtedly, that the Government should eloso at once with an individual. But that was not the case with the pover line ; for it was perfectly possible for a great variety of per sons -to have competed for the contract—in fact, any one with five or six steamers could have done so. •And, more over, it was notorious that, as regarded the railways, there were elements of competition entering in these of which the public ought to lui,ve taken advantage. It certainly, there fore was unwise to tie up the hands of the country by so influenced an execution of the contract. However, all such considerations appeared to him to be beside the question. The simple point with him was, had corrupt motives heightened the execution of the contract. The hon. baronet had found fault with the report of the committee. Now, he was astonished that a gentleman of such acuteness was unable to see the distinction between a verdict of acquittal as regarded B the acceptor of aftill, and a verdict of guilty as against A, the offerer of a bill. There was no assertion that the contract had been obtained by the exercise of cor rupt influence, but there was a distinct assertion by a great majority of the committee, and not consisting of one political party, that Mr. Churchward did attempt to exercise cor rupt influence, in the hope of thereby obtaining the con tract. The question was not in the slightest degree one of law, for undoubtedly the House of Commons had this power of rejecting the renewal of the contract by refusing to vote for the money. It should also be home in mind that Churchward was a person whose antecedents were not satisfactory—who had been reported to the HOWE of Commons on a former occasion as having* been guilty of attempting to bribe certain electors as a political agent. Nor could they sbut their eyes to the fact of the communications between Churchward and the Admiralty on the subject of the Dover election. A select committee had since then sat on the Dover election, and had made their report to the house; that report was not printed, and he (Mr. Laing) was therefore obliged to quote from the newspapers. He proceedei to read a passage from the report in question, when — Lord LOVAINE rose to order, End put it to the Speaker whether the hon. member was just fed in quoting the report of a committee not before house. The SPEAKER decided to bon. member was not in order. Mr. LAING said the point was immaterial, except for the sake of argument. His genefal impression, however, was that the report threw a remarkable light on the con nection of Churchward with the Dover election through the agents employed. Mr. LYGON rose to order. To refer to a report not be tore the house was not in order. • The SPEAKER decided slat the hon. member was again out of order. Mi. LAING said the report of the committee had been laid on the table, though it hainot yet been printed ; but he did not wish to pursue the suiject further than to say that the report was referred to by he hon. and gallant member, who made the motion, and that if he (Mr. Laing) was out of order, he only followed this hon. gallant member. But , taking the case as it stood the question was narrowed down , to the single issue—whether Captain Carnegie's evidence was to be believed or rejectee? If it was to be rejected, then there was an end of the business. If, however, it was to be believed, then no man of sew could doubt fora single moment that Mr. Churchward attempted, by means of a political bribe, to obtain front the Admiralty a renewal of his con tract. That being the case then came the question, was an attempt a sufficiext justification for the House of Commons to puf an end to the contract in question by refuting to vote the money for it ? The introduction of the words in the contract making it dependent on tie vote of the House of Commons, was a great novelty is contracts ; but it was plain, from the state ments of the .nembers of the Government who had made that contract that these words were not mere idle verbiage, , but had a ddiaite purpose and specific meaning. Under , the words 4f the contract they were at perfect liberty to re fuse they/Le. It was of the highest consequence, moreover, that the' should support the decision of their own select commitee, whose conclusion was strictly based on evidence, and threfore he hoped they would not agree to the reso lutior. M. MALINS said the house was not in possession of all theacts of the case, which was to be regretted, as the deci sia would be of a judicial character. Before the year 1854 M - . Churchward had been connected with the public press a naval affairs, and had acquired a considerable knowledge of those matters. At that time the packet service from Dover to Calais was costing the country £25,000 a-year ; and Mr. Churchward suggested that this service should be performed liy tender, and not by Government boats. This was agreed to. The Government advertised for tenders, and Mr. Church ward and a Captain Jenkins tendered to perform the service for £15,500, which tender was accepted, and a contract was accordingly signed on the Ist April, 1354. The right hon. baronet the member for Carlisle was then at the head of the Admiralty, and a Liberal Government was in power. That went on until 1855, to the satisfaction of the Government, when Mr. Churchward—who, with the knowledge of the Government had entered into an arrangement with the French Government to bring over the French mails in his packets instead of returning empty—applied for and re ceived a renewal of his contract to 1863, on the ground that he had been at considerable expense, and had suffered the loss of one of his vessels. That contract was on the same terms as the former, with some collateral advantages. The right hon. baronet the member for Halifax was then First Lord of the Admiralty. After that came the Crimean war 1 and the Indian mutiny, and the arrival of the Indian snail being very irregular, Mr. Churchward put himself to great exuense to have a steamer in readiness when the mail ar rived. In consequence of this, and his having suggested great improvements in the postal service, the Government of Lord Derby increased the term of contract. It would be admitted that the Government of Lord Derby was in no danger until the middle of March, 1859, when the noble lord opposite proposed his resolution. The course of circumstances connected with the contract appeared to be this. On the 6th January, 1859, Mr. Church ward, being at that time in possession of a contract which was to last till 1863, first mooted the question of its renewal. On the 11th of February he was invited by the Admiralty to make a formal offer of the terms which he pro posed. In compliance with that invitation he made an offer, proposing that his remuneration should be £lB,OOO a year instead of £15,500 a year and casualties, as under the old contract, the casualties amounting usually to about £2,500, On the 23d of February that offer was formally accepted and adopted by the Admiralty, and all that. then remained was for the Treasury to put it into shape. That was a mere matter of machinery, and for all practical pur poses the contract was completed on the 23d of February, On the 26th of April, however, the contract was positively executed—" signed, sealed, and delivered'', by the Treasury —and under it Mr. Churchward was to receive £lB,OOO a year, and the contract was to endure till 1870. On the faith of that contract Mr. Churchward had expended £16,000 upon two new steamers to enable him to perform his part of the undertaking, and it had been so far recognised by the , present Government that on the lst of July, when the first quarter's subsidy became due, they handed over to him the sum of £4,500. The contract having been thus entered itto, it was now said that it was to be set aside on account of a conversation which was alleged to have taken place with Capt. Carnegie on the. 2d April. A more ridiculous ground for repudiating a contract he had never heard. He appealed to the justice of the noble lord, and of the house, not to sanction the repudiation of a contract solemnly en tered into by a public.department on the ground of mere gossip, said 'to have taken place in the room of a private secretary. I - The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said he could not agree with the propositions which his hon. and learned friend op posite had laid down with regard to the law of this case. He admitted the correctness of the dates given by his hon. and ;earned friend, but he demurred to the conclusion which he eot contract t Churchwardiad drawn f rom th em. I t appeare d th a t ear ly i n 1859 M r . p t r h o o p n o s e e d x i s t t o i n t g la , e and tAdmiraltyhe substitutionthe abrogationo one the eh was to c on ti nue t i ll 1 870. The Adm i ralty approve d l. n so far of the proposal, at of forth, the contractforwardedit to the weTars not signed bu and sbut He was iap oint f disposed t o re l y on t h e a b sence o f any atbindingthle that it acceptance eimd'e of the contract on the part of the Trea sury. Mr. Churchward was a man not inexperienced in contracts, and must haveknewn the importance of the want of the ratification by the Treasury. However Mr. Church ward might exaggerate the advantages of the contract to himself, that of itself would not negative the fact found by theicomMittec, that Mr.Churchward had attempted to obtain e t n periodical an advantage to hi mself b y means that were corrupt. For innately for the intere sts of public, justice and p o liti ca l morality, there was in t his contract so corruptly obtainedofe f which itli hll s ri ti e p n ul d a h ti a o d n, so t u h g e h im t t p o or e t v a ad nc e e ° , to payjnents to Mr. Churchward were to be made out of theffecthat ° ;h : d learned moneys to be voted by Parliame nt. No complaint, there. fore could with justice be made by Mr. Churchward, if the house should refuse to vote the fund out of which payments wei4 to be made to him. It followed, from the terms of the contract, that they would be guilty of a bieach of duty if, in the face of the adverse opinion of Parliament, they were to make payments to Mr. Churchward. The question they had to consider was, whether the conclusions arrived at by the select committee were to be reversed by a vote in favour of the motion now submitted to them. In justice to their own committee, the house ought not, on light grounds, to disturb its decision. He agreed with his hon. and learned friend that the Government should not seek to evade the contract on any ground which would not be available for the avoiding of a contract between private individuals. He denied, however, as respected the application of that rule in the present case, that the Government were in any way in fault. Such a case as this could not happen as between private individuals. Mr. Churchward was soliciting a con tract from the Government which had sought to complete it by attempting to corrupt an officer of the Government, by promising to support the Government candidate at an election. His hon. and learned friend must know that a contract between individuals was void if corruptly entered into—if conic a bones mores—or against the statute or com mon law. Such a contract was always pronounced void on objection being taken to it. He contended that in a reference to the dates of the various steps in the transaction that Mr. Chm-chward had obtained an advantage to which he Was not, at the time of receiving the payment of the sum of money referred to, entitled. He denied that Mr. Church ward was witheat a remedy In a court of law against the officers of the Government, if he conceived he had any cause of complaint ; as he might proceed by petition of right against the Crown, With respect to the facts of the case, he had come to the conclusion, after a careful examination of the evidence, that Mr. Churchward had sought to ob tain that which, at all events, he by his conduct re garded as a matter of considerable advantage, by means which were to be reprobated ; and which must, if carried into general practice, tend to corruption in the public departments with respect to the grant of con tracts; and he should, therefore, feel it impossible, by a vote in favour of the motion, to reverse the decision to which the select committee had arrived. Lord LOVAINE considered that Capt. Carnegie had acted in this affair in a manner which was most unfair to his colleagues, and he regretted to find that so much weight was to be attached to evidence not given on oath. Lord C. PAGET defended Capt. Carnegie from the per• sonal charges which had been against him. He stated that the gallant officer had been for many years an acquaintance of his own, and he had always regarded him as one of the most high-minded of his brother officers. Sir F. KELLY said if the conduct of Capt. Carnegie had been the subject of the debate he should not have denied him what had been denied to Mr. Churchward—a fair trial. He was glad that a law officerhad been induced to rise upon that occasion, but notwithstanding the arguments that had been advanced, he put it to any lawyer in the house whe ther, if an action had beenbrought upon the contract by Mr. Churchward, there would have been the slightest shadow of a defence of the course taken by the committee in recom mending that the contract should beset aside? The contract was entered into in 1854 between the Admiralty and Mr. Churchward for the conveyance of the mails between Dover and Calais, and Dover and Ostend—an arrangement which saved to the Government £lO,OOO, and no one could main tain that Mr. Churchward had departed from the strict let ter of the contract. Subsequently the contract was extended for five years, and Mr. Churchward having entered into a contract with the French Government, terminating in 1870 was anxious to extend his contractwith the English Govern ment to the same period, which would have enabled him to perform the service much more advantageously to this coun try. The approval of the Admiralty was signified to him, and communication took place between Mr. Churchward and the Admiralty and the Treasury, and the result was that in the month of April the arrangement was completed. Instead of £17,500 a-year the Government were to pay £lB,OOO a-year, and in the improved arrangements Mr. Churchward undertook, at an expense of £2,000, to pro. vide a steamer for harbour service at low water. Immedi • ately after the contract was entered into on the 26th of April, Mr. Churchward proceeded in perfect good faith to expend £2,000 in the purchase of a steam vessel, and lay• ing £15,000 in suppl3ing the best, and most effective, and fastest steam vessel that had ever carried the mails between England and France. On the Ist of July Mr. Churchward sent in his account at a time when the late Government had ceased to exist, the present Government had some into poWer, and the first instalment under the contract was paid. This continued for three months more, until at least half of the sum of money, to be paid under the contract, amounting to £20,000 and more, had been expended by Mr. Church ward and those associated with him, and in September he sent in a statement of account demanding a sum of £4,500 which was then due. The house had no more right to pre vent or defeat the full performance of this contract by the Board of Admiralty than they had to keep away by any vote the estate of any gentlemen. After the lapse of a fort night Mr. Churchward wrote that he was still bound, under heavy penalties, to the strict performance of the contract ; that he had with great cost and labour and increased risk, carried out strictly the stipulations of the contract; that he had incurred liabilities of £lB,OOO and £19,000 ; that the outlay was so large that it was impossible to do justice to the public unless good faith were observed by the Govern ment, and that ho was advised that he could recover his de mand in a court of law. Upon this payment was made to enable him to a rt on an,l not stop the public services alto gether, and he was obliged to accept it under protest, still insisting upon the whole of his claim. He would like to ask his hon. friend the Attorney-General and his hon. friend the Solicitor-General whether the House of Commons or the Crown had the polver either to set aside one contract or to revive another which had been expressly put an end to for ever? Suppose Mr. Churchward had been a man of straw, and that the Government were obliged to fall back upon his sureties, did any one imagine that the sureties under the contract of 1855 could be held liable ? Were the attempt made, the illegality and absurdity of the whole proceedings would soon be made apparent. He was inclined to speak not so much against the report as against the purposes to which it had been applied. Now, if it were intended to report against the fulfilment of the contract on the ground that Mr. Churchward had been guilty of bribery, he would humbly suggest that before any such conclusion was acted on, that Mr. Churchward ought to be allowed the opportu nity of submitting the question to a decision of a jury of his countrymen, and of having the evidence sifted upon oath. There could not be a shadow of doubt, both legally and constitutionally, Mr. Churchward was entitled to a trial by jury before such a sentence could be pronounced against him. The question was not a vote of money, it was one of fair dealing ; and he deeply lamented that the house should be asked to set aside a contract between the Government and an individual, and so be called upon to assume the juris diction of a court of justice without any of the machinery for arriving at the truth. Under these circumstances, he trusted the precedent would not be adopted, and that the house would pass the resolution before it. Mr. BOUVERIE differed from most of the conclusions of the hon. and learned gentleman, and thought the ques tion was not a lawyer's question, but one on which the house as guardian of the public purse, was bound to exercise a strict supervision of the public money. The hon. and learned gentleman would seem not to have read the evi dence taken before the committee„ or he would have seen that the Secretary for the Treasury to the late Government had stated that the provision in the contract was specially introduced with the consent of the then Chancellor of the Exchequer to, provide for the very contingency in ques tion. Technically or legally, therefore, the contractor could not complain if Parliament refused to find the money. Mr. WIIITESIDE having protested against the doc trine that public contracts were liable to be rescinded, as was prc posed in the present instance, Mr. GLADSTONE denied that the present Govern ment had done any act by which they recognised this con. tract. The whole question was whether the contract was to be renewed for seven years after its present term, which was yet to be decided by the house, without reference to any damage which Mr. Chttrchward might have suffered, as was implied by the present motion. It was the duty of -the Government and the house also to - support the decision of a committee which had been appointed with the utmost impartiality, and had carefully examined into the subject. Sir J. PAKINGTON explained and defended the part he had been alleged to have taken in the transactions re lating to the Dover election, and said that, if anything, he was to blame for not knowing enough of what was going on, especially with regard to the contract iirith Mr. Church -ward. lle denied that there was any evidence which con victed Mr. Churchwarcl of corruption. After a few obserlations from Mr. G. W. HOPE, . The house divided, when the numbers were - For the motion Against it Majority against the motion .... 45 The Income Tax 13i1l was read a second time. The house adjourned shortly before two o'clock. [ADVEUTisEmEN - I.l— * the greatest happiness of a jour nalist is to introduce to his readers some new discovery calculated to benefit that vast portion of our fellow crea tures, which has the strongest claims upon our sympathies. It is with this feeling that we call the attention of invalids to the following extract from Du Barry's interesting report of cures without medicine of indigestion (dyspep - sia), fla tulency, constipation, nervous, bilious and liver complaints, cough, asthma, consumption and debility by Du Barry's Itovalenta Arabica Food. .Cure No. 180, twenty- five years' nervousness, constipation, indigestion, and debility, from which I had suffered great misery, and which no medicine could remove or relieve, have been effectually cured by Du Barry's,food in a very short time.—W. R. Reeves, 181, Fleet-street. Cure No. 54,618, of a lady of 107 years of age:--Wandshecic, sear Ilamburgh, 12th May, 1857.-1 hereby certify that my mother-in-law, Mrs. tlolze, who has just completed her 107th year, after having suffered for half a century and more, from indigestion (dyspepsia), and consequent disorders, has been perfectly cured by Du Barry's ReYalenta Arabica Food, and is now enabled to di gest almost any kind of food with great comfort.—W. llolze. En tins, at Is. 65. ; Ilb., 3s. ; 21b., ss. 9d. ; 51b., 128.; 121 b., 265. The 101 b. and 121 b. tins carriage free, on receipt of post office order. Du Barry and Co., 77, Regent , street, London; Fortnum, Mason, and Co., 182, Piccadilly ; Alebis, 60, Gracechureh-atreet; 4, Cheapside ; 63, Fold 150, Oxford street ; 330 and 4M, Strand ; 49 and 60, Bishopsgate• street 85, Tottenham-court-road. Also at Dublin. Bewley 'and D ra p er ; at Edinburgh, Raimes and Co. ; at Liverpool, Nixott dud Thew; at Manchester, Sharp'epd Scott; at. Yori.r. ItaimeB, 131p4whiwc4 l Etztd Q. i Sows emptont Rauthat Lula So% NPORTING INT_ELLIGENCE. NORTHAMPTON RACES.—TUESDAY. Trial Stal: : es of 10 cows each, with 50 added. One mile. Mr. Tr. Ingham's Ode, 3 yrs, 7st (11 . G r i mshaw) 1 Baron Rotb.schilil's North Lincoln, 4 yrs, Bst 91b (G. Ford ham 2 Mr. Sh.elle.y's Lifeboat, 5 y rs, Ost .... (L. Snowden) 3 M. Philippe and Ancient Briton also ran. Betting -7 tt.: 4 agat Lifeboat, 3to 1 agst North Lincoln, -1 to 1 agst Odo, and 6 to 1 agst M. Philippe. M. Philippe was the first off; out on getting into their stride, Odo took up the running, with Lifeboat second, North Lincoln third, Ancient Briton being at their quarters, and M. Philippe directly in their track. Half way up the distance North Lincoln got to ()do's head ; but, jumping the footpath at the lower end of the enclosure—a trick which lie performed last year for the Whittlebury • Stakes—he was beaten by a length and a half; three lengths between the second and third, and a wide interval between each of the others. The Nene Handicap of 25 sovs, added to a Sweepstakes of 5 soya each. Spencer Plate Course. Capt. Christie's Brandy Ball, 4 yrs, 7st 91b (G. Fordham) 1 Mr. Saxon's Tom Thumb, aged, Bst (L. S now d en) 2 Mr. Higgin's Tiara, ;5 yrs, Bst 71b (Cresswell) 3 The follawhyr also ran :—Miss Eleanor, Bel Esperanza, Vigo, Julie, The Gentle, King Edward, and Little Poll. Betting-3 to 1 agst 'Brandy Ball, sto 2 each agst Vigo and Tiara, 6 to 1 agst Little Poll, 7 to 1 agst Tom Thumb. Bel Esperanza,The Gentle, Miss Eleanor, and Brandy Ball were the first to show in front as they rose above the hill ; on approaching the distance the race was, left to the first three, Brandy Ball winning a good race by three-quarters of a length ; a length between the second and third; and a head between the third and fourth ; the Gentle and Vigo were fifth and sixth; Bel ,Espe ranza and Julie were the last two. Her Majesty's Plate of 100 guineas. Two miles. Mr. Ingham's Odo, 3 yrs, Est 101 b (Challoner) 1 Mr. Redford's Athos, 3 yrs, Est 101 b.... (IL Grinishaw) 2 Mr. Shelley's Lifeboat, 5 yrs, 9st 101 b.... (L. Snowden) 3 Rattlebone and Actress also ran. Betting-6 to 4on Odo, sto 2 agst Lifeboat. Odo and Actress got away in front, both pulling very hard, and on passing the Stand Actress rushed to the front, Odo going on second, Lifeboat third, and Rattlebone bringing up the rear. On rounding th e t op t urn Od o overpowered his rider, and went up to Actress and I ran with her nearly head-and-head a short distance after entering the far side of the course, and they alternately led until. reaching the dip, where Odo quitted Actress and took a clear lead, with Athos second. As they breasted the hill Athos deprived the favourite of the lead, and on entering the straight Actress was beaten, and Lifeboat became third. From the distance the race was reduced to a match between the first two, Odo winning by a head ; upwards of a dozen lengths between the second and third. Actress and Rattlebon© were a long way in the rear, and passed the post nearly abreast. Pytehley Stakes, of 5 sovs each, with 40 added. Weight for age, selling allowances, &c. The winn er to be sold by auction, &c. Spencer Plato Course. Mr: Barratt's Buttercup, 3 yrs (230), sst 131 b (W. Bottom) 1 Mr. T. Brown's Isis, 3 yrs (£3O), sst 131 b (H. Grhnshaw) 2 Mr. Fraser's Tonio, 2 yrs (£6O), 4st 111b'.. (Roper) 3 The following also ran :—Duplicity, Brine, Soberskles , Alfred, Chantress Norman, and Mr. Rarey. Betting-6 to 4 agst the Norman, 4to 1 agst Chantress, sto 1 agst any other offered. Butter cup made all the running, and won b y t en l eng th s . Bad third. The winner was sold by auction to the Earl of Winehilsea for 90 guineas. Great Northamptonshire Stakes of 100 sovs, added to a Sweepstake of 25 sovs each, 15ft, and only 5 if declared ; certain winners extra ; the second to receive 25 soya out of the stakes. Two miles. 116 subs., of which 65 de clared. Mr. Fuller's Simple Simon, 3 yrs, sst 91b (Mitchell) 1 Mr. Stephens ns Springwell, 3 yrs, sst 61b .. (J. Adams) 2 Mr. Stopford ns Chance Shot, 3 yrs, sst 71b (Parsons) 3 The fallowing also ran :—The Pitman, Claire Sam Spode, Royal Sovereign, Newstead, Ti man d ra, Fi rst , L ord, Lord Milton, Tommy Noble, Mainstay colt, Forager,:and The Monk. Betting at starting-3 to 1 agst Royal Sove reign, 7 to 1 agst Simple Simon, 14 to 1 agst Claire, 14 to 1 agst Springwell, 15 to 1 agst The Pitman, 100 to 6 agst Chance Shot, 100 to 6 agst Forager, 100 to 6 agst Tommy Noble, 100 to 6 agst First Lord, 20 to 1 agst The Monk, 20 to 1 agst Lord Milton, 30 to 1 agat N ews t ea d, 30 to 1 agst Timandra. Old Robert was struck out at 1.58. The business of the weighing department was conducted with Mr. Manning's usual regularity and punctuality, and the numbers of the starters were displayed on the telegraph in ample time to suit the convenience of speculators, and to gratify the curiosity of the large crowd of people which lined each side of the course, nearly from the half mile starting post to far beyond the top turn. The police cleared the course with much promptness, not walking abreast as at Epsom, but by an in genious use of a long rope, which they stretched across the running ground, they compelled the spec , tutors to retreat before them, and take up their posi tion behind the barriers. The horses then quitted the . saddling paddock and took their preliminary canters. Tommy Noble overpowered Ilowey, and ran right round the far side of the course to the starting post . before lie was stopped. When Mr. Hibburd had assembled the horses together Tommy Noble again displayed a will of his own, and put the lot in dis order, galloping to the distance before he was pulled up. The Pitman and Chance Shot followed his ex ample, but did not run quite so far. When they were brought back the starter again resumed his staff, and seizing a favourable opportunity he gave the signal, and the horses got away in good order. The front rank comprised Chance Shot, Forager, the Mainstay colt, Simple Simon, The Pitman, and Sam Spode, the last two being Timandra and Lord Milton. They ran with no material change until after rounding the top turn, when Forager went in advance, attended by Chance Shot, with The Pitman, Simple Simon, and Sam Spode lying well up in their wake. As they descended the hill Forager increased his lead, but on reaching the Brick-kiln-hill, the last turn but one from home, The Pitman, Forager, Springwell, Chance Shot, and Simple Simon were in the van, and Royal Sovereign then began to emerge from the ruck, and take up his position in close pursuit of the leading horses. On en t er i ng t h e straight Sam Spode dropped back, and after showing well up in front The Pitman was beaten, and Spring well, Simple Simon, and Chance Shot were left in front, with Royal Sovereign next. The first two, however, had the race to themselves from the half distance, and Simple Simon won by three-quarters of a length ; the third beaten half-a-dozen lengths; !and The Pitman about the same dis-• tance from him. Forager, The Monk, First Lord, Claire, Newstead, and Tummy Noble passed the post at wide intervals in the order named. Timandra and Lord Alilttn were the last two beaten off. Whittlebury Stakes of 15 sovs each, 5 ft, with 100 added. Weight for age. Winners extra, &c. Three-quarters qi a mile. 39 subs. Mr. S. Hall's Fravola, 3 yrs, Bst 81b ........ (Charlton) 1 Lord Anglesey's Sweet sauce, 3 yrs, Bst 41b.. (Aldcroft) 2 Mr. Hall's HartleyWitney, 3 yrs, Bst 31b (G. Fordham) 3 The following also ran :—Delhi, Catawaba, Horace, Billy Dwindles, Cantab, Orion' Bohendenne, King of Kent, Folkestone, Prevention, Lady Littl e . Betting---4 to 1 each agst Sweetsauce, Hartley "Witney, and the Bohemienne, 8 to 1 each agstKing of Kent, Folkestone and Horace, 10 to 1 each agst Fravola and Catawaba. Fravola made all the run ning, and won by three-quarters of a length ; a bad third. A lIANnIcm. PLATE of 30 sows, added to a-sweepstake of 5 sovs each. The winner to be sold for 40 soya. Winners extra. Spencer Plate course. Mr. Jackson's Pescatere, 3 yrs, Est 101 b (Madden) 1 Mr. Thomas's The Gipsey, 2 yrs, sst • (Parsons) 2 Mr. Beaufort's Miss Eleanor, 4 yrs, 7st 101 b , (Duck-or) 3 The following also ran :—Knayton, Maradan, and Linda. Betting -3 to 1 agst The Gipsey, 4to 1 agst Pes catore, 5 to 1 agst Miss Elea nor , 6 t o 1 eac h agst Linda and Maradan. Won by half a length; neck between second and third. The STAND PLATE v (handicap) of 50 sovs. Winneri extra. One mile. Lord Stamford's Philomela, 3 yrs ' sst 41b (Roper) 1 Mr. 1. Brown's Pl um p er , 3 yrs, Est 51b (Parsons) 2 Mr. Duncan's Lord Palmerston, 3 yrs, Est 71b (Bundy) 3 Sir J. Hawley's Lord Nelson, 6 yrs, Ost The followin also ran :—Bel Esperanza, geophyte, Volunteer, Marwell, Codicil, Clovernook, Simla, Birdcage, Precise, Jenny Longlegs, and Parmesan. Betting-7 to 2 agst Clovernook, 4to 1 agst Philomela, 5 to 1 agst Parmesan, 5 to 1 agst Pre cise, 10 to 1 each agat Codicil and Lord Nelson. Won by six lengths; a length between second and third ; same distance between third and fourth. Volunteer fell at the last turn. The following notice was issued by the clerk of the scales after the race : " Page, the rider of Bel Esperanza, did not come to weigh after the race, and when called upon by the clerk of the scales to do so, stated that one of his saddle-cloths was lost. The clerk of the scales makes this report in order that• the stewards may take notice of the circumstance, as many of the young jockeys are frequently trying to avoid weighing in. '(Signed) " r. MANNING." [Ai)vt: la is v.:WENnil—Holloway's Ointment and Pills,_ Ulcers, wounds, sprains, bad legs, old wounds, and sprains, whethcr rec2nt or chronic, yield with surprising celerity to the coolitv., healing*, and curative properties o f this in valuable ointment. IL may be relied upon in all such cases as have baffled the skill of our best hospital surge ons • to matter the length of time the malady 1 eDshired no ointment, assisted by a course of Iloiloy,T.y,s Pills will quietly but certainly reach the core of the complaint and thoroughly eradicate it, without additional impediments to pleasure or 11n4iiAcAsj.' , These remedies will overcome the worst foonig of disease, and the foulest state of th,c), la c l ad ; while in glandular swellings, scurvy,nn 41% diseases of the skin they are equally irres,i,stil4i ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. HOME CIRCUIT.—KINGSTON, March 27. • - (Before Lord Chief Justice Erie and a Common Jury.) REID V. DOUGAL. This• was au action to recover damages for false representations rQ6pecting the trade of a public house. Mr. Lush, Q.C., and Mr. Jacobs were counsel for the plaintiff; Mr. Sergeant Parry and Mr. Joyce were for the defendant. The plaintiff in this action, it appeared, was for merly engaged as an engineer at, Newcastle-upon- Tyne, and the defendant as an auctioneer, and en gaged extensively also as a public-house broker. In the year 1858 the plaintiff took possession'of a pub lic-house called the Golden Cross, in King-street, Long-acre, through the instrumentality of the defen dant, and paid a sum of £450 for goodwill, &c., and he alleged that he had been induced to enter into the bargain by the false representations that were made to him by the clerk of the defendant, one of which was that the receipts of the house in ques tion were £lOO per mouth: The defendant posi tively denied, by his pleas, that any false represen tations had been made respecting the property. In the course of the case the written agreement between the parties was offered in evidence by Mr. Lush on behalf of the plaintiff, but an objection was raised by Mr. Tongue, the associate, that it was not receivable, inasmuch as it was not stamped. Lord Chief Justice Erle said that the instrument certainly ought to bear a stamp, and otherwise he could not admit it. Sergeant Parry said that, on the part of the de fendant, he wished it to be understood that he made no objection to the reception of the evidence. Hs was most anxious to meet the case on the merits. Lord Chief Justice Erie said that might be, but he was hound to take notice of the objection. The agreement was not legally receivable without a stamp, and therefore he could not admit it as evi dence. If the plaintiff chose to pay the penalty under the Stamp Act the agreement might be put in. Mr. Lush said that the parties by whom he was instructed declined to take this course. His Lordship then said that, in the absence of the agreement, there certainly was no case, and he therefore directed the plaintiff to be nonsuited. NORFOLK CIRCUIT.—BURY ST. EDMUND'S, March 26. Nisi PRIUS COURT. (Before Mr. Justice Williams and Common Juries.) HILL V. KING. Mr. O'Malley, Q.C., and Mr. Keane were coun sel for the plaintiff ; Mr. Sergeant Tozer and Mr. Couch for the defendant. The action was for slanderous words calculated to injure the plaintiff in his occupation as gentle man's gardener and domestic servant. The slander complained of contained a charge of indecency. Mr. O'Malley, in opening the plaintiff's case, was commenting upon the fact that a plea ofjustification had been originally placed upon the record and subsequently withdrawn, when the learned ser geant interposed, and desired to have the plea replaced. This request was acceded to by Mr. Justice Wil liams, but, the defendant's evidence failing to sup port the plea, the jury,atter considerable deliberation, returned a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages, ls. NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—LIVERPOOL, March 27. (Before Mr. Justice Blackburn.) SEYMOUR V. GREENWOOD. This was an action to recover damages for the alleged negligence of the defendant's servant, result ing in serious personal injury to the plaintiff. Mr. Monk, Q.C., and Mr. Leresch appeared for the plaintiff; Mr. Wilde, Q.C., and Mr. T. Jones for the defendant. It appeared that the plaintiff is a person pos sessed of some little property in the neighbourhood of Manchester, who occupied himself in building ' houses, as a speculation, upon his own land. On the 22d of August last, after dining with a friend, he got into an omnibus in Chester-street, Man chester, and, according to the evidence for the plaintiff, the guard of the omnibus, who was the servant of the defendant, who is owner of the omnibus, without any apparent reason descended from the roof, entered the omnibus, And dragging the plaintiff out by the collar of his coat, they scuffled and fell, and the plaintiff in the fall re ceived a wound on his leg, and a cab passing by cut and injured his head. In consequence of these injuries the plaintiff was obliged to be taken to the infirmary, and was confined to the house six or seven weeks, and was now lame and unable to attend to his usual occupation, and his memory was affected by the injury to his head. He employed an attorney to obtain him some compensation for this injury from the defendant, and the plaintiff's attorney in consequence saw the attorney for the defendant, who stated to him that the defendant's guard got into the omnibus to turn the plaintiff out because he was drunk, refused to pay his fare, and was annoying the other passengers inside. At the close of the plaintiff's case Mr. Wilde submitted that there was no case to go the jr ay. The plaintiff's evidence showed only a most wan ton and unprovoked assault by the omnibus guard, for which he was liable to a penalty under the Stage Coach Act and was amenable to the oriminal law, and in the commission of that assault he was not acting within the scope of his duty so as to render his master responsible for his acts. His Lordship had some doubt, on the whole of the evidence, whether the master was liable or not. He would, however, reserve the points for the opinion of the superior court whether there was reasonable ground for the jury to suppose that the conductor of the omnibus was acting within the scope of his duty ; and, subject to that opinion, he would take the opinion of the jury as to the amount of damages the plaintiff ought to receive on the assumption that the defendant was liable. The learned counsel having then respectively addressed the jury on the question of damages, His Lordship summed up, and the jury retired. On their return they found a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages £lO5. CROWN COURT. (Before Mr. Justice Hill.) Thomas Challinor wasindicted for setting fire to a warehouse in Liverpool, in the occupation of Elijah Pryce, with intent to defraud. Mr. Aspinall and Mr. Preston appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Scott defended the prisoner. It appeared that the prosecutor, Mr. Elijah Pryce, is in partnership with Mr. Lace as a general broker at Liverpool, and that the prisoner had been their warehousem an since October, 1853. In the course of Decemb er l as t th ey had 113 casks of olive oil warehoused in Carson's cellar B, in Basingliall street, Liverpool. This cellar belonged to Mr. Hutton, and the keys were kept by his warehouse man, a man named Sharp. The room immediately above the cellar was occupied by a man named Duffy. The warehouse was locked up . safely on the night of the 31st of December last, but in the course of that night a fire was discovered in the cellar where the oil was warehoused, which, however, was extinguished by the fire brigade. On going into the cellar two casks of oil were found to be entirely burnt, and one partially so. A few days afterwards the prisoner absconded. Two days after wards, in consequence o f some informati on the police obtained, the remaining casks of oil were examined, and several were found to be entirely emptied and others partially so. Altogether about 10 tons 14 cwts. in weight and 500 in value in oil were discovered to have been stolen. On the 13th of January the prisoner was taken into cus tody, and wished to speak to Mr. Pryce, and he then said he was very sorry for what he had done, but that Duffy had induced him to do it, and had offered him a large remuneration and to share what he got from the insurance offices; that he had been so much distressed about it since that he had gone twice to the King's Dock with the intention of de stroying himself. (The man Duffy has not since been apprehended, although every effort has been made to find him by the police.) It appeared that, on Dec. 23 last, the prisoner hired a cellar in York-chambers, Wolsteinholme square, from Mr. Shaw, in the name of John Stewart, assigning as a reason that the premises he had near the docks were too small for him, and to this cellar the prisoner subsequently removed a quantity of casks of oil and bags of valona, which were sent by Duffy from his room above the prose eutor's cellar in Basingliall-street. It appeared that in the room above Duffy's room a quantity of valona was warehoused, and Duffy, assisted by the prisoner, had contrived to abstract the oil from the casks in the cellar below belonging to the prosecutor, and to place it in casks in the room occupied by him, and had then sent, it out to the cellar hired by the pri soner in Wolstenhohne-square. On examining the prosecutor's cellar innnediatcly after the fire three casks were found at the far end of the cellar filled with oil, and on them was placed a large quantity of rosin chips, which came to within two feet of the room above occupied by Duffy, and inimedia tely over where these chips were piled on the casks a portion of tin, floor of Duffy's room was torn up. On examining Duffy's room a large quantity of rosin wood was found placed over the hole in the floor across the joists, so as to catch the flames from the wood below when set on fire. The prisoner was taken into custody at Shrewsbury in a publichouse, and on heng told that he was in custody for setting fire to Messrs. Pryce and Lace's warehouse at Liverpool, he said to the officer—" I'll tell you the truth about it, A man named Duffy and I did s teal the oil and set fire to the place. We made a hole through the floor, p um p e d th e o il ou t of the cellar. and Duffy brought five or six sacks of rosin chips and teemed' them down the hole into the cellar. Duffy bought also four gallons of naphtha, and teemed' it on the chips. It was through Duffy that I did it; he has been at me for some time. Have you taken him ? I'll do all I can to have him taken." He afterwards said to a detec tive officer, named Laycock, " I and Duffy went into Duff's roam. about twelve o'clock on the night of Sunday, New Year's night; I struck a match, and, set fie to the chip s th at were placed there, a nd Duffy stood with his back against the door. We both went outside the door, and remained until we saw the flames, and then we went away." The prisoner had pleaded guilty to another in dictment charging him with stealing the oil, but denied that he had anything to do with firing the warehouse, the subject of the present charge, which the learned counsel for the prisoner said depended, so far as it affected the prisoner, on the recollection of the officers of statements made three months age, and which might not be accurately recollected. His Lordskip having summed up the evidence, The jury found the prisoner guilty. • His Lordship sentenced him in a most impressive manner to penal servitude for 14 years. FROM THE GAZETTE OF LAST NIGHT BUCKINGHAM PALACE, Miitor 23. This day had audience of her Majesty, Baron Bentinck, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary fro' the King of the Netherlands, to deliver a letter from M I Sovereign. To which audience he was introduced by Lord John Rue. sell, her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreie Affairs, and conducted by Lieutenant. General the Hon. SO Edward Cust, K.C.H., her Majesty's Master of the Cere• monies. LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S OFFICE, MARCH 27. Notice is hereby give n , th a t th e State Apartments o' Windsor Castle will be closed to the public after Friday, the 30th inst., until further orders. WAR-OFFICE, PALL-MALL, MARCH 27. ller Majesty has been graciously pleased to approve of the following gentlemen being appointed Pro' fessors of the new Army Medical School at Chatham Clinical and Military Surgery—Deputy Inspector-Genera' T. Longmore, M.D. Hygiene—E. A. Parkes, Esq., MS' Pathology--William Aitken, Esq., M.D. BANKRUPTCY ANNULLED. Philip Andrew, brewer, Swansea. . BANKRUPTS. Thomas A. Freeth, pianoforte manufacturer, Edward' street, Hampstead-road, to surrender April 5, at half-past eleven, and May 3, a t one , a t th e C ourt of Bankruptcy. Robert Tanner, tea dealer, Stratford, Essex, April 14, st eleven, and May 4, at twelve, at the Court of Bankrupt* Donis Nicholas Vericchio, upholsterer, Paddington/ April 7, at eleven, and May 8, at one, at the Court 0 Bankruptcy. Thomas John Boyd Wallis, draper, Colchester, April at eleven, and May 7, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy. John Lough Moreland, draper, Lidford and Keintent April 16 and May 14, at eleven, at the Bristol District Court. SCOTCH BANKRUPTS. James Craig, Baidland, Ayrshire. James Veitch, hotel keeper, Edinburgh. Richardson and Crichton, drapers, Glasgow. Law, White, and Co., merchants, Glasgow. James Bruce, salesman, Glasgow. COUNTRY MARKETS. LIVERPOOL—MARcE 27. The arrivals from Ireland and coastwise during the pat week have been trifling. From foreign ports there hail been received 941 qrs of wheat, 1,6b0 qrs of barley, 545 qo of beans, 10,327 qrs Indian corn, and 1,874 sacks of flour. The exports in the same time comprise 1,465 quarters ce wheat, 200 quarters of malt, 427 qrs beans, 249 qrs peso , 3,253 qrs Indian corn, and 1,874 sacks of flour. Weather stormy. A fair attendance of millers and dealers this morn ' ing, and wheat met a larg e b us i ness ; p r i ces were a b ou t 4 0 per cental dearer than last week. Flour is to is 6d per, sack higher. Barley, bean s , an d p eas i n moderate muse'? for feeding. Oats and oatmeal a fair sale, and dearer. le Indian corn a large business done at is advance. SLEAFORD—MancH 27. The supply of wheat was small, with a healthydemandt and an alteration in prices of fully is in advance. SHEFFIELD-MARCH 27. , A smaller supply again than usual of wheat, and an ad . vane of 6d to is per load must be noted. Trade tole - oath' active. Red wheat, per load of 3 imperial bushels 18s Od to 19s ea White I/ /7 New red n, If New white „ // •.. • ...1 1 8 79 s : Od °l3l to 19s 19 81 0 : is' eti°d , s l Beans 99 /7 l6d Od to 20 0 A IM Peas, per qr 42s Od to 500 n Grinding barley, per qr Malting 'ditto, „ ' 333 Od to 35s uoi 38s Od to 43s Oats 99 2ss Od to 34* 011 Millers' prices for flour—ls Bd, is 10d, and 2s Od Pe t 141 b. LEEDS—MAncx 27. -•- We have a fair demand for wheat, at an advance of 24;. 4 . 1 the prices of Tuesday se'nnight. Barley in request; at lw prices. Oats id per atone dearer. NORWICH CATTLE—MARciI 24. Our market to •day exhibited a good show of store cattle, comprising Scots, shorthorns, and a few Irish. A slow trade was effected, although there was a tolerable attendance. At the close fully one• fourth of the stock remained vusold. Fat beasts a poor show, and buyers much less anxious. • Scots, 4s Od to 4s 6d ; shorthorns, 3s 6d to 4s ; Irish, 32 ° Od to 3s 6d ; Devons, Os Oct to Os (estimated weight when fat). Sheep—There were good supplies of sheep in the per' Fat sheep, 8s 6d to 9s per stone ; prime, 9s 6d to 10s. Pigs—A fair supply. Store pigs 25s to 30s; fat por'll 7s 6d to 8s Od per stone. COURSE OF EXCHANGE.—YESTERDAY. Amsterdam Ditto Rotterdam — 11 16 11 16/ Antwerp Brussels .-- 25 25 25 30 Hamburgh Paris Ditto Marseilles - 25 37 Frankfort on Maine — 1171 1171 Vienna Trieste Petersburgh — 34/ 34f Madrid Cadiz — 491 491 Leghorn — 30 32/ 30 40 Milan — 25 37/ 25 42} Genoa — 25 40 25 45 Naples Palermo — 122 122 k Messina — 122 122} Lisbon Oporto -53 531 Rio Janeiro Now York — • • • • Foreign Gold in Bars (Standard), ...per oz. £3 17 9 Mexican Dollars Silver in Bars (Standard) 0 0 0 )1 South American Doublons 11 0 0 0 FOREIGN MAIL PACKET LIST. In the followinz table E signifies that letters are despatched by evening mails from London, and lit by morning mails. Nt D ESTINATIONS. Despatch Port of M ail of Mails. Despatch. due. Australia an d Mauritius, via l Southampton lAprill2,3l;Southamp. Aprillo Ditto, via Marseilles 'AprillB, E' April 4 . Bahamas and Havana via New York Aprill3,E Liverpool.. April 12 Canada, &c. (by Canadn. pckt ),Mar. 28, ElLiverpool.. overdue Cape of Good Hope, Ascen-1 Sion, and St. Helena , April 5, EDevonpOrt April 3 China, Penang, and Singa pore, via Southampton , April 4, 31;Southamp. April 3 Ditto, via Marseilles {Mar. , 13; April 12 Gibraltar, via Southampton .., M ar . 27 ,M;Southamp. overdue Honduras and Blewfields .... 4 Aprlll7, M'Southamp. April 14 India (Calcutta) and Ceylon, via Southampton April 4, M, Southamp. April 3 Ditto, via Marseilles India (Bombay), via South ampton Mar. 27. M, Southamp. overdue Ditto, via Marseilles Lisbon, Brazils,Buenos Ayres, and F. Islands April 9, M' Southamp. April 5 Lisbon, Vigo, and Oporto Mar. 27,M Southamp. April 1 Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Mar. 27, M Southamp. overdue Ditto, via Marseilles ,Mar —, E 'April 12 Mexico and HavanaSouthamp. Newfoundland Mar. 30, E'Liverpool.. United States and British N America (by British paeket),' Mar. 31, E Liverpool.. ar. 29 Ditto (by U. S. packet) lMar. 28, E Southamp. West Coast of Africa, Ma-1 deira, and Teneriffe April 23 E Liverpool.. April 10 West India, California, Yene zuela, Chili, Peru, Grey-, town, New Granada, .tc.. ;April 2. sLSoutkamn. Anti] 1 2,51;, iSoutlaamp. April 1 BIRTHS. BULLEn.—On the 25th inst., at Manor House, Farnham; the wife of Captain J. Hornby Buller, of a daughter. Citosg.—On the 25th inst., at Bath, Mrs. T. C. Cross, of a daughter. HEAD.—On the 27th inst., at Spring-grove Cottage, Houn slow, the wife of Samuel Heath Head, solicitor, of (laughter. MARRIAGES. FERGUSSO N—NELsoN.—On the 26th'inst., at Great Mal' vern, Robert Fergusson, Esq., of Bury St. Edmund's, to Mary Park, eldest daughter of Robert Nelson, Esq. , lute Judge of Malabar, H.E.I.C.S. EXGLISII—MALING.—On the 4th ult., at Barrackperrf Lieut.-Colon e l F re d . E nglish, C. 8., commanding MM. 11 53d Regt., to Ellen Sophia, only daughter of the.late R. Saunders Maling, Esq., R.N. •DEATHS. BoNNETT.—On the 24th inst., at Avington Rectory, near Winchester, the Rev. Charles Shrub Sole Rowlett, Esq. , agcd 74. the 24th inst., Capt. John Dowland, of Gith It egt., at 1, Royal-hill, Greenwich. PrOLKES.—On the 24th inst., at Hillington Hall, in the county of Norfolk, Sir William J. H. B. Ffolkes, Bart., aged 73. MITCIEELL.—On the 21st inst., Colonel Hugh Mitchell, of 68, Invernes s -t errace , H y d e - par k , o f t h e Madras Army (late of West Villa, St. John's-wood). 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